Back to School.

Today I had my first day back to classes.  I have decided while I'm at home to start working on my Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) certification so that I can change the signature on my work email to:  Megan  ______ M.Ed., BCBA.  I'm kidding it really is good for me to get certified if I want to continue in the field I am in or start providing ABA services privately.

It was the longest I have been without Lexi since she was born and it was hard for both my heart and my boobies.  We were running late trying to get our grocery shopping in before I left for class so I did not have time to feed her or pump.  Thank god our professor let us out almost an hour and a half early because just as he was starting to wrap things up I felt the oh so familiar feeling of my milk letting down.  Luckily I had on pads, a black shirt, and a hoodie, so nobody was able to see.  

It brought back some not so fond memories of when I was in undergrad finishing up my degree and Tyler was a newborn.  I never found a good place to pump that I felt comfortable enough on campus so I would try to make it through all my classes without it.  I remember numerous times sitting in my 7:20-10:00 class leaking through all the layers I had and crossing my arms over my chest so people wouldn't notice as much.  Oh to be 21 and a brand new mom trying to finish my degree - Fun Times!!!!

And just because posts with pictures are more fun here's one totally not related but fun nonetheless.  Its from when Ciara's family was visiting.  There was quite the discussion (in Spanish so I didn't get all of it) about whether Lexi should be allowed in the picture (i don't think her relatives from Panama know about us and they wanted a family picture) so they compromised and did half with her and half without.

Babysitting:)

Today we spent the day "babysitting" our family friend's two boys.  The older one was born a couple months after Tyler and they get along wonderfully and the younger one is 3.  We went to the park that was in walking distance from their house.  I think the boys really enjoyed themselves and we're supposed to do it again on Friday.

Ciara met us at the park because Lexi had an accident and I didn't bring along a change of clothes for either one of us and BOTH of us needed one after the explosion.

Lexi got to ride on the car and go down the slide for the first time.

While it was super cute, our little photo session seemed more like torture to the poor girl.

Poor Baby!!!

Lexi's First Concert

We had another busy couple of days!!!  On Thursday we had a baby luncheon:)  Three teachers on my preschool teaching team were all pregnant this year so we got all of the babies together to meet!  Here they are in order of the age..

Friday night we went to Lexi's first concert.  It was outside and there were a ton of families there.  Tyler had a blast playing with all of the kids that were there and Lexi did surprisingly well.  She slept through a lot of it which was amazing because it was so loud.  Ciara dressed her up in her "Spanish" outfit.

She is getting so much more alert we're having so much fun with it!!

We had a picnic while it was still light out and Ty got some pizza and popcorn - which meant he was in heaven.

Mama's glasses make such a fun toy!!!!

MHC in NYC

We had a WONDERFUL time while we were in NYC.  It was so great to see everyone and we had a lot of fun!!!  I do have to say I don't know how mom's there do it.  With the two of us after the four days we were there we were getting better getting around with the baby and the stroller and all of our stuff but man was it tricky!!!  I can't imagine having to try to do it by myself - so a serious high five to big city mammas!!

Here we are the first day in Central Park.

Tyler his uncle and his uncle's girlfriend hanging out in the crib.  Uncle Brenton had a pretty serious set up what with all the movies, computers, game systems, etc.

The second day we went to Coney Island which was a first for me.  We had a lot of fun, rode bumper cars, played games, ate cotton candy, funnel cakes, and hot dogs (from Nathan's).  Tyler LOVED it and kept asking to go back (mostly because he wanted to go to the arcade).

Yesterday we went to the Statue of Liberty because Tyler wanted to go see it and Ciara had never seen it before.  It was a long day but fun and worth it.  We had wanted to go up but you now need a reservation (made at least two weeks in advance) to be able to.  We learned a lot for next time:)

Like I said it was a long and tiring day!!

Sleep Grins

My new favorite thing that Lexi is doing is her sleep grins!!  She has started doing them while she is awake also and a few days ago it looked like she actually did it in response to me but I'm not sure.  My latest goal is to try to get a picture of it which I am having NO luck with.  They are just so unpredictable and so fast.  As soon as I get one I am going to post it!!!!

