Crappy blogger...awesome Mom

...at least I think so.

Blogging has certainly gone to the wayside as it has been over a year since I have blogged on either of the blogs that I was writing.

So much has happened in that short little year though. We sold a house, bought a house, started a business and had a baby.

Our little princess, Elizabeth, is 9 months old now. Where the time has gone I do not know. Here is a little picture of her now.

I do hope to get back to blogging and will be trying to back fill the last year or so!

Alien Child

02/15/2010: I know what you're thinking...Alien baby...right? Well you kind of need to look at it sideways, you see it now, huh?

Andy says it looks like something that may have escaped from Area 51

I hope the next scan we have we get a nice cute profile picture!

Week 16 and Drs Appointment

2/15/2010: Well I am almost at the end of week 16 and today we had a doosie of a doctors appointment.

Today started out like every other day, Andy & I got up and got dressed. We headed out to our doctors appointment. Today we get to meet our doctor for the first time. We waited patiently for our appointment time, and when we were called in I got to jump on the scale again. So far I have lost 11 pounds during this pregnancy, which I am quite pleased about. I am certainly not trying to pack on the weight. Andy went into the little exam room and went to give them an obligatory pee sample. (Seriously getting tired of peeing in a cup)

When I got back in the room, the nurse got out the little doppler machine to check the baby's heartbeat. Now, this usually takes a minute or so, but after about 3 minutes she still had not found it. I was starting to worry. She did not say anything except "It's got to be here somewhere" and kept on trying to find it. After another 5 minutes or so, she put down the doppler and told us that she was going to get someone else to give it a try as she was having a difficult time. She assured us that it just her but I was already heading into panic mode.

She left the room and Andy and I there alone, me with tears streaming down my face and Andy trying to keep himself composed. Another nurse came in and picked up the doppler and then started to try to find the baby's heartbeat. I have never been so afraid in my entire life. She was pushing the doppler so hard into me. After about 5 minutes (which seemed like an eternity) she looks up and says she thinks that she found something but fears it is too low for the baby and too high for me, so she asked to check my pulse. I was in such a panic and I could feel my heart racing out of my chest. She took my pulse and the look on her face changed drastically. She mumbled something and ran out of the room.

I could not believe that this was happening to me. How could they not find the baby's heartbeat. I did not want to loose my baby. A minute after the nurse left, the exam room opened and in came a technician and my doctor, Dr. Michael Hold, wielding a portable ultrasound machine. He looked at me, smiled, and said don't worry, we'll find the baby.

He started to do the ultrasound, and was having a bit of trouble getting the heartbeat. We could however see the baby and it was moving and squirming a lot. Dr Hold then showed us a view where he could see the baby's blood flowing and he could see it passing through the heart, which meant that there was a heartbeat. It was such a relief. From the position I was in it was hard to see the screen, but knowing that the baby was okay made all the difference. Dr Hold then took some measurements of the baby and it is measuring just ahead of schedule.

Dr Hold gave us a picture of the baby, in which it looks like a total alien, but he assured us that it is normal for the baby to look like that. He then ordered a penta screen to be completed and wanted us back in a week to make sure that everything was still okay.

So we have an appointment on February 22nd and we should also have the results of the penta screen. Fingers crossed that everything comes back normal.

Week 15

02/03/2010: Today marks the beginning of Week 15. The second trimester started on Jan 27th for me and so far, one week in things are on the up & up.

The nausea seems to have ceased and my lower abdomen is starting to get a bit hard. I don't feel any movement yet as it is to early for that and raw meat still makes me sick to my stomach! I am starting to feel a bit more human these days and I can't wait for that peppy happy feeling to makes its way in.

I love Birthday Parties!

01/27/2010: Today we celebrated Pat's birthday at this fabulous restaurant called Cafe Benedicte. Everything was super yummy. They had what I would consider to be the best lemonade that I have ever had in my entire life.

