10 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

Before you got pregnant, your uterus was the size of a small pear. By this week, it's as big as a grapefruit. You may or may not be ready for maternity wear now. Even if you're not there yet, your regular clothes are probably feeling uncomfortably tight and your blossoming breasts are straining the seams of your bra. The thickening in your midsection is most likely due to slight weight gain and bloating. If you're between regular and maternity clothes, pants and skirts with forgiving elastic waistbands (or low-rise waistlines that sit below your belly) will provide some much-needed comfort.At your next prenatal visit, you may be able to hear your baby's rapid heartbeat with the help of a Doppler stethoscope, a handheld ultrasound device that your practitioner places on your belly. Many women say that the beating of their baby's tiny heart sounded like the thunder of galloping horses and hearing it for the first time was very moving.

Depending on your level of fitness, you can most likely participate in a wide range of activities during pregnancy. Swimming and walking are excellent choices for the whole nine months. Exercise promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance — three qualities that can help you carry the weight you gain during pregnancy, prepare you for the physical stress of labor, and make it easier to get back into shape after your baby is born. (Unfortunately, there's no evidence that regular exercise shortens labor.)

So I am 10 weeks today and I"m so happy and blessed! I have a little pooch in the lower part of my belly that I absolutely cannot 'suck in' so I know there is more in there than there was before :-) Today was the royal wedding! Oh what an amazing day with such a handsome bride and groom. Since I adore the name Kate, it just makes it that much more special to me. Going to check out a daycare today too. 2nd trimester is almost here and i'm just so overwhelmed with how much I love this baby already!

9 weeks and 3 days

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of us"

I love this quote so much. It was on One Tree Hill this past week and it really touched me. I am 9 weeks and 3 days today. I'm starting to get excited about this sweet child that has been given to me. I want him/her to grow big and tall and be smart and kind. I hope this child has the best of both of us........

7 weeks 3 Days

Weight Gain: None - I have actually lost 3 pounds as of this morning. Gotta love the 'All Day Sickness' I am experiencing now! hahaha

Cravings: Gatorade

Nauseous: Constant........now I am throwing up almost daily too. It is a good thing.....means my hormones are where they need to be

Belly touches: Not if they want to live.....just my hubby at this point. I have resorted to wearing a bella band though so my pants don't have to be buttoned and it is very nice! I didn't wear it today and I really wish that I had.....

Feeling: Absolutely exhausted and nauseated but otherwise feeling really good

Boy or girl: I want a boy for my husband but something in me makes me think I'll have a girl. he will be in love either way and so will I. I think little girl stuff is so much prettier but I know how bad he wants a little boy and I love love love my little Benjamin boy (nephew) so I think I could do the mommy to a boy thing very easily!

Emotional state: Very blah......tired.....but not angry or anything. I am very happy about this all. I've found myself wanting to cry a little more than normal the past few days over little things but nothing too crazy.....yet......hehehe

7 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs —although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body

Today was my first visit at the OB/GYN office. I met with the nurse and got lots of reading materials to absorb this weekend :-) I go back on the 18th for a doctor visit and an ultrasound. 10 long days but it will be worth it when I hear his sweet heartbeat again :-)

HEARTBEAT!

At 6 weeks and 3 days we saw and heard the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life......our baby's heartbeat. It was fast at 132 beats per minute and it was amazing! what a miracle we have been given. I cried and Steven wiped his eyes, although I have no idea for sure if he had real tears in there. What an amazing experience! Grow Baby Grow!

We graduated today and have our weaning schedule for the shots and the pills. It is so hard to believe that it is here......that we can come off these meds because our baby has this beautiful placenta that is supposed to be taking over for the synthetic medications. I already have an appointment on Friday with the OB/GYN at Cabell (with his nurse) so it is good. I'm kind of excited to get to have a 'normal' doctor!!!

6 weeks!

From babycenter.com

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil.

Six weeks! Six glorious weeks! I have had such a great day today. My morning sickness has been much less today and I've actually got to eat a little today. I am still exhausted but I'll take it :-) I am so anxious for Monday and getting to see my beautiful baby's heartbeat. I can't wait!

5 weeks and 6 days

Today is the most tired that I've been throughout this pregnancy thus far but I'm so thankful for any symptoms that I have. I've been reviewing other people's blogs and getting ideas, so here is what I"m going with today :-) I won't post everyday, but I hope to post a few times a week to keep a good record of this journey!

Current stats:

Weight Gain: None

Cravings: Frozen cherry lime-aid and chicken nuggets

Nauseous: Pretty much all day.....No vomiting today though which is a plus

Belly touches: Not if they want to live......i'm only 5 weeks and 6 days people :-)

Feeling: Absolutely exhausted!!! I thought I would fall asleep on my desk today. I did get to take a 45 minute nap this evening though so I can stay up to watch my shows tonight.

