12w1d - Personality Test Results

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion 83% Stability 50% Orderliness 60% Accommodation 56% Interdependence 76% Intellectual 70% Mystical 30% Artistic 56% Religious 10% Hedonism 43% Materialism 63% Narcissism 70% Adventurousness 10% Work ethic 43% Self absorbed 56% Conflict seeking 63% Need to dominate 76% Romantic 56% Avoidant 36% Anti-authority 76% Wealth 50% Dependency 50% Change averse 70% Cautiousness 56% Individuality 36% Sexuality 36% Peter pan complex 43% Physical security 90% Physical Fitness 50% Histrionic 43% Paranoia 30% Vanity 50% Hypersensitivity 63% Female cliche 43%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.
Extraversion results were high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Trait snapshot:
clean, self revealing, open, organized, outgoing, social, enjoys leadership and managing others, dominant, makes friends easily, does not like to be alone, assertive, hard working, finisher, optimistic, positive, likes to stand out, likes large parties, respects authority, practical, high self esteem, perfectionist, dislikes chaos, busy, not familiar with the dark side of life, controlling, high self control, traditional, tough, likes to fit in, conforming, brutally honest, takes precautions.

So, what results do you get?

11w4d - NT Scan today & new due date

I had my nuchal translucency ultrasound today. This u/s is useful with some blood tests to help adjust odds for Trisomies, including Down Syndrome. The NT measurement ideally is below 3, our measurement was about 1.7mm, so a very nice result. We'll get the adjusted odds later after the blood has been analyzed too. My standard odds based on my age are about 1/300.

They did notice that the baby has a large bladder. This could be nothing or it could be something. It could be that the baby needed to pee and just hasn't yet, or it could be that there is a slight blockage in the urethra making it difficult to empty the bladder. We'll go back next week to take another look as see if the bladder is getting bigger. Hopefully it will be smaller by next week and we'll be in the clear. If it's bigger, then we'll probably come back again in a week to track the measurement. They said that one measurement isn't very useful, that they need to see the trend to know if there is an issue or not. The doctor said that they see this a lot and almost always it resolves itself by the next look.

They adjusted my due date based on the measurements today, so once again, I get to essentially skip a week of pregnancy!! Yippee!! I was about 11w3d based on my ovulation date today and baby measured at 12w3d, so my new due date is July 8, 2007. My OB likes to do repeat c-sections (which I'll probably end up with) about a week or so early, so we're more likely looking at a due date in the first week of July. Fine with me, that's before most of the heat hits around here!

Hubby and I thought we might have seen a penis today. The u/s tech said it's too early to say, which we know, but still. The doctor admonished us to not assume anything - that increased estrogen from me can cause more swelling of the genitals in the baby and what looks like a small penis could very easily be an enlarged clitoris at this point. He said that a friend of his and her husband came in for an u/s. Her husband is a radiologist and he was convinced that he saw a penis and was quite surprised at her 20wk u/s that they were having a girl. So, we still don't know gender yet. Maybe we'll see more next week, but not counting on it that's for sure. My acupuncturist still says girl, so we'll see.

Overall, it was a great appointment, even with our inconclusive bladder results. My parents are still in town and were able to come with us and see their last grandbaby on ultrasound which I know was very special for them. I do have some pics, but still haven't found a working scanner to be able to scan them in. I promise to work harder on that this week. I want to scan the pics before they start to naturally darken up.

11w2d - That was a weird dream.

I've had a few weird dreams with this pregnancy, but last night's was the oddest so far. And the fact that I remember it so clearly, even now, is unusual for me.

