And now we know...we think!

So Charlotte and I went for our 20 week anatomy scan to check and see that our little "bean" has all the vital organs necessary for life and that they were in to correct position.  We were hesitant to tell the sonographer what Dr. Kurian had said regarding the baby's gender.  The sonographer found the appropriate "private parts" and then asked, "did Dr. Kurian tell you it's a BOY?"  We were stunned.  We did, in turn, tell her no.  We were told that this baby to be was a girl.  A huge laugh was had by all when the sonographer said ,"How did she miss THAT!"  Our son will be forever proud! : )   We do have a video of the sonogram and as soon as my computer savvy better half has a chance to breathe and take a break from work, that video will be posted.

So much has happened since then.  I cracked my ankle and have been in a walking boot for four weeks now.  Ortho appt Friday will hopefully deem all is well and the boot will go by the way side.  Charlotte and I had an amazing week in Florida on our "baby-moon".  We spent time catching up with our wonderful friends and hanging out by the water.  Our next appt for the baby is next week.  We are not anticipating any new news really.  No sonogram this time.  Just a listen to our baby boy's heart beat and a measure of my belly.  (insert sarcastic voice here) GReeeeeaaaaaat! 

Love to all.  Video of the sonogram and our little one's name is soon to follow. 

Love,

Charlotte and Rae









And it's a......

LOL! We have NO idea!  All we really know at this point is that this little one "might be" a girl! WELLLL....I think we knew THAT before we came in for the sonogram.  Dr. Kurian was able to get plenty of pictures. Only problem was, crossed legs.  What we CAN say is that it's one modest child!  The doctor, with a disclaimer of not being the best guess in town, is leaning toward a girl.  Well, let's hope so now because if it's not, our little boy is gonna have a complex already! LOL!  What we do know is...



the baby has a strong back bone....



and at lease one foot with five little toes to make it's mark on the world.



Charlotte promises me that there are four little fingers and a thumb's up in this picture. Can YOU see them?



And baby is already practicing yoga, as you can see, in perfect downward dog pose!





Dr. Kurian isn't gonna make us wait too long for another look, THANK GOODNESS!  We'll have another chance to see "parts" in two weeks at our anatomy scan.  This is quite a long scan that will come available to us on a DVD. Not sure we'll be able to post it so you guys may end up taking our word for it. 

Thank you all for sharing in our amazing journey and we will keep you updated.

Charlotte and Rae

Week Fourteen!

Well, it's been a little while. Sorry 'bout that! So much has happened it's getting hard to keep up anymore.  We had our appointment with the high risk OB aka Maternal Fetal Medicine Dr.  AND...we have officially been ruled OUT as a high risk!  Whoo HOO! Our genetic testing was done via mother finger stick and the results came back.  Our chances of having a child with trisomy 13, 18,or 21 (aka down syndrome) is 1:10,000, but our favorite part of this visit...the 20 minute sonogram viewed on a ginormous TV screen!  We got to see the baby have the hiccups, do somersaults and suck it's thumb.  We are SO in love!

Morning sickness... :/   I'd love to tell you that now that I'm sporting a baby bump that the morning sickness got it's pink slip and rode off into the sunset.  NOT EVEN CLOSE!  And now, the "all day" sickness has a new companion...introducing....INSOMNIA!  I'm hoping that once Charlotte makes it back from Philadelphia, she'll be able to kick both of my undesired house mates to the curb!

Our next step will be our 17 week appointment.  Dr. Kurian said that she would bust out the sono machine and try to determine if baby "Z" is a boy or a girl.  She did warn us though, she's a terrible judge of gender and NOT to start painting the nursery based on her guess.  We ARE hopeful that it will be an easy guess.  If not, our next opportunity for a "gender shot" will be at 20 weeks by the sonographer.  We will keep all of you posted.  Love you all and thank you again for all the prayers and well wishes.

Got Limes?



Are we trying to scare away scurvy? Not exactly...the little bean is no longer a bean! It's now the size of a lime!! Though I think it's safe to say that we will not be refering to the baby as our little "lime".

What's going on this week you ask.  Well, not a whole lot.  I'm still pretty sick.  On the bright side it usually doesn't last ALL day, just most of it.  If I'm sick in the morning I usually get the afternoon off and vice versa. Another high side, which Charlotte had to remind me to add, is that the progesterone shots in the rear, we can happily tell you are a thing of  the past!! YIPPEE!!!

We have our next appointment with our Maternal/Fetal Medicine doctor next week.  This doctor is often refered to as the "high risk" OB.  Hopefully, God willing, we will only have one meeting with this doctor so he can rule us out as being a high risk pregnancy.  The only reason I would qualify for this category is that at the time of delivery, I will be the ripe old age of 35! AS IF!! Don't they realize women are waiting longer to have kids and still do it like a CHAMP!  ANYWAY...I digress.  We will keep you updated with the goings on of our next appointment.  Love and miss you all and hope the week finds you well.

Hellllloooooo Week NINE!!

So week nine came with a bang...or shall I say a Shot, in the rear!  The blood test to measure the hormone levels came back on Thursday and were too low.  What this translates to is supplemental progesterone shots in the tush for another week and another level to be drawn next week.  Progesterone is a very important hormone to make sure the baby sticks in place and makes itself at home. 

On a more exciting note, we got to meet our new OB/GYN, Dr Kurian.  Let us just say up front, we LOVE her!  She's very open, caring and crazy smart.  We found that I have yet another bladder infection. Dr Kurian said it's not too concerning and is caused by the hormone making my bladder too relaxed.  We were VERY excited to find that because the doctor is a little OCD (not that we mind), she wanted to do her OWN sonogram. WHOO HOOO! SO, here for your viewing pleasure, we present our dancing baby bean... watch close at the beginning and toward the end as the baby shows you it's new muscles are strong enough for her/him to move it's arms and legs!!

