After the miscarriage we waited the two months as instructed. When it was time I was eager to get the show back on the road. I actually got my period right around the two month mark. Unfortunately I realized that hubby would be out of town during the target ovulation time. He is NEVER out of town without me. Except that time.
So we had to wait and of course AF wouldn't come again. So in June I got some progesterone to get things going and planned to follow with 50 mg of Clomid on CD 3-7 as before. But this time around CD 1 was a bit ambiguous. I started spotting for two days and proceeded to start the clomid on CD 3. Then AF disappeared for a few days and then reappeared like a normal period. I was confused and when I was checked by u/s for a follicle there wasn't one. The same thing repeated in July. And August. After the u/s in September showed no follicle I barely got out of the office before I started bawling. I couldn't figure out why this had worked so well the first time and now was a complete failure. I started freaking out about the next step.
My OB was very confused because my monthly blood check for ovulation kept showing hormone levels that made no sense for any point in a cycle. Basically, my hormones were all effed up. As my clinic considers ANY spotting as CD 1, I just couldn't figure out when to start the Clomid each month. I became increasingly frustrated and worried. Each trip to the clinic was so frustrating and I just didn't know what to do. And we all know OBs can only help so much. They are not fertility specialists. All I wanted was a chance and I couldn't get that.
Then my OB went on maternity leave (wonderful, right?) and I started seeing a nurse practitioner that I also really liked. She seemed very knowledgeable. She had a bit of a different approach and wasn't going to do an u/s again until we could confirm ovulation with a blood test. We also talked about going on b/c for three months to try to "reset" my hormones. I hated the idea of waiting but considered it. I also thought about just moving right on to an RE. But the idea of injectables freaked me out. I was almost more comfortable thinking about IVF. I was so afraid of the idea of having a whole bunch of follicles and ending up with multiples.
At this point hubby had his analysis too. Everything was in the normal range except his count. Which at 234 million/mL was almost four times the normal level. If this man couldn't get me knocked up, nobody could. I decided to give it two more tries before moving on to an RE. October or November would be it. My clinic was starting to suggest that too since they don't like to do Clomid too long.
So this time around the NP bumped up the Clomid to 100 mg for October. I was still to do CD 3-7. AF was brought on by progesterone and true to form it was all wonky. I decided to modify the plan without telling anyone. I figured maybe I should disregard the pre-spotting weirdness and go with the full on flow as CD 1. That way CD 3 would be about CD 6 or so counting from spotting. My very first clinic had done CD 5-9 so I figured maybe this would work either way. I went with it. I went in for the routine blood work on CD 21 knowing full well I hadn't ovulated on CD 14 as they would expect. This time I was not only using OPK strips but also charting my temp.
But I kept testing and charting, knowing it could be a 35 day cycle, and one or two days after the blood work I got a positive OPK. I always tested twice a day. Once at lunch and once in the evening. On my lunch break I peed on the thing, put the cap back on, put in back in the wrapper and put it in my purse. I drove to a sandwich place for lunch and when I got there I took it back out of the wrapper. And there was a beautiful dark test line. I think I cried. Oh, here's the old post about it! Ah, what a beautiful sight it was. The timing wasn't ideal because it was parent-teacher conference time for hubby. He always comes home from conferences tired and crabby. He got home that night and I said in the sweetest voice possible, "Honey, I know you're probably tired but my test was positive today." He was just as excited as I was and didn't complain one bit!
So a nurse had called to say that my CD 20 blood work showed no ovulation and we were going to up the clomid to 150 mg for the next cycle. I didn't want to do that since I was pretty sure the 100 mg had worked. Here is a lovely post about my "discussion" with the nurse over that one!
I tried not to get too excited. I had the positive OPK and the temp chart looked good too. I anxiously awaited CD 35. I think I first tested on 8 dpo. I knew it was probably a waste but we were going to the state fair the next day so I thought I'd avoid the rides if anything showed up (as though it would really matter that early). Didn't see anything. The next day at the fair my mom noted that I peed a hundred times. Didn't think anything of it.
I tested again on 11 dpo. I thought I saw the faintest, lightest, most beautiful second line. I tried not to hyperventilate. I tried to deny it. I had always assumed the first time I ovulated after the miscarriage couldn't possibly result in another pregnancy. I was not that lucky. I texted hubby and told him about the faint, light line. I went to work. I worked all day, trying not to think about it. On the way home from work I picked up a digital test. I told myself it might not be as sensitive as the other one. Don't freak out if it is negative. It is still early to be testing.
I peed on the stick and stared at the blinking hour glass wait symbol. Then the result showed up. I kept searching for the word "Not" but all I could see was "Pregnant". I honestly don't even remember how I reacted. I can't remember telling hubby or how he reacted. I know we hugged. It was surreal.
We had just signed the papers on our new house the day before. We were making plans with my parents to paint all weekend. They were actually coming to our house that night for some reason. I told hubby that obviously we were going to have to tell them right away because I wouldn't be able to paint. They came over and I handed mom the stick. She just stared at it and kept asking what it was. When she finally got it she screamed (she is very loud) and grabbed me and started crying. She tried for 6 years with fertility treatments to have me so this was all too familiar to her.
My NP offered an early ultrasound because of the previous loss. Bless her, she knew how worried I was. At 7w3d we made our way to the clinic. I was terrified. I knew there had to be a heartbeat at this point. As soon as the tech found the baby I saw it. That fabulous blinking of the heart. I started sobbing. Uncontrollably. The tech had to keep asking me to try and stop moving my tummy so she could finish. It was the most relief I have ever felt.
