40 Days

There is a lot of talk today about the next 40 days (Lent). However, I'm a bit confused, because my ticker says that I have 40 days left until induction (on Palm Sunday). Don't these Lent-celebrating people really have 47 days then? I've never really counted the days. (Growing up Catholic, you just learn to believe what they tell you and not question anything.) However, now....

Anyway, NST was...well..hmm. They kept me hostage in the antepartum testing unit until my doctor called back. I knew something was up when they let my NST buddy leave before me. (Since I was hooked up a few minutes before her.) Apparently there was one abnormality in the very beginning, but then I was having contractions every 3-8 minutes. They were lasting 30-45 seconds. Of course, I wasn't feeling a thing. B was in the car (last week's appt only took 25 minutes, so she just waited outside for me and knitted.) She kept calling and texting, but my phone was off. I was finally able to call her and give her the update. I told her to just wait in the car and I would update her after the doctor called. No dice there. She was parked and up those elevators fairly quickly, just in time for me to get the go ahead to go home and eat and drink. Both the doc and the nurse are guessing the contractions were due to dehydration.

We were late to our childbirth class because of this, but the first session was on monitoring, so she fit us right into her lesson.

Once we got home, B filled me with enough water that I felt like I was floating away. I was up several times last night to use the bathroom. I will be sure to space my water out during the day.

I'm wondering if the doc will call me today to ask me to come in for any reason or if she will just wait until my next appointment in 2 weeks. Should I call and ask?

I also found out last night that my superintendent will not let my BFF give me her sick days. Bummer. Looks like I'm working until April 15th, or until baby comes....whichever comes first. Moneywise, I really need to make it until the 15th. It will be cutting it close, but with a week off for Spring Break, I think I can do it.

Next Ultrasound Scheduled!

Our next peek at Nuggette will be March 22nd. I will be 35w5d. We haven't "seen" her since the 20 week u/s, so we are very excited. This is basically a growth scan to see how big she is and to determine if my April 17th induction date is accurate.

I do have full confidence in my body and in my daughter that she will come before the induction, because that's just how we roll in this house.

Yesterday's appointment was quick (+13 lbs so far this pregnancy). Today I have my weekly NST and we will attend our second child birth class. Tonight is the video watching. Oh joy! /sarcasm.

I am still waiting on a response from my superintendent about the possibility of my BFF giving me a few of her banked sick days. I should hear back from her today or tomorrow. She didn't say "no" though, just, "let me think about it." To me, that was a bit promising. If she allows the sharing of days, my last day of work will be April 1st instead of April 15th. I hope she allows it! Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming. =)

The office is now completely rearranged and I love it. There are just a couple of house-keeping things that need to be done and this room can be crossed off the to-do list. B also completely cleaned and organized the linen closet, so that is pretty awesome too.

We bought two new vacuums...returned the first one and ended up with a Hoover Windtunnel. We. Love. IT. I didn't even realize our carpets could look like this. Pretty awesome.

Breast Pump

Just found out the breast pump is covered under my insurance, as long as it is "medically necessary."

WOOT!

My favorite number

My favorite number has always been 33 since I was a teenager. I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner in this pregnancy that I would "turn" 33 weeks on March 3rd. 33 on 3/3...how cool is that?

Last night Nuggette did some major moving. I think she may have shifted to the head down position, actually (all while using my insides to get her where she wanted to go). I used to be able to feel her little rump right under my right rib and her head diagonally down above my left hip. Things are different this morning. Now everything seems more in the center.

I'm still trying to figure out my time off. If I work right up until my induction date, my last day of work will be April 15th. (Induction scheduled for the evening of April 17th) However, Spring Break is April 4th-9th. I would love to just not come back to school after that. But HR has told me that it will cost me approximately $300/day off. I'm not sure how this math works (since I know that is not what I make) and I have requested a meeting with her to discuss this, but I haven't heard back yet. My super generous BFF has offered me as many of her sick days as I need, but apparently my district doesn't allow this. I am also going to double check on that. I currently have 29 days of sick/personal time saved. I will need to take either 38 or 43 days off. If I can make it until April 15th, then it won't be as big as a deal, but I really don't want to. I guess it would beat having to come back for the last week of school though.

