Adventures in Infertility

test

2009-12-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

test

Take Action: Oppose SB 169

2009-03-10T16:43:00.003-04:00

I received an email from the American Fertility Association today about legislation that could impact fertility treatments. This particular legislation is in Georgia, so please ask your Georgia friends to take action this week! If made into law, the bill will limit fertility treatment for many couples along with taking away the right for parents to choose what to do with any frozen embryos after they are done building their family. Full details at the link below.

http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ta_stleg_home

Thin Women PCOS

2009-01-30T23:19:00.002-05:00

As a woman with PCOS, I still read about the condition from time to time. It's not something that magically goes away with or after a pregnancy. I still have symptoms though they rarely are significant enough to bother me. That said, I recently came across a site that caught my attention called soulcysters.com. I would have loved this resource when I was initially diagnosed!

On one of the forums there, I found interesting information about thin women & PCOS (I was originally told that obesity is a common factor in PCOS). I've never read anything that talked specifically about PCOS in thin women. Not only does this article cover treatment in thin women, it talks about potential causes of PCOS in thin women. It's very detailed & lengthy so I wouldn't suggest it for my casual readers but I wanted to link it here for any of my PCOS readers. (It covers PCOS for all body types as well).

http://www.jarrettfertility.com/PCOS%20patient%20handout.pdf

We've Moved

2008-11-01T10:57:00.000-04:00

Now that baby Jaxon has arrived, I think that's the end of the infertility adventure for awhile. I'm leaving the blog up as is for those who are still struggling with infertility. Our whole journey is still documented here so anyone can see what we went through & know they are not alone.

For those that want to follow along as Jaxon grows up, you can find him at: http://jaxonpaul.blogspot.com/

You can also find me at http://mickiemck.blogspot.com/

2008-10-08T20:30:00.005-04:00

For those of you following Jaxon's blog, this is a repeat post. I thought I'd include it here as well.

****

Jaxon & I went to two reunions this weekend which kept us pretty busy. I'd already planned to attend my mothers family reunion when I found out that the fertility clinic was holding the first baby reunion. Luckily, Mom & I were able to work it out to attend both.

Saturday morning we headed over to the fertility clinic and thought we were in the wrong place at first. It looked deserted as we rounded the corner to the clinic, but they had blocked off the whole parking lot for the event. I heard they had around 300 people show up! I've never seen so many strollers in one place. We were welcomed by staff and stopped by several vendor tables. Then we registered for the door prizes before going under the deck to chat & get food. I got a chance to quickly speak to both of the doctors that helped us and walk around looking at all the lovely little babies! There were mostly singleton babes like Jax but there were plenty of twins and pregnant women plus a couple sets of triplets! There were some fun things for the older kids like a moonbounce and a train. The event was catered so we had burgers and hotdogs. Best of all, I won one of the door prizes! A $100 Visa giftcard!! More pics here

belly shot

2008-04-28T12:20:00.001-04:00

38 wks

37 wk checkup

2008-04-22T20:37:00.003-04:00

Quick update today. We had our 37wk checkup yesterday. Normal vitals, everything looking good. No significant change in stats (dialation, etc). I did put on 2lbs this week but the doc seemed pleased since I'd not put on any weight in the last month. So I'm up to 19lbs gained in 37wks. He said my blood sugar levels have been 'almost too good' and is why I'd not gained any. I admitted to cheating this week & he said that was fine, that I apparently was being restricted a little too much. You should have seen the big fat grin I gave Jack - but don't worry he put me back in my place by pointing out that soda is probably still supposed to be offlimits. Doh, got me there. I was bad about that this week but it was so nice to have a big ole sugary Coke or Dr. Pepper a few times! That was pretty much it other than a few questrions we had about natural birth options, but more on my hopes & plans on the natural thing will have to come in a later post.

GBS negative

2008-04-17T13:54:00.003-04:00

My Group B Strep test came back negative. Thats good because I won't have to be treated with antibiotics during labor. One less thing to worry about.

36wk checkup

2008-04-14T21:28:00.002-04:00

As always, my checkup was rather quick. Blood pressure still is hanging right at 100/60 which it has been at for weeks. My weight has also not changed since mid-March (still at 17lbs gained). Jaxon's heartrate is good (144) and uterus is measuring right on.

This week I was due for the GBS test to determine if I would need to be treated for Group B Strep during labor. We should hear back on that soon. In addition, I had my first pelvic exam and I was very curious to find out where we stand. (Btw- for those who've heard this is so terrible, it really isn't. It's odd, but not painful in the least. Certainly nothing like a PAP). Doc said that I'm 70-80% effaced, a 'fingertip' dialated (so about 1cm?), and that baby is at zero station.

For those of you that have no idea, these are a good start. He said this doesn't specifically mean baby is coming early. But it was good to know that the contractions I've been feeling are actually doing some work! Doc said the most important thing he got out of that exam is that the baby is well down in my pelvis (he went on to say something about my size & that it's good that baby was able to get that far). So I'd been waiting for the baby to 'drop' but he'd already done it!

Hee, Hee, Hee, Hoo...

2008-04-14T09:02:00.001-04:00

29 years of life and I had to take a class to learn how to breathe, lol.

Over the weekend, Jack & I had our labor & birth class. I really liked getting it done in one weekend rather than dragging it out for 6 weeks. The class was 9-4 Saturday including lunch at the hospital (we ate with my stepmom who is a nurse at this hospital) and then 1-5 on Sunday.

I think I was the class 'know-it-all' (I have a tendency to jump in & offer my opinion a lot, especially in a group that is being so quiet) and Jack was the class 'clown'. Every class needs some personality right? Ha!

Anyway, we did feel like we learned a lot. We had specifically wanted to learn the breathing & pain techniques plus hospital procedures. I think those were covered well. I am glad that we had practice time to try out the various positions & breathing. There were some that were great (even some that I originally thought were dumb or awkward) and others that just did not work for us (like one where Jack had to lean down to me & hold up my belly - we were just too mismatched in height). I was especially impressed with the birth ball (though I couldn't bounce on it like some of the ladies.. that just bothered my belly), I had to do a swaying motion instead. Jack was very helpful with the massage, the 'stroking' (you can see Jack had plenty of ammunition for being a clown), and the breathing. I was better at the slow breathing technique but needed his guidance to do the 'hee,hee,hee,hoo' type breathing on pace. He did make me laugh in the middle of our practice 'contractions' a few times. I warned him that I might not find him as funny during labor :)

Overall, if you are debating on whether to bother with the class or not, I'd say definitely take it. I've heard a few people tell me it was a waste of time & money, but I do not agree. I've only mentioned here a fraction of what was covered. There is plenty of information regardless of your plans for pain management. The only time I'd say you probably would not get much use out of it is if you are already going into labor knowing for sure you are going to have a c-section.

Nursery

2008-04-11T12:09:00.006-04:00

Jack & I finally have put most of the finishing touches on the nursery! I'm really happy with how it's turned out. There are a few other items hanging on the other walls plus a bookcase that you don't see here. I also have a lamp sitting on the floor next to my rocker that will eventually go on a side table, once I find a good one that's not too expensive. I also had plans for a matching valance with the puppies on it to go over the shade. That will depend on our funds. It's really not necessary, but would be cute.

Braxton Hicks

2008-04-10T20:00:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention earlier this week that I've also been having Braxton Hicks contractions. It's normal & no big deal, but man is it odd. My belly gets all tight & hard (I've read different descriptions from being as hard as your forehead to being able to bounce a coin off it, lol) but there really is no pain. My doc said that it can come with pain and that it still would be Braxton Hicks. So far, most of mine have been painless, but uncomfortable. Though I've had a couple with back pain (feels like baby is kicking me in the spine during them sometimes).

I've also been having some pain that I described to the doc as 'period-like'. He explained that it has to do with the muscles holding my uterus up. I was having random sharp pains on my left side and low dull pain in front of my belly. Both are related to the ligaments & muscles stretching. He said the reason my pain seems to come primarily to the left is that I'm carrying baby slightly off to my left side. Who knew I was crooked?

35wk checkup

2008-04-08T23:03:00.006-04:00

I'm now going to the OB every week for a checkup. I can't believe how close we are getting, 5 weeks to go now!

Anyway, as usual all the vitals looked good. My weight was exactly the same as it was two weeks ago, no increase so I'm still at 17lbs gained thus far. Baby's heartbeat was 144. My belly is getting huge :) which is quite the amusement for my friends & family. Blood sugar is still looking good too thankfully (even though I've been cheating a bit).

I asked how big the baby is (they've never really told me that since early on) and he guessed about 5.5lbs. Doc said if I go to due date, he thinks we'll be looking at 7.5lb baby (though I know plenty of people who ended up with babies no where near the size the doc said, so take that with a grain of salt I guess). But I liked hearing that my gestational diabetes hasn't made him a huge baby.

Another item he mentioned while talking was that with gestational diabetes they won't let me go past my due date. This was first I'd heard of that, so I had him backup & talk more about that. He said they would normally induce at 41wks (1wk past due date) due to the deterioration of the placenta, but that with gestational diabetes they do that earlier to be sure there are no problems with the placenta or the size of the baby. If I don't deliver on my own by then, they will put me in the hospital the night before my due date (which would just happen to be Mothers Day) and start the process. Now this is lovely, so faint of heart should turn away now. That night, they would pass a catheter through my cervix and then blow up a balloon inside the uterus. The balloon would act as a baby's head, putting pressure on the cervix to trigger it to dialate (and efface too I would assume). He said by the time the balloon comes out, usually the cervix would be at 3cm dialation. (No idea how long it takes to accomplish this using this method, but I have read that it can take hours & hours to get to 3cm with natural contractions). The following morning, they would begin the pitocin. I knew pitocin was used for inducing labor, but had never heard of this balloon procedure (I looked it up & it's called a 'Foley Catheter'). Though we would prefer to skip this whole induction process I will say that I'm not scared of the catheter thanks to all my infertility treatments. I've had a catheter thru the cervix 7 times over the last 3 years. The first was for the HSG test, then for 5 IUIs, and a saline ultrasound before IVF. So I have a pretty good idea what to expect with the catheter itself. Now the balloon I'm not so sure. For each of the procedures I had, they were pushing something thru the catheter into my uterus but there was no pressure on the cervix & the procedures were all less than 30mins. So, here's hoping that Jaxon will choose to come before or by Mother's Day!!

belly shot

2008-04-05T10:54:00.000-04:00

34wks

its funny cuz its true

2008-03-31T19:52:00.000-04:00

preparing fido

2008-03-25T19:45:00.003-04:00

As many of my readers know, Jack & I have four big dogs. Dogs who have been the giant babies of the household for years. We also have a cat that runs the house. Even before we got pregnant, we started considering how we would all survive once baby arrived.

