That my body is finally cooperating?
I have been taking the birth control since the beginning of December in the hope that it would make the cyst on my right ovary disappear. The plan was to stop the pills on January 3rd and start my period a few days later, return for an ultrasound, and hope the cyst was gone. Well, today is December 31st and I've already had the beginnings of my period. It started on Tuesday afternoon, so I called the nurse yesterday to see what she wanted me to do. If it was starting for real, I didn't want to miss out on my window to get things moving. She said I could come in today for an ultrasound to see if it was gone and she wouldn't charge me (wahoo!). She also said that the spotting could be the cyst resolving or my body trying to kick back in and try to get normal again. Well, the cyst was gone! Yay! So, the plan now is to take a pill tonight and tomorrow and hopefully my period will start on Sunday or Monday. That way I'll be able to go in Tuesday or Wednesday for my real baseline ultrasound and estrogen level and get this party started!
To celebrate New Year's Eve tonight, I'll be going over to Aunt Charlotte's for some early partying since I have to work tomorrow. Boo. Thomas has to work tonight, so it will be the second year in a row I don't get to kiss my bay-bay at midnight! Double boo. Mama and Daddy are in Las Vegas, so they'll be celebrating a few hours behind us. I've already told her that I won't be responding to any phone calls or texts, so if there's an emergency, call the house phone!
We've had a pretty quiet holiday season this year because Thomas and I had to work on Christmas Day. We celebrated with Mama's side of the family the weekend before Christmas at her house. We had several different kinds of soup and sandwiches and we had a gift fight-over. I ended up with a pair of gloves and a nice black scarf. Thomas got a three-tiered snowman with popcorn and candy in it. As usual, he was trying to pawn it off on someone else! Chun and Patrick came to see us on Christmas Eve and we enjoyed having a nice meal and visiting with them. We got some very nice and generous presents this year to help us with our baby project. We are very blessed to have such a wonderful family!
I'm hopeful that 2010 will be successful for us. I know I'm very lucky to have such a great and supportive husband and family to help us through these difficult times. I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year and that it brings all you are hoping for!
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
One of my favorite things about this time of year...
...is reading all of the year-in-review lists!
I don't know why I like them so much, but I do. And since it's the end of the decade, the lists are even better! The Macon Telegraph had a lot of great ones this past Sunday.
Here's one that's too long to include here, but I urge you to take a look. It's called The Decade In Entertainment: 50 Things That Changed Our Lives
Here's another: The Decade In Entertainment: Wild, Wacky, and Tacky
This one is on a sad note, with all of the famous people people that have passed away in 2009. Oddly, one of my favorite parts of watching the Oscars is the "In Memoriam" segment. Depressing and morbid, yes. But, still interesting.
This is a review of images from the decade on CBSnews.com.
Those are a few of my faves. I hope you enjoy them!
I don't know why I like them so much, but I do. And since it's the end of the decade, the lists are even better! The Macon Telegraph had a lot of great ones this past Sunday.
Here's one that's too long to include here, but I urge you to take a look. It's called The Decade In Entertainment: 50 Things That Changed Our Lives
Here's another: The Decade In Entertainment: Wild, Wacky, and Tacky
This one is on a sad note, with all of the famous people people that have passed away in 2009. Oddly, one of my favorite parts of watching the Oscars is the "In Memoriam" segment. Depressing and morbid, yes. But, still interesting.
This is a review of images from the decade on CBSnews.com.
Those are a few of my faves. I hope you enjoy them!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Birth Control
Just so you know, this birth control they put me on makes me feel very ick. But, hopefully it's only for a month and I don't want to delay things any further by switching to something else. So I guess I'll just have to suffer through it for a few more weeks. Boo Loestrin 24. Boo.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Update
I finally started my cycle on Saturday, making this last one 44 days long. I was hoping I was actually pregnant because it lasted so long and the way I felt sometimes made me think I might be. Because I started on Saturday, I had to show up at the office this morning (day 3 of my cycle) at 8 for my baseline ultrasound and estradiol (blood work) level. They do ultrasounds for all their patients undergoing this treatment starting at 8 every morning. The doctor looks over them and they call you later in the day to let you know what dosage of medication to use. I was prepared to start giving myself injections tonight to get this thing started.
They were doing the ultrasound to make sure there were no cysts on my ovaries. The left one looked good, but the right one had a cyst on it. Because of its presence, I can't start the medications tonight. :-( If I were to start them, the hormones in the drugs could make it rupture and I could end up in the emergency room with excruciating pain and have to have surgery down the road for adhesions that it caused. Boo. So, I had two options. 1: Wait for the cyst to resolve on its own, which could take 6-8 weeks and would probably cause me to have another 40+ day cycle. 2: Start birth control pills that would regulate the hormones in my body and cause it to resolve quicker. This is the option they recommend. So, I'll start birth control pills tonight (odd to be doing that when you're trying to get pregnant!) and should start my next cycle soon after New Year's. I was hoping to have some good news by Christmas, but oh well. The nurse also said that I could have the cyst issue every other cycle. I really hope that isn't the case! I know I have to be patient and it will work out, but it's really difficult to feel optimistic when we keep having set-backs.
That's all for now. Just thought I'd let you all know the latest.
They were doing the ultrasound to make sure there were no cysts on my ovaries. The left one looked good, but the right one had a cyst on it. Because of its presence, I can't start the medications tonight. :-( If I were to start them, the hormones in the drugs could make it rupture and I could end up in the emergency room with excruciating pain and have to have surgery down the road for adhesions that it caused. Boo. So, I had two options. 1: Wait for the cyst to resolve on its own, which could take 6-8 weeks and would probably cause me to have another 40+ day cycle. 2: Start birth control pills that would regulate the hormones in my body and cause it to resolve quicker. This is the option they recommend. So, I'll start birth control pills tonight (odd to be doing that when you're trying to get pregnant!) and should start my next cycle soon after New Year's. I was hoping to have some good news by Christmas, but oh well. The nurse also said that I could have the cyst issue every other cycle. I really hope that isn't the case! I know I have to be patient and it will work out, but it's really difficult to feel optimistic when we keep having set-backs.
That's all for now. Just thought I'd let you all know the latest.
Monday, November 30, 2009
A Thanksgiving Adventure!
For Thanksgiving this year, we went up to Lincolnton to Aunt Brenda and Uncle Rip's lake cabin. They've done a great job on it! My dad, Uncle Tommy, Thomas and I got there on Wednesday night. Mama and Aunt Charlotte had gone over Wednesday morning to attend Uncle Rip's father's funeral. When we got there, Claire, Ben, Matt, and Olivia were there. Matt and Olivia weren't supposed to be here for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year because Olivia's late in her pregnancy, but the circumstances allowed us to celebrate with them. Uncle Rip came up shortly after we got there to fix a leak that had been discovered in the basement. The guys sat around having some beers and talking while the girls played Life. They've updated the game in the past few years and we've decided that we must have been some really smart kids to play it when we were young because it was really hard! We had to keep reading the directions to know what to do next. It was crazy!
The adventure starts as we all started to go to bed. Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Tommy, Thomas and I were going to sleep in the loft. They have 3 beds up there and plenty of room. When we had first arrived, we noticed there were a few wasps in the house and we didn't think much of it because it's a new wood cabin and it had been cold. Once we started getting ready for bed, we started noticing more and more of them, as well as ladybugs. Thomas started killing the wasps with shoes and soon Uncle Rip was up there to check things out. Then he went to get his shop vac to suck up the live ones and the carcasses. They found they were coming from behind a beam close to the ceiling. This is Uncle Rip and Thomas trying to eradicate them at the source:
The sounds coming from the loft soon woke up everyone in the house, including Matt and Olivia in the basement. Olivia sent Matt up to check it out and see if we needed help. Way to delegate, Olivia! The next thing I know, all the men arrived with their own cans of wasp spray!
