6 Weeks

Today I've hit 6 weeks and baby is the size of a pea. I'm so happy that so far everything is going well. Just about 2 more weeks until my ultrasound and I'll get to see our little baby for the first time! Dylan will have to work that day, but I will absolutely make sure I have pictures for him to see and have my mom come with me to possibly see/hear the heartbeat. I'm so nervous and excited but every day is another day closer, the wait isn't as long as I sometimes feel it is!

My belly has lost a lot of the bloat that has been there for the past few weeks which I'm thankful for, it was uncomfortable haha. I do however get it back as soon as I eat or drink anything and Dylan likes to point out how my belly sticks out already :P.

My symptoms this week have been a bit much for me to handle. I'm nauseated all day every day now, and up until yesterday I was able to eat without a problem. Now the texture/taste of some foods has been icky for me but so far I haven't had to run to the bathroom. Lots of crackers and water, and especially ginger/cardamom tea helps! My back aches here and there and I still have the stretching uterine cramps but they're not very frequent. Last night though the cramp started as I was laying down to sleep and it was strong enough that I had to turn over on my other side to try and alleviate some of it. OH and did I mention how tired I've been?? I'm ready for a nap right now and I've only been up for a few hours!

Here's to another healthy week <3 <3!

My 5th Week

I'm so happy to be progressing nicely with this pregnancy. I will still have to wait until my next ultrasound to be 100% positive that everything is okay, and trust me I will worry every minute until then, but in the meantime I'm welcoming every symptom as a sign that baby is growing nicely.

On Sunday I decided out of curiosity (and not wanting to waste an expensive test) to use the second weeks estimator pregnancy test from the box to see if I've moved up to the 3+ weeks mark. Surprisingly I did! Even though I was technically 4 weeks and 5 days (so 2+ weeks from ovulation), I still believe that I am just a few days further along but these tests are not perfect and can be off by a few days as well :).

So reassuring <3.

Yesterday I hit the 5 week mark and I've noticed that my super bloated belly has gone down a little bit which is great. Less water retention means more real belly to see soon :).

My symptoms have become more noticeable this week. My back hurts here and there especially after a long walk. Once in a while my belly will cramp up but that feels like more stretching and not really painful. My head feels like it's constantly under water too and I've been getting some more nausea. Nothing to terrible though! The most uncomfortable symptom is the fatigue. I've slept 12 hours today and woke up wanting to go right back to sleep, and for the past few afternoons my body wanted to nap but I had too much to do to allow it hehe.

I'm also super excited about the fetal doppler that my mom ordered for me. It came in the mail yesterday afternoon and even though I know baby is way too small to find their heartbeat right now (the heart may or may not even be formed just yet) I immediately opened the box and tested it out. My heartbeat sounds pretty nice from the inside, I hope baby enjoys it for as long as possible :). I've looked up videos on Youtube of women using this and some have found the baby as early as 7-8 weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to find baby soon!

Announcing to Family

I forgot to make a post about how we announced to Dylan's parents :). I wrote two cards one for each of Dylan's parents to tell them that they will be having another grandbaby.

This video was taken on Saturday, February 8th. I've been trying to get a video of his mom's reaction to a surprise for a long time now because she always has the best reaction! Of course sleepyhead Dylan was playing with her TV and didn't realize what I was doing heheh.

My First Belly Picture and Weird Dreams

I've been so incredibly bloated feeling even before my first positive test, so I know that today my belly is not "showing" anything just yet, but with that said I'd like to start my weekly pictures now because I'm sure I will get big quickly just like I did with Evelyn!

This was taken right out of bed so before eating or drinking anything. I know as soon as I take a bite of something my belly will double in size haha.

Dylan has been very loving and helpful lately now that the news is really sinking in. I know he has a lot of worries and fears for my health/safety and of course for this baby. Even though right now the baby is about the size of a poppy seed he has been reaching over and laying his hand on my belly. The first time he did that yesterday my heart swelled, it makes me so happy to know that he is getting excited now. We also spent the evening (after he cooked me a wonderful spicy chicken chili dinner!) sitting next to each other and laughing at strange baby names haha.

