IVF pregnancies
seem to feel way longer than a normal pregnancy because you plan it forever and
then know you’re pregnant from really early on so when I decided to write
weekly blog posts I tried to tell myself I was crazy. Even if it feels slower, the time will pass
either way and I know I will love being able to look back at these weekly
details. I didn’t do a very good job of blogging/journaling
while I was pregnant with Eli and would love to be able to look back now and
read a weekly update. Hopefully this
little bean I’m carrying now will appreciate this sometime in the future as
well! I know I would have found it
interesting!
Week 1:
September 13th – September 19th
Physically I felt
great this week! No duh, considering I’m
not even pregnant yet, right?
Wrong. I continued my shots to prepare
for the transfer in a couple weeks so there are some physical side effects I
experience from those. Fortunately I
haven’t felt much different because of the Lupron or Estrace. I stopped drinking caffeine just over 3
months ago and I now drink a lot more water and feel SO much better! I love not having to rely on the caffeine to
stay awake and hope to keep away from it for a long time. I can’t deny that I do get tempted
occasionally! I started taking a pre-natal
vitamin just over two weeks ago and feel really happy that it will be in my
system for about a month before I hopefully become pregnant.
Emotionally I feel
fantastic as well! I talked myself into
getting as excited as I want prior to this transfer even though it might not work. If it doesn’t take then we can cross that
bridge when we get to it but for now I’m going to assume this transfer will be
successful and will continue getting excited about the thought of being
pregnant again!
1 week down, 39 to
go!
Week 2: September
20th – September 26th
The start of this
week was tough at poor Logan Logan
This week finished
off with my first Progesterone shot—yuck!
I was told awful things about these shots so I was quite nervous but
they actually aren’t bad at all. I feel
so grateful to have a husband that gives shots everyday and knows the little
tricks that make it not so painful. I
really don’t mind the shots and feel like I’ve been very blessed to have
handled them so well. We also had an appointment
to assess my uterine lining this week that went very well and we were told that
everything looked great and is all set for transfer next week! Hallelujah!
2 weeks down, 38 to
go!
Week 3: September
27th – October 3rd
This week consisted
of a HUGE event aka our transfer! The
transfer was an incredible experience and everything went as well as it
possibly could have. I wrote down
details in my IVF journal of our experience when we found out at the transfer
that we’re having a BOY! :) More
details/thoughts to come on that later but just know that we are ecstatic (but
would have been with a girl too!) I feel
great physically, mentally, and emotionally and feel very peaceful about
everything. I know I use that word a lot
to describe how we’re feeling but it’s the most accurate description there
is. Just 11 days from now we will get a
confirmation that this is the real deal and the transfer was successful. We can’t wait!
Transfer Day
Weight: 120.8
**I hope nobody
cares that I write down my weight each week.
I really want to use this as a personal journal so I can remember all of
the small details of this pregnancy.**
3 weeks down, 37 to
go!
Week 4: October 4th
– October 10th
This week got off to
a rocky start after a super painful Progesterone shot but was fairly smooth
sailing afterwards! I should have
started my period on Sunday the 5th but it never came so I was very
happy to say the least. I’ve been
told/read that cramping and spotting are common at this stage but I haven’t had
any of that so that’s good news as well.
I’ve actually started to feel nauseated here and there so every time I
do I get my hopes up a little more. I
still have a normal appetite and eat plenty but after nearly every meal I feel
a bit queasy. I actually woke up this
morning and didn’t feel hungry at all (which is uncommon for me) but I made
myself eat anyway and my stomach was not happy with me afterward. It feels odd to be so excited each time I get
sick. Even though having an upset
stomach is one of my least favorite things ever, I’ll gladly be sick if it
means I’m pregnant! I know it’s still
super early to be feeling sick but I’ll take what I can get! It feels great to actually be four weeks
along because this is when a lot of people start discovering that they’re
pregnant. The wait to know if the
transfer worked is almost over…Monday can’t get here any sooner!
Weight: 120.2 (This
week: -.6 | Total: -.6)
4 weeks down, 36 to
go!
Week 5: October
11th – October 17th
The first few days
of this week went by terribly slow because we were counting down the days (or
hours!) until my blood work on Monday. It’s finally official!! I’M
PREGNANT!! I went in for my follow-up
labs on Wednesday to make sure my hCG level was increasing but rather than
doubling like they prefer, it only went up by about 45%. We still felt great and didn’t think there
was an issue but they wanted it checked again on Friday and that time we
received GREAT news! My hCG level went
up from 784 to 1345—a 71.6% increase!
