Oy. We're finally home after Christmas. We made Christmas Eve dinner at home, then went to church for the candlelight service. Mike was sick on Cmas eve, then I got sick 2 days later! We spent Shannon's 1st Christmas morning at home, opening presents & then packing to go to Bakersfield. Mike gave me a soft robe, diamond stud earrings, a card making program for the computer, and some clothes. I got Mike a wine making kit, a tripod for his camera, a weight bench with weights, some work-out shorts, and a Vidalia Chop Wizard (hee hee). Shannon got a toy bar that attaches to the handle of her carseat, some Knotty Legs leg warmers, and a bunch of clothes. Dargan got some squeaky toys & treats. Mike bought a Nikon D40 digital camera for our "us" gift a few days before Christmas, and we had been playing with it since.

We got to Bakersfield in less than 3 1/2 hours (even with a stop!) and S slept the whole way. We had Christmas dinner at Jim's house with the whole Lafferty family, sans Austin, who was with his mom. Then, we went to Dad's to open gifts with The Johnson family. Candace gt us a picnic basket backpack thingy and I'm really excited to take a picnic lunch to the park!! Heidi is in love with Shannon & wouldn't stop licking her!! Dad got her the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo, and we had to put a phonebook under her feet because she wasn't long enough or heavy enough to touch the floor! She loves it, though!!

The day after Christmas, I went shopping with Jane & finally got a nativity scene. We were going to go see Grandpa & Barbara in Cambria, but I caught Mike's cold & didn't want to get Grandpa sick, especially since he had a heart attack at the beginning of the month & was still fairly weak. We did go see them the following day, though.

Saturday morning, we went to Jim's house to have breakfast burritos, and Austin came over. He opened his gifts from us and we played a bit. We had to leave early to go to Aunt Julie's house for Tahoe Brunch. And of course, we had to leave there early yo go to Cambria. It was great to see Grandpa & Barbara. Grandpa looked really good, and it was great to visit and let them meet Shannon. We got home late that night, and even Shannon slept in late the next morning!

Sunday, we left for home, but not without taking a detour to see Grandpa & Grandma in Simi Valley. We went to Grandpa's first & saw him & Uncle Ernie. Peanut kept nipping at Dargan, and Dargan finally got sick of it & put him in his place! Dargan had the little guy on his back in her mouth!
After Grandpa's, we went to Grandpa's. She is living at her home on Trenley again, and seems really happy to be there. Brittany is living there again, which I think is good for Grandma.

We got home in good time, and Mike is already on duty! I'm unpacking and cleaning between feeding S and uploading pictures. It was a whirlwind trip, but I'm so glad we got to see everyone that we did! Family is the most important thing to me, and I really enjoyed being with everyone!

Everyone got a kick out of how big Shannon has gotten, and how well she stands up. Uncle Lee had her walking through Aunt Julie's house (of course with some support), and they enjoyed watching her do her squats!

Not a lot of time to post tonight, so I'll list new things:
* S is reaching for things, like me and her toys.
* S is a chunker & is now in her small FuzziBunz, but still in size 1 sposies.
* She & Mike were both baptized last Sunday, 12/14/08 at the site for the new church. We were also inducted as members and dedicated the land for the church.
* She is giggling more & more.
* She loves to stand & exercise on our laps.
* Christmas is only 3 days away (and 3 hours)
* I've made several pacifier tethers, called Paciflowers, and a friend has sold several for me.
* Mike is attempting to stay on the Hamilton so we can stay in San Diego and hopefully buy a home in Chula Vista.

New pics:



Cracking up:


Happy Dance:

Nakey Baby Tummy Time

Giggles!!

Yesterday, our friend Lee Amber came over. While we were chatting, Shannon just started giggling her little head off at Lee Amber. It was hilarious! We weren't even acknowledging her until she started laughing. She did it again while we were chatting again later. Again, not even talking to her. :)

It's hard to get a baby to laugh when she's hungry & tired, but that darn changing table does wonders for her mood! I'll try to catch it on camera and post it here. :)

On another note, we took S to see Santa for the first time on Saturday. She did really well. Of course, she didn't exactly look at Santa, so she probably didn't realize someone other than Mommy or Daddy was holding her. And Dargan didn't even bark at him!

