103 - Twas the day before school...

My school, that is. Back to work tomorrow. I did go back to work last semester, but was only teaching two classes - this semester, I will be teaching four classes with a lot of additional responsibilities...including an increasingly mobile baby. I'm excited and nervous. I have this feeling, though, that life is going to feel a little more balanced this way. And that, folks, could easily be denial. "Denial" - it ain't just a river. That's one of Alex's favorite phrases.

We had a socially-packed Labor Day weekend, and Emmeline thrived. She loves being on the move and with people. She is not one of those babies that get overly stimulated by a lot of action...in fact, she is quite the opposite. I find that her crankiest days are the ones where we just chill around the house all day. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree ;-).

Her 9-month well visit went, well. 18lbs 3ounces and 27 1/2 inches...right around the 50% for both. Her head still hovers around the 25%, which is fine as long as we don't see any large increases/decreases. The doc expressed a little concern about the lack of babbling, but not urgent concern. The plan is to give it another month and then do a hearing test. She is getting noisier every day...just not with those pesky little consonant sounds.

In other breaking news, she is getting really good at finger food. I never knew I could find so much enjoyment in watching someone feed themselves a Cheerio.

B comes in an hour or two and Emmeline is still sleeping. Time to cram in important things - like going to the bathroom by myself ;-).

102- I beleive in cloning

Of myself, that is. In one circumstance - to watch my Sweet E while I'm gone.

We started with a babysitter. 10 hours a week. Today was her third day, and for the most part, we're pleased. B was selected after 8 resumes, 5 interviews, and 2 on-the-job interviews. Emmeline seems to like her. B takes "constructive suggestions" well and seems happy to be here. Today, E even made a sad face and leaned towards the door when she left. I trust E is safe. I trust that B is doing her best. But how could anyone love her as much as we do? Then I ran into a mom at the park near our house and shared my mommy guilt experiences with her. She's an elementary teacher. She reminded me - "I'm not their mom, but I still genuinely care for and love my students and try to do what's best for them.". Yes, B will be great once I get over my own stuff.

We celebrated her 9-month day today by a trip to the Chelsea Community Fair. She was quite interested in all the animals and especially liked the horses. She was pretty wiped by the time we made it to the carousel, but was a trooper nonetheless. It was fun, family day. Alex and I agreed that we need more of these. Often, when he is just home for a day or two, we spend most of that time running errands and "getting stuff done" - some of it necessary, some of it a waste when we take the time to look at the big picture of what's important.

E continues to progress fast in the gross motor skills area. Today, she started standing by herself for short periods of time. I bet she walks by ten months. Verbal skills, on the other hand....man, this kid is Q-U-I-E-T. I have no concerns about her cognition, social, or emotional development, but I am starting to get a little concerned about her lack of babbling. We are going to set up a hearing test in the next couple of weeks. I absolutely know she hears big sounds; it's the softer ones that concern me. When B came yesterday, she also commented how quiet E is and how unusual quiet our dog, Kharma, is for a shit-tzu. It's true - both are unusually quiet. Maybe our house is so peaceful and calm that we just raise peaceful, calm, and in these cases, quiet sentient beings? I like that explanation much better than a possible hearing problem.

I hear a little fussing on the monitor...and so the day begins.

101- Life with Little Miss E

Little Miss E - Her name is Emmeline Addison, and she is 9 months this week and....she is amazing.

The quick summary - She's crawling and cruising. She attempted to bail out of her crib a couple of weeks ago, so we moved the mattress down to the lowest setting. She's on the quiet side, but her favorite way of communicating is through laughter...and that makes me smile. She's just starting to understand "no" and evident today when I said "no" as she reached for our dog's food...and then that bottom lip began to quiver ever so lightly and I felt a bad mommy moment.

