Thursday, December 19, 2013

19 and 20 week update

How far along:
19 & 20 weeks
 
(Pictures to follow)

Baby is the size of a:
Mango and then Banana, which I find incredibly weird, don't want a baby as skinny as a banana ;-)

Total weight gain:
1lbs on/off...it changes back and forth every day

Maternity Clothes?
A pair of maternity jeans, shopping for them was a nightmare and I ended up in tears in the changing rooms, hormones! The ones I ended up buying turned out not to be very comfortable but will have to do until I can brave going back to the shops

Stretch Marks?
No new ones yet

Sleep?
Pretty good, never even waking up to go use the bathroom

Best moment of the Week:
received my first baby present, a lovely outfit from a nanny friend
Movement:
I've been feeling what I think might be tiny kicks, can't wait to feel stronger ones

Food Cravings:
Greasy food, burgers, fries...

Belly Button in or out:
In.

Gender:
Lovely baby girl!

Symptoms:
Nothing much  

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?
Porridge

Have you Started to Show yet?
Some days I'm really bloated, but I still just look chubby, a friend called me 'tiny' today(considering I'm halfway through pregnancy)

What I miss:
Nothing

What I'm looking forward to:
Going to Germany for Christmas

What I'm not looking forward to:
Same old: telling work

 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

It's a....


(Girl)

We couldn't be happier!

Now begins the battle of agreeing on a name, apparently all of my suggestions are too posh...

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

17 and 18 week update

I decided to combine 17 and 18 weeks as not much has happened really:

How far along:
17 & 18 weeks

Baby is the size of an:
First onion and now a sweet potato
 
 


Total weight gain:
none, which I find amazing, but to be honest it's not unusual when you start a bit heavier
The box of German Christmas goodies that arrived in the post today might change this though...
17 weeks
 
 
18 weeks
 
 
Maternity Clothes?
None yet, but really need to get some jeans as mine as starting to become very uncomfortable and the hair tie is no longer doing the trick

Stretch Marks?
No new ones

Sleep?
Have been trying to sleep on my left side as it's best for the baby but I just don't find it comfortable and keep waking up on my back
 
Best moment of the Week:
Attending our gender scan with my partner, it was the first time she was able to come along to a scan and I think she quite enjoyed it. Baby had hiccups which was cute to watch. The little monkey was a bit shy at first keeping the legs closed but we found out we're having a .... stay tuned ;-)

Movement:
Still nothing

Food Cravings:
Still meat and the other night I really wanted cucumbers

Belly Button in or out:
In

Gender:
Will be revealed soon!

Symptoms:
Nothing really, I don't feel anything at all other than some ligament pain/stretching pains every now and again and the odd bit of queasiness, but my tight jeans don't help with that

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?
It's random what makes me feel queasy really but it's nothing like it was in the first trimester, so I just accept it

Have you Started to Show yet?
No, just look like I need to really start a diet 

What I miss:
Sleeping on my back

What I'm looking forward to:
My next scan at 20 weeks

What I'm not looking forward to:
Telling work that I'm pregnant, so still the same
 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

16 Week update

How far along:
16 weeks

Baby is the size of a:
Avocado

Total weight gain:
2lbs in the last week, so now I'm back to the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant.
 
Maternity Clothes?
I’m wearing 'fat' jeans but they're unbuttoned now as well. I bought a pair of Maternity Jeans on ebay, but they kept falling down, the 'under the bump' style doesn't suit my shape and I'm too small for over the bump.

Stretch Marks?
No new ones, though to be honest, not sure I'd notice one more ;-)

Sleep?
Much better than the first trimester, though I still need more than pre-pregnancy. Don't even wake up every night to go and pee  

Best moment of the Week:
Ultrasound on Sunday, immediately seeing the heartbeat on the monitor.

Movement:
Nothing yet.

Food Cravings:
Meat, red meat in particular, which is strange for me!

Belly Button in or out:
In.

Gender:
Finding out in 12 days, fingers crossed baby cooperates

Symptoms:
I keep getting headaches, will talk to my midwife about that on Friday. Nausea also still there, I tried going without my sickness tablets for a day and felt like I was going to projectile vomit by the evening. So I guess I better renew my prescription. 

