My Birth Story & Signing off the blog!

On Sunday night, July 31st (38w 4d), around 9pm, I was sitting at home bouncing on my exercise ball when I thought I peed myself (which was not all that uncommon at that point). As I stood up I felt another gush and started wondering if it could be my water. After checking out the color and realizing it had no smell, I figured out that it was, in fact my water.

I told my husband and called my OB and she said to head over to the hospital and they would call her and let her know what they found. I put on a pad, finished packing my hospital bag and grabbed some towels to sit on in the car. My husband had just taken Tylenol PM to get some sleep and since I wasn't having contractions yet, I drove us to the hospital.

Once we got there they let me skip triage and just admitted me to a room. Then they hooked me up to the monitors and apparently I was having contractions 6-9 minutes apart but I couldn't even feel them. They also checked me to see if I was dilated at all and I was at a 3. They offered me pitocin to help speed things up but I declined since I felt like I was making good progress so far. I asked for something to help me sleep and figured we could see where things were in the morning.

They gave me an ambien around midnight and I tried to go to sleep. Of course my contractions decided to kick in then. I spent the next 4 hours laying in various positions breathing though them and playing games and texting people on my phone (yes, people were actually up at that hour!) while my husband got some rest. :) I timed the contractions on my phone and they were coming every 3 minutes and lasting for about a minute and a half each. Finally around 4am I decided I was ready for the epidural. I was always planning on getting the epi, I just wanted to progress on my own until I was too uncomfortable. I thought I pressed the nurse call button but after another hour of contractions I realized I pressed the wrong button. My nurse came in this time (5am) and checked me. I was at a 5. She suggested that I get in the jacuzzi tub while I waited for the epi. I spent about a half hour in there and another hour laboring in the bed and finally got the epi at 6:30 when I was at a 6. They offered me pitocin again, but I felt like I was doing fine on my own so I declined. The next few hours I was actually able to sleep a little, which I think was helpful when I had to push.

By around 10:30 am I was at a 10 and the nurse said we would push in about an hour but to let her know if I felt like I needed to before then. I ended up feeling the urge pretty quickly but I waited a few more contractions to have my husband get the nurse. I could barely talk at this point and she could tell it was time to go. My OB came in and they had me push through the next contraction. I call this my practice push since I really didn't know what I was doing and I don't think I was very successful. The next contraction I apparently figured it out because the OB said "Woah, hold on, I don't even have my gloves on!" I pushed through 2 more contractions and at 11:21am Brynn was born!

After delivery things got a little scary. I was bleeding a lot and they couldn't get it to stop. It took about 2 hours and they were prepping me for the ER before they finally got it under control. I will spare the details but this whole process was much more painful and scary than my labor. I wasn't able to hold my baby or attempt to breastfeed her until this was all over but fortunately everything turned out just fine.

I have enjoyed being a part of this blog over the past (almost) 2 years and am glad I was able to share my story with you- from TTC to IF to IVF and now finally to my sweet baby girl.

Anatomy Scan & Baby Sassy Bud has a name!

First things first- our anatomy scan results were perfect. Baby Sassy Bud weighed in at a half a pound and all the measurements were great. I'm always relieved to hear good results. I think IF has left me waiting for something bad to happen, but so far we have been so lucky to have a perfect baby and I have had a perfect pregnancy. Mr. Sassy Bud's parents went with us to the scan. I wanted them to be able to be a part of this since he is an only child and this will be their first grandchild. They were beyond thrilled to be there and I think they really enjoyed being able to see the baby "live" for the first time.

Now on to the fun part! Baby Sassy Bud was not super cooperative, but the tech was able to get a clear shot:

We are having a baby girl! I can honestly say that the moment those words appeared on the screen was the best moment of my life so far. I finally feel like this is real and that we will have a baby of our own in a few months.

Before our ultrasound, we had not discussed names at all. I had one in the back of my head for a while, even before IVF, but I didn't feel comfortable discussing a hypothetical baby so although I had mentioned it to Mr. Sassy Bud, I never asked his opinion of it. I think we were both too nervous. After we left the anatomy scan, I asked Mr. Sassy Bud what he thought and he said he loved it too, so we have a name!

Introducing "Brynn Atarah":

Keeping with Jewish tradition, she is named after Mr. Sassy Bud's grandfather's first initials. Her middle name is Hebrew and means "crown."

After our anatomy scan, we went withe Mr. Sassy Bud's mom to a few stores and she bought tons of baby clothes for her first granddaughter.

My only complaint lately is a backache and lots of bad headaches but I am seeing a chiropractor in hopes that I can get some relief for that.

16w4d

I know everyone says this, but this pregnancy really is starting to fly by. I feel like just yesterday I was celebrating 6 weeks and then 8 weeks and now I am moving right along in 2nd tri!

I have had a rough week. Last Monday, I had my monthly OB checkup. I told her about some vision issues I had and my blood pressure was very elevated at the beginning of my appointment. I don't have any real doctor anxiety so I can't attribute it to that. My b/p went back down by the end of the appointment but she wants me on weekly appointments until we can get it in check.

On Wednesday, I had to make an emergency appointment with the OB's office because I was showing symptoms of developing mastitis for the 3rd time since my IVF cycle. This is very unusual and almost unheard of for a non-breastfeeding woman to develop. In fact, both this OB and my previous OB had never seen it in many years of practice. I was noticeably upset at my appointment, so the OB offered to have a breast specialist come in to look at me. He just happened to be working out of their office today. He made me feel a little better about things and he thinks the infection is probably related to the amount of hormones I was on during my IVF cycle. I have to go back for a follow up check after the infection is gone.

