Where to start?

I haven't blogged in so long that I don't even know where to start.  So the time between blogs has gotten even longer and then more happens and then I'm even further behind.  Ahhhhhhh!  It's a vicious cycle I tell ya.  So, today I'll just do a listy type blog and give you the basics of the past few weeks.

1.  My students know I'm pregnant.  Yes, finally.  I told them during a St Patrick's Day writing lesson about why I'm lucky.  Their reactions:  "I knew it!!!"  I had to laugh.

2. My 24 hour urine collection (affectionately referred to as "The Pee Jug" by Mike and me) results came back perfectly normal.  No proteins (or at least the normal amount).   When I dropped it off though, the nurse had to make a stupid comment.  Here I am, carrying in a bag with my jug 'o pee, feeling stupid enough.  I walk back to the lab to give it to the tech.  Lo and behold, she's not there.  Great.  So a nurse comes by and asks if she can help.  I tell her I just need to drop off my 24 hour urine collection thing.  She says "Oh, well do I just need to leave it?"  Yep, that's all.  She says, "Oh, I can take it for you then."  And she does.  Then she looks in the bag and says, "wow, that's a lot of urine!"  Gee, thanks.  My reply was, "Well, apparently you pee a lot in 24 hours."  

3.  All that being said, I'm still being monitored for signs of pre-eclampsia.   My blood pressure at the last appointment was 148/72.  The doctor came in and said, "Well, you're not going to like this, but I'm going to need you to do the 24 hour urine collections every two weeks."  Ugh!  I pretty much begged not to to.  I asked if there was anything else.  Can't I just get some specimen cups and some of the little dip stick things the doctor's office uses? Apparently no, those aren't as reliable.  So, I'm on pee jug duty again today.  And every other Sunday it seems for the remainder of the pregnancy.  But as long as it leads to a healthy baby in the end, I'll deal.  It could be worse.

I have other updates and stuff to make (with pictures!) but I need to find my camera cord before I can share.  So, that's all for now. 

Anyone need some "Baby Dust?"

I'm offering to pass it around because apparently, my school has been hoarding it all.  Remember how at the beginning of the year, there were 5 pregnant women and 1 teacher's wife pregnant as well?  Yes, 6 babies due for the year.  Well, then I got my BFP.  That brings our total for the year to 7.  There were really only two others that were possibilities to get pregnant this year.  Oh yes, you guessed it - both pregnant.  Due within 10 days of each other.  

So seriously, it's time to pass this off.  If you want some, let me know.  I'll blow it off in your direction.

A little alarmist, don't you think?

Or WTH is wrong with people!?  I saw this article today and have decided that people are crazy.  Just plain nuts. They like to use whatever scare tactics they can.  I mean, I understand that lead is dangerous.  I do.  But really, are kids going to eat all of the text in a Madeline book?  Chewing covers I have seen.  Nibbling a page or two?  Sure.  But eating just the text?  And probably a few books worth?  No. Kids just don't usually eat books by the time their parents would leave them alone with these kinds of books.  I love my used book shops and I still have all of my books from when I was little.  Heck, I have some books from when my mom was little.  Mike's mom even gave me his books from when he was little.  And I plan to give these books to the baby and I have no fears that she's going to have any health probelms due to lead poisoning. 

What do you guys think?  Are they crazy or am I?  At least I have the librarians on my side.

Yup, still high.

And it's been a completely crappy morning.  Arg!

The bottom line is, my bp this morning was 140/70 and I'm "borderline" and need to get a blood pressure cuff to keep track at home.  I'm not on bedrest but I need to "take it easy." (as if I've been oh so busy up to now.)

And now I need to vent.  I'll completely understand if you want to just skip over all of this.

Added stress #1 -  I drove Mike to work this morning.  Then had about a half an hour before I needed to head over to the doctor's office.  I thought about going in to school just to settle the room a bit more for a sub but I was afraid I'd get stuck there.  So I went to the store to get some shopping done.  I get all my stuff scanned then go to pay with my debit card.  Oh fabulous - it's in Mike's wallet.  Thank goodness I had a credit card on me.  I hate putting stuff on the card.    

Added stress #2 - I packed up all the stuff into the car and headed to the doctor.  I decided to call work just to make sure they had received my sub plans.  No.  The office manager is not in today and they can't get the plans from her e-mail.  Can I please send them to someone else in the office?  Umm, no, I can't.  I'm in the car on my way to get a blood pressure check which I'm sure is skyrocketing right now.  I decide to flip around and print off the plans myself at school.  Then I'll be sure they're there.

