the september run-down

Amelia is walking and has nearly seven teeth!

Hannah enjoyed her first day of Pre4 and really enjoys going to school every day. We've even had some homework this year as preparation for Kindergarten and she thinks that is awesome. I can see now Hannah is going to be just like me in school...good.

I'm in the process of switching our house over to organic/whole/natural foods as much as possible. It will be a little bit of a slow process since somethings are easy to switch like milk and eggs and other things with a longer pantry life will be switched later when it finally runs out. The kids haven't seemed to notice which is a good thing in my book!

September proved to be quite the month of medical treatments which spilled into October.  I had my nose cauterized for the second time due to excessive nose bleeds. Carter had his face looked at and allergy testing done. I had my blood work done and found out my thryroid is off and my meds needed adjusting. Then to cap it all off I finally got my elbow looked at by my primary doctor who was plumb useless. Finally saw an orthopaedic doctor and was diagnosed with severe tennis elbow (tendinitis) and received a cortisone shot.

A few more fun things included a trip to the circus, it was the first time for Hannah and I. Hannah loved it so much she still talks about it:

And a night out with my favorite ladies to celebrate Emily's birthday:

I am looking foward to all that October holds :)

I <3 NY

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of visiting NYC. It was so wonderful and almost magical. We stepped out of the train station and I immediately had a smile on my face and couldn't help but stand in amazement of the impressive buildings and the hustle and bustle that surrounded me. Our first stop was of course to a Starbucks because we all had to relieve ourselves and needed a warm beverage to keep us from freezing to death. After that we grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor, walked to fifth avenue, stood in awe at St. Patrick's Cathedral, watched street performers, meandered around the Plaza Hotel, perused FAO Schwartz, ate at Pop Burger (delicious!), walked to Central Park, watched the ice skaters, ogled Tiffany & Co, fought our way to get a glimpse of the Rockefeller Tree, walked 4,000,000,000 miles to Times Square and then an additional 4,000,000,000,000 miles back to the train station. I even spotted Laura Linney and she smiled at me, I just love her! It was a terrific drama-free day and I would do it again-in a New York Minute ;)



Photo Credit: Kaila Regina Wedding Photography

Corn Makes Rain...

(Really, the song states that Rain makes Corn but that is no longer how my brain will sing it.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBFrGn6h3Vg

Girl's Weekend 2010. Super Fun!

We traveled to Mahanoy City, PA about  2 1/2 hours from home to begin our wonderful journey into our no-stress zone. We had a lovely time visiting the small town where we stayed as well as the small towns around there. We went antiquing Friday which is always a wonderful adventure! I love scouring the various booths searching for the perfect item. While I was there I came up with the marvelous idea of  framing old comic books and hanging them in my entry. So that gave me a task to find the best and funnest comic book cover I could find! I was also able to grab a few with Captain America on them for Tom! :mrgreen:



The next day we went to Pottsville, PA and took the tour of Yuengling Brewery-America's Oldest Brewery. SO cool! It was a nice little history lesson and you get to have a free beer when the tour is over! The one downfall of the tour was how hot is was.  My Lord I think they were trying to melt our flesh off! Thankfully they have their own cave that averages at 50 degrees year-round so there was a small amount of time that we were not in the blazing heat.



While in Pottsville we finally convinced Emmy to get the same tattoo as Laura and I. It is so cute and makes me want to have mine touched up so it is vibrant once more.



Sunday, we enjoyed a torrential downpour while playing monopoly, reading and cooking dinner.  So relaxing.



I love my girls and am glad we are able to share a few days with each other every year. Amazingly after 25 and 12 years we still learn new things about one another. Thank you Tom for watching our babies and I am SO looking forward to Girl's Weekend 2011...Nashville here we come!

So Hungry! With A Side of Random Pregnant Thoughts

I have moved from tired all of the time to hungry all of the time!

Somebody switched the flip on me and I literally feel like I am starving 90% of the day.  I ate almost every hour yesterday and at bed time by stomach was growling loudly and I was feeling hungry again so I got up and ate before I went to sleep. Then I woke up and felt like I was starving and hadn't eaten in three days. If I don't eat I get ill.

