Once again I apologize for being such a bad blogger. I have taken a hiatus of sorts from the blogging world in general. I apologize for not commenting on your blogs and I am just now catching up. The reason why I have been away so long is that I have been doing some thinking regarding the future of my blogging. For the longest time, before Noah, blogging was such an outlet for me. It really helped for me to get my feelings out and to know that I wasn’t alone in my struggles. I met some amazing women over this time period and I hope to continue to keep in touch with every one of you. But, ever since Noah was born I haven’t really felt like blogging and I haven’t been able to figure out why. I admit, I am much busier than I ever was before and I do have less time to blog but that’s not the reason why I haven’t been blogging. After doing a lot of thinking and soul searching I think I have found my answer. This blog, as well as my other blog, is still connected to my infertility. Not sure if that makes sense but let me try and clarify. For me, this blog was an extension of my old blog, therefore still connected to my discussions about my infertility. I need to move on from that place. Am I saying that I want to forget everything I went through? Absolutely not! But the truth is I’m ready to move on. I do want to continue blogging but I want my blog to be about more that my life as a mommy after IF. I want my blog to be about not only my life as a mommy but also about my family, my hobbies, just my life in general. I feel like I have so much more to share. I also feel like I really need to close this chapter of my life completely, and for some reason it doesn’t feel that way here. So, I’m closing up shop (again) and starting a new blog (again). I understand if this means the end of the road for some of you. I totally understand if you are not in a place that you can follow me to my new “home”, but if you are, I hope you will join me on the other side.
However, before I direct you to my new blog I want to say a few things in the event that you do not wish to read a blog about me and my family that has nothing to do with IF (for now, doesn’t mean in the future it might not come up again.) I am not “cured.” I know you often hear people tell you that they know someone who has been “cured” after having their first child. I am still very much “broken.” Things still don’t work like they should, I don’t ever get AFs on my own, and therefore the PCOS is still very much in control of my body. What does this mean for me? Barring a miracle my precious Noah will most likely be an only child. I just can’t imagine ever spending that kind of money again or putting my body through that kind of torture. Maybe one day I will change my mind but for now this is how I feel. I would be thrilled if one day I was able to get pregnant on my own but the reality is that will most likely never happen. And for now at least, I’m okay with that. I am so very happy with the way my life turned out and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Every single day I thank God for the blessings in my life and for giving me the chance to be a mother to Noah. Right now I just want to focus on getting my life back. I am just beginning to learn how to live again. I am just now beginning to scrapbook again and have even developed a new hobby of digital scrapbooking. I want to take a cake decorating class. I have neglected myself for so long that I had almost forgotten who I am. So I am hoping that this new blog will let me continue to blog, which I love to do, but give me a place to share those other pieces of my life too. My new blog is called “The Vollmerhausen Family Blog” because on rare occasions Shawn may make a post as well. This is also a blog that I will be sharing with family to keep them updated on our family. Please, I would be honored if you would follow me as I close this chapter in my life but I totally understand if you cannot. I will continue to read all of your blogs and I promise when I get caught up I will start commenting again.
The Vollmerhausen Family Blog
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Obsessions and Confessions
Noah: We went to a bridal shower this weekend and I was so nervous that Noah would cry the whole time like he has been doing in public. But he didn’t! He was such a good boy! Granted he slept most of the time but when he was awake he was all smiles and even let people hold him. I was so relieved! He has also started try to lift himself up when lying down. If we lay him flat he tries to pull himself into a sitting position and gets about half way there (like he is doing a crunch). He must have some pretty strong tummy muscles. He can also lift himself up on his arms while doing tummy time (which he HATES most of the time). It is becoming increasingly more difficult to feed him a bottle as he is so busy looking around that he doesn’t want to eat. But I won’t worry, he is clearly not starving. He has his 4 month check-up on Wednesday where we will find out how much he has grown. He is able to fit into 6 month clothing now and I am constantly amazed at how much he changes every day. He has also started to “fake cough.” I noticed the other morning that when he was sitting in his bumbo and watched me walk out of the room for a moment he did a “fake cough”. I think he does it to get attention, too cute!
