Princess Pictures

We're around. Just enjoying the beautiful weather. Magdalena got a sandbox today! :) You can see a picture of her in it at the fotolog. Here are two pictures. (Everyone loves sandy baby toes, right?)

Babies

I should really stop watching "the baby story." All those tiny little babies and mamas birthing them. I so long to have another baby and I long to nurse a newborn. I want Magdalena to have a baby brother or baby sister to play with and love on. I want her to have the companionship. It does seem that everybody who has a baby Magdalenas age is now pregnant again. And I'd be lying to say that I wasn't just a bit bitter.

Yes I could be pregnant right this minute. But that doesn't stop me from feeling this way.

Magdalena is growing by leaps and bounds. A few new really funny things are that she can blow her nose, she covers her mouth when she coughs, and she knows how to rub antibacterial hand sanitizer into her hands at the ripe old age of 14 months. Can you tell we've been sick around here? :)

Pictures of a Spring Day

Thought I would share these. We're heading out to the P-A-R-K right now so more later. :)

Surviving the Easter Egg Hunt

We survived. Today I am super super super super super crampy? Is that supposed to happen? Has anyone experienced crampiness the day after ovulation? Seems to soon. I told Erich that something was going on in my uterus. I also said that I just hope his boys aren't yelling "abort mission abort mission!" Now was that TMI?

Super tired. I'll have a better update tomorrow. Okay?

The Easter Egg

Yesterday while cruising the web, I was reading about how eggs and easter came together and how eggs are a sign of fertility. Girls used to give there current interest an egg to let them know they were interested. Eggs seem to be a hot topic in my head these days. Today I am CD12 and still waiting to O. The two cycles I have used clomid on, I have ovulated on CD16. CD16 this cycle is Sunday and as many know Sunday is Easter. So hopefully my Easter Egg will turn into a tiny little baby. How appropriate that it falls on that day. Is it an omen? I'm really really hoping so, because I'd really like to get pregnant on Sunday.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

While we were in the hospital, Erich and I talked about how we lacked exercise and the outdoors. So we made it a deal to get out and walk somewhere every day. We've been doing this and although it's been a bit cold, it's been gorgeous. The sun has been shining and the birds are chirping and other people are out riding bikes and generally getting ready for spring. So everyday we have some errand to run. We put our coats on and put Magdalena bundled up in to the stroller and wrapped with a blanket and take off. It's cold but it is wonderful to have the sun on us and the fresh air in our faces. I can't wait to get out into the yard and get some stuff done. Our crocuses are coming up and it's wonderful to see that hint of spring, even if they will only be around for a few weeks. I can't wait to get Magdalena outside in the yard to run around and play in the dirt. Spring is just around the corner and like everyone else, we seem to be really ready for it.

Double the Clomid, Double the Fun

With all the puking and pooping, my period and all of its glory was shoved to the back of the burner. While I am sad I didn't get pregnant this last cycle, it didn't surprise me. Erich and I admitted to each other Saturday that we both were kinda thinking in our head "why would we get lucky and get pregnant the first time like we did with Magdalena?" I call that the power of the mind. Oh and the fact that we were both super stressed during the "O" time of that cycle. We all had colds and my great aunt died. And with Magdalena sick, I didn't have the time to think and grieve about my period. I only had time to silently curse and call the nurse for a pad. (A gigantic plastic nasty pad BTW.) The next morning, I called my mom and asked if she could please bring me something since all of my cloth was at home and I really only have one days worth of cloth. (I just wash daily. I never buy more because I'm planning on getting pregnant! Then I'll stock up on PP pads) Anyways, she was sad as I think she was pretty hopeful and getting used to the idea of another baby coming.

So by the time I got home from the hospital, we were on CD4 and ready to start Clomid the next day. On Monday morning, I did get the call from the OB and I asked for clomid. I picked up the prescription and was surprised to find 10 tiny pills instead of the normal 5. I kept thinking, "they doubled my dose?" I always thought that since I did ovulate on 50mg, that they would just keep it at 50 mg. So, starting last Wednesday and through Sunday I pumped my body full of a total of 500mg of Clomid. The symptoms were awful. And now we wait for the O.

And I guess I should mention that during the end of the last cycle, I had dreams of four positive pregnancy tests. The important part of that dream was that the tests were store bought and not the internet tests we have been using. I also had a dream that I gave birth to twin boys. And my friend had a dream that I gave birth to a baby boy. Since taking all of that clomid, I've had the twin dream two more times. I really think the double dose has morphed my brain. heh. So we're all hopeful around here and Erich and I are both thinking "why wouldn't it work this cycle?" :) I think we are all thinking that a Right Before Christmas Baby would be total bliss (and get me out of cooking a Christmas dinner!).

The Weary Mother

It occurred to me that most people are probably thinking that I am an over reactor. They probably thought, "sheesh, her daughter just had the stomach flu! Big deal!" Well, I was thinking the same thing until my mom of all people said "it's a good thing you took her to the hospital when you did." So let me paint the picture for you.

