14 Weeks!

14 Weeks today and celebrating yet another holiday. I have to say, with all of the things that I "can't" do during this holiday time, it is much more fun to be pregnant and experience it this way!

There's not a chalkboard this week since I'm spending time with la familia in Georgia...and I'm going to bypass the picture too because I don't think much has changed with the bump (which really means I just don't feel like putting on makeup or getting out of my comfy sweats and big t-shirt...so classy this lady is!).

So let's get right to it...the 14 Week Pregnancy Progress!

How Big is Baby? The size of a lemon!

Weight Gain?  I've been out of town this week, so don't have my scale...oh bummer : )

Workouts this Week: What's a workout!?!? Seriously with the amount of hours I logged at work last week prior to visiting my family, I couldn't even fathom working out! I'll count the 4 super brisk 10 minute walks to and from work as my workout...ish! 
 

Maternity Clothes?  Still loving comfy, roomy clothes but don't need maternity yet

Belly Button (in or out)? In
 

Sleep: I've actually not gotten as much sleep this past week as I would have liked or needed. But I can catch up while I'm here in Georgia!

 

Cravings: Not really craving anything specifically, just trying to eat things that sound like they will stay down.

Aversions: Pick a food at any moment of the day and it'll likely end up on this list...it's a constantly rotating list.

 

What I Missed: A nice glass of cabernet with holiday dinners...or thinking ahead to tonight, a glass of bubbly toasting in the New Year tonight (although a sparkling grape juice will do just fine!).

 

Symptoms: Overall the nausea and generalized exhaustion/body aches is getting so much better this week...I certainly have had my moments of gagging, but it's not the constant horrible nausea of weeks past.  Otherwise, not much there (other than the small bump) to remind me I'm preggo.

 

Movement: Not yet, but getting so anxious to feel this!
 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- GIRL  (I can't decide...I seriously have no intuition on this, although I've been leaning more towards girl this week!!) *Jon- GIRL

Best Moment of the Week:  Being able to get out of town, force myself to relax, and spend time with my family...that, and opening Christmas gifts for Little Lerma was SO much fun.  I can't wait to see the Little One in the holiday onesies next year and start reading those books to him or her!!

Worst Moment of the Week: The ridiculous amount of hours I had to put in at work to get out of town for this week...ugh, absolutely exhausting!

 

What I'm Looking Forward To: Continuing to relax and just catch up on things I normally don't have time for when I'm at home, while spending time with my family!

 

13 Weeks

Oh my, how did the first trimester come and go (although some say it's not over til week 14)!?!?  Either way, I can't believe how fast it went. And since it was filled with many, many nauseated and exhausting days, I am certain the second and third trimester will only go faster!  Here's to hoping the nausea and exhaustion will be a thing of First Trimester's Past!

 

Onto to the 13 Week Pregnancy Update

How Big is Baby? The size of a peach!

Weight Gain?  0 this week, so +6 total

Workouts this Week: Stepmill cardio session, lower body weight session, and one serious 2 hour house cleaning that these days are considered one major aerobic workout . I'm pretty sure I sweated more that day than the other workouts combined!

Maternity Clothes?  Sweats, leggings, big sweaters and sweatshirts are still my BFFs.

Belly Button (in or out)? In

Sleep: This week sleep was great some nights, and worse on others. I had several times where I just couldn't fall back asleep after going to the bathroom, so that made for some very tiring days as work.  But for the most part, I'm still falling asleep in the 8 o'clock or early 9 o'clock hour and only getting up to pee once a night.

 

Cravings: Still nauseous, so sticking to rice chex, buttered rice noodles, ezekiel bread, and the daily spinach and fruit smoothie that I tend to choke down (gotta get the veggies in somehow!).

Aversions: Anything not listed above.

 

What I Missed: Endless energy I used to have

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Symptoms: Still super nauseous, although now it's tolerable in the morning, gets worse in the afternoon, and by evening I'm doing everything in my power to keep my head out of the toilet.  Otherwise the constipation is somewhat under better control (thanks to colace and prunes), and acne subsided this week too...thank goodness!

 

Movement: Not yet.
 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- BOY *Jon- GIRL (as our OB said this week, one of us is right!)

Best Moment of the Week:  Having my sister and her hubby stay with us for the week of Christmas!! Love getting to spend time with them!

Worst Moment of the Week: Having serious pregnancy brain several times at work this week!!  Once I stood outside our bathroom door that has a 6 digit numerical code to punch into and just couldn't come up with it.  I had to walk to another bathroom that is a several minute walk away just because it wasn't behind a locked door!  Nice.