On a good note, we scheduled our anatomy scan! It s scheduled on the first day they would see me, 18w (March 9th). We cannot wait to find out what we are having. I am very excited that the u/s office is letting Mr. Sassy Bud's parents come to the scan with us. This will be their first grandchild and they are really looking forward to finding out with us. After the u/s, we will be doing some shopping! I have really resisted buying anything up until now (except for the few great deals I posted about previously).

I'll report back once I know if we are pink or blue!

12 weeks & NT Scan

I can't believe it! I will be 12 weeks tomorrow.

Yesterday we had our NT scan. The NT scan is a measurement of the nuchal fold on the baby's neck along with some blood work. It tests for down's syndrome as well as other chromosone defects. I really just wanted to see the baby again, but we felt that it's also good to be prepared for any issues that could arise so that our baby could have the best possible care when (s)he gets here.

The good news is that all the measurements came back normal. However, the baby did not want to cooperate at all! We spent 2 hours, tried the u/s machine 4 times, and finally after numerous bathroom breaks and me jumping up and down, we got the measurements. I didn't mind it at all since it gave us more time to see the baby. Here's what (s)he looks like this week:

We also did some shopping this past weekend. Target has some great baby gear on clearance. We got the Safety First Air Protect Convertible Car Seat and the Fisher Price Little Lamb Infant Seat each for 50% off!

I don't have another OB appointment for 4 weeks so hopefully things remain uneventful between now and then.

10 week ultrasound & OB appointment

Today Mr. Sassy Bud and I met with my new OB. She was wonderful! We also got an ultrasound today. The baby actually looks like a baby now. It was so precious. Everything was measuring right on track and the heartbeat was 173. We go back at 11w5d for the NT scan.

I am in love!

10 weeks

I have made it into double digit weeks! I haven't had much to report since being released from the RE at 8 weeks. I have had no morning sickness but have felt queasy from strong smells. I added some B6 into my daily vitamins and I think that has been helping.

Tomorrow is my first OB appointment. I'm not sure what to expect but Mr. Sassy Bud is coming just in case we get another ultrasound or get to hear the heartbeat with the doppler.

Although I am not ready to make any baby purchases yet (maybe after the NT scan), I have made some pregnancy purchases:

Preggle

Photo Credit

This is amazing! I was sleeping pretty well still before I got this, but it makes a big difference in comfort. I wanted a pregnancy pillow that still allowed me to use my regular neck pillow and this one definitely works for that.

Angel Sounds Doppler

Photo Credit

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a doppler, and this one got great reviews for the price. It's still too early to use it so I haven't even tried it yet. I am not the type of person that will get upset if I can't find the heartbeat myself so this is a safe purchase for me.

I also stopped at Borders for some books: The Baby Name Wizard, Consumer Reports, and Baby Bargains. I was having a hard time figuring out where to start when comparing baby products so I think those 2 will be a good start. We definitely haven't picked out any names for sure yet, so the baby name book is a must.

I will update after my appointment tomorrow. Hopefully all is well with baby SB!

7 week ultrasound

We had our 7 week ultrasound at the RE today. Everything looked great!

The baby measured at 11.1, which is equal to 7w2d. So, this week we are a day ahead instead of a day behind.

The heartbeat was a nice and strong 165bpm.

I was also able to reduce my PIO to half of the previous doseage, so after I get today's b/w results I am hoping that I can go off of it completely.

Ultrasound #2

We had our second ultrasound today at 6w2d. Today the RE was able to measure the fetal pole. It measured at 3.1, which he said was 6w1d. I'm not worried about a one day difference at this point. Here is the pic of our little baby:

We were also able to see the heartbeat! It is measuring at 113bmp. It was just amazing.

I haven't had any spotting or any issues whatsoever, so I am cautiously optomistic that things will continue to go well. We go back next Thursday, at 7w1d, for another u/s.

I have not had any morning sickness *yet* and I am hoping that continues. I have been feeling a little queasy at night but I haven't gotten sick, thankfully. Since starting the thyroid medication, I don't feel as tired either. I really don't even feel pregnant, except for all the bloat and my extreme hunger all the time. I'm not complaining at all though. I think I am just amazed that this is all still real.

First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound at 5w2d. Baby Sassy Bud is measuring perfectly on schedule. We go back at 6w2d to check for the heartbeat.

This is the pic of our baby:

Pregnancy still does not feel real to me. The only real symptoms I have is a little cramping and being completely exhausted. The lack of energy is partly attributable to a pregnancy induced thyroid problem. It is improving since they put my on Synthroid. I have not had any morning sickness, YET. Hopefully that continues indefinitely!

We are looking forward to seeing the baby growing over the next few weeks. I am ready to let go of the cautious feeling a little and start enjoying things.

It's so hard to say goodbye...

Well, the time has come for me to finish up my story here on Bloomin' Babies. I cant believe how far Mr. Worry Bud & I have come since I started this blog back in August 2009 - from my very first post where I discussed what brought me to blogging about our journey. I think even at the beginning of our journey, I had an inkling that we would require assistance to get pregnant, but I never had a clue that would include a path through infertility & IVF. I thought for sure that our issue getting pregnant was related to my ridiculously short LP & then, after several failed & very short cycles, we went to see an RE for a consult; and of course, that very cycle my LP miraculously lengthened to an almost normal number of days. I thought for sure that with some help getting my LP lengthened, that we'd get pregnant. Then, we got some of the most devastating news of our young, married lives when we received Mr. WB's S/A results. And after lots of discussions between our RE, Mr. WB & I, we decided to go straight to IVF with ICSI. Naively, I'd always thought IVF was something that people I read about in magazines & saw on TV did. Never in a million years did I think Mr. WB & I would find out what the process was like first hand, but I guess that goes to show you that the story you dream up for your life doesn't always happen as you think it will.

