Halfway!

First an ultrasound report! We had the anatomy scan on Monday. Baby measured right on track and all the organs and blood flow they checked looked perfect. We also found out that baby is a GIRL! So IFs are expecting a little girl in June ❤

Weekly Update:

How far along: 20 weeks, yay for halfway!

How big is baby: Size of a endive…10 inches (we’re now measuring from head to toe instead of rump to crown)

Symptoms: I’m starting to feel better in the nausea department. I’ve been able to space out the days I take Zofran. I’m starting to get heartburn already so I now travel with Tums wherever I go. I’m also tired, a lot. It’s my constant state of existence and I’ve been struggling a bit with it. I don’t like telling my kids that I’m too tired to do something so I try to power through, but it can be hard.

Movement: I can tell she’s getting bigger because her movements are much more pronounced.

Sleep: I haven’t been sleeping great. It takes a long time to fall asleep and I wake up frequently. This is not helping in the “I’m so tired” department

Food cravings? salads, fruit, hummus and veggies, fruity candy

Anything making you queasy or sick? breakfast, no matter what it is I feel icky after

Best moment of the week? having a great ultrasound and finding out I’m carrying another girl 🙂

Next appointment: OB appt on 2/20

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17 Weeks 1 Day

Weekly Update:

How far along: 17 Weeks 1 Day

How big is baby: Size of a pomegranate …about 5 inches

Symptoms: My nausea has really ramped up this last week because I’ve had to wake up early most days to take the kids to daycare and go to work. The reduction in sleep has seriously impacted how I feel. I didn’t realize what a difference it made until now. Next week Wyatt goes back to school so we’ll be up even earlier…can’t wait

Movement: adding this in because I’m finally feeling some consistent movement! I’m actually surprised it’s taken this long with how active this little one has been on the ultrasounds. Feeling movement is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy. Right now it’s just what I call “popcorn” movements, where it feels like popcorn popping in my lower abdomen, but I know they’ll increase pretty quickly to feeling like real kicks and rolls

Sleep: not too bad for the most part, just not getting enough of it

Food cravings? salad, tacos, nachos, ice water

Anything making you queasy or sick? not enough sleep apparently…getting hungry, eating too much. We’re moving backwards in this department

Happy or moody? Mostly happy, but very tired

Best moment of the week? Having Wednesday off LOL

Next appointment: The anatomy scan ultrasound on 1/20 and an OB appt on 1/22

14 Weeks Hello 2nd Tri!

We finally got the insurance stuff figured out (at the very last minute) and I was able to get in today (the last day that it could be done) for the NT screening, which includes an ultrasound and a blood test.

Baby looked great on the US this morning. It was very squirmy and it took awhile to get the angle the tech needed for the measurements, but eventually baby cooperated. Baby measured right on track and had a heart rate of 154 which is perfect!

I’m so happy we’ve made it to the second trimester! It seems crazy to say that already and I’m sure the next few weeks will fly by the holidays. It’ll be time for the anatomy scan ultrasound before we know it!

Weekly Update:

How far along: 14 weeks and we’re officially in the second trimester!

How big is baby: Size of a beet…about 3.5 inches

Symptoms: I’ve definitely been feeling better the last few days. My stomach still has some wonky times, but it’s generally okay. I’m still exhausted most of the time.

Sleep: it’s been pretty good. It’s been nice not being woke up at 4:30 because my son is having fever induced nightmares

Food cravings? salad, breakfast foods, but I can’t eat them because carbs, milk, sugar makes me super nauseous. The only breakfast food I can eat is bacon

Anything making you queasy or sick? sugar, carbs, getting too full

Happy or moody? Pretty happy, but I can be a bit short tempered in the PM when I’m ready for bed

Best moment of the week? ultrasound yesterday that showed a happy, healthy baby!

Next appointment: OB appt on 12/19

11 Weeks

Weekly Update:

How far along: 11 weeks

How big is baby: Size of a brussel sprout…about 1.5in

IVF meds: Only 2 more days of meds! I’ve done 116 injections so far and have 2 more to go. I took my last dose of Delestrogen on Monday and lowered my dose to 1/2 cc of PIO. I have 2 more doses of PIO then I will be all done! I take my last dose of the low dose aspirin tomorrow as well so after that the only things I’ll be taking is my prenatals and my B vitamins. It’s going to be so nice to not have to worry about them anymore!

