Almost 4 months old

Its true I probably could have found the time to post something a whole lot sooner, but I find it so much more worthwhile to soak up the time with my little girl. I finally found a job that I truly enjoy doing. I admit some days its hard and some days its frustrating, but every single day is rewarding. In the first few weeks I don't think I can even count how many hours I spent just staring at my daughter watching her expressions change as she slept. Smiling at the amazing sleep smiles she constantly had. At 5 weeks to get a first real smile from her by playing with her tongue. Watching as she learns about this new environment she is in. I expected to have a connection with my baby and I expected to love my baby, but I really never knew that I would be able to love this little person so much and be willing to give my life for her the instant I met her. I still look at her every day unbelieving of the fact that Daron and I made this little person, and that this amazing baby girl is what I grew inside of me for 9 months. I still have days where I can't believe she is really mine, she is such a miracle.

The last 4 months have just flown by. I did end up in the hospital for 3 days at the end of September with gallbladder issue and had to have it removed. The staff was awesome about Ella rooming in with me and so supportive of helping me any way they could with keeping breastfeeding going while I was there. Shortly after being released I ended up with a mild case of mastitis, luckily I got it taken care of quickly with a garlic regimen (yes I definitely stunk like garlic for a few days!). Other than that things have gone fairly smoothly.

I think it helps when you don't have a set picture of how things are supposed to go, because as with everything else in life I believe that as a parent you just have to go with the flow sometimes. I am so lucky to have the awesome support system that I do and an absolutely amazing husband. We got an arms reach cosleeper from a friend that we had planned on using, that idea was out the window by the time Ella was 2 days old. 15 minutes of sleep at a time was not going to work for Ella or I, so she came into bed with me and we have been bedsharing ever since. That wonderful husband I mentioned earlier slept on the couch and/or guestroom for the first 3 months so we could have the bed to ourselves. Contrary to what many would believe we did still find time to have adult time as well. Now that things have settled down a bit at night and we have gotten the hang of nursing in the dark Daron is sleeping with us again (I really missed having a big warm body in bed with me). The cosleeper makes a great diaper changing station and general stuff holder at night, but really hasn't been good for much more than that. I am absolutely loving bedsharing, especially now that she has learned to latch herself on at night because I just wake up enough to make sure she has a good latch and then go back to sleep. Occasionally I will even sleep through her latching herself lately and not wake up until she unlatches and snuggles up to me again.

I love our nursing relationship. Don't get me wrong the really little newborn stage was hell sometimes when I felt like I was constantly attached to her, when she would eat for an hour and then 20-40 minutes later be ready to eat again. She has been a good eater since birth, that initial weight that most newborns lose never happened for her. 5 days after birth she had already gained 6 oz. Now at almost 4 months she has more than doubled her birth weight and is up to 13 lbs. I love snuggling with her when she eats and I love the way she just stares at me sometimes while she eats. The best though is a great big grin with a mouthful of boob. I love that I don't have to worry about bottles and can easily nurse while walking around a store(except now shes gets distracted easily). I find it absolutely amazing that my body is still able to completely sustain this little life.

And now I think I have been sitting here writing with a sleeping baby in my arms long enough and that I should go get some sleep myself. I will leave you all with some pictures of the little girl that has blessed my life with her beautiful smiles. I most definitely love her with all of my heart. Sorry about picture placement being funky I didn't feel like messing with the html to get it to look good.

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Welcoming our Miracle

Well I realize I missed quite a few weeks of updates but...the biggest update of all is that we welcomed our little miracle Eleanor Rose into the world on August 30th at 3:44 am. She was born at home and weighed 6lbs 3oz and measured 20in long.

Ella's birth story starts out at 4 in the afternoon on August 29th, at which time I started having semi-regular contractions. I didn't think anything of it other than to time them a bit. They weren't any stronger that the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having off and on for the last week or 2, they weren't painful, and they weren't very regular, being anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes apart. These lasted all afternoon and evening, around 9pm I got ready for bed and sent a text to our doula to let her know what had been going on but that I didn't think it was going to amount to anything and that I was going to bed. About 10:30 I started feeling cramping sensations in my lower pelvis and lower back, but they mostly felt like gas pains. I woke Daron up, and let him know that I thought it might be a
|good idea to get rid of the dogs(all 3 were going to my mom's house) in case this was it, though I still wasn't too sure this was going to amount to anything. He got up and watched me pace back and forth, though still not having an issue dealing with them and still not really painful, they did get worse when I tried to lay down so pacing was my answer. Daron timed the pains just to see if there was any regularity to them and they were anywhere from 50 seconds to 2 1/2 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 30 to 50 seconds. He decided since they weren't real regular and they weren't real painful for me we would wait an hour and see how things were going. At 11:30 things hadn't changed other than the pains being slightly stronger, though still not real bad. Daron took the dogs and their crate over to my Mom's house. I tried to go back to bed again but was much happier pacing back and forth from the bathroom into the nursery. Around 12:30 we talked to our Doula again to let her know what was going on she listened to me and suggested I try taking a shower, she asked if we thought we needed her yet but I was still dealing very well and didn't feel like I needed the extra support yet. So I got in the shower for awhile to see if it helped things any. Around 1am we decided it was time to call our midwife since contractions hadn't changed a whole and though still irregular and not lasting any longer than 50 seconds. Our midwife didn't answer the first time, so about 15 minutes later we tried calling her back again. She talked to me and listened to my contractions for a few minutes and decided because I was still able to talk and walk through the contractions and because they weren't lasting a minute or longer and because I was still laughing between them, I wasn't real far along in my labor. She recommended that I drink a glass of wine, take another shower, and go to bed. She also said to call back if contractions started lasting longer than a minute, if I felt like the baby was starting to push down, or if my water broke.

