Saturday, February 23, 2013

It's a.....

Boy!

I got my Materni T21 test back this week and all is normal and confirmed it's a boy!  Wow, it all seems so much more real now.  I think I was always meant to have a boy.  I like playing boy games and grew up with a lot of male friends.  He and I are going to have tons of fun together.  :)

Time is flying by!  I am just coming out of a very heavy work period that has taken all of my attention.  So, I haven't had any time to worry about the pregnancy.  And now I'm already in the 2nd trimester.  I've announced to work and to everyone I know.   Yeah!

Still tired, but much better than before.  Now I just need to keep my appetite under control.  Wow am I craving junk food!  That reminds me... it's been a couple hours since I've eaten.  Time to hit the fridge!  ;)

Friday, January 25, 2013

Best $40 I've spent in a while

For less than $40 on Amazon, I purchase a home fetal doppler.  It took a while, but I found the heartbeat!  Now I can check on "her" whenever I want.  

No, I don't know the gender yet.  But the two most popular old wives' tales are pointing towards girl.  Fast heartbeat and the baby was on the left side of my uterus between weeks 6-9.  Of course there's no science behind it, but it's fun to guess.  I'll be thrilled either way.  I'll know for sure in 2.5 weeks when I get the results from the Materni T21 test I'm getting in 1.5 weeks.  :)



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

9 Weeks!

I had another ultrasound on Friday and everything looks good!  In fact, he/she is a day ahead in size.  I heard the heartbeat for the first time.  :)

This was also my first visit with my OB.  He started going over my options for upcoming tests.  I don't think I need any testing because no result would change my course of action.  I especially don't want any test that poses any kind of risk to the baby.  But then he told me about a newer test called Materni T21.  It's a simple blood draw that is very accurate in testing for Downs Syndrome and a couple of other conditions.  Then he told me that just recently, the test will also tell the gender at 12 weeks!  Now that is very tempting to find out a month early.  I think it's under $300, so I have to balance that with my curiosity and peace of mind or preparing with the other results.  Don't you just love medical technology?

I still haven't had any nausea!  Well, I had it one morning on the first day of my 8th week.  It never came back!  My acupuncturist thinks that the fact that I've been getting weekly acupuncture since July, I'm well balanced and my liver is functioning well.  That's not why I was doing it.  But, I must say, if that's true, then it was worth every penny!

My biggest symptom is still tiredness!  I'm constantly exhausted and pretty lazy.  In fact, it's time for bed.  Good night.  :)

Saturday, December 29, 2012

First Ultrasound

I had my first U/S yesterday.  I was so shocked at how nervous I was all day!  It really took me by surprise.  Luckily, everything turned out great!  One tiny little blurb with a tiny little heartbeat.  Thank you Lord.  They say he/she is exactly the right size for 6w2d.  :)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Pregnancy Symptoms

Early pregnancy has been different than I expected.  I'm in my 5th week, Day 5.  It's a wonderful feeling that I've been waiting for my entire life.  But it also comes with some downsides.  As much as it may sound like complaining, I'm more than happy to experience every one.

Tired
The only thing I really want to do is sleep or at least lie down.  When I'm not working, that's pretty much all I do.  Unfortunately at night, I sometimes am up for hours.  I've been watching a lot of movies in the middle of the night.

Body Temperature
I'm either freezing or too hot.  I wake in a pool of sweat every morning.  I have a low grade fever about once per day or so. Tylenol helps and I try to use it as little as possible.

Breathing
If I walk too far, I get short of breath and need to sit.  My poor dog is suffering mostly here.

Mild Cramping
I still feel mild cramping.  I don't mind this, as it feels like construction is going on.

Food Aversion/Craving
I don't have this bad.  I haven't really craved anything (more of an aversion because I usually crave lots).  When I do eat, I get full pretty fast.  I've had to make a point to eat enough.  Then, suddenly last night I had to have a chicken sandwich and fries from Burger King!  I couldn't  get it out of my mind.  I thought I would never sleep without it.  Luckily my tired symptoms won out and I never got myself out of bed.  :)

Pregnancy Brain
I scheduled by blood draws for my beta tests first thing in the morning so that I could stop by on my way to work.  The first time, I ended almost at work before I realized and then made 3 wrong turns on my way back to the lab.  Two days later, I made the same schedule and was so proud of myself when I got off the freeway and didn't do the auto drive to work only to find that I was at my acupuncturist.  :-/
The next day I was in a meeting and was asked a question that I definitely knew, but my mind went blank for a good 2 minutes.  I had to pretend like I wasn't feeling well, which was easy because I was starting to sweat.  That was embarrassing.  I've been calling a lot of people by the wrong name.  I really need my brain for work.  This one is going to be tough!

Worry
I don't think this is caused by pregnancy, but it definitely comes with it.  I can't wait for my first ultrasound.  It's on Friday afternoon.  Seeing my little bean and hearing a heartbeat will really calm my anxiousness.  Luckily there are many women who have already asked all of the questions I have online and many other woman that answer them that have been through the same thing and reassure all of us that everything is perfectly normal.  :)  But there is always that one that throws out the dreaded "M" word.  grrrrrr.

Symptoms I Don't Have
Nausea and breast tenderness, which brings me back to worry.  It may be a little early for the nausea, but I'll be shocked if I don't get it because I get car sick pretty easily.  I will feel very blessed if I don't!

Progesterone
My worst symptom isn't a pregnancy symptom at all.  It's still the impact of the progesterone shots.  My back is constantly swollen and extremely tender.  I'm already wearing maternity because a waistband is out of the question and it's still uncomfortable all the time.  I walk around like a 90 yo woman.  Occasionally, I accidentally hit the swollen area and let out a scream. My doctor wrote me a generic prescription for progesterone so that I can talk to my pharmacist on Monday to discuss alternatives to sesame oil.

Stress
Work was starting to get way too stressful.  It was looking like the holiday weeks were going to be two of my worst preparing for the new year.  But God stepped in just when it was too much to handle and postponed a few of my projects due to outside influences!  Now I actually get to enjoy the holidays (which means sleeping).  :)

Merry Christmas!



Saturday, December 15, 2012

Second Beta

Beta 1 - 14 DPO (days past ovulation) = 118
Beta 2 - 16 DPO = 306

Everything looks great!  

Next step is the first ultrasound the day after Christmas.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

2WW

My transfer went well on Monday.  The embies thawed well.  I stayed on a self imposed bed rest until I flew home on Thursday.  Unfortunately, when I got home, my beloved 18 year old cat wasn't doing well at all.  I ended up taking her to be put to sleep that night.  Needless to say, I was an emotional wreck.  I tried to control my stress, but that was impossible.  I caught up on my sleep last night and felt better.

I made a conscience decision to not become obsessive during the wait.  My mind has been occupied, so that hasn't been a problem until today.  I took my very first HPT this morning and there was no second line.  I wasn't expecting one because it's very early (I don't know if this is day 5 or 6 past 5DT-are we supposed to count the transfer day?), but I couldn't help it.  I figured it would be a baseline.  Even though I was fullly expecting it, I still hit the message boards and started obsessing!  I've had a headache, hot flashes (more like a temporary flu like feeling) daily and trouble sleeping.  That I chalked up to progesterone.  Then yesterday I started felling twinges.  I figured that couldn't be progesterone because I've been on it for 1.5 weeks and I just started feeling them.  Online, I read that it is and is not a symptom of progest.  So, that didn't help.  I was about to give up and go to bed, but decided to take another test.  Luckily, I didn't have to obsess for too long. Tonight's test has a faint second line!  :)