My first NST was just great and the childbirth class afterwards was good as well. We practiced pushing...lol. The nurse who is running the class is also a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital. She asked about my NST nurse and said she is one of her best friends. Childbirth teacher also said that our practice of OBs is highly respected by the hospital staff and many of the nurses and doctors use them to deliver their own babies.

Now I will leave you with a list of names I have been called lately:

Mother duck (one of the teachers said I look like the mother duck walking my students down the hall)
Mother Waddles (by two separate people-one was my dear wife!)
Oompah Loompah (another one by B!)

Family Shower

The shower was amazing. Being surrounded by such love from our family and friends was wonderful. People were more than generous. We are so blessed. Once I get some pictures uploaded, I will share a few. Some hard work went into this and it truly made us feel special. Of course, I broke down and started crying in front of everyone as I was trying to thank my mom and sister. =/

After the shower, B and I came home and sorted everything. We received some duplicates of things, and some extras of things we already had (really, how many tub thermometers does one family need?) , so we made a "keep" and "return" pile. Then we went through the return pile and separated by store and if we had a gift receipt. Both Target and BabiesRUs will not return items without a gift receipt. Sooooooo...we have some things that will be kept for future gifts or donated. I can understand not taking back items that could have been purchased elsewhere, but if it has your tag (or is your store brand), why wouldn't you take it back?
Anyway, now I know to always get a gift receipt when giving a gift. =)

Last night, we were so tired, we were both asleep by 9ish. I woke up 3 times to go to the bathroom and never fell back asleep after 3. I just kept thinking of all we have to do before she arrives. I figured I'd make a list and then feel better. So here is my list, for our benefit (feel free to skip).

In no particular order:
Finish making/write out/send thank you cards
wash bedding/put on
buy a new vacuum (We bought one, but when we got it home it had already been used. We tried it anyway and it was not good. We need to take it back)
clean out cars
install car seat bases
put together bassinet
laundry...it's already never ending (Getting there, but I'm guessing this will never fully get crossed off the list)
buy cloth diapers (anyone selling any used?)(We bought 4 so far and we bought a couple packages of newborn disposables)
rearrange office
put all the gifts away
return gifts
try to figure out loss of pay for 3 weeks off (if anyone understands this, please message me. Payroll clerk told me what I make per day, but clearly, that is not what I bring home)
pay bills
buy a Boppy cover
investigate buying/renting breast pump
get pumping supplies
buy new checks with our new address (yes, we have been living here for almost a year now)
upload pictures to facebook
update blog with new bellyshot

I'm sure there is more to this list, but that is all I can think of right now. I'll be happy to see some things crossed off that list by this weekend. =) Oh, and it's the end of the trimester-so I have a ton of things to do for school as well! Eek. Deep breath.

65 days

65 days OR LESS! before we meet our sweet baby girl.
I can't believe it.
Nursery is pretty much set up, her clothes and blankets/sheets are washed.
We do not have any bottles or diapers, but I am not too concerned about that, given we have two showers in the next 2 weeks. If we don't get any then, we will go out and buy some.
Our childbirth class starts in 3 weeks. It is 3 weeks long and is in our ob/gyn's office.
We had already picked a pediatrician, based on doctor and friend advice, but now we are rethinking our choice and have placed an inquiry at another practice. The other practice just seems like a better fit for our family. It's a few more miles away, but they seem to have an awesome staff and better hours. (Plus, you can email the doctors!)
We should probably schedule a hospital tour soon. Even though we have been there twice before to see a friend after she delivered her girls, it will still be good to go look around and see the nursery, nicu, etc.
We've had some major bills in the past month....new glasses, car repairs, prescriptions, HEAT (my goodness on that one!), so our flexibility with spending is not quite where we would like it to be. Luckily, it looks like in 2 weeks, we should be in the clear. We just need to make it 2 weeks. (and hope and pray that nothing else major comes up!) I was hoping to get a new outfit for the shower (and I think B should be able to get a new one too), but that would mean dipping a bit into the savings. I'm not sure about that. What do you guys think? It's not like it would be a lot...maybe $60 total? I can be persuaded either way. =)

Buy our stuff!

