Baby doc visit 2 and 3
For those of you who are just now seeing my blog or for those who do not live, eat and breath all things Jen, I have an autoimmune disease. Not lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis, or anything anyone would know anything about. I have a very very very rare autoimmune disease called benign cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa, also known as CPAN for short.
Why do I tell you this?
Because of my autoimmune disease, I get extra treatment for baby. Translation: more ultrasounds and pee cups.
The second appointment was a lot shorter than the first. It was with my primary doctor and we got to hear the heartbeat.
The third appointment was with maternal fetal medicine (perinatologist). Perinatologists are OB doctors who attend an extra 3 years of training especially for high risk pregnancy cases. Originally, I never thought I would be refered to one since no one knows anything about my autoimmune disease and even less on how serious it can be, since, like most autoimmune diseases, you can't actually see the pain someone is in, and with mine nothing comes back in my tests. But my primary care doctor is good and set me up with an awesome specialist.
With the MFM doc, we got to have a level two ultrasound where they check everything they can to make sure baby is okay. I was shocked to find out that not only had my doctor heard about my autoimmune disease, he had treated one pregnant lady. He admitted to me that since there is no clinical studies for treating CPAN while pregnant, they went off of what they knew about the person's symptoms.
What's my treatment? One baby aspirin every day, and treat symptoms as they occur with steroids. Hopefully only baby aspirin is needed. So far I haven't had any flare ups that have been crippling and my pain has been manageable.
Since Isaac was gone for the first doctor's appointment (he had a month long training out of state for the Air Force), he was able to hear the baby's heartbeat at the second appointment and see the baby at the third. What a truly wonderful experience!! One appointment clocked the baby's heart at 159bmp, the other at 153bpm. One thing is for sure, baby likes to swim! That is, unless the tech is checking for something specific, then baby likes to nap. It was so cool to see the baby's hands move and head bobbing up and down. Is there really a living growing person inside of me??? Still crazy and somewhat unreal for me and Isaac to think about. My clothes are starting to get a little tighter, but as of right now, it just looks like I'm getting fat.
Too soon to tell if baby is a boy or girl, but we already have names picked out... well, almost. Next visit will be 16 weeks, so I'm hoping I can talk the doc into an extra ultrasound to check the gender. Knowing my doctor's office, if they have the time they will, but it's always super busy, so we shall see. Keep your fingers crossed! I can think of so many wonderful things if it's a boy or girl, I just want a healthy baby.
Here are pictures of our little one:
Why do I tell you this?
Because of my autoimmune disease, I get extra treatment for baby. Translation: more ultrasounds and pee cups.
The second appointment was a lot shorter than the first. It was with my primary doctor and we got to hear the heartbeat.
The third appointment was with maternal fetal medicine (perinatologist). Perinatologists are OB doctors who attend an extra 3 years of training especially for high risk pregnancy cases. Originally, I never thought I would be refered to one since no one knows anything about my autoimmune disease and even less on how serious it can be, since, like most autoimmune diseases, you can't actually see the pain someone is in, and with mine nothing comes back in my tests. But my primary care doctor is good and set me up with an awesome specialist.
With the MFM doc, we got to have a level two ultrasound where they check everything they can to make sure baby is okay. I was shocked to find out that not only had my doctor heard about my autoimmune disease, he had treated one pregnant lady. He admitted to me that since there is no clinical studies for treating CPAN while pregnant, they went off of what they knew about the person's symptoms.
What's my treatment? One baby aspirin every day, and treat symptoms as they occur with steroids. Hopefully only baby aspirin is needed. So far I haven't had any flare ups that have been crippling and my pain has been manageable.
Since Isaac was gone for the first doctor's appointment (he had a month long training out of state for the Air Force), he was able to hear the baby's heartbeat at the second appointment and see the baby at the third. What a truly wonderful experience!! One appointment clocked the baby's heart at 159bmp, the other at 153bpm. One thing is for sure, baby likes to swim! That is, unless the tech is checking for something specific, then baby likes to nap. It was so cool to see the baby's hands move and head bobbing up and down. Is there really a living growing person inside of me??? Still crazy and somewhat unreal for me and Isaac to think about. My clothes are starting to get a little tighter, but as of right now, it just looks like I'm getting fat.
Too soon to tell if baby is a boy or girl, but we already have names picked out... well, almost. Next visit will be 16 weeks, so I'm hoping I can talk the doc into an extra ultrasound to check the gender. Knowing my doctor's office, if they have the time they will, but it's always super busy, so we shall see. Keep your fingers crossed! I can think of so many wonderful things if it's a boy or girl, I just want a healthy baby.
Here are pictures of our little one:
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| Baby looks a little scary here |
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| happily resting |
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| I think this was the best photo taken |
