Just say "NO!" to stretch marks!

Some people are probably laughing out loud at the thought of me facing stretch marks like a war... with strategy and a battle plan... and thinking how can I possibly beat those evil little monsters when half the time there really isn't much you can do about them. Well, well... I know stretch marks are usually hereditary, starting so deep beneath the skin that you don't even know they are there yet... and that lotion can only help keep them lighter and less scary.

I have a plan. My mom didn't get stretch marks at all, and while she attributes it to a Mary Kay lotion she used, I think we just have good genes. ;) I am going to experiment with the most moisturizing lotion I've ever used in my life. Aveeno Intense Relief Repair Cream seriously keeps my skin feeling like I just put lotion on all day long... I'm talking for at least 14 hours without reapplying it. Lately I've been covering myself in it after my morning shower and when I go to bed at night, I still feel super soft.

I first picked up a tub of this lotion when Glenn was facing some patches of eczema on his arms. This lotion took away the itch. A friend from church was facing some pretty bad eczema on her hands and it was causing a lot of pain and burning. She tried this lotion and immediately felt better. A tub of this stuff at Walmart is about $12, and it's worth every penny. A little bit goes a long way. So if you're a new preggo woman looking for a way to cast war on stretch marks, I recommend you try this stuff out. Hopefully in my 3rd trimester I'll have some proof that all is well and stretch mark free!

Intense Relief Repair CreaThis rich body cream provides intense moisturization to soothe irritated, dry skin on contact and provide significant relief in just one day. The breakthrough formula contains pure oat essence, ceramides and essential lipids found deep within the surface of the skin that play a key role in restoring the skin's protective function. Used daily, this cream can actually help repair dry, irritated skin in as little as two weeks for skin that

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Today was one of those days that I was plagued with extreme acid reflux. I'm talking about the kind I used to have back in high school when I was under a lot of stress... the kind that hurts all the way through my back. Yeah, that's right. Ever had heartburn in your back as well as your chest? It's the most painful thing ever. You feel like you can't breathe and like you need to crawl into the fetal position and just die.

I'm not exaggerating.

Today was one of those days. After eating a very salty can of Progresso Vegetable soup, I was attacked. I love this soup, even though it's horribly processed. Today it tasted even saltier than usual (which is probably why I've eaten about 15 mini snickers and twix in the last few minutes). I had about 20 minutes of comfort and "aaahhh, I feel good" after eating the soup... then it crept up on me like a ninja and attacked full force. And guess what... I had no tums... and neither did my pregnant co-worker. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

I frantically searched my purse high and low... I found an empty Rolaids tube, and in the bottom, wedged very tightly, was a chewable Pepcid Complete from my TTC days. Pepcid Complete is not cleared for pregnancy, but just one pill is magical and works wonders. I was desperate. I tried shaking the pill out... it wouldn't budge. I had to have this pill. I finally stuck a pair of scissors down in the tube and crushed the Pepcid to tiny pieces... mostly powder... I poured it into my hand and licked it clean. Within minutes, my heartburn died.

I win.

Now I need to remember to keep a bottle of Tums on my desk at work so this doesn't happen again... because I know it will.

Good News & Bad News

I'm going to start with the good because I don't want you all to worry about what the bad could possibly be. It's semi-baby related (okay, maybe more than I'm letting on), but the baby is fine and perfect and looking like a real person now! Yesterday's ultrasound showed that baby is no longer a little blob like it was 2 short weeks ago... it's a thriving healthy person with an alien head, two arms, and two legs. Hehe... aaaaand I can already see a cute little baby belly. I was amazed at how much my little one has changed. I noticed immediately that it looks like a gummy bear, to which I told myself I can not eat any gummy bears in this pregnancy now... it's just too weird.

Okay, the much-anticipated 10-week ultrasound pictures!