We had a lovely lunch and Pat got loads of nice presents. Even a large group of guys on the table joined in singing Happy Birthday to Pat. It was a really nice time.

We also got some exciting news, Katie was also expecting! This will be number three for Katie and she is due on August 13th! So our little one will definitely have a playmate!

Thumpity Thump Thump...

01/14/2010: Today we had a late afternoon appointment at WHCCH. It took a while to get in to see someone, but when we did I got to face the dreaded scale. Well, I am down 8 lbs so far. If I had of known that all I needed to do to lose weight was get pregnant....sheesh!

Everything went well, we heard the heartbeat at a quick and steady 156 beats per minute. It is so crazy to think that there is a little one moving around in me and growing. So Cool.

Seriously kid??? (TMI post warning)

01/05/2010: In fear of jinxing myself, I had been keeping this a secret.

Since New Years Day, the nausea seems to have disappeared. Yep, I have had 4 glorious days of not having my face in the toilet and feeling like death. It has been wonderful. Finally starting to feel like a person again. I didn't want to say anything in fear of it all coming back.

Regardless, about 20 minutes ago the nausea came back full force like a slap in the face for even imagining that it could possibly cease. And for my punishment, a violent vomit session. Here comes the yogurt, the bile, and straining so hard to be sick that you pee yourself a little. The vomiting was back with a vengeance.

Thanks little one, glad to know that you are still in there!

Ugh...nausea

12/31/2009: For the last 5 weeks, I have been suffering from the most awful nausea. When I got pregnant I was hoping for an uneventful and easy pregnancy. That was not what I got, so far. Everyday, all day, I have horrible nausea and vomiting. This is not fun! But today I may have figured a link between vomiting and cereal. Apparently I eat cereal then I get sick.

About a week ago I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats for breakfast. I love mini wheats, but half way through I felt like they were turning my stomach. Needless to say, I was sick about 30 minutes later. I haven't had cereal since. Until today. Today, I had a bowl of Blueberry Special K, yet another yummy cereal that I am quite fond of. Guess what happened? I got sick.

Its not the cereal....its the milk!!!! The milk does not agree with me. Nausea 35... Me 1

I can't believe you bought me a bucket for Christmas.

12/29/2009: Every Christmas, Andy and I always buy each other a couple of "joke" presents. This year I was the fortunate recipient of a jumbo pack of Scott toilet tissue and a shiny blue bucket. When I opened these gifts, I was a bit shocked. I could not believe that he actually bought me toilet paper and a bucket. Little did I know at the time what an amazingly thoughtful gift they would turn out to be, especially the bucket.

This pregnancy has been a bit rough so far. The constant nausea and spontaneous vomiting is a bit of an issue. Last night, I went to bed feeling a bit queasy, but have no fears, the shiny blue bucket was sitting next to the bed. I had just taken my vitamin and had laid down. About five minutes later, I had the sudden urge to be sick. Thank God for the bucket. It saved my carpet and me having to clean that up.

So Andy, thank you for the very thoughtful gift of the shiny blue bucket. You really do know what I want when I don't!

I guess my glucose levels are normal?

12/18/2009: Well it has been a whole week and not a peep from the doctors office. I can only assume that my glucose levels where normal, which is a total relief. The idea of having gestational diabetes frightens me. Hopefully they wont make me take the test again until later in the pregnancy when most ladies take theirs between 24-28 weeks. Read more about gestational diabetes here.

Look it's a baby....

12/11/2009: What a fabulous day today has been.

Today I celebrated my 29th Birthday, sheesh I'm getting old. It was a lovely day. It all started with me waking up and heading to the bathroom to take a shower. I had a doctors appointment scheduled and I wanted to get up and be fresh for my appointment. When I got out of the bed, Andy asked me where I was going. I responded that I was going to go and take a shower. Andy then very kindly informed me that it was 12:30 in the morning and it was a bit early for that. I think that I was so excited about it being my birthday and my appointment that I really had no concept of time.

