Our Story Continues...

Maya is turning 2 months old! My how the time flies. If you want to see what we have been up to the past couple months, you can go to our family blog here.

Welcome Baby Maya

Baby Maya was born June 4th (my sister and brothers birthday!) at 12:11 am. It was a long and difficult labor, but we are both doing well now. I will work on my birth story tomorrow!

Baby Maya, 5 lbs, 9 ounces, 20 inches

39 Weeks

6 days until my due date! I saw my midwife today, and she said to expect to go 10 days past my due date. She also said to drink more water, and to do 10 minutes of pelvic rocking a day in order to encourage my baby to change her position again. She is still head down, but not facing the right direction. I am feeling great these days as far as my stomach goes, but I am feeling more exhausted everyday. Mr Lucky Bud has been great and has been taking the kids in the evenings if I want to rest.

I am trying to treat everyday like it could be the day I go into labor, so I am trying to focus on eating great and getting plenty of rest.

I have been hoping to have our baby in June sine our deductible resets June 1st, so it would be better to have the deductible met at the beginning of the cycle, then to have to pay it all in May and then have to start all over. I only have 7 more hours until June 1st, so I think I am going to make it.

Well, here is until next week, unless something happens before that!

39 Weeks pregnant

38 Weeks 3 Days

This week has been great! It has probably been one of the best weeks of my pregnancy. I haven't thrown up  even once which never happens and I have tons of energy. I have gotten all the things I wanted to done and am just enjoying the time I have before the baby is born to get a few extra things done and to play with the kids.

I had my midwife apt and that was fine. The babies heartbeat is gradually getting slower, but the midwife said that that is normal. I did my strep test culture and that was about it.

We met with our embryo donors last weekend. It was a great visit. We met in Philadelphia at a mall that had a play area and a carousel. After the kids played we had dinner at a California Pizza and then headed back to Maryland. They are very friendly people and have a great family and we feel lucky to have them as part of our growing extended family.

I finished up that crib bumper that I had put away after getting frustrated with it. I know you are not supposed to use crib bumpers with babies, and I just made it for later. The pictures kind of turned out bad, but it gives you an idea.

38 Weeks(0 days) Pregnant

Here is a view of the crib bump

Here is the finished puff quilt and the crib bumper

37 Weeks

I am 37 weeks pregnant and FULL TERM! HOORAY! I couldn't' think of much to say this week, so I thought I would follow suit with Diva bud and use Cactus Bud's update template.

How far along: 37 Weeks

Total weight change: up 22 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight plus I gained back the 4 or 5 I lost in the first trimester.

Maternity clothes: All the time. 

Stretch Marks: Not yet, but keeping my figures crossed. 


Movement: Baby was no longer posterior at Fridays visit, but after all the movement I was feeling in the middle of the night on Monday, I am not sure that is still the case. 

Sleep: Not very good. Feeling uncomfortable and waking often to eat or pee. Wishing that the boys did not wake up at 6:15 a.m. most days. 

Best Moment This Past Week: Most Difficult Moment This Past Week: My best moments are reaching the full term point and having my baby shower, and the most difficult was getting a 24 hour flu bug today. I haven't even been able to keep down anything including water, but luckily Mr L. Bud stayed home with the kids while I rested. 

Belly Button In or Out: In, but pretty even with the rest of my belly at this point

Cravings/Aversions: Craving sweets, trying to fill that craving with strawberries and other fruits instead of junk food as much as possible. I still can't eat a bunch of things without throwing up, including eggs. Today the guacamole on my burrito almost made me lose it. 

Symptoms: Heart burn and feeling exhausted most of the time. 

