I hope I didn't jinx myself...

...but I actually did some online shopping for maternity clothes, thanks to the link to Lo.ft Maternity at IVFC. I was lured in by the link and then completely won over by the fact that they were having a 30% off sale, with free shipping. I can't resist a bargain. So I bought 3 cute tops and a black ruffle cardigan. I am the queen of cardigans and I see no reason why that shouldn't continue for the next 6 months. So I actually did it. Not that I need them yet, but I know I will at some point. Didn't get any pants because I'm really hard to fit, and generally wear petite sizes, so I'll probably have to go to a real store to try things on. I know Lo.ft doesn't have the maternity clothes in their stores, but there is a giant maternity store here in Manhattan, so I'll hit that eventually.

Not much else going on. We will head out for a nice walk in Central Park soon, to see the leaves and maybe cute kids in Halloween costumes. Last year was a nightmare on Halloween. I had just gotten a BFN from my first frozen transfer at CCRM and was forced to venture out in my kid-filled neighborhood for an errand that had to be done. I remember that I returned home almost in tears. This year feels much better.

Second trimester

Wow, I can't believe how long I've been away - I'm sorry. But I haven't been feeling particularly pregnant, or having anything interesting to report. After our NT scan, we did have another OB visit and everything seems fine. She said my uterus is starting to expand, and I can feel that it has gotten harder and is just barely starting to fill out a bit. But I am still not really showing. The waist on some of my pants is getting a little tighter, but most of the time I think that is just gas or bloating - there has been plenty of that. For the most part I am feeling zip, zero, zilch. So really not that exciting.

But we are officially into the second trimester. Today we are at exactly week 14. I guess it is time to start thinking about telling people, but I don't even know where to begin. I guess I want to tell good friends who are not in the area, so will probably send them emails. No, I will not be broadcasting it on Facebook - I always hated getting blindsided by those announcements. J is suggesting that we wait until after the 20 week anatomy scan on Dec. 10 before we tell, so I might hold out until then, except for some really good friends.

I do need to go get my flu shot today. As I mentioned in a previous post, even though the OB said it was fine to get it in the first trimester, I decided to wait. And I'm going to get the preservative-free one at the pharmacy around the corner. I'll do it on my way out to the chiropractor. I have been going there again, since I do have back problems and really need to go. My doctor wasn't so sure about it, but she also seemed to have little idea about what a chiropractor does, so I did my own research and determined that it is perfectly safe. In fact, it might even help with a number of issues throughout the pregnancy. But if anyone has any advice one way or the other, feel free to let me know.

So that's my update. I guess at this point, uneventful is good.

NT scan

Just a quick update. Today we are at 11 weeks, 5 days, and we had our NT scan this morning. For those not in the know, that is the nuchal translucency scan, done by ultrasound to measure the thickness of the neck. It is a non-invasive screening procedure that can give a good idea about the chance of Down syndrome. It is combined with a blood test, and a follow-up blood test in the second semester, to test for the presence of some chemical I can't remember at the moment, which can also indicate a chance of Down syndrome. So the preliminary results based on the NT scan look good, and we just have to get the blood results as well. We are really not at risk for Down syndrome or other such abnormalities, based on our donor's age of 19, but we wanted to do this test anyway. Now we will not feel the need to do a CVS or amnio, which I am glad about.

This was a big hurdle for us and we were happy to see Mr. Bean squirming around again on the screen. I guess it will be a while again until we see him (or her, if she turns out to be a Ms. Bean...). We have our 20 week scan scheduled for Dec. 10th, but I hope my doctor will let us have a peek in her office before then.

I am going away for this weekend, down to see my parents and my nephews who are visiting while my sister and brother-in-law go to a wedding. I'm excited to see my nephews, since I didn't get to visit them this summer because of all my trips to Denver. My youngest nephew is only 18 months and doesn't really know me since I last saw him when he was a tiny baby. It will be fun to see them both. I'm taking a few days off from teaching to stretch out the weekend. It's nice to be able to do that.

