17 Weeks

I am laying here in bed and can feel the baby moving around a lot right now. I have started noticing it moving around at night when everything has calmed down and I am lying still. I am still not really showing. I will have to take a pic next week. My good friend is also pregnant and exactly a month behind me and is showing much more than I am. I am very exited to see a baby bump as well.

This week I have just been thinking about things to prepare for another baby around the house:
     Mr. Lucky Bud has been working on installing a washer and dryer in the upstairs of our townhouse. Hurray! He is almost done converting our linen closet into an awesome laundry for me and the washer and dryer will arrive next Saturday!

     Baby Lucky Bud, now 1 is an official walker now! He started a little at 10 months, but really started walking over crawling just a week ago, and finally is starting to get it down and is doing a great job! This is exciting because he is a heavy boy, weighing the same as Little Lucky Bud, and I was hoping he would be steady on his feet before I am big.
     This week I started thinking about how unorganized the storage room and the closets in the bedrooms were, so I went through EVERYTHING and made a HUGE mess. Now I just need to get it all back into order in the basement and I will be all ready to decorate a room for baby #3.

The biggest change for me this week is that I have been starving! I can't seem to eat often enough, and am too hungry to fall back asleep without a snack anytime I wake up in the night. I have noticed that I need more protein and am making that my big goal for next week.

Until then... Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

16 Weeks

I had my 16 week apt. today and got to hear the babies heartbeat again. My midwife found it right away this time and I am so happy right now. I am not really showing yet, and not feeling sick anymore, so it is nice to have a reminder that there really is a baby in there! It is really amazing, I still can't believe it. Our baby should be around 4 1/2 inches from head to rump (about the size of an avocado), and 3 1/2 ounces. Some things that I am looking forward to are: *I signed up for some Bradley childbirth education classes today, which start in mid February. *My next apt. with my midwife is on January 19th, and she will give me an order for my ultrasound. I am really looking forward to getting more information about how the baby is growing, and hopefully the reassurance that everything is fine! (167 days to go!)

14 Weeks

We are officially in the second trimester! Our baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee and maybe even suck it's thumb! That is amazing! I am feeling great this week. My nausea isn't all the way gone, but it is not bad. I don't really have anything else to report for the week. I am just happy to have passed another week with everything fine. Going off my progesterone after 11 weeks was scary, but it was all fine too. I am so grateful to be pregnant!

Stopping Progesterone

After maybe my 5th blood test, my nurse says I get to go off the progesterone for good. I am a little nervous stopping without testing again to make sure that the placenta starts producing it, but she said that at 13 weeks it would be and that I am done. I am happy to not have to take them, but a little on edge and hope that everything stays fine.

13 Weeks

Today I am 13 weeks pregnant. Our baby is about 3 inches long from crown to rump now. December 3rd marks the start of my second trimester, which is wonderful news. I am feeling so much better these days. I still get sick occasionally, but I am able to hold down meals for the most part, and I don't have the constant feeling of nausea all day that I used to feel. Really I am feeling great right now!

12 Weeks

Today I am 12 weeks into my pregnancy. Here is what is new! 1. Midwife appointment- I had an apt. with my midwife yesterday. It took a while for her to find a heartbeat. At first I was chatting the student midwife, so I wasn't thinking too much about it. Then I started to notice how long it was taking and I started to worry. She did find a good heartbeat though just after and I was so happy. The heart rate was 155 beats per minute. I could hear it so clear, I was so relieved. 2. Progesterone- I went off of my progesterone a week or so ago. In the first trimester when you do IVF, or a FET, you need to supplement your progesterone. If you want to know why you don't have progesterone naturally during IVF go here. Around the 10th to 12th week or so though, the placenta takes over the production of progesterone, so you can go off of the supplements. My levels before I went off the injections were 90. After they were 15. They said that it is natural to have a drop, but then the placenta should kick in and start making it, and if it doesn't, I need to go back on the injections for a bit longer. I took my follow up blood test today, but they forgot to order it as "stat" so I won't get the result until Monday. I called my fertility clinic and they told me to go back on the PIO twice a day until I get my results back :( It is disappointing to have to go back on the shots, but I feel better about going back on them, just in case, since my levels were borderline. 3. Nausea- My Nausea was getting so bad, that I decided to get a prescription medication from my midwife. Today was my first full day taking it, and I feel like a new person. I feel soooo much better. I wasn't able to hold down one meal for three days straight, and was getting very weak, not to mention worried about providing nutrition for the baby. My midwife said that it is 100% safe for the baby, so I wish that I had tried this sooner. 4.Buds- I am currently referring to my kids as Baby Lucky Bud and Little Lucky Bud... but then what do I call baby #3? Any Suggestions????? I could also switch up the names of our Little Buds..but am not sure what I would call them. Let me know if you have any ideas!!! Little Lucky Bud Baby Lucky Bud Name me! 5. Baby Development- This week our babies biggest development will be reflexes. It will start curling toes, opening and closing its fingers and making sucking motions with her/his mouth. S/he is just over 2 inches from crown to rump, and looks something like the photo above.

