Expecting!

Some of you may remember that I started taking fertility medication mid-December.  If you remember that, then you might remember that I was plagued with OHSS (ovarian-hyper stimulation syndrome) as well.  OHSS makes you balloon up, gain extra pounds, makes it physically hurt to eat, and you're incredibly nauseous.  I had a few people ask me, "are you pregnant?!".  Well at the time, no I wasn't.  OHSS can hit anyone who takes fertility medication, whether they are pregnant or not.  A few days after the OHSS started I looked at my fertility chart and noticed I was 11 days passed my ovulation date (you bet I tracked everything!).  I knew it was technically too early to take a test, but I decided to any ways.  I figured I might get lucky.

Well get lucky I did!  I got a positive on January 12th of this year.  I took another one the next day to be sure, and the line was much darker the next day!  It just so happened that I had a doctors appointment that day to discuss my fertility medicaton and to talk about upping the dosage.  Instead the discussion turned to beta tests to check for HCG, due dates etc.  My family doctor was really shocked that I was pregnant and a little concerned.  He said to me, "don't take this the wrong way, but enjoy it while it lasts."  Ever since I've been waiting for the floor to drop out from under us.

I had two blood tests done to confirm pregnancy and I was placed at "just about 5 weeks".  Later the following week I started getting lots of blood loss for about two weeks straight.  Followed by extreme cramping, and excruciating pain.  We rushed to the ER, and eventually had more blood work done and told to come back if it happens again.

At 6 weeks we had an ultrasound to check on our little bean and see how things where going under such stress. (The ER didn't have an ultrasound machine! What the heck?!)  The tech took lots of time, lots of photos and eventually called Dan into the room.  She spent some time pointing out different parts of my body, and eventually zoomed in on this teeny tiny little blob with a flashing heartbeat.  It was such a relief to see it be okay, and alive!

Today was my first appointment with my new Obstetrician, a lovely and sweet Russian lady.  We went through a normal check up, and lots of questions.  She then pulled out a Doppler and we heard the heartbeat for the first time! I loud Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh!!  She also had a handheld ultrasound machine, it looked like a large flip phone.  She found the baby, which is much bigger than a blob now.  It had a distinct head, arms and legs and again a flashing heartbeat!  She would move the ultrasound wand around and the baby would jump around every time.

Now I'm worried about the nerve issues I'm having while pregnant, and the twitching and spasming that I'm getting on my left side.  It's not pregnancy related, and I'm worried that pregnancy and weight gain will make it worse.  So far I've had some morning sickness starting about two weeks ago (and wonderful medication to help), and just some cramping.

So now you guys know the real reason why I'm in maintenance mode!  I'm happy to say that I am sitting exactly at my pre-pregnancy weight still (fluctuating around 222-224lbs consistently), and my weight wasn't discussed at all during the exam.

I still feel like the floor is going to be yanked out from under us.  I mean, how many people with fertility problems get pregnant the first try?!  I owe a lot of thanks to the book "Taking charge of your fertility", for without that book I probably wouldn't be pregnant.

Needless to say, this is surreal.  I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to ever be a Mom.(Funny note, my spell-check doesn't recognize "Mom" as a word!)  That my body was a wreck, I had ruined it somehow.   I still wont believe it's real until I see my baby, but for now I choose to be happy!

Some other fantastic news, I hit over 10 000 page views yesterday!  Thanks everyone for following me through all of this utter crap!

Now I'm off to snuggle with Dan, and dream of baby names.