Week 9 - Zofran!!!!!! The best thing in the world

Week 9
July 19-July 25

Weight: 192 (no change this week but down 6lbs total)
Food aversions: dwindling with the help of zofran; anything with a strong scent is still off limits
Food Cravings: anything easily digestible (sugars, carbs, donuts)

Sucking in 8 weeks 3 days

Sunday I gave in and called the emergency line for my doctor. I spoke with Dr. Graham. Nice guy. Asked me what I have tried ... ginger, etc. I explained I can hardly get enough ice chips. He put in the order for zofran. He said if I didn't drink 2L of liquid by the end of the day I needed to come in for evaluation tomorrow. Well I didn't so in I went. I met a new doctor. I really liked her. The nurse and her took my blood pressure and it was 154/90. I was freaking out. Mine is usually 112/70. I told her that and she got this look like "aha!". She took out a tape measure and measured my arm and then asked my weight and looked at the chart. Next, she took another BP cuff and measured it again. 114/72. Yes! She proceeded to put a BIG note in my chart that they needed to use the big cuff with me. I've always had big arms regardless of my weight so I wasn't surprised. She apologized that no one had noticed this sooner. She also said I seemed in good spirits and that I didn't have any signs that I needed anything extra to get better. I was a little surprised since I had lost 3lbs since my last visit which was only a week ago. I also smile and stay upbeat no matter what (it's practically in my job description.) However I was feeling better since starting the Zofran and it had only been 24 hours. My next appointment was a few weeks away (Aug 7). She asked me after I was hydrated and eating to try to stop taking it and see how it went. I'll go into that later.

Week 8 - Third ultra sound

Week 8
July 12- July 18

Weight: 192 lbs
Food aversions: Now when I say everything, I mean everything! No more waffles no more lemonade. Ice chips are the way to bed
Food Cravings: Everything. I miss food so bad

7 weeks 5 days

Heart rate: 165!

How magical. I tried not to cry but the tears still came. Our little one hadn't developed this far last time. I was so scared. My blood pressure was quite high but as I found out that was just due to them using the small cuff on me (more on that later.)

Not much this week except for learning to live with the nausea. I mentioned it at my appointment. She said call if it got worse.

Week 7 - Morning Sickness

Week 7
July 5-July 11

So Pregnancy math is quite confusing... July 11 is the day I literally am 7 weeks. Just want to put that out there. These two shots were taken between 7/5-7/11

Weight (scale at home VERY accurate; always matches all dr's offices): 194 (4 lb loss)
Food Aversion: Everything
Foods I can tolerate: preggie pop drops, frozen lemonade, pedialyte frozen pops, PLAIN eggo waffles, PLAIN McDonald's pancakes
Most upsetting cravings: McDonald's Hamburger (yeah a couple nights this is all I wanted; As a vegetarian and wanna be vegan this really bothered me but I was so hungry and couldn't keep anything down so I ate it; still regret it)
Symptoms: itchy skin, nausea, dry heaves/ morning sickness/ gagging, major food aversions, yeast infection (oh fun), hair loss (on head), hair growth (everywhere else), exhaustion, bloating, gas, indigestion, heart burn... I'm sure I'm forgetting something but those are the biggies

That pretty much sums up that week. I couldn't walk Nora, clean the house, showering was tough... don't even get me started on work. I was probably the worst employee ever. I was a horrible miserable experience. I wanted so desperately to eat well for baby B and to exercise for myself and Baby B but it wasn't happening.

Week 6 - First Heart beat!

Week 6 (June 28-July 4)

 The ultrasound confirmed my EDD 3/1/13
Heart beat: 105
Weight: 195.8 (loss of 2.2lbs)
Symptoms: occasional nausea, bloating, mild occasional cramps, lack of sleep
Food aversions: vegetables (especially onions, peppers, tomatoes), tofu hot dogs (love these but they made me feel really sick on July 4), anything with carbination

We had my cousin's wedding on the 30th. So many pregnant ladies but ours was still a secret. I was the DD so it made it easy not to drink. Plus dinner for me as a vegetarian was a beautiful pasta dish and for some reason I was ok with the marinara sauce. The next morning I felt so so sick though. The hotel allows pets so I assumed it was just my allergies but still I couldn't eat. On our way home we stopped at McDonald's and I got a frozen lemonade. That's when I learned to love lemonade. I couldn't eat anything else that day. So sad. By Monday morning I was absolutely miserable up coughing really bad. I bought robustusin and regular strength tylenol. However by the afternoon I had to go to the doctor. Apparently it was a sinus infection! They put me on the zpack. I was only miserable for a few more days (at least from the sinus infection that is.)

Week 5 - Quite An emotional week!

Week 5 (June 21-27)

Oh this was quite the week!