This is what Mama and I did the entire time:
Meanwhile, Aunt Charlotte documented the event with her camera and Matt went and got his video camera to tape the madness. Here's the last scene (around 2 AM) before deciding to move our mattresses downstairs:
We moved our mattress down to the basement and Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy put there's in front of the fireplace. Sometime later in the night, I woke up to the smoke alarm going off and the smell of smoke. I also hear Uncle Rip saying, "Everything's okay! Don't worry!" It was a crazy night and it made for some great story-telling the next day!
Soon after we ate, Thomas and I headed home because we both had to work on Friday. Boo. We made it through a weekend of work and now we get to embark on decorating for Christmas! We're headed back to Augusta this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with Patrick and Chun. I can't believe tomorrow is the first of December! Christmas and New Year's will be here in just a few weeks! I'll post some pictures of the house decorated when we get them up.
Happy Holidays!!
The adventure starts as we all started to go to bed. Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Tommy, Thomas and I were going to sleep in the loft. They have 3 beds up there and plenty of room. When we had first arrived, we noticed there were a few wasps in the house and we didn't think much of it because it's a new wood cabin and it had been cold. Once we started getting ready for bed, we started noticing more and more of them, as well as ladybugs. Thomas started killing the wasps with shoes and soon Uncle Rip was up there to check things out. Then he went to get his shop vac to suck up the live ones and the carcasses. They found they were coming from behind a beam close to the ceiling. This is Uncle Rip and Thomas trying to eradicate them at the source:
The sounds coming from the loft soon woke up everyone in the house, including Matt and Olivia in the basement. Olivia sent Matt up to check it out and see if we needed help. Way to delegate, Olivia! The next thing I know, all the men arrived with their own cans of wasp spray!
This is what Mama and I did the entire time:
Meanwhile, Aunt Charlotte documented the event with her camera and Matt went and got his video camera to tape the madness. Here's the last scene (around 2 AM) before deciding to move our mattresses downstairs:
We moved our mattress down to the basement and Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy put there's in front of the fireplace. Sometime later in the night, I woke up to the smoke alarm going off and the smell of smoke. I also hear Uncle Rip saying, "Everything's okay! Don't worry!" It was a crazy night and it made for some great story-telling the next day!
Soon after we ate, Thomas and I headed home because we both had to work on Friday. Boo. We made it through a weekend of work and now we get to embark on decorating for Christmas! We're headed back to Augusta this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with Patrick and Chun. I can't believe tomorrow is the first of December! Christmas and New Year's will be here in just a few weeks! I'll post some pictures of the house decorated when we get them up.
Happy Holidays!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Plan: Part 2
We went to see Dr. Butler yesterday morning to discuss the surgery findings and what the next step is. He showed me pictures of what he found during the surgery, including all the normal stuff (uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, etc.) and the endometriosis. Luckily, he said I had Stage 2 endometriosis, with the most severe being Stage 4. He showed me the before and after pictures from where he used the laser to get rid of the endometriosis. He also answered a burning question from my mom and Thomas: what is the cul-de-sac of the uterus? He kept using this term when talking to them immediately after the surgery and they were curious as to what it meant. For your knowledge, it's the space behind the uterus and in front of the rectum. It's a gravity-dependent section that tends to have a endometriosis lesions. Just thought you'd like to know that! Thomas asked the doctor and the medical students in the room if that was actually in the text books as "cul-de-sac," and they said yes. So we definitely learned something yesterday!
Now, the next step is to wait for my period to start. Once it starts, I'll go in to the office on day 3 and get a baseline ultrasound and lab work to see what I look like. I'll start the injectable drugs and go back in every 2-3 days for another ultrasound and lab work to see how I'm responding to the drugs. Depending on how I'm responding, they may increase or decrease the dosage. Once they see that I'm about to ovulate (usually about 7 days after starting the drugs), we'll get ready to do the insemination. Two nights before the insemination, I'll take another injection, this time of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). It stimulates ovulation and the maturation of the eggs. Two mornings later, I go in to the office with Thomas' sample. They wash that down and select the best-looking sperm, then insert them into my uterus, close to my fallopian tubes, with a small catheter. By placing them close to my fallopian tubes, they don't have to make the long journey up there. Once that's complete, I go home and wait for 2 weeks and hopefully a missed period! If it doesn't work the first cycle, we'll try again for a max of 4 total cycles. Then we would move on to in-vitro fertilization. I asked the success rate for this treatment and he said it's 45-50% over the four cycles. However, he thinks I might have a slightly better success rate because my ovaries and fallopian tubes are in such good shape.
The nurse has to call the pharmacy company and they'll call me to get my information and then send me all my supplies, including the drugs. Once they come in, I have to call her back and set up an appointment for me to learn how to give myself the injections. That way, we'll be ready to go when my period starts.
That is all for now! I know it's a lot of info, but that's what's going on right now! I'll update more as I know it...
Now, the next step is to wait for my period to start. Once it starts, I'll go in to the office on day 3 and get a baseline ultrasound and lab work to see what I look like. I'll start the injectable drugs and go back in every 2-3 days for another ultrasound and lab work to see how I'm responding to the drugs. Depending on how I'm responding, they may increase or decrease the dosage. Once they see that I'm about to ovulate (usually about 7 days after starting the drugs), we'll get ready to do the insemination. Two nights before the insemination, I'll take another injection, this time of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). It stimulates ovulation and the maturation of the eggs. Two mornings later, I go in to the office with Thomas' sample. They wash that down and select the best-looking sperm, then insert them into my uterus, close to my fallopian tubes, with a small catheter. By placing them close to my fallopian tubes, they don't have to make the long journey up there. Once that's complete, I go home and wait for 2 weeks and hopefully a missed period! If it doesn't work the first cycle, we'll try again for a max of 4 total cycles. Then we would move on to in-vitro fertilization. I asked the success rate for this treatment and he said it's 45-50% over the four cycles. However, he thinks I might have a slightly better success rate because my ovaries and fallopian tubes are in such good shape.
The nurse has to call the pharmacy company and they'll call me to get my information and then send me all my supplies, including the drugs. Once they come in, I have to call her back and set up an appointment for me to learn how to give myself the injections. That way, we'll be ready to go when my period starts.
That is all for now! I know it's a lot of info, but that's what's going on right now! I'll update more as I know it...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Stay tuned...
I have an appointment to see Dr. Butler in the morning to discuss the surgery results and what's next. I'll post more tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Can You Believe It?
In less than 2 months, 2009 will be over!
Where has this year gone?!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Correction
I had to call the nurse today for a follow-up. They had made an appointment for me a week after the surgery, but the nurse said I could call her if I was feeling okay and wouldn't have to come in. I also wanted to ask her for clarification about what the next step was. My mom's interpretation was that my next cycle would be the last one before starting the injectables, but Thomas said he meant that I would have one more cycle after I go back to see him on November 11th. She said that I would have one cycle after I met back up with him to discuss his findings during the surgery. They'll let us try on our own for one month and if we're unsuccessful, we will go ahead and start with the injectables. She said that the few months after the surgery are the best time to conceive and if we wait longer, we may be just wasting time.
So...
