Gender Reveal

Mr. Explorer Bud and I had our 20 week ultrasound and are excited to announce what we are having........

The little guy looked great in the ultrasound and was very calm. He is measuring a week ahead and all his organs and measurements look good. As for other pregnancy related things, I think I have finally started to feel the little guy moving around the past two days which is really fun. It kinda feels like sideways bubbles moving around my stomach!! Last week we started our Hypnobabies class and have been enjoying that and doing lots and lots of practice my self-hypnosis. I have been feeling great and am working on eating healthy to prepare for a good labor!!!

16w2d and GENDER!!!!!

I know I've been MIA, but between wrapping up the Opera Season, End of Year School Activities, and other things, I have been a bit nothing short of overwhelmed... Anyway, I have some MAJOR updates :)

Since things are crazy lately, I thought I'd adopt an "update" template from a former blogger, Cactus Bud, in order to keep you in the loop, and not forget any details ;) Here we go...

How far along: 16 weeks, 2 days!!

Total weight change: +6 total, based on Doctor's office scale. We have no scale at home...

Maternity clothes: The only thing "maternity" I have purchased has been a belly band, which I use with most of my jeans... I have one pair of jeans left that fit comfortably, because they were huge on me pre-pregnancy... but ALL others are either too tight or don't close at all. I feel most comfortable in leggings, stretchy pants and dresses. 

Stretch Marks: Yes, unfortunately :( I had some pre-pregnancy on my very low belly (apparently I am susceptible to them, cause I have them on my breasts as well). But, a few weeks ago, I noticed 2 little lines to the right of my belly button. Since to the left I had a couple of veins, I wrote them off as veins as well... but turns out they are NOT veins :-/ Gotta get something to put on them ASAP. 

Movement: Last week, I was taking a nap on the couch... I don't know if it was my imagination or what, but I felt some weird movement really low. Haven't felt it again since, so we'll see :)

Sleep: Still sleeping well... but I blame that on the fact that I have been EXTREMELY busy, and therefore EXTREMELY exhausted. 

Best Moment This Past Week: Finding out the sex of the baby, Mother's Day, and continuing to receive gifts for our LO :)

Most Difficult Moment This Past Week: On Thursday, I sort of slipped and went to a knee (didn't completely fall on the floor or anything) but that had me a bit concerned. Luckily, nothing happened :)

Belly Button In or Out: In. I bought a maternity belly ring, but it's been a bit irritated even since before, so sometimes I wear it, and sometimes I don't... I have been putting vinegar and water with salt on it. Hopefully it gets better soon!

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing major... just can't eat too much without getting sick :-/

Symptoms: Occasionally tired, but I blame that on things being so hectic... MS has died down a bit, so I am hoping it is gone for good. Boobs and nipples are sore from time to time, but nothing too major :)


Now, for the good stuff....


On Saturday, Mr. DBud and I decided to have an elective US for Gender. We went to this awesome place in Doral called The Bonding Site, which was amazing! If you are in the South Florida area, I HIGHLY recommend it :) :) :)


Anyway, we were able to find out that our LO is a.....

We are BEYOND thrilled!!! Now, we have to officially decide on a name, and start getting things really ready :) I purchased a Stuffed Bear that has the baby's heartbeat recorded on a battery operated pack, so that when you squeeze it, you hear the heartbeat... ADORABLE!!! When HE is born, we will order the sweater with the babies info for it :) Here is the website for the Teddy Bear :)

Until next time!!!!! <3 <3 <3

So excited!!!!!

Today is our 1st of 2 integrated screening appointments... which means we will get to see our little miracle on the big screen!!! I am super-duper excited, as is Mr. DBud. He missed the last ultrasound due to a work conflict, so he is REALLY looking forward to seeing the baby today :)

I am currently 12w4d, and am hoping we will start being able to get a glimpse of our LOs "angle of the dangle". When my cousin was KU with her first, s

he had a super clear ultrasound before her official Anatomy Screening, and based on this information (which I found on the internet), I predicted she was having a girl... and she did! Apparently, you can start telling at about 12 weeks. Granted, you shouldn't run out and buy everything pink or blue, but you can start having an idea of what it may be :) Pretty cool, huh?