Mommy Katie's Big Girl!

Holy cow, Shannon has gotten big! At her 2-month appointment, she was 11 lbs, and only 2 weeks later, she had gained an entire pound! I can only imagine that she will be about 14 lbs on her 3-month birthday! I still need to measure her, but I'll be she's about 25 inches by now!

She is amazingly strong! One of her favorite games is doing squats on my lap, and she has started pushing herself up once I get her started. She also decides when she squats down, and she just drops. She is also able to push her upper body up a bit, and hold her head up at a 90* angle when on her tummy (she still hates tummy time!) She rolled over once about 2 weeks ago, but I think it was a fluke. I totally missed it, too. I went into the kitchen to wash her bottles, washed 2, checked on her, and she has rolled onto her back! I was so mad that I missed it! I haven't been able to get her to do it again, though she acts like she wants to. She won't tolerate tummy time long enough to get her to roll over again. She has also started holding small rattles & ring-a-link rings, which she likes to put into her mouth! She is learning to self-soothe by putting her hands in her mouth on purpose (as opposed to accidentally), and I'm very happy to say that she usually puts herself to sleep for naps and bedtime. She has been sleeping quite a bit lately; even more than she did at one- and two-months-old. She even has a normal nap-time in the mornings. Depending on when we wake up in the morning, she will typically need a nap around 10 or 11 am... about 2 to 3 hours after waking in the morning. She's getting to be such a big girl!!

11/14/2008 - during one of the longest tummy times she's ever tolerated!

11/24/08 - Shannon loves her bubble baths!

Thanksgiving 2008

Shannon LOVES her changing table. Here's the proof:

And here's the proof that she is a narcissist like every other baby:

Shannon's 2-month Check-up

S had her 2-month check-up on Wed. All looks good. She is 23.5 in long, weighs 11 lbs, 0 oz, and her head is 15 in around. she is in the 95th percentile for height, the 57th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for head circumference. She also had to have her shots, which was horrible! I cried just as much as she did, though much quieter. After the appt., we went to lunch with Kim O. and S just laid on the booth, staring at me. Poor thing was not feeling well at all.

She hadn't pooped since the day before, so last night, I started rubbing the "colon" acupressure point on her foot, and lo and behold, the telltale sounds of wet farts. Of course, I waited a few minutes to let her get it all out, and when I finally changed her diaper (a cloth with no disposable liner, of course), I discovered that the ENTIRE dipe was FILLED... The whole front was caked in gooey, wet poo, with a small strip of clean dipe on the back. And of course, as I was taking it all in (with hysterical laughter), she continued to poo into the open diaper. And she was straining so much, she also spit up. It was hilarious! Thank God I can laugh at poo instead of be grossed out by it!

Smile!!!

Introducing........

Shannon Marie is Here!!!!!!

Quick synopsis (ok, long, but I'm cutting it back, I swear!):

Went to my appt on Wed, Dr said I was 4 cm, could stretch me to 5 easily, 75% effaced, and at -1 station. She said I could either go to L&D right then & there & be admitted, or wait till the next day. She explained that they would break my bag of waters, then possibly use potocin if no progress was being made. Cool. So we went to L&D.

I was admitted right at 1pm, got antibiotics for GBS, and had to wait 4 hours before breaking the bag of waters. I felt none of my ctx, but was having them irregularly anywhere from 2-7 minutes apart. The Dr. Broke my water around 6pm, and I started feeling ctx, but not too bad for the most part. Then, I went from 5-7 cm in 30 minutes and when they got to 7, I decided I needed an epidural; it was too unbearable for me. Got the epi, and EVERYTHING slowed down: was on oxygen & laying on my left side b/c Shannon's HB was dropping too far after my ctx, contractions slowed and, most importantly, my blood pressure DROPPED drastically. The top # was down in the 80's. The anesthesiologist gave me too much (standard, but too much for me), and they had to give me ephedrine to get my heartrate up. The ephedreine was HORRIBLE....like being on speed times 10, I would imagine. It should have taken 5cc & about 5 minutes to stabilize my HR. But they gave me an entire syringe over the course of 2 1/2 hours. The other anesth. had never seen anyone take this long to stabilize. Apparently, I am super sensitive to anesthesia. Go figure. So he gave me 1/2 of what the other anesth gave me of the narcotic (phentynyl??) & none of the other main drug. Worked great, except my right leg wouldn't move at all.

