Week 19 & 20

I feel like at week 20 my bump started to get a little more obvious. We also reached what most say is the halfway point in pregnancy! I know the second half, and especially the end, will probably seem super slow, but so far it seems like this pregnancy has flown by! 

We were getting ready to go to dinner with friends when I took this pic. I think this was the first time I had put on jeans in a week or so, and it didn't work so well. I had to break out the belly band that I got at Target for the first time. A few days later I wore a pair of jeans again without it, but I'm pretty sure it's the only pair of jeans I have that I can still button, and it definitely didn't hurt that they were stretchy.  I'm glad that I work from home now and can just wear leggings or shorts most days! 

And yes, as my mom pointed out, my sweater is a little raised in the front. 

We're Having a Baby Girl!

I can't believe I haven't already posted this! It's definitely not because of lack of excitement. Before our appointment the day that we found out, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! Most of the predictions and feelings about what we were having were obviously wrong, because we are having a baby GIRL!

Here are a few pictures of our GIRL!!

After our appointment, I sent these pictures to our moms, and later I also sent them to a few other family members and friends. When I sent the picture to my mom, she said "she looks so cute." I do have her close up pic on our refrigerator so we can look at her everyday! 

At the first of our appointment, the ultrasound tech scanned everything to make sure everything looked ok. She isn't allowed to really say much though besides just telling you all the details you are looking at. Towards the end of the scan, she pointed out that we were having a little girl! Colt said he caught a glimpse a little before she said anything and thought it was a girl. When she initially told us it was a girl, I cried a little! I wasn't disappointed at all, of course, but I think I was just surprised because I had convinced myself we were probably having a boy. I kept mentioning it to Colt the rest of the day/night about how I just had everything pictured, like names, nursery, our life in general, in my head with a boy. He told me to get over it because we were having a girl :) He text a few of his close friends and immediately started talking about pink and painting the room. His best friend, Gerald, had just found out that he was having a girl as well within a few days or weeks of us, so I think he was excited. Then later that night, Colt was talking again about paint colors and designs on the wall, etc. He's definitely going to be a great daddy, and an overprotective one at that based on a few other funny comments he made!! Our poor daughter probably won't stand a chance when she gets in her teens, but I'm pretty sure Colt will be wrapped around her finger. 

After the gender was revealed, the actual doctor or specialist came in to discuss the scan. He ended up telling us that she had a choroid plexus cyst in her brain. He went on to inform us that it's really common and nothing to be concerned about because it usually goes away on its own. However, since  he is required to put it on the report, he had to tell us about it and also tell us what it could be associated with. Evidently it can be associated with trisomy18. He said if that was the case though, there would have been more indication or abnormalities when looking at the head, hands, heart, etc. He also said that he didn't think it was necessary but that we could go get a quad screen done to make sure there were no indicators or markers. All it was was a quick blood draw from my arm so we went ahead and went downstairs to have that done. The next day he called to let us know that everything was normal. Even though you are given all this reassurance, it's still scary to hear anything at all. Now we just have to follow up with him again for another ultrasound at 28 weeks. 

When we first left the hospital, Colt called his mom to tell her what we were having. She immediately answered and was like soo.. we're having a little boy. It took us telling her over and over before she was convinced we were telling her the truth and we were indeed having a girl! Once she got it, she squealed and started giggling. After that, I called my mom to share the news!! When I talked to her, I went ahead and told her about the cyst and all that too, so I got a little emotional while on the phone. Her and my dad are both excited of course and my dad got on the phone and started asking about names! Evidently my dad is still saying to my mom that he just can't imagine me being pregnant! 

A few days after we found out, that Friday, the 13th, Colt and I were doing our version of celebrating Valentine's Day by ordering pizza and watching a movie in bed! After the movie was over and we were laying there, we felt the baby really move for the first time. I had thought I had felt something a few times prior to that but I wasn't really sure. This was more obvious though and was a few times in a row. After the second or third time, I told Colt. He asked if I was smiling, and then put his hand on my belly and felt it too. He then rested his ear on my stomach and asked if it was weird having something move in my stomach and having a little alien in there! Since then, we haven't felt her like we did that night so it makes Colt wonder if it really was her moving or if we were imagining things! 

