Sorry about...

keeping you guys on the edge of your seats yesterday! My appointment wasn't until 3:00. Afternoon appointments always give you ample time to get nervous. I met Russ at the clinic and I was chatting along and he said "Are you nervous? You're talking really fast and your face is all red!" Which are the things that happen when I get super nervous (babbling and hives).

And for something else that was funny (to me, I'm not sure it'll be as funny to you guys): When the NP came into the exam room to talk to me, she walks in and we both started squealing like those annoying girls I didn't like in high school. We were so excited! Russ just sat there looking at us like we were crazy.

I go back in three weeks for another ultrasound and if everything checks out good then I will be released to an obstetrician then. Normally, Ob's won't make you an appointment until you are around 8-10 weeks. I'm lucky in a way (not in a way because I'm infertile) because at 10 weeks, I will have had three ultrasounds already! Woooo Hooooo!

Yuck, another doctor search. I'll probably just have them refer me to someone and save myself the trouble.

2nd Ultrasound

WE SAW AND HEARD THE HEARTBEAT!!! YAY!!! Sorry for yelling, I'm just so excited. Bambino's (that's what we're calling it, Russy didn't like Mahershalalhashbaz Ashkenaz) heart was beating away at 122 bpm. Normal is between 120 and 180, so it's the low side of normal, but it's still normal. It's measuring .674 cm which is 6 weeks and 4 days. If you go by my LMP (which I'm not anymore!), I should be 6 weeks and 6 days so we are much closer than we were last week and I'm happy with that. Estimated Due Date is April 19th. I have some wonderful pictures of Bambino (or in it's case, the blob) and my gorgeous uterus. I'll be scanning them and posting them soon.

YAY FOR BAMBINO!!!

The Summer Olympics

Are over for another 4 years. But, to recap the USA's medal count, here are the results:



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Number of Medals Won:

• Gold - 36


• Silver - 38


• Bronze - 36

Grand Total Medal Count - 110 (the most of any country)



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Records Breakers:

Swimming:

• Men's 400m Medley Qualification - Heat 4, Michael Phelps, 4:07.8
• Men's 400m Medley Final, Michael Phelps, 4:03.84
• Men's 100m Backstroke - Heat 4, Matt Grevers, 53.41
• Women's 400m Freestyle - Heat 5, Katie Hoff, 4:03.71
• Men's 4x100m Free Qualification - Heat 1, Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Matt Grevers, 3:12.23
• Men's 4x100m Free Qualification, Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, Matt Grevers, 3:12.23
• Men's 4x100m Free Final, Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, 3:08.24
• Men's 200m Butterfly Qualification, Michael Phelps, 1:53.70

Shooting:

• Men's double trap (150 targets) Qualification, Walton Eller, 145

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Medal Standings:



Gold:

• Men's Basketball
• Men's Volleyball
• Women's Basketball
• Track and Field, Men's 4X400 Meter Relay - LaShawn Merritt, David Neville, Angelo Taylor, Jeremy Wariner
• Track and Field, Women's 4X400 Meter Relay - Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards
• Track and Field, Men's Decathlon, Bryan Clay
• Men's Beach Volleyball, Todd Rogers, Philip Dalhausser
• Track and Field, Men's 400 Meters, LaShawn Merritt
• Women's Soccer
• Women's Beach Volleyball, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor
• Track and Field, Women's 100-Meter Hurdles, Dawn Harper
• Gymnastics, Women's Balance Beam, Shawn Johnson
• Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Under 55 kg, Henry Cejudo
• Sailing, Radial - One-Person Dinghy, Anna Tunnicliffe
• Equestrian, Team Jumping, Mclain Ward, Laura Kraut, Will Simpson, Beezie Madden
• Track and Field, Men's 400-Meter Hurdles, Angelo Taylor
• Track and Field, Women's Discus Throw, Stephanie Brown Trafton
• Rowing, Women's Eight With Coxswain, Erin Cafaro, Lindsay Shoop, Anna Goodale, Elle Logan, Anne Cummins, Susan Francia, Caroline Lind, Caryn Davies, Mary Whipple
• Swimming, Men's 4x100-Meter Medley Relay, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak
• Tennis, Women's Doubles, Serena Williams, Venus Williams
• Shooting, Men's Skeet (125 targets), Vincent Hancock
• Swimming, Men's 100-Meter Butterfly, Michael Phelps
• Gymnastics, Women's Individual All-Around, Nastia Liukin
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Individual Medley, Michael Phelps
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Backstroke, Ryan Lochte
• Swimming, Women's 200-Meter Breaststroke, Rebecca Soni
• Cycling, Women's Individual Time Trial, Kristin Armstrong
• Swimming, Men's 4x200-Meter Freestyle Relay, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Butterfly, Michael Phelps
• Shooting, Men's Double Trap (150 targets), Walton Eller
• Swimming, Men's 100-Meter Backstroke, Aaron Peirsol
• Swimming, Women's 100-Meter Backstroke, Natalie Coughlin
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Freestyle, Michael Phelps
• Swimming, Men's 4x100-Meter Freestyle Relay, Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak
• Swimming, Men's 400-Meter Individual Medley, Michael Phelps
• Fencing, Women's Individual Sabre, Mariel Zagunis

