IVF #2 and Feeling Great!

Last year I never did take a picture of all the medications and needles involved with the IVF process. So, on Tuesday I sat everything out on the desk in the hotel and decided to take a picture for you all to see.

Its a little intimidating when you go to the pharmacy and they hand you all this stuff. I don't know what I would do without the spreadsheet the IVF Coordinator sent me telling me when my appointments are and what medications to take on what days.

I am feeling great this time around! Last time I was nauseous the entire time and I started bloating almost immediately. This time I haven't had any of that. My ultra sound on Saturday was great as well.

I have 10 follicles on the right measuring around 9mm and 8 follicles on the left measuring between 7mm and 9mm. Over all it is a pretty even response, which the doctor was very pleased with.

I go back on Tuesday for another ultra sound to see how the follicles are growing and for another blood test to make sure my Estrogen isn't getting too high. I have to say I feel absolutely WONDERFUL.

New Mexico Update.

Craig's dad is improving. His kidneys are no longer on the verge of failure and his heart looks really good, too. He is now even cooperating with the doctors to help stabilize his liver.

We have been talking with another doctor, Dr. Olson. He is really good with Tom and has been very helpful. He asked the hospital social worker to come and speak with us about where Tom should go after the hospital. We all agreed that he shouldn't return home. He will probably be in the hospital for another week.

So, Craig and I went and cleaned out his apartment. Now we (including Craig's brother and his wife) are faced with the task of finding the right home for him. The social worker at the VA is going to check into homes in New Mexico that have openings and get all the pricing information we need for that. We are also going to check into homes here in Tucson.

It's going to be a long process, but hopefully with a little bit of research we can find him a place he will love.

Wednesday...

Where to start? We have had a very long two days.

After getting the call on Monday and deciding to travel the Albuquerque, Craig and I briefly discussed if we should move forward with the IVF this month or wait until next month. We decided that we could make the trip and still be back in time for our first check up appt on Saturday.

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed to the infertility doctor's office. After an ultra sound of my ovaries and a blood test, the doctor cleared us to start the meds that night just as planned. After we left the doctor's office, we hit the road.

I don't know how many of you have ever traveled between Tucson and Albuquerque, but there is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING for 6 hours. I had no idea that the towns in New Mexico were so secluded from each other. We stopped in the hospital to check on Tom and let him know we were there then checked into our hotel and grabbed some dinner.

On Wednesday we got to talk to one of his doctors and he filled us in on his condition. Basically he has liver disease and is on the verge of kidney failure. The doctor is suggesting we consider a hospice facility and try to convince Tom that he really shouldn't return to his apartment and continue living alone. So that is the goal for today. Wish us luck.

Monday...

Last night Craig was asking me to make some cookies, but I talked him into a peach desert that I already had prepared instead. It was easier to just pop it in the oven. So today I felt guilty and decided to make him some chocolate chip cookies.

After I put the first two pans in the oven, I realized I had missed a call, so I checked the caller ID to see who it was. It said "University of New Mexico." I immediately began to worry because Craig's dad lives in New Mexico and has us listed as his emergency contact. I called the number back and it was actually the VA Hospital.

After over an hour of trying to find out what was going on and who had called us, I was finally able to talk to one of the doctors. Craig's dad was taken to the hospital Sunday night. He was unresponsive upon arrival, but after getting some fluids in his system, he is doing better. The doctors do not believe his prognoses is good.

We decided that we needed to go to New Mexico and see what what happening. So we are leaving after my doctor's appointment in the morning. I will try to update as much as possible, but I do not know how much access we will have to the internet.

1st Week of 2009.

Sunday was one of my weeks to teach at the preschool at church and we had 23 kids. Trying to get 23 four and five year olds to be quiet at the same time is quite a challenge!

Then on Monday, my niece, Makenzee was born. (Welcome to the family little one.)

Thursday I attended a memorial service. It was sad yet happy at the same time. Everyone loved her so incredibly much and everyone who spoke mentioned something about her always being in their heart. I guess we really can't ask for more than that.

