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.

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

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!!!

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. :)

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.


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. :)

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...

"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 :) 






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. 

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.

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!

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.

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!!

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

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 . :)

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.

Ok so finally I am considered "Term"!! Woohooo!

I have to admit, I'm a little discouraged though. I have been having ALOT of contractions recently. They are really painful and keep me up all night long. They never get closer than about 10 mins apart so I never end up going to the hospital, but wow, there have been several times when I have wanted to. (My Dr tells you not to go to the hospital until your contractions are 5 mins apart)

I'm still 3 cms and 100% effaced and my Dr keeps telling me "soon" but it doesn't seem to be happening. If these painful contractions were at least making progress, then it would be worth it but I have been 3 stinking cm for 2 weeks now...UGH!!! I know I sound like I am complaining, and honestly I AM! It's just that all of these contractions are really taking a toll on me. Dr E also informed me today that he will not induce me until I am one week past my due date... WHAT???? ONE WEEK!! Are you freaking kidding me? Ugh, you can blame my bitterness today on lack of sleep since I only got 3 hours last night due to...you guessed it, CONTRACTIONS!

Ok I'll stop with the bitterness now. It looks like London will actually be a March baby after all!! Which is probably for the best since I like that birth stone better anyway. HAHAHA!

FINALLY!!!

While I know 37weeks is considered "Term", however for us 36 weeks has always been our goal. When I went into preterm labor at just 23w5d, I never thought we would make it this far. Myself and Dr E felt for SURE that Mr London was going to come early. After 11 weeks on bedrest, and countless doses of procardia (my anti contraction medicine), we have finally made it!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!

So after having my hormonal break down the other day, I thought I was finally in Labor.
I started having contractions on Wednesday night at around 5pm. They became stronger and more and more regular. By about 10pm I was having them about every 5 mins. Mike came home from work and really wanted me to go to the hospital, but for fear of being sent home empty handed, I decided to wait just a little while longer. I was finally able to fall asleep around 1am only to be awoken several times by...MORE CONTRACTIONS. At 5 am, I finally woke Mike up and told him I thought we were going to have to go to the hospital. I really really really wanted to wait until my Dr. appt at 10am though. I knew something was going on, but for some reason just didn't think "this is it!" Well at 7:30 I finally called the on-call dr from my Ob's office only to find out that Dr E (MY DR) was on call, WOOOHOOO!!! When he returned my call, I explained the situation to him to which he replied "you should have called me last night!" Well at 8 am after a quick stop at McDonalds for a biscuit n' gravy (Note to anyone who might have to go to Labor and Delivery, EAT FIRST! They won't let you have anything but ice chips after you get there, and there is nothing worse then to be a HUNGRY pregnant woman) we were at the hospital. My contractions were still 5 mins apart. The Dr checked me and I was still around 2 cm but now I was 100% effaced. So he made a deal with me, since I was only 35 weeks and 3 days, he was going to make a VERY small effort to stop my labor in hopes of buying London a little bit more time in the womb. He gave me IV fluids and some pain meds to try to relax my uterus. He said that if it was going to stop it would, but if my body was in full fledged labor, it wouldn't matter. Well about 15 mins after my IV was set up, I was flying high on the pain meds and London QUIT!! My contractions basically came to a screeching halt. We stayed at the hospital for probably another 3 hours to be monitored but around 11 am they released me since I was only having contractions every 20 mins or so...UGH!! I know this is best for Mr London. I know every day that he stays in me, makes him a little healthier. But, wow, does he not know me at all? Does he not know how impatient I am? Does he not know that under NO circumstances should he tease his Mother like that? AHHHHHH, this is torture!!

So from here on out I am not counting my contractions. I will be needing some sort of definitive sign. I will not be heading back to the hospital until my water breaks. Ok, so that is not totally true, but it is wishful thinking. I feel like every time I go up to the hospital and they stop my labor its like me crying wolf. I know it's not quite the same thing, but that is how I feel.

So to my precious son I have this to say...Listen London, Mommy is really really really excited to see you, so if you are seriously planning on coming out anytime soon, will you at least have the common courtesy to pop that bag of water first? It will be like our own little secret Bat Signal. If you do this one little thing for me, I promise I will not let the Dr spank you on the bottom when you come into the world. Do we have a deal? Sooner is always better than later, my love, just keep that in mind.
P.S. Oh and one more favor, Daddy and I have a betting pool on when you are going to arrive. He has bet on Feb 14th and 20th and I have bet on Feb 16th and 24th. If you could just come on, say the 15th, so that it's right in the middle and I don't have to listen to how he was right for the rest of my life that would be GREAT!!! We love you! :) -Mommy