Since we had no wine in our house we called my mom figuring she would still be awake and asked her to bring some over. We had also sent our Doula a text around 1:30 letting her know we thought she should head this way. My mom showed up with the wine and Daron poured me a glass, I got back into the shower and sipped the wine between contractions. There was still no way I felt like I could go to sleep if I went to bed though, because while I was dealing well with contractions they certainly weren't something I could sleep through. My mom helped Daron get the bed made with our birth sheets etc., did some dishes, swept the floor and generally made sure everything was picked up for the support people that were going to be here. I was on my side in the tub for awhile and then moved to the couch. Somewhere around 2:15am our Doula arrived and took over supporting me so that Daron could go finish getting the birth pool blown up and filled. I went to the bathroom and had a little bit of bloody show, so knew things were moving along. My mom left shortly after our Doula got here. Around 2:30 we had a call from the nurse the midwives use who talked to me and listened to my contractions, after asking if we had a bed she could sleep in(she was coming straight from another birth over an hour away and hadn't been to sleep yet) she decided she would come straight here. Around 5 minutes or so later while discussing with our Doula when the midwife had said to call her back and trying to remember the 3rd one, just after all 3 of us realized that it was the most obvious one to call if my water broke, just that happened. So we called back and let them know that my water had broke. Since the nurse was already on her way and the on call midwife was still at the other birth there wasn't much more to do, other than for us to let them know if anything changed.

About 5 to 10 minutes later things did just that as I had another contraction looked at my Doula and told her I had an urge to push that I couldn't stop. We called the nurse back and let her know what was going on. She suggested getting me in a knee-chest position in order to try to slow the baby down a little. At some point either the on call midwife or the nurse let the other midwife in the practice know what was going on and that she needed to get here. Daron and our Doula helped me up off the couch and into the bedroom and got me in a knee chest position on the bed. At some point the 2nd doula(backup for ours, but had asked to be there for experience) arrived. I continued pushing in knee-chest position for another 30-40 minutes before the nurse arrived. I asked if I could get in the pool once but as I expected they told me I had to wait for the nurse. When she got there, she asked if I wanted to get in the water and I of course said yes. Both Doulas helped me into the pool to which my response was "Oh my god this feels good!". The nurse asked if she could check me and almost immediately said she could feel a head. Another push or 2 later and baby was starting to crown. They even had to tell me to slow down on my pushing because I was actually pushing too effectively and they didn't want me to tear. Another 2 or 3 contractions with Daron by my side supporting me and about 10 or 15 minutes after getting into the pool baby Eleanor was born into the water at 3:44am, I picked her up and brought her to my chest, instantly amazed at the little life we had brought into the world. She was almost instantly pink and cried as soon as she was out of the water. Although it did take us a few minutes and a reminder to even check and find out that baby was a girl.

After a few minutes minutes they asked if I wanted to get out of the water and I was helped to the bed. They made sure the umbilical cord had stopped pulsing and then clamped it and let Daron cut it. At 4:05 I delivered the placenta by which time the not on call midwife had made it here and was getting her stuff ready so she could stitch me up. Ella had decided to have a hand up by her head when she came out, so while my perineum was basically in tact except for a very very small tear, one of my labia had torn pretty badly. The doulas made breakfast for everyone and my wonderful husband fed me while I held the baby and got stitched up. At some point during the stitching process Ella was passed to daddy for skin to skin bonding time and was doing her best to find his nipple and nurse(it didn't go so well...). After they had me all stitched up they helped me up and to the living room to nurse for the first time, which went really well after Ella had a chance to wake up a little after having to wait so long.

