tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81919156139166798982024-03-12T21:01:28.141-04:00Angie's Mommy BlogAng Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-7202834844323632042018-06-11T20:09:00.000-04:002018-06-11T20:09:35.853-04:00Colton’s Birth Story<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-dcd43768-eca3-828e-f75e-68ae9e78939b" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s about time I wrote this up. But before I get to the actual birth story, let’s back up, since that helps set the tone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks into finding out I was pregnant, I decided I wanted to pursue a water birth, and since water births aren’t allowed in NYS hospitals, the birth center was going to be my best option. The first time I met Dr Katharine Morrison, I was SO impressed by her and her philosophy. After my anatomy scan, I made the decision to switch my OB care to the Buffalo Birthing Center. Everyone here is absolutely amazing and treats their patients like they are their only patients. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had centering OB appointments every two weeks. We still got our individual check ups, but we also had group appointments that had a certain topic each week. Even as a Mom with two other children, this was so beneficial for me and I learned so much! And met some AMAZING women who will now be lifelong friends because of the connections we all made with each other. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout most of my pregnancy, I was low-risk. I saw the chiropractor regularly which kept me sane and kept my back happy. At 28 weeks, I started having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and Katherine wrote me down at work to part-time for risk of pre-term labor. Other than that annoyance, I felt relatively fine! I was active and hardly gained weight and the weight I did gain, was totally up front! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At my 35 week appointment, Katharine, sent me for pre-eclampsia blood work because at that point, my blood pressure had been slowly rising over the weeks and my feet were increasingly becoming more and more swollen. The good news was that my blood work came back perfect. But she wanted me to monitor my BP at home and to text her every couple days what it was so we could keep an eye on it. And at that point she decided she would like to see me for weekly appointments instead of every other week centering appointments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then again at 37 weeks, she did follow up blood work again and all of my numbers looked wonderful again, so I just kept checking the BP at home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During all of this time, I was experiencing on and off prodromal labor. I would have contractions most evenings that would linger and not go away, then they would always die off when I went to bed. Sometimes they were just annoying and other times I thought it could possibly be pre-labor. They were never painful. Which is exactly how my labor with Remi started. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 39w3d on May 2nd, I started having lots of contractions that morning, and they were coming consistent and happening about every 10 minutes. Then they would die off, then pick right back up. I had an OB appointment that night and they told me to bring my bags just in case it was the real deal. Of course, it was not, and Katharine decided to do a cervical check and she estimated I was at about 2 cm and 40% effaced. This was my first cervical check and only done to see if I was in labor or close to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prodromal labor is a serious mind-fuck, every time the contractions start, you really think they could be the start of labor, then they die off. This was happening sometimes multiple times a day, and happening just about every single night. I began to question whether I would even know if I was in labor because I was just used to having contractions all the time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 40w3d on May 9, I had an OB appointment that morning, BP wasn’t great, but overall it was a great appointment and she sent me for another round of bloodwork (which came back wonderful again). She also put a call in to Children’s to setup for the following day for a Non-stress test since I was now over 40w. At every appointment, she made sure I was not having headaches or blurry vision, which I was not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well wouldn’t you know that that night overnight, I experienced the worst headache I had had probably all pregnancy and no matter what I did, it would not go away. And my BP shot up higher than it had ever been to at 154/96. I texted Katharine and she told me to meet her right at the office that morning. While at that appointment, Katharine did another cervical check where I was still about 2 cm and around 60% effaced and my blood pressure wasn’t getting any better. At that point, Katharine decided that I was too high of a risk to deliver at the birth center and would need to be medically induced at the hospital. I was now one of the less than 10% of women at the birthing center that had to be transferred to the hospital. Something I never expected. Gestational hypertension was rearing its head and we needed to get the baby out of me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was literally my worst fear the entire pregnancy that I wouldn’t be able to deliver at the birth center. It was my dream to birth here. I wanted the natural birth, possibly birth in the water, and take my baby home with me within hours of giving birth. And suddenly that all felt like it was thrown out the window. Of course there was a lot of crying that morning at that appointment and I told Katharine that my biggest fear of going to the hospital was feeling like I couldn’t “do it” (as in have a natural birth because in the past at the hospital I had epidurals) and Katharine reminded me that the difference this time was that I was going to have HER there with me. And that was a nice reassurance. With both Hank & Remi’s births, I didn’t know a single person in the delivery room (besides my husband of course) and I got the OB on staff to deliver them, so I was lacking in the support department with the OB not knowing me and what I put out to achieve months prior. And by having Katharine there with me, she knew exactly what I wanted. I didn’t even have a birth plan written up like I did with Hank and Remi. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So Katharine told us to arrive at the hospital between 3-3:30 pm. We of course had to stop for some food at Qdoba on the way up!! We got there and they immediately hooked me up to a monitor which showed I was having contractions (which I knew, they were the same prodromal contractions I’d been having for weeks on and off) and I honestly wasn’t phased by them because I was just SO used to them!! As they were getting ready to place an IV, Katharine arrived and put a kabosh to that since she didn’t deem it necessary, YAY for not being tied down by that thing. And put in an immediate request for wireless monitors so I could move around as needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since I had a “favorable cervix,” Katharine decided to use cervidil to get things going. She said generally if there is already a lot of effacement, it’ll just be the push the body needs to get into full blown labor and that it should only take 4-6 hours to get things going. So at 5:45 pm, the cervidil was placed on my cervix and the wireless monitors were also placed. I ordered some food and put it in the fridge in case I needed something substantial as labor progressed. At this point my contractions were about 5 minutes apart but like I said before, they were the same old contractions I was used to. So I decided to rest the best I could since I figured labor should be starting soon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 12:45 am, Katharine came in the room and I told her what my status was and she decided to do a cervical check because she thought I would’ve been in labor by then. Much to all of our surprise, I was STILL at 2 cm and about 60% effaced. Katharine was fully convinced that that cervidil was a dud (or in her words “lacked juice”). So she decided to pull that one and put in an order for another cervidil.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She placed the second dose of cervidil at 1:15 am and at that point, I decided to sleep some more. Really hoping this time that labor was pending. At 3:30 am, I woke up feeling a LOT of pressure and the need to poop. As soon as I got up out of bed, I noticed that my contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting 1 minute. I was like woah! How much of that was I sleeping through?! THAT just goes to shows how used to the contractions I had gotten haha!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At 3:35 am, I shot Katharine a text (she was down the hall), and I said “Think this cervidil is working. Contractions getting strong and about 2 min apart it seems” and at 3:52 am I sent another text that said “Wanna come down here?” to Katharine. In the meantime, at 3:45 am, I called my doula, Savannah, and asked her to come to the hospital and I also texted my photographer, Lisa, to update her of what was going on and she decided she would head in to the hospital. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the minutes went on, I realized that this was the real deal and that I was actually in labor YAY!! At 4:10 am, I decided to get in the tub and labor in there (in the 40 minutes or so prior to this, I was mainly walking around laboring and leaning on a counter when I would get a strong contraction). At this point while I was climbing into the tub, I still would not call them “painful” but present, strong and consistent. At 4:15 am while I was laboring in the tub, Katharine pulled out the cervidil and ripped off the wireless monitors. When she pulled out the cervidil, I’m sure she knew where I was at (cm & effacement) but didn’t say a word, and I am SO glad because honestly being told I was only 2 cm at 12:45 was a bit draining thinking it would be a LONG time before I would have a baby. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I labored in the tub for probably the next 20 minutes or so; getting a stronger urge to push with each contraction. At one point I screamed “I CAN’T DO THIS!!” and Katharine said in her sweet, reassuring voice, “but you ARE doing it,” which was exactly what I needed to hear. And at that moment I thought back to a conversation I had had months prior with my photographer and friend, Lisa, who said that at every birth she’s witnessed where a Mom has said she couldn’t do it, she was in transition. In between a couple of my contractions, I asked Casey to snap some pics of me in the tub, in case Lisa didn’t make it in time. At this point, I KNEW we were close to delivering a baby. Also while I was in the tub, Savannah arrived and immediately started rubbing my lower back as I was having lower back pains. And her and Casey made sure I stayed hydrated in between contractions as I was doing A LOT of work and really out of breath. At about 4:30ish, Katharine decided I should get out of the tub as the baby’s head wasn’t coming down with the contractions and would go up a little after each push. We assume that my water broke at some point while I was in the tub because I never felt or saw it breaking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She suggested I try the birth stool. Oh the birth stool. The stool that I looked at and thought who the hell would want to give birth on this thing. HAHAHA!!! And let me tell you, getting out of that tub WHILE contracting with a baby’s crowning head was one of the hardest things ever that morning! At 4:40 am I was on this stool and with each contraction, I was pushing with all my might. It was SO amazing pushing when my body felt the need and not being coached to do so. At 4:42 am, Katharine informed me that the top of Colton’s head was out to about the top of his eyebrows and I was able to feel his full head of hair. And she said with the next contraction our goal was to get his head out. Lisa arrived somewhere around this time. (Sorry for downplaying labor, Lisa! Haha!!). And Casey told her she might want to get her camera out because a baby was coming haha!! But she did one better and decided to video the contraction that would be the one that allowed me to push my baby out. At 4:44 am, with the next contraction I pushed with all my might and not only did his head come out, but so did the rest of his body. The kid literally popped right out in that one push like a wrecking ball!! Colton finally decided he was ready to meet us at 4:45 am on Friday May 11, 2018. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I now made THE longest walk of my life with a baby in my arms and a cord between my legs from the bathroom to the hospital bed. As I laid down, upon quick inspection, Katharine suspected a second degree laceration. They checked his APGAR and wiped him up while he was doing skin to skin with me. At 5:10 am, the cord stopped pulsating and I cut the cord. It was SO cool. I’m so glad I got to experience that. For about the next 1.5 hours, Colton stayed on my skin just cuddling and nursing. It was so amazing being able to hold my baby for 2 hours before anyone else touched him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While I was holding him, I pushed out the placenta, which to be honest, was WEIRD haha!! It felt nothing like I thought it would feel pushing it out. And as he was skin to skin, Katharine decided it was time to inspect the tears and repair the damage that a 14.5 inch head caused. She determined I had a FOURTH degree tear that needed to be repaired. Casey gladly went and got the room Tim Hortons haha!! (And brought me back the best bagel of my life). Before she would sew me up she gave me two lidocaine shots to numb the area, and let me tell you, those HURT!! And she spent easily the next hour sewing me up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I finally agreed to give the staff my baby so we could do an official weigh in. Everyone was making guesses, most of us in the 8 lb area. One of the baby nurses said when she first walked in the room that he looked like a 10 lb baby, and I was like NO WAY! Haha!! Well sure enough, the moment arrived, she set him on the scale and everyone just started laughing and exclaiming he weighed 9 lb 14.8 oz!! 1 oz away from 10 lb! I still am in AWE that I labored and pushed out an almost 10 lb baby with a 14.5 inch head vaginally without a SINGLE pain med! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me tell you, short labors are extremely intense, just like everyone had told me who had short labors. But I will still chose that any day if given the choice over a longer labor! I “joked” that I was going to end up with a car birth (Remi’s labor was much shorter than Hank’s by hours) & now I seriously think it could’ve been a possibility if I were to go into labor spontaneously!! Thank goodness that didn’t happen!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may not have been able to have the EXACT birth I wanted at the Birth Center, but I still got the birth I wanted and dreamed of for 9 long months! I DID IT! I FREAKING DID IT!! I may have had to use every intervention under the sun to get pregnant with my babies, but man did I know how to carry them and birth them!! My body was MADE to birth a baby, and birth a baby is exactly what I did. And I would do it again in a heartbeat! It was the most amazing birth experience one could ask for. I had the best support system around! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome to the world, Colton Cash Astry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shout out to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dorkystorkphotography/?ref=br_rs" target="_blank">Dorky Stork Photography</a> for the awesome pictures!</span></div>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-57595763595336165702017-02-27T20:36:00.000-05:002017-02-27T20:36:31.982-05:00Thinx ReviewSo <a href="http://fbuy.me/e2w41" target="_blank">Thinx</a>...they're something I had been considering for awhile, but couldn't bite the bullet. I just didn't know...you've probably seen them in your Facebook feed as the "period panties."<br />
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Backstory, since I've had Remi and got my period back a few months ago, I have not been able to use tampons. I have used them since high school, and suddenly can't use them anymore. So now I feel 12 again having to use pads. Period talk is a little awkward for me, but I feel compelled to share my story, because it may help others.<br />
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Ever since I had Remi, my vaginal area has been very sensitive and "sore." I did tear quite bad with Remi and it was at the same exact place that I tore with Hank, so possibly a scar tissue issue? I plan on bringing this up with my doctor at my next appointment. Since my period has come back, the pain has become even worse. I've tried to use tampons and I can literally feel them inside of me and it's the most uncomfortable feeling and frankly HURTS! No matter what kind I use or how/where I insert it, or adjust it, it just doesn't work. My periods are also quite heavy. I do like using the soft cups but on heavy days they aren't practical or convenient because the only place I can change them is in the shower. So I've just been dealing with wearing pads...until this month.<br />
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I decided to give <a href="http://fbuy.me/e2w41" target="_blank">Thinx</a> a try. Haven't heard of them? They are period underwear. You can use them on their own or as a backup to a pad, cup or tampon.<br />
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From the <a href="http://fbuy.me/e2w41" target="_blank">Thinx</a> website (because they do such a good job explaining what they are): They're made up of four bits of tech that makes them anti-microbial, moisture-wicking, absorbent, and leak-resistant. The top layer fights bacteria and absorbs any liquid into the über thin layer right beneath it, so you always stay dry. This way, you can wear 'em all day long. And no, they don't feel like diapers, and it's not like sitting in your own blood. Boom.<br />
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They make them in different absorbencies and different styles. So you get what works for you. So here is my official review after using them for ONE cycle. At this point I only have 3 pairs of Thinx.</div>
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Day 1: Medium Flow: Used pads (because I didn't know exactly when I'd get my period).</div>
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Day 2: VERY HEAVY FLOW: Used pads because I only have 3 pairs and wanted to use them when I felt would work the best.</div>
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Day 3: Heavy flow. Wore ONLY the Thinx underwear. By about 3 pm, it seemed like they were going to "leak" so I decided to use a soft cup and had no issues the rest of the day.</div>
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Day 4: Medium flow. Wore ONLY the Thinx underwear and felt dry all day, no leaking, and frankly it didn't even feel like I had my period, which was awesome!!</div>
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Day 5: Light to Medium flow. Again wore ONLY the Thinx underwear and even better experience than the day before. </div>
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Day 6: (Thinx were in the wash): But I plan on ordering more</div>
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I would HIGHLY recommend these for ANYONE. They feel dry all day long. You can't see the blood (AT ALL). They make me feel fresh (unlike pads). They're super comfortable!! I plan on ordering a few more pair so I can have them for backup on those first couple days and it'd be nice to have a pair at the end too and not have to worry about scrambling to do wash haha!! At the end of the day, you just rinse them out using cold water, and wash. I chose to wash them with towels, just in case haha. But they say you can wash them with your clothes, but I'll stick with my towels for now. Then you hang dry them (another reason I want more since they take longer to dry).</div>
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So if you'd like to give Thinx a try, here is a $10 off coupon for you (that helps me get $10 to use toward an order as well): <a href="http://fbuy.me/e2w41">http://fbuy.me/e2w41</a></div>
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Here's the product video too!! </div>
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Feel free to ask me any questions as well!!<br />
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-3188769050376730112016-12-22T17:30:00.000-05:002017-07-18T11:46:42.085-04:00Feeding a Newborn Baby Resource GuideHey!! So it's been a REALLY long time since I've written a blog post, I apologize for that. Life sure likes to get in the way, doesn't it?! This topic has been on my mind for awhile now, so I figured I'd go ahead and do a blog post about it.<br />
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Feeding a newborn baby should be a pretty cut and dry subject one would think...think again!! Feeding a newborn is definitely one of the hardest aspects of parenting. As a breastfeeding Mom you're constantly questioning yourself, mainly because you want the VERY best for your baby!! So I figured I'd put together this awesome resource guide. No matter if you're pregnant, just had a baby, or your baby is older, I'd like to say it's a good guide!<br />
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A little bit about my breastfeeding journey, I've collectively nursed my two children for just over 2.5 years. Hank who's now 3.5 nursed until he was 18 months and Remi who's now 14 months old nursed until he was 12.5 months.<br />
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Hank's breastfeeding journey started off very rocky as his latch was HORRIBLE causing me extreme pain, bleeding, cracking, you name it!! Once we fixed it (<a href="http://amzn.to/2i6mpd7" target="_blank">Medela Therashells</a> cough cough, nipple cream, lots of air & making sure his mouth was open wide), it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way until he weaned at 18 months.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHqKkD-66gQwT8gvujmrK80-i8-Vl_PCQ9Jb4k6QQRP6YWmLLZFZFYMd1iqy9400vQddE3JrXzEMiyDvfce9wP7smBN95-C4t1EWloScKPBQs5dUh8zqxJ_ltYqYOv5VpfTrc0Cx2Q0QY/s1600/IMG_2162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHqKkD-66gQwT8gvujmrK80-i8-Vl_PCQ9Jb4k6QQRP6YWmLLZFZFYMd1iqy9400vQddE3JrXzEMiyDvfce9wP7smBN95-C4t1EWloScKPBQs5dUh8zqxJ_ltYqYOv5VpfTrc0Cx2Q0QY/s320/IMG_2162.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Remi's early breastfeeding journey wasn't much better since he was born with a lip tie and has an extremely high palate (the breastfeeding odds were stacked against him). We went through many nursing strikes with him and finally got his lip tie fixed at 6 months (after being told he didn't have one). Don't be like Angie and wonder haha. Go to an IBCLC and have them check it out!! After getting that fixed, he nursed much better! And with him things were *mostly* smooth-sailing until he weaned at 12.5 months.<br />
