So Sorry for being MIA!!!!

First I would like to say how sorry I am for being so MIA for the last few weeks! Between our Disneyland vacation and moving into our new home I have not had Internet for awhile but good news I am back with tons of great updates!

Where to begin? We decided to break the news to my mother the day before we left on our vacation. Since we were driving to Disneyland (9hour drive) and I was already beginning to run to the bathroom a little more often then I usually do we figured it would make more sense. The night before we left we gave my mom a little present. We told her it was just a thank you for the trip. We found the perfect card for here, it read: Front: It was never a matter of if, it was always a matter of when inside: Congratulations. We then wrote in big capital letters GRANDMA! As she read the card she looked confused as soon as she read the grandma part she looked at me and asked if I was serious. I smiled and nodded and she instantly burst into tears! She was hugging me and Mr. DB before she even opened the present of a onesie with the words grandma loves me on the front. It truly was the perfect moment!
Our Disneyland trip was the perfect celebration for us all. Although it was a little disappointing not being able to go on any of the fun big kid rides. No Space Mountain, No Thunder Mountain, No Matterhorn, No Indiana Jones. But I still had a great time. I couldn't help but rub my belly thinking of what it will be like to bring our little baby Determined Bud back.
Once we returned we had our first appointment with my fertility specialist. I was so excited to see our little one! He/She looked perfect, based on the size they said I was 6w5d that was on 4/4, so I am 7w5d today! Due Date November 23rd, 2011. Words cannot describe how I felt seeing baby DB!
As for my symptoms I am definitely feeling bloated, I get nauseous here and there, I am tired ALL the time, my breast have grown 2 cups sizes and hurt all the time, and of course I feel like I have to use the restroom every few minutes. But so far I am kinda loving it, its truly solidifying that I am growing tiny human inside of me. Which is truly amazing in every way.
Tomorrow is my first prenatal appointment with my OBGYN. So fingers crossed everything is still great! I can't wait to see my little one again!

Well hello ovulation.

At least I think that's what this is. I have been feeling some twinges on my lower right side (which I don't typically notice ovulation pain) and the OPK I took earlier today is SUPER dark. It's not quite positive, but I am thinking that if I take another OPK later in the day it will be. The best sign that ovulation is impending is my cervix is high and soft and holy crap, I had EWCM that probably could have stretched for a mile. No joke. I have never seen it like that! Hopefully all signs are correct, and my body is gearing up to ovulate. And maybe even today!! That would be a welcomed change since I am currently on CD 13 and I typically ovulate somewhere around CD 25-27.

The only downfall to my theory is my chart is whacked out this month. Seriously. My temps are all over the place. So much so Fertility Friend gave me cross hairs on CD 10. What??! Umm, I fairly confident I didn't ovulate on CD 10. And if I did, I am screwed since there is no chance we caught the egg. But yeah, I am pretty sure I didn't ovulate then.

Fingers crossed that I ovulate in the near future. I am hopeful that ovulating on CD 14 vs CD 27 will be the change I need to get KU!

I want another one of these.....

Yep, I AW Little PB&J Bud every chance I get :)

PB&J Bud

MIA - 9 weeks

I know, I know, I’ve been MIA.  But I have good excuses, really.  Five+ Doctor appointments, end of the quarter at school, and a trip to the ER have meant not a lot of time for blogging.  (And I’ll get there, but yes, everything is fine.)


Since I last posted, we had our ultrasound and were able to find Baby Teacher Bud’s heartbeat.  I was so relieved, and yes, I cried.  That weekend we went down to where our parents live (about an hour away), and told all 3 sets.  The reactions were about how we expected.  Everyone was shocked, but excited.


Since then, life has been a whirlwind.  I’ve had bad “morning” sickness.  Which is really “all day, worst in the evenings, can’t keep anything down” sickness.  I haven’t wanted to spend a whole lot of time on the computer, opting instead for the couch.


The few times I was on my computer, I’ve been actually working.  As I mentioned earlier, our quarter ended at school last week.  This meant a flood of missing work for me to grade, having to post grades and comments to report cards, and making my classroom presentable for parent teacher conferences.


There was some fun in there as well.  I used one of our days without students to announce to the teachers at my school.  I know it’s still early, but our school is so small (about 10 teachers) that we are a really, really close bunch.  Honestly, with most of us meeting this year, it’s been like magic, we just clicked and I consider all of them really good friends, not just coworkers.  Everyone knew about our struggles to conceive, and had been very supportive.  With all the time off I had to take for appointments, I was very lucky to have their support.  Everyone was really excited, and they even bought a “welcome baby” cake, and a stuffed duck that has been keeping me company on the couch.


