Today was my last visit at the infertility doctor. Jeff was able to go with me today. They were very sweet - saying congrats and hugging us goodbye. We didn't mess around too much with them, did we? We figured it out quick and here we are - a little over ten weeks pregnant. CRAZY! So far, we're VERY lucky. They asked us to send them a birth announcement and stop by with the baby later.

The ultrasound wasn't as crystal clear today. The bigger the babe gets the harder it is to see with this type of ultrasound. So, they tried the thing on my stomach too. The fun part about that . . . we got to HEAR the heartbeat! Amazing!!

Today we saw the spine again. We saw the definition of the jaw bone - which you can sorta see in the pics below. And - this was the coolest part - we saw the TOES!! Cute. The babe wasn't moving as much today, but it did wave at us and kick its legs. Cute. Cute. Cute!!

Next week it's back to see Christee (my OB/GYN) and her nurse Julie. They were sooooooo nice and compassionate with us during our first two pregnancies. I can't wait to see them again, this time hopefully for a positive experience.

Soooooo . . . the stats . . . It measured 10 weeks and 3 days. It was 3.68 centimeters long, so about an inch and a half. The heart rate was 162. A girl?!?! We better get to thinking of some girl names!! See if you can see the toes in this first picture - on the far left side of the babe. In the bottom picture you can see the jaw bone - it's a brighter white than the rest of the babe.

Tomorrow's another ulstrasound! I'm anxious as always. Seems like I've told a lot of people this week our big news, and so that makes me more nervous that things will be OK. Come back tomorrow for more!

XOX

Well, we had a little scare on Thursday and Friday. I think only Judi knew the whole story. Let me cut to the finish first - everything is FINE! I'm fine. The babe is fine. All is well.

I had such a dreamy day on Thursday. I had breakfast (sort of) with my girlfriends. My new oven was delivered. My house was SCRUBBED clean. And then I saw the peanut! It was soooo mobile and active and the heartbeat was strong. It was all really good stuff.

Well, around 5 pm on Thursday I got a very concerned phone call from my doctor's office. Apparently some blood work came back with "critical" numbers. My platelet count was LOW - scary low. They were calling to see if I had broken blood vessels on my arms or on my face. Had I had any nosebleeds. Was I bleeding from ANYWHERE?!?! No, no, no and no. I felt fine and saw no weird blood issues. But the numbers were bad and they were concerned. I was to call them overnight if anything odd happened and I needed to come back to their office first thing Friday morning for more tests.

Friday they took SIX VIALS of blood to run a whole series of tests and they told me to NOT go camping this weekend, as was our plan. : ( SAD! But, if I was this critical, we agreed I should stay put. Sooooo . . . they got me an appointment with a hematologist (blood dr) for the afternoon and I was to take it REALLY easy and wait and see what she said. Late afternoon the dr called back and said oddly the results from today's blood work were totally normal - not a thing wrong. They were confused but didn't know what to do. They advised I go ahead and see the specialist.

Jeff went with me, as this was getting more concerning. The blood doctor was convinced it was a lab error, which had been one theory from the start, but a strange error. The office had asked them to re-run the tests and when the results are that off, they look at the blood under a microscope and triple confirm the results. They'd done all that. Still - it was looking more and more like that was the issue. The blood doctor took one more sample and we sat for a minute while those tests were run and ALSO came back normal. She said GO CAMPING!!

On our way home, the nurse called from my doctor's office and said she'd been in contact with the original lab throughout the day and they finally admitted to their error. Strange. We loaded the car and had a wonderful weekend in the mountains with Otto and our friends the Meskimen.

To put this to scale - my normal platelet count was around 350. I think it translates to 350,000. The critical test result said I was at 21, or 21,000. A pretty serious difference!

Anyway, all is well. I'm home and still feeling the icky pregnant feeling I've had for a while. I go back for one more ultrasound with this doctor on Thursday morning and then I am switching over to my regular OB/GYN for the rest of the pregnancy.

