Registering!

So I registered today! It was fun!!! It really made it all "REAL" to me. I know that might sound crazy, but sometimes I still can't believe that I am actually pregnant. It happened so quickly after that first IUI; I really wasn't expecting it.

Anyway, registering was a lot of work and a lol of decision making! But, thankfully my friend Sandy was there to help me out. I look at her as a pro seeing that she is now on baby #2!!! She was so helpful! If she wasn't there I wouldn't have had any idea where to even start. I added a link to my registry to my list of links if anyone would like to check it out. Here's a picture of my cute bedding that I went with...We are going with a froggy theme.

I am leaning towards painting the room yellow and possibly painting the trim white. I am getting soooooooooo excited!!!!!

Yesterday I cleaned out my closet to make room for Jeff's things. Currently, he is using the soon-to-be baby's room for his clothes. So I had to make room for his things in my closet. It was a success! He actually has half of the closet for his things! I did well! I have 4 bags of clothes and shoes that I am going to donate to charity. I just can't wait to get the baby's room started!!!

Well, my next doctor's appointment is on Jan. 12th. This is the one where I have to drink this stuff and sit there for 1 hour. They have to do some test on me to see if I have gestational diabetes. I am hoping everything goes well! I will be posting again at that time with an updated belly shot. :)

24 Weeks...6 MONTHS!!! WOW!

Wow is time flying fast! I can't believe I am at my 6 month mark already! It's crazy! I'm definitely getting bigger!!! The baby is moving around a ton now, too. It's so cool! I am noticing it's a bit harder to breathe...I guess my lungs are getting restricted a bit. I had my doctor's appointment on Wednesday and everything is still looking good! I am measuring right where I should be (even though I feel like I'm bigger than I should be) and the heart rate was 150. It was funny because while she was trying to get the heartbeat you could hear the baby moving around!! She even said, "Wow you have an active one in there!" As I'm typing it just kicked me, too! It's hilarious. However, every time Jeff puts his hand on my belly it stops. I think it gets content feeling Daddy's hand there :)

I am getting excited for next Christmas. I can't help but think about what it will be like next year at this time!

I am going to start registering for baby stuff while I'm on Christmas break. We also plan on starting the baby's room after the holiday's. I will post pictures of the progress once we start. We plan on painting, putting down Pergo floors and adding some lighting. Helps that Daddy's an electrician!

Ok well here's the updated belly shot. I apologize that it's kind of blurry. I did the best I could...

Ultrasound...5 MONTHS!!!

Wow! I can't believe I am already 5 months pregnant! It is going by really fast! Today we had our ultrasound. It was soooooooo cool! The baby is doing great and is measuring at 20 weeks, 4 days. I am 20 weeks and 1 day today so it's pretty close. The heart rate was 145 so I guess we'll have to see what that means. It's just so nice knowing that everything is going well. Seeing the baby on the ultrasound screen was so awesome. Jeff and I couldn't stop smiling. There's one shot where he/she is looking right at us. Almost as if he/she knew we were looking right at him/her. Then there's a cute shot where it almost looks like he/she is waving. I just can't wait to hold and kiss him/her!!!!! This is just so exciting! Ok...well here's an updated belly shot and today's ultrasound pics. Enjoy!



Here's Baby Wagner looking right at us!
















Cute little feet that we can't wait to kiss!












Looks like he/she is saying "HI!"

Moving around!

Wow is the baby moving around. I've been feeling it for a few weeks now, but this morning it didn't just feel like butterflies. It actually felt like movement inside of me. It was so weird!!!! I cannot believe that I am going to be 19 weeks on Friday! Time is really flying. Next Saturday is my 20 week doctor appointment and ultrasound. Not only will I do a belly shot, but I'll have an update ultrasound pic of our little baby!!!!!!! I can't wait!

I'm starting to have heartburn more now. I think I'll be living off of Tums!

Ok, I'll post more next week. :)

Dr Appt Update and 16 Week Belly Shot!

Hi! Well we had another doctor's appointment this week. Doc says everything is looking good. I'm measuring right where I should be and the heart right is right where it should be also. Right now the heart rate is at 155 bpm. I guess the old wives tale is that faster heart rates mean it's a girl. According to what I looked at online, anything over 140 is a girl and below 140 is a boy. I guess time will tell!



