Tuesday, June 12, 2012

New Blog

I have a new blog!! Please visit me at www.cozybirdnest.wordpress.com :)

Monday, March 12, 2012

I love country concerts

Jason Aldean made my year by coming to town and bringing his friends, Lauren Alaina & Luke Bryan.

I have always been a huge fan of country concerts. When I was little, my grandmother would come to town and take me to see George Strait, Reba, and Alan Jackson. I also have a great memory of driving back to college after a visit home with Emily... we saw a random county fair in the middle of nowhere with a sign featuring Diamond Rio. When we realized it was the real deal and not a cover band, we lost our minds in the excitement. We spontaneously pulled in to the parking lot and paid something like $5 admission for one of the best nights of our life :) The following concerts cover all other music genres I have viewed live: All 4 One, John Mayer, Counting Crows (3 times), James Taylor, Sister Hazel, and Da Bomb concert featuring a variety of rappers and R&B artists from the 90's. This list makes me realize how cool I am.

Pretty much the only folks that add our little city to their tour are country artists, and I'm always up for a trip down to the civic center. I was most excited to hear about this most recent tour. It took me a while to admit that I liked Jason Aldean's music. I kept gravitating to it. I told David a few times I wasn't sure if I liked him, but every time a new song came out, I would obsess over it. Finally, David told me to just give in and admit that he is one of my fav country singers out there. Once I owned it, I immediately determined that I must go to one of his concerts. I almost bought tickets to a show in Nashville, but hadn't made the final decision yet. Then, while attending a Lady Antebellum show, the local radio DJ announced that JASON ALDEAN would be coming to town. We were in the nosebleed section and I went insane cheering. I don't think many people were paying very much attention to the "boring" announcements, so I startled a few folks. Anyway, my friend Karri accompanied me to "My Kinda Party." It was magical and we had a great time.
Lauren Alaina opened with a few songs. She also reappeared later in the night to sing the Kelly Clarkson part of Don't You Wanna Stay. She sounds really good live.

There's Luke Bryan right in the middle. You can tell because he has jeggings on. Even though those things are painted on, he busted out some MOVES. It was comical. I think a large portion of the audience may have thought it was sexy.

The very beginning of the show. I didn't want to carry my huge SLR camera around all night, and I can't believe what an awesome picture I got with my iPhone! Most of the others were very blurry.

The surprise appearance of Randy Owen was quite a treat. He played a short acoustic set with Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan. And the crowd went wild. Actually, the entire auditorium full of people, including those seated in the rafters, stood up during the last hour and a half of the show. I heard that some of the seats close to the front row were going for over $500 online the day before. I'm glad we scooped our regularly priced upper deck seats up just in time, about 5 minutes after they went on sale. It seems there really was something for everyone... an American Idol princess, Luke Bryan's hip thrusts, awesomeness from Jason Aldean, and a little Dixieland Delight - a crowd pleaser for all ages.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 18

How big is the baby?


Head to rump length is about the size of a bell pepper, 5 1/2 inches. Weight is about 7 ounces.


Work it pose.

How I'm feeling:

Hungry. So hungry. All the time. I'm bored of eating because I must put so much time and effort into it. When I have trouble finding time for snacks (while trying to keep up with my schedule at work), I become a crazy person known for sassing others. My coworker, Page, decided to be my snack police. She makes me sit down for a few bites here and there even if it means patients have to wait :)

What I'm eating:

Everything in sight except Italian & Mexican. Lots of peanut butter, fruits & veggies, and drinking a lot of ice water. Also, I still crave Dr. Pepper every couple of days.

Weight: +9 1/2 lbs.

Highlights:

The highlight of this week is that there hasn't been much going on. I have had some quality couch time, which I'm trying to embrace while I'm feeling good and don't yet have an infant to care for. I have also spent the whole weekend cleaning and organizing the house. Things are about to pick up with both of my brothers getting married in the next few weeks and all the festivities surrounding the weddings. It's just a couple of days until the big ultrasound! I have heard from a few friends that time flies between finding out the gender and feeling the first big kicks/movements until the actual delivery. I think the rest of this pregnancy is going to feel like a time warp.