While things didn't go quite as planned, I mean you never plan to have your midwife not make it to the birth, it was absolutely perfect. I would do a home birth again in an instant and don't think I would have been nearly as satisfied with my labor and birth experience if I had to go to a hospital. Everything worked out great, everyone was healthy and as I knew was the case my body knew exactly what to do when it came to giving birth! I honestly had no idea I could fall so in love with something/someone so instantly, and I still can't get over how amazing this little miracle is especially the fact that she is what we got from those 3 embryos we transferred in December.

And of course more pictures!

35 weeks

Today marks 35 weeks, I absolutely cannot believe that I only have 5 weeks left until my due date. My last post on 32 weeks sat in draft until today so I still have a lot to cover that I didn't get posted there.

Symptom wise I have been really tired lately and sleeping like crap most nights. My feet (or maybe I should say foot since its mostly my right foot) have been swelling a lot more lately. I've been trying to make sure I get plenty of protein to make sure this baby is gaining good healthy weight and to help combat the swelling a little. I've also been trying to drink plenty of water. Baby constantly has some part of its body pushing out against my belly now and sometimes if I push on it just a little I can feel it move on the opposite side from where I'm pushing.

We are 5 weeks into our 10 week childbirth class. Yes, this means it will be finishing August 27th, 4 days before my official due date, but I'm not too worried about it. We are finishing so late because when we decided to switch to a home birth we also decided to switch to a more natural childbirth class than the one offered at the hospital. We are really enjoying the class so far. I think we have already learned a lot. Monday at class we had to do 6 practice contractions. As women we didn't have to do too much other than pick a comfort position to try, relax our bodies and breathe from our bellies. The guys on the other hand had to time the contractions (we were practicing 1 minute long), make sure we were comfortable and relaxed, make sure we were breathing correctly, massage our backs, talk us through relaxing further, and encourage us all at the same time. Daron did a pretty darn good job, and unlike a few of the husbands he succeeded at calling out the timing every 15 seconds.

We are still on track for our home birth and I ordered our birth kit this week. Baby was confirmed to be head down at our appointment 2 weeks ago. It was hiding a bit though so our midwife had to do a vaginal exam in order to confirm. We have another appointment today and I should also be getting my GBS swab done.

Our nursery is almost done and is really starting to look like a nursery now. We got the new window installed a few weeks ago and it looks great, we just need to get the trim up around it now. Then all we have left to do is actually hang our pictures and such on the walls and put the door back on the room. I do have some pictures but I think I am going to do a picture post or two after this one since I have so many to catch up on.

Moving backwards about a month, my baby shower was great and I am so thankful to the family and friends that helped make it a good day. We got a lot of good stuff and the way they decorated for it was very cute! I think my favorite is that they used petri dishes full of m&m's as a decoration/favor. They also had sheets to fill out with wishes for the baby and wrote inspiring messages/things to make mom smile on some newborn diapers.

After gifts, hand me downs and garage sales, the only major things we have left to get are a crib mattress and a breast pump. My mom and I had an awesome find last weekend in the form of a bunch of cloth pocket diapers at a garage sale for $3 each and a ton of inserts for them all of which look great. I still have a few that I want to get but I found a place I can get gently used ones for a decent discount!

Last week my mom and I spent 6 days cleaning/organizing/reorganizing my house. We washed/scrubbed walls and cleaned floors and moved furniture and yet with 3 dogs a bird and a rabbit in the house a stranger would probably walk in and ask what the heck we did for 6 days. Of course Daron and I did take Monday afternoon off and go swimming at his parents house. I am so happy that we can use their pool whenever we want. It is great exercise and it has the added benefit of taking baby's weight off of my back while I am in. We are supposed to have a home visit from the nurse assistant for the midwives sometime around 37 weeks and should be getting our birth pool around that time as well. We are planning on it going in our bedroom and have the room reorganized to make sure there will be plenty of room for it. My mom will be getting our 3 dogs, and possibly our bird for at least a few days when I go into labor (she already has her own dog and a bird) so wish her luck!

In other news the storm on Tuesday caused half of our neighbors big dead willow tree to fall in our yard/mostly in my garden. The major area of my garden is squished, and we have a huge tree to clean up. Luckily it missed the chain link property fence. I am hoping part of the garden can still be salvaged once we get the tree cleaned up but we will see. It is looking like the universe is telling me I'm not meant to have such a large garden this year.

That's all I have for now, hopefully I can update this a little more often!

32 weeks

I have become extremely bad at keeping my blog updated. Partly because I am busy with other stuff and partly because every time I think about writing a post lately it just seems like too much effort and too much time spent at the computer. The fact that sitting too long makes my back hurt probably contributes a good deal to that feeling.

Moving on though, I am now 32 weeks and still feeling pretty good. I am starting to have more issues sleeping and more issues with back pain though, and lately I just generally have problems staying comfortable for any longer than 20 minutes. Baby is taking up more and more room and at least a few times a day now(usually several), I can actually feel Baby when I run my hand over my belly.