I started feeling the baby move this past weekend. It was moving A LOT on Sunday. I went to a jewelry show with my good friend, Fay. After the show we stopped at Gene and Jude's for a yummy hot dog. Well the baby must have liked it because that's when it started moving like crazy! It feels like butterflies and just like something is going on in my uterus...kind of like gas, but I know it wasn't gas. That I would know for sure!



Well here is an updated belly shot. As I've mentioned, I'm really starting to grow. I guess I am starting to look more
pregnant. I love it!!!!


Our next appointment is on Nov. 17th. We will be having our 20 week ultrasound on that day! I'm so excited to see our little baby again!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having a cold and being pregnant...Not so good!

UGH! Well I have a horrible sore throat, my nose won't stop running, and now I feel my chest getting congested...and I can't take anything! UGH! What I would give to have a shot of NyQuil right now so I could get some sleep without cringing in pain every time I swallow. I tried having some decaf tea with honey and it helped VERY little. Oh well! I guess it comes with the territory.

Our next doctor appointment is on Monday, October 22! I'm not sure what is going on at that appointment. It will be my 16 week check up so no ultrasound yet. They don't do one until 20 weeks...so we are getting close!!! I will post another belly shot next weekend (I have been trying to do them when I have my appointments so they are every 4 weeks right now). There's no doubt that I'm getting bigger. It still doesn't look like a pregnant belly to me, but it is growing!

I cannot believe I am done with my first trimester! That really went by quickly. It feels like such a relief to know that those 3 months are done and over with. I could relax a little bit now knowing that everything is going great so far! Now I'm getting anxious to feel some movement. I guess I should start feeling it soon. I really cannot wait for that feeling. It's something I've longed to feel forever! Sometimes I cannot help but stop and think what a miracle it is that this little person is growing inside of me right now. It's mind boggling!! I just can't wait to meet him/her and kiss and hug him/her like CRAZY! Jeff and I always talk to my belly saying how much we love the baby. We can't wait to do that in person! :)

New Belly Shot and Doctor Appointment Update

We had our appointment with the doctor today to hear the heartbeat. It was SO cool!!!!! We got to hear it right away. She said it was in the 160s. She said it was right where it should be and that everything is going well. We were both so excited to hear it. We couldn't stop smiling. :) I figured it's time to take another belly shot to show the growth that is taking place. I am officially wearing maternity clothes because everything I own is WAY TOO tight on me. So I went to Old Navy and Kohl's and bought a bunch of cute things! It's fun being pregnant. I must say that I'm very lucky that I haven't had morning sickness. It has been a great pregnancy so far *knocking on wood*.

So here are the pics:

9 Weeks......................................... 12 Weeks

Cravings!

Well, I had my 1st official craving this week. On Tuesday, I was talking about Mexican food with my work friend, Nancy. Well that was it....I HAD TO HAVE IT! So as soon as I left work I called Jeff and said, "I need Mexican food, NOW!"
He said, "Ok, where do you want to go?" I knew exactly where I wanted to go and what I wanted! I HAD to go to Tapalpa's (my favorite Mexican restaurant) and HAD to have a steak burrito suizo - YUM! It was delicious! However, I filled up too much on chips and salsa so I only had 6 bites of my burrito. That's ok because I was able to bring it for lunch on Wednesday. Now I could truly understand what they mean when they say "CRAVINGS". I wonder what else I'll crave? I was just happy that I wanted Mexican food, seeing it is my favorite. Right now certain foods just aren't tasting right or sounding good to me so I don't want them. Luckily that wasn't the case with Mexican food. I don't know what I'd do!!!!

Updated Belly Shot

Well here's an updated belly shot from today, 9/2/07. I'm posting both pics so you could compare. There definitely is a difference. I'm more bloated this time.
5 Weeks 1 Day.................. 9 Weeks 2 Days

2nd Ultrasound!!!!

I went to see the doctor on Monday. He asked about my 1st ultrasound. I explained to him that I didn't get to see the heartbeat because it was too early. He was so cool about it! He looked at me and said, "Well, I want you to see a heartbeat so we're bringing you back in this week for another ultrasound." I'm not supposed to get another ultrasound for a while so this was out of routine for them. I was so excited and pleased with this doctor who I've only seen this one time.


