RE Graduation/Maternity Clothes Shopping

August 9, 2012

Today is my second scheduled ultrasound at my RE's office (but technically my third since I had that scare a few days ago). If all is well, we should be released to my regular OB. Justin was unable to make it to this ultrasound due to work, so mom and I have planned to go to the doctor today (Thursday) and stay in Frisco tonight so we can do some maternity clothes shopping today and tomorrow before I start back to work in a few weeks.

We left Seymour around 8:30 this morning and arrived in Bedford around 11:15. They got us back to the ultrasound room quickly and began the scan. Immediately Dr. Kevin Doody let me know that the baby was looking good. He took several measurements and I noticed that the baby is still measuring behind by a few days (measuring 8w4d and I am 9w0d). I asked him if this was a problem, and he assured me that a few days off is not a big deal. I pray he is correct. Next he showed us the heart beating away and measured the rate. It has now increased to 173 bpm. He said this is a great heart rate and that it will steadily decrease from now until birth. I was disappointed in the ultrasound pictures today, as they were not nearly as clear as the pictures from my first ultrasound. I remembered after we left the appointment that this was the same machine that Dr. Kathleen Doody had tried to use one time to measure my endometrial lining and she couldn't get accurate measurements and moved me into a room with a better machine. I wish they would have used the better machine today. Oh well.

Another thing that Dr. Kevin mentioned at the appointment was that my chances of miscarriage have now declined to 2-5%. I have a very great chance of having a take-home baby now. They also drew some labs to measure my progesterone and decided it was definitely high enough for me to discontinue the progesterone suppositories (thank goodness!!!). At this point in the pregnancy, the placenta takes over to produce adequate amounts of progesterone. After all the testing was complete, they officially released me to a regular OB. They printed out all of my medical records to take to my new doctor. I'm so excited to have made it this far, and I praise God for getting me here. I am still a little apprehensive about transitioning to a doctor who is not going to give me as much "attention" as I am accustomed to getting with my RE, but it's exciting that my doctor feels that baby and I are doing well enough to take this step.

After the appointment, Mom and I drove to Frisco and grabbed some lunch at Olive Garden. After lunch, we spotted a store called Buy Buy Baby and decided to just take a quick peek at all the adorable baby stuff. It was so much fun to allow myself to think about the crib, bedding, car seats, strollers, etc...
Mom and I determined that we will probably be in lots of trouble when the time comes to start purchasing all of these items.

Next we made a trip to the Stonebriar Mall to do some shopping for maternity clothes. I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I found a ton of new clothes for school. At Motherhood Maternity, they have these strap-on "bumps" to gauge how well your clothes will fit with a growing tummy. I tried on my clothes with a 7-month bump, and it was so much fun to see how I might look in a few months from now. Most of the clothes I purchased already fit right now because I already have an expanding waste line. I'm sure part of my expansion is due to fertility drugs, my very enlarged ovaries (from the egg retrieval), and maybe just a little from my expanding uterus. Even though I realize not all of my growth is due to the baby, I am still enjoying it. While at Motherhood, mom purchased a pregnancy body pillow for me. I've heard they are a lifesaver later in pregnancy. I have tried it out since the purchase, and I love it.

After all of our shopping Mom and I went to supper, made a few more errands, and then returned to our hotel room and purchased a movie to watch on Pay Per View. It was nice to just relax. The next morning, we made it down to the lobby for breakfast and checked out. We went back to Stonebriar for a little more shopping and then began our trip back home.

All in all we had a great mother/daughter trip. I'm allowing myself to get a little more excited about the pregnancy, and I am looking forward to the next several months!