Camden's First Day on the Outside

Yesterday was very exciting.

I got out of my workout class and noticed I had two missed calls: one from Jamie and one from my sister-in-law Renata, three minutes apart. I was a little suspicious because Renata and I usually just text, but she didn't leave a voicemail. Jamie did, and it set the tone for the rest of the day.

Two weeks before her due date (and with an induction scheduled for September 23rd), Renata went in for her weekly check up with complaints of a little bit of cramping and spotting only to find out that she was dilated 5 centimeters! Her doctor told her to head to the hospital.

Having only just started washing the baby bedding and clothes that morning, she called me to help out. She considered staying home to finish the two loads, but wanted to make sure she didn't miss her window for the epidural! I spent the afternoon finishing her baby laundry and packing up the baby bag.

Would it be weird for a non-mom to use Dreft? Because that shiz smells so good.

During this time, I kept an eager eye on my phone. Jamie's brother Mike, the dad-to-be, kept both his and Renata's family updated via group text. We had a pretty good play-by-play throughout the afternoon up until delivery time, which was only about a half hour after the epidural.

At 3pm, only five hours after I received those two missed calls, we received the text that the first Ellison grandbaby was here! Our new nephew, Camden Michael. We finally got to see him a few hours later after they were settled and everyone had cleaned up. He's just beautiful and I think it's safe to say that we all fell in love with him instantly.

Let the photodumping commence.

A Very Haiku Labor Day Weekend in Milwaukee

I don't know how it came to me, but as I gazed from my middle seat up at Bruce Buffer while he waited in line for the airplane bathroom I was inspired. Do you know who Bruce Buffer is? I'm sure you know who his brother is, even if you don't recognize the name Michael Buffer. He's a ring announcer for boxing and his world famous line kinda rhymes with shmets shmet shmeddy shmoo shmumble. Brother Bruce, a ring announcer for UFC, boasts the less catchy "It's time!" but pairs it with a dramatic gesture to change the focus from one fighter to the next.

Jamie pointed out that Buffer, who dressed casually in a slightly douchily-decorated graphic tee for his flight to Milwaukee, reigned supreme in his exit row aisle seat. (We flew Southwest, so getting said seat is even more impressive.) My brain churned as my fingers counted syllables...

Aisle seat, exit row

You can't get any better

Than that, Bruce Buffer

Wheels down-- Bruce Buffer

Milwaukee, we are in you

"It's tiiiime!" to find beer

And so it was said,

Labor Day weekend

Haiku statuses only

Challenge accepted

I followed these three haikus with sixteen social media posts throughout the weekend, all only 5-7-5, but my haiku challenge was an annoying-to-everyone-else supplement to our Milwaukee weekend.

This trip was made possibly by our friends John and Lisl who wanted some travel buddies and also happened to have a couple Southwest vouchers and a free place to stay. We had no reason to refuse, so we didn't. The trip to Milkwaukee where they're both from was rooted in the fact that Harley Fest was going on all weekend. None of us ride motorcycles, but hey, why not?

Green hose in the dirt
With beer and Armorall plus
Free margaritas

Lisl, our eager guide, never ran short of fun-fact bits of Milwaukee history and anecdotes from when she and John were dating. With holy-crap-that-had-to-have-been-rehearsed timing, we turned a corner at the perfect point in her story for her to gesture toward the house where they lived that one time someone knocked on their door to tell them their upstairs was on fire. We bar-hopped and listened to stories about each one as we went along, even frequenting one special place throughout the weekend and twice on Saturday. 

Jamie bought the beer

At John and Lisl's Mecca

Many more to come

Since we've known John and Lisl, Wolski's Tavern has probably been mentioned on nearly every occasion spent with them and with unquestionable fondness. Reminiscent of many bars I've visited before near my own Midwestern hometown in Ohio, Wolski's is a typical dive. It's decorated in dusty flags and old framed photos; it's dark and a little musty. More importantly, it's where John and Lisl fell in love and they wanted to share that place with us.

Jamie didn't get the "act natural" memo.

Being with locals meant knowing where to go. We skipped the actual Harley Davidson Festival in favor of the nightly block party both Friday and Saturday nights. Lined with bikes and bars, Brady Street was closed to automobile traffic. We went bar to bar, weaving through the crowd stopping every once in a while to watch some of the bikes drive by. It was loud from music blasting from various points of interest and the constant rumble of Harleys.

Friday night involved joining in on a dance party in the street, eating Jimmy John's well past midnight (with the possibility of my having stolen two sandwiches), and meeting a man with a lizard whom jokingly requested to be paid a dollar for me to take a photo. John paid him five.

