Spring into our 2nd year!!!

[country girl]

hi everyone...so busy and tired...
Im up in the tropics enjoying my holiday before I see the RE on weds. Its so lovely and warm temps in the high 80s but the downside is that the nights are a bit hot to sleep in and A wakes an hour early at 6am... not what you want on holiday so Im quite shattered...lol... the weather at home is cool at the moment with snow forcast. So I have a few days left before home and normality but looking forward to the cool thats for sure. Time with the grandparents has been a mixed bag.. they enjoy arabella but my father drives me a little bonkers with his constant suggestions on arabellas upbringing and activity safety.. he was the absent father so has no idea.. and Im not sure how much biting my tongue I have left...its getting a bit minced..lol. On top of that the crazy lupron is really kicking in after being on it for 13 days now.. and having my control freak father boss me around like a teenager is really just pushing all the buttons.... lucky no patricide has been carried out..lol.
Easter celebrations are non existant here.. a few easter eggs in the fridge but nothing else..my parents are really slack... they bought their other 2 grandchildren some easter eggs, but seemed to forget arabella..so she has had nothing for easter... apart from me buying some bunny ears for her which she refuses to keep on her head of course. Im hoping that next easter will be a lot better...
So I have my baseline scan and blood test on weds and if all goes well Im hoping that I can start stimming on weds. I start the growth hormone today..my expensive drug habit has started..lol...
So back home thursday to return a week later for ER and transfer. Gosh mum Im becoming a jetsetter like you... A is certainly racking up the air miles and is a good traveller thank goodness.
So today Im just shattered... this not sleeping well due to the heat sucks..my father is very stingy on the aircon so it hardly goes on at all... lucky in that when my mother is here alone we put it on all the time..lol..

Jen... cant wait to see how your ultrasound goes... I hope you are lucky to have a team pink on board this time., Sorry to hear about the bullying/..such a hard thing to deal with especially if one set of parents are difficult or school does not help.

Grape...how is the pregnancy going? how long is it until your anatomy scan.? cant be too long now.
Keep up the stories of the play ..they are just so funny.
It just amazes me too as to the understanding that they have.. A is so funny as she is learning wrongs and when she gets told off she runs away from what she was doing and stands in a corner or buries her head in the couch...its so hilarious. I have to keep reminding my self to name things for her..Im so slack... I just got her a little play laptop as she is obsessed with mine and has now broken 2 keys from bashing them with her hands...lol

Mum... bummer on having to work..wow your job is so demanding. Thank goodness for a nanny and of course the work backup care... I hope that you get it all sorted...

Elena.... great to hear from you. Im glad that the school is going so well...
Sorry to hear that sammy is sick, I hope that he gets better over the easter break and is able to enjoy all the easter treats. How is your hectic life treating you? I dont know how you fit it all in..
That is fantastic about writing a short story...let us know how it goes.

Mull...how are the joys of 2 girls going. is FIona continuing to enjoy kindergarden? did you have an easter bonnet parade to attend?

anyway I sooo need a nana nap...of course A is refusing to go down for her nap and is just playing in the portacot.. always seems to be the way when I need a sleep.. we are planning to go to the beach when she wakes...

[jenmom2myboys]

country, good luck with your scan and bw on Wednesday!!

[Grapecrush]

FYI - Had amnio today, preceded by an anatomy scan, even though I'm only at 16 weeks. They found a soft marker for Down - missing bones in the pinky fingers. Apparently, my niece had the same thing and does not have any chromosomal abnormalities, but I'm very concerned, especially since they found it in both hands, so it seems less likely to be a mistake. Also, there is a possibility I may have vasa previa, but the baby wouldn't position herself so that they could tell. So I have to go back in four weeks for another scan. So not a great day.

[jenmom2myboys]

Grape, I hope everything is okay. Did hour niece have it on both pinkys also?

[country girl]

grape... Sorry to hear that you have had to go through this stress... it is a big worry I know... at least you have the genetic trait in your family with no abnormalities. that would really give me a lot of reassurance. Did you get the quick test as well... or do you have to wait 10 days for results?
I hope that it all goes well with the repeat uss and checking out the placenta. Ill be thinking of you. Im sure it will be all fine... big hugs xxx

[MumInWaiting]

Oh, Grape, I'm so sorry to hear that. Will the amnio results come in soon? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they'll be definitive, right? Man, I'm sending some really positive thoughts your way right now...

[erobin1]

Grape-- hang in there! A soft sign is just that---soft. And very reassuring that your niece had the same thing. I hope you get results quickly.

Country-- good luck with your stims! the whole notion of being on vacation with your parents and all hopped up on those hormones cracks me up I admit. I hope you had a nice easter.

Hope Jen, Mum, Mull, that you are all well and had a great Easter.

