BUMPIN' 08 - Fall Mommies

[Mellie_1233]

Corny - I hope all's well with you. Yay for Abigail's Bayley scores!

Rio - I have been frustrated, too, with hearing how easily other conceive. Still, sounds like your co-worker either is exaggerating or can't trust birth control which wouldn't be great, either.

All's well here. I am HUGE I am 23 1/2 weeks and have gained about 25 or so pounds. My tummy is huge and the rest of me has put on weight, too. I know it's to be expected but I really wonder how I'll manage for the rest of this pregnancy.

I'ms super busy with work, too. I have my regular job that is 3 days a week, then I'm teaching a night class (which ends this week thank goodness) and I'm consulting for my old job so I'm swamped. Fortunately, a lot of this wraps up at the end of November.

How is everyone else doing?

[riogirl71]

Hey girls! where are you???

We have a walker! He started on Friday and now is all over the house at full speed!!!!!

[Mellie_1233]

Rio - Yay for your walker!

Corny - I checked your blog today. Your poor tummy! I hope you feel better and that your little one aims those kicks away from your stitches!

CT_Michele - How have you been?

Suga - How are you feeling? Haven't heard from you lately.

Things are fine here. Evie is more fun every day. She has so much personality. And, she is beginning to understand German! When DH asks her "Where's my little sweetheart?" in German she points to herself. So adorable!

Otherwise, I'm consumed with decisions. As usual, I have paralyzed myself with data -- the internet is evil! Foremost on my mind is whether or not we should stay in Chicago. DH and I had a long talk today. We would like to move to the East Coast. Ideally, a college town within a couple of hours of a big city. We're thinking of New England.

Anyway, this is long term. We aren't going anywhere right away but we're trying to envision where we want to raise our family and more and more we think it may not be Chicago or the suburbs.

[riogirl71]

Mellie! I was starting to think everyone fell off the face of the earth!
How cute Evie will be speaking German also!
Have you thought about the West coast at all? I know it is a bit expensive but the weather is great... we live in a small town and it is really nice.
Hope all is well with everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[Mellie_1233]

Hey Rio! That sounds really nice. Aren't you near the bay area?

We thought about Colorado. My brother used to live there and we did our fertility treatments there and thought it was beautiful. We kind of hesitate to go too far west b/c it makes it a much longer flight to Switzerland -- where DH is from and where his family lives. We have only been making it back there about once every year and a half but hope to go a little more frequently someday.

We got our first estimate Monday on turning our dining room into a nursery. $5200 Yikes! We really can't afford it right now but it's still cheaper than moving. Really hope the housing market improves soon so that we can sell next summer.

[CT_Michele]

Hey girls, sorry I haven't been on much, life has just been so busy.

Rio- Yay for a walker! (or not yay considering having to run after him!) Ella is walking now too, not running yet, and still a bit unsteady, but I would say she is walking more than crawling and she can make it across a whole room without losing her balance.

Mellie- Glad to hear your pregnancy is moving along nicely. I am doing ok, thanks for asking. It has been hard to come on these boards. The whole time I have been a part of these boards, I have always had something coming up, a cycle, a beta, being pregnant, but now, here I am wanting to keep going with ivf, but stuck b/c of money. No prospects on anything coming in the near future. My RE will give us a discount, but we are still talking $10,000 and we can't do it.

Oh, and I am from New England...so let me know if you ever end up in my area. If you can deal with the cold winter, then you will do fine over here!

So this semester has been killing me, so much schoolwork and the miscarriage, it has just been rough. I will be glad when it is over in a couple of weeks. Money is tight, christmas is coming, it's one thing after another over here. I even ended up in the hospital a couple weeks ago with some horrible gi virus, it was horrible.

Ella is doing great, walking around, into EVERYTHING. Her 15 month appt is today. I am going to have to talk to the dr about her eating habits, she just does not eat a lot of solid food, she is still very dependant on milk. I think I am going to have to start giving her something like pediasure for nutrition. More shots today too. I hate when she gets shots.

How is everyone else doing? Again, I will ask...any of you guys on facebook? I would love to keep in touch there. I am on there much more often than I am on here.

Ok, I will try and update after her appt later, I think she is going to be in a very low percentile for weight, she was between 15-25th percentile last time, I would not be suprised if she dropped.

[melinda:)]

ct michelle---hey i was just reading your post...when we did our ivf we did not have the all the funds up front and i went on to captial one and they give out loans for cosmetic or ivf loans at a really low intrest rate..just thought i would let you know:)

melinda

[KatieG]

Hey ladies its been forever!! I can't believe our kiddos are so big. Parker is walking/running everywhere and into everything. My DH and left him for 4 days in Oct and went to Chicago it was a great time. The city was beautiful. We are taking the baby back next month. We are flying and staying with family in Wisconsin about an hour away. Its going to be soo cold. Im glad allthe preg. are going well. Its so queit here these days. Im on facebook ct. hope everyone has a great holiday season!!