We spent today getting the nursery ready. Before we moved to this house (about 7 months ago), we sold over $800 of our stuff. We got rid of sooooooooo much stuff. It felt wonderful. Somehow, we still have a lot.
Today we went through our books and found some to list on half.com. I am sharing the listing with you guys, in hopes you could pass it on to people that may be interested. I listed everything lower than the lowest listed price. We just want to get rid of it and make a couple bucks for some cloth diapers.
We also have a huge stack of books to donate to friends and our church.
I love getting rid of stuff!

Conferences and stuff

• The last two nights have been parent teacher conferences. They are completely and utterly draining. Luckily, I am sitting for all of them, but still. I am glad they are over. Today we have our Native American trading day and our potlatch. the kids are very excited. I am so grateful to have found a movie to show during my three ELA classes.
• Tonight we are going to see Jason and deMarco at our church. A ton of our friends are going to be there, so it should be fun times. I just hope I can stay awake!
• The van broke down again. It has been in the shop no less than 8 times in the past month. We haven't had a pay check where we weren't paying for van repairs. It's time to get a new vehicle. We can't afford anything until December, so we just need to make it until then.
• B said the most wonderful thing to me today. She said, "You can sleep in tomorrow, I will take care of the dogs." Oh, thank God!
• Today is 15w1d (Or how we call it +3)
• I'm getting more and more comfortable telling people. My belly can't hide anymore.

Coupon Queen

So, I admit it, I am a fan of saving money. Not saving money in a bank, per se, but getting things on the cheap. Some may call me a penny pincher, frugal, or even cheap. I really don't take offense to those titles at all.
Last night we made a stop at CVS for B's anti-vertigo prescription (poor girl's been walking around dizzy for quite a while now and just went to the doctor for a script). I love shopping around at the drug store.
I scanned my shopper card at the little kiosk and got some coupons. I added those to the ones I already had in my purse and began perusing the store.

This is what I got:
4 packages of valentine's day slinkies (for my students next year)
2 packages of cvs brand tissue
1 hair dye kit...the fancy kind
2 packages of life savers candy (the bag kind-again for my classroom)
1 bottle of body wash

After all of my coupons and $3 in extra care bucks, she told me my total.

$1.44

Even the cashier was shocked and said, "You did some good shopping!"

I love it.

No temp shift today. I am guessing that the positive opk on CD19 was a false positive due to the PCOS (I did a lot of internet browsing today to see that a lot of fellow PCOS women get false positives.) I just don't know how I will ever know when it is a REAL positive then. I emailed NKD to see if we can do an insem this weekend. I will continue to test with OPKs and hopefully will ovulate at some point. CD25/CD26 is right around the corner, so those are the other 2 days when I "typically" ovulate.

CD5-a random update

Last year, in September, after switching OBs, I got a referral for a perinatologist.
My new OB was concerned about the second trimester miscarriage and thought this doctor would be able to help me during subsequent pregnancies. I never called. I kept waiting for each cycle so I could call and say, "I'm soandso many weeks along." Well I guess it's time to just call and have the pre-conception work-up done. Maybe by the time I actually get the appointment I will be soandso weeks along.
I'm bummed about last cycle, but not devastated, which in turn makes me feel guilty. Ah, the cyclical nature of hormones and TTC...
Small Groups have launched at our church. B and I signed up for an LGBT group (even though we are already involved with a church sponsored LGBT group). I was thinking there should be a TTC group. I'm going to pray on that and see if I should go through the small group leader training next time it comes around.
Tax return time is my favorite time of the year. We have decided to switch the room we were calling "the baby's room" to the office and put the office in the old "baby's room." I am very excited about this move. We decided to do this because the current office is much bigger and after picking up the beautiful crib that we had purchased a long time ago from a friend, we realized we needed more space in the nursery. I'm hoping to get this project done in the next month or so.
This has been a very random post today. Thanks for sticking with me! =)

In the 100's

Our ticker/widget has moved into the 100's. There are an estimated 199 days until our due date and we have survived 81 days so far. It seems so unreal.

