10-week update

How far along: 10 weeks – baby has officially graduated from embryo to fetus! Can’t believe we’re 1/4 of the way through.

Meds: all taken daily – prenatal vitamins, DHA, probiotic, 1-2 generic Tums (both for calcium and antacid), Levothyroxine 112 mcg, Progesterone in oil 50 mg intramuscular injection, Progesterone 100 mg vaginal suppository. Also Docusate 250 mg as needed.

Baby is the size of: a kumquat or fig

Belly pictures: The bump is definitely there all the time now!

Total weight gain: Down 0.8 from last week, up 2.4 lbs from pre-fertility treatment weight.

Maternity clothes: Think I’m officially making the switch this week, if I can finally get everything put away (note the ever-present laundry baskets in my bump pics!). My loose-fitting dresses haven’t been enough to hide my bump recently, and I’ve been buttoning up my white coat at work to camouflage it.

Stretch marks: Nope. Can’t do anything to prevent them so not stressing. Applying coconut oil to help my frequent itching.

Sleep: Tired but not sleeping as well. Insomnia seems to have kicked in more.

Symptoms/Feeling: I hate morning sickness and constipation. I held out with just prune juice for as long as I could, but had to break out the Docusate since the gas pain was killing me.

Best moment of this week: I attended aerial class last Thursday evening and danced one last solo (no inverting) for our studio owner who’s moving away. I also wrote her an early birthday card, with a P.S. that I was pregnant. She wrote me an ecstatic message afterwards 🙂

Miss anything: A balanced diet!

Movement:  Not fetal 😛

Food cravings: Bread and ice cream. At least I can eat a little chicken most days at lunch.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Everything 😦

Have you started to show yet: Most definitely – loose tops and dresses aren’t hiding the bump anymore!

Gender: Seeing Genetics today, who will order the [update after my appointment] Verifi test, and I will have my blood drawn next Thursday. Results take 8-10 days to come back, and will be emailed through our patient messaging system if all is normal.

Labor signs: Nope.

Belly button in or out:  Innie.

Wedding rings on or off: Staying on.

Happy or moody most of the time: All over the place – still mostly happy but I’m definitely tearful when retching a lot.

Looking forward to: Seeing my fabulous classmates take the stage Saturday for our studio owner’s last show.

I’m really very happy to throw up

Seriously, how did Princess Kate and all the other ladies who suffered hyperemesis gravidarum survive?? I called out sick today because it’s my worst day yet for symptoms with non-stop nausea and headaches, but I’ve only thrown up twice so far. I’ve been trying to make up for the lack of eating with more water, but that actually made me feel worse. I was catching up on crossing off days on the printable pregnancy calendar on our fridge, and read tomorrow’s tidbit out loud to hubby: “Some women experience only mild pregnancy symptoms.” Bitches! Ha… Poor hubby has had to hear me all day long since he’s working from home. He holed himself up in his office with the door closed – I wonder why 😛

9-week update

How far along: 9 weeks

Meds: all taken daily – prenatal vitamins, DHA, probiotic, 1-2 generic Tums (both for calcium and antacid), Levothyroxine 112 mcg, Progesterone in oil 50 mg intramuscular injection, Progesterone 100 mg vaginal suppository. The PIO self-injections have become much easier, so much so that I still gave it to myself this morning even though hubby came home yesterday – just took less time. Though I will say he doesn’t leave me with as many painful lumps afterwards.

Baby is the size of: a grape

Belly pictures: I felt too sick this morning to take pictures, so already pretty bloated by the time I finally took these.

Total weight gain: Down 0.6 from last week (yay morning sickness), up 3.2 lbs from pre-fertility treatment weight.

Maternity clothes: Still wearing every loose-fitting dress I can possibly get away with.

Stretch marks: Nope.

Sleep: If I’m not in bed by 10pm, I feel pretty crappy waking up at 7am. Naps at work haven’t been as frequent as I’d like, thanks to lunch meetings. I’ve been blessed with pretty light schedules this week though. The calm before the peak of flu season storm, I’m sure.

Symptoms/Feeling: I’ve vomited just once total, but the nausea and retching have really ramped up, to where I was pretty certain I was going to upchuck any second. I’ve found sour things, like lemon and sourdough, and guacamole from Chipotle, help me feel a bit better. Fatigue is definitely a constant, even doing deep breathing for meditation and yoga is tiring!

