So, if you'd like to continue to follow our family-building journey - and trust me, there will be more! - visit http://bartafamily.livejournal.com
The only thing I ask is that if you read, at least say hello every once in awhile! Sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself and didn't you hear? Comments are the new hug :)
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12w umbilical cord |
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12w foot and toes! |
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12w front of body |
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12w bent leg |
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12w somethin' poppin' out... |
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12w five fingers! |
-I've been wondering when my mom was going to go all first-time-Grandma on me and start buying things left and right. Well, yesterday she e-mailed me and is doing something that I absolutely love: They are paying for enough Shaklee vitamins to get me through breastfeeding! You have no idea how awesome this is. Shaklee is the #1 natural nutrition company in the world with very high quality vitamins. Of course, with high quality comes a higher price and even as a distributor of the product, I haven't been able to bring myself to buy the vitamins. I grew up taking these products and could tell a difference when I moved and didn't have them any more. When I became a distributor I had planned on getting some but between the cost of me not working and fertility treatments and then moving and our new bills, I still haven't done it. Hopefully me getting back on these will help me feel better and by the time I'm done breastfeeding, our money situation will be better and I can start buying them on my own. Yay! Totally awesome gift. Seriously.
-Speaking of the word "Grandma," anyone have any cute suggestions for my mom to use?
-And I think I'm getting sick. I don't feel nauseous or anything like that, but the past few days I have been doing a lot of blowing my nose and sneezing and extra napping. I didn't get up until almost noon today and then went back to sleep two hours later and took a two hour nap. I only got up after Max made me feel guilty for sleeping so much... especially since I knew it was like 50 degrees out today. I got out of bed and planned to take him to play with Hoover and wouldn't you know it it was raining. :/ It's supposed to be nice again tomorrow though so hopefully I'll feel better and have some energy to do something with him. For now I'm on the couch and feeling headachey and a little achey all over and just sort of blah. I really hope this isn't the beginnings of something more icky than just allergies.
-However, I did hit my carbs today! 50g of carbs exactly with 104g of protein and 1500 calories. Much better. However the day is not over and I'm sure I'll be hungry again before I go to sleep. I think what helped the most was that I ate half a pack of sausage for breakfast: 720 calories, 44g of protein and 0 carbs. There's no way I could eat that every morning though... it'd make me sick.
-A week from tomorrow I go in for my next ultrasound! Hopefully we'll find out what we're having then and that evening Neal's parents will be here! We want to surprise them and are going to line the driveway with balloons: Blue if it's a boy; pink if it's a girl! We may even get a banner to put on the garage door.
-My Pampered Chef party kind of bombed due to no one being able to come and money being tight. I did hit the $200 in sales mark though so I was able to get some free products and a discount. I got the trifle bowl, a veggie peeler that I was in desperate need of and a melon baller which I always thought was a useless product but have come to covet since I've been eating a lot of cantaloupe lately and struggle to get the meat out.
-While talking to the consultant, she told me something that totally made my day. When she had come to my house to go over planning the party, she was shocked to see all the kittens running around and freaked a little because she's "very allergic" to cats. I put them downstairs and had just vacuumed but I figured she'd still end up having some sort of reaction to them because she hadn't taken her allergy medicine. We had somehow gotten on the subject of Shaklee and their products and she had asked for a Get Clean dvd but I forgot to give it to her. Well, when I talked to her tonight to close my show, she said that she really wanted to look into ordering the products because even though she had been in my house with 9 cats, she did not have one sign of allergies! Yet, a week later she was at another ladies house, which was also clean with ONE cat running around and she ended up having a severe allergy attack that turned into a sinus infection! That's right: Shaklee rocks beyond belief. So I'm going to mail her the dvd!
-Mama cat is gone! Woo hoo! I took her to my great uncle today and he loves her. He called later and said that she is right at home, exploring and playing with him and the new toys he bought her. She really is a sweet cat... she just doesn't like my two cats so it was getting very annoying constantly having to shuffle them around so they avoided each other. So... one cat gone, four to go. The babies get fixed on Thursday and we still need homes for two of them. Workin' on that.
-Speaking of the babies, Dexter, one that we're keeping, is hilarious. He's the runt of the litter but very bold and not afraid of anything. Last night he hopped in the shower with Neal and did the same with me today. (He slid and got soaked with Neal which did cause him to run off but he was enjoying playing in it with me and he didn't care one bit when I pinned him down to dry him off.) While all cats I've ever known or met have been terrified of the vacuum cleaner and scatter when it comes out, he's very curious about it and follows it around trying to bat at it or sits in its path staring at it. He loves to sit on the edge of the door of the dishwasher while I'm loading/unloading it. Doesn't care one bit if he gets water dripped on him. Mollie's not thrilled about the babies but have gotten used to them... probably in part to Dexter's pushiness with her. He constantly tries to rub up against her and cuddle and she'll hiss and spat and growl at him but he doesn't care and just keeps on cuddling. I believe she's almost to her breaking point and giving up. He's completely fascinated with plastic bags... especially when I'm trying to scoop the litter boxes. And he loves to sit on the back of the couch and "eat" my hair. He cracks me up. (I'm trying to document all of these things for a future picture post.)
