myivflife-blog

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Lately.

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(I'm 17 and was an IVF baby) I see your love for your children & I think it's wonderful. You can tell how much of a miracle they are to you, & how much you cherish them. I wish that my parents had kept that up, as there is nothing worse than being a miracle that's forgotten about, or feeling as though your creation was just pretty pointless. Anyway, my point is, although it was wasted on me, I hope that through IVF you have a big, happy, healthy family! All the best. :)

Wow! First, I was so surprised to see a message from someone because I haven't updated this blog in so long, lol! And second, I was so touched by your comments. 

My children are so important and the best thing that I've ever done in my life. I look at them all the time and think about what a miracle they are and how lucky we were. It truly is amazing that the science is there to enable people to have children who may not be able to otherwise. I am so incredibly thankful for my babies. 

And what a miracle you are! Especially when you think about what the science and process must have been like 17/18 years ago. I can tell you one thing: you are not pointless and it was not wasted on you. Relationships can be hard. Parenting is the toughest job in the world. My husband and I don't know what we're doing most of the time. And surprise, surprise, our children are their own separate little individuals with their own personalities and opinions. I've also been 17 and have had my own struggles with my parents. But if there is only one thing you take away from my rambling, it is that your parents cherish you and love you and think of you as their miracle. I never realized what that love was like until I had my own children. It is indescribable. It's like your heart is on the outside, walking around and talking. It's unconditional love. There is nothing my children could do that would make me stop loving them. I may be disappointed in choices they may make, but that would not stop my love. I don't know what your situation is or what your home life is like, but I promise you your parents feel the same way. Please know that whatever struggles you have right now will get better.

My husband and I talk all the time about how and when to talk to our kids about our whole IVF journey. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I just hope and pray that they know they were loved and wanted even before they were born.

Thank you so much for your message. Every baby is a gift. You are loved. You are wanted. You are a miracle. I promise.  

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First day of school! Moving up into the two's class this year.

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"My ears feel so much better now!" Surgery went well. We were in and out before 8:00 this morning. They found a raging ear infection which he developed in just the two days since I took him to get his ears checked. Just proof of how badly he needed this surgery. Now he's all smiles!! (And we are too!) Thanks to all for your sweet messages!

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Please send good thoughts to this little man. He's having surgery in the morning to put tubes in his ears. We're looking forward to the relief it will bring, but surgery is always a little nervewracking.

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Laughing babies are the best babies.

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6 months! Say what?!

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Wait...I'm still alive? And I'm crowdsourcing...

Haha, yep. I'm still alive. Staying totally busy wrangling kids and managing our home life. But I've got some problems that I would like advice on.

Sleep problems.

Let's start with Hawkins. He's 6 months old today (what, what?!). He got to the point of waking up just once a night to eat, but lately he's regressed to newborn-hood. I'm talking waking up every. three. hours. For all you breastfeeding mamas, is this normal at this age? Quinn was sleeping 12 hours a night starting at three months, and by about four months was exclusively on formula. I don't know if Q was just a freak of nature or if it was the formula or what. But I need some advice.

And then there's Quinn. For months she's been sleeping on the floor behind her bedroom door. Whatever. Then the last few weeks she started coming into our room multiple times per night. We took her back to her room every time which totally pissed her off, and we talked with her about not coming into mommy and daddy's room at night. Her solution? She has started sleeping on the couch now. Our dilemma? Do we move her back to her room or just let her sleep on the couch? I mean, she's not coming in and bothering us, but is it a bad habit to let her keep sleeping on the couch? And don't even get me started on the nap debacle. Ugh.

We keep reminding ourselves that this is all temporary, but we are tired. Any advice, suggestions, remedies, whatever are welcome. 

Thanks in advance.

V

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How are you??? How are the kiddos? New house? How'd breast feeding go this time? Hope you are great :)

Hi!!! I'm still alive and well ;) Life is just a million times busier with two now. I feel guilty sometimes about how I've totally neglected this blog, but it's probably better for me to be spending my time taking care of my family, right?

Quinn is totally a toddler. She can be the sweetest, most polite girl in the world, and then a few minutes later devolve into a screaming monster. She literally works herself up so hard that she pukes. Yeah...pukes. She loves her brother so much, but she definitely is not liking our split attention. I know it will take some time to adjust, and she'll really enjoy it when he starts playing with her. School just ended, so we're filling up the summer with swimming lessons, dance, storytimes, etc. Oh, and my goal for the summer is to get her potty-trained. She's gotten really gung-ho about it so hopefully we can get 'er done. She's such a big kid now, and she amazes me everyday. Her language, comprehension, motor skills, everything. We have to be careful with what we say or do around her because she's such a sponge and repeats everything. We laugh quite a bit at the funny things she says. And she can melt my heart. Just yesterday she was sitting in my lap, looked up at me and put her hand on my face and said, "Mommy, you're beautiful." Sigh....