Its been HOT this last week, but really it hasn't been too bad. I've been doing my things outside in the morning then working on things inside most of the day until it starts to cool off a little in the evening. If I do anything outside midday I'm usually only out for maybe 20 minutes or so before I take a break and go inside for awhile.

We are officially planning a home birth now and have had 2 appointments with the midwife. We have been very pleased with her and are very happy with our decision to switch from the OB. Baby is doing well and the midwife checked its position at our first appointment and found Baby to be head down, not surprising since I kept feeling like I had feet in my ribs. At our 2nd appointment with her the heartbeat was at 150bpm and baby's position was unable to be accurately determined but from movement perspective I'm pretty sure its still head down.

28 weeks and then some

I realize it has been a long time since I updated. Somewhere between garden planting, finishing the baby's room, Relay for Life, and the million other projects we have going in the house right now blog updates just kept getting put off.

I'm currently 28 weeks 4 days and still having very few complaints. I passed my glucose tolerance test and the only problem found was slightly low iron levels which indicate that I have become very slightly anemic. They put me on a daily iron supplement and told me it is nothing to worry about. I have just started having some issues with my back, especially after a very active day but not too bad. Just the last weekend I have had some occasional swelling in my feet, but I think the combo of eating out about 4 times this weekend and being on me feet a lot is the cause of that, because it has been better the last 2 days. My biggest issue has been heartburn, no matter what I eat/drink anymore I get it tums has been my friend. Luckily its still not a huge issue. Sleep, I really like my sleep lately but getting comfortable is becoming more and more challenging, I am changing positions every half hour to hour at night lately and I think every other time I change positions I have to get up to pee. It makes for quite a restless night of sleeping. Last night I decided to try a different pillow set up with one under my hip, one wedged under my side/back, plus a body pillow for me to hug/go between my knees. The pillow under the hip was the new one. This actually seemed to help and allow me about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep before having to change positions which is definitely an accomplishment in my view.

My belly is steadily growing, and baby M is getting stronger every day. I have also over the last week or 2 started noticing hiccups once or twice a day. It was a really weird sensation at first because it is a lot gentler than the kicks and wiggles I get the rest of the day.  Pretty much any time I'm not active, baby is. Daron is loving being able to sit there and watch my belly move, and has started talking to the baby a lot more lately. Baby M has also taken to what I assume is a head down position most of the time because I can feel it kicking me in the ribs occasionally. Last night it kept stretching out and I'd get movement on the lower left and upper right at the same time.

I guess the big news is that Daron and I have been researching the idea of home birth. We attended an informational group meeting at a home birth midwifery practice. After lots and lots of research and discussion and the creation of a pro-con list, we have an initial consultation with one of the midwives on Thursday. So unless for some reason I get screened out we are now planning to birth at home. After the group meeting we both came out feeling like this was what we wanted and that this was most likely the right path for us. We still sat down and made a pro con list, but nothing on it made us change our minds. Our biggest reason for this is that we want to bring our baby into the most calm and welcoming environment possible and don't feel we can do that in the hospital. I fully realize things can change and may not go as planned but at least I tried. I'm sure I will have more on this topic in the future.

Right now I'm off to actually start moving some things into the baby's room!

25 weeks

I am absolutely in amazement that I am 25 weeks along. Even with my ever growing belly and a baby that really really likes to kick me, it still seems unreal sometimes. According to the apps on my phone our baby now weighs somewhere around 1.5lbs, and it certainly feels like it. My weight gain is right on track at about 9.4 lbs right now. I am just starting to have a little bit of back pain off and on, but thankfully prenatal yoga is helping a lot with that. I am still really enjoying my pregnancy and cannot wait to meet this baby. I am so excited to actually meet this little one that keeps kicking me. Baby really likes to surprise me, it will settle down and I'll think its done then kick/punch me really hard right below my belly button, and yes it makes me jump most times when it does this. It was also enjoying kicking Daron in the face the other night when he had his head laying on my belly.

My biggest complaint right now is that it is starting to get really hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. I tend to sleep really crappy at night and then end up feeling like a need a nap during the day, and I suck at taking naps!

We got carpet installed in the baby's room this last week, so now we just need to finish installing trim, install the window, and finish 2 more letters on the wall. I am excited to actually start getting stuff in there, and start getting some stuff up on the walls. My house is slowly getting organized, and we only have a few more projects to finish now. I have a bunch of things to plant in the garden this weekend and then in another week or 2 I will be ready to plant everything else. My typical attire when its hot and I'm working outside is a swimsuit top and shorts, and you know what, this pregnant lady decided I'm not afraid to stick with that(at least for now). I'm perfectly OK with showing off my bare pregnant belly.

