Ovulation/Pregnancy test giveaway

To celebrate me hitting viability today (woo hoo!), I'm finally ready to give away my ovulation test kits and pregnancy tests.

First up, I'm thinking that the 16 Clearblue easy ovulation test kits need to go to someone who has PCOS because they do expire later this year.  From reading a lot of your blogs, I know that it is often not easy to figure out when you are ovulating and you use a lot of these babies up.

Second, I have two different kinds of cheapie pregnancy tests.  I have 20+ of the pink kind that were generously sent to me by Kristin from Return to Go.  I of course didn't need very many of them as my IVF cycle worked.  These expire in June of 2014 so you have a while to use them up.

I also have 16 of the blue ones on the bottom.  These expire this year so I would like them to go to someone who LOVES to pee on all of the sticks and will be doing it soon.

Let me know if you are interested in any of these in the comments!  Make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you for your address.  :-)

More belly thoughts

Isn't it ridonkulous how many thoughts I have had about my ever-expanding belly? But yet they keep coming.

Three more recent ones:

1. Now that my belly is becoming more prominent, more people can tell that I am pregnant.  I am just waiting for the day that someone comes up to me and judges something that I am doing.  For instance, I had a TOUGH morning last Tuesday.  I had an intense meeting with people very high up in my company and frankly, I haven't had pit stains that large in a while!  :-)  So for lunch, despite the high salt content, I thought that I would treat myself to a cheeseburger and french fries.  I didn't go to McDonalds and instead picked a place that I thought would have better meat quality (sadly not the grass-fed variety but better than McD's high fructose corn syrup/antibiotic/hormone-laden burger).  As I stood in line I felt really guilty.  Are people checking out my belly and judging me for getting something that wasn't so healthy?  I almost felt the need to justify my lunch with the healthy stuff I ate for breakfast, the vegetables, fruit, and healthy grains that I am constantly eating, etc.  I fear that my fear of someone saying something is only going to get worse as the pregnancy continues.

2. I have a completely irrational fear that a crazy person, for no logical reason, is going to punch my belly and then run away. Instead of worrying of something more logical like getting hit by a car (a much more likely occurrence), I am worried about this. I am weird.

3. I also feel a bit more exposed and vulnerable with a pregnant belly. Generally, I am in and out of the city within daylight hours with tons of people around me at all times. So, you know, I should be completely safe.  Since moving back to the Chicago area, I have never felt uncomfortable or nervous or scared while in the city. But realizing that I do have this belly and that people probably see me as more vulnerable is unnerving. Based on the couple times I have had to run for the train lately if someone was chasing me I wouldn't be moving very fast and I wouldn't make it very far!  I've always liked being tall (5'9") and didn't have a problem with my strong muscles. So feeling vulnerable is new for me.  It's like the belly is a target for people to be nice to me OR a target for attackers/robbers/etc.  

I KNOW that these last two are illogical.  I KNOW these make me sound crazy.  Perhaps this is why I only share these thoughts on my blog instead of sharing them with CP.  I mean, I do want to stay married.  :-)

Do you have any crazy thoughts or worries about your body?

Twins are exhausting

This past weekend CP and I headed up to my parents house in MI with our friends and their twin almost-2-year-olds.  Of course I knew that kids were exhausting, but twins- whew!  I know that there are a bunch of you out there that are currently carrying twins and I don't want to scare you, but WOW. 

The weekend made me very happy that I am carrying a singleton as I don't know how I would do it with CP's work travel.  When he leaves for his one to two week travel stints I'm sure I will be pulling my hair out with one kid and two dogs!  I know that if I had twins that would be all that I would know, but still.  Two kids that mimic everything the other one does.  Two kids that need to be changed, fed, put down for naps and bedtime, that need constant help and interaction. There are only so many hands at a time!  Maybe the fact that I am pregnant with diminished energy and swollen ankles meant that this weekend was tougher on me physically.  Who knows.