Soon after finding out it was a boy, we got 'Practice Jaxon' as he's called around here. Practice Jaxon is just a little kids doll that I bought (and replaced all the pink clothes with a blue onesie) that makes some baby noises. The sounds were a bit fake, but a good start. We haven't used it as often as we had planned, but have worked with the dogs so they understand what is or is not allowed while we are holding the baby. We even slathered a bunch of baby lotion on it so they could get used to the smells too.

We'd also read that you should play baby sounds, real baby sounds, to get your pets used to it. So we had ordered a CD with baby sounds. I'm not going to link to the site where I purchased it because we did have shipping issues. But if you need a CD like this, simply google 'dog baby sounds' and you'll have several to choose from. (Side note: We ordered 'preparing fido' and the CD itself is great. It arrived a month after we purchased it which is why I'm not directly recommending them. They also did not respond to my email request trying to find out where the CD was, but were very responsive once I had called to complain). Anyway, we choose a CD with various sounds. The majority are, of course, crying but it does include cooing, bathtime, laughing, etc. I'd make sure you can see the track listing including amount of time. I passed over a few selections because it was not clear what would be on the CD or it only had a few minutes worth of sounds.

Tonight we tried the CD for the first time & I have to say I was surprised at the results. With four dogs, we have a variety of personalities in the house. I expected one dog to become nervous, pace & maybe cry, another to become hyper & want my attention, one to run away & had no idea what to expect from the youngest. Instead, we got a whole lot of nothing, lol. Which is good I suppose. I played the CD on a reasonable volume (directions say to start off on a low volume for short periods and then work up to a 'true to life' volume) from my computer in the office. At the time, three dogs & the kitty were all in the office & close enough to clearly hear the sounds. The youngest (our biggest Great Dane) jumped up & ran over to my desk staring in the direction of the speakers with that cute head tilt dogs have. He sniffed around my desk for a few seconds then got bored & laid back down. Our Rottie perked up her ears & stared at my desk but within seconds she was over it. Our lab/pit mix, who I thought would be the one to be nervous & cry, didn't even move. I'm not sure how much the other Dane in the living room could hear, but no response there either. Kitty was sitting on his window perch which is pretty close to the speakers & he didn't even turn his head. Overall I was very surprised. I really thought it would take more work to get them to be that calm while the sounds played. I only played the sounds for about 10 minutes at the low volume. So I guess I'll play the sounds a little louder & a little longer tomorrow. I think I'll try it at different times of the day (since I'm WAH) and see if that makes a difference too. They might just be so tired from a long day & full tummies that they didn't respond as much as they might otherwise.

For my local ladies (StephE?) - if you want to borrow the CD, let me know. Also, here are a couple local resources that I've checked out. They also have good information for anyone not local. I had planned on attending one of the workshops but timing & money never seemed to work out. I found these folks through one of our dog trainers.
-Family Paws
-Dogs & Storks

Other tips we've read/heard but have not tried all yet:
- Setup baby items early such as the swing, bouncer, highchair, rocker, etc. early
- Let pets sniff baby items (clothes, blankets, crib, car seat, etc) & nursery
- Have Dad bring home one of the receiving blanket before baby comes home
- When home from hospital, Dad should bring in the baby (showing dogs that baby is higher in pack order) and Mom should greet dogs since she's likely been away for several days.
- Don't force dog to go near baby if he's not interested (this applies in most situations whether its a new dog, cat, baby or something else that upsets dog like the vacuum. Forcing them only scares them more).
- And of course, always supervise pets near baby!

minor panic

2008-03-25T10:37:00.004-04:00

For some reason this morning when I woke up, the first thing on my mind was that I have just under seven weeks to go before my due date. And I panicked a little!

When we were talking with the doc yesterday, he said something to the effect that we'd be plenty happy if we didn't have to wait all the way until our due date. He told Jack that by 39 weeks, he'll be praying for the baby to come so he can get his wife back (ha!). If Jaxon comes early, then I obviously have less than 7 weeks to be ready. Um.. am I ready? Is Jack ready? Ack...

Ok panic subsiding... logically we are about ready. We have a car seat so we can bring baby home. The nursery is pretty much done other than some aesthetics and some organization I hope to accomplish in the closet. But it's definitely functional & he has a place to sleep. We plan to try to breastfeed, so formula is not an issue. We have a good start on disposable diapers thanks to my early purchases while I had coupons plus all the diapers we got as gifts from friends.. so his tushie will be covered, literally.

But am I ready for L&D? No I don't think I am. We don't go to our labor class until the middle of April. (Since we opted for the weekend version instead of weeknights, the class had to be scheduled closer to our due date according to the hospital). Jack did have his daddy class this past weekend, so he got to talk to other dads. He came back with lots of info & some interesting things for us to consider. I do hope we at least make it to the labor class before JP decides to grace us with his presence!

33 week checkup

2008-03-24T16:37:00.005-04:00

Our 33 week checkup passed rather uneventfully. Jack picked me up since my car broke down this weekend (yes the Mustang is out of commission right now... ugh). All the regular checks looked good, they were happy with my blood sugar levels, and my weight was ok (17lbs gained so far).

We saw one of the doctors I had not met yet & he checked my uterus & the baby's heartbeat. I did have one question for him about some pain I'd been having. Turns out it's normal & that there is not a lot I can do about it. I'd been having this odd pain that felt like a combo between a bruise & a sting or rash. It was right under my right breast near my ribs. I think I had mentioned this in my rant the other day when I was so uncomfortable. Turns out it's something to do with the way my uterus is expanding over my ribs and that it's common for it to be on the right side. Ice or a heating pad is about all I can do for it but he did say that as the uterus continues to grow, it actually should get better.

When we were done, Jack asked if that was it, said it seemed like a hassle to go just for that. We do spend more time driving than we spend there in the office. But it is what it is. I go back for my 35 week checkup and then it's every week til Jax shows up.

belly shot

2008-03-21T12:15:00.001-04:00

32wks

uncomfy mama

2008-03-19T20:23:00.009-04:00

One of the things I hated most while going through fertility treatment was a whiny pregnant lady. I mean, here I was going thru all this pain, discomfort, doc appts & procedures just trying to get to where they already were. I always wanted to yell at them & tell them to suck it up. Be grateful & you know that your pain is going to end & even know roughly when it will end. Mine just kept going on & on with no distinct end in sight.

Well I STILL feel that way. BUT I can say that I understand a little more. If you didn't have all the pre-pregnancy crap that IFers do, then maybe you would be a little more inclined to complain. Though I still flip at ANY woman that complains about being fat while pregnant - this is the time you are SUPPOSED to get bigger! That being said..

Today is one of those days! Really the last few days. I'm having trouble sleeping of course.. no news there. But along with that, today there was a lack of appetite (which is hard when I'm supposed to be eating 6 meals for the blood sugar control), lack of energy/motivation, discomfort no matter how I tried to sit in my office chair or even when I tried to take a break & lay down, diarrhea (hey if you've been with me on this journey you know I'm not holding back), constipation (yes you can have both), serious bloating/gas feeling after eating and some odd bruise-like feeling just near the top of my uterus. Plus I'm still sniffling & have a little itch in my throat from my nasty cold & cough last week. Surprisingly, I really don't have any backpain during the day still.. only sometimes at night. But thank goodness I work at home! I've been able to sit around in the most comfortable clothes I can find, wear a sports bra, put my feet up, lay down on my soft bed at breaks, and not worry about finding a deserted bathroom somewhere in the office bldg when I had to go!

Maybe if I was more interested in my job right now it would be easier to take care of at least the energy/motivation part. I'm bored out of my skull at work. I have things to do.. but I don't like any of them. I've gotten to where I'm counting down the days (54). Of course I'm excited about JP showing up.. but during the day I think more about how I will be off work for awhile. Hopefully I can come back to work a little more pumped up. My boss actually said that this week in a meeting I had with her. We were talking about what I'd be doing when I come back (pretty much up in the air because we have a lot of change coming) and she said hopefully I'll be 'rarin to go' or something to that effect.

Next checkup is Monday so I should be posting again soon. Plus I'm due for another belly shot any day now. Will try to get that up this week. I'm certainly NOT having my picture taken today.. there's no way I want today recorded on film!

pregnant ballet

2008-03-13T12:21:00.003-04:00

I love the web! You can find the craziest stuff. I hope someone puts this out on YouTube after the show.

A dozen pregnant women wanted - for ballet...

31wk checkup

2008-03-12T20:14:00.002-04:00

Thank goodness for that lovely Dr.White! He gave me a Rx on Monday to help me get over this nasty cough. I've been sick only a few days (started Saturday) but I'm feeling pretty yucky. The bad news is that he said I'm probably looking at a couple weeks to fully recover. I actually spent all day yesterday in bed. I think Jack was shocked when he came home to find that I'd not been out of bed all day. Well thats a little of an exagerration. I did get up to let the dogs out, pee, and get a little food though I didn't eat much. Though all told, I'd say I slept 35 of the last 48 hours. Hopefully the combo of a day of rest & the Rx has me well on my way to better. I couldn't take today off so I'm glad I had yesterday. Today & tomorrow I needed to be in a workshop on an important project at work. I guess I wasn't really 'in' it - I was supposed to be there in person, but I didn't think anyone wanted my germs so listened in via phone all day.

