4 Weeks 5 Days

4w5d Gestation

2w5d Embryo Age

Taking: Prenatal

Cervix is quite uninteresting.

Tests at 19 DPO.

I turned off my alarm for my temping (HAHAHAHAHAHA!) but I still woke up at temp time anyway. -_-

I think I'm going to get a blood draw for progesterone and beta on Monday (21 DPO) because I'm driving myself a little nuts with worry. Might be good to have it confirmed with a clinic of some kind for future reference anyway.

10.29.13- Completed Chart

Yay! I completed this cycle! And it ended in procreation!

Finally made it to 18 DPO.

Cycle length: 32 Days

Ovulation: Cycle Day 14(ish)

Luteal Phase: 18 Days (Pregnant Cycle)

First Positive HPT-With-Blood: 10 DPO

First Undoubtedly Positive Urine HPT: 11 DPO

When I get home I'll edit this to include all of my obsessive test progressions. Most will end up going to 21 DPO or so.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 32

CD 32

18 Days Past Ovulation

4w4d

Temperature: 98.56

Taking: Prenatal

Cervix is tilted weirdly.

Tests:

And the FRER when it finished running:

Wooo. Last FRER will be taken at 21 DPO.

Took the last CBD. It still says 2-3 but the test strips have crossed the threshold for 2000. I know this because Internet.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 31

CD 31

17 Days Past Ovulation

4w3d

Temperature: 98.48

Taking: Prenatal

(I'm at my mothers for the Great American Feast of Gluttony: Celebrating the Genocide of an Entire Nation of Natives and forgot my vitamins so i went out and bought these cute little pink prenatals.)

Cervix closed, discoloration still present.

FRER Today.

So I did some math and I realized if my levels were approximately 25 at 11 DPO and approximately 200 at 14 dpo my betas are doubling every 24 hours or so. If this trend is right tomorrow I should be over the 2000 threshold for the CBD and it should read 3+ weeks. I'll break it open to make sure anyway. 

It would make me feel much better if I had a 24 hour double (approximately).

10.29.13- Cycle Day 30

CD 30

16 Days Past Ovulation

4w2d

Temperature: 98.62

Taking: Prenatal

5MTHF

DHA

CERVIX IS STARTING TO LOOK DISCOLORED EEEEE

At around 5-6 weeks pregnant congestion from lots of blood makes the cervix turn purpleish or blue ish in color. As you can see, the reddish purple color is starting at the center and working its way out. This is very good. 

Better lighting of phenomenon.

Cervical fluid has increased and is creamy. I'm feeling sick, bloated and uncomfortable. Keep falling asleep while doing stuff.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 29

CD 29

15 Days Past Ovulation

4w1d

Temperature: 98.71 (taken very late)

Taking: Prenatal

5MTHF

DHA

Cervix is unremarkable to look at but is changing consistency. 

I'm going to keep peeing on sticks so you get to keep seeing them.

This was about 5 minutes in. The FRER ended up being a hair darker than the control.

Today, Man announced proudly, "I know you're pregnant."

"...Yes...?" I reply.

"I know you're pregnant because you think I stink, you spent the whole day sleeping and you are pouring hot sauce on your raviolli."

So I can now add hot sauce consumption to my list of symptoms.

I have a headache. It's really mild, but it makes me want to sleep again.

"X Weeks" and "Xth Week" Differentiation

Before I continue this blog as a pregnancy blog, I'd just like to explain something about the terminology and dating descriptions I use.

You will see me say "weeks pregnant" and "in the x week". While these sound the same, they refer to different periods of time. This confuses a lot of people and I see people struggle with the distinction on pregnancy boards so I'll explain. (Actually I didn't get it my first pregnancy either.)

When I say "weeks pregnant" I speak of it like an age. I am saying "I have completed this many weeks."

When I say, "in the x week", I am discussing the week that is in progress. 

