15 week update

   Well I'm now 15 weeks and not much has changed. I am still without an appetite and feeling tired and nauseous. I have been taking some medicine to help with the nausea but it has other side effects that aren't very pleasent. But I have been eating a bit more, although it is very forced on my end. I continue to struggle with eating but hoping any day now it will get better. It's so different because my kids were never like this.
   About 4-5 days ago I started to feel what I think is the baby moving. That was really exciting. It's not the same as feeling my own move but it was more exciting for the IF. I was at work and couldn't wait to tell him. But it was 3am and knew I didn't want to disturb him at such an hour. I text him when I got out of work and he was super excited. It just feels like gas bubbles right now and as the baby grows I am so excited for the IF to be able to share in this feeling.
   On Friday night I went to a party with lots of my girlfriends to be read by a psychic. I went in feeling pretty unsure of what he would tell me and what he could tell about me. He had no previous information about me or my current situation. I was shocked at the information he was telling me. Not sure that I am a believer yet but it was pretty neat. The first thing he says to me is "I see babies around you". I was sitting down in a big comfy chair with a loose fitting dress on so there was no way to see my little baby bump. Then he tells me that I will have 5 children total. (not sure if that includes the miscarriage or not but hey maybe I'm meant to do this again someday). Then he tells me not to worry because the baby is super healthy, which is such a relief because we haven't received any results from the early screening testing yet but hey, no news is good news to me. And also being a NICU RN I was constantly worrying with my kids that some freak genetic thing would occur and it has not changed even though this is not mine. Then he carries on and asks me if I want to know what it is and I say yes and he says it's A GIRL! Which doesn't really surprise me because I had a dream a long time ago that it's a girl. He carried on about my personality and things to happen in my life in the future and most of it was right on. Some things he was off a bit but he described my husband to a T, and he wasn't there and had never met me. So I guess at my 20 week ultrasound we will get to see if he is right. Either way as long as the baby is healthy like he said I will be happy.

ugghhhh not again!

I thought that as you enter the 2nd trimester things were suppose to get better. Nausea was suppose to lessen, vomiting was suppose to disappear and the extreme tiredness would fade... well maybe I'm not in far enough because I am more nauseous, vomiting more often and so tired I can barely keep my eyes open at times.  I was started on Zofran, a medication to help with the nausea, yesterday and the does seem to help me have some kind of interest in eating but man once that stuff wears off... I am just forcing myself to eat and most of the time it comes right back up. I think that is why I am so so tired too. If I am not processing enough food then my body can't take advantage of all the goods. So I have also started drinking protein shakes that the OB recommended. They seem to help a bit but I am hopeful.
Baby and I had a talk tonight. I told he/she that if baby is nice to me I will promise to feed it whatever it wants whenever it wants. And I will promise to take such great care of he/she until Daddy takes over. So lets hope that he/she was listening.

13 weeks and out of the miscarriage zone!

I went to the OB's today and heard two super duper great things. First I heard the baby's heartbeat from the Doppler machine, a basic microphone that is applied directly to my stomach, and it was strong and steady! And second I heard the Dr. tell me "you are out of the miscarriage zone!" So holy moly I'm having a baby!

Today is the first day of the second trimester and supposedly you start to feel better at this point but today and the last few have been rough ones. I am super duper nauseous. No vomiting but I can't eat anything. The doctor wasn't too concerned and neither am I, I totally remember this stage, and I hope it ends soon. I also have been so tired the last couple of days that I really could sit on the couch and do nothing all day if my kids and life allowed it. But they don't.

I took this video for the IF's so I thought it would be fun to share. Its kind of hard to hear but listen close and towards the end you hear the strong heartbeat!

12 weeks and med free!

