Still Here!! Still Pregnant!! . . . I think . . .

Well, I guess it's about time I updated you all on the latest. This has truly been an emotional roller coaster! I finally met my OB. I absolutely LOVE her! She has a way of making me relax about all this craziness. She is very attentive and seems to have all the answers and best of all. . . she has a plan! YEA!! At least some part of this experience will have a measure of predictability. At our first appointment, we (Ryan & I) met with her and did all the usual first OB visit stuff. . . pee in a cup, donate five huge tubes of blood, check my weight (ugh!), check my blood pressure, sit nervously waiting for the experts to tell us what the heck is going on! Our doc came in and proceded to set our minds at ease. Though rare, these things happen and an IUD in place while pregnant doesn't mean that our baby is doomed. Whew!!! She answered our questions and said she'd be consulting with our country's leading IUD expert (the guy that writes the books!) and would let us know if we had to try to remove the IUD. She personally felt it should be left alone (let's not add tragedy to injury!). I was informed that unlike other risky pregnancies, bed rest would not influence the outcome. I was to be on "pelvic rest". Basically I am restricted from anything vigorous. (Guess I won't enter that tri-athalon after all!) I was relieved! With three of my four kids in school and baseball, getting them around would be impossible if I was on bed rest. Our OB called three days later to inform us that after consulting with the expert, she now felt compelled to try to remove the IUD. We made the appointment for the next morning (last Thursday). Feeling quite nervous and upset, I went with Ryan to the appointment. She tried to remove the IUD but found no string. It had completely disappeared inside somewhere. I admit, it would have been nice not to have to worry about that darn IUD anymore but I was relieved that the baby, who seems to be fine, would not be so harshly disturbed by having her only toy stolen at such an early age. The doc (I'll call her Dr. T.) explained that we would move forward from here expecting that things will go well. She'll have to watch things a bit closer once I hit 22 weeks. Until then, nature will do what it wants. I'll still have to be careful, keep things light. I'll possibly bleed off and on through my whole pregnancy. Idealy, the IUD will settle at the top of the fundus and quit moving so things will have a chance to heal up. If I can get to at least 24 weeks, the baby will live though will be very premature. If things aren't going well, at least I know the baby will have a chance if I can just hang in there for another 14 weeks! If I deliver any earlier than 36 weeks, they will fly me to Phoenix (a 6 hour drive!) where the experts in prenatal care and IUD deliveries are. I still feel pregnant. I have noticed that the symptoms of my last 4 pregnancies are more pronounced this time. The fatigue is profound!! I can't sit still without falling asleep. I feel almost drugged! The nesting has already kicked in full force but I'm not allowed to move any furniture or build a fence or any of the other crazy things I want to do! Thankfully, I don't have any morning sickness. Just have a few food and smell aversions. I chopped my hair off the week before I found out I was pregnant, I now feel that was hormonally driven. I still feel this baby is a girl. The thought of a boy seems foreign and unnatural. It's like my instincts tell me that there's no way it's a boy. Baby, if you are a boy ---- SO SORRY! Mommy was just hormonal! =) We've worked out the financial end of having a cash baby. It seems like everything is falling in place! I found a few necessities for cheap on eBay. I can borrow some of the big ticked items (crib, swing, etc.). That leaves the car seat, stroller and rocking chair. For the car seat, I'm torn between the carrier style (they seem so very practical-I used one for my other babies) and the other kind that lasts longer and can be rear facing or front facing. With four other kids, I'm not sure I'll be able to carry the carrier style and hold two or three hands at the same time. I have a baby bjorn carrier and can imagine the hands free convenience of it may be the better choice for my situation. I also can't decide if I want the stroller to go with the carrier. They click in and that would seem to solve the hands free problem but they are also very bulky when folded down. Also some of the places I go aren't ideal for strollers. I may not use it much at all. Any advice would be appreciated here. I know exactly the rocker style I want. Since my husband's birthday is next week, I'd like to get him a recliner (we'll call it his Captain's chair!). It'll have to rock too of course! Swiveling is a bonus that isn't absolutely necessary. It must be all leather in a chocolaty color. The leather is due to my allergies and my four messy kids and three roudy cats (nope! not allergic to the cats! yea!). The chocolaty color is so it matches my leather couch. Knowing the kind of rocker I want is only half the battle. The real trick is finding one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! We got our couch and love seat from a friend we had who owned a furniture store. They took a few items in trade and gave us a great discount. We'd go to them again except, they are four hours away and we haven't talked to them in about 18 months. Not so sure we'd get such a great deal. There are a few places we could look around here but there's not much variety to choose from (Rent-a Center with their rediculous prices, JC Penny could order one through them, a high end place with outrageous prices but good quality, or Walmart with the right prices but the quality would be a question). We looked on eBay and found a couple of scratch and dent ones but can't seem to win the bid at our preferred price. Also, freight to get it here is over $200 in most cases! Ah, the joy of living in a remote area! We could rent a trailer and drive the 3 hours or so to either St. George, UT, or Flagstaff, AZ, to shop in the hopes of finding the perfect one at the perfect price and in stock. The risk there is in dragging our four kids through multiple stores, exhausting both us and them, finding nothing or finding something that must be ordered and having to go back in a week. Do any of you know of any great discount furniture stores on-line? My searches have come up dry. Anyway, as you can tell, I've stopped worrying so much about loosing the baby, that part of this will just have to take care of itself. I generally feel at peace and that the Lord has it under control. I've moved on to planning what can be planned, the location of a nursery in our home, the arrangement of furniture, the collection of baby necessities, the collection of maternity necessities, packing a "go" bag for myself & baby as well as for Ryan and the kids, making my list of local helpers should I have to take that flight to Phoenix, etc. etc. When I'm not doing all that, I'm usually asleep or trying to be asleep. My family seems to have adjusted to my lack of help and my house doesn't seem quite so trashed as it did that first week. Generally, I feel that all is well. I guess that's also the scary part, if I feel well, I worry that I may not be pregnant anymore. Crazy right? Thanks for all your prayers and comments. They make me feel closer to you all. That's about it for now!