The Countdown Begins

Yesterday we took our third trip to the doctor’s office...through rush hour traffic. We arrived on-time only to find out that Tiffany’s doctor had just been called to a delivery. The nurse said she would return in just 20 minutes. I had no idea a delivery could take only 20 minutes, but then Tiffany said she might just be checking to see how far along the mother was. That made sense to me. My expertise on how long a delivery takes is based solely on watching The Cosby Show where Cliff (Bill Cosby) seemed to be at the hospital all day for a delivery so this 20 minutes didn’t jive with me.

Just then, the nurse confirmed that she was in fact delivering a baby. At that point we were offered to visit with Maurline, the nurse practitioner again or wait for Dr. Thompson, who would still be just 20 minutes longer. Since it was almost 5:00 already, we met with Maurline who conducted our third ultrasound, the results of which you see here. 

As soon as the image appeared on the screen you could see a big difference from just two weeks before. What you see here is actually a blown up version which they used to measure the fetus, and honestly, I thought you could see more when it was zoomed out especially a little light that was flickering. That was the heartbeat! We also got a due date finally, January 5, and we know now that we are 8 weeks in. We were relieved to finally know how far along we were and actually, it turned out to be only 6 days off from the original calculation based on Tiffany’s last cycle.

Believe it or not we need to go back again in 2 weeks. At 10 weeks, when you see or hear the heartbeat, they feel very confident about getting out of the first trimester. Supposedly, and I say supposedly because I could have sworn she said this LAST VISIT, after our next visit, we can go to once a month for the appointments until we get closer to January.

I have to say being an OBGYN seems to be a pretty good racket. For starters you get people coming in every couple weeks (guaranteed business) and when the get there, they are usually happy to see you. Plus, more times than not, you’re giving good news. How many doctors can say that? On top of that, apparantly it only takes 20 minutes to actually deliver the baby...not bad work if you can get it. I’m not sure what they’re getting paid per visit, but I’m sure it’s not peanuts. We’ve only had one co-pay of $25 so far for everything plus $4 and change for blood work each time. I’m sure we have a couple more of those bills in our future, but the years of paying insurance premiums without ever going to the doctor are starting to pay off.

Now if we go back in two weeks and they want to see Tiffany again two weeks later, I may say something. Like I said, it’s not costing us anything, but it seems a little unnecessary. I’ve heard and been told some doctors say not to bother coming in until around 8 weeks, which would have been yesterday. But that doesn’t make much sense to me either since she had to get the prenatal vitamins and some blood work done prior to being this far along. Like most things, there’s obviously more than one approach.

I think Tiffany expected me to be more excited yesterday. When I saw the heartbeat I was psyched. It’s a very cool experience. She was excited to get the due date and know how far along we were. While I was curious for this information as well, for me nothing changed. Tiffany was pregnant when we left for the doctor and it turned out she’s still pregnant. I guess it doesn’t matter that much to me what week we are in or what arbitrary date they place on the birth since there’s almost no chance of that date actually being the big day. 

I think Tiffany is worried about the health of the pregnancy so she is always relieved to find out that everything is progressing normally. I like to assume nothing is wrong until somebody tells me different. She’s been eating good, been relatively comfortable other than going to the restroom all the time and being tired. Why would their be a problem? I think I was also thrown by the fact that I thought I saw a head developing on the ultrasound when in fact it was the yolk sac, which eventually becomes the placenta. Tiffany thought it looked like a duck (everything together on the left side of the picture) and it certainly had a Daffy or Donald feel to it. You can’t really tell here from this blown up picture. Just like any pictures, when you zoom in, I think you lose some pixels/definition. 

In the next few days, weeks, I’m sure we’re start telling more people considering that we have heartbeat!

The Last Birthday

Yesterday I celebrated my 31st birthday and while it won’t be my last (hopefully), it was my last birthday without any children. When you get married you go from being the most important person in your own life to second. When we bought our dog Chase, I was moved to third....without being consulted. Now as we wait for the arrival of our first child, my days in the 3-hole are numbered. Soon enough, I’ll be batting cleanup. Suffice to say, when I turn 32 next year, we’ll probably have a lot more going on than we did this year..and this did not escape me yesterday.