And now to share the bad news. It's bad for me. My OB is leaving North Crest. For sure. *cries* My wonderful OB is moving to Smyrna, which is an hour from me. I now have a decision ahead of me... switch OBs near the end of my pregnancy and miss my amazing OB horribly... or follow her to Smyrna for every visit and for the birth of the baby. In my mind, I think how can I let someone else deliver this miracle? THIS doctor helped me get pregnant. She was the best OB ever and saved me thousands of dollars by serving as my fertility specialist instead of sending me to the fertility clinic in Nashville. How in the world can I let one of the other two OBs in North Crest deliver this baby? I don't know if I can do that.

I'm struggling with this and literally lost sleep over it last night. I work in Nashville, which means Smyrna is only about 15 minutes from my work (on a good day)... so going to appointments won't be an issue. Delivery, however, will be... I don't know what to do. I'm sad that I have to make this decision. She told me that I was the first patient she thought of when she put in her resignation... *sigh*... she isn't 100% sure when this is happening, but it'll be the end of this year or beginning of next... I don't see her again until November 10 for my 16 week appt and I hope she has more news for me then and that I can make a sound decision. I've been told by more than one person that a good OB is too hard to come by... and if you have one that you connect with, follow them if you can.

I'll update you all later on this development... hopefully I make the right decision.

Our First Scare

Yesterday afternoon I had quite a bit of brown spotting. When I say quite a bit, I mean enough to where I was mortified and did not have any desire to wash them... I threw them away. They were white.... I totally freaked out, cried my eyes out for a good 15 minutes, and then called the dr's office. I had always been told that brown means old and is actually okay, but this didn't look like "spotting" it looked like the end of a period. I'm telling you, those undies were ruined. The dr's office told me to go to the ER... I assured them I had no cramping and no red or clotting. They told me to go away.

I battled with this for about 2 hours (after changing into a new pair of undies with a panty liner of course). By the time Glenn got home from work, we had decided it was best to go, otherwise I wouldn't sleep at night. I was not looking forward to going in and spending hours around all those sick people only to be told that my little olive is fine. But it's better to be sure than regret it later, I say.

Went to the ER for 5 hours, and I was actually very annoyed. Even though they had "flu" people in a separate waiting area, they still had us all sit in THE SAME chair for vitals. Excuse me? A lady came in right after me throwing up into a paper cup, being totally loud, and her whole family was wearing masks. Um, yeah, I was ticked. Why can't hospitals have some common sense?! So when she came in, I literally covered my arms up to the elbows and layered my hands with hand sanitizer.

The verdict? Baby is fine. I had both external and internal ultrasounds, we saw and heard the heartbeat on both ultrasounds, which surprised me. Baby's heartbeat was up to 185. They took 5 vials of blood (again?), and by that time it was 8:00 and I was starving and irritable and let them know it. We had some Sonic brought to us and I literally had it GONE in less than 3 minutes. I was starving after they stole my blood supply. We were released from captivity at almost 9.

I'm glad we decided to just go. I have the notion to write the hospital and question their logic behind putting all those obviously sick/flu people in the same chair as a pregnant woman and children to get blood pressure checked, but then separate them into different waiting rooms? Where is the logic in that? Stupid Springfield, have some sense!

On a more positive note, baby is obviously very strong. I have another dr's appt on Tuesday and last I was told, there would be an ultrasound then as well. Just 4 more weeks until I'm out of the danger zone... it can't come soon enough.

Dear due date, I have you pegged.

So, I was thinking this weekend and had an Epiphany. It was actually one of those "duh" moments. My dr and I did not discuss baby's due date at my first prenatal appt, but I have it pegged, and it's not April 25. Let me explain...

Typically when you calculate your due date online, it automatically assumes you ovulated on cycle day 14... aka mid-cycle... little do they know, we PCOSers don't ovulate on that day. Most healthy women probably don't, actually. We don't all have perfect 28-day cycles either. It's a terrible assumption. So when I made my tickers online, I inputted the date of my last period, and not thinking, assumed it was correct to say April 25 was the due date.

When I went to the dr, it was on a Tuesday... I measued at exactly 8 weeks. According to the not-so-trusty internet, I should have been 8 weeks & 2 days. Wrong. I was measuring right on time based on when I ovulated, not on the date of my last period.

Baby is due April 27, 2010. BAM!

