Cold Weather Pains

Today I'm typing with a wrist splint on.  I should being one on both wrists but that would mean me removing my watch and I'm lost without my watch.

A couple of weeks ago the weather took a turn for the cold and with that my arthritis, carpal tunnel, fibromyalgia and so on decided to pitch a fit.  Just in time for me to have a load of holiday chores fall into my lap.

I know I've been over doing it when it come to hand crafts.  I finished making three felted ornament, dozens of paper chains and still have many more to go, sewing rank onto my husband's hats, writing out Christmas cards, crocheting items for my Etsy shop, and of course cooking and baking.  It is the holidays.  Time to turn oneself into a tired mess of hormones when pregnancy is added into the factor.

As for the pregnancy:
I've gained 6 pounds since the transfer of the embryos on the 11th of November.  You heard me right 6 pounds.  No I'm not eating too much.  I'm just eating salty foods to stave off the nausea.  I need to find something else to quiet my stomach as the pepcid AC is not enough considering I used to take prilosec every day as ordered.

I've now out grown the replacement pajamas I bought earlier this month on sale.  When I bought them they fit just fine, shrank a bit in the wash like a lot of 100% cotton items sometimes do but now that my breasts are swollen and pelvic region is puffy the pajamas aren't comfortable unless I like wearing mid-drift tops of which it has become and skin tight bottoms.

I woke up with a headache.

I've had a few more dizzy spells.

2 December I have my initial consult appointment with the neurologist.  Hopefully the neurologist will be able to help me in some manner because I had the dizzy issue, headaches, and arm weakness before being pregnant.  I have moderate narrowing of the spinal canal in my neck since the auto accident I was in back in July of 2008.  I wasn't driving.

Some good news for shopping.  I'm almost finished shopping for my spouse.  Just ordered the last of his gifts off of Amazon from his wish list.  Now I'm down to just shopping for his card and stocking stuffers.  We keep the stocking stuffers to a $10 limit and usually from the dollar stores.  More fun.

While shopping at Amazon I remembered I had a $5 credit there.  So I needed a maternity dress for church that will go with my ever increasing bust line.  Found one for $7.52 on sale.  $2.52 for me to buy it and it will pair well with the sweaters I bought over the weekend.  Yay me the bargain hunter.  The dress will arrive in the next couple of weeks and I'm praying I'm still pregnant then so I can actually wear it.

I'm only 5 weeks and 2 days but the bloating is just crazy.  Must remember to push more water into my body.

God is Great

No I'm not going to proselytize.  I'm just feeling blessed by God right now that this pregnancy is still active within me.  Every morning I wake up to no bleeding I'm feeling further blessed with having a chance to bring forth life.  I realize that the pregnancy could go south at any time given my infertility history but I'll live for now and be happy with the joyous promise I've been given.

PNW estimated my due date as 30 July but that was because they forgot when my last period started.  They are off by three days.  While we all know that babies come into the world when they are ready I can't help but state that I'm actually due on my birthday next year.

I was born on my great grandmother's birthday.  How cool would it be if my baby were born on the same day?  If I turn out to be carrying twins it is really doubtful I'll make it to my birthday but hey I'll be happy to just have a healthy baby or two placed in my arms when the time comes.

I have to remind myself when doing housework or shopping to be more cautious now that I'm in a "delicate condition", "with squirrel", "bun in the oven" or what have you.  Friday when J and I went grocery shopping he caught me dragging the grocery cart to the side of the aisle to let an older man through with his handicapped cart.  He reminded me of two things:  I too am handicapped and I'm also now pregnant.  I'm so used to moving out of the way for older people out of respect whether or not I'm using my cane.

Yesterday J and drove down to the outlets in Centralia where I purchased for less than $40.00, two tops and two cardigans one size larger since my nicer blouses are getting too tight in the bust.  If all goes well, after Christmas I'll be having to purchase maternity clothes though I don't expect to get very big since my mom  and her mother never showed while pregnant with the exception of a larger bust and small stomach bump looking more like they ate a big meal.  I'll use up some survey points to get gift cards for the maternity clothes when I need them this way it won't hurt my budget.  I've been saving those points up for years just for this particular need.  22,795 points later I'm finally ready to use them up.  I'm being frugal.

Second Beta

512

More than doubled.

First ultrasound is 9 December

Walking Deeper Into The Woods

This month is almost gone and I have much to be thankful for.  Yesterday I started by thanking God.  He deserves as much credit as any person that helped me on this journey and then some.  Second is my cat, Bugsy, who helped me get through the two week wait.

