Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Wow...




Has it really been that long? A year ago yesterday I found out I was pregnant and I can tell you the last year has been the best year of my life and also the hardest. Pregnancy was so fun, I truly loved it. Yes-I got huge and swollen and tired...but it was amazing. I still can't believe the little girl I see in all those ultraounpictures is our beautiful daughter. Being a mommy is a million times better but also the hardest thing I have ever done. I can't explain why it's hard, it just is...but also so rewarding. Gianna smiles at me a million times a day and is starting to laugh sooo hard it's amazing. God is GOOD!

For those momma's who are still TTC, please don't give up. The journey is long and hard and heartbreaking, I know...but being a mother is worth any wait that He gives you. I just can't put it into words the love I have for her...the moment she was pulled out of me and put on my chest was....incredible. I was speechless (my husband will back me up on that one! haha)

Just trust in Him. He has a plan for you and no matter how or when you become a mother, it will be worth the wait. It will be worth the heartache, the pain, the sadness, frusteration, everything.

Being a mom is incredible and amazing. It's also tiring and sometimes stressful, but it's a good tired and a good stressful. It's just perfect :-)

If you don't know we moved you can follow our journey from 13 weeks to now almost 4 months at jjplotz.blogspot.com.

And here are a few more pictures of our miracle...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

13 weeks!

How far along? 13 weeks!

How big is baby? the size of a peach :-)

Weight gain:Well, I gained .5lbs when I was at the my OB appointment on Monday. Dr.M said that was fine just wanted to make sure I was eating/not sick/etc. He said I'll probably see weight gain pretty soon and to plan on gaining around 28-35lbs! I must be losing it somewhere because my belly is getting incredibly big-fast. I'm a little worried I'm going to get huge but I guess that's out of my plans-I just really don't want a 9lb baby! eak!

Stretch Marks? Definatly not yet :-)

Sleep: No problems in that department! I do have the craziest dreams though! The other night I dreamnt Tony Yelk (an ex-fling from college) was going to kill me so I told him I was pregnant with his baby. Then he decided not to kill. Then he found out later it was Jeff's baby and was chasing me around trying to kill me again...and I woke up. haha....very strange dreams!!

Best moment this week: Seeing our little 'girl' kick like crazy at our ultrasound. It was absolutely amazing to see all her movement and it seemed so unreal! I can't wait to feel all those kicks :-)

Movement: None...but I do try to concentrate on my belly when I'm laying down at night. I just know alot of people tell me that they felt kicks but didn't realize they were kicks until later on. So I want to be very 'in tune' so when I feel them I realize what they are! :-)

Gender: Supposedly a girl...but Jeff won't let me call her 'gianna' yet because he still thinks it may be a boy ;-)

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button in or out? Definatly in...

Cravings: Hm...last night I craved tacos and I don't even like tacos! Everyday is different.

What I miss: Being able to take migraine medicine and drink as much caffiene as I wanted! haha

What I am looking forward to: Being able to feel movement and our next ultrasound...week of December 13th!

Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy every second!! I think time is going to fly by and I can't wait to meet our little girl, but I always remind myself to enjoy being pregnant too :-)


Monday, November 9, 2009

It's a....

GIRL?!?! Today we had our nt scan. Basically just a ultrasound and bloodwork to check for abornmalities which may be a sign of down syndrome and other chromosome disorders. Our results will be back in about a week!

The ultrasound was AMAZING!! Little Baby P was moving around like crazy. She would kick the side of the uterus which would make her fly up in the 'air' and land. Her arms were kicking/playing with the umbilical cord and moving all over. She looked at us a few times and squirmed a bunch....then took a short 5 minute nap. haha. At the very end she even got the hiccups!! So cute!!

I asked the ultrasound nurse to guess the gender. She said she was always right, except for once a few months ago. It really hurt her ego so now she doesn't like to guess the gender but I promised that I wouldn't go buying anything just yet (yea, right!). She showed us a spot and said.."See this line? With a boy it's straight and a girl, it's down. Looks like a girl to me." Then she moved so we couldn't make our own conclusions! Ugh! She kept calling the baby a 'she' the rest of the time though. It was overall amazing!!

Here's a quick pic...I'll add more later (like some 3d's).



