I weighed myself this morning and found that I had lost 5 pounds.

Normally, this would be cause for fanfare and great rejoicing, but I’m pregnant and I’m supposed to be gaining weight, not losing it. I suspect that this weight loss has much to do with the fact that I have lost a good portion of my appetite as of late. My flavor of morning sickness works in reverse; with me feeling pretty good in the morning and lunch hours, but steadily declining in appetite as the day wears on. By dinnertime, I am lucky if I can eat half an orange for dinner. Tonight I had a bottle of chocolate organic soy milk for dinner. Unfortunately, my appetite isn’t huge in the morning either. I estimate it’s about half of what it used to be, but at least my gag reflex usually doesn’t activate itself until the PM hours.

I still don’t feel nauseated, but I came pretty close to losing my lunch (all over my beautiful white Apple keyboard, mind you) while I was trying to force down an orange as a post-lunch snack. Oddly enough, I had to resort to the same breathing exercises I do at the dentist to prevent my gag reflex when they shove the x-rays into the back of my mouth. Thankfully, it worked.

This persistent dry mouth doesn’t help, either.

Needless to say, I felt quite miserable today. I seriously don’t know how I’m going to survive going back to my regular position at work. I’ve been assigned to a special project for the past couple of months and it’s been pure bliss. It’s been a dream, being able to do something creative and totally different from my normal job. But, it only makes it harder to go back to the daily grind. Let’s just say that my impending doom return has already become the the stuff of my nocturnal torment, which makes me wake up in a cold sweat with my heart racing. And no, I’m not exaggerating. Does anyone have 8 months of sick leave they can donate to me? Pretty please?

Milestones: Today marks my 8th week of pregnancy and also a reduction of my daily progesterone shots from 2-1/2 to 2 cc. Let me tell you, 1/2 cc makes a big difference. When we went from 3 cc to 2-1/2, there was a noticeable difference in the discomfort and swelling. So, I’m excited about going another 1/2 cc down.

Lately, I’ve been so tired that I haven’t had the energy or the creativity to keep up my daily blog entries and my Blog365 commitment has sadly fallen by the wayside. Sleep has become one of my primary activities, clocking in literally 10-12 hours a day, which sometimes includes a late afternoon nap. Nurturing the Snowflake seems to be taking a lot out of me.

Next week, I return to my normal job, which requires me to wear business attire. I’ll have to go through my wardrobe soon, to see how much of my dress clothes actually still fit me. I cannot tell you the dread I have every time I stand in front of my closet just on a daily basis. I have a few items of maternity wear, but not enough to make a wardrobe. And, to make matters worse, the pieces that I do have are still slightly too big, so I end up looking like one big sloppy mess. Being in between pre-pregnancy clothes and maternity wear isn’t a fun place to be.

My second ultrasound is scheduled for Friday. Thankfully, Hubby is available to accompany me to the doctor this time, so he’ll get his first glimpse of the Snowflake.

[tags]pregnancy, maternity wear, progesterone, IVF, in virto fertilization[/tags]

After reading my previous blog entry, a gracious friend offered to let me use her Nintendo DS Lite on a long-term loan and and said that I could return it when I gave birth, because surely I would have no time for fun and games once the baby arrives. Of course, I took her up on the generous offer. I figured that there was a good chance that I may simply tire of the new toy like she did or would find that I don’t have time to play with it once life starts getting busy. Borrowing it is the perfect solution for me right now. If I find that I can’t live without my ten minutes of daily brain training, I can invest in my own unit.

The nice thing is that she’s on the same wave length as me, which is educational games! The games that she let me borrow along with the DS are:

Brain Age
Brain Age 2
Big Brain Academy
Brain Boost
Sudoku
Polarium
Uno

I probably won’t find myself playing with the last two as much, but all those great brain stimulating games are just what I need! After checking my brain age, it’s obvious that I am in need of some serious brain training.

[tags]Nintendo DS Lite, Brain Age, games, entertainment[/tags]

Manapua is one of those delectable treats that I never would have thought I’d attempt to create in my own kitchen. That is, until a friend shared an easy recipe that uses common ingredients that you can find in nearly any local grocery store. It’s totally non-authentic and doesn’t even use char siu filling, but it’s quick and tasty — and you can’t knock that. (I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing the recipe here.)