Saturday morning, Magdalena started fussing like she wanted to nurse. I moved her in the bed to nurse on a different side and as I lifted my shirt up, she puked. So I handed her to Erich to take to the tub. When I handed her to Erich, she puked all over his back. (Apparently, he now has Daddy Powers that make him immune to feeling ill over bodily fluids. Yay.) So I bathed her and brought her a new pair of PJs and got her out of the tub. Erich got in the tub at that time and while I was dressing her, she puked again. This marks 3 times in the course of about 15 minutes. So back to the shower she went with Daddy and after she got out, you guessed it!, she puked again. This continued for the next hour and a half until I finally just took her to the ER. In the fifteen minute drive she puked three or four times. It was awful. In the ER, they took chest Xrays and blood work to make sure she wasn't housing any pneumonia. The entire time at the ER she continued puking every five minutes. She was miserable. They brought her some phenergran and she promptly fell asleep. At that time, I felt like we could go home and they agreed. My mom and StepDad met me at my house and Magdalena continued to sleep for about an hour or so. This was at about 11am or 1130. At noon, she woke and started puking again. We tried giving her some pedialyte because she was wretching and fussing. She nursed often out of choice, but immediately after unlatching, she'd vomit everywhere. At around 1pm she started with the liquid poop. She had liquid poop every fifteen minutes and in between the liquid poop she would vomit. This continued and at about 3pm I called the on call doctor. I was informed that he wouldn't be picking up messages until 6pm, but I could speak to the ER doc since I had been there that morning. The ER called some phenegran in. We gave it to her and she slept a bit, but every time she woke up she puked and pooped. Around 8pm Erich got home (he had to do a service call on a computer) and I had already placed a call to on call doctor. So much was coming out of her, nothing was going in not even breastmilk, and she was just laying there. When the oncall doc called back, he thought that we were losing the fight. He had us bring her in as a direct admit for IV fluids. He thought we would only be there overnight and that the next day she would be "as good as new."

Sunday morning when he came in, she wasn't perky. She was still just laying there so he decided that we should probably keep her another day. Let me back up a bit, Saturday night she started running a fever. Her little body felt like it was on fire. I kept asking them to take her temperature. When they did, they'd take it under the arm and get numbers like 97.7 or 98.5 and said she was fine. Sunday morning after the doctor left the room, I had the nurse take it again but this time they took it in the ear. 103.7. I was furious. Magdalena was absolutely miserable and they ignored me when I told them over and over and over that she really did have a fever. They started giving her motrin and tylenol and her fever held steady at 102 to 103 all day long on both meds. This continued through the night sometimes reaching 104.1 on both meds. They eventually just left thermometer in the room with me. heh. I think they got sick of me asking to take her temp. Sunday night I put cool cloths on her back and held her all night long. She hadn't puked, but the liquid poop was still very persistent.

Monday morning, our regular doctor came in to see us. He felt that her temperature was "impressive" and that meant a lot coming from him, as he isn't one to get excited over fevers. He felt we needed to stay in and keep an eye on her fever and keep her fluids going since the fever was so high with meds. I also asked for a clear fluids diet to be started.

By Monday evening, she was feeling a bit better but still pretty mellow. She played with me for about an hour that night, which made me feel good. By Tuesday morning, when Dr. S got there, I had already packed up our stuff and was ready to go home! She was holding down fluids and I think we both needed the comforts of home. He agreed and that ended our very first hospital visit (and hopefully our last!).

Thanks

Magdalena wanted me to thank you all for the well wishes. The stay was uneventful, but having worked in a hospital, some things really ticked me off. I'm so glad to be home, though we are still dealing with some nastiness associated with the illness. And since coming home from the hospital, M has become really really really clingy, but she is getting back to her old self by the day.

Home Sweet Home

We're home. I'll update about our stay after a bit.

Update

Not pregnant. Started period Saturday night. It's okay. They are calling in a new script for another round of clomid. Crossing my fingers and feeling really good about this next cycle.

Magdalena is not doing well at all. We came back to the hospital Saturday night as a direct admit. We thought we'd be home yesterday morning, but she wasn't feeling much better. The vomiting has stopped, just dealing with diarrhea. They have her on IV fluids and breastmilk. She got to start clear fluids this morning. She has been battling a really impressive fever. Yesterday her fever held steady at 103 reaching sometimes to 104 on both motrin and tylenol. They are keeping us another day and are hopeful that we'll be home tomorrow. I'll try to update then.

I Can Hold Out On Testing...

but my husband can't. :) He made me test at 13dpo. And at 13dpo he saw a very very very very very very very faint second line. At 15dpo, he made me test again and it was negative. Heh. So I went to the doctor to get my blood drawn. I ran out of tests and I'm dirt poor. Why am I paying for insurance just to sit there? They should have had my blood work back by days end, but didn't get a chance to call me. :( Still no signs of AF. And my face! Oh my face has broken out like it has never ever ever broken out. I didn't even look this bad as a teenager! So something is going on. I'm well aware that you aren't supposed to test until at least 18dpo to reduce the risk of false negatives, so please tell my husband that. :) I should know more Monday. I'm prepared for a negative result. I am still hopeful for a positive though. My mind says "Maybe I'm pregnant and it's a boy because my face never broke out with Magdalena. I'm not puking, though I'm a bit queasy. And it's taking forever to find out..." So who knows. Sorry to keep ya hanging.

