June Challenge - TTC Support from DH

Josh has been very supportive during our TTC journey. In fact, I think he's more impatient right now to get the embryo donation stuff started than I am! He would go to doctor appointments with me if he could, he rarely complained about TI or me buying supplements/OPKs/etc. I think our loss hurt him just as much as it did me. He was a POAS Pusher lol! The only conflict we had was he didn't want biological children and I did. Since we didn't know much about embryo donation at the time, he thought there was no way we could pursue adoption right now anyway and was supportive of my desire to carry children even if he thought having biological ones was more irresponsible. Now we have reached the perfect compromise.

June Challenge - SAHM

I can definitely see myself being a stay at home mom. My mother stayed home with us and I definitely appreciated having her around. If I wasn't a SAHM I'd consider being a work at home mom before I would having a job outside of the home, especially when they are younger. I can potentially help with some of Josh's graphic design stuff which I would be able to do from home. I worked in daycare for a while before my endo got too bad so I could also potentially start a home daycare as well. Those are just back-up plans though in case we need the money. There is a very good chance I will homeschool our kids and that would be much harder to do while working.

June Challenge - Labor: Drugs or no drugs?

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I won't make any firm plans until I get to that point and see what it's like, but my guess is probably. I've read that having chronic pain actually decreases pain tolerance over time so while I'm not totally thrilled with the possibility of drugs, I'm definitely open to using them. I would like to try some of the other techniques first, but I don't have any faith they will work. I've tried many of the options they suggest during my cramps and they didn't do a lick of good. Vocalization, breathing techniques, visualization, none of it has worked for me. Taking a hot shower or bath helps some but not nearly enough to use by itself without drugs. Same with massages. According to a woman who has cramps similar to mine, labor was actually less painful so if that turns out to be true for me maybe those things will be more helpful.

What I'm worried about more than pain management is being induced. I do not want to be induced unless they can convince me it is absolutely necessary. In fact, I'd almost rather just get a c-section if they want to induce me. Your chance of c-section goes up so much when you're induced, might as well skip all the extra pain and possible decreased fetal heart rate and stuff. Also there is a chance if I get a c-section I could get a hysterectomy at the same time so two birds with one stone. Having a c-section/hysterectomy combo might even make recovery easier as my uterus won't need to recover.

This post is part of Waiting For Baby's June Blog Challenge. You should go sign up so I can learn more about you!

Fun With The Sims 3

This is my cover photo on Facebook right now.

I <3 The Sims. I still have every expansion pack for the original Sims somewhere. We had Sim City, Sim Copter, Sim Tower, and my absolute favorite Sim Safari. I miss that game a lot but can't find a version that is compatible with Windows 7. I haven't played the new Sim City after the launch fiasco but I do spend quite a bit of time playing The Sims 3. I've recently started playing the Adam and Eve Legacy Challenge and am having a lot of fun! Basically your two sims start in a world with nothing in it, no houses, community lots, nothing other than a grocery store. You give them $500,000 (some of which has to be used to buy the grocery store) and through the next several generations (the goal is 50 but that's pretty insane) you're supposed to build the town up. It's really interesting playing in a town where your people can't go to the bookstore or the park or even get a job. The only people around are each other.

As I've been playing I've been taking a bunch of screenshots to kind of tell their story. If you want, you can read all about it on my new blog. It's probably best if you start with the first post. I'm not very far in yet, their first child is still a toddler although funnily enough it took them a long time to have him. I have a mod which lets you do "risky woohoo" and each time they do it they have a certain percent chance of getting pregnant. Mine was set at 5%. They did it at least once everyday in the shower to save time, and sometimes would autonomously do it again. Yet it took 43 days to get pregnant with their first child! Statistically speaking I should have been about ready to have my third child. I felt bad for them so after that I got them fertility treatments so they wouldn't have to wait so long for child #2. Then they got pregnant with twins the very first time. I guess statistics work after all! /facepalm

Here's a couple of my favorite screenshots:

Makin' money writing on the computer.

Admiring her new money tree.

Stargazing.

Finding out she's pregnant.

Watching the birthing video lol.

Daddy teaching little Branson to walk.

June Challenge - Kid's Names

If I thought of names for my kids when I was little, I don't remember what they are. The first name I remember liking enough to name my progeny after was in highschool. I was a huge, huge Harry Potter nerd back then (and still am!). I went to Wizard Rock shows, book and movie premieres, read fanfiction, the whole nine yards. One of my favorite fanfiction series is The Draco Trilogy by Cassandra Clare. That name might sound familiar, as she has gone on to be a best selling author of The Mortal Instruments series which is being turned into a movie this August. Over the time I spent reading the fanfics I saw her name quite often and began to grow fond of it. I love Cassandra because it sounds kind of classy and has so many nickname options. She could be Cassie, Sandra, Sandy, etc. Whatever she wanted. This is still one of my potential girl names, with the middle name Siobhan (pronounced shiv-awn). 

Another name I decided on in highschool is due to another author, but from one of his character rather than his actual name. I love Peter S. Beagle, in fact I consider him my favorite author. You probably know him because of The Last Unicorn. One of my favorite books by him is the story of a young girl who moves to an old house with her mother and new step-family. There she meets a ghost cat and eventually the ghost cat's ghost owner and there's a mystery and it's wonderful. Her name is Tamsin.

I love the name Tamsin because it's interesting and uncommon without sounding silly. I have never met someone named Tamsin IRL so I can be reasonably sure there won't be another one in her class or workplace. I was drawn to this name in a way similar to Cassandra. This is also currently one of my potential names, with the middle name Ceilidh (pronounced  kay-lee).

