~~~~~~~ PinkaDots! ~~~~~~*

Most Loved Products (so far!)

2012-02-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

Hi ladies,
Okay so when I was registering for baby showers, I didn't have a clue about what I would really need. I tried to be logical and not add a bunch of stuff just because it was cute, and I tried to remind myself that my house is teeny tiny and I had to find places to put everything I got. With the help of a few friends and family members, I think I did a pretty good job. There isn't much that Emory has that we don't actually use.

Just for smiles and giggles, I thought I would put together a list of my most-loved products so far. :)
I would LOVE to hear some of your most-loved things in the comments. After all, I am only 5 months into this journey!!

Top 10 most loved baby products, in random order:
1. Breastflow Bottles by The First Years. Without these bottles, I am fairly certain that BF'ing would not have happened. Emory and I had a rough start and I was pumping exclusively for almost 3 weeks. She never had any confusion with these bottles. The n.i.pple has 2 parts and is made to function just like the real thing. She didn't have any colic issues either (thank God!).

2. Graco Mosaic Stroller. I have been told that this stroller is "funny looking" but I don't give a hoot! It folds up like an umbrella stroller but accommodates any Graco carseat. Since we didn't buy a complete travel system, it was important to find the right stroller to go with our seat. It only weighs 19 lbs, which is manageable. It drives great and I love how compact it is. The only drawback is that there is no snacktray. That problem was easily solved by purchasing one that clips onto the front bar. No problem! :)

3. Boon Grass Countertop Drying Rack. I got this from Target and have used the HECK out of it!

4. Bottle Warmer. There are many brands out there and I don't think one is better than another. I am very adamant about not microwaving Emory's bottles. I work hard for that milk, and I don't want the microwave to kill off all of the important stuff in it! Not to mention the possibility of scalding her little mouth. We initially tried using a cup of really hot water, but when she is waiting for a bottle and is screaming at full force, waiting 5 minutes for the water to do the trick was excruciating! Our bottle warmer takes 90 seconds. When people babysit for us, the bottle warmer comes with the baby. :)

5. Medela Pump InStyle Breastpump. This machine has definitely been worth every penny. I couldn't live without it!! It goes to work with me every day!

6. Lansinoh Milk Storage Bags. I like these better than the Medela bags because they hold more AND because I don't seem to spill the milk as easily when pouring from the Lansinoh bags. Go figure.

7. Fisher Price Newborn Rock n' Play Sleeper. Aka: Baby Taco. This little baby was better than a bassinet at our house! Emory still sleeps in this at night (she sleeps in her bed for naps). It was a lifesaver because she spit up a lot in the beginning. This sleeper holds the baby at an incline so we didn't worry about her choking in the middle of the night. It's also at a perfect height to be kept bedside. We have LOVED it! Emory is very close to being too big for it now, and I will mourn the day we have to put it away!

8. Bath Water Temperature Indicator. This one is from DH. I asked him what's the one baby product he couldn't live without, and his response was "Pooh Bear." We have a little floating water temperature indicator that has Pooh on top, and he uses it religiously! So, there ya go.

9. Mary Jane Socks. We have these in every color of the rainbow, and she wears them all.the.time. Easiest foot solution EVER! No need for actual shoes. :) ha!

10. Waterproof Lap Pads. We use these on top of the changing table and they have been SO useful! I only have two changing pad covers, so it's much easier to wash the lap pad rather than the whole cover. Since DH still forgets how quickly the cool air makes babies pee, it's beneficial to have several of these waterproof pads. We keep one on the changer and one in our "baby taco" in case of poo explosions. Love them!

What are your favorites?

Dusting off my keyboard....

2012-02-02T18:41:00.000-05:00

to apologize for sucking at blogging lately. I haven't posted in over a month! I don't think that has happened....EVER!

I'm sorry.

And I apologize for being a horrible bloggy friend. I have been reading your blogs, but I haven't commented.

To my friends still battling infertility, I pray for you every night with Emory. She & I pray each night and we ask God to help the mommies who are still waiting on their babies. You are not forgotten!!! Much love to you all and hoping that you are doing okay.

I have to admit, being a working Mom is exhausting and it kicks my tail most of the time. I get home and want to spend as much time with Emory as I can before bed, which is around 9 or 9:30. When I DO get online, I am usually holding her and am not able to type. That's why Pinterest is my new guilty habit. ;) My house stays messy, we grab fast food entirely too often (we're working on that), and I look like I just rolled out of bed on most days. But I am very thankful for my busy, messy, unorganized life.

So Emory still has the 2 teeth she got right after Christmas. She is rolling over and back, is cooing and squealing, laughing at the strangest things, and tolerating tummy time much better than she used to! Oh, and she's eating baby food. She loves bananas and hates carrots. Everything else is sort of ho-hum.

I only had a quick minute to update tonight, but hopefully I can get back to blogging. I'd love to talk couponing, budgeting, and weight soon!!!

Much love to you if you are still reading! <3

4 months

DH on his graduation day!

5 months and getting wiggly!

teeth!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!!

What a Year!

2011-12-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

I have been reflecting a lot on the events of the past year. It was definitely the best year of my life, and I was overcome with emotion several times this Christmas season. I am so, so thankful for Emory. Every day, I thank God for her and pray for those who still wait.

This year was the first time in a LONG time that I didn't dread the holiday season. I didn't have to put armor on my heart before entering family events, wondering who would ask when we were going to have a baby or say "aren't you next?" I didn't prepare myself for someone to remark "you just need to relax," or "have you prayed about it?"

For the first time in over 4 years, I looked forward to Christmas and Thanksgiving. I didn't care if I received a single gift because I already had the ultimate gift.

I cried tears of joy and I also cried for friends who aren't at this point of peace yet. The pain of years past is still vivid in my mind, and I hurt with you and for you. It's such a horrible aching and I wish none of us had to experience it.

Emory had a great time. She was in a pleasant mood for most of the family times, and although she is teething and fighting yet another cold, she still manages to have her sweet smile at the ready for anyone who talks to her.

She got just about every toy that is on the shelf for ages 3-12 months. I have no idea where to put everything! But I'm looking forward to seeing her play with them as she grows.

My sweet girl is teething! It's less than pleasant, but it's exciting too. We can feel a sharp ridge just under her gums, and I'm hoping it pushes on through soon so she'll get some relief! She has refused to sleep in her own bed for the past 3 nights and it's wearing me out!

We go for her 4-month check up on Monday, which won't be fun either. But thankfully, she won't remember it! :)

Hoping you had a great Christmas and a blessed New Year!

So Much to Update

2011-12-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, I am behind!

First, I have excuses. See? (A la' school excuse notes. heehee)

Please excuse Anna from blogging for the week after Thanksgiving due to Emory's first cold. (It. Was. Awful.)

Please excuse Anna from blogging for the first week of December, as she has been busy trying to hold down the fort during her DH's finals.

I have Thanksgiving pics to post, as well as 3 month pics to post. Sorry, they aren't gonna be today but hopefully this weekend.

Quick updates:

Em had her first cold and it was terrible. She cried ALL NIGHT LONG the night she had a fever. I finally gave in and just cried right along with her. You thought I was germophobic BEFORE? Just wait!
Then DH and I both caught her cold the following week.
Someone veered off the road a few weeks ago and hit DH's truck as it sat in his work parking lot. (Who else has luck like that????) Totaled it. Geez, people. Way to go. So now we are down to one vehicle as he is looking for "the diamond in the rough." Sharing a car sucks.
Emory's Aunt C made her an adorable turkey shirt for Thanksgiving and she promptly pooped all over it at our very first stop of the day. I mean, like 5 mins after we arrived. So I washed it and put her in it for a photo op the next day. :)
I figured out that scented baby wipes give her bottom blisters. Now that I have started buying sensitive, unscented wipes we have had almost no diaper rash at all. YAY!
I have been trying to make some of our Christmas gifts this year and it is not going well. So now it's T-minus 8 days before I need to have them wrapped and ready and I'm trying not to panic! Everything takes 2 hands and I hardly ever have 2 hands free at once! When I'm home, I don't wanna put Emory down. :)
I have a lot of things in my head and my heart this year. For the past several years, the holiday season was a source of pain for me. It is so different this year but it's not all candy canes and bon bons. I want those of you still waiting to know I think of you daily. I hurt for you. I heard a song this week that went "my wish for you is peace on Earth" and I started thinking about what my wish for others would be. The first thing that came to mind was I wish I could make the pain of empty arms go away. I wish I could fix it. The memory of that pain is still very vivid, and I constantly think of where I was at this time last year. I was doing shots every day and taking tons of meds to get ready for my last chance at becoming a mom. This year my dream came true and I thank God for that every day. I also pray for those who wait every day while I'm thanking Him. Some of you by name. And at times, my heart hurts with you still. I hope for a smooth holiday for you with some sense of peace, if nothing else.

Much love and pics to come soon,

Anna

Cloth Diaper Summary Part 2

2011-11-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

I thought of some other things you might be wondering....

Our sitter is fabulous and doesn't mind using the cloth diapers. I send a Planetwise wet bag for her to put the dirties in, and it has been working out great!
DH is not opposed to using them, although he generally reaches for a disposable. I don't really mind that he uses mostly 'sposies, because I think maybe all the snap settings and different liners are sort of intimidating to him. Plus, I have threatened him about using diaper creams on my cloth diapers so I think he feels like disposables are the "safe" way to go. Ha! If I am in there when he changes her, I hand him a cloth diaper and he uses it without complaint. Love him! :)
Let's clarify about diaper pails. I essentially have 4. I keep a Diaper Champ in the nursery for 'sposies (1). Then I have a step-on trash can for dirty wipes because if you put wipes in the Champ without them being wrapped up in a diaper they get stuck in the little flip-over mechanism (2). Then I have a cloth diaper pail liner that hangs on the hooks on our changing table (3). This is for wet cloth diapers and wipes. Then I have a Diaper Dekor in the bathroom (4) so that when I rinse out the poop I don't have to carry a dripping dirty diaper down the hall and across the carpet in the nursery to the other cloth diaper bag. Sounds complicated, but now that I have a system it's easy peasy!
Start-up cost: tricky to answer. I asked for cloth diapers from my mom, my MIL, and my SIL, plus my friend gave me some because she cloth diapers. So I got the bulk of my (large) stash for free. I have A LOT of diapers. Definitely more than I absolutely needed, but I like having a few more than is necessary because it allows me to be lazy on the washing if I feel like it. Here's a breakdown of what I have and what it would cost if I had purchased them all:

5 BumGenius Pocket Diapers @ $17.95 each- $89.75
4 Flip diapers w/staydry inserts @ 16.95 each- 67.80
6 gDiapers bought on eBay, homemade inserts- 30.00
12 BestBottom covers @ 16.95 each- 203.40
23 BestBottom inserts @ 3.95 each- 90.85
I have a few other hand-me-downs and inserts that altogether probably cost less than $50.
2 Planetwise wet bags-$19
2 pail liners- $16 on etsy
Grand total: $566.80

HOWEVER, you could easily cloth diaper using only a few BB shells and a good set of inserts. Each BB shell can be used several times by wiping the inside out after a pee and snapping in a clean insert. The BB's can be found at Nickisdiapers.com and they recommend that you need 8-10 shells and 24 inserts to start. If you did that, it would only cost you about $250 to get your stash. Remember, the shells are one-size, meaning they grow with your baby. The inserts are NOT one sized. Eventually I will need to buy larger inserts, but I don't see Emory outgrowing the set of smalls I have for quite some time!
I have made several liners (thin pieces of fabric to go between baby's tushie and the insert. Use these to protect your cloth dipes against diaper creams and to make it easier to rinse the poo off), and I've even made inserts (the absorbent part of the diaper) to use in the g's and Flips. I used terry cloth and flannel for mine, but there are several materials you could use. I also made cloth wipes out of flannel and birdseye cloth, and a friend made me some out of flannel and minky. So you can increase your stash inexpensively if you have a sewing machine and can sew a rectangle! :)

I am so thankful.

2011-11-24T12:33:00.001-05:00

My cup runneth over.

Thinking of and praying for those who still wait. (((HUGS)))

Cloth Diaper Summary

2011-11-20T01:07:00.000-05:00

As promised. :)

Okay so I'm gonna talk about: gDiapers, BumGenius one size pockets, DryBees, Flips, and BestBottoms.

First up? gDiapers.

(These are the old style, plus one WAHM one I bought off Etsy. Sadly, the WAHM one never fit Em the right way so I only used it once.)

Emory was able to wear these much sooner than any of the other diapers. I bought 4 of the "old style" g's on eBay (only 3 are pictured), and bought 2 of the new style diapers brand new. The old style are basically the same but they run smaller, so she was able to wear them when she was getting close to 8 pounds. I didn't have any leaks with the g's, and they are really trim, which is great. However, I never changed out the liner and used the shell again. Meaning, I washed them in between each use instead of trying to make the shell last a few changes. Those stupid little teensy, tiny snaps on the liners are hard to remove and then re-attach when you have a squirmy, screaming baby on the changing table. I'm sure that it gets better with practice, but I didn't end up being able to use them for very long because she outgrew them quickly. I probably wouldn't buy these again because I prefer one size for my money. :)

Next up: BumGenius one size pocket diapers.

These are SUPER easy to use. Just put them on like a disposable. When they're soiled, just take 'em off, unsnap them to the largest setting, and toss in the diaper pail. I love that you can customize their absorbency by adding more inserts to the pocket. I use one or two of the BumGenius newborn microfiber inserts. The only problem I have had with these is they have leaked pee out the leg holes a few times. I think it's due to Emory's skinny little chicken legs. In order to get them tight enough on her leg, I have make the waistband too tight. So for now, we have put these back in their baskets to use once she chunks up a little more. I think once the leg holes fit better, we will really love these! Side note: when using these diapers, I have to put on 3-6 month pants instead of 0-3.

Next: DryBees pocket diapers in size small.

(The two on the right are DryBees.)

I. Love. These. Diapers. I only have two of these because I bought them from my friend Jessie waaaay back during my first trimester. I have no idea why, but they just fit Emory SO well. I'm really sad that they aren't one size and that very soon she will be too big for them. But I never had a single leak using these. And surprisingly, I loved the velcro. I generally buy snaps for longevity, but these little troopers were so easy and worked so well that I loved them!

Next: Flips.

The first time I put these on Emory, she was around 8 and a half pounds. They fit, however, she couldn't move her legs. The regular Flip insert has small-med-large settings, but not a newborn. So it was just WAY too bulky. Not to mention her clothes wouldn't go on over them. If I put the BumGenius newborn pocket inserts (same ones mentioned above) in there, they fit great! I use two of the newborn inserts, one on top of the other, and also I put in a flannel liner I made because microfiber can cause a rash against newborn skin. As long as I use the newborn inserts instead of the one size inserts, she can wear these and they aren't terribly bulky. I have not had leaks but I also have not used these as much as some of the others because I only have 6 newborn inserts.

Lastly: BestBottoms.

These are the diapers that get the most use at our house right now. These started to fit Emory when she was in the upper 8 pound range. The inserts are easy to change out- the snaps are on the underside of the insert, so you just lay it in and press down on the snaps. The leg holes have double elastic, so they give a tight seal as long as the waistband is on the right setting. We have not had any leaks with these yet, and she has had some BIIIIG poops in this diaper. I like the fact that I can put two of these diaper sets in the diaper bag and then throw in 4-5 extra inserts to change out and it doesn't take up the whole bag. I still have room for all my other diaper bag necessities. :)

Other Stuff:

Okay so Emory has had two really, really bad diaper rash episodes. I figured out on this last time that it is from a change in wipes. You know how wipes come in all different types? Refreshing, Aloe & E, Natural Care, Sensitive, etc. I had several different types from showers and I bought 4 tubs the other day because I had coupons. I grabbed two different tub designs, not thinking that the type really mattered.

Wrong.

Any time we change to a new type of wipe, Emory gets a really HORRIBLE rash. A&D cream plus a thick layer of Maalox/corn starch paste helps but it still takes a couple of days to heal. So now that I've figured out why she gets the rash, I will be purchasing the sensitive wipes from here on out. Once I figure out an easy way to take my cloth wipes with me in the diaper bag I will probably just use those.

Cloth Wipes:

I have a set of thin baby washcloths, some wipes I made with flannel and birdseye, and a set of flannel and minky that my friend Lindsey made. I keep a spray bottle of water and one tiny drop of baby shampoo on the changing table and I spray the wipe with water right before using. At first I thought I would hate using cloth wipes, but they are really way better at getting the poo off than disposable ones. Once I figure out how I want to keep them in the diaper bag, I think it will actually make things easier because right now I have to sort out the poopy and peepy disposable wipes from the cloth diapers before I can dump the wetbag into the diaper pail. Yuck.

Everything else:

I don't have a diaper sprayer yet, so I'm using the tub faucet. It's sort of a pain, but it helps that I put a diaper pail in the bathroom so I don't have to carry a drippy diaper back into the nursery.
I have a disposables diaper pail (Diaper Champ brand) and a step-on trash can in the nursery. I hang a large wetbag on the side of the table for pee cloth diapers, then I use a Diaper Dekor in the bathroom for the poo cloth diapers.
Jessie introduced me to CJ's BUTTer for cloth diapers. It's a rash cream that is in a stick form (like a giant tube of chapstick) and it ROCKS!!!
I bought some flushable liners to use when we're out and about, and I LOVE them too!
When I have to use disposables (I have been using them at night and when her rash has been really bad to avoid ruining my cloth diapers), I have discovered that Target brand is my favorite. They are as good as the pricey brands, and are softer than other cheap brands.
I wash all my diapers in Tide Original. No fancy schmancy stuff here. ;)

That's all for tonight!

Have a great weekend!!!

Anna

Sad Week

2011-11-06T23:15:00.000-05:00

I only have two more days to stay home with my sweet baby. I go back to work on Wednesday. I'm trying not to freak out, as I know she will get lots of snuggles and cuddles at our friend's house while I'm at work. But I'd be lying if I said I was ready to go back.

It seems like the last nine and a half weeks have flown by. Emory is getting SO big. It's time to go through and pack up all those newborn clothes, and even some of the 0-3 month clothes because of her cloth diapers (they make her pants fit differently). I look at those 2 or 3 newborn onesies that were the only things that fit her at first and I can't believe she's the same baby.

I'm sad about saying goodbye to the "tiny baby" stage, but also excited about seeing more personality come out as she grows.

I have not forgotten about the cloth diaper post that I promised to write, but I've been spending as much time as I can just holding Emory and snuggling before it's time to go to work. I wish it would work for us for me to stay home just the first year, but sadly it won't. (And please don't leave a negative comment about me going back to work. I already feel guilty and I'd appreciate it if we could keep it positive here.)

