Blood Test #1

I had a blood test yesterday to confirm ovulation and check with progesterone level...and, everything looks great! YEAH! My progesterone level was at 33.5 - anything over 10 is good, but they prefer at least 15-20 so I think we're doing well. This basically means that if I am pregnant, chances are really good that my body would be able to sustain it. That's great news, but again, nothing indicating the reason we haven't been able to get pregnant on our own. Now we're into the last half of the wait time...this is probably the longest two weeks of my life (right now, anyway!). I have my pregnancy test on Friday, the 8th! Keep the prayers coming for a positive result!!

Happy Birthday, J!!!

So, yes, I am a little late with this, but I can't let it go un-noticed. My wonderful husband turned 33 on Monday!!Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get what he really wanted for his birthday (an iPhone), but I'm sure we'll figure something out. I thought it was really neat what my friend, Tonya, did for her husband's birthday so I'll try to do the same - name 33 things I love about my husband! (in no particular order, of course!)

1. He makes me laugh almost daily!
2. He's much more patient than I am.
3. He loves me no matter how I act or respond to situations.
4. He has an open mind about any topic of discussion.
5. He doesn't "read into" situations like I (and most women) do.
6. He's a realist! (although...it doesn't hurt to be a little more positive sometimes!)
7. He is very knowledgeable about technology things.
8. He always wants to buy the best of the best, but realizes when it's okay to purchase items of less expense!
9. He knows we each need our guy and girl time...alone!
10. He tells me he loves me each night before bed.
11. He gets the newspaper from the driveway and puts it in my car each morning before I go work (it's the little things, I tell ya!).
12. He takes care of the pool (cleaning, opening, closing, etc.).
13. He loves the Cubbies!!!
14. ...and the da Bears!! (notice the Cubs get 3 exclamation points-they're my favorite!)
15. He likes going on the vacations I pick for us (he doesn't care where we go).
16. His dream is to go to Australia, just like mine!
17. He finished his bachelors degree for himself (and, me, too!).
18. He amazes me that he can set his mind to do something he has never done before and accomplish it! (ie: his 1/2 marathon last fall)
19. He raised over $2,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (and thinks it is important to give to charities).
20. He supports me and my desires/dreams.
21. We attend Eastview Christian Church together each Sunday.
22. He serves on the Security team at Eastview.
23. He is getting baptized the same day as me!!
24.

Okay...so it's taking me quite a while to come up with 33 things (since I'm trying to work and we haven't been home any night this week!), but I think 23 things is pretty cool! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, honey!!! I LOVE YOU!

Go Cubs Go!

Jason was lucky enough to get four free tickets to the Cubs/Marlins game at Wrigley on Saturday afternoon! He had a buddy at work who was getting rid of them since he couldn't go, so we went with his friend, Tim, and his wife, Julie. The seats were great...Section 204 Row 4! We had a beautiful day for baseball even though the Cubbies lost in the 12th inning! This was Jason's first time seeing the Cubs when they lost.

The view from our seats.

Jason, me, Julie, & Tim

We're looking forward to our next trip to Chicago and Wrigley in just a few weeks!!

Happy 30th Birthday, Patty!!

Happy 30th birthday to my friend, Patty!! We met in grade school and were in brownies together - so we go way back! ha! Again, even though we don't see each other often I still consider her my friend. Patty is blessed with a great husband and three amazing children. Hopefully we'll be able to get together soon!

Happy 30th Birthday, Mandy!!!

Mandy and I became friends in high school although we found out that we actually met each other long before that. Her mom used to babysit me! Although we don't get together often (since we live over 2 hours apart), I still consider her a friend.

Mandy - I hope you have the greatest birthday today and get all you wished for!!

IUI ... Take 2!

Once again, everything went well this morning. Yeah!! I do start the progesterone on Saturday and will take it twice a day until they tell me to quit. I have a blood test (they will be able to determine something about the ovulation here) and take the Ovidrel booster shot next Wednesday, then will go in for another blood test on Friday, the 8th. The 2nd blood test is the one we really want the positive answer for...it's the pregnancy test!! The reason they do that instead of just waiting for my cycle to start is because it may not due to the progesterone being taken every day. If it's positive, then I'll do the same thing over again on that Monday and hope for an increased beta number! So, we've got 16 days before we will know anything. Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming!

