AW Alert!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to my Canuck stalkers, hope you all enjoyed the long weekend!  We had a very busy but awesome weekend, saw both our families, which was great but I was, and am, seriously exhausted.  I think that amazing 2nd tri energy is fizzling away - noooooo!!!!

Before the weekend, after hearing that everything from our A/S looked good, and with a little encouragement from a few friends, H & I decided to post something on FB about my pregnancy.  We figured we either do it, or just let pics speak for themselves, being that it's more and more obvious every day!  H kind of wanted to do it, and include Abby, and I realized that IF has already taken so much from us - the excitement of seeing two lines, the surprising of H with a pregnancy announcement, surprising our families and close friends that knew - we have already had to make peace with the fact those things were tainted by IF.  I felt a little like this was one way to say FU IF, you can't take this from me too.  I wanted to embrace some excitement, rather than just all my nerves.  So, we did it.  We posted on FB.  This is what we did:

It feels good to get it out there, once and for all, and we got a lot of nice comments, which was really nice and helped the vomit feeling pass, haha!  In the end, I'm glad we did it so I don't have to think about it anymore, and I can post pics from our SF trip without thinking twice :)

For Thanksgiving weekend, we went up to my ILs and while most of the family was off doing the Annual Fall Classic, golf game, my SIL and I went to BRU.  It was so great to go there with someone with experience!  She was so helpful in what we need/can pass on, what she's happy to give us, recommendations on brands, etc.  I was exhausted by the end, but it was so great to have that time to do that together (she lives about an hour away, so we don't get the chance too often).  We also talked about strollers a lot.  I have done a lot of reading and research and was pretty set on the City Select Baby Jogger double stroller.  We happened to be looking around online, she googled a few baby stores near her and it must have been a Thanksgiving miracle, because there was a sale on MY stroller, WITH the second seat kit!!  This is what I have been looking at getting, and there it was, on sale - which, in all my time looking at this stroller, I have never seen.  Two stores actually had the exact same sale, so I'm guessing a manufacturer sale or something, but either way, my stroller was on sale!  So....I bought it.  Hey, I cannot pass up the opportunity for a good savings, it was just over 20% off!  And they only had 1 left in teal, which is the one I wanted, look how pretty it is:

Now all we need to decide is whether to get the car seat adapters for this one, or whether to get the snap and go, but that part wasn't on sale, so I have a little more time to decide.  So, that was my weekend!  Hope you all had a great one!  And if you made it this far, I think I owe some people some Reese cups ;)

                                                         

ETA: I forgot!  My SIL also sent us home with our first car seat!  My nephew outgrew it so they're giving it to us!  It seriously made it feel very real to see a baby car seat in the back of my car!  There is pretty much no one else I think I would trust getting a car seat from, but I know how gently used this was, how well taken care of it has been, etc.  And I am so grateful that we only have to buy one more :)  And my MIL, who love all of her boys (she had two sons, and now has 2 grandsons, with another on the way) is so excited to have a granddaughter coming too!  She went and bought some adorable outfits for baby girl next summer since Carter's was having an amazing sale.  My family is seriously incredible, and generous and I am one grateful woman.

Telling our parents

I know some people would think we're crazy but hear me out.  First, I will reiterate again that we are incredibly close to our families.  They have been a huge support to us going through IF.  They didn't always know the particulars, but they were always there, sending love and prayers, trying not to pry but always wondering how we're doing.  We gave them updates along the way, my mom a little more so because we're so close.  She knew when another cycle was a bust and shared in that heartache, as much as she could.  We did share when we moved on to IVF and they were incredible throughout it all.  If you'll recall, I mentioned that my MIL even sent me an edible arrangement after ER - I seriously lucked out when it comes to ILs.  Anyways, we were vague with them in regards to beta and when we would find out if the cycle was a success or not, we wanted to make sure we had time for us to digest the news, whichever way it went.  So while we were vague and always said, "In a couple weeks" or "at least another week before we'll know" they knew approximately when we would find out.  And we knew they were pretty much waiting on pins and needles with us.  I also knew that there was no way I would be able to talk to my mom much, let alone see her, without giving it away.  There was no mistaking the huge grin on my face!  We also know there are no guarantees, this is still incredibly early, but if God forbid something does happen, we would share that with them and very much need their love and support.  So, we decided to tell them.

We had my mom over for dinner, very casual, or so she thought.  I got an online deal to order some canvas prints, so I asked her to look through my photo book of pictures from our Rockies trip last year to help me pick out a couple of favourites.  When she got to the page for Morraine Lake (there's a picture of my parents in this exact spot when my mom was 3 months pregnant, see this old post) and I had placed this in there:

She forgot her glasses and I had to kind of prod her along for the last line.  She totally thought it was a voucher and I was going to make her something for the new grandbaby arriving any day now (SIL #2 that is lapping us!).  It took a moment for it to register and then the flood gates open and she just hugged me and bawled.  It was perfect!  She was totally surprised, she also didn't know we would know by then, so I am really happy that even after two years at this and her being in the loop on IF and our IVF cycle, I still got my moment to surprise her.  Later that night, we Skyped H's parents and after they did some nonchalant sailing talk, I told my MIL I was sending her a link for a gift idea for my SIL and wanted her opinion.  So we got to see her face when she opened the email and it was awesome!  We could not have said more times to both of our parents how early this is, how we are staying cautious and a little guarded, but for the moment, we're letting ourselves be happy.  I'm finally pregnant.  My mom made me repeat that sentence a couple of times and just kept crying!  

Our immediate families have been absolutely amazing, and again, they know about our struggles and especially our IVF cycle and have been keeping fingers and toes crossed, praying for us, sending good vibes, etc.  We don't feel the need to keep it a secret from them, so we will likely also tell our siblings soon, as they are getting to the point of figuring we know now whether it worked or not.  And again, I always come back to the fact that these are the people we want to share our good news with, but they are also the people we would share not so good news with (but I pray every day that this isn't the case).  Beyond them, our lips are sealed, mum's the word.  I love that expression so much right now :)