Stim Day 5

Results of today's appt:

Estrodiol: 540 (quite the jump from the 41 at baseline last week)

TSH: 10.7 Oops. Yeah, that's a lot high. This was actually done at the baseline appt but didn't ask the full number today. Caused them to up my Levothyroxin to 100mc from the 25 I was on before that appt. Was told today I needed to make an appt. with an enrodcrinologist. My number has never been this high before. Yikes.

Follies:

- Left: 10.06, 11.44
- Right: 12.02, 12.16, 12.33, 12.70, 12.88

So, based on all of the above, they adjusted my meds:
- Bravelle: dropped to 75 iu
- Menopur: kept at 150 iu
- Ganirelix: start 250 mcg sub-q tonight

Stay on the Dexamethasone throughout. Wasn't on this last time so I asked what it was for as it's basically a corticosteroid. They mentioned that they have added it to help reduce inflammation to help with implantation - so the uterus potentially wouldn't fight it as much thinking the embie was a foreign body when transferred. Interesting.

I'm actually not liking how this cycle is progressing. Yay for having follies so far, but it's making me nervous as it's mimicking my first 2 cycles which were both BFN's. 9 days of stimming which looks to be about on track for this cycle. While it would be nice to not have to go 16 days like my BFP cycle, I kind of like the theory of slow and steady wins the race rather than the speedy cycle with crappier eggs.

And yes, I do realize every cycle is different. Just hard not to compare when those 1st two cycles were so similar with similar results, you know?


On 2 unrelated notes:
- 1st round of Girl Scout cookies arrived today. I felt guilty and ordered from 2 ladies at work this year (they bought to support my son's daycare ;-) ) Let's just say I've already eaten too many and have buried them at the bottom of my bag. Out of sight out of mind? I doubt it ocme 3:00. ;-)

My sister is coming down to stay for a few days! This is the sister that lives in Australia. She came home on 2/11 and goes back on 3/18. She usually only comes home once a year so I'm trying to soak up every minute that I can. I saw her the 1st 2 weekends she was home, but she has either been visiting my other sister or sick after that. Looking forward to having her all to ourselves!

Hope you're having a great day!

Blood Lines

DH is absolutely in love with Ryan. And I can't even put into words how it makes me feel to see him with out little guy - it's beyond amazing. He is such a good daddy!

DH is adopted and has never met his biological family. He has never had any desire to. And while DH was out today he sent me this text message:

"Did you know Ry Guy is the first human I have met that I share DNA with? That's pretty cool. I love him!"

I never really thought about it that way, but I think it's so amazing and so special that DH finally has this special link, you know? ;-)

This Weekend and Last

I apparently didn't post about it, but my mom came down to visit last weekend to spend one last "solo" weekend together before the baby arrived and it was awesome! Dad was supposed to come down and hang with DH, but something came up and he couldn't come. :-(

But, I still had an awesome time just hanging with my mom! We hung out and chatted, went shopping, went for walks, out to eat, apple picking (complete with cider donuts - yum!), just everything! Yay!

And this weekend DH and I are spending together in case it's our last one as just the two of us. We've been trying to do things like that lately anyway, but the reality has set in that this may, in fact, truly be the last weekend! We're going to go to dinner, watch movies (not in the theater - I can't handle sitting there that long anymore), go for walks, just whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do it. I can't wait! (And yes, I know we can do many of those items with the baby, but it's still something special to do with just the two of us). ;-)

Here are some pics from apple picking (I like the ones better with my mom in them, but I don't want to post without her permission):

And Larissa - if you're reading this - we are so close! Wonder which little guy will come first!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

31 Weeks!

How far along?: 31 weeks!

Total Weight Gain: +9 as of last appt. Next appt. is Wed - I'm sure I've gained more!

Stretch Marks?: no new ones - just a couple on the underside of my breasts, knock on wood!

Sleep?: still wake up a lot, but various positions throughout the night help.

Best Moment This Week: My nephew's 1st birthday party! Oh - and my mom and sister seeing my belly move!

Movement: Oh still going strong. Feeling more in my ribs now.

Food Cravings: Still none yet.

Labor Signs: just the basic BH's.

Symptoms: heartburn, some rib issues - mostly the right side. Have had it since early on. Not sure what causes it, but helps if I raise my right arm or lay on my side.

Belly Button In or Out?: Still in.