 

What I'm Looking Forward To: Finding out the gender of Little Lerma!! We had some genetic testing done at the 12 week appointment and it takes several weeks to come back, but we should know if we are Team Blue or Team Pink in less than 2 weeks!!

What do you think??? Boy or Girl???

Baby's 12 week US

Last week we had our 12 week ultrasound that was done specifically to look at the nuchal cord and detect any possible genetic disorders...which thankfully all panned out well and baby looks perfectly healthy!

It was the first ultrasound that I had done on the belly.  And it was amazing!  Yay for being done with the transvaginal ultrasounds (which Jon so gingerly calls "up the hoo-ha ultrasounds") for the rest of this pregnancy!  I've had enough of those to last a lifetime!

Baby's heartbeat was in the 160s and measurements looked right on track.

The video is super short b/c we didn't get to hear the heartbeat that long, and Jon didn't know it was coming up...but enjoy the few beats you get to hear! I do!

Whether a boy or girl though, this one is taking after her dad already.  In order to do the scan, we needed the baby to move quite a bit.  And just like Jon, this baby likes to chill! 

Not in a bad, scary way...the baby would move it's arm and hand up to its face, or wiggle its little legs, but he/she was definitely not wanting to flip over and move all over the place like the ultrasound tech wanted him/her to. 

So after being told I had a ridiculously full bladder that was overdistended and asked to pee to relieve some of the pressure it may be placing in my abdomen, I came back, bladder empty, and baby was ready to move and shake around.  We got the screen shots that we needed, and a clean bill of health for the baby. 

BTW- that was the 3rd time during an ultrasound that I was asked to get up off the table, put the ultrasound on hold, and go to the bathroom because my bladder was insanely full. One tech said "I can't believe you're not peeing in your pants based on how full your bladder is" and another tech said "I've never seen a bladder this full before!" 

So I guess all my years as a nurse have taught me to hold my bladder for an insanely long time, and not feel all that uncomfortable!

Now enough about me and my hidden talent of holding a ridiculous amount of urine, lets get to the good stuff.  More baby ultrasound pictures!!

The first two Jon took on his camera of the big screen tv that displayed the ultrasound live! So cool!

Oh you know, just chilling on my back and lifting my hand up to my face.

Finally flipping over- now head almost facing down, and little booty facing towards us and slightly up in the air

The next ones are picutres of the print outs they gave us...sorry not the best quality!

Little baby chicken leg sticking up in the air!  And the black "hole" in the middle of the body is the stomach! So amazing!!

You can count all 5 fingers...no more, no less!

 

12 Weeks

And we have a bump folks!!  Not just a little "oh man I feel full" stomach, but a full on, oh yeah she is definitely pregnant!  I'm not entirely sure exactly when it came on, but one night this week it was highly obvious!  So much so 2 co-workers commented this week (they were co-workers who already knew I was pregnant, but still!). And I didn't even fully realize the extent of the bump until I looked at the picture from today!  Whoa mama...literally!

While I absolutely love it (if you're going to be pregnant and feel pregnant, might as well have the bump to show for it right!?), I'm pretty sure I'm showing way more than anyone I've known at this point.  So not sure what is in store for the future, but we will just have to wait and see!

And yes, this is what I call the "cheater board"...just erase the second 1 from 11, add a 2, and now you're at 12 weeks with everything else the same.  I will have a new Christmas themed board for next week!

How Far Along? 12 weeks

How Big is Baby? The size of a prune

source

Weight Gain?  -3 this week, so +6 total. This whole weight thing doesn't make any sense for me...my belly is noticably bigger in the last week, and yet I lost weight. But I'll take it : )

 

Workouts this Week: The nausea hit full force again, so I only managed to squeeze in a 45 minute treadmill walk/run session (which I LOVED!!), and two very short runs (as in about 5 minutes each).

 

Maternity Clothes?  Still sticking to the good ole comfy clothes, leggings, and occasionally the maternity skinnies.

Belly Button (in or out)? In
 

Sleep: Bedtime has been about 8:30 pretty much every night, partly because I'm super tired, and partly because I can't feel the nausea if I'm sleeping! I'm sleeping well with the exception of waking up to pee, and now my hips and thighs are completely falling asleep and numb (which has NEVER happened before!).
 

Cravings: No real cravings this week since I've been so nauseous...but my go-to's have been saltines, buttered ezekiel bread, and rice noodles with light butter and sprinkling of parmesean cheese.
 

