The Infertility Overachievers

Croupity Croup Croup!!

2012-01-27T23:18:00.002-05:00

AKA: Crappity Crap Crap!!

Last week I woke up expecting a happy almost three year old who has gone to sleep with ZERO problems AND sleeps 13+ hours a night since he was 9 months old. Seriously, in the last 2 years London has only woken up 3 times in the middle of the night. He is the worlds BEST sleeper. He asks to go to bed every night and if he doesn't have a nap he clings to he baby gate begging to go to bed at about 6:45pm. I HAVE BEEN BLESSED!

CHECK!!! (No London's sleeping habits have nothing to do with this post, I was just bragging by telling you how awesome he sleeps.)

Next I woke up to a 3 month old BARKING at me. It sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. He didn't really have a runny nose, but he was definitely congested. A quick check of his temperature confirmed my fears, and after a not so brief but very entertaining stop at the circus (yes, I said circus...and yes we already had tickets for the day time show, a little fever is nothing some Pedia Care acetaminophen can't fix) we headed to the Dr's office. It was Friday so I figured we better hit up the Dr or else brave the weekend with a sick baby.

20 minutes and a negative RSV test later, his diagnosis was Croup. Dr S told me rom the moment she walked in the room and heard Holden barking, that she had no doubt it was croup, but she wanted to make sure there was no RSV involved.

We were send home on acetaminophen and a prescription for steroids. Have any of you ever seen a 3 month old with roid rages? Well I have it and it SUCKS!!

To understand this you need a little back story. My oldest sister has some health problems. Mainly asthma mixed with a fun concoction of every other problem you can imagine. Every so often she gets sent to the hospital where they pump her FULL of steroids and send her home. She spends the rest of the night cleaning her house. I'm talking DEEP cleaning her house. I would happily eat off her floors with in the week after her release from the hospital.

Anyway, so when my mom mentioned the day after Holden's diagnosis that she couldn't get me on the phone (London had killed it playing Angry Birds) my sisters response was "Of course not! She is sleeping...Holden was up all night cleaning his crib with a toothbrush." And in many ways she was correct.

Holden never slept, and ate nonstop! My nipples were raw for the next few days. Poor kiddo, felt better on the steroids but they made him so irritable. He would be asleep in his bed and just fussing. You could tell that it wasn't his "pain" cry that was making him fuss, he was just mad...and asleep.

Anyway...this is a really long story!

Within about 2 days Holden was 50 times better. I stopped his meds and his attitude improved as well.

Holden is 3 months old.. and he has been sick every 2-3 weeks since birth. Either this kid has the worlds worst immune system OR he has a big brother who is bringing everything home from preschool with him. I'm going with the latter. Hopefully this will be our last visit to the Doctor until the end of Feb and his 4 month appointment.

I'm kinda getting used to this face, so I can't have him getting sick again!

P.S. PEDIACARE® is running a pretty cool sweeps...

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*** Look out for a Pedia Care review and giveaway coming up soon***

I was in no way compensated for the P.S. plug! Its a cool opportunity for my readers and if any of you win, I EXPECT you to take me on the trip with you. My kids may or may not be invited to join us based on what kind of day I have had ;)

More Kids?

2012-01-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

I have 2 kids now. My uterus has barely gone back to size and I am already thinking of more kids.

Fact: I am a fertile infertile.

We can't get pregnant without some serious medical intervention but apparently IVF works for us. We have done it twice and now have two amazing and beautiful boys to show for it.

I'm going to be honest, as usual, and when we decided to have Holden, I was petrified of how hard having two kids was going to be. Now that I have him, I know the answer. Amazingly Hard! Difficult! Some days the only thing that can solve my craziness is a big glass (okay, BOTTLE) of wine. I need to drink 20 oz of coffee every morning, wipe my butt while talking to one child and holding the other, and sleeping every night glued to TWO baby monitors. My life is a pure chaos. Yet for some reason I can not stop thinking about having baby number 3...and possibly 4.

You know how people always say tattoos are addictive? Is it possible that kids are also? Did I just compare kids to tattoos?

I LOVE my boys, but it is no secret that I want a girl next. I don't want a girl for the cute clothes and hair bows. I want a girl so that someone will call me when I'm old and grey(er than I currently am). Boys get married and leave their mama's. Girls get married and call for advice, well some of them do. I wouldn't trade my boys for the WORLD. Even though I got a few "I'm sorry" comments when we found out Holden was another boy, we were honestly THRILLED! London got a brother close in age, and I got to reuse all of his ADORABLE baby stuff. Just kidding that wasn't the only reason we were happy, but it definitely didn't hurt.

So here I am already contemplating having baby number 3. No time soon of course, but I'm not afraid anymore. The change from one to two kids petrified me. However thus far it hasn't been so hard. I could handle three and if the third is not a girl (which would be fine) I am more than HAPPY to adopt a little girl down the road. One of my best friends Elizabeth warned me that it will get a whole lot harder when Holden starts crawling. I believe her that, but I live in the now! Right now I want another baby...maybe even two.

After the next baby even if she is a girl, I want to keep my options open. I may want another child.

I am the 4th of five children

However I am NOT willing to do another fresh IVF cycle. We have 5 frosties and if none of them create a baby, then we will adopt number 3 and call it a day...er...life.

I am also not willing to carry a 4th child. I love being pregnant, okay I actually hate it. I give up wine, gain 30 lbs, and spend 4 months on bedrest while stressing about keeping my baby in until 37 weeks. It's a cruel joke because I have never needed a glass of wine more than when I was stressing about preterm labor. Above and beyond all that...I'm not very good at pregnancy. My body just doesn't like it. So why push it? Child number four WILL be adopted. And I am ecstatic about that idea, especially after seeing my IRL friend Lora meet her new daughter thanks to the miracle of international adoption.

You should have seen Mikes eyes the other night when I said I possibly wanted 4 children. Since day one, over 11 years ago, we both said we wanted 3 children. He listened and told me he would be very willing to discuss it again after baby number 3. He didn't say yes...but he definitely didn't say no. :)

Holden 2 Months!

2012-01-12T09:03:00.000-05:00

Since his Dr appointments are running a few weeks behind at this point so are my posts.

Holden had his official 2 month Dr appointment on Monday...He was 11 weeks old.

Holden is getting so stinking big. I know everyone says that and I will probably start every post off like that for the next year or so, but IT'S TRUE!

He is really starting to sleep well at night. He goes down at around 9:30pm and sleeps until about 3:30am. That is 6 hours people!!! Now if only I could teach myself to go to bed at 9:30 so I could really enjoy those 6 hours. He then eats and crawls into bed with me (bad habit I know) until around 8:30am. It is glorious and I'm hoping he follows in his brother footsteps and stays such a good sleeper.

He is really starting to coo at us these days. He LOVES it when you talk to him. He talks back and mimics my sounds. I've already got him saying "hey" well at least it's a noise that SOUNDS like "hey" but that's a step in the right direction! HAHA!

He hates being put down, but unlike his brother he is happy with ANYONE holding him. London only wanted me to hold him starting at about 6 weeks old. Holden wouldn't care if it was the bum on the street corner as long as he is being held. Over the holidays when our families were in town, I swear I went full days with out hearing him cry because people just kept passing him from one person to another. He was a happy camper.

He now weighs: 14lbs (Birth: 7lbs 2oz and 6 weeks: 11lbs 3oz)
And is 23.5 inches long (Birth: 18.5 and 6 weeks: 21in)

Here is his 2 month picture! (And London's too, just for fun!)

Holden

London

A Man and His Smart Phone.

2012-01-11T12:44:00.001-05:00

Because I'm sure he will eventually hate me one day anyway...

Posting this to my blog (and facebook page) can't hurt, right?

My Nook, My Love.

2012-01-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

So I got a Nook...and I LURVE it! No Seriously, I LOVE IT!

Over the last 30 days since I bought it I have read, 8 books!

Twilight 1-4: I seriously loved these. I wasn't a huge fan of the movies, but I really needed to see how things were going to end in the last movie. So I did what any good cheater would do, I read the books. :) I loved the way it ended, no spoilers from me, but I can't believe Edward dies. KIDDING! I'M TOTALLY JOKING....Edward doesn't die.....OR DOES HE? I said this loud as I was walking out after watching Breaking Dawn part 1...on opening night...as everyone was waiting in line to see the movie after me. I'm horrible, but this guys reaction was hilarious. Yes of course I told him I was joking, but it was funny none the less.

The Hunger Games 1-3 OMG, these book are so sooooooooooooooooo (not enough o's to really explain how I feel) good! They were recommended to me by my awesome Bloggy readers and Facebook friends. I honestly did not think they were going to be my style by reading the excerpt, but these books have seriously become my favorite series of all times. I can not WAIT for the movies. I really hope they do them justice.

The Help: Oh how I loved this book. It was so great, and the best part is I've caught myself saying "Chilun's" not once but twice since I finished. Getting back to my southern roots!

Currently I am reading Water For Elephants. I've become quite the reader over the last 30 days. My Nook as been awesome since I can read and turn the pages one handed. I spend a lot of time in the glider nursing baby Holden these days and using two hands to read is just not an option.

I'm pretty sure my Tivo is plotting the assassination of my Nook. Poor Tivo has been so neglected since I got the Nook. I haven't even finished watching the newest episode of Teen Mom 2. I'm pretty sure Tivo deleted it early for some sort of passive aggressive revenge, but that is just speculation.

Where Do I Even Start?

2012-01-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

OK OK....lets start here.

Merry Christmas!!

Our Christmas looked alot like this...

and yes that is an accurate depiction of what I look like these days.

My dieting and weight loss posts will be coming soon. HAHA!

On Christmas Eve morning, I woke up feeling "off". I went upstairs to find London in his bed COVERED in throw up. Poor guy apparently puked at some point during the night but he is such a sound sleeper it didn't even wake him up. He slept right through it.

Within about an hour, I was puking too. My ENTIRE family was here from out of town (all 15 of them). My Mom was trying to cook and I was trying not to throw up by laying in bed all morning. London laid on the floor ALL DAY watching TV. Not whining or anything just laying on the floor not moving. Poor guy, he ate absolutely nothing all day, and I had to force him to drink something late in the day. He went to bed early with a brief smile when he was reminded Santa was coming.

Christmas morning we were MUCH better. I felt like a million bucks and was ready to chow down on some traditional Christmas monkey bread and breakfast casserole. London however, woke up with a 102 fever. I have no idea where the fever came from but with a dose of Tylenol, 30 minutes later he was screaming "NEXT PRESENT" while ripping open of his gifts.

By Christmas night, Mike had fallen as the next victim of the Christmas Stomach Flu. And a few hours later a few of my nieces and nephews were sick as well. By December 26th it claimed its smallest victim, Holden had it. It was a miserable few days for us, but we managed to smile for a few pictures between the puking.

The Loot Christmas Morning

(Not all of it was for my boys, my nieces and nephews were there too)

London slowly getting started as he starts to feel better.

Fever was gone and London was back in full force now!

His new Angry birds taking a little trip on Thomas the Train.

Holden showing off his new Christmas shirt.

London playing with his brand new Ipod Touch that Aunt Lori got him

What Mom!! Can't you see I'm trying to play Angry Birds?

The whole tired family Christmas Morning.

(London couldn't be bothered to stop playing Angry Birds to take a family photo)

Holden testing out the new bouncer and Sophie that Santa brought him.

Whats next? Oh yes that's right!!

Happy New Year!!!

Our New Years started out like this....

And yet another accurate depiction of how I look right now.

On Friday the day before New Years Eve, I came down with a little case of Vertigo that kept me in bed most of the day. And with 2 kids, that is definitely no fun and virtually impossible. No clue what it was, an inner ear infection maybe? But thankfully it went away on it's own by New Years Eve.

We spent 5 days including New Years Eve up in North Carolina with my inlaws. It was fabulous to see them again and to have a little break from the kids. Yes the kids were with us, but no one was willing to put Holden down, and London managed to forced everyone into playing numerous games of Angry Birds.

Holden posing with his TiTi

He is not even 3 yet and already refusing to take pictures with me.

Look at that face you would think I was torturing him.

Of course there were more presents!

Another exhausted family photo

Baby Holden was being completely spoiled by everyone.

I don't think he got put down more than twice all week.

Ok well I think I have managed to catch back up...for now.

I have a few posts planned for this week so hopefully I won't be such a stranger over the next few weeks.

Still Here!!

2011-12-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, this ha been one of my longest blogless stints to date. I'd like to rush back here and tell you its because I have been super busy, but sadly that would be a lie. Thins have been somewhat boring recently, I mean can it really be boring while taking care of the two hoodlums?

Super London

His trusty sidekick (and arch nemesis)

Baby Wonder

Christmas is almost here! While I have managed to find the time to find the time to finish almost all of my Christmas shopping, I have yet to send out any Christmas Cards. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Although sadly, it is not all that unusual for me.

Oh...here is a little fun fact, I finally jumped on the bandwagon...ya know if the band wagon hadn't passed by say 4 years ago...and I'm reading the Twilight books. I've watched all the movies, mainly using them as an excuse to get out of the house and sneak some wine into the movie theater. I've not some great tips on that if anyone is interested.
Baby Bottle Cooler Bag with ice packs + Mini Bottles + Red Solo Cup = Getting drunk in the movie theater while drooling over Taylor Lautner. Win-Win, right? I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS ONLY 15 DURING FILMING!!!

Anyway, back to reading...I borrowed my sister nook to try it out and decided to get the first Twilight book. By the next day I had finished and moved on to New Moon. Well here I am a few days later the proud owner of a new nook and engrossed in the Twilight Saga. I just started Eclipse. I'm really looking forward to Breaking Dawn because I have already seen the movie (Part One) and I'm eager to see how this whole "saga" ends. Yep, I'm a dork! Whatev's

New Blog Friday- Shannon

2011-12-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

This week I am featuring Shannon from Solo Pronto

Here is a message from Shannon:

I'm sure at this point, you've read a blogger's personal information a hundred times on other blogs and are sick to death of reading a lot of the same old thing, so I'll put mine in purple italics and see if that spices it up for you a little bit! After all, I'm here for you! Here are my slanty, colorful tidbits of personal info for your reading pleasure:

Hello! I am Shannon from Solo Pronto! I am married to a wonderful man (rolling your eyes yet?) whom I met at work 8 years ago and who actually trained me for two different jobs before running off with my heart. We moved to Colorado for a while, then back to Tennessee before settling down in Georgia. We have three dogs, 9 nieces and nephews and god-children and love making memories and taking new adventures. Our biggest adventure thus far in our five year relationship/three year marriage has been trying to start a family. So far, we've had one miscarriage and are currently in the midst of our fifth cycle of fertility treatments and fourth IUI. It's been a ride, let me tell you. I've found emotions in me I didn't know existed these past few years and they aren't due to the medication! Well, not all of them anyway....

I named my blog Solo Pronto! because it means "I am ready!". I honestly thought I was! I started this blog at a point in my life when I thought I was ready for anything. I was strong, healthy, happy, everything was going so well - which is probably why I thought I was so ready for anything - life was good. Then a lot of unexpected things happened. Things I couldn't control. I had a miscarriage, lost my job, couldn't get pregnant again, etc. Life happened. I took a break from blogging and worked on getting my life back together and somehow, blogging ended up finding its way back into that plan a few months ago. It has become a kind of therapy and as I am sure you know from experience, it has been much-needed (and welcomed) support and has honestly helped me more these last few months than anything else has in this whole crazy journey. Up until about two months ago, I had 5 followers and mainly used Solo Pronto! as a way to document what I was going through and use it as an online diary, albeit a very public one. It's helped me open up to people I know in real life about our situation and because of that, I have found close and personal friends who have been experiencing the same pain and frustration I have with no one to talk to. Blogging has given me back some of the confidence and courage that I had lost in the past two years. I've met some really crazy, amazing, sarcastic and supportive people these past few months and I couldn't be more thankful. I'm hoping to meet more and possibly be that extra bit of support for others as well.

As for my writing style, I try not to be too serious and usually have no problems with self-deprecation. I'm an easy target, what can I say? My funny bone extends from my shoulders to my ankles so I tend to think almost everything can be made into something funny - I laugh a lot.

I hope you'll stop by and say hello. Check out a post or two. I'd love it if you did. I can't promise you I'll always be positive or funny or even coherent, but I promise I'll keep in interesting. With every day, I'm learning more and more and preparing for what life has to offer. Hopefully, at the end of all this, whatever this is, I'll be able to say "SOLO PRONTO!" and mean it. I hope you'll join me!