-I'm still struggling to get all of my calories in. Yesterday I had about 60g carbs (supposed to have 50g) and 1200 calories (should have more like 1700-2000). (I did however get in the recommended 100g of protein thanks to my whey protein stuff I have left over from IVF.) I believe that I have once again lost weight, which is not cool at all. Last night I made a sausage/mushroom quiche, which sounded fabulous until it was ready to eat and then the thought of eggs made me want to puke. I once again forced myself to eat some and ended up feeling queasy the rest of the night. I think I just need to give up on the whole egg thing. I just can't do it right now, which sucks because not only have I always loved eggs, but they are a huge staple of the Atkins diet. :/ I was nervous about today because it was my grandparents' Christmas dinner. I suffered after Thanksgiving even though I had small portions but was pleasantly surprised tonight when just about all of their choices were pretty low carb. I had ham, taco salad (minus the chips), ziti (minus the noodles) and lots of fresh veggies. I even treated myself to some of the banana pudding - minus the actual bananas and vanilla wafers. I'm feeling pretty full still and not feeling run down at all yet, so yay! However... I'm home now and know I'll want to eat before going to bed but don't want anything we have. (Although a slice of cinnamon raisin toast with butter sounds divine... carbs, carbs, carbs.)
-Speaking of my carb issues, how come after more than two years of knowing that I have PCOS, not one doctor, nurse or website that I ever read about it ever mentioned that I should try a low carb diet? I was researching it last night and it all makes perfect since.
-Speaking of Christmas at Grandma's today, it was fun. The highlight was probably the fact that three of my younger boy cousins who have always kind of been hoodlums and typical teenage boys, are now all in their 20s and have small kids. One has a 1 year old, one has a 6 month old and one has one who is due in July. It was nice to watch them with their kids and see how much they've finally grown up and matured. You can see such a difference in how they interacted with their kids and their parents... it was neat. And then I got a little teary-eyed while I sat there watching them and realized that not only will I have a 6-month-old next year, but our children will all be close in age and therefore playmates at those types of get togethers. :::tear:::
-I found this crib-to-toddler-to-full-size-bed and love it. (In espresso.) My mom said she found it online for $469 which really isn't that bad for what you get. I was looking at just getting something from Target or Babies R' Us but from experience I know that the actual products (at least from Target) aren't really all that sturdy/long-lasting. I'd rather spend more money up front and know that the product will last through years of abuse... hopefully until the baby is getting married and needs a bigger bed than full size! (Edit... Just realized it only goes to a twin, not a full. Don't like that so much.)
I love Wendy's chili. (Low carbs!)
I'm having a difficult time realizing that I'm allowed to eat more right now. I keep finding myself limiting my portions and watching my condiments like I always have. I need to weigh myself but I really don't think that I've gained any weight since my last doctor's visit. I have noticed that lately I'll eat and I'm still a little hungry... I need bigger portions! I've just always ordered smalls and limited things like dressing, butter, sour cream, etc. I'm finding it difficult to break that habit. :/
I had a great workout yesterday at the gym which included some swimming time. That was nice and I'm going to look into their aqua arobics, as well as start taking yoga again.
Pictures!:
These are some of my recent clearance maternity finds, as well as something I didn't need but couldn't resist: A reindeer snowsuit type thing for baby! I got the 9 month size because by November, he'll be 5 months old so it should fit him throughout next winter. How friggin' cute!
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my maternity finds Clearanced maternity finds, plus the reindeer outfit I just couldn't resist! |
And here's me in my other recent clearance find. It's not maternity but it's stretchy so it'll last me awhile and I'll be able to wear it after:
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belly! And my new favorite sweater. |
Dexter and Lily chilling under the Christmas tree. They're the two kittens that we're keeping:
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Dexter and Lilly chillin' under the xmas tree! |
Max cuddling with Neal. He adores him and is always trying to sit on his lap:
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Max and Neal |
Muki and Emma at the cheerleading compeition the other day. Love Emma's lipstick!:
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Muki and Emma |
Emma on top of the pyramid during their routine:
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Emma on top! |
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13w belly shot! it's looking more rounded! |
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getting our xmas tree '08 |
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our xmas tree '08 |
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our fireplace '08 with kittens River and Sparkles. |
I've been reading "Pregnancy for Dummies," which I like much, much better than "What to Expect When You're Expecting." I think I'm going to send out an e-mail to all of my friends who are moms to find out what their labors/deliveries were like, what their birth plans were, as well as what their favorite baby items were and which ones they thought were a waste. Yup.
