6 out of 7

I realized I never did a follow up to my post on the attempt to have 'marital relations' with dh for 7 days in a row.
We made is 6 out of 7.
I'd like to say that it made a huge change in our marriage. And it certainly was good. But I don't feel like our marriage is in trouble, and there hasn't been a huge shift in the universe since, but it was a good challenge, and I reccomend it.
The first day was probably the hardest (which is weird, right?) because we had gotten into a snit about something and I really had to work hard to deal with that situation instead of letting it simmer because we both knew we wanted to start this 'project' that night.
So that was really good. Both of us giving a little for the greater good of each other.
The sixth night was actually a date night, but we got home at 11:00, and that just wasn't going to happen. Plus my mom stayed the night to watch the baby and while that hasn't stopped us before (she doesn't read this blog), it did that night.
I learned that even if there isn't time for an afternoon delight than 8:30 isn't the worst time in the world like I used to think it was. I don't know if I could be up for the 365 days in a row that I've heard of. That just sounds hard. (excuse the pun).
Okay, enough humor, back to work grading papers at lunch. Only a few more weeks of work till I am a Stay at Home Mom all summer long!

Macie is One!

So on the 7th we had a rip-roaring, good ole' western birthday for our little one. It was so much fun, really made possible by me relinquishing control and letting people help me. I did so much pre-planning that when it came to that day I thought everything would go smoothly. And it did. But really because DH's family was there to help out and it seemed to be fun for everyone.

We were at a local park where we go frequently for walks in our neighboorhood. Very nice.

We had hamburgers, chips, dip, watermelon, ice tea and coca cola in bottles. Nothing says 'western' to me like drinking coke from a bottle (which I didn't do because of course I'm still dieting and while I have been hugely successful, I still am ...well, slightly huge. Ha!) My dad's parents were able to be there as well as my mothers' mom. We surprised my mom by flying her mom and sister in for the day (and because the next day was mothers day).

There was a pinata filled with candy.

We had stick horse races, but the dad's ended up helping out. There weren't a TON of kids, so we got the dad's involved. Notice Macie in the corner. All she wanted to do was collect the cones.

She's on her way. Don't know where, but she's got a balloon. What more does a 1 year old need?
Then there was the cake. I couldn't decide what to do, but with about 40 people, I knew I needed a lot of it. So I just stuck with a half-sheet and a 9x13 on top. I'm not gonna lie, I was really proud of how it turned out. My Grandmother taught me how to do cakes a few years ago (I think learning to sew would've been better for my waistline though). Here is me at home working on it the night before.

Dh took care of Macie most of the night because it took me a while. As in 3 hours just to decorate. I'm hoping in the future to get faster at it (that doesn't include cooking time. I baked it and put it in the freezer a few days earlier.) It was a success! Thank you GG!I was just gonna have a piece of cake for macie and not a separate 'smash' cake, but I had made an extra square of cake to perhaps make a 3rd layer, but I didn't, so I just decided to make a little one. I didn't apparently get a great picture of it. It says "Macie Smash!"
She was completely into the cake.
She cried when my mom took it away. She probably would've eating the whole thing if I'd let her (where did she get that from? ha!)

Macie, you are a doll and I love you more than I ever thought possible. I can't wait for lots more birthdays together!

Peak and Pit

Peak:
This week the peak had to be last Saturday, because my baby girl turned 1!
There are about 500 pictures I have to go through before I can even begin to post them, so I'll try to get to that later. We had a blast, it was a cowgirl theme, and the girl loved her cake (was there any doubt?). There were all kinds of surprises and it was a terrific day. I also realized how much better things are if I let people help me instead of trying to micro-manage every part of a party. Bring on the help!
Pit:
Our girl had her Dr. appt. yesterday for her 12 month/1 year visit. While everything was great, I, er, she had to endure five shots! And we were told she could have a reaction up to 5 days later! So now comes the point of just watching her and making sure she is in tip top shape. She's also busting through her first molar, so that could cause a cranky child as well. Boo.

