We're Expecting!: October 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

19 Weeks

Enjoy -- and sorry we didn't take or post 17 or 18 weeks pictures! We've just been busy and haven't had time.

Monday, October 26, 2009

We had our 19 weeks ultrasound this afternoon. Our daughter melted our hearts! And yes, it's a GIRL!!! So many of you were right! I'm impressed. I had the ultrasound tech check about four or five times. She promised me that it was a girl from the beginning. Josh and I couldn't stop looking at each other and smiling. After the ultrasound we called all family members and sent out text messages to all friends. I've posted the news on Facebook as well. We went out to dinner before shopping for a cute, pink outfit. We found one at OshKosh B'gosh! It's a pair of pink cords and a shirt with pink flowers. I thought it would be nice for next fall.

Oh, and the ultrasound results were all normal. Our baby is growing perfectly and actually measuring a few days ahead at 19 weeks and 3 days. We are very thankful!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

This time tomorrow...

...we will know if we are having a boy or a girl. We are so excited! Josh is certain it's a girl. I'm starting to think it's a girl too but I'm not certain. Either way we will be so happy! When I think of all the wonderful things a girl would bring to our new family, I start to think of all the wonderful things a boy would bring as well.

We had our AFP test done a couple weeks ago. The results were all normal. We are very thankful to have a heathly baby.

If you aren't familiar with an AFP test, click HERE for information.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Registering for Baby

Josh and I registered at Babies R Us and Target. We were looking forward to the experience. I've spent many hours researching baby gear. I think it's one way I dealt with our infertility. It kept me hopeful throughout the whole experience. Josh pulled in the "Stork Parking - Expectant Mother" parking space. I felt like we weren't supposed to park there. I had to remind myself that we were really pregnant and it was okay to park there.

We started in the bottle aisle which was not a good idea. There are too many bottles out there and they all claim to be the best. I want to breastfeed so hopefully we won't be using many bottles but these really impressed us. There are called Natural Nursers by Adiri. They are supposed to mimic breastfeeding.

Natural Nursers by Adiri

I thought my research had prepared me but it hadn't. Registering was overwhelming and exhausting! There's just so much out there. I know we don't need it all so I would LOVE for you to share what we really need. If you have a few must have baby items, please share!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

It's FALL!

Don't you love the season of fall? I love the cool weather, beautiful colors and ANYTHING pumpkin. If you haven't tried a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a slice of Pumpkin Bread from Starbucks, you must. It's so tasty! It's my Friday morning treat. I'm instantly on cloud nine and ready to tackle to the day. Here's another pumpkin must have:

Spiced Pecan Pumpkin Quick Bread

Pecan Pumpkin Butter

A delicious PUMPKIN treat!

You can find these two items at Williams Sonoma. Yes, they are a little pricey but completely worth it. I think I'm going to do some baking in my muffin pans right now. But before I go let me share a cute pumpkin find. I found these placemats at Pier One for $3 each.

Don't forget the cute, little pumpkins when decorating!

HAPPY FALL!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Recovery

One of my many sweet gifts from Mom!

It's a Boo-Bunnie Ice Pack for baby!

So now that my surgery story is documented, let me tell you about the recovery. I don't really remember being wheeling into my hospital room but I do remember my Mom arriving soon after I moved into my bed. I think it was around midnight when we finally got settled. There's nothing more comforting than your Mom being with you in difficult times. Thanks again Mom! Josh, Mom and I chatted about my eventful night as the nurses came in to check my vitals. Josh decided to grab dinner for us. McDonald's was the only fast food restaurant open. As soon as he brought the bags of food in our room the nurse came in and reminded me to take it easy. She said McDonald's might not be a good choice for me so soon after surgery. I wasn't that hungry anyway so I opted out of greasy food and ate some crackers instead. The nurse also told us that only one person could stay the night. Mom said she would go to our house and let Josh stay with me. Josh and I tried to go to sleep but we just couldn't. Our nurse came in every hour and I had to use the restroom every half hour (which involved my nurse because she had to take those compression things off my legs -- I think they prevent blood clots). My surgeon came by in the morning to check on my incisions. He said everything looked great. My ob/gyn came by to listen to our baby's heartbeat. It was great to hear that "gush, gush, gush" sound. Mom came back to relieve Josh so he could go home, shower and rest. I was finally released around 3 PM.

