A Little Disclaimer and an ULTRASOUND update

This blog was started for me to vent about the ups and downs of being half of an infertile couple. Along the way I have loved sharing stories about our everyday experiences which include living with my wonderful Latvian husband. In saying that, everything I have learned about the Latvian lifestyle has come straight from my husband. As many of you know, he has and still does refer to Latvia as a third world country. As with all couples he has shared countless stories starting with his birth to the way things are today. I know he was cherished by his parents and had more than his needs met growing up which I have never stated any different. I did spend a month over there and saw firsthand how many differences there are between Latvia and the USA. It’s not the place or time to go into all of that now but I will say it did make me appreciate even more our way of life here. The main point in writing this blog was for our little one to know her parents loved her when she was just a thought in our minds, not to debate about where countries rank in the world. So moving on to the important part of why I write….our little girl.

We saw her last week on a rather lengthy ultrasound. For some reason she wanted to have her face towards my back so it was kind of hard to get a measure of certain things they missed last time. She also partially hid under my belly button for a little while making the ultrasound impossible. She was in a breech position with her little feet tucked under her hiney. She looked so cute. They finally got the pictures they needed and found all the fingers and toes. Her healthy appetite might have slowed a little. She weighed 1 lb 5 ounces which is the 50th percentile for her age. She feels so strong when she moves around inside of me. Karlis has been able to feel her twice. I am sure it would be more if we actually lived in the same state. :) My placenta still has not moved so they will continue to monitor that by doing another ultrasound in 4 weeks. My doctor said it was in the best possible spot if you are going to have this problem. She said since the baby was growing on target there is no need to worry now about her not getting enough nutrients from the placenta being in the wrong location. I will be 24 weeks on Wednesday so maybe by our next appointment it will have corrected itself.

We did have our first baby shower which was given by the booster club for the team Karlis plays for. It was wonderful! It makes things seem very real when your house starts accumulating little baby things. We are truly blessed to have such great friends in our lives that want to share this time with us; especially since we never knew if having a child would be possible. What fun times!

BABY ACCESSORY OVERLOAD

First of all you all know how blessed and excited Karlis and I are to be having a baby. It is one of the happiest times in our lives. When I think about all we went through for this little girl it makes so many emotions surface. I want to cry for joy but if I think about it too long reality surfaces and I begin to think what we would have to endure if anything happened to this little one. I know it is somewhat nuts at this point and I don’t think of it often but when I do it is so terribly sad. The thought of loss is too much to bear and the thought of trying IVF again and it never working is enough to send me to the nut house. We are truly blessed. It feels like a little miracle to feel her kick every day. To know she is safe and that she has two parents that will love her unconditionally for all time is an amazing feeling. Once again, we are truly blessed.

Ok, so moving on…..I hadn’t planned on registering for anything and was just going to be grateful for any gifts that we might receive. But then I started hearing about all of these crazy sounding new baby inventions that seemed a little out there and was a little concerned we might receive one and have absolutely no idea what to do with it. Plus people started asking where I was registered and when I said I wasn’t they just stood there and stared at me and then there was this awkward silence…. So I did. Thank the good Lord that my sister already has 2 little ones and is done having babies so we got some of our bigger items from her. There are still plenty of items that we need so I first went to the “baby superstore” Baby’s R Us. I was immediately scared to death. I didn’t know you had to sit down with someone that worked there and officially register. I have answered more medical questions to get this baby here and I was scared of even more questions. I didn’t know if they were going to ask something I didn’t know and I would look like an irresponsible pregnant women. I know…my hormones are out of control. So I called in backup…..my mom. I couldn’t do it alone. There is just too much….well, too much dang baby stuff. I had first asked Karlis to help me but soon realized that was not such a good idea. He said he didn’t have any baby gadgets/devices as a child and he was a healthy baby. That is when I reminded him he was raised in a third world country and we would be using some more advanced things for our baby than he had, just some simple things that make life a little easier for the mom and dad. And then that is when he offered to maybe help me pump my own breasts so we didn’t have to spend money on a breast pump…….ARE YOU KIDDDING ME?!?!?! My dear husband, wow do I love him but he has some of the craziest ideas……back to my story… So while I waited for my mom to get there I hid on the first isle I saw which happened to be the breast isle. Sounds like every man’s dream, right? NOPE. It was full of pumps, pads, creams, tubes, cleansers, wires, suction cups, nursing bras, nursing sleep bras, nursing tank tops, nursing pajamas and they even had test strips to see if there is alcohol in your milk. The breast isle about sent me over the edge. I walked around the store in a haze. About 10 people that worked there kept asking me if I needed help because I probably looked like I was in shock. I have never in my life seen so much stuff for something that is going to be so small. My mom got there and we tried to register which is a disaster in itself because Karlis technically lives in Alabama right now but the registration process lets you pick only one state. Bad thing is whoever is looking for your registry has to input your last name and the state. Some of our Alabama friends don’t know we live in Tennessee. I am sure some people will never find us, what a mess!!!! From there we went to Target and things seemed a little easier there. There were not 5 billion pacifiers to pick from. Seriously how do I know what pacifier my unborn child will love?!?!!?? I feel like saying “I survived in-vitro and then I tried to register…”

Oh how quickly things change

I went to the grocery store this week. I was craving milk and blueberry muffins. I came out with fish sticks and mountain dew. It is amazing what pregnancy does to not only your food cravings but your body as well. Here is a blog I wrote right after the New Year and just now putting it on our website.

Pregnancy hormones, signs and symptoms change everything. I was sitting at my husband’s hockey game trying to hold off a trip to the bathroom until intermission. I successfully did this but I really had to go. Right when I got up to go, my drug of choice (sweet tarts) preceded its way down my windpipe instead of my throat. Well I started choking. The more I choked the more forceful the choking rocked my body. Then I started to feel something warm at my nether-regions. I thought I was bleeding. NOPE. I was peeing my pants. In public. By this time I was in the bathroom (thank you God). Hold on, it gets worse. The choking changed to gagging and then the gagging changed to vomiting. Yes, I peed my pants and vomited all in about 3 minutes. I stood there in horror. How could a little sweet human life cause such havoc on someone’s body?!?! Thank God (once again) that I was wearing black pants that I could wash off and dry under the bathroom dryer vent. If I ever choke again you will see me do about 100 mph to the bathroom. Just a word of caution, get out of my way.
I told my husband after his game what had happened. He stopped dead in his tracks. Then just turned and stared at me. It looked like he was thinking what happened to my proper wife and who replaced her with this geriatric patient.

I will never forget that day.

My hormones are out of control. I can cry at the strangest things. Most recently being The Price Is Right. I have done it twice. Don't worry I know it is just about the craziest thing in the world to start a crying streak. I feel like a moron but good news is the baby is doing well. At least she feels like she is. I can feel her moving on and off during the day. It is wonderful knowing our little girl is safe inside me. It is also amazing how strong she already is. She can really throw a punch or kick or something. Who knows what it is that she is really doing in there. Karlis has not been able to feel her yet but I can’t wait for him too.

So things are good. Yay!