Deep Thoughts: While sitting on the couch this week, David asked me if I was 15 weeks pregnant. Hmmm, I guess he feels like time is standing still.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 17

How big is the baby?

The baby weighs about as much as a turnip, 5 ounces, and is about 5 inches from head to bottom. *Forgot to take a belly picture this week*

How I'm feeling:

I've had some headaches this week, and they seem to be at their worst in the middle of the day. I've had some congestion and sinus-type pressure, so it could all be related. I came really close to fainting in the check out line at Old Navy this weekend. I had gone too long since my last meal - about 3 hours. Also it was very hot in there. Once I got to a bench and started taking off layers (no worries, I left the final layer and remained decent), I had a nice recovery. Then, a banana peanut butter sandwich with fritos on the side really saved the day. Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself with all the food talk...

What I'm eating:

Bagels, hamburgers, olives, salad. I'm still craving Dr. Pepper, and it seems to help with the headaches. I feel like I have started to eat a lot more. I get really hungry if I go more than 2 hours without a snack.

Weight: +7 lbs.

Highlights:

I got in lots of quality resting this week. I vacationed at my parent's house for the weekend because David was gone to my brother's bachelor party. I only planned to spend one night. But, the longer I stayed, the more amazing home cooked food kept appearing on a plate in front of me. All of the nourishment was much appreciated, especially after the almost-fainting episode.

Deep Thoughts:

I wore the same skirt on three different days this week. I don't think anyone noticed :) I'm definitely having trouble adjusting to more frequent laundry with my minimal maternity wardrobe. I guess this is just another one of those ways to get myself used all the things I will have to do more often once the baby is here. Note to self: must do laundry almost every day.

There is one week left to vote on whether Poppy is a boy or girl. Right now we have an exact tie with 7 votes for each!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 16

Oops, I'm a few days late with this post, but life was crazy...

How big is the baby?

16 weeks in pj's

The baby is about the size of an avocado, approximately 4 1/2 inches & 3 1/2 ounces. This is Poppy & me in pj's in the St. Louis hotel room we stayed in over the weekend. This is also my first attempt to post pictures to my blog from instagram. I think instagram is cool, but I admit that I don't really know what I'm doing with it. It's like twitter for me ... I think I have an account, but I don't know how that happened and I don't understand how tweeting works. It seems like this should come naturally to a birdie, but not so much.

How I'm feeling:

Great for the most part. I get extremely dehydrated in the middle of the night even if I drink a bunch of water in the late evening, so that is not overly pleasant. Most of the other typical pregnancy symptoms faded away this week.

What I'm eating:

Favs this week were potatoes in any form ... baked, mashed, fries ..., chicken salad, and bagels. I'm really craving Dr. Pepper and it has completely stopped giving me heartburn. I'm trying to limit to only a couple per week because I know it's not the most healthy thing to drink. But, I figure if I also drink a ton of water it'll be alright.

Weight: +6 lbs

Highlights:

I made it on a road trip to St. Louis (8 hours each way) for a fabulous shower for my future sister-in-law. I had to stop about twice as much as I normally would have to stretch out my legs & hips. The good news was that it was an all female road trip including my mom & grandmom, so no one suggested that any of us just "try to make it a few more exits." Riding around in a car was one of my least favorite activities during the 1st trimester, and now I feel almost back to my old self on long car rides. Let's hope the feeling lasts until my brother's wedding at the end of March when we make the trip again.

Deep Thoughts:

Grandmom decided that my maternity clothes look very comfortable. We got to spend about an hour at the galleria in St. Louis and burned up all of our time in Macy's. I was perfectly happy with this because it appeared to be the only store in the whole mall that had maternity clothes. Grandmom lamented the fact that she spent her hour in formal dresses when she might have found some great options for herself if she had stayed with me. Then, she just decided that I could give her my hand-me-downs when my gut goes back to a normal size. Makes me wonder if anyone else's grandmother has inherited their maternity pants...

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 15

How big is the baby?




The baby is about the size of a large navel orange, 4 1/2 inches long, and a little over 2 ounces - so tiny!!

