Moving Right Along

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We've been so busy with the holiday season, I've barely had the time or energy to update my blog. And I have so much to write about! Since the last entry we've had the in-laws in town for a long weekend, the dog had an ear infection, Mr. Merman had an ingrown toenail removed & had an infected cyst drained on his chest. I threw up while taking a vitamin thanks to my awesome new gag reflex. We officially announced my pregnancy/infertility and told everyone the sex of our baby. We've celebrated Christmas & New Year's. We had a private ultrasound done and another appointment with the OB. We began cleaning out the office in preparation for the baby. My sister tested positive for melanoma for the 2nd time and had a deep chunk of skin removed from her back. I had a minor blood clot scare. And, we're still battling with insurance to get a new roof covered seeing as we desperately need one but can't afford it thanks to my infertility.

 A sweet friend gifted me this ornament. My new favorite!

So... where to start??

Second Trimester
Today, I am 15 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I'm officially in the 2nd trimester!

I'm in that really weird stage of pregnancy right now. Being in the 2nd trimester means that symptoms are minimal. I can't feel movement yet so it's really hard to believe that I'm actually pregnant. There have been quite a few times that I've worked myself into a frenzy thinking of everything that could have gone wrong since my last appointment. Why don't they just let women have an ultrasound every other week to ease our anxious minds?

It's also a weird stage because I don't exactly look pregnant but my stomach has started growing. I've caught people doing a double-take at my belly (probably wondering if it's a beer belly). Most of these looks have occurred at the gym. They're probably thinking I need to spend some more time on the treadmill to work off that weird bump I've got going on. ha! My friends say that I'm getting a cute little bump, Mr. Merman swears I look pregnant, but coworkers are asking when I think I'll start showing. I'm so ready to just look and feel pregnant!

As of now, I've gained about 3 pounds. I can still fit into 2 pairs of my jeans (with a hairband keeping it buttoned) as they are low-rise and button below the little pudge. My work pants are another story! I've been on the hunt for some long dress pants as I need a 36 inch inseam. It is impossible to find such pants for a tall, skinny, pregnant lady and I'm going mad! Luckily, Kohl's had a pair of maternity dress pants that were pretty long. I bought a size up from the usual just so that they'd be long enough. Target was having a huge clearance sale so I bought lots of summer dresses, skirts, and tops for when I'm further along. Now, I'm just waiting for this belly to POP!

Pregnancy & Sex Announcements

The back of our Christmas card announcement

We're officially out with our pregnancy! We sent out Christmas cards to family and friends to tell them the news. I included a little blurb about our struggle on the back. On Christmas, I posted the Christmas card on Facebook along with another little paragraph about the journey we took to get here. The response brought me to tears! I was beside myself as I stared at my laptop and watched comment after comment coming in. Everyone was so supportive and excited for us. Fellow infertiles reached out & I gained a couple new friends to support as they continue their journey to parenthood. I was glued to Facebook with happy tears for a few hours that afternoon. It feels so good to finally be here!

That's right! We're having a boy!!! I'm no longer keeping this massive secret to myself. HALLELUJAH!
For my husband, I wrapped up a big ol' balloon in the shape of a foot that says, "It's a Boy!" He opened it Christmas morning and was thrilled. Apparently, he'd been hoping for a boy. I also gave him a couple of baby books and a onesie that says, "Daddy's Little Monster." I think that finding out the sex of the baby has made it a little more real for him.

We FaceTimed his family on Christmas morning to tell them the news. They were so excited to be getting another grandson.

We did Christmas at my sister's house. Apparently, my niece has been begging my mom to let her throw a gender reveal (which I'm not a huge fan of). I decided to let her be in charge of the big Christmas reveal. I wrapped a gift up "from the baby." It had decorations for a gender reveal, little voting cards, and photo booth props. There was a card that instructed her to throw a gender reveal party with all the materials provided. When she was ready, I had the final reveal but she had to make everyone go outside. She was over the moon! She had so much fun putting the whole thing together. She even made the dogs vote on whether they thought it would be a boy or girl.
When it was finally time to reveal, we all went out to the porch. I'd painted a can of blue silly string green so no one could see what it was. Before we knew it, my niece was going to town, attacking everyone with silly string. It was hilarious! My stepdad didn't realize what was happening so it scared him half to death. The silly string was such a pale shade of blue, no one knew what it was at first. Once my sister saw the blue, she started screaming, "It's a BOY! It's a BOY!!!!" My mom was stunned as she kept commenting on the fact that we've never had a boy in the family. Honestly, I had a blast watching this all go down. It was probably my favorite part of Christmas this year. I'm so glad I allowed my niece to "throw a party."

We told our friends on New Year's Eve. I bought little confetti poppers for everyone. We went to dinner and everyone put on a blue or pink clothespin. After we ordered our food, everyone popped their confetti open to reveal the sex of our little dude! So far, our whole group is filling up with boys. One of our friends has a 1 year old son. The other is having her baby boy in April and now I'm having a boy in June. We keep joking about starting a baseball team with our little crew.

