30 weeks and change...

Hi there... remember me?

Yeah sorry about that long absence... I just didn't have a lot to say. Things here have been uneventful. Well they were until yesterday that is.

Yesterday was a prenatal appt and u/s to check and see where my placenta was lying. In the hopes of it hopefully lying somewhere far far away from the cervix. Because I'm me and we all know that nothing with me ever goes smoothly we learned that that darn placenta hasn't moved a millimeter. I somehow was living under the mistaken impression that while it was low it was a few centimeters away from the cervix... not so much. It's exactly 7 millimeters away. So after the u/s we waited patiently for the doctor's appt where I got to learn all about what to watch out for as if to say - it's not a matter of if you'll have a bleeding episode it's a matter of when. I was a bit deflated at that point, but I still had the heads up to ask so - how was that glucose tolerance test... where I then learned my results were right at the cut off for doing the 3 hour test. We've elected to not do the 3 hour test, but to monitor my fasting blood sugars and see where they are. I'll do some pre and post ones as well as I'm an an*l retentive freak, but hopefully it's nothing.

Needless to say my balloon has popped a bit... things are going relatively well, but I feel as if I'm waiting for a shoe to drop right on my head... In the good news category - no bleeding, she's healthy and she's not breech. We'll take what we can get right?

So...

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense. D finally got the card opened (the u/s tech had stapled it about 10 times) and we are having a little girl. My mother and my in laws are tickled. My sister is already shopping and my brother in law sent D a note saying look out... My niece is delighted as now she's not the only one. As for Squeaker... he just wants a baby :)

Stay Tuned

Well... I am 24 weeks plus days... and we had the big ultrasound. I do not know what I am having... I do know that all the heart parts were there, that the spine was closed and the baby had a brain, bladder, and diaphragm as well as 2 arms and 2 legs. All good things in my book. Tonight we'll find out with D's parents as well as my mom and Squeaker. It should be interesting. It'll probably be anticlimactic, but there it is.

I also learned I have a marginal placenta previa... apparently my doctor has never had the placenta grow over the cervix at this stage of the game, but we'll have another u/s in 2 appts and just for shits and giggles the baby measured 1 week behind by femur length, but right on for weight so who knows. We're confident of our dates so I think I just have a peanut. But when your doctor says... "this would be a perfect u/s report if it weren't for *bum bum bum*" it makes your teeth clench. D of course does not understand most of this and couldn't understand why me and Dr. Google were becoming friends again. I'm not too worried... just of the thought process this should be monitored. Fun times here ladies and gents.

In Squeaker news when asked what he wants a baby brother or a baby sister his response is... "A baby." He takes after my dad who lived with the philosophy of gender doesn't matter, health does. I agree.

Halfway there?

Where on earth has the time gone? I'm 20 weeks and a few days and to be honest I got nothing. Our big u/s is not for another 3.5 weeks (because I'm a pansy who doesn't want to see anyone else in the practice). Truthfully that whole big u/s - I could care less about gender... I want to know that this babe has all the parts it's supposed to have. You know... chambers of the heart, outflow tracts, 2 kidneys, 2 lungs, a closed spinal column... I know I'm so romantic aren't I? But in all seriousness that's the things I worry about, not whether it will be a boy or girl. I live with my dad's philosophy that gender doesn't matter... healthy does. I almost grabbed a peds cardiologist and begged for a fetal echo the other day... if I had just been a little faster I would have caught them and probably fallen on my sword asking for one.

Last week was the anniversary of my dad's death and while I usually put a post up about it, this year I didn't have anything new to say. I miss him. I always will. March 12th will never be an easy day for me. This year I worked and that was a different animal.

No easy way to transition away from that, but we have had just sheer craziness in this household. I can tell you that I think Ernie is Hooch reincarnated from Turner and Hooch... the darn dog ate my favorite pajama pants when he got perturbed. While I don't think Hooch would do that... Ernie did. Squeaker is no help when Ernie gets in trouble either - he wants to let him out of his kennel and tells us loudly that "Ernie out here!"

