11 weeks

How far along: 11 weeks

Gender: My gut feeling is that it's a boy. Ken is still undecided. Everyone else says girl. Only a few more weeks until we find out, the anticipation is killing me!

Weight gain: Bloat + Bloat = Bloat! That's how much I weigh.

Maternity clothes: My regular jeans are getting pretttty tight. I've officially bought some maternity leggings and plan on getting a pair of pants or two during some Black Friday shopping.

Stretch marks: I may have a small one on my boob. Lovely. Ugh.

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Sleep is still pretty good. I've started waking up once in the early mornings to pee. Then it takes a half hour to an hour to fall back asleep. I can still easily sleep 8-10 hour stretches though.

Best moment this week: My first OB appointment! We got to hear the bean's heartbeat again which is always amazing. It was 177! She said at this stage in pregnancy, hearing the heartbeat drops the miscarriage rate to less than 15%. Phew. I also started going to Pilates again at the gym and so glad I have. I LOVE it. It helps with my stress, relaxes me, and still feels like a good workout.

Worst moment this week: It rained a full 2 days straight here and I worked those 2 full days. So that blew. Us Arizonans love the rain and I'm pretty sure it's good excuse to call in sick to work. Ah well. My doctor also told me that cycling class was a no-go. Bummer. I can't let my heartrate get above 140 and in cycling it's between 180-200. Guess I'll continue pilates and long walks with the pups!

Miss anything: Sushi, deli meat, & a glass of vino. Although, the doc told me today that sushi, deli meat, and caffeine were fine to have. Hooray! Bring on the vegas rolls.

Movement: Nothing yet. By the end of the day I feel like I have a small baby bump. I'm pretty sure it's just bloat & food though. Can't wait for real movement! & a real bump!

Cravings: Apples, pretzels, mexican food, bagels & cream cheese, frozen yogurt

Queasy or sick: Naw, nothing

Looking forward to: Our NT scan in the next week or two, we'll get to see the baby! And it should actually look like a baby now rather than a blob :) Cooking with my mama on Thanksgiving, stuffing my face with turkey and pumpkin pie, Black Friday shopping at 5am, colder weather, getting more nursery ideas together and making some decisions, and decorating the house for Christmas! Tis the season!

11 weeks

10 weeks

How far along: 10 weeks

Gender: EVERYONE has told me they think it's a girl. I really have no clue! I just want a healthy and happy baby. We've decided to have a gender reveal cake with our close family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so excited!

Weight gain: Haven't checked. And I really don't want to, I feel like I've already gained 10 pounds... in my boobs. I'll wait until my first OB appointment for the official weigh-in.

Maternity clothes: None yet, other than leggings and yoga pants. I feel like it's still too early to buy "maternity" clothes..? However, I'm sure this baby bump will quickly make its debut so I should probably consider buying some real pants soon. 

Stretch marks: None yet. Hoping they don't make their appearance anytime soon, or ever.

Belly button in or out: Still an innie

Sleep: Sleeping great. I can still sleep on either side, my back, my stomach, and for long 8-10 hour stretches. Did I mention my bedtime these days is around 11am when the exhaustion kicks in? If I plan on getting anything done in the day, it has to be early morning. 

Best moment this week: Telling all the girls that I'm pregnant! They seemed so happy and excited for us. Also pretty stoked about mine and Kasey's little babe having playdates. A lot of my extended family also found out (thanks Dad) since they were all in town for my cousin's wedding. Everyone is very excited! We also decided this week that we would host Thanksgiving at our house again with mine and Ken's families all here. For some reason I'm really looking forward to cooking, and of course eating stuffing my face. #eatingfortwo

Worst moment this week: Missing Ken. He's been working overtime so much lately, which is great extra money for when we do our holiday shopping but seeing him maybe one day a week makes me miss him! Luckily he's completely off work today so we plan on getting some errands done (aka looking for ugly christmas sweaters) and having dinner together. It makes me wonder how our schedules and daily lives will be like with a little one around :)

Miss anything: I miss my cycling class! Wahhhhhh. I haven't gone for about 6 weeks because I've read so many things online how you should avoid it, especially in the first trimester. So I'm waiting to see my OB doc and get the official verdict whether or not I can continue doing it. 

Movement: None yet, but I CANNOT WAIT to feel movement! I think that's when all this will really feel real.

Cravings: Still loving anything sour or salty. I could eat green apples and soft pretzels all.day.long.

Queasy or sick: Nope.

Looking forward to: So so much. Our first OB appointment next week, eek! Also looking forward to the Macy's Day Parade (my favorite part of Thanksgiving), holiday shopping, visiting with my sister in December, and starting the nursery! 

