Third trimester ultrasound

This morning we had our fourth and probably last (unless I go past my due date) ultrasound, at 32w2d. Everything's looking good with the little man! He seemed to be snuggled up against the placenta, head down, back on the left, so in a good position for delivery in about eight weeks! Also looks to be a bigger baby than his brother, his estimated weight is 2186 g (+/- 320) (compared to 1928 g for baby #1 at his 32w2d u/s), and head and belly circumferences are above the 90 percentile.

Cervix is still long and closed, at 44.6 mm (compared to 51.5 mm at the 20w ultrasound).

Below a few candle wax images of our sweet bub's face.

It's a boy!

We had our 22 week ultrasound this morning and the first image we saw on the screen didn't leave any mistake: we're expecting another boy! (I considered posting the pic, but I know some people might be offended, so I decided not to - below are two 'safer' ones).

I already had a feeling it would be a boy, but it's nice to have the confirmation now. The little man was moving around a lot, even stuck his tongue out! All organs and bones looked and measured great, and he's a bit above the curve with everything, but I think we had the same with our first one and when he was born he wasn't any bigger than an average (French) baby. She also measured the cervix, which was long and closed at about 5 cm. Placenta is fare enough away from the cervix, so that's good to know too.

After the ultrasound I had my 5-month check-up with my OBGYN. Of course I already knew everything was fine, but it's always nice to see my doctor pleased and enthusiastic. I still didn't get my blood pressure reading (I think this time she said 110 over 60), but she said it was good. Fundal height at 22 cm so right on target, very supple/soft uterus, tonic cervix. Baby's heartrate was fine too (didn't get the exact measurements either).

I'll have to make an appointment with the lab for later this week for the routine checks and then next month it will be fun with the glucose tolerance test and some additional blood tests. My next OB check-up  is only three instead of four weeks away due to scheduling of appointments with the hospital for the last three months (still with the same OBGYN, but next month will be the last checkup at her private practice, and for month 7-9 it will be at the hospital. Since my due date is at the end of January, appointments at the hospital have to be made for the beginning of the month, and until now my appointments were more towards the middle/end of the month).

Wordless Wednesday - 12 week scan

5w4d - first scan

Yesterday we had our first ultrasound scan. Meet my little over-achiever! At 5w4d we saw a gestational sac (8,7 mm although the printed report later said 18 mm?!?), a yolk sack, and then a fetal pole of somewhere between 1.7 and 1.9 mm with a tiny flicker of a heart beat! Still too early to measure the heart rate, but it was there and oh, it felt soooo good to see it on the screen!

We went for a some coffee/tea with cake afterwards to celebrate.

My next appointments are as a 'regular pregnant woman': checkup with the OB on June 20th, next ultrasound on July 13.

The rest of the day was very stressful because of work and at the end of the day I felt like a complete professional failure (but that's something for a separate post, or not). And then when hubby came home he got mad because I had told his sister (whom he doesn't want to speak to anymore because of something that happened last summer) about the pregnancy. Ugh.

CD29 - second u/s

We all had to get up very early this morning so I could make the 7:30 am appointment at the clinic for u/s and blood draw and hubby could catch his 8 am TGV. This meant waking up our son at 6:30 am, which he did not appreciate at all - try to change his diaper and get him dressed while he was throwing a 'I don't want to wake up yet' tantrum, give him a bottle, deliver him to the neighbors (which hubby did, by that time I'd already left) who took him to the nanny... I was about 10 minutes early at the clinic, the female RE was there again and early as well, again just one person in front of me, so my turn was exactly at 7:30.

Lining was great at 8 mm. Then she looked at the follicles and first said ER would either be Saturday or Monday, but after closer inspection decided it would rather be Monday or Tuesday. I didn't ask the exact numbers but apart from a few that are already too big, there seem to be about five on each side which are now around 14 - 16 mm. I'll try to get more details tomorrow.

Got my blood work done right after that and just got the results: estrogen level is now at 1597 pg/ml.

I have to up my dose of Puregon from 150 IU to 225 IU tonight and then come back in for another u/s and blood draw tomorrow. When I asked the RE what time she said she didn't know yet. Told her about this morning with our little one. She told me I should just have asked to come in later, they could have taken me between patients... Secretary just called to confirm the dose for tonight and told me that the RE had mentioned I could come in at 11 am tomorrow (when she's starting her regular schedule)! Yeah, that relieves me of quite some organizational stress as hubby won't be back from his business trip until tomorrow evening. Have to get my blood work done earlier though, so they will have the results the same afternoon.

CD26 - First ultrasound

I had to be at the clinic this morning at 9:30 for the first ultrasound and blood draw to see how the stimming is going. I was early, only one woman in front of me and the RE (a woman whom I hadn't met before) was early too, so everything went pretty fast. I didn't get exact numbers, but the RE murmered something of about five follicles on each side. I don't know if that means 10 in total or 10 usuable in total, because there were some that were already measuring 17 or 18 mm and she told me those would be 'discarded' and the focus would be on the ones now measuring around 13 mm. In any case, I seem to respond quicker to the drugs than two years ago - when after six days of stimming follicles were only measuring around 10 mm. My estradiol level seems to be telling the same story: 545 pg/ml (while two years ago it was 310 on the same cycle day). Don't know if this is a good or bad thing or that it really doesn't matter...