How I'm feeling:

Pretty good this week. I had a few days of back & hip pain, mostly on the left side. It gets worse throughout the day, especially if I am on my feet a lot. I was at the grocery store with David when I got a significant attack of this pain and tried a few varieties of walking styles. He was not a fan. He wanted to hurry ahead and pretend he didn't know me :) Nothing worked anyway, so I went back to my normal strut.

What I'm eating:

Pumpernickel bagels from Brueggers (I am so missing their smoked salmon bagel - I will be eating one right after Poppy arrives), mac & cheese, baked potatoes, eggs, popcorn, olives, chicken. I am able to eat larger portions than I've been used to over the past couple of months. The only foods I didn't feel like eating this week were Mexican & sweets. I ate more candy than usual because it was Valentine's day and I don't think Poppy was into it.

Weight: +4 lbs

Highlights: I think I felt the baby move/kick today! I experienced about ten minutes of a fluttering feeling on the top left side of my stomach, mostly while I was in the shower this morning. Our next ultrasound is scheduled for March 13th, so hopefully we will be able to find out the gender. I added a boy or girl? poll to the blog, so be sure to vote.

Deep Thoughts: Now that none of my regular pants will fit and I've fully transitioned to maternity clothes, I realized that I will not have to worry about my fly being unzipped for the next 6 months. Whew, what a relief.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 14

How big is the baby?


The baby is the size of a lemon - about 3 1/2 inches long.

Here we have the "weekend look" for the maternity photo. This means I am not wearing make up. Also I am just a couple of days away from week 15 because we may have procrastinated with our photography. Also we have an empty bookshelf. Perhaps next week it will be full of books and other styled items :) I am turned the opposite way in my photo because I was feeling crazy this week.... Now everyone can decide what my good side is.

How am I feeling?

I am back to being very tired this week. I am having weird nights full of crazy dreams, tossing & turning. I end up wide awake and feeling OCD about strange things that seem insignificant in the morning. I must say the middle of the night is odd and I usually sleep right through it. I have a feeling I'm going to become more and more acquainted with 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, etc over the next few months, so I may as well get used to it. So, it's no wonder that I end up wanting a nap after eating breakfast. Also, this is a busy work week, so perhaps that's a contributing factor.

What am I eating?


Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, macaroni & cheese, salads, toaster strudels, and cereal. I have heartburn pretty much every night regardless of what I eat. I had some free pizza during a lunch meeting and the heartburn wasn't so bad. So, maybe I can handle more marinara? I'm not brave enough yet to put it on the regular menu ...

Weight: I forgot to get on the scale this week...

Highlights: I had a routine Dr. appointment this week. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat (rate was 160) and got an overall good report on all my blood work & blood pressure. I can't believe how low my blood pressure is. I think it was 106/64. I headed back to the gym this weekend and did 15 minutes walking inclined on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical, lifted weights (only 8 lbs), and did a lot of stretching.

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 13

Ok, I'm only behind by a couple of posts, so I will be caught up this week! Then, the photos you see & the info will be real time rather than a couple of weeks old.

How big is the baby?


The baby is about the size of a peach & 3 inches long.




We always take these pictures after it's already dark outside, so we definitely have some issues with lighting and shadows. But ... the days will be longer and warmer soon, so hopefully we can move our weekly photography session outside and get better pictures :)

How I'm feeling:

I have felt better this week! I do get tired at night and my favorite after work activity is hanging out on the couch. But I have gotten some good sleep and I can get comfortable pretty easily.

What I'm eating:


Favorites this week are olives, apples with peanut butter, popcorn, chicken, salads, cheese. I am definitely craving veggies in salad form. I am loving the salad bar at Jason's Deli. The only things I can drink are water, milk, and orange juice. I love lemon or lime in the water. For a fancy drink, I mix orange juice and soda water. How refined.

What I'm not eating:

Still no pizza or spaghetti. No mexican food... I haven't even tried to eat mexican. It sounds gross to me and I used to eat it about once or twice a week. Weird. The key is not to overeat, and the weird thing is that I can get really full on about half of the portions that I used to eat. It is not the most convenient thing to eat tiny portions constantly throughout the day, but when I can make this happen, I feel the best.

