Long Update

So it's been a while since I posted. What can I say - I've been busy/lazy. I guess the biggest news is that during week 19 (spring break), we found out that the baby is a boy, and is by all indications healthy. The video from the ultrasound is below, if you're interested.

 

Brad and I also celebrated our one year anniversary on March 18. Also during spring break, I went to San Antonio and visited a couple of my friends from high school. One of them has a brand new baby girl, and she is adorable. Then after I came back from S.A., we had the ultrasound, and it went well. After the ultrasound, Brad and I drove to McGregor, TX and spent the night at my Dad's house. We had a good time visiting there. Then we continued northward to Corinth / Denton, TX to visit Brad's little sister and my friend Shannon. I have known Shannon since elementary school, and she is my bestest buddy. We stayed with my s-i-l for three nights, and had a great time hanging out with her and her two girls and their dad. Then we came home and spring break was over. The next weekend I babysat for our friends, Jay & Misty. They have a new baby boy, and needed to get of the house for a while. I had a good time with the baby, and got a refresher on my newborn skills. And I got to lay on the couch and watch Dirty Jobs, which is always a crowd pleaser. (Mike Rowe is hot!)

 So anyway, back to the blogging. Last week, I missed 2.5 days of work because I was having really severe headaches and nausea. I went to the OB, and my blood pressure is fine, and there was only trace amounts of protein in the urine, which the doctor seemed fine with. He referred me to a neurologist, and said that the headaches were likely causing the nausea. My neurologist appointment is scheduled for this coming Monday. This week my allergies are kicking my ass. I've got a sore throat, a cough and congestion. Blech. But I am 22 weeks pregnant, which means I am more than halfway done. So yay! for that. We got our baby registry done. We are registered at Babies R Us. The baby's room will be done in a jungle theme. I saw this set and fell in love. It's perfect - masculine,  not too cutesy, and it will match the paint that is already on the walls so that I don't have to repaint. The set is called Baby Cocoa. I have also started crocheting a blanket for the baby from a soft, terrycloth-like yarn. It is in chocolate brown and forest green stripes, and is very cuddly.

For those of you who are thinking about asking - no, we have not picked out a name yet. We have a list of contenders, and will pick soon, but we don't know yet. We'll see. I have had a bajillion different people pestering me about the name, and I am starting to get a little annoyed. Anyway, that's about it for now.

Weeks 17 & 18

Let me just start by saying that pregnancy sucks. It has its moments, but for the most part it sucks. I really miss my good migraine medicine, and wish I could take it. But, since it causes birth defects, I'll refrain from taking it for now. I'm still having to visit the chiropractor twice a week, to keep the pinched nerves in check. The morning sickness is pretty much gone, although it did actually make me puke last week, which was a first. Other crappy things aboug pregnancy: I have to pee like every half hour and it's getting worse. Also, my bras have shrunk. Or my boobage has expanded. Whichever it is, it sucks. I had a breast reduction for a reason, dammit. I don't like having gargantuan titties. Most women like this side effect of the hormones, but not me. I hate having to buy expensive bras, but this increase in size may make it so I don't have a choice. Ughh! I thought I had tamed the twins, but apparently Eddie & Earl are back in action.

On to the good news: I am looking forward to next Wednesday, when we will (hopefully) find out the sex of the baby. It will also be our one year anniversary that day. I've felt the little bugger wiggle around in there a couple times (I think), but I have to be laying very still to notice. We got the results back on the Nuchal Translucency / Sequential screening tests. We are all clear for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and spina bifida. So that's a relief. Also, I only only have 3 more work days until spring break. Then I will have 9 whole days off. Yay! We got our trees last week, and 7 of them are already planted. Brad has been working his ass off, and the front yard is done. Now for the back yard. But, most of the trees that are going in the back yard are much smaller, so they should be easier. That's about all for now.

