Treasure

I had my first normal-pregnant-lady OB appointment today!  Here are some bullet point highlights:

• I got the H1N1 vaccine - meh: why not?
• I get to have the 24-hour urine experience (Yahoo!) because I had preecclampsia when I delivered Katie so she wants to monitor me closely in the 3rd trimester. She wants to see what my "baseline" 24-hour urine specimen shows to evaluate any changes later.
• I got an order for the normal pregnancy lab draw - blood typing, Rh factor, HIV test, baseline platelets & stuff.
• Because I am a chubby-momma, I should only gain 15-20 pounds over the pregnancy.  I'm supposed to make "good food choices". I shall do my best.
• She did an ultrasound "for fun" even though I had one at the RE on Friday.  The baby looks all awesome & stuff, so that was fun to see.  She showed me both hemispheres of his brain with the CSF in between - that was pretty kick ass!
• I get to stop the Lovenox!!!! She said that she's just not into it, she never would have put me on it for an MTHFR mutation - it hasn't been demonstrated to have a benefit and it could cause problems later if preecclampsia becomes an issue. So, I am DONE with the burning, painful, bruise-causing torture shots!
• She is in concurrence with the RE's recommendation to discontinue the progesterone on Saturday, at 8 weeks.  So I only have 2 more PIO shots - one tonight and one on Friday! And only 9 more icky vaginal suppositories.  I hate them.  They have caused quite a bit of external irritation (sorry for the TMI) and I hate them (did I already say that? well - I DO!).
• I got a bag of treasures! Like magazines and pamphlets and what-not.  Actually I don't know what all is in it because I haven't started digging into it yet (that's next on my agenda for the evening).

So that is my update. Next appointment in 4 weeks on January 13th. I am very happy. :)

Cooler than I thought

The ultrasound today was AWESOME! We could see our *giant* baby in its gestational sac as soon as the wand went in.  Forest saw the heartbeat immediately.  It was sooooooo cool.  His heartbeat is 119 bpm. That's right - I've decided it's a boy. I'm sure I have a 50% chance of being correct :)

Tomorrow

Think Little Orphan Annie...

The wand'll come out...Tomorrow
Check here for an update sometime tomorrow...
There'll be one.


The purpose of the scan...Tomorrow
Is to see the heartbeat of our daughter
Or our son.


Though the ultrasound screen may
be gray
and grainy
When he sticks the wand in
My head will spin
And we'll pray....


Tomorrow, tomorrow;
A heartbeat!...Tomorrow.
You're only a day away.


Okay, so that seemed significantly more clever in my head :)

Questions from a Sleepy Regulatory Affairs Associate

Does being tired count as "sick" for purposes of saying, "Boss, I'm sick. I need to go home so I can lie down."?

Do you think I'm tired because I am Oh-So-Very-Knocked-Up?

Can you make peanut butter spicy?

5w4d - Ultrasound Day

Well, we have one gestational sac containing one fetal pole just like we're supposed to! Yay :)  Forest said the baby looks like a lump and is now calling him "Lumpy". Nice, Forest. Nice.

I get another ultrasound next Thursday at 6w5d and we will *hopefully* see the heartbeat.  Then I'm released to my OB (where I surruptitiously already made an appointment for 12/15 - 7w3d, tee hee).

Still zero symptoms. I feel great - no complaints. The only silly thing I'm chalking up to pregnancy is that I am wanting spicy food All.The.Time. Like every day I'm thinking Thai, Chinese, or Indian. I put Frank's Hot Sauce on my pizza and sandwiches. Forest gave me a bottle of cayenne pepper to spice up my bland Healthy Choice lunches. That's werid, huh? 

And we broke our sex hiatus last week, so everyone is happy (screw those overzealously conservative restrictions...no pun intended).

EWLE Pics

Sarah proposed an acronym for my wordy (and pretty much only) family tradition: Elf Watching and Lasagna Eating (EWLE) and we all love it - thank you, Sarah! :)

It all started when Elf came out in 2003. Forest and I took Katie (then 9), my niece Lauren (then 16), and my nephew Sean (then 14) to see it. We all LOVED it. We are big movie quoters and this movie is quite quote-tastic.  

