And the 3D pic...

Wow is all I have to say.

First OB appointment

LOL, it is amazing the information that doesn't end up getting to the doctor...when I called to make the appt I made sure that they knew I needed an ultrasound as we still weren't sure if there were 2 little ones in there or not.  The OB then tells me at the end of the appt that we don't need an ultrasound and I argued...oh, and DH and I are both not the biggest fans of the doc.  He has an odd demeanor...I can deal with it, well at least until I change over to a midwife.  Not sure when I should do that.  Or if I should. 

So the appt ended, I had some bloodwork to get done, and we went ahead and scheduled a ultrasound.  We actually got an appt for about an hour later.  We were pretty excited to see what is going on in there.  The ultrasound tech we had was really nice, she explained that if there was anything wrong she couldn't tell us and she would refer us to a radiologist.  I understood what she meant (no heartbeat, probs with the baby, etc).  After looking for what felt like much longer than it really was the tech showed us the heartbeat and took 3D pics and told us everything looked really good.  Well, minus the fact that she kept telling me that my left ovary is pretty large (not too large, whatever that means).  I had to explain about all the stim drugs and my PCOS issues.  She was pretty shocked to hear that I have PCOS because I guess I don't fit the "profile" of most PCOSers.  Yea, I told her my fertility doc told me that I am an anomaly.  LOL

So we will be requesting her (Ann) for the anatomy scan.  We told her we will be wanting this little one to be a surprise and to have us look away from the screen if htere are obvious parts exposed.  Also, she told us not to go and pay $$$ for a 3D ultrasound as she will do one at the anatomy scan at 20 weeks.  Pretty cool lady.  Great day.   

Weekly update

How far along: 9 weeks 2 days


Total weight gain/loss: Still on progesterone, wondering if this is causing some weight gain...hummm...

Maternity clothes: Yes and no. I have 1 pair of pants that still fit (belly band) and I wear larger cut shirts (same as last week).

Stretch marks: Leftover ones from DD. None that are getting bigger or anything...Yet.

Sleep: Was out of town for 2 weeks, got into my sleep routine there and now I am trying to get back into it at home.

Movement: Nope, I will be researching to see how early you can feel #2 though. 

Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: None. Aversions: Still haven't been very hungry.  I eat, but I really haven't had any "I HAVE to have this" cravings.

Gender: We are green team. Finding out at birth. Been having weird feelings it is a boy, but I am doubtful...

Symptoms: Some have gone away. Still have tender chest area, not hungry, bloated and at the point people stare and think I just have a gut. Funny how it starts so much sooner with #2. I can't suck it in anymore.

What I miss: sushi

What I look forward to: My appointment tomorrow.  Can't wait to see if that little one is doing well...

Moods: Back to work and not feeling it al all...LOL

Milestones: Making it another week...;)

Medical Concerns: Seeing that heartbeat again....can't wait until tomorrow!!!

Weekly Wisdom:  Probably not the best idea to have spicy pickles right before going into work...

Best moment this week: Getting home from a 2 week trip to the hot south...
Worst moment this week: Uh...spicy pickles...so good, but they hurt later...:(

Nervousness

So this is the part of pregnancy that freaks me out.  I can't feel the baby yet, can't hear the heartbeat on a monitor, and hope that I am gaining weight because everything is going well and not because I have been eating out of a box for almost 2 weeks. 

Next appointment is on Tueday...that day can't get here fast enough.

Weekly Update

How far along: 8 weeks 2 days
Total weight gain/loss:  Uh, probably a few pounds at least.  I seem to gain a lot in pregnancy, plus I have some leftover bloat from the meds.

Maternity clothes:  Yes and no.  I have 1 pair of pants that still fit (belly band) and I wear larger cut shirts.

Stretch marks:   Leftover ones from DD.  None that are getting bigger or anything...Yet.

Sleep:   Sleeping ok, belly is getting bigger so side sleeping will be starting soon.  Bought a Snoogle, used it a few times before my trip to New Orleans and I miss it!

Movement:  Ha!  Not yet, I expect it will come earlier than with DD though. 

Cravings/Aversions: Cravings: None. Aversions: Any odor and food.  Haven't been hungry, when I have the food right in front of me I am ok though.  Smelled someone cooking bacon last night around 11:30pm (living in barracks on my trip) and it grossed me out.

Gender:   We are green team.  Finding out at birth.  Been having weird feelings it is a boy, but I am doubtful...