IUI

Thank you to everyone who has commented, called, emailed, texted...we really appreciate all of the support and kind words you have given us. I know this is something that not many people experience, and it has truly been a learning experience for us! What an eye opener!!!


This morning went really well - all of Jason's numbers were within normal range and above what they require. The procedure went very smooth and quick! We'll do the same thing tomorrow morning since they say that I will/have ovulate(d) sometime between this morning and tomorrow morning. This just gives them another chance. I'll find out tomorrow what the rest of my schedule is, but I think I start progesterone on Saturday twice each day. I know I have one more injection and a blood test, but I don't know exactly when they will be.

Happy 1st Anniversary!!

One year ago today, Jim (aka "Beaner") and Heather were getting hitched!! (They had can koozies that said the phrase so I thought it was appropriate). Jim & Heather started dating at Jason's and my wedding five years ago so it's been a lot of fun to what their relationship grow!! I'll post a few pictures tonight from the big day, but I don't have them with me right now. Congratulations and Happy 1st Anniversary!!!

On another note...it's official. The inseminations are scheduled for tomorrow morning and Wednesday morning at 9:15am!! It is very exciting to think that we could be pregnant in just a couple weeks! How awesome would that be?!

Happy Birthday, Madison!

Today is Madison's 9th birthday! Here's a few pictures from last night:
We had a great time hanging out and even jumping on her new trampoline!!

Today ended up being a beautiful day, too! After church we came home to get the house ready for our friends to come over. Here's a few pool shots from today:

Kelly, Cara, Me
Jack & James

Who's having more fun here?

We are so sad that this was the last time we get to hang out with the Colvert's before they move back home to Nebraska. Hopefully we'll plan a road trip soon so we can come visit!

Weekend Plans

It's raining right now so we'll see how our plans work out for this weekend. We're supposed to be going to a birthday party/cookout tonight for Jason's god-daughter's birthday. I'm guessing that will be inside, and we're having some neighbors over to swim tomorrow. Go figure, it's been nice - sunny & hot - all week, and it rains when the weekend comes!

We didn't have any plans for last night, and I had been wanting to see The Bucket List...so, we rented it and watched it with Tiff & Jon! Jason and I were there for bath time and their evening feeding so we helped with that. Yep, I said WE! Jason held the babies for the first time last night, and even fed Maggie!! I wish I would have had my camera with me, but hopefully it won't be the last time and I can get a picture later.

Today will be day three of the Bravelle injections. They have been going well, although I still feel like I am doing something wrong (no clue why!). It is pretty simple, but just more than I'm used to. I'll do the injection tonight and tomorrow then go in Monday morning (CD 11) for bloodwork and ultrasound. If everything looks good, we'll go in, as planned, on Tuesday and Wednesday!

A long one...

Okay, I warned you, but this is going to be a long one. Many of you already know almost all of this, but I wanted to get it somewhere where it would be forever. So, just skip the parts you don't want to read.

Where do I begin?? First of all, I wasn't sure how much of this I wanted to disclose, but as my friend, Melissa, and I have been checking out other blogs on the same thing it has been so helpful to me. I only hope that I can be helpful to others in the same way. Plus, this will be a great journal of information for me (since right now it's on a small piece of paper next to the computer).

It all began at the end of May 2004 when we were celebrating our one year anniversary. Jason and I decided that it was time to start our family. Obviously, we didn't know the plans God had for us! For the first 2.5 years (yep, that's right!) we didn't really give it much thought. We just went about our normal "business" and figured it would happen. In October 2006, I started tracking my cycles and reading things online about ovulation and when was a good time to try, etc and told myself that if we weren't pregnant by my next appointment, we would check into this more. After 3.5 years went by (I was coming up on my 30th birthday and five year wedding anniversary), everyone was asking when we were going to have a baby and everyone around me was getting pregnant and having babies (love you ladies!!! and, thanks for letting me drool over your kiddos!), I figured it was about time to get serious. Now, if you know Jason at all, you know that he is not a worrier and is very calm so he just kept saying it will happen. The good thing was that he was totally up for whatever I wanted to do. So, at my appointment in October, I finally asked my doctor what we could do. They took a blood sample and ran some tests and then took a sample from Jason and everything appeared normal. Since there was no real reason for us not getting pregnant (that they could see), we started on some medication. Here's how that went:

November 2007 - 50mg Clomid, no injection (Jason was out of town on a business trip)
December 2007 - 50mg Clomid with Ovidrel, BFN
January 2008 - 50mg Clomid with Ovidrel, BFN & HSG procedure
February 2008 - 50mg Clomid with Ovidrel, BFN
March 2008 - 50mg Clomid with Ovidrel, BFN

I read lots of blogs and found one particularly interesting (Suz). She got pregnant on her first round of Clomid with quadruplets (yep, that's right FOUR babies!!) so I had really good thoughts about trying the Clomid. After the first couple rounds came and went, I will admit that it started to get pretty frustrating, disappointing, sad, etc, but I just wasn't quite ready to move on to more serious stuff. After five rounds of Clomid, my ob/gyn was ready to refer me on to a fertility specialist (RE - reproductive endocrinologist). I wasn't sure where this would lead us, but I knew that my neighbor, Tiffany, had seen Dr. Jarrett, and she couldn't say enough good things about him. AND, he is in my network for my insurance. Of course, we are only praying for ONE baby (I know they were, too.).

We had our first appointment/consultation with Dr. Jarrett on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. I was shocked at how quickly we were able to get in to see him (two weeks after I called). The other great thing was that we were able to meet with him in Bloomington! (For those who aren't familiar, Dr. Jarrett's main office is in the Indianapolis area. He goes to Champaign once a week and comes to Bloomington about once every other month. Needless to say, we were VERY lucky to get in with him so quickly and not have to drive to Champaign or Indy. And, the best part is that he was so easy to talk to and very knowledgable.) Dr. Jarrett ordered two tests to be done with Jason's sample - SDD and SDFA . Here's the next two months:

April 08 - TTC naturally (this is when we made the appointment to see Dr. Jarrett)
May 08 - TTC naturally (test results not in yet)

On May 23, 2008, we received the results from Jason's tests...NORMAL! The nurse even said that she had never seen the results come back so good. What a blessing! But, this still leaves us wondering why we can't get pregnant. The new medications were called in to Walgreen's so I picked them up to be ready to start on the next cycle. I guess I thought that I was only picking up three medicines (Letrozole, Ovidrel, and Progesterone)....little did I know that it was six different things! I had the Letrozole (pills), Bravelle with needles and syringes (injections I have to mix! - little nervous about that one), Ovidrel (injection I've done before), and lots of Progesterone pills. But, the good news is that my insurance is AWESOME! I paid only $80 for medications worth over $1,000!

My June cycle was such a bummer! I really thought we would be able to get started this month, but I started my period while we were on vacation. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any meds with me because I thought I wouldn't have to take them until after my ultrasound. If only I would have listen to my instinct and brought them because we could have started them if Dr. Jarrett would have let me start unmonitored since I don't have a history of cysts.

So, that brings everyone up to date. We are now in the middle of our first IUI! Insemination is tentatively planned for next Tuesday and Wednesday. Please keep us in your prayers!!

For those of you who don't know the infertility lingo...here's your lesson:

TTC - Trying to Conceive
BFN/BFP - Big Fat Negative/Big Fat Positive (as in pregnancy test results)
IVF - In vitro fertilization
IUI - Intrauterine insemination
HSG - Hysterosalpingogram (test to determine if the tubes are open or blocked in any way)
RE - Reproductive Endocrinologist (this is the specialist)

What a great weekend!

My weekend started out on Thursday. I went with Karen in the first attempt to get Caden's one year pictures taken! Unfortunately, it didn't go so well, and she had to go back on Saturday (which also didn't go well) and then today (hopefully it went better - I haven't heard!). Then, in the afternoon I got to watch him while Karen went to an appointment. It is so hard to believe he is already a year old!