I'm feeling pretty much 100% again and I'm headed back to work tomorrow...boo! Hopefully the next few weeks will go by quickly! I know I shouldn't be wishing my life away, but I'm ready for Thomas and I to embark on the next chapter of our lives. Hopefully that next chapter involves bringing a child into our family.
So...
I'm feeling pretty much 100% again and I'm headed back to work tomorrow...boo! Hopefully the next few weeks will go by quickly! I know I shouldn't be wishing my life away, but I'm ready for Thomas and I to embark on the next chapter of our lives. Hopefully that next chapter involves bringing a child into our family.
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Verdict
I know it's been awhile since I've blogged and I'm going to chalk that up to being busy with work and recovering from my surgery. I had to work the weekend before and the 2 days before the surgery and they were all very busy! In fact, the day before the surgery, I had one floor area by itself (and that's never a good sign!) and I didn't think I was going to survive the day. Luckily, I had a new employee learning the ropes (which can be a God-send or a complete nightmare) and she was awesome. She took half the patients and kept me sane. My other colleagues helped out a lot too. I had to eat lunch around noon because I wasn't supposed to have anything solid after noon and they took over my stuff so I could go eat. I was very glad to see that day end!
On the morning of the surgery, I had to be there at 9 AM. I got changed and they started my IV. Surprisingly, I was able to read my book to help pass the time. I guess since this is the third surgery I've had in a year, it's nothing to stress about! After awhile, the anesthesiologist and Dr. Butler came by and then it was time to wheel me back. After getting up on the table in the OR, the next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery. I was having a little pain and after getting some pain medicine, I was able to go home. I expected to go home and crash, but Mama came and fixed some chicken noodle soup and brownies and I watched TV all afternoon. Kristen and Anna Grace came by to visit after they had carved some pumpkins and they brought me some pumpkin seeds to roast...yummo! Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well that first night. They injected gas into my abdomen to move everything out of the way so they can see better and because it pushes up against the diaphragm, it irritates the phrenic nerve, which comes from the shoulder area. Yes....I'm a medical professional nerd! It felt like I needed to pop my collarbone and I just couldn't get comfortable. I'm used to sleeping on my side or my stomach and I couldn't do either! Sleeping on my back on an incline wasn't pleasant. I just took it easy the next 2 days, catching up on my shows and stuff.
Yesterday, I got to go see my boyfriend, David Cook, in concert at the fair! Thomas stayed up late the day the tickets went on sale back in July to make sure I got good seats. And did we have good seats! We were third row from the stage...awesome! My friend Marcy went with me and we had a great time.
Okay, I know I titled this post "The Verdict," so here it goes...
Dr. Butler found endometriosis, which he expected to find, and he said my fallopian tubes and ovaries were fine. He was able to remove the endometriosis, so that's good news. The best news though: he wants me to have one more cycle, then start the injectable drugs. I was under the impression that we'd try on our own for a few months first, but I'm much happier with this plan! I have an appointment to see him on November 11th and if my body acts appropriately, I should be starting my period before then. If we have good luck, we might be pregnant by Christmas! I'm trying to keep calm about that though.
I'll definitely keep my blog updated with any new developments!!
On the morning of the surgery, I had to be there at 9 AM. I got changed and they started my IV. Surprisingly, I was able to read my book to help pass the time. I guess since this is the third surgery I've had in a year, it's nothing to stress about! After awhile, the anesthesiologist and Dr. Butler came by and then it was time to wheel me back. After getting up on the table in the OR, the next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery. I was having a little pain and after getting some pain medicine, I was able to go home. I expected to go home and crash, but Mama came and fixed some chicken noodle soup and brownies and I watched TV all afternoon. Kristen and Anna Grace came by to visit after they had carved some pumpkins and they brought me some pumpkin seeds to roast...yummo! Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well that first night. They injected gas into my abdomen to move everything out of the way so they can see better and because it pushes up against the diaphragm, it irritates the phrenic nerve, which comes from the shoulder area. Yes....I'm a medical professional nerd! It felt like I needed to pop my collarbone and I just couldn't get comfortable. I'm used to sleeping on my side or my stomach and I couldn't do either! Sleeping on my back on an incline wasn't pleasant. I just took it easy the next 2 days, catching up on my shows and stuff.
Yesterday, I got to go see my boyfriend, David Cook, in concert at the fair! Thomas stayed up late the day the tickets went on sale back in July to make sure I got good seats. And did we have good seats! We were third row from the stage...awesome! My friend Marcy went with me and we had a great time.
Okay, I know I titled this post "The Verdict," so here it goes...
Dr. Butler found endometriosis, which he expected to find, and he said my fallopian tubes and ovaries were fine. He was able to remove the endometriosis, so that's good news. The best news though: he wants me to have one more cycle, then start the injectable drugs. I was under the impression that we'd try on our own for a few months first, but I'm much happier with this plan! I have an appointment to see him on November 11th and if my body acts appropriately, I should be starting my period before then. If we have good luck, we might be pregnant by Christmas! I'm trying to keep calm about that though.
I'll definitely keep my blog updated with any new developments!!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
It's getting closer...
I received two letters in the mail yesterday. One was from the insurance company with a "notice of authorization" for my surgery. And the other one was from Dr. Butler's office saying they'd received the notice and included my pre-op appointment time. I was also able to pre-register with the hospital. I know it sounds crazy to say you're excited about a surgery, but I really am! I'm ready to have it and be done with it so we can move on to the next step. It's an exciting time!
I forgot to mention in my last post about the goodies that I'd bought to decorate the house for Fall. I bought some new place mats for the kitchen table and stuff for the big vase at Walmart. The place mats are Better Homes & Gardens and they were only $2 each! I went into Walmart with the intention of buying three specific things. I bought one of those things and lots more that I didn't intend to buy. Isn't that always the way it is when you go to Walmart? It's the greatest. I usually keep lemons, limes, and oranges in the vase as my everyday decoration, but I needed something for Fall. So here's a picture of my "tablescape" as Sandra Lee would call it:
Last year, I put a pot of mums on a stand next to the front door and promptly killed them. I just don't have a green thumb. (Funny story: I had bought hanging baskets for the back porch and they were goners within about 2 weeks. I've replaced them with wind chimes. My new collectible! Thomas says they're already more cost-effective!) So I found this cute pumpkin at Walmart too:
My mom had an Uppercase Living party at her house last year and I bought this frame that you hang on the wall and you change out the inserts as the seasons change. It's right inside my front door, so if you come to visit and you forget what season it is, BAM! There's your reminder!
I'm so glad Fall is finally here! Now, if it would just cool off a little...
I forgot to mention in my last post about the goodies that I'd bought to decorate the house for Fall. I bought some new place mats for the kitchen table and stuff for the big vase at Walmart. The place mats are Better Homes & Gardens and they were only $2 each! I went into Walmart with the intention of buying three specific things. I bought one of those things and lots more that I didn't intend to buy. Isn't that always the way it is when you go to Walmart? It's the greatest. I usually keep lemons, limes, and oranges in the vase as my everyday decoration, but I needed something for Fall. So here's a picture of my "tablescape" as Sandra Lee would call it:
Last year, I put a pot of mums on a stand next to the front door and promptly killed them. I just don't have a green thumb. (Funny story: I had bought hanging baskets for the back porch and they were goners within about 2 weeks. I've replaced them with wind chimes. My new collectible! Thomas says they're already more cost-effective!) So I found this cute pumpkin at Walmart too:
My mom had an Uppercase Living party at her house last year and I bought this frame that you hang on the wall and you change out the inserts as the seasons change. It's right inside my front door, so if you come to visit and you forget what season it is, BAM! There's your reminder!
