GD Test Details and Another IVF

I still can't make comments on my blog. I have no clue how to fix it! Also, the spell check disappeared! Ha!

Today I went for my gestational diabeties test. I'll give some details for those who still need to do hers or will someday. :)

My test was done out of Quest Diagnostics (lab). I know some doctors do theirs right in the office but mine was a lab order. First, I was told to fast for at least two hours. Well, mine was early in the morning so I just drank water. I got there and they had me drink a small bottle of what tasted like flat, orange soda. I've heard people say that it's really gross but it didn't bother me at all. The only problem was that the darn thing was so cold! They give you 5 minutes to drink it and I gulped mine down in about two. Then, they sent me to the waiting room and said that I must remind them if they don't come to get me in an hour. I was not allowed to leave the building, but it was okay to venture off to the restroom. After an hour, the lab tech came right to get me. They took two vials (small) of blood. One was to check the sugar level and the other was to check my iron levels to see if my anemia is all gone or worse. So, I have a regular OB appointment in a week, and I'll get my results then. The doctor said that the cut off for blood sugar is 134. Anything higher is a "fail" and I'll have to do the three hour test. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not worried about it :)

Well, the other IVF is not for me! Tricked you! For those who have read since the beginning, you've heard me talk about my friend Heather. We met on TWW and have texted every day for at least year. We've also met up a couple of times. Anyway- tomorrow she starts her IVF journey. Her papers and meds are all ready, and tomorrow she starts her shots. I sent her a big IVF care package this week. Inside was chocolate for stress, bookies on IF and IVF, a Hope ornament, and a couple of baby items. One item was a Chicago White Sox onesie and bib. That purchase nearly killed me as I'm a huge Chicago Cubs fan. Also, I sent her a little baby security blanket. When I was TTC, I would not buy baby stuff. It was like a jinx waiting to happen. When I did IVF, all of that changed. I went with the "If you build it, they will come" motto. I bought a couple of baby books and wore a maternity shirt to my transfer. So, I built it for Heather and I know a baby will come for her. Good luck Heather! You can do it!

Bump Pics!

The updates will be rolling now as time gets closer and closer to the big day. This little baby got quite a bit for Christmas, which was really fun. Grandma one bought a Lullaby Sound Spa and the AngelCare monitor that we registered for. Grandma two bought a pack 'n play! Right now the dining room is the staging area while I work on clearing out the nursery. If I'm bold enough, I should post a pic of our dining room/baby crap area!

Speaking of purchases, Mr. Later Than Most forgot about his FSA account. So, I had fun on Drugstore.com buying a slew of baby medicines and care products. After January first, those badboys won't qualify, but I got everything right on time!

I haven't posted bump pics in a while, so here are a bunch. It's funny when you compare them!

A Blog for You

**I'm having trouble commenting on my blog and others. So, I do read your comments, I just can't say anything back!


I'm a regular on TheBump.com. My forum type visiting began two years ago when I came across TwoWeekWait. It looks like FaceBook, but it's a pregnancy and trying to conceive community. After being there almost two years, I ventured over to TheBump. I like it because it's a little less puppies and rainbows. Also, it seemed as though all the girls on TWW were getting pregnant, and I was not. I found my main board on TheBump. . . Trouble Trying to Conceive and that's where my addiction began. I've met some great girls. Now, I check in on there and I'm more of a regular on the Pregnant After Infertility board. I love it there. The girls have been through what I have, if not more, and it's nice to know others who've had a similar background.

Anyway- where am I going with this? I frequent random Bump boards and came across a link to a blog. It's about a Bumpie who just found out her little girl (about 3 months old), has a brain tumor. This all just happened within the past week. If you are interested (and I think you will be) check out Butterflies, a blog about little baby Scarlett.
http://brandiandchris.blogspot.com/

Time to Get Some Work Done (Major Pics!!!!)

I can't believe that I'll be 25 weeks this week! My goal is to get this house ready for baby by 32 weeks. I'm sure that's early to some, but that's my goal!