I need to do a belly pic today as I haven't been documenting it like I wanted.
The crappy thing is that I haven't been sleeping well the past couple of days, which makes me feel like crap. I have a hard time going to sleep at night and then it seems like I wake up every couple of hours wide awake and just lay there. Sucks. So yesterday and today I've been all nauseous and icky feeling. I had a migrane yesterday even. I tried eating and resting to get it to go away and then finally broke down and took some Tylenol and had a nap. Felt better when I woke up, but of course then couldn't sleep last night. Blah! Today I had planned on going to the gym and running some errands but I'm feeling crappy again so I may just take it easy again today.
Other pregnancy-related things: I'm totally clumsy and so forgetful! Example: My cat Mollie has a severe bladder infection which we had just been to the vet for on Thursday. On Friday we realized that our other cat Siren was injured. Got her an appointment on Monday and when the vet was asking me how Mollie was doing, I totally couldn't even remember what was wrong with her! And that was after like a week-long invesitagation into why she was sick, x-rays and a $250 vet bill! Craziness. I keep losing my keys, forgetting to do things and just basically feel like I've lost my head. And the clumsiness - Lordy. Getting comfortable in bed, getting out of bed, getting dressed/undressed, basically doing anything I am totally uncoordinated. I keep hitting my head, bashing my limbs, tripping over things. I've told Neal that he needs to be extra diligent in keeping pathways clear for me. Twice now I've tripped over stuff of his that he's left laying right where people walk. Not cool, man. I can only guess that my clumsiness is due to my equilibrium beginning to change. I can only imagine what I'll be like when my belly starts getting bigger!
We got our Christmas tree the other day which was cold, but fun. I've got pictures but I haven't downloaded them yet. The only non-fun part was when Max was doing a mad dash around the tree field and knocked me over. He knew he was in big trouble and came over with his head hanging to get yelled at. (I'm okay - I landed on my butt with my wrists taking the brunt of the fall. They are still a bit sore though, mostly my wrist that I've had problems with for a long time.) The tree is up but we haven't decorated it yet. I'm hoping we'll decorate it tonight after Neal gets out of bed. (He's on midnight shift now.)
I've gained 2 pounds and as mentioned before, Cubby was super active and doing great! I can't find the cord to download the video we took, but I did finally scan one of the pics in. It's the best one we got - the other ones are kind of blurry:
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11w5d ultrasound Still doing great! |
Hopefully I can find the cord, because the video is just amazing. I love watching it!
I am officially in love with my maternity jeans. Oh, so comfy! The Bella Band worked wonders for awhile, but I was to the point where that just wasn't cutting it any longer.
Thanksgiving went well.* There was lots of baby talk and yummy food. My cousin was there with his son, who is 5 months old, and Neal kept eyeballing him and grinning. My cousin who is a nurse saw the video and agreed that it's a bit early. She kept saying that what we see is probably the umbilical cord, but I know exactly where the cord was, which was going straight up past his head. So... I still think it's a boy :) Hopefully at the 16 week check-up, the baby will have gotten big enough for a more definitive answer as I will be asking the doctor his opinion.
*The only downside was towards the end of the night when my two aunts were asking me about why I was doing the low carb diet thing. I explained about my insulin resistance and how that was part of the reason we couldn't get pregnant. They then continued to joke about how now that I'm pregnant, I'll start "popping out babies left and right." It is no secret that we also have male factor so apparently these grown adults do not know how conception works. It's just frustrating. While I'm totally enjoying and savoring every moment of this pregnancy, and want to adopt in the future, I am mourning the fact that this will be my only pregnancy and we will not have any more biological children. People just don't get it. And when adoption is brought up, they like to tell us horror stories. I also was struck by how much oohing and aahing I was getting over my belly and all that. I'm thrilled that everyone is thrilled for us, but where was this support when we were struggling? Oh, wait, that's right. They tried to support us by telling us all the things you shouldn't say to someone who's infertile. Relax, take a vacation, pray, I hope you don't have a litter! :::sigh:::
The nurse gave us info on getting the AFP blood work done to screen for Down's Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis and Neural Tube Defect. I know when Neal had his karotyping done they screened for CF and it was negative, so we're good there. I need to find out if they checked for other things too though and call the insurance company to see if they cover it.
