Thanksgiving announcement

Bob and I drove all around Northern Michigan through a Thanksgiving Day blizzard to announce the baby to family.

My first OB visit

My first OB visit held quite a shock. I walked into the waiting room and my jaw dropped. Standing there was Bob's Aunt Marilyn and his cousin Danielle, who is a brand new mom. My OB was her OB! This could have been a disaster because I hadn't told anyone about the pregnancy yet. We were planning to wait until I was at least eight weeks!

I simply pretended to be there for my annual pap smear. I think it worked. :)

I received an ultrasound during this visit and saw the baby move for the first time. I also learned that if you have irregular periods, doctors merely guess at how far along you are by measuring the size of the baby and uterus. Thus, I walked in believing I was seven weeks and walked out with a revised estimate of eight-and-a-half weeks and a due date of June 29, 2005. I left those ultrasound pix at my Aunt Cindy's house downstate, so I can't post them for your enjoyment.

Oh, yeah. I also quickly realized that my OB was a jerk, so I vowed to find someone else. I wonder how cousin Danielle feels about him...

My first ultrasound

Well, this was a miserable experience. They made me drink four times as much as my bladder could hold but then wouldn't let me pee. I wrote about it in my other blog.

This ultrasound revealed that I was about five weeks and three days pregnant. The doctor wasn't able to see an actual embryo, but he could identify a gestational sac and a yolk sac.

Pregnancy test

I'd been sick all week, so I took a pregnancy test. The digital readout says, "Pregnant." My husband laughed at me for taking this photo.


I'd actually been having other symptoms for three weeks, but I thought I was PMSing. Go figure.

I rushed to Quick Care for a definitive blood test, but doctors know that false positives on home pregnancy test are almost unheard of. (The false negative is the only thing you have to worry about.) The blood test really narrowed it down by revealing that I was anywhere from five weeks to twelve weeks pregnant. (I'm really glad I bothered.) Fortunately, a simple bit of math was able to help. I couldn't be more than five weeks along because a blood test on October 3 came back negative.

After spending most of the day in a state of elation, I started spotting that night. Generally, spotting at five weeks isn't much to worry about (it's known as implantation bleeding), but half of all women who spot eventually miscarry, so I couldn't help worrying. Worse, I spotted for four days, which is longer than usual. A subsequent blood test revealed that my pregnancy hormones were on the rise, so all was well.