16 Week Bumpdate

Week 16 bump

How Far Along?: 16.3 Weeks

Baby is the size of: An avocado!

Total Weight Gain: +8lbs

Maternity Clothes? Yes, invested in AG maternity jeans and loving them! Still in regular shirts but they are looking a little silly.

Stretch Marks? Nope.

Sleep? Pretty good.

Best Moment This Week? A quiet, happy moment of anticipation in our future nursery, a room that has been an empty, sad reminder for the past few years.

Movement?: I felt a little kick last night! Certain times of day I feel a bunch of tiny movements.

Food Cravings?: Lemon anything, salads, really just food in general!

Anything making you queasy?: When I bend over I still get a little queasy, but happy to say that no food or other smells are causing any dry heaving anymore.

Baby Bump?: Yes, it feel like my belly is just growing outward in all directions. Hoping this bump will start to take some shape soon so I don’t just look large and in charge.

Gender Prediction?: I think boy, hubby thinks girl. I’m getting so excited to get to know this little one!

Labor Signs?: No. I have been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions 2-4 times per day. My doctor said this is normal and isn’t a concern unless they are happening regularly (4-6X an hour). A little concerning but trying not to stress about it.

Belly Button In or Out?: In but stretching out. It is weird to be able to see in there!

Wedding Rings on or off?: On.

Happy or Moody?: Happy! I have noticed this week that my hormones are back in full swing and I get emotional very easy, similar to how I felt during much of the first trimester.

Miss Anything?: I would love an Italian sub and a margarita (not necessarily together!)

Looking forward to?: Anatomy scan in 2.5 weeks, getting started on the nursery and registry once I know who this little one is!

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Symptom Spotting in Early Pregnancy

I realized this week that I tracked these symptoms but never posted this update. I’ve incessantly poured over posts on other people’s symptoms in early pregnancy, so I thought I would share mine in case they are helpful for anyone else. The biggest thing I noticed was a lack of symptoms in very early pregnancy. In my failed IUI cycles, I had way more cramping, aches, and pains that would get my hopes up each cycle before my period arrived.

2dp6dt*: Had two hot flashes around dinner time and my steak dinner tasted weird/unappetizing to me.
4dp6dt: Walked into my office and could smell the shampoo of my colleague from across the room. It smelled SO strong! (Got my first faint BFP this night)
6dp6dt-7dp6dt: Brownish/pink spotting, mixed in with my progesterone suppositories. Yikes!
4do6dt-8dp6dt: Foods I normally love don’t sound appealing (meat, eggs). I’m craving bland things like crackers, cereal, and soup. If I don’t eat on time I get extremely hungry. Also find myself getting hungry right before bedtime around 11 (night cheese, anyone?!).
8dp6dt: Starting to feel some sporadic small cramping above my pubic bone.

Week 4: Hungry all the time. Breasts start to hurt, but not too bad. Switched to progesterone in oil injections and spotting stopped. Very bloated.

Week 5: Let me eat everything! Seriously, have the craziest appetite. This week I want all the junk food I can find. Can’t stay awake past 9:30pm.

Week 6-7: First weeks of feeling crappy. Breasts really start to hurt and noticing some veins. Starting to feel a little bit of nausea and having some food aversions, including red meat. Extreme fatigue.

I didn’t notice any implantation cramping and didn’t have sore breasts in the beginning, two symptoms that I always assumed I would notice right away.

*For those not in the know, dp6dt=days past 6-day transfer.

Two years, two months, 17 days

Migration on the Eastern Shore

Two years, two months, 17 days. This is the amount of time it took to see a positive pregnancy test. Hundreds of negative tests, thousands of tears. Countless hours spent wondering about the future, unsure if I would ever be where I am today. Many people have been in that dark place for much longer, or dealt with much worse. And many are still there.

After everything, it is hard to believe it is real. Have I graduated from this club that no one wants to belong to? Did I sneak out the back door in the nick of time? Now that the reality of being pregnant has really sunk in, I’ve been wondering where my voice fits in. I feel so connected to the emotions of others who are going through what I went through, but does my pregnancy status only cause pain in this community?