We had a wonderful EAster w/ birthday party thrown in. Hotcross buns, a five layer cake I was very proud of, organic ham, salad from my mother's garden. It was quite a spread. The kids hunted eggs all over the property for hours. It was great, if totally exhausting. But then my sister, who was amazing all weekend, told me this morning on the phone that my situation makes her "fear marriage".... because you never know what can happen (ie my DH being sick the last couple of years). It really made me feel terrible. I cried, actually. Not just the criticism--- and, honestly, my life is kind of crazy but I still think it's pretty good. Counting my blessings afterall.... DH sick but I still love him, he loves me, etc. And also makes me worry for her and her whole peter pan-ish generation... I don't know. Anyway, it made me cry. Then as I left for work Sammy said to me "I'm not going to cry or anything. you've left like a thousand times before. it's not what mom's should do." Dang kid.... I guess that was the thank you for the all day birthday party with the homemade five layer cake and all... hee hee. I'm not complaining, I don't expect him to thank me, of course, he's 8, but he certainly knows how to get at my heart strings and make me feel guilty.... Don't judge my sis. She's amazing and really dotes on her nephews, she's just very much in young-people-in-the-city mode and thinks, still, that there must be some marriage out there that does not include the things that so unfortunately seem to pop up in real life.... our parent's marriage wasn't perfect (hahaha), and neither are those she sees.... well... it's TRUE, right? I mean... I don't know what to say except that I think life is worth engaging with even if its sticky. But how can one allay the fears that things won't go wrong? One can't--- they will.

Anyway, long day in clinic. so I'm tired. should go to bed actually

Had a lovely bathtime with Tommy though and then a nice reading story to Sammy. We are reading In the Keep of Time right now, which is a fun one that I loved as a child. Also had a nice family dinner with DH's sister and parents and those cousins, who are on their way through town. The frogs are croaking, birds are nesting. It is spring and terribly beautiful.

[mullinska]

Elena, you sister is interesting. There is a song that I know that starts "fear is the enemy of love". The amount of life she can miss out on because of fear of the unknown and of heartache is just tremendous. Perhaps she will just get blindsided by love one day. Sounds like a great Easter and birthday! Sorry about the aftermath though. I wonder why he feels that moms should not work. I had not planned to stay at home, it just happened that way, but if I found a job I loved, I would probably take it. Try not to let it get to you.

Grape, sorry about your bad day. I hope the amnio results give you the definitive answer you are looking for. Try to recite my mantra with my CF results, "until they can prove otherwise, she is healthy".... good luck with the wait.

Mum, happy travels. How did Friday work out? I can't believe your nanny didn't mention that she needed Good Friday off. It isn't a standard day off for everyone so I would think she would have given you a heads up.

Country, good luck tomorrow... Although by the time I go to bed tonight you will already be up and on your way.. crazy time changes around the world. Glad you are getting some warm weather in. Sorry about your dad being difficult. My mom is the critical one. Any time I suggest anything different than what she did she says "I can't believe the 4 of you ever survived" in that sarcastic judging attitude.

Jen, keep us posted about the bullying... It is the part of growing up that I am not looking forward to.

me, I am in hectic mode again. We have been outside in the garden constantly building new raised beds and moving lots of dirt. I had an Easter egg hunt on Friday at the neighbors and then a birthday party on Sat. Then Sunday down to the family's farm for church, extended family brunch and then back to the in-laws for dinner. They put out some eggs for Allison and Fiona got into the hunt as well. She showed a tiny interest on Friday, but only cared about 3 eggs, this time she seemed really interested in finding them and putting them in her own basket. Of course she was mad and screeched when we wouldn't let her eat the gum drops inside.

This week is crazy, clean house for a babysitting co-op at my house tomorrow. Allison's b-day on Thursday and need to send cupcakes in for that. Deciding on cupcakes or cake for Friday, I am doing a veggie garden themed decoration I saw in a book, I am completely insane to try! I will have to post picks when I am done. Then leave early Saturday for a wedding 3 hours away! Thankfully we will spend the night with friends, but it is going to be crazy!

Oh, and while we were at the farm we saw a forest fire start just over the river from the farm. It started out as 2 little plumes of smoke and it quickly climbed and consumed all the forest up to the ridge! Thankfully the Shenandoah River separates the fire from the farm... It was a scary sound, I can't imagine the courage to go into a forest and fight that.

Anyway, I am squandering a nap, I need to go! take care!

[jenmom2myboys]

The Principal is an asshole, plain and simple.

[mullinska]

oh Jen, I am sorry the meeting did not go well. I wish I had some advice but I have not reached that stage of parenting yet. I hope that you find some way to get this resolved soon.

Well... 5 years ago today I took the dive into the deep end of motherhood! ...a 6 hour labor ending in a crying baby girl that we named Allison! It is amazing how such a normal biological event can have such a huge impact on a life.

Hope all are well... we are super busy with birthdays and a wedding this weekend...