The pics are hard to see but the top one is the baby waving at us, and the bottom one is baby chillin in my uterus. I went in today for my early screening ultrasound and blood work and baby looked great. Measuring a day ahead and a strong heart rate of 153. It is such an awesome relief everytime I get to catch a sneak peak at this angel. And to top it all off I am offically weaned off all medication!

super indecisive body

My body has become so indecisive! I'm hungry when I start making dinner or ordering dinner but by the time it is cooked or delivered I'm stuffed without taking a bite. When I do feel like eating... I can't make a decision on what to eat. Nothing sounds good but I know I need to eat but can't find anything that sounds appetizing. Once I do force myself to eat after two bites the nausea hits and I'm too sick to eat. I clearly remember this stage with my kids and I can't wait for it to be over! I know that I shouldn't complain because it could be so much worse. I am thankful that it means my hormones are taking over since I am weaning off the meds. And knock on wood...(knock, knock) I have yet to get sick and really hope it stays that way. I've been close but fended it off so far.

Lots to share!

   I feel like in the last few days so much has happened and I have so much to share. First on Friday I went to my first ob appointment. It was so nice to see my ob again and to be a normal pregnant girl. But it was different too because they don't know all that we have been through to get to this point. I had a brief ultrasound so that they can confirm my dates... even though I know exactly how far I am, the ultrasound tech had to make sure that I knew what I was talking about and surprise surprise when I was right on she was shocked. I told her trust me I know the dates, we have been working at this for a year now. She wasn't very patient with me with my questions and I was trying to get lots of pictures for my IF but she was determined to do just her job and get on to the next. Oh well, I still got two amazing pictures of the baby and saw and heard the heartbeat. Baby is growing right on track so that's what matters. My ob was the total opposite of the ultrasound tech. He was patient, answered all of my questions, encouraging to me and open to talk with the IF's at an extended length if they so desired. All and all I think it was a good appointment and will return in 3 weeks for my next ob check up.
   I then headed off for a weekend of camping with family and friends. I really enjoyed myself and had lots of time with the family to relax and make some awesome memories. I continue to feel good. I am tired and my allergies have been pretty nasty. But if that is the worst of it... I can handle that. Very little amounts of nausea and no vomiting at this point (knock on wood). Small but frequent meals have been the key. This baby is being nice to me and I really appreciate it. Maybe all the hard stuff we went through to get here was the worst of it.
   On Sunday I spent the day camping but sent out some quick texts to the important dads in my life. My dad was with us, my grandpa, father in law, brother and my IF. I sent a cute little pic of my growing tummy with the text and realized that we were 10 weeks on fathers day... 1/4 of the way to our goal. It was such a great day and I am so lucky to be able to help him become a father.
   As we headed home from camping my husband and I decided that we would tell the kids of all the exciting news that we had been keeping quiet on. We explained what we were doing and why and they were so excited. My youngest put his hands on my tummy and tried to feel the baby, my middle child was talking to my stomach asking if the baby could hear her. And my oldest kept saying how proud of me he was and how he couldn't wait to help this family. It was such a relief and such a good feeling to see that they understand this baby is not ours and they really were excited to meet the dads and to help them. They kept telling me how awesome this idea was and how they couldn't wait to share it with everyone. They had a few cute questions but really mostly just loving thoughts and words for me. I love them and their hearts. Such an awesome lesson to be teaching them. I feel honored to share this with them.
   Stay posted for more amazing info. I will attempt to put the 10 week ultrasound pic on the blog and will keep you posted on our progress.

We've Graduated!

Today could not have been any better. This day has been weighing heavy on my heart. This was the day 7 months ago that we saw a sleeping angel. But today we saw an active baby measuring two days ahead. We not only got to see the baby move but heard the heartbeat! It was such a time of excitement!
So now we are graduated from the fertility clinic and off to my normal ob. I start weaning off the meds next week and no more lab draws or ultrasounds every week or two.
The feelings are indescribable. I feel like I can breathe now and start to enjoy this. With a 3% chance only of miscarriage now I feel confident that we will have a happy healthy baby come January 13th 2013.