149 pounds at 15.5 weeks.

My pre-pregnancy weight was 142 pounds. This morning, when I weighed myself, I was 149 pounds. After not having gained too much weight in my first trimester (perhaps about 4 pounds), I think I gained about 2.5 pounds this week alone! Perhaps its the result of the enormous quantities of stuffed shells that I'm eating. Perhaps I'm just making up for no real weight gain before. Who knows. All I know is that even these size 10 pants won't be useful for that much longer. Thank god my parents are visiting this weekend and bringing up a ton of maternity clothes from my sister-in-law.

I asked my mom if she had stretch marks from her pregnancies. She said, "Not really." That made me very happy because the all knowing internet says that you cannot control whether or not you get stretch marks and the most critical factor in determining whether you will get them or not is whether your mom had them. So far, I have had a very easy pregnancy, just like my mom's pregnancy. No morning sickness. Hopefully, I can carry small babies just like her! She had 3 babies and of all of us, the biggest, my brother, was only 6.0 pounds. But, my husband was a fairly large kid, so my plans may not work out...

13 weeks today!

I am officially out of my first trimester today and starting my 13th week of pregnancy. I have noticed that I am feeling much less tired at night and I seem to have some increased energy. I told people about the pregnancy at work this week. Everyone was really happy for me (although one partner at the law firm seemed dismayed once he realized that his one mid-year associate would be out for 6 months on maternity leave next year). I was blessed with an easy first trimester - no nausea or morning sickness at all. I have found that the most difficult symptom I have is that I'm thirsty all the time. This baby must like to drink!

I still feel like this baby is a boy, and have been thinking about him as a boy. But we won't know for sure for 6 more weeks. I definitely want to find out the sex of the child. The whole pregnancy (and getting pregnant process) was so technical and scientific, so I feel like I might as well continue that trend and find out the sex. Then we can pick out a name and clothes more easily. I will be surprised if this child is a girl, but I will have plenty of time to get used to that idea too.

It is a rainy day Saturday today and so I think I will head to the mall. I have been needing new bras for SO long now. I am most definitely no longer a 36C. It's probably more likely that I'm a 36D now. While I'm there, I think I will stop in at some maternity stores and see what they have. I'm definitely not ready for maternity clothes yet, but I'm sure I will be soon! My little bump is starting to become noticeable. I was 147 pounds on the scale today, which is the heaviest I have EVER been in my entire life. I'm up about 4.5 pounds from when I started the IVF process (at 142.5).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed from my friend Lynn, who has her egg retrieval in 1 hour. I hope she has at least 3 good eggs (and that they didn't lose the big one as over-mature) and maybe one of her smaller follicles will sneak in to give her 4 or 5 eggs. This is her third IVF (and the last one went really badly) and so I'm really hoping for good news for her!!!

Nuchal Translucency Screen at 11 weeks, 6 days

Wow. This kid really looks human now! We went to Boston Ultrasound for the nuchal translucency screening test (the first part of the serial sequential screening). In this ultrasound, they measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of the baby's neck. We were told that anything less than 3.0 is "normal" and our baby measured at 1.6. So that makes us very happy. There is a much lower chance of the baby having Down Syndrome. The baby also measured a few days ahead of schedule as far as growth. The sonographer was very friendly and thorough and looked at lots of different organs. We saw 2 arms and 2 legs. We saw the stomach, which she said showed that the baby was properly swallowing amniotic fluid. We saw the two halves of the brain and we saw the septum dividing the heart. So we walked away with "nothing abnormal" from the ultrasound, which was divine news.

The baby was quite active during the ultrasound. At first, he (I think it's a he for no good reason other than 2 recent dreams) was lying peacefully on his side and giving us a nice profile view. But then he started flipping around and showing us the top of his head and his tushie. At one point you could see that he was literally pushing off my uterus to do a somersault. It was really quite amazing. My husband asked me if I could feel any of this movement and of course I couldn't. The sonographer said that the baby was only 2 inches long and weighed only 1 ounce. So tiny!!!

It was so nice to have reassurance that I was still pregnant and that things were progressing along nicely. Without many symptoms, I sometimes wonder in between doctor's appointments if everything is okay. It's irrational, but I think that way anyway.

I'm proud of myself for not gaining too much weight during this first trimester. I've eaten when I'm hungry, but I'm trying to eat healthy too (although I did eat a 6 piece chicken mcnugget at south station while waiting for a late train one night). Right now, I'm 145.0 and I think I started this pregnancy at 141.5 or 142.0.

I can't wait for the next appointment to hear this guy's heart beat again!

It kind of looked like a baby...

Yesterday I had my first ultrasound since the last one at 6 weeks, 2 days. It was very exciting. At 9 weeks, 5 days, this little thing growing inside of me is actually starting to look human (instead of like a grain of rice or a peanut). We saw a big head (about 80% of the entire body!) and two little sticks for legs. And we think we see at least one arm (and hopefully the other one is lurking in there somewhere!) And my husband finally got to hear the heart beat that I was able to hear last week. It's unbelievable.

We talked to the doctor about genetic testing and to her amazement, I asked for the entire Jewish panel of blood tests. She was very surprised to hear that my insurance company paid for the tests, but I assured her that it was covered for those of Ashkenzi Jewish descent. I think she was annoyed by all of the paperwork/consent forms that she would have to fill out.

