Sigh......

So, despite taking two different antibiotics, my right breast continues to swell. I am now at the point that my nipple is a little misshapen. Sorry for the TMI.

So, I went to my OB, who swabbed my boob for a culture, gave me another scrip for abx, and a scrip for a breast ultrasound. Fortunately they were able to work me in today for the ultrasound. The radiologist said that the breast tissue itself is not inflamed (no mastitis! Yay!), so it is probably cellulitis and they need to tinker with my abx (boo.) I am wondering if it is some sort of yeast type deal, in which case abx wouldn't work. Would really like this to resolve; I feel like I am contaminating Junior with these antibiotics. It also doesn't help things when I read the side effects. Pseudomembranous colitis, anyone? And it can happen weeks after stopping the medication. Ugh.

D'oh!

I have made the grave error of deleting the U.S. (Golf) Open from our DVR.

When I came home from work, I saw that something was being recorded. I saw the U.S. Open was being recorded but so was "Days of Our Lives." The hell? Surely this was an error, so I stopped the recording. My husband nearly stroked when he came home. Turns out it was a last minute program change from DOOL to the Tig.er/Rocco playoff.

I'm not sure I will ever be forgiven.

Kickin' It Old School

I have recently begun to feel Junior kicking. At the 18 week mark, I had a hard time distinguishing between kicking and gas. I figured if I didn't fart, it was Junior, but was not terribly certain. It is really amazing what a difference a couple of days makes, because I can now definitely tell what is a kick. Right now, after my pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Frozen Yogurt--38% less guilt, people), I am feeling a few inner karate chops.

I have to give mad props to the women that exercise through pregnancy. I am just not one of them. I get winded going up the stairs, for crying out loud. I am kickin' this pregnancy old school, napping as much as possible, eating ice cream (now with a tad more moderation) and gleefully bossing around my husband. I suppose my fear of exercise could be traced back to losing Baby B. I figure, why risk it? I can always exercise later, after Junior has safely kicked and screamed his way out of my womb. I have gained approximately 10 pounds over 18 weeks. I figure that isn't so bad for nearly halfway through.

I am much relieved to be feeling this kicking. There are times I look in the mirror and think, "You sure that isn't just a food baby in there?" Even with the trusty e.bay doppler giving me a nice steady heartbeat, there have been times that I still feel like this isn't quite real. This helps.

Boobies and Nannies

So, I have this little bit of swelling on my right boobie. It was a bit pink, and I could tell the tissue was swollen. I initially attributed it to my bra being too snug, but after trying to go without one for as long as possible (only while at home, people; I don't let my chariots swing low outside the hizzouse), it was still swollen. I was afraid it was cellulitis, so I went to the OB and he gave me an antibiotic (Clind.amycin, every 6 hours). He said it could be dermatitis or an early cellulitis, and in either case, it requires abx.

I dropped two of the pills on the floor at work, so I had to call and get a refill. However, after a 7 day course of abx, it looked exactly the same. I made another phone call, and they have ordered another abx (Bactrim, this time). I am to take both the rest of the Clinda and the Bac.trim and if that doesn't clear this up, I get a referral to a breast specialist. Yippee.

Thanks to all of you who gave me advice and input on my previous post. It is something I have thought long and hard about.


It was my friend D's baby shower this weekend, and after about 20 emails about crab cakes alone, it went off without a hitch. Her mom was present and I knew that her taking care of our child is the right decision. D, our husbands and myself sat down to talk about the arrangements for childcare. It went pretty well.

I am strongly leaning toward working part-time. Since it took considerable effort and expense to get pregnant, I want to enjoy every possible moment with Junior. This means working 3 twelve hour shifts per week, and having weekends and two days off in the middle of the week. I was afraid of what they would say when I asked if they would be willing to prorate for the 3 days I'd be working, but they were certainly amenable to it. After all, if I weren't participating in this, they'd be footing her entire salary. It was never as if she would be dependent on my salary; they make enough (or are at least willing to) that they'd foot her bill entirely even if Junior wasn't in the picture. Since I am desiring a part-time status and will only be using D's mom 3 days a week, getting the time at our house is a moot point. Never brought it up.

Ultimately, our own personal nanny in our home is probably not possible. My other option is daycare. For the rate we'd be paying, I feel this is the best possible deal. Also, I don't know that a stranger to us will take of our precious little IVF miracle as well as someone whom I have known since high school, has watched me grow up and get married and knows of our struggles to conceive, etc..... I don't feel that day care is evil or anything; in fact, if this opportunity were not available to us, Junior would be smack in the middle of one when I return to work.

The other good thing is that D and I agree philosophically on how we want to handle the babies, as far as putting them on a schedule and all of that. We tossed around our childrearing ideas and we agree on just about everything. We discussed how we would handle the babies when they were ill, and all that. I did let them know that at about age 1.5 to 2 years, I would like to put him in some sort of school-type program deal to be with more than just one other kid.

Anyhoo, this is where we are at nowadays. Other news: I won my crib bedding on ebay! Got a a nice Sere.na and Li.ly set for about $125 off. Also, the big 4d ultrasound will be on 6/23 and we are looking forward to getting another look at Junior.

