Nursery Plans

I've pretty much taken the reigns when it comes to decorating our home, and the nursery is no exception. Thankfully my husband doesn't mind letting my creative juices run wild! The nursery has always sat empty in our home, and until just a few weeks ago we always kept the door closed. It was just a reminder for me that we weren't pregnant yet. After we'd lived in our home for a year, I decided it was time to at least paint the room. The color on the walls before was a really dirty, streaky gray and it was terrible! I knew I wanted something fun and bright, but also gender neutral, so we ended up going with a very fun green color called Mojito. This picture is not in our home, but it shows the color pretty well:

It's hard to get a true-to-life shot of the color, but it's a fun, bright, apple green color that I really love. Plus it compliments the bright white trim really well. Now that we're expecting, I've been slowly but surely adding to my list of nursery necessities. Here is the crib set I have picked out (and thankfully Dave also likes):

                                               

I've decided to forgo the traditional nursery bedding set and just make my own crib skirt, blanket, and window valances. This is the fabric I've picked out if Baby Main is a girl:

And if Baby Main is a boy, this is the fabric I've selected:

For both fabrics, I'll choose a solid color fitted sheet to go with the crib skirt and quilt or blanket that I'll sew. I'm thinking a deep teal for a boy and a light pink for a girl. I've also already ordered new bamboo shades for the room that match the oak floors and have a blackout liner to help the baby sleep when it's light out. We have hardwood floors in all of the bedrooms in our home, so I've picked out a 5' x 8' area rug for the room too. For a girl's room:

And for a boy's room:

They're both cozy area rugs that will fit the strange shape of the nursery well and provide some floor space to play on. I also want to put up a fun wall decal like this one:

And of course we'll need a glider chair for nursing and rocking the baby:

I like the brown glider so that I'll hopefully be able to use it for our next child too. I'd also like to make some owl-themed artwork for the walls using small canvases and scrapbook paper, plus I'd like to do something fun with the baby's name. I can't wait to start decorating once we find out for sure whether we're having a boy or a girl! I think once we hit the second trimester I'll go ahead and start ordering the furniture. Once that's in the room we can really get a good feel for the space and see if there are any other pieces that we may need or want (like a laundry basket, bookshelf, etc).

10 Weeks!

Today I am officially 10 weeks pregnant! While it's not technically a pregnancy milestone, it's a big one for me because we're finally in the double digits! I don't know if it's just because we found out so incredibly early that we were pregnant (I got my first BFP at 3 weeks and 3 days pregnant) but the last six weeks have really dragged by for me. I'm excited to move into the second trimester in just a few more weeks and then maybe I'll actually quit worrying all the time. For now, though, the baby is 1/4 of the way baked!

Today was another big day in my pregnancy - I exercised for the first time! After the IUI, I didn't feel comfortable exercising because I worried that it might interfere with implantation. I'm sure that some people would say that's silly, but for IVF patients doctors recommend no vigorous exercise (bouncing, jogging, etc) and I figured that it couldn't possibly hurt for me to also follow those same guidelines. Thankfully, whether it was because I refrained from exercising or not, we did get pregnant. After that though, I thought I would put any exercise off until our first ultrasound, because technically we were considered high risk due to our fertility treatments and the possibility of multiples. After the first u/s, my RE recommended taking it easy because of my ovarian cyst, so I put off exercise even longer. When we were finally released to the OB, the intake nurse told me it's fine to exercise with my cyst, just not to do anything too vigorously. A few days after that we had our last u/s with the RE and my cyst had gotten even bigger, so I didn't want to risk anything. And then of course there was the spotting incident just two days ago. Something changed for me after our last ultrasound though. I realized that the baby is still safely tucked away and that me exercising was not going to cause something to happen to him or her. If, god forbid, something horrible were to happen, it would most likely be the result of a chromosomal abnormality, not because of a little exercise! So, I sucked it up and got on the elliptical today. I took it slow and worked out at the lowest resistance level, but I was still able to work up a sweat. Afterward, I felt really great! I've had no cramping or spotting since Wednesday. I really want to get into the habit of exercising regularly so that I can attempt to stay as healthy as possible during this pregnancy!

Coming soon...my first belly photo. I've been apprehensive to take one because I feel like a whale (although as of today I'm actually down ten pounds since the start of my pregnancy). I want to have reminders of how I looked at different stages throughout this journey though, and I especially want my future son or daughter to have pictures too, so I'll be taking my first pic tomorrow!

