**First Trimester Check-in - Week of September 5th**

mrygoround

This is a weekly check-in for those in their 1st trimester: weeks 1 through the end of week 13. We've all gone through a lot to get to this point so congratulations and best of luck to all of you over the next several months!

If you are just joining us, please post a little about yourself, your EDD (if it’s not listed below) any upcoming appointments, symptoms, etc. Feel free to also share your IF journey - many of us can relate. 

QOTW: How did you spend your weekend? Did you have Labor Day off?

Congrats to all of the Mommies & Daddies to be:

(Removing jdw0325 and mjacks16)
@yelllow22 EDD 2/27/17 BABY GIRL! - graduated to 2nd trimester!
@AandDM2014 EDD 3/3/17 TRIPLETS!
@vlbartlett EDD 3/5/17
@msirni0 EDD 3/8/17
@kfras EDD 3/15/17
@scooteriste EDD 3/25/17
@pdbird EDD 3/28/17
@mygoround EDD 3/28/17 BABY GIRL!
@Sunflower5678 ;EDD is 4/6/17
@jenn6782 EDD 4/7/17
@cmm012 EDD 4/9/17 BABY BOY!
@ale9687 EDD 4/11/17
@Rachnan EDD 4/13/17 BABY BOY!
@Knottie36622473 EDD 4/13/17
@ConstanceGoodspeed  EDD April '17
@babylonghorn16 EDD 4/16/17
@flanners1 EDD 4/17/17 TWINS! BABY BOY and GIRL!
@Happydays13 ;EDD 4/19/17 TWINS! GIRLS!
@frustrated and ttc EDD? TWINS!
@babymama619 ;EDD 4/30/17
@BornReady EDD 4/28/17
@ADRIANAC1982 ;EDD 4/28/17 
@halips EDD 4/30/17 
@Steff_99 ;EDD 4/30/17
@clt2pwm11 EDD 5/1/2017
@teriulbricht EDD 5/1/17
@SanBL ;EDD 5/3/17
@kristynelson13 EDD 5/7/17
@cato99EDD 5/9/17

Let me know if you have any updates or need to be added!!

AandDM2014

I spent my Labor Day weekend camping! We usually go to a family party, but my mom asked me months ago if I wanted to camp, and of course I said yes because I love to camp! Even though where we were was relatively close to where the party is this year, I didn't have DH, and with how I've been feeling fatigue wise, I knew I just needed to go home and not risk driving 2 hours while I was sleepy and has missed my nap.

mrygoround

I have officially graduated from my RE and will see my OB this week. I found out that my OB doesn't do any in-house USs and will only order an US at 18 weeks (presumably for the anatomy scan?). After weekly USs with my RE this is going to be interesting. The bigger the baby the greater the depth of field and at 10 weeks it took more maneuvering to see all parts/angles with the vaginal US, so I won't miss those. I expect they'll check heart rate another way.

QOTW: I am starting to feel better so I'm taking advantage of the long weekend and have been catching up on some things around the house.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend!

AandDM2014

@mrygoround Yay for graduation! Boo for no more ultrasounds! When I was pregnant last time I got an ultrasound at my first OB visit to check for a heartbeat, but after that I have no idea how often they do them (other than the NT at 12 weeks). I'll get to find out in a week and three days if I'll get special treatment because of the three (I'm assuming yes, but I've never seen an MFM before).

teebric

@AandDM2014 camping sounds fun, how did you enjoy it being pregnant? I'm camping over Christmas and I'll be almost 5 months, I'm a little nervous about how I'll cope. 

@mrygoround congrats on graduating. It's a shame you'll lose your weekly u/s though. Did you mention they were doing them vaginally? I just assumed my u/s would be done externally. Glad you're starting to feel better! 

AFM: ms hit like a truck Sunday afternoon. Whoever mentioned it was like a hangover was not lying! 

QOTW: I'm Australian, so no labour day weekend for me, but I had my first day back at work since having IVF and I was utterly exhausted! 

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! 

