My Afternoon

Scheduled Appointment Time: 12:00pm
Actual Appointment Time: 12:55pm
Phone Call to Hospital to set up Ultrasound: 1:20pm
Scheduled Ultrasound Time: 2:30pm
Amount of time in which I needed to Drink 30oz of Fluid: 10 minutes

So I missed lunch (I wasn't hungry before I left my house at 11:40am and figured I'd be home around 1pm to eat anyway). By the time I was done with my doctor, I was famished and the hunger pains were starting to make me ill. To make matters worse, 30oz of water in 10 minutes would probably make a non-pregnant woman sick, so you can imagine how I was feeling as I left the building. The mental conversation I had all the way to hospital went something like this: You cannot throw up. You need this fluid in your bladder for the ultrasound to work. You cannot throw up. You cannot throw up... It worked!

Mom's Weight: 121lbs (+9lbs already this pregnancy-- very typical for me!)
Mom's Blood Pressure: 96/56 (much better than last month's 82/40)
Ultrasound Measurement of Baby: 15 weeks, 5 days
Baby's Heart Rate: 152bpm (all my babies heart rates have been 141+, so I still say boy)
Baby's Activity: more than I've seen via ultrasound ever (maybe explains why I'm already feeling him/her?)

<EDIT>
    Size of Hematoma: I just got off the phone with my doctor. Unfortunately, the hematoma (placental bleed) is bigger than last month's by about 3cm, bringing me to a grand total of 11cm (once again, bigger than the baby).   The good news is that the baby is tolerating it exceptionally! More good news is that because I haven't been bleeding and the baby is doing so well, my doctor feels that letting me resume some more normal activities would be fine (i.e. taking long walks, light housework, etc.). To quote her: "Lifting heavy groceries, big loads of laundry, or your children should be avoided, except in emergency, and-- whatever you do!-- do not resume your daily sit-ups!!"
    My next appointment with Dr. McCloy is on May 15th (I will be 20w, 4d according to all three of my ultrasounds). She'll then send me for another ultrasound so that we can check on the baby, since the concern is that the bleed could at any point begin hindering his/her growth. From what I understand, starting at around 20 weeks gestation this type of hemorrhage is no longer called a subchorionic bleed and is referred to as placenta abruptio. Because of the increased demand from the baby on the placenta by that point in pregnancy, any placental compromises carry a much more significant chance of causing IUGR and/or pre-term labor.
    In the end, this is what I know: in the last 10 minutes, I do feel as though we just took a major leap in the wrong direction. However, I am also filled with the knowledge that my God-- the God who is amazing and powerful enough to create this precious life in the first place!-- is more than able to keep this baby healthy and safe in the midst of any medical reports or negative circumstances. I am reminded that my hope is not in this pregnancy reaching a certain number of weeks or in hemorrhages no longer existing; my hope is in God. And, most of all, I am learning that to know Him is to trust Him, no matter what. He's that wonderful.
</EDIT>

Other Facts:

Outdoor Temperature as of 1:30pm: 43* (F)
Precipitation: misty rain (very appropriate for spring, I think)
# of Red Lights Encountered Today: 9
Craving of the Day: grilled pepper quesadilla
# of Tulips Sprouting Along My Porch: approximately 84