So, back to the contractions, they gave me a low dose of pitocin to start up the ctx again (hadn't had ONE in a couple of hours b/c of the epi). I started pushing around 5:20am, and needed an episiotomy: 2nd degree or whatever, and my butt really hurts now.... Can't laugh too hard. Anyways, I pushed for about 1/2 an hour or so & she was born at 6:03 am (I was born at 6:05 am ). She started BFing like a champ, and I was in Heaven. She would cry, and just the sound of my voice would calm her. It felt amazing.

About an hour after she was born, I drank some soda & puked. Then I drank some water & puked...... Then I ate something & puked. Then I started sweating & blacked out..... I was hemorrhaging. In the course of about 30 minutes, I had lost about 1000cc of blood (the amount of two large IV bags... about 2 liters, I guess) & my OB had to "sweep" out the blood clots from my ute (felt more like she was reaching inside my ute & clawing them out). There were a ton of Drs & nurses in there, and they gave me a ton of meds, including sticking cytotec (which I was very adamantly against) to help my uterus contract or something. I don't know... I was passed out & barely heard the word "cytotec." All I wanted to do was hold my baby girl and console her when she cried. A few hours later, I was stabilized again, though they kept giving me fluids that were COLD and made me shiver uncontrollably.

I was moved to post-partum sometime that afternoon, and got to sleep quite a bit. Mike was awesome through the whole thing. I had two IV lines in me, so I couldn't do much except hold Shannon. He is waaay better than me now at swaddling, and I go to him to get it done. I was discharged at 10-ish, but Shannon wasn't until after 1 b/c she was so big. We got home this afternoon & spent time with our families. She looks like I did, but with Mike's nose....her hair is a tad bit lighter than mine was when I was born & I was more red. She actually looks a lot like my great grandma. She has a little freckle under her left nostril, furry little ears, and LONG feet and hands. She's adorable! We are so completely smitten by her!!

I think that's everything "in a nutshell." As nutshell-ish as I can be.

The Hambone can kiss my butt!

Geez, this is the most useless boat in the Coast Guard! No, wait, I shouldn't blame the boat. The poor thing can't help that it's 41 years old and falling apart. If it could take care of itself, I'm sure it would do a much better job than those who do so now! I should blame those in charge. The people who are keeping my husband from coming home until 9 pm, IF he even gets to come home, then requiring him to leave again at 5:30 am. It's their fault I'm mad at Mike! It's their fault he missed the only two childbirth-related classes he would possibly be able to go to! It's their fault that I am bored out of my mind because I expect him to be home at a reasonable time and end up waiting another 6 hours! It's their fault that this has been going on for three weeks now, and it's their fault that we get to spend half a day together before he leaves for who-knows-how-long! They suck. It wasn't like this a year ago. We were allowed to spend time together a year ago. Heck, we were allowed to spend time together 3 months ago.

*sigh*

This is what comes from my boredom:


30 Weeks














31 Weeks

In the Home Stretch....

Wow, it's been a while! Quite a while! Let's see, what have we been up to?

I'm now in the 3rd trimester, and getting more and more impatient to get to finally hold our little bundle of joy! Especially since the discomforts are starting to get worse:

• backache
• fatigue
• peeing 5 times a night
• insatiable thirst if I don't drink water every few minutes
• falling over while attempting side-angle pose in prenatal yoga
• Heartburn
• fatigue
• Evil Crotch Pains
• I run into things with my belly
  
• fatigue
  
• did I mention I NEED a nap at 4 pm every day now?
• random wetness
• stinky-puppy nose (Poor Dargan makes me want to gag again)
• I'm hot. And not in the "Damn, she's a HOT preggo!" sense.
  
• Oh yea, and fatigue!

Can you tell I'm typing this after a nap? I'm still groggy....

