31 weeks

first of all.....the nausea is back! I haven't thrown up yet but I've gotten close a few times. Why is it back? Is it because he is big enough to press on my stomach? It happens the most in the car or when I haven't eaten in a while. Blood sugar issues? Who knows but I don't like it. Go away nausea. Go away. (my doctor did tell me to start prevacid daily bc she thinks it's acid reflux bc he's pressing on everything)

In spite of all that, we got a TON done this week. Taylor has most wednesday's off since he works saturdays instead. This wednesday we had a date together, he went to work for a few hours to get overtime in the morning and I slept in, then we went to lunch and a movie (we saw ride along which is hilarious) I figured this might be the last time we get a chance to go to a movie before nugget comes so I wanted to take that opportunity. Then we came back home and worked on Henry's room a bit. We hung his peg board which looks so cute!

Taylor and his dad made a frame to go on the wall to put behind the peg board so you have space to get the hooks in and out.

Then we mounted the peg board to the frame.

Decorate! (ignore the tools on the dresser top)

 

Here is his lampshade. See how I am tying in the colors into each space. I have green in his lamp table, white in the shade and pillows, brown in the accessories on the table and his chair and ottoman are brown and navy in the wall and pillows.

I've done the color matching again over here. Brown in the changing pad and pegboard and accessories, green in the penant banner and monster painting, white in the dresser and painting and baskets and navy in the wall. There will be more on the pegboard and a shelf above with vintage toy trucks, cars and airplanes on it.

 I still have to decide what to put on the pegboard for sure but a few baskets are in place already, one for burp rags, one for wipes. The "where the wild things are" painting I did, a galvanized metal letter H, a rusty old wrench and a few paper penants with his name on them are going on it so far. I want a large mouthed mason jar on there full of pacifiers and a vintage looking clock too. My mom also framed his "Henry" puzzle that I made to announce his name at Christmas so I'll put that up as well.  We also got his wall mapped out for his large white photos I made to go above his crib and hung those :) They look awesome!

 And here again with the color matching, white in the pictures, bedding and curtains, brown in the crib, navy in the wall and bedding and green in the bedding (his sheet is sage green and so is the back of his comforter).

 

As far as the pictures go, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but my friend Kent found the pictures online for me, resized them, turned them black and white and turned them all verticle. Then we sent them to Sam's club to be printed in large poster sizes for $5 each. I got the frames from Hob-Lob 50% off so they were $15 each. Not bag for $20 each when they should have been $100 each to be framed. Thrify....yes I am.

Things are progressing nicely, I just want to know when his chair will come in! I am dying to see it in place and it will help me know what to put on the walls over in that corner. We also bought his crib mattress this week so his bed is done. My mom brought over his lamp shade today and his curtain valance will be done this week as well, it was a smidge too small because we didn't account for the way the curtain rod came out from the wall.  I just have to organize everything now, which is so fun! woo hoo!

Other than that, my friend Allison and I threw a suprise baby shower for another girl at our work on wednesday night. Everyone working brought a treat to share, Allison made cupcakes and I made corn dip. We collected money and went shopping for her and decorated our break room. It was so much fun to see her face and shower her with gifts. Ironically she is due the same day as me with a little boy :) I'll even throw in a little craft tutorial for you!

 Here is the break room decorated with gifts and treats.

 

 Me and Kristen and our baby boy bumps. Due the same day!

 

Here is your craft tutorial. Allison wanted cute cupcake toppers for her cupcakes she made (which are adorable by themselves) but we couldn't find anything we liked. So I said "Oh, I'll just make some!" Any excuse for a craft right?

1) So I just found an object in my house that was the shape I wanted- circle. i.e. paint bottle

2) Trace bottle onto cardstock color of your choice- blue and white

3) get stickers that you want to use to decorate (and I used my cricut for the letters)

4) rubber cement two circles together with a toothpick sandwiched in between.

5) add stickers or whatever you want to the circles to match your theme.

6) stick into cupcakes...TA DA!