10 weeks

On Wednesday, October 30th, we got to have our first ultrasound at the fertility office. We immediately saw a flickering on the ultrasound screen and knew right away that it was the bean's heartbeat! We couldn't believe it. Then, if that wasn't great enough, we got to HEAR the heartbeat! The rate was 113 bpm which the doctor said was perfectly normal for where I was in the pregnancy. I was measuring 6 weeks, 3 days according to the ultrasound. He wanted us to come back a week later to compare the ultrasound for growth and then would be able to give us an official due date! We got our first ultrasound pictures and couldn't stop staring at this little sac and baby inside. So crazy. We went back the next Friday, November 8th, for the second ultrasound. I was so nervous/excited. I really didn't have any pregnancy symptoms yet so it all just didn't seem real. This ultrasound, we saw the heartbeat right away again. Phew! The rate was 161 this time, which was also perfect according to how far along I was. The baby was measuring 7 weeks, 4 days. Perfect growth from the week prior! They figured my due date to be from when I took my HCG trigger shot before the IUI, which put me officially at 8 weeks, 3 days with a due date of June 17, 2014! Can't wait to meet this little junebug.
 

How far along: 8 weeks

Gender: Won't find out for several more weeks. We hope to find out before Christmas! Otherwise we'll probably find out in January and I'm beginning to plan for a "gender reveal party". Something I've always wanted to do! I'm still unsure what I think it'll be but I'm leaning more towards a boy. Ken is still undecided.

Weight gain: Just feeling bloated.

Maternity clothes: None yet. Just lots of yoga pants, leggings, and anything comfy!

Stretch marks: None yet. I bought Palmer's Cocoa Butter Cream for Stretch Marks and started using that but the smell is horrible so I'm not sure I'll use it much longer. I also bought some Bio Oil but it says not to use it until the 2nd trimester (no idea why?). My mom never had stretch marks and they say it's mostly genetic if you get them or not sooo I'm hoping to NO stretch marks!

Belly button in or out: In. And it's staying there.

Sleep: Ah, sleep. I could sleep all day and night. That's the one pregnancy symptom I've noticed (other than my boobs KILLING me). Sleep is great right now :)

Best moment this week: Our ultrasound of course! I think the 2nd one was even more exciting than the first.  Oh, and I officially "graduated" from my fertility office! I cried when they told me that. No more fertility treatments every month? Pretty sure I can live with that. 

Worst moment this week: Can't really think of anything..this week was great!

Miss anything: The occasional glass of vino. Sushi. Deli meat. COFFEE. I do have a cup of coffee like once a week and deli meat just a few times. Not together though, gross.

Movement: Still way too early. Can't wait to feel this bean move!

Cravings: Anything sour or salty. Sour candy, green apples, pretzels, sourdough bread.

Queasy or sick: Not at all. At first I thought this was really strange that I WASN'T feeling queasy at all. Maybe it's still too early. Maybe I'm one of those lucky ones that doesn't get sick at all throughout her pregnancy. Thatd be nice. And right now, it is nice.

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound in a couple weeks with my OB doctor, telling more friends and making it "facebook official". And, a bump of course!

Ultrasound 1 & 2

Two Pink Lines

I really can't believe it when I say this but, I'M PREGNANT! After two long years of disappointment, frustration, negative test after negative test, and ten months of fertility treatments, I can finally announce that me and my hubs are expecting a little bean next June 2014. We are BEYOND excited. It still seems so unbelievable. I feel like I'm making it up. But, it's true. So here's how it went down.

My fertility treatments the past few months have been pretty aggressive. Everyday I had to take several pills, including Clomid, which is a fertility medication given to help someone ovulate (which I was never doing). Well, clomid didn't work the first couple months. The final recipe of creating this little bean was Metformin, Aspirin, 150mg Clomid, 150 IU Bravelle injections, and my 4th IUI (intrauterine insemination). After the IUI and still to this day, I have to take a progesterone suppository every night before bed. Sounds fun, huh? Very expensive, very time consuming, very frustrating. I can honestly say though, it has all been worth it and will be even more worth it once I have a baby in my arms.

Ken and I told ourselves we wouldn't "cheat" by taking a home pregnancy test early before my blood work would confirm a pregnancy or not.  Well, I cheated. October 8th was 13 days after my IUI (the night before I had to have bloodwork done).  I took a pregnancy test that morning. It was negative. I tried to keep telling myself that "it could still be early", "maybe the bloodwork tomorrow will show something different".  That night right before bed, I decided to take another test. Hmm...that looks like a faint line....am I seeing things?  Nope, there it was. The faintest second pink line. I was freaking out inside. Should I tell Ken? Should I wait to see what the bloodwork shows tomorrow? Ahhhh! I went to bed without telling Ken because I had always dreamed of telling him I was pregnant in some sort of fun and memorable way.  The next morning I did another pregnancy test, and there it was again. A second pink line.  OMG.  I still didn't say anything to Ken and left early to my fertility doctor's office to have my blood drawn.  I couldn't stop smiling, I ended up blurting it out to the front desk girl and the girl who drew my blood. They were so happy for me! It felt so weird to say those words.  Driving home from the office, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from Ken for long. He would be able to tell something was up.  I got home and grabbed a gift bag, threw my positive tests in it with some tissue paper and decided to make him breakfast.  After we finished breakfast, I told him I had an early birthday gift for him (his birthday was a week later).  I gave him the gift. He opened it. And stared at the pee stick for what felt like a full 5 minutes.  He gave me this look like "What! Really!?" and then I cried and could only shake my head.  We hugged and I cried some more and it ended up being something I'll never forget. We were finally going to have a baby!

We are so excited for this next chapter in our lives and will continue to document everything right here. Stay tuned!

Two Pink Lines