12 Weeks

This sure was a long week!  On Monday I took my class on an all day field trip to the Pacific Science Center.  It was awesome, but being on my feet all day made me so tired!  Also, Tony finally came home from Korea!  After work, I immediately headed over to Seattle to Zach's house so that I could see him.  We went trick or treating with Frankie for a little bit, then had a pizza party to celebrate the homecoming.  I'm really glad he's back!

Oh, also, my phone was blowing up all day that day because of this:

Yep, we are officially "out" about our May baby on the way.  Well, by officially, I mean that it's out there on Facebook.  I haven't told my students or their parents yet.  I'm trying to wait as long as possible to tell them, or at least until I have a day where I have my whole class in attendance.  I'd definitely like to wait until after conferences, but I'm kind of looking forward to being out at school so that I don't have to try to find shirts that don't show any belly (it's getting tricky!).

On Wednesday I had my 12 week prenatal check-up.  I was with one of the midwives I'd never met before (Nurse Sharon), and she was wonderful.  She's one of the ones that is leaving the practice, but let it slip that she is going to the new Swedish that is right by my house!  I didn't think they were having midwives, so I definitely need to look into this!  Sharon pulled out the doppler, and...  couldn't find the baby's heart beat.  Of course, I started to freak out.  She got the portable ultrasound and there was Freebie, flipping around and moving up a storm.  Sharon said that all that movement was probably responsible for us not being able to catch the HB.  Phew!  Way to freak me out, baby!

Thursday we went back to Maternal Fetal Medicine to attempt NT scan round 2.  Yes, attempt AGAIN. I think this warrants it's own post, but let's just say that we have the most stubborn baby in the world, and we have to go back for round three on Tuesday.  I couldn't even believe it.

Keith has been pretty amazing.  He has totally been picking up my slack around the house without a complaint at all.  The day of our 2nd failed attempt at the NT scan, I came home and needed to lay down for a while.  I ended up falling asleep.  While sleeping, he decided to deep clean the kitchen, then he completely cleaned out our enormous walk-in pantry!  We've (embarrassingly) been meaning to do this for at least a year...  Oops.  But it is amazing!  And on top of all that, he gave the dog a bath, too.

I wanted to do something to thank him for being so awesome lately while I've been feeling yucky.  After school on Friday, I stopped at the University Bookstore and got him a little present.  Two new UW t-shirts, and an outfit for Freebie (even though I'd prefer our baby wear Ohio State gear...).  He was very surprised, and loved it!  Especially the baby clothes.  They're now hanging in his closet until we clear out the nursery.

Week 12 stats:

How far along: 12 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: um, apparently I've gained 5lbs... which was like, 3lbs in one week.  I'm not sure I believe it though, I was wearing heavy boots/jackets when I was on the scale this week.

Maternity clothes?: yes, pants, or regular pants if I feel like dealing with the BeBand

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: has been better this week, out of sheer exhaustion

Best moment this week: hearing the heartbeat at MFM (after not at my check up) and seeing a lot of our stubborn baby.

Movement: baby's still moving like crazy in there, but I can't feel it yet.

Food cravings: French toast & pizza (healthy, yes?)

Gender: who knows?

What I miss: feeling well

Milestones: baby was the size of a plum this week (moving onto peach next week), and now has reflexes.

11 Weeks

When I was uploading this picture, I pulled up my 6 week one to compare.  I can finally admit that things have grown a bit!  My non-fitting pants should have made that obvious, but...  I have to say that I am constantly shocked that there is actually a baby growing in there.

We attempted to have our NT scan on Friday.  Yes, I said attempted.  We showed up at Maternal Fetal Medicine, filled out all the paperwork, and the sonographer started the scan.  It was a relief to see that Freebie was in there alive and literally kicking.  The baby was wiggling around like crazy!  Keith was pretty shocked, he thought that at this point they just lay around in there.  Like I said above, when the baby popped up on the screen, I was surprised again to see that that was actually in me.  It's still so unbelievable.

Anyway, I said we attempted to have the NT scan.  We definitely got to see our baby, and we actually got to hear the heartbeat for the first time (!), buuuuuuut...  Baby got Keith's short genes and was about 2mm too small to fit their criteria for eligibility for the neck measurement.  Boo.  But this means that we get to see our baby again in less than a week!  We go back Thursday to try again.  I also have my 12 week prenatal checkup on Wednesday, so it will be a busy week for me at the hospital.

