Weekly Check In 1/26/15

[waffles]

Check in! I don't have a formal format, so just share what you'd like to share. Where you are in TTC, pregnancy, parenting, etc.

[halligan]

The girls are almost 18 months old.

We have been getting speech therapy for them for quite a while now as a recommendation from a special program we participate in through CHOP. We were happy the girls were developing so well and becoming so smart, but their speech wasn't developing along with it which was giving them some frustration. Its normally early to start speech, but we were lucky to have the right doors open for us. Long story to say that one of the girls had a "speech explosion" this week and we are so happy! We are sure her sister will be right behind her.

They are scheduled to have their first dentist appointment tomorrow. We are probably going to cancel due to the expected snow storm. Hopefully they do well with it, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how it goes!

That's about all for us this week! Looking forward to seeing everyone's updates.

[shemarie82]

We are still tracking for this month and waiting for AF so I can talk to the doctor again to make a plan moving forward. Based on my tracking, to me it looks like I have not ovulated again this month. I am feeling pretty discouraged.

On a more positive note, we spent our Saturday getting the attic cleaned, and purging from our "storage room". Once we get it painted, I think that we will feel much more comfortable with having the social worker come in for our licensing home inspection. They are really just looking for safety issues, but I want the house to look ready for a kid as well. We have finished our training, so we are just waiting for that to be scheduled.

My hope for this week is to get paint picked out for the nursery/toddler room.

[RM80]

Thanks for getting us started waffles! (sorry can’t tag on this darn keyboard, the ‘at’ symbol is busted)!!

***Disclaimer for the thread: Since this is the first week of check-in’s as a group while we grow, if you ever want a separate check-in, then PLEASE just ask, happy to separate out in the future! I know that there are times when TTC that can be rough to read the pregnancy/parenting posts so I want to be respectful if people want some separation. Feel free to PM me directly if you want me to just start one! Also, as we discussed last week, if you have a BFP, please create a new thread to announce so we can all celebrate with you! Let’s face it, a BFP deserves its own announcement anyway!***

On ‘the board that shall not be named’ we also had a GTKY type of weekly question. Folks up for adding that?? I’ll propose one this week!

QOTW: If you could travel anywhere in the world and money, kids, pets, etc were no barrier, what is your dream vacation?


My Update:
We are TTC. History is in my signature. We were benched in Jan due to my work travel. Turns out that was just fine as this first AF post loss has been crazy weird! I’m on CD15 and still bleeding, oh joy! Hoping Feb is back on track & back to normal so we can get an IUI in.

QOTW: I dream of the Galapagos islands, I really want to cruise or vacation there! I want to see the giant tortoises!

[healz413]

Thanks for the check-in waffles and the disclaimer and QOTW RM80.

manada and I are 7w6d today. Things are going well as far as we know. We had our first ultrasound almost two weeks ago at 6w1d and will have our next ultrasound this Wednesday at 8w1d.

My symptoms continue to expand. I've been burping a lot at night/in bed (which is unusual for me), my bed time has become between 7:30pm and 8:30pm, and this morning I threw up for the first time. It was smell-triggered. I was putting my cereal bowl in the dishwasher and my super-smelling didn't like the way the dishwasher smelled and before I knew it, I was "spitting up" (it wasn't like a full on throwing up) all over the dishwasher and floor. Good time. Luckily for me, manada is patient and understanding and knows what it's like, so she ran the dishwasher for me and didn't give me a hard time about being gross.

Both M and I seem to be doing okay so far with our pregnancy anxiety. Our general anxiety is still high post-loss and we both have PTSD that we deal with in relation to that. But so far we aren't freaking out too much about whether Rocky 3 is doing okay, which is good because neither of us has large quantities of extra emotional energy to give to worrying. And hopefully tomorrow's ultrasound will go well and will help us get through another couple of weeks.

