38 Weeks and we have a Preschooler!

Declan officially became a preschooler this week!  He had a great week in his new class and was reunited with his buddy from his old class, Elliot, who moved up a few months ago.  From everything I heard from the teachers and other staff, Declan had no issues jumping right in and wasn't the least bit uncomfortable with the move.  (So different from his mom who worries and has a hard time with change!)

Here are a few pics of his week:

He worked on letters, numbers, shapes and cutting and did an awesome job with each of the projects they worked on.  I'm in awe at his vocabulary and each day he surprises me with new words and phrases he knows. It is still so unbelievable to me that my baby boy is so grown up and that in a few short days he'll be 3 and soon after that a big brother.

Speaking of being a big brother, next week is the big week.  I had my 38 week checkup yesterday and everything is on track.  It was my last checkup before my induction next week.  Connor passed his last biophysical profile and my cervical check revealed I'm 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  He's happily hanging out and I really haven't felt contractions that have prompted me to think I'm heading into labor anytime soon. I did decide to take a bump pic again...only my second for this pregnancy.  I've never really been one to track my bump each week, but with knowing this is my last pregnancy, I wanted one more pic to document this journey.

 It's been a whirlwind 9 months, but really it's been a wild 4 years starting this IVF endeavor. I remember feeling so down after meeting with the fertility doc back in September 2017, feeling so excited learning I was pregnant with Declan in February 2018, feeling nervous about trying again in January 2021 and then being excited again learning my last frozen embryo became a successful pregnancy with baby Connor.  The best way to summarize the IVF journey is that sometimes the struggles make us stronger.

Baby R #2 - 37 weeks and an almost 3 year old

Here we are 37 weeks into pregnancy with Baby Connor and I have so many mixed emotions -- happy, sad, anxious, nervous, all rolled into one going into the last few weeks.

Happy because we're about to meet our second baby boy.  The joy that Declan has expressed and how excited he is to have a little brother just melts my heart.

Sad because in just a few weeks I'm not going to be able to protect this baby from everything going on in this crazy world once he's made his entrance. (Yes, I'm that kind of protective mom.)

Anxious because even though I have everything ready physically (bags packed, room prepped, clothes washed), I still question if I'm ready for two kids and how I'm going to spread my time between Declan and Connor and give them all of the love and support each of them will need each day.

Nervous because I just don't know what to expect with this labor and delivery.  And really, I'm hoping it is a smooth as my labor with Declan but I fear the unknown.

I've been going to the doctor every Friday since the beginning of the month and everything is going really well.  I've had ultrasounds the last 3 Fridays as well just to ensure that Connor isn't in distress and is growing as he should given my age and going through IVF.  He passed his first biophysical profile on the 10th with no issues.  Last week, on the 17th, he was being stubborn and wouldn't roll for the sonographer, which is one of the requirements for passing the procedure, so I had to have a non-stress test.  He passed the non-stress test with no issue.  In fact, the nurse had to sit with me the entire time to get the monitors to stay on my belly because he was so active.  This week, the 24th, he passed again with no issues but already I know I will have another little boy that does his own thing on his own timetable.

This week the doctor also set up my induction date.  Because of staffing and the number of people due to have babies in the month of October (mid-October is a busy time!), the doctor scheduled my induction for 39 weeks exactly.  That means, my induction date is set for Thursday, October 7th at 6 am.  One week earlier than when I thought I'd be having Connor so now it's becoming very real how soon he will be here.  I know anything can happen over the next 11 days but, like with Declan, my first thought is I'll be headed in on my induction date.  With Declan, I actually didn't see my induction date though as he came at 39 weeks and 1 day, but being induced at 39 weeks now, I'm fairly confident I'll be seeing my induction date first.

Along with our upcoming arrival, Declan's turning 3 on October 5th.  He's so smart and is getting ready to transition to the preschool classroom at his school this week.  Over the last 3 weeks, we've been working on potty training and he's done a great job.  He's about 96% trained, with only having a few accidents with #2 and a couple of accidents overnight, but most nights he stays dry.  I thought it would be much harder given how much he was against it a couple of months ago, but he's been a champ through it.  It also helps that he has a friend at school that is also potty training right now so they take bathroom breaks together throughout the day.  We did have to go out and buy Paw Patrol underwear because he wouldn't train without them but that was one battle I was willing to lose, even if we did have about 10 other pairs of non-Paw Patrol underwear already.

We had his 3 year old assessment completed by our local school district this past week and they are impressed with his knowledge and skill level.  She mentioned he seems mature for his age and is well spoken for not even being 3 years old yet.  We're working on him getting himself dressed and some other small fine motor skills but overall, he's such a smarty pants.

It's going to be an exciting and crazy next few weeks for our family!

Baby R #2 - Week 20

 I haven't posted much about baby #2 since our IVF/FET cycle, but here we are 20 weeks into pregnancy and we're moving right along.  I was pretty nauseous and really tired my entire first trimester, but thankfully that has all subsided.  I've been going to the doctor every 4 weeks since March and everything seems to be on track. At my March appointment, my doctor again recommended the genetic testing (same that I had with Declan) and we went forward with it. We got the results back and also found out the gender of our 2nd miracle -- we are having a BOY and estimated due date is 10/14/2021.

In early April, we surprised Declan with the news he was going to be a big brother and at first, he didn't have much to say about it.  Now, a few more months in, all he talks about is his baby brother.  In fact, he's talked so much about him, Declan's preschool finally asked me a few weeks ago if we were having another baby.  Declan also has named baby brother and we're on board with his decision.  Baby boy #2 will be named -- Connor.  Or as he has been affectionally calling him, Baby Connor.  He is absolutely thrilled now to be a big brother and can't wait for Connor to get here so he can play toys with him and teach him how to play hockey.  He also wants to go to the hospital and get a slushie -- the same thing Daddy did when Declan was born.  His innocence is the absolute sweetest!

Besides our family, who we told back around Easter, we have stayed pretty quiet. I finally told my bosses two weeks ago and they were super happy for us.  I told my team last week and they also were excited.  Since that time I've been telling more work people that we're expecting and really it's been more apparent these last few weeks as my belly is pretty noticeable now.

