The First Trimester

My last post left off when I was 4 weeks, 2 days along. We had just found out that my HcG had doubled as we were hoping. That same day, we began telling our immediate families. A couple of days earlier, we had prepared a short video to share the news with them. We made it up on the spot, did only one take, and we were ready to share!

Diwali 2015

Our parents and siblings shed tears of joy. It was so nice to have good news to share this time after a treatment cycle. For the following week, we were floating! At the back of our minds, we knew we still had a few weeks til the first ultrasound where we would find out if baby was still hanging on and had a heartbeat. But until then, we made the most of being pregnant. We enjoyed looking at baby products and started using pregnancy apps. We planned and talked about baby and enjoyed every minute of it!

A week later, at 5 weeks, 2 days, I started feeling queasy. A couple days later, I was definitely nauseated, and then morning sickness was in full swing! My clinic prescribed Diclectin to try to manage/reduce the symptoms, and it did help, but once morning sickness began, I was sick pretty much every waking moment. I then added in Ranitidine (Zantac) twice a day at the maximum dose to reduce acidity and help cut down the nausea. It helped a fair bit for a few weeks, but I was still pretty sick. My all day sickness made it hard to enjoy pregnancy, and some days I felt sick and miserable enough to literally cry, but I was glad to see it disappear around 12 and a half weeks. I was back to feeling blissful and stopped taking anti-nauseants. Unfortunately, it came back two weeks later, and now I'm back on my meds. What really kept me going through those two really challenging months was the ultrasounds.

At our first ultrasound, we saw the baby for the first time. A tiny little blob, but we could see the heartbeat on the screen. That made us feel more confident about the pregnancy and made everything more real.

Two weeks later, we had our second ultrasound. By now, baby was bigger and looking more like a peanut! This time, we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Of course, we cried! It was the most beautiful, precious sound. The same day, I was released from my fertility clinic, PCRM. I had graduated to my family doctor and OBGYN. I was a bit sad to leave behind the amazing staff at PCRM, but I was also happy that baby was healthy and were ready to move on.

Our Little One

Our third ultrasound was done through my OBGYN's office. By now, baby had grown quite a bit and actually looked like a baby. The doctor pointed out arms, legs, facial features, and more! We were relieved to see that baby looked healthy once again. And it was exciting to see baby literally jumping around in my uterus and waving arms.

This past Tuesday, I happened to have my next OGBYN appointment on my birthday. My hubby told the doctor it was my special day, so as a present, the doctor wheeled in a portable ultrasound machine and let me see baby and hear the heartbeat. What an incredible birthday gift!

Everything feels a little more special now that I know we have our little one on the way. Diwali was a little brighter, and the Christmas season feels a little more merry. I'm happy that I survived the first trimester which is supposed to be the hardest one. Now I'm 15 weeks and 2 days and hoping the second trimester will be an enjoyable one... I know for sure that it will be a memorable one!