So I am thankful for the time that I had off and I am thankful that I have a job with great hours and lots of breaks. I will only work for 10 days before we're out for Thanksgiving break. (I keep reminding myself of that!) I'm sure I will get back into my teaching groove, and we'll get into a new schedule at home and things will be fine. It's just kinda hard at first and I'm feeling really guilty.

Anyhoo, I promise that cloth diaper post is swirling in my head and I'll get it out soon. Just not this week. I'm busy cuddling with the sweetest little girl I know. :)

Pray for me on Wednesday!

Two Months

2011-10-31T23:54:00.001-04:00

At two months old, Emory...

is smiling *all* the time. She started smiling on purpose around the 2 1/2 to 3 week mark, but she's smiling much more often now. Lots of great big, open mouth, gummy smiles that make me think laughing might be just around the corner. I also think she will have a little dimple on her right cheek.
looooves to be held.
has blue eyes still. They are a pretty shade of blueish-grey.
is cooing a lot, mostly when she's sitting in her bouncer or laying on the boppy looking at her shape book.
does not enjoy tummy time. I've been propping her on a boppy for tummy time and she tolerates that better than flat on her tummy.
is grabbing and swatting at things hanging on her playmat. She can accurately hit the bigger stuff pretty well!
looooooooooves to be talked to. She has loved this from day 1. She will focus on a person's face and listen intently for as long as they'll talk to her.
is wearing 0-3 months, or 3 months in Car.ter's brand.
is still bf'ing well. She gets gassy in the evenings, which makes for some fussy time, but it's not too bad.
is overall a really good baby. She doesn't cry unless she has gas, is hungry, or is tired of something (like being in her bouncy).
still has all her hair and her mullet is still going strong in the back. :)
had her first bout with really bad diaper rash. A&D cream and butt paste helps, along with baking soda in her bath water.
absolutely loves bath time!!
sleeps for about 4 hr stretches at night
is eating every 2 and a half to 3 hours.

smilin' at Mr. Bear

My sweet girl.

Hi

2011-10-27T12:38:00.001-04:00

I have been a terrible blogger lately. I'm sorry.

Here's what's going on in our life:

I feel completely overwhelmed with the condition of my house. It's a mess and I can't seem to get it under control. I have crying meltdowns about it at least once a week. :( It's soooo cluttered.
DH is about to complete one of his associate's degrees in December. He starts his bachelor's program today, and is enrolled in another associate's program that will be over next December. I'm super proud of him for sticking with everything. It's not easy for either one of us but in the long run it will be great!!
Emory is getting big! I need to post new pics. I can't believe she will be 2 months old on Monday. I'm sad about it, but I'm having fun watching her grow and change.
I figured out the Mo.by Wrap! Just today though, so I hope I can start using it to get some of the housework done over the next few days.
Pregnancy made me like Ranch dressing. no kidding! I used to hate it, but since I had Emory I find myself not just liking it but craving it!!
I go back to work in 2 weeks. :( Sad panda.
I have an unbelievably long list of projects to get done before Christmas. We are giving lots of handmade gifts this year and my plate is way too full! I hope to blog about them when they're all done!

One more thing-

My name is Anna an I'm addicted to Pinterest. ("hi, Anna")

Random Stuff

2011-10-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

We have finally started a little bedtime routine with Emory. She has her 7-7:30ish feeding, gets a bath and a quick rub with lotion, then one of us rocks her for a few minutes before we put her down in our room. Most nights she does great, but she's a little spoiled so it's hard to lay her down without waking her up. She just loves to be held! I know that Babywise says you're not supposed to rock babies to sleep and that you're supposed to just lay them down awake and have them fall asleep on their own. I considered that, and at first it's what I thought I would do. But she doesn't go to sleep on her own. She lays there and wiggles, coos, fusses, and then finally gets mad and starts screaming. I started rocking her and she falls asleep in less than 5 minutes. My mom says that she rocked my sister and I as babies and that she treasured those quiet times with us and still remembers it fondly. Her words were "I wouldn't trade those times with you for anything in the world." And she's right. There's something about that cuddle time that feels so special, so for now that's what we do.
I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight and today wore my pre-preg jeans. Finally! :) Now my goal is to keep losing until I feel good about myself. I haven't liked my body since pre-infertility meds. I'd really love to have some confidence again, so I'm going to continue to eat better and stay more active than I was in previous years.
Em's 6 week check-up was this week and she's up to 9lbs, 3oz. She's getting some little rolls on her thighs now and I love it! She is still eating every 2.5 hrs during the day, and is sleeping for 4 hr stretches. Occasionally she'll go 5 hrs and it's amazing how much more rested I feel by just getting one more uninterrupted hour in!
I can't for the life of me decide on a contraception method. We spent soooo long trying to get pregnant that trying to prevent feels really wrong. But we want to allow time for DH to finish his degree (about another year) before we start "not preventing" another pregnancy. So we have to decide on something, we're just not sure what.
I go back to work on Nov. 9th. I hate to be in a position where staying home is completely not an option for us, but it's how things are. We could not survive (financially) without my paycheck, so back I go. But I have to keep telling myself how unbelievably lucky we are to have a great friend of the family who will snuggle Emory all day, rather than sending her to a traditional daycare. That makes it easier, I think. Not easy. Just easier than horrible.
I'm doing really well on the BF'ing front. Meaning that I am almost to the point where I could use my cover and nurse in public without flashing anyone. I haven't been brave enough to actually DO it in public, but when I use the cover in the car I'm pretty sure nothing is showing. DH and I both don't really love the idea of openly BF'ing in places like restaurants and other crowded places because it makes people uncomfortable. I know other people have no issue with it and that's great! For us, it's not something we'll probably do. But it's good to know that I can find a secluded area and do it if I had to. Also, doing it at friends and family's houses will be much easier if I can successfully use the cover! I won't have to lock myself in a bedroom for 45 minutes anymore.
A friend gave me her Mo.by wrap and I've been trying so hard to get the hang of wrapping it right, but I'm not there yet. It seems like it's always too loose by the time I put Emory in it. It holds her but she sags way down where her feet are down on my legs and her head is below my chest. I keep watching how-to videos but I just can't get it! Got any tips?
I have a new fascination for freezer meals. I made DH several sets of microwaveable lunches last weekend. I made taco pockets, burritos, pizza roll-ups, and breakfast burritos. I have ingredients ready to make manicotti as well, but haven't had a chance. The PKU meals are a little trickier, but I may start on those tomorrow. It sure would help A TON if I could get the hang of the Mo.by wrap so that I could wear Emory while I cook. (sigh)
She finally fits into her cloth diapers! I plan to do a separate post soon and tell you what I like and dislike about them all. The laundry aspect really isn't bad. And I am NOT good about keeping up with housework. But I've been washing every 2-3 days and it's been working out fine. My stash is big enough that I never get down to having no clean ones left. There are a few kinks I need to work out, and I'll elaborate on those in my post.

That's all for now. Hope y'all are having a great weekend! The weather here has been gorgeous so we went to a county fair today to enjoy it! :)

Can we slow down, please?

2011-10-10T23:04:00.003-04:00

I had my postpartum check up today, and Em has her six week appt on Wednesday.

Ahem.

SIX WEEKS?!?!?!!!

Dear Time,
Can you slow down a little, please? 'Cause it took us over four years to get here and I'd like to bask in the snuggles, cuddles, baby smell, gummy smiles, and even the tiny baby cries for a while. I am going to miss them so much when they're gone, so if I could, I'd like to have a little longer to enjoy them. Thanks.

In other news, the first thing my doctor said when he looked at my chart was "where did your weight go?" I could have kissed him for that. (Okay, not really, but hugged him? Yes.) Before I got pregnant, I weighed 165 pounds. The week before I gave birth I think I was somewhere around 180-185. Can't remember exactly. But today I was 168. :) Yay!

Now, if my pre-preg jeans would finally fit, that'd be GREAT! Too bad they don't. I told Dr. Wonderful that I think my bones must have moved or something. He said it's possible, but that they should be fitting again very soon.

In other, other news, I felt like a rock star yesterday at the grocery store because I got a roll of Bounty paper towels for free. FREE! Yippee!!! I had a 50 cent coupon, the store doubles, and it was on sale 10/$10. So it was free. Which totally made my day. Nevermind all the other stuff that wasn't free. lol

I coupon, but I'm not a hoarder. Therefore I do not typically get 95 bags of croutons for free, 120 boxes of cereal for $3, or 74 tubes of toothpaste for 80 cents. Although if I had the space I might just do it! I love watching that show and it always amazes me when those ladies get $900 worth of groceries for $35. Talk about rock star status!

Random thought of the day: if I could have any job in the world (you know, if money was no issue and I had mad skills in any field I wanted), I think I'd like to be a professional photographer. I helped do some wedding pictures for my 2nd cousin about a year ago and I really enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a teacher but sometimes I think it would be fun to do photography too. Maybe just on the weekends and breaks? Then I'd get the best of both worlds. :)

What would you do? What's your dream job?

Shameless Plug!

2011-10-07T18:14:00.001-04:00

I'm selling my Hypnobabies kit on eB.ay. If any lurkers out there want one, it's got LOTS of extras! I bought it on eB.ay when I was pregnant and now I'm just trying to break even. It comes with all of the literature and workbooks, the 6 birthing CDs, plus another 6 CDs that pretty much cover every birth/pregnancy scenario!

The million-dollar question: Does it work?

I can't really answer that because I didn't follow the study course like I was supposed to. It has a very structured layout, and there are "assignments" that included listening to certain discs each day. I started out doing it religiously, and OH MAN the times I fell asleep listening to it, it was the BEST NAP EVER. It was so neat because I'd drift off and wake up exactly when the CD was over. Hypnotized? I don't know, but it gave me some great rest! :)

As time went on I fell off the wagon, so to speak, and kept forgetting to do my listening. So I didn't complete the course correctly. Plus when I got to the hospital, I had forgotten all about it since I hadn't been practicing.

But it gets great reviews, and I know that if nothing else, it helped me not freak out. I normally panic over getting a blood draw, and I remained surprisingly calm throughout the ordeal. I didn't even freak out about the IV, which is BIG for me! But I kept my cool. Well, except for when the nurse was listing off anti-nausea meds and asking me which I would prefer while I was in the middle of dry heaving. I got a little testy during that. lol

Anyhoo, if anyone is looking for a great kit, mine is for sale! Just look for the listing that says "LOTS OF EXTRAS" in the title.

400th Post

2011-10-02T18:58:00.000-04:00

4 years and 4 months, and 400 posts later...................

She loves playing with her Daddy!

Has it really already been a month? :(

Let's Talk About This.

2011-09-27T15:41:00.001-04:00

This post is about br.ea.stfeeding. I'm going to refer to it as BFing so I won't get hits from sickos who are searching certain keywords. ;)

Okay ladies. BFing is way harder than I ever thought it would be. Let's back up a little and talk about preparation. I read several books on BFing, and read all kinds of stuff online. I really thought I was ready. I was like "okay let's DO this!"

Um. Newsflash.

The books sugar coat it.

For the entire time we were in the hospital, Emory was NOT having anything to do with BFing. She would scream and push me away. Literally- put her hands up on her face and push my nip away from her face (ouch!) and then put her hands on my stomach and chest and push herself away. It left us BOTH in tears.

The lac consultant was super nice but very aggressive with Emory. She would shove her head up to me, which just pissed Emory off in a major way! When we left the hospital, we were sent with instructions to use a makeshift SNS system. We had a little syringe and a neo-natal size feeding tube and we were supposed to have me pump, then fill the syringe with milk, then tape the tube to my b.re.as.t, then have her feed that way, with either me or DH slowly pushing the syringe so she would get enough.

Yeah. Right.

So the alternative to that was to tape the tube to our pinky finger and feed her by putting our finger in her mouth and having her eat via the tube.

That way worked great. But oh man was it ever a hassle!!

At our 4-day check-up, the pediatrician told us she had lost from 6lbs 13oz down to 6lbs 1oz. She suggested that I continue pumping and supplement with formula to make sure Emory was eating enough. So we did that, but also kept attempting to BF at each feeding. The idea was to get her to latch, but if she didn't we'd pump/use formula. We were supposed to go back a few days later for another weigh-in.

So we tried. HARD. I sat many times and cried my eyes out because my baby was fighting me (literally) when I'd try to feed her. DH got frustrated with the whole process and pulled out a bottle and started feeding her pumped milk/formula in the bottle. I felt like a failure and don't even get me started on the pain I was having from all the thrashing around she was doing.

The next weigh-in? She had only gained an ounce.

From that point on, I pumped exclusively and added formula to make 2.5-3 ounces. We gave it to her using the "Bre.as.tflow Bottle" made by The First Years. We did that for 2 weeks and went back for another weigh-in. This time she was up to 6lbs 9oz. YAY! So she was gaining weight and it was obvious that the issue was just that she wasn't getting enough milk straight from the source.

So we went on like that for a few more days but I was still upset that I had "failed" at BFing. I was sick and tired of pumping, my nips stayed blistered and sore, and feedings were so complicated because there were so many steps involved.

At the beginning of last week, I decided to draw the line. I was going to give BFing one more GOOD shot or give up and go to formula altogether.

I went to the local health food store and picked up an herb called Fenugreek. I read that it's good for boosting milk supply. (Oddly, the side effect is that I smell like pancake syrup. No joke. And it's STRONG.) I also picked up a pair of nip shields because I read somewhere online that sometimes the baby will think it's a bottle when using shields. And then I committed to going 24 hours feeding only from the source.

It was a rough 24 hours but we did it. Then Tuesday I decided to try for one more 24 hour stretch. And we did it. Things were rough (she'd nurse for an hour total and then scream for a bottle immediately after). But we did it.

My nips hurt so bad I would cry when she latched. They bled in the shower.

But we did it!

It got easier each day, I was able to start removing the shield halfway through feedings and then altogether by the end of the week, and by this weekend the pain was gone (Hallelujah!). On Monday I met with the lactation consultant to make sure the latch was right, and we got a great report. Emory is up to 7lbs 12oz and is nursing enthusiastically, when she's not half asleep!

I can't believe it. We were able to use a bottle for almost 2 weeks and come back to nursing successfully!

I can't tell you how many times I told myself "this is it. I quit. I can't do this."

But I stuck with it and I'm so glad.

The point of the story?

BFing is friggin' HARD. Nobody tells you how hard it will be. And there's nothing wrong with giving up.

But I'm glad we stuck with it. :)

Dear Kid, part dos

2011-09-23T21:39:00.000-04:00

We're gonna be best buddies!

Disclaimer: Never fear, I didn't not allow the dog to lick Emory's mouth or face. She was sniffing her and we always watch her very closely around the baby. :)

Two Weeks!

2011-09-15T21:05:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been two weeks. It feels longer and shorter all at once.

Emory was 6 lbs 13oz at birth and by discharge she had dropped to 6lbs 1oz. Why? Breastfeeding wasn't exactly going well.

At one week she was about 6lbs 2oz.

Yesterday we went for our 14 day check-up and my sweet girl was up to 6lbs 9oz! YAY!

She is spending hours at a time awake and she loves to be talked to. I love our little "talks" too. :) She just looks and looks at me and furrows her brow like she's trying really hard to understand what I'm saying. It's adorable.

Brea.stfeeding is going okay. I am pumping almost exclusively, just to make sure she's eating enough. I mainly use the pumped milk and add formula just to make sure she's eating at least 2.5oz at each feeding. I try to have at least one "real" nursing time a day. Sometimes she does it, sometimes she fusses and carries on and won't have any part of it. My nips? Hurt like none other. But I'm thankful that my milk came in and that I'm able to pump enough for right now. Yes, I'm planning on trying to go back to regular breastfeeding (without the pumping) over the next couple of weeks. Now that she's gaining, the pediatrician and I both feel better about getting her back to nursing. :)

She is just about to fit into her newborn clothes. For the first couple of weeks she has been rotating through the same 3 sleepers and the same 2 or 3 outfits because everything swallowed her whole.

I'm sad that she's growing but glad too. I want her to be healthy and I look forward to meeting milestones, but I'm wanting time to slow down a little. I only have about 8.5 weeks off and 2 have already flown by. I just want to stop time for a little while and cuddle some more!

I ordered birth announcements and I can't WAIT to share them. :)

Things I have learned:

Since she's too little still for her cloth diapers, we're using disposables. I love the ones that rhyme with "stampers" and HATE the ones that rhyme with "buggies." The Buggies leak because her little legs are so skinny. The Stampers are more pricey but DH and I both think we'll get some more of those until the cloth ones fit.
Something about changing her diaper stimulates her to poop. We go through about 20 diapers a day because immediately after we change a pee diaper, she poops. It's annoying but really cute at the same time. :)
Ni.pp.le shields are wonderful. I like the Tommee Tippee brand because they are one size fits all.
No one tells you how to figure out what size horns you need for your bre.ast pump. It's trial and error but OH MAN it makes a difference!
There is a wonderful thing called "Newman's Ni.p.ple Cream" and anyone who is going to brea.stfeed needs it! It's prescription only but it's a lifesaver.

I think that's it for now. :)

Missy from Queen Bee, I can't figure out how to find your email address. Can you leave it in the comments so I can email you?

I'll leave you with a pic I took that I absolutely LOVE. I want to order an 8x10 of it and frame it for a photo collage in our hallway. DH doesn't "get it." He asked why I took a picture of her ear. I explained that I love it so much because it shows her hair in the back! She's got a sort of mullet. You know, business in the front, party in the back. ;)

Have a great weekend! Much love to y'all.

A Few More

2011-09-13T21:23:00.001-04:00

I have no idea why this one flipped. Sorry. It wasn't saved that way on my computer.

This one makes me cry.

Every.

Time.

See.

It.

I have been wearing that necklace every day for the past 13 months. Clinging to that verse was the only way I was able to put one foot in front of the other for a long time.

Now I'm thanking God every time I cuddle this sweet girl.

Get Ready......

2011-09-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

TO DIE OF CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!

Birth Day

2011-09-05T22:46:00.000-04:00

We arrived at the hospital late Tuesday evening and got checked in (this was August 30th). My doctor had said that my bp was borderline at Monday's appointment, and I was dilated about 1.5cm, 80% effaced. It was not an emergency situation, but he said that since she was ready and because the bp was kind of unpredictable, we could go on and come in for an induction if we wanted. It seemed like as good a time as any!

So Tuesday night we got there and got checked in. They started my IV and Pitocin and we basically just tried to sleep that night as we normally would. It was easier said than done though- the nurse was coming in and out constantly and the IV made me have to pee every 30 minutes or so. I got so tired of getting unhooked and going to the bathroom, and poor DH didn't get sleep either because I needed help getting to the bathroom with all the machines.