This is easier to understand when we think relative to age. For example, My oldest daughter is 4 years old, which means she has completed 4 full years of life. She is in her 5th year of life, meaning that her 5th year is in progress.

When people ask her age, they are asking how many years she has completed. So, I would say 4. When discussing her development with the pediatrician, however, we would discuss the skills that she would work on in the 5th year of life and should have mastered by her 5th birthday. 

Hopefully that makes it easier to understand why under my "x weeks" post I describe the development and size occuring in the next week. 

4 Weeks!

4w 0d completed

5th week of pregnancy

1 Month Pregnant

2nd Month of Pregnancy

LMP: 10.29.13 (For accuracy in dating I would tell a physician it was 10.28.13 because due dates are calculated on a CD 15 ovulation)

Ovulation: 11.11.13 (CD 14)

Expected Due Date (EDD): 08.04.14 [can also be noted as Expected Date of Confinement (EDC)]

Weight: 126.4 lbs (I will take weight every 4 weeks.)

Blood Pressure: Not taken this week

Resting Heart Rate: 99bpm

Fundal Height: Not applicable (uterus has not grown, no shape change noted)

Fetal Heart Tone: Not applicable, fetus has no heart until the end of this week and that is not detectable by fetoscope for a few more weeks.

Fetal Position: Not applicable.

Symptoms noted in the past month: (in this case, over the past 5 days)

Increased Sense of Smell

Heightened Temperature

Slight Irrationality

Slight Nipple Tenderness

Brief Bouts of Nausea

Cramping

Food Aversion (extremely mild)

Food Craving (extremely mild)

Bloat

Exhaustion

This pregnancy has been different from my others in that I have had a ton of cramping early on. That never happens. Based on my HCG levels (between 200-2000) at 14 DPO my TTC groups are all threatening me with wishes of multiples, some (kind of) joking about higher order multiples. I have already informed them that I will personally blame them if I end up with quads. For the record, however, I don't think there is more than one bean in there. They're just being mean to me. >:0

Belly!

At 4 weeks pregnant it's alllllll bloat. In early pregnancy progesterone slows digestion so the body can process the nutrients more easily. This causes constipation and distention. 

In my experience, this symptom subsides at about 6-7 weeks and at 8ish weeks is replaced by an itty bitty baby bump. As this will <hopefully> be my third full term pregnancy I can expect to "show" sooner. 

Developmental growth:

The baby is the size of a poppy seed right now. In the 4th week, the blastocyst spent its time implanting into the uterine lining and partitioning off cells to specialize in different organ systems and pieces of a person.

We are now in the 5th week. Baby will grow to be about the size of an apple seed. It is working on stuff like the liver, kidneys, circulatory system, nervous system, and digestive system. By the end of the 5th week (21 DPO) it will have a heartbeat. 

10.29.13- Cycle Day 28

CD 28

14 Days Past Ovulation 

4w0d

Temperature: 98.44

Taking: Multivitamin

5MTHF

DHA

14 DPO! I'm still counting in "DPO" because I want to keep charting to 18 DPO. At 21 DPO I'll stop posting past ovulation and only count weeks/days of pregnancy.

Cervix is pretty plain. It actually feels a little open. But not in an alarming way.

Tests from today:

First, and most exiting to me, is the CBD. I'm only 13-14 DPO and it's already reading at 2-3 weeks. Let me explain why this makes me so happy:

This is the inside of the CBD.

The top is the “low” sensitivity strip (meaning it needs more hcg to trigger a positive), with (from left to right) the test line and the control. The bottom is the “high” sensitivity test strip (meaning it needs less hcg to trigger a positive). There is no control on the bottom strip.

If both test areas have no line then the test reads not pregnant and hcg is under 25.

If the bottom strip has a line and the top does not, it reads 1-2 weeks and indicates hcg levels at 25-200. 