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So seriously, if I can do it with the odds thrown against me, anyone can haha!!<br />
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Because I have such passion for breastfeeding, after studying for over a year, in June, 2016, I officially became a Breastfeeding Counselor through Breastfeeding USA! Yay! What do I do? I provide peer support to mothers using evidence based information! It's so rewarding!!<br />
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So here's my favorite list of resources, if you have some favorites, please comment and I'll check them out and possibly even update the list!!<br />
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1) IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) Directory. IBCLC's are the BEES KNEES when it comes to breastfeeding<span style="font-family: inherit;">. They know all when it comes to lactation. And they are GREAT to have on your side for any/all support! They are healthcare professionals specializing in the clinical management of breastfeeding and lactation. You may even have one right in the town you live in, look one up and "put them in your back pocket" </span><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.ilca.org/why-ibclc/falc">http://www.ilca.org/why-ibclc/falc</a></span><br />
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2) Breastfeeding USA's website! Lots of great articles here: <a href="https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/breastfeeding-information-articles">https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/breastfeeding-information-articles</a> and to find a breastfeeding counselor near you: <a href="https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/breastfeeding-counselor-locations">https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/breastfeeding-counselor-locations</a> -- I do most of my BC work online so definitely feel free to reach out to me personally as well via our chapter facebook page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BFUSAWNY/">https://www.facebook.com/BFUSAWNY/</a> or shoot me an <a href="mailto:angelica.astry@breastfeedingusa.org" target="_blank">email</a>!<br />
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3) Kelly Mom -- Ahh one of my favorite resources!! So much evidence based information on here. Everything from how much should you pump while away, to seeing if your baby has a good latch, to what to do if baby goes through a nursing strike. You name it, you'll find some great information on this website! <a href="http://kellymom.com/">http://kellymom.com/</a><br />
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4) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Honest-Company/pages/9371153011" target="_blank">The Honest Company</a>'s Feeding Page. Lots of great supplements here!<br />
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<li>Their organic nipple balm is awesome and no need to wipe it off before you latch the baby, which is such a plus!! </li>
<li>I really love their whole-food based prenatal. Mama needs to take care of herself in order to take care of her baby. So having the best prenatal is so important (YES, you need to still be taking prenatals even after you have your baby!)</li>
<li>Another thing I really loved was their lactation plus! It's made to help support healthy lactation & breastmilk production. It was just the kick in the butt I needed to up my supply for when I was pumping at work while away from baby</li>
<li>Check out the page here: <a href="https://www.honest.com/feeding">https://www.honest.com/feeding</a></li>
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Like I said, I'm still looking for more breastfeeding resources to add to my back pocket so if you have some, please tell me about them!! Haha! I'm very interested in evidence based articles that are non-biased and helpful to mothers just trying to feed their babies! </div>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-5195238749960075982016-03-01T21:12:00.000-05:002016-03-01T21:13:39.708-05:00Healthy Baby Home Party<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Seventh Generation is doing their latest round of Healthy Baby Healthy Home parties!! Below is information & how to apply!! You get enough goodies for 10 guests to try all sorts of products!! Seventh Generation is an awesome eco-friendly company with great products!! By posting this on my blog & sharing with all of you earns me an extra entry into getting selected to host a party!</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">What is a Healthy Baby Home Party?</b> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seventh Generation's home parties are powered by people like you who are focused on creating a healthy environment for the next generation. Developed with input from non-profit partner, Healthy Child Healthy World, they are a great way to get together with friends, share helpful information, and make an impact!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Healthy Baby Home Party kits are provided to all selected hosts and are filled with educational info about our environment, helpful tips, a fun game, and samples and coupons from Seventh Generation and other favorite family-friendly brands like bobble, Plum Organics and Zarbee's Naturals.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">What is the Application Process?</b></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sign up at <a href="http://generationgood.net/">generationgood.net</a> to join the Generation Good community, or log in if already a member.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Accept the Healthy Baby Home Party Application offer on your Generation Good dashboard and complete the application.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Applicants will be notified by end of March if they have been selected to host a party, via an email to the email address assigned to their Generation Good member profile.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">All selected applicants will then need to confirm their participation by accepting the Healthy Baby Home Party Mission in Generation Good and confirming their shipping address.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">1,900 FREE Party Kits will be distributed in this round.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hosting spots are open to US residents only at this time. Canadian parties are planned for later in 2016!</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 10px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Full terms and conditions are available within Generation Good in the "Healthy Baby Home Party Application" offer.</span></li>
</ul>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-64566603202682193832016-01-09T22:24:00.000-05:002016-01-09T22:24:23.264-05:00Remi's Birth Story<div>
<span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I've been meaning to post this for awhile. I don't even have any excuses because I had this mostly typed up in the hospital!! Oops!! Anyways, here it is :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Monday morning 10/26/15</span><br />
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* I woke up with lots of pressure, took Hank to daycare, came home and hung out & watched my newest guilty pleasure, The Real Housewives of Orange County</div>
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* Had a lot of Braxton Hicks, that were wrapping around to my back, but they were not intense</div>
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* Tracked my "contractions" on & off and they were about 8 minutes apart then I stopped tracking because I got annoyed! LOL</div>
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* Chatted with a girlfriend saying we were ready to have our babies and she told me to drink some of my red raspberry leaf tea!<br />
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* Picked up Hank from daycare at 12:30 pm & mentioned to the girls that I was feeling "off", I got home and put him down for nap & ate some lunch</div>
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* Timed contractions again & they were about 5 minutes apart but a little more intense than they were in the morning, but still not bad by any means (snuggling with Hank when he woke up) </div>
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* Because they were averaging about 5 minutes apart, I called my OB at 2:20 pm and they said to head to L&D to get checked out</div>
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* Called Casey to come home from work & told him to take his time because I wasn't sure if I was in actual labor or not. I texted Mary that she needed to take Hank and she sent Marcus over to pick Hank up and we headed to the hospital at 3:20 pm, but not without stopping at Redbox first to drop off my movie (Pitch Perfect 2) </div>
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* Contractions got closer (about every 2.5 minutes) and much more intense on the way to hospital. I think Casey was getting a little nervous as I kept grabbing ahold of the "oh shit handle". Thank goodness we were before rush hour and didn't run into any traffic problems!</div>
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* Casey dropped me off while he went to park his car, I went to the ER and got lots of stares and the person on duty brought me up to the L&D unit. </div>
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* Got into triage and was checked and the resident estimated I was around 5 cm, but then the Doctor came in and estimated I was closer to 7 cm. Holy shit! I really was in labor. While waiting to get into a delivery room, I went to the bathroom and saw my bloody show. I also texted my birth photographer, Lisa, to let her know she should head to the hospital. I think I gave her a mini heart attack </div>
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* I was officially admitted at 4:38 pm</div>
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* Contractions were getting really intense and I asked for epidural because the back pain was unbearable. At this point I was picturing a long night ahead of us. So, I asked for the epidural at 5:30 pm.</div>
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* They started an IV and wanted to get antibiotics started ASAP since I was <a href="http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications/group-b-strep-infection/" target="_blank">GBS+</a>. They prefer to have the antibiotics in for at least 4 hours. They were happy I asked for the epidural in hopes it would stall labor a bit so I could have as much of the antibiotic as possible. </div>
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Mid contraction:</div>
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In between contractions:</div>
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* After the epidural was placed I was feeling the contractions still & at this point the contractions were on top of each other with virtually no break in between them, so the doctor gave me a second dose and it finally started kicking in by probably 7 pm</div>
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* I told them I kept feeling pressure in my bum so they decided to have me checked again and I was fully dilated. This was just minutes after the epidural had kicked in. </div>
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* So I started pushing at 7:10 pm </div>
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* I said "maybe baby will be born in the caul!" because at this point my water still had not broken & they said waters bulging, then pop and it broke </div>
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* Since the epidural had just kicked in, I couldn't feel when I was pushing, so it was basically guessing game. It's not something I would recommend. I would rather have that feeling of when to push. Had I realized I was "right there" I wouldn't have gotten the epidural. </div>
