Monday, June 29, 2009

Pulls himself up

So many exciting things have been happening in our little boys' life...and I will write about them tomorrow - at this hour, my brain cannot think of them all.

Tonight after dinner, Logan should've been in bed...but I guiltily admit I was watching the Bachelorette and let him stay up late. He was getting squirmy in my arms so I put him on the floor in a sitting position on one side of our ottoman. Within a few minutes he was on the other side of the ottoman. John and I kept an eye on him as he was turning around and trying so hard to pull himself up. After a few tries, he did it! He pulled himself up to a stand and even moved his feet so he could balance.

Ah!!! I nearly cried..I am so proud of him. And yes, thanks to the wonderful invention of the iPhone, we did get it all on video!! He has crawled over me and we have seen him try to grab on the bars of my mother in law's crib, but his was truly his first attempt at pulling himself up on a piece of furniture.

So tomorrow...we will be moving the crib down a notch. :) So exciting!!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Baby #2 - 1st Appt.

Today, John, Logan and I had our first OB appointment for the new baby (hence why we shared the news with everybody today...we had told immediate family and a couple friends, but wanted to wait until we heard the heartbeat to tell everybody).

It was funny - since we had last been to this office in November, we still knew the nursing staff and doctors - it was great! The nurse usually meets with the couple for a half hour to go over all pregnancy do's and dont's and give some booklets and free samples. She was able to skip most of the speech (she still did a minor refresher, just in case). We told her to keep the booklets and free stuff as they were items we still had - no need to waste paper and clutter our house!

Arriving to the doctor's office I was 8 weeks 2 days and when I left I was 7 weeks...hm...interesting - this requires some backtracking. The original due date of 1/26/10 was decided since the first day of my last period was 4/21. Okay so, on May 27th when we found out we were pregnant, I immediately called the doctor to get a blood pregnancy test. They asked me why, as if I'd fallen out of the sky. I told them 'because I took a few home tests and they were positive and I would like more confirmation'. They proceeded to tell me that home tests are over 99% accurate and I shouldn't worry. They started setting up my 1st appt. Then I said 'well, here's another reason why I want this'. (Again, it was hard to believe after 5 years of negative tests...and with IVF you get a blood pregnancy tests every other day to calm your fears...and then a couple ultrasounds - it is a nice benefit of going through all the meds and procedures). Anywho, I told them that my progesterone with Logan was low and I wanted that tested as well so I could start the medication before it is too late (low progesterone can be a cause of a miscarriage, so if I know this ahead of time, I would love very much to prevent it). I told the nurse that while I was getting blood drawn, why not just do the HCG (pregnancy test). She somehow agreed to the whole thing. Great. I went to the lab close to home and they took my blood. I had to wait an entire day for the results. Now, this may not seem long to the typical person, however, again with IVF, every test result is returned by 3pm the same day - nice to not have to agonize and wait a whole night. So, that is why I had to do now.

I call the next day because I was too impatient to wait for their call. My progesterone was 15.2, which is borderline. Anything below 15 requires meds. Since I was borderline and needed for the last pregnancy they ordered a prescription. Okay, fine - not my favorite drug to take, but I do whatever I can to protect my child. I asked about the pregnancy test. Oh, while it was on the order form, the person running the test 'forgot'. Okay, I need to wait a whole other day. Arg.

I call the next day (again, too impatient....now I'm worried that them not doing the test is a sign that it is not all happening....seriously, why do I torture myself??). I get a different nurse (looking back, I should've waited until Mary, my nurse that I've been dealing with, was back from whatever it was she was doing). I tell her that I'm looking for the results on my HCG (pregnancy test). Nurse: Are we looking for it to go up or down? Paige: (thinking) What???? What kind of question is that? Um....up? I said, actually I am just looking for a positive number. Nurse: Oh. Why did you have this done? Paige: Because I went through IVF the first time and I needed reassurance this time that I am in fact pregnant. Nurse: oooohhhhkkkkaaayyy. She proceeds to tell me that it is not entered in the computer yet, so she'll call. Great; wonderful. She comes back on the line soon after and says it is 110. I say - okay, so that means that it's good???? She says 'well it's a pregnancy number'. I was thinking, yay! But at the same time, seriously nurse, you can't sound a little happy? She proceeds to ask again why I had it done. Man, you'd swear that I just took a test that was only done in the 1950s and she didn't know how to respond. Apparently they only do this test nowadays if the patient has a record of miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. So, while I understand her confusion, I also think she needs to learn to roll with the punches. She proceeds to ask a few more questions, while I am trying to bask in the excitement of being pregnant. Now in the meantime, in the back of my head knowing that I've received faint lines since Sunday and it is now Wednesday (that I took the blood test), I do realize that the number is a little low. So it kind of weighs on me, but then I get over it. I thought, if anything they'll just adjust my due date. Since my period was not yet regular (from breastfeeding), maybe I wasn't as far along as thought.