Doc also had some other good news for me. He thought my two weeks of checking my blood sugar levels looked really great. And he didn't think there was any reason for me to have to keep it up everyday. So now I've got his permission to only check it three days a week (but still 4x/day) and to 'cheat' on the weekends :) How lovely!

belly shot

2008-03-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

30 wks

update for this week

2008-03-06T12:09:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to post all week, but have been so busy. So this is either going to be a long post, or short versions of each update :)

Gestational Diabetes Update:
Monday I finally met with the dietician to get my meter & learn how I'm supposed to eat. I got a great little meter that takes a tiny amount of blood (packaging claims 'worlds smallest sample size') and they are letting me poke my arm instead of finger. I can barely even feel it. She told me I could use the lowest setting, but I ended up going up one to speed up the process. I do have to check my blood sugar 4x/day so faster is better. I have to keep a record of all the values to show my doc.
Then she taught me all about my new diet. It's really not as bad as I thought it would be, though it is still a bit restrictive on the carbs of course. No soda, no fruit juice, and no fruit in the mornings. I have a little chart that tells me each category I can eat at which meal & how much of it. For example, I'm supposed to eat 1 serving grain, 1oz protein, 1 serving dairy, and 1 serving healthy fat at breakfast. Then I have another chart that tells me a bunch of example foods for each category. So 1 cup of milk counts as a serving of dairy (it's been hard for me to limit myself to just a cup of milk - I usually would pour a big glass full). So I've been eating okay so far and haven't had any blood sugar values go too high. If they do hit certain values, I have to call the doc.
I'm also eating a lot of meals.. so I feel like my day revolves around food & testing right now. I start off with taking a 'fasting blood sugar' when I get up. Then I have breakfast & test 2 hrs later. Then snack, lunch, test 2hrs later. Then snack, dinner, test 2hrs later. Then final snack before bedtime... so total 6 meals, 4 tests. Thank goodness this is only for 67 more days :)

Shower/Nursery Update:
I already mentioned we had a nursery full of gifts to go through. My calendar has been full, so we knew we couldn't get to it Mon, Wed, or tonight. So we dug into it Tues night after work. I spent a couple hours in there myself just taking all the clothes & etc out of giftbags & boxes, throwing out the trash, & saving cards, etc. When I got to where I really didn't think I could do anymore, Jack came in to help. We put together the highchair (which was really easy, seems like a good chair to us, guess the real test will be when JP is old enough to use it), the swing, and put all the bedding on the crib. Jack hung one of the items on the wall (the only one I was 100% sure where I wanted it) and we put as much as we could into the closet. So far things have just been stored whereever they will fit, until I get the chance to start organizing & deciding how we'll use everything. I have a few storage items I need to get like baskets & shelves. There are still lots of gifts sitting out that I need to go through & put away like a lot of clothes & the bags & a few items that we didn't want to unbox yet because he won't use them for the first months. But it's really coming together. The bedding looks great! I'll get a pic of it & the rocker once I get all the other stuff out of the way.

Mama & Baby:
In between all this talk about showers & the nursery, some of you have asked how JP & I are doing. We are both good I think. For the most part I'm feeling good. I am starting to get a little tired again, and I know that's only going to get worse. I'm really sleeping pretty good I think. Of course I get up 3-4x/night for a potty break plus a few other times to adjust pillows but always fall right back asleep.
I've gotten the 'puppy' into a new habit that I'm not crazy about. He was having morning accidents by the door, so I started letting him out early in the morning. Usually it's the same time as my last 'potty break' of the morning, but if I don't wake up on my own, now he's waking me. So we're now on a pretty regular schedule with going out at 6am, it'll be interesting to see how this fits in with JP's schedule when he gets on one.
Other than that, I have a few aches & discomforts that come with all the extra weight, but doing pretty well still.

Baby Showers!

2008-03-03T10:03:00.005-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came to my showers or sent a gift! I really enjoyed both the work shower & family/friends shower!!

My work threw a shower at the office on Wed. (yea I actually went into the office for that). We had a pretty good turnout & it was co-ed. My friend AH planned a couple cute games and decorated a conference room. The group went in on a big gift - our stroller (the big travel system kind that has a car seat too) and a diaper bag! Jack put the stroller together yesterday & I was excited to see it should fit in the mustang trunk (was worried about that). We also got lots of cute outfits and handy items like lotions, wipes, bibs, etc. My stepmom & little sis joined me at the shower. My sis was so cute, she loves to help open the gifts. And she liked all the little plastic baby items on the cake. We had a good time! I forgot my camera, so I'll have to post some pics once I get them from my stepmom or AH.

Yesterday we had the family/friends shower at my aunts house. Everything was beautiful of course and lots of my sorority sisters, family, a few of Jack's co-workers & one of my high school friends came. There were so many great gifts! I was a little overwhelmed. We got a lightweight stroller, a travel swing, travel bed, highchair, bedding, tons of clothes, bibs, towels, etc, a few bags for either diapers or overnight, and a bunch of other wonderful things we needed. Before opening gifts, we dug into the food and played some games. Aunt J had some help hosting from two of my ChiO sisters, CW & LC, who had planned the games. They had 'guess the baby food' where jars were passed out & had to guess which kind, that was funny. (I got 3 of 4 right - the bananas did not look or smell like a banana at all). And then the funniest game was the 'guess the candy bar'. This one I didn't play because I saw them setting it up. They had a few diapers & melted various candy bars which then went into the diaper to look like a used diapee! It was funny to see everyone trying to smell it to guess, lol. I was nice & didn't take any pics of anyone with their nose buried completely in the diaper. I can't wait to see all the pics (I handed off my camera) and will post a few once I download them. My dad came at the end to load up everything and I took their SUV home. I ended up getting home late (spent the evening visiting with family) so Jack brought everything in today. It took up about 1/2 of the nursery! I've got a lot of work to do in there this week!

Thanks again to everyone!

3D, baby!

2008-02-26T20:13:00.016-05:00

3d ultrasounds are so cool! I am glad we did it even though it's an optional thing (pay out of pocket). The ladies at Triangle Imaging were so nice & the whole place was cozy & comfortable. The scan room was huge & had a big screen tv along with a smaller one. There was enough room for a whole family to come watch. It was decorated nicely & just all around a pleasant experience.

Jaxon is head down & apparently by this point will stay that way. He had his little head tucked into a 'corner' of my uterus with his nose pressed against my side near my pelvis, so she had a little trouble. I had to lay propped up on my side which got a tiny bit uncomfy. She got lots of good shots anyway. We have tons of pictures (77 on a CD) plus a DVD so everyone will be able to see as much or little as they'd like of him. :)

Apparently he likes his hands & feet up near his face. He spent a lot of time trying to get one or the other into his mouth. This one he's about to suck on his toes.

We also got a couple smiles out of him.

Turns out he's a little bit on the roly-poly side. She guessed he's about 3.5lbs which I think she said would be about a half to a whole pound heavier than expected. Here you can see his chubby cheeks & in the next his thick chest & arms. This just confirms for me that I need to watch the gestational diabetes so he doesn't get too big. But it made for cute chubby pics!!

We were so excited to 'see' him and can't wait until he is really here. I'll be matching up photos of him once he's born to these to see how close they are :)

now what?

2008-02-25T20:30:00.004-05:00

Turns out I do have gestational diabetes. The doc at my checkup wasn't too helpful though. He basically just said the dietician will explain it all. What I did manage to get out of him was that they expected it to be controlled by diet (so no drugs or insulin) and that I would need to monitor my blood. I don't see the dietician until next Monday, so I have a little time before I learn all the details.

I do know from common sense, research & watching my BIL, that I'll have to watch sugars & carbs. The question is to what extent. I've got a book, Every Woman's Guide to Eating during Pregnancy, that Jack & I have been pulling some recipes from for our dinners, and it had a little info on GD. It had a simple list of foods to avoid & some to avoid in the morning specifically. I also has a few sample menus (nothing that excited me) and some high level explanation of the condition itself. I won't try to quote the book as that would be boring to read, but did learn that hormones in the placenta cause the cells to not respond properly to the insulin. That results in the glucose to back up in the blood instead of being used in the cells for energy. Thus the high blood sugar levels.

So, for someone widely known as a 'picky' eater, this is going to be an issue for me. I know everyone tells me I'll get used to it and that it's really not that big of a deal. But, this is my blog, and I can say this sucks. I like what I like, and really don't like whatever I don't like. I don't want to change. But I will. For me & my baby. And all along, I'll be glad that I only have to do this for about 11 weeks.

belly shot

2008-02-24T21:45:00.003-05:00

28 weeks (third trimester)

fasting while pregnant.. fun stuff

2008-02-22T22:37:00.004-05:00

It's really not that bad to have to do the 3 hour glucose test, just kind of a hassle.

I had a lot of different labs to choose from, and the easiest for me was the WakeMed in Clayton. Because of some initial confusion over my appt (my doc apparently didn't get my message indicating which location I was using & never sent my referral over), I got started a little late.

The initial blood test was a finger-prick & was tested using what looked like a simple home diabetes monitor. Then I had my choice of an orange drink or a cola drink. I picked the orange b/c I'd had it before plus she said the cola flavored one was like a flat sugary soda, didn't sound great. They poured it in a cup of ice with a straw which helped it go down easier. Once that was done, she setup blood draws at 10:03, 11:03, and 12:03. They didn't care if I stayed there or not but I did most of the time. It was kinda gray, wet & cold out today & Wal-Mart was about the only place to go. I listened to my iPod or read my book while I waited (though I did pick up a couple of cute pink items at WalMart for my girlfriends upcoming baby shower during one of the breaks).

The blood draws were the regular draw from my arms. I hadn't really thought ahead of time about the math of 4 blood draws and only 2 arms. But as I said the first turned out to be a finger-prick, so that left 3 draws from my arms. The tech was able to take the last 2 draws from my right arm without causing me any extra pain. She was really good at it compared to some I've had before, no bruising or soreness at all today. It turned out she was a Chi Omega alum from my chapter too. (Thanks again Aunt J for my purse, I've met several XOs or XO family members since I started carrying it).