I didn't intend to wait so long but with a lot going on at work (more companies, more stress) and losing Kinny, I just needed time to get through some things.  I also wanted to figure out what exactly my plan was for maternity leave.  With Declan, I took 12 weeks off.  I didn't know if I could manage the 12 weeks again but wanted to come up with a plan for my bosses and team.  In typical Lindsay fashion, I'm more worried about everyone else than myself.

This Thursday, I had my 20 week anatomy scan and baby Connor is growing as expected and is perfect.  He weighs approximately 13 oz and its an active boy.  Throughout the scan he was moving all over and wasn't too happy with them trying to check all of his organs and appendages and made it clear with little punches in my belly, which we got to see in the scan.  He's an active boy and I've been feeling movement for a few weeks, again around Mother's Day, which was super special for me.

We're starting to get the nursery ready for Connor and also moving Declan to his "big boy" room.  I know Declan is going to be a great big brother and we're excited for the months ahead.

An excited Big Brother

Baby Connor

Two Week Wait Results

We made it through the two week wait from my FET and we received some positive news!  

Based upon my levels on Tuesday when I had my first blood test, I am pregnant.  I went back on Thursday to check my levels again and my hCG continue to rise so here we are expecting our second child.  It is still extremely early so we aren't saying anything to anyone just yet but it is exciting none the less.  I have my first checkup with my Fertility doc on Tuesday and this is where he we determine how things are going and set a due date.  Since my transfer was on January 26th, I'm expecting my due date to be set at October 14th.  This is 3 days after Declan's due date since his IVF transfer was 3 days before this one in 2018. 

My only concern if we are successful with this pregnancy, is possibly having kids with the same or super close birthdays.  I know whatever is going to happen will happen, but I'd hate for them to share a birthday.  Since this process isn't an easy one and I'm so very blessed to have one (and now two) miracles, I'd like for their birthdays to be uniquely their own, but really beggars can't be choosers can they?  We will work with whatever life throws at us.

We haven't mentioned anything to Declan yet and probably will wait for a few more weeks because he is at that age where he will tell anything he knows and while we're not ready to tell our families just yet, he may spill the beans for us before we're ready.  I am thinking about cute ways to tell him and then have him tell our families.

Speaking of Declan, he's had a fun week at school preparing for Valentine's day.  We got his treat bags and Valentines ready early in the week along with a box of chocolates for his teacher.  He was so excited to bring his gifts to his class and asked each day if it was time for his party.  He had spirit week and there was a theme for each day which he loved as well.  He's growing and talking by leaps and bounds and I couldn't love this boy more than I already do.  He brings so much joy to me and really he kept me from getting into my head too much over the last few weeks.  Our nighttime cuddles and singing Brown Bear and the ABCs to him before bedtime are two of the little things I cherish right now.  He's growing up so fast!

Here are a few pics of Declan's week:

My smiley boy enjoying "Sports Day" at school

Passing out Valentine's Treats for his friends.

I saved this for the caption. He has the sweetest heart!

So excited to open his Valentine's Box from GG and G-pa Roberts!

Enjoying a cookie pizza for National Pizza Day!

Transfer Day 2021 - Day 19

Today is Transfer Day! 

Such an emotional day for so many reasons but I'm happy to report that we were able to transfer our one remaining embryo first thing this morning.  Similar to the morning of transfer day in 2018, I got up and did a 30 minute workout.  Rather than hitting the gym, I went downstairs and hopped on the Max Trainer. It was nice to be able to get some sort of activity as I was anxious and I hadn't actually been able to sleep very well.  I showered, D administered my progesterone injection and then we got Declan up for school and went along with our typical morning routine.

My appointment was scheduled for 8 am so we dropped Declan off, came home and gathered my meds and paperwork and headed off to the FP office.  Because of the pandemic and medical facilities being extra precautious, D couldn't go into the office with me but I did want to have him there for moral support so he sat in the hallway throughout the process.  I sat in the waiting room for about 10 minutes until they called me back to get changed and prepared for the transfer.  I was the 2nd transfer of the morning so my Fertility Coordinator went over the paperwork and told me to sit tight and continue to drink my water until the 1st transfer was complete.  I was nervous about my water consumption. The last transfer my bladder wasn't full enough by the time it was my turn and then it was too full, but I drank as much as I could and I was feeling really uncomfortable.  I said it the last time and I'll say it again, that is the possibly the worst part of this whole process.  I got used to the injections, transvaginal ultrasounds, and back in 2018 the egg retrieval but the feeling that your bladder is going to explode from so much liquid is insane.  Thankfully, when I got situated onto the table and my Coordinator checked my bladder, it was exactly where it needed to be. Whew, that's exactly the news I wanted to hear!

While she went to get the doctor for the transfer, the embryologist Michelle reviewed my name, birthday and confirmed we had one embryo to transfer.  She informed me that they did assisted hatching with the embryo before the transfer which could help with implantation. She then went to prepare the catheter while the doctor came in to complete his pre-transfer checklist and set the outer catheter for the implantation. And when that was all complete, we were ready for implantation!  I watched on the screen as the doc, set everything in place and implanted my lone embryo.  I sat on the table for another minute or two and the doctor again warmed up his hands, placed them on my abdomen and told me to be positive.  This whole process is such an exciting and emotional experience! I was in the Transfer room for about 0-15 minutes and then I was free to empty my bladder and get dressed. Once dressed my Coordinator told me that the next step is to wait these two weeks and see what happens.  I have two scheduled blood draws on February 9th and February 11th and from those we'll know if our family will be expanding.

I met D out in the hallway and we headed down to the car to spend the rest of the day together, trying to be positive but also realistic.  I had one request for our ride home.  We needed to stop at Chic-Fil-A for chicken biscuits.  It was our after transfer snack in 2018 and I wanted to keep with tradition.  We hardly ever go out and get breakfast and we hadn't had a chicken biscuit from Chic-Fil-A since our transfer in 2018.

Once home, D wanted to go to the gym and since the doctor told me to stay active today, I decided to go and walk on a treadmill for another 30 minutes.  Nothing strenuous but just something to keep myself moving.  This afternoon, we're going to try to tackle a few things around our house.  It's very rare we have a day off at home without having our schedules booked.  I wasn't able to take any time off of work around Christmas and the two days we had at Thanksgiving were filled with holiday preparations so today will be our day to just do some random stuff we've been meaning to do for months.  Ultimately we need to keep our minds going and just hope and pray for the best.

