Tuesday, December 29, 2009

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

So we are about to become the proud parents of a little girl! Here's the breakdown of the opening of "THE ENVELOPE" It goes like this...

5:30 pm December 23: I BEG George to plllleeeeaaaasssseeee open the envelope, NO ONE would have to know! His response, "nope, there's no way you could keep that secret for a whole 24 hours" okay so he knows me well.

I wait.

Around 9:30pm December 23, PLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE can we open it now? We're going to bed soon, I can for sure keep the secret then, "nope, it's not Christmas.

I wait (not very patiently I might add).

7:00 am December 24, Me: IT'S CHRISTMAS, LET'S OPEN IT! Him: It is NOT Christmas and I'm sleeping, leave me alone...

I wait.

9:30 am December 24, Me: lovingly rubbing my sleepy hubby's back... my mom is now at work, Ashley is getting her hair done, I'm desperate, I might have to work for this envelope opening, but at this point I'm willing to do what it takes! LOL!!! He rolls over and looks at me like you've GOT to be kidding. I beg again and show him that I have taken it upon myself to go out to the car and get said envelope... he tells me to OPEN IT!!! So before he changes his mind I rip it open, now for some reason I'm a bit nervous! I slowly take out the picture that the ultrasound tech has put in there for us and I pull out the card stock that she wrote it on, we both open it... GIRL! I cry, he is grinning ear to ear. We are so happy! Now... plan how to tell the rest of the family.

Since we are not with George's family we call his parents first, George's dad says he knew all along, his mom is happy... what will they do with a girl? LOL!

Fast forward... 11:30 am. My sister is now home, we're starving so we're going to get lunch. We want my mom to join us; we've planned how we'll tell them. My mom being the procrastinator she is still wants to do some last minute shopping, I tell Ashley to convince her to come... Ashley has now figured out that we opened the envelope, she's FREAKING out. We won't tell until they are both together, she freaks more, calls my mom insisting she HURRY up and get to where we are!! FINALLY my mom shows up... we hand them each a little bag... they must open it together, inside each bag is a tiny pair of pink socks, tears and hugs all around!

Christmas Eve night... my whole family gets together, for some reason this year we were all there early (unheard of for my family) we're itching to tell and I have NO poker face so when someone asks (everyone at some point) if we know I can't contain myself, I grin! BUT we're waiting on the Pie family before we announce. Finally everyone is there... it takes one of my uncles (not sure which) 2 times with that obnoxiously loud whistle to quiet down my loud ass family. We're all here, together, and it's a GIRL! Tears, hugs, woohoo's!

And that's our day! Well worth the wait. We can't wait to meet our little lady! And of course mommy, Aunt Ashley, and Mimi (still testing that out) went shopping the day after Christmas and indulged in some sweet girl shopping, I'm in trouble I can tell already! 

Oh yeah... because this post isn't long enough... we had a 3D ultrasound on Sunday, they were not the best images and since I have an anterior placenta (in the front) the baby was kind of smushed up aganist it so it was a little hard to see her face, plus she was bent in half with her legs over her head!  We did fially get her to strech out a little bit and here are the pics of that.











Monday, November 30, 2009

Forgot one!

This was a funny one, Ashley and I were getting ready to leave so I was saying goodbye to George (while asking if he liked my new outfit) he OBVIOUSLY LOVED my new outfit, as he never took his eyes off the football game;) LOL!  And Ash caught it all!




Saturday, November 28, 2009

22 weeks and a visit from my sister!

Everything is going really well, I'm feeling the baby move a LOT but unfortunetly no one else can at this point.  George is dying to feel this little one and I can't wait for that too!  Thanksgiving was good, just George, Chance, and myself but lots of yummy food!  I picked my sister up from the airport yesterday and we went and saw New Moon, did a little shopping (she helped me pick out a new outfit, yay!) and went to dinner.  It is so nice having her here.  We're also going to paint the baby room this weekend, just the base color for now, a really cool blue and then my mom and aunt are going to come down and help me do the tree and owls.  That's all for now, I've included a few new belly pics, it's really sticking out there now!