The rest of the week hasn't been quite as eventful. But is sure has passed quickly. I can hardly believe it is Friday already. I've gotten a touch of a head cold. Not too bad, and no fever (which is really good news).

All in all, the first full week of 2009 has been pretty great. I just hope the rest of the month (and year) continue to be as bright.

Hello 2009!!

Happy New Year! May this year bring happiness, peace and everything your hearts desire.

We had a very relaxed New Year's Eve. We stayed home and had a Pin Ball Tournament. Craig won, but I think he must've rigged the Play Station because at the end he had 76 Tournament Points, which was the high score. After he put his name in, it added more points and called that a new tournament high score. This happened several times and he got up to like 400 points. We eventually had to reset the game to get it to stop.

Craig decided on a PB&J for a snack that evening. Well, Shadow LOVES peanut butter, so he was right there just in case any was dropped for him. Craig felt sorry for him, so he threw a small piece of bread with some peanut butter on it at him. Shadow wasn't really expecting it and missed. Here is a funny video of what happened. Enjoy.

Yikes!!

Holly Cow!!! I added a ticker to the top of the page (as you probably already saw, LOL) to keep track of the days until we start the IVF process. I knew my 1st appt. was on the 13th, but I didn't realize that is only 2 weeks away!!

I had so many things I wanted to do first. Like loose 10 pounds.... Well that's not going to happen now. These meds I've been on all make me gain weight, and the new ones are meant to get me pregnant so I'll gain weight from that, too. Oh, well, at least we will get healthy babies from this and I can loose weight after they are born.

I still can't believe it... just two more weeks.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Raisler

I've been talking about them quite a bit with one of my cousins. So, I scanned this picture for her to see. I absolutely LOVE this picture. Probably because it's the only picture I have of both of them, and because Great Grandma gave it to me. There is a special place in my heart for everything they gave to me and everything I see that was theirs.

I loved them as much as I possibly could at the age is was when they were here. Great Grandpa passed away when I was 5 and Great Grandma when I was 14. Natalie Cole had just remade Unforgettable as a duet with her and her father about the time that Great Grandma passed away. Now, every time I hear that song, I think of them.

I still remember the layout of their house. Well, for the most part that is... My mind seems to completely forget about Great Grandpa's den. We were never allowed in there, so my mind doesn't even remember the door to the room existing. I remember their clocks, the coo-coo clock and mantel clock. I remember the special straw cups we all got to use when we visited. I remember her laundry line in the back yard and I remember picking lemons from her trees. I remember all the games and toys they had in the playroom that was originally set up for their grandkids and kept for all their great grandkids. I even put bubble lights on my Christmas tree, every year. It's not complete until they are on. I know they are watching out for me, and everyone else in our family for that matter.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to both of you. Thank you for keeping such a good eye on us all. I love you!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! We had a WONDERFUL Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As always, I was awed by the creativeness and generosity of our family. We love all of you! Thank you for making this another great Christmas.

It was especially nice to be around Grandma and Ron. I've missed you guys, and I can't wait until our next visit with you!! Have a safe trip home.

I'll leave you with a very cute picture of Jaydnn. This is her saying "cheese" for the camera.

One more week

'Till Christmas!! I am so excited. I just love Christmas. I've got most of my shopping done and everything that needed to be mailed out has been sent. Now I'm just hunting for those last few special gifts.

That's about all that's happening around here. I did get a cute picture of Piper by the Christmas tree. Actually, I think she was trying to eat the tree. I told her no, and this is the look I got.

Fun day turnned bad...

Last Saturday I decided to take the dogs to the dog park. It was Piper's first time and I wasn't sure how she would do. I remember Shadow's first time he hid under the picnic tables.

She did play, but only with a teenage boy and a full grown dog that weighed less than 2 pounds. She was scared of all the other dogs. She got lots of attention from all the people though. They all felt bad for her and she lapped up the sympathy.

Shadow was grumpy and had to spend some time alone in the tuck because he was showing aggression towards the other dogs before we even got in the gate. He calmed down and was let into the small dog area with Piper after a little while. Towards the end I probably could have let him in with the other dogs, because he was being nice to them through the fence, but I decided to leave that for another day and head home.

