First Time Pregnant - Ever...

cathartic1

Greetings!  I am 36 and this is the first time I have ever been able to get pregnant ever.   My husband and I have been TTC for over 5 years and I had just made an appointment last month with a fertility specialist to see about doing IUI when I suddenly had missed my period by like 10 days.  I have PCOS, Hypothyroidism and High Blood Pressure - and I'm obese.  So, tons of negatives against me!  Being on PCOS medicine, I never miss my periods and I took a home test.  Instantly went very positive. 

Needless to say, we were quite shocked and awed that we had done it naturally after 5 years.  I had just started weight watchers about 6 weeks before and lost 20 pounds and had tried to cut down on sugar and such... so, not sure if that did the trick ...

I haven't had an ultrasound yet but I've had my HCG checked twice - on July 14th it was 4600 and on July 21st it was 22,000!  But at the time it was checked the first time I was supposed to be about 5 weeks and then 6 weeks the next week.  Compared to other people, my numbers seem so high!  I can't figure out if its a good or a bad thing.  I heard something about babies that get down syndrome typically the HCG numbers are high?

My progesterone was only 8.71 the first time it was tested but I insisted on supplements and the second time it had already gone up to 15.7 ... so that made me feel better.

I'm going in for my ultra sound on Wednesday this week and I'm so nervous.  I haven't had any bleeding or spotting at all but my symptoms are very minor.  I'm sleepy a lot and my boobs are on and off sore.  Its mostly my nipples that are bothering me.  But, no nausea nothing else.  My allergies seem to be 10 x's worse than they were before but I dunno if that's just late summer or what.   I do have cramps every now and then but they aren't really painful.  I had more cramping before I went on the progesterone but as soon as I started taking that the cramping went away mostly.

As its so hard for me to get pregnant I just really want this to be it.  It may be the only time I ever get pregnant and I'm just so scared about miscarriage ... my mom had 3 before me.  And I just feel that my odds are against me since this is my first ever pregnancy and I see so many other women going through so many losses.  Perhaps I should just stop going to google... lol.

Anyhoo hi!  And hopefully you all can send me some happy baby dust vibes.

mandyreads

Congrats. Every pregnancy is different when it comes to the symptoms. This one for me is absolutely different than with my 3 girls.
Keep us posted after your u/s!!

cathartic1

Thanks, and after I thought about it some more... I do have some other symptoms.  My heart is obviously working harder because it thumps in my chest like really hard when I'm trying to sleep.  Sometimes I think it gets extra beats too.  It isn't beating fast just seems to be pounding and I can feel it (I read that a lot of other women have this too).  I also have insomnia ... I get soooo sleepy but I have a really hard time falling asleep and when I do I wake up like every hour or two.  And I am doing the peeing thing way more than I usually do.  I'm usually the type of person that can drink and drink and never go pee but I usually have to get up in the middle of the night and have to pee during the day like every hour at least.

But yea hopefully I'll have a positive ultra sound experience in 2 days!  Eeeps!

NeonNoon

Congratulations @cathartic1 . Welcome to the board  Hope you have a smooth pregnancy.. and yes stop googling.. you'll drive yourself crazy.

cathartic1

Thanks! 

By the way, how did you guys get your pregnancy banners in your sigs?  I tried pasting in the code that the site gave me and it didn't work.

gremaud07

Congrats and welcome !

NeonNoon

@cathartic1  try following the instructions on the second post in this link:

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12397425/want-to-add-ticker-to-signature-not-showing-up

There used to be a better instruction thread with pictures, but it seems to have disappeared.

jmdj615

Congratulations on being pregnant.... Yes, stop Googling. :-p I know how hard that can be because I was a Google maniac when I got my BFP. Sending lots of good vibes.

KellyRenee2014

Congrats! Isn't it funny how things work out sometimes? I know its easier said than done but try and relax and not worry so much  

Samuelismomma

Congrats! I love love how fate messes with us! Lol stop googling it will drive you crazy , also analyzing your symptoms:) congrats and welcome!

cathartic1

Thanks, I wouldn't say I'm "worrying" per se....just trying to be educated.   I like to analyze all aspects of a situation including the bad ones so I can be prepared for anything.  I guess its the data analyst in me.  I've learned not to worry about things I can't control but doesn't mean you can stop from being "concerned".  

