Beta on Monday came back great. My hCG levels are in the 10,000s now, which means that they're doubling like they should. Our first ultrasound is scheduled for next Wednesday, the 31st at 1:45 p.m. My first picture of our baby! I can't wait!
My appetite is slowly coming back. I was able to eat an entire meal for lunch today, which is a first for the week. I don't know how my mom's chili is going to go down tonight, so I may just hover by the cheese and crackers. I haven't been nauseous at all today or yesterday. However, my hormones are c-r-a-z-y right now. I've cried 3 times today, and I suspect that I'm not done yet.
I found the cutest K-State baby clothes while I was in Manhattan last night. I really need to know if you're a boy or girl so that I can buy something. Because if you're a girl, you are going to have the cutest cheerleading outfit ever. :) So behave when it comes time to do *that* ultrasound, please.
Merry Christmas, baby! I can't wait until next year, when you can spend your first Christmas with our family.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
There are only about 10 foods I can tolerate right now
If this is all the more morning sickness I get, then I *guess* I'll take it. I would rather have food aversions than be vomiting, right? Although, there were a couple moments during church this morning that were a little touch and go, and I really thought I was going to puke. I'm sure the bell choir director would have really loved me then. ;) And I was sitting by her, so who knows how that would have gone. Ha.
And I cannot watch the news. Especially all the footage about Caylee Anthony. It makes me want to bawl. How could you? How could you hurt such a beautiful little girl? How could you hurt your own child? (You can tell my presumptions on who did it, eh?) Like Luke said, there are so many people who want a child and can't have one. Why not relinquish your rights rather than kill your child? And that's all I can say about that, because I'm welling up right now.
Tomorrow is my last beta. Then we set our appointment for the ultrasound. With the holidays, its hard to say when I'll be able to get in, because they are closed for the better portion of the next two weeks. Not to mention the fact that Luke HAS to go with me on this appointment, so what will we do with Zane? Obviously we have family, but that goes back to the whole not wanting to tell them yet. Actually *whispers* I'm really hoping they'll work us in on Tuesday (23rd). Because then I won't have to wait. We still aren't telling at that point, even though I would love to tell my parents on Christmas Eve. But I just want this waiting to be over so that I can stop worrying quite as much. Of course, will I really stop worrying? Ha!
My husband and I have a date this afternoon. Just going to a movie, but still. We don't really do anything special anymore, so I'm excited. This will be the second movie we've gone to this month actually. Luke's really been very sweet to me since we found out. I told him that things would be different this time around, and me being pregnant won't be the awful thing it was the first time around. We're a lot older than he and Regina were then. We're adults with jobs and money. We're married. We actually love (and even like) each other. And I'm not heinous. hehehe Sorry. Okay, off to my date.
And I cannot watch the news. Especially all the footage about Caylee Anthony. It makes me want to bawl. How could you? How could you hurt such a beautiful little girl? How could you hurt your own child? (You can tell my presumptions on who did it, eh?) Like Luke said, there are so many people who want a child and can't have one. Why not relinquish your rights rather than kill your child? And that's all I can say about that, because I'm welling up right now.
Tomorrow is my last beta. Then we set our appointment for the ultrasound. With the holidays, its hard to say when I'll be able to get in, because they are closed for the better portion of the next two weeks. Not to mention the fact that Luke HAS to go with me on this appointment, so what will we do with Zane? Obviously we have family, but that goes back to the whole not wanting to tell them yet. Actually *whispers* I'm really hoping they'll work us in on Tuesday (23rd). Because then I won't have to wait. We still aren't telling at that point, even though I would love to tell my parents on Christmas Eve. But I just want this waiting to be over so that I can stop worrying quite as much. Of course, will I really stop worrying? Ha!
My husband and I have a date this afternoon. Just going to a movie, but still. We don't really do anything special anymore, so I'm excited. This will be the second movie we've gone to this month actually. Luke's really been very sweet to me since we found out. I told him that things would be different this time around, and me being pregnant won't be the awful thing it was the first time around. We're a lot older than he and Regina were then. We're adults with jobs and money. We're married. We actually love (and even like) each other. And I'm not heinous. hehehe Sorry. Okay, off to my date.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Differences I'm noticing
Changes I've noticed so far:
-Chocolate and sweets are not really appealing to me anymore. I love chocolate. Looooooove. And all week long, if I've eaten very much I start feeling really queasy. I've already had a little talk with the little one about how this is not going to work, because Mommy is not going to go without sweets for the next 8 months. Meat also seems gross to me.