We were almost home, stopped at a red light when all of a sudden I heard a crash. The next thing I knew my head was bouncing off my head rest. My first thought was of the dogs. I put the truck in park and jumped out to open the back and see them, but it was locked so a went back and turned off the truck and unlocked the doors, all the while trying to call Craig on his cell phone. I opened the back hatch and both dogs wagged their tails and seemed happy to see me. So I knew they were okay. This was while I was on the phone with the 911 operator.

Luckily we are all three okay. I'm having some neck and shoulder issues that I'm working with a chiropractor on, but that's about all. The dogs are doing good, running and playing just like normal. Shadow was definitely shaken up the first night, he slept on the bed touching my legs the entire night, which he never does. But he seems fine now.

The Blazer is at the dealership getting fixed. Craig is not happy with the idea of having a car that has been hit so hard and repaired. So once we settle with the insurance company and get the loss of value from them, we will probably sell it and get something else. He was very disappointed that they didn't total out the vehicle.

A quiet house.

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself this week.

We've had such a busy last two weeks. Craig's mom, Marilyn, came to visit us the weekend of the 15th, then went to Phx for work during the week and came back the following weekend. We had a great visit and she and I even got to do some shopping. During which I found a new store to frequent!!

After she left I started getting read for Thanksgiving. Originally Craig's dad and brother were going to join us, but his dad got a cold and didn't want to travel, but Dene still made it! My parents and my sister and her family also made the trip from Phx. We had a great day lots of food and smiles. There couldn't be a more perfect way to spend the holiday.

On Friday we went up the mountain to play in the snow with the dogs while Dene was here. We ended up driving down the mountain some where it hadn't snowed and found a back road. We took that until we were fairly certain nobody would come down the road and let the dogs out to run and play in the woods. They loved it!! And we loved that they were pooped the rest of the night.

Dene left to go to visit their dad on Saturday and Craig left today to go to Atlanta for work. Now its just me and the pups.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Picture Tag

I've been tagged by my friend Kelly to:

1) Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer
2) Choose the 4th picture
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 other people

Oh, I so wish that I could've cheated on this, but it's just not in my DNA. The fourth folder on my computer is 2008 pics and this is the 4th, picture in that file. Yep, you guessed it, this is from when we were house training Piper. Craig thought it was funny that she moved while she was going and decided to snap a picture of it before I cleaned it up.

I tag: Laura, Amy C, Michelle W and Michelle T.

Here we go again...

It's official, I am now on birth control pills as the start to our next IVF.

With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's the time is going to go by so fast. I'm actually really excited about it right now and very hopeful that a fresh transfer will give us the family we've waited so long for.

So close, yet still so far away.

I really thought this was going to be our lucky month. My cycle was 32 days long and I was about 18 days past ovulation. I was so bloated my jeans wouldn't zip and for the last two days I was having to go to the bathroom quite frequently. I took a home pregnancy test Monday morning and it came back negative. I was shocked, I was so sure this was it. Craig suggested I call the doctor, so I did and they wanted me to have a blood test done, which came back negative as well. Then the old hag showed her ugly face. I really hate it when mother nature plays tricks on me, and this one was especially cruel.

I do have good news though. We are all set for our next IVF in January. As of right now our egg retrieval is scheduled for January 24th. I start birth control pills on Sunday this week and will probably start my meds the week of Jan 5th. Slow and steady this time. We'll probably get fewer eggs, but they should be better quality and hopefully I won't hyper stimulate and end up in the hospital this time. Which means we'll be able to do the live transfer, not only a frozen one!! This is very exciting.... we could have a 2009 baby/babies!

Not Finally or For the First Time Proud, ALWAYS PROUD

One of my blogger friends, Amy, wrote this on her blog, and I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Although I am not happy with the outcome of this election I can say with all my heart I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. I am not "finally" proud, or "since the win" proud, or "for the first time in my adult life" proud...I am always proud to be an American. I have a real problem with people who only support their country and show patriotism when their favorite candidate has been elected.....I have seen ALOT of this and it's just sad. With that said, watching history in the making is pretty amazing. God Bless America!

