geminigirl | The "dirty details" and a poll (Reply)

In April my ob/gyn handed me a prescription for Clomid, which no one really but Cayne really thought would work. I did the first cycle in May, and got nothing. I did the second cycle in June, and set up everything with the insurance and the reproductive endocrinologist, and whatnot, and was kind of just killing time until my period so that I could make an appointment. My period never showed up. I hit my normal cycle length, and let it go. I figured with all the traveling we'd done, plus the Clomid, things were just a bit off schedule. I hit three days late-the longest cycle I'd had in about a year and thought that was weird. I was hot, tired, thirsty and couldn't concentrate or think clearly. Other than hot, it all pointed to needing my thyroid meds adjusted. I had a doctor's appointment the following week, so I figured I'd just ask for a thyroid panel, and fax it to the endocrinologist and let her adjust my medication. Somewhere in there, I realized I was getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, in a non-normal pattern for me. This led to a discussion with

aquariumgirl about whether "first morning urine" meant "when I get up in the middle of the night to pee" or "when I get up and take my thyroid meds." She decided it was the latter. On a Saturday (the Saturday before Civic Holiday Monday for you Canadians) we'd gone out to lunch and were trying to make a grocery list for our Civic Holiday party. I was repulsed by the smell of the tomatoes on Cayne's focaccia, and falling apart over the fact that I couldn't think clearly enough to make a grocery list. I figured at that point, I needed to take a pregnancy test so I could let Dr P know what was going on, get an ultrasound and a course of Provera and start again.

I decided not to take the pregnancy test on Monday morning, because we were having company and I didn't want to be a bummer when it turned up negative. (I was still totally convinced that it would be negative.) So Tuesday morning, I got up, took my meds, and while Cayne was in the shower, I grabbed a paper cup, and peed in it. I dipped a digital pregnancy test into the cup, and stared at it, waiting for the "not" to pop up in front of the "pregnant". It never did. I heard Cayne get out of the shower and screamed that he needed to come to me quickly, and shoved the test in his face. Still in disbelief, I decided to take another one. I found one with the +/- symbols and dipped that into the cup of urine, still on the bathroom counter. And before I'd even removed it from the water, I got a + result.

We decided that we needed to call some people...parents, siblings,

aquariumgirl and of course my doctor. And so the first person I called was

aquariumgirl-I didn't know what else to say to anyone, so I told her first. We tried to get in touch with my mother, but had no success. We got a hold of all of Cayne's family, and my doctor, who set me up to go in to confirm things two days later. My mother took another hour or so...she wasn't in her office. Finally, I gave in and called her cell phone, which I figured would be in her office where she wasn't. She had been across the hall and so her phone was going to voice mail. She happened to walk in and hear her cell phone. It was a rather exciting morning.

I'm 13 weeks and 4 days according to ultrasound. I've been given four different due dates-April 1, April 4, April 6 and April 7. I'm calling things "the first week in April" and leaving it at that. The baby will come when the baby is ready. My OB is happy to go with the latest of the four dates, which pleases me.

They've declared me "high risk" (PCOS plus thyroid plus asthma-I'm a triple threat) so I see an obstetrician and a perinatologist. I do not like my perinatologist, but I do like my OB. He knows and understands why I dislike the perinatologist, and agrees with my assessment of him, and says that it makes him feel more comfortable that I see them, but Dr P (the OB) also is very comfortable with the decisions I've made so far about things, and is willing to let me advocate for what I want so far with the perinatologist-he's told me to tell Dr C that his office is going to do this or that thing that Dr C is pushing me to do. It's nice to have an ally, and a doctor who admits that some doctors don't have much in the way of bedside manner, even if they're good in their field.

All that said, the baby looks fine and is growing appropriately. I've had three ultrasounds so far (the perinatologist does one every time we go in and puts it on video-perhaps at some point, we'll put the video on you tube or something) and heard the heartbeat twice this week on the Doppler (once in the ER-a set of wire-cube-shelves plus contents fell on me on Wednesday, so they sent me off to the ER, where they checked me out thoroughly and happened to catch the heartbeat) and once at my regular OB appointment. It was lovely. Except for the bookshelf. I'm excited. Cayne's been exploding to tell people for the last week.

I'm feeling okay, though I'm looking forward to the good parts, which I hear from people, should start soon.

The plan is to continue the care that I've got, so I end up with a doctor's appointment about every two weeks even though I've only just hit the second trimester. It's a bit annoying but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

We don't plan to find out whether it's a boy or a girl. I want the surprise. We're not planning on announcing a name until the baby is here. Beyond that, things are what they are and I'm just along for the ride.

[Poll #1066666]

And now for a good pregnancy icon...anyone have a good source?