Then...my great friend from high school, Jackie, came down on Thursday night, my mom and sister got here Friday night, and then two friends from college (Janell & Heather) came on Saturday. We just hung out and scrapbooked all weekend! I didn't get too much done, but that was okay. Janell brought her three month old son, Hudson..so he got a lot of attention!!

I'm back to the office tomorrow. We're all moved in to the Alumni Center so I'm kind of excited to get there and get things organized! Jackie and I stopped there on Friday afternoon, and there were still a lot of things in boxes. I'll have to unpack my own office of course, but hopefully the rest of it is done when I get in!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, CADEN!!

It's hard to believe that Jason's nephew, Caden, was born one year ago today!!! One year ago, he entered this world weighing 6lbs 3oz and 19" long; today he is 27lbs (93rd percentile) and 29.75" in height (5oth percentile). He has six teeth, crawls, and can't wait to start walking!!!

Happy Birthday, Caden!!!

We love you!!

Happy Belated Independence Day!!

I know it's a little late, but I hope everyone had a great holiday!! My conference last week went well, and working on the 4th wasn't too bad. It's great having an intern you can depend on - unfortunately, she has completed her requirements and is now done. After I left work on Friday night, one of our neighbors lit some fireworks off. We could actually see quite a bit from out house - I think we could see Fairview's and Towanda's!

Saturday was our first pool party! Some people were out of town, but those of us who were here had a great time. The weather was perfect - 85 and sunny all day!

Mason didn't get to swim much last year because he was still taking naps so it was really cute to see him in the pool the entire time this weekend!! He has no fear!

Dylan was catching a ball here...is this a neat photo or what?!

Kylee with the noodles!! What great flotation devices!

Camron

Jason and I went to church on Sunday and then were invited to the Michaels' for lunch. It was so nice - the first time Jason has gone down there with me. It was great to get to know them more. Isn't it so funny how them having four babies got us to hang out?! Kind of sad, actually, but I just know that we were both so busy before and rarely home. Not that we aren't busy now, but now we seem to be home at the same times. I'm so thankful they allow me to come help with the babies.

Our friends from Colorado got into town last night for a visit after a long drive from Northern Wisconsin. They will be here until Wednesday so hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to do some swimming and hanging out!

Today through Thursday, I am working from home! Yep, that's right!! Our office is in the process of being moved and they really didn't want us in the way. So, the easiest way to make sure that was the case was for us to work from home. Friday will be our first day in the new building, but it's actually a vacation day for me. I think I'll just go in to drop off my box of stuff I wanted to move. I'm pretty excited about the new place!

We had a great weekend!! Jason was gone at his annual boys canoe trip in Missouri where they always have lots of fun, and I spent the weekend getting a lot of things done around the house and just hanging out. I took Jason's niece, Kali, and her boyfriend, Troy, to the Drum Corps International show on Friday night. Luckily, the weather held out for us. This is the third year that I have gone and it still amazes me what these kids can do! If you want to know more about this here's the website. They come to campus each year at the end of June as part of the Music for All camp.

On Saturday, I did some things around the house until Kali called. They wanted to come swim. Caden did a lot better this time...he actually enjoyed the water and splashing around in it. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many good pictures. And, each time I tried to get a video of him crawling, he would only go about 2 "steps" (what would you call it?) and then stop! It was like he knew that the video camera was going! We swam for about an hour or so and then it started raining. It didn't last long, but who knew. They left, and I headed to the mall. Didn't find too much, so then I went to a friends to watch Fool's Gold. It was a good movie, but not one of my favorites.Kali & Troy

Caden

I went to church on Sunday, got groceries, and then spent a little time with Michaels quads. A big thanks to Tiffany for letting me love on your kiddos! They are just the best little babies and are growing so quickly.

Now, I have a group on campus all week so I am hard at work (wonder how I found time to do this post during the day!). Actually, they are a very self-sufficient group and so easy to work with, it's awesome. This is the 3rd year they are here, and I'd have to say they are one of my favorites.