It was a good day, as far as birthdays go. Tiffany made me pancakes (though I think she wanted them even more than me), we took Chase for a long walk and went to lunch at Cafe Express. After lunch we walked around the Sugar Land Town Center and I got a new pair of sneakers before we headed to HEB to pick up some items Tiffany needed to make my birthday dinner: Crab Cakes, 4-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese and Mississippi Mud Pie. The crab cake recipe came from her grandfather and while she said she has made them before, I certainly don’t remember. But we’ll be having them again!

One of our neighbors came over for dessert which led to a quick scan of the living room to remove any baby related items. All books for the most part, they were put on the dresser in our bedroom. The books were easily out of sight until I invited Brittany (our neighbor) into our bathroom to see our large collection of soap that Tiffany has accumulated through coupons and sales for free. When I suggested she take a look, Tiffany quickly said pretty loudly, “No, don’t go in there!” We haven’t told our neighbors yet, we’re waiting until after the next doctor visit so if Brittany had seen the books, it would have ruined the surprise I guess. Brittany didn’t notice, I guess she didn’t make it a priority to study everything in our room as she walked through it.

As far as the pregnancy,Tiffany seems to be doing quite well. She’s just tired a lot and has a little bit of nausea once in a while. It’s been pretty tame so far for her, as far as symptoms are concerned. This Wednesday we should find out our due date (finally) and exactly how far along we are which will be nice to know. 

In the Mood

I’m sure all people have their own preconceived notions of what pregnancy will be like, both men and women. Like each person my guess is that each pregnancy is unique. However, there are symptoms that many women seem to share. One of these symptoms are mood swings. 

It only makes sense, hormone levels nearly double every two days or during the first stages of pregnancy (or so I’ve read and been told). Of course as an “innocent” bystander, I am subjected to these mood swings, only my mood doesn’t change, I just get to enjoy Tiffany’s ride.

Let me be clear, I’m not complaining. In fact I suspect Tiffany is not as moody as many soon-to-be mothers. However, it is interesting to see someone go from tears to laughter in just a few minutes. But these mood swings are interesting in that they represent one of many items that women deal with during pregnancy that most people probably forget or consider. To me, the downside of pregnancy had always been the weight gain and most importantly, the task to lose that weight while raising a newborn. Not easy, I’m sure.

But as I was enjoying a delicious beverage from Starbucks today, it did occur to me that there’s A LOT  more for women to deal with than just weight. You don’t really think about this when you’re observing other pregnancies but these pregnant women are making some serious sacrifices.

First you’ve got the doctor’s visits and who likes going to the doctor? Then you have to remember to take your pre-natal vitamins, constrict your diet, get plenty of rest...etc...etc. Of course there’s no smoking or drinking, not a big deal for Tiffany who doesn’t smoke and only occasionally enjoys an apple martini or glass of champagne. 

But like nearly every human, she’s got a vice. The one thing I know that’s driving her nuts is the limited caffeine intake. She likes her white chocolate mocha’s A LOT. So she’s gone to decaf on the rare occasion she drinks coffee or tea now and she won’t even take a sip of a caffeinated beverage even though she’s permitted one serving a day. That’s a sacrifice for her, one I know she would not make if she was not carrying our future son or daughter. In fact she’s being very disciplined, impressively so. in all areas of diet recommendations. 

Even early in the game, this has been an eye opening experience for me. I don’t want to say that I love my wife more each day because that would be a slight exaggeration, but my admiration for her is growing each day, that I’m sure of.

On another note, my blood test came back and I am (like most people) RH positive so Tiffany will need to take a shot to protect the fetus in case its blood matches mine, not hers. Not a huge deal, but getting a shot is never fun, kind of like most of what a pregnant woman deals with.

A Chip Off the Old...Yolk

Yesterday we had our second doctor’s appointment. Once again we met with the nurse practitioner since Tiffany’s doc is still on vacation. Marline is her name, she’s very nice and conducted our second ultra sound (again not ON the belly) in as many weeks. 