I went back to bed for another 5 hours or so, then got up and took a shower. When I got out out of the shower, I was surprised by a pile of birthday presents that were sitting on the bed. Andy had gotten me all sorts of little lovely gifts to celebrate me! He is so thoughtful and fabulous. We both had a nice breakfast and got ready to head to the doctors office. Today we were having our first ultrasound and I was taking a glucose test.

We arrived at Memorial City for our appointment an hour ahead so I could head over to the lab to take the glucose test. When we got there I got to enjoying a deliciously refreshing beverage. Okay, it was actually the most revolting drink that I have ever had in my entire life. It tasted like flat orange soda with tons of sugar. I hate orange soda and I hate really sugary drinks. It was terrible. I had such a hard time getting it down. Once it was finally down the hatch, I had to come back in an hour to have my blood drawn. We headed to the doctors waiting room and patiently waited to be called in. As we sat there I could feel the drink coming back up my throat. Andy was very encouraging though and reminded me if I threw it up I was going to have to come back and do it all over again. So I swallowed, and did my best.

At 9:00 we were called in and were taken to the ultrasound room. It was a small room, but mounted on the wall was what must have been at least a 42" plasma tv. The technician handed me a paper sheet and knowing the drill, I changed and got on the table for her. I feel for poor Andy at this point, every time we go to the doctor I end up half naked. The tech, turned off the lights and turned on the machine. Next thing you know, on this huge screen was our BABY!!! It was absolutely amazing, then she turned on the sound and we heard this amazing strong little heartbeat thumping away. At that point Andy took my hand and a few tears were shed.

I had no idea that the experience was going to be so emotional. I had so many fears going into this appointment. What if there was no baby, or no heartbeat? All of the things that could be wrong, but instead we saw a tiny little cashew shaped baby and heard a beautiful heartbeat. I have never felt so blessed in all of my life. It was an exceptional experience. The technician told us congratulations and handed us a picture to take home.

I then saw my NP Mary Helen and she said everything looks great. The baby is measuring 4.6 centimeters and my due date is still August 4th. She also let me know that she will give me a call if I fail my glucose test.

What a fabulous birthday, I couldn't have wished for a better day!

First Doctors Appointment

12/01/2009: Today I had my first doctors visit at Women's Health Care Center of Houston. The appointment went really well.

Andy came with me to the appointment and as we pulled into the parking lot a huge bird that looked like a stork (probably a crane of some sort) flew into the grassy area in front of us. It was kind of like a sign of good thing to come. Or at least that is how I am interpreting it.

I still think that before the appointment Andy was still having doubts that I was actually pregnant. It certainly had not sunk in for him and he needed a doctor telling him that yes, he was going to be a father.

When we signed into the clinic there was no wait, which was pretty amazing. I was expecting to be sat there quite some time as you do in most doctors offices. I did come prepared though and had already printed out all the forms that they needed from their website and had filled them in. My appointment was for 11 am and Andy and I arrived about 10:40. We were called back about 10:50 and the nurse took my blood pressure, made me take a pregnancy test and took my weight. After that we were taken to an exam room.

I think that Andy may have been a bit shocked at the stir ups on the table, as his eyes got quite large, and I then changed into the sheet of paper and hopped up on the table as instructed. My NP, Mary-Helen came in and talked to us, got some history, and told us that we were definitely pregnant. She then performed a quick examination (down there) and said that everything looked good, gave me prescription for some prenatals and answered any questions that we had.

She then set us up for our next appointment and said that I needed to take a glucose test and that we would get an ultrasound to verify how far along I was. My next appointment is December 11th, which is also my birthday!

I must say that everyone was so nice at the clinic and we really had a great experience with them. I still don't think that Andy is convinced that I am pregnant though or maybe it is just not sinking in. Hopefully on the 11th we get to see our baby and hear a nice strong heartbeat. Oh and our tentative due date is August 4, 2010.

Happy Turkey Day

11/26/2009: Happy Thanksgiving to All!

