Doctors x2

Today was a busy day and I am so tired that I think I'm going to pass out after I finish typing this! First, I haven't been getting the best sleep for the last week or so but last night I actually slept amazingly (minus the fact that I still woke up twice to pee). Go figure that the one night I finally get some good sleep is the night I have to wake up at the crack of dawn for an early morning doctors appointment. It's been raining on and off for the last few days and it was so nice to hear the rain outside every time I woke up.

Anyways, I saw Dr. Lee today and had an awesome ultrasound!! Little baby was dancing around all over the place. I've seen it move before but it's been mainly just little twitches or the arms moving about. This time, however, baby's entire body was moving. It was sooooooo cool to see. Mike has been doing a hilarious impression of it "dancing" that cracks me up every time. I guess that sugar twist donut I grabbed on the way out of the house really woke up the little one! Dr. Lee is going on vacation for the rest of the year so I won't be seeing him for two weeks (Jan 2) which feels like forever from now since I'm used to my weekly appointments. And they did tell me that since I will be 12 weeks, that will be my last appointment! It will be so nice to finally be a "normal" pregnant lady but I will miss all the ultrasounds... Mike and I are going to get some sort of thank you gift for Dr. Lee and the whole staff, I'm thinking maybe an Edible Arrangement (those fruit arrangement things). His whole office has been more then amazing throughout this entire process and we want them to know how much we appreciate it. After all, they gave us the ultimate gift - our baby! 

Here's our little cutie (check out those arms and legs)!!

10 weeks 2 days

After that appointment Mike went to work and I headed to my mom's so that she could go with me to my OBGYN appointment. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was only my 2nd appointment with her and last time they literally just gave me a bunch of literature on pregnancy. I had to give a urine sample, though I'm not sure what they test it for. Then the main nurse, Stephanie, tried to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler which bummed me out because I think Mike would have come if he knew they were going to do that. But she wasn't able to find it so I guess it worked out. She wasn't too concerned that she couldn't hear it, especially since I told her I had the ultrasound this morning and everything was fine. She said that 10 weeks is usually the earliest they are able to hear it because of how small the baby still is and since I said it was moving around a lot that makes it even harder to find. After that Dr. Sugihara came in and felt around on my tummy. She said she is just feeling to make sure the uterus feels like it is the right size and in the right place for how far along I am. That was it! I'm not used to having an appointment related to this pregnancy where I don't have to undress from the waist down, lol. I won't be seeing her again for a month (which will be the routine until later in pregnancy). She said we should definitely be able to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler by then so Mike will be coming with me for sure.

Besides for that I am scheduled to have my glucose tolerance test on Thursday. Ugh, I am so nervous. I REALLY don't want to have gestational diabetes. I don't really feel like I have any of the symptoms that I have read about but I'm still really nervous. My mom had it with one of her four pregnancies and then one of my sisters had it (the one who my mom was pregnant with, oddly enough). I know it's not going to be the end of the world if I do end up having it. I will just have to be careful with what I eat etc. I don't think there's much you can do to help pass the test - if you have gestational diabetes you have it. But, with that said I am avoiding carbs and sugar today and tomorrow just to be safe. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Eating Healthy While Pregnant

Hahahaha, what a joke!

You always hear about these magical skinny women (you know, Victoria Secret Model types) who claim that while pregnant they actually craved carrot sticks and salads. They are also the same ones who say labor was a breeze, I'm sure! Can someone please point me in their direction because I don't think they really exist!

I've pretty much given up on the idea of eating healthy in the first trimester. Hopefully I'm not doing any permanent damage to the little one inside me but at this point I'm just happy that I can eat again. So what did I eat today? For breakfast I had 2 donuts and chocolate milk, for lunch I had an everything bagel with lots of cream cheese, chili cheese fries and a raspberry-banana smoothie, and for dinner I had half of an Asian chicken salad and 2 scoops of ice cream from Baskin Robins! I know, I'm officially eating like a kid who is about to be shipped off to fat camp for the summer.

