Sup Lately

I am officially done taking my Endometrin suppositories.

Wait. Did you hear that? Listen.

It's the sound of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus. That's right. No more thrice daily self-medicating with my friends the applicators. I have earned a reprieve from maxi-pads wit or witout wings. Sunday was my first full day without that med and I have to admit, I'm not feeling well. Coincidence? Perhaps.

I just looked up at the TV. James Bond is drowning somebody in a sink. Ah, the start of Casino Royale. Theme music.

Tonight I made Jeff and I some grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches with real bread from a loaf from the bakery, and then I could only eat half of the one and a half sandwiches I made for myself. How sad is that?

On the plus side, I've been doing some reading the past couple days thanks to my friend Rachel who lent me a mini-stack of oldies, but goodies. I am getting reaquainted with Frank Peretti. It's enough to make me want to be a prayer warrior.

Monday morning, I'm headed up to NY to get together with some girlfriends from grade school and high school. It will be good to sit around a campfire with them tonight and catch up.

The downside is that I am going to miss being away from Jeff. Being pregnant is giving me some really strong emotions and wild dreams. Sometimes, I wake up and I'm actually upset with him. Have you ever experienced a similar phenomenon?

First Trimester Fun

So.....I'm at 8 weeks and 4 days. I'm about half-way through my first trimester and hopefully half-way through feeling nauseated.  Thus far, no vomiting! I am trying to keep food in my stomach and water at hand. I've had several people give me advice on combating "morning sickness" which can last all day. I feel I have been fortunate in this area.

I have found that pregnancy has made me LAZY. All I want to do is lay on the couch...and occasionally get up to clean. I remain constipated unless I do my Fit Mama DVD. Walking doesn't help my bowels. I did take the max adult dose of a laxative Saturday night that had me in the bathroom in a Dumb and Dumber moment, about 15 minutes after ingestion. Liquid, 5 lb. relief. I haven't gone since then. Me no poopy for three days.

It doesn't matter how much fruit I eat. I'm going to have to bring myself to exercise tomorrow if I ever hope to poop again. This sucketh.

What did you struggle with during your first trimester?

6 weeks 3 days: Heartbeats, a Progesterone Rash, and a Due Date

We had our second ultrasound today and saw both little hearts beating! Two babies! They will be fraternal twins, two different eggs and sperm. Two blastocytes transferred to my womb. They are on target! The doc said we might want to wait to tell people because it's still early, and I grinned at Jeff. The doc took the hint that we've already let that cat out of its bag.

I have also developed a rash as an allergic reaction to the progesterone. Doc wants me to stay on the progesterone for the babies' sake and to manage my symptoms with Benadryl. The rash started at the tops of my thighs and has grown thicker, slightly more bumpy and pinker, oh and it's spreading up my side. Did I mention that it itches (but not horribly)?

Third piece of 411 on the pregnancy: My first official due date is March 31. As he was giving it to me, he said that "the computer will give you a due date, which we can then laugh at." It will keep changing. The doc said my due date would most likely be anywhere between Valentine's Day 2011 and the end of Feb into early March.

Pregnancy symptoms we love to hate: tender swollen breast tissue, fatigue, constipation, progesterone rashes, and now....nausea.

5 weeks 3 days

According to the nurse...that's how pregnant I am.  I arrived at the office and gave some more blood for another HCG level check (which I found out they will continue to do, but not share the results of those tests with me unless something is wrong, until they release me to the care of my OBGYN), and then I had my visit with Dr. S. He checked out the blasties using TVU (he called them the "implants") and told me everything looked good...two gestational sacs with yolk sacs inside etc. I have another ultrasound next week and at that point we may be able to hear the heartbeats. By week 7 we should really be able to hear them. They tell us that after documentation of the heartbeat that only 10-15% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. This little gem was in their literature.

It's pretty heady stuff. Next week, the "implants" will be about the size of tic-tacs. I can't help it, but now that I think about it, well, what do YOU associate with that word?

I'm still on the low-dose aspirin, a prenatal, and the Endometrin 3x a day, and now I have added a folic acid supplement to the mix.  Pretty soon, I'll need one of those M-F pill boxes for old people.

Anticipating My First Ultrasound

Tomorrow is the day! We get our first look inside my womb since the transfer. I'm hoping for a due date from the doctor, to catch a glimpse of the wee folk and to get a head count. No morning sickness yet. I think the blasties are 4 weeks at this point. We'll see what the official week count is from the doctor. He might have a different time table. I'll let you know my HCG levels if I get them from the nurse.