If the bottom is the same color as the control and the top is triggered but lighter than the control, it reads at 2-3 weeks and indicates hcg levels are over 200 but under 2000.

If both test lines are as dark as the control then then the test reads 3+ weeks and hcg is considered to be over 2000. At this point though a lot of times the test will still read 2-3 weeks because the interpretation becomes more variable. The other two are much easier.

My levels, indicated by this test, should be 2x more than average for 14 DPO and they were negative at 10 DPO! Eeeeeeeee ~~~~~~~

All tests today were taken with 1/2 the hold from yesterday, so I'm expecting them to not be as good.

These look okay.

The cheapest test has a line as dark as the control~~~

Happy with this one too.

My line of FRER. Note that the top one is not positive and wasn't positive in the time limit; it has a vicious evap. All FMU.

The bottom one is the same darkness as the one before it, which is okay because of the hold difference.

My wondfo. Obviously this morning's wondfo was a different batch; my last batch of these. :x 

10.29.13- Cycle Day 27

CD 27

13 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.61

Taking: Multivitamin

5MTHF

Cervix and vaginal walls are softening. 

Tests:

FRER and Wondfo progression

10.29.13- Cycle Day 26

CD 26

12 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.58 (taken late)

Taking: Multivitamin

5MTHF

Most noticeable difference is that it is closed tight.

Tests:

10.29.13- Cycle Day 25

CD 25

11 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.42

Taking: Multivitamin

5MTHF

Cervix is firm and closed.

Peed on a stick.

Actually, I peed on a lot of sticks. I made a collage for easier upload. Urine only.

All at the 5 minute mark.

Comparative to yesterday's test.

I didn't show you this, but my FRER was Negafive yesterday and therefore against my agenda to post.

Took this one because it's less sensitive than the clearblue digi. I think this reads 40-45.

FRER pictured in better light.

And all of them at time limit:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

MORE TOMORROW.

~~EDIT~~ I also took a belly shot. 11 DPO is also 3w 4d pregnant. I thought it would be a good idea just in case the sticks got darker, you know?

 So there it is.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 24

CD 24

10 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.67 (not taken correctly)

Taking: Vitamin C

5MTHF

L-Arginine

Multivitamin

L-Theanine

Coenzyme Q 10

Cervix is bruised looking. Cervix is closed.

I did test today.

I do think I see a line on this one and I do not think this is evidence to my insanity.

So I took this one, which looks positive to me.

That led me to take this one.

 Negative? Screw you, FRER.

But I can't let it go, so I took a blood one too. 2 drops blood for 18 drops water.

I guess the first 2 were right!

Remember last cycle's blood hpt? 

Clearly negative. No dye, little bit of an evap. 

BUT THESE TWO:

 Definitely calling myself pregnant.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 23

CD 23

9 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.40

Taking: 5MTHF

Multivitamin

L-Arginine

L-Theanine

Conenzyme Q 10

Vitamin C

Cervix is really really tilted. I didn't tilt the thing so I don't really know what it thinks it's doing.

Like, where are you going?

I had to tilt the camera SO LOW to get this shot.

And even then it's not really that great.

Tomorrow is my anniversary. I am considering testing then just because and why not. I don't really feel like I conceived though, so it may be entirely useless.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 22

CD 22

8 Days Past Ovulation

Temperature: 98.40

Taking: 5MTHF

Multivitamin

L-Arginine

L-Theanine

Conenzyme Q 10

Vitamin C

Temp is normal today because Man keeps medicating me while I'm half asleep. -_-

Cervix is more central, creamy cervical fluid turned more eggwhite-ish today.

In the middle of the implantation window. Woo.

10.29.13- Cycle Day 21

CD 21

7 Days Past Ovulation 

Temperature: 99.01

Taking: nothing, still sick, as indicated by temperature.

Cercic looks totally different today than it ever does but I assume that's from sickness.

Window of implantation should have opened today but I assume a fever has fried any blastocyst.