Is baby a boy or girl? Read more about this in this post!

So we don't know yet, but we will soon -- read more about this later!

I was 13 wks on Friday and I am starting to see the clouds clearing in my funky feeling first trimester. I sent a message to the dads saying "Happy Second Trimester!" except I am so out of touch with pregnancy anymore that I didn't realize that the second trimester started at the END of the 13th week. LOL

I had some bleeding again over the weekend last weekend and went to the midwife on Tuesday once they opened after the holiday.  Baby Shark looks great.  Measuring right on track and a heart beat of 164.  Baby was moving and grooving and just making it hard to measure him/her during the ultrasound.  They did discover that I have an SCH (a bleed like last time) with a measurement of 2.7x1.9x3.6cm.  It definitely is not a huge bleed like I may have had with Rowan -- So that is good.  But I also have a low lying placenta/borderline partial previa.  I am not overly concerned with this yet -- it is still so early and it as the uterus grows, the placenta should go up the wall of the uterus.  However, should it not move, that could complicate things like delivery later resulting in a cesarean.  They will look into it again at our anatomy scan just to make sure it is moving up!

Here are some photos of baby shark from the ultrasound.

This one cracks me up -- looks like the baby is smoking a pipe or flicking the camera off!

Baby is looking more like a baby!

Baby foot!

Back of baby's head with arms up above head!

After that appointment on Tuesday, I had to head back to the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor for another quick ultrasound for genetic screening.  Everything again looked good at that ultrasound including the nuchal translucency measurements.  They also ordered a blood genetic screening which means we will know if baby shark is a he or she any day now!  So if you are looking for an ultra cool announcement -- it is coming -- next post will be a gender reveal!

Post for 12 weeks pregnant!

I didn't get around to doing my 11 wk post last week 😔 but I had a good excuse.  My grandmother passed away on Thursday and Kurt was out of town until Friday evening so I just was busy with life. 

Here is a photo of my grandma a few years ago on the Lighthouse Pier by her house. 

I did however take a 11 wk photo before we went to the Colorado Spring Vibes game -- they are the farm team for the Brewers. 

 Last week, I also went to the midwife for a check up appointment.  They did a quick ultrasound to make sure I didn't have a subchorionic hematoma (SCH).  Everything looked good on ultrasound and baby shark was measuring right on point with a heart rate of 166.  

They did start me on aspirin 81mg to help ward off high blood pressure.  There is a few reasons that they think I could be more prone to it this pregnancy.  For one, pre-eclampsia is related to the father's DNA.  Since this is the first time carrying C's baby, there is a higher chance that I could potentially end up with pre-e or high blood pressure. I also was induced with Aggy for high blood pressure (but not pre-e) so again, more at risk.  Finally, pre-e is more common at high altitude.  We live in Mile High city so that means we are at 5,400+ feet at my house.  There is less oxygen here too.  The medical journals have shown that there is a higher incidence of pre-e at a high altitude and this is my first pregnancy here.  So 81mg of aspirin should help prevent!  Let's lessen risks where we can!

I flew to Michigan for my Grandmother's funeral on Monday.  It was a beautiful service and I was thrilled to be close to many of my family members for a bit.  Of course, with any family gathering, there was some drama and a few tense situations.  I mostly felt well on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning I woke up at 5am with a terrible headache.  It remained with me all day Wednesday and I woke up again on Thursday morning at 3am to head to the airport with this headache.  I tried everything I could to get rid of it, but I just couldn't.  While on the plane, I napped for a few.  Then I had a ginger ale because my stomach was hurting -- presumably from the bad headache.  Then I started feeling really bad. I got hot.  I got clammy and I started to feel faint.  Fortunately my aunt was in the seat right in front of me so I got her attention and she called for the flight attendant.  Then everything went black. I was still coherent -- just on the verge of passing out.  They put oxygen on me and I felt better pretty quickly. I kept the oxygen on me until landing.  Kurt picked me up and I made an appointment with my primary care doctor.  I went home, took a nap and then went to the doctor.  They ran some tests on me and aside from low blood pressure and a high heart rate when standing, nothing seemed to be substantially wrong with me.  I came home, napped more and just was out of it all afternoon.