                                            


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

It's a.... SURPRISE (until Christmas at least!)

Here are the rest of the pics...

The envelope with the goods inside!  We even had her staple it shut:)

This is Petri looking at us.

George's favorite... flexing muscles!  Little fist and all, right after she got this shot the little stinker punched me! LOL

20 week ultrasound!

Okay I wasn't able to upload all the cute pics that I wanted to, stupid blogger!  I'll try again when I get done posting this.  The ultrasound went great!  When we first went in little Petri was literally folded in half, it was so cute!  By the time we were done he/she was sprawled out with hand behind his/her head laying just like mama was!  It was adorable.  The tech was sooo sweet and we were in there for about an hour.   She explained everything as she went and told us that everything looked really good.  We saw all 4 chambers of the heart, both sides of the brain, fingers, toes, arms, legs, EVERYTHING... EXCEPT the goods:~) LOL!  We were strong and held out, the tech had us turn away twice so she could check, then double check and says she's 90% sure of the sex.  She wrote it down in our envelope along with a "money shot" pic!  I did find out that my placenta is in the front, nothing harmful but that is why I'm only feeling small movements down low, probably punches since the head is down.  Baby is measuring great, and we couldn't have been more happy with what we saw.  Can't wait to meet our little one!  I've posted a couple of profile shots below and hope to post more later. 


Saturday, October 24, 2009

17 weeks, waaaay cuter picture! LOL

Okay, so I made George take another picture today before I went to a wedding shower. I looked much better and not quite as bloated:)


Slacker here...

I know it's been awhile since I've updated but there's not much to talk about but I'm VERY busy with my class! So here's what's going on with us... I'm actually starting to show, about 3 weeks ago I started to notice my clothes fitting a little more snug but I now have an actual "baby bump" I've gained about a pound so I'm happy with that! I've decided that I HATE maternity clothes, especially pants, but I need something comfy, luckily my mom found these amazing knit pants at New York and Co. that just slip on, no buttons, snaps, zippers or best of all huge panel! LOL!



I ordered a heart doppler so we can listen to the baby's heartbeat each night, George thought I was slightly crazy but he thinks it's really cool to hear as well. And it's EXTREMELY reassuring to know this little one is safe and sound! I am starting to feel some movements but it'll be nice when I can tell the difference between baby moves and gas:) I guess that's all for now, I'm posting (against my better judgment:) a belly pic below, I was trying to wait until it looked more like baby and less like chub! haha I think I'm close!



And a note on the photo... I look REALLY rough BUT I had been at parent teacher conferences so it was a VERY long day!!

Friday, September 25, 2009

12w5d, baby is growing!

Well we had our appointment today, got another u/s, it was awesome! We were really able to see a lot. Fingers, toes, elbows, face, big ol' head! We loved it! We went to a different doctor today, this is the one we'll be using. We both really liked her, she was very thorough and George loved her middle eastern accent LOL! Anyway Petri was measuring well, heartbeat looked great and I still haven't gained any weight, YAY! I might try to scan in some of the pictures later but they were pretty crappy. Thanks for all you're prayers, I feel like now that I'm in the 2nd trimester I can finally breathe a little easier!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

9 1/2 weeks, new doctor, awesome ultra sound, GREAT DAY!

Well my appointment this week was AWESOME!! We were there forever but the nurse was amazing, so sweet and funny and the Dr. was totally goofy but we both really liked him. The u/s was the most wonderful thing! Little Petri actually looks like a baby! We saw big head (takes after mama) and tiny little arms and legs. The Dr. was so great too as he was doing the u/s because he said at this stage the baby is moving around so he just held the u/s wand in place for awhile until the baby moved!!! We were so shocked to see that, even George was like WOW! We also got to hear the hb. I forgot to ask what the rate was but he said it was a nice strong hb so I'm guessing that was a good thing. Baby also measured right on date, 9 weeks 4 days. We didn't get any still shots because the camera was broke but we did record it and they told us if we take it to Walgreen's they will put it on a disc and we can print out pics. I have another appointment next week with another Dr. at a different hospital. I would cancel all together because I liked this one so much (plus the nurse said he's really easy to talk into doing extra u/s!!) BUT this office doesn't take my secondary insurance and the other place does. Once we get the quotes from the insurance company we'll be able to better decide where we're going to go. But the good thing about that is another u/s next week! LOL!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

8 week visit... HUGE bust!