Thank You

A few days ago, we received a sweet card in the mail from our RE and the staff at The Fertility Center where we conceived. Here is what the card says:

Dear Liz and David,

Congratulations on being pregnant! We are so excited for you both and the amazing journey you have ahead of you. Thank you for allowing us to participate in your care.

Congrats again,
Dr. Young & Staff

The funny thing is, I don't think I could ever say "Thank You" enough to them. I really don't think we would have ever gotten pregnant without Dr. Young and his staff, especially the wonderful nurse who did our IUI. It was certainly not the way I ever imagined that we would make a baby (can somebody say awkward?!), but it worked and hopefully at the end of all of this we'll have our baby and that's all that really matters. We fully intend to try on our own for a little bit once we're ready to have another child, but if it doesn't happen I know that we'll go right back to The Fertility Center and hopefully we'll have as much success as we did this time around. Modern medicine is a pretty incredible thing! Sometimes I remind myself how lucky we are to live in a day and age where there are options for couples who can't conceive on their own. A grandmother that I know was told that she could never have children. She and her husband tried for five years before finally giving up and accepting the fact that they would never have children (her husband did not want to adopt). As luck would have it, a few years later she did in fact get pregnant and eventually went on to have four children and eleven grandchildren...but if she hadn't ever been able to conceive her life would be drastically different in every way. Family is so important to Dave and I, and we really do have The Fertility Center to thank for helping us start a family of our own!

Psychic Intervention

Back in December, in a moment of complete and utter desperation, I paid an online psychic named Jenny Renny to tell me when we would conceive. I didn't put much faith in her answer, but I really wanted someone to tell me that it would eventually happen for us. Here is the reading I received:


Hi Elizabeth,
Your reading reveals that your BFP news comes the month of May from a cycle that begins the end of April.  The baby shows as a girl and her EDD/birth date is referenced the month of February 2013 - specific reference to the 1st and 3rd.

Insanely enough, Jenny Renny was right so far! We conceived on May 4 and I got my first BFP (or Big Fat Positive!) ten days later on May 14. I honestly never in a million years thought that the online psychic would ever be right, so imagine my shock when we actually got pregnant in the month that she predicted we would. In December, I still felt like May was so far way, so I was a bit depressed by the reading. Now I feel like things have happened just the way that they were meant to. We'll see if her gender prediction is correct in about 8 weeks or so. The only thing I'm thinking she might be slightly off on is the birth date...but I guess anything's possible!

Ahh, Freak Out!

Baby gave us a little scare today! We just announced our news on Facebook last night, and I was feeling so great about all the FB love. Then, last night while I was watching tv in bed, I had a sudden sharp pain on my left side, where my ovarian cyst is. The pain was enough to make me sit up and say "ouch" out loud. I didn't think too much of it because I've had a few pains like that before, so I changed positions and eventually fell asleep. This morning when I woke up, I had a bit of spotting. I haven't bled or spotted at all with this pregnancy yet, and seeing that pink was very alarming! I went downstairs and told Dave right away, and we talked about if I should call the doctor or wait and see what happens. I emailed my boss and let her know that I was going to take the day off to rest, since I'd been doing a lot of extra projects around their house and had been on my feet all day for the last couple days without many breaks. After texting my sister I decided that calling my OB when the office opened couldn't hurt, so I called. The nurse I spoke with was concerned about the sharp pain I had experienced, and wanted us to come in for an ultrasound just to make sure that everything was ok. Dave met me at the OB's office and we went in to the ultrasound room. The tech wanted to do an internal ultrasound just so she could very clearly see if there was any reason for my bleeding. Right away she showed us the baby! S/he looked perfect, and it was crazy to see how different it looked from just last week. It was moving and wiggling around all over the place, but she got some awesome pictures and even printed out a few for us, which was really nice because from what I've read, at most emergency ultrasounds they don't give you pictures. After examining the baby for a bit, she checked both of my ovaries and measured both cysts. She also made sure that there was still blood flowing to both ovaries, because sometimes large cysts can twist the ovary and eventually cut off blood supply. When that happens, loss of the ovary is usually inevitable. I would really hate to lose an ovary since we would love to have another child and it took us so long to conceive this one! The cyst on the left actually seems to have grown a little from last week. We're still just holding out hope that it will go away on it's own once the placenta takes over around 12 weeks. The tech then went back to the baby to take even more pictures and measurements, plus we got to hear the heartbeat again. The heart rate was a strong 178 beats per minute! Long story short, the tech couldn't really find a reason for my bleeding. I haven't had any spotting or cramping since my appointment and I feel fine, so that's good. She just advised me to take it easy and to take more breaks at work when I'm on my feet for extended periods of time. We decided not to try to get in to see a doctor, because it would have been quite a wait and there's not much that the doctor would have said that the ultrasound tech hadn't already shown us. She instructed us to call back immediately if I have any more cramping or spotting, or to head to the emergency room if the spotting turns to bleeding. So far, none of those things have happened! Here are the cute pictures we got of our little gummy bear at 9 weeks 5 days:

Overall, it was a happy end to a little scare that had us both very worried! Thank goodness that so far, things seem fine. Fingers crossed that everything continues to progress smoothly!

Going Public

When we first found out that we were pregnant, we told most of our friends and close family right away. Most people had been along on our infertility journey with us, and we wanted to share the good news with the people who had provided us with so much support while trying to conceive. After our second ultrasound, I finally felt ready to make the news Facebook official. We had originally talked about waiting until 12 weeks, then we said ten, and finally tonight at 9 weeks 4 days I just thought, "Why the heck not?" We've seen the baby and heard the heartbeat, and I feel like things are going well. So, we announced! Over the weekend I took a picture of the two of us with Dave wearing the shirt I got him for Father's Day and me holding a sign with the baby's due date on it. I love how it turned out, but I love what a great response our happy news has gotten even more!

Ode to Morning Sickness

When we were struggling to get pregnant, I swore to myself that I would relish any and all pregnancy symptoms no matter what. I lied!! I liken it to when I think to myself that I'll never let my kids do (fill in the blank), because I'm sure in a few years I'll take my declaration back. For some reason I never really thought I would get morning sickness. My mom and sister never really had it, and I'm not sure if it would matter, but my mother-in-law didn't have it at all either. I haven't been so lucky though. I've puked more in the last 5 weeks than I have in my entire life. I've puked on a boat (in a Slurpee cup!), in a parking lot, at work, at Red Robin, and at my in-laws house, just to name a few places. There are days when I feel like all I do is eat in hopes that it will help the nausea, and then I just end up spending even more time in the bathroom or fighting with myself to keep food down. My OB recommended these to me:

They're lozenges with Vitamin B6 that supposedly help soothe morning sickness. Honestly, when I use them I don't notice an immediate difference, but throughout the day they do seem to help keep the nausea at bay. They kind of taste like a sour apple Jolly Rancher mixed with a little bit of black licorice. Odd, but not terrible. The bad news is that you can only have one every 8 hours and must not exceed three in 24 hours. I think that sometimes just sucking on something helps, so maybe I should just get some actual Jolly Ranchers! The strangest thing of all though is that I'll have a few rough days in a row, and then all of a sudden I'll wake up and feel great. I'll have a few days with absolutely no morning sickness, then the pattern will repeat itself. I'm sincerely hoping that the nausea will go away in the next few weeks...although I'm down 8 pounds since finding out I was pregnant and I can't say that's a bad side effect at all! Hopefully I can keep a better eye on what I'm putting in my mouth to keep my weight gain at the correct amount that is necessary for my size!

Gender Intuition

I have a very strong feeling that Baby Main is a GIRL! I can't even really describe why, it's just this feeling I have. Some reasons so far that are helping to confirm this intuition are as follows:

• I crave sweets all the time. Ice cream, candy, peanut butter and jelly. Meat is just not the same to me. We had steak the other night for dinner and I couldn't even finish mine. It just tasted off.
• My skin is HORRIBLE. What's the saying about a girl? A baby girls steals your beauty? Something like that. The housekeeper at work even told me that I look different the other day. I asked her what she meant and she said my face just looks different somehow.
• The Ramzi Method. Using the Ramzi Method to analyze very early ultrasounds, in cases where the placenta attaches on the right side of the uterus there is a 97% chance the baby will be a boy. If the placenta attaches on the left side of the uterus there is a 97% chance the baby will be a girl. Baby Main is very clearly attached on the left side of my uterus, so I say those are pretty good odds!
• The psychic who correctly predicted when we would get pregnant also predicted that the baby would be a girl. 
• Baby Main's heart rate was 169 beats per minute at our last ultrasound. The old wives' tale is that if the heart rate is less than 140 the baby is a boy and if it's greater than 140 the baby is a girl. This theory hasn't really been proven though!
• My baby dreams. I've had many dreams about our baby and it's always a girl :)