What I’ve ultimately decided is that infertility is such a huge part of me and my life experience, and it would feel disingenuous to just leave this all behind. Blogging help me immensely during my darkest times, and the support I’ve found here is amazing. I want to continue telling my story – hopefully a happier chapter. If you find hope from my infertility journey, please continue to follow me and share your story with me. But if reading my pregnancy updates causes you pain or makes your journey more difficult, I will completely understand if you choose to no longer follow.

15 Week Bumpdate

Week 15 bump

How Far Along?: 15.3 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: +7lbs

Maternity Clothes? Yes, especially the pants.

Stretch Marks? Nope.

Sleep? Good, minus having to pee like 5 times before I can fall asleep.

Best Moment This Week? Hearing baby’s heartbeat at our appointment – nice and strong at 160 bpm. Second best, getting back on the elliptical and not dying! Feeling so much better now that I’m working out again.

Movement?: Yes, lots of tiny movements going on. I can’t feel them from the outside yet.

Food Cravings?: Strawberry ice cream. How cliche is that?

Anything making you queasy?: Bathroom smells. It’s not like I usually enjoy the smell of a bathroom, but lately I find myself almost throwing up if I get a whiff.

Baby Bump?: The baby bump has arrived! It is still pretty soft most of the time, but by the end of the day there is no denying there is a baby camping out in there.

Gender Prediction?: Boy.

Labor Signs?: No.

Belly Button In or Out?: In.

Wedding Rings on or off?: On.

Happy or Moody?: Happy, but letting my anal retentive nature creep in with planning.

Miss Anything?: Sushi. Raw salmon and tuna sound amazing.

Looking forward to?: Babymoon planning and anatomy scan in four weeks!

14 Week Bumpdate

Week 14 bump

How Far Along?: 14.3 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: +6lbs

Maternity Clothes? Maternity pants and leggings all the way. Still fitting in most tops, but if they are tight you can see a tiny bump.

Stretch Marks? Nope.

Sleep? Getting a little better this week.

Best Moment This Week?

Movement?: Yes! After I eat it feels like there is a little fish swimming around in my belly. I only notice it a few times a day.

Food Cravings?: Back on the food train! I’m ready to eat anything and everything!

Anything making you queasy?: Still have trouble tolerating strong perfume/cologne.

Baby Bump?: See above! This is the first week where I think it qualifies as a (tiny) bump.

Gender Prediction?: Boy. But heart rate has been consistently high which makes me waiver.

Labor Signs?: No.

Belly Button In or Out?: In.

Wedding Rings on or off?: On.

Happy or Moody?: Happy, but starting to feel a tiny bit overwhelmed at all the things we need to start thinking about (registry, nursery, new car, childcare, COLLEGE (J/K, sorta).

Miss Anything?: Missing lunch meat. Turkey is on my brain at lunch time.

Looking forward to?: Having some down time to start all the planning for baby.

13 Week Bumpdate

Week 13 bump

How Far Along?: 13.3 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: +5lbs

Maternity Clothes? Starting to favor maternity pants. The belly panel is amazing and I really don’t understand why people don’t wear pants like that every day.

Stretch Marks? Nope.

Sleep? Starting to improve a little – loving my maternity pillow.

Best Moment This Week? Ringing in the new year with so much to be excited for; a visit from my brother, parents, and family pup

Movement?: I think I felt a tiny little kick before bed one night. It felt like popcorn popping. I’m not denying that it could’ve been gas, but it felt different.

Food Cravings?: Clementines. All day long.

Anything making you queasy?: Any kind of weird meats or exotic seasonings.

Baby Bump?: I can notice it, but to the outside world I just look a little round in the middle.

Gender Prediction?: Still thinking boy, but I have my doubts.

Labor Signs?: No.

Belly Button In or Out?: In.

Wedding Rings on or off?: On.

Happy or Moody?: Happy!

Miss Anything?: Hubby! He is in Japan for work.

Looking forward to?: Having hubby home; our next appointment at 14.5 weeks.