But as those of you who have been reading for the long haul know, I worried a lot. The naivete of a first pregnancy was gone. I was so fearful something would go wrong. First it was a miscarriage. Then it was an incompetent cervix. I had no reason to trust my body. It could not even ovulate properly on its own. But here we are at almost 38 weeks. I can't lie, I still worry. I know two people who lost their babies at 38 weeks and my own mother-in-law lost her first at birth to cord strangulation. But I know the odds are with us at this point. I can only keep praying that Baby Girl and I will be safe and healthy.
I really have to thank all of you for reading and following. Especially those of you who have been around for so long. I love all of your comments and even though they are here on my blog I still can't erase the copies in my email. They all mean so much to me. Hubby is adamantly against me posting the baby's name or pics on my blog, which I understand. But if those of you who are followers would like, I am planning to put together an email announcement if you would like to see. I will include her name and a picture so if you are interested let me know and provide your email address. Y'all deserve something for sticking with me and my blog all this time! And holy cow, this post got long too. Sorry!
16 days until due date!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Labor Watch 2010
Sorry for that long last post. Maybe it was a bit overwhelming in length. I've been meaning to wrap up the series but I've been distracted. We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday so we did some fun stuff out and about this weekend even though the temps were close to 110F. Yuck. But we had fun. And then yesterday I thought I was going into labor. On Sunday I lost my mucus plug. Then yesterday I felt crampy all day, like menstrual cramps. Then, well let's just say that problem women have with going #2 during pregnancy became NOT a problem for me. Several times. I know that can be a sign that labor is near. In any case, it was a welcome change. Then I started having contractions about every 10-15 minutes for two hours. As soon as hubby and I got home from running a few errands I sat down and wanted to start monitoring them. I wrote down 7:09. Then I didn't have another one until 7:50. Damn. And then they were done. Sigh. I was so pumped to get it going! Oh well, I guess it is definitely approaching and she will come when she is good and ready. I've had quite a few contractions today too but I'm not sure if they're still BH or not. They are more uncomfortable than BHs have been in the past. I'm sure I'll know when they're really real!
So I'm at about 37.5 weeks with 17 days to go until my due date. It sounds so close and yet so far at the same time! There are just a few things to finish up in the nursery so I am afraid she will refuse to come until it is completely done. My mom is painting a picture for the nursery so I told her to hurry! I will post pics of the finished nursery when we get there. So far I love it! And I will try to wrap up my series posts tomorrow.
So I'm at about 37.5 weeks with 17 days to go until my due date. It sounds so close and yet so far at the same time! There are just a few things to finish up in the nursery so I am afraid she will refuse to come until it is completely done. My mom is painting a picture for the nursery so I told her to hurry! I will post pics of the finished nursery when we get there. So far I love it! And I will try to wrap up my series posts tomorrow.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hubby and Me Part Three: TTC For Real Take One
Ok, so there we were back in the Phoenix area. Actually, we were living in Phoenix proper. When we first moved back we chose an apartment there because it was very close to my work (5 minute commute) and at the time hubby hadn't secured a job yet. Plus we could get a six month lease and bring our two dogs.
It really was quite a not-so-great neighborhood. In fact, hubby met me at work today for lunch so we were back in the old neighborhood. We were laughing at some of our misadventures there. Constantly being asked for money by homeless people wherever we went, the 24/7 guard complete with bullet proof vest at the grocery store, the helicopter search for a suspect who shot at police right outside our complex, needing to use "The Club" on both our cars at the apartment (don't laugh, they are actually very effective at preventing theft)... And who can forget the two times (or was it three?) our apartment flooded during our six month stay. We were laughing so hard because despite all that we were so much happier than we had been previously in our nice rental home in a great neighborhood in the Tucson area. Ok, none of this is really relevant to our TTC except that I think sometimes you don't realize just how unhappy a situation is making you until you move on to something better. I now look back and realize it was a blessing in disguise that TTC hadn't worked out so far.
Even though we had no idea if my job would become permanent after six months, we decided to take the plunge and start trying. I hate to sound cliche but if you wait for the "perfect" time, it's never going to happen. Before we had decided to return to Phoenix we had planned to move back home to MN, even into my parents house if need be, if we had no other options. We knew this would always be an option. A good option? Hell no! But it was something and we certainly weren't the only people with uncertain job situations.
So after being at my new job for about four months I told my new OB at my annual exam in November that I wanted to start trying and that I needed help since I almost never get my period. Her plan was to have me stop taking birth control (which I had just started up again) and try on my own the first month. They would run tests and if nothing happened we would get going on Clomid. Not surprisingly, nothing happened and by the time that was confirmed, all the test results were back, and the holidays had passed it was late January of 2009.
My supervisor at work had decided to take a job in Boston and that made it infinitely easier for me to get my job converted to full time through the company rather than working through the temp agency. Woohoo! A non-temp job with benefits was to start February 1st! And our 6 month lease in ghetto-town was up so we rented a great house in a nearby suburb in a great neighborhood! This was a much better situation to bring a child into so we were feeling great.
The plan was to take Clomid on CD 3-7, do an u/s on CD 12 or 13 and trigger with hcg if there was a suitable follicle. I took progesterone to jump start a cycle and lo and behold, on CD 12 there was a beautiful big follicle! Triggered as planned and then, well, you know.
My clinic considers any spotting at all CD 1 so when I had spotting on CD-I-can't-even-remember I was bummed but ready to try again. So I ordered up some more Clomid. My fatal mistake (no pun intended because it's really not funny) was to not take a pregnancy test. On my second day of Clomid, supposedly CD 4, not only did I not have a full blown period but I had only spotted for those two days. Uh oh, I thought. I took a pregnancy test. I then yelled, "Hubby, why is this pregnancy test positive?!" Panic sets in. Dr Google tells me that Clomid is a Category X drug for pregnancy. Category X. Shit.
