We had a nice Christmas...

Andrew didn't care about the presents -at all- and focused solely on the stairs. We don't have stairs at our house, except to the basement, but those ones are a death trap (slippery wood stairs leading to an unfinished basement); we keep the door to the basement closed always. I could not get him to sit still for presents, so I just let him go play on the stairs (I sat on the bottom just in case he fell, but he's pretty good at going both directions without incident). Christmas Eve we spent at my grandparents' house. Andrew had some goodies and then we went downstairs to open presents. I was showing him all his neat toys but he didn't care. We went back home and after Andrew went to sleep, the hubby and I watched Deja Vu starring Denzel Washington. It was very good! DH got it for Christmas from my mom.

Christmas morning we woke up and went over to my mother's house. She cooked up a huge breakfast: pancakes (which I don't eat, but my siblings enjoyed them), scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. It was delicious! I gave my mom her presents: the first one was a new pan--a deep frying pan that can be used for cooking up a variety of foods. Then I gave her the special gift I got for her in September. She never received her senior yearbook from 1978. She ordered it, custom engraved with her name, but when she went to pick it up they didn't have it. So, back in September I had this brilliant idea of tracking a yearbook down for her. I called her high school and talked to the woman who runs the yearbook club; coincidentally, she also graduated with my mother. The next day she called me back and said a classmate just happened to have an extra! I made a $30 donation to the school and the yearbook was in my hands (well, DH's--he went and picked it up while I was at work). I then got some gold sticker letters and put her initials on the cover (not quite the same as the original would have been, but close enough). So, imagine my mother's surprise when she opened this present! She was like, "Where did you get this???" When I told her the story, she was so impressed. It was only 30 years late, but I'm happy she has her yearbook. She hadn't even seen it up until this point! Also, her senior year, she was deep into her relationship with my "father"--a very abusive, manipulative relationship. She had no life outside of that relationship, so now she can reminisce and look at some memories from that year.

Then we had the present opening. Andrew cruised for the stairs. Up and down. Up and down. He had a good time! DH and I took turns on safety duty. (I always think he'll be fine, but the one moment I turn my back, he could go flying down and break his neck or something). I did get him to look at the Christmas tree for awhile, and play with some of his presents. My mother spoiled him--and us! We have TONS of gift cards--for mostly restaurants but also the 2 grocery stores we shop. My mom had to be at work by 11:00, so we went home shortly thereafter.

We headed up to my brother-in-law's house in Rochester and arrived at 2:00. More of the same--Andrew on the stairs. Up and down. Up and down. I was able to distract him with food at dinner time. We ended up heading out of there a little too late, because a storm hit. We drove home in poor visibility and blowing snow, but only saw one car in the ditch. DH is a great driver in less than favorable weather, and comandeered us safely home. It only took us maybe 20 minutes longer than it should have.

All in all, a great Christmas! I forgot to take pictures, but I think DH got a couple of Andrew and me in front of my grandparents' Christmas tree. I'll get those uploaded soon.

Appointment update...

Yesterday was my first prenatal appointment with the nurse. Pretty boring stuff, actually. I had to go through my medical history. I talked about my appetite, or lack there-of. I told her that most days I'm probably eating 600-800 calories a day (I know, not good considering I'm still nursing + being pregnant--I should be eating about 2600 calories a day total!). Surprisingly, my milk supply is still good. It must be pulling from my stores someplace. My weight is down to 128 (down 6 lbs. from my physical I had in October). I'm still 5'7 1/2". Good to know. My BP was 98/63. Low, but my normal runs 102/64, so it's not that out of range. After this fun 1 hour questioning with the nurse (who recommended that I eat smaller meals more often--I'm trying, I really am! I have to eat mostly during the middle of the day when I feel the best--mornings are hard and so are evenings), I headed down to the lab. I declined the AIDS test (um, since I've only been with my husband and he's only been with me AND neither of us have ever had a blood transfusion AND they made me have the test with my first pregnancy and that one was also negative? I think I'm clear--LOL).

The lab once again botched the first stab (I have tiny veins that move apparently), no major bruising this time at least--last time I ended up with an area the size of a half-dollar all black and blue. She said, "I think I need to use a smaller needle" (yep, you could have just started with one, I thought), and successfully drew four vials of blood from the other arm. I then had to give them a urine sample--I think I was dehydrated because the urine was a dark, dark amber color, and I only got half a cup. I had to giggle. In the bathroom, there are all these highlighted signs on this cabinet behind the toilet: "Leave urine sample here". Seriously, I couldn't miss it even if I were visually impaired. So I pee in the cup, give it everything I have. I wipe and stand up (pants still down) and put the sample in the cabinet. Except it's not a cabinet, it actually opens up to the lab! Like, it's a cabinet with a metal shelf and hello! There were people back there! OMG. I don't think anyone saw. Maybe I should have mooned them. I'm sure they would like a good laugh once in awhile!