Aversions: Pretty much everything this week, but especially chicken breast, ground beef, steak, any meat (those will really get me gagging if I think too much about them!).

 

What I Missed: My time away from constant nausea and enjoying food once again

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Symptoms: Nausea is back full force. So much so, I can't really even think of any other symptom going on! Except the crazy acne on my chin and nose...oh yea, that hit hard this week too!

 

Movement: Not yet.
 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- BOY...GIRL...BOY (yeah, I've been waivering a lot this week on this one!) *Jon- GIRL (he's sticking to it!).

Best Moment of the Week:  Relaxing over the weekend with Jonny, watching some classic Christmas movies, some not so classic ones, and some musical holiday shows. Oh how I love Christmas time!
 

Worst Moment of the Week: Nausea, nausea, nausea!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing my sister and her hubby in 3 days!!! And getting to spend an entire week with them (with the exception of me working every day but one while they are here)!!

11 Weeks!

How Far Along? 11 weeks

How Big is Baby? The size of a lime!

*via*

Weight Gain?  +1, so +9 total...still not sure how or where this is going because all my clothes fit the same, I'm not eating a ton of calories, and I've even managed to get in a couple of workouts this week...oh well! That being said, I do need to reign it in according to my OB. She wants me to gain 25 lbs and we are almost halfway there already...not a good sign when you gain a lb a week in the third trimester!

Workouts this Week: 2 lower body strength sessions, 1 upper body strength, and 3 ten minute cardio (yes, I would have mocked the ten minutes before pregnancy, but any amount of time I can get in before I start to gag is fine with me! Hey, it all adds up, right!?)

Maternity Clothes?  Not yet, but comfy clothes are still my BFF

 

 Belly Button (in or out)? In
 

Sleep: I've fallen asleep in the 8 o'clock hour pretty much every night this week...waking up at 5 am just takes it all out of me these days.  I'm sleeping pretty well though, and several nights didn't wake up to pee until just before my alarm went off...bonus!

 

Cravings: McDonald's double cheeseburger and fries (which is weird b/c I never want this!), Chipotle burrito bowl, Mexican fiesta (basically just a smorgashborg of Mexican food : ).  Luckily this week I started getting my appetite back, although when I did eat it was much smaller volumes than normal.  I caved and got the chipotle, and we had our Mexican Fiesta Saturaday night, but still holding my guns and saying no to the McD's.

 

Aversions: Chicken breast, ground beef, raw veggies (although the veggie aversion comes and goes this week)

 

What I Missed: Margarita on the rocks with salt during our Mexican Fiesta (and how appropriate this week that Little Lerma is a little lime!)

Symptoms: The nausea was SOOO much better this week with the exception to last night and this morning, although I'm solely blaming working night shift and being sleep deprived on that one (thank you night shift to causing my drive home to be filled with a CVS plastic bag on my lap to gag/throw up in conveniently as I'm making my way home!). Headaches. Fatigue, although this too is getting much better. And still the constipation...although maybe slightly better this week??

Movement: Nope, still way too early, but I know that he or she is a kicker and a mover based on the US Thursday!  Can't wait to start to feel it!

 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- BOY...*Jon- GIRL (yes, still holding true to each of them, although Jon has said "him" or "he" several times this week which is new!)

 

Best Moment of the Week:  Getting to see our Little One moving all around, and now actually looking like a baby!  His/her head to body ratio is 50:50 which just cracks me up...and my mom said "Ohh, the baby has Jon's head!"  : ) Love it!
 

Worst Moment of the Week: Once again, night shift causing the only times during this pregnancy that I actually throw up...and in the car no less this time : (

What I'm Looking Forward To: Having the weekend off with Jonny, and not having much planned. Oh the joys of just relaxing through the weekend, watching holiday movies, and never getting out of my comfy pants and slippers!

We have a mover and a shaker!

We had our 10 week 2 day US done today at the regular OB and it was AWESOME.  Actually awesome doesn't even do it remote justice!

I have loved all the previous ultrasounds.  And I certainly love hearing the heartbeat each time. 

But this time, the baby grew DRASTICALLY since we last saw him/her 2 weeks ago!  It actually is starting to resemble a little baby with a clearly defined head, spine, arms, and even "skinny little chicken legs" (came directly from my OBs mouth, not mine!). BTW Little Lerma, those are courtesy of your father!

We could see the heart fluttering away and even the 2 ventricles in the brain.  SO Amazing!