The doctor didn't say (and I didn't ask because I know it's early) but I'm still thinking it's a boy. There were a couple of shots where you can see a little something extra in that area that made me go - Oh! Neal saw it, too. I'm going to take the video camera with us to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparent's house to have my cousin take a look at it. She's had four kids and is an OB nurse, so I'd like to get her opinion!
I'll be 12 weeks on Thanksgiving - one more week to go and I'm out of the first trimester! This is hugely exciting to me. :) I cannot wait to eat TDay dinner. It's not so low-carb friendly, but that's okay. Because I'm a grazer, I plan on having three small plates of food throughout the evening, so I'll be treating myself to small portions of potatoes and stuffing and pie and rolls and - I love Thanksgiving.
I just have two more kittens to find homes for, so if anyone lives in Ohio (I'm near Columbus) who might be interested - they are free! They are getting fixed 12/18, are dewormed, will have their rabies and distemper shots, are litter trained and love our 70-pound black lab. Did I mention all of that for FREE!!!!! (Not to mention they are stinkin' adorable and would look oh-so-cute under the Christmas tree!)
Speaking of Christmas - I'm so excited to decorate this year. Christmas has been very hard these last few years while dealing with infertility. Last year was particularly depressing because we weren't cycling and didn't know when/if we'd be able to. We were stuck in limbo at that point more than we had been throughout the entire ordeal. Now that we've finally moved to where we wanted to, bought a house we love and are actually pregnant, I am totally going to enjoy this. Neal was supposed to work on Thanksgiving, but he's not now so I may drag him to get our tree before we go to dinner at the grandparents. It'll be my first time actually going to a Christmas tree farm and I am so excited to do it.
Name your top six TV shows right now, before reading the questions.
1. The XFiles
2. Firefly
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Friends
5. Dexter
6. The Office
1.) Who is your favorite character from #2? (Firefly)
Ooo - that's a tough one. Umm... probably River. Or Kaylee. I don't know!
2.) Who is your least favorite character from #4? (Friends)
Ross. I used to like him but then he went all crazy and started really getting on my nerves.
3.) What would a crossover between #1 and #5 include? (The XFiles and Dexter)
OMG! That would be an AWESOME episode! Mulder and Scully would go investigate a murder that Dexter had done. Ooo - or maybe Dexter finds out about some of the people that Mulder has killed and decides that some of them weren't worthy of death so he goes after Mulder! Or Scully! Oh, the possibilities!!! I'm going to have to look for some crossover fan fic now for that one!!!
4.) Who is your favorite ship from #6? (The Office)
That's easy - Pam and Jim.
5.) If you were to set one person from #3 and one person from #6 on a blind date, who would they be? (Gilmore Girls and The Office)
Hmmm - interesting. Um, Angela and Kurt. Kurt's a big pushover and Angela is very demanding.
6.) If you could meet one person from #4 and spend the day with them, who would it be and what would you do? (Friends)
- Who: Chandler
- Why: Because he's hilarious!
7.) If you could change one thing about #2's plotline, what would you change? (Firefly)
Well, first, I wouldn't have cancelled the show after one season! WHAT THE HELL??!! As far as the plotline goes - that's easy: Wash wouldn't have died! :( :( :(
8.) Explain a relationship between two people (not necessarily romantic) from show #5 and why you like the relationship between them. (Dexter)
Dexter and everyone else on the show. If you've seen the show, there's no need to explain. If you haven't seen it, well, what are you waiting for!?
9.) If the lead title characters (first names in the credits) from #1 and #3 were both drowning, and you could only save one, who would it be? (The XFiles and Gilmore Girls)
Oh, well, that makes me really sad to think about. I have high loyalties to XF though, so I'd have to say Mulder.
10.) If you could change the title characters' order in the credits for #4, what order would you choose? (Friends)
Don't know the order they are in...
11.) If you were able to add a new character, any kind of character you wanted, to the storyline of #6, what would the character be like, and what would their role be? (The Office)
How about bringing on Michael's mom. That could be interesting.
12.) What happens in your favorite episode of show #2? (Firefly)
I really liked the one where it flashed back to how they all met. Funny, touching, sad, scary. Very good.
13.) If you could kill off one of the characters in #1, who would it be and how would you do it? (X Files)
Well, my answer would have been Fowley, but they killed her. I believe everyone I wanted dead is dead. lol!
14.) If you got the chance to visit the set for either show #3 or show #5, which would you choose? (Gilmore Girls or Dexter)
Oh - that's hard! Um, probably Gilmore Girls.
15.) If you could date anyone from any of these shows, which show and which person would it be?
Easy - Mulder. love him!
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