36 Weeks Pregnant

Well here is my official 36 week post. Our baby is about 6 lbs by now and gaining about an ounce a day! That is incredible! She should be about 18.5 inches long by now. On Monday I got the fabric that I had ordered online to make our babies crib bumper. I got really excited and worked on it way too late...about 1:30 am. I worked on it the next day too, but made so many mistakes that I got fed up and decided not to work on it anymore, and put it away for a while. Unfortunately I wore myself down from staying up that night, and not eating quite right that day. I can't believe how long it has taken me to recover! I have felt just awful all week, and even went to sleep  by 7 pm on Thursday and Friday. I am feeling a bit better now, but think I am just starting to be a little worn out over all since I don't sleep well these days. I have sworn not to stay up past 10 for the rest of my pregnancy!

I had my 36 week home visit from my midwives on Friday in preparation for my home birth. Even though it was pretty uneventful, I have been really excited for this day, just because it is kind of a mile marker, and I could give birth at home now anytime if she were to come early. They brought over my birthing tub and we will have to do a dry run to practice setting it up. I have all my supplies together for the birth, and I have started making a bunch of dinners in advance to freeze so that I won't have to worry about cooking for the first few weeks. I am feeling really prepared now and am anxious for our babies arrival, although I am starting to get a little nervous about the labor and birth. I am afraid that I will be a complete wimp and not be able to handle it.

My baby shower was on Saturday. It was fun to start getting some cute girly things. I had fun and it was fun to see all of my friends together to celebrate our baby coming!

We have made final plans to meet up with our embryo donors this Saturday in Philadelphia at a mall there. I thought it would be a good place to meet up because then the boys will have a place to run around at the play area, and Little Lucky Bud will be excited about the indoor carousel. It is a little over 3 hours away, and just weeks away from my due date, so I am a little nervous to drive so far, but I am sure it will be fine. By the way, that makes me think of Mr Lucky Bud's sister who for her second child only and an hour and a half of labor and her husband had to deliver the baby in the bathroom in an emergency. I hear it was a very intense and stressful thing. Although I would love to only have an hour and a half of labor, we definitely don't wan to be delivering any babies on our own!

The Saturday before Mother's day is Birth Mother's day. Baby Lucky Bud and I met up with his birth mother who only lives a half hour away. We had fun playing at a mall play area and then had dinner at Red Robbin. We had fun reminiscing on the day of Baby Lucky Buds birth, and on the emails we exchanged in the short two weeks before, as she found us and we got to know each other a little bit. It was a very exciting time for both of us and it is fun to look back on it. She is very proud that she was able to find parents for her son all by herself, and for us it was exciting for obvious reasons! It is funny that she was actually worried that we might not want to adopt our little bud because of the short notice!

Well that pretty much sums up what is happening right now. I am so excited for all of my fellow buds that are pregnant right now too. Congratulations again to all of you!

36 Weeks

I am 36 weeks now! I just thought I would post a picture and then write a post this weekend after my home visit and baby shower. A huge congratulations to Bossy Bud!

36 Weeks

33 Weeks

This week our baby should be around 4 lbs and 17 inches long. I had my midwife appointment last week and everything still seems to be going well. Her heartbeat was still around 155. I had a little trouble with dehydration this week and really need to stay on top of drinking enough. It is getting a little harder to be comfortable at night and I toss and turn a little, but I am still getting a pretty good nights sleep at this point. If I stand on my feet for a few hours at a time they hurt pretty bad. Still no swelling though which is good. My veins on my legs haven't gotten any worse, and actually have been looking a little better. I am still having braxton hicks contractions like crazy. We have one last Bradley childbirth class left to complete the 12 class course. I can't belive it is almost over! I have had a good time taking the class and am kinda sad to see it ending.
Mr Lucky Bud and I were talking last night about how hard it is to conceive of the fact that we will have a baby in about 7 weeks! It still all seems very surreal. We are just feeling very blessed and very grateful right now. I am so happy to see so much good news on the blog this week.

31 Weeks

I am 31 weeks and 3 days pregnant now! My how the time flies! I am counting down the weeks in single digits now! It is so hard to believe. When Mr Lucky Bud took my photo for this week, I almost didn't believe that was me!

