The first half of the Second Trimester

As I am nearing the end-ish of the second trimester I wanted to go back and look at the first half of the trimester.  From the time I was 10 weeks along and decided to take weekly pictures all the way through week 13 and the end of the first trimester I was good about remembering to take weekly photos but I managed to miss week 14 and 15.

Not quite a week 14 bump picture but I did go to Disneyland at around 14 weeks pregnant and have tons of photos from that trip.  I have a post all about my thoughts and experiences about going to Disneyland in the early second trimester coming soon.

During the first trimester the only actual maternity clothes I bought were workout leggings because my regular high waisted ones got uncomfortable really quickly.  Actually the first new piece of clothing I had to purchase was a larger bra almost immediately and my chest hasn't stopped growing since.  I went from a 32DDD to a 34DDD within a few weeks of being pregnant and by the time my mom and I went shopping for maternity clothes around week 15 it was already time to size up in bras again...My actual bra size was at 34G at that point but I opted to get a 36DDD and just wear it on the tightest hook to give myself the option to wear the bra looser if I wanted to or if my rib cage spread. Spoiler: I am still wearing a 36 on the tightest hook so my ribcage hasn't spread but my chest continues to grow and by the time I am about 21 weeks I am wearing a 36G.

From the start of the second trimester through about week 16 or 17 I didn't feel like my bump was growing that much because I had kind of gone from puggy to small bump at that point.  Between IVF residual puffiness and the fact that I have pretty much no torso I got the original bump pretty quickly because she had nowhere to go but outwards. 

I went for a checkup around 16 weeks and while I didn't get to see the baby on an ultrasound at this appointment I did get to hear her heartbeat.  Everything was good with her and I had to have some blood drawn for my second trimester tests.  They tested for spina bifida and something else that I can't remember but all the tests came back negative and I continued to have a normal healthy pregnancy.

Somewhere around week 18 I started to notice my bump growing again and I started feeling "pregnant". Around this time I started to not be able to sleep on my back when normally I go back and forth between my side and my back. I could still lay on my back for periods of time but after about 10 or 15 minutes on my back it was time to move! I also started using an extra pillow to help support my torso but in all reality at this point it was supporting my chest as much as it was supporting my belly.

By the time I got to the second trimeter pretty much all my nausea was gone but the smell of curry and chicken were still not appetizing.  I could eat chicken as long as it didn't smell like chicken so if it was cold or covered in some sort of sauce it was fine.

Despite my exhaustion during the first trimester I tried really hard to make it to the gym at least twice a week especially once I was cleared to go back to full workouts around week 10 or 11.  During the second trimester as the exhaustion had lessoned I made it to the gym between 3 and 4 times a week which is what I was doing prior to IVF and pregnancy. I don't do any of the full abs and I do go slower on the treadmill but for the most part at least at the beginning of the 2nd trimester I was able to do most things without too many modifications.  Getting into the later part of the second trimester that was a different story...

Once I am in my third trimester I will come back with all my thoughts on the later half of the second trimester.

Gender Reveal

We have known the gender of our little baby since very early on but decided to wait until I was out of the first trimester to tell anyone.  Part of the reasoning was that I wanted to make sure everything was all good with the pregnancy and part of it was that because we had so many people invested and supporting us during IVF that we told a lot of people about the pregnancy very early so I wanted to have something to reveal at a more traditional time.

While a lot of people knew we were pregnant I didn't actually post anything on social media until the gender reveal. When I was 10 or 11 weeks pregnant I decided that I would use shoes for our official social media gender/pregnancy. As I have mentioned before I have fairly small feet so I thought it would be cute to buy the baby and I matching little shoes.  I am all about glitter and love Sam Edelman flats so the shoes I picked were perfect.

My original plan was to have a little gender reveal party at our house the weekend after I was 12 weeks pregnant but pretty much everyone we wanted to invite was busy that weekend and couldn't come.  I was going to Disneyland the next weekend (more on pregnant at Disneyland to come) and a couple of my cute shirts were gender specific so I didn't want to postpone the reveal. We ended up driving down to my parents house and my aunt and uncle came over too.  I bought some silly string and we went out in my parents driveway to reveal. We linked my sisters in via FaceTime and sprayed away! My dad took a video of the reveal, my uncle was holding the phone for the FaceTime and the rest of us were spraying silly string so this aftermath picture is the only one I have.

It's a GIRL!!

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. 

The Result...

After a very long 9 days I got up early on January 16th and went to the doctor's office to get my blood drawn.  The whole blood draw appointment was only about 5 minutes and then I headed off to work and tried to keep busy.

When having blood work done our IVF office usually has the results in early afternoon so I worked for the morning and then left a little before noon so I wouldn't be at work when I got the call. Norman had a few errands to run so he actually took the whole day off.