I had to fast Saturday for blood work and hadn't eaten for maybe about an hour and a half to two hours after I woke up. I finally ate something and about 15 minutes later started puking. I am declaring it now, there will be no more fasting while I am pregnant. Never again.

I have noticed I have become extremely less patient and easily irritated. I have never been the most patient person so you can just imagine me now. Not a pretty sight.

I have developed a new found love with Lucky Charms. I haven't eaten them since I was a child but now I can't get enough of them.  I only like them with milk so it's not the most convenient way to eat them. So I only manage to squeeze in about two bowls a day. I also hate pretty much every food you sit in front of me. ESPECIALLY meats. Not sure why but the thought makes me want to hurl.

I am at the point that I will need to go out and get a few maternity capris and short sleeve shirts. Anybody that wants to come with me shopping give me a call, seriously!

This new found hungriness should make for an interesting road trip on Thursday. I'll have to be sure to pack a lot of food for the eight hour ride to Charlotte. Otherwise we will be stopping quite often for me to get something to eat!!!

Looking UP!

Finally got a call back today about my blood-work from Monday. My progesterone is way up thanks to the Prometrium! Went from 7 on Thursday with no meds to 36 on Monday! YAY!

They have me taking two pills in the morning, one pill mid-day and two pills at night. I'm quite thankful that it is working well!

I will be monitored by the RE until I am at 12 weeks. My first ultrasound will be Thursday at 9:00! I am super excited!!!

I have been uber paranoid about having twins this pregnancy. On my dad's side of the family there are three sets of twins. My grandmother had twins, her sister had twins and one of my cousins has also had twins so far. There is a pattern though. Your first baby is a single child and then the second time you get pregnant it is twins. So this will be my possible shot at having twins, lol! If this were to happen I would have a heart-attack, seriously!

So far my one best friend has decided that I am not having twins but that I am going to have another girl. My other best friend has decided that I am having a boy. My MIL has decided that I am having twins one boy and one girl. Since I have not yet fine tuned my psychic abilities I am unable to predict at this time what I will be having! Really I think I need someone to pinch me because I still am in shock. I was darn grateful to have been blessed with Hannah and to have another one on the way just seems so unreal. Maybe it will sink in when I see with my own eyes Thursday.

Feels Like Today

Man I am feeling good today!

You know how you just feel like you have an added bounce in your step? That would be me!

I made a few decisions on things that have been weighing me down and as sad as it is to see relationships come to an end it was for the best. Now I can breath again.

That being said...I had a kick-ass step class last night. Em (one of my best friends) invited Fancythis and I to join her in a class that she takes with her Aunt. FT invited her mom to come along and the five of us had a really good time and more importantly a good work out! I had never done stepping other than the very basic of moves so parts of it were lost on me but I kept moving and did other moves  if I couldn't get the hang of a certain tecnique. It lasted an hour and by the end all of us were completely drenched in sweat and our faces were as a red as possible. I am so  looking forward to doing it again every Monday!

Weight loss update: I have lost forty pounds total and so far this week I have lost one pound! Woo-hoo!

Distant Memories

This weekend I had a super fun girls night out with my besties and we had a talk on the way home about age and memories.

Some of us don't care how old we are getting, others would like to have a panic attack. For myself I just miss the fun times, I wish I could bottle them up and slowly release them if I ever start to forget. I will be twenty five this year and it scares me a little about how many things have gone by and what is still to come.

I have those moments when I would just like to freeze time and everything that is happy and wonderful stands still and I can just live in it forever. My most memorable moments are of course my wedding and giving birth to Hannah. With both of those memories I can pretty much tell you second to second about what happened that day. Then there are the other memories- going out with your girlfriends, spending time as a family, visiting fun places. I just wish they didn't all have to end.

It makes me sad and happy to soon be celebrating Hannah's first birthday and I hope that I don't let any of the memories of the year past and the years to come slip away from me!

Just Leave Me Alone!

I am so in that kind of mood this week.

