Buford Betty

Welcome home, Baby Sam.

2012-01-19T19:28:00.000-05:00

Samuel Nolen Rogers

born January 11, 2012 at 8:29pm

7 pounds, 10 ounces and 19.5 inches

I know... I'm like WAY behind on getting Sam's birth story up here! I promise to get lots of pics and details posted shortly. Somehow, with a little one in the house, everything that should take 5 minutes takes 5 hours. And what I meant to do on Tuesday might get done by Friday. It's a new world, that's for sure. But we're in love with our sweet boy, clearly.

I'll be back soon! I know I've not responded to all your sweet tweets and messages, but please know I'm loving every one of them! We appreciate the prayers and well wishes so much. Now I'm off to go snuggle my little peanut some more...

Freezer Meals

2011-12-30T08:25:00.001-05:00

You know, my to-do-before-Sam-gets-here-list is never going to get done if I don't stop adding things to it... story of my life! And one project I've added to the list is to get some freezer meals prepared and put away. I'm not making a big production of it... not like a full day of cooking up fabulous recipes or anything. Don't have the energy for that! Nor do I really care to do that at this point. But as I'm cooking our regular dinners here and there, I'm doubling or tripling what I usually make and freezing what we don't eat into several meals for later. Like the other night, the hub made a big double batch of turkey chili. We usually eat maybe 2/3 or so of one batch in a night. So I divided up what we didn't eat into two freezer meals for later. Easy!

Tonight I'll do the same with taco meat. I'm sure some of our friends and family will spoil us with food and whatnot when we first get home with Sam, but it will be nice to know we have a variety of backup meals on hand that are all but ready-to-eat when the last thing we'll want to do is cook! I have a short list of several meals I'm going to put together over the next couple of weeks - but I'm not going to stress over it. If I get to it, great! If not - no big. Others I plan to do are chicken pot pie (cook the chicken, mix in the pie "innards" so that all I need to do is add crust and bake), chicken taco stew (an easy crockpot recipe that will freeze well), and spaghetti (just the sauce). I may also mix up a turkey meatloaf and freeze that. Haven't made that in forever because it just sounded gross throughout most of my pregnancy. It still does not sound all that appealing, but maybe I'll feel differently afterward? I have a great chicken noodle soup recipe too... would that freeze well, minus the noodles? Hmmm...

So, any other easy ideas to consider for freezing? Emphasis on EASY. I'm not looking for some amazing new recipe to try. But you know... is there something you love that freezes really well and is easy to prepare ahead of time? We are not picky eaters. I just don't have a lot of energy to be super creative right now! So leave me your ideas if you have any I should try. That are easy. With few ingredients. That can be found at normal stores. THANKS!!!

A Quick Update

2011-12-28T16:25:00.001-05:00

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas weekend! We certainly did. We had lots of fun with friends and family and then had Monday off to recover and rest up before getting back to reality on Tuesday. It's a very quiet week at work though - which is nice. Plenty to do though, as I'm trying my best not to leave any loose ends when Sam arrives.

Had another OB appointment today and all looks good. Also had an ultrasound yesterday at the perinatologist and Sam is looking great! Of course he's all chunky and mushed up in there so it's hard to get any great pics. But he's still a bit ahead of schedule size wise - weighing in at 6lb 7oz. They also put me on the monitors for a bit to track his activity. That little booger was all over the place. The nurses kept commenting on how active he was! It kept making me laugh - listening to his heartbeat and hearing him go nuts jostling around in there. And yeah, speaking of jostling... it friggin hurts when he moves around now. There is so little room that my poor organs become punching bags. Pretty sure if he came out talking, his first word would be "Shit!" Because I feel like that's all I say right now. Can't complain though... still love feeling him even though it cripples me some days. He especially likes to pounce on my sciatic nerve and send a rush of shooting pain down my butt or thigh. It is awesome.

Dr. Stone (perinatologist) does want to see me again this Friday. I seriously have like 5 doctor appointments this week between the OB, perinatologist, acupuncturist, and chiropractor. Anyway, Dr. Stone noticed that the cord was kind of tangled up around Sam's head - nothing to be alarmed about, but he wanted me to come back and see if he has shifted and the cord straightens back out, etc (as he suspects it will). I don't think they'd really do much of anything if it doesn't move, other than alert my OB to where it is so they're aware of it when performing the c-section here soon. And of course I'm supposed to pay attention to his activity - which isn't hard (uh, reread the previous paragraph). If he's suddenly less active than normal, I'm to call. Otherwise, keep on keepin' on.

So that's the latest. As far as the nursery, we are all but done! Just a few finishing touches to take care of... gotta hang all the wall decor this weekend. The cornice board has been assembled - we just need to add the fabric. That will be ready this weekend as well. Only things we don't have yet are a few customized fabric accessories that are being made... the cushion for the bench, liners for the wicker baskets (on the changing table) and the fabric curtain that serves as the closet "door." We also plan to get a ceiling fan, but that's obviously not a must-have item before Sam arrives. But maybe we'll get that this weekend too. My dad is going to take some good pics of it all with his wide-angle lens once we get it all done! Hopefully that will give you a much better look than my camera phone -ha!

Christmas decorations are already down and baby gear is moving its way in... We've got the pac n' play in the guest room downstairs all assembled and loaded up with diaper changing supplies. The swing and bouncy seat are up and ready in the den. We're getting there! After ALL this time, I cannot believe we're just a few weeks away from meeting this little guy! Wow... it's totally unreal.

A Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:37:00.001-05:00

This Christmas certainly is a special one. Anticipating Sam's arrival in just a few weeks has us all excited! The holidays, while I always love them regardless, can be tough when you're in the thick of the infertility battle. Every year there for a while I wondered how many more Christmases we'd have to endure without a child of our own. Again, I'm no Scrooge... I still loved every minute of every Christmas the hub and I have shared together, but I'd be lying if I said there hadn't been a hollow spot in my heart all those years. So being pregnant during this season has been a true blessing. There are such exciting things to come in the New Year.

But this Christmas is so much bigger than that... It is extra meaningful this year because of the story of another sweet baby. If you haven't had the privilege of reading about sweet Hallie Lynn Green, please take a quiet moment over the Christmas holidays to let her story into your heart. Hallie's mom, Katie, and I have several mutual friends, but we've only met a couple of times - I'm not even sure she'd remember me. But through her special little girl, she and her husband have touched SO many lives this Christmas.

I'm sure my hormones are half to blame, but I've shed more tears over this little angel and her family in the last week than I can remember. Tears of sorrow, but also tears of joy. Joy for the miracle of this little life that has touched countless souls over just a few short days. Little Hallie came in to this world and did more in her sweet little life to further God's Kingdom than most people can hope for in a lifetime. I hope you will take a moment to learn about her and pray over her sweet family. You can follow her story here. At tonight's Christmas Eve service we were reminded that Jesus was and is the light of the world. How bright he shined through Hallie's life here.

[Short pause while I wipe my swollen eyes and blow my runny nose.]

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas! We are certainly enjoying our time together with family and friends this weekend. Presents are wrapped and waiting, the family (and doggies) are all snug in their beds... Now I better get to sleep before Santa realizes I'm still up... yikes!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Dude...

2011-12-18T14:04:00.001-05:00

WHY cannot I not get my butt on the 'puter to blog? Like everything else in life, it is a total chore right now. Going to the bathroom is a chore. The 3rd trimester slowdown has come on with a vengeance. I'm not fatigued like I was during the 1st trimester, but Sam is so mushed up in there that it's hard to breathe. So the littlest thing, like talking, gets me out of breath. My sweet husband suggested I just stop speaking. Hahaha...

My Braxton Hicks contractions did get the better of me last night... we missed the neighborhood Christmas party because of them! I've had them on and off throughout the day the last few weeks, but the doctor said not to worry about calling unless we had more than 6 an hour. Well, first I'm supposed to get horizontal and drink a glass of water if I have six. And if they don't slow down, then we call. So last night I was having them like every 10 minutes for over two hours, so we did call. Only for them to tell me that there's not much to do since I'm past 34 weeks. Baby is super viable at that point, so if labor were to start, they're not going to interfere too much at this point. OK whatever... I felt better after hearing that, although I do want this little booger to stay in there and bake as long as he can. We go for another OB visit on Tuesday so I will ask again if there's any different protocol for my situation since my doctors don't want me going into labor period... I failed to think to ask that last night, but I'm not worried. These definitely aren't true labor contractions. But hopefully we can get some more assurance on Tuesday.

We were supposed to hit the mall after church today to finish up the last bit of Christmas shopping we had, but decided to play it safe and lay low. Shopping (well, standing up or walking for long at all) has gotten super difficult. I've only been able to do quick trips. I did do a BRU-Kohl's-Target run Friday afternoon with my mom and I think that did me in. From now on it's either Amazon or a motorized scooter. The hub is taking good care of me... whether it's a 4am poptart or an emergency backrub, he comes running. The other day he said he can't wait to sit in our rocker and doze off with Sam in his arms.... wow, melt my heart! He's going to be such a great daddy.

So, all is good... the nursery is really, really coming together! As I type, the hub and my dad are upstairs finishing up the beadboard in the bathroom. The cornice board for the nursery has been assembled, but for the fabric - it is going to look SO great! Still waiting on some other little odds and ends - various fabric projects/accessories and also lighting fixtures... but the major projects are all but done. Can't wait to see it all come together!

And lastly, for now, here are some pics from one of my last showers. This one was hosted by my wonderful godmother. We had a fabulous turnout - lots of great friends of my mother's came all the way from Alabama to help us celebrate. And a lot of my sweet friends came from all over as well - many who I hadn't seen in forever! It was a great afternoon...


Sam's own little Christmas tree!

The sweet hostess with the mostess!

Eating for two... nom nom nom!

One of my favorite gifts! A sweet name plaque for Sam from my friend, Jill.


I think I'm trying to explain to my mom what Baby Legs are...

One of my dear friends gave us this awesome wagon!

Uh, yeah...

This is what I wore... Gap dress with my Target shoes and grey tights. Dress was cute on - if I didn't move. But I had horrid static cling that day, no matter what I tried... so it did not hang so well at the shower. Oh well...

Ketchup.

2011-12-07T16:39:00.004-05:00

Gosh, I am having trouble getting my butt on the computer lately to blog. I just have been very busy sitting on the couch and not caring. Ha! No, but I do have so much I need to update y'all on... we had our last round of showers this past weekend - which were great! And we also did our maternity shoot last Friday (above is a little sample for ya). So I'll get some weekend pics up soon!

I tell ya - Sam is pretty darn set. I think the only major thing we don't have that we'd like to get before he arrives is my breast pump. So I think we'll slap a 20% off coupon and a few BRU giftcards on that puppy and it'll be pretty affordable! We went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital this past Saturday and they suggested bringing in your pump if you have one so they can show us how to get it set up and use it. Sounds good to me! I need all the help I can get.

The nursery is really coming together. The built-in shelves are installed but just waiting on some finishing touches. They look AWESOME and I can't wait to "move in" to them with all of Sam's loot. They're our main source of storage in that room, besides his closet. Other projects still in the works are the cornice board for the window - my dad is helping us construct that. I think I mentioned the quote I got to have one made was like $750. Yeah... so I quickly started googling "DIY cornice boards." It looks pretty darn easy, so I'm excited to see how this project comes together. We're just doing a super simple one with the same paisley fabric that's in the bedding and it will be monogrammed in the center.

We're also having a cushion made for the bench seat under the window. Any DIY option there would turn into a hot mess. Not even attempting that! So we'll leave that one to the pros. Also using a fabric from the bedding collection for the cushion, but a more neutral one that can be used later if we decided to change up the color scheme in that room. What else... well, paint! We are nearly done there. I of course have to make the paint as complicated as possible with 15 different colors, etc. We finally figured out colors for the nursery ceiling and bath ceiling. The hub finished the main ceiling paint and WOW, does it look good! It is a metallic bronze - which I thought might be a bit dark once applied, but it is so perfect. We have so much white going on in the nursery between the shelving, furniture, and trim, so the dark contrast really warms it up and makes it so soothing. Plus our wall colors are very subtle (two shades of taupe), so the metallic ceiling adds a bit of drama! I'll get some pics up once we finish the paint. We are still doing stripes, but just on one wall. I think stripes all around might be overkill, so we're going to try just one wall to start. I'm planning to conquer the stripes this weekend. Then the last bit of paint will be the ceiling in the bathroom - also a metallic gold, but a lot lighter than the nursery color. It's more of a pale gold.

And speaking of the bathroom - we still have the beadboard to install. My dad is helping us with that as well. We did finally get our bathroom mirror though! I had been eying one at Pottery Barn forever but we stumbled upon a comparable version on clearance at Home Depot this week! Total score... I was literally about to shell out $149 for the PB version, but we ended up getting the $70 HD version instead. Love it! It's a white medicine cabinet style mirror. We wanted a medicine cabinet because we've got a pedestal sink in the nursery bath with no storage. And now the only other major thing I need to order here soon is the baskets from Pottery Barn for our changing table. And that has turned into a fiasco this week because I've been trying to use these Amex giftcards we got to purchase those, to no avail. Oh believe me, I've been on the phone with the Pottery Barn people... While I'm TRULY grateful for these Amex giftcards, I gotta say they have been a pain in the ass to try to use online. I know, rich people problem... "Oh weh... the money I received as a gift is hard to spend!" Obviously not a big deal in the grand scheme, but yeah, add that to the list of reasons to hate Amex. We'll get them to work one way or another but I don't think I'll be buying those particular cards as a gift for anyone. Uh, not to mention they charge a fee when you purchase them! Lame, Amex.

As far as Sam, he is doing great! When you throw in my perinatal visits, I'm pretty much into weekly doctor appointments now. Which is fine by me... I like to know how things stand. We had our last OB visit on Tuesday and, as suspected, they're going to make me do the 3-hr glucose test later this week since I borderline passed the 1-hr test and Sam is on the big side. Well, drats... that means I have to fast Friday morning... as in no Friday morning poptart! What am I going to do?! Ha... I've also been having a fair amount of Braxton Hicks contractions in the last few weeks. The hub got mad at me because I hadn't mentioned them to him when I had them. He knew I'd been having them because he was at the doctor with me when I asked about them. But as long as they didn't get excessive, I didn't figure I needed to worry him when I had one. Well, he did not like that. So now I have a custom app on my phone that looks like a big red button. Anytime I have a contraction, I have to push the button and it immediately sends a text message to the hub. Hahaha.... gotta love it. The OB said if I have 6 or more an hour, that I need to drink a glass of water and lie down. If they continue at that rate, then we call the doctor. I haven't had near that many in an hour, so no real cause for alarm just yet! But heaven knows the hub will be the first to know if I do. :-)

Other big news we found out this week is that, unfortunately, my OB won't be able to do my c-section. She apparently had to have some kind of emergency surgery this week and will be out of commission for a while, so they went ahead and had me schedule with a different doctor in the practice. I'm sad it won't be my regular OB... I sure hope she's OK! I've been seeing her for over 10 years... she had a wonky uterus just like me and was also a Dr. Toledo patient, so she "gets" it. Would've been cool to have her deliver Sam, but whatever... I know most women don't get their own doctors anyway! It's luck of the draw really unless it's scheduled. So yeah, that was kinda disappointing, but not a huge deal in the long run. I will be in good hands. My OB's health is obviously the priority here! We have met all but one of the other OB's in the practice, so I was able to pick one I liked and keep the same day/time. The doctor we saw this week was also good, and she's available that day (Jan 19), but not till after 1pm. Which means I'd have to go WAY longer without food. Um, no thanks. I picked someone else. As with all events in my life, I center this around my meals. Momma's gotta eat! Priorities.

Alright y'all... I promise I'll get back on with some pics and other fun deets from this past weekend. Hope you're having a good one!

32 Week Ultrasound

2011-11-28T17:42:00.001-05:00

Finally got some decent pics... although the face shot is a little creepy - haha! But some pretty cool detail nonetheless. Sam has got some serious cheeks! Size-wise, he's measuring a solid two weeks ahead. He weighed 4lb, 12oz today and already has a a head full of hair! They're guessing he'll be 8 or 8 1/2 lbs at 39 weeks. We'll see!

All is looking good though... the perinatologist did ask if I had passed my glucose test. Well yeah, but barely! Can't remember if I mentioned that - but I found out at my last OB visit that I just squeeked by. The doctor's not at all concerned, but is mentioning to my OB that they may want to think about retesting me considering Sam's chub-a-lubness. He also wants to see me again at 36 weeks just to monitor size. He said on occasion, if baby is super big, they'll recommend taking him a little earlier. I am cool with going earlier if it's planned... I just don't want to go into labor for fear of rupturing my wonky uterus. Or should I say formerly wonky? The wonkiness has been minimalized, but it's still "special."

We bought the last bit of paint this weekend for the nursery, so hopefully all the painting projects will get wrapped up over the next week or so. I want to get the nursery done before Sam gets here, obviously... but I'm more concerned about *me* being ready in the event he decides to come early. So my hospital bag is pretty much packed. There are a couple of things I'd like to add, but really I've got the essentials covered. And it's not like my mom or whoever couldn't run out while we're in the hospital and grab whatever else we needed. And there are just some things around the house I want to get "in order" before he comes. Nothing major - but just some small projects to wrap up.

But gosh... we're down to less than 8 weeks! That is nuts. And I've also got some loose ends to tie up at work. Nothing I can't handle in the next few weeks, but just want to make sure I've covered everything. And oh yeah... Christmas? I am usually Santa's right hand man, but this year I'm like SO unmotivated to Christmas shop. I think my "I don't care about anything" attitude from the 1st trimester is creeping back in... Luckily we don't have a huge list of people to buy for, but I'm usually done at this point! Mostly anyway. I only have a couple of small things so far... and a few ideas, but not much else! I better get on it. Pretty sure it's going to be an online Christmas for the most part this year though. Amazon to the rescue?!

Baby Shower - Nov 6th

2011-11-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

We had a double header that first weekend in November! This second shower was put on by my best high school girlfriends and another one of my sweet girlfriends that I used to work with. This one was a lot more intimate and girly... all the details were so sweet! What a fun weekend, huh?!

The lovely food table with all kinds of sweet goodies - including a bike-shaped diaper cake!

Delicous cake pops made by one of my girlfriends

A watermelon baby carriage - too cute!

Sam's going to one dapper little dude!

More great gifts... Sam is really loading up!

Couples Shower - Nov 5th

2011-11-23T06:16:00.000-05:00

Finally, some pics for you! This incredible shower was put on by some of our very good friends. Every detail was fabulous and we had an absolute ball. It could not have been more perfect! We are truly grateful to be blessed with such amazing friends and family that were so excited to celebrate with us.

The table set-up for a delicious BBQ dinner

Adorable centerpieces with baby books and rubber duckies

Favors with one of my faves... white chocolate covered pretzels!

Monogrammed petit fours

The petit fours and some delicious red velvet cupcakes

And you gotta have some chocolate!

Sam's loot!

Me and the hub... and check out the cute mason jars with tags and paper straws!

Yes, folks, there really is a baby in there!

Just Checking In

2011-11-22T14:18:00.001-05:00

Wow... has it really been that long since I posted? Yeah. Sorry about that! I've either been running around or just too darn tired to get on the 'puter. I stare at a computer all day at work, so sometimes it's the last thing I want to do when I get home. But I have been rather domestic lately... I'm not just plopped on the couch! I'm really trying to keep up the habit of doing one load of laundry a day so that when I'm buried in dirty onesies, sheets, and burp cloths, it won't be such a huge adjustment. And I'm just trying to get little projects done here and there at night and on weekends to get ready. Like the other day I cleared out an entire kitchen cabinet to make way for bottles and baby food and other kitcheny stuff for Sam. Not even sure what all will go in there, but we have the space now!