We are still just in project mode right now to get ready for the baby.
Baby Lucky Bud has continued to sleep through the night now that he does not have a bottle in his bed, so I decided to move Little Lucky Bud into that room since they will be sharing once the baby is born(the baby will sleep in our room for a while, but we will have a few visiters from Seattle in the early months so I want that room free. Plus I want to start making it look like a girls room!). I couldn't believe how easy of a transition it was. Little Lucky Bud is so good, and it doesn't bother him if Baby Lucky cries a few minutes, and they have both slept in the same room great for about a week! I feel so accomplished. There are all of these things that I have stressed out about and dreaded doing, and then it all turns out great!
We also painted our baby girls bedroom, I put together her crib and dresser and Mr Lucky Bud extended the backyard patio with paver stones and laid about 15 rolls of sod to fill in some old garden patches and dead grassy areas. It has been a busy week. I felt so accomplished! I am not one of those people that you could drop in on anytime, and my house would be clean, so the thought of going into labor, and the midwives coming over to a messy house and not having the house clean when the baby arrives, totally stresses me out. That is why I am going crazy with all of these projects, and trying to get the house in order, hopefully before my 36 week house visit by our midwives.

Little Lucky Bud turns 3 tomorrow and we had his birthday party today. We had an egg hunt, flew kites then had a BBQ with some friends and family. It was a great day, but my feet hurt soooo bad! If I stand more than 2 hours lately I feel like standing on my tippy toes because my heels and arches get so sore.

I also have gone back to throwing up every now and then, but at least I am never nauseated which is much worse. These days it is because of heartburn, or because the texture of a food will gross me out for whatever reason. Last night I made homemade nachos with refried beans, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, etc. On one of my last bites I took note that it was very creamy. I almost instantly threw up. Little Lucky Bud stood next to me rubbing my leg saying, "Oh sweetheart! Are you okay honey?" It was so sweet.

This week according to babycenter.com our baby is about 3.3 lbs and over 16 inches long! They also say she is going through a growth spurt, which would make sense because I have been extra hungry lately. I am still enjoying my yoga classes and have a few more Bradley Childbirth Education classes to go. I love my Bradley class because it is one of the few times that Mr. Lucky Bud and I get to spend time together without a million things going on. 

This part of pregnancy has been really fun for me. I feel pretty good over all and am officially looking like a pregnant lady!
I finally took a picture! I posted a comparison picture too. What a difference 10 weeks makes!

21 Weeks

31 weeks, 3 days

A Little Update

I had some time and thought I would make a quick post. Mr Lucky Bud usually let's me have Thursday evenings to go out and do stuff by myself. I went maternity clothes shopping finally last Thursday. I had a lot of fun. I went to all the department stores, but only really had luck at Motherhood Maternity. It was fun to get a bunch of new clothes.

The boys have had a stomach bug all week, so there have been a lot of long nights and a lot of extra laundry to wash. I am really hoping that the worst is over and that they will be feeling better soon.

We rent out our basement and our tenant moved out today. Mr Lucky Bud and I are keeping busy getting the back yard back into shape and things in the apt ready for the next tenant who will move in on the 1st.

Here is a photo since I didn't take one last week.

28 weeks, 4 days

27 weeks

I am now 27 weeks. It is the last week of my second trimester!
To recap my pregnancy so far-
The first trimester was really hard. I had a very hard time with my progesterone shots which I took twice a day until I was 13 weeks, and they caused me a lot of muscle pain. I also threw up constantly and never felt very good. I was pretty tiered too. The highlights were finding out I was pregnant after a tough 2ww, a good 6 week ultrasound with a heartbeat and another ultrasound at 9 weeks with a good heartbeat.
The second trimester really couldn't have gone any better. My nausea went away, I stopped all my meds, we found out we are having a girl. I had tons of energy and felt great. We met our embryo donors and their children too and really liked the whole family.  This trimester has gone by so quickly, it is hard to believe I am 27 weeks. I have still been feeling great except for heartburn here and there, but nothing too bad. I am excited to be heading into my third trimester soon, and hope and I keep feeling this great for a while longer. Oh, I believe I am 19.5 lbs over my pre  pregnancy weight. Yikes! Almost 20 lbs!