Weight: I have lost weight since last week and I'm back to +2 pre-pregnancy weight

Highlights:

I got an awesome package in the mail from Jessi with books, maternity clothes to borrow, and a cute tie-dyed onesie. We are working very hard to clean out the room that will become the nursery and Poppy's first few baby items are making their way into his/her closet. This week is legendary for the first person asking if I have a "bun in the oven" just because of how my tummy looked. It was a coworker, but the pregnancy news hadn't made it to her wing of the building yet :) We are right in the middle of a kitchen renovation and I am so excited for it to be done! The walls have been painted and we have new countertops and tile backsplash. The painters are coming back soon to do the cabinets, so it's off to pick out colors. I am very tired of picking out paint colors and hope to go many years without having to do so again. Anyway, if all goes as planned, we will have almost every room in our house decorated and furnished the way we want it before the baby gets here. And we've already lived here for over 4 years. It seems that a house is always a work in progress...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 12

How big is the baby?

The size of a large plum ... about two and a half inches long and half an ounce.

Here is the first belly pic:



How I'm feeling:

Definitely better this week. Perhaps I will side step morning sickness entirely :) ... although maybe I shouldn't speak so soon. All of the weekly emails I get are singing the praises of the upcoming 2nd trimester, so I have high hopes for lots of energy and nesting ability. I am not a natural "nester," unless that's what you call all the piles of stuff that look like bird nests all over my house. So, we'll see if pregnancy turns me into a crazy organizer mom.

What I'm eating:

Lots of fruit and cereal. I'm still going out to lunch most days - just have to get away from the office for an hour - and I just drive straight to the restaurant that I'm craving at the moment. I am frequenting Chick-Fil-A and Ding How. I am having trouble with marinara sauce, so I'm staying away from pizza and spaghetti. Oh, how I miss eating pizza without getting heartburn.

Weight: +3.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight

Highlights:

Finally starting to take weekly belly pics. I feel like my tummy is large already, but I know that in reality, it is just barely showing. I can't wait until I'm carrying around a watermelon ... then I can look back at this photo and reminisce about the good ole plum days.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Ultrasound Round-up

I love getting to see how much the baby changes in such a short amount of time...


6 weeks - grain of rice. Even though the baby was this small, we could see a flicker of a heartbeat.


7 weeks - blueberry. I think the baby looks like a little snowman in this one. This was the picture we made copies of and had my grandparents open up for a Christmas surprise :)


9 weeks - grape. I will never forget this ultrasound because the baby was moving around in there like crazy and even waved at us with a tiny little arm! Usually, the fertility clinic graduates patients at 8 weeks, but since we were on vacation that week, they let us come back for one more visit & ultrasound when we got back. The nurse was so fun. She said, "Oh my, you have a BIG baby!!" I think she was not used to seeing arms & legs because most of their ultrasounds are of little grains of rice. It's all about perspective.


This is the most recent picture we've had and it was 3 weeks ago! I can't even imagine how much the baby has grown since then.


This is a close up of the arm & head from the same visit at 10 weeks. Our baby already wants to be an internet sensation... S/he is Tebowing for this pose!!! Awesome.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Weeks 9-11

How big is the baby?

During these weeks, the baby's size was comparable to a grape, a prune, and a lime.

How I'm feeling:

The extreme fatigue definitely started to wear off and I had a bit more energy. I even went to the gym and walked on the treadmill a couple of times. We also felt overwhelmed with love & joy when we saw Poppy on the ultrasound screen at our last visit to the fertility clinic during week 9. We saw tiny little arms & legs and the baby waved at us!!

What I'm eating (& not eating):

I'm eating a lot of cereal and I very rarely ate cereal before getting pregnant. Also, I used to only eat greek yogurt and now I am back to regular yogurt and do not want the greek kind. I'm still craving chicken a lot. I'm also craving thai food and chinese from Ding How. I'm eating lots of fruit. The main snacks that I take to work are apples w/ peanut butter, bananas, chocolate covered pretzels, and pudding.