Until next time,

Shannon

Go show Shannon some love by commenting or following her blog.

Also if you would like to be featured on New Blog Friday, click on the new blog Friday tab at the top of my blog to find out how. Don't worry if you don't fit all of the criteria, very few of the blogs that I feature fit it exactly. It can't hurt to try :)

One Month Old!

2011-12-01T21:36:00.001-05:00

Actually Holden is 6 weeks old but he didn't get to his one month well baby check up until yesterday.

"Well baby" check up right? WRONG!!!!

For the last few days Holden has been going through a phase where he never wants to be put down. He is also exceptionally cranky every night from about 4-8pm. I really didn't think too much about it because I remember when London did this. I even wrote about it HERE. I just assumed that Holden was going through the same phase.

Yesterday while at the Doctor, I mentioned his new found crankiness and that he still had a snotty nose left over from his cold. She looked him over and when it came time to check his ears we found the culprit. He has an ear infection. Poor guy!

So we left his "well baby" check up with his very first script for antibiotics. FABULOUS!!

Besides that his one month, actually six week stats are 21 inches long (up from 18.5 at birth) and 11lbs 3oz (up from 7lbs 2oz) at birth. Both of which are in the 50th percentile for his age. Wooohoo! for being average :)

I better get to bed, little man is still waking up every 3 hours to eat, I'm really hoping that changes as he starts feeling better. What I wouldn't give for 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Here is a picture of Holden at one month old, and just for fun here is a picture of London at the same age. So far they look NOTHING alike.

Holden

London

And a picture of the boys from today

PS. How cute is my new Christmas Design? You can get a custom holiday design too. We are also running a 20% off blog design packages right now INCLUDING gift certificates. Go check it out.
Ending shameless plug now. :)

The one about breastfeeding.

2011-11-29T14:20:00.001-05:00

When I was pregnant with London, I decided very early on that I was going to breastfeed. It has tons of added health benefits for both the mother and child. Not to mention it sure beats the heck out of expensive formula. Why wouldn't I do it? London was a CHAMP! He was the freaking Muhammad Ali of breastfeeding. The best of the very best. He latched right away and never had any problems. Which was awesome considering I had NO IDEA what the hell I was supposed to be doing. He refused to take a bottle, so it wasn't until he was 8 months when my milk started to dry up because he was sleeping 13 hours each night that he ever even tasted a drop of formula. I felt like super mom. I swore to all my friends how EASY breastfeeding was, and I will be honest I could not understand the women who stopped breastfeeding because it was too hard, or whatever "excuse" they had.

Yeah, um, Karma is a bitch.

Holden is was the freaking Celebrity Boxing of the breastfeeding world. TRAIN WRECK!! He wouldn't latch for the first 36 hours after he was born, and this time I actually knew what I was doing. I had a seriously crazy lactation consultant who I swear looked and sounded just like the old lady from the Poltergist movies.

She had me milking my own breast (by hand) into a spoon, so that we could suck it up into a syringe to feed him after he had gone 12 hours without latching.

Talk about a whole new level of comfort in your marriage. In less than 12 hours Mike witnessed me pushing a human out of my lady parts for the second time AND milking myself like I was an old timey farmer.

anyway...I'm starting to ramble.

For the first 3 weeks Holden was HORRIBLE at breastfeeding. He was a biter. Thank goodness he wasn't one of those babies that are born with teeth. I decided to keep going and endure the pain. The painful latch usually only lasts about a week, but as we entered week four I was still cursing every time. I was at a loss and can not tell you how many times I wanted to quit.

All of those free formula samples were sitting in the pantry just staring at me. At 3 weeks I had a phone conversation with a different lactation consultant and she told me it sounded like he has a small mouth and tongue. We tried the nipple shield, but yeah, that was a big old FALIURE! He wouldn't latch at all. So after a few hours of screaming I gave up and just endured the pain once again.

Luckily by the end of week 4 he had gotten much much better. It was like over night he magically figured it out. It's all smooth sailing now, but this time couldn't have been more different than the last.

A friend of mine posted this on her blog today and can I please just tell you how true it really is. I'm not posting this to prevent anyone from breastfeeding. I'm not going to bore you all with how important it is and why it is so awesome. Trust me you will get all of that in the hospital. But, I'm also not going to sit here and preach to you that you are a failure if you don't breastfeed. Just like almost everything else in life, it is NOT for everyone and it's completely your decision.

Suck It! The REAL way to prep for breastfeeding!

Forget that old advice about "gently rubbing your nipples with a towel." If you really want to feel ready to nurse, here's what to do.

Day 1
Gently rub your nipples with sandpaper.

Day 2
At bedtime set your alarm clock to go off every two hours. Each time it rings, spend 20 minutes sitting in a rocking chair with your nipples clamped by a pair of chip clips.

Day 3
Draw branching lines all over your chest with a blue-green marker, then stand in front of your bathroom mirror and sing "I Feel Pretty."

Day 4
Open your already-crowded freezer and make room for five dozen plastic milk bags.

Day 5
Fit the hose of a vacuum cleaner over one breast and set on "medium pile." Turn off vacuum when nipple is three inches long. Switch breasts.

Day 6
Obtain "DO NOT CROSS" tape from your local police station, then wrap firmly around your chest. When your spouse asks about it, say, "Get used to it."

Day 7
Tape a water balloon to each breast and squeeze into a maternity bra. Repeatedly hook and unhook the nursing flaps with one hand while using the other to balance a sack of squirming puppies.

Day 8
Dine in the fanciest, snootiest restaurant you can afford, making sure to arrive with a big wet spot directly over each nipple.

Day 9
Record your mother proclaiming, "Just give the baby some cereal like God intended, and she'll sleep right through the night." Play in an endless loop at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m.

Day 10
Slather your breasts with peanut butter, top with birdseed and stand very still in your backyard.

Day 11
Go someplace public -- a museum, a courthouse, the steps of your office building -- and stuff a lifelike baby doll under your shirt. Use the doll's arm to suddenly hike the shirt up past your collar bone. Lower shirt. Feign nonchalant smile.

Day 12
Suckle a wolverine.

Congratulations! You are now ready to nurse a baby. Maybe

Thomas the Train Mega Bloks Party

2011-11-28T19:45:00.002-05:00

The other day London and I hosted his friends (and mine) for a Thomas the Train Mega Bloks party. It was AWESOME! I got to enjoy a cup of coffee with all the Mommies, while London and his pals wore each other out. Tired kids equal happy Mommies. :) Holden slept for most of the party so it really was perfect! Adult conversation and two hands?! I didn't know what to do with myself, I was in heaven! Mega Bloks was kind enough to send us some Thomas the Train goodies for all the kiddos to take home. And let me just tell you, they LOVED it. How do I know they loved it? We had very few tears and my house was trashed when they all left. Two true signs of a successful party :)

How cool are these block sets they sent for the kids?

Sweet little Bella was trying to sneak up on the table and pick her train before anyone else arrived :)

Notice the one missing from the end?

Yeah, London beat her too it and already snagged a Thomas of his own .

Our tasty breakfast snacks!

Trains Trains and more TRAINS!!

All the Mommies and a little Day of the Diesels playing in the background!

The Aftermath

Disclaimer: Complimentary products were provided by Mega Bloks and Mom Select to facilitate this party. No other compensation was received.

New Blog Friday-Hope

2011-11-25T08:00:00.002-05:00

This week I am featuring Hope from Invisible Mother.

Here is a message from Hope:

Hi, I'm Hope and my blog is Invisible Mother. First, I am tickled to be featured on New Blog Friday, although I feel like a bit of an impostor, since my blog's not quite so new anymore. It was still fairly new back in April when I e-mailed Aly, asking to be featured, but even though I passed my one year blogoversary while New Blog Friday was on hiatus, Aly said it was still okay for me to be featured here. What a generous lady!

Anyway, about me. I'm in my late 20's and happily married. About 6 months after our wedding, my DH and I started TTC. I immediately went on to have 2 very early miscarriages. I started this blog a few months later as a place to document my grieving process and finding my way through grief. Over the past year, it has become a place where I document everything about Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, from grief to hope, from testing through treatment, from one specialist to the next.

In November of last year, I had just seen my first fertility doctor, gotten a diagnosis or three, and was hopeful that our next pregnancy would result in a baby. Instead, I continued to miscarry. I've now had a total of five very early miscarriages. Further testing over the past 6 months has revealed more problems. All of them are treatable, but that doesn't meant there aren't more issues still to be discovered . . . For a rundown of what these issues are, and what's being done about them, check out my Tests and Treatments page.

Outside of IF/RPL I'm a volunteer with my church as a Sunday School Teacher and the Children's Choir Director. That sounds like a lot more work than it is. I'm one of a team of 5 Sunday School Teachers for the 3rd-5th grade class, which can have up to about 12 kids, but often has less. The team rotates, so I teach and/or assist a couple times each month. The Children's Choir consists of 6 kids who like to sing. I'm also a volunteer music teacher at a local public school. This year I'm teaching two Kindergarten classes, and it's lots of fun.

The other thing I keep busy with is cooking. I've discovered that I feel much healthier on a low glycemic index (GI), gluten- and dairy-free (GF and DF) diet, so that's what I'm following right now. Which means I pretty much cook all my meals at home. From scratch. Yeah. It's a 20 hour/week job. I've just discovered breakfast beans (yummy and filling). I've also just whipped up a batch of high-protein, low GI biscuits. I'll be putting up a couple more recipe posts soon. For past recipes, check out Hope's Kitchen.

I hope you'll take some time to stop by my blot and say hi. I'm looking forward to meeting some new bloggers. :-)

Hope

Go show Hope some blog love by commenting and/or following.

Flu Season

2011-11-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ugh! London goes to a 3 day a week 9am-12pm preschool program, so I expected him to get sick a fair amount this year. It builds up his immune system for kindergarten right? Well little did I know it would build up MY immune system too.

Last Thursday, Mike got the flu...and that night looked alot like this for us.

Wine for me, Nyquil for him.

Mike came in from work, chugged some Nyquil, and went to bed for the night at 5pm. He got a full 13 hours of sleep, and yes I was a little jealous.

London has been sick for pretty much 5 weeks straight, yeah it SUCKS! I think he had it first in the middle of his antibiotics for his ear infection because he had one random day of fever.

Then...Oh, yes there is a THEN!.... I got it! WTF? Where are the keys you are supposed to use to symbolize cuss words %&$^#%@ ^#&%@((@%!%*^)*#)*(&@! Ahhh, there they are.

What exactly was the point of me getting a flu shot after having Holden? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know there are different strains of the flu. And I know the flu shot doesn't guarantee that you won't get it, but it would have been really nice if it had worked. I have a 4 week old. I don't get Nyquil and 13 hours of sleep. I still have to wake up every 2-3 hours to breastfeed a baby. And London still wants his already tired Mommy to be able to play with him. I can fake it most of the time thanks to the miracle of caffeine, but exhaustion and the flu don't leave me with much besides a short temper.

Thank goodness Mike was home over the weekend to really pitch in and take care of London. Holden and I got to lay in the bed most of the weekend. I'm finally feeling better, which is great because Mike was back at work today, so I was too.

I was looking for some Flu humor on google and found this one. It was too good not to post. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE damnyouautocorrect.com ?

Another Week Gone By

2011-11-14T20:56:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh, week 3 as a mother of two has gone remarkably well actually. Everyone is finally starting to feel better.

Holden still has a cold, but THANKFULLY it didn't turn into anything worse. Just a case of the "seasonal snots"

London is working on week number 4 with a cold, but THANKFULLY his ear infection is gone.

And I enjoyed my first glass of much deserved wine, and THANKFULLY it didn't give me a hang over :) I heard it really sneaks up on you after not drinking for almost a full year.

Mommy Fail of the week?

London fell down the stairs. It.Was.Horrible.

Allow me to set the stage. We have 10 ft ceilings in our house, so as you can imagine our stair case is very tall and steep.

We were walking up the stairs with Holden in one hand and London's hand in the other. Once we reached the top I let go of London's hand to open the baby gate. Keep in mind the kid is almost 3 is completely capable of holding on to the rail and navigating stairs. Well I walked through the baby gate and London tried to follow but he tripped. He was sent falling head over feet down the stairs. I leaned over quickly to grab him but I just barely missed him. He did about 4 full flips before he hit the ground and all I could do was stand paralyzed watching his little body flipping with his head banging on the wall with each rotation. Allow me to repeat...It.Was.Horrible. I of course screamed, in my terrified voice, for Mike who quickly came running and rushed passed me on the way to the bottom.

THANKFULLY London was fine, and escaped the whole ordeal without a scratch, mark, or bruise. He only cried for a minute, and only because he was understandably scared. He is such a tough little guy, I however am not. I was a wreck. A few snuggles and a couple games of Angry Birds later we had both fully recovered.

I'm just not sure my nerves can handle two adventurous little boys.

Maybe Holden will be the calm reserved one. :)

Creatively Challenged

2011-11-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

I will admit it....I AM CREATIVELY CHALLENGED!

Yes, I know what some of you are thinking..."Aren't you a blog designer?". Well yes, yes I am.

I'm not always creatively challenged. I can design stuff for other people with no problems. It seems I only become "challenged" when I am designing something for myself.

My blog for example, I went through 4 different designs before I finally gave up and asked my friend/partner to design it for me.

It's like that old theory that a sandwich is always better when someone else makes it.

This is why I am happy Shutterfly exists. They have tons of designs that I can choose from WITHOUT going through the pain in the rear of designing it myself. They always have the cutest Christmas Card designs too, which is great but it makes it so hard to choose just one. A few years ago, I created TWO different Christmas cards. One funny, for the people who really understand my crazy sense of humor, and then another set for those people who are a little more reserved. They also make super cute invitations in case you are hosting a holiday party this year.

I think this is my favorite this year.

*This is a sponsored blog post, I was given 25 free Shutterfly cards. However all opinions expressed are my own.

New Blog Friday- Sunny

2011-11-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

IT'S BACK!!

After a brief hiatus during IVF and pregnancy, I have decided to bring back New Blog Friday!

So if you have a blog you would like me to feature, click on the "New Blog Friday" tab at the top right to find out more.

This week I am featuring Sunny from Sunny Side Up

Here is a message from Sunny:

Hi, my name is Sunny and I own and write at Sunny Side Up.

I originally began my blog in April, when my husband and I first found out I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian syndrome, and that baby making could get a little complicated.

As a nurse by trade, I had heard about all the common causes of infertility, including PCOS. We have friends who have struggled on their own paths to have babies; some successful and some not. So when we were told that we were infertile because I didn’t make eggs, our whole life changed.

We have been told by many (many) people how lucky we are that we found out early, because Hubby and I are still under 30. We have been married for just over two years, and together for six. We had always talked about starting our family early, and were hoping to be married a few years before we started ‘trying’. However, in October last year, we were blessed with a surprise pregnancy which, unfortunately, was taken from us not long after.

It is amazing how much love you can place in something so quickly. How little time it takes to become so attached to the idea of something. We had always wanted children, but after our loss, that feeling was multiplied and kept multiplying, until it was all we could think about!

Sunny Side Up is a space to talk candidly about marriage, infertility, sex, and life in general. I wanted to create a place I could talk about it without making people uncomfortable. And I have been genuinely surprised by the number of people who have come out and told me their own stories of infertility and baby dreams. It seems the more I talk about it, the more couples join in. What a sad, and yet somewhat comforting thought!

Now I feel like my blog has a purpose. It has given me a goal, and though it may take time to achieve, it is high on my list of priorities. I would love to be able to establish a not-for-profit ‘Sunny Side Up Foundation’ that would aide infertile couples with financial support, information on available fertility, adoption and foster care options, and counselling in Australia. Because I know that without the support of those around us, our lives would be incredibly hard.

In the meantime, Sunny Side Up {creative} was recently debuted on the blog and Facebook page. There you can find click-and-print inspirational posters; all free of charge, and designed by me!

So please stop by Sunny Side Up sometime. We don’t yet know what God has in store for us, but you can be sure you’ll hear an honest, comical, sometimes emotional, and true account of our adventures.

Go check out Sunny and show her some love by commenting and/or following her blog.

Murphy's Law of Parenting.

2011-11-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

I'm sure everyone here has heard of Murphy's Law before. I've even blogged about it a time or two.

