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IVF Transfer TOMORROW!

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Hi guys! This is definitely a long overdue IVF update. We have lots to catch up on.

Our egg retrieval in October went excellent! We got 28 eggs.

This time around I had no OHSS (bloating or pain). My first retrieval I got OHSS and it was terrible. I was expecting to get it the second time too BUT I started drinking gatorade and eating salty foods the day before retrieval so I think that helped a ton.

Out of the 28 eggs, we had 5 make it to blastocyst (embryo). We sent off the 5 embryos to be genetically tested and 2 of them came back normal. 2 normal GIRLS!

So quick recap, we have 1 normal girl from my first egg retrieval and 2 normal girls from my second egg retrieval.

Eric and I have decided to transfer the embryo that is graded the best, which is one of the girls from my second egg retrieval. We are so hopeful.

After my egg retrieval, we decided to take 2 months off. We could have gone straight into the next transfer, but I really needed some time to decompress.

We have been trying to grow our family since September of 2018. My body needed a break after 2 years and i’m SO glad we did. November and December was the first time I have felt like myself in a LONG time.

Today, I feel a calmness around me. This transfer so far has been less dramatic in a way. The shots don’t hurt as bad and the meds all seem routine.

I will be going into tomorrow with a hopeful heart and knowing that this all has to be God’s plan.

If you could pray for us, that would be amazing.

Let’s all pray that my next update is POSITIVE in more ways than one.

Love, Jess

Now it’s time to wait!

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Happy Saturday guys! We had our transfer on Thursday and it went really well (or so we hope)!

We got to the doctor’s office at about 11:15am and got all checked in. They called us back and had the procedure done all by 12:30pm.

I was told I had to come with a FULL bladder and honestly that was the hardest part of the whole procedure.

Laying down in a pretty cold room all while having to pee was just great lol

Other than that, everything went smoothly. We have to continue all the hormone pills and shots for 2 weeks until we have our blood test appointment on June 18th to confirm if we are pregnant or not.

We are praying that our little boy sticks. Brynn said the cutest thing Thursday night, she kissed my belly and said in the sweetest little voice “please stay with us, I kiss you!” 😭😭😭😭😭😭 If I wasn’t already emotional well…….. LOL

Hopefully I have a good update for you guys soon! God Willing!

Love , Jess

This was right after the transfer! It was so cool seeing our sweet embryo on the ultrasound monitor! So surreal!
This was right before they took me to the transfer room. I wore my Gma’s cross necklace and her ring for good luck. Eric wasn’t allowed in the transfer room due to Covid so it was nice feeling like she was there with me and I wasn’t alone <3 Eric was of course allowed in the recovery room with me so that was a relief!
We were waiting to be called in!

10 things I have learned from being a mom

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Sometimes I try to remember what my life was like before I became a mom.

Eric and I often talk about what we did with all of our time. LOL. We gave more attention to our dogs. We saw more movies in theatres. We went to sleep and woke up whenever we wanted.

Honestly, we had a lot more time to ourselves.

While all of that sounds like fun now, we dreamed and prayed about when it would be our turn to be parents and have a little one of our own.

When we finally got pregnant, it was one of the best days of our lives. In the coming months I started creating lists of things that I would need to prepare. What should we buy for our future baby? What room would we use as the bedroom? Omg let’s buy the cute little baby shoes!

When she was born, it was the BEST day of our life. At the same time, I had noooooooo idea what I was in for. There was so much to learn and so much to practice. I am STILL learning today and I will be for the rest of my life BUT I wanted to put together a list of things that I have learned thus far.

