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

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.

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

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

It's a......

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

19 Weeks

It is incredible how fast time is starting to fly by. In the beginning time seemed to move so slow as there were so many small landmarks I was waiting for such as my first beta, second beta, 6 week ultrasound, 9 week ultrasound, and getting off my terrible progesterone shots. I was also nauseated and puking most days and in pain from my shots.

Now I am feeling much better and am not so stressed and concerned as I was in the beginning so the time is starting to fly by. I felt so great this last week, and did not have any pregnancy symptoms at all.

This week our baby should be around 8.5 ounces and 6 inches from head to rump and it's brain is developing specialized areas for smell taste, hearing, vision and touch.

I have my 20 week ultrasound one week from today!

18 Weeks

This last week flew by! Mr Lucky Bud took off Thursday to Monday New Years weekend, so it was great to be all together for a long weekend. I normally post on Thursdays, but was waiting to post until I had a photo, and I finally took one today.

I finally have not only gained back the lbs that I lost with always being sick in my first trimester, but also gained 3 lbs. Yeah! I worry about getting enough nutritian  and also gaining weight for the baby so I am happy to see a change in my weight. I am starting to show little by little, but not that much.

Our embryo donors contacted our social worker to see if we could meet in two weeks! This is great news for us as we know very little about them and was hoping that they would be open to a semi open situation. I am a little nervous but excited at the same time. I set up my ultrasound for Wednesday, January 18th and am looking forward to that.

Mr Lucky Bud finished doing all of the work to install a washer and dryer on the upstairs floor of our townhouse, and they arrived yesterday! I did my first load upstairs today. This is going to make life so much easier! Yeah!

Our baby is now about 5.5 inches crown to rump, and 7 ounces. I am still VERY hungry lately. That is basically all there is to report this week. 

18 weeks, 4 days

Little Lucky Bud colored Lucky Tummy Baby

17 weeks

I am laying here in bed and can feel the baby moving around a lot right now. I have started noticing it moving around at night when everything has calmed down and I am lying still. I am still not really showing. I will have to take a pic next week. My good friend is also pregnant and exactly a month behind me and is showing much more than I am. I am very exited to see a baby bump as well.

This week I have just been thinking about things to prepare for another baby around the house:
     Mr. Lucky Bud has been working on installing a washer and dryer in the upstairs of our townhouse. Hurray! He is almost done converting our linen closet into an awesome laundry for me and the washer and dryer will arrive next Saturday!

     Baby Lucky Bud, now 1 is an official walker now! He started a little at 10 months, but really started walking over crawling just a week ago, and finally is starting to get it down and is doing a great job! This is exciting because he is a heavy boy, weighing the same as Little Lucky Bud, and I was hoping he would be steady on his feet before I am big.
     This week I started thinking about how unorganized the storage room and the closets in the bedrooms were, so I went through EVERYTHING and made a HUGE mess. Now I just need to get it all back into order in the basement and I will be all ready to decorate a room for baby #3.

The biggest change for me this week is that I have been starving! I can't seem to eat often enough, and am too hungry to fall back asleep without a snack anytime I wake up in the night. I have noticed that I need more protein and am making that my big goal for next week.

Until then... Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

17 weeks pregnant.... credit

16 Weeks

I had my 16 week apt. today and got to hear the babies heartbeat again. My midwife found it right away this time and I am so happy right now. I am not really showing yet, and not feeling sick anymore, so it is nice to have a reminder that there really is a baby in there! It is really amazing, I still can't believe it. Our baby should be around 4 1/2 inches from head to rump (about the size of an avocado), and 3 1/2 ounces.

Some things that I am looking forward to are:

*I signed up for some Bradley childbirth education classes today, which start in mid February.

*My next apt. with my midwife is on January 19th, and she will give me an order for my ultrasound. I am really looking forward to getting more information about how the baby is growing, and hopefully the reassurance that everything is fine!   (167 days to go!)

