No More Shots

On Tuesday night, Ryan gave me my last shot while my sister and nieces watched hoping to see me bleed (morbid, I know...but for some reason the kids get excited when my injection site gushes blood). I bled a little, but nothing compared to the spray of blood that shot out of me the night before (with no one watching). My nieces love watching me get my shot-mostly 7 year old Brinlee-and beg their mom to let them stay up to see it every night. I can't wait to watch them get their flu shots so they can get a glimpse of what I've been going through!

My last shot!

In 9 months (with a combined total of about 4 months in breaks), I gave myself 93 shots in the stomach and have been given 90 shots (mostly by Ryan) in the lower part of my back. We've had to take the shots with us sometimes because giving them at the same time every day can be a challenge. I have given myself shots in an attorneys office in front of another mediator, in a courthouse parking lot, in a church bathroom, in a cabin in the woods and in my car in my sister's driveway. We have both given me shots in numerous hotel rooms, Ryan's office, and bathrooms in the homes of friends or family members. Sometimes Ryan couldn't be there, so my sister or my mom had to fill in. As I've said before, they sometimes bled and caused bad bruising and the progesterone shots always made me sore.

Needless to say, I'm grateful that the shots are over. But a part of me is scared to stop the shots and pills. It's hard to trust that my body is going to produce these hormones on its own when it hasn't always been very reliable with matters of reproduction in the past. We had our first appointment with our new OB yesterday so I mentioned this to her. She assured me that my body and the baby would get the job done. She also said that they really don't know if women even need the progesterone supplemented that long, but they recommend it to be safe. In other words I probably would've been fine to quit the shots sooner, but it's better to err on the side of caution.

I feel super lucky because we also got to see our baby on an ultrasound AGAIN at our appointment yesterday! We've now seen our tiny human 3 times in the last month (not to brag or anything)! The little one's heartbeat is still holding strong, right around 145 bpm, which she said is perfectly normal and still healthy even though it's slightly lower than at our last ultrasound (of course I asked). In the picture below you can see the baby's tiny arms (which he/she was moving all around) and the umbilical cord.

Our Baby (whose face looks a little creepy in this pic)!

After the ultrasound our doctor had to rush downstairs to deliver a baby. It's so great that we will have our baby (and recover after) in the same building that we see our doctor in for regular appointments. As she pointed out it makes it easy to check on patients who are in labor in between appointments and be able to step out for deliveries without having to leave the building or drive anywhere. It might delay her appointments from time to time, but in a few months it will be me she is rushing to see take care of in the delivery room.

While she delivered the baby, a nurse gave us a goodie bag full of samples, brochures, coupons, a few magazines and even a book about pregnancy. She went through some educational material with us and answered some questions. She gave us a number to call if we ever want to know if a medication is safe or if any food or ingredient is okay to eat. It's great to have a resource other than just my doctor (or the Internet) for little questions between appointments.

The contents of my goodie bag!

Next they sent us to the lab for blood work. They drew 7 vials of blood! I can't believe they need that much for various things-that might be the most blood I've ever had drawn at one time. They also made me pee in a cup (easy when you're pregnant and have to pee all the time anyway!) I'm not sure as to all of what they test for, but I'll update everyone on the boring details as soon as we get the results.

By the time we were done in the lab our doctor was back from the delivery. We went back to our room and waited for her for just a few minutes. Lastly she did a Pap smear on me and answered some questions and we were done.

I really like our doctor. Her name is Dr. Alison DeSano. She is young, very energetic and seems like a fun, happy person. She went over what's normal and what's not (basically when you should worry). She took her time with us and made me feel at ease. Even with the delivery happening in the middle of our appointment I was still happy with our visit. I felt like we really got a good idea of how things work in the clinic/hospital. I also heard rave reviews about the cafeteria from several staff members as well as Ryan (I had my appendix out at that hospital so he's eaten there before).

I'm so excited for all of our upcoming milestones. I keep having "what if" thoughts, but push them out of my mind because I can't imagine we could have any more bad luck after all we've been through. Overall I have a pretty positive outlook...I feel good about this and really think everything is finally going to go our way. I still can't believe that a little living creature is growing and moving inside me!