Our IVF cycle (specifically the monitoring portion) happened to fall during one of the worst winters in my area in years, but we got through it & I was responding so well that we made it to my egg retrieval earlier than my RE originally expected. But, when I got my extremely disappointing fert report, I was really down about our chances of success. The support I got from this blog & on the message boards I frequented during that time meant so much to me & helped me to remain optimistic...and amazingly, we made it to a 5 day transfer of two beautiful embies!

I don't think I was ever so nervous as I was during that 2ww, but I made it pretty far without POAS until I started spotting at 8dp5dt & I almost broke down, but decided to POAS anyways & to my very pleasant surprise, I got a very strong BFP!!!!

And from that point, I POAS every day until I got my first, very strong beta of 519 - wooo! After a few subsequent strong betas, we had our early ultrasounds with my RE & got a chance to see our precious Baby WB developing normally:

Everything was going well with the pregnancy, so my RE eventually released me to the care of my OB. At my 12 week routine appointment, they could not find Baby WB's heartbeat, so I was sent for an emergency f/u ultrasound, where we learned everything with our beautiful LO was just fine (& as a bonus, we got an extra peak at the LO that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise). :)

Thankfully, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful from that point on & we just excitedly awaited the arrival of our precious baby. We found out in May that we were having a little girl & I began my baby buying obsession! From then on, I updated you guys on her progress every two weeks or so until I was 36 weeks & my water broke unexpectedly. And about 14 hours later, our precious little girl arrived (& I later shared her full birth story with all of you) - a little small, with high billirubin (causes jaundice) levels & she had trouble maintaining her body temperature at first, but overall pretty perfect if I do say so myself ::winks::!

And with that, we began the journey into finding out what parenthood is all about. And I must say, it is the both the hardest & best job I could have ever asked for. We are so in love with our precious little girl & despite all the bumps & bruises {literally} to get to where we are now, she was worth everything we went through. She is truly a blessing from God & our pride & joy!

And from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of the Bloomin' Babies readers & Buds who prayed for, thought of & cheered us on as we went through this amazing & scary journey to parenthood. Please continue to send thoughts & prayers for our new family's continued health, happiness & safety. I'll still be around as the administrator of the blog & of course, as a reader, but my time blogging as Worry Bud has now come to an end. If you'd like to follow Baby WB's progress & our journey as a family on my personal blog, please email me at worrybud{at}gmail{dot}com & I'll send you the link so you can follow me!

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I never thought we'd travel the path we did to have our first child, but I think it's truly a testament that sometimes things that are seemingly hopeless, are possible with faith, love & lots of support {medically & from friends & family}. I would like to send lots of prayers & thoughts to those of you still on the journey of IF, TTC & pregnancy...I think about each of you every day. And with that I must sign off as Worry Bud for the last time because Baby WB is starting to wake up from her nap! Happy Holidays & a Happy New Year to each of you!

So this is what happens when you make plans...my birth story

I had so many plans. Plans to have final lunch dates with girlfriends & co-workers. Plans to do some final baby shopping & some final tidying up around the house. Plans to enjoy the final few weeks of my pregnancy with Mr. Worry Bud. Plans to attend a close friend's bachlorette party on October 16th (they went on a wine tour earlier in the day & were gonna do pizza & movies at the bride's house, so I was gonna attend that part). We also had a final baby shower being thrown for us by Mr. WB's co-workers on October 21st. And I even volunteered to act as team leader for my boss who is going out of town for the last couple of weeks in October...we had just talked about it on the morning of Wednesday, October 13th & he asked if I was sure since the time I was volunteering to act on his behalf was only literally days from my due date. I was SO sure I told him..."there's no way Baby Worry Bud is coming before the end of October," I said. And that very same night my water broke & the next day, our little girl arrived!

Now that I've been a mommy for a little over 2 weeks now & things are starting to settle down just a little bit, I decided to finally sit down & write out my full birth story. This is gonna be LONG & very detailed {meaning TMI, reader discretion is advised} because I want to have the whole thing documented for me to be able to come back & read later on, so bear with me.

I went to work on October 13th & everything seemed normal enough. I was 36 weeks & 4 days pregnant...Mr. WB & I had started carpooling so just in case I went into labor at work, then Mr. WB would be able to pick me up & drive me to our hospital. But that day, I rode the metro (my area's local public transit rail - my job subsidizes the cost of it) because Mr. WB stayed home to telework (I switched my telework day that week due to a mandatory meeting). Now if you aren't from the a highly populated city, then it's important for me to note that everyone walks FAST to get on & off the trains and up & down the escalators, etc. So I got a decent amount of exercise in that day because I power walked in the morning & afternoon while commuting...not sure if that is important to my story or not, just my hypothesis, LOL. Anywho, I had a normal day at work, no real contractions to speak of. I had been having a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions the weekend before & that day as well. Not enough to be alarmed or call the doctor or anything, maybe 3-4 a day since the previous Saturday. I got home at my normal time - around 6pm & changed into more comfortable clothes. It was a really nice evening, so we planned to grill some pork chops that night. Mr. WB was out on the deck getting the grill ready & I was relaxing on the couch in my normal spot. :) Then, as I was watching TV, waiting to get started cooking, I felt this pop & gush around 6:45pm'ish. And I immediately stood up to get off the couch. I hadn't sneezed or coughed or anything, but I was in denial that my water had broke, so I just figured I lost control of my bladder randomly for some odd reason. Well, that was NOT the case at all!

