Smudge is SO Grounded

I really can’t complain about this pregnancy so far. I’ve had nausea, I’ve been dizzy and I’ve definitely been extremely fatigued. But I can’t complain. If barely being able to hold my head up is the worst of my 1st trimester, then I definitely can’t complain.

More than anything else, I have never spotted. Not once. Not a hint of it.

So this morning, when I saw that blood on the toilet paper, on the last day of my 1st trimester, I just about lost my mind.

First I called my husband, told him I was spotting. Then I called my doctor’s nurse, and was barely able to hold my voice together. I told her what had happened, and that I knew everything was probably fine, but was there any way she could fit me in tomorrow, just to get checked. Thankfully, Nurse M knows about everything we’ve been through. She was mostly worried about me. She told me that she could hear me shaking on the phone. She was going to call Dr Loh (who was at the hospital) and call me back. Meanwhile, I called a good friend who would keep me occupied until Nurse M called me back.

When Nurse M called back, to my surprise, they weren’t going to fit me in for an ultrasound tomorrow. She was sending me immediately to the radiology place they affiliate with for an ultrasound. She faxed a prescription and said they were waiting for me, and would take me as soon as I got there (it was about 40 minutes away).

Our sonographer was Linda, and she was wonderful. Seriously kid gloves. Exactly what I needed. As soon as she put the wand on my belly, we saw a little arm pop up. All I wanted was to see the heartbeat, but Linda kept saying that with all the movement, everything was fine. Then we saw the perfect heartbeat beating away at 173. And then I breathed.

The ultrasound was amazing. 15 minutes of watching baby acrobatics. And Smudge was MOVING. All over the place. Cartwheels, somersaults, the works! Kicking and waving up a storm. It was great to see. And as soon as I saw s/he was okay, I pointed at the monitor and said “you’re grounded”, and the baby promptly raised it’s arm.

I’m fairly certain my child just gave me the finger.

Measurement-wise, we’re ahead in everything. The head is measuring 6 days ahead, abdomen 1 day and femur 3 days. I even got a NT sneak peek… the baby wouldn’t cooperate well, but from what she was able to see, she said she saw no significance to the area at all. So, although highly unofficial, I’ll take it.

Linda did find all three fibroids… so they’re still there, but the largest is hanging off the back of my uterus, so that’s fine. The two smaller ones are embedded in the wall, but not interfering with anything.

Then I saw the little black patch at the bottom of the screen. I’m a nurse. I’m not an idiot. I know what blood looks like on an ultrasound. I pointed it out to Linda and asked her if it was a subchorionic hematoma, and she said that, yes, that’s what she would call it.

Well, now we have our answer.

I’m 100% convinced that the HORRIBLE day I had at work yesterday, where I was on my feet for 12 hours, wasn’t able to sit hardly at all and didn’t drink nearly as much water as I would have wanted to, combined with the SCH is the reason why I spotted today.

Needless to say, I’m not going in tomorrow. I already called out.

So, here I am, sitting on my comfy chair with my nalgene bottle filled with water and the remote. Smudge is waving at me from the ultrasound picture on my right.

Today is the last day of my first trimester, and I absolutely love my baby.

It’s real. I’m pregnant. And I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to assure this baby is born healthy.