I continue to breastfeed, and I don't know how long we'll go for. I've stopped trying to set absolutes in regards to her, because if I've learned one thing in these past nine months, it is that there are no absolutes. Our night/napping schedule is finally down after several months of sneaking into the guest bedroom with her for her 2AM feeding then remaining nuzzled in there with her until the morning. I realized the need for a change when DH asked "Am I ever going to get to sleep with you again?". So she now not only sleeps in her crib, but will put herself to sleep (for the most part). Although this is now the right choice for us, looking back, I have to admit...I don't regret those precious nights nuzzled with her.

We have been doing cloth diapers. If you are interested in doing so, give it a try. Really, piece of cake.

As for DH and I, we are slowly but surely finding our balance as a couple and as parents. I will go back teaching in the fall. I will be gone about 18 hours a week...and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I am looking forward to it. For me, it is the perfect job for raising kids. I'm technically "full-time" this semester in pay and in title. But "full-time" at a university is roughly 20 hours a week away from home. Then I will get a month off around the holidays and have off from April 14th - Sept. 8th. I'm grateful for it. I think with our lifestyle, Alex away 16 or so days a month, the away time for me is necessary. I find myself being a better parent even when I just get a couple hours away a day. When I go 3-4 days without anyone else to hold her even for a minute, I find myself burnt out and sometimes only taking care of basic needs...not the type of parent I had hoped to be.

So what next for the blog? I think I will start blogging about parenting Little Miss Emmeline. I miss blogging. I miss my blog world friends...and I so look forward to catching up with you all in the upcoming days.

I leave you with a 7 month pic...more to follow.

100 - Our 25/38 baby

The significance of the title? 25 was my first beta on a Wednesday; 38 was the second beta on a Friday. I was given the option to stay on my meds through the weekend, but we had to retest on Monday either way to make sure it wasn't an ectopic. I reluctantly stayed on the meds while simultaneously digging out our adoption folder.

May I introduce to you our 25/38 baby GIRL! Oh my gosh - we didn't find out the sex during the pregnancy, but had strong boy feelings. Our ob consistently messed with us...always using the "he" pronoun, telling me to go with my "motherly instinct". He took it to the next level when he called our room to tell us good luck and that he was sorry he couldn't be there. His parting words? - "I can't wait to meet your beautiful baby boy". It was truly a surprise when DH announced "It's a girl!".

The birth story: We went in to the ob on Nov. 24th for an appointment. The induction was scheduled for Dec. 1st, and we were looking forward to celebrating DH's b-day and Thanksgiving and getting the last minute things done that weekend. However, I noticed that my blood pressure had begun to creep up on Nov. 22nd/23rd. In the office on the 24th, my blood pressure was 145/95 and there was an increase of protein in my urine, but our doc said that he was still comfortable pushing until Dec. 1st. We were just about to walk out the door when he said "Hold on - your platelets were 78,000 yesterday". This is pretty low - 100,000 is the cut off for an epideral and to be awake during a c-section. It was also an indication that my condition was getting much worse. He told us to go home, get our bags, and go to the hospital...that they would start the induction that night. And they did - along with a healthy dose of Mag Sulfate because my blood pressure was around 160s/100s by the time we got to the hospital. And by 10AM the next morning, there was no progress. When the doc came in to tell me that they thought a C-section would be the best option given my declining condition, I promptly asked "Where do I sign?". Anyone have experience with Mag Sulfate? I would have done almost anything to get off that Devil Drug sooner rather than later.

The C-section was a non-event. Seriously - if it wasn't for that Mag Sulfate, the whole experience would have been a lot less painful than I anticipated. Because of my blood pressure (it didn't go down right away), I spent 5 days in the hospital. It was fine, though. It gave us a lot of extra time to get adjusted and work with the lactation consultant.

Life at home is good - content. I have tired days - don't get me wrong - but the overall experience/transition has been easier than I anticipated. We are very in love.

I've tried to really think about why it has taken me so long to post the birth story. I think it is a combination of not wanting to do much of anything besides lay with the baby on my chest and gaze into her eyes and a little bit of survivor's guilt. I remember after our fresh cycle failed in summer of 2008 - shortly thereafter a few blog world friends had success. I would visit their sites, write "I'm so happy for you!", and then, while a piece of me was happy for them, I would feel immense amounts of pain and jealousy. And then that cycle of emotion would take place again after they posted their birth story. I know I'm not alone in those emotions. I know someone out there experienced them with my positive FET and will experience them again with the posting of my birth story. In some twisted way (I'm aware it's twisted), I feel like I should apologize.