The worst part was after the test was over. The tech asked me every hour how I was feeling (hungry, but fine, thanks) but I was really doing okay. Apparently some women have a rough time, even as bad as vomiting she told me (ugh, then you have to reschedule & start over!). But I felt okay as I left Clayton & headed for Fuquay to meet Jack & his paralegal for lunch. While waiting for them, I started to get a little hot, and the hunger was getting a little more urgent. I ordered an appetizer just as they walked in .. and told the waitress to hurry b/c I was 'pregnant & fasting'. LOL, poor girl. Before it came to the table, I started getting really hot & my limbs were starting to feel tingly. I didn't get dizzy or faint, but felt kinda like that was coming. It was pointed out to me that I also get a little grouchy when I'm hungry. I guess I wasn't quite the picture of politeness. Soon as I had a little food in me, I was back to normal. So any of you ladies that are about to take this same test - don't ignore the recommendation to bring a snack. Bring it, and eat it as soon as the test is over. I had one but didn't think it was necessary & might 'ruin' my lunch. But in that restaurant I was wishing I'd just eaten it before I came in.

So anyhow, I won't know my results today. But I do have my 2 week checkup on Monday, so assume the doc will tell me the news by then at the latest. *Fingers crossed*

A year since IVF

2008-02-14T16:06:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentines Day!

It suddenly occurred to me today that it's been a year ago today since my retrieval for IVF. I remember the anesthetologist making some comment about a Valentines baby. If that procedure would have worked, our baby would have come home around November. As much as we wanted each treatment to work & to be the last, I'm glad our baby will be born in the spring instead of right before the holidays!

preggo at the beach

2008-02-13T11:55:00.004-05:00

Here's me at the beach at almost 27 weeks. I went to Wrightsville for a scrapbooking retreat & though it was windy, it was very nice all weekend.

Slightly elevated glucose

2008-02-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

A nurse called me today to let me know that my glucose was 'slightly elevated' at 166 (normal is 130 or less she said). So I do need to go for the full 3 hour glucose test.

They had a whole page of directions available to print right from their website (convenient). I scheduled for next Friday at the WakeMed in Clayton. And for the 3 days prior, I have to add an extra 150gs of carbs to my diet from their specific list of items. Then, I have to fast the evening before & morning of the test.

They start by taking a blood sample, then I'll drink the lovely glucose drink again. At 1, 2 & 3 hours following the drink, they will take more blood samples. My doc's instructions say to sit throughout the test, but the lab tech told me that was not necessary. She said a lot of women just go down to the WalMart in between the blood draws, lol.

Checkup

2008-02-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

My checkup went quick & easy as usual. Weight looked good (12.5lbs gained overall), blood pressure was my normal range (90/60) and my iron is back up thanks to the supplements (11.5). Saw the doc for about 2 mins for a quick baby heartbeat check (160) and then was on my way.

I had also had my lovely O'Sullivan screening, where you drink a super sugary drink an hour before getting blood drawn. I should hear back in a few days on that. If it is high, then I have to take the full 3hr glucose test. *fingers crossed*

I'm also at the point now where I start going every 2 weeks for checkups. 27 weeks today!

belly shots

2008-02-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

26 weeks! Getting big :)

Blue, blue, and a little more blue

2008-02-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

One of my friends posted all her cute photos of her nursery and it reminded me that I had not gotten around to doing so myself. Jack & I have not added anything to the nursery (well furniture or accesories-wise anyway, I've added a ton of stuff in the closet & dresser drawers!) since the holidays so it's still in the work-in-progress stage. Once we decide on a rocker & are sure of the placement of all the furniture, I'll get everything hung on the walls & get new pics.

First, here's the crib (hand-me down, thanks Dad & Kim for hanging on to it!!). Yes, that's a baby doll in the crib. We've been using that to train the dogs on how to behave around baby. You can also see in this pic our handiwork we are so proud of (we are not naturally skilled DIY home-improvement folks). We painted the top portion of the room a lighter blue and the bottom the dark blue, then installed the chair rail.

I also painted a bookcase thats been passed around the family since I was little. I used a glossy version of the same colors. The backdrop to the books is the light blue & the rest is the dark blue. It came out very nice, if I do say so myself ;)

Here's the matching dresser, also a hand-me down. (I had some of our Christmas gifts & some stuffed animals piled on top. Those will eventually find a home).

Last, here are some of the items for the walls. The letters spelling Jaxon's name will go over his crib (here they are still in the packaging, but you get the idea). Since I just laid them on the floor for the picture, you get a nice shot of the rug too. The other pic is of some of the wall hangings that match the bedding set.

Still counting down! 26 weeks along now & only 98 days to go! WOW!

off topic

2008-01-30T14:36:00.000-05:00

sadly true..

belly shots

2008-01-19T16:31:00.001-05:00

24 wks

Not going to Brazil, but at least my feet will be comfy

2008-01-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

My doc veto'd the Brazil idea, so I guess I'll miss out this time. If you read my post from last week, you'd see that I had several questions for the doc including the one about a business trip to Brazil at the end of January. Of course I found out shortly afterward that the trip had been postponed nearly a month anyway. Which puts me in my 3rd trimester, so I'm better off not going anyway. But what a bummer! Would've been a cool trip.

My other question was about my lovely new foot massage thingy that said 'do not use if pregnant'. He told me that it was doubtful that it could set off the contractions like my preggers book suggested. He said there is some fact to the theory, but that it was unlikely that it would hit those pressure points enough to trigger anything. So I can finally use my Christmas present! Yippee!

Other than that, he just measured the baby (via measuring my uterus with a plain tape measure over my belly.. which I thought was rather lacking in the technical dept), made a few suggestions of things I should start working on (pick a pediatrician, sign up for labor & breastfeeding class, etc) and checked me for swelling (none so far). We also talked about doulas a little. Most of my friends have either not had one or not mentioned, but one of my friends at work did. And she swears by it. Unfortunately, her lady has since retired. It's one more expense, so I don't know how likely it is, but was curious. He didn't have much to say either way about it. Just that the nurses at the hospital are pretty good & that it's really a preference thing. I don't think hubby is all that interested either.

I go back in 4 weeks and get to do the lovely diabetes screening. After that we step it up to only 2 weeks between appointments.

missing belly shot

2008-01-13T21:52:00.001-05:00

I missed my 22 week belly photo, oops. So sorry I don't have one to post this week. I could take one now though I learned from last pic not to take one if I'm without makeup or tired. I looked a bit rough, lol. I'll just post one again at 24 weeks which will be the 6mos mark!

2008-01-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to have a checkup yesterday, but I went out to start my car & it would not cooperate. Turns out it was my battery, but no one was close enough to come get me in time. So I rescheduled for next Monday. I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask, but otherwise no hurry for the appt toda (not an ultrasound this time).

My first question for the doctor (and I'm sure quite a few of you will have some input on this too) is about travel. From everything I've read, there is no reason why a pregnant woman cannot fly (though there are some precautions to take). In my job, I have travelled internationally many many times, but not since we started our infertility journey. With the uncertainity & the numerous doctor appointments during infertiltiy treatments, I had to turn down most trips. But, recently an opportunity to go to Brazil came up and that is somewhere I've never been. So I checked out the length of the flights (no leg more than 10 hours - piece of cake) and checked into airline regulations (can't go within 30 days of due date on international trips). So now I just want to hear my doc say it's not an issue, though my guess is that the locale will be more of a concern than the flight itself. Of course the fun part, as usual, is that the plans are still not final even though I'm supposed to leave 2 weeks from today. So I've not even applied for my visa yet, but that's a whole other story.

Another question I have is about heat & massage on pregnant ladies feet. That might sound odd.. but my brother-in-laws gave me what seemed like the perfect Christmas gift - a heated foot massager! However, we quickly found in the instructions that it advised pregnant women NOT to use it (who need a foot massage more than a preggo lady? esp. toward late in the pregnancy!). I figured this was a CYA for the company that made the thing, so I checked my preggo book. I was surprised when it had the same answer - no foot massages. Huh? Ok so the logic goes that there are certain points in the feet that can trigger contractions. I'm a little skeptical that a simple foot massager could do this, but I've held off using it just yet til I can check with the doc.

Labor & Birth Education

2008-01-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well we are all signed up for Labor & Birth education classes.

Because of our schedules, esp my DHs, we chose a weekend intensive class (who knew they even did that?! awesome) instead of going an hour a week for two months. The website said to signup in your third trimester, but then I got a call almost immediately from the hospital advising that I should change the date to closer to my due date. Apparently they should be more specific, as it should be completed within a couple weeks of your due date. I guess if you are taking the evening 6week long version, then the statement about signing up anytime in the 3rd trimester makes sense. So we got it switched around, and because they only offer the weekend intensive every so often, we actually will take it about 4 weeks before my due date. So we'll go April 12 & 13 for the whole day Saturday and half the day Sunday, then we'll be done. Jack is also going to a Daddy Boot Camp class in March. I can't wait to hear how this goes. He's never changed a diaper, or other basic baby care so we thought it might be good for him. Unlike me, he didn't have a lot of younger siblings or cousins around for practice. Actually I wish I could go too, I'm sure he'll learn some stuff that I don't know. They had some other classes we could sign up for that would give me the chance for similiar learning, but I didn't want to pay for more than 2 classes.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T15:02:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year Bloggers & Blog readers! I've been MIA for the last two weeks as I had taken my computer down to redo our office & to setup the nursery! I've got updates to make here, so I'll get to that later this week (I'll be backdating some of the entries as that helps me keep track of when things happened). I hope everyone had a great Christmas & is enjoying the last of 2007 today!

Belly Shot

2007-12-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

20 weeks

19 week ultrasound

2007-12-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the research study I'm participating in, I'd already found out the sex (boy if you are just joining us) at 16 weeks. So the doc & I agreed that it made sense to wait a little longer before having another ultrasound, so we pushed it out to the end of my 19th week (today is 19w4d).

My mom & I have been hard at work this week (I've been off all this week & do not go back until Jan 2!!! I love my annual two weeks off) so she tagged along today. I work at home so I had a home office, and my husband had his computer in the room next to my office. But his room is going to be the nursery, so we had to figure out how to combine the two rooms. My old huge desk had to come out & we had to go thru all my stuff & reduce the clutter. We also repainted the room (no better time than when you already have it emptied out) and put together some new furniture. I have been exhausted! But I am glad we got it done and that we did this during my 2nd trimester. I know I did not have near the energy needed to this during the 1st trimester and I assume I won't as the 3rd sneaks up on me either.

Anyway, the ultrasound was quick as usual & everything lookd good. I did have the tech confirm the gender for us (before I buy a bunch of blue paint next week). I haven't scanned in the pics yet (our cat has currently taken up residence on top of my scanner & is sound asleep) but they really weren't that exciting anyway. There is one cute one where all you see is a foot, but the rest are hard to tell what is what. I'll post a few later.

