Monday, January 19, 2009

Double Lines, It's positive!

I am not sure why I wrote this backwards! I suggest starting at the bottom and working up in order. :)

March 20th
Our first doctors appointment went great! We heard the baby's heartbeat, although it took her a minute to find it because the baby was hiding. It is so comforting hearing that "woosh woosh" sound. :)
The appointment went right through Cohen's nap and we waited a really long time to see Dr. Jones because he got called to the ER when we first got there. Cohen had a hard time, but we did our best to entertain him the hour and a half we were there. The plane ride to Boston should be so much fun... 6+ hours with Cohen wiggling and screaming on my lap. Lucky passengers! It will be better than 4 days in the car though.
Anyway, Dr. Jones said we should wait until 20 weeks to do our ultrasound because not everything is developed before then that they need to check, so we will have to wait until we get to Boston. He also said to head back around 35 weeks so I will be leaving about a week before Scott heads home. I can also stop taking the Prometrium, I have few pills left so I will just finish those and my progesterone should be good.
Scott and I feel so excited to be having another baby! I keep waiting for it to feel real, but it still doesn't. I am so excited to find out whether this baby is a boy or a girl, it makes me even more anxious to get to Boston now!

March 18th
I am so excited to be 12 weeks (and a few days) and in my second trimester!!! Woo hoo!
I am starting to get more energy back and I don't think the nausea has been as bad. I feel pretty good in the mornings and as long as I don't push myself I feel ok at night, well enough to eat dinner.
I had lost a few pounds and now feel bloated and huge by the end of the day.
We have told all of our family now. Scott was in California most of last week for a preseason sales trip for APX, which made for a long, tiring week, but he was able to see his family and have dinner with them and tell them all our exciting news! I told my dad today and Scott had told Michelle when he got back from Cali.
The next couple months will be so exciting! Feeling the baby move again, getting prepared and moving to Boston and finding out what the baby is!!! I look forward to it all! :)

March 12th
I am getting anxious to let the word out to the world about our little "secret"! In the mornings I can hide the bump fine, but once I eat a big meal or as the day goes on, I feel huge! I think I was probably this size at 16 weeks with Cohen. The baby is growing a lot this week, an entire inch, totaling 2 and a half inches head to bum! The baby is getting big! I am looking forward to hearing the heartbeat again at our appointment in a week and a half. At that point I will be in the second trimester and I think I will feel more comfortable about being open about this pregnancy.

March 9th
I feel so happy every time I think about my little baby. I am finally allowing myself to enjoy the thoughts of whether this baby is a boy or a girl and all the details that come along with planning for it!
I had a strong feeling that Cohen was a boy and felt completely sure we would have another boy after him. But now I am unsure and wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a little girl! I honestly want both 50/50, I would love to have another little boy! I also don't know how many more kids we will be able to have or even try for and I would love to have a daughter. Out of the people that already know, most are guessing a girl, but we will have to wait and see!
I have already noticed some differences with this pregnancy compared to Cohen's, but every pregnancy can be different. I have had a lot more sickness which started earlier, but I have been on a different form of progesterone which could be causing stronger nausea. I already feel like my uterus is higher, Cohen was SO LOW and at this point my pants hurt to button. I can still button them fine, it is just a little uncomfortable to sit so I am wearing my wonderfully comfortable maternity pants! Love them! Also, my bra bothers me so much! The pressure it puts on my esophagus makes me sick! I use a rubber band to make it wider or don't button it at all. I am excited to see what else is different as time goes on. I really enjoyed my pregnancy with Cohen, but have had a hard time enjoying this one. Hopefully that changes once I feel better and start sleeping a little better! Good luck to me!

March 6th
What an awesome day!!! RELIEF!
I didn't only get to see our baby on the ultrasound with a strong heartbeat as it waved its arms and moved its legs and arched its back, but I found out I am almost week ahead of what I thought I was! I will be 11 weeks on Sunday! How great is that to be able to skip a week ahead! The sooner I get out of the first trimester, the better!
The heart beat was at about 162 bpm. It was awesome to hear and to see a healthy (adorable!) little baby, but it all seems so surreal! I still don't believe it. I think I have been trying to stay detached from the outcome for so long now that it just doesn't seem like it is happening. We got great news, now I can breath easy (even though I still am not) and move forward with the exciting plans of having a baby, due September 27th!
Looks like I will be coming back from Boston early! I was planning on doing this anyway, but where I had Cohen almost 3 weeks early, it is cutting it close! I will have to see what my doctor recommends. My first doctors appointment is on the 20th!
(I asked the ultrasound tech whether or not I may be able to feel the baby move by now because I thought I did yesterday and she said it depends on who you ask, but she think you can at 10-11 weeks. I am sure it was my baby last night fluttering around!)

