Eight weeks was the first time I really wrote a “check-in” post during my pregnancy with Stella, and I figured I should do the same for this little one. I’m not sure if I’ll do the weekly write-ups like I did last time, but I do want to make sure I record things about this pregnancy as well. Reading through my Mom’s pregnancy journal about me was one of the coolest things I’ve ever read, and I hope this kiddo thinks the same someday about reading my blatherings! 🙂
I know we’re not in the clear yet, but so far the all day extreme nausea/vomiting plus lack of bleeding gives me continued confidence that this little one is burrowed in well. (Please oh please don’t make me eat my words on that, God) My first official appointment with our midwife is scheduled for Tuesday, June 25th at 11w6d. We had a long informational meeting with he and his wife (a retired NICU nurse) at 5w6d that went really well, and after giving Charlie some time to chew on it, he has agreed to support my hopes for a home birth this time around. Yay!!! I’ll write a whole post about this soon (I promise – once the damn vomiting stops), but I am beyond excited about this turn of events.
Also, because this is a “spontaneous, healthy pregnancy,” the standard is to not get an ultrasound until the anatomy scan at 20w, but I think we’re going to request a “dating ultrasound” sometime before 12 weeks, even though I know my dates perfectly. It’s worth the out of pocket expense to have that reassurance that all is well in my ute. How the hell do fertiles wait like that? Related, I’m feeling very lost about this easily attained pregnancy and my status in the ALI community. More thoughts on that soon.
Symptoms thus far:
- 5w4d the nausea began (1 week earlier than with Stella), and most days I’m puking multiple times a day, all day. *sigh*
- I am still starving all of the time, but most everything makes me nauseous/puke as well. Praying this stops around 10w like it did last time.
- I’m taking Zofran 4mg every 5-6 hours, which somewhat helps, but has also stopped me up in the GI district. Fun.
- At 4w2d I had my progesterone levels checked, and they were only at 8.8 (it was 33.8 with Stella), so my provider instantly started me on progesterone supplements. I took (1) 200 mg pill orally the first couple of days, and then switched to (2) 200mg pills vaginally after that (one in the morning / one at night). Those ran out about 10 days ago, and at that point I switched to Endometrin (2) 100mg pills/day, thanks to some amazing bloggie friends who sent me all of their extra meds. I’m probably going to continue on those for another couple of weeks, as I didn’t wean off them with Stella until 10-11 weeks. It costs us $100 every time we check my P4 levels though, so I’m figuring better safe than sorry this time since we haven’t been retesting my levels due to cost.
- My breasts aren’t really sore or growing, but I was definitely starting to get really worn down and “touched out” and ended up weaning Stella last week. I guess I just need a few months off before starting this whole journey over again!
- I went to my awesome acupuncturist last Friday to try to get some relief from this nausea. She spent 90 minutes working on me, and I felt pretty good the entire time I was on the table. I’ve felt marginally better since then, and I’m not sure if it’s related or not? At least I’m functioning better between puking sessions now.
Overall, I’m in awe that I’m 1/5 of the way through this pregnancy. I know that the first 4 weeks don’t really count, but I distinctly remember this date in my pregnancy with Stella and thinking WHOA. It’s completely amazing to be here again, even though I’m feeling like hell and more than ready to be done with this part of pregnancy. I’m actually down about 1/2 pound at this point from my BFP weight – it’s just hard to keep anything down. 🙁 I’m sure hoping that the next month flies and I’m in the 2nd trimester and hopefully nausea free before you know it!