While we were picking 16 pounds of blueberries (yep!) my friend asked if we are going to have a second child.  Obviously I need the current one to come out okay first, but with two days left until viability (24 weeks), I am feeling pretty confident that we will have a take home baby. My answer was, I don't know.  We will see how things go with this baby.  It will also depend on when/if we feel ready for a second baby.  I would like to think that we would try naturally for a few months before jumping back to IVF but depending on my age at the time, maybe we just want to go straight for the frozen transfer of my one embryo currently hanging out in the clinic freezer (since it will be coming from an egg of a slightly younger woman).  A frozen transfer means less drugs and a smaller number of appointments at the clinic heading up into the transfer.   If that doesn't work or if we lose the embryo in the thaw, will we want to go through IVF again with an existing baby?  I don't have those answers just yet.  Honestly I just want to focus on the current baby and not think of the future.

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While we were tired from the twins and their endless energy, my parents had an exhausting weekend re-planting our front garden.  They can usually be found every weekend up in MI but because we were there with our friends, they asked if we wanted them to "fix" our front garden.  All summer long our front garden has looked pretty sad because we planted a bunch of perennials this spring, but most of them didn't take off like we thought they would (maybe next year).  And then the flowering perennials got trampled on by the windows and siding contractors.  So CP and I gave them carte blanche to fix up our front garden.

I don't even want to know how much they spent on all of the new plants and to be honest, I don't think we need as many boxwoods and evergreens as they planted, but in my opinion, the front garden looks amazing.  Maybe after they retire they could start a landscaping business?  :-)

BEFORE: Sad, trampled front garden

AFTER: Whoa!  More plants and mulch make a huge difference!

Final word is that my parents are amazing.

Fuzzy britches

On Sunday CP and I were really worried about Fuzzy Britches.  She was fine in the morning when CP took her out, but then a few hours later she got up to drink some water and hobbled over on only three legs, holding her ACL-repaired leg up high, refusing to put any weight on it.  CP and I were confused because she hasn't done that at all recently.  We decided to wait a few hours to see if maybe she just had a cramp or if there was truly something wrong.

Throughout the day she started to put more weight on the leg so we relaxed a bit, but we did have a frank discussion about FB.  And to be honest, it was a hard one.  She is 9.5 years old which is getting up there for a big breed dog.  She has had two surgeries in six months (one for bloat, one for her ACL).  I am 23 weeks pregnant as of yesterday.  If there is something wrong with her ACL, we would choose not to do the surgery again.  

It has been a tough three months.  She has spent the entire time in our sunroom, which is the only fully carpeted room in our house.  We figured that it would be the safest place for her because the worst thing for her to do would be to slip on the hardwood floor and tear the replaced ACL again. Every time we (or the dog walker) took her out to the backyard, we had to put a towel underneath her belly near her back legs and help her up and down three stairs.  This was getting to be more of a problem for me the more pregnant I became because while I wasn't carrying all 75 pounds of her, I was carrying a lot....something that I really shouldn't be doing.  

We had a few scares where she pushed the chairs that were keeping her in the sunroom away because she got nervous at a thunderstorm and/or lightning and tried to tear around the house looking for a safe place (in her mind).  Overall, it's been a big change for both CP and I and the dogs.  We are used to having the dogs sleep in the room with us every night and to have them downstairs instead depresses all of us.

Thankfully, we got good news at her three month post-surgery appointment on Wednesday.  The repaired ACL looks like it is doing well, but we have to work on building her muscles back up.  We may need to help her a little with the stairs going outside still (she is okay at going up the stairs- albeit slowly, but going down is still a mess), but we can finally let her roam the first floor free to do whatever she wants.  (We have decided that she will be a first floor-only dog for the rest of her life and for now, Buster will be as well to keep her company.)  She will also never be a dog that runs after balls in the backyard, which she still isn't comprehending.