My New Obsession: I have a new obsession. I have been a scrap booker for several years although recently I haven’t really done it much because I don’t have the space or the money to dedicate to the hobby. Well, this weekend I discovered digital scrapbooking and I’m already hooked! I never even knew you could do such a thing. It is just like traditional scrapbooking (paper, elements, embellishments, ribbons, etc.) only it is all digitally done. Now I’m going crazy making scrapbook pages. My new project that I am working on currently is a recipe book made with Shawn’s grandmother’s recipes. I’m going to make a book and then send it somewhere to be printed and then give it out as gifts for the holidays. I honestly feels really good to have a creative outlet once again. I do feel bad for my obsession right now through because it seems like I am on the computer every night and poor Shawn never gets to use it. Does anyone else share this obsession?
Confessions:
Confession 1: I am having a hard time losing my baby weight. I was never a skinny gal to begin with, in fact I have always been chunky, but my body shape seems to have changed and I HATE it! I have gone up at least 2 sizes in pants. I am still wearing my maternity pants because they are the only things that still fit me and make me feel comfortable. The crazy thing is I weigh the same as I did before I got pregnant, only now I have this yucky loose skin on my lower belly that just won’t go away. In all honesty I haven’t really done anything to help lose the weight, by the time we pick up Noah after work and get home it is usually 6:30 or 7:00 and we have to eat dinner and get Noah to bed and by then I am way too exhausted to exercise. I know I will never be skinny again, but every time I look in the mirror I am reminded of just how much damage PCOS has done to my body. When I went to a bridal shower this weekend there were quite a few other new mommies out there, most of which who had their babies much more recently than myself. All of these women were skinny and perky and looked great. It made me so self conscious to sit in the room with these women who just had babies in March and none of them even looked like they just had a baby. And here I was, mommy to a 4 month old and still sporting my big old jelly belly. Wow, what a way to make a girl feel like a fatty!
Confession 2: One of the biggest problems I dealt with while going through the early years of IF (maybe the first 3 years or so) was jealousy. I’m not saying that after the first three years I was jealously free, if you read my other blog you know that isn’t true, but as time went on I became somewhat more accepting of other’s fertility. While I was pregnant and after Noah was born up until recently I was able to accept other people’s pregnancies and such with no problem at all. I was even able to accept teenage pregnancies which would normally have thrown me into a temper tantrum before. Now I am finding those feeling of jealousy starting to creep up again. I am finding myself feeling jealous of people’s pregnancy announcements (not ones achieved by IF treatments but those “natural” or surprise pregnancies). The crazy thing is that I do not want another baby any time soon, if ever. But for some reason it just drives home the fact that I may never, and probably will never, be able to experience the feeling of surprise to find out that I am pregnant. I have to admit that I secretly hoped that having a baby might kick my body back into gear and that maybe, just maybe things would work the way they are supposed to. But, alas, it seems my body is just as broken as it was before. I got AF about a month and a half ago for the first time since Noah was born. I was surprised because I don’t usually get AFs at all on my own. Although I realized that maybe it was just because of the change in hormones in my body, I was hoping maybe it meant that my body somehow figured out how to ovulate. I marked on my calendar 28 days from CD1 (scowling at myself the whole time because if you have PCOS you know how silly it seems to think that AF would show up 28 days later) and waited. Well, AF was “due” almost 2 weeks ago and no appearance. So I guess it just drives home the fact that my body is still broken. I am surprised and disappointed at these feelings of jealousy. Why should I be jealous? I have am amazing little boy and I am so blessed to have him when there are so many of you out there still suffering. I guess I thought that maybe having a baby would “cure” my infertility, both physically and emotionally and I’m shocked to find it has done neither. Guess this is a new learning experience for me and I have come to the realization that IF will always be with me, no matter what.
My New Obsession: I have a new obsession. I have been a scrap booker for several years although recently I haven’t really done it much because I don’t have the space or the money to dedicate to the hobby. Well, this weekend I discovered digital scrapbooking and I’m already hooked! I never even knew you could do such a thing. It is just like traditional scrapbooking (paper, elements, embellishments, ribbons, etc.) only it is all digitally done. Now I’m going crazy making scrapbook pages. My new project that I am working on currently is a recipe book made with Shawn’s grandmother’s recipes. I’m going to make a book and then send it somewhere to be printed and then give it out as gifts for the holidays. I honestly feels really good to have a creative outlet once again. I do feel bad for my obsession right now through because it seems like I am on the computer every night and poor Shawn never gets to use it. Does anyone else share this obsession?
