Belly Shot 22 weeks 5 days

Decided to finally post a belly shot...I guess I am finally starting to look a little pregnant...It is strange I feel like I woke up one morning and POP-there she was a belly...We went to the doctor last week, everything looked good. We were just told she looks a little bigger right now than normal-weighing in at 1.6 pounds but the doctor didn't seem to concerned they are going to wait and see what happens next visit...We are busy trying to get the room ready...We are painting and getting new carpet as well as hanging a ceiling fan and blinds in the room...

Looking into registering for a birthing class, trying to find one that is on the weekend so it is more convenient for us...I can't believe that this is week 24-The start of 6 months...

Sleepless Nights

Completely forgot to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July. Which I can not believe it is already JULY. This means only 5 more months to prepare.But I just found out from David, that I am apparently snoring, although I really understand how because I am just not sleeping as good as I used to. Last night, I had my first official dream of going into labor. I know it is a little early to be thinking this, but it must be my subconscious because I am so worried about the actual process of delivering a baby. Needless to say, I am having a hard time at night-not falling asleep but actually staying asleep. Between the leg cramps, trying to sleep only on my side, and increased temperature I am just really surprised I am finding the time to SNORE. David decided to actually record me because I didn't believe him.When I heard it I was shocked.

We Got The News We Were Praying For

Well, exactly 2 weeks, just as the doctor promised, we got the call. I saw the caller id and immediately picked up the phone. I felt a lot better this time because it was the nurse from the doctor's office calling me not the doctor. She told me our tests came back fine-there was nothing to worry about and they confirmed that we in fact are having a baby girl. What a sigh of relief we both have right now. When she told me the news, I started to cry-happy tears of course:) Now I feel like we can start planning for her arrival. I obviously put everything on hold until we hear our test results.

So this weekend, we are busy prepping the room to be painted. We ordered new carpet and I am trying to decide which baby bedding is better. I ordered one online because I can't find it in the stores, and if I like the Lilac Garden then we will paint the room to match otherwise, I am going to go with the Mulberry. I just really prefer Purple-lavender to Pinks. We also added some things to our registry. It is so funny though how everyone has an opinion. I am going to post the two bedding sets we are debating between.

Why does it take so long?

Just waiting very patiently for the results of our amnio. Trying not to think about it and just keep our minds busy on something else. Of course, that is not hard to do with Bailey around. I get up early am to walk and feed him and then we basically have to take care of him every 3 hours for bathroom walks. We went to the dog park the other day and he seems to be happy pretty much anywhere we take him. David has been sneezing- I am praying he is not allergic to Bailey, which would be strange because he never had allergies with Maxwell and he had a lot of dander-because of his Cushings. Well hopefully next week at this time we will have good news.

It's A Girl

Had another ultrasound Friday and it is a girl. They told us that a few weeks ago but I wanted to wait until we posted it becuause, well you know people can make mistakes. Everything looks good so far, had an amnio done Friday and now we are just playing the waiting game. I still don't think I look as pregnant as all the other woman in the office, but the nurse said you just wait and in a few weeks you'll be complaining about how big you have gotten. We are just so excited to hear it is a girl and now we have to pick out all the pink and purple outfits and accessories.

Our Newest Addition

Well, we gave in and got a new puppy. I couldn't take the quietness in the house and we decided to go to the animal shelter. We found the cutest little puppy-he is 3 months old and is a maltese shih tzu. We named him Bailey Maxwell, Bailey because he was born on March 17 and Maxwell after little Maxie. Boy is he a lot of work. David thinks this is great training for us, because he needs a lot of attention and we are up all through the night having to walk him. He cries a little bit when we put him in the crate, but overall he is a good boy.

In Honor of Little Maxie

It has been a while since my last post. Things have been busy around here. Unfortunately we had to put Maxwell to sleep last Monday May 26. He was 13 years old and had been diagnosed with Cushing's Syndrome a few years ago. He was doing okay for him, David usually carried him out to the grass to be walked and he slept most of the day- well last weekend he took a turn for the worse. It was really said, he started to have problems breathing, he wouldn't eat, drink, go to the bathroom or sleep. As hard as it was, and it is hard we had to put him to sleep. Needless to say, I had a rough week. The first few days, all I could do was cry and just look for him-now I am getting a little stronger and I keep telling myself he is in a better place now. The hardest part is when I come home from work and the house feels empty. Since I also have had him for 13 years it really is hard to remember life without him. We will always love him and he will have a special place in our hearts.
We love you Maxie.

