Plum Happy!

This post is going to be two weeks in one, but I'll try to make it short! The last time I blogged I mentioned that we were going to start the lovely belly pics at 10 weeks in order to continue documenting our journey... Well, here's the first one, and please pay no attention at all to the amount of tiredness on my face :) We are just going to do the pics every two weeks since there's not a ton of change right now from week to week.

This past Wednesday we had our first appointment with our OB/GYN, Dr. Godat. We were 11 weeks along, and as hoped, we got to see our little one on the big screen again! Since Dr. Godat's ultrasound machine is a dinosaur compared to the fertility clinic's, we didn't get to hear the heartbeat :( but could very clearly see it, and that's just as pleasing. Dr. Godat said that we had a VERY active baby and that everything looked great! Baby Cook was kicking its legs and moving its arms all over the place. It's amazing how something the size of a plum (according to What to Expect) can be so full of energy already... Travis and I may be in trouble once it gets here if it keeps this activity up :). We go back to see Dr. Godat again in two weeks for another ultrasound. We are so incredibly lucky to get to see our baby every two weeks!... I have definitely gotten spoiled to this privilege. I don't know what I'm going to do when he makes me wait a month or longer in between visits to see my baby! Here is Baby Cook at 11 weeks :) So darn cute, don't you think???

Medium Green Olive

We had our 9 week appointment this past Wednesday. The original appointment was set for 8am, but Dr. Mansfield got called into a surgery, so they had to split our appointment. :( Instead of doing the entire appointment at one time, they had me come in to do the bloodwork at 7:30 and then come back at 3:45 for the sono. Despite having to wait all day long to see our little one, the appointments went off without a hitch! My bloodwork came back great, and so did the sono. Once again, Dr. Mansfield was able to find the heartbeat easily. This time it was 182bpm! Even faster and louder than last time. It's such a wonderful sound... I wish I could listen to it all day every day! While Dr. Mansfield was doing the sono and trying to get a good 3D picture, our little one moved it's arm (well, it's really more like a paddle at this stage, but it still moved it)! It was so exciting! Here are a couple of the sono pictures.

  

This week Dr. Mansfield moved our counting day (week 1, week 2, etc.) back to Wednesdays, instead of Thursdays. And we are now measuring one week ahead. I'm not exactly sure what that really indicates, but I'd rather be ahead of schedule than behind schedule :) At the end of the appointment, Dr. Mansfield told us that we had graduated! We were done with the fertility clinic and were now released back to Dr. Godat. As we said goodbye to everyone and left the clinic I called Dr. Godat to set up our first appointment with him. We go on Wednesday, September 21. Another two week wait :) I have no idea what to expect at this appointment, but I definitely have lots of questions for him!

What to Expect When You're Expecting compared our little one to the size of a medium green olive for this week... but as long as it's growing healthy, they can compare it to whatever food they want! Starting this Wednesday (at week 10) we are going to start the "belly" pics. I'm not exactly fond of showing how big I'm getting each week, but we have been on such an amazing journey with this whole experience, I want to make sure I document everything so that I never forget! So there's a little something for you to look forward to, lol. Until next time...

O Happy Day!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post... several things have happened making our lives excitingly busy these past few weeks! So I'll try not to take the entire day to fill you in on everything :) To start off the excitement, my second nephew was born on Thursday, August 18th. Welcome to the world little Owen James Bhatia! Travis and I will be traveling down to Sugarland in a couple of weeks to meet him, and I can't wait! A few days after Owen was born, school started back. I have 59 wonderful 5th graders this year! It is a full house in 5th grade :) They are all very sweet, and I'm excited to see how the year will unfold with them.

Then came the much awaited first sono appointment. I was 6 weeks and 6 days. Such a happy day! Our appointment was at 8:00 on August 24. I was so thankful it was at the beginning of the day so that I didn't have to wait anxiously all day long! That morning we saw Dr. Mansfield (Dr. Kathy was out of state for a death in the family). It took her no time at all to find our little one. Such a relief! And it took her even less time to find the heartbeat. Hooray! An even bigger relief! Travis and I had been prepared to see the heartbeat at this appointment, but we didn't think we would be able to hear it just yet. However, without even hesitating, Dr. Mansfield clicked on the screen and then the most amazing sound filled the room! Travis and I both were in shock. It was so loud... and so strong (132 bpm)! Dr. Mansfield said everything looked absolutely perfect! I was even measuring ahead of schedule. We couldn't have been happier! Our due date is now April 11. Below are just a couple of the pics from the sono.