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* I got to feel his head as he was crowning, it was the coolest thing!</div>
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* I had Remington Scott Astry at 7:50 pm. 7 lb 15 oz, 18 3/4 inches. We were "team green" and Casey told me "Remi has a weiner!" Apparently the OB spilled the beans in the delivery room when I was pushing, but neither of us caught it thankfully!! Haha!</div>
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* I needed an episiotomy (again) and had a 3rd degree tear in the same spot as I had with Hank. They told me the healing process would likely be worse this time around but instead I healed much faster and felt much better after this birth than I did with Hank. I had no problem at all moving around!</div>
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* I was able to do skin to skin with Remi for probably an hour, during which that time he pooped on me! They said he probably would've been 8 lbs had they weighed him when he was first born haha!! </div>
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* We nursed for the first time in the delivery room when he was about an hour old, he had a VERY strong latch! I told the doctors he was a little piranha!!</div>
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Overall, I had an awesome labor and delivery experience! I hope my next labor goes just as fast!! I'm so glad I hired a birth photographer to capture my labor & delivery, if you'd like to see the pictures, here's the link: <a href="http://dorkystorkphotography.pixieset.com/remingtonastrybirth/">http://dorkystorkphotography.pixieset.com/remingtonastrybirth/</a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I also ended up getting my placenta encapsulated this time and I'm so glad I did!! I felt so amazing just days after giving birth & best of all, no PPD!! Hallelujah!! </span></div>
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First picture as a family of 4: </div>
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Look at that hair!!</div>
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Heading home: </div>
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Here's my Detailed contraction history from the "Full Term" app: </div>
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My morning contractions :</div>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-66552363114228535042015-03-21T22:22:00.001-04:002015-03-21T22:22:52.926-04:00Hank Bumps Video<br />
So I realized that I NEVER shared this with you guys!! I can't believe I forgot! I came across it the other day to share with a friend so I wanted to put it on here as well. My brother in law, Tyler, put this together for me last Summer! Casey wanted me to take a picture every day when I was pregnant with Hank, if I'm remembering correctly, I started the pictures around 8 weeks or so. The last picture was taken at 39w5d as I was sent to hospital in the afternoon on 39w6d and had him at 40w.<br />
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PS Pay close attention to 20 weeks in ;)</div>
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Enjoy! </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VAHOmJLWhIg" width="560"></iframe>Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-11269067710531049192015-03-21T22:17:00.001-04:002015-03-21T22:17:51.440-04:008 week update<br />
Soooo, this pregnancy I have been SUPER nauseous!! It's definitely a big change from when I was pregnant with Hank. It's occurring on and off all day long! I'm starting to get used to it though, it started when I was around 4 weeks along!<br />
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We announced our pregnancy this week, so that was exciting! I couldn't believe it that the Facebook video had over 4K views! (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10100463934708363" target="_blank">here</a>'s the original post) Insane!! I appreciate everyones thoughts, prayers and support!!<br />
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My "bump" is growing SUPER fast. I know they say you show sooner with each subsequent pregnancy, but holy moly! I couldn't hide this baby if I tried haha!! My ovaries are still very swollen but fluid seems to be going down so that's good! Lots of growing going on. I'm feeling it in my uterus and lots of round ligament pain too. Which is normal, it happened super early with me for Hank as well!<br />
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Below are some pictures and our flipagram announcement video :D<br />
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PS -- in case you haven't "heard" we are NOT finding out the sex of the baby until birth :D<br />
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Our Flipagram Announcement video</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 weeks pregnant</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7 weeks pregnant</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7w1d ultrasound -- released from Buffalo IVF. HB 134 BPM</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Due in October :D 7w1d here</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8 weeks pregnant</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8w1d ultrasound -- 1st OB appointment. HB 174 BPM.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-4485428832701539152015-03-03T21:04:00.002-05:002015-03-03T21:05:07.232-05:00Surprise!So, it sure has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks!!<br />
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Let me back track a little bit. Following the embryo transfer, my OHSS symptoms got stronger (as expected). My ovaries were VERY sore and I was quite bloated. Thankfully the symptoms were very mild!!<br />
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Saturday (February 14th), I got a wonderful message from my cycle buddy that was a pregnancy test with a very faint positive!! Of course they got darker each day, it sure was making me want to test, even though I said I wouldn't and I would wait for the beta (blood pregnancy test). On Monday, my ovaries started aching again. Dr. Griffin said OHSS symptoms would come back when the HCG hit my system again. So I took that as a VERY good sign that I was pregnant.<br />
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Well, Tuesday morning (February 17th) I was anxious all morning and decided to run to Rite Aid on my lunch break to pickup some pregnancy tests. I was still debating whether I would use them or not. Well of course as soon as I got home. I ripped open a test, read the instructions (haha) and peed and waited what felt like forever!! I saw that 2nd line come up and got so excited. So excited that I wrote on the test wrong. It should say 8dp5dt which means 8 days past 5 day transfer (I switched the p and the d haha). I immediately called Casey and was so glad he answered!! He was excited but couldn't believe I gave in and tested. I never tested with my previous two pregnancies, I always waited for beta. I was so sure I was pregnant though, so I had to do it! Haha! So of course I had to continue testing the following two days, it was so awesome watching it get darker each day. I can't even describe how much more gratification I got out of these tests than I did a beta number haha! And the reason I never tested before was because I've only ever gotten negatives on pregnancy tests, so I literally hated them!! Something came over me!! Haha!!<br />
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Anyways, beta was on Friday February 20th and came in at 248, which is great! It was higher than it was with Hank and a day earlier. I had follow up blood work on Tuesday February 24th and that came in at 1169, which is awesome! It should double every 48-72 hours so it more than did this. They scheduled my first ultrasound for Thursday February 26th.<br />
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On Wednesday February 25th I took my first bump picture. Because of the OHSS, my ovaries are very swollen which contributes a lot to my "bump" haha!</div>
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The first ultrasound showed exactly what we thought it would. One perfect look gestational sac! The doctor thinks he can kind of see a yolk sac in there too but it's a little too early to really see that. The gestational sac is the little black hole in the middle of the picture. Down in the bottom right and bottom left of the picture shows all the free standing fluid. My ovaries are filled with fluid as is the area surrounding my uterus. This is very normal for OHSS. This fluid will start going down over the coming weeks. There is no harm to the baby, just causes discomfort for me. I couldn't hide this bump if I wanted to from all this fluid haha!! </div>
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So on Thursday night we decided we would send Hank to dinner at the hotel in his new big brother tee shirt so we could announce the pregnancy. I handed Hank to Mary to take off Hank's jacket (in hopes she would read his shirt), of course she sat him right down haha!! Casey and I just kept staring at each other wondering when she would notice!! Finally after 10 minutes or so, we couldn't take it anymore. Casey leans over to his Dad and says, "Tell Mary to read Hank's shirt!" So Bob yelled over to Mary and she finally did and started crying and freaked out!! It was so much fun finally being able to do a fun announcement like this as most people didn't know we were doing IVF again. </div>
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I sent the picture below to our close friends and family that weren't at the hotel to announce the pregnancy. Of course everyone was super excited, as are we!! </div>
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Thank you everyone for all the thoughts and prayers during the process, we really appreciate them!! We would appreciate them to be continued over the next 8 months as well. Official due date is October 28, 2015 :)</div>
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PS -- This still is not Facebook Official so please no sharing on there! :D</div>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-40653287106902316452015-02-10T17:34:00.000-05:002015-02-10T17:34:07.280-05:00Embryo Transfer<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">After much convincing from Dr. Griffin we transferred one embryo that's in quote "pristine condition." It's rated an AB, he explained what that means, but I can't re-explain it haha. Dr Griffin said they rarely rank them this high. It's even beginning to hatch, which is so cool. We have two more that are a little behind this, and 2 more a little behind those 2. I was super nervous about transferring 1, but all 3 RE's agreed it was the best thing to do for my body if we were transferring fresh, they still would've preferred freezing and transferring at a later date. I still had quite a bit going on in my ovaries and some fluid as well. So we'll see how I feel the next couple days. Lining looked good thankfully. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">I was so worried that we would transfer only 1 embryo & have none freeze & I'd feel like I didn't give 1 more a fighting chance. It was a battle I was having with myself since before we made the final decision until I talked to Dr. Griffin again...I am so happy to report that we have 3 snow</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">babies waiting for us for future use. Plus they have an approximate 98% thaw rate which is simply amazing. I feel so much better now that I know we have 3 frozen embryos, we're so blessed to have them. I can breathe a little bit of a sigh of relief now :D So now we wait...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>My lucky tee :) Dr Griffin and the nurse got a kick out of it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our absolutely gorgeous embryo ❤️❤️</span><br />
