Jindc: my ER was 1/30, and I also had a sono right at 5 weeks. We just saw a sac, and the Dr said to come back in two weeks. I was also concerned, but I've been googling, and it seems that is too early to see anything.
I also rationalized that if the RE was worried, then he would've told me to come back in a week.
I'm 6 weeks today, and starving all of the time and very tired with some nausea, but I never throw up.
Good luck to you.

Signed,
Appleseed

It should be fine for how far along I am - my beta was just under 5,000 which is in the normal range and I think if they were worried, I'd be going back in before a week. So, another week of waiting...but my parents will be visiting over the weekend to help pass the time.

Seems like everyone is doing well!

J in DC, fingers crossed that all is well. I'm no expert but I think that kind of unclear sono is common early on?

Wavy, OMG cologne, seriously. I'm staying with my in-laws and MIL (who I mainly like ) is not even slightly shy with the perfume. Killin' me. And she hugs up my preschooler all day long and now he smells like he just bathed in "Light Blue." And on an unrelated topic: yeah, the mucus. I blocked that part out I guess.

Anyone else on this one: I have extra saliva. Yeah, really, like enough spit for six. Who wants some? Yeah, the answer is nobody, not even me. I'm five weeks tomorrow and the nausea is getting a bit more persistent, probably related to all this damn saliva.

I was AMA with my first at 36 but nobody ever used the term to me. Also, YES, I posted before about the maternity clothes fitting NOW.

Poppy, I am in DC, not too close to Shady Grove. I've heard great things about those midwives. I was really drawn to the family health and birth center midwives who deliver at WHC, but still looking into it. I liked my OB and his birth philosophy but I disliked the postpartum experience at Sibley. So I don't know - kind of torn about changing. I'll need to decide soon.

My former OB said sushi - as in even raw fish - was fine. Apparently to be sushi / sashimi grade the fish must have been previously frozen so any parasites would be killed. He did say to try and stay away from too much tuna, that the sushi tuna is sometimes especially high in mercury. On the other hand, he was waging a one-man war against cold cuts. Which by the way, no thanks to those anyway - one of my aversions.

Have you all told anyone yet? DH told his parents, I told my sister but not my parents yet (they're not able to keep secrets). Neither am I, apparently; I was at a gathering on my husband's side and I slipped up and accidentally said "with my first pregnancy" to one of his cousins, who is pregnant. I could see on her face she noticed the slip up but she didn't call me on it. So there will be rumors. I really did not want people to know until late - like 20 weeks if possible. We don't live nearby so it won't come up again.

Hope everyone is feeling fine!

Wavy (love the nickname): AMA is 35 and over. And, I think it's fine to eat cooked sushi. I ate a ton of avocado sushi in my first pregnancy, since it was one of the few things I could stomach.

jindc: I'll be thinking of you!! So nerve-wracking, I hope you get great news soon. My first prenatal appointment isn't for a few weeks, so for now I'm just waiting and hoping all goes well.

Pumpkin: where are you located? We're going with Midwifery Care Associates, who deliver at Shady Grove. Might be worth checking out if you're considering midwives and they're convenient. I loved them and am convinced they saved me from what would have been an unnecessary C during my (very) long labor. There are so many great providers in this area, I feel very lucky about that.

-Poppy

Hi! I'm the 1209 poster preggo with #2 that was scared about introducing a second. I'll go by Wavy, since I always feel nauseous these days!

I am guessing I'm almost 8.5 weeks based on calculators online, and the nausea hasn't subsided. I've never actuall vomitted, just sometimes feel like I'm always on the brink. My sharper sense of smell has really kicked in, so I can smell if someone has been in a Chinese restaurant and it's on their clothes, or if they are wearing cologne (ugh! there is a guy at work that wears way too much and it gives me a headache), smokers, etc. DH has the absolute WORST breath these days and I try to be nice about it!

What's the AMA cutoff this year? I have no idea if I am AMA. I'll have to research it.

This pregnancy has been very different for me. I didn't have nausea during the last pregnancy, but my boobs were super sore, and they are not at all now. I'm getting mucusy down there (sorry, TMI), and have dizzy spells too now.

