Catching Up - Bulleted Version

Hey peeps!! Like I said I've been SO busy at work which doesn't help my blogging. Know that I'm at least keeping up with yours and even if I'm not commenting, I am reading!! It also doesn't help that we moved floors last week and now my boss, who use to sit on the other side of the floor with absolutely no visual on me (allowing for my 1.5 hour lunch breaks), now sits in the office over my shoulder. Not only does this affect my lunch schedule but also my facebook, blogging, online shopping, etc. Basically its the worst thing EVER!!! But here are some goods things going on:

• Today I'm 13w2d pregnant, whoohoo!
• Last night we did the doppler (because I was convinced my yorkie Bella had hurt Skooter when she jumped onto my lap) and we hit the money spot. Skooter's heart was beating away and it was crystal clear, best sound ever!
• We have fully announced to everyone (except work...when did you tell your boss) that we're pregnant. I'm shocked at how many amazing friends I have that have sent congrats on expecting cards. I'm assuming I avoided this section of the card aisle completely in the past. I want to get better about that in general though, its SO fun to get something unexpected in the mail!
• This weekend is 4th of July which means long weekend, YAY! Since moving to the burbs hubby and I always host our families for the 4th, since we live right where the parade goes by in my town. Always makes for a fun day! Even my grandpa who is 94 comes up from the southside and watches the parade, he's so cute!
• I'm starting to feel like I'm showing, but it does weird me out how much my stomach changes throughout the day. In the morning I look a little bloated, but by bedtime I swear I look like a 5 month pregnant person. Is this normal and does that happen to anyone else?
• Hubby got me the boppy body pillow for my 12 week present, and its AMAZING!
• And to celebrate the end of the 1st trimester hubby and I are having a date night tomorrow since we're taking Friday off. Dinner at wildfire followed by a movie...can you guess what I'm seeing?? You know it, Eclipse here I come...actually more like Edward here I come! Dam he's so frickin hot, hubby I love you more though!

Hope everyone has a great and safe holiday weekend!! And on Monday I'll be doing my 14 week post with some belly shots. I took my first at 12 weeks, so we'll see if there's any change from pic to pic!!! I'm betting chowing down all day on the 4th should help my belly cause!

12 Weeks!!!

How Far Along: 12 weeks (and 2 days)

Maternity Clothes: Just my bella bands for now.

Stretch Marks: Nope, and I got some cocoa butter which I'm slathering on every night now.

Sleep: While energy during the day has definitely improved I still need a lot of sleep. Even when I go to bed early I wake up in the mornings feeling like I'm hungover.

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing Skooter yesterday at our NT scan!! He/she is the cutest little thing, and was bouncing all over the place. But in between bouncing Skooter was chilling with its legs up like it was in a recliner. It was too cute and I never wanted the u/s to end. Here's a pic, you can see the legs on the right and both hands are up by the face. The left one you can see the tips of the thumb and fingertips right there by the nose. The right hand is covering the mouth.

Movement: Still too early!

Food cravings: I could eat chipolte veggie bowl for every meal, watermelon, anything sweet!

Gender: Still thinking girl, reasons are the heartbeat theory and face breakouts. Yesterday's heartbeat was 165 bpm (they say the higher it is = girl, and lower it is = boy). And during the wedding weekend I got a facial and my facialist was 5 months pregnant. She had just found out they were having a girl, and had the same forehead breakouts as I did...she said that was a girl symptom as well. And hey, if were totally off base that would be great too because I can't think of anything cuter than a mini hubby!!

What I Miss: Now I'm definitely missing the weekly u/s as yesterday marked three weeks since my last one. The doppler has truly been a savior. We're so good at finding the heartbeat now that we just do it every night before bed for like 30 seconds. Also, I'm missing worry free sex. Its just not the same when all you can think about is running to the bathroom to see if you're spotting afterwards...I know we'll get there but in the beginning its just frickin scary!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Telling everyone! We told a few people at the wedding but I totally chickened out and didn't want to fully announce. I just needed yesterday's u/s under my belt. So I think I may email my friends today with the pic of Skooter. I'm still nervous since we've been keeping it a secret so long, but I'm excited for everyone to finally know!!

