It has been a huge rollercoaster so far, but now, at 14 weeks (baby is about the size of lemon!), things seem to be good and I am no longer considered high risk!
Our success came from a frozen in vitro cycle. I respond too well to the fresh IVF cycles, so the frozen ones seem a much better option for us (obviously)! Below is a picture of our baby at 5 days after conception (after sperm met egg). They say the most symmetrical are usually the most successful, so I'm guessing the one in the middle is our baby, but we can't be absolutely sure!
When we found out the cycle had been successful, we of course were ecstatic. But since we lost our last pregnancy we were extra worried. So at 5 1/2 weeks (about the size of a sesame seed), when I started cramping and bleeding, we were devastated, thinking that was it. We went into the doc the next day and luckily, the bleeding had clotted. I had experienced a subchorionic hemmorage which is where when the embryo implants, it tears a little bit. The doc gave us a fifty-fifty chance that the pregnancy would continue (I didn't get a pic from that ultrasound just cause I was too emotional...). He put me on bedrest for a few days and then I wasn't allowed to do any walking, jogging, lifting, or anything after that. Well, at our 7 week appointment we got to see and hear the heartbeat! Although the blood clot wasn't gone, the baby had grown which made the blood clot a smaller threat, but still a concern. Below is our ultrasound pic from exactly 7 weeks (about the size of a blueberry)!
As in vitro goes, I was still needing daily injections of progesterone. Progesterone comes in an oil, in this case, sesame oil and is injected into the upper bum. Well, I had been doing the injections for many weeks by then and occasionally I would feel a little short of breath but didn't think too much of it since I could still breath, my chest just felt a little tight, but really not bad. So one night Chris gives me my injection just like always and I had a real allergic reaction. That cheek swelled up twice its rightful size and I started getting hives, my skin was burning and crawling and for some reason, I kept having muscle spasms! I also went partially numb and haven't gotten all the feeling back yet, although it is coming back! They switched the oil the progesterone was in and I was fine after that, but I had to have every shot in the not swolen cheek which just made walking around look funny I'm sure! You know, I knew my bum would probably get bigger when I got pregnant, but I wasn't anticipating just one cheek getting bigger! Luckily the swelling has gone down, but I have a weird star shaped scar/stretch mark at the damage site now! I thought about taking a picture but decided not to post a pic of my butt online!
I started getting morning sickness after that. Not so fun and the bathroom at work seemed way too far away, but it really didn't last as long as many people so I count myself lucky! I still get waves of nausea, but it's usually when I need to eat and lessens every day!
Finally, our ten week appointment came with a regular OB. I am still really sad to not be using my RE any more, but their purpose is really to get you pregnant and then the OB takes care of the pregnancy. But I still miss him-best doc ever! But luckily, the OB we went to can do ultrasounds in his office as well, so my spoiling of getting ultrasounds didn't stop. We saw our little gummy bear at 9 weeks 5 days and it was wiggling all over and the heart was still beating! We felt so much relief even though we weren't out of the woods yet. But the baby looked so much like a gummy bear, I actually started craving gummy bears. I was mortified that I would want gummy bears since that's what my baby looked like, so I never got them - it was just too morbid! Below is a pic of our baby at 9 weeks 5 days (between the size of a grape and kumquat)!
As we had been deciding between two OBs, the second OB didn't see me until 13 weeks and when he didn't do an ultrasound, my spoiled self decided to keep the first OB (which actually makes sense for distance for appts and the hospital, etc). But the second OB did tell me the heart rate was 155 beats per minute! According to old wives tales that means baby is a girl, but I think it's a boy, so we'll see what it is in a few weeks - and we honestly don't care girl or boy, we just want a baby, so whatver it is will be perfect!
Yesterday, we had another appointment with the doc we're gonna use at the Intermountain Medical Center and got to hear the heartbeat again! 157, so maybe it is a girl?! We'll find out December 22, the best Christmas present ever whatever gender the baby is!
So, Happy Thanksgiving! Mine has definitely been wonderful!