It seems like every moment I am at work I am pulled in a thousand directions. Then I get home and enjoy Hannah and when she goes to bed I am ready to just lay in bed watching TV or reading a book until bed time rolls around.

I haven't exercised in a week due to schedule conflicts and Christmas thrown in for good measure and just when I think this week is going to go well I ran late at work-what would have been my first day back exercising. Needless to say I didn't exercise Monday.

I am hoping my trainer doesn't think I am ignoring her on purpose because I was on a roll and hope to continue my progress sometime-eventually this week. I have also decided I am going to join the Y! I am pretty excited for that and am really hoping my husband will agree to come as well! My mom is going to go with me so that will be super fun. She used to be a fitness fanatic in her younger years so I am interested to see if she becomes that way once again.

I have set my goal to lose a minimum of 80 pounds by next October. With really trying to lose over 100lbs but I don't want to feel too overwhelmed so I just keep telling myself 80lbs. I have high hopes this will work! I need to lose at a minimum 10lbs a month and will feel successful with my goal. Hopefully the world around me can offer there support and encouragement with my goal. I need to get this body to a healthier weight to carry a child again!

As a side note, I find this terribly ironic and insensitive all at the same time...we had secret santa at work and my santa gave me DOVE CHOCOLATES! WTH! and HOT CHOCOLATE! This person mind you knew full and well that I am exercising and eating healthier so why on earth would he give me candy!

Other than my unsually crappy mood, Christmas was a lot of fun! Hannah opened her presents herself and played with all of her toys! I was pretty impressed since a lot of people were telling me that this Christmas wouldn't be fun. I beg to differ.

My MIL said to me, "Next year will be a lot more fun, she will be more interested in her toys." Don't ask me where that comment came from because neither Tom nor I complained about Christmas not being "fun." Sometimes I think people just talk to hear themselves talk.

A friend acquaintance of mine has recently made several attempts to re-kindle our friendship and even though she was given my phone number and email two months ago, she just now sent me an email on 12-23. I thought it rather interesting because I have not spoken to her in close to five years, our friendship did not end on good terms and I was fine with it. When I stop a friendship it is justifiable and the fact that she turned super shady and never paid my mother back a substantial amount of money was all the reasoning I needed to stop seeing her. So any-who, she sent me an email about how sorry she is and how she thinks about me often...blah, blah, blah. At first I replied that what happened that long ago is not a big deal anymore, etc, etc...but the more I think about her the more annoyed I get. I have all the friends that I need and really don't want anymore. If I cut you off it was for good reason and I am really not looking to re-kindle our lost friendship. I have two best friends that I have never had a falling out with and that is all I want. I don't need any fair-weather friends. Thankfully I managed to rid myself of all of them and don't want them back. Is this mean of me? I kind of feel like I am being mean, unkind and unChristian. But I really just don't want to let people that have done me wrong in the past back into my world...maybe that is too much to ask?

I think I need a vacation, but for now I'll settle on venting on this blog. Thanks to anyone that actually made it to the bottom of this post, your comments are appreciated!

Christmas Shopping...

Is done! Thank the Lord for that!

 

I just have to get my Dad something, who of course wants nothing, sheesh!

Christmas Budget Crisis?

I think Christmas has not been too terribly bad thus far, I am getting slightly concerned as it is super close and I still have four people to buy for. Thankfully I have not used a single credit card but I fear my luck will soon be changing...

We have had a hard year financially, we are keeping our heads above water and that's about the extent of it. Are mortgage has increased by almost half, our utilites have tripled and in the beginning of the year gas was astronomical! We also have a couple of medical bills left over from having Hannah. All in all it is manageable for now...

Then you throw in Christmas and my present giving is truly not going to match how I feel for the people receiving the gifts. I actually had to set a limit for how much my friends and I would spend on each other. We NEVER do that! EVER! Wouldn't you know I still keeping finding things that are above the limit I set for myself.

My husband is really getting slighted this year, I have a super awesome present I would like to get him but it won't be for Christmas. So now I am trying to come up with less expensive items to purchase when I really just want to get him the big item.

It's annoying and heart wrenching all at the same time. My heart is ready to go crazy with giving gifts and essentially giving joy. My wallet is saying "Help Me!"