**When I told my mom the happy news she immediately got online and
bought this little man an outfit I had told her I really loved :) I may or may
not have gotten online and purchased a couple myself…at least they were on
clearance!** It feels so great to
officially know our little boy is in there and growing well! Physically I still feel really good aside
from a bit more fatigue and the extra potty breaks. All this extra water is killin me but I think
my body is slowly starting to get used to it.
I haven’t had any true morning sickness yet but after breakfast every
morning my stomach does feel a little upset.
If this pregnancy is the same as my last one, I still have one week
before it really hits.
Happy Birthday to
me! As soon as we got our positive
pregnancy test I called my OB ’s office on
Tuesday morning and made our appointment.
I don’t want to see him until I’m 10ish weeks so I made our first
appointment for November 24th aka my birthday! My dad said to me: “You don’t want to spend
your birthday doing that, do you??” Heck
yes I do! If someone would have told me
months ago that I would spend part of my birthday at my first pregnancy
appointment I would have been thrilled!
Before my first OB appointment I had to
have a phone appointment with a nurse so she could set up my chart. I did that this week and it was quick and
easy. At one point during the
conversation she asked me how Eli is doing so I told her he passed away. She felt awful but I tried to cheer her up by
telling her how thrilled we were to be having another baby.
Weight: 120.2 (This
Week: Even | Total: -.6)
5 weeks down, 35 to
go!
Week 6: October
18th – October 24th
One of the strange
things about knowing we’re having a boy so soon is being able to start picking
out a name. Eli’s name was super easy
for us—we agreed on it right as we walked out of our gender check u/s. We had discussed both boy and girl names
before hand and knew we wanted to use Elijah Logan if it was a boy. This time around we both thought we would
have a girl so we focused more on girl names up until we found out we’re having
boy. We had a couple boy names we really
liked and figured we would use one of them but we’ve now gone away from them
and are thinking about something that was never discussed before. The name we’re leaning toward now is
something that came to me out of the blue and doesn’t have any significant meaning
to it. I love the name but I also feel
like it’s right and meant to be his name.
Logan
Wednesday was a big
day this week because the clinic wanted us to come in for a precautionary
u/s. My hCG numbers were rising every
time they checked them but they never doubled so they wanted us to come in for
an u/s to make sure I didn’t have a tubal pregnancy. It would have been rare with IVF, but not
unheard of. I felt completely confident
that everything was just fine but I was definitely excited to hear the doctor
say that everything looked great. As
soon as the doctor turned on the u/s monitor, she turned to us with a big smile
and said: “We have a pregnancy in the uterus!” Happy freakin day! Logan and I had giant grins on our faces the
rest of the time we were in that office.
Before we left, a cute tech came in and let us pick a knitted hat out of
a box and then as we were walking down the hall one of our favorite nurses
stopped us to tell us congratulations and asked us to please keep them updated
and to come visit the clinic when he was born.
We can’t wait to! To top it off,
my mom mentioned last week that when we got good news at our u/s today, she
wanted to buy him another outfit! (She
has already bought a few others :)) She had to meet me back at my office so we
got on and bought the most adorable outfit and matching hat. Logan
Total exhaustion
set in this week! Before this week I
just felt a little fatigued here and there but I almost died at work on
Monday. I do a pretty good job of
getting to bed by 10 o’clock so I can get a solid 8.5 hours of sleep but that
doesn’t seem to be cuttin it anymore.
I’m sure I felt this way during my pregnancy with Eli but it’s amazing what
you forget. Since I don’t drink caffeine
anymore I guess I’m just gonna have to get a cat nap in during lunch as often
as I can!
I still haven’t
experienced true morning sickness by throwing up (thank goodness!) but there
were a few days this week that I felt a bit queasy after I ate breakfast. During my pregnancy with Eli I always dreaded
brushing my teeth because I threw up, without fail, every time I brushed
them. Don’t worry, I still never missed! As I was brushing my teeth on Wednesday
morning I had to stand right next to the sink the entire time because I could
feel my gag reflex working overtime but thankfully nothing came up!
I’m trying really
hard to control my mood swings when they hit but I must not be doing a very
good job because someone at work (who obviously doesn’t know I’m pregnant) came
up to me this week and said: “Liz, are you doing shots right now?” I attempted
to put on the most innocent face I could and said: “Shots? Why would I be doing shots right now?” and
she said: “I dunno, you just don’t seem as happy the last couple days.” I just
laughed and said: “Really? Weird. Nope, I finished my shots back in July. No more shots for me for a long time.”