Weight: +2 lbs from pre-pregnancy

Highlights: My clothes started feeling tight around week 10. My mother in law bought me a lot of maternity clothes in different sizes from unclaimed baggage and thrift stores, so I started wearing some of the smaller options. I changed from the fertility clinic to a regular OB at week 10. I completely changed to a new practice I've never gone to before. It seemed a bit stressful to decide, but I got a lot of good advice from friends all over town and I love my new doctor.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Weeks 5-8

It's time to play catch up. Even though I'm currently 13 weeks, I have to do a couple of backtracking posts. Weeks 5-8 covered the entire month of December. We had a lot going on due to the holidays, shopping & wrapping gifts, and then we had the whole interior of the house painted. Our house was turned upside down and we stayed with my parents during most of the "construction" days. This was lucky for me because I could park on the couch after work and let my mom fix me dinner and bring me snacks :)

How big is the baby?

In these weeks, the baby changed from the size of a sesame seed --> grain of rice --> blueberry --> raspberry. We have a lot of fun with the food size references. I think my dad is the biggest fan :)

How I'm feeling:

VERY tired. I could sleep for 11-12 hours one night, get up and eat breakfast, then feel like I needed a nap. I had to take breaks to sit down and rest in between parts of my morning routine. Shower. Sit. Brush hair. Sit to dry hair. Get dressed. Sit to put on makeup. I can't ever remember another time I was so constantly tired.

What I'm eating:
I am lucky that I haven't had morning sickness. During this very early stage of pregnancy, I learned I had to change my eating schedule. I used to eat 3 meals a day - small breakfast, large lunch (usually at a restaurant), and medium size dinner. I never ate snacks during the day. I learned that if I don't eat every couple of hours, I will start to feel sick. I went through short-lived cravings... ate a whole jar of pickles in one weekend, then haven't eaten any since. Chicken was my biggest craving. I wanted to eat chicken at least twice a day. The only big food aversion was Mexican food.

Weight: No change

Highlights:

We had two ultrasounds during these weeks. David was really nervous to go to them, but he made it through. We could see the heartbeat flicker at the 6 week ultrasound, then we heard the heartbeat at 7 weeks. It was the most amazing thing. Christmas was just 2 days before I was 8 weeks along, so we decided to announce the pregnancy to our extended families over the holidays. We told David's family on Christmas morning. We went to both of my grandparent's houses on Christmas eve day. I had my grandparents open a picture of the most recent ultrasound as their surprise. It was really fun and everyone is so excited to have a baby around! This will be the first grandchild on both sides of our family, and also the first great-grandchild for all of my grandparents. We spent the last week of December on vacation in Gatlinburg. We had a great time relaxing, reading, watching season 1 of Mad Men, and going to a magic show.

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: How I Got Pregnant

This is not the post for readers who are not fond of female medical terminology and/or info about infertility treatment. If you fall into that category, kindly skip to the next post. If you want to know my story, are up for a long read, and can handle moments of t.m.i., please help yourself...

I was on birth control for 10 years prior to trying to conceive, the last 2 years of which, I used implanon and took a very low dose of progestin. I knew that it might take a while to begin to have a cycle again after all those years of various hormone cocktails. So, I waited to have the implanon removed until we had been married for about 2 years in the summer of 2010. It took 3 months for my cycle to return to normal. I read everything I could get my hands on about fertility, conception, and pregnancy. After a few months of no success, I made up my own non-detailed charting system. I tried the temperature charting for one month and being that I am not at all detail oriented, I was really terrible at it. Instead, I just used ovulation test strips for about six months and they were always positive right around the expected time of the month. I was also very regular. I couldn't imagine that everything wasn't fine, but we started getting a bit nervous that something wasn't right. So, since boys have it fairly easy in the fertility diagnosis department, David agreed to go ahead and be checked. He was fine - sigh of relief. Armed with all of this information, I went to see my gynecologist in May 2011, fully expecting some diagnostic tests to be ordered. No such luck. I was told to come back in about 8 months if I still hadn't gotten pregnant.