Belly Shot

2007-12-11T21:42:00.001-05:00

18 weeks

18 week checkup

2007-12-10T20:48:00.001-05:00

For my readers that don't live in the south, I have to say you missed out today. It was a gorgeous day here in central NC and a record-setter too. We hit 81° here in the Triangle, which is the all time record high for December. I went to my checkup today in flip-flops & a tshirt with the windows rolled down in my car! It's been enjoyable!

My checkup was not too exciting. I had some bloodwork done (finger-stick & regular blood draw -ugh). They found my iron is still too low (10.7) so I have to take supplements. I'm still showing at just 4lbs over my pre-preggo weight which the doctor says is 'textbook' weight-gain. So that's good, I had thought it seemed low. Though no u/s, the doc did listen to Jaxon's heartbeat (159) once he found it. Apparently BabyJ would not hold still. The doc seemed pretty entertained by it (but I'm the one getting jabbed in the belly). He said that there was no doubt the baby is doing well since he was so active. I really liked this doc, but since they have about 8 or so docs, not sure how often I'll see him.

Now for the fun part - I think I finally felt him move! It's kinda hard to be sure though. They had left me for a long time in the exam room waiting for the doc. So I took advantage of a few minutes of quiet to just relax. While I was sitting there, with my eyes shut, I felt something. It was very slight, and felt like a muscle twitch. So then I concentrated and felt it again though I still was doubtful about it being the baby. I guess after all the jabbing with the doppler thingy, Jax was up & about. When I got home I could feel that same twitch quite frequently, enough to know it is at least not a normal non-pregnant feeling. It was kind of exciting. Jack was so funny, when I told him, he tried to feel it (not quite to that point yet!) and made funny faces while doing so. It'll be fun when he can feel it too!

Belly Shot

2007-12-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

My belly around 16 weeks

So much stuff...

2007-12-01T16:54:00.000-05:00

Jack & I spent some time today finishing up our baby registries. Man, there is so much stuff and so many decisions! I'd already registered for all the cutsie stuff at Target like clothes and blankets. But we needed to make some decisions together, like car seats & strollers, the more practical stuff.

At Target, Jack was able to pull down all the strollers (that are up too high to really tell anything about them). So we played with them & I'm so glad we did. Some were hard to fold up, some hard to unfold, some too heavy, etc. Jack was very patient and actually had a lot of input as to what he thought was good or bad about each one. The other aisles we went through pretty quick & got just about everything we needed.

After lunch, we went on to Babies 'R' Us to see what other options we had. There the strollers were down low and they had someone there in the section that knew all about each one. That's where we found the stroller we really liked (super easy & fast to fold up), though of course it's about fifty bucks more than the most expensive one at Target. Ugh. And that's just the stroller portion of our day! There are so many decisions that we got tired of trying to compare. On the other items we just said that one looks good - scan it. LOL.

So for you other preggos that haven't registered yet, here's my comparison of these two stores.

TARGET - Easy to do both online & instore. Good if you are independent and don't need much help. The scanner is user friendly with a colored touchscreen & updates automatically. If you go this route, my suggestion is to start your registry online. Then when you go to the store, all you have to do is print out a barcode from the kiosk (make sure you remember your password as you have to enter it) and then get a scanner from the customer service desk. Easy & fast! Know that most of the items you register for in store are not available online and vice versa. (I found bedding I really love online and it's not in the store).

BABIES R US - Still pretty easy, but more time consuming. Don't try to do this when you have limited time. Very good if you are a new mom and need directions. (Jack thought we should have gone here first). You'll sit down at a desk and talk to a registry lady who knows all about the registry & baby stuff. She'll take you through a whole booklet before ever handing you a scanner. The booklet is good though & they have checklists so you don't miss anything (this helped Jack understand what all we would need). The scanner is the old fashioned kind, no fancy touchscreen. Again I had started mine online and it seemed to save quite a bit of time. We did have to wait again at the registry desk while they did something to the registry after we were done. I guess it's not automatically updated. But the updates were there online by the time I got home. Also, if you need furniture, Babies R Us has tons of it and it's all out on display.

Overall, I'd say they are both good. We have fewer items on the Babies R Us registry just because I'd already registered for most stuff at Target. But Babies R Us obviously has more choices in the store. (Though they only have my bedding online just like Target - doh). Another thing I like about Target is that there simply are more of them so it's a little more convenient.

Who's right?

2007-11-28T11:32:00.000-05:00

The poll here closed yesterday with 63% guessing BOY and 36% guessing GIRL. (Okay you math majors may have noticed thats only 99%. It's really 63.6% and 36.4%, this site rounds to whole numbers). Looks like this is a case where the majority is right!

Yesterday the ultrasound confirmed that we are having a baby boy! Just as we had hoped (or as Jack says, as he KNEW all along). When we got home, I hopped straight onto the computer and took all the baby girl stuff off our Target registry. (Yea I got excited early so I registered for a bunch of stuff, both boy & girl related). Those of you who know us IRL can find our registry by searching on my given name, not my nickname. We already had a boy name picked out, so baby will be named Jaxon Paul.

Now onto the fun part, pictures! The first one here is one of my favorites. You can clearly see his head & face. That's his foot right up in front of his nose! And the second pic here shows that he is indeed a boy :) For the rest of the us pics, see me on Flickr. There's another one I like where all you see is his legs streched out kicking me plus a few others.

Today's the day!

2007-11-27T11:40:00.001-05:00

In just a few hours, Jack & I have our appt at UNC Specialty Women's Center for our ultrasound as part of the research study. And, oh by the way, they expect to be able to tell us the sex of the baby!! **Fingers crossed** that our little one cooperates so that there is no doubt :)

Holiday Shopping

2007-11-25T12:18:00.000-05:00

Who out there is done with all their holiday shopping? Not me! I've gotten a head start this year (compared to normal) but still have a bit to do. I'm trying to take advantage of 'Cyber Monday' (kinda like Black Friday but online). For those of you preggers out there, I got an email today with a discount code I thought I'd pass along. 2 chix is having a holiday sale. Enter code 'letitshow2007' at checkout and get 25% off (good thru 11/29). They have cute tees! That's who made my 'knocked up' tee :)

Two days til find out baby's sex!

Happy Birthday to me

2007-11-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

Jack got me the cutest maternity tee for my birthday. Since we don't find out the sex until after my birthday, he got the generic one in yellow. But it's really cute. The little baby on the shirt is down low so it is on the belly. Very funny. Of course, just like my other cute tee, it comes in 'one size fits most'. So I had to scrunch it up a bit to get the baby in the right place, lol. But as my belly gets bigger, it'll be closer to the right spot. And it's super comfy too, nice bonus. He did a great job picking this one out!

2007-11-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

Belly shots

2007-11-17T22:20:00.000-05:00

Me at 14 weeks

Christmas music

2007-11-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

I just heard my first Christmas music of the 'season' while I was put on hold by the vet's office. Only took until 39 days before Christmas. I used to have this rule, that I couldn't/wouldn't deal with anything Christmas-related before my birthday. (I was born on Thanksgiving day). My husband's birthday is close to mine, only 10 days later, and he shares the sentiment. Of course, now that I'm older, I've realized that's just impossible. There are parties & vacations to plan/attend, arrangements to make with family, gifts to buy (yes I started my shopping this week), and even marketing to your customers if you sell products (as I do as a Creative Memories Consultant).

I'm glad my baby is not being born near a major holiday! Well, it will be near Mother's Day, but I've yet to hear a song about Mother's Day in March or April :)

Knocked up & now everyone knows it

2007-11-15T23:39:00.000-05:00

Up until now, I had not shared our pregnancy news at work. Well, I told the bosses a few weeks ago, but have not generally announced it. I don't really know why I wanted to wait so long (nearly 15 weeks now) but I did. Since I work at home, I could wait as long as I wanted. I had decided to tell after Thanksgiving once we found out the sex. Of course, plans change sometimes..

Then our team decided to have a potluck lunch at work this Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving and I didn't want to miss out. Since my belly is poking out a bit, I figured I either had to tell or not go to the luncheon. Plus a couple people already found out from Facebook, lol. So to announce it, I picked out a fun tee shirt (see it here) and decided to go. No one has seen me in a few months, so I thought it would be more obvious.

Wrong. I walked into the room where all the food was, wearing my funny tee, and no one said anything. My boss who knew, laughed & my close friend who walked in with me was smiling. But no response. So I figure they're all looking at the food, give it a few minutes. It really wasn't sinking in, so finally after about an hour, my boss said 'everybody look at Mickie's shirt'. Still, 1/2 of them didn't get it (oh you like that movie 'Knocked Up'?). Come on people. Really not the response I expected. But once they got it, everyone was congratulating me. I did have one girl still ask me a couple hours later - so does the shirt have anything to do with the movie? Ugh.

What happens at 14 weeks

2007-11-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him - a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches, about the size of a lemon, and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

courtesy of babycenter

new poll

2007-11-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

While reading a friends preggo blog, I realized blogger now has a new poll option. So I stole her poll idea - guess if you think our baby is a boy or a girl! I've got the poll setup to close on 11/27 at 4PM (that's when we are scheduled to have our ultrasound to find out!). So get your vote in now and we'll find out soon!

Most photographed fetus ever

2007-11-01T23:38:00.000-04:00

Our little one had his/her 4th ultrasound photos taken today! And he's only 12 1/2 weeks old (Jack says it's good practice cuz I'll be taking pics everyday once the kid is born - lol, probably true).

So backing up a little bit, we got the call with results from Duke Perinatal as we pulled into the doctors parking lot. I normally would have written down every number she gave, but was just not possible as I was trying to listen to the nurse & give Jack driving directions at the same time. But, the good news is that our risk of any of the diseases they tested for is actually reduced (lower than the general risk for my age). So we decided not to pursue the repeat screening in 2nd trimester.