Confessions:
Confession 1: I am having a hard time losing my baby weight. I was never a skinny gal to begin with, in fact I have always been chunky, but my body shape seems to have changed and I HATE it! I have gone up at least 2 sizes in pants. I am still wearing my maternity pants because they are the only things that still fit me and make me feel comfortable. The crazy thing is I weigh the same as I did before I got pregnant, only now I have this yucky loose skin on my lower belly that just won’t go away. In all honesty I haven’t really done anything to help lose the weight, by the time we pick up Noah after work and get home it is usually 6:30 or 7:00 and we have to eat dinner and get Noah to bed and by then I am way too exhausted to exercise. I know I will never be skinny again, but every time I look in the mirror I am reminded of just how much damage PCOS has done to my body. When I went to a bridal shower this weekend there were quite a few other new mommies out there, most of which who had their babies much more recently than myself. All of these women were skinny and perky and looked great. It made me so self conscious to sit in the room with these women who just had babies in March and none of them even looked like they just had a baby. And here I was, mommy to a 4 month old and still sporting my big old jelly belly. Wow, what a way to make a girl feel like a fatty!
Confession 2: One of the biggest problems I dealt with while going through the early years of IF (maybe the first 3 years or so) was jealousy. I’m not saying that after the first three years I was jealously free, if you read my other blog you know that isn’t true, but as time went on I became somewhat more accepting of other’s fertility. While I was pregnant and after Noah was born up until recently I was able to accept other people’s pregnancies and such with no problem at all. I was even able to accept teenage pregnancies which would normally have thrown me into a temper tantrum before. Now I am finding those feeling of jealousy starting to creep up again. I am finding myself feeling jealous of people’s pregnancy announcements (not ones achieved by IF treatments but those “natural” or surprise pregnancies). The crazy thing is that I do not want another baby any time soon, if ever. But for some reason it just drives home the fact that I may never, and probably will never, be able to experience the feeling of surprise to find out that I am pregnant. I have to admit that I secretly hoped that having a baby might kick my body back into gear and that maybe, just maybe things would work the way they are supposed to. But, alas, it seems my body is just as broken as it was before. I got AF about a month and a half ago for the first time since Noah was born. I was surprised because I don’t usually get AFs at all on my own. Although I realized that maybe it was just because of the change in hormones in my body, I was hoping maybe it meant that my body somehow figured out how to ovulate. I marked on my calendar 28 days from CD1 (scowling at myself the whole time because if you have PCOS you know how silly it seems to think that AF would show up 28 days later) and waited. Well, AF was “due” almost 2 weeks ago and no appearance. So I guess it just drives home the fact that my body is still broken. I am surprised and disappointed at these feelings of jealousy. Why should I be jealous? I have am amazing little boy and I am so blessed to have him when there are so many of you out there still suffering. I guess I thought that maybe having a baby would “cure” my infertility, both physically and emotionally and I’m shocked to find it has done neither. Guess this is a new learning experience for me and I have come to the realization that IF will always be with me, no matter what.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
One Year Ago Today
I had my egg retrieval. I cannot believe it has been a year already! I am amazed and in awe of the blessings that God has given me this past year. I will never forget the optimism, anticipation, and fear I felt on this day. On the next day, April 24, 2008 they called to tell me I had 12 embryos, one of them was my little miracle. Did I ever truly believe one year ago today that I would be where I am? I'm not sure. I was certaintly hopeful but I could never picture myself as a mother. So, happy creation day my little man!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Big Move
Someone commented that I must have moved Noah to his own crib in his room because I used the word crib in my post. I was actually referring to the Pack N Play he sleeps in now which is right next to our bed…I was just being lazy and calling it a crib. But, that comment got me thinking. So, I am posing a question to all of you Mommies out there:
When did you move your little one to his/her/their crib in his/her/their own room? How did you make the move? Did you do it cold turkey one night or start out by taking naps in the crib? Noah has never even been in his crib once. He takes naps in his PNP or on mommy. I’m scared of waiting too long because I am afraid that the longer I wait the more “aware” he will be that something is changing and the more difficulty he will have adjusting. My MIL said she kept Shawn in her room until he was over a year old. Do I wait until he STTN every night? He STTN about ½ of the time right now. Any advise would be appreciated!
