Winter Cycle Friends 2009/2010 - Everyone Welcome!

[angelaezra]

Hazel – It is great to hear from you! George is just growing like a weed! Thanks for sharing your first few week as a new mum. It makes me feel like I am still normal and things will continue to get better!

Stephanie – I am so sorry to hear about your friends. This is a time when they need all of the support in the world but at least you are there for them! I feel the same way about forgetting things but the funny thing is that my DH seems to be affected also. We constantly have to remind each other of things that we both missed. Thank goodness that they finally changed Angelina’s formula … I agree with you that it should have been changed awhile ago but at least she is gaining weight though!

Claudia – I love the picture of Mady! It is so funny that we all seem to be going through the same things in our lives right now with our babies. I have tried and tired the breast feeding but it hasn’t worked out for Gabriella. Since she was so small in the hospital, we tried to breast feed right away but she got really tired quickly so they told us to supplement with the high calorie formula. So since she has been introduced to the bottle, breast feeding is out because of the extra work that is needed. So I tried pumping and I don’t think I have been consistent enough and my milk has never really come in. It just dribbles out … so I think that might be it for me. I am a little disappointed but at least I tried every day. Oh by the way, I had the same concerns about Gabriella BM’s … she seems to strain every day and has reduced to one or two BM’s per day so I had the same talk with her pediatrician too. He said the exact same thing and also said that some newborns are not familiar with the correct muscles to use to go to the bathroom so they strain like crazy. But, as long as the BM’s are still soft and not hard that he wasn’t too concerned.

Gi – I sent you a PM with my full name for face book. Your news about the local paper and Ray Darcy show sounds so very exciting. I wish I could read the article about you. If they have post it on-line, please let me know.

AFM – Gabriella’s two week peds appointment went very well yesterday. She is up to 5 pounds 3 ounces, so she almost gained a full pound in one week! He said that he will keep her on the same high calorie formula until the middle of January and then we can switch her to the normal formula. So her next appointment will be her two month appointment with those darn shots! We tried to let Gabriella cry like so many people have suggested at night and it was a total disaster. She cried most of the night and she actually needed us. We felt just like crap when we finally realized it around 5 am. I think that she is still too little to sleep in her own crib and we talked it over with her pediatrician and he agreed. He said because she is so little that she will wake up more often to be fed because she doesn’t have too many fat stores that she can rely on. But we did try to keep her up during the day yesterday and it worked beautifully. She slept for 3 hours straight and then was fed and changed went back to sleep and slept for another 3 hours, etc. It was heaven!!!! So I tried to get her out of the house again today but it didn’t work as well because she just slept anyway, so we will see how things go tonight. Well, now that I have written a book, I am going to go and play with her now! Have a great night ladies!

Angela

[Franca]

Hi girls
Sorry i'v not been on but i'v been feeling pretty misrable. Im now 31+4 weeks and iv started to feel it. I feel like my tummy is being strangled, i have the odd af pain, BH, and i worry that this is not normal . My DH says it is but i just don't know if i believe him as hes never experienced pregnancy. I feel really depressed and im starting CBT today to see if that will help me mentally. Im truely falling apart and i dont know how i will manage the rest of my pregnancy. Im now having my c section at 39 weeks just waiting for the date.
sorry about my rant
F
xx

[angelaezra]

Franca – Oh I am so sorry that you aren’t feeling well. But, your DH is right, what your feeling is perfectly normal. I remember all too well feeling exactly the way that you do. I felt horrible but it is almost over for you and she will soon be here! My best advice is to rest as much as possible and keep looking forward to meeting your daughter; trust me, it is a truly amazing experience! After your c-section, try to get as much help as possible from friends and family for at least the first two weeks following it because you will feel quite sore and not yourself.

Just remember that you can come here anytime and share your thoughts and feelings and we will help you through it. Try not to worry; you will be just fine, ok?