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-48776682311334407512015-02-05T20:42:00.001-05:002015-02-05T20:42:54.508-05:00Egg Retrieval and Update<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, egg retrieval was Wednesday morning. The weather called for 4-8 inches of snow, so we left nice & early. Thankfully we didn't get the snow they were calling for, so we got to the office early. I had to be there at 7:30 am. I got back to the IVF area and got my IV in (which went in wonderfully by the way!). They took be back for ER just after 8 am I believe. I don't remember much after the anesthesiologist turned on the drugs to put me under. The next thing I remember is IVF nurse Kathy telling me they got 21 eggs! Holy crap, 21 eggs. I couldn't even believe it. No wonder I've had such a full feeling! The most eggs I ever got was 11 eggs and that was with Hank's retrieval. When retrieval was over, Dr. Griffin talked to Casey to tell him what they got and that we would decide later whether we're going to shot for a fresh or a frozen transfer. The earliest we would transfer though would be day 5 which is Monday. I wore a t-shirt made by a friend to the ER. And the other picture is me after I was allowed to eat something haha!! Overall I was pretty achy yesterday which is normal after ER. I rested up a lot and took advantage of the pain meds :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So today I'm feeling much better. A little sore here & there, but not much bloating which is definitely nice!! <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Out of the 21 eggs retrieved, we had 13 fertilize and 9 are normal and growing good. The doctors think I should do a frozen transfer but are letting me be a part of the decision making process based on how I'm feeling. They're treating the embryos the same right now whether we transfer fresh or frozen.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> I'll hear from the doctors again tomorrow to see how I'm feeling and how the embryos are doing. The only problem they said is OHSS many times won't even kick in until a week after transfer. And that my lining might not be ideal right now because my E2 was so high. So I don't really know what we'll end up doing at this point. Either way, I'm feeling hopeful that we'll have embryos to freeze. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">At this point I</span></span><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;"> still want to do a fresh transfer. I don't know, it's hard. I'm ready to just move forward. Apparently OHSS can get worse with pregnancy, but I might not even get it at all. My lining looked great on Monday at my last appointment, I'm unsure what it was yesterday or if they even measured yesterday. It's the what-if that's the hardest for me. I don't know what to expect at all. </span><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">I got a BFP on both fresh cycles I've done and never had any make it to freeze, I think that doesn't help with how I'm feeling. </span><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">I certainly wouldn't lie to them on how I'm feeling and I really want to take it day by day. I'm super anxious to hear from the doctor tomorrow and talk to them some more. I've heard many success stories of transferring fresh with this many eggs retrieved, so it gives me a lot of hope! :) So please continue thinking of us over the next few days and weeks to come :)</span></span></div>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-36550810439629727292015-02-03T20:51:00.000-05:002015-02-03T20:52:45.112-05:00Night Before ER and UpdateWoah, so it's been a crazy couple of days. So my last update was as of Saturday. On Sunday I had blood work and ultrasound. Below is the top 5 follicles on each side, growing nicely. On Sunday afternoon Dr Crickard called me to tell me that my E2 was very high at 5,800 and that we would most likely have to freeze the embryos and transfer at a later date. I was heartbroken. The reason is because I'm now at risk of <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ovarian-hyperstimulation-syndrome-ohss/basics/definition/con-20033777" target="_blank">OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome)</a> which can become very dangerous and apparently it can sometimes get worse after the embryos are transferred. OHSS doesn't happen until after ER so we'll see how I'm feeling in a couple days, the unexpected definitely makes me nervous. I might or I might not end up with OHSS, who knows how my body will respond to this as I didn't have this issue with Hank. I was told to stop the Follistim & LH and only do the Lupron shot that night, and to come back on Monday morning.<br />
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Of course, on Superbowl Sunday night (Woo Patriots!!!) it started snowing like crazy and they were calling for a foot of snow over night. So Casey made the call that he would be driving me up to Buffalo & Hank would be accompanying us. We hit the road for Buffalo at 5:30 am, it was AWFUL. The roads were absolute crap and of course there were tons of idiots on the road. We finally made it at 6:45 am. It normally takes us like 50-55 minutes to get up there, so it was definitely a slow drive. Thankfully my ultrasound showed that I was ready to trigger. Below is a picture of one of my ovaries, the other one looks very similar. As you can see, I have a lot going on. I got a call in the afternoon that my E2 levels have now risen over 7,000 (we were hoping they would go down a little with the decrease of the drugs) but unfortunately not. I did my Ovidrel trigger shot last night at 8 pm.</div>
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So egg retrieval is tomorrow morning. We have to be there at 7:30 am, for 8 am retrieval. I took my doxycycline (antibiotic) tonight, and cannot eat/drink after midnight. We're planning to leave right around 6 am because wouldn't you know, we're expecting another 4-8 inches of snow overnight tonight. We got so lucky with our trips up to Buffalo last week with the weather, of course it's hitting us now. Thankfully Casey is a lot more comfortable driving in the bad weather than I am.</div>
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I'm very anxious to say the least as I really don't know what to expect. Yes, I've been through ER two other times, but it's still very nerve-wracking and I really have no idea what to expect from my eggs. No idea how many we'll end up getting and how good they'll be, etc. I don't know when I'll know for sure if it's a frozen cycle or not. It makes me so nervous because I've never had any embryos make it to freeze. But they do always transfer the best embryos, so who knows, maybe Hank would have frozen if we didn't transfer him. I know the doctors will do what is in my best interest though, so we'll see what happens! I am praying we can do a fresh transfer this cycle, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Please think good thoughts and for lots of good quality eggs that turn into some awesome embryos!!</div>
Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-20924814319671031552015-01-31T12:29:00.001-05:002015-02-01T14:15:56.843-05:00Week of January 26thMonday - Had bloodwork, instructed to keep meds the same<br>
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Wednesday - Had bloodwork & ultrasound. Ultrasound showed 8-10 follicles on each side in the 8-11mm range. Below is a picture of the ones measured on my right ovary. And an idea of what these follicles measure. Meds stayed the same.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right ovary measurements</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpgzkU7ExN8z501fw-J7iZRQ77a56wDbkd7ZiaCbudBG5A9CT2hzHC7oAZ6lB5OexoWAcphZs0DXHHJJJOgPEYps5S7XEfVgTHMYPJQmB2cbOOaC7GFL9-rQAYhx5D1Ubw-YFiZi1X_Bq/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpgzkU7ExN8z501fw-J7iZRQ77a56wDbkd7ZiaCbudBG5A9CT2hzHC7oAZ6lB5OexoWAcphZs0DXHHJJJOgPEYps5S7XEfVgTHMYPJQmB2cbOOaC7GFL9-rQAYhx5D1Ubw-YFiZi1X_Bq/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="229" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good visual for size </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My right arm has had enough!</td></tr>
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Friday - more blood work and ultrasound. Below shows the 5 biggest follicles on each ovary. He measured close to 10 on each side. Definitely lots going on which explains all the pressure and soreness I'm feeling!! They're getting bigger, we're in the 9-15mm range now. Decreased Follistim, other meds stayed the same.<br>
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Saturday - Bloodwork only. My little buddy accompanied me this morning! Follistim was decreased a little more. <br>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-19557864509328243732015-01-23T21:13:00.000-05:002015-01-23T21:13:32.468-05:00Baseline Ultrasound and Start of StimsEach step in the IVF process makes it feel more and more real, it's crazy. Time is flying!! I have a hard time saying I'm in an IVF cycle, I don't really know why!! But I'm knee deep in an IVF cycle now! Haha!<br />
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On Monday (1/19), on my day off I might add (Haha), I had my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork. I was so happy that Dr. Sullivan was doing the scan, he's been there since the very beginning, so I just love when I get him. He did the ultrasound and I have at least 10 "sleeping follicles" on both sides. We clearly saw a ton on the right ovary. Left ovary was in hiding so we couldn't see the whole thing but seeing 1/2 the ovary we saw at least 5, so safe to assume there's at least 10 on that side as well. This is a good thing, it means we have a lot to work with. But because of my PCOS, I have to be watched closer because we really don't want overstimulation! He predicted we'd get at least 10 follicles though by the time we're said & done. We want quality over quantity, but it would be super awesome to transfer a couple and have a couple freeze, I won't get my hopes up though!! All it takes is one good embryo :) Bloodwork came back fine too, which means we're ready to start stims! Yay!!<br />
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I got AF on Tuesday, hoping that's the last one for a LONG time!! Then tonight I started my stims (FSH) to grow my follicles and LH, as well as continued on with the Lupron. So that's right, 3 shots each night. With Hank I stimmed for 12 days. I would like it to be a little shorter, but I'll do whatever it takes. So my first bloodwork check is on Monday (1/26) and we'll take it from there. Dr. Sullivan predicted I'll be heading up on Wednesday and Friday (or maybe Saturday) at least for this following week. I can't wait to start seeing these follicles growing!!<br />
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So something I haven't mentioned before, I have a friend that's going through the same IVF cycle that I am. It's nice having someone know exactly what you're going through. I feel like it's fate for us. What are the chances that we'd both be doing this at the same exact time. I can't wait to see what the future holds for the both of us :) So please keep us both in your thoughts and prayers, we would all greatly appreciate it!!<br />
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Here's my "kit" for each night -- Follistim pen/cartridge, LH, Lupron, syringes & alcohol swab</div>
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Here we are, all ready to go!!</div>