The problem is that while I'm finally getting my appetite back, a lot of food still just sounds gross/not good to me. Dinner is especially difficult for me because for some reason my stomach feels unsettled in the evening and heavy food just doesn't sit well. So I end up not eating much and then waking up around midnight starving. Oh well, what are you gonna do? I figure if Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson both gave birth to normal healthy babies then I'm pretty much safe, right?

9 Weeks

I am officially back in the bump shots from here on out!!

How Far Along: 9 weeks 6 days
Total Weight Gain: Still only +3 lbs (though it looks and feels like way more)
Maternity Clothes: Yup and couldn't be happier, they are comfy!
Stretch Marks: Only that one from last week :(
Sleep: I'm finally over my cold so I'm sleeping a lot better but still waking up around 4-5am every morning and unable to go back to sleep for an hour
Best Moment This Week: Seeing our baby wiggling around on the ultrasound
Miss Anything: Cocktails!!
Movement: Nope
Food Cravings: Chocolate and Frosted Flakes
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick: Still not liking the smell or taste of eggs
Gender: Still thinking it's a girl
Labor Signs: Nope
Symptoms: Nausea is back this week, and gagging when I brush my teeth
Belly Button In or Out: In
Wedding Rings On or Off: On, when I can remember to put them on in the morning
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Happy and excited
Looking Forward To: Graduating from Dr. Lee's so I can be considered a "normal" pregnant lady!!

I Had A Scare This Morning!

I woke up this morning for one of my many routine bathroom visits to find light pink blood on the toilet paper when I wiped. I've read that around 25% of pregnant women will experience some spotting during their pregnancy and it's perfectly normal. But of course I freaked out when I saw it since I haven't had any spotting this entire time. It's also in the back of mind that my sister had a miscarriage at 9 weeks which is how far along I am this week so that isn't helping my paranoia. I ran to Mike and he did his usual "I'm being strong for you" response, he said that it was nothing and not to worry but I saw the concern in his eyes. Rather then driving myself crazy all day by thinking of the "what ifs", I decided to call Dr. Lee and see what he thought. Dr. Lee didn't really think I should be concerned but said I could come into his office and get an ultrasound just for peace of mind especially since I was in the car accident on Tuesday. It turns out the baby is totally fine but I do have a small blood clot. Dr. Lee said I shouldn't worry about it and that it is actually so small he probably wouldn't have seen it if he wasn't looking for it. So I guess I am to expect more bleeding as the clot passes which he said could be as soon as later today or as long as a couple weeks form now. I'm so glad that I called because if I started to bleed more heavily I definitely would have lost my mind!

The upside, however, is that I got to have a bonus ultrasound and see our little gummy bear again. He or she has actually grown 2mm since Tuesday and I saw it's arm moving! They were able to get a really good picture this week that better shows it's legs this time. Also, my yolk sac is now only measuring 5mm which is actually smaller then last time so that means the placenta is going to be fully taking over soon - yay!!  :)

9 weeks 5 days

Fun Day

Today was a fun day!! 

First, Mike and I went out to test drive the car that I'm pretty sure we are going to buy to replace my smashed civic. We are looking at the Toyota Venza. It's definitely bigger then my civic so I think it's a great family friendly sized car with plenty of space for all the junk that comes along with babies when you're traveling. Last May Mike's truck needed a new engine which wouldn't have been worth the cost so we started looking at possible new cars for him and that's when we first saw the Venza. It ended up that our insurance company covered the engine so we stopped looking into cars. At the time Mike said that while he liked it, he wouldn't want it as his car because he felt it was a modern day mini van type car, lol. Well, my car is the one being replaced now so I'm going with the Venza!! As it turns out Mike loved it when we test drove it today. It drove so smoothly and the one we are looking at has tons of cool features and gadgets for him to play with so he's a happy camper. It's pretty much decided at this point; I'm just waiting for our insurance to fork over the cash for my totaled car. I'm definitely NOT happy that both our cars were paid off and now we are going to have to have a monthly car payment. The timing was crappy, for sure! But since there's nothing I can do about it now I've decided that I'm going to allow myself to be excited, after all who doesn't love new cars?!?!

