We're still here!!

sorry! it's been a LOOOOOOONG while :) almost 3 weeks. In little man time, that's a third of his life.

We have been working HARD on his schedule and have made SUPER progress.

2 months old!!!

Little man
He's 9 weeks and 5 days old!!

We haven't weighed in since his 1 month ped appointment- but we go to the doctor tomorrow, so I will update at 10 weeks!

We will also learn how long he is, but he's been growing like a weed. We are already in the 3-6 month clothes.

This week we walked down to the store and went shopping.

Momma

So after depressing over my lack of weight loss, I pulled out a old "eat clean" diet cookbook and vowed to do it for 10 days. I lost 1 pound. 1 freaking pound. I was less than pleased.

I have given up on weight loss and decided on a new course:

Cardio 3x

HIIT 3x
Yoga 1-2x

No exercise 1x

and modified clean eating. so far so good. I actually lost 2 pounds! and now I am down 17 pounds and have ~5-7 to go.  I would really like to get down another 10 beyond that, but I would just be happy getting back into my jeans :)

I have to go back to work in three very VERY short weeks. ugh I am dreading it. I need to figure out what clothes fit and what don't fit.

1 Month!!!

again, I am a little late.. we should just accept that I will most likely do these posts well after the actual time. :)
so Charlie-man turned 4 weeks old Friday, June 19th and a month old Monday, June 22 :)

1 Month Recap:
Weight: Gained 4 pounds
Went to: dog park, doctor, grocery, home depot, target, Nanna and Pop's house
Features: skeptical look, giggles and disgusted sound
Sleeping: if we're not gassy, we sleep 9pm-1/2am-5am-7am! Momma gets some good sleep
Eating: on average we eat 27oz per day with a boobs at night

We just started seeing things and are very interested in the world. We love to pull on daddy's glasses, momma's necklace and anything else within our reach. We still love the wubbanub and hate being cold.

We spend most of our days snuggling momma and plotting ways to keep her next to me.

The Birth!!

Charlie-man arrived at 12:30am on May 22nd.  We went to the ER after I had an uncontrolled heart episode and after they stabilized me, we went to Labor & Delivery.  We started pitocin around 3pm and nothing happened until about 8pm.  From 8pm - 11:30pm we went from 5cm dilated to 8cm dilated.  I suddenly felt big pressure and we went to 10cm in 5 minutes! It was go time.. after only 45 minutes or so of pushing, out popped little man! He is so perfect. I am so happy everything went well and he's good.

We spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday in the hospital and finally got the clearance to go home.  Charlie man is super easy going for the most part and a really sound sleeper.  We had a little trouble feeding at first but he's getting the hang of it.  We'll do a 1 week post tomorrow for postpartum and Charlie recap :)

Second Trimester Round Up

I didn't do any sort of summary for the first trimester, but it was mostly uneventful. I mean I think I spent every other week in the doctors office and worrying/freaking out. Actually, let's do a quicky summary so far.

Weeks 1-2: Freak out over IVF/stims/ER/Eggs
Weeks 3-4: Freak out over implantation/BFP and progesterone injections lol
Weeks 5-6: Go to doctor 3-4x to get blood taken, freak out over beta levels and get first ultrasound.
Weeks 7-8: Go to doctor more to freak out if Bee was viable, more U/S and graduate from RE.
Weeks 9-10: Get first humanoid looking U/S and finish the progesterone injections!
Weeks 11-13: NT Scan, chromosomal blood testing and learn that it's a little man!!

