Let The Negotiations Commence…

Okay negotiations are officially in the works for baby #2. It all actually started w/ a pregnancy “scare” if you will. About a month ago I was convinced I was pregnant (and to be perfectly honest the thought freaked me out big time) so I took a home pregnancy test (or 3) and my husband and I were both a bit surprised by how disappointed we actually were when it (they) were negative. That got us thinking so I made an appointment with my OB (who I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE) for a “preconception consultation” to discuss our action plan. Last time it took us well over a year and several hefty doses of meds to conceive so I was a little worried about going through that again. Luckily the doctor has high hopes that we won’t need medication this time, or at least not as much. We won’t really know until after Noah is weaned which I’m planning to do around his birthday. That’s only 4 months away (insert giant sad face here.) I wasn’t even expecting to have a cycle before then, but to my surprise I started a new cycle today. I guess we’ll see in another month if I am actually ovulating now or if it’s another “fake cycle”

I have to be honest and say that the thought of a second child does sort of scare me. My main fear is that we’ll be taking something away from Noah. The thought of not being able to give him my undivided attention at all times kind of breaks my heart but I also realize that by that time he’ll be a toddler and not a little baby anymore. Besides, I know Noah will make the world’s best big brother and I can’t wait for him to have a sibling to play with. He loves being around his cousins so much and I know that after the jealousy wears off he’ll enjoy having someone else around.

When Pregnant Women Are Taking Over The World….

When we were trying to conceive, it seemed like the world was being over run by babies and pregnant women. They were EVERYWHERE! I  saw them everywhere I went. Sometimes it felt like they were taunting me or something, and at times it was extremely hard not to just burst into tears. I know I would have looked like the crazy, crying lady because none of them knew what was going on. As hard as it was to see random pregnant strangers, I think the hardest thing was that both of my (younger) sisters got pregnant while we were trying.  As the oldest child I think I felt like it was my birth right to give my parent’s the first grandchild and it took a while for me to accept the fact that that just wasn’t going to happen. (Please note that I love my nephews SO SO much and wouldn’t change a thing now.)

It’s funny how we have this time table of how we think our lives should go but God often times has other plans. I learned many lessons while trying to get pregnant that have shaped not only who I am, but what kind of parent I am as well. When we did finally get pregnant it was clear that the timing was perfect. Funny how that happens.

Okay, I’m way off of my intended topic. Time to get back on course! When I started writing this post my goal was to talk about how I was pregnant at the same time as 7 of my friends and family members. I kid you not there were six other pregnant women at my baby shower. It was like a fest of hormones but it was amazing! It was so fun to get to share that experience with so many of my friends, and now Noah has so many friends and cousins that are so close to his age! I love that he has so many people to play with!  One of my friends had her baby girl the same day I had Noah even though our due dates were a week apart. Noah is one hour and 2 minutes older than her daughter and the funny thing is they were the exact same size; 6 lbs 8oz. (Of course now my little chunker-monker has like 4lbs on her.)

Looking back I realize how blessed we were to get pregnant at the exact time we did. When I was 3 months pregnant I got laid off. I taught preschool for a public school district who laid off all first and second year teachers (and I was a second year teacher.) At the time it was devastating, we didn’t think we’d be able to make it on one income. Three days after I got my pink slip we had our little pregnancy scare and it quickly became clear that we were going to find a way for me to stay home. I actually could have gotten my job back since I have a specialty degree, but staying home is the best thing for our family.  Okay I’m getting off topic- time to wrap this up.

I know there are many women that struggle with infertility, and when you’re trying desperately for a baby it can seem like the end of the world so here are the words I would share with you. Relax, I know it’s hard not to let it consume you. Have faith, don’t stop believing in it. Trust, there are lessons being learned even if they are difficult ones.  And lastly just talk to your spouse, infertility is happening to them to and it really can bring you closer together.

Okay that was a wordy post. Let me close it out with a cute picture!

Adding To The Mix

Sixteen months ago by parents had zero grandchildren. Zero. Today they have 3 and a 4th that is literally coming any day. It’s a little overwhelming to say the least, but it’s also amazing. My youngest sister was the 1st of us 3 girls to give my parents a grandchild. My nephew Caleb is the cutest, chunkiest, little thing you’ve ever seen. He’s 16 1/2 months old. My nephew Aiden came 5 months later and surprised us all. The kid is hilarious and it’s hard to believe he’ll be 1 in just a few weeks. Noah was the 3rd grandchild. At 6 months he’s 5 1/2 months younger than Aiden. Now we are waiting on Katelyn who will be 6 months younger than Noah (and 16 months younger than her brother, Caleb.)

Needless to say we are being over-run by babies. When we attempt to all go somewhere together people look at us like we’re nuts. My parents had us very young so they are just now in their early forties. I think people are usually trying to figure out which baby belongs with who. We’re quite the scene.

While we were trying to conceive, it was difficult to watch both of my sisters get pregnant so easily. Jealous didn’t even describe it. It was unfair and there were days I would just sit and cry, especially after another negative pregnancy test. The amazing thing is that I wouldn’t take back any of the tears and frustration. I honestly believe our infertility turned out to be a bit of a blessing. See, if I had gotten pregnant right away I wouldn’t have Noah. He wouldn’t be exactly who he is today and I think he’s perfect. And now I LOVE that he has so many cousins to play with. He’s only 6 months old but he already gets SO excited when he sees them. You can tell he’s just waiting to get in there and play with them. I am sort of sad that he won’t be the baby of the bunch anymore but we will finally have a little girl to spoil. I can’t wait to see how all of the boys are around her. I know they’ll be great.

Here’s a picture of my dad with his three boys. Of course this was a few months ago.

My Road to Mommyhood

I’m a good mom. That might sounds arrogant but I know that it’s the truth. I always knew I was meant to be a mom, there was never any doubt for me. I always knew I would be a young mom too. Not sure how I knew it. I just did. Maybe it’s because my mom had all three of us girls before she was 22 (sounds crazy I know.) I actually would have thought I would have become a mom younger than 24 but looking back I’m glad it happened when it did.

Having a baby was not easy for us. It took about 15 months, which isn’t incredibly long, but I come from an extremely fertile family so it felt like forever. Once we started trying to conceive we quickly found that I had polycystic ovarian syndrome.  In short, I don’t ovulate on my own. Luckily we found this out pretty early and immediately went on progesterone and Clomid. Four months and 3 different doses later and I still wasn’t ovulating regularly so we added Metformin to the bunch. (By the way Metformin is a diabetes medicine and since I am not in fact diabetic it made me very sick.) Luckily 2 months later we were pregnant. Honestly, I had just started to accept the fact that it might not happen to us and it was actually the 1st month that I was sure I wasn’t pregnant. (True story I took a pregnancy test on the earliest possible day because of a fortune cookie I got at Panda Express.)

I found out I was pregnant on Feb. 1st 2009 (which was super bowl Sunday.) We were so excited we couldn’t wait to tell our friends and family. My pregnancy went pretty smooth (4 weeks of morning sickness but nothing too bad) and except for a scare at 12 weeks thanks to a low lying placenta, it went pretty well. Did I mention that I live in AZ and was it was 100+ degrees my entire last trimester?

Fast forward a bit to Oct 2nd when our world was changed forever. After about 8 hours of labor (I know 1st babies are supposed to take a lot longer) Noah arrived and I knew my life would never be the same. Here’s a few of my favorite pictures from that day.