I am a homebody

I really like being at home, even if I'm doing housework. So today, I'm expecting my brother and his family to come over and hang out at our house. I was away from home most of the day yesterday. Well it's 1:00 pm, and they still haven't come. I just want to stay home in my comfy clothes and do some laundry, do some organizing in the nursery, and be here in case Nathan needs something. I actually need to do a little shopping, but I don't want to fight the traffic and the crowds. I might go out this evening or tomorrow. I need a curtain for the nursery, maternity dress for shower next weekend, and some random things. I'm trying to decide what kind of camcorder we should get. I'm leaning towards the DVD recorder or mini DVD because I don't want to have to put it on the computer and burn a DVD. Plus we don't have a great computer or a DVD burner. I also like the ones that record on DVD or on the memory stick. Any advice?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got all the prep work done yesterday thanks to my brother's help. Now I'm just popping each casserole in the oven for it's turn to cook. Then when everything is done, I'll put them all in the oven on low temp to stay hot till it's time to go. Nathan is on the roof working because it's supposed to rain tomorrow. He really thought he would finish yesterday, but there was a lot more rotten wood than he thought. He doesn't think there is a great way to fully protect the little room from rain. I'm sure he'll do the best he can. I just feel bad that he has to work on the house on Thanksgiving. His dad is here helping him.

So as I sit and wait for the food to bake, I have a moment to reflect on my life and what I'm thankful for.

Thank you God for giving me loving parents that brought me up with good values and prepared me for the big world. Thank you that they were able to send me to a good college. Thank you for giving me a big dose of motivation to finish college and get a great job. Thank you for placing Nathan in my life. Thank you for allowing us to be parents to one of your newest children.

Thank you for all my friends and family out there reading this message. I pray that everyone has a great day and takes a moment to share what they are thankful for.

Crazy Day Ahead

My massage was so great yesterday. Then I went and bought some new bras. I hate spending the money when I know they won't fit for long, but I did go up on the band size, and I just can't be miserable all day. Then I went to HEB (grocery store) to use a gift certificate Nathan got from work for a free turkey and other food. As soon as I walk in the door, who do I see but my mom! There are 1000 people in that store, and I never go in there. I just went because of the gift certificate, so it was funny! We asked about what all we got from it, and I gave it to mom. She's cooking the turkey anyway.

So today should be a pretty crazy day too. I'm "working" till 11:30, meeting my friends for lunch, going to the grocery store (ughhh) to fight the crowds, then cooking broccoli cheese casserole, cornbread dressing, green beans, and broccoli salad for tomorrow. I will probably do all of the prep work and some of the cooking today and bake everything tomorrow morning. My brother and two of the kids came in last night from San Antonio, so maybe he will come hang out with me while I cut up millions of vegetables and cook. Hopefully I don't wear myself out too much. Last night, I was tired and hungry on the way home, and I had lots of BH contractions.

I hope everybody has a great day today getting ready for tomorrow! I will try to post tomorrow, but if I don't, Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for friends and family that make my life fulfilling and keep me busy!

Maternity Pics

Here goes nothing! Here are my maternity pics! http://amberhamiltonphotography.com/maternity.html

Kind of scary seeing me all out there, but I really wanted to share the pics to help Amber get more maternity clients. She did such a great job. I really like the pics with the baby shoes.

Dr Appt

Yes, I know, I go to the dr a lot! But I actually learned a few things today. Nathan went with me, which is nice. It makes it less miserable to have to sit and wait forever. We got their at 2:30 and didn't leave until close to 5:00. The tech tried to do the 3D u/s again, but the baby is not in a good position to see his face. Then we did the NST (non-stress test - where they hook my belly up to a monitor to watch the baby's heartrate and watch for contractions). We will be doing these every week now. And - I learned that I get to pay $30 every week for these. Great. All for one little boy... Then the dr came in and said our NST looked great. We talked about my contractions and pains, and she said it is a preview of labor. I also asked about timing of labor. She said that she would let us go into labor as early as 37 weeks. She said that they would try to stop labor at 36 weeks, but if he really wanted to come, they would let him. Then I asked what was the latest we would go. She said that she wouldn't let us go past our due date because of our risk factors. So it sounds like we could be having a baby as early as 36 weeks, which is December 24! Or 37 weeks, December 31! And January 21 at the latest! Of course I don't want him to come early, but it's just nice to know what the dr's plans for me are.

