The Domestic Princess

{Jockey & Purex Crystals Giveaway}

2012-01-09T15:00:00.016-05:00

Don't you hate it when your gym clothes smell like they need washed when they are fresh out of the washer? So do I. Purex Crystals asked me to take the Purex Challenge. I had the opportunity to test out a Jockey Sports Bra with Purex Crystals fabric softener.

Let me first tell you about the Jockey Sports Bra because I'm really excited about this. It has a lot of really cool features:

Moisture-wicking
Convenient key pocket
Reflective logo on the back
Breathable mesh panels
Machine Washable and DryableNormally you would not be able to use a fabric softener with performance sportswear because the oils in the fabric softener would prevent the wicking process.

Although my workouts are not as intense as they were before I got pregnant, I'm really happy to report that using the Purex Crystal fabric softener my Jockey Sports Bra smells soooo amazing when it comes out of the wash.

Giveaway:

1 Jockey Tech Terry Performance Sports Bra
1 Full Size Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener

How to enter:

1. To enter the contest click here and leave a comment below to tell me what scent you would like to try

2. Follow The Domestic Princess through Google Friend Connect, then leave a comment below

3. Follow The Domestic Princess on Facebook, then leave a comment below

Also, Jockey is offering a 20% off coupon: Purex.com/Jockey

Giveaway Ends: January 20, 2012

Disclosure: Jockey and Purex provided free samples of their products so I could review them. However, all opinions here are my own.

{New Curtains}

2011-12-18T22:01:00.002-05:00

We have been working really hard to finish the nursery over the last month. We bought these curtains at Target for $24.99 per panel. The color goes so perfectly with the bedding.

We decided that we will make blue the accent color so last night I ordered some tree decals for the wall next to the closet and I'm working on finding some fun prints for above the dresser. I'd also like to do a fun DIY project I found on Pinterest but I'm still working out the kinks in it.

{Nursery Update}

2011-11-14T16:29:00.002-05:00

We made a huge trip to Ikea this weekend and ended up buying a dresser, a rocker and an ottoman for Jackson's room. We are still missing a lot of color in this room but I have some great ideas for bringing that in, I just can't decide if my accent color will be blue or green? What do you think? (Click here for a closer picture of the bedding)

What we bought:
2 Hopen 4 drawer chests

Poang Chair
Poang Footstool

{Surreal Moments}

2011-11-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

So much of this pregnancy has been just getting by from day to day. In the early days, I was so sick and tired all the time I would just pray for 4:30 pm so I could go home to sleep. When I started the second trimester I was so ready to feel better and it still didn't happen. But even through it all, I'm loving every minute of this pregnancy.

One year ago, Chris and I were looking at results from his surgery that had not improved. (Click here for the post) And yet this weekend we were standing at Babies R Us registering for the arrival of our little boy. I've had so many moments this pregnancy when I sit down and still can't believe we are here!

When did you have that surreal moment with your pregnancy?

{Colors}

2011-10-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

This is what my son's room looked like before we finally made a choice. This Mama was having a really hard time picking out a color.

We have decided on the Dwell Studio Owl Bedding but with all the colors in the pattern, I couldn't seem to make up my mind.

What color would you pick to go with this bedding?

{Half Way}

2011-10-17T12:29:00.000-04:00

Looking back on the last two years it seemed like we would never see those two pink lines on a pregnancy test, let alone be 20 weeks into a pregnancy. March will be here before we know it. Here is an update of me and sneak peek at the nursery.

{Why we chose Cloth Diapers}

2011-10-10T08:00:00.002-04:00

First, I have to say that I'm not going to lecture about why I think that Cloth Diapering should be the only option. We are well aware that we could fail at this adventure. But I am going to list some of the reason's we chose to go with cloth.

Money: This is a huge factor for us. The possibility of saving $1500 in the few two years of Jackson's life is a real motivator.
Sensitive Skin: Cloth Diapers tend to be better for sensitive skin and both Chris and I have it.
Environment: We could be saving our environment from all those diapers that Jackson would be using.

I know Cloth Diapering isn't for everyone. Heck, we don't even know if it's for us yet but we really want to give it a shot.

Now on to the fun part, pictures of the diapers....

I have a secret, I've been winning cloth diaper blog contests for about a year and have ended up winning 18 One Size BumGenius diapers. That gave us a good start on our stock pile.

So our count so far we have 16 Lil Joey's, 26 BumGenius Small All in Ones and 26 One Size Pocket Diapers. Since Jackson will be going to daycare, we are trying to stick with the easiest solution for them. So we are maily going to be an All in One/Pocket Family.