Look how tiny you are!

Week 11

Today marks the beginning of my 11th week of pregnancy. Not much has changed in the last week. The biggest news is that today I heard from my nurse and I can stop taking my meds!!!! I am so happy! I will take another blood test in five days, and if everything is fine, then I will be out of the care of the fertility clinic, and just overseen by my midwives. I am still nauseous a lot, but trying to stay optimistic that I will feel better soon. We are starting to get past our fears of miscarriage since our doctor told us we could feel better about it after our 9 week ultrasound, so we have told our families. We have also not been too careful about waiting, and have told a few friends, but plan on waiting a couple more weeks before letting everyone know. This week our baby is the size of a small lime, or a fig.

Development:
This is the last week of the embryonic period. From now on, your baby will be called a fetus. As development continues, the fingernails appear this week. External genitalia are beginning to show distinguishing features and the development of male or female will be complete in three weeks. Theplacentas blood vessels increase to provide your baby with the nutrients and oxygen he needs for continued growth. The ears are gradually moving from the neck towards the sides of his head. Inside of the developing abdomen, the intestines are developing. Because the intestines are so large, some of them project into the umbilical cord and they will return to the abdomen within the next week or two

10 Weeks

Huge congratulations to Buttercup Bud. Thanks for sharing your birth story with us! I am 10 weeks along now(as of 11/10). Here is what I have to report for this past week. 1. I have been tapering off my medications for over a week. I took a blood test today. If everything is okay, I will get to stop soon. This is good because the shots are not that fun, and a 20 day supply of the progesterone and estrogen is about $400. 2. I bought my first pair of maternity pants. I am not really showing yet, but my pants were pretty tight. I wished that I had gotten them sooner because they are so comfortable and there is not so much pressure around my waist. 3. I am still feeling sick most days. I have been soooo tired, and throw up most mornings and evenings. If I weren't sick and tired, I probably wouldn't even know I was pregnant. For such a HUGE miracle to finally happen, I thought I would somehow feel pregnant, but I don't... just sick. It doesn't all feel real yet. 4. We got a message from our embryo donors a couple of days ago, seeing if they could send some things for the baby. It was so thoughtful of them to think of doing that. This is big for us because we hoped to have some sort of open relationship with whomever our donors ended up being. Our donor family seemed like they might want things to be more closed, except for receiving things from us about the baby, so I am happy to see them reaching out to us. We will just have to wait and see how things progress. 5. Milestones for the baby this week are: a. According to babycenter.com our embryo is now a fetus. Hurray! b. Fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and are starting to grow nails. c. Peach fuzz hair is starting to grow on it's tender skin. d. S/he can now bend their limbs. e. Spinal nerves are starting to stretch out from the spinal cord. f. Baby is 1 1/4 inch, the size of a kumquat. g. Vital organs including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver are in place and starting to function, and will continue to develop throughout the pregnancy. I guess if a pregnancy is 40 weeks, we are 1/4 of the way through! Lucky Bud