I love Thanksgiving, especially since Andy has learned how to make yummy fried turkey, so good! Today was not only Thanksgiving, but my FIL's birthday.

I have learned over many years that I am absolutely rubbish at keeping secrets, after all how much fun is it to keep such a huge secret to yourself that you know will make everyone so happy.

Yesterday, I convinced Andy that we should tell our parents. I really wanted them to know and if something were to go wrong (heaven forbid) then we would have the support that we will surely need to go through a such a terrible time. Since we were going to the Inlaws for Thanksgiving, I wanted to tell my parents as well. We were not planning on telling all of my siblings so thought that it would be best to nip over an tell them last night. So we did, needless to say they were very excited and we hung out and Andy, my Mom & Dad had a couple of drinks to celebrate and I enjoyed a nice bottle of water.

We were not really sure how we wanted to tell the parents, so we ended up buying these really cute cards from Hallmark that said it all for us. We gave both set of parents the same card.

When we got to the Inlaws on today, we started the afternoon off with bringing in presents for Paul and cookery for the dinner I was making. We sat down on the couch and Paul opened his presents one by one and I think that he really liked them. After that was all done, Andy handed the card to his Mum and told her it was for both her and his Dad. I am sure that they assumed that it was a Thanksgiving Card.

Pat had to read the card twice as tears started to flow! Both Pat & Paul teared up, they were so excited. It was such a cool way to tell them.

I am so glad that we told them and so glad that both sets of parents had such fabulous reactions. It is going to be a fun holiday season!

Just for good measure

11/25/2009: Just to be sure, I took another test this morning, and yes, I am still pregnant!

Two little pink lines on two tests! Andy says it is time to make an appointment with the doctor to confirm the pregnancy. I did a little research online and checked with my insurance company and found a practice called Women's Healthcare Center of Houston.

There are five doctors in the practice, who collectively have delivered over 30,000 babies in the 35 years that the practice has been around.

I checked all their medical licenses for malpractice suits and must say, I was very impressed. We have an appointment on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at the Cy-Fair office. All very exciting!

OMG....Its freaking POSITIVE!!!!!

11/24/2009: We got back from our wonderful vacation in Britain and immediately went to go pick up Boomer and Busby from Pat & Paul's. On the way home we stopped into the Walgreens and I picked up a couple of pregnancy tests.

Saturday, Sunday & Monday morning I woke up feeling quite ill, which eventually cleared up. I thought that I should have gotten AF while we were still in Manchester on the Friday night, but she had not shown up.

After we got home from the drug store, I thought that I would wait until the morning to take the test, as since I had just spent the money, AF was surely on her way now.

I really could not sleep last night though and was wide awake around 3:30 am and desperately needed a wee. I got up quietly as not to Andy who was snoring away in dream land and went into the bathroom. I grabbed one of the first response tests, and took care of business. I then washed my hands and sat on the side of the tub waiting for the results.

It was within a minute a faint pink line showed up on the screen, wait, holy crap, there are TWO PINK LINES.....SHIT...I AM PREGNANT.

Oh my God, this is actually happening there are two lines on that test. Two lines = PREGNANT. How do I tell Andy? Do I wake him up? I wake him up.

I left the bathroom as calmly as I could, test in hand, and climbed back into bed.

Me: "Andy are you awake?"

Him: "Why, what?"

Me: "I have something to tell you, do you want me to tell you know or later?"

Him: "Tell me now"

I reach over and turn the lamp on,

Me: "I'm pregnant, you're going to be a Dad"

Him: "Really, are you sure?"

Me: "Here is the test"

Him: Speechless

I cannot believe that this is happening!! We have waited for what seems like forever for this to happen. I think that Andy is in complete shock and it has not really sunk in for him yet. Wow, I am going to be a Mom!

A little R&R before the big trip.