But then a few friends and family convinced me that I should post - I owe to myself, I owe it to my baby, and I owe it to the people who read this blog. It's closure. Yes, we had to do IVF, yes we tried to conceive for 4 years, yes we've had our struggles. But I also realize that we are very lucky.

So what next? A sibling? Those of you who have read our blog know that we were planning to adopt if this FET was not a success. We had no intentions of going through more treatment, even though this was our first cycle. One of the comments/questions that is asked is now that our beautiful daughter has is here "Doesn't the pain and trials of it all (infertility) fade away?". My answer is no. I very strongly remember the emotions felt when our first attempt failed. I very strongly remember how all consuming going through an IVF cycle is. I very strongly remember how four years seemed lost as we were trying to conceive. And I am so grateful we made the decision to do it once, and now that she is here, I cannot imagine life without our daughter. But even as I gaze into her eyes, I can't say that we are going back for a second round. We'll probably make our "sibling" decision sometime in the fall.

May I introduce to you our beautiful Honey Bunny. That's what I find myself calling her.



I know I am beautiful, but please, no more pictures folks!

99- A visit sooner rather than later...

I've been bad about blogging lately...reading and commenting on other blogs as well as updating my own. For good reason...

A little over two weeks ago (I think, it's all been a bit of a blur), I got really sick. I was about to teach class on a Monday night when, completely out of the blue, I began vomiting violently. I cancelled class, went home, and felt a lot better, so I thought maybe it was just something I ate. I tried desperately to hydrate, knowing how dangerous dehydration is in pregnancy. All was fine...until I started vomiting violently again at around 1AM. Called the ob on call and as I suspected, she wanted me to go in right away for fluids. I got my one bag of fluids and a little Zofran and was feeling better - about to be released (discharge papers in hand) - when it all came crashing down. They took my blood pressure one last time and it was 175/109. I was released alright...released from the ER to Labor and Delivery.

Once I got to L&D they did their thing - NST testing, blood work, blood pressure readings, 24-hour urine analysis - and, the scary thing...the steroid shot to boast the baby's lungs in case I needed to deliver at 33 weeks. I spent about a day and a half at the hospital. Came home with "strict bed rest" instructions and an appointment scheduled in the office for a few days later. And the rest is history...bed rest, 2 appointments a week, baby monitoring twice a week, and a weekly ultrasound ever since....a diagnosis that wavers between pregnancy-induced hypertension and mild preeclampsia, depending on if protein shows in my urine. The hospital bag as been packed and is in the car. Essentially, the doc told us that we would be reevaluating what would be "the day" at every appointment.

And then this past weekend, another little jaunt to L&D - I had strong right-side pain under my rib. This was one of two "must call and get checked out" items. With this condition, it could indicate problems with the liver. Everything checked out fine - most likely a foot in the rib :-)

So things have been a little tense, although I can say we have been going with the flow as much as possible. Initially, we were told the he would deliver at 36 weeks at the latest (basically, this Monday). Then we were told 37 weeks. And now, at our last appointment, things were so stabilized that he said we would shoot for the Monday after Thanksgiving (38 weeks). That would be so great! Full-term, so less feeding issues, etc.

That appointment was on Thursday. It has been a nice couple of days since then. When we were told that we would most likely be delivering at 36 weeks, we kicked it into high gear - well, as "high gear" as you can get being on bed rest. We tried to get all the things that we planned on doing over that last month done, and for the most part, we did. So when we were told that we now have a little more time, we've realized that there is truly very little to do but relax. It's been nice.

Hopefully, part of my relaxing will be catching up on all your blogs...I'm so behind. But know you have all been in my thoughts.

97 - Summer is over and school starts!

