Some of my favorites.

Still nothing to report on TTC. I'm still waiting for my next cycle to begin. So, in the meantime, I would like to post a few of my Etsy favorites! (All maternity/baby/pregnancy related, of course.)

• Belly bands. I didn't have anything like this with my first pregnancy... but I think they would come in handy. Esp. in the beginning when you're too big for regular jeans, but the maternity jeans are still too baggy.
• Fisherman Wrap Pants! Pregnant or not... I want these. How incredibly comfortable do these pants look?
• The Purple Pantry has some of the cutest (and inexpensive!) baby hats!
• Whole Grain Baby... adorable ADORABLE clothes!
• Damask slings by Small Wish. I really really wish I had known about the great world of slings with S.J.
• Jelly Bean Apparel has some of the best maternity shirts.
• Kathy Neilsen has some great baby hats, too!
• Posh Pads are great for nursing Moms! They are organic bamboo nursing pads that come in some really great colors!
• I just had to get these in here... pickle and ice cream earrings by Modern Mama.
• This felted pregnant mama doll is just great. I love everything that Enchanted Gypsy does.
• The Spoiled Mama has some great natural care products for Mamas and Mamas-to-Be.
• Belly to Baby is another store that specializes in natural care products for pregnancy and beyond.
• I've seen this done on TV and think it would be a lot of fun--Pregnancy Belly Blessing Henna Mehndi Kit.

Those are a few of my favorite things. :) Hope you liked them, too!

My medications.

In addition to having to wean myself off of caffeine (which is going to be a tough road by itself), I'm also going to have to wean myself off of my current medications.

My current list of medications that I take daily:

• 100mg of Lamotrigine (generic version of Lamictal)
• 1mg of folic acid
• 10mg of Abilify
• 1 prenatal vitamin
• 1 packet of Cholestyramine powder (generic version of Questran)

With the exception of the prenatal vitamin, I will have to stop taking all of those before I get pregnant. (Right now I'm taking more than is recommended in folic acid to combat any potential birth defects the Lamotrigine and Abilify are known for causing. Once I am off those, I can drop back down to the recommended dosage that can be found in prenatal vitamins.)

The Lamotrigine and Abilify (for my Bipolar II Disorder) are going to be the tricky ones to come off of. A lot of places that I've researched online speak of how big of a pain the withdrawal is from those two medicines.

When I first started taking them, the dosage was very small... and was slowly increased to where it's at right now... which, thankfully, aren't very high dosages at all. So in order to come off of them, I have to reverse the order... by slowly decreasing my amount taken over the next two months.

Today I drop down to 50mg from 100mg of Lamotrigine... and down to 5mg from 10mg of Abilify. Then, after a month of doing that, I cut the dosage in half again... ride that out for another month before completely removing it from my system. Following this schedule, I'll have all the medicines out of my system by the first of September.

(As far as the Cholestyramine is concerned, I've not read anywhere that this medication is the "weaning type." I can just stop taking this one cold turkey without any negative side effects. So I can keep taking this for the next two months for my stomach troubles related from having my gallbladder removed in March of 2005.)

So that's my plan of action for now. I'm really hoping and praying that it's an easy withdrawal... and that I don't have any of the really bad side effects I've read about. (Most people complain of severe irritability... headaches... nausea... depression...) However, I would rather experience those bad effects than potentially harm my baby.

If anyone has any advice or experience in coming off of these medications, please feel free to comment. I'd love to hear from you!

It begins here.

My first entry into my maternity/pregnancy blog.

But I must admit. I'm not pregnant... yet.

But we're working on that.

Right now we're in the beginning phase of planning... charting... and lots and lots of praying.

We know for sure that we're going to actively start trying in September. Until then it isn't a good time for me to be pregnant... because being pregnant means I'll be sick (more than likely... since I was with our first child)... and unable to finish school like I need to. But once my final classes are over in the end of August, it's on.

Until then I plan to get familiar with my cycle by charting... eating better (wean myself off of caffeine, primarily)... starting my prenatal vitamins... and just generally getting my body ready to grow another human again.

Fun times are ahead, kids... fun times. :)