Now a few weeks later, it's definitely sunk in that we will be having a girl in a few months. I will say... I can see a girl being more expensive than a boy because it's hard not to go overboard and start buying all the cute girl stuff! I did breakdown and buy one outfit off of Etsy for newborn pictures, and we went ahead and ordered our crib this week too. It's definitely exciting, and I can't wait for her to be here!

Boy or girl? We should find out today!

I go for my normal monthly appointment today, and we also have our big ultrasound scheduled for today as well… so we should find out if Baby Smithson is a...

We are both ready and excited to find out! I don't know how people wait until the baby is born! I am ready to start planning more... start deciding on a name, start getting the nursery together, buying at least a few outfits and just start picturing our life with a baby boy or girl!  

We really don't care what we have and will be ecstatic either way! Of course, eventually I think Colt wants to have a boy, what guy doesn't. I would love to have both so as long as we have a healthy baby that's all that matters! 

In the first couple of weeks, I was kinda thinking that we might be having a girl. However, as time has went on I think I am leaning more and more towards a boy. I don't really know though! Colt is thinking a boy, and both of our parents are thinking a boy so we'll see. 

Colt said if Baby doesn't cooperate today, we are staying there until it does!

According to some of the old wives tales, which Colt thinks are crazy… it seems like more of them are leaning towards boy. 

Chinese Gender Chart: GIRL

Mayan Gender Test: BOY

String Test: GIRL

My mom did the pencil test with a string on me twice, and it said girl both times. However, it also said girl on Heath and one of her co-workers recently, and both ended up having boys. My mom said because it said GIRL it must really mean BOY! She used to always be right when she did it so she might be losing her touch!

Cravings: BOY

I would say BOY for the most part at least, although I do have a sweet tooth every once in a while. 

Acne: GIRL 

Morning Sickness: BOY

Baking soda test: BOY

Colt thought I was crazy when I told him that I peed in a cup with baking soda to see if it fizzed or not. He and Gerald got a good laugh out of it!

Carrying Low: BOY? 

I'm not really sure what carrying high vs. low looks like this early on but I would say I'm carrying more low than high. 

Heart Rate: ?

Not really sure on this one either… Colt said the heartrate all depends on how far along I am. At my 10 week, the heartbeat was 174. According to a website I looked at for that time period, that means GIRL. At 14 weeks, the heartbeat was 150, and the website said that meant BOY so who knows?! 

Week 18

This pic was probably at about 17 1/2 weeks.  When I was packing to get ready to go on vacation, I had to pack a swimsuit because there were going to be hot tubs (all I did was dip my feet in) and heated pools where we were staying in Colorado. I decided I better try them on and good thing I did! Most of my brand new swimsuits that I bought last summer didn't fit! The bottoms fit, but the tops didn't. Since my parents didn't seem to think I was really showing in the picture that I had sent just a couple days before, I snapped a pic to send to my mom to prove that I am indeed showing!

And here is my traditional 18 week picture that I snapped last night on the way to a get together at one of the surgery residents house. I am still currently wearing all my normal clothes and jeans, but at least one pair of my jeans has gotten snug.  I purchased a beband at Target just the other day to extend my jeans when I start needing it… which I don't think will be too much longer. 

January

Lunch on New Year's Day

January 2nd when I was getting ready to head to see the Reese Witherspoon movie "Wild" with Tina… I was about 13 weeks. The movie was a little slow. It definitely wasn't my favorite. 

Pic from the gym… I didn't go but about two times a week tops during January so this is one of the few times that I made it! I froze my account as of February 1st for a little while. I already knew I would definitely be missing a week to go on vacation, and I want to test it out and see for sure how I'll do working out on my own.

Colt had a stretch of a few days off from January 7th-12th that I also took off. He started getting sick about that time so we almost didn't go anywhere. We had planned on possibly making the rounds to see both of our families. We also wanted to relax a little and not spend the whole time driving so since we didn't see his family as much at Christmas, we ended up just going to stay with his family for a couple of nights. Then we relaxed at home the remaining time. 