[CT_Michele]

Hey Melinda,

Thanks for the info. I actually took out a capital one ivf loan for the last one. I tried to get another or extend this one, but capital one is no longer doing healthcare loans. They said they stopped them and I actually got approved just in time for my last one, which I am still paying on. But thanks for thinking of me.

[Mellie_1233]

CT_Michele - Crap. That just totally sucks. I take it Connecticut is not a state that mandates fertility coverage. Any luck w/IKEA? Any other company that has insurance through a state that mandates coverage?

Katie - Chicago is a beautiful city. You should see it in the summer. So much to do and so much of it is free! Wiggle worms in the park every day -- free dance lessons w/a live band in the park 4 nights a week -- lots of festivals. It's a really great city.

Evie picked up a bad cold at a birthday party and was up so much crying! Poor thing. Now I have it. Blech. Being sick when you're pregnant is lousy.

I must confess a bad mommy moment. When she was sick I was up w/her at about 4:30 in the morning and I turned my back to do something and she fell off the bed. Bad Mommy. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, just scared her.

[CT_Michele]

Mellie- CT does mandate, but only 2 cycles. So they covered the cycle with Ella and our try back in April (bfn). We paid out of pocket and took out loans to freeze from the april cycle and to do the FET this past September (also bfn). There are some jobs in CT that give more than the mandate, and offer unlimited coverage. A lot of teaching districts do, but I don;t think I am ready to go back to work just yet, like I said, I want another but I have to consider at what expense to the little miracle we already have. Nothing from IKEA yet, I did apply and have had friends put in some good words for me. My husband is also looking around. He currently works for a group home for adults with disabilities. He works closely with some of the state people who come by and they suggested he take the test to be a case worker for the state. He would make more money, work less hours and the state gives unlimited infertility coverage, so we are watching for that job to post. Positions are available, but internally first. So we have lots of options, but just taking it a day at a time. I really wanted my kids to be close in age, since I feel like that's why my brothers and I are so close, but I know it is not the end of the world if it doesn't happen right away.

Oh, and you are not a bad mommy! Oh my goodness, it seems like Ella is getting hurt every 20 minutes now. Nothing major, but I can't take my eye off of her for a second, as soon as I do she is crying because she did something to herself. Yesterday she was right next to me while I was working on the computer and she opened the cd drive put her finger in and then closed it. She has also learned how to climb on the couch and other various objects. The other day she climbed on the couch and was petting the cat who ran and she tried to get him and fell right off the couch, face first! I felt horrible! Then later that day, my MIL came to visit and I was telling her what happened, the phone rang so I went to grab it. Ella was on the couch right next to my MIL and it happened again. I have no idea how when I just told her about it happening earlier and she was literally 6 inches away from her. When Ella was younger, she had one bed fall and one other couch incident.

Geez, in my telling you not to feel bad, I made myself look pretty bad! Of course we feel horrible when it happens, but I think there are gonna be many more bumps and bruises. They are kids and just learning how to do all this new stuff, I think falls and accidents are inevitable at this age.

[Mellie_1233]

Thanks, CT_Michele. You're right. It's inevitable. Lately, Evie has literally bumped her head on the walls! I have not idea how to child-proof a wall She'll turn around quickly or be looking at something in her hand and smack. Down she goes.

Regarding treatment, it looks like you have some good options. The job for DH with the state sounds especially promising.

[KatieG]

CT and Mellie Parker is also falling and tripping constantly. Its crazy and now I dont flinch as much and he doesn't cry that much. Chicago is beautiful we had agreat time. We are headed that way at the end of the month. WE are actually going to Wisconsin but flying into Ohare. We are thinking about coming back and spending the day in the city but im not sure if I can handle the cold. But I will def. come back and visit ill have to come during the summer I bet its really nice. I couldnt imagine living there but thats b/c its completly different from down here and really COLD. Hope everyone gets the feeling better and can dodge the colds/flu. I just love this time of year.

[Mellie_1233]

Hi Everyone!

Just trying to keep our thread going! How are the holidays for everyone? Our little ones are old enough to really enjoy it this year!

We are staying home this year b/c I am too pregnant to travel. I bought Evie boy/girl twin baby dolls with a twin stroller for Christmas so that she can push her twins while Mommy pushes Mommy's twins.

Evie is great and the twins are growing and doing fine, too. How about the rest of you? Jomae? Loopy? Haven't heard from you in a while.

And the rest of you? Holiday plans? News?

[Mellie_1233]

Hi All,

Corny's best friend posted to her blog that Corny delivered this morning:

http://www.itsacornylife.blogspot.com/

Corny, congratulations to you and your husband and I am saying prayers for you and your little one.