6-8 dpo Triphasic??

This has been an odd cycle and I'm hoping that's a good thing! I usually ovulate on Cd 14 but have had a late one on Cd 20, never and early one. Well, this time I O'd on CD 10! How odd?! But despite that being weird, it may work in our favor. I think I mentioned in the last post that our schedule has been way off with the late O a couple months ago and now thanks to this early O, we are back on track! K left for work last Friday so our timing on the night before (CD7) would've been pointless if I were to O on the normal day 14. BUT on Saturday I started getting positive OPKs (thought this is strange!) and they continued until Monday morning. Sunday (O day) I know exactly when I must have released the eggy because around 9-10 pm I got the worst cramps and pressure in my ovaries. I don't usually feel ovulation, just notice the ewcm and when heartburn starts a day after. I knew it had to be O with the cramps and the positive OPKs! Had another + the next morning (but I hear it's not always good to do an OPK in the am) and negative that afternoon.

I decided to start progesterone cream this cycle because looking back at my cycle with my youngest, that was the one month I did prog too and I think it has to help because I tend to have low post O temps which usually indicates low P (and that was an issue last time we TTCd as well, had to be on prometrium for first trimester. I am also taking food derived prenatals, vitamin D3, magnesium, and Vitex (this is supposed to also help progesterone and LP length).
Fast forward to my post O temping (for those unfamiliar with this term, temping is using a BBT thermometer to track temps throughout the cycle to pinpoint ovulation and possible pregnancy)...first few days my temps are the usual after O, 97.3 to 97.5 until I hit 6 Dpo, then it jumped to 97.7! 8 Dpo and 9 Dpo (today) it has been 97.9! This feels like a triphasic pattern but I'm not getting my hopes up too high because it could just be attributed to the progesterone cream. But I hope it's better than that!!😊

I am expecting AF to show up on CD 12 If my Lp stays the same as it was last month. But given this temp shift so early, I may test on CD 10! I hate to do that and then be disappointed but the sooner I find out the better so I can get in to my Ob early to start betas, progesterone testing, and get on my  methylfolate for the MTHFR and prometrium. Guess I should be on the folate already so I may go ahead and order some anyway. I have folic acid in the prenatals I take but due to the MTHfR, my body ignores or can't process it.

Well, I will keep temping and post to update soon! Praying this is it because I'm not sure if we will be trying as fervently as last time (stress and uncertainty about this even being a good idea are really getting to me!)

CD4...On to April

Ugh...the "luck 'o the irish" was not with me in March so we are on to April! Having a hard time figuring out how our schedules will work out this month because AF decided to show up 2 days early, further confirming my suspicion that my LP progesterone levels are not so great. From the few cycles I've followed in the last 6 months, it looks like even though I thought I was ovulating like clockwork on CD14 with a 14 day LP (textbook 28 day cycle) that is apparently not the case..2 cycles ago, I O'd on CD21 and had an 11 day LP. Last cycle I O'd closer to day 14 but still with an 10-11 day LP. I'm assuming my LP is now consistently 11 days (since between O and LP, usually LP is more likely to be consistent). SOOoooooo, how do I get back on track? If this month is like last month, my O date will fall somewhere around the Wednesday during my hub's work week..same EXACT problem we had last time we TTC. (He works in another state, 7 days on, 7 days home) I was so sure that this time around we'd only have to try for a month or two since it seemed like my cycles were normal,  I know I'm O'ing on my own, and schedules were looking great..thanks again mother nature for throwing a monkey wrench in things :-(

After looking back out our BFP cycle in 2013, I forgot that I had been using progesterone cream that month. It gave me such awful headaches that I swore to leave it alone and just stick with what my ob gave me but I completely did not even realize that the only month I used it was the month we conceived little man! So looks like I need to get back on that awful stuff and get the progesterone to going again. I'm also going to pick up some V.itex (chasteberry) and hopefully between the two, my O date will get right and my LP will lengthen out. That would put our schedule back on track! But, despite all my well laid plans, I know that all of this is in God's hands. And like last time, He's probably going to surprise me when I feel like I've failed! Sure hope so! Just praying we don't spin our wheels for 8 months trying to get scheduling to work out..

So ladies, if any of you have had similar issues, what did you do? Any natural supplements help? I'm determined not to go the medical route this time (C.lomid and all that) and let it happen naturally. I know God's timing is perfect and all my manipulations of hormones and whatnot could all be for naught, the control freak in me is hard to silence! lol Anywho, here we go, round 2!

Here we go again...2 years later!!

WOW! I can't believe it's been 2 years already! Our C man turned 2 on April 3rd and all of a sudden, his daddy and I feel like we are ready for another! Are we crazy? Maybe slightly lol our family would certainly say so considering this would be #6 for him and #3 for me! As terrible as it sounds, the day I found out he was going to be a boy, I was already dreaming of trying for another when he turned 2! I haven't even considered it up until now which is so crazy that it's 2 years exactly since then! I think at the time my logic was that his oldest half sis would be 18 and heading off to college. Well, she is 18 (as of Dec 26th) but this last year was WAY different than any of us expected! In April of last year (shortly after C's 1st birthday), she was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in her femur. Long story short, she spent 9 months in treatment at St. Jude in Tennessee (6 hours away, many many many long weekend trips!!) but we are so blessed because she is still with us and if you saw her on the street, you would never know what she went through or that she has a titanium femur and knee now! She got to come home in January of this year and was given the "all clear" so she is doing great! She has a couple of lung mets that have been there from day one but they aren't growing so they are just continuing to watch those at her 3 month scans. Well, despite that arduous and crazy journey, she is still going to graduate with her class and go to college in the Fall!! What did I say..blessed!! God is amazing!!!

Now, back to our "plan"..about a month ago, my bff found out she was expecting #2 (her 4 yr old is my sweet God son :-)) and that did it! lol Baby fever bug attacked me with a vengeance! For some odd reason I was having prego symptoms that came out of nowhere that month (even though hubs and I were taking all preventative measures except BC) but turned out it must have been sympathy symptoms! lol I kept telling myself NOOO this can't be, I can't handle another! But in the back of my mind I couldn't help but start hoping lol Well that was it, I knew I wanted to try for another but have been so anxious and hesitant to move forward since we live in such a small house, are trying to remodel and sell it this year, and of course the thought of H having a relapse and going back into treatment is always at the back of our minds :-( But, hubs and I talked it over (after he spent the last year telling me he was way too old to have another at 37 lol) and we both feel like maybe we might get our little girl this time but of course, we had that same plan last time and God had better plans! :-) So this time, while I dream of ribbons and pink everything, I am going into it knowing that even if God decided to bless us with another little man, I would still be thrilled!!