A Bean With A Beat!

The official sound a heart makes is "lub-dub".  Not so sure about THAT. What we CAN tell you is that it's the most AMAZING sound a parent can hear and it's music to our ears.  We had our eight week sonogram today.  The baby is officially 7 weeks and 6 days and measures from head to rump as eight weeks two days (maintaining its over achiever status). The fertility doctor is very happy with all the sonogram findings and we will graduate to a regular OB doctor next week. We are very excited to be graduating as it means our dreams are coming true but we are sad to see our fertility doctor and her amazing team of nurses go.

Our plans for next week are for blood work to measure hormone levels to see if we can stop doing the daily shots(and man won't my bottom be happy then!) and our appointment to interview our new OB doctor.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and we look foward to the next update. 

Here is the baby - hopefully this will work(make sure your sound is on!)
and FYI- if you click the group of arrows in the lower right corner, the video will display full screen to better see the little bean with a beat

And the verdict IS.....

A singleton (that means one).  One perfect little bean.   Measured 0.55cm from crown to rump (about the size of a blueberry) and has the heart rate of 121 little beats per minute!  Our gestational age is officially 6 weeks 1 day however, it measured 6 weeks 2 days (overachiever already)!  We actually got to hear the little heart beating which was a huge surprise.  We cried.  We are SO amazingly excited.

I'm feeling SO much better with some antibiotics on board.  The frequent trips to the potty have been cut in half (for a little while anyway).  The doctor has ordered a special wristband to help control the "all day sickness."

We are definitely relieved that the little bean has been able to already endure a blizzard, treacherous road conditions, and a yucky bladder infection. 

Our next appointment is in two weeks.  We will keep you posted.  More pictures to follow...

Heigh Hoooooooo!



Charlotte's song which woke me this morning...."Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho.  Off to the doctor we go. Is it one or two? We wish we knew. Heigh-ho, Heigh-hoHeigh-ho!Off to the doctor we go!"
What an imaganiative better half I have. LOL!!

HELLOOOOO week Six!

Well this week has been more eventful than we had anticipated.  We've decided that morning sickness is DEFINITELY a misnomer! How about ALL DAY LONG sickness???  We'll take it though. Charlotte has been a trooper with multiple trips to the store for crackers and ginger ale.  We had to brave the rough road conditions to see our general doctor.  Looks like some of the symptoms that were originally thought to be pregnancy related, weren't.  According to Dr. Dick, I have a very unhappy bladder. No worries, Super duper, baby safe, antibiotic is here to save the day!! Did I mention that Charlotte's got some MAD driving skills?!?  To say the road conditions here are rough would be an under statement!
Thank goodness she does, cause tomorrow, BEAN COUNT!!  Hopefully the clinic will stay open and the roads clear up even with the predicted snow fall coming tonight and into tomorrow.  We will post what we know as soon as we know.  Thanks again to all for all the love and support.  Stay safe, stay warm and we love you.

Waiting for the next step

Well, here we are waiting for the next step, something they call the "bean" count.  Now don't ask me why they call them "beans" as I haven't a clue!  All we know is that we are so freaking excited to get to listen/see the heartbeat(s) this Friday!  So that means we'll know how many we are expecting, um yes you read right, how many; it's possible it could be twins.  As soon as we know you can bet you all will know.  The wait for it all is like pulling your fingernails off; excruciating!  We are so happy for all your support on this journey we are on! 

and what in the heck is a beta?

Well.....not exactly. Beta is short for a serum beta hCG test.  This is a blood test done to detect early pregnancy and its a hormone produced by the growing baby.  Our happy news came after blood was drawn and a blood level of 159 was measured. (anything >5 is considered positive).  Two days later, which was Saturday, I went for another blood test to measure again the "beta" level.  The doctor is looking for an increase of at least 60%.  Ours...304!  Almost DOUBLE!!! Whoo Hoo!  This is a very positive sign that the little budding baby(s) is growing appropriately.  Our RN coordinator, Jennifer, gave us our due date-Sept. 29th and we are cautiously optimistic.  Next step, our first OB sonogram!! We are scheduled on Feb 4th and can't wait.  The doctor will be looking for how many "beans" are growing, hearts are beating and perfectly forming baby(s) there are.  Please keep prayers a coming and fingers and toes crossed as these first nine weeks are crucial.  Charlotte and I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your support in our journey.  You all mean so much to us and have shaped our lives in so many ways.  ...and did I mention-WHOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!

And so the story begins...

with a blood test, an eighteen month wait, and a phone call that will change the rest of our lives.  Charlotte and I learned today that we will be parents!  WOW!! Mommies...after all the doctor apptiontments, surgeries, shots, sonograms, and negative pee on sticks, we found out, this one worked.  Our reactions, um....speechless, tears, laughing and a whole lot of Charlotte's "told ya so's".  You see, as I was depressed, feeling that the results of this round would be just like the others, Charlotte knew it was different.  She was able to keep the hopes alive with a whole lot of TLC and little pats to the belly telling the little babies to "hang in there".  The phone calls went out and joy was shared by all.  We shared all the tears, all the laughter and all the thanks for crossed fingers, crossed toes, prayers to God and shout outs to kokopelli and whatever it was that everyone did to support us in this journey.  So...the next step will be another blood test to ensure the "baby hormone" aka beta, is rising appropriatly.