14 Weeks

Upgraded chalkboard is in the making! Will be ready for next week!

How far along: 14w 3d

Total weight loss/gain: 0 lbs lost/gain, all-day-sickness is still lurking around.

Measurements: 36" 33 1/2" 36 1/2" 

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: So-So.. 

Best Moment: Nausea and having to eat every 2 hours is finally starting to wear off.. only have to eat every 4-5 hours now. (I'm sure my partner's waisline is thankful) 

Miss anything: hot dogs, sub sandwhiches, and sleeping on my tummy

Movement: Not yet

Cravings: Jelly donuts (I hated jelly donuts before getting preggo FYI)

Anything making you queasy: Not really

Showing: A little bump.. just kinda looking chubby right about now

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in/out: In

Things you're looking forward to: Feeling movement & upgrading my chalkboard!  

A Night Out Downtown For A Friends Birthday 

13 Weeks

We made it through the first trimester without a glitch! Adam was shocked, but then was all aboard the baby express within no time, book marking pages on his iPad for articles on things I should/shouldn't eat and should/shouldn't do.. (basically if it were up to him I would live on lentils, flaxseed and water... and "burnt to shit meat".. don't think I'm going to be following any of those rules any time soon.) Parents & grandparents were told. Some were super excited at first, while others will take some time to adjust to the new life plans that we have. All in all, Adam & I are thrilled that we made it to the second trimester, but still want to wait a while before we tell people that aren't absolutely necessary.. due to the fact that we still have that preterm labor cloud hovering over our heads.

We went for our first trimester screening this week... but our not so little nugget measured too big to perform the tests! I was supposed to be 13w2d, but nugget was measuring to be 14w4d! over 1/2 in longer than expected! Holy COW! We were also told the sex of the baby.. but have to wait until at least 18 weeks to have it be "definitive". (Sorry.. keeping it a secret until then!) I really need to upgrade this chalkboard.. this tiny one just isn't cutting it.

How far along: 13w 3d

Total weight loss/gain: 6 lbs lost.. ugh morning all day sickness is killing me.. Boobs have certainly grown though! 

Measurements: 36" 33" 36" 

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: So-So.. working 24 hr shifts on the ambulance isn't helping

Best Moment: finding out the gender & seeing little nugget move on the ultrasound

Miss anything: A tall glass of Moscato & sleeping on my tummy

Movement: Not yet, but seen it on the ultrasound

Cravings: Pizza & baked potatoes 

Anything making you queasy: Nothing in particular.. have to eat every 2-3 hours to keep the nausea at bay.. pretty sure my partner is going to gain sympathy wait with me if we keep eating like this while on duty.

Showing: A little bump.. looks more like I ate too much chocolate cake while on my period

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in/out: In

Things you're looking forward to: Feeling some movement & getting rid of this nausea! 

Our Little Nugget @ 13w2d

Clearly didn't inherit my shorty legs... 

Our Little Surprise!

After finally getting my mind off of the horrible news I had gotten over the summer, I was doing well. I had started school again, finishing up my last semester in the post-baccalaureate program, and had started my new job as an EMT on an ambulance. They say things happen when you least expect them.. and I am living proof of that! At the beginning of September we found out that we would be expecting our first little one in April 2014. I'm half convinced that I'm carrying Super Baby in here & that he will come out wearing a cape.. as he had to overcome multiple forms of BC, and my hostile uterus.. I'm a firm believer that the most unexpected of blessings are the best ones.

Our little nugget... 7 1/2 weeks

Let the chalkboard madness begin!

How far along: 7w 5d

Total weight loss/gain: 2 lbs lost.. nausea has been horrible

Measurements: 34" 31" 36" 

Stretch marks: Nope

Sleep: Not too bad

Best Moment: Finding out about our little nugget!

Miss anything: Suddenly I want to eat all of the hot dogs in the world.. because I can't have them.

Movement: Nope

Cravings: None yet.. nausea has been too bad. 