So this has been the first month "not trying not preventing" since I have to jump into charting and all that again and I don't know what's what anymore in my cycle. We have agreed to not go crazy this time and just accept God's will whether we fall prego or not and we won't be doing treatments or doing all the hormone testing and all that. We just are going to trust God's will is perfect and if He means for us to be blessed again, we will be! I DO know that after having C, all my periods came back completely regular and I have been ovulating on my own (as far as I know, I get tons of EWCM like clockwork around day 14 so I must be.. right?) so I think that this round may not be as difficult as the last (I'm praying so!!) and we won't end up spending a year TTC but just a few months maybe? Recalling last time, I was dealing with major PCOS issues after having the awful M.irena IUD removed and none of my cycles were regular and I wasn't ovulating.

But.. here I am in the TWW at about 10 dpo. Symptoms so far have been a bit odd this cycle but seeing as how I've spent the last 2 years ignoring all symptoms throughout every cycle, it may just be that I'm paying attention now. For the first few days after my "assumed" O date (last Sunday, CD14), CM dried up of course as usual and I had major indigestion for about 5 days. Temps have hovered around 97.6 with a dip on 6 DPO down to 97.4 then back up to 97.6. UnfortunatelyI've had quite a bit of cramping, bloating and small pulling type twinges. I can't recall ever having cramping in my LP but again, maybe I was and ignored it! I do know that I never have AF cramps until the day she shows up so we shall see if I do that this time! I don't seem to have any breast tenderness and after looking back at this time 2 years ago, I did have that so that's discouraging. One weird thing that has happened this cycle is last night I woke up at 2:30 a.m. to a major night sweat which I can't ever remember experiencing before. Then when I temped at my usual time this morning, my temp was all the way down to 97.3..very odd and I don't know whether to look at it as a good sign since it's out of the ordinary or a bad sign..Anyway, I will probably test tomorrow morning since I'm obsessive like that. And keeping my prayers going! So there it is guys, here we go again! :-D

Where Have I Been?

So I've been going through and deleting old emails and see that I've gotten tons of comments on posts that I had no idea were there! So sorry guys, after the little munchkin arrived I totally slacked on posting and have basically ignored the whole blog since then lol. While I was in the midst of our TTC and pregnancy journey, I had all of 2 followers and never any comments but one here and there so I assumed that no one was even reading but maybe I should pick this thing back up! Will be giving some thought on transitioning to a lifestyle/weightloss/health blog :-)

So I guess I will give an update on our little corner of the world and for all the ones that commented and I missed, I'm so so sorry! I will keep you guys in my prayers and hopefully some of you (or all of you!) have gotten your BFP's by now! :-)

Little Man is now 10 months old! I still cannot believe that in less than 2 months he will be 1! This year has flown by, it feels like just yesterday I was crying my eyes out at the sight of his sweet newborn squishy face!
He is 21.6 pounds, not even sure how long he is but judging by his clothes size, he's almost the size of a 2 year old lol. He is now in 18-24 month clothes and pushing the limits on those! He is very tall for his age but that's expected since I am 6' tall and his daddy is 5'10" (he actually has some 7' tall cousins on his side!). He is definitely going to be bigger than his older brother who has always been about average on height and weight. I keep telling him, you better quit pestering your little brother because one of these days he might be bigger than you lol. But they are the sweetest together. Big brother is 8 1/2 years older than him and just adores him :-) We've had to curb some slight jealousy now and then since he's always been the baby but it hasn't been terrible. More than anything he worries about him a lot and wants to always make sure he's ok. Which just makes this mama's heart melt! Besides big brother C, he has 3 half siblings who just think he hung the moon. It's funny to watch them compete for who gets to take him to the car or carry him around the house lol.

So little C is not crawling, something I'm always worried about but his brother did not crawl either (scooted on his bottom forever!) and I'm thinking he's just gonna stick to rolling and then go straight to walking. I always say my children don't fit anyone's mold of "normal" in any area but they are always very bright and just sweet as pie so I know he will catch up in the physical areas where he is lacking. I'm constantly comparing him to friends' babies who were born the same month and are already walking (what!?!) but factoring in he is much taller than most babies his age, I'm assuming that is why mobility is a little tougher for him. He gets from point A to point B either by rolling or slowly scooting forward on his belly so he is at least moving. Big C did not walk until he was 18 months due to hypermobile joints and it looks like that will be little C's problem as well (you should see how floppy his little ankles and wrists are). But knowing what needs to be done (learning from big C's physical therapy at 18 months) we can hopefully have him walking not too long after he turns one. Other than that, he's a smily, crazy, goofy and very smart little boy who keeps us cracking up on the regular :-D.

As for plans for another baby, right now we are content with our two boys and their 3 halfsies. As much as I dream of a little girl, God may be saying we are done. I won't in any way complain though if He decides we need another but given the struggle we had conceiving little C and my health problems, we won't be actively trying again. But that's not to say God may have other plans and surprises for us but we will leave that up to Him for now :-)

He's Here! Chase's Birth 4/3/13

I can't believe he is finally here! And so perfect! Chase made his grand entrance on Wednesday, April 3rd at 12:41 pm via scheduled c-section. He weighed a whopping 8 lb. 8 oz! This is big for a baby 2 weeks early but definitely not as big as we expected which proves those ultrasounds can be off by up to a pound or 2. At my last ultrasound 2 weeks before delivery, he was measuring 8 lb. 4 oz. so to have only gained 4 oz in two weeks is pretty unlikely so they were off a bit (thank goodness lol). Unfortunately, he lost a pound in the first 3 days so he dropped to 7 lb 8 oz and was only up an ounce on Tuesday at his well baby check up.

Now for the big story :-) ...