The OB clinic got me in for a beta which was good at 600-something. The dr told me that embryos are very well protected from things the mother takes in that early in pregnancy so the Clomid was probably no big deal. They scheduled an u/s.
I let myself believe I was pregnant the day before the u/s. We were excited in the u/s room. It was a Monday and I was 5 weeks 5 days. The tech saw nothing. Nada. No baby, no fetal pole, no sac. She told me that there should have been something at that point. I lied to myself. I said it was possible we were wrong about how far along I was. I had a damn ultrasound and triggered, we knew exactly how far along I should have been. They scheduled another u/s for that Thursday. Because there was a chance it was ectopic, I was instructed to go to the ER at any sign of blood. On Wednesday the TP turned pink and we headed to the hospital at about 1:30 pm. I knew what it meant but I just hoped it wasn't ectopic. By about 10:30 pm I had been wanded, diagnosed with a "threatened miscarriage" (still nothing on u/s and a lower beta), given a Rhogam shot in the butt (I have a negative blood type), and sent on my way. I got home and went to the bathroom where I discovered the heaviest blood flow I had ever experienced. And, oh, the cramping. At exactly 6 weeks it was over.
Of course we bawled for a couple of days and were very sad. Hubby's coworkers sent really nice cards and emails. They knew because he had left work almost in tears to take me to the hospital. My coworkers didn't know. They assumed I had the flu. After a while I picked myself up and dusted myself off. I had gotten pregnant and dammit I would do it again. I had done what a scared 19 year old me had feared might never be possible after my PCOS diagnosis.
I was told by the doctors I would need to wait two months before I could try again. They made me come in what felt like a million times while my beta slowly dropped. The last time it was at 2 and she told me to come once more. I told her no thanks, I was done.
I will always wonder if that damn Clomid caused the whole thing. My rational brain tells me that because we saw absolutely nothing on the u/s and because I already had spotting when I took it, that baby was probably not developing normally anyway. But I will always think about it.
Next time, TTC For Real Take Two. We got pregnant on the first cycle. This will be easy, right? Right?
It really was quite a not-so-great neighborhood. In fact, hubby met me at work today for lunch so we were back in the old neighborhood. We were laughing at some of our misadventures there. Constantly being asked for money by homeless people wherever we went, the 24/7 guard complete with bullet proof vest at the grocery store, the helicopter search for a suspect who shot at police right outside our complex, needing to use "The Club" on both our cars at the apartment (don't laugh, they are actually very effective at preventing theft)... And who can forget the two times (or was it three?) our apartment flooded during our six month stay. We were laughing so hard because despite all that we were so much happier than we had been previously in our nice rental home in a great neighborhood in the Tucson area. Ok, none of this is really relevant to our TTC except that I think sometimes you don't realize just how unhappy a situation is making you until you move on to something better. I now look back and realize it was a blessing in disguise that TTC hadn't worked out so far.
Even though we had no idea if my job would become permanent after six months, we decided to take the plunge and start trying. I hate to sound cliche but if you wait for the "perfect" time, it's never going to happen. Before we had decided to return to Phoenix we had planned to move back home to MN, even into my parents house if need be, if we had no other options. We knew this would always be an option. A good option? Hell no! But it was something and we certainly weren't the only people with uncertain job situations.
So after being at my new job for about four months I told my new OB at my annual exam in November that I wanted to start trying and that I needed help since I almost never get my period. Her plan was to have me stop taking birth control (which I had just started up again) and try on my own the first month. They would run tests and if nothing happened we would get going on Clomid. Not surprisingly, nothing happened and by the time that was confirmed, all the test results were back, and the holidays had passed it was late January of 2009.
My supervisor at work had decided to take a job in Boston and that made it infinitely easier for me to get my job converted to full time through the company rather than working through the temp agency. Woohoo! A non-temp job with benefits was to start February 1st! And our 6 month lease in ghetto-town was up so we rented a great house in a nearby suburb in a great neighborhood! This was a much better situation to bring a child into so we were feeling great.
The plan was to take Clomid on CD 3-7, do an u/s on CD 12 or 13 and trigger with hcg if there was a suitable follicle. I took progesterone to jump start a cycle and lo and behold, on CD 12 there was a beautiful big follicle! Triggered as planned and then, well, you know.
My clinic considers any spotting at all CD 1 so when I had spotting on CD-I-can't-even-remember I was bummed but ready to try again. So I ordered up some more Clomid. My fatal mistake (no pun intended because it's really not funny) was to not take a pregnancy test. On my second day of Clomid, supposedly CD 4, not only did I not have a full blown period but I had only spotted for those two days. Uh oh, I thought. I took a pregnancy test. I then yelled, "Hubby, why is this pregnancy test positive?!" Panic sets in. Dr Google tells me that Clomid is a Category X drug for pregnancy. Category X. Shit.
The OB clinic got me in for a beta which was good at 600-something. The dr told me that embryos are very well protected from things the mother takes in that early in pregnancy so the Clomid was probably no big deal. They scheduled an u/s.
