My MFM appointment (with pics and video!)

Yesterday was my first MFM appointment. And coincidentally enough, he is actually located in the exact same building and even on the same floor as the first RE we saw when our infertility journey had just begun. I'll be honest, I was a bit emotional riding up the elevator on "the other side" with two other ladies who I was pretty sure were headed for the RE. I tried to hide my belly with my purse and my paperwork because I know how much that must have sucked for them. And sure enough, as suspected, they exited the elevator and walked through the RE's doors as I walked into the MFM's. I'll never forget the pain of infertility and I'll continue to pray for those still struggling each and every night.

I got to the MFM and was really nervous. I have no idea why, really, because up until this point, the OB has said Sammy is perfect. The appointment started off with a full blown anatomy scan. And sure enough, Sammy is still perfect in every way. She is 54 percentile, weighs approximately 2lb1oz, and is growing perfectly. We got a bunch of really great pictures and videos that I'll share. Don't worry, the clips are just a few seconds long.

Sammy's profile and she blows us a kiss at the end!

Stretch, baby girl, stretttttttch!

And of course, Sammy's trademark legs crossed at the ankles complete with her cute little tooshie!

After the scan, I met the MFM doctor who will be managing my care with my OB. He was very nice and told me my gestational diabetes was "not that bad" which was a huge relief! I suppose I thought I'd go in there and he'd tell me I was a train wreck beyond all hope LOL. It turns out, I'll only need a low dose of oral meds to manage my diabetes at this point. And I'm happy to report that I took my first dose of it last night and it did exactly what it was supposed to! My numbers looked great.  So far, so good. Just keep in mind that gestational diabetes can worsen as pregnancy progresses and the placenta grows so there's a good chance I'll need more meds later on, or even insulin. But my MFM doesn't think I'll need insulin at all. Fingers crossed.

We talked about the cause of gestational diabetes, and how the placenta causes it by running the hormone show in my body. Managing it is just a matter of chasing my pancreas to produce enough insulin to counteract the sugars being produced in my body. We also talked a bit about my risk for pre-eclampsia because apparently those using donor egg/embryo have a higher incidence of it. They think that pre-e is an autoimmune response to foreign DNA that sometimes the mother's body decides to reject. And in a naturally conceived genetic pregnancy, you already have 50% of the DNA not belonging to the mother. In donor embryo/egg, 100% does not belong to the mother so there is a higher incidence. Add a multiples pregnancy in there and the risk goes higher and higher. Interesting. So far my blood pressure has been textbook perfect so I'm hoping it stays that way.

Having worked through the first few miserable days of force feeding myself and throwing up, I'm finally able to eat a good amount of food again which means I'm feeling a lot better physically. There is no doubt that the gestational diabetes was kicking my butt while it was uncontrolled causing most of my awful symptoms. I'm grateful this was caught early and I've been able to manage it so quickly. And I'm also grateful to be seen by an MFM who is keeping a close eye on me and Sammy. It turns out that we are going to be seen every other week by either the MFM or the OB, and beginning at 32 weeks, every single week. And at EVERY appointment, we will get an ultrasound. I feel so spoiled! :)

Here are some parting photos of our beloved baby girl:

Sammy facing the camera and saying hello!

Profile shot. Look at those cheeks and lips! We are so in love.