Paul Reiser, Oreo's and Mother's Day...

At church, we had a Mother's Day Celebration and a lady in our church asked me to speak.  The following is what I had to say on being a new mom...

 

When Ms. Mary Kay asked me to speak about being a new parent, specifically a new mother, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say.

My first thought was to compare parenthood to what I imagine living in a frat house would be like...  There are bottles strewn about the house on a pretty regular basis, the laundry is mountainous, overflowing the hampers daily.  We sleep pretty much wherever we land and vomit is a real possibility at any given time.

My second thought was to talk about how parenthood, for me at least, has been rather instinctual.  I can attest that becoming a mother has brought up some pretty primal urges in me that on recent occasion has given me great pause and stirred up some emotional reactions that I was not prepared to feel at all.  Just the other day, at a family reunion of all places, I had to seriously fight the urge to claw a little girl’s eyes out because she was getting a little too 'handsy' with Elizabeth, either that or hide Elizabeth under a bush... At the end of the day I’m not much better than those ill old ‘Mama’ cats we had growing up after they had had a litter of kittens.

But when Ms. Mary Kay asked me to speak about being a new parent the only thing I could think about was this quote by Paul Reiser that I recently stumbled across in an email... that and an Oreo Cookie.

Reiser says, “People often ask me, "What's the difference between couplehood and babyhood?" In a word? Moisture. Everything in my life is now more moist. Between your spittle, your diapers, your spit-up and drool, you got your baby food, your wipes... your leaky bottles, sweaty baby backs, and numerous other untraceable sources--all creating an ever-present moistness in my life, which heretofore was mainly dry.”

I love this quote, not only because it is true... on any given day there is some sort of baby-by-product covering me in some capacity... but I love this quote for its deeper meaning.  Which brings me to the Oreo Cookie.

As we all know, an Oreo Cookie has three parts-- two dry cookies and one creamy (moist) center.

Before Elizabeth, I like to think of my life as the cookie part of the Oreo.  For this metaphor to make sense, I need you to pretend with me that you’ve never had a fully intact Oreo cookie.   If all you’ve ever had was the outside, dry cookies of the Oreo without the creamy center, you’d probably find the cookies to be a perfectly lovely and an adequate snack.  And if you’ve never had the fully intact Oreo, then you’d probably be perfectly happy with eating just the plain cookies for the rest of your life.  And that was how I felt.  I was perfectly content being a plain, dry cookie... And being a plain, dry cookie was good stuff too.

But since Elizabeth has entered into our lives, I can’t imagine just going back to being just a  plain, old dry cookie.  Elizabeth is our creamy center and I’m just going to end the debate right now, the creamy center of the Oreo Cookie is the best part of the cookie, it’s what makes the Oreo an Oreo.  It’s what’s makes it special.  And after you’ve experienced the creamy center of an Oreo Cookie, you no longer think so highly of just the plain cookies anymore.  In other words...my old life was great, but my new life as a parent is so much more fulfilling.

So to sum up... parenthood can be compared to a countless many things, but in the end, being a parent has added a degree of moisture that changes the components of life from ordinary to extraordinary.

Yea... I know... But I've Got a Good Excuse...

Yea... it's been a while.  Currently, I'm on Spring Break and while in the past I have mocked the idea of elementary aged students needing a Spring Break, as a new mother I'm thankful for the days at home with the Little One and I will leave it alone.

The Little One, while still very much a little baby, is everyday getting bigger and bigger.  At our last doctors' appointment she weighed in at 13 pounds, 4 ounces.  It is truly amazing to look back at her first little pictures and see how much she has changed. 

She looks less like her daddy and more like herself... and let me tell you she has a huge personality.  The Little One pretty much is still calling the shots around here.  But we happily fall in line, how could we not?  You'd have a hard time saying no to her too... she's just too cute!

Unhappily, she has stopped sleeping through the night.  Around the time that I started back to work, she flipped the script and now wakes up sometime between 2 and 4 for about 20 minutes for a quick bite to eat.  In essence, it is not that big of a deal, as I was already getting up around that same time to pump.  Now I just feed her... unless I get behind on my milk and then I have feed and pump.  Oh well.

She is, however, going to bed a little earlier, which is nice.

My mother keeps her while I'm at work.  Mama tutors at the middle school and also works with student teachers which takes her away for a couple hours each week and then my Aunt comes in and keeps her.  It is a great situation and the baby is loving all the attention.  And who could ask for better baby-sitters?  Two retired educators with master degrees in education that love your kid like it was their own... Little One will be reading next week, I'm sure of it.

The Easter Bunny was good to us this year... too good.  We've already told her not to expect this to happen again.  It looks like Christmas around here.

Tonight she tried her first bit of sweet potatoes.  We've decided to start making our own baby food as we garden and farm.  My mom made the first batch.  I had never seen a baby gag... until tonight.  I think it was a shock to her senses.  But she liked it because she ate the entire portion.

Little One is a great eater.  It (eating) probably is her favorite thing in the whole world.  It shows on her too-- even her rolls have rolls.  But as Dr. Langdon says, "it is the only time in your life when being chunky is cute."  And let me tell you, it is so cute.

As for work, going back has been super easy.  But knowing that the babe is well looked after and that I'm still her primary source of food, it gives me peace of mind... and truly I do better when I'm at work.  I thrive on a schedule.

And as for a schedule, I'm breaking mine by sitting up and giving a baby update.  It is way past my bedtime and I'm sure that in a very short while, my baby will be crying for a quick feed.

Hopefully, while I'm out on break, I'll have time to write and post later... otherwise, I'm not sure when I'll have time to write again.  Summer break is just around the corner though!

Be good...

Just to Catch You Up...

This is what's been happening y'all:

 I'm breastfeeding.  Its what I do these days.

I never thought that I'd be the type of person that would do such a thing.  It had always appeared awkward and unnatural to me.  All through my pregnancy when someone would ask if I intended to breastfeed, I'd say (in a rather apathetic way), "if I can I will, if I can't I won't."  I took no classes and the only research I did about breastfeeding was to skim over the chapter in "What to Expect" the day before we left for the hospital.  But then in recovery, when it was asked if I wanted to try I said yes.  The mild sedative that had been given to me in the operating room while they were sewing me up probably kept me just relaxed enough that before I knew it, Little Girl was happily feeding with absolutely no problems.

Little did I know that I would be spending so much time feeding.  The first two weeks I fed her every hour on the hour while she experienced her first big growth spurt.  I never had the bleeding nipples, but I did experience pain and my pediatrician referred me to the on-staff lactation consultant.  I recommend everyone go to a pediatrician that has a lactation consultant... she is the only reason I'm still breastfeeding.  Psychologically, breastfeeding 24/7 can be draining.

At week three I contracted Mastitis which persisted through week four (see why below)... it is the sickest I've ever been since having the flu in 10th grade.  I had a low-grade fever that left me shaking and chattering for hours on end until the fever reducer would kick in and then I'd be sweating like a stuck pig.  I had body aches that radiated to my core.  I got a huge lump under my arm pit and it hurt to walk (yes walk!) and feed and the only way to make that feel better was to feed and try to "express" the lump during pumping or feeding which made me want to run in the opposite direction of that precious, crying (hungry) baby.  On top of that-- I started throwing up. And I developed an allergic reaction to the medication I was on.  I no longer can take penicillin.  So after spending one night in the throws of body aches, chills, fever, chattering, crying, throwing-up, itching, etc. I was taken back to the doctor for a different medication.

And of course, after taking antibiotics, Little Girl got thrush in her mouth.  And of course now I have thrush... on my nipples and milk ducts.  Yea!

Again, if I didn't have good support I'd be hawking the formula right now.  But now I have a special medication and so does Little Girl and hopefully we will be completely well in a few more days. 

These days you'll find me sitting around my house in some state of undress in the attempt to air out my boobs all while leaking breast milk... I'm afraid that most days I permeate the air with the soft aroma of slightly soured milk.  Little Girl likes it.  No complaints on her end.  I on the other hand prefer the scent of Ralph Lauren's Romance.  But I do firmly believe that my discomfort is a small price to pay for all the benefits that are gained from breastfeeding.  So I'm taking it week-by-week, day-by-day.  And this week we are feeding!

37 Weeks and Waiting...

So we are a go for a C-Section... in less than two weeks!  Today was our 37 week appointment and to be on the safe side, an ultrasound was scheduled to confirm if Little No Name is upside down like she is supposed to be or right side up like she wants to be. 

Low and behold, she is right side up... as she has been the whole time, as far as I can tell.  We were not able to get any really good shots of her face as her face is facing my spine.  But the utlrasound technician could tell that she has a head full of hair and she weighs about 5 pounds and 15 ounces, this weight does not exactly put her in the top weight percentiles, but seeing how I'm a smaller than average person and Husband is not a huge guy, the doctors' are not concerned.  The ultrasound tech felt for sure that by 39 weeks she'd be around 6 pounds or so... which has been my target goal.

Now we just have to ready ourself for her arrival... putting away the last few baby related items and packing our bags for the hospital stay and deciding on a name...

I'm feeling pretty good these days.  My weight, although much higher that I'm used to seeing on my scales, seems to be well controlled as is my blood pressure. I've, so far, experienced very little swelling and for the most part besides being tired, I'm feeling pretty good.

As we head into another weekend, I'm hoping to get much of my "to-do" list checked off.

Check out our maternity pictures at www.marymephotographyblog.com

Baby Registries for the Anti-Social...

I've started creating baby registries.  I spent most of Tuesday night in a panic because it seemed almost every other pregnant person I knew has already created theirs. 
Let me preface this by saying I'm not a joiner.  It appears that the the husband is not a joiner either.  But a couple of weeks ago, against my nature, I joined www.thebump.com and ever since I've been regretting it.  Majorly.

The problem... they have this checklist and baby due date timeline (plus a lot of articles about post-partum crotch care that really freak me out).  Apparently we are well past the half-way mark.  Yikes.  And according to the checklist, I'm way behind.  I hate www.thebump.com.

According to www.thebump.com I should have already found a pediatrician and I should have already created registries.  I do have a pediatrician in mind, but I've not committed to anything yet.  Apparently you have the option of participating in orientation style classes at the pediatrician's office and I'd rather not.  I feel the same way about birthing classes. 

My birth plan:  get the baby out of me as safely as possible, with the least amount of damage possible, while I feel the least amount of pain possible and we all live to tell about it.  It is a good plan.

And yes, I'm open to all sorts of drugs.  Gas me in the parking lot if you have to.

But because the Husband and I have these personality defects that keep us from wanting to socialize with our peer group or any other group for that matter, I could not see myself walking around the local Toy's R Us with a registry gun picking out things that we think we might need for Little No Name while strangers come up and touch my every growing belly and congratulate us.

So I'm doing it online and surprisingly I'm loving it!  Although this registry process I think is turning me into some sort of communist or at the very least a socialist.  After researching strollers and play yards and 3-in-1 high chairs, baby swings, and baby gyms I think there should only be one choice and that's it. 

Why do they offer 14 different types of baby bottles?  Why is there 19 different types of diaper rash creams?  Why are there 5 pages or more of baby bathtubs on Target.com?

Nevertheless, I finally decided to do a registry at Target and Babies R Us (even though Target has a horrible return policy and the closest Babies R Us is about an hour away and most people just buy the baby what they want the baby to have, rendering the whole baby registry thing a little unnecessary) and www.babyli.st which allows you to add items from any website regardless of whether or not the store has a registry database (like Etsy or Serena & Lily).  I also like that if I happen to stumble upon something I'd like for Little No Name all I have to do is press a button on our toolbar and BAM! it's added.  So easy and I love it!  We even have our own web address so our friends and family can access it... http://babyli.st/loren-and-emilys-baby-list

I'm still working on them... but at least I'm not dragging Husband all over creation trying to figure out what we need.  This way, at home and on line, I can read what other people think about the items... people that have actually had children before and know what is good and what is a complete waste of time and money, all while in my pj's!

Week 24 Update:  The baby is doing great according to the doctors.  We had our monthly doctor's appointment on Wednesday.  Little No Name's got a strong heartbeat--160 beats per minute.  Right now I'm hoping that I haven't failed the Glucose Challenge test... because that would mean chugging more sugary drinks and getting stuck with needles for blood draws every hour on the hour for 3 hours and then possibly diabetes.  No thank you! 

She moves around a lot.  I seem to notice it more when I get still, which I'm told is normal.  According to What to Expect she weighs about a 1 1/2 pounds and is about as long as a standard letter.  I think that that must be an average.  Husband and I are short people, so I wouldn't be surprised if she not quite that long.

Baby, Baby, Baby: 22 Week Update...

Meet the baby... Isn't she cute? 

I've been really loving the whole pregnancy thing recently, minus the increased sense of smell.  The cantaloupe Husband brought home is currently stinking up the entire refrigerator... I don't see how anyone eats something that smells so bad!

Regardless, being pregnant recently hasn't been bad at all.  The baby is moving a lot, especially late at night.  And sometimes I can feel her bumping around in there on the outside, which is good because finally Husband can get in on the action... that is, when she cooperates.  According to the baby books and, of course, the Internet the baby can recognize light and dark and can even hear sounds... pretty cool huh?

This week I experienced my first irrational meltdown that I'm positive was hormone fueled.  Of all things, a conversation with my mother about baby bedding was the culprit that left me crying, off and on, for a good hour.  Baby bedding!  Husband thought it was the funniest thing ever... he'd mention bedding and I'd break down and in between wiping tears and sucking snot, I'd say, "I don't know what is wrong with me... I know I sound crazy!" and he'd just laugh-- at me.

But luckily that meltdown did help me make up my mind (a mind that has been anything but easy to make up recently) and I think I'm a little closer to committing to a bedding set.  I've decided to quit fighting my instincts and just go with where the pink and green leads me.

Now, if I could just find a maternity bathing suit that doesn't look like a car cover, I'd be in business!

Nursery 101...

So I'm ready to start tackling the baby's nursery.  For months now, that has been the last thing on my mind... and I was starting to worry that I'd never find the want or the motivation.  A few weeks ago, I felt like something was majorly wrong with me because my mother-in-law had picked out fabric and was talking about painting her crib for her house. Listening to her plans that she was making for my baby, well-- it made me want to turn inside out... just one more area that I'm defective in--parenting!  I knew I needed to get a crib and I knew that she would need certain items, but for the most part, I've been less than interested in turning the guest bedroom into a baby nursery.

I think this "lack of motivation" is a common problem with women who have undergone fertility treatments.  For months and years you start to think that you aren't meant to have babies and because of the nature of each cycle, you get your hopes up only to have them taken away-- and you have no physical way of controlling it... which is so frustrating.  So I think it is only natural that one's thought process tends to lean towards the idea of, "good things will be taken away from me" which creates a self-protecting mental construct:  Don't get too excited about this good thing because it may get taken away from you!

But I'm pressing forward and I'm finding myself increasingly interested in creating a nursery for the baby.  Here's what I do know:

1) I do not want to paint the nursery room.  Our house is brand new and the paint color in that room is neutral.  I was talking with my contractor over the holiday and he suggested keeping the color as is and when the baby is older and the house is older, painting then as she goes from baby to toddler.

2) I have a built-in desk in the nursery room that I would like to use as either a changing table or an organizational area for assorted baby items.

3) I want the nursery to have an elcetic feel that does not neccessarily scream: BABY'S ROOM! when you walk the door... meaning, I want a collection of new and antique furniture and I plan to use broad range of colors, rather than design around a certain theme.

Knowing these three important factors, I also would like to steer clear of overly-girlie decorations.  But that is easier said than done, as I am naturally attracted to pinks and greens and frilly, girlie things.

I think the first step is to decide on a color palette that I really like, that the Husband can tolerate, and go from there.  I think if we were having a boy, I'd try really hard to put my influence into the room to keep it from being overly masculine.  Therefore, I think it is important to put some gender-neutral influences into the room so Husband is not completely left out.  Ideally, I'd like to take some of our interests and early influences and put these into the room. 

I really like the idea of putting wedding pictures in the room, maybe even a maternity session-- if we get around to that.  I have seen some really cool, and cheap, art installations that I'd also like to incoportate with sewing hoops, fabric and cheap picture frames.  I'd include pictures, but I'd like to avoid getting lost in Google Images and online bulletin boards... I did that most of last night.

But at least I've got a start...  and that is so much better than nothing.

Director of the Wedding

Tomorrow starts a weekend that I've been looking forward to and dreading for a little over a year:  I'm directing a friend's wedding on Saturday!

It's not exactly how I imagined spending my own 5 year anniversary... but I've always wanted to direct a wedding and I'm not about to pass up the opportunity.  To be perfectly honest, I'm a little worried that things won't go perfectly. 

They probably won't.  I realize that nothing ever goes exactly as planned, no matter how well you plan... and plan I have.  I have time lines, VIP reserve seating tickets, and diagrams of how the uneven bridal party should enter and leave the church.  One of my co-workers reassured me a few weeks ago that if things do get messed up, no one will know.  And she is right.  But I'll know. 

I couldn't ask for a better bride to work with.  She is calm, cool and collected... or at least she appears to be that way.  For the last few weeks I've been trying to sit down with her to review the order of program, and she's been almost impossible to nail down... and I think mostly because she just is through caring.

I remember feeling that same way five short years ago.  For a year and half I planned and stressed... and worried.  And then by the time the actual wedding rolled around I was just through worrying and stressing.  It was going to happen, ready or not.  For sanity's sake, I think most brides' have to reach that mindset... or else.

However, I can't say every bride I've worked with has adopted that same disposition...  and let me tell you, it has ended our friendship. Honestly, I don't know how you stay friends with someone that has no sense of humor... or makes you wear bright red lipstick and black liquid liner against your own will.

Regardless, I'm ready for this experience to be behind me.  And soon it will be over.  I hope and pray that things go well, that the mistakes are few and far between and that the Bride, above all else, is happy.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Maternity Clothing...

Last Thursday night as I was preparing myself for bed, excited that Friday would be the last day of school for all the little school children, panic struck.

My last pair of jeans that still fit were in the dirty clothes hamper-- the hamper I intended to empty and wash and didn't.  I've been in the middle of moving my office, and wearing jeans on Friday-- the only day of the week that we can legally wear jeans-- seemed practical. 

So Thursday night, I tried on a pair of jeans that I thought might still fit.  They didn't-- unless I used a rubber band to loop through the button hole to keep them from gapping open.  I then tried on a few dresses.  They still fit and looked good-- but moving my office in a dress didn't seem like a good idea and I'd have to shave my legs.

So I dug down into the depths of the dirty clothes hamper and liberated the magical jeans that seem to always fit, no matter how big my belly gets.  I had no choice.  And I reckoned myself to the idea that it was probably time to go face my fear:  Maternity Clothes Shopping.

Because it was the last day of school, my principal let us out a little early.  So at 3:00pm Friday afternoon, my mother and I headed off to the shopping mall to find me some pants that fit my expanding waist... and maybe a dress because next weekend I'm directing a wedding and I'd like, very much, to not look frumpy.

The maternity store is much different than the stores I normally shop.  The stores I used to shop-- Before Baby Bump (BBB)-- were always nice to me and would always ask if I needed help or if I wanted to get a fitting room started.  But because I shopped there often, most of the time I didn't need help because I knew my size and what I liked and most importantly, I knew what looked good on me.

But at the maternity clothing store, the sales associates where interested in much, much more.  "When's your due date?"  "Is this your first time being pregnant?"  "What are you interested in purchasing today?"  "Let me explain to you how our sizing works."  And that was upon entering the store. 

Generally I like to get the layout of the store first... especially a store I've never been in before.  Then I like to make my first pass, making note of things I like-- things that strike me-- and then on my second pass I start to make my selections for either purchasing or trying on.  I like to have time on my own to think things out without much interuption. 

Before I knew what was going on, I was in the dressing room and feeling like a werido because all of the pants have this strange stretchy top and no buttons and no zippers-- none of the markings of real jeans or shorts or pants.

I used to joke about elastic waisted pants-- how silly they were-- and now that is basically all I have as choices... at least for the next little while.

I also have never been so attended while in a dressing room-- not even when I was picking out wedding dresses.  It seemed like every few seconds some sales girl was asking me if they could get me more sizes-- which was a joke, because everything was too big--even the smallest size.  They wanted to know how things were fitting... if it was too big or too small.  They wanted to reassure me that I looked good, even if I didn't.  I don't like being patronized...

So I came away with two rather attractive tops... a pair of Seven Maternity jeans and a pair of black maternity pants.  I'm not excited about wearing the stretchy top pants-- especially this summer-- but at least the tops are nice looking and stylish.

Now that I have my barings, I think I might be able to tackle shopping in the maternity department a little more often or even from the privacy of my home, thanks to the internet.  I'm still not out of my magical jeans, but when the time comes, at least I'm sort of prepared.

EWT

16 Weeks or so Pregnant and I'm Back at IT...

Having very little to say, due to being mentally exhausted from coordinating high stakes testing for about a be-zillion kids my writing fell to the wayside.

But now that all that testing and re-testing nonsense is behind me, I'm hoping to pick up where I left off.  A lot has happened in the last month or so. 

We have now entered the 2nd trimester.  And upon entering the 2nd trimester, my nausea, vomiting and general feelings of having the life sucked out of me seemed to have lifted.  I still have some major food adversions-- mainly onions, pork chops, and pork tenderloin.  As I type, I think I'm having a bad reaction to some McNuggets... so they may be added to the list too.

I've gained somewhere around 4 pounds... but I feel like I've gained a lot more than that.  My front is becoming much rounder and I'm sure people I run into are wondering the age old question that surrounds women in my age group:  "Is she pregnant or just getting fat?"

By the way, I'm really regreting the McNuggets.

I'm hoping that I'm going to be back to blogging a little more regularly.  I've felt a little guilty that I'm not documenting my thougths on this whole pregnancy thing.  So we will see how consistant I can be...

I'm Back...

Sorry for the absence folks... things have been a little hard to take these days.  It is not what you think though.  We actually got good news a little over two weeks ago from the blood tests.  For those of you familiar with the IVF process, you get to completely by-pass the whole pee on a stick thing (yea) and go straight to the blood test.

Our beta came back at a solid 300.  For a reference point, 25 is considered pregnant.  Then in two days we were to go back for more bloodwork.  That number (300) must double.  And double it did, actually it more than tripled and that was exactly what my RE wanted.

This week we go for pictures.  Sounds easy doesn't it?

But please let me assure you these last two weeks have been no cake-walk.... by no means. 

For months I've been focused on just getting a positive test.  Just a little pink line or a "congratulations, Emily!  It's positive" phone call.  That's it.  And now that we've got it, I'm at a total loss as to what to do next.

This past summer I became a walking-talking encyclopedia of reproductive information, studying nothing about pregnancy and what to expect after the pink line.

I didn't even have a plan of action for what to do once you get the pink line.  Because we did IVF, we didn't really get the luxury of keeping the news to ourselves for the first couple of weeks like other non-IVF couples.  My family knew what was going on.  His family, for the most part, knew what was going on.  Getting pregnant takes a village... and several doctors, nurses, gynecological tools, shots, microscopes, embryologists, scary procedures, and even scarier phone calls about cell division...

And after the news came out then I suddenly felt at odds-- like someone who had geared up for battle and unexpectedly won, knowing very little about what was to come next.  And angry!  It was nobodies business and I made it clear that this was not to be something we make a big deal about. Ever heard the word Miscarriage?  Ever heard the word Ectopic Pregnancy?  Blighted Ovum?  Molar Pregnancy?  So many things could go wrong and so many things are never a guarantee.  I'm an honest-to-goodness example of how things don't always turn out the way they are supposed to.  Wasn't the Clomid supposed to do the trick back last winter?  Wasn't the shots and perfectly timed interactions with the Husband supposed be just the ticket?