About an hour after we got there, I got a really bad case of acid reflux and it was so painful in my chest I got nauseated, so I called for the nurse. I was hoping for some Tums or something, but she brought in this little cup (like coffee creamer size) of something. I can't remember the name of it but it was SUPER salty and gross. She told me it would taste horrible, so I held my nose and threw it back.

IMMEDIATELY I started saying "oh no. Oh noooo. Ohhhhh nooooooooo."

I knew it was on its way up. The nurse grabbed me a bag and sure enough, up it came. That started the first of MANY vomiting spells. I vomited for a few minutes until all of that medicine was out of my system and then I felt much better. We slept on and off until about 8am.

Wednesday morning when the doctor came in to check me I got so frustrated because I was only at 2 cm. WHAT? I had been on pitocin all night and only dilated half a cm! The monitor showed that I was having contractions but I didn't really feel them. (Which made me excited. Stupid ME thought "oh good, I'm handling this so well!" Baahaahaha...yeah. Just wait.) The doctor decided to break my water at that point. Can I just stop and say how incredibly gross that was??! Oh my word it was nasty. I don't know what I expected, but it was definitely a new experience.

I started feeling the contractions more almost immediately. This was my "oh I get it" moment. Little did I know it was about to get way, way worse. lol

I had drank about 10 ounces of my PKU formula a few minutes before he broke my water. Most of the time they don't let you eat or drink during labor, but since I have PKU my doctor and I had discussed that as long as I felt good enough, I needed to keep drinking my formula as I always would since we didn't know how long labor would be.

I drank the formula, then 30 mins later had my water broken. Note to self- not a good combination! I got up to pee a few minutes after the water broke and while I was on the potty I started feeling nauseated. Again. To make a long story short- I threw up so many times I lost count. The contractions started coming right on top of one another and every few minutes I would spend 10 mins or so throwing up. (TMI- it got to the point where it was constant dry heaving and I started bawling because I was so miserable.) DH called for the nurse and asked them to give me something to stop the vomiting. The nurse thought it was a good time to rattle off a list of the different anti-nausea medications and I was mid-heave when she asked which one I wanted. Really? I yelled "I......don't......caaaarrreee" in between hurls. lol

I was around 4.5cm by the time the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural and I was SOOO ready. The epidural process was NOT fun, and the girl kept saying "your spaces are so close together I'm having a hard time finding it." Not what I want to hear when I'm in intense pain while simultaneously trying to remain completely still and push my back out in a curve just the way she needed me to. The whole process took almost 20 minutes and by the end I was literally about to have a full-out panic attack. Seriously. It was awful. It felt horrible to feel her "tapping" things into my spine and with the contractions going on at the same time I can't tell you how freaked out I was.

Okay so once the epi was in and I had gotten some anti-nausea meds, I was in HEAVEN. I was actually able to sleep off and on for a little while. The nurse came in and checked me at some point and said I was 6cm, and to expect to dilate 1 cm per hour. I think this was around 12 or 1, so I was thinking we'd have the baby out by around 5 or 6 that evening.

I went back to sleep and the nurse came back in about 45 minutes later. She asked how I felt and I said fine, but that I felt like I needed to poo. (Sorry, TMI again.) She checked me and said I was fully dilated. DH and I were like WHAT?!? Yes, folks, we went from 6cm to 10 in 45 minutes. Woohoo!

I started pushing (which was totally harder than I thought) and I pushed for a total of about an hour and 20 minutes. Emory's little head had a hard time getting under my pubic bone and at one point I started crying because I really didn't think I could push any more. I was SO tired and I was giving it all I had because it's uncomfortable for the baby to just be sort of in limbo down there, and I think I just got frustrated. But DH was an awesome coach and I kept going.

At 2:22, Emory made her appearance! It was completely surreal. I can't describe it but it was almost an out of body experience when they put her on me and she started crying.

Of course I broke down and cried like a baby myself. Dr. S was so awesome and kept saying that this journey had been a long time coming and we were starting a whole new life from this point on. While I got finished up, DH went over to the warmer and was taking pictures. He was so cute because he was mesmerized. I had to keep reminding him "take some pictures!!" because he wanted to just stand there and stare at her. :)

Looking back, I feel lucky to have been able to sleep during the last part of the contractions. The really bad parts were the vomiting during the worst contractions, and the epidural was definitely not a highlight.

But it really was a beautiful experience and I'm so thankful.
So thankful.

Full Circle

2011-09-02T21:37:00.000-04:00

A good friend pointed out to me that exactly one year ago my fb status read something like "I'm feeling especially down in the dumps these days." I went back and looked at the statuses from this week last year and we had just found out that the EA waiting list had not moved in months. We had our money ready to go, just needed a match. Things were not moving and I was not hopeful. It's amazing how things change and come full circle.

As we drove home today, DH and I were talking about how crazy, stressful, and exhausting the last few days have been (uh, Emory, the nipples are not for chewing or tearing, thanks!) but we reflected on how amazing it has been. DH opened up about feelings he never knew he was capable of, and I replayed the events of the past 3 days over and over in my head. So many feelings of awe, humility, relief, and just sheer love.

Then I thought about the past 4 years and I thought of many of you out there still waiting. My heart hurt for you because now, standing on the other side of the fence, I can say that it is COMPLETELY WORTH IT. Emory has only been with us for 2 and a half days and I can honestly say it was worth every tear, every doctor's appointment, every BFN, every dollar spent, every night spent begging God to help us find our dream. I had SO many very dark days. So many times I got angry or felt hopeless.

My point is: please don't give up. I know sometimes I got to the point where I thought I couldn't take it one more day. I know it's hard and you just want the pain to stop. I wanted to go hide away for the longest time just so I could escape the reminders of what I didn't have. It's horrible.

But don't give up.

One way or another, you will get here. And here is an amazing place to be.

Much love and prayers to you who wait.

Emory Grace

2011-09-01T09:51:00.000-04:00

She arrived yesterday at 2:22pm!

6lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long

We're doing great! Pictures and story to come!

New Things

2011-08-29T20:40:00.001-04:00

Since I want to remember everything about my pregnancy experience, this post is going to be about the changes in diet that I went through over the past 9 months. I know most of you won't be able to relate to the terminology, and that's okay. It's mostly just a PKU post for myself. :)

When I got pregnant, I was eating 375mg phe per day. I was drinking PhenylAde60 mixed with 50 ounces of fluid (half water, half Sunny D).

Right now, I am eating 750mg and my last filter paper was 0.5%, so the 750 is still too low. I will try to eat close to 800mg for these last few days. I am drinking PhenylFree2HP and a small amount of PhenylAde60, but now it is mixed in 32 ounces of Sunny D. The large volume before was making me sick and cutting down on the liquid has helped. The protein equivalent in the formula is 60g. Before, it was 100g. Throughout the entire pregnancy, my blood levels stayed mostly below a 1. My dietitian was not managing it well, and I was handed over to Dr. S. about a month ago. She immediately increased the phe intake but the levels are still too low! The dietitian should have increased them long ago and now it is unlikely that they will go up into range before I deliver. It's a shame too, because I could have been enjoying higher phe foods for a longer period of time if she had done a better job.

New things I got to eat while pregnant:
1. ICE CREAM!!!!! I tried M.cD's vanilla cone, Dai.ry Que.en dilly bars, vanilla cone dipped in butterscotch, and a banana cream pie Blizzard. I also had some Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia and junior vanilla Frosties from Wen.dy's. The consensus? The M.cD's vanilla cone is my favorite, followed by the Frosty. :) DH and I had so much fun making late night runs for ice cream. He gets a chocolate sundae (with extra peanuts!) and I get a vanilla cone. We said the other night that we'll miss our little ice cream dates!

2. BREAD! Okay so it's not the first time I've had bread, but it IS the first time I could eat it semi-freely. I made lettuce-tomato-pickle sandwiches all summer long. Toward the end, I am eating 6-inch Subway sandwiches loaded with veggies (no cheese). The first time I ordered a sandwich from Subway I was a mixture of giddy and emotional. I felt rebellious and at the same time I was so excited that at the age of 28 I could finally order something normal off the menu that I almost cried a little. It was definitely a new experience to blend in and be "normal" when ordering at a fast food place. Not ordering just a side of fries was so exciting for me. I could get a real entire meal. I also got to eat breadsticks from Dominoe's one night while DH ate pizza. I got to eat SIX breadsticks! WOW! I made that my whole dinner and got so full I almost couldn't finish. I enjoyed alternating between dipping them in marinara sauce and garlic butter. The heartburn afterward was killer, but it was fun to try. :)

3. Rice. I normally can't eat much rice. Okay I normally don't even bother with rice. A quarter of a cup of rice is 50mg, so it's kind of a waste of phe. But this summer I was eating a cup of rice with butter and salt for lunch all the time. It is filling and was one of the few things that didn't cause heartburn. :)

4. Breakfast. I normally skip breakfast because when you're limited to a precious few grams of protein per day, it seems like a waste to spend them on breakfast. This summer I was eating oatmeal, pop tarts, and toaster strudels for breakfast. I needed to go ahead and use some phe so that I'd meet my goal by the end of the day. My favorite is the grape flavored pop tarts. As weird as it sounds, the oatmeal gave me horrible heartburn and I quit eating it after a while.

5. YOGURT! I got to eat GoGurt Yogurt pouches. I tried strawberry, blueberry, and banana. My favorite was banana.

Since my tolerance is at almost 800 right now, I technically could have been incorporating some things like hot dogs, sandwich meats, and small amounts of cheese. However, I chose not to. Why? Because it's going to be hard enough to give up these few things I was able to enjoy during this time. I was afraid to open the door to even more new things because I don't want to fall in love and then have to quit again. I *almost* wish I hadn't tried ice cream. It's going to be painful to watch people eat vanilla soft serve now!

So here I am, 38 weeks. Tonight I'm having a Subway sandwich for dinner. I had a vanilla cone this afternoon and tomorrow I'm going to Ol.ive Gar.den with my mom and I'm going to inhale a breadstick or two. I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts and send myself off with a proper "real food" farewell. :)

Blog Award

2011-08-27T17:18:00.000-04:00

Lindsey over at Worth the Wait gave me a bloggy award! :) Thanks Lindsey!

The OFFICIAL rules of the award are:

-Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.

-Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.

-Give this award to up to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

-Contact those bloggers and tell them the exciting news!

Seven things about myself:

1. I'm dog-crazy. There are few animals as loyal as dogs!

2. I like to do crafts. I'm not fantastic at any one thing, but I'm okay at a lot of things!

3. I'm newly addicted to Pinterest. Do you pin?

4. I wish I could get into cooking really great home-made meals. I aspire to be domesticated but my kitchen is ridiculously small. lol

5. My husband and I watch ZERO sports. None whatsoever. We are total nerds.

6. I used to be a singing server in college. Also a regular (non-singing) server for a long time.

7. Embryo adoption is the best thing we ever did! :)

Now I'm supposed to give the award to some newly discovered bloggers, but I don't really have any "newly discovered" bloggers! So I will leave it open and if you read here and have a blog, consider yourself a recipient of this award!

Crunch Time

2011-08-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling the pressure to get the house in tip-top shape. I have tried to be good about picking up a little each day this summer so that a complete cleaning overhaul isn't needed, and I've done an okay job at it. The clutter is under control, as are the dishes and laundry. But I really want to get down and scrub the dust bunnies away before next week. The floors need sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and we get cobwebs in our corners like nobody's business. Oh, and my ceiling fan in the living room has 3 inches of ick on the blades.

DH bought a yard service package through LivingSocial deals (yay!) and they are supposed to come today. Also, we have a painter coming this evening to finish painting the outside of our house. It's mostly finished, just needs trimwork.

Once we get all of those things done, I think I will feel better but right now I feel like everything's a mess! The driveway has all of the shutters in it, ready to be put back up. The yard is HORRIBLY overdue for a mow and trim, and the dogs need a bath. (sigh)

Today I'm going to focus on the floors and getting everything dusted. One day at a time, right?

I go back to the doc on Monday to see what the plan is. If my blood pressure is still high then he said he will probably induce next week (38+ weeks). My sister in law will be in town next weekend so it would actually be very convenient if everything happens then, EXCEPT for the fact that school starts on the 6th. So, I would miss the first week of school and I was really hoping to be there. :(

I've got my bag packed, the house will be clean by tomorrow (let's hope), I've had my pedicure, and all that's left to do is wait!

I can't believe it's so close!

Dr. Seuss Nursery Tour

2011-08-23T20:49:00.000-04:00

Hi there,
As promised, here is the nursery tour! Remember, my mother in law and I completed the mural last summer, before we were matched with embryos. The crib was purchased a whopping 4 years ago, right after we started trying because we just *knew* we'd get pregnant in a month or two. The changing table was purchased on Cr.aigsl.ist for $35. The dresser is old. The bench was made by me. :)

If you hear random "tap-tap-tapping," it's my dog walking around in the hallway at the beginning. We have laminate floors, so her nails make noise when she walks. Maddie is feeling MUCH better now, although she licks her butt through the whole video. Sorry! I guess her bug bites are still itching her. But she's acting more like herself and I think the antiseptic spray I've been using has helped tremendously! YAY for happy puppies!

Okay so here goes....

PS- My bloodwork/urine collection result was not too bad so I go back Monday for my 38 week appointment. I think I had my first "real" contraction last night, too. I sat straight up instead of rolling over to get up (had to pee!) and I think it triggered one. It was something I hadn't felt before and it definitely was more than just a pulled muscle or something like that.

Gotta go find some antacids. Good night ladies!

Update

2011-08-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

So ladies. The 37-week cervical check was NOT as bad as I had heard.

Seriously, I'm a big ole' baby about everything and I didn't find it painful at all. It was more like "geez, Doc, how high is your fist gonna go in there?"

And no, it wasn't really his fist, but it didn't feel like just one finger either! lol

Emory is still head down but hasn't really dropped much. He said I'm dilated to about 1 cm. HAH! That's nothing!

Blood pressure was still on the high side so he's running tests on the 24hr pee collection I had to do this weekend and I should know more tomorrow.

I'm charging up my camera so I can do the nursery tour *hopefully* tomorrow! And I realized the last time I took belly pictures was at 33-34 weeks. So we are overdue!

Hope you had a great Monday!
Check back soon!

37 Weeks

2011-08-21T20:36:00.000-04:00

How Far Along: 37 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a pineapple, according to the web.

Maternity Clothes: The pants/shorts with the short, thick elastic bands are getting uncomfortable. The full panel stuff is more comfy but it's hotter.

Weight Gain: About 25 lbs.

Belly: Still an innie! I don't think it's ever gonna "pop," which is okay with me!

Stretch Marks: I have so many I've lost track.

Sleep: Using 4-5 pillows to make a nest, also finding it nearly impossible to sleep flat anymore. Have to prop up to almost sitting or the heartburn kills me.

Best Moment of the Week: Filling out the last few pages of my Belly Book and the first few pages of Emory's baby book.

Movement: She has hiccups CONSTANTLY! Must be practicing breathing!

Symptoms: I was pretty sick last week. Still not feeling 100% but I'm learning little tricks to keep the heartburn at bay. I take 2 Pepcid ACs a day (as per my doctor's recommendation) one at noon and one about an hour before bed, tums before I eat anything, I don't eat or drink after about 8:30, and I sleep almost sitting straight up. Also, I keep saltines on my nightstand (flashback to first tri!) because if I get too hungry in the middle of the night, the acid kicks into high gear. I usually eat 2 or 3 crackers right when I wake up and even eat 1 or 2 during the night at bathroom trips. I haven't tossed my cookies since Tuesday night/Wednesday. Hoping that was the last of it!

Food cravings: Target popcorn. But I can't eat popcorn because it really does a number on my stomach right now. :(

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I am thankful beyond words.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting this gal here. (But at the same time I'm trying to soak in every feeling I'm having because I know I'll miss being preggo.)

Weekly Wisdom: See heartburn tips above.

Milestones: Full term!

Emotions: Mixed. Sad to be at the end but excited to be at the beginning!

Other stuff:

I am having "the check" at my appointment tomorrow. Hoping it's not too terrible! I am interested to see if there's any progress. My sister delivered her first at 38 weeks and her second at 37 weeks, so it could be any time!
I did my 24 hr pee collection this weekend. It was super fun. (not) But I did it! Go me!
I finally found our little point and shoot camera that has video capability. So be watching for a nursery tour this week! I promise I'll get to it as long as I don't start puking again! lol
My poor dog (Maddie, the almost 8-yr-old schnauzer) has been working herself up for the past few days over some mosquito bites on her butt. (Sounds stupid, but I'm not kidding.) I can feel them and there are about 4 or 5. She scratches constantly, to the point that DH and I can't get any sleep. Poor baby. She has severe skin allergies and I don't know how to help her! I have given her Benadryl in the past for flea bite reactions, but last night the Benadryl didn't help at all. She's miserable and spent all morning underneath our dresser, refusing to come out. I got some itch soothing spray and rubbed it in good and that seemed to help a little bit, but not completely. I hate seeing her so miserable! :(
I have spent a LOT of time on the couch this week since I've felt crappy. During my couch potato time I have discovered and become hopelessly addicted to Pinterest! I am LOVING getting neat ideas and recipes! Do you Pin?

Rough 24 Hours!

2011-08-17T22:15:00.001-04:00

Hey there,

It has been a rough 24 hours. But we made it, everything is fine, and I'm hoping to feel much better after today is over.

A little background info- I have to drink a PKU formula every day. Currently, I am taking a whopping 50-55 ounces of it. It's VERY acidic, as it is made up of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Literally just drinking a bunch of acid every day. I drink it 5 times a day. Ten ounces at a time, at each mealtime and then at 4pm and bedtime.

Okay so there are basically two issues that suck about this:
1. When you're drinking 50 ounces of something so dang filling (it's like baby formula!), it leaves little room for food.

2. It causes INSANE heartburn. Since I'm already prone to heartburn from being preggo, adding so much liquid amino acids makes for a really un-fun time. I've been keeping it under control with antacids, but the past few days it hasn't been helping at all.

Fast forward to last night.

I haven't been eating regular meals due to feeling full and having acid reflux from the formula. But I have to get a certain amount of protein each day to keep my blood levels in control for the PKU. So last night at around 8, I decided to go to DQ to get a Blizzard so that I could meet my protein intake goal. It was my first ever Blizzard and I got banana cream pie flavor.

It was SO. GOOD.

I gobbled it up, drank my bedtime formula a couple of hours later, popped my antacids, and went to bed.

I woke up around 2:00am choking. Remember, I posted about it a while back? This was the first post about it, and although I haven't had any more BAD episodes, I have had a couple of short ones here and there. Well, I caught my breathe, got a drink of water, and calmed back down. I went back to sleep thinking that was the end of it.