Last week was a busy week, too - I had to go once for the NT scan, but I also had to go to the lab on Wednesday to get blood drawn, since apparently I was exposed to Fifth's Disease at school.  If you're pregnant, don't google this.  It will scare the crap out of you.  Chances are good that I've already been exposed to it, but I'm laying low & hoping it turns out to not be a big deal.

I'm 2 days away from 12 weeks, which means that my first trimester of pregnancy is almost over.  Hard to believe.  The nausea is still ever present (in fact, I had to toss my cookies this morning), but I am hopeful there is a light at the end of this tunnel.  I also told my boss about the pregnancy (she was SO excited for us), and we'll be coming out to the general public very soon.  Also, I've been working on my cloth diaper stash (more on that later).  Things are getting real around here!

Week 11 stats:

How far along: 11 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: the scale at MFM tells me I gained 2lbs.

Maternity clothes?: yes, pants, or regular pants if I feel like dealing with the BeBand

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: would be better if I didn't wake up feeling nauseated in the middle of the night

Best moment this week: seeing our baby - who looks more like a baby than a blob now!  We saw arms, legs, feet, and his/her stomach!

Movement: not that I can feel, but there's a very active baby in there

Food cravings: um... nothing?

Gender: I think boy, Keith thinks girl (still)

What I miss: not feeling barfy, having clothes that don't make me look fat

Milestones: we're in the 100's!  Only 198 days left until we get to meet Freebie!

10 Weeks

Little Freebie continues to grow in there, and I continue to dislike pre-pregnancy pants!  =)  I am rocking maternity jeans in the pic above.  Yesterday I made the mistake of wearing normal jeans.  I was just running out to the store, and they were low-rise, and I could get them zipped...  Yeah, sitting in the car with them on was not fun.  I promptly took them off when I got home and put on pajamas.

This week was kind of tough.  One night I had an evening parent meeting at the school, which ran past my normal pregnancy bedtime.  I made it through without falling asleep, but there was one point where I was talking that I started to feel really nauseated, so I totally rushed it so I could stop talking and sit down.

I also got my first cold while being pregnant.  Booooo.  Lots of the kids have had them, and as soon as my throat started hurting, I knew I was doomed.  So far, throat drops, TONS of water, and rest have helped keep it from getting to a full-on state of misery.  The weekend came just in time, and I'm crossing my fingers that this work week won't wear me down.  

I spent $70 at Target on Friday.  I was stocking up my "pregnancy medicine cabinet".  I also needed to refill my thyroid medicine, and let me tell you, that took forever.  Two funny things though:  First, I needed new shampoo & conditioner.  Not because I ran out, but because I totally developed an aversion to the one I had.  $20 worth of Yes to Carrots later, and I am a happy camper.  The other funny thing was, I had to pee SO badly when I came in the store, but the bathroom was out of service for cleaning!  I almost had my first pregnancy meltdown, but thankfully it opened before I peed on their floor (not before I sent Keith some panicked text messages though).

Finally, I got a letter in the mail this week from SRM.  It said that my beloved RE, Dr. O, is leaving the practice.  Noooooooo!  I love Dr. O!  This news made me incredibly sad, and I don't think it was just pregnancy hormones.  He's hands-down my favorite doctor I've ever had.  I sincerely hope he stays in the area, because if we need him again, I'm going to hunt him down no matter what practice he is at.  This news manifested itself in one of my bizarre pregnancy dreams - in which I apparently went to HIM for our upcoming NT scan, and then yelled at him for leaving, cried, and demanded he tell me (in secret) where he was planning to go.  Haha.

Ok, enough talk.  Here's the week 10 stats:

How far along: 10 weeks, 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: no scale this week, though we've been borrowing Laurel's scale for a work in the classroom.  It says my weight goes up and down by 5lbs every other day though, so it can't be trusted. =)

Maternity clothes?: the pants are awesome.  I have to be selective about my shirts.  Keith said, "You look pregnant!" for the first time this week, so I had to cover up the belly.

Strech marks?: no

Sleep:  same old early bedtime/insomnia

Best moment this week: getting a bunch of cloth diapers and my Halloween costume in the mail!

Movement: not that I can feel, but apparently baby is moving around in there.