AandDM2014

@teriulbricht It wasn't too bad, except the being tired part. I'm usually able to not wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but each night I woke up twice and had to pee so dang bad! I can't imagine trying to do it at 5 months with more bladder pressure, unless it were trailer/motorhome camping. We actually have reservations for Yosemite in a few weeks, but I'm thinking we're going to have to skip based on how this little test went.

clt2pwm11

@AandDM2014 We were supposed to go camping, but both of us decided we would just do day trips so we could get better rest. I love camping though!

QOTW We went on a nice little kayak float yesterday. I live in the south, but I wasn't as humid as it has been. Really a fabulous day! Today we did a 6.5 mile hike. It was fun. I did have to eat every little bit to keep my blood sugar up (get nauseous if it dips) and I had to pee in the woods more times than I'd like to admit! We have one more day off together tomorrow, so we may do something else outdoorsy. Wednesday is our first u/s and I can't wait to see little sprout!

mrygoround

@AandDM2014 I hope you get special treatment! I was curious about how they will measure heart rates for three and had to look it up.

@teriulbricht All of my USs (except on day of transfer) have been vaginal. I am not sure if that is always the case for 1st trimester monitoring. I'm sorry to hear the MS has hit and combined with the exhaustion I can imagine today was not fun. When I was hastily trying to come up with a QOTW I forgot TB is international. I will update the OP. I love hearing about the similarities and differences in IF (and now OB) care and insurance coverage around the world.

AandDM2014

@clt2pwm11 Sounds like fun!

@mrygoround I have no idea how they'd do it with a doppler, but the way they do it on the internal ultrasounds is pretty cool! I guess I'll find out how the doppler does it once I start using mine!

teebric

@AandDM2014 hmm I've always had to get up at night to pre and these days I usually limit my fluids after 6pm so I don't have to pee as much through the night. if it becomes too much I'm only an hour from home so we'll pack up early and just do day trips back up there to visit the family. Thanks for sharing! 

@clt2pwm11 it sounds like you had a lovely weekend! how exciting about your u/s!! 

@mrygoround oh really? I guess I should prepare for internal u/s then! thanks, this morning I ate before I got up and bought some of those sea bands, the anti-nausea ones, which seems to be keeping it at bay for the moment! as for the qotw you didn't need to update I think there's only a handful of us international bumpies anyway! and there's so many different protocols out there! I won't be going through an OB once I graduate, unless recommended by the clinic for some complication. instead I'll go through the public system with a small team of midwives. 
edited* I just remembered I was told to drink water before my u/s so I'm either having both or just a transabdominal.
also not sure why I'm obsessing over this considering I've had plenty of internal with all this ivf stuff...

ale9687

Hi all, tomorrow is my last re apt then graduating to my ob, @mrygoround it's so sad knowing this is my last weekly u/s! 

@teriulbricht all of my u/s's thus far have been internal. I did remember reading someone was told to have a full bladder for a urin sample, maybe that's why they want a full bladder. 

Qotw: we didn't do anything exciting this ldw, I live near the jersey shore and everyone was scared about this hurricane that didn't even hit us. We did finally announce to my parents were pregnant, they left Sunday for a two week trip so we surprised them with bringing our dogs over and them having big brother and sister stickers on them. we then told my older sister, I had her son hold up a sign that said I'm going to be a big cousin. He had no idea what that meant but he was so excited to hold the sign, it was really cute. 

halips

Hi everyone! Sounds you all had great weekends! 

@mrygoround congrats on graduating! So exciting!

@teriulbricht sorry you got hit with ms this weekend. Hopefully it's not too bad going forward!

@clt2pwm11  your outdoor time sounds amazing! I wish DH and I had somewhere closer to home to kayak! Can't wait to hear about your first u/s tomorrow!

@ale9687  hope all goes well tomorrow, graduating is so exciting! Your announcements sound adorable! 