She still seems like a happy dog but the past three months have been hard on her.  She doesn't understand why she can't come upstairs to sleep with us at night.  She doesn't understand why she can't run after balls in the backyard.  She doesn't understand why Buster gets to go on long walks and she doesn't.  She doesn't understand why we are constantly giving her the command "slowly" as she walks on the hardwood floor. *sigh*  

It's just really hard to think of her mortality.

A club I didn't want to join

Mark the day ladies. At 23 weeks, 1 day I became part of a specialized pregnancy club that I was hoping to avoid. Yes, I have my first hemorrhoid.  Even the look of the word gives me shivers running down my spine.

I was really hoping I could skip this.  Sunny's description of her 'roids at 38 weeks has me very nervous for what is to come. 

So should I name him (because you just know it's male)?  I don't want to make him feel comfortable and have him stick around. I certainly don't want him to invite any friends to this party.

I was wholly unprepared for this. It's like getting caught without enough super tampons when your period starts in the middle of a work meeting and you can't leave to run to the store. (Ahem.  Something that happened during my first week of work in CT when I used to go through five super tampons an hour thanks to my large fibroid and/or endo!).  Except for the first two weeks of pregnancy, I have been regular for the first time in my life so I was just not expecting this.

So ladies if I am not having any pain, itching, etc then do I just leave him alone and hope he goes away?  Should I contact my doctor?  

On a related note, why do i keep getting these pregnancy symptoms early? Everything I see on both swelling and hemorrhoids says that they are common in the third trimester. But I still have a few weeks until the third trimester. Ugh. I'm sure it's the universe getting back at me for saying that things are going well so far. 

NSC:0, Universe:1.

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Today I am feeling especially exposed on the blog.  I told a good friend about this space which is a BIG, HUGE deal because as you know, CP doesn't even know about the blog.  It makes me feel naked, but I know that my friend is in need of some support and I keep telling her about this fantastic blogging community.  When her blog is up and ready I'll let you guys know so that you can head over and try to cheer her up.  

Bring Back the Words- Top 10 TV Shows

Entertainment Weekly recently did a top 100 list for music, movies, books, and tv shows.  I skimmed the first three lists, delving deeply into the list of the top tv shows.  Not shockingly, I had seen a lot of them.

So once I saw that Ginger's newest "Bring Back the Words" prompt was asking me for my top 10 tv shows?  I knew that would be an easy post for me.

These are not in order.

1. Friends.  I suspect this will be on many lists.  I was a devoted fan all through the show's run and love to catch re-runs when I can.  CP says that everything in life can be related to Seinfeld (a horrible show in my opinion), but I think that everything can be related to Friends.  Whenever I am moving, I think of the episode where Ross and Rachel are trying to move a couch and Ross keeps saying "PIVOT!  PIVOT!" in his funny voice.  I can absolutely remember specific jokes from most episodes (maybe not the last season) and repeat them verbatim.  It's amazing that they are still knocking around in my brain.

2. The Daily Show.  I would totally marry Jon Stewart if I wasn't with CP even though I am three inches taller than him.

3.  Family Guy.  This show is just so wrong it's right.  CP and I watch way too many re-runs these days waiting for the new episodes to start up this fall.

4.  Sex in the City.  For most of this show's run I didn't have HBO so I would catch them later on DVD.  But boy is this a good show.  I only saw the first movie and decided to never see it again nor to see the second one because everyone overacted.  What a disappointment. 

5.  Game of Thrones.  When new episodes are playing of this show I CAN'T WAIT for Sunday night to see the newest excitement.....but then it sucks that it's Sunday night and I have to head to work the next morning.  An hour of GOT is totally worth it though.  This is one of the best, if not these best show on tv right now.  It took me a few episodes to figure out all of the characters and even now I sometimes have to turn to CP and ask where a certain character came from, but it is simply amazing.  And having not read the books helps because I have no idea what is going to happen next!!