But at least I haven't had any black-out-inducing Braxton Hicks contractions lately...

I signed up for a general birthing class at Balboa Naval Hospital, and am actually looking forward to finding out what they expect of me and what I should expect of them. I still need to sign up for a breastfeeding class and the tour of the L&D hospital. Nice that they're free!

Mike's boat will be going underway soon, with him on it. :0( Hopefully, they'll send him home after only a couple of weeks so he can go to a school on the east coast. If not, he'll have to pay to fly himself from Alaska, and we're looking at a cost of around $800 right now. I'm sure it will be more once they get things set in stone. If he is sent home to go to a school, we don't pay a dime. *Fingers crossed for the school!!*

Today is the Fourth of July. Happy birthday, America! Our day has consisted of walking Dargan around Balboa Park, sitting in the inflatable kiddie pool, BBQing hot dogs for lunch, napping, and we will be leaving soon to go to Downtown San Diego with some of Mike's Coastie amigos. I think they asked us to go for a definite DD. Heh... Can't say that I blame them.

Here I am at 28 weeks. Quite a difference from my last belly shot, eh?

Win Free Cloth Diapers!!

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Happy Mothers-To-Be Day!

This was my first unofficial-official Mother's Day(unofficial because the little one is still growing & developing safely tucked away in my tummy, and official because she, well, exists!). Mike asked what I wanted to do, so we took Dargan to Coronado's dog beach. We decided that Dargan was born around the middle of May, so we celebrated her 2nd birthday at the beach on Mother's Day. Mike got me two cards: one mother-to-be card and one from Dargan. And of course, after we were done with the beach, we walked to McP's on the main drag and had lunch. McP's is great because not only is it an Irish restaurant, they also allow dogs on the patio. Afterwards, I was beat, so we just laid around on the couch and watched TV. We had a blast!

The day before, we made the stupid decision to register. Even dumber was the decision to register at TWO places. And even denser than that was the decision to go to Babies R Us and the Target in the mall the day before Mother's Day. But it's done and over and we're happy. Our BRU registry is at:
Babies R Us
if the link doesn't work, you can always type in my name or the registry number: 67027097

Our target registry is at:
Target
again, you can always type in my name or registry number: 011003997195562

Now to find someone to throw me a shower...

Pregnancy Can Be Scary!

I've started getting Braxton-Hicks contractions, beginning right around 20 weeks. The majority of them have been mild and just somewhat annoying. Yesterday's, however, was quite alarming! I believe it has to do with being dehydrated, since I woke up with a very dry throat. I had take Dargan for a walk in the neighborhood, and about 1/3 of the way through, right as we were starting up the steepest of the hills, I could feel the tightness and hardness of my belly begin. I actually looked 6 months pregnant for once. As we got to the top of the hill (after stopping to rest twice), I started losing my vision and had to sit down on the curb. I was beginning to black out. Luckily, I bring water with me, and Dargan was very protective and worried. I started feeling better, and decided that since the hills in both directions are basically the same, we would keep going and take the shortcut home. Once I got to the shortcut, I had to sit down again. We finally got home, and I ate a banana, took a lukewarm shower, and laid down for a few minutes. I had an afternoon sub job for a friend that I couldn't cancel, and thankfully, I felt fine for the rest of the day. Looks like I definitely need to be drinking more water throughout the day and keeping track of how I am feeling before leaving the house.

On a lighter note, however, there are lots of exciting new pregnancy things happening. Our level II ultrasound shows that we are having a girl (!!!) and that she looks healthy. She seems to be measuring a week & 2 days ahead in certain areas, like her head and her abdomen. I will ask my Dr. at our next appointment if my due date will be moving up or staying the same.

I was about 90% sure that I was carrying a boy - I even had boy dreams - and Mike thought it was a girl. This is the 1st and only time I have/will ever let him know that he was right & I was wrong. Hee hee hee. I think it was a shock to him. I think it took a while for it to sink in that "it" is a she. But he has definitely warmed up to the idea of having a daughter. I think it will be really cute to see such a big, masculine guy holding a tiny little pink-clad baby. He has taken me a couple of times to buy little pink clothes. So far, she has almost as many clothes as I do. This does concern me to an extent. I guess I should stop shopping, as clothes are always the staple for shower-goers.