I dreamt that someone sent me a real live stork as a present (symbolism, much?). It was a juvenile one and it came with a few baby presents, all in pink. Apparently, someone thinks for sure I am having a girl. (That would be good!) I couldn't figure out who had sent this gift so I was looking through the paperwork that came with it and there was info about how the stork would eventually need to migrate back to it's own home and depending on where you lived and the time of year and what type of stork you received, it would migrate at different times. My stork was going to need to stay with us until May-early June (I'm due in mid-July). Then, at that time, I'd have to find a very tall building or tree or something and take the stork to the top to release it so it could find it's way home. There was a diagram included showing possible options for the release point. In searching through all the paperwork, I came across a name that I recognized and figured it had to be the person who sent this gift to me. The name was James Denton. Yes, the actor who plays Mike on Desperate Housewives. Why him? I haven't the earthliest clue. I mean, he's pretty darn cute and all, but I have no idea why he ended up in my dream. I could only deduce that he was a reader of this very blog and that was how he knew that I'm pregnant. I planned to put up a post thanking J.D. for the lovely gift.

Ok, let's analyze this one and see if we can figure out what it means. Any ideas?

10w5d - Ahhh, heat is good...so is a doppler

I'm happy to report that as of yesterday afternoon, our power was restored. Five nights of no power, no heat, no phones (VoIP doesn't work w/o power), no TV, no internet is just insane. Yes, I know others have had it worse and I feel for them, but this was my situation and I was soooo over it after about 2 days of 'camping in'. And it didn't help that the temps were dropping into the 20's overnight - BRRRR!!!

And on even better news, my doppler just arrived and I found the heartbeat!!!!! S/he moved after a few seconds and was hiding, so I couldn't measure it. Also, I swear I rented the digital version so I wouldn't have to count heartbeats, but I need to confirm that. Yay! My baby is still alive!!

9w5d - It's good to be back.

I finally got back to yoga class on Tuesday for the first time in a few weeks. I didn't realize how much my body missed it until after class. I just feel so much better when I've moved my body a bit.

We were snowed in a couple of weeks ago and Not So Wee One's preschool was cancelled. Not that I could get out of town to get to the gym with the ice on the roads either. Then, there was the field trip to a pottery studio where NSWO slapped some paint on a snowman and I painted the other two ornaments. And last Thursday was my day to work in the classroom so I missed yoga yet again.

I was happy to find that I hadn't lost too much in the way of flexibility and now that the nausea is gone (knock wood!) class was very enjoyable physically. There was some bad news too though. Another gal in the class who was pregnant with identical twins lost them at about 20 weeks to TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome). She seems to be doing amazingly well given the circumstances. Yoga provides a safe haven for her I think. I know it did for me after my loss in May.

My teacher gave me a very nice compliment yesterday too. He was giving me a pose to do for a bit while everyone else was doing their warm-up which I don't do while pregnant. Even though it's been a few weeks, I remembered exactly the plan and got right to it. He said that I have a really good memory for this stuff, including the sanskrit names for poses and that I should consider teaching someday. Very kind. I feel like I'd have to practice yoga a lot longer and achieve a higher level of proficiency before I should be teaching, but apparently you don't have to be able to do all the poses perfectly to understand them and be able to help others understand them too. Who knows what the future might bring, but it was sure flattering. Especially from him. We practice Iyengar yoga first founded by B.K.S. Iyengar and my teacher's teacher studied with B.K.S. Iyengar himself, so I guess there are only 3 degrees of separation between me and this renowned yoga master. That's pretty darn cool. Not that it's helped me with my arm balances yet. Oh well, all in good time, right?

8w6d - 1 hour glucose screening test results

I am OVER THE MOON to be able to tell you that I passed my glucose screening test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not diabetic - yet.

Back with NSWO, I did the 1 hr test at 25 wks due to a large family history of diabetes and failed with a score of 175 - ouch! Yesterday's test result was a mere 75, so my cute little pancreas is handling things just fine for now. The midwife said I don't need to repeat until 28 weeks.

I swear I feel about 15 lbs lighter right now!

8w5d - 2nd ultrasound report

Today was our 2nd u/s and I'm very happy to report that all is well. The baby is measuring exactly at 8w5d and the heartbeat measured at 176bpm which is wonderful! We've got some more u/s pics of the blob-looking thing and as soon as we can figure out a scanner, I'll post them.

I'm officially released from the care of the RE which is such a great feeling.