I didn't realize how poorly I had been feeling for the first 9 weeks or so until I started to feel back to "normal." I have felt very good, and I appreciate it. I get a little cranky sometimes, and my fuses are a little shorter lived, but other than that I am doing good. I no longer have to eat every 1-2 hours. I can eat like a normal person, and not get nauseous. I am very grateful that my "morning sickness" never got truly bad. I pee all the time though. And am always thirsty. I have to carry a water bottle around with me.

From the outside of my uterus, you can feel a hardness that is getting bigger as the weeks go by. It is amazing each and every time B or I touch it. One of these weeks I will post some belly pics, once I get up the courage. We have been taking them every week since 4 weeks. I can't believe we are well into our 11th week and the 12 week mark is just around the corner.

We told our church friends on Friday and Saturday. Friday was our teaching team (we teach the 3 and 4 year olds at Sunday School). Saturday was the LGBT group from our church. Everyone was very excited. On Tuesday I will tell another one of my teammate's from school. The news will slowly trickle out, so we are not planning on making any huge announcement on fac.ebo.ok or anything, just waiting to see how fast news travels.

Oh, and lucky us, we received a bill from the RE's office (we haven't been there in a very long time) for our August IUI. The biller billed our insurance company 3 times and they rejected it. Now we have to figure it all out. Laurie-I know we have the same insurance, I may be emailing you for some advice!

Plans for today.

• Call ATT to get a lower rate/change plans
• Call T-Mo_bile to get a lower rate/change plans
• Call local cable companies to see if they can beat plans from above

B's car died again. We really run our cars til the end because of our far commutes. This time she needs 3 wheels fixed (but not tires, something is bent) and a front suspension rod. Once all that is fixed they can reevaluate and see if that takes care of the grinding. We are looking at between $450-$1000. 2 days before Christmas. Who am I kidding, we wouldn't have that kind of money 2 weeks before Halloween. At least not in 2008. 2008 was a rough year. Things didn't go our way much at all. I am expecting 2009 to be so much better. It has to be.

So in the meantime, I don't know what we are going to do if the mechanic does not agree to a payment plan. So our plan so far is, scrounge up the lower end of the range, and get the F*cus driveable. Get it back to our side of town (B left it by her work last night and I went to go pick her up). Then every 2 weeks get something else fixed on it. It will be realtight for the next few months, but we can make it work. We have to.

Then, perhaps after tax return, look into leasing a third vehicle to put in our driving rotation. It seems excessive, but it would help on the wear and tear of our other old(er) vehicles. Our friends, J and S, do this and they have it worked down to a science.

So now, I work out another budget. We just started paying back my student loans from grad school....eek. And this is the first year we have been without the extra cash from student loans, so its a double hit. We will make it work.

I forgot that in January our 403b company is switching. I refuse to be the guinea pig in the switch, so I am holding off putting any money into my account until next fall. Because of this, we will have a little bit of extra money coming home. This will help.

Any other suggestions would be welcome. I have a ton of things ready for a garage sale in the spring and I am babysitting during winter break to earn some more cash. I work Homework Club after school 2 days a week and tutor on a 3rd. I feel like I am just treading water right now. We are very fortunate to have food, shelter, love, etc, and I have to keep that in mind.

Now I'm rambling and I have to go get ready for the munchkins to arrive. B will be home with us for the majority of the day, which is awesome. It's so much easier with 2 adults!

Things to do once the kiddos leave:

• Dishes
• Shoveling
• Straighten up

We're still alive

Everything happens for a reason has always been my mantra throughout life.
Now, more than ever, I can see the truth in the statement.

Dealing with day-to-day life AND Joey (our sick cat) has been quite stressful. He has feedings every 4 hours and is very nauseous all of the time. We take him to kitty day care every day when we are both working. We try to go on with our regular days, but we are always thinking about how he is doing, not to mention the guilt that creeps in for not giving the other animals the attention they deserve. Needless to say, I cannot imagine having a little one right now (we would already have our baby if our first or second tries worked), or even being pregnant (subsequent tries).
God has a plan, and He knew that having a baby/pregnancy right now, would be too much to handle.
So, another break it is. For a cycle or two. We need to get Joey in a better place, as well as our finances. Eventhough last cycle was anovulatory, I began to bleed on CD59. Currently I am CD6. I will begin temping again when AF jumps ship. Hopefully our PNKD is still interested and we can get everything lined up (contract signed, etc) to be ready when we're ready.
I hate taking breaks, but I know it is the best thing for our family, both human and non.