The next year Elf came out on DVD so we had Lauren and Sean over to watch it and eat lasagna. We decided to do it the next year and the next...My sister and her husband (Lauren and Sean's parents) came a couple of years ago and I think Forest's kids came another year.  Last year Lauren brought a date and Katie invited a friend.


This year, the 6th annual EWLE, my brother's family from Chicago was in town, my other brother wanted to come, my sister and her husband came, Lauren invited 2 friends and Katie invited a friend.  So, we had 15 people! We have a teeny, tiny house, but a cozy good time was had by all.

A candid kitchen photo

  

Thirsty Katie

Thirsty Lauren

My brother, Michael

Birthday Boy Sean

All the Cousins 
(disclaimer: the next two pics were taken at my sister's house, not mine)

All the Cousins, Part Deux

Anyway, as I said, this is pretty much my only familly tradition and I highly recommend that each of your families start it up.  After all, everyone loves Elf and everyone loves lasagna.  

Just ask Katie:

A (really) personal question

A question for my fellow IVF-ers out there,  if you don't mind my asking (if you do mind, of course, you can just refuse to answer): what was your RE's recommendation for having sex after embryo transfer?  My clinic recommends waiting until after the first ultrasound (when I'll be 5w4d), but there are certain people around here who are getting restless (I won't name names).  Has anyone else's MD been so conservative on the sex front?

Your answers will be greatly appreciated :)

In other news...I have none. Everything is A-OK over here so far. We're busy cleaning the house (um...how is that, Amy, since you're posting a blog entry?) for my nieces and nephews to come over tonight for our Annual Elf Watching and Lasagna Eating (catchy name, huh).  We got an early Christmas present to make this tradition more awesome this year: a 40" LCD HDTV (40" is MORE than enough for our wee living room) with a Blu-Ray player and surround sound (woo hoo!).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

Betas

Sooooo...


My beta on Wedesday at 6dp5dt (11 dpo) was 18 and on Friday at 8dp5dt (13 dpo) it was 40. So that is very good!!!! Unfortunately the cute beta graph that everyone else has doesn't start until 12 dpo, so I can't really get my line to appear on it, but, from what I understand, those numbers are nearly perfect for a singleton pregnancy.


So, of course, we're very excited.  


When I got the BFP (gosh, I still can't believe a get to type "I" and "BFP" in the same sentence!) on Tuesday I was soooooooo excited - I told a ton of people.  I told my co-workers Eliza, Julie, Shawn, Brian (who told additional co-worker Jonathan), Jan (who didn't know it was a "secret" and started talking about it somewhat loudly in my very quiet open office), and Ed. I told Katie, my friend Kim, my sister, the blogosphere, and my old friends from my very first "TTC" board (we were the "TTC Spring/Summer 2007" crew. This BFP has been a LONG TIME COMING).  


So that's a lot of people to tell that you're five minutes pregnant.  Not necessarily wise, right? But I was FREAKING EXCITED, okay?  Plus I was 0% worried.  ZERO PERCENT.  I just felt like I am totally pregnant now and on July 31, 2010 I am totally bringing home a perfect, healthy baby.  I put a floating baby widget on my freaking blog.


Forest has since told his boss, all the co-workers in his immediate group (who are also pretty much my co-workers since we work at the same company), a bunch of other co-workers (including one woman to whom he announced it when we ran into her at a restaurant), and some friends he went out with last night.


On Thursday I started to get nervous.  I called for that first beta result and when it was an 18 I got scared.  That sounds soooooo low.  Most betas I hear are much higher than that.  Of course, I know most clinics don't test at freaking 11 dpo, but still. 18?  I started getting upset when Forest would tell people.


Then I got the 2nd beta: 40 and that should totally reassure me, right? It's the perfect number for 13 dpo...but the doubling time was 41.67 hours, whereas the mean for that range is, like, 31...so...you see where this is going...


DOUBT.