I'm so glad Fall is finally here! Now, if it would just cool off a little...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
This one's for Claire!
I've been requested to update my blog, so here it goes!
We went up to Justin's 2 weekends ago and had a great time. We got to meet Kate and she's a great girl. They both seem really happy and are very comfortable with each other to have just been dating a little over a month.
After wrangling with traffic on I-75 in mid-town due to construction, we finally got to Justin's. Shortly after we arrived, Kate came over and we headed to do some walking/surviving on Kennesaw Mountain. They decided that we would go on the paved trail around the mountain instead of straight up the side of the mountain. Well, I knew I was out of shape, but that convinced me whole-heartedly! I had to stop a few times to take a breather and after awhile, Justin must have felt bad for me because he said, "Well I guess we can turn around now." Thank goodness! I forgot to mention that Scarlett was there, but she had a great time!
Once we got back to Justin's apartment, we all got ready and went to dinner at Fogo de Chao. Our new favorite restaurant! In case you haven't heard of it or had the pleasure of going there, it's a Brazilian steak house where you have a coaster in front of you with green on one side and red on the other. When you're ready for meat, you turn the coaster to green and waiters come to your table with spits of different kinds of meat and cut it onto your plate. Once you're full, you turn the coaster to red until you're ready to eat more. There are so many different kinds and they all taste amazing! They have a really great salad bar too, but Thomas didn't even bother with that! After dinner, we went back to Justin's to watch the end of the GA-SC game...it was an intense end!
On Sunday, we had a cook-out involving Mason Burgers (one of Justin's specialities) and all the fixins. He invited several friends over, so it was great to meet some of them. The whole weekend was going great until right before lunch, we were coming back from the dog walk area with Scarlett and the apartment manager came up to Thomas and asked if we were just visiting. He said we were and that we would be leaving in an hour or two. She said that dogs that size weren't even allowed to visit. How ridiculous!! She was probably more well-behaved than the other dogs that actually lived there. She didn't jump or bark or anything! What an outrage!
Thomas and I both worked over this past weekend. It was uneventful and that's the way we like it! I came down with some sort of stomach bug on Wednesday, so I stayed home from work Wednesday and Thursday. I'm feeling better, but still sticking to Powerade and chicken noodle soup.
Patrick and Chun are coming to visit on Saturday, so it will be nice to see them. Mama and Daddy will be coming up to work on Granny's house on Saturday, so we'll get to see them too.
Only a few more weeks to my surgery! I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for Thomas and me. Keep them coming!!
We went up to Justin's 2 weekends ago and had a great time. We got to meet Kate and she's a great girl. They both seem really happy and are very comfortable with each other to have just been dating a little over a month.
After wrangling with traffic on I-75 in mid-town due to construction, we finally got to Justin's. Shortly after we arrived, Kate came over and we headed to do some walking/surviving on Kennesaw Mountain. They decided that we would go on the paved trail around the mountain instead of straight up the side of the mountain. Well, I knew I was out of shape, but that convinced me whole-heartedly! I had to stop a few times to take a breather and after awhile, Justin must have felt bad for me because he said, "Well I guess we can turn around now." Thank goodness! I forgot to mention that Scarlett was there, but she had a great time!
Once we got back to Justin's apartment, we all got ready and went to dinner at Fogo de Chao. Our new favorite restaurant! In case you haven't heard of it or had the pleasure of going there, it's a Brazilian steak house where you have a coaster in front of you with green on one side and red on the other. When you're ready for meat, you turn the coaster to green and waiters come to your table with spits of different kinds of meat and cut it onto your plate. Once you're full, you turn the coaster to red until you're ready to eat more. There are so many different kinds and they all taste amazing! They have a really great salad bar too, but Thomas didn't even bother with that! After dinner, we went back to Justin's to watch the end of the GA-SC game...it was an intense end!
On Sunday, we had a cook-out involving Mason Burgers (one of Justin's specialities) and all the fixins. He invited several friends over, so it was great to meet some of them. The whole weekend was going great until right before lunch, we were coming back from the dog walk area with Scarlett and the apartment manager came up to Thomas and asked if we were just visiting. He said we were and that we would be leaving in an hour or two. She said that dogs that size weren't even allowed to visit. How ridiculous!! She was probably more well-behaved than the other dogs that actually lived there. She didn't jump or bark or anything! What an outrage!
Thomas and I both worked over this past weekend. It was uneventful and that's the way we like it! I came down with some sort of stomach bug on Wednesday, so I stayed home from work Wednesday and Thursday. I'm feeling better, but still sticking to Powerade and chicken noodle soup.
Patrick and Chun are coming to visit on Saturday, so it will be nice to see them. Mama and Daddy will be coming up to work on Granny's house on Saturday, so we'll get to see them too.
Only a few more weeks to my surgery! I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for Thomas and me. Keep them coming!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
On a brighter note...
Okay...I thought that previous post needed to be all by itself. Now, on to what I've been doing since last week.
We had Kristen and Luke over for dinner last Wednesday night. We grilled out steaks and had yummy baked potatoes and tomatoes. And brownies with ice cream for dessert. We enjoyed sitting around just talking and laughing. On Thursday, I just laid around and enjoyed being lazy. I went back to work on Friday for a 3-day stretch. Yuck. I was in charge on Saturday and Sunday and had some pretty easy assignments on those days, so it wasn't so bad. Sunday night after I got off work, Aunt Charlotte and I drove to Augusta and spent the night at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Rip's house (Hey Aunt Brenda!) I always enjoy staying there! Good conversations and good company. :-)
On Monday, Mama, Aunt Charlotte, and I went down to Claire's store to see what she had left to sell. I bought a few necklaces and a purse (you're surprised??). My most exciting purchase was...are you ready for it?...a baby outfit. I haven't bought anything because I didn't want to jinx anything, nor did I want to have something around to remind me I have yet to get pregnant. But Aunt Charlotte brought up a good point (she bought a dress recently and this was her reasoning): we haven't bought anything yet and maybe THAT'S the jinx! That sounds good to me, so I made the decision that I would buy something at Claire's. I knew she had a lot of cute baby stuff and couldn't wait to pick something out. This is what I chose:
Mama also bought a really cute outfit and some pink pants with bunny feet. I think they would go perfectly with a white onesie with a pink monogram (AEM: Amelia Elizabeth Moore). Yes, I have a girl name picked out. Actually, I have triplet girl names picked out: Amelia Elizabeth, Olivia Meredith, and Natalie ??. As for boys, I like Lucas, but I'm not completely in love with it like I am Amelia. Okay...that's enough about baby names. I'm getting ahead of myself!
I got my hair cut again on Tuesday because I just wasn't loving what I had done 2 weeks ago. Jenny is such an awesome hairdresser; I've been going to her for 12 years. She didn't even charge me to re-do my hair.
I went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday for 2 days in Medical Surgical ICU. It was kind of crazy, but manageable. On Thursday, I had 9 ventilators...and there are only 10 rooms in the unit! I enjoyed a nice bottle of Riesling last night to relax after 2 crazy days.
Tomorrow we're headed up to Justin's for the rest of the weekend. He knows of a dog park that we can take Scarlett to and we may even hike some trails around Kennesaw Mountain. We have plans to go to Fogo de Chao tomorrow night. It's a Brazilian Steakhouse and apparently an experience to be had. Can't wait! Then on Sunday, Justin is making his Mason Burgers that have become world-famous. I can't believe I haven't had them. There's something wrong with that! I'm so glad we get to spend some time with him. I haven't seen him in such a long time! And we get to meet the girl he's been dating. Yay! My peeps have significant other peeps (Kristen and Justin, that is)!
