A recap of the 1st six weeks.

It all started back on August 3, about 4 days before I was even "late" but one day before we left for vacation. I was having some very strong pregnancy symptoms and was 100% convinced I was knocked up :) so I thought it would be a good idea to test early because my insurance is lame and I need a positive test at my primary doctor's office to get a referral to my OB. And I didn't want to call my OB's at 6 weeks when we got back and expect a timely appointment! So after I got TWO positive tests at home, I went and had blood drawn by my primary doctor.
And immediately we ran into complications, I was SO early and the crappy equipment they have on base said my test was negative! The nurse believed me anyways and put through my referral and I was able to go in for blood work at my OB's office that same day, I got a positive test but my #'s were low...the nurses assumed I would miscarry soon. I left for vacation a little deflated.
And worst of all I had wanted to keep it a secret so I could tell Thurman I was pregnant when we were in Illinois. We already had plans to visit our old apartment and I thought it would have been so cute to tell him in the exact same spot we found out about RaeAnn (or pretty close to it). Unfortunately I had to tell him, Hey by the way I am pregnant, but it's already not going well. :(

I also had started spotting but I assumed it was implantation bleeding, it lasted the whole time we were in West Virginia, but then the morning we left (8/7) it was bright red. There was nothing I could do, I thought it was over. By the end of the day it was back to just the spotting that I had been having all weekend. I considered going to the ER but I knew they couldn't do anything for me, so I didn't waste my time. By Tuesday(8/9) the spotting had completely stopped, I took another pregnancy test and it was VERY positive, my symptoms were still strong but Thurman and I were not celebrating just yet. We enjoyed the rest of our vacation and the both of us a did a good job handling my mood swings and we made sure to keep my stress level as low as possible.
The first day we were home (8/17) I went to my OB's office and had my blood levels retested. They were great! My hcg was over 9,000 so the doctor ordered an ultrasound for the following week. (Once your HCG gets over 6,000 a heartbeat should be visable, hence the reason for an U/S and not just more blood work)

On August 20th, I had officially made it to 6 weeks, a goal I was very much looking forward to. I hadn't made it to 6 weeks without bad news in the past so it was a HUGE relief! I stopped looking for blood every time i used the bathroom and even better I started getting very nauseous ALL DAY LONG!!! It has been HORRIBLE! But it is reassuring at the same time because it means the baby is HEALTHY!!

4 days later I had my ultrasound, an even bigger relief!! The baby was there and they had a heartbeat!!! I saw it flickering on the screen and just cried!!! The technician was a little concerned, but I explained to her about my last two pregnancies. Once I got dressed I met with the doctor and she read the report and said the dates are a little off, the baby was only measuring 5 wks 6 days and I thought I was 6wks 4 days, but she said everything looked PERFECT!! Music to a Mother's ears!!!! :))) And we finally told my family!

Looking at this picture now it's hard to see everything, but that little bean gave me so much hope to make it through the next couple weeks!

It was so hard to keep it a secret and the Sunday before my ultrasound I went to Target after church and just start browsing the maternity section when who turns the corner but my mother and sister!! I panicked! I tried to hide but it was too late! And trying to hide only made me look more suspicious!! They called me out, but I played dumb, I told them I wasn't hiding, what were they talking about?! Oh my goodness it was just too funny! And lucky for me they didn't even notice what section I was standing in!
When I started telling my immediate family they all claimed "they knew, they could just tell" I think they are full of it and I did a good job keeping my very special secret :)