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...