OH and my mother went ahead and bought a doppler for me to use when I get to about 8-10 weeks to hear baby's heartbeat at home! I'm so excited to use it!! Thank you to the lovely friend who sent me the link. For anyone who may be interested, here is the website: http://www.fetaldoppler.net/sonoline-b.html

Symptoms:
This is a strange one. For the last week or more I've been having very crazy and vivid dreams. I know this is a common symptom in pregnancy but the content of my dreams is weird! I've had not one, not two, but THREE dreams involving TV characters/people. Last week I had a dream that I was on a couch and chatting with Julia Child about her favorite foods (apparently she really liked Meringue). Then the night before my doctor appointment I dreamt that the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia were pulling their usual antics and making me late to my ultrasound (seriously, what?!) and in that one I tried to get in a car to go to my appointment and Dee had a bunch of baby gerbils in the back seat so I couldn't sit down, therefor making me late. Yeah.... That was extremely weird! Then the next night I had a dream involving Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. So if you're ever wondering how my nights are spent, apparently I'm stuck somewhere in TV Land now, haha!

Aside from the wacky dreams I've been VERY tired, but I can't sleep until late at night! I've also been eating EVERYTHING in sight (still lots of spicy foods). My sense of smell is getting out of hand now but I woke up this morning with another stuffy/runny nose (oh I remember the joys of this). My temperature has also been high again at 99.2 but I don't really feel sick, just warm :).

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thinking of My Evelyn

After my appointment yesterday I went to Evelyn's place of rest and gave her a little zebra toy for Valentine's Day coming up. It's so hard to explain but I truly feel that she is watching over me and her little brother or sister right now, and because of that feeling I wanted to let her know how thankful I am. She would be so happy and such a wonderful little helper.. I know that this journey will often bring me back to the memories I shared with her, and at times it may be very difficult to emotionally handle, but I know that I have a very special little girl by my side and in my heart to help me through. Without her I would not be nearly as appreciative of the beauty in this world and I would never have known how much love my heart could hold.

I love you so much baby girl <3.

Doctor Confirmed!

I went into my appointment today expecting to get the abdominal ultrasound, but after I told the technician that I was pregnant she decided to just do an internal one to see if we could find anything. Before we started I did another pregnancy test there and it came back immediately positive. During the ultrasound they looked for the tender spot my OB found last week on my ovary which was exactly what I thought it was -- I ovulated from the left ovary and what happens is a cyst is left over after releasing the egg, and I was told that this cyst is very important for the developing baby for about 8-10 weeks (and it will eventually disappear).The cyst is about 3 cm around (which sounds kind of big but it's not bad) and it's a great size for the baby.

Aside from all of that everything looked very healthy and I had a huge sigh of relief knowing all is well! According to my last period I would be 4 weeks and 1 day today, so I didn't show anything just yet on the ultrasound, but that was expected. I was scheduled for another visit in 4 weeks to do a dating scan and hear the heartbeat. I'm very excited!! Hopefully Dylan will be able to get off of work that day so he can come with me and see our little one for the very first time <3.

Just One More Day

Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment to confirm our pregnancy. I am so nervous and excited! The office is only a 15 minute drive away on the freeway and me being a "new" driver still I am very proud of myself for being able to get to and from on my own :). I will be having an abdominal ultrasound to check on everything (except the baby), I will probably still be way too early to see on the screen. I'm not sure though if I will be getting a dating scan after the positive test or if I will have to come back in a few weeks. The office told me over the phone today that it all depends on the ultrasound technician if she would like to try a dating scan afterwards, so I'm excited for the possibility!

I couldn't wait to find out how far along I am (and I may not even know until that dating scan). According to my LAST (I promise!!) home test, I am 2-3 weeks past ovulation which would put me between 4 and 5 weeks pregnant :).

Symptoms:
Yesterday and today I have woken up with SEVERE hunger pains that I was not prepared for! Yesterday it was at around 8-9:00am but today my belly locked up on me at 5:00am. It didn't go away until I gobbled up a cup of Greek yogurt and a banana. With the exception of my early morning snack and with going back to sleep I slept for a total of 11-12 hours. I'm happy to be experiencing all of these things though and will embrace every ache and pain until a healthy bundle of joy is brought home <3.

A Very Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday and I am so thrilled to be able to celebrate with this little one in my belly :). My other half and I spent some of our day telling close family members the news. Some people may think that it's "bad luck" or unusual to share the news this early, but from the moment that first pink line showed this baby was loved. I did the same with Evelyn, I actually told everyone at just about 5 weeks.