Quick Update

• My mom's in the hospital. She had an angioplasty on Tuesday and had some complications. She is in a lot of pain and cannot walk, but is doing much better everyday.
• Our little man, Joey, is at the kitty hospital. He stopped eating, got a liver infection, jaundiced, and then was hospitalized. He will be there until tomorrow at least. My sister, God love her, offered to help us cover the $650+ vet bill that is expected and we can pay her back weekly.
• I'm on CD43 and I started temping again this week.
• Next week will we most likely sign a new donor agreement with PNKD.
• After the agreement is signed, if I haven't started yet, I will hit up the RE for a not-needed-why-am-i-paying-for-this pregnancy test and a prescription for pro.vera to jump start my cycle.
• Then CD3 ultrasound, clo.mid, and trigger.
• Then home insems. =)
• I'm sure we will be in the TWW before we know it...

Finances and Car Trouble..oh my!

I don't really have the time to go into everything, but I am more confident than ever that everything happens for a reason.
Maybe a month (or two) break is what we need right now. You see, when we don't have money to pour into TTC, another vortex opens up and we have to pour money into fixing our vehicles. Yes, that is plural.
On Wednesday night, the van was acting up on the way home from work. We commuted together on Thursday and took it to a place on Thursday evening. Friday we also commuted together (with B going way out of her way to drop me off at school so she could have the car for deliveries during the day).
Well, on Friday, around 2pm, I get a call from my secretary that I am to call B on her cell phone because HER car was acting up. It was squealing and smelled bad. GREAT. The van, in the meantime, is still in the shop (and they can't find anything wrong with it...AGAIN..more on this later). She made it to my school alright and we drove it to the local mechanic. $299 and 2 hours later, the water pump was replaced and we were free to go home.
The van is still not fixed (although it did not act up on the way home from the shop), but B will be taking it to another place tomorrow. Thank goodness she is on vacation this week.
I'll let her post about this shady place we took the van to...grrr.

Email sent to my co-workers

Below is the email I sent to 4 of my coworkers last night.

The chosen few, that's who you are. You four lucky women that get to
know all about our baby-makin process...=)
Anyway, as I told you all last week, our first medically assisted insem did not work. (This is the one they do in the doctor's office with a long catheter and thawed
swimmers.)
You see, our known donor moved away to Boston, so we could not longer do the insems at home. Total bummer, but we thought that with the medical intervention, our chances of a positive pregnancy might increase. Yeah, not so much.
Although we love our RE (reproductive endocrinologist), and all the monitoring, it is very expensive. Just to get the little swimmers to Michigan costs almost $600 for 5mL. 5mL?! That's not much, let me tell you. And that is not including any
medical costs for the actual procedure. The RE's office hasn't figured out how to code the actual insemination for a lesbian couple. Great. So we might have to pay
that upfront and hope and pray to get reimbursed through B's insurance (her
insurance pays up to $5000 lifetime for infertility). As a result, sadly, we have to sit a cycle out. (Hopefully only one..)We are looking for another local donor, but we
realized we really have no male friends. Anybody know a healthy guy, preferably with known successful swimmers? Let us know. =)
So that's our story.While we wait to get pregnant, I am growing my hair out. I have decided it will be a great distraction for myself and as a bonus it will be a great visual for y'all. That way there is no awkward questions or glances at those mid-year PD days. If the hair is short, congratulate. if not..well..don't say anything....unless you
want a f-emotional basketcase on your hands. Perhaps by the end of this all,
locks of love will get a nice donation. And if for some reason I choose to cut my hair and get sick of it, i'll let you know too.
Sorry if that was TMI. I promise it will be the first and last email on this subject...unless you ask. =)
Have a happy first day of school.
J

School

Tomorrow is the first day of school for me.
I am looking forward to having 10 less kids than last year (24 instead of 34).
I love all of the new school supplies and the excitement of it all.
I just wish I had a little secret to keep.
I have decided to not cut my hair until we get pregnant.
I am thinking it will drive me crazy soon enough and I may have to cave, but as of right now, the plan stays.
I looked into other sperm banks today. For a local bank, it would be $360 including delivery. Now we just have to check with our RE to see if she will accept swimmers from them. I really don't see why not, unless she has some sort of deal or incentive with the 3 major ones she suggested.
I also filled out my insurance reimbursement paperwork today. All I need is the tax id for the bank and our clinic, which I think I can get tomorrow.
I know we will have to sit this cycle out, but I'm hoping to jump right in on the next.