We are going round and round and round about names, but that is it's own post entirely. It is truly wearing me out.

Help!

Could really use some pointers on my current sitch. One of my closest girlfriends is pg and due 3 months before me. Her mom is planning to quit her job and raise their child, and she has offered to nanny for us as well. She needs to make X amount of $$ per year, which we would split. The good thing is that I feel very secure leaving my child with her, knowing she will not run off with him and all of that.

However, I am seriously considering returning to work part-time (3 days/week) and would only need her on those days. Maybe one extra day if I need to run errands without the bebe. I am wondering if my friend/mom would be willing to prorate.

If I decide to continue to work full-time, would we alternate homes? The problem with that is that D is allergic to my cat, and I wonder if their child will inherit that allergy. But I feel that if we are splitting things down the middle, we should have some time spent at our home. DH is wondering how important that really is. We live about two minutes apart, so if we had to drop him off everyday it wouldn't be too big of a deal, but if we are splitting down the middle......

Also, I really want to try the Baby Wise thing with my child. How should I handle it if she doesn't adhere to the things I'd like to try? I'd appreciate any thoughts on this matter. It sounded/s like a great idea in theory, but I want to make sure that it will work for the long run. And of course, preserve our longstanding friendship.

Update

I feel like it's been ages since I have posted any kind of update. All is well in general; I am 15w3d along now. Lemmesee what I can muster as an update; I'll try not to bore you.

In no particular order:

• someone in Oregon tried to charge $3300 to our credit card for "specialty food and services." Thankfully the charge was denied because they entered the wrong pin, and the fraud dept for our cc called us immediately.
• I have an arraignment for the aforementioned speeding ticket (and the little a-holes also got me for failure to signal when changing lanes. I'm just bitter because I have never been one of those people that can maneuver their way out of a ticket) on June 5.
• The most important of all of these: got my results for the NT scan and it revealed a very low risk for Down's, roughly 1:7800 or something like that. The blood portion was negative. Woohoo!
• I dragged my husband shopping for baby furniture. We have it picked out, just need to order it and stop waffling on the bedding.
• I have the best girlfriends in the world. They are planning a baby shower for me the last weekend in June. My four busiest girlfriends (two of whom are pregnant) wanted to do something for me before they were due (at the end of July and mid-August), and I simply can't wait.
• My mom is making maternity scrubs for me. I haven't been able to find anything online that is cute in any way, shape or form. My choices are brown, navy, light blue and white {shudder}. My whole life my mom has been itching to make me stuff and I am finally letting her.
• We went browsing for a new/gently used car/SUV. How cliched is that? We looked at the Lex.us R X . We found one that had ~ 8K miles on it and another with only 15K . Of course I lusted after it and started drooling immediately, but I feel I should sit on it and see if it really makes sense for us to buy it. In any event, it sure is pretty.
• On Mother's Day, we took my mother out to eat. Some new parents with a set of boy/girl twins walked by us and it took everything in me not to burst into tears.
• I have been plum exhausted at the end of the work week, so I am going to shift my responsibilities a bit and work an earlier shift. It will mean a bit more sitting for me and much less time on my feet at work. I think I might get bored with this particular duty and shift after a while, so I have made a request to return to my usual stuff after I return from mat. leave.
• I've got the big ultrasound coming up at the 16w4d mark. I should know for sure that we are having a boy then, provided he cooperates.
• Bought a sono.trax doppler off of e.bay and I lurve that thing. It is so reassuring to hear that HB clicking away. It is generally pretty easy to find.
• I have been absolutely terrible about my diet. For the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, I was so good about eating veggies, fruits and all that shizzle. After we lost baby b and I got sick, I aquired a pint-a-day ice cream habit and got cravings for lots of cheese and mexican food. Going back to work helped with the ice cream habit, but I have am still trying to work in the veggies. If I could have chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes daily, I would.

Well, I think that about covers it. I worked until 11 pm on Friday night, so I have been recuperating this weekend with lots of napping. Tomorrow, the hubs and I are going to finish up the baby registry and see my parents.

Brenda is absolutely right...

about my surfing the net for baby boy nursery themes all day. One OCDer can definitely recognize another. Since I have been sick, there has been little else for me to do but surf the net for things to purchase. Although I am better, I certainly don't feel up to doing something productive such as tidying the house. The one productive thing I had to do yesterday turned counterproductive. I had to get a plunger from Home Depot for our downstairs bathroom (yes, I totally clogged it), and got a speeding ticket on the way home. Argh!!!! In the middle of the ticket writing, I got a cramp that was pretty pronounced. No spotting or anything, but enough cramping to alarm me. The doc's office said that I need to get off my feet, drink a lot of water (and that I should be drinking between 70-90 oz of water daily) and to call if it happened again. Thankfully it hasn't. Whew. I promptly placed a bid on a prenatal doppler on ebay.

Anyhoo, there are two that I am waffling over. They are both really cute and will work well with the wall color that is currently in the room we plan to use.