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.