Had another OB appointment yesterday and all is still looking good. We have what should be our last perinatal visit next Monday. Can't wait to see Sam on screen again - it's been forever! He is busting at the seams, it seems. I swear he's trying to push my belly out to make more room. Feeling him wiggle around in there is an entirely different experience now than it was mere weeks ago. Used to just be a jab here, a kick there. Now it's like entire body parts shifting or rolling over - it is seriously crazy. Sometimes it catches me out of the blue and scares me. And he still loves to set up camp on my bladder at times. That's always fun. But I can't complain! Oh and the hiccups... I've only been able to feel those fairly recently. He gets those pretty often - it's so funny.

Nothing much else to report here... I will get our shower pics up sometime this week. We still have a few more showers next week as well. Plus we're doing a maternity photo shoot next Friday. It's going to be a BUSY but very fun week. So by Sunday, Sam should be sittin' pretty. The nursery is coming along, but of course my idea of having everything 100% done by Thanksgiving is not going to happen... duh. I kinda knew that wouldn't happen, but a girl can dream. The shelves arein the room, but not officially installed and finished yet. But we're very close on that! They are going to look so great - can't wait! And they'll be very functional... pretty much all our nursery storage (aside from the closet) is in the shelving. I did snap a few pics of the boys moving the shelving units into the room - I'll post those too in a bit.

Other than the shelves, the big projects left are finishing up the paint and installing the beadboard in the nursery bath. None of those require tons of time, but it's just finding that time that's been hard. The holidays, while I LOVE them, just complicate things. And of course showers, and football, and other fall goings-on... it's just a busy time of year! But we'll get there. I'm hoping we can get some painting in this weekend in the midst of Christmas decorating. The biggest part left is the ceiling paint - and there's no way in hell I'm getting in the awkward positions required to paint a ceiling. So the hub will take care of that job!

A few other projects remain... building a cornice board, having the window seat cushion made, and getting other accessories in order. But one step at a time... we'll get there! Just hoping to get the bulk of it done before year-end. Not sure I'll be able to move much come January!

Hope you all have a fantastic Turkey Day planned... it's such a fun week! Enjoy the time with family and friends, be grateful, and eat up!

The Hospital Bag

2011-11-11T06:54:00.000-05:00

Y'all were so helpful with tips on nursing stuff... how about items for the hospital bag? I've already started packing and have made mad progress. I got some great suggestions from Facebook friends that I hadn't thought of, so I figured y'all might have some ideas as well! We're having a scheduled c-section and will probably be in the hospital 4 nights. So, what are your must-haves?

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday... it's 11/11/11! And Happy Veteran's Day! I'll be back later with shower pics from last weekend. Haven't had time to sit in front of the 'puter all week!

Showered with Love

2011-11-07T06:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a weekend! And thank goodness we have an empty room downstairs... or had I should say. The "empty" room has now become storage for all of Sam's loot! And the boy racked up this weekend. We had two lovely showers thrown by sweet friends of ours. My dad played photographer (in addition to grandpa-to-be) at the couples' shower Saturday night and he got a lot of great shots. And one of my sweet hostesses from Sunday got some great pics as well. I'll be back soon with more deets and pics (still waiting on some to get sent to me), but check out these adorable cake pops that one of my girls made for Sunday's shower...

And how stinkin' cute are these monogrammed petit fours from Saturday? I'm a sucker for a monogram... especially with sugar.

Lots of love for little Sam this weekend... so grateful.

Shower Outfits for this Weekend

2011-11-04T06:36:00.000-04:00

Can't believe my first showers are HERE! I'm so, so excited. And of course all the goodies for Sam are totally fun, but I'm also thrilled to get a lot of our friends and family together that we don't see all that often. So fun to celebrate this special time with all of them!

Tomorrow's couples' shower is hosted by some great friends of ours. I'm glad the hub and the grandpas get to participate in some fun! I'm going a little more casual for this one - but fabulous nonetheless, right?!

I actually changed up this outfit last minute.... I had something entirely different in mind, but I threw this together Wednesday night to go out for our anniversary dinner and decided it was WAY cuter than my shower ensemble. So the old outfit got the boot! The blouse and jeans are from Old Navy. I got the shoes off Amazon to go with the original shower outfit, but they look great with this new one! And I'll finish it off with some chunky gold bangles. Super cute!

Sunday's shower is hosted my several of my sweet girlfriends and will surely be a bit more "girly" so I'm of course going with a dress for that one...

I tell ya... finding cute fall and winter maternity dresses is quite the challenge. Summer is EASY. Fall and winter? Not so much. But Gap has been my savior here. The dress is from Gap - and that necklace in the pic is not part of the dress, FYI. It's such a flattering cut and easy to wear. I'm pairing it with some burgundy tights and metallic pewter shoes from Target. The tights are not maternity - just some basic ones from Target that I may have to slice the waistband on to be comfy. But hey, for $7 tights, I don't mind breaking out the scissors. The shoes were a mere $19.99 and look much nicer in person. They look pretty cheap in this pic. Well, cuz they are. But they really do look better in real life. The only shoe options in my closet were flats, which would make me look frumpy, or 3.5 heels, which would surely send me to the hospital in my extra-clumsy state.

Excited! Can't wait to tell y'all all about the showers on the other side. TGIF and hope you all have fabulous weekends!

Nursing Stuff?

2011-11-03T11:25:00.001-04:00

We're 28 weeks today! Another great milestone... as I understand it, baby has about a 90% survival rate if he were to arrive today. I remember a friend of ours being on hospitalized bed rest for weeks with twins and the big goal was for her to make it to 28 weeks before delivering (which she did and they are great!). So that particular number has since been a big one in my head. AND the hub and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday! Milestones all over. Crazy how time flies...

Other good news - I passed my initial glucose screening! I wasn't particularly nervous about not passing, but that first test does have a pretty high fail rate (as much as 25%). If you fail the first test, they have you come back for a much more extensive 3-hour test to see if you do in fact have gestational diabetes. Didn't have to go there, so that is great! My iron levels, however, were rather low. So they put me on extra iron supplements. Little Sam is quite the energy sucker! I've had to take iron before and this time we're going to have to be a lot more careful with the pills. Did you know they can be deadly to little kids and animals? Yeah...

This was years ago, but my GYN put me on iron for a while. (Apparently my ramen noodle diet during tax season one year wasn't cutting it.) Well, one evening we came downstairs to find the punch packs from my iron pills completely empty with little aluminum foil pieces all over the floor and two silly dogs looking up at us like they hit the jackpot. I looked at the back of the package and of course there was this deathly warning about kids or animals consuming large of amounts of the pills. Really? So ALL the pills would be pretty bad, then? The hub immediately got on the phone with poison control and they knew just what to do. We didn't know which dog ate what - Belly or Charlie. Charlie was more likely to be the guilty one, but we really didn't know. The solution? Have them drink hydrogen peroxide and it'll force them to throw the pills up. Great! Except that we had no hydrogen peroxide in the house. At this point, it was about 11:30pm. So fast forward a bit, and we find ourselves in the parking lot of the nearest 24hr Kroger, forcing hydrogen peroxide down or dogs' throats so they'll vomit. Sure enough, it worked. And BOTH our sillies were guilty as charged.

So uh... we'll be keeping a tighter grip on those pills this time. Anyway, on to my real point of this post! So I'm planning on breastfeeding Sam and this of course is something, like all baby stuff, that I know nothing about. I've registered for a good pump and all kinds of accessories and crap that I really don't understand. We're taking a breastfeeding class next month, so hopefully that'll enlighten me on a lot of this. But my question today is... what the heck do I really need as far as nursing bras and clothing? I did already find a nursing bra that I really love for everyday wear - so I think I'm good there. But what about one for sleep? Why are those necessary? And then there are all these nursing cami's and tops and jammies and what have you. Is the point there just to allow you to be discreet in public? Well here's the thing... and I know this is one of those *controversial* topics... but I am very modest. I'm not the mom who's gonna whip out her boob in public unless it's a flippin' emergency. And if I do have to nurse out in the open (as opposed to a restroom or nursing area), it'll be under a cover or blanket. I know breastfeeding is a natural thing, moms - I DO get that. And I get that you gotta do what you gotta do when you gotta do it. I just don't personally care for seeing a giant bare boob across the way when I'm munching on my burrito at Moe's. We could argue to the hills whether that should or shouldn't bother me or anyone else, but that's pointless here. Just stating that fact that I'm a modest gal... so for someone like me, what's necessary in the way of nursing attire?

I would like to maybe have some good options for the hospital since we'll be there for several days and people, I'm sure, are going to be in and out of our room all the time. If I have a good nursing bra, is a regular loose-fitting top good enough? I just have no idea! So mommas, please share your thoughts on that. What were your must-have bras or clothes for nursing?

27 Week Belly

2011-10-27T19:45:00.000-04:00

I know, I'm a week late getting these up! How's that for a bump?

Grow, baby, grow!

More Shower Fun!

2011-10-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

Are you ready for all this attention, Sam?

Outside

Inside

Pregnancy Notes

2011-10-25T13:00:00.001-04:00

Seeing as I'm about to enter my 3rd trimester later this week (what?!), I figured I better document some of this stuff while I still have half a brain. For years, all our time and energy was spent on actually getting me pregnant. So I never really had time to be concerned with what being pregnant was actually like. I mean, that's the easy part. Right? Well, it's a lot harder than I gave anyone credit for. I'll still give you the stink eye if I hear you complaining about being pregnant, but I get it now. It's NOT so easy. It is wonderful, but it's not a walk in the park. So here are just some of my notes on my experience thus far. This is really more for me to look back on, but maybe you'll find it interesting too.

- The 1st trimester was a bitch. Physically, I felt like shit. Emotionally, it was very tough the first 8 weeks. We were cautiously optimistic that this little guy would stick, but it was still scary. I spotted on and off in the beginning and was just completely nervous that things were going to go south. Saying the words "I'm pregnant" wasn't in my vocabulary yet. People were asking me about future plans and about the baby and names, etc, etc. And all I could think was, "I have no freakin' clue. I'm seriously just trying to stay pregnant right now." I was finally able to relax a bit and get excited around 10 weeks, when we officially graduated from the RE and were released to my OB. Since then, time has flown by. And right around 13.5 weeks, I suddenly felt better. Second trimester is definitely where it's at! And it's much easier to get excited about baby stuff when you feel good. So I've tried to pack in all the planning and doing and whatnot while I'm feeling good.

- I get asked all the time what cravings I have. Truthfully, they've been rare. I really don't eat much differently than I did before, with the exception of Moo Goo being thrown completely out the window. First trimester, it was about whatever I could tolerate. I couldn't handle cooking meat or eating much of it. Dairy didn't sit well with me. A lot of things were just gross. Eating in general became a chore. I always thought I'd be a fool for milkshakes when pregnant, but they made me sick. So not worth it. I had to keep crackers on me at all hours. I had a sleeve of saltines by my bed. The hub would wake up to me snacking on crackers at 3am. It didn't usually take much, but once a hunger pang hit, I HAD to eat. If I didn't, I'd eventually vomit. I did have periodic cravings during the 1st trimester... potatoes being one. The hub went out at 4am in search of a baked potato for me once. And there was a week or so where I HAD to have country food. And overall, I have quite the sweet tooth. Which is odd for me - I'm usually more into salty stuff. The hub said he knew I was pregnant when I totally crushed his cherry icee that he got at Target one day. I usually hate those things - way too sweet for my (normal) taste. But OMG it was delicious. So yeah, I know I'm eating too much sugar. Whatever. But really the only "must have" thing that has been consistent from the beginning is... my daily poptart. Strawberry. Unfrosted. And it's usually consumed IN bed around 6:30am. The hub is my morning poptart delivery boy. Once again, something I'd never normally let myself eat. I mean we're talking totally processed, sugary, empty good-for-nothin calories. But oh.... they hit the spot. I haven't really had any aversions to anything during the 2nd trimester. Once my nausea went away, I really could eat whatever with no problem.

- My Snoogle is my best friend. I've always been a good sleeper. But having an alien growing inside your belly makes good sleep more difficult. And I moan and groan a lot trying to get comfortable - just ask my husband. I ordered this pillow around week 15 and I can't sleep without it now. It's probably going to come with me to the hospital. I still sleep fairly well, but lately I've been waking up around 3am or so and not being able to fall back to sleep. So I'll sit there for 1 or 2 hours thinking about stupid stuff. Like a couple of nights ago I seriously laid there and wondered when Elena and Damon were going to finally kiss on Vampire Diaries. They're certainly leading up to it... and I still like Stefan, but he's all crazy now. And Damon is just wicked hot. I'd still like to see him and Spike duke it out. Buffy could kick Elena's ass. Damon and Buffy would be hot. When is Damon going to kiss Elena? Yep, deep thoughts at 3:30am. And I've also had CRAZY dreams. The hub and I have always been good at remembering our wacko dreams and we'll often wake up in the middle of the night and share them. His are always about aliens attacking. Mine are usually about being late for class or being chased by someone. But pregnant dreams? OMG. Some seriously crazy shit. Like one dream had my parents trying to convince me to eat grilled tarantula legs. High in protein!

- I really do pee all the time. I never really thought this would be a big deal. Because I drink a fair amount of water normally, so I'm always running to the bathroom anyway. No big adjustment, right? Well it's a little different when there's a little booger doing the cha-cha on your bladder. I can seriously go to the bathroom and while I'm washing my hands, realize I need to go again. If I could get away with it, I'd seriously consider wearing some Depends under my maternity leggings.

- Feeling Sam kick is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Bladder stomping aside, feeling and seeing our little guy wiggle around in there is crazy awesome. For one thing, it's super reassuring. Early on, I hung on to every ultrasound appointment. Being "special," we got a lot of them. And it was a huge sigh of relief to see a healthy baby dancing around in there each time. But now that I can actually feel his movements, I don't need the ultrasound so much. Don't ge me wrong, I LOVE them when we get to do them. But they are much less frequent now and I'm OK with that. A nice punch in the side from Sam tells me he's still doing just fine.

- Weird skin issues? I've actually been lucky so far with this one... I've heard of people having horrible breakouts or getting dark spots and such. Well, knock on wood, but so far my skin has actually been great. It actually looks better than I remember it looking in a long time. But I have had severely chapped lips. Which is weird. I've always dealt with dry lips - especially in the winter. So I always have lip gloss or chapstick or something on them. And at night I've got them smothered with Carmex or something. But at the very beginning of this pregnancy, I got a really dry area just outside my lip on the top right side. It wouldn't go away. And little by little, it has migrated all the way around my lips. And will NOT go away. Most days it's no big deal. I just keep Vaseline on them. But some days, if it gets particularly irritated, they get very red and burn like hell and it looks like I just got collagen injected. Sexy! But hey, if that's my only real skin affliction, I'm A-OK.

- Weight-gain has been pretty consistent so far. I started out ahead of the game - I was already up nearly 10lbs before I ever got a positive pregnancy test. Fertility drugs and all. So it's hard to say exactly where my starting point was. But I'm approaching 27 weeks and am about to hit the 25lb mark. I have no issues with gaining weight and getting a big ole belly. I just don't want to overdo it. So I definitely monitor it. My belly obviously has the bulk of the weight, but my butt and boobs have their fair share too. Everything seems to be where it should be for now, though. So no worries. I have had really swollen ankles, or prankles, as I like to call them, on occasion. But those seem to come once in a blue moon - it's weird. Generally, I haven't had much swelling yet. Yet.

- I think that 2nd trimester energy is starting to fade. During the 1st trimester, I was worthless. I would literally sleep through the entire weekend. Keeping my eyes open was nearly impossible. The fatigue is no joke. Second trimester, however, has been great. I still get tired at the end of the day, but I generally have a LOT more energy. And I'm trying to take advantage of that while I can. We've still got some painting projects in the nursery to finish up, so I'm trying to squeeze those in before I can't move as easily. I'm not that huge yet, but moving has already gotten difficult. Bending over is really tough. Getting down on the ground and back up is tough. And I get winded very easily. I feel like I have a lot of energy to get things done, but I tire out quickly - especially lately. So painting involves taking a lot of breaks. I'm anticipating having to slow down a lot in the coming weeks. But for now, there's too much to do!!!

- Overall, I think everything is going great. Sure the first few weeks were tough, but I'd do it a million times over. I'm enjoying being pregnant. I love seeing my big belly in the mirror. It's still so surreal to see that big bump there. Wow - is that really me? And I'm big enough now that strangers have started commenting. Which is weird - because it catches me by surprise sometimes. Like this weekend I was grabbing a video at a Red Box and the guy next to me in line goes, "Do you know what you're having?" Well my first thought was, Yeah, I totally reserved the new X-Men movie online before I got here. No stupid, he means your belly. "Oh yes, we're having a boy!" Not sure I'll ever get used to this.

Dave's Letter to OWS

2011-10-19T17:30:00.001-04:00

LOVE this! Great open letter to OWS from Dave Ramsey. Just to add a quick insert of my personal thoughts on the matter... I agree - this protest is just stupid. I fully support your right to protest whatever, but what exactly are y'all after? The economy's in the shitter - we all know that. My husband was unemployed for a full year. But we never blamed the government, never applied for unemployment (even though we could have - and definitely could've used it). No one owed us anything. We weren't entitled to special treatment. We buckled down, found odd jobs (yes, there are always jobs - expand your horizons a little bit), and prayed a lot. We remained faithful, continued to tithe through the whole ordeal, and we made it through. Recovery begins with ME. Not anyone else.

Personally I loved Dave's comment to the protesters on his radio show the other day, "Go take a shower and get on the business end of a lawn mower." But this is pretty good too...

Dear Occupy Wall Street...

by Dave Ramsey

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Yeah, that's great. But what do you want? What are your goals? What are your demands? What result are you looking for?

The beauty of being vague is that anyone who has any emotion can get caught up in the excitement and join your crusade. They'll just get mad at something and assume that you're both mad about the same thing. Put a few hundred of these people together, and boom. You've got a crowd, a headline and a lot of attention … but no message.

A lot of people on Twitter are saying I totally agree with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) demands and goals. The only problem is that I have no idea what their demands and goals are. And neither does anyone else. If all you ever do is stomp around, yell and hold up signs protesting a million different things, sure you'll get some attention, but over time, you'll just look foolish. You end up coming across like a three-year-old having a temper tantrum.

This is what's happening to the OWS movement. They're being discredited because no one has stepped forward and really stated what it is they're after. The whole group is just coming across like a bunch of jacked-up, jobless, wannabe hippies. That's not going to change anything in this country. You've got to state your goals clearly if you want to accomplish something.

So in the absence of any clear goals, let me comment and offer some helpful advice in some areas that seem to be getting a lot of disorganized OWS attention.

"No Government Bailouts!"

Banks and big companies should not receive taxpayer money for a bailout while their CEOs are making hundreds of millions of dollars. If that's your gripe, then you're protesting in the wrong location. Pack up and head to Washington, D.C., to deliver your message to the current administration. Don't get me wrong—I totally support a company's freedom to pay their leaders well. I just don't believe that I, as a taxpayer, should subsidize those huge salaries in the form of taxpayer bailouts. I pay my own team members; I don't need to pay everyone else's too.

By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the Tea Party agrees with you on this one—and so do I.

"Down With Corporate Greed!"

Gordon Gekko was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is bad—very bad. It's a spiritual disease, and it is a disease that sadly affects a lot of companies across the country. If you believe a specific company is acting purely out of greed, then don't just get mad—do something. Point out where and how they're greedy and let the world know. Stop doing business with them. If enough people listen to you, the company will get the message because you'll hit them where it hurts: the bottom line. If they don't get their act together, then they'll go out of business and another business will take their place.

But if you're saying that all businesses are greedy and that capitalism itself is evil and ineffective, then I'm sorry—you're just being stupid. You're being misled and misinformed by some of the louder voices around you. Are you wearing clothes? Have you eaten any food lately? Do you have an iPhone in your pocket to check in with Twitter and Facebook while you're out marching around? Good. All of those products and services are brought to you by quality companies dedicated to serving you well in a capitalistic system that works just fine.

"Wall Street Is Evil!"

If you have this painted on a sign, well, now you just look ignorant. Wall Street is a street that people drive on. The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world. Don't turn Wall Street into some terrible monster attacking American citizens. It's just a road with some buildings on it.