Weekly Wisdom: Random symptom of pregnancy is increased hair growth, well apparently my hair got the memo all new growth should occur on my stomach! Yes, I have a full on treasure trail of blonde hair, in addition to some all over fur. It's weirdly long and just ain't sexy.

Milestones: 12 weeks - almost out of the first trimester!!! And successful NT scan!

Emotions: Starting to believe this is happening. Seeing Skooter yesterday was just so amazing. I definitely have a start of a bump which is exciting too, I took a 12 week picture finally but its on my other camera so I'll have to download later today. And I also pulled out the pregnancy books finally. I had bought a couple last year when I got pregnant and after the miscarriage hubby hid all pregnancy related stuff. I never asked for them because I didn't want to jinx this pregnancy, or something.

Bad Blogger

So I must say I've been a terrible blogger of late. I'm trying as hard as I can to keep up with all yours, but I've been super busy at work which is where I do most of my blogging. I know I know, I'm a bad employee. But 90% of the year I'm bored to tears, but in the summer we have our insurance renewals which I'm in charge of and they really piss me off cause I'm forced to be a decent employee and get some crap done. And I have to admit...back in the fall when thoughts of a summer baby were on my mind I also thought about the chance of my maternity leave falling on insurance renewal season. Oh well, clearly I'm meant to have a January baby so I'll suck it up and get this shit done.

And on top of that we have an out town wedding this weekend in Galena. Hubby and I both grew up growing to Galena. His grandparents had a house there, and my parents had a townhouse. We always joke that we could have walked right past each other way back in the day!! I have so many great memories of that place, we'd go there in the summer and winter...and I have since recruited my friends on numerous skiing trips there and hubby and I have gone for several weekends on our own. The thing I love most about Galena is it never changes...they have this cute little town, with the same candy store I went to when I was 10, that you can weigh on those old school scales. My mom only let me get 1/4 lb, and it was all about getting the gummies which were way lighter than chocolate stuff, hah!!

I also met Jas.on Prie.stly, Ia.n Zieri.ng, and Dav.id Aus.ten Gree.n in Galena. I know, SO random. And believe it or not...it was when 90210 was fairly new, I was in 4th grade which meant 90210 obsession!!! They were doing some celebrity baseball game at the Field of Dreams (which is not too far away), and as fate would have it they were staying at the townhouse attached to mine!!! I listened through the walls with cups all night long. I remember being so upset because Jason Priestly was smoking (which in my 4th grade head was equivalent to doing drugs, hah)!! We got autographs and tons of photo ops, I mean really...how amazing is that story?!?

Needless to say Galena is a very happy place for me, so hubby and I took Friday off and are heading up Thursday afternoon to extend the trip. First stop is Happy Joe's for some taco pizza, yum! And then Friday hubby is golfing with the boys (he's standing up) and I'm heading to the spa for my first mani/pedi since finding out I was pregnant, can we say way overdue. I know I'm a freak but when I googled online it said to make sure they didn't rub your feet or ankles in certain spots cause they're pressure points that induce contractions. Every article online just says to tell them you're pregnant and ask they only rub your calves. But let's be honest...I felt a little silly going in at 6 weeks with NO bump whatsoever being all I'm pregnant so can you not rub my feet, hah. But that's just me.

Another first this week for me is highlights!! OMG, you have no idea. I was due for highlights before I started IVF, but skipped in fear the chemicals would somehow affect my eggs...seriously I have problems. So my point is I literally have 4 inch roots of dark brown hair (with some evil rogue grey strands...okay, i've only found like 2 but they're much easier to find against dark hair), ick!! The combination of the dark roots, gross feet and nails, and totally broken out forehead is definitely not a winning one. It's summer and I'm ready to be blond again, YAY! Maybe I should take before and after pics to document the improvement, hah!

What else, tomorrow I go for blood work for my NT scan next week. Wednesday is my last weekly acupuncture (and then I'm just going to go monthly until my package runs out). And then Thursday is my 12 week appointment with the OB (a few days early) but I wanted to get confirmation everything is good before the wedding. We may start to tell people at the wedding. I asked hubby if he wanted to bring it up to the guys, and he suggested I just bring it up to the wives/girlfriends. The idea of telling people is so weird to think about, I mean I'm excited don't get me wrong...and for my own friends I'm planning a whole cute announcement. But we're going to be at a wedding, and I certainly don't wait to create a huge spectacle...so I may just tell one or two of the other wives and let the news spread on its own. And I think I'm going to wait and tell all my friends after the NT scan (a week from tomorrow) so I can send them all a great pic or video of little Skooter.