QOTW: M went to Hawaii several years ago (before I met her) and has been talking about it since we started dating. It never was my dream vacation before but it has become that. I told M we'd go for our 10 year anniversary of dating. We're less than a month away from our 4th anniversary, so I guess we've got only about 6 years left to go.

[waffles]

DS has his first birthday party with little school friends this weekend. One of his classmates turned 6. He went to her party and then left from the party with her. It was a happy/sad moment for me. I'm so happy that my baby loves his classmates and has little friends but, my baby! He's growing so fast.

Sunday he played with the birthday girl again. She came to our house and we went bowling. It was so fun to see DS with his BFF.

We're planning DS's 6th birthday right now. He has not ever had a real party. We tend to keep them low key with family. He's been begging for a bowling party but now wants a bounce house party like his BFF had. Kids, man. I'm just excited to throw a party and invite his friends.

[waffles]

Oh, and QOTW. Disney World. I would go to Disney World. We love Disney World. Best vacation we ever had.

[kh826]

Will is 7.5 months old!

He is starting to try to pull himself up on things -- the couch, toys, etc. This is scary!!! He is also crazy strong, which scares me a bit. He will stand up for pretty long periods of time holding on to just our hands, or holding onto a piece of furniture. I feel like he gets better at it every day...

Still no crawling, but lots of rolling scooting and just generally being all.over.the.place. We seriously can't contain him.

This weekend was fun. We went out to lunch to a place we hadn't been in a long time on Saturday, and he was such a little ham. He sat in a high chair up at the table, and I gave him slices of pear out of my salad to chomp on. He made friends with the waitress and other kiddos walking past our table. It was hysterical. Then we went on a big Target trip and stocked up for about a month. He loves riding in the cart, and he kicked his legs and squealed as we pushed him around. Sunday we met my MIL out for lunch, then went to Kohls and the grocery store, then home for some family floor play time. He ate baby carrots while we were out at lunch. This weekend he also tried pureed prunes (poor bugger was constipated, so we thought we would try them), and he loved them! Overall it was a really good weekend.

He has a total of 7 teeth (4 are all the way through and 3 are poking through but not fully in yet). He still totally loves bath time and is really digging being in the big boy bath tub. He is ticklish under his neck and his arms. Sometimes he loves peek-a-boo, but other times he seems un-phased by it. He seems to like the dog's toys better than his own 1/2 the time.

OH, we transitioned to the Convertible Car Seat this weekend! That felt like a milestone HAHA... he seems to like it. It was a real *#*! to get into the car though. I thought my wife was going to have a stroke in the process.

QOTW: Paris!

[robertjane33]

P and Z are one month old today, and doing very well.

For me, I think I'm just starting to deal with the crisis that was birth. K keeps saying jokingly that the babies tried to kill her, and it really bothers me. I can totally take a joke, and I can see why it is funny, but for some reason, it just upsets me. I think it is because there were a few hours there where, despite everyone telling me she'd be fine, I was incredibly worried that she wasn't going to be. Those panicked feelings come back, and I can't laugh them away. I thought I was fine, but now I'm starting to think that I might need to talk to a professional just to figure this all out.

Otherwise, things are pretty good. Looking forward to playing in the snow with the babies!

QOTW: I would go to Peru to see penguins. K loves penguins, and I've never been to South America, so I think this is a great combo.

[healz413]

robertjane33, I'm so sorry you're going through that in regards to K and the birth. It sounds to me like K is joking about that as her own way of processing her fear about what happened and her own trauma. But I understand why it would be so upsetting for you.


(loss discussed)
I have PTSD about lots of things related to the birth (and loss) of our twins. The placentas had to be manually removed from manada after Casey was born and as the OB was elbow deep and pulling out lots of blood, tissue, and clots and had a very serious/urgent look on her face, I wondered whether I was going to lose my partner and my babies on the same day. Those fears and feelings still come back to me very easily and this is now 7 months later. I definitely think that it makes sense for you to spend some time working through all that with a therapist. It's real trauma and the feelings about it probably are not going to just go away on their own.