Exercise

It's a necessary evil...

I decided yesterday that I didn't need to exercise anymore. Made up my mind and that was that. I finally wrote my trainer an email and of course she wrote me one back. So guess what I am still going to be doing, that's right...exercise!

It is really nice to know that a lot of people are supporting me with my fitness. When my co-workers heard me talking about it yesterday they piped up that I should keep going. I thought that was rather sweet. My parents and my friends are all very supportive but the one person that I need behind me isn't. Deep down I know that the guilt I feel from him constantly is what got in my head the most. My husband absolutely hates that I go and exercise and continually tells me that I don't need to go and that I am leaving my family, etc. I don't know why he acts like this considering he has lost over 100 pounds and I have only lost about 20 thus far. I clearly need to lose weight but he is a jerk about it.

I did reduce my workout schedule to three days a week. Hopefully I can keep going and Tom won't feel so neglected. I don't know you would think your husband would want you to lose weight.

Fat? Homely? Poor? Oh My!

Last Thursday as I wrapped up my shopping trip in Walmart accompanied by Hannie and my one of my BF's. I am getting rung up by the cashier and as she swipes my formula can she says:

Cashier: Do you have your WIC card?

Me: What?

C: If you have your WIC card you can get your formula for free.

Me: I make too much money to qualify for WIC.

C: Oh okay.

Later on as I am riding back to my friends house I got to thinking. Do I look poor? Then we both enjoyed a good laugh at that WTF moment in the Ghetto-Mart.

Next day, I went to have my blood work done for the Diabetes Center. Please note Diabetes Center.

Lab Tech: Why are you bouncing that baby?

Me: Just 'cause.

LT: Well stop it. If you keep doing that she won't understand the difference when you do it when she is upset.

She rambled on more about this topic and then stopped. Okay as unwanted as her advice is I can see her logic.

A few seconds later:

LT: Do you have diabetes?

Me: I had Type 2 before I was pregnant and now they are telling me that I am in a pre-diabetic state.

LT: That's weird, I have never heard of that

LT: Let me tell you a secret

Me: (Oh dear Lord what now) What's that

LT: Gastric bypass cures diabetes

Me: Oh (Thinking to myself no she didn't)

LT: My sister had it and girl let me tell you she is so skinny and she is a baby making machine!

Me: Good for her

LT: You should get it, insurance will pay for it just like that (snaps fingers)

Me: Oh, hmm (How freaking rude!)

LT: My sister she so fertile she had to terminate three of her pregnancies, she just kept getting pregnant and finally they told her she had to get her tubes tied.

Me: Mmm

What the heck! I do not want to hear about your sister's abortion, I do not want to hear about her diabetes and I don't want your skinny ass telling me to get Gastric Bypass! Mind your own business!

She also informed me that she knows how hard it is to lose weight because she has been trying very hard to lose ten pounds since last year and she just can't seem to do it. "She is just not movitvated enough to get up and exercise."

I wanted to tell her that is so sad for her it must be hard to be a size four and ten pounds over weight, how does she possibly manage to get out of bed every morning.

But I didn't and I never do say anything rude back to people even when they are rude to me. I guess my parents raised me better than that.

The Baby!

The childbirth process was definitely an experience. I think everything that could possibly go wrong (for me not the baby) did. The baby was completely fine during labor and never showed any signs of stress so that was great!The long of it...