So yesterday was the appointment. Jeff couldn't come with me this time because of being transferred to a new job site just the other day. It would have been too soon for him to take off already. I asked my mom and sister to come with me. They screamed with joy on the phone when I asked. :)

When we got there the tech. had me go in first by myself. She didn't show me the screen but took many pictures. She made me kind of nervous because she didn't say a word to me during this time...NOTHING! That upset me because I just kept thinking "What if something is wrong! What if she doesn't see a heartbeat! Why won't she tell me anything?????" So I asked, "Do you see anything?" Her response was, "Yes." and that was it! Needless to say, I wasn't to happy with her. I almost broke down in tears right there just out of nervousness. A little while later she got my mom and sister and brought them in the room. She turned the monitor and there it was...a HEARTBEAT!!!!! All three of us started crying! We were so happy to see this little flash of light pulsing right before our eyes. What a sense of relief!!!! Whew!!! :)

So here it is, an updated picture of our little baby.

1st Ultrasound

Here's our first official picture of our baby! Today's ultrasound went GREAT! The doctor said that everything is progressing well. However, it was still a little too soon to see the heartbeat. We missed it by just a few days! Oh well! We'll see it soon enough. Things are going so well that she released me to my regular OB/GYN - So that was GREAT news!!! Jeff and I were so happy when we finally got to see our little baby. We had smiles on our faces from ear to ear. I thought I'd cry, but I didn't. I was just beaming with excitement...so was he!

I have my first appointment with them scheduled for Friday, August 24th at 8:45 with the nurse. Then another one on Monday, August 27th at 4:30 with the Doctor. It's all getting so exciting!

1st Belly Shot

Well here's my first official belly shot to use as a reference point during the next 9 months:



Yeah, I have a little pooch, but I've always had one! Even when I was much skinnier. It's a little embarrassing to expose myself like this and show all of you my belly fat and stretchmarks, but OH WELL!! It'll be worth it to see the growth that is made!

I got my blood work results from Friday and the numbers jumped up to 1077!!!! Which was so AWESOME!!!! I can't wait until our first ultrasound on Tuesday! I really hope we see the heartbeat!!!! I'll post a pic of it when I get home. :)

The Good News Just Keeps on Comin'!!!!

We had more wonderful news today! I got my beta results and they jumped up to 459 in only 2 days!!!!!! I go back again on Friday for more blood work (my poor veins!) and then Tuesday we will have our 1st official ultrasound!!!!! It may be too soon to really see anything, but I am hoping we could at least see a little dot or something.

I haven't had any worse spells of nausea. I just think I won't have eggs again. Or maybe I will to see if it happens again. I am just noticing I get full faster so that's actually a good thing. I'm not over eating.

Well, I will update again on Friday!
Thank you everyone for checking in on us and following along on our journey! :)

Wonderful News!!!!

Well today I had to go in for blood work to see if my HCG has increased from 26. It came back at 211!!!! This was great news! The nurse was very excited to give me what she called, "Wonderful News". My progesterone level was at 27. She said anything over 20 is what they want, but they still want me to continue with the suppliments to help that number increase even more. I go back on Wednesday for more blood work and then next week I get to have an ULTRASOUND!!! I'm so excited!

I had my first experience with nausea. I had eggs for breakfast yesterday and could barely finish them. After eating I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't puke, but just felt sick. I guess that's a good sign though ;)
I am noticing that I am eating smaller portions and getting hungry faster. I am also breaking out with zits! That's not fun at all, but oh well! It's worth it!!!

It Was Positive!!!!!

We are very excited to report that our pregnancy test came back positive today!!!! The nurse called at 1:19 PM while I was at family's dental office. It was so perfect to be there when I got this phone call!!! Even my Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Jack were there because they are in town visiting from Vegas! I think I'm still in shock right now though!!!! ;)

Anyway, the nurse said that a HCG (pregnancy hormone detected by blood work) result over 5 indicates pregnancy. Well, we had a 26!!!! That isn't really high, so they are going to keep a close eye on me. I have to go back on Monday for more blood work and then again on Wednesday more blood work. They also have me on progesterone supplements because my progesterone didn't come back as high as they would like. This tells them how thick the lining of my uterus is. Therefore, they put me on something to help thicken that lining to help that little embryo stick!!!! We are just hoping that our HCG number continues to grow!!!!! So please keep us in your prayers. We are so very excited yet cautious right now. However, how could we not help being excited???? It's impossible! So pray, pray, pray!!!!! GO UP NUMBERS!!! STICK BABY STICK!!!!