After our fun test driving excursion we were passing the mall and I decided it was time to bite the bullet and finally buy some maternity clothes! I just couldn't take wearing exclusively leggings anymore and my pre-pregnancy jeans are way uncomfortable at this point. Also, as much as I love leggings, I don't like wearing them with shirts that don't at least semi cover my butt and it's hard to find longer shirts in normal clothes. As a result of this I have literally been recycling a very limited amount of outfits every day. I must admit I was very hesitant and slightly overwhelmed when looking at the maternity jeans but I ended up just taking a bunch into a dressing room to see what they were like. I ended up only getting 1 pair of jeans today but they are sooooooo comfy and I love them! I also bought 2 tees (1 short sleeved and 1 3/4 sleeved) and 1 sweater. Mike had a bit of a heart attack when he saw the total price and I had to talk him down off a cliff. I'm not going to go crazy on maternity clothes because realistically it's only a temporary wardrobe but at the same time I need to accept that my body is changing and I need new clothes. And as it turns out I feel so much cuter in them. I feel like they look like clothes that actually fit and show off my belly instead of just looking like I'm fat and wearing a loose sweater, if that makes sense. 

So anyways, here's a pic of me in my new jeans (which you can hardly see) and one of my new tops. P.S. I am fully aware that I should not "look" pregnant at 9 weeks and it is mainly all bloat and IVF weight but I'm going to choose to believe it is a little baby bump because that's cuter then fat!

Today Was A Horrible Day!!!

**Don't worry, nothing bad happened baby wise.**

This morning Mike and I were headed to see Dr. Lee for another ultrasound and I was already nervous because of my past couple of visits (large yolk sac, difficult heartbeat etc...). We were only a few minutes away from the office when I noticed the car I was quickly approaching was stopped. I was able to safely come to a stop without having to slam on my breaks. Then I noticed the car approaching me from behind was going full speed (probably 50 mph) and wasn't looking. It was then that I realized he was going to hit me so I started screaming and braced myself. He hit us with such impact that we literally flew forward and into the car in front of us! I could tell that Mike and I were relatively OK but I immediately started to freak out about the baby. I know it's still tiny at this point but the seat belt had pushed so hard on me that my chest hurt so I didn't know if it could have hurt our little baby. I managed to push open my door and started shaking when I realized my car was most likely totaled.

As soon as the police finished their report and we traded insurance information, they towed away my car and we called my father-in-law to come get us and take me to get checked out with Dr. Lee (Mike had called Dr. Lee and told him about our accident). I was so nervous but thankfully everything is more then OK, it's perfect! We saw our little one - who now has arms and legs!!! It was wiggling around and had a great heartbeat of 182bpm. Dr. Lee even said he wasn't concerned about my yolk sac anymore. And the best news of all: NO MORE INJECTIONS! I couldn't be more thrilled!

Anyways, back to my car. After speaking to our insurance company they said they won't officially know for sure until they get someone out to inspect it but they're pretty sure it's going to be totaled. So it looks like Mike and I are going to be looking at new cars tomorrow. We were thinking we'd upgrade my car within the next year or two anyways so I guess it's just going to speed things up a bit. 

So that was my crazy day. I hope you all had a better one!

8 Weeks

How Far Along: 8 weeks 6 days
Total Weight Gain: I'm holding steady at +3lbs
Maternity Clothes: Going to bite the bullet soon and get some since my pre pregnancy jeans are just too tight now.
Stretch Marks: Ugh, 1 just appeared really low on my belly which should be impossible at this point so it made me cry!! I started consistently using my lotion morning and night and I can already hardly see it plus no more have shown their ugly face!
Sleep: Having a cold hasn't helped my sleep. I tend to wake up every morning around 2am for a bathroom run and then again around 5am for an hour of tossing and turning.
Best Moment This Week: Mike brought me home flowers just because...
Miss Anything: My old sleeping habits and holiday cocktails
Movement: Nope
Food Cravings: Del Taco Chili Cheese Fries, Orange Juice, and chocolate!
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick: I'm over my aversion to chicken but now it's all about eggs - gross!
Gender: I just bet Mike that it's a girl, gut feeling.
Labor Signs: Nope
Symptoms: Breast Tenderness, Round Ligament Pains
Belly Button In or Out: In
Wedding Rings On or Off: On
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Happy with occasional stress over every little pain I feel. Thankfully the quick irritability has gone away.

