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Sooo good to hear from you! I was a bit worried when I hadn't seen anything from you for a while, glad it was just a silly technology glitch!

Wow, second trimester. I can't imagine getting there at this point! It's funny how you say you appreciate the bad as well as the good. That is how I THOUGHT I would feel. I kept making stupid comments like "bring on the terrible morning sickness". Well, I haven't even coped with a bit of all day nausea very well! I had a headache for two days which didn't help. I am having trouble working out what foods my tummy is happy to accept. I think I will have to give up on breakfast as I eat 2-3 bites and then can't stomach any more! But then again, I am usually waking up 2-3 times in the night absolutely starving. Tummy says if I don't feed it I will feel very sick. I HATE feeling sick. I am not used to it at all! But, it does give me a huge amount of hope that this time will be better than the last. I thin worse than the nausea, backaches and terrible terrible bowel issues I have been having is the worry over how to deal with it at work. I don't want anyone to find out until I am through the first trimester if possible. I don't know what to do if I am standing in front of a classroom of students and suddenly feel I need to be sick...

We didn't want to involve medical people until we really had to because last time the interventions were far too stressful. And who knows, maybe they didn't help with my situation. Anyway this time we didn't get anything done until a few days ago. I rang up and organised to have a blood test on Friday. I probably won't get the results for a few days but I am hoping it is much higher than last time or the familiar worries will start! After that I will organise a midwife (they told me not to do that until after the test). I don't know when i will have scans and things. Probably not until 12 weeks which is fine by me!

Wow that is great news about your scan!! It must be a relief to discover things are good. I will be very nervous waiting to go in for my first one. there is so much that could go wrong! But then again, it is incredible we got pregnant in the first place. Still can't quite believe it sometimes. We were all booked in for IVF in October/November. I have to call them and cancel once I reach 12 weeks! I will wait until after our scan though just to be sure! It is fantastic to know that despite both our issues we can get pregnant. We had another sperm analysis just after we discovered I was pregnant (we already had it booked in so thought why not?) and it was just as bad as the previous ones, so this really is a miracle!

How did friends and family react to your news? Are you in maternity clothes yet or making do with regular loose fitting ones? I had such terrible bowel issues I think my pyjamas were making it worse because they have an elastic wasitband, so I am wearing my husband's pyjama bottoms now!!! He is over 6 foot so they are huge! But so comfy. I have had bloating issues so some days couldn't wear normal clothes, and am still careful of anything tight but I have enough carefully stocked items that I should be fine for another couple of months I hope. I too am slim so not sure if that means i will show properly earlier or not...

Tell me all your stories! I have missed talking to you :)

I am still just so excited to hear that you are pregnant too!! Such great news! I immediately told my dh yesterday when I found out because he remembers me speaking of you and the website back when we were ttc and he says congratulations as well! So sorry to hear about how bad your morning sickness has been, I had it all day as well. Though thankfully I have been pretty okay when it comes to food what always made me sick is if I got super cold and started shivering I would throw up or if my new found super smelling nose would pick up something strange I would start throwing up haha. I had a lot of bloating too. From 5 weeks all the way to 12 when I started my second trimester. I had the really bad bowel issues too and still get them occasionally.

I am so glad you were able to achieve pregnancy naturally and didn't have to go for your IVF! I swear its when we least expect it, it happens! I had my first scan at 4 weeks along with the blood test to confirm the pregnancy. And at 6 weeks I had another scan and we were able to hear the heartbeat. And at the 8 weeks scan he finally started to look like an actual baby and not a dot with a tail anymore haha. I completely understand waiting to tell people. We told our parents and siblings right away and we waited until about 8-10 weeks to tell everyone else. I was told that once you hear the heartbeat the chances of something going wrong drop drastically and we were so excited we just couldn't wait anymore haha. Everyone is very excited for us are really happy. Which we are very thankful for. Unfortunately his sister that i was telling you about that found out she was pregnant right before us lost her baby the day after we told our family about us which was a hard time.