I went to our powder room to try & pee & just see if that's what was going on. I said to Mr. WB, "The weirdest thing just happened to me..." He said, "What?" And I said, "I think my water just broke." Then he said, "Stop playing!!?!" So I told him I wasn't kidding & I made him come in the bathroom to check where the "water" was coming from (I had peed & then when I was done the gushing had not stopped - it would gush then stop, then gush again & I could feel that it wasn't coming from the same place pee comes from, haha). He checked & said, "Ummm, yeah that's definitely not pee!" So then he started getting excited & frantic at the same time, saying let's go to the hospital...NOW! I told him to calm down & then I remembered what my OB said at my 36 week appointment - she said if 1 of 3 things happened, then to call the Dr.'s office before heading to the hospital. One of those 3 things was my water breaking, so I had him call my OB instead while I cleaned up in the bathroom & then I put on a heavy pad & went upstairs to finish packing my bag for the hospital. I had never finished doing it! I planned to finish it during the upcoming weekend, but clearly that was too late! It was after office hours, so we left a voice mail for my Dr. & finished throwing stuff in my bag while waiting on the Dr. to call back. The baby's bag was packed already at least. :)  It's important to note here for all you other 1st time moms, I had NEVER lost my mucus plug or had a bloody show that I read so much about while pregnant.  My water just broke while I was resting on the couch with no warning. I did notice a light amount of blood on my pad that I changed once more before heading to the hospital, but otherwise, I didn't have any of the other labor warning signs. When my Dr. called back, she asked me a bunch of questions to try & ascertain if my water had broken & she agreed that it probably had, so she told me to come to the hospital to get checked out - not to rush because it was not an emergency since we had 24 hours to deliver the baby after my water broke to prevent infection.   So Mr. WB walked the dog & I put some food down for him. We got everything together, Mr. WB packed up my SUV & we headed out. I wish I had eaten something because once I got to the hospital, they didn't allow me to eat ANYTHING but ice chips. And I was SO hungry after a while.

On the way to the hospital I called my sister, dad, mom, Mr. WB called his mom & I texted a few close friends to let them know what was going on. I'll never forget that car ride. I think I was still in denial that it was happening right then. Mr. WB & I talked about how we felt about the baby coming so soon - excited, nervous, scared, happy...just a flood of a lot of emotions. So we got to the hospital & went up to labor & delivery (L&D) & they were ready for me because my Dr. had already told them I'd be coming in. They put me in a triage room (which was empty) to check me in, ask me some questions & I think the original plan was to do a test to ensure my water had, in fact, broken, but all the nurse checking me in did was take one look & she knew that it had. I wasn't in triage for long - they moved me to my labor, delivery & recovery (LDR) room shortly after (around 8:30pm), which was big & spacious. My Dr. came in shortly after to check in on me & we discussed my wishes during the birth. I told her I wanted an epidural, but not until I was at least 4-5 cm dilated. She checked my cervix & I was only 1 cm dialated, and since I wasn't really having any good contractions on my own, she said she wanted to give me a low dose of pitocin to see if it would help me progress.

The pitocin started working & it was rough - I mean ROUGH! Like the worst pain I ever remember feeling in my life. I was literally loosing my effing MIND. When I was about 2-3 cm dilated, I asked for a narcotic pain killer to help me manage the pain for a while longer before asking for the epidural. I was scared the epidural would slow down my labor, so I tried to wait it out. The pain killer they gave me in my IV (forgot the name) helped for like a minute, lol. It made me feel nice...between contractions, which were coming about every 5-7 minutes or so at this point, so I took little cat naps between them. The pain killer didn't work for long though. My contractions started to get more & more painful & closer together. I'm talking nobody touch me, grabbing on the bed rails, shaking all over, moaning in agony pain. When my Dr. came to check me again, I was close to 4 cm dilated & she asked if she could talk me into the epidural now & I said YES PLEASE. I had previously told Mr. WB not to let me get a epidural until I was at least 4-5 cm, so he innocently reminded me about that & I told him I literally didn't care what I said before, I needed this epidural! So the Dr. ordered it & it took the anesthesiologist an hour & a half to get to me. Apparently it was a really busy night for births, but sheesh I thought I was gonna loose my mind waiting on him! I was having contractions so closely together - about 1.5-2 minutes apart, so they kept coming while the anesthesiologist was placing the epi. I had to stay SO still, which was hard with all the pain I was in. Anywho, I got my epi around 4am & could only feel it in my right side at first & I thought I was gonna be one of those people you read about that still feel labor in one side after getting the epi. But my nurse told me to lay on my left side for a little while & see if that helped...it did, thank goodness. :)