When did you move your little one to his/her/their crib in his/her/their own room? How did you make the move? Did you do it cold turkey one night or start out by taking naps in the crib? Noah has never even been in his crib once. He takes naps in his PNP or on mommy. I’m scared of waiting too long because I am afraid that the longer I wait the more “aware” he will be that something is changing and the more difficulty he will have adjusting. My MIL said she kept Shawn in her room until he was over a year old. Do I wait until he STTN every night? He STTN about ½ of the time right now. Any advise would be appreciated!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pictures
I promied some updated pictures so here they are:
Here is what the easter bunny brought me this year!
Cutie!
At Noah's baptism.
Baptism again.
Always smiling!Monday, April 20, 2009
I'm Back!!!!
Wow, I have been an extremely bad blogger. I guess I will start off by listing the reasons (excuses) why I have not updated my blog. Obviously, the number one reason is that I have been super busy at work and at home but when I do have a minute I just don’t know what to say. Is this supposed to be a blog about life as a Mommy? Does anyone want to read that? I’m not a stay at home Mom so what do I write about? However, I truly do miss blogging. I’m not even sure if anyone reads this anymore honestly. But here goes:
Since the last time I have updated my little guy has done a lot of growing. He has outgrown his newborn clothes and is in 3-6 months and can even wear some 6 month clothing. He is smiling and laughing and starting to coo like crazy. He is a good baby overall. We had some fussy times in the beginning when he was suffering from a lot of gas and we finally determined that he was lactose intolerant and has acid reflux. We switched him to Similac Sensitive RS and it seemed to cure most of his belly issues. He still cries before he poops like he might have some belly pain. He has also developed an aversion to large crowds. We are always around a lot of people and he has always been fine but the last two weeks or so he screams when he is in the room with a large group of people. He also does not want to be held by strangers. This new turn of events causes people who only see him in large groups to thinks he is a fussy baby. Buy he isn’t! He is a sweet little boy when he is with us or just a few people. I guess this is just a phase he is going though. The problem is that we can’t avoid going out in public. We are very active in our church and we are on the go a lot. I am assuming the more he is around people the more he will get used to it but for now it is so hard to hear him cry like that. Plus, when we do go out in public like church or a family party or something everyone wants to hold him which makes him cry even more. My poor little guy!
Other than that he is a little angel. He sleeps really well at night with the exception of trying to get him to fall asleep. He fights sleep like crazy! But once he is asleep he will either sleep through the night or wake up once for a bottle and then go back to sleep. My favorite thing is when he wakes up in the morning and I peek into his crib and say good morning and he gives me a big ole gummy smile. Love it!
I am truly happy, more happy than I have ever been before. I never forget to thank God every single day for all of the blessings He has given me. I love my husband even more than I ever thought possible. He is such a wonderful Daddy and it makes me so happy to see him with Noah. Noah is so lucky to have a Daddy like him. I never had a close relationship with my father and I hope that Noah and Shawn will always be close. I guess the fact that I am just so happy is why I am having problems finding things to blog about. But I promise I am going to try. I don’t want this time to go by and then look back one day and realize that I didn’t record any of it. I have been checking all of your blogs every so often but I haven’t been commenting, I promise I am going to try to do better at that too. In my next update I will include some pictures so you can see how my little guy has grown!