Luckily, I woke up today, at 12 weeks, feeling so much better. I feel human again. I still have a dull headache but at least it isn't the debilitating headache I had been dealing with for 2 days.  Today I got a few tasks completed and took a short nap. 

Next week we will be in our 2nd trimester -- hopefully with that comes a great relief of all of these unsavory pregnancy symptoms.  Also with the 12 weeks came the end of shots!  Last night was my last set of shots for this surrogacy.  Hooray! 

This size comparison made me smile!  It reminded me of the most awesome macaroons I have had -- at Rowan's baby shower. They were made by E!  I am salivating thinking about them! Yes - I went back and found a photo of them!  😅

Here are the update for what is going on in this old uterus of mine and my 12 wk photo!

Also, something kind of funny, maybe it is because it is the 6th pregnancy. Maybe it's because this baby isn't mine.  Maybe its because I have been busy or I am getting old?  But I can't remember how far along I am until I look at the apps. I have been telling everyone that I was going to be 13 wks today.  Ummm nope!  Next week!

Maternity clothes: Soon -- they are coming on real soon.  For now it's the biggest bottoms I have or stretchy skirts.
Stretch marks? No 

Sleep: It has been elusive this week but hoping to get back into the swing of things now that I am home
Best moment this week: Spending time with my family
Movement: Starting to feel little twitches

Food cravings: Nothing specific this week.  Just carbs.
Labor signs: Too Early
Symptoms: Fatigue, nausea, just overall funk (Same as last week) and add faintness every now and then
Wedding rings on or off?   On
Happy or moody most of the time?  This week has been just emotional
Miss anything yet? Still Margaritas (Probably will be this answer until 40 wks!)
Looking forward to: Sleeping in my own bed for a while!

10 wks

So this week was... blah.  That is how I felt most of the week. Last week I had just mind boggling fatigue.  It was so bad that some days, I didn't pull myself off of the couch to do more than eat and use the bathroom.  It was just really a hard week for me.  I contacted the Midwives who told me to increase unisom to 2 tablets at night with Super B Complex.  Then take a half a unisom in the morning with Super B complex and another Super B in the afternoon.  That has at least gotten me off of the couch this week. I have been able to do some tasks around the house like load the dishwasher, vacuum the floor and do the occasional laundry.

Did I mention it was Back to School Week and did I also mention that I was single parenting it all week this week?  Yeah Kurt was in NOLA which made this week extra challenging.  I found myself face down on the floor a few times -- literally.  I just couldn't get myself up because I was feeling so .... blah.  But I made it through the week and just 4 more weeks of shots -- my poor butt.  😟  

So this week was better in some regards than last week -- my energy levels were higher, and it is a good thing because I needed it doing all of the running and caring for the house and kids alone... Oh and I get to do it again next week when he leaves again.  😑

So we made it to 10 wks -- another week closer to the second trimester which promises relief in many.

I am really believing this is a boy because a girl wouldn't make me feel this miserable!!

Baby shark is doing some big things this week!  S/he is the size of a lego man now!

How far along?  10w0d Total weight gain/measurements: 2 lbs

Maternity clothes: Not yet - My clothes are fitting well still Stretch marks? Nope Sleep: Some nights are okay, others meh. Best moment this week: When I got into the bed at the end of every day
Movement: Maybe? Food cravings: Bruschetta type tomato salad. Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing specifically but sometimes I make something for the family to eat then I just can't stomach the thought of eating it Labor signs: Too Early Symptoms: Fatigue, nausea, just overall funk (Same as last week)
Wedding rings on or off? On Happy or moody most of the time? Tired Miss anything yet? Still Margaritas (Probably will be this answer until 40 wks!)
Looking forward to: Going on the cruise I just booked

9 wk update

Today we hit 9 weeks which puts us closer to the end of the first trimester.  I am hoping at the end of the first trimester brings relief.  This baby has me feeling terrible.  At first it started as evening sickness.  Every night after dinner, I felt crummy and nauseous and overall, useless.   Starting this week, I have also felt crummy in the mornings.  It isn't just nausea but the hot flashes, feeling kind of weak and faint. I have also been super irritable with everyone and everything. Yesterday I made a point to drink A TON OF WATER (like my contract says to do -- which is ridiculous really that they said that just because I live in Denver -- the Mile High City) -- I was hoping that maybe between altitude and pregnancy, drinking a lot of fluids would make me feel better -- wrong.  It just made me have to pee all night.  GAH!

