6w2d, 5 week review

From my weekly email (5week):  Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.  The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.

His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.  The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

How far along? 6w2d
How big is baby? The size of a sesame seed
Symptoms? Pretty much none this week.  A few times I've gotten overly tired, but that's only happened two or 3 times.  Had one bout of nausea which passed in about 10 minutes.  Feeling less bloated.  Few cramps early in the week, but none now.  Having to go pee ALOT though.
Weight gain/loss(166 starting point - yikes!)? 3 lb loss total
Stretch marks? None
Maternity clothing? Nope
Sleep?  Sleeping well, but averaging getting up to pee 3-4 times a night
Exercise? So-so.  Ran a few times early in the week, but got lazy.  Did P90x twice
Cravings? Still just very thirty, adding to the peeing issue
Movement? No
Belly Button? Looks normal
What are you looking forward to this week? Telling the fam 4th of July weekend.  They will all be ecstatic (especially my mom).  Also our doctors apt set for next Friday.

Repeated Confirmation

Later that day, I purchased a test with a digital result.  I took it and before I looked to see how long it would take, I saw the result - Pregnant.  I yelled for Scott to come look.  For some reason, this result made me question myself less.  I was beginning to let it sink in.

Monday and Tuesday I felt like I was already 3 months pregnant.  I was super bloated.  Painfully bloated.  After eating, I had that uncomfortable feeling you get after a large meal.  I wasn't sure how I would be dealing with this for 9 months.  Luckily, it subsided by Wednesday.  Of course, then I questioned myself so I had to re-test.  Still positive.

Last few days I've been feeling a bit of cramps.  Let's just say Scott's been loving my boobs, but they're so sore, they are totally out of play right now.

There's a What, Growing Where?

So with one more month of attempts under our belts, we waited. 

Scott kept telling me I was pregnant.  Part of me wanted to believe him, but I'd gotten my hopes up way too many times thus far.  I tested 8 DPO, with a negative result.  I knew it.  Same result as always. 

Scott was out in Orlando for work Friday night, June 17th.  Saturday, we had plans to meet my brother to go out on the boat.  Scott left his conference early to get home so the plan was to meet at his office.  I was scurrying to get us packed when I decided to do another test since I may partake in a few drinks on the boat.  I put the test down and watched the results come up.  Negative again.  Ugh!

Wait...

am I imagining something?

is that a shadow?

could i be?

seriously?

i walked away several times, but kept coming back to it.  The second line certainly wasn't as dark as the first line.  (guess i should have re-read the directions).

i had a perm-smile and put the test away for safe keeping.  Only went back to look at it about 10 times before i left.

Honestly, I still wasn't convinced.  I was anxious to get home and take another test the following day.  At the time I hadn't googled everything you possibly could about pregnancy tests to know that ANY line there was a positive, no matter how faint.

Father's day Sunday.  I retested in the morning.  OMG, another test with 2 lines.  I REALLY AM!!  I wanted to scream out for Scott to look at the test, but I also wanted to surprise him in some way.

I cooked breakfast and managed to sneak the tests next to his plate.  (Of course, he later thanked me for putting a pee stick near his breakfast...germaphobe!)  "Happy Father's Day", I told him.  He was amazed.  Happy.  Not nearly as shocked as I expected.  Per usual, he handled it much more maturely than I did!

Positively Excited

Father's Day 2011 turned out to be a memorable one for the Parrish Family even if we weren't able to spend the day with either of our dads.  The news we've been anxiously waiting for was finally revealed. 

Let's back up.  This story begins in January of 2010.  Yeah, that date is correct.  January of 2010 I stopped taking my birth control pills with the anticipation of waiting 3 months before trying to conceive.  That's the rule of thumb I've always heard and what my obgyn suggested to get my cycle back on track.  In March of 2010, Scott and I were taking a 10 day cruise to celebrate my 3oth birthday.  At this time we decided to "pull the goalie".  We tried and and we tried and we tried. 