3 More Days!

Hi! Sorry I haven't made any recent updates, but there hasn't been anything to update on. Everyone keeps asking "How are you feeling?" I'm feeling normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. I feel like myself. I've been very good and gave up caffeine and I have not had any alcohol since July 10th. It feels good! I am still trying to get used to not having my morning coffee to "wake" me up, but that's ok. It's getting much easier. I do enjoy a cup a decaf every so often!

Well, Thursday's the big day! I'll find out in the afternoon sometime, so I will update then. I just keep thinking happy, positive thoughts! I know I will get pregnant at some point...one way or another...it WILL happen! ;)

IUI DAY!!!!

Well, today was the IUI. We'll find out if it worked on July 26th. I am going to be so impatient having to wait that long!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I could do it.
The procedure was pain-free. Just a little bit of cramping, but nothing unbearable. I just keep telling myself - "It only takes one!!! So come on little guys...SWIM!!!!" So keep praying for us! I really hope we get lucky on our first try!

Trigger Shot Night

Ok so tonight I have to give myself a shot to trigger ovulation. I have to take the shot in my stomach. I'm not too fond of needles so I'm really not too excited about this. But oh well! I could do it! I know I can! I just have to remember what the outcome could possibly be!!!!!
In 2 days I'll be getting inseminated!!!! YAY!!!!
I have all fingers and toes crossed! I'm crossing everything I could!!!!


UPDATE:
I gave myself the shot without any problems. It was a piece of cake! Didn't even hurt!!!! Not bad at all!

IUI UPDATE!

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got off the phone with the nurse. She said everything looks GREAT! I'm scheduled to go in for the IUI on Thursday, July 12th at 8:45 AM! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that day!!!

I will go back in on July 19th for bloodwork and then again on July 26th to find out if I am pregnant.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

2nd Appointment ~ My Three Amigos

I had my 2nd ultrasound and bloodwork appointment today. They drew some blood to check my estrogen levels then it was off to the ultrasound room to check on those follies. It turns out that I have 3 follies on my right ovary that are mature. I have 1 on my left ovary that is still rather small. I am waiting to hear back from my nurse to find out what the next step is. I may have to give myself the trigger shot either today or tomorrow so the IUI will probably end up taking place either Tuesday or Wednesday!!!! I'm getting soooo excited! I'll update later once I hear from the nurse. In the meantime, here's a picture of my 3 amigos (the follies).
They are the black circles. They measured at 19mm, 17mm, and 15 mm. The trigger shot should be given when they are between 18 - 21mm...so anytime now!

1st Appointment...

Well, I had my first appointment this morning. I had an internal ultrasound done. They were observing the lining of my uterus and my ovaries to see the size of the follicles. From what the technician said, all looks good. The lining was good as were the follicles. Now I'm just waiting to hear back from my nurse. She will be calling to advise me of the next step. I'll update more later.

UPDATE:

Well, I got the thumbs up from my nurse! Everything looked good - hormone levels, uterus and ovaries. So she gave me approval to begin taking the Clomid. I started today and will continue for the next 4 days. I go back on Monday for another internal ultrasound and more blood work. They will be checking to see

how my follicles are growing. Here we GO!!!! YAHOO!!!

The Next Path on our Journey...