Angela

[katie99]

Hi everyone -

Wow trying to get an hour to myself to post has really gotten difficult lately, I'm so glad that Chris's schedule finally let up and now he'll be here to help til after the new year. I've missed you guys alot. I've had a minute or two to read but as soon as I go to post Ryan has some sixth sense about "me time" and starts crying. he's got some sense of timing I tell you. lol

PA - Yippee for getting all the clothes put away, I couldnt wait to do that, but I hope that you dont have the same problem I did which was getting stuck with newborn size clothes that were already washed, tags cut off, and totally didnt fit. sigh. And what did fit I bought too much fleece, and its just too hot for him - so hopefully you bought more cotton than anything else. Boy their skin skin is soooo sensitive! Jeez, your DH sure did have a good place to be stuck! Hawaii? That sure beats the arctic zone thats been the NE, doesnt it? bet you couldnt sympathize with him at all! How are you feeling pregnant mama? - xoxo

Hazel - OMG! 15.5 lbs already? George is going to be growing like a weed I bet. He's already the social butterfly, isnt he? Have you been having him out in the snow? What did he think of it? We havent really had any snow fall to speak of yet, but its been like Alaska with temps in the teens and super windy, so not really good baby outing weather, shame too since Ryan loikes to be entertained all day like your George. And also like your George Ryan will just nap 2-4 times each day but only for maybe 30 minutes, so trying to get anything done is next to impossible, I expect it will be easier when he can sit up by himself and then can go into a jumper chair and move with me from room to room? Well at least thats what I'm hoping for, who knows if it wil work out that way, right? But he does sleep all night so i cant complain there - thankfully that continues. Wow, Mum a trip to Zurich sounds fab! I'm so glad that it went off without a hitch, even if the airlines and airports are so much more challenging lately, and with a baby? I can only imagine how fun waiting in all those lines must be. you're lucky that you had no problems, I've heard that London has had lots of weather closings - whew! for it not affecting your trip. much love to you both - xoxo

Steph - OMG, honey you sure do have alot going on in your life lately! You are the sweetest, kindest woman ever to have such a generous nature and take care of your friends at a time when you have 2 babies plus Andrew & Alex all clamoring for your attention. You truly are Super Woman to have so much on your plate! I dont know how you manage to do it all with two babies and I'm running like a crazy person with just one baby. Its a good thing your friend has you in her life, its pretty scary to be clueless about babies and have no baby daddy to even help out, I'm sure that watching you handle the super cuties will help her get a baby 101 real fast! But whats up with her roomate? What the heck was that about? Too busy with her own baby to help this girl out? The gall of some people never fails to amaze me. Is she thinking of adoption just because she's afraid of being a new mom? or is it deeper than that? Now thats she'll stay with you she'll get a chance to take a breath and see how she's really feeling about that. As for your other friend???
Grrrr! darn right to have Andrew report him!!! What sort of di**less wonder uses their wife to beat up on??? Yeah, merry xmas alright. And with 6 innocent children at home ??? Grrrr, that makes me soooo mad! She'll be better off without him, even though I can imagine an idiot like that will most likely give her a hard time even after being removed from the premises. It saddens me to hear about jackasses like this, what was he thinking????

On to other (better?) subjects - you've got to be kidding me that it took this long for someone to figure out that poor little Lina is having a reaction to the formula! Finally an answer to why the poor girl has been feeling so miserable. Alright at least now that they know why, and she's taking to the Rx formula well, I'll bet your smiley girl will really show her pink gums now! I'm so happy that she's doing better, just wish someone would have picked up on that earlier. And chunky butt? I do think you should get a 3rd opinion, I mean you've gotten 2 differnt ones so far, who knows which is right? I've got my fingers crossed that it was a soft tissue trauma and just stayed swollen a really long time, but if not, then its better you know about as soon as possible. And this was after making sure to go to a civillian hospital too, where I had Ryan has a policy that only OBs do circs because Peds dont have any surgical training (yes, I asked outright after your story about Ethan) ryan only stayed swollen until 3 weeks so I'm sooo hoping that Ethan's swelling is just swelling. Oh honey, please try to take some free time for yourself (if you can) you dont want to get all burned out overdoing it everyday. Enjoy your visit with your brother & SIL!!! Hopefully it doesnt fly by too fast! much love to you all - xoxoxo