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing for sure until our gender prediction ultrasound in about ten weeks or so! Until then, I won't be banking on Baby Main being anything except a baby! The odds are fifty fifty, right? :)

8 Weeks 3 Days

At 8 weeks 3 days we were scheduled to go for our second early ultrasound. I was a nervous wreck again just thinking about the bad news that we could possibly get, but wanting to be optimistic at the same time. The only comforting thought was that I have had some pretty bad morning sickness lately, and usually that's a sign that the pregnancy is progressing well. As Dave and I sat in the waiting room, a woman came out crying. My heart just broke for her, and I grabbed Dave's hand and held on tight. I almost lost it myself thinking about the bad news that the woman got and knowing that could very well be us in a few short minutes. We were finally called back and Dr. Young came right in to see us. He started the internal ultrasound and immediately we could see our baby and how much bigger it had grown! First though, he went to my left side to check the progress of my corpus luteum cyst. Unfortunately, there was not much change and it's still a little smaller than a golf ball. Then, he went to my uterus and there was our baby! It was measuring right on track and we were able to hear the heartbeat! I started laughing and crying at the same time hearing that amazing sound, but my movement caused the doctor to lose track of the heart, so he asked me to hold still and he tried again. We heard the fast thumping again right away, and after a little while he was able to take a measurement of beats per minute. Baby Main had a heart rate of 169, which is just perfect! Dr. Young printed out some pictures and let me get dressed. We met him in the other room where he basically wished us well and officially released us to my regular obstetrician! I had actually already had my first OB appointment a few days earlier with Dr. Young's blessing. At that appointment it was mostly a lot of talking, although the intake nurse was extremely concerned about my high blood pressure. I ended up having to double my dose of blood pressure medication and do a 24 urine test, which is disgusting!! You basically have to save all of your urine for a full 24 hours in a jug in the refrigerator. Not only was it gross, but I pee all the time anyway and it's just amplified during pregnancy. My morning sickness also really didn't help things! The good news is that I passed the urinalysis and my blood pressure recheck and we are ready to continue on with a (hopefully!) normal pregnancy! Here are the latest ultrasound pictures of Baby Main:

The baby is on the left side of the picture, and the large black circle on the right side of the picture is my cyst. The ultrasound picture is flipped so that everything is backwards, which is kind of confusing! The one very sad thing about being released from our RE is that we won't have another ultrasound until about 20 weeks :( It's been absolutely wonderful having the peace of mind that our baby is growing and doing well. Fortunately, at my next OB appointment at 12 weeks we will get to listen to the heartbeat, which will hopefully still be nice and strong!

Baby Main's First Pictures!

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and everything looked good! Today I am officially 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and our estimated due date is January 25, 2013! We were even able to see the baby's heartbeat, which measured at 116 beats per minute. Our RE said that's good! Hopefully at our next ultrasound in two weeks we'll be able to hear the heartbeat also. It had just started beating a few days ago and so we were not able to hear it yesterday. Seeing our little jelly bean was the most amazing thing! Of course I cried, and by the time we walked out of the hospital I was nearly sobbing. I had to reassure Dave that they were tears of joy and relief! I've never been so nervous for something in my entire life, and the relief was indescribable to finally see the baby that we've worked so long and hard to create. There was one small concern...I have a large cyst on my left ovary. The RE said that right now the cyst is actually necessary because it's providing hormones for the baby until the placenta fully develops. The cyst I have is just larger than normal. It shouldn't cause any complications with the baby, but I may have some pain down the road. Hopefully the cyst will resolve on its own when it is the right time. June 18th is our next ultrasound, then hopefully we'll officially be released to our OB! Here are Baby Main's first pictures:

First Ultrasound Tomorrow!

Tomorrow at 1:30pm we have our first ultrasound. Going by my lmp, I'll be 6 weeks 4 days, or if we go by date of conception, I'll be 6 weeks 3 days. I am SOO nervous! I just want to see our little nugget and see/hear a strong heartbeat. Then I think I'll finally be able to believe that this is real! We also are having our bathtub and shower refaced tomorrow, so it's a busy day. Thank goodness I have tomorrow off on a total fluke. Now all I have to do is actually make it until 1:30pm...