So today marks 11 weeks so we're getting very close to 2nd trimester. I think I'm starting to let it sink in a little more, I'm definitely starting to feel more confident talking about this pregnancy like its actually happening. So in any case if I'm MIA this week you know why, and I should have a great post for you next week post highlights/wedding/NT scan! Have a great week everyone.

10 Weeks!!!

How Far Along: 10 weeks

Maternity Clothes: This weekend I got two new bras which are b cup...whoohoo (previously an a)! And two bella bands which are awesome, and now I don't have to worry about my coworkers noticing my jeans are unbuttoned everyday!

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Sleep: Still going to bed super early...although Friday after my bloggie dinner (which was so fun) I came home and forced myself to stay up and watch Friday Night Lights (love Coach) with hubby, and totally paid for it the next day. I seriously felt hungover...so I guess I need to stick to my 10pm bed time!

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing Skooter last week of course! And, it's so funny a few of you mentioned getting a doppler to ease my worries...cause one was already on the way! I begged hubby to try it this weekend as I was almost 10 weeks and promised I wouldn't freak if we couldn't hear the heartbeat (such a lie). Well, after a little searching I THINK I found it. I didn't anty up for the digital one...so we're just relying on counting what we hear. But you can hear mine down there, which is super slow...and then this other faster one. Assuming that actually is the heartbeat it truly is the most beautiful relieving sound ever!

Movement: Still too early!

Food cravings: Still chipolte, but got the worst heartburn from it last time. And still fruit, the juicer the better, oranges and watermelon are my fav! Oh, and Salt & Vinegar chips...I've always loved these but the other day driving home from work I actually stopped at a gas station to get some!!!

Gender: Still no clue, although hubby and I have started to make predictions. He of course thinks boy and I think girl!

What I Miss: My weekly ultrasounds. Although I did manage to move my 12 week OB appt to a week from this Thursday (I'll technically only be 11w3d) but I'll get confirmation everything is good before the wedding!

What I'm Looking Forward To: My next OB appt...literally counting down the minutes!

Weekly Wisdom: Walking into the maternity store to buy my bella bands was totally scary, so make sure you're prepared. I just felt like such an impostor, even when they asked me my due date at check out...I swear I felt like I was lying or something!

Milestones: 10 weeks - double digits baby!

Emotions: Same as before excitement mixed with constant anxiety!! I remember commenting on preggos blogs when they hit 10 weeks and thought...wow, that sounds really pregnant! Something about double digits. And here I am at that same spot, its almost surreal. And I'm just so thankful to have gotten this far!

Hope everyone's Mondays fly by!!

My Name is Andrea...

...and I'm addicted to ultrasounds. Yes, I believe I have a problem. So as we all know I sneakily made my u/s appt for a week earlier than my OB said to. And then Tuesday afternoon hit and I was like I absolutely cannot make it to Friday so I called and changed it to yesterday...hehe! It has been over a week since my last one...and at the RE I was getting weekly u/s so I pretty much was going out of my mind...I needed to see Skooter! I'm basically having a symptomless pregnancy (with the exception on my insanely broken out forehead) and for me no symptoms = one effing crazy pregnant lady. How can you feel totally normal but have a baby growing in there...I don't get it?!?

The kicker is of course now I have a 3 week gap between yesterday and my 1st trimester screening, so I've really screwed myself. BUT, the important thing is I got to see baby Skooter yesterday and it was amazing as usual. Below is a pic of my little teddy graham! Still not quite looking like a baby, but aren't those little arm buds adorable (head on left laying sideways)?!?


So of course today I'm obsessing about how I get in to my OB office sooner, see I told you I have a problem! Hubby joked they're going to have signs of me in the offices, saying do not let this girl sneak in...hah! So we have that wedding the weekend of the 6/19 and I would really like to go public with our news. One I'm excited to start telling people, two I believe a few people are on to me and it would be nice to finally come clean, and three I'm really over the fake drinking! We went to a bday party last weekend and I had to hold a cold beer all day and eat bbq stuff with nothing to drink cause we were on these people's roof top and all they had was a huge cooler of booze. You know how tempting it is to take a sip of beer when chowing down a burger, especially when you're dying of thirst. Brutal!!