These are the little things that remind me why it would take a really really really (did I mention very???) special situation to do a compensation free surrogacy.  Feeling terrible and not being able to keep up with household tasks is hard on my family so the compensation helps to offset those negative feelings.

We just got back from our week long camping trip and it was a good time.  I was quite irritable during a lot of it, but considering I had just gotten back from a short trip to Michigan the day before, I think I handled it well.  We took the camper from here to Rapid City, SD and checked out many places around the area including Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands and the Missile Training Silo on Ellsworth AFB.  Then we took the camper over the Cheyenne, WY and went fishing and checked out the town.  Unfortunately, during that part of the trip, my brand new phone stopped working so I don't have photos to post of the trip!


This baby has me craving weird things -- Sweets.  Anyone that knows me, knows I don't love sweets.  I rarely eat them.  It also has me realizing that I suck at high altitude baking.  Maybe I should just leave it to the professionals.  Between the nausea and sickness and the wanting sweets, it is reminding me of one other pregnancy -- the only boy I carried.  This is mirroring exactly how I felt when I carried Weston.  I craved DQ banana split blizzards with him!  So who knows -- maybe the guys will be seeing blue this time?

This is a fresh peach cobbler I made.  I was going to make it while camping, but our grill was having issues and no camp fires were allowed at either campground.  I had this for breakfast lunch and dinner on some days -- Don't judge  Feed the baby what the baby wants!

I had a sample of Lemon Blueberry Bread at a little shop Kurt & I went to a couple months ago.  Ever since I have been pregnant, I couldn't get it out of my mind -- all I wanted was some Lemon Blueberry Bread.  So I made some.  Recipe said 50 minutes to cook, it took 80 minutes.  Altitude is killing me here!

I still have 5 more weeks of shots -- not like I am counting or anything.  I have already been on shots for about 11 weeks.  I have had a few shots that almost dropped me to my knees and made me feel like I was going to pass out.  A few that bled like I was dying.  I never had problems in other journeys -- I am guessing just the wrong location but it is hard to tell since I am not giving them to myself.  But I am a pin cushion and I have about 48 shots to go until I can stop.  The RE usually does about 10 wks of shots but with the spotting I had, he wants me to stay on them for an extra month.  My poor butt!!!

How far along?  9w0d
Total weight gain/measurements: Since transfer day, I have gained 1 lb 

Maternity clothes: Not yet - My clothes are fitting well still
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Last night was miserable - had to use the bathroom many times, and just couldn't sleep
Best moment this week: Getting home from our camping trip so I could sleep in our bed
Movement: I feel the uterus twitching
Food cravings: Sweets -- what is wrong with this baby?
Anything making you queasy or sick? Every night before bed and now in the mornings too
Labor signs: Too Early
Symptoms: Fatigue, nausea, just overall funk
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time? Irritable
Miss anything yet? Still Margaritas
Looking forward to: Kids going back to school next week!

Ultrasound Update

Of course ultrasound day is always exciting but for me, I have been feeling a little anxious.  Though it is common during IVF, bleeding or spotting during pregnancy never gets any easier! It is always scary.  For the last week off and on, I have been spotting while on our trip.  The last time I went to Wisconsin when I was 6 wks pregnant with Rowan, I had a serious bleed and it was terrifying!

So with that, we are 6w2d today and here is a little update on what baby shark is doing!

But you came for the ultrasound update -- Is it one baby shark or two?