Claudia - Oh hony Mady is just a doll! I love the pics of you with her, they're really special. yes, there is no other way, you just have to go around their schedule and go with the flow. It must be grand to have family around so you can have a break and of course let Grandma spoil her! Its kinda Grandma's job to spoil her, haha. I have to say that I'm a tad envious of that, it would have been nice for Ryan to have Granparents, but what can you do? I cant wait to hear what she weighs now. I love her little headband too. So how are you feeling? Are you still thinking of trying for another baby soon? much love- xoxo

Gi - Aw honey, how fab to have your story in the papers, even if you're only famous for a day, you and Jason endured so much to bring little Kayla here you will surely inspire anyone who reads your story - you've inspired an awful lot of girls around here, I know. if you can help just one woman going through infertility feel the push to keep gpoing, then its all worth it, right? And you'll have the papers to show her when she's older too. When your house calms down a bit then you can plan your glorious wedding to Jason, after waiting this long, it will be even more special with little Miss Kayla there with you both. Happy to hear that you're all doing well - much love to you all + of course to your Mam too - xoxo

Angela - How are you feeling? How is your healing going? I cant believe that Gabriella gained 1 lb in just a week! She is doing great! Have you been getting any more sleep lately? I'm with you, I just cant let Ryan cry it out either, both the books I have say that until they are 8wks old that neurologically they are too immature to be able to self soothe yet, so I'm going with that. it breaks my heart to hear him crying, if I'm spoiling him, then so be it for now at least. Although I cant take it when he makes the frownie face either, lol. Hope I'm not setting myself up here, but he's still so young, you know? Its so hard to decide what is too much attention and it sure doesnt help that each book has different advice. I guess we just have to keep up on all info and make the decision on whats right for our baby - its confusing sometimes for sure. Are you still getting all that crazy snow? We've been so lucky so far to not really have any, but I know that wont last forever - ugh. Hopefully the more weight she gains she'll be getting up less in the middle of the night, once you start getting more sleep, it will be so much easier all around. Its still hard to believe she's here, isnt it? Sometimes I look at Ryan and cannot believe how lucky I am to have him. What a long road, but you did it mama! - xoxo

Franca - aw honey, the last month was the hardest, but pg in the 8th month was a little rough too. Soon you'll have that little girl in your arms and the symptoms do really disappear right away - no more heartburn, uncomfy belly, feeling so vulnerable, tired, and the having a hard time turning over in bed, they all go away right after. The hormonal part takes a few weeks, but thats to be expected. And as soon as you hold her in your arms for the first time, you wont even remember how uncomfy you were - it just ceases to matter. hang in there honey, you've in the home stretch now - you're doing a great job, just a bit longer, ok? - xoxo

AFM - Whew I feel like a wrote a book! and it only took me like 4 hours since I have to stop what I'm doing every 15 minutes it seems like. The hrdest part of being a mom so far is the now having to learn to do everything in increments and never getting to complete anything at one time. Well that and the trying to guess what size clothes to buy him. Has anyone else noticed that each brand is completely different in their sizes? Ryan is wearing 3 months, 3-6 months and now I've just had to buy some things in 6 months size, he's pretty long and the pjs are squishing his toes, but wouldnt it be nice if things ran where you didnt have to memorize brands - like Gerber's run real small, Carter's seem to fit true to size and Garanimals run big - I give up. Ryan is such a character lately, I watch him when he sleeps and its like he's in a face making contest or something, he goes from smiling to furrowing his eyebrows to smirking to frowning - its too funny to watch, he's really getting heavy too, my guess would be about 11 lbs now? the next visit to the Peds will be for vaccines, so I wont say that I'm looking forward to it, but its on the 29th , so soon enough. the holidays have me thinking of how very blessed we all are to have gotten to start our families and have these amazing little babies to cuddle each day. a year ago I thought I was ready to give up soon, and who would have thought that in 1 years time how much has happened! it really makes me humble to think that because of one generous giving couple and my RE of course that I have had the opportunity to be a mother. i still choke up when I think of it all. I hope we all take a moment this time of year to give thanks for what we all have. I know that I do. Happy holidays to you all and wishing you much love- xoxoxo

[katie99]

i'm still trying to get him smiling, but he's still on an anti smile picture campaign - sigh - i'll get a smiley pic one of these days...




sheesh! I know its cold out - but I'm swimming in this thing!