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I survived 3 shots in one night with only minimal bleeding!!</div>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-82007376923332223422015-01-12T21:29:00.001-05:002015-01-12T21:29:37.983-05:00Woah, This feels REAL!!Woah, giving the first shot of the cycle really makes things feel real, we're doing this!!! I had my first shot tonight. First time I've given myself a shot since August, 2012!! It's been awhile! Started out with Lupron. I guess it is like riding a bike, it was a piece of cake!!<br />
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Some other updates: Lupron ended up arriving on Friday, which I was really surprised about because we got quite a bit of snow and the Thruway was closed for awhile!! So I was a little nervous about the medicine arriving. Ovidrel was supposed to arrive on Saturday. UPS says they knocked twice, Casey & I and the dogs were all here, so I really don't think they must've knocked very loud. Thankfully I was allowed to sign the slip for them to leave it today. So I officially have all of my medicine. And Casey finally did his blood work tonight!! Hank & I went with him to keep him company and drive him home since it makes him light headed. He said he had a really good tech so that was nice!!<br />
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Then, 8 pm tonight I did my first shot! I'll be doing this shot every night until 2 days before egg retrieval. Video cut short because my phone ran out of space, oops!! Hank even says hi in the beginning, he was "helping" me haha!!<br />
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** maybe one of these days I'll remember to turn my phone the other way haha oops **Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-10408214217723983352015-01-07T21:38:00.001-05:002015-01-07T21:42:10.929-05:00Box #1 of FunI received my first box of meds today!!!!! Every day something new happens, it gets even more real that we're about do to IVF again!!<br />
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I'll start with yesterday's "excitement" though first. I received a phone call from my IVF nurse that Lupron is no longer covered by my insurance, but she was unsure why as it's always been covered by the Empire Plan. I of course called up the pharmacy & my insurance and was passed around to probably 10 different people, who knew it would be so hard to figure out why that drug wasn't covered. It turns out that as of 1/1/15 (go figure), Empire is no longer covering Lupron for infertility reasons. Why you ask? I don't know!! The only thing I can figure is because Lupron isn't originally intended for infertility, so I'm wondering if they're considering it an experimental drug, which isn't covered. It's intended use is for prostate cancer, some hormone issues in pre-teens, and for the treatment of endometriosis. So I got a price quote from Freedom (see last post) and I can get it for $149 out of pocket. Sucks, but oh well. So my OOP price just went up to $300; I really cannot complain though for the amount of meds I'm getting!!<br />
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Anyways, so in today's box #1 of fun, I got the drug that is going to do the magic, Follistim!! I've always responded very well to this drug, so I'm really hoping that's the case this time as well. I also got doxycycline (which I despise because it makes me sick) which is an antibiotic, this is taken the night before my egg retrieval (ER) if I'm remembering correctly; medrol which is a steroid that I take for 4 days after ER; and Endometrin which is a progesterone suppository to help the embryo(s) stick! I'll be receiving Lupron on Friday (which I start on Monday) and Ovidrel on Saturday (that one I have to sign for, so had to make sure it was delivered on a day I would be around). So excited to get started!!<br />
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I decided to video opening it for the heck of it, I even had a little helper :)</div>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-32041430774270227472015-01-05T15:59:00.000-05:002015-01-05T21:47:35.661-05:00Beyond Blessed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So to start off this post I figured I'd do a little update. I talked to insurance this morning and they said the infertility authorization is actually a 5 year authorization, so I'm covered until 2016. It would've been nice for them to tell me that on Friday so I wouldn't have been freaking out!! Oh well. Still so thankful they cover IVF. Because of my prior insurance, buffalo IVF gave me their fee schedule. The prices were $3,000 for the IVF procedure, about $1,000 for ultrasounds and $450 for bloodwork. PLUS all the medications which they don't include because the prices can vary. And on to even more of why I'm so blessed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since my insurance is all figured out, I was able to get my meds ordered. As they listed off all the meds I'm taking, it's bringing me back, holy moly it's a lot of different medications. At the end they tell me that my copay is $85 (I'll have one more small one as well but it's insignificant). This is where I realize even more how incredibly blessed I am. I decided to look up the prices of the meds if I had to pay for them out of pocket (most women do unfortunately, don't get me started on that!). I was shocked to say the least. See below 😳 I'm just so so grateful I have the opportunity to do IVF again and pay a very small fraction of the price. Yes, I'll put over 1,000 miles on my car in the next month (thank goodness gas prices are down), but I'll do that any day for my miracle babies. I know this is a lot of money to those that don't get it covered, but even if it wasn't I would do IVF. It's given me a perfect miracle and I would be doing it again to give him a sibling because he is worth it. So anyways, that's the point of this post. Every single day I have so many reasons to be thankful, this is a big one over the next couple months! Plus of course Hank, isn't he seriously the cutest?! <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAlZQz1gNaKxIGzJ-7wx_n2NTUAGEIUHW4D2emzxptXm0X6VESePOVCUg5IJRbCKiRdgK85YwEAPZuvt59pcaFiaSZTuxltqFoWFwJnVMItxLNbrTvfHGNPXLlBMqEBn3Yu8i5sVOSCbI/s640/blogger-image--1331861181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAlZQz1gNaKxIGzJ-7wx_n2NTUAGEIUHW4D2emzxptXm0X6VESePOVCUg5IJRbCKiRdgK85YwEAPZuvt59pcaFiaSZTuxltqFoWFwJnVMItxLNbrTvfHGNPXLlBMqEBn3Yu8i5sVOSCbI/s640/blogger-image--1331861181.jpg"></a></div></div>
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<br>Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-33092970142199927602015-01-02T21:29:00.000-05:002015-01-02T21:29:38.216-05:00Mock Transfer, SHG, and MoreSoooooo, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! {{Please read until the end, specifically the final paragraph}}<br />
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I called Empire Plan (my new insurance) to activate my infertility coverage yesterday, and they were closed, CRAP :( I didn't even think about the holiday. So I figured I'd call this morning when they opened on the way to Buffalo IVF for my appointment. Called them and their systems were down, REALLY?! So I called back as I pulled into the parking lot, they looked up my benefits and said my coverage ended August 2013 (that's when we switched to Casey's insurance), I told them I submitted my paperwork for the insurance to kick back in on January 1st. They informed me that they hadn't received anything from my benefits office, I was FREAKING OUT!!<br />
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Went into my appointment and informed billing that I was trying to work out insurance and haven't received new cards yet, so hopefully everything will be okay there. Fast forward a couple hours, talked to benefits office and since the option transfer period was until 1/16/15, she was still processing the applications. They sent my insurance application into insurance at 10 am. I called back to Empire and they see that the info was sent but it doesn't show up under benefits until 24 hours later, and of course they're closed over the weekend. So I know what I'll be doing first thing Monday morning. This was the LAST thing I wanted to be stressing over this morning. The regular insurance coverage is retro-active to 1/1/15 but with the infertility coverage, I have to personally call to activate that, and of course couldn't do that without the insurance. So I'm really hoping they'll cover today's appointment. Benefits think they will since I obviously took the necessary steps, but it's still stressful. My hormones are on overdrive and this of course set me over the edge today.<br />
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But, let's talk about good stuff. My appointment! Dr. Griffin did my mock embryo transfer and saline sonohysterogram (SHG). First he did the mock transfer, where they insert a catheter completely into my uterus to make sure it's a good environment for an embryo to live. They use an ultrasound to view the catheter and see everything that's going on. He even touched the back of my uterus just to make sure there were no obstacles. He was very happy with what he saw. He said my uterus looked "text book" and a perfect environment for a embryo, very great news! Pregnancy can change things which is why they wanted to do this again. Then he did the SHG where they do a transvaginal ultrasound and basically squirt a bunch of saline in to make sure the uterine lining looks good, make sure there are no cysts, or abnormalities, etc. Again, everything looked great here, YAY! I also learned that when I come in for my monitoring appointments I'll be seeing Dr. Sullivan in January and Dr. Griffin in February. I've worked with Dr. Sullivan since March 2011, he's my main doctor and we've put a lot of trust into him, he's an amazing Doctor so I'm glad I'll be able to work with him during some of my process. Dr. Griffin came into the practice as they released me when I was pregnant, so I've only met him a couple times, but he was really nice today and I'm looking forward to working with him as well.<br />
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Finally, I know this is a public blog, but if you are reading this, please no sharing on Facebook or social media sites or even face-to-face. We're wanting to keep this round of IVF a little more private and to ourselves. I've shared this blog with my IVF and mama groups. But anyone else that is reading this, it's because you've come here on your own. People wonder why I would publicly blog if I wanted this kept quiet, it's because it helps me a TON to blog about the process. It's VERY therapeutic for me. Plus, I don't want to forget anything. So please respect our privacy. I would love for everyone to continue reading and follow our process. We appreciate any prayers and support we can get. You will get all necessary updates here as well. So refer to this blog for questions :D Thanks again for respecting us!Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-31170002919837767052014-12-27T22:27:00.000-05:002014-12-27T22:32:30.527-05:00The Official Start of my IVF CycleAhhhh the time has come, it's the OFFICIAL start of my upcoming IVF cycle. What starts the cycle, you ask? Birth control pills!! Hahaha, so funny, right? Did you know that a typical IVF cycle is 6 weeks?! Gosh that feels like such a long time haha, I kind of just want to fast forward ahead to February! LOL. No, it's all worth it of course :D So I started my pack of birth control pills tonight and have received my official calendar.<br>
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The course of events is as follows:<br>
12/27 -- Start birth control pills<br>
1/1 -- Call insurance to activate IVF coverage<br>