Ginger

Apparently ginger is a natural remedy to "the sickes." I beg to differ. I paid $6 for a box of anti-nausea ginger gum and I thought I was being poisoned within the first 15 seconds of chewing the gum. I don't even know if I made it that long. Even a co-worker tried the gum and let out a very loud scream. I'm not thrilled that I paid $6 for a pack of gum... I wonder if Rite Aid would take it back?

On another note, Ginger Ale is my new best friend. Yesterday between 5-9 p.m. I drank an entire liter of Ginger Ale by myself. I would fill a cup of ice to the rim, fill in some ale, drink it all down then eat all the ice and start over again. It was wonderful, refreshing, and healing. I'm in that sickie phase where I'm not throwing up at all, not really craving anything, just nauseated. Monday was the worst day to date, and since then it has been tolerable. Jolly Ranchers are also very nice to keep around. As long as I have a piece of candy or some ale in my mouth, I'm a happy little bee!

Dear God, thank you for the sickies. I'd rather be sick and with child than sick and without.

Me: "So, there's just one, right?" Dr: "No, there's three. KIDDING! HA!"

So my little raspberry is doing quite well! Today, it measured at exactly 8 weeks, possibly 1 day. According to the internet I'm 8 weeks & 2 days, so we'll see. She did not confirm the due date as of yet, so we're still on for April 25.

It was the most amazing thing to see my tiny little raspberry with a very swiftly fluttering heartbeat... and then to hear it while I could see it was even more amazing. It was going strong at 180. I've been told I have an athlete on my hands. I think Fat Albert is the one to thank for this baby.

I immediately asked my dr if there was just one in there since I had 4 potential follicles for this pregnancy... she said, "No, there's three" and after a short pause, "KIDDING!" and started to laugh. I admit my heart stopped for a moment... she did tell me at the last follicle ultrasound that if I come back with triplets I can't be surprised. Haha. Luckily that isn't the case. So far, I have one super healthy baby in my uterus and I am quite pleased and feel more relaxed. My dr told me my chance of loss after hearing the heartbeat is significantly lower and that I'm on the right track. She let me know to stay on my Metformin through the rest of the 1st trimester to help things along and keep my chance of loss even lower. No problem!

Based on the super fast heartbeat and my instinct, I'm going to go ahead and predict that we're having a girl. I've been thinking I'll have a girl since before I got pregnant and felt it even more as soon as I found out about the pregnancy. The heartbeat makes me even more suspicious. I told my dr I had been checking the theory on that and she said it's not actually a theory, that it has been proven, however, early heartbeats tend to be faster. But she did say, "Girl!" Ha!

12 more weeks until we find out if we have a little Zoey or a Glenn #5 swimming in there. In the meantime, I have another dr's appt in 2 weeks for some blood draws and my dr said she'll use it as an excuse to do another ultrasound, hehe. Sounds good to me!!!

By the way, why did they take 5 (yes, 5) vials of blood from me before I left if I need to come back in 2 weeks for more? Really? I mean, come on. Leave me some blood, why don't you!!!

Introduction to "The Sickies"

I don't exactly have morning sickness yet, but I assume it is coming. I've had a few run-ins with "the sickies" but not full-blown vomiting as of yet. For example, yesterday I happily shoved a 1/2 lb. cheese burger from Cheeseburger Charley's down my throat for lunch. When I was full and miserable, longing for a nap, one of my bosses comes and sits next to me with some baked ziti.Gross. The smell made me want to throw up right there at the table. I had to very quickly excuse myself and go into my office, where I was sure I was going to lose it. I breathed my way through it, convincing myself that it's all a mental thing, and I was able to go about my day without throwing up. Woohoo!

The smell of dog food makes me nauseous, so I'm totally done helping out with that chore at home. Last night (this morning, rather... it was 2:00 a.m.), I did something so gross it makes me sick to my stomach to even think about typing it... but I'm going to because I'll laugh about it later. Well, I threw up in my mouth and... SWALLOWED IT. Eeeeewwwwwww.... I totally don't know WHY it happened!! It just happened so fast, and it wasn't like, a little bit of gross spit... it was nasty, raunchy, warm vomit. GROSS!!!!!! Why did it go back down?! I was mortified and ran to the bathroom hoping I would have to throw up again so I could get that junk OUT of my system. Alas, it didn't happen... so after drinking a bottle of water and peeing, I went back to bed.