U/S #2 is tomorrow for me. I'm crazy nervous again, as we should be able to see a heartbeat this time. I think I'll be a little less worried all the time if I can just see that heartbeat! DH told me I was being too paranoid this weekend. Every time I go to the bathroom I check for bleeding and every little twinge I feel is setting me on edge. So far all is well, it just still seems too good to be true...

QOTW: DH and I lounged in the pool, did yard work/housework and packed for our vacations this upcoming week. He's actually spending 4 days in Vegas with the boys and I'm going home to Ohio to see the family. It's our first solo vacations in 8 years, but I think we'll both have a great time!

cato99

Hi all, I'm new to to this board. I'm 5 weeks today, with an EDD of 5/09/2017 (according to the internet at least--I haven't discussed EDD with any doctors yet). 

My first ultrasound is scheduled for 2 weeks from today (9/20) and I am going to drive myself crazy until then. I had good betas Wednesday and Friday of last week, but since then I've had a drop-off in symptoms and it's frustrating that I don't know what's going on with the little embryo/s. I wish I could continue getting blood draws every other day to monitor things until my ultrasound, or that there were a little window into my insides! Get on that, biotech!

I feel like starting to post on this board is me staking my claim to this pregnancy, that it's progressing and I can actually call myself pregnant--not sure it's sunk in yet. 

QOTW: this long weekend was a good indication that I haven't quite accepted that this pregnancy is actually happening, because I didn't get around to taking it easy like I had planned. I threw two dinner parties, attended a third, cleaned house after said dinner parties, frantically slammed out a freelance project, did some extra work for my full time job, did two hikes in a hilly park with my dogs, guest-starred in a podcast, planned two trips for later this month, and peed on HPTs and eyed the line suspiciously to make sure it was still super dark. My husband is in Europe for work so he wasn't around to share some of the household load. 

ale9687

@halips hearing the hb is amazing! Once you hear it tomorrow you'll forget worrying these past few days. I've heard it twice and it deffinately calmed my nerves each week. But I still over analyze every little thing I feel. This weekend my nausea subsided a lot and I was seconded guessing everything. 

@cato99 welcome and you really sound like you had a busy and fun weekend! Take advantage of all the energy you have now incase exhaustion sets in in the next week. 

ADRIANAC1982

Hello all. 

Just got back from our first u/s
Baby Chadwell's EDD is: 04/28/2017

U/S number 2 is scheduled for 09/13 and then I will graduate to my OB....

clt2pwm11

@cato99 Welcome! Don't freak about your symptoms. Mine come and go as well. Then all of a sudden, I'll be crazy nauseous and be like "oh, I guess I am realty pregnant."

@halips I love kayaking! It's so relaxing. Unfortunately, I think maybe I over did it with my long hike. I've had a little more spotting after three or four days without anything. It's still super light, so I'm not overly concerned, but I'm trying to take it easy today. Maybe it's time to shorten my hikes.

SanBL

Welcome @cato99! You seem to have had a busy weekend, that's good, no time to think and freak out!!

I have my first U/S in about 2h!! I was good so far to not think too much about it, but this morning I keep reading about miscarriage statistics and freak out!! This is so stressful!! It's gonna be a long 2h lol

AandDM2014

Good luck today @SanBL!!!!

SanBL

Thanks @AandDM2014

clt2pwm11

Just got back from my first u/s. We got to see the little speck and also see and hear the heart beat My edd is May 1. I got back next Thursday and then she said I could come back one more time if I wanted to or I could go to my regular OB. My husband was so sweet during the appointment. He was nervous talking the whole time. I had to shush him once so I could hear the heart beat lol. We are both over the moon!

AandDM2014

Yay @clt2pwm11!! I'm so glad you got to see and hear your babys heart!! From my personal experience, I say if your doc offers you extra times to see your babe, take it! The first tri is so hard mentally that having that reassurance is really nice!

ale9687

Had my 3rd and last u/s with my Re today and I get to stop my PIO shots. Still on the crinone till the end of the month but I'm happy to at least be done with one of them. Next week onto meeting with my Ob. 

@clt2pwm11 I agree, if your re offers an extra apt take it. The weekly u/s's were very cool to see how much your little one changes every week. 

