The Call

Well, I've been waiting all week to hear from the doctor. I have been praying diligently since I tested positive, and so much more since my lab appointment this week. And let's be real...I was nervous. Really nervous.

So, when the phone rang this morning, I practically ran to the phone. ;)

Thankfully, the nurse was on the other end. She said that she had good news for us, so immediately I felt better. She said that the doc was 'very' pleased with my numbers and wanted to see me ASAP for an ultrasound! :) I did ask for specifics, of course. My hCg was 2899 mg (over 1700 is considered 'normal'), my progesterone was 15mg/ml (over 12 is good) and my fasting blood sugar was 93. Woo-hoo!

I'm going Monday morning for an ultrasound and for my first actual prenatal visit.

I know we still have so far to go before things are safer but that gives me hope. Thanks so much for all the thoughts, prayers and well wishes. They're helping!! :)

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

First, I want to thank you all so much for your congrats and well wishes. Y'all are the best!

I almost didn't post about this because of all of our past troubles and because we're just starting on this journey. I debated about it for a few days because I am, of course, worried about viability and the dreaded 'M' word but then decided that if that were to happen, I'd need the support that I'd find here and would want to share it with those who've walked in my shoes. You guys have always been so good to me and I appreciate how you all embraced our little surprise so willingly.

And a surprise it is! I am about to type the words that most infertile women truly hate to hear:

We weren't trying. Not timing, temping, charting. I'm not on any meds other than the Metformin that I've been on forever. I guess the only thing that I've been doing different is eating low-carb. Valentine's was the first time we had any alone time for ages and we just got lucky.

I almost want to apologize to all of you who are still valiantly trying for your first or agonizing over trying for another. But how can I apologize for a miracle?

Most of you asked for details but truly, I don't have many. I'll tell you what I do know, though. You'll remember that I started working out recently and have changed the way that I eat, so when I was a few days late, I honestly didn't think much about it. Changes in diet and exercise always mess with my cycle, so I was really kind of expecting it. When I was more than a week late, it crossed my mind in a 'ha.ha...yeah, right' kind of way. And when a few more days passed, I thought I'd better check it out but still totally figured it was the lifestyle changes and that I was just going to skip a month.

Boy, was I wrong. I almost fell in the floor when I got a BFP! I peed on a lot of my secret stash of pregnancy tests before I believed what I was seeing. I did that for a few days, actually, since I tested on a Friday and couldn't call the doc til Monday. I have quite the collection now. ;)

So when I called the OB on Monday, they told me that Dr. D was booked up til the middle of April. What? I am NOT waiting til the middle of April to see what's going on. So, I had to throw my 'high risk' weight around and got to talk to the nurse. She had me come in Tuesday morning for a beta and progesterone level but I didn't see the doc or have an u/s. I'm bummed about that but am trying to be cool about it...for now. We should hear something in a day or so and the hCg level should be between 1700 and 4500 if I conceived when I think I did. I got started on prenates, extra B's and Folic Acid and a baby aspirin a day, just like I did with Preslie.

Speaking of that...I'm pretty certain we conceived on February 17. That would make me 6 weeks this Friday and my due date November 7. I guess we'll see. PJ was 2 weeks early, so that may not be a true indication of when I'll be close to delivery. I don't think that 2 weeks early will hurt my feelings this time either. :D

It's still sooooo early and I'm still very worried but I have faith. I'm looking on the bright side and we have everything 'crossed'. Your thought and prayers are greatly appreciated and even coveted...we need them so much! Thanks in advance for remembering all 4 of us!

BTW...Mike thinks it's twins! ;) Wouldn't that be wild!?!?!

Catching Up...and Moving Forward

So, remember a couple of months ago when I promised to write about the worst date night ever? Well, I'm finally getting around to it. :)

You know that as parents, regardless of the age of our children, it's sometimes hard to have the time to do couple stuff. We struggle with it a lot, not just because of being busy with PJ but being busy in general and with Mike working his crazy shift, it just doesn't always happen. That's why I was soooo excited that we were going to have a real date night back at the end of January.

One of Mike's cousins had a destination wedding, and since most of their friends and family weren't able to travel for it, they had a huge reception here when they returned. It didn't get started til 6pm (and was held about 40 minutes from us) and since Preslie starts heading to bed around 7 pm, we decided not to take her and make a real 'date' out of the evening.

It shouldn't have been a big deal...I mean, really? My Mom lives with us. Hello! Built-In Babysitter! ;) She's stayed with Mom plenty of times and we thought that this would be no different. So we got her fed and settled with May-May (her name for Mom) and we hit the road. We decided to go to the reception for a while, then make our excuses and go to a nearby coffee shop or somewhere like that and just have some quiet time to talk. Good plan, right??

Not so much.