Due to the MTHFR and his expected size, the docs decided he needed to come 2 weeks early so we scheduled for Wed the 3rd. We arrived at the hospital that morning around 9:30 and they started prepping me. At this point I wasn't really worried (although my anxiety had been high all week, I was surprisingly calm) but my sweet hubby was terrified. Even though he's been through 4 births, he felt as though it were just like the first. But I think it was the fact that we were having a c-section (and all of the other children were vaginal deliveries) was what he was so worried about. At about 12:15, they had me ready to go and the doc was all set up in the OR. They wheeled me in by myself and had me get on the table and sit sideways while the anesthesiologist administered the spinal. This was AWFUL!!! I remember my epidural with my first and it was nothing..this was so painful! Once he had that done of course everything started going numb and they had me lay flat with my arms stretched out to the side. What I was not prepared for was the awful feeling that set in. It was like I was on the verge of a major panic attack and needing to vomit at the same time and not being able to breathe either. It felt like a ton of bricks were sitting on my chest and the more I tried to breathe the harder it was and the worse I felt. I never want to have that feeling again, it was extremely scary! But my anesthesiologist was awesome, he talked me down and did his best to keep me calm. He gave me some oxygen which really helped and once my husband got to come in I was feeling a little better. Then the fun began. Once they started pulling, the whole table shook and it felt like my ribs were being pulled out. Very weird feeling! But I felt no pain at all and it took about 5 minutes to get him out.

His first cry... all I can say is it was the most amazing sound and all my fear fell away. My husband and I cried and cried and to see that little face when they brought him around for me to see before they swept him away to be cleaned and checked was just surreal. I don't remember being very emotional when my first was born for some reason. I was overjoyed but I didn't cry. This time I bawled! I felt like all of the emotional roller coasters we had been on from the struggle to conceive to being high risk were all so worth it. Nothing in this world compares to seeing your baby for the first time. God is so amazing to give us that experience and it's just beyond amazing!

We were so thrilled that he was breathing good and all checked out perfect so hubs got to carry him back to the recovery room where the family waited. Of course that 20 minutes or so it took to close me up felt like an eternity! When I got back to the room I know I looked like I was in shock lol. They handed my little guy and OH how beautiful! He has his own look but looks alot like his big brother did. We are still trying to figure out who he looks like more lol.

Now for the not so fun part...recovery. I swear I've never been through anything more difficult and more painful in my life. Not to scare anyone but I think I would go through natural childbirth with no epidural 10 times over before going through a c-section again. But my case is probably a bit different with my back problems. Something about that spinal really messed up my back and I think that pain was even worse than the incision pain. When all the anesthesia wore off and they had me up and walking I thought I would just die! Even on percocet and ibuprofen 600, nothing even touched the pain. They finally gave me Lor.tab 10 and that took the edge off just for a little while. I was in the hospital for 3 days and I thought it would never end. The bed was too short so I could never get comfortable and needing to feed every 2 hours meant I got zero sleep. I think I literally slept a total of 45 minutes overall. To sum it all up, it was not fun and I hope I never have to do it again but it was all worth it. If we happen to have another child, I will fight for a vbac with all I've got for sure!

Today I am much better which is why I was finally able to post. I've been able to get up and down without too much pain and caring for Chase is getting easier. He is such a good baby! He never cries unless he's extremely hungry and I really think he would sleep through the night if I let him. Compared to his brother as a newborn, the difference is night and day! But we are so very thankful and I can't wait for his daddy to come home tomorrow. With his work schedule, he had to leave the day after we came home and has been gone all week. So this next week is going to be wonderful with him home!

We are just so overjoyed and blessed!

1 week 4 days to go!

I can't believe I am less than 2 weeks from delivery, WOW! And not only that but this little (or big!) guy is literally as big or bigger than an average full term baby at only 36 weeks! He weighs 8 lbs 4 oz according to the perinatologist on Tuesday of this week. Like OMG! My first son was 7 lb 14 oz at birth and he was born at 39 1/2 weeks! So I am officially bigger with this one now than I was with him at full term. Geez! And boy does my poor pelvis and back feel it! Moving around is getting really difficult, rolling over at night requires an act of Congress, forget bending over to pick something up OR to even put on a shoe...and talk about active! My entire body seems to shift when he rolls over! So funny and so weird to watch!

We are just beside ourselves with excitement now and I feel like there's no way I will get everything done on time. My OCD nesting is at an all time high but I can't do much at one time because I just wear out and my legs and back give out after about 30 minutes of cleaning. So frustrating...
We are installing new carpet in all 3 bedrooms (great timing huh?) and I am chomping at the bit to get it done. With hubs only home every other week it's very difficult to schedule such a task. We are having it installed by the store we bought it from but getting their schedule to work with ours is not easy. Hoping we can get it done before bubs comes home but it's not looking likely right now. Really wanted to avoid all the new carpet "fumes" and debris floating in the air! Not sure what we're gonna do....

But anyhoo...here we are, hurry up and wait. Seems like the last week always drags by no matter what. Hubs is out of town for work this week so that makes it even longer but we at least have something amazing to look forward to when he comes home. All our kiddo's are just beside themselves and I'm so very glad they are looking forward to his arrival and not dreading having yet another sibling to deal with lol. At least I know Cayden isn't for sure since he is practically an "only child" most of the time since the others don't live with us. But he is definitely seeming to hone in on the fact that he won't be the baby anymore. It's hard and some days I just cry thinking about it and when he has a bad day at school I feel so guilty for some reason. Like I'm not doing enough to let him know he is still my baby and always will be. So just praying that all goes smoothly on that front. As well as delivery. Having a scheduled C-section is new territory for me and I'm a little freaked out but I know God's taking care of us and all should be well. Just not looking forward to the recovery but I guess the upside is I will get 2 extra weeks home with my new snugglebunny. Yay!

Hope everyone is doing great, I know I'm following a few ladies that are due close to the same time. Keeping you all in my prayers! :-)

Delivering 38 weeks!