Symptoms:   Some have gone away.  Still have tender chest area, not hungry, bloated and at the point people stare and think I just have a gut.  Funny how it starts so much sooner with #2.  I can't suck it in anymore...getting that full feeling already.

What I miss:   Beer (although it sounds disgusting to me now) and sushi!  Oh, yea...I miss Jimmy John's!

What I look forward to:   Leaving New Orleans and hugging DH and DD again...for another one = This will be the same throughout pregnancy:  meeting my little one.

Moods:  Want to hang out watching tv all day.  Been feeling a little grumpy and lazy. 

Milestones:  Making it to 8 weeks...

Medical Concerns:  Seeing that heartbeat again....can't wait until the 28th!!!

Weekly Wisdom:  Don't go and hang out on Bourbon Street after eating dinner in your first trimester.  It smells like rotten garbage and I had to hold back the urge...

Best moment this week:  Uh, none actually.  Been a boring week.

Worst moment this week:  See weekly wisdom above.  Definitely the worst moment, well, worst 5 hours I have had in awhile.  Not planning on going back there...ever.

Tag, I'm it!

If money was not a consideration, what would you do as a career? To fill your days?
That is an easy one...:)  I would travel but live in each place I visited for a bit, at least 6 months.  We have done a lot of traveling and have lived in Italy and I miss experiencing the culture of other countries. 


Who is someone you look up to, and why?
Actually, I look up to my husband.  He had to make a hard decision having to do with his career a few years back and I hope that he doesn't regret it too much.

What is the weirdest combination of foods you have ever eaten?
Uh, if you know me you know I have eaten many weird things, I think cow gums and escargot probably take the cake on that one.

If you could choose your own name, what would it be and why?
Stephanie.  Just always loved that name.

Where is your dream house located, and what does it look like?
My dream house would be a villa in southern Italy.  A nice, fixed up one though. 


If you had to use only one musician's songs to describe your life or answer these questions, who would it be?
Uh, I am bad at those kinds of questions.  Music and names of musicians are not my thing.

What do you want your last meal to be?
Either sushi or a 4 course Italian meal.  Southern Italian is my fav, can't find it very often in the US though.


Jello or Pudding?
Pudding.  When not pregnant it has to be sugar free though.  
 

Pics of New Orleans

Went out exploring, didn't have much daylight and definitely didn't want to be there past dark...;)  And I got to see a gator!  The river was low and some locals stopped me to show me the alligator, they said it wasn't normal to see one so close...

Here is the gator:

In NOLA

Ok...I made it.  Got into my room and slept last night...had a boring first day of school.  I won't get much time off until the weekend and since I am pregnant I bet there are a few people in class that will ask me to be the designated driver...LOL  Well, that is ok, as long as I get some daylight to take some great pics of New Orleans! 

Been feeling ok, not hungry at all most of the time.  I know I have to eat but nothing is appetizing.  I have snacks that I thought would help but eh...that is ok.  When I feel "off" it makes me feel a bit better about the pregnancy.  Keeping my fingers crossed that everything looks ok at my appointment in 15 more days!

I can't wait to get home though...DD is a bit depressed that I am gone.  It is different because I am not a million miles away like I am when I go to Japan...this time I am just a few states away...she is such a smart little kid. 

New Orleans bound!

I leave in 2 days to go to New Orleans.  Not a vacation, I will be working but I will try to enjoy the sights whenever I get time off.  If I get some good shots I will have to upload some pics on here...;)  Problem though...the bloat has made my uniform really tight and my new nametags haven't come in yet so it will be pretty hard to get a maternity uniform ready...Maybe I will just order some new uniform pants (larger ones) also...hummm... 

Mosquitos suck.

Funny...I haven't had to water my grass all summer.  We have gotten so much rain that the grass has managed to stay green.  So yay!  But the problems with this is that there are more mosquitos hanging around.  I knew it was bad when DD woke up one morning telling me her eye hurt, her eyelid was a little swollen.  I gave her some Benadryl and we headed to the doctor.  The doc thought benadryl would take care of the issue (the swelling really wasn't that bad but just enough for people to notice) and he sent us on our way.  I brought her to daycare and headed to work. 

After getting home from work, I went to check on DD (I work afternoons and DH gets her to bed) and I about dies when I saw her.  Poor kid...her eye and chin were so swollen!  I asked DH if he had given her benadryl and he had, but it was just insanely swollen.  I scooped her up and rushed to the ER.  The way she looked, I did get some weird looks from people.  I couldn't figure out why until I thought about it while waiting for the ER doc...LOL...looked like someone hurt her.  Anyway, the ER doc came in and took one look, then gave DD some steroids and more benadryl.  She was fine, acting normal, eating and everything but she just looked miserable! 