I have to continue with the daily 150 IU Puregon and come back for the next u/s on Thursday morning. This time at 7:30 am - which will be a bit of a logistical nightmare as this is a day our toddler normally doesn't go to the nanny and on top of that hubby will be away on business. So hopefully with the help of my neighbor, who's kids go to the same nanny, and some flexibility on the nanny's part, I will be able to get it all sorted out.

I also had a consult with the anesthesiologist and went by the admission's office for my pre-admission. Everything was fine, but I have to get some additional blood work (coagulation) done, but will do that on Thursday, didn't feel like getting stabbed with the needle twice within a one-hour period.

32 week ultrasound

Yesterday we had our presumably last ultrasound, at 32w2d. Everything's fine! The baby is in the right position: head down, his back on the left (so that's the hard spot left of my belly button), legs bent to the right. My cervix is still long and closed at 4.15 cm, the placenta moved up to 2.81 cm from the cervix, so that's great too!

Not a lot of great images to show - he didn't seem to appreciate the poking with the u/s stick and didn't show his face much, and when he did, he made some funny faces! But I still like this image.
We brought a USB stick and now have all our u/s images digitally, yay!

21w u/s - a boy!

Yesterday was our 2nd trimester u/s, at 21w3d. My mom had come over from Holland especially to experience the u/s (and to start on some sewing projects for the nursery). Of course hubby was there too. Lots of required measurements of organs, bones etc, so many detail shots but not a lot of cute pix of the baby's face (this was also partly due to the fact that there was always either a hand, an arm or the umbilical cord in front of it). Everything measured just fine. Baby has a large head and long legs - hmmm, sounds familiar...! Measured at 22w2d so almost a week ahead of the (French) curve (and just slightly ahead of the Dutch one, as far as I can gather from the Dutch pregnancy book I have).

I won't bore you with details of brain, heart or femur, but we did also get this 3D shot, which I think shows quite a sweet face, even though I'm not so fond of the 'candle wax' 3D images.

And then of course, the big news (although I already spoiled it in the title): we're expecting a boy! I already had a feeling beforehand that it was a boy (don't know why, just a gut feeling), and my hubby too, so no big surprises here, but it was nice to have it confirmed. It was kind of a funny situation: the u/s doc asked us if we wanted to know, we said 'yes', so she moved the image toward the baby's bottom from the legs up. It was immediately quite obvious. So she said 'do you understand what it is?' and we said 'yes', but apparently she would have preferred us to say 'yes, we do, it's a boy', because we noticed the hesitation in her voice when she again asked if we understood (which we confirmed) and then she said herself 'so it's a boy' and wrote it on the u/s image (below). Quite hilarious!

12w u/s and checkup

Damn, I've been wanting to blog since Tuesday, but just haven't had the time (amazing how busy you can be even when you're not working...). Bad news first: I'm getting another cold. I'm sneezing and the sinuses on my right side hurt. Hope it doesn't turn into an ear infection. I guess my resistance is really crappy now that I'm pregnant, but I hope my mom's remark that 'some women will have a cold during their entire pregnancy', will not come true for me!

Now the good news: we had our 12 week u/s and checkup on Tuesday and everything is looking great! Our little miracle (I have to come up with some name, but can't think of anything yet. Any suggestions?) was moving around and we could already count fingers and toes! The measurement showed it being 12w3d instead of 12w0d, so it's ahead of the French curve, but my sister later told me that it's actually a bit below the Dutch curve. But who really cares about a few millimeters...?

At the checkup the OB told me to continue with the Utrogestan (progesterone suppositories) for another two weeks, so until the end of the first trimester. However I need to continue taking the Aspegic100 (baby aspirin) for the remainder of the pregnancy. Hmm, didn't really like that, but she told me that because it was started from the beginning, as part of the IVF protocol, we should not change it now, since I'm reacting OK to it and stopping it will probably do more harm than good. I gained 2 kg since the last checkup (6 weeks ago) according to their scale (which I guess I should assume is more accurate than mine, which hasn't shown any weight increase at all).

I told her that I was experiencing some cramps now and then. She first thought I meant in my legs, but I meant in my belly. She checked my uterus and said that it was indeed feeling a little tense/hard, so I was right but should not worry too much about it, and she prescribed a magnesium B6 supplement, which I now take twice a day. It's funny because it wasn't until I had left the OB's office that I realized that I've indeed also been experiencing leg cramps (especially when doing yoga). I've only been taking it for two days now, but already feel that it's working (will now better at yoga practice tonight).

Made appointments for the next three months, u/s appointment for week 22, and lab test for next week. T21 blood test will be in week 16.

I also got some forms to fill out to register the pregnancy with the state-run health and family insurances (which we filled out and mailed right away, because they need to have those before the end of week 14), so they will cover the necessary prenatal visits, allot the paid maternity and paternity leave, monitor that we'll do all the mandatory tests and vaccinations, and pay child/family allowance once the baby is born.