[Stringy]

Hugs to you guys dealing with trauma from experiencing birth. M's was not nearly as traumatic as either of yours but I still remember terrified feelings.

M is 20 months and change. Learning new things and growing like a weed. She's sleeping a bit better now that we dismantled her crib, and loves putting on her hat, jacket, boots and gloves - even though she can't really do it.

We are working on #2 and just got BFN #5. We've been doing unmonitored/unmedicated IUI's with our midwife - so I made an appointment with an RE for next week. I think timing is the issue. I know it hasn't been that long but we only have so much sperm left, and really want the kids to be siblings biologically.

QOTD: Too many dream vacations. Sailing around the carribean for a winter? Summer in Alaska? Australia/NZ. All of them please.

[healz413]

Stringy, I'm sorry to hear about the BFN. I hope the RE makes the difference!

[karlamo]

waffles, I like the casual format.
robertjane33, i promised my wife a penguin cruise to Antartica. While I was researching them I came across the Passage of Drake. Apparently the most deadly stretch of ocean in the world. Yikes, I need to rethink my promise

[karlamo]

Checking in 9w3d pregnant. Morning sickness is the same. Some days are better than others, but I have yet to have a day that I am not naseaous. It has been all of 1 week since we last checked on Moka and I am feeling the need to check on them. We have a MW appt on Wed. so hopefully the storm doesn't cancel us and we get to hear maybe even see them.

As for R, he turned 11 months on Sunday. My baby is out of control with his cuteness, which is lucky for him since he is tearing my house apart. He does this thing where he takes a toothbrush travel case and uses it a tool to dig in our gaint planter. I need to take that thing away, because that poor plant doesn't deserve what it's gettig from R! In BREAKING NEWS, R slept in his own crib for the past 2 nights. We are doing some serious sleep training at our house and it seems to be doing something. I won't call it a sucess jsut yet, but it was definately weird waking up without a baby slapping me in the face and pulling my hair.

Stringy, sorry about the BFN. I'm glad you're movig on to an RE. We moved onto an RE with mediated cycles after our 5th BFN too. I learned so much from working with them. Keep us posted.

[sdfonz619]

Thanks for getting this started waffles.

stringy, I am sorry about the BFN and wish you the best at your RE appt.

We had our first u/s sound last week which was beyond incredible! Our LO measured two days farther along than we initially thought bringing me to 7w3d as of today. We have a prenatal appointment next week with an OB after it was recommended by our midwife to establish a back up just in case a transfer is needed. The following week we will meet with our midwife to start prenatal care with her.

[wittyandwaiting]

QOTW: I'm with kh826 with Paris!

Stringy - Sorry about the BFN, that totally sucks hope that all goes well with the RE!

waffles - I'm also a fan of the casual check it and thanks for getting it going!

karlamo - Hope you find some relief from the morning sickness soon!

This is almost a total cross post from TTC Check in at 'the other place'. I'll try to get more creative next week.

Today I am pretty right in the middle of my two week wait, 6dpiui. My boobs are super sore but I'm not counting anything as a sign and just assuming that it's all the Clomid and Ovidrel and related hormonal action or just in my head - I'm finding that this method is working well for me so far but we'll see how the upcoming week goes.

I'm considering asking our RE if we can go in for a Beta two days early so that we can get the news together instead of me finding out at work and then having to carry on with my day and be a good employee while I'm (hopefully bursting with awesomeness and excitement) waiting to share the news.

[luckypanda]

Hi! I am on CD 12 and testing with OPKs all week waiting for that positive. I will go in for our first IUI this week (assuming I get a positive!) I am very excited as we are finally getting off the bench for the first time in almost 2 years!

Edit I would love to do a European vacation! Maybe a cruise to all of the awesome ports. 