When I left work he was downtown and had just finished his errands so I went to pick him up since he had taken the light rail downtown. I met him in a grocery store and we were wandering around there when my phone rang.

Not quite where I was expecting to get the phone call but I answered immediately obviously. That phone call is pretty much a blur because the doctor told me we were PREGNANT!!! So there I am crying in the middle of a grocery store and trying not to cause a commotion.

I ran out to my car to call my parents and sisters and Norman texted his siblings to give them the good news.  I texted a few other people and then we decided we should go out to lunch to celebrate.  I am always in the mood for pasta so we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and ate all the Italian foods.



After lunch we went to Target to buy a pregnancy test because despite the blood test probably being more accurate I had never seen a positive pregnancy test and I wanted to see one.  I knew that during the very long 9 day wait if I had a pregnancy test in the house I would be too tempted to take one so I didn't have one at home hence we had to go get one.

We just relaxed at home and kept looking at each other so excited.  The whole day was kind of surreal and it took a couple of days to sink in.

The next morning I got my positive pregnancy test.  The lines showed up very quickly so there was no doubt it was positive. That next day was actually my regular telework day so I stayed home and enjoyed just knowing I was pregnant.

I was 4 weeks pregnant at this point but we already knew the gender.  We decided to wait until I was out of the first trimester to reveal the gender so gender reveal coming soon since as of the date I publish this I am 13 weeks pregnant

Even after becoming pregnant I still had to take 3 pills, 2 suppositories and 1 shot in the lower back a day for a while longer so a few more posts on the first trimester coming before we are back to the present.

St Patrick's Day Deorations

Since St Patrick's Day is only a week away I figured it was time to post about my decorations.  I put them up a couple of weeks ago but am only now getting around to taking pictures of them.

The only new thing I added this year was the little shamrock sprigs coming out of my glass container on my bar.  They are really meant to go in a flower arrangement but they work for my purposes too.

Not sure we are really having a proper St. Patrick's Day dinner next weekend but I will definitely be making a batch of Irish Soda Bread at some point since it is my favorite.

Transfer Day and the 9 Day Wait

So after all that prepping on January 7th it was finally transfer day!

Our appointment wasn't until 2:30 in the afternoon and I didn't have the same no eating restrictions you have during a retrieval so I just slept in, tried to relax and ate an early lunch before we had to drive to San Ramon. 

Right before we left at 12:30 I had to empty my bladder and then drink 24 oz of water over the next 2 hours so that I would have a full bladder for the procedure.  Having a super full bladder wasn't fun but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. As usual I made us leave extra early in case there was traffic so we got there plenty early.  

We got all checked in and situated in the waiting room and tried to think calm and happy thoughts. At 2 PM I took a Valium so that it would have time to take effect before the procedure.  I knew it could make me sleepy so I was a little worried because medicine that say may make you drowsy often make me very drowsy.  I didn't feel sleepy (might have been the excitement) but I did feel more relaxed after taking it.

A little while later we got taken into the transfer room and it got all situated on the table/bed thing with a warm blanket and everything.  The ultrasound tech came in to check and make sure my bladder was full enough and what do you know it was too full.  Trying to partially empty your bladder is not fun or easy but I managed to get it to an acceptable fullness.

Once I was all ready the doctor came in and explained to us what was about to happen and what to expect.  I had to show my ID again and sign a bunch of paperwork and then to doctor gave us the first picture of our baby.  The picture was taken after they defrosted the embryo at about 11 AM so by the time we got there the embryo had defrosted even more.

Before they brought the embryo into the room for transfer we got to see it live under a microscope projected onto a screen in the room.  You can see that even in the 3 hours since the picture was taken that the embryo had grown and was even busting out of its shell a bit already. We were told these were good signs so we were happy about that.

The actual transfer is kind of a combination between a pap smear and an ultrasound.  They put a little tube in and watch on the ultrasound screen to see where to place it.  There is a little puff of air in the tube to push the embryo out so it you watch very closely you can see the puff of air on the screen as a little white dot for just a split second showing that the embryo was transferred.

Once the transfer was done I laid in the room for a while before I got dressed and headed home.  I spent the rest of the day on the couch or in bed just resting.  I was allowed to go back to regular activities the next day but I decided to work from home anyway just to be extra cautious. 

The embryo was 5 days old when we did the transfer and a pregnancy test works 2 weeks after conception so I only had to wait 9 days to go get the blood work done to find out if the transfer was a success.  Those 9 days were so long but I tried to stay busy.  People asked me if I felt pregnant but I kept telling them that I didn't know because I had never been pregnant so I didn't know what it felt like and most of the medicine I was taking have side effects very similar to those of early pregnancy so even the symptoms I did feel were just as likely to be from the medication as from pregnancy.

First thing in the morning on January 16th I went and had blood drawn and then waited through what felt like the longest morning ever for the doctor to call with the result.