Silver:

• Men's Water Polo
• Women's Volleyball
• Cycling, Men's BMX, Mike Day
• Track and Field, Men's 110-Meter Hurdles, David Payne
• Track and Field, Men's 400 Meters, Jeremy Wariner
• Taekwondo, Men's Featherweight (58-68 kg), Mark Lopez
• Track and Field, Women's 200 Meters, Allyson Felix
• Softball
• Women's Water Polo
• Track and Field, Women's 400-Meter Hurdles, Sheena Tosta
• Track and Field, Men's 200 Meters, Shawn Crawford
• Gymnastics, Men's Horizontal Bar, Jonathan Horton
• Gymnastics, Women's Balance Beam, Nastia Liukin
• Track and Field, Men's 400-Meter Hurdles, Kerron Clement
• Track and Field, Women's Pole Vault, Jennifer Stuczynski
• Gymnastics, Women's Uneven Parallel Bars, Nastia Liukin
• Gymnastics, Women's Floor Exercise, Shawn Johnson
• Fencing, Men's Team Sabre, James Williams, Keeth Smart, Jason Rogers, Tim Morehouse
• Sailing, Finn - Heavyweight Dinghy, Zach Railey
• Swimming, Women's 4x100-Meter Medley Relay, Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson, Dara Torres
• Swimming, Women's 50-Meter Freestyle, Dara Torres
• Track and Field, Women's Heptathlon, Hyleas Fountain
• Fencing, Women's Team Foil, Hanna Thompson, Erinn Smart, Emily Cross
• Rowing, Women's Single Sculls, Michelle Guerette
• Swimming, Women's 200-Meter Backstroke, Margaret Hoelzer
• Track and Field, Men's Shot Put, Christian Cantwell
• Shooting, Men's 50-Meter Free Rifle Prone (60 Shots), Matthew Emmons
• Gymnastics, Women's Individual All-Around, Shawn Johnson
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Backstroke, Aaron Peirsol
• Shooting, Women's Skeet (75 Targets), Kimberly Rhode
• Gymnastics, Women's Team, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, Alicia Sacramone, Bridget Sloan
• Equestrian, Individual Eventing, Gina Miles
• Swimming, Women's 100-Meter Breaststroke, Rebecca Soni
• Swimming, Men's 100-Meter Backstroke, Matt Grevers
• Swimming, Women's 400-Meter Freestyle, Katie Hoff
• Swimming, Women's 100-Meter Butterfly, Christine Magnuson
• Swimming, Women's 4x100-Meter Freestyle Relay, Natalie Coughlin, Lacey Nymeyer, Kara Lynn Joyce, Dara Torres
• Fencing, Women's Individual Sabre, Sada Jacobson

Bronze:

• Boxing, Heavyweight (81-91 kg), Deontay Wilder
• Men's Baseball
• Taekwondo, Men's Welterweight (68-80 kg), Steven Lopez
• Cycling, Men's BMX, Donny Robinson
• Cycling, Women's BMX, Jill Kintner
• Equestrian, Individual Jumping, Beezie Madden
• Track and Field, Men's 110-Meter Hurdles, David Oliver
• Track and Field, Men's 400 Meters, David Neville
• Taekwondo, Women's Featherweight (49-57 kg), Diana Lopez
• Track and Field, Men's 200-Meters, Walter Dix
• Track and Field, Women's 400-Meters, Sanya Richards
• Track and Field, Men's 400-Meter Hurdles, Bershawn Jackson
• Gymnastics, Women's Floor Exercise, Nastia Liukin
• Rowing, Men's Eight With Coxswain, Beau Hoopman, Matt Schnobrich, Micah Boyd, Wyatt Allen, Daniel Walsh, Steven Coppola, Josh Inman, Bryan Volpenhein, Marcus Mc Elhenney
• Wrestling, Women's Freestyle 55-63 kg, Randi Miller
• Track and Field, Men's 100 Meters, Walter Dix
• Tennis, Men's Doubles, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan
• Track and Field, Women's 10000 Meters, Shalane Flanagan
• Swimming, Women's 100-Meter Freestyle, Natalie Coughlin
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Individual Medley, Ryan Lochte
• Fencing, Women's Team Sabre, Becca Ward, Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson
• Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman 84-96 kg, Adam Wheeler
• Swimming, Women's 4x200-Meter Freestyle Relay, Allison Schmitt, Natalie Coughlin, Caroline Burckle, Katie Hoff
• Swimming, Men's 100-Meter Freestyle, Jason Lezak
• Judo, Middleweight (63-70 kg), Ronda Rousey
• Cycling, Men's Individual Time Trial, Levi Leipheimer
• Swimming, Women's 200-Meter Individual Medley, Natalie Coughlin
• Swimming, Women's 100-Meter Backstroke, Margaret Hoelzer
• Swimming, Men's 200-Meter Freestlye, Peter Vanderkaay
• Gymnastics, Men's Team, Alexander Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, Kai Wen Tan
• Shooting, Women's Trap (75 Targets), Corey Cogdell
• Swimming, Women's 400-Meter Individual Medley, Katie Hoff
• Swimming, Men's 400-Meter Freestyle, Larsen Jensen
• Swimming, Men's 400-Meter Individual Medley, Ryan Lochte
• Fencing, Women's Individual Sabre, Becca Ward
• Shooting, Men's 10-Meter Air Pistol (60 Shots), Jason Turner

