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!