I'll start by saying that the Dr. we were going to yesterday was and hour+ from where we live but the Dr. came highly recommended by a friend so we decided to give it a shot. I was scheduled to work 1/2 a day and have a sub come in at 11:30 that would have given us plenty of time to get to the clinic by 1:00. Well, she didn't get there until about 10 till 12 so we were already running late. We quickly got on the road, it was drizzly and traffic was bad. At about 12:45 we were still 30 minutes away. I called the office to let them know we would be about 15 minutes late. The (bitchy) receptionist informed me that their policy isn't to take anyone after 10 minutes. I explained the situation and she said I could ONLY be 15 minutes late or they wouldn't see me. We were hauling ass to get there and pulled up to the clinic at 1:17, George dropped me off at the door and I ran in, the clinic was HUGE so it took me a few minutes to get up there. Got there at 1:20 and the (bitchy) receptionist was SO RUDE and said I was too late and I would have to reschedule. Well I immediately burst into sobs. I asked if there was anyway they could make an exception since we drove and hour+ and these were unusual circumstances and since this was my first pregnancy and first OB appointment and I was very anxious to see the baby. I told her we would sit around all day if we had to. She just responded with a "Nope" so hateful! I walked out of the office to find George, I was literally hysterical, I know a little over the top but I was soooo upset and she was soooo mean! George went in and was very polite and tried to talk to her but I guess she was just as rude, he even asked if there was anyway we could see a different doctor and she told him "not for another few weeks" he then asked if there was another OB practice and she said "yes but I guarantee they won't get you in either" I honestly still can't believe how hateful this woman was. So to make a long story longer... we didn't get in, called around and FINALLY got in to a Dr. I've never heard of, but who had a VERY NICE receptionist who I told the story to and was appropriately appalled and said they would get me in on Thursday and to bring a video tape because they'll tape the u/s! YAY! After that I had some retail therapy and then went for a great early dinner complete with Italian donuts with chocolate dipping sauce at Olive Garden, YUM! LOL! So that's my day! It was horrible but ended up being okay, sad that I have to wait another week but I'm feeling better about everything being okay with little Petri, I have no reason to think otherwise. Hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures up next week of how much Petri has changed!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Oh the comments!

Why oh why can people not keep their weird and rude comments to themselves! I know everyone says when you're pregnant that everyone feels like it's their business, boy am I finding out how true that is. At first it was nice having everyone fawning all over me, asking how I was, how I was feeling, what symptoms did I have. Now... well now it's just ANNOYING! Hey people, maybe this bitchiness is a symptom! I guess I'm a little freaked because we don't get to see the bean this week, we have for the past 2 and it is sooo reassuring. Not only that, I am virtually symptom free and it kinda freaks me out, even though I've been told by friends, family, and my nurse (yes I called) that it is completely normal. However, some people on a daily basis are asking me if I have morning sickness, no didn't have it yesterday, the day before, or today, if I start throwing up I will run straight to you so you don't miss it. Not only am I getting that question (daily) but when I resopond "no" some look at me like I'm sprouting a third head! Seriously you've NEVER met another pregnant person without morning sickness, come on! Then their are others still who proceed to tell me that if "you have morning sickness you have less chance of a miscarriage", or that "morning sickness means a healthy pregnancy". So now I'm about to miscarry at any given moment or not have a healthy pregnancy...WTH! Okay, totally sorry to bring down my normally fun and enjoyable blog with all my crankiness! I go to the Dr. next Friday and then I'll have my reassurance again... at least for another week. I tell ya, I'm not going to quit being anxious until I can feel little Petri doing high kicks inside of me!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Nick name!