It took about 10-15 minutes for the full effect of the epi to kick in, then I was all good. Numb from the waist down, so I didn't feel much by way of contractions after that. It was so nice to get a break from those contractions, whew. After that I went to sleep for a couple of hours & woke up around 6:30 am or so. My {new} nurse (they had changed shifts in the middle of the night) checked me & I was 9 cm! She called my Dr. who came in & told me that I'd probably start pushing in about an hour or two, so she told me to call my mom & sister, who were going to be in the room while I was pushing. I called them both & told them when to be at the hospital. By 7:30 am my sister had arrived, but my mother decided to go run an errand before coming to the hospital, lol. Just like my mom!! Ugh. Well by that time I could literally feel the baby's head on my pelvic bone. I told the nurse that I felt like her head was about to literally fall out of me, so she checked me & she was like "oh yeah, she's right there & your 10 cm, 100% effaced!" So she called my Dr. & told me to do a practice push, which I did & she told me to stop & not to push anymore until my Dr. arrived. She said that the baby was right there & ready to come with just a few pushes. By the time my Dr. arrived my mom was STILL not there, so she asked if I wanted to wait for her. My sister had just called to see where she was & she said she was turning into the hospital campus, so I said that I didn't want to wait any longer. I figured by the time she got there the baby wouldn't be out anyways. After a few pushes {about 5 min.}, my mom finally arrived & by that time I had gotten the hang of pushing. I pushed for maybe 10 more minutes for 10 seconds each time & she slid right out @ 8:10 am! They laid her right on my tummy & Mr. WB cut the umbilical cord. I cuddled her for a few seconds until they took her over to get cleaned up, measured, weighed, etc. She was so beautiful & cried right away! She got APGARs of 8 & then 9 & weighed in at 4 pounds 13 ounces & was 17.5 inches long. A teeny tiny little miracle - our sweet little baby girl!

And while they worked on her, my Dr. delivered the placenta, which I asked to see - [TMI ALERT] looked kinda like a redish purplish octopus, and sewed me up - I had a minor tear. The placenta was sorta gross & amazing all at the same time...my child had received everything she needed from me through that thing while growing away inside of me? The miracle of childbirth & God. Simply amazing.

After I got all cleaned up, my dad & little sister came by to visit & see the babe before I was moved to my post-partum room. And that's my birth story!

Although she was small & technically pre-term, she was really healthy, but had a little trouble maintaining a normal body temp & she had some jaundice. Due to her bilirubin levels/jaundice, she had to stay in the hospital one additional day for photo-therapy, which was scary for me & made me sad, but was best for her in the end. And I think it looked much worse than it actually was - I think she liked the warm lights & she did excellent sleeping under them:

 My poor baby! It looks worse than it was, she was pretty calm under the lamps (the nurse told me it was 85 degrees & comfy under the lights). It's just scary seeing your 3 day old baby with those "sunshades" on in that big incubator.

We are still adjusting to being parents & caring for a newborn is much more hectic than we both expected, but we are loving every minute of it! I am not saying goodbye just yet though, I still have a couple more posts in me - one of which will be What I learned being KU... the 3rd Tri Edition!

And for kicks, here are my final two sets of bump shots @ 35 & 36 weeks (in chronological order):

31-32 weeks - our little squash!

OMG, as usual I can't believe how quickly time is flying & how close we are to meeting our little miracle in person! We have been hard at work knocking out some of the major things on the Baby Worry Bud to do list I made up, which is quite extensive, lol. I am super DUPER excited about everything coming up over the next couple of weeks - this week we have our maternity hospital tour on Thursday & our Baby WB shower #1 is this Saturday in Mr. WB's hometown (being hosted by my MIL)! I am so excited! We spoke to his mom the other day & she told us about 20 people should be there - probably some we (or at least I) don't even know, but it'll be so much fun opening all her cute gifts & seeing everyone! We are leaving on Saturday since I have to work on Friday (& can't really use leave right now until the babe arrives or closer to my due date), and we'll come back early Sunday!

Speaking of MR. WB's fam - we had a talk about how visiting would go when the baby arrives & he is going to ask his mom what her plans are this weekend. The problem is - we only have two bedrooms in our little townhouse - ours & the baby's. Our dog other child sleeps in our room on the floor (he has comfy bed on the floor), on Mr. WB's side of the bed. We have a futon that can convert to a full size bed in the basement, but besides that, we don't have any room for many people to stay. I also don't really want a lot of people staying over - his mom is a definite since I'm sure she'll wanna be around her only grandchild when she arrives for a few days before she has to go back home for work, but besides that...I really want us to have our family time to adjust to our new life with the baby. It'll be an adjustment for all of us - me, Mr. WB & the dog & I guess I just don't want the added stress of feeling like I have to host guests - do you know what I mean? At the same time, his family lives hours away & mine is right around the corner, so they can just come over & visit whenever. And my parents & sisters & brother will all be able to see the little one MUCH more often than his family. I can see how he  feels about that, but we live where we live & work where we work, so there's not much I can do about it. He understands, but I think he just wants me to understand as well. And I do, but that doesn't change the way I feel about a lot of people staying over our house literally RIGHT after we come home with the baby. Did/do any of you have to deal with a similar situation? How did you handle that? I want to be fair - I love him & his family & want him this to be a very happy time for us, not a stressful one. Le sigh.

In other news, my baby buying obsession has picked up again over the past couple of weeks. :o/ I couldn't help it! I just happened across lots of cute stuff @ great prices recently, so I got:

This cute little personalized pumpkin beanie (since she'll be a fall be beh) from Etsy Seller cherylengelstad.

And these...

 

A cute & very functional diaper caddy & Boppy cover from Target.They were both on my Target registry & I know it's bad to buy stuff of the registry before your shower(s), but they were both on sale for a great price (more than the discount will be for the completion of the registry) & both were online only items (thus less likely to be purchased as gifts), so I went for it!

And finally:

This cute baby sling, leg warmers & bracelet gift set from Seven Everyday Slings (the makers of Udder Covers). IDK if I'll actually use the bracelet {probably not}, but the sling & leg warmers are adorable! You can use the sling from infant to 6+ months & I got a one-time use coupon code for a FREE sling (a $39.99 value), so all I had to pay for was the difference between the sling alone & the gift set + shipping. You know I can't resist free stuff, so I went for it too!