Just one little baby measuring perfectly!  Baby Shark's heart started beating in the last few days so it is 111 right now -- which is totally normal for this gestation.  As it keeps beating, it will get stronger and the heart beats per minute will increase.  😍

Now some questions I will answer weekly or whenever I check in and decide to blog 😀

How far along?  6w2d
Total weight gain/measurements: 4 lbs since the start of injections -- Was that 7 wks of travel or estrogen?  Certainly not the blueberry sized baby! Maternity clothes: Not yet
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: At night, crummy.  Yet I cannot cope during the day around 2 pm.  I want a nap daily.  Too bad that can't happen. 
Best moment this week: When they put the ultrasound probe on and we saw a heartbeat.  A SINGLE heartbeat!
Movement: Not yet
Food cravings: Not really, But it is the season of fresh fruit and I love fruit!
Anything making you queasy or sick? At night, before bed, I feel nauseous.
Labor signs: Too Early
Symptoms: Fatigue and spotting
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or moody most of the time? Happy - but I have been accused of being moody which is annoying because the moment you are pregnant, you become hormonal if you have an opinion 😒
Miss anything yet? Margaritas -- I need those as a side to family drama
Looking forward to: My family camping trip next week! 

Until next time....

Beta Results & More

I have vowed to try and do better with my blog this time!  I think I only published like 8 the last pregnancy!!

Even though we have been traveling nonstop, and this will continue, I hope to keep everyone updated!

On the way home from Virginia to Denver (a 26 hour road trip!), I had to stop on Monday to get my beta drawn in Kentucky!   Unfortunately someone somewhere got my birthday wrong and they didn't get me the results until Tuesday afternoon.  But the good news, I was already getting beautiful positives, so I wasn't that worried!

10.5dp6dt or about 16dpo

I finally got the results and they were great.  This is what I sent the daddies!

We finally made it home Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was heading to the lab to go get my next beta, progesterone and estrogen drawn.  Again, we had issues with paperwork at the lab and my orders were not in the system.

But first, that morning I had to take some pregnancy tests to compare to beta numbers.  I bought a few tests in UAE because, why wouldn't I right?  The instructions are in arabic but a pregnancy test is a pregnancy test -- two lines and you are knocked up.  (Too bad when I made this graphic, I didn't realize my phone took the photo of the instructions upside down, but I wasn't going to change it!)

12.5dp6dt or about 18dpo

A few more good solid lines -- What would my beta be?  Probably around 750 right?  My doubling rate with Rowan was 41 hours.  With Aggy it was 46 hour doubling time.

And for comparison beta numbers for each.
Rowan:15dpo 309, 18dpo 971
Aggy:  18dpo 473, 20dpo 970

So those were some nice healthy numbers that resulted in some beautifully healthy little girls.  So what does this number mean?  At around 18.75dpo, my results came back pretty high with a doubling rate of 27 hours.

In fun, I sent a message to the guys asking them if it was one or two chicks.  The coordinator said she was interested in seeing if there was as splitter at the ultrasound on July 23.  So naturally the guys and I talked about which minivan was the best since they were going to be the Fab 5 in a few short months!  Reality is that this number is just a number.  It *could* mean a splitter.  It could mean that we have one really healthy little baby growing and thriving.  Either way, everything looks exceptional for the pregnancy.  And I am hoping and thinking that it is just one, but it sure is fun to tease the guy that it could be two!~

So where are we now? Today we are 5 wks and baby is the size of an orange seed.  And I am not having a ton of nausea but the fatigue is killing me!!  Every day, around 2pm, I can no longer keep my eyes open.  I have to lay down to take a short power nap or I just cant make it through the afternoon.  I am also kind of a monster -- I have a very short fuse right now.  I don't know if it is the pregnancy, the hormone shots or the nonstop travel, but whatever it is has me crawling out of my own skin! And yes, I do realize I created this myself.  I try to remain positive throughout everything but you know, reality is that life isn't always perfect or beautiful.  I am flat out tired right now and sometimes I am lacking getting things done around my house or for my family.  That is reality!