Okay, all is good, right?? Not yet. So my nurse - Mary - calls me the following Tuesday. I see her number on caller ID and think....why is she calling me? She says that they want me to do the test again. Why? Because anytime they do this test they always have a 2nd test to compare. Why wasn't this told to me before? I think somebody finally looked at the test and saw that the number was low. She told me I should not be concerned, but it was just low - I may have just taken the test really early. Okay, I get out of the dressing room at Kohl's (where I was happily trying on outfits) and rush over to the lab. Not be concerned??? Are you kidding me? I had finally found a comfort level that this was actually happening and now you are telling me that my number was low and you want to retest me? Ugh and a half!!! Keep in mind...I again, need to wait overnight. So guess what I did? I looked on the evil Internet at HCG numbers, timeliness and miscarriages. They had me so concerned. Why, why, why did I look? So, now I'm all worked up and crying that this little baby that we created my not be.... I ended the night by looking at past blogs because I knew that I logged the HCG numbers from my 1st pregnancy with Logan. I saw that at one point my number was 96 and it was good - it was just earlier on than where they currently 'think' I am. The number should double at least every 24-48 hours (depending on the person). So I figure that by the time I'm got the 2nd test done, my number should be at least 880.


Okay, so I call again in the morning. It doesn't shock me that nobody in the nurses station realizes how desperately I need a phonecall when they open! I get Mary, my nurse - oh good at least she knows my story. She naturally has to call the place to get the results since they're not in. She gets back on the line. My number is 1800!!!!!!!!!!! YES, YES, YES! She said she still 'had' to run it by the doctor, but she'd only call if there was a problem, which there wouldn't be with a number like that. PHEW.

That drama brings us to today. I am 8 weeks 2 days along. She performed the internal ultrasound (since the baby is still soooo low). She searched around as my heart pounded like crazy. What felt like forever, was probably 5 seconds when she found the little embryo. Before we went to the appointment I looked at Logan's 8 week ultrasound so I knew what to look for. When I saw this ultrasound, I thought...hm...boy that baby looks tiny. She found the heartbeat almost right away - yay!!!!!! Phew. Then she measured the baby and he/she measured 9.44mm...which puts the baby at 7 weeks, not 8. So yes, in the end my due date was moved to February 4, 2010. Now, I personally think she moved the due date back a little much (if I do my own calculations of when we took the home tests and all)....I feel I am more 7.5 weeks. But whatever...in the end it doesn't really matter. The baby will come when he/she comes. :)

I will try to scan the ultrasoud picture and post it, but in all honesty the picture is a tiny blob. Even Logan's 6 week ultrasound is more descriptive. I really feel that this doctor could've tried to get a better picture, but hey - she found the heartbeat, so I will not complain!

The heartbeat is a strong 150 beats per minute. Go baby, go! My next appointment is in 4 weeks...yay!

I'm Pregnant!!!!

On Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 8am in the morning we found out that I am in fact pregnant again!!!!!!!! We are thrilled to pieces….as are Logan and Buddy. :) After we had Logan I never went on a contraceptive – we figured it took 5 years to get pregnant the 1st time, if we got pregnant on our own, it would just be another blessing. For those of you trying to do the math they will be 15 months apart. We are very excited!!!

I was 'late', but because I had just completely stopped breastfeeding, my cycle was all over the place...so who knew when it was supposed to come. During this time, it did dawn on me that I could be pregnant….but let’s not forget the number of tests I took during those last 5 years and how many times I got my hopes up and then cried because the test was negative. My fertility specialist said that there shouldn't be any reason why I can't get pregnant naturally going forward since my fertility issues were 'unexplained'. However, I remember asking my OB doctor if there was a good chance I’d get pregnant on my own after Logan. She said well anything is possible, however since I tried for 5 years before conceiving, it may not be so likely. Since we still had 5 embryos in the freezer, I was okay with this, although it is a lot easier to not go through 2 months of medications and procedures.

Sunday morning I took a pregnancy test (Target brand). It came out with a very faint line. John and I both said….we’ll wait a couple days more. We both were kind of smiling, dreaming of the possibility, but it was so faint we just weren’t sure…plus it was an off-brand…who knew if it was defective. Tuesday morning I took another test….it was a little darker, but still faint. We smiled a lot more, however, again, it wasn’t screaming dark blue like the package shows….so who knows. The idea danced around in our heads, but we weren’t sure enough to scream and jump around. However, it was now stuck in my head that this is a strong possibility. I had some errands to run – which I did, but during my visit to Walgreens to pick up some photos, I grabbed an EPT brand pregnancy test. I debated buying the digital one (I ended up not, because the answer is too definitive and I just didn’t know if I wanted to be let down with the words ‘Not Pregnant’ on the stick….I could handle a minus sign, but not too sure about the words). I came home and peed on the stick – I didn’t wait. for the following morning Again, a faint line (+)….so 3 faint lines…could it be? Not sure yet – nothing to scream at me saying YES. After a half hour that faint line kind of disappeared, but after 10 minutes the results are no longer valid. However I still kind of took that as a sign that it was a false faint line. The rest of the day was fine, but I was slightly bummed…however as John had mentioned, my period was still nowhere in sight….so it was still a possibility.