I let myself believe I was pregnant the day before the u/s. We were excited in the u/s room. It was a Monday and I was 5 weeks 5 days. The tech saw nothing. Nada. No baby, no fetal pole, no sac. She told me that there should have been something at that point. I lied to myself. I said it was possible we were wrong about how far along I was. I had a damn ultrasound and triggered, we knew exactly how far along I should have been. They scheduled another u/s for that Thursday. Because there was a chance it was ectopic, I was instructed to go to the ER at any sign of blood. On Wednesday the TP turned pink and we headed to the hospital at about 1:30 pm. I knew what it meant but I just hoped it wasn't ectopic. By about 10:30 pm I had been wanded, diagnosed with a "threatened miscarriage" (still nothing on u/s and a lower beta), given a Rhogam shot in the butt (I have a negative blood type), and sent on my way. I got home and went to the bathroom where I discovered the heaviest blood flow I had ever experienced. And, oh, the cramping. At exactly 6 weeks it was over.
Of course we bawled for a couple of days and were very sad. Hubby's coworkers sent really nice cards and emails. They knew because he had left work almost in tears to take me to the hospital. My coworkers didn't know. They assumed I had the flu. After a while I picked myself up and dusted myself off. I had gotten pregnant and dammit I would do it again. I had done what a scared 19 year old me had feared might never be possible after my PCOS diagnosis.
I was told by the doctors I would need to wait two months before I could try again. They made me come in what felt like a million times while my beta slowly dropped. The last time it was at 2 and she told me to come once more. I told her no thanks, I was done.
I will always wonder if that damn Clomid caused the whole thing. My rational brain tells me that because we saw absolutely nothing on the u/s and because I already had spotting when I took it, that baby was probably not developing normally anyway. But I will always think about it.
Next time, TTC For Real Take Two. We got pregnant on the first cycle. This will be easy, right? Right?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hubby and Me Part Two: TTC Now? How 'Bout Now?...
When hubby and I were first married I was just starting my 2nd year of grad school (planned to be 5-6 years total) and he got his first teaching job and started that fall. By the end of our first year of marriage we had purchased our first home and our first dog. It was a great time in our lives.
Before we even got married I informed hubby of my PCOS diagnosis and what it might mean for our future family building. He assured me that he was fine with it and however we needed to bring children into our lives, we would do it. So in those early years we didn't talk about the "when" of ttc much. I knew he totally wasn't ready and I had a long haul of school in front of me. But there was always that voice in my head, and once or twice from an actual doctor, that reminded me the longer I waited the more difficult it could be.
When we had been married for 2.5 years we decided to be crazy and start trying. I figured we could handle a kid and grad school. I quit birth control the day after Christmas 2005. But then a few days later we were thrown a curve ball. My PhD advisor called a meeting January 2, 2006. I figured it was your run of the mill "yay rah rah let's all work hard this year" meeting. It was not. He informed us of his tentative plan to leave that university and take a job at another. The problem was that we didn't know where he was going yet. He didn't make the final decision to come to Arizona until April. I remember getting the call on Easter.
We had our "what if" plans in place. We had decided we would move so that I could stay on track to graduate rather than staying and essentially starting over with a new advisor and research project. We had to sell our house and, of course, put our ttc plans on hold.
I was kind of excited and looked at the whole thing as an adventure. We moved here to Arizona in July 2006. At school we got the lab set up and I got to work. I figured I had about 2 years left of school. Then in December 2006 I learned that my advisor was terribly unhappy and planned to leave the university here for one in Utah.
Holy shit dude. I was livid.
I informed him that I was not about to follow him again. I planned to finish by the summer of 2007 when he would be leaving. It almost killed me. Hubby had to leave about a month before I was done to start his teaching job at our next destination. I had to scramble to finish and worked constantly that last month to write my dissertation. I lost about 15 pounds and my hair started falling out. But I did it. I still wish I had more time to write a thesis I am more proud of but I finished and that was what mattered at that point. Nobody will ever read that thing anyway!
So we moved across the state and I took a post-doctoral appointment since I had no time to apply for an actual job. I figured we would be there about 2 years. We decided to ttc again and in January 2008 I sought help from a highly recommended OB to ttc since I almost never get periods on my own. Long story short, the experience was awful. I did one round of Clomid, probably stopped testing for ovulation too soon, and don't know if I o'd or not. But when I called to say I was not pregnant and needed another round, as instructed, he never called back. I started leaving messages with the nurse. She was incredibly rude. Never heard back. Probably left 20 messages with his nurse. Never heard back. Called the front desk to complain. They kept sending me to the nurse's voicemail. To this day I have never heard back. Absolutely inexcusable way to handle a patient currently being treated.
Hubby and I realized we were both incredibly unhappy there because of hating our jobs, hating the town, and other factors. Stopped ttc again. I started applying for jobs. Applied for over 100. Had a few interviews, turned down a couple offers, and finally found the job I have now. I took it even though it was only originally given as a 6-month contract. We made the leap of faith and moved back to the first area we lived in here in Arizona. Hubby got a job back with the district he taught in the first time around. Life was good again. I loved my job and hubby was happy in his new school.
But now with a "temporary" job and an unknown future, what to do about ttc? Stay tuned for the next episode!
Before we even got married I informed hubby of my PCOS diagnosis and what it might mean for our future family building. He assured me that he was fine with it and however we needed to bring children into our lives, we would do it. So in those early years we didn't talk about the "when" of ttc much. I knew he totally wasn't ready and I had a long haul of school in front of me. But there was always that voice in my head, and once or twice from an actual doctor, that reminded me the longer I waited the more difficult it could be.
When we had been married for 2.5 years we decided to be crazy and start trying. I figured we could handle a kid and grad school. I quit birth control the day after Christmas 2005. But then a few days later we were thrown a curve ball. My PhD advisor called a meeting January 2, 2006. I figured it was your run of the mill "yay rah rah let's all work hard this year" meeting. It was not. He informed us of his tentative plan to leave that university and take a job at another. The problem was that we didn't know where he was going yet. He didn't make the final decision to come to Arizona until April. I remember getting the call on Easter.