[angelaezra]

Hello ladies – We had our first night of completely no sleep last night. Gabriella would sleep only when I held her and when I put her down she would cry on the top of her lungs. I also noticed she has four rounds of diarrhea last night and she started arching her back and spitting up, so I assumed she was developing acid reflux. So when I woke up this morning, I called her pediatrician after taking her temperature, which was slightly high. The appointment went like I thought it would; she diagnosed acid reflux and wrote a script for Zantac. So hopefully, it will do the trick.

I hope everyone has a wonder holiday!

Angela

[PA_FA]

Good Morning/Afternoon ladies! I have missed you all! I forgot my password and had to reset it. Not a lot of time to get on the computer down here at the in-laws. There are 3 screaming children (my nieces and nephew) so I have to make this quick.
Claudia- Still beautiful as always with such a cutie for a DD. I'd love to be a FB friend so I will send you a PM with my name. I am on there much more too.

Gi- Sending you a PM for FB too. The Irish Independent! That's awesome!!!!! Has it been posted yet? If It's on line I'd love to read it. Or I can just have one of my friends bring me the paper from Dublin or Shannon when they fly over. I told DH about that and he thinks it's very cool!

Steph- Your poor friends. How are you hanging in there? You are such a great friend, mother and wife. They are so lucky to have you.

Katie- Yeah as much as baby girl is growing I have a feeling I should NOT have washed those small baby clothes. I am convinced she is going to walk out and ask for a martini she will be so big. LOL Ryan is just a little doll. I just want to pinch his little cheeks!!! Adjusted date again...read below. (roll eyes)
Oh and Katie...I cry all the time thinking about what a miracle our RE has given us. Because of him we have this new life. I will love him forever and ever like my own family. Dang it now I'm crying again. XO

Franca- I answered you on the Feb board but I am feeling the same things honey. Sometimes the little cramps double me over. One night I was standing by dh and I bit his shoulder. Just so he could have a little dose of ouchie too. My OB said it's all normal. Please don't worry. We are going through the exact same things. Just stay warm over there with all that snow! EEK!

AFM- I had my OB and peri appt on Monday. Baby girl is 5lb 3oz right now. Another 8w to go. She is going to be GINORMOUS...I'm getting a bit worried and telling DH that my small necklace that I wanted for delivery may need to be bigger. Adjusted for the size of the monster I have to squeeze out of me thanks to him. DH is 6ft 4in and 275. Yes...I blame this all on him. LOL I am seeing the OB every 2 weeks and I have one more perinatal apt.
Remember when my date got adjusted to Feb 11? Well I had the same Dr again at the peri office that adjusted it the first time. She asked me if we were using Feb 11 as our due date. I looked her square in the eyes and said no. When she asked why I told her that since my RE had done the date we knew it was correct. I was having an IVM baby...not an IVF baby. She looked confused and then asked the difference. So I took 5 mins and explained the difference between IVM and IVF. Not much, just pulling out immature eggs for IVM vs. mature eggs ready to fert for IVF. She had no clue! REALLY!!! You are a perinatologist. UGH. So since she now understands that my eggs were not fert as soon as they came out she knows that Feb 15 is correct. Lordy. LOL
OH and down here in the deep south of Georgia, my in-laws are betting that I will not be having a baby in Feb. They do not think I am big enough to accomodate a 10lb baby. They think I will deliver in the 2nd or 3rd week of Jan. I am kind of short and she is running out of space. But DH is flying all of Jan so that early labor thought really scares me. Anyhow...miss you all loves. Have a very wonderful holiday! XOXO

[PA_FA]

Claud and Gi- my in-laws computer will not let me send a PM. Weird. I'll get you my name asap or you can find me linked through friends. I'm friends with Steph, Angela, Franca and Hazel. XO

[Stephanieford78]

Pa - My goodness is that little girl big already. Maybe she will slow down a bit?? I blamed Andrew for my big babies too! lol Though Ethan turned out to be the only fatty. Lina is still a pound lighter than my little chunky butt!