Added stress #3 - I get to work.  At this point it's 8:00 and I should be at the office. I walk into the office and run into my principal.  She asks "so, your blood pressure's ok?"  "Um, well, I don't know yet.  My sub plans didn't get printed so I'm here to print them then I'll go to the doctor." She looked confused and I walked off.  I headed into the office and asked the clerk if I could use her computer to print my sub plans.  She stared at me like I had three heads.  I repeated my question.  She said,  "well, can't you just use your printer?"  I answered "well, I supposed to be at the doctor right now and I need these printed."  "Why can't you just use your printer?" "FINE, I'll use my printer" and I turned and stormed out.  Yes, looking back it was a little melodramatic but WTF?  Couldn't she just stick in my flash drive and print up the stupid plans?

Added stress #4 - So I head all the way out to my room (it's in an outside building) and boot up the computer (which takes FOREVER and a day).  It was finally ready to go and I stuck in the flash drive and go to print the plans.  Oh look, your computer and printer aren't talking to each other.  OF COURSE!  I started messing around with settings and junk, yelling at the stupid printer and computer, and 20 minutes later, I had plans for my sub.  I would have been done in 3 minutes if the clerk had just let me use her printer (I'm still bitter.  Can you tell?)  Off to the doctor now.

Added stress #5: I get to the doctor's office at 8:35 and tell the nurses I'm there for a blood pressure check with Vivian.  "Oh, she's not at this office today."  Are you fricking kidding me?! "She's at our other location.  Can you go there?"  I asked "Isn't there a nurse here that can take my blood pressure reading?  Really, that's all I need."  At this point, I'm fighting back the tears and a scream is lodged in my throat.  "We'll call Vivian and see."  The answer is yes, another nurse can do it but they're all in a meeting right now.  "We'll call you when someone's available." Thanks.  

I finally get called back about 15 minutes later and tell the nurse that I've had a really stressful morning.  She takes the reading and I'm at 140/90.  I break down crying and mumble "damn." She's really sweet and says "Ok sweetie, just calm down and we'll take it again in a few minutes." She brought me a glass of water and let me sit for about 5 minutes then took it again.  It was down to 140/70.  So, better but still high.  She would call it in to the doctor and they'd get back to me.

So I head out and cling to my phone.  I'm dying to know what they're going to say.  I call Mike and tell him what's up.  Then, I wait. And wait.  And wait some more. I try calling my mom when I get home to give her the update.  I can't phone out.  Um, ok.  Then I get an e-mail from Mike about an hour and a half later - my phone isn't working.  I can't call out and apparently no one can reach me either.  Great. Luckily the doctor has his number and got in touch with him.  They're not putting me on bedrest but I need to take it easy.  I also need to get a blood pressure cuff and start taking my blood pressure at home.  If it goes high and stays high, I need to go to L&D.  (let's hope that doesn't happen)  

Anyways, that's my update.  Hopefully my phone starts working and I can try to call the doctor myself.  All in all, it could be worse but I'm still worried.

Problem #1

I knew it was bound to happen. I couldn't get through this whole pregnancy with no side effects AND no possible problems. (Well, I suppose I could, but it's just not in my history for things to work out so.) (Don't worry, everything with the baby is fine and I'm most likely fine. too.)
Here's what's up:
My blood pressure was high. Even after peeing in a cup my blood pressure was high. This really concerned the doctor and the nurse. Which of course concerned me. Which of course led to sobbing in my car after the appointment (but that's jumping a bit ahead of the story). So, my blood pressure was high (147/76 or something like that) which is apparently one of the first symptoms of *possible* pre-eclampsia and/or toxemia (are these things the same? I don't think so but the doctor mentioned both.) The doctor immediately jumped to, "Well, we need to get some baseline data to start. So, I'm sending you to get blood work done to test liver and kidney function. Also, you'll need to do a 24 hour urine test." Um, excuse me. A what? "It tests for protein in the urine over a 24 hour period. There are acceptable levels and we need to see if you are over them. When we just tested your urine, it was fine. But I still want to have this as a baseline. So, just head over to the lab and they'll set everything up." And then he left because he got called to a delivery. Thanks dude.
And there's me, sitting on the stupid table thinking "Uhhh, ok. My state of mind isn't quite all there at the moment. What am I doing?" Since I'm not showing any other symptoms of either of these, I'm trying not to be overly concerned. But I am.
I head out to the lab. They take my blood and hand me a flattened brown jug that apparently I am supposed to collect my urine in (blech!!!!). The best (*sarcasm alert*) thing about all of this - we're traveling this weekend. A 7-8 hour car trip starts tonight. Then, we will be traveling back from said trip on Sunday. And I have to have this jug turned in on Monday. Which means - yes - I will be carrying a jug of pee with me into public restrooms along the way. I think I may need to buy myself some sort of bag to hide it in. This is ridiculous. I'm red with embarrassment just thinking about it.
On a good note, baby's heartbeat was 137. I'm measuring 30cm (It's supposed to be 1cm/week, so I'm 1cm over, but that's apparently normal). She's moving around like she's supposed to. So, as long as she's ok, I'll carry around my jug of pee to make sure she stays that way.

