Third trimester!

Guess who is in their third trimester! =D Ah! I haven't updated this blog since September, and lots has happened!

I am going to try to make it a New Years Resolution to post more in this blog. I miss doing my recipe posts, and obviously now with the baby I will have lots to post about, we'll see if I can stick to it.

Currently, I am 29 weeks pregnant. I can't believe it! It still seems like such a wonderful dream. After six years, it just doesn't feel like it will ever happen, and when it does, you can't believe it!

We found out the gender, and we are having a little boy! We were shocked! Louie and I were both convinced it was a little girl from pretty much day one. Of course we are very excited. Honestly I'm most excited for Louie in a way. He never had a Dad growing up and missed out on a lot of those father son memories, so the fact he gets to do ALL of those things he never had, with his own son, is going to be amazing I think.

We had a small gender reveal party at my moms, which was a lot of fun. We did a type of scavenger hunt with clues. Louie and I had fun making all the little clues for everyone. The morning of the party, on accident I let it slip we were having a boy. I was SO mad at myself! But it ended up being fun because we both tried to make the cake together we would cut into at the end of the night (blue cake of course) and it was a DISASTER. It was just a simple box cake! I dont know how we messed it up, but it looked like a 2 year old tried to bake and frost it. It ended up being pretty hilarious though.

Here is a video of the party:

The holidays definitely helped with making this pregnancy fly by. I cant believe within about 9ish weeks, our baby will be here. I love the holidays so on one hand it was a little sad they passed by so fast, I felt like I couldn't really enjoy them (I guess I am a bit distracted though lol!) and on the other hand Im grateful because Im so ready to meet our little boy!

The nursery hasnt even been started on lol! We were waiting until after the holidays, and now that they are over, and the decorations are put away we can finally begin. He will be having a vintage themed nursery (with a few vintage disney things thrown in) and I can't wait to see it brought to life. I hope it turns out as adorable as it is in my head!

Our shower is in a little over 2 weeks. I CANT BELIEVE IT. I have dreamed for six years about having a baby shower and Im SO excited. Its also got a slight vintage theme to it. I can't wait to celebrate with everyone.

Finally my sickness has passed. Only took about 6 months though. I was so sure I was just going to be one of those people who are sick the entire way through. I finally had stopped loosing weight and was maintaining so that was good, but I still had food aversions to EVERYTHING pretty much, and nothing helped. Nothing. So I am HAPPY I can finally cook again, and hold down my meals.

Louie had gallbladder removal surgery the day before Thanksgiving. Took multiple doctors, and months to figure out what it was. I have never seen someone in so much pain in my life. It was horrible. Thankfully though, we found an amazing surgeon and Louie is pain free now.

Well, in short, thats catching you up to speed I think. Next up is the nursery, and baby shower! Can't wait!

AMH Lab Results

The other day I got a phone call from my RE. They got the results back on the AMH Lab they did, which was checking my ovarian reserve. Typically they like to see a 3, but my number was a 3.3. Basically on the fence of good. Anything higher than a 3 is a possible (likely) indicator of PCOS which is her concern, and frankly mine too. So she said it looks pretty good, but since its above a 3, and they already have concerns of PCOS that with additional testing it might make sense of why it was over three if I do in fact have PCOS.

We have to postpone clomid until March since my trip to Arizona with my mom is RIGHT in my fertile window. Of course! But that's okay. Gives us a little more time to prepare financially and emotionally for it. It just is hard to get the ball rolling and then stop dead in our tracks.

RE Appointment & Experiencing Birth..in person!

So the 18th of January was my Reproductive Endocrinologist appointment. Since its been a crazy couple of days, I will try to recount the appointment as best as possible.

First thing that morning I RUSHED (and yes, sped a little bit,shh!) to the office to drop off the specimen for the semen analysis. Luckily I got there within 25 minutes, and they told me within an hour was perfect, so I felt good about that. I was so anxious but as soon as I dropped it off, I instantly felt more at ease knowing that part was over with.