Why or why didn't you decide to cloth diaper?

{Circumcision}

2011-10-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

So after we were done celebrating that fact that Jackson is a boy, the huge questions hangs over us:

Do we circumcise or not? 

Chris and I have had so many conversations back and forth about this issue. Who would have thought that we would be talking about our son's penis so much already but it's our first big choice as parents and we want to make sure we make the right one.

We've done a lot of homework about the issue and other than religious reasons there is not reason to actually do it. Personally, of course, there are a lot of reasons for every parent to do it or not do it. I've decided to defer to my husband and let him make the final decision since he is a guy.

So as of right now the jury is still out. What choice did you make?

{I'm on Pinterest}

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

I finally decided to join Pinterest to see what all the fun was about. Wow, holy addicting! Here is my Pinterest link:

Wanna leave me yours?

{Small projects turn into big ones}

2011-09-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

We recently decided to embark on a bedroom makeover. If you remember here and here. The first thing that had to happen was the TV needed to be mounted on the wall. While Chris and I are kinda handy this was definitely a job that called for reinforcements. We are lucky enough to have free reinforcements (AKA: Brad my Step-Dad) but sometimes we have to wait for a weekend to free up for him. Which was the case, so two months later we finally secured a time for him to come over and help.

And just like any home improvement project, we ran into a "snag" or in this case a "cut". While cutting the drywall open Chris and Brad accidentally cut a wire in the wall. Doesn't it always happen like that? So instead of a tiny piece of drywall missing from my bedroom, they had to cut a giant piece to run the replacement wire in the wall.

But the final product turned out awesome, as you can see in the picture. Now we are ready to paint!

{A secret we kept for two weeks}

2011-09-14T11:35:00.000-04:00

Chris and I decided to have an elective 3D ultrasound done at 14 weeks because we were so excited to find out what we were having. We knew that results could be fuzzy this early but just couldn't wait. We are the people that can barely make it to Christmas without opening at least one present.

So on the afternoon of September 2, 2011 we went to Ultrasona to get a glimse at our baby. We were both so shocked when the the tech put this on the screen almost right away:

There is no denying, we are having a baby boy! We thought we could keep this big secret to ourselves but it seemed to be harder for me than Christopher. We did good at two weeks but now the cat is out of the bag.

Our son's name will be

Jackson Anton

We have started getting things for his nursery and have recieved the bedding as a gift. I can't wait to share the rest of the process with you. What a blessing little Jackson has turned out to be already.

{Missing California}

2011-09-09T19:58:00.001-04:00

We had a fabulous time in California. Truly, Chris and I weren't ready to come home. The beach house was such a great choice. Being so close to the beach made for a very relaxing vacation.

The baby and I are doing great. We are both getting bigger. I'm finally starting to get over "the sickness". O call it this because morning sickness is far from what I got. I have afternoon/evening sickness. And sometimes all day sickness.

I'll leave you with some pictures of our vacation and my 12 week 'growth' picture!

{Lost}

2011-09-02T08:00:00.006-04:00

Lately, I've been feeling pretty lost as to what do I do now with this blog. Lots of questions have been floating around in my brain:

1. Does being pregnant make our journey any less hard?

2. Will writing about my pregnancy affend those still trying so hard to become pregnant?

3. Am I being forgotten about in this infertile world that supported me so strongly before?

4. Things changed so fast, one day we were an infertile couple, the next we are happily expecting but where does that leave us?

All of these things have been things I have battling with over the last few months. I think most of us who have been at this for years probably go through these similar thoughts after getting pregnant, right?

But my conclusion has to be that I hope that the community that supported us in our darkest hours can now support us through the happiest times too! Pregnancy has been everything I had hoped for, morning sickness and all. I will be posting more about what we have been up to the last few months shortly and maybe even a little maternity fashion (low budget style).

{Thirty-One Giveaway Winner }

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

There were 41 entries for the Thirty-One Giveaway and lucky number 15 was our winner:

Congratualtions to Curley Cue!

You have an email from me with details on how to collect your prize!

{Thirty-One Giveaway - 2 Winners}

2011-08-18T09:28:00.001-04:00

I have teamed up with one of my friends to offer an amazing giveaway for Thirty-One. There will be two winners so don't miss out:

Click Here to check out all the details

Thirty-One Giveaway and Mystery Hostess Party {2 Winners}

2011-08-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

One of my wonderful friends contacted me about doing a review and giveaway for Thirty-One and I was so excited about the opportunity. I've been to lots of Thirty-One parties but never actually bought a bag for myself. Honestly before I took a look at the catalog I thought this was more for families with kids (which didn't apply to us yet). But I was happy surprised the more I got into the catalog.