Shana (and Manda): I didn't get a temp this morning because I woke up with a toddler puking. Two baths later, an hour, and puking every five minutes I loaded Magdalena into the car and we enjoyed our First Visit to the ER. We spent the morning there and after blood tests and Xrays we ruled out pneumonia and ear infection and crap like that. (You should have seen the look on the Xray techs face when I told her I may or may not be pregnant. I think she wanted to make me test before she would let me in the room! But I prevailed and I was there to comfort my babe and my maybe unborn babe was covered by a sheet of thick lead. So everything is OK. ) So we're home and she is still puking. I called the ER back at 3pm and asked for a script for phenegran suppositories. She had that at 3:30 and she can have one every 12 hours. Problem is that she is still puking through the medicine so I'm wondering how long we continue until we go back to the ER for some dehydration. So yeah no temp this morning. Sick baby. I guess she wanted to take my mind off the waiting. heh.

Shana, do you have a site back up? If you do let me know! I've missed you! Email me with the email at the top so we can catch up, okay? :)

Manda, I promise to email you soon. I'm so looking forward to the mail on Friday. :)

Ovaries! And Elbows! And Legs! Oh My!

Okay, so Mamabear implied that I haven't updated my blog. I'm really sorry. Things have been busy, and I haven't really been feeling that great. So here is my update.

Today I am 7dpo. I think I had a pretty clear ovulation, with pains and mucous and temps. Gross, huh? I'm pretty sure we timed this correctly. (As a side note, it's so much harder to muster up the energy to procreate with a toddler around. I'm pretty sure it didn't take so much effort last time. heh.) I was a bit crampy pre-o and a bit crampy post 0. I was really crampy for about an hour in the evening at 5dp0, which someone thinks may have been implantation. Here is a link to my chart. You can see Magdalena's chart on the same page for reference. I have a pap on Monday. I'm hoping she can give me hope or confirmation or something. Sunday I will be 10dpo, which means I could possibly get a positive test. This 2ww business is rough.

The lady I take care of in the mornings broke her elbow really bad. She was with her daughter when it happened. She also has a hairline fracture in a hip. She had outpatient surgery and they sent her back to the assisted living place. I deemed it completely inappropriate for her to be in that environment and said that I wasn't able to take care of her in this condition. She needed/needs nursing home care until the cast comes off of her elbow and she has some physical therapy. So she is in a swing bed in the hospital. I feel like the Bad Guy for sending her out of her home, but really I think it was the best case for everybody.

Magdalena is walking. She toddles just about everywhere these days and it is absolutely adorable. She learned how to eat with a spoon too, I just have to scoop the food into it first. She is a lot of fun. She currently has 10 teeth! Both molars on the top have popped through and I feel a third molar. Poor baby has been miserable the past few days. She'll ask for cheerios then put one in her mouth and scream in pain. :(

Not much else going on. Just hanging out and waiting to test.

Who Links Here

The Big Secret

I'm on clomid. Day 2 of clomid, Day 6 of my cycle. I had my cycle induced a few weeks ago. I took provera for 5 days and then 3 days afterward I started to bleed. I really worried for a while there that I wouldn't bleed. Clomid was prescribed for days 5-9. I started it yesterday. Today I'm feeling a bit hot flashy. I just found out that a friend is pregnant. She cycled once completely and on the second she got pregnant. I'm not sure if it's the drugs or if I would react this way normally, but I'm angry, hurt, sad, and scared. I realy don't understand why it can be so easy for some people and not so easy for others. The stupid part of me thought that all the hurt and suffering of losing a father so young was enough. I thought maybe I had paid my dues. But it wasn't easy to get pregnant with Magdalena. And the another stupid part of me thought that maybe when I tried to get pregnant again, it would be easy. Obviously I'm pretty dumb. It took one round of clomid to get pregnant with Magdalena, so hopefully I'll be pregnant next week. So could ya'll send me some heavy duty baby dust?

And if you're keeping track it's:

Infertility 2
Suzanne 1

Why Did They Rob Me?

Today started out so well. I went to a see a friend who is staying in a hotel to go swimming. We had fun in the pool and such and then went back to the room to rinse off and give the babies a bath. I heard my cell phone ringing and answered it. It's a credit card company saying that they think there is fraudulent activity on my card. And there is. An hour earlier someone had tried to charge over a $100 at banana republic. Obviously, it was a good thing I had told the credit card company my dress size when I applied for the card, because any sane person realizes that not only would I not buy Banana Republic, their clothes would not fit me. Hrmph. Not only that but they also had other charges through the week amounting upwards of $600. They denied the BR charge and I'm not sure about the other charges. I've been locked out of accessing my account online. They've closed the account and are starting an official investigation. Grr. This really really really ticks me off. I feel so violated too. Grr.

On a good note, when I got home there was a box from Adagio Teas with a starter set and a teapot. Lovely. It's delicious. I'm sitting here, fuming about the unfortunate events of my life, and drinking very very delicious tea.

A Year Goes So Fast

I really have neglected my blog. Sorry, lots going on that I feel like I can't talk about here just yet, but I'll talk soon though. Promise.

Magdalena has been up to so much! Here are the highlights!

