text: Saturday, May 19, 2012
  
  ...IS A GIRL!!! Can you believe it? She was born on Friday, May 18 after 7 hours of labor and 21 hours of inducing. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She has dark wavy hair and her momma's nose. She's amazing!!! For the most part, all went well but my birth plan really wasn't followed but the bottom line is that our baby girl is here and she's amazing!!!
  
  Here's me with my baby girl just a few hours after she was born.Look at that grin on her daddy's face and look at her checking out her dad:Our beautiful baby girl:
  
  Thank you all for following me through this journey and for the constant prayers and support! I plan on blogging about our little girl and all of life's other random events at my other (click word blog for link to new to blog), so please follow me there if you'd like. It's http://www.myhusbandswatchingtv.blogspot.com/ I still plan on blogging here from time to time. Baby dust and prayers for all of you!
  
  Friday, May 18, 2012
  
  As you all read this, I'm already in the hospital! I'm writing this at 3:23pm on5/17 waiting on DH to get home so we can head to the hospital. I had themindset that my induction would be scheduled for next week so today (Friday)would be my last day of work for 12 weeks, we'd enjoy the weekend (I already hadin mind what all I wanted to do) and then it would be baby time!!! Well, as youall know, kids change everything!
  
  I went in for my 2:30pm appointment,peed in a cup and they hooked me up to a non-stress test. Baby looks good, I washaving a few BH and baby was moving. Then the NP came in and asked if I'd beenhaving headaches. I told her no but that I had noticed the swelling had returnedand I could barely fit my feet into my tennis shoes this morning. She informedme I'd gained 8 pounds!!! since last week and I had protein in my urine...not atrace amount but real protein. She went and checked with my doc who said goahead and send her to the hospital to get induced tonight. I think Itook the quick change of events pretty well. She went on to check for dilation(none) and told me to head to the hospital. I asked if I had time to wait for myhusband to get home and she was like yeah but don't dilly dally.
  
  I called DH who thought I was kidding. I told him not to rush but don't take his timeeither. I came straight home and let the dogs out so they could get some freshair then went to charge up the laptop, phone, camera, I-touch, etc...I made upthe bed and put pillows on our guest bed, wrote a note to my mom asking her todo laundry and bring me some clothes when she got to the hospital. Then I satdown to send some last minute work emails I'd planned on doing tomorrow and thentyped this up while waiting for DH. I hope he gets home in time so that I cantake a shower and he can shave my legs!!!
  
  I can't even begin to explain how I'm feeling...excited, nervous, scared, excited!!! I'll do my best to keep you all posted but we've got to keep our family informed first! Say some prayersfor Baby A, DH and me because I know it's going to be (and probably alreadyhas) a LONG day.
  
  Monday, May 14, 2012
  
  I finally remembered to have DH take a picture!!! Despite the "magic dinner" of pork steaks and corn on the cob Saturday night, which is the same meal my mom ate that sent her into labor with my sister and I, Baby A decided s/he was still content where s/he was!
  
  On Sunday, Mother's Day and Baby A's due date, my sister and niece came over. We hit up Babies-R-Us and scored some sweet deals at Costco. Then my dad and grandma joined us and we had lunch at Outback. After they all left, I was about to head in for the night when I remembered to grab the camera. Here I am in all my pregnancy glory at exactly 40 weeks pregnant:
  
  And this is also the outfit I wear pretty much every other day :) The pants and top are both from my sister. The pants are at least 8+ years old because they are Old Navy maternity pants she wore when she was pregnant with my niece! I told her I was keeping them because they're pretty comfy.
  
  Sunday, May 13, 2012
  
  A quick shout out to all the mothers out there! Mothers to sweet babies, to angels, to furbabies, to those who are a mother in their heart. I know today can be a tough day when you're dealing with infertility so go out today and CELEBRATE YOU!
  
  Thursday, May 10, 2012
  
  ...or 40, whatever, right? Today I had what I'm going to call my 39 week check-up. BP was still elevated but stayed in the same range as usually. Baby was active. No protein in my urine but there was lots of sugar, uh-oh busted! One of my co-workers mom made what I like to call "Un-ladylike brownies" and she'd brought me one. I ate lunch late and had the brownie with it so I was totally busted. Oops! No dilation though :( Even though I went to acupuncture on Monday, nothing.
  