Mike and I got in an argument before we even got there...and pitifully enough, I can't even remember what about now. But we weren't exactly in the best frame of mind for a date night by the time we got to the reception. And you know by now, of course, that we don't always jive with Mike's parents, who were, of course, there. They gave us an earful about not bringing Preslie to a family function (despite the fact that it was her bedtime, duh) and proceeded to gripe at is the whole time we were there. I was really ready to leave (and surprisingly, so was Mike...there's one way to get up both on the same page and over an argument ;p) when my Mom called.

She couldn't get Preslie to stop crying or to go to bed. What?? After asking what was wrong and getting the answer, "I don't know! She's just inconsolable!" and hearing my baby girl screeching and whining in the background, we decided that we should just head on home, seeing that it was going to take us the better part of an hour to get there. Of course, then we got an earful about why we were leaving early and how we should just let her cry it out. Whatever. There was no winning with them that night.

So we got in the car and headed home...only to get stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate. REALLY? Yes, really. By the time we got home, I was wiped out, Mike was tired from sitting in traffic forever and my Mom was almost in tears. And Preslie? She was literally laying in the floor, moaning and crying. She wouldn't let my Mom or Mike hold her, she only wanted me. (Poor kiddo...turns out that she was getting sick and cutting a molar.) So, she and I went to bed together and Mike followed a couple of hours later. So, no dinner, no talking, no nothing...a really rockin' date night.

But that's okay, I guess, since we got to have another date night for Valentine's Day. It was waaaay more simple, just dinner with my sister and her fiance' with some ice cream for dessert, lots of talking and some alone time...and Pres was an angel this time. :) It more than made up for that crappy date night from the month before.

It will most definitely be the date night that I remember for the rest of my life. Not because of the dinner or dessert, the company or the talking...but for the little memento that I'll have to remember it by. It seems our alone time was what really made the difference on that date night...

I'm pregnant!

Looks like we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day 2012 for years to come!

Losing It: The Sequel

Lordy, I am fat! Just in case you're new here and you didn't know that. ;)

But once again, I'm working on it, losing weight that is. You know that I did it once before in order to get pregnant and stay pregnant with Preslie...and it worked. And fortunately, it's working again. Woo-hoo! :)

I've been low-carbing again, really low...less than 25 carbs a day...and faithfully going to the gym. I feel so much better and have shed 18 lbs. in the past 6 weeks! And believe it or not, I'm actually really, really, really enjoying working out. Or maybe I just really, really, really enjoy getting out of the house alone! ;p Either way, things are looking up! YAY!

The Day My Husband Chased a Chicken

Or Thursday...whatever you want to call it. That's what I'm writing about today. Yes, I know it's Sunday...you know I'm slow.

We had a super awesome Thursday. We slept late (til 7:00 am...minor miracle!). There were no issues at breakfast. I even got to take a shower all. by. myself (another miracle of sorts). Princess P didn't even have a mini-fit when it came time to get dressed...and didn't try to take her shoes off in the car on the way to the store.

We ran errands and did some grocery shopping, my little partner walking beside me with her purse on her arm like a big girl. We even managed lunch out and got complimented on how well behaved Preslie was (I should tell you that she probably just SEEMED well behaved because there were some other kids in the restaurant who were being holy terrors...but I'll take it!). Super good. :)

The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we had a blast playing outside all afternoon. Our little charge, Sweet A, came over for a few hours and Auntie (my sister) came for a visit, too. Since I had put dinner in the crockpot that morning (score one for me!), we didn't even have to stop playing outside to cook. It was all in all a wonderful day.

Enter the chicken.

I've told you before about my sweet neighbors...but in case you're a new reader or have forgotten, I'll fill you in. They're 'homesteaders' or 'crunchy' or whatever...they're super nice and super green and raise a lot of their own food and such...thus, the chicken. They have chickens and guinea hens, pygmy goats, a big garden...and who knows what else. So recently, the chickens have taken to sneaking out...those party animals (pun absolutely intended). ;) They can't seem to figure out where they're escaping from but you'll occasionally see a free roaming chicken now and then but they always stay in their yard.

Thursday afternoon, we were in the front yard after dinner and Mike and PJ were playing ball when out of nowhere comes a big ol' red chicken. Apparently, it was fan of bouncing balls because it started heading across the street to our house! Preslie was fascinated...Mike was a little dumbfounded...and I was afraid that we were about to see a chicken get squished. You see, we live just off of a very, very busy street. VERY busy. And when Preslie screeched in joy at the chicken it took off for that very busy street. So I did the only thing that I could think of...

I told Mike to chase it. :D

I was hoping he could chase it back into the neighborhood while I ran and got the owners. The chicken, of course, was freaked out and ran THE WRONG WAY...as in, TOWARD the traffic. What the heck? So I yelled for him to keep after it, told Preslie to stay in the yard, and I ran across the street to ring the doorbell of the home of the wayward clucker.