Food cravings: bagels, Annie's mac & cheese, and cinnamon toast.  That's about it.  Eating is really really challenging.

Gender: no clue

What I miss: food, not being exhausted.  I'm also looking forward to not having to keep this a secret anymore.

Milestones: baby is a prune this week.  I've never been so happy to see a prune!

9 Weeks

I look ridiculously fat & not cute in this picture.  But hey, this is reality, right? =)

Yeah...  That blob up there is responsible for my pants being really uncomfortable right now.  I took this picture at the end of the day - and I was sucking it in a little bit.  Eek!  If that's what I look like with bloat, what will it be like when it's really baby in there?!?  Yesterday I went to this huge consignment sale, and ended up with 3 pairs of maternity pants for $9.  Not bad, huh?  I am going to start wearing them because I am so so uncomfortable at work.

Here's the week 9 stats:

How far along: 9 weeks (barely!  I'll be 10 tomorrow, oops!)

Total weight gain/loss: no scale this week.

Maternity clothes?: starting to break into the pants.  I am too uncomfortable.

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: I seem to be stuck in a cycle of falling asleep early, having crazy dreams, waking up to pee, then having insomnia.  Still.

Best moment this week: spending all of Saturday in my pajamas.

Movement: not yet

Food cravings: nothing.  Food is horrible right now.

Gender: My friend Sara is totally 100% convinced it's a girl.  Haha.

What I miss: food, not being exhausted.

Milestones: baby is an olive this week - and also not an embryo anymore!  We have a fetus!

8 Weeks

It's hard to believe that Freebie is almost 9 weeks old.  Our NT scan is already scheduled for less than 3 weeks from now, at 11w3d.  I'm really looking forward to seeing baby again, although I definitely feel pregnant today.  Lots of nausea (and actually, I threw up this morning too).  Also, I'm rocking a BeBand in this week's picture.  I can button my pants, but they are uncomfortably tight.  Friday was an inservice day at school, so I wore jeans.  Mistake.  Luckily, my coworkers (that know about the baby) are awesome, and encouraged me to walk around with pants unbuttoned!

Here's the week 8 stats:

How far along: 8 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: the verdict is in!  I have gained zero pounds.  Which is kind of funny, because my pants definitely don't fit.

Maternity clothes?: just a BeBand.  I ordered a pair of Gap maternity jeans when they were having a major sale.  They arrived yesterday, and while they're too big right now, they are VERY comfortable & inviting!

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: I seem to be stuck in a cycle of falling asleep early, having crazy dreams, waking up to pee, then having insomnia.

Best moment this week: surprise ultrasound!

Movement: not yet

Food cravings: baked potatoes - I discovered my microwave has a potato button.  My quality of life has just improved.

Gender: I'm thinking girl.

What I miss: food

Milestones: baby is a raspberry this week - almost an olive.  We made it another week!

1st Prenatal Appointment

My first appointment with the midwives was today.  Prior to it, I was kind of feeling like "Oh no!  I miss my RE!"  But it turned out to be a great appointment.
After peeing in a cup (something I need to get used to, as I'll have to do this at every appointment), the medical assistant takes all your medical & family history.  It turned out that she used to work for Dr. O!  She told me that he used to tell stories in the breakroom about how he'd have a consult with a couple, and then they'd end up pregnant before treatment.  He'd be all, "Yeah, I can get them pregnant just by talking to them!"  It was pretty funny.
Since I've been under the care of an RE, I've already had all of the blood work that screens you for diseases (it's like 6 vials of blood), and was current on pap.  So my midwife was like, "Well, we actually don't have a lot to do...  Would you like an ultrasound so that you don't worry?" (we'd been talking about how it's hard not to worry, especially after dealing with fertility issues).  It turns out, the midwives have a portable machine that they can use whenever they want, so she just wheeled it in and we got to take a peek at Freebie!

This was a lot lower-tech machine, and done on the belly, so baby is just blobby.  We saw the heartbeat though, and the yolk sack as well.  Baby is still looking good, and measuring right on track.  She also checked for any bleeds in there to keep an eye on, and there were none.  That ultrasound really DID make me feel better!  I wish Keith had been there, but Nurse Shana printed out pictures for him.  =)

Tomorrow I can call Maternal Fetal Medicine and set up our NT scan.  That will be sometime between 11-13 weeks, and we'll probably get to do our next prenatal appointment the same day (since they're both at the hospital).  Still hard to believe, but there really is a baby in there! 