I am hoping and praying that everything will be ok... I know that God is looking out for us, and that what is meant to be will be. There is always still a bit of a worry at the back of my mind... but I know that if everything is ok today, the worry will start to die down a little more each day. I will be thankful for that :)

Assuming that everything is "A-OKAY", we will be officially spilling the beans. I will make a few calls, and make one special visit to announce the news, and then it's off to Facebook for the final announcement. I found a really cute idea on Pinterest, which Mr. DBud is on board for... so it should be fun and cute :)

Anyway... Hope to have a GREAT update this afternoon/evening or in the next couple of days. It's tech-week at the

Opera, so things are nothing less than SUPER hectic. Please continue to pray for us, and send us all the positive vibes you can :) Thanks a million!!!!!!!

19 weeks

Before I get into how everything is going, I just want to tell everyone that we found out on Monday that we're having a BOY!! =oD Mr. CB and I couldn't be happier. You ladies know...with our histories gender doesn't matter in the least; just a healthy baby. Anyway, everything looked good according to both the US tech and my OB. Lil Man weighs 11oz and apparently was feeling happy that morning because he was waving, stretching and being fairly cooperative with the tech. He even had the hiccups a little! I can't wait until we starting picking out names and working on the nursery.

Other than that wonderful news, everything has been going well. Not having any nausea and my sleep has been pretty much nil. I bought a body pillow last weekend because surrounding myself with normal pillows was cutting it. The pillow is super comfortable but I'm a little too tall for it because the middle doesn't line up with by belly right (I'm 5'8") but I'm surviving. I do notice that my ankles are swelling a little bit but I have been on my feet a lot this week with work with our new medical records system. My hair is growing very quickly, and coming out more when I comb it (only in the shower when it's wet because it's so curly) and my acne has gotten better except on the 4 week increments when I would normally be on my period.

I'm feeling Lil Man move around a little more in there, but I'll admit to wanting to be far enough along so that I can feel every movement and have family/friends be able to feel him move as well. I've never been very patient, but I have no choice in this matter.

I know I haven't posted any pictures of myself (ever, I think) and I need to post a pic from the ultrasound, but unfortunately that may have to wait a little bit. We're going to New Jersey tomorrow for my brother's graduation from Coast Guard boot camp. So I'll try to get on here to do that this weekend or early next week.

Talk to you guys next time and thinking about all of you!

"Big" Ultrasound!!!

Hellllloooo 19 weeks!!! I feel like time is dragging by so slowly!! Speed up already, I'm ready to meet this kiddo!

We had our anatomy ultrasound this morning. Baby is still a beautiful boy and healthy as can be!! He was incredibly active, moving all around and rarely stopping. Everything looked absolutely perfect. Heart looked great, brain looked great, spine, kidneys, etc. He's a big boy, already in the 62nd percentile at 11oz. Heartbeat was steady in the 150's.

We loved watching him move around in there. He was constantly touching his face and putting his hands in his mouth. And stretching his super long legs out as straight as he could get them! That's not going to feel very good in a few weeks...

Dr. M said that we should start feeling him on the outside in around 3 weeks. That will be so awesome!

A little concern about the Braxton Hicks I was having yesterday. I was averaging around 4 an hour all day long. They weren't painful, but they weren't very comfortable either. She said it was a little early for that to happen that often so she wants me upping my water intake to make sure I'm as hydrated as possible. If they still continue, I'm to call.

There is also some concern about my pelvis being too narrow for a VBAC so when I go back in 4 weeks, they want to do some exams/tests to measure it. And Dr. M said they will also be monitoring baby boy's head size towards the end of the pregnancy since Little Sunflower Bud's head size was the reason I ended up with an emergency c-section.

For someone who was initially upset when finding out it was a boy 3 weeks ago, I was panicked at the thought that it might be wrong and be a girl after all. I couldn't love this little boy more and I'm so proud of be the mother of a son.

We decided against the bedding we used with Little SB and I instantly fell in love with the Giggling Turtles set from Baby Gap... only to discover it was discontinued!! But a very dear friend from high school found it at a local consignment shop in perfect condition!!!

I'm so excited. My mom is coming up this weekend to paint the nursery. We're going to do green walls and I ordered navy and dark green turtle decals from Etsy.