Best moment of this week: Second ultrasound and RE telling me I could move on to regular OB care! And hubby coming home yesterday – hurray! He bought the baby some cute stuffed animals, including one that looks a lot like the giant duck we bought the day we became engaged – we had to toss it during one of our moves because it was beyond saving from the ravages of 4 pets in a tiny apartment.

Miss anything: Sex – any time I feel like the drive is there, nausea and fatigue take over 😦

Movement:  At least 10 weeks away!

Food cravings: Carbs, carbs, and more carbs – and bread especially. There is no way I could stay gluten-free right now, or I would wither away into nothingness.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Sudden motion – have to be extra careful to avoid rocking or moving too quickly in yoga, and driving up and down the hill home hasn’t been so fun.

Have you started to show yet: My hubby doesn’t think so (or maybe he’s just saying that, lol), but it looks like I am, doesn’t it? A patient’s mom asked me yesterday – I can’t suck in my bloated stomach at work all day!

Gender: Should know by mid-November – problem with the RE pushing my due date back a bit means I won’t be testing next week (even though I still think I’ll actually be 10 weeks then).

Labor signs: No!

Belly button in or out:  Innie.

Wedding rings on or off: Staying on.

Happy or moody most of the time: Moodier with the worsening of morning sickness, but still pretty happy thinking about what’s going on inside me.

Looking forward to: Prenatal massage on Sunday – my therapist is awesome!!

And I just puked :(

I was having good moments today where I could eat pretty well and not feel nauseated, but just now as I’m preparing for bed, I got hit by 5 bad retches in a row, finally ending in me vomiting up some mucus. Ugh! Made myself eat a little yogurt, since I know leaving my stomach too empty could make it much worse by morning. Hoping I feel better by then 😦

2nd ultrasound and change in due date??

I had my 2nd ultrasound today at the RE’s, which went great! The bean had a strong heartbeat, measured 13.3 mm long, which is on track for 7 weeks, 4 days. But wait, I’m 8 weeks, 2 days based on my egg retrieval date of 9/4?? Except my RE calculates my due date as date of conception from my transfer on 9/9, giving me a new due date of June 2, and making me exactly 7 weeks, 4 days today. I’m so confused… I think for the purposes of this blog I’ll keep my weekly updates based on the original.

I totally expected to have at least one more ultrasound and visit, but the RE says the baby is doing great, and he graduated me! I left my 2 remaining vials of Menopur at his office to try and sell to another patient, and brought my Sharps container in to empty. He wants me to continue Progesterone until 12 weeks, or November 18 by his calculation, but I plan to stop a week early because I don’t want to deal with flying with all the supplies to Vegas for our trip, and from what I’ve read many RE’s now stop at 8-10 weeks, so I feel very comfortable stopping at 11.

The morning sickness is definitely kicking my butt, and I ended up telling 2 more of our friends this weekend since they’re staying over. It’s nice to have the company while hubby’s out of town, but I feel like such a terrible host after taking a 2-hour nap, lol.

8-week update

How far along: 8 weeks

Meds: all taken daily – prenatal vitamins, DHA, probiotic, 1-2 generic Tums (both for calcium and antacid), Levothyroxine 112 mcg, Progesterone in oil 50 mg intramuscular injection, Progesterone 100 mg vaginal suppository. Giving myself the PIO has been a giant pain in the ass – yes, pun intended. The first day I had to give it to myself, it took me almost a minute to get 1 mL into my glute. Then the next, I was awkwardly twisting to my left, and managed to bounce the needle off my butt (drawing a drop of blood), and the syringe fell to the floor. Sigh…

Baby is the size of: a raspberry

Belly pictures: I think a tiny bit bigger than at 5 weeks, when I wore the same outfit.

Total weight gain: Maintained from last week, up 3.8 lbs from pre-fertility treatment weight.

Maternity clothes: I feel like I need to break into my stash soon – I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable with my regular clothes, belly bands or not. All I want to wear are dresses that aren’t fitted at my waist.

Stretch marks: Nope.