Well today Murphy struck again.

Let me give all of you a little back story.

When London came to visit me in the hospital, I noticed that he had the toddler funk. Ya know runny nose, coughing, and generally just feeling crappy. I didn't worry too much about it because it's pretty common for toddlers to get it especially when the weather changes.

Within about 2 days, every one who had come in contact with London also had it. Mike and I were sick and so was my sister who had been up at the hospital during London's visit.

Crappity Crap Crap CRAP!

I watched Holden very closely and said a bajillion prayers that he wouldn't get sick. The last thing I needed was to end up back in the hospital with a sick 4 day old.

Thankfully he didn't get it...well at least not then.

London got a little better for a few days and then this past weekend. BAM! He was really really sick. Running a fever, snotty nose, crusty eyes, and coughing so much he could barely even sleep. Then he started complaining on Saturday that his ear was hurting.

Crappity Crap Crap CRAP!

Oh and did I mention that same day Holden woke up with a nose FULL of snot. He was up every hour the night before and you could tell he just felt like...well, crap. If he wasn't eating he wanted to be held, and when he was being held he would occasionally just cry out for a few seconds in his sleep. Poor guy, only 16 days old and he was already sick.

Today we took a little family trip to the Dr.

The Diagnosis: London has his very first a ear infection and Holden has a pretty nasty cold that we are watching to make sure it doesn't turn into anything else.

Ugh! I've been a mom of two for like two freaking weeks now and I'm already having to juggle two sick babies. I guess I better get used to it though.

After leaving the Dr we made a stop off at the pharmacy to pick up London's prescription and while we were there I picked up a little medicine for mommy too.

With 2 sick kids...I deserve it!

Life with Holden

2011-11-02T13:54:00.000-04:00

Things have been going really well over the last two weeks. Wow, I can hardly believe it has been two weeks already. Man, that sleep deprivation really makes time fly!

In this post I am going to list alot of stats that I'm sure none of you care about. It's mainly for me, so it will probably be boring or the rest of you. I love the fact that I can look back at posts from when London was little and see how Holden compares. :) I'll add a few cute pictures at the bottom for anyone who makes it through all of this.

Over the first week we went to ALOT of Dr's appointments. Poor Baby Holden was jaundice and had to go back 5 times in the first 7 days of life to have blood drawn to check his Bilirubin levels checked. Poor guys his heals look like pin cushions. I felt so bad for him.

Fun fact for all of you, my husband thought we were talking about some guy named Billy Rubin every time I would talk about Holden's levels. HAHA!

Holden's levels stayed elevated for the first few days but never got high enough for him to have to sit under the special light or blanket. It was 10 (whatever the unit of measurement is I have no idea) on day 2, 14 the next day, and by day 6 it was 18. Thankfully by day 8 it was down to 14.

See I told you this was going to be boring. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Thankfully the little guy has been steadily gaining weight. He started out at 7lbs 2oz at birth and was down to 6lbs10oz when we left the hospital. By day 8 though he had gained a fair amount and was weighing in at 7lbs 6 oz. His Dr was very impressed with this so apparently we are doing something right.

Breastfeeding is a little more difficult this time than it was with London. Holden is a really good eater, but something is just off. London was a natural so I'm not quite sure what to do to fix our little problem. Here it is almost 2 weeks since he was born and it still hurts to nurse him. He seems to be latching well, but I think he is biting me. I can promise we will not be making it to a my initial goal of 6 months if he keeps that up. My poor nipples are bruised and it's painful every time he nurses. Nothing unbearable, just not comfortable AT ALL. I still cuss every time he latches hahaha! Hopefully I can find a LLL meeting to attend soon, or possibly call the lactation consultant back and see if she has any suggestions. Something has got to give.

Holden has established a pretty good schedule for himself. I've got my fingers crossed that he keeps it up. Right now, he sleeps most of the day, waking for about 30 mins here and there. Then around 6pm he wakes up for about two and a half hours. He is very content and just chills on the couch next to us in his boppy. About 8:30 is his bed time, so I nurse him and put him in bed..on his back. London was a tummy sleeper so I'm happy Holden seems to be content on his back or side. Through out the night he only wakes about every 4 hours, just long enough to eat and get his diaper changed. He is a really good baby (THUS FAR!! Quick, knock on wood!)

London is actually adjusting very well to being a big brother. He hasn't really been acting out YET, however he doesn't really acknowledge him very much either. He asks about him alot but doesn't want to hold him or even help feed, diaper, bathe, or entertain him. He is however enjoying all of Holden's stuff. His swing and carseat make for some really fun times as far as London is concerned. :) Right now he just sleeps alot, which I guess is pretty boring for a 2 year old.

Oh the best part, London is obsessed with Holden's umbilical stump. It still has not fallen off yet, and it really bothers London that he has an "ouchie." I keep telling him that it doesn't hurt, but he doesn't believe me. So every time I change Holden's diaper, London runs over and says "Is it gone yet?" and then freaks out when I put alcohol on it. "Don't touch it Mommy!!" HAHA! It's actually pretty cute :)

Ok that is enough documenting for today. Here are a few pictures for those of you who actually read all of that!

First thing in the AM

One of the only times we've got London to "hold" him.

Smiling

Nap Time!

Halloween

2011-11-01T15:28:00.000-04:00

So unless you have been living under a rock (aka: just had your second child) you probably celebrated Halloween last night.

We took the boys (OMG, that is so fun to say) out trick or treating, and let me just tell you London had a BLAST! Holden...ameh, not so much :)

Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Getting ready to go trick or treating.

Holden was less than enthusiastic about the whole experience.

Our view of London for most of the night.

London quickly learned how trick or treating works, after each house he would exclaim "Next House!"

London decided to hitch a ride on the way home. We had to carry Holden.

Awww it makes me kinda sad to think that he used to fit in that carseat.

Checking his candy...and when I say checking I mean stealing all the good pieces :)

I'll have an update in the next few days all about life with two kids. It has been interesting to say the least.

Holden's Birth Story

2011-10-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

Phew, I finally have a minute to sit down and write Holden's mini birth story.

Let's see, where to start?

Wednesday October 19th, I turned 37 weeks. FULL TERM!! Wooohoo! It would have been AMAZING had I not been experiencing contractions every 4-6 mins for 3 days. I was MISERABLE! I was so sore that it hurt every time the baby would kick. At 10am I had my 37 week appointment with MY Dr. Did I mention that I LOVE her? I was dilated to 4cm and 100% effaced and waters bulging even more. She told me, "If you dilate anymore I'm pretty sure this baby is just going to fall out. Let's just put you out of your misery!" She then stripped my membranes. It was by far the most painful thing that had ever happened to me! I shouted a few cuss words and she responded with "yeah, I get that alot" HAHAHA!!

Wednesday night, I was contracting every 4 mins (again) and they were getting more and more painful. So I decided to call the Dr and see if I could go into the hospital. The on-call Dr was HORRIBLE!! She was rude, rude, RUDE! This is how the conversation went with her...

Me: I'm contracting every 4 mins and have been for the last 3 hours straight, they are becoming more intense and I'm having trouble walking and talking through them.
Her: Well your only 37 weeks.
Me: Yes, I know but I'm in a lot of pain and I'm not sure what to do.
Her: Well how is this any different than what you have been having for the last few months?
Me: Umm, they are ALOT more painful and intense.
Her: **Sigh** Well, I'm not sure what the point of you going to the hospital is. If you are in labor...ok. But if you're not, I'm just going to send you home.
Me: Ummmm, OK? My last baby came really fast, so I'm a little worried about that too.
Her: *Rolls eyes* (Yes, I could HEAR her roll her eyes) Ok well you can go to the hospital, but I'm not going to come in. I'll have a nurse check you when you get there.

WTF?!?!

I was SOOOOOOOO mad. Seriously, contractions every 4 mins is not reason enough to go to the hospital? After I hung up I may have called the Dr a few choice words that I am not proud of, but at that point I was PISSED!!

When I got there, I had dilated a little more since my appointment so they gave me some pain medication, and kept me for the night. I quickly passed out.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, My Dr was on call the next morning. She came in at 7am, and said she thought I was leaking fluid, dilated to 5+cm, and that we were gonna have this baby TODAY! My contractions had slowed down a bit so she had me get up and walk for an hour, then broke my water.

I'm not going to lie, I expected for Baby Holden to FLY out like London did after breaking my water, but he didn't. Nothing really happened actually. We laid around in bed for about an hour with contractions every 4 mins (just as they had been for days). Then my nurse came in and told me they were going to start pitocin. I have heard horrible things about pitocin, so I promptly asked for the epidural.

About an hour later I got my epidural and it was glorious. I felt nothing, and when I say nothing I mean NOTHING. I just laid around for the next 3 hours watching TV and eating ice chips. About that time, I started to feel some pressure. The Dr checked me and it was time to push! She told me to hang tight while they got the birth cart and supplies, but yeah my body had a different plan. I NEEDED to push.

2 contractions and 7 mins of pushing later, Holden Alexander was born (and peeing on the Dr).

Mike was grossed out by cutting the cord. I thought it was hysterical.

Holden was crying when London got there, so he wasn't quite sure what to think of him at first.

But he eventually warmed up.

Me and my boys...Horrible picture of me, but cute of the boys so I had to put it up.

Our first family photo!

Daddy and his boys :)

Brothers :)

Holden Alexander is here!!

2011-10-20T19:32:00.002-04:00

Holden Alexander arrived today at 3:53pm. Weighing in at 7lbs 2oz and 18.5in long. I will update in a few days with his birth story and more pictures, but for now I'm going to love on my new little man! He is absolutely perfect!

Holden is a Quitter

2011-10-18T09:56:00.000-04:00

Ugh, so I have had contractions at least every 6 mins for the last 36 hours. I really thought last night was going to be THE NIGHT. They were painful, very painful, and really looked like they were going somewhere, but as you can tell from the title of this blog post, they did not.

I'm still pregnant. MUCH to my dismay.

I'm at my wits end, and so so so sore from contracting so much over the last few days.

I'm exhausted since I didn't sleep much the last few days. At least if I had a newborn I would be able to cuddle with him in the middle of the night, instead of tossing and turning in pain, accompanied by the occasional trip to the bathroom to puke.

I went into the Dr yesterday just to get checked out when the contractions were every 4 mins. I had dilated another cm (4 now) and about 90% effaced. I didn't see my Dr and since I was only 36w6d she couldn't do anything to help me out of the contraction marathon.

My 37 week appointment with MY Dr (not the on call) is tomorrow. I'm still contracting this morning but they are not nearly as regular as they were yesterday.

During contraction-fest yesterday, we decided to go walk around the Zoo to help get things going. My sister-in-law went with me to take care of London and I moaned and waddled my way around the zoo, stopping for the occasional photo.

36 Weeks and Eviction Notice.

2011-10-12T19:39:00.001-04:00

Here I am still pregnant! *Puke* *Burp* *Contraction* *Groan* *Waddle*

I did it! I made it to 36 weeks. Not quite full term, but close e-damn-nough.

Since I have not updated in a while allow me to elaborate why on this great day I am so stinking disgruntled.

PRETERM LABOR!! I HATE YOU!!

Some of you who have been following me for a while may remember that when I was 35 weeks with London, I started this nightly crontraction-puke fest. It usually lasted for about 3-5 hours each night and instead of sending me into definite labor, it usually tapered off a few hours later. Ultimately it was a big freaking waste of my time and energy. Well guess what?

IT'S BACK!!!!!

Thankfully this time I have been armed with Phenergan to help the nausea and helps me sleep through a fair amount of it. Not all of it though. I have been up EVERY.SINGLE. NIGHT. for 10 freaking days dealing with this crap. I'm exhausted and have gotten to where I dread and each and every night because I know what's coming. 4-5 hours of pure labor...that leads NO WHERE!

People always ask me about the great natural birth vs medicated birth debate. My answer is always the same...unless there is a cash reward at the end, I want a freaking epidural. My reasoning is that I've dealt with labor in 3-5 hour increments for the last 2 weeks, and it sucks... like really bad, and I didn't even have to push a baby out of my lady bits in the end. I went through enough just to GET pregnant with this baby, I deserve a freaking epidural.

So today at my Dr's appointment I got some encouraging news. I'm 3-4 cm dilated, 75% effaced, and have bulging waters. Baby is extremely LOW and in position.WOOHOOO! She said the three most magical words to me "Any Day Now". It was pure music to my ears.

My Dr pulled me off all meds (actually last week she did that) and off all modified bedrest. She said "let's get this baby out!" She doesn't like the fact that my waters are bulging. She said that if I am still pregnant in 2 weeks (which she highly doubts) that she is going to break my water at the hospital, where she can control it and I will be guaranteed that before mentioned magical epidural.

So we officially have an EVICTION DATE: October 27, 2011 @ 7:30am

The end is near my friends...very near. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do a happy dance while leaving the Dr's office today. It was quickly followed by a panic attack when I realized I would have a newborn in 2 weeks or less. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. But, I'm ready. Oh so ready! Bring on the baby!!!

Here are a few belly pics (OMG, these could possibly be my last)

35 weeks

36 week (Holy smokes I look tired!)

I'm Next!!

2011-10-02T22:18:00.000-04:00

Back in February, when I first found out that IVF #2 had worked, I also found out that 4 of my friends were also expecting. All of them were due within 6 weeks of my due date. It was great having friends to enjoy this pregnancy with. Oddly enough, 2 or them were also pregnant with me last time. It was fun swapping random texts complaining about swollen ankles, bed rest, and irritable uterus'. One even even ended up on bed rest with me. Copy Cat HAHAHAHA!!!

As September rolled around, my friends started having their babies.

I sat by, watching each one of them welcome their perfect babies into the world, just waiting for my turn. Well guess what....IT'S FINALLY MY TURN!!

Yesterday my last friend who was due before me delivered her perfect little girl. Congrats Erin!

I'M NEXT!!!

I will be 35 weeks in a few days, so baby Holden definitely has a little more cooking to do, but we are getting so CLOSE!! The next birth announcement in my little IRL world will be MY OWN!! **Well not totally true, one of my close friends here has a scheduled c-section on Wednesday, but it's scheduled so I'm not really sitting around waiting on her to go into labor**

EEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!

For those of you who are due after me...I will try to hurry this up so that it will be your turn next :)

34 Weeks and a Giveaway!

2011-09-27T14:18:00.003-04:00

Today was my 34 week appointment and more than likely my last ultrasound. Everything went amazingly well and I even got a 4d peak at baby Holden. He appears to look a lot like Mr. London and has a head full of hair. Which if the old wives tale is correct, would explain why I have had so much heartburn this pregnancy. London had very little hair when he was born and I only experienced heartburn with him twice my entire pregnancy.

Here are a few pictures of the little guy. He really didn't cooperate well with the picture taking portion of the 4d ultrasound. He kept his hand up over his face for most of it but I caught a couple peaks at his cute little lips and nose. Oh and there is NO DOUBT that he is a boy, he was quite proud of showing that off. Typical man. :)

A few other things I learned at this appointment.

-I've not made anymore progress since 24 weeks, still hanging out around 1-3 cm dilated depending on which Dr checks me.
-Holden has not "dropped yet" although my suspects that when he does I will probably go into labor pretty quickly afterwards, if not immediately (based on my cervix).
- Holden is already weighing in at a healthy and chubby 6lbs.
-He is also head down (which I pretty much knew) so as of right now it looks like I won't be needing that much feared c-section.
-Next week I get to come off all my medications and restrictions! WOOHOOO!!

So now....ON TO THE GIVEAWAY!

I've decided to do a little guessing game for my readers. I'm 34 weeks today, so lets take some guesses on when baby Holden will actually make his arrival. I'm giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card to the person who comes closest. Below is a Rafflecopter giveaway form with 3 questions. Guess the date he will arrive, his weight, and then the time he will be born. The giveaway winner will be determined by whoever is CLOSEST to his actual birth date, and then I will be using his weight and time as a tie breaker in case we have multiple correct guesses. :)

A few things you may want to know before guessing...

-My actual due date is November 9, 2011.
-London was born at 37w4d (17 days early) at 3:17am and weighed 6lbs13oz (water broke spontaneously)
-I will be stopping all medications to prevent preterm labor next week (First week of October)
-Holden is currently estimated (via ultrasound) to weigh 6lbs (34 weeks)
-I weighed a whopping 10lbs9oz when I was born and Mike weighed 5lbs when he was born.

