Week of 01/19/09....April Due Date IVF'ers

[NikNJim]

TEAM BLUE 13
TEAM PINK 8
TEAM GREEN 5


Wishing: April 4, 2009: TWIN BOYS!!! & triplet

Sde: April 5, 2009 It's a BOY

Kaj: April 7, 2009 It's a GIRL

Lisams: April 8, 2009 It's a BOY

Calley: April 9, 2009 It's a SURPRISE!

Suebrx: April 10, 2009 It's a BOY & It's a GIRL

Smilintrish1: April 10, 2009 It's a BOY!

Lmohall: April 10, 2009 It's a SURPRISE

Nikki (NiknJim): April 12, 2009 It's a BOY

Gena (GMT): April 13, 2009 - It's a BOY & It's a GIRL

Tia38: April 13, 2009 It's a SURPRISE

Shannon (Peanut8): April 14, 2009 It's a GIRL

Loren: April 16, 2008 It's a SURPRISE

Heather (Lakergirl95): April 18, 2009 They are a SURPRISE!(twins)

Barcelona: April 20, 2009 It's a BOY & It's a GIRL


Handsandfeet: April 20, 2009 It's a BOY & twin

Rubybaby:

Kerrymv: April 21, 2009 It's a GIRL

ErikaM: April 23, 2009 It's a BOY!

Amybabyapril09: April 25, 2008 It's a GIRL

LoraG: April 26, 2009 It's a BOY & twin

Heathermat: April 30, 2009 It's a GIRL

NEW ADDITIONS

Dixiedoolittle: Thomas DOB: January 17, 2009, 7:50pm 1 pound 10 oz

[NikNJim]

News from previous thread:

Dixie gave birth to little Thomas on Saturday, January 17, 2009.

Lots of prayers and good wishes headed to Dixie, her DH, and new little baby Thomas.

[jpoo]

Hi. BC_tnahope posted this Dixie update on the Recovering IVF-aholics thread. Thought you all would want to know!

Originally Posted by BC-tnahope

Update on Dixie.

Thomas was born at 7:50 weighing 1 pound 10 ounces. He is tiny but a little fighter just like Mommy

He's breathing on his own - no respirator needed - but they do have CPAP for him to assist in his breathing so that he doesn't tire himself out. He's getting nutrition from an IV and he's hooked up to monitors in a nice, warm incubator. He's a little jaundiced, so he's getting the lights.

Dixie is doing well but exhausted.

[loraG]

Jenny- Thanks SO much for the update!!!

Girls, I need your opinion. DH's sister is 15 years older than him and her children are 17 and 21. She's very excited about the new baby and keeps telling me about the baby stuff she has from her girls that she wants to give us. Well she took us to her basement yesterday and I found myself very nervous about taking anything. There were lots of old toys/books/puzzles but they've all been sitting down in her basement for YEARS and smell kind of mildewy. And with the toys, I have safety concerns just b/c standards have changed so much over the last 15 years! I did take a few stuffed animals that were in good shape, but they have a smell and I'm going to try to get it out by throwing in the dryer with dryer sheets. We also got furniture....bookcase, low dresser and high dresser....even though parts of them are a bit yellowed. They're white formica.

I'm very appreciative of everything, but DH told me he didn't think I was acting that way. I just felt overwhelmed and didn't want to insult her. Plus I wasn't planning to look at baby stuff that day....we went over for something else.

Plus she kept making comments about how she's superstitious so she wouldn't buy anything for us until the baby was born (though she's ok with giving us stuff). I understand being superstitious....I am too, but something about someone else saying they're superstitioius about my pregnancy makes me uncomfortable. You know what I mean? It's ok for ME to be superstitious or you to be superstitious about YOUR own pregnancy but don't tell me superstitious about mine....like you think something might happen to my baby.

Anyway, I'm just rambling but would love to get some opinions on all of this.
Am I overreacting about the baby stuff just b/c it's old?

Also, if anyone has any hints on sterilizing toys and/or getting the mildew smell out of stuffed animals, please let me know.

[NikNJim]

Jenny.........thanks for the update on Dixie. We are all praying for baby Thomas!

[calley]

Great to hear that Thomas is breathing on his own - can't wit to hear form Dixie. Wow we have a mommy on our board............................

[DixieDoolittle]

Oh, ladies - this has been so hard without you! I'm up, I'm down, I'm at a plateau, I'm up and down again. The nursing staff told me that it's NORMAL, and I've been through so much, but geeeeeeesh - it's really HARD. They're worried about my hypertension - I want more than anything to just have a good cry - but if I have a good cry, my numbers jump up and then everybody's looking at me like I'm going to stroke at any minute. So, I get upset and I try to STIFLE it, but it doesn't really ever go away, and this whole thing just seems so counter-intuitive. UGH!

Thomas is still doing well - we checked in with the NICU about 2:45am and they were cutting his O2 back because his breathing is so good, and they were planning to do a test on him at 4am to see if they could remove him from the lights. So, he's doing great.

We, however, are pretty frayed. DH is dead asleep on the pull out couch right now - we were up, then down, then up, then down- about 10 times last night. They first got me up at 5pm last night (about 24 hours after surgery - they had me on magnesium sulfate to treat the hypertension - it makes you very groggy, so the ordinary time they'd get you up is expanded to 24 hours), and I was able to freshen up and visit with Thomas for a few minutes. And then I had a cry and then we got settled in our new room. Well, not settled - this is where the evening's fun began. I was soooooo full of fluid and there was no place for it to go but through my kidneys into my bladder, so I had to go...and I mean GO... about once every 90 minutes. The first two times, I had to have nursing help (because still so much fluid retention and post-op/bedrest wobbly legs), and then the rest of the night it was rousing poor DH (who's hard to wake up to start with) to keep the IV pole straight and make sure I didn't fall. By 8:30am, I was able to actually creep out of bed, get the IV pole unplugged myself, go to the bathroom, grab the laptop, and settled back in by myself. Sure, it took 30 minutes, but DH hasn't moved and I really need him to get some sleep. Oh, and we were pumping every 4 hours last night, too. So up, pee, pump, pee, down sleep then up, pee, pump, pee, down sleep - that's pretty much how it went.

I was so happy to get the lap top back up - I feel kind of isolated and sitting here worrying doesn't help me keep from getting upset. My BP was starting to get closer to normal this morning and it seems like a LOT of the fluid is out (my hands actually have wrinkles this morning). I want to see my baby, but I can't really do anything for him until I can take care of myself. It's pretty frustrating to know he's one floor up and it takes a village to get to him. Fortunately, he's got a village with medical degrees taking care of him. Still - he's my baby and I miss him. And it's hard.

[calley]

Dixie - so great to hear from you - I can not imagine the emotional and physical roller coaster you are on. I am sure everyone is saying it, but I am so proud of you and it sounds like you are stronger then all of us. Thinking of you and your family, keep the good reports coming.

Hugs, love and strength.

[heathermat]

Dixie- Congratulations to you and your DH!! I am so glad to hear all is going so well for Thomas. I cannot even imagine how tiny he must be. But undoubtedly he is very strong and quite a fighter. When do you think you can show us a pic of your handsome little guy?

[lmohall]

of course your on an emotional rollercoaster! You just had a baby!!! And major abdominal surgery!! Who wouldn't be?! And I say if you need that good big cry, you just take it...(it's probably better for you bp anyway not to hold it all in...in the long run).

Oh, did I say...congratulations?! I'm glad you've got an awesome team looking over Thomas.