TTC a Miracle 2009

Holly ~ when Alexa was teething, especially her upper teeth, she would refuse all but her night bottle. I would give her extra solids and keep a sippy of water with her at all times. phases. Although Alexa weaned herself off of day bottles at 9 months. And she sounds like my niece. Abby is scooting back and she gets ANGRY when she figures out she's moved further away from her toy rather than closer. They're so cute. And yes, if you do anything, get a will done or something that says who gets your child. I couldn't imagine Alexa being forced to go to foster care when she has so much family around her.

Clare ~ thinking of you!!

Natasha ~ glad you had an awesome shower!! Now get some rest.

Aara ~ LOL. I've NEVER had the "small" body type. I'm bigger boned so I'm happy in a size 10. I'm in a 12 now, but I still have that belly flab that I'm pretty sure will never go away (

Hi to EOE. Lazy Sunday here. It looks like it's going to pour. Chris and Alexa are both sleeping so I may go take a nice, relaxing bath!

We just got back home from my egg retrieval. It really wasn't bad at all. They got 14 eggs, so that's a good number. We'll here our first fertilization report tomorrow sometime. I really hope it works for DH and I this time.

The pain medication that they gave me was just right. I felt kinda drunk and actually started giggling when I was in the Retrieval Suite. The doctors and nurses laughed and my doctor said "We needed that." It was kind of funny. I was too loopy to watch the u/s monitor to see what they were doing, but DH took pictures and said that it was pretty cool. DH stayed in a private waiting room and watched the whole thing. The staff at my clinic is so nice and it helps so much! Now I'm pretty tired and kind of have a sore abdomen, but it really isn't that bad. Hopefully I stay feeling good.

Hope you're all doing well. Just thought I would give you an update.

Clare ~ I'm very glad that things went well for you! Now get some rest!

Clare - I'm glad it went good....

Clare: I came on today just to check on you! Glad things went so well. I was completely out for my ER so I don't remember anything until I got to the recovery room. Glad you were comfortable and yeah for 14 eggs. Do you know if they are going to ICSI all or part? Can't wait to hear your report tomorrow.

Natasha: So glad your shower went well and you got lots of cute things. I am jealous that you only have 3 weeks of work left. I really want my time off with Carson so I am trying to hang in for as long as I can but last week was definitely tough and it took all weekend to recover.

I did get some rest girls! I really think working so hard and being on my feet this past week was why I felt so bad on Friday. It has literally taken me all weekend to recover and of course I start back tomorrow. I am trying to hang in with work b/c I want all of my time off with him if possible. If I knew the exact day he was coming, I would definitely take a day or two before his arrival but I don't of course so I will continue on. It really won't be much longer no matter what and I still can't believe we are so close. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Candice

Clare- So relieved to here that is went so well and I don't know the number lingo but 14 eggs seems like alot. WOW! That is so great. I hope this is it for you and DH too!

Candice - I went into Labor with Lily at 38 weeks exactly so I am hoping it soon for you too! Any day now! Ohh and when you do get a chance even at work try to take a load off of your feet it will do you some good!

SOrry Lily is really raking me through the coals today. SHe just wants to be held to sleep and I am not starting something that is so hard to finish if you knw what I mean!

OHHH Yeah GO DUKE!!!!

Candice - They don't know if they're going to do ICSI or not yet. I guess that the embryologist will take a look at the sperm and determine what she wants to do at that point.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Clare-so glad everything went well and that you had a great experience and like the people at the clinic. I am hoping you get a whole bunch of good embryos ...keep us posted!

Holly-Nick refused the bottle a lot when teething too, I just did what Denise did.

AFM-Just got home from FIL and step MIL's house. We had a really good time, I get along great with step MIL, lol. Unfortunately Nick decided to start a nap on the way home because he didn't get his afternoon one, so he's sleeping now. Don't know what thats going to do for his 7pm bedtime . TTYL!

Candice - how does your maternity leave work? For me we can take 6 weeks. It's easier when you have saved up 6 weeks of leave, for me I have exactly 6 weeks of leave so for me to leave on the 16th is perfect timing, since spring break is that next week. I know many teacher work up until their due date, but if you don't have 6 weeks of sick leave you have pay the school for each day you don't work. so I'm glad that I had been saving for some time now. I hope that you are able to rest and Carson will be here before you know it.