11/09/2009: I just got back from a nice relaxing girls weekend at the beach. I spent it with Jessica and Kelly. Kelly really needed a break as things really haven't been going well for her and I thought that going to the beach for the weekend would be a great way to clear her mind.

I don't think that I mentioned it before, but Kelly is also about 13 weeks pregnant. We had a lovely time with nice walks on the beach collecting seashells, a lovely day in down on the Strand and a great lunch on Saturday on the wharf. Overall a fabulous weekend.

On Wednesday night, Andy and I fly out to London for our family visiting vacation. Well, I don't know that we will really consider it a vacation as we will be mostly travelling from one city to another visiting family and friends. Bon Voyage!

Whoops....I am an idiot!!

11/6/2009: I am officially an idiot. Apparently it is really important that you read the instructions on things you buy, especially on Fertility Monitors.

When we bought our fertility monitor, I skimmed over the instructions. That is right, I actually did not read them. I assumed that like a pregnancy test, you would POAS first thing in the morning. Well, not so much. Apparently for a fertility monitor you POAS in the afternoon.

This explains why last month I never got a smiley face. I am such a moron.

I called Andy to let him know what I had done, and all he could say was, "I thought you read the instructions? Those test are really expensive, nice one". I feel like a total idiot.

On the positive side, I did POAS this afternoon and there was a huge smiley face staring back at me! Andy is on his way home and then off to the beach house for me tonight.

It is only Cycle Day 10, so I think that I am ovulating early this month. I am so glad that at least now I know how to take the test.

Cycle 12 Day 1

10/28/2009: Another Cycle has begun. Welcome to Cycle 12.

Last month, Andrew and I decided to buy a digital fertility monitor to see if maybe that can give us a little help. What is really cool about the monitor is that it gives you a smiley face when your hormones surge just before ovulation.

Weird thing is though, I never got a smiley face. Hopefully at some point I get a smiley face back this month or else it will be off to the doctor. I had figured with my charting temps, I was definitely ovulating. What a disappointment that will be if I am not....wish me luck though!

P.S. We are using the Clear Blue Easy Digital Fertility Monitor which can be bought at your local pharmacy or click on the link for some information about the test.

278 days and counting

10/05/2009: I have been off the pill now for 278 days. That means it has been greater than 278 days since my last mental breakdown.

Yesterday, Andy and I were heading to the grocery store to pick up a few bits and pieces for the week (mainly some ginger ale because I was desperate for one all week) when we were some how talking about crazy people and all the crazy people out there. It dawned on me that I hadn’t had a crazy day in ages.

So we started to talk about it and since I stopped taking the pill I really haven’t went psycho on poor Andy lately. Before we were married there were days where I thought that he wasn’t going to marry me. I was sure that there was no way that he would put up with my kind of crazy. There were days were I would deliberately pick fights with him, why you might ask? I have no idea, but it was always on “black Saturday”, well that’s what Andy called it. It was the week before AF and between my hormones and the fake pill hormones I was messed up.

What is even crazier is that when I told my doctor that the drugs were making me a little crazy, she said that it was normal with the pill and it was a normal side effect. She also said no matter what pill I took the side effects are the same and I would just have to deal with it. WTF?!?

After we married, Andy and I decided that in the New Year I could discontinue the pill and whatever happened, well it just happened. I thought that stopping the pill I would be a mama right away no issues. Even though that has not happened, yet, I did get an unexpected gift, no more crazy.

I can assure you that this has definitely been something that removed a burden in our marriage, I often questioned pre-wedding, if we did marry and crazy continued how long would he stick around? Well he is not going anywhere and I am no longer feeling like a psycho and all is well in happily married land.

Cycle 10, Day 1

09/04/2009: Another cycle has come and gone. I can't believe that I am starting cycle 10. I am trying to keep positive and not have a mental breakdown even though I got another BFN followed by AF. Yay, thanks much, woo!

Andy and I are heading to the beach for the weekend, and at least I'll be able to enjoy a glass of wine or two. Here's to another month of trying...

Bottoms up!