And speaking of baby showers, I have a baby shower for work next sunday. I can't wait! It's sports theme since it's a joint shower with me and my good friend Lisa (who has the same birthday as me, and a due date 2 days after mine, also pregnant with a little boy). We are having all sports concession stand foods, Cotton candy machine, fresh popcorn, soft pretzles with nacho cheese, nachos, football shaped coco krispie treats. It's going to be a blast! and it happens to be the afternoon of superbowl sunday.

Chalkboard time!

HA I look massive and this week I don't care because I like my polka dot shirt and my chalkboard.

How far along? 31 weeks, baby is the size of a pineapple. I have the first of my weekly sonos on wednesday so we will get to see how big he is.

Total weight gain: I gained a little bit this week. I am now 6lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight and man do I feel it. It's obviously mostly in my stomach and my boobs so it's all redistributed than it was before but I feel massive.

Maternity clothes? I need a cute outfit for my maternity pictures february 12th and it's stressing me out. I did find a cute blue blouse and a green shirt I like so I might choose one of those.

Sleep: I slept for 13 hours strait the other day. But I still get up every 3-5 hours to pee, usually I can fall right asleep again but not always.

Best moment this week: throwing a suprise shower for my friend Kristen at work (who is due the same day as me with a little boy) and getting Henry's nursery futher along.

Miss Anything? Having normal emotional responses to things, sleeping on my belly, walking around without getting tired and taking deep breaths and GETTING OFF THE COUCH LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! I have to like do this weird roll move, awkward. lol. And my back not hurting.

Movement: He's gotten so strong, sometimes his big movements hurt! He is head down and I think he's kind of on his side. He kicks to my right and sometimes gets my ribs but I still LOVE feeling him move.
Food cravings: Orange juice. I can not get enough. I went through a gallon in 36 hours and I got a little pissed when I drank the last glass because I was out. I bought 2 more things of it today and I got so happy to see them in the fridge. (I NEVER drank orange juice or any juice before I got pregnant)

Symptoms: tossing and turning when I sleep, peeing all the time, swelling ankles and feet, feeling huge (is that a symptom?), shortness of breath, low energy. this sharp stabby feeling in my crotch when I get up from laying down (doctor says he is laying low and everything is stretching and getting ready. YIKES!

Belly Button in or out? We will say flat-ish now.

Wedding rings on or off? on but they get a little snug at the end of the day or if I walk with my hands down for a long time. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but sooo emotional, I cry at everything and it's really really annoying and this nesting thing is just ridiculous, it makes me moody and grouchy if I can't get things done ASAP. But I have made good progress and Taylor is suuuuper helpful so I'm happy about that.

Looking forward to: My next sono (Janurary 29th). And finishing his nursery, I'm so eager and anxious to get it done. It's coming along nicely. I want his freaking chair to come!!!!

30 weeks

Nesting.....
I' ve never understood that or how much power it has over a pregnant woman. Our teacher of our childbirth class saturday said this "Nesting is an odd thing. Guys, If she HAS to get the crib put together TONIGHT or if she has this uncontrollable urge to hang a picture in the baby's room or do loads of little nugget laundry....just do it or get out of her way and let her do it" It's true and It's so frustrating, I feel like I have absolutely no control over my urge to clean. I have literally cried (thrice) at my inability to finish the tasks on my mental to-do list for cleaning our house. We are not hoarders, we do not live in filth, our house is pretty dang clean with the exception of dishes in the sink and laundry piled up in the laundry room. But, this week I was laying in bed after a long 12 hour shift and I couldn't sleep. I just laid there thinking "wow, you are wasting your entire day laying here, GET UP! CLEAN!"  I had to get up right then and clean....speaking of which, I'm getting the urge again now, it's like an itch. I simply can't stand to see my house out of order these days.  It's a fine balance between energy (and breath) and how much it drives me crazy that determines what gets done and when. And we aren't talking stuff like "oh the dishes in the sink or the trash in the bathroom is full". We are talking all of that AND the baseboards are looking a bit too dusty, there is dog hair in the cracks of the steps, the ceiling fan blades need to be wiped down and every surface of every bathroom needs to be BLEACHED....NOW! But, I've got this killer "cleaning house" playlist that I put on and it has everything from Kenny Loggins- danger zone to jock jams to old Britney Spears and some Doobie Brothers, Journey, Fleetwood Mac and REO Speedwagon mixed in. It makes me happy and fills my house as I go nuts like a mad woman getting things done. Then I get tired and stop and feel like I've done nothing and want to get up and keep going....here comes the part where we take into account my energy level and amount of breath in my lungs (which is not alot these days). If there is enough of both, then I get up and keep going and if not, I just try my best to ignore it for now. I've got the day off though and Cora is roaming around with a string of silver tinsel hanging from her mouth left over from the Christmas decorations I put away last week. It's my cue to get going again. Thanks Cora.