Finally, when pregnant with sweet Rowan, I made almost the same road trips.  I also caught a blood test on the way out of town, drove to Denver, then we drove to Mount Rushmore (Which we will be going to at the end of July on a camping trip) and to Wisconsin.  Next week we head for Wisconsin.  Here is a blog from that road trip - Road Trip & Ultrasound Update

Rest is for the weary!  I will be sure to update after the July 23 ultrasound! 

Oops I did it again...

Probably just got that song stuck in your head but I wanted to share some big updates with our followers!  But what is it that I did again?  What is our big news?

First, my oldest daughter and I went to UAE for 3 weeks to visit our best friends and this was the trip of a lifetime!  It was seriously an amazing trip and we saw so many spectacular and moving things and ate so much great food!

Here are a few photos to show you just what we were up to...

Desert Safari - Abu Dhabi

Souk - Dubai

Snoopy Island - Fujairah

Pearl Journey - Eastern Mangroves, Abu Dhabi

Domes at Presidential Palace, Abu Dhabi

Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi

   

What I didn't share with the world is that before I left for UAE, I started my estrogen injections so that meant that the entire time we were on our trip, I was doing injections... Which also meant headaches for a week towards the end.

We flew into Dulles, I dropped off the kid with a friend and ran quickly to Richmond to get a lining scan to see how the estrogen was doing in my system.

At the time of scan, Dr. Steingold was pleased with my triple stripe lining and the 12mm thickness and I was instructed to start Progesterone 3 days later with a transfer on 6/27 -- 27 happens to be my lucky number!

So off I went to drive back to DC to catch a flight to New Orleans for a chance to see my husband that I had not seen since before I left for UAE and also hang out with another of my best friends -- remember Crying Doula?  Melissa?  Yeah I got to hang with her too!
 

Last drink before the transfer - a yummy FRose with Melissa!

                        
Then I flew to Denver for a night and back to DC for the transfer.  But before the transfer could happen, I threw out my retainers and I had to fly back to Denver to get a new set of retainers.  Terribly expensive and inconvenient mistake, but I made it back on Wednesday night at midnight -- Just in enough time to make it for the embryo transfer on Thursday. 


Here's some photos from that day.  Of course we had to replicate the day of Rowan's transfer and again we went to PF Chang's for lunch then off to the clinic.

We transferred a beautiful 6 day hatching embryo. The photo of the embryo was taken right at thaw but before it was transferred, it was actively hatching which is a great thing!  The embryo was rated a 3AA and was from C's embryo batch.  Last cycle, they took 8 donor eggs for each guy from the same donor and created embryos.  Rowan was E's biological baby, of course both daddies are her daddies, but this time, they chose the best embryo from C.

These are the announcements that Melissa made me to tell the guys.  I started getting positive tests around 2.75dp6dt.  That means 8.75 days past ovulation or about 5-6 days before missed period.  I couldn't tell the guys until I had a no shit positive.  With my direction (and no internet), Melissa made these with my 4.75dpt photo.  My favorite being the Pregnant AF one but I knew that maybe that isn't appropriate for everyone -- appropriate for mine and the guy's relationship but maybe they didn't want to send that to mom lol  So she kindly created two other graphics and carried out my full intentions with me not having internet -- she's the best!

Of course I have to keep testing!

Their Little Wingman is due March 13, 2020 

(FYI - a wingman can be a girl or boy -- We don't know the gender of this baby!) 

Next up is Beta in a few days to say how strong these numbers are for this baby growing!  Can't wait to see how this pregnancy compares to my last one with the guys. May this be a smooth journey with wingman like it was with baby Rowan -- it was my easiest pregnancy by far... crossing my fingers for no morning sickness!  But the first trimester fatigue has already set in and I woke up at 2am last night with extreme nausea so there's that! 

And this is how I currently take my Alcohol -- Right out of the freezer and put it on my butt to freeze the spot before my injection -- Only 9 more weeks or so to go of shots.  I already have wretched muscle knots from a month of shots.  The joys! These freezie drinks are perfect for this gig  -- No more wasting veggies when I forget to put them back in the freezer lol