After parent/teacher conferences, I was at week 8, and that was when the morning sickness became really bad.  We’re talking, lay on the couch, send Mr. Teacher Bud out for popsicles and slimfast because they are all I can keep down, and still throw up 5-6 times a day bad.  I really wanted to avoid drug though.  I can’t even really explain why, but through a week of that (thank goodness for spring break,) I was sure, that if I just rested, and ate my popsicles and slimfast, I could make it through.  I tried B6 after my rheumatologist threatened me with IV fluids, but even that only helped so much.  It got to the point where I was throwing up so much that my stomach and back muscles ached constantly.  Eating just made that pain worse.


Finally, last night, the pain was so bad, that I was afraid to try to eat anything.  At the same time, I stopped being able to keep down my meager, liquid diet.  I broke down and called the on-call doc at my OB’s office, but all they would tell me was to go to the ER.  So that’s where I was until 5am this morning.


They gave me 2 bags of IV fluids, and 2 rounds of IV zofran, but I was so dehydrated that even with that I still felt sick.  They gave me benedryl and raglan which finally gave me enough relief to be able to sleep and keep down fluids.  So now, I am home, and Mr. TB is on his wa back from the pharmacy with a prescription for Zofran.  I’ll call my OB on Monday, but for now, I’ll take the drugs.


I’m at 9 weeks right now, so hopefully it won’t be too long before we can enter the 2nd tri, and put all of this behind us.  Unfortunately, I’m not so sure.  One of the benefits of telling our parents is that I can ask my mom all sorts of questions about her pregnancy.  Unfortunately, it was not all good news – she dealt with morning sickness for the first 5 months!  Oh please let that not be me…


Until next time,

Teacher Bud

EDIT:  I feel like I was whining, which may have also been part of why I hadn't posted.  I am thrilled to be pregnant, m/s an all.  I know how hard it can be to want so much to be pregnant, and to see other people complain about the symptoms you would give anything for, and I never wanted to be that whining person.  My thoughts go out to all of the buds still trying.  I know there's no good thing to say, but there it is. 

I've Been MIA--Updates Galore!

I have to apologize for being MIA over the past few weeks. Work has been nuts, and I've been running around nonstop trying to get stuff done at home too (in between work travel and personal travel). It's been overwhelming at times. So I'll get you updated, and now that I have a new laptop, I'll be updating you far more often :)

Baby is doing great! I'm 16 weeks, 5 days today. We had our 15 week appointment two weeks ago, and talked about nutrition (I'm doing well but need to eat more veggies), the midwife answered some questions we had, and then we got to hear the heartbeat again (150's). Our anatomy scan is scheduled for April 20, at 8am. We're still team green, but are looking very forward to seeing Magnolia Bud v2.0 again. Especially because it may be our last ultrasound until we meet him or her in September if everything continues to go well. I am starting to get concerned that the ultrasound will show a shorter cervical length than we'd like, because my LEEP was still less than a year ago. But there's nothing we can do about it between now and the ultrasound, so I'm trying not to think about it and not to worry.

We've been thinking about working on our registries, so after our 15 week appointment, we went to the birth center's store and tried on some baby carriers. We both loved the Moby, and even Mr. Magnolia Bud was able to get it tied properly after one try. We also loved the Ergo, and think those two will work well for our family. We're going to be spending some serious time working on the registry this week and next week.

Around the house, Mr. MB has started painting the baby's room. We chose Sherwin Williams 6764, Swimming, as the wall color, and are leaving the trim and ceiling white. The first coat is done, and Mr. MB will finish the second coat later this week when I'm out of town. He's also going to be painting our bathroom and the guest room while I'm out of town--so all we'll have left before MB2.0 gets here is our room, the hallway, MB2.0's bathroom, and our fourth bedroom. Haha, now that it's in writing, it sure seems like a lot!

In terms of baby gear, I told you a while back that we bought our co-sleeper, right? Mr. MB set it up in our room to see how it looks, and it's become a permanent sleeping place for one of our cats. Our room is huge--stretches across the entire front of our house, and it doesn't have much in it but our bed and nightstands--so the co-sleeper isn't in the way. Knowing that, we're just going to keep it up for now. We're borrowing a crib from our best friends, and Mr. MB set that up in the baby's room to make sure all the parts were there and get it cleaned.