see her tinsel?

Other than that we didn't do much this week. Just hangin out and waiting for the nugget to come!

CHALKBOARD TIME!

 

I feel massive, thank you very much.  


How far along? 30 weeks, baby is the size of a cucumber. 15.2t to 16.7 inches long and up to 3.8 lbs! Whoa! We will get an official size next week at our sono.

Total weight gain: I just keep going up and down. I am staying within 2 pounds up or down of my pre-pregnancy weight still.

Maternity clothes? Getting stuff ready to go for my hospital bag! I'll do a post about that all by itself in a bit :)

Sleep: Exhausted, weird dreams and sleepless nights, getting up to pee the second I get comfortable. Not a good combo.

Best moment this week: Finishing munchkin's bedding with my mom and grandma.

Miss Anything? Having normal emotional responses to things, a glass of wine, sleeping on my belly, walking around without getting tired and taking deep breaths and GETTING OFF THE COUCH LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! I have to like do this weird roll move, awkward. lol.

Movement: He's gotten so strong, sometimes his big movements hurt!
Food cravings: Shrimp tomatoe bisque from O'Neil's. I can't stop thinking about it. And I made a funfetti cake this week just because it sounded good :)

Symptoms: Back pain, tossing and turning when I sleep, swelling ankles and feet, feeling huge (is that a symptom?), shortness of breath

Belly Button in or out? We will say flat-ish now.

Wedding rings on or off? on but they get a little snug at the end of the day or if I walk with my hands down for a long time. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but sooo emotional, I cry at everything and it's really really annoying and this nesting thing is just ridiculous.

Looking forward to: My next sono (Janurary 29th). And finishing his nursery, I'm so eager and anxious to get it done.


and just because we goof around doing these weekly photo shoots, here is my Jazz Hands pic taylor told me to do.....awkward.

 

29 weeks

Things are feeling more and more real each week, it's really crazy to me.  The fact that there is a HUMAN in my stomach growing and changing and getting ready to walk into our world is really just nuts. It was really really hard to beleive that all of this was really happening when I first got pregnant, I was in shock and I couldn't beleive it was our time, then my belly got bigger and I could start feeling him move and it just started to click, but starting to get baby stuff in our house and starting to celebrate him make it all come together so much more for me. I still walk in there and think "wow, I'm gonna be a mother soon" and then I get overwhelmed and turn the light off and walk back out :). I have TONS of projects that are left unfinished in there and I don't really know where to start, alot of them are unfinished because I need Taylor for the half that isn't done like hanging things and putting stuff on the walls etc. But we better get going because.....
I was thinking the other day that I will be considered full term (36 weeks) in 5.5weeks. WHAT?!? This week just kinda slammed me in the face, (or maybe it was sinus pressure I felt in my face because I was fighting a sinus infection all week and Taylor had bronchitis and a sinus infection too....fun, not.)

Taylor at urgent care....