First pic - 6w3d

First ultrasound

Had first ultrasound this afternoon (at 6w3d). It was pouring with rain and I was very nervous on my way there. Met up with my hubby at the doctor's office, luckily he was a lot calmer than me. After waiting for 35 minutes the doctor finally called us in. After some formalities she started the u/s: one sac with embryo detected, with heartbeat! Yes!! Felt immediately very relieved.

So one embie didn't make it, which I already thought, based on my rather low betas.

Doctor also checked my ovaries, still pretty enlarged from the stimulation: right one between 7-8 cm, left one around 6 cm (normal size should be about 2,5 cm).

Got a nice print-out with all the images. Maybe I'll post one here if I can get it properly scanned.

On to the next appointment with the OB (even though she isn't really one, but I will call her that anyway because it's easier and she's a specialized general practitioner). She wasn't there though, but a replacement, very young, but very nice. A few basic exams, some prescriptions (for the entire pregnancy) for blood work etc, and some warnings about toxoplasmosis and listeriosis and what foods not too eat (most of it I already read on the web of course).

Next appointment (both with OB and for next u/s) around week 12. Seems a long way off... Have to go to the hospital on November 17 to register at the maternity ward. As this doctor is affiliated to the hospital where I want to go, I can stay with her for the entire pregnancy, and don't have to change for the last 2-3 months (like two of my friends had to do). The only thing that will change is the location for the consultations - first seven months at her office, last two months at the hospital.

Have to call my RE's office with the results on Monday and check how long they want me to continue with the progesterone and the baby aspirin (the prescription says at least one month after the first positive beta, and I'm not there yet, so in the meantime I'll just continue).

Now off to enjoy the weekend. Happy Halloween (not that I'm celebrating that here in France)!

Triggering tomorrow

Ultrasound exam tonight was much more relaxed with the other doctor. He was early, so now the waiting was for the nurse. Not to worry about abdominal pain, is normal. 10 follicles, between 15-18mm so triggering tomorrow evening, ER on Tuesday morning...

Dr 'Speed'

Dr 'Speed' has a regular OBGYN practice, but here at the clinic he's also the expert 'echographiste', i.e. ultrasound expert. I'm slowly getting used to his way of working, but he can still make me feel completely rattled.

He is always late. Most of the time around 15 minutes, but sometimes half an hour, and one time even 45 minutes, which made all of us women with full bladders in the waiting room feeling like we were going to explode any minute.

When he's finally there, you get the impression he tries to make up for his lateness by speeding us all through the ultrasound exams in no-time. If, heaven forbid, your bladder is either too full or not full enough (so he can't see your ovaries on the ultrasound), he'll send you back to the end of the line (which is a real bummer if you initially were second in line, and suddenly you're nr. 10), no mercy. He sees the follicles on the ultrasound, measures the biggest and then is able to write down the size of the rest as well. It seems to be pretty accurate... Before you have time to pull up your pants, he already opens the door to summon the next patient in.

Last year, when I had to come in for my IUI cycles, he somehow realized he was making me very nervous, so he started making jokes to make me feel a bit more at ease. Which helped, more or less.

However, last Wednesday he got me completely confused. While doing the ultrasound he said something like "it's Friday", so I reacted surprised. "Yes, yes, because we'll skip two days... - if you're OK with it" which made me think that he was talking about the time between triggering and egg collection, which confused me even more, because he had just measured the largest follicle being at 13mm, so not big enough at all to trigger ovulation. I already started to panic that I hadn't brought my Ovitrelle, so I mentioned that to him. "No, no, you don't need that". So I told him I was now very confused. "You just take 125 IU of Puregon tonight and come back tomorrow. Au revoir, Madame". Ugh.

That night I had a nightmare: Dr 'Speed' had forgotten to tell me how many IU of Puregon to take, so I asked my own doctor, who told me 500! Which freaked me out, because it was way to much, but no, no, it was necessary, because my follicles were not growing quickly enough... Luckily I woke up at that moment.

The next day I wanted to ask Dr 'Speed' about some abdominal pain I was experiencing, but again, the whole thing went so fast, and then he got a call on his cell phone, and walked out of the room... Before he got the call he'd made a note for the doctor who would do the ultrasound on Saturday, to say that maybe we'd trigger on Sunday, and had written down how much Puregon to take that evening, but had not given any instructions for Friday, which I needed since there would be no ultrasounds that day. The whole thing started to ressemble my nightmare a bit too much...

While the doctor was on the phone, I told the nurse about it all. He's great and we had a good laugh. Finally Dr Speed was done with his phone call. So the nurse asked him about the instructions for Friday 'for this woman who's triggering on Sunday'. "No, that's not what I said, I said MAYBE trigger on Sunday, that's up to the other doctor who'll do the ultrasound on Saturday!" So he added four more question marks to his note, gave the instructions for Friday and off he was.

Before I left, the nurse told me that if I would wake up screaming that night from another nightmare, I should think of him, because he was probably having one too!