Today Nathan is working on fixing the flat roof that has been leaking. I'm thankful that my husband is big and strong and knows how to work on our house. I know he doesn't like doing it, but I'm glad he is willing to. I'm also thankful that we got our sewer problem fixed. I think another problem is coming though. It seems like our water from the tap had dirt in it. Yuck! If it's not one thing, it's another. We got our cat fixed yesterday, the little orange one. He is my little baby, so I was worried about him, but he is ok. He was still drugged up when we picked him up yesterday, but this morning, he was back to normal and wanting to be petted and loved.

Thoughts on Number of Babies - Updated

Updated to make correction: I said I was pro-life, but hate abortion. I meant that I am pro-choice, but hate abortion. Thanks Nancy for helping me clear this up.

Nancy and Jewels had posts last week about implanting embryos and abortion that were very thought provoking. I can't help but share my thoughts.

For those unfamiliar with terms and situations for selective reduction, let me explain. Selective reduction is basically ending the life of a fetus, usually using a chemical solution, usually done in the first trimester. This can be done for a variety of reasons, including a terminal pregnancy where the infant how little or no chance for survival, and high order multiples.
For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_reduction

High order multiples (I'm defining as more than two fetuses) can occur for many reasons: naturally, after transferring embryos, after insemination, or with the use of fertility drugs and intercourse.

In transferring embryos, there are statistics that predict how many transferred embryos will implant and grow. For instance, a woman could transfer three and be told her chances for no pregnancy is 60%, singleton is 20%, twins is 17%, and triplets is 2.9%, and the chances of an embryo splitting to have quadruplets is .1% (made that up). She would have to make the best decision she could. Her decision would probably changed based on her age, financial situation, quality of embryos, and her thoughts on how many children she could handle. Hard decisions.

For an insemination or timed intercouse with the use of fertility drugs to stimulate the ovaries, things are different. A woman may be told, you have 3 follicles that could produce eggs. She has to decide if she is ok with possibly having 3 embryos form. Or she could be told she has 4 follicles. She has to decide where to draw the line and say no. That would be hard to say after she has invested time and money into a cycle.

It's hard to say what I think is right and wrong. I think there is a line to draw. To me, a small chance of quadruplets would be a good place to draw the line. More than 4 embryos to transfer or more than 4 follicles for IUI or intercouse seems like too much for sure. I don't think I would transfer more than 2 embryos because of our history of transferring two and getting two to implant.

But, who am I to judge people for their decisions? Selective reduction sounds so much more acceptable than abortion to some people, but really, it's the same, a life lost. But then again... what about our frozen embryos? What if we are not able to transfer all 9 of our embryos? I like to think life begins when the embryo attaches to the uterus. But some people may define life starting at conception. It won't be an easy thing to do for us to let them go if we have to, but where does that rank on the terrible people meter?

I'm pro-life, but I hate abortion. I hope we can concentrate on how to help women avoid having to do selective reduction and abortion by having adoption programs and having REs counsel women on the dangers of high order multiples. I've actually seen women post on message boards about using some of their leftover medications on their own, not supervised by their dr!! That is horrible! That could result in high order multiples or OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) which can result in severe pain and even death for a woman.

Bottom line, this is a very sensitive topic, and decisions of this nature should be given much thought and should be guided by a competent doctor.

Nursery

I'm so excited to have stuff for the nursery! I'm going to try and get the bedding washed and put in sometime today! I've got one load of baby clothes, sheets, blankets, and towels in the wash with about two more to go. I went online to BRU and they must not do a very good job updating the registry. I went in one day last week to check on their stock, and I bought the boppy tummy mat because they only had one, and it wasn't even in the right place. I went online this morning, and it was listed as not purchased yet. I got a couple other things yesterday that weren't counted as purchased too. I already know after one baby shower I'm going to get way too many clothes and blankets, but unless I know where they came from or have a gift receipt, I'll probably keep them. If I don't use them all, I'll give them to someone who needs them. Dinner is in the crock pot. We're going to church in a little while. Hope everyone has a great day.