13 weeks 3 days

Howdy bloggers!

2 more sleeps to go until Christmas. So looking forward to xmas this year as we will be announcing our pregnancy to the world and finally everyone will know about it. It's been tough keeping it a secret and to be honest, I haven't been trying too hard! I love seeing people's faces when I tell them ... rather than doing a mass announcement on face book, so I've been telling people when I see them. But my sisters and brothers and grandfather find out on Christmas day. Can't wait to see their excitement!

As for me? I'm feeling pretty darn fabulous at the moment. I have very little nausea now, it does rear it's ugly head from time to time because I let myself get too hungry. Crackers generally do the trick and it settles itself down again. I'm still really quite tired, despite getting 8-9 hours sleep a night. I'm not looking forward to not being able to sleep on my tummy as this is my most favourite of sleeping positions!! And I'm back at the gym exercising and have started some swimming too as my back is getting a little stiff and sore.

Have told work about the pregnancy, so if all goes well my last day will be around 4th June. They took it well! :)

Have a great day!

LBG xx

12 weeks 5 days

1 more week until the official announcement goes out! So excited! We've got our christmas cards printed and they look so cute. A pic of me and hubby with an oval photo of Rupert wearing a christmas santa had super imposed on my belly. Our first family photo!!! Keeping one for the photo album.

Feeling a bit sickly today so just tucking in to some mango and strawberries. Loving the summer fruits available at the moment. Other than that, the tiredness is lifting and I'm feeling human again.

Have a great weekend!

LBG xx

12 weeks 1 day

My little munchkin.... I present you with Rupert!!

Yes he is very cute, even if I do say so myself!

Ultrasound went just great, and our risk of the baby having down's syndrome is 1:13,338 so we are extremely low risk. Big sigh of relief! Rupert was moving so much during the scan. at one point the sonographer kind of jiggled my uterus and he went nuts inside, moving his little arms and legs. So cute! Next scan isn't until the end of January when we find out if its a girl or a boy! How exciting!

thank you so much for everyone who reads and comments on my blog. I accidentally rejected all the comments made recently.

One question I had (from someone I forget their name - so so sorry!!!) - but the question was - do I think I would have been able to lose the weight without the band and the answer is most definitely NO. But it's more than that - it's the fact that I don't have to think about dieting anymore, I don't have the pressure on me that I did before to continuously struggle to lose each kilo. I can eat normally (normal for me now is to have mega small portions!! I feel weird if I have a big plate of food infront of me and I'm used to serving myself small portions on a side plate) and I know what foods I can and can't eat. I love my band. I haven't had any fill taken out for the pregnancy and as a result I've only gained 2kg in 12 weeks!

Mummy update: Yep I'm feeling 10 gazillion times better now that the first trimester is over! The morning sickness has lifted quite a bit and I'm not so tired in the evenings anymore. Was at the gym 3 times last week buring 600 cals per session and I felt fantastic afterwards. Very conscious of my heart rate when I exercise so I am wearing a monitor to ensure that it doesn't go above 150 beats per minute. I'm eating all sorts of fruits and salads (I heart summer!!) and I'm not having any problems with getting stuck or vomiting. But I'm still getting that amazing restriction. Love it! I can also slightly feel my uterus if I palpate above my pubic bone... it just feels really firm. I'm not showing yet, but my pants are tight now so hopefully not too long until I look pregnant and not just fat! *lol*

Hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for leaving your comments! I love receiving them!

Love Love,

LBG xx

11 weeks 2 days

Hello everyone!

I am now 5 days off the 2nd trimester... time sure is flying. I'm also nearly 1/3 of the way through the pregnancy!!! *eek* Rupert will be here before you know it!

I had my doctors appointment last Thursday. Everything went well. Saw Rupert on the ultrasound which was just lovely. Little arms and legs thrashing about, did a big ol' stretch and turned to face the camera (perhaps he knew he was being watched?). My obgyn told me he would be happy if I didn't gain any more weight during the pregnancy. I weighed in at 97kg, which means I've gained 3kg since beginning of September. So, that's my aim - not to gain anymore weight. But I'm not going to go stupid and no eat or get more fill in my band. At the moment my band is still restricting me from eating large meals but I'm able to eat almost all types of foods (salads, veges, fruits in particular) with next to no problems which I am happy with. At the end of the day I'm going to do what is right for a happy and healthy pregnancy. The band is definitely NOT letting me eat for two - lets just put it that way!