We had our "what if" plans in place. We had decided we would move so that I could stay on track to graduate rather than staying and essentially starting over with a new advisor and research project. We had to sell our house and, of course, put our ttc plans on hold.
I was kind of excited and looked at the whole thing as an adventure. We moved here to Arizona in July 2006. At school we got the lab set up and I got to work. I figured I had about 2 years left of school. Then in December 2006 I learned that my advisor was terribly unhappy and planned to leave the university here for one in Utah.
Holy shit dude. I was livid.
I informed him that I was not about to follow him again. I planned to finish by the summer of 2007 when he would be leaving. It almost killed me. Hubby had to leave about a month before I was done to start his teaching job at our next destination. I had to scramble to finish and worked constantly that last month to write my dissertation. I lost about 15 pounds and my hair started falling out. But I did it. I still wish I had more time to write a thesis I am more proud of but I finished and that was what mattered at that point. Nobody will ever read that thing anyway!
So we moved across the state and I took a post-doctoral appointment since I had no time to apply for an actual job. I figured we would be there about 2 years. We decided to ttc again and in January 2008 I sought help from a highly recommended OB to ttc since I almost never get periods on my own. Long story short, the experience was awful. I did one round of Clomid, probably stopped testing for ovulation too soon, and don't know if I o'd or not. But when I called to say I was not pregnant and needed another round, as instructed, he never called back. I started leaving messages with the nurse. She was incredibly rude. Never heard back. Probably left 20 messages with his nurse. Never heard back. Called the front desk to complain. They kept sending me to the nurse's voicemail. To this day I have never heard back. Absolutely inexcusable way to handle a patient currently being treated.
Hubby and I realized we were both incredibly unhappy there because of hating our jobs, hating the town, and other factors. Stopped ttc again. I started applying for jobs. Applied for over 100. Had a few interviews, turned down a couple offers, and finally found the job I have now. I took it even though it was only originally given as a 6-month contract. We made the leap of faith and moved back to the first area we lived in here in Arizona. Hubby got a job back with the district he taught in the first time around. Life was good again. I loved my job and hubby was happy in his new school.
But now with a "temporary" job and an unknown future, what to do about ttc? Stay tuned for the next episode!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Hubby and Me Part One: We Meet, Fall in Love, and Marry
I have been thinking a lot about hubby's and my life together as we are nearing our 7th wedding anniversary this coming Sunday. I've been thinking about how we met and our early relationship, our lives together and our road to this baby girl who is about to arrive. So I thought I'd write a few posts about it. I think I was actually reluctant to admit I was pregnant on this blog until I got sick so I'm not sure I even ever told the story of this pregnancy's beginning...
But anyway, Part One is how we met. :)
During my college freshman orientation I met a girl named Melissa. We quickly became friends. We had an English class together the first quarter. Towards the end of that quarter we discussed the classes we had registered for and discovered we had a history class together. She told me that almost everyone on her dorm floor had signed up for this class so they could study together and that she'd invite me to the study sessions.
The first study session was just me, Melissa, and three other girls from her floor. Apparently once the rest of her floormates got their grades from the first test they decided to show up because the second study session had tons of people. And you guessed it, one of them was my husband. I was instantly attracted to him. He was so cute! I even remember returning to my own dorm and telling my roommate what a cute guy I had "met". In reality, it was less meeting and more just me saying hi to each of the other students. Oh, and also he smoked and I hated that so I just kinda thought "bummer". That was the end of it for awhile.
Early the next school year (sophomore year) it was Labor Day weekend and both of my roommates were out of town. Another friend invited me to a party and I went, which was a little out of character for me since I am a little shy in party situations and didn't have my roommates for moral support. But I went anyway. And hubby was there! We ended up standing next to each other and started talking. He remembered me as "Melissa's friend" so I reintroduced myself and we spent some time talking. I don't remember anything we said but I remember smiling a lot and the butterflies in my stomach!
After the party I thought about him a lot and started running into him on campus. Also, I started "arranging" ways to run into him. One morning I discovered that he parked in the parking lot right behind my on-campus apartment. We both had classes first thing in the morning so if I waited to leave for class until I saw him coming up the sidewalk we could walk together for a ways! Sure, you call me a stalker but he used to go back to the mail building even if he already had his mail if he saw me headed there. So HA, we were stalking each other. :)
After about a month of our mutual stalking, my roommate began dating one of his best friends. She hadn't known who this guy I liked was until she met him through her new boyfriend. OH CRAP I just knew she would tell him and I'd be mortified. She did tell her boyfriend about it and allegedly all he did was encourage hubby to ask me out after hubby expressed an interest.
And so he asked me out in October of 1999 and the rest, as they say, is history. I had gone on dates with several guys before this but nothing that lasted or was a real relationship. I think this made me a little more hesitant than him to really commit to a full-on long-term thing. I didn't want to marry the first guy I actually had a relationship with. But in the end I couldn't deny that he was just "the one", plain and simple. We ended up getting engaged towards the end of senior year and got married the following summer on June 27th, 2003. I couldn't be happier and I love him more now than ever before.
Enough mushy stuff. The funny part was that when Melissa found out that hubby had asked me out she actually warned me about him. She told me that he was great, but kinda known for dating a lot of girls but not sticking with one for more than a week or two. I thanked her for that but wasn't worried. Clearly, he just hadn't met the right girl yet! Despite the warning, Melissa is still one of our very good friends!
And, in case you were wondering, I made hubby quit smoking before we moved in together. I simply told him that we could get married but he couldn't live with me if he smoked. And it worked.