I'm sorry ahead of time....
Ok Ladies, I feel horrible. I am so ready to be DONE with this pregnancy and to HOLD my baby. I actually yelled at my belly last night as London was kicking and moving and it hurt sooooooo bad. I have no idea what he was doing in there but wow, it was painful. I yelled "GET OUT" and he actually stopped moving and then I felt bad and almost cried HAHAHA. Gotta love those pregnancy hormones.
The hardest part for me is that I have been in preterm labor since 24 weeks and just a few days ago I was allowed off bed rest and off my meds, so it could literally be ANY DAY NOW that he could come. So as a first time mom, I am reading into every little twinge hoping its a sign of labor (it reminds me of when I was trying to get pregnant and reading into every little symptom praying that it was a sign of pregnancy). I'm having contractions but not the "painful, regular, you need to go to the hospital" kind, more like the annoying "just here to get your hopes up" kind. Last week when I went to the Dr I was already 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. So I got all excited but then I read about women who stay at that for weeks, only to finally have to be induced. Oh and to add to my discomfort, I have guilt about wanting him to come out. This weekend I will be 36 weeks, and while I am sure he will be fine if he is born at this point, I go back and forth between wanting to walk and have sex and anything to help me go into labor, and wanting to take it easy for another 10 days so he can make it to 37 weeks (or full term). One min I want to go for a long hard walk and the next min I put myself back on bedrest to keep him in. This poor child must be so confused.
AHHHHHHHH, but I am super uncomfortable. I can barely get out of bed anymore and lets just FORGET about sleeping. Insomnia is my middle name these days. The worst part is he has dropped so LOW that I have to pee every 10 mins, and I'm not even kidding about that. I stand up from peeing and have to sit right back down and go again. Its like adding insult to injury when it takes me 10 mins to drag my pregnant butt out of bed, waddle into the bathroom, groaning with every painful step, only to pee and teaspoon full comes out. UGH, it's just so frustrating.

Sorry ladies, I'm a hormonal wreck today but I'm done ranting...thanks for listening.

Well, I went to the Dr today for my 34 week check up and it seems I am officially 2 cm dilated now. I am also off bed rest now, so things might actually start moving along. I am still going to take it easy over the next few weeks for 2 reasons 1) I'm trying to keep London in until 36 weeks so HOPEFULLY he won't have to go to the NICU. And 2) I can't move!! I have gotten to the point where walking is even painful. There is so much pressure down there from his head, I feel like I'm trying to walk with a bowling ball in my *you know where*. Getting up off the couch is hard enough and I am out of breath by the time I get into the kitchen to get a new bottle of water. However, I am not complaining!! Ok, well kinda I am, but I know its for a really good reason.

I am really excited, because his room is pretty much 100% complete. The only thing left for us to do is a few decorative touches. We got his crib last weekend and Mike put it together in record time (Don't worry, there were no extra pieces when he was done, HaHa). We have his Pack-N-Play all set up in our room, as well as his swing, papasan chair, stroller, and car seat. I have also finished washing all of his clothes, blankets, and burp clothes. The only thing we are really waiting for at this point is.....HIM! I also went out today and picked up the last few things to put in my hospital bag. So that is also done. I can't believe, that after all of the time of waiting and trying to get pregnant then trying to keep him in, we are finally in the home stretch. More than likely by this time next month, I will be holding my little man.

Ok well I better be going. I am in much need of a cup of Sonic ice. By the way, that is the only thing this entire pregnancy that I have craved. Thank goodness Sonic sells there ice by the bag for only $2. It's so great not to have to run out at all hours of the night just for a cup of ICE!!

So today I had my weekly Dr appt with Dr E. Everything seems to be going well except for the fact that my jaw has locked up, I can only open my mouth about 2 inches. Eating even a sandwich has become impossible. It happened about 10 days ago, but I kept thinking it would go away on its own. I asked Dr E about it today, thinking it was maybe a side effect of my meds or even pregnancy itself. He said that there is really nothing he can do for it, but it sounds like it happened because while your pregnant all of your joints and ligaments loosen and it may have just slipped out of joint. He said lets just "wait and see" if it goes away on its own.

So while ALMOST every part of my body is broken, there is one working part. I passed my glucose test!! So I DON'T have gestational diabetes. WOOOHOOO! Just when I thought this entire pregnancy was cursed by Murphy's Law, something FINALLY went right.

So Mike and I had a brief visit to the hospital last night. I was having contractions every 8 mins or so for about 2 hours, so we decided to go get checked out. THANKFULLY they sent me home and did not keep me. I was told to drink LOTS of water, lay on my side, and they upped my meds. Well I had to go in the the Dr today for a follow up appt and I got an ultrasound to check his fluid and my cervical length. Well my cervix is short 2cm when it should be 4, but his fluid is GREAT so he has plenty of room to swim haha. So again my Dr told us that it looks like London really will be making his appearance early (as if we had any doubt). At the ultrasound he looked great! He weighs 3.5 lbs now, which is in the 94th percentile of weight for his age. So he is a BIG boy!! With my luck, he will come at 35 weeks and STILL weigh 9lbs HAHAHA. As usual during the ultrasound he refused to give us a decent profile picture. He was very quick to whip out the weenie though. I might just be giving birth to a future streaker or "naked man" for all you WPer's. He likes to show off the goods, but not so much his face. We got one pic of his profile but it's blurry because he was moving, so not all the lines on his face are defined. When you look at it, you can't see the indention between his nose and top lip. It almost looks like he has a muzzle, so Mike became very concerned that he looks like a monkey. He was quite relieved when I pointed out that his nose and lips WERE INDEED separate.