Hurst Family: A Baby Story

If you see me out, don't mind that I'm only 9 1/2 weeks pregnant but I look like I'm big enough to give birth here in a couple months.  I'm feeling pretty good (I've only had 2 pain pills in the past 5 days!) but I will still be dealing with OHSS symptoms on and off until I'm closer to 12-13 weeks along.  The OHSS still causes fluid buildup in my abdomen, but not anything like it was a month ago and not enough to have another paracentesis performed.  I don't mind looking pregnant and actually being pregnant, but I'm hoping that the fluid decreases over the next few weeks and then I grow a baby belly vs an OHSS belly.  Until then, I'm keeping an eye on my diet, drinking lots of fluids (because dehydration is a concern with my condition), and feeling good enough to get back in the gym and move a little weight and/or body weight around.  I'm not sure of many fitness classes I could go to that would be as scalable as any crossfit workout, and I love ...

Sometimes I feel like this is never going to end... but I know once I'm through it I'll look back and realize that this time, although tough, will have gone by fast.  I remember when we found out I was pregnant with Khloe we were excited!  We went out and celebrated!  This pregnancy has started out differently.  We haven't had the opportunity to really celebrate and get excited much.  We've both been dealing with, what feels like, a very long and debilitating illness on my part.  Today, I was unable to get out of bed until 4pm.  I felt so terrible all day that I couldn't do anything different.  It was supposed to be a very busy day -- I had three different events planned -- but I had to cancel everything to stay inside, in bed, trying to control pain with medication.  I think I'm starting to feel sorry for myself..... it makes me sad sometimes.  But, I have to force myself to see the bigger picture.  Once I'm through these symptom...

I hopped on the pain train last Friday morning around 10am, just hours before we were set to leave for our 5hr road trip to see Josh play over the weekend.  After popping pain pills, and curling up on my bed in the fetal position while Kellen got things ready that I listed off for him, the pain seemed to start tapering down.  This was normal, as the pain just comes and goes as it pleases, but it never hangs around that long and the pain medication I'm on typically helps. I was fine sitting in the car for 5 hours, but once we arrived at the Renaissance in Cleveland, I stepped out of the car and felt shooting pain in my left side.  The nurse had mentioned last week that my left side looked worse/bigger, but at that time I wasn't feeling anything special on either side, it was pretty much equally distributed.  I managed this pain throughout the entire weekend on 6 pain pills and extra strength tylenol.  I only made the .8 mile walk to the stadium one time as we h...

I think I have a case of IVF PTSD.  I've been getting great news, and I have moments of excitement, but they are so short lived.  I'm quickly back into "waiting mode" for that next appointment for another chance to be confirmed that this is real.  I have another two weeks to wait until my next ultrasound appointment (Wednesday July 22) to check that things are still progressing. Today, from what the nurse could see, as she says "your ovaries are still HUGE", only ONE babe was visible.  :-)  We saw the heartbeat.  :-)  Everything looked great.  My ovaries are still huge because symptoms of OHSS may not completely go away until after the first trimester.  As of today, I am 6w3d pregnant and my due date is February 25.  Can I just say that I probably would have had a huge panic attack if there would have been two babies?  I mean....my body, that newborn stage, nursing, our little Broad Ripple house with no sound barrier...  no...

The wait for this first ultrasound has been harder than any two week wait for an HCG beta.  I'm not nearly as confident or naive as I was when I got a positive beta with Khloe back in 2010.  I've been through unsuccessful rounds since then, and I've since received a positive beta that did not result in a viable pregnancy.  Today, I'm praying and hoping I'm still pregnant (first off), even though all signs still point to me being pregnant.  The OHSS symptoms are still hanging around as I occasionally get pain attacks, mostly in the middle of the night, and Aunt Flo has stayed away.  At home tests read positive.  I've also been completely exhausted nearly 100% of the time.  As I get ready to head out the door to meet Kellen at the clinic, I'm nervous but I'm hopeful.  Am I actually pregnant?  Will we see a glimpse of a heartbeat?  Is there one, two or five babies in there?  (Not funny.)  We're about to find out at 2pm.

Well, hello everyone!  I haven't updated this blog since Tuesday June 23rd - oops.  However, there haven't been any but good changes since then.  My second blood draw showed that my beta HCG had doubled, perfectly like they/we were hoping.  Since then, I have been totally exhausted.  Most days I take a nap, which is typically unusual for me.  Actually, I don't even like naps.  I always feel like I'm losing quality daylight time if I'm inside sleeping.  :) I never ended up going in for a 4th paracentesis, thank God.  I'm still dealing with fluid in my abdomen, but it is slowly decreasing as the days pass.  I was able to sleep on my stomach for the first time last night.  I still take the occasional pain pill before bed or in the middle of the night when the cramping seems to get the most intense, but for the most part, it's manageable and getting easier each day. I'm looking forward to a relaxing couple of days this weekend as we...