Zone 1...a pain in the...

PPVI called today and my progesterone is down in Zone 1 after being in Zone 2 for a while (after starting off in Zone 4 at 4 weeks).  I now have to take 200 mg PIO twice a week, and since I have 50 mg/ml through my mail order pharmacy since it was so much cheaper ($30 for 90 day supply vs $60 a bottle for the compounding pharmacy's 100 mg/ml) I have to do a shot in each hip.  I also have to add 200 mg oral progesterone daily.  Hopefully my levels will go back to at least Zone 2 quickly and I won't have to do this extra for too long.  Anyone have any hints on how to lay for the shot?  I feel  uncomfortable laying on my stomach even with a pillow.

Little Dude update

I had my ob appointment yesterday at 25 weeks, 3 days.  Everything is going well.  D was able to come to the appointment (even though it ran late...boo) and got to see Baby Blondie (who I have also been referring to as little dude when I don't call him by his name).  The little boy I nanny for (different family now, they have one almost 3 year old) was with us so I was slightly distracted.  The ob measured my fundal height and although I didn't actually ask for the number, it must have been in the expected range since she didn't say anything.  The ob is also happy with my weight gain.  Little Dude is currently frank breech (we have plenty of time for him to flip so I'm not worried), so we got some better pictures of his profile since the placenta didn't block it and he wasn't hide it with his hand this time.  We also saw him swallow and stick out his tongue.

Sticking out his tongue

Profile and feet

Another profile and feet

Look at my feet, they're adorable

Merry Christmas and Prayer Buddy Reveal

My prayer buddy was Shannon from A Friend of Gianna who is now private.  I was praying for her and MM as they discern the future of their relationship.  Shannon is such a sweet girl and it was a privilege to pray for her and to hear her voice during Sew's shower.  I prayed for her at Mass and during my weekly adoration time.

D and I went to his parents' house for Christmas.  We had a good time and got to relax a lot.  We talked to my family on Skype since everyone was in different places and we also talked to his sister and her husband who couldn't come down for Christmas.  Baby Blondie got quite few things for Christmas and he already has a shelf in the nursery and we haven't had the first shower yet.  D's parents got us the carseat, so it's installed in our new car that we bought on Thursday night (silver 2009 Ac.cord...I'll post a picture later).  I've have carseats in my car before with my work as a nanny, but last night I realized that I actually have our child's carseat in my car.  D is driving the car today because I have the day off and I need to clean our my old car which he'll be driving.  My sister-in-laws also got us onesies and other baby stuff for Christmas.  My mom's relatives are throwing me a shower in about 3 weeks in Austin since my grandma can't really travel.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone since it's been a few months since I was out there.

I have an ob appointment tomorrow and D hopefully will be able to come. I'm doing pretty well other than my silly nosebleeds and what I think is round ligament pain or stretching of my scar tissue from my laparatomy.  Baby Blondie has been moving around a lot (including as I type this) and kicked D in the face a couple times (he was laying his head on my tummy).  I also can feel kicks going on the inside or to my cervix.  My MIL seemed to be a bit worried that I hadn't gained enough weight but my ob hasn't said anything about it.

Quick Takes (Non-Friday edition)

1. I'm having a terrible time with nosebleeds right now, especially since it's getting cooler and drier.  My ears are also having issues too.  I'm not sick really, so there's not much I can do.  I have my humidifier, but I'm not sure how much it's helping.

2. I was at the grocery store today, and the cashier asked if I was pregnant.  That's the first time that I have been asked if I was pregnant.

3. We are currently looking for a new (well, really a preowned) car.  My current car is a 2001 Ci.vic with almost 180,000 miles and D has a 1999 F-150 with about 125,000 miles, so we are going to get something that has a lot less miles (but keep both of our current vehicles).  I'm probably going to get an Ac.cord or a Ca.mry that's 2007 or 2008.  D's not thrilled about getting a car note but we have a good down payment from my parents buying D's car for my little brother to drive back to school after his accident this summer.

Picture Frame Help

You know those picture frames that say Grandma, Grandpa, etc.?  Does anyone have ideas on where to find them?  I've finally decided to do those as the Christmas gift but don't know where to look.