March 5th
So, I was sitting still while on the computer tonight and I started thinking about the baby and what I thought the outcome of tomorrow might be and that is when I felt this flutter vibration for about 5 second, I think it was the baby! It would be so early to feel the baby move, but it helped me to feel hopeful and excited about the ultrasound in the morning...

March 3rd
Trucking along... counting down each day!
Mornings and afternoons have been going pretty well! Unfortunately around 4-5 pm the nausea, excess saliva, nasty taste in my mouth, etc all return and make it hard to eat dinner and go to sleep at night. I haven't been falling asleep until midnight or 1 in the morning and Cohen wakes up around 7:30. I am also waking up once or twice to go to the bathroom. Oh, sweet sweet pregnancy... and fatigue. :) I do feel thankful though.

March 2nd
Scott and I were cuddling on the couch tonight and fear set in when we started talking about the ultrasound coming up in a few days.
I feel sick and irritable and my stomach is huge most of the time from indigestion and I am soooo tired. This is all real, but the well being of our baby is unknown to me.
I am afraid of getting to the ultrasound and once again not seeing what should be there...
Is there really a healthy baby growing inside me?
It should be over an inch long with fingers and toes and facial features that are becoming more distinct everyday. Its rapidly beating heart should have divided into four separate chambers...
I feel like everything is going good, but the fear of the past is hard to leave behind...
what if there is nothing there?

March 1st
So, March has been a lot better than February was already! I got out and took a walk in the nice warm weather and it really lifted my mood and helped with all the indigestion and bloating which I think also helped a bit with the nausea. I hope March just keeps getting better!
Only 4 days until the ultrasound and 7 weeks until we are leaving for Boston! Crazy crazy!

February 27th
I am happy February is almost over!
I am especially happy to say I am still pregnant!
(Scott has been really busy with work all month which has been a blessing, but also hard with how sick I have been. I have needed him a lot when he couldn't be there. Our ward is going to help us out by bringing a couple dinners this next week which will be nice since smells bother me so much that I can't smell something before I eat it. I don't think I have cooked a single dinner all month!)
I am about 9 weeks now and we have passed all the marks of my previous 5 miscarriages! (Whew!!!)
I am excited for next week, I have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday and am really feeling anxious to see our baby and to hear its heart beat and to fully realized this is real and worth what I have been going through!
It isn't just a dream where I have had the flu for almost a month straight, where I am really irritable and tired and my belly is swollen and majorly BLOATED and have a weird metallic taste in my mouth that makes me nauseous. Where my skin is a wreck and food is the enemy and a chore to take on. Where I have a hard time falling asleep because I feel so sick and once I finally do I wake up because I need to pee!
Nope... far to specific to be a dream!

February 15th
I had midnight sickness a few days ago.... it was so completely horrid. I hate hugging our toilet.
That isn't the only reason I hate our toilet.
If I am drinking enough water, which has been harder to do lately, then I am going pee about every 20 minutes! I have gone through a ton of toilet paper!
I hate to sound like I am complaining because I am so thankful things seem to be going well! But complaining is sometimes the only thing that helps, so I do it. Scott is looking forward to the second trimester...

February 11th
Dang, the morning sickness was bad today! I am excited to move past the first trimester and to start feeling better. Almost 7 weeks... possibly 9 more to go? It was around 15-16 weeks that I felt better with Cohen. AND around 16 weeks we will be moving to BOSTON! We just made this decision in the last couple days to go out with APX and we are really excited! We have a lot of details to figure out before we go. We will be leaving around the 20th of April! I am excited and nervous!

February 8th
It has been a very long week filled with waves of nausea, but no hanging over the toilet, but feeling like it, but holding it in and fighting it down at all costs!
I have moments where I feel completely fine and am thankful for those times that give me the strength to feel like I can get through this. I have told myself more than once, if I can get through 5 miscarriages, I can get through morning sickness! I am having a hard time hiding it from people I am around, hopefully everyone doesn't already assume by the time we feel comfortable telling people.
I am 6 weeks now. I don't know if I will do a blood test to check my hCG this week. I want to, but really need to save money if possible. I will just see if I can wait another week first.

