The First Trimester

Since I am now solidly into my second trimester I figured I better write about my first trimester before I forgot.

After our initial blood work to confirm the pregnancy at 4 weeks pregnant I had to go get more blood work done again two days later to make sure my levels were going up like they should.  All the levels more than doubled so all was good. 

At around 6 weeks pregnant I went in to the doctor for my first official prenatal appointment.  They did more blood work and an ultrasound.  I knew we were having an ultrasound so would be able to see the baby but I wasn't sure if we would be able to hear the heart rate quite this early so I didn't tell my husband that it was a possibility. We heard the heart beat loud and clear and it was the best sound ever. I cried when we heard it and my husband just had the biggest smile on his face. 

During all this time I was still taking 3 pills, 2 suppositories and 1 shot in the lower back a day to help my body keep the pregnancy. At 8 weeks I went to my final appointment with the IVF doctor. I had another ultrasound and more blood work to determine when I would stop my medications. It was determined I would start weening off the medication later that week and would be done with them by a little over 9 weeks pregnant. 

I didn't actually take a picture of it but by the end my back was quite a sight with the shots.  Between the actual shots, the numbing cream, the alcohol wipes and the massaging the oil once it was in to prevent it from clumping my back was really red, peeling and just plain angry.  It took weeks after stopping the shots for my back to heal and even now if you look closely you can see the skin is still slightly discolored.

After my 8 week appointment with my IVF doctor I was cleared to go back to my regular OBGYN at Kaiser.  Since Kaiser usually sees pregnant patients at 8 weeks to confirm the pregnancy and run all the first trimester tests I actually saw her the same week as my last IVF appointment.  It was A OK with me to see the baby twice in one week! The made me run a bunch of blood tests, a urine test and the ever fun pre-test glucose test. The glucose test wasn't fun but I passed everything with flying colors so I can't complain too much.

At 10 weeks I decided I had enough of a bump to warrant taking weekly pictures and have managed to remember to take them most weeks. 

Now let's talk about all those fun first trimester side effects.  From about week 6 to about week 10 of the pregnancy I was nauseous pretty much 24 hours a day. I was never actually throwing up but it still wasn't fun. The only things that I could stomach eating were carbs.  I pretty much lived on mac and cheese, bean and cheese burritos and various crackers for about a month. I was super sensitive to smells with the smell of curry and spices being the worst. 

The IVF medications can have similar side effects to early pregnancy so when I started stopping those around 8 weeks I hoped it would help with the nausea but the nausea didn't really stop being a 24/7 thing until around 10 weeks.  Somewhere around 10 weeks I started being nauseous only if I was hungry or smelled something the baby didn't like. 

Somewhere around 11 weeks I went back to the doctor for a checkup and everything was still all good with me and the baby.  This was my first appointment since I had stopped all the drugs so I was nervous but at this point I was officially just a pregnant woman not an IVF patient anymore which was very exciting and reliving.  I was cleared to do whatever physical exercise felt comfortable which I have taken full advantage of. While quite a few people already knew we were pregnant this was when we started telling more than just our family and my work since I was just about done with my first trimester.

While the nausea was no fun it was actually less than it could have been but what took me by surprise a bit in the first trimester was the level of exhaustion.  I knew I would be tired but didn't expect quite the level of exhaustion I had.  Since eating wasn't really high on my priority list often I would come home from work and immediately get in bed. Slowly by week 12 or 13 I started to notice while I was still tired I didn't need to get in bed at 6 PM.  

Random Thoughts: 

The only craving I had in the first trimester was one day I really wanted pancakes.  My husband and I went out to dinner at IHOP and after that meal I wasn't nauseous for the rest of the day. Lesson learned: listen to baby and all will be fine.

By the end of the first trimester I wasn't able to wear any of the pants I had but could still fit most of my dresses. I am planning to do a full post on what maternity clothes have been my favorite but most of my everyday work clothes are just the dresses already have. 

I feel like I got a bump earlier than a lot of people I know but I think that was partially due to being already puffy from all the IVF meds and the fact that I have a very very short torso.  There was nowhere for the baby to go except out.

So happy to be pregnant!

A Weekend in Solvang

Back in December after we finished our 3rd (and final) round of IVF harvesting my husband and I went away for a long weekend in Solvang to celebrate the end of that part of the process.  It is only about a 3 1/2 hour drive away from where we live so it was the perfect place for a little weekend trip.

We took Friday off of work and drove down to Solvang with the goal of getting there around lunch time.  Even though it was before official check in time we were able to get all checked in and settled in our room at the Hadsten House. The room was super spacious with a little sitting area and a comfy king size bed. The hotel was located right at one end of the main street so the location was really convenient and we were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go.

My husband had read good things about a couple of the beers at Solvang Brewing Company so we headed there for lunch.  The beer that had all the great reviews actually ended up being our least favorite of the three we tried but it was a nice lunch in their beer garden.

The reason we chose to go this particular weekend (besides the timing with our IVF cycles) was because there were all kind of Christmas festivities going on that weekend.  Our first night there was a tree lighting in a park downtown.

After watching the tree lighting lighting we headed to an Irish pub for dinner. When I did a semester in England in college one of the drinks that everyone drank in the university pub was called a Snakebite so when I saw it on the menu I knew I had to have one for old times sake.  It tasted pretty much how I remembered it.

After standing outside in the cold in the park for the tree lighting we were both happy to have big bowls of hearty soup.  My husband had an Irish stew and I had the corn chowder.  Both were delicious.

After dinner the park was much less crowded so we took some fun pictures with the props on our way back to our hotel.

Saturday morning we slept in, had breakfast at the hotel and then wandered our way downtown in time to watch the Christmas parade.  It was a cute hometown parade with horses and tractors and motorcycles. After the parade ended we wandered through a bunch of cute shops and art galleries. Eventually we got hungry and I had a delicious goat cheese salad.

All morning we had been seeing all kinds of tasting rooms so after lunch we decided to stop at one and taste.  Hubby was too full from lunch so he just kept me company while I tasted. By the middle of the afternoon we were tired and a little warm so we headed back to the hotel to relax before our dinner reservation.

After our rest we got all dressed up for our date night (yes, I know the whole weekend was basically a date) reservation. Before our dinner reservation we went to The Landsberry for a cocktail.  My husband had a Tennessee Mule and I had some sort of spritzer.  Both were good but the mule was better!

Our dinner at Succulent Cafe started out with a cheese and charcuterie plate since that is what the restaurant is know for. It was good but of all the things we ate that night it was actually our least favorite. We both agreed that if we went again we would either order a smaller plate or just skip it altogether so we would have more room in our stomachs for the other food.

These bacon wrapped scallops were by far the best thing we ate on our whole trip. They were cooked perfectly and the sauce on top was just a perfect complement to the salty bacon.

Both of our entrees were absolutely delicious.  I had a chicken roulade stuffed with goat cheese, sun dried tomato and spinach while my husband had some sort of braised beef with polenta. We had a refrigerator in our room so in the interest of being able to eat dessert I only ate about half my entree and took the rest home to eat on Sunday. 

I was very glad I saved room for dessert because their signature dessert was a bacon sundae complete with salted caramel ice cream and candied bacon. We shared the sundae and finished every spoonful even thought we were very full.

After our very large dinner the 10 minute walk back to the room was very needed and once we got back we curled up in bed with the fireplace going and enjoyed our last evening of vacation. I love laying in a dark room just watching the fireplace.

Sunday morning we slept in again, had a late breakfast and then packed up the car and headed home. We were home by mid afternoon and ready to face a new week and the next steps of our IVF journey.