Anyshways, we are both on antibiotics now and feeling better, thank god. But back to full term biz....we had our first child birth class on saturday or as Taylor called it the "all-day-crotch-a-thon" (there were only 2 crotch shots in 4 hours, pretty good considering it was a day full of crotch talk).  We weren't initially going to take a class, afterall, I have literally seen hundreds of deliveries, BUT like I've said before I come in with the NICU team as the mom is pushing and the baby is born. I don't know what a contraction feels like, when to go to the hospital, ways to cope with pain (until I get my epidural....hopefully) or what to expect before or after delivery. Neither does Taylor, so we decided that we should take the class, it's free and why not, we have nothing to lose. Knowledge is power friends.  So we went, and surprise there are alot of things that we already knew (or at least I did), and ALOT of things that I didn't know. So it ended up being great, now at 8am on a saturday morning for 4 hours, not the most ideal timing but I did get a long massage out of the deal while Taylor learned some pressure points, calming massage techniques and pain relief spots for me. SCORE! We have one more next week and it concludes with the tour of Labor and Delivery and that is where Taylor will get to see everything which I am super excited about. Again, knowledge is power friends and he is my level head in life, so I need him to be as calm and cool and collected about everything as he can be because honestly if I'm in pain, I might be freaking out.

After that....Taylor dropped me off at my maid of honor/ best friend's parents house for my first baby shower!! yay! Nothing is more fun to me than having an excuse to celebrate something, especially a new life. It was so wonderful to have so many amazing family and friends there to get excited about Henry with. My sister and Katie hosted it and they decorated it so incredibly cute. There was a burlap penant banner (be still my heart) with Henry's name on it (that I will use in his room somewhere), they hung up some onesies on a closeline, an amazing diaper cake and even a punch bowl filled with blue bubble bath punch with a rubber duck in it. CUTE!!! Sorry these are blurry, they were taken with my mom's crap phone because I forgot my camera....ugh

 

 me with the hostesses

 

 

 They had all the guests draw a number out of a basket and whatever number they got, they had to make a birthday card for Henry to open on that year, 1-21 I beleive. Now I have to keep track of them and remember to get them out each year for him, but what a cute idea. They they wrote funny notes or helpful advice onto diapers for us to read while we change him in the middle of the night. They also played a 10 question guessing game with questions about my pregnancy, Taylor and my birth weights, and baby Henry and the people that got the most right won and got cute prizes. And boy did we got showered! We got so many wonderful gifts, I feel so incredibly blessed. Almost everyone there was a mom themself so we got some cute clothing but ALOT of stuff we really need from nursing pads and baby tylenol to our pack n' play to baby bowls and spoons and cabinet locks for when he is older. People are so smart! So thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that came! We love you dearly.

In other news, the basinette is set up in our room :) It makes my heart happy to look at it just waiting for a nugget to snuggle in it.

I painted this on a small canvas to hang on munchkin's wall. I love the book where the wild things are and so I needed a little nod of a quote in his room :)

**more pictures to come soon**

Chalkboard Time

How far along? 29 weeks, baby is the size of an acorn squash. But really that means a small bowling ball to me, because thats how he feels inside lol.

Total weight gain: I just keep going up and down. I am staying within 2 pounds up or down of my pre-pregnancy weight. 

Maternity clothes? yes, I got a super soft black sleep dress and a thin neon pink robe from target for cheap to take to the hospital as well. I also got some cute sleep bras and I am really starting to plan my hospital bag and try to get things together for it. I'm getting excited. 

Sleep: I'm soooo tired. I could barely keep my eyes open the other day to help Taylor get my to-do list done so he made me take a nap (which I loved him for!) and he cleaned out the entire garage while I slept and he even helped me put the basinette together to go by our bed. I have the best husband! He takes such good care of me. (I also have been sick so that doesn't help).

Best moment this week: My baby shower!!!!

Miss Anything? having normal emotional responses to things, a glass of wine, sleeping on my belly. 

Movement: Yep! he's getting strong, it doesn't hurt but sometimes it's uncomfortable. It's the weirdest but most amazing thing ever. He was going nuts all night last night at work, just rolling around and knees and elbows everywhere, it's hilarious to watch.
Food cravings: Nothing really. I still eat apples and orange juice every single day though. And usually a bag of popcorn too.

Symptoms: Back pain, tossing and turning when I sleep, swelling ankles and feet, feeling huge (is that a symptom?) 

Belly Button in or out? We will say flat-ish now.