Does anyone else have this problem?

As soon as you get a little extra money, all of a sudden...it's gone?
A few days ago, I deposited a $500 check into our checking account.
Yesterday I checked our balance and it was fairly comfortable (we are pretty much a check-to-check living family, with a little in savings here and a little in savings there).
Today, I check the balance (in hopes of hitting up the yearly sidewalk sale in The Village) and its a mere third of what was there yesterday. EEK! Since I have been out of school, finances have been tight...which doesn't quite make total sense, since we should be using less gas. (Now with summer school, I am using lots of gas.)
My hypothesis is whenever we get a little "cush" in our checking, both B and I figure its there, so a little purchase here or there won't matter. However, since we are both making those purchases, it adds up and depletes fast.
I think its time to work out another budget.
Can anyone else feel our financial pain?

*EDIT*
So, I worked out a budget. No wonder we have been tight. We have been spending a little more than budgeted on groceries (buying healthier is more expensive), our gas bill has increased by $150. B has been going to phyiscal therapy, at the tune of $120/month, add net flix ($18) and our home warranty ($24), plus my student loan that we just started to have to pay ($93...I expect a huge increase in this bill in the fall)...and we are lucky we are still ahead at the end of the month.
Luckily, with summer school and my raise in the fall, we should be ok, but, man, I should have reworked this budget a few months ago! No more spending for us!

Clomid-Day 1

I am glad that I have the opportunity to start these drugs during the summer when I don't actually have to be anywhere. I'm not a real fan of medicine, and don't take anything I don't absolutely have to (which upsets B when I prefer to complain than take anything). So I am very grateful to be out of school at this point.
However, with this given free time, the pressure to get things done is harsh. I'm home all day, so the house should be clean, or at least cleaner by the time B walks in the door. I am estimating that 10% of this pressure is actually from B, while the other 90% is just the way I'm feeling. While I was lying in bed this morning, I was thinking of all the things I could do today.

• The van needs an oil change (we have a coupon for a free one from our dealer)
• Dishes need to be put away and a few need to be washed
• Call the insurance company to find out about reimbursement for sperm
• Sweeping/vacuuming (hate it!)
• Friend is having a garage sale and I would love to stop by to visit
• Books can be taken to used book store (extra money would be bonus, but I mostly just want them out of my house)
• I have a DVD to send to KD, but that would require packaging it up and getting to the post office.
• Office has to be cleaned and organized
• Laundry, laundry, laundry (enough said!)
• I checked 3 books out of the library and would love to just sit and read, read, read.

So there you have it. All the things I could do today. We will see how much actually gets accomplished. It's hard to be motivated in the summer.

Ok, ok, ok...

I get it, thanks for all of the advice!
We are going through Cryogenic Laboratories and their cost is $345/vial (but I calculated it with the shipping cost of $190) . So that is where I ended up with the $600 number. I wish we could have afforded 2 vials this time, and perhaps we could have, but I need to make sure the shipping charge is just per ship, not per vial.
Tomorrow, if B doesn't work too long, I am going to have her call the insurance company and see how we go about this reimbursement process. I am sure there will be a ton of red tape to sift through. The funny thing is, when I placed the order, my debit was charged immediately, since then, the sperm has been shipped, but the debit was credited back to my account. I'm not quite understanding, but if it doesn't straighten itself out in the next few days I will call. I already called once and left them a message about it, but no one seems to mind just yet. Perhaps they will debit it again once they have confirmation of delivery?

Tonight marks my official entrance into Summer. I have been at a workshop all week, so have been unable to truly enjoy the end of school. Tomorrow is my first real day off. Woot! Woot!

And a triple Woot! goes out to Baby Judith's two mommies! Congratulations ladies!