I am 11 days past ovulation today and I got my first blood (beta) test done today to check my levels and make sure that they are doubling appropriately. Your HCG number is supposed to double every 48 hours in a viable pregnancy. The results from today are HCG-36 and progesterone-47. The Dr said these numbers are great so it is official!! I will be going back in two days for another draw.

5 weeks, 3days: I was so nervous for this appointment, but all went perfect. We were able to see the sac and the little smudge, which was the beginning of the yolk sac.

6 weeks, 3days: Today we got to see the heartbeat!!!!!!!!! It was a little flicker that basically took up the whole baby. We couldn't be happier. I don't think I stopped smiling the whole day.

9 weeks, 3 days: We have now been released from Johns Hopkins and we had our first pre-natal appointment today. We talked to a very informative nurse for 45 minutes and she went over all the do's and don'ts of pregnancy as well as our family history. We then saw the Dr who did an exam and tried to locate the heartbeat with the doppler. He was not able to do so (which of course freaked me out) and sent me for an ultrasound right away. The tech was amazing and located the baby immediately. The heartrate was 171 and the baby was SO much bigger than last time!! She flipped the ultrasound over to 4d and we were able to get some very cool shots. I just could not believe all the kicking, streching, and flipping around this little one was doing already. So amazing!!!

We were able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler today!! Finally! It took the nurse a minute, but she found it which means no more being rushed off for an u/s. YAY.

She also had the results from the 1st trimester screening sent over to her so she could confirm the placenta previa diagnosis. She unfortunately did confirm it and said that it was a "complete" one instead of "partial" which makes it less likely to move. There still is a chance it could move and I am not going to worry about it until my 18 week scan. Only bummer is I can't really do much . . . no prenatal yoga, no strenous activities, lifting, etc. So instead of finding out the gender at our 18 week u/s, we get to find out if placenta has moved-haha!

Heard the results back from the Nucheal Translucency Scan today . . . the statistics for Downs Syndrome at my age is normally 1 in 854. Now, after getting the results of my test last week my odds have been lowered to 1 in 10,712. The stats for Trisomy 13 and 18 at the age of 27 are 1 in 1,597. Now, after testing the stats are 1 in 21,097. So, the results were great and very reassuring that there are no chromosomal abnormalities.

I have been feeling what I thought was movement on and off for a while now, but there was no doubt about it this past Saturday night. We were at a neighborhood Christmas party and the whole time I was talking to people, he/she was moving around. I felt a lot of pokes on my left side and it almost tickled from the outside. It was really neat, but I wish it would have happened while I was at home and could concentrate on it and enjoy it! It was very distracting during my conversations with people :) It lasted for over an hour, but I have not felt much since. The baby must have just been in a good position to give me some pokes then. Looking forward to feeling more movement and Dave being able to feel it too!

Today we had our monthly pre-natal appointment. It went great! They measured the baby's heartrate at 155bpm. You could hear the baby kicking as she was measuring the heartrate. I had just had a Decaff Peppermint Mocha Latte from Starbucks, so I think he/she liked it :) They also measured my uterus which is now right at my belly button, which explains why I feel like I am being kicked in the belly button sometimes. Overall, it was a good appointment and just made me more excited for my ultrasound appointment on the 18th!! I can not wait to see this little one again.

23 weeks, 1 day: Everything has been going really great! I am feeling the baby move all the time now and can even see this little one kick from the outside. I get a lot of entertainment out of watching my belly move around at night when I lay down to go to sleep. Dave is finally able to see and feel the baby kicking more often now. Such an amazing thing to have the daily reassurance that everything is going all right in there. I am looking forward to our appointment next Saturday just to check on him/her and make sure everything is perfect. Dave and I are also anxiously awaiting our "Babymoon" that we leave for on the 31st. It will be really nice to get away one last time and relax a bit before the baby comes. I feel like everything is happening so fast and before I know it the baby will be here, so I want to enjoy every moment leading up to it so I can say I really treasured my pregnancy and not just rushed my way through it. I can truly say that even with all the unpleasant stuff that comes with pregnancy, I still am really enjoying it.

Oh my gosh . . . I can not believe I am in my 3rd trimester! Time is just flying by now. Our nursery furniture came in and we are picking it up this weekend. I am so excited to see it all come together!! My mom is finished with all the bedding and is just working on the drapes, which I will get at the shower on the 8th. I have just been working on finishing up some art work I am doing and finding some odds and ends (lamp, curtain rod, end tables, etc). Almost there!

I think it is so funny some of the comments people say to pregnant women before thinking. I now know what to say and what not to say :) Some lady asked me today at the fed ex store if I was 'ready to pop' . . . um . . . NO, I have 3 more months left woman!!  Then she proceeded to tell me how it is always exciting with the first pregnancy, but by the second pregnancy you do not care anymore . . . what the heck?? My favorite was someone who asked me if I was having twins and when I told her I wasn't she asked if 'I was sure' because she thought I looked too big for how far along I was. Gotta love it. Oh, and I also think it is so funny how convinced everyone is of the gender of the baby . . . I am still clueless, but a lot of people seem pretty sure so I am excited to see. GIRL seems to be the majority vote as of right now.

PT is really helping my back. I also got a new chair for my office, so I think the combination has really helped to cut back on the pain. I am still ready to lay down and take some of the pressure off at the end of the day, but I know that is normal.