16 Weeks and the Fertile Girdle

So I'm 16 weeks pregnant now, and I wore maternity pants for the first time today. Yesterday after my appointment with the perinatalogist, I went to Motherhood Maternity at Highland Mall. I just wanted to try on some maternity pants so that I would know what size to get if I want to order some online. Well, the shop at Highland didn't have a single item in the store larger than a 1X. But the girl there told me to try the store at Barton Creek Mall. So, at 4:30 in the afternoon, I drove through Austin traffic on MoPac to try a different store. I got there and they did have a limited selection of big girl clothes. One little wall and two little racks, but it was better than nothing. I discovered that I wear a 2X in maternity clothes, which is a size smaller than I was expecting, so that was a pleasant surprise. Really the 2X is even a little baggy on me. But I wound up getting a pair of denim capris, and a pair of blue jeans. I also got their version of the bella band. I got home and was showing Brad what his money bought, when he made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself. I held up the Tummy Sleeve thingy, and the first words out of his mouth were, "That should be called a Fertile Girdle." That's funny shit - I don't care who you are. So hereafter, I shall refer to my bella band / tummy sleeve as a Fertile Girdle. Today I wore the pair of capris and they were very comfortable. I was pleased.

15 Weeks

It has been a long week. I am exhausted. I keep having to go to the chiropractor because my back/pelvis keep getting out of whack while I'm at work. When I come home, I rest for a little while, and when I try to get up again, it hurts so bad I can barely walk. It holds just fine when I'm not at work, but it keeps slipping out of alignment when I go to work and deal with the kids. It's very frustrating. I'm 15 weeks along, with 25 to go. Oh well. It will be over eventually.

I do, however, have some good news. We got our tax return back. $6603. Not bad, huh? So after we pay the house taxes, and a few outstanding medical bills, we are going to get trees. In the 24 years that Brad has lived in this house, he has never gotten around to planting trees. We have a couple hackberry trees that have come up on their own, but they don't really count. So we are getting trees. We are going to get a bur oak, which will get absolutely huge, and a Monterrey oak. The Monterrey oak is also known as a Mexican white oak, and in this area they are generally evergreen. They lose their leaves in colder climates, but here in temperate central Texas, they stay green all year. We are going to also get some fruit trees - peach, apricot, and plum. The peach tree we get will be a Sam Houston peach tree, which is the same variety I grew up with. We may also get some crepe myrtles, and maybe a bradford pear or a flowering dogwood. Maybe also a sycamore. If you can't tell, I'm excited about trees, and the promise of shade.

The tax return is also going to allow us to go on a little trip during spring break. Brad has March 18-22 off. That's five whole days. On the 18th, which is our one year anniversary, we will be finding out the sex of the baby. Then after that we are going to drive up to Dallas to see Brad's sister and my best friend Shannon. I'm excited about getting to go out of town. With all the fertility treatments, it's been a long while since we have had the time and money to go anywhere. During the beginning part of spring break, I am going to try to get down to San Antonio to see my friends Penny and Jenny, and Jenny's new baby. I haven't seen either of them in well over a year, I believe. It may have been longer than that. Anyway, I'm out of here to go find something for dinner.

14 Weeks

I am 14 weeks pregnant, and I am tired. That is the main thing I can say about all of this so far. I'm just tired. I feel exhausted all the time, and I just want to sleep. The nausea is only occasional now, mostly in the evenings. I have not gained any weight, and I'm trying not to, but my little bit of a bump keeps growing. My back / hips hurt like hell. My pelvis is doing funky things, which pinches a nerve that makes my low back hurt really bad. I've been going to the chiropractor twice a week, and that keeps the pain mostly manageable. There's really not much else going on right now, and this a boring part of the pregnancy. Oh well.

Still Bitchin' as Usual

Yet again, it has been a while since I've updated. I am 13 weeks pregnant today. Pregnancy is still miserable. I can't take my allergy medicine, so I am now sick because of all the damn cedar. The all-day-sickness has subsided to just being evening nausea, so that's good. The cravings haven't stopped, though. Today, I absolutely had to have tater tots. My headaches have been getting steadily worse - I have one right now, so I am trying to keep this short. My back hurts like hell, and my chiropractor says it will likely continue to get worse. Lifting anything hurts my back, and my OB has restricted me from lifting more than 25 pounds for the duration of the pregnancy. Every night I come home tired and miserable. I have been living on tylenol, and tylenol PM. I go to bed early, and wake up still tired and sore. And I know it will just get worse. The next person who says, "Oh, you're past X milestone - now you can sit back and enjoy your pregnancy," is going to get slapped. Thus far, I have found nothing enjoyable about pregnancy, and anybody who says differently can bite my ass!