Prior to going on birth control, my cycles were very irregular and infrequent.  From March-August, there was no real opportunity to conceive.  In August 2010 I decided to set an appointment with my doctor to discuss my situation with him.  At that time, he prescribed me Clomiphene (aka Clomid) which is used to induce ovulation in women who do not produce eggs but wish to become pregnant.  Basically, he told me it would be like "ovulating on steroids".  The plan was to take the pills on days 3-7 of my cycle (with cycle day 1 being the first day of menstruation).  According to most my doctor and everything I read, if Clomid wasn't successful in 6 cycles, it probably wouldn't work in future cycles.  After several weeks, I still hadn't begun menstruation, so I called called the doctor to see if there was anything that could induce it.  I was prescribed Progesterone.  In women who are not pregnant and not going through menopause, this medication is used to restore normal menstrual periods that have stopped for several months (aka amenorrhea).  This worked and I began my first Clomid cycle.

Clomid is notorious for terrible side effects - moodiness, night sweats, blurred vision.  I was nervous about feeling like crud for basically a week, but luckily, I had no side effects to speak of.  I fully expected to get pregnant that first month.  We used ovulation testing kits to know when to expect my ovulation.  Until this point, it was totally a guessing game - could be 15, 25, 40 days.  I was so excited when I saw my first positive ovulation test.  It was amazing to think my body was doing what it was supposed to (and WHEN it was supposed to).

Each month, we coincided our attempts with the positive ovulation kits.  In March of 2011, I was getting close to the end of my prescription of Clomid - 6 tries if it's going to work for you, remember...I decided it was time to set another apt with my obgyn.  It was set for the second week in April.

Our lives took a bit of whirlwind at that point.  Scott's mom was in a major car accident and we had to fly up to Indiana, staying for 10 days.  My apt was set for the time we were out of town, so I had to reschedule my apt.  At the time, I thought it was odd that the next appointment available wasn't until May 17th.  I was frustrated because the last time I told them I was having fertility issues, they got me right in.  This time, I had to wait a month.  ANOTHER MONTH.  In the fertility world, that's an eternity.  Every day and week felt like another missed opportunity.  I felt deflated - but encouraged that this appointment would be very productive once I told him how the Clomid was making me ovulate, but I was still not pregnant.

When my appointment date came, I was called to the back.  The nurse proceeded to tell me she had me down for my annual appointment.  I looked at her in shock and told her that's not at all why I was there.  I gave the nurse the quick rundown of my history and all she could do was ask if I wanted to proceed with the annual since I hadn't had one since 2009.  She threw in that "after the exam, I could ask him about my other issue".  Seriously?  Oh, I was steaming. 

I had my exam and it went as well as any of those can go.  Then I told him how I had completed my final refill of Clomid and asked for suggestions or plans of attack.  His response in a nutshell was "keep trying".  His advice for moving forward was to 1) have Scott's swimmers checked 2) for me to undergo a laparoscopy.  

From Webmd:   Laparoscopy is a surgery that uses a thin, lighted tube put through a cut (incision) in the belly to look at the abdominal organs or the female pelvic organs.  Laparoscopy is used to find problems such as cysts, adhesions, fibroids and infection.

Needless to say, I was a bit taken back.  Surgery is the next step for me?  Not blood tests?  Ultrasounds?   I thought it was a bit extreme.  I asked him about the possibility of trying another cycle of Clomid, which he said was fine (no real advice here, just appeasement?)  I mentioned that I'd read on the internet that some doctors will increase the dosage to 100mg.  He paused and with no feeling, interest or information on why this would be positive or negative, said he'd write me a prescription for 100mg...

I inquired more about testing Scott.  That seemed like the easiest, and least invasive first step (especially since he didn't suggest blood tests for me).  We discussed "the only guy in town", who I found out was a local fertility doctor specializing in IUIs and IVFs.  My obgyn said he could also do the test...stating it wouldn't be the official test or written report that would be done by the fertility doctor, but that he would be able to tell if there was an issue. 

I walked out of the office with much less insight that I'd hoped for.  My intention was to have a plan of attack and I walked away with nothing more than a prescription I requested and the name of another doctor in town I was itching to research.