But here's what happens. Sometimes when people don't understand something, they start to fear it. And as the fear grows, it turns into anger. But just because you don't understand something, you shouldn't see it as bad or frightening or a conspiracy. You should just think of it as an opportunity to learn something new—something that could actually be a blessing to you.

For example, imagine a group of natives out in the jungle in the farthest part of the world. I mean, picture a group of people who have never seen anyone outside of their tribe and have certainly never seen any kind of machine. What would they think if they saw a Red Cross helicopter land near them? And what would they think of the strange-looking men and women who jump out of the chopper and start walking toward them? They'd be freaked out! They wouldn't know or care if the Red Cross was there to help them with food or medicine. They'd think it was the end of the world or something because their minds would be totally blown!

I hate to say it, but a lot of OWS protestors are just about as uninformed as those jungle natives when it comes to how the American financial system works. A road and an office building. That's Wall Street.

"Wealth Redistribution Is the Answer!"

I've heard a lot about wealth redistribution over the past few years, and I'm sure you've heard it too. Call it whatever you want, but this is how it usually sounds to most Americans: "We are the 99% of Americans who don't have as much as the 1%, so we're mad and think the government should take their wealth and property away so that I can have a piece of it. Wealth inequality is a moral breakdown! We should all spread the money around so everyone gets a fair share!"

I have my toughest critique for those who believe this: You are a thief. When someone takes my money and gives me no say in the matter, that's called theft—whether they're using a gun or the government. At the core of this demand is envy. And that's not the same as jealousy. Jealousy just says, "I want what you have." Envy is a different beast. Envy says, "I don't think I can ever have what you have, so you shouldn't have it either." Decades of horrible economic teaching and the politics of envy have kept this monster alive and growing and moving forward.

This way of thinking makes you assume that all rich people are evil and have scammed their way into wealth. That may be true in the tale of Robin Hood, but I choose to live in the real world. Sure, there are some scoundrels, but the vast majority of successful men and women got that way by working hard and serving people—lots of people. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates changed the world in ways we're just now starting to realize. Their positive impact on the world has helped all of us live better lives, and they made fortunes for themselves by doing so. Why is it that you're holy if you help one person but evil if you help a million? That's just stupid.

A good friend of mine is a country music legend. He's made a bazillion dollars over his career, and he just bought a $400,000 car. He's worked like a crazy person his whole life, spending decades in tour buses, writing songs in the middle of the night, and entertaining enormous crowds of cheering fans. He paid a price to get there, and I'm happy for his success. Would it be right for me to walk into his house and demand my "fair share" of his wealth? Heck no! I'm a terrible singer! I didn't do one thing to contribute to his success, so why would I be entitled to a share of his wealth? He's given me years of entertainment through his music. That's my fair share of his hard work.

My problems aren't his fault. And my problems aren't McDonald's fault or Home Depot's fault or Walmart's fault, either. My problems are my fault! And the more people these companies serve, the more money they make—and that's none of my business! If you don't like McDonald's, then here's an idea: Don't eat there. But don't walk into the restaurant and demand a portion of their proceeds for the day.

When you scream, "I'm in the 99%!" you just look like a whiner. Those of us willing to pay the price to win look at you and shrug. Heck, when it comes to the music business, I'm in the 99% myself! But that doesn't mean I have to tear Toby Keith, Brad Paisley or even Kanye down. Oh, and a special note just for Kanye: Capitalism has been pretty good to you. I celebrate your success, but you look a little hypocritical protesting capitalism while wearing a $50,000 watch.

Celebrate the Land of Opportunity

This is the greatest country on the planet, but even here, you're not guaranteed wealth, talent, fame, a full head of hair or six-pack abs. Those things are not in the Constitution. You are, however, guaranteed the freedom to make your life what you want it to be. And when you do that, when you build your life around your dreams and passions and hard work, you're guaranteed the right to keep it. No one has the right to take it away from you.

So to summarize, I'm not very impressed at the moment. I'm not impressed by your temper fit. I'm not impressed at your lack of goals and focus. I'm not impressed by the fact that the only thing I see about your movement is ignorance, immaturity and envy. Grow up—and get a job.

Yes, there are jobs out there. There are jobs out there that haven't even been invented yet. Go create the next Facebook or Weed Eater. Go pick up so much dog poop that you can start your own fertilizer company. And stop complaining that companies are TOO RICH while also complaining that they aren't RICH ENOUGH to hire you! I've seen a lot of you guys. I wouldn't hire you, either. But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you'll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you'll get to become the very thing you're now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money.

Nursery Goings On

2011-10-18T22:09:00.002-04:00

It feels like I've put the nursery on the back-burner over the last month or so... just kinda had to for the most part because work has been so nuts. September and October have our last big filing deadlines of the year, so it's like a mini busy season for a few weeks. Meaning, I don't have much time for anything else!

But yesterday was the last big deadline, and I can breathe again! AND I can concentrate on more fun things, like getting Sam's room ready for him. Because tomorrow marks three months till his big day! Goodness... time is really flying. I thought nine months would be an exorbitant amount of time to get ready for a baby. Hmmm... not so much. I feel time slipping away as I find more and more things to add to my to-do list!

But alas, we are making progress! We finally got going on the bathroom paint this weekend. We got this gorgeous robin egg blue from - where else? - Home Depot. Hard to get the true color captured in pics, but it's really similar to this Restoration Hardware color...

We're going to do white bead-board along the bottom (up to chair railing height) - so that's why we didn't bother painting all the way down to the bottom trim. I did most of this room - my energy is still there for now! But the hub had to help me with the hard-to-reach spots behind the tub.

This afternoon I finished up with a second coat, and it is looking fabulous! I just LOVE the color. And I am not normally big into blue. But this is truly a gorgeous color. I think Sam will be pleased!

And I know I probably will regret this... I realize that. But I'm planning to do a mix of white and taupe linens in the bathroom. I'm looking for just a simple white shower curtain with a monogram. May just grab a cheap white one at Kohl's and have a friend monogram it... or I may go with this Pottery Barn one that's actually pretty affordable (only $34 including the monogram)...

I've used several PB shower curtains in the past and they've all been great quality. So how long do you think we'll go before that thing's covered it projectile baby vomit?! Hopefully at least a couple of weeks. I'll, uh... make sure I can wash it easily - whatever we end up with. We also obviously need a mirror. Because we (by choice) did a pedestal sink in this bathroom, we don't have a lot of storage in there. So I'm wanting to do some kind of medicine cabinet mirror, like this one (also from Pottery Barn)...

So the bathroom is definitely starting to come together! It's one of my favorite parts of the nursery... I adore baby and kids' bathrooms.

Also in the works, a few miles away, are the built-in shelves!!! The hub's buddy is building them for us at his house and then he'll come install them once they're completed. I haven't seen them in person yet, but the pics have me SO excited! This is absolutely the focal point of the entire nursery and a concept I've had in my head for the last six years. So amazing to finally see it come together... in real life!

The shelves will be painted white and there will also be trim across the top connecting the whole thing so it's one big piece. Our one window takes up that entire open space in the middle. Eeeks! Can't wait to see those installed!

On tap for this weekend is getting started on the paint in the main room. We haven't done the first thing about paint in there! I was initially thinking we'd hire someone to do some fancy-pants design that I didn't have the patience for. Not a mural, but just something cool - some kind of print or design. But then I got inspired when we were in Home Depot last weekend getting the blue bathroom paint. I noticed Martha Stewart's metallic paint collection and picked up a little sample bottle of this...

I've mentioned it before - I love me some metallic paint. We have it in three rooms downstairs. But they're very bold and heavy. Martha has this very sweet, soft pearl-like gold paint that I knew would be PERFECT to accent the nursery with. I was already thinking of incorporating some gold in there somehow, and this was my answer.

So fast forward through several rounds of what-about-this that went through my head, and that brings us to the final painting decision... We're going to do wide stripes on the main walls in two soft shades of taupe. The ceiling will be painted with the soft metallic gold. And in between the stripes on the walls will be a line of small coin-sized dots of the same gold. Let me tell you, it is gorgeous in my head. We'll see if reality plays along!

Lastly, I'm starting to pull together some accessories like wall decor. Gosh, there are so many little odds and ends I keep thinking of! But I'm just trying to take it a step at a time. So this week our two main pieces for the walls came in. I didn't know what I wanted to do on the walls for the longest time. I try very hard not to do what everyone else is doing... I had a longer list of things I would NOT be doing than I did of any real ideas. But finally I came up with a plan. Above the crib, I'm using a frameless oval mirror that bestest gave us for our wedding (ahem 9 years ago). It's from Pottery Barn (yes, I obviously have a thing for Pottery Barn accessories) and hangs by a ribbon. Never been used. Always figured we'd use it in a nursery someday, somehow. My initial thought was to have the mirror engraved if we had a girl. No dice there. So recently I thought of getting some wooden letters to attach to the mirror since Sam's name is nice and short. Which brings us to this...

That's the top of the crib in the mirror's reflection - in case my pic is confusing. The letters (from PB Kids) came in white, but I'm 97% sure I'm going to spray paint them antique gold. A bit darker than the gold metallic paint I was just gushing about. Then we'll hang the mirror by a large blue grosgrain ribbon. I wanted the letters gold because (1) there's already so much dang white in the room between the furniture and the shelves, and (2) I want them to coordinate with these kick-ass giant safety pins I ordered from Ballard!

Seriously, how friggin' cool are these? They're meant to gussy up a laundry room but I saw them in the catalog a couple of months ago and thought they'd be awesome over the changing table. They were very affordable - only $35 for the set. And they're all metal, they actually fasten and unfasten, and all three have different antique finishes. Very cool.

So yeah... lots going on in the nursery! It's really starting to come together, though I feel like there is so much more to do! I come up with new ideas everyday. And of course, Gertie is always there by my side to supervise...

Hope to be back soon with more nursery updates as things progress!

Another one!

2011-10-14T06:46:00.000-04:00

This is getting fun...

Eeks! Sam is gonna be so spoiled.

TGIF by the way... it has been a looooooong week. Very glad to see today. Looking to get some painting done in the nursery this weekend. More on that later!

First Shower Invitation!

2011-10-13T08:13:00.001-04:00

Another one of those "is this really happening?" moments...

Back later with more updates. I'm buried in work for the time being! Hope you all are having a great week!

Birthday Week!

2011-10-06T07:04:00.000-04:00

Today's actually my birthday... woot! But I like to stretch out the celebration as long as possible. I've been meaning to get on here and post my maternity goodies that my mom got me when we did a birthday shopping trip last weekend, but I've been tired and sick this week. I know, right? Of all weeks. Just a little cold, but it has definitely slowed me down. Work is very busy with another approaching deadline, but I've been doing my best to take it easy at night and go to bed early this week. Because tonight, we're heading to the Fox to see...

Can't wait!!! This show has been on my must-see list pretty much since it opened nearly 10 years ago. So yeah, it's been a long time coming. The hub got us tickets for my birthday - a BIG splurge for us. But seeing as this is my last birthday before Sam gets here, we figured we better live it up! I think we're gonna hit Baraonda before the show for some pizza... mmm... one of my faves! So fun! Don't you just love birthdays? I think 34 is going to be pretty darn awesome.

What about BOB?

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

We got 'im. That's what! My mom's been chompin' at the bit wanting to get something special for Sam. As soon as the hub and I got our act together and figured out what all to register for (mostly anyway - pretty sure we'll never figure it ALL out), Mom wanted to know what she and Dad could get us. Answer: The BOB Revolution CE Stroller!

We registered for it at BRU, but Amazon had the best price currently. Always check Amazon! Sometimes their free shipping and no sales tax (in most states) alone can make a huge difference. Honestly, if I could only visit one retail website for the rest of my life, I'm pretty sure I'd pick Amazon. I was tempted to do a baby registry on Amazon - they've got some products that neither BRU or BuyBuy Baby carry. But I think we're pretty well covered!

We decided on the "CE" version - which has significantly smaller back wheels than the standard SE version. I read that the only real reason to get the SE instead was for really, really rough terrain like vigorous hiking trails. Um... I don't really see myself ever strolling up and down vigorous hiking trails. With or without Sam in tow. CE it is!

Now we haven't actually seen our BOB just yet... it arrived yesterday at my parents' house, so we'll get it tomorrow. Can't wait to check it out! Pretty sure Sam's gonna love it! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

22 Week Belly

2011-09-28T08:04:00.000-04:00

Oh we're rolling now, y'all. I told you Sam was on a growth spurt the last few weeks. I wasn't lyin'!

Wow, what a difference over the last four weeks. Good golly, where will we be in another four?

For my birthday (next week!), my mom's taking me shopping to find some maternity jeans and hopefully some cute options to wear for showers. The weather is finally getting a little cooler here and I need some bottoms! As much as I love my yoga pants and Old Navy skirts, I don't think I can wear them EVERY day.

We had our L&D tour at Piedmont Hospital last Sunday - this is all becoming kinda real! This weekend the hub and his buddy will be starting on the built-in shelves in the nursery. Can't wait to see those going up! We've also got our 24 week ultrasound next week. Can't wait to see how much our boy has changed! Exciting stuff...

Check this out.

2011-09-22T08:52:00.000-04:00

Here's a great video from a local news station here with our miracle man, Dr. T!!! Love him! My friend, Jill, and I are were laughing at the staged "office chat" with the very pregnant girl in the video. First, you've graduated from the fertility clinic long before you ever start showing - you don't see big bellies there! And second, that's actually one of Dr. T's nurses! Too funny...

One Week at a Time

2011-09-21T14:44:00.001-04:00

I've noticed a lot lately that people's gaze, as they pass, goes from my eyes straight to my belly. This mostly happens at work. I guess because they're checking to see how big my belly's getting? Or it's hard NOT to look straight at it? I don't know, but I find it funny. Tomorrow marks 22 weeks and I am amazed! With every passing week, I count another miracle. We're obviously preparing for a healthy baby to come in January... getting the nursery set up, planning showers, registering, visiting daycares, taking classes... But at the same time I continue to pray for peace throughout this still on-going journey. It ain't over till we hear that baby cryin'! And I'm no fool to just assume that's going to happen for us. I'm certainly not fearful of something going wrong, but I think it's natural for any infertile to feel a little uneasy when things go *right* for a change. Sometimes it's just hard to relax (my favorite word) and accept that this could REALLY be it!

All kinds of irrational thoughts enter my head on a daily basis... Is my belly shrinking? I think it looked bigger yesterday. Is this really a pregnant belly or did I just eat too much ice cream lately? (Not that I did... no comment.) Any minute, someone behind the desk at the OB's office is going to tell me I don't belong here. Do people think I'm faking a pregnancy, like Mrs. Schuester on Glee? Uh yeah, I told you they were irrational thoughts. They are fleeting... but they still pop in my pea-brain!

Now that we can feel Sam kick (and even see it sometimes - wicked cool), it's all a lot more real. Obviously, there really is something living inside there. And everything is going perfectly so far. We are truly blessed. And it's been such a cool ride these last few months because I've been able to share it not just with y'all, but with other fellow wannabe-mom's whose dreams are finally coming true. One of my dear friends is pregnant with her first - only 4 weeks ahead of me - after years and years of waiting on an adoption to go through. We've leaned on each other for years... wanting so badly to have little ones of our own... and here we are pregnant together! And then there's another sweet friend who is pregnant with TWINS after several unsuccessful IVF attempts. Such a miracle! And what a joy to watch her go through this. We've had lots of laughs and tears over our fertility woes and here we are... expecting together. And lastly, my heart is just overjoyed for Amy over at Chapters... please go catch up on her story if you haven't. She's no longer in Atlanta but I continue to pray for her and follow her journey. We shared our stories over fish tacos a while back... I'm so thrilled that she may have a little one right around the same time we will! My prayer list is huge these days.

It is so cool to see God working in all of our lives in this same season. Of course, he's always at work... but I love being able to see everything coming together for us and for so many people I care about! (Oh we of little faith... always needing something tangible!) Now I know there are so many sweet friends of mine still waiting for their "turn." All I can say is KEEP TRYING. I think about you and your pain all the time. I'll keep praying. You keep trying. God never makes us wait without reason. My life today would look a lot different if I really had control over it all along, but would it really be any better? I can confidently say no. God seems to get it right everytime. Funny how that works...

Sam's Crib Bedding!

2011-09-17T16:58:00.001-04:00

So super exciting... our custom crib bedding and accessories arrived in only 6 days. I wasn't expecting to get the order till next week, so it was a fun surprise to find it on our doorstep already. I love it as much as I knew I would! Here's a pic of the online version once I designed it (I just did a skirt and crib sheet, so ignore the "blank" quilt and bumpers)...

Nursery Designer by Carousel Bedding

And here's the sweet product on our crib!

Obviously I need to iron it to get that box pleat looking good, but I just had to throw it on there right away to see how it looked. We also went with a longer skirt (20") since we decided to skip the bumper. I know I'll have to either pin it up or get a standard length later when we move the mattress down, but I don't care. I LOVE it!

Got a sweet little pillow for the rocker... I'm sure I'll end up monogramming Sam's name on it (er, having a friend do it).

I also got extra fabric so bestest can sew our closet "door." It'll be the same blue and white striped fabric on the bottom of the crib skirt. Love it!

So we started our registry today at BRU and it was 10x more overwhelming than I thought. The first aisle was all bottles and feeding accessories. What the hell? Like literally hundreds of products crammed on a wall and I'm supposed to know what to pick out? Ha! Most used sentence in there today... "Uhhh, just scan it and I'll research it more later."

So yeah it was more like getting a jump start on it but now I'm weeding through it online. A couple of things scanned wrong too, so I corrected those on the website. I'm thinking this registry is going to be a work in process for a while...

Um, hilarious.

2011-09-17T10:01:00.001-04:00

Proof that true love still exists and men never get over their love of boobs.

Daycare Advice?

2011-09-15T15:14:00.001-04:00

Phew... what a day. Today's a big tax deadline, so it's been nuts around the office lately. I am SO ready for this weekend! We're taking off tomorrow to visit daycares. Some close to my work and some close to the house. But after sitting in traffic for over an hour last night trying to get home from work, I think I've about decided one near the office makes the most sense! Granted, our house and my work are only 15-20 minutes apart. Basically two exits down the interstate. But in metro-Atlanta, you never know when a 15-minute commute will suddenly be a 90-minute commute. Nine times out of ten, it's a breeze (I am lucky in that regard) - but you just never know.

Y'all gave me lots of good tips on what to ask pediatricians... so what about daycare questions? Any must-ask things that should be on our list? Don't go thinking, "Oh she'll know to ask that - that's so obvious." We haven't had our expert parenting classes yet! So nothing is too obvious for me. Any advice on what to look for is certainly appreciated. I haven't been in a daycare since *I* was enrolled in one.

We're also getting started on our registry this weekend! Big fun... and big time overwhelming! We're planning to do BRU and Buy Buy Baby but I'm not sure we'll get to hit both this weekend. BRU may do us in. Right now I'm trying to narrow down our baby gear choices - strollers and car seats particularly. I'm consulting my Baby Bargains book and Consumer Reports to come up with the best candidates, so I can at least narrow things down before we go to the stores this weekend. Should be fun!

Our bedding arrived yesterday, so I will get pics of that sweet goodness up soon! It is gorgeous, and kudos to Carousel - my custom order arrived in less than a week! I also have some fun birthday plans coming up here in a few weeks! I'll tell y'all about that soon. I have a few more fires to put out this afternoon.... gotta run!

Sam's Rocker Arrived!

2011-09-12T07:36:00.014-04:00

Ooooooh... and I'm in love!

That blue line of tape in the background is where the built-in shelving will be. (I need visuals.)

The soft taupe color fits in perfectly with our bedding swatches. Can't wait for the bedding to come in and see it all start to come together!

We got the call late Saturday from BRU that the rocker had arrived. I had to work Sunday, so the hub surprised me by having the rocker picked up, set up, AND the blinds installed before I got home! MADE my day. :-)

20 Week Ultrasound

2011-09-09T08:22:00.004-04:00

We are halfway there, people! I can't believe it. When we first learned we were pregnant, 20 weeks felt like an eternity away and getting there seemed like wishful thinking. Yet, here we are! Sam is growing strong and yesterday he was measuring 20w6d and weighs almost a whole pound. And while the doctor assured us he was a boy at 16 weeks, I had to take his word for it. But yesterday, his boy parts were clear as day. MORE than clear... hahahha!