Weight: 197
Symptoms: hyper emotional, exhaustion, cramps!!!!!
Food Aversions: none yet
Food Cravings: none yet

Monday Morning I was exhausted, peeing constantly, and crampy. Tuesday morning I wasn't tired... weird... no cramps... also weird... Slept the entire night and then slept through Wednesday night. Woke up at 4am to severe cramps. Think of your first couple days of your period. Painful! Needless to say I started freaking out. Around 6 I gave in and took a pregnancy test. Error. Are you kidding me? I've never had an error! Freak out commenced!

I started crying. The cramps were so bad and did I mention I had a nightmare that I lost this pregnancy? Add in the test giving an error? Yes I was freaking out! Finally around 9:30am I gave in and called the doctor. Around noon I started playing phone tag with this wonderful nurse. She calmed me down saying we wouldn't be able to do anything now anyway. She also said symptoms can come and go. Great. Just Great. I couldn't stop crying. I had already scheduled my next appointment for the following Thursday (6 weeks exactly by my BBT chart) which is the earliest they could see anything on ultrasound anyway. She said if I start bleeding call back but there was nothing I could do. Joy.

Weeks 1-4 My Pregnancy

Since losing my first successful pregnancy I have found a lot of comfort in blogs about pregnancies.  When that test on June 20 turned positive I knew I just had to blog about my pregnancy too. I especially loved reading about mommas who exercised during their pregnancy so it seemed like a perfect fit for me!

Week 1-2

Starting weight: 198

The one of the left is from Utica, NY (technically LMP, May 24) and the one on the right was when I was packing for Houston (June 5.) My basal body temp was really low this month (96.1-97.1 pre ovulation.) That worried me since clomid usually raises my temp and is usually a sign of how things will go for the month. I also use Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor (FM) and Clear Blue Digital Ovulation Predictor Tests (OPK). The FM wasn't picking up the High as it usually did and the OPK was not giving any smiley faces either. Going to Houston for a wedding sounded like a great distraction. This wedding needed several wardrobe changes which was not a welcome distraction however. I gained a lot of weight quickly with the short pregnancy I had back in February and my weight was still up at 198. However I found a couple lovely dresses from Boden and a great one for the wedding from JCREW.

Week 3

Weight: 198
Exercise: Ran 3 miles in Galveston (ooh that was hot!!! heat index 104!) and used the hotel gym each day we were their (recumbent bike.)
Symptoms: exhaustion

Days 9-11 Past Ovulation (DPO): negative pregnancy test each day

 

At 12 DPO... Pregnant!

Ok so this is how it happened... I had a clomid check (that's when you go to the doctor and they do an trans-vaginal ultrasound to check for cysts) later in the afternoon. Woke up at 5am for work and decided what the heck I'll do another test. Peed on my stick (highly recommend Peeonastick.com) and got in the shower. When I got out I almost didn't look... who really wants to start off a day that early with bad news? Apparently I do! However when I glanced down there it was. A + sign clear as day! I took off running upstairs and jumped my poor, helpless, unsuspecting husband and burst into tears. Needless to say I was a couple minutes late for work. 

Fast forward to the afternoon... Dr Matthew Saidel of the Women's Comprehensive Health Care of CT was awaiting me. As always to see him is a wait. So I waited. My urine was dilute so I figured their test would be negative. When he came him he confirmed that suspicion.  Like a neurotic mom to be, I whipped out that phone with the picture I took. He smiled so big and said yes that is clearly a line. He did the ultrasound anyway and he gave me a picture of it. "That's where it will be next time" he said. Dr Saidel finished up with two orders of blood work. One to check my HCG and progesterone and then an HCG follow up. 

Results: 6/20 HCG 74! (not sure how that didn't show up on their test or on mine earlier then; apparently my hormones take a while to enter my urine)

            Progesterone: 42 (fantastic! anything above 16 I think the nurse said is what we want)

Results: 6/22 HCG 154 (good sign; it's at least doubling every 24 hours)

Symptoms: Cramps, exhaustion (like falling asleep while texting), pains in my boobs (think cramps for boobs not the soreness I hear about), and headaches

Weight: 198

woo hoo!!! I'm pregnant!!!!! 

Due Date based on LMP: 2/27/13

Due Date based on bbt chart: 3/1/13

At long last... My Disney report... sort of

Day 2 - Walt Disney World Marathon (Animal Kingdom)

This is a hard report for me but I need to share.

For the past year or so we have been trying to get pregnant. It's made training a little difficult because I'm supposed to keep my effort moderate and I've always been a high heart rate girl. As each month passed and no baby I gained a little more weight.

Skip forward to December 2011... I was struggling with my asthma and the first week I went on prednisone to try to control it. That same week I took my clomid as I have in other months. A week later I went in for a procedure known as a HSG. It's an xray of my uterus. I didn't react well to it and was out of commission for the four days following it.

With all this happening, my longest run was 19 miles. Not what I planned but doable.

Fast forward to the weekend before leaving for Disney...

No voice. Cough severely worsened. I feel miserable. Yup, I had bronchitis and laryngitis. Off to doctor to get antibiotics. To those of you wondering how I could be taking all this medicine while trying to get pregnant, they were all category B drugs which are approved during pregnancy.

