10 weeks, almost 11 weeks update

I just had my routine OB appt today and everything looks great. We were able to hear the HB pumping away in the 160s. The nurse had trouble finding it, but the doc found it instantly so that was nice. I honestly wasn't worried about it since I've been able to catch it on my doppler since about 9 weeks :)

I'm up 6 lbs, which is well, to be expected. With my nausea and aversions, I'm left with nothing to eat my refined carbs. I will say thought, I've felt great since Saturday. I only have occasional queasiness and all in all the nausea (unless provoked by overeating) is gone. I'm still relatively tired. I find it very difficult to make it past 9/9.30 without hitting the hay. But hell, as long as that nausea is gone, I'll take the fatigue any day. I have my NT scan next Tuesday and I'll be sure to update after that. I also found out today that I'll be having a cervical check u/s at 14 weeks (this is part of my routine cervical checks that I'll be having b/c of my LEEP that I had after Gabriella). Maybe we'll get an early gender prediction! I myself am pretty torn though. I've been having a boy vibe since the beginning, but that high heart rate is throwing me off!

Gabriella is doing well. She's got a little bit of a cold, but it isn't bugging her at all, thankfully. Her finger is MUCH better. The nail fell off, which we were expecting, but it looks much much better. Hopefully that new nail grows in soon so that area won't be as sensitive for her.

BTW, for those curious about belly pics, I've been posting them on a separate page. See link above, next to "tickers." :)

I know, I know. It's been FOREVER!

I've been really bad about updating. I haven't done any pg updates or updates on Gabriella. The reality is I have had no desire to look at a computer at all. I have to do it for work, but the idea of being on the computer for non work reasons makes my head hurt.

I have a few new belly pics which I need to post. Otherwise this pg seems to be going by slow and fast at the same time. I'm excited to almost be in week 9 but I just want to be out of 1st tri already. Symptoms wise...ugh, well I had super duper nausea from right before week 6 through about a week ago. Since then its been kinda ebbing and flowing. Rather than being constantly nauseous, I'm just constantly queasy with momentary nausea. My boobs are friggin huge. I've gone up nearly 2 cup sizes and they HURT. Its amazing, post BFing they lost so much density and now they're like a bag of rocks all over again. Fatigue is meh. Some days I'm ok, others I'm more tired. Today would probably be my most exhausting day yet (more on that in a sec). I've generally been going to bed about an hour earlier and that seems to keep daytime fatigue at bay. I have major aversions. Mexican food? BARF! Chinese food? BARF! Italian food? BARF! Its weird, I only know what I feel like eating right as I'm starting to get hungry. Then I have to scramble to get what feels ok to eat (in terms of meals at least).

Gabriella is super adorable. She's talking so much - it really amazes me. She's starting to put 2 words together more often and its just so cute. One phrase I was not a fan of was "Mama! Ouch!" (this was last night). Gabriella smashed her finger in a TV cabinet at the daycare lady's house and over the course of 4 days the blood that has pooled under her bruised nail got infected...so her finger got infected. During the day she is ok. She can use her finger normally and isn't protecting it. The problem is that she used this finger (her right ring finger) and her index finger to suck on to soothe herself to sleep. Well, she hasn't really been able to do that so its been wreaking havoc on her (and my) sleep. How do I send daddy in the room when she's crying "Maaaaamaaaaa...ouch!" Poor monkey. She's on meds for it and hopefully that and the Motrin will give her some more permanent relief soon!

1st ultrasound today!

I had my 1st ultrasound today and everything went really well. I had some brown flecked CM yesterday for about 2 hours that were worrying me, but after talking to the doctor and seeing that everything is ok on the u/s, I feel much better!

My official due date is October 21st (ticker adjusted appropriately). What this likely means is that I did O 2 days later than I thought I did (FF gave me the correct CH). It could also mean that the baby implanted a little late too. My approximation put me at either 7w today or 6w5d, and the baby is measuring 6w4d - right where it should be! We saw and heard the heartbeat as well. It was pumping away at 128 bpm.

Wow, what a relief to know that everything is OK. I have my next u/s (the NT scan) sometime in early April. I had made the appt for 3/25 initially as MFM had the wrong due date for me (based on LMP) so I have to call and reschedule for about a week later as I'd only be 10 weeks on the 25th.

I don't plan on spilling the beans to extended family till after the NT scan. Work is on hold till I know more about my possible promotion. I know that legally I can't be discriminated against, but once that information is out there, there's no taking it back. So, mum's the word at work until the appropriate time comes out to share.

I'll post the survey at 7 weeks, but for now just know that I've been super nauseous in the morning and sporadically throughout the day, but the morning is definitely the worst. I caught a bad cold from G's flu last week and while I'm hanging in there it SUCKS to not be able to take the good meds. I'm really suffering!

Last but not least, our precious new addition (yolk sac on the left, baby on the right):

Already overlooking the 2nd?