I chose the Tote-Alley Awesome Tote in Circle Spirals with Pink Style 12 lettering. I'm in love with this bag. We are headed to San Diego this week and this will be the first thing I pack in my suitcase. My favorite part about this page is the inside is lined, so if my sun tan lotion or water bottle spill on the inside it won't leak through the bag and stain it. Plus personalization is only $7 extra so we decided to put "The Pichler's" on our bag.

Someone decided they had to be in the picture!

{Giveaway}

Leave a comment in the comment section below for each entry. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you. Giveaway is open until August 30th.

1. Go to Jana's Thirty-One page and tell me your favorite product (1 entry)
2. Follow The Domestic Princess on Facebook (1 entry)
3. Follow The Domestic Princess through Google Friend Connect (1 entry) ( ----> )
4. Blog about the giveaway and leave the link to it in a comment (1 entry)
5. If you order from the Mystery Hostess Party leave your name in the comment section (5 entries)

The Prize: Your choice of the Organizing Utility Tote or Thermal Tote in your choice of fabric

{Mystery Hostess Party}
What is a Mystery Hostess Party you ask? There is an online party setup called The Domestic Princess Mystery Host Party. Anyone who orders anything over $31 on that party will have a chance to become the hostess of that party. Which means that you could win anywhere from $25-250 in Free Product and get up to 3 things at 50% off. The hostess party will be open until August 30th.

{A Recap of our journey...}

2011-08-01T16:13:00.003-04:00

April 2009 - Chris and I buy our first house and the first night we sleep in the house I wake up and tell him I'm ready for kids. Considering we had talked about kids like it was something we would do when we were 50, he was a little blown out of the water.

June 2009 - I convince Chris that going off of birth control and starting to chart was in our best interest. We weren't getting any younger ya know! He agrees.

Dec 2009 - Still nothing and BFNs were starting to get to me.

Jan 2010 - I had my annual and I took my charts. I saw the nurse practitioner instead of my regualar doctor. She suspects PCOS based on my charts and perscribes Progesterone based on no blood work. I take the Progesterone as instructed and my face blows up like a blimp. Stop Progesterone pills and swear never to see that nurse practitioner again.

Feb 2010 - Chris had his yearly and mentioned to his doctor that we were having a hard time getting pregnant. His doctor does a little inspection and finds a Varicocele. Does seman anlaysis and finds only 8 Mil sperm but everything else was normal. Sends Chris to a Urologist.

March 2010 - Chris has an appointment with the urologist and they recommend a Varicocelectomy. Chris wasn't convinced he wanted to have the surgery. So we talked about it alot.

April 2010 - We did one month of Clomid and H swore I would never be on that drug ever again. I was a little out of control hormonally on it. H says surgery is better than ever doing that drug again.

May 2010 - I had HSG done. All clear

June 2010 - Varicocelectomy Surgery. Lots of pain for H. 6 weeks recovery before he was back to normal duties. I still want to strangle the doctor that recommended this surgery.

November 2010 - My real dad dies. He was sick, we were never close but it still hit me hard

December 2010 - F/U S/A 2 mil sperm, all other numbers are abnormal too. Meet with RE. Tells us our best chances are IVF. Get quotes and start saving.

February 2011 - I'm reading a blog about a girl whose husband went to a IF Urologist and they got pg naturally. I look up IF Urologist in our area and schedule an appointment for H.

March 2011 - Chris goes to appointment and doctor recommends Vericocele Embolization. Gives H all kinds of numbers about how he has gotten people pregnant 1000s of times from this surgery. H is super stoked, I'm not. I think its another doctor lying to us.

April 2011 - Chris convinces me he has a really good feeling about this surgery and wants to do it. I agree and we have the surgery.

June 2011 - Happy Father's Day to Christopher!

{Nursery Ideas}

2011-07-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

Ofcourse, I already started working on ideas for the nursery. I'm a planner at heart, what can I say? So here is a first mock up of what the nursery *may* look like. I feel like we could make this gender specific if we wanted to later.

The color blocks at the top are potential wall colors and this is the bedding we have settled on.

What do you think?