Wedding rings on or off? on but they get a little snug at the end of the day or if I walk with my hands down for a long time. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but sooo emotional, I cry at everything and it's really really annoying.

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery, which will hopefully happen on sunday and my next sono (Janurary 29th).

and just because she is cute and I love her....

 

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Since I posted the link to the blog on my facebook and instagram we have gone from 40 hits to 8000 hits in a matter of several weeks. I know alot of people are secretly reading along, which is great (no worries, I am a secret blog stalker too) and alot of people have told me personally they follow my blog and love to hear updates. My neighbors, coworkers, family members, friends, college aquaintences etc. read and have told me so. Which is so fun! But honestly, you would not believe how many random responses, emails, texts and so on that I have recieved from some of you readers thanking me for sharing our story and sharing your own with me. I love hearing from you all and hearing what you have to say! I also get TONS of questions about our story and pregnancy and infertility. It's amazing to me how many people are dealing with the same things we did or are starting to worry they are going to walk the same path or know someone that is. The entire point of the blog (like I have said before) was to update our friends/family on our pregnancy and little man but Taylor and I both firmly beleive there is a reason we went through what we did to get this baby and keeping our story a secret isn't something we personally feel makes sense to us. If we help someone else, it's worth going through it and then sharing it. I understand it's a very private thing for most people and I also understand that too. We didn't tell many people at all what we were going through at the time because it is awkward and weird to talk about and because we found out very very quickly that so many people have opinions they aren't afraid to share with you about what you are doing. There are people who beleive it is going against God to get help getting pregnant and had no issue telling me so. I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut if I didn't want to hear negativity. But, I also think there are many people too afraid of those negative responses to tell anyone so they don't get to ask questions (I sure didn't). So with that, I will share some of the FAQs I have gotten along the way and my answers. Please feel free to ask more and I will do my best to answer them.

1) How long did you and Taylor try to get pregnant before knowing something was wrong?

We technically tried for 8 months off birth control pills before we could get help, but I wasn't having regular cycles (which you pretty much have to have to get pregnant) so I knew something was wrong the entire time. I had also suspected from the time I was in high school that I would have trouble getting pregnant because I never had regular cycles even then and had to be put on birth control at 17 to help with that.

2) How long did you wait to get professional help? When should I get professional help if I think there is a problem?

I firmly beleive it is never too early to be open and honest with your doctor and ask TONS of questions. Because I had suspicions that we would have trouble, we made an appt before we even stopped taking the pill (a family planning appt if you will). I went in armed with thousands of questions and basically walked out with a list of the things I shouldn't do in early pregnancy in case it happened quickly and a good luck pat on the shoulder from my doctor. But I got a lot of my questions answered about what to expect and how it all works. You don't just go home and stop taking the pill and the next day wind up "with child". I wish it were that easy but there is a thing called timing and it has to be pretty perfect or you just have to be lucky. Either way I felt a little more "in the know" with what to do and expect and think about everything. I started charting my symptoms and cycles and trying to pay attention to my body at that time. Talk to your doctor! They can help.

Now in addition to that, we waited 3 months after stopping the pill to go back to the doctor and find out what was wrong because I hadn't had a period in that long and that isn't healthy. 90 days isn't good for your system and if you go longer than that your doctor needs to know. She gave me a pill to make me start my period and told me to come back if it didn't start to get regular after that. Well it started after the pill, but I again went another 164 days without a period before I could get in to see her again (she was booked solid) and basically she told us that my body just doesn't want to use the hormones properly to do the right thing and started investigating why at that point. That was in October of 2012.

3) What happened in your inital exams to figure out what was wrong? Where do they start with a "work up" for infertility?

When we went back to the doctor in October I wasn't expecting them to label me as "infertile" already, I really struggled with that term and the idea of it. Emotionally I already felt defeated and that is the LAST thing you want when you have a long road of tests and trying to go. But we started with very comprehensive blood work. Looked at all of my hormone levels and blood levels, electrolytes, thyroid etc. I had a pap smear and cervical exam. I also had an ultrasound to look inside and see what was going on. They ordered a semen analysis for poor Taylor to make sure he didn't have issues at the same time and try to kill two birds with one stone.