As for the showing part... I noticed about 6 weeks that in between my hipbones was starting to curve out, no one else noticed of course because it was such a tiny change but I could definitely tell on myself. And my chest started growing bigger immediately, its crazy. At one point it hurt so bad I couldn't even raise my arms up to wash my hair in the shower. But that has eased off thankfully. As for anymore showing than that it didnt happen until recently. I would say about 13 weeks I started to get the belly instead of the bloat. Its still not very big at all but it is definitely becoming a bump now. I can tell now that at 15 weeks it is making a change for the bigger. I can't wear my pants anymore and my shirts are starting to ride up now.

Something that you might be interested in that I got was an at home fetal doppler. Its this little hand held thing that you put some of the clear jelly on your belly then run this thing across it and you can hear the heartbeat from your baby anytime you want. I tend to worry a lot and it just eases my mind and brings the biggest smile to my face when I can hear his little heart beating and hear him moving around.

How are you feeling today?

Aw that is so sweet of your DH to remember :) I remember you telling me about his sister, that must have been very hard. I had a close friend who had also been trying for years announce her pregnancy to a group of our friends the same day I had planned to tell them about our miscarriage. I couldn't back out as it would have been so obvious I wasn't as happy as I should have been. It was a very bittersewwt evening.

I am feeling yucky this morning. Felt great right up until a few minutes ago when I had to put down my juice. I can't eat any breakfast at all. I haven't vomitted yet at all but it feels like it is getting closer to that point. I will actually be pleased when/if it happens but I hate this feeling of being on the verge. Ihad a great night;s sleep though. Almost 8 hours. I have been going to be early but waking up multiple times in the night.

I am so pleased we didn't have to go through the IVF too. I was starting to get concerned about the fact that you miss the step of natural selection in the process when an embryologist chooses the sperm. I had a long conversation with my sister-in-law about it a few weeks back, not knowing I was actually pregnant at the time! It was quite funny as we went on a trip to visit family and friends. During the trip we were offerend more leg room in an emergency exit on a plane. We were told we couldn't sit there if I was pregnant, of course I assumed I wasn't because I didn't know! And I ate sushi with my sister which was delicious! And hummus which was also delicious! I was b=very amused to find out my assumption was wrong!

I have that little curve out on my tummy too. It is more pronounced when I have really bad gas! My chest feels heavier and looks slightly bigger. It hasn't hurt as much this time as last, I wonder if that is because it already went through some of those changes so didn't have as much to go through?

I like the idea of a fetal doppler. I know they are so expensive new. How early can you detect the heartbeat with one? 6 weeks 3 days today... Better get ready for work! Let's see if my body has settled down enough so I can get through it okay!

Sorry to hear you are feeling that way. I had the gag things a lot too without actually throwing up. It is definitely annoying feeling that way when you have somewhere to be! Maybe you feeling this way is a good sign that everything will workout this time! :] Sipping cold water and taking deep breaths helped me out a lot. The most annoying symptom i have now is I have developed a sensitivity to florescent lights If I go into a store that doesnt have the covers over their lights I get a headache and start feeling dizzy. But Im sure it wont be too long before it passes and Im on to the next symptom haha :]

Yes they are very expensive. I found a company online that lets you rent them for pretty cheap. We pay 20 dollars a month to rent one (Im not sure how that translates to your currency but it isnt a lot) I only plan to rent it until i can start to feel the baby move then I wont need it anymore. It is definitely worth the peace of mind it gives. Im not sure how early it picks up the heartbeat Its the same grade that the doctors use and they can usually find it between 6-8 weeks. I am 15 now and I found the heartbeat the second I sat it on my belly. Its cute because you can hear it get louder when he swims up near it and it will get really quiet when he goes down to the bottom to hide haha.

Good luck at work today! I hope everything goes smoothly!