That should be it for my buying stuff for awhile. I think her showers over the next couple of weeks will satisfy my fix for a bit, so I should be good until she arrives, minus the stuff we may still have to purchase that we need if we do not receive them as gifts.

According to The Bump, baby girl is the size of a squash & is about 3.75 lbs. & 16.7 inches. My ute is pushing up near my diaphragm & crowding my stomach, which can lead to shortness of breath & heartburn. All of that is definitely happening to me - it's not extremely unbearable, but not fun either. Baby Center says that I can help myself out with these symptoms by sleeping with pillows propped up & eating smaller meals more often, both of which I have been doing. I'm also normally pretty sore in my feet, legs, hips, sides & lower back by the end of most days & exhausted. Mr. WB is pretty good about helping me out if I need it in the evenings & gives me frequent massages whenever I need them too. Love him. At my 32 week appointment this week, we met the newest Dr. at my OB practice & I actually really like her! I'm so happy I feel comfortable with all four of them, so whoever delivers her, I'll be happy with. I surprisingly have no preference at all. The appointment was pretty routine - peed in a cup, did a weight & blood pressure check & the Dr. met with us briefly & checked the baby's heartbeat with the doppler - a healthy 144 bpm & everything else was normal too. Baby WB is in the head down position & getting plump & prepared for birth, which is just 5-8 weeks away now! She's moving away a lot still - more shifting than kicking, but she still kicks a lot too. Can't believe how close we are...and we can't wait to meet her!

And now on to my 31 & 32 week bump pics. We were originally gonna do some maternity shots this past weekend, but re-scheduled due to semi-crappy weather, so now we are waiting for two weeks since we'll be out of town this weekend. I'm actually kinda happy we are waiting two more weeks for the maternity shots - perhaps the belleh will be a little larger? It's pretty big now, but I figure a bit of a bigger belly couldn't hurt for the pics, right?!

31 weeks:

32 weeks:

I am CRAZY busy at work until late next week, but hopefully I'll have time to pop in & give some updates on our maternity tour & shower this weekend! 

Random {but awesome} run in!!

This is gonna be a short one.  Just wanted to pop in this morning to tell you guys about a random run in Mr. Worry Bud & I had last night. I wanted to go on a date last night, so Mr. WB ask what I'd like to do...ummm, I'm 29 weeks pregnant, what do you THINK I wanna do?! I wanna freakin' eat. :) So he asked where I wanted to go & I picked my fav Mexican restaurants - I love their chips & salsa (& mojitos, but clearly I wasn't getting one, ha!) & Mr. WB loves their sangrias + the chips/salsa too, so that's where we ended up!! I was standing in line at the host station to put our name down on the wait list (Mr. WB went to park the car) & an older couple walked up beside me to get in line as well. Well guess who it was?!?! My IVF nurse - Jane!! I touched her arm & said her name, she looked over at me puzzled. Then I asked if she remembered me & she immediately did! She gave me a hug, rubbed my belly & introduced me to her husband! We chatted for just a few minutes & then Mr. WB walked into the restaurant. She gave him a hug too & introduced him to her hubby, then we went our separate ways to wait on our tables. Afterwords, I rubbed my belly & told Baby WB that Jane was one of the people that helped bring us to her - our precious daughter! It was so cool seeing her again - makes me miss my RE's office! They were much more personable than my OB's staff, but I like them too - it's just different, lol. All of this reminds me of how truly blessed we are to have come this far & to be so close to meeting our baby girl!

In other news, my 3/4D u/s is scheduled for next Saturday @ 30 weeks, woot. Can't wait to see our little girl again! Hope everyone has an awesome weekend - I'll be back next week with my 29-30 week update & hopefully some good 3D pics of Baby WB!!

Helloooo 2nd Tri!!

Hey there everyone! In about 2 hours, I will officially be 13w3d pregnant, which by most estimates = 2nd tri...woooot! I have been waiting for this day for sooo long. I kept telling myself throughout the pregnancy so far that after 6 weeks - I'll feel more confident about this pregnancy, then it changed to 8 weeks, then 10 weeks - double digits...gotta be good thing right? Then I said okay, after my 12 week appt., which is where Baby Worry Bud scared the bejesus out of his/her parents! But honestly, after the u/s we had at 12 weeks, then the NT Scan last Friday @ just about 13 weeks, I think I am finally starting to feel like our little miracle is doing well in there! Now, I'm finally in the 2nd tri & I am ecstatic!!!

Our NT Scan went well - the baby measured perfectly, had an awesome heartbeat of 162bpm, and the baby's NT measured normally. The geneticist says they have to wait on the blood work, which she should receive by the middle of this week to give us the final results. We saw Baby WB again, which was the most important part! I won't even post the pic from the u/s because the quality of that u/s was horrible, but we saw the baby moving around a little bit & the tech measured the hb for me, which was the main two things I was concerned with (minus the actual point of the u/s). According to The Bump (photo credit), Baby WB is the size of a peach this week - a peach! His head is now more proportionate to his body, he's forming vocal cords & teeth, and I even read that the baby can hear when you talk to him/her. So you know what Mr. WB did when I told him that? He ordered a bunch of children's books on Amazon to read to the baby while s/he is still in my tummy - just about melted my heart. He's so excited. He's going to make such an awesome daddy & I can't WAIT to see him hold his baby in his arms for the first time. :)