-Salad is my favorite thing EVAR! Which is also weird, because I'm not a veggie person. I don't eat salad. And all of a sudden I have salad fixings and I'm eating it every day. I guess at least this baby likes healthy food.....
-Yesterday everything made me cry or want to cry. Everything. A good friend at work gave me an ornament that has a cross on it that says, "Everything is possible with faith." (She got it for me specifically because of my pregnancy. Right now she's one of four people that know outside of Luke and I.) So when I got home and showed it to Luke I started getting all choked up and teary eyed. And then I was talking with him about another friend at work whose baby had open heart surgery last week and I started getting all weepy again. I think if this continues Luke will be counting down the days just to have the hormonal thing done. :)
-I've lost two pounds. I assume it's the lack of sweets and addition of salad. And I'm trying to eat healthy. Not dieting certainly. But just avoiding as much fast food as I was eating and making better food choices will make a difference on the scale. I can honestly say that I am not a very healthy eater. It's a lot easier to be motivated when I have a really good reason.
-Chocolate and sweets are not really appealing to me anymore. I love chocolate. Looooooove. And all week long, if I've eaten very much I start feeling really queasy. I've already had a little talk with the little one about how this is not going to work, because Mommy is not going to go without sweets for the next 8 months. Meat also seems gross to me.
-Salad is my favorite thing EVAR! Which is also weird, because I'm not a veggie person. I don't eat salad. And all of a sudden I have salad fixings and I'm eating it every day. I guess at least this baby likes healthy food.....
-Yesterday everything made me cry or want to cry. Everything. A good friend at work gave me an ornament that has a cross on it that says, "Everything is possible with faith." (She got it for me specifically because of my pregnancy. Right now she's one of four people that know outside of Luke and I.) So when I got home and showed it to Luke I started getting all choked up and teary eyed. And then I was talking with him about another friend at work whose baby had open heart surgery last week and I started getting all weepy again. I think if this continues Luke will be counting down the days just to have the hormonal thing done. :)
-I've lost two pounds. I assume it's the lack of sweets and addition of salad. And I'm trying to eat healthy. Not dieting certainly. But just avoiding as much fast food as I was eating and making better food choices will make a difference on the scale. I can honestly say that I am not a very healthy eater. It's a lot easier to be motivated when I have a really good reason.
The Beginning
I guess I better start this journal off with our story. Feel free to skim if you've heard it already. It has a lot of squicky female stuff in there, so male readers should proceed with caution.
I was diagnosed with PCOS in June 2007. PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. You can Google it, but what it boils down to for me is that my body doesn't produce the hormones necessary to regulate my reproductive system and cause me to ovulate. No ovulation=no chance of getting pregnant. I've always known in my heart that something was not quite right with all that girly stuff, and I wanted to get the ball rolling so that by the time Luke and I were ready to start trying, it might not take as long. I tend to be impatient, and trying to conceive when you are infertile can be a very long road.
We officially started trying May 2008. I was seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) at this point, and I spent the summer taking Clomid, which is a fertility drug. Obviously I didn't get pregnant, and the most it did for me was give me horrendous hot flashes and mood swings like you wouldn't believe. Just ask Luke! :) After 3 rounds of that, with the last one ending in September, it was time to move on to something more.
We took about a month off, then went to see a fertility specialist (Dr. Tatpati), also in Wichita. We decided to take the route of Clomid, plus injectibles. Injectibles are the things that can give you multiples, but not in a Jon and Kate Plus Eight way. 2-3 babies, tops. We started that round on November 15th. 5 days of Clomid followed by a shot of Gonal-F that I had to give myself. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a HUGE problem with needles (even though I've been having routine monthly bloodwork done for how long now?) so this was definitely in the category of Least Favorite Moments in My Life.