Morning sickness has decreased even more over the past week and I'm now back at the gym and doing some nice lovely walks outside. Definitely coming out of the funk I was in and starting to feel like my old self. I'm starting to get a little bit of a bump, but it definitely just looks like I've gotten fatter rather than I'm pregnant! We're trying to keep it a secret until christmas day but it's getting harder and harder not to talk about it to people!

Next ultrasound is booked for 14th December. That's when we will do the Nuchal Transleucency Scan to test for downs syndrome - wish us luck!!! We also will get some photos to take away with us so I'll definitely post them up on my blog for you to see!

Thanks for reading! Have a lovely day!

LBG xx

1/4 of the way through!

Hey all!

Sorry I've been AWOL over the past 2 weeks. Busy at work, not so busy at home but just not wanting to get on the computer when I am home from work.
Not much has happened... I'm still pregnant, now at 9 weeks 6 days today. The Nausea settled down this week and because of that my band is a little less restrictive and I can eat more food. I'm just not all that hungry and when I think about food I feel sick. I'm hungry and nauseous at the same time, I didn't think it was possible!

Haven't been exercising over the past 2 weeks. Really haven't been feeling like it, so tired. Will get into it once I hit the second trimester in 2 weeks, cos thats when I'm meant to be feeling more energetic.

I have an obgyn appointment this thurdsay and I'm hoping I'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. and then in the next couple of weeks we'll get to go for an ultrasound and actually see a properly formed human on the screen! SO EXCITED! :)

I haven't put on much weight and the weight I have put on is more fluid than fat. My boobs have gone up a whole cup size and I'm in a D cup maternity bra now! *eek* The Mat bras are Sooooooooooooooooo much more comfortable than regular bras.. so glad I bought them.
my belly has expanded, although I still look like I've eaten a few too many doughnuts than I'm actually pregnant. None of my regular pants now fit and I seem to be wearing the same 2 pairs of pants for work each week! Looking forward until I am actually showing and look pregnant, rather than just fat... especially when I can't suck my guts in any more!!!

Hope everyone is well in blogland! Will post after my appt this week to let you know how I get on.

LBG xx

7 weeks 2 days!

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well in Blogland. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Nothing much has been going on other than me putting on weight.... so weird that I'm putting on weight, for the past 2 years I've been losing weight... but I think, it's for a good cause - but it still mucks with me mentally.

My nausea has been pretty constant now, sometimes I even wake up with it. Whoever called it Morning Sickness had no idea what they were talking about. Had my first pregnancy spew yesterday. Today I tried crackers and vegemite for lunch which totally worked. I think I'm just going to have to have light snacks throughout the day rather than trying to manage bigger meals. I start feeling better mid afternoon and need something to eat, but until then I struggle to get water down :(
Band is also pretty tight at the moment, not sure if that is Nausea related. But I think it's because I'm not "working it" by eating regularly.

I had my ultrasound last thursday to date the pregnancy. Was SO COOL to see little Ruperts tiny heart beating. So So cool! Looks like I was slightly out with my dates by around 2 days, so I'm two days closer to meeting my precious bundle!!

Next ultrasound won't be for a while (another 5 weeks or so), at the moment Rupert is just busy growing. he's already 1.3cm!!

Thanks for reading!

LBG xx

Into the 6th Week!

Rupert celebrated being 5 weeks yesterday so I'm officially in my sixth week. Rupert is now the size of an orange seed. Starting to feel the nausea a little more and intense tireness. Imagine having a lunch full of carbs and having that crash mid afternoon - now, times that by 100 and that's what it feels like for me from around 10am until I go to bed. The nausea only happens in the morning at the moment and generally goes by mid morning, once I've had something to eat. I've been a little tight with my band over the past couple of days so haven't been able to eat much, so the nausea has lingered a little. Today I'm going to eat little and often and see how that goes.