Ingredients:
1 can corned beef
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup water chestnuts, minced
2-3 tbsp char siu powder mix (I used 2 tbsp of the NOH brand)
4 cans refrigerated Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits (yield: 40 manapua)

Instructions:
1. Mix corned beef, minced water chestnuts, and chopped green onions.
2. Add char siu powder.
3. Sprinkle sugar on cutting board.
4. Flatten biscuit on sugared surface to form 2-inch rounds.
5. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of the biscuit.
6. Pinch edges and place pinched side down onto 2-inch square of wax paper.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees OR steam for 15 minutes

You may also place a red dot of food coloring on top of each manapua, but I notice that when steaming, the red dot tends to spread and look messy if you’re not careful. Use the food coloring VERY sparingly.

The photo she showed me of her manapua looked like regular steamed manapua, but mine seemed to be a little more brown and had more indentations. I think it’s the type of Pillsbury dough that I bought. Since they didn’t have the regular buttermilk biscuits, I ended up buying Pillsbury Grands homestyle buttermilk biscuits. The texture of the dough wasn’t smooth and contained little chunks of something (buttermilk?) which contributed to my pockmarked manapua. Nevertheless, the taste was good and that’s all that matters to me.

I steamed all of the manapua tonight and will likely microwave them about 30-60 seconds before serving tomorrow morning at our family potluck.

I also made Lindy’s famous Sun-dried Tomato Dip. (You can order the recipe card at her site. Every single one of her recipes are winners and it’s my go-to collection for potlucks as well as everyday dining.) Tomorrow morning, I’ll make the Swiss Chicken Casserole, another Lindy’s ono recipe that I’m sure the family will love.

Hungry yet?

Now that I want one, I can’t find it anywhere. Shari is to blame for my recent obsession with finding a Nintendo DS Lite for myself. She’s been playing games like Imagine: Master Chef, Cooking Mama, and Imagine: Babyz and telling me how addicting they can be. I believe it. I have the propensity to get sucked in to a video game for hours on end if I’m not careful — which is the very reason why we do not have a game system in the house. As tempting as the Wii may be, I know that if we had one, many hours of potentially productive time would be siphoned away by gaming.

The reason I want to get a Nintendo DS Lite, however, is for the educational games such as Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, and Mind Quiz. I also sense that I will be spending more time lounging in bed in the upcoming months, so having a small device to occupy me — and sharpen my brain — would be nice to have.

With that being said, that’s all it is: nice to have. I’m sure I could find a DS somewhere if I really set my mind to it, but I’m not going to kill myself over it. If I run into it somewhere, I’ll pick it up. If not, I suppose I could always read in bed. A little low tech, but sometimes that’s best.

Oh, my gosh. I took a 3-hour nap this afternoon. I wonder if it’ll hamper my ability to fall asleep tonight. Probably not. I’m yawning already.

The doc reduced my progesterone injections from 3 cc to 2-1/2 cc this past Saturday and I already feel a slight difference. My butt isn’t as swollen as before. It’s not as painful. Next week, which marks my 8th week, I get to decrease it to 2 cc. Even better! Then, as long as my progesterone levels are in the range, just four more weeks of injections after that. It’s hard to imagine life without daily injections.

Tonight, I discovered that the scent of curry has become quite repulsive to me. Hubby was eating some leftover chicken katsu curry as a late night snack and I had to leave the room. I’m running the fan and I’ve got the Sharper Image ionic breeze air purifier on high in that room at this moment.

For the past few days, I’ve been hankering for nachos and Hostess cupcakes. I wouldn’t call it an all-out craving, but it’s been on the brain lately. Those two items are now stocked in the champuru pantry, just in case. I haven’t indulged in the cupcakes yet, but the nachos were a late afternoon snack for today.

So, that’s the latest.

[tags]ivf, in vitro fertilization, progesterone, pregnancy, morning sickness[/tags]

I updated my Tumblr with a few of my favorite superbowl ads from this year. Enjoy!