So we've decided that we've got to stop calling this baby "it" LOL! We were trying to come up with cute nick names, the short list was Mader or Mato (since I can't get enough tomatoes!) George suggested something... (obviously got vetoed since I can't even remember it) but we finally decided on Petri... why you ask? Because the little one was conceived in a petri dish! LOL, we are huge dorks I realize this but we want something cute and clever! Oh by the way, I think I've convinced George to wait until this little one makes his/her appearance to find out the gender! YAY!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Belly Bean is growing!

We had our second ultra sound today which sadly George missed. He had meetings in the morning and I had our Meet the Teacher night at school this afternoon and since I HAD to be there I had to schedule by which time worked best for me. Luckily a friend volunteered to go so I didn't have to make the 2 hour trek alone. I was very nervous this week because I'm into week 6 and all the books say that if you're going to get morning sickness this would be the week. Well silly me, instead of being grateful that I'm keeping all my meals down, I was worried! Yes me the puke-a-phobe! I was just afraid that something was wrong... I was WRONG! We got to see our one little belly bean growing strong. The second embryo didn't make it, and while we're sad about that we're rejoicing in the fact that we have one baby growing strong and healthy. I was so excited because I knew that we'd get to see the heartbeat and I was totally SHOCKED that we got to HEAR the heartbeat, it was the most amazing sound ever! It was a strong heartbeat at 122 and it was great to hear it, very reassuring! This was our last week with the RE, we've graduated to a regular OB and we'll see him in 2 weeks, 2 weeks of waiting to see the baby again... I'll survive, I think:~) The first picture shows the heartbeat at the bottom, the other 2 are just showing how big the belly bean's getting! Can't believe the change from last week!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

6 weeks!

Well we're 6 weeks tomorrow! So excited, hopefully Wednesday when we go back to the RE we'll be able to see two healthy heart beats, I don't think we'll be able to hear them yet but seeing is believing! Here is a littlebit of what's going on this week.

How your baby’s growing: This week’s major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you’ll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you’d find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby’s eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Baby or babies?

Well we went to the doctor today for our first ultra sound. Needless to say we really don't know anymore than we did this morning. We know we're pregnant but still don't know if it's one or two. We were able to see 2 sacs but the Dr. was only able to see the yolk sac on one of them. He did say that the 2nd sac could be a vanishing twin or it just might be to early and it could still catch up. Now that I know they are both in there I really want them both! Praying hard that the smaller one catches up and that the other continues to grow! I've posted a pic, it's crappy because I don't have a scanner so I have to take a picture of the (crappy) u/s picture with my phone then post it. Also I took a 2nd pregnancy test last week just to make sure I was still pregnant, the 2 lines popped up in like 2o seconds instead of the 2 minutes I was supposed to wait! (George totally made fun of me)

Monday, July 27, 2009

It's official... We're PREGNANT!!!

Really the title pretty much sums it up. We are over the moon excited right now and totally in shock (well I am, George says he already knew). We'll go next week to see if there are one or two babies in there. Either way we are thrilled and so happy that we'll finally be parents. I want to say at this time a HUGE heartfelt thank you from George and I both to all of you, our amazing family and friends. We have had nothing but love an support from everyone and you have really been a big part of this process. We love you! Keep praying though, we need to get through this first trimester!!

Not a very good picture but you can see the word!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Pregnant until proven otherwise!

So today was the big day, the day when they put those little embies into their new home for hopefully the next 9 months or so. The transfer was actually really easy. The hardest part was that I had to have a full bladder and for me that is HARD! I decided that I wouldn't start drinking anything until we were almost to St. Louis, well even with only having a sip of water an hour into the trip I had to make a pit stop. About 15 minutes before we got there I had a couple of good swigs of water and thought I would be good... WRONG! We got to the clinic and sat for about 10 minutes before I had to "let a little out". It was miserable. By the time we got into the transfer room I was in pain, they put the ultra sound wand on my tummy and I thought I was gonna lose it! But he said it looked good and if I could hold it for 10 more minutes that would be great... UGH! The transfer itself took no time. A lady came in with this catheter type thing and said "two blastocysts for Heather Allen, is that you?" I felt like I was being given my dinner order! LOL! Anyway they ran the tube into my uterus and injected them and that's where they are! hey transferred 2 perfect grade embryos. They were literally the best they could be, exciting!! Afterwards the Dr. went ahead and did a catheter for me so I didn't pee all over the floor... oh sweet relief! Anyway I've posted hopefully the first of many pics below. The first one is of the actual embryos and the second is them in my uterus!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Friday I'm getting knocked up!