4) What did they diagnose you with? How did they know?

My bloodwork came back pretty much inconclusive which was frustrating. The only thing worse than not being able to get pregnant when you want to, is not knowing why you can't. We were fortunate however to discover that during my ultrasound they saw multiple follicles (the little sacs of fluid that sometimes hold an egg). This is a bad sign, you should only see 1 or 2 during the right time of your cycle as your body prepares to ovulate 1 egg at a time (2 if you get twins). I had 15-20 tiny ones that were immature and none of them were really doing anything but clogging up my ovaries and causing pain. They diagnosed me at that point with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome but that's a whole different hour long conversation to explain. (though, I gladly will if you message me)

4) What were the first steps they had you take to do something about your infertility?

My doctor sent me home that day with another round of the perscription to make me have a period (Provera) and a perscription for clomid to start taking during the first few days of my next cycle to make me ovulate. I was to keep track of any and all symptoms on a calender and let my doctor know how things were going in the process. 3 days later she called and said they found something else on the pictures from my ultrasound and wanted me to come back to the office to discuss it. I went back in, terrified, and they told me I had a small membrane dividing my uterus in half and to stop taking the clomid and DO NOT GET PREGNANT until it could be fixed. If I got pregnant, the baby would only have half of my uterus to grow in and would probably miscarry or delivery extremely early if I got pregnant. YIKES! At that point we were referred and started seeing our reproductive endocrinologist (fancy words for infertility doctor) to help us from then on out. 

5) What are some of the hurtful things people said to you about infertility? I know not everyone agrees with it morally and people have really hurt my feelings with some things they have said, is it just me being sensitive?

No, it's not you just being sensitive, it's only partially that :) People can be so mean. and yes, you are right. Everyone has an opinion on everything. I can't tell you how many times people are even trying to be helpful and it hurt my feelings. Yes, you are going to be more sensitive about it because it's something that is an emotionally driven beast that consumes your life at the time. Trying to get pregnant is just as much as emotional thing as it is physical and that goes for people who are not having trouble too. It's a roller coaster. People need to think before they speak is what it boils down to. I had people tell me that I was going against what God wanted for us. That maybe I wasn't meant to be a mother. "Stop trying so hard" " It'll just happen if you quit thinking about it so much." "You are young, why are you freaking out so much." "You're crazy for putting your husband through that" "I would never do anything you are doing just to have a kid, I would take it as a sign that I shouldn't have any and move on." " The drugs will cause cancer and kill you, is it worth it?" (which is not true btw). "Just adopt, there a million kids that need families, you're being so selfish." "now obviously isn't the right time for you", "You are putting your body through hell, stop forcing it" "Just relax and it will happen" " it obviously isn't working, aren't you tired of trying yet" "you are throwing away so much money"........So see, it isn't just you. It sucks to hear what people think when they don't understand or even try to understand where you are coming from. And word to the wise.....I love the power of positive thinking but trust me in 2 years it has yet to make me ovulate just by itself. Sometimes it takes work and help.

5) It's been really hard for me to watch my friends get pregnant and to go to their baby showers when that's all I want is my own baby. I'm so jealous and I feel aweful, did you go through that?

Oh god yes, I regretfully admit that I "called in sick" or made excuses for missing a few baby showers over the two years we were trying because I couldn't stop crying long enough to put on my makeup to leave the house that day. It was incredibly hard for me to watch people getting pregnant (seemingly all the time) because all you notice when you are trying is pregnant people and babies.  I would sit and cry looking at facebook at my friend's beautiful babies and beautiful bellies out of sheer jealousy. Don't get me wrong I was so ecstatic for them all and so excited to meet their littles, I still went to a lot of baby showers, even threw one for a good friend. Went to the hospital to see a few brand new nuggets of friends and did a lot of trips to Baby's R Us for other people during those 2 years too but it's hard. It's really really hard to not have a deep ugly knot in your stomach of jealousy and guilt for feeling it because you want so badly to celebrate their baby and forget about the lack of your own. It's not their fault you can't get pregnant and everyone of those people were incredibly sensitive to me about it too which was great. I had a friend cry telling me because she felt so bad she got pregnant first. Girls dealing with infertility are happy for other women but just very envious unfortunately. I had to tell a few of my friends who are trying to get pregnant that I had actually gotten pregnant myself and I cried telling them because I felt horrible that it was my turn and not theirs. It's just a heartbreaking thing.

