Hi guys,
I thought it was about time that I start my own pregnancy journal.
I must admit I'm not very good at keeping up-to-date with everything that's going on, especially as I don't get online much, but I hope to get a bit better at it with time.
So here goes...
About Me
My name is Kim, I'm 24 years old and I'm 15 weeks & 6 days pregnant. I've been married for nearly a year now and I'm totally head-over-heels in love with my husband Keith, even if he can be a pain at times!
Our Story
Me and Keith got together in August 05, were engaged by the end of September 05 and living together at my parents from December 05 until we started renting a place together in May 06. We got married in July 07 and started TTC when I came off the pill at the end of October 07.
Keith has a 10-year-old son (Daniel Thomas) from his previous relationship and Dan has been living with us full-time since March 08.
There is a 9 & 1/2 year age-gap between me and Keith (he's older than me), but he's a big kid so you don't really notice it that much!
TTC
I came off of the pill in October 07 (started my 7-day break on 21 Oct) and started TTC straight away. We had been advised that it could take up-to 4 months for the pill to completely clear out of my system, but it didn't make the arrival of AF any easier each month.
My first cycle after throwing the pills away was 29 days, followed by a massive 35 days leading up to Xmas. At 33 days we decided to buy a pregnancy test and on day 35 decided that enough was enough and tested... It was negative
I cried my eyes out and was starting to worry about why my cycle had been so long. I came on the following morning!
After that I had a 32 day cycle and a 31 day cycle, so thought I had got into a bit more of a pattern. Therefore, when I got to day 35 of my next cycle, we decided it was time to use the second test from the 2-pack we had bought at Xmas... This time it was positive
We worked out our due date from my LMP (25 February) and average cycle length (31 days), which came back as 4 December 08.
1st Doctor's Appointment
A couple of weeks prior to finding out we were expecting, I had been to the doctors for some blood tests as I was feeling generally run-down, under the weather and having a lot of difficulty in sleeping. My appointment to get my test results was on the Monday afternoon after we had tested on the Sunday, so the plan was to go together and see the doctor for confirmation of the pregnancy. Luckily all of my test results came back normal or at the correct levels, depending on what was being tested. I was not diabetic and my cholesterol was fine.
However, apart from saying congratulations, he didn't really show a lot of interest in the pregnancy! He gave me my Bounty pack and then said he would refer us to the MW.
We came away from the appointment feeling a little bit let-down, but knew he was only doing his job.
Work
At the time of finding out we were expecting, I was temping at a school which was a 30-40 minute drive away from home. I had wanted to go for the job full-time, but had also applied for a job at a school closer to home (only a 5-10 minute drive away)...
On the Monday of our first doctor's appointment, I had my job interview for the school closer to home in the morning... I went to the interview knowing that I was pregnant but didn't say anything, even when I was asked about my family plans!! I then went on to my temping placement before returning home for our doctor's appointment.
As I was driving home on the motorway I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, but ignored it. When I got to the doctors I noticed I had a voicemail message from the school I'd had my interview with that morning. It was the Office Manager asking me to call her back. So after our appointment I called her back and was offered the job, which I accepted.
I finally started my new job in April 08 and within a week of being there, I had to tell them I was pregnant as my morning sickness had been so bad! They were happy for me, but also a little disappointed that I would be leaving before the end of the year.
Early Worries
At around 7-8 weeks the MW called to make an appointment for me to go to the local hospital's MW Unit and meet her. Due to work and trying to juggle child-care for my step-son, we couldn't settle on a date, so I promised to contact her at the end of the week when I could re-arrange some of my prior arrangements.
By the end of the week, I posted this on BnB:
Really need some advice, as I'm getting mixed messages from midwife and hospital...
I'm 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant.
I started spotting yesterday morning (just when I wipe) - It's a sort of red/brown colour. This started with period-pain type cramps the previous night (enough to wake me up a few times at night) and the pains continued most of yesterday. After my husband left for work at 8:30am ish I slept all the way through till 1:15pm!!! Was still spotting in the afternoon (same as the morning) and decided to call my midwife.
Midwife told me that she would book me in for a scan on Monday just to check what was happening, but didn't really fill me with a lot of hope.
Later in the afternoon I still wasn't feeling good, so decided to go to A&E with my husband. Doctor took some information and had a feel of my stomach. He reassured us that it could be perfectly normal, but that we wouldn't be sure until the scan on Monday. He did seem a lot more positive and made me feel better about it. Said it could be the umbilical cord forming etc.
However, after feeling a little better last night, I could hardly sleep at all last night (couldn't get comfortable, was too hot and stomach hurt again). This morning I am still spotting as I was before and still have stomach cramps.
Luckily, when we went for our scan on the Monday, everything was fine. The baby was exactly where it should be and we could even see the heartbeat
The only thing we hadn't expected was for them to tell us we were 3 days later in the whole process than we had thought, therefore making our due date 7 December 08.
Keeping Quiet
Unfortunately, due to Keith having to go to court with his ex-partner to get a Residency Order for Dan living with us, we had to keep things hush-hush. We knew that if she found out prior to the court date (16 June) she would try to make things as difficult as possible for Keith in court. So we decided not to tell Dan that we were expecting and had to be very careful who we did/didn't tell about the pregnancy.
Luckily Dan now knows everything and there is no risk of him telling his mum as he will not see her prior to the court date. Keith can then go to court, get the necessary paperwork sorted out and then tell his ex our good news! She won't like it much (as she is still crazy about Keith) but at least she will hear it from Keith and not Dan.
Dating Scan
We had our dating scan 2 weeks ago and were given yet another due date - 29 November 08!! So now we're a lot further along than expected... Either that or we're just expecting a big baby!!
Everything went well and looks good, even though the baby would not stay still for very long at any one time.
Morning Sickness & Migraines
From the time I found out I was pregnant, up until 12 weeks, I suffered with very bad morning sickness. But it wasn't just morning sickness, it was all-day-long sickness.
However, this has now passed and has been replaced by severe migraines instead
What Next?
Our anomaly scan is booked for 22 July 08, but we are currently unsure if we wish to know the sex of our baby.
Hope to have some more news for you soon.
Kim xx
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