Then we talked about the other testing choices. We opted to do the serial sequential screening, which is an ultrasound and blood tests in 2 weeks, followed by more bloods tests in the beginning of the second trimester. Together, these tests yield a 95% accuracy on whether our child will have Down Syndrome or other trisomy disorders. We decided that the 1/300 risk of miscarriage with an amniocentesis (or possibly higher with CVS) wasn't worth it to get to 99% accuracy. And what makes me feel better is that if something abnormal shows up from the serial sequential screening, I can still do the amnio. So I have my next ultrasound in 2 weeks. I hope the baby looks even more human then!

So far, this pregnancy has been quite easy for me. Other than being pretty tired after 9:30 pm, I have had no nauseousness or food aversions. Of course, I wanted to eat only eggs on a toasted bagel on Thursday night, but so be it. I guess you could consider that my first craving, but I don't feel like it was strong enough to be a craving. But it's what I wanted to eat. But as payback for the lack of other pregnancy symptoms (metallic taste in mouth, excessive saliva, puking, etc.), I had amazingly horrendous cramps last night. They lasted for 15 minutes and all I could do was moan out loud and put a heating pad on my midsection. I was on the verge of tears when they finally stopped and I was able to go to sleep. If I had any bleeding last night, I would have been sure that I was having a miscarriage. Those cramps hurt. They never let up. They were constant for the full 15 minutes. I'm very happy that they haven't appeared again today (knock on wood).

And last but not least, today was the LAST DAY OF MY PROGESTERONE SHOTS! I'm done. I can finally shed the infertility patient needles and be a normal pregnant woman. Life is good.

Heartbeat (again)!

I saw the midwife today. We discussed my options for genetic tests. Then she did the fun breast and pelvic exam. Finally, she decided to try and hear the baby's heartbeat (because my uterus felt nice and big to her). So after some cold lube on my belly and about 2 minutes of searching, she found it! The heartbeat sounded nice and strong and fast and it was amazing to hear. I'm so glad that she did find the heartbeat. She told me there was only about a 5% chance of hearing it this early and so I shouldn't worry if we didn't hear it. But then, there it was! Too bad my husband wasn't there with me.

After the appointment, I spent 1 hour on the phone with the insurance company to determine what is and isn't covered. The invasive tests (amnio and CVS) definitely aren't covered unless I'll be 35 or older at the time of delivery (which I won't be) or if the other non-invasive tests show an abnormality. So I think I will be able to settle for the serial/sequential testing, which involves a nuchal transulency screening (by ultrasound) and maternal serum analysis in the first trimester, followed by the quad screen in the second trimester. That will give me results with 95% accuracy. If something abnormal shows up, then I can do the amniocentesis and it will be covered. But I have a good feeling about this baby. It is strong and healthy.

I meet with the doctor 1 week from today. At that time, I will ask for the serial/sequential testing and I will also ask to be tested for all of the other Jewish diseases. I've already been tested (and am negative) for Tay Sachs, Canavans and Cystic Fibrosis. But there is a multitude of other genetic disorders for which I want to be tested. And insurance covers it!

8 weeks, 2 days

I am now 8 weeks, 2 days pregnant. I keep waiting for the morning sickness or nausea to strike, but so far so good. I guess I will be one of those lucky women who don't get sick in their first trimester. I think if it was going to hit, it would have hit already. I'm exhausted at work today though. I've already fallen asleep at my desk once (leaving a mark on my forehead and a little bit of drool on my paperwork). Hopefully, I'll be able to get through the day. I'm also wearing one of the bella bands that I bought. My pants still fit me, but they're getting tight and uncomfortable (especially when sitting!) and so I thought I would try it out. It works pretty well! It's nice to be able to walk around with my pants unbuttoned and unzipped without anyone knowing. I actually didn't expect to have this problem for another 1 month. Before getting pregnant, I figured that since you don't start "showing" until after the 3rd month, there would be no problem with wearing regular clothing until that point. But I was wrong! My body has definitely changed and my belly is definitely bigger than it was before I was pregnant. I'm up 2.5 pounds to 144.5 and my waist has most definitely expanded. I'll look forward to the time when I'm not in this in-between, unannounced phase and I can proudly wear maternity clothing and be happy about my growing belly.

The Dreaded UTIs

I went to see a urogynecologist this morning because I wanted to see a specialist about the recurring UTIs that I get after having sex. He told me that this has nothing to do with my husband and that some women, for unknown reasons, have defects in their immune systems. That means that when bacteria get forced into the urethra during sex and then up into the bladder, the immune system doesn't take care of it and a UTI ensues. He told me that I am already doing the best things I can, including taking the prophylactic antibiotic after sex. It is much better to take that as preventative medicine than to treat an infection later. He recommended that when I'm no longer pregnant, I come back for a cystoscopy (taking a look at my urinary tract and bladder) and ultrasound of my urinary system to make sure there is nothing actually wrong with me. He suspects that these tests will come back normal. So I got what I needed, which was confirmation that I would most likely be mixing antibiotics and sex for the rest of my life and that there didn't seem to be any safety issue with that approach.

I found out today, unfortunately, that my regular OB/GYN is not really available to help me with my pregnancy. Not only is she part-time (which makes seeing her quite difficult), but she is pregnant with her second child, which means that she is definitely not going to be available when I go into labor. So I'm going to see the other female doctor in her practice, who I have seen before, and who I like well enough. I'd rather not have to think about switching doctors because this doctor's office is so close to work and makes it very convenient. In addition, this practice is affiliated with Brigham and Women's and that's where they do all their deliveries. It is an excellent hospital and so I should be happy to be going there.