Colt snapped these one day of Lucky on the couch. He has a rough life!

 

The dogs also curl up and sleep on my pregnancy pillow more than I sleep with it! Evidently we should get them one instead of their dog bed.

In January we started having ER intern dinners. Jodi, one of the wives, had the idea to start rotating houses monthly and hosting dinners as a way for all the interns to actually see each other and get together every once in a while. Her and her husband, Michael, hosted the first one on January 22nd with homeade pizza. It was fun, and hopefully we keep it up monthly! That weekend, the weather was nice on Saturday so Colt and I had a little Chipotle date and then took the dogs to the park and hung out on a blanket and relaxed for a while. Later that night, we got together with Kristin and Randy and had dinner in Belton at the Gin. 

I snapped this at the end of January one day to send to my mom so she could see a quick belly pic.  I wrote her that my belly was growing.  She responded that my dad said "where" and then added that he said "he looked more pregnant than I did."

Colt likes to take pictures and make fun of me when I order online in bulk. We didn't have time to drive anywhere for me ski clothes and I waited until last minute… so I ordered online and ordered in multiple sizes to make sure something would work! All but a couple things will go back. 

Colt blacked out the Silverado on the side of his truck to match his bowties on the front and back of his truck. 

 

When we dropped our dogs off at Dede's before we left for vacation, she had Colt and I both Valentine's candy on the table along with all these onesies. She said if we end up having a girl, she will make tutus to go along with the onesies. However, she, along with the rest of our family, thinks we're having a boy.

We decided to take my car when we made the trip to drop off our dogs in Forney. On the way there, we hit a piece of plastic or something in the road. Right before we made it to their house, my low tire light came on. When Colt got out to check it, we were almost on the rim. Needless to say it ruined my tire, and unfortunately I have a tire that pretty much has to be special ordered. Colt woke up the next morning and immediately started calling about 25 places around Dallas. He finally found my tire in Richardson so we made a quick trip there on a donut to get a new tire before heading back to Temple. Whatever we hit probably wouldn't have affected his truck tires, and he would've been sitting up higher and probably have been able to see it quicker… so much for saving money by driving my car!

Weeks 16 & 17

Week 16 I felt like my belly began to pop more. The t-shirt I had on didn't really show it so I took a few more bare belly pics.

 

One morning I got a text from one our friends, Kristin, that is an ER nurse at Children's. Evidently the ER residents have us some names picked out! Good thing they aren't naming our baby! I think what's sad is that they've probably seen some of these names come through the ER. 

Weeks 14 & 15

At our 14 week appointment in January, I weighed 123.8 lbs. The baby's heartbeat had slowed down to 150 beats per minute. We were really supposed to only hear the heartbeat that appointment, but the doctor asked if we wanted to see and of course we did! We didn't get any printouts at that appointment though. Baby Smithson was definitely active and was doing flips and waving at us the whole time! 

Around 15 weeks, one day when Colt was off, we headed up to children's hospital when they were slow. He played around with the ultrasound machine to see if he could tell the sex of the baby. 

This is a picture from the bottom looking up that made Colt think we might be having a baby boy. This of course isn't something that he is used to looking for. He searched the internet and watched some videos before we went to play! He text this picture and a video to one of the OBGYN residents afterwards and asked "if it looked like a penis?" She messaged him back that it looked "penisish" but basically not to bet on it quite yet based off that! 

Weeks 11-13

 Even though Colt and I could tell at this point, I don't think anyone else really could. 

Week 12 was the week of Christmas and the week we told everyone that we were expecting besides just the few family and friends that already knew. 

We made it to the second trimester! 

I decided to cut my head out of the weekly belly pics. Working from home, I don't always wear makeup, and I didn't want to have to look decent in each weekly picture! I have a few pics with my face in it though. That's where I tend to gain weight first so I'll at least document it every once in a while! 

Week 9 & 10

Besides the few early pictures that I already posted, I started taking weekly belly pics at 9 weeks. 

I was 9 weeks the first week of December. Baby Smithson had grown all the way from a poppy seed to about the size of a green olive by then!