Cloth Diaper Stash Plan * Updated

I've been working on my registry (first shower is in about 1 1/2 months) and here's what I have for my planned cloth diaper stash:

General:

• 24-36 Baby washcloths to use as wipes
• 2 Fuzzibunz Hanging Diaper Bags (thanks to Lauren for letting me know about this)
• Snappi Size 1 Triple Pack
• Planet Wise Wet Bag, One Medium, One Large
• Kissaluvs Diaper Potion Concentrate

For Newborn:

• 6 Thirsties X-small Covers 
• 2-3 dozen Green Mountain Diaper Prefold Newborn (Orange)
• Homemade liners made from old t-shirts or some cheap flannel or fleece (for early meconium poos)

For Older Infant:

• 4 Flip One-Size Covers with Snaps
• 2 dozen Green Mountain Diaper Prefold Small (Yellow)
• 2 dozen Green Mountain Diaper Prefold Medium (Red)

For Nighttime:

• 2 Little Beetle Little-to-Big (One Size) Organic Wool Covers with Snaps
• Thirsties Stay-Dry Hemp Insert Two Pack, One Pack of Small, One Pack of Large

         

For Short Travel/With a Babysitter, etc:

• 2 Fuzzibunz One Size Diapers
• 2 BumGenius 4.0 One Size Diapers With Snaps

For Longer Travel (like my brother's wedding in Hawaii where we don't want to bring back a bunch of poopy or wet diapers and won't be able to wash really and don't have to deal with classic disposable diapers)

• G Diaper Flushable Inserts or Grovia BioSoakers or Flip Disposable Inserts (to use with the Flip covers)

I'm planning on washing every  1 1/2 to 2 days.  Do the numbers of everything (especially prefolds and covers) seem reasonable?  Any other recommendations?

I did the registry on Amazon, but I've put quite a bit from Green Mountain Diapers and Cotton Babies since Amazon has a Universal Registry Button that allows you to add items to your registry from other websites.  

"No Photos Please"

I had my appointment yesterday at 21 weeks, 3 days as well as my glucose tolerance test.  The glucose tolerance test drink was so disgusting; I hate fake orange flavor and I just barely finished in it the 5 minutes they allow you.  I was a bit worried I'd vomit and have to redo it later.  The good news is that I seem to have passed since my ob said they would call only if I didn't and they should have had the result by the afternoon (actually by lunch really).  The appointment went well.  Baby Blondie is looking good, but he was hiding his face behind his hand and the placenta so we didn't get a good profile shot (thus the "no photos please" title).  He also was keeping his boy parts hidden so no confirmation today on that.  My next appointment is on December 28 so I'll be 25 weeks, 3 days and D will hopefully make it to the appointment (he's going to try).  I actually lost the u/s photos for a while yesterday (they blew out of my purse when I was leaving the building, but I went back after I realized they were gone and found them.\

My progesterone is 44.2 ng/dL (20 weeks, 2 days), which is at least a rise from the last draw but it's still Zone 2.  I'm pretty sure I'll be on PIO until 36 weeks at this point.  It's funny that my level at 20 weeks is barely 3 ng/dL high than at 4 weeks (with quite a few drops in between).

We have the baptism seminar at our church this evening, so hopefully D will be off work in time (he's tends to have to work late on Wednesdays).  His baptism will be in Houston at the church where D and I got married on June 5 (so that my parents can be in the country...it's just before my brother's wedding) during one of the Masses.  He'll either wear my little brother's baptism outfit or D's family's baptism gown (depending on how big he is...he may even wear both).  I'll post pictures of each when I have them.  We have decided on his godparents but haven't asked them yet.

Ready for soccer

Baby Blondie is finally starting to do some real kicks in the last few days, and yesterday on Thanksgiving (20 weeks, 5 days) D finally was able to feel some kicks.  Very thankful.

P.S. The 20 week picture is now in the slideshow.

Thankful Part 2

I'm thankful for
-D- who is a wonderful provider and loves me even though I'm kind of crazy sometimes
-Baby Blondie- our little blessing from God (totally undeserved) and the fact that he's finally starting to really kick
-all the Catholic IF bloggers- the community has saved my sanity many times, it's amazing to have people who care about you even though you've never met
-my family, who love us very much even though we don't get to see them very often.

Whooooooooah...

We're half way there.

I'm twenty weeks as of Saturday, so I'm officially halfway done with the pregnancy.  I'm feeling pretty good in general, and I'm feeling the baby a little bit more (it's still kind of hard to notice, I think due to my anterior placenta).  I still have occasional nausea and I really need to figure out the nosebleed thing (I keep having clots in my nose that make it feel stuffed up and then they bleed when I blow my nose...a very annoying cycle).  I'm having some pains and discomfort in my abdomen and , but it's really mainly from me sitting weird.

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way (I'm definitely not bragging or anything), but I still have not really gained much weight and I started out on the low side and lost a bit due to the nausea and vomiting in the first trimester.  I'm able to eat more now, but it's disconcerting to me that I haven't gained more.  The baby was growing well (even measuring ahead by almost a week at the 16 week ultrasound) but it's still hard for me not to be concerned.  I know D is right that I shouldn't worry if Baby Blondie is growing fine.