7 Weeks

Holy bloat, batman!

Week 7 has been a big week for us.  We got to see Freebie on the ultrasound, and graduated from the RE.  

Like a good little mommy-to-be, I called up my midwife practice the day after we graduated to schedule my first prenatal appointment.  I told them who I was, that I was a patient of the midwives (I'd seen them previously for annuals), and that I'd been under the care of an RE, but was now released to come over there.  When the scheduler asked my due date, I told her, and she said "Oh.  Well, we're closed to May due dates."

What?

I re-explained that I was an existing patient, and didn't really understand why she would say that to me.  She agreed that that was sketchy, and told me she'd leave a message for the midwives and someone would call me back.  So, of course, I was very annoyed.  And worried!  There are really no other CNM practices nearby!

When one of the midwives called me back, I got good news and bad news.  The good news was, of course they'd see me.  I was already their patient!  The bad news, however, was pretty bad.  A couple of the midwives are leaving the practice next month, meaning there won't be enough to have a full-on group.  Which means that I can still see them for my prenatal care, but the midwives and OBs will share the call rotation.  So I could get to deliver with a midwife, but it could be with an OB.  

I was pretty devastated.  I want to try for a natural, drug & intervention free delivery, and I just don't know if I can do it on my own without my midwife there through my whole labor.  I decided to go ahead and schedule my appointment anyway.  At this point, the possibility of a chance at having a midwife is better than no midwife at all.  =(

Here's the week 7 stats:

How far along: 7 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: we don't keep a scale in the house, so I'll only know when I have doctor's appointments

Maternity clothes?: not yet!  BeBands were on sale at Target this week, so I picked one up for when I need it (soon).

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: was going better, until last night when the old insomnia came back.  Also, I am having really vivid dreams!

Best moment this week: seeing our baby & heartbeat on the ultrasound

Movement: not yet

Food cravings: Wendy's baked potatoes

Gender: last night I had a dream it was a girl

What I miss: being able to eat regular food.  I threw up twice this week, and food & I are not friends right now.

Milestones: seeing that heart beat and graduating from the RE!

There's really a baby in there!

We went to see our RE today for an ultrasound.  There's really a baby in there!  I know I shouldn't sound so shocked (the nurse kept giggling, because I sounded so amazed), but it's just really hard to believe that this baby isn't too good to be true!
Dr. O was very congratulatory and excited for us.  He kept saying, "Good job, you guys!" and he told Keith, "You did it!  Bad sperm and all, you did it!"  It was pretty funny, but nice that he was excited for us, even though we didn't end up needing him to help us get pregnant.

Anyway, here's our "Freebie" at 7w0d:

Baby is measuring 7w0d exactly, and had a heart beat of 150.  Everything is "normal", and Dr. O graduated us today!  That means that tomorrow I'll be calling my midwife to see when she wants to see me for my first real appointment (today was just an ultrasound).

Funny story - when you graduate from SRM, they give you a pregnancy book.  When we were checking out to leave, the receptionist said, "Do we need to schedule your next appointment?" and then, "Oh!  You have the book!  Oh, I love to see people holding the book, congratulations!"  Haha.

6 Weeks

Ah, the first weekly bump-check pic!  Obviously, there's nothing to see here!  Baby is only the size of a lentil this week.  Still, I'm pretty bloated by the end of the day, so this pic was taken at 6 weeks 4 days because it was the first chance I had to take a picture in the morning.  I've since laid down and unbuttoned my pants (my two favorite activities right now!).

Our lentil-baby is hard at work growing this week.  His/her heart is beating, and facial features are starting to take shape.  Arm and leg buds are forming as well, and baby will be able to move them by the end of the week!

How far along: 6 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: we don't keep a scale in the house, so I'll only know when I have doctor's appointments

Maternity clothes?: nope, just unbuttoned pants around the house!

Strech marks?: no

Sleep: Insomnia persists, but is getting a little better.  I think this is because 1st Tri exhaustion is starting to hit.

Best moment this week: going the whole week without spotting

Movement: not yet!

Food cravings: avocados

Gender: I think boy, Keith thinks girl (still)

What I miss: being able to stay up late enough to watch the new Fall tv shows

Milestones: no more spotting!

