Lots of Updates!

The holiday season took over and I haven't had a chance to get back on here and update until today! It has been a very crazy couple of weeks and so far things are going great!

To start with, I got my second lab results on Friday the 21st. My hCG went up from 2414 to 7500 in 48 hours. They normally look for numbers to double in 48 hours and mine tripled. At first I was ecstatic, and then the worries took over. Were my numbers going up too fast, could it mean that something was wrong? Rather than freak out over it for the next few weeks, I decided to let it go. My hormone levels were rising and that's a good thing!

I had my "intake" appointment at my new OBs office that day as well. I met with the nurse practitioner, she calculated my due date based on my last menstrual period, she gave me a packet of information, and sent me on my way. Honestly it felt a little bit like a waste of time since I had already seen the doctor due to cramps, but you have to follow protocol I guess! We had some bad luck on Friday though as well. I was driving back home from my appointment (it's about a half hour drive since we now live outside of the city) and my car just stopped working. I'm just driving along on the freeway and then NOTHING, it was like I ran out of gas, but I had plenty of gas in the tank. I had to call my hubby to come save me and we had the car towed back home. It looks like it is a "timing chain" (or something like that) which could be a pricey repair on a car that's probably not worth putting any more money into. So, right now we only have my husband's truck up and running which makes for an expensive drive back and forth to his work. It's still up in the air as to whether we will repair the car or give up and buy a new one. (well it will be used, but new to us!)

We ended up borrowing my husband's grandparents' car to make the 8 hour trip up North to see my family. It was so nice to see them! We were there from Saturday the 22 until Friday the 28th. I had a blast with my niece who is 5 1/2 years old already. I was there when she was born and it's been amazing to watch her grow over the years. She was sick with a virus most of the time, but that seems to be pretty standard for Christmas with the poor little peanut.

Now, you might think that with all of this going on that I would have forgotten to  take my weekly pictures. Each picture was a day or two late, but they got taken and are finally ready to be shared.


Week 5
Weight: 134 (-2 lbs)
Due Date: August 22, 2013
Symptoms: Acne and breast tenderness.
Emotions: Happy and looking forward to Christmas. Being a little bit of a worrier since this was the week things went bad, but spending time with family is a great distraction.
Notable News or Events: Good hCG numbers, first doctor's office visit!
What Other People Are Saying About Baby/Pregnancy: My sister kissed the belly for the first time and is so excited to be an auntie! I started using the name "Baby K" (our last name starts with K) to refer to our little one (still hoping for something better to inspire me). 

I am pretty sure that the "baby bloat" is actually smaller in these 5 week pictures than in the 4 week ones, but since it's bloat and not actually the baby yet, I suppose that's to be expected.

I will be posting about week 6 tomorrow since this is already getting to be quite lengthy! What was your early pregnancy like? Did you have lots of symptoms or only a few?