I have been obsessively researching just about every baby-related item you can imagine, and am starting to freak out because we plan on registering tomorrow. I feel like I have no idea what we really need or will find useless. Like how many bottles will I need if I am successful at breastfeeding? I have decided on cloth diapering, as it will be cheaper in the long run and I have this major disgust regarding disposable diapers. It must have stemmed from my years working at Marshalls, when I would find used diapers wadded up and tossed into the book bins or left conspicuously on the shelves. Or quite possibly the horror I feel when I look down from my seat in the car only to find a poopy diaper smooshed by countless wheels and exactly where I would have stepped to get out. Oh yea, and that whole landfill thing about the plastic not decomposing for thousands of years or whatever. So, I bought my first cloth diapers: discounted (oh yes, I am cheap) FuzziBunz from a website that sells "imperfect" FBs. They are so damn cute! Nothing like the whole rectangular, diaper-pin, soggy things I was thinking of before doing my research! My next diaper adventure is looking for cheap-as-hell inserts, since the FBs are pocket diapers. I think I'll be going with hemp, even though they are much more expensive than cotton. they seem to be much more absorbent.

An on the topic of movement, apparently, she either loves or abhors classical music. When I place my headphones on my tummy, she is either dancing or beating me to "turn down that racket!" It's kind of fun to imagine her little bald head and skinny arms & legs shaking her fists in anger at my attempts to expand her musical tastes. So far, she seems to do nothing when we play Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly. Wonder if that means she enjoys Irish punk, or is trying to ignore it? Mike has felt her kick a lot more lately, and it can only get more frequent as she gets stronger and bigger. The fact that I am craving sweet foods is helpful in two ways, since it makes me happy, and gets her moving around. It's really fun to poke around and play with her, even though Mike gets mad & tells me to "stop poking the baby!!" Whatever, it's fun. I'm playing with her!

21 weeks Pregnant

Squiggles!!!

I just started feeling the baby move on Friday morning (17w5d), and decided yesterday that it really was movement! I can only feel it right now when I'm laying on my back (usually when I wake up or go to bed). At first, I felt kind of an unsettled, squirmy, or wiggly sensation in my uterus. The next day, I had what felt like little thumps or flicks. I thought they were muscle spasms for a while, but when I would push down on my belly (which makes Mike really mad!), they would happen about a minute later (baby must have slow reflexes right now! ).
I finally decided it really was the baby moving when I started sneezing yesterday, and would feel some really obvious thumps in different places. I must have really freaked out my little squirt!

Only 167 Days Left!!!

Oh, how I love the 2nd Trimester! Morning sickness went away right before 12 weeks, a week later, I got my energy back, and now, I feel normal again, aside from the fact that I'm getting fatter. And the weird cramps. And my bottomless pit of a stomach. And my dry skin. And.... well, there are lots of other things I could add, so I'll just list them for you:

Things I love about being Pregnant:
*my boobs - I have cleavage for the 1st time in my life!!
*the fact that I'm growing another human being
*the attention, esp from Mike
*maternity jeans - soo comfy!
*the idea of having an infant in the house
*the idea that we made this little one together
*I lost the morning sickness and the exhaustion...for now
*sleeping for 10 hours a night
*shopping for mat. clothes
*shopping for baby
*ultrasounds!

Hate:
*my sciatic nerve
*the one huge cyst on my chin that I've had for a month
*that gaggy feeling I get all day
*constipation
*hemmis
*knee & shoulder pain
* peeing at night
*my complex about getting bigger
*headaches
*completely exhausted by 9:30 pm
*random cramping
*post-sex spotting
*eating because I HAVE to
*crying for no reason
*back pain

Off the topic of baby, Mike's boat pulled in 4 days early, so we get to spend 4 extra days together! YAY!! It is so strange to have him home this time. It doesn't seem real; more like a dream. I'm loving it, though!!

Here I am at 16 weeks, just starting to really get a belly:

Baby's Heartbeat!