Well, I think it's time to go wake Thomas up and see what we're doing for dinner. I'll post more after this weekend...Have a great one!
We had Kristen and Luke over for dinner last Wednesday night. We grilled out steaks and had yummy baked potatoes and tomatoes. And brownies with ice cream for dessert. We enjoyed sitting around just talking and laughing. On Thursday, I just laid around and enjoyed being lazy. I went back to work on Friday for a 3-day stretch. Yuck. I was in charge on Saturday and Sunday and had some pretty easy assignments on those days, so it wasn't so bad. Sunday night after I got off work, Aunt Charlotte and I drove to Augusta and spent the night at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Rip's house (Hey Aunt Brenda!) I always enjoy staying there! Good conversations and good company. :-)
On Monday, Mama, Aunt Charlotte, and I went down to Claire's store to see what she had left to sell. I bought a few necklaces and a purse (you're surprised??). My most exciting purchase was...are you ready for it?...a baby outfit. I haven't bought anything because I didn't want to jinx anything, nor did I want to have something around to remind me I have yet to get pregnant. But Aunt Charlotte brought up a good point (she bought a dress recently and this was her reasoning): we haven't bought anything yet and maybe THAT'S the jinx! That sounds good to me, so I made the decision that I would buy something at Claire's. I knew she had a lot of cute baby stuff and couldn't wait to pick something out. This is what I chose:
Mama also bought a really cute outfit and some pink pants with bunny feet. I think they would go perfectly with a white onesie with a pink monogram (AEM: Amelia Elizabeth Moore). Yes, I have a girl name picked out. Actually, I have triplet girl names picked out: Amelia Elizabeth, Olivia Meredith, and Natalie ??. As for boys, I like Lucas, but I'm not completely in love with it like I am Amelia. Okay...that's enough about baby names. I'm getting ahead of myself!
I got my hair cut again on Tuesday because I just wasn't loving what I had done 2 weeks ago. Jenny is such an awesome hairdresser; I've been going to her for 12 years. She didn't even charge me to re-do my hair.
I went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday for 2 days in Medical Surgical ICU. It was kind of crazy, but manageable. On Thursday, I had 9 ventilators...and there are only 10 rooms in the unit! I enjoyed a nice bottle of Riesling last night to relax after 2 crazy days.
Tomorrow we're headed up to Justin's for the rest of the weekend. He knows of a dog park that we can take Scarlett to and we may even hike some trails around Kennesaw Mountain. We have plans to go to Fogo de Chao tomorrow night. It's a Brazilian Steakhouse and apparently an experience to be had. Can't wait! Then on Sunday, Justin is making his Mason Burgers that have become world-famous. I can't believe I haven't had them. There's something wrong with that! I'm so glad we get to spend some time with him. I haven't seen him in such a long time! And we get to meet the girl he's been dating. Yay! My peeps have significant other peeps (Kristen and Justin, that is)!
Well, I think it's time to go wake Thomas up and see what we're doing for dinner. I'll post more after this weekend...Have a great one!
September 11th
September 11, 2009. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since that horrible day. I remember waking up and getting ready for class (I was a sophomore at Mercer) and I always put my make-up on sitting on the couch watching T.V. The first thing I saw was the Pentagon and I didn't realize what was happening. I didn't even know about the World Trade Center yet. I called my dad and asked him what was going on, and I remember him saying: "We're under a terrorist attack." That was hard to grasp because I didn't think anything like that would ever happen. I knew the United States had enemies, but never did I think they were capable of doing anything like they did. As I was driving to school and listening to the radio, the towers collapsed. When I got to my Anthropology class, a lot of people didn't even know what had happened because they'd been in class all morning....our little cocoon of Mercer...safe and sound. There were still a lot of rumors going around...like a plane headed to Chicago that would be shot down before it could crash. By the time class was over and I headed to my Chemistry lab, classes had been canceled for the day. When I got home, I decided I didn't want to be alone, so I called Aunt Charlotte. She was still working at the Base, but had stayed home that day for some reason. I packed J.R. up and went to her house and we watched the news all afternoon and evening. Uncle Tommy was at work at the Base and couldn't leave because they were under lockdown. When I got home that night, I was still kind of scared to be by myself.
The next day, classes resumed and Mercer went back to some kind of normal. I remember buying copies of The Macon Telegraph and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I still have those. Over the next several days as I watched the coverage, I kept hoping they were going to pull survivors from the wreckage. I remembered how they pulled people from the Oklahoma City Bombing site for a few days afterwards and I was hopeful they could do the same this time. But it didn't happen.
When we went to New York City in December 2004, we visited Ground Zero and it was quite strange. I had actually been on top of the World Trade Center on a previous trip and here I stood where it used to stand. In fact, when I went to NYC with the high school band in November 2000, we drove past there. And less than a year later, it was gone.
Eight years later and I'm 27 now. We're still at war and trying to catch the people who are responsible. I'm confident it will happen one day, but I know it's going to be a long road. I'm so grateful that there are people willing to go to work every day trying to find these people. I don't think I could do it and I'm so glad my loved ones are safe and sound here. I hope everyone remembers the people who've already given their lives and those who put their life on the line every day. I hope they remember not just today, but every other day.
The next day, classes resumed and Mercer went back to some kind of normal. I remember buying copies of The Macon Telegraph and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I still have those. Over the next several days as I watched the coverage, I kept hoping they were going to pull survivors from the wreckage. I remembered how they pulled people from the Oklahoma City Bombing site for a few days afterwards and I was hopeful they could do the same this time. But it didn't happen.
When we went to New York City in December 2004, we visited Ground Zero and it was quite strange. I had actually been on top of the World Trade Center on a previous trip and here I stood where it used to stand. In fact, when I went to NYC with the high school band in November 2000, we drove past there. And less than a year later, it was gone.
Eight years later and I'm 27 now. We're still at war and trying to catch the people who are responsible. I'm confident it will happen one day, but I know it's going to be a long road. I'm so grateful that there are people willing to go to work every day trying to find these people. I don't think I could do it and I'm so glad my loved ones are safe and sound here. I hope everyone remembers the people who've already given their lives and those who put their life on the line every day. I hope they remember not just today, but every other day.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
It's September!
September 2nd, to be exact. I can't believe we're already in the ninth month of the year. Only 3 more months until 2010! I remember when I was in elementary school, we all thought we'd be riding around in flying cars and people would be living on Mars by the year 2000. I guess we have a few more years to go!
Today has been an absolutely beautiful day. It feels amazing outside! Kristen and I met Mama and Aunt Charlotte for lunch in Macon along with some other cousins. Their cousin, Iris, is visiting from Texas, so they wanted to get together for lunch. We ate at Molly's Cafe and it was pretty good. The only bad thing was this massive air conditioner they had blowing on our table. I was even cold and I NEVER get cold! Kristen and I ran some errands after lunch. We had to go to Walmart to get groceries for our double date tonight at our house! She and Luke have been seeing each other for about a month and I had said when they first started dating that I wanted to have them over for dinner at some point. We're having Thomas' world famous steaks. Yummo! The rest of the family is jealous that I'm getting to have him over first, but he already knows me, so it's no big deal...at least to me!
