Almost 38 Weeks!

weight: +24

sleep: definitely harder these days!  I must sleep with the humidifier next to the bed to help with congestion and I wake up sweaty and having to use the bathroom every 2 hours on the dot!  I miss tummy sleeping!

cravings: milk, girl scout cookies, fruit cups

maternity clothes: yep!  My kindergartners keep telling me how big the baby is getting and that he is 'busting out of my shirts!" And my poor swollen feet are making shoes difficult!  I actually wore my rainbow flip flops today- thank goodness the weather has gotten a bit warmer (even though 65 degrees is not quite flip flop weather!)

mood: feeling pretty good.  Stressed and kinda irritable at work b/c I feel like I have so much to do to wrap up my classroom and testing and paperwork etc before I leave for the rest of the year!  (My last day is March 11)

gender: BOY!  Dane Harrison

baby: size of a watermelon!   He is head down and ready to go!  Oh, and as of today, I am 1cm dilated and that is all.  I think we might make it to the due date after all!   

movement: Yes and it's awesome!  I love feeling him move and I love even more how he responds to Z's voice.  It's so cute!  He seems to really like car rides- I feel him move tons when I'm driving and a lot after dinner and again around bedtime.  And it seems that I feel him moving when I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but maybe I'm imagining that one!

nursery:  Pretty much ready to go!!!  We picked up the glider Saturday (it is SO COMFY!) and hung up most of the art work.  Now it's really just putting some things away.  

milestones: 1 cm dilated and we picked a pediatrician!  We ended up going to 3 open houses and we decided on the last one (that we met last night).  The doctors and staff are super friendly and 'non-threatening' (if that makes sense).  The office is clean and organized and has an overall comfortable feeling about it.  And, best of all, its in our neighborhood!  It's like a mile or two away.  We could literally put Dane in the stroller and walk over!  woohoo!

other:  We've been busy on the weekends hanging out with friends and family and it's been lots of fun.  We took the above pics this past weekend and I'm so glad we did!  It had been on my list of things I wanted to do but it's hard when your husband is the photographer and the daddy-to-be!  :)  I am so glad we were able to capture some pictures of this belly before Dane gets here!  We still need to get the car seat installed and plan to do that this weekend.  We just need to call around to find a fire station that does it / is certified.  I also still need to pack our hospital bags.  I've been terrible about procrastinating on that one.  I've got Dane's clothes washed and ready but I am so confused about which nursing bras to buy/keep/wear that, of all things, nursing bras are holding up the whole packing process!  Ridiculous!  :)

So what's in your hospital bag?  And did you pack a separate bag for baby?

Mission Accomplished

The RE appointment has finally been made!  Woohoo!  SO glad to have that off of my 'to-do' list.  Guess how quick they are getting us in... 1 week!!!  7 days!!!  NEXT TUESDAY!  I can't believe it!  I'm so excited I don't know what to do first to prepare!  I've got my records, test results, and surgery photos in a folder ready.  Anything else I need???

*sigh...

What a relief it is just to know that an appointment is made. A bonus is that they told me that we WILL HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION before we leave that day!!!  Wow!

I'm so happy that I forgot how scared I was about ttc this month and we gave it a go!  (hope that's not tmi!)  

;-)

No Appt Yet & Should We Give it a Try on Our Own this Month?

Well I still don't have an appointment scheduled with the RE.  I started trying to make one at 10:15 this morning.  After lots of online registration forms and such and waiting for their lunch break to be over and waiting for my online forms to be printed and reviewed in the office, I was told around 2:00 that I would be called back shortly.  Well they closed at 3:30 and I never got called.  So we know what I'll be doing first thing in the morning.  She did say that she wants to get me in this month, though, so that's a relief!

In other news, we are trying to decide if we should 'give baby making a try this month'.  My gynecologist told us at the post-op appointment that we could try but that she didn't see it being successful due to my bum (but self-healing) left ovary.  She mentioned that we don't know which side will be ovulating this month.  And she also mentioned something about it 'creating a toxic environment for eggs'.  That scares me a bit.  But at the same time, I know my tubes are freshly cleared and I hate to let another month go by.  And, I am ashamed to say, we have not had sex since my surgery.  I know, I'm a bad wife.  I mean, he is fine thanks to 'other stuff' (*wink, wink) but I've just been a little scared.  I don't exactly what I'm scared of though. Another BBT stalking, pseudo pregnancy symptom, hopeful month only to be greeted by AF in August.  Scared it might hurt (seems like it should feel better now that the endo is cleared out).  Scared of an egg surviving the 'toxic environment' and making it--only to result in a miscarriage weeks later.  Or, scared of it actually working.  Scared that after all of this, our dream of a baby might actually come true.

Silly, isn't it? 

Long Story Short

We have 2 options:   IVF or Lupron

We have decided to try the Lupron since my insurance will cover part
of it (I think).  If insurance does not cover it, it will cost us $500
a month.  for 6 months. So it's $3000 to try this or $25,000 (or more-- I do not have IF coverage) to go straight to IVF.

She has to start me on the Lupron within 2 days of me getting my
period.  She says she might be able to have it in by friday.  I am
'supposed' to start my period Wednesday.  Timeline is not looking
good.  I think I am already cramping and spotting. Looks like this
month is going to be a bust.  And I really wanted to do it this month
so it could be in my system for a month before school starts back.
She says the first 2 weeks are the worst b/c your body is shutting
down...  *sigh...

In the meantime we will meet with an RE and see about our other  options.  Just in case I can't handle the side effects.

Post Surgery & Dr.Appt tomorrow

Well, as of tomorrow it will have officially been 2 weeks since my LAP.  I'm feeling much better.  I itch like crazy around the incisions -- especially the belly button one.  I can finally sleep on my stomach again (though sometimes I feel like I'm stretching the skin too far around my side incision).  The lowest incision above my hair line is still bruised and bumpy.  Other than that, I'm good!

We go tomorrow morning for the Post-Op appointment.  After 2 weeks of reading up on Lupron I have TONS of questions.  I hope she's got lots of time blocked out for me!  I have a whole page just of questions about endometriosis and then a whole other page about Lupron.

::deep breath::

I think I'm ready to face the music.