Progressing

Well, there's been a little bit of progress since my last blog. I was able to get in to see the doctor on Monday. We did a lot of talking and I had a quick exam but that was about it. She sent me for more blood work to check my HCG level again and make sure it was rising appropriately. Since we still don't know when this baby was conceived, it's hard for the doctor to figure out how far along I am and she wanted to see what the levels were before scheduling an ultrasound. I guess if you go too early, you won't be able to see anything.

So I went for the blood work early Tuesday morning and stressed about the results for the rest of the day. The doctor told me if I didn't hear anything from them by Wednesday at noon to call the office. Well, by Wednesday at 10am I couldn't take the suspense anymore and I called. Of course I had to leave a stupid voice message! So frustrating. By 1:00 I still hadn't heard anything so I decided to become one of those patients and call back. This time I went straight to the receptionist and pleaded my case until she got a nurse on the phone to talk to me. The nurse seemed a little annoyed but whatever, I got what I wanted.

Okay, so remember my numbers from the first blood draw were 1152? HCG levels are supposed to double every 48 hours, which should've put me at 9,216 by Monday. Well on Tuesday, my level was 14,840!!!!! I freaked out when the nurse told me. It was an instant wave of relief mixed with excitement and shock. Not only did I get pregnant, but it actually seems to be progressing! I seriously cannot believe this is happening.

The nurse told me to go ahead and schedule my ultrasound so, fingers crossed, Joe and I will be able to see our little baby's heartbeat Wednesday morning! I am really curious what my reaction will be to seeing MY baby's heartbeat for the first time. I've waited so long for this moment and it still doesn't seem real or possible. If it weren't for the nausea and the gigantic boobs, I'd think I was dreaming. I know I'm definitely not out of the woods yet but this is farther than I've ever made it before so hopefully things will keep progressing normally.

Since we got such good numbers from the blood work, I went ahead and did a "starting" belly shot. Please excuse how awful I look, I'm growing a human for Christ's sake!