MCNs Lot 1 - Baby Beehinds

My first lot of MCNs was delivered today. I think I scared the postman because I opened the door to answer his knock straight from bed -- bedhead and all! What a start to his workday. Sorry. :D

Let me tell you, the Baby Beehinds multi fits are oh so cute!!! I bought the nappies online on a special, buy 2 get 1 free. So for the price of 2, I got 3 nappies. Yay me! :) Because we don't know our bub's gender yet, I chose unisex colors -- orchid and metropolitan. I didn't get to choose the freebie's color though, but I sent them a note to give me a unisex one so they gave me a mint green-ish one. I don't know the exact color name. Sorry. Hehe.

The package came with a Product Care and Info Booklet. I will thoroughly read it so I'll have all the information I will need about MCNs. I am also looking at buying other brands of MCNs just so I can test which ones bub will prefer when he/she is already here. :)

Here are the pictures:

multi fit orchid

multi fit limited edition metropolitan

freebie multi fit :) -- dew

The Chronicles of a Pregnant Vera - Part 2

Today I am 18+3. That means 18 weeks, 3 days, folks! Almost halfway through. Yay! Here are some of the things that happened and some things I've been pondering about since my last chronicle entry.

• I've started feeling 'ok' this past week. I'm not as tired as before anymore and I very rarely throw up now. Hopefully this continues til I give birth. I know, wishful thinking. :D 
• I have decided to give cloth nappies a go. They're not the same nappies that my mum used on me ages ago, though. Thank God for that. They're now generally known as MCNs or modern cloth nappies. To kick-start my stash, I ordered some multi fit nappies from Baby Beehinds. They're the ones I can use from when bub is 5kg til about 16kg. I've yet to receive my order but I can't wait to get the nappies and 'practice'. Hehe. I know some people might think cloth nappies might be too much work compared to sposies (disposable nappies) but I'm willing to try if it would work for Bee and I (and Dad, for that matter!). *fingers crossed* 
• I have also decided to give baby wearing a go. My sister in Manila is in the process of securing a Saya baby carrier for me. Hope the color that I like is still available in my size -- purple, of course. :) 
• We have our morphology/gender scan in three days. My husband and I have been counting the days and finally it's just a few more sleeps away! So exciting. Watch this space for the big reveal! 
• I've started feeling 'flutters' since 17 weeks. I have a feeling it's Bee wanting to 'play' with me. Hehe. It's more prevalent at night or when I happen to drink or eat anything cold. They say bubs in the womb don't like anything cold that's why they tend to 'move'. In any case, I can't wait to feel 'real kicks' from Bee. Hopefully soon. :) 
• I am now 'obviously pregnant'. Not like before when I just looked like a kid who ate plenty. Haha! My husband noticed that my tummy looked way bigger this week than the last. Well I guess I could say that I already popped!!! :) [Remember the Pringles ad -- once you pop, you can't stop!] I really should start taking weekly photos of my belly. I promise to start doing so this Sunday. It would be nice to be able to show Bee later how he/she grew up in Mum's tummy.

Well, that's all for now. I'm hungry! :)

Nuchal Translucency Screening

We had our Nuchal Translucency Screening on July 15th. The screening is composed of two parts, the scan and the blood test. It's to test whether bub is likely to have Down's syndrome, as well as Edward's syndrome and Patau's syndrome.

I went into the scan thinking I was 12 weeks 1 day. Turns out our bub was already measuring 13 weeks. Yay! So again, my due date was changed to 20 January. I'm not complaining. :D

We got the results about 5 days after because we had to wait for the blood test results and they had to combine those with the scan results. We're thankful that Bee is low risk. Thank you, God!

Here are some 'pictures' of Bee:

We were amazed at how Bee really looks like a bub now. Haha.

close up of Bee waving :)

The Chronicles of a Pregnant Vera - Part 1

So I'm pregnant. Now what?! Haha. As my pregnancy progresses, I'm learning things about myself, my body and being pregnant in general. Here are some of the things that's been happening to me.

• After my embryo transfer I refused to pee for a couple of hours (even when I was dying to!) for fear that the embryo would 'fall out'! How silly was I?! :D
• My all-day sickness started at 5 weeks. I refuse to call it morning sickness because I am sick morning, noon and night, sometimes even when I'm already in bed sleeping. It was worst from 9 to 10 weeks. I still get sick nowadays but not as severe as before. Thank God! Hopefully my good luck continues.
• I don't like the smell of food, especially meat and chicken being cooked. I get really, really nauseated. It's a good thing my husband does all the cooking. I'm so lucky, I know! :)
• I lost my appetite at the same time my all-day sickness started. It hasn't come back yet but I'm so waiting for it to. Nothing tastes good. Even water tastes awful. There was a couple of weeks I was so dehydrated because I was having difficulty drinking water. And I think I've already lost weight since being pregnant.
• I can't wait to get to the 'craving stage' so I could eat anything I want. Hopefully by then I already have my appetite back.
• We bought a fetal home doppler off eBay just so my husband and I can hear our bub's heart beat anytime we want to. Since it arrived from China we've only used it once though. It was so exciting to hear it! A bub's heart beat is almost double that of an adult's. Our bub's was 175-180 bpm. Cool!
• My husband is hoping that our bub is a boy. I honestly don't have any preference. All I'm praying for is a healthy and normal bub. :) 