Sleep: Still napping on my cot at work at lunch when possible, I need to bring a pillow and blanket too though, it’s FREEZING and rather uncomfortable, though I can still conk out for 30 minutes or so. I’m getting about 8 hours a night, which is great considering I used to get by on 6.5 hours. I do get up at least once to pee though, sometimes twice if I’m not careful about restricting fluids in the evening.

Symptoms/Feeling: Full-blown everything it seems – fatigue, nausea, retching, and serious food aversion now. I’ve lost my appetite for most proteins except yogurt and peanut butter, and I couldn’t even stomach a salad at lunch today.

Best moment of this week: Our friend telling me how hubby smiled so big when she told him congratulations. Also hubby telling me he found something really cute for the baby while overseas for work, and wanting to surprise me with it when he comes home – made me smile so hard when I read his message 🙂 I haven’t seen him act this sentimental since we first started dating half our lifetimes ago!

Miss anything: Energy, and the ability to smell and eat food without extreme caution.

Movement:  Too early.

Food cravings: All I want is carbs. At least dumplings seem OK, so I’m getting some protein and veggie in. At the wedding I attended over the weekend, I ate 4 rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, and a small scoop of ice cream. I seriously don’t know how my table-mates didn’t notice. Oh yeah, because they were were all drinking! I stayed under the radar by toasting with my champagne glass, but then just setting it down while everybody else guzzled. Still surprised nobody commented on my glass remaining full the whole time 😛

Anything making you queasy or sick: Seems like almost everything with some nutritional value – so annoying! Rough car rides – my tendency for carsickness is definitely worse. Sea-Bands are on 90% of the time.

Have you started to show yet: I think I am, because a nurse at work asked me the other day as we were walking down the hall, after she glanced down at my stomach several times. And the dress I was wearing wasn’t form-fitting.

Gender: Should find out by 3 weeks from now!

Labor signs: No!

Belly button in or out:  Innie.

Wedding rings on or off: Staying on.

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy, but very easy to cry – I ruined my eye makeup within the first few minutes of Sunday’s wedding, and proceeded to tear up every 15 minutes afterwards. Then the next morning, I had to say bye to my hubby before he took off for the airport, and I didn’t want to let him go!

Looking forward to: Ultrasound in 2 days, and hubby coming home in 6 days!!

This post is brought to you by pregnancy brain

I’m at Starbucks right now, waiting for my hubby to get home. Because I managed to lock myself out of the house for the first time ever. Our poor cats are starving now 😦

I also left the faucet running while filling the water filter reservoir this morning, and it overflowed onto the floor. Yikes!

7-week update

How far along: 7 weeks

Meds: all taken daily – prenatal vitamins, DHA, probiotic, Levothyroxine 112 mcg, Progesterone in oil 50 mg intramuscular injection, Progesterone 100 mg vaginal suppository

Baby is the size of: a blueberry (probably a tiny one since our bean measured small on the first ultrasound)

Belly pictures: Another loose top today so full belly shots

Total weight gain: Down 0.2 from last week, up 3.8 lbs from pre-fertility treatment weight, hoping to just maintain through the 1st trimester.

Maternity clothes: Stretchy anything and bra extenders are my best friends right now. Tried on my most recent Stitchfix box this morning, and keeping 2 of the dresses, one for the wedding in 3 days and another that should take me through at least 2nd trimester. Stitchfix now has a special team that handles the styling of pregnant women – I’ve read some good reviews, so I may use them again for our NYC trip in January!

Stretch marks: No, I am definitely noticing dryer, itchier skin already – need to be more diligent in applying coconut oil.

Sleep: Forced myself to nap during lunch yesterday even though I had a ton of work to do, but I’m glad because it turned into an almost 13-hour day in clinic with non-stop craziness in Urgent Care. I still have to finish my charts tonight though 😦

Symptoms/Feeling: Fatigue, nausea (have broken out the SeaBands), bouts of retching, constipation, frequent peeing (twice last night – ugh!), and acne – boooo!

Best moment of this week: Seeing the heartbeat at our first ultrasound! Also oddly enough, learning our friends who got married in August are 10 weeks pregnant!! They are older than us, and so decided to stop birth control early on, but weren’t really expecting to get pregnant that quick. I honestly didn’t feel any negative feelings when I heard, and we have been chatting back and forth about first trimester fun times.

Miss anything: Green milk tea – holding out completely on caffeine until 2nd trimester.

