Huge milestone.....

Today I am officially 10 weeks pregnant. That, alone, is a big enough milestone for Brandon and I, and of course Baby Bice! I have been waiting for 10 weeks since before we even got pregnant.

That may seem silly to some, but let me explain. Long before we had our egg retrieval or transfer and light years (to me) before I got pregnant I had to start injections. If you have read my previous posts, then you know it all started with Lupron shots in the belly. These weren't too bad, but they were sometimes painful and left me with bruises for many weeks. After the Lupron we did Hmg injections. These shots had to be administered by my sweet husband. The Hmg shots did not necessarily hurt, but they were a nuisance, as it needed to be given at approximately they same time each day. (Have you ever tried to give yourself a shot in a public restroom? I had to do this with the Lupron. There's nothing like syringes in a bathroom stall to make you feel like a total junkie!)

After the Hmg shots, we moved onto to Progesterone Oil shots. We really saved the best for last. These shots I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Not only does the oil not go into your body smoothly, unless slightly warmed, but it also leaves your body lumpy and ooohh sooooo tender. These shots, like the Hmg, had to be administered by Brandon. He was such a trooper through all of it. And the way I see it, he's practically a doctor at this point. Anyone who gives shots each day for 2-3 months should get some sort of "honorary" nursing degree. I don't know if I could have done it.

Below- Two gallon-sized Ziploc storage bags full of used needles.




*We saved all of these because they need to be disposed of properly at a doctor's office*

So...the milestone....

Today is our last day of shots. No more shots, no more metformin, no more baby aspirin. As of today I am off all the meds and getting to live needle free! Every night (when getting the shot) I have wished it was 10 weeks. SO HAPPY we are finally there!!!!

How we spent our weekend

We spent this past weekend completely re-doing our front garden. We are really taking a chance this year by ripping out some of our "evergreen shrubs" and replacing them with perennial flowers. I worry once winter comes the front of our house will be extremely bare, but I am sure we can remedy that once it happens.

About 2 years ago Brandon and I purchased 7 azaleas. We were so excited because we purchased the Encore variety, meaning they would bloom TWICE a year, spring and fall. We bought white, red and one random purple. Not only have the azaleas not bloomed TWICE, but aside from the purple one, they haven't bloomed ONCE. So basically they are just green plants in the front of our house....taking up space.

This is our before picture. In this picture you can see our azaleas.


*We also relocated a gorgeous Lilac and plan to have the holly removed this week*

Brandon did most of the digging and pulling, I was just supervising. Once the azaleas were out and the purple one (our only bloomer) relocated, we decided to put topsoil over the entire garden. Brandon unload the topsoil and wheelbarrowed (I realize this probably is not a word) it over to the garden, while I raked it into it's proper place.



Saturday afternoon Brandon and I headed over to Stanley's Greenhouse (my absolute favorite place to be during the summer). This is (in my mind) by far the best greenhouse in Knoxville and if you are in this area and never stopped by Stanley's....you are truly missing out. We bought as much as we could and filled in some spots by buying other items at Home Depot. Sunday morning, early, we laid all the items in their respective spots....


*at this point I started to question what we had gotten ourselves into...

After joining some friends for a delicious brunch, we came and got right to work. Here are some pictures of our final product....







It was a lot of hard work (Brandon did the majority of the heavy lifting and digging and the hard stuff), but we are very excited about the final product. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we made an okay decision by pulling out some evergreens. Now....we just wait. And recover....I am exhausted!!!

Music to my ears....

I can honestly say that nothing in my life has sounded as amazing as hearing my baby's heart beat for the first time. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and although I was not scheduled to get an ultrasound, we ended up getting one at the doctor's request. The doctor wanted to check on the status of my OHSS (Ovarian Hyper Stimulated Syndrome). This is the condition that has made me have Monster Ovaries for the past two months. This is also the condition that has kept me from being able to exercise for the past two months.

The best news is....Baby Bice is growing and healthy and has a VERY healthy 178 beats per minute heart beat. The good news is my ovaries are finally starting to shrink and I have been given the "ok" to start exercising again, as long as I am not over doing it (no half marathons in my near future).

We had our first ultrasound was when I was approximately 6 and a 1/2 weeks along. Since then, we haven't had one. I also haven't had any major symptoms. No morning sickness or anything to keep me assured all was well. So getting this ultrasound was a blessing. It reassured me all is well with the baby and he or she is growing properly. Hearing that heart beat, strong and loud, was like music to my ears!

I will post some new pictures of Baby Bice soon! It's amazing how much they change in just a few short weeks. We are so proud!! 9 weeks down, 31 to go!!!

Are you sick yet?

Like most newly pregnant women, I get this question every day. Almost every morning someone at the office asks if I have had morning sickness yet. I don't mind the question....mostly because my answer is NO!! I suppose if I was fighting back vomit just to answer the question each morning I may not be so eager.