Angela - Oh gosh, I feel for you! Those sleepless nights are not fun! Poor baby girl has reflux huh? You pretty much predicted that didn't you? I guess you really know your baby. At least now she is getting medicine for it and the rest of the nights will be better.

Katie - Aww, how adorable is Ryan? Even those little half grins are priceless! I finally caught Ethan with a few bog ones. I never seem to have a camera or the lighting sucks or the flash goes off and ruins his smiles. I have a few that I caught of him, I will post those. As for my friend with the roommate issues, I think she was thinking adoption just because she doesn't feel like she can be a good mom. She had such lack of esteem thanks to the drop of hormones and a bad roommate, no baby daddy, the whole thing that she felt she wasn't good enough. She went to the doctor and he gave her some drugs to help herself back up and it helped she said. She is visiting her family in Houston and will be back after the new year and come here. She will at least be here to take some time away from her roommate, if she likes it better here, then she will stay. I think she will end up staying though. My other friend with all the kids and shitty husband, yeah she is better off without him. They haven't been good together for a long time. I am glad to help, but WOW so much happened so fast all at once or close together. lol I think I will be just fine once company leaves and I can sleep in and be a bum all day!

Franca - No worries, you are almost through this whole pregnancy thing. Can you believe how far you have come? What a miracle. Unfortunately that miracle does come with a price and that is being miserable in pregnancy. When will you get your surgery date?

Gi - You will have to post the article or picture in here for us! I tried looking for it but I didn't have any luck. That was so sweet of Jason to do that for you! He loves you both so darn much! So is he still cranking jokes and being the funny man now that Kayla is here or has he all of a sudden gotten serious?

Claudia - You and Maddy are adorable OF COURSE! lol Beautiful mommies make beautiful babies!

AFM - So my friend who's husband beat her made the report with the cops and his command. His command wasn't going to send anyone to her house with her. Even Andrew's command takes a beaten wife seriously enough to do that. So he went to battalian and found a higher ranking person to escort her. Husband left and she was back at home with her kids. Sounds like everything is going well over there, at least for now. My other friend got some anti-depressants and is at home with her family away from the depressing situation so she is much better now as well. YAY! Brother and SIL have been here since Sunday night, they don't seem to be very social though. We did go to Austin to a natural science museum. They have a dino pit where you can dig for dino fossils. Not real ones, but still fun for the kids.

As for babies, more smiles and even some laughs lately. I caught them both smiling at the same time and it would have been a great photo but of course the lighting was dim and my cell phone doesn't have flash (or any that I can find) and the camera was downstairs. Oh well, there will be other chances. I will post a few of Ethan that I caught recently. Lina was sleeping so I didn't get any with her this time. But she hogged the camera smiles last time I posted so he can hog it this time. lol Today is Christmas Eve, Andrew and I's Anniversary, 5 years today. My brother is trying to get me to get ready to go out to eat. I am not really that hungry and we weren't planning on doing anything to celebrate, but he really wants to eat out so I am going to force myself up. lol Ok, I better get the kids all packed up and go. Here are some smiles of my chunky butt!

[Franca]

Merry Christmas to my wonderful friends. thankyou for giving me lots of support i really do need it .

I have my c section at 39 weeks so PA our babaies will be born nearer eachother

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[katie99]

Hi everyone -

I hope that you all had a nice holiday, we had a quiet one so that was ok, but I still spent way more time in the kitchen than I would have liked, but what else is new? I wouldnt have minded so much but I wasted like 2 hrs making a lemon merange (sp?) pie that turned out so bad that 1 bite in- it went in the trash, I'm a good cook, but cant bake at all. Anyway it looks like we are finally going to get some snow today, they're saying about 6"-12", so maybe today I'll FINALLY get to starting the baby book? Umm, yes, I havent even started it yet I did get to the part where you look through it, and cut pics out to put in it, but I've only got them in a pile waiting to get to them, yeah, I know, lazy mommy! Or mommy with son who like to play like a koala bear up on my shoulder all day. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to get one of those baby slings, I'm past the point of caring if they look silly or not, but Ryan has a way of not letting me get anything done, he wants to be held all the time. Its hard now because he cant amuse himself, so I can only do so much with him in my arms. haha it takes me forever to type with 2 hands, could you imagine how long it would be with just 1 hand?? I'm still on the "Quest for the smiley picture" I hear you Steph, even when he smiles huge, the camera is somewhere else or the lighting stinks, or most usually he geta facinated by the black box in front of my face and all smiles stop until I put the camera away - sigh. I'm pretty determined to get this darn pic though, eventually I'll ambush him