Oh have I not mentioned Squeaker is now quite the little talker. He's a regular Chatty Charlie. It's quite cute and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It still has it's frustrating moments, but he's doing great on the vocal front. Now to get him to potty train. Today he chose to pee out the patio door... to be honest I don't care if it means we get out of pull ups. Although I'd prefer the toilet. My mom on the other hand will be horrified if she catches him doing that... and I know it'll happen. She's terrified he's going to go out the patio door and walk in our fenced in back yard. Seriously - that's probably a safe spot for him to wander. I've learned that as she ages she becomes more paranoid about things that she didn't even bother with when I was growing up... which is probably why I had so many visits to the emergency room.

Anyway so that's what's up with me. Not a lot.

Nuchal...

First off... I really for some reason have an odd dislike for the times new something or other font. You know that default font. Arial it is for me. Just something quirky about me okay.

Oh hell, I forget how far along I was, but about 2 weeks ago we had our nuchal translucency done. The measurements were 1.7-1.9 every time NN13 flipped and turned. Apparently we picked active time to do this. They were able to see all the things they wanted to see and I have as with Squeaker a posterior placenta... not that I cared, but just an odd side note. The blood work for the first part was done and by Friday we had the results which was a 1:10,000 risk for trisomies. I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance in spite of the fact that I had been woken up in the middle of sleep and had to work that night.

This past week has been not so fun though. Couple reasons... I am/was/am sick. I have a sinus thing that first made it impossible to not go about five minutes without blowing my nose or attempt to suffocate myself because NO AIR movement and have been battling that out. Tuesday the snow whatever showed up and I was working which meant... I spent all day Wednesday at work and then all night Wednesday night at work. They gave us a place to sleep, but let me just say the accommodations were about as good as they could be, but I got stuck by a coworker who didn't disclose that they snored... and they snored... and they snored... and I wanted to kick them or shove a pillow over their head. Needless to say I was a bloodshot mess Wednesday night and quite bitchy. The coworker and I ended up getting into it over something else. This is the same one who made me come out of the closet when I was 5 weeks because I needed them to do an MRI. I apparently still have some pent up animosity. The next time I work with her I'm going to have a talk with her. I need to get over this and since things are progressing with this pregnancy I need to let it go.

I have never been so happy to come home, climb into my own bed after giving D and Squeaker a kiss and telling my mom how much I loved and appreciated what she does for Squeaker and for us. I didn't have to worry about him while I was stuck at the hospital, because I knew he was in safe hands and that my mom could handle it. I probably could have slept for 18 hours straight, however I had a meeting yesterday afternoon.

Oh and Squeaker and D decided to try and outdo me. Both of them have this sinus crap as well. Nice and my mom has it as well. I'm tempted to call my OB. I just haven't made that phone call. I have chronic sinusitis but this... this just sucks.

We're at 14 weeks and some change now... all is well here. Another appt on Monday. Will try to keep posting.

Strange Conversations

Hi everyone! Sorry to be quiet for so long... no idea how long it's been.

Yesterday I had an actual OB appointment. I am currently 11 weeks so it was going to be the first real visit. This was after I had a phone consultation with a nurse - who literally told me nothing and should have been able to glean most of the information from the records the RE sent.

Anyway... So I was kind of surprised to be handed a consent form for H I V testing... since I hadn't had one handed to me with the last pregnancy. I knew how I felt about it, but there was no - lets talk about this, these are the reasons you have this testing done, these are the reasons you don't. It was handed to me at the front desk check in with a pamphlet which I thought was just odd. I thought that a nurse should have at the very least talked with me about it.

After the preliminaries we got down to business. My doctor came in and we talked for a little while, asked if I had a plan for delivery and I said yes - healthy baby, healthy momma. He laughed and then launched into the schpiel regarding risks and benefits of both various types of delivery. I told him at the end of the schpiel that I was not at a point yet to make a decision regarding birth choices yet and he nodded and said he understood, he just needed to talk with me about it. We ended the appointment after the whole deal with a listen to NN take 13's or Fetus 2.0's heart beat which was clipping along at 163.

