Hi friends! Goodness, I have been terrible at blogging lately. I have to admit, its tricky navigating these post-TTC, now-pregnant waters. My heart still aches for those in the waiting season and I don’t want my pregnancy to be something that causes a triggering effect for grief. Because of that, I think I have closed myself off to writing for a bit, but when I lay in bed at night, my brain writes and I ache to get these words back out onto the screen. I was waiting for a big beautiful eloquent piece to come to me to break back in, but alas, said piece hasn’t come yet. So I have decided to simply just jump back in with an ice breaker, and then carry on as usual from there.:)
I will use this post to provide a little pregnancy update, so proceed with caution and if you decide to skip this one and come back later, please feel free!!!!
Tomorrow I will be 19 weeks pregnant! Where has time gone!? I am not sure. Here’s a sneak peek of what my bump looked like at 17 weeks. I find myself walking past the mirror and forgetting that I am pregnant and shocking myself with these two growing babes. I feel incredibly blessed every minute of the day and it still feels so surreal. Thank you Jesus!
To sum up where we are today, I thought I would borrow and modify what my friend Elena does over at Baby Ridley Bump and provide a little weekly update. Hopefully it’ll summarize things up to this point.
How far along? 18 weeks + 6 days
Gender: Boy / Girl
Weight Gain? 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes? YES! I have fallen in love with LuLaRoe leggings and maternity jeans. I am not sure how I will go back to button-pants when this pregnancy is done. I started wearing maternity clothes around 8-9 weeks because I found them most comfortable. I was on Prednisone for the first several weeks of my pregnancy for my antihistamine protocol and felt very swollen and bloated from that. Maternity shirts are super comfortable as well and I love the length!
Stretch Marks? None that weren’t already there haha.
Belly button in or out? In
Sleep: My first trimester I was up every 2 hours with bathroom breaks, but have found second trimester to be much kinder. I tend to only get up twice a night now and can get solid stretches of sleep between then. However, when I am having an insomnia filled night, the hope of sleep is lost and I usually just get out of bed and work on a project. The other night I cleaned out my closet and nested away.
Best moment this week: I started feeling Baby A move around daily and it’s so much fun experiencing that. Baby B has an anterior placenta, so it will be a while before I feel the squirms. Baby A tends to love when Daddy comes home and sister Cali barks hello, and also, loves listening to jazz music with Mommy while driving.
Symptoms: Goodness, I have been so blessed. I managed to have a morning-sickness free pregnancy (thus far) and my only two “symptoms” have been a minimal appetite and back pain. Neither of those things stand in the way of me being overjoyed all of the time! I eat smaller snacks throughout the day to attempt to get my protein and calories in for the day, and rest with a heating pad + tylenol when standing becomes too painful. Thankfully my schedule allows for flexibility to take it easy. SO grateful.
Miss Anything? Nada! Take it all away! I am loving this! (Although, I probably will have steak tartar within a week of giving birth. It sure does sound amazing!)
Cravings? No cravings. Again, eating in general never sounds exciting, but once in a while something will sound good and then I eat it quickly before my stomach realizes food in coming in. My early weeks I loved Buffalo Wild Wings, but nothing special since then.
Food aversions? Eggs and pizza sauce.
Queasy or sick? Nope!
Looking forward to? We have our first appointment with our perinatologist on Friday for a 2-3 hour scan and I am looking forward to seeing these babies again! It’s been our longest stretch of time without an ultrasound – about a month! – and that’s been mentally challenging. Excited to see how they are growing and developing, and to get a good thorough look at all their organs and such. Prayers appreciated as we go into this Level 2 scan!
Activity: I was cleared from bedrest around week 12, and then given the okay around week 16 to start mild exercise. I got a membership at a local gym and go to walk on the treadmill 4-5 times a week for 45 minutes. It’s nice to get a few miles in and stay healthy. The gym also has a pool which will be nice as I continue to grow.
Complications / Medications? I am so happy to say my subchorionic hemorrhage is all cleared up and gone! Things are going smoothly! I weened off of my estrogen and progesterone (YAHOO!). I just take a handful of vitamins now, along with my nightly Lovenox injections for my Factor V.
Nursery Update: Josh and I were instructed to have the nursery ready between weeks 24-28 with twins, and so while moving is still comfortable, we went shopping and picked out our furniture! (Hello Surreal Moment #142). Some of the set was on back order, so we will be getting it mid-February. In the meantime, we will have the room painted and new flooring put in by the end of the month. Our bedding has been picked out and while we still have a long way to go before it’s done, we are making some progress! YAY! The babies will share a nursery while they are young, but each have their own crib.
