Posts by Belle
It’s a leftover kind of day!
Diva Cup Giveaway
Don’t forget to leave a comment if you want a shot at getting the potentially lucky Diva Cup! They are supposed to be a menstruation life saver, which honestly, when you dread your period like us IFers do can really help improve upon an already shitty week! Vanessa over at Yeah Science left her product endorsement: “I don’t need one myself, but to any other commenters reading, THIS THING IS AWESOME AND WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Totally takes away the dependence on tampons and gross pads and leaves zero waste and never overflows.”
Lexington Shower
Invitation proof. Yes, I designed my own shower invitation. No, I don’t feel lame about that – it was cheaper than buying them and I was able to use up some of my card stock and lined envelopes!
I’m excited about Beer, Bratwurst & Babies this weekend! It will be so much fun to see old friends from out of town, and to see in town friends who we’ll be very sad to move away from in a few months. Our fridge is stocked with food fixin’s right now and tonight Katie and I will start cooking. Yes, I’m helping out with my own shower and no, I’m not going to feel weird about that. I’m a modern woman! (And I’m sort of a design and culinary control freak so it only makes sense!)
Our little house is as tidy as is possible given the current state of disarray with the impending move. This morning the Professor is in charge of litter boxes, basement moping and dealing with the clogged dehumidifier I had no idea what a big difference this growling appliance makes in the moisture and general stankiness of our basement until it clogged a week ago. Since then, the smell has been gradually increasing in urgency. I sure hope things are de-stunk before guests start arriving tonight!
Growth Scan
Monday is our next growth scan with Dr. TeleMed and another checkup with Dr. Shannon. I’m working hard on staying positive that everything with Chicken will be a-ok. I’m a little nervous since EVERYONE is constantly telling me how small I am when I say I’m 34 weeks and giving my belly this intense, scrutinizing stare. I try to remember that we all carry our babies differently and that I could just be growing a small baby. The Professor also assures me that he sees belly growth daily and that this is what really matters – steady, consistent growth.
We’ll find out more on Monday and get a better feel on if they will have to take Chicken out early due to the placenta. As eager as I am to stop peeing my pants, I would really prefer to cook Chicken till at least 38 weeks.
New Home
Progress continues on the new home front. The lawyers sent our contract on Wednesday and we’ll review it this weekend when I have a second to catch my breath. Since this is so new to us, and we are young and really not wanting to ruin ourselves forever with a botched real estate deal, we are shelling out a couple hundred extra and having our lawyer travel to Riverdale and meet with the co-op board in person to review their meeting minutes. He will then come back to us and give an honest assessment of how he views the health of the co-op. As much as I LOVE the place, I won’t buy into it without being as sure as possible that it is a sound investment. Fingers crossed everything comes back clear and we can proceed with the board application and approval process!
Operation S.O.S.
Yeah, this is still going on, although not as quickly as I had hoped. Our original garage sale was rained out so we have rescheduled for next Saturday. I hope that between now and then the Professor can dig through some more stuff. Now that he has seen the size of the new place and the lack of storage hopefully he can be a little more realistic about what we can and can’t bring. For example the Shop Vac – nice as they are, it is not being stored under my dining room table! 
Cats
I have not written about the cat circus in a while, and for good reason – we are faced with some extremely difficult decisions right now and it is giving us a lot of heartache and tears. I’m not ready to write about it yet, but did want to ask for good thoughts and prayers as we move forward.
Random Food Thoughts
I have been craving cake for days, people. Days upon days of cake craving. Like real cake with three layers and icing and overly sweet icing flowers. Sadly, there is no fancy cake in my dairy-free future. I might have to make some post-birthing cake arrangements or something!
What’s new in y’alls world? Any exciting weekend plans?
The playground across the street from our new home. I can’t wait to bring Chicken here to play!
I think the Chicken, and my mind, have shifted.
Last Saturday I treated myself to a prenatal massage. The rib pain was getting unbearable and I was beginning to develop some numbness in areas. It was weird and unpleasant. The massage therapist spent a long time working on my back where I carry about 90% of my tension and then had me flip over and lie supported so she could gently work on my belly. Whatever she did felt a-maz-ing and provided instant relief that made me quite happy to shell out $60 bucks.
As I was leaving she assured me that in four weeks or so baby would drop and I’d have a lot more rib relief. Four weeks? OMG, I don’t know if I can handle four more weeks! But really, what choice do I have?
Then Tuesday night I realized that I had gone the entire day, including eating a big dinner, with ZERO rib pain. I was thrilled but didn’t want to jinx it. Yesterday I continued to have rib relief plus some indescribable cervical discomfort anytime Chicken was active that left me moaning or silently wincing during the staff meeting.
By last night I’d had enough and decided a short 20 minute walk would help lull the Chicken to sleep so he/she would stop doing whatever to my cervix. It worked and as I sat (well, more like impersonated a beached whale) on the couch I realized that Chicken is lower. Is this possible at 33/34 weeks, though? It seems early. What are your thoughts? And should I expect him to return to my ribs between now and birth?
The sudden lowness of Chicken is a real reminder that I could be birthing a baby quite soon, and we have NOTHING prepared. I have not washed anything. We still don’t have sheets for the cosleeper. No cover for the super nice changing pad I purchased. No socks for baby’s feet. No wipes for baby’s bum. And so on. I am, for all intents and purposes, not at all prepared should Chicken come early.
This morning I did some rummaging online and found a 20% off coupon to Diapers.com. I have filled my cart with $150 in baby necessities and am now staring at it, unable to commit to checkout. It just seems like clicking that button will make everything so real.
It’s been easy to buy a thing here and there – a stroller, a carrier, a package of cute gray onsies, etc. It seems very surreal to purchase a cart full of basics that will make it possible for us to care for baby when he/she comes home. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad feeling! After dreaming about this for so long, though, it seems the reality is finally starting to hit home. I think I’ll let my cart linger for a little while and savor this new feeling, as I realize that I will never again experience the newness that is an impending first-time birth.
Source.
Once upon a time in 2012 when I was a bitter and intensely crampy Belle, I bought a Diva Cup and a bottle of Diva Cup Wash. I had just had a failed FET and was shocked by how heavily I was bleeding. Convinced that there was never going to be a happy ending to my story, I ordered my Diva Cup in the size recommended for women who have not delivered vaginally and who are under 30 years old (oops, either missed that age notation or was in some hard-core denial when I ordered it!)
Two weeks later two more embryos were transfered and a few days after that I tested entirely too early and saw a squinter. And the rest is history, I guess.
Last night I was going through the bathroom cabinets as step 5,000 (slight exaggeration) of our pre-move purge and found the unopened cup and wash. Was this a lucky cup? Eh, I seriously doubt that. If all our lucky charms worked then we would all be pregnant first time around! It is, however, a perfectly good diva cup and not the kind of thing I want to, you know, have out at my garage sale!
So I thought I’d do a giveaway on Scrambled Eggs and pass it on to another infertile who is still in the trenches and frustrated by the epic flow that follows a bust cycle. To enter, simply leave me a comment sharing how you cope with a bust cycle. I’ll select a random reader on Sunday and announce the winner Monday!