After much discussion, Scott and I decided our best route was to set up an appointment for the fertility doctor.  We both thought the laparoscopy was far to extreme for our current situation.  I researched the fertility doctor and spoke with their office.  We completed and submitted our paperwork and initial payment and waiting for the call to make an appointment.  We set the apt for Thursday May 19th.

Suprisingly, my period had come just prior to the setting of the appointment.  I called the office to see if they wanted me to begin the Clomid or if that would foul up any testing that would need to be done.  In hindsight, it was very lucky that their office closes at noon on Friday and they didn't get my messages.

I began taking Clomid that Saturday and took it for 5 days.  Our appointment with the fertility doctor was exciting.  For about an hour, we discussed my history in detail along with a plan of attack.  This was exactly what I'd been yearning for.  We discussed the topic of performing a laparoscopy.  He quickly mentioned that that was not necessary at this time, which satisfied both of us.  Our plan consisted of testing Scott (which ironically was done that same day, lol), blood tests for both of us (much more extensive for me), and an Hysterosalpingography (hsg) for me.  An hysterosalpingography is a procedure to look inside the uterus and fallopian tubes, using an x-ray and a dye to diagnose problems in the female reproductive system.  

Ironically, the office called me the following day to see if I could schdule the hsg for the next Tuesday.  The price was higher than I expected since it wasn't going to be handled by insurance.  I told her I'd call her back when I figured out if I could manage with work.  Obviously, I discussed it with Scott.  He told me the decision was up to me, but he didn't know what the point in waiting was. 

I can't explain it.  In my heart, I just wanted one.more.try by ourselves prior to this major step.  I called to tell them I would be holding off until my next cycle.  I was instructed to call during the first few days of my cycle so we could schedule the blood tests and the hsg.  We had one more chance to prove that my body could work properly. 

We did a few things differently this round...who knows what was the deciding factor? 

• After reading about FAM, I began charting my bbt, or morning basal temperatures.
• My clomid dosage was 100mg
• Since clomid is known to dry women out, I read about taking Mucinex during several days prior to and thru menstruation
• Didn't wait until a positive ovulation test to begin trying.  In past months, we "saved up".  Based on my research, I found the few days PRIOR to ovulation are the most fertile

4 Weeks 6 days; 4w6d

Seems weird the way they calculate how far along you are.  For those who are unaware, the clock begins on the first day of your last menstrual cycle.  So by the time your baby is actually conceived, you've already chalked up 2+ weeks of "pregnancy".  In any case, that's how they tell me its done, so who am I to argue?

So with that, I am 4w6d (even though I'm only 15 days past ovulation...ok i won't always to that, just setting up reference point).  (Edit -apparently I was off on my counting.  When I wrote this entry, I was actually 5 weeks!)

(Photo taken 5w3d)

 From my weekly email:  This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until 10 weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development.
Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of her organs and body parts will develop.

The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.
Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty.

How far along? 4w6d
How big is baby? The size of a poppy seed
Symptoms? Feeling VERY bloated in the belly, like I'm already 3 months pregnant.  Going to try eating smaller meals to not feel so full.  Standing and moving helps tremendously.  Slight gassy/crampy feelings in lower abdomen.
Weight gain/loss(166 starting point - yikes!)? 2lb loss
Stretch marks? None
Maternity clothing? Nope
Sleep? Fine as of now.  Been working out more so more tired at night.  Waking more in the mornings.  Excitement?
Exercise? Doing good so far.  Scott and I decided it was way too hot for me to be running the bridge at 6pm.  We've changed our workouts to run in the morning and do p90x/pilates after work.
Cravings? Nothing now.  Although been watching my junk food, which I surprisingly haven't had any cravings for.  Been very thirty, drinking a lot of water.
Movement? No
Belly Button? Looks normal but last night found strange small red streak running vertically.
What are you looking forward to this week? Telling SAT the news and discussing doctors with her.  I'm really looking forward to setting an apt for my first prenatal visit.