There you go! And while I’m pregnancy sharing, I thought I’d share with you my 5 pregnancy must-have’s from my experience so far.:)
1) LuLaRoe Leggings. I am not kidding, these have been wonderful! My friend Ashley sent me a pair as a surprise during my two week wait, and a few more pairs made their way into my home since then. They are soft, comfortable, and the TC size has made it possible to grow and still have them fit wonderfully.
2) Write the Word journals. Pregnancy post infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss is hard and the mental game is tough. I have loved my Lara Casey ‘Write the Word’ journals because each day I can hop into the Bible and literally just write out the scripture passage for the day, taking my mind off of the worries and placing them on Him. It also gives me space to write out what I am grateful for that day and what’s on my heart, which I use for prayer journaling. This has been a great tool!
3) Boppy Pregnancy Wedge. I don’t think I realized how the weight of the bump would make it tough to get comfortable while sitting or laying down. This pregnancy wedge has been a life saver! I use it for my lower back and for belly support. It’s pretty small and is easy to travel with too. Winner winner!
4) The Snoogle. I got this early on in my pregnancy as a gift and it has been wonderful!!! It has made sleeping comfortable. I do routinely have to fight Cali for it, who seems to believe this Snoogle is for her. *sigh*
5) Gap and Old Navy maternity shirts. I love the Gap Pure Body long and short sleeve tee and the fitted scoop neck shirts from Old Navy. They wash really well, and are soft and comfortable to wear.
Okay, I lied, it’s going to be 6.
6) This cup for Joann Fabric. I know, how can a cup be so awesome!? But this cup has saved the day in helping me get 120+ oz of water in each day. The straw is wider than most and the cup holds 24 oz in it. I know it sounds silly to say a cup can change your life, but this cup has been a blessing. (It is only available in stores – the linked one is ugly, there are cuter designs. They are by the baking area and the 40% off coupons work on them.) (Shout out to my friend Julie for introducing me to it!)
There you have it! My beloved maternity go to’s … at least the ones I am recalling right now.
Now that I have broken the writing ice, I hope to get back into a regular routine, including lots of non-pregnancy thoughts and posts. Thanks for all the continued love and support and prayers!
PS – And midst the excitement of progressing in weeks, my sister got engaged!! YAHOO! How cute are the happy couple!? We sure had a blessed 2016!
Trials Bring Joy 
So happy to see an update from you and that you and the babes are doing well! Congrats to your Sister also…exciting stuff happening in your lives!
Hi thereâ Chelsea,First of all a massive huge congratulations!! I am so so happy for you! It sounds like your pregnancy is going fantastic and you are enjoying every minute!I have been a journey of my own, to make a long story short, we are diagnosed as unexplained, after 7 IUI’s, 1 loss at 14 weeks, a âmiscarriage, and now on our 3rd round of IVF, I had my FET yesterday! We have everything crossed that this time our prayers are answered.But, I just wanted to ask you a question. I know everyone is different, but I really want to know is there anything that you did differently during the 2WW for your BFP? In regards to diet, alternative medicine, rest, activity? Anything you can think of?Sorry I know you are busy, but any tips and tricks that worked for you would be greatly appreciated!Again sending a massive congratulations to you, and thank you for starting to write again and sharing your journey with us.Kindest regards, Nikki Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the TELUS network. From: Starbucks, Peace, and the Pursuit of a BabySent: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 11:00To: nikkibriggs01@gmail.comReply To: Starbucks, Peace, and the Pursuit of a BabySubject: [New post] update and diving back in.
a:hover { color: red; } a { text-decoration: none; color: #0088cc; } a.primaryactionlink:link, a.primaryactionlink:visited { background-color: #2585B2; color: #fff; } a.primaryactionlink:hover, a.primaryactionlink:active { background-color: #11729E !important; color: #fff !important; }
/* @media only screen and (max-device-width: 480px) { .post { min-width: 700px !important; } } */ WordPress.com
chels819 posted: “Hi friends! Goodness, I have been terrible at blogging lately. I have to admit, its tricky navigating these post-TTC, now-pregnant waters. My heart still aches for those in the waiting season and I donât want my pregnancy to be something that causes a tri”
Hi Nikki! Congrats on your FET transfer and know I’m sending prayers + baby dust your way today!!! I’m so sorry off the journey you’ve gone through and pray this is a success!! This last FET, I didn’t do anything super special. I was on strict 48 hour bedrest and drank lots of water. Took it easy for the next few days after bedrest was over and then went about life as normal! No different diet or foods or drinks. I wish I had something special to share! I wish you the BEST! Keep in touch!
