8 Weeks to 18 Weeks… Let’s Catch Up!
I need to get better at updating! I last updated at 8 weeks and I just turned 19 weeks yesterday so we have a few weeks to catch up on! The past ten weeks have been full of excitement and new milestones! We had our first OB appointment, learned the sex of the baby, got a great look at the baby at the 13 week ultrasound appointment, felt the first kicks, and had our first doula appointment!
To make this long overdue update easier on me, let’s have story time! I am going to post some updates from my Facebook Surrogacy page to make sure I don’t miss anything! It’s a bit of a novel…. Let’s begin!
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7/14- 9 weeks pregnant!
“I have a strange feeling that I am carrying a girl! Although it was a decade ago and I don’t remember every symptom of Layla’s pregnancy, being starving often was my main symptom! I craved sweets with the boys, so I’m wondering if the sourness means a girl. Even though It’s way too soon to see how I am carrying, I have really popped out at the top of my belly. My pregnancies were typical, high with Layla, low with the boys.
I am really looking forward to this Friday, the 19th!!! It’s my first visit with my midwife but it’s also the last day of meds! I am SO excited to stop meds. It’s been months of taking a pill at 7am, 3pm, and 10pm which is honestly very annoying. I have to make sure I have pills when I go out or I have to keep snoozing my alarm every 10 mins. I’m looking forward to having a normal pregnancy and stop being a slave to meds!”
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7/18- 10 weeks pregnant!
“10 weeks today, baby is the size of a strawberry!
First OB appointment tomorrow!”
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7/26- 11 weeks pregnant
“That’s about it for the 1st trimester and I can’t believe in just 2 weeks, we will be entering into the 2nd trimester! Time is really flying! As we enter the 2nd trimester, I am REALLY excited to have our first appointment with our Doula, Jessica Kent! She is a pretty awesome person who runs The Birthing Circle of Frederick, is active in the LGBT community, and a million other things that I just think is awesome. I know that she will be invaluable when it’s time to have this baby! The IF will be at our first meeting so he can meet her and learn more about how she will support me during labor and delivery. I will let you know how that appointment goes!”
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7/29- 11 weeks
“The results are in!!!
I let the Dad know that the test came back normal! 🎉 And… We will find out the sex today!
I cancelled the balloon from Amazon because it won’t arrive until tomorrow. I was at Hobby Lobby and they just so happen to have these confetti poppers! I bought one of each, and will have Ben read the result and give me the correct one… So I will NOT know the sex until the reveal!
I will post the video once the Dad sees it… He is SO excited! He thinks it’s a girl… We will see!”
IT’S A…………………….
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8/4- 12 weeks pregnant!
“I finally got around to this image! I kept all of the needles just for this! 😍
We have the Nuchal Translucency Scan tomorrow at 11am. I am excited that the IF will be at this appointment so he will be able to get a great look at his little girl! I finally completed this image because I plan on giving all of the ultrasound photos to the IF tomorrow.
And guess what!! I have been feeling the baby kick!! It may seem early but I felt both of my boys right at 13w so I’m just days from that. A few days ago I thought I felt the baby not once, but three times! After the third time, I knew it was her! Since then, I have been feeling her a few times a day! From the IF’s texts, you can tell he seems a bit less anxious and he said it’s starting to finally start to feel real! I’m so excited for him and hope this baby girl keeps doing her thing!”
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8/5- 12 weeks pregnant
“Baby girl looked great today! I was so happy that the IF was able to make it to today’s appointment! “
“This is the exact reason why I wanted to match with someone local. I can’t imagine how hard this journey is for them and then not being able to experience the pregnancy must be even harder. I’m so happy that he was able to see my growing belly (which he just loved!) and be there to see his baby bounce around on the screen! We also have a few get-togethers planned! Besides the anatomy scan and echocardiogram scan, he’s excited to come to The Birth And Babies Fair in Sept with me! I also asked if he would like to get together with my family for some food and cake to celebrate the baby and meet my family and he said he would love that. I know my family would be excited to meet him.
And sometime mid pregnancy, the counselor (who did the psych session) recommended that we get together with the kids and bake a cake, which would be best for Eli, my 4yo. Essentially the IF brings the ingredients over because “his oven is broken so he needs to borrow ours”, and once it’s done cooking, we can all have some but he takes home the cake because it was his ingredients, he just borrowed our oven. I bet you get the gist of ingredients and oven, lol. The point is, he may have used our oven, but it was his ingredients so it’s his to take home which would help my 4yo understand that we aren’t just giving him a baby, we are giving him HIS baby, we are just helping the baby grow.
