Shopping!!

So, I had been feeling a little down that I missed all of the great after Christmas deals....not that I really NEED anything, but you know, I am female, and like to spend $$$!
Today I made up for it! Peyton & I went by Belks to have a few links taken out of my new watch and while there, we wandered out into the mall. Lo & behold, there was a Gymboree right there with sale signs everywhere, we had to check it out!!! I got 3 adorable outfits for about $14.....




I know, I know....if I don't have a girl, I am screwed. Not really....I have the receipt!!! They were just too cute & too cheap to resist!
Then, back at Belks we found an awesome sale in the baby department, but I wouldn't let myself buy anymore girl stuff.....but then Peyton found GRINCH wear for baby! If you don't know, Peyton LOVES the Grinch. We just had to buy some for baby next year to wear at Christmas....and it was all 75% off! One is gender neutral, the other is obviously pink & girly...but again, I have the receipt!


Then, we headed over to Babies R Us to look at the cribs again. If you recall, I have a voucher for a new one since Peyton's was recalled. I found one i liked that was right at the $350 voucher range, so I bought it. Here is a snapshot of it from the store on my camera phone...
Finally, we went to another baby store that I had never been to called "Buy Buy Baby"....they had a ton of strollers and carseats, good to know!!!!! Anyways, while there, I came across this:
for $59.99! It's called a Balboa Baby Sling. Well, I got this exact same one, brand new with tags, at a consignment shop a few weeks ago for $8! Hmmmm.....hopefully it doesn't suck, but for $59.99, I would think it would be good, however I have never heard of it before.

16 weeks!

I went in yesterday afternoon for my latest OB appt and everything looks good!! Of course, no ultrasound, but they did hear the heartbeat on the doppler...holding steady at 154 bpm. I think I have gained about 9 lbs in total since I started the whole IVF process, so not bad at all in my book! I do plan to start exercising more now that I have energy again!!! At least walking daily! What else??? I decided to decline the AFP/Triple screen blood test yesterday. I just decided that I was happy enough with the NT scan results and bloodwork and know that it is actually more reliable than the AFP/Triple screen. Especially since I am AMA....I really do not need a false-positive AFP screen to stress me out! If anything is wrong that the NT scan or BW didn't pick up on, they should see it at my 18 week U/S which is scheduled for Jan 13th at 2:30pm! I am toying with the idea of scheduling a gender scan at a private clinic....I may call tomorrow and see if they can fit me in this week. Thursday would be nice because Shane is off work! I am just sooo excited to find out so I can start shopping!!! So many people in my IVF buddy group already know the sex of their baby/babies b/c their MD's do more frequent scans....mainly b/c of health issues or the fact that they are carrying multiples, but some are no different from me.....yet, no scan for me....I want a scan!!! LOL!

Merry Christmas!

I haven't gotten around to downloading today's pictures but here are 2....one is from my cell phone, it's Peyton opening presents last night at my Brother-in-Law's shop.....and the other picture is one of my gifts from Shane!!

My newest Obsession.....

Cloth diapers. Who knew that cloth diapering was such a complex and overwhelming thing!?? But I think I may give it a try!! Who knows...maybe after a week or so of nasty diapers that I can't just toss in the trash, I may give up....but it seems like a very economical option to disposables AND those diapers that they make are soooo freakin' cute!! I found a great website called "Diaper Swappers" where you can buy clean, used diapers....at really good prices, b/c lets face it, many of those freakin' cute diapers are expensive! Try $30 for ONE!!! I bought one today in fact....and I have three plain ones stashed away in my foot locker full of baby stuff...they are called "All In Ones" and are closest to disposables...I figured that would be best at 1st for my lazy A$$....LOL! But I may try some prefolds...the ones that you fold and pin...the ones my mom used on my little brother in 1978 and I swore as an adult I would never mess with all that!

I bought the striped one on the left.....

Persecution????

Did you realize that in a 16 yr old's world...getting in trouble for such things as fighting with your sister, getting bad grades and back-talking your parents is considered "persecution"??? Give me an F'ing break! I guess at dad's there is no persecution.....oh wait, b/c there are no siblings to fight with, there are no grades as of yet to contend with and the only adult in the house is him (and his 22 yr old????) girlfriend. Oh and that PS3 and getting to stay up as late as you want playing video games and watching TV all night...ok, I guess there is no persecution there. I am just at a loss. I can't win, so why try?