I go back in a week and a half for the nuchal screen and blood work. D and Squeaker will be with me for that... as no one is there to watch Squeaker. If I had been even a little bit on the fence about doing the nuchal I no longer am as one of my friends just had awful results triggered by the results of the nuchal. I would rather know in advance. Not everyone chooses that, but I would rather know in advance if things were not going along as smoothly as one would have hoped.

In Squeaker news - he's had gastro for a week... I hate gastro!!!! I'm over it.

Whoops...

Sorry everyone for the radio silence... nothing to see here keep on moving forward. We were released from the RE's office by Dr. Sarcastic. NN 2.0 was growing appropriately and had a heart rate of 176. It was measuring right on for all that business. Next up... a year in review... a stupid nurse call (I'm not sure what she wants to talk about but it'll be enlightening), first ob appt and then the nuchal.

I've been working and will be for a few more days.

Squeaker is doing well and talking a lot more. Ernie (Dino D this is for you) has been not so willingly playing the part of Brutus from "The Ugly Dachshund" he has been walked on a leash for I don't know how many hours straight. Lola has played the part of the 4 bad doxies in the movie... with the help of Meg and her pups. Squeaker also likes the w i i fit running... and is now learning yoga. D took a picture of him doing the cobra pose from the yoga part. Nana has been doing the w i i as well and is enjoying it.

So... now I patiently wait for the time when I should be able to find the heartbeat via doppler... because as we all know - an u/s is only reassuring the day you have it... after that you're living on a wing and a prayer. We all know how I feel about that.

Update

Move along... nothing to see here.

Appropriate growth and a heartbeat of 117. It measured between 6 weeks 2 days and 6 weeks 4 days. Repeat u/s on 12/23 right before Dr. Sarcastic is out of town on vacation. We could have done it on 12/27... a part of me wants the reassurance before the holidays and the other wants it for when NN 2.0 is a few days older etc. I don't know what the right answer is... go at 8 weeks 1 day or at 8 weeks 5 days... I have a few days to make up my mind definitively. Go with Dr. Sarcastic or Dr. Sensitive...

My mom is upset that we haven't told D's parents... they've kind of pissed me off right now, so yeah I'm probably punishing them for it... I've apparently taken an angry pill in regards to all of this.

Grrrr...

So... this morning I received a phone call from the RE's office stating they were changing my u/s time. 1.5 hours earlier than the original appointment and that it would be with Dr. Sensitive rather than Sarcastic as Sarcastic will be in procedures. Here's the problem... D works tonight so he would not be home in time to go to this appt. I begged... I pleaded... the other alternative was to wait until Monday and have the u/s then. While I know I had the reassuring u/s last week I don't know that I could go that long since to be honest - I'm not positive I saw any flickr like he said he did. I'd rather know hey you can stop the progesterone or nope carry on... After much deliberation it was decided that we both would rather know one way or the other... so u/s tomorrow it is... alone. I may have D on speaker phone for moral support...

I also told D if I received bad news tomorrow I would never go to another u/s again without him. He agreed. He said - lets stay hopeful okay? Maybe the PTSD let up for a minute. I on the other hand am working on an ulcer.

So wish me luck... I'll keep you guys posted and positive vibes are appreciated. NBHHY

NBHHY or is it NCHHY?

I know it's been a long time since I've posted about something like this... as most of you know back to the RE we went at the beginning of November and in our usual fashion we jumped in with both feet. Why not right?

Then of course the panic set in... and then I did the obsessive compulsive how many dpo am I? When would I get a positive if it was going to be positive? Would I still have the ability to diagnose a dismal beta just based on the color of the stick?

Needless to say I've probably been a lot more anxious the last month than I normally am... About 2 weeks ago we had the first beta done and it was 76 at 12 dpo. The repeat was 210 so great doubling for me. We were slated for the first u/s on this Friday... however as always with me things never go quite as planned.