After some searching, it was easy to see the yolk sac. The yolk sac eventually turns into the placenta which helps nourish baby Pirone. There is even a bright spot at the bottom of the yolk sac which could be the embryo. Since that is not clear yet, an estimate on due date is still out of the question and Marline estimated Tiffany to be 5 weeks a long. To review, she’s been 5 weeks into this pregnancy for the last 3, weeks, or so we thought. She wanted us to come back next week or in two weeks so she could measure the embryo. I voted for two weeks so we didn’t go there next week only to find out we would need to come back again a week later. Even if you are to take the time spent in the office, we’ve already spent upwards of 20 bucks in parking so I’m ready for the once a month visits to start.

In two weeks we should have a measurable embryo and be able to tell “officially” how far along we are and consequently, get a due date, which I’m guessing will be around Jan. 14 at this point. But we’ll know more in two weeks. I also had blood drawn to see if I am RH negative like Tiffany. We’re waiting on those results. 

I would like to know who came up with the term “yolk sac”. It makes sense when talking about baby chicks, but baby humans? Can’t we revise this term? I realize this is the same term given for pretty much everything that has the ability to give birth, but we’re humans, we’re special, you know, we speak words. Instead of yolk sac, maybe birthing bag, something besides something that sounds like it can be scrambled.

On another note, TIffany has been pretty psyched that she hadn’t had any nausea or morning sickness....before yesterday. Soon after she told Marline she hadn’t had nausea and that her mom hadn’t during two of her three pregnancies, she got a little queasy and is queasy again today. Hopefully that won’t continue, but considering how early we still are, it certainly could and I'm sure she won't mind sharing if it does :).

And So It Goes

We got the test results back today from Tiffany’s blood work. Looks like everything is fine, with one caveat. Tiffany’s hormone level was just over 2,000 so that is more of an indication that she was 5 weeks pregnant, not 6 as expected when the blood was drawn. Obviously not a huge deal, though the 2010 tax deduction seems to be off the table. The issue now is that Tiffany’s blood turns out to be A- and more importantly, RH negative. A quick google search reveals that only 15% of all Caucasians are RH negative. In fact, only 5 to 10 percent of African Americans and 1 to 2 percent of Asian Americans are RH negative, in case you were wondering. (I know you were). Why is this a problem?

Well, if I turn out to be RH positive (I have a blood test in my future apparently), the baby will most likely be RH positive so if TIffany’s and the baby’s blood mixes, there would be a problem from as “simple” as having issues with a future pregnancy or as “complex” as Tiffany’s body ultimately rejecting the fetus. While the latter is highly unlikely, it’s certainly not anything that’s easy to hear. The good news? There’s a shot that Tiffany can get that makes this a non-factor.

My initial question would be how about we just get the shot? Judging by the numbers, it seems unlikely that I’m RH negative so why go through the blood test? I’ll do it, I don’t care, but why wait?

Anyway, they wanted Tiffany to come back in for more blood work to make sure her hormone level was still rising. She reminded them that she would be back in Wednesday for another ultrasound and they said that would be fine. It seems to me that they are getting a little crazy with the blood tests, this will be her third in as many weeks. 

I’m also wondering how this compares to how they handled pregnancies 20 years ago. Did they do all these tests? Are they really necessary? Suffice it to say, this is much more complicated than I thought it was. I thought there would be a lot going on in the last trimester, especially the last month. Apparently, the first month is pretty eventful too, at least for us. 

Physically, TIffany appears to be doing fine. She took an afternoon nap on Saturday and Sunday and is peeing all the time. It’s almost like she’s pregnant or something :).

We also told Tiffany’s parents and grandparents on Saturday, both in person and over the phone. We got her mom a card that said, “grandmother to-be”. As fate would have it I sat between Tiffany and her mom at dinner so it was me who had the best view of her opening the card.

I was looking forward to the reaction as was Tiffany of course so I expected something more than what happened. Let me explain. She takes the card out of the gift bag, which also had some jewelry and a picture frame with “baby” on it. So out comes the card which reads in clear, thick black letters...”To the Grandmother to-be.” I think that’s pretty clear, no? So I’m watching her take the card out and look at the front...nothing, no reaction as she opens it up to read the inside. Did I mention what was written on the front? It wasn’t in latin, though she could probably  have read it if it was, and that was the ONLY writing or design of any kind on the front of the card. Perplexed I decide to step in...