So quick update: The nurse called this morning and said that we'll be going in for a day 5 transfer on Friday! That is so ideal because I've done a lot of research and it seems that the best results come from 5 day transfers! All 13 embies (embryos)are still growing although 2 are lagging behind she said they were 5 cell and should be 7 or 8 by now, but they still have a chance to catch up. We're really excited and anxious for Friday, can't wait to get those little embies in their new "womb" LOL!

Monday, July 13, 2009

A Bakers Dozen!

Okay, so we got the call from our RE (reproductive endocrinologist) this morning and 13 of the 19 fertilized! That means at this moment we have 13 little babies growing, crazy! Now we just hope and pray that a good number of those will make it to transfer. We're hoping to put 2 in this week on either Wednesday or Friday and then we'll freeze the remainders for future snowbabies!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

First POI Down!

Okay, so POI stands for progesterone oil injection. Progesterone is the hormone that makes the uterus all nice and squishy so that the little embryos want to stick around and get comfy, it's something the body produces immediately after conception. Since conception took place this morning in a lab I'm injecting it instead of producing it LOL, hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be producing it too! Anyway back to the shot. It's ugly and big and thick and the hormone is actually in Castor oil so that's what is injected, ouch! However, a good family friend who is a nurse came over to do it for us. I was afraid if George hurt me (intentionally or not) I would get upset and be ugly to him, if someone else did it not so much. So the nurse this morning said to put the vial of oil in my pocket about an hour before injection time to warm it to body temp, it goes in more smoothly that way, then ice the area for about 10 minutes and after it's over apply heat. Tami came over and told me me to lay down so I wouldn't be putting pressure on the leg, she then proceeded to talk about how huge the needle was... not scaring me at all! But she came in, injected it before I knew it and I didn't feel a thing!!! I was so pumped, I even had to ask her if she had put it in, painless!! So one down and many, many more to go. Below is a picture of the needle, not going in, but at least you get to see how big it is:)

19 is the magic number!

So here I am in bed resting after my egg retrieval this morning. Everything went really well. We got up at 5 (after not going to bed until 12 because we watched some stupid UFC fight at our neighbors, that turned out to be actually kind of entertaining... anyway) got to the doctors about 8:30 and they took me straight back and started an IV. I just want to say that everyone there is SOOOO nice, they are just the sweetest. They brought George back and showed him how to give me my inter muscular injection since we start that tonight, although he's passing the job off to a friend of ours who is a nurse (thank God!) and then we sat and waited... after about 20 minutes of George acting like a total toddler in the room, messing with my bed, trying to look under my gown, pushing buttons, you get the idea, they finally came in and gave him his cup and took me away. I went into the OR and they got me situated and I was out like a light. Then about 20 minutes later they were wheeling me back into my room. It was over in a flash. The nurse told me they got 19 eggs and I just started crying. George was like "what's wrong, are you in pain?" and the sweet nurse said "no more like relief, it's pretty typical" LOL! She was exactly right. So now we start the game of waiting. The office will call us tomorrow to tell us how many eggs fertilized and then they'll watch them grow and decide if we will transfer them back on Wednesday or Friday. Hopefully we'll have enough fertilize and grow properly that we'll be able to freeze them for some future snowbabies! I'm off to rest for now, I'm having some light cramping which is totally normal but still uncomfortable. Nothing like staying in bed on a rainy day anyway! Thanks for all of your prayers, keep em' coming cause we're not done yet!

Friday, July 10, 2009

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!