Well, it's been a while! I will be 11 weeks tomorrow. I haven't been feeling so well, with nausea, mandatory snacking, and constipation. Yuck. Constipation is the worst! Especialy when you're nauseous!

On the other hand, I heard the baby's heartbeat on my doppler for the 1st time today! It was so cool! I'd been trying all week, and finally got it! I recorded it so that Mike can hear it on the boat (hopefully). I probably should have put on some makeup and showered before videotaping myself for the world to see, but whatever! I didn't want to lose that gorgeous little sound! It was beating at about 170 BPM; nice and strong! Here it is:

We Have A Heartbeat!!

The most beautiful picture in the world is that which shows the little blob that is growing and living inside you! I got to see it for the first time today and I wanted to squeal with excitement right there on the ultrasound table! I am measuring just right. My due date is Sept 14, 2008, making me 7 weeks, 3 days. the ultrasound shows that the baby measures at 7 weeks, 2 days; right on schedule! This is definitely going to be one punctual baby, I think. I also go to her the heartbeat, which is now the most beautiful sound I have yet to hear. It was strong and fast. Not sure how fast, but it sounded wonderful. I can't believe God has decided to bless us this way! I am so thankful!

Here is my baby's first picture:

Grand Canyon Baby!!

We took a trip to the Grand Canyon last week. We had a blast, aside from hating to be in any type of moving vehicle. we left San Diego on the 19th when Mike got off work. On the way, we stopped at Calico Ghost Town, near Barstow. Not much to say about it, other than it is definitely a cute place to take school-aged kids to pan for gold & tour mines. I really enjoyed the many photo ops they offered, including the saloon scene, a school teacher with student, an empty coffin, etc. We continued on to Williams and stayed in one of the two Motel 6 locations that happen to be about 200 yards from eachother.

The next day, I discovered that morning sickness had arrived. I was thrilled. Luckily, I brought my B6, so I felt fine after eating breakfast. We drove the hour-long drive to the Grand Canyon and spent the entire day there. We forgot to bring a backpack, and ended up spending way too much for one in the GC general store. Dargan discovered her love of snow. It was really fun to watch her roll, slide, dig, and frolic in the snow. We parked at the second paring lot and walked along the rim trail past the GC Village. It was an easy, paved path that at times got a bit too close tot he rim for any sane person's comfort. I slipped on ice once, which was quite enjoyable, since I was holding back an excited dog and a bag of said dog's poop. Later in the afternoon, we went back to the car to listen to the Pats game and nap until the sun was at a better angle to take pictures of the canyon. That evening, we ended up eating at the local Denny's and falling asleep at 8 pm.

The third day, we planned to drive east and do what we could. We went to the Walnut Canyon Cliff Dwellings, which was a bust, since hte main trail was closed to rock slides & snow. We froze our butts off along the rim trail and left. At least we didn't have to pay. we proceeded to drive to Meteor crater, which was windy as hell and about as impressive as a huge hole in the ground. But they had a Subway, so we were content. The whole time, Dargan had to stay in the car, as she was not allowed on any of the trails. Poor thing. Since we had tons of time left, we drove to Sunset Crater Volcano, where we were able to let Dargan out to run around between the two National Parks. Unless you are REALLY into Native American history (and I mean unreasonably obsessed with it), I highly suggest avoiding the north park, and stick to the Sunset Crater Volcano end on the south. It's a loooong, boring drive that just brings you right back to the highway you were already on before entering the park. The south park, however, was quite pretty, and the black lava that housed snow in its crevices looked like a giant, tasty pile of crushed Oreos. Being who we are, we decided to go to the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff for dinner. Gillian recommended it and I am glad she did. The pizza was tasty, and, according to Mike, as was the beer. And, of course, we were in bed by about 9.

The last day, we decided to check out the Grand Canyon Caverns on the way back to Cali. They are in no way associated with the Grand Canyon, except for the fact that *SOME* of the air in the cavern is sucked from the GC through a series of tiny cracks in the earth. Our tour guide was a tad...odd. Her humor was a bit dry and she reminded me a lot of my former boss at OfficeMax, who was just weird. I was impressed with the caverns, though, and the fact that they still have the rations deposited there in the 60's, when all dry caverns were disposed as fallout shelters in case of a nuclear attack.