1/2 -- Mock transfer<br>
1/12 -- Start Lupron (1st injectible medicine)<br>
1/16 -- Last active birth control pill<br>
1/19 -- Baseline blood work and ultrasound<br>
1/23 -- Start the injectible medicine to stimulate my ovaries to grow follices (Follistim)<br>
1/26 -- Blood work to check estradiol levels<br>
Week of 1/26 -- more blood work & ultrasounds<br>
Week of 2/2 -- more blood work & ultrasounds; then when my follicles are the appropriate size we will stimulate ovulation (ovidrel) then have the egg retrieval!<br>
5-7 days after egg retrieval is the embryo transfer -- the plan is to transfer 2 embryos<br>
Then we WAIT! AHHHH!!!<br>
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I'm really excited but I'm also super nervous as well. We've never had many great embryos in the past so this makes me nervous, all it takes is one though (Hello, Mr Hank <3)!! So hoping for more embryos this time, would even be nice to have some to freeze. IVF is a very emotional process, so I'm not really looking forward to that. And last time I didn't have a toddler running around keeping me busy too so I'm sure I'm going to be extra tired. I always make sure to schedule the earliest appointments so I can get back to work so I don't have to use any time. So that means leaving my house around 6 am (yuck!). So that'll be hectic with daycare and what not too. Normally I take Hank to daycare at 8 am, but Casey will have to take him before he goes to work on days that I have monitoring up in Buffalo, so he'll have to go at probably 7:15 am to give Casey time to get to work. So I think we'll all be tired for that couple of weeks there! Keeping the end goal in sight will definitely help us all! I am so excited to hopefully give Hank a little brother or sister!! :D Keep us in your thoughts & prayers please over the next 2 months, we will really appreciate it!!<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SiLvlTWJUQGOtmE5m2sGAG7omUJlXn5zRw_HwMIfK1-zkACDVBwN5SkJapbtbyUETBGuVipFxwkAdxcH1trCtZ3mv1qey_3VCtnAhhiqwuvkfEVOE-UEvM4hARdwi7iADYDY2QlOKcas/s640/blogger-image-24497254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9SiLvlTWJUQGOtmE5m2sGAG7omUJlXn5zRw_HwMIfK1-zkACDVBwN5SkJapbtbyUETBGuVipFxwkAdxcH1trCtZ3mv1qey_3VCtnAhhiqwuvkfEVOE-UEvM4hARdwi7iADYDY2QlOKcas/s640/blogger-image-24497254.jpg"></a></div>Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-75059306653418893952014-11-29T20:29:00.001-05:002014-11-29T20:29:17.740-05:00Let's do this!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYdCEU9eVKW5i8ljF6R6K5R0q5-jnI0bipfpukt8dxMyIl5dsSqnMJP6h4kJr-4G5SPmKU4qrtHS8psJNgsDE2qBuKsYcqLci7D7ZggRXxPeP_RWermxvbvJwW3-vsVog7BV69ukNEOHM/s640/blogger-image--125765617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYdCEU9eVKW5i8ljF6R6K5R0q5-jnI0bipfpukt8dxMyIl5dsSqnMJP6h4kJr-4G5SPmKU4qrtHS8psJNgsDE2qBuKsYcqLci7D7ZggRXxPeP_RWermxvbvJwW3-vsVog7BV69ukNEOHM/s640/blogger-image--125765617.jpg"></a></div>Started my birth control pills tonight!! This is the reminder that pops up in my phone, gotta make it fun!! :) Hoping they don't mess with my hormones too much. And maybe they'll even help my acne a little bit, that would be nice!! I'll be taking these for the next 1-2 months so we have control over my cycles, since they're so wonky we don't know what it'll do. So BCP it is!! Wish me luck :)Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-12693310999391252662014-11-24T22:04:00.001-05:002014-11-24T22:04:48.300-05:00The Beginning All Over AgainWell I figured that blogging helped me so much the first two times I did IVF that I might as well do it again, I still look back on those posts or reference them or send them to people that need help or have questions. It's like a personal journal for me that I'll forever have, so I've decided why not. I'm writing this for me. I have a hard time remembering things. I probably should've done this for Hank's first year, oops! :/<br />
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Okay, sooooooo here's the dealio! Casey & I have wanted another baby for a long time. We love Hank so much we want him to have a sibling, he plays sooooo good with other kids, it's amazing! He's seriously going to be the best big brother. We decided, let's not wait around and at least TRY on our own because what does it hurt. Well 15 months later, and still nothing. It's funny after going through all the infertility procedures I went through and only ever getting pregnant via IVF that I would even have any hoping of getting pregnant naturally. But it's there, and I cannot help it. Getting AF month after month sucks!! It was regular for awhile which was nice, thought maybe my body was kicking itself into gear, then I'd be late, get hopeful (OMG I'm pregnant), then NOPE, hello AF! You son-of-a-bitch! I hate YOU!! Anyways......<br />
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We've been on Casey's health insurance for a year now (they don't cover IVF) and I knew they didn't. We decided to go on his insurance to get a bit of a monetary break and since I was nursing, I didn't want the thought of doing IVF jeopardize that. So we knew we could not do IVF while on Casey's insurance. Guess what?! I'll be going back on my insurance as of January 1, so we can do IVF again.<br />
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I setup a meeting with Dr. Sullivan up at Buffalo IVF a few weeks ago. It was a family outing for us. He got to visit with Hank, we got to see our favorites up there & they got to see how much Hank has grown and see one of their miracle babies! We love visiting them! They're like a family to us. We went there for 2.5 years before they released us! Anyways, Dr. Sullivan decided we know what worked to get us Hank, so let's do that again! Yay! :D<br />
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So we're in the EARLY stages of preparing my body for IVF. I know the next 5 weeks are going to fly by, so I'm very thankful for that. First, Dr. Sullivan started me on metformin again, ahh my old nemesis. I was on metformin for YEARS. It's given to women with PCOS to help regulate your cycles essentially. Metformin is known to TEAR UP my stomach (and most women's stomachs who take it). So they have you ease into the drug. Start taking it very slowly. I took it with dinner on a Friday night and it was within 30 minutes that my body was like WTF!!! Ugh, great, this again!! Thankfully, as I've been increase the prescription and up to the full dose now it's really not too bad. I have to make sure I take it on a full stomach in the mornings, or I feel like I'm going to puke, learned that lesson a couple weeks ago. And taking it right before bed after I've eaten dinner works for the night time dose. I have to be careful what I eat specifically around taking it, which is a good thing. Sometimes during the day too, that's more of a guessing game. Good excuse not to carb-load or eat greasy! Which I shouldn't be doing any ways! Haha!<br />
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Next step was to wait for AF, theoretically she shouldn't arrived around November 10th, of course not though haha. Buffalo wanted me to call up on November 17th either way, so I called, the nurse says give it one more week (since we aren't in any rush here). So after more than 2 weeks late, it arrived with a VENGEANCE on November 23rd. So I got blood work this morning, November 24th, down at Brooks. Had 7 vials of blood taken and had the best phlebotomist thank goodness!! I love when they actually listen to me when I tell them I need a butterfly needle because it was painless!!<br />
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So now the next step is waiting to hear back from Buffalo IVF about how the labs look and when I'll start the birth control. This part always makes me laugh. Going on birth control before doing IVF, doesn't that sound like an oxymoron? We need to do this so we can get my body "normal" and this way we can control when to do certain things. So I'll be on that until sometime in January.<br />
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Next things we have to do are: blood work for Casey and a sperm-analysis, which I know he's greatly looking forward to both of these haha!! Then WAIT for the NEW YEAR!!!!!! Ahhh I'm so excited!! I seriously cannot wait to give Hank a sibling :D<br />
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Oh one more thing to add, in the myst of all of this, I've had to wean Hank. I know, I know, we went WAY longer than anticipated, expected, etc. and he's only been nursing 1x/day for months, but I really loved those few minutes in the morning with him before he started tearing ass around the house haha!! I decided the last time I would nurse Hank would be his 18 month birthday (mean Mommy haha), I truly treasured that last time, more so even because I knew (or planned) it would be the last time. I just changed up the morning routine and he never once asked for it. And I'm so excited that I never even felt a thing either! I'm telling you, THAT is the way to wean!! So thankful I didn't have to go through that pain! :D<br />
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Sooooooo, that is what is going on :D So stay tuned!!Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-53000162885276164852014-07-17T11:52:00.002-04:002014-07-17T12:34:04.166-04:00My Future Fanatic<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So everyone around me knows that I am a New England Patriots fan, love it or hate it, that's the truth! So of course, Hank will be a little Patriots fan until he can decide whether he truly is a future fanatic or not! Haha! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I chose the New England Patriots as "my team" at a very young age. Growing up just south of Buffalo, NY, everyone around me is a Bills fan. Well I've never been one to do what everyone else around me does. So I just decided that I liked the New England Patriots, why I chose them, I can't remember, I was probably 10 years old. But I did and I've been a fan ever since. I wear my New England Patriots jerseys to games against Buffalo and get booed, but still have fun! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.fanatics.com/" target="_blank">Fanatics</a> is doing a "Future Fanatics" campaign and I wanted to participate since we are such huge Patriots Fanatics! </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fanatics knows that team loyalty often begins at an early age, so they thought, why not see how the superfans of tomorrow are getting their start? In case you don't know, Fanatics is the leading online retailer of everything sports -- </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323;">sports apparel, offering everything from </span><a href="http://www.fanatics.com/MLB_Hats" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">your teams hat</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323;"> to your </span><a href="http://www.fanatics.com/NFL" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">favorite players jersey</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">! And they wanted to see my little fandom in action!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />So anyways, the moral of the story is my future fanatic, Hank, sporting his New England Patriots jerseys :D I can't wait until he can truly cheer on the Patriots!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First time trying his Brady jersey on!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mommy & Hanky</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a goofball</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yup, he even has a Patriots diaper</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gotta add the leg warmers when it's cold out!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In his newest Brady jersey, he wasn't too happy to have that on!</td></tr>