I also did the 1hr glucose test today and thought I'd timed it well to drink the orange junk in the car at 9:15am, do the u/s at 9:30am and have plenty of time to walk the 2 min to the lab for the blood draw at 10:15am. That would have worked out perfectly except that the RE was running 30 min late this morning. I've had great luck lately at this time of day and haven't had to wait more than 10-15 min to go in, but today not so much. I got thru the u/s (time stood still there for a few minutes) and raced up to the lab and made it with 2 min to spare. Whew! I did NOT want to have to come back another day to do that test again. I'll hear later this week what the results were. Keep your fingers crossed, ok? I really don't want to be diabetic already.

Today, I finally allowed myself to have the thought, "I'm going to have a baby!" Hehe.

8w3d - a significant milestone

To most pregnant women, 8 weeks & 3 days is probably just another day in a pregnancy. For me, it holds some pretty big significance. Last time I was pregnant, 8w3d was the last day I was pregnant. The ultrasound at 8w2d showed that the heartbeat we'd seen the week prior was gone. They were able to get me in for the D&C the next day. At 8w3d, I started out the day technically still pregnant, but by the end of the day, I was not.

This time, 8w3d has a better outcome so far. I have another ultrasound on Wednesday (8w5d) with the RE and I'm hopeful that everything will show up just fine. I got myself a bit freaked this weekend when on Saturday, I woke up and suddenly the nausea and constipation were gone. Nothing like a sudden lack of symptoms to make a pregnant lady assume the worst. Especially when the worst has happened before.

Also, today, I had my first appointment with the midwife practice. I am hoping to be able to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) with this one and figured that if I was with a midwife I'd have a better chance at achieving that goal. The CNMs (certified nurse-midwives) are in the same practice as my former OB, so I'd also have access to OBs if needed. Unfortunately, the MW informed me today that if my gestational diabetes comes back and I end up on insulin again that they won't be able to allow me to try a VBAC due to their insurance limitations. Apparently, there's too much of a risk that the baby will be too big due to the GD and the risk is more than their insurance company will allow. I think the final decision is ultimately based on u/s measurements late in the pregnancy, but odds are, I'll have a baby that is estimated to weigh too much. The cut-off is 4000 grams (8.5 lbs). NSWO was 8.5 lbs and 2nd babies are often bigger. So, I may be out of a VBAC before we even start.

I also have to do the glucose screening test this week. Yes, at only 8-9 weeks pregnant, I have to check to see if I'm already diabetic, this is usually done at about 26-28 weeks. I guess for some, it comes on way early in subsequent pregnancies. Gosh I sure hope not - that would S-U-C-K! It was hard enough being diabetic for 3-4 months, doing it for 7 months would not be fun at all. I feel for people who are diabetic all the time - so rough. I'll probably do the test on Wednesday since I'll be up at the hospital for the ultrasound anyway. Wish me luck.

Just in case I am already diabetic (which would mean no VBAC for me) I also made an appointment with a highly regarded OB in a different practice. I have several friends who saw him or are seeing him for their prenatal care and he's supposed to be THE GUY to go to if you need surgery. Trying to keep all my bases covered.

The nausea is still pretty much gone, although the grocery store tonight was a bit more than I could handle, so I'm happy to mostly have my tummy back to normal. The fatigue is starting to take over as the strongest symptom now. That's ok, napping is fun.

8w0d - P.U. (Pregnancy Un-pleasantries)

I debated whether or not to even post about this topic because it's just not very pleasant, but in the spirit of documenting this pregnancy, I decided to risk the humiliation. Besides, it's not even my fault.

So, I've been dealing with nausea for a couple of weeks now. It comes and goes, and when it's here (most of the day really) it's relatively mild. This is tolerable so far, and expected really. What I didn't expect is the constant constipation. I mean, I sort of did expect it because I do get backed up in my luteal phase, but this is a bit more than I'd reckoned for. I'm on psyllium husk capsules (4/day) for extra fiber, stool softeners (2/day), and upping the fluid intake to try and help. I've even taken to having either Raisin Bran or Grape Nuts (aka Colon Blow) for breakfast every day to attempt and battle the beast that is stuck within. So far, it's not making much of a difference. And when I get too backed up, it makes the nausea worse.

