First Trimester Recap!

This Friday I will be 14 weeks pregnant. Some people count 12 weeks as the start of your second trimester. I figure either way, by Friday I am 1/3 of the way through this pregnancy!

So far things seem to have gone by very fast! Perhaps it because I was not anticipating the start of my first trimester, or that we were on vacation for a chunk of it. So much seems to have happened in the first trimester as well...3 ultra sounds, a handful of prenatal visits, and Harmony blood work!

Energy wise, this pregnancy has been at an all time low...EPICALLY TIRED is how I have been choosing to describe it! I am not sure if its because I am older, that I am chasing 2 kids around, the different hormones racing around my body, or all of the above! All I can say is thank goodness I have a couch in my office...I have been squeezing in naps whenever I can!

My history of morning sickness is quite varied. With Carson I had nothing, nada, zippo. The only thing that might have made me queasy was a gruesome scene on a TV show. With Crosby I had what I referred to as "mild" nausea. It wasn't fun, but if I kept myself busy and distracted, then I wouldn't notice it too much.

With BC3, my morning sickness seems to vary by the day. Some days I am totally fine, and other days I have moderate to severe nausea. For better or for worse I have never vomited, but sometimes I wonder if it might make me feel better! The nausea is still around a bit, but the number of good days between the bad days seems to be increasing, whooo hooo! Hoping it soon disappears for good!

Because of my history of miscarriage, I have always been put on progesterone supplements whenever trying to conceive. I started these supplements as soon as I could after my positive test. There are multiple ways to take progesterone supplements. One method is more favorable, but guess what?! My insurance doesn't cover it unless it is used along side with assisted reproductive technology! Ha! Since BC3 was unassisted, instead I am stuck with a much less desirable option....but I am happy to report that I only have to take it for a few more days!

With the boys, I started taking "bump pics" at 10 weeks, so we followed suit with BC3. I haven't gone back and compared bump pics as of yet, but I think I could have started taking bump pics at 6 weeks with the size of my belly! I suppose its fairly normal for a third pregnancy! But it was hard to keep hidden at work, daycare, etc! I have recently started telling clients, and of course we have gone public on social media and the blog. And now without further delay!

10 Weeks

11 Weeks

12 Weeks

13 Weeks

SURPRISE!

Guess what...we're pregnant again! Surprised? We sure were!

If you have followed this blog for the last 6 years, you know that starting a family was not an easy feat for Ryan and me. After 22 months of perfectly timed attempts at home, 2 surgeries, 3 different types of medications (including shots and weigh gain!), 7 fertility procedures, 3 miscarriages (5 pregnancies total!), an undisclosed ridiculous amount of $$$ (fertility treatments are not covered by insurance in NH!), and buckets of blood, sweat, and tears, we finally had Carson Michael Curtis in October of 2010 and Crosby Quincy Curtis in February of 2014.

Needless to say although we were thrilled to have the two kiddos we had...in 2014, we were physical, emotionally, and financially exhausted...

Ryan and I often discussed whether or not we would ever consider a third baby. I am one of two kids and Ryan is one of three. We both agreed that the 2 child parent to kid ratio was fantastic, and we weren't sure we wanted to mess with that balance. Ryan was perfectly content with his two sons. I would be lying if I didn't say that part of me was grieving the loss of the possibility of some day having a daughter to dress up, braid her hair (I am really good at braiding hair!), be the mother of the bride, etc. But I also knew that a baby girl was not a guarantee! And that three boys sounded slightly insane...

What we both agreed on was that in no way shape or form were we interested in going through the necessary medical steps again that we had gone through to have our first two children. We had essentially been told for various yet unexplained reasons that the likelihood of us conceiving a child and sustaining a pregnancy naturally was pretty much slim to none. So Ryan and I settled in with the two children that we had, expecting to be a happy family of 4 for years to come.

That didn't last very long! Fast forward barely a year and a half later after Crosby was born, and I am staring at two obvious lines on a pregnancy test after waking up not feeling very well one morning! How could this have happened? I mean we weren't doing anything to prevent it...but why use birth control when you can't get pregnant? Crosby was IUI #6 for goodness sake!

I immediately called my fertility specialist not even knowing where to start, especially since I have quite the history of early miscarriage. They asked me all the necessary questions...."Date of last period?" I have no idea..."When do you think you ovulated?" I have no idea....Numbers and data that I used to track on the regular were now an after thought! I was a total fish out of water! We figured out I must have been about 5 weeks pregnant.

I must say...early pregnancy for me is a total nerve wracking experience...almost daily blood draws for beta levels...are the beta's doubling? are you spotting? is there a heartbeat?....Many times the answer has been no...yes...no. This pregnancy has been almost a fantasy! No stress during the "two week wait" as I had no idea I was waiting...beta's more than doubled showing great values, no spotting at all...and a heartbeat right away! This baby definitely wanted to be in this world and in our family!

Overall this pregnancy has been such a different experience for Ryan and I. No anticipation before hand...some nervousness but not to the previous extent...but also not the huge level of thrill that we had experienced once we were in the clear as we felt with our first two...instead while in total shock, we are asking ourselves...what the heck are we doing to do with 3 kids? Did we even want a third child? What if its 3 boys? Do we need a new car? Do we need a new house? Where is this baby going to sleep? Our thoughts of excitement are replaced with thoughts of logistics! That is until we found out the gender...but more on that later! Regardless, we are most definitely thrilled to welcome another little Curtis into this world, as we like to think we make pretty awesome ones!

As most of you know...we like to nickname our baby so we aren't calling it "It". Carson was "Swarley", Crosby was "Wader"...and this baby is "BC3" as in Baby Curtis #3! (We know...we get less creative as the years roll on...) Aunt Kris likes to call it C3PO, ha ha ha.

One of my favorite things about this pregnancy is that my due date is April Fool's Day 2016...as in "You didn't think you could get pregnant? APRIL FOOLS!"

Here are some first glimpses of BC3!

6 weeks at specialist's office

8 weeks at specialist's office

9 weeks at regular OBGYN (can you tell the ultrasound machine quality is less?)

12 weeks at our "First Look" ultrasound

Stay tuned for a first trimester recap post, as well as the big gender reveal already!!!