13w2d, awful cough and welcome back spotting (not!)

It must be over two weeks I have this awful cough. It doesn't bother me at night at all, and mostly not during the day, but I get these fits mid morning which are terrible! It's chesty and scratchy and unmaskable. I obviously forgot to tell the OB last monday, so I never took anything. But last tuesday I decided to the to a chemist which was handy (not my usual one) and the guy says that a particular syrup which I had at home was suitable for pregnancy. So off I went and since tuesday I started taking this med once a day (not 3). Till on friday I decided to consult Dr. Google to see if it was true. It wasn't. Panic. Ok, I started saying to myself that I didn't take that much after all and that I'll just kill that pharmacist who obviously doesn't know his job. On saturday I called my chemist and asked her opinion. She would not have recommended it. So I went back to the moron-chemist and after a brief intro to make sure he remembered me from last tuesday, I asked him if he was sure about the safety of carbocisteine (the active molecule in the drug) in pregnancy, because my doctor (Google) told me to stop it immediately. he was adamant it was safe, but of course to stop it if I was told so, he even checked a book which apparently confirmed his opinion. Anyway, I can't undo what I have done and just have to hope for the best. Since last thursday we have been able to pick up the HB on the home doppler, and it was still there on saturday which was quite reassuring.
I don't know if it's the cough or what by my spotting is back. He comes visiting about once a week since last week, not much at all, mostly brown streaks in between the usual mucus or just a brown tinge. I'm starting thinking it's my cervix and that's it. Annoying though, VERY annoying. Mostly because yo don't know if it's going to stay like that or become a full flow at some point. I just have to hope for the best.

In other news, I have been awarded among other 30 bloggers for a fertility advice award! Apparently I'm an authority in the field!

And sixteen!

Thank you all so much for the sleeping advices! The pillow behind the back really helped a lot and I slept better. I'm going to check out the body pillow too it seems fantastic! I'll also check out magnesium supplements, my prenatal only contains the equivalent of 17% RDA, so maybe I'm a bit low?

Today marks 16 weeks and I'm so happy to report that for the first time I have NOT put on weight since last Sunday! It's as if I'm less swollen which is great so maybe I've started losing a bit of those retained fluids finally! The belly is shaping up nicely, I will post some pics when I gathered a few more together. Apparently Elvis is the size of an avocado!

One thing I always forgot to say is about baby movements. I don't think I feel them yet even though at times I have the impression I do (like a very light tapping mostly happening in the evening and if I have something pressing on my belly, like...Patches!) but I have to say the doppler has almost cancelled all my anxieties. I still look forward to my next appointment and this time I have a series of questions ready for the doctor:

1) Weight gain (am I in line with what he was expecting?)

2) Being short of breath (not always but if I walk fast or go up a flight of stairs definitely so)

3) My blood tests results

4) Possibility of an incompetent cervix and can I be checked (and the anxiety that the awareness of this condition creates for me)

5) Vaginal discharge. It has increased and I have read it's very normal, but at the same time could it be a mild yeast infection?

6) Back pain and mild abdominal cramping (I think it's all normal but rather have him say so)

7) Discuss my first trimester screening results

8) I need a certificate to apply for a maternity leave

Anything else I have forgotten?

Mike is gone to see his hurling team playing in the semifinal, they are given as strong favourite and this apparently puts them under a great deal of pressure! I'm staying at home watching the same match from the comfort of my couch with Patches and the Dude...

Sleeping troubles

First of all welcome to my most recent followers! I look forward to check out your blogs too!

Next, the doppler is giving us a lot of joy, a part from last night when I could not find the heartbeat at all and kept hearing my own! Eventually we put on a bit more gel, moved the doppler more central and a bit higher up and cloppetecloppetecloppete there it was! I think the first time I used it at the weekend I was probably listening to the umbilical cord blood-flow which had the same rhythm but missed the "tump" sound. Still beating at 160bpm!

Yesterday I had quite a lot of pain in my belly, couldn't tell if it was bowel though and got a bit frightened...but then....it was bowel! I must have eaten something wrong in the canteen....what a surprise... Anyway, my next appointment cannot come soon enough, I'm counting the days.

I have not been sleeping well lately, my back is sore and even if I'm trying to sleep on my left side I seem to wake up on my back. And so I toss and turn. Every book does recommend not to sleep on your back as you enter the second trimester because the growing uterus will press on your blood vessels but I think it may be pressing on my spine...I tried putting a pillow in between the legs but I found it more of a hindrance than help. Any suggestion appreciated! meanwhile the peeing is definitely easing off, I still go once a night but much less during the day.

This morning we stopped by the clinic with chocolate for everyone there and a small special gift for the Favourite Doctor. They were all so so happy to see us (maybe it was the chocolate!) and the Favourite Doctor brought us in an office for a proper chat. She was so lovely as usual, you know she has two children! I never knew. Strangely I feel so safe when I'm there. I suppose it is the familiar feeling, I know everyone so well they are like friends. One of the nurses from the theatre even came up to say hello and give me a hug! Also coincidentally while we were saying our goodbyes we learnt that it was going to be the last day of the nurse who gave us the very first round of blood tests in 2008! She is going to a different fertility clinic closer to where she's from (only a few miles from Mike's home-town! The World is small, but Ireland...God, it's like a big village!).

First present and fetal doppler!

On Friday A-K my post doc gave a good-by box of chocolate (ah she knows me well!) and a small package. You see, her contract is up and she'll return to Germany next week.

I open the pack and this was what I found inside

Isn't it cute? She got in Peru when she went on holiday over Christmas and thought she would have given it to the first of her friends having a baby. And she gave it to me. Needless to say I was in tears! She's such a lovely girl and I have been so lucky to have her in my group.

Not having Elvis here yet we tried the cute hat on Patches....

He was sooo cute too!! Not sure if you can spot the Dude is just beside him on the left, very interested in the little tassels...

Anyway, today we also went to the chemist as the doppler had arrived. She gave us a very good discount so we bought it. As soon as we got home we tried it. Nothing. No heartbeat at all, no sounds other than the background noise. Initially I thought I could hear something and I remembered of all those times I thought I had seen a second line on an HPT...you know what I mean. Anyway, then I tried it on my own heart and still NOTHING!! Sigh of relief. I called the chemist of course telling her I thought the thing was faulty. Being a bank-holiday weekend here, she couldn't do anything for me until next Tuesday. Ah well. Incredibly I didn't really panic.

Then we thought maybe it's the battery. A battery came with the monitor you see, it was a new one, wrapped up in cellophane. Could it be the problem?

And sure enough it was! That damn little thing!! With the new battery I found the heartbeat straight away (ok....with a bit if fiddling!) and according to our counting it was at around 160bpm! How lovely! I of course checked mine too, just to make sure it wasn't me having a heart attack... nope, definitely not mine! I have to make sure I am not getting addicted...I'll try to use it no more than twice a week (even because if it uses up batteries at the speed of light we'll spend twice as much money in a matter of days!).

Mike said when we are older and may suffer of poor circulation in the legs (like his mom) we could still use the doppler to check for peripheral heartbeat! Ah bless him...