Friday, July 17, 2009
See, I told you I am bad at keeping things updated - hopefully that will change right along with our lives. . .
So, since my last blog a lot and I mean A LOT has changed! I'm PREGNANT! Yep, after 5 months on Clomid, we finally had a positive PG test in April. So as of today I am 15 weeks and 6 days and I am due around 1/3/10!
I still can't believe it. It seemed like such a long road to get here and we still have a long wait in front of us but for now, I'm enjoying the ride.
So far I have little to no morning sickness or issues. I had 2-3 days of nausea but nothing more than that. I've had some growing and stretching pains but nothing too alarming. I suppose to first time moms, everything is alarming, but with all my good friends so close having friends, they assure me the things I'm experiencing are completely normal.
We have our 16 week appointment next Wednesday and since one of Charley's departments is UltraSound (US), we're planning on heading down to sneak a peak at our baby to be! They say that you can tell as early at 15 weeks what the sex is, depending on the babies positioning. So, we'll see what happens when we take some pictures!
The last time we had an US, the baby did a little jig for us. It was about 3 1/2 weeks ago (at 12 weeks) and we were amazed at how neat it was to see the baby moving around so much. It was like we made s/he mad by bothering him/her with the pushing on my tummy. It was a little surreal to see the baby move but not be able to feel it yet while knowing it was dancing inside my belly - kind of like we were watching a little movie but knowing it was much, much more than that!
At this point, since we don't know what colors to start gravitating to, we have resisted pretty much all things to do with shopping for the baby - and let me tell you it's a hard thing to do! Charley thinks its a boy and I go back and forth. But in a few short days or possibly weeks we will know!
So, I'll be sure to post on my next appointment!
So, since my last blog a lot and I mean A LOT has changed! I'm PREGNANT! Yep, after 5 months on Clomid, we finally had a positive PG test in April. So as of today I am 15 weeks and 6 days and I am due around 1/3/10!
I still can't believe it. It seemed like such a long road to get here and we still have a long wait in front of us but for now, I'm enjoying the ride.
So far I have little to no morning sickness or issues. I had 2-3 days of nausea but nothing more than that. I've had some growing and stretching pains but nothing too alarming. I suppose to first time moms, everything is alarming, but with all my good friends so close having friends, they assure me the things I'm experiencing are completely normal.
We have our 16 week appointment next Wednesday and since one of Charley's departments is UltraSound (US), we're planning on heading down to sneak a peak at our baby to be! They say that you can tell as early at 15 weeks what the sex is, depending on the babies positioning. So, we'll see what happens when we take some pictures!
The last time we had an US, the baby did a little jig for us. It was about 3 1/2 weeks ago (at 12 weeks) and we were amazed at how neat it was to see the baby moving around so much. It was like we made s/he mad by bothering him/her with the pushing on my tummy. It was a little surreal to see the baby move but not be able to feel it yet while knowing it was dancing inside my belly - kind of like we were watching a little movie but knowing it was much, much more than that!
At this point, since we don't know what colors to start gravitating to, we have resisted pretty much all things to do with shopping for the baby - and let me tell you it's a hard thing to do! Charley thinks its a boy and I go back and forth. But in a few short days or possibly weeks we will know!
So, I'll be sure to post on my next appointment!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Okay well, as most of my friends know (since I am an open book) how our trip on the baby train has been going. Slow to depart, so to speak. In a letter written to a close friend I paraphrase our journey thus far:
". . . I just finished my first dose of a fertility treatment called Clomid. Basically they think I am not ovulating correctly and this med will help me ovulate. We've been trying for about a year with no such luck and it was time to try something else. I'll be on this for up to 6 months or until I am pregnant (whichever comes first) - each month we are unsuccessful they up the dosage. I should be ovulating this week, so we'll see if the 1st round works. Typically it takes a couple of rounds so I'm trying to stay hopeful. This increases our chance of multiples to about 5-10% which we're okay with it just as long as we can get pregnant. It's been quite stressful and my level of irritability has increased with the hormones . . ."
That was written last week (1/12/09). And I unfortunately did not ovulate to the best of my knowledge. I am testing my ovulation with the over the counter ovulation predictor kits - basically a stick you urinate on (beautiful picture right?) so it can test your Luteinizing Hormone (LH Level). Here is a brief description of what the LH level is from WebMD:
"LH helps regulate the menstrual cycle and egg production (ovulation). The level of LH in a woman's body varies with the phase of the menstrual cycle. It increases rapidly just before ovulation occurs, about midway through the cycle (day 14 of a 28-day cycle). This is called an LH surge. Luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels rise and fall together during the monthly menstrual cycle." - WebMD
So here we are in week 3 post menstrual cycle and to my surprise after days and days of anxiously awaiting the results from my pee tests, I think I ovulated yesterday! I have not had the exact colors of lines that match the box ever before and yesterday it seems as if they matched perfectly! Too perfectly in fact that I felt the need to test twice - the results being the same! And let me tell you, it's definitely no fun to insert a test strip into your urine for multiple days straight with nothing more then a yellow piece of linen telling you are not in the baby-making mode! So, when it actually shows that you could have ovulated or are going to in the near future after months of not, it's exciting! Of course I called Charley right away and informed him that tonight and potentially tomorrow are definitely our nights! He was happy to hear that but not before telling me that we had to go to Costco that night to pick up the secret weapon!