What I miss: my sister - brought her back to the airport to fly back to Australia yesterday. :-( PG related - sleeping all night on my back/stomach.

What am I looking forward to: Pregnancy related - seeing the little guy on our next ultrasound on Wednesday! Non-pregnancy related? finally a weekend home with nowhere to go and no visitors!

Weekly Wisdom: nothing really, but I did have to AW this text from DH: "I love you more each day. Me, you and bitty. Everything elseis just a side dish." I love you to, babe! Yay! ;-)

Milestones: final u/s on Wednesday - was told it's routine, so I'm assuming it's for growth and positioning?

Busy!

We've had a busy week this week.

1) We did 2 daycare visits - 1 we really liked and 1 not as much. And go figure - the one we liked the most was the cheaper of the 2! We have a couple more left and then we'll make our final decision. The funny thing, is none of them really need our Yes/No answer until the baby is here. I had always heard that you have to do it ASAP b/c spaces fill up, but so far, that has just not been the case. We will probably do it sooner than that b/c that's just how I work, but I just found it so different than what I'd always been told.

2) L&D Tour: had our first class. It was a quick one - just a high level overview of some of the staff from each of the departments (NICU, Breastfeeding, etc...) and then a tour. There were a couple things I wish we could change (ie: the birthing tubs currently not hooked up), but our OB only delivers at this hospital so I'm happy we liked it overall! Plus, we've really only heard good things about delivering at St. Pete's, so that's good, too.

3) Nursery: nothing beyond emptying the room has been started (which subsequently needs to be re-emptied!), but we think we have narrowed down colors, etc... When we decide officially, I'll post them. It's not easy!

Other than that, we are finally ending our "on-the-go" session. We seriously haven't had a free weekend in I can't remember how long. This weekend we go to my nephew's 1st birthday party and then we'll finally be home for a while and can get things done. Yay! We got him this book (which is awesome!) with his name and then DH is picking up a toy today. Should be fun!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I passed!

Today is 27 weeks (and start of 3rd tri!) and had my last monthly OB appt today - from now on out, we go every 2 weeks. Wow!

Got the results of my glucose and repeat thyroid tests and I passed them both as well as the standard blood pressure, weight, heartrate, etc... So - here are the results:

Glucose: 88 -- well within passing range, yay!
Thyroid: 1.4 -- so staying on same 50 mcg dosage
BP: 90/60
Weight: +1 from last month, total +7
HB: fluctuated between 148-152 -- nice and strong!

They also gave us the official go-ahead for Jamaica and we leave this Friday! We canNOT wait!

Other updates:
- We had our nieces (ages 7 & 9) here since Wednesday and we brought them back home yesterday. Was fun, but I will admit I was ok with driving them back home after the visit, too! lol

- Now that the girls are gone, we are instead dog-sitting. Dog comes tonight and his daddy picks him back up Thursday night. We leave Friday morning. Let's just say it'll be nice to get away for the pure simple fact that no one will be around and we can finally be alone! We haven't been alone, especially on the weekends in I don't know how long! (And yes, I know we won't be alone at all when the baby comes, but it's ok - it'll be our baby!!! lol)

- DH woke up Saturday morning and couldn't move his knee or put any pressure on it. He's not sure what he did, but we went to Urgent Care yesterday and the doctor thinks he sprained it. It's only slightly swollen and DH doesn't recall doing anything to have resulted in a sprain, but he went for x-rays today just in case it was anything else.

So needless to say, we'll make quite the pair at the resort - the pregnant girl and the guy on the crutches - won't be hard to forget! lol

Tomorrow = Glucose

Tomorrow is the day I get to drink the sugary orange stuff. I've heard from some it's not so bad, others that it's terrible. Either way, I know I have to drink it fast so at least it'll be over with quickly.

I have the option of orange or fruit punch, but of which I do not like the flavor of. I'd rather eat the jelly beans or drink the grape juice I've heard some girls get to do! lol

Besides glucose, they'll also be drawing to retest my thyroid. Hopefully I'll still come back ok and just stay on my current dosage.

Outside of the pregnancy, this past weekend was the 4th of July! We went to visit the in-laws and had a pretty good time. Started registering, went to a BBQ on Honeoye Lake, got some color, ate some crap food. All-in-all, not a bad weekend!

Bridal Shower?!