Becky C. - I agree that you are not a bad mommy. So sorry about Nick I hope his fingers feel better!!! We have a pellet stove as well and the room is gated off. I will have to make sure we never let Brody in that room.

Becky - Sorry to hear about your sister's dog, I know how animals can become part of the family.

Clare - I am so glad that your retrieval went well. Come on eggs and swimmers, fertilze! Praying the next stage goes as smoothly and successfuly as the the previous ones. <<HUGS>>

Candice - I am on pins and needles.

Natasha - My pelvis used to hurt when I tried to roll over or get comfortable in bed as well during the last few weeks. As for my maternity leave, I was allowed 6 weeks for a vaginal birth and 8 weeks for a c-section. I wasplanning on taking 6 weeks but since I had an emergency c-section I took 8 weeks. Next week is my last week and I am so sad to have to go back to work. I thought going back was going to be so much easier then it is. :}

Denise - I understand about you loving Alexa wanting Mommy. I have to admit I love it when Brody will not calm down for anyone else but me. He does nto do it all the time but on occassion he will start crying and will immediatly stop when he is passed to me. I secretly love that to.

Aara - YEAH for size 6. Great job!! You are a whole new person. Sounds like you need to go get yourself pampered and enjoy yourself.

Holly - Any recent pics of Gwen? She scoots backwards? I can imagine how that would annoy her but I would love to see it. I think that would be so cute. LOL

Gigi - I know what you mean about not wanting to start something you can not finish. I made the mistake of holding Brody to much. Since he is my first I just could not put him down and if I was not holding him someone else was. He is not even two months old and he now has a hard time falling asleep without someone holding him. I am trying to break him on this habit but it breaks my heart. I guess I know better now, for the future. If I am that lucky. :}

Question - TMI, I am still BF'ing and topping off with formula but I think AF just started. I always thought that if you were BF'ing then you would not have AF. Does this mean my milk is going to dry up and I will not be able to BF anymore? I am also not absolutley positive it is AF. I say that because I have had spotting since giving birth. I have not yet had a day where nothing happened. However a couple days ago I started heavy flow again, which is why I am assuming it is AF. Is this normal and can you have AF while BF'ing or does this most likley mean that my milk is going to dry up? Any advice would be great as I am really confused now. LOL

One more question - Has anyone ever used a SIDS Monitor. I just bought one and set it up today. I tested it while Brody was napping today and it seemed to work very well. I am hoping we do not get any false alarms tonight while sleeping. I am also hoping DH will remember to turn the monitor off before picking Brody up to change him or feed him in the middle of the night because if not it is going to wake the whole house. LOL

In case you have not heard of a SIDS monitor before, it is like any other baby moniotr except it has a pad that goes under the baby's mattress. The pad can detect even the slightest movement above the mattress (hence a baby's breathing) and if the movement stops for 20 seconds a warning beep occurs then if no movement is still detected the monitor sounds a loud alarm to the parent unit.

I tested the monitor today and as part of the test you are supposed to touch the mattress so it detects your movement then stop until the alarm sounds. Once the alarm sounds you are supposed to very lightly touch the mattress to signal movement so the alarm will go off signaling everything is okay. I am in awww at how this small pad undermeath the mattress can detect me barley touching the mattress sheets above the mattress. In fact DH and I tried to see who could touch the sheets the lightest so the monitor could not detect our movement but neither of us could fake it out. Which is great considering that is why I bought it.

Has anyone else used one of these and if so is there anything I should be aware of?

Stacey: I have not used it but someone I know swares by it. She is a nurse and she said it brought her piece of mind. I did just by one last week though but it is still in the box. I hope it works for you. Let me know what you think.

Tasha: I am taking my full 12 weeks under FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). I should have enough vacation/sick time to be paid the entire time out but even if I didn't I could still take it without pay. I would just have to pay for the premiums for my health insurance if I wasn't receiving a pay check. So I should be off until the week after July 4th if I go to term with this little man. I can't believe you would have to pay the school to be out after 6 weeks. I can understand you not getting paid if you did not have the time but paying them sounds crazy. I am glad spring break fell perfectly for you.

