Appointment Today
Blood Pressure: 132/70
Baby’s Heartbeat: 145 bpm
Weight: Gained 4 lbs. (this means I am now breaking even with my first appointment and still down about 3 from my prepregnancy weight.)
Measurement: not sure, she did not say, I did not think to ask

When I consulted with Maternal Fetal Medicine in October, they said I should have my heart monitored at each appointment because I was born with mitral valve prolapse and an irregular heartbeat. I had a battery of tests done every few years throughout my childhood, but when I was 20 or 21 the prolapse was no longer detected and the murmur cased by it had disappeared. Today, my midwife detected the telltale murmur again. She said it could just be a normal variant that sometimes occurs in pregnancy, but with the history of prolapse, she would like to have it checked. So tomarrow at 8:45 I will go to have an echocardiogram (sp?) done to determine if I need to have any changes in my care.

I will also be going for my 1 hour glucose test and bloodwork to check my iron levels.

I need to check with my midwife about the serial ultrasounds to check growth rate recommended by the Maternal Fetal Specialist at my Level II. I asked her about them, but did not ask about when they should be done.

Some notes from the Ultrasound:
He is currently laying breech, but as we all know that does not matter at this point. The placenta is right in across the front of the uterus which would explain the fact that I have felt only a few kicks a day (they have to be pretty strong to feel them through all of that tissue. All of the organs and limbs look perfect. All of the measurements are about a week ahead right now so even though we are at 20w2d, the measurments are mostly around 21w3d. Weight is estimated at 15oz - 2oz.
On the plus side the doctor doing the Level II part of the scan said she was going to recommend that my doctor do regular ultra sounds to keep an eye on growth because of my arthritis. Sounds fine to me. I thought this would be the only one unless this one showed problems. It is also the only one that my insurance would pay for unless more were deemed “medically necessary”. I think a maternal-fetal medicine specialist saying that they should be done will qualify for that.

Just got back from my appointment. Everything is perfect so far. It is a bit strange. At every appointment, my midwife tells my how great my urine sample is (it is the right color, and the counts that they look at are right where they should be.) She told me today that she should have me give demonstrations on how to do it right. Actually thinking about that is kind of funny. I know she means on how much to be drinking and what to be eating and such, but in my mind I can see me trying to show a room full of pregnant women how to pee in a little cup.

The baby’s heart rate is 146. My blood pressure is good. I am measuring 18 cm, perfect for 18 weeks. I’ve gained 3.5 lbs. This is the first appointment that I had gained anything, so she was happy about that. Weight gain has been a bit of a problem for me so far. I dropped 5 lbs between my first and second appointment, dropped 2.5 lbs between my second and third, and now have gained 3.5 lbs. I am still at a deficit, but I figure it will come on when it is supposed to and even if it doesn’t, oh well. As long as the baby is healthy, it does not really matter.

My ultrasound is on the 29th, so I will try to post pictures then. We have decided that if we can find out the sex, we will. If not, then that is fine too.

Just got back from my appointment. Everything seems good. They were finally able to find the heartbeat (138 bpm). Blood pressure was good. I am measuring 13 cm and it should be 14 or 14.5, but she is not concerned. She said that it was because I am short. I have also lost another 2 lbs. once again she is not concerned because I was having a lot of trouble with reflux that was making me cough and the coughing was making me throw up so I was not keeping much food down, I have been on medication for a week now for that and accoring to the scale at home I have gained 4 or 5 pounds in the last week. (don’t want to keep that up, but since I am currently down 17 lbs from my prepregnancy weight, it is not so bad.)
I was slightly disappointed because if the could not find the heartbeat this time they were going to do an ultrasound in the office to check everything, now I have to wait until the 29th of July. That one will be a good one thought because it is a Level II. They need to check the kidneys, make sure there are two fuctioning well. If there is only one, it is okay, but it has to be fully functional. If there are none(very rare), it is best to terminate the pregnancy because there is no way for that baby to survive. I am not terribly concerned because it has not shown up since my great grandmother so we are probably pretty safe. ( It was nice that I was sent to a Maternal Fetal Specialist because of my arthritis. He said that I, or anyone in my maternal family, should have a Level II for every pregnancy. I was able to warn all of my cousins about it so now there should be no surprises and everyone gets to have a spiffy, detailed ultrasound.)
By the end of July we should be completely in the clear and then it should be smooth sailing (well as smooth as it can be)

Yesterday was the 10 week checkup, again with the spectacular urine. Otherwise things are progressing normally. We weren’t able to hear the heartbeat yet, but the midwife seemed to think removing Nicole’s pelvic bone was a bit extreme to enable us to hear it, so we’ll wait.
She’s thrown up a few times, but on the plus side, there’s been less nausia.

Nicole is A (Always said she was smart), Immune to German Measles, and in all other ways healthy and normal as far as the first blood test is concerned.