January 29, 2013

One Year

Today is my 31st birthday.  Yay me! But what's extra special about today is what happened a year ago.  One year ago today Steve and I did our embryo transfer that gave us Grace.  It's hard to believe how quickly a year can fly by! and what an amazing year it has been.

I look back at everything we have been through, all of the fertility drugs, the IUI's, the first IVF, the miscarriage, the second IVF and successful pregnancy and can't believe that we have finally made it to this place.  It truly has been worth everything that we have gone through and every cent we have paid for these treatments.

On my 30th birthday I received the best gift I could ever have asked for.  I will forever remember that birthday and in an era where aging is often a bad thing and birthdays become more of a burden than something to celebrate, I will always have this anniversary..  So instead of lamenting my 40th birthday some day, I will instead be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the day that gave us Grace.

Here is a recent pic of our beautiful Grace enjoying some tummy time on mommy and daddy's bed:


January 2, 2013

20 Things About 2012


I saw this neat questionnaire on another blog and thought this would be really fun to do. I know it's a few days into the New Year, but I didn't want to post this till 2012 was really over (just in case my answers would change) and with a baby and a house full of family yesterday, I didn't get a chance to do it until now. 

1. What did you do in 2012 that you have never done before? I had a baby! 

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any resolutions this year and I probably won't make any for next year. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Do I count?  Both my sister and a sister in law had a baby this year - both of them were boys.  

4. Did anyone close to you die? We lost my Pap this year.  He was a great man and well loved. 

5. What places have you visited? We took a vacation to Disney World this year with my mom and my nephew.  

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? Possibly a job.  I had one for about 3 months in 2012 and quit early in my pregnancy.  So a job would be nice, but one that I can do from home. 

7. What date from 2012 will remain etched in your memory and why? October 13 will forever be on my mind - the day my daughter was born.  It was the most magical day of my entire life. 

8. What was your biggest achievement this year? Having a baby - we've tried for our entire marriage to have a baby and after 9 1/2 years we finally had our daughter. 

9. Did you suffer illness or injury? No illness or injury for me this year ... just pregnancy. 

10. What was the best thing you bought? I know this sounds bad, but our daughter.  IVF is very expensive but she is worth every penny we paid for the procedure and the medications. Plus the cost of delivery was expensive too, but again - worth every penny.  

11. Where did most of your money go? Most of our money went towards our baby and baby stuff - crib, dressers, swing, bassinet, pack n play, etc. 

12. What song will always remind you of 2012? I'm really not sure. I don't often associate songs to certain years. Usually songs remind me of people, places and events. 

13. What do you wish you would have done more of? I wish Steve and I would have done a little bit more couple stuff together. Having a baby means very little alone time with one another. A nice trip away for just the two of us would have been nice.

14. What do you wish you would have done less of? I wish I would have worried a little less.  I loved being pregnant but so much of my joy was tempered by my worry that something would go wrong. 

15. What was your favorite TV program?  Well .. where to start?  Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Vampire Diaries, The Voice, Scandal, Private Practice, How I Met Your Mother and the Big Bang Theory

16. What was the best book you read this year? The best book series I read was the Ally Conde Matched, Crossed, and Reached. 

17. What was your favorite film of the year? Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 - I admit I am a huge Twilight Fan.  I've read the books a ton of times and have seen every movie on opening day, except for this last one.  Grace was less than a month old and I just couldn't leave her for that long.  I did get to see it in the theaters, it just took me 2 weeks after it came out to get there. But I did get to see it and now I'm anxiously awaiting the DVD. 

18. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? This year I turned 30 and it is a birthday I will never forget. We did our IVF in January and had our egg retrieval on January 26th.  Three days later, on my 30th birthday, we transferred 2 embryos which resulted in Grace - definitely the best birthday present ever!!!

19. What national/world event stirred you the most? The Olympics by far.  I love watching the Olympics and always feel such a sense of patriotism as I root for the American athletes.  I think it provides a great source of pride and community for our nation.  This answer was typed earlier in the month of December while this post sat in draft and I didn't want to remove it because the Olympics really were great, but a horrible tragedy occurred in December 2012 that I have to write about because it was so sad and as a mother, struck very close to home. So the other event was the tragedy at the elementary school in Sandy Hook CT.  It amazes me that anyone could take another's life, but to go into a school and shoot at young innocent children is just something beyond evil.  I didn't watch much about this tragedy other than the initial news reports and such that occurred that day.  I just couldn't stand to see continuous news coverage of something so sad and definitely had no desire to see tiny coffins and funeral services either.  My heart goes out to those mothers who were not able to hold their baby's close this Christmas and into the new year.  

20. Who was the best new person you met? My daughter Grace.  She's amazing!! My life will forever be changed because of her.