Josh went back to work on Tuesday. Mom and I had a great time together. We just relaxed and took it easy. Although Mom didn't take it as easy as me. She did so many wonderful and helpful things which include: cleaning, laundry, cooking and baking! It was very much appreciated. Josh and I have enjoyed her delicious cooking and baking all week. I decided to go back to work on Wednesday. I'm not sure why I went back so soon. I wish I had stayed out Wednesday and started back Thursday. My stomach was really hurting on Wednesday. It made Thursday and Friday even harder because I was so exhausted. My poor first graders wanted to hug me when they saw me but I had to tell them that my tummy was hurting and they couldn't hug me for a few days. After school on Wednesday Josh and I went to my follow up appointment at my ob/gyn. We heard the heartbeat again so that assured me that everything was okay with our little one.

Now it's Saturday and I'm feeling much better. I've been taking it easy all day which has been nice!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

SURGERY

I am on an update overload! I've added three posts (15 Weeks, 16 Weeks and Weekend in Charleston). This will be my fourth and final post for tonight. So enjoy! Actually, you probably won't enjoy reading it but you will find it interesting!

So after a wonderful weekend in Charleston my roomie and I woke up on Sunday morning and started packing to go home. I remember sneezing several times while getting ready. I started to feel cramps, pains and twinges. I felt hot. I laid down for a few minutes but that didn't seem to help. We went out to breakfast before driving home and I started to notice that most of the pain was on my right side. I started to feel like I was going to vomit. On my way home I stopped in a parking lot and laid down in my back seat. I thought maybe it was round ligament pain and I just needed to relax. Laying down did NOT help! I gave up on trying to relax and just headed straight home. I had to talk to myself the whole way home. I was saying things like "I will be home soon! I will lay down when I get home! I will feel better soon! The baby is okay!" I had never experienced that type of pain. I seriously considered driving straight to the ER but instead I drove straight home. I was hoping that being "home" in my own bed would make me feel better. I was wrong! The pain became worse when I got home. I couldn't lay still or get in a comfortable position.

Josh was still out of town at a conference so I called Q. She came right over and drove me to the ER. Q is a heaven sent friend and I can't imagine life without her. She listened to me whine about the pain over and over again. She waited with me for hours in the ER. She rubbed my back when I thought I was going to die from pain. She held the trash can while I vomited from the pain. She held my hand while the nurse was putting in my IV. She was AMAZING and I couldn't have survived that experience without her.

Q was finally relieved by Josh. He arrived right before they mentioned SURGERY!

So after lots of blood work, three rounds of IV pain meds and an ultrasound that confirmed our baby was okay, the doctors thought it was either my appendix, my right kidney or my right ovary. They were all leaning towards my appendix because my white blood count was extremely high. They said that signaled an infection which can be caused by an appendix that is close to rupturing. When they recommended SURGERY Josh and I were a little shocked. They said the risk of exploratory laparoscopic surgery was low compared to the risk of my appendix rupturing. Josh and I asked lots of questions and finally decided to start the process. We signed lots of paper work and we headed to the OR. I remember being wheeled into the OR in pain! Two surgeons and my ob/gyn did the surgery. It was so comforting to know my ob/gyn was in there. After 45 minutes of surgery I woke up with Josh by my side, feeling NO pain and hearing my ob/gyn saying "Look! Here's your baby with a strong heartbeat!" She also showed us pictures of the surgery.

So guess what happened?

My right ovary had twisted around TWICE which was the cause of my pain! It's called Ovarin Torsion. During surgery they untwisted my ovary. Thankfully my ovary will recover because the blood flow wasn't completely cut off. My ovaries are still a little enlarged from IVF meds so that's why my right ovary twisted. It was just too heavy and maybe my sneezing triggered it to twist.

Now I have two nasty scares from surgery. They made two incisions: one in my belly button and one a couple inches below my belly button. I'm not going to be able to have the cute pregnant belly pictures because of these two scars. Oh well!

Here's a picture of the surgery they did:

It grosses me out to know they did this to me!

Here are a couple pictures of my incisions:

My belly button scares me!

Weekend in Charleston

Josh was out of town at a conference so I decided to spend the weekend in Charleston with one of my college roomies. I hadn't driven to Charleston since our last visit to our fertility center. The drive brought back many memories, some good and some bad. Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend together and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was fun reminiscing and catching up. Unfortunately our perfect weekend ended with me being in excoriating pain. I'll explain in my next post but until then here are a few pictures from our weekend!