• Her hair has been growing like crazy. It's all wild and I had to pick out the first knot in the back the other day!
• She has NINE teeth! She's had eight since the beginning of last month. Last night while brushing her teeth I found a molar! Crazy. I can feel the molar on the other side too so sleepless nights are in my future I think.
• Her vocabulary increases by the hour. She mocks so much that we say and puts it into action later. She now says "Mommy, Dada, Hi, Bye, OK" and she barks like a dog. The barking is stinking hilarious. Tuesday night we were watching TV and Gracy walked by. Magdalena got down on all fours and started barking.
• She has a "magdalena sized" chair that she climbs on and off all day. The other day Daddy turned some cartoons on for her and she sat in the chair and watched TV. (Mommy was busy, Daddy was in charge.) Occasionally she would stand up on the chair to see where I was and yell "hi!"
• She waves Bye bye now, but only if she knows you. Strangers still make her shy!
• She still loves to give kisses.
• She cuddles a lot. She comes up to you and gives you a hug and pats your back. It's too cute. (One day Erich and I were talking and he said " you know, Magdalena has really started to cuddle a lot more. I reallly like that." **swoon** He hates it when I tell that story. heh.
• She can walk. She is a chicken. She doesn't voluntarily choose to walk. :) After seeing other walking babies, she walks more. And daily she seems to get a tiny bit braver. It doesn't bother me though, since I know that she can walk.
• She loves to play the come and get me game. She'll crawl away from me and look back to see if I'm following her. I come up behind her and say "mommy's going to get you!" and she squeals and starts crawling towards the stairs and up them as fast as she can. When you finally get her she squeals and claps with delight!
• She tickles me and loves it! She puts her little fingers on my neck and move them randomly and says (while laughing) "ticky, ticky, ticky!" She squeals with delight when I laugh and say "oh that tickles Mommy! Oh no! hehe" (there is another word she says "ticky")
• She is such a girly girl. She squeals and laughs and flirts. I didn't think my house would be filled with squealing girly laughter yet, but it is, and we LOVE it!
• She claps all of the time. She claps when I put the legos away (probably because I clap when she does it! heh). She claps when people on TV clap and when she hears a song she likes. She also claps when she walks ( I wonder where she picked that up!)
• She points when she wants something.
• She has started to eat three meals a day, plus your meals, plus snacks. She drinks a bit of cows milk every few days, lots of water, and breastmilk.
• Despite all the food she shoves into her tiny body, she weighs 17lbs 5 ounces and is 28 inches long. She's a tiny petite thing!
• I finally moved all of the 3-6 month clothes out of her dresser and put it away. She still wears the 3-6 month onesies though. She is in 6-9 month clothing. I also put her in some 12 month clothing for length, but they have so much room in there! Insane!
• She brushes her teeth after I brush her teeth. If you forget to hand her her toothbrush after we're done, she protests loudly. I must not do a good enough job.
• She loves to have her hair brushed, but only by me and Daddy. She won't let my Mom brush her hair for some reason. At night we have to go through a routine where I brush Magdalena's hair and then she brushes Mommy's hair and then she brushes Daddy's hair. She finishes this up by giving him a big kiss. :)
• She likes to pick the baby doll Abby up, give her a big hug, and saying "ah" and then she tries to steal the baby's pacifier. heh.
• She likes to pull her socks off and stick her foot in my nose when changing diapers. When I smell her feet I squeal "oooo shoowee! Stinky feet!" and she giggles uncontrollably.
• Whenever you hand her the phone, she puts it up to her ear and says "HI!" Sometimes she holds conversations, "HI! babybbbaabbabab. dddd. pftttt! Bye" Recently when I'm on the phone, she MUST say hello to the person on the other end. If not she cries and cries and cries. When she's done saying hi though, she gladly gives the phone back to me.

That's all I can think of now, though I'm sure I'm forgetting something. She changes daily. I'm amazed at how she becomes more and more like a little girl instead of a baby every day. I'm still reminded of how babyish she still is though, when she climbs into my lap, lays down, and nurses to sleep.

Tea Time

Hey, while you're reading some blogs, go check out Adagio Teas!

Tea

Tide and Boobs

If I didn't know any better, I would think that all I did all day long is do laundry and breastfeed. Now lately I've been keeping up with the HA forums and read about 10 books, but whenever Erich asks me what I've done today, the only things that pop into my head are doing laundry and nursing the baby. Take today for instance, I went to the assisted living place and **drumroll** did the laundry. I did about four loads there while nursing the baby in between each load. Afterwards I came home and nursed the baby to sleep. While she was sleeping, I started our laundry. I've done about three loads so far and probably have 3 more plus diapers. (How on earth do we create that much laundry in a week? sheesh.) I also cleaned out the nursery clothes, creating a giant pile of 3-6 month clothes that she finally outgrew. I have the task of sorting the clothes into girl clothes and nuetral clothes and putting them in bins and storing them in her closet. A few weeks back, I sorted the diapers and put newborn diapers in a bottom drawer and current diapers in the top drawer.

So now you know why Tide and Boobs are the only things I can recall doing today.

No strings attatched...

I've got no strings to pull me down...