I gotta say I was relieved to know for sure that Sam is indeed a boy. My OB told me not to buy anything till 20 weeks - and except for some bargain clothes, I've stuck to that. And honestly, we've gotten so excited about having a boy and talking about "Sam" that I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be a little disappointed at first if they told us yesterday that, whoops, it's a girl. Of course we'd be FINE with that - obviously we don't care ultimately. But we've had Sam in our heads for a month now and it'd be weird to have to re-tune our thinking. But obviously that's not an issue - our boy is most definitely a boy! In fact one of the "weiner shots," as my doctor calls them, was so *vulgar* that he was like, "Uh, I can't let you take that picture home." Hahahha...

And speaking of pictures, we really didn't get any great ones this time. We saw lots of cool stuff on screen, but Sam kept his back turned to us most of the time. So, not the greatest shot, but here you go...

Wow, that was a long 4 weeks to wait to see him again. Admittedly, there were some days where I wasn't sure he was still in there and I started to get a bit anxious. But we actually started to feel him kick over Labor Day weekend - which has been SO cool. I had felt little bubbles and flutters some on and off before, but this was the first time the hub and I both could feel him. Such a cool feeling. And weird!

We go back in again at 24 weeks for another checkup with my OB and ultrasound with the perinatologist. I gotta say I love doing ultrasounds with the perinatologist - they are way thorough and I think their equipment is more high-tech than my regular OB's. It's so amazing all the stuff you can see on there!

This weekend we're taking a CPR class - the first of many classes on becoming parenting experts! And Sunday I'm sure I'll be working some... big deadline next week and LOTS to wrap up before then. That doesn't leave much time for nursery or baby stuff this weekend, but I'm hoping we'll at least get our new blinds put up. I hope you all have fabulous weekends!!!

Nursery Bargains: Rocker & Ottoman

2011-09-03T17:04:00.015-04:00

The hunt is over! This sweet rocker is on its way to Sam's nursery...

The fabric we ordered is actually a tad lighter than this and compliments our paisley print beautifully. And it's just a good neutral taupe color, so it will last through our whole army of embryos awaiting us. (Kidding, Mom... I promise we'll stop at 10 or 12.)

We actually noticed this very rocker first at my sweet friend Pammy's house. She is expecting and is 4 weeks ahead of me. She ordered her rocker from Babies 'R Us and I LOVED the look and feel of it. I made sure we added it to our list last week when we went on our rocker hunt all across town. After looking at all kinds of rockers in similar styles to this one, both the hub and I felt the BRU rocker was our best bet. I did like several of the Best brand rockers we saw at The Baby's Room, but for the price (as in several hundred dollars more) they just really weren't much better (that we could tell) from the Newco brand rocker at BRU. Plus, I consulted my ~~Bible~~ Baby Bargains book and the Newco brand chairs in general got very good ratings. I made sure we steered clear of any brands that had crappy ratings.

So how good of a bargain was it? Well I was personally stinkin' excited considering my first rocker musings were in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, where we'd have to fork up nearly $1200 for a similar rocker after their ridiculous shipping surcharges (on top of the already high prices). I knew we could find something for less. And the good thing about ordering from a place like BRU? Coupons. The rocker and ottoman together were right at $580 retail. Reasonable in my book - about middle of the road for all the rockers we looked at last week. Plus $500-600 was the target price range in my head. I didn't want to skimp on a rocker - it's such an important piece - but I didn't want to go apeshit either. The customer service gal at BRU was actually super nice. I wasn't expecting much because I've read that customer service in these big box stores is a joke, but we had a great experience (at least thus far - we don't exactly have the furniture just yet).

Our BRU actually didn't have the exact rocker we were after, so I texted Pammy to get the item number and customer service helped us track it down and get the right set ordered. And without even asking, they did what I was hoping they'd do - split the rocker and ottoman order up so we could slap on two 20% off coupons. So we got 20% off the whole shebang, making the set only $464. Record-breaking bargain? Doubtful. But for the quality and style of the rocker, I am loving that price. And the kicker is the hub's momma is paying for the rocker as her sweet gift to Baby Sam! But don't you know I don't want anyone paying retail! Of course we got asked like three times if we wanted to save an extra 10% by opening up a store credit card. My husband's response to the cashier? "Dave Ramsey would whoop our ass." Word. You can have your 10%.

Oh and this beauty's gonna be here in only one to two weeks! I tell ya, I cannot wait to have this thing set up in our nursery so I can sit there and rock and stare and daydream. Right now there's nowhere to sit in that room... except the toilet. So it's starting to come together! Now that we've got our swatches (finally), we can pick out paint colors for the bathroom. And the nursery itself too... I'm still contemplating what I want to do on the main walls. I'm thinking a harlequin diamond print in taupe/neutral shades similar to this look (found on Silverspoon Murals)...

I wouldn't want to do something that fancy pants and not be able to recycle it for say, a girl. It looks hella complicated though and I can guarantee you I don't have the patience to do this crap...

So I've already concluded we will probably have to hire a pro to do the nursery walls if we do decide to go in that direction. And it would be the whole damn wall - not just above bead board or some chair molding. Yeah there's no way I'm doing that. I would absolutely lose my mind. We are sloppy painters in my household. We get the job done, but the process ain't pretty. So we can handle "simple" paint projects like the orange closet and the bathroom, but the main nursery walls? Yeah, let's get some help on that.

Oh and I'm thinking maybe a muted, pale metallic gold color for the ceiling. Ralph Lauren has these really pretty metallic finish paints at Home Depot - we've used them in a few rooms on the ceiling and the walls. I love them. It may sound scary, but I promise it's not. It's just a little drama in a can.

Other nursery developments? Our blinds came in, so those poor nekkid windows will finally be clothed! The sun comes in that room SO badly in the mornings, so we've got all our furniture draped in blankets right now to prevent any damage. It'll be nice to get those windows covered so we can finally start putting the room together. On the to-do list for this month is getting the bathroom painted and bead board installed. I'm uber excited about doing the bathroom too... I LOVE baby and kids' bathrooms. And the hub and his talented wood-working buddy are probably going to start the built-in shelves sometime this month. I can't WAIT to see those come together! That's truly the focal point of the room, so until those are up it feels pretty bare in there. But yeah, I guess as far as what I can really do this month, it's going to be concentrating on the bathroom and also ordering the crib bedding and accessories. Oooh how fun! Every step is so fun.

Well again, y'all enjoy this holiday weekend! It's a busy time at work with deadlines on the horizon, so I'll probably work a little from home Monday morning, but in my jammies no doubt!

18 Week Belly

2011-09-02T07:07:00.015-04:00

Something's starting to POP! And boy, do I feel it. I've been pretty crampy the last few days because my belly (and Sam) are on quite the growth spurt right now...

There wasn't much difference between 10 and 14 weeks, but you can definitely see a change here!

We'll see how the waistline progresses over the next couple of weeks - I think it may be time to move to belly updates every two weeks instead of four.

So in other fun news, look what a sweet surprise Sam got in the mail yesterday from his Auntie Kathleen!!!

I was literally looking around on Monogram Chick's website this week and saw these shorts and thought, aw... how cute would those be for Sam?!

Apparently my friends are mindreaders! And look - it's Sam's very first monogrammed goodies!!!

Thank you, Kathleen! I'm in love with it all and Sam will be the most dapper little dude on the block! Mom also picked up a couple of goodies at Target yesterday...

I tell ya, this boy is going to be SET. Oh and my fabric swatches finally arrived this week! I knew I'd love them but I had to see them in person. And yeah, they're definitely way prettier in person. Looks like we're definitely going to go with this group for the bedding and other accessories around the nursery...

I laid all the swatches out for the hub last night and asked what he thought. He studied them for a half second and then pointed at the blue and white striped print. "That one." No, I mean ALL of them together, honey. "Oh, oh, yeah, OK." So you like them? "For what?" For the bedding. "Yeah, sure." Clearly he does not share my enthusiasm for these sweet fabrics, but he approves!

Well, Happy Friday all! And I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Enjoy this last toast to summer and be safe out there...

Maternity Goodies

2011-09-01T07:17:00.000-04:00

In case you've forgotten, I have a *mild* obsession with maternity wear - have for years. So to be able to actually wear maternity clothes now is a total thrill. For the most part. As my belly is really starting to pop, I'm learning what kinds of clothes I like and don't like. And there are so many designers and brands out there that I love to drool over (Isabella Oliver for one), but it turns out I have more of an Old Navy budget. Which is totally fine - for the price, I think their line is pretty stellar - especially the basics. Some of their stores have a maternity section, but all the ones I've visited pretty much suck. The selection is VERY limited, but I will sometimes find a decent piece on clearance. But to really get a feel for what they've got, you have to go online. Most of their maternity collection is online only - which is kind of annoying, but whatever.

Luckily, my maternity wear obsession led me to collect quite a number of pieces over the years for "future use." So once I finally got here, I found myself with a ridiculous amount of maternity tops - especially tanks and tees. All bought on clearance, of course! But really, it worked out great in the end because I find myself nearly suited for my entire pregnancy - at least on my top half. Bottoms are more of an issue. Those are kind of hard to nail down until you're actually there. So now that I'm getting bigger, I've been hunting down some good options for my bottom half. And so far, this skirt has by far been my favorite maternity purchase to date...

This is the maternity maxi skirt from Old Navy, which I got on sale (duh). It seriously feels like jammies. It has a simple fold over waist that you can wear over the belly or under. And you can totally wear this later post-pregnancy. I got both colors since I knew this would be a staple for fall! My whole game plan for fall (especially at the office) is maternity tanks and tees with cardis. And like I said, the tanks and tees are more than covered.

I want to wait till I'm a little bigger, but my next big hunt will be for a pair of great jeans. And possibly some fun outfits for showers, but other than that, I really don't need much at all. So what were your favorite maternity pieces? Where was your go-to place to shop?

Oh and we finally took my 18 week belly shot - I'll get that posted later today or tomorrow!

Nursery Closet: The Finished Product!

2011-08-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

I must say, we are doing a great job of getting our August nursery to-do's marked off the list. The big goals for this month were to order the crib (check), find a changing table (check), order blinds (check), paint the closet (check), and update the closet shelving (check). Look at us go!

So this weekend we added that second row of shelving I mentioned in the nursery closet, some hooks for the wall, and a couple of other organizer caddy things from Wally World to complete it all. (Hop over here if you want to see the "before" pics again.) Total spent on the closet makeover... about $120.

- Paint from Home Depot, $25
- Extra shelving and wall hook pieces from Lowe's, $47
- Canvas shelving and rolling carts from Wal-Mart, $48

And here's the end product! I'm in love. If the nursery itself is half as much fun as the closet is, I think we'll be in great shape...

Only thing left to do is add a tension rod and fabric for a "door." But I'm considering that more a part of the nursery room decor itself since we'll most likely use one of the fabrics to coordinate with the bedding. And seeing as my swatches still haven't arrived, we don't know what those fabrics are just yet! I did contact Carousel though and they sent another order out. They responded almost immediately to my email! Looks like my first batch (that I ordered over two weeks ago) got lost in the mail or something.

Alright, gotta get going. Meant to post an 18-week belly pic this weekend, but never got around to it. I'll get one up shortly! Oh also... the rocker hunt went well this weekend too! Nothing purchased yet, but we got a good feel for who has what. Probably will do a little more looking this weekend and make a final decision once our fabric swatches arrive.

Checking things off my list!

2011-08-25T11:09:00.001-04:00

Moving right along here... 18 weeks today! Can't believe it. So grateful. Literally, every night when I get up to pee a million times, I recite what day we're on while I'm half asleep... 17w5d... 17w6d...18 weeks! We're truly thankful for each new day. It is all progress. We're still a long way away from taking Sam home in our arms, but every step is very exciting and encouraging.

We got a couple of appointments set up with local pediatricians and I suppose I'll be calling on daycares next. A lot of the ladies at work use the same daycare close to our office so I think I'm going to pop in there with a co-worker next week to get a first look. Working moms, do you think it's best to have daycare closest to your office or to your home? My commute is only about 15 minutes, so it's not a huge deal either way, but it's sounding like it might be more convenient to have a spot close to my office. Another plus is that my parents literally live like 2 minutes from my office, so they could access a daycare nearby easily if need be. It also seems to makes sense to have Sam's daycare and doctor close to each other, if possible. And back to pediatricians... what questions do we need to be asking?

So nursery projects continue... this weekend we're on a rocker hunt! I've got a plan of attack all laid out for us, thanks to several tips from friends on places to hit. I'm really hoping my fabric swatches will arrive so we can figure out the bedding and bring the colors along with us. I ordered them nearly two weeks ago - hurry UP! Either way, I think we will go with something neutral for the rocker - probably a soft taupe color. And I'm definitely after the upholstered chair look. I'm not a fan of the wooden glider look personally and there's going to be so much wood and trim in our nursery between the furniture and the shelving - I rather soften it up with something more plush and cushy! We plan to hit BRU, Buy Buy Baby, The Baby's Room (local place in Norcross), and probably some regular furniture stores too like Haverty's. I also need to run in PB Kids to grab a basket liner to send to bestest - she's going to make me some with whatever fabrics we end up choosing! (The baskets with liners are for the changing table.) And we're also going to swing by Home Depot and have them cut another row of shelving for our sweet orange closet! Makes for a busy Saturday, huh? Fun though!

Oh, also... a reader asked if I'm still doing acupuncture. I am, actually! I know I haven't said much about it, if anything, lately. I was still doing weekly appointments all through the first trimester and now I'm down to once every four weeks. The funny thing is, ever since becoming pregnant, I am SO restless during acupuncture. I used to be able to sleep some or at the very least relax during sessions, but not now. It's seriously a fight to make it through those 30 minutes! Too funny. I'm not on any herbs though. Just sticking to my prenatal vitamins and baby aspirin. LOVE having a low-maintenance regimen!

Hope you all have fabulous weekends! I'll report back on the rocker hunt. :-)

Orange you glad we finally painted the closet?

2011-08-22T07:34:00.012-04:00

Yes, us too! And it turned out SO great. And it is seriously orange - I love it! Now remember this has no bearing whatsoever on our nursery colors - it's literally just the inside of the closet. I wanted something fun, bright, and gender-neutral. Turns out orange goes fabulously with blue AND pink. And while you can't really tell in these pics, it's like a sherbet orange. Rather delicious! Once again, here's the BEFORE pic in boring beige...

And the finished product! (The color shows up best in the 2nd pic, but none of these do the orange justice.)

Oh yeah, it is ALL orange, ceiling included. It's wise to put on some shades before entering. Once we get things more situated, I'll definitely get some better pics up, but for now I'm being lazy and using camera phone pics, so excuse the poor quality.

We're still going to add one more row of shelving on that left wall, and probably some more organizer thingees on the back wall. I just bought a couple of things at Wal-mart to see what might work. So this is a start! Sam's already racking up some goodies...

And speaking of goodies, I had another "spare change" trip to Kohl's this weekend. I rarely go in there, but if they send me a $10 card, I come runnin'. Just look at these cleareance cuties...

For literally, spare change! Love it!

Hope y'all have a great week! I'm still working on getting pics of our consignment goodies up. Check back soon...

Gearing Up

2011-08-19T11:15:00.001-04:00

It seems like we have so much time before Sam gets here, but then I start sorting out all the things we have to do and figure out before he does and YIKES - we don't have that much time after all! We've got five months left. And everyday I think of something else we need to sort out. And really, I'm wanting to have everything baby figured out and put together by the time Thanksgiving gets here. For a couple of reasons... (1) You never know when baby is going to act up and either put you on bed-rest or insist on coming early, and (2) the holiday season is so crazy busy for us and I want to be able to just enjoy it and not be frantically finishing up the nursery or something. And then hello, it's suddenly January and it's almost time!

So here are some of the major things we're looking to accomplish over the next few months. Feel free to jump in and add something I need to consider because, obviously, I don't know what the hell I'm doing...

- Setting up the nursery (duh). We've got all our furniture except the rocker. We're still looking around for the best price for that item, as it will undoubtedly be the most expensive piece. I'm not a big fan of the wooden gliders, so I really want to find an upholstered chair/rocker. I like the style of the basic Pottery Barn Kids version, but not at $1200 (once you add in delivery, etc). I've got some places to look, thanks to fellow momma friends, but if you have any suggestions, please advise! The Baby Bargains book suggests looking at regular furniture places too, so we'll probably do that as well. Aside from furniture, we're wanting to do built-in bookshelves along the back wall so we're working on figuring all that out right now. I got a quote for a monogrammed cornice board for the window, laughed out loud, and then decided we could make one on our own. And we've also got a closet and bathroom to work on. So much to do! But it all looks fabulous in my head. I'm currently waiting on fabric swatches to arrive so we can figure out the bedding and go from there.

- Registering for gifts. We're planning to do this next month and we're going to bring along a momma friend to help us since we don't know what we're doing and Babies 'R Us is mildly terrifying. May do Target too. Any other suggestions? Maybe Pottery Barn Kids, but honestly I don't think I'd have more than a few things that I'd put on there, so what's the point? I'm not registering for my bedding anywhere - we're just going to buy that because hell if I'm waitin'!

- Becoming parenting experts. Apparently we need classes... so I've got us all signed up for a bunch of stuff. Piedmont Hospital offers up a free prenatal series, so we're doing that in October. And we're also doing a breastfeeding class in December (yeah, that's after Thanksgiving, but just barely). AND we're signed up for a CPR class next month. Oh yeah and a hospital tour next month as well. After December 3rd, we should know everything there is to know about parenting!!!

- Figuring out daycare and healthcare. Next month the hub and I are taking off a day to peruse local daycares and also visit pediatricians in our area. I've never doctor-shopped, so this should be interesting. Luckily, we have lots of great friends nearby who have offered up referrals. Good thing too, because otherwise I'd have no idea where to start. I guess we'll need to actually make appointments with the doctors, but we just plan on dropping in on the daycares.

That is the major stuff. And of course there are other important things in the mix as well, like getting our wills established. That task has been "in process" for months, but it's time to finally bite the bullet and get it done. We should have them anyway, regardless. And figuring out how to best adapt our pups to having a new little brother in the house. We predict they'll be super protective of Sam - they're both great around little kids. But it's how the two dogs are with each other that can cause problems. Two crazy bitches. So we just have to set up precautions there. Lots to think about!

So in other baby news, my mom and I went to our first baby and kids' consignment sale yesterday and it was NUTS. To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. I'm not sure I'm cut out for these things. Well for one thing, I didn't know what the heck to look for. And there was just SO much stuff. And generally I'm not the type who likes to fight crowds and dig for stuff. There were times when I just stood there with our basket and stared off into space because I didn't know what to do! But, we did come away with some cute clothes, a clock that might work in the nursery, and we also found a pack of monogrammed burp cloths that all said "Samuel." Too funny - had to get those. I'll get some pics up later of our loot. There was a ton of baby gear, but I just didn't know what to do with it. I think after Sam is here and I'm a parenting expert, I'll know better how to navigate these mega consignment sales. But for now, it's a bit much for me.

Well, hope you all have fantastic weekends! We will be painting the nursery closet (for real this time) along with other fun chores around the house. Pics to come!

Some goodies for our boy!

2011-08-15T07:20:00.017-04:00

I promise I won't bore y'all with EVERY little thing we get for this kid, but the first few things are definitely fun! I am so more excited about a boy than I ever thought I would be. I am just so girly and always assumed I'd prefer having a girl (if I could choose), but I am all about boy now!

On Saturday we were running errands all over the place and stopped in Costco for a quick hot dog lunch. It is the happenin' place on a Saturday afternoon. So after lunch I told the hub I just wanted to *look* at the baby clothes to see what they had. Uh huh... I'm sure you can see where this is going. I couldn't pass up this sweet little Hanna Andersson sleeper!