Talk to you soon.
XOX

I'm having SUCH a great day. First of course - the doctor's visit. It went SOOOOOO well. It was just me today. Jeff had a big day at work. My appointment was at 10:30 am. I was weighed, blood pressure checked, and took two blood samples. They're checking my progesterone again (as they're thinking they MIGHT be able to lower my dose now - YEAH!!) and they also want to see how the blood thinner is doing. I wish we could reduce that too. Those are the worst things I take - not pills. After that was done I went into the ultrasound room.

The walnut - now an upgrade from a peanut - is looking great. It was SOOOOO active today. It moved and moved and moved. It was fantastic. It had the pads of its feet together touching, so we saw little knee caps. LOVED it. Baby's dancing in there. It better enjoy it while it can. Space is gonna get tighter soon. Even the nurse, who is an ultrasound technician - she sees these ALL DAY LONG - told me she got chills. It was all fantastic. The heart rate was 171. Girl?!?!

After my appointment I made the requisite phone calls to Jeff and Judi. They were excited. Judi's looking forward to moving here even more now, so she can go to the doctor with me when Jeff cannot. I emailed out the pics immediately to a few people. Then it was back to work.

Other GREAT stuff about my day . . . my new oven came today. LOVE it. Electric oven with a gas range. We'll really enjoy having gas. Our friend/carpenter Matt came and rehung the pantry door. I picked up newly cleaned and hemmed curtains for the living room. And the house is getting a MUCH needed cleaning even as I type. Ahhhhh . . . soon life will go back to normal - for now. In the fall we'll start another wave of improvements as we finish off our third bedroom - hopefully for a little munchkin Kegg!

Here are today's pics:

Tomorrow I will have more baby news. I have another ultrasound tomorrow at 10:30 am. Not sure what else we're supposed to see tomorrow - maybe just longer arms and legs. CRAZY! It should look more baby-like too I think. All that we'll know tomorrow.

In the meantime there's still a TON of work to do at the house. We're waiting for the baseboards to be finished so we can put our house back in order. We have new house cleaners coming tomorrow (YEAH!!) and so we need to get things back in their place before anyone can clean. We may be doing the work ourselves tonight if it's not done today. Ugh.

More tomorrow.
XOX

No baby news in the last few days. For me, no news is good news! It's just been a few nice meals without a glass of wine. ;) Today was a very productive day though. Jeff and I are staying at a hotel while our hardwood floors are being installed and finished. We went over again today. The floor is GORGEOUS, but the house sure does smell.

On Friday I ordered a new oven for our kitchen. Yeah - we're finally moving to gas. We selected the Jenn-Air dual fuel double oven in black. So, last night after dinner with the neighbors, we went to our garage and took a few pictures of our old Whirlpool. At 10 pm I posted the photos and a description on Craigslist. By the time I woke up I had three emails. My 3 pm today we were loading the oven into someone's van and counting our cash.

Also today we went to Circuit City and found a GREAT deal on a new TV for our living room. Not only did I want to upgrade "my" TV to a flat screen, but our old one - Jeff has owned for about 10 years - was starting to lose its picture. Soooo, Circuit City was selling a floor model of a 40" LCD Toshiba because they were changing the model style. So, we ended up with this GREAT TV for what appears to be about half price. SCORE!

All in all a very successful day - topped off by perhaps the best pizza we've had in Denver. Jeff enjoyed his with a cold beer. For me - lemonade. ;) It will all be worth it. Tomorrow we pick Otto up from the kennel and then head to an all day music festival . . . outside all afternoon . . . in 100 degree weather. Today we picked up one of those water bottles that has a fan on top so you can mist yourself. FUN!

Today I am blogging from Panera Bread. I'm having lunch and working here while we continue to stay out of our house. The first coat of finish went on the hardwoods yesterday. Jeff and I stopped by and checked it out. It's GORGEOUS! Today they're doing at least one more coat. We'll move back in Sunday night.

Last night after we saw the floors we went to a Rockies game. The Rockies won against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a good game. The tough part was . . . I couldn't eat a Rockie Dog! :( It's really the crowning moment of any Rockies game. It's a footlong Hebrew National dog with peppers and onions. I always add ketchup and relish. Last night I tried, but just couldn't do it. In fact, after eating about 1/4 of it, I had to ask Jeff to take it to the trash.