Until we meet again Olympics. See you in Vancouver, Canada in 18 months!

Michael Phelps Childhood Photo

So that's what that's supposed to look like....

Almost Another Year Older

Russ and I's birthday's are this weekend. It seems strange to me that we will be turning 26 this year. 26 marks the beginning of the move out of your twenties and into your thirties. But, this year is different. I don't really care much about our birthday's. Our anniversary happens to be next week and I don't feel the urge to take a vacation or write out a list of things that I would like to get as presents. I haven't even thought about what to get Russ and I'm not sure we are going to even do anything. I'm content. I have basically everything that I want right here, right now. I have a wonderful, loving husband. I have a baby on the way...finally. I have an amazing church family. I have a nice apartment and a new car. What more do I really need? For the first time in my life, I don't have a list of "wants." And that feels good.

6 Weeks

I have successfully made it past six weeks. I've had little to no cramping and what I've had has been minor and I haven't spotted or bled at all. I'm praying like crazy that our little guy will make it through and catch up to where he needs to be. Do you notice how I'm calling it a "he"? I'm convinced it's going to be a boy because I wanted a girl so badly. Then when it wasn't measuring up to par, my mind was put into perspective and now I don't care so much as long as he's healthy.

Ok, Enough With the Dreams!

My dreams are so real! I can't believe how much detail is in them. Last night, I dreamed that I went to work and when I came out I went to go get my car (Shark Bait Ooh Ha Ha). I got in and I drove to my red car (which I don't even own anymore). I left the keys in the ignition and the car running and got out to get some stuff out of my red car. While I was pilfering through my stuff, Shark Bait Ooh Ha Ha was stolen...and I didn't even notice until I rose up and started back to it. So, I freaked out, naturally. I went into the security area and told them that my car was stolen. They decided to call the police. While I was waiting for the police I decided to move my red car to a different area so I could keep an eye on it. After I moved my car I went back to the security office, which happened to be more like a house with three or four living rooms. So I sat down and here come my parents and family to sit and wait with me. When I say family, I'm not talking about sisters and brothers. They weren't there, but my grandpa and uncle from my dad's side were there and an aunt and uncle from my mom's side were there. They were just waiting for the police with me. The police were super slow for some reason so I need to go back out to my red car. I go back to the parking lot and it was GONE! Both of my cars were stolen and the only people out there were some guys who were cutting down a tree. I figured my car had been towed because the guys needed the space for the tree so I didn't say anything about the second car being stolen. I went back in and the police still hadn't shown up. Then my alarm started going off (I forgot to turn it off for Saturday morning) and I woke up very groggy. I had to think for a minute about my dream and finally realized that I don't even own the red car anymore. Though, I did go to the window to make sure Shark Bait Ooh Ha Ha was still out there. He was an he was sitting in the same space we had parked him in last night.

More Vivid Dreams

I don't usually dream, let alone vivid dreams that I can remember details about. But, after looking back at when my Orc dream was, I was pregnant then. I was pregnant when I dreamed about my fertility doctor being my dentist. Last night, I had another vivid dream. I've read and heard that your dreams become more vivid when you are pregnant and if that is truly the case, I have that symptom...which makes me happy since I have very few other symptoms.