Sonogram at 12 weeks 5 days

We went to the doctor this week to complete part one of the Nuchal Trans. test. They said the skin fold of the neck looked good but I won't find out the complete results until they test my blood from this week and in 5 weeks. The baby looked a little bigger, it was bouncing all over the place. The ultrasound tech wanted to know what in the world I had for lunch-I ate pizza (something I haven't eaten in a long time-but my boss bought pizza for everyone as a congrats for good work). The hearbeat was 158 and as you can see in the ultrasound the baby was waving at us. The picture isn't as light was we would like but it will do. This weekend we have been cleaning so we can make room for the little one. We got rid of the desk in the baby room and cleaned out our closets. We still have a bunch more to do but we are trying to do a little bit each weekend. I am still sleeping okay although my hands fall asleep for some reason. I am looking to buy a pregnancy pillow. I am still in my regular clothes-thank goodness for wearing my scrubs during the week. Our next appointment is May 30 and we are hoping to find out the sex of the baby.

WE ARE PREGNANT

I know it has been a while, and from now on I will be better about writing in the blog. I guess I just took a break becuase we found out March 3 I was pregnant and of course I wanted to wait until I was 12 weeks to officially announce it. We are so excited. We conceived naturally which is great. I guess the Glucophage was all I needed. I went for the HCG tests and they doubled as they were supposed to (69, 309, 2160). We have had a few ultrasounds done, and so far so good. The RE released us at 8 weeks to our OB-GYN and then he referred us to the perinatalogist. As far as having morning sickness, I really have just had boughts of nausea and an icky feeling if I eat too much or too little. My biggest thing has been fatigue and tiredness.

She's Back Again and Right On Time

I can't believe that once again-she has arrived exactly 29 days later. As usual, it was quite a letdown for me. I think what made it worse was I had no signs that she was coming so it kind of came out of left field. In the back of my mind I thought "maybe I am pregnant this month, after all we did it on the right days". Well the positive thinking did not work. Back to square one. AGAIN. We have a bar mitzvah tonight. Hopefully it will be fun. David is busy working on his book and Maxy has been on/off with the blood in his stool. We took him to the vet again and they said put him back on the Flagil. So far, it looks like the medicine is working.

I am getting used to my medicine as well. Although today I am supposed to increase it to the 2000 level. The only issue I have really had was kidney pain occasionally and if I don't eat with the medicine I get really nauseus. I just hope the medicine works and I can finally be pregnant. Two months left and then moves to Plan B-the shots.

RE Follow Up Appointment

I know it has been a while, I guess we were on a waiting pattern for my January 18-follow up at IVF. Well we have for the most part, good news. David's tests came out all negative and he had no problems with his semen analysis.

Then on to Susie. Pretty much all the tests came back negative (all the chromosomes). The 2 issues were as follows. I tested positive for the MTHFR gene which we knew about previously. That is why I am taking the Metanx pills for the rest of my life according to the RE.

The big surprise was my insulin levels. Apparently, they are off the charts. So I am now to take glucophage 4 times a day (2000 mg) vs just taking one pill a day (500 mg). This should help with my insulin levels. Surprisingly enough my sugars tested out just fine. So I am going to watch what I eat and take the meds. The only problem is that they cause severe nausea. Everyone says I will get used to it but I can only hope that happens soon.

Of course, we got yet another prescription for bloodwork. The RE wants to check my antibodies because in rare cases if I have those antibodies they can cause me to have a miscarriage. Anyways, this morning I wanted to just check the ICD-9 code on my prescription, just to make sure it wasn't a diagnosis for infertility. Because my insurance won't cover if that is written on it. Being that my insurance doesn't cover much we need to at least get them to pay for my bloodwork.

For those who don't know what and ICD-9 code is- it is a coding system is used to code signs, symptoms, injuries, diseases, and conditions. I looked up 629.9 and this is what I found:

Habitual aborter without current pregnancy

That sounds horrible. To me habitual sounds like an addict and that I chose to do this for instance like someone or smokes or drinks. I do neither. Like if I had more willpower then I wouldn't have had the miscarriages. I didn't have a choice for this to happen to me. To bad they don't make some magic pill or patch to help with frequent miscarriage.

The ICD-9 code should say: women, full of disappointment, recurrent miscarriage, no choice in the matter.

Well back to the "plan". We will continue to try for the next 3 months using ovulation kits and having intercourse on the day the test shows positive and the next. (Not like this is anything new). I will take the increased glucophage and continue with the metanx. If this doesn't work then we will begin injectibles.