18 weeks

I have to first admit - I'm always shy showing off pictures of me. I'm a little self conscious that I was plump before I got pregnant. But this is who I am!! I've vowed after I have the child I will focus on losing weight and getting healthier. I'm trying to start now, but it's hard when I'm still getting over food aversions.

How Far Along: 18 weeks

How Big is The Baby: Baby is the length of a bell pepper (Length: 5 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)

Total Weight Gain: Ummm... around 6 pounds, give or take a pound.

Maternity Clothes: Switched this past week, had to cave in and buy me some maternity pants.

Sleep: Still feel like I'm not getting enough, but I'm used to that.

GENDER: Finding out in 4 days.

Movement: Last week I felt movement for 5 minutes, the second move made me jump since it felt like someone was jumping in there! Since then nothing noticeable.

Food Cravings: Ice cream and chocolate. Horrible too since there's none in the house.

What I Miss: On and off deli meats, but I'm not sure if it's a situation of wanting what you can not have since I don't normally eat deli meats.

What I'm looking forward to: Knowing the gender and getting the baby room cleaned out.

Milestones: Felt distinguished movement last week. 18 weeks in itself feels like an accomplishment!!

Symptoms: Exhaustion, food aversions, nausea.

4w5d blood work results

This is about yesterday - 4w5d's beta results!! I was anxiously to hear the #'s and got them a few hours ago. Here's the break down now.



12 dpo - 24 mIU/mL, Progesterone 22.94

16 dpo - 122 mIU/mL Doubling Time 40.92 hours

19 dpo - 422 mIU/mL, Progesterone 18.4 Doubling Time 40.22 hours




It's going at a great pace, staying under 2 days doubling time so I'm happy! The nurse practitioner said my progesterone is in the normal levels for the first trimester and that they can vary so I'm not too worried about that.



I've got the referral to the Navy hospital's OB/gyns approved so I'll be calling to make my first appointment soon! I'm still praying they stick to their agreement about having my first ultrasound at 6 weeks, but we'll see. I already know the person who discussed it no longer works there - thing about Navy doctors is they're switched out so much!! The price we pay sometimes.



So here's hoping for the best - and praying for a miracle in the end. I'm already so excited to start everything for this baby I cannot wait.

4w2d Update

Pregnancy update: 4w2d. Promise I won't do that all the time! LOL. Well, today is technically 16dpo... got my second beta drawn today and have to wait for the results!! Unfortunately when I asked the lady how long until I get the results she said most likely 48 hours!! It sounds like their place had changed who owns it or something, but if it takes 48 hours then all I have to say is their laboratory sucks. And yes I'm anxious to know, I just thought it would be more like 24 hours. Once I get them I'll be updating again. Oh and the pregnancy test? Yeah I took that after my beta for reassurance.

4w1d Update

Pregnancy update: I'm 4w1d so I'm going through all the pregnancy nerves again. We won't be telling family for a while because my last miscarriage was at 6w2d and telling every one that we miscarried is not the highlight of my life. However I'm feeling a little more confident about this pregnancy. Already my pregnancy signs are starting to stick out more - I'm a tad more sensitive and emotional to things (alright, I started bawling last night when my son woke up crying and coughing) and my breasts are really tender. I honestly didn't have many signs last time which led me to wonder if things were progressing, but later was confirmed when I started bleeding. Honestly I'd rather be sick and puking if it meant feeling more comfort in how things are going. I'm still waiting for the referral to the OB/GYN clinic at the Naval hospital and then once that goes through will be scheduling my first appointment. The OB/GYN who dealt with my
miscarriage told me that due to my prior two miscarriages I can get my first ultrasound at 6 weeks and trust me I'm holding them to that.

It's time to update!!

So sorry I haven't been around here the last while to update. Well I got my BFP 6 days ago!! What did I do different? Nothing. I still charted, baby danced when we had time (since he was working more), took B-complex vitamins after ovulation, took omega 3-6-9, extra vitamin C, a calcium chewable and prenatal. The only thing I really did different is stop looking into the symptoms I had when I was in the two week wait. I noticed most of my "pregnancy symptoms" were signs of an impending AF so I stopped focusing on those. I let the 2ww go at it's own pace - including telling my DH to hide the tests from me until it was time!

Well I convince him early to let me test at 11 dpo - but he gave me a blue dye and I was worried the line was an evaporation, since I've heard so many people got them. He let me try an Answer pregnancy test but the "line" on there was only seen if we looked at many different angles so I didn't trust that either. My husband had a duty day next day - so he said it'd have to be two days until I tested again. Well I cheated and went out and bought myself some dollar tree tests. A light line appeared! Went out and bought myself a digital pregnancy test and "pregnant" came up just as fast!





I got one of those little paper gift bags and tissue paper, put the tissue paper in it along with the pregnant test. I wrote a little note that said "What are you doing May 13th, 2010? Look inside!" and handed it to DH. Of course he was excited about it! I'm still waiting on the doctor to call back with my qualitative HcG # that I had done on Friday and then have to convince them for another so we can make sure it's doubling. Of course their office is slow right now and I'm on edge! I'll be making a new blog here soon to focus on the pregnancy :)