Hey, I'm in my living room connected to the internet! I'm sitting on the couch! Erichs friend gave him a laptop yesterday that didn't work and he couldn't fix it. My super husband had it working within 20 minutes of getting home! Yeehaw! So today we purchased a wireless connection (something we've been talking about forever) and now he's in the office playing on the internet and I'm in the LR. That really rocks dude. No more fights over the computer AND I can be where the kids are and on the internet at the same time! I can take the internet into the kitchen and not run back and forth to the office to check conversions, search for subsitutes, or go to my alltime favorite recipe site www.allrecipes.com! Life feels good right now. :) Now I'm pretty sure I need to work on making sure everything else gets done in the house! :)

I need to go because Erich needs me to download ZoneAlarm. :) Now hopefully I'll update more often.

Could it be....

an implantation dip on my chart?

Why are all those people staring at me? And why am I wearing this ridiculous hat? 

I'm eating the cake, do I have to make a mess? 

One year ago...

I was being wheeled in to the OR. After 26 hours of labor, I had to come to peace with the decision to have a csection. Magdalena was stuck and was starting to feel weary of the whole laboring process. Although I was scared, I was ready to meet my tiny little girl. Erich was nervous as heck and I'll always remember the doctor coming in and saying, "there is one really nervous dad out there." I'll always remember the sound of their voices as they worked to free her from the position she had wedged herself into my pelvis. And I'll never forget the sound of that scream, so angry to be pulled out of her warm home. What a wonderful memory.

Happy First Birthday Magdalena! You've made our lives so much richer and I'm sure you'll touch many more lives as the years pass. I love you Little Diva.

T-isms

While eating hamburger help-me for dinner tonight (I know you are all puking with the thought, but I'm trying to clean out the pantry!):

Me: Is it good T?

T: Yeah, it's good, but it doesn't taste good.

Me: How can it be good and not taste good?

T: I don't know.

And she had seconds and thirds. ;)

Um, Look

Fertility Friend seems to think I've ovulated. Weird. I've never had a coverline on a chart before with the exception being the chart I conceived Magdalena on. Hrmm. Don't think the "magic dance" was performed in the correct sequencing, but **shrugs**... he says he has super sperm ya know. heh heh.

Wanted:

My sanity. If found, please return ASAP. Thanks.

It looks really cold out there, are you sure we need to go out Mommy? 

Hi! :) 

More of the park. 

Wanna go to the park? 

Did you bring your bathing suit? 

This is where that Indiana corn comes from... a field! 

More of the golf course... 

Wanna go golfing? 

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Some Other Day

Remember how I talked about the fifteen inches of snow that was dumped in Indiana? Then I talked about the inch of ice that accumulated? Well, now there is lots of flooding. Flooding, flooding, and more flooding and the forecast is calling for **drumroll** you guessed it! Heavy Rain! Yay! Our park currently looks like an ocean, well as close to an ocean as you get in Indiana. heh. If it gives you a mental picture, the creek that runs in the park in our town has crested and is now reaching as far as two streets away from the park! Highways are shut down, the schools closed today, and my basement is accumulating water. Yeehaw. Excuse me while I go clean up some water, oh and take care of my cranky rash covered baby.

Blah Bleh Blah

Well, Magdalena is allergic to penicillin. She is covered from head to toe in a rash. We've stopped abx at this point. I'm going to go get her some benadryl to help the rash clear up and stop the itching. They are also going to call something else in (maybe) to help her cold symptoms but we are not starting another abx. I'm a bit sad that she is allergic to it though. I'm not allergic to anything and I don't like the idea that she is allergic to an entire family of abx. Oh well.

I spoke with R last night. She really is quite lovely. I'm lucky to have the friendship, even though I've never met her IRL. :)

Hands Off

So, Magdalena is now officially baptized. **wipes forehead** We don't attend church as we should, but we do believe in God. I'm a Catholic and that tiny little Catholic girl stuck inside of me was ranting and raving that Magdalena is almost a year old and not baptized. She (the girl inside of me) was shouting "We're going to hell! We're going to hell!!!" So she's baptized. We started the process in the fall, and since it is the Catholic church, we had to jump through about 10,000 hoops including renewing our vows in the Catholic Church, which we did on Saturday. Erich has now married me twice. So we've been honeymooning all weekend. heh.

In other unrelated news, Magdalena is a sick baby. Poor poor sick baby. It started during Christmas with a cough. She had a horrible horrible cough and Erich made us go to the doctor on 27th of December (this was after the trip on Christmas Eve Eve because of my honeymoon cystistis. Ouch.) Anyways, the NP said it was just a cough and congestion, gave me some prescription strength decongestant to really help and let her sleep and to come back if it got worse. So fast forward to last week, I stopped giving her the cough med at night because it made her anxious. And her cough was getting much better, so I really wasn't giving it to her in the day, just at night because she has several fits of coughing. But on Friday, she really started to just get worse, snot coughing fussiness. I thought about taking her to the doctor, but then I thought she could probably just fight it herself. I don't want to be one of those mothers that rush off to the doctor at every single sniffle. Saturday she felt like crap. She was unhappy having oil rubbed all over her and water poured on her head. She looked at the priest like, "back off buddy. Stop touching me." When we got home with the crowds of people to eat cake I started rushing around and being a hostess and Erich took Magdalena upstairs and changed her and such. When I finally sat down Magdalena had fallen asleep on the couch with her dad by herself which is EXTREMELY odd for her. So I picked her up when she started to stir and she was burning up. Her temp was 103.3. She's been running that temp all weekend whenever the Motrin wears off. With Motrin, her temp is 99.4. I called the oncall doc on Saturday and he told me to bring her in if she started vomiting or spiked a 104 temp. It's Monday, her fever is still around and now **I'm** starting to get sick, as is Erich. He told me I wasn't allowed to get sick because I'm supposed to take care of them. Hmph. Blech.

