30 Days Thankful {2013}

Every year during November Facebook becomes overwhelmingly grateful for things that they complain about the other eleven months.  There are three different types of people in this yearly takeover: the daily poster (never misses a day), the catch up (can never remember to do it so they post 8 days at once), and the radio silence (they don't post anything at all).  I'm the second one, so to save myself some time, and honestly, to make me the third type, I'm doing mine in one post right here, right now.

1.  Jesus
2. My husband (most of the time)
3. Lola
4. My family
5. My sorority
6. My home
7. My friends
8. My co-workers
9. My Church Family
10. Doctors and Nurses
11. Our veterans
12. Being born in this great nation
13. That I'm the one with the zombie apocalypse survival plan
14. Electricity
15. Sonic Unsweet Peach Tea
16.The ability to hear
17. My job
18. Having a boss who works with me since I've been having to take off so much lately.
19. Giant sun glasses...with polka dots
20. Cooler weather
21. Days that I get to stay on the couch in sweatpants
22. Puppy Snuggles
23. Black Friday savings
24. Atkins peanut butter cups
25. having reliable transportation
26. my health
27. Grey's Anatomy (don't judge me)
28. that my friends always have snacks, since we can never make it to lunch with starving
29. Kittens, puppies, and rainbows
30. Carbs

My HSG and follow up

I went in for my HSG procedure on 10/30/13.  The entire procedure took about 10 minutes, but about two hours of waiting.  The procedure, if you're unfamiliar with it, involves the physician inserting a catheter into the cervix and injecting dye into each of the fallopian tubes while having you turn from side to side as they take x-rays.  My uterus was the proper shape, the dye flowed properly, meaning everything was normal (except that the right side hurt like crazy!). 

When I went for my follow up I got the results of all my lab work, he did another ultrasound, gave me the results of my HSG, and let me know how we will proceed.  Everything came back good, except my FSH, which was high, and my egg reserve was on the low side.  He started me on metformin (I'm not a diabetic) at a pretty high dose, which so far has made me sick to my stomach all the time and I seem to only be hungry at lunch. He also restarted me on progesterone, but a different type. I take this medication for twelve days.  After that, I take a pregnancy test and if it is negative, I go back for labs on day 3 of my cycle (to see if the metformin and progesterone have helped my levels).  Then he wants to start me on a drug that is stronger than clomid since it didn't work the last six times. 

We will know more soon, but I have to admit, I'm really hoping that this month is our month.

Maybe?  Hopefully?

Photo Dump

People with blogs do these all the time, I decided I should catch everyone up on the last couple of months in photos.

 

One of my sorority sisters got married to her wonderful guy of 7 years. It was so beautiful!



 

I got a doe the opening weekend of bow season.  Next year, I'll be more prepared so I can use a compound bow instead of my cross bow.  On the upside, who is prepared for the zombie apocolypse with a cross bow?  This girl.

 

We restarted Girl's Night with some of my sorority sisters.  It was so good to see all of these lovely ladies!

 

I finally got to meet my niece, Clara. My little brother and his wife live in Ohio and I haven't gotten to meet Clara yet! My brother got married so they came down, we became BFF's pretty quick!

 

Me and J and the wedding.

 

 

I killed another doe opening morning of muzzle loader season.

 

 

This is what J sent me that morning, I then sent him the photo above.

 

 

*Happy Saturday*

Infertility Update-TMI post

We had our first visit with the Fertility Specialist on Monday (10/21).  I was super anxious, as I always am with new doctors, but thankfully I had my husband there with me.  We spoke with the doctor about how the entire process works.  It was a lot to take in, and honestly, I just wanted to cry at the fact that we were there. No matter how long you deal with infertility, it never gets easier to wrap your head around.

They did a pelvic ultrasound, and confirmed that my ovaries are consistent with PCOS/D, and that my uterus was slightly tilted.  At the time I was six days late, and had a negative pregnancy test that morning.  He gave me a prescription for hormones and told me once they were finished, to take a pregnancy test and (if it was negative) then I would start my cycle.  I was to call them when I started this cycle and schedule a HSG procedure.   They drew blood for about five different labs and explained that I would have to have blood drawn on the second day of my cycle, along with the 21st day. 

The HSG procedure will consist of them injecting dye into my uterus and Fallopian tubes and taking X-rays.  This procedure will clean out my Fallopian tubes, hopefully allowing me to get pregnant easier. 

Well, I started my cycle before I could start the hormones, so I got my blood drawn yesterday, and am going back to Little Rock this Wednesday to have the HSG procedure. 

More to come, probably on Wednesday.

Carry On, Carry on

Lots of things going on around here this month. It has been a bit crazy. I start back to school on Monday. Hopefully this semester will go well and I'll be starting my RN in no time. 

On to the reason your really reading this post: an update, right?

Well, on Monday my GYN's nurse called to let me know that my levels had dropped. Really, really dropped. From 16.4 to a whopping 0.8 this cycle.  Then she informed me that they could no longer treat me since I was not progressing. Instead they referred me to a specialist. J and I will be going to Little Rock in October for my initial appointment and to see what our options are.  I'm pretty aware of what is available out there and I'm not super comfortable with most of it so we will see how it goes.

Now on to adoption. Unfortunately that has stalled for the time being. The classes this round are on Tuesdays which directly conflicts with my school schedule. We have decided to look into a  Christian  based program that works with dhs to hold classes in Saturdays and to build support in a faith based environment. Why am I not canceling my Tuesday night class instead? Well, simple really, furthering my education will only allow us to better provide for a precious child that we have waited so long for.

Now on to something happier!

Who doesn't love that little ball of fluff?

More updates to come as I get them.

Carry On.

-B

Holding On

After four cycles on Clomid, my levels hadn't gone above 1.2. So, after much discussion, my husband and I had decided to press forward with adoption and take a break from the Clomid. 

We went to an informational meeting a few weeks ago and turned in our background check information. No surprise, it came back clean. We went on July 1st to do our FBI finger printing and have our first home study on July 15th. Once we complete the home visit, we have to complete 9 weeks of classes, get first aid/CPR certified (even though I'm a nurse, I still have to do it), and then complete a final home study. Once everything is done, we get added to the registry, and if any kids match what we are looking for we get a call, to meet the kid. 

On Monday I had my level drawn again. I emailed my doctor's nurse that unless my levels significantly increased we would be taking a break. She gave me the number to an infertility specialist in Little Rock. I got the my lab results today.  To our surprise it was 16.4! 

Ahhh! A glimpse of hope! I immediately called my doctor to tell them we wanted to try one more round. 

All I can say is that I needed this. I needed a glimpse of hope. I needed to know it hasn't all been for nothing. Please keep us in your prayers as we push forward with both the Clomid and the adoption process!

Surgery!

My mother may kill me for posting, but she hurt her back a work a couple weeks ago.  After she finally told us, (she doesn't share that stuff very well) I was able to make arrangements to have the day off to take her to the hospital. 

 

Whoever decided that 5:30 was a good time for people to get there for a 7:30 surgery needs to be kicked in the shins repeatedly.  Anywho, alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, J and I got up and headed to my moms to pick her up.  Once we got to the hospital, they did the regular labs and then took us back to get her ready. 

 

She was quite a trooper for someone who had to be stuck twice to get her IV in, and it was probably the coldest room ever!

 

She got to wear a fancy hat too.

 

The doctor just came out and let us know that she did great! She gets to go home today!

Right now she is still in recovery and probably will be there for a bit longer.  The she gets to head to post op and then home.  It will be a long couple of weeks for her, so please, keep her in your prayers.