I am now just like every other infertile who finally achieves pregnancy: I am worried.  When I was pregnant with Katie I never ONCE worried I would miscarry. I didn't take multiple HPTs - I got one positive and never doubted again that I was pregnant.  I try to reassure myself with that.  I try to reassure myself with all kinds of things, but it's not working too well.


Then, last night, I was walking back from going out for drinks (my drink was iced tea, don't worry) with two co-workers (to whom I also announced my pregnancy) after an all-day off-site meeting, when my heel caught on a cobblestone and I twisted my ankle and fell on my butt (hurting my pride most of all, although my ankle is all swollen and bruised).  Forest's reaction? "You can't be falling down!!!"  Mmmmm Hmmmm. Thanks, babe. I didn't exactly do it on purpose!  But, of course, I was already worried that my fall had popped our precious baby right out of my uterine lining.  Yes, I know that's silly - I have pretty short legs - a fall to the ground really isn't very far - but still.  Worry.


Forest has promised not to tell any more co-workers who work at my office (I told him he could still tell people who work at his location).  I haven't decided whether I'll tell the rest of my family at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  


My first ultrasound is December 2nd.  That's not too far away, right?  Surely I'll feel reassured after that, huh? Deep breaths (and no more heels/cobblestones) till then.

6dp5dt - No Symptoms; Beta Drawn

I guess I don't really need to fill in this whole post-y part since I gave my whole update in the title there.  I continue to experience no symptoms and I continue to "know" that it is too early for symptoms, but I want them anyway.  There really isn't anything other than nausea that I wouldn't attribute to the progesterone, so I should just pipe down about it, but it's weird to finally be pregnant and feel, literally, no differently.

Thank you all so much for your well-wishes yesterday. You helped make BFP Day the best ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first beta was drawn today, but the RE's office doesn't call with first beta results. They wait for the results of the second beta to ensure that the numbers are doubling as expected. 

My stomach looks ridiculous due to the Lovenox injections.  I have 3 very large bruises and a ton of little tiny ones for each injection site.  I assure you it's quite lovely looking, really.

Luckily I only have to do the PIO shots every 3rd night. It's some new-fangled, fancy formulation that's long acting.  I then supplement twice daily with the lovely vaginal progesterone suppositories. Ewww.

So, that's all I've got. Zero symptoms...twiddling my thumbs until Friday's 2nd beta result.

Oh, and still over the moon and delighted and thankful and thrilled and overwhelmed with joy :)

I'M PREGNANT

BFP.  I'm shaking.

(It's the one line = "sucks to be you"; two lines = "yay!" kind)

I used to have all sorts of awesome ideas about cute ways to tell everyone but those all just flew out the window. 

I called Forest. He was against my going to Walgreens to get a test. I promised him I wouldn't...but then I did anyway.  I called him (while he was out to lunch with his boss) and I said, "You are going to be really mad at me." and he said, "Oh please. I knew what you were going to do." and I said, "But it's really good news!" 

I realize that announcement was not cute, clever, romantic, or anything, but I was too excited.

5dp5dt

I'm cracking. I'm giving in. I'm going out at lunch to get a basket of pregnancy tests. And by "lunch" I mean 11:00 - the earliest possible "lunchtime".  Am I crazy? Am I setting myself up for disappointment? It's not FMU. It's still awfully early...

...or is 10 dpo early?

I dunno.

I'm so weak.

Help me.

You have 59 minutes to talk sense into me...or I'm driving to Walgeens.

4dp5dt

I remember when abbreviations like "4dp5dt" were unintelligible to me.  In case there is an innocent reading my blog, that means "four days past 5-day transfer", or...am I pregnant? When should I pee on a stick? (becuase we ALL know I'm not waiting for a stinking beta no matter how ridiculously early it's scheduled).  This is basically equivalent to 9dpo in a "normal" cycle.

I wish I felt pregnant. I wish I would throw up on my keyboard right now because someone walked by my cubicle with a lunch that would normally not bother me but, in my knocked up state, caused me to projectile vomit.  Yes, my brain is fully aware that such symptoms do not generally occur at this early, early stage, but what I wouldn't give!

