Welcome!

Welcome to our Baby Stout blog. I hope I will become good enough at this to keep you all informed and updated throughout the pregnancy. Any help/advice from experienced bloggers would be greatly appreciated! I am wingin' it here!

Here are some journal entries I made before we started the blog...

JANUARY 4, 2009
today is sunday and we just got back from ft lauderdale on friday evening. i was supposed to start my cycle sometime during that week we were gone, but i didn't. matt asked me this morning if i had started and if i could be pregnant. i really hadn't thought about that but since we had been purchasing so many ovulation kits lately because we had been trying for a while, one of them came with a free pregnancy test. we were getting ready to go to my mom's for our regular sunday dinner and i thought i would go ahead and take one just for kicks....what do you know it said pregnant in like 15 seconds! i freaked and immediately showed it to matt...neither one of us knew how to react... we had been trying, but at 39 and never having been pregnant before, this was a totally new thing for me. of course i had to tell someone, so, after dinner, i was able to pull my sister, dana, aside and tell her. she was so excited. i still didn't believe it was real. on the way home, we stopped and bought another brand pregnancy test...it too was positive in about 15 seconds!now for the ironic part of the story...i had had my annual ob checkup on dec 17. at that visit doc and i discussed my age and how long we had been trying and he decided he didn't want to waste anymore time, so referred me to a fertility specialist. i called that office the next day and got the ball rolling. in a few days we received a packet we needed to fill out and return. our appt. was scheduled for january 5th!

JANUARY 5, 2009
so, needless to say, i called dr. witten's office monday morning and told them about the positive test and being about a week late and they told me they didn't need to see me and that i should call my ob. well, my ob had an opening that afternoon so we went there instead of the fertility specialist.they did a urine test and blood test. the dr. was a little worried cause their urine test only showed a faint line, so, of course, that had me worried, too. dr. hahn estimated me to be at the beginning of my 5th week. on the way home we called and told my parents.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009
the next morning was icy and i tried to make it to work, but slid off the driveway...called in to work. then i called dr. hahn's office for hcg levels and they were 771. they called the next day and wanted me to come in the next monday for another blood draw. wednesday at work i was informed i would be docked for the missed day, but everything was eventually worked out. i called ch that morning and told her i was pg. later that evening i told kari. they would have figured it out the minute i wasn't drinking diet pepsi at lunch anyways.

JANUARY 12, 2009
i went for another blood draw and called the next day to hear my levels were 10,468. the dr. said those were normal and good and progressing just how they were supposed to. doubling about every 36 hours. what a relief! still no pregnancy symptoms though...my next appt. is monday, the 19th (mlk)

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2009
today is our big appt where they will do the health history and an exam. we even have an ultrasound scheduled! we had been at the farm this weekend and told jessica on the way down. our due date is a few days after her birthday!the appt. went well and the exam went well and the us was wonderful...we got to SEE and HEAR our babies' heartbeat! we even got pics to bring home! matt's mom and bill are coming in this weekend and staying with us. we will tell them when they are here.still no real symptoms...maybe some constipation(yay me!) and fatigue.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009
was in severe back pain this morning and again on thursday. called dr. hahn's office and brandi recommended me to dr. devine, a chiropractor. seems i injured my back while riding 4wheelers at the farm last weekend. apparently i wasn't supposed to be riding them in my condition?got an appt. with dr. devine for friday. matt's mom and bill come in thursday evening. we are hosting dinner for everyone on friday...hope my back is better.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2009
had some light spotting this morning...we were off tuesday and wednesday for snow. no long distance service to make any calls. was spotting again some on thursday, so ended up calling the dr. office friday morning and they squeezed me in for an us that afternoon. what an experience! the dr. himself actually performed the us and he was a hoot! had no clue what he was doing! but we were able to see the heartbeat. my next appt. is february 16.we are wanting to get through our first trimester before we tell everyone else...i told my mom she could start telling people the first week in march...so about one more month...

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2009
have been constipated badly all week. i think i am eating well as far as high fiber things and keeping hydrated. stopped and got some prunes and some chewable fiber tabs...shall see if that helps. i feel so bloated and gassy and most of my pants are tight. my shirts don't seem long enough. i think this weekend we are going to go look at baby furniture...just to get an idea.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
we went to chesterfield to look at baby furniture. got back from dinner and had bright red bleeding with a clot. was scared to death. called the on call # and had to call 3 times till the doc finally called me back! one and a half hours later! the bleeding had stopped and he said i shouldn't worry but to call my doc first thing monday. i rested that evening and the whole next day. there was no more bleeding...just dark brown spotting. i am so worried...

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2009
called off work this morning and called the doc and they wanted me to come right in for an us. i was there by 10:00 and sue did an external us and we were able to see the baby and hear a very steady heartbeat of 171 bpm! sue searched around the uterus looking for anything that could be causing clotting and found nothing. she did see 2 fibroids which she said were not a concern since they were so small. she gave us another pic and told me to be on light duty, to rest, no lifting, excessive walking/standing, etc. until the 14th week. i was so relieved! on the way home i stopped at jcp outlet and bought 7 maternity shirts!