Our baby is just over 2 lbs and 14 1/2 inches from head to toe. She is now sleeping and waking at regular intervals and can open and close her eyes and may even be sucking her fingers.
I am still going to my yoga class once a week, and Mr. Lucky Bud and I are approaching our 4th Bradley childbirth education class. Both classes are fun and I look forward to them.

25 Weeks

Only 101 days left until Baby Girls due date! Our baby is now 1 1/2 lbs, 13.5 inches, and growing fast! She is moving around plenty and I can often feel her kicks from the outside with my hand.

Overall I am feeling great except I have very mild heartburn in the day at times, and the past few nights I am having a hard time sleeping. I am not huge and uncomfortable yet, but it is just a combination of a lot of small things, like I keep getting hungry, have to pee so often, have a stuffy nose, cramping in my feet and non stop kicking from the Baby Girl. None of it is that bad, but all together I just can't sleep the past few nights. I was sooo tiered today and went to bed at 8pm, and here it is 1am and I still can't sleep. At least it is the weekend so Mr. Lucky Bud can watch the kids while I take a nap tomorrow.

I am having fun getting a lot of projects done and the house better organized before the baby is born. Knowing that the midwifes are going to be in my house is an extra motivator to get things a bit tidier and in order. I finished a little quilt last week that I made for the baby. I will have to post that picture and a belly picture this weekend since I didn't get around to that this week.

24 Weeks

This week are baby is officially viable! It is hard to believe that my friends 3 year old twins were born at 24 weeks. I am happy to say that they are perfectly healthy and both thriving! They are both little miracles!

We met with our donors last weekend. At 24 weeks is also the when our donor mom went into labor with her twins. She went on strict bed rest and was on her back for 12 weeks until they were born. I cannot imagine 3 months of not getting out of bed.

So, as you can see, we finally met our donors! This is something we have been looking forward to, and anticipating since we were matched. Our donors are wonderful, and it was so nice to finally be able to meet them. They even brought their 3 year old boy/girl twins, which I wasn't expecting. It was really cool to get a glimpse at what our daughter could look like.
I was touched to hear how much work and effort they put into just being accepted as donors by the National Embryo Donation Center. There was a lot of testing and paperwork that they had to go through in order to donate their embryos.

I also really felt for the mom, who this was clearly a difficult decision for. I could see that along with her happiness that their embryo will be able to have a life, there was also sadness that they weren't able to have her themselves. It makes me sad to see her pain. Thinking of being in their shoes, I honestly don't know if it is something I could do myself. I am so grateful for what they have done for us.

At 24 weeks our babies face is basically complete, and looking much like she will look when she is born. I am still feeling great with pretty much no pregnancy symptoms. I still have a cold, but am starting to feel a bit better. It is good because I have not been sleeping well with being so congested. I have my yoga class each week, which I look forward to. I am 153 lbs now. That is... 18 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. Yikes. The pounds are adding up fast these days.

Baby girl is moving around tons these days. I am looking more into names lately. I think we do want an Indian name after all (did I mention our donors are East Indian?), so I am looking more at Sanskrit/Hindu names and trying to find one that I like that will be easy to pronounce and spell for Americans. I don't really know any Indian names right now, I am going to have to look at them one by one on the name website I have and see what stands out. Are there any Indian girl names that you know that you like?

24 Weeks

23 Weeks

I got a cold this week and have been feeling under the weather the past couple of days. I really hope the kids don't get it. They got their flu shots, so maybe that is why they have stayed well while Mr. Lucky Bud and I have gotten sick.

We are set up again to meet our embryo donors this Saturday since last time our plans got canceled due to the snow. I am excited and nervous at the same time to meet them. I hope they like us alright.

I gained 2 lbs this week. I now weigh 14 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. I feel good except for my cold. I noticed a light linea nigra for the first time this week. The baby is moving around as much as ever. Sometimes I can feel her from the outside with my hand, as well as from the inside. The other day as I was getting into bed I got a REALLY sharp kick in the side. It kind of surprised me since that is the first really big movement I have felt so far.