Next up, ummm, not sure. I'll have to think about what to write tomorrow!
But anyway, Part One is how we met. :)
During my college freshman orientation I met a girl named Melissa. We quickly became friends. We had an English class together the first quarter. Towards the end of that quarter we discussed the classes we had registered for and discovered we had a history class together. She told me that almost everyone on her dorm floor had signed up for this class so they could study together and that she'd invite me to the study sessions.
The first study session was just me, Melissa, and three other girls from her floor. Apparently once the rest of her floormates got their grades from the first test they decided to show up because the second study session had tons of people. And you guessed it, one of them was my husband. I was instantly attracted to him. He was so cute! I even remember returning to my own dorm and telling my roommate what a cute guy I had "met". In reality, it was less meeting and more just me saying hi to each of the other students. Oh, and also he smoked and I hated that so I just kinda thought "bummer". That was the end of it for awhile.
Early the next school year (sophomore year) it was Labor Day weekend and both of my roommates were out of town. Another friend invited me to a party and I went, which was a little out of character for me since I am a little shy in party situations and didn't have my roommates for moral support. But I went anyway. And hubby was there! We ended up standing next to each other and started talking. He remembered me as "Melissa's friend" so I reintroduced myself and we spent some time talking. I don't remember anything we said but I remember smiling a lot and the butterflies in my stomach!
After the party I thought about him a lot and started running into him on campus. Also, I started "arranging" ways to run into him. One morning I discovered that he parked in the parking lot right behind my on-campus apartment. We both had classes first thing in the morning so if I waited to leave for class until I saw him coming up the sidewalk we could walk together for a ways! Sure, you call me a stalker but he used to go back to the mail building even if he already had his mail if he saw me headed there. So HA, we were stalking each other. :)
After about a month of our mutual stalking, my roommate began dating one of his best friends. She hadn't known who this guy I liked was until she met him through her new boyfriend. OH CRAP I just knew she would tell him and I'd be mortified. She did tell her boyfriend about it and allegedly all he did was encourage hubby to ask me out after hubby expressed an interest.
And so he asked me out in October of 1999 and the rest, as they say, is history. I had gone on dates with several guys before this but nothing that lasted or was a real relationship. I think this made me a little more hesitant than him to really commit to a full-on long-term thing. I didn't want to marry the first guy I actually had a relationship with. But in the end I couldn't deny that he was just "the one", plain and simple. We ended up getting engaged towards the end of senior year and got married the following summer on June 27th, 2003. I couldn't be happier and I love him more now than ever before.
Enough mushy stuff. The funny part was that when Melissa found out that hubby had asked me out she actually warned me about him. She told me that he was great, but kinda known for dating a lot of girls but not sticking with one for more than a week or two. I thanked her for that but wasn't worried. Clearly, he just hadn't met the right girl yet! Despite the warning, Melissa is still one of our very good friends!
And, in case you were wondering, I made hubby quit smoking before we moved in together. I simply told him that we could get married but he couldn't live with me if he smoked. And it worked.
Next up, ummm, not sure. I'll have to think about what to write tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
A Cute Start to My Day
My cell phone started making some kind of noise at about 5:20 am this morning. It was too early to distinguish the ring tone from the text tone from the alarm tone from the scheduling tone, etc. I picked up the phone and saw that I was receiving a text from my "little" cousin (who is apparently unaware of the 2 hour time difference between MN and AZ). She recently turned 18 and is graduating from high school. It ended up being hilarious, maybe only to me, but I thought I'd share anyway. I'll present it to you with interjections of my groggy thoughts in italics:
Cell phone: Beep beep beep.
Me: What the?
Text from cousin: I just got some stuff from fifth grade back. You were my most admired person.
My text: What?!
Text from cousin: I'm at our senior breakfast and my fifth grade teacher brought a whole bunch of stuff we did in fifth grade and I wrote about you as my most admired person.
Me: That is so sweet! I wonder why she picked me? Hmmm, that was about 7 years ago so I was probably in graduate school. At that point I was the only person ever in our family to get a college degree. Maybe that's why...
My text: That is so sweet! What did you admire about me?
Text from cousin: I have no idea.
Me: (uncontrollable fits of laughter which wake up hubby and require an explanation)
My text: Thanks a lot. I guess I was not so worthy of your admiration. ;)
I love it. "I have no idea." I've been giggling about it all day.
Cell phone: Beep beep beep.
Me: What the?
Text from cousin: I just got some stuff from fifth grade back. You were my most admired person.
My text: What?!
Text from cousin: I'm at our senior breakfast and my fifth grade teacher brought a whole bunch of stuff we did in fifth grade and I wrote about you as my most admired person.
Me: That is so sweet! I wonder why she picked me? Hmmm, that was about 7 years ago so I was probably in graduate school. At that point I was the only person ever in our family to get a college degree. Maybe that's why...
My text: That is so sweet! What did you admire about me?
Text from cousin: I have no idea.
Me: (uncontrollable fits of laughter which wake up hubby and require an explanation)
My text: Thanks a lot. I guess I was not so worthy of your admiration. ;)
I love it. "I have no idea." I've been giggling about it all day.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Childbirth Class
Well, I promised I would let you know how the childbirth class went. First, I'll give you an update on my uncle. He made it through the surgery just fine and is currently in rehab. The vein in one side of his neck will be forever blocked but the other side has gone from 75% blocked to 35% blocked, so a vast improvement. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes!
Now, back to the class. I can't decide if going to this class all in one day was a good thing or a bad thing! It was intense and exhausting! By 2 or 2:30 hubby and I totally wanted to bail! I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot though. I think the most important thing I learned was just the stages of labor and what to expect. I think it will help me when I've gotten to that point of no return when you want to quit!