Costco had several prints, all at less than $12. They retail for $26, so that's a pretty good deal. You can get cheaper stuff of course, but I love Hanna Andersson stuff (especially at Costco prices). Now I KNOW we're going to get all kinds of goodies at showers and stuff, so don't worry... I'm not going crazy! I just wanted to buy a few *boy* things now that we know. The hub said it feels so weird to be buying this stuff for us and not other people... so true. I've bought a million baby gifts before, but now it's for OUR baby. What?! And I've decided I'll only buy killer sale and clearance goodies I happen upon. Because seriously, I know I will get loaded up. But when I get a $10 Kohl's card in the mail, I can't help but run over there and rummage through the clearance section! Like I did Sunday and found these...

After applying my $10 Kohl's card, my grand total was only $2.97! Can't beat that. And how stinkin' cute are those? They're MUCH cuter in person. These are lousy pics. The one on the left is chocolate brown and the other is navy blue. I'm also buying larger sizes for the most part - because I know most people buy the itty bitty stuff for gifts. And of course my mom couldn't help herself either. After getting the "boy" news on Thursday, she was at Target on Friday and picked up these goodies, along with some matching wash cloths...

Too fun! Our little guy is going to be all set come January. And speaking of him, we DID come up with a name this weekend! My Dad's birthday was yesterday and we gave him the "big reveal" first as part of his gift. So are you ready? Introducing (sort of... in my belly anyway)...

Nolen was my grandfather's name and if you know my story and are familiar with the Bible, then Samuel's probably pretty obvious! But read up on Hannah's story in I Samuel 1 if not and it will make sense. I can't get through it without becoming a blubbering mess. We plan to call him "Sam." I'm a fan of one-syllable names for boys.

So yay! That was our weekend pretty much... lots of running around, Dad's birthday, and playing the name game. And yeah, no closet painting got done! Hmm... next weekend?

I guess my maternal instincts were a bit off...

2011-08-11T16:32:00.008-04:00

Totally shocked, but completely thrilled!

I really didn't think we were going to get out of there today with an answer because baby was sitting with its legs all folded up for the longest time and not budging. He was definitely wiggling around in there, but wouldn't unfold those sweet legs. But finally he started stretching out some and the doctor caught some lucky shots of the goods. He kept calling it a "weiner" - it was hilarious. "Don't tell anyone we're taking all these weiner shots!" he said. Too funny...

The doctor said he could feel the baby moving through the ultrasound wand thingee - whatever you call it. So he let me hold it a while to see if I could, but I couldn't tell. We did get some good profile shots today. The little booger was very active and I'm convinced he's a dancer. He was doing a serious back bend at one point, a toe-touch at another, and then I was sold when I saw... jazz hands.

Aside from getting the fun news, we also got to take a really good look at all the major organs and see how everything's measuring up. We're right on schedule and all looks perfect! It is CRAZY what all you can see. All four chambers of the heart pumping away, both sides of the brain, the kidneys, the bladder, the intestines... and oh yeah, the weiner!!!

SYTYCD Finale

2011-08-11T07:56:00.003-04:00

My money is still totally on Melanie after last night's performance finale! It'll definitely be a girl this year - that's for sure. Sasha is great too, but Melanie just melts my heart and hello, she's an Atlanta girl! Here's her delicious performance with All-Star Robert last night...

Guest judge Katie Holmes was so stinkin' gorgeous last night, but the hub and I kept laughing because her vocabulary for every critique consisted almost exclusively of the words strong, amazing, beautiful, and magical.

Go Melanie!

So in other news, it looks like about 70% of you are thinking pink... I hope we'll have an answer for you this afternoon! Exciting!

Welcome to my crib, yo.

2011-08-09T22:05:00.006-04:00

Our sweet crib arrived yesterday! And we didn't waste any time getting it assembled. I'm so happy with it. Now, baby, if you'll just cooperate and show us your goods on Thursday, I can start getting serious about fabrics!

I've been browsing here and there, and lately these softer hues have really caught my eye. Which is NOT like me... I always assumed I'd do something bright and funky. But something about a sweet nursery just oozes "baby," you know? No decisions made yet of course, but these two collections are looking rather delicious to me right now...

This is too fun! I'm hoping to get started on the closet paint this weekend. We did finally get to IKEA (which yet again, confirmed my hatred for the place) only to find nothing that would really work. So instead of revamping the entire shelving system in there, I think we're just going to add one more row of the basic wire shelving, definitely remove the door, and incorporate other boxes and hangy-down organizer type things to maximize storage. A much cheaper solution anyway, so I'm all about that! But first, paint. Pics to come soon!

If only...

2011-08-09T08:12:00.001-04:00

Monday Funny.

2011-08-08T07:33:00.000-04:00

Namaste

2011-08-04T08:08:00.008-04:00

Lots of great numbers last night on SYTYCD, including solos by all the top 6. The solos usually aren't my favorite - I mean, how much awesome can you really fit into 30 seconds? Then Melanie said, "This is how much."

My money's on Melanie!!! (And how freakin' cute is her grandma, by the way?!)

In other news, I went to yoga last night for the first time since being pregnant. I hadn't felt up to it until recently and I finally took the plunge last night. I knew our instructor (at my gym) would be helpful with what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do-while-pregnant tips, but she was amazing. I spoke with her briefly before class just to let her know I was knocked up and she told me generally where I should take it easy, etc. And throughout the class she would look in my direction and give me safer options to do. But then after class she came over and talked with me for like 10 minutes - the girl knows her stuff. She knew all kinds of prenatal facts and big words I've never heard of... I have a whole list of things to google. And she's going to make some copies of some helpful prenatal yoga stuff for me and bring to the next class. How awesome is she? So yeah, it was great to get back to class and do something active besides housework or walking.

And one more thing... we have our 16 week ultrasound in ONE week! So if baby cooperates, we should be able to determine the sex. Seems like everyone I talk to thinks it's a girl (including us for some reason). What do you think? I'm putting a poll up on my sidebar, so go cast your vote!!!

Back to School

2011-08-03T08:22:00.002-04:00

School starting back really means nothing to us right now other than heavier traffic in the mornings, but I gotta say I LOVE this commercial for some reason...

Can she my kid's future teacher? I love glitter.

I'm thinking of all my teacher friends who are back in the classroom this week getting prepared for the students. And enjoy these last few days of summer, kids! I can still remember the anticipation of the first day back...

The Crib

2011-07-31T17:20:00.004-04:00

...is officially on its way! Pretty sure our little booger is doing a fist pump in my belly.

14 Week Belly

2011-07-31T15:47:00.008-04:00

I feel like this same pooch has just been hovering for weeks. It looks like it's poking out a *little* more than four weeks ago, but it's really not all that different...

It's comin' though! But the best news? I think I've turned a corner and am feeling pretty good now! On Monday, I vomited for the first time. Felt crappy the rest of that day. But on Tuesday, the nausea just sort of was... gone. And I haven't really had much at all sense. I do still get mad hunger pains at time - especially from late night till early morning, and if I don't munch on something right away, I can feel a bit queasy. But it's not nearly as bad as the general nausea I was experiencing over the past couple of months, so hallelujah!

I've still been tired at times, but my energy seems generally better. At least my drive and motivation is - I've gotten more done in the last few days than I have in the last 8 weeks. For example, a couple of weeks ago I'm not sure I could've handled that hour-long trip to pick up the changing table. And hello, I haven't taken one nap all weekend! I did veg for a bit yesterday afternoon after a trip to the outlets that wore me and the hub both out, but I never actually fell asleep. So hopefully this means I'll be feeling pretty good during the 2nd trimester! I sure hope so - it's a lot easier to enjoy all this when you're not feeling like total ass.

Oh and speaking of the outlets, the main reason I wanted to go yesterday was to see what the Pottery Barn Outlet had. We've gotten some major deals there over the years on random furniture and rugs, so I was curious what they had in the way of baby and kid stuff. Our PB Outlet dedicates nearly half the store to PB Kids stuff. I was hoping to maybe find a crib or rocker selection, but no luck. Not a single crib or rocker/glider in sight. But they did have some other furnishings, tons of bedding and bath linens, and other accessories. So I will note that in my mental Rolodex for future.

We also intended to get to IKEA this weekend but that never transpired. I honestly hate going there, so I avoid it until absolutely necessary. But we're interested in redoing the shelving in the nursery closet, so this warrants a visit. Here's a pic of the closet now (actually right NOW there is nothing in the closet because I've cleaned all the junk out, but you get the idea)...

We had originally requested double shelving in this closet (knowing it'd be a nursery someday), but obviously the builders didn't do it. Whatever. But aside from needing more hanging space, the current shelving in there doesn't work great. The hanging rod is so close to the door frame, that every time you open and shut the closet door, it rams into the clothes hanging there. So even if we end up sticking with the current shelving and just adding some more, I think we'll remove the door altogether and hang some fabric instead. But really, I just want to find some better shelving options to maximize the space more. It's a small space, but so much of it is not being used the way it sits currently. I'd like to have some drawers and cubbies and that kind of thing for all the itty bitty sweets baby needs in his/her closet! Nothing fancy... which is why we're calling on IKEA. I'm going for functional over cute here. So hopefully we'll get over there next weekend and be able to price some things out and see what's doable.

Oh, but other than shelving changes/additions, we're painting the interior of the closet a sweet sherbet orange. I wanted something bright and gender neutral, and hello... I love orange. We've already got the paint, so don't try to talk me out of it. That's our first big nursery project, so I should have some pics pretty soon as we'll be tackling this one in the next couple of weeks... stay tuned!

My favorite pop-up window.

2011-07-29T11:14:00.002-04:00

13 Week Ultrasound

2011-07-27T12:55:00.001-04:00

I wish we could have gotten a good pic of the thumb-sucking from Monday - that was so fun to watch. But this is still a pretty decent pic - you can really see the spine. I also just got word from the perinatal group that my all my bloodwork came back within normal limits, so all appears good and healthy so far!

Also, thanks so much for all the thoughts and advice on the cord blood banking. We haven't made any final decisions on anything, but my guess is we'll end up donating it. If it can help someone, I think that's awesome!

Nursery Bargains: Changing Table

2011-07-27T04:07:00.009-04:00

Less than 48 hours ago I was looking at changing tables online and gawking at the prices. I had found a suitable crib in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog that was on clearance for $399 (regularly $599). And we wouldn't necessarily have to have "the" matching changing table for it, but of course I was perusing the ones they had anyway. Ugh, the cheapest one I could find was like $599. I know that's not outrageous, but I was just not thrilled about spending that much. Besides our dining room set, I'm not sure there's a piece of furniture in our house worth that much! Our couches are Exhibit A for the fact that our dogs rule the place, and our master bed is literally a mattress on wheels without a headboard. So yeah, nothing too fancy in our digs right now while we're still in debt-busting mode.

And while I'm very, very picky on the styling of this nursery, I'm not going to be too picky when it comes to the crib. It's not going to be the main focal point in the room and I just want something simple. So the clean lines and more importantly, the price, of this one will work great! This is the Kendall crib from Pottery Barn Kids, in white...

So on a whim yesterday while at work, I hopped on craigslist to see what was available in the way of changing tables. Again, not too picky here but just wanted something with similar styling that would coordinate with the crib we're eying. And right away, BAM! I found two local listings for a Pottery Barn changing table in the exact same collection! It's the Kendall changing table, in white, pictured here...

PB Kids actually doesn't sell it anymore - they have a new Kendall changing table they're selling now. But I like this one better! (Even in the current crib pic above, you can see the edge of this old table in the corner.) And I certainly like the price better! One chick had it listed for $275 along with the baskets she had purchased. I didn't really care about the baskets - I rather get my own, but whatever. But then I found another listing for the exact same piece (sans baskets) for $150! So long-story-short, we drove a good hour last night (I was using "local" loosely - metro Atlanta is rather large) to pick up this beauty! The previous owners were super nice and threw in the changing pad and we also bought a barely used crib mattress from them for $15! Um, Pottery Barn has their cheapest crib mattress listed for $129. Score! I know you can get them cheaper, but still.

I am so excited!!! First big baby purchase! And I'm in love with it - the changing table is in great condition and even more beautiful in person. There's nothing much more satisfying than a killer deal. Stay tuned for more nursery developments! I mean my whole reason for wanting a baby is to design a nursery and have my own live dress-up doll. Kidding. Sort of.

And yes, I am up at 4:00am typing this while eating a pop tart. Baby was hungry and my bedside saltines weren't cutting it...

First Perinatal Appointment - 12 Week Screening

2011-07-25T16:27:00.001-04:00

We had our 12 week screening today with the perinatal group. Had another transvaginal ultrasound since my uterus is apparently tilted and we couldn't get a good read with an abdominal one. No assistance needed this time with the wand, though! Apparently it's only my weird OB's office that does that. Or maybe it was just that one particular ultrasound tech. Who knows...

There was some mad thumb-sucking going on today, and as always, baby was a big mover and shaker. So fun to watch him wiggle around in there! And so weird to know that's going on inside of MY stomach. It's always a relief to see that heart pumping away when the picture first comes up. I mean we have no reason to think that it wouldn't be, but at this point we have no way of knowing till we see it! Yes, it's still there... good, good.

Today they were measuring the skin behind the neck (for signs of downs, etc.) and it looked good and skinny, just how it should. I also had bloodwork for further lab tests and we'll get those results later this week. But the doctor suspects everything will come out perfectly. No luck on determining the sex this time. We could barely get a butt view as it was and it's still early. I measured 13w5d today and baby is about 7cm long (crown to rump). But they'll see me back at 16 weeks (on August 11th) and we should be able to determine the sex then if baby cooperates!

In the meantime, I'll be back at my OB's office next Tuesday. I can't remember exactly what for... I'm pretty sure we're not doing another ultrasound at that point. But yeah, we're rolling right along! I still feel cruddy... in FACT... I actually vomited this morning for the very first time. Don't know if I waited to long to eat something or what... but yeah. Thought I was going to escape the whole up-chucking thing, but I guess not. Everyone's still telling me I should turn a corner at 14 or 15 weeks. I'm counting on it! Well, hoping anyway. Either way, it's all worth it. I'll get the sonogram pic up when I get a good scanned copy.

So random question... There are pamphlets and ads and whatnot being shoved in my face everywhere for cord blood banking. I understand what this is - I think. But of course nothing tells you how much it costs. One company even offers up a gift registry program to raise money for it, which is (a) really tacky and (b) means it must be really expensive. Did any of you mommas save your baby's cord blood? How much did it cost and is it a one time cost or do you have to pay like yearly storage fees or something? Hey, we do for our embryos, so it's not a dumb question. Any advice is helpful!

Sasha & Twitch

2011-07-22T09:10:00.002-04:00

Apparently it's video day. Last one, I promise! This was easily my favorite from SYTYCD this week. Sasha and all-star Twitch doing a hip hop number. Love, love, love me some Twitch!

The Birds & The Bees

2011-07-22T08:51:00.001-04:00

One more video for you guys today... found this on a friend's blog - love it!

OMG.

2011-07-22T08:29:00.001-04:00

As if I wasn't torn up enough over this last film being the LAST...

First Baby Gift!

2011-07-21T07:47:00.005-04:00

I was so excited to get home and find this fun package in the mail yesterday from a dear friend...

A super soft and deliciously sweet baby blanket - our very first baby gift! It's much cuter than this crappy phone pic shows. It's ivory with a baby blue satin trim. And along with it was this lovely card...

Definitely brings about one of those "is this really happening?" moments. To God be the glory indeed. THANK YOU, LAUREN!!!

So the questions I'm getting the most are "How do you feel?" and "Are you going to find out the sex?" Well, just to answer those quickly... I still feel like total crap. Eating is still a chore and I'm tired a lot, etc. etc. But everyone tells me that it should get better at 14 or 15 weeks. Today, I'm 13 weeks, so here's hopin'! As for the sex, yes, we're definitely planning to find out. We have another ultrasound on Monday for our 12 week screening, so maybe they can make some guesses then, but my doctor said not to buy anything till we hit that 20 week mark.

Thanks again for all the well wishes!

SO good...

2011-07-14T07:15:00.002-04:00

Go Melanie and Marco!

Also loved this one with Jordan and Tadd...

Two more days!

2011-07-13T07:56:00.003-04:00

We've got our IMAX tickets ready for 3am on Friday. That's right... 3 o'clock in the morning. All the midnight shows were sold out by the time I got around to getting tickets. And I was on the fence anyway about my ability to stay up for a midnight show. So 3am makes total sense, right? Well, I am excellent at falling asleep pretty much as soon as my head hits the pillow these days - no matter what time of day. So I'm planning to go to bed Thursday night at like 7pm. Then I'll roll out of bed at 2am and we'll head over to the theatre. Brilliant, right? Harry, you're the only one I'd ever do this for.

Who's excited?!?!

First OB Appointment!

2011-07-12T11:27:00.001-04:00

Seriously, I hope you are not holding your breath for blog updates because I still have little care or energy to do them right now. Soon though - I'm told - I will! I think the fatigue may be slowly getting better, but I could be imagining that. I still spent the large part of this past Sunday horizontal, so perhaps not.

Anyway, we had our first prenatal appointment with my OB yesterday! Besides the appointment itself taking flippin' forever, all went well. I think we are just so spoiled by RBA being so darn quick with everything - they would always get us in and out of there pretty fast. So having to wait several times yesterday between seeing the doctor, the ultrasound, and bloodwork, etc... I was literally gone from my office (including travel time) for four hours. Granted, we did pop by (two floors up) to say hi Dr. T on our way out and had to wait 10 minutes or so to see him - so that didn't help. But yeah, four hours. Needless to say, I was exhausted yesterday afternoon. It's amazing how much a bunch of sitting and waiting and anticipating can wear a girl out!

I wasn't expecting to do another ultrasound yesterday, so that was a fun surprise. It was a totally bizarre experience though. Now, I've had literally around 30 transvaginal ultrasounds over the years. I mean, it is like shaking my hand. No big whoop. I know the drill. But they've all been at RBA, so I was just used to how they did them. So maybe how my OB does them is normal, but I thought this was totally weird. First of all, I didn't have a private room to change in and the ultrasound tech didn't leave the room for me to drop my drawers. OK, kinda awkward but whatever. Then once I had my feet up in the stirrups, she handed ME the wand to insert myself. OK, what?!?!?! Then she took over once I put it in. OK is it just me or is that totally weird? Is there some legal reason for this or something? I mean even at an OB/GYN's office they're constantly sticking things up in your girly parts without assistance. Why not this wand? I am still totally weirded out by it. I don't like to see what's going on down there. Just do your thing under the paper gown and let me be. WEIRD.

Aside from the strange start, the sonogram was of course fun to see. Our little nut measured 4.91cm crown to rump and was moving around in there like crazy. We have no reason for it, but we both think it's a girl. So perhaps she'll be a dancer like her momma. And go on SYTYCD Season 24. I totally won't be disappointed if it's a boy though. At this point we'd take a hermaphrodite alien with eight legs. The tech also did the over-the-belly ultrasound (I'm sure that's the technical lingo) to try and get a decent profile pic, but our little bug wasn't cooperating. The pics aren't nearly as clear as the transvaginal ones - at least not this early.

So... my doctor was of course excited to see me finally knocked up. (She's the one who did all my initial why-am-I-not-getting-pregnant bloodwork and referred me to Dr. T.) She agreed that we'll do a planned C-section at 39 weeks. I like plans. She also referred me to a group of perinatologists (high-risk pregnancy docs), so my next appointment will be with them in two weeks for my 12 week screening. Then I'll be back at my OB another week after that. Sounds like I'll be seeing someone at least every 4 weeks - I'm not sure yet what kind of schedule the perinatologist will have for me. At 28 weeks, I'll start seeing my OB every 2 weeks, and then every week starting at 36 weeks. Lots to process... I guess this is really happening, huh?

10 Week Ultrasound

2011-07-03T11:48:00.016-04:00

Lots of big steps this week! We're officially in double digits! We're now in the "fetus" stage and no longer the "embryo" stage. Very exciting. And on Friday we graduated from RBA and will now be seeing my normal OB/GYN going forward! Big steps... very grateful... and I think we're really starting to get excited.