As most of you know, I went to the hospital Tuesday night at 9:00pm to begin the induction process. After we got to the hospital and got settled a doctor and a student came in around 11:30pm. They came to start my foley bulb induction and get me to dilate. Well while they were doing that they "accidentally" broke my water. From then on I was confined to bed so that I did not develop an infection and so that the cord didn't pre-lapse. This is when I knew things would not end well. The foley bulb did its job and I was dilated 3cm by 3:30am. Before the foley bulb was taken out I was having some serious contractions that came about every two minutes. After the bulb came out I was having next to no contractions. Around 6:00am they started the potocin and the contractions started again. All seemed fine, I decided I will go ahead and get my epidural and they did that around 1:00pm. They did it wrong the first time and I thought I was paralyzed it was the most excruciating spine pain I have ever felt in my life. They re-positioned the epidural slightly and it started to numb the right side only. I felt that I could wait while they were tending to the other woman that needed an epidural so I waited until they could fix the epidural and numb both sides of me. I was having pretty strong contractions all this time (which I could completely feel on my left side) but I wasn't progressing beyond that. I was pretty much stuck around 4-5 cm depending on who did the exam. Finally around 5:00pm the anesthesiologist came in to re-do my epidural. This time everything went fine, it didn't hurt and my legs and everything instantly went warm and tingly. Unfortunately I would not move past 4-5 cm and I knew that I would have to get a c-section, time was running out since my water had been broke since 11:30pm. Sure enough, I was talking to my mom and I started crying saying that I don't want a c-section and I just know they are going to give me one. The nurse came in not five minutes later and told me she talked to my doctor and they are going to go ahead and do a c-section. Tom wasn't there at the time, him and his mom had just went to dinner. So my mom called Tom, they got me prepped and Tom came back from dinner and we went and had a c-section.

After the c-section, the doctor told me that the baby had her head in the wrong position and that is why my labor wasn't progressing normally, her head was a little smooshed on one side where it was being pushed into the wrong direction. (the smooshed side has since gone away)

The baby was born at 9:07pm and weighed 5lbs 15oz and is 20 inches long. She has brown hair but I am suspicious that it will lighten up some. Her eyes are a green/gray/blue combination so who knows how that will turn out!

Thank you everyone for all your kind thoughts and prayers! We are both doing very well!

Here is an eyewitness accountfor anyone that has not read her blog already. I think I will go take a nap...I am super tired!

Here's To You Bestess...

God is surely trying to keep you and your husband in my thoughts. Every-time I hear this song I think about the both of you. I find it to be too big of a coincidence that out of 900 songs on my iPod it somehow manages to play this song at least once a day.

I knew who he was
When I took his name
But somehow knowin'
Is just not the same late at night
He knows the danger
But he does what he does
He calls it duty
But I call it love
So here I am
While he’s gone
To some foreign land

And I cry
'Cause I’m alone
And the nights get so cold and long
And I try not to think he won’t come home
But I’m sleeping with the telephone The yellow ribbon on my neighbor’s gate
Always reminds me that someone’s awake
Just like me


I hear the sirens
And I watch the news
He laughs and leaves with his gun
And his blue uniform
And I pray God keeps him safe from harm

And I cry
'Cause I’m alone
And the nights get so cold and long
And I try not to think he won’t come home
But I’m sleeping with the telephone I lose him in my darkest dreams
And my blood runs cold and my heart skips a beat
So I get up; I can’t take anymore
Sometimes I hate how much I love him
But everyday I love him more

And I try not to think he won’t come home
But I’m sleeping with the telephone

Something awakes me from where he should be
I reach for him; the telephone rings

-Reba McEntire & Faith Hill

Sleeping with The Telephone

I Guess I'm A Bitch?

I am really really really sick of people. I just want to announce to everyone, "I don't give a flying fuck what you think about me!"

Today, first thing in the morning around 7:00, my friend Phyllis comes up to me to chat. I am naming my baby the same exact name of her grandchild.

She proceeds to tell me how this family member of hers just had a baby and named her child the exact same name.

I said: "Oh that's weird." (Which is weird because they are the same family!)

She said "Yes, I just don't know why that name is so popular all of a sudden."

Me: "I don't know what to tell you Phyllis, I had that name picked out for the past five years." (said in my curt back-off me voice)

She says: "Skip (her husband) just figures that everyone heard our grand-baby's name and is now copying it."

(Fuck you very much)

Me: "I don't know what to tell you Phyllis."

Perhaps what she wanted me to say is that I will relinquish my claim on this name so that her granddaughter will be the only one in the world. I have news for her, not going to happen. Her son and daughter in law didn't even want a child, then Phyllis made a big deal about how the name was not going to be told until the child was born. Then about a year and a half ago she comes in and tells me the name and I wanted to vomit. All this time I was trying to get pregnant and bam, this chick is pregnant and used the exact same name I wanted! What are the odds of that! I was so upset the day that I found out that babies name that I called up Tom and Laura crying! I was a f'ing mess!

