7 Weeks

 Week 7 Complete

How far along? 7 weeks 1 day

Babies are the size of: A single playing dice, a raspberry, or a brooches micro chameleon, but actually 12.25 mm

What did the babies develop: The little brain is growing like crazy, growing cartilage that is turning into bones, the beginnings of kidneys, arm and leg buds, tongue, ears, and eyes are also starting to form!

Gender: Already determined, but we have no clue.

How many: Pretty much determined at this point it is only 1.

Showing a bump: Nope

Maternity clothes: Sometimes I wish

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: Still sleeping well at night, but definitely napping. Especially when I don't feel as well it helps to just sleep.

Movement: Not yet according to the dr.

Best moment this week: Surviving a week of bedrest!

Miss anything: Being outside in the sunshine.

Belly button in or out: In

Food cravings: Fruit and chick fil a sandwiches

Anything making you queasy or sick: Sugar and carbs/sugar in the morning if I have not had enough protein yet. Also if I don't eat pretty much every hour on the hour.

Symptoms/Side effects: Oh so many! The main ones are morning sickness in the way of headaches if I don't eat, tingling in my extremities from laying down, getting light headed from laying down too much, and I officially have a linea nigra.

Wedding ring off or on: On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. Really just chillin'.

Looking forward to: Next weeks appointment with possible restriction lifting!

Starting to look like a human in my eyes! Thomas says it looks like a cashew.

All looked good! Little squishy had a very strong heart beat and was growing perfectly. Both the little one and the gestational sack are measuring 2 days growth beyond my 7 weeks 1 day today.

The subchoronic hemorrhage has only grown 1 mm from last time (29.30mm today), which means it is stable. The bleeding was completely clotted with no fresh blood on the ultrasound today. Which is awesome! Also, because the baby is growing so well and the subchorionic hemorrhage is not growing, the ration of blood to baby is getting less and less which is AWESOME. It means my bedrest is paying off! He even said that next week he will talk about lifting some of my restrictions!

So all in all doing well. And so thankful that this wee one is thriving and wants life!

Did it every take any other mom's out there a while to really realize that there is a living being inside of them? It still floors me. I know I see so much more being high risk with my millions of ultrasounds, but seriously you guys! Just amazes me.

6 Weeks

 Week 6

How far along? 6 weeks 2 days

Babies are the size of: A ladybug or a chocolate chip! Measured at 5.61mm

What did the babies develop: Started developing the little brain, and some of the organs, but the big thing is mainly the little heart! 

Gender: Don't know yet

How many: Still only 1.

Showing a bump: No

Maternity clothes: No

Stretch marks: No

Sleep: Still sleeping well! Also adding in an hour or 2 nap daily. Totally out of the norm for me.

Movement: Not other then their little heart beat.

Best moment this week: Seeing the little heart beat twice!

Miss anything: Freedom

Belly button in or out: In

Food cravings: Still just fruits and vegetables. Although ice cream sounds relish right now.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Although the car rides home done make me feel amazing.

Symptoms/Side effects: If I don't eat on the hour every hour I get a headache, body is a little sore, hands, feet, and head have way less circulation because it is all going to my belly! Still not have traditional morning sickness, but the headaches, the tired, and the not feeling 100% in the afternoons are all symptoms of morning sickness. So yes my friends. It also hit me in the 6th week. Just not the nausea. :)

Wedding ring off or on: On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Being cleared off of bed rest.

You can see little squishy in the darker gestational sack to the left.

Since I don't yet have a baby bump, lets call that little hiccup the extremely large meals I ate over the weekend.

OK, now for the story of last week. It all started when at about 10 on Wednesday I realized that I had started spotting. I wasn't super worried because it was dark brown, it wasn't that much, and that happens in pregnancy all the time! 25% of pregnancies that are known. Well, I called the Gyft clinic and they freaked out a little telling me to go home and take it easy. Thomas also freaked out, so we left work early and headed home.

I was on modified bed rest until my appointment on Friday at 12:30. Thomas and I had already planned to go away for the weekend on a surprise getaway that Thomas had been planning for 4 months. So after talking we decided that we would just hang out in the cabin and play games and it wouldn't change my bed rest. So after seeing the ultrasound on Friday where I got to see the little heart beat for the first time, we also saw that there was some blood in my uterus also, but it was completely clotted and heading out of the cervix, which is why I had seen some spotting.

Dr Murrain gave me some modified activity, but overall I could still walk around and be fine. So we went away and I went to work Monday and Tuesday. At our appointment yesterday, we again saw the little ones heart beat and it was over 140 beats per minute and the little guy was measuring at 6 weeks and 2 days. So still growing strong! But... the dreaded but.... there was still some bleeding and this time it was fresh, so we are upping your restrictions. But... again :) this time is it good news! The embryo is on one side of the uterus and the blood is not touching the gestational sack and is closer to the cervix. Which is great!

So basically I am on low activity, but Thomas and I have self proclaimed that I am on bed rest. And basically it is bed rest for 2 weeks after there is no sign of bleeding. So really it is probably a minimum of 3 weeks if I can get the bleeding to stop and go away by next Tuesday's appointment.

We are so thankful that this has not affected our little squishy, but we definitely still want it to go away. Mainly I want it to go away because the thought of 2-3 weeks of bed rest, let alone 7.5 more months of bed rest makes me want to go crazy. Literally. So prayers and suggestions for how to pass my time. Or come visit me. Any of the above.

But really we are doing great and in great spirits. And we have the best people here in Tacoma who put together a meal train so that Thomas doesn't have to take care of me, the house, work, and cook. Seriously, God has given us the best village! I love you people.