Adopted a child
It's scaly and not human
My life is complete

Bikers and hipsters

A little bit louder now

Block party dancing

On Saturday we took a tour of Lakefront Brewery which involved drinking beer, listening to our hilariously loud and inappropriate tour guide, drinking more beer, singing the Laverne & Shirley theme song, then drinking more beer, and then going outside to drink more beer.

(Not my video, not our tour guide, but you get it.)

After the tour, we went to a barbecue (well, after a quick trip to Wolski's) where I tapped into my Midwestern roots with a game of Cornhole, checked another item off my Milwaukee Bucket List by eating brats (unfortunately my TCM diet prevented me from enjoying the cheese curds), and met a few of John and Lisl's friends.

Saturday night meant it was time for Lisl and I to make sure we fit in better with some cool outfits. She in her Three Wolf Moon shirt that I tore the sleeves off of in the street using a pair of nail clippers (please read the reviews if you happen to somehow not be aware of this "intrinsically sweet" item of clothing) and I in my screeching eagles with mini skirt and boots, we were able to thoroughly enjoy our evening.

Fuzzy late nights and
So-awful-that-they're-great shirts
Klassy skirt with boots

We made yet another post-midnight stop at Jimmy John's (we paid for all of the sandwiches this time) then headed, once again, to Wolski's with the intention of earning our first I Closed Wolski's sticker by staying until last call. Bernie, one of the owners, however, had a different plan and we found ourselves stumbling a few houses down to "party" at his place. This "party" was basically a tour of his nicer-than-expected home, a couple drinks, fresh tomatoes, and Bernie nearly cutting off Lisl's thumb with a sword (we're only kind of exaggerating). We didn't get a chance to earn our sticker, but I'm told this is a one-up.

I have to admit that Sunday morning was more than rough for me. The 3am bedtime, the day 2 hangover, and the mental and physical shittiness I was feeling from the arrival of yet another period made it a little difficult to get my day started. It took a couple drinks and a lot of mental focus, but after chicken and waffles at Hollander Cafe and a bit of a nap followed by, what else, a trip to Wolski's, I was good to go.

We had dinner with previously mentioned friends at Pizza Man, which was delicious, even though I had to eat salmon rather than the oh-my-God-it-has-cream-cheese-on-it pizzas that everyone else ordered. Then we capped off our final night in Milwaukee with Kopp's Frozen Custard (I got a root beer. Whomp whomp.) and hanging out around a fire, chatting, laughing, and listening to the cicadas.

And because why not, I'll cap this off with a photodump.

We loved Milwaukee.

ZOMGBABIES

Let's pretend that it hasn't been about a decade since I last put any effort into this space here and just move right into what happened this weekend. My brother Jason and his wife Catie checked in to be induced on Friday night. They ended up spending the night to prep for the induction that would begin on Saturday. I was really excited and eager to receive updates from my brother back in Ohio, but luckily I had a distraction for the day to help keep me sane.

Jamie's brother Mike and his wife Renata had their baby shower and it was super duper cute. It was co-ed, which is always fun, and included lots and lots of good food and tasty treats. I hadn't really had a chance to wield my camera in any meaningful way since we went to New York this spring, so I took this opportunity to get some Pinterest-worthy pics of the details.

There were quite a few people that came out to celebrate our soon-to-arrive nephew, Camden, due next month. While I snapped everyone's picture, I'll save you from having to look at a bunch of strangers. I will put up my VIPs, though.

My handsome husb and our friend Misty (who recently blogged some Pinteresting snaps from her recent wedding.)

Jamie's brother Pat and his wife Sara. Their bun'll be cooked around Christmas, but they're keeping our niece's name a secret.

Gift time is always fun at co-ed baby showers; there's always a great mix of reactions and commentary.

This card is from us. It says "Hap Pee Baby" then said something on the inside about showering the mom-to-be. It also had little glittery yellow drops all over it. It was hilarious and kinda gross.

Gray chevron elephant pillow from Baker Baby on Etsy.

This chair is one that we've had at our house for years now. It was made for Mike when he was a li'l guy by his and Jamie's grandfather. Jamie wanted to make sure it got passed along to Camden.

Gifts from Misty. Bib from Shower Chic, burp cloths from Ruby and Oliver, both on Etsy.

Mike embraces daddy-chic with his new manbag and Baby Bjorn.

Renata opens gifts sent from Tom and Chris, our in-laws in Myrtle Beach. A keepsake box, hand painted by a young Mike, some adorable Osh Kosh overalls, and Mike's baby blanket.

Crafty Sara put together the cutest gift basket which included this bunting from Backdrop Outlet.