9 Weeks

Yay! We finally make it to 9 weeks! Here are the milestones/ pregnancy symptoms for this past week: 1. I had my 9 week ultrasound! Heart rate is 177 and everything looked fine! 2. I met my midwife. She was great. I am hoping for a home birth if all goes well. 3. Breast tenderness started this week. 4. Nausea has skyrocketed. I have been feeling awful and am having a hard time keeping anything down. I have started trying to never have an empty stomach and that helps....sometimes. Some things that have made me puke this week are: 1. The smell of eggs on my husbands breath when he kissed me goodbye this morning. 2. Seeing the chip isle at the grocery store. 3. While doing the dishes, thinking of washing out a butter dish. 4. The smell of Turkey Bacon, a part of Little Lucky Buds favorite lunch. 5. Brushing my teeth 6. Thinking of having to have my progesterone shot(it really hurts lately since the whole site is very tough) 7. Anytime my stomach is empty, even sometimes in the middle of the night. So here is to hoping for less nauseous times ahead.

Development:
Although the baby is still very small, it is beginning to look more like a human being. Your babys back is straightening out and the tail is shrinking. In proportion to the rest of his body, the head is large and remains curved forwards onto the chest. The head is erect and the neck is developing well. Even though the eyes are well developed, they are covered by a membrane lid. The eyes will not begin to open and close for quite some time still. Your baby will begin to make tiny fetal movements as the muscles start to develop. You will not be able to feel any of these early movements, but you might be able to see them during an ultrasound. The arms and hands are progressing faster than the legs and feet at this point. By this time of fetal development, the hands have defined finger ridges and the tissue between them will die off to leave separate fingers. It is impossible to distinguish a male from a female at this time because external genitalia look very similar at this point. 

8 Weeks

I am 8 weeks along now in my pregnancy. I don't have too much to report. Everything seems to be going good except I have more nausea than last week. I meet with my midwife for the first time this week, and I have another ultrasound in a week from today. My mom is in town visiting from Seattle. She is at her sisters this week, but is coming to see us on Saturday for a few days, so I am looking forward to seeing her. She is going to come along for my ultrasound. I have talked to Little Lucky Bud (age 2) about the baby since I am always gagging and puking and he was concerned. I tell him that the baby is tickling my tummy and it makes me puke. When I am nauseous he tickles the baby back, then "tucks it in" and says,"shhhh, shhh, shhh" so it will go to sleep and not tickle me anymore. He also likes to show with his hands how the baby will get, "bigger, bigger, bigger....hold the baby." Today Little Lucky Bud woke from his nap and Baby Lucky Bud was still sleeping, so we watched videos of the development of a baby. He liked it a lot, and wanted me to put the videos on for Mr Lucky Bud when he got home. It was very cute.

Development:
your baby is developing at an amazing rate during these early weeks. Eyelid folds and ears are forming. Your baby\'s eyes are still very wide apart on the sides of her head, but will eventually center themselves out. The tip of the nose is actually present at this time as well. On ultrasound you can see that the aortic and pulmonary valves of the heart are present. The tubes that lead from the throat to lungs are branching and your baby\'s torso is getting longer and beginning to straighten out. Just a few weeks ago, your baby\'s arms were tiny buds. Now the elbows are actually present and the arms and legs extend forward and have grown longer. Fingers and toes are becoming visible also.

10 Day Countdown

Only 10 more days remain until I am able to have my 9 week ultrasound. As each day passes I am starting to feel more and more confident that things are going to be okay. I just feel like it will be a huge sigh of relief to have a good 9 week ultrasound and then, as my Dr said, I can start to get excited.

7 Weeks

Well I am 7 weeks along today. It is starting to feel a little more real that I am pregnant, although I still can't believe it. I haven't had many pregnancy symptoms except for nausea, and that comes and goes all day. It is not too bad for now though. I basically feel same as always. I am still pretty anxious especially when I think about the three miscarriages that my sister had last year. I really have no idea what we would do next if anything happens. IVF or using an adopted frozen embryo are our only fertility options, and I just don't think I am up for a third round. My Dr said that I can feel more confident after my 9 week ultrasound, so I am really looking forward to that.