This OB office has patients bring in their pee in a cup instead of doing it there in the office. And my first experience with this was not good. I did my business and put the cup in the little bag they gave us. And the cup went straight thru the bottom of the bag and landed on the bathroom floor. Lovely. So I grabbed my stapler (ok this is at like 6AM you know and I am NOT a morning person) and stapled the bag shut. Now my pee cup is staying in the bag & I'm back to bed for a few minutes. About the time we got in the car, I realized not only is the bag busted, but now the cup is leaking. (We were in Jack's car, not mine.. haha). Of course.. this is when I realized staples (instead of maybe.. oh I don't know - tape?) was a bad idea. So I manage to get the cup & bag to the office without too much of a mess & grabbed some tissues & hand sanitizer there in the waiting room. Hopefully the cup/bag they gave me for the next visit will be a little more sturdy.

I have this tendency to be either too early or too late for just about everything. Dr visits are no exception. So even with Jack driving, stopping by the courthouse so Jack could get some lawyerly work done, and grabbing breakfast-to-go at a little shop near the courthouse, we were still over 30 minutes early. And of course, the ultrasound tech was running behind with all the other ladies needing an u/s. It is always fun to see the baby even though I just saw him last week & not much of anything had changed. The pics that were printed out for us were not the best. He/she had gotten into an odd position by the time the tech took pics for us. Everything looked good so she sent us on our way. We had about a 5 second visit with a nurse practioner b/c the OB was busy. Not much to report there. So we're all doing well & anxiously waiting til we find out the sex!

Bad Papaya

2007-10-30T19:26:00.000-04:00

I learned an interesting fact today. IBM has a program where a nurse will check in with you for certain issues (I've used this in the past for previous surgeries & procedures) and they provide guidance and some education. The nurse called me today and most everything she went over was all stuff I'd heard before. But then she mentioned to avoid papaya. Since I'd been trying to eat lots of fruits & veggies, I was surprised to hear this. But apparently, papaya can possibly trigger uterine contractions and lead to miscarriage. Luckily it's not one of the fruits I'd added to my diet.

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

2007-10-29T15:22:00.000-04:00

Jack & I just scheduled our 16 week FREE ultrasound through the UNC research study for November 27th. This is the one where we hope to find out the sex! Well, the ultrasound is really for their research study, but the main point of it for us is to find out, assuming he/she cooperates. What a great birthday present for both of us!

Screening

2007-10-28T19:42:00.000-04:00

On Friday morning, I went to a specialist for some additional screening that Jack & I had opted to do. This screening checked for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 & 13. It was a two-part test, first an ultrasound & then some bw. The ultrasound was amazing! The tech checked out quite a few basic things like heart, bladder, structure, etc and doing so showed me so much of our baby. After a few mins, he/she started moving around a lot. I was amazed to see such obvious movement and such clear features (legs, arms, face, etc). The development in the last 4 weeks is just wild. (As you can see if you compare this ultrasound with the last one we had!). In the photos, she focused on the baby's head so some of them are closeups of his head. She was measuring a small spot on the back of his head as part of the screening and that portion came back normal. The second part was a blood test (finger prick - yuck) and I have to wait to hear back on that portion.

I also went over to Rex Hospital after my appointment in order to sign some docs to join a UNC research study on preeclampsia. While I was there, she took several vials of blood for the study, measured my belly, and asked a bunch of questions for the study. All I have to do is allow them access to my medical records, have them join me at a few appts, and take a few pills (either a combo vitamin or a placebo, I don't know which I have) each day. In exchange, we'll get paid up to $300 and get a free ultrasound at 16 weeks (where they should be able to tell us the sex of the baby!!!). The nurse is trying to setup the appt for the week after Thanksgiving so we may know before Jack's birthday!

No Space

2007-10-25T21:14:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends and Family!

I know many of you are excited to start giving us baby stuff. Though we appreciate all gifts, right now we do not have the space to store much baby stuff and are not planning to start work on the nursery until after the new year. As our birthdays are approaching, I thought I'd give a few ideas of other items we'd like as we prepare for our little one. In order to make room for a nursery, we have to re-do our office space which we plan to begin in December. By Christmas, we should have a little more space for baby stuff!

Gift ideas & wish lists:
- Gift cards (prefer Staples, Lowes or Target)
- Maternity clothes (tops XS-S, pants/dresses 2)
- FLOR.com tiles: House Pet in Parrot or Canary
- Target wish list under Mickie, Jack or Baby Shipley (list can be viewed online or at store kiosks)
- Boxedup wish list - http://www.boxedup.com/mickie (has variety of items from different stores)

I'll update the wish lists wtih more baby/nursery stuff as we get closer. Plus then we'll have a baby registry. Thanks for understanding!!!!

BTW - New pics of the baby will be up this weekend on the blog!!

Mustang Sally

2007-10-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

One of the most common questions I've gotten since announcing my pregnancy is 'so are you going to get rid of the mustang?'.

H*LL NO!! First off, I adore my car. I wish I still had my first mustang ('67 coupe) and plan to keep this one ('05 GT coupe) for as long as I can. Hopefully it'll still be around when our kids are my age! My husband would probably say I'm obsessed with my car (I do have two Mustang tshirts) but I just think it's a great looking and fun car to drive.

Second, it really doesn't make any sense to get rid of it. Though we still have quite awhile to go before it's paid off, there are not a lot of options I could get that would be better financially. Especially once you take into account selling this one, paying off what I owe, and starting over with a new loan on a used car. If anyone gets a 'new' car anytime soon, it'll be Jack. His is almost paid off.

Third, my car came with the LATCH system installed (required in all cars built after 2002). LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) is a system that lets you install car seats without seat belts. I didn't really know anything about it until I got pregnant, but knew that my car had it. So point being, the car is designed to hold a car seat. Granted, it won't be the most convenient since I have to move the seat up to reach the back, but I'll get used to it. I did see a woman the other day driving a mustang just like mine with two car seats in the back and an older child in the front seat. So it can be done!

Belly Rubs

2007-10-18T22:44:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, I had my first 'belly rub' by a non-family member. Luckily it was someone I know but it was still kinda odd. I think I'm going to be one of those women that says 'hands off' when strangers reach for my belly. I remember watching random people rub one of my girlfriends belly when she was pregnant and she just put up with it. I don't think I'll mind it from family & close friends, but anyone else is going to hear about it. :)

Maternity clothes

2007-10-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

In the last week or so, I've started having trouble fitting into my normal clothes. So I've had to start shopping around for maternity clothes. It seems early to me (10 weeks today) but it's already necessary.

So I stopped by Motherhood Maternity while I was at the mall one day. I'd been referred there for this thing called a belly belt which is actually pretty cool. If you've ever seen the 'expand a collar' thingy they make for men's dress shirts, it's a similar concept for womens pants. It has two belt pieces (2 sizes). The small one is used by itself and has a button on one side & a button hole on the other. The 'belt' itself is elastic. So you button it into your pants and it expands them a little (you just zip them up as far as you can). It's not super cute, so it's worn with a longer shirt to hide it. The larger one is the same, but includes a fabric sleeve you slide over the belt & then tuck in your pants (because you'll have your pants unzipped all the way & we don't want our undies showing). It's really very useful for this in-between time! I've used it in my jeans already. The buttons are already coming loose, but that's easy enough to fix.

While I was there picking up the belly belt, I thought I'd try on some clothes since they were having a clearance sale. The sales lady suggested since I am still early in my pregnancy, that I use their pillow to see how the clothes would fit later on. Supposedly this pillow, that you strap around your waist, adds three months to your belly. I tried it, but couldn't take it seriously. I looked ridiculous (it really didn't sit right.. there's no way I'll be shaped like that. I might as well have stuffed my own pillow under my clothes). Add in the fact that even their smallest clothes were huge on me & I looked like a kid playing dress up. I tried several different options, but everything was too big. The sales lady had told me that I'd use my pre-pregnancy size, but that just was not true at that store.

I did end up picking up a couple of items at Target. They had smaller sizes (though still made for Amazon women, I'll have to have it all hemmed up shorter). I got a pair of jeans that have a semi-normal waistband with just a little elastic on the sides. I can't quite wear the actual maternity waisted items yet. Plus I chose a few cotton tees that I can wear now. I know one thing - finding maternity clothes that fit me is not going to be easy!

First Trimester Screening

2007-10-08T15:05:00.001-04:00

Jack & I decided to go for the extra first trimester screening. This is not required for low-risk patients, but we decided we wanted to know. Since it's just screening, if they come back positive, then we would go for the actual diagnostic tests (like CVS or amniocentesis). The nurse called today with my appointment date (this is done at a different facility, not by my doctor) which is 10/26 at Duke Perinatal. They will be doing a special ultrasound & a blood test and apparently it is not typically covered by insurance. But, they have a detection rate of 97% for Trisomy 18 and 90% for Down Syndrome. Testing in the second trimester does not have as high rates of detection.

First OB appointment

2007-10-04T21:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Jack & I went to our first OB appointment. They had told us to allow two hours.. but it seemed to take longer than that.

First we met with a nurse and went through all the basics, tons of questions about our previous medical history, mostly mine of course, but a little bit from Jack too. Then she provided us with a ton of information such as all the various screening tests, what medicines are okay to take, what will happen at normal appts, etc. Of course she checked my urine, blood pressure & weight (I'm still at my pre-pregnancy weight, but a good 5-8lbs over my pre-fertility-treatment weight. But I already look like I'm pregnant so I guess it's all from bloating).

Then we moved over to another office to meet with the doctor. He reviewed some of the medical chart plus went over some of the same testing stuff again. The discussion with him went fairly quick and then it was off to another room.

