First OB Appt and Amnio

My first appointment with my new OB went really well. Both the doctor and nurse were very surprised that this was a surrogate pregnancy (guess they don't see many of those). They were intrigued and wanted to know more about how I came to this decision. Baby's heart beat sounded great 140-150 beats/minutes, and my blood pressure was good as well. That's about all they check at the OB appointments. :) I also had the 2nd trimester blood taken for the screening test after my OB appt.  And my doctor's office called today to ask me to come in for additional lab work - yay! More needle pokes! Just routine complete blood count and urinalysis. So I will need to get that done in the next week or so as well. 

Last time I wrote, I said that we were waiting on word about the Mother 21 test, but it turns out the couple decided to go ahead with the invasive procedure, to make 100% sure that the baby does not have any genetic disorders that can be detected this early on. So last Thursday, at the fetal monitoring clinic in LA I had an amniocentesis done. The intended father (IF) was there, but intended mother (IM) was home sick and couldn't make it. It was nice to see IF and we both got to check out the baby via ultrasound again on the fancy machine, which was even better! Baby looks great - triple the weight from the ultrasound just a few weeks back, now around 6 ounces. The actual procedure wasn't too bad, despite having a giant needle shoved in your belly. I was given a shot to numb the area first, and then the larger needle was inserted and the doctor drew three vials of amniotic fluid from my uterus. The whole time the baby was being watched via ultrasound, to make sure that the needle was no where near him. It was crazy to be able to see all of that! Afterwards, it was sore near the injection sight for a few hours, and I felt some slight cramping - all of which was completely normal though. I was told to take it easy for the rest of the day, and no heavy lifting for up to one week. (This hopefully lesson's any risk of a miscarriage from the procedure.) The results will take another week or so to get back. But I am still crossing my fingers that everything looks great, and we are OK to move forward. 

I am 17 weeks now and my baby bump has definitely made it's appearance. I even had my first "are you pregnant?" question yesterday, though I've received a lot of weird glances of people that I'm sure want to ask, but are too afraid of being wrong to do so. Haha! I am both excited and nervous to tell people that I am a surrogate. I will be excited to finally share the news with all of my friends, and nervous to tell coworkers and various people that I do not know very well. But I am strong, and I know why I am doing this, so I think for the most part I will have good experiences when I share the news.

At 17 weeks pregnant I am feeling great, though I do wake up in the middle of each night to use the restroom, which isn't always fun come morning time. All part of being pregnant though. And I really do love being pregnant, so I don't have any complaints. Another new update, I felt the first little teeny tiny movements from the baby this past weekend! It was very exciting, I love being able to feel the baby move - though not so much in the later months of the pregnancy when the baby has no room and the kicks can get pretty rough! I've also been having very vivid dreams that I remember easily, probably from all the waking up I do at night to pee! In one dream, the baby was moving and kicking so hard that we could see his feet and hands protruding through my belly... like this viral image from the internet: 

 {image source}

I have no idea if this image is real or not, but it sure seems crazy to me! And my dream was definitely an odd one for sure. Lots more of those to come as the weeks tick by, I am sure. :) 

Can't believe we are nearing the half way mark, time has flown by so fast. The couple is making plans to come out this way to my next OB appointment to meet the doctor, I'm excited for them to come to "my neck of the woods" and maybe even get to meet my kids. Exciting stuff happening!!!  

Up next: awaiting the results from the amnio, all my fingers and toes are crossed!! And then another OB appt on October 3rd.

~The Baby Fairy