I have one more day off this week and I plan on spending it on the couch. Or somewhere similar to it. I've got to get myself psyched up for 3 days of work this weekend. Boo. I might be going to Augusta on Sunday when I get off work. Mama and Aunt Brenda (Hey Aunt Brenda!) are giving a post-wedding shower for Ryan and Jennifer on Monday afternoon. We'll see if I end up going.
Well, it's time to get started on dinner! Later alligators.... ;-)
Today has been an absolutely beautiful day. It feels amazing outside! Kristen and I met Mama and Aunt Charlotte for lunch in Macon along with some other cousins. Their cousin, Iris, is visiting from Texas, so they wanted to get together for lunch. We ate at Molly's Cafe and it was pretty good. The only bad thing was this massive air conditioner they had blowing on our table. I was even cold and I NEVER get cold! Kristen and I ran some errands after lunch. We had to go to Walmart to get groceries for our double date tonight at our house! She and Luke have been seeing each other for about a month and I had said when they first started dating that I wanted to have them over for dinner at some point. We're having Thomas' world famous steaks. Yummo! The rest of the family is jealous that I'm getting to have him over first, but he already knows me, so it's no big deal...at least to me!
I have one more day off this week and I plan on spending it on the couch. Or somewhere similar to it. I've got to get myself psyched up for 3 days of work this weekend. Boo. I might be going to Augusta on Sunday when I get off work. Mama and Aunt Brenda (Hey Aunt Brenda!) are giving a post-wedding shower for Ryan and Jennifer on Monday afternoon. We'll see if I end up going.
Well, it's time to get started on dinner! Later alligators.... ;-)
Monday, August 31, 2009
It's Monday!
Yes, it's Monday and I worked today, but I have 3 days off! Yay! I did take some transport call tomorrow on night shift, but Thomas is working any way, so I figured I'd make some extra money if I get called in. Last week was a busy week. I worked Wednesday-Friday in the PICU and it was busy every day! Each member of the respiratory department got rewarded for some recent good work with 2 $25 gift cards to Bonefish. Thomas and I had a date night Friday after I got off work and it was very nice.
On Saturday morning, Thomas and I took Scarlett to the Bark for Life at Central City Park. Mama brought Harley, and Karen and Kristen brought Duke and Chip. It was a mile walk to benefit the American Cancer Society. Sort of like the Relay for Life, but much shorter and for dogs. We love showing off our girl and of course, as soon as we got out of the car, people started talking about her. She was so pretty and so well-behaved! And, as no surprise, she won the contest for biggest dog! We sat down at a picnic table with some other people that had a teacup chihuahua and the lady said she thought we had it locked up as the smallest and biggest dogs. Turns out, we did! Her dog, Lena, weighed 2.3 pounds! Definitely a funny picture compared to Scarlett, who weighs 130! Kristen took some pictures of them, so I'll post them when I get them.
When we got home, we were all exhausted, but only Scarlett got to take a nap. We had to clean up the house because Peter, Anja, and Britt (our friends from Belgium visiting Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy) wanted to come by and see our house. They were last here before we got married, so they hadn't seen our house yet. After they came, we went to Scott and Richelle's house for a farewell cook-out and had a good time. They fried some catfish filets and hushpuppies. It was very yummo!
I had planned to just lay on the couch all day Sunday, but the in-laws paid us a visit, so we enjoyed spending some time with them. Chun brought me a Coach bag...I'm so lucky to have a mother-in-law that knows how much I love bags! They went outlet mall shopping in Atlanta on Saturday, so they brought us some goodies. Thomas got a gas-powered hedge trimmer. I'm glad he gets the grown-up presents so I can get the fun ones! Patrick also fixed my XM Radio....I've missed it so! We had a late lunch and they headed home.
I worked today and I was on the floor, but it wasn't that bad. I left around 4:00 on a transport to Houston Medical and got back just in time to go home! I love when they work out that way. It was my first transport since my surgery and I wasn't in too much pain. Speaking of which, I saw Dr. Evans last Monday and he said my wound looks good, but since it's not quite closed yet, he wants to see me again in 6 weeks. Hopefully that will be my last visit! I can't believe how far it's come!
I can already tell that the days are getting shorter. It used to stay pretty bright out after I got home until around 8:30. Now I'm barely needing to wear my sunglasses on the way home. I'm glad it's getting close to fall for more than one reason: 1- Cooler weather!! 2- I love when the leaves change...except for when they fall off the trees and need to be raked. And that's inevitable. 3- I love pumpkins and mums and acorn squash and cinnamon-y smells in the house! 4- My surgery is in October! I find it odd to be excited about a surgery, but I'm excited (and hopeful) about what it might bring. It's a month and a half away!
On that note, it's time to catch up on some "Mad Men" from this week. Night all!
On Saturday morning, Thomas and I took Scarlett to the Bark for Life at Central City Park. Mama brought Harley, and Karen and Kristen brought Duke and Chip. It was a mile walk to benefit the American Cancer Society. Sort of like the Relay for Life, but much shorter and for dogs. We love showing off our girl and of course, as soon as we got out of the car, people started talking about her. She was so pretty and so well-behaved! And, as no surprise, she won the contest for biggest dog! We sat down at a picnic table with some other people that had a teacup chihuahua and the lady said she thought we had it locked up as the smallest and biggest dogs. Turns out, we did! Her dog, Lena, weighed 2.3 pounds! Definitely a funny picture compared to Scarlett, who weighs 130! Kristen took some pictures of them, so I'll post them when I get them.
When we got home, we were all exhausted, but only Scarlett got to take a nap. We had to clean up the house because Peter, Anja, and Britt (our friends from Belgium visiting Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy) wanted to come by and see our house. They were last here before we got married, so they hadn't seen our house yet. After they came, we went to Scott and Richelle's house for a farewell cook-out and had a good time. They fried some catfish filets and hushpuppies. It was very yummo!
I had planned to just lay on the couch all day Sunday, but the in-laws paid us a visit, so we enjoyed spending some time with them. Chun brought me a Coach bag...I'm so lucky to have a mother-in-law that knows how much I love bags! They went outlet mall shopping in Atlanta on Saturday, so they brought us some goodies. Thomas got a gas-powered hedge trimmer. I'm glad he gets the grown-up presents so I can get the fun ones! Patrick also fixed my XM Radio....I've missed it so! We had a late lunch and they headed home.
I worked today and I was on the floor, but it wasn't that bad. I left around 4:00 on a transport to Houston Medical and got back just in time to go home! I love when they work out that way. It was my first transport since my surgery and I wasn't in too much pain. Speaking of which, I saw Dr. Evans last Monday and he said my wound looks good, but since it's not quite closed yet, he wants to see me again in 6 weeks. Hopefully that will be my last visit! I can't believe how far it's come!
I can already tell that the days are getting shorter. It used to stay pretty bright out after I got home until around 8:30. Now I'm barely needing to wear my sunglasses on the way home. I'm glad it's getting close to fall for more than one reason: 1- Cooler weather!! 2- I love when the leaves change...except for when they fall off the trees and need to be raked. And that's inevitable. 3- I love pumpkins and mums and acorn squash and cinnamon-y smells in the house! 4- My surgery is in October! I find it odd to be excited about a surgery, but I'm excited (and hopeful) about what it might bring. It's a month and a half away!
On that note, it's time to catch up on some "Mad Men" from this week. Night all!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Latest
Not a whole lot of exciting things to report, but I figured I'd post since I hadn't in several days.
We went to Augusta on Friday and enjoyed getting away for a few days. We went to dinner with Alan and Mindy at The Chop House on Friday night and it was great! We all had a great meal and some great wine. Not to mention the company was great too! We hadn't hung out with them in a long time. It was great to catch up!