Cloth Diapering Questions

I need some recommendations on a couple of things regarding cloth diapering while I'm working on my registry.
1.  If you are using prefolds, do you have a recommended brand/source?
2.  I'm planning to use mainly prefolds (I have experience using them with the baby boy I nanny for, but they are using a diaper service), but I'm probably going to get a few funnibunz and/or BumGeniuses.  How many of each (prefolds and then pocket/all in one) would you recommend (for a newborn size and then for the next size or two up)?  How many covers for the prefolds?
3.  What laundry detergent are you using?
4.  What brand of wet bag and pail liner would you recommend?
5.  What size pail do you use for the diapers?
6.  Any other helpful hints?

Rib weirdness and registry

I've been feeling a weird sensation up near my rib the last couple days.  Baby Blondie's not up anywhere near my ribs yet since I'm 18 weeks, 4 days.  I've been feeling him move a bit more, but I think that the anterior placenta is making it a lot harder to feel.  D is really hoping to feel him move soon, but we'll see if he cooperates or not.

I'm generally feeling ok, but yesterday I think I started have some reflux and I was having a hard time eating.  I still occasionally have to take nausea medication, but it's so much better than early on.

I started working on a list of what needs to get done before Baby Blondie gets here yesterday.  I also wrote up a list of all the stuff to get and/or put on the registry.  I've gotten a lot of the registry done but any suggestions on things that you loved or hated would be great.  My main registry is Target with Amazon for the things that aren't available at Target.  My first shower is in about 2 months (January 15), so I still have plenty of time.

My Patron Saint for 2011

Where Angels Blog picked Hildegard of Bingen (a nun and mystic, who Pope Benedict recently spoke about during his General Audiences)  for me, Rupert Mayer (a German priest who served the poor and resisted the Nazis) for D and Rose of Viterbo (a Third Order Franciscan who died at 18) for Baby Blondie.

U/S pics and more!

My blood successfully made it to PPVI this time.  I'm still in Zone 2, 41.3 ng/dL at 16 weeks, 2 days.  That's right about where my level was at 4 weeks.  It's odd that my progesterone is so much worse during pregnancy.  I'm still unsure if what I'm feeling is really Baby Blondie moving around or if it's just gas or something.

Two shots of Baby Blondie at 16 weeks, 4 days

D and I were traveling to NY and NJ from Wednesday night to Monday night.  We drove and it was really long, but I did fine other than not drinking enough water on the way up which caused a little spotting.  I drank more water on the trip down and did fine.  We visited his mom's relatives first in NY, and we had a good time although everyone was slightly too concerned about me (especially with the drive).  I know they are just natural worriers and this is the first baby from the grandkids on that side.  It was the only time we'll get to see any of his relative's during my pregnancy.

On the way down to NJ, D and I stopped to have dinner with TCIE in Bethlehem, PA.  We had a great time and while D and I waited for TCIE since we got there early we walked along the main street and found a shop with rubber ducks.  We got a turtle duck for Baby Blondie.

Turtle Duck

Me and TCIE (D was taking the picture)

We then went down to NJ for his cousin's wedding.  All of his family was together and it was great to spend time with everyone.  His cousin's wedding was outside and it was cool and overcast, so this Texas girl was glad to have a coat.  The reception was a costume one since it was the day before Halloween.  I got fairy wings to go with my dress and D wore the same Big Mac costume he always does.  Since we said the baby is measuring big, some people kept saying they think he'll be early (even though this is still months away) but I said that I am going to assume he'll be late so that I don't have extra impatience if that happens.

D and I at the reception

I don't know if I mentioned that my mom and I went shopping for maternity clothes, but I love that I can finally wear jeans again (even though they go up to my bra with the panel).  My dress for the wedding was maternity and so were my tights.

It's a...

BOY!  We have the name picked out, but we won't be sharing it with everyone until birth.  His initials are SRS.  He's looking really good, and measuring 17 weeks, 2 day (I'm 16 weeks, 4 days).  His heartbeat is 160.  D was able to come to the appointment, which was great.  I'll post the alien face picture by next week some time.

Where to eat in Bethlehem, PA?

Anyone know of a good and not too expensive place for dinner in Bethlehem, PA?  TCIE and I are going to meet there for dinner on Friday and I need some suggestions.

My big u/s is tomorrow before lunch.  I'll post about it at least briefly tomorrow, but I probably won't be able to post u/s pics until early next week.