As far as baby development, she should be just over 1 lb now. She should double in weight in the next four weeks which is pretty cool.

23 Weeks 

22 Weeks

I am 22 weeks pregnant now. This week our baby is almost 1 lb and 11inches according to babycenter.com, but different websites say different things for each week. I can feel her moving a lot these days, and the moment is stronger. I received the Doppler that I ordered. It is fun to be able to listen to her heartbeat and is a great reassurance.

I gained another pound this week which puts me at 12 lbs over my pre pregnacy weight. I am still feeling great overall. I do have some pain from my round ligament sometimes, but it is fine if I take it easy when it is hurting. I started a prenatal yoga class last week and am planning on taking it once a week until the end of my pregnancy.

We bought an '04 Toyota Sienna on ebay last weekend and Mr. Lucky Bud drove to Ohio to pick it up. We always have driven beaters, so this is the nicest car we have ever had and we are really excited.

22 Weeks

Baby Name Survey

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20 Week Ultrasound Picture

21 Weeks

Not too much is new this week. I didn't have any bad pregnancy symptoms and feel great. I can feel the baby moving a lot at night usually. I gained another pound this week which puts me at 11 lbs over my pre pregnancy weight. I worked really hard to eat more this week since not eating enough for a couple of days the last week left me sick for the rest of that week.


Mr. Lucky Bud bought me a Doppler Fetal Monitor online today, so I should have it in a few days. It will be comforting to be able to hear our baby when ever we want to instead of waiting for my appointments with my midwife.


 Our donors canceled our meeting last weekend due to snow, and we have rescheduled for Feb. 11th.

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound. Mr Lucky Bud came with me and we dropped off the kids at his sisters house. I was pretty anxious, nervous and excited to be able to have the ultrasound. It was a bummer that the technician would not turn the screen until all of her measurements were done. I had to wait for about a half hour of Mr Lucky Bud saying, "oh, that is so awesome!" before I got to see what was going on too. She was moving around like crazy. I could even see her mouth opening and closing, and it looked like she was swallowing. The technical said that it looks like our baby is 11 ounces. We should get the results of the ultrasound tomorrow, so hopefully there will be nothing to report.

I can't believe I am halfway through my pregnancy all ready! Before 20 weeks, the baby is measured from head to rump, but after 20 weeks it is head to heel..so at 20 weeks it is 10 inches long, head to heel. I was holding up a ruler to show Mr. Lucky Bud today, and I can't believe how big she is!

 I had been doing great week 19 symptom wise, but was also very careful that week about eating enough and getting lots of protein. I got kind of caught up with some projects early on in the week and did not take as much care and did not get enough protein, and I went back to feeling awful. I have been working hard to focus again on my diet, but it is still taking some time to feel good again. I am showing a little more than I was a couple weeks ago, and have gained more weight, so I am a total of 10 lbs over what I normally am and that is great!

 I can feel the baby moving all the time now. Especially because during the ultrasound I was able to see when she was moving and to associate it to how it felt, so now I can tell the difference a lot better between kicks and my stomach growling, or air bubbles. She moves so much now, but it is not uncomfortable because there is plenty of space in their. If she keeps up all the action though, it is going to be hard to sleep at night as she gets bigger and there is less space!

Over all, this is a very fun and exciting time. I am feeling pretty good, I am not big and uncomfortable yet, I have had the great reassurance of getting to see my baby on the ultrasound, we know that it is a girl, we are meeting the donors this weekend, so things are great right now!

...still hoping to have an ultrasound pic up soon. I need to have it scanned at Mr Lucky Buds work.

20 Weeks

BTW, Just an interesting fact: My mom did not realize that she was pregnant with her 6th and final child until she was 20 weeks and could feel that baby moving. That is crazy! She is lucky though. It must have been a fast pregnancy!

It's a......

GIRL!!! I will try to post an ultrasound picture soon!