Officially 2 Weeks....

Well shoot, it turns out I'm still not cut out to be a blogger. The last time I updated this thing I was only 28 weeks pregnant, and now today baby Amelia is officially 2 weeks old! Wowza!

Okay, so let's back track just a little bit here... Weeks 28-35ish were relatively uneventful. Nothing exciting to share so we will fast forward through that. With that said though, things DID get a bit interesting...

At the beginning of September I started getting high blood pressure readings at my doctor appts. My OB was concerned but we decided we would just keep a close eye on it since it wasn't SUPER high and I had no other symptoms of anything funky going on. He instructed me to monitor it daily at home and report back. Well, all of my home readings were totally normal, so we had initially come to the conclusion that maybe I just had white coat syndrome and all the office readings were a fluke. #wishfulthinking

Unfortunately by mid September my home readings were also high and my office readings were even higher. We started talking induction possibilities and naturally, I started to panic which probably raised my BP even higher. Viscous cycle I tell you. At my 38 week appointment my BP was through the roof and my OB sent me directly to Labor and Delivery to be monitored all afternoon at the hospital. They ran labs - blood work was fine. They collected urine - no protein present. My BP problems remained a mystery and my OB wanted to induce me that day out of fear of what was to come, but somehow I talked him into giving me one more week. He agreed as long as I were to be on strict bed rest and collect my urine in a giant jug for 24 hours straight. Fine. Consider it done!

I left the hospital and immediately contacted A so he could get his flights from Italy changed and arrive sooner. That proved to be way more challenging than expected, but luckily he arrived a couple days later on September 28. We got together for lunch on the 29th, and met at my OB's office for my 39 week appointment on the 30th. My OB was thrilled to see A and his mom at that appointment because it was officially my deadline and there was no way I was going to be able to talk my way out of an immediate induction. This was the first appointment that protein was present in my urine, I was becoming puffier by the minute and my BP was at an all time high of 154/106. It was officially go time, whether I liked it or not.

For those who may be unaware, I am a SUPER crunchy gal when it comes to child birth. I labor at home as long as possible (like if insurance would cover it, I'd birth there too!), I avoid all interventions and drugs, pain meds, epidurals, etc. Leave me alone with my essential oils, candles, bath tub and Enya - I got this. So, the thought of a medical induction when I was nowhere near ready for labor (like 0 dilated, 0% effaced and baby was so high my OB made a comment about my cervix being world record length....), had me absolutely FREAKING out.... and raising my blood pressure even higher.

Anyway, we left my appointment and I told A and his mama to go home, take a nap, get some lunch, do something fun, enjoy their last day without a tiny babe to take care of because it was going to be a LONG day and there was no point in them sitting there at the hospital just staring at me.....

28 Weeks!

So... I thought I was going to be better about updating this bad boy after I let the cat out of the bag and officially went 'public', but as it turns out, blogging still just isn't my forte. I have been meaning to write some long, beautiful post about A's visit to Texas and the week he spent here for our 20 week ultrasound, but it just - never - happened.

Now that it's been two months since he returned home to Italy, it feels a little underwhelming to create some long drawn out blog about it. So instead, I will just sum it up and say.... we had a great time! We bowled like Americans, made REAL Italian tiramisu, we (well, not me) drank authentic Italian coffee every morning and afternoon, we took A to his first hibachi restaurant and introduced him to the old show Fear Factor, and spent a ton of quality time together!

We also had some other more official business to handle, like tour the hospital, introduce A to my OB and of course - our 20 wk ultrasound appointment! Just as suspected, everything looked absolutely beautiful and her anatomy looked great! Baby Amelia is as healthy as can be and reminds me of her presence ALL day with her constant wiggling. :)

We are officially entering the 3rd trimester now, which is WILD. On one hand, it feels like I have been pregnant for FOREVER, because we literally knew the second that embryo was transferred... I didn't get those first 5-6 weeks of being completely unaware of what was going on like most gals do. But on the other hand, sometimes I'm like WHOA, it's already almost go time - good thing I'm not the one having to plan and prepare for this babe because I would be in a bind, for sure! ha!

As far as what's next... I have an appt with my OB next week, and then my appts will begin every 2 weeks instead of just monthly. I've also hired my doula and secured a birth photographer as a gift for A and his family. We've been up to our eyeballs in legal paperwork the last couple weeks, getting everything ready for this babe, dotting all the i's and crossing the t's, so that once she arrives she will officially be an Italian and in no way legally mine. Other than that.. we're just hanging out, trying not to melt in the Texas sun. :)

Okay, I'll leave you with these.......

Bowling Fun!

He brought all the ingredients from Italy to make Tiramisu for us!

I looked over at the bowling alley and they had matching shirts on! lol

This was his "HOORAY, I'm in Texas!" walk!

Teaching Sam how to make real Italian coffee in the new coffee pot he brought us!

15 Weeks!

So, I have seemingly failed again. I really did have great intentions of updating this blog somewhat more regularly, but it turns out there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things that need to be done. That, combined with a lack of having anything to actually write about makes for a pretty quiet place.

Since my last post, we went public! Which I suppose you know because now people that I actually know are reading this, not just strangers that stumbled upon it on the internet. haha! This has totally been the hardest secret I've ever tried to keep. My super close friends (and a couple random people that I just couldn't lie to on the fly when questioned about something, lol) have known for years, but the majority of people in my life really had no idea that I've been up to all this for so long. There's a million reasons why I kept it quiet for as long as I did, but it sure is nice to be open about it now. :)

As far as what's new... not a whole lot. I've had a couple more appointments since my last post, but nothing terribly exciting to report to y'all (which I suppose it a good thing). Tomorrow I will officially be 15 weeks and I did finally get my OB/insurance drama worked out and have established myself as a patient with a new OB who seems great so far! I know it's been a common question I keep getting, so for those still wondering - I'll be delivering the baby here locally at Baylor Frisco with my OB, and A will be flying in from Italy. While I would love to make a trip to Italy, it isn't necessary and probably won't happen for quite some time.