So, here we go:

  1. Baby shoes are pointless
    • There is literally no use for them. Cute as they may be, babies don’t need shoes. Now, socks, I can get on board with. Brynn actually didn’t need a real pair of shoes until she was walking.
  2. You don’t need all the clothes
    • Especially when your baby is young, you really don’t need 20 pairs of clothes in each size. In my experience, Brynn grew so fast that we couldn’t get her in all of her clothes quick enough (Thank you Mom and Cheryl, we still appreciate it, she needs 3T, just saying LOL)
  3. Fed is best
    • I put soooooooo much pressure on myself to breastfeed. Before I got pregnant, I told myself I was going to breastfeed until she was 1. That was NOT the case. AND it caused me to put a lot of stress on myself for no reason at all. Breastmilk or formula, it doesn’t matter. So long as your baby is being fed.
  4. Have a sleep schedule
    • For us, we put Brynn on a sleep schedule the minute we got home. We didn’t really plan it that way either. I guess my subconscious realized that I thrive on a schedule so we kind of just naturally put one into place. We would give her a bath at 6pm, then pajamas, books and bed by 7pm. Obviously, she wouldn’t sleep through the night right away but we would never stray from that schedule. I believe that sticking to that nighttime routine significantly helped us. She has been sleeping through the night from 7pm to 7am since she was 1 month old (until recently, hello toddler nightmares).
  5. Mac and Cheese is completely fine
    • There are some days that Brynn will only eat mac and cheese. Literally. Mac and cheese with hot dogs. For the longest time I would beat myself up about making sure she eats all the food groups. I have even gone so far as to make the veggie pasta, fresh shredded cheese, seasonings, voila! But in the end, it really doesn’t matter what she eats! She will eat when she’s ready.
  6. Invest in those disposable placemats
  7. Make some time for yourself
    • Set aside an hour in the morning or an hour in the afternoon for whatever makes you happy. Whether that be working out, reading a book, personal development, bible study, a hot bath, watching that episode you’ve been holding off on, etc. It is crucial to your sanity. Trust me.
  8. There is no one right way to be a mom
    • This one speaks for itself. You can listen to all the advice you will be getting, and as a new mom it’s often information overload, BUT you don’t have to actually apply that advice to your own life. Just because something has worked for another mom, doesn’t mean that it will feel right for you. Do what works for you!
  9. Use figurines for your bath toys, not those squeaky ones with the holes
  10. Enjoy those little moments, even the loud and crying ones
    • Yes, you read that right. I often look back on the days where Brynn wouldn’t stop crying no matter what I did (I literally sat in the bathroom one time with the blow dryer on as white noise). While in the moment it seemed so stressful and tiring, I often wish I could relive that again. Childhood is fleeting. One day I’m going to wake up and she will be going off to college. Cherish every day you have.

I’m sure I’ll be able to create another list as Brynn continues to grow and hopefully (God-willing) from our next baby.

Let me know if any of these tips helped you in the comments! I love to know who is reading my blog!

Until next time,

Jess <3

We made lemon poppy muffins this week. She ate the glaze off the top and gave me the rest. Thanks Brynn lol

A Blog Post 3 Years in the Making

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Hi Friends,

I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. *sips wine* (Freakshow to be exact, SO GOOD).

So lets start with happy friYAY, as I like to call it.

I’ve been wanting to start this blog for a long, long time. I’ve had this blog for 2 years now. Every time I go to write my first post, it’s the fear of the unknown that stops me. Fear of failing.

Today I have decided that I officially DON’T CARE about failing. How can I fail when I’m doing something that I love and makes me happy.

What is it that makes me happy?

My husband, my daughter, my family, my dogs, my friends. Makeup. Travel. Motherhood. Boston. Movies. FOOD. Wine. Football. Online Shopping (don’t tell my husband, jk he knows). Puffy Clouds. My garden. Technology. Hockey. Music.

These are the things that make me sparkle. I believe that you can never have too much sparkle.

Thanks for being here guys. If you come on back and visit my blog I promise you some makeup tips, products I love, places I love to eat, cities I love to travel, parenting advice (do I really know though? lol), movie reviews, a whole lot of what makes me sparkle!

I think my next post will be a makeup haul from my most recent Ulta and Sephora purchase!

Love,

Jess

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