I had a little "feeling" last night that I am pregnant, with one boy. How weird is that?  If you don't know me, it may not sound weird at all, but I've really never been able to picture myself having a boy.  When Katie was born I was soooooooooooooooooooo relieved she was a girl. Back in that day (1994) my doctor didn't do routine ultrasounds.  He was very old school.  He felt that women had been having babies without the information provided in an ultrasound for millenia and that, barring any indication of a problem with the pregnancy, ultrasounds just represented another needless imaging procedure contributing to skyrocketting healthcare costs.  How NOT FUN is that?  But, alas, he was the one calling the shots and I was the one with the non-problematic pregnancy, so I couldn't really complain.  But it would've been *nice* to know that I would soon have a precious baby girl instead of a...boy (I'll leave out any negative description about how I would have felt about having a boy). But, now, I think I'm trying to get my mind around the (very real) possibility that I could be incubating a blastocyst whose genome contains a Y-chromosome.

Katie is being all super adorable about the prospect of a baby brother or sister.  Which is good - her reaction could easily go either way.  Her dad has 2 kids from his current marraige - girls aged 3 and 4.  Her emotions about them range pretty broadly (from UGH - they are SO ANNOYING/BABIES SUCK to AWWWW - I LOVE THESE TWO) but I feared we'd be dealing with a whole new thing if someone else dared to move into HER mommy's uterus.  But, so far, she's being very positive and sweet.  I think she's more comfortable that we did IVF so she can imagine the conception as a decidedly non-intimate phenomenon.  So, you know, you're welcome, Katie :).

Anyway, that's my update - not much of an update. Just wishin' I was pregnant...but that's sort of the theme of the blog...so you didn't really need me to tell you that today...but...anyway...nevermind. 

Signing off now!

B1 and B2

Two beautiful blasts were transferred this afternoon and there are FIVE to freeze!!!! I am thrilled with this outcome.  They said that one of the blasts is Grade 1 and the other is Grade 2 and they referred to them as B1 and B2.  Is anyone else familiar with Bananas in Pajamas? That was all I could think about. Every time they would say "this one's B1" or "that one's B2" I would crack up.  I guess whatever puts one in a good mood for the transfer is a good thing, huh?   


The transfer itself was totally great. I was worried my bladder wouldn't be full enough, since I didn't really have to pee at all, but he didn't mention any issue, so *thankfully* I didn't have to lay there for 45 minutes afterwards with an uncomfortably full bladder. Plus, Dr. Ahlering ROCKS the speculum! It did.not.hurt.at.all. I couldn't believe it - not even the usual pinch when he cranked open my cervix.  I think he is heaven sent.


I present...The Babies Crawford:

That's B1 on the bottom and B2 on top. Doesn't B1 kind of look like a smiley face?


Here is some Bananas in Pajamas fun, in case you haven't had the pleasure:



My sister said she would make them PJ's and visors when they're born (not that I'm counting my bananas before they hatch - but I am pregnant with twins until proven otherwise).  


Betas are next Wednesday and Friday (super soon!!!)

Transfer Day

Well - this is it! We are transferring *something* at 2:00 pm.  They called to schedule it a few minutes ago, but the scheduler had NO information other than that the lab called and told her to schedule the transfer. 

I will find out when I get there (with a "comfortably full bladder") what the status of each of the 13 little ones is.  But presumably at least one hung in there!

I'll post afterwards.

Thank you for all of your comments and well-wishes, you are too kind!!!!!!

Day 3 Report

All thirteen embryos are still alive. They are each Grade 1 or 2.  One is a little behind at 4-cells and one is a little ahead at 10-cells, but the remaining eleven are all perfect (6 to 8 cells).  I am so relieved! We will transfer the best two on Thursday, provided they all keep up the good work.

Hope

I just got the call.
Egg retrieval was yesterday.
23 eggs retrieved, 14 were mature. 13 fertilized.


I am relieved. 
They will check them again on Tuesday.
I can breathe now.