So I've learned to just be paranoid like my friend who is convinced that there are three black cars that follow his every move cautious. 

Husband's family didn't get the memo.  When they got the news they obviously never heard the part about "we aren't telling anyone" line.  And the rational side of me totally gets it.  It is a big deal.  Just five short years ago I was in their shoes when my favorite IVF'er finally got her Big Fat Positive.  I was ready to shout it from every roof-top.  But I also remember her reining us all back in... because it is a scary world out there.

However I have this irrational side of me.  The passive-aggressive side of me that should never be crossed.  The irrational, hormonal side that can't even sit through a Designing Women's re-run without tearing up feels robbed... a little bit violated... ignored.  How dare someone just go around spreading information that isn't supposed to be told!  I swear I really now understand how those silly 4th graders feel...

But I also think I now understand why people do unexpected things after stressful life-altering events or why they retreat from the world for a bit.  You've got to re-center.  Re-focus...

Infertility doesn't run in the Husband's family as far as I know.  They don't know about how the whole process really messes with your head.  That's why they talk so damned much.  But the odds are not in their favor-- 1 in 5 couples experiences infertility to some degree... and there are a lot of grandchildren over there....  I'm not saying, but I'm just saying it may not just be us!

So on this week we go for pictures and to verify that there is something going on in there...  this is my update.  Oh, and Zofran is my new best friend.  Nausea is a bitch and it making me really reevaluate why I tried so hard to get in this condition in the first place.

And just as a disclaimer:  we are still not telling anyone.... not that that matters to some people.  But if you are reading this you probably understand where I'm coming from.

Thanks for all the good wishes, prayers and positive thoughts!

A Long Justification for Purchasing a Dress for My Closet...

In an effort to be more fiscally responsible and to actually wear the clothing I already own, I announced to Husband this past weekend that I would be (gasp!) re-wearing a dress to the engagement party we have to attend this upcoming weekend.  I think I was high on the doughnuts (see previous post). 

I rarely ever wear one of my dresses more than once.  I blame it on proximity really... we socialize with the same people all the time, so once a dress is worn, it has basically been "seen" by everyone.  As I mature, I realize that not everyone is paying that close attention to me and what I'm wearing, so as I mature I'm realizing that re-wearing a party dress is not that big of a deal.  Even Princess Katherine is re-wearing outfits and she, according to Inside Edition, is the most photographed women in the world... and it reasons to stand because she was photographed outside of Englands' idea of a Wal-Mart with a cart full of groceries.  When's the last time an entertainment reporter for Inside Edition talked about your affinity for Frosted Flakes????

I'm sticking to my guns about re-wearing too.  I've already tried on the outfit of choice for this upcoming weekend and I feel confident that I can pull it off.  And to reward myself with re-wearing I've treated myself to a new dress.

I know, I know....  I know what you are thinking... but I have a wedding coming up that is out of town and from what I'm hearing is going to be super dressed-down.  No cocktail attire, no black tie optional... just a normal old fashioned wedding and unforunatley I really don't have many dressed-down-dressy-dresses.  The one I own will be worn this weekend to the Engagment party for this very October wedding that is coming up.  I think I found the winner at Anthropologie. It is a blue floral print silk slip dress and I think it is pretty awesome.

To make sure I can re-wear this dress I also purchased a waist hugging leather belt... I feel certain that I can belt this slip of a dress and throw a cardingan over the top to make it work appropriate.  The right heels and sparkly accessories will make it "going-out" ready as well.  Also I intend to wear this dress to my sister's rehersal and rehersal dinner.  See!  At least 3 different places to wear this 1 dress.

And for the record the outfit I'm wearing this weekend has been worn approximately 3 times, if I wear it this weekend, which I most certainly will!

Ha.