Maternitywear!

Last week I finally started showing a little bit, and this weekend it seems like my belly is really starting to come out. By now the uterus should have lifted up and out of the pelvis, so my lower abdomen is clearly starting to distend and round out. (As a result, I can’t stop holding my hand on my belly and just touching it! It’s so incredible!)

Last wednesday during orchestra rehearsal I started to feel very uncomfortable sitting (rehearsal is 3 hours) and realized that even the low waistband of my jeans presses against my belly. This pressure just feels incredibly uncomfortable–kind of like you just have this need to stretch out all the time…. and…

then a few days later I tried to wear a different set of jeans, which come up much higher on the waist, and I realized after spending several hours in them, that they just weren’t going to work anymore.

So today, we dared the christmas shopping masses, and ventured out to a mall and I finally tried on some maternity pants! What relief and comfort! In a few days I’ll be jumping into my second trimester, so this is perfect 🙂

This weekend I also picked up a packaged from the post office containing a few maternity shirts (for when I’m a bit further along), which feel amazing!

In other news it seems like the nausea might actually be subsiding a little. At least I’ve gotten a few easier days in there every now and then.

Week 11 Update

I’ve been pretty quiet recently, mostly because all I’ve got to say is more of the same, more of the same.

I’ve just begun my 12th week of pregnancy (11 weeks+ 0 days-11 weeks+6 days). The little life inside me will by about 5cm by the end of the week and all of its organs are not only finished developing, but start to function this week! The placenta should be taking over this hormone production giving me a break—but so far, I’m still as nauseated as ever. Oh Sunday was fun–I could barely be upright without throwing up. I didn’t feel better until around 11pm.

After nearly 3 months of feeling sick, I can tell you I’m tired of it. I’m still exhausted, and my body is clearly telling me to rest. I just decided that at work I’ll no longer carry or move weights for my clients-they get to do all of the carrying from now on. Lifting heavy things makes me puke.

My lower abdomen is clearly rounding and I’m actually starting to show a little! Normal clothes feel uncomfortable on my belly–everything has to go over or under. I just spent a bunch of €€ on new work (sports) clothes to accommodate this growing belly and swelling… everything. I’m certain that by Christmas there will be no more question about my pregnancy. And even though it’s been just nearly 3 months, even though I’ve been so sick and have experienced pretty much every pregnancy symptom on the planet, it’s still hard to believe I’m going to be someone’s parent. I don’t feel like a mother. I’ve just been at awe at my body’s changes without too much concern for the (not so distant) future.

Next week on Wednesday we have our next ultrasound, where we’ll finally get to see our baby again! Thankfully, we’ve got our little nifty Doppler, with which we’ve been able to listen to the comforting sounds of a quickly thumping heartbeat. There’s really someone there!

Nerd moms and week 9 update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from: here.

So. 9 weeks, 3 days.

As I’ve already complained on everyone’s blog so far, I’ve been very sick. So sick, that I actually took the rest of the week off, from Tuesday afternoon. I didn’t think the “morning” sickness could actually get any worse, but it did, and clearly being at work was making it worse. I think I’ve told you before that my work is very physically demanding as a personal trainer and group training instructor, and being at work these past few weeks has been really tough. Almost every morning I’ve been asking myself WHY I’m there instead of at home resting, and these past few days have proved just that to be the best solution. I am significantly less nauseous now that I’ve been lying down and resting..reading magazines (about babies, of course) and watching TV. A part of me is hoping that maybe little by little the worst of this is over…?

This week has been exciting, as on Tuesday we went for our first prenatal appointment. Over where we live, we have some of the world’s best free prenatal programs, where mothers-to-be are followed for the duration of the pregnancy AND, post-natal care including weekly, then monthly, and eventually yearly check-ups for the newborn up until they go to school. The first visit was mostly just talking with the nurse for over an hour about how I’ve been so far, what to expect from future visits, a whole bunch of prenatal instructions/suggestions for diet and exercise. All in all it was nice–my partner was included and she felt very welcome and was immediately seen as the baby’s other parent. We talked about drugs and alcohol, about “family coaching” in the spring, and that was that. We also got flu shots.