We have been thinking more lately about how we want our birth to go, and things we would like to happen. I'm planning on a natural birth and would really like to avoid any drugs. I would also like to avoid an IV if at all possible. We are only like 5 minutes from the hospital so I am comfortable with and hoping to stay at home for as long as possible, which will hopefully be made easier with our doula here. I am not expecting childbirth to be easy, but I am comfortable with my own body and my body's ability to do this. I am also comfortable with my mental ability to cope, and have realized over the course of the last year, how much control our mind has over our body. I have to admit it drives me a little bit crazy when people look at me like I'm stupid for wanting a natural birth or like I'm crazy for not wanting medication. Sometimes when they even come out and say that they think I'm crazy for wanting a natural birth. I realize there are things that can go wrong, and I realize that plans can change, I mean I'm not stupid :). I'm not afraid of a challenge though, and personally I want to be in control of every aspect of my body during birth if at all possible. I'm not expecting it to be painless, I mean come on now. I am expecting pain, but I am also trying to prepare my body to deal with that pain without drugs. Most of all I am expecting that no matter how bad the pain is it will all be worth it when it's over. I mean I get to meet my baby! My biggest fear about my birth is for what I want to be ignored. So far though I am confident in my doctor and hope that won't be the case.

Pregnancy, Inertility, and Mother's Day

Sometimes I am still amazed that after trying for so long I finally have this little miracle growing inside of me. I am so thankful for this baby and for the chance to be a mother. Sometimes infertility still leaves me a little bitter though. It still hurts sometimes to see the people who can achieve so easily (and cheaply) what was so challenging(and expensive) for us. Its not so bad when you know they appreciate what they have been given, but when all they can do is complain about everything, then I just want to slap them or something. Daron and I were so excited when we first started trying to conceive. We had talked about having kids since we got engaged 6 months into our relationship, so when we actually started trying it was really exciting. As time went by though I admit it strained our relationship because something we both wanted so badly just wasn't happening. We are stronger now for what we have gone through, but infertility still leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. This amazing life growing inside me means we have "overcome" infertility, but I still know that to get our 2nd or our 3rd child we have to go through it all over again. There are so many times that I just hope and pray that maybe Daron's retrieval surgery miraculously opened something up and maybe number 2 can happen naturally but in reality I know that isn't a real possibility.

Our little miracle growing inside me makes me smile every day. I think that makes up for the hurt that infertility still shoves in my face sometimes.

In other news, it was nice to actually be able to be happy on Mother's day this year. Mother's day just plain sucks when you have been trying to conceive and it just isn't happening. Now having this little miracle growing inside of me it was actually pretty good. While I'm not officially a Mom yet, I'm over halfway there, and it's good to feel like the goal is actually in sight. I have to thank my family for helping make it a great day too. 

A Little Something

This has taken me a lot longer to get around to posting than it should have but it has been a busy week. Thanks to Jules over at The Road Less Traveled I have received the "One Lovely Blog Award"!

The rules for this award are as follows.

1. Share who gave you this award with a link back to their blog

2. Write down 7 random facts about yourself

3. Give this award to 15 others (I'm going to follow Jules here and just give it to 5)

4. Let them know they have an award

5. Pop the award on your blog


Now for the 7 random facts about myself.


1. I still haven't decided what I really want to do when I grow up :). I have a B.S in Computer Science but really despise sitting at a desk and working on a computer all day long. I have considered going back to school to either get my CNA license or to become a Vet Tech, but am not sure which I would prefer. What I would really love is to move to the country and start establishing the hobby farm I have dreamed of and be able to make enough money off of that to contribute to the family finances.


2. I started fencing when I was 15 and was actually really good at it. It has now been 2-3 years since I have fenced but I still hope to get back to it at some point. It works as a really good stress relief for me...I mean come on I get to poke people with a foil(the swords used in the particular type of fencing I do).


3. I don't think I could survive without animals around me. While I admit they can drive me crazy sometimes I love every one of them. Animals have such personality and they tend to remind us that we shouldn't take things so seriously all the time.


4. I grew up in a farmhouse surrounded by corn/soybean fields. In the next 5-6 years I hope that Daron and I can find a place in the country. I just love the middle of nowhere. Plus we still want to expand and add a goat or 2, and well we can't have those in town. Maybe a potbelly pig too.

5. I absolutely love being pregnant. My pregnancy has been fairly uneventful, I haven't had to deal with morning sickness or any other really nasty symptoms. I have been comfortable in my pregnant body and I love knowing this baby is growing inside me. I can just sit forever watching my stomach move with my baby now that I can see it. I also love my pregnant body.

6. Even though we have to use IVF to get pregnant I would still like at least 3 children. We just have to figure out how to afford conceiving them...maybe we will get twins next time lol.