But the absolute worst side effect of the constipation is the gas that gets trapped because of it. When that stuff escapes it's downright frightening. I've actually had the dog whimper and move off my lap. The dog! They come out of nowhere and are the worst SBDs (silent but deadly) known to mankind. I have no control over when they will escape and I quite literally have to leave the room when they do because the stench is so strong that it makes me want to hurl. I think I need to start carrying a box of matches around with me. At least until Beelzebub finally makes his way out of my colon for good.

My poor Hubby, it's worst at night in bed too and I apparently woke him up from a deep sleep the other night. He's been out of town for a few days and the relief I have felt from not worrying about my stinkiness bothering anyone else has enabled me to get some much needed rest.

We have decided to nickname the baby "The Bean" in honor of this oh-so-lovely symptom. Fitting, don't you think?

Ok, so there you have it. My pregnancy un-pleasantries all laid out for you to laugh at, gag at, whatever. Enjoy. P.U. indeed!

7w3d - Yea for my blog friends! Yea for my blog friends!

Yes, I meant to repeat that title. I have TWO (count 'em TWO) blog friends who are also pregnant and due near me, Alli & Heather. Well, both of them found out today that they are each having TWO babies!! Yep, both of them are incubating twins! How awesome is that??

Some of you might be thinking that I might feel left out of this perfect trifecta, but you know what? You'd be wrong. I have no desire for twins and am happy beyond words for both of them (both of them) and even happier that I'll get to experience their twin pregnancies from a slight distance.

What a great Monday update! And we're having snow - even out here in the valley. Fun stuff.

6w5d - We Have a Heartbeat!

First ultrasound was today. I was so scared heading into it that it was going to be either a blighted ovum or twins. I wasn't sure which was the better option of those. I'm so very happy to report that there is only one baby and it's tucked in nice and high in the uterus with a heartbeat of 128bpm. I was measuring about 2 days ahead too. Doesn't really mean much to measure a couple of days ahead given the margin of error with the machine, but it's always better to measure ahead than behind. We go back in two weeks for a 2nd ultrasound and if all is well, I get officially released to the OB - well, midwives.

Hubby and I both let out a big sigh at the same time and then laughed and looked at each other. "We're going to have another baby. Hehe." We know we're not completely out of the woods yet, but with a normal heart rhythm, our odds for miscarriage drop to like 3-5% depending on who you ask. I sure hope this is the beginning of only positive things for this pregnancy.

NSWO was so cute the other day. We were at a friend's house who has 5 mo old twin girls from her 2nd round of Clo*mid. I was holding one of the girls and NSWO walks over and says, "Ahhhh, she's so cute." Then he turns to my friend and says, "My mommy's going to have another baby." Now, realize we hadn't told him anything officially, but he obviously picked up on it. My friend asks him, "Are you going to be a big brother?" His response, "Well, not THIS week." Gotta love kid logic.

UPDATE - we do have ultrasound pics, but the scanner is buried in the garage. I'll try to post a pic ASAP.

6w2d - Now this is different.

Well, the nausea is officially here. Not too bad, hoping it doesn't get too much worse in the coming weeks. I didn't have any with Not-So-Wee-One (save for a more sensitive gag reflex while brushing teeth) so this is all new to me. It's been building up slowly over the last few days and most of the time it's just a mild anxious/nervous stomach. I made an Italian meatloaf a couple days ago and it was soooo yummy. I tried to eat some leftovers the next day and could only get 3 bites in. Then today, Hubby heats up the last of the leftovers and I literally couldn't handle the smell and made him take it up into the office upstairs to eat it. Then I had to turn on the exhaust fan to clear out the smell. It hasn't affected my appetite yet though, I'm constantly starving! Just have to figure out what to eat that won't make me feel ill. Mac-n-cheese hit the spot today. Thanks to NSWO for suggesting it.

I'm pretty scared for the ultrasound on Wednesday. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but part of me is also preparing for the possible worst. I have no reason to think that there is anything wrong with this pregnancy, but I didn't last time either and that's what bugs me the most. I'm trying to hold onto the fact that the nausea is new and hopefully that means good things for the pregnancy, but still...Can't I just go to sleep and wake up on Wednesday at the clinic? Is that asking too much?