My heart really goes out to those of you who are still struggling to have children. The struggles, stress,difficulty and pain that we went through is still so fresh in my mind that it is hard to see others going through similar struggles and pain. I hope so much that all of you will soon have your dream of having a baby and I hope to be able to share in your joy as well.

14 weeks

We are officially in the second trimester! Our baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee and maybe even suck it's thumb! That is amazing! I am feeling great this week. My nausea isn't all the way gone, but it is not bad. I don't really have anything else to report for the week. I am just happy to have passed another week with everything fine. Going off my progesterone after 11 weeks was scary, but it was all fine too. I am so grateful to be pregnant!

Lucky Bud

Stopping Progesterone...Again

After maybe my 5th blood test, my nurse says I get to go off the progesterone for good. I am a little nervous stopping without testing again to make sure that the placenta starts producing it, but she said that at 13 weeks it would be and that I am done. I am happy to not have to take them, but a little on edge and hope that everything stays fine.

Lucky Bud

13 Weeks/ Little Lucky Buds Adoption Story

Today I am 13 weeks pregnant. Our baby is about 3 inches long from crown to rump now. December 3rd marks the start of my second trimester, which is wonderful news. I am feeling so much better these days. I still get sick occasionally, but I am able to hold down meals for the most part, and I don't have the constant feeling of nausea all day that I used to feel. Really I am feeling great right now!

There is not too much to report for this weeks, so I thought that I would tell the story of how Little Lucky Bud (now 2 and a half) came into our family. Hopefully it is not too long. I always have a hard time keeping things short and focused, so here it goes...

Little Lucky Bud's birthmother, "Katie" (not her real name) was just turning 17 when she found out that she was 2 months pregnant. She had sisters that had had children very young, and had decided even before she became pregnant, that she would like to chose adoption if she was ever in the same possition. Once it became a reality, she knew that she could not provide for Little Lucky Bud, and wanted him to have the best life she could give him. She looked through some adoption profiles on an online website, and our profile stood out to her. She wanted to wait until she was three months along to write us. She looked at our profile everyday and by the time she wrote us, she was so excited to meet us. She already was feeling attatched to us and was very sweet in her email. We wrote everyday for the next two weeks until Mr. Lucky Bud and I drove to meet her in Michigan (we live in Maryland).

We spent four days with Katie and her family and we all got along great. Katie wanted to see us again, and Thanksgiving break worked best with her school schedule. We made plans for her to fly to see us then.

In the next month or two Katie struggled with her desion to adopt, and it was not clear what would happen. She felt pressured by her social worker, and all of her friends were telling her that they could never give their baby away.

We wanted to remain supportive, but did not want her to feel pressured, so we took a few steps back and communicated a little less with her. As Thanksgiving got closer we knew that it was a very strong possibilty that Katie might chose to parent her baby.

 To our surprise she did decided to come see us after all. On the way home from the airport we stopped for a bite to eat. Shortly after sitting down, Katie looked a little anxious and said that she had big news for us. She said that she could tell us now, or wait until Thanksgiving when we were with family. We wanted to know then of course. It was then, sitting at the Olive Garden that Katie said, "I don't know how you are supposed to say this, but I chose you. Will you be the parents of my baby." We were so happy and overwhelmed. More recently Katie has told me that after she officially decided on adoption, she felt at peace with her choice and did not struggle back and forth anymore. When we got home Katie showed us the ultrasound and had us guess the sex...and of course it was a boy!

Over the next few months we became much closer through emails. Scott and I visited Michigan again in January for another ultrasound. It was nice to spend more time with Katie, and to see the baby, and the we went home.

Upon Kaite request, I drove out to MI one week before Little Lucky Buds birth. Katie did not want to miss any  more school, and was determined to have him a week early (during spring break) and to have time to recover and head back to school just in time. Despite all of her efforts, Little Lucky Bud arrived exaclty on his due date. Katie really wanted Mr. Lucky Bud to be there for the birth also, but he was still driving, and arrived an hour after he was born. I was blessed to be there when our son was born.