So see the first trimester was pretty busy and flew by. I was so sick the entire time that I maybe gained 1 pound the whole time. (I was down a few pounds the on week 13, so my numbers are odd)

Second trimester seemed to take FOREVER. forevvveerrrr. *queue sandlot*
We've only had 1 scan of Charlie Bee actually, we technically had two because he wasn't behaving the first anatomy scan we had. So we actually got to see him week 19 and week 21. Which feels like forever ago, in case you were wondering. So in short summary the second trimester totals:
* felt charlie bee move
* gained 10.8 pounds (according to FitBit but that's from the weight lost in the first trimester)
* weird cravings? just dunkin coffee.. mmm
* registered for baby gear
* announced to my coworkers using blue cupcakes

and that's about it.  Nothing to really break up the monotony of the middle 3 months.  I am hoping this last trimester goes a little quicker. :-P

Viability!!

We officially hit a major viability milestone!!! Now if anything scary happens, Charlie has decent odds of surviving on the outside.  We're almost out of the 2nd trimester too! The 2nd one seemed to take forever.

25 week update

How far along? 25 +/- 2 days weeks 
Total weight gain: up 5 on the books at the doctor.. so we'll see. lol

Maternity clothes?! I mix & match but am loving maternity leggings lol

Stretch marks? still none!

Sleep: insomnia has kicked in. it stinks

Miss anything? blue moon beer. mmm and recently, wine lol

Movement/Symptoms: he's super busy. I need to start counting kicks.

Food cravings: dunkin donuts coffee. and crunchy salty things.

Anything making you queasy or sick: still proteins. gross

Gender: it's a boy! 

Symptoms: still RLP. and pseudo sciatica. belly's growing!! [same]

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? my fingers are still constantly swelling & shrinking but all week I've worn all 3 bands but it's starting to get tight!

Happy or moody most of the time: angry. and I stay angry. not good lol. I am mostly just exhausted.

Looking forward to: being in the 3rd trimester, less than 100 days to go, baby showers!

half way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allegedly, little man is the size of a banana.. whatever that means lol ;)

20 week update

How far along? 20 weeks +/- 1 day
Total weight gain: still about 2 pounds.. which I am starting to gather is pretty low

Maternity clothes?! yes! I ordered a new StitchFix to help find cuter maternity clothes! I used it before and was amazed by the results! I will post this time to show y'all!

Stretch marks? bump popped!! but no stretch marks yet. skin still hurts!!

Sleep: I lay half on my tummy and half on my side. it seems to work pretty well.

Miss anything? beer. always.

Movement/Symptoms: he's a ninja. hubster & I went on run today & he was craaaazay in there.

Food cravings: breakfast foods.

Anything making you queasy or sick: food aversion still. the doctor said food may always be rough. [same]

Gender: it's a boy! 

Symptoms: nausea.. again. but at least I finally look pregnant.

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! need to take my ring to get fixed still... oops

Happy or moody most of the time: angry. all the time. just angry

Looking forward to:  Seeing Charlie-Bee Friday.. 25 weeks for viability purposes.. nursery finishing.. ugh so much stuff.

In other news, I found a crib!

My parents have graciously offered to buy it for us.

Revealing!!

15 Week Update

How far along? 15 weeks
Total weight gain: I will admit it- 1.5 ish pounds.

Maternity clothes?! yes. just bought a few more tops

Stretch marks? nope! been lotioning nightly- my skin is so painful

Sleep: serious insomnia and light sleep. weird weird weird dreams, reliving old memories. yuck

Miss anything? blue moon beer with an orange. [same]

Movement/Symptoms: tiny flutters.

Food cravings: not really. see below?

Anything making you queasy or sick: food aversion and sour stomache

Gender: see bee-low!!

Symptoms: anger. exhaustion. anger

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! but I lost a diamond again.. grr so back to the shop.

Happy or moody most of the time: tired? angry.

Looking forward to:  20 week anat scan so we can see Bee!

So this last weekend, we invited over our families for the revealing!!
Here is our cake: "Who Will I Bee?"

and we cut in to reveal....

BEE IS A BOY!!!! woohoo.

so excited!