Candice

Stacey ~ one of my friends got her AF while she was nursing. It didn't do anything to her her milk supply. She nursed until her daughter self-weaned. As for the monitor, I think that if it makes you feel better, then go for it. I think one of the girls that I used to work for used one but it kept giving false alarms so she quit using it.

Candice ~ I am glad you are feeling better. I hope this week goes by quickly for you.

Natasha ~ wow, that's crazy that you'd have to pay the school back. Like Candice, I also used my 12 weeks FMLA and then some. I took mine unpaid because I thought that I was going to need my leave when I returned to work (little did I know that I was quitting - lol). I hope everything turns out as planned.

Becky C ~ I hate when Alexa takes weird naps. She always messes her schedule up. Glad you had a good trip, tho!

We're just watching some old NCIS's that I've had DVR'd forever. I'll be ready for bed after that. TTYL!

Stacey - I have known people to LOVE the angel care monitor. I have heard, though, that you really need to pay attention to when you turn it on or off so not to have a false scare!

Clare - I'm soooo glad things went well. I can't wait for your fert report. =)

Stacey - do not worry about AF and BFing...all woman are different. I got my AF with both Alex and Lynn around the time they were 3 months old. I breastfeed Alex until he was 9 months when the doctor told me to wean him b/c we had found out I was pregnant again and I breastfed Lynn til she was 6 months until she decided that the formula we were feeding her on top of it was more filling...lol...
I never tried the SIDS monitor but it sounds neat...you will never stop worrying though...lol...even with it on you will find yourself checking on him...

Becky C...I really dislike that with the kids...they nap in the car and then they do not want to go to sleep later when it is time to go to sleep. A friend of mine invited us out one night to karaoki (?) not sure if I would do it anyway, but it was up in Newport...it's an hour drive from here, my mom would have to watch the kids up there, so by the time we would get done, we woudl pick them up and they woudl sleep on the hour drive home...ugh...and Lynn especially will not go to bed for hours...

Candice - Good to hear a nurse swears by the product. Last night was the first night he used it and I must admit I woke up a couple times but instead of waking him up to make sure he was breathing I was able to look at the monitor and since I could see the pendulum swinging back and fourth I knew he was breathing so I was able to quickly go back to sleep. So far it is giving me piece of mind.

Denise - That is so good to know. I have been so nervous that having AF meant I was not going to be able to BF anymore. I turned the sensitivity of my moniotr up last night since it gave one false alarm and luckily I have not had one since. Hopefully that will work.

Holly - I heard the same thing about the monitor. The biggest complaint is that someone picks up the child and forgets to turn the monitor off so it alarms and everyone comes running for baby. Luckily we remembered last night but I know we are going to forget some night soon. LOL

Aara - I am glad that you can have AF and BF. I was beginning to think I messed up because I give formula on top of BF'ing as well and it is working so great, I want to continue this process for a while.

I hear Brody stirring so I should go check on him. He goes to daycare tomorrow for his trial run ... UGH. I cried myself to sleep last night just thinking about it. How am I going to be able to handle this?

Aara- yay for being a 6!!!

Tasha- sounds like you had a nice shower!!

Denise- DH and I were suppose to do a will last year and still havent. His mom was going to pay for it but now that she has retired I know she doesnt have extra money.

Shannon- HI!

Holly- Gwen is getting big! Sorry about not taking a bottle as much. Hope once her teeth are feeling better she goes back to normal.

Clare- sounds like everything went well!!

Stacey- no advice about AF. I only nursed Brennan for 2 1/2 months and got AF the next month. LIke others said if the monitor makes you feel better than that is great!

Thank you all for the kind words about my sisters dog. Stinks she had to do it the day of her bridal shower. We had a bunny breakfast after church yesterday. BRennan had his face painted like a bunny. It looked cute. Then we went to my SIL for easter since they will be out of town next week. It was raining so we did the egg hunt inside. There were 8 kids so we hide 80 eggs!! They had fun!

Becky - Glad to hear that you got along well with MIL during your trip. It's always nice when you can have a good time with your in laws.