Here are a few pics from the morning:

My Transfer Day Selfie (pandemic style - that's my mask on my neck) --

Our sweet little embryo preparing for transfer --

Our transferred embryo (the dates on the ultrasound are from my patient file, the actual transfer date is 01/26/2021) -- 

Finally, I'm jotting this down here and quite possibly I've mentioned this before but I know some people will question why we decided to do this during the pandemic and I know I don't have to justify our decisions, but I'm going to explain why we decided to do this now rather than wait.  The biggest reason for moving forward now is due to my age.  I'm not getting any younger and if I want for this transfer to at least have some sort of shot with working, I knew it was now or never.  Never was not an option as we knew we would try to use whatever viable leftover embryos we had from 2018 when we completed our transfer in 2018.  After implanting 2 to have Declan, we had one remaining embryo of a decent grade.

Pregnancy is not easy on anyone but being of "advanced maternal age" or having what is considered a "geriatric pregnancy" is a risk in itself.  If I could go back and change the timeline of my life, maybe I wouldn't be pushing 38 and attempting to have a second child, but I tried to be responsible and it took me some time to find someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and actually have a family with.  If people ask why didn't I wait to get the vaccine until we started this process and here is my answer for that -- I'm at the bottom of the list for the COVID vaccine, as I should be as I'm fairly healthy and even though I work in an essential industry, I can keep to myself in my office which not many people can say they can do.  Waiting for the vaccine, could have added another 6-9 months to this process for me and with age/time not on my side, we jumped at the chance to get on our Fertility office's calendar.  While I can't say I'm protected against COVID, I've tried to take as many precautions as I could to ensure we could go through this process.  Do I hate that my husband couldn't be at any of my fertility appointments and couldn't watch the transfer today?  Yes, but my hope is that if we do end up pregnant, we can have a somewhat normal labor and delivery in 40 or so weeks.

So there is my explanation and some people will choose to disagree with me but again I'd remind these people that they are not living in our shoes and they probably don't realize we gave this so much thought before even calling the FP office to set up the visit to talk about our options.

Anywho, I'll update again soon!

A Holiday Update and So Much More

 Oh what a month we've had....we made it through the Christmas and New Years and have been trying to figure out what's in store for 2021.

Let's recap our Christmas first -- we again stayed home for Christmas and celebrated at our house. Christmas Eve we "Zoomed" with Dustin's family and made pizzas.  We opened the gifts we shipped to each other on our Zoom and made the best of our holiday apart.  We set out our cookies and milk for Santa and waited patiently for Christmas morning.  Christmas morning, my mom and Michael got to our house early so that they could see what Santa brought Declan.  We ate casseroles I prepared for breakfast and then opened our family gifts.  Overall it was a day where we just relaxed and played with our new toys.  Santa brought Declan a tent, garbage truck and a Mr. Potato Head.

We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side on the 26th and while we were hesitant to all get together for Thanksgiving, we decided to have a semi-outdoor socially distanced Christmas together in Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve's heated garage.  We hadn't seen everyone since Declan's birthday back in October so it was good to get together. Declan has so much fun playing with Abigail and Henry and showed off just how smart he's gotten lately.

Christmas with my dad's side also allowed me to catch up with my sister-in-law. While Kahla and I don't get much of a chance to talk regularly, I cherish the times we do get the time to talk.  I trust her and know I'm lucky to have her as a confidant. We sat away from the rest of the fam and talked about the last few months, including how she was feeling after a COVID-19 diagnosis, how married life is going for both of us, and our fertility journeys. I also filled Kahla in on something I'd been holding onto for weeks....we went back to our fertility clinic to see about the options for using our remaining frozen embryo. 

Back on October 20th, we set up an appointment with the FP office to talk to the doctor.  The doctor and embryologist reviewed my chart and thought that if I wanted to use the embryo, I probably could.  They could not be sure that it would result in another child but if we wanted to implant it, we were free to do so.  The embryo has a quality of BB and with me being 34 when it was frozen, it may be of better quality that if the decided to retrieve additional eggs at 37. We made the decision to get on the list for the next open FET cycle, which happened to be January.

So we started the protocol in December with more birth control to get my cycle regulated and on January 8th, I started the fertility meds for the FET.  The thing that is different with the FET (frozen embryo transfer) compared to the egg retrieval and fresh transfer I went through back in January 2018 is that I don't have to do the stim shots as I did before. This time, I'm on a steroid (Prednisone) and two Estrogen hormones (pills and gels).  I had my first monitoring appointment this past Tuesday (01/12) and met with my fertility coordinator and the doctor. My ultrasound showed that my lining was where it needed to be and in the words of my doctor, my uterus is excellent.

I go back for a second monitoring this Tuesday (01/19) and start my progesterone oil shots and we're scheduled for the FET on Tuesday, January 26th.

Again, besides talking to Kahla about deciding to pursue the FET, we haven't said anything to anyone.  We're going to wait awhile to see how everything turns out and then tell our families about our journey. Personally, I am fine with whatever happens.  Just like when I went through this journey with Declan, I know everything is in God's plan.  I'm so grateful and lucky for my miracle son.

I'm hoping to be able to update more on the FET process over the next few weeks but it all depends on how much time and energy I actually have to do so. Life with a 2 year old and my full time job can be absolutely insane somedays and by the time I sit down, I'm usually asleep 5 minutes after that.

He's Here!!!

My induction was scheduled for this evening but we won't be keeping that appointment. Declan decided to make his entrance into the world on Friday night at 11:40 pm after 6 or so hours of labor.  While my labor was considered short, it was extremely eventful and a truly emotional experience.

So, let's start at the beginning.....I had my last doctor's appointment and ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon. At the ultrasound Declan passed all of the biophysical profile requirements and was right on target for his gestational age of 38 weeks and 6 days. We didn't get any ultrasound pics because he was so low in my pelvis and most of the pics would be mostly unidentifiable. The ultrasound tech told us that while we didn't get any pics, we'd see our boy soon enough since I really only had 8 days until my due date. After my ultrasound, I saw my doctor and she did a cervical check and determined I was still 1 cm dilated but I was nearly completely thinned out. My belly was measuring 39 weeks, which was also on track. We talked about my scheduled induction and went over a few things before leaving the office. The last thing my doctor said to me before leaving the room was that if Declan decided to come early, she was on call all weekend at the hospital and would be the one delivering Declan.  I just laughed it off and told her I'd see her at my induction.