Then I woke up around 3:30 because I had THE WORST heartburn that I've ever had in my entire life. I can't even describe it, y'all. I had to focus on breathing deeply because it hurt so, so bad. I sat up on the bed for about 15 minutes, hoping it would subside. By 4am, I decided maybe if I threw up it would feel better.

I got up and was thinking about brushing my teeth so I'd gag a little and maybe throw up this acid. Halfway to the bathroom I started to run because I was already gagging just thinking about it!

So without being too gross and graphic, I threw up 4 times. The first 3 times I noticed some red in the toilet but I figured it was my prenatal vitamin I had taken just before bed. It's pinkish-purple, so I figured that was it. Plus I didn't have my contacts in or my glasses on so I couldn't really see. The 4th time I threw up, it was BRIGHT red and was only liquid. I called DH in and asked him if that was what I thought it was- blood. He looked and said yes, and immediately went to consult Dr. Goo.gle.

Well, I already had a doctor's appt scheduled for this morning at 10, and since I stopped throwing up and felt a thousand times better, I told DH I didn't want to go to the ER (apparently that's what Dr. Goo.gle recommended). The baby was moving as normal, even had hiccups. My heartburn had gotten considerably better and I stopped throwing up. By the time we would have gotten to the ER and gotten seen by a doctor, it would have been just about time for my appointment anyway!

So we went back to bed (I did not lay back down because I was afraid the acid would return). I slept for maybe 2 hours, sitting straight up against pillows. Not the most comfortable sleep ever. hah!

I got to the doctor's office and my OB said he thought the blood was coming from all the acid irritation in my esophagus as of the past few days. He said once I started throwing up it probably burst a blood vessel in my throat and he was not alarmed. Good to know!

The not-so-pleasant news is that my blood pressure was high today. It was 148/99 when I got to the office. They put me on the fetal monitor for a few minutes and the doctor said that Emory's heartbeat looked "just beautiful" so they had me lay there a few more minutes and rechecked my bp. It came down considerably, but he wants me to do a 24hr urine collection just in case. I will collect from Saturday to Sunday and then I go back in on Monday.

Back to the formula and acid reflux problem- I spoke to my metabolic doctor and told her about my lovely night hugging the toilet and we agreed it was best to reduce the volume and concentration of the PKU formula. I was at the very top of the spectrum (thanks to my very new and inexperienced dietitian) so it will cause no harm to decrease. I'm BEYOND RELIEVED to say that starting tomorrow, I will cut down from 50 ounces to 32 ounces. Much more do-able! Thank you Lord!

So to sum it all up- the past 24 hours have been horrible but I'm hoping that with the decrease in formula my throat will start feeling better, the acid will remain at bay, and maybe I can get through the next four weeks without puking all night again! And I'm hopeful that the high blood pressure today was just a result of a bad night and nerves.

Whew!

To Wipe? Or Not to Wipe?

2011-08-14T10:15:00.006-04:00

Eye catching title, huh? lol
I try.

Okay so I originally was NOT going to use cloth wipes with my cloth diapers. But a friend mentioned them to me (she uses them) and it really does make sense because then I wouldn't have to have 2 diaper pails. Right now I have one for cloth and one for disposables and wipes. I have tons and tons of disposable wipes that I was given at showers (YAY!) but when those run out, I'm thinking about doing cloth ones. Or maybe reserving the disposable wipes for travel/diaper bag and just use the cloth at home. I'm not sure yet.

I hope there are some cloth diapering mamas out there that can answer a few questions for me-
1. Do you have to spray off the poo? I will be spraying the diapers, but do I have to spray the wipes? Seems like that could get messy since they're so small and light. I can picture one getting sprayed right down the toilet or the poop getting spattered everywhere.

2. Can you keep them in a wipe warmer? I know you'd have to worry about mold/mildew issues if the wipes are stored wet in the warmer. Not sure if I wanna have to deal with that. But wouldn't it be pointless to keep dry wipes in the warmer?

3. Do you (personally) prefer to keep them already wet or use a spray bottle?

4. If you store them dry, what do you put in your solution? And how does washing the wipes with solution on them affect your diapers? Do they get build-up?

5. Do you travel with them? If so, how do you keep them in your diaper bag? Dry with a small spray bottle? Wet in a wipes case?

I'm super duper curious but I'm not sure what I want to do.

Thanks ladies!

35 Weeks

2011-08-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

How Far Along: 35 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a honeydew melon. (Yum that sounds good right now!)

Maternity Clothes: Yep. I hope everyone really likes my 3 shirts I am rotating through at this point, 'cause that's all I've got! Good thing I won't have to worry about dressing for work for long. I have teacher work days the last week of August and school starts on the 6th. Jury's still out on whether or not I will still be preggo at that point! (Cross your fingers that she'll come RIGHT ON her due date of the 12th. I really want to work the first week of school!)

Weight Gain: About 25 lbs.

Belly: Still an innie! I don't think it's ever gonna "pop." I had a laporoscopy (sp?) 2 years ago and my belly button goes in for miles. ;)

Stretch Marks: No new ones, just the same as I've had for a while.

Sleep: I have been alternating sleeping on the couch and sleeping in the bed. It seems to help with the back aches a little.

Best Moment of the Week: Realizing that I only have about 4 more child-free weekends. Bring on the lack of sleep, spit up, and poop! We've waited 4 years! :)

Movement: Feels like she rolls over now more than actual kicking. Not much room for stretching her legs. I can tell when she rolls and her butt moves across my belly. As weird as it feels, I know I'll miss that.

Symptoms: DH and I were walking across a parking lot this weekend and I noticed my shadow was waddling. It's official. I waddle. lol Heartburn has been tolerable since I've started taking Pe.pcid for it. Back pain is still, well, a pain!

Food cravings: Ice cream! :)

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I am thankful beyond words.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting this gal here. (But at the same time I'm trying to soak in every feeling I'm having because I know I'll miss being preggo at some point.)

Weekly Wisdom: Hmmm.......I got nothing this time.

Milestones: Only 5 weeks to go (at the most)!

Emotions: Evened out since my cranky phase a few weeks ago. I'm sure DH is thankful for that!

What's Your Valley?

2011-08-07T14:45:00.001-04:00

I remember writing this post about feeling like I was in a valley. I think all of us, regardless of our struggles, find ourselves in "the valley" at some point or another.

This morning's church service was awesome.

We watched a video. It was the personal story of the valley our pastor's father found himself in about a year and a half ago.

To be honest, it made my valley look like small potatoes. It reminded me that although I had to walk through a valley that was extremely difficult and dark, I was still blessed beyond measure and things could have been much, much worse.

It is an extremely moving story, and one I hope you'll take the time to watch. You won't be disappointed.

Don't worry- it's not overly "preachy" and even the most non-religious person would still be moved by this story. It's one of hope and determination. It made me extremely aware that life can change in an instant and I need to treasure every single moment.

Love y'all. Hope you'll watch.............

The Sam May Documentary from The Net Church on Vimeo.

A Bunch of Random Stuff

2011-08-03T12:25:00.000-04:00

This was a big week for me! As stupid as it might sound to the average person, I was positively beside myself on Monday because I got to eat ice cream for the first time in my whole life! At the age of 29! When you have PKU you can't eat anything with over about 2-3g of protein in it. However, when you're pregnant and have PKU, the baby's metabolism picks up enough toward the end that the baby will break down the proteins that your own body can't normally break down. Thus, eating ice cream at 34 weeks pregnant! YAY!
I finally decided on onesie stickers. I had to have some stern internal dialogue with myself (it sounded like this: "fortheloveofMoses, Anna, just PICK ONE!!!") but I ended up choosing the plain ones (#1).
Last week I started a little project for Emory. I had a sweet friend give me a box of really cute blank Dr. Seuss cards. I knew I wanted to do something special with them, so I decided to hand them out to family members and asked them to write Emory a letter. I included a self-addressed, stamped envelope with each card so that people could mail them back to me and I will keep them in Emory's baby book for her to look at when she's older. I thought it was a neat idea and I can imagine how much she will treasure them later in life. I know I would!
I went to the doctor today for a check-up and he said everything looks great. He said if I were to go into labor right now, he wouldn't do anything to try and stop it. Eeek! So exciting! :)
The nursery is completely finished and I hope to post some pictures this week.
It is HOT here. Today's high is 100 and the heat index is 107. I'm SUPER glad it's still summer break for me and that I don't have to get out in the heat. If anyone needs me, I will be curled up with my dogs in the coolest, darkest room of the house. :)

Pictures Pictures Pictures

2011-07-30T01:59:00.000-04:00

Some from the 3D ultrasound:

And some maternity photos:

Oh Happy Day

2011-07-28T11:29:00.000-04:00

Today I'm turning 29. :)

We are celebrating the day by having a 3D ultrasound (gift from MIL!) and then heading to Provino's for dinner. YUM!

DH got me a pregnancy massage that I will have tomorrow. Did I mention it's ONE HOUR??? YAY!

And we are celebrating with my family next weekend (my sister is out of town this weekend).

I guess most people would be reflecting on their 20's on their 29th birthday. Not me. I looked back for long enough!

This year I am looking ahead. Greater things are yet to come. :)

Love y'all. Have a great Thursday!

Crossroads

2011-07-25T11:35:00.001-04:00

My heart is heavy for a friend today.

Many of you have stood at (or ARE standing at) the Infertility Crossroads.

It's a place I was at about a year and a half ago.

It means your "plan" didn't work. Maybe Plan A and Plan B didn't work. And now you're at a crossroads about where to go from here.

For me, the crossroads was at the end of 3 different surgeries, 4 IUIs, 3 different doctors, over 2 years of being on one type of drug or another, and over 3 years of trying to conceive. I had lost myself and was drowning in depression.

It was the point at which I said enough. No more drugs. No more IUIs. No more procedures.

I needed a break and we needed a new plan. The problem was figuring out which road to take next-
Domestic adoption? Private adoption? International adoption? IVF? Embryo adoption?

We looked into all of the above and ultimately decided embryo adoption was the way we wanted to go.

The decision is different for everyone, but the process is the same and the pain that comes with it is the same.

Today, a sweet friend of mine is at the crossroads.

And today I am praying for her and for all of the women who are there.

It's so devastating, and I haven't forgotten how it feels. I am so thankful that the crossroads led me to where I stand today and I know how blessed I am.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
-Jeremiah 29:11

Hang in there because there is hope. It's hard to see it sometimes, but it's there.
Love y'all.

33 Week Picture

2011-07-24T19:51:00.000-04:00

Dysfunction.

2011-07-24T00:29:00.000-04:00

I miss my grandpa.

No, he hasn't passed away.

But he and my grandma have chosen to remove themselves from my life (and the lives of the rest of my immediate family) for reasons that don't have anything to do with me.

It wasn't his decision.

It was hers.

He just went along with it.

Tonight we were watching a movie with a little old man in it.

And I miss my grandpa.

Pay it Forward

2011-07-22T16:26:00.000-04:00

When DH and I were establishing our "EA Baby Fund," we had lots of generous people going out of their way to help us. We had a huge yard sale that raked in the majority of the money, then we had several family members donate and a couple of friends held mini-sales of their own and donated the proceeds to our fund.

I have really enjoyed being a part of the IF blogging community over the past 4 years. I honestly don't know how I would have made it through the tough times without some of you. So with that in mind, I wanted to dedicate this post to paying it forward and helping another infertile raise money for her baby fund.

My friend Megan over at Infertile Myrtle is having a Thirty-One fundraiser. Hop on over by clicking on the link, or follow the directions below:

* Go to: www.mythirtyone.com/JenYoung/

* Click on: "My Events" (on the right side, under the picture of the consultant)

* Look for: Megan Carlson's Fundraiser

* Select: "Shop Now"

The fundraiser ends August 13th, but the last day to shop the summer catalog is Sunday. I'm excited about the new stuff in the fall catalog so that's where I'll be shopping once it opens next week! :)

There is a July special going on, and you can find out about it by clicking on Megan's link HERE.

Thanks for taking a minute to check it out!

Cloth Diapers!!

2011-07-21T20:38:00.001-04:00

Hi Ladies!
Pull up a chair and grab some popcorn. This is a longie but a goodie! :)

So I have finished prepping, stuffing, organizing, and drooling over my cloth diaper stash. I am ready to go!

Let's have a little tour!

Each bin in the changing table contains cloth diapers or accessories. The hanging bins hold disposables and a few tiny cloth diapers. Most cloth diapers that are one-sized (OS) only snap down to a size that accommodates babies who are 10 lbs or more. So in the beginning, we'll be using disposables and the handful of extra small cloth diapers.

Bin #1- Flip Diapers, BumGenius pockets, and Swaddlebee Pockets

Bin #2- Best Bottom inserts, BumGenius newborn size inserts, and a few gLiners

Bin #3- Best Bottoms

Bin #4- Assortment of BumGenius pockets (3.0s and 4.0s), SwaddleBees, and ebay diapers

Bin #5- Flip inserts, prefolds, assorted extra inserts

Here are my PlanetWise wet bags. :)

I have 5 BumGenius pocket diapers. All are OS and here is how they work:

The inserts go into a little pocket in the back of the diaper. These diapers must be washed in between each use. Here's what they look like unfolded:

Next up: Flip Diapers

I have 4 Flips. These are also OS. These are neat because the inserts lay inside of the diaper and instead of being washed each time, you can remove the wet/soiled insert and place a fresh one in (reusing the cover).

This only works if the pee or poop hasn't gotten on the cover. If it does, you will either need to wash the cover or, if it's minimal, wipe the cover out with a baby wipe and let dry.

The insert works for all of the size adjustments, and you fold it to the size you need. Also, you can use disposable OR washable inserts for these diapers. (Photo of disposable insert is coming up later.)

Next: gDiapers

I have 2 size small g's and 4 of the "old style" size small g's. The old style tends to run smaller and is made a little bit differently. The ones pictured here are the new style.

Here's what the inside looks like. The liner snaps in and makes a little hammock for the insert/liner to lay in.

Gdiapers can also be used with either a disposable or washable insert and can be used a few times between washings if the pee/poop stays on the insert. (Just like Flips.)

Next: Best Bottoms

I have 12 Best Bottoms and they're all OS.

Here's the inside. The inserts are sized (small, med, large) and I have about 23 size small inserts.

The inserts actually snap in for these, as opposed to laying inside like the Flip diapers. Like the Flips, you can wipe out the cover and re-use in between washings. You can also use the Flip disposable inserts, they just wouldn't snap in.

I added these little hooks to the end of my changing table so that when I wipe out the Flips or BestBottoms, I can hang them to dry. :)

I also have a hodgepodge of other brands including 4 size small SwaddleBees:

(these are pocket style)

3 DryBees:

These are pocket style, sized small and medium.

I also have 2 (cheap) ebay diapers which are OS and pocket style. I don't have high hopes for these since they were so cheap but I figured it was worth $6 to give them a try. (I'm sure they won't hold up as long as the more expensive diapers, and they may be more prone to leaking.)

Last but not least, I bought one diaper from a WAHM on Etsy. Her shop's name is Wittey Bums.

It's the one on the left. Isn't it cute? It's Ooga Booga print. Also pictured here are 3 out of the 4 old style gDiapers. These 4 (actually have 5 but only 4 are here) are small enough that I think Emory can wear them as a newborn. That will make for some cute photo-ops!

One more thing-Here are the disposable inserts that can be used with Flip, BestBottom, and Gdiapers. I have one pack of those and here's what they look like unfolded:

WHEW!

I think that's it.

So the final count on my cloth diaper stash is:

37 total diapers (25 of which are OS)!!!!!

Having OS is great because they can be adjusted as the baby grows and can be worn for a much longer period of time (most say up to 35-40 lbs).

I'm SO EXCITED!!! I was thinking we wouldn't get enough and we'd have to fork over a couple hundred dollars to build our stash. But in the end (thanks SO much to family and friends!!!) our final expense out of pocket to build our stash was actually about $75. (I bought a few here and there from ebay, etsy, and seconds sales.)

So there ya go!

Question for BF Mamas

2011-07-19T10:38:00.000-04:00

I need a bra. A couple, actually.

I want to go ahead and buy a couple of good ones that I can start wearing now and continue to use for nursing. I'm totally frustrated that none of my bras will fit any more (not even the next size up nursing bra I bought at MM last month). I think it's probably one of the reasons my upper/middle back is hurting like it is, and I figure now's as good a time as any to start shopping for a nursing bra.

Suggestions, please?

Thanks a million!!!!

32 Weeks

2011-07-17T22:02:00.001-04:00

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: Almost 4 pounds, according to the web. I will find out specifically how big on Wednesday at our grown scan. :)

Maternity Clothes: I'm trying to hold off on buying something new to sleep in. My old college tees just don't fit anymore! I'm tempted to buy a mumu! lol

Weight Gain: About 22 pounds.

Belly: What exactly is this asking? I mean, it's big and it's gonna stay big. Still an innie though.

Stretch Marks: No new ones, just the same as I've had for a while.

Sleep: Rough. I'm pretty sure my Temp.ur Ped.ic mattress is what's making my back ache so badly in the mornings.

Best Moment of the Week: Installed the car seat and put the stroller in the trunk! This week I'm going to wash all her stuff and pack the diaper bag for the hospital. I know it's early but I'm bored! :)

Movement: Off and on pretty much all day. Especially active in the mornings.

Symptoms: Irritability! Heartburn, back pain. It's getting harder to get up and down off the bed/couch as well.

Food cravings: Tonight I really wanted steamed broccoli and corn on the cob. Sadly, I had neither.

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I refuse to complain!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Meeting our girl. (And being able to sleep on my tummy again.)

Weekly Wisdom: I have found that I'm most irritable when I haven't slept good the night before. Some days the crankiness is ridiculous! lol

Milestones: Only 8 weeks to go!

Emotions: Especially irritable this past week. Hope this isn't going to last for the next 8 weeks! I miss my nice self! :)

ILL!

2011-07-14T11:50:00.002-04:00

This post probably won't make a ton of sense, but I've got to get it out.
Disclaimer: I'm going to make a lot of "you statements" in this post, but it is not directed at any specific "you." It means "you" in general, to the general public. :) Also, I am extremely irritated at the moment and this post will reflect that. If you plan to be judgmental then please move along to the next blog.

______________________________________

I am completely and totally ill right now.

I'm cranky, ladies.
No, not cranky.

ANGRY. Angry is probably a better adjective to describe my brain at the moment.

Not at anyone or anything in particular. I'm just MAD.

I think I expected all of the "helpful" yet unsolicited advice that came my way to end when my infertility turned to pregnancy.