It was an amazing expirience to watch our baby come into the world. As soon as I met him I was filled with such a deep love for him, and I couldn't imagine my life without him again.

I cut the umbilicle cord, and held him shortly after he was born. I had spent the past four months inducing lactation, and was able to feed him without a supplementer for the first week or so. It was an incredible bonding experience for us, for me to be able to breast feed him.

Kaite was extremely thoughtful during the whole adoption process, and wanted Little Lucky Bud to be able to bond with us as much as possible from the time he was born. The hospital gave us a room right next to Katie, and we were able to sleep the night with him in our room. Mr. Lucky Bud stayed up the entire night staring at our new precious baby.

We did have some issues the next morning with the hospital staff, and it was an extrememly difficult day. It seemed uncertain if we were going to be able to take him home at times. In Michigan the birthparents have 30 days to change their minds about adoption. From the time that I held Little Lucky Bud, I felt 100% as if I had carried him and given birth to him. I loved him so much. As you could probably imagine, the next 30 days were very difficult and emotional, not only for us but also for our sweet and wonderful birthmother. It was a glorious day for us when Little Lucky Bud legally belonged to us, and all of the stress and fears of losing him were past.

Little Lucky Bud enters the world

I had become a mother at last

Adoption changed our lives forever. I am so grateful for adoption and for the strength of our courageous, selfless birth mother. Thanksgiving will always be a special time for our family as we rember that very special visit with Katie.

Baby Lucky Bud joined our family Christmas Eve 2010, so you can expect to hear about his adoption story soon!

Lucky Bud

12 Weeks

Today I am 12 weeks into my pregnancy. Here is what is new!

1. Midwife appointment-
     I had an apt. with my midwife yesterday. It took a while for her to find a heartbeat. At first I was chatting the student midwife, so I wasn't thinking too much about it. Then I started to notice how
 long it was taking and I started to worry. She did find a good heartbeat though just after and I was so happy. The heart rate was 155 beats per minute. I could hear it so clear, I was so relieved.

2. Progesterone-
     I went off of my progesterone a week or so ago. In the first trimester when you do IVF, or a FET, you need to supplement your progesterone. If you want to know why you don't have progesterone naturally during IVF go here.

     Around the 10th to 12th week or so though, the placenta takes over the production of progesterone, so you can go off of the supplements. My levels before I went off the injections were 90. After they were 15. They said that it is natural to have a drop, but then the placenta should kick in and start making it, and if it doesn't, I need to go back on the injections for a bit longer.

     I took my follow up blood test today, but they forgot to order it as "stat" so I won't get the result until Monday. I called my fertility clinic and they told me to go back on the PIO twice a day until I get my results back :( It is disappointing to have to go back on the shots, but I feel better about going back on them, just in case, since my levels were borderline.

3. Nausea-
     My Nausea was getting so bad, that I decided to get a prescription medication from my midwife. Today was my first full day taking it, and I feel like a new person. I feel soooo much better. I wasn't able to hold down one meal for three days straight, and was getting very weak, not to mention worried about providing nutrition for the baby. My midwife said that it is 100% safe for the baby, so I wish that I had tried this sooner.

4.Buds-
     I am currently referring to my kids as Baby Lucky Bud and Little Lucky Bud... but then what do I call baby #3? Any Suggestions????? I could also switch up the names of our Little Buds..but am not sure what I would call them. Let me know if you have any ideas!!!

Little Lucky Bud

Baby Lucky Bud

Name me!

5. Baby Development-
This week our babies biggest development will be reflexes. It will start curling toes, opening and closing its fingers and making sucking motions with her/his mouth. S/he is just over 2 inches from crown to rump, and looks something like the photo above. credit

Lucky Bud