Details, details {dr's appointments}

After I got my BFP, my RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) ordered labwork for my HCG levels. Here's just a timeline of my 1st few appointments. Keep in mind that this entire labwork/appointment process I was completely (entirely!) care free an optimistic! In my prior failed pregnancies I would be on pins and needles, waiting on a call, stressed to the max. This time, I really had the attitude of "Whatever happens, happens." Which is SO not me, but has seemed to help me, mentally, a lot. Anyways..

March 23, 2012: 1st beta: 44
March 26, 2012: 2nd beta: 161
April 2, 2012:    3rd beta: 3301!!
April 11, 2012:  1st Dr. appt. baby measuring *perfectly* on sono with heartbeat! BPM=115
April 26, 2012:  2nd Dr. appt. baby measuring right on target again! heartbeat BPM=161 *Graduated from fertility clinic to a regular OB!*
April 28, 2012:  Told my sisters I'm pregnant!
May 10, 2012:    1st Dr. appt with regular OBGYN! Love! Sono showed baby kicking away, measuring right on target again! Beginning to think this could be real!
May 13, 2012:    Told our families we're expecting! Due date: November 26, 2012-- my mom's birthday!

**Next appt is scheduled for June 7, 2012! We should be able to find out the gender at that appointment. If we can't, have no fear-- I have a backup plan! My husband works at a hospital and all of the radiology staff are more than willing to scan me. Our gender reveal party is scheduled for June 16th :) :)

Thanks again for all the support I've received through this struggle to get pregnant, then STAY pregnant. I feel very thankful and fortunate for everyone encouragement, prayers and kind words :)

Details, details {how we found out}

By March, I was beginning to feel this way:

After my 3rd miscarriage June 2011, I really had no idea what was in store for us, fertility wise. Would we ever have a family? At what depths would we go to have a family? Was it the right time? Was I healthy enough? Infertility is a total mind suck..and all of a sudden it's all you can think about.
After my diagnosis of Lupus Anticoagulant and doing extensive research, we really started trying to conceive again in November. I'm talking the whole temping/charting/OPK mess. Months went by and we noticed it just wasn't happening for us. We started to look into international adoption. J was amazingly supportive and we would sit down and read the requirements of each country and read other people's stories about international adoption. We started to think that we really wanted to move forward in the process. We requested some information from a few different agencies and decided that we would start the process on my 25th birthday, November 2012! That was in February 2012.
March 14, 2012 marked 3 years of this infertility roller coaster we've been on. I remember feeling extra emotional on this day. On March 20th I was 11DPO and decided what the heck, I will take a test. Here's what I got:

There was obviously a second line, but for the record..I HATE the line tests, I'd much rather have a digital! So I wasn't sure to believe it or what. The next morning I took the digital and it said pregnant! To be honest, I had the most calming feeling come over me. I didn't go crying to J like I have in the past, I just took a breath and called into the bedroom from the bathroom "it's positive!" and went about getting ready for work! I did tell my bestie of course, but I really just kept everything inside. I didn't rush to make an appointment..I didn't know what to do! Do I call the Fertility clinic? Do I find an OB? Luckily, I have an awesome husband that called the fertility clinic for me. They ordered me some labs and the rest is history.... :)
I will do a part 2 of additional details soon :) Thanks for sharing this journey with me.



Question & Answer!

Lynsey tagged me in some questions on her awesome blog so I figured I would play along! I've never been tagged in a post so I felt special. Thanks, Lynsey!
Here goes:

1. Do you like where you live? Will you stay there forever? I like where we live. It's "home" as I've never really lived anywhere else (I had a brief job as a flight attendant before the airline went bankrupt, but anyway..) We probably won't live here forever though. My husband will be applying to medical school in one year!! So who knows where we may end up.
2. What is your favorite store? How about your favorite thing to shop for? Target is probably my fave. I like that I can do one-stop shopping there..groceries, clothes, shoes, makeup, home decor. I probably spend too much $$ and time there :) oh well. Favorite things to shop for would have to be clothes and home decor :)
3. Do you have a pet? What? Name? Spoiled like mine? Yes, I have a little chihuahua-terrior mix named Travis! He is a spoiled brat! An ex-boyfriend gave him to me for an anniversary gift and he's been with me for 6 years now.
4. How do you make sure you fit your workout in? How many times each week do you do it? I try to get some kind of work out in 2-3 times a week. With school it was a little harder, but I work things in like walking the parking lot at work after I eat my lunch, or finding a workout class at the gym that I like on the weekend.
5. What do you like to do in your spare time? In my spare time, I love spending time with my family..watching my niece and nephew grow up. I like to catch up on my fave blogs, watch some reality tv, and just spend quality time with my husband.
6. What is your favorite healthy snack? I'd say anything with peanut butter. Apples with peanut butter, celery with peanut butter..peanut butter sandwich. Oh, and I'm currently loving watermelon!
7. What do you like best about your job? Probably my independence and ability to work at my own pace, etc. Sometimes I feel like I don't even have a boss. My coworkers aren't too bad either. (I bill medical claims for a hospital)
8. What is your go to drink besides water? eek. I'm going to have to go with Dr. Pepper. I know, I know! Terrible. Okay, let's go with Diet dr. Pepper instead :)
9. How do you stay motivated to lose/maintain weight? Clothes! This blog! My future family!
10. If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would it be? I would love to take some type of exotic cruise with my hubby. Anywhere with beaches and relaxion and those cute little drinks with the umbrellas :)

I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to take these questions and answer away :)

What I'm Lovin Wednesday

I have a lot that I've been lovin! I am at a really happy place in my life; I'm so thankful!

I'm lovin'...

My cute, healthy, growing little bebe! This was at our 9wk ultrasound. It is a lot bigger and human looking now!! heartbeat was 171 at this appointment.

Eek! I'm lovin the new CD!! and I LOVE that I'm going to see her in concert with my bestie for the second time on October 27th..36wks pregnant and all!

My husband, Jordan. He's just awesome, no doubt about it!

And my 2nd husband, Zac Efron. haha..just kidding. But I do love him.

Nursery inspiration {for a girl} from Restoration Hardware

Cutesy :)

What are you lovin?

Oh..By the way...

I'm Pregnant

:)

Details soon, but we have hit the 12 week milestone and everything is going "textbook perfect" as of now. Thank you for all your support and thoughfulness during my journey with infertility and weight loss; it all means so much to me!

I promise I'm not going anywhere :) I want a super healthy pregnancy and to live a happy, healthy lifestyle with my growing family!

{last week} not much change yet..

Ok, Update soon! Oh, and I owe you a arms update as well. YES, I'm still shaking that weight :)

See you soon!



Arms

So, remember when I posted here about my biggest insecurity?

AKA My ARMS!

I did the shake weight solid for 4 weeks. Then quit. Ummm...why did I do that? For the same reason I've quit drinking 100oz of water daily since it's no longer March. Ugh. Obviously I have commitment issues. ANYWAY..

I'm committed to doing the Shake Weight 30 days solid in May. and probably there after, because I want lean, toned arms. That's what I've wanted for a long, long time. I'm the only person stopping myself.

You can see my Shake Weight Progress here, here, here and here.

Here are my "before pictures" I guess you could call them..

left arm :-/

right arm :-/

left..bleh.

right......

So, there we go. Let's start the Shake Weight May Challenge. See you soon for an update.