I end this with saying, if I am in the store and you, a stranger (not my terrific blogging friends), see my incredibly adorable daughter-- KEEP YOUR FARGING HANDS OFF OF HER! DO NOT TOUCH HER. YOU ARE DISEASED. AND SHE IS NOT YOUR PROPERTY NOR SOME LITTLE STATUE TO BE PETTED. SHE IS A HUMAN BEING! HOW MANY ADULTS TO YOU JUST WALK UP TO AND PET?

There, I feel better now. Does anybody else have that problem?

Here is a picture of the ice that I took this morning when we woke up and had to unfreeze our cars. 

Daddy and Magdalena do some work. 

Happy Dance!

I didn't mention this earlier, but Erich recently applied for a couple of jobs internally. One was in St. Louis and another that is about forty five minutes to the east of the town we live in now. Right after Christmas, he had a phone interview with a lady about the second job. He was really excited as I was because he hasn't had much feedback no matter how persistent he is. And in months of searching, this is only the second time he has even gotten an interview. The first job couldn't offer him the money that we needed to squeak by. Anyways, he just called to tell me that HR called him and he had a SECOND interview! Yay! They talked to his boss to and his boss told him that he put in "one hell of a good word for him." Yay!!! So please keep us in your thoughts. This job is two pay grades higher than where he is currently at and it's a day job! I'm so excited and I know he is too. I REALLY hope he gets this!

Round Two

Well, Mother Nature is doing it again. As if the 15 inches of snow she dropped on us Christmas Week wasn't enough, now an ice storm is blowing in. Erich and I were saying how bizarre this storm is. As little as an hour north of us, they are getting a winter storm-- lots of snow. Here an ice storm up to or exceeding an inch is what the prediction is (is it just me or doesn't" up to or exceeding" cover everything and offer no real prediction?) And an hour south of here no snow no ice just rain. Flooding rain. Last week it was in the 50s. Friday we didn't even wear coats because it reached 60 degrees and we cooked on the grill outside. Isn't Indiana lovely? And this weekend it is supposed to be back up to the fifties, sunny, with some scattered showers. Oh well. Just like the last storm, I have beef in the crockpot to make some beef noodles. Yum. That seems to be what I crave when we get stuck in the house with weather like this. Magdalena enjoys the noodles too (she currently doesn't eat meat.) So I'm going to log off and go upstairs and curl up next to my girl and nap while the ice pitter patters against our window. **yawn**

This is a picture of the railing of our deck. They are saying that this looks like about a quarter of an inch of ice thus far. The ice has just accumulated in the last three hours, so it is coming down fast. 

I Want I Want I Want

Dude, my local freecycle list has some balls. A lady (who just joined today) asked for four separate (large) things. Wowee. Some are so outrageous that I just think, do they really think this is going to happen? For instance, recently someone posted that they needed a used but in good shape and running truck. Well, maybe it's just me, but if I had a truck like that that I wasn't using, it's probably worth something and since I'm a big butthole I'd probably sell it for the cash. I think I'm going to go post for a million dollars.

Happy New Year Charlie Brown

Okay, I'm like two days late. Sorry. This past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least. I've had a week off from my "job" of taking care of the old people since their son from California has been in town. So I've been wisking over there bright and early and getting her out of bed then coming home and enjoying the glory of having my day back. I'm really only taking care of them five hours of the day, but it really takes up a huge chunk of my day. So that was lots of fun. Magdalena had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. She was indeed up as it struck midnight and played happily with some friends. I'll recap more later, but I'm trying to clean up and squeeze in a few more hours of my weekend with the man I love. :)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care... (okay the TV) 

In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there... 

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

They've been talking about a snowstorm all day long. Everyone has been in that pre storm frenzy feeling. I like the excitement that surrounds it, but I've been waiting ALL DAY for this damn storm to blow in. Well it's 9pm and sometime in the last hour it started falling and it's falling FAST! Everything has a solid white layer now. Maybe we will get that 8-15inches they are predicting!

Some Good News

Head over to Getupgrrl to see her good news!

Love

Emily needs a bit of love and support. Please go show her some.

I'm a Mommy's girl too. Mommy says I look just like my Daddy when I make this face.  

Mommy is so warm and comfy. 

Grammy, turn that camera off so I can have some dinner! 