I have been having a lot of funny pains in my belly - not typical cramps, but more like sharp pulling. I don't know if this is round ligament pain, or just expansion. But I am really not showing yet and starting to wonder when the heck that is going to happen. I'm ready to start looking the part, I think. And in just a few more weeks we will think about going public I guess, although I might wait a bit longer until I really start to show. We'll see.

Graduation day

Wow. I just got the call from my nurse, and I am officially cut loose from CCRM. It feels totally weird. For almost a year and a half now, I've been having regular contact with them in some capacity or another. And now I'm on my own. Of course I have my OB, but I don't feel quite the same level of expertise from her. Not that I don't trust her, it just feels different.

So, today my E2 is 514 and my P4 is 13.38. So my progesterone is going up a little bit, but I still can't help being a little nervous about. If there weren't something for me to be nervous about, what else would I do?

In other news, I have a nasty cold, but don't want to take anything for it, of course. So I'm soldiering through. My wonderful husband has been taking great care of me though.

And I'm debating about getting a flu shot yet. My work has them for free this Thursday, so I asked my OB office this morning - they said it was fine to get the shot now, and it doesn't have to be preservative-free. (They don't have preservative-free at work.) But I have read all kinds of conflicting info online, so I'm thinking I might just wait until the end of this month, which is also the end of the trimester, and get the preservative-free shot at my nearby pharmacy. I called them and they don't seem to think they will run out by then, so I hope that is true. Once again, something else to worry about...

First OB appointment!

Had our first OB appointment yesterday and it went great. She is really nice - very calm and confident, reassuring. Not too young, not too old. All the other doctors in the practice are also women, which I like. She did do another ultrasound, though the machine isn't all that great. But we could see Mr. Bean squirming around and saying hello to us again, so that was fun. And she gave us a picture print-out - our first one! We hadn't been taking any pictures of the screen because we didn't want to jinx anything, but now we are happy to have it. I looked at it several times last night.

So even though we had lots of testing results from CCRM, she still had a bunch of things she wanted to run on me, and they took 8 frikkin' tubes of blood from me!!! EIGHT! I don't think I've ever had that much taken before. What on earth could they need that much blood for? I managed to hang in there, though at the end it was slowing down and I had to keep pumping my fist to get it come out. Those of you who remember my old days of local monitoring know that I used to pass out at the drop of a hat, so this was pretty impressive.

We both felt very good about the doctor but of course we forgot to ask her several things. Oh well - I'll keep a list and call her next week. And we are going to go for an NT scan in about 10 days, or 2 weeks, depending on when I can get an appointment. I know our risk of abnormalities is very low with our egg donor being only 19, but I still want to do the screening at least, and then see if we need to do any more invasive testing.

And she wasn't concerned about my P4 level of 11, so I'm going to assume that it is ok. I go again for (possibly) the last monitoring for weaning on Monday. I'm not on any more meds now and am producing it all on my own, but I would like to see that the P4 has gone up by Monday.

To answer someone's question from my last post, no, Mr. Bean is not going to any concerts this weekend. We are going to see Wa.ll St.reet 2, after re-watching the original last night. But next weekend will be very exciting with Gor.illa.z at Mad.ison Sq.are Gar.den. Concert number 3 for Mr. Bean!

Hormone levels

Just got the call from the nurse with my results from bloodwork on Wednesday. (Had to go to the bad place, where they refuse to run the blood stat and usually take one day to get results back - this time it actually took two. Ugh.) Anyway, as a reminder I had stopped all progesterone supplementation and was on just one Vivelle patch. So my estradiol was 584 on Wednesday and my progesterone was 11. The nurse said that was great, but that progesterone level seems too close to the low end to me. She said it just needs to be over 6, and that is what my body is doing all on its own, so it's great. It just makes me nervous. So today I stop the Vivelle altogether and get checked one last time (probably) on Monday. What do you guys think about those levels, especially the progesterone? Am I silly to worry? I know I have to trust the nurse, but it is so scary.
If everything is fine on Monday, that will be the end of CCRM - I will be set free. I can't believe it!