There's always something that keeps me worried.

Let's start with the good news about the babies! Today I am 9 weeks 5 days pregnant. My ultrasound appointment went well and the babies are "beautifully normal" as the nurse practitioner put it! YAY for that! Both babies were active and moving all around, which was certainly fun to see! Baby A measured 10 weeks and "her" heartbeat was 177. Baby B measured 10 weeks 1 day and "his" heartbeat was 162. (The saying is the faster heartbeats belong to girls and the slower ones boys...but we've got a few more weeks till we will really know!) Here they are, our beautiful babies!



Don't know if you can really make things out, but we sure could see them so much better today! We saw hands and feet and even toes! Baby A is much clearer, and her head is pointing towards the top. Baby B is a bit fuzzy, and his head is pointing down.

So...what's the "something", you ask? Well, Allan has Fifth Disease. This is apparently a pretty common childhood illness, but most people I talk with have never heard of it. It's a relatively mild virus which was the fifth one found that caused rashes in children, hence the name. Children who get it may have mild flu or cold like symptoms and then up to 4 weeks later develop a rash. The hard part about this virus, is until there's a rash you wouldn't know your child has it. Once the rash develops, the child is no longer contagious, however the passing along would have happened long before it without knowledge.

Allan is not bothered at all. The rash does not itch, nor cause discomfort in any way. That's the good news. The "bad" news is that it can be dangerous to fetuses less than 20 weeks gestation. Figures. It's not common, but if the mother contract the virus while pregnant, worst case scenario, the virus can cause a lack of red blood cells, causing the fetus to become anemic, which could cause a heart problem and the fetus could die and the mother miscarry. The good news is I've been having weekly ultrasounds and they look good. I had a blood test taken today to see what my levels of the virus are. That will determine if I was exposed long ago, hence no problem, as you won't contract it more than once. Or it will determine I have it now and we just have to keep having these ultrasounds and praying for the best. Of course the blood test could also determine that I've never been exposed and haven't (yet) contracted it from Allan, either, in which case I would probably still be monitored closely for at least another several weeks.

The other GREAT news about today is I "graduated" from the specialists to the regular (albeit high risk) OB!! It was almost bittersweet. These docs, nurses and staff have been with me through the roughest of times along with the happiest moments of our last couple years. It's weird to realize I won't be going to their office next week, but another doc and his nurses and staff will be seeing me instead. They made me promise to call when I know the sexes and we had to promise to send a birth announcement and come see them after the babies are born.

My next appointment is Thursday, May 13th...my first official OB appointment! As always, I ask you all to please continue to pray for us, think good thoughts and send all your positive vibes this way!