It really was real! Liliana Catherine was born on May 5th, weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz! She's a happy, healthy baby so far and managed to gain 17 oz in one week (her second week of life- she now weighs 9lbs 5oz) on breast milk alone!
Born via c-section after 20 hours of labor, she is worth every minute of worry and work that went into her conception, pregnancy and birth.

24 weeks!

I am so excited to be at 24 weeks! For us in the IF world, 24 weeks is a big deal because it marks viability- a 50-50 chance that the baby would survive if born now. Still not great odds, but so reassuring at the same time. For me, 24 weeks somehow has made me feel more relaxed about the pregnancy, it feels so much more real with baby kicks, knowing the doctors would do everything possible to save her and really looking pregnant. I was so excited this week when a stranger made a comment about me being pregnant! I imagine that most women would prefer that strangers not say anything about their condition (and I'm sure I don't want any rude remarks), but I loved having someone acknowledge my current state.

I know things could still go wrong, but according to my midwife and every indication I have, things are going wonderfully well and I'm really enjoying it in a whole new way.
I've been to some prenatal yoga classes recently and that's been lovely- so neat to spend time with so many pregnant mamas at once! I'm hoping to go swimming or attend prenatal water exercise classes soon too. In perhaps one of the biggest developments, we've purchased crib sheets and they are due to arrive on Monday. We don't have a crib or anything, but one thing at a time, you know?

20 weeks

Depending on who you ask, 20 weeks has arrived either Friday, Saturday or today. According to the ultrasound I had on Monday (just a regular ol' mid-pregnancy u/s), my revised due date would be May 13 (the due date calculated with my RE is May 16) so everything is looking just perfect and my little one was weighing about 10 oz as of Monday. Two hemispheres in the brain, good midline structure in the brain, complete, healthy skull, four chambered heart, fluid in the belly as swallowing is being practiced, good looking legs and arms etc...

Oh, and the baby is a tiny, healthy baby girl!
She kicked me 6 times in about 2 minutes this morning after a few sips of orange juice and I'm feeling more movement regularly, despite the anterior placenta that we got to see at the u/s too. The doctor measured my cervix and it was nice and long and closed so I'm hoping all continues to go well.

We're definitely getting more and more attached to this pregnancy and baby (okay, so we're completely smitten) and hoping that we're lucky enough to have everything continue to go so well.

Pregnancy metioned, 7 weeks 3 days

The news is good! So good!
Heartbeat was 163 and the little embryo is completely average sized and growing perfectly from what the doctor could tell. He printed out some fantastic little grainy pictures for us and is going to have us come back one more time, but I should also go ahead and make an OB appointment, at least that's what I got from our conversation.
When I asked he said the risk of miscarriage at this point was 'definitely under 10% and probably under 5%'- not bad, right? Not perfect, but then again when is risk ever at 0%?
We're absolutely thrilled.

Ultrasound

The ultrasound was scheduled for 2:15 this afternoon, but they didn't even take me back until 2:20 or so. I was not a patient patient... Finally, the doctor joined us at 2:40ish and it was time for another encounter with the dildocam.

Today, finally, was the ultrasound we've been wishing for over the past months.
Today we saw a tiny little embryo (& a teeny tiny little flicker) nestled inside a healthy gestational sac, implanted in just the right spot. The doctor told us he thinks everything looks good and that this will be a good pregnancy for us. I certainly hope he is right!
Today is a good day. Thank you for helping me get here.

The next ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29 and, if all continues to go well, I'll be 7+ weeks along by then. Next on my agenda? Chilling out for a bit, enjoying the moment and getting some flu shots.

Update

Just got back from the doctor and am starting to think that today is my lucky day!
-TWO follies on the right!
-Nicely sized too, there's a good chance I'll ovulate TWO this cycle- they're 16.64mm and 15.5mm!
-The follies on the left aren't there any more. Kinda weird, but apparently totally normal.
-Lining is great, healthy & happy over 9mm (I think 9.9?).
-If I don't get a positive LH surge tomorrow or Sunday morning they'll have me take Ovidrel to induce ovulation. My guess is that now that the follies are growing normally and are a good size ovulation will happen on its own, but we shall see.

If you have any extra fingers to cross for us I would greatly appreciate it!