ME: “Umm, did you see the front of the card?”

Momma Meine (reaching in her purse): “I just need to get my glasses.”

Two things, one, can she not read at all without her glasses? These letters were not small. How many cards as she never really read? Well three things I guess, what would have happened if i hadn’t said anything?

I guess disbelief could best describe her reaction. She said we had teased her before so she wasn’t sure that this wasn't a joke. Neither Tiffany or I could remember teasing her even once. but I digress. She and Tiffany stepped away from the table to call up to Virginia to let TIffany’s grandparent’s know. They left them a message and we talked to them later in the car on the way home from dinner. 

On Sunday, my friend Matt called to let us know that Andrea (his wife) was pregnant. We didn’t intend to tell anyone else for a few weeks, but it seemed stupid to wait a month to tell them. Their due date is about a month before ours, though we are still waiting for our magic day. I believe he said they were due Dec.10 and I’m guessing we will be the first week of January some time. This is their first child too so it should be fun to compare experiences along the way. For now, we wait until Wednesday and the next doctor’s appointment.

The Drama Continues

Today we had our first doctor visit. Tiffany was nervous, she of course was the one who was to be poked and prodded while my main job was to accept congratulations from the doctor after hearing we had only been trying to get pregnant for two months...Thank you, thank you very much. But I suppose some credit should go to whoever came up with the ovulation calculator “app” as we followed that to a T and boom...baby is made. But I digress.

Believe it or not, even as a 30-year old male, this was my first visit to a OBGYN office. Shocker, I know. Up until today the only thing I knew about Tiffany’s OBGYN was that you had to make an appointment like 6 months in advance for her yearly checkup. Well, I could see why today. This waiting room was flush with pregnant women when we got there at 9:15 as well as when we left a little over and hour later. 

Our appointment was at 9:30 and after filling out a brief questionnaire, we were taken to the doctor’s office. BTW, one of the questions on this brief “survey” was, “Are you related to the father, i.e. cousin etc.?” (Insert your own crude joke here).

Tiffany’s regular doctor is on vacation so we saw the nurse practitionor and she asked us some more questions and took a brief family history. She also told us the various tests that can be conducted, testing for different ailments raging from breathing conditions to “chromosome issues”. The theory being that you could terminate the pregnancy if you find out that your child has a debilitating disease. We won’t bother with those tests since we would never terminate the pregnancy, but she did advise us on one so we can alert the pediatrician if the baby does have a condition that should be treated right after birth, but I guess we’ll address that later.

For today, we were to have our first ultrasound. We were also given a preliminary due date (Dec. 29). After some more valuable tidbits of information that was pretty valuable, foods to avoid, exercise recommendations etc., the nurse practitioner said that the first ultrasound  would be (a word my wife has banned me from using)...I heard this and thought, “Wait, that doesn’t sound like gooing up a belly and running a stick with a globe over it.” Tiffany didn’t seemed phased so I didn’t find it important to have the nurse practitioner explain, who probably says a variation of that word more times in a day than I have in my life.

She showed us the exam room and Tiffany prepared herself for the exam and she waited for the nurse practitioner to leave the room at which time she asked me, “What does (the word) mean?”

My response....”I thought you knew”. In reality, I think we both knew what it meant, but didn’t want to say it out loud. Suffice it to say, this ultrasound involved a wand with some jelly on it, but it didn’t go on the OUTSIDE of the belly which you've found out if you took the time to click on the above link.

Soon enough, there was Tiffany’s uterus in living....black and white. And then things got interesting. The ultrasound confirmed Tiffany was pregnant, but the embryo was not visible in the uterus. At 6 weeks, and this is how far along we thought she was, you should see the embryo. The nurse practitioner wasn’t overly concerned but did want a blood sample to check  TIffany’s hormone levels, supposedly they double every day or so. She said, most likely, Tiffany is not as far along as we had thought. I wasn’t really worried. To me, it made sense. The test was negative at what should have been two days late and was still faint at six days late. We’ll know the blood work results Monday so we have the weekend to tell Tiff’s parents and also worry that something is a miss. I’m not worried, but I know how my wife is so the next two days should be both exciting (when we share the news) and stressful as we wait for the test results. For now, she’s scheduled to go back Wednesday for another ultrasound....