Today, I feel like the cravings have officially ended. For now anyway. Nothing sounded good for lunch... I ate some left-over mashed potatoes, which were quite tasty, but just didn't cut it. I wanted something else but had no idea what it was. I settled for some Pepsi. Today I can honestly say all I've had to eat is 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast and mashed potatoes for lunch. That's quite a healthy day, eh? I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner. Earlier this week I had a major craving for a 3-Way from Skyline Chili... which is in Cincinnati... and since that is a 5-hour drive from me, I settled for Mexican Spaghetti from Demos', which deserves an award because it's just that good. I knew Skyline sold cans of chili at Kroger, but I was recently informed that they also sell bags... yes, bags of it in the frozen section. Jackpot! Maybe when I feel like eating food again, I'll try to make some.

This is the part of pregnancy I wasn't looking forward to, but felt like some kind of freak of nature because I wasn't getting it. All this nausea and vomiting all my pregnant/mommy friends warned me about seemed like a myth... everyone said to me, "Oh, just wait until you hit your 6th week." I was beginning to worry that something is wrong with Sweet Pea since I was always told "Morning sickness means your baby is healthy!" I know that's not really true... I think miserable pregnant women just tell themselves that so they feel better about their miserable situation.

So the sickies have started to somewhat interrupt my life, and I feel a little bit better knowing it's most likely a good sign, but I don't really look forward to what's to come. All I can do is remind myself that it's for a GREAT cause I've prayed for... and that pregnancy doesn't last forever... there is a little bundle of joy at the end of the tunnel. :)

Spaghetti... Ti Amo.

Ah... ti amo spaghetti right now. Spaghetti is my latest craving. I can't help it. I've eaten it the past 3 days in a row.

Yesterday, I had some for lunch and unfortunately hadn't packed enough... I really thought I had. So I was still hungry afterwards and tried to eat Cheez-Its, but they weren't cutting it. It didn't help that I had a headache and my contacts were blurring up on me. Because of this longing for more spaghetti, I got nausious and thought I was going to have my 1st bout of the sickies. Luckily, 4 tums helped and I didn't get sick. I was able to distract myself from meeting face-to-face with the porcelain god at work. (Can't say the same for poor Kristin!)

When I got home from work, I took a nap before making dinner and it kinda helped. I made some very unhealthy "Hamburger Helper" using ground turkey... when I say very unhealthy, I'm talking about the ungodly amount of sodium content in HH. But, it sounded good to me, so I made it. I spent the rest of the evening on the couch, totally zonked. I was worthless. Glenn was great... he painted all the doors for me and got some other stuff around the house done. We hit the sack around 9:30 and I slept pretty good through the night!

Today is a different story! I feel a lot better. I brought twice as much spaghetti, and even though it didn't satisfy my need for carbs, a 6" meatball sub from Subway did. ;) Yes, I ate a LOT for lunch, but I feel great! I have more energy today than I did yesterday. I hope I stay like this. I plan to be productive tonight instead of lazy. Some baseboards are calling my name.

6 Weeks of Pregnancy & Spiced Tea

I'm 6 weeks today. Every Sunday marks a new milestone, a new list of baby developments, and the same question in my mind... Is my baby really growing as the book says it is? In 2 weeks & 2 days, I'll find out for sure. But anytime I doubt myself, I remember my symptoms are still there. They're still intensifying and that has to mean something right?

Lately, instead of waking up once in the middle of the night to pee, I'm waking up three times. The past two mornings, I have woken up at 5:00 a.m., on the dot, with a nausiating hunger. One little pack of Cheez-Its and I'm ready for more sleep. Today I bought a box of Cheez-Its to keep by the bed. When I first sit up in bed, I feel like I have bricks hanging from my boobs. Yes, bricks. I am not exaggerating, I cry every time. But once I get going, I'm fine. It (mostly) goes away. Because of this agonizing pain, I am often too lazy to get up to pee in the middle of the night, which has caused Glenn to chastise me... "You're going to get a UTI!" Nah.