So we saw my perinatologist yesterday and I asked the big question that no one has brought up yet: "When can I deliver?" His very quick response was "You need to be pregnant for 27 more days so I recommend delivery at 38 weeks". WOW! All this time I've assumed he would be a week early just so we made sure my husband was off of work (in the oil field, there's no such thing as vacation, sick days, or paternity leave) which we originally thought would be the week of April 8th. Well, I popped out of bed yesterday morning and the first thing to cross my mind was OH NO! I got his days off all mixed up! So he will be off the first week of April and not the second week which really got us to worrying since we have not been sure what the docs wanted to do about delivering early due to the baby's hugeness. And boy does he feel huge! At our last appointment he was 6 lb at nearly 33 weeks and he has consistently gained half a pound a week for the last 2 months it seems. For some reason they did not measure him yesterday so we don't know how much he weighs right now but I would bet close to 7 lbs. My first son was 7 lb 14 oz when he was born at 40 weeks....yeah, huge difference and absolutely NO explanation for it! I am 6' tall and my husband is 5'11" so we are both fairly big people and it may just be a genetics thing. My husband's aunt had 4 babies, her smallest was 10 lbs and the largest was 14 lbs (Holy Cow!!) and she had them all naturally...ouch! And she is only 5'2". Craziness... So I dunno, all of my husbands kids have been under 9 lbs at birth so I don't necesarily think it's his genes so probably mine. My mom and her sister were both over 9 at birth. But regardless, here we are with monster kid but he is healthy and active so I'm not too worried. Some kids are just big!

So, April 2 is the BIG DAY for right now. I thought it might be super neat to have him on April 1st and make it a great April Fool's prank to tell the family that instead of the huge boy we were expecting, it's a girl lol. Only because every person in my family (with the exception of my mom) was so sure this would be a girl  so they'd get a good kick out of that. But we are pretty sure it will be the 2nd and that is totally cool with me. Now I know there are a lot of people that will argue that choosing to have a baby early due to size is not a good idea and if I thought I could handle the last two weeks I would but I trust my doctors exclusively and they know way more about my medical conditions and what could or couldn't happen than I do. I've never once met a person who had a baby 2 weeks early (full term is technically 37 weeks) and had any problems or who have less than a perfectly normal baby. I'm really not worried at all. Well I guess I can't say "not at all" because I have so many weird medical issues, I worry that something could go wrong but I'd worry anyway no matter what. It's hard not being able to see and hold your baby and not know what's going on inside your body but I think that is something most moms worry about anyway. I'm just going to trust God and know that He's got this, we're good!

Speaking of medical issues, my oh so wonderful back and pelvis that have held up so well this entire time are starting to give out on me. At my babyshower last Saturday (which was awesome btw!) I started having the old familiar twinge in my right butt cheek. That spot right next to where your leg connects to your hip socket. Kind of hard to explain but sends pain into the center of the butt cheek and when my chiro fixes it, I always have to be on my stomach for her to get to it. Well, now I can't lie on my stomach on her table so she has to try to adjust me from the front and it just doesn't do the trick. So each night for the last 2 nights I have been barely able to walk at all, it's excruciating. Not only that spot but my entire pelvis and lower back just feel like they've been pummeled with a sledge hammer. During the day, my stomach muscles and ligaments right in front of my hips hurt so bad that walking is a major chore. Not fun...But nothing much I can do about it. It's what I've expected all along and I'm so amazed I've gone this long but I'm thankful that I am in the home stretch and if I can manage to stretch and exercise and not over do it, I think I can hold out. Well I have to lol. Ugh, but it isn't fun!

I guess that's all for now. All I can think about now is in 26 days I will be holding my little man finally!!! It't starting to feel so much more real! And I have to figure out how to get everything done!!

Praying for my fellow mama's out there, hope everyone is doing great! :-)

Giant Baby!!!

So we saw the perinatologist today an this little guy is still huge! The ultrasound tech kept re measuring and saying how crazy it is that he is 3 1/2 weeks ahead! He weighs 5 lb 14 oz which is the size of a 36 week baby and I am only 32 weeks. Like Holy Moly!! If he keeps going at this rate they will consider taking him early. Could be good, could be bad..I dunno. Just gonna wait n see.

But otherwise he his super healthy, no blood clots for me or him which is what they've been watching me for. Thank God for that!

Guess that's all I got for today, been a pretty boring week. Just ready for this kid to get here :-)

Did You Know Babies CAN'T Digest Cereal?

I get a weekly newsletter from a blog called Thank Your Body | A Journey to Real Health. There are always interesting tidbits about living healthy and organics. I'm sort of an "organic wannabe" since I have not yet figured out how to incorporate and switch to organics/whole foods completely yet but I study it extensively! One of the reasons I want so badly to make the switch is because of my autoimmune disorder. Everything that goes into our bodies affects our health and what we put into our bodies at an early age affects what disorders/problems we may have as adults. One of the most common byproducts of poor nutrition and consuming processed foods is autoimmune disorders. I am fully convinced that the processed foods we as a culture consume on a massive scale are responsible for most of the ailments we are constantly trying to treat/heal when we aren't recognizing the source. Correct the root of the problem (food) and the results will improve the outcome. Instead, we keep consuming this processed junk that our bodies were not designed to handle and then we feed it to our children as babies and wonder why they have frequent ear infections, need to go to the doctor with every virus that goes around, need glasses, need braces, end up with juvenile diabetes or even cancer! It's ludicrous! And the answer is pretty simple but we refuse to change what we've always known. So I'm on a journey to do just that: change the way I and my family eat and reduce the amount of toxins we are exposed to on a daily basis. I want to be healthy and I want my family to be healthy because our bodies are God's temple and we should take care of them!

In my most recent newsletter from Thank Your Body titled "Do You Want a Beautiful Baby?", she introduces a book called Beautiful Babies by Kristen Michaelis who also has a blog, Food Renegade. If you pre-order the book, you get free access to Food Renegade's online course, Beautiful Babies. This book and course go into all kinds of nutritional information about fertility, pregnancy nutrition, breastfeeding (and why it's so important), and what to feed your baby so that they are healthy for life. Some of the information will amaze you! We've been told by pediatricians for decades that to calm a fussy baby or help them sleep longer we should give them rice cereal as early as 3 months! I cannot stress enough how WRONG this is! Babies cannot digest cereal. Their little tummies do not produce amylase (the enzyme needed for grain digestion) until after 6 months of age and even then they don't produce enough of it to properly break down grains. I found another article on the topic here: why babies can't digest cereal. It also gives some great info on why they can't have grains until after a year old and what other foods they shouldn't have and when it's ok to introduce certain foods into their diet. I'd love to be able to go back to my first pregnancy and have this information! If I had known that cereal literally just ROTS in their tummies, I would have looked at my pediatrician like he was nuts when he suggested giving my 2 month old rice cereal for his acid reflux (which he may not have even had if I had eaten properly during pregnancy and breastfed exclusively!).

