Jelly Bean & Gus: Updates from Us

We're back! We have had a roller coaster few weeks but so far everything seems to be alright. Mommy has been spotting blood on and off since September 28th. At first the blood was mostly brown/pink which is not a cause for alarm as it means the blood is old and not fresh blood. Still any blood is always a concern and since Mommy's loss of peanut she rushed to the Dr's to get things checked out. Multiple blood work was done and at 16 DPO (days past ovulation) HGH (human growth hormones) were at 274. The Dr had Mommy come back 2 days later for more blood work to see if the HGH levels were doubling as they should. At 18 DPO the levels were at 474 which the Dr said was good since it was close to doubling. Still it got Mommy worried so she went back again at 24 DPO and got more blood work done. HGH levels came back at 3913 and Mommy breathed a sigh of relief. Then a few days later when Mommy went to the bathroom a small clot fell out. This sent Mommy running back tot he Dr's for an early ultrasound and it was confirmed that there was a gestational sac and yolk inside. Jellybean was 5 weeks 4 days at the time so too small to hear a heartbeat so an ultrasound was planned for the following week. Whew. A few days later mommy started to see red when she wiped sometimes and red is certainly soemthing to worry about as it indicates fresh blood. Mommy went to the Dr and was checked out and looked fine and the Dr said to wait till Friday for the ultrasound to hear the heartbeat. Throughout that week Mommy saw red from time to time and was alarmed and worried. Many times she wondered if there was indeed a Jellybean still inside with the amount of red she saw. On Friday October 16th, 2009 Mommy and Daddy went in for their ultrasound. As soon as the screen flashed up they saw a tiny little dot inside the gestaional sac. Jellybean measured 6 weeks 4 days, exactly on track, and had a heartbeat of 129 BPM. Mommy and daddy were so releived and so thrilled to see their little Jellybean. It was a very scary few weeks waiting to confirm with the heartbeat but it was all worth it in the end to hear that lovely little beating sound. Though Mommy is still seeing red from time to time she was told that the area around Jellybean is not the cause of the bleeding so all should be well. Mommy returns to the Dr next week for another checkup. Hopefully everything is chugging along nicely and we will be out of the first trimester soon.

And now onto the pictures!

On the left is Jellybean at 5 weeks 4 days. You can just see the sac and inside is a tiny tiny dot which is the yolk. The middle picture is exactly one week later. Jellybean is that longish pole toward the left next to the circle which is the yolk sac. The last picture is a 3D image of them. The yolk sac, which is Jellybean's food source until Mommy's placenta develops, is the round circle and the tadpole like shape next to it is Jellybean. I know the pictures are hard to see since they are scans but its amazing how much has changed in just one short week.

In spite of all the worry Mommy has been under Jellybean managed to go to two events these past few weeks. The first was the wedding of Daddy's sister (Jellybean's aunt) Since the family does not know about Jellybean yet Gus couldn't come along for the entire even so Mommy and Daddy took this picture at home before leaving. Mommy, Daddy, and Jellybean were all in the wedding party.

The day after the wedding Jellybean and Gus were off to root for Daddy's favorite team, The New York Rangers. They watched the Rangers shut out the the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-0 victory.