We ordered our dresser and glider as well and they should both be here by Monday. My mom is taking me shopping this weekend and she's going to buy us a new travel system. Our infant carseat is pink so we need a new one and Mr. Sunflower Bud doesn't love our Jeep stroller as much as I do so he wants a new stroller.

~ Sunflower Bud ~

I never thought I'd say this...

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!

We had our elective gender scan last weekend and I knew immediately when she got there before she said it. You couldn't really deny the shot at all!!!


I was disappointed at first because I wanted Little Sunflower Bud to have a sister and do all those great sister things and I really wanted to be able to get all of her adorable clothes back out and use them again.

Mr. Sunflower Bud, on the other hand, was over the moon happy. There have been no boys on his side of the family. There are 4 granddaughters! His brother and sister are done having children so we were the last chance. Seeing his joy was contagious. It only took me about 2 days to get over my disappointment and embrace the fact that I'm going to have a SON. I get to mother both sexes and that is amazing to me.

My best friend and I went out shopping at Carter's the same day as my ultrasound and Baby Boy Sunflower Bud has the beginnings of a nice wardrobe!


My sister went shopping the next day and bought baby boy a bunch of things already!


My next door neighbor, who is also having a boy, and I are going out shopping Saturday night and having dinner. I'm so excited for this!

Here's a couple more shots of Baby Boy Sunflower Bud from the ultrasound.

Sucking his thumb:

And a beautiful profile picture of my perfect boy:


~~ Sunflower Bud ~~

Can't get pregnant, can't get unpregnant

I don’t want to spend too much time talking about the D&E itself. I will say that if you take away the heartbreak, the procedure is fairly simple and painless. We hadn’t told anyone about the pregnancy except my mom and my best friend, so we only had to break the bad news to two people. My mom had apparently told her friends, so she got to untell them as well.

My RE’s office needed to know if the defect was genetic in origin, so we had karyotyping done. Neural tube defects (NTDs) aren’t typically genetic, and ours was no exception (meaning it wasn’t the donor’s fault). I never did ask if the donor was allowed to cycle again. I did find out the sex of the baby, which I’ll refrain from sharing. (Mr. GB didn’t want to know.) I also received tiny footprints, which are tucked away safe for now.

(We don’t know what caused the defect. They say that NTDs can be prevented with folic acid. I’d been taking prenatal vitamins for years, but it wasn’t enough. At my request I was tested for MTHFR (a disorder that can cause difficulty in absorbing folic acid), and I don’t have that mutation. My homocysteine levels were also normal. I read NTDs are more common with IVF…I always wonder if the lengthy embryo transfer was the cause. I also read that hot tubs and saunas can cause NTDs, and I wonder if sunbathing was the cause, even though I sunbathed after the window for NTDs closed. It was probably just horrible bad luck. I’m taking 4 mg of folic acid now, just in case. I have a 1% chance of it happening again. I hope it doesn’t.)

As I was recovering from the D&E, I was more determined than ever to try again. In fact, I was filled with an odd sense of hope that’s really hard to explain. Maybe it was just a coping mechanism. I did have bouts of sadness and grief, but I was ready for AF to arrive and start a new donor cycle.

Except AF was nowhere to be seen, and my HPTs were still positive. And I was still bleeding, like for a month. Went back to the MFM’s office for an ultrasound but nothing looked suspicious. She gave me Cytotec/Misoprostol to try to flush out my uterus, but nothing happened. Mentioned the bleeding to my donor coordinator, who talked to my RE, who told me to come in for a hysteroscopy to look around. The camera showed that my uterus was filled with cobwebs (aka “products of conception”) and a second D&C was needed. My RE said I could get the procedure done at the RE’s surgical center, but we’d have to wait a month.

So we commenced waiting. Again. We’re talking 77 days between the first procedure and the second.

Surprise surprise, AF arrived 58 days after my D&E. I will spare you the details but let’s just say it was the worst period EVER. My RE still recommended the D&C, but the good news was that I got to go on the pill, which meant I’d finally have control of my cycle back and we were finally ready to start looking at donors again. YAY!

I had my second D&C on August 11, the same day we put down our donor deposit. In the next few days I’ll talk a bit about our selection process (my criteria changed dramatically), a slight setback, and where we are today. But for now, I’ve got to run upstairs for a Lupron shot!

To be continued…

Golden Bud