So I'm back to teaching tomorrow, and I am looking so forward to it - more so than in years past. I think there are several reasons why. First, I think I am ready to get into a routine and exercise my mind beyond finding baby things on Craig's List and organizing yet another drawer. Second, I will be teaching three courses this semester, which is basically full-time. So on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'll be hanging out on campus all day long; having lunch, running into students, working on curriculum and assignments. I think it is going to have a different feel from the semesters when I only taught one or two classes and would just run in and teach and run out. Third, I definitely think there is some strong maternal instinct going on - I feel a stronger motivation to do a good job - to really give these kids what they are paying for....to inspire them. Maybe I'll watch "Mona Lisa Smiles" tonight to really get in the mood :-).

The semester will be interesting in another way....classes end Dec. 12th, with exams the following week. My due date? Dec. 13th. I know, I'm cutting it a little close. I have already made arrangements for someone to proctor my exams. But who knows if I will go early. Ah well - everyone is advised, and I hope I have things organized enough for someone to somewhat easily takeover if that happens.

So what to do on the last day of probably the best summer of my life? Yesterday, I made a very large, unrealistic "to do" list...as if there will be no more time for anything (even though I will only be teaching 2 days a week) once fall starts. I think I'll work through that list the best I can without stressing about what doesn't get done. Then Alex and I have plans to go to the Saline Community Fair tonight...although it is pouring right now. Whatever we do, I will definitely be sad to see the summer go. I think this is the first time I've felt this way in a very long time.

On the baby front...deals, deals, and more deals. We went garage shopping this weekend and I got a exersaucer that retails for about $80 for $5. Then yesterday I got the EXACT $140 swing we registered for off Craigs List for $45...basically new condition. I'm getting excited for my showers - one is a Dr. Seuss themed family shower and the other one is a English tea friend shower at this very cool Victorian B&B. Oh - and for the first time in our marriage, Alex and I have resorted to sleeping in separate beds. Why, you may ask? Because I now snore like a tortured pig ;-).

Bye bye summer 2009! Hello fall...you have a lot to live up to!

96 - Just livin' life...

The concept seems so simple, but for those of you who have experienced infertility, you probably understand the magnitude of this statement. I've been absent from the blog world for past month because I've just been livin' life - and it's been wonderful - but not without a grieving period. Only in the last month have I really understood how much I had stopped living life in those 4 years we were trying to conceive.

A quick summary of the last month - Went to Ohio to visit relatives in Columbus and Cincinnati, had a friend come visit us whom we haven't seen in about 4 years (went to the Ann Arbor Art Fair - so much fun), a wonderful reunion up north, a visit to Michigan's upper peninsula for a few days, a visit to the west side of the state to visit my niece's (including the preggo one), and lots of lunches and catch-ups with good friends and family.

On the baby front - our 20 week ultrasound looked great, with no signs of any abnormalities. At my last pregnancy he declared me a "textbook healthy pregnancy". Again, I'm sure many of you understand how this statement was truly music to my ears. In the last four days, I feel the baby A LOT...probably 10-12 times a day. I've also been feeling great lately, and I'm pretty confident that walking everyday is one of the reasons...now, if I can only keep that up during the third trimester. The nursery and registry are complete - I have a couple pics below.

As for the rest of the summer - unfortunately, not much left as classes start Sept. 9th - it is finally time for me to buckle down and get some class prep done and finish up some additional projects on the "nesting" list. Unfortunately, Alex and I will be making a trip to Columbus, Ohio this weekend because his grandmother passed away. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to see and talk with her just about a month ago. We only wish she had had the chance to meet this little miracle - her great grandchild.

So, sorry for the very unprofound post. It it is clearly a report...I guess that's what happens when you haven't posted for over a month. I plan to spend time today catching up with all of you.

Below are various pics...


24 week belly pic


20 week ultrasound - we aren't finding out the sex, and we are aware of the baby's big schnozz ;-).



The nursery - with the combination of Craig's list and some very good deals, we were able to get all the furniture (crib, dresser, rocker, and bookshelf) for $400. My niece is going to make me a crib skirt with the material laying over the crib.