This weekend we went and bought our nursery furniture. Now, I love shopping and anyone who knows me knows that I love to spend money. There are some places, however, where I am kinda cheap. For instance, my wedding. I still had the day of my dreams for under $10,000. We paid for it ourselves and already had our house, so we were not interested in dropping $20,000 on one day. Nursery furniture is my other place that I don't want to spend a ton of money. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited and can't wait to have it all prepared, but do I really need to buy a $500 crib? No way man. So, this weekend Mr. Later Than Most and I packed up the car and headed to Ikea. Of course, I already knew everything that I wanted. Thanks to the Baby Bargains book, I picked my crib out a long time ago. The crib was only $130 at Ikea and has great safety ratings. It's solid beech wood and converts to a toddler bed. I actually like it a lot. Mr. Later Than Most and I are very neutral people. It looks like the baby's room will be painted an ivory or cream color. The main colors of furniture will be black and the beechwood color. The curtains will be chocolate brown. It's kind of hard to imagine, but I'll put as many pictures on here as I can.

I may have mentioned before, but I have literally bought mostly everything for the nursery. If you remember, we went with a western type bedding. I've bought the glider which is tan and black. The shag area rug is chocolate, tan and black mix. Wait, this description is getting a little out of control. Pictures may work better!
Ikea CribIkea bookcases Expedit: We will put cloth drawers in these for clothes. One will be placed horizontal and one will be vertical ($69 each). . .

Here are the cloth drawers (we don't have the dresser thing). The drawers are from Menards ($5.95 for two on Black Friday):

Here is the bedding. We got it at Kohls.com ($160 for bedding, mobile $40 at Walmart.com, diaper stacker $17 at Walmart.com):



Here is the shelf that matches the crib ($39 at Ikea). I'm going to put the Woody and Jesse dolls on the shelf (Woody doll $21 and Jesse $24 at Walmart.com).




Here is the glider. I actually got it used at Once Upon a Child. It's in excellent condition ($80 for glider and ottoman):


This is similar to the area rug we bought. Ours is from Kohls ($80 regularly $200):


These are the wall decorations (decal $10 at Hobby Lobby and stars $11 on Amazon.com). I like the saying and the mirrored stars!



These stars will go in a corner of the room ($8 each on Amazon.com). I plan to hang them from fish line. I bought two of each color:



These are two western decorations to bring the theme together. They measure about 8 inches. I will put them on one of the black shelves ($8 each). Both are from Hobby Lobby



I bought this pony on a stick to hang from Ikea shelf:




Here are the curtains. I opted for black-out curtains. I bought white sheers to go behind them ($15 a panel and sheers $6 a panel). They are from Walmart.com


I plan to put three of these on a wall. I'm not sure which pictures will go in them yet. They are sold at Micheals Crafts ($8 each):



Here is our crib mattress. It's an organic, foam mattress. It has no coils, but is just as firm. I didn't enjoy laying on it ($105 at Amazon.com)!


We just ordered this soother for the crib. I got such a good deal that I had to post it! It sells for $49 at Babies R Us and $39 in Walmart stores. I got it for $19 on Walmart.com. A girl on TheBump posted it and I flew to the site to buy one! It has music, lights, and water.



Well, I think that should do it! Even though it took me forever to post all of these pictures, it feels great to have them all in one place. Maybe I should do a future picture-post of all of the gear I want and have!

Today Was My Turn!

I've waited a very long time to be able to do a baby registry. I drive past Babies R Us on my way to work everyday, and that drive was challenging over the past few years. At my weakest, I'd turn my head when I passed it. . . thinking I'd never get to go in there.

Well, I HAVE been in there since my IVF success, but today was MY turn to register!!! I know that only one exclamation point is necessary (as I tell my third graders), but I was truly that excited! Being the teacher that I am, I've done weeks and weeks of research on just about every item you could register for. I had lists and lists of things that Mr. Later Than Most and I liked. Today, I took my lists and my mom, and we conquered that Babies R Us! It was fun! I'm glad I knew what I wanted as it could be very difficult to muddle your way through that place! Either way, it's all done and I enjoyed it.

I'm not going to lie, being the internet lover I am, I had to do a registry at Amazon.com too. I love their products and fab prices!

So, two registries it is! Now I'm off to edit them!

Went to Labor and Delivery Today

What a day. All I know is I had plans to go and register at BabiesRUs today. Mr. Later Than Most got me up and was ready to go and cut down our Christmas tree. The day was panning out fabulously! We made hot chocolate and headed out to the Christmas tree farm. On the way, Mr. Later Than Most stopped in a parking lot to check-out a new store. The next thing I knew, we were sliding into another car (it snowed here today). I immediately freaked-out as I remember my OB telling me that a trip to Labor and Delivery is a must for any type of accident or fall. First, I couldn't believe that this was all about to happen. One minute I had a fab day planned, and the next minute I was calling the doctor-on-call to make sure that I should really go into L&D. Sure enough, they wanted me in.