Hawkins is growing like a weed. He's been so high maintenance, though. I feel like we're at the doctor every other week for him. He's had some fever issues which landed us in the ER. (Where he had blood drawn, was catheterized, nose swabbed, chest x-rayed, ugh). He's had two ear infections. And in fact this last one never healed so we had to do a second round of antibiotics. He has a milk/soy allergy so I've had to cut those things out of my diet which has been so hard. He's also been doing physical therapy for torticollis. He's much more of a screamer than Quinn was and hates his car seat. BUT, he is so sweet and is smiling and interacting with us now. He loves nursing and refuses bottles. Quite the opposite of Quinn. I love that breastfeeding is going so much better this time around, but it is a little frustrating that he won't take a bottle. I guess it won't last forever though. 

Some days are really hard. Some days seem to go smoothly. We're busy and crazed, but I love these kiddos more than anything in the world. Thanks for checking in! 

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My boy is 3 months now!

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A boy and his Grandpas. I love everything about these pictures.

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2 months old now. Serious face and a big ol' smile. This kid has me wrapped around his finger.

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Back at it.

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Happy 2nd birthday to my sweet Quinn Eleanor. I love you more than the moon and sun and stars in the sky.

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Friday night at the OK Corral. Send more wine.

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Evidence of life with a toddler and newborn. Q dubbed it "goldfish milk." Got a caption for it?

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These days...

I have totally been neglecting this blog of mine lately. Having two kids at such young, needy ages has definitely taken over my life. I feel like there are things I want to write about, but there always seems to be something more urgent and important to do. Both kids are passed out right now, though, so I'm going to take this moment to write a little bit. 

Like I said, things are busy. Some days seem to click along great, and I feel like supermom, and then there are the days from hell where I feel like I just can't get ahead. Today is one of those days. Quinn is sick and feeling like crap so she's totally melting down. And then Hawkins starts fussing or needing to eat, and I want to cry because I can't hold them both at the same time. Then I think about all the little chores around the house or tasks that need to get completed, and it completely stresses me out. How will I ever get anything accomplished?

Quinn

She's going to be 2 in a week, and she's got the attitude to prove it. She's so smart and talkative, and we are completely blown away every day on what she says or does or picks up on. She can say the funniest things and can be so sweet to her brother. But she also can throw a tantrum at the drop of a hat and get completely sassy with me. Sometimes I want to break her little pointer finger off when she points it at me while yelling "No Mommy." I feel guilty that I can't give her 100% of my attention like I did before. I don't know if this attitude is just part of her learning and growing, or if it's a result of anger and/or jealousy from the addition of her brother. I just have to tell myself all the time that this is just a phase. 

Hawkins

He is definitely growing and changing. I've started putting him in 3 month clothes already because the newborn stuff is just a little too snug now. We are starting to get a few smiles and coos now and then which just makes life wonderful. He's been an awesome nurser from the beginning which has made me so happy considering the awful time I had with Quinn. But we've definitely had our challenges with him. He's a lot fussier than Q was and when he needs something he gets pissed really fast. He's had a lot of intestinal issues, too, and was diagnosed with a milk/soy allergy. I've had to cut that stuff out of my diet which has been super hard. The other alternative is to buy special formula that is super expensive. We did a formula only trial over the weekend to see if he got any better, but I don't know if we could tell much of a difference. So back to breastfeeding it is. I just keep hoping that in time he'll grow out of some of this stuff. He's been pretty good about sleeping at night - we're starting to get some four hour stretches. Of course we're tired, but it's not at all as bad as the first time around. It's like our bodies are just conditioned to lack of sleep. He also had to get a hip ultrasound last week to look for displasia due to him being breech. Luckily everything looked good so we're in the clear. 

Overall I think things are going pretty well. Sure we have our moments, but that's to be expected. And things will only get better as time goes on. I'm still able to get dressed and put on make-up every day. I'm able to get everybody together and out the door by myself (so far we haven't been late to a single thing! Small victories!). We are all fed and bathed and have clean clothes and the house isn't a complete disaster. I think this would be considered success!