Room Idea by domesticprncs featuring a cream shirt

{Father's Day 2011}

2011-07-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

The week before Father's Day I had been feeling very knocked over by exhaustion. I actually skipped a workout one night to lay on the couch and nap. Not like me at all. Even at my most tired I still always went to Zumba, it's my favorite class I take. Infertility does weird things to you because not for a minute did I suspect anything.

Chris was out of town until the next night. When he got home I was craving "bad" food, so he took me to a nice Itailian carb dinner. It was amazing. We had some wine, ate lots of carbs then rolled ourselves home for a movie on the couch.

At 7:05 am the next morning (yes, I looked at the time) I sat straight up in bed and said to myself "OMG I should test" That ended up like this:

It was still really early (10 days past ovulation for you charters) but I knew that a "line is a line" so I went to Giant Eagle and purchased $40 worth of pregnancy tests, all different brands. A few hours later I took a First Reponse Early Result:

And two days later I finally got a "pregnant" on the Clear Blue Easy digital:

I was shaking and crying. It seems so surreal. For two people who were told their only option was IVF we still have a hard time believing that that I'm pregnant. And then the Infertile in us still wants to know what my husband's sperm count is!?!?!?! Yes it will never go away but we recognize the gift we have been given and are so thankful for it.

So after 2 years, 2 Varicocele Surgeries and lots of tears we are so happy to say we have a baby coming in March.

{I'm Pregnant}

2011-07-24T18:40:00.000-04:00

Baby P coming in March 2012

{Resolve pairs with Bill Rancic}

2011-07-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

Via

Resolve and Bill Rancic are pairing up to raise awareness on Embryo Adoption. This is an option not a lot of couples know about. Embryo adoption most often occurs when couples who have attempted IVF and been successful, have extra embryo's left over. They will then donate them to another couple who are in need of good embryos. More information about embryo adoption can be found on mydestinationfamily.com.

Personally, I'm so excited to see Bill Rancic speaking out about Infertility. I am a dedicated viewer of his and his wife, Giuliana's, show. I think all infertile couple's can relate to them on one level or another.

Do you think embryo adoption is something you would consider?

{Organic Garden Update}

2011-07-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

We are so excited to report that we are actually getting some return out of our little experiment. This has been one of the easiest things we have added to our yard. I think there are two reasons for that:

1. It's rained A TON this year

2. Our rain barrel

Chris and I love that when it's not raining we have free water to use on our plants and garden.

So far the Cilantro is doing the best out of everything we planted (bottom right hand corner) but we do have little buds on all the Pepper plants. I can't wait to see those start to form over the next few weeks. I'm very sad to report the Strawberry plant is not doing well at all. We will probably replace this next year with something else (maybe lettuce).

Are you doing a garden this year? How are your plants doing?

{YourFertilityDeals.com}

2011-06-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

It's about time!

From the creators of Circle + Bloom, comes a groupon-like site for Fertility Challenged people:

YourFertilityDeals.com has deals on acupuncture, vitamins, fertility coaching and a ton more. Plus, they offer coupon codes for sites like Babyhopes.com, Circle + Bloom and Fertile Aid. If you haven't yet, go sign up to receive their emails. They also have a Facebook page so you can see the deals in your news feed.

{Vacation, here we come}

2011-06-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

In one of my last posts, I talked about how we are not going to continue with fertility treatment this year. We decided for the sake of our sanity and marriage a vacation was in order. Yaayyyy!!

We are headed to Oceanside, California. Southwest had a great deal so both of our tickets round trip were $500. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to head back to California. Recently we started tossing up the idea of a beach house while we are there. So after looking at vrbo.com for hours on end..we found what is going to be our home for 6 nights: 914 Mara Mar Place.

We are so excited and are counting down the days. There are so many things we have planned for our trip. We will be headed to Beverly Hills to get some Sprinkles Cupcakes

While we are in Beverly Hills we are going to Lush also (Duh!)

I also promise that there will be lots of fish tacos and strawberry blonde beer from the Belmont Brewing Company

But the most important thing that we will be doing is relaxing!

{Our Organic Garden}

2011-06-14T08:00:00.015-04:00

We are so excited to get started on this project this year. Chris and I are not what you would call good "farmers." We've been getting better about keeping plants alive over the last two years, so we decided to try our hand at vegetables.

We are starting small this year with Green Bell Peppers, Banana Peppers, Cilantro and Strawberries. But I think the biggest curve ball that we have thrown in, is we are going to try and do this organically. All the starter plants and dirt are organic. I will be posting about our progress and what we are doing and learning not to do through this journey.

I hope you will follow us and help us through this fun journey!