Wednesday, December 16, 2009

13 Weeks

I'm 13 weeks today and depending on which book you read, I'm either entering or about to enter the 2nd trimester!  Little Seven is about the size of a peach now.  It's been a week of ups and downs and a few firsts.

12w3d
Started spotting pink
Experiencing sharp pinches in upper uterus
Friends are noticing a belly bump

12w4d
More pink spotting and sharp pinches

A lady at church that has followed our journey for quite some time saw my belly and made her way through the crowd. She put her hands on my belly, looked up at me teary eyed and said, I'm so happy for you.  I then ran to Kerry all giddy and said, honey, people are starting to rub my belly!!! 

Later I attended a baby shower (so happy for you Tarryn!!!). It was so nice to be able to enjoy the shower without having to force the tears back.  A few people noticed my growing belly and one gal couldn't stop rubbing it. 

Throughout my trial with infertility, that is the one thing that choked me up more than anything, and that was seeing these beautiful bellies surrounded by people wanting to rub the belly.  Now I'm finally getting to experience this.  I'm no longer a sad outsider looking in. I know a lot of pg women are freaked out by people rubbing their belly bumps, but I'm loving every minute of it. This pg is finally shifting from surreal to real.

12w5d
More pink spotting and sharp pinches

My local nurse called to tell me that my NT blood work came back normal, yeah!  This just basically means that my risk of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities is very low.  This doesn't surprise me as we did transfer a genetically normal embryo, but there is a 10% error rate.

I told the nurse that I've been spotting for 3 days and was a little nervous about it since I hadn't had my hormone levels checked since I was completely weaned.  Spotting can be a sign of low progesterone.  All she said was "240".  I said, 240 what?  She said, be here at 2:40.  I said, for what?  She said, an u/s.  Wow, I wasn't expecting that. I was just looking for a little reassurance, but I wasn't going to turn down a chance at another u/s.

They always check my urine, blood pressure and weight at every appt.  The nurse that weighed me commented that I haven't gained any weight.  I said that was ok because I gained it all in the beginning when I went through my "hungry man" phase.  My appetite has thankfully returned to normal.

We had the u/s and little Seven was moving all over the place nonstop.  S/He has really grown in a short amount of time.  My cervix was closed and appeared normal. We didn't take any videos because we felt that this needed to be a quick check.  I did ask for a souvenir photo though. 

Here's Seven.  It's definitely not the best pic, but just happy to have one.



I then had my hormone levels checked just to make sure there are no issues there.  This is my first check since completely weaning off all meds a week ago.

Estrogen: (2074, up from 1555)

Progesterone: (23.64, down from 48.19)

My progesterone level concerned me, so I emailed my IVF nurse.  This is her reply:

"Your estrogen will continue to rise during pregnancy, however the progesterone levels are pulsatile (meaning is has daily highs and lows), as long as it remains above 20 there is no concern. The drop could have caused the spotting, but it could also have been caused by other factors (cervical irritation, low-lying placenta, over exertion). As long as you are not having bright red bleeding and/or cramping there is not a need to worry."

I feel much better now, but I did have to chuckle at the "over exertion".  Yeah, not so much an issue!

12w6d
Today we got to hear our baby's HB for the first time.  My friend loaned us her fetal doppler a week ago (thanks Mags!!!) but we haven't been able to find the HB until today. It takes awhile to find it and it's easy to lose as the baby moves around quite a bit.  The bpm ranged from 152-162. It was music to our ears and I could have listened to it all night.

13w
I seem to be past the exhaustion phase, sooooo happy about this.

My belly seems to be growing.  I'm in the "beer gut" phase. I figured I'd start showing early since I'm only 5'1, very short waisted and the fact that my mom showed very early.  My mom said she was as big as an elephant with me and I was only 5 lbs 11 oz. 





I warned Kerry that I may get huge.  He said he didn't care if I got as big as a house as long as I incubate his baby. We'll see what he thinks if I get as wide as I am tall, lol.

17 comments:

  1. Bring on second trimester! Yeah!

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  2. Happy Second Tri!

    Did we enter a time warp or something.....because I cannot believe how fast time is flying by! =)

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  3. Congratulations for getting in to the 2nd trimester and the NT Scan! Hopefully the pink stops soon!

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  4. I actually go by the more modern books that say week 13 is the start of the second trimester!!! So, to my eyes, you are in the second tri! Congrats! I had a little pink spotting at about 10-11 weeks but it was due to cervical irritation from our first attempt at sex during pregnancy and overexertion...it worried me but turned out just fine:-)

    You look great!

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  5. Yeh....I think I see a tiny tiny little bump starting to appear in the very lowest part of your tummy!!! How exciting!! You will be amazed at how much it almost appears to grow on a daily basis pretty soon! I too LOVED everyone touching my belly...I was soooo proud of my belly...I worked long & hard to get to that point as you have. Isn't it amazing to actually hear that little heart beat? I used my doppler with both pregnancies and it was VERY reassuring:-) I used it daily until I was able to feel the babies moving all the time and then again when I didn't think they were moving quite enough for my liking.

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  6. Wohoo! Nice bump! I'd rub it if I could... just for good luck :)

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  7. Wow - Already 13 weeks and number 7 is the size of a peach!
    I'm sorry to hear that you have had some spotting scares. I can only imagine how frightening that is.
    Your little stomach looks gorgeous. And you will be amazed how quickly you start to grow from now.
    x

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  8. Awww,what Kerry said sounds exactly like something Lee would say! He's a keeper, that one :) You look amazing!

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  9. Glad to hear Seven's behaving itself!

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  10. we got to moms last night. wishing you guys could be here with us, but hopefully we'll see you soon and I can rub that growin' belly of yours.
    Love you.
    Lyndsay

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  11. Very interesting about the hormone levels. I hope that annoying spotting stops soon!

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  12. I am HAPPY knowing things are going so well for you. After all you have been through, it's nice to know you are having an easy pregnancy so far! Take good care of My Grambaby...and yourself too. LOL
    Love you as big as the sky,

    Mama

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  13. Now that looks more like the beginning of a baby bump! Love it love it love it! Keep it growin! Love, Mom2

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  14. I have had a LOT of friends complain about people rubbing their pg bellies... and I too didn't think it sounded all that bad. I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

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  15. I read this the day you posted, but couldn't comment on my phone! Anyway, so glad to read that your spotting was nothing to be concerned about, and kudos again for your dr's office getting you in for another u/s! That is awesome.
    I can't believe you are going into the second trimester already! You are going to be posting baby pics before we know it. :0) Just a few more weeks and hopefully we'll be able to see if Seven is going pink or blue... So exciting!
    Merry Christmas to your growing family!
    Love,
    The Other Jill

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Thank you for your comment! Hugs, Kerry and Jill