Go start guessing!

Anyone who guesses that I will go past 40 weeks will be automatically disqualified. HAHA! Just Kidding!

If you have any trouble with entering via the Rafflecopter form below, just leave your guess in a comment and I will add you manually. Please make sure to leave me an email address so I can contact you :)

33 Weeks

2011-09-22T15:43:00.001-04:00

Nothing terribly exciting to report here. I'm still pregnant, yay!!. I still have cankles, boo!! And now I officially can't sleep anymore. I know I know, I should feel very blessed that I haven't experienced any problems sleeping up until now but man this sucks. I guess it's my body's way of getting me ready for baby, but I really don't want to practice the sleepless nights without a newborn to cuddle.

I'm getting less and less mobile these days too. Getting up and down from the couch is next to impossible. So is leaning over to pick up one of the million Thomas the Trains that litter my floor. As you can imagine, my house is a mess because of this. I'm starting to think investing in some sort of 'Go Go Gadget Arm" wouldn't be such a bad idea right now.

Well this has been a quick whinny update from me! I have an ultrasound next Tuesday to check baby Holden's weight and position, so I will be sure to update again then. :)

Until then, here I am at 33 weeks.

C-section fears

2011-09-20T11:25:00.000-04:00

So today while I had some down time, yes I actually had some down time, I was reading through this chat board. Some might say I'm a bit of a troll for message boards. While most of the information is helpful, you would be amazed the crazy infertility questions people ask on some of these boards. My personal favorite has got to be when I found a thread about taking unprescribed clomid. The author asked if taking 250mg for 7 days was too much. WTF? I almost died! (For my non infertile readers, the starting dose of clomid is almost always 50mg for 5 days.) I tried to set the author straight, but I have a sneaking suspicion she probably ended up in the hospital with OHSS.

Anyway...I found this thread about the rising rate of c-sections these days. As I was reading, I went into full PANIC mode. OMG, what if I have to have a c-section this time? I've really never even thought about this as a possibility after my extremely quick and easy delivery with London. However with every pregnancy there is always a chance.

I have no idea why the idea of a c-section sends me into cold sweats. Tons of women do it everyday, however it skeebs me out! (Skeebs is a word right?) Why is it necessary for me to be awake while a doctor slices me open and digs around in my abdomen pulling out my child.

Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT anti c-section. I know there are tons of reasons why they are medically necessary. I'm just SCARED of them. Ghosts, Zombies, and IVF don't scare me at all. (Yes, I just put IVF into the same category as Ghosts and Zombies). C-sections on the other hand send me screaming and running. The process, the recovery, the staples. THEY PUT STAPLES IN YOUR STOMACH! That can NOT be good! I once accidentally stapled my finger and it HURT, I can't imagine staples (PLURAL!!) in my stomach. I really need to stop talking about this before my blood pressure goes through the roof and I require c-section.

I have my next, and probably last, ultrasound next week. I'm hoping, wishing, and praying that everything looks good, and we can continue with our plans for a vaginal delivery.

33 weeks! Only one more month until I'm considered FULL TERM! WOOOHOOO! I'll update with a belly pic later this week!

"Before the Baby Fun"

2011-09-18T18:26:00.001-04:00

This weekend we had our last bit of "before the baby fun". I have a feeling we are not going to be able to be this spontaneous after Holden gets here.

Mike called me from work on Friday and said he had been given 2 tickets to the South Carolina vs Navy Football game on Saturday. Neither one of us were fond of either team, we are UGA and Army fans, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to the game. I quickly scrambled to find a sitter, and my sister thankfully stepped up and offered to take London.. So we met halfway (she lives 2.5 hours away) and she took London down to Savannah for the weekend.

Our seats at the game were incredible, and only about 20 rows from the field. It was a great game too, which we were not really expecting. It was a blast. Well until we hit 1.5 hours of traffic trying to get 5 miles to the movie theater afterwards. Yep, we decided to really take advantage of our child free status and go to a movie after the game. Mike wanted to see Drive, and how could I possibly pass up a Ryan Gosling movie?

Don't worry we were not the only ones having fun. This is what London was doing while we were at the game.

Lori said he refused to take the helmet off. :)

However it wasn't all fun and games. London and I both eventually paid for our weekend of fun.

First my feet decided that they did NOT enjoy the football game quite as much as I did. I will be honest, I really didn't walk around that much. We had parking pass from Mike's company that allowed us to park right next to the stadium. So I didn't even have to walk a full block to get in. Then at the game, I made myself comfortable and sat for most of the game. Really only getting up and down for bathroom breaks. :)

These were my feet today. They were WAY worse last night, but I couldn't take a picture then.

See I told you I had cankles.

OMG!!! Isn't there supposed to be a bone sticking out right there?

Then poor London fell on the corner of a table at Lori's and got this beauty on his face. The top is really bruised, but other wise it just looks like a big scratch. Goofy kid! Lori said he didn't even cry. I bet he wishes he had been wearing his helmet then. :)

So there you go, that was our big weekend, and a nasty picture of my cankles. Aren't you glad you decided to read my blog today? Hahaha!!

32 weeks and Cankles

2011-09-15T17:55:00.001-04:00

I've made it to my next goal of 32 weeks. My Dr even cheered when she walked into the room at yesterdays Dr appointment. 32 weeks is quite the accomplishment when we first started with a shortened cervix at 20 weeks.

Now with all of that said, I have an announcement to make...

I have cankles!!

WTF?!?!?!

How did this happen to me? I have calves and I have ankles. I DO NOT have cankles.

I'm not quite sure if it is from swelling (hopefully) or if it's from pregnancy weight gain (18 lbs thus far). Either way I don't care, I just know that jeans have now become my new BFF. I've got to hide those big boys some how.

In another glamorous pregnancy news, my feet have grown a full shoe size. I've gone from an already large size 10 to a small row boat in just a few months. I swear I can't even wear my flip flops anymore. Did I mention my feet are swollen/fat too? What am I supposed to wear now?

Thankfully these nice Chinese ladies agreed to make me some new shoes, because I'm pretty sure my days of shopping off the rack are OVER!

Credit

At my 32 week appointment the other day my Dr made a plan to pull me off all my meds at 35 weeks. WOOOHOOO!!! I love having a plan. It gives me something to look forward to, ya know besides having a baby hahaha!

And here is a crappy cell phone pic of my 32 week belly!

Reflections

2011-09-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks pregnant...with baby number 2! Where has the time gone? I feel like just yesterday I was gearing up for IVF #1, never even thinking about IVF #2. I still look back in awe at where my life has taken me over the last few years. A lot of that journey has been thanks to good ole infertility.

Recently I had a friend ask me to write her an email about what she can expect during her upcoming IVF cycle. I keep meaning to write that email, really I do. I swear I'm going to get around to it, however it seems that my life is crazy busy now thanks to the miracles of in vitro fertilization. I have the family I never would have had without it. I know I have said it here before but without IVF I wouldn't have MY London. I would probably have another child whom I would love just as much. Maybe we would have gotten pregnant on our own, probably not though. Maybe we would have adopted, or maybe we would still be waiting to adopt. The "maybe" list could go on and on and on. But one thing I know for SURE is that I wouldn't have London or be expecting baby Holden in the next nine weeks with out going through the ups and down of infertility, IUI, and finally IVF.

Maybe I'm just hormonal right now, but the what-if game kills me every time. I can't imagine my life any other way than it is right now. OK so I take it back, there is no maybe involved here, I am DEFINITELY hormonal right now haha! I just cried a little during the most recent episode of Hell's Kitchen.

I'm going to go before this turns into one big sob fest. See, this is why I haven't been updating my blog all that regularly the last few weeks. I don't have much to say that is isn't whining and crying. Oh I can't wait for postpartum depression HAHA!!!

30 weeks!

2011-08-31T15:15:00.001-04:00

"30 weeks! OMG, 30 weeks!" Yep, that is what my body is screaming right about now. Over the last few days my body has realized that we are officially in the home stretch of this pregnancy. WE HAVE AN ACTUAL COUNTDOWN PEOPLE!!!!

Fact: My baby will be born sometime in the next 10 weeks. Hopefully only 7 weeks from now though. If my preterm labor is as painful as it was with London the weeks leading up to his birth, I completely plan on serving a eviction notice at 37 weeks.

Nesting has also hit full force. Last weekend, I NEEDED to wash all of the newborn clothes, including carseat, swing, and all other accessories. Oh how I love the smell of Dreft! Yes I am well aware I could just use one of the free and clear detergents, but where is the fun in that? Dreft makes everything SMELL like a baby is on the way :)

During this process London found a new place to play/eat fruit snacks while watching Dora.

I also FINALLY got Mike to clean out the guest room so we could convert it into baby Holden's room. I was a little crazy over the weekend. I'll admit it. But in my defense, I couldn't help it. I just HAD to get things done. Just to give you an idea of how crazy I was, here is my lovely husbands facebook status from Sunday night...

"Note to Man: When your pregnant wife asks you to clear out the guest room to make room for the new baby, DO IT. I cleaned it out but said I didn't feel like moving the guest bed. Wrong answer buddy, WRONG answer. For a brief moment after giving her that answer I'm pretty sure her countenance turned into that of the little girl from The Ring. Needless to say, it got done. Mama / Ringu always wins."

Normally I would probably be hurt by his comparison but on that particular day, he probably wan't too far off. Hey at least he didn't compare me to the girl from The Exorcist right? It definitely could have been worse :)

Holden's room is up but not decorated or organized. I promise to post some pictures of that when I get it done. Given how strong this nesting urge is, it shouldn't be too long before I'm finished.

Well, I need to go wake London up from his nap or he is never going to bed tonight. Before I go here is a quick belly picture for all of you.

London's First Day of School

2011-08-30T10:28:00.002-04:00

So today was London's first day of school. He goes to a church preschool program on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays from 9am-12pm. He is only gone for 3 short hours but can I just tell you that IT IS GLORIOUS!! Does that make me a bad mom? If it does I am completely willing to accept that.

Those brief hours that he is gone gives me time to get some things done around the house. Time to ~~update my blog, catch up on blog designs, and sleep~~ clean the house and it actually stay clean for longer that .2 seconds, grocery shop without having to sing or dance around the store for toddler entertainment purposes (I still do it but at least I can choose the song now) , and *gasp* take a shower without a certain peeping tom reminding me that I missed a spot every few seconds. So yes, at the risk of sounding like a bad mother, I will again rejoice and say... IT IS GLORIOUS!!!

Here are a few pictures of my little man on his first day of school. Be prepared, the cuteness is blinding. :)

Nothing comes between a boy and his Angry Birds, not even the first day of school!

Seriously people, how can you stand the cuteness?

His backpack is bigger than he is!

A few months ago (and probably a few months from now) I would have celebrated the first day of school with a fun dinner for London and a nice ~~bottle~~ glass of wine for me. However, we are now celebrating pregnant style. My cravings for Snickers are pretty much gone but my one and only craving from when I was pregnant with London has returned. ICE! No No, not just any crushed ice it has to be Sonic ice. I usually just go pick up a large cup of water with extra ice, pay my 65 cent, and munch on it for a few hours. But since today was so special, I decided to treat myself to something equally as special.

Yep, that is a whole BAG of Sonic Ice. I'm in HEAVEN!

I really should be going, I have a lot of cooking, cleaning, and baking to do while London is at school.

Yeah right, who am I kidding? I'm actually going to take a nap! DON'T JUDGE! :)

Where did the time go?

2011-08-25T23:17:00.001-04:00

Pregnancy hormones are making me a little emotional these day. Shocker, I KNOW!!

But can someone please explain to me how my baby boy went from this...

To this...

Ahhhh, he looks like such a big boy in this picture!

I'm sooooo NOT ready for that.

The best and worst part about all of this?

Is that I get to AND have to watch another little man grow up all over again.

Ok....end hormonal photo post. :)

I just need to go eat a Snickers or something. HAHAHA!

Welcome ICLW and Third Trimester!

2011-08-22T13:57:00.003-04:00

Wow, I am seriously horrible with my blog right now. I just feel like no one wants to hear me whining about heartburn, body aches, and my stomach stretching. I swear I'm not an ungrateful pregnant woman, but yikes pregnancy is different this time.

First off WELCOME ICLW!

My name is Aly and I am a 30 year old stay at home mom and blog designer.

(It was 8 in the morning when I took this picture, no make up, but I did put this dress and earrings on just to take the picture. I figured yoga pants and a chocolate stained t-shirt might be too real for todays photo. )

No I didn't eat a few too many snickers (well actually I did, but that's a whole different post), I am actually 28 weeks pregnant after my second IVF cycle. (YAY!! Third Trimester!!!) We are expecting a baby boy on November 9, 2011 who we are going to name Holden Alexander. I've already experienced a fair amount of preterm labor,including a brief stay in labor and delivery at 24 weeks, so we are all expecting this little man to make his appearance a little early. Hopefully not before 37 weeks though. I am currently on P17 shots, Procardia, and modified bedrest. That little cocktail seems to be doing the trick and everything has been pretty uneventful for the last month or so.

Thankfully I have been moved up to "modified bed rest" because bed rest was almost impossible while chasing around a certain 2 1/2 year old. This is love of my life, product of my first IVF, and the reason I have an abundance of grey hair at 30.

Meet London Michael

and because one picture is NEVER enough...

(after bath time)

And then there is my amazing husband...

Wait a minute....My husband is 50 times hotter than that guy!

(Unless Ryan Gosling is reading this and in that case...Mike would totally understand, after all Ryan is at the top of my sex-ceptions list which makes it totally legal! :) )

This guy is my hottie- Jersery Shore watching- spreadsheet obsessed husband.

When he grew his hair out, it was easy to see where London got his curls.

I'm almost certain he was pinching my butt in this picture hence my surprised face. But hey, that is pretty typical for Mike so maybe this picture is fitting.

So now you have met my family! We are quite the wacky bunch, but we are always good for a laugh...even if you are laughing at us :)

Feel free to stick around, become a follower, and enjoy the craziness!

I'm still alive!

2011-08-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I honestly don't have much time to update tonight. No, not because I'm sooooo busy, but because Big Brother is coming on soon. Mike and I are obsessed with this show. We are team Daniele in case anyone is wondering.

Things have been going really well with this pregnancy. No more preterm labor to speak about (***KNOCK ON WOOD***) I hit my next milestone of 28 weeks this week, which is awesome and exciting.

We have spent the last few weeks potty training London, which has gone surprisingly well. The first few days I was ready to throw my hands up in the air and quit. I kinda did too. I put him in a Pull Up and VOILA! He wanted to go to the potty by himself. It was awesome! We still have accidents occasionally, like when we are busy and out of the house, however the Pull-Ups work for us. He does better in those than he does big boy underwear.

Next weekend we are finally going to set up Holden's nursery. So you can count on some pictures of that soon!

Ok Ok Ok enough from me (***read*** Big Brother is about to come on)

I promise to try to update again soon! I have another Dr appointment on Wednesday so at the very least you can expect to hear something from me then.

Freedom!!! (Well kinda)

2011-08-03T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today I went to he Dr for my 26 week checkup. Yay for 26 weeks!!

Everything looked good and cutie Holden is weighing in at 2lbs5oz as of today. He was so stinking cute and practicing sucking the entire time. It was so cute watching his little lips go. He also stuck his tongue out and yawned. IT WAS FREAKING ADORABLE STUFF PEOPLE! (Yes that deserved all caps)

My cervix is holding steady at 2.5cms which for 26 weeks is pretty average. YAY for average!

I actually got to see MY Dr today, and she solved the great dilation mystery (when I went from 3 cm dilated to closed in one week). She said that my cervix is really high but when she felt my cervix she was able to feel around and get some fingers in there (EEEWWW!!!!) She is assuming that the other Dr just couldn't get in far enough to feel around and probably just touch the outside (again EWWW!!!). Anyway, she said I am around 2.5-3 cm dilated and if I ever go back to the hospital and see a different Dr, just tell them "I don't know" when asked if I'm dilated. HAHAHA!!! I love her!

She also eased up on my bedrest a little bit. She told me that if I was a secretary that she would allow me to go back to work this week. She still wants me to take it easy, no shopping, cleaning, or gardening (obviously she doesn't know me that well. I wouldn't even do that if I could. I wish I had a picture of our flower beds right now to prove it). I am allowed on my feet for up to 2 hours now though, and for every 45 mins I'm up she wants me down for 45 mins. So if I do 2 hours of stuff in the morning she wants me to lay down for 2 hours when I get home. Fair enough!! This I can handle.