6) A few of my friends complain CONSTANTLY about how much it sucks to be pregnant, don't they know how bad I would love to be them? Did you have people like that? How did you handle it? Did you say anything?

Actually while I was early into trying to get pregnant my doctor announced she was pregnant and made a subtle appology for forgetting something because she was so tired from being in her first trimester, she didn't mean to complain but I was soo mad at her that day. How could she complain when she was writing me a referall for an infertility doc in the same appt. I also had a few people in my life that were pregnant while we were trying that complained about EVERYTHING from being tired, to being sick, to having huge boobs or needing to spend money on their nursery. I wanted to KILL them, and they made me cry a few times. People just need to be careful what they say, I know there are things that suck about pregnancy, I puked 20x/day for 17 weeks strait and I did not have fun but I was thankful I had a reason for getting sick and I only cried about it to Taylor twice, afterall I wanted to be in that situation, I needed to take all that came with it. People asked how I felt all the time and I told them I had been sick but that I was thankful for it. I have tried really really hard not to complain about anything with pregnancy, sure I will talk about different things but I try to be sensitive because some people could be listening that are trying and jealous that I have a reason to be tired, sick etc. The people that hurt me the most were the people that knew I couldn't get pregnant month after month that still complained to me about it. I never said anything outside of "I know you don't feel good but just try be positive and thankful you've gotten this opportunity."

7) How did you work with babies the entire time you were trying to get pregnant? Didn't that put salt into your wound?

Yes and no, first of all I would never do anything else but what I do. I love babies, I love littles and I love my job working with them but I would be lying if I said it wasn't hard to care for babies of drug moms or teenagers who got twins after a drunken one night stand. The people who didn't care about or want their babies hurt me the most because I would do anything to be in their shoes and have a baby, NICU baby or not and they didn't even want theirs. But, what I learned was that babies need lovin and my job was to love the hell out of the ones at work until I got the chance to love my own.

8) What treatments did you try?

provera, synthroid, clomid (4 different doses), femara (2 different doses), progesterone supplements (2 different doses), IUI (Intrauterine insemination), Ovidrel hormone trigger shots, cycle monitoring, blood work monitoring and relaxation techniques, I also had surgery on my uterus and had a month of hormone replacement after that too. We were one cycle away from doing IVF (In vitro fertilization) but got pregnant right before then.

9) what finally worked?

The cycle we got pregnant I took the right doseages of synthroid, Provera, femara, progesterone, baby aspirin, ovidrel hormone trigger shot with ultrasounds and lots of bloodwork monitoring and PERFECT TIMING and God's grace.

Sorry if some of that is TMI, but alot of these are big time repeats from alot of people. If you want to more, I'm pretty much an open book, just shoot me a message, I'd love to help.

28 weeks

This week was awesome. We started the new year with a bang! We were in bed by 9pm and totally missed/didn't care about the ball drop. This pregnant girl is too tired to stay awake until midnight lately and I'm more excited about the fun things coming up in the new year than the actual night itself.

I still wore my festive boots and did my nails for new years though.

 