After a successful party, all of the guests were gone by early evening. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, just us Ellison siblings. Jason called and updated me at around 7:30pm our time. Catie had finally gotten her epidural and was resting. He expected that the baby wouldn't come until after midnight.

After wrapping up at Mike and Renata's, we headed home and were in bed by about 11. I had told my brother to text me updates, no matter the time, and had kept my ringer on. Between anticipating his correspondence and Jamie's case of the day-drinking snores, I slept pretty poorly.

At 6am our time, I finally woke up to a text: she's still pushing and they can see his head! At about 7am our time, I got the picture.

He was just grumpy about having to breathe air now.

My heart melted instantly, I just love him so. Luckily, Jamie and I get to see him soon at the end of September, though of course that isn't soon enough for me. I'll be patient, though, as long as my family keeps blasting Facebook with that chubby li'l mug.

Just Friday

Welp, I haven't really been focusing on weight loss since starting acupuncture and my TCM diet, so I think Fitness Friday will be taking a hiatus. I'm still working out consistently, but because my new diet is so restrictive, I've been more lax about the things that I can eat which means that I don't always make the healthiest choices. That's not to say that I'm eating crap all the time, but I'm not as strict about it as I was before.

In my TCM diet, I'm only allowed alcohol during ovulation. Last weekend, I was certain that I was super close to ovulation, so I may have felt confident allowing myself some beers when we attended the Stone Sour Fest at Stone Brewery with our friends Bob and Maryla. I was DD so that helped me to not over-indulge, but it was difficult because I wanted to taste all of the beers.

This was on Sunday... I may have also squeezed in a couple beers on Saturday night when we hung out with Megan and Chris. We went to dinner at Pint House in Fullerton which offers a BEER TOWER, so of course we had to order that. Duh. (They also had a really great "backyard" patio which I really wished was my own backyard patio.)

After dinner, we adventured a few blocks to find Bootlegger's Brewery. We'd had Bootlegger beer locally before but had yet to visit. It's a low-key place that kind of looks like it's run out of a truck garage with it's large roll-up door. There's a few picnic tables inside, but the majority of the tables are outside. They serve their beers in mason jars and have cornhole and a giant Jenga game set up outside.

It was a fun weekend! I didn't feel bad for cheating and having a few beers because I was so certain that I was so close to ovulation. Turns out that I didn't ovulate til like Tuesday or Wednesday, so then I was like "oops! Cheat days I guess!" Meh, I'm not going to worry too much about it. The rest of my TCM diet is going swimmingly. I haven't cheated with the food at all and I'm still seeing results in my treatment which motivates me to stick to it.

[Now it's time for some cycle talk.]

Last Friday I mentioned that Dr. Lee gave me a second herbal blend to help raise my temperatures. Well, it definitely helped regulate my temperatures, but on Monday he upped my dose in hopes of bringing it up by another tenth of a degree or so. It sounds minuscule, but it makes a difference. My follicular phase (pre-ovulation) temps are hovering between 97 and 97.1. Ideally, I need to be at least 97.2.

The red line indicates when the app I use things I ovulated based on temperatures (temperatures always rise after ovulation) and other indicators like positive ovulation tests and physical symptoms that I record. This post-ovulation phase is the Luteal Phase where we wait for hopefully (and ideally) implantation. My temps so far aren't looking great, though. They need to be up to at least 97.8 and so far, I'm not quite there. I have a feeling my herbs will be adjusted again on Monday to help me out here.

Now, we wait. Anyone who has tracked their fertility to try getting pregnant knows how much this two week wait sucks. In the first half of the cycle, there's stuff to do that helps the days go by while you're waiting to ovulate. Checking symptoms, peeing on sticks, and with this TCM stuff there are things like keeping my feet warm and using a heating pad on my belly every other day, then, of course, all the doing it. (Did I mention that according to Dr. Lee, I need to immediately prop my butt up and stay that way for a minimum of three hours after it? That was fun trying to sleep like that for three days in a row.)

After ovulation it feels like there's no purpose. All I get to do now is continue my diet and herbs, acupuncture, and temping just for the purpose of recording it all the while, somehow retaining my sanity while waiting for my period to show or not show. (I guess we can still do it for the fun of it.)

It's a lot. This is all kind of a lot to maintain which is why we've taken so many breaks from really going gung-ho with trying. Now that I'm seeing Dr. Lee, though, I have a new hope. His office is basically wallpapered with successes; the walls covered with collages of thank you notes and photos of babies and pregnant women. I try to read some of the notes on every visit.

This last Monday, I found this one from a couple who were told that they couldn't conceive. This is what gives me hope.