Fet Cycle - I'm Already Gaining Weight!

[Des0520 28]

This gives me some great hope. I'm about to start clomid and work my way up to IVF. We haven't tried any type of fertility treatment before and considering we haven't done anything in the 8 years we've been married to prevent a pregnancy I'm a little worried that it won't work. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope everything goes greatly for you.

[clk 3,519]

I am thrilled, THRILLED to announce that we're expecting one little baby in March. I am so relieved! They did find what appears to be a disappearing sac, so it might have originally been two, but at this point it doesn't matter.

Everything was measuring spot on and looks great.

And as additional good news, as soon as I started weaning off my progesterone supplements, I lost three pounds. Ha! If that keeps up I'll be down to no gain so far, which wouldn't make me sad at all. The little one is measuring exactly right, and so long as it's growing I'm doing fine.

I'm up a total of three pounds so far, which is fine. I did move into maternity pants, more for comfort than anything else. This is my third pregnancy and my belly popped out right away. Apparently my body knows what to expect by now. I'm still a six everywhere except my waistline so I could wear my own clothes, but those Bella Bands aren't really all that comfortable to me. I don't like having my pants unzipped when I walk around even if it's covered by material!

My appetite has increased but what I want is grilled meat, vegetables and lots and lots of ice Water. I managed to eat an entire 3 oz. of steak last night, with half a very small baked potato and a cup of salad made with butter lettuce. It might not sound like much but it's far more than my usual capacity - close to double, I'd say. So yes, the sleeve definitely relaxes for pregnancy, which is good. If it didn't, I'd have to drink Protein shakes all day long to make up the difference!

~Cheri

[LouiseC 1,029]

Congratulations!

[flipflop 28]

I am so excited for you!

[lvnvmom1 18]

yay

[KristinaRN 54]

Congratulations!!! Thank you for sharing your journey, I look forward to reading your updates.

I conceived my daughter in 2006 with Clomid (I have PCOS) then tried unsuccessfully for 2 years to have another before my VSG. I am now 1 year post-op and we are back on the Clomid roller coaster. I should find out next week if this cycle worked, soooo nervous. Your story brought me some much needed hope, so thank you

[flipflop 28]

Cheri, how are you doing?

[clk 3,519]

I've been MIA on VST lately. It's just kind of how it is once you're so far out from surgery!

I'm seventeen weeks and feeling pretty good. Here's the reality (for me) of being pregnant with the sleeve:

1) My diet is seriously disrupted. meat makes me sick. Dairy makes me sick. What does that leave me to eat? eggs. Brothy Soups. Protein Shakes (already causes a little nausea but not too bad). And the big baddie: carbs. Lots and lots and lots of carbs. I am not a carb avoider - I eat a very well balanced diet normally. But for the past twelve weeks just about the only thing I can hold down are sandwiches...and sweets. I normally avoid sweets, not because I don't want them but because they're not as appealing as they used to be. That changed with pregnancy. Since eggs are "safe" I've been eating lots of egg salad, fried egg sandwiches and homemade egg and cheese McMuffins. I cannot drink any coffee, even Decaf, because it makes me incredibly sick. This makes me very sad and probably a little more irritable than I'd normally be.

2) My capacity is about double what it used to be. What does that really mean, though? I've had a very small capacity the whole time I've been sleeved. So for lunch today, I ordered salad made with vermicelli, carrots, cucumbers and a oil/vinegar dressing (got about 1/2 cup) and borscht (got about 1 cup). I was able to eat less than 1/4 of the salad and about 3/4 of the Soup. Total intake: less than one cup of food, and part of it Pasta, which is still an issue for me. But unlike six months ago, I can now eat an entire egg salad or sandwich. Before, I could only eat a whole sandwich if it was grilled cheese on super thin bread.

3) It is hard to get on the scale and gain weight, even if you're doing it "for a good reason." And it's even harder to see that you're gaining more rapidly than you'd hoped. Darn those hormones I was on for months! I'm seventeen weeks and up roughly fifteen pounds. It's more than I'd want to gain, HOWEVER, I can still wear my size six skinny jeans buttoned up under my belly. I'm still a size small in maternity clothes and I'm still able to wear a lot of my pre-pregnancy shirts, they just look different with a bump under them. So while I'm mentally struggling with the gain, and while I wish I had gained about half what I've actually gained, I'm not the chubby girl I feel like I am some days! All of that said, I have gained only two pounds in the last five weeks, and I hope to keep on at this slower pace but it's really out of my control. I have to eat and now isn't the time to try and diet, because the baby comes first. I did want to share that it's definitely more of a mental struggle than I expected, though.

4) I don't care if it's TMI, but I'm so happy to have boobs again! HA! That's a perk I'd been missing for sure. I joke that half of the fifteen pounds I gained are in my chest and upper arms.

I'm glad to be back in Bishkek, honestly. I was in the states for seven weeks and was guilty of using convenience to eat, especially when I was feeling so sick with morning sickness. I can't even buy a decent loaf of bread here: I make all of my bread, English muffins, etc. from scratch. So I know I cut down a bit on the junky stuff by doing that. And produce is CHEAP here and good quality, all local stuff. So it's nice to spend $20 for 15 pounds of produce, instead of paying $2.50 for one bell pepper! My diet has improved since being home and making everything myself again, which is possibly related to the fact that I've been home a few weeks and haven't really packed on pounds. Something to consider.

In any case, I'm comfortable, baby is doing well and while I've never been a glowing, cheerful pregnant woman I'm doing well and feel pretty good overall.

I'm scheduling an ultrasound for sometime between 19-20 weeks to make sure everything is okay and to hopefully get a peek at gender.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

~Cheri