7. Family has always been number 1 on my list of priorities. I will drop everything if my family needs me. Daron is a lot like me there and I think that is part of the reason we get along so well, that and we are both a little crazy...this kid has no chance :).

I am passing this award on to the following blogs.


These Times are Hard but they will... Pass
Two Hearts One Love
Everyday is a Winding Road
Secondary Infertility Bluez
Something Out of Nothing

I actually put clothes away...

The title of this post may not seem like something of importance, but I promise there is a point! Normally our clothes get washed and sit in laundry baskets for weeks before they finally get put away. I think we have even bought more laundry baskets so that we can go longer without putting those clean clothes away. I usually put them away when I am tired of digging through a basket to find that shirt I know is clean and I really want to wear but somehow is continuously elusive and takes 20 minutes to find. Yesterday I actually washed clothes and put them away the same day. I'm not used to this, actually being able to find clothes in my closet and dresser...that is amazing! I also went through the baby stuff I got from a friend and separated it into things that are gender neutral and we can definitely use, things that are definitely only able to be used if we have a girl and things like baby wash cloths where I don't really care if they are pink I will use them even if we have a boy. The things that will definitely get used I brought upstairs so that we know what we have so far, the other stuff I left in the container downstairs. In addition to that I also started organizing all the stuff in our family room.

We have 2 rooms in our house right now that are those rooms where things that don't have a place go and things that we don't feel like putting away and will get to later go. The family room is one of those. Yesterday I actually picked up and wrapped all the Christmas lights we were too lazy to put away in December/January, boxed the random Christmas things that never made it into bins and had Daron carry them all downstairs. We also had a pile of random empty boxes(because you never know when you need a box right?) in that room that I sorted only keeping that ones that were relatively small and would be useful for gifts or mailing things if need be. I broke down all the other ones and they are waiting to go out for recycle. I also combined the 4 boxes of candy that was back there and threw out the stuff that I think was from Easter last year.

None of this is like me. I normally just close the doors to those rooms and put it off for tomorrow(you know the one that is always another day away). So my conclusion based on all of this is that nesting is officially setting in for me. I'll take it since my house normally drives me crazy, I just can't ever seem to get the ambition to clean/organize those rooms I can shut the doors on.

22 weeks

Wow it seems really weird to be typing such a big number! I can't believe I am that far along already. We had an OB appointment on Wednesday and everything is looking good. Baby's heartbeat was nice and strong and our Dr. found it pretty much as soon as he put the dopplar probe to my belly. Baby has also been very active lately and seems to have flip flopped to where it is now more active in the mornings and then around the time I go to bed. It is getting a lot stronger too, it even made the laptop move the other day when it kicked one time. We mentioned to our doctor that we are hiring a doula for our birth and he was perfectly OK with that and very supportive of the decision which made Daron and I very happy. We also brought up to him that we are considering delayed cord clamping and he said he is also glad to support us in that and when he has couples who want that he will usually just wait to clamp it until he feels it stop pulsing. He went into to his other birth practices a little more as well and Daron and I both left feeling really good about everything and like he will definitely help us to try and have the birth experience we want while also helping us to make informed decisions about anything that could come up.

In non-baby news we finally got the floor in our bathroom done, the toilet reinstalled and the vanity installed! I don't have pictures yet but I will post some in a future post. All of my started plants are growing really well and I am hoping for some steady weather soon so I can get some of my cool weather produce started outside in cold frames. I also got to spend a lot of time with my sister this last weekend due to the fact that she was without a car. While it wasn't due to the best of circumstances, I have to say that sometimes I forget how much I enjoy hanging out with her.

Sometime in the next month I need to actually attempt to find a dress to wear for both a friends wedding and my brother's wedding. I'm hoping that search goes pretty well, I think I actually have enjoyed shopping for maternity clothes more than I enjoy shopping for regular clothes.

I think that is about all for now, I'm starting to feel a little bad because Daron is working on picking up the house while I sit here on the computer. Guess I will go and help him.

21 weeks and LNS

21 weeks and 1 day today and yep LNS (Leaky Nipple Syndrome) seems to have started. I noticed the last 2 days that my boobs seemed to have grown and gotten fuller for the first time since I got pregnant. Last night when I went to bed I had a drop of liquid on each nipple. Then this morning when I woke up I had another one. I'm not real excited about this because it probably means I may have to invest in some nursing pads soon. On the bright side from what I have read it is actually a good sign because it means I should definitely be ready for breastfeeding by the time this baby is born.

In other news the baby has been getting stronger and stronger and the initial taps now feel like thumps. I can also feel it more often and am usually feeling it when I wake up in the mornings until about 9:30 or so and then usually around lunch time. After that I start feeling it off and on from about 3 until I go to bed.

More Movement!