Friday's ultrasound was definitely the best one so far... our little nut actually looks like a little baby now. An alien baby, but a baby. The ultrasound tech was pushing on my stomach and having me hold my breath to get the little guy to move around. He was definitely dancing around in there! Can't feel it yet though - it's just bizarre knowing there's a little creature inside of you wiggling around.

These scans aren't great - they show up kinda dark here, but hopefully you can see the images OK. We measured right at 10w1d on Friday and baby almost doubled in length from the last ultrasound to 3.31cm. We heard the heartbeat again, which was good and strong. Everything looked great! This 3D image is kinda freaky...

Totally looks like a little alien! Dr. T was excited to see us off and get us back to my OB. It was definitely a bitter sweet goodbye - RBA has been such a big part of our lives for over four years now. We'll of course be back when we're ready for more, but for now it's goodbye. Here we are with Dr. T...

OK so we also figured it was time to start capturing belly shots. I've honestly had a pooch since beginning my meds back in early April. I literally JUST got off all the hormones on Friday (woo hoo!), so who knows if my belly is due to meds, baby, or both. It's definitely there, whatever it is. And we obviously didn't get a "before" shot since I started plumping up before the transfer even happened. So we'll just use this crappy screen shot from my Lupron shot video as my "before" picture. Because it was all over after that morning!

And here's the pooch as of today (10w3d)...

I'm wearing these fold-down maternity pants from Old Navy here and I can already tell these are going to be a favorite. I'm curious if dropping the hormones will affect the pooch or if I'm just in for the long haul from this point. Either way, fine with me! There's plenty of time to get my flat belly back later. Soooooo not worried about that right now. Honestly I'd like the big belly to hurry up and get here because right now I'm in that stage where none of my normal clothes fit. All I can really wear right now to work are dresses, so getting ready for work has become challenging.

I still feel like crap. Still tired all the time. Nauseous much of the time. Eating is a chore because it's impossible to plan my meals. Therefore I've been spending more on food because I impulse-eat. Grocery shopping is hard because (a) it's exhausting and (b) everything is gross. But I'm managing! In fact, I'm about to head out to Publix right now... so wish me luck!

Hope you all have a fabulous 4th! The hub's running the Peachtree in the morning. (Meanwhile, I'll be snoozing.) Then we have a cookout later that afternoon with friends. Enjoy and stay cool!

Flash Mob

2011-06-29T07:36:00.002-04:00

This is pretty cute... over 1600 high schoolers from all four campuses of our church are in Panama City Beach this week and they attempted to break the record for the largest flash mob!

Wake me up in two weeks, please.

2011-06-28T13:14:00.001-04:00

Totally not complaining here, but I gotta say I am OVER this feeling like crud stuff. I moan and groan all day and night like a 95 year old. I get out of breath doing anything, even eating. The nausea seems harder to tackle lately. And if I could spend my whole day in bed, I totally would. It's all good - I know my body's working hard to bake a human. It's just tough feeling so worthless all the time. But you all keep telling me this will pass soon, so I'm definitely hanging in there and hoping you're right! I seriously feel for those pregnant with #2, #3, and so on... how do you do this with a toddler pulling at you all day? I have no idea!!! I only have to worry about me and I'm having a rough time with it... geez.

But again, no complaints... just stating, for the record, that I feel like shit. But if that's what it takes, I'll take it!

We've got our 10 week ultrasound on Friday and then I'll be officially released to my OB! Our first appointment is scheduled with her on Monday, July 11th. She had the exact same wonky uterus issues I did (and Dr. T also did her surgery years ago), so I know she will be thrilled to see me in there knocked up finally.

Alright... off to do some more groaning. I have lots of great bloggy topics floating in my head, but no energy or motivation to do any of them right now. Cut me some slack for the next few weeks, OK? Then maybe I'll get interesting again.

8 Week Ultrasound

2011-06-21T16:00:00.001-04:00

We had another ultrasound this morning! Everything is right on schedule and measuring 8w2d. And we got to HEAR the heartbeat this time! So cool... BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. And we could even see the little nut moving around some. The baby is about the size of (and looks like) a gummy bear... he/she measured 1.88cm long today. Apparently the head is on the right side in this picture (so they say). Wow, so grateful.

Dr. T thinks this one's a keeper. I do too, but shoot - you just never know. We're still a LONG way from holding a baby in our arms, but so far so good! My miscarriage rate dropped to less than 5% today - that was great to hear. And Dr. T is continuing to slowly back me off my meds. The best news? I now only have to do the nasty PIO shots every other day! Hallelujah - some much needed reprieve for my bum. I'm also cutting the Estrace (estrogen) back to one dose a day (rather than two). That's a welcome change, too.

We go back for one more ultrasound with Dr. T next Friday and then I'll officially be released to my OB! I'm excited to move forward, but I gotta say it's going to be bitter sweet... I love my RBA team - they've been fighting this battle with us for over 4 years. I don't know what it's going to be like being thrown into the pool with all the normal fertiles!

The hub asked me yesterday if I'm no longer bothered by pregnant people, now that we're pregnant. No, I still do a mental eye-roll when I see a big belly. Because chances are they fell into their husband's lap one afternoon and turned up pregnant. Does that ever go away? Yeah, probably not. And when do I get to relax and enjoy all this? I am excited, don't get me wrong. But for the most part, I would describe myself as void of emotion right now over all this. I'm not fearful, but I think I'm heavily guarded. Sadly, years of infertility make pregnancy rather terrifying. It's hard to just completely let go and be joyful. And I also think there's a lot of disbelief... like when will it seem real? When I can feel the baby? It's such an exciting thing, and overall I think I'm handling it well, but the unknown is so scary. It all makes me think of one of Drew Barrymore's quotes in Never Been Kissed...

"...for one moment you get this amazing gift and you want to laugh and you want to cry because you feel so lucky that you found it, and so scared that it will go away at the same time."

My favorite from last night...

2011-06-16T07:49:00.003-04:00

Such a great Top 20 this year on SYTYCD! I have a lot of favorites but I'm definitely rooting for Georgia's own Melanie!

Pillow, anyone?

2011-06-15T07:21:00.004-04:00

So I guess kids suck the life out of you from day one, huh? Seriously, this kid is taking every bit of energy I have, including my will to do anything productive. Which is why I haven't been on here much lately. I seriously just have no desire to do anything but sleep. Isn't that awful? I know the rest is important, so believe me, I take it when I can get it. I basically sleep through my weekends here lately.

I'll get up at my normal time on a Saturday (7:30 or so), make some breakfast (whatever I can tolerate) and feed the dogs, and then take a nap. I'll get up later and fold a load of laundry. Take another nap. Fold another load. Take another nap. And then all of a sudden it's 8pm. What? Yeah, that's what my weekends look like. Thrilling!!!

I really need to go to the grocery but have only managed short trips here and there. I've got to do a full blown grocery run this weekend though. I've just got to. But that's the other thing... it's not just being sleepy and fatigued - it's like you seriously don't CARE about getting anything done. Which is so unlike me. And it frustrates me, but it is what it is. I suppose I can manage a few weeks of laziness!

Food is still not all that appealing, though I have had a few cravings. All healthy stuff - pizza, ice cream, and donuts. Awesome. Why can't I crave tofu and spinach? I ordered a Papa John's pizza Saturday at lunch and it was seriously the best thing I've ever eaten. I kept talking about it for hours. Wasn't that pizza so good? OMG that pizza was just the best! Seriously, how GOOD was that pizza? (Uh, yeah, obviously I fell off my Moo Goo train.)

And we made pizza at home last night. Seriously, pizza is so dang good. Now, I am trying to eat well, so I decided to stick with my calorie counting and good eats during the week and then let loose on the weekends. So that's pretty much my rule for myself. I'm saving the indulgences for the weekends. That way I still get to have them, but I won't become a blimp in three weeks time.

Other than the exhaustion, nausea, and love/hate relationship with food right now, I am doing great. Eager to get to ultrasound #2 a week from today to see our little gummy bear. Then we'll have one more ultrasound with Dr. T at 10 weeks before I'm released from RBA! I already have my 11 week appointment set up with my normal OB, so we are good to go. Each week seems to pass by slowly, but looking back it feels like it's all gone pretty fast! This is just the longest stretch we've gone between appointments thus far... so I'm definitely ready to move forward!

About to wrap up the 8th week here in a couple of days. Our little life-sucking alien looks something like this...

Baby is growing like mad, putting on about a millimeter every day and continuing to straighten out in the trunk. Though you can't feel it yet, baby is moving those little arms, legs, and (now only slightly) webbed fingers and toes like crazy. [thebump.com]

7 Weeks Today!

2011-06-10T18:49:00.006-04:00

Absolutely exhausted from two full days of CPE on the other side of the planet (i.e. the Cobb Galleria). I managed to stay awake, but barely. And I learned that a 1.5 hour commute back home with a sore bum is NOT fun. Grateful for my normal 15 minute ride!

Anyway... today we reached 7 weeks! Nausea is in full effect. No vomiting (yet), but definitely feeling nice and crappy. Never been so happy to feel like poop! So blessed to still be on this ride...

OK, please excuse me while I go take a nap. Hope you all have fantastic weekends!

More from yesterday...

2011-06-07T08:20:00.004-04:00

Pretty cool, huh?

Ultrasound #1

2011-06-06T11:59:00.001-04:00

We've got a beautiful SINGLE munchkin with a sweet beating heart! So cool to see the little boom-boom-boom on screen. Truly magical to see that this morning! I will add better pics to this post later when I can get on blogger, but hopefully this little attachment pic comes through OK for now (I'm posting via email).

Dr. T said everything looks perfect! Our little one nestled in to a perfect spot and set up camp, measuring right at 6w1d, give or take. Although having twins would be cool, I must say Dr. T and I both were relieved to see just one. I am high-risk as it is, and carrying two would be rough on me. It's rough on anyone, but for me it'd be even more concerning. Dr. T also confirmed that we'll do a C-section - he's guessing at 38 or 39 weeks. They will not want me going into to labor for fear of my wonky uterus rupturing, so I will be watched very closely. (Fine by me!) He will continue to see me through week 10 and then I'll see my normal OB at around 11 weeks. Wow... where all the normal fertile people go! He thinks I'll also see high-risk doctors alongside my OB. (Again, fine by me!) I'm supposed to go ahead and contact my OB to let her know what's going on and to get that first appointment set up.

I've still got to do the progesterone shots - which I knew I would have to, no big. He gave me the option of switching to the vaginal pills if my bum couldn't take it anymore, but I said no - let's just stick with it. So the sore bum continues... He is, however, backing me off the Estrace little by little. I've been doing 2mg 3x a day, and now I'm dropping that to 2x a day. But the best news today was just the fact that we made it past such a HUGE hurdle. Seeing that heartbeat was a big, big step. He said our miscarriage rate dropped dramatically after seeing that... now to less than 10% (whereas we were somewhere around 30% before). So that is most definitely encouraging! There are never any guarantees, at any stage, but we are continuing to make real progress here and we are thrilled!

Due date (which I already calculated, duh) is January 26th. But assuming they'll take me early, I guess we're looking at mid-January! Take that, tax season! Ha!

Thanks AGAIN for all the continued prayers and your encouraging comments and tweets! Love them all!!! We go back again on Tuesday the 21st for another ultrasound. Yep, another 2ww...

The Weekend

2011-06-05T21:28:00.008-04:00

...is almost over, but that's OK because we have our first ultrasound in the morning! I've been totally relaxed and calm about all this since last Tuesday. Which is really refreshing given that I was a bit of a basket case last weekend. But yeah, we have our first ultrasound tomorrow at 8am and we'll see my doctor to discuss the results. I'm sure I'll be a little anxious going into it, but right now I'm just excited. I can't believe we've made it this far! It's been a loooooong two weeks leading up to this point.

We're now in the 7th week (6w2d today)...

Your embryo makes great strides in size this week, growing to between 0.44 inches and 0.52 inches from crown to rump by the end of the week, or about the size of a small raspberry. Leg buds are starting to look like short fins, and hands and feet have a digital plate where fingers and toes will develop. The heart and lungs are becoming more developed, as are the eyes and nostrils, intestines and appendix. By now the brain and spinal cord are growing from the neural tube [webmd.com].

Looks like a little alien doesn't it? Growing like a weed. I will get news up here on the ultrasound as soon as I can! Big prayers that everything is developing as it should be and where it should be. And we should be able to tell if there's one or two little peas in there! Again, I'll be seriously surprised if there's more than one, but you never know.

So I actually wore a pair of maternity shorts today. There's no chance in hell of me getting into any of my other shorts right now, so I broke down and got a pair at Old Navy this weekend with a nice elastic waistband since it's so dang hot. They're really cute and comfortable on my pooch...

Another random purchase we made this weekend? Shift your attention from babies to dogs for a minute here. Have y'all heard of these Thundershirts?

A friend introduced them to us last night and we were so intrigued. They're really affordable, so we didn't think twice about giving these a try on our dogs. Our two have lots of um... "behaviors" that these thundershirts claim to help correct. We'll see. I'll definitely let y'all know how they work out. We ordered them today off of Amazon. You have to watch the video on the main website though - it's hilarious. You'd think they gave the dog a tranquilizer.

This weekend in general was pretty low key, though we managed to squeeze a lot in. My sweet friend, Lucky, and her hubby had a going-away bash. She's an army wife now and they are leaving Atlanta for the west coast on their first of many moves/adventures. I'm SO sad to see her go, but we're all thrilled for them too. It's an exciting move! I also met some girlfriends today to see Bridesmaids for a second time. Hilarious, again. And the hub recently got a bug to do some painting in the house, so we made a trip to Home Depot this afternoon and got all kinds of paint supplies. He made good progress today and I did a good job of napping and occasionally pointing while he worked.

Really just staying awake this weekend was a major accomplishment. The fatigue during these early weeks is no joke. Which reminds me, I need to go to bed...

Oh and P.S. - I got promoted to manager this past week at work! Ordinarily I would've made a big to-do out of that when it happened but it kinda took me by surprise the day it was announced and honestly, my mind's just been elsewhere lately! Though, I am very thrilled about the promotion and my mom will be happy that I finally mentioned it on here! ;-)

Now, for real - bed.

Beta #5 (Last one, I promise!)

2011-06-03T11:07:00.006-04:00

11,349!!!

at 23dp5dt

Woot! I wasn't too anxious about getting today's numbers, but still - huge sigh of relief afterward! Definitely more at ease today than I was on Tuesday. Now I'm just waiting for Dr. T's assistant to call me back to schedule the ultrasound next week. Fingers crossed for Monday!!! I'm dying to see this babe on screen! (Or babes?)

And I'm also 6 weeks today! Amazing...

Grateful, again, to make it this far. Who knows what tomorrow brings, but wow - what progress! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I'm off to enjoy the afternoon with my sweet friend, Pam. Stay cool, fellow Atlantans... it's HOT out there!

Pooch.

2011-06-01T19:04:00.008-04:00

Well, I made my first *official* purchase today of a maternity item. OK please, that's a total lie because y'all know I have a closet full of maternity clothes that have been collecting dust for years...

And that's after purging my collection and selling off a good bit of it! I know... my obsession with maternity wear is seriously ridiculous. But for real, none of my pants fit right now and I've been holding them together with either hairbands or binder clips. So this is my first official purchase out of true necessity rather than fantasy. Behold, the bella band!

Can't wait till it arrives so I can breathe a little better! I know my pooch is mostly due to my meds (good ole IVF bloat), but does the reason really matter when you can't button your pants?!

Beta #4

2011-05-31T12:44:00.001-04:00

5,193!!!

at 20dp5dt

All levels are "excellent" and actually, I didn't even talk to the nurse today. The hub went ahead and called them and got them for me! I think he was even more eager than me to get the results - ha! Well, I must say I am VERY relieved. Totally amazed. And completely grateful. I had no idea what to expect today.

I was a bit of a mess yesterday. Somewhere over the weekend, fear and doubt really crept in and took over. And as if I wasn't already over-analyzing every twitch and tingle, I really started questioning things over the last couple of days. TWICE this weekend I dreamed that I started bleeding and that it was all over. And my boobs aren't as sore (for real, I didn't dream that part). Yes, still quite sore but not as achy and heavy as they had been only a few nights earlier. So of course I was thinking, great, the hormone levels are dropping, aren't they? And I was still spotting, still feeling rather crampy... and not to mention the fact that my right bun was SO dang sore yesterday! Seriously, the most sore my bum has been since starting these PIO shots. Not that my sore butt has anything to do with being pregnant or not, but it just made yesterday all the more miserable. I felt like crap. And I was not feeling good about today's beta.

BUT, obviously, all is well for now! So glad to be able to breathe again and know that we've made it through yet another step with flying colors! We have one final beta on Friday (I thought today's would be the last, but apparently not), and then we'll schedule the first ultrasound next week!

Thank you so much for the sweet comments and continued prayers! xoxo

All Eyes on Tuesday

2011-05-29T12:15:00.005-04:00

The time's flown by pretty quickly, thanks to this relaxing 3-day weekend, but I'm definitely a little anxious for my beta results on Tuesday. I'm not fearful, but I certainly have ups and downs when it comes to wondering if everything is as it should be up in my girly parts. It's hard not to over-analyze every twitch and tingle. Is that good? Is that bad? What does Dr. Google say? Well, Dr. Google can really give you whatever answer you want to hear if you just keep asking.

Like for the spotting issue, you get plenty of sites and forums saying this is "completely normal" and not to worry about it. Then you find others that say, "OMG, go the ER now!!!!" So I just pick the answers I like best and deem them legit. But, yeah... I still am a bit anxious for those numbers on Tuesday so I can set aside the crazy for a few days. I don't have any real reason to think the numbers wouldn't be where they should be, but it's just absolutely unnerving waiting on that call!

Still though, whatever happens going forward, it's awesome that we've made it as far as we have. Progress is progress. I continue to pray for this little one, but I also pray constantly for peace with whatever path God is taking us down. But for now, let's keep celebrating where we are! I'm into the 6th week and there is a lot going on...

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil. [from babycenter.com]

It still amazes me how fast these little suckers develop. I mean, 2 1/2 weeks ago it was a spec of dust and now it's developing all the major organs and has a beating heart. What?! Pretty exciting. Also around 6 weeks is when nausea sets in for a lot of women. I'm not there yet - definitely no vomiting on my end. But I still am having episodes where food in general just doesn't excite me. And it's gotten harder and harder to eat my one hard boiled egg every morning. I think I've given up on that for now. It just grosses me out.

Still got the sore boobs, which look "nice and big" according to my mother. Thanks, Mom. And minor cramping here and there - that's been pretty constant this whole time. Light spotting off and on. I did have a dizzy spell this morning but I don't know if maybe I just got up out of bed too fast or something. And speaking of the bed, we totally slept in this morning... LATE. We never do that. Like 8am is sleeping in to us. Yeah, we were still in the bed at 10:30am. Now granted, I did get up around 8am and fed the dogs, got some cereal, turned the TV on, and got back in bed. So after my cereal, I managed to fall back asleep for another two hours. Highly unusual for me. So yeah, I've also been tired too! All good signs, I suppose.

Alright, I've got to go fold a load of clothes and then sit my butt on the couch to "recover" from folding the load of clothes. Hahaha... I'm trying hard to take it super easy this weekend and rest. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and safe travels to all who are on the road or in the air! We will just be doing a casual cookout at my parents'. I'll be back Tuesday with our final beta results! Keep those prayers comin'...

5 Weeks Today!

2011-05-27T07:40:00.005-04:00

Pretty monumental and definitely cause for celebration as we've never ever made it all the way through week 5 before. The little precious spec of dust (or two?) is now the size of an appleseed!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's just one babe in there. I'd think my hormone levels would be much higher if both had stuck around, but you never know! We won't know for sure till at least the 1st ultrasound.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! Oh and by the way, my jury duty yesterday was nothin'. We got assigned to a judge and a case and then the defendant entered a plea before we could even get in the courtroom, so we were dismissed. I was in and out of there in 2 hours. Works for me!