5 Weeks

I'll be posting one of these updates each week (and when I remember, with a picture!)

This week baby is the size of a sesame seed or apple seed.  The neural tube is starting to develop, and the heart divides into chambers and starts beating!

How far along: 5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: no idea, probably none

Maternity clothes?: nope, but I am very bloated, so my pants are really tight!

Strech marks?: nope

Sleep: is terrible.  I wake up around 1:00 or 2:00 to pee, then don't fall back to sleep for 3+ hours.

Best moment this week: getting a good 3rd beta number

Movement: it will be a long time before I feel this!

Food cravings: anything someone suggests.  As soon as they say a food, I NEED IT.

Gender: I think boy, Keith thinks girl

What I miss: not worrying so much

Milestones: baby's heart could be beating already!

Mr. & Mrs. G + baby makes three

I started this blog a loooong time ago, before I was even married.  I knew we'd be TTC (trying to conceive) starting as soon as our honeymoon, so I thought I'd have a nice little general-life blog that would quickly turn into baby blog.  Oh, how wrong I was.
We did start TTC on our honeymoon, but that first try wasn't successful.  Neither was the next month, or the next.  Or the next.  At 9 months, I had an annual with my midwife.  She took a look at my charts (I'd been charting my basal body temperature to pinpoint ovulation) and said things looked good there.  Which meant that if I wanted to try to figure out why I wasn't pregnant, we could start now (because it didn't look like there was a reason why it was taking so long).
My midwife wanted me to do the Clomid Challenge Test to check out my ovarian reserve.  However, at my first blood draw, we found that some of the numbers weren't right.  They indicated that I had an ovarian cyst, which meant I could not do the test (Clomid is a fertility drug, not safe to take with cysts).  An ultrasound confirmed that I indeed had a very large cyst.
Because the only thing that OBs and midwives can really do for fertility is prescribe Clomid, and my midwife could not do that because she didn't want to blow up my ovary, she referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist.
This was big time.  This was a fertility clinic.  This was where people do IVFs and find out they are infertile.  I was scared, but at the same time, I was so excited that we were finally able to do something that might lead us to a baby.  I researched like crazy, and chose the doctor I thought would be best for us.  It was a good decision, I loved Dr. O.
After a lot of expensive, invasive testing, I didn't really like what Dr. O had to tell us.  We could make a baby, he said, but we'd need a lot of help.  I had a completely blocked fallopian tube, an endometrial polyp that needed to be surgically removed, I still had my cyst, and I had hypothyroidism (diagnosed earlier in the year).  Plus, Keith had male factor infertility as well (very low morphology and low motility).  Keith was referred to a special fertility urologist, and I prepared myself for the fact that we'd probably need to do IVF with ICSI if we ever wanted to have a biological child.

And then...

Well, and then a miracle happened.  We're not sure how or why and it still doesn't feel 100% real.
School had just started, and I had a busy week with after-school obligations (Parent Night and Potluck).  I was annoyed because, of course, my period was due to come then.  Ugh.  My chart looked good, but I was crampy and knew it was coming.  For Parent Night, I wanted to wear a pretty skirt, but I didn't want to do it if AF was in town.  I decided I'd see what my temp looked like that morning.  I knew that as soon as it plummeted, AF was on her way.
That morning I awoke, and had one of my hottest temperatures ever recorded (and the hottest by far of that cycle).  It was 15 days post ovulation, so that was incredibly unusual.  I decided there was no harm in peeing on a stick.  It wasn't going to be positive anyway, we were infertile.
Except it was.

There was no mistaking it.  That was not a faint positive, that was a screaming dark positive.  I quickly dipped another to make sure the test wasn't faulty.  Same dark line.  I ran out of the bathroom and woke Keith up, saying "I need you to look at something!"  Keith groggily said, "What is that?"  I said, "What do you think it is???"  He said, "A freebie???" (getting pregnant on your own when you're facing tens of thousands of dollars of fertility treatments feels like winning the lottery).

Neither of us could believe it.  I wanted to get a digital test right away, but of course, I had to go to work.  I did wear my pretty skirt to work, and afterward I ran out to Target to get a digi before my Parent Night.  I couldn't wait to use it, so I stealthily did it at school and up popped the word "pregnant".  I took a picture and texted it to Keith, then tried to keep my head on straight while talking to a room full of parents, knowing that I had the best secret in the whole world...