The last room was for the exam and ultrasound. He did a basic GYN exam (pap & all) and then the ultrasound. At first when we talked in his office, I thought he was not going to do one since I'd had one at 6 weeks at the fertility clinic. But then he said 'lets do one anyway and check it out'. The baby looked fine. Jack was amazed at how much the baby had grown in 2 weeks. And the heartbeat looked nice & strong.. a lot more obvious than the tiny blip on the screen 2 weeks ago. The CRL (crown rump length - a measurement of the fetus) was 20.9mm which is normal. He did find a cyst on my ovary though. It seemed big to me (measured at 52x40mm) but the doctor said there was nothing to be concerned about, just we'd keep an eye on it. So he'll do another u/s at our next regular appt (in 4 weeks) just to check it out. If nothing else, it's a way for us to get to see the baby an extra time :)

After all that, they took some blood to run a bunch of initial tests. The nurse called me back with the results this afternoon. She talked so fast that I didn't get to write it all down, but basically all the ones that I didn't write down were all normal. They did test me for toxoplasmosis since we have a cat (I especially requested it but they do usually offer this if you say you have a cat). I was hoping I'd show up immune, but I did not. So, Jack is stuck with litterbox duty (I can't complain!) for awhile. I also did not show any current infection which is also very good. From what I've read, cats apparently get the disease mainly by eating rodents (yuck) and since my kitty is stuck inside.. he's only gotten ahold of one mouse that I know of (one that made it into the house a few years back). The other blood test that was of particular interest was my hemoglobin. I was at 11.8 g/100 ml and apparently at 11.3 this doc requires iron supplements. Taking a supplement doesn't sound too tough, but this one can cause upset stomach which is not something I need to add to right now. She said to just be careful to make sure I'm eating iron-rich foods since I was fairly low on iron.

We have a ton of paperwork to read through, a few lists (foods, medicines,etc that are okay & warning signs to call the doc immediately), some ads, a magazine and a urine sample cup. Didn't see that coming? Actually I did know about that from my therapist who happened to have used the same practice. They have you pee in a cup at home & bring it in with you for your appointment. (I guess to save time?).

They scheudule regular appts every 4 weeks until the 26wk mark, then every 2 weeks until 36wk and then every week from there on. So we go back on November 1st.

OB here we come

2007-09-24T19:04:00.000-04:00

The fertility clinic is turning us over to the OB. We have our first appt. on Oct 3rd and are looking forward to it!

Week 6

2007-09-19T07:15:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be fun (since I no longer have fertility treatments to update everyone on) - to provide some general education on the development of our baby. You can learn as I do. So here are some links to read about WEEK 6 of a pregnancy.

Week 6 from KidsHealth for parents

Pictures & short summary of Week 6 from Pregnancy.org

Tiny little heartbeat

2007-09-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

Jack & I were surprised to see our tiny little baby's teeny little heartbeat so early! It was barely a flicker on the screen, but it was clear (once she explained where to look!). Our baby is only about 5mm big right now. In the picture there are two little X marks, those are the measurement marks for the embyro. The surrounding black blob is the gestational sac.

Now that we know there is only one baby, we were given a due date of 5/11 (the day after our 5th wedding anniversary, LOL). I'm 6 weeks and 2 days along today. So this is it, we are officially done with the fertility clinic! We now switch over to a regular OBGYN and everything from here on out will progress like a regular pregnancy! :)

Nothing new...

2007-09-13T13:20:00.000-04:00

Today I'm 5wks & 3 days preggo! Nothing new to report really but I didn't want to abandon my blog too long. I've been pretty tired, but otherwise symptoms are minimal thus far. I have been going back & forth between no appetite & starving though.. which has been fun. I probably won't have any updates again until after the ultrasound on Tuesday.

tick tock

2007-09-07T11:24:00.001-04:00

4 weeks & 4 days pregnant. Only 248 days to go (LOL). I've added a ticker to my page that will count off the days, weeks & months. I'll update the ticker as I know more (exact due date, twins or not, sex of baby, etc) but I thought it was fun to put it up now. I had used this a few times in the early stages of TTC, but it got old to see that thing expire every month.

Parents become Grandparents

2007-09-04T23:40:00.000-04:00

Today & tonight we told all the parents that they will be grandparents finally :) I've got a few more calls to make tomorrow to extended family & friends but for the most part have told everyone. So, now I'm posting up all the blogs I'd been holding off on for the last few days...

Huge Beta

2007-09-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

I called the clinic as soon as they opened this morning and was able to get an appt before 10AM thankfully. I was dying to find out what my beta levels were and get our pregnancy confirmed by the doc! I showed up early but thankfully they never make me wait, even if I'm early. They called me right back and took my blood. She said since this was the first test, they would do both hcg (what I keep referring to as the beta) and progesterone. Progesterone is a necessary hormone during pregnancy, esp in the early stages to maintain the pregnancy (thus why I was prescribed prog. suppositories as part of fertility treatment).

So finally Dr Meyer called me back and confirmed that I am indeed pregnant. Yay!! He said my beta was 1100 (my reaction was 'woah, really?!'). That's a pretty high number which I knew from my internet obsessions. Here's a beta chart that you can look at to get a general idea (look at day 16, today is 16 days past ovulation for me). Notice there are two charts, one shows values for single pregnancies (one baby) and the other is for multiple pregnancies (twins or more). As you will see from the chart, 1100 is high even on the multiples chart.

Dr Meyer said that beta is high enough that it may be TWINS!! (as I was just alluding to) but that it's too early to tell. I don't even have to go back for a second beta as expected since it was so high. He said my progesterone looked good (I didn't ask the exact number). So I'll finish up the progesterone I have (just a few more days) but then do not need to refill it. He also confirmed my expectation that I no longer need Avandia or Glucophage (for my PCOS) while pregnant. So other than prenatal vitamins, I am going to be drug-free for the first time in two years! I setup an appt for two weeks from now (9/18) for our first ultrasound where we'll hopefully learn more.

Now off to tell our families...

Two Pink Lines

2007-09-02T10:54:00.000-04:00

I'm Pregnant!!! This morning we did our home test and it was positive! The second pink line was very very faint at first & I almost threw it away thinking it was negative again. Once I noticed, I called Jack out of bed to look at it. As we pulled out the directions to compare, the line got a little darker. Yay! After two years of treatment, IUI (with superovulation) worked!

Of course I sat right down & figured out a due date online! May 12th if there is one baby. (Remember I had 4 follicles, so we're at risk for multiples). Of course it's a holiday weekend, so I have to wait until Tues to call the doc & get a beta test to confirm it.

We are SOO EXCITED! I'm dying to tell everyone I know, but Jack is being the rational one. He's convinced me that I need to wait until Dr. Meyer confirms it before I tell the whole world. So keep us in your prayers that everything continues to progress well!

PCOS Awareness Auction

2007-08-31T15:30:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning at 9AM Central, the bidding opens on the 2007 PCOS Awareness Auction. Proceeds will benefit the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association. The acution will run until Sept. 28.

Visit the auction

Anyway

2007-08-31T15:09:00.000-04:00

Anyway
Martina McBride/Brad Warren/Brett Warren (BMI)

You can spend your whole life buildin'
Somethin' from nothin'
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

(Chorus)
God is great, but sometimes life ain't good
When I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

(Repeat Chorus)

You can pour your soul out singin'
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway

I sing
I dream
I love anyway

Video Parade

2007-08-29T13:07:00.000-04:00

Almost there.. just a few more days til HPT...

Here a lady gives herself antagon. These are easy b/c they are prefilled & in a nice glass syringe. But the meds sting. And I just noticed she didn't push the air out first. You're supposed to hold it up and push out the air bubbles. This one comes with a giant airbubble at the top and it's easy in this glass syringe to accidently push it too far. I've squirted a little of the medicine out before when I did it too fast. I've taken this in both IUI & IVF cycles. This cycle I took this the two nights before trigger shot.

The Friends Fertility Test

2007-08-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

oh the joys of fertility testing

IUI graphics

2007-08-26T21:27:00.000-04:00

from http://www.fertility-docs.com/glossary.phtml

Shooting up

2007-08-25T20:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a chic giving herself a Follistim injection using a Follistim pen. This is the drug I used in both IUI & IVF. I never could hold the pen the way she is (which is how they taught us to). Just seemed too much like a jabbing motion, I hold the pen closer to the needle. I love how excited she is at the end that she did it. Superquick.

Ok so I really want to show two videos today. But this lady in the second one has a pretty foul mouth on her so I'm only going to link to it, instead of embeding, and it's up to you if you want to watch it or not. The reason I like it though is because she gets herself all 'siked out'. I've done this so many times! Over the last year I've taken dozens of these little shots, but every now & then you freak yourself out. Karla shoots up!

Dr. Lovely

2007-08-24T20:26:00.000-04:00

The only funny thing about this video is that this chic's name is really Dr. Lovely. But it's a good, quick overview of IUI (about a minute).

Eat more ice cream

2007-08-22T21:15:00.000-04:00

alright this just makes me laugh.. way to go UNC, that's a stellar story

Video Parade

2007-08-21T20:16:00.000-04:00

A quick one ... and totally random

Video Parade

2007-08-20T19:02:00.000-04:00

To entertain myself (and hopefully a few of you out there in WWW land) through this two week wait, I'm going to start a video parade. I'll be featuring some videos here that are either informational, funny, or just caught my eye over the next two weeks. I may even throw in a few pictures if I can't find a video I like. I was going to call this 'video of the day' but can't promise I'll remember every day. Just a warning, there aren't that many humorous infertility videos out there. I'll do the best I can but may go 'offtopic' now & then to lighten up the mood.

To start us off, I picked a cute, though somewhat bitter animation. It runs about 4 minutes. This one started me on my infertility video kick awhile back, but I never posted it here. In case you don't know/remember, RE is Reproductive Endocrinologist (basically the fertility doc).

So here's 'My Aunt Jane knows more than my RE' by Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters

IUI #5

2007-08-19T18:16:00.000-04:00

DH & I got up bright & early (5AM for a 6:30 appt) for our IUI this morning. We were the first patients to arrive at the clinic, the doors to the building were even still locked when we first got there. Everything went really smooth, other than the doc couldn't find my cervix at first. But there was no pain or discomfort at all which is unusual. I've had some cramping this afternoon though. But that's it, this is always the anticlimactic part. Now we wait. Again.

Multiple Risk

2007-08-17T14:14:00.000-04:00

My scan today showed still 4 follies that were mature. On my right ovary, had some big ones, I think the two were between 18-20mm, the large one may have even been bigger. I've already forgotten the exact measurements. The left had smaller ones, one larger than the other. RE thought the smallest one of the left was a 'maybe' on whether it had a mature egg or not.

