Mckenna Monday: Four Week Update

Welp, it's been 4 whole weeks...time sure flies. I thought I'd give you another update on how I'm doing and what's new in my world.

I'm growing like a weed! I was born at 6 lb 2 oz and I'm now around 8.5 lbs. The weight seemed to come on over night. I had my 2-3 week growth spurt, and I think most of my weight came on in just those few days...or seemed to judging by how quickly my clothes got tight. That being said I'm not sure if my clothes are getting tighter solely due to my increased size...I'm fairly certain mom needs to stop drying my clothes on HIGH heat!

I'm awake a lot more these days. When I'm awake I love to sit in my swing and look around, have mom and dad hold me so I can study their faces, and lay on my tummy. If I'm awake and I walk into a room with a ceiling fan, I don't care what else is going on, I can't help but admire it. They fascinate me! Oh and when I'm awake, I'm not a huge fan of my pack 'n play. Mom and dad lay me in there when they need to do something quickly and need both hands, but I'm hoping they start to realize I'm not a fan (you'd think the quick discontent would tip them off).

Mom put me in a wrap thing for the first time this week. What a way to take a nap. It holds me nice and close to her tummy and chest and I keeps me toasty warm. I try to stay awake so I can look around at everything she's doing, but I generally fall asleep within a few minutes of being snuggled in that thing.

Annnd I saved the biggest update for last: my feeding fiasco. Mom and I started having a little trouble over the last week. You see, she makes so much milk that when I start eating, I can't keep up and start coughing and gulping. Because I'm swallowing so much air and because of the kind of milk I'm getting (as a result of her oversupply) I get pretty gassy. If you've ever had a gas bubble you know, it is reallllllllly miserable. But after crying my eyes out and some serious burps and toots, I feel better. Luckily mom and I met with a nice lactation consultant who gave mom some tips on how to fix the issue (or at least make it better). So we'll keep you posted, but I think in 3-5 days we're supposed to be feeling better. Pray for us!!

So that's it. I should get going...it's been an hour and a half since I last ate which means I'm ready to eat. Gotta go put my game face on!

Tuesday's Tidbits: 18% & Taxes

We just got back from doing our taxes, my brain is a bit fried so I won't be launching into any long and thoughtful blog today. There are a few things however I can rant about and also a few updates for ya.

Getting back to taxes, seriously, what is with those things? I won't turn this into some big political debate, but taxes are something that I don't think I'll ever fully endorse. It's not because of the money or because of the huge brain freeze that it gives me, it's because I just can't trust a system that not one single person on earth truly understands. We had the sweetest lady helping us out this year with our taxes and although she was very knowledgeable, there were still plenty of things she was a little unsure about. I mean take one look at the tax code and you'll see why there isn't anybody on this planet that can ever claim to be an “expert”.

My foot is getting better but I'm still not to the point that I trust myself to run on it. For those of you that don't know, I injured my foot last week during a long run in which I've never fully recovered. I've been trying to take it easy and stay off of it best that I can and avoid any exercises that pounds on my foot. I'm doing the exercise bike a lot and have managed to get a couple good walks him. I'm really hoping that it continues to get better because I haven't been able to run for over a week and it is starting to get annoying.

I can't think of many things that I've enjoyed hearing more than my little peanut's heartbeat. We're fortunate that we've been able to see his/her heart beating almost every week now, but we've never been able to actually hear it. Well yesterday we had our first belly ultrasound and I was able to listen in on the music that the little peanut is creating. I wish you guys could of seen my face (this will be impossible however because they don't allow videotaping), but I can assure you that I had a smile from ear-to-ear.

I've been keeping up with gardening so far and I've got to tell you every time I go in the Home Depot I never walk out empty-handed. I must have some type of spray for just about any problem that could ever present itself in my "luscious" garden. I don't read too often, but I even picked up a book solely about gardening in the deserts of the Southwest. It's called "Extreme Gardening" and so far I've been able to pick up a couple of tips that I've actually put into practice.

I really feel for Butler University. I mean I was really sad when U of A lost to Connecticut last week, but I took comfort in the fact that the Cats overachieved and were really playing with house money. I also gave up the excuse that we picked a bad night to have our worst shooting performance of the year. I'm now convinced that it wasn't us playing bad offense, but it was Connecticut playing solid defense. They absolutely smothered Butler tonight with their stingy defense and forced Butler to shoot a season-low 18% from the field (which by the way as I understand it is the second worst shooting performance in the history of the tournament). So congratulations Connecticut, you guys deserve it and I promise to get rid of my Jim Colhoun voodoo doll.

Well, that's all I've got tonight. Have to hop on a treatment and go nighty night!

Updates from the Couch Potato

I figured I'd give a little update about what crazy things we've been up to.

(Silence. Crickets.)

That's how eventful things have been around here, and it's been AWESOME! This last week has consisted of work, working out and watching TV.