YAY!!!! So much great stuff!!! Can’t wait to see pictures of those little sweet faces!! <3
I know you didn't ask for post requests or blog post ideas, but I'd love to request one anyway!! We're looking at starting treatment again this year after a year off and we find ourselves considering some more aggressive treatments. One of those considerations is IVF. There is very little pro-IVF information for Christians so we find ourselves asking SO many questions about how to ethically and responsibly go through IVF. Do we transfer all embryos and trust that God will work it out? Do we save or seek financial assistance? Do we adopt out embryos that we may not want to transfer? What if we have a bunch of awesome embryos and can't responsibly financially support that many children?? What if I have embryos to transfer but can't have future pregnancies for medical reasons, or what if I die??? What then??
There are like a million and 1 questions and very few resources! I can find a ton of information on why some people think IVF is a sin, and why it's playing God and blah, blah, blah, but there doesn't seem to be much from people who have been there, who have wrestled with those things and who have made the choice to go through with IVF.
I know that it risks a lot of backlash, but I would love to hear your story in making the decision to pursue IVF. What did God do? How did He lead you? What hard questions have you had to wrestle with? Was it an easy decision?
Anyway, I'm sure you get the point. Maybe something to put on the "ideas for future blogs" list?? You have at least one person (me!) who would LOVE to hear that story and all of its hard details, because it is clearly a story of promises kept and God's providence.
Wow. You’re doing so well and you look amazing. I have to agree that the boppy wedge is brilliant. It’s the only thing that takes the pressure off my hip when I sleep. I had no stretch marks and then they appeared out of nowhere – if you haven’t already get some Bio-oil it really does help but you have to start using it about now for the best results. I hope that you continue to enjoy your pregnancy and that you feel Baby B wriggle really soon. Xx
Happy to read such good News!!! Can’t wait to see the nursery!
LOVE this update and the joy that is shouting through the posts!! SO fun that you are getting the nursery ready. I am so glad you are feeling good {relatively} too! Praises all around :)
I know it’s a little tough to make that transition once the TTC phase is over. Some people just won’t be able to stay with you, no matter how sensitive you are. However, I still think you can bless and help many people. Those who struggling with TTC may not be emotionally able to check your blog often, but they may be able to check here on occasion and receive some hope. Also, I think there are communities of people who suffered or suffer from infertility that can be overlooked. First, there are those who struggled with infertility who now have the children they wanted. Their struggle with infertility abruptly ended, but the processing of that struggle goes on privately. Second, those with secondary infertility can benefit from the same processing. I had my first child with ease, but the second was eight long years in coming. I often felt that there was a strong sisterhood of women struggling with infertility without children, but for those with children the resources, the places to process and the community were lacking. And now when I am happy with my family size, I disappear in the crowd of “normal” moms and rarely have time or opportunity to process. For those still processing years of difficulty and disappointment and losses, it’s helpful to gain insight on how others are dealing with it. At the same time, I am busy with kids and work, so I usually don’t have a lot of time to engage with others on this topic, so it’s really helpful to read someone else’s thoughts on the process. To be honest, though I’ve read others’ blogs on the post-infertility journey, I have never commented or given feedback. I regret that-so I felt like I should let you know though we may be a quieter group, we still appreciate the attention brought to the post-infertility struggle. You are a good writer and I hope you will continue even when bridging the gap feels uncomfortable or even when the craziness of children takes over your life.
So exciting! I am only 6 weeks now and you cannot guess how much I adore your lovely bump💕 Time doesn’t pass⌛️
How exciting! Your pregnancy sounds very similar to mine–I miss being pregnant with my 2 and I am still rocking my maternity clothes because they are just too comfortable! It is so nice to have another twin mommy to connect with! Definitely get that room ready early! Mine came at 31 weeks :) Good luck with your level 2 ultrasound, I could have sat there and watched all day!
I am beyond excited to see this update!!! You look so cute!! Can’t wait to see how the nursery turns out.
So happy for you Chelsea! I had actually missed reading from you. Glad you and the babies are well. I love your energy ( treadmill 45 mins) Good stuff. Congrats to your sister! Thanks for praying for us and I am mentioning you to Jesus. Happy for you.
So happy for you!!!!!!!!
My placenta is anterior also & I’m wondering if the random twinges are my little guy, or just my stomach haha
I love this update! So great to hear things moving along! I didn’t know gap had maternity clothes! I’ve been loving old navy for mine!