Well, I just had an eventful day! I rang the doctor after work to see if I could get my blood test results. The nurse said "It all looks normal" which didn't help much. I had to ask for the hCG level. It was 44,700!!! This is a 6 weeks pregnant. Last time it would have been well under 6000 at this point. I was going to be ecstatic if it was over 10,000!!! Definitely a very different pregnancy! So then I rang a midwife. I had looked up all the ones in my area last week so had the name and number all ready. She was happy to take me on fortunately. One unfortunate thing is she will be away sometime in Jan, a week or two after I am due. So I am hoping this baby comes on time or a few days early. She has a practice with good backup midwives so if she is away at the critical time it won't matter. So we have an appointment for three weeks time. Everyone feels very relaxed about the pregnancy which gives me huge confidence. If they were at all worried I would be!

I felt slightly sick all day again. Had a few moments when I thought "I need to stop talking because clenching the muscles in my diaphragm is not good..." I can't sip water because I am in a science lab and it is a safety hazard. What I have learned to do is pop some gum in my mouth before going to class and chew when needed. Really helps! And yes, deep breaths are good. Got through okay. Had trouble eating lunch again. But, because I slept well I coped. If it continues like this I can handle it. If it gets worse, I will have to adjust I suppose! Can't believe I am so early and already having these difficulties! The high hCG can certainly account for that.

The doppler does sound fun! I don't know if they have ones for rent here! At the moment I am happily relaxed. I will keep it in mind if I get stressed though! I really think this pregnancy might work. I know I won't relax for a good long while. I will be even happier after a scan - might have one before 12 weeks but not sure.

Goodness my tummy is calling out for food! It is SOOOO insistent. Have you had that issue? I can feel totally unhungry and then a few seconds later I need food NOW! This first happened to me the night after I got my positive, and was an immediate sign that things were different to last time.

I feel like everyday I could write a book on my pregnancy. Last time I barely felt different. :) :) :)

That is good news that you had high numbers! Luckily HGC levels peak at 8-11 weeks then start to fall and level out which is why many women start feeling better in time for their second trimester. I think mine peaked at around 10 weeks because I started feeling horrible like completely horrible. Then as my levels dropped and leveled off I started to feel better about a week into my second trimester. So fortunately you dont have much longer to go until until they should peak and drop. The weeks will really start to fly by now, they did for me at least haha. Thats difficult about your doctor being away two weeks after your due date, hardly any babies are due on their actual date. But it sounds like even if she is gone that you will be in great hands!! :]

And no I didn't have the urge to eat often until farther along. I am just now starting to feel that within the past couple of weeks. And I have been craving salads like crazy...lettuce, cucumbers, cheese, croutons, and some of that deliciously unhealthy ranch dressing haha. The hardest thing for me food wise was to cut back on caffeinated drinks. I love soda and tea and both are packed with caffeine. I get really bored with just plain water milk and orange juice haha!

It is funny how different different people's experiences with pregnancy are. Those hunger pangs were the biggest sign I had for the first week I knew I was pregnant! I don't get them anymore, just feel slightly sick and know I need to eat! Actually I try to eat before I feel like that. It is hardest in the morning when I have just woken up and don't want to move!

I think you are right and time will start to fly. The first two weeks felt SOOOO long when I wasn't sure how things were progressing. Now I know my hCG is good I have relaxed a bit and just try to take each day as it comes. It is weird discussing things for next year at work when I probably won't be there though. Trying not to deceive people but don't want to let the cat out of the bag for another couple of months or so if possible!

I like how you put the hCG peaking at 8 weeks potentially. I have a long weekend round then so can relax a bit, then if I felt better after that I would be stoked!!! I will be 7 weeks in a few days.

It really is funny how different women experience it differently. I found out at 4 weeks AF was about 4 days late and I was hmmm I don't even feel like its about to start. (a few days prior I had cramps like it was going to but they went away and it never showed) And it was about 2am and I couldn't sleep and I was like I know im not pregnant but I will go pee on a test just to slow down my mind so I can sleep. It was a cheap dip strip test so it took a minute to turn and i started to see a like and I was like NO WAY!! I woke my husband up and was is that a line? I think that's a line? And I made him get up and go with me to the store at about 2:30am and I bought 2 different brands the first response and the digital one and came home and took all of the tests at once and the test line came back before the control line even registered and thats when I knew I was pregnant for sure. It was such a surprise and I felt so excited and blessed. And I went in the next day to have the blood work. The way they do it here it that take your blood twice once to get the number and again in two days to make sure the number doubles. Because it is supposed to double every two days. My doctor told me it didn't matter what my first number was as long as it doubled and that would show it was progressing on track. Needless to say it doubled and here we are! Whats your story? How did you find out you were pregnant? I'm sure you and your dh were so excited!!