Angela - How are you doing honey? Is Gabriella's reflux getting bettter with the zantac? it makes you feel so awful when they start crying like that doesnt it? You feel so helpless to not be able to comfort them when they're hurting. Have you been able to get any more rest? I remember the first 3 weeks with Ryan were zombie like for me and when you're that sleep deprived getting anything done is next to impossible. Hopefully this is almost over and she'll be sleeping longer now that her tummy is better. Have you put a wedge under her crib sheet? We got one at walmart for like $12 and its just foam, but it makes me feel better to not have him lying completely flat in his crib, maybe it would help? hang in there honey it will get easier soon - xoxo

PA - Oooh, she will be a big girl I think - 5lbs 3oz is a really good size so far. I'll cross my fingers that she's not Ginormus though, lol. Big is good, but Ginormus? sounds like ow! at delivery time. And yes, Dr Rose really cares more for his patients than his SART stats, and thank God for that, if he didnt neither one of us would get to be mommies, right? I feel very lucky to have found him. When i first told Chris that the RE I chose was 2 hrs away, he was like "why"? and I tell you, I dont know why but when I read his website and philosiphy I just knew somehow that this was the right RE for me.Weird how it works out sometimes, isnt it? How is your Mom doing? I'm hoping that no news is good news? And ugh! I know exactly how you feel to have to explain EVERYTHING to your OB/ Peri - I had to do the same thing right up til the end with my Obs, and since there are 3 in the practice it felt like each one asked the same questions over & over again. You would think that they would have more than just a basic understanding of ivf/ivm but ummm, no, not at all. Surely we cant be the only ones who went through this, can we? Well now, it doesnt seem fair that you go all thw ay to GA and it may snow there too- like it was following you or something. I hope that your trip home is safe and not affected by this storm - blech! - much love honey - xoxo

Steph - Yay! You did it! Ethan has some pretty big smiles going on there. His whole face lights up when he smiles, Ryan's does too, but my quest continues.. Happy 5 year anniversary! How sweet to have your anniversary on Christmas Eve too. That must have been a really romantic time of year to get married. I hope that your visit from your brother & SIL refeshes you and maybe they're just worn out from traveling to feel social? I dont know, do you mean they dont feel like going out much? at least you got to see them for the holidays thats the important part anyway. How is little Lina's tummy doing now? Is she feeling better with the new formula? Now she can concentrate on catching up her weight to "chunky butt's". Ryan is long & lean, but he's solid, he feels heavier each day actually. I cant wait to hear how long he is now, and what he's weighing in at. He's all smiley and making all kinds of crazy sounds ( I just wish I knew what he was trying to say) well, other than the obvious "whats the hold up with my bottle, mommy"? I'm getting to think that when he's a teenager he'll eat us out of house & home, lol. This boy can really pack it away I tell you. I'll bet Ethan is the same way too. How sweet you are to have offered your friend to stay with you guys! you're really helping her out, and I bet an extra pair of hands with the super cuties would be welcomed also. I'm glad to hear that she's doing better with the meds and I'm sure that her self esteem will improve now that she's going to keep the baby. It never fails to amaze me how a lack of self esteem can completely change someone's whole outlook - thankfully she has you to help her through this rough patch. You are such a good friend and mommy. How is Andrew doing? He must be so happy to finally have some time off. I've still got my fingers crossed for his recruiters job - I just hope that it comes through soon enough that you're not stressing this summer coming. Dont, please, ok? Alot can happen between now and then. How is Alex? What is she up to lately? She must be lost in her own world at her age. And how many times has she made you all sit through the Twillight moveis?? lol. You must know them word for word by now - hee hee. I'll post some xmas pics from yesterday, but I refuse to give up on the BIG smiley pic - ah, the battle goes on... much love twin mama- xoxo