Movement:  Too early.

Food cravings: Indulged a sudden craving for freshly-made hand-cut potato chips from a local burger chain just now.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Prenatal vitamins Empty stomach. Suddenly lost interest in Trader Joe’s salt & pepper crisps because the pepper seemed so much more intense than just a couple weeks ago.

Have you started to show yet: Sure looks like it above, doesn’t it? Crazy bloating even after eating a tiny bit!

Gender: Planning to find out by 11 weeks because the hubby (and everybody else but me) wants to know.

Labor signs: No!

Belly button in or out:  Innie.

Wedding rings on or off: Staying on.

Happy or moody most of the time: Definitely moodier this past week, probably because work is crazier and I feel a bit overwhelmed with everything in the next few days before hubby flies overseas for work.

Looking forward to: Seeing many friends at a wedding this Sunday – a few of them know, but most don’t. Hoping I survive the 2-hour drive each way!

Shhh, don’t tell my acupuncturist

But I went out for SUP yoga this morning. Her main concern being to avoid getting my uterus cold (yes, a very Chinese medicine way of thinking). Now, I haven’t fallen in the water in probably over a year now, and I know my limits, and am making sure to listen carefully to my body these days. Who can resist the water when it’s this hot? It was almost 70 degrees at 7:30am!

It was wonderful, and while the water wasn’t completely calm, I felt very steady, and modified the yoga when needed. The instructor freaked out a little when I told him I was pregnant, but I explained that I’d already run it by his boss, who was fine with my word that my RE had cleared me to full activity. It was glorious to be out there and moving again after over a month away, and I felt good both during and afterwards. I drank 8 ounces of water beforehand, and another 16 ounces during the 90 minutes on the water. I actually still had some good energy afterwards, but I did have a nice 3-hour nap this afternoon 🙂

I’m going take advantage of warm days to get out there when possible, but I did also buy a set of 2 prenatal fitness DVDs off eBay that I’m going to start soon – Suzanne Bowen’s Slim & Toned Prenatal Barre Workout (I’ve done bar classes before so this seemed like a good fit) and Summer Sanders’ Prenatal Workout, which has more cardio – which I really need to incorporate.

First ultrasound!

We arrived right on time to the RE’s this morning, and there were already 3 patients waiting, including one for egg retrieval. We waited 20 minutes in the waiting room, then they brought us back… only to wait another 20 minutes! Hubby was starting to lose it. I laid down and shut my eyes as I dealt with fish oil burps. Finally the RE came in, and we got down to business. The screen was turned slightly away from me, but I was pretty sure I glimpsed a yolk sac, and then he confirmed that he saw one yolk sac, and a heartbeat! Our bean is measuring 0.26 cm which is average for 5 weeks 6 days, a little behind my dates of 6 weeks 2 days (OOPS I Googled, but I’m fine because there was a good heartbeat). He turned the screen so we could both see, and we watched the tiny flickering heartbeat, which by my estimate, was just over 100 bpm 🙂 So I’m continuing with the progesterone injections and suppositories, but can now stop the aspirin. Hurray, one less pill to have to take! My next ultrasound is in 2 weeks, unfortunately when hubby is out of town, but I’m so glad he was here to see the heartbeat with me for the first time 🙂

Our little bean! Crossmarks marking the crown-to-rump measurement.

So yes, that does mean one didn’t implant along the way. I am sad to lose that one, more than I was expecting since I really have been terrified of a twin pregnancy all this time. My scientific mind knows that this will be a safer pregnancy, and give me the best chances of having a healthy full-term baby in the end.

Afterwards, my hubby and I discussed again when to tell our parents. His family can NOT keep a secret for anything, and he said now, he’d really prefer to wait until the end of 1st trimester. I agreed, knowing that my mom can’t really keep her mouth shut either. So as strange as it is for my sister and some of our friends to know before them, it’s what feels right to us. The fact that we don’t see them often definitely makes it easier.

Now that it’s looking like we will be able to go somewhere in February, we’re trying to figure out where. I’d like somewhere warm and tropical, but we have good friends that just moved to NYC and that will be our last chance to see them. I can’t believe we’re really thinking about heading there when it’ll be in the 20s-30s! That is a whole set of maternity clothes I do NOT have 😛