We set a date for one of my showers--Mr. MB's family is throwing us one on July 31, when I'll be 33 weeks. My mother in law is so excited about anything baby--it's really cute. She's already called all of her friends to tell them to save the date, and she's going to be sending out invites at the end of next month. I don't think my mom is throwing us one anymore, which is fine with us--I'd much rather her put her effort into one great one for my sister, since she's only having one.

Otherwise, I'm feeling great. I have my energy back, the weather is great (70's-80's and sunny most days), my job is overwhelming but I'm doing fairly well at it, and I can eat again. I've started gaining weight (up 5lbs from pre-pregnancy), my nutrition is on track, and we've started reading childbirth books. Our birth classes (8-week series at the birth center) start May 2, and will be every Monday night from 7:30-10pm. We also signed up for a breastfeeding class at the birth center on September 1, and a Baby Care Basics class at the Women's Hospital near our house in July.

Hope you're all doing well! I'm loving reading about all of my fellow Buds' journeys.
Lots of love, Magnolia Bud

NT Scan

For those that aren't familiar with what the NT (Nuchal Transluceny) Scan is, basically its a tool that can be used to check for problems in the fetus. People generally think of it in relation to detection of Downs Syndrome (Trisomy 21), but it can also pick up on other chromosonal and nural tube defects. Some examples of things that might be found in addition to Trisomy 21 are: Trisomies 13 or 18, Anencephaly, Hydrocephalus, & Omphalocele. Some of these conditions are or can be so severe that the baby will not be compatible with life. In many cases there is a high likelihood that the baby will not survive to term.

At the NT Scan they are focusing on a small area of fluid on the back of the babies neck (the nuchal fold). Studies have found that the thickness of this fold, when measured between 11 weeks and 14 weeks, is a good indicator of the likelihood of a chromosonal problem. Measurements of less than 2.5mm are good, 2.5-3mm are borderline. Greater than 3mm is generally not good news. They also look for the presence/abscence of nasal bones as this is another good indicator of a problem.

Gonna cut straight to the good news: Baby still has a heartbeat & everything looked good on the scan. Measurement was 1.2! We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time today too (albeit machine generated), 158bpm. My husband was able to join me as well. This was his first time seeing the little bugger.


The tech really buzzed around checking all sorts of things I didn't expect. Some things we learned: All 4 limbs are present and accounted for (can even make out bones in forearm in one of the pics), both hemispheres of the brain are there, as is a skull, nose has bones, baby has a stomach, heart looked good, placenta looked good and seemed to have good flow, placenta is posterior, & my cervix looks good. There is probably more that she checked that I'm forgetting, but that's the basics. Basically in a few short minutes, we got some visual confirmation to help rule out many of the potentially fatal conditions I listed in the first paragraph.


I'm not going to include a picture because honestly they didn't come out very clear. The one I included in my post from last weeks ultrasound was so much clearer. That one was only a week ago, so there really hasn't been much change in how the baby looks.

I didn't get to hear how the blood test results measured up today. My blood draw was done at my normal hospital and the u/s was done at another hospital (tech that does NT scans at my hospital is deployed right now...gotta love going to a military hospital). Todays results will be forwarded to my doctor and my doctor will get back to me with results (no idea when...but I'll call next week to see what's up if I don't hear first). The tech did say though that the u/s didn't show anything of concern, so that's good news. I guess I'll be doing a second blood draw at my next appointment (16w) as well. Comparing the results to last weeks draw gives them even more info.

I'll let you all know what I find out when they get the results to me.

9 week Update

Baby Buttercup Bud and I are 9 weeks today, yay! I am not sure if I have gained any weight yet because we don't have a scale at home. My nausea seems to have calmed down a bit. I haven't thrown up in a whole week!

Yesterday was a little scary for the Buttercup Bud family. It was my first day of my last quarter of culinary school. I am standing in the kitchen listening to my chef speak before we begin cooking and I start to feel light headed. I stand there a little bit and my eyes start to go black. So to avoid making a scene in the kitchen, I decided it would be a great idea to run to the bathroom. Luckily, I did make it to the bathroom before passing out in a stall. Awesome! Fortunately for me someone walked in a few minutes after and she informed my chef, and stayed with me until Mr. Buttercup Bud could pick me up.

I called the midwives and they recommended I head right to the ER. I was taken back to triage where my blood pressure was 88/50. I normally run low blood pressure but not that low. The nurse took us back to a room and got all my information, drew blood and hooked me up to and IV to get me some fluids. The doctor came in and did an ultrasound and Baby Buttercup Bud looked perfect, phew!