That same day I decided I needed to stay home from work, so after training a few clients I hopped on a bus to the doctor’s to get sick leave, and spent the rest of the evening just vegged out on the sofa. We knew that usually that for non-IVF/infertility treatment people, the initial ultrasound is at around 10 weeks, but of course we’d already had an early scan at 6wk6d…The nurse explained to us, that timing-wise the next ultrasound would be at one of the two prenatal hospitals between weeks 10-13 and would include screening for Down’s and other similar chromosomal issues. I’ll also have a bunch of blood work drawn for a full health screening (not that they didn’t do those already for all our treatments…). So…the next morning my partner searched for at-home doppler machines…and purchased one! How exciting!

The letter from the hospital came yesterday, and our ultrasound isn’t until mid-December!! GASP! How can I possibly that long to make SURE our little almost-fetus is okay? To our great surprise, the doorbell rang mid-day today… and there was the package! Our doppler machine had arrived! We all but tore the packaging apart, spread jelly on my belly…and started to listen. Unfortunately my partner had to rush out before we were able to hear anything, but I closed my eyes and moved the sensor around slowly, slowly, slowly….until after what seemed like forever…there it was! A distinct whomp-whomp-whomp-whomp-whomp beating fast and strong. I may have gotten a bit teared up. Our baby is definitely alive and going strong! What relief! 

And to any nervous nellies, I absolutely recommend this. They’re not expensive, and if you have to wait for weeks and weeks in between scans and ultrasounds, this is a great way to calm those nerves and be assured that yes, the baby is doing just fine.

Ps. even though the manual says it can pick up the fetal heartbeat from week 12 on, all the user comments said they were able to hear it from around week 9 on… it may just be a bit harder to find, since the fetus is still so small and is moving around quite a bit.

Update on the condition of my world

Idea stolen from Jonsie13.

I’m at eight weeks and 1 day. In the middle of what should be the worst of the deluge of pregnancy symptoms. Our doctor says by week 10 most feel relief from the worst of it, and complete relief by week 14. I seriously can’t wait.

Pretty much six days out of seven I’m throwing up or gagging from when I wake up until about 8-9pm. If I get hungry (like at all!) I hurl, if I get too tired, I hurl. If I get too hot, I hurl, if I pretty much just breathe between 8 am and 2pm, I hurl. Fun! Most of the time it’s just gagging without much of anything coming up, but it damn sure is very uncomfortable. I can’t wait for this to stop, seriously.

I haven’t been able to train at the gym or ride my bike for weeks because guess what? You got it! It makes me hurl.

The exhaustion is pretty intense, too–the sicker I am during the day, the more exhausted I’m sure to be. I’m sleeping 10hr nights with at least 2 hours of naps left in me. If I don’t go to bed or at least lie down by 10pm, baby says: go to sleep, bitch! And I hurl. So the message is clear: eat, rest and sleep…or else!

I haven’t really noticed mood swings, but I can tell I’m gaining fat…which I know is supposed to happen but still makes me wish for my more hard body back. Also, my boobs don’t fit into anything anymore.

And like many before me, I’m starting to feel the joys of constipation, morning sweats and crazy dreams.

So far for baby dreams, one where we had a baby boy and last night I dreamed we had fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. Barring some crazy miracle, there’s only one in there 🙂

Little blueberry

Today, just an hour ago we saw our tiny beginning of a life. 9mm from head to rump and a quivering heartbeat around 140bpm. I’m feeling dazed and just amazed! So excited that our first round of IVF worked and here we are! I’m just seven weeks pregnant and all is well!

Wishing upon a heartbeat

It’s around 6pm on a Sunday, and I’m lying down on our pseudo-sofa, with a cat partially lying on me purring loudly. This weekend I have felt more exhausted than ever, crashing around 3pm, and then again around 8-9pm. The fatigue comes and kidnaps you like jetlag. When you’re least expecting it, you’re suddenly captured in this dark cloud and pulled into sleep practically against your will. It’s getting to the point where, I can’t hide it, and I have already suffered the consequences at work when I can’t just up and go take a nap in the middle of training a client. (Luckily, however, if the fatigue hits me earlier, I’m usually on my lunch break and can go take a nap on the sofa in the child-care area).