Great news though. By Friday my voice was back!!! I was feeling very dizzy and tired but I figured I was just sick, right? I took my pregnancy test Friday and again Saturday morning. Negative. Ok I said to myself I'm doing the Goofy Challenge. It won't be my best but I'll just take my time and lots of pictures. Yes I was feeling sick but I needed a pick me up. December was a crappy month.

Well Saturday morning I threw on my first outfit! All Lululemon of course! It was fairly nice so I only needed a vest and gloves. I didn't even really need gloves. I had some of those breakable warming packets too. This was to be my sister in law's first half marathon and her husband's first half as well. He was going to run his own race and I was going to run with her.

Unfortunately this year with the Goofy Challenge you only got one bib to use both days. That meant only one corral. Well my last two marathons had me finishing at the very end so it didn't surprise me that I was the last corral. I was annoyed though that I was in the last corral for my half. My sister in law and I were planning on running with the 3 hour pace group. A pace I knew I could do (I did that last year with a bad back and hip and shin!)

As we got to the corrals, Laura (my SIL) went to her corral and since they check your bib I had to go to mine. This was very hard for me. I hadn't planned on running alone, let alone the not having a pace group. By the start of the race I had reformed my race plan. I was going to take my entire 3.5 hours (if they thought I was going to do it then I was going to get my money's worth!) Every stop would get a picture. I would finally get my castle picture.


I did. I got all my pictures. Here are some more....

Day 1: Half Marathon w/ Alice in my Lululemon Run inspire Crops and Run Short Sleeve V-neck

Day 1: Walt Disney World Half Marathon (20 min lost to get this pic but worth it!!!)

Day 2: Marathon ... at this point I was the only one posing but I knew I'd be pulled so I said what the heck! I'm getting my pictures!

On to Sunday... I woke up feeling more exhausted than the year before and thinking I wasn't going to finish. I was dizzy and just down right EXHAUSTED! This was somewhat on par to last year but I didn't remember feeling this extremely exhausted. Pulling my head off the pillow felt like the hardest thing in the world to do.

I tried following my running pattern but it was challenging. I kept meeting up with new people and would stay with them for a while and then break off. I met the NICEST people. Everyone was so great. Some time around the MK everything started feeling impossible. I started to feel really dizzy and weak. My family and other participants contributed the idea that I wasn't taking in enough water and supplements. I thought that might be the case but was unsure. At this point I also started needing my emergency inhaler (getting a full breath just walking felt impossible!)

As I approached mile 13.1, I made the decision to stop. However the awesome pacers at Disney convinced me to keep going since I was still ahead of the pull time. I said why not... Right before hitting the AK they told us were behind but they wouldn't pull us until the other side of the park. Awesome!!! I met up with a fellow run/walker and we motivated eachother to keep going. We even jogged through half the park together (since everyone was watching.) I made sure to thank EVERY volunteer and they were incredibly encouraging and nice despite the fact that we were the end.

After exiting the park we started looking for the cut off... I was really struggling at this point. If he wasn't with me I would have been worried. I was so dizzy. Mile 18 was the end. It was so nice. They had the water stop still set up for us with food and powerade and a med station. The bus was waiting with more refreshments and a nice guy who explained what would happen from here. Apparently you get a medal for not finishing! Awesome!!! Unfortunately because I didn't finish that meant no Goofy medal and no way of showing I tried. I understood and was just happy to get what I did.
Me & Laura in Race Retreat following half marathon

Fast forward to Monday night... my body was recovered. We toured the parks to an extent. Gosh was I EXHAUSTED! I'd make it a few hours and then need to go back to the room and sleep. If I pushed it I would start to feel dizzy. My sister in law suggested I take a test again...

Tuesday morning I did... Pregnant!!!! Wow! Finally!!!!

Here comes the sort of report.... I was waiting until 13 weeks to make this post to tell you all the good news. I continued running every other day and using the elliptical on the days in between. I still had the dizziness, exhaustion, and now a slight sense of nausea all the time but I could push through. At the 7 week mark we saw the heart beat! Wow. .... Then around what should have been 10 weeks I was told I had a missed miscarriage. That little heart beat that had made it through so much must have stopped right after the ultrasound.

At the 10 week mark to the day I miscarried and spent the next 3 weeks recovering. I gained weight in my midsection and a little extra every where else (I know I shouldn't have gained more than 5 pounds but I figure 8 wasn't so bad.) Now I'm rocking a wonderful 195 and have nothing to show for it. I'm horribly out of shape and am waiting to start trying again.

I miss the running community but I didn't want to post my measly results and workouts until I could explain my reasons were from pregnancy symptoms. Disney feels like eons ago. Monday Jillian Michaels Body Revolution DVD set came and I started it Thursday. I'm sore but glad to be getting moving again.

I don't know who will read this but while I was scared to share something so personal I really wanted to finally talk about it.