Gi, Hazel, Claudia, - How are you new mommies doing?

uh oh - crying baby gotta go - xoxo
Eeeek! Sorry they're huge, but no time to play around on photobucket right now

[Stephanieford78]

I hope everyone who celebrates during this time of year had a great holiday! It was a rough one for me. Andrew had a great paying job, paying 1200 in pocket. He got the job done and she didn't have the money like she said she would. She said she might not have it all, but she would at least have some of it. Nope, not even a penny. That ruined all of our Christmas present plans. We depended on that to get Alex's presents. She had very expensive taste this year!! We got her the big ones she wanted with the help of my brother, though (of course) I have to pay him back. I hate borrowing from friends or family. We are all stuck here with nothing to do because I'm broke. I feel like such a horrible host! I wanted to take them to the petting zoo/drive through safari we have here, but nope. *sigh* Anyway, the lady said she could pay it tomorrow so we are crossing our fingers for that. Alex was happy with what she got, hopefully she doesn't mind waiting to get the other stuff late. The babies didn't mind not getting very much. They have everything they need anyway. lol I cooked a ton! Bunch of cookies, fudge, rice crispy treats, two meat cheese and cracker trays, veggie tray, two cheese cakes, cinnamon rolls, and of course turkey with stuffing, ham, gravy, mashed potatoes, yams and rolls. It was funny, I forgot stuff for stuffing so I took the rest of the bread i had, cut it up, seasoned it like crazy and tossed it with some chicken broth from a can. lol I was shocked when it came out tasting pretty good! Everyone loved it. Wow! I never attempted stuffing on my own without a box before. Maybe my mom had a leading hand over me for that one. Well, I can hope so right? She always made hers from scratch.

Katie - You will get Ryan's big cheesy grin on camera soon I am sure. I had to be sneaky myself. I had to use the camera as if it was a toy. So I would play peek-a-boo with it, hiding my face with it and moving it, you know. He loved it! As for carrying Ryan around all the time. Have you tried those little carriers? I have one for each baby from walmart, only 15 bucks! Much better than the baby bjorn (sp?) that is like 50! They work just fine. They babies feel so heavy in them though. It's funny how your arms are more use to carrying babies than your shoulders. Christmas Eve for our wedding day was chosen because his family was coming in to see us anyway that year. (We lived in CO.) He also wanted to get married before he deployed which was coming up soon. From the time he finally proposed to the time that the wedding date was, ended up being 5 weeks. Yes, I planned a wedding in just over a month! I wanted small and traditional. I got the small part, but as you know, my inlaws made the day a day I would rather replace with something else, like sleeping or getting hit by a car. lol I think my brother is just bored. There isn't much here at all! We went to Austin and out to eat, that's been the extent of the visit other than Christmas dinner and lounging on the couch. Lina's little tummy isn't any better with the formula. Worse actually. The NP said no symptoms at all with this new stuff, well WRONG!!! Not only is she still spitting up, but it's thick, smells bad and chokes her! It's horrible to watch her face turn red as this thick mucus type stuff comes up and finally passes. I have had to use the bulb syringe for the first time for her to help. She also spits up more often on this soy stuff. I am getting really upset! The Zantac doesn't do much and the formula makes it worse. Now we are forced to think that it's something internal. I started giving her the regular formula again since she does better on the milk. Sure enough, less spitting up and less stinky!! Tomorrow I have to make an appt with a doctor. Hopefully I can get a real doctor, not an NP, since this one seems to know what the problem is each time and is wrong! Ethan is great, chunky and happy. lol Alex is happy she got a wii (thank you pawnshop lol) and a DSi XL (thank you Chris, my brother). Andrew never got his 3 days off at all, but the few days off have been decent enough. We have accepted the fact that the deployment is coming. His ERB isn't updated to give DA any reason to want him to be a recruiter. Therefore, he won't get pulled from deployment. He is trying to get it updated, but this unit isn't very good with paperwork. Yeah, he's deploying, looks like July. I don't even care at this point. This is the life I chose. Anyway... enough about depressing shit! Those are some good looking pictures! I wish I could see the first one better though. Ryan is cut out. When you get the time, maybe repost that one? His smiles are so darn cute! He looks so happy! And those ears!! Oh my! Ethan's ears are starting to stick out and I told Andrew that's all his fault. lol His genes, his fault right? I call them little volkswagon doors.