A few days later DD was fine...but now she is deathly afraid of mosquitos...and here it is: 

Infertility...

Well my feathers got ruffled.  Ugh.  As I have said before (and as some of you probably already know) it is rough being pregnant after being infertile for so long.  Do I still consider myself infertile?  Yes.  Do women that have never had children because of infertility think I am infertile, well...probably not.  That is the thing about infertility, it can strike anyone, not just women without children.  Yes, I have a child (it took 5 years with her, we had given up years before we found out we were pregnant with her) and she was a true miracle (especially considering what I had to go through the last 3+ years with TTC), but does that mean I am fertile?  No.  It sure doesn't.  I had people (doctors) tell me that once I had a child my body would probably get back on track...HA!  It doesn't mean I am fertile because I know exactly what I will have to go through again if we want a third child...

And how do I un-follow someone on a blog?  There are a few that have rubbed me the wrong way recently and for the life of me I can't figure it out...:(

Other than that, I feel fine.  It is days like today that have me freaked out, freaked out that I feel ok...when I should probably feel like crap considering it is the first trimester...and it still doesn't feel real (other than the bloat...LOL)

We have a heartbeat!

The RE told us before the u/s that it is completely normal to not see a heartbeat yet (as I am only 6 weeks along) and that we would need to come back next week for a followup u/s if no hb was found.  Well, he started the u/s and we saw the sac right away, he zoomed in and we saw heart movement.  Yay!  He did his measurements (6 weeks 1 day), and kept looking for additional sacs.  He didn't see any but directed me to ask for an u/s in a few weeks at my first OB appt because he couldn't see the top of my uterus to see if there was a sac there. 

I had mentioned something to him about being pretty bloated and he explained as he showed me my ovaries, they had HUGE cysts on them.  So the bloat is completely normal for someone like me.  Other than that, I had no questions...he reminded me that whatever I take in goes straight to the baby and no hot tubs...DH and I kinda looked at each other and smiled, more on that in a minute.  He also told me that now that they know what works when we are ready to have another child we will know exactly what has to be done.  DH and I have talked about it and we would like another one after this one so I bet the process will be a whole lot faster.  I will definitely be going back to see my awesome RE.

As for the hot tub comment.  Chloe is lucky to be here...lucky in the sense that I wasn't supposed to O on my own, and lucky in the sense that before I knew I was pregnant DH insisted I join him on numerous occasions in a hot tub.  He was so mad when I kept turning him down.  I was so tired and had sour stomach and couldn't bear the thought of time in a hot tub.  Weeks later we found out we were pregnant with Chloe...at our first OB appt the doc mentioned steering clear of hot tubs...then I studied up on it and read that we could have lost her...but we didn't and now she is finally going to be a big sister!  34 weeks to go!  (although I will have to mention that Chloe was over 8lbs and was almost 2 weeks early...)

Another year older...

This morning I was woken by my phone ringing...ugh, 7 am comes too early when you work until midnight.  My Mom then starts belting out the happy birthday song...it was cute.  We talked and talked about things, the pregnancy, the house, DD, a newer car, etc.  I even asked her about the bloat.  I guess some women get it and some don't.  I didn't with DD, but I was about 20 pounds underweight when I got pregnant with her.  After I hung up with her I got a few more birthday song calls...it was great!  A bit of a reminder that I am yet another year older and missing that baby in my arms, but I am on my way to that again...

Anyway, I have bought myself a few things for my birthday, hoping that I don't jinx myself but I had to get a maternity pillow as I am a belly sleeper and it is getting pretty uncomfortable already to sleep that way.  I also bought a heart rate doppler thing (please let there be a heartbeat on Tuesday!) and I plan on buying some stuff at Bath and Body Works tomorrow.  DH asked what I want, but sometimes I would rather just buy my presents all by myself...;) 

The cutest thing today was that DD gave me a present, some nice smelling candles from Pier 1 in a Halloween/Autumn theme.  Too cute.

Uh, is this normal???

I am 5 (almost 6) weeks pregnant with my 2nd child...is it normal to be so bloated that I have to wear maternity clothes already?  Wowzers!  I have probably already gained 5 pounds...guessing it is water weight, but still...I was expecting to show earlier but the bloat???  Aaaack...

Ok, not that I am complaining, I dreamed of this pregnancy, I have hoped and prayed and pleaded...I just feel weird wearing maternity clothes this early....