Development:
This week your baby has an amazing growth spurt. At the beginning of this week, your baby is approximately 4 to 5 mm and by the end of the week it has more than doubled to 11 to 13 mm! Your baby weighs approximately 0.03 ounces. Most women are ready for the world to know they are pregnant. Whenever you are ready to spread the news with your friends and family, consider the many unique and creative ways of doing so to make this a special time in your life! Even though you have not changed very much yet, it will come soon! You might have gained a small amount of weight by now, but it should only be a couple of pounds at this time. It is not unusual to lose a few pounds or remain the same though. Internally, cervical mucus is thickening and will form a plug in the cervical canal. The plug seals your cervix throughout the pregnancy and it will be expelled prior to delivery when your cervix begins to dilate. 

Within your developing baby, leg and arm buds are longer now and they have divided into segments where the hands and feet will be. The hands and feet also have an area where the fingers and toes will begin to form. At this point of your pregnancy, the heart is bulging from the body and it has divided into right and left chambers. The hemispheres of the brain are continuing to grow and the air passages into the lungs are visible. The eyes are beginning to get pigment at this time as well. The nose is developing and the beginning of the face can be seen. Likewise, the abdomen is developing quickly and the appendix and pancreas are already present. As the digestive tract is beginning to form, the hindgut is present. The shape of the tail can still be seen, but it will fade in 3 or 4 weeks. 

6 Weeks

Well I am 6 weeks along and my due date is June 8th! I am still very cautiously hopeful. It is hard to get my hopes up too much when my Dr. is so hesitant. He says not to get excited until after my 9 week ultrasound. I have my 6 week ultrasound tomorrow and I can't wait to see how it goes!!! I really hope that everything is okay! The Dr said that he expects it to be one baby from my HCG levels, although you can never know for sure. I guess we will find out tomorrow! My biggest fear is that I will go in, and nothing will show up at all:(

Development for this week:
Facial features are visible, including a mouth and tongue. The eyes have a retina and lens.
The digestive system starts forming, beginning with the first cells of the stomach and the intestine. 
There are small indentations in the head, ready for the development of facial features, eyes, and ears. The outline of the jaw starts to form.

6 Week Ultrasound

I had my ultrasound today! I honestly didn't expect anything to show up on the screen. Something did though, and we are expecting one baby! We even got to see the heartbeat. It is very exciting! I am going to try to stay positive and not worry too much. It is hard when the odds seem stacked against us at times. It is so exciting to actually see it though!

Second Beta Results

Beta #1 was 138 Beta #2 (3days later) 489! Hooray!!! I am so relieved. I am still very scared though. Last summer my sister had a miscarriage at 13 weeks, followed by two chemical pregnancies, so the possibility of a miscarriage seems so real. Also, after 6 years of TTC, it doesn't seem possible that I can actually be pregnant. It is funny, I can easily imagine adopting again. I can see the whole process from start to finish. I just can't visualize being pregnant, getting a belly, having morning sickness, or giving birth at all. It is really hard to believe that I could really be pregnant! I am so happy though, and so excited. I can have my 6 week ultrasound on the 11th. That is crazy! That is just a week away! I am leaving on a road trip to Michigan with the kids on Wednesday and won't be back by then, so I will probably schedule it for the 13th. I am so excited to see how many babies are in there! I am going to write the donor couple tonight to let them know I am pregnant. I am a little worried that it might be emotional for them. Often people make the decision to donate their embryos, but then once there is actually a recipient, it makes it all so real and there are a lot of emotions that come with it. I know that they struggled some during the whole decision process, but decided that it was the logical thing to do. It all happened relatively quickly on their side, (we selected them, they agreed, I did my cycle a few days later, and BAM! I am pregnant!) so I hope it doesn't come as too much of a shock to them that I actually became pregnant on the first try. I am sure they will be very happy for us though.
Week 5 Development:
As early as this week, the plate that will become the heart has developed. Your baby's brain, spinal cord, muscles, and bone formation are also beginning to form. The baby's skeleton is forming at this time as well. The embryo has a distinct organization that has a top, bottom, left, right, front and back.