If you can pre-order the book ($15) before March 18, you get the online course (a $199 value!) for FREE! I am so excited to read the book and take the course. I'd give anything to prevent my little one from going through what I have with my body and my health and what so many children and adults deal with today. So there it is ya'll, I hope you find the information as enlightening as I did!

30 weeks...already?!

I've been completely lazy about posting lately but oh well, I'm pregnant tired and totally ready to be done! lol But I will miss it. My first pregnancy I moaned and groaned the entire time "Why would anyone ever say they enjoy this!?"...but now I really do. I don't know if it's because we were so afraid it wouldn't happen again or if this is just an easier pregnancy but I am enjoying it this time. I can sit on the toilet like a normal person without one of those granny seats that's up high (which I had almost my entire first pregnancy, couldn't get up off the toilet with my own strength!) and I can sleep lying down (had to sleep completely upright with my first) and I am not dealing with much back pain at all. I would have thought this time around would be much worse because I have so many medical conditions that I did not have with my first but I'm knocking on wood  and counting my blessings that all those seem to be "dormant" for now and I hope they stay that way!

I can't believe I am now 30 weeks. 3/4 of the way through!! WOO HOO! The closer it gets the more time slows down it seems but I know it will be here before we know it. Still hoping they choose to let me have him a week or 2 early since he is so big but if not that's ok. I will just have to bite the bullet and have a c-section if they make me wait for full-term. I hope that doesn't sound awfully selfish of me to want him here earlier. I have to remind myself that there is a reason they stay in there for 40 weeks and even though 37 is considered full term there must still be alot going on in there for the weeks after that for God to have decided  they should be in there that long. I just can't wait to finally have him in my arms!

On other fronts, had a second GD test done and all was fine. I passed the first but since we did it earlier than usual (due to his size) my doc wanted to do it again at 29. BP is good which is a relief since I started out with high BP at night earlier on but that seems to have cleared up. Hopefully it won't come back! My legs and ankles stay pretty swollen which is new for me since I didn't have that with my first but it's more of a minor nuisance than anything to worry about unless it gets worse then I'll start worrying about pre-eclampsia but I'm not going to go there yet. All in all I'd say I'm doing pretty good. I haven't had any significant anxiety at all which is amazing because I was a complete basket case before and right after I got pregnant. Another thing I pray doesn't come back! I had some post partum depression with my first but I'm praying and claiming that it won't be as bad this time! It's the worst feeling in the world to have a new precious baby and have thoughts and images of something happening to or hurting that baby go through your mind of no doing of your own. It's terrifying! But I also was home alone a lot with my first for a while and that contributed to it. This time I will have my husband home with me every other week during maternity leave and my 8 year old every afternoon when hub isn't home so that will break up the monotony and hopefully keep me focused and happy and not down in the dumps freaking out.

But anyways, here we are and so happy and so excited! Got a ton of stuff to get done before he arrives and I'm hoping I hold out until the very day before delivery so I get my entire 6 or 8 weeks off with my baby boy :-) God bless and hope all my fellow mamas-to-be are doing great!

27 weeks ~ 3rd Tri!

I can't believe how fast the first 2 trimesters flew by (of course they didn't feel like they were going by fast while in them!) and now I'm going into the home stretch. I know technically 28 weeks is the third tri but since  I reached 27 weeks all my phone apps say I'm in the first week of the 3rd tri so I'm just claiming it anyway! I am so excited and can't wait for the next 2 months to go by. We are looking at an end of March delivery right now due to his size but we really don't know for sure. My last appt at the perinatologist's office was last Thursday and according to their measurements he is 3 lbs (maybe a little more by now) and above the 95% percentile. SO he went from being 2 weeks ahead to 3 weeks WAH!! We're growing a giant baby here folks. If he continues at this rate, his birth weight will be 10 lbs....at least. UM wow! I can't imagine a baby that big, like ohmuhgosh! They better have a plan cuz I don't think I'll be pushing that out lol. As much as I want a vaginal delivery, I will take the C-section over screwing up my back even more. My doc agrees with me and says we will watch and wait and if it looks like he's going to weigh that much at full term we might deliver a couple of weeks early. Not sure how I feel about that but I trust their judgement so we shall see.

Lots of moving going on! He is head down so his feet are under my ribs and hands and head down low. So hiccups are really weird, feels like he's punching my cervix from the inside over and over..not too comfortable! But I enjoy it all no matter how I have to re-adjust my sitting position lol.

I'm feeling pretty good overall, starting to get some of that familiar fatigue back but I'm managing to stay busy. It's so tempting to just be lazy but that's a trap and I refuse to fall back into it because that is so miserable! I'm all about nesting now and have started a major whole house organization project that is keeping me occupied daily. Some days I'd rather just veg out in front of the TV but I know I don't have much time left so I'm trying hard to keep going. You never realize how much clutter and unnecessary junk you have until you start trying to re-organize! The baby room is my focus this week because we have to have the window replaced and the carpet before he gets here. It has been our junk room for a while so getting it cleared out and the closet redone is not an easy task! But I'm getting there!

All in all I'd say things are going much better than anticipated. Going into this pregnancy I had visions of being immobile from back pain and arthritis by this point so I'm totally overjoyed that I have almost no back pain (knock on wood) and my arthritis is staying at a minimum. That may all change in a month but for now I'm feeling good and staying busy! Hope all my other mama's out there are doing great! God Bless!

A New Year & 3 months left!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone is safe and healthy and happy! It's hard to believe we are in 2013 and of course lived through the end of the world again! (ha!) It's hard to be very optimistic about this year. Well, with our little one coming we are so thrilled and looking forward to his arrival but I can't help but think about the world he is coming into. With the "fiscal cliff" looming and all the mess that is going on in Washington, it seems that we aren't in Kansas anymore ToTo. Things have changed drastically for our country and I fear for our freedom and the future that our little ones will have to be burdened with. Nonetheless, God says "Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of it's own". It's hard to stick to that verse since worry seems to be my constant companion but I must try. I know that no matter what I face, God will get me through it. I just hope I can instill that same security into my children and pray that they will turn to God in their times of need.

