9 weeks

9 weeks, holy cow, 9 weeks already!

I posted yesterday that we had a great ultrasound. I was hoping for a call today to tell me what to do next, but I got nothing. I think the MA was out of the office the day before and probably playing catch up today. I'll call tomorrow myself if I still don't hear.

I think I am one of the lucky few that is going to get to skip morning sickness altogether. I have had no nausea, no vomiting, and no food aversions. I do get extra hungry sometimes, usually about 30 minutes before a mealtime, but some crackers always tide me over, or orange tictacs (I just keep some in my purse)

Really all my symptoms are at a bare minimum. Boobs are bigger and a little sore, but I'm still on progesterone.

However, I do think that my stomach has started to grow. I'm only 9 weeks, can this be for real? My pants are super tight and need to be left unbuttoned/unhooked. It's really awkward with dress pants to do this and I am readjusting myself all day. I've bought one over-sized pair of dress pants and one pair of jeans, but they are still too big, I think I'm going to need some belly bands in the very near future, like this weekend.

I think I'm cleared to do some exercise now. I never really said, but I had huge cysts on both ovaries from the stim meds. They were being extra serious on the no impact exercise due to fear of ovarian torsion. As of yesterday, I'm down to just one cyst on the left ovary at about 3.5 cm in diameter. I was blaming the weight gain on carrying around a half dozen golfball sized cysts, but I don't think I can do that anymore. I'm up 6 lbs since transfer and I hope to hold steady at this weight until at least 12 weeks, although up until now this has been outside my control.  

I've posted an ultrasound pic in the "Pregnancy" tab at the top, but here is the pic of me from tonight. What do you think, a little belly starting to show? This is me sort of sucking it in...you also get a Finnley butt in the bottom corner...what can you do.

9 weeks

Everything is ok!

So even with all my nerves and worry, everything was ok at today's ultrasound. I was measuring right on with an average of 9 weeks 0 days, which I will be tomorrow. Also, the heart rate was at 164. Everything seems to be fine!

Just waiting on a call from the RE to tell me what to do next. I think I will be able to wean off the steroids, possibly quit the suppositories, and maybe have an end date on the PIO shots! All would be good news!

Ultrasound pics will be scanned and posted tomorrow with my weekly update.

Michele

Sent from my iPhone

8 weeks

I made it to 8 weeks and as far as I know things are still going well. We have our growth ultrasound this coming Wednesday and I will be 8 weeks 6 days at the time.

I wish I could say that I felt like things were falling into place, but I'm as scared as ever. I have to have my TSH drawn every 3 weeks to monitor it. I had my TSH drawn right after we got our positive and it was elevated. I guess it is normal for TSH to throw an otherwise finally under control thyroid back out of whack. After the first draw, they upped my Synthroid dose. The drew it again today, I hope that I hear tomorrow, but I went to a different lab and it might take 2 days for them just to get the results to my doc. We shall see.

In addition to concerns about my thyroid, I got a call yesterday from the medical assistant in Las Vegas. She was following up on the ultrasound I had last week, I guess they had just gotten the results. She said that they wanted me to have an ultrasound in another week because the heartbeat was a little low at 103 on 6 weeks 6 days. I was thrilled to hear a heartbeat at all and she burst my bubble. I've been riding on that high to get me through to the next ultrasound. Now I'm rather panicky. I already have an ultrasound next Wednesday but now I'm freaked out to wait. I can't move it up, there is nothing to do but wait and hope that all is ok and developing as it should. I have to keep telling myself that if I had an ultrasound today it wouldn't change anything. I'm still on steroids and progesterone. I'm doing all that I can to keep this pregnancy going and knowing something today versus Wednesday makes no difference, right?

The positives are:

I'm still gaining wait, again, more than I think that I should be at this stage. I'm still on exercise restriction, but I have walked the dogs several times after work this week, just slowly around the block.

My uterus is obviously growing, when I lean over to pick something up, I can feel the waistband on my underwear flip forward and get stuck. This is a new and annoying thing as I have to go to the restroom to adjust periodically throughout the day and I'm already going to pee all the time.

I feel off most days, like hungover, but not quite. Mild headaches that last all day, thirsty all day, hungry but nothing sounds good at every meal.

I've had no food aversions or real cravings as to this point, but there are things I'd rather eat than what is available sometimes and I'm not usually all that picky. 

Here is my picture from tonight. The husband is taking them for me on the only solid wall we have in the house. They are taken at night with all the lights on in the vicinity and the flash on the camera. Getting him to focus it or take more than one picture would interrupt his video gaming for too long, so you get the only shot that was taken, no double takes!

Iris is photo-bombing this week

7 weeks

Can you believe I'm at 7 weeks today? I can't!

Things are still going well over in these parts.

I had my ultrasound yesterday and although I was excited and meant to post, I decided to just include it in today's post. There is in fact a baby in there. A baby that has a heartbeat. A little blurry thing on a screen that can be measured and seen. A heartbeat that the US tech made flash pink and found to be at 103 beats per minute.

It makes this all feel sort of real.

The symptoms are still at a minimum. Breast tenderness has subsided slightly. Nausea has stayed at bay. Increased hunger is still there. It's seriously like snicker's hungry. The I must eat right this instant or I'm going to snap someone's neck in half. There was one day this week where I felt hungover all day, slight headache, minimal nausea, hunger but no desire to eat, just in general feeling of being off all day.

The weight gain is annoying at this point. I don't feel like I should be gaining weight yet. However, I put on several pounds while in Las Vegas and have since put on 3 more since the positive test. I'm still on restriction for exercise including no impact movements, no vigorous movements, and no lifting more than 10 lbs. So essentially no exercise. I could walk, but I do walk around most of the day at work. For now, I do several squats each night and small arm circles. I'd have to flap around for hours for it to make any actual difference though. I'm hoping to be released from this restriction at the next appointment.

