11 Weeks

I had my first OB appointment on Friday. I'm a little worried/ticked off. My doctor was upset with me because I hadn't had a pap smear in over a year. I told her that was because I called and asked about whether I should go in, since I was starting IVF in Spring 2009 and the clinic wanted me to wait, anyway. I couldn't go and have a pap smear right around the time I was supposed to be doing follicle stimulation and all that other stuff.

My blood pressure has always been normal. Always. Well, it was high yesterday. I kind of expected it would be because I haven't been swimming since August, and I've gained weight. So, she mentioned it was high and I said that it's always normal otherwise. She said it wasn't "the last time I was there" in 2007!!! So, now I'm a little irritated because something's not right with the dates. May of 2007, I was planning my wedding, coaching a swim team, swimming on my own team, teaching five classes without a conference period, and basically ran myself ragged to the point of getting a recurrence of Mono. That would probably explain the high blood pressure then. I told her that, too. I asked her what month I had come in for my pap smear and she said "May." I retorted, "well, I had MONO!" I mean, come on!

But, then, she said that I've gained about 10 pounds since my last visit in 2008, so I guess she *does* have that info. Grrr. It's just confusing to me.

Oh, and the reason why she was kind of irritated that I waited for the pap smear was because I have tested positive for HPV. :( But, what I'm really confused about (and this is what I'm going to call on Monday and ask) is, she said my Pap came back positive for HPV at my last exam. That's not true - I got a card that said my pap was normal. I tested positive for HPV after that when I had a full blood-work done before we could start the IVF process. So, she must have gotten the results of the blood work, saw that I tested positive for HPV and wanted me to come in for a pap smear, but I didn't. Hopefully, this latest test will be normal. She stated that if this "second" pap comes back abnormal (with HPV) then I'm going to have to have further tests to check my cervix. The thing that's bothering me is, my last pap smear in July of 2008 was NORMAL. I had blood work done in spring of 2009 that showed the HPV.

Grrrrrr! I'm frustrated with that.

But, everything else was fine. We got to hear our babies' heartbeats for the first time. And, when the first baby was visible on the monitor, it was jumping and moving all over the place! I was so shocked, I laughed, which hurt my stomach because of the angle I was laying on the exam table. The second baby was moving, but it didn't seem to be as much. But, wow! They were really moving!!! :)

I don't go in for another ultrasound until week 15 - and I'm going to have all kinds of tests done. Genetics testing and the like. I do NOT want to have an amniocentesis done or the other test where they take a piece of each placenta to test for disorders - I have read that there is a risk of miscarriage and I don't want to risk that at all. Apparently, there were some tests I could have had done, but they were supposed to have been done by week 10 - but the doctor said I was cutting it close, so they'd just have me do some testing in the 2nd trimester.

I was also told that I *CAN* go swimming!!!! I'm so excited about that. I won't get in the water with my high school kids... probably not a good idea for that, but I'm looking forward to doing some light swimming. :)

My spotting has also significantly decreased to nothing, with such a light color, that it's almost invisible to see. So, that's a definite plus. There's nothing worse than having all that bleeding and then weeks and weeks and weeks of spotting. Yuck.

The one negative side to pregnancy for me seems to be the headaches I've been having. I had a headache on Thursday night that mostly went away on Friday, but came back with a vengeance on Friday night. I've been hesitant to take Tylenol (I threw up the last time I took it when I was 19), but my sister-in-law, who's also pregnant, suggested I try and take it again. I also got the H1N1 flu shot while at the doctor's office on Friday, which could explain the general malaise I've been feeling.

My sister-in-law gave me some Tylenol and it totally helped. I'm finally feeling headache-free and that's definitely a relief. I can't imagine dealing with a headache while having to grade finals and get grades done this week.

Here are week 11 ultrasounds:

Both:

Dana :)