I really want to try to do this thing naturally but I have no problem asking for an epidural if I feel I need it. If I get to the point where I am losing control or just plain can't rest even between contractions, or god forbid have back labor, I won't beat myself up for getting one. The reason I want a natural labor though is mostly because I want to avoid anything that will slow it down. The only way to end the pain for good is to get that baby out! I also know I don't want the regular IV meds because I generally hate pain meds. They always make me nauseous and I hate nausea more than I hate pain. By a long shot! Plus, then I'll probably have nausea and some pain. So forget that! Not to mention it makes the baby groggy and I would like to nurse her right away, if possible.
Other than that the most helpful info I got was on car seat installation. It turns out that the nurse who taught the class is also certified in car seat inspection. I took advantage of that! I asked so many questions she asked me to stay after class. She told us that in Maricopa County (where I live and includes Phoenix) the rate for non-use or incorrect use of car seats is over 90%!!! Frightening!
Our cars both have the LATCH system but neither has it for the middle seat. Which is common and so stupid because the middle seat is by far the safest place for a car seat. I had heard you could use the hooks from the outside seats to install in the middle seat but she said to absolutely NOT do that. Glad I asked! So I asked her which is then preferable: (1) attach the car seat in the middle using the seat belt or (2) attach the car seat on an outside seat using LATCH. She said to use the middle seat with the seat belt. The seat belt is no more or less safe than LATCH, just less convenient to use. I also asked her to go over common things she sees people doing incorrectly with car seats. The #1 thing is not locking the seat belt after securing the car seat (pull it all the way out and feed it back in so it is locked).
We were exhausted but stayed after class for a half hour to get the car seat info. Hubby was so annoyed with me for staying, which pissed me off. I looked at him and said, "This is important. Don't piss me off." I never talk to him like that so he knew I meant business! Afterwards, he apologized and agreed that it was good for us to get that info.
I guess it is good to know what to expect, and then expect the unexpected! I have my 35 week appointment on Thursday and I want to ask about her position again. I am still feeling movements in exactly the same places as usual so I wonder if she is still breech. All the learning about labor might be for naught if I need a C section! But I hope not! We'll see...
Now, back to the class. I can't decide if going to this class all in one day was a good thing or a bad thing! It was intense and exhausting! By 2 or 2:30 hubby and I totally wanted to bail! I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot though. I think the most important thing I learned was just the stages of labor and what to expect. I think it will help me when I've gotten to that point of no return when you want to quit!
I really want to try to do this thing naturally but I have no problem asking for an epidural if I feel I need it. If I get to the point where I am losing control or just plain can't rest even between contractions, or god forbid have back labor, I won't beat myself up for getting one. The reason I want a natural labor though is mostly because I want to avoid anything that will slow it down. The only way to end the pain for good is to get that baby out! I also know I don't want the regular IV meds because I generally hate pain meds. They always make me nauseous and I hate nausea more than I hate pain. By a long shot! Plus, then I'll probably have nausea and some pain. So forget that! Not to mention it makes the baby groggy and I would like to nurse her right away, if possible.
Other than that the most helpful info I got was on car seat installation. It turns out that the nurse who taught the class is also certified in car seat inspection. I took advantage of that! I asked so many questions she asked me to stay after class. She told us that in Maricopa County (where I live and includes Phoenix) the rate for non-use or incorrect use of car seats is over 90%!!! Frightening!
Our cars both have the LATCH system but neither has it for the middle seat. Which is common and so stupid because the middle seat is by far the safest place for a car seat. I had heard you could use the hooks from the outside seats to install in the middle seat but she said to absolutely NOT do that. Glad I asked! So I asked her which is then preferable: (1) attach the car seat in the middle using the seat belt or (2) attach the car seat on an outside seat using LATCH. She said to use the middle seat with the seat belt. The seat belt is no more or less safe than LATCH, just less convenient to use. I also asked her to go over common things she sees people doing incorrectly with car seats. The #1 thing is not locking the seat belt after securing the car seat (pull it all the way out and feed it back in so it is locked).
We were exhausted but stayed after class for a half hour to get the car seat info. Hubby was so annoyed with me for staying, which pissed me off. I looked at him and said, "This is important. Don't piss me off." I never talk to him like that so he knew I meant business! Afterwards, he apologized and agreed that it was good for us to get that info.
I guess it is good to know what to expect, and then expect the unexpected! I have my 35 week appointment on Thursday and I want to ask about her position again. I am still feeling movements in exactly the same places as usual so I wonder if she is still breech. All the learning about labor might be for naught if I need a C section! But I hope not! We'll see...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Words I Never Thought I'd Utter
I miss Mary Murphy. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry. If you do, do you agree? It's just not the same.
Now, on to your regularly scheduled blog post. Which we'll call "Ups and Downs of Memorial Day Weekend."
For the most part, Memorial Day weekend was lovely. But there was some bad mixed in too, unfortunately.
Friday night I went to dinner and to see Sex and the City 2 with some girls from work. It was pretty cool because this is the first time I have women close in age at work. It feels nice to have some girl time. I thought the movie was fine, if a little long, even though most people complain about it.
Late Friday some family came to visit (and stayed with my parents). My grandma, two of my dad's sisters, and my cousin's daughter came. (This is my cousin Carrie who passed away in a car accident in December so her mom has custody of her daughter Brooklynn now.) We were all worried about Grandma coming because she is in poor health and not very mobile but everything went fine in that regard and she had been really wanting to visit.
