First Trimester Ultrasound

Scheduled in for my first trimester ultrasound next friday. Its one week away but I have already started to worry.

So far I have been having it easy. I am 5 weeks + 2 now and im perfectly fine. No morning sickness, no bleeding, no spotting, no nausea. I do feel extremely tired and I have been experiencing cramps and really strong sense of smell. Which I heard are all pretty normal.

I found out that you can have your first trimester scan and not find a heartbeat and the baby has just stopped growing for some reason. Its made me so wrroed now.

I have been googling to find out more and apparently there are several reasons why you might not see the fetus's heartbeat at six weeks. First you may not really be six weeks pregnant. You may have ovulated late cycle.

The second reason has to do with the type of ultrasound probe the technician is using. Transabdominial probes (over the belly as opposed to in the vagina) are not as sensitive in detecting pregnancy and early heartbeat.

A heartbeat definitely should be seen if an embryo (or "fetal pole") is seen, usually as early as six weeks of pregnancy by transvaginal ultrasound.

Thus, a transvaginal ultrasound showing no fetal heartbeat will mean one of two things: either the pregnancy is too early for the hearbeat to be visible or a pregnancy loss has occurred. 

I also heard that if you ever see the baby on a first trimester ultrasound with no heartbeat, you should wait at least seven days and have a follow-up ultrasound. Sometimes the angle is wrong or something the baby is just too small. 

I guess chances are everything is fine and I have nothing to worry about and I will be able to see Little Opa's heartbeat. But I'm petrified!!

I think I should try to be more positive. Yes be positive and enjoy every day and just go with the flow. As long as I am keeping healthy and doing all the right things then the rest is in "God's hands". Keep thinking and worrying won't change anything.

Vitamin C & Pregnancy

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is essential for tissue repair, wound healing, bone growth and repair and healthy skin. Vitamin C also helps our bodyy fight infection and it acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from damage.

I know both pregnant women and the baby needs this vitamin daily - its necessary for the body to make collagen, a structural protein thats a component of cartilage, tendons, bones and skin. Based on animal studies, some researches believe that Vitamin C deficiencies in newborn babies can impair mental development.

Vitamin C also helps our body absorb iron. 

Some studies show that taking too much Vitamin C in the form of supplements during pregnancy may increase the risk of preterm birth and there are rare reports of babies with scurvy (a severe vitamin C deficiency) to expectant moms who took vitamin C supplements. Of course excessive vitamin C can also upset your stomach.

I also heard that taking too much Vit C can cause cell damage in the fetus. 

Vit C is also in a lot of foods we consume everyday but it is also water-soluble so you do lose a lot of it every time you pee and pregnant women do pee more than other people! Besides, it is a primal vitamin to support our immune system, which is crucial during pregnancy. 

Heres the recommended amount of vitamin C I found:

Pregnant women - 85mg 

Pregnant 18 years or younger - 80mg

Breastfeeding women - 120mg

Breastfeeding 18 years or younger - 115mg

I have been taking at least 3000mg of Vitamin C but I guess I should look at cutting it down. The recommended daily intake is 85mg for pregnant women age 19 and older. The maximum is 2,000 mg per day. I am taking Elevit which contains 80mg, so I should be only taking 1000-1500mg of Vit C instead.

Surprise, I’m pregnant!

Shocked? So am I. I still cant believe it.

I did my first test a few days ago on my birthday. I wasnt expecting anything but two lines came up and I tested again..and it was positive again. That day I tested 4 times. 

The next day I tested again in the morning and it was still positive so I decided to head to my GP to confirm with blood test. And its positive!

I still can't believe the test came out positive. After 2 chemical pregnancies I didnt want to put too much hope into it. Ever since I found out, I have gotten so paranoid that something might happen to the baby. I am praying and hoping that this little one sticks around for the next 9 months!
 
I have some cramping almost like period cramps and I have been told thats normal but I just feel like AF is going to show her ugly head again or somethig horrible is going to happen.
 
We are very lucky. I did lose about 7 kilos this month and was exercising more regularly. I am probably at my slimmest and fittest ever.

My whole world has changed. I am suddenly aware that another life is dependent on me. I am going to start making changes on my diet.  


I know that at this stage the "baby" is still a clump of cells and is about the size of a dot. But I want to visualise a happy and safe pregnancy, a safe labour and a healthy, happy child.


Hehe..I figured its never too early to start bonding with the baby.


We obviously don't have any names picked out yet but I have settled for now to call it Little Opa (swedish for Little Monkey).

Lol I'm pregnant. The girl that SWORE she would never have or want babies is pregnant! Its amazing how much you can love something so small.
 

So I'm actually pregnant and please Little Opa please stick!!

21 day blood test

The "cycle day 21" progesterone test should really not be called that. It should be called the "7 days past ovulation" test because it needs to be done 7 days AFTER ovulation. The doctors use a textbook average 28 days cycle to come up with "day 21" test, but not all women have a 28 day cycle and the timing of this test is important.

After ovulation, progesterone production ramps up and levels begin to surge. They peak and then plateau at about day 7 after ovulation, which is when they do the test - when progesterone is about at its highest level.

The test measures progesterone and if its above a certain level it will confirm that you ovulated and that you had enough progesterone in your system to get pregnant and stay pregnant, so its a really important test.

Here are the measurements:

<10 nmol/l = no ovulation>

10-30nmol/l = ovulation occured but not enough progesterone to get/stay pregnant

>30 nmol/l - a normal, healthy level