I will feel better after my ultra sound tomorrow I think.

mdogan29

@cathartic1 - congrats!! This is my first baby too, I'm 37 and have had very similar symptoms as you.  I thought I'd have morning sickness by now, but nothing, I was getting worried!  Can't wait to hear about your ultrasound! I have one on Thursday too!

Oh, also I have hypothyroidism, the MTHFR gene mutation (compound heterozygous) and obese as well.  We're here for you in this journey together!

leela02

Congrats! I'm also 37 and pregnant for the first time. It took us about 3 yrs! We thought we just couldn't get pregnant naturally. I have hypothyroidism so I know that it raises risk of miscarriage, but my doc says if your levels are well-managed it is usually not a major issue. My pregnancy symptoms have been relatively mild (only threw up a few times, no boob soreness, no nausea after first trimester) so I worry also, but I'm a little less worried now that I'm almost 30 weeks & my doctor says the baby is doing great. I also pee a lot more, sometimes every 15-20 minutes.

JilliansMoma

Congrats!  I like to say that God took it easy on me during my pregnancies because it was hell TTC for so long and going through so much with the ART and that is why I never had any typical PG symptoms. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing for you too! 

JM

cathartic1

Yay! It seems I am in good company. I see this is the thyroid club. I have been managing my thyroid pretty well I think for a number of years. It has always been consistently 1.9 so, I'm hoping I'm good. The only thing I want to do is have them check it again for me cause I heard that pregnancy can mess with your numbers.

We too didn't think we could do it naturally. Not only do I have all the problems I mentioned, but my husband had ulcerative colitis for like 15 years and in the middle of our TTC journey he decided he had had enough of steroids, medications, flare ups and not being able to leave the house sometimes that he decided to get "J Pouch" surgery and have his entire large intestine removed. It took almost 2 years for him to recover fully but now he's 100% cured and totally "normal". But we had feared that all the years of him being on very strong medications had messed up his little swimmers. So, our next fertility thing was to get him tested.  Over the last 5 years, I have had all sorts of tests done on me.... I even had some balloon thing stuck up me to make sure my tubes weren't blocked and everything was all set. Just needed that damn tad pole to get to my egg!

But yea, with his issues and mine... natural conception just didn't seem possible. It felt really really good to be able to call my fertility doctor's office and cancel our appointment though after I found out!

I can't wait to hear you guys progress as well! 

leela02

@cathartic1 My husband has Crohn's disease that was initially diagnosed as ulcerative colitis so he was also debilitated and had to go on various strong meds for a while. He almost got the J pouch surgery but the last med he tried seemed to work. Right now he is mostly in remission and doesn't have to take any meds. My thyroid condition, I suspect I'd had it for a very long time before it was even diagnosed (it runs in my family), so I was worried that it had made me completely infertile.

My doctor said pregnancy can cause you to need more thyroid so you do need to have it checked to find out if your meds need adjusting.

cathartic1

Leela, sorry your hubby has to deal with that... I know how annoying it can be. My husband was only ever able to go into remission while on steroids. After going off or tapering, it would come back stronger. He did Humera and a bunch of other treatments and all it did was make him feel worse and go prematurely grey. They do often misdiagnose Crohn's and UC but I'm glad your hubby didn't get the J-Pouch if he has Crohn's as it affects the small intestine primarily and UC is in the large intestine. So, we actually read about people that were diagnosed with UC and had the J-pouch surgery only to find that it did not cure them and they still had the same problems cause oops, you actually have Crohn's and not UC. Then they are worse off cause now they have no large intestine and still have the disease.

I also had PCOS and probably the thyroid problem for many many years without knowing it. I used to suffer through irregular periods for my adult life and uncontrollable weight gain. I used to be able to gain 5-10 pounds in a day just from eating normally. Nobody could ever explain it and I was tested for all sorts of things including lupus. Then they would just blame what I ate and said I needed a healthy diet and exercise.... I dunno how many times I would do that only to see the scale still going up.  Was very disheartening.