I've been going through my pictures from our trip to NYC and I'll post them in a little bit...

A little cuteness until we get a good grinning picture.

Our best one so far (from Ciara)

Home Sick!!!

Ok well Im having a bit of home sickness....I grew up in VA beach and I haven't been back home in ages. Yet this past march we went to a beach in NC and it was great. I miss the sea air and nobody up here eats sea food so I really miss that but I planning on going back in september for a few days. Ill show off the baby to my college buddies and family that still live down there. It will be a blast and Tyler loves the water. Lexi I hope will eat sea food one day and love the water also. 

HAPPY (Belated) BIRTHDAY Uncle Brenton

My brother came down from NYC to celebrate his birthday with his friends this weekend.  He came over for birthday cake and to see his niece and nephew.  Tyler absolutely ADORES him and they had fun playing the Wii games that were Ty's birthday present "from his cool uncle".  Check out the cake...my new hobby has been trying to recreate the C.ake Love cakes and
 cupcakes.  I made both the cake and the icing from scratch using the C.ake Love recipes.  If I can figure out how to pack them I'm going to take one up our newly named MHC in NYC reunion weekend on Saturday.  A group of my college buddies are meeting up because its been too long since we've seen each other and we're out of weddings to go to - well maybe one more coming up (wink wink Dev ).  

Our TTC Journey

After reading so many TTC blogs I really wish I had started this one when we were still trying.  I would love to have been able to look back over that now that we are here with our beautiful daughter:)  It all began in December 2006 when I proposed to Ciara.  According to her how I proposed was that I told her I wanted to get married and have a baby and that if she wasn't up for it then she was welcome to leave.  I of course do not remember this happening when I actually gave her the ring (or that I told her she was welcome to leave) but I'm sure some version of this did happen shortly after.  The original plan was to get married in the Spring of 08 and start trying to have a baby shortly after.  Before the year ended I had decided we were moving things up because I wanted to a spring 08 baby and that meant we were getting married that June.  Luckily for me Ciara was a good sport and went along with my plan:)

I started some loose charting in Dec/Jan (I did perfect this with computerized software later as you can see) and we started looking for our donor.  We found the perfect one and were put on a wait list.  We were told it could take up to a year for a specimen to become available so when we got a call in February that there were vials available we 

jumped on it.  The plan had been that we would store them until we began trying right after the wedding...but we couldn't wait and by April we were going for our first try.  We had done a small amount of research but I was pretty sure Tyler (not what you would call planned) was proof  that I was extremely fertile and all we would have to do was insert the little swimmers and voila I would be pregnant.  By this time I was recording symptoms and temping and using ovulation kits to help us time when we would do the insemination.  The first cycle we did three inseminations at home - but I think we actually missed the day I O'd.  I was so certain that I was pregnant I started testing at 8dpo.  The first few days I was convinced it was just too early and I continued to try to find more sensitive tests that would pick up the HCG I was sure my body was creating.  With each day that I became more obsessed and spent more time "researching" on the internet.  One day I was sure I had so many pregnancy symptoms that I jumped up off the computer to go and test again...when I found I had run out I went right to the pharmacy to buy myself a test.

When the second try didn't work we went to a fancy fertility clinic for the third.  We had a not 

so great experience there and paid about $600 just for the IUI.  Because we were less than thrilled with the people there and because we were paying for everything out of pocket with a little more research I was convinced we could do the IUI's at home.  Each month we learned a little bit more and added a little bit

 more.  While we continued to try at home I added to our arsenal ovulation kits that smiled when you were surging(I even have a pic because I posted them to TTC boards I was on), a ferning microscope, cervix gazing (my least favorite because we were both HORRIBLE at it), pre.seed, a fertility monitor, IUI catheters, and Cl.omid.  The end of July (our fifth cycle) we had a midwife come to the home and train Ciara how to do the IUI correctly.  