I'm loved :)

So, I was given an award by not only one, but TWO, of my blogger buddies.  Rach and Katie gave me the Sisterhood Award.

I couldn't be more grateful.  These two women are amazing.  If it wasn't in the rules that I couldn't nominate them back, they'd be on my list for sure.  The amazing thing is, without the IF struggle we had, I never would have known these two.  They've been there for me through highs and lows.  Katie literally had the same CBEFM highs and lows along with me for a bit.  Although the CBEFM came through for me though, she's still struggling.  But, a plan is in place and I really hope she gets her sticky baby soon.  Rach is expecting little Shorty any day now and I can't wait for for that little girl to meet her sweet and caring Mommy.

So, on with the rules and such.

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

Put the logo on your blog or post.  check

Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude.  Umm, 10 could be tough, but I'll get more than one at least

Be sure to link to your nominees in your post.  check

Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.  check

Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.  checks

Nominees:
1. Duck: She's been my best friend since 6th grade.  We've been through everything together.  She's closer to me than most of my actual family and I consider her my sister in every way.  There are so many parts of my life that would have been so much more of a nightmare without her there by my side (or on the phone for hours at a time).  She's extremely smart and motivated and he most caring and empathic person I know.  I hope that some time soon(ish) we'll actually live within an easily get-togetherable distance again. 

2. Shawna:  I met this woman through the internet while we were both planning our weddings.  She became someone that I kept in contact with even after the weddings were over.  She just had two beautiful baby boys after her IF struggle.  She always has a kind word or helpful thought and I think that her kids have one amazing mommy.

3. Jo:  Another woman I would not have known had she not been getting married in Vegas.  She's an amazing person that I actually got to meet not too long ago.  Shes as beautiful in person as her personality (and that's saying a lot).   She's such a thoughtful and understanding person.  She's been there as a cheerleader and a shoulder to cry on throughout this struggle and I truly appreciate the friend she has become.

4. Sarah:  I don't know what I would do without this woman.  She and her husband are both unbelievably kind, caring, and down to earth people.  We met once and instantly became friends. She's been there for mundane times like moving, the heartbreak of the miscarriage, the struggle of IF (she even gave me the CBEFM), and was there to cheer me on and cry with me when I got my BFP.  Her daughter is adorable and the new one on the way (I'm thinking pink again), will be perfect too.

5. Shanny: I'm sure she's been nominated already, but how could I not nominate her.  She has a bubbly personality that shines through even in her writing and her husband seems like and amazing man as well.  She's been through some huge and painful struggles and my heart has broken with her.  Through it all though, she finds time to send encouraging and thoughtful words out to others.  And amazing person and one that makes this world brighter just by being in it.  I hope that sometime soon, a little baby will be able to have her for a mommy and make that light even brighter.

6. Jen:  Another woman that I would not know without having been on this IF roller coaster.  She finds time to comment whenever I've truly been in need.  Her words are always encouraging and mean so much.  She's a teacher as well, so she gets the craziness that is teaching.  She's now expecting her little twins and I'm sending all sorts of good thought her way that all goes well.

7. Sharra: I met this wonderful woman through an online TTC board. I'm so glad I did. She couldn't be sweeter and has a kind word and hopeful thought for anyone that needs it. She's finally pregnant with her little one and her description of movement as goldfish = perfect! I wish her all the best and hope that she continues to have a healthy and happy pregnancy because she deserves it.

8. Stephanie: This woman writes the most amazing blog posts. She has a way of writing that goes straight to your heart. I have cried and smiled along with her. She has been through losses and is now pregnant with twins and I just couldn't be happier. Her posts and comments have lifted me up when I needed it and I'm so glad to have "met" her.

9. Jacki: Another woman I met through the TTC board. She has an amazing personality and is another blogger that writes posts that make be laugh out loud or cry huge, fat tears. She made and sent me by Common Thread bracelet. A woman she had never talked to (IRL) and she took her time to make and send me a bracelet that meant so much. She is so deserving of the baby she's now carrying and I can't wait to "meet" her baby boy.

and 10: Chrys: Alright, so not her real name but that's how I always think of her. This woman is strong and amazing. She tells it like it is. One of the few pregnancy dreams I have had involved this woman (whom I have never met IRL). It was a little over a week after I got my BFP and I had a dream that I was going in to the doctor with my baby (who had recently been born) and Chrys was in the waiting room with a VERY pregnant belly. The next day when I got online, Chrys announced her BFP! I couldn't have been happier. She's going to make a kick-ass mommy and her little baby boy with be raised with an extraordinary amount of love and thoughtfulness.

WooHoo, I got 10!  Go me!  Anyways, to all of you that were nominated, you don't have to repost this (unless you really want to.)  I just really felt that this was a way to thank you all for the support and love you've shown.  Whether you've known me forever or just a short time, you have all toughed my life and for that I am truly grateful.

a quick belly pic post

Me at 22 weeks.

Me and the belly at 24 weeks. And I will no longer be wearing that shirt.

Me and the belleh at 25 weeks.  That shirt wrinkles like crazy.

I don't have any pics from the last few weeks because my camera wasn't working.  It is now, but I'm not getting dressed and ready for a picture.  So I'll take one his Friday at 28 weeks. Holy crap - can you guys believe I'm already at almost 28 weeks?!

Oh, and on a side note, I have outgrown a pair of maternity pants.  They were the first ones I bought and at the time, I thought they would NEVER fit.  They were HUGE!  Then I got some of the comfy belly ones and put the other pair to the back of my closet.  I had to get them out today because all of my other pants were in the wash.  And they are tight!  What?!  You can outgrow maternity clothes?  At 7 months?  And I don't even feel that big.

I'm so awesome at keeping secrets!

I didn't even tell you guys.  You should be very proud.  Anyways, here's the big secret.  Mike got a new computer!  As a surprise from some friends of his.  A surprise from some online friends. They got him a new computer.  ::jaw drops on floor::  

A bit of background:  My husband is a computer geek.  Big time.  And he plays tons of games on the computer.  He has been very sad recently (well, for about a year) that our computer is becoming obsolete and he can't play any of the new games coming out.  We just haven't been able to afford a new computer for him though. So, he's been saving money here and there to be able to get himself the stuff he wants.  By our calculations, he'd probably have enough by Christmas.  (By which point we'd probably need the money for something baby related).

Anyways, Mike plays a game called CounterStrike.  It's an online war game thingy (that's a technical term).  It's played with other people.  Mike's been playing with the same group of guys for about two years.  All of those guys live in the middle of the country and work at a big computer store.  They keep Mike updated on sales and other cool computer geek stuff that they have and they know that Mike's been saving.

Mike's birthday is coming up and so the guys said they were going to send him a picture of themselves as a present (this is something that doesn't come across as strange if you know the guys).  About a week ago, I had a message from a strange man with an Australian accent on my cell (long story as to how they had my number).  The message says basically "hey, this is the guys from the game your husband plays online.  We all got together and are sending him a new computer for his birthday (a quote "because we figured - why the hell not").  It'll be at your house next week.  Keep it a secret."  WHAT?!  Are you frickin' kidding me?! I was at a complete loss for words and was glad that it was a message.  I probably would have passed out if I had heard the news AND had to react in a coherent manner.  But I now had to keep a HUGE secret from Mike for a week.  How the heck was I going to do that?  And to make it worse, the guys kept talking to him online about how much he had saved and the things he wanted for his new computer.  Knowing the whole time that a new one was on the way.  

To make as already very long story a bit shorter, the computer came today.  And I kept the secret!  Allow me to show you the utter happiness of my husband.

Happy birthday honey.  No one deserves it more.