I probably wouldn't sleep well anyway. The past couple of nights, the insomnia is back too. I wake up to roll over or something and my silly brain gets latched onto something and won't let me go back to sleep. Last night it was the guest room. We live in a 4 bedroom house and right now the allotment is; our room, NSWO's room, guest room, and office. If this baby is another boy, we'll put him in NSWO's room, move NSWO to the current guest room and need to combine the office & guest room into the current office. (If this baby is a girl, she gets the current guest room and NSWO will stay in his room. Less re-painting to do that way.) The problem is, the office isn't that big to accommodate a queen size guest bed, desk and the TV that Hubby wants to put in there when he gets a new on for the family room. (Don't ask. :rolling eyes:) We have thought about doing a Murphy Bed in that room so that the majority of floor space could be used for play space since we don't have guests all that often, but when we do, they need a real bed. My brain went around in circles last night off and on for about 2.5 hrs trying to figure out a solution to this problem. Why? I have no earthly clue. When I got up this morning, the 'problem' didn't even bother me much, so why did I obsess about it last night? To rob me of valuable sleep I guess. I'm still no closer to a solution. Man, I hope my brain doesn't do that again tonight, I could really use some better sleep.

6w0d - Good things happen in threes too!

You know how people say that bad news comes in 3s? Well, it turns out that good news does too. Congratulations to Alli who also got her BFP this week. That makes three of us in the Seattle area who are all due within a week of each other. How cool is that?

Ladies, this is going to be quite a ride, so glad to be able be on the ride with you.

5w0d - Pinch me.

This still doesn't seem real. I am officially 5weeks pregnant today and aside from a few mild symptoms, I feel exactly the same. I've had some pretty intense hot flashes which started even before I knew I was pregnant. At swim class, the pool area is heated for the comfort of the swimmers, but when you're pregnant with extra progesterone flowing thru the veins, it's not comfortable to be in there for long. By the time we left I looked like I'd applied my blush with a mop, my cheeks were sooo pink. I'm still getting occasional pinching & pulling cramps and my breasts get pretty tender every once in a while. And my pants are already starting to not fit right. This happened with NSWO too, pretty much the day the test was positive, I was bloated enough to not fit into my jeans. I'm actually very glad to have these symptoms though because it helps me feel more at ease and hopeful that this pregnancy is going to stick around.

But overall, I feel so normal and not pregnant. I may be changing my tune in a couple of weeks when morning sickness typically sets in. I never got it with NSWO, so I'm hopeful to be able to avoid it again, but if that's what it takes to get a healthy baby, I'll take it I guess.

I also wanted to send out a HUGE congratulations to Heather who found out this week that her IVF was successful and from the look of her betas, I'd say VERY successful. Way to go girlfriend!

4w4d - 5 things you may not know about me.

I've been tagged by Heather to write a post including 5 things you may not know about me, so here goes:

1. I played the cello for over 10 years. I started in 5th grade when the cello was bigger than me. I had to take that thing on the school bus twice a week. It is NOT easy to get a full-sized cello onto a school bus, trust me. I played thru part of college (scholarship helped pay tuition) until my major got too busy to allow time for it.

2. My major at university was Musical Theatre. Yep, I did it all, singing, acting, and dancing. I decided to stop doing it professionally after a stint doing dinner theater (ACK!) in Boca Raton. That was enough to make me not need to do that for a living any more.

3. I'm tall. See, all of you are out there over the internet and you have no idea about stuff like that. It seems like such an obvious thing about a person, but not necessarily. So, yeah, I'm 6 feet tall. I could have been shorter - my mom is only 5'2". I could have been taller though - my dad is 6'6". I was average-sized until Jr High when I grew 6 inches in the course of 8-9 months. That hurt like a mother-fucker!

4. I don't LOVE chocolate. I enjoy a nice Milky Way every now and then, but it's more for the caramel than the chocolate. I still have a lot of Halloween candy in my garage and not much of an interest in eating it. Now, the Chewy Sweet-tarts and Hot Tamales I had before Halloween? Let's just say none of them made it into a trick-or-treater's bag!

