11w2d

I just got back from my first official OB appointment. It was fun except for when the speculum wouldn't stay open and pinched. (They got another one.) I didn't have to have a pap or even a breast exam since I've had them both within the past 6 months. My PCP asked me all the history questions, most of which he already knew the answers to. He asked about my last menstrual period, so we chatted about that and the actual conception date and the due date (based on the matching conception date and CRL from my last u/s). He checked the uterus size and position (I guess), and found the heartbeat with the Doppler -- good and strong at 170 beats per minute!

We talked about guidelines / recommendations for exercise, eating, etc. Primarily they are common sense, avoid extremes. He said that in some ways he wants to treat me with kid gloves, particularly for avoiding medicines unless necessary, but in most ways he wants to treat me like any other pregnant patient. We sure found a good one 10 years ago when we picked him out of the phone book!

My next appointment is in a month, and I learned when checking out that I get to give a urine specimen every time. I asked what they check for, and the clerk thought they check for sugars and protein and probably other things.

Is This Safe?

Associates in Women's Health, PA - All About Eating for Two

11w

My nausea has been quite a bit better the past few days, and I think the fatigue may be letting up a bit, too... either that or I'm actually getting almost enough rest (not likely).

I found out today that I have a credit at my RE's office. If the insurance pays for what we expect (pregnancy related services), then we'll get back almost $1000! That's particularly nice since I just donated to them (for another non-insured patient) about $400 worth of stimulation drugs.

10w6d

I made a prenatal appointment with my PCP yesterday, an "initial OB" appointment as they called it. The scheduling clerk asked when my last menstrual period was. I told her I didn't remember but that I knew I was 10 1/2 weeks along. She kind of freaked... well actually, I could tell she was trying not to get too excited, but I did hear her ask the nurse whom I had just spoken with how soon she needed to get me in. (They normally schedule the 1st appointment between 6-8 weeks.) I have an appointment for this Friday. :-)

Since we used IVF, I honestly don't know when my "last" period was (would that be last "natural", or the brief one after I stopped BCP?), but I have checked the calendar, and for simplicity sake I will tell health professionals "July 11" in the future.

This morning a coworker gave me a list of toll-free phone numbers and web sites for companies that offer freebies or coupons to expecting and/or new parents. I should start signing up for things now, so when April gets closer I have one less thing to try to remember to do.

10w2d

Someone actually reached out and touched my belly yesterday. I was shocked, primarily because I look the same as I have for the past year or so, overweight but not pregnant-looking. This gal talks about personal stuff much more than I am confortable with, considering that we have only known each other a couple of years and aren't particularly "close" from my perspective. Too much information! (That may seem wierd coming from someone whose blog is very personal, but this is different, you read Blog to a Baby if and only if it interests you, I don't email it unsolicited to all of my friends and acquaintances.)

10w1d

It's been a lousy week. My aunt, with whom I was very close, died very early Sunday morning. I had been planning on going for a visit Sunday afternoon, but after receiving a phone call Saturday that said she wasn't expected to make it through the weekend, we drove 4 hours and saw her on Saturday. We stayed overnight, my cousin woke me around 3:30 a.m. to let me know my aunt had died. Later Sunday we drove 4 hours home. I stayed home from work Monday (which was supposed to be a vacation day for the visit) sick, then we drove back Tuesday for the prayer service, the funeral was Wednesday, then we drove back home yesterday.

All of the car travel made it more difficult than usual for me to keep the nausea and exhaustion under control. There was plenty of food available, with friends of the family bringing food to the house, but I didn't eat very much at a time and probably didn't choose as well as I could have. I still feel pretty lousy and am very tired, but I did manage to drag myself to work today, and I am actually getting quite a bit of work done, too.

9w

My stomach was churning all day yesterday, and I don't think it had much to do with my hormones. I live in the midwest, so I'm safe, but I have a cousin who lives on Manhattan Island, in SoHo, about a mile from where the World Trade Center used to be. She works in Manhattan, too, but further north. I can't stop thinking about her. When I went on vacation to New York in May with my sister, aunt, nieces & cousins, we visited the cousin who lives there, and we ate at Top of the World, a very fancy restaurant on the 95th floor that no longer exists.

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Monday I had another u/s to see how the baby is doing. My DH went with me that time, and he got a little weak in the knees when he first saw it. There were little arm and leg buds, and I think I saw the brain inside the skull. We heard the heartbeat again, and have a couple of pictures, but the ones they printed weren't the best for oohing and ahhing over. CRL measurement was right on target, too!

8w2d Not much new going on with me.

Between the nausea and fatigue, and trying to keep up with work and other committments, I have been neglecting my blog. I guess part of the reason also is that it seems like nothing new is happening. I know the baby is growing -- there are probably fingers and toes and eyelids by now -- but since I feel the same every day (nauseated & very tired), I haven't felt like writing.

I have my 2nd u/s with my RE on Monday. My DH will be going to that with me, for which I am very glad. He has been pampering me and fixing food for me when I don't feel like doing anything but know I need to eat. I feel like a bum sometimes, because all I want to do is sit in the recliner and rest. Yesterday I stayed home from work because I was so exhausted and nauseated in the morning. After eating a little breakfast I went back to bed and slept until 2pm! I have been falling asleep within a minute or two of hitting the pillow lately.

7w6d Why do they call it morning sickness?

All week I have been having more nausea. It's not severe, but it is persistent. Any time my stomach gets close to being empty, I feel uncomfortable. I'm getting pretty tired of crackers already, too. I read somewhere that ginger helps relieve nausea, so I'm trying ginger snaps now instead of crackers all of the time. I'm not sure if they help any more than crackers, but they do taste better.

On a more cheerful note, we celebrated our 10th anniversary this weekend! We had a party with family and some friends and told the ones who didn't know yet. We also shared the good news at church. Before I told at church, I had the thought, "Get ready to become public property." I doubt that that sentiment will be true most of the time, but I can think of a few people who will want to know more than I will want to tell. There were only two people who made comments relating to us being childless for so long, one was very polite. She said, "I had just assumed that you two didn't want kids." My husband replied that that was not the case. Another wasn't quite as tactful, and neither was my response. It was more along the lines of "deciding 'now or never' after 10 years of marriage", and I replied "no, that's not true, sometimes God just takes a long time."