Jury Duty

2011-05-26T07:25:00.004-04:00

I've been "on call" for jury duty all this week and today I've finally got to report. I'm sure it will be *loads* of fun, but I don't guess I mind all that much. Nothing crazy going on at work and honestly, it's a nice distraction. It'll keep me away from Dr. Google. I've always escaped jury duty before because the only other summons I've gotten in the past were from counties I had already moved out of... so this is truly my first time. Super exciting, huh? Thank goodness for my Kindle.

Beta #3

2011-05-25T11:17:00.001-04:00

1,095!

at 14dp5dt

All levels are "great" and "completely normal." And yes, I'm totally hanging on the nurse's phrasing here because honestly I was expecting higher. I know I'm not supposed to read TOO much into these numbers, but *ugh* it's hard not to when it's all I really have to go on right now. My doubling factor slowed down to 66.52 hours, which is still within the "completely normal" range, but hello - it slowed down. I asked the nurse if that was a concern and she said no. She said everything is great and (again) "completely normal" and if Dr. T had any concern at all they would've let me know and probably had me come in to see what's going on up in there. But again, no concern on their part whatsoever - so, OK. I can catch my breath again now.

I go back for one more test next Tuesday and then we will schedule the first ultrasound! Gosh, Tuesday... that's an awfully long way away. That's my biggest stretch so far when it comes to short-term goals. Good thing we have a holiday weekend to distract me for three of those days! Ahhhh!!!!

Approaching 5 Weeks

2011-05-24T14:53:00.000-04:00

I keep getting questions about how I'm feeling... it is still super early (4 wks, 5 days) and I don't think morning sickness and all that jazz usually kicks in till around 6 weeks. But I definitely have some cramping on and off - just very dull cramping, like something's going on in there - nothing like menstrual cramps. And some days I am just dog tired. Like, Saturday I seriously took 4 naps. I never take naps. OK not never, but seriously it's rare. I'm just not the type to do nothing when I'm at home, so that was unusual. But I'm really trying to listen to my body and if it says "I'm exhausted," then I'll take that as a cue to slow down.

Also, over the past few days I've noticed a total decrease in appetite. At first I chalked this up to my super-high protein diet. I've really kicked up the protein since transfer day and protein fills yous up. And all my meals and snacks are very strategically planned out so that I can work my 3 doses of Noni juice in each day. I have to drink that nasty stuff on an empty stomach, and I have to get all three doses in before 6pm. I don't know why - I guess I turn into a gremlin if I have any after 6pm. So I literally map out my meals and Noni on my to-do list each morning. Which also means that if it's meal time, I have to eat even if I'm not hungry for it. But lately I've noticed I'm never hungry for it. I'll get hunger pains and a growling tummy, but nothing sounds good. The idea of eating anything is just kinda... meh.

Which for me (if you know me at all) is NOT normal. Eating is like my favorite thing to do and my #1 priority everyday. When I'm eating breakfast, I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat for lunch. When we go on vacation, my first concern is our meals. So yeah, this not wanting to eat thing is totally foreign to me. Did anyone else experience this is early pregnancy? I'm sure it'll pass soon and I'll make up for it on down the road. Dr. Google says the appetite loss and the cramping are both totally normal during week 5. Both are officially listed as "pregnancy symptoms" on various sites, so there you go.

And while we're on food, etc... Dr. Liu told me today (by mushing on my forearm) that my body needs more chicken and beef. Beef being the best. Turkey? "Turkey OK, chicken better." We went through a whole list of foods. So I guess I'll have to start buying some ground beef. We switched to ground turkey for everything a couple of years ago, but we can work in some beef for now. And I just ate a char-grilled chicken breast from Chick-fil-A. At precisely 2pm. After my 1:30pm Noni dose. And no, I wasn't particularly hungry for it, but it was good. Especially when dunking it in their honey mustard.

My herbs have also been scaled back a lot - which is nice. Just less of a hassle, really. And less cost - I like that. I'm thinking right now that I will continue acupuncture through the first trimester and probably drop off after that. If you did acupuncture during pregnancy, what did you do? I know a lot of people go back at full term to help induce labor.

Still just taking it one day at a time here. We go back for beta #3 tomorrow and I'm of course anxious to get those numbers!!! I'm liking these initial visits - they are keeping me busy and focused on a 2-3 day period at a time. "OK, we made it past beta #2, so let's focus on getting to beta #3 with great numbers," etc. I like short-term goals. It's hard for me to think too far ahead right now. Like seriously the idea of holding a baby in my arms is FAR from my thought process right now. I'm just trying my best to stay pregnant for now. We'll probably do one more beta after this one and then hopefully our first ultrasound here in a couple of weeks! Crazy!

Thank you for the continued prayers and sweet comments... I cherish them ALL!!!!!

Beta #2

2011-05-23T14:40:00.001-04:00

671!!!

at 12dp5dt

All levels are "perfectly normal!" I was kinda hoping for a little bit higher on the hCG, but seriously - this number is very good. You can't read too much into the numbers (I keep repeating this to myself). And they are doubling at a rate of 49.33 hours. Oh yes, there are Beta hCG doubling calculators all over the internet, so of course I plugged my numbers in as soon as I got off the phone with the nurse. Like I mentioned yesterday, the numbers ideally should be doubling every 48-72 hours at this point. So I am right where I need to be! Excellent.

I go back Wednesday for yet another beta... is this really happening?!

OK, I'm satisfied.

2011-05-22T13:55:00.012-04:00

Today was rather monumental. As I mentioned before - the last time we had a 2nd beta on a Monday, I took a test the Sunday before and noticed the 2nd line had faded. It was still there, but significantly less so. I wasn't expecting today's test to go backwards at all, but I just ~~needed~~ wanted that extra bit of reassurance. So there you go...

I'm thinking the line's just not gonna get much darker at this point! I was planning to test again tomorrow, but I really think I am satisfied. People keep saying, "yes, a line is a line - you're pregnant." I know that - I never doubted the fact that it was positive. I just wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Hey, you signed up for crazy with me - I warned ya!

So, I'm starting to *try* to embrace the fact that I'm... pregnant. It's been awkward for me to say those words. Anyone I've told our news to I've said, "We got a positive test!" I haven't actually said, "I'm pregnant!" That just sounds presumptuous and weird. I think maybe I need to see it on the ultrasound screen before I can truly get what's going on inside my body right now! Infertiles often have trouble enjoying pregnancy... when it takes SO long to achieve it, after many failed attempts, it's hard to know what to think of it when it finally happens. You're overwhelmed with excitement, yet handicapped by a constant state of worry that you're going to lose it (again). So you feel a little awkward celebrating and being told "Congratulations!" It's just weird, that's all I can say. A good weird, but weird.

BUT, speaking of what is going on inside my body, I find these week-by-week pregnancy guides super fascinating. It is seriously wicked cool how FAST those microscopic embryos turn into little humans. Right now I'm 4 weeks + 3 days, so I'm in the middle of the 5th week...

If you are in your fifth week, you might not be able to stop yawning [tell me about it] long enough to read this! Sleeping in a jog bra can help the breast soreness [the estrogen pills kicked this one in early]. You may even feel a cramping or a full feeling in your uterus. Some women may also get headaches [YES - these come and go] from a rise in hormones . . .

Your baby's heart will begin to beat this week! It's amazing how much is happening so quickly. A transvaginal ultrasound will show about 90% of the yolk sacs. It is possible to differentiate between the head and the tail of your baby now. By the end of the week that folic acid will be paying off as the neural folds begin to fuse. Average length is 1.5 - 2.5 mm.

How crazy is that? A beating heart ALREADY? Wow. Well, tomorrow is beta #2 and I'm super excited to get those numbers so I can venture into a new realm of crazy... over-analyzing the rise in beta numbers. Ideally, they should double every 48-72 hours (the faster, the better). So if I'm doing the math right, I'm looking for something over 700. After tomorrow, we should have one more beta and then we'll do our first ultrasound sometime between the 6th and 7th week. Eeks!

Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend... I'll be back tomorrow with beta #s!

Above photo and text from about.com

Yep, still there.

2011-05-21T09:25:00.003-04:00

Let's just go ahead and get the crazy out of the way this morning...

Even darker today! (I promise I'll stop this pee stick madness after Monday.)

But also, I FINALLY got the video and pics up from transfer day, so go check it out!

Beta Results, Please...

2011-05-20T11:40:00.001-04:00

244!!!

at 9dp5dt (9 days past 5-day transfer <-- meaning a 5-day old embryo)

I'm in total shock. I was *hoping* to get over 100, so I'm incredibly thrilled with this number. If you aren't familiar with beta/HCG numbers, read up here. It's mostly IF-speak! Do they even do blood tests for fertiles?! Anyway, you can bet your britches we'll keep testing on pee-sticks over the weekend so I can ensure that 2nd line stays there. Am I mental? Maybe. But for real, I need the reassurance...

The last time we had a "real" positive 1st beta (two years ago after IUI #1), I took a test the day before the 2nd one and the line was significantly lighter (than we had previously seen days before). I tried not to over-analyze it, but my gut told me something was wrong. And sure enough, my levels had dropped when I had my blood drawn the next day. I don't fear that happening at all this time... but I will just feel more at ease seeing two bright lines over the weekend!

I'm so grateful and happy that we've made it THIS far... we're truly celebrating every step, every day. I will go enjoy the weekend, but c'mon Monday!!!!!! Don't think I've ever craved a Monday morning so badly before!

Beta Today!

2011-05-20T05:56:00.005-04:00

Dare I say peeing on a stick each morning has become rather thrilling? It's like our daily scorecard right now. And we went digital today...

Now there's no misreading that one! (Follow the arrows if you're not seeing it.)

And of course we did the normal two-liner to see how we compared to days 1 and 2. Getting darker!!! Right, right?!

So my 1st beta is TODAY! We are getting there super early so I can get a call-back early. Hopefully I will know something by lunchtime... we'll see!

One Day at a Time

2011-05-19T06:51:00.003-04:00

That's our mantra right now.

So far, so good...

It's a *little* bit darker today. (Don't tell me if you disagree. You're just not concentrating hard enough.) But hey, I'm really just jazzed that a 2nd line is still there period. Tomorrow, we're going digital. I've been holding off on that one in fear of it flashing "NOT PREGNANT" too early. It might as well say, "YOU FAILED!" Can't it say something less crushing, like... "MAYBE NEXT TIME?" Anyway, we'll give that one a go tomorrow.

AND tomorrow is my first beta. So I'm of course very anxious to get those numbers. Really my first big goal is to make it past beta #2 with increasing numbers. If you recall, that's where we fell short two years ago. So assuming we can accomplish that, we'll have made it farther than we ever have! But again... one day at a time. I'm really trying to just enjoy being pregnant today and not worry too much about what happens tomorrow. Easier said than done, but the worrying will get me nowhere. I'm still spotting, which I know is not a bad thing necessarily but it still makes me nervous. It's simply out of my control, so what's a girl to do? Just breathe and make it to the next day.

Thanks again for all your sweet comments, emails, and tweets yesterday! Each one made me smile! I so appreciate the love and support! xoxo

If you stand on your head and squint your eyes...

2011-05-18T08:17:00.006-04:00

...can you see what I see?!

We've actually been testing since Sunday, per my sweet husband's prodding. I told him this was useless so early, but whatever. We still had like six of the cheapo tests. Nothing, nothing, nothing. And then yesterday morning, after seeing nothing, I thought I saw the faintest hint of a 2nd line when I was later throwing away the test. I mean, anyone less neurotic would not have seen it. And I convinced myself that it meant nothing. I was feeling crappy yesterday and starting to spot. I was beginning to think this indeed was another bust.

But this morning we clearly got two positives - one on el cheapo test and one on First Response. You can definitely see the 2nd lines here in the pic but it's more clear in person - I promise. I keep looking at them to make sure I'm not hallucinating. I think I asked the hub, "do you see them?" like 50 times.

Ahhh... still in total shock right now I think. I absolutely detest taking HPT's, so to see two lines this morning was pretty unreal. It's been two years since we've seen a positive. Even with our last chemical pregnancy on the 1st IVF round, we were never able to get a positive on a home test. So this is definitely progress! Of course it's early, anything can happen, yada yada yada... we know that all too well. But this is a step in the right direction and we will celebrate every step! Thanks again for all the prayers and encouragement along the way.

And yeah, I promise I'll get the pics and video, etc from the transfer up at some point. As many of y'all know, blogger was a mess last week and I just haven't gotten around to it this week yet. Hopefully tonight!

Precious Babes

2011-05-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

The transfer went perfectly! My lining looked beautiful and so did our TWO sweet embryos!

Over the last couple of days I was hoping Dr. T would be comfortable putting two in (vs. 1) - it just felt like the way to go. And sure enough, he was all about it. More video and pics to come, but for now I'm going to take it easy and concentrate on baking these sweet little buns.

Once again, thanks so much for all the love and prayers!

FET Video Diary: Transfer Day

2011-05-11T20:00:00.015-04:00

We thought we'd be able to film inside the transfer room - Dr. T was cool with it - but, the facility itself has strict regulations against it, so no dice. But we were allowed to get a few pics in there! And we did get some footage before and after...

Everything went smoothly aside from the fact that my bladder was about to BURST! The nurse actually let me pee a *little* bit because I was overly full. There was a "difficult transfer" ahead of us that backed our time up a bit. Any other appointment, no biggie. But when you've got to maintain a full bladder, well... NOT fun! But of course we made it through fine. All is good!

Here are a couple of pics of the ultrasound screen...

The reason for the full bladder is that it allows them to differentiate between the bladder and uterus on screen so the doctor can direct the catheter (carrying the embryos) to the money spot. This isn't the greatest pic, but this is an actual screen shot from the ultrasound where you can see the embryos going in! The bright white spot the arrow is pointing to is the fluid containing the embryos, so we get to watch it as they go in. How COOL is that?!

And here's a look back into the lab. This is where all our sweet babes are sleepin' on ice! That's actually Graham back there, not Peter. Peter was sick the day of our transfer. He was in the lab, but was staying away from patients. Aw, we missed you Peter! But Graham was very cool too. All the embryologists have excellent accents.

The lab is literally right next to the transfer room. When we first get into the transfer room and set up on the exam table, the embryologist comes in and shows us our embryos on screen and tells about their quality, etc. Then he loads the catheter in the lab and brings it out as soon as Dr. T gives him the go-ahead. The lights are off (which is why all our pics are so dark) so the little babes aren't disturbed. Once Dr. T transfers the embryos, he gives the catheter back to the embryologist to verify that no embryos were left in the catheter. All clear! And it's done.

And that, my friends, is where the magic happens.

Hooray, It's Transfer Day!

2011-05-11T12:36:00.001-04:00

So many things running through my crazy head this morning... Like did I take all my meds? Yes, of course. Did I bring my big water bottle? Yep, sitting right here beside me. Will they remember to thaw our embryos today? Pretty sure they've done this before.

I'm not as freaked out about the full bladder ordeal (you have to arrive with a full bladder for the procedure) this time, but it still makes me a little nervous. I have been running to the bathroom like every 30 minutes the last couple of weeks, so I have purposely tried NOT to drink a lot of water this morning. I'll save the chugging for go-time. It's weird though because at all my "normal" ultrasounds, they send you in a room to change and tell you to empty your bladder. So today I will have to also go into a room to change - that has a toilet - but I'm NOT allowed to pee. When your bladder is about to burst and there's a toilet in front of you and your pants are off, you literally have to repeat to yourself over and over, "don't pee, don't pee, don't pee." Well, at least I do.

Anyway, aside from those silly anxieties, we are SUPER excited for today! I feel great about it and my stomach is all in knots (in a good way). I cannot wait to see our babe(s) on screen! Still not sure how many we're transferring... it will be a game time decision based on the quality of the embryos. Just praying for wisdom that we make the right decisions along with our doctor.

We will be recording whatever we can of the transfer, so I'll be back at some point to post the video and of course, a pic of the embryo(s)! Thanks so very much for all the sweet comments, tweets, emails, phone calls, and prayers - I appreciate every single one SO much!

Time to Defrost!

2011-05-10T15:47:00.001-04:00

It's finally here... less than 24 hours now! Our transfer is scheduled for 2:30pm tomorrow. Since I got an afternoon time, I'm going to go on in to work tomorrow morning before my appointment and then take the rest of Wednesday and all day Thursday off to stay horizontal. I know bed-rest doesn't technically make all that much difference - but better safe than sorry. So I'm just going to take it easy, load up on protein, and give my uterus lots of pep talks.

I had my last dose of Lupron this morning, finished up my Medrol, and I'll also finish up the Doxycyline tonight. I will stay on the same dosage of Estrace and progesterone (the big nasty shots) indefinitely. So far, only one of the PIO shots has really hurt. I think we just hit the wrong spot. But I still get anxious before each one. Will that ever end?! I found a good video done by a nurse with general instruction on intramuscular shots - definitely some good tips if you find yourself having to do these PIO shots or another IM shot - check it out. The hub literally took a sharpie and drew the 4 quadrants on my bum before giving me the 3rd shot... too funny.

I had my last round of acupuncture today before the transfer.... it's always a good time to relax, breathe, and talk to God. There's no rush... I've got like 30 needles stuck in me so I'm sure not going anywhere. It was good quality prayer time today. My prayers aren't so much the "please make this work!" kind. They're more often the "lead me, guide me, hold me" kind of prayers. Whatever happens, just give me peace. That's really all I need. But I will say I feel VERY good about this cycle. I never say things like "I know this one will work!" Because I don't. But I do feel great about tomorrow. I know I'm doing everything I can possibly do and the rest isn't up to me. And I don't want to think about it not working because really there's no point in that kind of thinking. Basically, I just do not like to speculate either way. We're literally just taking this step by step. So we'll figure out the rest when it comes.

FET Video Diary: Progesterone, Take 2

2011-05-07T23:00:00.004-04:00

Holy CRAP, my right butt cheek hurts. The first shot was rather easy peasy, aside from the soreness and insomnia that followed. But this second attempt got that muscle good. Dear me. I had to brighten up this video during editing, so that's why my 'puter screen looks like something out of Tron. So yeah, excuse the quality but it's indeed light years better than the mess I left you with yesterday. You can actually SEE something this time!

Oh and a question for you PIO pros... could the hub be shoving the needle in faster? Looks like he's going in total slow-mo to me. I totally jab my itty needles in hard and fast. Should we do the same with these? Or would that hurt like hell? I'm taking any pointers I can get, so bring it.

Also while messing around on You Tube I found an old video of our beloved embryologist. OMG I'm so glad y'all get to hear his accent. Just listening to it gets me so jazzed up for Wednesday! You can't understand half of what he says, but that's part of his charm. Take good care of our babies, Peter! *Eets gude!* We'll see you in a few days...

Up Next: TRANSFER DAY! Don't have an exact time yet, but it'll be Wednesday! I'll be taking the whole day off and my schedule will be transfer-acupuncture-couch.

Previous: PIO Shot #1, CD16

FET Video Diary: Progesterone

2011-05-06T23:00:00.004-04:00

Disclaimer: This is possibly the worst quality video ever taken. The angle is bad, the lighting is horrible, my hand is covering up half the screen, and you can't really see what's going on. Valuable footage, huh? Well let's just say it was about 9:45pm when we got around to doing this first PIO shot and we were both exhausted and not in the mood to be on camera. So I just consider this REAL reality TV, friends. So it is what it is - and more than anything, I just wanted to document this first one since I've been a little freaked out about it ever since those big ass needles arrived in the mail weeks ago. I think we'll film the next one as well to see if we can get a better angle on my bum... without showing my entire bum to the world!

So yes, just a recap here... today's CD16 and this is the first of (hopefully) many PIO shots that I will have to do nightly. Just as it's called, it is progesterone literally in an oil. So my question is, if 1mL of oil is being injected directly into my butt, do I need to log those calories in?! I mean, for real. I am literally injecting fat into my butt. Because we certainly need more of that! I will continue these injections on past the transfer on Wednesday and if pregnant, I think I may have to do them for the entire first trimester... not sure. One step at a time here!

