Nursing Bra

I've put it off (which is preventing me from ordering online now)...and I want to know the best places to buy nursing bras.
Any suggestions?
Keep in mind that pre-pregnancy, I was an F cup. (No idea what I am now...could be the same...I haven't switched my bras)

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!)

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. =)

Questions

You know what question I hate..."Is this your first?"
As my growing belly is noticeably pregnant, often times, the first question is:
When are you due?
Then comes: Do you know what you are having?
After that: Do you have a name picked out yet?
And then sometimes I get: "Is this your first?"
In the beginning, I would take the time to explain about Sprout, but now I just say "yes." It beats having to deal with awkward conversation. I know in my heart, sweet Nuggette is not our first, technically, so what does it really matter.
Do any of you have experience with this?

Shower

Well, we have a date for the shower. March 6th. I will be 33 weeks along. I think that will be just perfect timing. My sister is hosting it at her house. I am very grateful. Since it is at her house, she wants to keep the number around 40. Truth is, our list is a wee bit over 50. I'm thinking not everyone will come though. We will see.

I am not inviting anyone from work (since my sister lives over an hour away from where I work) and usually when teachers are pregnant they do something after school, so I wouldn't want my school friends to feel obligated. B is inviting people from her work, but she does not think many will come. People at church keep asking about a shower, but we just don't have the room to accommodate. I don't want people to feel offended, but I also don't want people to think we just want presents. Ya know?

Speaking of presents....we went to one of those big box stores yesterday, in search for a crib tent (to keep the kitties out of her crib for the time being). It is a store that many, many, women register at, but not one we are interested in due to HRC rating scales. However, while we were there, I fell in love with a blanket (not so in love that I wanted to spend $22 on it though!). I could only find a small picture online.

As far as I can tell, they do not carry the brand at either of the other two stores we are registering at, so maybe I will go back and get it in the future...we will see.

We will register next Saturday. I have already created a spreadsheet with 6 columns (need/want, description, price, Store A, Store B, and received?) This way we can keep track of which store we registered for each item and keep a good balance of price items at each store. I used the web, mom message boards, and my own brains to figure out what to put on the list. If you have any must-haves that I may have forgotten, feel free to let me know!

Glyburide

I was supposed to start my medication today. However, I am not going to make it to the pharmacy tonight, so I will just plan on starting tomorrow.
Part of the reason I am dragging my feet is I am not so sure I need the medicine, yet.
My fasting blood sugars are supposed to be less than 90. Most days they are right around 90. A few days, they have been above 90, with one day being 99 and one being 107, but most of the time, if they are over 90, they are 92 or 93.
My nutritionist/dietitian was not concerned about the numbers at all. She said they looked great. One of my doctors (it is a practice of 5) said she was happy with the numbers and it looked like I would be able to stay off medicine.
I meet new doctor yesterday and she immediately jumps to medicine and the possibility of delivering early or via c-section. WHAT?
Baby is measuring perfect right now. I have gained a total of 6 pounds this entire pregnancy and my blood sugar numbers after eating are awesome.
She said, "It's only going to get worse as your pregnancy progresses, so we better start now."
I feel like when it gets "worse" then we do something. In the meantime, we work on getting those fasting numbers down by trying some other things (like eating a snack in the middle of the night).
What are your opinions? I have another appointment on Wednesday of next week, with another new doctor.

How many months am I?

I know I am IN my 5th month, but when someone asks how far along I am, do I say 5 months or 4? I'm confuzzled. Most people are content with a week marker (almost 20 weeks), but it seems like older people and guys do not compute.
What do you guys think?
U/s is on Thursday. I'm excited to find out the gender, but I think I am more excited just to see our little Nugget on the screen moving around and getting so big. We haven't seen him/her since 9 weeks!

Cold Sore

Anyone here know what is safe to use on cold sores while pregnant?
I have two tiny ones on my bottom lip that are spreading. Normally I use Abreva, but it says that no testing has been done on pregnant women.
I am going to ask my nurse friends tonight, but I thought I would throw it out here too.

Thrift Store Shopping

So I scored some great steals at our local thrift shop this weekend. Why spend $19.99 at the maternity store, or even one of the big box stores, when I can get a pair of pants for less than $5. Woot! Today they are going in the laundry so I have more clothes to wear. I have a few pair of pants that I can wear with the bella band, but some are just too tight to even try. I am very grateful for more options!
My next appointment is on Wednesday. I am very excited to hear the heartbeat again. I will also have to do my one-hour glucose test. They didn't tell me to fast or anything...do they make pregnant women fast? Dr. Google says no. What has been your experience?

Plowing Along

Second week of school (first full week with kids), and I'm a bit exhausted. I am usually pretty great, right through lunch, but when my afternoon classes start, I find myself sitting on my stool instead of standing and walking around during my lessons. I am very grateful to only have two preps, so my schedule is pretty easy.
My pants, however, not having such a great time. We pulled out the maternity box this weekend and I put a pair of jeans on for a birthday party we attended. So. much. more. comfortable. We only found one bella band, so I am going to rock that baby this week and hopefully hit up a thrift store for some other choices. My maternity clothes from Sprout (some of which still have tags on) are spring-ish. Capris and short sleeve shirts. Now the short sleeve shirts I will be able to use, but not the capris-at least not right now. Perhaps in the Spring. I'm looking forward to clothes that fit. With the bloating and the grapefruit sized uterus, I look pregnant to me. I'm pretty sure I just look fat to everyone else.
This week is a hectic week for B at her store. She has a world famous author coming in for a visit on Thursday and all of her time is set aside to prepare. She will be relieved when Friday rolls around.
Next week I have my first official ob appointment and u/s. Do you guys think it will be a pants on u/s or a pants off u/s?