Luckily I just has a drop in blood pressure so once I received fluids and slept a little bit I could go home. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about low blood pressure. The only thing I can do is warn someone if I feel faint so they can be there to help me.

Today I relaxed and did some cleaning, I also got ready for class tomorrow, 6am to 12pm! Awesome, I get to wake up at 4:30 am! Hopefully I can make it through this class without passing out.

I am very excited to get into the double digits of my pregnancy next week. Until then, I hope my fellow buds are doing well.

-Buttercup Bud

Hoping & Praying

So I must apologize for not posting last week :( I know bad. However, I was trying not to stress myself or think about things to much. I was suppose to get my cycle again and I haven't yet... I don't even have any signs that I am gonna get it. I normally have soar breasts and feel bloated. Now I know it's common for PCOS to cause you not to have a cycle every time, but even when I don't get it I sure feel bloated and bad... and I don't this time around. So I thought that strange.

Then I went to the bead shop I tend to go to on Fridays (not this last one but the one before) and I think 3 ladies there asked if I was pregnant?! Say what. I haven't talked to them about it... only lady I talked about it with is the owner. She just gave me that look... I just told them I was trying and left it at that. But the next day when I went another lady asked me... all I could think is am I really that fat - which actually slipped out of my mouth :s and the lady said no you just look so happy and bright and I can't remember the other word she used.

All of this had me on edge... and over thinking things. Trying to compare how I felt the first time I was pregnant to how I felt now. And it just had me going bananas. So I decided not to think about it as much as possible... easier said then done that's for sure. Well, this week I went to the bead shop again and another lady asked me... argh. Then on Saturday my husband said what happened to your eyes... puzzled I said why what's wrong. He said they are changing colors... which did happen that last time I was pregnant. I don't know why they did or if it is that common... I mean did anyone else have this happen?

photo credit
Anyways either way it had me wondering cause Mr. Cupcake Bud thinks my boobs feel fuller (?) lol [leave it to him to notice that], and that they feel different in general, and I've felt off and on pains down in my woman parts... sorta like cramping but not exactly. I mean it could be that I am or it could be something else.

I fell asleep while the lady was doing my nails and I've had days where I feel tired more than others. I don't have much of an appetite and when I eat I have to force myself to finish. I mean there are a few things that make me wonder what is going on. Either way I decided I needed to go in an have a blood test done... I know most of you would say hey do an at home one.

But honestly I have wasted so much money on those things and I just don't feel like farting around with them because sometimes they don't show up right and it is very common for them not to show up right for ladies with PCOS. And I just want to know.

So wonderful Mr. Cupcake Bud scheduled for me to go in tomorrow to have a blood one done. So we will see. Then after I get the results from that I will go from there. Cause either I will be scheduling an appointment cause I need prenatal care or I will be going in to see what is going on with me...

Despite wanting to wait a few months to get pregnant... I really hope and pray that I am pregnant. Otherwise what is going on here.

IF Whirlwind

It has been quite and interesting few days since I last posted. I have spent the last few days on the verge of tears. There were even a couple days where I didn't make it out of bed. I was beside myself that our treatment was being pushed back so far. I was sure our chances of getting pregnant during 2011 was totally shot.

Then AF showed up two days early on Saturday. It made my depressed mood even lower. It was Mr. Planner bud's birthday on Sunday and I wanted more than anything to give a BFP, or at least some sexy time. I also thought that this completely shot our chances of doing anything this cycle.

This morning I called my office to let them know I was on CD 3 and see if we could do anything this cycle. The nurse told me she would talk to the doctor, but probably not.

Fast forward to 3:30 today. I get another call from the office. It was the insurance liaison saying that our petition for IVF got okayed for three cycles. I was through the roof. I still thought it meant that we would be out this cycle, but at least we had a great plan. I called the nurse to see if we could possible start today, even though I am on CD3 and not CD1. The answer was YES, pick up your BCP in a couple hours. We are beginning this cycle.

I am beyond excited that we actually have a real chance to try for a child. I know that it may not work out time one, but at least I will know. By the end of this year, I will know whether we can have a child or think about adoption.

Made it Halfway & other baby things

This Wednesday I will be 22 weeks!

Baby Sassy Bud is the size of a banana this week.