So it looks like Sunday will be the day that they go in and retrieve my eggs! I went to the Dr. again this morning, 3rd time this week. I had more blood work and another ultra sound. The Dr. said my eggs look good and have progressed nicely. I'll do another shot tonight that will tell my body it's time to ovulate and then I go in on Sunday and they'll take the eggs out and fertilize them. Thanks to a little hint from Autumn (study showing better preg. rates with massage) George has agreed to buy me a massage package (I think he's just to lazy to massage me himself) so I'm going in for a massage tomorrow at 10:30 and then again the day before the transfer. Thanks Auti! Please more than every keep us in your prayers!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Egg Update;)

So I had a monitoring appointment today, basically the doctor does an ultra sound to check to see how my follicles are growing. He counted between 12 and 14 and they were all good sizes. He sent me home to do 2 more days of medications and then I go back on Thursday for another ultra sound. He said everything is progressing nicely and it looks like we'll do the retrieval either Saturday or Sunday! This means that they'll go in and take the eggs out and fertilize them with George's guys and then we'll wait 3-5 days to see how they're doing, which ones fertilized, and which ones are ready to make a home in my cozy uterus! LOL! Very excited and cautiously optimistic. Please keep praying for us!!!

And here are some pictures of me getting the shots for those of you creepers who just had to see it:) LOL!
































Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Another first...

Well I started the medication tonight that is going to make many, many eggs grow so we'll have a better chance of getting that baby we so hope for. I was kinda nervous about taking it, not because it's a shot but because it's something new and seemed somewhat complicated. I was told that I need to take it at the same time each day between 7 and 9 pm. I decided 7 would be best so that's what I was going to do. By the time I actually got everything ready it was 7:30 so I guess I'll be doing it at 7:30 each day. Here's how it works. I get 5 little vials, one is a liquid and the other 4 are powder form. I take a syringe with a GIANT needle and draw out 1cc of the liquid and reconstitute it into the first powder, then I swish it around a little bit (as Ashley helped remind me) then make sure to get ALL of the liquid back out of that vial to stick into the next one, repeat 3 more times. Once I've gotten everything out of the vials I get to take that huge needle off and put on a tiny one so I don't puncture an organ when I inject it into my stomach. The first vial I wasn't that great at and Ashley took over for me to make sure I got everything out. The next couple I did okay and I got everything where it needed to be... my tummy! I had an audience, Ashley, Autie, and Alison were my cheerleaders, actually come to think of it Al and Auti were pretty dead silent until it was all over:) LOL. I loved them being there though, knowing how it all works and being part of this crazy process. I know Ash really wanted to give me that shot but I felt more comfortable doing it myself the first time. I know I'll let her before I leave, she even said she'd wait until I was too sore in the tummy then she'd be happy to do it in my arm, what an awesome sister, can't wait to inflict the pain! Just kidding, it's her nursing instincts taking over! I guess that's all for now, hopefully I'll get a picture of that big needle soon and all the meds that go into it.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Blogging Virgin!

I'm going to attempt to journal this crazy ride George and I have embarked upon. I know some of you are interested in the craziness we are partaking in at the moment so I thought what better way to share our most personal, intimate moments than to send them out over the world wide web! LOL!

As all of you know we have been trying to start our family for awhile now and have just recently started the process known as IVF. That would be in-vitro fertilization for those of you hiding under a rock who have not heard the term. It is an expensive, scary process but one that we are running into head on. We want a baby that bad. Ya know, our own little person to screw up as we see fit. The first part of this process is the lovely giant bag of medications I've started taking. I'm posting a picture of said giant bag... well not actually the bag but the crap that came out of it. I was extremely overwhelmed when I first got it but I've gone through it and I'm good to go now. Right now I'm just taking the meds, they are okay, I've not had many side effects, one day of crazy hives, (they went away on their own, no anaphylactic shock or anything) I've been a little snippy, and somewhat emotional, but I guess that's to be expected since I'm pumping myself full of hormones! I'll start the meds that make my eggies grow next week and hopefully we'll be pregnant before July is over!