Boy names I'm less sure of. One of the names I used to love is Illidan, aka Illidan Stomrage the Warcraft boss. Yes I'm a nerd, I admit it. I still like the name but I don't love it love it like I used to. It's probably too out there even if he could go by Dan for short. Plus I'm not sure if being named after a WoW character would impress the other boys or lead to taunting. Even some of my own friends laughed when I mentioned it so it's tabled for now.

A name I'm really liking at the moment is Roran which would be shorted to Rory. I first started liking the name Roran after reading the Eragon books by Christopher Paolini. Noticing a theme yet? Of course now Rory is one of the best Doctor Who companions of the new series (imo), but I liked the name before he was introduced. Unfortunately Josh isn't quite as sure about it as I am so we might have to keep looking.

My mother desperately wants a grandchild named Liam. I like the name fine, but again Josh says no. Spoilsport. 

One name we have tentatively agreed on is Erik. He likes it because of Erik the Red and I like it because of Phantom of the Opera. It's not set in stone though.

This post is part of Waiting For Baby's June Blog Challenge. You should go sign up so I can learn more about you!

Super Sweet Blogging Award

Aislinn over at Baby Makin' has nominated me for the Super Sweet Blogging Award! If you don't follow her already you should definitely check her out. I love this award because everyone gets the same questions and you don't have to come up with your own lol. Thank you so much, Aislinn! It really means a lot.

Here are the rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you. - Thanks again!
• Answer 5 super sweet questions
• Include the Super Sweet Blogging award image in the blog post 
• Nominate 12 other bloggers

Super Sweet Questions:

1. Cookies or cake?  Cookies! I don't like icing so it's a pain to scrape it off, especially when there are multiple layers. I love my mom though because when she makes cupcakes she leaves some uniced just for me.
2. Chocolate or vanilla?  Definitely chocolate!
3. Favorite sweet treat?  Ooh this is a hard one. I'm not sure I have one favorite. Maybe the Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard?
4. When do you crave sweet things the most? At night after dinner and when watching a movie. 
5. Sweet nickname? When Sierra was a baby she had a hard time saying my name so she called me Tashie. I think that's pretty sweet and it's stuck around, unlike Propecia which was her nickname for our other sister Felicia. =D

And now the nominations! First let me browse around and see who has already been nominated... 

1. Stacy at Dancing My Way Through Life, Loss, and Books - She's been through a lot with the loss of her son David William at 15 weeks and is now pregnant with her rainbow baby, but the blog isn't about her current pregnancy. She posts a lot of quotes and book reviews which I love, and sometimes about her loss. Occasionally she makes a pregnancy post (mostly dealing with pregnancy after loss) but she always puts a warning up on those incase you're in a bad place that day and want to skip it.
2. Dspence at Donating Hope - She's a former egg donor now on her own TTC journey using donated sperm! Over the last few months they've had one thing after another happen to put off their IUI cycle and I'm really hoping this is finally it for them.
3. Emily at Eat, Love, Procreate - She's recently had to deal with a failed IVF, reaching Advanced Maternal Age, and is just starting her FET cycle. She uses bold strategically throughout all her posts and I love that!
4. Rebecca at Life of an Army Wife - She's recently gone through her third failed IVF, this last one using donor eggs. She's a super strong amazing woman putting herself through this after the loss of six babies, all the while dealing with a frustrating clinic. It would be awesome if you would go show her some love.
5. Ryanna at A Method in the Madness - She's recently dealt with the loss of her first pregnancy and is awaiting her first AF to start the process all over again. I am hoping she gets her second BFP much quicker than last time and it's stickier than a jolly rancher left out in your car all day!
6. Amber at Old Lady and no Baby - She's recently gotten her BFP after 13 years of infertility! How amazing is that? She's also a softball coach and if her posts are anything to go by a wonderful roll model for those young ladies. Let's hope for blog name change soon!
7. One Day at a Time - She's just found out their last IUI failed and is having LP problems even with progesterone. Earlier this year they were approved to adopt through the state, and are also saving for a possible IVF in the fall.
8. Susan at Riding The Rollercoaster - She's hoping this Clomid cycle is successful and is looking forward to school being out! This is her second cycle TTC after loss, and I'm hoping she gets her rainbow very soon!
9. JoJo at Rollercoaster to Baby Bump - She's recently been in a TTC funk which we all know is too easy to fall into. It's hard to see so many mothers unappreciative of their kids or even mistreating them. On the positive side, last month she found a new RE that she loves! Honestly from the way she talks about the clinic I'm a little jealous. =) 
10. Rhonda at Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - She's just been approved for private infant domestic open adoption! In her words they are officially "paper pregnant! It's taken nearly three years to get to this point so I am super excited for them.
11. Shelley at The Closet Infertile - She's currently waiting to get AF so they can start their FET cycle. After doing PGD on their seven embryos, only two were genetically normal. Thankfully as we are so often told, it only takes one. 
12. Lucy at TTCMA, Yet Again - She's new to blogging, so you should go say hello! We met on an infertility message board and she is definitely super sweet. Since we are not actively trying right now I've been absent from the boards and I'm so glad I can still get updates on her this way!

Okay I think I checked everyone to make sure they haven't been nominated yet, or at least if they have that they haven't posted yet. If I didn't nominate you, please don't think I don't enjoy your blog or anything! It's just impossible to get everyone.