Looking Forward To: Tomorrow's ultrasound (but slightly nervous since this is with Doctor Crazy and Overly Cautious)!

Sickness

Pregnancy and being sick is truly the worst combination ever! Thankfully I just have a cold and not the flu but yesterday I seriously felt like death! I am so congested that I can only breath out of my mouth which of course isn't helping my sore throat. At least today I'm not feeling as achy and sore. What makes it so miserable is the fact that I'm basically out of luck when it comes to medicine that is pregnancy approved. I've found a few things I can take but I guess I just don't feel comfortable taking any chances so I'm sucking it up and dealing with it. 

That's about all I can manage for today...

6 & 7 Weeks

As promised, here are the photos of my chalkboard for weeks 6 and 7! I was sicker then a dog so I never actually managed to get a belly shot with the chalkboard so you'll just have to settle for the pictures. But since I'm already in my 8th week I'll be getting that board done tomorrow hopefully, and I'll be sure to include my belly.

How Far Along: 6 weeks 6 days

Total Weight Gain: +3 lbs (I actually lost 1lb since last week and I feel like some of the bloating is going away)

Maternity Clothes: Still living in leggings

Stretch Marks: Nope

Sleep: Ehhh, it's been better. I just bought a Snoogle Pillow so I'm hoping that helps!

Best Moment This Week: It's a tie between seeing our first ultrasound and telling the family at Thanksgiving!

Miss Anything: I miss not feeling nauseated

Movement: Nope

Food Cravings: Starchy Carbs (bagels specifically) that keep me from feeling sick.

Anything Making You Queasy or Sick: Chicken, gross!

Gender: Don't Know Yet

Labor Signs: Nope

Symptoms: Morning Sickness, Sore Breasts, Pregnancy Brain

Belly Button In or Out: In

Wedding Rings On or Off: On

Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Happy and overly emotional (I'll cry over anything)

Looking Forward To: Tuesday's ultrasound, Dr. thinks we might hear the heart beat!

How Far Along: 7 weeks 4 days
Total Weight Gain: +3 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Nope, but living in leggings!
Stretch Marks: Nope
Sleep: Some nights are better then others, and I'm tired A LOT throughout the day.
Best Moment This Week: Hearing our baby's heartbeat at a solid 164 bpm.
Miss Anything: Having energy!
Movement: Nope
Food Cravings: I'm starting to be able to eat more then just bland carbs but they still are my go too when feeling sick.
Anything Making You Queasy or Sick: Still not liking chicken and add eggs onto the gross list!
Gender: According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar its a girl :)
Labor Signs: Nope
Symptoms: Major morning sickness and extreme fatigue.
Belly Button In or Out: In
Wedding Rings On or Off: On
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Happy but worried about every little thing!
Looking Forward To: my next ultrasound.

And I'm back...

Hello blog world people. Long time no see! I must confess I have been purposefully avoiding blogging lately because we had a bit of a scare (well maybe not that big of a deal in hindsight) and I just couldn't bring myself to post until I felt sure that everything would be OK.

I went in to see my RE and have my regular weekly ultrasound on Tuesday (7w2d). Our little blob (that's what I've decided it looks like currently) popped up immediately and we could see it's tiny heart flickering away. Dr. Lee measured everything and said the baby was growing right on track and had even tripled in size since my last visit! Then he decided he wanted to hear the heartbeat - imagine my excitement! After a minute or two he was able to bring it up on the screen and play the heartbeat. We could see the sound waves on the screen and Dr. Lee said it was beating at 130 beats per minute which was normal at that stage. Then for some reason he tried to hear the heart beat again and had a hard time getting it. He did eventually find it and again it was at 130bpm so that showed that it was beating at a consistent pace and not irregular. I thought everything was great but then Dr. Lee told me that he was concerned because the heart beat was so hard to find. I asked him why he would be concerned when we DID find it and could see it flickering the entire time anyways. He said that at this stage it shouldn't be so difficult to locate. I then asked him how big of a deal this is and he said that out of a scale of 1 to 10 he was at a 5/6 level of concern. Of course I freaked out and immediately started crying. All I heard in my mind at that point was "you may lose this baby". Dr. Lee said he wanted to see me again on Friday. Needless to say that was the longest 3 days ever!

