We have officially graduated from our weekly visits with CNY. It’s pretty bittersweet to be this far. Once I got to 12 weeks, I was able to stop the daily PIO shots. This could call for an entire celebration alone lol. You get used to the daily shots, but let me tell you… when you are done, YOU are over the moon with joy!

We are 13 weeks now and I am seeing my regular OB. My first visit was just to confirm the pregnancy and both parents joined for my 12-week appointment. We thought we would be seeing the baby at this point because we hadn’t since our CNY days a few weeks prior. My OB was able to ask the IPs lots of questions to get to know them. I am their first Surro patient so it’s pretty clear this is all new and fresh territory for them. Because my Intended Mother is over the age of 35, my OB suggested that we see a specialist for our ultrasound. I’m still scratching my head about that but was happy that she could at least use the doppler at this visit to hear the heartbeat. It brought us all so much relief.

I am still pretty nauseous at this point. My OB prescribed Pepcid in hopes that would help ease my food so it wouldn’t come back up. She suggested that I stay on the LDN (low dose naltrexone) at this point because CNY recommended I stay on it. I’m not a big fan of this medicine and have had some pretty crazy dreams since being on it so I’m looking forward to going back to my medicine free routine real soon. I had always been on non-hormonal birth control and never been one to need/take meds so my body has felt out of whack since starting. But my heart knows it’s for all the right reasons and worth it.

We did a large amount of blood work at this 13-week appointment. So much bloodwork that I got pretty light-headed and sat sipping on pineapple juice before I got up. My IPs embryos were tested before transfer so a lot of these tests were just for reassurance I believe. There were several antibody tests just for me that included, HIV, Hep C, Rubella, Syphilis, and Chlamydia. What fun!

We had another visit with my OB a week or so after this one and they wanted to do another Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT). The first blood work results came back inconclusive. It was another visit without an ultrasound, and just a doppler but we were happy to hear a strong beating heart.

Things are looking great so far. I am not sick anymore and have stopped taking Pepcid. Just my usual prenatal and LDN (low dose naltrexone) at this point. We are not due back until our 18-week visit for the anatomy ultrasound with the referred specialist. I am excited to keep growing this baby BOY <3