13 Week Checkup

Well, we went to a new doctor today. It was very interesting. He was...an interesting guy to say the least. We got another ultrasound and the baby is looking more and more like a baby! The subchorionic hemmhorage is still there...and still bleeding out. The doctor said the bleeding will stop at 20 weeks. That seems like forever away!! They didn't really tell us anything new that we hadn't already heard before. Oh, except that they are moving my due date up 3 days to October 25th, but that really isn't a huge deal. Morning sickness has pretty much been non existent this week, which was a huge relief. I only got nauseous a few times (mainly when Brandon was cooking........). This week is finals week, and oh boy, I am ready to be done! I have 3 more performances this week plus 2 finals and then freedom for the summer!! We are so excited that the weather is so nice now--Brandon is already planning a camping trip with the neighbors. We don't have another appointment for a month, but I may decide to update next week or the week after depending on how things are going. They may have little to do with the baby....like cleaning out the piano room to make room for the baby or something along those lines. Until next time!

It is official! Baby Riches will be here in October!

Well, we are at 12 weeks so I can officially announce that we are expecting! The end of the first trimester is over!! We are so excited that things have gone so well up to this point and we have faith that come October, we will have a beautiful baby girl (um, I mean Brandon will say boy...but I say he doesn't have those maternal instincts like I do) Anyway, we had our doctor visit today, and she said everything looks perfect! She could still see a sliver left of the subchorionic hemmhorage but it actually took her a little while to find it. I was so excited to finally have a regular ultrasound! And it was surprisingly clear, contrary to what we thought. Today was our graduation day from the fertility center, so we will be seeing a new doctor next week! The doctor said she wants a picture of the baby when it's born and everyone who works at the clinic was so excited that we were on our way to bigger and better things. We are a little sad to leave, though, because that means we won't get another ultrasound until 20 weeks! Luckily we got a Doppler so we'll be able to listen to the baby's heartbeat once in a while for some reassurance. This past week has been a really rough one as far as morning sickness goes. It didn't help that I had the flu on Thursday, but today was totally different and I felt the best I have in a long time. Maybe it's the fact that I only have 4 days of school left...I don't know. But anyway, until next week! I really hope the doctor we chose is a good one!

Cheerio, darling

Wow, what a day! So all day yesterday, I was having some pains in my stomach. I wasn't sure what they were, but they hurt pretty bad. I decided to eat some cheerios, because those always make me feel better. It was a really strange feeling I was having, but I just kind of shrugged it off and went about my daily activities. (I did take a nap for all you that were worried about me...) We tried calling the doctor a few times to see if they could tell us what the pains were, but no one answered, so we had to wait until this morning to call again when there were people in the office. We got an appointment early and headed in. We were a little nervous, but these weren't the same miscarriage pains I had had before. So we got in to the ultrasound and she had to stick the awkward thing up me again (even though last week she said we were done with it!!) and  she about jumped out of her chair!! I couldn't see the screen from where I was laying, so I exclaimed, "What!?!" She turned the screen to where I could see it and I about jumped off the table! I couldn't believe my eyes! Brandon was laughing in the corner of the room with a confused look on his face and then it just got silent. I mean, how do you tell someone that the baby they have been carrying for 11 weeks has turned into a cheerio??? I surely wouldn't know how to do it! Obviously there wasn't a heartbeat, so she just kind of put the ultrasound stick away and stared at us. I never knew that eating that many cheerios would turn it into one!! I guess we will definitely have to name it Lester now. 

Click here for the real update :)

11 Week Update!

Well, first of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Easter! I hope yours was much much much more enjoyable than ours! Yesterday morning I started getting a lot of pains in my stomach (no, they weren't hunger pains). It kind of felt like someone was poking my with something but they hurt. So that was slightly alarming. Well, they say "as long as you're not bleeding then there's really nothing to worry about." And guess what happened...yep I started bleeding. Awesome. So I came home from church early (I was a little bummed because of the whole Easter thing, but you gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose). Anyway, the pain never let up all day but the bleeding did. Until right before I went to bed. And this time it was enough to make me scared. I've been through 5 miscarriages...I know what it looks like and I tell you what, this had me scared. So we went to bed nervous, and I tossed and turned all night hoping and praying things were all right. We had tried to call the doctor on Sunday afternoon but no one answered the after hours emergency line and I really didn't feel like this deemed a trip to the emergency room. So I woke up this morning and the bleeding hasn't stopped. So we waited until the doctor's office opened and got an appointment for this morning do we didn't have to wait until this afternoon to figure out what was wrong. The funny thing is that my normal doctor was not in the office today. Of course the one time I have a problem, she isn't there. But the NP that helped us was really nice and she knew exactly what she was doing. We started the ultrasound and it took her a couple seconds to find the heartbeat (it felt like 10 minutes!) and then the baby started moving around. Oh my gosh, can you say a sigh of relief!! So she said that the bleeding was because of the hemmhorage, so it was a good thing that it was bleeding out and she told me to expect to bleed a little more over the next few weeks, but that everything was completely normal and the baby is growing as it should. We could see its tiny hands and feet! It was pretty awesome! The pain is round ligament pain, just my body getting ready to get bigger, I guess. So, next week I think we are going to have a huge party celebrating 12 weeks...because that's a huge milestone, right?

 you can see the little arms!

 the heart beat was 160, which is perfect!

5 cm long!

1/4 of the way!!

Well, we've finally hit 10 weeks! It feels like it has been forever since I found out I was pregnant!
I'm still nauseous pretty much all the time, and I really haven't found a food that consistently sounds and tastes good. I still have pretty bad heartburn.
We saw the baby kick pretty hard on the ultrasound this morning, which was really weird, but pretty exciting! The heartbeat was 160 this morning and the baby has grown since last week! It's also turned all the way around so now it's sitting upright. I really need to go and get some new clothes, especially some summer ones since it's getting warm outside. If you have any clothes you would like to donate to the cause, let me know! We are also still trying to sell our organ to make room for the crib, so if you know anyone who wants an organ for cheap, send them our way! I'm so excited that it's finally April and I will finally have a degree after 4 years of college! We enjoyed General Conference yesterday and heard a lot of talks on raising children and being good parents. Brandon is working hard right now. He's the campaign manager for a candidate running for the state house and he's also a maintenance worker for a bunch of apartments, so his days are pretty busy. We are ready for the warm weather and all the fun summer will bring! Only 3 1/2 weeks of school left!