Sure, I knew that everybody has an opinion about raising kids and I expected that. But I guess I thought it wouldn't bother me as much as all the opinions about IF did (you know, the: "relax", "stop trying so hard," and "go on vacation" vomit that people spew).

But OH. MY. WORD. IF ONE MORE PERSON GIVES ME "ADVICE" THAT I DIDN'T ASK FOR I THINK I WILL SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST!!!!!!!!!!!

It is SERIOUSLY outta control. I know people are trying to "help" but unless I specifically say "I need help/I need your opinion" then chances are I DON'T!!!!

For example, if I ASK about back pain, then yes, please do offer up advice!

If I ASK about what color drapes would look best in the nursery? Yep. I'm asking for help.

If I ASK what you think I still need for the baby? Yes, please do respond.

But if I express frustration regarding a random scenario? NOT ASKING FOR ADVICE.

If I "think out loud" about some stuff I need to get done? NOT ASKING FOR ADVICE.

If I am in your vicinity? I AM NOT ASKING FOR ADVICE, nor do I care to offer up information about my plans for the birth so that you can offer up YOUR thoughts about how you think I'm going about it the wrong way.

If I mention something that bothers me? Again, NOT ASKING FOR ADVICE. Just venting. That's all!

Let's clarify a little:
I don't need to "practice" with anybody's baby. (Really, that one's just rude. Like I'm too dumb to know what to do with one so I need practice? Nice!)

I don't need you to tell me what I'm "gonna want" and when I'm "gonna want it."

I don't need you to tell me I'm crazy for wanting/not wanting an epidural.

I don't need you to tell me I need a breast pump. (uuuummmmm.......DUH?)

I would appreciate not being told I need this pillow or that pillow when I wasn't even talking about sleep/pillows/bed/etc. (Like where the heck did THAT come from?)

I don't need you (whom I have never met) to tell me how to raise my child from A-Z, birth-college, all in the span of 30 minutes, using the words "LORD JESUS" about 20 times. (thanks, dental hygienist!)

Unless I ask you for your thoughts, I don't need to hear how crazy you think our adoption arrangement is or how you think it's a "bad idea.". (Frankly, it comes across as unsupportive and is hurtful.)

And finally?

I don't need anyone to tell me who/when/where to be friends with and why.

I couldn't make this crap up. I am getting "advice" from all different directions about every aspect of my life. And it's really starting to make my head spin.

I'm pretty good about saying "I need your opinion" when I am asking for advice. (Case in point: the onesie stickers post, the donor visit post, and the back pain post. It was crystal clear that I wanted outside opinions. So it was perfectly fine to give advice in those types of instances!)

I'm contemplating becoming a hermit for the next couple of months.

Either that or I need some pr.ozac.

For reals.

I have a feeling that my inner Towanda is about to come out. People can be mad or offended if they want.

Thanks for letting me vent!
I'll shut up now. ;)

PS- Comments disabled for this post only. Why? Say it with me.................nottttttttt asking for advice. lol
Now please don't email or fb message me, offering me advice about getting advice.

Shower #4

2011-07-12T13:42:00.003-04:00

Here are some pics from my shower this weekend. My friend Jessie threw it, and this is the one that was originally planned at the diaper shop I blogged about. We ended up having a FABULOUS time, and were able to re-schedule it at my sister's church. :)

PKU friendly cupcakes that tasted better than "real" ones!

Truffula Tree centerpiece!

The punch was SO good and really pretty! The fruit was frozen, so it floated!

Here's where I started crying.....read the bib.

This is the back of a quilt my mom made. The front was Dr. Seuss patchwork. I thought it was funny because you can tell how crazy it was with the girls "helping" me open gifts in this picture. I couldn't keep up with them!!! It was CRAZY with that many kids (there were 6 kids, 2 toddlers, and 2 babies) but it was SO much fun! It was very fitting, since I teach kindergarten. :)

Thank you Jessie! It was perfect!

Back Pain Advice?

2011-07-09T23:52:00.000-04:00

I am so paranoid that this will sound like I'm complaining.

I swear I'm not. I just need some help figuring out what to do to ease back pain.

I feel like my back is all jammed up, like I got caught in a trash compactor. All my bones and muscles in my back feel smashed together, like I'm slumping way too much. No way of sitting or laying seems to help.

Any ideas?

Email to Share

2011-07-08T11:57:00.002-04:00

Hey gals. I received an email this morning that I feel I should share with you. I have mentioned Karen a few times on here because of some comments that I have received.

The email is copy/pasted directly here (no changes or alterations):

"Hi Anna,

One of your readers wrote me an email this morning, saying that I had said some really insensitive things on your blog last year. And how she was really disappointed with me.

I had no idea what she was talking about! I have never met you, or read your blog, or know anything about you or your current struggles!

Over a few emails, we worked out that SOMEONE else must have posted a nasty comment on your blog, using my name and MY link to my website. I was completely shocked!!

I'm not sure why someone would use my name and website. And it hurts me, because for a year now, you (and your readers) must think that it was really ME who said that to you.

I am terribly sorry for all this. I'm not even sure why I am apologising, I'm just very shocked and rattled by all this. And I feel so rotten and frustrated that there is someone out there pretending to be me and saying insensitive things to other people.

I run my website which is all about empowering women, finding happiness in the small and simple things in life. It's about a woman who handles pooey nappies AND who loves being an individual. It's about serious issues (surviving cancer and despression) and yet still having fun (fashion and food).

My website is my part time job now. I juggle 3 kids. We're on a single income. I've built my website up over 12 years and it's my business now, and I'm extremely busy... And I honestly only have time to follow a few blogs of close friends, and I like to follow a few fashion blogs.

I don't follow many blogs at all, or go surfing around and commenting on people's sites. And I don't even have comments on my own site, because I don't have much time to reply and handle all the spam and questions from my readers. Sigh. I feel really bad about all this.

I really hope that you reply… I plan to message each and every one of the people who commented on your site and say that there has been a terrible mistake.

Anyway Anna, I wish you all the very best on your pregnancy, and your life. From those two posts I read, you do sound like a wonderful, forgiving, and strong person. And hope that you continue to blog.

All the best,

Karen Cheng"

I want you, my readers, to know that I did reply to Karen. I explained some other situations (from other bloggers' experiences) that she might need to be aware of, and thanked her for her email. I hope that clears up any confusion about her previous comments on this blog. I hope that she's able to get to the bottom of things as to where those comments came from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is my 5th wedding anniversary! DH is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without him! Tonight we're having dinner out and playing mini-golf. :) Love you Honey!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!

You Would Think It Was Life Or Death

2011-07-07T12:53:00.000-04:00

Why OH WHY can't I make one simplecottonpickin decision about the dang stickers?!?!?!

(It's okay to laugh at me here. I realize this is ridiculous.)

I was all set to sit down and make up my mind this morning.
Until I got back on Etsy.

Now I have moved on to deciding between THESE two........

Completely different from the last choices. I know.

But I saw some of these and thought it might be nice to keep it more simple.

The first set also includes a 13th sticker that says "Brand New!" and the stickers are made of a like-fabric material. The second set is just plain girly and cute. I like the fact that they are shaped differently.

Sooooooooooo. Yeah. Can't decide.

As a child, I can remember my parents letting my sister and I choose candy from the gas station on long trips. My sister? She'd go in and pick something in 20 seconds flat. Me? I'd stand there with Skittles in one hand and Starburst in the other fooooooorrrrrreeeeeeevvvvvveeeeeerrrrr because I couldn't decide.

Obviously that did not get better with age!

Onesie Stickers and Book Writing

2011-07-05T19:16:00.000-04:00

Hi ladies!
Thank you for your help in deciding on the onesie stickers. Unfortunately, I am still undecided! Choice #3 won as far as the reader vote. But I can see the logic in getting the cupcakes (after all, it's a sort of birthday thing), and I REALLY like the playful colors in the first owl set.

(sigh)

I may end up flipping a coin or drawing a number out of a hat.

But I wanted to share the Etsy links for the stickers.

Choice #1 (pastel owls) can be found here.

Choice #2 (cupcakes) can be found here.

Choice #3 (brown/orange owls) can be found here.

It would be fun if I had a set to do a giveaway with, but I don't! I'm sorry! :(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been thinking a lot lately about "fairweather friends." If infertility has taught me anything, it's taught me who my real friends are/were. I'm sure a lot of you can relate. I have recently reconnected with a friend from high school who I hadn't seen in a long time. Sadly, she is going through her own struggle with infertility right now and is experiencing a lot of the same things I went through with friend relationships.

It's so interesting that women who are going through infertility all have the same fundamental needs. We need to feel loved. We need to feel remembered. And we need to feel acknowledged. Whether that acknowledgement is just in the form of believing there's a problem (that can't be "relaxed" away), acknowledgement that our feelings of devastation are justified, or acknowledgement of a failed pregnancy and the life that was lost- we just need to be acknowledged.

It's hard for people who actually DO care about infertiles because unless the person has been through IF/pregnancy loss themselves, I'm sure they feel lost and helpless as to what exactly they can do or say to help. And that often results in what I call "Parrot Talk." Parrot Talk is when people parrot back things they've heard other people say, thinking it's helping.

Examples of Parrot Talk:
"Maybe if you just relax."
"Maybe if you quit trying so hard."
"At least you lost it early/at least it wasn't really a baby yet."
"You can always have more."
"Have you really prayed about it?"

For the record, none of the above Parrot Talk is an effective way of helping someone deal with IF/loss. And here's the really tricky part...................there is NO kind of talk that will help someone deal with or "get over" IF/loss.

So what's a true friend to do?

Be there. Learn how to listen.
And ONLY LISTEN. Don't "fix."
THINK of the hard stuff and acknowledge it. (holidays, due dates, etc) A simple "thinking of you" is perfect.
Remember that the person is going through some really crazy stuff and might need a free pass to be a crazy person once in a while. Let 'em be crazy and then don't judge them for it.

I'm seriously thinking about writing a book. I would call it "The Best Friend's Guide to Friending an Infertile."

I don't know if I would ever have the time to actually do it, but somebody should!!!

Help Me Decide!

2011-07-02T16:17:00.000-04:00

I've been coveting these cute little onesie stickers for 4 long years. I started shopping on etsy for some and I've narrowed my favorites down to these three, but now I can't decide!!! Help!!

Choice #1:

Choice #2:

Choice #3:

What do you think?? They're all the same price. They're all ADORABLE. I can't decide!!!!

Y'all are the BEST!

2011-06-30T14:52:00.000-04:00

Okay so after hearing from several of you yesterday, I'm feeling much less anxious and nervous about the possibility of an early visit from the donor family.

I think I just needed reassurance that genetics don't automatically cause someone to bond. As silly as I knew it sounded, I was really worried about it. So thank you for your kind words and help.

I think that if the donor family asks to stop by for a visit in October, I will be fine with that but I'll try to arrange it for a lunch or dinner meeting OUT somewhere. That way I don't have to worry about the house being spic and span or them staying longer than I would prefer. I'm sure they will insist that they don't care if my home is spotless, but I was raised to have a clean house before guests arrive and I would feel better if we just meet at a restaurant or park.

I'm very much a "planner" and I feel better now that I have a plan. :)

I've been busy this week putting away baby stuff and clearing out space in our spare bathroom and kitchen pantry for Emory's stuff. We were lucky enough to get TWO bathtubs so I need to find storage space for them and bath accessories. We got the whale shaped tub from Tar.get and then we also got a Wash Pod. Have you seen those? They're super cool.

*image borrowed from CSN Stores

Also, I have quite a few (okay about 30) of the Me.del.a breast milk storage bottles that fit my pump and I'm desperately looking for a tidy home to store them. I haven't gotten my feeding bottles yet but I registered for the BreastFlow bottles by The First Years. (Since I'll be returning to work in November, Emory will be taking bottles during the day at the sitter's house.) I'm trying to clear out space in my teeeeeeeny tiiiiiiiiiiny kitchen to keep those organized and easy to access in the mornings when I go back. Again, I'm a planner, so it's bugging me that I don't have everything organized and put away just so. I'm in serious need of a bigger kitchen or a professional organizer! lol (My kitchen is literally like 4x6, galley style. DH and I can't both fit in there at the same time. Now try fitting in 2 different sets of food- PKU food stash and regular food stash- plus kitchen utensils/items, plus baby items. Oh my!)

I'm excited to share my cloth diaper stash with you gals as soon as I get everything ready! I have a shower next weekend and after that my stash will be complete. I think the nursery will be ready to share after the shower as well.

The rest of my To-Do list for the summer looks like this:
-wash and prep cloth diapers
-get last minute odds and ends (yes, I made a list!)
-decide on a going-home outfit (decisions, decisions!)
-put the pack n play together and find a spot in the living room for it
-clean out the car, install car seat (yikes! Is it time for that already???)
-clean the house to prepare for post-birth visitors
-get a maternity massage (hey after all that work, it's a given)
-begin shopping online for birth announcements

It doesn't look like much now that I wrote it out. But when I look around and see how much I have to put away, find new homes for, and clean out it seems pretty overwhelming!

Details

2011-06-29T12:29:00.000-04:00

Okay so a while back, when we first started the embryo adoption process, someone asked me if this feels weird.

Meaning, does it feel weird to be pregnant with someone else's baby?

My answer was no, and it's still no.

But now that we're nearing the end and this little person is getting closer to actually being here in the flesh, I have a new set of feelings to work through.

I have not disclosed the nature of our relationship with the donor family because, frankly, I don't care to hear anybody's negative comments. For a while there I was getting several borderline "hate" comments, mostly from one or two random people. And I just didn't want to open myself up to more.

I'm still not willing to tell you all every little detail because I know everybody's got an opinion and yours might hurt my feelings. But. I will tell you a little bit:

-the donors are "known" and we knew them before the embryo adoption took place
-they do not live anywhere near us. Not even close. Same country but several states away.
-they have three children from previous IVFs

Here's the biggie and please don't judge!
- We will have an open relationship with them. The kids will meet and know one another.

Why?
Because both parties feel like it's important to know your family. If Emory has siblings out there (we know she does and know where they are) and we didn't tell her, we would always feel like we lied to her. We (both parties) want to give them the opportunity to have a relationship if they so desire. Once we are long gone, we want her to be able to reach out to her siblings if she chooses. And vice versa for them.

So that brings me to that new set of feelings to work through.

We have agreed to meet with the donors/siblings at an undetermined point in time. We discussed that it might be nice to get all the kids together once a year or so for a little weekend vacation. We would meet somewhere in between and spend a couple of days together. I have absolutely no issue with that and neither does DH. We feel like we just extended our family a little bit. :)

The issue I'm a wee bit nervous about is WHEN to have that first meeting. We mentioned doing it in the summer because everyone would be out of school and it just seemed easier. Recently though, the donor mentioned that they will be traveling to Orlando in October. That's as far as the conversation went, but I am sort of expecting her to ask if they can "drop by" on their way to meet Emory. It IS, after all, on their way.

Okay so here's how I feel about that........... I don't have an issue with them meeting her and I would never want to come across as unwelcoming of them to stop by. The thing about this particular visit that bothers me a little bit is that Emory will only be a few weeks old. Is it stupid of me to worry that she will bond with them when it's a time that she's supposed to be bonding with me and DH? She'll be so little.

I talked to DH about it, and he feels like it won't be a big deal because they will be on their way to their vacation and probably won't ask to stay for more than just a few hours. Which is TRUE. It would be a really quick visit. That makes me feel a little better.

I guess what I'm really worried about, bottom line, is that the genetics will take over and Emory will bond with the wrong people.

That sounds really dumb now that I'm saying it. I don't even think it works that way.

I'm probably stressing over nothing.

But I guess I'm interested in hearing how you ladies would feel about that, and how you would handle the situation.

Ideally, I would like for their first visit to be a little later, when Emory is a little bigger. But I don't want to sour the relationship with the donors over a quickie-visit in October. Does that make sense?

So how would you approach the situation? Do you think Emory would bond with them? Does it even work that way? lol

Please keep in mind the Golden Rule when you comment on this post. I am not interested in hearing how crazy or stupid you think we are for having an open embryo adoption. That was our decision and we don't regret it for one second. Everyone is entitled to their opinions but please be respectful. I appreciate it. :)

29 Weeks

2011-06-27T23:17:00.001-04:00

How Far Along: 29 weeks

Size of baby: About 2 and a half pounds, the size of a butternut squash.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. Although I have been squeezing into some stretchy tees from last summer. Mostly around the house though.

Weight Gain: Almost 20 pounds I think.

Belly: What exactly is this asking? I mean, it's big and it's gonna stay big. lol

Stretch Marks: Yep.

Sleep: Not as bad as last time I did an update. My hands aren't falling asleep as much, which is nice. I am getting up to pee 3-4 times a night.

Best Moment of the Week: DH and I watching my belly moving.

Movement: Off and on pretty much all day. Some strange shuddering type movements a few times last week......planning to ask about that at my next appt.

Symptoms: Heartburn. ALLLLLL the time. 24/7

Food cravings: Cheese balls. The really greasy ones that come in the plastic barrel. And Cokes. Oddly enough, if I drink something carbonated, it actually HELPS the heartburn. Makes the burps come up more easily instead of getting stuck just burning in my chest.

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I refuse to complain! No, everything is not unicorns and rainbows at the moment and there are some things I'd really like to gripe about. However. I refuse to complain about it. I am grateful for every unpleasant or uncomfortable moment. I will NOT take this for granted! :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Meeting my girl.

Weekly Wisdom: Get out of bed slllooooowwwwly or you'll be dizzy for 10-15 minutes after you get up.

Milestones: Having "the talk" with Dr. Wonderful about my hopes for the birth.

Emotions: One word: crabby! If I want advice, I'll ASK FOR IT!!!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!

Half Off!

2011-06-24T22:20:00.000-04:00

Just FYI- tomorrow is the Just Between Friends half price sale. I have already been down to JBF twice, but I may have to swing by and pick up some more bargains!!!

Buyer Beware

2011-06-21T18:35:00.002-04:00

Okay ladies. So I'm a fan of providing positive feedback for good experiences. I think too often people only provide customer feedback when it's a bad experience, and I try hard to highlight the GOOD as well. Hence the post about the awesome carpet cleaners from last week.

Well.

There is a time for negative feedback as well.

And now is it.

Remember this post about my experience in a local organic store a couple of weeks ago?
Here's an excerpt from it:
"......... yesterday I went down to a local store that sells organic stuff for babies, including a good selection of cloth diapers. I registered there and my friend Jessie is throwing me a shower there, so I went by to add a couple of diaper pail liners to the registry........."

It's important to note that Jessie was throwing my shower there. She booked the party room for July 9th back in May and several of my friends were excited about visiting this little shop. Most of my friends use disposable diapers but were interested in seeing how the newer styles of cloth diapers work.