We went to see Grandmama on Saturday and enjoyed visiting with her. She wanted to know all about the baby happenings, so we brought her up-to-date. Afterwards, we ran a few errands in the pouring rain! We had dinner at Thomas' parents house and watched some TV and Thomas went to bed around 9, leaving me up to watch TV by myself! Oh well...we both caught up on some sleep, so that was nice. We also updated Chun on the infertility stuff and she told us she wanted me to have 4 babies: 1 for her, 1 for my mom, and 2 for us! Good grief! I'll take whatever the good Lord gives us and I know He won't give us more than we can handle!
Some friends from Belgium are here visiting for 2 weeks and I got to spend some time with them last night at Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy's house. It was nice catching up! It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since I visited them in Belgium! They were here 3 years ago before we got married and well before we bought our house, so I'm looking forward to them visiting our house in a few days.
Well, it's off to bed soon for 2 days of work. This week's work schedule isn't very nice: I worked Monday, on call yesterday, off today, work tomorrow and Friday, off Saturday, and on call Sunday. I have next Monday and Tuesday off, but stuff to do both days. Including a 4 hour inservice at work on Monday about a new ventilator we're getting. Yuck.
I found out tonight that my Aunt Brenda has been reading my blog, so....Hey Aunt Brenda!!
Have a good rest of the week!
We went to Augusta on Friday and enjoyed getting away for a few days. We went to dinner with Alan and Mindy at The Chop House on Friday night and it was great! We all had a great meal and some great wine. Not to mention the company was great too! We hadn't hung out with them in a long time. It was great to catch up!
We went to see Grandmama on Saturday and enjoyed visiting with her. She wanted to know all about the baby happenings, so we brought her up-to-date. Afterwards, we ran a few errands in the pouring rain! We had dinner at Thomas' parents house and watched some TV and Thomas went to bed around 9, leaving me up to watch TV by myself! Oh well...we both caught up on some sleep, so that was nice. We also updated Chun on the infertility stuff and she told us she wanted me to have 4 babies: 1 for her, 1 for my mom, and 2 for us! Good grief! I'll take whatever the good Lord gives us and I know He won't give us more than we can handle!
Some friends from Belgium are here visiting for 2 weeks and I got to spend some time with them last night at Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Tommy's house. It was nice catching up! It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since I visited them in Belgium! They were here 3 years ago before we got married and well before we bought our house, so I'm looking forward to them visiting our house in a few days.
Well, it's off to bed soon for 2 days of work. This week's work schedule isn't very nice: I worked Monday, on call yesterday, off today, work tomorrow and Friday, off Saturday, and on call Sunday. I have next Monday and Tuesday off, but stuff to do both days. Including a 4 hour inservice at work on Monday about a new ventilator we're getting. Yuck.
I found out tonight that my Aunt Brenda has been reading my blog, so....Hey Aunt Brenda!!
Have a good rest of the week!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Busy at work!
I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but it's been crazy at work and when I get home, all I want to do is go to bed!
I was in PICU over the weekend and on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being crazy busy, it was a 6 or 7. Sunday was definitely an 8 though! I've been in the intensive care nusery the past 2 days and both days have been about 15! Deliveries left and right, unstable babies, it never seemed to end! I don't think my feet will ever recover!
I had to encounter my favorite type of patients/family members. One was a mom giving birth who had been drinking this morning and the other was a dad who didn't want to hold his child and couldn't care less that the child had been born. Do these people know how lucky they are to have brought a child into the world? Apparently not. It really tests my patience and belief that all things happen for a reason. Enough about that.
We're headed to Augusta tomorrow to see Thomas' parents and hang out with his friends. We haven't been over there since The Masters in April, so it'll be nice to get away if only for a few days. Hopefully we'll have a nice weekend away!
Here are some of my recently discovered favorite things:
Aloe-infused socks
Banana Cream Pie Blizzard
Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill
Good times!
I was in PICU over the weekend and on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being crazy busy, it was a 6 or 7. Sunday was definitely an 8 though! I've been in the intensive care nusery the past 2 days and both days have been about 15! Deliveries left and right, unstable babies, it never seemed to end! I don't think my feet will ever recover!
I had to encounter my favorite type of patients/family members. One was a mom giving birth who had been drinking this morning and the other was a dad who didn't want to hold his child and couldn't care less that the child had been born. Do these people know how lucky they are to have brought a child into the world? Apparently not. It really tests my patience and belief that all things happen for a reason. Enough about that.
We're headed to Augusta tomorrow to see Thomas' parents and hang out with his friends. We haven't been over there since The Masters in April, so it'll be nice to get away if only for a few days. Hopefully we'll have a nice weekend away!
Aloe-infused socks
Banana Cream Pie Blizzard
Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill
Good times!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The Plan
We went to see Dr. Butler this morning to discuss our lab results and what our next step would be. As soon as we sat down, he told us that everything had come back completely normal. Including my glucose/insulin tests. Since we've ruled out any endocrine issues with me and Thomas is normal, that means surgery. He will perform a laparoscopy on October 15th (the earliest available!) which will involve putting me under general anesthesia (again) and making a small incision in my belly button. He'll then insert a scope into my abdominal cavity to look at my reproductive organs to look for any abnormalities. He'll also inject dye to look at my fallopian tubes like we had planned to do at a different time, so 2 birds, 1 stone. If he finds anything abnormal, he'll fix it if he can (meaning endometriosis, blocked tube, etc.). If there's other stuff involved, like bowel, then I'll have to go see someone else about that. Oh wait...I already have a general surgeon! He said 90% of what he may find he can fix. Hopefully there won't be anything to find! After the surgery, I'll go home the same day and take it easy for a few days. Definitely not the month off work like my past two surgeries. We'll then meet back with him a few days later and discuss what he found. If everything's okay, we'll start the injectable drugs, which Dr. Butler refers to as "the big guns."
I give these to myself for several days (they come in a pen like an Epi-pen) and we monitor when I will ovulate. Once I'm ready to ovulate, I will go to the doctor's office and take a specimen from Thomas with me. They'll take his specimen, wash it, select the best-looking sperm, and then they'll insert it close to my fallopian tubes. I know that's kind of graphic, but that's the gist. Depending on what they find during the surgery, I'll do between 3-6 cycles of the injectable drugs before we move on to in-vitro fertilization. We didn't start with that because Thomas is normal. For people who mainly have a problem ovulating, they usually get pregnant within 1-3 cycles of using the drugs. For those that have another issue, such as endometriosis, it may take 3-5 cycles.
I asked about the rates of miscarriage with these drugs and he said the rates are the same as any other infertility treatment. It's the underlying cause of the infertility that causes the miscarriages. We also talked about the possibility of multiple births because that's a major risk with doing these drugs. He said 80-85% are single births. ~15% are twins, and less than 5% are triplets. He said in his career of 7000 cycles, he's only had 2 instances of quadruplets.
I really like this doctor because he's very knowledgeable and he's got his crap together. He goes over my stuff before we get there, so he knows the plan before talking to us. He also sounds very optimistic about our outcome, so that makes me feel better. Thomas likes him too and he doesn't like any doctors! I wish the surgery wasn't all the way in October, but at least we don't have to worry about anything until then...we can just relax for the next 2 months. He said his feelings wouldn't be hurt if we got pregnant between now and then, but he would take credit for it because he scared us into it by scheduling the surgery. Ha!