Hopefully she was convinced! I don’t
need people speculating about my pregnancy 6.5 weeks before we even announce
it. Even though hearing her say that
probably made me in a worse mood, haha, it was good for me to hear it because
if I don’t seem too happy then I need to do a better job of not acting so
hormonal so I’m not completely unpleasant to be around! If anyone finds out about this pregnancy
before they’re supposed to it will probably be my co-workers. I work at a computer and may or may not look
for clothes and all sorts of fun baby things here and there. I sit by myself at the front of the office
but I wouldn’t be too surprised if someone has walked by my desk and seen
something suspicious. Oh well!
Week six was
fabulous! We are super excited for this
upcoming week because we get to have another u/s and hopefully here this little
man’s heartbeat!
Weight: 120.4 (This
week: +.2 | Total: -.4)
6 weeks down, 34 to
go!
Week 7: October
25th – October 31st
Week seven began
with a huge scare when I started bleeding on Saturday evening. It was odd because naturally I was shocked/devastated/freaked
out but I continued to feel such peace about everything and Logan
Morning sickness
began to show its ugly face on Monday but I definitely can’t complain because
it hasn’t hit me nearly as bad as it did with my last pregnancy. I wake up each morning pretty sick to my
stomach and have to use all my will power to not throw up while I’m brushing my
teeth but I haven’t actually thrown up yet.
Certain smells/foods definitely upset my stomach quite a bit and I feel
pretty sick after I eat but fortunately I’ve been able to keep everything down.
I saw a small
amount of old, brown blood throughout the week and then even a few streaks of
reddish blood on Wednesday but I still felt like everything was just fine. What a blessing! I’m usually a basket case when it comes to
things like that so I feel very grateful that I felt such peace. I’m typically anxious for our clinic
appointments because I want to hear good news but I was so confident that
everything would be fine on Thursday I wasn’t anxious at all. I mostly wanted to hear that everything was
fine so we could relax the next 4ish weeks without any appointments before I
start going to my OB.
Our viability u/s
took place on Thursday and it couldn’t have gone better!! Dr. Peterson was on
service so thankfully we were able to see him this time. We immediately saw our sweet boy and I
couldn’t believe how much he had grown in less than a week! He then turned on the HR monitor and we were
able to hear his heart beat right away :) We were thrilled to see that his
heart rate ranged from 129-184 depending on the position of the monitor. Dr. Peterson said nothing could look or sound
better and that we should be very pleased with everything. He then told us that we had “graduated” from
his clinic and were free to move on to see our OB
in a few weeks. Happy day! Dr. Peterson’s parting words to us were so
sweet. He gave us a hug and said: “I’m
so happy for the two of you but even happier for this baby because of the home
he’s going into.” What a sweet, sweet
man. We have loved Dr. Peterson. He even knows and loves our OB ,
Dr. Quinn, which makes the situation that much better.
Before our u/s on
Thursday, I felt very good about everything.
I wasn’t worried about the bleeding and continued to feel so peaceful
but after we left the clinic on Thursday, I couldn’t believe how much better I
felt! It was like there was a huge
weight on my shoulders that I never knew existed. It’s surreal to think we’re moving on from
the clinic (for this pregnancy) after it seemed like we’d never get to this
point. I’ll continue the Progesterone
shots for three more weeks but that seems like nothing now. Week seven was quite the rollercoaster but it
couldn’t have ended better! Happy, happy
times!
Weight: 121.0 (This
week: +.6 | Total: +.2)
7 weeks down, 33 to
go!
Week 8: November
1st – November 7th
Week 8 brought with
it more nausea. I still feel WAY better
at this point than I did with Eli so I’m extremely grateful for that. I typically feel pretty sick every morning
and have to use all my will power to keep my breakfast down. I threw up for only the second time this
pregnancy on Tuesday but then again on Wednesday and twice on Thursday. I lost weight during the first trimester with
Eli and I’d rather avoid that this time around.
The one good thing is that I throw up right away, before I eat my
breakfast, so it’s mostly stomach bile rather than food. I don’t know if this is normal or unique to me
but I typically feel the most sick when I’m hungry. I try to eat snacks throughout the day but if
I wait too long and get even a little hungry, that’s when I’m closest to
throwing up. I love the thought that the
nausea will mostly go away after the first trimester but I don’t want to ask
for too much!