Nuchal translucency screening

So I am apparently REALLY bad at this blogging business... lol

This is will be a double post, the NT scan from last Monday (yep.. a week ago..) and the 13 week post..  so chronological order:

NT scan
It was our first belly scan!! yay!! less invasive than the coochie-cam. DH came with me (he's so good). and Bee was stubborn and hilarious! the tech was trying to measure Bee, and so the tech tapped my belly and Bee flipped around angry and showed us its spine and butt! it has a precious little spine! I love it. so sassy. We did get the measurements and our NT numbers looked good.

the tech was laughing about Bee's large nose. Bee also has looooooooooooooooong legs. I love it!

We also decided to do the extra optional chromosomal testing to test for all chromosomal disorders. We got those results back today- everything is great!

13 Week Update

How far along? 13 + 4? something like that
Total weight gain: still +/- 0.5 lbs

Maternity clothes?! yes. they are so stinking comfy!

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: serious insomnia. still bad insomnia.

Miss anything? blue moon beer with an orange. [same]

Movement/Symptoms: muscle cramping. some uterine cramping this week which scares me- I had HORRIBLE gas pains on thanksgiving. it was awful. 

Food cravings: icecream. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: nausea came back FULL force. ugh. all food sounds gross, and I don't like left overs. lol

Gender: we actually know the answer... ooh!

Symptoms: exhaustion & insomnia. muscle aches. IMSONIA

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! loose still.

Happy or moody most of the time: tired? is that a mood?

Looking forward to:  Revealing Bee's gender!!

the secrets out!

How far along? 12 weeks and some change
Total weight gain: based on clothing, I am guessing +/- 0.5 lbs. no real gain yet.

Maternity clothes?! with feeling better, I have worn normal jeans all week! I can't wait for my bump to pop :(

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: serious insomnia. I have been using Unisom off and on.

Miss anything? blue moon beer with an orange. [same]

Movement/Symptoms: muscle cramping. some uterine cramping this week which scares me

Food cravings: green beans. mm southern green beans 

Anything making you queasy or sick: nausea seems to finally be waning. mexican food sounds gross, and I don't like left overs. lol

Gender: based on my acne, falling out hair and over all feeling gross.. thinking girl. we're getting advanced bloodwork done TOMORROW!! ahh

Symptoms: exhaustion & insomnia. muscle aches.

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! looser this week- definitely getting my sea legs back

Happy or moody most of the time: angry. all the stinking time. still angry. it's bad

Looking forward to:  thanksgiving break- still. we see Bee tomorrow!!! I'll post the ultrasound photos.. eventually haha ;)

So the secret is mostly out- I told the fam and my boss and a few coworkers. they are THRILLED. I am actually starting to calm a little and able to get more and more excited. I also started our baby registry! 

10.5 week ultrasound/ last PIO injection!!!

last week we had our first ultrasound. [EDIT: first Ob appointment.. total preggo-brain in the house] Sorry for the late update.. been really busy.

so without further adieu..

Bee's head is HUGE! that's apparently normal at this stage.  We will get to see s/he again in just a few days!! And we are going to get our NT scan done and blood testing to make sure Bee is doing well. 

in other news... tonight is our last PIO injection!!!! WOOHOO (more info on PIO here

I am a little nervous to stop them, but overall VERY excited. the RE said we could stop them a while back but I still had a vial left and a few needles- it wasn't going to hurt anything to keep going, so we did but tonight is the last needle and the last dose!

11 ish weeks

How far along? so I thought we were 11 weeks but at our first Ob appointment they put Bee a ahead a few days.. so who knows!
Total weight gain: at the Ob the weighed me.. :( we're only up like .5 though

Maternity clothes?!  maternity jeans occasionally still. I wore my new black maternity pants to work- sooo comfy

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: insomnia ugh and peeeeeeing 3x a night

Miss anything? sushi. blue moon beer with an orange. [same]

Movement: less cramping.

Food cravings: egg and cheese biscuits! dunkin donuts coffee

Anything making you queasy or sick: buffalo sauce is repulsive still. most proteins are still gross
Gender: still thinking girl... but we'll find out in a few weeks!!!