SanBL

So we saw the sac and the yolk sac, but nothing more... My doctor said that it's rare to see an heartbeat that early (6w0d). He seems optimistic, but I feel really scared anyway... I thought we would have at least saw a fetal pole... I will have another U/S next Wednesday. I think the week will be long!

flanners1

@clt2pwm11 Happy you got to see the heart beat. that sounds amazing! I am anxiously waiting for my u/s to see ours too. 
I see you are still spotting as well? Hope it's not too bad and you manage to stay calm. I still have some every now and then too. Some days nothing, some days a bit. I freaked out on Sunday a bit because it was bright red for a bit but then it went back to being brownish (sorry for TMI). It's so weird how our brains are wired to think blood is a bad thing. My RE was not even slightly impressed and keeps telling me it's totally normal given my "hormone profile" and to relax and take it easy. He thinks I'm a total nutter, I am sure! 

@ale9687 congrats on graduating!  

@ADRIANAC1982 yeah on getting your due date. We are u/s buddies, my next one is also on the 13th. 

@halips how was your ultrasound? 

@SanBL 6w0d can be early to see the heartbeat. If your doc is optimistic, then you should try to be too. I hope this week passes quickly for you. 

Does anyone else have trouble sleeping? I hear it's from the progesterone but it's driving me nuts. I am so tired at 9pm but then wake up in the middle of the night and need another 2 hours to fall asleep again. 

clt2pwm11

@flanners1 I do the same thing! I was absolutely wiped last night, but made myself stay awake until 9:30. Next thing you know, it's 1:30 and I'm staring at the ceiling. As for the bleeding, I will go multiple days with nothing, and then I'll see a bit for a couple days in a row. Like your Dr., mine seemed to think it was completely fine. She said if I got bad cramps to contact them, but otherwise try not to worry.

@SanBL we almost didn't get to see our baby because it was so snugged up against my wall (which she said was totally normal). Then for a brief minute or two she was able to get it into view for us. I know it is so hard not to worry, but I think your Dr. Is correct. Good thing you only have to wait a week before the next one!

SanBL

Thanks @flanners1 and @clt2pwm11. Maybe he was just hidden... let's hope!!

ADRIANAC1982

Yay for being u/s buddies @flanners1 if all is well ill "graduate" from my clinic then also so fx for that 

Steff_99

 Just got back from having my u/s. Im measuring 6w1d but Im 6w4d. Hubby and I were able to see the  heartbeat. I actually had an u/s last week because I demanded one due to some spotting but we were unable to see the heartbeat at that time just the yolk sac. I guess it was too early which might be the case with you @SanBL. Hang in there! I know easier said than done. 
Anyone notice spotting more when inserting the progesterone pill further up? If I dont insert the pill as deep I dont spot. My RE says that the pill is irritating my cervix which may be causing my spotting. 

AandDM2014

My 9 week appointment today went awesome! All three babes are growing right on track. I got to hear the heartbeats between 170 and 185! Next week will be my last week with my RE and my first appointment with my OB!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

ale9687

@aanddm2014 so happy to hear all three are doing well! Isn't is crazy how fast the h/b's were this week? 

Steff_99

How exciting @AandDM2014 Congrats on graduating to your OB. 

AandDM2014

@ale9687 I know, right!? When I saw 185 I was like "woah, that's fast!".

@Steff_99 Thanks!

babylonghorn16

Yay!! Congrats @AandDM2014 @Steff_99 @clt2pwm11  @ale9687 @mrygoround for good news and/or graduations this week!

@SanBL praying that you get to see a hb next week!! Think positive!!

AFM - I have officially graduated from RE! Last appt was on Tuesday, where they told me I was 9 weeks, 3 days... even though I was under the impression I was 8wks, 2days. They gave me a schedule to start weaning off meds... but something just felt wrong. Also I was measuring @ 8wks, 4 days. So I was all sorts of worried. I decided to email my nurse bc I just KNEW there was no way I magically jumped a week in GA, and I WAS RIGHT! She apologized and ensured me that they are going to have a big meeting w/ all nurses about the importance of dating on the u/s machines. So I won't be weaning off meds after all. Good thing I caught that little mistake. Also, instead of measuring a week behind, LO is measuring 2 days ahead! So yay for that at least!