Bitter Betty

Christmas is over for one side of the family. Yeehaw. And I'm glad it's over with. Let me just say though, that Erichs family isn't one for great gift giving and all. Not that I want to sound like the ungrateful bitch that I am, but ya know. My MIL gave Magdalena a christmas doll (that she bought while I was with her last year. I'm surprised she was able to hold on to it that long), some zwieback toast, and some biter biscuits. I'm really dumbfounded as to why she gave her food. Does she look malnourished or something? Oh and here is the kicker. She gave Magdalena a pair of pajamas that are 12-18 months. This would make more sense to you if I told you that Magdalena is just now starting to fit into 6-9month pj's and I TOLD her this before. She told me "oh she'll start growing really fast soon." Um, no? Weight gain and such tapers off at the END of the first year, not starts going like crazy. She's a good five pounds away from even being in the weight range for these pajamas. Well, I guess next year she'll have some warm pjs... urgh.

Here is where if you are recently pregnant/pregnant you stop reading because I'm about to go on a big whiney vent.


See, there are lots of people getting pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I'm really am happy for these people. But, I'm having a really hard time showing it. I'm really a Bitter Betty because **I** want to be pregnant. And my chart shows that nothing is happening down there and if I seriously have to sit through one more cycle of nothing to get clomid, I am going to go postal. It's hard to contain my unhappiness and let the happiness shine through for people who are pregnant. Because (I've said this before) I really AM happy that it worked for them. I'm really UNHAPPY with my body and it's inability to do one tiny simple thing... ovulate.

Hungry?

Here is the menu for this afternoons meal.

Portebello Mushroom and Cracked Black Pepper Pork Loin
Baked Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Corn Casserole
Steamed Carrots
Rolls
Dutch Apple Pie

I'm sure there will be leftovers. Why am I making such a huge meal for 7 people (plus Magdalena)? Oh yeah because it's Christmas and we didn't have a big meal for Thanksgiving.

GET TO WORK!

That is what is screaming in my head right now. Erich's family will be here in 3 hours and 45 minutes and I still have a sink full of dishes, no baking accomplished, Magdalena's in her pajamas (as am I) and I don't feel like doing any of it. Bah Humbug.

I did clean the LR and dining room (well made it more than presentable) and vacuumed. I'd like to get down and mop but need a babysitter (aka Daddy) to help with Magdalena so that I can do that. It doesn't **have** to be done but it always smells really good afterwards (not that it smells bad in here mind you.)

Yesterday, I got a rug from Lowes. Erich says it looks like a burlap sack. Merry Christmas Suzanne! It was no where near the expense of all the power tools that he got for Christmas. Can you tell we don't wait? lol We always end up shopping and then he sees something he likes that he wants for Christmas but he has to have it **now** because "I have a project that I'm working on that it would be perfect for!" So I always wrap the empty box. :) Hey, I can't spend hundreds of dollars on christmas and have an empty tree now can I? He also told me that he had wanted to buy me a dryer for Christmas. Man, we're getting old aren't we? Because honestly a dryer sounded pretty thrilling to me. :)

I'm going back to get to work. Magdalena needs her nap now since we've been up for about two hours. Maybe if I can get her to sleep I can mop quickly and start on the kitchen. I'll post pictures later of M in her Christmas dress and my rug. :)

Firefox

I'm using firefox now. Now I just need to figure out bloglines...

Merry Christmas! All of our gifts but two or so are under there! The pictures on the wall are of my father (who died when I was 9) and my mom and dad's wedding portrait. ( I have it since she can't really hang it up in her house with my stepdad.) 

This is our gift from Santa this year. He brought it a bit early. 

Chanting...

"I love my husband he is the greatest. I love my husband he is the greatest...."

So for a few days there has been this soury smell in the kitchen. I've been searching high and low for it. I put a new refridgerator deodorizer in, searched for rotten food, moved the microwave, and cleaned the drains out with baking soda and vinegar. Erich always says it's me, haha. So anyways, I decided to move this dresser and mop underneath it. I was on the phone with Erich while doing this. So I move the dresser and what do I find? A banana. A black banana that is. I say, "oh gross Erich there is a banana under here." His response? "Oh yeah, I meant to go after that. Man that was a long time ago." Grrr.

BB#2

Okay, so here is the lowdown. I started my period again. It is obvious by my last chart that ovulation did not occur. Dr. B (my obgyn) wants me to cycle 2 more times and then we can do clomid.

At the appointment on November 22 we talked about my PCOS. She believes that I am very borderline if I have it at all and was not pleased with the way things were handled last time. She thinks that since I didn't bleed when they gave me clomid that I might have already been pregnant or ovulated on my own. She doesn't have a problem with TTC and breastfeeding but she wanted me to wean when I got pregnant. (Heh, that won't happen but I thought it best to leave that discussion for another day) So three cycles (1 down and I'm in the middle of the 2nd cycle) and then the drugs will come my way. I don't have to wait the 6 months since I have a previous diagnosis of infertility due to PCOS. Wee.

Before anyone may think of leaving a comment and flaming me for my decision to take clomid while nursing, please know that I have done my share of research on the subject. I have made an educated decision with the help of breastfeeding peers who have taken clomid, LLL leaders, LLL friends, and my healthcare provider. Please know that I would never intentionally do anything that would harm Magdalena, myself, or any future children.