At 10 weeks, we also had a doctor's apppointment to meet my new OB for the first time. We chose Dr. Smith. We had heard good things about her, and Colt had worked with her briefly during his OB rotation. Also, even though she's not a fertility specialist, she has an emphasis on infertility and does everything up to IVU and IVF. At our first appointment, I somewhat felt like she was looking at Colt when she was answering questions rather than me, and she seemed a little not at ease. It could've just been in my head, or it could be because she thinks he may know or have predetermined answers. Who knows?! Either way, I liked her overall.

Below are some ultrasound pictures from our 10 week appointment in December. We sent these to our family afterwards, and my mom was amazed that it looked like "an actual baby" already! 

At that appointment. my weight was 121.6. I usually fluctuate between 115-120, and I think the last time I weighed before I got pregnant I was 120. Baby Smithson's heartbeat on that visit was 174. 

Newly Pregnant

Colt sent me this either the day or day after we found out we were pregnant, and I thought it was cute!

It was hard not to immediately tell our families when we found out, especially since they knew we were trying! We weren't waiting to tell them, but I still wanted to tell them in a special way. I ordered a sign off Etsy to use to tell them.  It was supposed to be in on Monday, November 3rd. In the meantime, I hadn't told anyone. I guess Colt was excited though because when we went to Josh and Brianna's on Halloween, Josh told me congrats when no one else was around. I was like, "congrats on what?" We hadn't even told family yet. Colt said it was a lot bigger deal to tell family than it was to tell Josh, and he had evidently also already told Gerald too! 

Dede and David randomly came down on Sunday, November 2nd, the day before our sign came in the mail. Rather than waiting and sending them a picture the next day, we just told them in person while they were there.  I showed her a picture of the sign I had ordered on my phone. She didn't get it at first, but when she did I think she squealed a little! Of course, she immediately started saying we were having multiples. The next day she started sending me pictures of strollers for three plus kids! 

Of all days for our mail to run late, we didn't get our mail on Monday until after dark. I took the dogs outside and tried to snap a couple pictures, but they didn't turn out. The next day Colt was working 7am-7pm so after I came home from the gym on Tuesday morning, I went ahead and had a little photoshoot in the backyard with the dogs before it started raining. I didn't immediately send it to my mom. I waited until Colt got home that night and then text her. She immediatey called me, and was excited. My dad also got on the phone and told me that just the other day his neighbor had asked him what else was on his bucket list (after the Corvette). He answered that it was for me to have a baby. I of course teared up on that one. Then he went on to say he couldn't wait to see me big and started giggling! They ended up coming down to visit a few days later on that Friday.

Here's some pictures I snapped of my belly right after we found out that we were pregnant. It definitely doesn't look quite like that now!

I went ahead and told my trainer at CrossFit that I was pregnant at about 5 1/2 weeks or so because of the type of workouts and movements that we do. Really at that point, all I quit doing was maxing out on weights. The main thing I noticed my first trimester, and even now in my second trimester, is shortness of breath. It doesn't take much to get me out of breath so the big thing with working out is that I just try to control my breathing and if I start to breathe hard, I slow down.

Luckily, I haven't really felt too bad or been too sick my whole pregnancy. Since the beginning to now (18 weeks), I think I have only really thrown up due to pregnancy one time. When I was sick around Christmas and coughing so much I ended up gagging, I threw up a couple times. Then a couple times when I was brushing my teeth, I gagged and threw up, but other than that nothing really. That's not to say I never felt nauseous at all though! Around week 5 or 6, I started feeling a little nauseous when I first woke up or if my stomach ever got the least bit empty. I felt like I started eating all the time to prevent it. The one time that I did throw up and have to make a run for the bathroom was when Colt's family was here the weekend of Thanksgiving. I didn't get up and immediately eat something like I was used to, and I think that's what did it! I got to where I would wake up and eat almonds and peanut butter chips to get me threw my morning workout, and I also had to buy Sprite and a few other things to help settle my stomach. Also, initially certain foods did not sound good at all! Cereal, which I usually love, sounded awful. Eggs, which I had started eating all the time, sounded even worse. Smoothies and Icees (1/2 coke and 1/2 cherry...Colt's way) from 7-11 were my favorite for a few weeks.  Those first few weeks, I also wanted fast food. I randomly really wanted a Chili's burger one night, and I also wanted to eat Sonic, Whataburger and Chick-fil-a a lot mainly for the french fries! Sometime during that time, the thought of steaks or large chunks of meat started grossing me out. It still does! One thing I thought would be hard to give up is coffee but it didn't even really sound good for a while. I've had a few cups of decaf here and there, but I definitely haven't been craving it and it's not that hard to do without it. 