But the most amazing part was getting to see him or her moving.  Oh wow, Little Lerma is a mover and a shaker!!! Kicking those little legs all around, crossing arms over their chest....awww, it was seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen! You could even see the fingers and toes when the arms and legs were moving about!

Now I can't wait to feel those little flutters that will eventually turn into full on kicks! 

So just a few stats from today:

New due date: July 1, 2014 (just moved up one day which makes sense to me when I calculated it off my LMP).

My BP: 85/60 ...um, yeah so THIS is why I have been feeling so dizzy lately, especially when I go from laying to standing or sitting to standing! Note to self...no crazy drastic movements!

Baby's heart rate: 175 bpm

Baby measuring: right on track!

Next appointment: 2 weeks

 

And the best part, here's our Little One! 

10 Weeks!

No, my shirt is not normally worn like this, but as I was taking pics with it down it's so loose it wasn't showing any shape at all.  Since I'm running out the door for work, there is no time for an outfit change, so this is what you get...and what I'm sure I'll be really embarrassed of in years to come!

How Far Along? 10 weeks


How Big is Baby? The size of a prune, small plum, or kumquat (whichever sounds nicer to you)...not sure I like the visual on any of them : )

Weight Gain? +2 this week which I'm blaming entirely on Thanksgiving and my 3 day birthday extravaganza where I got my appetite back rather than on the little one!  (= +8 since stims)

Maternity Clothes?  Stretch pants, sweat pants, and comfy sweaters are my BFFs...and skirts to work every single day!
 

 

Belly Button (in or out)? In
 

Sleep: I have days where I'm exhausted the entire day, and others where its 11pm before I know it and am still ok...weird week.  When I do sleep, I am sleeping well though.
 

Cravings: No real cravings this week, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed a full Thanksgiving meal, and each of my 3 birthday celebration meals out this weekend!
 

Aversions: Chicken, turkey (bummer for Thanksgiving!), red meat, some sweets (although this is slowly and surely coming back), raw veggies and most cooked ones...so pretty much anything healthy : (
 

What I Missed: Mimosas at my birthday brunch over the weekend, fresh ceviche and an ice cold beer at the Mexican restaurant we went to Saturday night, and a big cabernet with the Italian dinner we had on friday night.
 

Symptoms: This has been a weird week in regards to symptoms- I had horrible nausea and endless gagging for about half of it, and a blissful 3 days of thanksgiving and birthday celebration nausea free where I actually got to enjoy real food that tasted oh so good! I had zero energy for about half the week, and more energy (although not back to normal yet) for the other half.  And headaches (some horrible!) have been hitting pretty hard this week too. And the constipation is officially hitting a peak...not lovely.
 

Movement: Nope, still way too early, although the Little One is starting to kick this week!!!
 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- BOY...still sticking with it, although I have had 3 dreams now involving babies/kids and they've all been girls, so I could be way off on this one.

*Jon- GIRL...he's still sticking with his wishful thinking.

 

Best Moment of the Week: Spending 3 days with Jon celebrating my birthday- going to an incredible Straight No Chaser concert, and truly enjoying slim to none nausea that allowed me to completely enjoy 3 meals out! Food never tasted so good after a couple weeks of nausea and eating mostly crackers and chicken noodle soup.  Now that is progress! 
 

Worst Moment of the Week: Staying way too late at work one night in which the later it got, the more horrible I felt- by around 1 am I almost threw up on a patient while putting in a central line, and then about an hour later I almost passed out in that same room (probably from wearing an isolation mask for 2 1/2
 hours and breathing in my own breath!).  Gotta love a nurse practitioner running to a chair to put her head between her legs all while gagging. The only plus to this night was there were no parents in the room...just a nurse and a doctor I had to explain myself to!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing the Little One this Thursday for our 10 week ultrasound...can't wait to see how much he/she has grown!

9 Weeks!

Sadly, there is no picture with a person (or a baby) this week.  Partly because we graduated from our Fertility Specialist and are now going to start seeing my OB, which means no more weekly ultrasounds : (  I was really getting used to watching the Little Lerma grow from week to week.  But we will be able to see him/her just after the ten week mark, so we are looking forward to that.

There will also be no bump picture because there is no bump yet, or obvious change from last week.  That and with all the night shifts I've been having to do lately, the thought of putting on makeup and getting out of scrubs or stretch pants is just not appealing. 

So today I leave you with our 9 Week Pregnancy Progress!