I can’t believe how
tired I am! I was in bed and falling
asleep before 9:30 on Sunday night and I could barely lift my head off my
pillow at 6:45. I know I didn’t over
sleep because I feel even worse if I get less sleep. I think my dad let me go in to work at 9
o’clock when I was pregnant with Eli so I may have to remind him of that if
this gets too awful :)
I’m to the point
now where I haven’t had a ton of cravings but certain things sound way better
than others and there are definitely foods that sound awful. For example, on Sunday night the only thing
that sounded good was Apple Jacks cereal (luckily we had some!) and an hour
later all I wanted was Ravioli. I know
some pregnant women are really anal about eating super healthy food but I like
the advice of my doctor best: “When you’re sick, eat whatever is going to stay
down. There’s no point in eating
something healthy that’s just going to come right back up.” I drink around 65 ounces of water a day and
take my pre-natal vitamin every night so I’m not too worried about eating
rabbit food all the time. I wish that’s
all that sounded good but it just doesn’t!
Now that I’m eight
weeks Logan and I have decided that we want to start telling our extended
families our exciting news. I can’t wait
to tell them! We’ve been keeping this a
secret for so long I’m sure it will be weird to tell people. Only four more weeks until we get to make our
announcement and only two more weeks of shots!
Hallelujah!
Weight: 123.2 (This
week: +2.2 | Total: +2.4) **My weight went up a bit more than I would like at
this point. Trust me, I do not get weird
about weight gain during pregnancy but I can’t be gaining that much weight
every week already. I’ve been super anal
about eating before I get hungry so I’m sure that didn’t help!**
8 weeks down, 32 to
go!
Week 9: November
8th – November 14th
Physically, week
nine was rough. Up until this week I was
only throwing up once a day and sometimes not at all but this week I threw up
multiple (2-3) times a day. Not only was
I constantly hungry because I was throwing everything up, but I was also even
more exhausted than normal because of how much energy throwing up drains. I wanted nothing more than to turn off my alarm
every morning but unfortunately the bills need to be paid. As soon as I hit twelve weeks and we announce
this pregnancy to everyone, I really think I’m going to ask my dad if I can
come in at nine for a week or two. I
have a feeling he’ll let me :) I finally caved and called my OB ’s
office on Tuesday morning and asked if they would prescribe Zofran for my
nausea. I tried both Zofran and
Phenegran with Eli but neither worked at all so hopefully I have better luck
this time! After trying it for a few
days, I’ve definitely noticed it helping more than last time but I still
haven’t decided if I like it or not. The
Zofran is dissolvable so you just stick it on your tongue and it works super
fast. I like taking the Zofran because
it takes the initial sickness away but then later on I feel even worse because
I still haven’t thrown up. I’m trying to
balance it out and find the perfect time to take one so hopefully I figure
something out. After this week, I’m to
the point where eating feels like a giant burden and chore and I’d absolutely
skip it if I could. Nothing ever sounds
good and then I just feel like I’m going to throw it right back up if I find
something I do want. As crazy as it
sounds, I still think my sickness has been better than it was with Eli so I’m
very grateful for that and I’m hoping it mellows out sooner than 25 weeks like
last time.
We had another brief scare on Monday night when I had a very small amount of bleeding. Neither of us was too concerned about it and even my mom, who always panics, wasn’t too worried when I called her. The bleeding left right away and I didn’t see another sign of it so the clinic wasn’t bothered by it at all. I’m glad they didn’t ask me to come in for another u/s just to be safe. Ultra Sounds are great and all but I think three vaginal ultra sounds is plenty at this point.
I can’t believe how
pregnant I look already! No, not a cute,
round belly…a chunky, squishy belly! I
know they say your body changes quicker the second time around but my goodness,
I didn’t think it would happen already.
I have a feeling it won’t be too long before I’m in that awkward stage
where my regular clothes no longer fit and my maternity clothes are still too
big! Gotta love it :)
Thursday night was
a little scary because I had a bad reaction to the progesterone shot for the
first time. I’ve put all the details in
my IVF Journal. I sure hope it never
happens again! The good news is I only
have a week left of shots! Week nine was
a struggle physically but we continue to get more and more excited! Only three more weeks until we get to share
this happy news with everyone!
Weight: 123.4 (This
week: +.2 | Total: +2.6)
9 weeks down, 31 to
go!