Some other fun things have been going on with London but they warrant there own post in a day or two.

A Trip to Labor & Delivery

2011-07-26T19:00:00.002-04:00

Well, I officially had my first trip to the hospital this weekend. Lets start by saying that EVERYTHING is fine. Baby Holden is still swimming around and kicking Mommy in he bladder every chance he gets. And I'm, well I'm still doing alot of this.

(Only, you can remove the beer cans and replace them with bottles of water. And replace the cigarette butts with snickers wrappers)

OK back to my trip to L&D.

Saturday morning, I slept late because Mike was kind enough to get up with London. I was feeling great when I got up. I woke up dragged my butt and blanket to the couch (cause that's how I do it!!!) and laid back down. A few hours later still in the same place on the couch, I noticed a contraction. I brushed it off ~~thinking~~ hoping that it was just one of those annoying Braxton Hicks contractions. They never went away even after chugging numerous bottles of water and laying on my left side.. They became more and more regular and finally got to be about 5 minutes apart. Much to my dismay, I knew it was time to call the Dr. Her response, after 30 minutes of NOT CALLING ME BACK....head to labor and delivery.

Mike and I dropped London off with a friend and headed in around 5pm. I really didn't think they were going to keep me. I mean really, REALLY didn't think they would keep me. Well guess what? They did!

They hooked me up to an IV and monitors and watched me for a good 2 hours. They first put the monitors too high on my stomach so it wasn't reading any real contractions. However I was DEFINITELY having them. I kept making the nurse touch my stomach to prove to her I was actually having them. She agreed that it was contractions and said that sometimes the monitors don't pick up very well when your really early. My Dr came in, gave me some procardia and pain meds, and I was drooling on myself about 5 minutes later. They kept me overnight, but thankfully let me go first thing in the morning.

Thankfully the procardia worked and I now have a big bottle of it sitting in my medicine cabinet for me to enjoy every 6 hours.

Another fun fact, apparently my cervix is now closed, firm, and thick. WTF?? A few weeks ago, I was 3cms dilated. I know that every person measures dilation a little differently, but there is a HUGE difference between 3cms and ZERO cms. Someone made a mistake, but I'm not sure who it was yet.

I had my follow up Drs appointment today which basically just pissed me off! I'm not going to write a huge book about why, even though I could. I will say this though, the Dr (a different one in the practice than my usual Dr) did NOT do a cervical length check and did not know that I have been on bedrest since 20 weeks. I had to fill her in on my situation. Even though my usual Dr has been doing cervical length checks every 10 days due to my shortening cervix, this Dr decided that she didn't need to check it. Ummmm...WHATEVER! UGH!!

Next appointment is in 1 week, with my usual Dr so hopefully I will have some answers and measurements then.

24 Weeks and Food!

2011-07-20T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well I did it! I reached our first goal in this pregnancy. Does anyone else find it really depressing that a mere 24 weeks, when your child only has a 50% chance of surviving outside the womb, is considered a milestone? Sadly for so many women, like myself, we celebrate 24 weeks. Noone wants a 24 weeker...NOONE!! There are a few women out there who wish they could have made it to 24 weeks so their baby(ies) could have had a fighting chance at life beyond the womb. I promise you those same women would have given anything to have nice plump full term 40 weekers instead.

But here we are at 24 weeks celebrating none the less. What am I going to do to celebrate today? Probably the same thing I do everyday...EAT!!

OMG, I am so hungry these days. For the last 2 weeks I have been eating nonstop. And I don't mean healthy eating, I mean eating CRAP. I will admit to no fewer than 3 trips to Mcdonalds over the last few weeks where my order consisted of a Bigmac and large fries. I however will not admit on my public blog that after eating everything in bag, and I'm talking EVERY SINGLE FRY, that I was still hungry. I have also been craving chicken fingers and fried okra from Church's chicken. So I may have made a few trips there too. DON'T JUDGE ME!!! :)

I really need to start eating better, not just for the sake of my weight in a few months, but mainly for Baby Holden. Anyone have some good recipes they want to share? They don't have to be low fat or low carb or anything. Just something that is delicious and contains a veggie or two that is not fried. Big points if Mike will eat it too :)

On a different note, I won a few giveaways recently. WOOHOOO!! I guess bedrest is paying off.

I won a set of these super cute wooden blocks from Katie Bug Custom Creations. How stinking cute are these?! They would make a great engagement/wedding present. Go check out her etsy shop!

Oh and just so you know the winners of my most recent giveaways were...

What to Expect Book:
Heather S
(has not responded to the email I sent so email me or I'm gonna have to pick a new winner)

And the winner of the $20 paypal cash:
PCOSChick (claimed)

Congrats to the winners!

3 cms dilated at 23 weeks

2011-07-15T13:09:00.004-04:00

Um, yes you read that correctly. I am officially 3 cms dilated at 23 weeks. Here is the best part that everyone seems shocked about, my Dr is not concerned at all.

Yesterday was my first pelvic exam of this pregnancy. This is my second baby, so I was expecting to be dilated to 1cm or something around there, but I was NOT expecting to hear 3cm. My Dr on the other hand was not shocked at all. She looked back over my medical records and saw that at 27 weeks I was dilated to 3 with London, and said she pretty much expected this. I walked around at 3 cms for 10 weeks before London was born. She said this might just be what my body does. It still felt firm and closed behind those 3 cms so at least that was encouraging. She said she is more concerned with my cervical length rather than dilation this pregnancy.

The good news is that my cervix is still measuring around 3cm in length too. So at least that is holding steady.

She told me to keep up the good work, and sent me home to continue modified bedrest. She even moved my appointments to once every 2 weeks instead of once every 10 days.

Next Appointment will be my gestational diabetes test. Bleh!! I really hope it goes well, because right now I am CRAVING snickers. And not just occasionally, I'm talking like ALL THE TIME! I have a nightly snickers bar. As much as I would LOVE to say that I'm exaggerating, sadly I am not.

I still have not gained any weight, however I know with those eating habits the pounds are COMING!!!

23 Weeks

Help!! ($20 Paypal Cash or Amazon GC Giveaway)

2011-07-10T17:56:00.000-04:00

So the other day while sitting on my butt ~~loathing~~ enjoying bedrest, I tweeted out a question to my followers. Of course in true twitter fashion, the question evolved into about 10 totally different conversations in a matter of minutes. One of those conversations was with Tillie from over at A Nuttier Life. Well one thing lead to another and....

We are starting an Infertility Shop together!

Who in their right mind would want to purchase infertility merchandise? Well, um...if you have to ask that question you have obviously never been infertile. What I wouldn't have given for a T-shirt that told people "No...You Just Relax" or a cute onsie for London that said "Worth Every Penny".

Tillie and I have decided to start our own little shop for both humorous and serious infertility merchandise. This is where we need your help though. We are just Two Infertile Chicks. We know what WE would like to see in our shop, but what would YOU like to see in our shop.

We decided the best way to get these answers is to put together a little marketing survey. To sweeten the deal a bit, we have decided to host giveaway for anyone who takes our survey.

We are giving away $20 in Paypal Cash or a $20 Amazon Giftcard (winner's choice) to one of our lucky survey responders.

Here's how to enter:

Just go fill out our quick 10 question Survey and then come back and enter on the Rafflecopter widget stating that you did. You can also gain an extra entry for tweeting, blogging, or posting on facebook about his giveaway.

This giveaway is open internationally but ONLY to those who have experienced Infertility or Adoption.

If you for some reason you have trouble entering on the widget (which I do not anticipate) just shoot me an email and I will manually enter you.

P17 DENIED!!

2011-07-08T14:18:00.001-04:00

Yep, I just got the word from my Dr's office. Aetna DENIED my prescription for the P17 shots. My favorite part is that they denied it because I'm a whopping 22 weeks. If my Dr had written the script at 20 weeks when they originally noticed my cervical shortening (and because of my history with preterm labor) then the big guys with out a medical degree who decide what is REALLY best for my unborn child (AKA: My insurance company), would have approved it. However since they waited a week to make sure I really needed the shots, they are now considered experimental. Ummmm, OK sure!

My Dr and I have decided that we are going to try the compounded P17 shots. These are basically pharmacy made generics instead of the big expensive name brand. (There is more too it than that, but that is the gist of it.)

We will have to pay out of pocket for those, but only $15 per week. I think we can handle that.

I'm rather mad at my insurance about denying it.

Mad enough to eat a Big Mac and large fry, oh wait... never mind, I ate that before I got the call. Humm, no one to blame for that one.

I am however thrilled to have the option of the compounded P17. I am really really hopeful that this will keep the preterm labor away and keep me out of the hospital until 37 weeks. I guess only time will tell though.

Compounded P17 starts TONIGHT!!

If anyone from Aetna happens to be reading this, you better watch your back. This tattooed gangsta is pretty pissed about you denying his Mama's prescription.

Modified Bed Rest (and a giveaway CLOSED!!)

2011-07-05T13:46:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the delay in updating about my Dr's appointment last week. My blog was acting weird and wouldn't let me post. It's all fixed now though. If you follow my facebook page then you probably already know that my appointment went well. (See just one more reason to follow me on facebook too)

My cervix is looking much better and was actually longer this time. It was up to 3.5cm from 2.5cm the week before. WOOHOO!!!

My Dr allowed me up to "modified" bedrest, which was a WELCOMED change. For this Dr "modified" means that for every 15 mins I am on my feet, I have to be off of them for 45 mins. With a maximum of 1 hour on my feet. So if I spend an hour on my feet, I have to lay down for 3 hours. Fair Enough!

I'm thrilled just to have some of my freedom back. I'm still not allowed to go grocery shopping or clean the house (OH DARN!!) but could go out to a quick dinner or to see a movie.

My Dr decided against a cerclage. She said that given my history of preterm labor, that she doesn't think that my cervix if the culprit but rather my contractions and preterm labor (PTL). Since medications were able to keep the PTL under control last time we will probably try that route again this time.

This Dr's office is a FIRM believer in the P17 progesterone shots to prevent preterm labor. She is trying to get me my insurance to approve the Makena shots since those bad boys are $1500 PER shot. If my insurance won't cover it, we can try the pharmacy compounded P17 (only about $15 a shot). I have had a bad reaction to some of the compounded PIO in the past, so I'm really hoping to have a better reaction to the Makena if my insurance will actually cover it. We should find out about that sometime this week.

Now, on a different note, I have teamed up with WhatToExpect.com to offer some fun stuff to my readers.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the What To Expect book series. It's said to be the Bible for all pregnant women. I will never forget as long as I live, when I got my very first BFP. I was so excited and naive. I had no idea what was headed my way over the next few years. Back then I just thought a positive pregnancy test = A baby. Boy was I wrong! However for that brief moment in time, I was so excited I rushed out and bought What to Expect When You're Expecting before I even heard the results of my blood test. Hell, I even bought it before I told Mike I was pregnant. I still have that book with the dated receipt tucked in it as a book mark. I will forever keep it.

So What To Expect.com was kind enough to send me some books to give away to my readers. I have both What to Expect When You're Expecting and What to Expect the Second Year (12 months to 24 months) So regardless of whether you are currently expecting or have a little one now, I have something for you.

Also we will be testing out the new giveaway phenomenon Rafflecopter. I LOVE this program and how easy it is to enter giveaways. I have a feeling you will love it to.

I will be giving away to one lucky Infertility Overachievers reader a copy of EITHER What to Expect When You're Expecting or What to Expect the Second Year (Your Choice).

These would make great baby shower gifts too, so make sure to enter even if you are not currently expecting!!

So follow the directions below and do what Rafflecopter says to enter. No comments necessary to enter. Just enter on the form below :)

CLOSED!!!

Day 6 of captivity... I mean, bedrest.

2011-06-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

I have officially been on bedrest for 6 days now. This is SOOOOOO much harder to do with a toddler. London can not understand why his mom has gotten so lazy recently.

Here is a quick review of the last 6 days.

Day one after my 20 week u/s) I kind of enjoyed bedrest on this day. I was really enjoying being waited on hand and foot. Not having to jump up every 20 seconds to get London juice, cheetos, yogurt, fruit, etc... Instead I just laid back relaxed and told him to ask Daddy.

Day 2) I woke up excited about what the day would bring, but then realized all it would bring was a couch.

Day 3) This isn't fun anymore. My butt, hips, and back is starting to hurt from sitting/laying 23.75 hours a day (I am allowed to get up to use the bathroom and shower).

Day 4) I had a bit of an attitude problem on this day. "No, I don't want you make me anything to eat. I want to make my own Da** PB and f****** J sandwich." Mike left to go out of town for the week and my mom, the bedrest warden, came into town to baby sit me (and London). She yelled at me one time for getting up to take my medicine. I know she is right, but wow this sucks not being able to do anything for myself.

Day 5) OMG, this is horrible. At least when I was pregnant with London and on bedrest, I could lounge in bed all day without having to feel bad about not entertaining my child. I have horrible mommy guilt because he is so bored all the time. PBS is our best friend these days. Sad, but true.

Day 6) Countdown to my appointment tomorrow has started. T minus 23 hours and I am HOPEFULLY released from full bedrest and just put on some form of modified bedrest/just take it easy. It all depends on how my cervix looks tomorrow. Fingers crossed it has lengthened.

This is so much harder this time around!

20 weeks and Bedrest

2011-06-23T15:05:00.000-04:00

20 weeks started off fun enough. I feel great (well except for that whole back and pelvic pain). My belly has really popped recently. I feel like I finally look PREGNANT to just random people now. No more wondering if I'm just a heavy beer drinker, I actually look pregnant!

Crappy cell phone picture because I can't get up to get my camera cord (more on that later).

And I also finished my first arts and crafts project for Baby Holden. They turned out GREAT. Again, another crappy cell phone picture. You get the idea!

Today was my official 20 week appointment. I had the big ultrasound and Holden looked GREAT!! He was measuring right on target and weighs in at 12 oz. (71st percentile). I may be biased but he is already a handsome little guy.

Adorable little chicken legs. :)

He actually cooperated long enough for a cute profile picture, something his crazy brother never would do.

And his cute little Skeletor face looking right at you. Arms up around his head, and little legs crossed at the ankle. You can see he is obviously still a boy too ;)

After all the ultrasound fun was done, I went back to meet with the Dr. That is when I found out that my cervix is already starting to shorten (efface). Since I went into preterm labor with London and had some cervical shortening then, my Dr decided at 16 weeks to do a baseline check so we would have a comparison number later on in pregnancy should we run into any trouble. At 16 weeks my cervical length was 5.6 cm long. This was great! Nice and long, just the way we wanted it to be. Well today at 20 weeks, my cervix was a short 2.5cm long. :( UGH!!! This tells us that my body is doing something to prepare for labor and as all of you know it's way way WAY to soon for that.

My Dr has ordered me onto bedrest and scheduled me to come back next Wednesday to have it checked again. If it is shorter we will have to start talking about putting in a cervical cerclage (aka: a stitch in my cervix). Thankfully I have not had any other signs of labor, no contractions or even cramping. Right now, it's just the silent shortening of the cervix that has landed me on bedrest. I guess now I will have more time to update my blog.

I'm not exactly freaking out yet. I'm gonna give it till next week before I start doing that. For now I am just following the Dr's orders and hoping for the best. I'm also doing a ton or research on cerclages and cervical length. Dr Google knows everything right? :)

Nursery Talk

2011-06-19T12:00:00.001-04:00

Wow, it has been a crazy week since I last updated! I had one of my awesome BFF's from home come up for a visit. She brought her 2 and 4 year old boys with her, so it was definitely a house full crazy of boys. The trip unfortunately included one of them getting hurt and heading to the ER for a few stitches, but we managed to get through it and have an amazing visit anyway. Lots of pictures to come soon.

Now on to the nursery talk.

I have no idea what happened to me over the last week, but I have entered into full "get ready for baby" mode. Baby bedding is all I can think about these days. If it wasn't for all of our summer company I would go ahead and set up the crib now. However, my family and Mike's family will be coming up alot this summer so we are going to need both guest rooms for a while. That has definitely not stopped me from mentally decorating though.

So here is what I have decided on.