After the appt, the IF gave me gifts for my kids! He said that the kids are such an important part of our journey and wanted to thank them for their help. He included the sweetest note for them! He said he had no idea what to get them but honestly, he was spot on and they loved them!”
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8/8- 13 weeks pregnant!
“13 weeks! Last week of the first trimester!
I love that I am now looking pregnant and not like I just ate too much”
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8/22- 15 weeks pregnant!
“Last week started the 2nd trimester! Overall I have been feeling great, just some fatigue here and there. I guess being pregnant and having 3 kids will do that to you.
The 2nd trimester is my favorite! I’m usually over the nausea and fatigue, I actually look pregnant and not bloated, and I’m not uncomfortably huge, lol.
I have an appointment next week with my midwife then I have my first appointment on the 7th with our Doula, Jessica! I’m looking forward to that appt and the IF is as well!
After my husband working out of town for a week then having family visit, I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend! I am taking my daughter to OH to visit family… It will be a nice break from the boys. I say that lovingly… They are a handful and I’m tired, lol. I deserve a quiet weekend “
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8/29- 16 weeks pregnant!
“16 weeks, hard to believe! About 24 more weeks until this sweet girl is in her Daddy’s arms!
The maroon shirt is what I’m wearing today… Can you tell it was after breakfast?”
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9/1- 16 weeks pregnant!
“Not a flattering photo but…
I felt baby girl move on the outside for the first time tonight! I was standing in the kitchen and felt very distinct kicks on left side of my belly, near my underwear line. I pressed firmly and felt a very obvious kick on the outside! So amazing and totally surprised me!
She is small but mighty! This is the photo that I sent the IF, he was happy to hear. We don’t have any nicknames for the baby but he occasionally refers to the size that she is. So tonight he said “She’s a strong avocado!” 💪🥑, lol.
Hope everyone is having a nice holiday weekend! Any plans? I’m recovering from having a neighborhood water party for my daughter’s 10th birthday! We had a great time but had a tiring week preparing for it.
Have a safe Labor Day!”
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9/5- 17 weeks pregnant! 
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9/7- 17 weeks pregnant!
“Trying on some clothes today… Baby girl is surely growing! 17w 2d.
This photo may also be after I ate at the rotating Sushi bar 🙈. Don’t worry, no raw sushi for me, I don’t even like it!”
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9/11- 17 weeks pregnant!
“It’s a late update but our Doula appointment went well!
I met the IF an hour before at a cafe for lunch. While at lunch, I gifted him something called Belly Buds. It’s two speakers that I can stick to my belly then use the app to play recorded stories or songs to the baby. I wasn’t too sure how the IF would feel about it but I had a feeling he would love it… and I was right! It was actually sweet because he told me that he just read the other day how it’s a great time to start talking to and reading to your baby. He said “You know, I was just thinking the other day that even though I am local, I was slightly sad thinking about how she can’t hear me every day and was at least hoping that maybe you would read her some stories”. I thought that was sweet that he was wanting to make sure someone read her stories, even if it wasn’t him. So now he can use the app to record himself reading stories/talking/singing, his baby can hear his voice every day now! I can tell that it made his day and he thanked me for being so thoughtful. I knew he would love it and I’m thankful there’s a way for his baby girl to listen to her daddy!
The appointment with Jessica went very well! It was more of a meet and greet and we will discuss more specific birth details when we create our birth plan in January. I choose Jessica thinking that she would be a perfect fit for us and a great advocate and support person for this surrogate journey/labor/delivery. It’s so incredibly important to have someone that you trust, right by your side, at such a vulnerable time so I’m thankful to have Jessica!
We already have our next appointment scheduled in January to work on our birth plan! We will talk about the finer details of labor, delivery, and even create a birth plan in the event of a C-Section. Hoping to have a vaginal birth like I did with my other 3 but we need to be prepared for every situation!
Next week will be a pretty quiet week. Then the following Monday, I have an appointment with my midwife then we will walk next door for our anatomy scan. It will be great to see how big this baby girl is getting!
Today, we are celebrating Finley’s 2nd birthday! I can’t believe that my last little baby is two! Here is some photo’s of my youngest!”
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9/12- 18 weeks pregnant!
“18 weeks… Wow!
I feel like it really depends on what I’m wearing in regards to how my belly looks! I feel huge but looking at my bare belly photo, I look small!
I just got back from visiting my cousin who just had her second sweet baby boy! I took some hospital photos for them that I’m really excited to go through and edit! Once I finish them, I would love to share a few if I have permission! Here is a photo from today, shared with permission!”
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9/13- 18 weeks pregnant!
18w, 1 day- Captured the first video of baby girl kicking from the outside!
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9/19- 19 weeks pregnant! 