So what is said secret weapon? What could it be that made us drive after work to the bulk warehouse for our night on the baby train? You may be thinking many things that bring up many different coital thoughts but you would be wrong. Trust me. Nope, the secret weapon that he was referring to was the 7 lb chocolate on chocolate quadruple layer "Death By Chocolate" Chocolate cake in the bakery! No kidding. Every women's dream right? Sex and chocolate in the same night? What could be better!
There's an urban legend roaming around Charley's department at work that a couple of people subscribe to that this awesome dessert is lovingly referred to as the "Immaculate Conception Cake." One believer in particular says that every time he samples this luscious cake, his wife ends up pregnant - and he has multiple children to show for it. Charley, being a gambling man, decided that those odds are as good as any hormonal imbalance I'm having so we through caution to the wind and fell to the temptation of the decadent chocolate and we definitely had a wonderful Wednesday night!
Yesterday was exactly 22 days into my first month on Clomid. The medical books all say that women should ovulate on day 14 of a 28 day cycle but we all know that no one women is a perfect textbook example and my Understanding Your Fertility book tells me that women can ovulate anywhere from days 12 - 26 in a cycle that can last up to 42 days . . . which could possibly explain my lack of ovulation and subsequent non-pregnancy. So the Clomid has given us a jump start into my ovulation cycle and with our fingers crossed, knock on wood, belief in the "Immaculate Conception Cake" hopefully my next blog will be expressing my excitement of our final destination on our trip to parenthood.
". . . I just finished my first dose of a fertility treatment called Clomid. Basically they think I am not ovulating correctly and this med will help me ovulate. We've been trying for about a year with no such luck and it was time to try something else. I'll be on this for up to 6 months or until I am pregnant (whichever comes first) - each month we are unsuccessful they up the dosage. I should be ovulating this week, so we'll see if the 1st round works. Typically it takes a couple of rounds so I'm trying to stay hopeful. This increases our chance of multiples to about 5-10% which we're okay with it just as long as we can get pregnant. It's been quite stressful and my level of irritability has increased with the hormones . . ."
That was written last week (1/12/09). And I unfortunately did not ovulate to the best of my knowledge. I am testing my ovulation with the over the counter ovulation predictor kits - basically a stick you urinate on (beautiful picture right?) so it can test your Luteinizing Hormone (LH Level). Here is a brief description of what the LH level is from WebMD:
"LH helps regulate the menstrual cycle and egg production (ovulation). The level of LH in a woman's body varies with the phase of the menstrual cycle. It increases rapidly just before ovulation occurs, about midway through the cycle (day 14 of a 28-day cycle). This is called an LH surge. Luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels rise and fall together during the monthly menstrual cycle." - WebMD
So here we are in week 3 post menstrual cycle and to my surprise after days and days of anxiously awaiting the results from my pee tests, I think I ovulated yesterday! I have not had the exact colors of lines that match the box ever before and yesterday it seems as if they matched perfectly! Too perfectly in fact that I felt the need to test twice - the results being the same! And let me tell you, it's definitely no fun to insert a test strip into your urine for multiple days straight with nothing more then a yellow piece of linen telling you are not in the baby-making mode! So, when it actually shows that you could have ovulated or are going to in the near future after months of not, it's exciting! Of course I called Charley right away and informed him that tonight and potentially tomorrow are definitely our nights! He was happy to hear that but not before telling me that we had to go to Costco that night to pick up the secret weapon!
So what is said secret weapon? What could it be that made us drive after work to the bulk warehouse for our night on the baby train? You may be thinking many things that bring up many different coital thoughts but you would be wrong. Trust me. Nope, the secret weapon that he was referring to was the 7 lb chocolate on chocolate quadruple layer "Death By Chocolate" Chocolate cake in the bakery! No kidding. Every women's dream right? Sex and chocolate in the same night? What could be better!
There's an urban legend roaming around Charley's department at work that a couple of people subscribe to that this awesome dessert is lovingly referred to as the "Immaculate Conception Cake." One believer in particular says that every time he samples this luscious cake, his wife ends up pregnant - and he has multiple children to show for it. Charley, being a gambling man, decided that those odds are as good as any hormonal imbalance I'm having so we through caution to the wind and fell to the temptation of the decadent chocolate and we definitely had a wonderful Wednesday night!
Yesterday was exactly 22 days into my first month on Clomid. The medical books all say that women should ovulate on day 14 of a 28 day cycle but we all know that no one women is a perfect textbook example and my Understanding Your Fertility book tells me that women can ovulate anywhere from days 12 - 26 in a cycle that can last up to 42 days . . . which could possibly explain my lack of ovulation and subsequent non-pregnancy. So the Clomid has given us a jump start into my ovulation cycle and with our fingers crossed, knock on wood, belief in the "Immaculate Conception Cake" hopefully my next blog will be expressing my excitement of our final destination on our trip to parenthood.