Just in Time

The best thing about finding out when we did about Tiffany’s pregnancy was that it was right before a planned trip to see family in Florida and it was just in time for Mother’s Day....What a gift for both of our mothers who have both been ready for grandchildren for some time. Since we would be with Tiffany’s mother on the actual holiday, we decided that we would tell my mother first, a long with her other mother’s day gifts....Not surprisingly, the frame with “grandchildren, grand-kisses, grand-hugs” at the bottom of it with a note inside that frame that read “Insert pic aprox...Dec. 29, 2010” went over better than the $50 gift card to Panera Bread....Tears were shed and the search began for my baby book, a picture album chronicling the first year of my life.

Before we left we also told my aunt, uncle and cousins with Tiffany’s parents and grandparents on the list in a few days. We also stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up the required reading. What to Expect When You’re Expecting Tiffany also bought Belly Laughs, Jenny McCarthy’s book and I got The Guy’s Guide to Pregnancy, a shorter not as entertaining version of this running blog....or so I hope!

I’m writing this before we told them. In fact, just to be clear, these first few posts will be written in “real time” as they happen, but posted retroactively as it’s now time to share our news since we have moved past those critical first weeks. I’m sure it will be clear when the posts come as they happen. I’ll start putting dates at the top from now on. 

We’re Pregnant!.....Maybe.

It was an ordinary Friday (4/23) or so I thought. When Tiffany and I decided to try to have our first child just weeks (okay 8 or so) before this particular Friday, we thought it would take at least a few months. Anyway, on this particular day Tiffany found herself about two days late, not anything to celebrate, but since she was headed to the dentist and was scheduled to take x-rays, she thought it wise to take a pregnancy test to check prior to the appointment. Otherwise, we probably would have waited a few days to test.

Tiffany chose First Response, a test that advertises that you can take it up to 5 days before your “cycle” is to begin and get a positive test. So clearly two days AFTER was well within the First Response window....or so we thought. The test Friday morning showed one line, negative. Not a big deal. It’s not like we had been trying for months on end so we left that morning, each to our respective jobs, no worse for wear.

However, Tiffany did tell the dental hygienist the situation and she advised to wait and come back the following week after she knew for sure. After hearing this, my only thought was, “Stinks she has to go back just for an x-ray”....and we went about our weekend...and Monday....still no news from “the front”. Plus, and this of course is second hand knowledge, Tiffany was not suffering any symptoms that she usually gets before her monthly visit from Aunt Flo.

As most people know, pregnancy tests come in three...which should tell you how reliable/confusing they can be. So when Tuesday morning (4/27) rolled around, Tiffany took another test. I went to the gym and when I came back and walked into the bathroom I said, “What’s the verdict?”....expecting a smile or a simple “nothing.”....Instead i got this response, “I don’t know”....

Now I was confused. How hard was this? One line negative, two lines positive and my wife is pretty sharp so all I could muster in response was “huh?”...Tiffany told me that there was two lines , only one was very faint.

She handed me the stick that had been doused with her “first morning’s urine” (very important BTW to do these tests in the morning) and I looked at it. There were two lines, one more faint than the first. I thought it was clear she was pregnant especially after looking at the instructions which basically said any second line meant positive. The first verifies you hit your mark and the test has been conducted, the second line is an indication of a specific hormone making it very possible to get a false NEGATIVE, but almost impossible to get a false POSITIVE.

Tiffany was not as convinced as I was . She called her doctor and took a blood test that same day. When she called me Wednesday morning with the results she almost sounded more relieved than happy...”Well I’m pregnant.” There was a hint of a giggle in there of course and when she took the third and final First Response test on Friday, a day before a planned trip to Florida, there were two solid lines....Thanks THIRD Response.