The shot itself was not bad at all. I rubbed some Lidocaine cream on my bum beforehand and I think that definitely helped. I could tell it was working because after flossing my teeth later, I realized I must not have gotten all the cream off my fingers. I suddenly felt like I was at the dentist... the left side of my mouth was going numb. Well, glad to know it works!

Today I also started the two oral meds I mentioned earlier - Medrol and Doxycycline. I'm still on 2mg of Estrace three time a day (1 orally, 2 vaginally). And I'm still on Lupron right up until the transfer. Post-transfer I will just be on the progesterone and Estrace (estrogen). Oh and baby aspirin - I take one of those daily as well. Not to mention my other million herbs and pre-natal vitamins. I am a pill poppin' fool.

Next Up: Like I said, we'll try to get a better video of the PIO shots, but the next big step is the TRANSFER! Only 4 more days - wow!

Previous: Lining Check, CD12

Yikes!

2011-05-06T07:23:00.010-04:00

It's PIO (progesterone in oil) day #1... I'm super excited to be moving forward with yet another step, but there's no denying I'm a bit skeered of those needles!!!!

Yeah, like 70% excited, 30% freaked out...

Ack! I can do it, I can do it! The hub will definitely be giving me my first shot while I'm horizontal. I've got my Lidocaine cream to rub on my bum beforehand to numb the injection site some. And several have suggested I use a heating pad afterward.

I'm also starting a couple of other oral meds today - Doxycycline (antibiotic for the transfer), and Medrol (steroid used to help the body from rejecting the embryo(s) transferred). The transfer is less than a week away! Eeks! So excited!

As far as how I'm feeling physically... very run down and fat. The "IVF bloat" is no joke during this cycle. I definitely gained some weight with my first (fresh) cycle, but these meds on this frozen cycle are for sure packing on the pounds in a much more noticeable fashion. Actually, it's not a ton of extra poundage - more so extra fluff. I am up 8-10 lbs from my normal weight (depends on the day), but I look like I've gained at least 15lbs. And I basically cannot fit into any of my pants besides jeans. I even resorted back to a pair of cords yesterday (it was freezing yesterday morning!) that I call my "fat cords" because they usually hang off of me. Yeah, I totally had the button rigged with a hair band because I couldn't comfortably button them up. I usually wear a lot of skirts and dresses to work in the summer, but my legs are all torn up from that cupping procedure I mentioned during acupuncture...

Yeah, not attractive. And it's actually looking better today - it was pretty rough the last few days, so that pic is an improvement. I'm going back to acupuncture again today... not sure if she's going to do another round of this stuff. It basically improves circulation. Hey, whatever works!

And yes, also feeling really tired much of the time. It's definitely the Lupron talking. But yesterday I think I caught some sort of a little bug... I was more exhausted than usual and had that tingly skin feeling all up and down my back. And was starting to really feel nauseous. I was totally worthless at work and it was a slow day, so after lunch I packed my stuff up and headed home and straight to bed. (Yeah, no Cinco de Mayo'ing this year for us.) There's no need to push myself right now. I'm trying very hard to take it easy and take care of myself. Feeling more normal today though... at least my current normal. So hopefully whatever I had yesterday has exited my system. I don't have time to be sick!

Alright... gotta get moving. Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! I know Mother's Day is a tough one for the infertiles. Hugs to you all - I know it can be a very lonely sort of day, but you're not alone. So let's put our game face on girls... I will be celebrating my lovely momma this weekend!

FET Video Diary: Lining Check

2011-05-02T22:00:00.003-04:00

This morning we had my one and only ultrasound for this cycle... this is one of the main things that is WAY easier about a frozen cycle versus a fresh one. With a fresh cycle, you have DAILY monitoring appointments with your favorite vaginal wand because they're monitoring the growth of your follicles. With an FET cycle, they're simply checking the lining of the uterus to make sure it's plump enough to move forward. Ideally, they like to see the lining get to 8mm before starting the progesterone shots. Well, today mine measured at 7.5!!! A total victory in our eyes, as mine has never made it past 6.9 on ultrasound before. So we are really, really thrilled with that result. And the good news is, I still have a few days to grow before starting the progesterone on Friday. Once you start that med, the lining kinda levels off.

We were able to get some quick shots of the ultrasound screen, but for whatever reason, those pieces of film were NOT cooperating when we tried uploading them. I finally gave up after multiple attempts. But at least we got SOME video of today. And pardon my I-just-rolled-out-of-bed look here. I promise I showered.

Next Up: We start progesterone and a couple of other oral meds on Friday! Eeks! Stay tuned for a video of the first shot...

Previous: Endometrial Biopsy, CD 24

In case you were wondering...

2011-05-02T16:22:00.002-04:00

Lupron headache + warm Noni juice = the grossest thing ever.

My phone is dead so I can't get on twitter, and I needed to share that. Anyway, had a great ultrasound today! Lining measured at 7.5 - a personal record. We're very thrilled. Afterward, I got my legs butchered up again at acupuncture and started back on the Noni. You know, the super juice that tastes like liquid trash.

Is this getting fun, or what?! I'll be back later with today's video (woot!) and more deets...

Update (5/6/11): STILL trying to get our dang video from Monday to upload. Technical difficulties. Hope you're not holding your breath! ;-)

Myth: If you're infertile, you don't deserve a child.

2011-04-30T08:14:00.010-04:00

Earlier this year I was visiting with a sweet friend who had just received news that her first donor egg IVF cycle didn't work. She was of course devastated and unsure of what to think. We cried over the sadness of it all, laughed over the ridiculous stuff we go through, and wondered where one goes from here. But one thing she said to me, through tears, that has haunted me ever since was this... "Do you ever think, that maybe I don't deserve to have a baby?"

Those words broke my heart. My initial thought was, how could you think that?! Of course you deserve it! But as the hours passed, and even days later, I still found myself thinking about it. Because the truth is, all of us infertiles have felt this way at one time or another. Maybe it was only a fleeting thought, but I doubt there's anyone out there dealing with infertility that's never found themselves asking this very question. Do I even deserve to be a mom?

Well I could go on for pages and pages arguing that no one really deserves to be a mom. So maybe "deserve" is the wrong word. But it's so very easy to trap ourselves in this way of thinking. A woman can't help but feel a sense of shame when her body's not able to do the very thing it was created to do. Infertility is found all over the Bible and with it lots of sorrow, ridicule, jealousy, anger, and disbelief. "Shame" hardly covers it. Some chapters even speak of God closing a woman's womb for one reason or another... so it's no big surprise that we all find ourselves asking if we have done something wrong here. Am I being punished somehow?

Girls, please don't believe this lie. It's nothing short of the devil's work. His #1 mission is to turn our hearts away from God and he'll use anything to plant these lies in our fragile minds. It could be something as simple as a well-meaning friend saying, "well, maybe it isn't meant to be." And the thought festers and festers and we start questioning our every action. Am I wasting my time and money here? There must be a reason I'm not getting pregnant. God must be angry with me. What did I do wrong? Does God even hear me?

I know we all have asked these questions and some of us have struggled to find answers. Well, here's what I believe... God doesn't use infertility to punish us. And God doesn't use fertility to reward us. We live in a broken world and people will continue to have babies - people who "deserve" them (by our own standards) and people who don't. But I do know that God uses infertility to grow our faith. He uses it (and any other big struggle in life - you fill in the blank) to draw us closer to Him. C.S. Lewis wrote that "God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain."

My husband and I are still in the thick of the battle, but I can faithfully say that this journey has already blessed us. I have been connected with other women struggling - people I never would've come across otherwise. God has placed some amazing people in my life to walk along with as we fight on. And He has opened my heart in tremendous ways. I grew up in a Christian home and have always been surrounded by the church, but never before has my faith been on fire like it has been over the last five years. And of course there are ups and downs, even in the good seasons, but I know my God is on this journey with me. It's not about whether I deserve this or not. He knows the desires of my heart because he placed them there, and He hurts along with me. I believe that God has not only used infertility to grow my own faith, but the faith of others as well. Throughout the Bible, God continually uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He works through people. I never would've chosen this path for us, but if God wants to use this journey to do a great work in me and possibly others, how can I not praise Him for that?

I certainly don't presume everyone believes what I believe. Whatever you believe, please don't let anyone make you feel like you somehow don't deserve to have a child. Look around you - it's obviously not a qualification for parenthood! But if you do find yourself completely consumed with this lie... even if it's just one random night in bed when you're trying to fall asleep... try calling on Jesus to kick the devil's ass to the curb. I honestly have to do this a lot. And it works every time.

Truth: If infertility is part of your story, remember it's just that. It's part of your story, not your entire story. God can see the bigger picture and he does not make us wait without reason. So continue to seek Him and praise Him and know that He has incredible blessings in store for you.

Please click here for more myth-busting posts and more information on National Infertility Awareness Week.

For more general information on infertility, please visit Resolve.

Making Progress

2011-04-28T11:41:00.001-04:00

I know... I am so dang behind on posting. I've just been away from bloggy world and cyber world in general over the last couple of weeks! It really takes me a few weeks to get back into a normal schedule after tax season. I was out of town last week, busy all weekend with Easter festivities (which were awesome!) and this week we had a conference for work that was an overnight thing at a resort with horrid cell reception. So I couldn't even tweet. And on top of all that, it is National Infertility Awareness Week. Any my participation has been lacking, to say the least! BUT, I am planning to get a post up this week. The "theme" that Resolve is throwing out there this year for infertility bloggers is "busting infertility myths." I am choosing to bust the myth that if you're infertile, you don't deserve a child. Sounds harsh, but you must realize that this very thought enters every IF girl's head at one point or another. I know where that thought comes from, and I know how to kick its ass.... so more on that later.

As for now, I just upped my Estrace (estrogen) dose yesterday. It continues to stair-step up over the next couple of weeks. I will increase it again on Saturday. And then my ultrasound is Monday! Very excited to see where my lining is. This past Tuesday I had acupuncture and my doctor did this cupping procedure on my inner ankles to help improve circulation. I am up for WHATEVER works but dammit if I don't look like a leper now. My poor ankles are all butchered up. No big deal, but we've got a wedding tomorrow! No, not the royal wedding (swoon!), but a local one we're attending tomorrow afternoon. I'm thinking my little emerald green cocktail number's not going to cut it. I guess a long dress is my only real answer here... that or some of those heels with the ankle strap thingees to hide my ugliness. But (a) I don't think my frame can pull those off and (b) I don't want to spend money on shoes. I have a gift card to Fab'rik so I'm running over there at lunch to see if I can find a solution. The only long dress I have in my closet is a maxi dress from Old Navy... even if I dress it up I think it's going to be too casual. And I refuse to wear hose with a short dress, so that's not an answer either. Hmmm... I'll let y'all know what I figure out!

But speaking of the royal wedding, my Tivo will most definitely be set for all the festivities in the morning. I haven't been following it too much, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to get enough of it this week! I just find the royals so darn fascinating. Will you be tuning in?!

Also... we braved the mighty storms here last night. Actually, they weren't all that mighty in our neighborhood. Atlanta really didn't get hit too hard as far as I could tell. But the hub and I were glued to the television till nearly midnight. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with all the families in Alabama and other regions that had severe damage. How terribly sad and frightening... did any of y'all have significant storm damage?

FET Update on Good Friday!

2011-04-22T08:30:00.009-04:00

Ahhh... I've been away from the computer for three whole days. I didn't even log in to online banking for like a 48 hour period - that's got to be a personal record. My mom and I took a girls' trip over to Birmingham this week as a post-tax-season getaway. We had a fabulous time! We stayed at a great B&B right in town (the ONLY one in town, actually) and had a fun couple of days exploring the city. Our best discovery while there? This amazing spice store - Penzey's! I had never heard of it before. We were in there over an hour sniffing away and loading our baskets. Why Atlanta doesn't have one of these, I don't know - but one of the ladies there who helped us said they're looking for a spot in Atlanta! Oh, yes, please come!!!

I also left my Moo Goo diet behind as soon as we crossed the state line. I seriously ate more bread in the last three days than I have in the last six months. No for real - that is not an exaggeration. I ate ridiculous amounts of gluten and dairy-full goodness. But vacation's over and I'm going to be good now! I've got to get my oven bake-ready, so I'm really going to be good. After one final hoorah last night over margaritas with the hub, I'm going to stick to my guns going forward.

So yesterday was officially FET cycle day #1 (hence my need to get back on the wagon)! I called my nurse while on the road back to Atlanta. They sent me my protocol info for all my meds. And our transfer is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11th!!! Wow, less than three weeks now. I stay on Lupron right up until the transfer, but they cut my dose back to 5 units (was on 10 units). So I did my first dose of 5 units this morning. I also start the Estrace (estrogen) today. The dosage will go up little by little, but right now I'm doing 1mg by mouth in the morning, and 2mg vaginally at night. Yep, that's just as fun as it sounds - but nothing I'm not used to.

My ultrasound to check my lining will be Monday, May 2nd. We're really praying for some fabulous lining here! I know I will be a bit anxious that morning to see how I measure up, as this has always been a weak area for me. And then the progesterone shots with the big-ass needles should begin later that week. Exciting stuff!

The only thing not-so-exciting about all this is the extra fluff around my belly. I've already gained 5lbs (and I'm sure my calorie fest over the last couple of days will only help matters!) and now that I'm starting the Estrace, I'll really start puffing up. So yeah, I've totally been hiding under "blousy" tops lately. Which is tough considering 75% of my spring and summer wardrobe is made up of form-fitting tanks. So basically I keep rotating the same three boring outfits. Whatever... it's all worth it!

I hope you all have an excellent GOOD FRIDAY! We'll be at Gwinnett Church tonight for the church's first official service! Super exciting... we had a gathering last night with all the volunteers for this weekend. Had to be over 200 people there! We're all looking forward to seeing how many people come this weekend. We just have no idea! There are about 1,100 seats set up with room for more. The hub thinks there will be standing room only - I hope he's right! So excited to be a part of this church from the very beginning. And while I'd love to sport a cute Lilly dress for Easter Sunday, I have to admit I'm glad to hide my FET belly behind this T-shirt...

Locals... click below for info on services for this weekend! It's going to be incredible, so come join us!

Happy April 15th!!!

2011-04-15T08:13:00.001-04:00

Yeah I know the technical deadline this year isn't till Monday, but it's officially party time at our office! Woot woot!

FET Video Diary: Rough It Up

2011-04-13T22:00:00.001-04:00

Today's video might make you nauseous since the bulk of it was filmed in the car. So there's your warning. We had my "roughin' up" procedure today with the doctor and I'd be lyin' if I said it was pleasant. Thankfully, it was rather quick, but I nearly passed out when the nurse unveiled all the test tubes and tools on the tray for the doctor. It looked like they'd be camping out in my uterus for a good six months with all those gadgets.

So there's no putting a bow on it... this morning sucked. You can see my mood go from fairly cheerful (at least for that early), to nervous, to upset, to doing-my-best-to-crack-a-smile. And no, I'm not rubbing my boob while on the exam table. Though it sure looks like it. Not sure what the hell I was doing. All I know is that as soon as the doctor left the room, I broke out in tears. And I am not a cryer! I'm blaming the drugs.

It's definitely been one of those "why the hell do I have to do all this" kind of days. No worries though... I'll be fine. I just have these days sometimes. We'll find better perspective tomorrow. For now, I think I'll just wallow a little bit. With some cookie cake. Oh wait - already did that... two slices today. Sorry, moo goo.

Next up: Yeah, I don't know. My ultrasound most likely. They'll be doing mine a little earlier than most to get a head start on monitoring my lining.

Previous: First dose of Lupron, CD 21

Costco Favorites

2011-04-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

If you don't know of my torrid love affair with Costco, you haven't been around long enough. I could spend hours in the place ooohing and aahhhing. And it turns out they have some great products to keep me going strong on my Moo Goo diet. I know some of you are also gluten-free and/or dairy-free, so I just wanted to share some of my favorites!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my acupuncturist recommended I get this cereal. And I am in love! I eat it every morning with almond milk. It's very filling and packs a good protein punch with the seeds (Dr. Liu is ALL about the seeds).

Individual tubs of hummus are available at Costco and they make a great snack with these gluten-free crackers. Kinda pricy, but they last a while for me. I can sometimes get a bag at the grocery with a coupon for a better deal, but most often the big box ends up being cheaper. They've got a nutty taste to them due to the seeds. Again with the seeds!

I mentioned almond milk. We've ditched the cow milk and use almond for drinking, cooking... and everything we used to use cow milk for. I've tried a few brands and this one is my favorite. I don't like it super sweet and the Silk brand Original flavor suits me best. I did a fist pump when I started seeing it at Costco. It's normally $3.50ish at the grocery, but Costco sells a pack of three for like $7 or $8. Even with grocery store coupons, the Costco price is tough to beat.

The very BEST deal I've found is on this organic gluten-free chicken broth. I've seen these sold at every grocery at an average of $4 for a 32oz box. Costco has a pack of SIX for less than $10. Um, that's a $14 savings. We do a lot of crockpot meals, so I actually go through a good bit of chicken broth. A lot of things at Costco are not cheaper than the groceries, but occasionally you'll find a real gem like this and you want to tell everyone!!!

We do a LOT of tacos and Mexican fare in our family. So finding a good taco seasoning mix to have on hand was essential. Honestly, my favorite is the Taco Bell brand - I just love the particular taste of it. But sadly, gluten. In fact most taco mixes, chili mixes and the like that are pre-packaged have gluten-full flour in them. So I was excited to find this ginormous container of taco seasoning at Costco that is gluten-free. McCormick uses corn meal instead of flour as a thickener. I've also got a good recipe for make-your-own mix, but as much as we do Mexican, I've got to have a quick option at the ready!

Other "regulars" in my Costco cart are ground turkey (much cheaper than I've found in any grocery), nuts and nut mixes/snacks (definitely cheaper to get nuts here vs. the grocery), tortilla chips, and Costco brand salsa. We generally get our meats at Costco except for chicken. I always get my chicken cheaper at the grocery when on sale. I won't pay more than $1.99/lb for chicken breasts. I also get my eggs and cheeses (for the hub) at Costco. I get produce there sparingly... I always get a big bag of onions - very good price. Everything else just depends on the price and how it looks. And well, how fast we can consume it. Do we really need 15 lemons?

Other than a few things, I really do not buy a lot of high dollar gluten-free products. I know Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have a ton of that kind of stuff, and even my Kroger and Publix have decent GF sections but I don't bother with most of it. Really I just cook a lot of the same stuff I used to with minor alterations to make it all GF and DF. We use GF pasta but I get the cheap stuff at Walmart ($2 for spaghetti). I eat corn tortillas instead of flour. If I make meataloaf, I use oats instead of bread crumbs. We do a lot of brown rice. I've learned to use mayo a lot of make things creamy. But am I going to buy a $6 box of gluten-free cookies? Um, no. I just won't eat cookies. (Except when I say SCREW IT! and eat them anyway.)

I am always discovering new fun things at Costco, so if any of you know of some goodies that I might like - please share!!! Mmm... I'm already salivating over my next Costco trip. I got the new coupon book in the mail, so we'll be hittin' it up later this week!

FET Video Diary: Lupron

2011-04-10T13:15:00.007-04:00

Just for kicks, the hub and I thought it'd be fun to log this whole FET (frozen embryo transfer) process on video. You know, kinda like how couples try to spice things up with a sex tape. Hopefully you'll find it informational or maybe entertaining at best, but really we plan to force our kids to watch these videos when we throw them in timeout.

So today is the official kick-off! Cycle Day 21. I started my Lupron injections this morning and will continue those until Dr. T tells me to stop. Aside from a quick procedure next week, my next instructions are to call the nurse when I start my next period.

Drug Info: Leuprolide Acetate Injection
Dosage: 0.1 cc (10 units) every morning

Next up: early Wednesday a.m. appointment with Dr. T

That's right... while you're enjoying your morning coffee, I'll be in stirrups having my uterine lining roughed up. Stay tuned!