7w2d

Pretty much everyone I talked to said that they thought Dr. Lee was being ridiculous. I heard many people tell me that their doctor doesn't even attempt to hear a heart beat until closer to 10 weeks because it's not uncommon to have a hard time finding it. People also told me to remember that the baby is only the size of a blueberry at this point so imagine finding a tiny heart inside something that small! Others simply said that if the baby is measuring on track and you can see the heart beating then you have nothing to worry about. Easier said then done!

Mike and I went in again on Friday (7w5d) and I was a total wreck, not sure what to expect. Dr. Lee immediately got to business and did the ultrasound. Up popped the baby and again he said that it looked great size wise, and that the heart was much easier to see this time. He then went to listen to the heart and found it immediately. This time it was beating a 164bpm which is great! But then he said that he is still concerned because my yolk sac is slightly larger then normal. I guess they like to see it no bigger then 7mm and mine is 6mm (though the average is 3-5mm). I asked him what that meant and he said that it could be nothing but that typically larger yolk sacs are indicators of miscarriages. Again, I lost it and began to cry hysterically. He then tried to calm me a bit by saying that he feels much better after this ultrasound then he did on Tuesday. He said that if he had to predict the likelihood of a bad outcome (which I'm assuming means miscarrying) after Tuesday he would have said 60%, but now its only 30%, with a 70% chance of a normal pregnancy (gee, thanks for that reassurance!). Finally, he said he wants me to come back on Tuesday, December 11th (so not the week coming up but the following week) and that he expects to see little arms and legs at that point. He said that if he sees that, then he believes everything will be fine and my chances for a normal pregnancy will go up to 90%. After he left the nurse stayed for a few minutes and told us that she really wouldn't worry that much because my yolk sac is still in the normal range and they see plenty of women with larger yolk sacs go on to deliver perfectly healthy babies.

7w5d - the circle shape is the "large" yolk sac

I must say that I am really beginning to think Dr. Lee is overly cautious. I'm not saying that I'd rather have a doctor who is too relaxed but I guess I'm just not feeling his bedside manner, so to speak. If I'm in the normal range why bring up all the scary what ifs? Of course a pregnant women, especially one who has gone through so much to even get pregnant, is going to freak out! At this point I'm still not 100% happy but I am trying to take it one day at a time and realize that whatever happens is out of my hands. I really don't see the need to worry since I am still in the normal range for yolk sacs. As far as I'm concerned, the baby is growing appropriately so I have every reason to believe it will continue to do so and develop little arms and legs. Also, it has a perfect heart beat that is consistent and regular. Now if it was growing slower then normal and measuring behind, or if it had an extremely low heartbeat then I might be more worried about this yolk sac issue. Also, Dr. Lee is obviously not too worried or he would have me come back in next week after several days have passed like he did this time. I doubt he would be super duper worried but yet wait 11 days to see me.

I will be seeing my OB/GYN on Tuesday for the first time since finding out I'm pregnant. I have been seeing her since I was 18 for all my regular women needs and I really like her. She has a calm demeanor to her that a worry wort like myself needs, but at the same time she doesn't sugar coat things if there is a problem. She just doesn't cause unnecessary worry. I doubt I'll be getting an ultrasound from her this early on but I want to tell her what has been going on and get her take on everything.

So anyways, that's why I've been away for a while.... Thoughts and prayers and good vibes are greatly appreciated! And I promise to post a belly update for weeks 6 and 7 tomorrow!!