Baby is a Growin!

Even despite the snow (6 inches and counting), we were able to go to the doctor today. We really like our new OB/GYN. She is around our age and just took such good care of us. She understands how long of an ordeal this has been and reassured us that any time we are concerned, just call her office and we could come in for an ultrasound to make sure the baby is ok. That is so comforting just to hear! She said that the baby looks great - she even said the baby is measuring bigger so she adjusted my due date to August 29th. Brian is thrilled since insurance starts over September 1st, and he would love to have all of this going toward thedeductible. What this means is that instead of being 10 weeks 6 days pregnant today, I have graduated to 11 weeks, 4 days. Works for me! Especially since 12 weeks is the magic number as far as major concerns go. I even get to stop the extra progesterone at 12 weeks since my labs came back so positive. The baby's heartbeat measures 164 bpm, and you can hear it on the attached video! She also does 3D imaging so the video Brian shot of the appointment shows some cool images as well (it's a little early to make out much on the 3D images but

eventually that will be the coolest part of our visits).

I do have a "concern" as the doctor put it. She said there are issues (things you can do nothing about but have questions about or will keep an eye on such as the whole genetic

"thumb" issue), concerns (these are things that may cause worry and are worth keeping an eye on but are not serious) and problems (these are serious in nature and require steps). A subchorionic bleed showed on the ultrasound today. She said she was surprised that I hadn't noticed any spotting as a result of this. I don't know about you but that just sounds like a big deal to me. And you can see it clear as day on the ultrasound. Essentially, you can see the heart beating and then to the right it appears that there is also movement that mirrors the heart's beating - this is the blood between the placenta and uterus. It can get serious but she assured me she is not too worried about this. This again is where 12 weeks becomes the magic number. There's something about 12 weeks that changes the placenta - I think she said it becomes completely separate from the uterus and then this bleed is not as big of a deal. From what I've read about it online, it is very common for IVF patients. It is usually something that shrinks and becomes a non-issue altogether. So, I think the worried look on my face prompted her to set up another appointment next Friday to monitor the situation - and by their measures I'll be 12 weeks, 5 days then. So, please join us in praying about this. We totally trust this child to God, but I have to admit it made my heart skip a beat to hear there's anything at all not 100% perfect.

And no such luck on finding out the sex. Honestly after saying bleed, I no longer was thinking about gender. She said we could have a gender determination appointment at 18 weeks - BOO! which is the week of March 28th. Oh well...