I considered changing my name choice at the time she told me her granddaughter had the same name, but Tom said: "No, that's the name we chose and we are keeping it." And he is absolutely right, she is a 65 year old woman, I am 23, it's not like we will be working together forever. With any luck she'll retire and I won't have to hear about this anymore! I mean really, is it that big of a deal that we talk about this what seems like once a week. I am really sick of it and I can tell she gets angry whenever it is mentioned in conversation but I honestly don't care, can we now move on to more important things? I feel like I am in high school.

What A Nice Way to End the Week!

I was totally taken by surprise today at work. I had just gotten out of my one-on-one with my new awesome boss and we had a "team meeting" scheduled to go to. So I see everyone kind of standing around (which is nothing out of the ordinary) and everyone was acting retarded when I asked if we were having the meeting in the conference room at the end of the hallway. Finally we were ready for the meeting (read: all of my co-workers were ready) and as soon as I open the door...."Surprise!!!!" They had almost everyone crammed in there and the room was decorated, it was adorable!

I was totally and completely surprised and not expecting it so soon. The last person that had a baby shower had her baby before her shower so I thought we might keep that tradition alive. But alas my best work friend Mary said they were afraid I might go out on leave soon so they wanted to make sure to throw me a shower...before the baby was born. I thought that was the sweetest thing! They even let me leave an hour and a half before my normal quitting time of 3:30.

Everyone in my department has strapped on there doctor's coats and have given me the following diagnosis: At the end of this month the doctor will put me on leave and I am going to have this baby at the end of February. It is kind of freaking me out because all of the women folk seem to be in agreement with this. I was looking forward to a March baby but I guess she'll come when the good Lord decides, despite what the women in the department may say!  :roll:

In other news, I picked out flooring for the whole house (with the exception of the living room) and we are getting a very pretty Gunstock Oak laminate for the low price of 99 cents a square foot! YAY! I have also bought the paint and the house will be Antique White with an occasional fun color thrown in here and there. On tomorrow's agenda I will be heading out to buy the tile for the bathrooms. I have restored confidence that this house will be completed by the end of February at the latest. Lets cross our fingers just to be on the safe side.  :lol:

 

I'll save myself the embarrassment of any pictures of me...Friday is my "hobo Heather" day so I wasn't really looking my best!

Feeling Better!?!

I am feeling a little better from the other day when I was in full fledged diabetes panic mode. The Diabetes Center made some changes today when I faxed my (blood sugar) numbers in and so far so good!

I am just feeling really, really stressed! I hate, hate, hate having that 'nothing you can do will change anything' feeling. Perhaps I am a huge slight control freak?

Like the house is coming along fairly well but there is really nothing I can do to help. My diabetes is a complete act of nature, I was way more physically active and ate next to no sweets and it didn't phase my diabetes this weekend so that is super frustrating.

But, the diabetes is back under control as we speak so I hope it stays that way! The house is coming along as fast as it can. My husband and dad fixed the ceiling this weekend and I think it just needs a little more spackle and sanding before they can paint it. The bathroom is getting there. Dad did the plumbing for the bathtub and then we are going to put down tile, paint and install the new toilet and vanity and that will be done. I think the bedrooms just need painted and flooring installed...I think. This house is just like what you would see on TLC's Flip That House. I kid you not, you start one thing and it opens another can of worms!

So if anyone wants to come over and lend a hand you are more than welcome! We'll even buy the pizza!

Hm...

The world is feeling very hectic and crazy right now! The baby is coming soon, apparently 71 days soon according to the right side of the screen. That seems really, really quick!

I guess this is hitting me all at once because we just bought a house on Thursday and we need to fix it up and the baby is coming in 71 days! Oh my, I am clearly smoking crack! I would probably feel a tad better about all of this if I could actually do some of the cleaning/fixing on the house. But my whole family has banned me from work so it is a three man crew consisting of my husband, father and mother doing all the work. I am seriously feeling guilt ridden. Grandma even gave me the third degree that I shouldn't even be going over to the house. Yes that was her exact words.

