12 Week Appointment

I had my 12 week appointment at the OB clinic on post this morning. They were able to find Blasto's heartbeat with the doppler after a few minutes of looking. The heartbeat was a nice, strong 140 beats/minute. The only area of concern was my blood pressure. It had been a little elevated at my first appointment and was also elevated this morning. They sent me to the lab for some blood work, and they're going to have me check it periodically between now and my next appointment. I'm hoping being at the hospital just stresses me out a bit, and that it goes back down on it's own. I've never had blood pressure issues before, so it kind of surprised me. Fun stuff!

Back to Nature

Pat and I decided to take Blasto on his/her first hike on Sunday. We've been going a little stir crazy at the house, so I agreed to brave the chilly weather for some time in the great outdoors. We keep having all of these nice warm days during the week, but the weekends have been pretty miserable. The sun came out on Sunday (ironic?), so we were determined to enjoy it.


The trail we took was pretty steep, but I managed to make it up and back down with no major incidents and only one or two girly screams when I thought I was losing my balance. It was a great excuse for Pat to try out the new tripod we just got for the fancy camera. The pictures would have been prettier if there were more leaves on the trees, but overall they turned out well. We don't look super happy in the picture we took of ourselves, but I promise we're having fun!

Ultrasound Pictures

I had my first appointment at the OB clinic on post this afternoon, and I got a couple of pictures of the baby. Blasto was waving his/her little arms around and playing with the cord with his/her feet. It was pretty cute. I don't think I'll get another ultrasound until around 20 weeks, but they said that I should be able to listen to the heartbeat at the next appointment.

Blasto has Graduated

As of today Blasto has officially graduated from an embryo to a fetus. How exciting! All the little organs are in place, and Blasto's head is becoming more proportionate to it's little body. So long alien baby, hello human baby!

Blasto!

I am begrudgingly admitting that Pat and I have taken to calling the baby Blasto since we don't know a gender yet. When I was just barely pregnant (maybe even before we knew for sure), I was explaining to Pat how after the egg gets fertilized and starts dividing it's called a blastocyst, to which Pat responded "BlastoCysto!". We shortened it to Blasto, and somehow it stuck. I even find myself referring to the baby as Blasto. I was hoping for a cute nickname like Pumpkin since I'm due in October, but apparently it's not meant to be. I can only imagine the looks I'll get when I inadvertently use the nickname at work.

Saw the Heartbeat Today!!!!

I had my first ultrasound this morning. It was a rough day up until that point, so I was so glad to get some good news. I had my appointment at the hospital on post in the morning. They had a really hard time finding a good vein to do my bloodwork. I ended up being stuck 3 times, and they had to dig around a bit to finally find one. I hope I don't bruise too badly.

When I got to the hospital in Rolla for my ultrasound, my Dr.'s office hadn't faxed the order to registration. It took almost 45 minutes for them to fax the order in. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that you have to have a full bladder when having an ultrasound this early in pregnancy. That means I desperately needed to use the bathroom by the time the ultrasound was finished.

Even after all that, all was forgiven as soon as I saw the little heart fluttering away. The heart rate was 150 beats per minute. I feel so relieved...maybe now I'll be ready to start telling people.

I Spoke Too Soon

I guess I spoke too soon in my post earlier today. I got a call from Dr. Isakson's nurse with my beta results from Friday. My number came back at 1,637! Woo hoo!!!!! This is on the high side of normal. They had scheduled me for my first ultrasound on the 19th, but unfortunately I'll be in Huntsville, Alabama for work. I rescheduled for Monday, the 23rd. I can't imagine how slowly time will go between now and then. I don't think Pat will be able to go with me, but hopefully he'll be able to make the one where we find out the gender. I just want to see a strong little heartbeat at this one. Wish me (us) luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!