6.  The Office (Seasons 1-7).  I think we all can agree that the show went downhill once Steve Carell left.  But up until then?  Jim and Pam?  Jim's pranks on Dwight?  The secret romance between Dwight and Angela?  Hopeless Toby?  Crazy Kelly?  Hilarious and amazing.  Also, the BBC Office was awesome as well.

7.  Law & Order: SVU.  The team of Stabler and Benson was classic.  I haven't watched some of the more recent seasons, but when you have binged-watched a show too much like I did the spring/summer I lived in DC so much that you think you see a severed hand at a Metro station?   That's when you know it's a good show.  :-)

8.  Grey's Anatomy.  I know, I know.  This is a silly drama but it keeps me riveted every year.  It's been such a fixture on my DVR every year that I have no idea what I am going to do when it actually goes off the air!

9. South Park.  Like Family Guy, this show is so wrong it's right.  

10.  Homeland.  This show is only two years old, but CP and I raced through the first season after finally getting Showtime and loved the second season.  I just hope that the show can keep up the fast pace!

Other shows that I love: Six Feet Under, Girls, True Blood, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Archer, Coupling (BBC), Downton Abbey, and of course, the Real Housewives.

Picture Thursday

Can I just tell you how much I am loving this summer here in Chicago?  We had a few hot days, but lately it has barely squeaked past 80 degrees and this 22 week pregnant girl (and her hands and her feet) are loving it!  The tomatoes in the garden?  Not as much.

So how is the garden doing?  I know that you were wondering.  ;-)

Well, we started with empty raised beds back in June and were worried that we were too far behind in the growing season.  We didn't get to plant our beets and our sugar snap peas didn't work out (partly because of the damn rabbits!), but everything else seems to be doing well.

On the left, yellow wax beans.  CP thought that he bought bush beans but they are climbing more than usual.  In the middle we planted carrots which like usual, didn't flourish.  *sigh*  On the right, mizuna in front and bok choy in the back.

Since I took this picture we have added some nitrogen to the soil and the plants seem to be doing better and growing faster.  Swiss chard on the left, spinach in the middle, and kale on the right.  There is a tree that shades some of this raised bed for some of the day- we may need to trim some of its branches as you can see the kale in the front is doing better than the kale in the back.  Not a bumper crop for us this year like usual, but hopefully it gets better as it starts to cool down.

Lots of green tomatoes on these plants.  Can't wait for them to turn!

The money raised bed.  Zucchini and yellow squash on the ends, hot peppers, eggplant and cucumbers in the middle.  Everything is doing GREAT and has been delicious so far!

One of our herb beds is going GREAT.  Starting with the spiky things in the far right corner- green onions, thai basil, regular basil, chives, parsley, chervil, and finally in the back left, dill.  

This herb bed looks a little sad, but it is because we recently took out all of the bolted lettuce, moved the rest of the herbs that had been in the ground (sage, two times of thyme, rosemary, marjoram and oregano) to this bed and replanted lettuce seeds with a heat-resistant type.  You can barely see the sprouts of the new lettuce but I can't wait for it to come in!

Any interesting flowers pop recently?  So glad you asked.

Our newest daylily to pop.  Isn't this so pretty?

The rose of sharon tree is blooming!

Close-up of a rose of sharon flower.

Pink and  yellow tiger lilies.  CP is mad that they face down, but I think that they are kind of cool and look like colorful chandeliers.  :-)

I honestly don't even know what this plant is called....but we needed to fill in some spaces in one of the beds and it looked cool so we bought two.  Fun spiky flowers!!

These hostas look sad but that is only because they were transplanted in the middle of the summer.  Still do-able but they probably won't look good until next year.  My parents have all kinds of hostas at their house in MI so we split some plants and transplanted them here.  Hostas are impossible to kill so I can't wait for these to take over this side bed so that we don't have to worry about doing anything with it!!