Side Photos Are Mandatory

To sum up my week....POP! Because that's what my belly did! I'm pretty enthralled with it on most days, to be honest with you all. And so are most other people. It's kind of strange to have random people ogling my body part, but totally less weird when I think of how many baby bumps I stared down in the last three years.

I am starting to feel pregnant again after the little break between week 13's nausea and now, but in very different ways. I have noticed that I get dehydrated a lot quicker than normal, so I am trying hard to consume a lot of water. The peeing sometimes stands in my way. Twice this week I ended up with a headache which I know was from dehydration.
Another thing I have noticed is an increased amount of swelling in my hands and legs by the end of the day, especially if I haven't had enough fluids. I thought that came later in pregnancy!?
And last, but not least...it is definitely harder to haul my own body around than it ever has been. I don't know if it's me being out of shape...quite likely since exercise has been scarce. But I'm also starting to think maybe it's just the extra weight I'm carrying around that is making the difference. I don't think I'm way over the weight gain curve, but I do think I have put on more than the necessary amount. I have been back to my normal eating habits since the nausea ended, so not really sure what all of this gain is about. No one told me I was going to pack on so many pounds in the butt area ;) Oh well, all in the name of the sweet baby growing in my uterus, right?

"I'm an onion-sized babe!"

Hometown Baby

16 weeks has come and gone, as did a second maternity shoot...hence the late post, just got some of the photos finally! We did these in our hometown and had so much fun tromping around our old stomping grounds!

Week sixteen seemed monumental to me for some reason, I have no idea why. I think I've started thinking of milestones in 4 week increments. Next up...20 weeks! I have to say, all the info out there is true- the second trimester rocks. I didn't realize how tired a was until my energy came back! I feel pretty normal except when I look down and notice my "gut". It really is the best descriptor for what will soon me a "bump" because it definitely looks more like a beer belly than a baby :)

Our little Bambino (as the Hubs likes to say) is now the size of an avocado. Yummmm. Wait, that's weird.

More weekly posts will be rolling out soon, I have 2 more in the queue!

Alive and well.

I apologize for the gigantic break in posts, but it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks around these parts! I am 17 weeks exactly and planning on posting my weekly photos ASAP. We took a second round of photos with my photographer friend and are still waiting on week 16's photo! Otherwise, weekend trips galore are my life right now, tiring but feeling mostly great. I'm off to a bachelorette party in Palm Springs this weekend and definitely looking forward to some sunshine, weird part flab/part bump bikini moments, and hopefully no gross strippers! 

Public

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.