I went back to Wichita on the 26th of November so that they could make sure my ovaries weren't overstimulated and that I had some good sized follicles (these being the things that turn into eggs - most women have one every month, but I say it plural because that's what these drugs do.) I had responded well to the Gonal-F and had two good sized follicles and one a little smaller. So we went ahead with the Ovidrel to induce ovulation, did our thing, and waited. My day to do a home pregnancy test was December 13th.
I couldn't wait, and finally tested on December 12th. Immediately positive. No two minute wait there. I had blood work done later that morning to confirm it and I was indeed pregnant. Now we're on the last leg of my time with Dr. Tatpati. They monitor with bloodwork for a couple weeks to make sure that the pregnancy is progressing normally (because so many things can go wrong this early on). When I had more bloodwork done on the 15th, my hCG levels had gone up.
I go back Monday for one more round, and then we'll schedule an ultrasound in Wichita to make sure this little sprout is implanted in my uterus and to count how many there are. That's exactly what the nurse said to me on the phone: count how many. Gulp. We should also be able to hear the heartbeat at this point, which is one of the blessings of having to go through a specialist and having every minute of your early pregnancy monitored. At that point, I think we'll feel comfortable with telling our families. Can't wait for your reaction, Mom! It is killing me not to tell you, because I get the feeling you may be just as excited, if not more excited, than I am.
So that's the story of our little miracle. One round is all it took. You have to understand that this is 100% God that did this, because these things don't happen in a month when you have infertility. And very few couples with infertility get pregnant within seven months of trying. I praise God daily for this.
I was diagnosed with PCOS in June 2007. PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. You can Google it, but what it boils down to for me is that my body doesn't produce the hormones necessary to regulate my reproductive system and cause me to ovulate. No ovulation=no chance of getting pregnant. I've always known in my heart that something was not quite right with all that girly stuff, and I wanted to get the ball rolling so that by the time Luke and I were ready to start trying, it might not take as long. I tend to be impatient, and trying to conceive when you are infertile can be a very long road.
We officially started trying May 2008. I was seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) at this point, and I spent the summer taking Clomid, which is a fertility drug. Obviously I didn't get pregnant, and the most it did for me was give me horrendous hot flashes and mood swings like you wouldn't believe. Just ask Luke! :) After 3 rounds of that, with the last one ending in September, it was time to move on to something more.
We took about a month off, then went to see a fertility specialist (Dr. Tatpati), also in Wichita. We decided to take the route of Clomid, plus injectibles. Injectibles are the things that can give you multiples, but not in a Jon and Kate Plus Eight way. 2-3 babies, tops. We started that round on November 15th. 5 days of Clomid followed by a shot of Gonal-F that I had to give myself. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a HUGE problem with needles (even though I've been having routine monthly bloodwork done for how long now?) so this was definitely in the category of Least Favorite Moments in My Life.
I went back to Wichita on the 26th of November so that they could make sure my ovaries weren't overstimulated and that I had some good sized follicles (these being the things that turn into eggs - most women have one every month, but I say it plural because that's what these drugs do.) I had responded well to the Gonal-F and had two good sized follicles and one a little smaller. So we went ahead with the Ovidrel to induce ovulation, did our thing, and waited. My day to do a home pregnancy test was December 13th.
I couldn't wait, and finally tested on December 12th. Immediately positive. No two minute wait there. I had blood work done later that morning to confirm it and I was indeed pregnant. Now we're on the last leg of my time with Dr. Tatpati. They monitor with bloodwork for a couple weeks to make sure that the pregnancy is progressing normally (because so many things can go wrong this early on). When I had more bloodwork done on the 15th, my hCG levels had gone up.
I go back Monday for one more round, and then we'll schedule an ultrasound in Wichita to make sure this little sprout is implanted in my uterus and to count how many there are. That's exactly what the nurse said to me on the phone: count how many. Gulp. We should also be able to hear the heartbeat at this point, which is one of the blessings of having to go through a specialist and having every minute of your early pregnancy monitored. At that point, I think we'll feel comfortable with telling our families. Can't wait for your reaction, Mom! It is killing me not to tell you, because I get the feeling you may be just as excited, if not more excited, than I am.
So that's the story of our little miracle. One round is all it took. You have to understand that this is 100% God that did this, because these things don't happen in a month when you have infertility. And very few couples with infertility get pregnant within seven months of trying. I praise God daily for this.
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