Symptoms: exhaustion & nausea. less vomiting! insooomnia

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! still getting tighter

Happy or moody most of the time: angry. all the stinking time.

Looking forward to:  thanksgiving break. sleeeeep. finding out the gender

so not too much new stuff this week. nausea is getting better & we're almost outta the first trimester!!!!

we had our first ob appointment last Tuesday! I meant to post all the wonderful pix but the week got away with me.  I also need to post our announcement pic. all coming soon!

double digits!

How far along? 10 weeks!! AHHH
Total weight gain: I haven't gone near the scale again! I fear it.

Maternity clothes?!  maternity jeans occasionally.  I had to pull out some "fat pants" I did buy new bras! I went up 2 sizes ugh.

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: insomnia.it stinks. still dreaming of a girl

Miss anything? sushi. blue moon beer with an orange. 

Movement: still cramping off & on. could be the constipation...

Food cravings: sushi. and a hamburger?? (I don't eat red meat) and egg and cheese biscuits!

Anything making you queasy or sick: buffalo sauce is repulsive. and I think I am over mac n cheese too :( but I am a huge fan of the diclegis
Gender: still thinking girl... but I think we have both names almost hammered out! 

Symptoms: exhaustion & nausea. less vomiting! insooomnia

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! still getting tighter

Happy or moody most of the time: angry. all the stinking time.

Looking forward to:  Seeing Bee on Tuesday!! Announcing Bee this weekend!!! EEEP

More updates to come!!

75% of the first trimester down!!

How far along? 9 weeks 1 day (I missed posted yesterday!!)
Total weight gain: so I finally braved the scale.. despite my serious constipation, I am only up 1 lb from start (about 3 pounds from my lowest this pregnancy- the diclegis is working!!)

Maternity clothes?!  maternity jeans. I am a skip and hop from wearing them to work. all pants are just uncomfortable.

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: insomnia is better. middle of night vomit/urine is better too. I had to buy a new pillow though, I no longer like mine

Miss anything? sushi.. as always. I am debating on just eating some lol!

Movement: still cramping off & on.. as usual. it's reassuring though!

Food cravings: sushi. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: if I skipped the diclegis (see below), all food is gross. if I take the diclegis, by lunch time I can eat most things. buffalo sauce is repulsive still. carbonated beverages

Gender: still oddly leaning girl. Chinese calendar says boy. 

Symptoms: exhaustion & nausea. less vomiting!

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! getting tighter

Happy or moody most of the time: very moody. angry. hair trigger

Looking forward to:  announcing Bee! still trying to plan logistics. I can't wait to go public.

So.. diclegis. I am leary of taking it even though it makes me feel better. It was pulled from the market about 50 years ago because people were suing left and right for birth defects. Granted, 50 years ago all sorts of stuff was "safe" during pregnancy. apparently the drug company did 30 years of research and has approved the drug in Canada for the last 30 years and no issues. I am still just a little afraid to take it.. so instead I have decided to take it every other day. the days after I take it I feel great, but then I start to feel horrible the next day- not vomiting but incapacitating nausea. I just hope that it ends at 12 weeks.. lol

RE graduation

I missed my midweek update. my all day nausea is kicking my ass. I even took 1.5 days off work. 

How far along? 8 weeks
Total weight gain: don't even want to get near the scale :( all I can eat is mac n cheese so probably not good :-P

Maternity clothes?!  not to work, but around the house I'll wear maternity jeans or sweat pants.

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: total insomnia. I miss sleep:/

Miss anything? eating without vomiting.

Movement: still cramping off & on. awful cramping

Food cravings: raw tuna.

Anything making you queasy or sick: everything, proteins, all food. everything is repulsive 

Gender: leaning back towards girl. I have had 3 dreams this week that it was a girl.

