week 18 - updates

Last week was full of pregnancy-related episodes that I'll recount here. If you are not in the mood for pregnancy talk, please feel free to skip it entirely.

 So, yes, the prenatal yoga was a trip. It ended up, not surprisingly, that I knew 4 of the 12 women in the class. One of them is in my closer community circle and I'm glad I had found out the week before about her pregnancy (through a few channels, including her friend writing on her wall something about her pregnancy - eeeeeekkk. I'm so afraid of that happening to me). I was surprised by how much it stung to find out she was pregnant. It stung just as much as when I was infertile period. I knew that becoming a pregnant infertile would not remove the infertile out of me, but it took that news to reveal it more completely. Truth is I'm very happy for this woman. And she, in turn, expressed in as few words as possible to protect my privacy, that she was happy to see me in the class. I've chalked up the stinging to plain old infertility reflexes, which will probably be in operation until I'm 80.

I also got to meet my OB last week. It appears that my streak of amazing luck with health professionals continues. Dr. Smiley was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. And young. Close to 10 years my junior, I would guess. I was a bit puzzled that I had to meet her at the hospital, and wondered why I wasn't meeting her at a medical office. I got myself there and it became evident that I was to wait in triage. Two women were being admitted. Like, to have their babies. And I was sitting across from them, in the same waiting room, feeling quite out of place. Dr. Smiley was very compassionate about my infertility history, and was keen to learn about the DE process in the U.S. She felt that the shadow on the last u/s was a wait and see situation, and that I shouldn't worry about it for now. She noted, as I expected, that she would send me to the big university hospital if there was cause for worry. I wasn't expecting it, but she did an u/s. I was so excited to see gummy. Unlike in the last 2 u/s, gummy was quite calm. Gummy looked like he/she had filled out a little bit, and didn't look quite as gaunt as our last peek inside. Dr. Smiley didn't take any measurements, but said the baby looked like an appropriate size for his/her age.    

The anatomy scan is booked for October 19. She felt that it was a good idea to have the scan at the same place as last time (Pleasantville General Hospital), so as to compare results with the 14w scan. She said that she may also send me to another place she likes to send patients if there is a need for follow-up.

There have been a few sweet occasions for revealing the pregnancy to close friends. One evening last week, we went out to dinner with a group of friends, most of whom did not know about our little miracle. A few of them knew about our struggles in some detail and were over the moon when I told them there was a fetus in there, pointing at my stomach. As luck would have it, some other dear friends were also eating at that restaurant. I shared the news with them and both husband and wife just started crying. It was incredibly sweet.

I've been excited and hopeful by reading of some great developments in blogland. My fingers (and aloe plants) are crossed that all continues to go well for you, dear women.