I also told my boss about the pregnancy - it went awesome. He's so happy for me & he told me to take my precious time with leave. He said lots of good stuff about promotions too, all things I like to hear. I heart my boss - he always makes me feel so appreciated. I couldn't ask for a more flexible schedule or a more understanding boss. My team leader & I butt heads a little sometimes, but I think that even he will be very supportive & happy about my news. (He was out today, so I'll tell him tomorrow). So now that I told them, I'll be "coming out" to the rest of the world now...I think it's time & we are sick of hiding our immense joy in expecting our child! The plan is not to randomly tell people, but not hide it either. If someone guesses or it comes up in convo, then we'll tell. And finally, for your (possible) viewing pleasure, here's my 13 week "bump" picture. I think that perhaps a little bit of bump is actually starting to show. Either that or my bell-eh is getting really big from my food baby! I've gained about 8-9 lbs. so far & I am okay with that gain, hoping to definitely stay within the healthy weight gain range, which is 25-35 lbs. for someone with a healthy BMI prior to pregnancy.


This weekend we are going to start looking at nursery furniture. We probably won't buy anything yet, but we will be doing our research and personally "trying out the furniture" & likely making a selection or at least narrowing down the possible options. I'm super excited - squeee!

Scariest day of my life...

It's amazing how attached you can become to something about the size of a large lime. Today, I am 12w1d pregnant & so thankful. But, Friday morning, during our routine 12 week appointment (I was actually 11w6d), Baby Worry Bud scared the bejesus out of me & Mr. WB. Let me start where my last post left off...

I have been doing well, not worrying so much about Baby WB. Just having faith that all is going well in there. We haven't had a real appointment since the final one with my RE at 7w6d. At that point, the Drs. were saying everything with the baby looked perfect & they were comfortable releasing me to my regular OB. By then, Baby WB looked like this:


As directed, I stopped my Endometrin (progesterone) & Estradiol (estrogen) supplements at 10 weeks. I was so scared that my baby would still need them, but my RE assured me that it would be fine. So, I stopped them...and all seemed well. No unusual cramping, no bleeding. Mr. WB & I went along with our lives as normal, started some spring cleaning around the house, did some yard work, and even went to Lowes to pick up some paint samples for Baby WB's nursery. I'll likely paint the room the same color regardless of the baby's sex. I even found out that one of my co-workers is also pregnant - only about a week & a half ahead of me! My symptoms continued to be pretty minimal - extreme fatigue, slight twisting/stretching/occasional quick stabbing pain in my ute area, shooting pain starting in my left butt cheek & going down to my leg, slightly sore breasts, larger breasts, seemingly swollen ute area, sore hips. I did experience nausea, but never actually threw up & that worried me only a little, since I have read that not all pregnant women experience that symptom. Since I have never been pregnant, I was just trying to go with the flow & not worry too much unless something alarming happened.

So, along comes our 2nd OB appointment this past Friday, April 23, 2010. I was just a little nervous, we were supposed to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time on that day! We had seen it on our previous ultrasounds, but had never heard it. I have read so many mama's accounts of the first time hearing that beautiful whooshing sound & had been looking forward to hearing it too. So, I was finally called back...Mr. Worry Bud was directed to go back to the exam room. The nurse took my blood pressure, got a urine sample & took my weight (which I think was about 3 lbs. off from my scale at home that I know is pretty accurate - I think she was just in a rush). Then she took me back to the exam room. The nurse practitioner (NP) - who I normally see for my annual pap smears - was handling my appointment that morning; she came & grabbed us & we went to her office to talk for a bit. After that, she did my annual pap, felt my uterus & agreed that it was enlarged normally for being almost 12 weeks. Well, then the "fun part" - listening with the Doppler for the baby's h/b!!! She put the gel on the prob, then put the probe on my ute area & started moving it around. She tried for about 5-8 min in all different areas & couldn't find it. Nothing. Panic mode set in. She said sometimes it happens, but that at this point in my pregnancy, we should be able to hear the h/b. She said she didn't want me worrying all weekend, so she would send me downstairs (to a imaging/radiology office my OB uses) to get a u/s. As soon as she left the room, I started weeping & Mr. WB tried to tell me that everything would be fine, that the baby was doing great & was just hiding. Although he seemed so sure, I knew he was freaking out a little in his own mind.

So, we went downstairs & the very nice front desk guy told us that since we didn't have an appointment, we could be waiting up to 2 hours to get in, but that he'd try & get us in ASAP. We decided we'd wait (versus coming back later that afternoon)...I don't think I could really function doing anything else until we knew what was going on with our LO anyway. So, I sat in the waiting room, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed - prayed that our baby was okay & was just hiding somehow from the Doppler, prayed that we'd get in to see him/her ASAP. About 40 min later, both of my prayers were answered. We got called in! The u/s tech said that she'd do both a tummy & trans-vag u/s, but that she'd start with the tummy. I grabbed Mr. WB's hand. As soon as she put the probe on, I recognized the gestational sac & our baby. It wasn't moving & I knew that it should be by this point, but after about 3 seconds, s/he started wiggling around & dancing for us!! I was so relieved, I started "ugly" crying. I told the tech everything that we had gone thru to get to this point & we were just so happy Baby WB was doing good. I even saw Mr. WB let out a sigh of relief! I asked why she thought the NP at my OB wasn't able to find the h/b with the Doppler, and she told me she couldn't say for sure, but it may have been because the baby was towards the back of my uterus. The Dr. at that office came in to follow up with us & told me that the baby was measuring normally; he told me, "Don't worry, be happy," that our baby looked "perfect." And without further adieu, here is a bonus peek at Baby WB at 11w6d:

Little bugger - I think he knew mommy wanted another peek at him, but I had a talk with him after the u/s was done & told him never ever to scare me like that again!