[mrsnorris]

Things here aren't too exciting, so nothing big to report.. LO is a rolling maniac and is sitting unsupported for short stretches. She's still adorable. Five months tomorrow. DD1 is doing well. I'm working on a plan for homeschooling her for high school. It feels bigger than the last few years of homeschooling, but we're all agreed that it's for the best.

QOTD: I love to travel so this is hard. I'd buy an open-ended round the world ticket and backpack everywhere for a year. Kind of a cheater answer, but true

[robertjane33]

healz413: I definitely know it is her way of dealing with the trauma by joking, and am usually totally supportive. She said it a couple of times, and it bothered me, and she's happy to stop. It's odd how those moments of intense fear come back to you at odd times.

Stringy: I'm sorry for the BFN, but glad you have a plan for the next cycle.

luckypanda: good luck!

karlamo: Have you read Goodbye Bernadette? It involves the Passage of Drake (among many other things). Can you cruise and not go there specifically?

[lilzeezee]

Hi all! I'm kind of new on this board (more active on A15), but I'd like to start getting on more. Also everytime I come here, I crave waffles in the worst way. Yum.

I'm 28 weeks pregnant with our first, a little girl. Feeling bigger and bigger every day.

I also wanted to give hugs and solidarity to those still TTC! It took us 7 tries with this one, and I wish I had known about this board. It was such a lonely time for us. Sending out hugs and well wishes!

[14141111]

Howdy. My wife is 15w4d pregnant with our first. She had a 3 hour GD test last week and the results were very good. Sitting in the office for 3 hours on MLK day was really crappy though.

We have been collecting hand me downs from friends and now have a ridiculous number of sleeping options for this kiddo - our spare room now holds a bunk bed, a cosleeper, a mid-century crib and a pack n play. I'm sure we'll get something to work for us from all of those options.

QOTW-Iceland or New Zealand - I'm a sucker for scenery.

[2moms2be]

The boys turn two this week and while I am excited its hit me like a ton of bricks that these moments are firsts and lasts. We won't have another baby in our house, I won't be pregnant again etc. I know its a pity party and please don't take it wrong as I am ever so grateful for the two I have.

So I am going to go back to my fantasy land of dreaming of babies lol.

[karlamo]

Jan 27, 2015 11:51:39 GMT -5 robertjane33 said:

healz413: I definitely know it is her way of dealing with the trauma by joking, and am usually totally supportive. She said it a couple of times, and it bothered me, and she's happy to stop. It's odd how those moments of intense fear come back to you at odd times.

Stringy: I'm sorry for the BFN, but glad you have a plan for the next cycle.

luckypanda: good luck!

karlamo: Have you read Goodbye Bernadette? It involves the Passage of Drake (among many other things). Can you cruise and not go there specifically?

You have to go through the passage to get to the continent.  There are youtube clips of people's experience.  Think baby grand paino being tossed around.  That's how rough the waters are. 

[DirtyLurker]

Hi everyone! DD cut her first tooth and the one next door is right behind. Exciting!

In other news I may or may not have either a parasite or thyroid issues, so the past few weeks have been interesting. Had some testing done on thyroid levels yesterday. Hoping for some answers.

[DirtyLurker]

Shoot, forgot QOTW, I love to travel and there's pretty much no where I won't go so its hard for me to choose just one place. I've always wanted to go to Morocco or the Canary Islands so I'd say one of those.

[esquette]

Still in the pre-TTC stages around here. After the next two weeks, which are super crazy busy for me, I'm going to start temping and charting, so that I have a really good idea of what's going on with my cycles. Sweetie and I are going to talk in March about sperm, although we've now both agreed that we'd like to seriously consider asking our favorite couple if they/he would donate. But first we have to figure out our expectations/needs/logistics first, before we ask.

QOTW: We just went to Disney World, so that was awesome. I really want to go to: Hawaii, Australia and the Caribbean. (Sun, ocean, warmth.)