TL;DR GA dating mistake by RE fixed, officially 8wks 4days today with baby measuring ahead of schedule and very strong heartbeat!!

babylonghorn16

@cato99 5/9 is my birthday!!! What a great EDD!

mrygoround

@cato99 Congrats and welcome! @ADRIANAC1982, @clt2pwm11 I updated the list.

@ale9687Congrats on graduating to OB! I thought I'd had my last US for a while last week, but during my first OB visit this week they couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler and ordered an US. I was squeezed in the same day for a trans abdominal US (our first). Baby and heartbeat were fine and we got some great images and found out we're measuring ahead by a couple of days. So I guess you never know what can happen after graduating to OB. 

@flanners1 I was taking progesterone pills that made me really sleepy for about 2 hours, but after that I'd have a hard time falling and staying asleep. I don't want to encourage a habit , but if needed Benadryl is on the safe list and has the same active ingredient as over the counter sleep aids. It also helps with nausea. But, of course, check with your doctor 1st. My OB recommended Benadryl this week because I am still getting these awful sinus headaches and I'm nervous about taking anti-histamines. I tried Benadryl and it didn't really help, but it did make me sleepy!

@babylonghorn16 I'm glad they listened to your concern about GA and weaning too early! Are they going to change your EDD? I am wondering if mine will change.

It's great to see all of the updates and it sounds like everyone is right on track - even those very early USs.

AandDM2014

@babylonghorn16 Good thing you were paying attention!!! Does that mean you're still graduated, or will you go back one more time? It's always really scary to start weaning off the meds, especially if it seems sudden to us (last week I went from two estraces daily to none)!

Sunflower5678

Congrats @AandDM2014!! Keep growing babies!! 

@Steff_99 I did notice more spotting the further I inserted my progesterone capsules

AFM - I'm 10 weeks today and saw my regular obgyn for the first time today. The baby is measuring just 2 days smaller than it should at 9w5d but he wasn't very concerned about that. Heart beat was good! I go back in a month for another appt and to do blood work.

so crazy I will wait a whole month now! It seems like I've been seen every 1-2 weeks for a few months now since starting Ivf!

qotw : husband and I just BBQd with some friends! 

babylonghorn16

@mrygoround my EDD is still 4/16... they tried to tell me it was 4/8 on Tuesday. 

@AandDM2014 i know!! crazy, right?! My mom senses kicked in lol! I am still considered "graduated"... will continue to take all meds until Monday (officially 9 wks), and then every other day until the following Monday when I'll be 10 weeks. It is scary to stop meds, but my ass will be thankful .

AandDM2014

@Sunflower5678 Thanks! Congrats on having a great first OB appointment! It'll be scary to have to wait so long after only going a week in between appointments!

@babylonghorn16 I know how you and your ass feel! We're almost the same gestation, but I have to wait until next Friday to see if I can finally stop PIO at my 10 week RE appointment. I got to stop estrace last Thursday, and I stopped my baby aspirin this past Wednesday. It's been weird coming off the meds, but it means my body is doing something right!

Knottie36622473

I had a 9 week 1 day appointment today after I was concerned over some spotting. Bambino has a heart rate of 180  and is measuring two days ahead at 9 weeks 3 days. I still have an appointment on the 19th for a scan and the genetic testing with my RE. My first obgyn appointment is scheduled for October 3rd. Every milestone or appointment I tell myself I'm going to relax and I don't.

I just want 1st trimester to be done! Am I awful?

AandDM2014

@Knottie36622473 I know what you mean about wanting to be out of the first tri. I am so ready for week 13, though I still have until October 8th before that happens. I feel like I'll be able to relax a little, and officially announce that we're expecting.