I went in that store to update my registry on June 8th. It was a Tuesday. While I was there, the owner was working and she and I discussed last minute things to add to the registry. She assured me that if I got too many of something or if I got a type of diaper I didn't like, "you can always come back in and we'll work with you to return it for something that works better for you."

Ah. So reassuring.

On Sunday, June 12th, this store posted on their fa.ceb.ook page that their physical store was closing. No date was posted, but it was asked that all gift certificates be used by June 30th. (Remember, my shower was on the books for July 9th.) My friend Jessie and I follow their fac.eb.ook page, but I had "hidden" their status updates because they tend to post articles that impose scare tactics regarding hospital births, and I just don't see the point in reading all that negativity on a daily basis.

On Monday, June 13th (the day after their announcement and 5 days after I had visited the store), I hopped online to check and see if they had gotten any shipments in. They had been saying for weeks and weeks that they were expecting a shipment "any day now" (their words) and I need a diaper pail liner.

I got online.
I clickety clicked.
And I saw the little announcement about the store closing and gift certificates needing to be used by the 30th. Before I panicked too much, I thought I should hop over to their website, www.thelittletwigboutique.com, to find out exactly when the doors were to close.

Oh. June 30th.

But...............

..............wait................

............um........................

WHAT?!

I called Jessie and asked her if the store had contacted her and she said that they had not.

Commence Panic Mode.

Jessie had ordered custom-printed invitations from a lady on etsy and was ready to mail them. In fact, she had said she was going to mail them the next day. Thank goodness she had not already sent them!

So she called the store and spoke to a girl who worked there who didn't seem to have much information to offer either. She apparently had not been told about it until that day when she showed up for work. She got Jessie's info and left a message for the owner to contact her. Jessie also commented on the fa.ceb.ook page, and the owner herself replied: "Jessie~ we did receive your message and someone will be in contact with you today. Patience please during this time."

So we waited.

Annnnnd waited.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd waited.

And what did we get?

No phone call. But a mass message on the fa.ceboo.k status for the store that said:
"........friends, The Little Twig is so very sorry to announce the closing of our physical store. Please note that although we have tried in the last week to assure a place for classes and baby showers at our cost nothing as of yet has been confirmed. We are still working towards an online store and will post as soon as one is established. Thank you for the continued support!!!!"

Now, I understand that sometimes a business just doesn't make it. My DH tried to start his own business a few years ago and it just didn't work out. With the economy like it is, it's not really a surprise that small businesses are struggling.

However.
I find it hard to believe that a business doesn't have the common courtesy to CALL the customers who were planning on hosting a baby shower AT THEIR STORE and let them know that the store is closing.

Let me clarify why I'm upset:
If I hadn't clicked on their fb page to see if they had any new shipments in, we would not have known that the store was closing. Thus, we would have shown up on July 9th to locked doors. Also, why did they lead me to believe that my shower was still on when I was in the store just days before their announcement? Why would they tell me they would work with me on returns after the shower???

Further, the hostess (Jessie) called the store to clarify what was going on, and THAT phone call was not even returned.

What a nice way to do business.
Is it any wonder they didn't succeed?

When DH made the decision to shut down his business, you know what he did? He called each client and apologized, let them know, and even recommended that they call a specific other company in the area for trouble calls in the future. THAT is how it's properly done. No leaving anybody hanging.

So I know you're probably thinking "yep, that sucks Anna, but why dwell on it now? Nothing you can do about it at this point."

Here's the thing.

They say they plan on opening an online store that sells cloth diapers to all of us CD mamas out there in internet world.

OH HOW NICE!!!!

I'll be sure to spend my money in a place that doesn't care enough about their customers to pick up the phone for 3 minutes and say "I'm so sorry but we have to close. I wanted to let you know so that you could make other accommodations for your shower that is in 3 weeks."

Really?

I mean. Really???

And I'm not the only one who is upset. Another girl made a comment that she was in the same situation for a July shower. In fact, one woman (a third person) said that she was in the store the DAY BEFORE they announced they were closing and she created a registry. You cannot make me believe that the owner didn't have any idea that she was about to close. So she let that girl go in there and spend her time making a (written, I might add) registry, all the while knowing darn well that it was a waste of her time. The owner claims it was a decision that they "just made" but I speak from experience that when the ship is going down, you know it's coming. And you sure as Hell know it the day before.

So back to Jessie. Thankfully, she was able to contact the lady from etsy, explain the situation, and had the invitations reprinted. And they turned out fabulous! We found another location for the shower and all is well.

What's my point?

Oh nothing.

Just wanted to provide feedback about my experience at The Little Twig just in case any of you are like me. I like to know who I'm giving my business to. :)

***All information included in this post is solely the author's point of view and opinion based on her experiences with The Little Twig. Any direct quotes are marked and italicized and were taken from the public f.ace.book page of The Little Twig. Readers are encouraged to make their own decisions on where to shop.******

Party for Emory!

2011-06-19T21:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my fabulous in-laws and their friends had a shower for Emory! Many of the same sweet friends who helped put on our big yard sale last summer were there to help hostess the shower. It was kind of neat to think back to where we were a year ago- with these same friends, working hard to get Emory here. Now it was time to celebrate her and I was so blessed to be surrounded by people who love her so very much.

The beautiful hostesses:

L-R: Marina (SIL), DeAnna (MIL), Tasha (SIL), Connie (aunt-in-law), Dari (close friend and cake maker extraordinaire), Amber (close friend who will welcome baby #2 very soon!)

You won't believe how awesome the food was! It was yummy AND adorable!

See?

Close up of the cake:

It was SO cute!!! The top layer was yellow cake and the bottom layer was chocolate. And the fish? I thoroughly enjoyed gobbling him up. He was made out of rice krispy treat and fondant! MMMM!!!

Once I started opening gifts, I forgot to pass my camera off to someone to snap pictures, but there was a mountain of gifts! I was truly blown away. By the time I was finished, I was in tears (of course) and I was so humbled by how lucky I am to have these people in my life.

Now Emory has more clothes than her Mama does! And SOOO many things that I'm afraid if I start listing the gifts I will forget something! She did get a very nice (and big) stash of cloth diapers! Best Bottoms, to be exact. I plan on dedicating an entire post to showing my diaper stash once I get them all prepped and organized. So stay tuned for that!

Dari, Tasha, Amber, DeAnna, Connie, and Marina- thank you so much for the incredible shower! I can't wait for Emory to meet all the wonderful people in the Parker clan. :) She's one lucky girl!

Bargains!

2011-06-19T00:19:00.000-04:00

Okay so this morning I shopped the Just Between Friends presale. It opens to the public on June 19th but if you volunteer, consign, or are a first time mom, you get in a day early!

So here's what I got:

(sorry it's blurry, a setting was off on the camera)

a maternity dress

brown pants

Gymbo outfit (dress and onesie)

pink striped outfit

brand new pack of bibs

Infantino carrier (for just $7!)

Ugg type boots

brown Mary Janes

and a Sealy crib matress (not pictured)

How much did I spend???................................$40.64! Woohooo!!!!!

I was really excited! There were a few things that I didn't have time to look for (I had a shower today and had to get home to get ready for that), but I'm really satisfied with my bargains! I wanted to snag a Snap N Go stroller, but I can always shop the one in October for that. :)

Hope you had a great weekend and I'll share about my awesome shower tomorrow!

Who Knew?

2011-06-17T14:16:00.001-04:00

Who knew I could get so EXCITED about carpets!?!?

Okay so we've lived in this house for a little over 3 years and in that time, we've acquired TWO puppies. The first, a basset hound, we ended up giving to a friend who had a large fenced yard. It's really not do-able to have a hound dog as an indoor pet in our tiny 1200 sq ft house. She was gorgeous but very hard to potty train and she didn't get along with our schnauzer, Maddie. So we gave her to a very loving couple who now feed her biscuits and gravy every Sunday morning. :)

Then we got Sadie, our little Scottie dog. She was a much better fit and now she and Maddie are inseparable. Really, they cuddle and love on one another like they were litter-mates.

So fast forward to today.

Two puppies in our house with beige carpets really took a toll. Our master bedroom carpet? NASTY.Absolutely NASTY. I mean, when you walked into the room it smelled of ammonia, and the stains were so bad that we were seriously thinking we'd just replace the carpets before Emory gets here so that she wouldn't have to be in that type of environment. Sadie has been potty trained for quite some time, but the stains from having 2 puppies sleep in that room were just awful. We rarely let visitors see our bedroom for that reason.

Well. As a last-ditch effort before we spent the money on new carpet, we purchased a carpet cleaning service from one of those half-price websites, like Gr.oup.on.

The guys from OxyGreen Carpet Cleaning came out today.

And.
OH.
MY.
WORD.

I have witnessed a miraculous event right here in my house!!!

Even the carpet guys were amazed at the difference! We BOTH said we wished we had gotten before/after pictures. The owner said he would have posted those on his website if he had.

People, it is like I have BRAND NEW CARPETS!!!!

AAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually stood there and clapped my hands, squealing like a pansy.

They look AWESOME!!!

I told the guy it's like my birthday came a month early!

I can't say enough good things about this company! If you live in or around Chattanooga and you've given up hope on your nasty carpets, call Robby at OxyGreen Carpet Cleaning of Chattanooga. He has another special that will be on Gr.ou.pon(dot)com this Tuesday ($47 for 2 rooms and a hallway).

Oh, and no, I'm not getting any kind of discount or referral deals out of posting this. They were just that good. :)

27 (and a half) Weeks

2011-06-16T20:48:00.000-04:00

How Far Along: 27.5 weeks

Size of baby: Almost 2 pounds, according to the web.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity everything. Can still wear pre-pregnancy running shorts thank goodness! It's HOT! I finally caved and bought a maternity swim suit. GAH I look huge in it!

Weight Gain: About 16 pounds.

Belly: Hard to imagine it will get even bigger. Already feel pretty large and in charge.

Stretch Marks: Horrible. Worse than I expected. Looks like a bear mauled both sides of my belly. Lotioning to no avail.

Sleep: Uncomfortable. Both arms/hands fall asleep and it's getting harder to find a comfortable position.

Best Moment of the Week: This is from last week, actually, but passing my glucose test (again). YAY!

Movement: Off and on pretty much all day. Especially active at night. Last night I had a book resting on my tummy and she kicked hard enough to make the book move! So neat!

Symptoms: The heartburn. Ohhhh the heartburn.

Food cravings: Cheese balls. The really greasy ones that come in the plastic barrel.

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I refuse to complain. :)

What I'm Looking Forward To: Shower this weekend! (#3) Should be tons of fun!

Weekly Wisdom: I have found that no matter how hungry I think I am, I shouldn't order/make as much food as I normally would eat. I get full way too fast to finish it!

Milestones: Taking (and passing) my last glucose test, switching to bi-weekly OB visits. OH! And I got my Hypnobabies kit in the mail! So weird to be thinking about the birth......oh me oh my!

Emotions: All over the place, pretty much. Even I don't know whether I'll cry, laugh, or blow my top. Poor DH!!

Consignment Sale!

2011-06-13T19:02:00.001-04:00

So if you've been following my blog for a while, you might remember that this time last year we were in major fund-raising mode. We had two very LARGE yard sales to raise money for our embryo adoption costs. If you missed the fun, you can read up about it here.

Okay so that was the main part of our fundraiser, but I also participated in the Just Between Friends consignment sale here in Chattanooga. I took lots (and lots and lots) of the childrens' clothing our friends and family had given us down to Camp Jordan and consigned them in JBF as part of our fundraiser. We made a nice little chunk of change to add to our "baby fund" and the leftover pieces that were unsold were donated to charities. It was a win-win!

If you haven't heard of it before, JBF is an event held three times a year that thrifty moms wait for like a kid waits for Christmas. My sister is the one who told me about JBF, and she has her own system down. For each sale, she consigns the clothes that her kids have outgrown and buys enough "new" (gently loved) clothes to last her until the next sale. She usually spends a couple of hours at each sale and comes out with TONS of clothes for her kiddos. And she never spends more than about $150-$200. She even gets some bigger toys that she puts away for Christmas and birthdays.

Now the beautiful thing about this system is that she essentially gets all her kids' clothes for next-to-nothing when it's all said and done. Because while she's loading up on "new" clothes for her kids to wear, she's making money off of the ones they have already outgrown! She's been doing it since her oldest was born (she just turned 5) and she says she almost always breaks even or makes a little cash on it, depending on how much she consigns. Here's the kicker: she doesn't shop for clothes anywhere else. Except for special occasions like Easter dresses, Christmas outfits, and other specialty outfits. She gets entire wardrobes for her 2 kids. When her kids were in daycare, she shopped when everything goes half off (more on that soon) to get clothes to use at daycare. That way, if a pair of shorts disappeared or got ruined at daycare, she didn't have to stress about how much she lost because she paid less than a dollar for them at the half price sale.

This weekend I spent some time at her house helping her get items ready for drop off. The people at JBF make it super easy. There is a computer database that you use to enter in your items, price them, and then print out scannable tags. Then you pin the tags to the clothing and you're ready to go!

Here's an example from what we were tagging this weekend.

Last year I tagged about 400 pieces and I was really thankful that the tagging procedure was as simple as it is. When your items are tagged, you come by at your drop-off time and drop them off. :)

After that? You get to shop the presale before it's open to the public so you get first dibs on the best stuff, and then just sit back and wait for your check in the mail. Awesome!

This year I'm super excited about JBF. For the first time, I'm gonna be like a kid in a candy store! The last JBF sale was in March and it was about a week before I knew whether Emory was an Emory or a Jax. :) So I've got some making up to do!

If I don't set some goals for myself, I would go BONKERS and buy too much! They have toys, bumbos, playmats, bouncers, bathtubs, travel systems, jogging strollers, playhouses, toyboxes, shoes, nursery furniture, clothes, clothes, more clothes, feeding accessories, dvds, games, maternity clothes......I could go on and on.

This sale is "all-season," meaning there are all seasons of clothing for sale. The next sale is in the fall and it's mainly Winter apparel. The one in March is Spring/Summer apparel. So basically, this sale will have anything and everything I'll need. I'm headed to the presale for All Seasons on Saturday, June 18th (and then to a shower afterward. Fun!).

Here's the game plan. I'll be on the hunt for:
a smallish winter coat (not too puffy or she can't move! lol)
a Christmas dress
some toys for Christmas (they are always in like new condition, so why not?)
baby crocs because they are so darn cute!
a maternity dress or two for when I get reeeeally huge and don't wanna wear anything else
clothes that are such good bargains I can't pass them up :)

If you are at all close to Chattanooga, it's totally worth your time to come to JBF next week. They have special presale hours for new moms- which includes adoptive mamas! A good friend of mine just got matched and she plans to go and get items she'll need to bring her daughter home from Ethiopia.

If you're still waiting and need to raise money for IF treatments or adoption costs, I would encourage you to consider consigning at the next sale. I'd be glad to help if you're local, and it's super easy. I know that the cost of IF/adoption can be astronomical and every bit helps.

For more info, visit JBF's website here.

Stay tuned to see my bargains next weekend! :)
Hope you're having a great Monday!!

Dear Kid,

2011-06-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

My mommy's getting fat and she says it's because you're in her belly. She and Dad tell me that my life will turn upside down in a few months and I can feel excitement in the air.

I'm not sure what the hubbub is about, but I'll go along with it. It HAS been sorta fun to see all the new toys coming into the house. I've had tons of fun playing with bows and tissue paper.

And there's this room in our house that they always had closed off, but now they're opening it up more and I'm getting to explore in there! Mommy goes in there and does all kinds of stuff. She had Dad move the furniture like 40 times and he got a little cranky about it. I think she's done moving things though because she seems pretty happy when she's in there these days.

Anyhoo. I just wanted you to know that I'm taking REAL good care of your toys while you finish whatever you're doing in Mom's belly..............

See? And Hedgie is helping too.

Okay well, I gotta go out and chase some squirrels. Talk to you later.

Your sister,

Sadie

Uh....Thanks?

2011-06-08T17:25:00.002-04:00

So yesterday I went down to a local store that sells organic stuff for babies, including a good selection of cloth diapers. I registered there and my friend Jessie is throwing me a shower there, so I went by to add a couple of diaper pail liners to the registry.

I got to chatting with a very nice lady who works there.

First we talked cloth diapering. I was curious about whether I would be able to use the Best Bottom liners in my Flip shells if I need to. She said yes, and that she interchanges ALL of her liners in all of her shells and pockets. Most of them fit just fine in a pinch. Good to know!

Then we got on the subject of doulas.

Now, at first, DH was not on board with hiring a doula. For some reason he pictured a "dude." Why? I have no idea. But on our trip to Atlanta for a PKU event, we discussed it more and he agreed that it might be a good idea to hire one if we can find one we like who is also reasonably priced.

But back to Nice Lady.

So she and I started talking doulas and she handed me several business cards of doulas in the area.

This is where the conversation started to go astray..........

She was asking me about my midwife. I'm not using a midwife, I'm using Dr. Wonderful, remember? So I explained to her that I really love my OB and that he had seen me through some really tough times and that throughout this pregnancy he has been very sensitive to my ~~paranoias~~ needs. I told her that if I didn't love him so much that I might be open to using a midwife, but that I really didn't see the need since he's so great. As I gushed about Dr. Wonderful, I mentioned that he allows me to have more ultrasounds than the typical patient, and I have been able to go for visits more frequently than is typical.

At which point Nice Lady looked horrified.

She began to explain to me that "that's not good." She said ultrasounds can damage a baby's hearing and if I had one every week during the first trimester (as is the norm at my RE's office), and then every 3-4 weeks after that, then ..........(insert look of pity and disapproval from Nice Lady).

She went on to say "...........annnnnd, you knowwww.........there aren't any documented cases of death of the fetus from ultrasounds, buuuutttttt.............." (insert look of "you never know" from Nice Lady).

Then she continued, saying she is a midwife apprentice and it's important for me to "educate yourself, and I'm not talking about reading the books written by hospitals and doctors............." because in essence, doctors are evil and they will sneak around behind your back and purposefully not tell you things that will make your labor easier because they don't want you to have easy labors.

She said that she has three children, two of which were home births. And home birthing is really the only way to have the "right" kind of labor and birth.

Now, I'll be honest about some things:
1. Am I afraid of an epidural? Hell yes. But not because I think it's evil. I'm afraid of that dang foot-long needle going into my spinal cord. I have panic attacks about having an IV put in my hand. And if I get blood drawn and they don't hit the vein on the first try I start to panic. It's just a fear thing.
