Hide & Seek is my new favorite game.

Soooo....  I FINALLY found Stormy on the fetal doppler at home!  The doppler lets me hear Stormy's heartbeat.  It's absolutely the best $50 I have ever spent.  True story.

Anyway.  I haven't been able to get much use out of until last weekend because of my "extra layers" (as the doc so nicely put it) and because I have a cluster of fibroids, one of which is front and center.  Big enough for Stormy to hide behind.  So I'd try every few days, but get disappointed when I couldn't find him.

Then last Friday night, Husband wasn't home.  He doesn't like it when not finding Stormy makes me upset, so I hadn't tried in a couple weeks.  But I went ahead and tried again.  Almost INSTANTLY I found the heartbeat!!  The doppler has a crappy measuring system on it, but it was reading at about 155ish.  I recorded about a 30 second clip, and counted it out, and that was about right. Seriously, best sound ever.

So, every night before I go to bed now, I break out the doppler.  This kid likes to hide from me. LOL  I will find him, then he'll scoot over.  So I'll move the wand, and find him again.  I'll listen for a few seconds, and he'll scoot over again.  Makes me smile.  Seriously, one of the absolute coolest things I have ever experienced is finding Stormy's HB.  It'll be super strong and super loud.  Then it'll get quieter, and quieter, then nothing.  Then scooting the wand over an inch or two, and finding him strong and loud again.  

Now, he does still like to hide behind the fibroids.  But at least he's getting big enough that I can hear an echo of it, even when he is hiding.  I haven't straight up NOT found the heartbeat since I started trying again last week. A couple of times, it's extremely faint, and he won't move for nothing.  But I can always hear at least a shadow of it.  And when I try the next morning, I can usually find him pretty good.  (that's only happened twice.)

In other news, I have had people ask me if 1) I know for sure Stormy is a boy, and 2) if we're actually naming the kid Stormy.  No, I don't know for sure Stormy is a boy.  I have just had a feeling he is since I found out I was pregnant.  I would love to have a little girl.  Or a little boy.  Whatever.  As long as Stormy is healthy, I really don't care what kind of parts s/he has.  And no, we're not naming the child Stormy for real.  Obviously, if  Stormy is a boy, his real name will be Hulk.  And if she's a girl, her name will be Wonder Woman.  Duh.

Yes, I'm kidding.  Stormy is short for Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.  It's a Doctor Who reference.  We're not actually naming the child Stormy.  Or Stormageddon.  Or Dark Lord of All.  We are kicking around perfectly normal human names, and yes, I will announce which one we've chosen once we've found out if Stormy is a boy or a girl.

Latest update

So I had my appointment Monday.  It was an interesting start to my day. 

The appointment was originally scheduled for 7:30 a.m.  I did this so the husband could come with me.  He doesn't get as much leave time as I do, so he's trying to save up every bit he can so he can stay home with me for as long as possible come October.  So if he has to miss work, he doesn't come to the appointments.  Anyway, Thursday afternoon, the receptionist calls and says Doc got pulled into a surgery for Monday morning, and would I mind pushing the appt back an hour.  Sure, fine.  So I recruit my Momma to come with me instead.

We get there a few minutes early.  I get called back, did the weight, BP, etc.  Then we got showed into the exam room, and told Doc would be with us soon.

About 10 minutes later, the nurse comes in.  They had just called over to the hospital looking for a status update.  They said they'are assuming about 20 more minutes, but they didn't actually check with the doctors.  Ok, that's fine.  Doc's schedule is packed for the rest of the week, so we'll just chill out.

20 minutes later, Nurse comes back.  They DID talk to the docs this time...and it'll be another 30 minutes before he's done with surgery.  Oops.  That's ok.  We'll hang out.

Luckily, doc did come in about 45 minutes later, and he apologized all over himself.  Seriously, sounds like the chick he was working out needed his time at that point more than I did.  Not a huge deal.

So we did the ultrasound.  Heartbeat is sitting at 165.  Stormy was all curled up into a ball, so he was "measuring small."  But Doc also said that if Stormy would straighten out, the measurement would be different.  So I'm not terribly concerned.  At first, Stormy was pretty still.  Then he started kicking his legs.  Then he started twitching his head.  Then we saw his mouth open and closed. I'm convinced he was yelling at us for waking him up. He is my kid after all! LOL

I asked about an early gender guess.  Doc said his machine isn't high-tech enough to even begin to see anything this early.  Plus, Stormy's legs were all closed and parallel.  Then Stormy adjusted, and we got a shot.  Doc froze the picture.  Stormy has.........a dot.  That's right.  His boy or girl parts are just a white dot on an ultrasound screen right now.  So, no such luck.  Oh well.  I knew it was a long shot anyway. 

In my own personal growth, my next appointment isn't for almost three weeks!  Yay!  Look at me grow!  (We've been going back every two weeks because doc knows I'm paranoid about something going wrong.  Plus the whole bleeding/clot issue from a few weeks ago, but mostly because I'm paranoid.)

Now, I was diagnosed with "a bit of placenta previa."  That means the placenta is down too close to the cervix.  Not a huge hairy deal right now, but something to keep an eye on.  Doc said it would probably move on it's own as I get farther along.