Since overall, I've felt pretty good, the only real "symptom" that I can think of is that I have had the worst acne that I think I have ever had! Not on my face so much but on my back and a little on my chest. My back specifically, I have acne everywhere and it will not go away! It's definitely annoying, but I guess if that's all I have to complain about, I'm doing pretty good! Pregnancy is definitely a crazy thing.

 Initially, and still every once in a while, I was telling Colt every week how big the baby was... a sweet pea, a blueberry, etc. I really think for Colt that it didn't get real until we heard the heartbeat at 7 weeks, and still he was a little hesitant. Being in the ER, he always sees the worst case scenarios come in the door at early stages so I think it took a little while for him to get excited. 

On November 18th, when I was about 7 weeks, we did get to go back to the fertility specialist for our viability appointment to make sure everything looked ok before he released me to a normal OB. The doctor was in the operating room so we saw one of the residents that Colt had worked with, but we still got to hear the heartbeat and we got a picture! We also confirmed that it was indeed only one heartbeat and baby in there :) At that point, they measured. We measured to have a due date of about July 13th, but based on my Ovidrel shot, I still think the due date is about July 8th.

And here's another random selfie of me at about 7 weeks.

Our Pregnancy Journey

I am currently about 18 weeks pregnant, and I have yet to post any updates since our initial announcement so it is definitely time! 

We started trying or "not preventing" in May 2013 around the time that I turned 28. I had been on birth control for a while, and they say that it sometimes takes your body a while to adjust. However, I was always irregular prior to being on birth control, and I had never had routine monthly cycles. For the rest of 2013, my body was out of whack. Around January, I went to my OBGYN for an appointment. She wanted me to go ahead and take an over the counter supplement called Pregnitude twice a day (which my fertility specialist later said was pointless). She also went ahead and ran all the routine blood work, including having my thyroid checked. My results came back saying that I had a slightly low thyroid. I was referred to an endocronologist to get my levels regulated. The endocronolgoist said that I did have Hashimoto's. However, she said that my thyroid was only slightly low and that if we weren't trying to conceive, she would just keep getting it checked rather than treating it. Since we were trying though, she put me on a low dosage of medication, and I had to follow back up in March to recheck my levels.  Once that was regulated, I had to see my OBGYN again. Of course, the initial steps in fertility were making sure everything was ok on Colt's end. After he was checked out, it was proceeding with me. These next few months my specialist said were interesting and seemed to puzzle him a little, but I will go ahead and write about our little process regardless. Around April, my doctor put me on progesterone to basically force me to have withdrawal bleeding. The logic was supposed to be to trick my body into regulating itself I think. At this point, I wasn't having cycles at all. After the progesterone, I followed up with Clomid, and then I had to have my blood drawn around the middle-end of May to see if I had ovulated. When I hadn't, we started over with the same process around the end of May which put me taking my second round of Clomid right after our move at the beginning of June. This round, rather than getting blood drawn, I was supposed to do an in-home ovulation test. I did get a positive, and of course, I was excited. However, I had to follow up with getting my blood drawn on June 26th, and my results said that I actually hadn't ovulated. When I talked to my doctor, she said the ovulation test must've been a false positive because it didn't appear that my body was reacting to Clomid at all. They didn't see the point in trying another round of Clomid, and they referred me to a fertility specialist. I hadn't really been emotional or worrying about anything the whole time, but for some reason, that day I got upset and ended up having a little crying session.

Colt had said at the beginning that if we had trouble getting pregnant and that if I started becoming a crazy person about it or it ever started affecting us, we were done trying. He said regardless it wouldn't be the end of the world, and it wouldn't help to fret about it. I think he just told me this to make me feel good and make me feel like he was ok with whatever happened. Regardless, he's been supportive the whole time! I will tell you though that when you are trying, it seems like everyone is pregnant, and it also seems like everyone asks you ALL THE TIME when you are going to have a baby!