Isn't s/he so beautiful & perfect?! We feel so blessed that everything turned out okay. I know all too well in speaking with other women who battled IF that it was not a for sure thing that the baby would be okay. But s/he was, and we thank God for that. After those traumatic few hours, I even got Mr. WB to agree to let me buy a rocker I want for the baby's nursery! We are going to go look at a few options today. :)

Oh & I mentioned this in my previous post, but I started taking "bump" pics starting at 4 weeks & that I'd post them start posting them here at 12 weeks. My Dr. agrees that my uterus has grown above my pelvic cavity as it should by this point, so technically, I think I am showing a little bit. I started wearing maternity jeans last week & they are glorious. I got my normal jean size & bought this pair in two different washes from Old Navy. I also bought these real waist pants for work from ON in all 3 colors - and I highly recommend both! I'm a long way from needing shirts, but I am so happy I moved on to the pants - so comfy! So anywho, here is a comparison of my "bump" at 5 weeks vs. 12 weeks:


Thanks for reading if you got this far! I promise to get better on updating more often. Work has been crazy & I have actually been in training for the last week or so. Hopefully everything will calm down soon, but I doubt it since we are about to enter the busiest time of year in my field - third & fourth quarters. My NT Scan is this Friday, April 30, 2010 & we are praying that everything looks good at that u/s with Baby WB. Thank you so much for all the continued T&P that our little WB continues to grow big & strong & healthy!

9 weeks, 6 days!

Hey there everyone! I apologize for being so MIA lately - I have been sooo busy @ work; I'm going to training for two weeks at the end of this month, so that has made me even more busy. Besides that, I haven't had too much going on Baby Worry Bud-wise. I did have my first OB appointment last Wednesday & it was pretty uneventful - they just went over some Dos & Don'ts of pregnancy, took my weight (up about 4 lbs since starting IVF...eek), asked a few questions, allowed me to ask any I had, gave me some literature on some optional testing I could have done, as well as some general pregnancy, took blood & urine for some testing. All my tests came back clear & I found out that my blood type is B+....no, I never knew that, lol.

My next OB appt. is on Friday, April 23rd - and that'll be a "fun" one - we get to hear the baby's h/b with the Doppler!! I'm so excited about that b/c we have never heard Baby WB's h/b (only seen it) & that'll also be our last appt. before we enter the second trimester! Even though, I know that after you see the baby's h/b that the chances of miscarriage go down to like 2-5%, but I'm still nervous. Can't help it I guess - it's in my nature to worry. But, I just continue to pray that everything with Baby WB continues to go well & that s/he continues to grow, big, strong & healthy.

Photo Credit

As far as the optional tests, we will likely do the u/s called the nuchal translucency (NT) scan (which examines the baby's skin folds behind the neck) although I am considered relatively low risk for Downs Syndrome, but it's an extra u/s & my insurance will likely cover it 100% (I'll check on that first) & it carries essentially no risk to the baby since it's just an u/s & I think maybe some b/w. My OB routinely only orders just one u/s at about 18-20 weeks & that mid-late June for me! I don't know if I can wait THAT long to see Baby WB again. I kinda wish my RE didn't release until 10-12 weeks, sigh. At this point, we don't plan on doing any other optional testing b/c many of the tests come with risks to the baby - small risks, but I don't want to do anything that could potentially cause harm to the baby or the pregnancy.

As far as symptoms -they are on & off. I still get pretty intense, but very short-lived stabbing/twisting pain in my ute area & I have had this really sharp pain in my butt that radiates down to my leg on my left side. I spoke to the nurse at my OB office & she said it sounds normal. That unless it sticks around for several hours or becomes excruciating, then it's normal to have pains here & there since your body is going through lots of changes. I feel nauseous sometimes, but only when I don't eat often enough, but I haven't thrown up yet, woot! I have gained weight in my mid-section area & have started wearing belly bands with my pants that are a little too tight & they have been working really well for me. I got the exact ones (in black and white) pictured above from Etsy seller RunSystem63 - she has awesome prices...I got two for the price of one Target brand Be Band. Also, Old Navy was having an awesome sale this week, so I got some maternity hidden waistband work slacks in a few colors & some low-rise jeans in a dark wash. I'm a long way from needing the shirts, but my pants are getting pretty tight. If all continues to go well with Baby WB, I'll start posting regular "bump" pics starting at 12 or 13 weeks. I have been taking them since 4 weeks, when we found out I was pregnant, b/c I have this awesome pregnancy journal, called "The Belly Book" by Amy Krouse! It chronicles your pregnancy & belleh thru out your 40+ weeks of pregnancy. It actually starts with week 1, which is a little pointless since you aren't even pregnant by then, so the first 3 weeks are blank in mine.

In GREAT news - we got paid out from our FSA for the $10K we put in, so we paid off that portion of our IVF loan, which takes a huge financial pressure off of us. We are saving about $250 a month in loan payments, holler...all of which will likely go towards saving for stuff we'll need for the baby. The room in our house (the guest room) where the nursery will be is on my spring cleaning list - we need to dispose of or Freecycle the mattress & bed rails, get rid of my old desk, clean out the closet & put in a closet organization system (it's a teeny tiny closet), clear out all the other clutter in the room (it currently holds all of our important papers, my crafts, etc). I can't wait to find out the sex of the baby & get started for real on a nursery! That's all I got for now, hopefully work will calm down & I'll be able to post more often again. Thanks as always for all the continued T&P for baby WB...it means so much to me & Mr. WB!