Symptoms: exhaustion & nausea. those words should be synonymous with pregnancy. Good news is the RE wrote me a prescription for Diclegis. I used it last night and it feels okay but not 100%

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On!! back from the shop!! it's sooo shiny! my rings are actually looser than usual

Happy or moody most of the time: very moody. angry. hair trigger

Looking forward to:  Being outta the first trimester? announcing Bee!

So, we were supposed to have our ultrasound next week on the 31st.  But.. DH is outta town, so I called to push it up. so we got to see Bee Friday at 7 weeks 5 days!

Presenting Bee at 7 weeks 5 days! Bee's heartbeat was super strong at 158!!! and was measuring right on point at 7+5!! So happy. 

Bee was actually doing so well that the RE graduated us to the an Ob! So we've officially been released from the RE which means now I get to stress about finding an Ob. ugh. I selected 3 practices and am going to call the RE's office for a recommendation.

Sour stomach :(

How far along? 7 weeks!! everyday is a milestone
Total weight gain: down 2 pounds. hello morning all day sickness

Maternity clothes?!  nah, but stretchy jeans help with the nausea.

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: like a rock. until the morning nausea hits.:/

Miss anything? beer. eating without wanting to vomit.

Movement: still cramping off & on. 

Food cravings: beer.

Anything making you queasy or sick: horrible nausea all day every day. eating is a constant chore. the only food  I can eat is mac n cheese or peanut butter m&m's lol 

Gender: leaning boy! 

Symptoms: exhaustion. nausea. headaches. did I mention nausea??

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? Off .. ring still in the shop.

Happy or moody most of the time: moody but doing better on happiness

Looking forward to:  our next Bee appointment isn't until Oct 31st :( whaaaaa

So this last week was turbulent. We saw Bee Wednesday, I went on a business trip & my nausea disappeared. Naturally I freaked that I was miscarrying and then I came home. Now back at home, my nausea has reached an all new level of awful. It's all day plus exhaustion. 

Our entire house reeks. I smell everything!!! 

6w3d!

So we made it to Wednesday!!

We got to see baby Bee!

On one measurement, bee was 6w3d and the other was 6w2d. So Bee is just about perfect. The doctor made my EDD estimated due date June 7th! 

The most amazing part was the heart beat. We saw the flicker on the screen first but then the nurse wanted to see if we could hear it! And she turned on the doppler and we hear boom boom boom boom. It was crazy!! It wasn't real until that moment. They measured Bee's heart rate at 108. The doctor said that it was a tad slow but will sky rocket over the next few days. 

So of course I've been in a panic about the heart rate.. What's new lol! 

6 weeks

6 weeks 1 day is my longest pregnancy to date, so tomorrow is a huge milestone! without further adieu,  Bee is the size of a lentil!! mm I love lentil soup.
How far along? 6 weeks
Total weight gain: 0 lbs. (despite running 2x this week, ugh salt super bloats me)

Maternity clothes?!  on bloaty days my jeans are super tight, but not quite yet.

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: still good. a couple of mid-night pees but peaceful.:/

Miss anything? sushi!!

Movement: still cramping off & on. 

Food cravings: salt & vinegar chips

Anything making you queasy or sick: horrible nausea today & yesterday. pork aversion. kitchen aversion. I can start eating something & 3 bites in the thought makes me nauseated. 

Gender: so if you asked earlier in the week, I would have said boy. but my face suddenly broke out & my nausea has returned with vengeance. therefore, still girl.

Symptoms: exhaustion. and my friend, constipation, is back full force!

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? Off but that's because I fell down the stairs & knocked a diamond out so it's getting repaired

Happy or moody most of the time: either pissed off or crying. it's not a pretty sight :P

Looking forward to:  Seeing Bee on Wednesday!! why is it always wednesday??

