Wow!

I didn't think it was possible, but today's appointment was even better than last week's! Today I got to hear the heartbeat. So, so, so amazing!! I can't even put into words the great feeling that washed over me as that *thump, thump* filled the room! Wow!

The ultrasound picture is actually starting to look like a baby (alien?) now. The circle on the right is the egg yolk, which provides the baby with nutrients (I had to look that up!). I could clearly see the head, body and leg buds. I know the arm buds are supposed to be visible too, but I didn't see them. Maybe our baby doesn't have arms?? ;-)

All of my hormone levels looked great and our last day of injections is this Sunday! Whoop! We are both thrilled! The doctor was looking for a heartbeat between 120-180 and ours was 150, so we're right in the middle.

As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I'm still feeling really good. The last week I've been craving potatoes and pasta. Apparently this baby likes carbs! I've also had a few candy cravings...in fact, one night last week after dinner I had to make a run to the store for banana laffy taffy. The only aversion I've had thus far is decaf coffee. This makes me very sad because it was my last hope to drink my morning coffee. I've officially decided that it's not the caffeine in coffee that I love so much, it's the flavor! Oh well, no more yummy coffee flavor for the time being...

Next Wednesday is our last appointment with our RE (reproductive endocrinologist). I'm going to miss the familiarity of his office and his wonderful staff, but it will be nice to be a "normal" pregnant person going to a regular doctor. Actually, I'm going to be making appointments with at least one doctor and one midwife soon so I can interview them and make a decision about who my caregiver will be. Anyone with insight into this, please share. I have heard pros and cons of both doctors and midwives, but would like to hear more opinions.

Just today we started telling a few more people about my pregnancy. We are excited to start spreading the news to our other friends and co-workers!

As a side note, we have had two unnamed people refer to my pregnancy as my "situation" and my "condition". Ha ha...there is your laugh for today.

6 weeks 3 days

We had a really fun appointment this morning! We got to see our baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor. It was so amazing and really made this pregnancy feel real for me. It looked like a little light turning on and off very rapidly. We also found out today that we are having one baby, not two. I think we both breathed a sigh of relief at this news, not because twins wouldn't have been great, but because one is perfect. We couldn't be happier!

Just like the last ultrasound appointment, I had blood drawn to check my hormone levels and make sure my hcg number looked good. Everything looks great. In fact, we get to lower the progesterone dosage to half on Saturday, and then we will be done with shots a week later on August 1. You have no idea (unless you've gone through IVF) how excited I am about not having anymore shots!!!! It's been months of shots and frankly, my backside is getting sore.

My symptoms are more or less the same....very sore breasts, bloated (although it's a bit less now), and very tired. I try to allow myself a quick nap everyday to keep my energy level up. Also added this weekend, I started becoming hungry ALL THE TIME! About one hour after I eat, I'm starving again. It's insane! I have been focusing on healthy eating though, and have tried to limit my consumption of junk. One big change is that I'm forcing myself to drink milk everyday at dinner. I know I need more calcium and I really don't like milk, but I'm doing it for the baby.

I'm in the process of reading 3 pregnancy/baby books right now. It's pretty funny, but I just couldn't decide which one to start first. How about I start them all at the same time?! :)

We will be vacationing on the Oregon coast Saturday-Tuesday, so I will not have another appointment until next Wednesday. More updates then!

Ultrasound #1

Welcome to our new blog!

We decided it would be easier to keep everyone informed of the happenings of my pregnancy through this format. First of all I'd like to express my shock at actually being pregnant! It's so hard to believe that after 2 1/2 years of dealing with infertility, a failed round of IVF and tons of doctor visits, we can finally dream of our little one!

We had our first ultrasound appointment today. It was dissapointing because we still don't know how many babies are in there (1 or 2) and the baby(ies) are so small we couldn't see much. However, it was reassuring to know I'm still pregnant. I also had a blood draw while I was at the office. They were checking my hcg (produced by the body only during pregnancy) and hormone levels (estrogen and progestrone). All my levels were great. My hcg number was almost 5,000. On July 2 it was 85, on the 4th it was 213 and now it's almost 5,000. All these numbers mean is that the baby(ies) are developing well so far.

We also found out today that I'm 5 weeks 3 days pregnant and our due date is March 10, 2010!! It's fun to have a date to circle on the calendar.

Our next appointment is next Monday and we will continue to have weekly appointments for several weeks until our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) releases us to an OB.

As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I've been super, duper tired!!!! I'm also pretty bloated and have extremely sore breasts. I had to purchase sports bras this weekend to wear to bed in order to make things with my "girls" a bit more comfy. It was a lifesaver last night! I don't want any of you to think I'm complaining about these symptoms. They are very welcome!