So, off to the hospital we went. Of course my mind and body started playing tricks on me. Are those cramps? Was that a contraction? I'm such a freak.

After a long trip through the halls (that place is huge), I finally checked in. The nurses were very, very nice. They told me that they would strap me and the baby up for contractions and fetal heart monitoring. They also said I would have an ultrasound and some blood ran just to make sure all was fine. I found out quickly that I'm not a fan of fetal heart monitoring. Every inconsistency in heart rate gave me a heart attack. I got the nurse to turn the sound off so I didn't hear it any more. Mr. Later Than Most wasn't a fan of the monitoring either, he watched it like a hawk for quite a while. While the nurse was getting some things ready, she squinted at the monitor, unstrapped me, and began to move the monitor all around. I watched my husband as he watched the monitor very closely. After about a minute of searching, I closed my eyes to avoid take everything in and to try and stay calm. Finally, she strapped us back up and left. I asked my husband, "What the hell happened? She couldn't find the heart beat for a while?" He goes, "Oh no, it was there. She got it in a better spot." YIKES! Talk about panic.

The ultrasound tech came in about 25 minutes later. She unhooked the monitors and gelled me up. She first checked the cervix. Then she showed us the little one and he/she was moving all around. She said, "Well, it's very active!" That was good to see of course! Then she checked the placenta and turned everything off. Unfortunately, the tech in the hospital isn't allowed to give you results, but thankfully this little cutie said, "I am not allowed to give you results, but you'll get them soon." Then, she gave me the biggest smile that was humanly possible. Thank goodness for her knowing I could use some reassurance.

After she left the nurse came back in. She hooked me back up to the contraction monitor and did away with the darned fetal heart monitor. That thing drove me crazy, and the anterior placenta wasn't helping! Finally, about 45 minutes later, the nurse came in and said all of my monitoring, bloodwork and ultrasound checks were normal. Mr. Later Than Most and I got our things, and collected my discharge instructions.

What a day. I planned on getting so much done, and then ended up in the hospital for monitoring. I do appreciate the careful planning and over cautiousness of the doctors though. Even with all those great results, I still came home worrying. The baby knows I'm a freak, it keeps moving all around so I know things are okay. I'm going to need some Xanax when this kid comes out. . . I'll be a nervous wreck!

I'm thankful for the great test results and can't wait until this day is a mere memory. :)

22 Weeks- Updates

Ugh, I hate that I haven't blogged in two weeks, but seriously, should I type if I have nothing to say? LOL I don't want to make people bored!

Well, things are going really, really great. I hit 22 weeks yesterday and I'm so thrilled to keep on trucking. I'm getting poked and bumped everyday by this baby. It's so weird. The best part is that the pokes and bumps keep me honest. That damn infertility still haunts me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't worry something is going to happen. It is getting easier though.

Thanksgiving was interesting. I must admit, I don't like all of the attention I get from the families. If you know me in person, you know I'm rather outgoing. This attention is not something I like though. I totally know that our families are just so excited, but I can't even take a deep breath without someone asking me if I'm okay. I mean, should I really say, "The baby just kicked me in the cervix!"? Speaking of Thanksgiving, I gained 5 pounds since last week. Um, that's seven total, but 5 in a week? I multiplied 5 pounds times 18 weeks and let me tell you, that's not something I want to be a part of. Yes, yes, I know that's not how it works. But, it is funny! Actually, I've been really worried that I wasn't putting weight on, but now I feel better about it. Trust me people, I'm eating!
This week Mr. Later Than Most and I are signing up for our classes. We will be taking a full day of child birth education. Then we'll take a caring for baby and prenatal breast feeding class. Now, I know for sure that I will probably go to these classes and know all of the information. I mean really, should I really tell you that I have 11 baby books? Yes, they are all on pregnancy, childbirth, and feeding. I can't help it. I'm trying to stop buying books. I do read them all though!

As for doctor appointments, I have a regular checkup on December 21st. Then, I'll go back two weeks later for my GD testing. My next MFM ultrasound is February 2 and I'll be 31 weeks. . . I can't even imagine.
Lastly, do you remember Mrs. February 2010? She's the one who planned on getting pregnant in February of this year and it worked. Yes, she planned two years ahead. Well, she had her baby this weekend. He is one cutie. Mr. Later Than Most and I went to the hospital. I was so THANKFUL that I'm already pregnant. . . I would not have been able to handle this at all. It still bothers me a little. I hate that damn feeling! I sound like a jerk!

Here is my 22 week pic: