6w0d

Today's ultrasound had me measuring exactly where I expected to be at 6w0d. We couldn't see a heartbeat yet, but the OB said at this point it's a 50/50 chance. (And also he used their old machine because the new improved one was on the fritz, so it was hard to see much to begin with.) He thought everything looked just as it should. We'll do another scan next Wednesday to check for the heartbeat. I am excited to be measuring right on track. I was so worried about seeing an empty sac or measuring a week or more behind. Good news, and hopefully more to come!

My chest tenderness reappeared Friday, but so far that's really my only symptom. I have been waking up a lot at night which is part bladder part nerves, but I have such a hard time falling back to sleep. It's killing me. I hope I can calm down soon. Being mildly anxious 24/7 is kind of miserable. I think it's time to embrace this and trust that things will work out just the way they're supposed to.

IVF #2 Postponed Indefinitely

Throughout this journey, it has often felt as though things rarely go according to plan. Once again, that is where I find myself. I never had my IVF consult this month. I didn't make a day three appointment for bloodwork and ultrasound. Instead, after my period was 11-12 days late, I broke down and took a HPT Saturday and found one very dark test line and one light control line. On Monday I had a beta drawn with my OB. I'm guessing I was about 1-2 days past 5 weeks. The result was 1959, which is right in the normal range. Since that day, all "symptoms" have basically vanished. I had been having nauseated feelings for about a week before (but never ever suspected this could be the reason) which are now gone, and my chest started to get sore Saturday but has since faded to almost nothing unless I really squish around. It leaves me believing that this pregnancy is headed in the wrong direction, again, which terrifies me. I'm supposed to make an appointment for 8 weeks with my OB, but so far I haven't had the courage. I don't want to have to make the phone call canceling it again. I've written several different posts trying to get this out, but each time I've been too chicken to hit publish for fear of jinxing this whole thing. And now I probably just did.

Please, please hold on little baby. I've never wanted anything more.

Early Christmas

Brian's parents came into town this weekend to celebrate Christmas. Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Tom were so excited that they were able to attend Noah's preschool Christmas program!

Singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Then, "Frosty the Snowman"

But the crowd favorite was "The Reindeer Pokey." This is Noah "putting your antlers in."

Saturday night we opened presents. Brian and Noah got remote control bumper cars. If you hit the other player's button, their driver pops out and make a yelling noise. Grandpa Tom and Brian may have enjoyed it more than Noah.

What's Christmas without some assembly?

Tonight we opened one more gift... Ice skates! Noah loved them so much, he had to bring one along in the car on our way to see the Trail of Lights at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. This place was gorgeous and definitely got me even more into the holiday spirit!

Love the candy cane silo!

This tree was simply amazing.

Such a fun kick-off to our 3 weeks of family celebrations!

Sledding

I'm pretty sure most of the country has been in a snowy deep freeze this whole week, and Colorado is no different. But, it made for some good sledding! And the best part? Our driveway doubles as an awesome sledding hill!

The local sledding hill is pretty great, too!

Hope you're all staying warm!

Thanksgiving 2013

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week spent in Minnesota. Sadly, my husband's grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer this summer. She made a request for the entire family to come to Minnesota for Thanksgiving this year, and everyone made it! Even though I don't know this side of the family very well, it was nice to be a part of a big family get-together. With all of my grandparents being deceased, none of my family ever gets together anymore. It's kind of sad. My mother-in-law Wendy wanted to get a big family picture done, and it turned out amazing! Not a single person blinked or made a funny face! 

I'm so lucky to be part of this family!

We also had a visit from Wendy's parents. Noah read Great Grandma Nancy "I Was So Mad" and she couldn't stop talking about how smart he was the rest of the night.

The big family dinner actually took place on Sunday, so we had a couple of days to relax before we had two more Thanksgiving meals with my parents. We did a quick dinner with my dad Wednesday night. He made a delicious duck and homemade cheesecake. Yum!

On the actual holiday, we spent the day at my parents' new cabin. My brother flew out from Denver and my sister and brother-in-law drove from Wisconsin. I think it's the first time the whole family has been together since Christmas 2010, so it was really nice having everyone together. 

We played Chutes and Ladders at the cabin. Noah was excited to be winning!

We frosted cookies while we waited for the turkey.

The boys chowing down on snacks.

The fam

The ice was thick enough to "skate" on, even though I was a nervous wreck the whole time!

We watched The Lorax about a million times at the cabin which has renewed Noah's love for his stuffed lorax.

Noah was so good on our flights. We had a miserable 3.5 hour delay on our way to Minneapolis due to mechanical issues, but Noah quickly made friends at our gate. They made friendship bracelets and played football with a stuffed animal. On our flight home, a cute 3 year old girl was sitting in the seat in front of him, and they chattered and passed treats back and forth the whole flight. We have such a sweet boy!

When we got home we decorated the house and prepared for the next holiday, Christmas! I love this time of year!