How Far Along? 9 weeks

How Big is Baby? The size of a grape!

BTW we are not having a bushel of babies, I just couldn't find a good pic of a single grape : )

Weight Gain? +1 this week. (so +6 since stims)..although I'm seriously not sure how with how little I'm actually choking down! That little thing must be growing!

Maternity Clothes? Still not needed, but loving anything comfy and not fitted. Winter sweaters and skinny jeans are the best options for early pregnancy when you just feel bloated...thank you winter!

Belly Button (in or out)? In

Sleep: Still needing and wanting lots of it. 

 

Cravings: I'm still not really wanting much food, but I guess I would say ritz crackers with cream cheese has been the most consistent thing that I will want to eat (and that happened only twice). But I'm LOVING pure, unsweetened coconut water which is great b/c I pretty much gag down regular water these days which is all I usually drink.

 

Aversions: Meat, beef, chicken breast, sweets, chocolate, and now vegetables other than tomotoes this week : (- pretty much what used to be staples in our house. 

 

What I Miss: A settled stomach and abundant energy

Symptoms: Nausea, nausea, nausea! Extreme fatigue like I've never experienced before (except when I've had the flu...yes, thank you pregnancy for making me question whether I have the flu at times!).  Waking up to pee at night, although just once a night rather than twice this week!  And I've stopped having to wear a bra to bed, so look at all these symptom positives this week!

Movement: Nope, still way too early

 

Gender Prediction:*Dana- BOY (my friend told me 3 years ago when she was pregnant with her first, "I know it's a boy...I can feel his penis growing inside me!" While I definitely do not feel that, my hunch is that it's a boy...and her comment continually makes me laugh when I think about it! Oh, and yes, she did have a boy!)

*Jon- GIRL...I think Jon's is more of wishful thinking rather than a prediction, but we'll go with it!
 

Best Moment of the Week: Getting to celebrate another weeks progress for baby Lerma on my actual birthday today...considering I don't love birthdays, this is a pleasant change...and a birthday gift to remember forever!

 

Worst Moment of the Week: Working so many night shifts this week...I really think if I had a more consistent schedule the nausea and fatigue might be a little better (or is this just wishful thinking!?).

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Celebrating my birthday this weekend with Jon in the city, taking in a Straight no Chaser concert and going to some really great restaurants (here's to hoping and praying that the nausea subsides even just for the weekend so I can eat real food!!). And of course, celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday
with the Lerma clan!  Lots to be thankful for and look forward to this week. 

Little Lerma's 8 week update

I did my bump post yesterday just before going to our 8 week appointment and then straight to work, and didn't have time to give you a picture of the little one!!

So today I give you the update on our Little Lerma's 8 week progess!

The little circle on the upper left is the yolk sac.  The baby's head is scrunched up on it's chest and kind of resting on the yolk sac (aww...already loving to chill just like his dad!).  The body is below that and runs along the bottom of the uterine cavity! 

How crazy of a difference it is just from one week to the next?!?  We have a real live gummy bear in there!

*Heart Rate = 155 BPM
*Measuring 7 weeks, 6 days (just 1 day shy of actual, so that's great!)

So far, all continues to be well with our little one!  Looking forward to seeing him (or her) keep on growing!

Oh, and we also graduated!!  We are no longer in the care of our fertility specialist, and have graduated to a regular ole' OB!  Now that is progress!  Way to go little one!

8 Week Update

8 Week Pregnancy Progress!

How Far Along? 8 weeks

How Big is Baby? The size of a kidney bean!

Weight Gain? +5 (from when I started the stimulation meds...stinkin' water weight/bloat that just won't go away!); otherwise no weight gain since we found out we were pregnant

 

Maternity Clothes? Still clinging to those fav maternity skinny jeans b/c they are oh so comfy (although I do still wear my regular skinnies too, like in the pic above), my sweats, and of course black yoga pants!

Belly Button (in or out)? In

Sleep: Sleeping great, and a lot more than normal still, with the exception of waking up once or twice a night to pee. It's amazing that at one time 7-8 hours of sleep was perfect for me, and now I'm more of a 10-12 kinda gal! Hello!

Cravings: Bread, saltines, pretzles...super exciting I know!  Actually I'm not even craving these things, it's just the only things that usually sounds like it will stay down.  So for now, we'll just call them cravings.

Aversions: Most food in general.  Things that certainly sound horrible: beef (particularly ground beef), chicken breast, things with a lot of flavor.