February 1st
WOW! February hit me like a ton of bricks.
My stomach has felt unsettled the last day or two, but I thought it was all the worrying I have been doing. But now I either have the stomach flu or severe morning sickness has already kicked in.
And I don't think it's the flu.
I didn't get sick like this with Cohen. I felt nauseous and threw up twice, but that didn't start until 8 weeks or so. I started the morning early with throwing up and have been hugging the white thrown almost the entire time since.
Be careful what you ask for... this definitely preoccupies my thoughts.
Going into this pregnancy, severe morning sickness was the last thing on my mind. It has now made itself front and center!

January 31st
This morning I woke up and just had a really unsettled feeling. I couldn't stop thinking and worrying so I decided to go in for another blood test.
(It isn't going to be fun getting all of these bills! But the comfort it brings makes it easier on me and prevents me from worrying myself sick.)
I checked my hCG and progesterone again.
My hCG is at 8,009! My progesterone looks ok at 22.
I can breath now, but had a hard day thinking the worst.
5 weeks now...
I am happy January is done! Now I just need to get through February and go from there.
The hormones have been crazy and I have felt so irritable! Poor Scott! He has been letting me sleep in most mornings to catch some extra Zzz's which has helped me a lot! It has been nice to have him around most of the time. Hard at times too with how moody I am! :)
January 26th
The numbers looked great! 952!
(I am now sporting a HUGE bruise on my right arm from them taking my blood, gonna have to keep that one covered!)

January 25th

Tomorrow I am going to go get another blood test to check my hCG levels again and see where they are at. Since I am already on Prometrium, they said I don't need to check my progesterone anymore. So now I think I will just do a weekly hCG check and go from there.

January 23rd

I took a second pregnancy test today. A darker double line appeared this time. :)
A week or so ago, Scott told me how worried he was about how much I had been sleeping. Once we knew we were pregnant, it made sense! I have been really really tired. With how many times I have been pregnant, it still surprises me with how much things change in your body the second you conceive.
I have been praying a lot for strength, that I may be able handle the outcome if we don't have this baby. And if we are blessed with this baby, then I have been praying for comfort and peace of mind so I don't worry myself sick in the mean time. I better get back to my day of trying to completely focus on my beautiful boy and keeping him busy and happy!
I am finally 4 weeks!

January 21st

PART 1: I feel like I have so much to be thankful for in my life. I have been so blessed so I feel a little unsure about sitting here hoping for a miracle. I have already received one miracle, but I am hoping it can happen again. I am going to go get the blood test in a couple hours and then won't know anything for another couple after that. We just need to jump this hurdle and move on to the next. Butterflies fill my stomach... it is so hard not to think about everything. What could be. What may happen instead... I don't know how to feel or what to think. The best thing to do right now is just NOT THINK.
Continue to take prenatal, take thyroid homeopathic, take digestive enzymes, take prometrium, take omega-3s. Eat healthy, sleep well, pray hard, drink lots of water, pee often, distract myself by rambling on my blog, rest, take good care of Cohen, dogs and husband, clean house, grocery shop, watch tv or anything that is entertaining or distracting,
but DON'T THINK.
PART 2: One hurdle down! Numbers looked good. HCG went from 28 to 112. One step forward.

January 20th
I got my blood test results back this morning...
My hCG was 28. I am still not even late, so the numbers show how early it is.
My progesterone was cause for concern though. It needs to be above 20 and it was 17.
I switched from the progesterone cream to the oral pills. I wasn't suppose to take it until bedtime, but got eager to get it through my body so I took it at about 7pm. Bad choice. I felt really dizzy and light headed and thought I would pass out, but after about an hour or so it passed. I think I will wait until bed from now on.
I am thankful I feel like I am doing what I can and that I had a feeling to take a test so early because even though I have been told it is probably not my progesterone (by my ob, since my miscarriages have been so early), clearly it is low right now and we are getting a jump on it. Every week from here on out
I requested to have my progesterone checked. We don't think our insurance will cover it, but it will give me comfort and more insight than we have had. Scott is wonderfully supportive in whatever tests I do or do not want to do.
Tomorrow I will do a follow up blood test to check the hCG levels. They need to double every 48 hours. Baby steps... or hopefully there will be...

January 19th

A couple nights ago I awoke from a dream where Scott and I realized
HE was about 6 months pregnant. We could feel the baby moving inside and he was really freaked out and embarrassed. He asked me not to tell anyone and I proceeded to tell him how he would need a c-section because he would not be able to deliver naturally. WEIRD!
Strange dreams are commonly associated with being pregnant. I am still five days away from D-Day, but for the last week I have felt that, dare I say it? That I am pregnant. I took a test this afternoon and low and behold that (extremely faint) early positive line appeared.
Let the blood tests begin! And hopefully, the anxiety of it all won't get the best of me...

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