8/9 Weeks

Tuesday March 1, 2016
It seems like the two weeks in between appointments took forever! My symptoms stayed consistent and nothing traumatic happened. However I still could not breathe easily until I saw our little gummy bear on the ultrasound screen. Dr. Bouknight described it as the little gopher in caddyshack moving around in there. We were able to make out limb buds and she showed us the spinal column developing. And our little baby is moving around. The heart rate was up to 178 this time! Nice and strong! She had not gotten a chance to email the OB's to ask about my continued care. She thought it would be fine to be seen by regular OB's but an email I received later confirmed that they would like me to go to High Risk to at least get a consult and get my cervix checked out. That appointment will be March 17thwith Amelia Sutton at UAB. As bittersweet as it was, this was our last appointment with our RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist). I have been with the for 4 years almost and they are like a second family. I never thought I would get to this point and it is so surreal that it is here!! I mean, I am nine weeks pregnant!
So for my fellow fertility strugglers, I know the mixed emotions that reading post like this brings. I have been there and felt those feelings. I have even struggled with posting what I have because I didn't want to hurt these ladies hearts. It's not meanness. Only infertiles understand it. It's frustration, pain, sorrow, a little bit of envy and anger at the universe for it not being your turn. I wish I had tricks to tell you, but I don't. I will say that the last thing on our mind that month was trying to get pregnant because we didn't even worry about charting or keeping up with it when we weren't doing an IVF cycle because why bother. I mean if IVF was not working for us why in the world would natural conception work. I will say that I know of hundreds of people who were lifting us up in prayer and I am sure there are hundreds I don't know of. My grandfather told me specifically he put my name in their church to pray for me that week of conception and I know a friend that anointed a prayer cloth for me that week. I know that we changed insurance that month to BCBS that was triple the premium so that it would cover more IVF labs and US. I know that we put a deposit on a puppy the month before so that we could add to our Alapaha family (Sorry Mom and Dad!!) We also planned a trip to Canada in the fall that won't be happening now. It was just a whole bunch of craziness and faithfulness that added up to our little munchkin coming into this world! I am just trying to say, don't give up. Or do but don't stop praying.


How far along? 8/9 weeks
Total weight gain/loss? zero
Maternity clothes? No, but have used this as an excuse to not button my jeans
Stretch marks? no
Sleep? Not much at night. Having terrible nausea and reflux right at bedtime.
Best moment this week? Getting to see baby on Ultrasound
Miss Anything? Being able to take medicine for my ailmentsMovement? NoFood cravings? Chocolate Chip cookiesAnything making you queasy or sick? TazikisHave you started to show yet? nope think it's just a fat roll :DGender? Labor Signs? NopeBelly Button in or out? InWedding rings on or off? OnHappy or Moody most of the time? Happy, but tiredLooking forward to? MFM appointment next week