With London, we went all out and got him this nautical theme bedding set. Very few things from the set were ever used. We don't use regular bumpers, we use these Breathable Bumpers instead. We never used the quilt, wall hangings, diaper sack, or toy organizer. Basically I just used the sheet, bed skirt, and window valances. All of which I could have bought separately for about $50. So this time I have decided to do just that. This time, I am spending my money on cute curtains, changing pad cover, and bed skirt. Then the rest of the room will be more plain functional pieces. It works out great with the bedding I chose too, the pattern is rather busy so it needs some plain pieces to balance it out.

I knew I wanted to do a Zoo theme for Holden's room, but I couldn't really find a pattern that I loved, until I stumbled across this cute one DwellStudio® for Target® Menagerie 3pc Baby Bedding Set. I loved the pattern but the colors were just kinda pukey, so I moved on. A few days later while wondering around the baby section at Target (everyone does this right?), I came across this bedding. The colors are freaking ADORABLE in person. Much more vibrant, and much less like throw up. HAHAHA!

Here is the picture that Target uses on the website...

And here are a few pics I found on Ebay that show the colors a little better.

I am so excited about this set now!!

Oh and the best part, last night the window panels went on sale for only $16.99 each WOOHOOO!! Unfortunately Holden's room has 3 windows but since I'm not buying a whole bedding set, $51 for curtains is not too bad.

I also figured out the letters I am going to make for above his bed.

I'm really excited to make these to match his bedding.

I got the idea from a SUPER CUTE ETSY STORE that makes them for only $12 a letter. Since I made London's letters I figured it would only be right if I made Holden's too.

See I told you I have been obsessing about the nursery recently.

I also decided to start a registry at Target. More as a list of things I want for myself instead of an actual registry. This is my second boy in under 3 years so I definitely won't be having a shower. I can't really justify saying..."Yeah, I know you bought me a bunch a baby boy stuff 2 years ago, but come to another shower and buy me more." But registries are way too much fun to pass up, so I started a small one for myself. Any reviews of stuff I registered for that you hate?

Our Target Registry

Well that is enough from me for now. I'll update sometime this week with my 20 week belly pic! I have really popped recently so I actually have something to show now.

Aches, Pains, and a Haircut

2011-06-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

I updated a few days ago how fun this stage of pregnancy is. Well, the joke is definitely on me.

For the last few days I have been in soooooo much pain. My back is killing me and so is my ummm...pelvis. Just moving my legs hurts so badly. I'm only 18 weeks. Is this a stage or is going to be this way for the rest of my pregnancy? This is how I felt towards the end of my pregnancy with London, you know when I was 30+ weeks and the countdown to my baby was in full swing. I hated it then but I knew the end was in sight.

This time I'm not even close to the 3rd trimester. There is no countdown to my baby yet. Well there is but I can't even bare to look at it (152 days left if you must know).

I do have a few factors that could be contributing to my overall soreness. The other day I spent about 30 mins pulling weeds out of my flower beds. Yep, it took 30 mins to do it, and trust me it could have used another 30 mins. I was bending over and standing up, so maybe that is why my back is so sore. I can't imagine being sore for 3 days because of that though. My umm...pelvis is the worst right now though. It hurts just to roll over in bed at night.

Ugh, I guess I will just have to toughen up and hope it goes away soon. Tylenol might just be my new best friend.

On a side note, London got a haircut. The lady got it ALOT shorter than usual (Mike really likes to keep it long so you can see his curls). He looks like such a big boy now. It makes me smile and want to cry all at the same time.

I can't find the wire to hook up my camera right now, so here are a few cell phone pictures of his new do.

Before: After a long day playing in the dirt.

After: Even London was a little shocked at how his hair turned out.

Movement and more!

2011-06-05T18:50:00.000-04:00

I am now 17 weeks pregnant and really starting to feel little Mr. Holden moving these days. I have been feeling him for a few weeks now (starting at around 14 weeks) but he has gotten really strong and active recently. It used to be that I would only feel him when I laid down in bed at night, but now I feel him numerous times a day. IT IS AWESOME! I just loving being able to feel him kicking and flipping. I don't even use my doppler ~~20 times~~ each day anymore. It's very reassuring.

Thanks to the second trimester, I've also finally gotten some of my energy back and actually cleaned my house yesterday ***GASP***. I also did laundry and more than just one outfit at a time, I did a whole LOAD!! HAHA!! In case you cant tell, I'm pretty proud of myself.

In other exciting news, Mike got a promotion!! It was only about 11 months ago that he got out of the Army and took this new job. After a few months of training, he was the new guy so he was placed on night shift. 11pm-7am. I'm not sure if I complained about 3rd shift on here before but it SUCKED!! He kinda liked it, but I hated it. He slept all day and his schedule was all messed up even on his days off.

Well this new promotion is super exciting because...
1) No more nights!!! He is back to good 'ole business hours. M-F 7am-4pm.

2) More Money! Who doesn't like more money :) Oh and he told me the other day that we can get a maid (once every 2 weeks) to help with the cleaning while I'm pregnant. I am so stinking excited. I might be a stay at home mom, but I SUCK at the deep cleaning around the house. Surface cleaning I can do, but having someone to do the baseboards, windows, showers, ect...will really help me out.

3) Because I'm super proud of him! He got a promotion after only being at the company for 10 months. How awesome is that? He definitely earned it though. He worked his tail off since he has been with the company.

Anyway, I will leave you with a few funny maternity t-shirts that I stumbled across the other day while surfing the interwebz.

And this one which really creeps me out for some reason.

Murphy's Law

2011-05-31T22:01:00.003-04:00

Murphy's Law: The theory that anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong and at the worst possible time.

Well I hit Murphy's Jackpot last week. I woke up on Thursday morning at 4 am with some pretty severe jaw pain. It didn't feel like it was a tooth ache, but more like I had been punched in the jaw. My first thought was that I needed to head to the dentist for a new mouth piece for my pregnancy induced TMJ. By the way it's totally real, I had it last time I was pregnant too. I made a appointment for that same morning at 9am after dropping London at his last day of school.

The dentist took a few X-rays (you know, after covering me in 2 lead vests) and walk into the room and said "How are you not at the hospital right now?" Huh? Apparently, I had cracked my tooth (back molar) all the way down to the root!!! I have no idea when or how I did it, but it was most definitely done. She told me that most people would be in such excruciating pain that they would have gone straight to the emergency room. It hurt, sure, but it really wasn't that bad. Definitely not hospital worthy.

That wasn't even the worst news....the tooth was not able to be fixed so they had to pull it!! I FREAKED!! Keep in mind, I'm pregnant so I couldn't get any of the good drugs. They just numbed me up and started yanking. It was HORRIBLE!

Then, again because I'm pregnant, they couldn't give me any pain meds. Um, can I just tell all of you how bad that sucks. Tylenol didn't touch the throbbing pain that night after the numb had worn off. Thankfully by the next day, it was a little better because it was our 5 year wedding anniversary and we had a night away from London. Japanese food was calling my name! I needed to be able to eat!!

So, long story short. I am now living up to my southern roots, as I am officially missing a tooth. Mike keeps telling me he is going to buy me a wooden tooth instead of getting a dental bridge to fix it. You know, Abe Lincoln style. Probably something like this. HAHAHAHA!!

P.S. Go enter to win a $100 Homegoods gift card on my Reviews and Giveaways Blog. It's super easy to enter, and you can't win if you don't enter!

Transition

2011-05-22T20:02:00.002-04:00

It seems like my whole life is in transition these days. From infertility to pregnancy. From one child to two. From Infertility Blogger to Pregnancy/Mommy Blogger.

Lets start with infertility to pregnancy. This is so hard for me to say and I will probably run and hide from all of the rotten tomatoes that are going to be thrown at me after I utter these words.

I miss my old life...ehm.....I miss my old life.

I miss being able to drink wine and eat sushi. Not because I'm so some sushi obsessed wino, although on some days it might be a fair description of me. I miss being able to just think about myself (and London) and not constantly wondering if I'm hurting the new baby. Right now I have to worry about every little thing that I put into my body (yeah I should be doing that while I'm not pregnant, but let's be honest...I don't). I can't overextend myself these days for fear of more bleeding and I can't even eat sandwich meat without dying of some dread disease (well that is what The Bump tells me anyway.) I'm not complaining. I'm really really not, of course I am grateful for this amazing opportunity to bring life into this world, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to change to do it.

Change is HARD people!!!

Secondly, I am actually really scared about the transition from one child to two. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I should have thought about that months ago before I decided to pay thousands of dollars and shoot myself up with dozens of needles just to get into this situation, but it wasn't so scary then. Um, I'm only one person...how am I going to be responsible for two? You want to hear my totally irrational fears? What happens if both London and new baby (Holden) start choking at the EXACT same time? Who do I save first? Am I a nut job or what?! This is the stuff that I think about.

My last major transition right now is from Infertility Blogger to Pregnancy/Mommy blogger. I feel guilty about making this transition, but what am I supposed to do? I am at a different point in my life right now. I LOVE talking about my struggles with infertility, especially when it helps other people. My email is always open to my readers who have questions about my journey. There is just something plain ridiculous about a pregnant woman STILL ranting about infertility all the time. I was already straddling the fence because I was an infertility blogger with a child. Being pregnant with number two kinda seals the deal. I have so many AMAZING infertility readers that I feel like I'm hurting each and every time I post about my happiness right now. And those who I just PISS OFF anytime I complain. Trust me ladies I DO understand, I would have rolled my eyes at myself a few years ago. Here is your way out. Unfollow me!!

Seriously, I mean that, and not in a sarcastic way. Unfollow me, if you find my posts difficult to read. It will not hurt my feelings, it will not make me mad at you, and I will not stop following your blog. I love to see success stories but I'm pretty sure I would not have been able to say that same thing some years ago. Even if we are close, I promise I won't be mad. I won't even look at my followers list to figure out who left. I feel horrible saying this but I would hate for you to follow me out of obligation.

I want to being able to write freely without fears of who I am hurting. This is my blog and the whole point is for it to serve as my release. Ideally I wish all of you would stay. I love my readers, but Infertility SUCKS! I know this. So here is your opportunity to tip toe out the back of the room.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see all of you back (with success stories of your own) one day. Until then, I will be stalking you :)

P.s. Don't forget to stop by my Reviews and Giveaways blog to find out how to enter to win one of ten $25 Homegoods Giftcards!!

It's A....

2011-05-18T16:27:00.001-04:00

So I know I have been bad about blogging recently but hopefully this will make it up to all of you.

Mike and I are VERY impatient people, so we paid the money and had an elective ultrasound this morning to tell us the baby's gender.

For the record, up until 2 weeks ago I would have SWORN it was a boy. However recently after comparing ultrasound pictures with Erin I was sure it was a girl.

This morning we got our answer....

It's a BOY!!!

And just for fun here is a belly shot of me today at 15weeks :)

In other exciting news, I am doing a Blogher review of Homegoods! Go read all about my upcoming shopping trip on my Reviews and Giveaways blog. It has some great info on how you too can enter to win some free stuff from Homegoods. Leave a comment over there and let me know what you think I should buy!!

Pregnancy Dreams!

2011-05-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

Last night I had my very first HORRIBLE pregnancy dream. I woke up with my heart racing and sweating profusely.

I had a dream that I went into labor at 17 weeks. That in itself is a horrible nightmare. In my head I knew that the baby could not survive, but I had no choice but to deliver. I guess I had a c-section because I don't remember being in labor.

Baby was born and actually did really well. It was a boy and he was about 7lbs and breathing with just a little help. Next thing I know, I went to get him from the nurse. The other nurses all begged me not to look at him, but he was my baby, of course I wanted to see him. I looked around the partition (because apparently in my dreams they keep babies in cubicals) and I saw the back of a red headed mullet. Yep, you read that correctly my 17weeker was 7lbs and had a mullet. His hair was crimped, but not like the funky disheveled crimped look, but more like the 1980's "I paid to have this done" crimped style.

I have no idea why but he might as well have had 4 eyes. I freaked out!! Omg, that can not be my baby. What is wrong with him? I started begging the nurses not to make me take him home. I was actually scared of this baby. I could feel my heart racing as I called Mike and told him about how terrifying our new baby boy was. It was the most realistic feeling of fear I have ever experienced in a dream.

The last thing I remember was running out of the room trying to get away from my baby. Apparently this NICU was located at the mall, because I was running "Vanilla Sky" style through the middle of an empty mall. I just wanted to be as far away from that child as I possibly could. Then I woke up.

I'm not joking that it really was one of the most terrifying dreams I have ever had. I have no idea why I was so scared in the dream. Is a red crimped mullet the worst thing that could happen? In reality Mike and I would probably just embrace it by taking a family picture similar to this one.

Boring Update!! (Atlanta Readers?)

2011-05-10T10:46:00.001-04:00

Hola Ladies (and gentlemen)

Things are going great around here, boring but great. Same old same old. I have nothing to write about, which is actually good news. I'm still pregnant, with little to no bleeding recently. I had a brief spell of bleeding last week, to which my Dr told me to sit down and take it easy. Psh, much easier said than done with a 2 year old, but I did it and the bleeding went away a few minutes later. My Dr told me a few weeks ago to expect more bleeding, so it didn't really alarm me when I saw it. Besides, I've got my handy dandy doppler to keep me sane.

Do I have any Atlanta readers? I have to be in ATL on May 21 for a bloggy thing and have the opportunity to share a mini shopping spree with a few friends. Come on who doesn't love free shopping? Anyone interested in joining me? (No strings attached.) If so email me at Aly@infertilityoverachievers.com I would love to meet my readers so don't be shy.

Well that was my boring-nothing new here-update. Thanks for reading if you made it this far :)

Nuchal Translucency Ultrasound

2011-05-04T18:36:00.000-04:00

Finally I have a moment to sit down and actually update my blog.

Let's see, where to start?

Ok so last week we had a our Nuchal translucency screening for Down Syndrome and Trisomy 18. We had an hour long meeting with a genetic counselor. She was very informative and gave Mike and I a lot of ~~scary~~ good information about genetic abnormalities.I'm still not quite sure why they had us see a genetic counselor since we have no major risk factors. I guess they have everyone do it.

After that we had the ultrasound and blood work portion of the screening. The tech asked me if a student could sit in on the ultrasound. I of course said yes, and I am so happy I did. It was the best ultrasound I have ever had!! The tech kept teaching the student and it was so fun to learn along with her. After about 45 mins she switched to 3d and 4d. IT WAS AWESOME!! She gave us a TON of pictures. I will admit that it was a little odd when she kept talking in a baby voice to the baby and referring to it as " 'Tinky Poo Poo" but all and all she was pretty awesome, so I'll let her slide on that one.

The best part, everything looked great. I got our results today and we got a negative result for both Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 18. :) :) :)

Now, I am well aware that you can't definitively tell what gender the baby is at 12 weeks via ultrasound, but that doesn't make it any less fun to guess. I've done my research on The Angle of the Dangle and feel I am as good as any trained ultrasound tech out there (note the sarcasm). So my guess for this baby? BOY!! I'll let you guess for yourself though.

Hand up by face waving to his/her big brother.

Standing on his/her head. Doing a little break dancing.

NIAW Giveaway Winner!

2011-05-02T21:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been off the radar for a few days. We went on a little trip and I had no access to the internet while we were gone. I promise to update tomorrow with pictures and everything. I just wanted to pop my head in to announce the winner of my NIAW giveaway. The winner is....

CONGRATS Lauren! Email me which bracelet you would like and your shipping address and I will get the order started for you!

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

My First Bleeding Scare

2011-04-26T19:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I had my first bleeding scare of this pregnancy. I was really hoping to make it through this pregnancy without any problems this time but no such luck! The baby is FINE!

Yesterday, while getting in my car to take it to the car wash, I felt a big gush. Had I been 20+ weeks I would have sworn it was my water breaking. I rushed to the bathroom only to find blood. I immediately called my Dr but since the office was closed already I had to leave a message with the answering service. I then text my pregnant friend Erin (the QUEEN of bleeding during pregnancy) just to say a few choice cuss words about the situation. HAHAHA! Then I waited for the Dr to call me back. 20 mins passed...another text with choice words to Erin. 45 mins passed...another raging mad text to Erin. One hour...a text FROM Erin with choice words for my Dr haha! Then finally, one hour and 15 mins later the Dr calls me back. WHAT THE WHAT??!!??!! The Dr's answer? "Well it could be nothing or it could be a miscarriage" I'm pretty sure London could have told me that. She told me to come in first thing in the morning for an ultrasound and I agreed.