So that's all for now. If I remember anything I forgot, I'll post it later. Thomas is still asleep since he didn't go to bed until around 2 this afternoon. He stayed up this morning for the appointment and we ran some errands after that. Ah...the joys of night shift! I miss the atmosphere of it myself, but not enough to give up sleeping like a normal person!
More later...
I give these to myself for several days (they come in a pen like an Epi-pen) and we monitor when I will ovulate. Once I'm ready to ovulate, I will go to the doctor's office and take a specimen from Thomas with me. They'll take his specimen, wash it, select the best-looking sperm, and then they'll insert it close to my fallopian tubes. I know that's kind of graphic, but that's the gist. Depending on what they find during the surgery, I'll do between 3-6 cycles of the injectable drugs before we move on to in-vitro fertilization. We didn't start with that because Thomas is normal. For people who mainly have a problem ovulating, they usually get pregnant within 1-3 cycles of using the drugs. For those that have another issue, such as endometriosis, it may take 3-5 cycles.
I asked about the rates of miscarriage with these drugs and he said the rates are the same as any other infertility treatment. It's the underlying cause of the infertility that causes the miscarriages. We also talked about the possibility of multiple births because that's a major risk with doing these drugs. He said 80-85% are single births. ~15% are twins, and less than 5% are triplets. He said in his career of 7000 cycles, he's only had 2 instances of quadruplets.
I really like this doctor because he's very knowledgeable and he's got his crap together. He goes over my stuff before we get there, so he knows the plan before talking to us. He also sounds very optimistic about our outcome, so that makes me feel better. Thomas likes him too and he doesn't like any doctors! I wish the surgery wasn't all the way in October, but at least we don't have to worry about anything until then...we can just relax for the next 2 months. He said his feelings wouldn't be hurt if we got pregnant between now and then, but he would take credit for it because he scared us into it by scheduling the surgery. Ha!
So that's all for now. If I remember anything I forgot, I'll post it later. Thomas is still asleep since he didn't go to bed until around 2 this afternoon. He stayed up this morning for the appointment and we ran some errands after that. Ah...the joys of night shift! I miss the atmosphere of it myself, but not enough to give up sleeping like a normal person!
More later...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Good Day
Today has been a good day...even though I had to work! I was worried it would be a rough day since I didn't get very much sleep last night (thanks to my 3 PM-5 PM nap!), but it actually went well. I was in the EC, but wasn't too horribly busy. It kinda got that way after lunch, but it wasn't anything unmanageable. We also had a surprise lunch for our department educator who just graduated from nursing school and is leaving to go work in CVICU. Traitor!! Just kidding. We had lots of great food and I made my world-famous rice krispie treats. Yummo!
I also got some exciting news about some people I know, but I'll leave the details to them. That's all.
I talked to Justin when I got home for awhile and that's always a good time! I love that he is loving where he works and where he's living. It's always nice to get a nice big dose of Justin humor!
Karen and Kristen came by this evening to introduce their new chocolate lab puppies to Scarlett. They were all really well-behaved...even if Scarlett is like...um...8 times their size?? Maybe not that big, but you get the picture! I think they'll be great friends once they get a little bigger. Here are some cute pictures I took while they were here...and while we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes!
And here's one of my big girl Scarlett....
Well, it's 10:15 and I still haven't had dinner yet. I wonder what I can find in the kitchen. It's off to see Dr. Butler in the morning to discuss our plan of action! I'm nervous and excited! I'll post more tomorrow afternoon. Night!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Confused
One of the nurses from Dr. Butler's office called on Friday to say that all my labs have come back and to see if we could move up my appointment to next week (it was originally scheduled for August 10th). She said we would be discussing the lab results and what would be the next step. I mentioned how the other nurse had said when she called earlier in the week that we would schedule the hysterogram. She said I shouldn't worry about that just yet. So that's got me wondering what my lab results showed. I was under the impression that everything had come back normal, including my glucose from earlier in the week. My mom told me that a friend of hers had the same tests done and her glucose was normal, but her insulin level wasn't. So maybe when the nurse called, they had just gotten the glucose back and not the insulin. Either way, we'll find out Wednesday morning.
We had an exhausting day yesterday. My cousin Kristen is moving into my grandmother's old house that we used to live in. My dad's been working on it whenever he can, but there's still a lot to be done. A lot of us spent the day up there doing various things. Thomas laid linoleum tile in the kitchen and I painted a lot. It doesn't sound like strenuous work, but we're both really sore today! I'm glad I have the next two days off to recover!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What's next?
So this morning, I went bright and early (8 AM on a day off!) to Dr. Butler's office for a fasting glucose test. This was to see if I had peripheral insulin resistance. If that were the case, he would start me on metformin (Glucophage) with Clomid in hopes it would make me ovulate. Thomas also dropped off his specimen to make sure he was in proper working order! The nurse called me this afternoon with results already! Thomas was completely normal and so was I. That was surprising to me because I thought surely that was the reason for not ovulating. So, the next step is to wait for my next cycle to begin. When that happens, the doctor will do a hysterogram which involves injecting contrast to look at my fallopian tubes to make sure they aren't blocked. Sounds like lots of fun, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes if it helps!
Monday, July 27, 2009
In the beginning...
I decided to start writing a blog after reading someone else's and because I felt the need to write out some things I'm going through right now.
Before Thomas and I got married, we knew we were going to have kids, but were going to wait a few years to start a family so that we could enjoy "Lauren and Thomas Time." The summer after we got married, I started getting the pregnancy bug, but we decided to wait until after our 1 year anniversary. My plan was to come off birth control in April and get pregnant around August so the baby would be born in May (being the Respiratory Therapist that I am, I wanted the baby to be born at the end of RSV season!). August came and went and we weren't pregnant. I had a feeling it would take awhile because I had been on birth control for 9 years. When I saw my doctor in November for my yearly check-up, he wanted to run some tests to see why I hadn't gotten pregnant yet and then move forward with some treatments. Around the same time, I found out that I had a pilonidal cyst (a painful cyst on my tailbone) and it had to be removed in November. At the end of December, I had some lab work done and it showed that I wasn't ovulating. So, the doctor started me on Clomid in hopes it would make me ovulate. I took the Clomid for five months in increasing dosages and still no success. I went back to the doctor to talk about adding a second medication and we decided that I would go see an Infertility Specialist. Meanwhile, I had to have a second surgery in June to remove the cyst that had come back. Definitely not a fun 6 months!
I went to see Dr. Butler, the Infertility Specialist, last week. He did an ultrasound and everything looked normal. He also drew some labs, which have come back normal. I have to go tomorrow morning for a fasting glucose test to determine if I have insulin resistance. If that's the case, then we'll add a second medication. If not, then I'll probably have to have surgery to find out how my reproductive tract looks and fix any problems that are found. Once that's done, I'll do the injectable drugs....which are quite expensive. Unfortunately, my crappy insurance doesn't pay for infertility treatments. I'm very lucky to have parents that can help us out if we need it. I know it's going to be a tough and expensive road, but what other choice am I left with? I want to have children and I don't want to give up hope that it will happen one day.
It's really strange how you spend your early twenties trying not to get pregnant and freaking out if your period is just one day late. Then once the pregnancy switch is turned on, you can't think of anything else but getting pregnant. It's made even harder by the fact that everyone around you is getting pregnant without even really trying. I know that's not exactly true, but it sure feels that way!
I'd like to think that I haven't gotten pregnant yet because my body is waiting to heal completely before starting something new. Let's hope that's the case!
Hopefully good news soon......
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