Thursday started out like any other day and weeknight. We got home from work and D and I went to workout for 30 or so minutes. After our workout we made dinner and sat down to watch the Blues season opening game. We talked about the upcoming weekend and were planning one last date night on Saturday before Declan's arrival.  Our date night was going to consist of dinner at Olive Garden because I was craving soup and salad and D wanted the never ending pasta bowl....I know, we're wild and crazy! Around 9:30 pm, as we were watching the 3rd period of the Blues game, I felt a gush of something.  I thought I accidentally went to the bathroom on myself and ran down the hall to take care of that. It was a strange feeling but I didn't think my water broke.  I spent another 15-20 minutes in both bathrooms dealing with a few more gushes. I just thought it was my mucous plug and decided to just put on a sanitary pad and head to bed for the night.

I got up multiple times during the night and was soaked each time I got up. It was starting worry me some but I wasn't sure what to expect so I tried to research it a bit in the middle of the night.  Still not convinced it was my bag of water, I got up the next morning, showered and went to work, still feeling the small gushes every 20-30 minutes.

I had quite a bit to work to finish up and a conference call with our biggest customer but still wasn't feeling 100% right. I thought about coming home in the afternoon and just trying to take it easy but D convinced me to call the doctor to see if I needed to come in, in case it was something major. I called the doctor's office at lunchtime and they told me given the fact I was 39 weeks and 1 day along, I should probably go to Labor and Delivery to be checked out, so I sent a quick email to my boss to let him know I was leaving for the day and off to the hospital I went.

They set me up in Triage, put the monitors on me and started a few tests to determine if I was leaking amniotic fluid or if it was just mucous.  After 3 hours in Triage, they determine I had a ruptured amniotic sac and I was going to be admitted into the hospital and I would be having a baby sooner rather than later!

I was moved to a room around 4 pm on Friday where they hooked me back up to monitors and started my IV of fluids.  Around 4:30 pm, they started the Pitocin and we were off! I texted all of my family to let them know what was going on and everyone was crazy excited. My mom, step-dad, dad and step-mom all started heading toward the hospital to be there for support.

Each half an hour they increased my Pitocin and I was feeling alright and my contractions were bearable until around 8:30 pm. At that point, I hit a wall and my contractions became super strong. I asked for my epidural and was set to get it when all hell broke loose in Labor and Delivery and the Anesthesiologists headed towards the OR for other emergency C-sections. I was still only dilated to 1 cm but the contractions were extremely intense and the nurses explained that I'd get my epidural as soon as everything slowed down. Unfortunately things did not slow down in Labor and Delivery for quite some time and at 10 pm, I still hadn't received my epidural and I felt like I was dying from the pain of the contractions. At that point, they again checked to see how dilated I was, which was still 1 cm so they offered me an IV pain medication, Stadol. This made me extremely tired when I wasn't in the middle of a contraction but it did help take the edge off and allowed me to rest. Around 10:30 pm, the Anesthesiologist finally arrived to administer my epidural. I was in such pain that it made it difficult to sit still for them to insert the catheter into my back and I had to rely heavily on the nurses as they made my family leave the room.  About 10:45 pm, they finally had the epidural set.  I was hoping this would be the answers to my laboring prayers but unfortunately it was too little too late for me.  I, somehow, went from 1 cm to 10 cm in less than an hour and once I hit 10, it was time for me to push. The epidural did not have time to work through my system and I virtually had to deliver via a natural birth.  At 11 pm, I started pushing and began the final descent into motherhood.  It was an unbelievable amount of pain and pressure and with each contraction and push, I felt weaker and weaker and just wanted for it all to be over. Between breathing, pushing, resting, breathing, pushing, resting, I was exhausted. I remember yelling at one point, "just get him out of me!"

At 11:40 pm after only 40 minutes of pushing, Declan James arrived weighing 7 lbs 3 ozs and measuring 20 inches long.

I have never felt such happiness and joy and it was an unbelievable miracle! They laid him on my chest as soon as he was born for immediate skin to skin and I couldn't stop crying. I was so overjoyed and couldn't believe that after 9 months, I finally had my baby boy! It truly was the most amazing experience I've ever faced even if it was scary and quite painful.

We spent a good part of Saturday being checked out by the doctors and trying to get acclimated to our new life. The hospital completed his assessments late Saturday night as soon as Declan was 24 hours old and he passed with flying colors. Sunday was much of the same and we were released around 4:30 that afternoon to head home and start our new life together as a family.

We're slowly adjusting to life with a newborn but I can tell you, I have never felt this much love for a human being. He's the most perfect, sweetest little boy and I'm so happy to have him here with us. I pinch myself daily at how lucky I am to be able to be this little guy's mama and I can't wait to see what our future holds.

Baby R -- week 38 update and our quarantined Kinny

In less than 2 weeks we will be meeting our little boy!  It is so hard to believe that one year ago we were trying to figure out what we were going to do when we found out from the fertility doc that I had very few follicles and ultimately was diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve.  I still am pinching myself with how lucky I've been throughout these 9 months and I'm so glad we made the decision to pursue IVF even if it was a scary thought at first.