I Love Lupron

Ever since I started the Lupron (2 weeks ago) I have felt TONS better.  Is that all in my head? Perhaps.  Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it seemed to take the edge off of the hormonal malestrom I was suffering on account of La Cyst.  This is, of course, a good thing.

Thursday is the cyst aspiration so I'm taking a day of vacation.  Who doesn't like to spend her vacation days on minor surgeries?  This girl does!  Follistim starts on Sunday, I think, so we will be well on our way soon.

On the work front, I am still in limbo.  The "leadership" in my department is making my blood pressure rise on a regular basis these days.  I'm still not sure I want to jump ship for the World O' Project Management, though.  I fear the proverbial "out of the frying pan, into the fire" scenario.  We shall see...

On the Halloween front, no progress yet with a costume.  I know that whatever I choose will not bare my gargantuan midrift, but it should be sassy and cleava-licious, nonetheless.

Well, that's my update.  Hugs and love to you, blog friends! :)

One day till Lupron

Thank you all for your sweet comments about how my blog doesn't altogether suck. I won't say I'm 100% convinced, but I certainly appreciate you guys!!!!

Tomorrow the big cycle starts: Lupron for supression and Dexamethasone for...coolness? I'm not really sure what it's for but I don't really care either.  This clinic is so blase about everything - no intensely boring all-day session about how protocols work and how to do injections, no explanation of anything, really.  More just: "Here take this and this on these days and trust us, mmmkay?"

Mmmmkay.

Work is going OK. Very busy.  I didn't end up taking that job I blogged about awhile back.  Since then, the Director has tried to get me to apply for another position in his department (lateral move for me) and just this afternoon he told me about yet another open position that was just approved that would be a promotion.  I'm going to have to seriously consider that one...  I love Regulatory Affairs, but I don't love my current group, responsibilities, or leadership.  I know those aren't particularly good reasons to leave a good job, so I'm torn.

School is not going so spectacularly.  I think I bit off more than I am comfortable chewing this semester.  I'm actually being a gigantic slacker.  I'm hoping to pull off B's.  A's are looking to be out of the question (sigh).  Work is just kicking my butt, leaving me little time to focus on my academic pursuits. 

In other news, this is what Forest wants me to wear for Halloween:

Riiiiiight. I am trying to convince him that NOBODY wants to see me in that except for him and that big ole ovarian cysts spewing massive amounts of estrogen into one's body make one feel bloaty and crampy and zitty and weepy and NOT interested in wearing that. Ever.

And that's about it for me.  How do you like two posts within a week? Almost like I'm an actual blogger, huh?  Don't get used to it.  You know what a slacker I am.

I should blog

I'm so uninspired!

I know my blog is silly and boring and goofy. I promise that I'm actually a good writer in real life. I even sort of do it for a living, actually. But my fellow bloggers are so witty, eloquent, consistent, edgy, sweet, and funny, I can't possibly compete!

Oh well.


But I do have updates!

1. I have a 5 cm cyst on my right ovary.  Apparently ovaries themselves are only about 5 cm in diameter, so I have a cyst on my ovary the size of my...ovary. That's no fun.  I'm having it aspirated through an obligatory giant needle through the wall of my vagina (who doesn't love that?) on October 22nd, which is also...
2. The day my baseline ultrasound is scheduled before starting the stims for IVF #2.  Lucky for me, the doc will be viewing my lining directly through a hysteroscope, so I can forego the actual wanding that day. 
3. My last post that confusingly indicated that I would have egg retrieval on November 2nd was slightly off...you may have also wondered how on Earth they could schedule an egg retrieval in advance (I know I did).  It turns out that the scheduling girl was just exaggerating.  Apparently they have "cycles" at this clinic where they separate patients into groups to all "cycle" at the same time.  Basically, the egg retrieval will be sometime after November 2nd. 
4. I ordered all of my meds today which are apparently coming from a super fancy fertility pharmacy on the East Coast.  Last time I got them at Walgreens, but this clinic seems to think the med procurement process should be super fancy...so...whatever.

So that's all I've got.  Not particularly eloquent, witty, sweet, edgy, or any of the other stuff all the good blogs are, but at least I finally threw something out into the blogosphere.