So here we were making a turn onto a new path. This path would hopefully lead us to some answers as to why this is taking so long! First thing we did was purchase a Fertility Monitor to help us pin point ovulation. We started using it in September of 2006. Now, we've heard great things about this monitor. People usually get pregnant right away! The manual even stated that if you do no get pregnant in 6 months of using this monitor go see a doctor. So we figured this would do the trick! No guessing when reading the OPKs anymore...the fertility monitor will just straight out tell us if and when I am ovulating. Well, the fertility monitor worked, but didn't succeed in helping us get pregnant. By the November we decided to get some help from the doctors. Jeff went in for testing in November. The results of that test showed a sperm count on the lower end (not too low, but low). We then scheduled an appointment for Jeff to see a specialist. The specialist recommended that I get fully checked before moving any further with Jeff. So I went to see my OB/GYN in February for a Fertility Consultation. He recommended that we do blood work to check if I am ovulating and that my hormone levels are within the appropriate ranges. That was to be done on the 3rd day of my next cycle. All my results came back within the normal ranges. All looked good! He also requested that I have an HSG done. This is a procedure where they check to see if your fallopian tubes are blocked. I had this done on Feb. 15 and OUCH! That hurt! It turns out my uterus is tilted so that was the cause for a lot of my pain. But, luckily we found out all was good there, too! No blockages! All clear! So now back to Jeff's doctor to fill him in on my results. Jeff's doctor requested another analysis to check the count again. This time it came back a little higher, but the motility was a concern. We also discovered that Jeff has a vericocele (a vericose vein in the testicle). Now, surgery could be done, but it would leave Jeff out of work for at least 6 months! Due to his type of work the doctor wouldn't want him to go back until he was fully healed. Instead, the doctor recommended that we go for an IUI. Seeing that the vericocele doesn't hurt Jeff, and it would prolong our trying to conceive, we decided to first get pregnant then he could go in for surgery. So that leads us to where we are now. I went to see a specialist at Fertility Center of Illinois and we are all scheduled to start our IUI cycle. My first appointment is on Monday, June 2nd. I will be having an internal ultrasound and some more blood work. I will also begin taking Clomid to help with ovulation. Eventhough I ovulate on my own, the doctor recommended taking Clomid to help produce more eggs. Just in case one doesn't get fertilized we may have another egg there that will get fertilized. From tomorrow on they will be monitoring my follicles and how they are growing. Once they are at a certain size I will give myself a trigger shot and the next day we go in for the IUI. Hopefully it will be successful! Tomorrow's the appointment so I will update more tomorrow...

Our Journey So Far...

Wow! What a journey it has been. I really thought I'd be pregnant or have a baby by now. Little did I know it wasn't as easy as I thought. It all started back in August of 2004 when we got married. I was on birth control just to change my cycle for the honeymoon. Deep down I was hoping to get pregnant quickly after getting married. However, Jeff and I discussed it and decided to give ourselves 1 year of marriage with just the 2 of us before adding to our family. We wanted to give ourselves time to enjoy each other. I'm glad we waited, I just wish it didn't take this long! But then again, that little voice inside my head says..."Everything happens for a reason, Julie!" And I know that voice is right. There is divine timing for everything. So...in the summer of 2005, Jeff and I decided to start trying for a little Wagner. We tried and tried! I charted, took my temp, used ovulation prediction kits (OPKs), etc. N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!! I got obsessed!!!! And Jeff got annoyed. I don't blame him. All I focused on was wanting to get pregnant and we were losing touch of each other. It was getting really hard...especially when more and more people around me were getting pregnant. That just made my urgency grow. Looking back on this I realize how crazy I got! Geeze! I feel bad for Jeff and what I probably put him through. It got to the point where we decided to stop trying because I was way too obsessed about it. We realized that it just wasn't time and I need to just put the charts, the thermometer and the OPKs AWAY! So I did. As hard as it was, I did! That was in August of 2005. 5 months later, January of 2006, we decided to just let things happen. No charting, no OPKs, just lots of baby making whenever - no planning involved. I was convinced that this was the trick and we would end up pregnant in no time. No stressing! That's what EVERYONE says to do. Just don't think about it and it will happen. HA! Yeah, right! How can you NOT think about it when it's all you want? So Jeff and I just went about our business and continued to try without obsessing. But still N-O-T-H-I-N-G!
By September of 2006, 8 months later, I started charting again. Obviously the no obsessing plan didn't work. I decided that I need to have more control over this. Maybe by not obsessing we were actually missing ovulation. So Jeff and I both agreed that charting was the way to go. By this point we were both getting disappointed each month when that dreaded time would actually come. During this same time I found a group of friends online who were going through the same thing as me. I am so grateful for finding them because they have truly helped me get through so much. Through them I've gotten tons of support and have grown so much more knowledgeable about this whole TTC (trying to conceive) thing. This is when we finally took the next path in our journey...

TTC Journey

Jeff and I have been on our TTC journey since summer of 2005. Yeah, we thought we'd get pregnant right away! That's why we were so careful before!!! Little did we know! We were being fooled! It wasn't as easy as it seemed. Here we are in the summer of 2007 still waiting. Here's a nice little place for me to track our TTC Journey...especially as we embark on our new journey of an IUI!!!Welcome to our journey...