Finally, I had gotten with my now husband (about 5 years ago) and we wanted a family so I started talking to my OB about it who was very negative and told me she refused to be my doctor if I got pregnant because of how high risk I would be bla bla... BUT I guess she suspected I had PCOS and didn't bother to tell me? She did agree though to help me with fertility and put me on Metformin right away. I had no idea what this drug was but she assured me it would help with fertility. She also scheduled me for an ultra sound to check out my ovaries... I was like ok sure. I had no idea she was thinking I had PCOS. So, I get the ultra sound and when they call me with the results they said "your results were in line with your PCOS diagnosis" - I said wait wait hold up, what the hell is PCOS and why are you saying I have it? They were totally confused and said well you are taking Metformin aren't you? I said yea for fertility... they ended the call with "we will have the doctor call you to explain".

So, after I got off the phone I started googling what the hell PCOS was and was in total shock and started crying cause I was blind sided by this off the cuff way of being diagnosed. But even though I was pissed at how my doctor went about diagnosing me, in the end she was my savior. Because after I started taking Metformin, for the first time in my life I was able to maintain a weight and even better when I kicked up my exercise and diet I could actually start losing weight. Was like a miracle drug for me. If only I had been diagnosed in my 20's! So, in the last 5 years I've managed to lose 50 pounds.  Which for me is huge considering I used to gain 20-50 pounds a year.  The only thing I don't like about having my PCOS controlled is my hair (on my head) doesn't grow as fast as it used to. I used to be able to grow like an inch of hair a month and astound everyone...now its more normal.

And sorry for the long posts... I talk a lot.

leela02

@cathartic1 The long post is ok. Here's my long post, lol. I'm glad you're doing much better after finally getting diagnosed! It's a letdown when the doc doesn't have the best bedside manner, because it just makes you feel more confused. But it's great that she figured out the PCOS. Did she change her mind about being your pregnancy doc or did you have to find another doc?

Thyroid problems run in my family but we don't have weight gain symptoms for some reason. I was underweight for most of my childhood actually. But I had always been lethargic and to people who didn't know me I seemed depressed. I really just had very low energy and got tired very easily. No one checked my thyroid until I was in my 20s and started having panic attacks. I had no history of anxiety or trauma so maybe that's why the doc checked my hormones. I do well as long as I'm on natural thyroid. Synthroid has no effect on me whatsoever but that's what many docs want to put me on because that is the standard drug. My OB right now is letting me stay on the natural thyroid, so for now I don't have to fight with her lol.

As for my hubby I wouldn't wish UC/Crohns on anyone, it is just so bad when nothing seems to be making it better. My husband's problems first affected only the lower part of his colon. He was told that since he was young (20s) he'll probably go into remission right away with the first drug he was prescribed. But over time the disease just spread. One doc said it was inconclusive as to whether he had UC or Crohns, but that he should get his colon removed anyway to avoid the risk of colon cancer.

Hubby wasn't immediately sold on the surgery idea so he got 2nd and 3rd opinions, which both said he shouldn't get surgery until he has tried all the less invasive options. At that point he still hadn't tried biologic drugs like Humera. He changed docs since the previous one kept insisting on surgery. The next GI doc thought hubby had Crohns but he also found a C. diff infection. C. diff by itself can feel exactly like Crohns/UC, but if you already have Crohns/UC it will also trigger a flareup on top of the infection. So he went on a biologic for the Crohns and an antibiotic for the C. diff.

He started getting better but had to continue taking the biologic to keep his symptoms manageable (that stuff is expensive!). Then his primary doc diagnosed him with hyperthyroidism caused by Graves' disease. So his being hyper could have been contributing to his frequent bathroom trips, it wasn't just the Crohns. He had to take anti-thyroid meds for a few months. Anyway, getting treated for all those things at the same time must have really helped because after about a year the active Crohns had decreased to just a small area. He is really due for another checkup but he never wants to see the doctor when he's not having a flareup! It's the only thing I have to nag him about...Well maybe now that he is gonna have a kid he'll be better at having his bowels checked regularly.

mdogan29

@cathartic1 - I have an appointment on 8/5 and did blood work on Monday to check all my levels, with both the hypo and that MTHFR gene thing, I have to take all those supplements and I take Armour thyroid meds, I prefer natural meds if I can. My diagnostic doctor is going to watch the thyroid throughout the whole pregnancy, so I'm guessing I'll be doing labs monthly. I'm glad to have other people to be going through this with!

I'm sorry to hear about all the struggles and your husband's health issues too! (@leela02 also!). I didn't find out about all my health issues until after my M/C last year (first and only I hope) and was shocked to find out everything I had. B/c my primary care doctor checked my thyroid when I couldn't lose weight for years. Still haven't been able to, even on thyroid meds. I am a bit concerned about the weight throughout the pregnancy, if I'm already heavy, how's that going to affect the next 7 months? Any one else have these concerns?