So what's been up the last two weeks....
Kinny had her Radiocat Iodine I-131 treatment and came through like a champ. She's been quarantined in our guest bedroom and we've had very little interaction with her. It's been hard but I know that it is best and she's on the road to recovery. We'll take her back to the vet on Thursday to have a 2 week Geiger check and then she'll have to see her regular vet in 2 more weeks for T4 bloodwork and renal panels.  She's been eating and taking her meds and overall seems to be back to normal. *fingers crossed*

As for baby Declan, I had my 37 week appointment on Wednesday, September 19th and we had an ultrasound scheduled along with my normal prenatal appointment to check on his weight and stats. Having gone through IVF and being of Advanced Maternal Age, my doctor wanted to make sure everything was on track. The ultrasound went well as did the Biophysical profile. Declan's estimated weight was 6 lbs 2 ounces and he was mostly on track for all of his measurements.
I was only scheduled to have the ultrasound at noon and then was supposed to come back at 5 pm for my actual prenatal appointment but the doctor was able to fit me in before I had to head back to work.  Everything seemed fine with the ultrasound and the appointment but after I left, the doctor reviewed all of the results and saw Declan's heartbeat all over the place from the multiple times they checked it and as I was on my way back to work, she called and ordered me to go to the hospital for a Non-Stress test to ensure the baby wasn't in distress. Let me tell you, that was one of the scariest calls I've endured. I turned my car around and headed to the hospital where they hooked me up to monitor the baby's heartbeat for 30 minutes. Thankfully Declan's heartbeat settled and was as perfect as it could be according to the L&D nurse taking care of me. Turns out that my lack of eating most likely caused the erratic heartbeats. Work was absolutely insane that day and I missed out on my morning snack and then had to leave for the doctor at lunchtime so I hadn't eaten since 6:30 in the morning. I learned my lesson and I've been making sure that no matter how busy it is, I need to take the time to eat my snacks and lunch on time so that we do not have any problems these last few weeks.  It also helps that the Ultrasound tech was able to change my remaining ultrasounds to 4:30 pm rather than at lunchtime.

On Friday, September 21st, D's office threw him a surprise baby shower in the office and I was lucky enough to get to join in on the surprise.  We got so many great gifts from all of his co-workers and they had a cute cupcake cake for us. D was definitely surprised! It was so hard keeping the secret from him because I tell him everything but I am super happy I was able be there for the celebration and not ruin it for him!

This week I had my 38 week appointment and had another ultrasound and prenatal appointment. D was able to go with me this week and see Declan on the ultrasound. My doctor also scheduled my induction date -- October 10th at 6 pm. My doctor expects that I'll come in and get prepped and I'll most likely be in labor for most of the 11th. While I'm a bit anxious about labor and delivery, I'm more worried about taking care of my little boy once we bring him home. In the hospital we will have a crew of nurses helping us and when we get home, we'll have to get acclimated to a newborn and figuring out a schedule that works for all of us.

This past week I also turned in my final work schedule to my boss. My official last day will be the 10th at noon and I'll return on January 3rd. I'm hoping to have everything set at work so that I can take off with little to no issue and enjoy every minute with Declan and Kinny.  Work has been so crazy that I don't know what to expect but I can only hope for the best.

I have one more ultrasound and prenatal appointment scheduled for this upcoming week before the big day!  Hopefully we'll have everything ready in time for D day!

Baby R -- week 36 update and Kinny update

Here we are at week 36!! Our little guy is the size of a large cantaloupe and is approximately 19-22 inches in length and weighing in at 6 lbs. I am still in disbelief how quickly this pregnancy has gone. It seems like not so long ago I was taking my stim shots and hoping for a positive outcome and now we're down to 26 days until my due date.
I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Wednesday night after work. As soon as I got to the doctor's office, I was told my doc had to head to a delivery at the hospital and that there would be about a 45 minute delay. I didn't have a problem waiting so I just sat down and waiting for D who was on his way. About 15 minutes into the wait, the nurses came back to tell us it would be about an hour until the doctor would be back to the office. Again, I had no problem waiting. It was much easier for me to wait than to try to reschedule around work. So I sat there on my phone and talking to the other women waiting to see the doctor while D came home to feed Kinny and check on her. D got back just in time for my appointment and in we went to see the the doc. At this appointment I had my group B strep screening. The doctor also checked to see if I was dilated and checked on the baby's position. Thankfully Declan is head down and surprisingly I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is thinner than what the doctor expected for a first time mom.  Both were good signs and the doctor thinks this will help my labor and delivery. *fingers crossed*
Next week, I'm scheduled to have an ultrasound before my appointment. It will be the first ultrasound since late June and I can't wait to see Declan's growth and all of features now that we're nearing the end of pregnancy.  I'm convinced Declan will look like Dustin when he's born.

This past week we also had a visit for Kinny to determine the game plan for her hyperthyroidism. I called the specialty vet office and they told me that the treatment she needed wasn't something that they did and I needed to call the only vet in St. Louis that offers the Radiocat Iodine I-131 treatment. Luckily, this specialty clinic is close to my office and we were able to get an appointment on Friday morning.  Yesterday morning we went in for our consultation with the doctor.  The doctor reviewed Kinny's medical history and checked her out and feels she's a good candidate for the Radiocat Iodine I-131 treatment.  We've set up the treatment for this Tuesday and she will be in isolation at the clinic until Thursday because she'll have a high level of radioactivity due to the treatment. I hate that she will be in isolation and even worse for me when she gets home because she will have to be isolated away from me in our guest bedroom for 2 weeks since I'm pregnant. D will be in charge of taking care of Kinny exclusively for the next 2 weeks and can have limited time with her while the rest of the radioactivity declines. I'm sure this will be harder on me than on Kinny but I just hate that I won't be able to cuddle with her and the fact that she won't be able to leave the guest room when she usually has free reign of our whole house. I am a nervous wreck but I want my girl to be healthy! We're staying positive and are hopeful that this will help our sweet Kinny girl!

Baby R -- week 35 update

It's been a whirlwind few weeks for us and thankfully we're still plugging along in spite of all of the craziness we've been facing.
This week our little boy is the size of a canary melon and according to my app, he's 19-22 inches long and approximately 5.5 lbs. He's still quite the active boy!  I constantly feel some part of him moving and grooving!  Starting this week, I'm visiting the doctor weekly until Declan is born. It's unimaginable that in just 5 short weeks we will be able to hold our miracle. Right now I'm a wave of emotions....excited and happy to finally meet him, scared to experience labor and delivery and worried I won't know how to care for my child once he makes his entrance into the world. It's been so easy to keep him protected in utero, I just hope I can do the same once he's out in the real world. This upcoming week we'll do a strep-B test and weeks 37, 38 and 39 I'll have ultrasounds to make sure everything is on point for delivery. Week 39 is also when we'll set up an induction date in case Declan doesn't arrive by his due date. Being 35, means I have a few more hurtles to jump to ensure that we have a healthy baby and my doctor won't let me go beyond my due date to ensure that we avoid some of the known medical issues for mothers of "advanced maternal age."