We did talk a great deal about a VBAC and how my labor was handled. I'll have to address that in a different post, but it was very interesting. I'll try tomorrow, okay? :)

Magdalena is chilling in my lap. She's in that half second right before your eyes shut permanently. 

Apparently nursing wasn't needed, she fell asleep in my lap. 

Update

Wow, where does time go? Every time I approach the computer Magdalena decides she wants to wake up/nurse/me to play with her... The list grows. I've been writing down things that I'd like to update you on when I sit down to read my favorites quickly. Magdalena was playing happily with her keyboard but that has ended. ---- There now she's nursing. We rearranged some furniture and made ourselves an L shaped computer table which has made it a little easier to nurse an ever growing baby. So here goes with the list (and it's long folks...)

• Magdalena has the stomach flu. I called the doctor only to see if it was okay to give her some Pedialyte. I figured she was fine and has the runs considering that she was happy and wet (eyes, nose, mouth, bottom.) The triage nurse made it sound like I was awful for not wanting to bring her in since "little babies get bad fast." SO I felt like bad mother of the year and took her in. She needed the second dose of prevnar anyways so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. (I'm not paying that copay to often. And January 1st our copay goes from $10 to $20. Ouch.) Magdalena weighs 17lbs 3oz. (3oz of diaper) So I'm not thinking she is going to make my prediction of 18lbs. We saw the doctor on call and I DO NOT like her. She quizzed me trying to find something "that I'm doing wrong." (her words) When she couldn't find anything ie am I giving her cows milk (yeah through my milk. heh) she started to hassle me about giving her vitamins. Grr. She doesn't need vitamins. My milk is perfect for her and she's been drinking city water and gets exposed to sunlight. The lady drove me nuts. Oh well.

• Magdalena can now climb an entire flight of stairs without trying to sit down or losing her balance. We've caught her standing on her own and can walk along things with one hand now. She does the "indian call" and she also claps Patty Cake. (She claps and says Pa Pa Baby Pa Pa Baby. Very cute) She also likes to crawl over the tub and stand up and say "Baa Baa!" It's amazing the things she picks up on a daily basis. She's a little sponge.

• Chris has become a blog I check frequently. I really like her, she's funny, and she's about to have a baby! So if you haven't discovered this wonderful woman, please do so.

• Magdalena is cutting teeth like crazy. I've discovered the teeth numbers 7 and 8 have appeared and I can see the white nubs of numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12. Wowee. Poor baby.

• Erich continues his job search. He has a job now, but since completing his degree he is working on finding a better job. He is currently in a situation where he really has no room to grow. He is applying internally for different branches and is really just looking everywhere. He is look at even relocating though hasn't looked on the East Coast (where some of my favorite blogger gals live. hrmph.) He's looking at Cincy, Chicago, and St. Louis but honestly I'd like to stay around here. I like being close to my Mom. I'm hoping he finds something around here. I don't mind moving to Illinois or Ohio but I DON'T want to move to Missouri.

• I'm thinking about Magdalena's Birthday Party. We are having a princess party because she is a princess, remember? More details to follow once I get there. I should start thinking about it but honestly I'm trying to get through the holidays.

Okay, I need to update about BB#2 but I need to nurse Magdalena to sleep. I'm going to update the BB#2 stuff in two minutes. Promise.

BB#2

Okay, so yesterday I typed us this nice post telling you about my doctors appointment last week and all the Baby Business #2 stuff. I'll update about the appointment later because Magdalena is due for another nap, but I will say that I was worried that I didn't ovulate and that I was none to thrilled about waiting around for something that wasn't going to happen. So I called my OBGYN and they said I needed to wait until I was on CD42!!! Ah, that's a long time away. But you see I started to bleed today, cycle day 26. Weird. So **insert evil snicker** the nurse told me to fax the chart when I completed one full cycle or completed the first level (which is 42 days.) Since I started bleeding I'm officially on CD1! yippee. Now I'm going to fax this chart over on Monday and see what she can make of the screwy numbers that is my chart. For reference you can see it here and tell me what you think of it. It kinda looks like those stock market charts to me. ;)

IOU

an update, but I have a list of reasons why it isn't going to happen tonight. I have a sore throat that is getting worse and I seem to think I've caught Erichs sore throat. I'm EXHAUSTED. Magdalena has ripped everything out of every drawer in reach so I must take these 45 minutes that she is asleep and pick it up before I go back up to her and get stuck there. (I put her to bed around 8ish and she sleeps 45minutes to 1hour and then I go nurse her again and she sleeps till about 1am.) My Xmas decorations exploded all over the living room and really really need to be sorted, tossed, or put in their proper home. My husband is extremely upset that the explosion occurred Sunday evening and I'm having trouble cleaning up the rubble. There are dishes to be done, floors to be mopped, and scratches on the wood to be dyed brown with Old English. (With Ella gone, there isn't a crazy dog running wild putting scratches here and there but mainly on the stairs. I'm happy to report that she is still alive and happy and healthy and Gracy is very happy to be alone again! :) )

The lady I watch in the mornings is in the hospital (due to my great care. I didn't make her sick I promise, but I did catch that something was wrong and got her to the doctor.) I'll post about that stuff later. Oy. It's been one helluva week in that part of my life.

Excuse me while I retire to my bed for some desperately needed rest.