  She told me that the hospital I'm delivering at is usually very busy and you have to schedule an induction at least 10 days in advance. She grabbed the calendar and asked me what I thought. I said, "Well, I'll be 41 weeks on the 20th..." to which she replied, "No, on the 17th." I said I thought my due date was May 13 and she told me that my IF clinic told me that but they'd changed it to May 10 (today apparently!). I went back and looked at my 10 week blog post and no, they told me May 13 too. Anyways, the 20th is the earliest you can schedule so the nurse was going to call and see what she could set-up. We're still hoping to go before then but at least we know if I don't go, when I am. Funny because this baby really MIGHT be born on my FIL's birthday!
  
  The doc told me since I wasn't dilated that if I am induced, it could be a VERY long labor. I'll check in and they'll put some type of string in by my cervix to try to get things moving. They'll leave this in for 12 hours and then re-evaluate. She said the question is, if they induce and after 24 hours nothing happens then does she send me home or do we go straight to a C-section? Once things are set, I'm sure we'll review more info at my appointment next week.
  
  So the plan now is...we wait. I keep monitoring my BP and baby movements and hopefully go into labor on my own. I haven't really tried any old wives tales. I've only done acupucture which the doctor there told me that since I wasn't dilated at all that it might take a few sessions. Normally, I'd be all up for more sessions but she just raised her rates to $50 per visit so multiple visits is not an option. Side note: the trip to L&D on the day of my shower is probably going to cost us $250 for the exact same stuff they do at a normal doctor's visit: protein check and monitor BP.
  
  My family's old wives tale is this: the night before my mom went into labor with both my sister and I, my dad grilled her pork steaks and corn on the cob. So this is what DH is making for dinner on Saturday night in hopes that this baby gets moving! Please keep us in your prayers, mainly that both the baby and I stay healthy and s/he decides to come soon.
  
  Thursday, May 3, 2012
  
  I'm home from my 38 week appointment, chilling in the recliner covered up with a baby quilt and I'm happy. My doctor has decided that my BP is a chronic issue (although always low prior to pregnancy but it was high the first couple of visits) and since I haven't had any protein in my urine the last couple visits that she's going to let me go and not induce next week-woohoo!!!
  
  Baby A's heart rate was in the upper 140s and my BP was 138/80. My BP has been lower this week and last night, I was super excited because I could see me knee!!! I'm still not dialated any but checking for it this week was WAY better than the last 2 times, maybe I'm getting used to it but I also wasn't nearly as nervous today as the last 2 visits. It's supposed to be the LARGEST full moon of the year this Saturday so we'll be trying all those labor inducing wives tales.
  
  DH is happy I'm not getting induced because 1. we don't really want to be induced and 2. he's working on a big job at work so now he can hopefully help finish it. I'm glad I'm not getting induced but at the same time, I'd kind of built it up in my mind that Baby A was coming next week. I'm not totally uncomfortable, although pretty close, but I'll be happy when Baby A is in my arms and I can love on him/her. I would really like to take some time from work, like working some shorter days but I found out this week that it will take away from my maternity leave.
  
  Random Thoughts*As I'm getting close and I tell people that the baby could arrive any day, they all look at me and say, "But you're so small!" I laugh because only when I'm pregnant have I ever been called small!
  
  *The new donut shop had peanut butter donuts as the donut of the day today! I was so excited and bought a dozen to take to work and no one was there to enjoy with me!
  
  *Every week, I plan on posting a belly pic but as soon as I get home from the doctor's I usually get straight into my pajamas. I'll do my best to have DH take a pic this weekend although I may not get out of my pajamas all weekend because, aside from a couple hours at work, I don't have anything planned.
  
  *I'm down to 2 pairs of presentable pants I can wear to work. I no longer wear an underwire bra, it's just sports bras so that means only tshirts and I had to borrow some bigger tshirts from my BIL. I also got some from work too. So basically, I'm wearing the same outfit every couple of days at work. I'm hoping DH will help me shave my legs tonight so I can wear shorts tomorrow because it's like eleventy billion degrees here.
  
  About Me
  
  DH and I found out after "only" 6 months of TTC that IVF would be the only way we were able to have a child of our own. Here's the real, honest to goodness, raw feelings of infertility. If you've never been through it, count your blessings. If you have, my heart breaks for you. Here's our journey and my thoughts along the way, it's not all rainbows and sprinkles but we'll get through it...together.