I was meandering in a field I had never known before... a pregnancy without any bleeding when wham... I slid off the road and landed with the front end into a tree. No air bags deployed, I was fine... the rental car not so much, but no one was injured. I of course as a good patient rather than the normal pain in the ass that I am notified the RE's office and was told - should be fine, no need to worry everything is well protected. 24 hours later I had my friend spot to keep me company. At this point I believe I was 5 weeks and a day. So the nurse said we should have you come in to at least reassure you that all is well. I had to work that night and while I was having some mild cramping I'm firmly of the belief with my body that it would either happen or not happen whether I worked or not. The next morning I drove the hour up to the doctor's office and met with Dr. Sensitive... Dr. Sarcastic was booked up. He came in and did the u/s. Miracles of miracles there was a gestational sac and a something or other... he swears there was a flickr and I think I saw what he was talking about... either way no evidence of bleeding so that was good.

So... now we're headed into those murky waters... our next u/s is Friday. Positive thoughts would be appreciated.

*I had to come out at work sort of last night, which is what prompted this. I didn't want to, but I know that you shouldn't do certain things if you are... and the person was being rather a pain in the ass when I asked her to do something for me she said "Why" and I said it's a personal reason, hoping she would drop it or take the hint... nope she goes no really why? I wanted to punch her. Then she got all freaky on me which is - oh are you okay, don't push that bed, etc. I thought to myself - you are psycho and I hate you for making me tell something I obviously wanted to keep just to myself rather than have every tom, dick or harry talking about me.

*The other reason I wanted to keep it quiet is that I wanted to tell another coworker first... she's actively trying and they have male factor infertility and I know how I felt about drive by pregnancy announcements. Unfortunately I haven't figured out when I'll see her next and it's driving me bonkers.

*So NBHHY - nothing bad has happened yet or should it be Nothing catastrophic has happened yet? You pick. Those are the vibes to send either way.

* Oh yes and while my mother knows... my in laws do not know as of yet... that's a whole nother post. I'll be back to post about that fiasco.

Christmas Card 2010 Runner Up

Bubble Wreath Holiday 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with custom holiday cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Do they count?

So... I forgot to mention a weird conversation at the RE's office...

When asked about my past pregnancies I responded with 11. The little medical assistant looked at me quizzically and wrote it down... when good old Dr. Sarcastic came in he looked at it and said "really? I thought it was 6" Which then made me want to punch him because then I thought - do we just not count the positive pregnancy tests, but really sh*tty betas? Kind of like a do over?

While I think of them as chemical pregnancies... or pregnancies that just decided to screw with me - you know the one... beta of 5 then suddenly 4 days later 25... they still gave us that moment of hope before I was able to accurately predict my quantitative beta hcg based on the color of the pregnancy test.

So... if I go in there again I'll probably have to print out my about me page and say - see here... these are the ones you didn't know about because we didn't want to take the chance you wouldn't let us cycle or waste our money on lab tests when my ability to guess my beta was within 2 points. Yes, we really were that determined to get knocked up and no amount of "resting" was going to slow us down. Oh and by the way Dr. Sarcastic... that number should probably be 12 as I totally forgot to count the pregnancy that happened in 2001 where I had the boyfriend who asked me when I told him I was pregnant "you're kidding right?" Oh yes and Thank you so very much for changing the coding diagnosis from "habitual ab*rter" to "recurrent pregnancy loss" I appreciate it.

*Wow... this could be a bit rough going on here...

Christmas Cards

Holiday cards, christmas cards, thanksgiving cards... either way it involves stamps, envelopes, a picture that is drool worthy that show cases off your family - whether it be you and your husband, you and your pets, or you and your child... either way it creates angst and some definite anxiety.

A few weeks ago we had some pictures taken... I stupidly decided to dye my hair to cover the gray and... well the pictures that resulted my hair looked brassy and red and just awful. Needless to say I was devastated by them. I spoke with the photographer and she agreed to retake the pictures. So hopefully I will see the retakes in about a week and be able to order my holiday cards.

