This was our "wet" day at Niagara Falls. We rode on the Maid of the Mist, awesome boat ride near the bottom of the falls. We also walked on a deck to the side of the falls. Doing these gave us a better idea as to the power of the falls. This is what really made Niagara Falls an awesome experience.


Wet...

Wetter...

Wettest! This was on the "Hurricaine deck," definitely felt real (not like I've ever experienced a hurricaine, but I bet it's pretty darn close).

Travis goofin' around


Video while on the boat

Canada, eh?

So I don't recall ever actually hearing that while we were in Canada. I think it's probably an exaggeration! Niagara Falls were beautiful, and an even better experience when we got down in the river the next day.

Old Buildings

Our walking tour of Buffalo was cool. Lots of old buildings, art-sy things, nice weather. My brother Travis is with us along for the ride, made a good travelling buddy.

Buffalo Wings!

These are the Originals! Wow, they were amazing.






We came across a HUGE cemetery in downtown. One of the US presidents is buried there, but I don't remember which. We were just amazed at the huge monuments to individuals and families.




We found some funny signs while wandering the streets of Buffalo!

Buffalo

We recently got back from our trip to upstate New York, where we enjoyed the weather, beginning of fall colors, food, and sites. Here's some of what we did:



Lake Erie


Inside a Submarine


Nate's thinking: now how am I going to do this?!






A Battleship

XX marks the genome!

Well, we had our last ultrasound on Thursday and it was fun. The baby was moving its mouth like it was chewing gum, pretty funny. I really liked seeing 2 little feet. The doctor took lots of pictures, but unfortunately kept most of them. He gave us the ones that makes the baby look alien-ish. Oh well. I'm wondering if after the baby comes, if we get copies of all the ultrasound pictures. Anyways, the doctor was also able to show us the gender. He said he'd be surprised if it's a boy. So, looks like we're having a girl! After all my dreams growing up of having girl babies I was kind of excited to hear they may have actually meant something! No we don't have a name yet and we probably won't decide for good until we see her. We are open for any baby furniture/stuff that you may want to get rid of.
I'm 18 weeks and gaining plenty of weight, so says the doctor in a not so comical way. Well, whatever, if I'm hungry I'm going to eat right?!
We leave for New York next Wednesday and are super excited to go to Niagara Falls and Palmyra. It should be nice and chilly! We should have lots of fun pictures to post soon.
Nate started physical therapy last week and is down to 1 crutch! It's kind of funny to watch how hard he has to work at making his quadricep move. We certainly take walking for granted. And all of our other physical capabilities for that matter.

Belly Tracking

So, since we don't know if we'll have future pregnancies, I feel we're going overboard (on purpose) to document this one. When you start watching your "baby" grow from day 1 conception you end up with a lot of pictures. Once I figure out how to work our new all-in-one printer I'll try to get the many ultrasound pictures posted. But for now, here's my growing belly!

8 weeks, man I was thin! I've already committed Nate to making sure I get to the gym after this baby gets here.

12 weeks. Not much nausea anymore, hallelujah! Bring on the food.

16 weeks. And the food keeps coming. I'm constantly hungry. I'm shooting for past the 200 lb mark, and well on my way! At least I'm tall right!

I'm 16 weeks today. While I admit I am getting biggger most of the time it just feels like lots-o-gas. I'm avoiding greenery, which is sad, cuz now that I'm past being nauseated I'd love to eat lots of salads. But since I could barely sit down one night at work, I'm eating salads very sparingly, can you tell! My staples are potatoes (any form: fries, mashed, tater tots, anything), breads, cereals, soda (I've had more soda being pregnant than ever in my life-the dentist will be benefiting from this pregnancy) and lots of meat/eggs. I'm so glad I'm not vegetarian, bring on the beef!

13 weeks and counting! February 19 here we come...

I will officially be out of the first trimester this Sunday! Funny how my OB said that was going to be the fastest trimester of the three. I don't think so, especially when you know from before conception that you're hoping to be pregnant and start counting on day 1 of the actual egg fertilization. So, here's our quick story:
After 4 + years of not conceiving we met with the fertility specialist. We tried one round of insemination, unsuccessfully. Then we went straight to in vitro with ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection), where they inject one sperm into one egg. Nate gave me lots of shots (about 4) every day for 2 1/2 weeks, making me very fertile. For over 1 week during the meds I had to go in for daily blood draws and vaginal ultrasounds to monitor the growth of the eggs. Then the morning of May 30, under sedation the MD poked through the vaginal wall to get to the ovaries and remove all 14 eggs I had. Of those 14, eleven were mature enough to fertilize, which they did that day, or day zero. On day 3, June 2 the fertility clinic called and said it was the day to transfer the embryos into my uterus. Of the 11 eggs fertilized, 5 started to divide, but only 3 were actually good enough to implant. So they implanted all 3. I was on bedrest for the rest of the day. My sister Abby came over to stay with me since Nate had to go to work that night. Then we just had to wait 2 weeks before going in for the blood test to see if it worked. That was a very long 2 weeks, especially since I wasn't working and wasn't doing a whole lot here at home. On June 12 I had my blood drawn and was told the MD would call me by 5pm with the results. He didn't call until 6pm due to emergencies at their office. He told me the blood test was positive (that actually surprised me, not that I was being pessimistic, but negative is so normal for us, positive is abnormal!) BUT that my hormone levels were exceedingly low and he was concerned. I guess normal HCG levels are in the 50s and mine was 17. He did tell me that he has seen a successful pregnancy with a level of 12 before. So I had to go in for more blood tests the next Tuesday and Thursday to see if my hormone levels were increasing at a good rate. Fortunately they were. I went for my first OB ultrasound June 23 and saw a nice sized blob of growing cells. Went in again for 2 more ultrasounds over the next 2 weeks and on the last one saw the heart beating! The MD was really excited, as were we. He did tell us to be "emotionally guarded" until we got past the first trimester. Which I guess we have been.
I have been to the normal OB doctor twice now and he says the baby looks good, growing well. This last appointment was really neat because the baby actually looked like a baby in the ultrasound. We think next month we should be able to find out the gender.
Everyone asks if we have a preference. I just say "beggars can't be choosers!" Just joking. We don't really care, we'll pretty much take anything, obviously. I have had lots of dreams about girl babies throughout my life, so I guess we'll see if there was ever anything to those dreams. Ryan's wife is pregnant with a girl, and 2 of Nate's siblings just had girls, so it would be kind of fun to have lots of girl cousins. We'll see in 4 weeks. Abby however I think will refuse to change any diapers if it's not a girl! She is very ready for pink in the family.
So due date is February 19.
I have gone back to work and now Nate is off following his knee surgery last week. We just never seem to slow down. I do plan on going part time once we have this baby. Bring it on. I am so ready to not work 3 nights a week. Nate is still working on his Bachelor's in nursing, will be done next August. We are taking a trip to upstate New York at the end of September. We got super cheap tickets and decided going to Niagara Falls and Palmyra would be really fun.
Well, this has been long enough.