Pregnancy - 5 week update

How far along?  5 weeks 

How big is baby?  I have a couple of apps on my phone - one is suggesting a sesame seed and one is suggesting an apple pip.  Seeing as they're around the same size, you can take your pick!  Personally, I think Pip sounds quite cute as a nickname for this week.

Total weight gain/loss?  56.6kg, another 0.6kg down this week.  Really hope this doesn't keep up.

Waist?  I haven't measured it this week but my weight hasn't changed and my clothes feel the same so I'm guessing nothing.

Stretchmarks?  Not for a long time yet I hope!

Maternity clothes?  Not for a while yet.

Sleep?  Between being excited, being nervous and just generally not being able to stop thinking, I've had very little sleep this week.  At least it's preparing me for the inevitable!

Best moment this week?  Telling my mum!

Movement?  Nothing yet, way too early.

Food cravings?  Nothing so far.  I really fancied apple juice for a few days, but now I've bought some I've not actually opened it.

Food aversions?  Nothing.

Gender?   No idea and I don't think we're going to find out... but that could change.

Labour signs?  Definitely not.

Pregnancy symptoms?  My sense of smell is super heightened - it's like a really crappy superpower.  I can't save lives BUT I can tell you what the family 5 doors away is having for dinner.  Other than that, absolutely nothing.  I really want to feel pregnant, even if it's just feeling sick.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Nothing much this week, I'm going to a strongman gym with my friends on Saturday and it'll be annoying not being able to lift heavy.  However, the gym have just adopted a husky puppy so I'm sure I can keep myself entertained!

What I am looking forward to?  I have a 3 day weekend coming up and then start my new (old) job on Monday... I have a post half written explaining this so all will become clear soon.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  Early scan on 14th March... only 13 days to go!

Weekly wisdom?  Exercise kills fatigue.  I really didn't feel like exercising at the beginning of this week because I was so tired from lack of sleep.  I've done a couple of home workouts and been swimming and I feel SO much better, despite still not getting much sleep.

Milestones?  Telling my mum - turns out, she's incredibly excited!

Bump picture:

Needless to say - there's not been any change in my bump (or lack of) yet!

Good news!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this but it's been a very hectic 24 hours!

After my beta yesterday, ALS rang for the results at around 1:30pm.  I didn't get to finish work until 3pm so the poor guy had to wait again to break the news.  When he picked me up, I got in the car and this was waiting on the seat for me:

I didn't realise at first that the number on the balloon was actually my beta HCG level - it's so high!  Some people are already speculating that it's twins.  Mostly I'm just speculating that it will lead to horrendous morning sickness - which I will, quite honestly, welcome.  I intend to treasure every pregnancy symptom, good and bad!

Needless to say, when I got home I had to pee on a stick - just to see those double lines.  It was a naff, cheap test that we were given from the hospital but it still had the desired effect:

For anyone who is going through IVF at the moment, here are the symptoms I had whilst on the 2 week wait:

• Very mild cramping.
• Tiredness - a lot more than normal, bordering on exhaustion.
• Nausea.
• Sciatica - I have had problems with sciatica all year but it's been well under control recently, until the last few days.

As you well know, these symptoms could all be caused by the progesterone (aside from the sciatica, which always flares up when I stop my intense exercise regime).  They could also be signs of my period showing up.  However, this time, they turned out to actually be signs of pregnancy!

Since the positive beta, I've felt pretty much nothing to be honest.  I am exactly 4 weeks and 1 day today, with a due date of 1st November.  I have a scan on 14th March to check everything is okay and, all being well, I will then graduate from the fertility clinic to normal obstetric care at my local hospital.  

Aside from being ecstatic, I'm VERY nervous right now.  This is the best feeling in the world and I desperately do not want it to go away.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!  For those on the journey, I wish you all the luck and baby dust in the world - although my journey is far from over, I do appreciate that it has, so far, been a LOT shorter than most and I am incredibly grateful for that.

Please note, that this blog was never intended to be an infertility blog (as you know, that's not our reason for doing IVF) and was always intended to the whole journey to a family; conception, pregnancy and beyond.

When it's sunk in a little bit I will post about the rest of our evening, telling our nearest and dearest and how we're feeling...

Peace out!

IVF & Intimacy!

I've broached this subject in an earlier post, during the ovarian stimulation phase but it's arisen again.  As I had egg collection on 5th September and we are not planning to start out FET until my cycle in November I thought we'd get back to intimacy for a while in between.  Unfortunately this has proven to be incredible difficult.

We're managing to keep things afloat but 2 (nearly 3) weeks post egg collection I'm still very uncomfortable.  I've got a relatively constant ache in my left ovary (I've spoken to my nurse and as it's more of an annoyance than a terrible pain she's not too worried).  Whilst this is easy to ignore most of the time it makes penetration quite uncomfortable.  I'm also still pretty constantly exhausted from my normal EDS issues and all the hormones trying to sort themselves out.

All in all I feel like I'm being a pretty crap wife at the moment as all I want to do when I get in bed is curl up and go to sleep.  I know that I shouldn't feel so bad considering what I'm putting my body through but that's not ALS' fault and he shouldn't be punished for it.

We've been out today for dinner and a movie and we all know where that's meant to end but I just feel nervous about it being painful and worrying that there's something not quite right.  I keep thinking I should just get it over with, which is not a healthy way to feel about intimacy with your husband.  I feel incredibly unsexy and I'm really hoping this goes away soon so we can go back to our normal relationship and I can stop feeling like I'm being a rubbish wife!