My sister asked me the other day for the list of people who I'd want invited to the shower. I have to admit - it took me a minute to realize what she was talking about! It may sound weird to say, but I sometimes forget I'm pregnant. Maybe forget isn't real. Maybe it's just that I don't think it's really happening sometimes. I don't know how to describe it.

But when it sunk in what she was talking about, it made it a little more real. She is throwing a shower for us. For the baby we're having. Wow!

A Thump and a Book

So, I felt another "thump" today, so I am beginning to think it is the baby, although still not 100% sure. I don't think I'll be 100% sure until it happens more often and is a little harder. But yay for now if it is!

Outside of that, I've been feeling pretty good. Still sleeping like crap - that's probably the biggest thing right now. I am such a light sleeper right now - I wake up so easily - and it's not always to pee. I knew the not sleeping was going to happen, I just thought I had more time! lol

I also noticed I had my first skin tag - they're kind of freaky - yikes! It's tiny and I know they generally go away, just weird to see actually happen. I think I'll just not look for now. ;-)

On a different note, this past weekend, we went away to visit DH's family for Mother's Day. It was a nice trip. I hadn't been able to go out to visit since Christmas, so it was great. We catered to his mom and tried to not let her do anything (although not always successfully!). I wasn't expecting anything myself for Mother's Day since I don't technically have a baby in my arms, but his sister and nieces got me a card and a gift, it was pretty cute. And some friends sent well-wishes as well, it was kind of cool!

DH didn't do anything (and I agree) since we aren't technically there yet and didn't want to jump the gun, just in case, you know? I'm completely ok with that and can't wait for next year!

Besides the card/gift from his sister, she always gave us a box of the old books she and DH used to have as kids - it is so cool to look through them. And DH said he wanted to pull each of them out and read them to my belly - yay! Although not one of those books, DH took a book out of the elementary school library last week (his idea!) and read it to my belly last night:



It was actually a pretty good book - I've never read any of the Clifford books. DH thought it was pretty funny and now that I think about it, I wonder why, too - seems everyone did - maybe they were out after I was too old for them? Who knows!

Either way, it was so cute watching him read last night. He was so into it and it just made me fall in love with him even more!

OK, guess that's it - I hope everyone has a great day!

Lilacs and Tulips

We are going out of town this weekend to visit DH's family. If we stayed home, we'd get to go to Tulip Festival. Lots of vendors, yummy food, good bands (I think Third Eye Blind is headlining?) and, of course, lots of tulips. Parking sucks - hard - but I love to look at everything.

But, to make up for it, Rochester (where we're going), is having their Lilac Festival this weekend. It sounds pretty similar I think and hey - who doesn't love the smell of lilacs!

So maybe we'll check it out and maybe take some pictures. Tulips are a lot more colorful to photograph, but I'll most likely have my camera in hand just in case!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Sort of. ;-) My Grandmother's actual birthday was back on 2/21 and we had a small family party to celebrate her 90th birthday. Can you imagine living 90 years?! The things you must have seen!

Well DH and I went up this weekend for a second party - one for the extended family. It was supposed to be held at someone's house on Sunday, but my grandmother ended up being admitted to the hospital (she's ok!) Saturday so we moved it there. She was in good enough condition they let us have it in one of the big rooms there so we could all fit and she was able to come down for it.

It was a surprise - even all of the nurses were in on it, it was great! The look on her face when she saw the big birthday sign and again as she saw each of our faces. It was so amazing - to see that look of joy, love, and happiness on her face. Yay!

So, once again, Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!

Told my Grandmother! LOL

So, we went home to my parents this weekend for Easter and it was nice - fast, but nice. Was great to get home and see everyone. The only one missing was my youngest sister, but we called her and chatted Saturday night (her Easter since she's so far ahead).

DH and I also took advantage of the weekend to tell Grandma and my Great Aunt about the baby. To do it, I made copies of an ultrasound picture and put them in a big Easter egg for them to open. Neither of them understood, it was pretty funny!

At first my Great Aunt thought it was maybe a space module and Grandma first thought it was a cat. (What?!) And then when we said nope, she thought it was a mouse! lol

Granted, neither of them had ultrasound pics around "back in their day" and both have 85 and 90-year old eyes, but I thought that was pretty funny!

But, once they understood, they were both very happy for us. ;-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Easter!