I'm writing this blog post mostly as a shout out to shutterfly who has great holiday cards . My favorite is this unfortunately I can't replicate that as I don't have a little girl for my little boy to be kissing... though he did give one of D's coworkers a smooch for a long period of time that I could have probably taken that pic :)

I haven't made the wall calendars but I might this year for my mom and in laws who want to see their grandson's bright and shining face 12 months out of the year :)

If you were the type to have a party - which I am not then Christmas invitations are the thing to do.

Either way I do truly love Shutterfly and have used them for the past 3 years for both my cards and photo books. So I highly recommend them.

*Yes, I am being rewarded for this post... however I really do love shutterfly.

Roller Coaster

So... today was the big day...

The go back to the RE day...

It was interesting... I essentially went there for him to say - here's your PIO prescription... which he did give me, but I also got the... if this doesn't work in a few months then we should talk about an HSG...

By the end of the appt, when we got up to leave I said - it's nice having a simple appt... and he said that hopefully we keep it that way... and at that point I realized that this may not be easy... we may not have "fixed" the problem...

That problem is me... or more specifically that b**** of a uterus I have that prefers to have a lining like a crappy motel mattress... lets hope the rest of the bits know what they're doing or this could be a really crappy endeavor.

So the question remains... are we ready to start shooting up again and put our hearts on the lines? Getting back on that particular roller coaster is terrifying... yet the reward is huge.

I filled the prescription... as for when we'll start using it... we shall see.

Light a Candle

Today is the day we remember all babies that have been lost either during pregnancy, during birth or after birth. All you need to do is light a candle at 7pm wherever you are and leave it burning for 1 hour. Please help raise awareness of this day as it provides a lot of help for those who have been unfortunate enough to lose a baby.

I will be lighting a candle.

Decision Time...

Wow... who knew deciding whether or not to take a 7a-7p position would be so difficult. I've had to do a pro/con list, talked with my husband, my mother, friends, etc. That should tell you how tortured I've been about this whole decision. Thursday morning I was offered the position with the schedule I wanted... and I think I'm going to pass it up.

One of the big reasons is I would not see my son as much as I do now. I would leave before he gets up and I would return home either right before he goes to bed or after he is in bed. If I work 2 days in a row that's 2+ days he doesn't see me. That's not fair to him. When I work nights he sees me before I go to work and during the day he takes a nap with his father and I. I think this was the deciding factor...

My mom and my husband both were not keen on this change either so yet another big naysayer. My coworkers were - which I feel honored about, but while they are my work family, they're not my family. I was ambivalent about it... unsure if I am really cut out to do a day job with all the people that are there, etc.

I have until Monday to make my final decision, but I think I have already. And... I just bought fertility monitor sticks, so hopefully I can get in to the RE by next month and we can start trying for number 2 if that's what we choose to do.

Decisions...

I've worked nights for the last 15 years... I briefly worked days about 10 years ago, but quickly went back to nights. Recently a position has been posted that would allow me to go to days for 12 hours- 3 days a week. I'm very torn. My husband works nights and has no desire to go to days.

Going to days means a lot of change for me... for an antisocial girl like me it would mean more people... more bustle... I like the people I work with. They're great. I'm comfortable.

I don't know if it would be better for Squeaker if I worked days or not. I don't know if it would be easier for my mom if I worked days or not... I'm very torn and indecisive about this. I don't know if when we add a second child to this family it would be easier for everyone if I was on days or not. It's just a hard thing to think about.

So... here I sit trying to come up with an answer and good old husband says "Do what you think is best." Gee thanks...

Six Years

I met this wonderful man March 31, 2003... well to be honest we'd met before, but I didn't remember him. Anyway... we met again on March 31st. He was coming to the city that I lived in to visit a mutual friend and needed a place to stay as mutual friend didn't really have much for him to sleep on except a couch and I had a whole spare bedroom. I offered up my house and went to work that night. I had a spark - that tingle in your stomach when I had opened the door. We went on a date the next night and the rest is history.