To make matters worse, even though I have not gained any weight, my middle has started to expand just enough that I have to leave my blue jeans unbuttoned. Nobody else can tell the difference, but in order to leave my jeans unbuttoned, I need longer shirts. Nearly all of my shirts are just not quite long enough. So I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to find some longer shirts. I discovered that fat chicks aren't supposed to get pregnant. The largest maternity shirt they had was an XL. There were plenty of smalls, but only like two XL's, which won't even fit me. So I had to go to the men's section and get huge men's shirts to find something long enough. I was so mad when I left there. Oh well.

Last Monday I went to my two doctor appointments. At the first one, I found out the results of my bloodwork. I got a 91 on the glucose test, which means I passed that bitch with flying colors. Hopefully I will do that well on the one at 28 weeks. Also, my thyroid is within normal range, so we don't have to adjust that either. Then I met up with my mom for the NT scan, and everything looked good. We found out that they only do a video at the anatomy scan, so I got some regular pics. The kid is starting to look a little more human, so that's cool. To get the baby to turn over so she could take measurements, she jiggled the ultrasound thingy around on my tummy. Boy, that pissed the little person off. I thought it was funny. I go back to my OB on Feb 23, and back to the perinatologist on Feb 24. Then I find out the sex on March 20. I can't wait. I'm excited about the whole baby thing, but the whole pregnancy thing I could really do without. I'm going to go lay down now -- or lie down -- whichever is the proper way to do it. Anyway, I'm out.

Lazy Me

Okay, so I've been really bad about blogging lately. I'd give you all sorts of reasons and excuses as to why, but mostly it boils down to one thing -- I'm LAZY! Granted, I have been going to bed several hours early nearly every night, due to sheer exhaustion. And I have felt nauseous pretty much all day, every day. But in the time when I could have been blogging, instead I have laid upon my fat ass watching TV and whining about how tired and/or nauseous I am. Real productive, right? It's not like I have been puking or anything - I haven't. I never throw up. I just wish sometimes that I could. In this first little bit of pregnancy, at one point I had lost 14 pounds. It's just that there wasn't anything I wanted to eat (weird, huh?). Although, I will admit that I have gained 3-4 lbs. back in the past few days, due to my weird cravings. Friday, I NEEDED nachos - lots of nachos. Yesterday, I HAD TO HAVE CiCi's Pizza. Several times, I have craved Chicken and Gnocchi Soup from the Olive Garden. And through all of this, Brad has been a good sport, bringing me what I crave. Well, he is still bitching about the time I made him go into the Olive Garden in grease-covered clothes after he had been working on Michael's car all day. But he's still been really good about it all.

On Monday, Jan. 12th, I got to go to my first appointment with my regular OB. It was really nice getting to go to an appointment where the doctor is willing to spend time with you, and listens to what you say. If anybody in Austin wants the name of a great OB/Gyn, just let me know. I've used him for years, and he is the best. So while I was there, he did an ultrasound. This was the first time I have had an on-the-tummy ultrasound. We weren't able to see very much, as his machine isn't that great for early pregnancy, but I did get to see the baby moving around inside the sac. It was measuring just over an inch long. I did get a printed picture, but you really can't see much. I also got scheduled for the Nuchal Translucency scan, for Monday, Jan 26th. That will be done at the Texas Perinatal Group. It should be a good ultrasound, and I will get a video of it. I also go back to see my OB that day. Tomorrow, I have to go do a test to make sure I don't have Gestational Diabetes. Normally, that vile test is done at about 28 weeks, but if there is a reason to suspect it, they do it earlier, and again at 28wks. I don't have a previous history of it, obviously, but since I am a fat chick with PCOS and a family history of diabetes, it puts me at risk. So I get to do the test early. Yay, what fun!