I tried on a bunch of maternity clothes I used last time around, and many of them fit me already! How depressing.

I've actually lost a couple of pounds because I can't really eat with the nausea, but am sure it will come right back as soon as I can get back to my mexican and greek food-loving self. And I hate that I will be missing out on sushi! Is it still ok to eat the cooked variations?

Good morning, ladies - I hope you are all well.
I've been trying to stay off the internet because I end up going to the "worst case scenario" sites.
Went in for an additional beta and first ultrasound today.

We saw a sac and yolk, no fetal pole and the measure was just under 5 weeks. My egg retrieval was 1 Feb, so I'm moderately concerned about it not measuring 5 weeks yet, but there's nothing I can do about it and they'll tell me more when I get my phone call today. Did anyone see anything this early?

I do get irritated that I can just be a normal pregnant lady and have my 8-10 week ultrasound for the first one and be unaware of what's going on. On the flip side, I have a lot more information than most women do, and information is helpful for long term health prospects, I think, if we do IVF again (for Gummibear's sibling, of course).

I am finding that by 3PM or so, I could use a nap - I can't tell if that's pregnancy or my lack of activity (no hardcore gym time, which was my old life before IVF). I don't have to pee all the time that I notice, but I do notice that I have a low appetite and I get queasy, then have an "empty burp", if that makes sense? I've not thrown up, but I definitely get the "ugh" feeling, especially when I go from sitting down for a while to walking. My sense of smell has always been very good, so I just notice I'm grossed out by more smells than before (mostly smoke and perfume).

How is everyone else?

Pumpkin here - we had a similar situation to Poppy's with working so no childcare and I think we'll coast on the same strategy. DH has a really flexible job, mine slightly less so but still flexible.

I'm AMA and actually was last time, but I don't know about tests yet. We didn't do any last time. I may do some this time but I just don't know yet. I actually might change providers. I had a nice birth with my first (easy, drug free, though I am not a pusher of same - (afraid to open the natural birth thread!)) but I'm interested in a midwife this time, mainly because the first time around I just felt like everyone was treating my body and pregnancy like a disease waiting to happen, when I felt healthy and fine. So on one hand, getting the tests seems like inviting more worry and stress, when I'm not even sure we'd do much about it. On the other hand, if the results were reassuring, that would be one less thing to worry about for 9 months. Anyway, all that to say, we're still deciding!

Poppy here: nausea started yesterday, though it hasn't been too bad yet. Today's six weeks, so that's right around when it began for my first, too. Oh, and constipation, which is always a joy.

I don't go on too many other pregnancy sites, though I do like the ones that offer a week by week pregnancy calendar. I've also heard that you start showing earlier with your second, so am curious to see how I'll need to augment my maternity clothes from the first time around. The due dates are very similar, so I'm hoping I won't need to buy a ton more.

For childcare, I'm hoping we'll be able to do a combo of me moving to part-time, husband's flexible schedule, and a day/week of help from my mom. We made it to a year with our first before putting her into part-time daycare, and I'd love to do that with our second if we can manage it.

Has anyone gotten--or decided on--prenatal testing? I'm officially AMA this time (36), and am thinking both Maternit21 and the NT/first trimester screen will be our plan. If both turn out well, I'm comfortable with not getting amnio/CVS. We'll see.

Hope you're all feeling well this Sunday!

Congrats! My second baby came just after Halloween. Except for some misery during the hottest part of the summer, it was fun having a newborn at holiday time.

I've been an oldie for all my babies (37, 39, and if this one keeps on being healthy, almost 41). I know the worrying, but enjoy it!

In terms of other sites, there is one called altdotlife.com, which has an extensive section on pregnancy and parenting.

My breasts aren't as tender, but still have some cramps and now have added constipation to the list. Fun!

Is anyone full throttle into the child care search yet?

HI!

How is everyone doing this week? Hope everyone is feeling great.