What I Miss: Having plenty of energy to wake up early, get a ton of stuff done throughout the day, keep my house super clean, go to bed later, and do it all over again the next day...yup that is long gone for now!

Symptoms: Nausea...oh the nausea has truly kicked in this week!! It has led to more than a few dashes to the bathroom, only to dry heave or just gag. I will do *anything* to not throw up...I hate it!  Other than that, the typical sore boobs, night time trips to the bathroom, and extreme tiredness could also classify.

 

Movement: Nope, still way too early

Best Moment of the Week: Finding two moments in between the almost constant nausea to get in 2 workouts! Oh my....after 3 months of not being able to walk more then around the block, it felt amazing!!! I am really looking forward (and hoping to more moments of no-nausea) to continue to workout and stay active through the entire pregnancy!

 

Worst Moment of the Week: Almost throwing up in a patient room. Luckily I had a mask on, so the parents couldn't see the initital gagging before I ran out of the room!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Celebrating my birthday on the same day as we celebrate 9 weeks of being pregnant next Tuesday...I couldn't think of a better birthday gift this year!!!

Grocery shopping these days

I've realized this week that my weekly shopping trips are drastically different than they used to be!  Usually I make a list and stick to it.  Jon and I try very hard to eat healthy, filling a lot of our diet with fruits and veggies. 

And then I went shopping yesterday in a rare moment that I wasn't feeling nauseous.  It was a glorious change being able to walk through isles of fresh produce and not gag at the thought of them.

On the other hand, I came home with no fewer than 10 things that were not on my list, but I was actually craving...

 

Sorry, it's not the best picture quality, but on the back right was a big container of sliced watermelon on sale for a buck!  You can't see the watermelon in there b/c they didn't stand a chance on the way home.  That's right, the entire thing was polished off in the 5 minute drive home. 

 

And then the lovely pico de gallo sitting in front of the tortilla chips was polished off before Jon even made it home from work.  I guess if I get some of my appetite back and I'm wanting watermelon and chopped tomatoes, it can't be that bad right!?  *Luckily there are tons of chips left...I didn't do too much damage : )

 

And the proscuitto, 3 cheeses (fresh mozzerella, aged asiago & gorgonzola) and fresh whole grain bread made a delicious, no work dinner.  Just my style these days!

7 Weeks

As the weeks go on, this whole pregnancy thing becomes more and more real to both of us.  And we couldn't be any happier about it! So without further ado, here is the Weekly Pregnancy Progress! And once again, no changes in the body, so I will start with even cuter pictures of our little one!!!

The bright white 2 line-ish things are apparently the arm buds growing (you can actually see them better in the next picture)...and the black area to the right along the uterine wall is the developing brain! How cool!!

Jon's personal favorite picture...just for him!

 

7 Week Pregnancy Progress!

How Far Along? 7 weeks

How Big is Baby? The size of a blueberry

 

Weight Gain? I'm not getting on a scale this week b/c I just don't feel like it. But my clothes are fitting the same and I seem to look the same in the mirror, so we'll go with no change.

Maternity Clothes? Nope, dresses and scrubs (on the weekends) at work; stretch pants or my Bears sweats at home.  Plus I just scored 2 pretty sweet, stylish pairs of sweats (I know, that's hard to picture, but they are pretty cool!) for $2 each at my all time favorite thrift store yesterday!  With all of this, who needs maternity clothes...ever!?!?

Belly Button (in or out)? In

Sleep: I've definitely been a lot more tired this week...and am falling asleep around 8 or 8:30 on the couch many nights!  There were several times this week at work where I had to make sure my eyes were actually open, b/c I swore I fell asleep as I was doing something!  Other than waking up to pee, I'm definitely sleeping well.

Cravings: Sleep!!!  Oh, you meant food!  The cravings have drastically subsided this week as I've been nauseous for a lot of it. I guess if I've wanted anything, it's been a bagel with a thick inch of cream cheese.  Good thing we don't keep bagels in our house, b/c I'd blow up quicker than I could imagine...but it was a great treat over the weekend! So for now, I'm just trying to eat frequent, small meals, and basically choke them down.  

Aversions: Food in general. Really, going from being a foodie and loving to eat to not wanting anything at all, but yet being hungry has been a weird change.  But one I'll gladly welcome with a sweet little baby at the end!

What I Miss: Eating great meals and enjoying them, and cooking dinner with Jon while listening to our Nora Roberts Pandora station while sipping on a glass of wine....I miss this more in my head, b/c there's nothing I'd rather NOT do more than come home after a long day of work and keep on standing and cooking in a kitchen that produces smells that make me gag!