In my dream last night, I was at a church camp. My dad and I were both counselors and we were watching a couple of kids play tether ball. Do you remember tether ball? I was a tether ball queen in grade school! I loved it! If only the Olympics had a tether ball match....ANYWAY, so these kids were playing tether ball and they were kids I recognized from church. One kid can be mean at times and he was cheating in the tether ball game. He wasn't hitting the ball hard enough to even go into the other person's range. He was just making it stationary as much as he could so the other kid would get tired and quit and he would win by default. So, I put a stop to that because it wasn't nice! Then Dad started talking about the kids' t-shirts. The cheater kid had a t-shirt on that said "I let my sister hold my hoagie!" HA! It had a picture of a house that had a hoagie sandwich sticking out both ends. I don't know if my dream brain was in the gutter or if I have actually seen this shirt. I don't think I've ever seen that shirt, but I could have. Either that or my dream brain is creative! We decided they didn't need to be wearing shirts with slogans....which happens to be a rule at the place I work. We aren't allowed to wear anything with slogans or brand names written on it. Then my stinking alarm went off so I didn't get to see Dad and I get on to the little kids about their inappropriate clothing. Why do I have to dream in the morning? I never get to finish my dreams!

Keep Dreaming Blogger Buddies!

Nerves and Dreams

Tuesday evening I went to bed thinking of nothing but my ultrasound the following morning. I was so nervous about everything and couldn't sleep well and woke up a few times during the night. But, I did have an interesting dream in the wee hours of the morning. The first thing that happened was that my mom made my sis, my hubby, and I a dentist appointment. I am a little confused as to why my mother was making these appointments for us. That is not normal anymore....maybe when we were in high school. Anyway, so we were going to the dentist. When we get there I'm the only one that will go in. So, I go in and there are a ton of people in the lobby waiting to see the dentist. I am finally called back and I get in the chair and, low and behold, my fertility doctor is my dentist! Then my alarm went off and I had to see the man I dreamed about in person. I thought about telling him that he was in my dream, but decided against it. I don't want him to take that wrong....or get a big head!

1st Ultra Sound

Russ and I went in today to see our baby. It was the most beautiful little dark spot in my uterus that I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it only measured at 4 weeks and 5 days. I'm 5 weeks and 5 days today so it's 6 days behind. If we had conceived the old-fashioned way I wouldn't be too concerned. I'd just chalk it up to my cycle being off. But, since we did IUI then there really is no room for discrepencies. We did see the gestational sack and the yolk. They both looked perfect. I go back next Thursday and we need to see a fetal pole and a heartbeat at that time. If we don't, then this is probably not a viable pregnancy. This really stinks. My doctor said that we don't need to be too concerned with it at this time, but I'm completely freaking out. Please pray for us during this difficult time.

Shout-Out, a Song, and Due Dates

First, I want to thank all of my faceless friends from the WebMD Trying to Concieve: Infertility Support Group message boards, my blogspot friends, and my sis. I love that you still come to my site and comment and support me in this journey. It takes real courage to be happy for someone who is in my position. You guys are wonderful friends and I really do appreciate all of you.

Second, have you heard the new Toby Keith song "She Never Cried in Front of Me?" If you want the lyrics, click here. Well, I like this song. It's catchy. I like the tune and I think Toby Keith is a good singer, albeit a little raunchy at times. The first few times I heard this song, I felt really sorry for the guy. But, then, after thinking about it more, I thought that he was probably a typical man and just didn't notice his woman was crying. Now, Russy is really great about this. If I'm crying or sad, he usually says something like "what do you want and how many?" Basically, anything to make whatever it is that is getting me down better. Typically, though, guys are so involved in themselves (because they can't multitask maybe) that they don't notice what the women are going through. So, I'm thinking that this woman probably cried in front of him and he just didn't notice.

Third, I'm having a difficult time figuring out my due date. This is really irritating. I plugged my information into WebMD which promptly told me my due date should be 4/16/09. Then I went to 4woman.gov and plugged my information in there. They said that my due date should be 4/24/09. An 8 day difference? I'm going to assume it's going to be around 4/16/09 because that seems to be the trend with some other calculators. I'll just have to see what my doctor says.

Nerves and Stomach Issues

I don't know whether I'm imagining the stomach issues or not. I would think I'm not because I'm not one to act sick when I'm really not. But, is it odd to have some stomach issues at only 5wks? I haven't puked up my guts or anything, but I have been a bit queasy at times. Usually a few crackers or a rice cake will clear it right up. Anyway, I'm just thinking it's too soon to have symptoms and wondering what your (those of you that have been here) take on it is.

I am super nervous about my ultrasound on Wednesday. I'm excited about seeing the little blob (I assume it's going to look like a blob at this point) but I'm also worried that WandBoy won't find anything. I haven't spotted since the day I thought the IUI didn't work. Now, looking back, I'm thinking that could have been implantation spotting. Who knows? My body is so out of whack that anything is possible. Anyway, I'm nervous and I still have two days to go until the appointment. Oh, the pain!!!

I found a Chinese Gender Predictor on the net the other day. I figured it would be fun so I plugged my info in and it said that I'm going to have a girl. I don't really believe in these things. It had a 50/50 shot! But, it sounds nice.

See ya Blogger Buddies!