Feb 01 2008
First Ultrasound
With my mother-in-law and sister-in-law in tow, I arrived at the doctor’s office about 30 minutes early for my appointment. Passing the time, reading about Katie Holmes’ crazy shopping obsession in celebrity magazines, time seemed to crawl. Mom-in-law was literally sitting on the edge of her seat. When they called us in, the anticipation was palpable. Mom-in-law followed me in. Sis sat in the waiting room. I was praying silently for many things, but mostly for the health of the baby and that the Lord would have mercy on us and not give us sextuplets.
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope everything looks good,” doc said as he told me to put my feet in the stirrups and readied the ultrasound wand.
The dark and light images on the ultrasound looked confusing to me, so I had no idea what I was looking at before he started giving us the guided tour around my uterus. I held my breath, waiting for him to say something. It was a few seconds before he said, “there’s your baby!” Then with the mouse pointer, he showed us that the large image that we saw was the yolk sac. The little “smudge” (as he called it) on the right side of the image was the baby.
“Just one?” Mom-in-law asked.
“Sorry, Mom, we were trying to make twins for ya, but we got just one!” doc chuckled and he continued, “the flickering you see is the baby’s heartbeat. And, it looks good!”
Congratulations were exchanged with everyone in the room — as everyone played a huge part in getting us to this point. But really, I was giving thanks to God. Not only did He create this miracle, but He also heard my prayers about not giving us more than we could handle. He has given us a blessed ONE.
The risk for complications to mother and babies rise with multiples and I knew that if we had more than two, the doctor would recommend a reduction. A “reduction” is a nice way of saying “abortion,” and there’s nothing nice about that, especially going through such great lengths to get pregnant in the first place. It was such an irony, the desire to create life could lead to the possibility of having to terminate it. It didn’t make sense to me. Hubby and I definitely did not want to have a reduction and prayed specifically that we would not be faced with such a decision. Praise God, yet another prayer answered!
The doc mentioned that I am “not out of the woods yet” and wanted me to take it easy for at least another month. He considers me a “high risk” pregnancy, knowing my background and all of the challenges that came with my case. Light exercise is permitted, so I will probably start taking short walks around the neighborhood. But, that means no karate for a while.
I took a blood test to check my progesterone levels to see if I can bump down my dosage, which is currently 3 cc daily — which is the entire syringe. Doc will call me back about that. It would be nice to be able to lower the dose, to give my rump a little bit of a break. But, I’ll do whatever needs to be done for the the little one, even if I had to take 3 cc progesterone shots everyday until the day I give birth.
I would do that for you, baby champuru. Just hang in there! Stay strong, healthy, and keep growing for mama!
After an early dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, we were walking around Ala Moana and, lo and behold, who do I see just outside the Apple Store but Ryan Ozawa! He snapped this picture of me with his iPhone and I stole it from his Flickr site. It’s the first photo of me in my pregnant state. You can already see my belly sticking out and I’m only 6 weeks and 3 days along!
[tags]first ultrasound, IVF, in vitro fertilization, six weeks ultrasound[/tags]
A 30-something Christian girl, blissfully wedded to her perfect match (the yang to her yin) of 14 years. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from her hometown, a slave to her mortgage payment, but seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest.
Congratulations! God is truly good, isn’t He? I stumbled upon your site after googling something pregnancy related and am so happy for you and your family. I also had a high-risk pregnancy (off and on bedrest and hospitalized for the last two weeks) and now have a healthy 5 week old daughter. We’ll be praying for you and baby for the next 7 months!!
Congrat. to my sis, and her hubs…my two favorite peeps…love you both!
Congratulations!
Congrats!!
Can’t wait to watch the lil’ one grow, and to hear more about your experience in motherhood!
What wonderful news! Although before the blog, Ryan had twitter’d that he saw you…all smiles, so I knew good news! Congratulations, we’re all up in your uterus rooting for you!
I just had to pause here before I write; a little choked up right now. What an awesome miracle and blessing God has made. God bless you Donna, your Hubby and your baby. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
congratulations!! I’m so glad that Baby Champuru and Mommy are healthy and doing great! I’m very happy for you and your husband!
I too, like Mark from Hawaii, got a little choked up and little teary eyed! i am soooo thrilled for you and hubby, not to add the Grandparents !! I know that you will take extra precautions on being healthy and safe … do enjoy your pregnancy!!! its your excuse to eat more, since you are eating for 2 …as they say! Like your prior entry said, sometimes you need to eat, not to feel nauseous …so enjoy when you can !
love you both …i mean three,
lindy
Congratulations on the great news!
yay! congrats on the happy ultrasound!
take it easy and eat lots. Gotta make sure baby champuru is happy and content (and mommy too).
yay so happy for you donna,
Congratulations!!!
Hooray! I was praying for your appointment all week… it’s so nice to hear your good news! And I like the happy photo that goes along with the happy news too. So exciting! =)
I read and reread this post with complete joy in my heart for you and your family. Warmest congratulations!
Congratulations on heartbeating, ultrasounding, LIVING proof of your pregnancy! I am thrilled to see you so happy! We’re all waiting anxiously to watch how Smudge grows … inside and out!
Congrats to you, hubby and the whole fambly! I was so anxiously awaiting viewing the first picture of your snowflake. What a wonderful miracle! Baby Champuru is so lucky to be blessed with loving parents. Take care and enjoy this phase of your life. Many more joys are ahead.
All I can say is… “Wow! The Miracle of Life!”
so happy for you.
=DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
YAY!!!!!!!
Congratulations!!!! Baby Champuru looks like s/he is forming the letter C in your honor!
so happy for you!!!! go baby champuru. grow grow grow!!!
[...] was able to see the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. (He was traveling when we had the first ultrasound.) The doc says I’m at 8 weeks and 5 days according to the ultrasound, which is strange [...]