After the appointment I went straight to one of my best friends house, Lauren, who had a prenatal appointment later that morning. She was 38 weeks pregnant with her little boy. I have been going to pretty much every appointment with her and we were in the home stretch which was pretty exciting. After her appointment we had lunch and just killed some time till my appointment, which I was grateful for because I knew I would be super anxious otherwise!

Time came for my appointment, and the first doctor I saw was the medical director of the facility. We went over my history, and after that she explained to me the semen analysis results...they were fantastic!! I was so relieved. One piece of the puzzle was solved. We discussed some treatment plans, and what might happen if they didn't work. From there, I spoke to another doctor. She was much more laid back and very funny. She explained to me that she wouldn't be surprised if I had Polycystic  Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The first doctor didn't mention that, so I'm hoping that isn't the case. Although, its been my suspicion for years, its just no doctor would ever take me seriously. I understand it won't be the end of the world if I DO have PCOS, but it will make conceiving THAT much more difficult.

Basically in summary they would like me to start taking Clomid. She said she would like to try that for 3-4 cycles to see if it works. No more than that because over time Clomid tends to thin out your uterine wall which she doesn't want to happen. I asked if I needed to have a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) and she said not right now. If Louie happened to have had low sperm count or something was bad on his side, then she would recommend it, but since that isn't the case, and I was able to conceive in June naturally even though it ended in a loss she doesn't think I need it. BUT, if the fertility medications do not help and we have to move onto IUI or IVF then yes, a HSG will be done prior to those. I will be coming in on cycle day 3 or 4 to have some ultrasounds done in order to check out how everything looks. Even if I do happen to have PCOS, I will still be taking Clomid but they will also prescribe Metformin as well. Which I have been on in the past.

After speaking with her regarding treatment plans, I went to see a nurse who did blood work on me, which was to see my ovarian reserve. I should be getting those results in a few days.

Only problem that I discovered once I got home that night was next month, when all this is supposed to happen, I will be on a mini trip with my mom to Arizona...right when I'm in my fertile window. SO all of this might have to be postponed until March. Which is frustrating, but not the end of the world.

I felt really good about the appointment though. I was relieved that it began with good news. I am scared though. I just have this feeling that Clomid wont work. I have this feeling inside that its just not going to happen for us. Financially IVF is so out of reach right now, especially since our insurance basically covers NOTHING. But I'm trying not to get to ahead of myself. I will be praying and hoping that clomid works. I pray that will be the thing we will have needed all along. But it almost sounds too good to be true. That Clomid is too easy. Again, I'm trying NOT to have these thoughts, but when you have been trying for so many years, its hard not to feel that way.

The next evening, I got a phone call Lauren was getting really bad contractions, but they were so irregular we didn't think it could possibly be active labor yet. Turns out, they were! By the time she got to the hospital she was 6 cm! I rushed out of the house (around midnight, no sleep lol!) and drove the 45 minute drive, the whole time afraid I was going to miss the whole thing. Luckily, I didn't, and she hadn't progressed much since the phone call. She was in so much pain, and shortly after I arrived she got the epidural. I was able to watch it being done...and I totally cried. It looked so horrible, but she was so strong, and said it wasn't that bad. Scared me to death though. Not to long later they broke her water for her, and afterwards thanks to the epidural she was able to get some sleep. Unfortunately the rocking chair I was in, was not built for sleeping, so I couldn't get any sleep! They checked her a few hours later and she was 10 cm! She still felt nothing! The doctor came in, and within a few pushes baby Izzy made his appearance. I was so grateful and blessed to be with her and her boyfriend, during such a life changing moment for them. I was glad I was able to witness birth in person, instead of through a 30 minute TV show on TLC. lol! But at the same time...I won't lie, it scared me to death. It scared me so much, for when its me. I don't know how to explain it. Not that its changed my desire to become a mother by ANY means, but boy, it was definitely scary. I'm sure that by the time its me, the excitement to meet my child will overcome the fear of the changes my body is making and the pain associated with those changes.

Overall though, I was so happy to experience it with them, especially after anticipating his arrival for so long! :)

First family photo with baby Izzy