Well on a brighter note, we are now approaching week 26! In just 3 months, we will meet our little guy! Technically it's 14 weeks but I like to round down lol. I think right now he is somewhere around 2 lbs. (according to my iphone app) and 14 in (i think?). He sure feels alot bigger. His kicks and rolls are getting stronger and we can now see him moving from the outside, yay! It's so neat to watch and to know that there is a real person in there! These next 3 months are going to drag by I'm sure!

Most of my symptoms are minor now. Nausea is gone, heartburn hanging on somewhat, fatigue minor. Well, with the exception of Monday and yesterday, I was so tired and could not get motivated to do much of anything and that was not fun. I feel better today but still a little worn down. The holidays have just zapped me I guess. Time to get back into the swing of things! I'm having some Braxton Hicks pretty frequently which is very different from my first pregnancy. They actually hurt! I had an epidural pretty early with my first son so I didn't feel many contractions before I went numb but I do recall what they felt like and these BH feel very similar. I usually get 2 or 3 in a 30 minute period and they last about 15 seconds or so. But since that's the most I've had in a time span I don't usually worry about it. Let's see, what else...oh, swelling! My gosh do my feet swell! Another very new thing for me since I had zero swelling with my first one. At the end of the day (especially if I've worn socks) my ankles look like the Michelan man. It's so weird how every pregnancy is so different!

Arthritis is doing great I'm happy to report. My toes are still not 100% normal sized but the pain is minimal and I don't notice it much. They aren't extremely stiff either. Really hoping it all stays quiet at least until he gets here. And also really hoping I get to breastfeed for a few weeks at least. My rheumatologist says I will need to go back on meds immediately after delivery and won't be able to breastfeed but I'm thinking I will just bear with the flare-up however bad it is as long as I get to breastfeed for a while. I did with my son but not very much. My production was awful and I was only able to pump very little and he had latching trouble so I just pumped as much as possible and gave it to him that way. I hope this time we can make it work since I know more about it now. When my first was born, there was no one there to coach me (besides my mom) and I didn't know anything about keeping production up or anything. I just assumed my production level was nature's fault and not my own when it was probably because I didn't pump nearly enough (it's so painful!). And I had mastitis which is soo awful and painful! Hope I don't go through that again!

Well I guess that's all I got for now. Time to go work and attempt to stay awake!

24 weeks & Glucose test

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! Ours was great, stormy but still great! Totally pigged out since it may have been my last day to eat any sugar lol. Getting my glucose test this morning since the baby is 2 weeks ahead in size. Got done with the awful orange drink at 9:25 and just waiting on the finger prick now. Praying I don't have it! I'm terrible at not eating stuff I'm not supposed to lol. I have zero willpower anyway but now it's worse! I will update when I get the results.

**Update** No GD! Woohoo! They actually said my sugar was extremely low which I usually do have due to the PCOS (high insulin, low glucose) but I guess that's ok right now because my ovaries are not needing to produce any testosterone which would raise insulin? I don't know how that works but my perinatal doc said I didn't need to worry about high insulin during pregnancy. So I won't I guess!

I am so super glad the holiday season is almost done. I love Christmas more than any holiday but it's become so commercialized (yes I know everyone says that but it's true!) and it takes some of the joy out of it. And if I heard "Happy Holidays" one more time I was gonna blow lol. All the insane traffic and kids begging for this toy or that while there are kids all over the world that don't get anything, that would be glad to receive a piece of bread or a warm place to sleep. It's very difficult to get that across to kids in today's industrialized and commercialized world of "it's all about me". At least here in the US it is. I try very hard to teach my little boy and my stepkids that they need to understand the season is not about the gifts, it's about the birth of our Lord and Savior and what He did to save us. That we would not be as blessed and comfortable as we are without that event and without His blessings. But I don't know if they quite grasp it yet. Not when the only thing on our 16 year old's mind is a pair of $200 headphones (good grief...) and my 8 year old is watching every commercial and asking for every toy he sees and expecting to get it. I get so discouraged sometimes! But I'll keep on doing my best to teach them about being grateful and sharing our blessings with those that are less fortunate and sharing Christ above all.

So anyway, here we are approaching the dawn of a yet another New Year and I have to say I am so thankful and so blessed and looking forward to our little boy's arrival in April. While the country reels from the tragedy of those poor babies losing their lives and argues about gun control and all that, I think it's time to just let go and let God take first place. He knows what's to come for our country and our world and the best thing we can do is pray and listen for that still small voice to guide us in the coming months and years. God Bless ya'll and I hope everyone has a great week and stays safe on New Year's eve! :-)

22 Weeks & Perinatal appt

Can't believe I'm sneaking up on the 6 month mark! I will be 23 weeks tomorrow! Saw the perinatologist on Tuesday and got great reports...baby looks great and I only need baby aspirin for the MTHFR gene mutation thing. Apparently it's worse if you have high homocystiene levels with it (whatever that is) and I don't so yay!! One thing they did notice is he's measuring a whole 2 WEEKS ahead!! He weighs 1 lb. and 8 oz. which is where he should be at 25 weeks. Their only concern is gestational diabetes since larger babies coincide with that condition. I will be tested for that on Monday the 17th. Praying that comes out fine...Christmas is the worst time of year to have to stop eating sugar!! Especially for me!! UGH but I will definitely do what the doctor says because my babies life depends on it! I can wait a few months for some sugar cookies...

Wondering when's the best time to start registering for stuff. My shower will be in Feb so I guess I can do it in Jan. So looking forward to getting new stuff! Of course I know like 3 people who recently had boys in the last year so I'm getting tons of hand me downs!! I don't think we will have to buy much at all which is a huge relief. I know you usually don't get a shower for your second baby but around here we tend to ignore that rule lol. Plus it's been 8 years since my first so it's like starting all over again!

I am getting huge now, starting to really feel like a waddling mama. Approaching the time when my back stuff will be at its worst. Really praying that I don't have as much trouble as I'm expecting. I have done much better than anticipated up to this point so maybe that's a good sign. My chiropractor is a life saver and as long as I see her each week I do pretty good.

Movement...so much going on in there! On my ultrasound Tues, the tech said he is head down. Which is the opposite of what I thought because all the "kicking" seems to go on close to the bottom of my stomach which is where his head is. Guess he's got more strength in those tiny hands than I thought! I don't feel much up top, just the occasional thump. But he's definitely busy and I'm loving it! Just waiting for when my husband can finally feel him on the outside. I can every now and then if I'm resting my hand on my belly but it seems impossible to get him to kick for daddy.