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<br />Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-40170583550253142102014-02-22T21:34:00.000-05:002014-02-22T21:34:26.344-05:009 Month Update <div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_53095d538000e9111726522" style="display: inline;">
Happy 9 months to my sweet boy!! Hank is quite the chatter box, talking non-stop. Words he says are mama, dada, all done & doggie (kinda). He also thinks the cats are doggies too. He has 6 teeth & has learned that it's funny to bite & grind his teeth! He also thinks it's funny when mommy says no, but when daddy says it it means business! He likes all sorts of foods (although he's been a little pic<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ky lately), his favorites are Mac & cheese with veggies & yogurt! He still is breastfed & never had a drop of formula. He weighs around 17 lbs. He had his first big illness, RSV, last week & got breathing treatments from his puppy nebulizer, but is thankfully all better and off the treatments for now. He army crawls & gets up on all 4's & crawls backwards. He likes to get up on his knees & "stand" in his crib & grab his mobile! He's a funny boy with a big personality!!</span><br />
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-91274025703393388662014-02-22T21:26:00.002-05:002014-02-22T21:57:43.954-05:00My Fitness JourneySo I know it's been a long time since I've done an update, so I figured I'll do two separate posts! My first post is one that I'm very excited about, it's been my fitness journey. Mid-November, I had enough of how I looked. I gained weight back that I lost and wanted to lose 20 lbs and wanted to do something about it ASAP. After seeing many posts from a facebook friend, I decided to join a <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/challenge-groups" target="_blank">30 day challenge group</a>! I did the <a href="http://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/BCPT25205?referringRepId=322880" target="_blank">T25 program</a> and drank <a href="http://www.shakeology.com/angieastry" target="_blank">Shakeology</a>. Since I invested money in it, I found myself even more motivated to do the program! After 30 days I saw awesome results! I was losing weight over Christmas, while many people were gaining weight! I decided to become a <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/join-my-team" target="_blank">Beachbody coach</a> since I loved the program so much and saw what awesome results I had! So I'll share a couple things here: I now run a <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/challenge-groups" target="_blank">30 day Challenge group</a> to help people get a jump start on their weight loss program. I run a private group that's all about keeping up accountability and motivation! It's awesome! And we have so much fun! I also have a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/angieastry" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> where I post a lot of food/fitness tips and just started my own <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/" target="_blank">website</a> as well! I'd love for you guys to check these out and enter my <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/giveaway1" target="_blank">giveaway</a> on my website!! I also have <a href="http://www.busyfitnessmom.com/free-coaching" target="_blank">FREE coaching</a> too if you want help losing weight/getting fit!! I finished the program last week and I lost a total of 17 lbs since starting the program (22 lbs since committing to doing the program) and 7.75 inches and I'm officially BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight!! Below are some of my progress pictures :D<br />
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<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-29572821778736837522013-11-19T21:08:00.001-05:002013-11-27T14:26:56.509-05:00Cloth Diaper Resources<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7606971/?claim=6nzqyruyabd">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> </span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am very passionate about cloth diapering and as a matter of fact, it has become a hobby of mine! Haha! Anyways, I figured I would share some of my favorite cloth diaper resources for those that are considering cloth diapering or would just like more information about them. I'll share some links and documentation that I've pulled from various websites.</span><br />
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<ul><a href="http://www.clothdiaperfinder.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="DDLbutton" src="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/square-finder125.gif" /></span></a></ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/cloth-diaper-finder/" target="_blank">Cloth Diaper Finder</a> - this is literally a master cloth diaper finder. You can search by all different fields to see what your options are with each kind of diaper. You can search by price range, company, sizing, diaper type, closure type, outer material, country of origin, manufacturer type, and a few other options. Once you search, you can get details, where to purchase it, and reviews on the diaper. Note - not ALL diapers on here, but pretty much all of the well known brands are on here</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://theecofriendlyfamily.com/cloth-diapers/" target="_blank">Cloth Diaper Resource Mother Lode</a> - "<span style="line-height: 22px;">Here you’ll find everything from what types of diapers there are (and what ones might work for you) to how to use them, wash them and troubleshoot!" - literally everything you ever wanted to know about cloth diapers is here. Different topics include: </span><span style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-center;">Cloth Diaper Washing & Troubleshooting, </span><span style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-center;">General Cloth Diapering Questions, </span><span style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-center;">Additional Resources by Other Great Cloth Diapering Bloggers</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2011/05/share-cloth-love-with-printable-guide/" target="_blank">Printable Guide to Cloth Diapering</a> - "<span style="text-align: left;">The sheet covers environmental facts, health facts, explanations of the different types of diapers, how to wash (our detergent recipe too!), what’s needed and a whole lot more." - A basic "How-To" for cloth diapering</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/" target="_blank">The Cloth Diaper Whisperer</a> - This is a go to site for many cloth diaper mama's! You can find an answer to just about everything on here relating to cloth diapers! </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/" target="_blank">Dirty Diaper Laundry</a> - Love this website! Tons and tons of different videos on cloth diapering! Her videos are awesome! She also has great articles and pictures to accompany any questions one might have!</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Places to shop and/or learn more about cloth diapers:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abbyslane.com/" target="_blank">Abby's Lane</a> - They're a small company that sells many different brands of cloth diapers. They offer free shipping (yay!) and you earn 8% back in reward points on everything you purchase!</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abbyslane.com/Cloth-101_ep_42-1.html" target="_blank">Cloth-101</a> - All about cloth diapers!</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kellyscloset.com/" target="_blank">Kelly's Closet</a> - Another small company that sells many different brands of cloth diapers. I've ordered from them many times! They offer free shipping over $49 all the time, and many diapers they have coupons where you spend $X and earn a free diaper! They also have a reward system where you earn points on everything you purchase.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html" target="_blank">Cloth-101</a> - Their version of everything you need to know about cloth diapers</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.onesizediaperstore.com/" target="_blank">One Size Diaper Store</a> - A sister store of KC that only sells one-sized diapers</span></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jilliansdrawers.com/" target="_blank">Jillian's Drawers</a> - Another small company that sells many different brands of cloth diapers. They seem to be known for "trying" a bunch of diapers for $10 or rentals. They also have rentals of carriers (yay!). They offer free shipping over $99 & 10% in rewards on everything you purchase.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/newtocloth" target="_blank">New to Cloth</a> - This is a great resource. It breaks it down why cloth diapers are so great. This is actually what I used to present why we should use cloth diapers to Casey! This is what got him on board initially! </span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chelory.com/" target="_blank">Chelory</a> - These are my FAVORITE diapers (I'll talk about this in another post!). But this is a WAHM (Work-At-Home-Mom) owned business! Which I LOVE to support! She always has free shipping and you earn reward points as you buy. For every $2.50 you spend, you earn a point that is worth $0.25. So essentially 10%. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/home.php" target="_blank">Green Mountain Diapers</a> - Another small company that sells many different brands as well as their own brand. They have free shipping over $75 and only $4.95 shipping up to $75. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/newmom.html" target="_blank">New to Cloth</a> - Great info here!! </span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.freshandfluffyshop.com/" target="_blank">Fresh & Fluffy</a> - Another small company that sells many different brands and has a store in Hamburg, NY (yay!). Stephanie is awesome and is very knowledgeable! She offers special packages, cloth diaper classes, has a layaway and even now has used diapers for sale. You can order online and pickup in store which is awesome! She does have a reward system, but I'm not sure how much it is! </span></li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><a href="http://www.freshandfluffyshop.com/Blog.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Tips</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> - Lots of cloth diapering tips here</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Check back to this post, because I'm sure I'll update it as I find new sources (or sources I may have forgotten) and places to buy the diapers. I also highly recommend signing up for their email newsletters as they're always loaded with great information and you may even learn about a special promotion or sale!! :-)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also highly recommend purchasing the book, "Changing Diapers" by Kelly Wels - it's a great simple, layman's terms guide to cloth diaper. Big writing, short book, sweet and to the point! Click below to purchase!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Please feel free to message me with any questions and if you have any favorite resources that you think I should include, let me know!! </span></div>
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Ang Astryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15626677442318941522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8191915613916679898.post-23109815259232803652013-11-04T21:37:00.000-05:002013-11-11T21:28:11.617-05:006 Month Photo shoot!<div id="fb-root"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
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