Because of all those follicles, my RE & I had a nice little chat about the risk of multiples that he had mentioned on Wednesday. He wanted me to be aware that I'd likely have to go for 'reduction' if I got pregnant with trips or quads. So we discussed the possibilities and there was a way to reduce the risk. Instead of doing an IUI, we could finish the cycle by trying at home. If this had been only my 2nd or 3rd try, he would have strongly recommended that option. However, being my 5th IUI and already having done IVF once, he left it up to us. DH & I decided to stick with IUI as it has the best chance of a pregnancy. Even though trying at home limits the risk of multiples, it also reduces the chances of a pregnancy at all. Right now we just want the best chances we can get, and can worry about multiples & reduction if we get there. You know, cross that bridge when we come to it. He didn't bother taking my e2 as it would not change either option. If this doesn't work, it will be the last IUI. RE said IVF would be the next step. That was another deciding factor but not a surprise.

So with all that in mind, we scheduled an IUI for Sunday. (Going to have to get up at the crack of dawn! Our appts are at 6:30 & 7:30 in Raleigh). So I'll take my trigger shot tonight at 6 which will have me ready for Sunday morning. Really the timing worked out well. I'm co-hosting a bridal shower tomorrow and need to shop tonight. So I'm glad we don't have the IUI until Sunday.

4 Follies

2007-08-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

My RE said I was close to ready. He found four follicles that were almost the right size. My right ovary had a 15mm & 13mm, the left had two 10s. So, he's upped my follistim to 75IUs (from 50) and added a shot of antagon (ganirelix acetate) tonight & tomorrow night. Then return on Friday for another scan with expectation that IUI will be Sunday. Of course he did say I'm at risk for multiples due to the number of follicles. But I'm not too concerned about that right now, since my body has not been in a hurry for just a single.

Big box of meds

2007-08-09T19:39:00.000-04:00

It's odd getting a big box of medicine delivered to the door (yes I just ordered yesterday after my appt, but these specialist pharmacies understand the urgency & schedules of IUI/IVF). And it was over a 100 degrees today again so I'm glad I was here to bring it in right away. (Most of mine has to be refrigerated). They pack it pretty good with icepacks & special bags, but at these temps it's better not to take the chance.

Up through today, I'd been using leftover meds from IVF (besides a few Rxs I had to fill here & there). But when RE said to up the dose, I knew I didn't have enough left to get through this round. I had to order more from the IVF pharmacy and man is it expensive. After insurance, it was still $200. I was glad to see when I opened it that it was way more than I'd need for this one cycle. So that helped a little with the 'sticker shock'. It's more than enough to get me through at least one more cycle if need be. (Hopefully not necessary though!). I was disappointed I didn't get a sharps container like with my last shipment. Mine is full, so next time I'll have to remember to ask them about that.

Here we go again... (aka IUI #5)

2007-08-08T17:24:00.000-04:00

Yep it's already time for another go. Thats one thing with infertility, you barely get time to let the last negative test (hpt or beta) sink in before it's time to move on (unless it's IVF, they make you wait after that).

This morning, after my scan, Dr Meyer suggested we change my protocol for this cycle. So, no more Femara. Instead, I'll start the Follistim earlier (day 3 instead of 7) and up the dose. Taking 75IUs tonight and then 50 until I go back next Wed (15th). I had been taking only 37.5IUs. This is a more agreesive schedule, but not too much. After 2 previous cycles with the same doses, he didn't think it made any sense to try another without making changes. He said I could try another if I wanted to, but I'm in agreement we shouldn't keep trying the exact same thing over & over.

BFN

2007-08-06T14:30:00.000-04:00

My pregnancy test this morning was negative.

Lady Saw - No less Than A Woman 'Infertility'

2007-08-03T15:43:00.001-04:00

Pomegranates

2007-08-03T10:33:00.000-04:00

Pomegranates, a longstanding symbol of fertility, serve as a strong analogy to those suffering through infertility. Though each pomegranate skin is unique in colour and texture, the seeds inside are remarkably similar from fruit to fruit. Though our diagnosis is unique—endometriosis, low sperm count, luteal phase defect, or causes unknown—the emotions, those seeds on the inside, are the same from person to person. Infertility creates frustration, anger, depression, guilt, and loneliness. Compounding these emotions is the shame that drives people suffering from infertility to retreat into silence.

In addition, the seeds represent the multitude of ways one can build their family: natural conception, treatments, adoption, third-party reproduction, or even choosing to live child-free.

The pomegranate thread holds a two-fold purpose: to identify and create community between those experiencing infertility as well as create a starting point for a conversation. Women pregnant through A.R.T., families created through adoption, or couples trying to conceive during infertility can wear the thread, identifying themselves to others in this silent community. At the same time, the string serves as a gateway to conversations about infertility when people inquire about its purpose. These conversations are imperative if we are ever to remove the social stigma attached to infertility.Tie on the thread because you’re not alone. Wear to make aware.

Join us in starting this conversation about infertility by purchasing this pomegranate-coloured thread (#814 by DMC) at any craft, knitting, or variety store such as Walmart or Target. Tie it on your right wrist. Notice it on others.
-----------------------------------------------------
Above statement comes from Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters (link on side bar). I've been wearing my infertility thread for a couple weeks now.

aches & pains

2007-07-31T22:41:00.000-04:00

I've noticed some extra little aches & pains lately. Of course, women going through infertility are constantly wondering what this or that little twinge might mean. But the last few days have been more than usual. I realized tonight that I've only had this particular type of pain (bloating, gas & some other discomfort) was after IVF. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. I think I had a mild case of hyperstimulation then, so maybe thats what this is (though this is more of an irritation where at IVF it was downright painful). Or maybe its nothing. Of course, OHSS clears up if you do not get pregnant, and stays longer if you do (in general)... so maybe it's a good sign. Or possibly I'm just an obsessive chic as us IFers tend to be .. I just can't tell anymore.

It was too good to be true

2007-07-30T22:50:00.000-04:00

I knew it was too good to be true. My lovely drug, Avandia, is going through all sorts of hoopla. I wasn't worrying about it since the risks seemed minimal & unrelated to me. But after a warning message from my insurance company when I went to refill, I figured I'd finally better ask my doctor. Of course, I just left a message for the nurses who talked to the doctor. They called back & said he wants to switch me to glucophage.

OH NO! WOE IS ME!

I really do not want to go back on glucophage. I was always sick on it. Even though I was supposed to gradually step up the dose, I never could make it to the final dose. This was one of my top two complaints that led to switching doctors. So I'm going to give it a shot.. and keep one eye on the Avandia news (see here). At least Dr. Meyer is giving me a lower dose, so maybe it won't hit me as hard. But I'm not excited by any means. He wants to see me back in three weeks to checkup and see how I'm doing on it. (Of course if I'm preggo I'll be back sooner for more monitoring).

Countdown: 7 days to HPT

Ouch... my ovaries!

2007-07-27T21:53:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I was chatting with my MIL on the phone and we got to talking about my latest cycle news. I mentioned that I was having minor pains, just twinges really. I said 'my ovaries hurt' and she laughed. Not at my pain, but at what I had said. She really thought that was funny, and to be fair, it is a pretty unusual thing to hear someone say.

For you boys out there who don't know, women aren't usually aware of their ovaries.. kinda like your liver or a kidney. It's just an organ that you know is in there doing its job (or in my case quietly not doing it's job) and unless something specifically goes wrong, you're oblivious to it. But sometimes in fertility treatments, the ovaries become enlarged (overstimulated) and they can be downright painful. They call that OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation). Of course, OHSS is more likely in patients with PCOS (lucky me).

It's possible that I might have a very mild case of OHSS, but even if not, my ovaries are making sure that I don't forget about them over the last few days. They've been just tender enough to make me take notice and occasionally led me to feel like lying down (more comfortable). Before IVF, I honestly could not point out the exact location of my ovaries. I knew roughly where they should be, but had never had any feeling in that area. That certainly changed this year starting with IVF. But if it means these guys (ok maybe I should call them gals) are working, then I'm all for it. No pain no gain right?

Countdown: 10 days to hpt

Creativity lacking

2007-07-26T23:01:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a lot of other fertility related blogs lately and I've noticed one thing. My posts are boring. No really, my posts are lacking the creative aspect so common in the best of blogs (esp in my post titles). On top of that, my writing skills could use some work. I'm not talking about basic grammar or spelling. I mean, I am a well educated, college grad with better than average communication skills. But not quite up to par in the 'newspaper article' style writing that most blogs emulate. I'm sure my little brother, aka the literary genius of the family, could give me a few pointers there.

Of course I have excuses. That's one thing about me, I've always got an excuse! I blame this particular issue on being lazy pretty much. And sometimes on being tired, grouchy, moody and just otherwise all hormonal (Ok so some of that is just me naturally, but I've got the IF excuse in that department!) or just plain procrastinating so that I end up trying to punch out a quick post before bedtime.

That being said, I really started this blog for my close family & friends.. not for the general populous. I'm not out to entertain or educate. Ok well maybe a little bit on the educate side. But I never really thought anyone outside my close circle would see this. I recently learned that's not true. I've had visitors from as far as Dubai & Sydney. Plus I've started passing around the link to this blog to more and more people as I grow more & more comfortable talking about IF and our particular experiences.

If you want to read about IF from much more talented and quirky women (and maybe a man or two), check out my blogroll (aptly named 'other adventurers' - I felt I had to spruce up my blog widgets a bit after all my reading - peer pressure, ain't it grand?).

So to get to the point, be aware that sometimes, I just want to document what happened that day. And that might be a bit boring. Sometimes its more for me than anyone else. It's been convienent to have this handy dandy log of our whole journey that I can access from anywhere.

Oh .. and the countdown is still on. 11 days to HPT

2ww

2007-07-25T22:43:00.000-04:00

Two weeks sometimes can seem like forever. That's certainly the case when you are in the dreaded 'two week wait (2ww)' of infertitity treatments. I cannot believe it's only been two DAYS! To pass the time, I thought I'd share a funny shot of myself with my cousin who's about two. (This post is all about the number two. Do you feel like you're watching Sesame Street?). I'm laughing because he would burst into laughter as soon as the flash went off and then put the serious face back on. Of course it's not all fun & games. By the end of our lunch, I was wearing more applesauce than I ate since he decided that he could try to eat my applesauce with his fork. He's not quite skilled enough for that yet.

IUI #4 today

2007-07-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

This morning we went in for our 4th try at IUI. Everything looked good and the IUI went pretty easily (less discomfort this time). Not much more to say about it .. now we start the two week wait.