Stacey - I've never heard of a SIDS monitor before. That's interesting that they have one. You probably know this already, but I thought it was interesting that having a ceiling fan running in the baby's room can prevent SIDS.

Becky - Easter egg hunts are so much fun! Sounds like you had a nice weekend.

Candice - Glad to hear that you're getting some rest! You'll need to be rested up once your baby comes. I still can't believe how fast your pregnancy has gone (at least for me).

Denise - Hope you had a nice bath!

Natasha - Glad to hear that you had a good baby shower!

Hi to EOE!

AFM - I took the day off of work today and I'm glad that I did. My belly is still pretty sore - it kinda hurts to stand up straight sometimes. I'm just keeping up with my Powerade each day. I'm pretty nervous about receiving my fertilization report. I have no idea when they will call or what to expect. I just hope that our embryos are growing wonderfully and are of excellent quality. The worst part of IVF is the mind game that it plays with you.

All 14 of my eggs fertilized!! We are pretty excited, but realistically we might lose some along the way since we're going to do a 5 day (blastocyst) transfer so I don't want to get my hopes up too much. I'm just so excited right now that we're doing good so far!! They are going to call me on Thursday to let me know when to come in for the transfer on Friday! Oh, and we're going to transfer two!

That's awesome news Clare!!! TWINS????

I saw a show on TV (I don't remember what it was called). The lady had 2 fertilized eggs implanted....and ended up with quads! Both of the babies ended up having identical twins! Craziness! Maybe you'll have quads too!

Clare-Awesome news! 14 is great! I will be praying they all stay stong . I can't believe its already going to be friday!!!

AFM-Just got home from the Little Gym. DH made is a little bit late to see him. When he walked in and Nick saw him he screamed DADA, and ran across the room to him, it was adorable. Alright, I really need to get my butt in gear and get my housework done. We are in for the rest of the day because its raining sooooo bad here. 4-6 inches predicted through tomorrow and a lot of areas around us are flooding pretty bad. Cross your fingers, we have never had water in our basement!

Becky C.

Stacey-
I started with AF very early on (around 9 weeks) while BF'ing. I actually went from bleeding postpartum into AF's with each baby so far. We now think some of it is related to my bleeding disorder. I know for me that when I had AF, my supply was very low. After it was over I would go back up. Those few days were hard on us and I would supplement when needed b/c my babies were needing more. This time I'm hoping AF stays away and I'm going to try to pump and nurse more during AF to keep my supply up.

Clare- Woohoo!!!! I'm so happy that your eggs are fertilized. That must feel so good. I'm praying for you and hoping that Friday goes well!

Candice- How are you feeling? Hoping that things are going well for you and that baby is getting ready to come out!

AFM: Hanging in there. It's been 2 weeks since the whole preterm labor thing started. Still on meds. We may be changing them in a few weeks to a different med. Today was a tough afternoon b/c I had a lot of contractions. I'm going to the peri tomorrow for a cervical length check and my next fetal fibronection. If all is okay, we will be going to my IL's for Easter weekend and for me to get some help with the kids and rest.

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This is the cake I had at my baby shower...and a pic of me.

Natasha ~ that is the cutest cake!! And you look so good. Are you ready yet?

Clare ~ woo hoo for 14!! That is awesome. I'll be doing lots of praying for you.

Becky C ~ how cute with Nick wanting his Dada. When Chris gets home in the am from work, he usually comes in thru the garage. Alexa will hear the opener and run to the gate yelling Dada, Dada. It's adorable.

Jeannette ~ Here's hoping that everything is fine with your tests and you get to travel. Baby Number 3 is a handful already!

Hi to EOE. I've just been home today. I've been working on my school work. I'm getting ready to submit another test. Only 3 more lessons and I'll be done!

Alexa is in bed. I'm finishing up watching an old NCIS and then I'm going to bed. TTYL.

Clare- that is great! I am praying for you!

Becky- too cute!!

Jeannette- I hope everything goes well for you tests. I also hope you can havea nice relaxing Easter!

Tasha- that is the best cake!! You look great!

BOth boys slept all night so I feel pretty good this morning! My SIL informed me this morning that it is 8 more days until we go to the Keys!!!