That's all I can think of right now. I'll add to the list as I discover new things. :)

7-week Scan

We had our 7-week scan on 9 June. It was our first scan, also called the dating scan. My husband and I were a bit nervous going into the clinic. We didn't know what to expect (hey, we're first time parents! :D) but of course we prayed that our bub's healthy and growing nicely.

Bee @ 7w1d

Our FS (fertility specialist) did an internal ultrasound since it was too early to see our bub with a pelvic one. After a few minutes of looking, he then said our "jellybean" is alive and kicking. I didn't know I was holding my breath until after he said those words and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Although for the life of me I couldn't fathom how our bub was kicking. Haha. I guess he meant bub has a strong heartbeat. :D

We were originally given a due date of 24 January, 2012 but our FS changed it to 26 January. Just a couple of days off, no biggie. :)

Next up, our 12-week scan/Nuchal Translucency Screening. Thank you, Lord! :)

P.S. For now, we've decided to call our bub Bee since the first movie he/she "saw" is Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. In 3D, no less! :) 

HPT Gallery

Note: This entry was written on 18 May but I've only just decided to publish it today. :)

Hello! It's been a while since I last made an entry about what happened to our IVF/ICSI journey. Well, it's been an emotional roller coaster all right. My husband and I felt a whole gamut of emotions, especially me since I was the one injecting myself with all those drugs. BUT overall, I feel that it has really been a great cycle. Yes, I had some minor side effects like headache and cramps but they were manageable even without taking any medicine. And we also have two great frozen embryos (for later :)). For all of these, WE PRAISE AND WE THANK THE LORD!

First Response, Early Result / 14 May

 This was the first HPT (home pregnancy test) that I took. As you can see, I labelled it 7dp5dt. It means 7 days post 5-day transfer which basically is a week after a 5-day embryo or blastocyst was transferred to me. I used a FRER (First Response, Early Result) pregnancy test. This HPT is very sensitive that it can detect the pregnancy hormone, hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) 6 days before the missed period. I actually wasn't supposed to test that early but the night before I dreamt that I tested and that I got a BFP (big fat positive!!!). That dream felt so real. The emotions I felt were so real. So when I woke up that morning at around 5:30, i took the test. And I couldn't believe my eyes! It said I was pregnant! To make sure that I wasn't just imagining things, I woke my husband up. It was too early for his liking and it was Saturday but he had no choice. We were over the moon with the results. This was the FIRST TIME EVER that I have gotten a positive result in a HPT.

Confirm / 15 May

 I again tested the following day, but using a different HPT -- Confirm. This HPT is not sensitive like FRER. Infact it said on the leaflet that it can detect pregnancy 14 days from conception of the first day of missed period. Had it said something like that in the box, I wouldn't have bought it. I thought it was also like FRER but only found out that it's not after I have opened the boxes (we bought 2 boxes = 4 tests). I thought the test wouldn't even be able to detect the hCG in me because it was only 13 days since my egg collection. But it did, albeit the faintest line. 

Confirm / 16 May

 I tested everyday until my blood test on the 18th of May. I was afraid the result will change. LOL. I was also sending daily emails to my sister back home just so they are up-to-date with what's happening with me. The result line on the 9dp5dt test was noticeably darker than that of the the day before. :)

Confirm / 17 May

As at 17 May, I have done 4 HPTs. As you can see, the result line is getting darker everyday. 

Confirm / 18 May

This was the last one I took before I had my beta hCG and progesterone blood test that same morning (18 May). And so, as the results of my blood test say, I AM PREGNANT!!! My husband and I are so thankful for this blessing. A huge THANK YOU to all the people who prayed for us and for the success of this cycle. Please continue to do so, that my remaining 8 months of pregnancy be healthy and happy. I can't believe it, I'm going to be a mum! :))

Thank you, Lord!

Thank you, Lord
-- for giving me a relatively good day today and yesterday. I'm feeling a little better everyday. Hopefully this continues but it's fine even if it doesn't. [I spoke too soon. Haha. Oh well, it's all for a 'wonderful cause'. :D]
-- for another milestone today, 10 weeks. Yay us!!! :)
-- for giving my husband and I the opportunity to live here in Australia. I just realized that it's been 3 years yesterday since we came here. And what an amazing 3 years it has been. I can only smile when I think of all the wonderful things You still have in store for us. For all of these, we praise and we thank you!


P.S. I'm so sorry for being on hiatus these past weeks. I have a lot going on right now. I'll explain later. Hopefully, I can go back to blogging regularly soonest.