Week 10:
November 15th – November 21st
I feel like a
broken record but physically, week ten was rough. Logan Logan
I continue to feel
exhausted but somehow make it through a full eight hours of work everyday. By the time I get home I completely crash and
Logan Logan
I feel like I had a
tougher time emotionally this week than any other week so far. Logan
One thing I’m really
looking forward to, like most moms, is putting together baby boy’s
nursery! There’s an unfinished storage
room in the basement we live in that’s right down the hall from our bedroom so Logan Logan
It feels so good to
finally be in the double digits! I can’t
wait to see my doctor on Monday and hopefully do an ultra sound. Only two more weeks until we get to share
this fun news!
Weight: 123.6 (This
week: +.2 | Total: +2.8)
10 weeks down, 30
to go!
Week 11:
November 22nd – November 28th
What a wonderful
week! I had a feeling/hope this was
going to be a happy week and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I had a couple days this week where I didn’t
throw up at all so that was super nice but towards the end of the week I
started throwing up again. Bummer. I still feel a bit better and don’t seem to
be nauseated all day so hopefully that continues to be the story going forward.
The highlight of
the week was definitely Monday the 24th! Not only was it my birthday but we also had
my first OB appointment and it couldn’t have
gone better! After I finished filling
out all of the paperwork I realized that I had dated everything 11/24/89 instead
of 2014. Whoops! The nurse thought it was pretty funny. My doctor is typically super busy which means
he’s often behind but we were his first appointment so we walked right in so
that was super nice. I’m typically a
pretty chill/go-with-the-flow kind of person but since our first go around was
so different than we expected I had to ask a few questions. He happily answered all of them and I felt so
happy after seeing him! The first
appointment is never fun and it had been three years since I’d had a
you-know-what so that added to the excitement as well. He tried hearing baby boy’s heartbeat with
the doppler but he wasn’t able to find it (which didn’t surprise us) so he let
us run back for a quick u/s just for peace of mind. It was so fun seeing how much he had grown in
the last three weeks! We could see his
teeny tiny arms and legs and his growth was right on track (actually a few days
ahead but we know they go through growth spurts). His heartbeat was nice and strong at 171 and
the u/s tech said everything looked great so far. Such a relief!
My doctor did
mention that he’d like me to stay on Progesterone until I’m 13 weeks but
fortunately he’s totally fine with me taking a pill rather than starting the
shots again (hallelujah!). I am now taking
a pre-natal, progesterone pill, and estrogen supplement at night as well as an
antibiotic to help me get rid of a nasty sinus infection. My weight at my appointment was 127.6,
exactly four pounds higher than when I weighed myself last Friday morning. I’m attributing that to the fact that I had
all of my clothes on (including shoes and a heavy jacket I couldn’t take off)
and I had recently eaten. I wasn’t too
concerned. I’ll put more stock in my
weight every Friday morning since I check it at the same time, without clothes
on and before I’ve eaten.
Thanksgiving was so
much fun! I was starving all morning,
especially because I had thrown up my breakfast, but as soon as we sat down to
eat I didn’t feel hungry at all. I was so
mad! I still ate, of course, but it
wasn’t quite the same. Fortunately we
were able to take some yummy leftovers home so I enjoyed them the next
day.
The exciting news
is we’re only a week away from finally sharing this pregnancy news with
everyone! It’s weird to think we’ll
finally be able to talk about it but also weird to think we’ve kept it a secret
for SO long. Keep in mind that we’ve
“known” about this since we scheduled a transfer back in July/August. That’s a long time!
Weight: 124.2 (This
week: +.6 | Total: +3.4)
11 weeks down, 29
to go!
Week 12:
November 29th – December 5th
This week started
off SUPER lazy since we had the whole weekend off for the holiday. I love having work off and spending so much
time with family but man, I don’t remember sleeping in/sitting around so much
in my life. I was definitely ready to
get back in to a regular schedule by the time Monday came around! I seem to have settled into a routine of
throwing up as soon as I wake up and again right before I go to bed. Such a fun way to start and end each day! ;)
The good thing is I throw up before I eat so I’m able to keep my breakfast down
and I also throw up before I take my nighttime pills so I’m able to keep those
down as well. As long as I eat the right
things I don’t feel too sick throughout the day so that is a plus for
sure. The extra progesterone my doctor
has me taking is definitely backing me so I can’t wait to finish that in one
week! Towards the end of the week
(yesterday) I came down with a flu bug that was killer. Thankfully I got a flu shot so I should be
protected from a lot of things so hopefully this one runs its course pretty
quick.
I can’t believe
we’re finally here! We have been so
excited to share our news with everyone and the support we have received has left
us speechless. It is amazing how kind,
supportive, and wonderful so many people are.
We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so much love!
Weight: 124.2 (This
week: Even | Total: +3.4)
12 weeks down, 28
to go!
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