Yep.....I am one of the few women who has not been slammed with some sort of morning/noon/night sickness. I have my moments of queasy....but they usually come and go without too many problems.

Although my doctor told me if I didn't start feeling some sort of sickness by last week I was unlikely to have any, I hope I am not jinxing myself with this post!

So far, things have been great. Other than the occasional indigestion, the nightly tiredness, and my desire to eat any and everything in sight (this is not much different than my pre-pregnancy self)....I would hardly know I was pregnant. Things have been so easy thus far and I can only hope and pray this pregnancy continues without any major hiccups or hurdles.

In a week and a half we will officially be 10 weeks along and we will be able to stop taking the progesterone shots, the metformin pills, and the baby aspirin. Ten weeks will be a huge milestone for us.....we can't wait to get there!

Not right now.......

"Unanswered Prayers".......that was the topic of our sermon at church yesterday. My first thought was- Oh my..can I relate to that? I think we can all relate to this sermon. My second thought was- I knew I should have brought tissues.

The sermon went a little like this (I will paraphrase, mostly because I only remember certain things).....

When thinking about unanswered prayers, to make things a little easier they are categorized into three sections. First, there are prayers where the answer is simply "no". Sometimes we pray for things that we just can't have. Sometimes the answer is no and although we don't realize it, it's for our own good. Sometimes we just pray for silly things. Can you imagine what this world would be like if every prayer was answered? (I would be married to Luke Perry, or who ever I wanted to marry in Middle and High School) We will never understand why some prayers are answered and some are not, we just have to trust in the will and plan of God.

Some prayers are answered with a "not right now". This is a tough one, as just when you think the prayer is going unnoticed, you may get your answer. Our timing is not necessarily the RIGHT timing, but His timing is always perfect. Maybe we aren't ready for whatever we have prayed for. Maybe we can't possibly handle that particular thing at that particular moment. Not right now was the answer to my prayers for nearly two years (although I didn't know it at the time). It was the hardest thing for me to understand and grasp. I cried through this part of the sermon (it might be the pregnancy hormones, but I doubt it). It was very emotional for everyone listening and the good news is I wasn't the only one crying. I couldn't help but think about how the whole time my prayers were being heard, I just never realized it.

The last set of unanswered prayers are those with no answer at all. There is not a stern no, there is not a maybe later....there is nothing. Much like the first category, we will never understand why these prayers go without any answers. We will never be able to fully grasp what God has in store for those most affected by these prayers. We simply have to have faith that there is so much more at work than we can understand and that the overall plan is what is best for each of us. Naturally, these prayers are the hardest to handle because you feel as though your prayers aren't being heard. But, they are being heard, each and every one of them is being heard. Sometimes unanswered prayers are really blessings in disguise. We just don't usually recognize these things until much further down the road.

Brandon and I are so thankful for our (un)answered prayers. Each and every one of them. The ones that were answered with the stern NO, the ones that got the NOT RIGHT NOW, and the ones we will never understand why received no answers at all. These are the things that make our lives special and keep us living according to God's will.

Ending Radio Silence

I feel like I haven’t written anything in forever. I guess the truth is I don't have much that is blog worthy right now....At least that doesn't involve information has to wait and wait and wait to be said. I kept saying this blog wasn’t just an IVF blog, it was supposed to be about other things too, but it seems that the only things truly interesting in our lives right now revolve around IVF.

I choose to make our process very public and blog about everything that has occurred. Most people knew the day we were supposed to find out if our IVF had been successful. Family, friends, co-workers and those who read our blog (all 2 of you) followed along while we went to appointment after appointment. Once we found out whether we were pregnant or not, there would be no way of hiding our answer to those we encounter everyday. But……we have been able to keep our news off the blog. Which for me, really means radio silence…as I can’t seem to find anything else to blog about.

I have great fears about telling people about a pregnancy so early. But, what is too early? I believe ten to twelve weeks is the norm, right? But, like I have said before, nothing about this pregnancy has been normal for us. Also, I don’t think I can continue radio silence on the blog……it’s much too boring. So…today, at 7 weeks…I would like to introduce you to Baby Bice…………



We are expecting a SINGLETON (thank you God) baby due November 19, 2011. The actual baby is in between the two + signs, that blob on the top which looks like a giant head (which we will expect our child to have) is actually it's yolk sac (saying those words makes me gag). We graduated from the Fertility Specialist on Tuesday and have already started seeing my regular OB! We couldn't be happier and the doctors say everything is going perfectly so far! We got to see a beautiful and strong heartbeat and it relieved so many of my fears!

Yes....I realize it's very early (stop judging me)...but I can not (in good conscience) continue the blogging silence.