I think later on today, we will get a big box of chicken, and go for a picnic at the river. The high today is supposed to be 74. I realize it will still be too cold to go swimming, but the boys and the dogs can run around and play. Sounds fun to me. Everybody have a great day! Oh, and don't forget to vote in my poll over to the right. And leave a comment, so I know who bothers to read this crap. Laters!

Ultrasound Pics & Update

Okay, here's the pic from Ultrasound #2 (I don't have a copy for #1). The date was 12/24/2008, and I was 6w3d pregnant. The heart rate was 126 bpm, and the baby measured 5.9mm. The doctor neglected to mention that it was 5 days behind in size, but I'm kinda glad that we didn't find that out until the next appointment because it would have just stressed me out more. The big round thing in the middle of the sac is the yolk, and the little c-shaped thing off to the side of that is the baby.

Now here's the pic from Ultrasound #3. The date for that one was 1/2/2009, and I was 8w1d pregnant. The heart rate had gone up to 176 bpm, and the baby had grown to 15.2 mm. This time the baby's size was only off by 2 days, so it is catching up. The somewhat-c-shaped blur is the baby (no yolk is visible in these pics).

I did more labwork on 12/31/08, and my progesterone had gone up to 37.4. That was enough that at my appointment on 1/2/09, the doctor felt it was safe to take me off the progesterone supplements. Also, since the baby has been growing well, she was willing to release me to my regular OB/Gyn. So my next appointment is with my oh-so-fine OB on Monday 1/12/09, and I should have another ultrasound then. I'm glad to be done with the fertility clinic for a while. They did a great job, and did what they were supposed to do, but I'm glad to move on. Brad and I are pretty excited, and relieved that things seem to be picking up speed. Brad has been telling pretty much everybody he knows - even the bank teller! It's kinda cute. He's pretty much a typical male when it comes to (not) sharing his emotions, but I can tell he is excited about being a Dad (again). After all, it's been nearly twenty years since the last time he had an expecting wife. Anyway, I'm glad to be getting this show on the road finally.

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

So today is the start of a new year, and I am glad for it. So far, it is shaping up to be a better year than the last. Granted, I did get married last year, and that was awesome, but a good portion of the year sucked. I also managed to get pregnant toward the end, but the initial stages of that have been fraught with worry and fear of miscarriage. Only on Christmas Eve did I finally get some relief, in the form of a strong heartbeat on the ultrasound. The bulk of the year was spent doing infertility treatments that just made me sad and miserable. So to 2008: I'm glad to see you go.

2009 looks like it may be much better. If everything goes as planned, I should give birth to a healthy baby in August, which has the potential to make the whole year. I shouldn't have to do any fertility treatments this year, and that sounds really good, too. And, to top it off, I will get to be off work for two months before the baby is due, because of the way the school schedule works. Yay! for summer break. If I can just get through this next semester, it will all be okay. Before too long, I should be able to start buying baby stuff. 2009, I'm glad you're here.

A Much Merrier Christmas

Well, I just got back from my ultrasound, and we got to see the fetus and the heartbeat! The heartrate was 125. Everything was substantially bigger than last week, and it all looked good. I told the doctor that I did not want to do any more labs because it has just been pure torture, and he agreed. He said we would only do labs again if I had any spotting or problems. He said that the reason that he wasn't concerned about the drop in progesterone is because it was higher than normal last time, and now it is in a more normal range. He wants me to stay on the supplements once a day. I go for another ultrasound next Friday. He also said that I am at a higher risk for miscarriage because of the funky labs, but now that we have seen a heartbeat, the risk is substantially less. So, all in all, it is looking good, and I've got pictures to prove it. I will get them scanned and posted in a few days. Everybody have a good Christmas. I know I will now.

Crap Labs

Okay, I'm freaking out again. Today is CD34, or 6w6d. I got my labs drawn again today for beta #5. My hcg only went up to 7217 (from 1979) in 7 days. That's a doubling time of 90.54 hours. My last doubling time was only 52.69 hours. Also, my progesterone dropped from 58.9 to 30.6. That's lower than it has been at any point during this beta hell. Yet the doctor did not increase my Endometrin. My next ultrasound isn't until Wednesday, and I'm freaking out. I'm just so scared, and there's nothing I can do about it. I know that doubling times do slow down as things get further along, but they shouldn't slow down that much, and the progesterone drop really worries me. And people think the 2 week wait is bad. This is pure torture. I'll update again after the ultrasound.