Boy or girl: I want a boy for my husband but something in me makes me think I'll have a girl. he will be in love either way and so will I

Single or twins: Just a single. See post above

Emotional state: I feel very sassy! Like the gate between my brain and my mouth has lost it's break to shut. I think that is normal though. I'm preparing myself for Grey's Anatomy tonight though and i'm sure i'll be a blubbering idiot, so it is all good! ahahahaha

Fetus nickname - Jorts! Why, you may say......well, because Josh Harrellson on the University of Kentucky's basketball team is nicknamed Jorts (because of Jean shorts) and I know that our baby is going to be big, strong, determined and a fighter, so when our friend said 'I hope you have a little Jorts' it stuck!

First ultrasound

First ultrasound was on March 28th when we were 5 weeks and 3 days preggo :-) We found out that one of the blasts had implanted and we are having a single baby! The dark circle is our embryonic sac and where the crosshairs is where the yolk sac is. That is where the baby will be coming out of with his/her little umbilical cord. In 1 week we go back to look for the baby's heartbeat.

The morning sickness has set in. At this point, chicken nuggets are almost my only friend :-) And the exhaustion, well 10 hours of sleep at night is just not enough! But it is so worth it and I thank God every time I puke!

Pregnant!

So 10 days after the implantation of the two beautiful blasts comes the day that you get the blood work. I, however, am super crazy obsessive so starting at 7 days after transfer I starting peeing on a stick.......Lord knows that I would be one rich girl if I had saved all the money I've spent on pregnancy tests in the past 5 years, but I still can't help the need to do it. Tuesday and Wednesday were the two worst days of the 10 day wait. I cramped as if I was going to start my cycle. I was devastated and scared that it would be the end of this whole process. On top of that, both of the pregnancy tests were negative.......but on day 9 past transfer, a very light second line showed up. So I did another and another faint line showed up.......so then I pulled out the big guns....the digital! There is nothing better in the world then seeing the word PREGNANT ! So I rested easier that day and the next morning the same results came out.

So then comes the blood work..........10 days past transfer, my blood work came out at 51! OMG I was officially pregnant!!! Dr. Hofmann himself called, which rarely occurs to tell me :-) I had to fess up that I had pee'd on the stick and already had an idea, but it was still so nice to hear it from him. He said he insisted to be allowed to tell me what was happening. It was amazing and I'll never forget it till the end of my days.

Next step, beta needed to double.......so on Sunday I went to the lab and the next result was 96.......not quite double.........so then the third beta was required......and it came back at 216!!!! Finally, I could breathe!

Our IVF journey

How did we get to IVF you may ask.......well, we had a miscarriage in September 2009, took a 6 month break and did 2 more IUIs that were unsuccessful.....we were heartbroken and basically finished. On Labor Day weekend in 2010 Dr. Hofmann called and offered me a place in a research study. The premise of the study was to harvest and freeze eggs and then thaw them a few months later, fertilize and implant. He was kind enough to offer me a Plan B in this deal, so he gave me 10 eggs to be fertilized immediately and frozen for future use. We agreed. We did all our shots and in November we harvested 46 eggs.....39 were mature, 29 were frozen and 10 were fertilized. Of the 10, 8 of them fertilized and lay in wait for when we decide to go for another round. We had a 4 month break basically because the RE closes down for several weeks in December. I managed to lose 30lbs during that time so I could feel like I was giving it my best shot when we did get to implant.........

So, of the 29 eggs, only 8 of them survived the thaw. Of the eight, only 6 fertilized (with ICSI) and the best two were placed in my uterus on March 8th. Their pictures are above. It was not near the hard process that I had imagined. PIO shots work really well when you first ice the area till the skin stings, get the shot (after you have warmed the PIO up to your body temperature) and then take a hot rag and rub the dickens out of the area. I don't dread my shots at all.....I dread the 6am alarm more than anything! They basically knocked me out for my transfer and I took 4 days off from work and did nothing but lay around and it was wonderful! So, that is enough for this post......will move on to more shortly!

So here's the backstory.......

I wish I had thought to start this blog prior to now, but I am so happy that I decided to do so now! So here's our backstory to on new 'Waiting on baby' Blog.......

I was diagnosed with PCOS right after college and had issues getting treatment for about a year. It was so frustrating but at that point it didn't matter so much because I didn't have 'that' person that I wanted to be with. Actually, for several years I really felt I would never be married and that I could be okay with that. In 2004, though, I met my sweet husband. We both were third wheels to other couples and ended up making a set of wheels ourselves :-)

The past 4.5 years of attempted baby making has had it ups and downs. We have survived over 20 rounds of medicine, 3 OB/GYNS, 2 Reproductive endocrinologists, 2 exploratory laps, 1 ovarian wedge resection, one miscarriage (blighted ovum), and now one round of IVF, we are cautiously and optimistically expecting our baby/babies in November 2011. The purpose of this blog is to document my process through this prior to my pregnancy, through my pregnancy and is my hope to continue this afterwards throughout to document my baby/babies life.........

so, here we go!