10 weeks - fabulous appointment, fabulous pictures!

We're 10 weeks pregnant today and I got to take a nice long look at Baby Alvarez today!! (Unfortunately DH had to work right at the time of my appointment so he couldn't be there...grrrr!!) So I'll tell you about my appointment and then share some pics from it.

The u/s tech at the MFM's is just awesome. She was pointing out everything as she went. The doc popped in for a few minutes to say hi and see how things were looking, then let her continue on with the u/s. The baby was kicking and waving and stretching!! It was just absolutely amazing, especially considering the little one is only about an inch long. At one point when I was telling the u/s tech that DH is in the Army, the baby raised it's hand up by it's head - she's like "hey that looked like a salute!" (Oh how I wished DH could have been there to see it!) She then switched to another view to look at blood flow and you could see the heart area and umbilical cord light up. And lastly she switched to 3d a few times which was beyond cool and she gave me a couple of shots in 3d to take home. Amazing, amazing stuff! You have to remember the last time I had a baby, they did 1 or maybe 2 u/s for the entire pregnancy and they didn't give you pictures to take home. Also, the quality of the scans these days is like a million times better than 18-20 years ago so it really was astounding to see so much so soon. We could even see the fingers for crying out loud!!!

So then I met with Dr D. We reviewed my pap results and prenatal b/w results - all great - and now that we have all of my results back & saw the baby moving with that beautiful heart beating away, we've got the all clear for my TAC surgery on January 3rd. We went through my list of questions - and again I must say, I've never had a doctor take as much time with a patient as Dr D. does. While most docs rush you in and out and you completely forget what you were going to ask them in your "drive-thru" appointment, Dr D takes his time and explains everything. Then he sits back and asks "what other questions do you have?" and we move on to my next question. Never do I feel rushed and I just love that.

So we talked more about the surgery - I should be fine with an epidural/spinal type of anesthesia instead of general anesthesia which makes me very, very happy. Never having had an epidural/spinal (because back when I had kids they didn't offer it during labor like they do now) I was wondering how long it took to wear off. Depending on the type they give me, the surgery should take just under an hour, the block should wear off in 2-4 hours, and I should be out of my hospital bed and walking around as soon as it wears off. About 70-80% of his patients are discharged from the hospital in 24 hours so I'm going to try like hell to be part of that percentage. When I go for my first trimester screening on 12/27, we'll do all of the paperwork for the surgery and I'll go across the street to meet with the pre-op folks at the hospital to get that all squared away.

We also talked about those fun topics like constipation & sex...well, that's an interesting combination, huh? Right now constipation is not terrible, but history shows that surgery + painkillers are not kind to my bowels. After my last surgery in August I was eating prunes like they were going out of style and by the time I finally went, I was literally crying, I screamed once, and for a moment I thought I was going to die. (Ok, mild exaggeration on that last bit, but damnit that was fucking painful!!) So first thing I need to do is up my fluid intake to an 8oz glass every waking hour. I guess I will just move into the bathroom, but hey, whatever it takes. He also suggested having a cool air humidifier in the bedroom at night. Apparently with our forced air heat I could easily be losing a liter of fluids just breathing all that hot air at night so the humidifier should help with that. And then if I don't get enough relief with the increase of fluids & humidifier, I can add a stool softener before bed.

We also talked about sex and DH & I will continue our refrain until after the surgery. Boo hiss!! Oh, how we both miss it...I swear this is torture! But at this point it's safer for us to refrain. An orgasm on my part & prostaglandins in semen can both cause uterine contractions so we need to avoid those for now. It's been a long couple of months of waiting and we'll have to wait a bit longer, but hopefully after the healing from the surgery is done, we'll get the green light to live (and love) like a normal pregnant couple...well almost...we'll still have to use condoms to avoid the prostaglandin risk. Nothing like safe sex during pregnancy. :-)

So, onto the pics from today...

The first, a view from the side. Oh, it looks like a baby now instead of a blob!!



This one is looking straight at him/her. Love those little arms & legs. Some of the white areas on the head are where facial bones are forming.



This one is kind of looking down on him/her. Again, can see the arms and legs.




This is when the baby "saluted". Raised his/her arm up so the hand was right up by the head.



This is one of the 3d pictures. AWESOME!!



And this is my favorite. It's just an amazing picture and I could look at it all day. I love how you can see the whole baby and the umbilical cord. LOVE IT!!!



Well, I must go finish making dinner. But had to share my great appointment and great pics with you all!