Guess that's all, getting ready for a busy Christmas but looking forward to every minute. This is by far my favorite time of year! Wishing everybody a safe and happy Christmas and New Year! And of course, remember the reason for the season :-) God Bless!

21 Weeks.. Sorry for being lazy!

I've been so lazy for the past couple of weeks so the blog has been on the back burner lol. Today I am 21 weeks and 5 days YAY!! I go for my next perinatal appt on Wed the 11th. Can't wait to see my little man again! Had a freak out episode today because I couldn't feel him move all morning. Usually he's very active and if I push him around he starts squirming but nothing was working. I was sure I was gonna have to go home and fire up the doppler. But after I ate some chocolate, he started moving again and I am so relieved! I can only think that maybe he was facing my back so I wasn't feeling the kicks so much but who knows. Just hope I don't have to go through that again!

My little boy (big brother) is having trouble in school, acting up and not wanting to do his work. His teacher is convinced it's because he feels like he's no longer going to be the baby. But I have seen no change in his behavior at home so I'm not convinced that's the issue. So guess it'll be a trip to the school and conference with the teacher and principal. Such fun! And of course I did ask him what he was having trouble with and if he was worried about the baby coming. His response was "I'm worried mamma that he's going to die". :-(  Like how in the world did he take on my fears? I am much less fearful of that now but I'm not sure how he came up with that. I don't recall ever saying to anyone that I was afraid the baby would die. If I've ever used any word it was 'miscarry' or 'lose' but not within earshot of him so I don't know if that's something he's really worried about on his own or what. It wouldn't surprise me since he's my child, get's it honest. But I assured him the baby was absolutely fine and he was going to love being a big brother. He then launched into a detailed explanation of how to change diapers to assure me that he knows how and will be able to do that. LOL He's such a mess and I'm so lucky to have such a caring kid. He's been easy from day 1, I wonder if this little guy is gonna be a handful!

Oh, almost forgot. I finally got my results back on the blood clotting disorder (APS) that they were testing me on and it came back negative for positive anticardiolipid levels..YAY! But I do have another form of clotting disorder called MTHFR. (yeah, I know you're thinking what I'm thinking, that looks like the abbreviation for....) It's a gene mutation that causes the body to not process folic acid as well as it should which in turn can cause clots. Not sure how all that works but of course I had to consult the good ole' internet wizard. There are apparently two types: Homozygous and Heterozygous and the bad one is Homozygous and requires levenox. Hoping that mine is the better one since he said all I need is baby aspirin which I've been on all along anyway. I will ask more details at my appt of course just cause I have to know exactly what type it is and all that but hopefully all will be well.

Guess that's all for today. Hopefully I can keep up blogging through the holidays if I don't get too bogged down with work and stuff!

18 wks...Still A Boy..Trying Not to Waddle

Well we are still having a boy. Not that I thought that would change! lol But having had our anatomy scan at 16 weeks everyone kept telling us "maybe it's a girl and it just wasn't finished developing" (I guess because they knew we were rooting for girl at first?). It's pretty funny really because we got our 18 week ultrasound at my normal OB yesterday (which wasn't supposed to happen but I have an amazing nurse who let me anyway!) and the first thing she said was "You know what it is right?" and of course we said "boy" and she said "OK no worries he's still a boy"...so wierd! Of course he is! So we reassured all our family and friends that of course, he is still in fact all boy. Wouldn't that have been so insane if he hadn't been!? Then I would have really started worrying that something was wrong! lol 

On other fronts, my morning sickness that was almost non-existant for 2 weeks has reappeared mysteriously. I actually got physically sick a couple of days ago which is the first actual vomiting I've had all pregnancy. I drank orange juice and apparently that was a big no no. I now have 3 burst blood vessels in the whites of my eyes which looks horrible. I have to keep assuring everyone I did not stab my eyeballs with anything, just threw up til I thought they were going to explode lol. Yeah, no more orange juice. My back is doing surprisingly well and my chiropractor is amazed that I'm not in more pain so that's awesome! However, I have developed "Pubic Symphisis Dysfunction". That's a fancy term for my hoo-ha bones are spreading already. Not sure why because usually that occurs right before delivery but apparently if you have pelvic girdle issues already then it is expected. It's not fun. I am not nearly big enough to need to waddle but I am. I'm trying very hard to walk straight but with the pain the PSD causes, I sometimes can't help it. Lol. It's not bad sitting, just standing. Guess I've got a long 3rd trimester coming up. But I don't mind, I am thankful for all of these aches and pains because the end result is worth it and more!

Well I guess that's all for now. Maybe one of these days I will post a belly pic. I'm one of those "please don't take my picture"people. But for the sake of remembering this pregnancy, I suppose I will at some point. Hope all my girls in blogger land are doing great. I think I will go check on them all and do some catching up on blog reading. 

So much grey??

Just a random thought but is it just me or are almost all of the baby boy clothes out right now grey?? I went to Carter's yesterday (I happen to work in an awesome place called the Boardwalk with tons of outlet stores!) and thought YAY! I'll buy some precious little boy clothes and try very hard not to wander over to the girl stuff lol. Well I picked up 2 or three outfits that I thought were super cute then realized every one of them were grey! Then looked around and almost every rack of clothing was mostly grey stuff! What the heck??! I mean there were a couple of blue, green and brown here and there but mostly grey. Then I glance over to the girl's side of the store and it looks like a rainbow threw up over there. What's the deal? I know grey is kinda trendy right now especially paired with lime green or baby blue but come on people?! Why is it that there are never as many cute boy clothes as there are girls? I thought the very same thing 8 years ago when shopping for my first son and nothing has changed. SMH....

16 weeks and the Verdict IS!!....

