Delurk & Paricipate!

It's International Blog Delurking Week!

Say what?

That means if you read this blog but don't comment, you should say "HI" today! Let me know you're out there and reading. Tell me a bit about yourself. Tell me your favorite tv show or movie or even better your most embarrassing story..Or not, just "Hi" is okay too. You don't have to have a blog, you don't need to be infertile, pregnant, or even married, just let me know you're out there. I know that there are quite a few folks who follow this blog but don't comment and I'd like to know who you are!!

And because I stole this from AL, you should say Hi to her too. Especially if you already read her blog as well. :)

Heartburnzzzzzzzzzzzzz

If that Old Wives Tale is true about heartburn=baby with hair, then I will be giving birth to Sasquatch here in a few months. And doubly so, because my husband and I both have big feet.
Seriously, today powdered sugar of all things is giving me the worst heartburn! Who'da thunk it? Anyway, here is the 25 week update and I promise (maybe) to post pictures starting with Week 26. Not just for your enjoyment, but also so I can look back in several months (when I'm smoking hottt) and see how much progress I have made.

Week 25

How far along: 25 weeks (and 2 days)

Total weight gain/loss: We shall find out on Thursday. My doctor will probably stab his eyeballs out with a scalpel.

Maternity clothes: If I could do it all over, I would have spent my entire pregnant budget on maternity hoodies and comfortable maternity jeans. In fact that's what I am wearing today...but this hoodie isn't maternity and it will only stretch so far.

Sleep: I'm still sleeping well, especially now that I am getting over my cold. I wake up to pee quite a bit, but I fall right back asleep.

Best moment of the week: She is moving all over the place here lately, and it's something that I don't want to take for granted. A girl whose blog that I follow lost one of her twins (stillborn) this week and it makes me want my little one to stay very active for reassurance purposes. So the moving is good and it's happened a lot this week....to sum up the answer to this question.

Food cravings/aversions: I haven't had any cravings per se, since the first trimester. I just like food.

Belly button in or out: In. I can't see it popping anytime soon, if at all. I'm okay with that.

Stretch marks: I'm over talking about them. Now what I want from you are tips on how to get rid of them or at least make them fade after pregnancy. Ready, go.

What I miss: I don't really care for this question. I am very grateful to be pregnant, but even still I have gripes about the things that go along with it just like every normal pregnant lady in the world. I don't need to point them out anymore, because I don't want to confuse anyone. Yay pregnancy!

What I am looking forward to: Pretty much everything. I'm a little over 3 months away--so I am ready to have everything in order. Nursery, super-clean, disinfected and organized house, baby showers...etc. I am ready to line out a pediatrician and birthing classes (if we decide to do those).

Weekly wisdom: it's a weird feeling to sit down to pee and your hot belly touches your cold legs. I had to evaluate the situation earlier. It was weird.

My roller-coaster of a year....

Most un-original title ever, right? Sorry, the creative juices aren't flowing, but instead what is flowing is snot. Gross. I feel horrible!!!!! Monday I went to work with a box of Kleenexes and a bag of cough drops in hand. I made it until the end of the day, but started to feel worse that night. Yesterday was WAY worse. I can't breathe, I keep gagging from the coughing, my voice sounds just like Vin Diesel. So yeah, it might just be a cold, but it's kicking my tail! They should come up with a more serious sounding diagnosis than "cold" because that would make me feel less like a weenie. So, I am blogging from home today, yes--day 2 of staying home from work. Today J is at work so there is no one to complain to except the blog world, and my Chihuahua who frankly, I think is tired of hearing about it.



Isabel's bedding came in!!! Yay! It's even cuter in person than in the pictures. We got a crib this week and we got a bassinet a few weeks ago. My child has more clothes than she will ever be able to wear as a newborn, so I think we need to focus our energy on things like the rest of the furniture and a stroller and carseat, etc. Right now I am on a mission to find a rocking recliner that I don't have to give an arm and a leg for because I'd rather have that than a glider chair and ottoman. I'm rambling. So about this year....