We finally pulled into Bakersfield that evening to visit family before Mike leaves for the next patrol. We pretty much did nothing, and came home Thursday, along a round-about route because of the snow closure at the Grapevine. And we are immensely glad to be home.

As a side note, I have my first prenatal appointment on Wednesday, the 30th. Mike leaves on Tuesday, the 29th at the crack of dawn, so unfortunately, he will miss the appointment. Oh well. I will post the results of the appointment soon.

Why did I call the Dr???

I finally got ahold of someone about my bloodwork. The nurse told me that the Dr wrote "weakly positive" as far as hCG levels, and progesterone was only at 15.4. now, I KNOW my prog. level should be at least 20, so i'm a little worried about that. I'm also worried that my hCG level was so low. When I miscarried in August, it was 610 at the same number of day past ovulation (17 DPO). So, maybe I implanted late this time. Or the number was high because of an impending miscarriage. But "weakly positive" makes me think, like, 7. So, I'm a bit worried about that. Ugh.

5 Weeks

Today, I am at 5 weeks. I'm a little worried, since I miscarried at 5 1/2 to 6 weeks in August. I have to think positive, or else I will drive myself crazy. I'll be calling the Dr tomorrow for my Beta results (since I forgot to call Friday afternoon) and after finding out those results, I'll be making an appointment with my OBGYN. I am really excited about him because he does early ultrasounds at 6-ish weeks, to make sure there is no early missed miscarriage, like mine was.

Symptoms so far include: sore nips (ouchies!!), fatigue (especially in the evening) and little crampies in my hoohoo (which, I would assume is the little squirt digging in deeper). I remember the crampies from last time. I am going to hate myself for saying this later, but I cannot WAIT until the morning sickness starts. Granted, I had morning sickness even after I miscarried because my body didn't know the baby had died, but it seems like it will make this more real. Also, seeing the little guy should make everything more real. I hope that I can get the ultrasound before Mike leaves for the next patrol at the end of the month. I would like him to go with, especially since he has leave until they pull out.

Completely unrelated to being pregnant is the fact that I am a fatty. Sounds like it should be related, but, alas, it's not! I'm a lazy-ass who sits on the computer all day & only jogs minimally a few days a week. My goal is to turn fat into baby. Lose the fat, but not lose the weight. Sounds like a do-able plan to me. I just need to get off my butt and work out. Wish we had a weight set to work my upper body. One day..... one day....*sigh*

Back at it once again

Well, the August pregnancy unfortunately ended. Just a quick recap: fetus stopped growing at 5 1/2-ish weeks, at 13 weeks, i started having some spotting, went to the hospital, couldn't find anything. My Dr. was on call, so she looked. She "couldn't remember" the results of the ultrasound I had at 9 weeks. The following Monday was my scheduled appt. I went in and found out that I had lost the baby. Apparently, she didn't look at my results until right before she walked into my room. *sigh* I had a D&C on Oct. 15 to remove the "products of conception" (God, I hate that phrase).

Buuuut..... I am once again expecting our 1st child. I got a faint positive home pregnancy test on Jan 3, 2008, and a darker one on the very next day. The baby is due on Sept 13, 2008 (according to Fertility Friend). Today, I am 4 weeks pregnant and absolutely thrilled! i have a blood test scheduled for tomorrow. Will update on the results when I get them.

The day that I had what can be considered an implantation dip on my BBT chart, I had this weird urge to blurt out "I'm pregnant" while we were in the hair salon. I'd like to think that was my intuition, but who knows? Probably just wishful thinking. I have had a cold for a little over a week (much better now, thank you), so I was chalking up any possible symptoms to being ill.

I had "stinky pee," a flutter in my chest (not a lot like the heart palpitations I had last time, but similar), and neon turquoise veins all over my body.

So far, I feel like I am going to start my period any moment now and I am so incredibly gassy!

Yesterday, Mike told me that I had been "glowing" all day. I don't really know what that means exactly, but he says my face looks tanner than normal. Sounds good to me!