So over the last few weeks, D and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary and made a trip to Michigan for our Michigan family baby shower. We had a great time seeing everyone and got a lot of amazing gifts from our family and friends. We also got to spend a few days visiting with family and also visited the MSU Dairy Store for an afternoon ice cream date. We had one little hiccup when the rental SUV we had got a flat tire. We tried to take it back to the rental facility to have the swap out the SUV and unfortunately they did not have another SUV of similar size to replace it with but they could give us a compact car. At 7+ months pregnant, this was not the thing to tell me especially when we made the trip up with a bigger car since we were having our baby shower. Thankfully we were able to find a tire shop to plug where 2 nails caused the flat.
The baby shower was a success. It was far more over the top than what I had expected but we had a great time. Here are a few pics from our trip:

D's favorite gift, the Tula. He even convinced Eli to go for a ride!

After our trip to Michigan, the next weekend we attended Kirchenfest where D kept up his annual tradition of bartending at the picnic. I unfortunately was hit with Sciatica and was in severe back pain not only that day but for about 2 and a half weeks. I've heard some pregnant women face this in the 3rd trimester and while I was lucky to not have many other pregnancy issues, this one took the cake for me. I'm so glad that this week I've finally started feeling better and can walk almost normally again.

Last weekend was Labor Day and we had a huge to-do list to complete to get ready for Declan's arrival. We spent the entire weekend cleaning our house, buying the last of the baby essentials, packing my hospital bag, getting our carseats installed at the hospital, washing all of Declan's clothes, bedding, blankets, etc.
On top of that we had a medical scare with Kinny and spent part of the weekend visiting both the vet and the emergency pet hospital. Back at the end of July, we took Kinny in for her visit to the cardiologist for a echocardiogram follow up for her heart murmur. During that appointment they determined she has hyperthyroidism and would need meds to help her heart, blood pressure and thyroid get back to normal. We'd been giving her the meds, even with her putting up a fight some days but she seemed to be doing better. Last Sunday, she was extremely lethargic and not eating or drinking and it scared us. We got her into her vet in hopes that it was something easy and as our luck would have it, it was not. Her fever was super high and they recommended we get her into the emergency pet hospital ASAP. We drove straight there where they started tests to figure out what was wrong. It was so sad for us as we had to leave her there overnight for observation. A pregnant lady should never have to do such a thing...I was a basket-case. Kinny is my first baby and all I wanted was for her to be back to her normal, happy, sweet self.
We got to pick her up on Monday after they determined that she had a reaction to her thyroid medicine. We got antibiotics because her white blood cell count was super low and told that we needed to follow up with her vet in a few days and consider another therapy for her hyperthyroidism.
While she still wasn't eating much, she did seem to perk up as the week progressed and her counts were back to normal when we went to her follow up appointment on Thursday afternoon. We do still need to address her hyperthyroidism issue and the therapy they recommend since meds are not an option is Radiocat Iodine 131. That means she'd have to have radiation and be quarantined for a week because this treatment would make her radioactive. I'm beyond nervous and scared not only for the treatment but the fact that I can't see or touch my girl for at least that long. Not only that, but with being pregnant, I don't know what else this means for us. Obviously she needs the treatment sooner rather than later but we have a human child coming in less than 5 weeks and the thought of her being sick and me being pregnant these last few weeks is nerve-wracking. This week I'm faced with talking to my doctor about Kinny's treatment and what it means for me and then getting back with the specialty vet and figuring out when to start her treatment.
She still is the absolute best girl ever and we'll do everything we can to make sure she stays healthy.
I snapped a few pics of her helping us with prepping for her brother over the last few weeks:

Testing out the bed and sheets to make sure they are up to Declan's standards

Inspecting all of the baby essentials we picked up

We thought it was stressful for us 3 years ago switching jobs, buying our house and getting married all in a span of 3 months but I think everything going on now has been harder on us but somehow we'll find a way to get through it all!

This weekend has been a bit more normal and I was able to make a few freezer meals for postpartum and take care of some of the smaller items left on our list. I also have spent a good amount of time just cuddling with my girl and getting some much needed rest.

Baby R -- week 31 update

Week 31 is here!  Declan is the size of a coconut at approximately 3.2 lbs and should start gaining weight rapidly as we head towards the final weeks.
I started the week at work thinking it would be another normal week. We have weekly department meetings on Monday mornings and I was busily preparing my notes for the meeting and didn't realize the rest of the team left their desks beforehand. I scrambled thinking I was running late to my own meeting at 8:15 only to find that they had thrown me a surprise diaper party and breakfast in our conference room. They had the conference room decorated with blue and while streamers and balloons and everyone wore blue to celebrate my little boy! I, of course, wore a pink and white day and was completely taken by surprise. The entire team pitched in a bought different size diapers and all contributed to breakfast which consisted of french toast bake, an egg bake, a fruit tray and an assortment of fruit juices. It felt extremely nice to be honored and have my little boy celebrated by my work team.
Later on in the day, the HR department sent out an email to the entire office and we celebrated with cake for everyone else also.  We got the cutest little stuff animal toy book and gift card along with the cake.

Wednesday night after work we had our last childbirth class and we can proudly say we graduated from childbirth class! I'm not sure if that makes me completely ready for labor, delivery and a newborn but I do feel more comfortable.  After class, we brought home all of our handouts and booklets and Kinny started studying up so she's ready for her brother's arrival too.

Friday afternoon I had my 31 week doctor's appointment. I'm still measuring on track and Declan's heart rate was 133 bpm. He's still super active and having fun with the kick counts Mommy is tracking. It's so amazing feeling him moving around and I'm still in disbelief that I've been able to grow a human life inside of me. I head back in 2 weeks for another appointment where we'll talk about my options for delivery and put together a preliminary birth plan. For me, the birth plan is important but I want my doctor to do whatever she feels is necessary for me to have a healthy baby given my age and going through IVF, so my birth plan is going to be very flexible.
On my way back to work, I had the unfortunate luck of driving through the flipped truckload of rotten hot dogs on the highway. Of course all 3 lanes of the highway were covered with this mess so I couldn't avoid it. At first, I thought it was manure but it was slippery and extremely smelly and was really hard to drive through. I didn't find out until I got home that evening that it was actually rotten hot dogs and now we can't get the smell out from underneath my car.  I'm hoping it will eventually just wear off but being pregnant and it being super hot outside, the smell is disgusting.