First Ultrasound

Yesterday, I went in for my 4th beta, @ 27 DPO, and my numbers rose from 220 to 1979. My doubling time for this one was 52.69 hours. A little slower than the last one, but still within a fairly normal range. The numbers are still pretty low, but it may still work out. Today, I went in for my first ultrasound, at 6w0d. We were able to see a gestational sac and yolk sac, but no heartbeat yet. It was correctly placed in the uterus, NOT ectopic, so that's good. We also saw several huge ovarian cysts, which would account for the pain I've been having, and why I feel like I'm 3 months pregnant. The largest ones were on the right side, with the biggest measuring 72mm x 75mm. That's nearly 3 inches across! And there were more that were only a little smaller than that. Hopefully they will resolve soon. I go back for beta #5 on Monday 12/22, @ 34 DPO. Then I go for my next ultrasound on 12/24 @7w1d. Hopefully we will be able to see a heartbeat by then. Brad will get to go with me to that one, since it is on Christmas Eve and he is off that day. I also found out something odd that I didn't know. My Mom went with me to my appointment today, and when she was looking at their website to get directions, she saw the list of doctors in the office. Apparently, one of the other doctors (Dr. Vaughn) was the doctor who delivered me when I was born. Kinda weird, huh? And since my doctor will out of town next week, he will be the one doing my ultrasound. Mom's going to that one too, so she can say hi to him. I guess that's what they call full circle. Strange.

Getting Better

I went for my 3rd beta today, at 20DPO, and in 4 days, it went from 56 up to 220. My doubling time has gone down to 49.14 hours, from 66.68 hours on the last one. It looks like things are picking up speed. My doctor said to be cautiously optimistic. The numbers are still low, but at least they are doubling properly. Hopefully things will pick up even more. I go for another beta on Monday 12/15 at 27 DPO. Then I am scheduled for an ultrasound on 12/16, which will be 6wks exactly. Hopefully we will be able to see something by then.

First Two Betas

I had my first beta on Tuesday. My HCG was 34, Progesterone 43.0, and Estradiol 1130. The doctor's office said the HCG was a little low, but not too worrisome, and the others were fine. On Thursday, I had my second beta. It was much more worrisome. The progesterone was fine at 49.7, but the HCG only went up to 56, instead of at least doubling like it should have. My doctor's office said that the absolute, bare minimum increase would need to be 2/3, and it did go up by two thirds, exactly. My doubling time is currently 66.68 hours, where 48 hours or less is ideal.

So what all that means is that it's a crapshoot whether or not this pregnancy will survive or fail. It could go either way, but a miscarriage or ectopic is probably more likely. I go for another beta on Monday 12/8/08, and that will tell us more. Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed that things are so uncertain, and the waiting is killing me. It's way worse than the two week wait before you find out if you're pregnant. Then you're either pregnant or not, but no life hangs in the balance. Right now, I am pregnant, but the two possibilities are live baby or miscarriage, and that's harder to take. So until Monday, I'm going to lay around the house and eat copious amounts of very chocolatey ice cream, and nobody can stop me or even fault me for it.

Two Lines!

I'm scheduled to go for bloodwork tomorrow, and I swore I was not going to cheat and pee on a stick. However, at work today, the waiting was making me crazy, and the girls at work were like, "Why don't you just go pee on a stick?" So I folded. I have no self control. I went to Wal-Mart on my lunch break and bought pee sticks. I did one in the bathroom at work. There are two lines, people! I'm knocked up! Holy shit, Batman! I'm so excited! Of course, now everybody knows. I do realize that something could still go wrong, and that a positive pregnancy test does not necessarily equal a take-home baby, but this is the furthest we have ever gotten. It is a step in the right direction. So I will go for bloodwork tomorrow, and probably again on Thursday, then probably an ultrasound sometime in the next few weeks to check for the heartbeat(s).