FOUR Days until Christmas!

I cannot believe that there are only 4 days 'til Christmas! That is just crazy! I know I have every reason to be happy & excited and in the Christmas spirit this year...I am finally pregnant after 26 months of TTC and one IVF, AND I do not have to work at all on Christmas Eve OR Christmas Day! That is a once in a life time event for a hospital nurse!! (I was scheduled to work 7a-7p on Christmas Eve this year, but they were over-staffed and drew names to see who would not have to work, and I apparently won! So, now I work the 26th and 27th instead!) So, I have ALL week off to enjoy....baking, wrapping gifts, picking up last minute presents, being with family...but there are some sad things going on too that I don't want to tallk about and am going to try hard to forget about this week. They are out of my control.(pregnancy is fine!) So, anyways, I am going to pick myself up here in 5 minutes, take a shower & start enjoying this week off.

Tennessee....

Here is a shot of the lovely cabin we stayed in last weekend in TN. Actually it was not too bad. My Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, their 2 kids, and Shane & I & our kids stayed there, it was much better than all trying to cram into Shane's dad's 2 bedroom house!!!

We saw Santa today....

My 1st Semi-Big Baby Buy.....

More Catch up! Thanksgiving!!!

We went to my parent's house in the mountains.....

Cookie Making

I have been very slack lately & have not posted much. I guess I just lead a pretty boring life! I will try to play "catch up" in pictures.... Here is a group that I took a few weeks ago when Peyton helped me make some cookies:








On the pregnancy front, I will be 14 weeks along tomorrow. It seems surreal, like a dream. I know, I know....you are probably saying "you already have THREE freakin' kids, how can it seem so surreal??" But it does. Maybe because it took us over 2 years to conceive this child, after many bumps along the way, ups & downs....hope & then crushing reality....and so far, every scary step of this pregnancy has turned out fine....from the low, tentative betas to the fear that the NT scan holds for me....which this time around turned out to be unfounded. My next appointment is on 12/28...I will be 16 weeks & they plan to do a boring check up I assume & draw blood for the quad screen....another test for problems....so another thing for me to start worring about. I have even toyed with the idea of telling them that I don't want to do it. I don't know.....I just want to bask in the "everything is fine & normal & healthy" news that the NT scan gave me. We'll see how I feel on 12/28. Also, awhile back, we received our IVF bill....the total was close to $15,000.00. And it was so refreshing to see $0.00 in "the amount you owe" section! Ha ha! It was short lived though. We do have to pay some....after insurance paid, we now owe about $1600.00. Not bad though! I am not complaining....we had about $20K of medical intervention in all, and only had to pay maybe $3k in total, not complaining at all. But it sure sucks to think that conceiving my other kids cost me ummmm.... ZERO dollars! LOL!

Got my crib voucher...........

I opened my e-mail today and there it was...my voucher for a new crib at Babies R Us! They work fast! And it was for $352,more than I expected! I can't wait to go crib shopping!!!

They Recalled My Crib!

I have a beautiful Antique Walnut 4 in 1 crib that I bought for my son in September 2006. I fully intended to use it again for this baby, as it is very pretty & in great condition. I was looking on BabiesRUs.com tonight to see if they still carry it...I wanted to perhaps purchase the matching changing table & dresser....they had nothing! So I googled "Jardine Enterprises", the crib manufacturer, and came across this:

http://jardinecribrecall.com/

http://www1.toysrus.com/safety/292475.cfm

Turns out my crib is on the list! The press release says they will give you a full price voucher for Babies R Us to purchase a new crib. I printed out the instructions (you have to send them the hardware and photos of the lables on your crib). They give you a pre-paid fedex mailing label....so I am gonna send it off tomorrow. As much as I like my crib, I do want a safe crib for baby and maybe I will find something better....if it's a girl, maybe I will go with white!? Maybe....

NT Scan

Was excellent!!! I am still in shock! But all is well. The Nuchal fold measured 1.2 (1.0 is the smallest that they can measure) and there was a nasal bone & 3 vessels in the umbilical cord! We got several great pictures but since I have no scanner, the one I will post is not the best...I had to take a picture of the picture! My odds now for Trisomy 21 are 1:3200 and for Trisomy 13 and 18 they are 1:6000, as good as a 20 year old! AND>>>>>unofficially, looks like it might very well be a girl!