week 9:

Now it really looks like a baby! It kinda waved at me during the ultrasound and it moved around alot. It's just a little over an inch now (with a huge noggin')and it's heart was beating 170bpm. Apparently there is an old wives tale that if the baby's heart rate is above 140, it's a girl and below 140 is a boy. However, low levels of nausea are a sign that it's a boy, so these wives tales aren't helping me out!
I graduate from my reproductive endocrinologist next week and then I have to wait 3 whole weeks before I get to see my regular OB. I'm waiting for my 1st trimester genetic screen to be scheduled somewhere between 11-13 weeks. I have gained 2 pounds already, but it's more likely from adding back some of the carbs I wasn't eating before. It kinda makes me sad that I worked so hard to lose 12 pounds and now I'm gonna gain it all back in no time. It's for a good cause I guess! ;) If anything it's giving me motivation to work hard and lose again after our baby is born!

week 8:

We grew arms and legs this week! the head is to the left, the arms are pretty easy to make out, then the rest of the body. It's legs are kinda tucked in like a frog. It is actually starting to look like a baby now, or more like a peanut with arms! We actually got to see it move it's legs a little bit and we were able to see the spine. Baby's heart is still beating fast at 165 bpm and growing perfectly at 1.63cm. I have still been lucky enough not to experience any morning sickness, I'm just thirsty and tired.
I only have 2 more visits with the reproductive endocrinologists office before I switch to my regular OB, and then my ultrasounds will be less frequent. However, I will get a first trimester screen done to check for the presence or risk of chromasomal conditions between 10-13 weeks. I was told by the nurse that they can often determine the sex of the baby when that screen is performed. I'm not really sure which one I want, but I'm kinda leaning towards a boy. We'll see soon enough!

Week 7:

So, today I am measuring 7 weeks and 2 days. The baby is a little over a centimeter big, it's about the size of a blueberry. This week, it's brain is forming and producing 100 brain cells per minute. It starts to form appendages and gets some kidneys. It's heart was beating 139bpm and it's growing along perfectly. I've still been fortunate enough to not experience morning sickness and I kinda hope it stays that way! I feel like a hibernating bear, I'm just so sleepy all the time. So, this week's picture was kinda confusing to me. The circular thing towards the bottom left is the yolk sac, to the right of that is the baby's head, and then the rest of the body is towards the top.

Our First Ultrasound - week 6

It seemed to take forever for this appointment to come. I haven't really had many symptoms, just fatigue and thirst(so far) and it was making me wonder if there really was a baby there or not! When we showed up for the appointment the nurse told me my HCG count from the bloodwork results were really high, which could indicate multiples. There was a mini freak out going on in my head. She assured us that everything would be cleared up with the ultrasound.

Just one! Our one tiny baby measures 3.6mm. We even got to zoom in and see the flicker of the heart beating. Too cool. But even more amazing was when the doctor turned the sound up and we could hear the heart beat. I had to fight to hold back tears. It's heart is beating 100bpm. The doctor said everything looks great for where we are in the pregnancy; I get to go back to see him next week. Being diabetic, my pregnancy is high risk and he wants to see me pretty often for the first 10 weeks or so.

The results are in:

After 2 weeks of waiting to take a test, this was the result! The first test I took had a very faint line and I wasn't 100% about it, so I went out and bought a digital one. A couple of days later I went and got blood work done at my Dr's office confirming the results. I also had to pay a visit to my endocrinologist to change medications and really regulate my blood sugars during pregnancy. I've had to start insulin shots at bedtime just to bring down my fasting blood sugar levels in the morning. He also had me meet with a dietician to go over pregnancy health and diabetes. I'm supposed to eat 1800 calories a day with a limited amount of carbs. So, I guess I can't be one of those pregnant ladies who gives in to every craving. Anyways, we're due 12/21, a Christmas baby!

Round Two:

We went in to round two with the same game plan as round one. But this time we had to work around my husband's busy work schedule and him being out of town. I started the oral medication and went in for a monitoring ultrasound 3 days later. I had 4 follicles all about 10mm. The next 3 nights I did the follistim injections to help with follicle production. We were a little worried about overstimulation since I am still pretty young and responding well to oral meds. At the next ultrasound, I had 5 follicles: one at 13mm, 12mm, and 3 at 11mm. Five is a bit on the high side, so we were hoping that number would come down by the next ultrasound. Two days later, I had one magnificent 19mm follicle, one at 13mm, and a couple at 10mm that the nurse wasn't worried about. I've been trying not to get my hopes up, but the nurse printed out a picture of my perfect follicle and told me to save it for my baby book. So much for being pessimistic. I was injected with HCG to induce ovulation and we were ready for some baby making. But first I had to drive 4 1/2 hours south to get to my husband and I cashed in some really personal days at work. And the wait begins...

Round One:

Our game plan was to try an oral medication called femara that is similar to clomid, but with less side effects and better response for women with PCOS, injectibles called follistim to help with the maturation of eggs, and a trigger shot of HCG to induce ovulation, with timed intercourse. I started off with a baseline ultrasound to make sure everything was normal and ready for the process to begin. I took the femara a week later and went in for the next ultrasound a week after that. I had 7 "good" eggs between both ovaries. Two days later, another ultrasound showed 4 mautring eggs. We were hoping the number of eggs decreased so that we wouldn't over-stimulate and possibly have multiples. The RE erred on the side of caution and decided not to use the follistim. He said my body reacted perfectly to the femara and injecting follistim would just over produce. At the third ultrasound, I had 2 19mm eggs and was ready for ovulation to be induced. Two weeks after ovulation, we would know whether we were succesful or not. Unfortunately, my period started the day before my doctor appointment to get the results. Big fat negative. On to round two.