5 Weeks

5 Weeks Completed

How far along? 5 weeks!

Babies are the size of: A BB pellet or an apple seed.

What did the babies develop: A neural tube (spinal cord) and their heart!

Gender: Unknown

How many: 1 as of right now. I will believe it after the next 2 ultrasounds from my previous experience though!

Showing a bump: Hopefully not!

Maternity clothes: Definitely not.

Stretch marks: Nope.

Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well. Have moments of it being hard to fall sleep.

Movement: No.

Best moment this week: Watching the HCG numbers more then double every 2 days, feeling the love as you all cheer us on.

Miss anything: I feel totally fine and yet at the same time, every movement I make seems just a little bit more difficult.
Medical help: Daily progesterone shots, every 6 hour estrogen pills, 3 blood work appointments, 1 ultrasound appointment.
Emotionally feeling: Incredibly excited. Choosing to be joyful instead of fearful.

Belly button in or out: In.

Food cravings: I am loving fruit and veggies. It is the cold and crispy. I could eat fruit all day long!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not so far.

Symptoms/Side effects: Having to visit the ladies room constantly, very consistently feel twinges in my abdomen, starting to feel my core being really warm.

Wedding ring off or on: On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. :)

Looking forward to: Watching these littles grow each week!

Babies 1st Pictures!

The yolk sack

Our appointment this afternoon was great! Dr Murrain told us that according to when my cycle was and how far along the embryos were, we were 5 weeks and 1 day along with a due date of Oct 10th! We saw that there was beautiful little border sack with a little yolk sack in there too. The little was measuring at 9.55mm which is 5 weeks and 5 days measurement!

Also my cervex was 42.02mm long and closed. Which is perfect! And according to Dr Murrain my uterus is the size of a plum, which is why I can feel stuff going on in there.

He did also say that it was a singleton as of now. So we will see what next week brings! He also said that we could see the heartbeat in the next 5 days too, but we weren't able to get an appointment until next tuesday. So weekly updates it is! 

5 weeks and 1 day!

3rd Beta Blood Test Result

I went in and gave my blood Saturday morning.

And Charlene called to let me know that the number doubled again! 

My HCG was 1214! Yay!

It is doing so well that I don't even have to go give blood again.

They just scheduled my ultrasound for Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday we get to find out...

a) That these littles are in the right place. In my uterus.

b) How many of these littles we are getting!

Eek!

That's all I got.

Happy Monday!

Increasing Beta

I went in to get my blood drawn yesterday and after we all did a little happy dance together, Mary my nurse took my blood.

It is really fun how much they all are celebrating with us. It just makes me feel so loved.

She said that my number on Tuesday was really strong which was great.

Also she said one of the reasons they do the ultrasound so early is to make sure that they little ones are in my uterus, not in my fallopian tubes or some other place they aren't supposed to be.

And she said that she wanted my number to increase by 50-60%.

I finally got the call and my beta or HCG level for my second day was...

542!

So more then doubled!

My next appointment is Saturday morning, so hopefully it will have doubled again by then!

Now that we got that out of the way, there has been lots of processing going on. 

It is amazingly weird place to be right now. This is some thing we have wanted for so long, and yet there really isn't anything tangible about it. I am pregnant, and yet I don't feel much. A few twinges here and there, but also I am not tired or sick yet. Again, weird place to be.

On the other hand, it is a beautiful thing to watch how thrilled Thomas is. I may still be processing, but he is full force ahead on the happy train. I love it.

Still so much more to process, but I am choosing joy every single day. I am not letting the thought of my last miscarriage taint this pregnancy. I am choosing joy and enjoying every day because this may be my only pregnancy! Maybe not, but maybe. And if that is the case, I want to enjoy every second of it!

Will keep you posted about Saturday's numbers though!

Sweet Relief

It has been an incredible round. 

And we are pregnant.

And I am just so thankful.

WE ARE PREGNANT!!

It is still a little surreal.

I am thankful that God has chosen to direct our story this way. 

I am thankful for every single one of you who have encouraged us and walked this road with us.

I am thankful for these 1, 2, or 3 littles who I get to love.

I went in for blood work this morning and when Charlene called me, she told me that I am most definitely pregnant and that my HCG number is 258. 

The desire is to be between 50 and 500.

Whew! Made it.

And I have discovered our magic sweet spot. 

Transferring 3 Day 5 embryos.

Both times we got pregnant off of that perfect number. 

Not any other time.

I have also discovered that when I am at the end of my rope, that is when God says, here you are.

It happened with marrying Thomas, and here it happened again with these littles.

Not to mentioned that this round, I chose to claim it. I was pregnant gosh darn it.

Goes to show that you just need the faith of a mustard seed. 

And that is what I chose.

Who knows maybe I should have been at the end of my rope 3 rounds ago, but honestly I know our story had to come here.

I know that these little adopted embryos are perfect for us. 

They make our family whole.

This is the beautiful modern family God has brought us into.

So we went to get some ice cream and celebrate. 

Because I haven't had sugar all of January and I was so looking forward to it.

So thankful it is celebration ice cream not drowning my sorrows ice cream.

Because I was getting it today no matter what. 

Back to the no sugar thing.

Wow that ice cream was sweet though!

So next up!

We do blood tests every few days until my HCG hits 1500. With it usually doubling every day in healthy pregnancy, that won't be long! After we hit 1500 then we will do an ultrasound to see how many of these little buggers attached. I will keep you posted on the blood work numbers.

EEEKKK!!!!