2. Am I going "natural?" Um, that's the tentative plan, but if I decide to get meds, then I'm not gonna beat myself up about it. I would really like to try some different pain techniques maybe with the help of a doula (hopefully) and see how far that gets me. I'm trying to keep an open mind about either route.
3. Do I wish I could have a home birth? No. I think there is a happy-medium in there between being completely numb, flat on my back and being in my own bathtub, scared to death something will go wrong and it will be too late. And I'm such a worrier, that's exactly what would happen if I had a home birth. For those who feel comfortable with it, fantastic! I'm happy for you! I really love my OB and trust that he's got my best interests at heart and I would feel more comfortable if he were doing the delivery. If he did home births? Then I might consider it.

Okay so back to Nice Lady.

So she's telling me all of this and I'm thinking to myself "quick, where's the nearest exit??" I was very uncomfortable because I felt like she was judging me for having ultrasounds and going to an OB.

WHY IN THE WORLD DO WOMEN DO THIS KIND OF STUFF TO ONE ANOTHER?!?!?!

I think she could have expressed her opinion about mainstream medicine without looking at me/talking to me like I am killing my child by having ultrasounds.

AAAHHH!!!!

And I know it will only get worse once the baby is here because eeeeeeeeverybody's got an opinion and eeeeeeeeevrybody wants to share it. So please spare me the "oh you just wait" comments. Please?

I let Nice Lady finish her little lecture. Too bad she didn't trip and fall on her face getting down off her soapbox. I nodded and smiled, and said I will be sure to "educate myself, errr......thank you for the info?" before making a beeline for the door.

I'm pretty sure that she and the other lady working there talked about how horrible I am after I left.

That's okay because my OB and I had a chuckle about the "there have never been any documented cases of death to the fetus, buuuuuutttt......." comment this morning.

Sheesh!

Just Because I Haven't in a Long Time....

2011-06-03T19:25:00.001-04:00

I'm posting pics today.
And yeah, I'm aware that my boobs are huge. You don't hafta mention it. ;)

I'm in the WHAT?!

2011-05-31T21:19:00.000-04:00

I was updating my Belly Book today and realized I am in my third trimester.

WHAT?!!!!!

HOORAYYYY!!!!

I didn't even know it until I started updating and realized that I had let a few weeks go by without keeping up. WOOHOO!!!

Other random things:

I'm not sure if I have a cold or if it's allergies, but I have been MISERABLE since Sunday. The amount of sinus drainage I have is off the hook!! I'm sneezing all day, had blisters in my throat (which have cleared up in the past 24 hrs or so), and I can't breathe out of my nose AT ALL. I'm not taking anything at the moment but I'm planning to ask Dr. Wonderful if there's anything I can do.

Since I've been sneezing and coughing for 3 days, I've noticed that I have NO bladder control. Here's how it normally goes: Sneeze 3 times in a row. Change undies. Cough a little. Change undies. Sneeze again. Change undies. You get the idea. After my fifth change of undies today, I have decided to dig out my maxi pads and get friendly with them again. At least until I'm not coughing and sneezing anymore.

I had my first shower today. Since the tornado damaged the middle and high schools so extensively, the county pushed our school year back almost a month. We don't start back until Sept. 6th and I'm due on Sept. 12th. So last week my co-workers decided that we should probably go ahead and have my work shower since there's no guarantee I'll be back in September. Therefore, we had it this morning (it's a teacher work day).

I have to stop a minute here and tell you that the shower started at 10am and I started crying by 9am when I was leaving my house to head to work. Why? Because there have been times periodically during this pregnancy that I am overcome with the realization that this is really happening. This morning was one of those times. I cried off and on from 9 until about 10:30. Yes, I even cried DURING the shower. You have to remember that for a long time I wasn't sure I would ever have a baby shower for me. This morning that's all I could think about. I never thought I would get here.

That was not the first humbling moment I've had, and it definitely won't be the last.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know I've mentioned cloth diapering before on here and I am getting SUPER excited about building my stash! I did register for a few packs of diapers to use when Emory first arrives (cloth diapers don't fit so well on newborns) and for back-up/rainy days. But for the most part we will use cloth. DH is surprisingly on board with it. I think it's because we're both all about saving money and cloth diapering will hopefully save us a bundle.

So which kind am I planning on using? So glad you asked.

I am hoping to mostly build my stash with hybrid diapers. I like these because you have the option to use flushable/disposable inserts ANNNNND more importantly, you can wipe out the cover, slap in a new insert (the absorbent part), and use it several times in between washes as long as poop doesn't get on the cover. The two brands I'm stocking up on are Flips and Best Bottoms.

Both types are one-size, meaning they grow with the baby. They fit a large range of sizes and I won't have to purchase more every 6 months. Both types also accommodate washable and/or flushable liners. When I'm out and about with Emory or if we are traveling I can toss some flushable liners in my bag and not have to bring poopies back home. Both are reasonably easy for daddies to use as well. :)

I also have a few gDiapers that I bought used that I want to give a try. They are hybrids, which I like, but are not one-size. I bought them on e.b.ay so if they don't work out I haven't invested much money in them.

I have discovered that building a cloth diaper stash is a lot like buying shoes. It's easy to get caught up in buying them because it's just so darn fun! I plan to do a more detailed post, including pictures, after I have my cloth diaper shower that my fabulous friend Jessie is throwing me! Woohoo!

Now I'm gonna go lather up with Vapo-Rub and try to get some sleep. Hope y'all are having a great week!

Well......This Is New.

2011-05-28T15:17:00.002-04:00

This week several new things started happening.

First, I noticed my ankles swell for the first time on Tuesday evening. Funny thing is that it was only my left ankle. On Wednesday, both ankles swelled, but since then I haven't had any more marshmallow-y appendages. I am trying to be more conscious of my salt intake, and I'm trying to drink even more water than before.

Second, on Wednesday and Thursday I started noticing irregular heart flutters. I used to get them in college a lot, particularly after a stressful night of waiting tables. But I hadn't had any in a few years. All day Wednesday and most of the day Thursday, I would notice annoying fluttering/fast beating even when I was sitting at my desk not doing anything strenuous. At first I ignored it, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

On Thursday, I was fine until lunch time. I sat and ate for about 20 mins, and then got up to go pick up my kids from the cafeteria. At that point, I got REALLY dizzy. Like wobbling as I walked and I kept putting my hand out against the wall to steady myself.

I started adding things up in my head- the swelling, the heart fluttering, and the dizziness, and decided to have the school nurse check my bp real quick.

She checked it three times, back to back to back, and got three different numbers. The first was not good- 161/97. The second and third times, it was down in the 130's and 120's. My HR was 112 the first time and then 106 and 106. She suggested I call my Dr, so I did and went in for another bp check an hour or so later.

By the time I got there, I was feeling fine and my bp was down in the upper 120's. The nurse didn't seem concerned at all, so I went home. I didn't get a chance to actually speak to the Dr. but I plan to ask him about all of this when I see him on the 6th. I've felt fine since Thursday, but if I feel like that again I'll call again.

I also want to ask him about a couple of scary episodes I've had in the middle of the night. I will wake up from a dead sleep because I can't breathe. It feels like the sides of my windpipe are stuck together and I can't get any air in. I usually wake up flailing and the last time it happened (it's happened twice in the past month and a half or so) I flailed so much I fell out of the bed. I hit my calf on the side of our bed and it left a softball-sized bruise. Even with the flailing and getting up, I still can't get a good breath for about 20 seconds (seems like longer). I'll be honest, it scared the crap out of me both times. I'm not sure if it's sleep apnea, asthma, or what? Both times I woke up from sleeping on my side, and both times it was about half a minute total before my throat finally let go and opened up. This last time, I had time to sit up, get on all fours, fall out of the bed, get up, stumble into the bathroom, and splash cold water on my face before my throat opened back up.

Anybody have a similar experience? It's REALLY not fun and it scares me (and DH).

The last new experience I've had this week was this morning. DH and I have this tradition of going to Waf.fle Hou.se for breakfast on Saturday or Sunday morning every weekend. Some people don't like their food, but it's something that we've done since we first got married and we like it. :)

Anyhoo, we were sitting there eating (I get hash browns, scattered and capped well done) and I think Emory must have flipped over or turned around because it felt like she was about to poke right through my skin! I usually feel a little "bump, bump, bump." Not this time! It was more like a "pooooooke, pooooooke." Slower and much more defined. So weird!

So it's been an interesting week!
Hope y'alls was great. :)

25 Weeks

2011-05-22T13:26:00.002-04:00

How Far Along: 25 Weeks

Size of baby: About a pound and a half, according to the interwebs. :)

Maternity Clothes: All maternity everything. Can still wear pre-pregnancy running shorts thank goodness! It's HOT!

Weight Gain: About 11 pounds.

Belly: It's probably my imagination, but I feel like I'm growing laterally these days. The bump is spreading sideways instead of out Even my love handles are getting bigger! What the heck? I promise to post a pic soon!

Stretch Marks: I plead the fifth. (But it ain't good! haha)

Sleep: Uncomfortable. Sleeping on my left makes my arm go to sleep EVERY TIME. Sleeping on my right is okay but I wake up with stiffness.

Best Moment of the Week: Hiccups. (actually last week)

Movement: More frequent. Sometimes off and on all day long.

Symptoms: Peeing every 30 minutes. Heartburn is off the charts. Get full really fast during meals. Get winded super easily.

Food cravings: Coke Icees still. Also spicy foods but I'm always sorry later!

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I refuse to complain.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Only five more days of school! Also have showers coming up, which will in turn give me some organizing to do in her room. Can't wait to get it finished!

Weekly Wisdom: Ummmm........... nope. I'm not feeling wise these days.

Milestones: Hiccups, increased movement, only a few weeks until 3rd tri.

Emotions: Quick to get teary eyed during movies, songs, heck all the time.

Update

2011-05-16T19:46:00.001-04:00

Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement yesterday. What would I do without y'all?

I contacted my metabolic doctor yesterday and she agreed to allow me to cut back on the diet records and blood testing. Since the machine that reads the blood spots is only run once a week, she agreed it would be okay to do them once a week (meaning 3 days of diet records a week instead of 6).

I kid you not when I say that I actually cried when I read her email!

Maternal PKU

2011-05-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

I am having a little pity party at the moment. So please forgive me. :(

It's not the usual pregnancy complaints- tired, sore feet, sore back, small bladder, blah blah blah.

Nope. I vowed a long time ago that if I ever got pregnant I wouldn't whine about pregnancy symptoms. I worked really hard to get here and some people would give anything for those symptoms. I was one of those people.

Right now I'm bummed about my stupid PKU.

Normally, women who are pregnant and have PKU have to do a couple of things:
A.) Stick to the diet very carefully. (I was already doing that, so this one is no biggie.)
B.) Do diet records for 3 days prior to a blood test. (More on that in a min.)
C.) Do weekly finger pricks and send the blood spot off to be tested. (Again, no biggie.)

Okay, so I expected these things.
But that's not what I got.

FYI- The diet records and blood tests are what tell me if my protein levels in my blood are within range or not. If they aren't the baby can get too much protein and it can cause birth defects if left out of control.

More specifically, the diet records are more than just "food diaries." I have to measure or weigh out each meal and record what I ate, how much of it I ate, and how much phenylalanine is in each food item.

Here's where the issue is.

For a few weeks in my first trimester, my blood levels came back too low. It's not as bad as having high levels, but it's still not ideal. So my dietitian wanted me to start doing diet records twice a week (meaning 6 days instead of 3) and finger pricks twice a week.

I did, the levels evened out, and I assumed we'd go back to doing it once a week.

Wrong.

Here I am, at 23 weeks, and I am weighing, measuring, and recording EVERY BITE OF FOOD I eat for 6 out of 7 days a week.

I'm exhausted with it. It makes me want to stop eating. It's very tedious, and if I want to eat a food that isn't listed in my reference book I can't because I can't record a phenylalanine amount. Which results in even more restricted food options than ever before.

Right now I'm just about in tears over it. I'm SO sick of doing it. I don't see the reason for continuing to do it that often. At this point, I really wish I could just not eat. Period.

The next time you preggos out there start to complain about normal pregnancy symptoms, please do it where I can't hear you because I have no sympathy.

I'm starving but I don't want to eat. If I eat I have to weigh it. Then go write it down. Then add it up. Then weigh whatever is left over and subtract. Then add the day's total. And subtract how much allowance is left.

I can't eat what I would normally eat.

I can't eat until I'm full- I can only eat the amount I weighed or the amount that will "fit" into the day's allowance.

And I can't just go snack whenever I want.

At the moment, it's making me miserable and I just want to sit here and cry.
Thanks.

Hiccups

2011-05-13T23:38:00.001-04:00

So today I worked in my classroom kinda late. It was about 4:00 (I usually head home around 3:30, so for me to be still cleaning up and getting stuff ready for next week at 4, that's out of the ordinary) and I was sitting at my desk working on lesson plans. It was super quiet because most everyone else in my hall had gone home.

I'm sitting there, really still, writing stuff down and I noticed these weird feelings in my abdomen that felt *just like* muscle spasms. After a few of them, I started to get annoyed. It's like those random times when your eyelid starts twitching and won't stop.

So I stopped writing and just waited, thinking "what is that?"
Bump.
hmmmmm.......
Bump.
What is that?
Bump.
It's not fast enough to be muscle spasms.
Bump.
I wonder if I can feel it on the outside.
Bump.
What IS that?
Bump.
OMG WHAT IS THAT?!!!!!!
Bump.

That's when I finally figured it out. Dr. S asked me a couple of weeks ago if I had felt hiccups yet and I said no but then forgot all about it. So that HAD to be it! It was so weird but so cool. I jumped up and ran to one of my co-workers' rooms and hollered "HICCUPS!! HICCUPS!!!" and started pointing to my belly.

She was equally as excited for me. Such a neat experience!

I hope to have some new ultrasounds to share next week. I'm going in for my appt with the u/s tech and she always takes a bunch.
Have a great weekend!

It's That Time Again

2011-05-06T19:15:00.000-04:00

It's......you know.......M-Day.

I know I'm supposed to be all excited about this one.

And I am, in a way. Yes, I'm much more at peace this year. Which I'm very thankful for, don't get me wrong.

But last year was SO AWFUL that I can't help but revisit of some of the horrible things that were said to me in regard to M-Day, and I feel hurt and angry. Even still.

I didn't blog about what happened last year because I didn't want to come across as bad-mouthing people I love. I still don't feel comfortable blogging about it really. I want to tell you all the story, and in a way I think it would be good therapy, but I also think that it would come across as me talking bad about certain family members of mine and I don't want to do that. In a nutshell, I made what I thought was a simple request that would have helped me get through the toughest weekend of the year. My request was met with harsh words and anger, and caused a huge fight. I ended up tucking my tail and agreeing to do something that was very hard for me, against the advice of my friends and husband. Why? To keep the peace. But in the end, I know it was not the right decision because I will never forget how I was treated. Certain words that were said to me play like a record player in my head at random times, rubbing salt in a wound that will probably never fully heal. It was a situation that changed a relationship forever, whether the other party is aware of it or not.

So anyway.

This year I am thinking of last year and all of the previous years that I dreaded this holiday. I would honestly start having anxiety about M-Day as early as January.

For a long time it was like I was living holiday to holiday, just telling myself "if I can just get through this one, maybe I will be okay. Maybe this will be the last one."

Then the next one would roll around and it would be just as hard or worse.

So it's hard for me to completely let go of the past pain and just be 100% "normal" this year. Did I overcome my infertility? Yes, thanking God every single day.

But have I forgotten how painful this holiday has always been? No way. And I can't help but think of my sweet friends who have had miscarriages or who are still waiting and wondering when it will be their turn. I can't help but remember exactly how this weekend will feel to them. I hope and pray that no one speaks to them in an insensitive manner, and I hope that someone near them remembers to call or send a card, just to tell them they aren't forgotten.

I have mixed feelings this year.

I think I'm still healing, to be honest. It's unfortunate that a holiday that I have waited so long to look forward to is tainted with years of pain.

How do you let it go?
How do you make yourself forget?
And how do you make sure you never forget at the same time?

I don't know.

I hope that all of you find peace this weekend. For some of you, you will be rejoicing and celebrating a joyful time. Congratulations and enjoy every minute.

For others, you will be struggling to remain graceful. Remember that it's okay to feel the way you do. Don't let ANYONE (and I mean ANYONE) make you feel like you are wrong for mourning the pain of infertility or miscarriage. Stand up for yourself and do what you need to do in order to be at peace.

I love you all, and I'm honored to know some of you. You are the strongest group of women I know.

22 Weeks

2011-05-03T22:12:00.001-04:00

How Far Along: 22 Weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a spaghetti squash.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and mostly maternity tops unless it's slouchy tees. Can still wear pre-pregnancy running shorts, which I'm living in around the house.

Weight Gain: About 9 pounds.

Belly: Poochin' out there. Carrying on the high side.

Stretch Marks: One hideous one. Lotion-ing to no avail.

Sleep: Not so great this week. Tummy sleeping is all but out of the picture. Can't get comfortable on sides, usually toss and turn.

Best Moment of the Week: Feeling a kick hard enough to be uncomfortable.

Movement: More in the evenings. Feeling it much lower than original quickening movements.

Symptoms: Peeing every 30 minutes. Heartburn is off the charts. Get full really fast during meals.

Food cravings: Coke Icees. And lots of 'em.

Gender: Girl! Emory Grace.

What I Miss: Nothing. I refuse to complain.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Showers and summer break.

Weekly Wisdom: I got nothin'.

Milestones: Second tri.

Emotions: Eerily even-keeled. :)

Absent

2011-04-30T22:01:00.000-04:00

I wanted to let you know that if I normally read and comment on your blog, I probably won't be around for a few days. We still don't have cable/internet, and even the restaurants nearby (today I'm at a McD's about 5 miles from home) are packed with other people trying to get online.

So I hope you don't think I'm being horrible by not commenting for a week or so. I really hate being out of the loop and I'm thinking of y'all. Hoping your cycles and pregnancies and just lives in general are going great!

Thanks for being there for me, I promise to do the same as much as I can until we are back up and running.

Update on our town:
We were able to drive through town today and the damage is surreal. I want to go down and help but there's not much a preggo lady can do. So tomorrow I plan to go to Wa.lm.art and load up on supplies to drop off. Thanks for your continued prayers for people who have a long road ahead.

The Day Our Town Was Put on the Map

2011-04-29T13:38:00.001-04:00

My profile says I live in Chattanooga. The reason I put that is because it's a better known point of reference than my actual town.

I live in Ringgold. It's about 5 miles from Chattanooga, just over the Georgia line.

On Wednesday night, my hometown of Ringgold was put on the map.