Still petrified that I'm going to lose the little tiny thing thats growing inside of me. I've heard of so many people having miscarriages right up to week 12, I still have over half way to go until the end of the first trimester when the threat of miscarraiges drops by 98%!! Half of all miscarraiges happen before the woman even finds out she's pregnant, so fingers crossed this little guy (or girl) is stuck in their nice and good and is growing well.

Over the next few weeks is when most of it's organs grow, so it is extremely sensitive to toxins etc.. So I'm being extremely cautious about eating artificial sweetener and caffeine..

Hope everyone is well!

LBG xx

HCG Levels are Positive!

Had a blood test yesterday to test for the pregnancy and the results have come back saying that its positive! I still can't believe it, so surreal! according to the levels it puts me at between 4-5 weeks pregnant which is true as Rupert is now 4 weeks and 4 days old. Almost the size of a sesame seed now. My little bub is growing so fast!! hehe

I have to book in for a 6 week scan in a couple of weeks, that will hopefully show a heart beat. Then it's back to the doctors for another chat and a referral to an OBGYN. I've already selected who I am going to go with, a family friend of my dads who he used to work with. And I've already booked in with the hospital I want to give birth at.

We haven't told many people yet, and we are going to keep it private until Christmas. I'll be nearly 14 weeks then. We're going to let our families know on Christmas day... not sure how we're going to tell them but I don't know if I'll be able to keep the secret that long!!! Good thing is, is that we'll have a proper ultrasound pic which we can copy and give to everyone as chrissy presents! Maybe attach it to a "Keep this date free" card.

Lapband wise - everything is fine. I'm going getting any Morning Sickness yet, just really hungry. I've been trying to eat as healthy as possible although the snacks are getting in there a little. The restriction comes and goes... yesterday I ate 2 bread rolls!!! CRAZY! I'm also very very low in iron, so I've started taking iron supplements.

Have a great weekend :)

LBG xx

4 weeks 1 day

That's how old my little poppy seed sized embryo is right now. Well that's what I've estimated it to be. It's name is Rupert... such a cute name. DH says it reminds him of the cartoon teddy bear, a name we would never give a real child though... but cute for a tiny ball of cells :) This week Rupert is starting to form 3 layers which will eventually become a neural tube - this then develops into the brain and spinal cord. I'm diligently taking my folate and iodine to prevent any defects

I hardly slept a wink last night which didn't help that I was flying to Adelaide for the day today. I'm so tired. I have felt slightly sickly this morning, but nothing major. Also have felt more twinges down in my uterus... so I guess things are happening down there. I'm petrified that Rupert won't stick... so I'm trying not to take much notice of the twinges, but they are pretty constant now.

I rang my fertility specialist this morning and told her I was pregnant. She was thrilled. She said that my progesterone was really high for somebody who just ovulated, so she had an inkling I may have fallen pregnant but of course couldn't tell me that. So now I'm off to my local GP on Friday for a confirmatory blood test. Not sure how long that will take to come through... pray this weekend goes fast!!! Just to clarify, I didn't take ANY medications to help me with this pregnancy... this is o'naturale... but I was supposed to start ovulation stimulating medication this month!! Clomid was the name of the drug.

Band wise I'm doing OK. Just can't get full. Feeling the restriction, but always hungry. Am very conscious of what I can and can't eat now... so no soft cheeses... which I love :(

Thank you for all your beautiful comments. They mean so much! :)

I'll be keeping you all well informed of Ruperts progress :)

LBG xx

I'm Pregnant!!

I'm in SHOCK. Complete Shock. Here I was thinking that it was going to take months to get pregnant and 2 pregnancy tests have confirmed. Now I just have to get to the doctor to get a blood test done to confirm...

So pregnant with a lapband... this will be interesting! I'm due for a fill on 4th November, but now I don't think I should get one... especially if I've got morning sickness.

No symptoms so far... except for some funny feelings down there... kinda like twinges... but not uncomfortable.

Here's to a happy and healthy pregnancy!!!

I am 4 weeks pregnant! Due 29th June 2010 (according to my calculations... I could be wrong!)

LBG xx