'Outing' Baby Hayes

Chris and I went for an ultrasound today and we saw our baby and his or her tiny heart beating 180 times a minute! The baby is growing steadily, however the little tike is still about a week behind schedule. It was, yet, a different doctor and he was not concerned with the small size.


After seeing the heartbeat three times, we're prepared to 'out' this pregnancy! Even though many people already know about it via this blog or via being 'in the know' about the IVF, we will now make it known to the world!

10 Weeks

Having seen the heartbeat twice now has eased my mind, somewhat. The signs and symptoms of pregnancy, while bothersome, are also somewhat reassuring. If it's an early pregnancy symptom I have experienced it. I had morning, afternoon, and evening sickness for a couple weeks but it is seems to be passing.

The other symptoms are fleeting and rarely bothersome. Don't mistake any of this for complaining. The thrill of being pregnant outweighs any sickness! Oh, and Chris is picking up much of the slack around the house. Thanks Love.

I've been wanting to take an early pregnancy picture. You know, one before my belly changed. Well, I should have taken it before undergoing IVF; my belly has never been the same. So here is my 8 week shot...just know the belly is likely due to my ovaries not the baby!



My fertility doc said I could stop the shots at 10 weeks...so no more shots! Over the last 8 weeks I had just over 50 IM shots in the bum! I have my first prenatal appointment tomorrow but I don't get another ultrasound until Thursday. Simply put, I won't learn anything about the baby tomorrow, just pregnancy stuff. You know, don't drink, get enough sleep, etc., etc.

Photoshoot Bloopers

I wanted an updated photo of myself, Chris, and the girls. We took one three years ago and I still love it. Do not be mistaken, it is no easy task to get two very rambunctious dogs to sit still and face forward. In fact, it's nearly impossible. We must have taken 30 pictures to get one that looks alright! Here are a few of the, uh, trial shots.








By the way, Chris took all pictures using our cameras timer. Not bad, huh?

8w4d Ultrasound

Chris and I went to our 9:30am ultrasound appointment this morning where we waited an entire hour to be seen! It made Chris late getting back to the office and he was ticked to say the least. However, I will say that I thought the whole situation was quite comical. Why? Well, when I whine about waiting forever for my appointments Chris always excuses the docs…'patients are late’, ‘patients are slow’, blah, blah blah. Well, today he learned a valuable lesson…I hope!

When Dr. Late Pants finally did the ultrasound she was looking around for minutes before saying anything. I immediately started to panic. I assumed she was having a difficult time finding a heartbeat. The monitor was turned away from me but Chris could see. I gave him a death stare and he nodded at me, reassuring me there was a heartbeat. Then the doc finally said ‘there is a heartbeat’. That’s all I wanted to know. She saw it immediately. Why wait to tell me? Did she not realize my legs were shaking with nerves? Seriously lady.

Once she realized Chris was reading the ultrasound she asked him what he did. After that she talked exclusively to him using medical jargon. Over here! I’m the patient! I’m the pregnant one, not him!

She measured the baby at 7w1d (I am 8w4d), but said the little tike was not cooperating for a good measurement. She was content with the growth over the last week and was not concerned with the small size. She was however concerned with not being able to see the anatomical structures but attributed that to the small size and the ultrasound machine. I go back in two weeks for a more accurate and thorough ultrasound.

She was also concerned with the size of one of my ovaries and the consequent risk of ovarian torsion, but considering the other two doctors did not voice a concern on the issue I am not worried.

Oh, and she did not give me a picture! Who does not give a copy of the ultrasound picture to the patient? I suppose she thought that after two years of trying to get pregnant, multiple failed attempts, IVF, and the massive emotional roller coaster of the last two months I would NOT want a picture of the little tike! Yes, that makes perfect sense.

Overall, this appointment was good, but we are still cautious with our happiness. The next ultrasound, in two weeks, is a week and a half before I hit the 12 week mark. I can’t believe I have only 3 more weeks in my first trimester!

and the saga continues...

We went to a different doctor on Wednesday to establish care within our insurance network. Afterall, we don't need to pay the big bucks for the basic care of a miscarriage. The plan was to get another ultrasound to confirm a blighted ovum and go from there.

Here was our conversation during the ultrasound:
Dr. L: "it seems like a normal pregnancy to me"
Me: "what does that mean?"
Dr. L: "it means I see a normal embryo and a heartbeat"
Me: --pause for a moment of confusion before starting to shake and cry--

*I have no idea why this pic is so small but lets face it, there isn't much to see*


So, we are still pregnant...with a baby...whose heart rate is 120! I will be 8 weeks on Saturday. But, (there is always a but) the baby is measuring about a week smaller than normal, hence why we didn't see anything last week. While this is concerning, there is really nothing we can do about it. So, I will continue the PIO injections and have another ultrasound next week.

When Chris and I decided to undergo IVF we expected a simple "Yes, it worked/ you are pregnant" or "No, it didn't work/ you are not pregnant". Instead we got:
Blood test #1: Good
Blood test #2: Not as good
Blood test #3: Bad
U/S #1: Inconclusive
U/S #2: Good
U/S #3: Bad
U/S #4: Good

Over the last week I have been very nauseous. Even though I didn't think I actually had a baby on board, I did know my hormone levels were indicative of a pregnancy. But the truth is I couldn't tell if the stress of the entire situation was causing me to be sick or if it was the pregnancy hormones. Probably a cross between the two. I'm much happier being sick for a reason greater than stress!

With all of that said, Chris and I are cautiously optimistic. We are well aware the slow developing fetus is cause for concern, but like I said, it is what it is and we can only wait and see what happens.

The End

I now have a yolk sac in my gestational sac but there is no baby. No heartbeat. There should be a heartbeat by now. I will go in next week for yet another ultrasound but it is highly unlikely this will end well.

six weeks and still growing

Chris and I went in for an ultrasound on Wednesday. It was not expected that we would see the baby but we hoped to see the baby's bed, aka the gestational sac (*see the black spot below). And we did! The doctor said there is a 90% chance a baby will grow in there. Sooo, I go back on Friday to see a baby. I will be 6 weeks and 6 days so with a transvaginal ultrasound I should be able to hear a heartbeat as well. If we see and hear what we want then I graduate to a regular OB.

My ovaries are still huge. They should be the size of walnuts and they are more the size of oranges! This explains the Buddha belly I'm sporting. It also explains why I have to pee constantly, they are pushing on my bladder. Afterall, ovaries are intended to produce one egg a month...not 28!