Back tracking a bit however, I worked a 16 hour shift on sun-monday morning. I came home and crashed and was worn out from my long weekend at work so tuesday I scheduled myself for a prenatal massage with my giftcard my genius husband gave me for christmas as a reward for working so much extra lately. Holy cow was it amazing, the girl did my sholders, neck, arms, hands, legs and feet while I was on my back propped up under warmed comforters in dim lighting with calming music and then had me turn to my side and did my entire back. It was heaven and I am sad it's so expensive or I would do it all the time. That morning was the fun part though, I had our repeat anatomy sonogram to recheck Henry's spine to make sure it still looked out and to check the rest of his anatomy out as well. He does have a right kidney that is slightly enlarged so we will watch that closely. More importantly though they looked at my placenta, his cord and his growth to make sure the blood is flowing as it should and he is getting what he needs from the placenta. (All of this was a follow up to the scare we had at 16 weeks with open neural tube defects based on our very elevated blood work.) I have an appt wednesday with my doctor to go over the results more in depth and decide how to proceed from here. I will start weekly sonograms called BPPs or Biophysical profiles starting the end of january, sooner if my doctor decides he needs them but based on how the high risk doctor was speaking and how big he is I think they will let the original plan stick for now. I am just happy they are watching him. Erika got to go with me to the sono so that was fun for her to be able to see him again and we got some great pics of his cute little face.

 

I know I am biased but I think he is sooo cute already!

 

Yesterday I went to my grandma's house with my mom and we made Henry's bed skirt, comforter, and a pillow for his chair. I love the way they all turned out.

Cutting the fabric out with the pattern for his crib skirt :)

Mom sewing his skirt.

 

Here is his lamp and pillow. His big glider will go here when it comes in.

His crib, crib skirt and  comforter.

My friend Kent also helped me friday night at work to select and order 3 massive prints of an airplane, car and truck all close up artistic shots to hang above his crib. His crib is on a HUGE wall and I needed something big to take up the space without it looking cluttered and I wanted something white to tie in his white dresser (that I had and am too tired and lazy to refinish) with his brown crib. Then his brown chair will tie in with the crib when it comes in. I feel like we are really making progress with his room and it makes me so happy and excited. I just can't wait until march when I can hold him and sit in there with him. Eeek

Here is my inspiration.

But I don't like how they surrounded all 3 with the white line. We won't be doing that.

 

 

  Here are the pictures we chose. I wanted something artistic and mechanical looking but still recognizable and not babyish so he can grow with it. Car, truck and airplane.

 

Here they are framed. They're huge! I can't wait to hang them over his bed.

This next coming saturday we have our first child birth class and then my first baby shower with family and family friends. I am really excited to be with Taylor and talk about all of this birth stuff together with the experts because while I've seen a bajillion deliveries, I don't see the labor and I've never been through it and I'm starting to get kinda nervous. We will get to pre-register for our hospital stay and get that over with so it's one less thing to worry about when it's go time. I'm all about getting things taken care of and crossed off my to-do list.
Chalboard Time!

How far along? 28 weeks, baby is the size of an eggplant. Tuesday at our growth/anatomy sonogram he weighed in at a whopping 2lbs 14 oz, my app says 15in and 2 lbs 8 oz. So we are way ahead which is fantastic news since we have been worried about his growth.

Total weight gain: Weird I know but I am back down 2 lbs so I am 1 pound less than my pre-pregnancy weight again. My appetite has gone to literally nothing lately, I ate one peice of pizza last night and was too full for ice cream which NEVER happens.

Maternity clothes? yep, got some nursing tank tops and some nursing bras for 70% off at Babie's R Us yesterday which is awesome because that crap is EXPENSIVE. I also got a really nice lounge set to take to the hospital that has a nursing cami, robe and comfy PJ pants.

Sleep: I guess this is third trimester, I can't stop sleeping. I have fallen asleep for 45 minute naps on the couch 2 separate times today, once about 1 hour after I woke up and once at my in-laws watching TV. ZOMBIE!!

Best moment this week: Seeing little man and knowing he is big and healthy. My prenatal massage!

Miss Anything? having normal emotional responses to things ugh.

Movement: He has been rolling all over and it's crazy to watch my stomach move but I LOVE IT!!!
Food cravings: baked potatoes, oreos, broccoli cheese chicken casserole.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: A boy 

Symptoms: Back pain, tossing and turning when I sleep, swelling ankles and feet, feeling huge (is that a symptom?) 

Belly Button in or out? we will say flat now.

Wedding rings on or off? on but they get a little snug at the end of the day.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but sooo emotional, I cry at everything and it's really really annoying.

Looking forward to: My Shower!! YAY!