Anything making you queasy: Everything

Showing: Nope.. just a little bloated

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in/out: In

Things you're looking forward to: Getting rid of this nausea & getting through the first trimester

Weekend before we found out about Baby H 

Prologue

Adam & I had always planned on getting married, me finishing medical school, him establishing a career and then starting a family. Needless to say it was quite a blow when we found out at the beginning of the summer that I had a congenital uterine anomaly that left me with extremely high odds of having difficulties getting pregnant, and staying pregnant for that matter. At the end of June, after suffering from abdominal pain and vomiting for days, I finally decided to go to the GYN. They did a whole battery of tests, and ended up doing an ultrasound to check if maybe an ovarian cyst was the cause of my symptoms. They did indeed find a cyst, but they also informed me that I had a uterine septum. This didn't sound like a very good thing to me, so I had a bunch of questions for the doctor right away. She explained that I was born with a septum, basically a wall of tissue, dividing my uterus, essentially making it heart shaped instead of pear shaped. She told me that it wasn't a problem right then because we weren't planning on having children yet, but when we did decide to try and conceive we would probably run into some issues and would have to seek the assistance of a specialist. I left the office devastated, and immediately starting looking up the diagnosis online (I know.. as a medical professional I really should know to stay off the internet.. but I couldn't help it.) I decided that instead of reading forums and horror stories online that I was going to be proactive and find a specialist right then and there, get professional advice, and start building a relationship with a doctor that we would hopefully keep until we decided to have children. I found an amazing doctor, and was able to set up an appointment with her mid-August. She was so helpful and informative. She clearly explained my diagnosis, and told me all of the odds that were against me. She told me that there was about an 80% chance of having a miscarriage every time I conceived, since there was a high probability that the embryo would implant on the septum, and would not be provided with the appropriate nutrients to survive. If I beat those odds, and the embryo implanted elsewhere in my hostile uterus, I would have an 80% chance of going into preterm labor because due to the septum, my uterus wouldn't be able to stretch like it would need to and the baby would be born early. As if those statistics weren't bad enough.. I had a 90% chance of having to have a C-section, due to the septum preventing the baby from turning into a head-down position therefore, leaving the baby in the breech position. She informed me of a surgery that was an option to remove the septum, but explained how that came with its own set of risks of course, many of which were the same as if I just left it in. I felt so much more informed after meeting with her. Even though everything she said left me horrified, I was happy to have the right information. It didn't make things much easier though, since being a mother was the only thing in the world besides being a doctor that I wanted to do in life. I always said I wanted a whole litter of kids running around, and I wanted to have them all naturally with no epidural. Needless to say this diagnosis basically looked at my life plans and laughed in my face.. Adam was very supportive and helped me through a lot of the emotions I was feeling. With August coming to a close, school starting up again and me starting my new job, I decided that my hostile uterus had to take the back burner and that I would deal with it when the time came. But you know what they say.. once you stop wishing for something is when you typically get it..

Our Story..

Adam & I went to high school together. While we were great friends, we never dated in high school, which was probably the best thing we could've done. We started dating a few months after graduation, both moving to the city to go to college, and starting our "grown-up" lives together. Through the years we have become closer than ever. We've had plenty of ups & downs, adopted our first dog, Beef, who we had to put to sleep due to cancer only 18 short months after we brought him home, found our cat, Duncan, in a window well and took her in, and adopted our second pooch, Boone. We have been quite busy over the years, with me being a full-time student, finishing my second bachelors degree through a post-baccalaureate program and applying to medical school this year and Adam working at his family businesses that he will soon be taking over. We spend our free time watching Netflix, Blackhawks Hockey and football, playing outside with Boone, working on Adam's beloved salt water fish tank, going hunting (well..Adam hunts.. I sit there trying to be quiet..but miserably failing), and fishing (again, Adam & my dad go fishing.. I lay on the boat and work on my tan while occasionally complaining about how I have to pee.) Adam's family owns property in northern WI so we enjoy riding the ATVs and dirt bikes and taking the paddle boat out on the lake during the warmer months, and putting miles upon miles on the snowmobiles during the winter. While we have plenty of history together, the best is yet to come as we recently found out that we are expecting our first little one in April 2014! I have high hopes of documenting our journey into becoming new parents in the coming months with the help of my awesome chalkboard, beloved camera, and my new blog =)