2nd Beta Day

I had my second beta drawn at 7:45 this morning.
I wonder how long it will take for them to get the results.
Do you think they will send it off somewhere to be read?
Do you think I will get my results today?
How exactly is the test done?
Please let it be a nice strong number.

Decisions, decisions

What would you do?

Today is CD9 (and the first day I started using the CBEFM this cycle). I had my visit with the research doc today. I had a full trans-vag u/s and physical. He explained all of the measurements and counted the follicles on each side. 11 on right and 12 on left. I do have a tipped uterus, but so does 95% of the population.
Anyway, I was given a scrip for prov.era to start in 10 days. It's a low dose and I will take it for 10 days and then bleed afterwards. Then I will jump on their drugs (Clo.mid or Fem.ara), CD3 u/s, bloodwork, etc.
So, do I just stop monitoring and throw another cycle out the window? Or do I continue to monitor in hopes that I will ovulate on my own at a decent time? I asked the nurse and she told me it was up to me.
What would YOU do?

Notes to Self

• Do not record your symptoms in FF. They will just give you false hope. You can have all of the symptoms and not end up pregnant.
• Same holds true for temping. Stop temping once you know you have ovulated. Just start wearing protection on CD13 and call it a day.
• Do not read facebook on CD1. Inevitably someone will announce their pregnancy...or in today's case..TWO people.
• Watch Weeds. Weeds makes you feel better.
• Do not get mad/angry/jealous/irritated with people who say "I'm so sorry" or "It will happen when it happens." or "God has perfect timing." They mean well. They want you to feel better.
• Remember it is not a race. Who cares that people that are younger than you are working on their second, third, or FOURTH babies (see bullet point #3)? You will have the perfect baby at the perfect time.
• As much as it feels like it, each busted cycle is not a reflection on you. You are not a failure.
• You are a mother, no matter what anyone says.

Advice Needed-WWYD?

So the nurse got back with me today. In order to be in the study, I have to be off Metformin for 2 months.
What do you think?
Should I stop the Met and continue to monitor myself for 2 months and then enter the study or should I not do the study and stay on the Met.
Opinions please.

Question

When do "normal" bodies get their temp shift after a positive OPK?
I did not get one this morning, and we are now CD22. I got my positive OPK on CD19. It was not positive on CD20, and I didn't even do one yesterday (CD21) because I was so sure of the impending ovulation.
Typically, I ovulate CD21-CD23 or CD25/CD26.
If I don't get a temp shift tomorrow morning, I may see if Mr. NKD is available for an insem tomorrow. If I wasn't temping, I would feel so confident about our timing this cycle. Temping does make me crazy.

Crosshairs?!?

So after putting my temp in this morning, FF immediately gave me crosshairs..wth?

I need a few more days of temping to see a clear thermal shift.

There are a few options here (as usual):

1. I ovulated on CD16/CD17 ----> Timing EXCELLENT

2. I ovulated when FF says (CD19) ----> Timing HORRIBLE

3. I ovulated on CD20/CD21 ----> Timing GOOD

What do you think? Like I said, I need a few more days of temperatures before I decide.

Shopping

B and I have a little bit of a tradition of picking out our own Christmas gifts and then waiting until Christmas (or Pearl Harbor Day...inside joke) to open them.
She is currently shopping online.
As much as I love getting what I want, I kind of want to scrap this tradition and go back to keeping the gifts secret.
We don't spend a lot of money on each other, anywhere between $20-40. We both believe it is the thought that matters most...what are your gift giving traditions?

The weirdness continues

So yesterday, after AF arrived..she was gone before I knew it.
I also was running a fever of 100.8.
Today I still have the fever and had a very light period day, and now I'm back to just barely there spotting.
Can a fever screw up your bleeding?
I am calling my PCP tomorrow to see if he needs to see me.
Other than the fever and a slight tickle in my throat (and feeling hot and cold) and being a bit tired...I'm totally fine.
Luckily tomorrow is a half day, then I am off for the holiday.

No blood-temp rise

So AF never came yesterday, and there was only one instance of weird spotting, that I wouldn't have even seen if I wasn't looking for it.

My temp went back up this morning.

There are a few theories:

1. I am pregnant. (of course this one is my favorite theory)

2. I missed my ovulation date and I really ovulated on CD29, making yesterdays downward temp a possible implantation dip...meaning I am only at 8DPO, not 15DPO

3. My temps are just wonky.

4. I never did ovulate.

5. I ovulated twice.

6. I am not pregnant and today's temp was a fluke (of course my least favorite)

I am attaching my chart for your viewing pleasure.

By request...

Here's the chart. Thoughts...?