First Beta

I went to a local fertility clinic and had my first blood test today. I am waiting for the results and will probably hear back around 3 or 4 o' clock. The waiting is so hard! If I could just take a huge nap to sleep the day away, I would. I didn't take any hpt this time. For my IVF cycle, I started testing early, and it was so depressing to see a negative over and over, but to still have a glimmer of hope. This time, I decided that if I have to see a negative, I only want to see it once. I am excited for my result, but not really hopeful at this point. I have basically already excepted that it is going to be negative and am trying to decide what to do next. I will post tonight when I know for sure! A few hours later... My first beta is 138! I can't believe it! My next beta is Monday. I did a HPT so that I could see two lines for the first time in my life. Yeah! I am pregnant!

Keepin the Faith

Five more days until my first beta. I am trying to remain hopeful, but it is hard. It is difficult to not want to emotionally prepare myself for the disappointment. I am already making mental plans of what the next step could be, but Mr. Lucky Bud is encouraging me to wait 5 more days before thinking about all of that. Things are going much better with the progesterone shots. We finally have it figured out. We have to do the injection very slowly, over 3 minutes, and then I need to massage the injection site for about 3 minutes, and then, no pain all day! It is so much better!

4 Days Post Embryo Transfer

Well today marks my 4th day post frozen embryo transfer. I found this breakdown of what is happening each day post 3 day FET. 1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing 2dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst 3dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day 4dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining 5dpt.. Implantation begins as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining 6dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining 7dpt.. Morula is completely implanted in the lining and has placenta cells & fetal cells 8dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood 9dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 10dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops 11dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on HPT I have found this on several blogs. Here is the link to one. I am not sure of the original source. So far, not much to report. I am still in tons of pain from the PIO injections. My muscles get so extremely sore that it is painful to do anything. We have tried a few suggestions, like icing before and heat after the injection, and doing it slower (over 3 min period instead of 30 seconds). Nothing is helping. I had no soreness at all for my IVF cycle. Maybe it was a different kind of oil??? I have been feeling nauseous today, but it seems too early for pregnancy symptoms, so I don't know why I don't feel well. I have exactly one week until my beta test!

Embryo Transfer

Yeah! We had our embryo transfer this morning! We called the office first thing to see what to do about the medication I misplaced. They had it at the office, so we just left a little early since I was supposed to take it 1 hour before the transfer. They prescribe valiium the day of the transfer which I thought was weird, and the other was abuterol, which is for asma, but it also relaxes the muscles in the uterus. I waited until I was at the office to drink the water because last time I drank to much and I could hardly make it thought the mock transfer. They called me in pretty quickly and my nurse came in right away to give me the run down and my gown. Next the Dr came in and spoke with me for a couple of minutes, and at the same time the embryologist came in and let us know how the thaw went. For our IVF cycle I was completely closed off to transferring 3 embryos, and then it didn't work. So this time I said I would like to transfer 2 or 3. They thawed three and they all made it! They were all day 3 multicells. They were: grade 1-8 cell, grade 2-6 cell and grade 2-8 cell. I hope I explained that right, but I can't find the paper right now that had the quality of cells on it. When I first got into the room for the FET, they prepped me for the transfer. For part of that process they sterilized my insides which stung sooo bad, but only lasted 45 seconds. I had to pee of course, so having the technician pressing the ultrasound on my bladder made it even harder. The Dr. couldn't get the positioning that he wanted for the embryos, so it took a few tries. When it was done I was relieved and just thinking about how long it would be before I got to pee. They wheeled me into another room where I stayed laying down for 30 minutes, but they brought me a bed pan, and I didn't even care at the moment that it would get on my bum and back a little bit. Then I got dressed and that was pretty much it! Things went smoothly and I am very hopeful to have one stick! I test on Sept 30th!

Day Before Transfer

It is still the night before my FET. I am in so much pain from my progesterone shots. I don't know how I could bear three months of this morning and night if I am to become pregnant. I took PIO for my round of IVF, but I hardly had any soreness at all. Now it is so bad that it is difficult to function. I really hope there is another way. I am going to ask the Dr in the morning. Has anyone used progesterone suppositories before? Is it the same difference at the PIO? Lucky Bud is off trying to find ice for my very sore muscles so that I can get some sleep. Big day tomorrow at 10 am!