ALSO-BLOG UPDATE!! (read below!!)
It's been kind of a pain in the butt to keep two blogs and I know alot of people want to continue to follow our journey. SO to make life easier on all of us I will now only be posting on our regular blog (jjplotz.blogspot.com). This blog will stay up but I won't be updating it, unless we do IVF again in the future. My other blog isn't private so you don't need an invite. On that blog I will be posting about my crafting/remodeling adventures as well so if you don't care about that just ignore those :-) Anyway-just to make life easier on all of us!!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

I got fluffy mail!!!!!!

I ordered 3 BM (BumGenius 3.0 One Size) cloth diapers on Friday...they were 'repairables' and about 50% off. BM usually run about $17.50, yes for one diaper. BUT that will last us from birth to 35lbs/potty training which is a great deal. I purchased them for $8.50 because they were not good enough to sell in stores. For example, on one of mine the velcro wasn't sew on all the way so that needs fixing. For 50% off I'm more than willing to do a little work! Below is a picture of the 3 diapers I got. (I purchased boy colors because they were more gender neutral than the hot pink ones!)

The three diapers are shown in the small size, medium, and large (they have snaps/velcro which make the diaper different sizes). The BM one sizes are supposed to fit anywhere from 8lbs-35lbs (give or take). They are also pocket diapers so you stuff them with either inserts or prefolds. (We'll use prefolds because we got a bunch for a great price). You can add or subtract the
amount of inserts you want depending on your baby (overnight-stuff more!)

I also have a pic showing where the inserts go and one of my prefolds sticking out. I still need to buy a TON more but it's a good start! I also need to purchase some liners. (The liners will be placed on the inside of the diaper and catch poo-then I can just through the liner in the trash or toilet! No more washing poo diapers!! :-)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

12 weeks

How far along? 12 weeks!
How big is baby? the size of a plum! A little over 2 inches from head to rump
Total weight gain:Back to -2lbs...I had gained 4 but somehow lost those over the course of the week (although I've grown quite a tummy-EAK! See below)
Stretch Marks? Definatly not yet :-)
Sleep: I've been hot at night-and other than my kitties squashing me I sleep pretty good
Best moment this week: I was able to stop my shots on Sunday and stopped Metformin on Wednesday!
Movement: None yet...can't wait though
Gender: Idk...I'm hoping at our NT scan on Monday they'll guess ;-)
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Definatly in...
Cravings: Raman Noodles...sometimes I could/would eat anything in sight and other days nothing sounds good
What I miss: Nothing :-)
What I am looking forward to: Out NT scan on the 9th!!!
Weekly Wisdom: I'm really working on not worrying. I know I hear the baby every night with our doppler but I still worry something is wrong... I guess my weekly wisdom is just to have faith in Him and all will be good
Milestones: Ugh....a huge belly? Haha...honestly I woke up a few days ago to quite the belly. It's getting hard at the bottom and I can feel my uterus now. It's so weird. I worry I'm going to get huge because this belly came so early, but I guess I can just do my best to eat healthy! Since I haven't gained any weight I figured it's not because I'm piggin out ;-)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Excuse my b*tchiness..

This post is going to be down right bitchy, but live with it and listen up! (Ok...I'm trying to be a hardass and it's so impossible! haha. I'm a little crabby and this is annoying me soo...please do read this post with an open mind and remember that just because something didn't work for U doesn't mean it won't work for US or that we can't try it out).

Cloth Diapers.....

Now, I plan on staying home. I plan on us being pretty poor, I think that comes with being young, married and parents. But I would give anything to be a monmy (including a huge chunk of change-(IVF)) so I'm trying to be frugile. I want to try cloth diapers for a million reasons. I know so many friends that use cloth and love them. They are better for the environment, will save us HUNDREDS, and keep babies bum from getting diaper rash. Oh and guess what?! Cloth diaper babies are proven to potty train sooner. With that being said please realize that cloth diapers aren't what they used to be. Yes..there are still prefolds (see pic below) that our parents/grandparents used to use but cloth diapers have really grown and become amazing. There's many different kinds and I'm going to steal a post from a friend of mine..Tiff (ticebaby.blogspot.com)...to help you all understand a little more about cloth diapers.

