10 Weeks!

Today I am officially 10 weeks pregnant! While it's not technically a pregnancy milestone, it's a big one for me because we're finally in the double digits! I don't know if it's just because we found out so incredibly early that we were pregnant (I got my first BFP at 3 weeks and 3 days pregnant) but the last six weeks have really dragged by for me. I'm excited to move into the second trimester in just a few more weeks and then maybe I'll actually quit worrying all the time. For now, though, the baby is 1/4 of the way baked!

Today was another big day in my pregnancy - I exercised for the first time! After the IUI, I didn't feel comfortable exercising because I worried that it might interfere with implantation. I'm sure that some people would say that's silly, but for IVF patients doctors recommend no vigorous exercise (bouncing, jogging, etc) and I figured that it couldn't possibly hurt for me to also follow those same guidelines. Thankfully, whether it was because I refrained from exercising or not, we did get pregnant. After that though, I thought I would put any exercise off until our first ultrasound, because technically we were considered high risk due to our fertility treatments and the possibility of multiples. After the first u/s, my RE recommended taking it easy because of my ovarian cyst, so I put off exercise even longer. When we were finally released to the OB, the intake nurse told me it's fine to exercise with my cyst, just not to do anything too vigorously. A few days after that we had our last u/s with the RE and my cyst had gotten even bigger, so I didn't want to risk anything. And then of course there was the spotting incident just two days ago. Something changed for me after our last ultrasound though. I realized that the baby is still safely tucked away and that me exercising was not going to cause something to happen to him or her. If, god forbid, something horrible were to happen, it would most likely be the result of a chromosomal abnormality, not because of a little exercise! So, I sucked it up and got on the elliptical today. I took it slow and worked out at the lowest resistance level, but I was still able to work up a sweat. Afterward, I felt really great! I've had no cramping or spotting since Wednesday. I really want to get into the habit of exercising regularly so that I can attempt to stay as healthy as possible during this pregnancy!

Coming soon...my first belly photo. I've been apprehensive to take one because I feel like a whale (although as of today I'm actually down ten pounds since the start of my pregnancy). I want to have reminders of how I looked at different stages throughout this journey though, and I especially want my future son or daughter to have pictures too, so I'll be taking my first pic tomorrow!