Ten Weeks, Confirmed!

I am in love. Forget that rubbish I posted a few days ago about not yet being attached to the actual living being inside me.

On Thursday, exactly the first day of week ten, we had our "prove I'm still pregnant" ultrasound. It was a little confusing at first because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to undress from the waist down or not, but then the OB simply told me to open my pants below the belly button. I kept my pants on, people!

He found the baby quickly. It definitely looked bigger and less blobish then the last ultrasound a few weeks ago, but I wasn't convinced. I didn't see a heartbeat and he didn't tell how big it was to see if it has actually grown. I think he could sense my apprehension, because he quickly zoomed in and pointed out the flicker. The very quick flickering of a very active heart. Then... it began to move. It's little arm buds and leg buds were flailing all around, doing Tae Bo to the air as C described later.

I probably could have watched it squirming for hours. It was just so amazing to me how active it was, and yet I don't yet feel a thing. The OB was awesome and suggested that we take a video of the screen on my phone so now I have a video image of it's movement. This is SO much better then the pictures, which he also printed off, but that are still pretty blobish looking. Not especially impressive. But the video... the video shows life. My heart swoons.

At ten weeks, the baby is measuring 9 weeks and 5 days, or 26 millimeters. I still feel nothing on the outside, but I can now sense its presence on the inside, squirming about.

The nausea and heartburn have gotten a lot better this past week, but still show up at random times. The fatigue has gotten a little better on some days but there are other days that I can't lift my head off the pillow and I am so tired that my bones hurt. I continue to be a little congested, which sometimes makes sleeping difficult. I am not urinating any more than usual but I also don't think I'm drinking nearly enough water. My bowel habits are largely unchanged, but they have always been a little finicky. I have gained maybe a pound, but it's hard to tell because my weight will fluctuate 2-3 pounds in a day sometimes. My pants feel a little tighter, but I haven't had to do anything special to keep them closed.

I didn't attribute this as a pregnancy symptoms necessarily before, but ever since day 1, I have been extremely winded and feel more out of shape then ever in my life. My heart is often pounding out of my chest after going up one flight of stairs! I'm not sure if this is due to the actual loss of physical fitness (I was not active during this whole IVF process out of discomfort), or because my body is just working extra hard. I hope it is more the latter.

In four weeks I will be officially out of the first trimester. I need to schedule a meeting with my boss. I also need to come up with a preliminary plan on how to wean down my caseload, which still gives me anxiety. I've been putting this off until "we know for sure" but I think now is the time. I need to accept that this is real, he/she is alive, and I am very likely going to be giving birth to a healthy baby in November.