I wish you could have seen us. Mike chasing a chicken. Me beating on the neighbor's door (and it took them forever...hello? I'm trying to save your chicken! ;p). And Preslie...oh, Preslie! She was jumping up and down in the same spot that I told her to stay in, yelling, "Chicken, Daddy! Chicken!" and laughing hysterically. It was absolutely priceless!

And that was the day that my hubby chased a chicken for me...or Thursday. :D

21

Hey there...it's me again. I should really apologize for the silence but, really...aren't you getting tired of me 'sorry-ing' you to death every week or so? ;)

Things here are uber busy, even more than usual for some reason. We've also had some computer and internet issues, so I've been doing everything from my phone. Aaaaand, since I haven't figured out mobile blogging, this little hidey-hole has been put on the back burner yet again. If it's any consolation (it's not, I know), I've gone to bed so many nights thinking, "I need to blog about all that happened today"!

Of course, I can't think of any of those cool/inspirational/thoughtful/monumental things just now, so I'll tell you about some of today instead. :)

I took PJ for her 21 month check-up (thus the title of this post). I don't know if I've ever really told you, but she really, really, really hasn't liked the doctor's office in the past. Since she got old enough to have stranger anxiety, she's wailed from the moment we walked in the door, regardless of our reason for being there. Awesome. I'm sure they just loooove to see us coming. ;) Seriously, it was so stressful for both of us that I hated to see those visits coming.

But, the stranger anxiety has pretty much passed and we've been actively working on making doctor visits a happier event. We've talked about what the nurses and doctor will look at, touch, talk about, etc. We've read books and watched DVDs and looked at pics of every medical related thing that a toddler could need to know but I have to tell you, I just KNEW it was all in vain.

Boy, was I wrong!! :)

We went for her visit today and it went great! SHE was great! She went in, sat down, and played quietly until it was our turn. She stepped on the scale and let the nurse measure her height with no problem. Side note here: I forgot to prep her on having her head measured. Duh, Kelli! You almost dropped the ball there. In my defense, none of the stuff we read or watched had head measuring, so apparently, I wasn't the only one who forgot. ;) So, there was a little apprehension when that part came but she did really well. She let the doctor examine her with no problem and even talked to her...shyly,of course, but clearly and pretty concisely for a 21 month old! And not one tear was shed!! Praise the Lord!

The icing on the cake, of course, is that she is healthy and whole and couldn't be doing better. She weighs 25.5 lbs. and is 32.5 inches tall, just about the 50th percentile for both categories. She has 12 teeth with 2 more beginning to erupt and is quite the talker. The doctor was actually pretty impressed that she is already speaking in sentences much of the time. That's my girl...the talker! ;)

I can't believe my baby is 21 months old already! Her 2 year old birthday is just around the corner...so bittersweet. It's something I didn't think that I'd ever be blessed to be part of...and now something that I can't imagine my life without. It's still amazing to me! :D

She Said It First

It's been a good day. We didn't have anything super special planned...just some errands and shopping and visiting with friends and family...but Mike is off and he joined me and P, so that made it nice. Things are still a bit harried overall, but I'm hanging in there. ;)

I still fully intend to post about the Date Night from Hell and all the other little stuff that I 'should have written about' but I just don't have time right now. Miss PJ is hanging out in her room reading to her dollies (btw: precious!!) so I thought I'd tell you about the sweetest thing that happened to me today...as quickly as I can before she realizes that I'm at the computer!

I've written before that PresJ is a repeater...as in, she'll repeat ANYTHING you say...good, bad, or indifferent. It's kind of cute sometimes (like her calling out, "Michael! Telephone!" to her dad when her pretend cell phone rings)...sometimes it's not (like when I told my sister recently that I was feeling 'sucky' and she overheard me. She went around all day singing, "Sucky! Sucky! Suckeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"). Just call me Mom of the Year. ;) But even though she talks and jabbers all the time, she doesn't often come to me just to tell me something. She'll tell me if she wants or needs something but we just don't 'chat' yet, you know?

Well, today when she woke up from her nap, we were sitting on the couch snuggling and she said, "Mama?"...and I fully expected her next words to be, "Want snack" or something like that. Nope! I said, "What, Baby Girl?" to which she replied in the sweetest little sleepy voice, "I love you, Mama."

Priceless. My heart just melted. She'll often repeat the phase when we tell it to her (unless we're having an almost-two-year-old snit fit) but she's never just said it to anyone without prompting. Until today. :)

It's perfect, innocent things like that that keep me going and remind me of my incredible blessings when I'm ready to throw in the towel. I can't believe she said it first! :)