We spent Saturday at a brand new aquarium and then shopped at an outlet mall. It was great because they were running a deal - buy a $50 gift card to the mall and get two free tix to the aquarium (cost = $40) so it was like paying $10 to get a $50 gift card. I had mine and my parents' spent very quickly between Children's Place, Carter's, and Gymboree. I am officially banned from buying any more clothes for baby until she grows out of all the ones I have!
On Sunday we had planned for the family to come to our house to see it and spend the afternoon. Unfortunately, the bad part of the weekend interfered. My mom got a call that her brother had a major stroke and was in bad shape. She did not want to fly back home alone but my aunt bawled and begged her to go, saying that she would have given anything to see Carrie more before she died. My mom is not very independent but she finally agreed to go. We went ahead with the get together without my mom and had a nice day, all things considered.
The family left on Monday and my mom also returned on Monday. She was not sorry she had gone and got to see her brother. He is actually doing surprisingly well. He does have to have surgery tomorrow and there is a 1 in 20 chance he will die from a stroke or heart attack during the surgery. Apparently he has some serious blockage. Hopefully, he will fall into the 95% category and be just fine. He will then start rehab next week.
The only other bad thing about the weekend was seeing how Brooklynn has been affected by her mommy's death. When we told her the doctors would try to make my uncle better she asked, "Why couldn't the doctors make my mommy better?" And she has regressed in her potty training and has to wear pull ups all the time at 3.5 years old. Whenever she gets hurt or is tired or mad she cries for mommy. It is heartbreaking. You can see how much all of this tears my aunt apart, too.
Brooklynn did have a great time at our house though. We have a big wood swing set with a roof over part of it so she called it a tree house. She kept making hubby go outside with her to play, even though it was 100 degrees! She took to him right away, it was so cute. At one point we were all outside and she asked him to put her dvd on our tv inside. About 10 minutes later I went inside and he was sitting on the couch with her laying in his lap, talking his ear off about the movie. So cute! It was really nice to spend time with her because we have lived so far away from the family since she was born so she barely knew us. Now we may actually have a chance for a hug from her at the next family function we attend!
In other news I will be 34 weeks tomorrow! Just 42 days to go (sounds better to me than 6 weeks)! We have our all day childbirth prep class on Saturday. I am hoping I will be able to take it all in on one day - yikes! Other than that, I am doing well. Getting uncomfortable now and learning to live without sleep, which eludes me now no matter what I do.
I'll have to give a review of my class. Until then...
Now, on to your regularly scheduled blog post. Which we'll call "Ups and Downs of Memorial Day Weekend."
For the most part, Memorial Day weekend was lovely. But there was some bad mixed in too, unfortunately.
Friday night I went to dinner and to see Sex and the City 2 with some girls from work. It was pretty cool because this is the first time I have women close in age at work. It feels nice to have some girl time. I thought the movie was fine, if a little long, even though most people complain about it.
Late Friday some family came to visit (and stayed with my parents). My grandma, two of my dad's sisters, and my cousin's daughter came. (This is my cousin Carrie who passed away in a car accident in December so her mom has custody of her daughter Brooklynn now.) We were all worried about Grandma coming because she is in poor health and not very mobile but everything went fine in that regard and she had been really wanting to visit.
We spent Saturday at a brand new aquarium and then shopped at an outlet mall. It was great because they were running a deal - buy a $50 gift card to the mall and get two free tix to the aquarium (cost = $40) so it was like paying $10 to get a $50 gift card. I had mine and my parents' spent very quickly between Children's Place, Carter's, and Gymboree. I am officially banned from buying any more clothes for baby until she grows out of all the ones I have!
On Sunday we had planned for the family to come to our house to see it and spend the afternoon. Unfortunately, the bad part of the weekend interfered. My mom got a call that her brother had a major stroke and was in bad shape. She did not want to fly back home alone but my aunt bawled and begged her to go, saying that she would have given anything to see Carrie more before she died. My mom is not very independent but she finally agreed to go. We went ahead with the get together without my mom and had a nice day, all things considered.
The family left on Monday and my mom also returned on Monday. She was not sorry she had gone and got to see her brother. He is actually doing surprisingly well. He does have to have surgery tomorrow and there is a 1 in 20 chance he will die from a stroke or heart attack during the surgery. Apparently he has some serious blockage. Hopefully, he will fall into the 95% category and be just fine. He will then start rehab next week.
The only other bad thing about the weekend was seeing how Brooklynn has been affected by her mommy's death. When we told her the doctors would try to make my uncle better she asked, "Why couldn't the doctors make my mommy better?" And she has regressed in her potty training and has to wear pull ups all the time at 3.5 years old. Whenever she gets hurt or is tired or mad she cries for mommy. It is heartbreaking. You can see how much all of this tears my aunt apart, too.
Brooklynn did have a great time at our house though. We have a big wood swing set with a roof over part of it so she called it a tree house. She kept making hubby go outside with her to play, even though it was 100 degrees! She took to him right away, it was so cute. At one point we were all outside and she asked him to put her dvd on our tv inside. About 10 minutes later I went inside and he was sitting on the couch with her laying in his lap, talking his ear off about the movie. So cute! It was really nice to spend time with her because we have lived so far away from the family since she was born so she barely knew us. Now we may actually have a chance for a hug from her at the next family function we attend!
In other news I will be 34 weeks tomorrow! Just 42 days to go (sounds better to me than 6 weeks)! We have our all day childbirth prep class on Saturday. I am hoping I will be able to take it all in on one day - yikes! Other than that, I am doing well. Getting uncomfortable now and learning to live without sleep, which eludes me now no matter what I do.
I'll have to give a review of my class. Until then...
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