My next appointment is on the 30th, which hopefully will be equally as unexciting as the last. But I'll keep you posted nonetheless. In the mean time, here's a photo from our last ultrasound on April 1 and an updated belly pic from last night. :)

12w5d on April 1, 2019 - Baby Amelia was super wiggly and kicking like crazy!

Umm... this belly is growing at a rapid pace. It's like my uterus knows what it's doing now or something! haha

The Real Deal.

So, it's no secret that it's been a good long minute since I've been pregnant. Brody is now 11 and a half, and London will be 9 next month... This factory has been closed for quite some time. But man, I completely forgot what pregnancy symptoms felt like. The constant nausea, hunger, cravings, weight gain, and overall super emotional state of mind is something else. Maybe it's just been a while, or maybe this is what it's like when you don't have kids when you're still a kid yourself, but man... these symptoms are no joke.

I will take these symptoms any which way I can get them, because it eases my paranoid mind and sort of gives me reassurance that everything is still on track and all good, but I'm not gonna lie, I won't be super sad in October when they go away. haha!

Next up on the agenda is another ultrasound on Friday. If everything checks out like we hope it will, I will officially be released from my RE and Fertility Monitoring Clinic, and will become a regular old OB patient just like all the 'normal' pregnant ladies.

Two weeks ago I went back to daily injections and all was well for a while, until suddenly I woke up Saturday morning and things were no longer good at all. I ended up with some massive knots (think like, the size of softballs) under the skin around my hips, and unfortunately they were so large that I couldn't even find a safe place to poke, so my nurse gave me the A - OK to be done with those pesky needles 5 days early! I could barely move and wasn't exactly walking very well for several days, but I was PUMPED to kiss those babies goodbye! About a week left on the super fun suppositories and then I will be med freeeeeee and celebrating with some alcohol-free champagne! Did y'all know that was a thing? If not, you're welcome! ;)

I think that's all I've got for now. I'm dealing with some MAJOR insurance/OB drama, which I could use some positive vibes for.. but I'll save those details for later (or never, we'll see ha!). Send me your good juju for Friday too please!

It's been a minute. Oops!

Okie doke, so I totally forgot to update, but our 2nd beta results came back with 325! Woohoo! This confirms that I am indeed pregnant and so far, so good. Next step is an ultrasound to confirm placement (aka: making sure baby is settled in right where he/she is supposed to be and not somewhere funky and dangerous). Well, that ultrasound was scheduled for this morning and we not only got to see that sweet tiny blueberry sized babe, but we also heard it's heartbeat!!!! Squeeeeeal.

Okay, so aside from our outrageous excitement, I don't have too much else to report at this point. I'm still on meds and will be until 10 weeks gestation, and they still suck. In fact, last week I ended up emailing my clinic and asking for tips and tricks to relieve some of the discomfort because they were really starting to kick my butt. I woke up one morning with lumps, bumps, bruises, itchiness and knots, not to mention the overall soreness. After sending a couple photos to my nurse, my RE decided to change up my protocol a little bit and instead of daily injections, I'm now doing injections every other day and have added suppositories 2x a day, every day to my lineup.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for a week from today, but I don't even care about that because we can officially say WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!

Look at that little blueberry with a 105 bpm heart rate! 

I've officially become a crazy person.

#CANTSTOPWONTSTOP
But can you blame me with that beautiful line just getting darker and darker?!

As of this morning, the 'test' line is officially darker than the 'control' line! 

Okay, so I might have a slight addiction to peeing on plastic sticks but after the journey we've been on, there is nothing more beautiful to me than that bright pink line! Wednesday I went for my first beta test (a blood draw that measures your hcg levels to confirm pregnancy) and our count came back at 138. Anything above 5 is considered pregnant, so that was reassuring. Today was beta number 2, and we are still waiting on the results but our fingers are crossed for at least double 138! Ideally, your hcg should be doubling every 48 hours, so as you can imagine - our fingers are all STILL crossed as we anxiously await the email with that magic number. 

Not really much else to update on at this point. I've been nauseous on and off, crampy occasionally, needing to pee way more often than usual, and my sense of smell has gotten wicked strong. But I'm not quite sure it's as much baby related as it is all these hormones that are absolutely kicking my butt lately. The first week was a breeze and I thought I was a total champ. Wrong. It turns out, those injections get much worse as the weeks go on. lol  I just ordered a new heating pad and I'm hoping it's a lot better than the one I've been attached to for the last 2.5 weeks. Again, fingers crossed! ;)

Fingers Crossed!

I'm pretty sure my fingers have been crossed for the last several years now, but they are crossed extra tight this week! I think I have peed on about 37 sticks so far. It's becoming a serious addiction and I'm not sure how I'm going to break it. I don't go in for my blood test until Wednesday, but in the mean time I am remaining cautiously optimistic!! Check it outttttttt!!!!

Between these lines getting darker and darker by the day and my overwhelming nausea, we are all so hopeful and SO excited!!

I started testing earlier than this because I'm a maniac, but check out those lines. I had my first squinter at 3.75 Days Passed Transfer (DPT). Nobody else could see it but I could!!

And this beauty was taken this morning. Look at that line! These silly tests are like a drug, I can't get enough and long for the next one! haha