I was having trouble finding plus size maternity clothes as well, and thought I would be confined to the house once I couldn't fit into my regular clothes anymore. But I finally found a store on ebay that sells them. I'm also 5'11" so I need plus size (over size 20) + tall and that's almost non-existent!

Look forward to everyone's updates! I have U/S tomorrow then follow up on 8/5, so looking forward to good news! FX for the rest of you!

cathartic1

Hi mdogan29, I take Synthroid (brand name) for my thyroid and I guess I got lucky cause with my PCOS medicine and the thyroid medicine I am able to lose weight.  I am not concerned about my weight... I don't think I will really have to gain any weight aside from the baby's weight and maybe a few extra pounds.  I've actually lost 2 pounds in the last week without even trying. 

Since I had already been losing weight most of my clothes are actually too big for me.  I also don't expect that I will really show until much later since I already have so much weight around mid section.  So, I don't think I'll have to buy maternity clothes...but we'll see.

The only thing that bugs me is like today when I went in and got the blood work paperwork - at the bottom of the paper it lists the "disorders" you have and mine says "morbidly obese".  I just hate those two words.

But on to the good news - I have a healthy little blueberry!  I cried when the tech said I see a fetus and a strong heart beat.  I was so relieved!  Its heart rate is 158 and they were only very slightly off on my due date and how far along I am.  I think my tickler says I'm 7w6d and the measurements put it at 8w0d.  So, very close! 

So, I will now wait for my A1C test, my thyroid test and I gotta do the 24 pee test thing for my kidneys.

mdogan29

@cathartic1 - Great news! I had my 2nd ultrasound today and saw and heard heartbeat of my 'blueberry' too! Me too, totally burst into tears! Our heart rate was 156bpm, so we're right on the same track! I look forward to keeping up-to-date with everyone! Thanks for sharing!

Bigboneded

@cathartic1‌ yay! Congrats on your pregnancy :-) I am Hashimoto's thyroid, was on Armor, but Endo wanted me on Synthroid for TTC as it is easier to manage doses by testing... so I switched.
Also obese. We have a Plus Size Mums board if you are interested in joining... I am a bit over 250 now. I am 14 weeks and feel like everything shifted and I waddle- So am looking for support belts now :-)

Long journey for you, without good communication from your GYN sounds like. But so so happy to find you here!!! :-D

mdogan29

hey @Bigboneded - how do you get to the plus size mums board? Do you have to be invited? I don't see it in the list.

lamum

@cathartic1‌ Congratulations! The first heartbeat on an ultrasound is amazing!

I'm 38, overweight, thyroid issues and type 1 diabetes that was misdiagnosed as type 2, until 3 months before we conceived. We conceived naturally 2 weeks before we were planning on starting fertility treatments. This is my first viable pregnancy (26 weeks tomorrow). 1 previous MC with a blighted ovum. I had very mild symptoms in the first trimester and all the tests point to a healthy baby boy thus far.

My endo has been checking my thyroid every 4-6 weeks to make sure the meds don't need adjustment.

My best source for plus sized maternity clothes has been online with Destination Maternity. At 6 months I'm amazed at how many pre-pregnancy things still fit.

Enjoy this amazing experience, it goes by so quickly

 

mandyreads

@Bigboneded‌ I want in on this too if I can, please.

cathartic1

Yea where is the plus sized group? It must be super secret....

And thanks Iamum. That's great that you're doing well! Grats on the baby boy!

path75

Congrats and sending positive vibes for sticky bean!

cathartic1

I got some bloodwork results back today!  Was good news ... I think.   My glucose level was 93 and my A1C was 5.2 which on their scale says "non diabetic".  So, that made me happy.

My thyroid level is going down... not sure if it has leveled off or not but instead of my usual 1.9 its down to 1.3. 

Everything else was in normal ranges... my electrolytes and all that groovy stuff...except for one little thing... CO2 level was 20 out of (22 to 30).  I panicked at first but after some research, I found that pregnancy and progesterone can trigger your brain to lower CO2 levels.  And I am on progesterone supplements... so, that calmed me down a bit.

I turned in my 24 hour urine test thingy... so should get the results of that soon.