It was just right... we became engaged in February of 2004. I had already bought a wedding dress in December of 2003... I was that confident that we were getting married. I believe I told him... "Hey guess what... I got a great deal on this dress today." When he asked how much I paid and I told him... he asked what the heck kind of dress it was. I responded back with, "it's a wedding dress, so you better hurry up and marry me before it goes out of style." I asked him to marry me and he said I needed the cat's permission. He finally said it was HIS job... and that it would happen at the right time.

He asked me with a message in a bottle... I still have the treasure chest and message in a bottle. It sits on our mantle. Our parents were thrilled... my dad went ahead making plans, telling everyone under the sun and just generally being thrilled - we learned about the telling everyone under the sun at his funeral... which negated the idea of eloping.

So... on September 18, 2004 I married my best friend... a man who accepts me just as I am. We had no idea that our quest to have a family would be as rocky as it was. It was never my problem... it was our problem. He was by my side through the HSG - although he did get really warm and really pasty... and he was the one to tell me that our first miscarriage was actually ectopic. He even sat by my side as I had an in office d/c - in spite of that whole not good with stuff like that. I still give him cr*p about not answering his phone at 4 a.m. when I called to let him know that I was on my way home as my water broke.

Through all of this... I would marry him again in a heartbeat. So... Happy Anniversary my love!

Happy birthday SD!

Squeaker... SD.... Not Negative... These are just some of the names that my son has had in his 3 years of life plus 9 errr... 8 months of gestation.

Today marks his 3rd birthday. This beautiful, sweet, intelligent boy has brought so much joy to my life. I am a better person because of him. He is a rough and tumble boy. He's always climbing on things to get something. He doesn't let anything slow him down. He gives his mom, dad, and nana a kiss before leaving every day. He waves goodbye to each and every one of the dogs.

So... happy birthday my sweet boy! We love you very much!

Long time no see :)

Hi there, remember me... I know I know it's been a while, but in reality things have just been busy and to be honest there hasn't been that much to say. However I will update.

Infertility wise... we haven't set up the appointment with the RE. However my periods which have been wonky at best due to nursing are now getting a bit more regular so this fall we will have aow n appt with the RE. I just have to schedule it. I have their number in my speed dial so it's not like I don't think about it every time I scroll past their name.

Work wise... things are interesting. There may be the opportunity for a day shift position and I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I think that days would be better for Squeaker and my mom. On the other hand it's days and days means lots more people lots more bullshit. I just don't know. I wonder if they'd let me do a trial and see how I like it before I actually commit? It's worth a shot. It would also mean seeing D less on the days I work as he's not going to go to a day shift.

Squeaker wise... still doing speech therapy and we did do an audiologist appt because he had to be referred for his hearing. Turns out - he hears just fine. Just doesn't speak. Although I do have to say that he is closer now than he was a year ago. Eating wise we still struggle somedays, especially without the high chair. Getting him to SIT and eat is a struggle. I'm not sure how to work that one out. On the bright side he tried a real fresh blueberry and a cherry. Prior to this he wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole. This week also brought hives... from what we're not sure. However it did resolve with benadryl and zyrtec so definitely an allergic reaction kind of thing. We suspect a sport drink that D let him drink, however it could have been anything.

Dogs... well Megan who previously was known as the good dog apparently was a wolf in sheeps clothing because wow can that girl be naughty. We thought Ernie was always doing things... NOPE... Meg is his partner in crime. The pups (Blue & Pepper) are doing great. Lola is her usual fiesty self.

My mom - still is having issues with her eyes. We go back in a few months to the eye specialist. I see a corneal transplant in her future... when who knows. She's also had some blood sugar issues recently which explains why she becomes a raging b*tch to me on occasion. I'd be that way too if my blood sugar was 37. She's keeping a food diary which hopefully helps her to see she's not eating enough hence the blood sugar issues. It's amazing what little sugar will do for your personality. :)

So what's up with you? And if you've read this far then you will see Ernie observing D & Squeaker fixing Nana's car. Yes he's in his underwear. No we're not completely potty trained yet, but on occasion we like to run around as if we are. It's a work in progress :)