Yay!

Back in the game

Things have progressed. A lot.


I had a financial consult with the shiny new RE about 1/2 hour ago.  We are go for launch.  I am on the schedule for EGG RETREIVAL on November 2nd. How's that for efficiency? I went ahead and scheduled a whole week of vacation.  3 Day Transfer? 5 Day Transfer? Pshhht - who cares? I'm on vacation.


The gameplan until then:

• Once I start my cycle...which should be, literally, any minute, I call the office and schedule the CD3 testing and start birth control pills.
• Forest is going to have a super fancy semen screen on September 25th (scheduled for payday since it's $500 cash or check).
• Stimulation will start mid-October

That's it - it's just that simple. Weird, huh?


In other news I have a new job offer to consider. The offer expires at the end of the day.  I found out about it at 8:30 this morning.  It's in the Project Management department (which is cool) but it's pretty administrative (which isn't cool).  It would have a fancy title and be all glorified & stuff, but I pretty much feel like it would be a step backward.  I don't know what to do.  The new director wants me to say "YES!!!!" really badly.  The VP thinks that staying in Regulatory Affairs would be the better career decision for me.  He said, "[Director] is looking out for his best interests.  I'm looking out for mine. You need to look out for yours."  When I basically said that I am not sure what it would take to lure me into their department he said, "I appreciate your candor.  I think you made the right choice."  I was like, "Uhhh...you're welcome?"  I am not sure what to do.  There are many factors to consider and only about another hour in which to consider them.


Decisions, decisions...

Updates

So...what's been going on in AmyLand? I shall summarize:

I had a birthday! Yay! I'm 33.

So I'm Jesus' age now :-) My brother's response to this hilarious assertion was, "But you're so much less accomplished than him." Tru dat. But here's a picture of me at my birthday party:

Jesus couldn't have been any cuter, right?

Jesus could, however, have commissioned a less Wrecktastic Birthday Cake. There are SOOOOOOO many things wrong with this cake (which was supposed to be a spectacular geeky confection)...so many ways in which this was NOT what we ordered...that I am devoid of comment at the moment:

I also started classes last week, in my ongoing (never-ending?) pursuit of my bachelor's degree (bah - who needs it?). I am taking Cell Biology, Calculus, and Practical Criticism (writing about literature). It's going well. Should be adding 9 hours of "A"s to my transcript in 14 weeks or so...

In Uterus Occupation News, today I had a phone consultation with the new RE and I was very pleased. In telling him about the 25 immature follicles retrieved during IVF #1 I said, "So, I don't know if we triggered too early, maybe?" and he said, "I would say that's exactly what happened." So, you know, INSTANT LOVE. We are going to commence the customary testing as soon as my next cycle starts!

Needless to say, I'm all hopeful and excited and stuff.

Back on the Horse (no, not THAT horse!)

So, you'll never guess what I did today... ...I made an appointment with a new RE! I am decidedly never going back to the IVF Hut (except maybe if I do find success, it would be kind of nice to go there with my giant pregnant self and tell Valerie Ratts, the evil beeeeotch who suggested my eggs are incapable of maturing, to kiss my ass), so I decided to give George's brother at SIRM a shot. I have a phone consultation with cute Ahlering Brother #2 on September 2nd. Yay! When I was filling out the Patient Questionnaire, it was actually very useful to have this blog and look back to find such things as my peak estradiol level during IVF #1. 


The horse that I haven't quite found my way to get back on is the Losing Some Damned Weight Horse. I haven't posted since my 1 pound weight loss in June beacuse, well, I quit doing Weight Watchers because I am a giant loser. But, Forest said he would do it with me, so we are going to start going this week. 


So that's my update. I'm sorry I'm such a crappy blogger/commenter. I do read each and every blog on my blogroll religiously (and sometimes I even manage to squeeze out a measly comment). I love you all very much and have missed you!

Another one bites the dust

One more pound down...

...I am glad that I lost something, but admit that I am a bit disappointed not to have lost just ONE ADDITIONAL pound so that I could be at my 5% goal and get my pedicure! (And yes, Misty, this will be my first EVER pedicure! I have heretofore been a do-it-yourself toe painter).

