An Exhausting Day!

Shower season is officially over!

My sister's shower went off without a hitch...although I was not thrilled that a few people showed up early because my mom and I were definitely not ready until exactly at 2:00.

My favorite part of the day was a game I made up. (I'm sure someone else has made something similar - but I came up with it myself this week.)  I had each of the mom's come up with 5 facts about their my sister and brother and law while growing up.

Some examples:

• First letter written to mom said "I will never speak to you again unless you buy me a donut."    

               (My sister)

• Got head stuck in chair slats at baby-sitters.

               (My brother in-law)

The game had everyone laughing.  Embarrassed my sister just the right amount.  And fit with the raising a baby theme.

We did some standards; cut a ribbon that it the circumference of mom-to-be's bump, name the baby food (one of the "gourmet" ones was chicken mango risotto - apparently it smelled quite horrible), and name the celebrity baby.

After presents I played the YouTube video of Go the F to Sleep narrated by Samuel L. Jackson sine only a couple of people at the party had heard of it.  That was a hit.  Then I showed the video of a lion at the zoo trying to eat a baby through plexiglass and the Jimmy Kimmel "I told my kids I ate their Halloween Candy" and "I gave my kids a horrible Christmas present."  If you haven't seen any of these; watch them!

It was a nice conclusion since people didn't seem ready to leave quite yet.

My wonderful friend made both cake pops and cookies and they were FANTASTIC!

Here's a pic:

They were adorable!

I got my sister a diaper bag and filled it with stuff I thought she might not know I needed.  (She's the pregnant one - but I read all of the baby sites.)

I got her:

• Butt Paste, Burp Clothes, a Pacifier Clip, Shampoo and Lotion, a Nursing Cover, Boogie Wipes, and Hand Sanitizer. 

Hopefully she likes it because I went completely off registry!

Besides the cleaning I did on Thursday and the shopping on Friday, I basically worked from 8:30 in the morning until about 5:30 non-stop.  I was EXHAUSTED last night.

But it was worth it : )

I also had many thoughts that I was not pregnant yesterday.  I think it's because I was so busy that I wasn't able to notice all of the usual symptoms.  But I have no reason to doubt and I'm still feeling stuff today.  9 days until ultrasound!

Wild about Auntie! (Shower #1)

The grandma's-to-be hosted the shower today so it was a breeze for me! (I'm hosting next week.)

I was really proud of my present and couldn't wait for my sister to open it!

How freakin' adorable is that onesie?  I found it at Target and HAD to have it.

At the last shower, one creative lady put little stuff on a clothesline...she got lots of "oohs and aahs" from the audience.  When I saw the socks, I thought that copying her idea would be perfect!  So I just added a couple of pacifiers and 1 set of stroller rattles and voila!  Super cute present.  I got the little clothespins and twine at Michael's.  Tip:  Pull the twine up into the joint of the clothespin so that the items don't slide around.

In my head I want to plan a "Pinterest" worthy shower for my sister.  But realistically, I don't have the time to commit or the tools of creativity to make it possible...all I've really got are the ideas.  I'm going to try to stick to a blue and yellow color scheme, but that's about it.  I'll definitely show you how it turns out.

At the shower, one of my mom's friends said "I'm probably not supposed to know, but I want to say how excited I am for you."  I couldn't really have expected my mom to keep it a secret since I can't keep secrets either and since she's so excited.  But at least her friend was discreet!

I googled about everything related to cramping and miscarriage last night.  I have absolutely no reason to worry right now, but for some reason it seems that when I get good news, I have to pick something new to worry about.

I also dreamed that I was spotting.  I'm not though.  Love the crazy dreams.  They are no joke!

I also got some answers from the nurse at my RE.  My first ultrasound will be anytime after 6 weeks, 3 days.  Then they'll do about 3 before releasing me to the regular OB at 9 weeks.  (And this is covered under the IVF cost...very happy about that.)

Still moving along...

Let's Catch Up!

This is the longest blogging hiatus I've taken since I started and it felt weird!  (It was only 4 days.)  I'm almost caught up on everyone else's blogs.  There seems to be lots of good news, but as always in this world, mixed with some bad news.  Hugs to Cristy!

Let's start the catch up with the Baby Shower.  First, let me just say that this shower's planning and decorating will put the shower I'm "planning" (in quotes because I haven't actually planned a thing yet) to shame.  It was a sock monkey theme in a gorgeous house with awesome food.  They even had custom water labels.  Sorry sister...that's probably not in the cards for you. 

I was still extremely hung over from my super fun night out on Friday, so I was moving a bit slowly.  I would've been on time to the shower if I hadn't missed the turn by at least 10 minutes.  FML.  But the shower was very nice and I enjoyed myself.  There was a ton of baby talk, but all of the moms were in their 30's so it didn't bother me much.  No hint of tears...until...the mom-to-be got up to thank everyone.

Oh my goodness.  She thanked everyone for supporting her through her long journey to that day.  She and her husband got married exactly one year before us and started IVF exactly one year before us also.  I'm sure I was not the only one who teared up, but I definitely knew it was time to leave.  It's really nice seeing where I can be in another 8 months or so.  I got super choked up.

Then an hour later, Mr. GG and I were on the road!  We packed a ton of stuff into a 3 day trip!  Universal Studios, a Comedy club, wine tasting in Santa Barbara, lots of good food, a couple of in-room movies...  But the best part was just getting away from everything. 