For those of you who know me IRL you know that I can get slightly obsessive about things (prime example: the slight stalking of elementary school crushes TEN years after the fact).  Like many people I have encountered in the virtual world I have been sucked in during this journey TTC consumed my world.  After the IUI with the midwife did not work we got a prescription for Cl.omid and I tried that for two more cycles with no luck.  Cl.omid made me into a scary MOODY person and was not particularly fun!!!  During my TWW of our seventh cycle I found a clinic that did minimal stim IVF.  This procedure cost about the same as a medicated and monitored cycle of IUI at the fancy clinic (we went back for a second consultation after try #6).  When I met with the doctor at the new smaller friendlier wonderful clinic he said he could do minimal stim IVF with me but was almost certain he could get me pregnant with a medicated and monitored cycle (that cost about two thousand less than the other clinic).

So in October I stopped charting (could not have been happier about that!!!!!!) and put 

myself into the hands of the new little clinic.  I started with Cl.omid and then added injections of G.onal F (only four days of injections if I remember correctly) and then did an HCG trigger.  After the insemination they gave me progesterone suppositories.  On November 4, 2007 we got our BFP!!!!!!  

While eight months felt like an eternity to me I know there are some who would have loved to be able to say it worked on their eighth try.  And of course I would do it ALL over again in a heartbeat to get this....

                                                

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy weekend!!!  To start out we had Ciara's cousin's birthday party at a water park on Friday night.  Unfortunately it got a little chilly so the kids were freezing but they still got to play.  Lexi got to sport her bathing suit but since it was so cold no one got to see her in it.  Here's a pic of her at the house before we left:)  We got to spend time with Ciara's family which was fun.  Her parents LOVE the baby and didn't even want us to leave.  Since her cousins don't speak any English (they're visiting from Panama) I got to practice my Spanish!!!  Tyler has been saying that he wants to learn Spanish so maybe we'll get him in some classes this fall.  We're hoping to speak both languages in the home so Lex will pick it up.   

Then Saturday we had a play date with a mom and her daughter.  Ciara met them online through a group called rainbow families:)  We are trying to meet other gay couples with kids and babies so Tyler and Lex know some kids that have two moms or dads like they do.  We went to this great park that had a train, a carasoul, and an ice cream parlor (and those were just the three things we did).

Today we went to our county fair.  The weather was pretty yucky in the beginning and then ended up being really nice so we were really glad we stuck it out

Ty had a lot of fun on the rides and in the petting zoo.

Lex basically slept through the whole thing...but thats what babies do right:)

Wow! My Happy Baby...

So I saw this great DVD! I'm not sure if I can post the title without Permission (New Blogger Syndrome) but everybody recommended it. "The happiest Baby on the Block " I love this this method and so does the little one. Its so simple and I wish I was the one banking on this. Alexis is like totally sleeping and well it's making my life so much easier. I'm so able to do this Mommy thing now ;-).  (Thank you Candice and Carey!!!)   

Here she is sleeping in her BASSINET!!!!!

Lexis First Playdate

So today was Lexi's first playdate!!  Her little friend Nicholas and his mommy came over.  Lexi mostly slept and ate while Nicholas played, smiled, and laughed (he's older and more mature:).  I didn't get any pics of the two of them together but maybe if Nicholas's mommy shares I can share also:)

Her other milestones are that she is lifting her head when she's on our chest or on her tummy and she is starting to look at us.  

This one isn't a milestone its just cute.  How did she manage to get her hands like that??

Co-Sleeping/Spoiling

So I know that I have heard that you can't spoil and infant by holding them too much but I think I just need to hear it again.  We have all become so used to sleeping together that when we try to do it any other way it doesn't seem to work as well.  This goes for Lexi, Ciara, and me.  Every night we've tried to start out with the bassinet we end up going to the snuggle nest, and then to just co-sleeping.  (The main reason we don't just co-sleep is because Ciara has diabetes and if her sugar gets low in the night she might not wake up if she rolled on the baby.)  Sometimes I grab her just because I can't see her or am nervous she's not breathing or just want to hold her.  Sometimes one of us will fall asleep while burping her (as you can see).

Now I'm worried because Lexi seems to sleep 

best (or at all) when she is physically touching one of us.  Yesterday she slept in the Moby Wrap and today I have been able to answer all of my emails and blog because she's asleep against my leg.  Its been a solid two hours that she has slept...by far the best all day.  Now I'm nervous to move (and do the things I need to like the laundry and dishes and vacuuming) because I'm so nervous she'll wake up and start crying again, and then I still won't get things done AND i'll have a screaming baby.  So am I "spoiling her"?  Am I setting myself up for her only being able to sleep when she is touching me for the next year?  Please tell me no...and if I am tell me how to fix it:)

Tyler Opening the Wii

Here is a quick video of Ty opening his Wii..It has some funny jumps and isn't the greatest quality because I tried to cut out his friends faces..but I think you can get the idea.  I wanted to share with some of our friends IRL..after they see it I'll take it down.

Lexi's Birth Story

I loved Ciara's idea of going back and putting down our history.  It gives us one place where we have all of our stories together so here is my contribution for the day/night.  

We actually had a very good experience with our birth!!! It sort of started Sunday night. I started having contractions that weren't too painful but they started at about 10 minutes apart and after about four hours they were about a minute and a half apart...but I could still walk and talk through them. Our practice said we should go in and get checked out so we went into L&D and I was checked and I was 0 cm and 0 effaced. The nurse said we could walk or just go home...so we decided to go home. When we were leaving she said "Ok see you next week."

Monday we slept (we got home around 6 am and slept till about noon - Ty was luckily with my parents for a sleepover). We spent the night trying to get the contractions to "do something" with no luck. We went over to my parents house around 8:30 to have dessert, play dominoes, and hang out with Ty who was going to stay with them until our little one came. I started having the same type of contractions not too painful but fairly consistently about 5-7 minutes apart. When we got home we decided to try to go to sleep because we were both exhausted after the night before and didn't have the energy to walk and time, especially if nothing was going to happen.

So around midnight I took my Benadryl (the secret to me sleeping during the third trimester) and we went to sleep. I woke up a couple of times to use the bathroom and noticed that I was still having contractions and that they were getting more painful. At 2 am the contractions woke me up and I was definitely not able to walk and talk through them. I tried to get through them for a while on my own (ciara was EXHAUSTED so I thought I’d let her sleep). The contractions were about three minutes apart and lasting only about 30 seconds. I tried breathing through them and taking a bath. After an hour we called the advice line and they said they were shorter than they would like but closer together....so she paged the doctor. She called back and said the doctor wanted us to go in so he could check my cervix. I was just starting to figure out how to get through the contractions and was thinking it might be nice to labor at home for a little while longer...but we decided we would go ahead and go in since it is a thirty minute drive.

By the time I got there I was having a lot of trouble breathing through the contractions and they felt like they were getting closer together. All I could think about was getting my epidural and I was hoping I was close to 4cm so they would admit me and let me get one. We went through the check in procedures which went very quickly since we had been there the night before (which actually was nice because I certainly could not have answered all of those questions). Before the nurse went to get the doctor to check me Ciara asked if she thought I would be staying. She looked at the print out and said she was pretty sure I would be admitted but that we would see. The doctor came very quickly (the last time we waited an hour and the doctor just sent the nurse instead). When he checked he said i was EIGHT centimeters and that he could stretch me to nine!!!!!

After that everything went into what felt like hyper speed mode. We had checked in at 4:00am. I was GBS+ and wanted an epidural so they got me into a room and started my IV. We called my parents and the photographer to let them know and have the photographer come over. They got me hooked up to the Epidural and I had some relief but I was still feeling a lot of pain/pressure. The nurse was so sweet and was sitting with me trying to get me through the contractions but also trying to get her paperwork done (there were two others helping her because everything had gone so fast). She was kidding around and asked me to just hold off until she finished but with each contraction she looked more nervous because I kept feeling pain and pressure and said I thought I might be feeling like i needed to push. She got the doctor again and sure enough I was 10 centimeters. My water hadn’t broken and the doctor asked if I thought I could hold off a half an hour more because with the GBS they really like to run the antibiotics for two hours. He stayed in the room with me and was talking with the nurse and Ciara and after two or three contractions with them watching my face he said I should go ahead and he would have me push and see what happened.He was checking stuff and having me push a little and my water broke. So he said we would go ahead and set up for delivery. Our photographer walked in just as I was about to start the first push so she made it just in time....With the first contraction they could see her hair, and with the second one she was out!!!!!! She was born at 5:45 am, weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces, and was 20 inches long.