On being pregnant after IF

I know my posts have been pregnancy heavy and those who are still waiting might not want to read them.  I hope that my posts don't hurt anyone.  I've been quite limited in the amount of time I have to post and I haven't really talked about my feelings on being pregnancy after IF:

When I talk to someone who doesn't know about our IF struggles, I always try to mention that this pregnancy was not something that happened quickly, but that we struggled for a couple of years and had to have surgeries to get this point.  I hope that I'm being a witness about the fact that IF is out there.  I also mention Dr. H/PPVI/NaPro when appropriate.

I'm still dealing with occasional spotting and although it no longer causes me to completely breakdown (the first two times I broke down and was somewhat hysterical), I'm still very worried about Baby Blondie especially when I have the spotting.  I had spotting that lasted over a couple hours while visiting family this past weekend and it completely ruined my ability to enjoy spending time with my family.

Since I haven't been able to feel Baby Blondie move yet, I still worry about having an u/s and not seeing a heartbeat (even though I've seen the heartbeat on u/s 4 times now).  When the u/s starts, I almost assume no heartbeat until I hear it.  I know that pregnancy, even in the second and third trimester, does not guarantee that you'll get to take home and raise a baby on earth.  I watched a video on the October 15 Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day and it had a baby who died just after the 16 week u/s (I'll be 16 weeks on Saturday).  Although I'm not constantly focused on the fact that my baby could not make it, I definitely have that worry in the back of my mind.  I check the heartbeat with a Doppler on a regular basis.  D even asked me last night about "whether SC (our nickname for the baby) was going to stay in there" meaning whether we could stop holding our breath about the likelihood of having a live baby.  I doubt that he'd be quite as worried (and it's not a crazy high level of worry) about the possibility of loss if we hadn't dealt with IF.

In some ways, it doesn't seem real.  I mean I've seen the baby a few time on u/s sound and my body is changing, but I kind of think that part of the reason that I have worries about not seeing the heartbeat is that it doesn't seem like this is real.  I need to hear the heartbeat regularly and look at the bump to see that this isn't something that I'm imagining.  Even with the horrible nausea, it at least meant that there was a good chance that everything was going ok.

I am thrilled that we having this blessing and I know that it's not because we deserved it, prayed more, or really anything that we did.  I wish that there was something that I could do for those who are still waiting beyond just praying for you (which is important of course).  You are always in my prayers.

Annoyed at USPS

My blood seems to have gotten lost (well, my progesterone blood draw at least...the rest is safely inside my body).  I sent it Tuesday and it should have been up at PPVI by Friday.   Since it's now Tuesday again, I'm pretty sure that USPS lost it.  I had to get it drawn on my birthday and that makes me extra annoyed that they lost it.  I'm now waiting to hear if PPVI wants me to go on Thursday or if I should just wait until next Monday for my regular draw.  It would be lovely if it would turn up (any prayers to St. Anthony would be appreciated), but my hopes aren't very high on that.  

The good news is that my big u/s is in 8 days (next Wednesday, October 27) and we should officially find out boy or girl then.  

30

Monday was my 30th birthday.  Although I never would have chosen to be 30 when our first child is born, I'm so blessed to be only 30 and not have to wait any longer for our little one.  Three months ago, when we had our third anniversary, I never expected to actually be pregnant on my birthday.

I haven't really popped yet, but here are 6 weeks and 14 weeks to compare.

6 weeks

14 weeks

We got our first baby gift this weekend; a friend knitted a blanket in Aggie colors (maroon and white).  I love it.

  

Cold, Progesterone, etc.

I caught a cold last week from the little boy I nanny for.  I'm feeling mostly better, but I still have yucky congestion.  Thankfully my netipot seems to be helping.  The cold does seem to be aggravating the nausea and I'm having to take the medication.  However, I haven't had any vomiting in over a week, so that's good.  I'm able to eat much better in the last week or so.  I've even made a weekly meal plan with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks.   I'm still pretty fatigued, but I'm glad the nausea and eating are better.

I got my most recent progesterone level from 12 weeks, 2 days and it was only 26.6 ng/mL (zone 2), so I'm still on 100 mg PIO twice a week.  It's frustrating to me that after having perfect (actually on the higher side) P+7 levels every time they were tested and a great P+15, my levels seem to be getting worse over time.  I'm glad that my levels are being monitored, I just wish my body wasn't continuing to be annoying.  I am still having spotting every once in a while; it seems to happen more if I don't drink enough water.

I haven't popped yet (I'm 13 weeks, 5 days), but I definitely can see the bump.  I'll probably post a picture in the next few weeks once I do.

October is a really busy month, I'm busy and traveling every weekend this month.  My 30th birthday is on Monday (the 11th).  We are going to D's cousin's wedding the weekend of Halloween and her reception is a costume one.  I have no idea what to wear (I'll be exactly 17 weeks), and I don't want to spend a lot of money.  Any ideas would be appreciated.