Snappi now that is easy to use and much less dangerous! You need to put a diaper cover on over a prefold if you don't want leaks. Prefolds and covers are definitely the least expensive way to go. We initially started cloth diapering with a diaper service. The service uses only prefolds. They were easier to use than I thought they would be, although Ian never really loved them. I plan on using prefolds for our next kiddo during the newborn stage.
Fitteds: Fitted diapers are the shape of a 'sposie, and generally go on easily with velcro or snaps. You should use a cover over fitteds. (Although, Oli often goes around the house in fitteds with no cover for an hour or so, because it lets his bum breathe a bit.) The fitteds we have: Wallypop: Love, love, LOVE these! Wallypop diapers in general are great. We have several (very cute) fitteds, some with snaps and some with touchtape. I prefer the touchtape. I chose an edge-sewn soaker, so the diapers are very absorbent but still dry quickly.
Thirsties: We have a few Thirsties Fab Fitteds, and I really like them. They are not the most absorbent, but they are great for daytime, super easy to use and pretty trim. I'm not a fan of the velcro, however.
Happy Heiny's:We have one Happy Heiny's 'Happy Hempy' fitted, with a pocket. I bought it at Little Padded Seats in Valley Junction and the owner told me it's a great nighttime diaper. And wow, is it! Hemp is super absorbent. And the Happy Hempy also has a pocket, so I stuff it with extra hemp and microfiber, put a cover on, and Oli is good to go all night!
Baby Beehinds: We have one BBH bamboo fitted, and I really like it. It's not very trim, but it's absorbent. We used it overnight a couple nights ago and it worked like a charm.
Pocket diapers are what they sound like: They have a pocket that you can stuff with whatever kind of absorbent material you want. Most pockets do not need a cover.

Fuzz Bunzz: Most of our pockets are Fuzzi Bunz. I like the snaps, although sometimes it's hard to snap now that Oli is constantly trying to dive off the changing table. There are two rows of snaps, so I can get the diaper to fit perfectly, which is difficult with Oliver's thin body and chunky thighs. When bought new, they come with microfiber inserts. We have been using these every day since December and they are in perfect condition still.
Happy Heiny's: We have one Happy Heiny's pocket, and I don't even really remember where I got it. I wasn't a fan immediately for some reason, but now I really like it. The velcro is the wide kind and isn't fraying. All-In-Ones (AIO): AIOs are diapers that go on just like disposables – no stuffing, no cover. They are fool-proof and great for babysitters. They tend to take longer to dry, however.
Bumware: I hated this diaper at first. No idea why. Now it's my favorite AIO that we have. It's super trim, and great for out-and-about. Not super absorbent, but great for regular daytime use.
BumGenius Organic: If BumGenius used different velcro, I would love this diaper. The inside is made with organic cotton, and the sling-style lining makes it dry quicker. I just don't like the closures on BumGenius diapers in general.


With that said...I appreciate your opinions and concerns but if I want to try cloth diapering, damnit-shut your mouth and let me try it!! (:-) ) I wouldn't make fun of someone for homeschooling. Yes, I think it's crazy and doesn't help the child to develop socially but I would never bash someone for trying it. So, please be respectful of our decision and let us try new things. If we hate it you can all say (to yourselves) I told you so and if not...then I will be nice and not say a word :-)

11 Weeks!!!!!!

How far along? 11 weeks
How big is baby? the size of a LIME!! holy cow!
Total weight gain: I finally gained a few pounds!! So now I'm -2lbs
Stretch Marks? Heck No!! Hopefully my Palmer's Body butter will keep those suckers away :-)
Sleep: I've started to wake up once a night to go to the bathroom. I usually sleep on my right side but have been trying to sleep on my back...baby is hanging out on the right side and I feel like I'm squashing him!! (although I know I'm not)
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat on the doppler. Last night I found it right away...around 150-160bpm. He even did a little flip to the other side and then I found him about 2 inches over :-) It was the BEST!
Movement: None yet!
Gender: Who knows...Jeff has me thinking boy ;-)
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Definatly in...
Cravings: Hm....I used to make fun of people when they had cravings before the second trimester but this week I've been craving lots of things. Since I've become pregnant I'm not a big junk/sweets eater. I prefer large meals instead-like every night I want to go to a "all you can eat buffet" and just eat for hours!! hehe. I'm always super hungry :-P But mostly, this week I crave spicy food!
What I miss: I've really been wanting a glass of red wine :-(
What I am looking forward to: Out NT scan on the 9th!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy every second and realize that everyone's pregnancy is different. Just because your sister/mom/friend didn't have a belly until 5 months doesn't mean your fat if you get one before than (remember-it just depends on baby and ur body type-there's nothing you can do to pretend one from forming!). If you don't have symptoms, it doesn't mean you don't have a baby growing in there. But most of all...enjoy every single second of pregnancy and don't wish it all away :-)
Milestones: Hearing the heartbeat on the doppler!