Thursday, July 15, 2010

Mean to Green (er)

Did you think that I had forgotten with all this baby-talk over the last little while? No, just well, lazy. Sitting on the couch cuddled with Andre or going for a walk when the heat has finally lifted in the evenings is just a little more appealing right now!

I did decide while I was reading some of my favourite blogs that I should really log on and give you all something. I have been thinking of doing this post for a long time now!

So without further ado (be forewarned it's a dirty subject).....TOILET PAPER! This is something that everyone buys, unless of course you are one of those really crunchy-granola types that doesn't in which case, I honestly don't know what to say.

We were addicted to the Kirkland brand for the longest time. You know the big, mega pack from Costco that would last a small family say, 6 months! The problem was that it had a TON of packaging, was not recycled, and I'm not too sure on the status of whether it was biodegradable. So we needed to switch!

Oh you should have heard Andre complain in the middle of No Frills when I told him we needed to switch to a more greener choice for bum wipe. He was not happy. Switching his toilet paper was crossing the line apparently. He must have a sensitive heiney. The first brand that we tried was President's Choice Green Bathroom Tissue.
The reason behind this purchase was that we love President's Choice Products. We have switched from name brand to their brand on many occasions and took for granted that this one would be a winner. We were wrong. It promised to be made from 100% Post Consumer recycled paper, and that it is biodegradable. I have no doubt in my mind that it is both of those things, but in a word, this stuff is CRAP.

Considering this stuff is suppose to be a double roll, the rolls are painfully thin. It claims to be 2-ply. Oh.My.Goodness. If this is suppose to be 2-ply, I do not want to know what 1-ply is.

In short, I am sad to say, do not waste your money on this product.

Now after our horrible adventure in green (er) toilet paper, Andre was none too happy that I wanted to try yet another brand. I had a friend mention the Cascades Brand of products. I knew that they sold their "enviro" line of products at Costco, and we just happened to be on our way there for a shopping trip. Andre was not happy to have to try another product that he was sure was going to disappoint, so I told him that all the trees were saying "Thank you Andre!!" for his purchase. He rolled his eyes and threw the huge package in the cart.

                                                    
Now this brand promises on it's website to be made of  100% recycled fibres, be made with 80% less water than the industry standard, is dried using natural gas, and bleached without chlorine. Wow, impressive! You want to know the best part?

It's actually good stuff! It's much thicker than the PC Brand, as well as softer, and stronger. We've found ourselves a winner people!





Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Beta #2

Was a success! I was very nervous simply because I had nothing to go by since we didn't have anything but a "You're Pregnant!" after the first beta. My HCG is 568.9, and my Progesterone level was 45. Both of these numbers were "within the normal ranges" as per the nurse at the clinic. I am to continue taking progesterone supps for the entire first trimester as well.

The best news is that we got the date for our first u/s! It is Tuesday July 20th! There are no words to describe how much I am looking forward to seeing the little "bean" on the screen and maybe see the heartbeat. I am going to try my best to get a picture to share with you all as well. We'll see how co-operative the u/s Tech is that day!

In other news Andre and I have started another blog devoted entirely to Baby M! This blog was created as a place for my random musings, and because of that my immediate family did not know about it. We decided that it would be best to create a new space that we could share with our immediate family and close friends for the time being, and then when it's time to announce Baby M to the rest of the world we can share with our family and friends that we unfortunately don't get to see on a regular basis. I will continue to do updates here as well, but for more in depth baby news check out Our Little One.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Stressful day, but a good ending

In my last blog post I was talking about how I have been on progesterone suppositories, but was going to run out before the weekend was over. The office in their letter to me had mentioned if this was the case, to call, and leave a message even though they wouldn't be in the office and someone would call in the prescription to the pharmacy they deal with. Well yesterday I called and left a message telling them I did need a refill.
I called the pharmacy around 11am, and no one had called in the progesterone yet. So I waited until the afternoon. At 2pm the pharmacy still hadn't received the order yet. So I waited some more. The entire time getting angrier and angrier, and more and more frustrated. I immediately went online to get some advice. After coming across someone on a message board that is a patient at the same clinic as I am (what are the chances?) she suggested calling up the pharmacy again. I called him up and explained the situation, and he agreed to give me a few to get through the weekend.
::Insert sigh of relief here::
I was so stressed out that missing the progesterone was going to cause a miscarriage. Man my imagination was not my friend today! In the end I came home with enough medication to get me through the weekend, and a little surprise.
Andre had been out, and knew how stressed out I was, so he bought me a bouquet of mini pink carnations. They were sitting in a vase in the diningroom when I got home this afternoon. He's such a sweetie. I think I'll keep him!

I have a confession to make

This is what I saw at 5am yesterday morning. I caved. I had to test before my beta. This test was not actually the first test. My first test was Wednesday morning. Where I got the faintest lines in the history of the world. Here I am at 8am (after analyzing the internet cheapie tests for a full hour) waving the sticks in front of Andre.

Me: Andre do you see two lines?
Andre: Ummm (looking at them closely with squinted eyes) no. Well what colour are they suppose to be?
Me: Pink
Andre: Well, there are two lines, but one of them is really light.

Ah, no romantic surprises in our house.

I tested with the digital at 5am on Thursday morning. I took the picture, then left the test on the counter for Andre to see and then went back to bed to try and get some sleep. At a more respectable 7:30, Andre cheered, and we hugged, and got ready to go to the clinic for my Beta.

We both waited very impatiently all day, Andre at home, and me at work for the results and finally around 3pm between clients Andre called and told me that the nurse had just dropped off a letter and her congratulations off at the house because they couldn't reach us via phone. For now the plan is to continue taking the progesterone suppositories, and go in again Tuesday morning for a repeat beta, where hopefully the numbers will have continued to rise by the appropriate amounts.

So please continue to send your rising number and sticky baby vibes my way if you can!

For those of you that know me IRL, and have me on FB, you know the drill, please don't mention anything!