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating. I just feel like I was such an active blogger when I was pg with Gabriella and now I haven't blogged too much in detail. Honestly, that's b/c not a whole lot is going on with this pregnancy just yet. The nausea I was experiencing last week is pretty much gone except for sporadically here and there. I think that what was happening is that I kept thinking about how I was going to get nauseous and then that made me have a wave of nausea. Make sense? Yeah, it is weird, but I think that's what it was. As of now, I only really get it if I'm super hungry or thirsty. And even then its not bad at all. If memory serves me correctly I was about 6 weeks with Gabriella when it started and about 7-8 weeks when it became a mainstay, so I still have time.

My boobs still hurt and are still bigger. The constipation is not too bad. And the fatigue, well let's just say that I think I'm just tired from the day to day still versus pregnancy fatigue. As for bloat, well, it may be starting, but I could just be gaining weight since I've been insatiable these past few days (or it could be the poop). So yeah, all in all, I still don't feel "pregnant" like I did with Gabriella. We'll see what the next few days bring. I have my dating u/s in a week from today. I'm already starting to get nervous about that.

As for my little lady, she's super sick today. She has the flu and an ear infection as an off shoot from the virus. She is just miserable and I feel awful. All she wants to do is lay around on me. She's normally a fabulous eater and has only managed to eat a few blueberries today. Thankfully she is still drinking milk so I can at least give her the antibiotics for her ear infection. I just hope she feels better ASAP and that my happy sweetheart is back to her old self. I know the flu is just miserable, but to see it in her is just heartbreaking!

1st OB appt and PG survey time!

I had my 1st OB appt yesterday - it was fabulous.
I actually didn't see my usual doc today and went with the 1st available "first ob" appt with another doctor in the practice. I am SO glad I did. Don't get me wrong, I adore my doc, but this doc blew the other one out of the water. He was so knowledgable and actually commended me for knowing so much about TTC and pregnancy. He said I was such a joy to have as a patient b/c I was so informed - I have NEVER heard that from any of the docs in the practice. Most of the time I feel like I am being dismissed like "let the doctor be the doctor" type of stuff if I get too in depth with what I'm talking about.

I expressed my concerns with last week's HPTs and he said essentially "don't even worry about those, your beta numbers are fantastic and given your age, family history, and your previous pg, there's no reason to believe anything at all is wrong with this pg." He right away said that it was great that I was charting and that given that I Oed late, he wanted a dating u/s within the next 2 weeks, but he preferred 2 weeks from now so that we should be able to see a heartbeat. He went on about cervical checks post 22 weeks and that while I wasn't a high rish pg b/c of my LEEP he certainly wanted to make sure my cervix was closely monitored.

He was SO interested in what I do for work and he was telling me what his sister did (something similar but on a different scale) so we really hit it off on a bunch of levels. I think the fact that he was young helped the connection as well. In any case - I love him and am so excited to have such an informed advocate who understands how my brain works.

Oh, and he did a pelvic check and said everything (including my cervix) seemed great for how far along I was. So, u/s is 3/1 at 12.30pm and next OB appt is 3/11 - eek! So exciting!

PG Survey!

How far along? 5 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: well, I weighed in at 145 yesterday so that's my baseline
Maternity clothes? Certainly not
Sleep: I haven't been overly fatigued just yet, but I'm sure that will come soon with my insomnia.
Best moment this week: OB appt, finding out I get an early u/s
Food cravings: Nothing really. I'm starting to get more frequent waves of nausea, so I'm starting that habitual grazing.
What I miss: My baby, like I do every day when I'm at work
What I am looking forward to: Going to bed tonight. Its been a long week already
Milestones: Hmm, I dunno, 1st OB appt I guess? Making it to 5 weeks thus far? Getting nausea earlier than with G, lol

2nd beta in!

234!! Doubling time of exactly 48 hours! OMG! Doc said things are progressing nicely :)

1st OB appt is on Tuesday :)

Betas in!

I was either 12 dpo or 14 dpo, I'm not convinced on either, but my number was 89.1! Which means there's NO WAY that a good ol' FRER wouldn't have picked that amount of HcG (the beta was the same day as the almost negative test). So, the only real explanation here is a bad box of test, and while I hate to think that since it's not that common but alas every other test that I've taken aside from the 3 from that box have been positive and faintness/darkness was consistent with DPO or previous tests.

I have my repeat beta tomorrow morning vs. today since the lab was full today, however regardless of if I had gone in today or tomorrow morning, my next set of betas will be ready on Monday. Fingers crossed for a strong 2nd beta as well!

This current 1st beta is great for either 12 or 14 dpo (according to beta base) so given everything that's happened, until I'm given a real reason to worry, I'm going to be happy and enjoy this pregnancy :)

Oh, and for the record, I got a positive on an Internet cheapie last night after guzzling water all day and it had only been about 1.5 hours since I had peed. I am now done peeing on tests.

Hopefully good news to come on Monday :)