Her 12 month stats are:
Height: 31 1/4 inches (almost 10 inches in one year! Could you imagine if adults still grew that much!?) - 95th %
Weight: 24 lbs, 5 oz. 9th%
Head: 95th%

Did I mention our girl is not small? She's got most of the milestones reached, except she's not saying mama and dada yet. She says mamamammamam and Dadadadadada, but she hasn't quite said them to us. She knows what they mean, but she just hasn't spoken them. I'm wondering if the multiple languages is affecting that. I just mean that DH is teaching her spanish, I'm teaching her English, and we all teaching her baby sign language. I think it's just a lot for her to process. When did your little one's start saying mama and dada?

AND
How was your week this week? What was the 'peak' and 'pit'?

Trying

Okay, so I'm ready to try.
I'm ready to TRY to have a second baby.
It hasn't been as fast of a desire as I thought it would be. I thought I would LOVE to be PG again right away. Until I realized how tired a baby can make you. And how I keep hearing that going from 1 to 2 children is harder than 0 to 1! (do you guys agree? Input please!)

So this month we are officially trying. And I have lots of thoughts about that which I'm sure will be a few more posts (you're welcome), but my first thought is kind of weird and it's about bd-ing: baby dancing (that's se.x for those of you who are new to the lingo).

Before we got pregnant with Macie, our pastor was preaching on marriage and how important se.x is. How it is a great temptation to do it before you get marriage, but a greater temptation NOT to after you're married. So he challenged the congregation to have se.x every single day for a week.
At the time we were going through treatments, and AF was in town, so we just didn't. And I have always remembered that we didn't.
THEN, partner that with bd-ing. Does se.x equal a baby? We did get pg last month (and lost it) so maybe it's possible that we can be successful.

Does anyone see where I'm going with this?
DH and I talked about this last night and he is on board (not a surprise), and from this Sunday to next Sunday we're going to be intimate every day. It's two fold. I think it'll be good for our marriage and...maybe, just maybe... God will choose this to be the time to get PG with another baby.

Anywho, when we first were trying, a number of people said, "just have se.x every day for the whole month". And we never did. So my next thought is, did you? You don't have to describe it, but I'm curious if I'm the only one who never did every day. The Dr.'s suggested every other day, and we did that, but not every day.

And my next idea...is let me challenge you girls to do the same! I'd love to know if any of you want to try. It's like national 'work on your marriage week! I think our husbands would love it. But, make sure your husband knows that it's not just his week to get lucky. The husbands need to make sure the wives are in the mood, and help out around the house so the women can have a chance to enjoy the se.x, not just check it off the list.

Controversy! I want to know your thoughts!

Edited to add: The pastor challenged the Married Couples to do it. If you're single, probably having se.x 7 days in a row might not be the best idea a pastor ever had. Funny.

Chromosomes

My friend R. is going through IVF. She has been through it before. Her story is that she started TTC the same time I did. She got pg one year into the process and lost the baby at 6 weeks. She and her husband continued to try on their own. After 2 years I started seeing the RE and a year and half later we became pregnant with Macie.
R. and her husband started using the same RE just a year after we did. They did the whole spectrum of testing, and IUI, and injectables and everything. The ended up doing IVF last summer and it worked, they got pg! Then at 8 weeks, at the regular ob they found that the baby had stopped growing. So a D & C for her.
They decided to save their money for another cycle and just test the heck out of the embryo's to see what's been going on. Just last week they retrieved 10 Oocytes and 8 fertilized. Only two embryo's had the right chromosomes.
This has blown my mind. Out of 10 eggs, only 2 were 'right'. I put 'right' in quote because God doesn't make mistakes, but the ones that add up are scarce. Now R. is 38 years old. When her husband asked the Dr. if this was normal, he said it is normal for someone her age.

This scares me.
Does this mean that for all of us who are not doing genetic testing, we really don't know what could happen? I used to think that for every embryo that was growing, there was a chance for a healthy baby. But that is just not the case. How many times did I wonder why it took 5 embryo's for us to achieve one baby? And what about the recent miscarriage? Does that mean that baby wasn't 'right'? Probably.

I just hadn't previously considered that there could be so many genetic questions.
Have any of you done genetic testing? Were your numbers similar to R.'s? Or what are your thoughts?

And even more, how on earth do celebrities (minus Celine Dion) make it look so easy? I'm a huge Tina F.ey fan. And here she is, expecting #2 at age 40. (at least 40). But it's just not that easy.