Mr. Goofball

Earlier today, Daddy was watching t.v. and he was lying on the floor. Andrew loves to crawl over him over and over again when he's on the floor. Both of Andrew's sippy cups were in the living room (he loves to drink from one, and then the other), so he was tossing them over Daddy. It was pretty funny until one hit Daddy in the face. Wait, it was still funny. Haha.........

3rd draw for Progesterone level...

12/09/2008 16:27 PROG PROGESTERONE (PROG) 21.1 ng/mL (6w, 2d)


I'll also include the previous two.

11/24/2008 16:20 PROG PROGESTERONE (PROG) 25.0 ng/mL (4w1d)

11/19/2008 16:27 PROG PROGESTERONE (PROG) 15.0 ng/mL (3w3d)


I called my mom (she works in the clinic, but not in the Women's Health dept., but can access my medical records if I authorize her to do so) because I had called the nurse and she was like, "Why are they checking your Progesterone levels? Have you been spotting?" To which I responded, "No, no spotting. We're monitoring my levels due to my loss in July". She was all of a sudden like, "Um, I can't access the results so I'm going to talk to Linda [my midwife] and call you back". Which, I'm not stupid. I know she didn't want to tell me something, because the last time I had this done, the nurse told me over the phone, even though she was "supposed" to consult with Linda first. So after two hours of waiting, I got impatient and called my mom. She is not aware of the pregnacy yet (until now, LOL). I told her to check my lab results from yesterday. She called me back and said, "21.1" So, it has dropped a tiny amount. However, the nurse said she consulted with the fertility department about Progesterone levels and they said they can fluctuate, particularly after they level off. She said as long as it's above 20, it's a good number. A side note, at least my mom knows now, and she is sworn to secrecy.

I'm not going to worry too much about it. My temp is still up, my m/s started on Monday, and I think everything will be okay.

A side note, I should take a pic of my butchered arm. Yesterday when I went to the lab for the draw, the guy couldn't get a good start and was moving the needle around. I know that if the blood doesn't shoot right down the tube, it's not going to work (used to give plasma). Moving the needle around caused me to cringe, but I told him to go ahead and try a new poke. so he did, and same thing. Poking, prodding, moving needle. No blood shooting out, I would see a little blood, then some air, then a little more. Not good. So he asked if I would like someone else and I said sure. The lady came over and did the other arm, got a good vein right away and showed it to him, and then in she went. Success!

My right arm looks like that of a heroin junkie.
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Back to the numbers, does anyone see any need for concern? Should I just try and put it out of my mind? I don't go in again for a "real" appointment until January 21st. I googled P levels and they can really vary. Someone had a successful pregnancy on a P level of 3.3!

The sickness has started...

but I'm not going to complain. It's a good sign that things are progressing normally. I didn't throw up or anything, but I just felt queasy today. Nothing sounded good to eat and in the meantime, my stomach kept growling away. I did eat a few things, but nowhere near what I usually eat. Last time this started at 6 weeks, so I guess I'm on the same path. The good thing is that last time it only lasted for 3 weeks. Let's hope that's the case!

Merry Christmas from Andrew!

I took the picture that will be going out in our Christmas cards next week. He was tired, so I really only got one good shot and this is it. I wanted to take more from different angles, and different poses...but oh well. I think it's cute, and it'll work! :)

Seen yesterday...

Andrew on the kitchen floor, on his stomach (army-crawl style), eating Cheerios off the floor without using his hands. I had to laugh! I told Daddy to come quick and look, and he said, "Oh, yeah. He was doing that earlier".

This kid is so GOOFY! I love him.

I wouldn't wear a tight shirt right now...

The top belly pic was taken today, at 5 weeks, 4 days. The bottom one is from 3 weeks, 5 days. I know some of it is bloat, and I know women show sooner with their 2nd pregnancies. However, I looked like this at 12 weeks last time! Those muscles must be all stretched out to the max. At this rate, I'll be showing pretty good at 12 weeks! I didn't have a ton to eat today (a yogurt for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch), so it shouldn't be a "food baby". LOL......

Also, it's starting to firm up down there. When I lie on my back and flex my abdomen, I can really feel my uterus good. It's definitely growing, which means dragon #2 is growing too (even if he's a teeny tiny little pea right now).

A side note, I apologize for the fuzziness of the top pic. I didn't realize the flash was disabled.

LOL, I know I'm nucking futs!

This is what a BFP looks like at 22dpo. I am 5 weeks, 1 day today. I think if this were the first day I tested, it would be pretty darn obvious! (Note that the test line is the darker than the other line--are the other two both called control lines? Well, whatevs....)