Photo Credit

I have been feeling movement regularly for a while now. I think I can feel it from the outside but Mr. Sassy Bud hasn't gotten his hand there in time to feel it yet. Her kicks are definitely getting stronger now.

We have also made some baby purchases over the past few weeks. We got our nursery set. It's the Nursery Smart Chelsea collection:

Photo Credit

We got a great deal on it from cribs.com. I have also started my cloth diaper stash. I'll save that for another later post but I got a ton of hand me downs along with some great sales on a few different CD sites.

Things have been crazy lately due to my law school semester ending (finals!!) and tax season but I'm sure I'll have lots of fun stuff to share in the near future. Stay tuned!

12 Weeks!

(Image source: http://tinyurl.com/mua5ws )

By now, nearly all of your baby's organs, structures and systems are fully formed. The heart begins pumping several quarts of blood through your baby's body every day. Your baby has also begun to develop nerves and a spinal cord, allowing him to feel some types of pain. While your baby's brain is not the same size it will be at birth, it does have the same structure. Fingers and toes have separated and hair and nails continue to grow. Your baby is approximately 2.5 - 3.5 inches and weighs about 12 - 14 grams.

Also, the external genitals can now show definite signs of male and female gender. Before, where there was only reflex movement, your baby now moves spontaneously and at random, although his movements are still too slight to be felt. With the use of a Doppler, you may be able to hear your baby's heart beat at this office visit. It will sound very fast, similar to the sound of a running horse's hooves. Once you hear this sound, you can rest assured that your risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced. (Source: http://tinyurl.com/4ygshag )

How far along: 12 weeks

Total weight change: +3

Maternity clothes: I finally pulled the trigger and got some. I'm not in them constantly, but man are they comfy!

Stretch Marks: No

Movement: Not that I can feel

Sleep: Generally sleeping pretty well

Best Moment This Past Week: The best moment in the past week was, hands down, getting to see Baby Cactus Bud during an ultrasound. I think I exhaled for the first time in a loooong time when I saw the flicker of a heartbeat and the wiggling around. It really made it real to me that there might actually be a baby at the end of this journey.

Most Difficult Moment This Past Week: The most difficult moment in the past week was, hands down, the days leading up to the ultrasound. For some reason I was pretty zen the day of and day before (kind of a 'what will be, will be..at least I'll finally know' attitude), but the days before that I was a mess. The day of I was really nervous from when I walked into the building until the ultrasound. My blood pressure was even about 15 points higher than usual (its usually super low), I actually commented on that to the nurse.

Belly Button In or Out: Definitely still in

Cravings/Aversions: Dairy. I'm a milk fiend! Trying to steer clear of ice cream (its my weakness and I've been told to keep the weight gain on the low side). Instead I'm downing milk, cheese & today even pudding like its going out of style.

Symptoms: Aside from some notable nausea today, I've not had morning sickness in the last week. The boobs have been pretty tender today. I'm wondering if they might be about to grow again. Am hoping they keep growing to a minimum as they were a D to start with. Fingers crossed on that one! I've been having round ligament pain a little more regularly. Best of all, I haven't spotted from the ultrasound and attempted pap last week. I have no idea how this is possible as a BM can bring on spotting with me sometimes and I saw the samplers she was using in there and they looked like something out of a horror movie. You know what though, I'll take it! Adding on some symptoms a few days after posting this. I've noticed a pretty major change in my symptoms as this week has gone on. The growth cramps in my ute are much more frequent (every 36ish hours instead of once a week). My boobs are tender as anything and I'm pushing the limits of what my current bra can take, ordered band extenders yesterday. I've also noticed I'm getting tired as anything in the afternoon, and I rarely had pregnancy coma before now. Pretty sure the bambino has reached the developmental transition into 2nd Tri :-D

What I'm Looking Forward To: The NT Scan on Thursday and telling family. I'm planning on sending out an Easter card to my parents with a note on it saying something to the effect of "It seemed fitting to celebrate a day that is about a miracle by telling you that another miracle is on its way" and then signing it with our names and Baby Lastname (expected mid-October). Will probably put a little arrow or something to the date to say Happy Birthday to my mom. Her 55th birthday is just a few days before our EDD. Planning on getting that card in the mail the day of the NT scan. Once they've called me so I know they know, we'll tell the rest of our immediate family via email (Mr CB has said he's OK with his two sets of parents finding out via email). We're telling most of our family and close friends via email because we live thousands of miles away from everyone. So hard to believe that we're less than a week away from spilling the beans!

Take care,