Slacker Blogger

June 19, 2011 (Father's Day)

In my defense, blogging is very new to me. Also in my defense, I'm pregnant and trying to focus on keeping my food down. I've been a bad, bad blogger. I promise to try to do better.

Here is a summary of how things have gone in the past couple of months:

April 13, 2011: I got my first positive pregnancy test ever.

April 14, 2011: I revealed the pregnancy to my parents (on my dad's birthday). We gave my dad a birthday card signed "Aly, Blake and Baby Halpern (due December 2011)"

April 15, 2011: My first round of blood work confirmed my pregnancy (blood work on April 18th and April 25th showed that my beta levels were rising properly, which indicates a viable pregnancy early on)

April 29, 2011 (6 weeks pregnant): My world is temporarily turned upside down as I face a bleeding scare. I race to the doctor's office, fighting tears the whole way, only to find that an ultrasound shows a healthy little bean measuring right on track.

May 3, 2011: My first scheduled ultrasound reveals a healthy baby with a heartbeat!

May 17, 2011: Another ultrasound. Everything looks great again! Dr. Kaufmann, my reproductive endocrinologist, releases me from his care. I am 8.5 weeks pregnant.

As I reached the 9 week mark, I start feeling a little sick. Up to that point, it has been smooth sailing (besides the bleeding scare, of course). I had very few symptoms, my main one being exhaustion. Just when I was starting to think I was one of the "lucky ones," things start to change.

By 10 weeks pregnant, morning sickness had taken permanent residence in my body. As each day goes by, it gets worse and worse. I'm still battling some typical first trimester exhaustion, but it is nothing compared to the constant pukey feeling.

June 1, 2011 was my first OB appointment (at 10.5 weeks pregnant). I miss Dr. Kaufmann, but it is fun and exciting to be seeing the "regular doctor."

Today, I am 13 weeks, 2 days pregnant. I'm sicker than ever. I don't puke every day, but I definitely feel sick just about every day. I've tried Zofran, a Phenergan topical compound, and Phenergan pills. They don't touch the morning sickness. Now I'm just praying that this passes soon, as second trimester is supposed to bring an end to this silly business.

This past Thursday (June 16, 2011), I went in for my 1st trimester sequential screening. It was the best ultrasound yet! Baby finally looks like a real baby rather than a blob or a misshapen gummy bear. And we could see the little baby's head bobbing and arms waving. It was pure awesome.

I'm about ready to start taking belly pictures, so that I can track my growth. I hope to keep my "growth" primarily to my midsection. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll have a picture ready to post soon... as I'm definitely starting to expand (though it really just looks like a beer gut at this point).

Oh, and I'm craving pickles like crazy! I know it's cliche but it's true. Pickles are my friend.

Happy Father's Day to my sweet, sweet husband. I love you Blake!

Signing off for now...