Had this been last pregnancy I would have flipped my lid at the "take two Tylenol and call me in the morning" type of response she gave me. I would have been sitting in the emergency room when she called me back ONE HOUR AN FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER!!! This time though, I had my secret weapon to calm my nerves, MY DOPPLER! You see as soon as I started bleeding I ran to the bedroom, lubed up my belly like it was a squeaky wheel, and found the Baby's heartbeat. I was so relieved.

I continued to bleed for about 2 hours. During that time I showed A LOT of restraint by only checking the heartbeat about 50 times.

This morning bright and early I went to the Dr. for my ultrasound. Baby looked great and they were able to find the source of the bleed. They also saw that my placenta is directly on top of my cervix. GREAT!!!!! Possible placenta previa? FANTABULOUS!! It's way too early to tell if my placenta will stay on top of my cervix, the Dr said it will most likely move as my uterus stretches. At least that is the hope! I'm not sure I can handle that much bed rest this time, especially with a 2 year old.

The baby looked like a real baby during the ultrasound. S/He was kicking and moving and measuring right on track with a heartbeat of 164. The tech gave me a really scary picture though. I was too lazy to scan it, so here is a crappy cell phone picture of it.

Tomorrow is my NT scan, so I'm sure I will get some better pictures to share with all of you then. I'm really looking forward to seeing my baby again! This is finally starting to feel real!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my National Infertility Awareness Week Giveaway!!

National Infertility Awareness Week Giveaway!

2011-04-24T20:01:00.001-04:00

So today kicks off the first day of National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). I've decided to do a little giveaway to celebrate.

Some of you may know Jenna from her blog Among the Blossoms, but did you know that she also makes jewelry? She makes some pretty amazing fertility bracelets in her Etsy shop called Bloomtastic.

She makes more than just fertility bracelets too. Like this one called

An Angel's Wings/Pregnancy Loss Bracelet

And this is her special NIAW bracelet

50% of the proceeds from this bracelet will go to Resolve.org.

The Giveaway!

Win one of Bloomtastics beautiful bracelets (your choice of anything she has in stock).

Click here to pick your favorite: Bloomtastic

Let's keep this giveaway simple.

Ways to enter:

**Please leave a separate comment for each entry.**

1) Leave me a comment on this post saying hello or anything else you want to say :)

2) Become a follower of the Lost Stork Foundation blog and comment letting me know you did.

(It's great organization that helps couples fund infertility treatments and adoptions)

3) Buy a ticket into the Lost Stork Foundation fund raising raffle and leave a comment letting me know you did.

(They are raffling off over $400 worth of prizes)

Giveaway will end Saturday April 30, 2011 at 12:00AM EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced on May 1, 2011.

Good Luck!!

Welcome ICLW!!

2011-04-22T22:08:00.003-04:00

IComLeavWe: Join the Conversation

I'm a little late on this one today, but things have been crazy! (Yes, I am aware that I always say that.)

Hello new visitors! I'm going to keep this short and sweet since it is WAY past my bedtime (Yes, I am aware that I always say that too.)

My name is Aly, I'm 29 (+1year) and I am married to the most amazing man in the world (who is probably reading this, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it). We have one ~~crazy, hyper, short tempered~~ PERFECT little boy. London is 2 years old and was conceived through the miracle of IVF (Invitro Fertilization). He is truly the love of our life.

Back in February, we started on another IVF adventure in an effort to bring baby #2 into this world. We were lucky and managed to hit the jackpot once again. I am currently 11 weeks pregnant!! (Hurry up 2nd Trimester!)

I love my life, husband, and babies...not so much my dogs right now as they are shedding A LOT but I'll save that story for a different day. HAHA! (Come on people, of course I love my dogs, It was a joke!)

Pull up a chair, become a follower, and stay a while.

My Sick Little Man.

2011-04-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

My poor little guy is sick again. :( First he had the stomach flu which was horrible but only a week after getting over that, he has another bug. The past few days he has been running a 103-104 degree fever anytime he is not on tylenol. He didn't really have any other symptoms but I decided to take him Dr since his fever was so high. Diagnosis: just a normal run of the mill virus. Since his throat was red they did a Strep test, which as you can imagine pretty much sucked for a 2 year old.

Thankfully today he is feeling a little better and his fever is down to around 101 without Tylenol. Hopefully by tomorrow he will be 100%. We really need to get out of the house and do a little more of this.

I'm feeling much much much better also. Morning sickness is mostly gone. I still feel pukey if I don't eat quick enough though.

11 weeks now!!!! I can not wait to be out of the first trimester. EEEEKKK!!! So close!

10 Week Belly Picture

2011-04-13T21:00:00.001-04:00

Since I'm still not feeling great from this morning sickness/stomach flu, I decided I was going to be brave and post a belly picture. I feel like I'm the size of a house for only 10 weeks but I guess what they say is true and you really do show quicker the second time.

My belly picture from today at 10 weeks.

(Excuse the flash and dirty mirror, I swear it looked clean before I took the picture)

And just for some comparison fun here is a Belly pic from 10 weeks last pregnancy.

( I actually think I was bigger in this picture but then I reminded myself I was still pregnant with twins at this point)

Trust me you will NOT being seeing any bare belly pictures this time. Oh but look at that smooth stretch mark free belly back then :)

Before I go, my design cohort Ashley is giving away one of her awesome custom headers over at Mrs. O's Life. She is amazing, and I know because she made my header. So go now and enter to win one of her designs.

Stomach Flu

2011-04-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

Remember last Friday when I had a horrible day of morning sickness? I originally thought it was a bug but when the nausea stuck around, I chalked it up as part of the pregnancy.

Fast Forward to this Friday night around midnight. I awoke to hear gagging sounds over the monitor. No cries, no whining, just gaging and puking. I went upstairs to check on London and saw him fast asleep, but COVERED in throw up. Yep, he slept right through puking. My boy LOVES to sleep HAHA.

I picked him up and cleaned him off and brought him downstairs into our bed where he proceeded to throw up all night and part of the next day. Poor kiddo couldn't keep anything down. Finally, just when I thought it would never stop, we made it a whole hour with no throwing up. He went to bed on Saturday night a sick little boy but by Sunday morning he felt like a million bucks. He even woke up asking for waffles and apple juice.

Mike however is a different story. He woke up Sunday morning with the stomach bug. He feels much better today thankfully. It looks to be just a 24 hour bug.

So the magic question is....Was I the first one to get the stomach bug or will I be the LAST one to get it?? On Saturday night I puked once and felt pretty crappy, but I'm not sure if that was just morning sickness or something else. I've got my fingers crossed that I've already had it and won't get it again.

New Blog Friday- Brittany

2011-04-08T11:00:00.001-04:00

This week I am featuring Brittany from over at Bohemian Transplant.

Here is a message from Brittany:

Hello all! My name is Brittany, and very quickly I just want to say a big THANK YOU to Aly for featuring me! I love meeting new bloggers & am looking forward to what's to come!

I blog [semi]regularly over at Bohemian Transplant. I am a 30 year old Army Wife, currently battling infertility. These seem to be my two main identifiers these days.

I have been with my husband for a little over six years, & we have been stationed here at Fort Bragg for a little over five of those years. While Fort Bragg is not the greatest place in the world, it is where I have learned everything I know about life with the military. Just two short months after I moved out here, my husband deployed to Iraq for 15 months. As I chose not to go home during the deployment [hey, I had just moved 3,000 miles across the country from Seattle! I wasn't about to make that trip again!] I was quickly thrown into life as an Army Spouse. Exactly one year after he was home, he deployed again for another 12 months. It's safe to say that I a seasoned Army Spouse and I love meeting & talking with new spouses in any branch of the military!

About three years ago, my husband & I decided to jump on the baby band wagon. What we thought would be an easy process turned out to be rather difficult. That first year started off exciting & fun, but quickly turned to obnoxious & frustrating. Two days after my husband left for his second deployment, & one year after we started trying, I found out I was pregnant only to miscarry at 10 weeks. We have not gotten lucky again & have recently started the official infertility route. My days are full of ovulator predictor kits, pregnancy tests, drugs to make me ovulate more, temperature taking & a lot of wishing & hoping that our turn will come. In the mean time, we have three adorable fur pups that we spoil rotton & love like our crazy kids!

Because I am so new to the infertility battle, it has become the majority of what I write about. I have loved meeting [in real life or not] other women with this disease, and the support group I have found online has saved me on more than one occasion.

Aside from the Army & the infertility, I do enjoy other things! I work full time in the communications/marketing field and love it. I love to cook. I own my own side photography business. All of these things you will hear about on my blog as well. I'm a born & raised hippy from Seattle & my flare for the creative & beautiful definitely comes through on my blog. I also love to travel & will take any excuse for my husband & I to jet away for a quick weekend vacation.

I look forward to meeting new people & I encourage you to come say hello!

Go show Brittany some blog love by commenting and/or becoming a follower.

First OB Appointment

2011-04-06T20:25:00.001-04:00

Today was my first visit to the Ob's office. It was quick, sweet, and to the point. I didn't even get to see a Dr but instead I saw the OB nurse practitioner. She was AWESOME!! They gave me a bunch of goodies, including a bill and an appointment for May 5th to actually see the Dr. Here is a shocker for all of you...she actually read my medical records before I got there and asked me specific questions about my last pregnancy and the medications I am currently on. I was throughly impressed considering my RE's office couldn't even remember that take Crinone and not Progesterone in oil shots.

Everything looked great and the baby was measuring right on track at 9 weeks exactly. I honestly don't have a lot to say about the appointment. I liked the Dr's office, and hopefully I will like the Dr just as much when I finally meet her in May. Here is a picture from todays ultrasound. We have arms and legs now :)

9 Weeks!!

Hello Nausea.

2011-04-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

Ugh, I made it 8.5 weeks without being hit by the dreaded ~~puke your brains out~~ morning sickness. A few days ago, I spent the entire day running from one bathroom to the next. I was trying to care for London between the dry heaving, which was just not working out very well. You really don't realize how often you have to feed a 2 year old until you throw up at the very sight of food. I ran to the bathroom and puked when he asked for a goldfish cracker. I couldn't even keep water down. It was a LONG day!

The good news is I felt a million times better the next day. At first I thought it was just a bug but the nausea has definitely stuck around. Just like last pregnancy, if I don't eat every few hours I feel sick. Thankfully I haven't thrown up anymore though and I'm really hoping it stays that way.

New Blog Friday- Christina

2011-04-01T09:04:00.000-04:00

This week I am featuring Christina from over at Mrs. O's Life. Here is a message from from her:

First off I want to start off by thanking Aly for allowing my blog to be featured on New Blog Friday. I love it when other bloggers help other bloggers out. I wish it was that way in life for all things... people just helping people just cause. So thanks so much Aly for creating New Blog Friday.

Okay now first things first my name is ChristinA <--- notice the A [not normally capitalized lol]. It seems to be a running joke with me cause I often find myself [at times] correcting people when they call me Christine... I know bad right lol

Well, I am the blogger behind Mrs. O's life, which is about my adventures with Faith, PCOS, TTC and being a military wife.

Okay now to be serious... or as serious as I can be at times. I married my high school sweetheart in 2002. We started TTC January 2003, but a few months later

I was diagnosed with PCOS, and since then have had my fair share of ups and downs which include [but not limited to]: being told I have cancer [to I don't], being told I'd never have children [to having two miscarriages]... after six years of trying, weight fluctuating up and down [most I saw was 298lbs], facial hair growth, dark patches due to insulin, mood swings, feeling like I lost my femininity, having no one understand me, being told it was all in my head... blah blah blah. And all this while being [or sometimes trying to be] a military wife, which has it's own set of disfunction's at times.
However, after many years of getting no where with doctors, trying fertility drugs, trying other drugs, being poked more times than a lab rat I wanted my life back. And for many reasons too... I wanted to feel like the person I use to before PCOS moved in and took over.
I am tired of not feeling like a female, feeling less than human, feeling like no one understood me... and more than anything I want to be in the moms club. After all I swear every where I look ladies are getting pregnant and on top of that it seems to fit in to the military wives club [for some wives] I needed to be a mom... and not just a mom to two angels in heaven.
I use to be the girl who's smile brightened a room, who laughed more often than not, who loved life, who thrived on helping others, who's beauty was not valued by what the outside showed, but by what the inside radiated out [the God in me]... there was more to me than facial hair, mood swings, and feeling like a nobody.
More than anything I wanted to be me again... a better and more improved version of me too.

So I joined the world of blogging to share my adventures, which are little crazy at times as I try to conceive naturally coupled with faith all while keeping my sanity about me as I strive to be the wife my military man deserves.

Also, just to give you an idea of where I am at in my blogging... I finally had my cycle start last month [thank you God and thank you vitex]. So now I am waiting and hoping this cycle ends with a BFP :) Hoping and praying.

I suppose I should wrap it up, but I hope you will stop by my blog and say hi cause I love meeting other bloggers and following their blogs.

Many hugs to all... and for those TTC I wish you tons of baby dust.

Go visit Christina's blog and show her some blog love by commenting and/or becoming a follower.

Accident?

2011-03-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

Today I filled out my online medical records for my new OB!! (Insert 12 year old girl squeal here)

I was shocked at some of the questions they were asking. Questions like "how many sexual partners have you had" and "are you sexually satisfied" were a little odd but still understandable considering the nature of the visit.

There was one question that Mike and I found particularly entertaining. Excuse the blurry cell phone picture of my computer screen. My pregnant brain was not working quick enough to realize I could just hit "print screen".

They wanted to know if I was an accident! WTF? How exactly does that effect my medical history? And they can't use better terminology than Accident? AWESOME! I can't wait for this Doctor to deliver my baby. :-/

In the picture, I had "No" checked but the answer is "DEFINITELY YES!" Come on people, I am the forth of five children. You do the math. Sorry Mom, the cat's out of the bag. :)

Checking in...

2011-03-28T22:06:00.001-04:00

Wow, it's been a while since I updated. The old saying "no news is good news" definitely holds true here. I'm doing great! I will be 8 weeks tomorrow and really still feeling like myself.

Nausea hasn't really hit yet. I mean I definitely have times during the day where I feel like I'm going to puke, but I never do, and if I sit down and either eat or drink a little water it immediately goes away. So I'm not sure if its nausea from the pregnancy or my body's way of telling me I need to eat more often now that I have a little one on board.

Sooo, do you guys remember this beauty of a belly shot from when I was 20 weeks pregnant last time? (Yikes, I looked horrible! I can't believe I ever put this one up on the interwebz, but you know what they say in the after school specials these days..."once it's on the internet, its FOREVER" So I thought, awww hell why not post it AGAIN! :) )

I seriously look very similar to this now at only 8 weeks. My belly is HUGE!! I know they say you show a lot sooner the second time but ummm.....my body has really gone a little overboard. According to the most reliable pregnancy source on the web, The Bump (note the sarcasm), my baby this week is the size of a raspberry.

Really? My body obviously did NOT get the memo on that one. It looks like its trying to grow a whole patch of raspberries. (Raspberries grow in a patch right?? No? A tree? A bush? Whatever, you get the point.)
Ok so maybe I'm not really that big. I haven't had to switch to maternity clothes yet despite my longing for them at 5 weeks. I'm not even rocking the 'ole rubber band trick yet. I can feel it coming soon though.

I'm not hormonal at all. I am an absolute delight to be around as always. I'm a real beacon of light in a otherwise cloudy world....or at least that is what I choose to think. Mike, on the other hand, may tell you that I am a virtual roller coaster of emotions. Hateful, ugly, mean emotions. Yeah, ok....I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a bitch these days. I can't help it though. Half the time I realize I'm being horrible, but I can't stop myself. If I make it through this pregnancy without a divorce, I will consider it a complete success.

Well I need to go to bed now, insomnia has hit so I'm exhausted all the time but I can't seem to sleep. It's pure torture.

The above reasons are why God makes babies so cute. Pregnancy is hard, but babies smell sooooo good. Completely worth it!!

New Blog Friday- Bridget

2011-03-25T09:25:00.001-04:00

This week on New Blog Friday I am featuring Bridget from over at The Lost Stork. Here is a message from Bridget.

Hi everyone! I'm Bridget from The Lost Stork. I want to start by thanking the lovely Aly for featuring me on New Blog Friday! Aly may not know this, but she was a huge inspiration to me as I began going through IVF.