Symptoms: low grade nausea for most of the day. By the end of the day I’m so bloated it’s incredibly uncomfortable. I’m hoping that once I’m off the PIO for awhile it will get better.

Sleep: I’ve a couple nights where I had really weird dreams that have kept me awake a lot. This weekend I slept in late both days (Thanks husband for letting me sleep in). I’m trying to get to bed early, but I have so many things to do in the evenings that it hasn’t really happened.

Food cravings? not too many and the ones I do have are random and fleeting…these include watermelon, celery, pie, cheese its, cucumbers, and cheese.

Anything making you queasy or sick? getting too hungry or too full

Happy or moody? Mostly happy unless I’m tired

Best moment of the week? starting to wean off meds

Next appointment: OB appt on 11/25

9+1

Weekly Update:

How far along: 9+1…a day late this week, which actually isn’t bad considering the week I’ve had

How big is baby: Size of a pecan, about 1 inch long

IVF meds:  1.5mL of Progesterone and .25mL of Delestrogen Mon/Fri Low dose aspirin and prenatals

Symptoms: still low grade nausea pretty much all day. Sometimes it ramps up a bit. If it does walking on the treadmill tends to help at least a little. Honestly it’s the best I’ve felt at this point in a pregnancy so I’m hesitant to complain, but not feeling 100% and having no foods sound good can be kind of exhausting. I’m still thankful that this little one has been kind to me in the nausea department. I’ve been pretty tired too, but I’ve also been a pregnant, single, stay at home mom since last weekend so that’s probably compounding the exhaustion.

Sleep: I told my husband that when he gets home I’m probably going to want to spend all of Sunday in bed, like literally all.day.long. That was before he hurt himself so I don’t think I’ll be doing that now….all that to say, yes I want sleep….a lot of it

Food cravings? not a lot, mostly aversions. Sometimes I crave apples which I’ve never had a craving for before. Yesterday I devoured a piece of cold fried chicken and it was the most delicious thing ever LOL

Anything making you queasy or sick? letting my stomach get empty, eating too much, not walking on the treadmill at least 20 min a day

Happy or moody? My patience has been a bit short this last week by the end of the day. It’s just from hormones and exhaustion so I’m trying to cut myself some slack.

Best moment of the week? Watching my son’s soccer games last weekend. He had so much fun and it was great to see him enjoying it.

Next appointment: I have an ultrasound and blood work next Wed. 11/13. Fingers crossed baby is still growing and happy in there!

7 Weeks

Weekly Update:

How far along: 7 weeks

How big is baby: Size of a raspberry

IVF meds: After my blood work yesterday the doctor adjusted my dosages just a little. I’m now on 1.5mL of Progesterone (was 2mL) and .25mL of Delestrogen Mon/Fri (was .3mL).  I still take the baby aspirin and prenatals

Symptoms: Yesterday was rough in nausea department. It was a combination of kids not sleeping pretty much all night and having to get up early. The short plane ride was absolutely miserable. Once I took a nap in the airport and did some walking I felt a little better. Today I woke up after a good night’s sleep and have felt really good. The only time I was a little nauseous was when I was hungry. After seeing the baby and its heartbeat yesterday I don’t have the nervousness about the lack of nausea and can just straight up enjoy not feeling terrible 🙂

Sleep: yesterday I was exhausted from not sleeping and travelling, but I slept great last night and am feeling pretty good today.

Food cravings? other than yesterday food in general just sounds good. Still wanting popcorn most nights.

Anything making you queasy or sick? not particularly. Every meal after breakfast makes me incredibly bloated thanks to the progesterone.

Happy or moody? mostly happy, just tired

Best moment of the week? Seeing baby’s heartbeat yesterday ❤

Next appointment: ultrasound 11/13

6 Weeks

Weekly Update:

How far along: 6 weeks

How big is baby: Size of a blueberry

IVF meds: 2mL Progesterone daily, baby aspirin daily, .3mL Delestrogen Mondays and Fridays. I had my progesterone check and my levels were nice and steady, but they’re keeping me on the same dose and rechecking when I’m at the clinic next week.