Yesterday I had a hair appointment downtown and D was super nice to drive me down there.  Afterwards we had a date lunch at Hi-Pointe Drive In. We're huge fans of Sugarfire Smokehouse and Hi-Pointe didn't disappoint us! It was also perfect since my biggest craving through this pregnancy has been a burger. I didn't get a picture of D and I but here's D enjoying his bacon cheeseburger.

After our lunch we went grocery shopping and while we were checking out at Trader Joe's the cashier noticed all of the cookie butter in our cart. Cookie butter is a favorite of D's so we stock up when we shop there. She asked if that was my craving seeing I was pregnant. I told her no but it was D's favorite and that my little guy craves meat. She then says, "whoa, you look like you're going to pop! When are you due?" I told her not until October 11th and she comments, "are you sure it's not twins?" I assured her it wasn't but WOW!....way to make a pregnant lady feel better! I've only gained 20 lbs so far this pregnancy, with nothing gained in the last 2 weeks and really all of my weight seems to be in my belly.  I guess that's why I look like I'm going to pop even if we still have a few months left. Thankfully I'm still very healthy and everything is going as planned!

Baby R -- week 29 update

Here we are in week 29 and Declan is now the size of a small cabbage, measuring 17 inches and 2.9 lbs according to the What to Expect app.
Wednesday, July 25th was the 4th Annual Bump Day. A day to celebrate bumps everywhere and promote healthy pregnancies. I participated by sharing this pic on Instagram and Twitter.
We took this pic Wednesday morning before work in Declan's room.

28 weeks, 6 days! Can't wait to meet my little boy!

It's funny to me looking at this pic, because it doesn't seem like my bump is that big yet but as I look in the mirror each morning, it seems like my bump is huge! As I keep telling D, our mirrors must be skewed.  Ha!
I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment Wednesday evening after work but I got a call Wednesday afternoon letting me know that my doctor would need to reschedule as she had other patients in Active Labor. I completely understood and realized that could be me in a few months and rescheduled for Thursday morning.

On Thursday, I drove to the hospital for my appointment and everything went well.  My bump is measuring right on track at 29 weeks, which is exactly where I should have been on Thursday. My weight is also on track (I've gained 20 lbs since the beginning of IVF) and my blood pressure is in a normal range.  Declan's heartbeat was still really strong in the 150 bpm range. I got my Dtap vaccine protecting me from diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, which is extremely important since whooping cough can be dangerous to our little guy. The doctor also recommended that D get the vaccine as well, which ironically he did when he had his work physical on Tuesday. We'll both be protected and protecting our son when we bring him home from the hospital.
While I was at my appointment, I also asked my doctor about labor and delivery and tried to get a better idea of what I want to do for delivery. Natural birth, epidural, or local anesthesia...there is so much to think about and decide which is best for me. She gave me some good information that will hopefully help with the decision. She also informed me about the possibility of having to have a C section and when she'd make the call to bring me back to the OR if that was necessary. We also went over if I need to be induced and at 39 weeks, she'll put me on the schedule for induction but if I go into labor before that, then that's even better.  Either way, I will have to deliver in week 40 due to my advanced maternal age.

I'm still feeling really good and am super lucky that everything is going well and on track! We're working to finish up a few things around our house and then we'll focus on getting ready for our little boy's arrival!

Baby R -- week 28 update

We've made it to the 3rd trimester and our little boy is the size of a cauliflower this week and should be around 2.5 lbs. He's so very active and we're only a few short months away from meeting our precious little one!

Since my last post, I found out the results of my 3 hour Glucose test that I took on July 7th and thankfully I passed with flying colors! One less thing for us to worry about right now as we enter the home stretch. We also started our birthing classes on the 11th and we've had 2 classes so far. The first class focused on labor and this week's class focused on delivery and positioning. We have a week off before we talk about inducing and C-sections and then our last class will focus on life with a newborn. It really has been super helpful attending these classes and it has opened my eyes to things I hadn't even thought about! Week one of class we also got to tour the hospital and the L&D floors. While we weren't sure if we would deliver at this hospital (since it's not my doc's main hospital, just a hospital where she has privileges), it gave us a chance to review the pros and cons of using this hospital. Yesterday, we went and toured my doctor's home hospital and learned about their practices for L&D also. While I've known and felt pregnant for this entire journey, yesterday it really hit me that soon enough I will be delivering this sweet boy and I'm not sure if I'm really prepared yet. We saw a premature baby in the Special Care Unit and he was so teeny tiny. That's what really made me think. People always say you're never totally prepared to have a child and I totally get that now. Obviously D and I had fertility issues which prolonged us getting to this point but I really thought, "oh, I'm in my mid-thirties, I'm financially prepared, I'm responsible, I've got this under control" and then you see such a small human being and I turned to putty and started thinking, "How are we going to care for such a tiny person?," "How will we know what to do to keep him happy and healthy?," "What if I can't breastfeed due to the infertility we faced?" "What if I'm not a good mom?"  I know it's all just pre-delivery jitters but it really made me anxious.
I also have to start thinking about what I want to do in Labor and Delivery.  Do I want a natural birth or an Epidural? I know everything can change but I want to at least have my birth plan mostly figured out so I'm not completely stressed entering the hospital. I'm torn between natural and using meds. While I'd like to think I could have a baby naturally, I'm just not 100% confident in that yet. I hope to use some of the relaxation techniques I've learned in childbirth class but will labor be too much for me? There is so much to consider and I need to figure out what exactly will be best for me, D and baby Declan.

In other news, we had our St. Louis baby shower last Saturday and while it was a lot of work getting everything ready, the shower was a huge success! The shower was co-ed and we had 25 guests attend. We had so much food, the games were a lot of fun, I enjoyed talking to all of our friends and family and we got a lot of great gifts!
We had everyone complete baby predictions and advice cards for us too.  Probably my favorite game was our Name That Baby game. We had 10 pictures of D and I as babies and everyone had to guess who was who. My mom, dad and aunt were not allowed to play since they should have known the pictures but we had everyone else play and the answers were so funny! No one else got 100% but my step dad and uncle came close with 9.