In other RIDICULOUSLY exciting news, I only put on one pound over the last two weeks!  (Last time, I had put on like 6.  So yeah, only one makes me happy.)  Also, I was cleared for any low impact cardio, and even some weightlifting using arms only.  So no leg presses, no squats, etc.  He did specifically clear my elliptical and light walking.  Woot.  Now I just have to convince myself it really is ok to do it. LOL

I'm not going to include a picture this time because Stormy wasn't cooperating very well.  We only got some fuzzy ones that look more like a bean than a baby.  He was hiding behind, you know, my guts and stuff. LOL

Oooh!  I almost forgot!  Anatomy scan (where they do an in-depth scan of the entire anatomy and make sure everything is developing correctly) is scheduled!  This is also the BIG ultrasound, where they can tell for sure if Stormy is a girl or a boy.  Well, as long as Stormy doesn't get shy or anything.  Roll on May 29!

I really am terrible about updating!

I'd say "I'll try to do better!" again, but really, who'd believe me at this point? ;)

Pregnancy type things are going well, as far as I know.  You saw my last update, so that's the last medical update I have.  I have started to show a little bit.  Although, if you didn't know any better, it'd be easy just to say "wow, she's really getting fat again!"  But I throw the gut in maternity pants and call it a bump. LOL  Physically, things are still going very well.  Not terribly sick (although nausea is making a comeback recently, and I'm really not terribly impressed) and I'm finally starting to not be completely ravenous all the time.  Woot.

I'm 13 weeks now, which puts me in second trimester.  Finally! LOL  I know just because I made it here does not automatically mean everything is perfect and wonderful, and nothing bad can happen.  But, the chances do drop, a lot.  So that's exciting!  I go back in next Monday for another ultrasound.  I'll be 14 weeks.  Hopefully, if Stormy cooperates, we MIGHT be able to get an early guess on whether it's a girl or a boy!

As promised - the update!

Hey guys! Fair warning, this is gonna be pretty long.  First off though, we are officially "out" on Facebook.  Feel free to share some love over there too.  We're all public and such now. LOL

Before we even got started, Doc asked if I was feeling movement yet. (queue me being confused since I'm only 12w, but whatever.) I told him no, and he said soon I should start watching for it. Doc decided last go round that abdominal u/s would work best because of where Stormy was sitting. So we started with that. He got some pretty good shots of the kid flopping around. He kind of raised an eyebrow and said "Oh this one's active. When you start feeling movement, you're DEFINITELY going to feel it!" Stormy was kicking his little legs and flapping his little arms! His little heart was just a going at 175 bpm, too. (This makes my mom and sister SWEAR Stormy is a girl. I still say he's a boy.)

Then doc measured. Stormy is measuring in at 11w3d. Um, what? No, unacceptable. Try again. 11w3d. Again, wtf? I told Doc I was pretty concerned about that because he's NEVER measured small. Ever. So doc offered an internal u/s. I asked if he would be able to get a good measurement since it's so much lower. He said he could at least see his head, and probably most of his body. Groovy, make it so.

So, moving on to the internal u/s. I'm somewhat concerned by the size of this child's head. Ok, not really, and I do know that it's supposed to be somewhat big at this point, but dude. Kid has a skillet. LOL But once we got past that (got to see his little brain too!! So awesome!) We got a show! He was just a waving and a wiggling! He kept waving and clenching his fists. His little legs are crossed at the ankles. and his little toes!! Anyway, doc got a much better measurement at 12w3d, which is exactly where doc has me according to LMP, so I'm a much happier momma.

I also have a lovely cluster of fibroids. There's seriously like 5 of them, all around. Doc says they shouldn't cause a problem. One of them is 4.3cm though, and towards the front, so that's more than likely why I can't hear Stormy on the doppler yet. (that and my "extra layers" as doc so nicely put it.) My clot, however, is GONE! Woot! This means exercise is a go! And seeing a very ugly number on the scale today makes me very glad for that. ::shudder::

I also did get clearance to go to the range. He told me to use common sense. If the recoil knocks me over, don't shoot that gun. He told me I should probably stay away from the .50 cals though. LOL

I asked him about bacon/hot dogs, and he said make sure they're fully cooked. steaming, truly honestly hot all the way through. And don't eat it every day. But a slice of bacon or a hot dog here and there is fine.

And now, here is Stormy at 12w3d! (see his little fist??)

Today's the day!

Today is my next ultrasound.  I adore the fact that my doctor fully embraces my neurotic paranoia and gives me an appointment with a u/s every 2-3 weeks instead of only 2 in the entire pregnancy.  He's pretty much awesome.

I know I haven't udpated like I said I would.  There's just nothing going on.  Since I can't exercise, I have no fun gym stories.  The past few weeks have been terrifyingly easy, pregnancy-wise.  And all I've got is my usual "what-if" Debbie Downer paranoia. Nobody wants to read that over and over again. LOL

We lead a very boring life, and I do usually enjoy that.

So, I'm about 12 weeks now.  Which means one or two more weeks and we will go public with this baby news.  Is it wrong that I'm not excited?  I mean, all the important people already know.  Everybody else is just icing on the cake.  I may not even do a big FB announcement.  ::shrug::  I'll let you know when the time comes. :D

Anyway, same as usual, no news is good news today.  If I come home and update at noon, that's bad.  I do plan on going back to work after my appointment so don't expect any news until later tonight!