Symptoms: Sunday I wasn’t really tired or nauseous which was nice. The problem was because of that I stayed up too late and utterly exhausted on Monday. Tuesday the nausea returned and has been consistent most of the day since then. Other than that other symptoms are having to pee all.the.time LOL and being super hungry in the evenings even if I’m nauseous. I also wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

Sleep: all the time if I could

Food cravings? they’ve been pretty random. Popcorn, ice cream, cheese, Fruit Loops

Anything making you queasy or sick? not really anything specific, I just wake up nauseous and it comes and goes throughout the day

Happy or moody? mostly happy, just tired

Best moment of the week? Having good weather last weekend

Next appointment: ultrasound 10/23

5 Weeks

Weekly Update:

How far along: 5 weeks

How big is baby: Peppercorn

IVF meds: 2mL Progesterone daily, baby aspirin daily, .3mL Delestrogen Mondays and Fridays. I have a blood draw next week to check my estrogen and progesterone levels. I may get to cut my progesterone dose in half if my level looks good.

Symptoms: Tired in the afternoons. I’ve been too tired to walk on the treadmill for the last few days and have been doing to bed early. There are mornings I’ve been nauseous and mornings that haven’t been too bad. I wake up ravenous now which is not my usual MO. I can usually wait until I get to work or back home after dropping the kids off to eat breakfast, but this week I’ve been having to drink my shake in the car.

Sleep: all the time if I could

Food cravings? Popcorn (this is the same as my last surro pregnancy), yesterday I had to have an apple in afternoon. Mostly I’ve been so hungry in the afternoons that everything sounds good. I maybe have a week before everything starts to sound terrible so I’m enjoying the appetite while I can.

Anything making you queasy or sick? no, just a little queasy in the am

Happy or moody? mostly happy, just tired

Best moment of the week? Getting a good 3rd beta number

Next appointment: blood test for progesterone and estrogen levels, then ultrasound on 10/23

6dpt

Here we are just a few days away from the first beta test (3 1/2 days to be more precise). I’ve still been having on and off cramping. I think I’ve been more sensitive to smells as well, or at least I have a heightened sense of smell.

Other than those couple things I feel totally normal. I think I mentioned before that all of these things can be caused by the hormones as well so any “symptoms” at this point don’t mean much.

Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long on Thursday to get the test results. The waiting is seriously so hard! I just want to know what’s going on in there! I’m sure the IFs are counting down the days to beta too. 9 days doesn’t seem that long until you’re waiting for something like this! Then, if that result is good we’ll be waiting for the next test to see if the HCG level is rising appropriately. If it’s negative we’ll start looking at a new transfer date. The other thing that’s a possibility is a low number which may indicate a chemical pregnancy which is when the embryo implants, but then stops growing for some reason. In that case there’s usually a follow up beta to make sure the number is dropping. Please send some positive vibes that we get a good result on Thursday!

Hurry up and wait is the name of the game!

3dpt

We’re at 3dpt (days past transfer) now. The husband and I flew home yesterday and it was great to see the kiddos again, they were pretty excited we were home. We brought them little presents so that made them even happier 😉

I’m feeling pretty good. My back if feeling much better. It actually felt better yesterday morning when I was finally able to get out of bed. I’ve had some cramping off and on which is totally normal…it’s also totally normal to not have cramping so it all means nothing LOL I’ve had heartburn which I only get when I’m pregnant, but not usually until I’m 20+ weeks. I read today that the progesterone can cause it, plus laying down so long is probably a contributing factor. I was also exhausted when I got home. You would think that after being in bed for a day and a half I would be all rested up. Apparently not, I didn’t take one nap while on bed rest, but within an hour of being home I crashed hard on the couch. It didn’t even keep me from going to bed at my normal time either.

I’m so glad to be done with the Medrol (steroid)! I started sleeping better as soon as I stopped taking it. Right now I’m just taking the PIO everyday and Delestrogen on Mondays and Fridays. The skin on my hips where I inject is definitely toughening up because I rarely feel the needle pass through the skin anymore. I do, however, have two very sore injection sites. It feels like having a sore muscle or bruise. I typically try to walk after the injections to disperse the medication. Obviously I couldn’t do that for a couple days so the area got a little lumpy and sore. I’m back to walking after them so hopefully that helps.

5 more days until beta!!