Today, I was extremely exhausted. I'm not sure if it's just the pregnancy, or the fact that I also spent all day painting our office/guest room yesterday. I came home from church this afternoon, and instead of eating lunch and making my grocery list like usual, I passed out on the couch for a few hours. It was much needed. But instead of feeling refreshed when I woke up, I felt sedated.

I thought I was going to have my first bout of sickness when I started to eat dinner. Thanks to my pastor mentioning spaghetti during service today, I had to have some for dinner. I made a heaping plate because I sure love my spaghetti, and I suddenly didn't feel right... I wasn't really sick feeling, just... off. Glenn noticed I wasn't devouring my meal like I should have been, considering I had not eaten anything since 9:00 this morning. He started to ask if I was going to be sick, if he could get me anything, or do anything for me... I assured him I was fine, just didn't feel good since it had been so long since I had eaten. And I was fine... minus a little heartburn, I was good to go. I ate the spaghetti and then enjoyed a hot cup of spiced tea.

Now I feel fine. Glenn pulled out my big tub of fall decor so I am almost ready to set it all out. Perhaps I will after this blog. ;) In the meantime, I'll leave you with my favorite spiced tea recipe... but this literally makes a LOT so you have to get a huge container to keep it in. Once you try it, you'll be in spiced tea heaven. The funny part about this? There is only 2 Tbs of "tea" in the entire recipe. Enjoy!

Spiced Tea

20 oz. Tang powder

(or other powdered orange drink)

20 oz. Lemonade powder

2 Tbs Instant Tea

2 c. Sugar

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Ground Cloves

Mix a couple spoonfuls of tea into hot water (to taste)

*Note: The tang and lemonade will have to be measured out in an oz. measuring cup because they do not come in 20 oz. sizes... that is the one flaw of this recipe, but don't hate, I didn't invent it. ;)

Opa! Greek Salad & Pepsi

I have perfected my Greek Salad. Since the Greek Salad craving began 7 days ago, I have eaten 5 of them: 2 home made, 2 from Panera, 1 from Athens Family Restaurant. Mine is the best.

Romain Lettuce (rich in folate!)
Cherry Tomatoes, sliced
Tomato Basil Feta (pasturized of course)
Kalamata Olives, pitted & sliced
Banana Peppers, sliced
Grilled Chicken, diced
Greek Vinagrette Dressing

Toss & Chow.

Did I mention that Amanda has plagued me with her famous Pepsi craving? Don't worry, I'm drinking decaf. It's not the same, but it'll due.

Early Cravings & An Angry Appleseed

There is nothing more satisfying than consuming what you're craving when you're pregnant. It is a whole new level of satisfaction I never thought was possible.

If there is one thing I have learned thus far in my early trek through pregnancy, it's that if I want something in particular to eat, by golly I better eat it. Otherwise, I endure the rath of my Appleseed, and I'm not talking "morning sickness." I'm talking poop that runs like water and stomach pains. Eeeeewwww....... I don't know what is worse.

Last week I was craving macaroni & cheese from this little Meat & Three down the street from my work... so I asked for double mac & cheese with my order, only to be told they didn't have any that day. Boo. So I settled for these nasty cheesy potatoes. Then, the burger they gave me just wasn't good. What I really wanted that day was tuna... and I was out of tuna. So spent the afternoon unhappy.

However, sometimes even when I have what I want, I still get runaway poop. For example, on Sunday my little Appleseed was dying for some watermelon, so I had a heaping bowl of it. It didn't take me very long to digest it and release it in the worst way. This prevented me from going to a concert with Glenn that I was most definitely looking forward to. *weeps* I've heard that sometimes watermelon can serve as a laxative, and being that I ate a piece the size of my head, I'd say that is why my Appleseed got so angry at me... maybe.

As for cravings, I've started reeeeally wanting tuna salad and Greek salad (mostly for the feta).