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?
I still can't figure out what makes me feel sick 

Have you Started to Show yet?
I'm getting chubbier around the middle. I was bigger to start with(BMI 31) so now it just looks like I've eaten a bit too much

 

What I miss:
Eating whatever I want without having to consider how it might make me feel.

What I'm looking forward to:
Finding out the gender and for my partner to attend her first ever ultrasound.

What I'm not looking forward to:
Telling work about my pregnancy.

***************
 
So, on Sunday I had a cheeky little scan to calm my nerves and baby was being rather camera shy, so I have no lovely new pictures to show you.
Baby was all curled up, so they made me empty my bladder to see if it would help, but the little one stayed in the same position, the sonographer joked and said it looked like it was driving a car.
We listened to the heartbeat(156 beats per minute), which sounds just beautiful.
Let's hope baby is a bit more awake for the gender scan on the 1st of December and doesn't keep it's legs crossed like it did for the 12 week scan.
 


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

15 Week update

Boy oh boy, how can I be 15 weeks pregnant already?
Crazy!!

So, last thing I mentioned on here was that I was feeling awful, this basically continued from week 6/7 all the way up to 13 weeks, I started taking sickness tablets around 11.5 weeks and finally stopped throwing up at night. Before that I would feel absolutely awful all day long and then throw up the minute I walked into my flat, never even giving me enough time to take off my coat.
Then I would basically pass out on the sofa, hardly ever eating dinner and sleeping as much as I could.

I ended up temporarily losing 10lbs, but have now put most of that weight back on.

I felt very depressed about feeling so sick, tired and basically useless, I had so little energy I don't even know how I managed 10/12 hour days at work.

But now that's all mostly behind me, I still feel nauseous, but not 24/7 and haven't thrown up in 3 weeks.

I had my 12 week scan and the little bean measured 3 days ahead, so I am now due on the 6th of May, making me exactly 15 weeks today.

I continue to worry all the time that something is going wrong, so for my own sanity, I have booked yet another private scan for this weekend. My 5th scan already!
Then we're having a private gender scan at 17 weeks plus my last NHS scan at 20 weeks, hopefully after that I can feel the baby moving, helping me relax a little.

I'm starting to get excited, I still haven't told anyone in real life other than my partner and 2 friends, the poor grandmother to be is still clueless, she will be thrilled!!
I have somehow managed to hide it at work, despite having to take three sick days, one at 6 weeks and 2 at 11 weeks, when I finally begged the doctor for some tablets.
I am not thin to start with, so having not gained any weight yet has been helpful with keeping this little secret.
My work are likely to be very awkward about it, so the longer I can keep it from them, the better.

But now to the most important part, the 12 week mug shot :)

 
 
I am in love with the little pouty lips in the close up of the face, my partner says baby definitely comes after me :)

They measured the fluid under the skin in the back of baby's neck, then they took my blood to calculate the risk of this baby having down syndrome.
We got our results about 10 days later and the odds are 1:100000, so amazingly low!

Will post another update after the weekend, when I've had my 15 week scan.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Early Pregnancy freebie packs

If you know me a little bit, you know how much I love freebies.
I know that we basically get them in exchange for our personal information, but I still love them.

At my 5 week GP appointment(to be referred to a hospital) I was given a copy of Emma's Diary, an informational booklet about pregnancy with a week-by-week pregnancy diary of a fictional woman called Emma.
Anyway, this booklet included a voucher for a freebie pack, which I picked up the very same day at Argos.
When I got home and opened it, I was quite surprised how much was in there:
*Johnson's baby wipes 'extra sensitive' 56 wipes
*Johnson's baby nappy cream 16.5g
*Johnson's baby oil 100ml
*Johnson's baby top-to-toe bath 50ml
*Johnson's baby care booklet
*4 mamia (Aldi) newborn nappies
*Palmer's cocoa butter stretch mark lotion and tummy butter samples(2.5ml each)

If you weren't given the Emma's Diary book from your doctor or midwife, you can just register at www.emmasdiary.co.uk , print the vouchers for all three pack and pick them up at bigger Boots stores or Argos.



