Dating Scan

I went for my first scan on Saturday morning. The appointment was only meant to last 15minutes but ended up going for 45 minutes. The radiologist first did an abdominal scan on me - I was more nervous than excited! She starred at the monitor while scanning my belly for a few minutes in complete silence. At this point, i was really concerned that she might not have been able to see an embryo, but she finally confirmed that she could in fact see it. Next, she performed a transvaginal ultrasound to take a closer look. As I laid there anxiously, she explained to Federico everything that he was seeing on screen. Giving him a lesson - Female Anatomy 101. First she showed him my cervix... then my fallopian tubes, then my ovaries.... then little appleseed 'Herrera'. As soon as she announced that she could see a heartbeat (the little flicker of light), I was overcome by emotion, I wept silently non stop for the next 5mins. I am still unsure exactly how far along I am, nor do i know my estimated due date. Perhaps things are different here in Canada, but i know in New Zealand, you can pretty much find out more detail right after your scan, rather than having to wait for your doctor to receive the results to get back to you. Although not permitted to give me any details, the radiologist thought our 'baby's' heartbeat was a little slow. I wont take her word for it - well im trying not to. Now to wait for my doctor to contact me. Fingers crossed everything is normal.

Sharing the News

A few days ago we decided to share our good news with the immediate family. Even though we are still within the first trimester our parents knew that we were thinking about starting a family. So 4-5 weeks in we decided to share the news with them. Both of our parents are in New Zealand so we decided to break the news on one of our regular Skype calls. 

Needless to say the news was well received. For my parents it will be their first grandchild, so for them it was wonderful to hear. To be honest I expected mum to shed a few tears, I think she got tears in her eyes but not the Iguazu Falls that I had expected. 

Positive Test

Close to 1 week ago, we found out that I was pregnant through a home pregnancy test. This was by far one of the happiest moments in my life. Federico and I had been trying to conceive since late January, and some may calculate that we became successful on my third cycle, but because my cycles had been so long and irregular, we were lucky enough to become successful after only two cycles. April 1st, Fertility Friend detected my ovulation day, http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/3b12ce/. The 2 week wait period to test did not feel anywhere close to to how long it felt during our first cycle. I was a lot more relaxed and I guess 'un-hopeful' this cycle, realizing that on average it would take a healthy couple 6-12 months to fall pregnant. I told myself, it would be better to expect a negative test result than to expect a positive one and set myself up for disappointment. Come April 13th, Saturday morning, I was 13 days post ovulation. I took a urine test and got my first positive. I remember staring at the two lines with no emotion, questioning if I was interpreting the results incorrectly or perhaps the test was faulty. Went straight to my sleeping husband and woke him with the good news. I took a second test 14DPO just to be sure, got my second positive, and because I like to be absolutely sure, I even took a third test at 15DPO. Third positive. Success.

I started experiencing mild symptoms a couple of days later. Constant hunger pains, headaches and sore breasts- nothing extreme, followed by very green veins on my forearms and palms. As of the days that followed, my symptoms subsided. It sounds crazy, but i almost wished I felt a little bit more for peace of mind. I hardly felt pregnant at all. 

Since moving to Toronto, Canada, we always felt that we would have at least our first child born in Canada. To follow in my father in law and mother in law's footsteps - they went to College in Guelph, Ontario, where Federico was eventually born. But over the recent months, although we have come to really enjoy our lives in Canada, we feel that we must return to New Zealand to be with our families and friends. Not only do we want our child to have a close relationship with his/her grandparents, but the working life here just isn't working out. Some day, we hope to return to Canada with our kids - whether we have 2... or 3. Let us hope for 3 although I know Federico would be happy with 2 ;) 

As soon as I saw the positive result on the pregnancy test, I contacted as many midwiferies in Toronto as I could. There is a huge shortage of midwives in Ontario, and seeing that baby will be due in December, this meant an even greater shortage over the holiday period. Im still on a couple of waiting lists, but I do not think ill bother that much seeing we will be leaving anytime now. The important thing is, I have managed to secure a midwife back home in Auckland and she has so far been absolutely fantastic- I cannot wait to meet her. 

Our First Post

So here we are... Post one of many more to come. Recently my wife and I have started down the path of parenthood. I fondly remember a conversation I once had with a colleague about being a parent, they commented that it was the best thing that had ever happened to them and that they only wish it had happened sooner. So with words like that we embark into a new chapter of our lives with great enthusiasm.

In this new digital age we have been inspired to journal our experience so that one day our children can look back on this and have an appreciation of their years growing up. Hopefully you, our family, friends, and followers can share this journey with us.