January was our first appointment with our fertility clinic, or any fertility clinic for that matter. I had made up my mind to move on to bigger things after 3 1/2 years of my local doctor telling me that "he gives it less than 6 months before I'm pregnant". Not to mention the laprascopy and 6 months of menopause (at age 25) that he thought it necessary to put me through. So after roughly 2-3 appointments with RE, it turned out that I was fine and it was male factor issues that we were dealing with. IVF was our only chance at a biological baby. I had my first of many meltdowns and we signed up for an April cycle of IVF. My hormones were crazy so that cycle was cancelled and we were kicked back to May. On June 10, 2010--they called me to let me now that after the transfer of 2 perfect embryos, we still were not pregnant. June was not a fun month to say the least. J and I had a big vacation coming up in August so we had decided to wait until after that to try the FET. And we told this to our families as well. I think we were more than ready for the break. And then something interesting happened and I got a call from the IVF nurse who said that they had a cancellation in the July cycle and we could be put on that if we wanted. I don't know what in the world convinced me to say yes that day, but I did and no sooner had we stopped the injections for IVF #1 we began them again for FET #1. We kept the whole thing to ourselves. I made up excuses at work about why I was missing (my clinic is 2 hours away). I wore a 1 piece in Mom and Dad's pool to hide the bruises on my stomach. We secretly found time for PIO's around whatever we had going on that day and wouldn't you know it....on 8-9-10, we got a call that it worked this time. We were pregnant. We got to surprise our families and friends who didn't even know we had been going through all of that, and since that day this year has pretty much rocked. So grateful that God allowed us this experience and we continue to pray that in April we will bring home a healthy baby....GIRL who is already loved more than she will ever comprehend.

So here's to hoping that 2011 is the best year ever, for all of us. Be safe this weekend and God Bless.

Week 24

How far along: 24 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I can't be sure, because I avoid my scales like the plague, BUT...I think somewhere close to +20. Yes, I am outta control.

Maternity clothes: I had a post about hating them last week, and then my new stuff came in and I like them again. I bought jeans so long that I have to cuff them at the bottom, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Sleep: I wake up 32 times a night. Partly to pee, and partly because I am sick with a cold and I can't breathe.

Best moment of the week: My unborn child got almost as many Christmas gifts as I did. That was pretty exciting. Actually Christmas in general was really great this year.

Food cravings/aversions: I got my first bout of morning sickness on my birthday, which was Week 23. And then again yesterday. That's what I get for thinking I was in the clear. My body is confused, I suppose--I also think it has to do with all of this cold/congestion stuff.

Belly button in or out: In

Stretch marks: SIGH, yes. I can't pretend any longer. They are there and they are ugly. Hips, and tops of thighs mostly. None on the stomach, yet.

What I miss: Just being able to walk up 1 flight of stairs without stopping to breathe twice on the way. Ha.

What I am looking forward to: My appoinment on the 6th, MINUS the weighing part. I had a birthday and Christmas since my last appointment...it can't be good news as far as the scales are concerned.

Weekly wisdom: Hot dogs in bed at 10:00 pm=bad idea.

22, 23 & 27

I didn't post for Week 22 and Week 23 falls on my Birthday #27. Now you know what the numbers are about.
What's been going on? I passed my glucose test. My bp is still super low, so as far as pregnancy is concerned, everything seems to be going well for now. I am getting fatter. Inevitable, I know. And I don't want to be the girl who wanted to be pregnant for 4 years and then griped the whole time she was, because I hate that person. Soooo I will just say that I don't mind being pregnant; what I mind is maternity clothes. I always had this idea that when I got pregnant I would spend a fortune on cute maternity wear and be totally decked out in cuteness all of the time. But, as fate would have it...I would give my left lung for a pair of sweat pants right this second. Not just any sweat pants...BIG ONES. Big, huge, Arkansas Razorback sweatpants that are low enough to not touch my belly and still long enough to NOT look like high waters. I have this exact pair at home waiting on me like they do on most days of the week. My poor husband will probably burn them soon. As long as he can wait until after April, I can deal with that.

Back to my hatred of maternity clothes, let me explain. I am 5'8", which is not like freakishly tall, but tall enough that I have to wear a size LONG in most pants. When I first started to buy maternity clothes I bought 2 pairs of full panel jeans in a regular length because that's what I could find. Stupid. The full panel is made for short people, I'm convinced. It hits me mid-belly leaving two sausage-like rolls on top and below the waistband. So to remedy that, I pull them up higher....hello ankles. Grrrr. I have 2 new pairs of jeans on order that are a size long and that are also the kind with the band that sits below the belly. Fingers crossed that my mood improves when they come in.

I have also decided that I don't want to spend a fortune on clothing that (God willing) I will only be able to wear for a short time. I would rather spend that money on clothes to fit my tiny, small, skinny little self (dream big) after the baby is born. So it pains me to dish out the money on a ton of different types of maternity clothes. I did get lucky to know so many people with kids, because I have been loaned a lot of different tops....but because apparently all of my friends and cousins are "little people" none of the pants will work.