Oh well. 212.2 is the number of the day.  I will reach my goal next week, I will! I will! And then I will announce my 10% goal reward (warning: it will be TMI).

Cheers, everyone!

A Wee Update to the "About Me" Paragraph

The "About Me" paragraph now reads that I am the mother of an awesome 15 year old daughter, Katie.  Today is my sweetie baby's birthday (Woop!).  She is now old enough to get her driver's permit (YIKES!).

Katie is a super great child, and it makes me happy that I can say that about a teenager! I never had a good relationship with my mom; my sister and niece (now 21) have been going at it since she turned about 13. So I am very, very pleased and feel very, very blessed that Katie and I are tight.  In honor of Miss Katie, I thought I would show off her cuteness. 

I've posted this one before. It was taken 15 years ago tomorrow:

Coming Home - June 7, 1994

Arguably the BEST Katie-Mommy pic evah:

Katie (age 3 years, 1 day) & Mommy at Disney World - 1997

Another one from the same trip:

Sean (nephew, age 7), Katie (age 3) and Lauren (niece, age 9)

To see how time flies in the blink of an eye, here is a relatively recent one of the three of them:

Katie (age 14), Sean (age 19), and Lauren (age 21) - Christmas 2008

This was my 21st birthday. We were out for a WILD night at TGI Friday's (or maybe it wasn't so wild, actually!):

Katie (age 3), Mommy & a friend - 1997

I love this next picture because she was so little! She doesn't wear her hair in pigtails anymore and she doesn't hug me like this when walking through museums:

Katie (age 8) and Mommy at the Museum of Science and Industry - 2003

Just 4 years ago she still looked mostly like a little girly:

Katie (age 11) and Mommy - 2005

One, that's right ONE year later, she looked like this: 

Katie and her friend, Grace (age 12) 

Can you imagine having legs like that at TWELVE!?!?! Maybe you all did, but I didn't. Weird.

And here is a present-day montage she made honoring her new great love, Mr. Spock (in case you're not a nerd, LL&P stands for Live Long and Prosper):

Clockwise from top, left: New Spock, Grace, Old Spock, and Katie

I never thought Katie would be this old before I had another baby.  And that's thinking positively.  Alternatively, I never thought my baby-having days would be over at 17.  Life is awfully unpredictable, huh? No matter what life hands me, one thing will always be true: I am wonderfully blessed and happy to be Katie's mom.

Happy Birthday, Katie! Live Long and Prosper!

Two More

Two more POUNDS that is! Actually, 2.2 pounds...because the Weight Watchers scales are that precise. Although I don't think their accuracy really supports reporting results to that precision (because my sister weighed 0.2 pounds differently on 2 different scales sitting right next to each other - we call that reproducibility), but that is just the analytical nerd in me talking!

So my new number is 213.2!

Can you believe I weighed 221.8 only 2 weeks ago?!?!?!?!?!? YAY! Speaking of being a nerd, my daughter (formerly an anti-nerd) has fully embraced her inner nerd over the last month or so. We started playing Dungeons and Dragons (I know! How nerdy!) because it was a dream of mine since Junior High when the boys in my neighborhood wouldn't let me play (pouts). I was chatting with a new co-worker a couple of months ago and he mentioned that he plays and I begged (BEGGED) him to let me play. He explained to me that established groups don't typicaly like to take on newbies (double pout), but he said he would DM (be the Dungeon Master for) my very own group. So, I had to recruit people to do it with me, becuase, really, there aren't that many people around clamoring to play D&D when you're 32 years old...(not, at least, in my experience). This meant that I had to coerce Forest and Katie to play with me. Katie's friend Grace was ALL FOR IT (she has a Geek Streak, luckily) and they invited their friend Mitch from school. So that is our little band of nerds :-) 


Then there's Star Trek. Katie was formerly very dismissive of Star Trek...until she saw the new movie and became smitten with Spock (how cute is that!?). Now she's seen the movie twice, is listening to the audiobook, begged me to go to Burger King so she could get a Star Trek action figure (she got Spock!), and made Spock her computer backdrop. Then, yesterday, she watched 5 episodes of The Big Bang Theory we had saved on the DVR. I think the nerd transformation is complete, don't you? 