(I added a link to the blog of the photographer we used and LOVE for our wedding, maternity, and birth photos so people can check her out - she rocks - and here's the slideshow she created!!!)

Still Awake..

So its 1am and we are all still awake which is not that unusual for me..but for Ciara and little Lexi this is pretty late!!!  If you drink caffeine during the day does it get into breast milk and then make the baby stay awake?  I know this is my second time around but everything feels like it is the first time because Tyler was a baby SO long ago!!!!  I am feeling so scattered because there are just so many things I want to get out but tonight it looks like thats going to be a major challenge so i'll make a list of things to address:)....

1. Fussy babies: What calming tricks work?  What's normal?  When do I worry? 
2. Family beds/Co-sleeping: the transition to a crib or bassinet, 8 year old still coming into bed, snuggle nest
3. Breast feeding: supply, pain!!!!, how can you tell if what you're eating is bothering the baby and how do you fix it?
4. Much older sibling: how to create a good balance (attention, buying things, etc.)
5. Baby acne and diaper rash on a girl baby
6. Babies of color: when do they get their color?  When will hair get curly? Baby doesn't look like mommy.

So I had three small victories in the close to two hours it took to finish this post: First she stopped crying, Second she took the pacifier and gave my poor tatas a break, and Third SHE'S ASLEEP!!!!!

Our Story - Part 1 (How we Began Ciara's point of view)

Let see where to start....First Online love really happens. I feel like all the Eharmony or Match stuff is a little more marketing and not enough real life. Yet in the case of myself and my future wife we were quite the online love match.  We didn't decide to get together for coffee or lunch

 for several months. I guess I wasn't as smooth of a talker as I thought.  Little did I know she had other things going on. Our first encounter before we really started the dating thing was when I saw her at the JC ( what we called the student hang out area).  I later emailed her and she told me that she was a grad student at the same school I went to.  Still no getting together. Later down the road I started working as a bartender at a local Lesbian Bar and guess who walks in to my bar. Good ole Megan.   She was looking a little out of place.  Megan has a young look to her which is really great when she is 

40 and she looks 23, but at a bar not so good. I thought she was underage and had snuck in. Anyway, she asked one of my co-workers about me and one thing lead to another. 

 

As I said before she had a few things going on in her life, such as a little toddler at home.  Boy was he a cutie pie.  After that night we talked and she told me a lot of things about herself and I did the same. When she told me about the little guy I thought dating was out but we could be good friends.  She later allowed me to meet her young son. I fell in Love with him ASAP! He was full of energy and was very funny. I'm a sucker for charming little kids. Our friendship later become are love story. Crazy I know but I now  have the Dream wife and family. Who can ask for more?

A Perfect Lazy Sunday

Today is like the perfect Sunday afternoon. Its not to hot outside and its breezy. This is all very rare for Washington DC weather. Normally Summer is really just to much here. I love the DC area but I could really do without the sticky summer weather. Any who, My partner and kids are out at a friends now and Im home alone. This never happens to me and Im not sure what to do with myself? Well I decided to write on the Blog. Why not right? My little Lexi didn't let me sleep much last night so I think Im going to nap next but for now I need to add something new to the blog today.

The First Post

So I've been reading a lot of blogs since I have become a temporary stay at home mom.  Ciara keeps telling me that I should create a blog and I've finally agreed to do one.  So here we are...Ciara will post on here later.  

Lexi and I have been playing with Photobooth while Ciara sleeps:)  Now I'm the only one left awake.  I guess I should sleep now also.