So, it's now proven. I feel fine until about 3 in the afternoon. Then I can feel the "morning sickness" starting to sink in. I have a few crackers, thinking that might help, but it hasn't worked yet. At dinner time I can eat just a very little amount of anything and then I'm just done.

Tonight is Mexican food with the neighbors. We'll see how I manage with that. Until then, I will stock up on those mini Ritz peanut butter cracker sandwiches.

XOX

Last night was pretty brutal. I was NOT feeling good. I really wanted to go out to dinner to celebrate the very positive ultrasound, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. Maybe Jeff and I will go out tonight. Instead I napped from 6 - 7 pm and then I woke up and had some Saltine crackers for dinner. Good times at the Kegg house! ;)

I still can't believe that there's a LIVING thing inside me. It's quite bizarre. Ohhh - and for those who are interested, I have a new favorite girl name . . . Sophie. What do you think?!?!

Today the work on the floors continues. I anticipate another fairly loud day. If it gets bad, I'll go to a friend's house to work (or nap). Tonight is our last night sleeping at home for a while. We'll be at a friend's house tomorrow night (they're out of town) and then Friday we check into a hotel for the weekend. Otto goes to a kennel.

Also up for the next few days . . . Thursday night we're headed to a baseball game and Sunday we've got tickets for the Mile High Music Festival.

XOX

Today was an amazing day in the baby development department. Jeff and I saw arms and legs!! We also saw the heartbeat again - 171 beats per minute today. We saw the spinal cord. We even saw it move already!! The nurse was even surprised by this. Crazy stuff going on in there.


Can you make anything out?? The upper right corner is its head. Just below that you can see the "paddles" that are the beginning of its arms. At the bottom - the bottom left cover - you can see the beginnings of legs.

Today I measured 7 weeks and 6 days. So tomorrow will be 8 weeks. Here's what the baby Website says goes on at 8 weeks . . .

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from the baby's hands and feet. Eyelids practically cover its eyes. Breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs. And, its "tail" is just about gone. In its brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. The baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though I still can't feel it.

It's only noon and I'm already tired. Today Jeff and I are doing a MASSIVE clean out of our first floor. We're having hardwoods installed and they start tomorrow. That means we have to empty bookshelves, the china cabinet, the TV console, the refrigerator, and the floor of our pantry and entry closet. We also have to totally clean out my office which will likely be the biggest headache. All this so the guy can remove the furniture tomorrow and start ripping out the old carpet and kitchen flooring. It will be really nice when it's all done, but the next week will be tough.

We're having the floors coated in a polyurethane finish, so pregnant or not, Jeff, Otto and I all need to be out of the house for a few days while that settles in. The smell is too much to deal with. Ohhh - and we went with hickory floors and we selected #2 which has the most variance in color/grain. We're excited.

It's ALSO our week to cook for the neighbors. We're doing picnic spiced chicken and an antipasto pasta salad. It's supposed to be good straight out of the fridge. Given how hot it's been here lately, we thought cold chicken sounded good. And, it's a recipe Jeff's been wanting to try.

So, it's back to work for me. I need to do an expense report before we disassemble my printer and then I need to go make the spice rub for the chicken.

XOX

I am home!! Yeah. It's always so nice coming home - whether I was gone for one night or twelve. So, what's even better. I'm now home for the duration of what could be my first trimester. I don't travel again until September! That will be sooooo nice. It's really a good thing too, especially if I keep feeling more and more ill. The landing today into Denver was REALLY bumpy. It was rough. When we finally touched down, the woman next to me said, "thank goodness!" I'm thinking - "Lady, you have no idea." I was seriously wondering if there were baggies in the seat pocket in front of me. Luckily for everyone on board that wasn't necessary.

So I'm home. This weekend will be a little hectic. I was welcomed home to the smell of hardwoods. We're getting new floors this week and I'm thrilled. The wood itself is piled up in the living room so it can acclimate to our house. The guy starts installation on Monday afternoon. We've got to spend a few days away due to the sound and the smell when he finishes it. We picked hickory and it'll have some great character.