2 more weeks until we go back for a growth ultrasound. At yesterday's ultrasound I was 6 weeks 6 days. She took multiple measurements and averaged them and the crown to rump length (CRL) put me at 6 weeks 4 days. Apparently there is also a nice yolk sack. Hoping for a clearer picture next time, I will be just shy of 9 weeks. 9 weeks, can you believe it?!?!?! I've created a pregnancy page for these pictures and ultrasounds, see the tabs at the top. I don't have a plan as to what will go where yet.

I've been hesitant to post any pictures, not wanting jinx anything and whatnot, but I have been taking pictures. Here are my 5 week, 6 week and tonight's 7 week pictures. And yes, this is my chill out on the couch outfit each night when I change out of work clothes. Also, yes, the best 6 week picture of me has creepy Finnley in the bottom corner.

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks

6 weeks

How is it possible that I am six weeks pregnant. Also, how is it possible that I missed 5 weeks without it really dawning on me.

Oh sure I knew I was 5 weeks, but it didn't occur to me to do a post or anything like that. I did take a picture of my non-existent/just chub bump, on approximately 5 weeks 4 days, which is 3 days ago...shhhhh...don't tell anyone because I may post that pick here and label it 5 weeks. Which means that I should probably take a picture today if I'm going to do this weekly. Shoot, I've already messed this up...

Anyway, I signed up for one of those apps for pregnancy that gives you an article and an item from a checklist to try to do each day. I felt stupid downloading it, I feel dumber reading it, yet I'm addicted. Now they send me e-mails too. I feel so asinine because I don't really feel pregnant. It doesn't seem real. I'd finally gotten to the thinking that we may be one of the few who never get pregnant. I think that a heartbeat and a bump will do it for me, push me over the edge into really believing. Ultrasound is next Wednesday, 6 days and counting.

Until then, an update on the symptoms:

The chicken feet have all but disappeared, I switched from and over-the-counter prenatal vitamin to a prescription prenatal. It was on my IVF calender and the clinic called the prescription in to the local pharmacy, but it took several days after my positive blood test for them to get it in. I think that this vitamin must have something I was lacking, because...no more chicken feet!!!! Yay!!!

I can't tell if I have "the sickness". I get hungry throughout the day, like empty stomach, must eat now, starving kind of hungry. Usually I have something I can eat immediately/soon and then I feel fine. No true nausea and no vomiting.

Breast tenderness is still there, but I'm still taking progesterone intramuscularly and via suppository. By the way, I don't think you ladies who have done this before have actually complained enough about PIO shots. In the beginning, I didn't bruise or really feel the shots. Now they pinch to go in, leave a welt and half the time a bruise. I have a giant knot on both butt cheeks that seems rather permanent.  On the surface of each knot is either a bruise or a large numb patch. This numb patch is deceiving. I have had Nate give me the shot in the numb patch just to find out that the area just under the skin is bruised. By then it is too late and I just have to suck it up. Really it's not that bad, I don't mind needles, shots, blood draws, it just doesn't bother me. However, we are at 4 weeks of nightly shots in the ass...this shit get old...Really, I know I shouldn't complain, I'd do just about anything, literally anything to make this work!

I also have a pooch. And no I don't mean one of our six dogs. I have developed a teeny tiny little bump just below my underwear line. You can't quite see it yet, but you can feel it, and it seems larger each day. I hope that the bump envelops the chub roll above it as it continues to grow. I can't wait to be cleared to go to the gym. I probably could do some exercise, but I'm afraid to do anything but walking and a little bit of recumbent biking at the gym. I go for about a half hour every other night, it's not enough to even make me tired.

And finally, I'm not getting enough sleep. I have to pee once each night and when I do get up, I have trouble falling back asleep. I have never had trouble sleeping in my life. Lights out has always meant lights out for me. However, this does mean that when the alarm goes off in the morning, after I have fallen back asleep, I'm up for the day. 6:30 AM every day. No more snoozing. I get so much more done in the morning when I wake up on time!

How's life for the rest of you? I feel like there has been so much less posting going on!

Chicken feet and other pregnancy symptoms

I wish I had more pregnancy symptoms. I know I shouldn't wish some of the bad things onto myself lest I be tempting fate, but I do wish I had more to go by to know that something was really going on in there. I've had no nausea, no vomiting, no food aversions, no food cravings, no bloating, and no roadmap veins across my chest.

I've only had a few new things going on. Sensitive breasts, frequent urination and chicken feet.

Yes, you read that right, chicken feet.

Every night from about 8-10 PM my feet cramp up like I've never had happen before. My toes curl or flex in strange directions. I swear they look like bird claws and not human feet. The muscles tendons and bones stick up and out as my feet twist. I have to rub them and stomp on them and walk around to get them to stop cramping. The act of walking around to get one of them to stop cramping makes the other foot cramp. The more I think about my feet cramping, the more they cramp. It occasionally happens during the day too, but nowhere near as bad as at night.

It's crazy! I've never heard of someone complaining of what I would consider extreme foot cramps in early pregnancy, but I've really never experienced anything like this before so it's the only thing I can attribute it to.

I've googled it to death and everything says: eat more potassium and drink more water. Every search result says to do the things you would do for any type of regular large muscle cramping. I swear though, I take a prescription prenatal vitamin, eat 2 or more bananas a day and drink more water which makes me have to pee like...well like a pregnant woman! And...these changes only make a slight difference in the cramping.

Has anyone else experienced something they would consider an unusual pregnancy symptom...like chicken feet?