This little babe

I found out I was pregnant on a Saturday, two days before I was even due for the big P (sorry, I'll keep this brief - I know lengthy discussions on "cycles" aren't everyone's cup of tea). I was able to find out early because I was using doctor's office grade test strips, which I am obliged to mention because:
a) They're SO much cheaper than drugstore tests - even the less expensive (and therefore less sensitive) Wal Mart ones are about $11 each. I am one anxious gal, so I probably don't need to explain that when I was suspecting I was pregnant with Hudson, I nearly perished during the dreaded two week wait (google it - it's a thing - they have forums for it and everything). Yes, perished. It also forced me to spend an embarassing amount of money on pregnancy tests, simply because I could not be patient enough to wait until well after the two weeks had come and gone - and I convinced myself that the more expensive "find out the moment you are pregnant" drug store tests would actually yield quicker results. Not so. Those were alot of expensive bathroom trips, let me tell ya. Oh yeah...and
b) They have a higher sensitivity to HCG, the pregnancy hormone, therefore earlier results!!

Here is a link to the ones I bought for future mamas:
http://makeababy.ca/pregnancy-tests/?gclid=CJLA1v7ejLYCFYpDMgodRnoA2Q

This particular Saturday Hudson had woken up to a tummy bug, and so most of the day was spent doing laundry, coaxing down sips of water and teaspoons of gravol, and taking temperatures. But I couldn't come down from my cloud. We were just so ecstatic about our little secret!

The timing was fairly ideal. Hudson would be three years old by the time the due date rolled around, which I think is fantastic spacing. Close enough to be buddies, but not too close that I would have two kids in diapers at the same time (I commend any families who choose to have babies in close sequence, but for me, the buffer was kind of essential due to all the other things going on in our lives in between! Plus at this moment we feel that this is the completion of our family, so there was no need to have babies back to back in order to get them all, you know, in on time). Even now, Hudson has a growing independence and is more than okay to watch me  walk out the door if someone new and more exciting is replacing me! Of course he still needs me, which I love, but I was just very much at peace with the fact that he has had plenty of mommy time to hopefully fill him up during those times when I am focused on caring for a newborn in addition to my firstborn. Also - July 29th, the due date, is in the middle of Ty's summer break, which is obviously awesome. Not sure why, but I can just picture God snickering and giving us a due date in the middle of report cards.

The other thing was that both of us had just started working, and had plans for moving into our own place, so this was just kind of...the next step. The only problem with this whole timing thing is that after all of this, I won't be able to get my work hours in to have a good and proper maternity leave. We have peace about our situation though, and we know that this isn't the end of the world, and will work it out when it comes.

So then began the doctor's appointments, the first trimester woes (much sicker and fatigued then last time...in fact, the tiredness still lingers most days), the food aversions (and cravings - beef jerky and homemade macaroni and cheese), the sharing of the news to family members, the unbelting of pants, the seriously messed up (and often hilarious) dreams, the beginning of braxton hicks, the worries and subsequent prayers...and did I mention the beef jerky?

Finally on January 15th I put some of my worries to rest when I got to hear that precious heartbeat for the first time, and a few short weeks afterward was able to feel those first teeny tiny kicks and flips.

But my relief was a little short-lived when I received a call from my doctor's office to tell me that my doctor wanted me to come in to discuss some bloodwork I had recently completed. This particular round was called the quad screen, and what it measures is levels of certain hormones in the blood to detect whether or not there is a risk of some of the major birth defects (spina bifida, turner's syndrome, down syndrome, etc.). My doctor had told me at the previous appointment that she would only call me in if there was something wrong with the results. I didn't ask exactly what was off in my testing, but agreed to come in the following Monday (this was a Wednesday).

I knew at this point that it was useless to worry too much, because there are many falsely high readings detected with this screening, and I really have no risk factors associated with many of these birth defects (although there are some that can occur even without any risk factors). But of course I couldn't help but do a little research, which left me both hot and cold about the situation. Let's face it - emotions run high during pregnancy, especially when there is concern about the child itself. So I'll be honest and say I spent a day or two mostly in tears, with a very concerned Hudson hovering nearby whenever I would feel especially sad.
"Mommy, I take care of you. I'm so proud of you. I love you," he'd say over and over while hugging me tight (he has says this often in the past couple of months - let's just say I haven't been keeping it together very well lately!)

Thankfully after a couple of days I really felt at peace, especially with those first movements getting stronger by the day, and though my pillow saw a few tears every night, by Monday I was just ready to go in and hear what the doctor had to say.

Basically it was as I suspected. One of my hormone levels were off enough to raise a few eyebrows at the quad screen lab, but not enough to realistically be terribly concerned. The risk that my baby would have down's syndrome was abnormally high for my age (I was testing as if I was 37 years old), but all it meant was that now my risk was 1 in 570 instead of 1 in 1200.

I can live with that.

My doctor wanted to send me for an ultrasound, because there may have been cause for concern if the baby's actual measurements lead them to change my due date by more than a week. I already had an ultrasound scheduled for two weeks from that date, so my doctor was happy to keep it that way - and that was that.

So I patiently (yeah right!) waited for March 15th to come, simply because I badly wanted to see this little babe for the first time. Finally it came, and Ty met me at the Mission hospital where I promptly hopped up onto the bed so the technician could check everything over - and sure enough, the baby is measuring almost exactly to the due date we had already calculated, praise God! If there is anything else of concern, my doctor will be following up in the next little while, but for now all I can really do is continue praying and loving, come what may.

Oh how we love our little baby. We have a name for him already; we just couldn't help it. Oh yes, and I said 'him'. Our beautiful little babe is (most likely!) a beautiful little boy! I am ecstatic.