I had to go to Target for some groceries. Logan sat up in the cart like a big boy…so cute! Naturally, while I was there….I grabbed another pregnancy test. This time I got the Clearblue Easy Digital test – it is the same brand when I finally took a test with Logan.

I woke up several times in the middle of the night - I was so anxious, plus I had to pee frequently (a clear sign). Buddy got up as well as Logan once or twice, which is odd. At 8am, I finally woke up with the courage to take the digital test. I washed my hands while the little hourglass turned and turned. It says that by 3 minutes the response will show…I was fully expecting to wait those 3 minutes. No longer than one minute….the words appeared…. “PREGNANT”. AH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I screamed at John (who was still sleeping…he was up late on a conference call with work so he was sleeping in). I’m pregnant!!!! I’m pregnant!!!! I jumped up on our bed and shoved the stick in his face and he was just smiling. I started crying. Seriously, 5 years of negative tests and hopes up and down, we didn’t think the day of just getting pregnant on our own was even possible. My screams had woken up Logan so I went and got him. We took a video of us telling him the excellent news. He was shocked at first, but then was happy about the news – it is too cute!

It’s kind of funny – on Logan’s 6 month birthday I made the call to the new fertility clinic (I got the referral about a month prior). The appointment, which I now had to cancel, was for June 1st – what timing. It was great to call and cancel because I’m pregnant! We knew we wanted our kids to be close in age and since we’d have to go through IVF and insurance, we kind of wanted to move sooner than later on trying. Plus, our 1st IVF cycle didn’t work, so who knows how long it would take. Yes, if we never got pregnant again, we would have felt fulfilled and extremely happy – Logan is just the greatest thing to ever happen to us, however we are so glad to expand our family and know that Logan will be an excellent Big Brother! We have talked about the size of our family and while we want to take it one baby at a time, we do think that we want a big family – how big, who knows.

Monday, June 15, 2009

He's a model!!!

Last month Logan had his 6 month photo shoot at a local photo studio. They took many adorable pictures of him (naturally) and even asked me to sign a model release form for the pictures. They wanted to use a picture of him naked (in a diaper) laying down on his tummy and peeking his head out of a blanket (a white blanket that my Nana knitted him - every photo shoot has at least one picture with this blanket). It is truly an adorable picture and it is hanging on my wall....I will take a picture of it and post it. Anyways, I walked into the photo studio the other day to get a reprint of one of the other pictures, and voila - there was Logan on the wall!!!!! However, they did not use the picture they originally thought (they may have or still may...or may use it in a different store). They used a super close-up of his face - those adorable puffy cheeks and cute grin.

When the workers weren't looking, I snapped a picture of the wall for his scrapbook. Can you find my adorable baby on this wall???


Pictures (finally)

His first lip to lip kiss from his cute little friend...


A game of Peek-A-Boo


Where's Logan???


There he is!!!


Logan looking up at Grandma


Taking a moment away from his laptop to say hey!


Sound asleep (he sleeps half on his tummy and half on his back nowadays)


Lovin the toes....


A hug from his friend, Erin


Logan looked thirsty, so Aunt Dawn decided to give him a sip or two of her juice....he loved it and drank very well from a cup!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Update

Ugh...I promise to get better with updating the blog. We have been busy the past couple weeks - doing this, that and the other thing.

Logan gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. Sometimes he scoots both knees forward and other times his legs flop out. I'm thinking that maybe within a month he may be crawling?? Maybe not. We'll see. Also if we hold his hands, he will walk a few steps. I have stood him up against a wall for a little support and he stands so well...and for so long! Go Logan!

He has learned to cluck with his tongue. When you mock him, he thinks it is hilarious! Oh, his new laugh is very breath-y....almost sounds like a panting dog (wonder where he learned that). When you mock him, you could hyper-ventilate....how do I know...cuz that's how I felt why I mimicked him. :)

Logan attended his first wedding this past weekend - one of John's 2nd cousins in Indiana. He did very well, for having had only a couple really small naps. He danced the night away and slept like a rock that night!

Logan is very successful at putting his pacifier back in his mouth if it falls out at night or during naptime.

He hasn't been a huge fan of Puffs (an airy cheerio), but I tried them again this weekend and he is a HUGE fan. We had lunch the other day - I was eating Alphabet Chicken Noodle soup and he was eating his version of Chicken Noodle baby food....I gave him some of the letters from my soup and he loved them. Some of the letters he ate were: D, V, T, I, R, E!!! I have to start thinking of other little finger foods for him to chow down on. :)

Logan is still an excellent baby. Tons of smiles and makes us happy everyday!