We are headed up north to my parents this year to celebrate - will be nice to have everyone together. The only person we'll be missing is my youngest sister, but since she lives in Australia, I'm not really thinking she'll be there. ;-)

We always do Easter basket and Easter egg hunts every year, but considering the 2 sisters who will be there are 30+ and our male counterparts aren't really all that interested, it's out this year. Booo! But I understand! lol But it's on again next year when my nephew will be walking and we'll hopefully have our little one. So, til then! ;-)

I hope everyone has a great weekend and to those who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter to you!

Hi there!

Haven't posted in a bit - been busy. But I'll post again soon, including an update from our first OB appointment on Wednesday - yay!

In the meantime, we went to visit my sister and her family in VT this weekend. And we told them as well as my other sister that we're pregnant - yaaaay! They were so excited for us! They both had a feeling something was up that we were hiding (IVF, not the pregnant piece), so we came clean on pretty much all of it. My youngest sister lives in Australia so we told her via Skype so she actually got to see one of the ultrasound pics and we got to talk to her - so that was pretty cool. And I was going to surprise my other sister once she was done putting my nephew to bed, but she saw me telling the Aussie sister, so oops! No surprise! haha

And the visit itself was great. And my little nephew is just absolutely adorable. He's about 7.5 months and getting cuter every time I see him. Woohoo!

DH and my FBIL went ice fishing on Saturday while my sister, nephew and I went to do wedding stuff. Probably the last ice fishing they'll get in this season, but soon enough it'll just be replaced by regular fishing. LOL

And let me tell you - my sister is going to be the most beautiful bride I've ever seen - she tried on her dress for me and she looked so absolutely beautiful. She is going to take her FI's and everyone's breath away - I can't wait for the big day!

OK, other than watching the NCAA tourney (great job Siena!), we didn't do much else. Was a nice and relaxing visit. I'll post more later. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

House Guest is gone :-(

So, my parents came back from South Africa and our house guest is gone. :-( We're going to miss her! But, we'll be going up to visit them for Easter so we'll get to see her again soon!

And replacing her is a new house guest for the weekend. One of our friends is going out of town for the weekend so we get to watch his black lab for the weekend - yay!

In other news, the spotting has stopped and we got a new mattress! I didn't realize how much I hated our old mattress until we got the new one. It's heaven! DH loves/needs a really firm mattress and I like a softer one (those hard ones hurt my hips/shoulder!) so I wasn't sure we'd be able to compromise. But it was easier than we thought and we are now sleeping on it - yay!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

House Guest!

We have been pet sitting for my mom's kitten since she's been gone and it has been fantastic! My mom named her Noel since she got her for Christmas - she's so cute! She ranges between holy terror and sweet little baby. LOL One minute she'll be sprinting around the house attacking every little thing, curious what it is, and the next she'll be curled up on your lap purring.

It has been so long since I've been around a kitten! I got Riley when he was 5 so never really experienced that with him. And thankfully, our furniture has fared pretty well. Although I can't say she hasn't gotten curious or playful and pulled absolutely everything apart!

Prime example - the power cords from the fish tank below that used to be all tucked away nicely. I have given up fixing them until she leaves. ;-) Let's just say she loves the fish!




I have taken a ton of pictures, but most of them end up not turning out well due the fact she's moving way too fast! So, here are a couple I managed to get while she was "resting".

Cute, isn't she?! We're going to miss her when she leaves!

7 weeks - a Blueberry!

So - today I'm 7w1d today - yay! Still no new symptoms (meaning: no morning sickness or big/sore boobs) so I'm feeling extremely lucky at this point. I just hope it stays that way. The other symptoms are still here and manageable (cramping, emotional, tired, thirsty, hungry - and maybe a bit gassy and bloated, but not terrible).

And according to TheBump.com, my baby is a blueberry and will be about .5 inches this week:

Baby's brain -- both hemispheres! -- is growing fast, generating about 100 new cells every minute. Arms and legs are emerging as joints start to form, and a permanent set of kidneys (baby's third!) is now in place.


And since I like to compare: according to American Pregnancy.org, it'll be about an inch by the end of the week. So maybe it doubles this week? I don't know! lol

What is happening with your baby?
At this point every essential organ has begun to form in the embryo's tiny body. The hair and nipple follicles are forming, and the eyelids and tongue have begun formation. The elbows and toes are more visible as the trunk begins to straighten out.