Friday, December 19, 2008
So, I'm feeling the need to be reflective today. Ten years ago yesterday, my life changed forever. I became a different person with a different outlook on life. And everyday since December 18, 1998 I remember. I remember her smile, her laugh, the way she would punch me on the arm after making a joke. . . all those little things that we hold so dear, I remember - or at least I try. That's the thing with death, we lose a little each day of the little things but the big things we treasure. I remember that on breaks at Fred Meyer she would always, always get macaroni and cheese from the deli and a black cherry soda from the machine. I remember it so vividly that to this day I cannot stand macaroni and I have not had one black cherry soda since the day she died.
She is Dana - my best friend from high school. Dana was a bright spot in everyones day. She held the key to happiness and was joyful to share with anyone who requested it or seemed to need a little cheer. She was a friend to all and enemy to none. I don't think she had a cruel bone in her body, not one. She loved Monty Python and the Smashing Pumpkins. She always had cold hands but a warm heart. She treasured her family and her friends. She had a car that guzzled oil and she always had a case of 10w30 in the trunk. She washed that car with the brushes at the gas station and giggled while she did it. She had a beautiful smile with steely blue eyes. She wrote me notes of friendship and encouragement. She was my friend. And still is.
Ten years ago yesterday I watched as my best friend told me she'd see me the next day to go Christmas shopping, walk out the door. The sound of the door closing still haunts me at night. I can still hear my dad telling me she was gone. I can remember screaming at God in the snow. I remember the numbness driving to the emergency room.
I remember a lot of things but none are more powerful then the feeling that she is still with me. Every day. I see her smile in the clouds. I hear her laughter on the playgrounds. I feel her support when I'm down and her strength when I think I cannot go on. She is my rock. My beacon of light in the darkness. I'm not sure who I would be today without her in my life and I'm pretty sure I don't want to. She is my "precious little pop tart" and that's enough for me today. I know she'll be holding my hand and telling me it will be alright all of my days and for that I am grateful.
I miss her dearly and always will. The hurt never goes away. The grief is always present. But how we proceed is how they'll be remembered. We keep breathing. We wake up everyday and face the world. We draw the blinds and let the sunlight in. We honor those we miss by conquering what they will us to. We cherish the life we have. We laugh a little harder. Cry a little less. Smile a little more. And love with conviction. That's what keeps me going.
I think it's about time for a little macaroni and cheese with a black cherry soda on the side, don't you?
She is Dana - my best friend from high school. Dana was a bright spot in everyones day. She held the key to happiness and was joyful to share with anyone who requested it or seemed to need a little cheer. She was a friend to all and enemy to none. I don't think she had a cruel bone in her body, not one. She loved Monty Python and the Smashing Pumpkins. She always had cold hands but a warm heart. She treasured her family and her friends. She had a car that guzzled oil and she always had a case of 10w30 in the trunk. She washed that car with the brushes at the gas station and giggled while she did it. She had a beautiful smile with steely blue eyes. She wrote me notes of friendship and encouragement. She was my friend. And still is.
Ten years ago yesterday I watched as my best friend told me she'd see me the next day to go Christmas shopping, walk out the door. The sound of the door closing still haunts me at night. I can still hear my dad telling me she was gone. I can remember screaming at God in the snow. I remember the numbness driving to the emergency room.
I remember a lot of things but none are more powerful then the feeling that she is still with me. Every day. I see her smile in the clouds. I hear her laughter on the playgrounds. I feel her support when I'm down and her strength when I think I cannot go on. She is my rock. My beacon of light in the darkness. I'm not sure who I would be today without her in my life and I'm pretty sure I don't want to. She is my "precious little pop tart" and that's enough for me today. I know she'll be holding my hand and telling me it will be alright all of my days and for that I am grateful.
I miss her dearly and always will. The hurt never goes away. The grief is always present. But how we proceed is how they'll be remembered. We keep breathing. We wake up everyday and face the world. We draw the blinds and let the sunlight in. We honor those we miss by conquering what they will us to. We cherish the life we have. We laugh a little harder. Cry a little less. Smile a little more. And love with conviction. That's what keeps me going.
I think it's about time for a little macaroni and cheese with a black cherry soda on the side, don't you?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
New to this. . .
Well, here I go - I'm now officially a blogger. I tried to envision what I wanted for my blog and thoughts of all those set before me came to the forefront of my mind. Struggling to be more creative then the next, I've decided to put all preconceived ideas aside and just start writing. And boy have I missed it. . .writing. I used to write all the time - papers, journals, stories, anything really. I used to feel pretty confident about it too. Now, I feel exposed. Bare. Raw. I feel stripped of all I once knew and was as a writer and the need to now reinvent my status and ability is begging me to begin. So this is my maiden voyage to find my voice in this the midst of life.
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