In other news, I started running again this week. hoping to safely drop some of this infertilty weight.  before we started all the infertility drugs (clomid/femara etc) I was about 10 pounds lighter.  Then on IVF I gained ~9 pounds.  I lost the IVF weight pretty fast, but am still about 10ish pounds more than I want. Hopefully running 2-3x a week will get those off.

5w3d- Beta #3

So today we had our last and final beta blood draw. I have been really nervous since my nausea has pretty much gone and so has my other symptoms *cough*constipation*cough*.

The nurse called at 12:45. I was shocked since they normally call around 2pm. Beta came back at 13,600 something. My ears shut down at 13k. WHAT! I was hoping for >3000!!

So now I have new things to panic over, molar pregnancy? multiples? is Bee okay?! ahh. The best thing is we have an ultrasound scheduled NEXT WEDNESDAY!!! to see Bee!! and hopefully see Bee's heartbeat!  I asked the nurse if I should be worried about the high beta, and she said no, it's not scary and to keep doing what I am doing because Bee is very happy. (She didn't call it Bee.. but you get the jist).

So symptoms, because we all love symptom spotting:
greasy face
craving salt and buffalo sauce. mmm salt & vinegar chips. mmm
cramping. yep that is still there.
bloating

but nausea has died down (one bout the other night) and everything else is going well!!

Preg Date	DPO	Beta Value	Doubling Rate
4w1d	15dpo	266
4w3d	17dpo	704	34.18
5w3d	24dpo	13600	39.33

so from this calculator, Bee's growth rate is slowing some..

5 weeks!!

today is 5 weeks! Bee is growing like crazy. I am still crampy every day and thoroughly exhausted.

How far along? 5 weeks
Total weight gain: up 0.2 lbs

Maternity clothes?! maternity jeans are the most wonderful things ever!! I cannot wait to wear them lol

Stretch marks? nope!.

Sleep: finally better.  I actually was worried that Bee wasn't okay lol:/

Miss anything? beer. sushi!!

Movement: cramping. major cramping

Food cravings: salty & buffalo sauce mmm

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope, no more nausea. 

Gender: leaning towards girl ever since we saw the blastocyst. lol I know it's crazy

Symptoms: exhaustion. hunger

Belly button in or out? In 

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: generally happy, little bit of moodiness starting

Looking forward to: beta appointment Wednesday!! hopefully it's high enough we'll get to see Bee soon!!

So, funny story. We're still on the PIO shots & last night hubster & I were out when it was shot time. so we raced to the car & did the shot in the car on a busy street lol! I bet people walking by thought we were druggies or something. I brought the prescription bottle just in case an office stopped us!! haha

4w3d- major cramping.

Beta news!

So monday 4w1d, 15dpo Beta #1 came back at 266.

I was over the moon, the doctor said we were aiming for 70 but would be okay with 50!! We've never had a first beta that high. I was excited but not totally surprised since we got some early BFPs at 9/10dpo. Next beta was scheduled for this morning, 17 dpo.

So sleep has not been my friend lately. I even slept in another bedroom last night because I have been such a light sleeper everything wakes me up. Well I still couldn't sleep and had the WORST cramps. I immediately started to freak out. I have been having pretty rough cramps off and on since 4dp5dt but these woke me out of a dead sleep. No spotting, but I don't expect to spot with the progesterone shots.

So this morning we had the beta. which was nerve wrenching because it can ultimately tell us if Bee is okay. So my nurse told me that I wouldn't have to wait for the doctor to call and that bloodwork would be back at 1ish. So 1pm rolls around.. nothing. 1:30 rolls around.. nothing. 2pm. nothing. 2:15 FINALLY she calls. Beta #2 was 704!! more than doubling!! we'll take it! grow baby Bee growww!!

so next beta appointment is next Wednesday (aka forever from now: 24dpo or 19dp5dt or 5w3d). I don't even know what to expect for a beta for that day. doubling would put 1400 friday, but I know after 1200 beta slows a little.. so I guess we will wait and see!