Six Weeks.

I will apologize now for the length of this post.  A lot has happened in the last week and time has not exactly been on our side.

Let's start with the most important part: today's appointment at Shady Grove.  Another early wake up for another early appointment.  It wouldn't be a normal week if we didn't have to make the trip to one of our clinic locations!  So, so worth it!  Our 7:30 appointment turned in to 8:15 as the waiting room was completely packed when we walked in.  No big deal.. we both had half days today.  Around 8:15, Dr. Bromer called us in to do our first OB ultrasound.  We weren't exactly sure what we would see today because we weren't 100% positive on how far along I am.  We quickly got answers to both of these questions.

We couldn't see much on the ultrasound today, but what we could see was awesome.  (Note.. this was an internal ultrasound using the dildo cam.. and no, Rachel, my RE still didn't buy my lunch either!)  I am exactly six weeks along today.  That meant we were able to see the gestational sac as well as the yolk sac.  Honestly, it looks like a big round circle.  But, it's our big round circle.

 As you can see, they gave us an expected due date of January 13th.  January is a popular month in our families, so he or she will fit right in!  As far as symptoms go, I do not have too many.  Things hurt that are supposed to hurt.  I am tired 24/7.  I could go to bed at 8:00pm daily and sleep until 9:00am the next day and be 100% ok with it.  In fact, I have done that within the past couple of days.  (Big thanks to Matt for taking dog duty!)  I am also getting sick from the prenatal vitamins, so I started taking them before I go to bed so I can sleep through the queasiness.  It isn't much, but I'll take every single one of them over and over for the prize that is at the end.

The next thing Dr. Bromer told me was that my ovaries are finally starting to get back to normal size.  There are still slightly enlarged, but not enough to cause any pain or real discomfort.  Great news!  He also told us that we are very popular in the lab because we currently have the most embryos chilling in the freezer and the technicians cannot believe it.  When we started this process a few months ago, I would have never expected to hear those words.. but they were more than comforting.  He keeps telling me I would make an excellent egg donor.  Maybe.. in due time.

Our next appointment is Tuesday, May 28th for another ultrasound.  At that time we should be able to see the baby and hear the heartbeat for the first time.  Again, we are still cautiously happy, exciting and celebrating.  We still have six long weeks to go before we hit our "safety zone" at the end of the first trimester.  So much can happen between now and then.  However, we will continue to pray and do all we can to keep our little baby growing and thriving.  Any continued prayers and support are greatly appreciated!

The past week has been anything but relaxing or easy.  (This is my update for out of town family.. so feel free to stop reading and spare yourself the boredom!)  My lacrosse team had two district games in three days.  We won our first on Tuesday, which was the first in school history.  Our second game was on Thursday.  We were not so lucky.  We dropped to a district rival by one point in sudden death overtime.  What a bummer.  However, I couldn't be more proud of this group of girls.  They deserved every once of success the enjoyed throughout the season!

What made these three days even more eventful stressful, was that I spent Wednesday night (from about 5:30pm-midnight) running between my bedroom and bathroom with a stomach virus.  Ugh.  At first I thought it was morning sickness.  A couple of hours later, I knew it was not the case.  I can honestly say this was the most miserable case of the stomach flu that I have ever had.  Thank goodness it was some sort of 24 hour bug.  I give a big shout out to my high school kids for passing that gem on to me.

This past weekend was just as busy.. only we were working around our house the entire time.  I have not had time to really clean over the last few weeks (nor the energy) and our "yard" (looked more like a field) was in need of some serious TLC.  When we bought this house, we were most interested in the lot (don't get me wrong, we LOVE our house, too.. but the lot is what sold us).  We have 3.5 acres of partially wooded land and will never have any immediate neighbors.  There is a house across the street, but that is as close as we will ever get.  It is great!  Minus the massive amounts of poison ivy and oak.  And the grass that is not growing randomly throughout the open portion.  We have already spent two full weekend working on just weeding, cleaning out leaves, vines, rocks, left over concrete from the construction, etc.  This weekend we added one more full work party to the list.

We spent Friday night and Saturday morning mulching.  Four scoops later, it looks pretty good.  Not perfect, but we need a few years for that.  (Incase you have not noticed, I am a bit OCD.)  I planted flowers a couple of weeks ago and Matt painted our new chairs (thanks to my parents!), so the new mulch completed our projects in the front.

The back.. that is an ongoing story.  I feel that it will never be done.. and it won't for a few years.  We are waiting on a tree company to come in and clear the poison since we were both covered in it (as well as our friends that helped.. sorry) after our last work weekend.  The key word.. waiting.  Hopefully soon.  For now, we are doing our best to work around it.  We finally cut the grass so it no longer looks like a field, and we did some mulching around some of the trees closer to the house.  It looks 100 times better, if you ask me.

I was also able to disinfect our germ infested house this weekend.  Again, I am OCD and a clean freak.. so it felt good to finally get it back to normal.  No more puppy paw prints on my hardwood floor, or snot smears on my windows and doors!  

The last part of our weekend was spent at the grocery store.  This is a chore I hate.  Hate, hate, hate.  We have not been there since March.  Oops.. lax is a busy season!  My goal for today's trip was to stock up on the more healthy things in life.  If you know me, you know that I am the epitome of a junk-food junkie.  I like chips.  Correction.  I LOVE potato chips, and I could live off of them if that was acceptable.  However, only if they are Middleswarth. Sorry Hanover natives.. Utz just isn't the same.  Chocolate.  Yes, please!  Anything that contains chocolate will work just fine.  Anything else that is not even remotely good for you?  I'll take seconds of that, too.  Yes.. that is me.  I love junk food.  However, it is time to cut back and change some things.  Now don't get me wrong.  I still bought SOME of that, but not nearly what I usually do.  Instead, I stocked up on things high in protein, fruits, crackers, and even some vegetables (yuck).  We will see how this goes!

Today we ended our day by taking the dogs to Codorus (a state park that pretty much in our back yard) for a swim.  Sophie loves to swim.. and drag canoes with people in them while chasing geese.  This girl will swim for house if you allow her.  Rooney has never been swimming before, so we were unsure how this would go.  Needless to say, he is going to be a swimmer, too!  The only difference, he could care less about the geese.  He is more focused on NOT drinking the gross lake water and chasing Sophie.  (I'm not sure if the video will work, but it's worth a shot!)

 As I sit here on my patio tonight, overlooking the beautiful sunset over my backyard, I can't help but feel blessed.  First, I have a wonderful husband who has done more than I could have ever asked for and loves me not matter what.  He has been more than supportive and done anything and everything asked of him with a smile on his face (most of the time.. haha).  I have two great dogs that I refer to as my furry children.. even some of you non-dog lovers love them!  I have a beautiful house with an even more beautiful piece of land where I can listen to complete silence (other than some birds) and watch sunsets such as this on a daily basis. 

My husband and I both have good jobs that we enjoy.  We both have our health.  We have our family by our sides every step of the way.  And, I have a beautiful baby growing inside of me.  

Others (including some very close IF sisters of mine) are not so lucky.  I ask that you keep these lovely ladies in  your thoughts and prayers over the next few days and weeks as they grieve for angel babies, work through failed IUI or IVF cycles, and prepare for additional rounds of IUI (or IVF) in the near future.  These ladies mean a lot to me and I would not be getting through all of this without their unconditional love and support.  They deserve as much love and support as they can get.  

I know this post was horribly long, but hey.. a lot can happen in one when when you don't have time to post!  I promise my next post will not be near as long.  Now.. time for some chips.  And chocolate.