Some Friday questions: Do you visit any other sites beside this one? Last time around I think I was on the boards of "what to expect when you are expecting" but I found the articles to be a bit fussy for my taste and too focused on what could go wrong (which trust me, I focus on too much as it is!).

Any symptom updates? I'm fatigued but not severely (same as last pregnancy at this point, though deep fatigue set in later), queasy, and my "boobs are killing me" have turned into "boobs slightly tender, off and on." I'll call it a win, though it was stressing me previously as i mentioned.

Moms who have done this a few times - have you heard that you'll start showing earlier the second time around or did this happen to you? I was doing some storage reorganization and, on a lark, tried on the old pregnancy wardrobe. Some observations:

1. I wore a LOT of bootcut bordering on flared jeans - were those really in style as late as 2009? (Don't answer). Felt like Austin Powers. Yeah, baby!
2. I used to fit into really small maternity clothes. And, oh joy, they still fit. Er that is, they fit me NOW. You know, before the body shape changes. Sigh. (Is it bad if I wear them? Too late! Wearing them!) So if you see a woman on the metro wearing some sweet flares, looking relaxed like only a woman in an elastic waistband can look, say hi.

And on that note, a bit of advice for the first time moms. When I got pregnant the first time around, everyone told me not to buy maternity clothes for a looong time. But the truth is, I front-loaded some of my weight gain and instead of buying maternity clothes, I tried cramming myself into regular old stuff. Which fit poorly. The moment I broke down and started buying some maternity clothes, I really felt a lot better. Not saying you'll need to buy them early because I did - just saying what worked for me.

Okay, that's enough for today and that was a long one. Can you tell I'm procrastinating on a project? Back to it...

Another thing about symptoms is that you get used to them, so they aren't as noticeable. Hard not to freak out though.

JinDC, Pumpkin / OP / Oct 31EDD here.

I also had a small panic attack when last night, my breasts were suddenly not killing anymore. This is new territory because I had NO breast tenderness with my first (which, as I recall, made me nervous). I probably spent an hour online last night reading thread after thread of early pregnant women obsessing about this very same thing. It does not seem to mean much. I had fatigue with my first, but again, not until much later. And my nausea with my first came and went so much that I was like "is this morning sickness?" for like 4 weeks. Then bazzam, around 8/9 weeks, I was like "OH. This is morning sickness. And it SUCKS." This early last time around, the only symptom I had was major bloating. Looked 4 months pregnant by night every night. This time I'm eating better and have less (but still some) bloat. Don't obsess about symptoms because they do come and go early on.

JinDC, Pumpkin / OP / Oct 31EDD here.

I also had a small panic attack when last night, my breasts were suddenly not killing anymore. This is new territory because I had NO breast tenderness with my first (which, as I recall, made me nervous). I probably spent an hour online last night reading thread after thread of early pregnant women obsessing about this very same thing. It does not seem to mean much. I had fatigue with my first, but again, not until much later. And my nausea with my first came and went so much that I was like "is this morning sickness?" for like 4 weeks. Then bazzam, around 8/9 weeks, I was like "OH. This is morning sickness. And it SUCKS." This early last time around, the only symptom I had was major bloating. Looked 4 months pregnant by night every night. This time I'm eating better and have less (but still some) bloat. Don't obsess about symptoms because they do come and go early on.

20:43/Oct. 20th due date here: From now on I'll go by Poppy, since this little one was the size of a poppyseed when we found out. :^)

jindc: 5 weeks is really early to be feeling symptoms, so try not to worry too much about them yet. I know it's hard; I was paranoid with my first that I didn't feel any nausea at 5 weeks... and then the HG hit and I was kicking myself. I didn't feel really tired with her until about 8 weeks.

We do have prenatal care lined up: will be returning to Midwifery Care Associates in Rockville. We loved them the first time around, and I've missed them!

11:24: yeah, ha, we'll see if we still want three after this second one, too! Our daughter has been really easy so far, we're certain this one will be the devil incarnate. I'm already worried about what transitions she'll be going through around the same time as the baby: switching to a different room at daycare, maybe potty training, etc. But we'll get through it...