Surprised? We Were. Twice.

I'm pregnant again.

When I miscarried last December, I was a little surprised when Steve said he would like to try again for a kid. It made me feel better because I had worried that he wasn't too thrilled about our very unplanned pregnancy. And, it was something to hold on to when my bout with depression was at its darkest.

We had been advised to wait until after my first period after the miscarriage before we started trying to get pregnant again, so for all of December and a bit into January, we used protection. We gave it up after a month because all we heard and read about suggested that our first quick pregnancy was a bit of a fluke - the average 25-year old woman takes 6 months of trying to get pregnant and the time is lengthened as the woman gets older...and is even longer if the man is more advanced in age (i.e. old, like Steve. *grin*). We figured we had awhile.

My first period after the miscarriage never came and it worried me a little. The first part of February, I decided to see a doctor about it to see if something was wrong, maybe something the miscarriage had caused. Before I went to the doctor, though, I decided to rule out another possibilty and, without telling Steve I was doing it, took a home pregnancy test. It started to turn positive before I had even stood up from the toilet seat. I was stunned. Steve came in to the bathroom to see if I wanted him to make me a mug of hot chocolate before work. I wordlessly showed him the pregnancy stick. He was speechless for a few beats. "Wow," he said, "you must be really fertile."

Big difference between this pregnancy and the last - we knew it could end at any moment and it made us cautious in our excitement. I told my mom a few days after we learned about it because 1) I'm not good at keeping my own secrets and B) my dad and stepmom were visiting us that weekend and I was afraid I'd let it slip and I knew my mom would want to be the first to know. Good thing, too, because I did let it slip and was glad I had told her first. Steve and I decided not to tell anyone else until the 2-month mark, and then only immediate family members. Then we'd tell other people at the 3-month mark.

The thing is, we didn't really know how far along we were because I hadn't had a period. We went to the Air Force base clinic and had the pregnancy confirmed, but they couldn't tell how far along we were with the test they ran. We decided to wait to find out until our first OB doctor visit, but I guessed that I was 3-4 weeks pregnant by the time I took the test, since that's about when we had stopped using protection. And that's about when I had started to feel a little nauseated.

Yesterday, we went to our first OB appointment. I told the nurses about the miscarriage and not having had a period since but that I guessed to be about 8 weeks along, give or take. They were super cool. In fact, I really like the clinic and our doctor. We know several people who have gone there and have only heard good things. Our experience yesterday was wonderful - not a lot of wait time, very friendly staff, nice facility, great doctor, AND they are open later in the evening so I shouldn't have to miss too much work to go to appointments. Yay!

After all the preliminary stuff, the doctor came into the exam room and prepped to do the ultra sound (we'll have one every visit because our insurance pays for them). She said we were going to do a vaginal ultrasound because it would give a better indication of how things are going at this early of a stage. That lasted about half a second. She said, "You're futher along than you think. We're doing an abdominal ultrasound."

Turns out, I'm 13 1/2 weeks pregnant! I was stunned. STUNNED! It means we basically conceived very shortly after the miscarriage! We used protection! Sigh. I guess it was just meant to be.

I can't say I'm totally over the shock of being 5 weeks further along than I had thought, but there are some definite plusses. I was a little sad that I was already beginning to have a bulge at just 2 months. A slight bulge at 3 months is much more acceptable to me...my own standard for my own body, mind you. I've got to admit that after having a flat stomach for the first time in my life, I'm not thrilled with losing it, but I'm sure I'll deal with it. It's not like I'm dieting or anything. Trying to eat healthy = not eating a whole bag of corn chips when the craving overwhelms me.

So, this pregnancy, though somewhat more planned than the last, has definitely held some surprises for us. The big surprise that I'm glad we didn't get is that we don't seem to be having twins. Whew! It was so neat to see the little baby that is growing inside me and to hear its heartbeat. We didn't get to do either the last time, it was too early. We're still pretty cautious about our enthusiasm - the pain and heartbreak from last time is still too recent to forget, but it's nice to know that we've hit a crucial milestone of the first trimester. We know things can still happen, but it's less likely. *knock on wood*

In our shock of being further along than expected, we forgot to get an expected delivery date, so right now we're just looking at September. That's 6 months from now and good enough right now. We'll try to get a more "exact" date at our next appointment. AND, if baby cooperates, we may learn its gender at our next appointment - April 4!

I'll keep you up-dated, of course. *smile*