Symptoms: Still peeing like a mad woman at night (grr), and the nausea is coming on stronger and stronger as the days go on, and I have now officially had 2 women at work ask me if I was pregnant b/c my "boobies have gotten huge"- how was that for tact from one of them!?

Movement: Nope, still way too early

Best Moment of the Week: This week had lots of "bests" but hearing the heartbeat today certainly tops them all.  Close seconds include getting an amazing massage....oh how glorious it was to my body that just felt run over by a truck! And getting cleared for working out this week!! YAY, you don't even understand how excited that makes me, even if my max HR can only be 140, and I can lift no more than 15 lbs. I'll take it!

 

Have a listen to our best moment of the week!

 

Worst Moment of the Week: Getting pelted in the face by insanely fast flying wet, sloppy snow mixed with some hail while walking into work yesterday evening....really October!?!?

What I'm Looking Forward To: Working out this week!! I'm looking forward to watching my belly swell, but I'm just feeling soft and flabby all over, so I know that even if working out doesn't give me recognizable changes, it will help me feel better!

Words of Wisdom

In my 6 1/2 weeks of pregnancy, I have certainly not gained the title of "Pregnancy Expert." 

However, I have learned a very important lesson this week, that I feel compelled to pass on to all of you (or to myself for future pregnancies).

When the nausea of pregnancy starts to set in, and at times completely take over, some shows are just meant to not be watched.

One such show would be Andrew Zimmerman's "Weird Eats International."

Particularly the episode where he visits a small tribe in Africa and decides to eat the placenta of a birth that had taken place the week prior.  And then he drank the cord blood of another birth.  And then drank blood from a goat, a cow, and some other animal I couldn't hear over all my gagging!

And really, at that point you'd think the channel would have been changed.  But I was mesmerized.

Yup, that was me, sitting on my couch, gagging relentlessly, not being able to peel my eyes off of the man downing jugs of blood as it trickled down his chin and all over his white button down shirt, right in front of me!

So note to self in the future: perhaps shows about eating weird food and non-food items should be avoided for about, oh at least several more months until gagging with normal foods goes away!

*Source* YES, that is a placenta...and for an entire website of placenta recipes, click on the link! 

6 weeks!

With everything we've gone through in the past, I can't even tell you how exciting it is to reach another "week" mark...even if it is only 6 weeks, and there's technically 34 more to go! 

No belly picture today, b/c really it looks no different than last week. 

And now for the 6 Week Pregnancy Progress:

How Far Along? 6 weeks, boo-ya (we've never been here before!)

How Big is Baby? The size of a lentil

Weight Gain? still +5 overall since stims, none this week

 

Maternity Clothes? No change from last week, still rocking my stretch pants and Bears sweats 24/7 when I'm at home...and making the stretch pants look cute when I go out : )

Belly Button (in or out)? In

Sleep:  Really, really tired this week, with no energy at all.  Falling asleep early, but also waking up at weird hours of the night not able to go back to sleep for an hour or two at a time...stinkin' pee trips waking me up!

Cravings: Indian food (particularly chicken makhni, basmati rice and naan!), cottage cheese with tomatoes and himalayan pink salt, green veggie juice. *the cravings seemed to be really specific this week..but they were strong!*

 

Aversions: Still red meat, chocolate, really anything sweet (its starting to weird me out how much I seriously do not want sweets!?!?)

What I Miss: Sushi, dirty martini, red wine

Symptoms: There were 2 days this week that I was really nauseous pretty much from the time I woke up til I went to sleep, otherwise just being tired and still the sore boobs (although wearing a bra at night has really helped this week!).

Movement: Definitely not, too early!

Best Moment of the Week: Getting a sweet little package in the mail from some of our very best friends! Thank you Megs & Eric! Now we just wait to find out which one we can use : )

Worst Moment of the Week: Working  the 4pm to midnight shift and getting home at 2 am.  It certainly beats the 16 hour 4pm til 8am shift, but man it's still rough!

 

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing the little one again in one week, and hopefully hearing it's heart beat (although it was super cool seeing it flicker today)!  I was so nervous today focusing on whether one or both made it, I didn't get to fully take it all in and enjoy it.  So I am looking forward to soaking it all in next week.

The Ultrasound

We've been anxiously awaiting our Ultrasound...and today was the day! 

From the moment we saw our 2 littles on the first ultrasound we both felt bonded, and have thoroughly enjoyed talking and singing to them (yes, we are that couple) almost every night.