The photos above were taken by me.

The following photos are courtesy of someone on fa.ceb.ook.

This (above) is the main exit, full of hotels and fast food restaurants.

This is my alma mater. The football and baseball stadiums at Ringgold High School. Part of the middle school can be seen at the top left.

What follows are photos I took from my back porch at about 6pm. The tornado that hit our little town came through at about 8:15. We had had waves of storms all day, about 4 or 5 different cells.

If this particular cloud finally formed and touched down, it was not in our area. Other areas nearby were hit hard as well, so it may have missed us and went on to them.

Please pray for those in South Tennessee and North Georgia. The death toll is above 60 at this point, but the search and rescue teams are not finished.

Please pray for those who are hurting.

Love y'all.

National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW)

2011-04-25T19:00:00.004-04:00

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW).

No one asks to be infertile.

No one asks to be thrown into the category with those who can't conceive/carry to term.

But unfortunately, some of us get handed that lot.

Infertility sucks. It is lonely, cold, scary, and devastating.

People who have not experienced it (TRUE infertility, not just "trying for a few months before it works") cannot fathom how much it hurts to walk in these shoes.

Even those who are close to us can't understand how heartbreaking a simple comment can be. Or how heart wrenching it is to attend baby showers, family events, or celebrate certain holidays.

For some women who have dealt with infertility, you never truly "get over it." Even after having a baby or getting pregnant, the easy-to-come-by pregnancies of the people around them still strike a chord in their hearts that won't ever heal completely. It's still uncomfortable to talk about certain things, and those cliche' comments from ignorant people still make you cringe.

For others, life moves into a new phase of bliss. They have a baby and become like everyone else who has ever conceived, unaware of how their words affect others. How do I know this? I've seen it. I watch it happen from time to time and wonder how they could have so easily forgotten. I hope I don't do that. Ever.

This week I will be dedicating several posts to NIAW. I think it's important to spread the word that infertility is out there and affects SO many people. I think it's important to make others aware so that they might think twice before asking "So, when do you plan on having kids??" Infertility has completely changed the way I hear certain questions and I feel like asking about such things (unless the person is open about the details of conceiving) is completely inappropriate.

So for my first NIAW tribute, I'd like to list a few of my MOST FAVORITE quotes from the past 4 years. These touched my heart in a way like none other, and I honestly wanted to slap the people who said them. If, on the off-chance, that you were one of the origins of said quotes, take comfort in the fact that I loved you enough NOT to actually slap you. :) I forgave you for your naivety and looked the other way because I knew you didn't know any better. But now you do. So stop saying these things to people. You never know what they might be struggling with.

Without further ado....

"It will happen when you stop trying so hard."

"It's not on Anna's time, it's on GOD's time. You're just impatient."

"What's your rush, anyway?"

"Oh you're young."

"Soooo, when are youuuuu gonna have a baby?"

"Sooooo, when's it gonna be YOUR turn? HHHHMMMmmmm????"

"What, don't you know how it WORKS?!?" har..har... (I couldn't even make that shit up, folks.)

"Maybe God is trying to tell you that you're not meant to have kids."

Your favorite and mine: "JUST RELAX!!!!!"

"Have you tried putting your legs up?"

"Have you tried having sex when you're ovulating?" Uh gee, nope...I didn't think of that!

"Go on a vacation."

"Adopt, then you'll get pregnant."

"Use pillows."

"What's your problem? So-and-So and I had to try for a few months before it worked, and I/we didn't act like this."

"Have you thought of in vitro?" Why, are you offering the $18 grand it costs to DO that???

"Oh I could NEVER adopt...."

"It's your turn next. Well. Er. You were supposed to be first." Thanks.

"Have you prayed about it?" So help me if I heard that ONE. MORE. TIME.

"You haven't prayed about it enough."

"If you can't afford IVF then you must not be financially ready for a baby." Um okay.

"Why don't you focus on losing weight first?"

"It's just not your time."

"Just stop thinking about it."

"You just haven't drank the right water."

"Really? All my DH and I have to do is hold hands and we get knocked up." Goodforyou.

"Maybe you just need to take a break."

Edited to add one I forgot: "Are you SURE you want one of these?"

Closely related to the one I get NOW, which is: "Here you need the practice." To which I want to reply "uh no, just because you happened to get pregnant easily doesn't mean I need to practice with your child. I am well, WELL aware of the fact that you were a mom long before I will be/was. Thanks for reminding me though."

Again, I forgive you because you don't know better. But now you do. :) So please stop saying such things.

*Feel free to add any that I may have overlooked. Or any that you just need to get off your chest. :)

Garden 2011

2011-04-24T17:58:00.001-04:00

We've lived in our house for 3 years, and the most appealing thing about this house (aside from the low price) was the HUGE yard. We're on the corner and our lot is about 3/4 of an acre. It's my dream to someday live in a big white farmhouse with a wraparound porch, red barn, and about 10 acres to play on....but for now I'm settling for my puke green house with black shutters and 3/4 of an acre. HA!

Anyhoo.

So the first year, I used a tiller and just did a traditional veggie garden. Then for the past 2 years I did a pair of LARGE raised beds. It seemed like a great idea but it had some major flaws. First, they were 12 inches high and that made it hard for me to reach into the center for weeding, planting, and harvesting. Also, I had to pay about 80 bucks to fill each box because they were so big. Lastly, we never had a good system for keeping our dogs out of the beds. I tried installing some fencing around the edges of the boxes, but that made it even harder for me to reach into them and by the end of the summer they were a big ol' nasty mess of dead vines, rotten tomatoes, and overgrown weeds.

This year I've finally got my act together. I bought The New Square Foot Garden Book by Mel Bartholomew and from that point on I was hooked on the idea of a SFG. All winter I read and re-read his book, highlighted the ideas I thought I'd need to be able to find, and sketched and planned to make this the best year yet.

*For more info on SFGs, visit Mel's website here.*

So first things first.

On Saturday, my dad and DH were busy helping deconstruct my old boxes and turn them into SFG 4x4 boxes. (This would be my biological dad, not my step-dad. My step-dad was able to come home from the hospital on Friday and is recovering well, by the way. Thanks so much for your prayers for him!) The boxes used for SFGs don't normally have posts in the corners, but since we recycled the old boxes and the wood had some termite/water damage, we needed to reinforce the corners and we had the posts from previous years.

In this pic you can see where one of my old boxes was, as well as the new boxes when they were in the process of being built.

Here you can see the 3 boxes better. At this point I still needed to add the bottoms and the grids.

(Please excuse the weeds at the fenceline!)

Next, we stapled pieces of tarp to the bottom of each box. I cut drainage holes and then DH was sweet enough to fill them with the dirt that we purchased at a nearby garden center. It's called "Black Gold" and it's a great combination of soil and compost. It sure smelled composty. Bleh! (*In the book, Mel recommends that you blend your own soil and gives you information on that. Since I've used the Black Gold soil before and had great results, I stuck to that for cost effectiveness.)

Once the dirt was in, I used hot pink twine to mark off the grids. The grids are a key part of SFG, and I was super excited about how easy it made the planting. No more guessing on spacing! The book outlines exactly how to plant each type of veggie in the grids. You can use pieces of window blinds, wood lath, or twine to make the grids, and I used twine because my local hardware store didn't have wood lath.

So here are some shots of the boxes once they had been marked off and planted.

Box #1

4 tomato varieties

2 pepper varieties (will add 2 more)

4 heads of romaine lettuce

2 spaghetti squash

1 yellow squash

Box #2

2 tomato varieties

1 spaghetti squash

2 cucumber

1 yellow squash

1 zucchini squash

9 green bean plants

Box #3

1 zucchini

1 cucumber

8 strawberry plants (first year doing those- hope they work!)

3 chives

3 basil

3 cilantro

1 square of marigold flowers

Last on the agenda? Dog proofing. This has ALWAYS been a huge issue. For the past 3 summers I have tried and failed miserably at keeping my ~~stinking mutts~~ sweet little angels out of my veggies. For some strange reason, both of my girls are unbelievably attracted to tomatoes. Both the green ones on the vine and rotten ones on the ground.

This year? Bring it on, pups.

I went to the Tractor Supply Store and found these great stakes that have little hooks on them. You hang caging/fencing material on the hooks and the rabbits can't get in. If it works for rabbits, I figure it will work for my babies.

So while DH grilled some yummy burgers, my dad and I worked on the fencing. I am VERY please to say that so far, neither one of my pups has been able to breach the security around the garden! YAY!!!! I tested it by getting inside of the fencing (I left one end loosely secured to the fence post so that I can unhook it and get in) and then calling my Maddie. She's my bigger girl (schnauzer) and if she can't get in, I'm fairly certain that Sadie can't get in there either. She whined and wimpered because she couldn't get to me! YAY!

Here is the finished product:

YAY!

I'm so excited about being able to get in there and actually reach everything easily. And I'm SO glad that my pups can't get in there to eat rotten tomatoes (and subsequently puke rotten tomatoes in the house).

Total cost for this project:
boxes: free
soil: $46
plants & seeds: about $30

fencing: $40
grand total: $116

I will probably eat that $116 worth (and then some!) in veggies by mid-June. By the end of the summer I will have saved TONS of money on fresh veggies, especially since that's such a key part of the PKU diet. Plus, the boxes and fencing will be used again next year!

Let the summer begin! :)

*Disclaimer: The Square Foot Gardening company did not compensate me for this blog article in any way. I shared their information with you because I love their book and wanted to pass along the awesome information! :)

Whirlwind Week

2011-04-20T20:53:00.001-04:00

Sorry I've been absent. I've missed almost a week of your blog posts and updates. So, for that, I'm sorry. I am going back tonight and trying to get caught up on how everyone is doing.

On Friday, my step-dad went in for a stress test and was admitted immediately. He had 2 blockages of 99% and 80%, and a third blockage that was more minor, of about 30%. After an emotional weekend, he decided to go ahead and have open heart surgery on Monday. After a double bypass (the more minor third artery was not repaired at this time due to some complications), he is recovering well. My mom is holding up well, and I'm relieved that they both can relax a little as he was moved out of ICU today and into a regular room. We hope to have him home sometime this weekend.

I haven't opened my home computer since Sunday. I've been so busy and subsequently SO EXHAUSTED! I have been coming home and sleeping for the past 3 afternoons and I still feel tired. I don't know if Emory's having a growth spurt or if it's from elevated stress. Probably a combination of both. But SHEW! I am so tired.

Monday is my next ultrasound/appointment. Can't wait to see Emory again. :)

I took a picture last week of my haircut, but haven't had a chance to upload it. So I didn't forget about it, just got busy. Maybe I'll post it with my update after Monday's appointment.

This weekend I'm planning on finishing my vegetable garden. You might not know that about me, but I'm a BIG summer gardener. There is nothing like fresh, home-grown tomatoes that are still warm from the sun in the middle of the summer. For the past 2 years, I've had a pair of 12-inch high raised beds that I packed all my veggies in. This year I'm revamping and changing it up. I'm still using raised beds, but I read a great book that changed my plans on how to construct and arrange them. I'm hoping to dedicate a post with lotsa' pictures soon. If the weather is nice and I can recruit some help I will be finishing up the construction and planting this weekend.

Now I better get back to getting caught up with what's going on with you awesome ladies! :)

Need More Help!

2011-04-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

Y'all are just awesome!! Have I told you that? :)

Okay so the consensus is that after about 25ish weeks, anything goes as far as shower timing. Good to know. :)

Next question:

I am planning on breastfeeding as long as Emory doesn't have PKU. I'm also going back to work and will be pumping.

I'd like to know which bottles y'all love or hate. I registered for Tom.mee Tipp.ees because they say they have anti-colic valves. Problem is, they got pretty horrible reviews. Many many many people said that the nipples collapse on themselves and they ended up getting different ones. I figured I might just stick with Playtex drop in bottles, but I thought I'd see what you fabulous ladies think. Tell me what you love or hate about the popular bottles on the market.

And while we're at it- I registered for an Ameda pump. Any feedback on that? I know Me.de.la is probably the top seller, but I found a $50 off coupon for the Ameda and it got decent reviews.

Thanks for the (solicited) advice! lol

I have a dumb question.

2011-04-14T16:59:00.001-04:00

I'm afraid to ask the general public (aka fa.cebo.ok) because I don't want to come across like I'm fishing for showers. To the contrary, I sort of already know who is throwing me a shower and how many I will likely have.

My (dumb) question is this:
How close to the baby's due date do people's showers typically fall?

The reason I'm asking is because a LOT of the people I know who are pregnant have not had/are not having their showers until the very last minute. I'm talking like during the same month as the due date. While I don't have an issue with that (and I'm just thankful to be having a shower at all), I know that I'm a planner and it will totally stress me out to be down to the last couple of weeks and not have everything ready. It's all I can do to refrain from getting some of the registry items now. lol

Also, I had someone offer to throw me one in May, which seems kind of early. Don't get me wrong- I don't mind it being that early one bit! But I hope the guests don't think it's too early. I'm not due until Sept. 12th.

So when do these things normally take place? This is my first rodeo. :)

PS- On a TOTALLY unrelated and sort of cranky note: I just feel the need to SCREAM every time I make a completely innocent, non-baby-related comment or statement and someone follows it with unsolicited baby advice. I know, I know. It's typical. But very aggravating. Especially when the conversation had nothing to do with babies or life after baby arrives. Give me baby advice when I talk about the baby, if you must. But if I'm just talking about normal everyday stuff, why do people feel the need to make statements like "you just wait. When the baby comes, _____(blah blah blah)_________." Um.....................Okay. I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the here and now. But thanks for the heads up. I am completely unaware that life changes after you have a baby. How would I ever function without your advice??? (eye roll)

Randomosity

2011-04-10T22:40:00.001-04:00

I'm sure there is a much catchier way to sum up this post, but I can't think of it at the moment. So yeah.

First, I feel the need to list out the things I did over Spring Break so I don't feel like such a bum:

I gave our master bathroom a deep-clean-scrub-down. More on that shortly.
I made letters to go on Emory's wall.
I took photos of my friend Jessie's new baby (and her "old" baby, although he's not old).
I cleaned and organized my laundry/storage room. It's amazing how much better it looks!
I cleaned out some junk from Emory's room. There is still a little bit of craft stuff in there, but it's looking pretty good.
I got a hair cut. :)
I shopped for some cutie girl clothes ~~because I am impulsive~~ because I just wanted to.
I made a super cute dry erase calendar for the kitchen wall. More on that later!

Ah, so see? I didn't waste my entire break lazing around being a slug. I just lazed around for a day or two. Feels good just to clarify that for myself. (Dusts off hands)

Okay so the shower.
If women were to receive report cards regarding their cleaning and cooking skills......I would receive a C- in cooking and a D- in cleaning. I hate cleaning and to be honest, I'm just not very good at it. I can work all day long dusting, wiping, sweeping, de-cluttering, and mopping, and then the next day I'll see about a zillion places that I missed.

It's SO frustrating!!!

It's so weird, too because at work (in my classroom) I am METICULOUS about everything. Everything stays organized and I don't leave unless my desk is cleared and ready for the next day. I wipe tables, counters, doorknobs, and hit the crayon boxes with Lysol every week.

My house?

Not so much.

But I digress.

Our master bathroom has a stand-up shower with a pair of obscenely old and outdated glass doors. I'm pretty good about keeping the sink, counters, and potty clean, but the shower is another story.

I hate scrubbing the shower because the doors are hanging by a thread to begin with and I'm always afraid that they'll fall as I'm scrubbing. Also, DH and I have a horrible habit of leaving empty shampoo/shaving cream/ shower gel bottles in the corner of the shower and it gets really gross after a while.

Today I decided to declare war on said grossness so I pulled on my big ol' rubber gloves and whipped out the baking soda. I've never used baking soda as a cleaning product before but I. AM. SOLD! I used a Mr. Clean sponge, a toothbrush, and a scrub brush with a baking soda paste and now my shower is squeaky clean!

The best part?

NO FUMES!

The baking soda actually smelled kinda pleasant. The odor was super faint but nice and clean. I even got some of the soap scum off of the 900-year-old sliding glass doors. :) I was so excited about how well it worked and how easily it took off the gunk, I went right on down to the dollar store and bought a couple more boxes. I also got a big jug of vinegar and a couple of spray bottles.

I did some digging online and found a recipe for a daily shower spray. It has a quarter cup of Jet Dry, a cup of vinegar, and a drop of dish soap. Top off the bottle with water, and viola`. Daily shower spray. So maybe now I can make a permanent change and have a squeaky shower all the time! :) I don't know why that makes me so excited, but it does!

In the other spray bottle, I mixed up one part vinegar to three parts water to make an all-purpose cleaner for the kitchen. I've heard it works well on mirrors, too. I figured since the baking soda worked so marvelously, I should give other home-made cleaning concoctions a try. Added bonus is that I don't have to worry about using it while preggo or around Emory once she's here.

Lastly, I saw this ADORABLE calendar idea on this blog and decided to make one. Total cost: $10 for the frame at Kirkla.nd's, $3.50 for the burlap. Everything else I already had. It turned out pretty cute and even DH said "this is pretty neat." Compliment from the Hubbs? Sounds like a win to me!

Now I'm off to bed. Six more weeks of school. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can!

Thanks for reading!
Love y'all.

Drumroll please......

2011-04-06T20:54:00.001-04:00

If you guessed Emerson, you were EXTREMELY close.
If you guessed Grace, you were EXTREMELY spot on.

If you guessed girl...........

you got it right.

Click to see the name better.
(This is pre-haircut!)

**If you plan on commenting on my weight, don't bother. I will delete. AHEM. Karen. Haveaniceday.

We met with our parents today and had them open a gift-wrapped box. Inside was this picture. I had hoped to put the photo inside a balloon and have them pop it instead (this was my original plan) but alas, it is REALLY hard to get a photo inside of a deflated balloon without destroying the picture. So, a box it was.

Thanks for all the awesome ideas!

Y'all are THE BEST.

And I'm not just sayin' it.

REALLY.

You are. :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ PinkaDots! *~*~*~*~*~*~*

Most Loved Products (so far!)

Dusting off my keyboard....

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Two Months

Hi

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Shameless Plug!

400th Post

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Two Weeks!

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Update

37 Weeks

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ILL!

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I'm in the WHAT?!

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25 Weeks

Update

Maternal PKU

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22 Weeks

Absent

The Day Our Town Was Put on the Map

National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW)

Garden 2011

Whirlwind Week

Need More Help!

I have a dumb question.

Randomosity

Drumroll please......

~~~~~~~ PinkaDots! ~~~~~~*