Tuesday has been the only day this week that has been manageable in terms of the nausea (no gagging or puking, just a twinge of nausea). Today has probably been the worst day of the nausea too. No matter if I’ve just eaten or what, but I’ve been pale as a sheet all day, and have been gagging and puking pretty much since morning, and it hasn’t really subsided at any point. Great. We were visiting my wife’s godfather, where there were also her second cousin and family visiting, and they all probably all thought I was hungover. Oh well. I guess the symptoms are pretty similar.

Tomorrow, tomorrow! In about 18 hrs, one sleep away, is our first ultrasound! We are wishing for a strong heartbeat! And though it’s a crazy thought—what if there’s twins in there? What if this little embryo decided to become identical twins? Or is this level of fatigue and nausea normal for a singleton? Anyway, we can’t wait!

The (un)joyment of early pregnancy

I’m just slipping into week six of pregnancy and already the symptoms have gotten pretty intense. I graduated from just feeling nauseated to gagging last Sunday, and since then have also begun actually puking. Fun!

It’s especially fun because it’s exacerbated by exercise, especially if my heart rate goes up, which is sort of an issue since working out is my job. I can limit my own training at the gym and reduce the weight for my deadlifts, for example, but I sill teach 6 group ex classes/week. Training my PT clients has also been a hoot while trying to discretely swallow vomit while gagging.

It’s only time that clients will suspect something (why is my trainer carrying around a plastic bag, why does she keep sitting down in the middle of my set of bicep curls? And why does she keep turning away from me covering her mouth like that…)….

Then there’s the fatigue. And the dizziness….and I can’t even ride my bike to work any more because it makes me so dizzy and sick.

Wah wah wah!

Calming down

I got the results from my second beta, and I think I can stop worrying now.

First beta hCG on 10/17: 283
2nd beta hCG on 10/23: 3736!!!!!!!!

Okay. Stop worrying. I’m definitely, definitely preggers even though I didn’t throw up yesterday. Today the nausea is back and trying to get the best of me. Plus my boobs are getting so sore and heavy that I woke up from boob pain multiple times during the night. Ouch!!

Worrywart

It seems so far off–our 7 week ultrasound on Nov 4th. An eternity without any appointments or confirmation about YES THIS IS REAL. You spend so much time preparing for disappointment because you’ve been disappointed so many times, that you completely forget to prepare for it actually being possible to succeed. It’s hard to be excited, because you don’t know how to be. What you are used to is waking up bleeding and cramping and in ridiculous amounts of pain. You’re expecting there to be blood every time you go pee. And you keep expecting… to just suddenly stop being pregnant. 

Today I made an appointment for the free national pre-natal health care. The appointment will be near where we live, and we’ll have the same pre-natal nurse for the entire duration of the pregnancy. There are monthly check-ups which last until your child goes to school (obviously there are fewer visits the older the child gets), there’s family coaching, birth coaching.. all kinds of groups for pregnant women… aaaand.. this just feels so bizarre. I don’t really even believe I’m pregnant yet! And here we have an appointment to the place where you know, actually pregnant women go.

I’m trying to tell myself that as long as the nausea is getting worse (yes, it’s getting worse–I’ve progressed from just feeling nauseated to actually gagging without anything coming up), then I’m probably still pregnant and I probably don’t need to go in for another blood test. That and I’m probably going to have to go and get larger sports bras soon.

Those of you that have been in this situation… I’d appreciate any tips for helping with the nausea… and have you managed to stop being paranoid at some point? At which point did you actually believe the pregnancy was real?

 

The numbers are in!

So the numbers are in! The results from my beta hCG levels are 238, comfortably in the range of definitely pregnant. Of course those numbers are from yesterday and today they’d be something else…

Our clinic doesn’t routinely do more than the one so our next appointment is November 4th for our first ultrasound!

So the waiting game continues…