BOY! Had our anatomy scan at the perinatologists office yesterday and we are having another boy! His big brother is over the moon since he's been rooting for boy since the day he found out we were expecting. Wow is all I can think. Another boy? Can I handle that much testosterone in my house? lol We were really hoping for a girl of course since that has been my dream since I was young to have a little girl one day but we are still thrilled. I'm having to switch gears since I've been convinced we were having a girl this time and have been planning which I guess is where I messed up lol. We may make plans but God directs our steps and I know He has a reason for blessing us with another boy. While I still hope for a girl one day (yeah, my crazy self has decided this might not be our last youngin!) but I am so thankful for this little boy and will love him will all I've got! He will definitely be in good company since he will have 2 big brothers which makes us a total of 3 boys and 2 girls in the family (counting my stepbabies that don't live with us). So I'm preparing myself! I at least know what to do with a boy, I have plenty of practice lol. And plenty of hand-me-downs from my sister and best friend who both have little boys. I'm still in shock though lol but so blessed and happy since we didn't know if we'd even be able to conceive, this baby is going to be loved and spoiled something crazy!

Other than that news, everything else is going smoothly so far. My nausea is steadily decreasing which is awesome but I still have food aversions and sometimes eat something thinking it will be awesome only to regret it after the first bite. That is not fun and I miss Mexican food (that is my Number 1 No No food right now, can't even look at it!).
All my tests came back good, no down syndrome or trisomy 18. Second test for downs was done yesterday  so I won't get that result until next week but the first one was good so we expect this one to be fine. They ran my repeat test of the anticardiolipid panel yesterday too. Since I've tested in the indeterminate to positive range for it twice they needed to test once again to make sure and I'm praying that comes back fine.

So without further ado, here is our little man! (He didn't want to look at us, was napping face down in his placenta lol)

15 1/2 weeks

Yes, I've been a terrible blogger for a couple of weeks. I have felt zero desire to share anything for some reason but I guess there hasn't been alot going on. I'm super tired once again and wondering why the 2nd tri is not as amazing as everyone says it should be? But I'm weird and nothing that is normal for others is ever normal for me it seems..oh well lol. Like my crazy autoimmune stuff...gearing up for another awful flare. Yep, my rheumatologist told me she's never seen a pregnant woman NOT go into remission during pregnancy. She was certain my giant swollen toes and feet would go away. Well, they went away for about 3 weeks total and one of those weeks I was on prednisone for poison oak so that was probably why it was not active at that time. Now, it's creeping up again. Not only is this extremely painful and annoying (I can only wear flip flops for crying out loud! It's about to winter and I'll still be floppin! ugh!!!), I'm in complete fear that my immune system will start attacking the baby. It may be completely nonsense to feel this way but I can't help it. When I know my immune system is attacking place it should not, why would it not try to attack the foreign body growing in my womb? God I pray it won't! I go back to the perinatologist for our anatomy scan on Tuesday the 30th so we will find out pink or blue (YAY!!!) so I will bring it up with him then. Hopefully he can put my fears to rest. He's assured me they will follow me closely because autoimmune disorders can sometimes cause the growth to slow down towards the end of the pregnancy so they have to watch that (but what could they do about it? I dunno?). I know I'm in good hands but my insane emotions still get me sometimes.

Symptoms are the same really, slightly less nausea but tons of heartburn. Tired. Back has started giving me trouble and I knew it would at some point but I was hoping not this early. I went to the chiro two days ago and she fixed my SI joints and sacrum but yesterday I started hurting again and either my joints are so loosey  goosey now that they will slip right back out of place again or it's just time for the pain to start. It sucks, there's no other word for it. Sleep is difficult but I am so thankful my dear mom & dad bought me an amazing bed early in the year that adjusts so I can sit up to sleep. If I didn't have that I'd be in the recliner every night struggling to get comfortable. But we'll take it a day at a time and hopefully I won't need laproscopic surgery in the 3rd tri. That would be terrifying!

On other fronts, work is the same. My coworkers all know now and that is a huge relief because hiding it was getting difficult. I am as big at this point as I was at 6 months with my son. It's crazy. And my uterus is still very low and I can barely find it so I guess it's all innards being shifted around but I definitely cannot wear any of my regular pants anymore and finding maternity pants for my insanely long legs is so difficult so not sure what I'll do when it gets cold! I'll be a sight: capris and flip flops in cold weather. Yep, that should be fun. But, I'm so very thankful I'm here and if that's what I gotta do then so be it!

Guess that's all for now, hopefully I will be able to post again next week. Well of course I have to share the gender so look forward to that! I'm so excited! ...think pink..think pink.. lol ;-P but we will be happy either way :-)

Blogger Block & 13 weeks

Ever just feel like not blogging? That's been me for like a week. I just don't feel like it lol. But nonetheless I will be irritated with myself next week if I don't. I turned 13 weeks Saturday by my calcs, today by the doc's. Still battling nausea that I thought was going away. No such luck. I am miserable to say the least. And Mexican food is my sworn enemy. I've tried eating it twice in the last couple of weeks and both times I became so sick that all I could do was lay in bed and groan. So I will not be attempting that again!

We had our NT scan last week and my mom went with me because hubs was working. Everything looked great! I was sooo relieved! Bladder is normal, NT measurement normal, all is well so far! They will be retesting for the Anticardio Phospholipid Syndrome the first week of November when I go for the anatomy scan. 3-4 weeks feels like forever away! But we will get to find out pink or blue 2 weeks early so I'm super excited! The doc said they will continue to see me for the rest of the pregnancy regardless of the APS outcome just because I have an autoimmune disorder since it can sometimes cause issues with growth and some other stuff so they want to monitor closely in the 3rd trimester. Fine by me! More peeks at our little one!

So I'm breathing easier about everything and feel like God's got us covered on all bases. :-) I am not really showing much more than I was a week ago, sorta feel like my uterus is sitting way back this time. At this point with my son I could very easily feel it below my belly button but when I push around now I think I can feel the top of it but then again I can't tell cuz I got extra fluff. Oh well, guess she/he will make their presence known before too long. You could say I'm "showing" but only cuz I can't suck in anymore. Stupid fat. Hope I can get rid of it after!

Oh and I almost forgot! My poison oak hell is ending! Turns out I did not have cellulitis after all and the prednisone my derm gave me worked wonders. It also helped my arthritis which was an added bonus! I didn't take it like she asked me to (7 days on 40mg and 7 on 20mg) because that is just way too much steroid (a dose pack starts out at 30mg and reduces by 5mg a day for only 6 days!) so I took 40mg for 2 days and 20mg for 2 days and 10mg for 1 day. That seemed to be just enough and I am rejoicing! I still itch some but I think it's just the residual dryness causing that because the rash is pretty much completely gone. Yesss!!!

Guess that's all for now. I apparently had more to write about than I thought!