Now, I know that I'm supposed to be careful with tuna because of the high level of mercury... but from what I have learned, it's the Solid White Albacore that is so high in mercury... which is my favorite... but I mix it with the Chunk Light so I'm getting less mercury at once. As for the feta, I'm not exactly asking the restaurants if they are serving me pasturized cheese, but I can't really do that everytime. I've enjoyed 2 Greek salads so far and intend on making some at home this week. Something about it makes me happy. At least I am craving healthy stuff...

In order to keep my Appleseed happy, I am unable to do my OCD planning and create a menu for the week. I have to eat as I go... so this means I'll be making more trips to the grocery than usual, at least for a little while. I hope my Appleseed decides to be kinder to me and allow me to eat more of these things I want so badly without forcing me to 20 minutes at a time on the crapper.

Tonight, we're going to a hibachi grill with a couple of friends and I really hope I will be in the mood for something... anything on that menu. (Please God, let me be satisfied tonight!)

What to Expect...

This book is the "Pregnancy Bible" right? The mother of all pregnancy books... right? *sigh* Well, I have a confession to make. Earlier this week, I hated-- no, I loathed this book. Let me explain myself...

First of all, the entire section IN THE BEGINNING about birth defects and all these tests you can have done to check for this and that... all the stuff about Downs Syndrome... I didn't need to read that in early pregnancy. I know these tests are supposed to be done early on if you're going to have them, but no thanks. This section of the book caused my heart to race, my blood pressure to rise, and that anxious feeling in my stomach. Number One, even if there was something wrong with my poppy seed, I most certainly would NEVER terminate the pregnancy. Number Two, why is this in the beginning of the book? All it did was remind me of the many things that can go wrong and that isn't what I needed this early in the game.

Second of all, the section about food & nutrition caused me to break down and cry not once, but twice. Yes, that's right. Twice. At this point, right now, I understand that the food & nutrition notes are supposed to be a guide... but when I first started to read about it, in my mind I was thinking, "How in the world am I supposed to remember all this stuff?" There are so many things I can't have... and then so many things I'm supposed to have. Do I really have to obsess over every meal when it comes to how much calcium I'm getting? Or how much mercury is in that tuna fish I want so bad? Or if my favorite green tea is going to deplete my folate, thus resulting in Spina Bifida?! Do you see where I am going with this? In my mind, the question is constantly there... Will this be a successful pregnancy? When I'm faced with all of these rules I had no idea about, it overwhelmes me to tears.

Once I got past the horrible beginning of the book, I started to enjoy it. I enjoy that there is a monthly & weekly breakdown of baby development, symptoms, and what my body is going through in general. Lots of questions are answered and that is a wonderful thing. But I have to recommend to all my fellow mothers-to-be, and all my cysters who are trying oh so hard to get pregnant... DO NOT READ THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS OF THIS BOOK. Just don't. Save yourself the tears and just skip to the fun part. Just wait until you meet with your doctor and then ask their recommendations on food & medicines.

My first prenatal appointment is on September 15 when I will be 8 weeks along. My doctor's office went ahead and scheduled my appointments for the rest of the year, actually. :) Now that I have gotten past the fear of whether or not my beta hCG levels are rising in a healthy way (thank God they are) I have to wait for the dreaded first ultrasound to make sure there is a healthy little bun in my oven. This is the part that scares me. I guess because I see so many of my fellow cysters post on SoulCysters that everything was fine until they had that first ultrasound and then found that there was no yolk sac... this scares the daylights out of me. All I can do is hope and pray... pray that God protects my little poppy seed for a long 40-week pregnancy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a Poppyseed

1 Samuel 1:27

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him."

I guess it is time to make "the mother" of all announcements!!