Daron actually got to feel the baby move yesterday! I think he thought that was pretty cool. We were sitting there right after eating lunch and Baby M was moving all over the place and I was getting a couple of pretty hard kicks. So I told him where to put his hand and how hard to push and sure enough he felt it, not just once but twice. It was so sweet to see the look on his face.

20 weeks

I am 20 weeks today! Officially halfway there! I have been feeling movement pretty consistently since that first time. Baby M tends to be a whole lot more active in the afternoons and evenings and then usually right about the time I'm laying in bed ready to go to sleep. Baby also seems to like to kick my bladder, which is making me have to pee about twice as often as I was before I started feeling movement. It really is an awesome thing to feel though and Daron has been able to listen to the movement with a stethoscope a couple of times, though he is still looking forward to when he can actually feel it.

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday (19weeks 5days), and it went really well. Baby was measuring at 19weeks 1 day which doesn't surprise me much since we have been measuring a bit behind/small the entire pregnancy.  They checked all the major organs and pointed out the 4 chambers of the heart, the kidneys, the bladder, the brain, the parts of the spine, the umbilical cord, and the placenta. Everything was looking and measuring good. Baby was moving all over and moving its mouth a lot and a couple of times brought its hands up to its face. Here are a couple pictures below. I have a couple more once I get them scanned in, these are just from my phone.

In other news we decided on a doula and mailed the contract today! We are really looking forward to working with her, and both Daron and I feel she is really good fit for us. We liked the 2nd one we met with but felt we had more of a connection with the first one and both of us felt more comfortable with her and like she would be the better fit.

 So we have 1 thing checked off the list, now we just have to get the bathroom done, we are getting there though!

Pictures Part 2: Belly Pics

Ok i'm going to start off with the last pic from the last time I posted belly pictures. 

12 weeks 3 days

14 weeks 3 days

17 weeks 3 days

19 weeks 3 days

Pictures!

I've been saying I would post some more pictures for awhile now so I am going to do a post with just that. I'm actually going to break the pictures post into two, so there will be a belly pics post to follow this one.

First off some pictures of our 2 new additions, Cayuga Ducklings! We are really hoping at least one of these is a female!

They are approximately 2-3 days old in these pictures.

 They are 1-2 weeks in this picture

 

Here they are now about 4 weeks old

 I've been getting plants started inside for the last 4 weeks or so and here is what I have so far.

Tomatoes

Lettuce, kale, broccoli and some misc.

Peppers and misc.

Peppers!

Strawberries!

Last but not least a picture of our 3 puppies!

Movement!

I am about 95% certain that I actually felt Baby M move yesterday! Daron and I were sitting there on the couch watching Grimm and I started feeling something very low in my abdominal/pelvic area. The sensation is very hard to describe but I think my best description is that it felt like something tapping on me from the inside. The other description I gave Daron was almost like someone tickling you except from the inside. Later I felt this same sensation again while on the couch. Then in bed later I also felt a similar sensation but this time it almost felt like the baby was flipping around or something. Also not sure what it is but when I felt like the baby flipped last night it almost felt like it sent very tiny, to the point where it was barely noticeable, vibrations through my pelvic muscles and cervix. That was a very odd sensation to say the least.

I will try to get some of the pictures I've been promising up this afternoon, it has ended up a very busy week though so no guarantees.

18 weeks 3 days

Things have still been pretty uneventful pregnancy wise. We did have an OB appointment on Friday and everything is looking good. Baby M's Heartbeat was around 150bpm and all measurements were good. I have only gained about 3lbs which the Dr. said is perfect, and I am quite happy with. I am definitely looking pregnant now and will have some new belly pics up soon.

We have been researching and contacting a few Doulas in the last couple of weeks and had our first meeting with one yesterday. It went really well and we both liked her and thought she might be a good fit for us. We were supposed to meet with a 2nd one today however due to a family emergency she had to reschedule for Saturday. This was a little disappointing since I was hoping to meet both of them back to back and hopefully make a decision by the end of the week. At this point with the price of the one we talked to already and the services she offers I have a feeling we may be going with her, however I want to at least meet with the other one and see what she is like and what she offers.

We have our 20 week ultrasound next Wednesday, and are both looking forward to it and getting to see our baby again. As I think I've mentioned we have chosen not to find out the gender, and are sticking with that.

In other news, we added 2 new members to the family in the form of cayuga ducklings. I will post some pictures of them in a day or 2. Their main purpose will be pest control in my garden, but we are hoping that maybe we got at least one female this time and will have some duck eggs.

I'll have some more updates in a day or 2 and will have some pictures with that one.

16 Weeks and Other Stuff

Today marks 16 weeks. Oddly enough it is also the 16th of March. It was a somewhat bittersweet day as today also marks the 2 year anniversary of losing my dad to lung cancer. I know he wanted so badly to see the children Daron and I would have. I know he is still watching out for us though which makes me feel good, and I know while not in person, he will get to meet this grandchild. The only thing I wish is that this baby could meet him and learn a few of the many things he had to teach.