Then at my 8 week midwife appointment I was given the first of 4 Bounty Packs, actually she also gave me the second one already even though that's normally for later on in the pregnancy.
The Bounty Pregnancy Information folder contained mainly leaflets and one sample:
*PG tips decaf tea bags, I think there are 2 in the pack, but I don't drink tea so haven't opened it
*H&M 20% off vouchers valid until 12/2013
*Bounty 'you and your pregnancy' booklet
*lots of random leaftlet for graze boxes, ocado food deliveries, Christmas books...
*voucher to pick up Bounty pack number 2
*a fridge magnet reminding you about all the foods to avoid in pregnancy
*a NHS booklet about healthy eating and exercise in pregnancy

Saturday, October 5, 2013

9 week update

I am 9 weeks and 1 day today and I thought it was time for a little update.

At 5 weeks I experienced some bleeding, I got scared and immediately booked a private early pregnancy scan for 6 weeks, which was the earliest I could find around here.

The scan was at 6+1 and luckily all seemed ok, baby measured 4mm and a heartbeat could be clearly seen

The company offered me a (cheap) rescan for the week after, which I took advantage of.
At 7+1 baby measured 11.5mm, so had almost tripled in size.

The pictures look nothing like what I saw on the screen during the ultrasound, it was much clearer.


At 9 weeks I had the scan with my fertility scan to confirm the pregnancy, baby is now 25.5mm, so has more than doubled in the last two weeks. It looked much more like a baby instead of just a blob, the sonographer even switched to a 3D preview for a few seconds.

There is still an area of bleeding visible on the scan, also known as a subchorionic haemorrhage(SCH) and I was advised to take it easy and that I may experience more bleeding.
This was my last visit at my clinic and I am now officially a 'normal' pregnant woman in care of the NHS.

I had my first booking in appointment with a midwife at my chosen hospital last week at 8 weeks. She checked my weight, height, bloods and we went through my medical history. All in all the appointment took 75 minutes. I was also given some leaflets and freebies, which I will go over in one of my next posts.
Next time I'm going back will be for my first NHS scan at 12 weeks.
So exciting!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Pass me the bucket

Oh my word, I'm not feeling well at all...

Around 5weeks and 3 days I started feeling a little nauseous, but nothing an extra snack and a nibble on some ginger nuts couldn't get rid of.
However, at 6w1d I started feeling really unwell, I spent pretty much the entire weekend on the sofa.

I am now 7w1d and it's been tough, especially trying to hide it at work.
I am not throwing up (yet?), just 24/7 nausea and I've had to take my first morning off work this week.
Nothing is working, the wrist 'sea bands' made it worse and ginger nut biscuits or ginger ale makes me heave.
I've just been trying to eat little meals, but my food intake has been very poor, so I have actually lost 4.5lbs this week-first time ever I have been unhappy to have lost my appetite and weight.

Monday, September 9, 2013

IUI cycle 1- August 2013

*August 2nd 2013 cycle day 1
*August 9th picked and reserved donor sperm
*August 10th, sent off consent form
*August 12th paid for donor sperm, surprise 'peak' on my ovulation test later in the evening
*August 13th another 'peak' on my Ovulation test in the morning, scheduled for IUI the next day(!!)
*August 14th natural IUI, start of the 2 week wait until my test date on the 28th
*August 26th very faint line on the 'First Response' and a very 'clear' result on the digital test, hadn't expected it this early as it was only day 12 after my IUI

which started my obsession of taking pregnancy tests, I have taken 7 so far!

Our story so far

Hello and welcome to my blog, I thought I'd give you a quick update of our story so far with the timeline of my treatment:

*February 2012 bloodtests through my GP
*April 2012 I attended an open day at my clinic
*May 2012 initial consultation and counselling
*May 2013 renewed some blood tests and had a 2nd 'initial' consultation and counselling as my paperwork had expired
*August 2013 decided to go ahead with IUI, cycle 1.