How big is your baby?
Your baby is approximately an inch long by the end of this week and weighs less than an aspirin.


Also - my parents safely arrived in South Africa - just got a call from my mom. Yay!

We told my Parents!

We were going to wait, but since we saw the heartbeat and they were going to be in town, we did it. Yay!

They came into town today because they were flying out for their next volunteer trip - they're off to South Africa! I don't envy the long flight, but I do envy them getting to go! They always save up so they can go on these trips and I think it's awesome! I believe this year they are building a playground - can't wait to see the pics and more pics of the animals they see again this year!

So, I took the day off and we took advantage of them coming down to tell them! I didn't know how to do it, so I piggy-backed off the Valentine's Day theme from last weekend. I know it's a week late, but hey - it's ok - we just played it off that we waited to give them their Valentine since they were coming in person.

So, here's what we did. I went last weekend after V-Day was over and bought a box of chocolates. I then took out the insides and instead filled it with baby stuff and taped the our last ultrasound to the bottom of the cover.

My mom opened it and it didn't take her long to figure it out. A big old smile spread across her face and she said "Does this mean what I think it means?!". It was awesome and I started to tear up. She knows we've been doing IVF and she was sooooo excited for us! She had assumed that since I didn't tell her the outcome of this last cycle, that it didn't work. So this was a great surprise for her!

Here are a couple pictures:

Here's the side with the baby stuff:




Here's the top with the ultrasound:




And the two together:

And finally, when it was all packaged up!

My dad didn't know what we were going through, just that we were having "trouble" as my mom put it. He is pretty religious and conservative in his views so I originally wasn't going to tell him how it happened. But he made a funny comment ("What, no twins?! geez..." LOL) so I took that opportunity to tell him that we tried! And then showed him the picture of the two embies from our ET and explained it.

Surprising, he was very accepting of it and just kept asking a ton of questions to learn more about it - yay Dad!

Tom could only stop in for a bit on a break so after he left it was pretty much time to head to the airport. We grabbed some lunch and off we went. They'll be gone for a couple weeks and I pick them up on March 11th!

That Hurt

They didn't even have the item in the damn store!

I have been to BRU before during this whole TTTC journey and it didn't really bother me. Not even when we spent hours there when my sister was registering.

But wow - it hit me HARD today. I don't know if it's because of who I was buying for or because I think this cycle is going to be a big hard BFFN.

I was ok when I first walked in. But toward the end of the trip, I was about ready to lose it. And to make it worse, the item I went there for they didn't have and I had to wait in line behind a complete idiot (I bought one small item), just prolonging my stay there.

I managed to hold it mostly together while I was in there, but I lost it on the way home. It was not pretty. I think DH noticed when I got home that I had been crying, but didn't say anything. Hopefully I wasn't too pissy to him. I'll have to apologize later just in case.

So now, I ordered the stupid bouncer seat and it'll arrive in a week or so. Yay me. Then I get to wrap it and and get it out of my damn house.

OK - sorry about the language and the complaining. I'm off to zone out and watching something that is as far from baby as I can get.

7dp 5dt & a Trip to Babies R Us

7dpt: More HCG is produced as fetus develops

Well, today is going to be spent with exciting trips to Babies R Us and the grocery store and cleaning the house. Now - don't be jealous -- not everyone can live the exciting life that I do! ;-)

Yeah, the trip to Babies R Us is for my 19 year old niece. Maybe she's 20 now? I don't know. Either way, she and her now husband are due next month - although we hear she's on bedrest now, so who knows. It makes me so mad sometimes when I think about it. Neither of them had a job when they got knocked up, neither had a high school degree and live with their uncle. Good times.

At least now he has a job and a GED. But she still has neither. So, yup - they of course found out they were pregnant and got married in November and is due next month. I can't make it to the shower, but my DH is going out there in a couple weeks so will bring my gift with him and have his mom bring it to the showe. Even if it were in town, I'm not sure I could make myself go to the shower. I don't know. I probably would since I wouldn't want to be rude, but I just don't know...

But, enough about that - moment over. The rest of the errands are for the SUPERBOWL!! Not sure what we're making yet, but will most likely involve making pizzas, wings, cheesy taco soup and who knows what else. And the house cleaning - the house isn't bad right now, but sometimes you just need a good excuse to get the house in top shape, you know?

So all the work today for a fun day tomorrow. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!