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And 15 weeks has come and gone. In one instant I think that this has been the fastest almost 4 months of my life, but then I think of how much has transpired in the last 15 weeks and how LONG ago my FET feels. 

I am settling into this pregnancy thing and feeling pretty good. 

But. 

Apparently, once an infertile, always an infertile. There is not a bathroom break that doesn't include first squinting as I look at my panties, always praying that I won't see blood. Not a cramp or weird twinge goes unnoticed. I'm always waiting for the dream to be over and to wake up and realize that nothing is going to go as planned. This is going to be how the next 25 weeks go I've come to realize. I'm okay with that,  it's all part of my story, but it's still kind of...I don't know. Tiring I guess. 

This week was monumental because we outed our news on facebook. Every bone in my body cringed as I did it because I remember how painful those announcements were, and still kind of are for me, but when it comes down to it, it's the most effective way to spread the news to the hundred of people that we cannot tell in person. The Hubs threw a little "it's been a 3 year journey and we are so happy to announce..." that made me feel a little better about it. I just posted this picture from our first photo shoot:

Everyone got the gist of it. 

It has been really fun seeing everyone now that they know, and quite a relief to not have to cover up my belly anymore. It's not that noticeable, but it's definitely there. I have struggled with what to say when people congratulate me. I feel like I need to disclose just how hard we worked to get to this point, but at some point I'm just another pregnant lady. Not everyone needs to know our struggles, but I'm just so scared to make someone "in the trenches" feel sad. Anyway...

as my book said I should now be feeling more energetic and making less trips to the bathroom...my body's doing the opposite! Super tired and peeing 3 times a night. Go figure :)  

 

It is hard taking a picture of your own belly!

The little one is now the size of an orange and can hear. I hope it likes bad singing and bad reality TV.

Traveling Citrus

I have officially entered my second trimester and I cannot believe that it is true. I have made an effort to enjoy every moment of this time, but I have to say the queasiness kind of distracted me from that mission :) so now I am reminding myself of that and trying to stay present. Because it is FLYING by! 

This week was pretty monumental for me. I no longer can button any of my pants so have been wearing mostly dresses  and heavily utilizing the belly band! Love that thing... I mean, when else can you pull off walking around with your pants unbuttoned? I also had two people ask me if I was pregnant. For a split second I thought about saying, "no, just fattening up" because seriously (!!!!) who in their right mind asks someone if they're pregnant?! That is stupidly brave. And I was totally stoked, because maybe I don't just look way fat! 

We have also told almost all of the " more than just Facebook" friends in our life, so that has been so much fun!

In case inquiring minds do want to know...week 13-14 also brought a lot of peeing ( just as the book said it would decrease), a wicked headache, some little pulling sensations in my pelvic area ( more growing pains perhaps?), and a real, live pregnancy glow. Or maybe not a glow, but at least the dull, tired, hormonal skin of IVF has passed and I'm back to normal? Not sure, but definitely noticeably better in the derm department.

 

The little bambino is now the size of a lemon and had his/her first trip to NYC. It was quite hard to find a lemon and has been even harder to squeeze in a photo in the daylight hours, so excuse the crappy iPhone selfie. 

13

This was a BIG week in baby land. 

Yesterday I hit 13 weeks, which in some circles counts as the start of the 2nd trimester. I think it officially starts at the end of the 13th week, but who's counting? Okay, I'm totally counting. 

The NT scan went great and we got to spend almost a full hour looking at our babe due to some positioning snafus. Pretty surreal and most definitely amazing. We got some great videos and pictures (including a couple 4D that totally creep me out usually, but ended up actually being pretty cool)

I have no idea why it's upside down...

We also found out that our risk of Trisomy 21 is 1 in 10,000 and Trisomy 18 1 in 100,000...seems like good news to me. I know this does not rule out everything, but as a NICU nurse I was having the tech look at everything she could see. Even got a little gender prediction out of her! I'm trying not to hold onto it because 13 weeks is too early to know for sure, so I'm not even putting it out into the blogosphere for now :) 

Aside from all of that excitement...

I pulled out my belly band for the first time yesterday and I am officially starting to get sideways glances from people because there is a definite bump there, but no one has the courage to ask. Smart people. We will be all the way announced by the end of next week because I am making a trip to the East Coast to visit extended family and wanted to share the news with as many people in person before making it public on facebook and at work.I can't wait!

Also...almost NO MORE nausea!!! Hallelujah! I'm hoping I can resume a more normal eating pattern now and lay off the ginger snaps :)

Baby is the size of a small apple this week. Plucked this "baby" off our backyard tree :)

Happenings

This post is coming late because I was waiting for the photo. I have a friend who is a photographer who is going to take monthly maternity photos for us. It seems kind of excessive, but I don't with certainty that I'll get to experience pregnancy again, so I want to document as much as I can.
I was 12 weeks last Thursday. Pinch me.
The week's happenings included more nausea, VERY tight pants, the purchase of a belly band (haven't worn it yet, though), and the appearance of a linea negra from my belly button down. 

Also, 12 weeks was my very last progesterone IM injection! Can I get a woot woot!? My butt is already rejoicing.

And without further ado...the little lime. And another of my favorites from Tuesday's shoot. So fun.

Tomorrow is the NT scan...before that I will bite all my nails off.