Since the last time I have updated my little guy has done a lot of growing. He has outgrown his newborn clothes and is in 3-6 months and can even wear some 6 month clothing. He is smiling and laughing and starting to coo like crazy. He is a good baby overall. We had some fussy times in the beginning when he was suffering from a lot of gas and we finally determined that he was lactose intolerant and has acid reflux. We switched him to Similac Sensitive RS and it seemed to cure most of his belly issues. He still cries before he poops like he might have some belly pain. He has also developed an aversion to large crowds. We are always around a lot of people and he has always been fine but the last two weeks or so he screams when he is in the room with a large group of people. He also does not want to be held by strangers. This new turn of events causes people who only see him in large groups to thinks he is a fussy baby. Buy he isn’t! He is a sweet little boy when he is with us or just a few people. I guess this is just a phase he is going though. The problem is that we can’t avoid going out in public. We are very active in our church and we are on the go a lot. I am assuming the more he is around people the more he will get used to it but for now it is so hard to hear him cry like that. Plus, when we do go out in public like church or a family party or something everyone wants to hold him which makes him cry even more. My poor little guy!
Other than that he is a little angel. He sleeps really well at night with the exception of trying to get him to fall asleep. He fights sleep like crazy! But once he is asleep he will either sleep through the night or wake up once for a bottle and then go back to sleep. My favorite thing is when he wakes up in the morning and I peek into his crib and say good morning and he gives me a big ole gummy smile. Love it!
I am truly happy, more happy than I have ever been before. I never forget to thank God every single day for all of the blessings He has given me. I love my husband even more than I ever thought possible. He is such a wonderful Daddy and it makes me so happy to see him with Noah. Noah is so lucky to have a Daddy like him. I never had a close relationship with my father and I hope that Noah and Shawn will always be close. I guess the fact that I am just so happy is why I am having problems finding things to blog about. But I promise I am going to try. I don’t want this time to go by and then look back one day and realize that I didn’t record any of it. I have been checking all of your blogs every so often but I haven’t been commenting, I promise I am going to try to do better at that too. In my next update I will include some pictures so you can see how my little guy has grown!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Daddy's Look-a-Like
Just thought I would point out just how much my little man looks like his Daddy...
The top pictures are Shawn's baby pictures and the bottom ones are Noah. Crazy huh???
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sleep? (5 weeks)
I know that everyone tells you to say goodbye to your sleep when you have a baby, and I was well aware that I would be getting a lot less sleep, but I never realized how much a lack of sleep would affect me. I am exhausted! My little guy refuses to sleep unless he is being held. It takes us forever to get him to sleep in his bassinet at night. He can be fast asleep in my arms but the minute I put him in the crib he wakes up and screams. He has to be literally exhausted to sleep in the crib. This makes it difficult during the day for me to get anything done because in order for him to nap I have to hold him until he is good and asleep before I even attempt to put him down. And then most of the time once I set him down he wakes up. We have tried putting him to bed drowsy but awake so that he can learn to soothe himself to sleep but we are not having any success. He just screams bloody murder! Last night we started trying to put him down at 8:00 and we were not successful in getting him to sleep in the crib until 11:30. By that time he was hungry again and we had to start all over. So, there is my excuse for not blogging much. Not only do I not have any free time during the day but in the evening I am too exhausted to form coherent sentences. Please, if anyone has any wisdom on this issue I would love to hear it? Did anyone else have these issues? What worked for you?
Other than the sleeping issues Noah is a very good baby. He doesn't really cry unless he wants something or his belly hurts. He eats like a champ and is growing like a weed. At his 3 week check up he was 7lbs 15oz. I am positive that he has gained even more weight and I'm curious to see what he will weigh at his 8 week appointment. He is the cutest little guy ever (I'm not biased) and has a little personality already. He does the funniest things sometimes that makes Shawn and I giggle no matter how tired we are. He wiggles his head back and forth and opens his mouth when we offer him a bottle, we call this "crazy man", he grunts like a little baby pig, and he giggles and smiles in his sleep. We haven't gotten any "awake smiles" yet but hopefully soon. I still can't tell what color his hair is going to be. It is a mixture between blond, light brown and red. His eyes are a grayish blue right now so who knows what color they will be. As for his little pee pee, which we have affectionately nicknamed "turtle", it is a dangerous weapon. He has peed on everything in sight one time or another. He has peed on Shawn and myself several times, the changing table more times then I can count, his dresser, and himself. He has peed on his own head, and yesterday he peed in his mouth (ewww!) Today he projectile pooped on my hand while I was wiping him. So, needless to say, the little guy is equipped with some pretty serious weapons.