Well okay I guess my husband does deserve some credit to but he is so full of stress from his job right now that he isn't that supportive until yesterday.  Yesterday changed our lives.

Yesterday I had my first good thing happen during all the years that J and I have been trying to conceive with dual infertility.  I finally got a Beta above zero.  Now I just have to deal with all my other health issues including the wonky thyroid.

Beta was 224 and the TSH was 3.5.

I have to up my synthroid to 75 mcg.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow's second Beta will bring a number double to the first.

Oh and friends, I ask of you this, please promise me that you won't tell anyone in J's family about the pregnancy.  He wants to wait until he is ready to tell his parents; probably Christmas when I'm closer to the end of the first trimester.  So don't mention it on my fb page if you know me there either, please.

The longest I've ever been pregnant, that was way before I met J and back when I married the first time, was 10 weeks 6 days.  I know that I'll end up on bed rest eventually since I have high blood pressure that is difficult to control even with being on a high dose taken twice daily.  I'm going to have to be careful.  Maybe some of you will recall that I had a heart attack in March of 2009.  Yes, this is risky but it is what we want.

Finally some really good news from my blog to share with all of you on the first day of ICLW.

Buddy

The night my cat, Bugsy, walked into my house is the night my marriage changed forever.  Over the summer months my husband and I had been feeding a pack of stray cats.  Not just one cat, the cat that adopted us, but at least five other cats came at various times to our front walkway to see what food was to be had at the dishes we provided each night.

Bugsy taught my husband a life lesson.  My husband learned that he now had to share me, share a bed with me and the cat, and share family time.  Before Bugsy arrived most nights my husband, who has since returning from Iraq been a restless sleeper, would decide to leave the bed and sleep in his recliner.  The night Bugsy chose us my husband learned that he would have to give of himself to a creature that really was a "scaredy" cat.

With the introduction of a furry family member my husband had to give up some of his own family time, time that he normally would spend in front of a computer, in order to make friends with a cat.  J has never had a cat for a pet and never wanted one either.  Maybe Bugsy knew this because for the three days J had left before he departed for his short deployment, he would snuggle up with J as often as possible.  My husband couldn't move without the cat trying to make a pillow of this new human.

After my husband returned from his deployment the relationship with the cat strengthened.  J had a hard time believing me,  that the cat missed him.  When J would call I'd put the phone on speaker for the cat.

With me being in the middle of another infertility treatment cycle and hopped up on female hormones Bugsy would wander around the house searching room-to-room for his testosterone buddy. J was far away not knowing how much his cat needed him.

J and I now have a hard time picturing our lives before Bugsy adopted us.  Bugsy knew we needed him and we still do.

This post was inspired by Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Man a memoir by Brian McGrogry. When Brian his bachelor life to move to suburbia and join his girlfriend with her two young daughters, he had no idea he needed to win over their rooster too. Join From Left to Write on November 21 as we discuss Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Man.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

Weekend Update

So what do I do during my two week wait?  I strive to find new ways to occupy my mind so I don't worry about the Beta which is on Wednesday.

Saturday I stayed away from the internet except to check my fb on my tablet from the comfort of my recliner.  J and I walked around a car museum for the better part of the morning and afternoon.  Roughly 2000 cars to look at of which I couldn't make it through them all.  The cramping and fatigue became bad enough I had to seek out a bench to sit upon in the last warehouse.  No big deal as J continued to take photos and enjoyed himself while I rested up.

Sunday was Church and grocery shopping.  Well okay we did finish up our Christmas shopping for Bugsy but make sure you don't tell him.  I still have to get something for J and he for me.  I still need to get boxes to ship out the gifts to family as well as the promised photographs take of J while he was at WLC this past summer season.

By the end of the weekend my feet were sore and I was tired.  I ended up with some tan/brown spotting last night but it didn't concern me too much.  What concerned me was the viciousness of the cramping as if my period was due to start soon of which of course it is if this cycle is a bust.  I don't want to think about failure.

I don't want to think about being pregnant until I've passed both betas, the first ultrasound and maybe well really thanks Schrodinger I'm feeling like that cat in the box.

Here are a few photos of the car museum.

One Year Later

Many of you know that I have an Etsy shop.  Last year a package I sent out to a customer got lost in the mail.  The customer was nice enough to leave me a neutral review and not a negative one.

Today I received an email from the customer because the package finally arrived!!!

Take a look at the post mark dates on the package.

This will teach me to not ship anything from the hospital post office branch even if it is close enough for me to walk to.  Sloppy service to lose a package for almost an entire year.  Thankfully it arrived undamaged and the customer loved the baby booties.  Luckily she didn't purchase them for her daughters to wear but for their dolls.