Here are a few more pics from our celebration.

The cute cupcakes!

Chocolates handmade by my Mom

My brother helping with the food setup

The prizes and the games

All the wonderful gifts!

The Grandparents

My future sis and me

Our niece and nephew with their homemade pictures for Declan's room

Gifts from my cousin Nicole - we have a future Sparty and Blues fan!

The Proud Dad to Be!

While the day of our shower was a long day, we opted not to try to put everything away once we got home. Thankfully we could just sit it in Declan's room until we were ready to tackle putting everything in its place. We opted to do that this weekend and found a home for everything for the time being. I'm sure we'll change spots once Declan is home and I realize no matter how organized I thought I was, there are more convenient spots for some of the everyday essentials.

This week I have another doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon. It's my last monthly appointment before I start seeing my doctor every two weeks until we hit 36 weeks and then the visits will be weekly. I'm still feeling really good and do not have any complaints about any common pregnancy issues. I've also been able to keep up with my workouts which I'm hoping will help me in labor and delivery with the contractions and pushing.  Overall though, I've been extremely lucky!

Baby R -- week 26 update

Here we are at week 26 and our baby is the size of an eggplant and weighs about 2 lbs. We're still plugging along and getting ready for our little guy's arrival.
This week we got Declan's dresser delivered and with the 4th of July holiday on Wednesday, we were able to start putting it together.  While it took a few nights to complete, we can happily report it is mostly finished...minus the back which we need a few more hands to help hold up and screw in.
While we were putting together the dresser, our helper decided to test out her brother's crib to make sure it was up to his standards. She gives it 3 paws up! I can only imagine what it will be like when Declan is here.  I'm guessing she will be in his room constantly checking on him!

She also inspected our work on the dresser when it was complete and gave us her seal of approval on that as well.

Having the extra day off for the holiday was extremely helpful this week.  It allowed us to get more of the baby shower preparations complete and also take care of many of our regular errands.  It also gave me a chance to get a few good workouts in before my Glucose Tolerance Test this weekend.
Yesterday morning, I had to be to the lab at 7:15 am for my 3 hour test.  We got there right on time and I was taken back for my fasting blood work.  After a quick draw, I got my 100 g of Fruit Punch glucose to drink. Similar to the Orange glucose at the doctors office, I down the 100 g in no time flat. I had 4 minutes to drink it and I think I had it finished in under a minute.  Really, I don't know why many pregnant women complain about the glucose drinks. They are super sweet, yes, but they taste really good! After I finished my drink, I sat back in the waiting room for 60 minutes until it was time for the 1 hour draw. At 8:28 am, I was called back and gave my second sample.  After a quick poke, I went back out to the waiting room for another hour. In between the draws, I drank a ton of water, read, watched tv and talked to D.  At 9:28 am, I went back again for a third draw. While the first two were done on my left arm, the phlebotomist decided to try my right arm to give my left a break. Unfortunately the veins in my right arm are even tinier than the small veins in my left arm and I ended up with a huge bruise in just minutes after my draw. I went back to the waiting room and waited another hour for the fourth and final draw. At 10:28 am, I was called back a final time and got the final draw done from my left arm again. Really it wasn't that bad. It gave me some time to think and read and relax before we took on the rest of the day but I was glad to get out of the lab around 10:40 and head back home to tackle the rest of our day. I hope to hear back regarding the results this week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I passed and I don't have gestational diabetes. It scares me to think about having to manage that for the next 14 weeks and I just want to have a healthy little boy.

When we got home, my mom was there working on shortening the curtains we hung in Declan's room. We bought 96 inch panels because I thought the 84 inch would be too short and they needed to be taken up about 8 inches so they didn't drag on the floor. Since I'm not the most patient with sewing, my mom offered to take care of it for us. She had 3 panels done and was finishing up the 4th when we got home. Another item checked off the list for Declan's room.

Afterwards, we went to GFS and Aldi to pick up the ingredients to make the food for the baby shower next weekend. Since the shower is next Saturday afternoon, we'll need to prep and make everything Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, which meant we needed to pick up nearly everything this weekend so we can make it in time. We're having a fairly simple menu of baked mostaccoli, dollar roll sandwiches, meatballs, salad, asian cole slaw, veggies, fruit, cupcakes and cookies but it still is quite a bit to tackle before next weekend. Thankfully with a few stops, we managed to pick up most of what we needed minus the veggies, fruit, cupcakes and cookies, which we'll get closer to the end of the week so they are fresher for the shower.

I also worked on finishing the games on Saturday so we can get those printed this week.  We have 3 games for everyone to play and I'm excited to see how everyone likes them.

As for today, we had household chores to work on and a bit more shopping to get finished. I gift wrapped the prizes for the games and packed up some of the stuff we'll need to take with us to the Clubhouse next weekend.  We'll have a busy week ahead and I want to be as prepared as possible so we don't have too much stress going into Saturday.  This week we have our first Childbirth class on Wednesday night then on Thursday afternoon we have our Cat Orientation at the rescue shelter where we're going to volunteer. I'm looking forward to the Childbirth class and I'm sure we'll learn a lot over the 4 weeks. I'm also excited to tour the hospital which will hopefully help us to decide which hospital to use for labor and delivery.
We're also in the process of working on our birth plan, choosing a pediatrician and starting to look for potential daycare/preschool options for next year.  So many decisions and time is passing way faster than I thought it would!  I'm enjoying pregnancy way more than I ever thought I could and knowing our little boy will be here soon enough is very exciting!

Finally, I want to share one other picture from this afternoon that completely melted my heart.  Kinny has been spending a lot more time cuddling with me. We talk to her all the time about Declan and we talk to Declan about Kinny also. It seems like she already is forming that sibling bond with her brother.  This afternoon as I was sitting on the couch, she cuddled up by me and put her sweet paw on my pregnant belly, almost like she wanted to make sure her brother knew she was there.  He kicked back a few times not hard enough to scare her or make her move but it was almost his way of telling her, he loves her too.