Oh and I got my sister the most adorable onesie...it's one of the minions from Despicable Me. I couldn't wait until the shower to give it to her, so we gave it to her yesterday to thank her for watching the puppy.

Unfortunately I have a hard time really enjoying vacations because I feel like I have so much to do!  I started getting stressed out on the ride home.  But I've already gotten a ton done today so I feel much better.  Remember that office?

Done and Done.  That was only 2 1/2 hours of work combined with 3 loads of laundry!  I am very proud of myself.

Now I can go see The Hunger Games and go out to dinner without any guilt. : )

SPRING BREAK!!!!!

I remember the Spring Break's of old.  In Mexico primarily.  1 cruise.  1 broken finger.  1 ill-advised hook-up.   (Out of 4 Spring Break's that's not too bad!)  LOTS of Tequila shots.

I'm starting out break in style...going clubbing!  Yeah, I'm a little surprised too.  I'm not really feeling it (or attractive) but one of my best friends just got out of a 10 year relationship and I feel obligated to help her get out.  Luckily all of my dresses fit...I just don't feel awesome in them.  I think I'm going to go with the one with sleeves...

* * * * *

But before I tell you about the rest of this break, I want to say thanks for a huge milestone.  My blog went over 10,000 page views this week!  Some of you old pros probably don't think that's a big deal, but personally, it's huge.  I never would have thought back in September that I would have found such a great community through blogging.  I knew almost nothing about it when I started.  So thanks for sticking around and inspiring me to share my life's details!  (It's really cut down on my Facebook posts!)

* * * * *

Back to break...

Baby Shower #1 is tomorrow.  (My IVF#1 success-friend.)  Can I just say how much I hate Babies "R" Us?  It's not just because the same 210 pack of diapers is $15 dollars cheaper next door at Target. (Seriously!  How is that even legal?)  And although I tried to look only ahead of me and block out any pregnant women or babies, that wasn't the biggest issue either.  The worst part was the organization.  It's impossible to find the stuff that's actually on the registry.  And the registry is super picked over because she already had a family shower in her hometown.  I challenge you to just try to find the "Blue" Boppy Cover.  That's all it says, "blue."  Well I saw tons of Boppy covers and none of them were just blue.  F it.  I'm going off-registry to get some cute stuff to open and then getting a gift card.

I can only stay at the shower for 2 hours anyway because DH and I are headed for a mini-break.  (I don't really say "mini-break" I just felt inspired by Bridget Jones and it does fit.)  We are going to spend 3 nights in Santa Barbara.  I super excited!!!  College me wasn't into wine-tasting and couldn't afford fancy hotels, but I think she would have approved.

Then will come the totally fun part of vacation.  I promised Mr. GG to clean out and organize the office.  I'll maybe take a before pic so you can all laugh at me.  It's been our dumping zone since the wedding.  I haven't been quite motivated to fix it because it will eventually become our nursery.  But however soon that may be, the stuff needs out.  And I will spend any leftover time grading papers and planning my units after break (like what to do before the AP Test!  Aaaah!)  What would college me say about this?  Probably that I am old.

Posting will probably be light (or non-existent) until I get back on Tuesday.

Baby Shower Season

Let me take a second to try to process how I feel about the upcoming showers I will be attending and/or hosting.

I think I'm 90% ok with it.

The first shower is next weekend.  It's for our good friends who are pregnant with their IVF#1 baby.  They got married exactly one year before us and started IVF time-wise, at exactly the same point we are currently at (just last year).  So she's kind of like my IVF mentor.  I absolutely want to be at her shower.

She, on the other hand, completely quit going to baby showers when she was around the same IF point as me.  But she's a bit more emo than I am : ) (which she would readily admit).  So I'm not really worried about attending her shower, but I think I'll have a little anxiety about whether someone will ask me something or say something to make me want to cry.

Then there's my sister.  Here's a review of my sister/s baby timeline:

After I had been trying for about 6 months, sister calls me out of the blue and says she's pregnant.  I respond by crying.  (After I get off the phone.)  I'm a little distant and bitchy until she has a miscarriage about 2 weeks later.  Shit.  Now I feel like the worst sister in the entire world!  (My sister and I are very close.  We talk just about every day.)  Jealousy issue solved.  It takes her about 6 months after a 2 month break to get pregnant the second time and I have been excited for her every minute.  She's due in late June.

My mom and her MIL are hosting a shower for the "adults" and I am hosting the shower for the "kids."  I'm a little worried about it.  I've already gotten excited about buying stuff for my new nephew, I even have a pinterest board devoted to him, and I want to paint cute murals in his nursery.  But something makes me feel weird about planning the shower, at least all by myself.  And I can't exactly explain why.

I actually really love baby showers.  My mom emailed me to see whether I thought decorating onesies was fun or cheesy. I responded that I love cheese (and decorating onesies!).

I think the issue I'm having is putting in a lot of time and stress planning while going through IVF or right after IVF.  If it's successful, great.  But if it's not, I'm afraid at how I'll react.

I'm really hoping that I'm pregnant at her shower.  That way I could entirely enjoy the day (instead of 90%).

These will be showers 3 and 4 since I started TTC.

How have the rest of you dealt with hosting and/or going to showers?