Glenn and I are most definitely expecting our very first baby! Our little seed's estimated arrival date is April 25, 2010. It has been one year since I had my first cyst and it took us 8 months & 5 medicated cycles to achieve this pregnancy. Do I feel like I have accomplished something huge? You bet. Do I feel scared this is too good to be sure? Definitely. People keep telling me to just relax and everything will be fine... of course, the people telling me to relax are perfectly healthy & fertile people. It's very difficult to relax when you know your mom's side of the family has a history of unexplained losses, unrelated to PCOS. It's very difficult to relax when you know that your chances of a healthy pregnancy are less because of PCOS. However, the good news is, my doctor is amazing and is going to do everything in her power to be sure that I have a healthy & full pregnancy. I am going to stay on my Metformin and hope it lives up to its task of lowering my change of miscarriage. I've got a year and a half of prenatal vitamins running through my veins and hopefully the folic acid will also do it's job and keep my little poppyseed safe.

I also know that regardless of what I want, God has a plan and I have to just trust in that. He knows what He is doing... and if this little poppyseed is meant to grow into a watermelon for birth, then it'll happen. Will I be upset if it doesn't go through? Absolutely. But I know, and have faith, that He knows what He is doing... even if I don't understand it or want to believe it, He knows and is bigger than me. It reminds me of a song we sing in church... "God is bigger than the air I breathe, the world we'll leave... God will save the day and all will say, 'My Glorious!'"

Now to share my little story on how I came to find out I am in fact cooking up a bun in my oven!!
On Wednesday, August 12, at just 9 days past ovulation, I decided to take a HPT. Now to explain a little something... on August 2, I had an hCG shot to force ovulation... it typically takes 10 days for it to leave your system... August 12 was day 10, so I figured if it was positive, it was actually the shot. I just wanted to know if it was still in my system. Well, I got a very faint positive... one so light, it wouldn't even photograph. I coughed it up to be an evap line and just decided I would test the next day... in my own logic, if it got darker, it was a real positive test... if it got lighter or was negative, it was the shot leaving/out of my system.

August 13, I tested, it was positive... but again, very light. However, it did get a tad darker. I still didn't believe it. On Friday, August 14, on my way to work, I stopped at Walgreens and purchased a 2-pack of the mother of all HPTs... the First Response Early Result tests. At 10:30 a.m., I snuck into the bathroom at work... woah and behold... BAM:

When I saw this immediately come up, I ran back into my co-worker's office, closed her door, showed her the test and started bawling like a baby. I couldn't believe it. Was this real? Was this the shot playing tricks on me? In my heart, I knew this was it. But of course, being the OCD person I am, I decided to test again over the weekend... I tested on Saturday with my last First Response... it was positive. Finally on Sunday morning, I took a digital I had stored away as a last resort.Five HPTs later, I can finally admit that I am, in fact, pregnant. I went to the doctor on Monday (I was 4 weeks, 1 day pregnant), had my first beta test, my hCG level was 125, which is great for that early. Today, I had another one and it came back at 243, which is very healthy! the minute my doctor texted me the results, I started crying. Tears of joy, of course! What all this means is that I seriously started to find out I was knocked up at 3.5 weeks. Apparently Glenn's little army wasn't waiting around... they attacked, implanted, and BAM... I'm pregnant!

This is how I told Glenn that he was a father-to-be:I've been following TheBump.com's list that compares how big your baby is with food... perfect for me, right? On Sunday, when I am officially 5 weeks pregnant, my little poppyseed will complete it's transformation to an apple seed... and from there a sweet pea.

As for my early symptoms? My boobs are out to get me. I've switched entirely over to sports bras because I can't stand the pain. I didn't sleep well all weekend because they kept reminding me they were there and it hurt... bad. Now, I sleep much better but don't look forward to the moment I have to actually get up. Otherwise, I've had a lot of cramping, but it's not unbarable... it's actually a lot easier to deal with than period pains. The cramps have also gotten more spaced apart. It's not a constant pain by any means. Just annoying. Over the weekend I think I cramped the most... but now it's not nearly as bad. Most of the time I don't feel pregnant... I'm not sick, I'm not bloated, I'm not craving anything abnormal... I know it's freakishly early to experience these things, but it makes me feel like I'm less pregnant because I don't.

I'll conclude this blog with one thing... I hate the book What to Expect When You're Expecting. It has already caused more anxiety and more crying fits than I would have imagined. I'll save this rant for another blog...