As for me, my incision is healing really well, I barely even feel it most of the time. I have finally stopped bleeding, which I never thought would happen. I have lost 31 lbs and am a pound below my pre-pregnancy weight. I got great news from my doctor that I do not have diabetes and it was in fact just gestational. After my six week appointment I will start the Metformin again for the PCOS. I'm not sure what to do about birth control. The idea of taking birth control sounds ridiculous to me after 6 years of trying but I am definitely not ready to have another baby any time soon and what if by some miracle I ovulate? So, I'm not sure what to do. I really do not want to go on the pill because it is what caused me to gain all of my weight when I went on it the first time. I am leaning towards no birth control and relying on the fact that my body has never functioned properly so why should it start now? I go back to work on February 9th and even though it will be hard to leave my little guy at daycare I am anxious to get back to every day life. I am dealing with some serious cabin fever because Noah's doctor does not want us to take him out in public until he is 8 weeks old because it is flu season. I can't wait to take him to church but I am not so sure I am looking forward to so many people touching him. That is something I am going to have to get over quickly. I am not looking forward to mornings once I go back to work though. So much to do in so little time. I have no idea what time I will get up but I am sure it will mean even less sleep for me.
Well, I think that is about it for now. I will try to blog more often.
Other than the sleeping issues Noah is a very good baby. He doesn't really cry unless he wants something or his belly hurts. He eats like a champ and is growing like a weed. At his 3 week check up he was 7lbs 15oz. I am positive that he has gained even more weight and I'm curious to see what he will weigh at his 8 week appointment. He is the cutest little guy ever (I'm not biased) and has a little personality already. He does the funniest things sometimes that makes Shawn and I giggle no matter how tired we are. He wiggles his head back and forth and opens his mouth when we offer him a bottle, we call this "crazy man", he grunts like a little baby pig, and he giggles and smiles in his sleep. We haven't gotten any "awake smiles" yet but hopefully soon. I still can't tell what color his hair is going to be. It is a mixture between blond, light brown and red. His eyes are a grayish blue right now so who knows what color they will be. As for his little pee pee, which we have affectionately nicknamed "turtle", it is a dangerous weapon. He has peed on everything in sight one time or another. He has peed on Shawn and myself several times, the changing table more times then I can count, his dresser, and himself. He has peed on his own head, and yesterday he peed in his mouth (ewww!) Today he projectile pooped on my hand while I was wiping him. So, needless to say, the little guy is equipped with some pretty serious weapons.
As for me, my incision is healing really well, I barely even feel it most of the time. I have finally stopped bleeding, which I never thought would happen. I have lost 31 lbs and am a pound below my pre-pregnancy weight. I got great news from my doctor that I do not have diabetes and it was in fact just gestational. After my six week appointment I will start the Metformin again for the PCOS. I'm not sure what to do about birth control. The idea of taking birth control sounds ridiculous to me after 6 years of trying but I am definitely not ready to have another baby any time soon and what if by some miracle I ovulate? So, I'm not sure what to do. I really do not want to go on the pill because it is what caused me to gain all of my weight when I went on it the first time. I am leaning towards no birth control and relying on the fact that my body has never functioned properly so why should it start now? I go back to work on February 9th and even though it will be hard to leave my little guy at daycare I am anxious to get back to every day life. I am dealing with some serious cabin fever because Noah's doctor does not want us to take him out in public until he is 8 weeks old because it is flu season. I can't wait to take him to church but I am not so sure I am looking forward to so many people touching him. That is something I am going to have to get over quickly. I am not looking forward to mornings once I go back to work though. So much to do in so little time. I have no idea what time I will get up but I am sure it will mean even less sleep for me.
Well, I think that is about it for now. I will try to blog more often.
Welcome!!!
Hello there and welcome to my new blog! If you are a new reader and you are interested in reading my story, which includes my infertility treatment and pregnancy please send me an e-mail and I will invite you to read my old blog. For those of you that are my loyal readers (are there any left?) welcome to the new chapter in my story! I got tired of my blog being private and just felt like starting anew. So, please change your readers so that it tracks my new address!
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