Miscarriage is something that has always scared me. When I read more about it and found out how common it really is, I was even more worried. We were finally pregnant and we already loved our baby so much. A couple weeks after finding out I was pregnant I started spotting. Bleeding during pregnancy is never a good sign. It's not always a bad sign, but it's never good. In the first trimester, it is relatively common to have some spotting, but miscarriage is also pretty common early in pregnancy. Needless to say, I was worried and scared. I talked to my doctor and he asked us to come in the next morning to have an ultrasound.
I tried to keep a positive attitude but after having problems with my progesterone levels, I feared we were losing our baby. After a long sleepless night, we drove up to OHSU for our ultrasound. I was 5 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Our doctor explained to us that this early in pregnancy, we may not be able to see the embryo, and if we could see the embryo, we may not be able to see a heartbeat yet. If we couldn't see the embryo, or we could see the embryo but not the heartbeat, we wouldn't really know if our baby was ok, so this wasn't good news.
We got started with the ultrasound, and right away the doctor said, "there's the embryo!". We could see our baby for the first time, which was amazing, but we wanted to know our baby was ok. Luckily, the good news didn't end there. The next thing our doctor pointed out was our baby's heartbeat. Within the little tiny blip that was our baby, we could see the heart, beating away. It was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. Tears flooded our eyes as we watched our baby. We were relieved, excited, thankful, and overwhelmed. This was without a doubt the best moment of my life!
In the first trimester the heart rate (like the size of the baby) is generally the same in all babies. In the 5th week of pregnancy the heart rate should be 80-103 bpm. Our baby's heartbeat measured at 90 bpm, which was great! Each week the heart rate increases. After 12 weeks the heart rate will level out or drop and then will remain relatively constant through the remainder of the pregnancy. After checking for any sources of bleeding in the uterus, the doctor explained that everything was looking great and that in the first trimester, bleeding can occur due to all the extra blood flow to the cervix that occurs during pregnancy.
We got several pictures to take home, and left relieved and incredibly happy. I didn't like calling our baby "it" so we nicknamed her "Peanut" early on in the pregnancy. That is what we called her for the first 20 weeks, until we learned she was a "she". Sometimes I still call her Peanut, since I did for so long and am so used to it.
That little blip in the dark area is
our precious baby.
We had another ultrasound scheduled for 10 days later. Our doctor explained that if baby is measuring correctly and the heartbeat increased like it should, it's a good milestone. I always found it hard to pass the time between ultrasounds. I wish I could have had one every day to check on our baby. But 10 days later, all we got was more good news. Our baby was measuring right on track, and the heartbeat increased to 141bpm. Not only could we see her heart beating away, but this time we got to hear her heartbeat. We could also see little tiny arms and legs.
Growing babe!
After seeing that our baby was growing strong, we wanted to tell Tim's family we were expecting. They were soooo excited! Tim is the oldest of his 3 siblings and Olivia will be the first baby of the family. On his dad's side, she will be the first great-grandbaby. Our kids will have awesome aunts, uncles, and grandparents on both sides and we feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family!
Since everything was now going smoothly, I was referred to Salem Clinic. It was nice to finally have an OB and to be going to a doctor in Salem. I did another glucose test, had a blood test done to check a variety of other things, and had another ultrasound done. I was 8 weeks and 4 days along, and everything looked great! I was rarely bleeding anymore, and when I did I just had to remind myself that it wasn't a problem, and that our baby was ok. Tim and I both really like our doctor. He listens to all my questions and never makes us feel rushed. Since everything was going smoothly, we had a first trimester ultrasound scheduled to get a closer look at everything and had monthly appointments set up. The rest of our first trimester went much more smoothly.
At 10 weeks and 4 days along we had our first trimester ultrasound. Baby's heartbeat was 170 bpm and we got to see her little arms and legs moving around, which was awesome! At our 12 week appointment the nurse wasn't able to find the heart beat with the doppler, which is common at 12 weeks, but still really scary. They scheduled an ultrasound for 4 hours later to check on baby, but that was too much for me, and I broke down crying. After all we had been through, I simply could not handle waiting 4 hours to see if our baby was still with us. Our doctor wasn't in the office that day, but luckily the nurse talked to another doctor that was there and she graciously took the time to give us a quick ultrasound between two of her appointments. As soon as the ultrasound began we saw our baby moving around. That was all we needed to know that our baby was doing well, but the doctor didn't rush. She took the time to let us watch our baby and took a couple measurements to see that everything was on track. I felt so taken care of and so relieved. If our doctor is not available when our baby is born, the doctor that gave us the ultrasound that day will likely be the one to deliver our baby, so it was good to meet her, and she was so wonderful that we know we will be taken care of either way.
Tim and I feel so, so lucky. We have fertility issues and we had a couple scares in our first trimester, but I am now 24 weeks along and our baby girl is still growing strong. We can't wait for her to get here and see that she is healthy and happy. I don't think that my anxiety will completely go away until she is here in my arms, but at least now I am comforted by her kicks throughout the day.
~Kaylee
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