[angelaezra]

PA_FA – I am glad that your appointment went well and she is in there cooking really well in there. Your DH is certainly tall … I am sure that your daughter will be ready to come out meet the proud parents soon. Your in-laws might have a point about you going early with her growing so well. I like the idea of asking for a bigger present after delivery … and why not, you will certainly deserve it by providing the best present ever to your DH!!!!

Stephanie – Thanks for the understanding about the lack of sleep but I just don’t know how you are doing it with twins and having Andrew back to work at the same time …

It is funny because I just told my DH that it wasn’t this hard with my nephew but then I quickly realized that there were three adults in the house and my DH and I worked second shift, so when we got home from work we would feed him and change him at night and it didn’t seem that bad because we went to bed late anyway but now it is just me because he works such long hours! Oh well, I will get the hang of it sooner or later, right?

I am so sorry about Christmas being so hard for you and your family! What a great daughter that you have because she was so understanding … how many parents can say that? But, just remember that presents don’t make Christmas, the people make Christmas. So as long as you guys are healthy and enjoying each other, that is all that matters … I can’t help but think back and quickly realize how blessed we are to have our miracles with us for their first Christmas and those who are expecting their miracles very soon! So don’t be too hard on yourself because you and Andrew are doing the best that you can, ok?

Franca – I hope that you and your DH had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed your time together!

Katie – She seems to be doing a little better because the arching of the back has stopped but she seems to still have some diarrhea on occasion and some spitting up here and there. So hopefully, she will continue to improve over time, especially after we change her formula to the regular similac in mid January. Yes, we elevated the head of her bassinet also so that the spitting up wouldn’t be as bad at night and it seemed to help as she slept for four hours at a time last night, so I hope that trend continues!

It sounds like you and Stephanie really fixed a feast for Christmas dinner … I got lucky once again because my mom and dad had dinner over their house yesterday. We spent so much time going from house to house so the grand parents could spend some time with Gabriella, so I was worn out by the end of the night! Oh, by the way, I love the family Christmas picture of you guys!

Angela

[Arabsrcool]

Katie,

Baby Santa is gorgeous, even without a smile for the camera! I loved the baby sling, it let you have both hands free to get stuff done. They make some great ones for the little ones, that just cradle them like you were holding them. Be careful of the slings when the get older, you have to watch because the ones where they are upright cut off their leg circulation if they are in it too long.

Angela,
Sounds like your little one is making up the weight and doing ok...hope Zantac is helping!

Steph,
sorry to hear about your Xmas. it never amazes me that people ask to have something done, but then don't have the money when its finished, talk about tacky! I hope she comes thru with some cash! babies look so gorgeous in your siggy pic, hopefully you will figure out what is going on with Angelina and her formula issues.

To everyone I missed, hope you all had a good Christmas with your little miracles.

Ronda

[lou71]

Hi old cycle and pregnancy buddies!

I've really missed you guys!

I admit I haven't been reading regularly as "baby" talk seems to get me down. 2010 wasn't so good to me, so I'm hoping 2011 will bring me a BFP and a baby. I am planning to cycle in January if AF comes on time. I'll start stims on 1/11. I'm doing an estrogen priming protocol where I take 4mg/day of estrace for 4 days before starting stims and using no BCPs. Has anyone done this? If so, what were your results? I've also been on DHEA for the past 12 weeks. Hoping that makes a difference as well. This very well be my last shot ladies... I need all the help I can get. DH had a varicocele repair in Nov to hopefully improve sperm quality and I had laparoscopic surgery on 12/13 to remove a fibroid from the outside of my uterus that was pressing on my right tube/ovary. I also had a bit of endo to remove as well as some adhesions (scar tissue). I also had a D&C. I had CD3 labs done and my FSH was 6.6 (down from 8.9 two yrs ago) and E2 was 42. Everything else was normal as well.

Congrats on all your beautiful babies!