On a brighter note, things are going well and I have been feeling good. My belly is steadily growing and making this baby seem more and more real to me. Symptom wise I really don't have much right now, unless you count the slight waddle I have started to get as my stance gets wider to compensate for my shifting center of balance. My belly is also getting a lot fuzzier than it has ever been before, not sure how I feel about that one but I can't complain.

I got a bunch of used baby stuff from a friend last weekend, which is much appreciated since the getting pregnant part cost us $25,000. We are also coming along on the nursery and hopefully in a few weeks I will have some pictures of the walls. We still have a window and carpeting to replace, so we are nowhere near done, but the walls are almost there!

As a last note I am walking for Relay for life this year in honor of both my dad and grandfather and the many others I know who have fought cancer. If you would like to make a donation to us please visit the following link.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?type=fr_personal&fr_id=37926&px=21723188&action=newtopic&bpg=post&pg=personal

14w5d and much more

I'm currently 14w5d and I haven't updated in awhile. I have been trying to catch up on things after being sick for an entire week and just hadn't gotten around to my blog yet. Everything is going well though, and I'm finally feeling back to my normal self. Baby M is doing good and starting to make mama's belly feel like it is stretching all the time, as well as suddenly making me have to pee every 20 minutes again. That's about all for the current state of things but I will backtrack and fill you in on the things that happened between this post and my last one.

Wednesday February 22, I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose and I must have caught some sort of stomach bug because I just generally felt like crap as well as vomiting most of the afternoon. By mid-morning on Thursday I was feeling a whole lot better and almost back to normal, which was great since we had an ultrasound scheduled. We went for our ultrasound and everything looked good! We could see baby M moving around and see the heartbeat really well. The heartbeat was at 160 and looking good. As to the point of the ultrasound(to check my ovaries) they were much less swollen than at the previous ultrasound and definitely looking much more normal.

By Friday I was feeling pretty crappy again, starting to cough and my sore throat and stuffiness had gotten worse again. Saturday after trying to ride it out with saltwater gargles and OB approved cough medicine, we took a trip to the immediate care clinic where they did a strep test and checked me over to tell me it was just viral and I didn't have strep. By Monday, having barely slept the previous two nights from coughing and stuffiness, and having multiple coughing fits that caused me to either throw up or feel like I couldn't breathe, I went to my regular dr.'s office for their clinic hours. I wanted to get my eye checked anyway because I knew I had some kind of infection in it. That appointment diagnosed me with pink eye(In both eyes), as well as bronchitis(with a chance of whooping cough because I haven't had a tetanus shot since I was 14). So I got some antibiotic eye drops, antibiotics for the bronchitis/whooping cough, and an inhaler for those coughing fits that made me feel like I couldn't breathe.

With all of that you would think I would have been feeling a little better by Tuesday, but nope. By Tuesday afternoon my stomach bug was either back or I caught a new one at a dr.'s office I'd been to. I figured it wouldn't be any worse than the one I'd had the previous Wednesday so didn't really worry about it. But this one got progressively worse throughout the afternoon and by 8 that night I couldn't even keep down a sip of water, so by 9:00, we headed to the ER knowing I was going to need fluids because there was no way I could keep myself hydrated. After at least an hour wait in the waiting room we got in and by 11:30 they had me hooked up to an IV for fluids. They also tested my urine to make sure I didn't have a UTI and check for dehydration and tested my blood to check my electrolytes etc. I was slightly dehydrated so they ended up giving me a total of 2 litres of fluid, gave me some zofran through my IV for nausea and sent me home with a prescription for zofran. By the time we left at 2:30or 3am I was tired but feeling much better than when we arrived. From there I slowly started feeling better and by Sunday was finally feeling back to myself.

The ER had asked me to follow up with my OB so we had an appointment with him on Friday and got to hear our baby's heartbeat again. They also checked my uterus and measured my fundal height(height from pelvic bone to top of uterus). Everything was looking good, and the top of my uterus was right in line with my belly button. We see the OB again at 18 weeks and then at 20 weeks we have our 20 week ultrasound. We won't be finding out the gender, but I know there are a lot of things they check during that ultrasound and hey we get to see our baby again. Now hopefully I can just stay healthy!

Oh and of course a picture of Baby M!

Belly Pics

I've been promising some belly pics so here they are!

1 day Pre Egg Retrieval

6 weeks 5 days

7 weeks 6 days

8 weeks 6 days

10 weeks 1 day

11 weeks 3 days

12 weeks 3 days

 And just for the heck of it flowers that Daron gave me when I was having a bad day :).