Anyway, 2.2 pounds is my progress for the week. I don't think that quite merits a reverse belly pic, but when I get to my 5% goal (only 3 more pounds to go!) I am rewarding myself with my very first pedicure and I will post a picture of the 210 pound me with pretty toes (er...at least with painted toes...it would take more than a pedicure to actually make them pretty). Caio, bellas!!!

Not Exactly a Reverse Belly Pic

Last time I suggested that I would post reverse belly pics so that you could see my progress on la diet. I have not really taken any yet, but I thought I could post this video and it can work to demonstrate my "before" state and also my silliness state, to dispel any thoughts that I am a serious and reserved girl (this is a repeat for anyone who knows me on Facebook).

If you're not familiar with what we are doing, it is from the Cutest.Show.Ever. (The Big Bang Theory):

So...that's my post for the day. Hope you enjoyed it!

Weigh In Results

Thank you guys so much for your encouraging words in my comments!!! It means so much to me to have your support!

I was really excited about my Weight Watchers meeting this week and bummed that I had to wait an extra day because they were closed yesterday for the holiday.  I knew I'd have a good number because I could tell I've lost.  Are you ready for this???

215.4!!!!!!

I lost 6.4 pounds!

I am so proud of me :-)

Also, I started my cycle on Sunday. It was 37 days long.  That's not so bad. So far this year I'm just happy I've had my period each month.   

Maybe this weight loss thing will turn things around. It certainly can't hurt, right!?!?!? I'll keep you posted!  

Maybe I should post reverse-belly-pics??

A quickly-like update

Because my aforementioned shiny new genius doctor has convinced me that losing some poundage is seriously in my best interest and the existence of my adorable future babies virtually depends on it, I have joined Weight Watchers.

Tell me your proud of me...for serious!

My sister and my friend Amanda joined with me, so I have, like, a support group and everything! And Jen, per your comment, I am WAY ready for an eating healthy buddy so that I can be WAY ready to be belly buddies with Tricia (Wow. It's been a long time since I said "belly buddies").

So in addition to being accountable to my sister, my friend, and the whole Weight Watchers organization, I am also going to be accountable to you, blog friends. My starting weight on Monday was 221.8 (I know. Ouch.). But since you know I rock 221.8 pounds, I am not afraid to share this with you who love me anyway. I will post my (hopefully spectacular) updates each week.

In cycle news, I am a week late. Not that this means anything for a girl like me. I will test tomorrow* in case a miracle happened.

Cheers! Love you all!

*ETA: BFN Wednesday morning. But that's okay. Maybe next month!

Should I blog about this?

Well...today I officially kicked Hott George to the curb by moving on. I saw my new genius doctor this afternoon. She is very smart and I like her. HOWEVER. She doesn't want to do get pregnant stuff with me. She thinks I need the expert services of an RE since I have "so much going on". We did the well-woman thing and she said that I should make another appointment if I want to:

1. talk about PCOS management
2. get on OCs to regulate my cycles
3. have her provide OB services for the baby that I am magically going to conceive on my own after following her brilliant advice*

The highlight was that I got two (that's right TWO) vaginal exams for the price of one! Genius Doctor was training a Physician's Assistant and, as someone who has had countless people checking out her bejingo over the last year, I was more than willing to let her palpate my uterus. Good times. 


* For the first time, a real-life doctor person told me to EXERCISE my fat ass and lose 10% of my body weight. After which my ovaries might just spontaneously decide to play nice. So, since she is a genius and a doctor and I like her...I am going to try. I'm sorta kind of back on the horse, I guess. Or maybe I'm just looking at the horse, kind of walking around it...wondering if I should really get back on or not. Last time the horse threw me off the back and sort of kicked me a few times and then kicked dirt on me, so, I'm still on the fence. So...uh...wish me luck!!!