So far...so good...

Well, since we were trying to be so secretive at the beginning of this pregnancy, I wasn't able to share all the little milestones and events that were happening early on. So, here is the documentation of our pregnancy so far. I'll try to update everyone on the pregnancy weekly (and don't worry, I'm sure there will be other posts about normal, every day things in between these updates). So here we go:

4 weeks, 126lbs (starting weight...I may regret posting this later)
We already knew that we were pregnant a little before 4 weeks. We scheduled our first doctor’s appointment with the high risk doctor (Dr. Maher) on Jan. 14th, we were then 4 weeks and 1 day. They did an ultrasound but we were too early in the pregnancy to see anything. So the doc started running some bloodwork instead. My hcg level came back as 469 (pretty high for 4 weeks). And my progesterone was 42.1 (also, a high one). I had been prescribed Progesterone and been taking it since after ovulation. Both of these were Great news!

5 weeks, 125lbs

Doctor called and let us know that he has diagnosed me with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). My bloodwork showed this clearly and I was put on Metformin to regulate my hormones.
Symptoms so far: gas, indigestion (so bad, never had this before and didn’t even know what it was when it hit), sore boobs

6 weeks, 124lbs
Before we even hit 6 weeks we got our second hcg level back and it was 17,000. We were so encouraged as this is a great increase, more than we expected. Dr. Maher even joked that by the looks of those numbers it could be TWINS!
Symptoms so far: indigestion, sore boobs
Cravings so far include: bagels (only with strawberry cream cheese), and mozzarella cheese sticks

7 weeks, 126lbs

We went in for our second doctor’s visit. My mom and dad drove down from Bama to join us. They performed another ultrasound and sure enough…we saw a beautiful 7 week old baby with a strong heartbeat (147 bpm). Oh and one thing I didn't mention before was that we could see the tiny little umbilical stalk (the primitive version of the umbilical cord!)It was so clear and cool. You can't see it in this picure but...everything was just perfect. Words cannot express our pure JOY and the hope that was all renewed in that moment.

Symptoms so far: EXTREME hunger (it’s so bad, never felt this before), dizziness, fatigue, insomnia (how can you have both?), luckily not too much nausea (no vomiting yet), boobs aren’t quite as sore, and indigestion has died down
Cravings now include: Yoohoo and yogurt, don’t know if it’s really a craving but I HAVE to eat an apple everyday!

8 weeks, 126.5 lbs

My stomach looks gross...I know the baby is way too little to "show" but I can't suck in my fat anymore :( The doctor says that it's because my body has been pregnant 4 times and automatically "knows" what to do (weaken the stomach muscles). Well, I guess I should just be happy that I have an excuse to tell people when they look at me funny. I'm greasing up my belly with cocoa butter, the kind in the little jar, it keeps me nice and lubed up all day long. I officially took out my belly button ring this week. I hope it doesn't scar badly and make my belly look worse.
Symptoms so far: feeling REALLY gross, nausea is hitting a little more often but I'm holding back the vomit (barely), dizziness is even worse. Insomnia is a little bit better, I think, but fatigue is WAY worse. I just want to sleep, and nothing else. SOOO hungry, it's so inconvenient, I have to eat constantly, no over exaggeration there!
Cravings now include: no food sounds very good right now, fruit is a safe bet these days, don't make me gag like most everything else.