My husband (Dylan) has been joking with me all day today about my food cravings. Dylan is a spicy food addict and I (usually) can't even handle mild spicy food, but with that said for the past two weeks I've been craving hot, hot, HOT food. Today I ate some of the hottest cheetos I've ever had and didn't even bat an eye, and I kept eating more and more, even Dylan said they were a little hot for him and he was staring at me asking me where the old me went haha. Later on we made homemade salsa that was also very spicy and I ate a huge amount of that as well. Because of this craving we were joking that this baby is going to be a boy and take after his eating habits. So after abusing my taste buds for a few hours I asked him to tell my belly to take a break with these cravings, and he said, "Baby boy Dylan, you can eat whatEVER you want!" It made me burst out laughing!

My symptoms for today have kind of knocked me over. I'm exhausted and from head to toe I feel sluggish. My headache is still there as a dull aching feeling. My cravings have been all over the place and I discovered that I'm actually kind of put off by sweets (which I usually LOVE). My tummy has been cramping every now and then, it just feels like stretching, and my belly is still very puffy. By the looks of things it would seem like I'm much further along than I really am, some clothes are actually tight already. With Evelyn my belly was very puffed out already at 5-6 weeks, but I look like I did at 10-13 weeks today. We'll know for sure how far I am soon enough!

My First Positive Digital!

I have been so nervous and worried from all of the stories I have heard that because I tested so early that this baby may be what is called a chemical pregnancy. That is when you get a very faint positive home test and eventually lose the baby very early. Thankfully I took two more tests today and one was MUCH darker than the last (which shows a good hormone progression!) and the other was my very first ever positive digital test.

At that point I let out a sigh of relief, I think I'll be just fine. I showed my husband and today finally convinced me that there is a little baby growing in my belly. The digital test took about 3 minutes to finally show up, but as soon as it showed positive I jumped up and down screaming with happiness!

As far as my symptoms go, I've had a constant warm face and neck (but FREEZING hands and feet) as well as a headache for the last few days. My temperature has been back down to somewhat normal though at 98.8, but the day before my first positive it was so high at 99.7. Today I've been pretty forgetful and ditsy but really that's nothing really unusual for me haha. My belly has been very bloated and there are "bubbles" here and there, along with some tugging and cramping feelings every now and then. And I don't want to forget the stuffy/runny nose, ack!

Today was also my birthday dinner with my mom's side of the family. My birthday is on Sunday but this is a WONDERFUL early birthday gift <3 <3!

My Background

For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Katariina and I am a 24 year old newlywed from Nevada. In April of 2012 I gave birth to my one and only baby girl, Evelyn may, when I was 24 weeks to the day. I had an emergency classical cut c-section because of her gestation and the fact that she was breech. To this day I still don't exactly know why I went into labor or how my water broke. She was absolutely breath-taking! 1 pound and 5 ounces and 11.75" long, with her daddy's nose and her mommy's hair. Sadly, when she was 5 weeks and 3 days old she developed NEC and it quickly took her life. My heart has been shattered into a million pieces since we lost her... I will never, ever forget the beauty of my baby girl and how she has changed our lives <3.

I was told to avoid pregnancy until at least 8 months after her birth to give my incision time to heal. In February of 2013 I was allowed to stop taking my birth control pills and let my body return to normal and let nature take it's course. It has been exactly one year since I have stopped my pills, and on the morning of February 5th 2014 I took my very first positive pregnancy test.

I went to my OB/GYN for an already scheduled annual exam and by the time they got to test me I wasn't holding enough liquid to show much on their test. But with my definitely positive home tests I was given an appointment to come back on February 12th for an ultrasound (to check on other things, it will probably not pick up on a pregnancy just yet) and a retest :). I am FRIGHTENED but thrilled knowing that I will hopefully bring our baby home. My high risk history is going to keep me worried and on my toes, but I trust that my new doctor will keep a very close eye on me.

On a side note, my husband and I got married just a few weeks ago on December 28th of 2013, so this truly is our little "honeymoon" surprise!

To anyone reading this: I wrote this post before even announcing to most of family. I hope that soon I can reveal my sweet little secret!