I didn't get much symptoms at all until about 7 or 8 weeks and that's when they hit me like a ton of bricks the nausea and the constantly being tired. I also had lots of little cramps that felt like af but they doctor reassured me that it was just my uterus growing and stretching. Around 10-ish weeks it peaked for me and even tiny smells would send me gagging. After that it started getting better and now i will still randomly feel it but I can go a week in between episodes. Its also normal if all of your symptoms disappear for a few days. that happened to me twice and it freaked me out going from feeling horrible to completely fine. But the doctor also reassured me that was very normal. So don't freak out if that happens the nausea will come back full force unfortunately haha. That would be very convenient for if your levels peak during your break so that you will have plenty of time to relax.

I understand about you not telling your job yet. I don't see it as deceitful. I probably wouldn't either until you hit 12 weeks. Once you hit 12 weeks (2nd trimester) your risk of miscarriage drops below 1 percent. Not that I think anything will happen it sounds like you and little baby are right on track and healthy :] Are you and your DH hoping for a certain gender? When do you get to find out?

I turn 16 weeks tomorrow. I am excited for every new week that I get to. The range for feeling your baby move for the first time is 16-20 Weeks so I'm hoping I will get to feel some wiggles this week. Its hard to believe that I am only 4 weeks from being halfway done. It still feels like it was last week that I found out!

As a little add on... Im not sure if I can post links on this website or not but I am going to try. This is a great reference that I use to figure out how much I should be showing by a certain amount of weeks. I even started taking pictures next to a chalkboard with information like she did haha. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/165507355029831180/

If the link doesnt work I will try to send it to you in a message.

It is amazing to be able to share things with you. As we are not telling anyone for as long as possible it is such a wonderful outlet to be able to tell you :)

So, our story. My luteal phase is normally 15 days so in the past I have always said I would test at 16dpo. However, this cycle I had sore breasts right from 3dpo so was joking about pregnancy. I also had a really up and down temp chart which matched my pervious pregnancy one amazingly, so I also joked to my husband I must be pregnant (he gave me a look and said he didn't want to get his hopes up). then, I got REALLY bad gas on 14dpo. And, I hadn't had and spotting. Then the morning of 15dpo I woke up way too early and my temp was still high. Unfortunately I needed to go to the toilet, so had gone before checking what the thermometer said. When I saw that (temp ALWAYS drops by 15dpo) so I knew I was pregnant. Still I had to see that positive test! I went to the bathroom and couldn't get a drop!!! So I had to wait for another LONG two hours (couldn't sleep!) before taking it! Finally got it and yes, very definite two lines!!! I was excited and of course so was my husband, but it was/is a muted excitement. He keeps saying he doesn't want to get his hopes up, which I can understand, so it keeps me grounded too. This is definitely massively different to last time, but there is so much that can go wrong. We are still in the 12 week danger zone and I know a number of people who have miscarried when nothing seemed wrong.

I can't believe you made your husband go out shopping at 2:30am!!! Then again, I can!

I don't know what the normal is here for blood tests. Last time we had a million at the hospital. This time because we avoided medical people they just did the one at 6 weeks. I suppose it would just worry us if we did more because it stops doubling round then.

I am really hoping you are right and my symptoms will peak sometime soon. Today was the worst I have felt yet. I have felt like vomiting for half the day, and just very nauseus for the rest. Not even 7 weeks yet. Just hoping these mean everything is good. Then it will be worth it, but I HATE this feeling! Thanks for your encouragement about our baby's health. It is nice to hear other poeple say good things as it is reassuring :)

Wow 16 weeks, very cool!!! Is your tummy like the girl in the pinterest link you posted? That is a real pregnancy belly! I still just have bloating that I assume (hope) is only visible to me. And my husband.