We were both frustrated, but we carried on for the next couple of months. I started getting antsy, so I researched fertility clinics and called one to find out if I needed a referral. I did not, so I went ahead and scheduled the next available just in case. My appointment was three months away. I imposed a "trying to have a baby break" until then. Although we were both really ready to be parents, we focused on enjoying our time as a family of two. It was very nice to not think of anything fertility related for a while and get ready for the journey that was ahead.

By divine intervention, everything fell into place for November 2011. We heard from close friends about acupuncture to treat infertility. When I called a local clinic, their next opening was the day before our fertility doctor appointment. Crazy good timing. So, I went for it and did 1-2 acupuncture treatments per week for the entire month. The fertility consultation was very interesting and not what I expected. We met with the doctor in his office and he spent an hour with us getting a detailed history, explaining a lot of basics about the true miracle that is conception, and filling us in on our options. He recommended that I have a series of diagnostic ultrasounds, bloodwork, and a fallopian tube test. If all went well, I would take a half dose of Clomid, give myself a trigger shot, and have an IUI procedure. All of this would happen within the next two weeks.

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks that was. It was determined by ultrasound that one of my ovaries had an abnormality, possibly endometriosis. A true diagnosis couldn't be made without some sort of invasive scope procedure, so they wanted to try the IUI at least 3 times if needed before doing the scope. Sounded great to me. Other than that, all the other tests were normal. The fallopian tube test was very painful, but I was lucky to have a dear friend come along since both David and my mom couldn't make it. I had a stressful, yet comical experience giving myself a trigger shot in the belly in a coworker's office because I share my little office with 6 people. Everything ended up working out fine and I had the IUI in the middle of November.

Then we waited. No doctor appointments until I took the pregnancy test exactly two weeks later. We were staying at my parents because our house was being painted. David had to stay at our house the night before, so it was one of the few mornings we weren't together. At first the test appeared negative, but another look showed a very faint second line. I almost had to squint to see it. But it was for real. I immediately called David and then told my parents as well. My blood test the next day confirmed the home test results. Since I was going to a fertility clinic, I was monitored twice a week to make sure my hormone levels were rising at the correct rate. It was nice to have reassurance that everything was going well so far.

Even though it wasn't always easy, we have always kept an open mind about whatever direction our life takes. For years I have been unnecessarily worried about how I would handle pregnancy and childbirth. Would I be able to get pregnant? Could I sustain a pregnancy? Would I get morning sickness, stretch marks, other scary sounding side effects? Would I dread going through labor for the entire pregnancy???? I can be a bit of a worrier at times... The reality is that once I made it another week and then another, I found myself relaxing more and more. I've been really tired at times, bought groceries I was craving and then couldn't eat, and cried over very strange and not sad things. I am definitely not a crier, so that part is weird. But, I'm no longer scared of this life experience. Bring it on, baby :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Poppy

At the end of November, we found out that I am pregnant! It took 17 months, the last of which included seeing a fertility specialist. The good news was that all it took was one month of fertility treatment and all I needed was a relatively minor procedure to achieve pregnancy bliss. I also went to acupuncture. It was quite a unique experience. I'm planning to write "Pregnancy Chronicles" on the blog, so I will do a more detailed post on the fertility treatment/acupuncture experience for those who are curious. The baby's nickname is Poppy because when I found out I was pregnant, I was only 4 weeks along and the very tiny bundle of joy was only the size of a poppy seed.

We are very excited. It took me a few days to believe that this was real. Even though we are anxious for Poppy's arrival (official due date is August 6th), it is nice to have about 9 months to prepare for the transition into a whole new life experience for our family.

A lot of folks are sharing in our feeling of joy. This will be the first grandchild for all of mine and David's parents, and also the first great-grandchild for all three of my grandparents. Both sides of our family haven't had a baby around in about 14-15 years, so I'm pretty sure the lucky little one may be a bit spoiled. David's step-dad has made some sweeping proclamations about his plans to spoil :) We also have some fabulous friends who are equally pumped. While we didn't really broadcast our journey to conception, we didn't keep it a big secret from close friends either. We are so grateful for all of the kind words, encouragement, and congratulations over the past few weeks and months.

Hooray for Poppy!!!