I'm rambling. Tonight Jeff went to Boulder to hang out with Matt and a friend who moved away a while ago (he's just in town visiting). So, I called my other pregnant friend, Sarah, and we hit the movies. Popcorn for dinner. Not much protein there, but it hit the spot! We saw Get Smart. It was cute and funny. Now it's time to get some shut eye. Good thing I've got Otto here to protect me while Jeff's still away. ;) Nighty night.

XOX

Thursday, July 10

It's so weird - who you tell and how. I am at a resort inspecting the property for an upcoming work function. So, I'm the client here. We had a VERY nice lunch today at an Italian restaurant and someone thought it was a good idea to have a nice bottle of red wine to go with our meal. They were also HIGHLY recommending the seared tuna. Now I LOVE both of those things - red wine and undercooked fish. Clearly they're off limits to me at the moment. Sad. I'm not one to lie or beat around the bush, so I just told them what was up. Whatever. I really don't mind talking about it and letting people know I'm skeptical, given some history, but hopeful. It's a bit awkward, but oh well.

After lunch it was my duty and obligation to inspect the spa here as well. I had a lovely prenatal treatment. It's prolly a bit early for having to go that route, but I'm ever cautious at the moment.

Now it's time to make a plan for dinner and then it's early to bed.

XOX

Wednesday, July 9

Well, I was thrilled to get a call from the doctor's office yesterday. While they did add another pill to my daily cocktail (just an aspirin), they also gave me the progesterone test results. My levels are still great which means I don't have to take a second progesterone supplement each day. Yeah! The blood thinning shot I take at bedtime (in my tummy) is clearly my least favorite of the daily drugs, but the progesterone is a close second. So I am spared a daytime dose of that one. Yeah!

Today I traveled to Phoenix where it's a HOT 110 degrees. Actually, it isn't as bad as I was expecting. I was happy to see a can of Pringles in the minibar of my hotel room. I'm not sure what it is about pregnancy and Pringles, but I know many mommas who agree it's a pregnancy necessity! The travel's made me tired though, so I think it's nap time.

XOX

Monday, July 7

It was a big day around here for the Kegg family. It was Jeff's very first day at a new job and it was my first ultrasound for this pregnancy. With Jeff's new job, I asked Kristine to come with me. She was thrilled to do so and I loved having an old pro with me - someone who's seen the good ultrasounds and the bad ones too. Luckily today was a good one!!

Before the ultrasound I was weighed (I didn't look), tested my blood pressure (low and wonderful as usual) and then they took some blood to test my progesterone. Afterwards it was off to the stirrups. Fun stuff. I was scared. The whole process. As soon as it came on the screen, we could see it right away! Not only was the babe bigger than any ultrasound pic I've seen before, BUT WE SAW THE HEARTBEAT!! 133 beats per minute - a fighter in there. I was told anything over 100 would be good. I was happy. They are currently calculating a due date of Feb 28, but it may work out to be a few days before that. We'll see as things progress.

Here's the babe:

The ball on top is NOT the head as it really looks. That’s the yolk sac. The babe is the rice shaped bit on the bottom half. Next week we may be able to tell which end is the head and which is the “tail,” but we’ll see that for sure at week 8.

Sunday, July 6

Sooooo . . . in about 31 hours I'll know something more concrete. The waiting is killer, but there's nothing to do but wait. I go through these physical spurts where I feel great - and therefore start to worry more. Then I have moments where I feel a little ill and I'm thrilled about that. I know it's all common stuff. I just wish tomorrow afternoon would come on already!

Right now I'm just at 6 weeks along. So tomorrow I anxiously want to see a heartbeat. I think I'll be devastated if I don't see it. Crazy stuff is supposedly going on inside me this week.

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. There's an oversized head and dark spots where eyes and nostrils are starting to form. Emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and arms and legs are now protruding buds. The heart should be beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as mine — and blood is beginning to course through the little body. The intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to lungs has appeared. The pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, the baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean. I'm learning all this from www.babycenter.com.