I whole heartily agree with Amy. It is so frustrating to hear people say they have never been proud to be an America. When I was in grade school they taught us to be proud of our country, my parents reinforced it at home, and I still get goose bumps when I hear the song "God Bless the USA." I have always been proud to be an American and I always will be proud. Our country was laughed at in its beginning and now it is the greatest country in the world. How could you not be proud?

Whoopi Goldberg was on the Rachel Ray show today. She said she felt like she was an American but always walking around with a suitcase. Now since a black president was elected she finally feels like she can put the suitcase down, because now she finally belongs here. Her people are finally Americans. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?

How many other countries could a dyslexic woman born in Manhattan, drop out of high school, become a heroin addict, marry her drug counselor, divorce him, marry and divorce 2 other men, change her name to Whoopi because she farts too much, work as a bank teller, a bricklayer and a mortuary make-up artist AND STILL...

... Become the first woman to host the Academy Awards on her own, the second African American woman to win an Oscar, be one of only 7 African-American actresses to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination, be one of only 10 individuals (one of only 4 of which have been women) to win the quadruple crown of acting: The Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy, have over 4 different action figures modeled after her, be part owner of a country store/kitchen, own her own production company and become a millionaire???? The people of this country made her who she is today, and it wasn't only the blacks who did it, it was all Americans.

Happy Halloween.

Happy Halloween to all the ghost, goblins and gouls out there.

Be safe and have a great Halloween!

VOTE!

I know that many people are pretty set in who they are going to vote for. I'm not here to change your mind. The reason for this blog is to encourage everyone to go out and vote.

I have heard many people say they do not want to vote for the "lesser of two evils." While I do agree that neither candidate suits my views completely, there is one who is closer to them than the other. That person is John McCain.

If you are undecided, choose the main thing you want to see for the future of our country and pick the candidate who suits that the best. If it doesn't work out for you, then choose the thing that you want to see the country head towards the least and don't vote for the candidate who will bring that about.

Whatever you do, just make sure you vote. We have fought too hard in this country to make every voice heard. Don't let all the blood shed and suffering of our ancestors count for nothing.

VOTE!

New Puppy Pics

It's hard to believe that we've had Piper in our family for 9 weeks now. In that short amount of time she has grown from a tiny little 5 pound baby to a 20 pound terror. She thinks the can do everything and anything she wants.

She has been going to puppy class, which is really just helping me to organize what order to teach her things in and to make sure I don't overwhelm her with teaching her everything at once.

It's even harder for me to believe that my baby boy, Shadow, turned 8 years old. Here are some more recent pictures of our doggies. Enjoy!

I have no idea what happened here, but this picture just cracks me up. It looks like he's laughing.
Here is a better picture of Shadow, at 8 years old. See the gray around his nose?

These pictures are flipping on me when I upload them to blogger. But here you can see that Piper is now tall enough to stand over Shadow when they are playing.

Ha, ha, ha. This one looks like Shadow is about to attack Piper and that she is running for her life. Really, they are just playing and she turned right around and jumped on his head.

Here is Piper puppy at 12 weeks playing with a stick she found in the back yard.

And here is our little miss at 15 weeks old. She just learned how to jump on the furniture. Something we did not teach her and that she is NOT allowed to do. Doesn't bother her one bit that she gets in trouble everytime she gets up there. She thinks it's fun to tease Shadow from up on the furniture and it's really fun to leap from the furniture onto Shadow.

Here is Piper chewing on one of Shadow's big bones. They are really heavy, but she carries them around the house and chews on them as if they were just her size.

Paint, Paint, Paint.

We have painted every wall in the main part of the house and the bathroom. Bye, bye white walls!! I thought we were pretty much done. Then Craig reminded me we hadn't done the office or spare room yet. I didn't realize he was planning on those being done now, too. I can't say that I blame him, I kind of want to get it all done as well.

So, I picked a color for the spare room. A very light yellow. We've also decided to paint the furniture in there white. It will look very pretty with our crib when we are blessed enough to need it, too. I'm very excited to get this done. The room will look so fresh and new.

I'll put up some pictures when he have it done.