All the referrals for specialists that my doctor gave me were in Dallas. Since we were already living in Temple at this point, we didn't want to go that route so I started looking at options at Scott and White. There were only two fertility specialists. Colt asked around a little to see which of the two were recommended. We went ahead and set up an appointment, but it was going to be a couple months before we could get in for the initial visit. I was due for my annual regardless and needed to find a doctor here in Temple so I went ahead and scheduled just a normal appointment with a random doctor here in July. When I saw her, she told me that both specialist were great and that I could probably get in a little sooner with the one that I wasn't scheduled for.  I rescheduled and got in with the other specialist, Dr. Wincek, on August 25th. A quick side note... going to the doctor in Temple is very different than what I was used to in Dallas. I was used to a fancy private office and here, it's like going to a clinic. My first visit with the normal doctor was at the Belton clinic, and I was in a waiting room with every other type of sick patient you can think of. Now going to the specialist and my current doctor at the main hospital I share a waiting room with urology, and it's just very different and not near as private as what I was used to! The care has been great so far though so looks can be deceiving.

Before I could see the specialist, they made me see a financial counselor to discuss all the out of pocket expenses that could be incurred with fertility treatments and go into the details of how much IVU and IVF costs. 

I got to see Dr. Wincek on August 25th, and luckily I really liked him. During his initial exam, we discussed my history. Then he of course examined me. He said that I had plenty of eggs but it did appear that I might have PCOS. He said it seemed odd for someone my size. In the end though, he said he couldn't see any reason why I couldn't get pregnant and he was ready to fast track it. Since I had previously tried Clomid and didn't have any negative symptoms or reactions, he wanted to go ahead and go that route first. However,  he said there was no reason to do progestone or have a regular cycle when trying Clomid. I immediately started a round of Clomid on August 26th. I had a follow up appointment with him on September 8th. In addition to Clomid, we also started Ovidrel trigger shots, and Colt had to give me my first Ovidrel shot in my belly on September 11th. Then I had to go get labs ran to check my progestone on the 19th. My results were high, and it looked like I had indeed ovulated. I then followed up with going to get more labs on the 26th to verify if I was pregnant or not. The results were negative. However, I had my first menstrual cycle on my own in forever right after that. The doctor said that he didn't think I had ever actually ovulated since I had been off birth control. Luckily, I live close to the hospital with all my trips to the doctor and to the lab!

Since my body seemed to react to round one, we started another round of Clomid on October 1st. I had an appointment with Dr. Wincek on the 13th. At that appointment, he took measurements and actually printed a picture for me of two follicles that he thought had potential. 

Colt said I'm probably one of the few that have a picture of our baby when it was just a follicle! 

Colt gave me another Ovidrel shot on October 14th. I then had to follow up with labs on the 21st to get my progesterone levels checked. The results came back even higher than last time. They didn't automatically schedule pregnancy labs this time so I just took an at home pregnancy test on October 28th when I got up at like 5:15 to go work out. It was positive!! Colt had just left for work when I took the test. I had always pictured that I would tell him someway special but that didn't happen! I was a little shocked and I couldn't wait!! I just called him and happened to catch him right before he was starting work. When I was telling him, I cried a little (happy tears of course)! 

That day, I contacted my doctor, and they set me up for labs around lunch.

It usually takes a few days to get results.  I actually started spotting that day. I was clueless and didn't know that it was sometimes normal to spot a little. I just assumed I was starting my period so I text Colt and told him that I didn't think I was pregnant after all and that it must've just been a false positive. He said, "Well, we'll see." In the meantime, he had accessed my labs that day. Did he call and tell me? No! He waited until he got home late that night and showed me the results! 

We feel lucky to have had success just after seeing the specialist here in Temple for 2 months, and we feel blessed that our journey wasn't longer and that we didn't end up having to pursue any further fertility treatments or options. I have another post on when we were newly pregnant, and I have been taking weekly bump pictures since week 9 so more to come!