My rant is over. My kid is kicking me right now, so I guess she's tired of the griping. :)

My 27th Birthday is Sunday. I will be 23 weeks pregnant that day. Despite the laws that force me to wear pants in public, life is good. Merry Christmas everyone.

30 Random Things

I've probably done something similar to this, but hey--life is different now, so I am sure I can come up with 30 more random things.

1. In movies, I root for the animals instead of the humans. Example: I don't mind if the cowboy gets shot, just so long as the horse is okay.
2. I hate the word "precious" and my friends torture me with it as much as possible.
3. I want to "fix" everyone's problems and get mad when people don't take my "good" advice.
4. I hate confrontation. Not just personal confrontation--it makes me uncomfortable to see two strangers fighting about something.
5. I'm 99% certain that I will NEVER know what I want to be when I grow up. Or if I figure it out, I know that I will never be happy doing the same thing for the rest of my life. Career-wise anyway.
6. I have one of the most entertaining husbands ever. Every day is an adventure.
7. I got married at 20. It seemed like it took forever to get that man to put a ring on my finger and now I realize, I was just a tiny child. Just thankful that it was the right guy that I took the plunge with!!!!
8. My Mom thinks that I should read to the baby that is still in my stomach, and I can't make myself do it because it's weird.
9. I like grammar and I love spelling. And being pregnant has caused me to screw up both of these things. Guess I have other things on my mind?
10. My favorite color is green.
11. I don't have any desire to know how to assemble things by myself. I would rather just wait on my husband to do it.
12. I hate awkward hugs! You know the one where you think they want to hug you and then you wonder if that's what they really wanted? Maybe I am the only one that this happens to!
13. I'm not lazy, but I am VERY good at wasting time. If this isn't proof, I don't know what is.
14. I LOVE DOGS. Oh man, I love them.
15. I HATE CATS. Oh man, I hate them.
16. I have never lived on my own, meaning I moved out of my parent's house and into my house that I share with my husband....but....
17. At the age of 26, I have already been a homeowner...twice. Well, a co-homeowner anyway.
18. My toes are pretty long, which probably explains why I wear a Size 10 shoe. If they were shorter, I think I could pull off an 8 1/2.
19. I can go into my closet right now and pull out at least 5 things, that I don't even remember buying.
20. My hair has been almost every single "normal" color that it can be. Blonde, Brown, Red, Black, combination of all of the above....
21. I'm athletic, but other than that I don't really have any talent. Well, at least if I do it is untapped.
22. I'm competitive, but I come by it naturally. My Dad is insane about winning.
23. I don't dance. Dancing is stupid to me.
24. We tried for a long time to get pregnant, you probably know that if you're reading this...but what you don't know is that I started to wonder if maybe I just wanted to be pregnant...and it wasn't that I wanted the baby as bad as just the experience of pregnancy. I WAS VERY WRONG. Pregnancy=boo, Baby-YAY!
25. My husband and I are SO FAR BEHIND when it comes to technology and neither of us care. Example: We have a 27" very cubed looking tv, a desktop computer with a monitor that weighs precisely 300 lbs, and my 6 year old Samsung flip phone doesn't download apps, let me check my email, OR allow me to blog. It allows me to call and text...and that's all I need. Instead, my husband has the very latest in running gear and tools and I spend every extra dollar I get on clothing and SHOES.
26. I like to look at jewelry on other people, but I don't care to wear it. Necessities are my wedding ring, earrings and usually a watch.
27. I still have 3 of my baby teeth, with no permanent teeth underneath.
28. One of the things that I would most like to thank my parents for is the fact that they got me a bionater and braces, because without those 2 things...I probably would have never found someone to marry me. OMG.
29. I have one sister. We are like day and night in every way. Our personalities are completely different and we don't look anything alike. But our handwriting is almost identical.
30. I don't watch the news. I don't have a clue what's going on with the world and I think I am a happier person for this exact reason.

OH, this song.....

A couple of things. Clay Walker is one of my all-time favorite country singers. He is probably most consistently my VERY favorite. His voice is beautiful and he's not hard on the eyes himself. :)
So, he sings the following song and WHOA....every single time I listen to it I am amazed. I can't imagine why Gaga lovers want to hear about someone's "poker face" when there are songs that are as meaningful as this one to be heard.