5. Before college, I was trying to decide between Theater and Medicine for a career. Somehow I got it in my head that I could always play a doctor on TV and that would be enough. Looking back, I should have chosen medicine. I swear I know more than most of the nurses at the IVF clinic (well, not all of them, a few are pretty darn cool). Maybe once this baby is old enough I'll go back to school to be a nurse or nurse-midwife. That would be cool, except for the crappy hours, but oh well, can't have it all.

Ok, so now I get to tag some folks:
Heather (a different one)
Alli (just cause she's so darn cute)
Beth (if her stomach will let her)
S (I don't think I've ever seen her post her name, hmm....)
Gabby (I think she could use a silly thing to post about)

Enjoy ladies.

4w3d - 2nd beta results - still looking good

My beta today went up to 592 which puts the doubling time at 57 hours. Well within the range of normal.

First ultrasound is November 22. I'll be nearly 7 weeks by then so we should be able to see a nice strong heartbeat (oh please, oh please, oh please!).

4w1d - 1st beta is good

With NSWO, my 15dpo beta was 407. Today, this bean's 15dpo beta is 331. My progesterone is >20 so I don't need to supplement either -whew! I go in for a repeat on Monday.

4w1d - Did I have any clue? No, not really.

As for any symptoms or indication that I might be KU - my chart has been crazy good this cycle. Temps in the 99's lately and they've just gone up and up. That was my strongest hint, but I've had charts where my temps stayed up until 15dpo (today) the day AF is due and then they plummet, so I was trying not to count on anything. I've had a lot of little pinching cramps too, but kept vacilating between thinking it was early pg ones or more cysts popping up. I had convinced myself that the test was going to be white, and that I'd have cysts again and not get to do IVF either.

Night before last (13dpo) I was so tired and felt feverish all day long. I wanted to crawl into bed right after NSWO at 8pm, but Hubby convinced me to stay awake for Grey's Anatomy. Then at about 2am I woke up and had to pee (sometimes happens, not really a sign) but then I could NOT get back to sleep for hours!! This made me suspect too since it happened in March and probably in 02 with NSWO. That seems to be a trend for now cause I was up from 2-4 this morning again.

I actually had a dream about getting morning sickness last night. Let's hope it's not prophetic. I was able to get thru pg with NSWO with no real m/s and I'd love a repeat of that.

Well, NSWO and I have a birthday party to get to and I have to swing by the clinic this morning for my beta. I'll post my results when I get them. Wish me luck.

4w0d - No way!

I don't exactly know what to say, so I'll just let a picture be worth a thousand words.


Today is 14dpo. I was/am supposed to start AF tomorrow and do cd2 baseline stuff on Sunday. Instead, I'm going in tomorrow morning for a beta. Who'da thunk it?

ETA - This is my horoscope for today. Thought it was neat.

Try to come to a place of serenity today, dear Cancer, in which you free yourself from desire and jealousy. It is important that you take time to recognize the incredible growth that can spring forth from this position of calm and pure satisfaction. Rid yourself of excess baggage that you cling to as some sort of support or means of comfort. The less you carry, the more you free up your arms to create.

Finally got the pics off the camera

Hubby usually takes care of the pics, but I was able to get to these pics and wanted to post them.

The top one is of me and NSWO at Chuck E Cheez, one of his new favorite places.

This one on the near left is of me and NSWO at the pumpkin patch earlier this month. Obviously, this is before the weather turned cold and nasty around here. This morning was actually below freezing. I'm not ready for that yet.

It's a good thing that NSWOs halloween costume is warm. Could he BE any cuter?

Not much going on around here right now, the drugs for the IVF will be here tomorrow (got to make sure I'm home when the delivery guy gets here) and just waiting until the weekend when my cycle should start up again and I go in for a baseline ultrasound.

If the weather is like today, it's going to be friggin cold. I think I'll let Hubby take NSWO out trick-or-treating. Hehe. I'll stay at the house with the insane clown doggy who will go ape shit everytime someone comes to the door. Not sure who's getting the worse chore.

Where did October go, by the way?