The highlight for me has been our workouts. It's been really nice to be back in the gym consistently, and actually WANT to work out. I've found that the last few weeks I've actually been eager to wrap up my work day so I could go get a workout in. Even better, most days we've done cardio I haven't been eager to be done. I think my new energy for working out is two-fold: 1. It's different. We've been so focused on running for the last several months, and the change of pace (elliptical, stairs, treadmill) has been nice. I find that if I'm sick of working out, if I just switch it up a bit, it becomes fun again. 2. I want to get into great shape before we're pregnant. I (POSSIBLY, with a capital P-O-S-S-I-B-L-Y) only have another month or so before I'm pregnant, and I want to start off the pregnancy in good shape, so I can hopefully remain very active! Sitting on my bum for 10 months sounds like a recipe for boredom and a whole lot of jiggle, so my goal is to work out as hard/much as my doctor thinks is appropriate!

This weekend consisted of a lot more relaxation (for me). Ronnie was in Stony Brook, NY to speak at a CF Education Day (was anyone reading this blog there??) so his weekend was busy, but I just held down the fort. Friday night I had a friend come spend the night (slumber party, what what!) We went to a movie (No Strings Attached - Love Natalie Portman, but it was a little crude for my comfort...the sex scenes were just awkward and the cussing and crude jokes were unnecessary). We then just sat on the couch and talked until we fell asleep. I was really nice to catch up. Saturday was full of more nothingness. We went shopping in the AM - we actually went to hike a mountain near by, but it was so packed that you couldn't get parking, so we decided we'd just shop instead!) The best thing about the shopping trip was that I actually bought something (good for me, bad for the savings account). Typically I just window shop. I'll even go as far as trying something on, but then talk myself out of it by saying something like, "I don't need another pair of black shoes." But I bought a pair of gray Converse, and they're awesome! After the mall, I rode my bike to the gym and got in a solid workout. That was the last of my activity for the day. I sat on the couch from 4pm until the Sunday morning (I even slept there). It is glorious. I watched TV and played Scrabble online (against Ronnie while he was doing his treatments in his hotel room in NY). It felt really nice to just regenerate! Sunday consisted of church, a nap, and then I went and picked up Ronnie. Let me tell you - I sure missed him. Isn't that stupid? He was gone for only 2 days and I missed him! I was so excited on my way to the airport to pick him up. We headed for a nice little happy hour (because Ronnie only eats out when the food is 1/2 price) and came home to (you can guess it) watch more TV. I think the couch may have a permanent butt indent after this weekend.

It was an uneventful, relaxing weekend (for me...I think Ronnie's pretty wiped). One of those weekends you wish would happen more often! Leave us a little comment and let us know how your weekend went. Did you have a lazy weekend like mine? Or a busy one like Ronnie's? Did anyone get snowed in? (I kind of felt like I was, since I acted as if I couldn't leave the house!) Need help having a lazy weekend? I found this while searching for a picture for this blog. Really? There's an article about this?

PS - A quick IVF update: I start my stimulant med on Sunday (1/30) and will be on it for 8-12 days. Then it's time for Ronnie's biopsy, my egg retrieval and 5 days later, embryo transfer. Everything is moving along very smoothly and we'll post another update next week. Please keep the process in your prayers!

I have a Popeye Arm!

Keep This Train Rolling!!!!!

It's good to be free!! First, I'd just like to thank everyone for all of your warm wishes and prayers while I was in the hospital. Second, well, I guess now that I'm typing, there is no second, so I would just like to thank all of you again!!

I was released from the Hole Monday afternoon and let me tell you, it feels good to be out. I don't know what it was exactly, but this last stay was a tough one. I'm the type of guy that NEVER minds being in the hospital. I can always see the light at the end of the tunnel and just knowing that I'll feel better at the end of my stay is always good enough for me. I think what happened this time was I just had way too much exciting stuff happening on the outside. I'm getting married this month. Mandi had her shower. We bought a house. We started painting the house. And by "we", of course I mean Mandi. I was reduced to being on speakerphone the first time she laid foot inside of our house as the new and official owners. I had to live through recall and pictures.

Now, let me be clear- it was a VERY good thing that I was in and got a tune-up. I thought of it this way. I made the decision that it would be better to be in the Hole a couple of weeks before we got married, then to be in a month shortly after we tied the knot. I could feel myself going down that slippery slope of sickness and knew that I had to go in to stop the slide. I am so blessed that things worked out, I responded to treatment and things only took two weeks. I don't know how much longer I could have stayed this time. My normal stay is 30 days, and thank you God, it did not take that long.

That leads me to my last little tidbit...if you didn't already read somewhere: My numbers are UP!!! I blew a 89%/73%. That 89% is my highest since a 91% in 2003. The 73% isn't the highest I've had, but it's only 2 points off from being so! It's such a good feeling to see all of the hard work and dedication paying off. I bust my butt everyday to take care of myself and push the envelope of treatments and exercise. It of course makes that commitment much easier when I see it yielding fruit. Now it's just a matter of keeping this train rolling!!!