Besides the house...we also have our childbirth classes once a week starting next week and they will continue until the first week of February. We also have bio-physicals on the baby once a week for the next four weeks. Not to mention all the other doctor appointments that I have to go to! Oh the chaos, what will me and my home-body husband do!

Speaking of the baby...she is doing well! On Wednesday they told me she weighs 3lbs 1oz and that she is looking good and gaining weight properly. She also had her fetal echo cardiogram that day and her heart looks wonderful. Praise the Lord for that!

So needless to say I am looking quite forward to a nice, relaxing, laugh-filled night with my two best friends! Woo-Hoo, melting pot here we come!

Third Trimester...Finally

Today is the official day that I am seven months! WooHoo!

I am ever so slightly terrified as everyone around me seems to be giving birth early and I don't really want to catch that fever if you know what I mean. Even the waitress at Apple-bees shared the story of her daughter going three and a half months early and the baby was born a little over a pound. My mind was once again filled with that panic-y fear! My friend at work was due in January and just had her baby this past week! She was thankfully born a little over five pounds so she didn't have to go to the NICU. If anyone else goes into labor early I will be begging for bed rest just to be on the safe side. Seriously, I have come this far and don't want any problems.

Now is apparently the time when everyone starts to offer advice and ask if you are "ready for the baby." I at heart am ready for the baby because I want to hold her and do everything that comes with a baby. In reality no I am not ready! We do not have a room set up for her and don't plan on putting one in this house. We figured it easier just to wait until we go to settlement and do her room first. I also have not had a baby shower and that is were the majority of baby paraphernalia comes from...am I right? So until that happens no I am "not ready," but I am ready at heart!

The advice should be another post but I will share a brief story while getting my eyebrows waxed on Friday. Lynda my eyebrow chick asked if I would be nursing, I said yes and she did what everyone does when they hear that a 23 year old is going to breastfeed. She gave me the "Ohhhh really?" Then to catch herself she added a "That is good to hear, I breastfed all of my children." I knew it was coming it was lingering in the air, the advice was sure to follow and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. She proudly declared "Make sure to start twisting those nipples now because let me tell you it hurts!" That was off the TMI rector scale that I did not need to know about the eyebrow lady. She then proceeds to inform me of how it ruins your breast, etc, etc. I had to shut her down quickly as this was getting too uncomfortable for even me. I kindly explained that my mother used to be a counselor for nursing mothers and she is going to be helping me with everything. That was the end of that. 

The eyebrow lady also told me I was waiting too late to do my childbirth classes. I called the hospital in October and the woman there scheduled it for January so that is really not my problem.

I am oh so grateful that this year during Christmas at Tom's Aunt's House I will not have to hear: "When are you two going to have kids." Followed by me stuttering and stammering because I really felt like saying f'you we've been trying for three years. I would eventually mumble a "We'll see" and left it at that. This year I will be proudly boasting my seven month belly thankful I will never have to hear that dreaded sentence again so long as I live.

Good luck to everyone still struggling on the desperate train of infertility I know it is hard during the holidays but I hope that next year holds a better outcome for all of you!

Good News!-Picture Below

Tuesday I had another ultrasound of the baby. We got great news!

When we had our October ultrasound we were told that the baby had a choroid plexus brain cyst and that it could cause retardation if it did not go away. They told me they usually go away so we should be fine. Then they offered me an amniocenteses which I declined. The doctor didn't seem too concerned about the whole thing but Tom and I were very concerned. 

I was devastated. I couldn' believe that after trying to get pregnant for so many years that something like this would happen. I finally thought it through and decided God isn't going to let this happen, the cyst will go away and everything is going to be fine.

So on Tuesday we found out that the brain cyst is gone! Thank you Jesus! It was such an overwhelming relief.

I wanted to say Thank You to everyone that prayed/is praying for the baby and I! Your prayers mean the world to me. As we can see the power of prayer worked for my baby and I am very grateful!