A little about me....I'm 32, I live in the Midwest and I have unexplained infertility. My husband and I had been trying to conceive for a little over a year when I started my blog in December of 2010. I started The Lost Stork right before we began our first IVF cycle. I was scared to death and I wanted a place to vent, explain, and keep our family up to date with what was going on. If I only knew the support and wonderful people I would "meet" because of my blog- I would have started it much sooner!! This is such a wonderful community to be a part of and I am thankful everyday for your support and encouragement.

Steve and I got married in November of 2009 and immediately started TTC. I knew it might take some time, and I was prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for was failure after failure. 2010 started with an ectopic pregnancy (that included 3 surgeries, 2 blood transfusions and the removal of my right fallopian tube), followed in May by a chemical pregnancy, then 3 months of Clomid, and two failed IUI's. This was a dark time for me and I am thankful every day for my supportive and understanding husband and our awesome families. In November 2010 we began to talk about IVF. We both wanted to be parents so badly and we couldn't see going through life without our own family. In January 2011 we took the plunge and began IVF injections. I can tell you IVF is hard. The needles, hormones, blood tests, crazy side effects and feeling like a science experiment is definitely not pleasant. But it has gotten us to where we are today... 10 weeks pregnant!

I hope you will stop by my blog and say hi. I love meeting new bloggers and I truly hope my story can help anyone who is dealing with infertility.

xoxo,

Bridget

Go show Bridget some blog love by stopping by and leaving a comment and/or becoming a follower.

Ultrasound Results...

2011-03-22T13:20:00.000-04:00

Well I was wrong and so were most of you according to the poll on my sidebar.

We have ONE healthy baby growing in my belly right now !!

EEEKKK!!! I am so happy! The heartbeat was a perfect 138 beats per minute and he/she was measuring one day ahead. Due Date: November 09, 2011!!!

Now, since I won't have to show this post to my future twins, I can tell all of you a little secret that I have been holding in the past few weeks.

I AM SO FREAKING RELIEVED TO BE HAVING ONLY ONE BABY!!

I'm sure having twins (or more) is magical and everyone who has them loves them and wouldn't trade them for the world. However I am so glad that we get to have only one baby this time. I mentioned how petrified I was about having multiples before we started IVF but I've been very cautious to bite my tongue since getting our BFP. What's the old saying, "Beggars can't be choosers".Well that is exactly how I felt. Who am I, Infertile Aly, to say I don't want two babies (right now). Just take what you are blessed to be given and be happy.

Today at the ultrasound when the Dr said we have just one, I sat straight up and cheered. Omg, I was so excited! The idea of twins with a two year old was so overwhelming to me. After my high risk pregnancy last time and going into preterm labor at 24 weeks, I can't imagine how hard things would have been with two babies in there. My body has proven that it can produce one healthy baby, why push it?

I had a million worries running through my head over the last few weeks. Some of them were silly but some were justified.

First up was, We also only want 3 children, so if it was twins this time that would have been it. I just wasn't ready for this to be my last pregnancy. This was a selfish worry, yes but still one of my worries.

Secondly, We already have all the baby stuff for one, with the exception of some pink stuff if it turns out to be a girl. Buying doubles would have been fun, but expensive. This was very silly of me, we are fortunate enough to be able to afford all of these things, yet I still worried about it.

Thirdly, I also am confident that I will be able to breastfeed one again, which is something that would have been more challenging with twins. A challenge that I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle. I am only 7 weeks pregnant and already worried about the mommy guilt associated with not being able breastfeed hahaha!

I just feel like once we reach that magical threshold marking the end of the first trimester, I will be able breath a small sigh of relief and actually start to enjoy this pregnancy with out all of the added what-if's that come with pregnancy and life with multiples.

Please don't get me wrong, having multiples is an amazing miracle. One that I was very excited about when we found out we were pregnant with twins last pregnancy. Well God will never give you more than you can handle, and he has once again proven how well he knows me.

In other news, my RE released me to a regular OB today!! I called and made my first OB appointment for April 6th at 1pm. We will have another ultrasound then at exactly 9 weeks . :)

Ultrasound Tomorrow!

2011-03-21T18:29:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow is my ultrasound, FINALLY!! I will be 6w6d and I'm dying to know what is going on in there.

I'm not going to lie, for the first two weeks, I was sitting on cloud nine. All I could think about was how many babies we had growing in there, one or two? It never even crossed my mind that the answer could possibly be zero. I've played out numerous scenarios in my head, including one where they told me I had 12 babies, 2 sets of identical sextuplets haha! I've acted out almost most every possible situation, and I've got the appropriate surprised face ready for each one, with only one exception.

What happens if they do the ultrasound and tell me that there is no heartbeat?

I've had several miscarriages, including 2 that were diagnosed via an ultrasound. No bleeding or spotting, just an ordinary ultrasound crushed my dreams. I have developed quite a love hate relationship with ultrasounds, and refuse under any circumstances to go by myself.

So tomorrow is the big day! I'm not nauseous, which worries me. But I do have tender boobs and wake up to pee 3 times each night, so that offers some reassurance. Who knows how tomorrow is going to change things, but I refuse to go into it with a pessimistic attitude. Nothing I do today is going to change anything, so there is no point in worrying. Easier said than done though. Today, I am pregnant!!! Tomorrow I will either still be pregnant and celebrating or getting drunk and eating sushi, my own personal way of coping with a miscarriage. Fingers crossed we hear a heartbeat (or two)!

My u/s is at 10:15 AM EST, so I will be sure to update soon after.

New Blog Friday - Athena

2011-03-18T09:03:00.002-04:00

Now that my IVF cycle is over, New Blog Friday is back!!

This week I am featuring Athena from over at A Field Of Dreams:

Here is a message from Athena:

G'day from the Land Down Under!

My name is Athena. I was born, raised and live in Sydney Australia with my loving husband of 17 years and my 18 month old little man named Callum. He is my true miracle after 6 long years of infertility and numerous unsuccessful attempts at fertility assistance. He came the day I let go of all inhibitions and finally "relaxed". Yes, those old biddy's were right, well at least for my situation. I started my blog back in July 2010. At first it was just an introductory post of my IF Journey. I had it written after my son was born as a record of my IF experience. The post was featured on a friends blog as a success story. After following her blog for a few months, the blogger bug bit me and I decided to start blogging. My IF Journey post finally allowed me to come out of the cobweb closet and tell the world that I was a survivor of infertility and in the hope of sharing my experiences, someone out there in the whole wide world may be inspired by my story. My posts reflect my experiences of parenting and how IF still lingers in my heart and life. I also blog about my fat bum and how I'm trying to lose weight after a diagnosis of pre-diabetes and acid reflux. I'm in no hurry to have any more children. Callum in tacky terms "completes me".

I'm too embarrassed to put up a current photo of myself. My self-esteem has been captured by calorie counting, exercise and medication. These days it's all about trackie dacks, arse cracks and Ugg boots. I'd rather not torch your eyes with the double chin and tuck shop arms. So my prettiest moment was on my wedding day. That's how I want you to meet me and how I will someday in the near future look again.

My Callum was born the day before my 9th wedding anniversary. The best gift of all time. He was a big bubba, weighing in at 4.16kgs and 52cm long. He wouldn't fit through my pelvis and so was born via emergency C-section. Fast forward to present day and all he does all day every day is make us laugh. He is the epitome of a typical boy. Plays rough with Daddy, cuddles and kisses for Mum, loves his grandparents who spoil him rotten and is the biggest charmer to his Aunty. He really is a gift as he filled our life with humour, sweetness and everlasting love.

Thank you to Aly for featuring me in this weeks New Blog Friday, and to you for reading it. Please feel free to stop by my blog and introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting you.

P.S My blog was also designed by the beautiful Aly herself!

Cheers Athena xox

Go show Athena some blog love by leaving a comment and/or becoming a follower.

My Super Human Sense of Smell!

2011-03-17T16:19:00.002-04:00

It's official, I'm quitting my job as a stay at home mom to become a bomb sniffing dog. I think I could do it these days. Hound dogs have nothing on these nostrils. As I'm sure you have guessed, the pregnancy induced super human sense of smell has kicked in, and let me be the first to tell you, the world is a STINKY place.

Why is it that just nasty smells have been enhanced? Why don't I walk outside and dance around in circles at the wonderful smell of the spring flowers in bloom? No instead, I walk outside and smell nothing but the pile of Chihuahua poop from three blocks over. This leads me to my decision that London has GOT to potty train soon! At least then I can flush the toilet, spray the house down with Fabreeze, and quarantine off the area for a few hours. But no, he is still in diapers so I have to ~~gag through it~~ deal with it. Just yesterday, I changed his stinky butt, double wrapped the dirty diaper in trash bags, then threw it out into the garage. 2 hours later I was gagging because despite being outside with 2 doors between us, that diaper was not far enough away to keep the stench out of the house.

Why don't I smell perfume from the old lady down the block or the yummy steaks the guy next door is grilling? No, I just have a super sense of smell when it comes to poop. Thanks pregnancy, YOU ROCK!!

On a side note, I'm still feeling pretty good. This honestly kind of worried me at first but thank goodness for my blog. I went back to my entries from my last pregnancy and found that with London my morning sickness/food aversions didn't start until around 7 weeks. So I am going to enjoy this last week of feeling good and eat anything and everything that I want. Which will mainly consist of anything and everything that does not smell like poop!

***I'm not complaining at all, well actually I kinda am, but only a little bit. I am VERY grateful for each and every pregnancy symptom, because it means that Today, I AM PREGNANT!***

SLEEP!!

2011-03-14T20:11:00.001-04:00

I can't get enough sleep these days. This time change definitely didn't help either. I'm exhausted! London stayed up to 11pm last night and was up awake by 6:45am. He slept longer than that when he was 6 months old. Thankfully he still takes a nap, well most of the time anyway. I am more than happy to take a nap with him, but sometimes it makes it worse. I wake up even more exhausted than when I went to bed. It's a vicious cycle.

Besides the exhaustion I'm doing pretty well. I'm still feeling pretty good and I'll be 6 weeks tomorrow!!! Only 34 more weeks to go! :-/ MEH! Ok so it's definitely too soon to start a countdown HAHA!!

My only other real symptom is moodiness. Actually calling myself moody is NOT a fair statement. I'm just a straight up bitch most of the time. I have zero patience these days. I swear I don't remember feeling like this last time. I mostly notice it towards London, because with other people I can blame my frustrations on their stupidity, but my precious little man is a different story. I get so frustrated with him sometimes then feel overcome with guilt for not having more patience. Pregnancy was so much easier the first time :) At least last time didn't have mommy guilt on top of pregnancy guilt.

Hopefully my "moodiness" will pass soon, as long as nausea doesn't replace it I will be one happy lady!

T minus 7 days until my ultrasound!! I'm so excited to see if we have one or two babies growing in there.

5 Weeks and Maternity Clothes?

2011-03-09T22:10:00.001-05:00

Today marks the beginning of pregnancy week number 5!!! Is it too early for maternity clothes?

Am I the only one who LOVES maternity clothes? Some of them are not the most stylish things in the world, but WOW maternity jeans are comfy. I mean they are the perfect mixture between jeans and yoga pants. It seriously doesn't get any better than that. I definitely don't need maternity clothes right now. Sure I've got some bloat and the extra weight I gained during my IVF cycle, but besides that my little orange seed(s) are definitely not protruding yet. Oh how I long for the day when I can, without fear of jinxing myself, break into the wonderful world of stretchy waistbands.

I mean look at this lady lounging in a tree, wtf??? Doesn't she look comfortable in her maternity clothes?

For pete sake people, she is in a TREE, but the very idea of maternity clothes make me want to throw on a full panel maternity skirt and join her.

Hell, maternity clothes even make this incredibly awkward picture look comfortable. Which reminds me, I MUST have this mermaid outfit! Any suggestions on where I would find such a ~~tacky~~ beautiful garment?

Image Credit

On a serious note, a friend of mine sent me two big boxes of her maternity clothes a few weeks ago, and I am dying to break into those bad boys. It was like a mini shopping spree because we wear the same size and have very similar taste in clothing. Thanks again Chandra!! :)

I'm still not feeling many symptoms. My boobs aren't really tender at all this time. Although that might be because I don't spend half of my day squeezing them just to make sure they are still tender, thus proving I'm still pregnant, like I did last time. I have had some wicked car sickness recently though. It's crazy! I have always been prone to car sickness but it's usually only if I try to read or sit in the backseat. Well since I got my BFP I have been really sensitive. The other day, Mike was driving and I looked down just for a split second to dial a phone number and I almost puked. I felt nauseous for hours. I would have written it off as just a coincidence, but it's happened several times since then. Needless to say, I will be the one doing the driving for the next few weeks until that passes.

Well I'm off to bed, I've got a TON of blog work to do but I can't keep my eyes open for another second. My bed and ~~a box~~ a few girl scout cookies are calling my name. :)

So....Now what?

2011-03-06T20:40:00.002-05:00

Now that we have gotten that elusive BFP, I'm not exactly sure what to do with myself. I'm not sure what to blog about these days now that I don't have daily appointments to report. For the first time in weeks things are pretty boring around here. Don't get me wrong, I really really REALLY like it that way, I'm just not sure what to do with myself these days.

I'm a whopping 4w5d pregnant so it's not like there is anything big to report there. I've had some nausea, but still feeling pretty good. I'm definitely starting to feel the exhaustion/insomnia though. During the day all I can think about is sleep, but as soon as bed time rolls around I'm WIRED. It's the strangest thing.

Over the last few weeks I was so focused on IVF that I forgot to update about the other things going on in my life. So now I will bore all of you with that stuff. :)

Last week one of my Besties from highschool and her two little boys came up for the weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday and London's 2nd Birthday. We had a BLAST eating way too much candy, Japanese food, and delicious cupcakes (and blueberry fritters) they brought from my favorite bakery at home. We had a great time!

London blowing out his candle.

Then he didn't want to get his icing on his hands so this is how he ate his cupcake.

The Trio in a double stroller at the Zoo.

We like to pretend that the trip was this organized...

But it actually looked more like this,

with kids screaming and climbing out of the stroller.

This is a very accurate picture of the day,

including me talking instead of smiling for the picture.

It was my birthday and 2 days before London's so we treated ourselves to a

birthday Icee

Feeding the baby giraffe.

It looks like the giraffe is eating London's hand off but he was actually VERY gentle.

The boys feeding the goats.

Firefighter London

Three sleepy monkeys.

Oh and while I am uploading pictures, I figured I would post my very first belly picture of this pregnancy.

No, it's not one of those "look how cute and flat my stomach is" pictures that people take to have something as a comparison in 6 months. This one is going in the baby book. This picture is to prove to my future child/children what I went through to have them. This is what my belly looks like right now.

Black and blue from my daily Lovanox shots.

The shots are going really well actually. They don't burn nearly as bad anymore or maybe I've just gotten used to the pain at this point. I definitely can't complain since I don't have to take the progesterone in oil shots. I'm on Crinone instead. Sure they are messy, but painless!

I added a poll to my left sidebar, so go take a guess at how many babies you think I have growing in my belly right now. Ultrasound is in 16 days!!! I can't wait!

I need to go eat some dinner and crawl into bed, the season premiere of Army Wives comes on tonight and

I AM PUMPED!!!

Beta #2 results

2011-03-04T13:06:00.002-05:00

282!!!

WOOHOOO!!! It more than doubled which really helped ease my mind. I'll update more later since Mike is frothing at the mouth to get back on MY computer (his is broken and has been for several months. Sharing is NOT in my nature but I'm working on it :) )

I'm definitely thinking it's probably two since my numbers are very similar to last time. Ultrasound is scheduled for March 22nd so I guess we will all know then.

Any guesses to how many in the mean time? Maybe I will put up a poll or something else fun.

Beta #1: 11dp3dt- 103

Beta #2: 13dp3dt- 282

Beta #1 results...

2011-03-02T14:09:00.001-05:00

103!!!!

Woooohoooo!!! I'm PREGNANT!! I guess I should have believed those 15 pregnancy tests that I took this cycle. Shhhh, don't tell the hubs! :)

Now, I know that beta results do not tell you how many babies you have growing in there, but it definitely helps give you an idea.

When I was pregnant with London (he was a twin until 11 weeks) my first beta was 84 then it tripled to 260 in 48 hours. I'm going to wait until my next beta before I start throwing out guesses, but the fact that my beta is higher this time than it was with the twins, definitely has my mind racing.

Next beta is on Friday! Fingers crossed for doubling + numbers :)