Ultrasounds & AppointmentsMy last appointment was at 13 weeks. It was just a quick little check-in to make sure my cervix was closed and to hear the baby's heartbeat. His heart rate was around 140. They also drew blood to test for a variety of things. I wasn't informed of what these things were and it has been driving me crazy! I'm so used to being at the RE and knowing every detail of tests, procedures, treatments, etc. I'm thinking I'm going to start taking a notebook to my appointments to ask questions & take notes. (Yes, I know. I'm going to be that patient).

My next appointment is January 10th. I signed up for something called "Centering." I'll be placed with a group of women who are all due in June. Each appointment will be 2 hours. The description makes it seem like a little pregnancy class. We'll have topics to focus on each week. Husbands, partners & family members are invited. Each of us will be pulled aside for the usual (check weight, blood pressure, and heart beat, etc.). Any ultrasounds we have will be scheduled after the 2 hour session. We'll see how this first appointment goes. I really like the idea of this program but hate that I will have to use sick leave as the appointments will always be at 1 PM on Tuesdays. Anyways, I'm dying to hear this baby's heartbeat again! Tuesday can't get here fast enough!

Before we decided to announce the pregnancy, I needed some confirmation that he was still in there. I found a place close to our house that does ultrasounds for fun. They have a "Peace of Mind" ultrasound for $39 that gives you 15 minutes to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. Of course, we paid the extra $20 for a CD including 2 photos of the ultrasound. I'd been advised against doing this but really needed to see that baby. It ended up being one of the best decisions we ever made! I was exactly 12 weeks & 1 day when we went in. For the first time, our baby actually looked like a baby! He was rolling around and being so stinking cute! The ultrasound tech changed the screen to 3-D to give us a little sneak-peak. We got to hear the heartbeat on surround sound. It was so surreal!

Check out our precious baby boy!

During the ultrasound, the tech informed us that I was having a contraction. She showed it to me on the screen and explained how she knew what it was. It was just a small Braxton-Hicks, which she said is totally normal as I continue to grow. Earlier that day, I'd done a 1.5 miled walk for a work event. I'd actually been feeling this weird pulsing on and off since the walk. I just assumed it was muscle spasms not Braxton-Hicks! I'm assuming the walk is what caused them? I haven't had any since then, thankfully. I've read that it's totally normal to start having them at 10 weeks but it still worried me. I avoided exercise for about 3 weeks cause it made me so nervous.

Blood Clot Scare
I mentioned that I had blood drawn at my last appointment. The phlebotomist asked if I was afraid of needles or if they made me queasy.  I had to laugh and explain that I'd done 3 rounds of IVF and could probably do the blood draw myself at this point. I showed her the vein used when drawing blood for the millions of tests and procedures during infertility treatment. She was appalled that anyone would draw blood from such a small vein and insisted on using a different one. It was invisible but she could feel it under the skin. She used a much larger needle (rather than the butterfly needle) and my blood was pouring into the tubes. I was actually really impressed with how well she did and how quickly the blood came out. I even told her that it was one of the best blood draws I'd ever had.

Fast forward two days: My arm is really starting to bother me. I assumed it was from playing with my friend's baby that weekend. But, it kept getting worse. Extending my arm all the way was extremely uncomfortable. It felt like my nerves and muscles were being poked and pulled. A couple of days after that, I noticed a bruise forming on my forearm. I took my sweater off to examine my arm only to realize that the bruise was covering my entire bicep and formed a line from my elbow-bend to my wrist!

I called the OB's nurse-on-call. I was told that it was probably nothing but she advised me to go to an urgent care to have it evaluated to make sure it wasn't a blood clot. I've never seen my husband move so fast. When he saw my arm, he immediately found an urgent care center and was ready to walk out the door within minutes. Once we made it to the urgent care, my fears heightened. The doctor barely looked at my arm and brushed it off saying that it was totally normal for blood draws to bleed out and show up as bruises a few days later. He didn't want to charge us for the visit & told me to take some meds if the pain was too much. I explained that I was pregnant and that the OB had advised me to have it evaluated. At that point, he told me that his office was just a "little old place without any special machines" & that I'd need special technology to determine if it was a blood clot. We left pretty irritated and especially thankful that we didn't waste $49 on such a pointless visit. However, I was more concerned at the fact that he didn't take me seriously or look at my arm. I wish he would have at least pretended to have some concern for me and my future child.

Of course, I googled blood clots and it actually set my mind at ease as there weren't any big knots or swelling. Two of my good friends are nurse practitioners and both suspected low platelets. I called the OB who told me that they tested my platelet count with that blood draw and to call if it got any worse. Luckily, it faded into an ugly yellow bruise before finally disappearing. Believe me, I'll be asking all future phlebotomists to use a butterfly needle on my teeny little vein. If they argue, I've got pictures to support my concerns!

Artwork from Week 12

Until next time, cross your fingers that my next appointment goes well and that this little bump keeps growing. The countdown to viability (24 weeks) is on!  

8 weeks and 3 days til viability!