Life Outside of Infertility/Pregnancy

Since I was off from work today & super motivated to start working on my TO DO list for this weekend... I thought I'd also snap some photos of things around the house that made me happy.... Here goes!

My list included cleaning the sleepers I bought @ the yard sale a few weeks ago. Since it was a nice day, I hung them out to dry! Too cute!


Which led me to some veggies we're growing. Our selections includes cucumbers, squash, zucchini, watermelon, bell & banana peppers, lots of 'maters, & some marigolds.


Which will (this afternoon!) go into these raised beds Nick constructed a couple of evenings ago. They are 4' x 4'. We decided to start small, but next year we plan to add a couple more raised beds!


And while we were @ Lowe's last weekend, we grabbed some pretty petunias!


Silly cat...


And lazy dogs!




Hope you enjoyed a snapshot of my day! I am currently sitting at the community college since we were SUPPOSED to have lab hours scheduled right now & I thought I'd take advantage of the open lab to study some & review for my simulation lab this evening. But, I'll just have to spread out all my books & notes on the floor here!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Ultrasound at 18w6d

Can You Say Freak?

Freak-out, that is!?

My mother offered to buy our crib for us & since we both (Nick & I) went Sunday to look... AND picked one out... she & I went to the store last night. I DO love it, but it makes me nervous. Maybe because after we have the crib up, if something happens... it will be a horrible reminder. I know we can wait to set the crib up, but still. Having it in house is such a huge step.

I remember all of the baby clothes I randomly purchased on clearance or yard sales cuz, ya know, we weren't preventing... so it was gonna happen. RIGHT... we all know how that goes.

So, they became a horrible reminder. A couple of years ago, I had Nick put them all up in the loft of our barn away from sight & mind. It was just too painful. I guess I'm worried the crib will become the same way.

But, as far as the pregnancy goes, we are doing great. I feel pretty good most of the time, but definitely tire/exhaust quicker. And, it's more difficult to get up & down from sitting to standin! LOL. Weird stuff!

I have my next "baby appt" on Tuesday @ 23wks. Then, one more @ 27wks... and move to every other week! Crazy.

I am done w/ Spring classes & am in the second of five days off from school stuff! We start back up next week... into guess what?! Maternal Infant Nursing 2 which covers @ risk, high risk, & other horrible, scary pregnancy issues! I'm gonna have to cut my emotions off from this to avoid freak outs, but I will admit I'm nervous about learning all these issues!

Sorry, no pictures today. I'm boring now. :( Have a wonderful weekend!

Fun Stuff!

Last night, I snapped a couple of pictures...

Before we took the belly picture, Tchotchke decided he needed to "scratch" his neck... on Nick's foot! :) Here's a short clip of it:


Here's the 21wk belly shot:


And one of Elias' most recent gifts:


Remember? Nick's a geologist... so his Daddy rocks times two! :) One of the administrative assistants in the FSU Geology Dept picked this up for our little guy. I loved it. I imagine he'll have to wear it will a belt full of rock hammers & bruntons w/ high hiking boots. Maybe a head lamp, too.

Hope this brings a bit of a smile to your day... it sure does to mine! Last night, I impressed myself by staying up past 11:30 studying. (I'm usually in bed NO LATER than 10:00!) I've been praying for clarity & focus & He's been dumping it on me! I wrote concept maps for several disease processes I had read through, but not really concentrated on. Then reviewed other areas that I was familiar w/, but wanted brushing up on. I feel like it's clicking now! I plan to study every break I get @ work & the test should be finished by around 6:45 or 7:00 this evening. Then another quick trip to CVS to pick up some goodies!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Belly Picture Halfway Through

Okay, so I'm sure w/ all the pictures I took DURING the IVF cycle... you probably know this isn't the only belly picture I've taken, but since I'm kinda starting to show... I thought I'd post it. We had Mexican food last night (which I've had to cut down on only because I eat WAY too much & then I'm miserable for hours! LOL), so it's a bit fuller.


A couple of shots from Elias' room... Here's some of his little clothes organized by size. My Mom always grabs up clearance items & when we found out our baby is a boy... we cleared out her boy tub! {Yes, we'll be changing the bedding on the guest bed... not so much girlie anymore. Although, I'm hoping we can scoot the bed outta the room when he comes for more space in there. Just seems cramped.}


A friend of hubby's sent up a bassinet & changing table for Elias. Not knowing we were planning to have white furniture, it was white anyhow! Which was a sweet blessing! We plan to use cloth diapers w/ some disposables for church/traveling/etc... so I started filling in the top of the table to store them for now. We're planning to use baskets or what-not to fill in the shelves.


Guess that's it for now! :) I think I mentioned we were working on our kitchen last Fall, right before & in the first part of the IVF cycle & hubby has added some of the final touches (the hanging pot rack, spice racks, & such) in the last couple of weeks, so I can post some pictures from that! We still have to st.rip, sand, & paint the table + chairs, but other than that it's done! :)

Oh, a reminder: McDonald's is having a special on their Big Macs &/or Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese: Buy one, get the second for a penny. Just thought I'd throw that out there!

Anyone Cycling Soon?

I have pulled the old IVF-med box out & want to share w/ someone else who needs it.

What I've got (off the top of my head... I'll update w/ the exact numbers later on or contact me if you can use it):

6-8 vials of Bravelle, exp. 07/09
Lots of needles & syringes w/ those funky cap things for Menopur or Bravelle
8 Vivelle Dot patches, 0.1mg, exp. like 12/10

Please let me know if you know of someone that can use these items or contact me if YOU can use them... rachelbjohn[@]hotmail.com. I really wanna pass these on!! :)

20 freaking weeks today!? I can't believe it. Promise to start posting more. I've been slack, but I guess I don't wanna blast the pregnancy thing. But, I need to update & blog on here, so check back by the end of the week!

Update from "Bright Spot"

The baby does have 2 echocardiogenic focii in his left ventricle (still a boy!).

Since our bloodwork came back at a 1:10,000 chance of Down's, this doubles or risk... so, we have a 1:5,000 chance little Elias has Down's. No increased nuchal folds, no thickened posterior skull, or positive markers in my alpha-fetal protein bloodwork.

I mentioned taking video & she said we can't... then mentioned if we wanted to pay $5, we could get a VHS tape of it. So, uh, yeah!? Hoping we can get it converted in the next week or two so I can post it on youtube. Pretty exciting stuff.

Have the u/s pictures scanned & we have our (OB) doctor's appt tomorrow. Still can't feel the baby moving, but he is a freaking busy-body! :) It's so cool to watch him. Just amazing. All of it!