Anyways, I know I have absolutely no reason not to think everything will be just fine (you would think my last 7 u/s would convince me of this), but I have this irrational fear of going public, and then going to my 1st trimester screening the following tuesday only to find out something was wrong! I even tried to bump up my screening to the thursday/friday before the wedding but you have to be 11w4d which I will be on Friday (but they don't do u/s on Fridays, ugh) and Thursday I'm obviously 11w3d....so out of luck there.

So my new plan is my OB told me to u/s in 2 weeks (check), and schedule appt with her for 4 weeks. So now I'm thinking maybe I can move that appt up to the end of my 11th week right before the wedding instead of the week after. She said we'd try using the doppler to hear the heartbeat and if we couldn't get it I'd just get a regular u/s (ding ding ding)! So I may try to sneak that out this morning.

I know...how crazy do I sound that these are the things I obsess about! Poor hubby, he actually has to listen to these plans on a daily basis. In any case despite my case of the crazies, today I'm just going to remind myself how amazing little baby Skooter is doing, and how truly grateful I am each and every day!

Now I'm Normal

Hey bloggies, hope everyone had a great long weekend! Hubby and I were busy with bbq's and pool time and all that great stuff. Why does one day make SUCH a huge difference, the weekend feels soooo much longer and the work week feels so much shorter.

In any case just wanted to catch everyone up with me. Last Thursday I had my first OB appointment, which was exciting because I had graduated but also a little nerve wracking since I knew I was going back to an office where getting pregnant is a normal everyday occurrence. And you don't get weekly u/s or have dedicated nurses you can psycho dial with questions. It definitely weirded me out, to be thought of as normal after feeling anything but for so long. Not that I really thought I would be treated differently because I came through the RE, but its just an adjustment I'll have to get use to.

My appt started with the nurse, who's first question was when was the date of your last period. Umm, I seriously couldn't remember...I know my retrieval date, and transfer date, beta date...and I probably could have calculated back but when you're put on the spot and I'm bad at doing math in my head, I just really couldn't remember. So she jotted down my transfer date and said that would work. She said I would be getting some blood work, some STD swabby test in my whoha, and said the dr. would be in soon.

So I've actually been going to my OB for a couple years and I love her. And she works in a practice with all other woman OBs which I really like. She did say she was so happy I was here, but then started going through the usual stuff. Similar to my RE she is super laid back. She okay'd just about everything from working out (which I don't do) to eating soft cheeses (as she said any american ones are made with pasteurized milk anyways...still won't be doing), and traveling up until 34 weeks. Oh, and I did ask her about highlighting my hair (this was seriously my only question, hah) which of course she gave me the go ahead on, although I'm still waiting until right before 12 weeks when I have a wedding and 3 in. of dark brown roots with blonde ends will just not do!

She did say I wouldn't see her for another month, but I could come in for an u/s in 2 weeks to calm my nerves...thank you!! And of course I sneakily made it for this Friday, which is more like a week but who's really counting. They also outsource the 1st trimester screenings to a genetic specialist or something for the NT scan...so I made an appt for that ultrasound in 3 weeks.

After my appointment they had me meet with the benefits coordinator...and this is when I started feeling WAY too normal. She started going through my insurance, and all the co-pays/out of pockets costs/etc. It was just so weird because she kept saying well if you deliver in 2010 it may be this, but if its 2011 you will have to pay the whole deductible, yada yada yada. Like hold up, I'm actually going to be having a baby here...I'm still wrapping my mind around the fact I'm preggers.

Oh and then she gave me some form for the circumcision fee and explained how that worked depending if you were finding out or not. And while she's going through all this all I kept thinking was, I'm only 8 weeks...are you sure we should be doing this now...don't you know I'm a crazy fertility IVF patient and hardly believe I'm pregnant, let alone ready to talk about circumcision costs?!? I'm sure for most people this is totally normal but I was just not prepared. She told me she didn't need the forms back for a couple of months and hopefully by then I start to feel normal enough to tackle those bad boys.

So now I sit and count the minutes until my u/s on Friday! Have a great week everyone, let's hope it moves REAL fast!