So, once again I was nervous, but mostly excited about seeing whether one or both made it to this point. 

I have to say that last night at work I had this "feeling" that I can't really explain that it was one baby.  If you've ever read my other blog about work, you'll know that I have gotten weird feelings or thoughts before, and they are almost always right. 

And then, I had a dream last night that someone gave me a baby announcement that said "Congratulations...it's Twins!"  I asked who that was for, and the lady told me it was for me.  I looked at her, gave the announcement back, and said "Oh no, that's not for me...we're having one baby." 

So when I woke up this morning, I had a slightly disappointed feeling, because I knew that just one had made it.  But don't get me wrong...we are thrilled that we are here, at this point, pregnant!

So off to the ultrasound we went!

And sure enough, there on the screen was one big yolk sac, and one teeny, tiny little white blip that they are calling my baby : )  It was amazing to see the little blip flicker pretty quickly, which is the heart beating already!!!

Sorry for the poor picture quality...its a camera phone pic of the glossy printout!  See the little black hole in the middle with the white circle attached at the upper right?? That's our Little Lerma!

We couldn't hear the heartbeat yet because it's still too early, but the technician was very confident that all the flickering going on she felt was strong.

That's our baby...nice and strong!

So while I am sad about the loss of the second, we couldn't be happier with how well this one little Lerma is doing so far.  We will continue to pray and hope that things go as well as they have been up until this point...just 34 more weeks of hoping and praying, until we can have the sweet little one in our arms!

5 Weeks

I know, I know. Most people don't starting blogging about their progress until 8 weeks or so.

But I'm not most people.  With everything we've gone through, I want to document it all!  And with the way that I've craved salt this week (as in I want to dip my entire head in the bowl of kosher salt that sits on our counter, or drink an entire vat of pickle juice!), I want to remember these things!

So here it is...week 5 pregnancy progress!

Let's start with the positive first:  My boobs are almost an entire bra size bigger already! YAY!
Now to the grr:  Next time I have to remember to pose with my back leg straight so it doesn't look like my thigh is the size of Jupitor.  But it took a good 12 tries to get the image to come out as clear as this one which doesn't say much, so I was done with it!  Second, while I would love to start with a completely flat stomach, here is the remainder of the good ole' overall stomach bloat retrieval has left me.  That, and the no workout rule that has been imposed on me over the last month and a half! (And yes, I hear you, my two friends saying "Shut it skinny B")

How Far Along? 5 weeks

 

How Big is Baby? The size of a sesame seed

 

Weight Gain? I'm back down to +5 lbs which was how much I put on after the stimulation meds, and likely water weight (you should have seen the +8 after the retrieval!)

 

Maternity Clothes? Well seeing as I previously lived in stretch pants pretty much at all times, it's been an easy transition for me.  That and I get to work cute flowy dresses and skirs to work so no need at this point.  Although I'd be lying if I didn't say that one of my most favorite pairs of skinny jeans are actually maternity...shh, nobody else needs to know that I may or may not have been wearing them prior to all of this! Don't worry, it's not like they have one of those huge belly bands or anything, you can barely-ish tell they are maternity!

 

Belly Button (in or out)? In

 

Sleep:  Great...and lots of it! I feel super tired in the last week, and will easily fall asleep at 8:30.  But maybe I'm just balancing that out with the fact that I now wake up twice in the middle of the night to pee which is SO different from my norm of peeing like twice daily!

 

Cravings: Salt (and LOTS of it!), cottage cheese with tomatoes, green juice, homemade pickles, green olives

Aversions: Red meat, chocolate, really anything sweet (what is WRONG with me!?!?)

 

What I Miss: Pumpkin beer at our halloween party, Cabernet (almost nightly!), and sushi!

 

Symptoms: mild cramping that comes and goes, intermittent gagging with mild nausea that passes pretty quickly, and boobs that hurt even if I look at them!

 

Movement: Definitely not, too early!

 

Best Moment of the Week: Getting excellent HCG and progesterone results!

 

Worst Moment of the Week: Momentarily falling asleep while in park at a railroad crossing waiting for the never ending train to pass at 1:30 am driving home from work...I hate these late night shifts! At least there was a person behind me who honked to wake me up, otherwise I might have found myself waking up to the sunrise while sleeping on the road in the car overnight (dad, you didn't read that)!

 

What I'm Looking Forward To: Our Ultrasound to see these Little Lermas next Tuesday!