We go back to the doctor on Wednesday, September 7 (8 weeks 6 days). I can't wait to see my little one on the big screen again! At this appointment they will do another sono and then some bloodwork. If everything comes back okay, then at that point, Dr. Kathy will release me back to Dr. Godat. While we of course are hoping for more excellent news, I am kind of sad that we won't be seeing Dr. Kathy anymore. She is such a fabulous doctor, and I love her staff. We had such a wonderful experience with them. Hopefully on Wednesday we will have more pictures to share!... And I will do a better job of posting updates :) Until next time...

Mums the Word

Alright, so if you were able to muddle through the five posts I've posted so far today and read about our exciting news, we have a big favor to ask... While we are elated about starting our family, we are also still super cautious as it is so very early in our pregnancy. So, we would like to keep the news on the down low for a good while longer. I realize putting it on here is a form of announcing it, but I'm pretty positive the whole world (facebook) doesn't read my blog! And I actually debated for a really long time whether or not to even post it here. But we had so many people praying for us to get pregnant that I thought, "Hey, why not let some of them know so that now their prayer could be for a healthy pregnancy?" So that's why I'm letting a few of you in on the secret :) We by no means are out of the woods yet and are still very much in need of your prayers!!! So mums the word for now, okay? Until next time...

San Francisco Treat

Travis and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary! And what better anniversary gift could there be than the miracle of starting our family??? We booked our trip to San Francisco before we started our IVF cycle. We figured it would either be a super celebratory anniversary trip, or a trip to get away from everything had our cycle not ended the way we hoped. Lucky for us though, we have a Wonderful God :)

We had such a great time on our trip! My legs and feet felt as if we walked every inch of that city! We ate so much good food and saw so many neat things... Giants Baseball Game, Alcatraz, Sausalito, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Lombard Street, Japanese Tea Garden, Haight Ashbury, and more! I of course took tons of pictures and won't bore you with them all, but here are a few :)

I can't wait to see what next year's anniversary holds for us! Until next time...

More Waiting

After the good news on August 4, I had to go back for more bloodwork on the 6th to make sure my levels were rising like they were supposed to (they are supposed to double every 48 hours). Yay for me! More waiting... the story of my life :) While I was waiting, I decided to do my own test. I was so good not to do any home pregnancy tests until after the final results on Thursday, so I wanted to make sure if what the nurse had told me was for real. And sure enough, those pee sticks really do read something other than Not Pregnant! I can't tell you how exciting it is to read Pregnant when all I've seen for over the past two years has been Not Pregnant.

That afternoon the call didn't come quite as late as the breaking news call did, but the results were just as good! My level almost tripled in 48 hours and was now at 618. Praise the Lord!!! Since my level came back really good this time too, the nurse said that I didn't have to go back to see them until my ultrasound on August 24. That is unless I started having problems.

It still all seems so unreal. I am so incredibly grateful to God and all of our family and friends that have been praying relentlessly for us. I know I have said it before, but Travis and I really are truly blessed beyond measure! Until next time...

The Call

I wasn't sure if August 4 would ever make it... I went in at 8:00 that morning to see Dr. Kathy and have my blood drawn to see if I was pregnant. I think that was the most nerve wracking day I've ever experienced! Luckily though, I have the best mother ever. She came over that morning to spend the day with me and help try to keep my mind off things. It worked for a little while :) Dr. Kathy usually calls around 3:30 in the afternoon with blood work results, but not this day... 3:30 had come and gone, and so had 4:30, so by the time 5:30 rolled around mom and I were both about to lose it! But just as Travis walked in the door from work about 5:35, the call finally came. I was glad he was home to hear the results with me, but hearing the phone ring made me want to puke... I was that nervous.

It was... good news!!! My bloodwork came back POSITIVE!!! I was in such shock that I was literally shaking. Pamela, the nurse, told me that my HCG level needed to be over 25 in order to test positive for pregnancy, and that mine was 224. She said it was a great start! As soon as I hung up the phone Travis popped open a bottle of champagne! He and mom toasted to our wonderful news and then we all went out for a celebratory dinner! Below is a picture of Travis popping the top :)