It's In Vitro time!

Michael and I found out that his work is getting rid of our insurance plan and starting January 1st we'll have just a PPO. This plan doesn't cover all infertility processes. So we are speeding up our infertility by starting in vitro. We just had a visit to the doctor today and learned about the medicine process for the next few weeks. Oh my is all I have to say! Here's a picture of all the stuff I will need:

AAAAAAhhhhhhh!!!!

As my Dr. says, it's time to Hans and Frans you up. Lol! So here's an outline of what I need to do:

*I started birth control 2 weeks ago to ready my follicles for mass egg production.
*Monday Michael and I start an antibiotic so we don't get me sick. I also start Lupron - an injectable hormone. This will be once a day.
*In about 2 weeks I start another injectable that I will give myself 2 times a day. I will still be taking the Lupron so I will have 3 shots a day.
*I will be monitored 3 times a week at this point to check which day will be best for egg retrieval. Once things look good I will take a shot of Ovidrel to help make sure the ovulation process will happen. This helps loosen the eggs so that they can retrieve them.
*The next day I will start the progesterone pill 2 times a day.
*The next day they will retrieve my eggs. I will start Medrol (2 tabs twice a day for 4 days). I will also take a few antibiotics to make sure I don't get an infection.
*A few days after this I will get my embryos transferred into my uterus. Sometime around this day I will take another shot. The day after the transfer I will use Crinone which is a vaginal progesterone liquid.

After all this, hopefully I will be pregnant!! Our fingers are crossed!

Infertility Update

I think it is amazing that anyone actually even gets pregnant. It seems like one thing after the other doesn't work out for us. We have tried insemination 4 times now, all without any luck. We met with our doctor and he said the medicine I'm on, Clomid, is an estrogen blocker. This means it is helping me produce FSH so I can have eggs, but is blocking my estrogen production so my tubes may not be picking up my eggs. Now I will trying a new medicine which is the natural form of FSH. So hopefully this will kick my estrogen into gear.

I have to skip this month of trying because one of my eggs did not drop and grew a little too large for my body to absorb it as quickly as normal. Apparently I can't start the medicine unless my eggs are perfect.

If this doesn't work then I may have endometriosis, which is a form of scar tissue on productive organs that makes it hard to get pregnant. So they might have to do exploratory surgery and if they find any endometriosis then they will laser it out of me and then I should get pregnant easier.

We've waited 4 1/2 years to get pregnant, we can wait a little longer right? 

Cheapskate

I went to get my hair cut the other night, and somehow we got on the subject of being cheap. Tammi, my hairstylist, said she was the Queen of bargain shopping. I told her I was cheaper because I only cut my hair once a year. Then she laughed at me. But then I started thinking about it and these are reasons why I think I am a cheapskate:

1. I cut my hair once, maybe twice, a year. Usually when I have an under $5 Great Clips coupon.
2. We don't want to pay for trash tickets so Michael takes our trash to his work dumpster.
3. It takes me 6 months to buy a pair of pants when I actually need a pair because $20 just isn't cheap enough. Question: why is it a pair of pants? It's only one.
4. We don't turn the a/c on unless it's going to be more than 95 outside.
5. We almost never use the a/c in our car to save gas.
6. We use grocery bags for Tippy's poo bags.

That's all I can think of for now. We're cool, but we're crazy...

New Food Pyramid

The USDA changed the food pyramid into something called myplate. They have left behind the food pyramid and brought in a more conceptual idea. Find more info at:

choosemyplate.gov

It now shows what your plate should contain. I LOVE this new concept! I hope this will help everyone understand more of what the ratio of food intake should be. Good job USDA!

Board Games!

As many of you know Michael and I LOVE board games! We now have almost 200 games in our collection. Since games are one of our passions, we decided to start a blog about them.

boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com

Enter the world of board game addicts and prepare to learn about different games, what we like about them, and if it would be a game you would want to buy!

Freezer Paper Projects!

For activity day girls we had them make their own canvas bags. They were super fun and easy to make! Here are the tools you will need:

*Something to put the design on (a bag, a shirt, a onesie, etc.)
*Freezer paper
*An exacto knife
*Something to cut on (cardboard or a cutting board)
*Fabric paint
*Paint sponges
*Paper plates
*An iron and ironing board

Here's how to do it:

Take clip art from the internet that you want to use. It needs to be simple. Something like this:

So, now trace this picture onto the rough side of the freezer paper. Then cut out the meat of the picture (the petals and the middle stem of the flower). You should have a square piece of freezer paper with a flower cut out of it. Now take this paper with shiny side down and iron it onto your bag or shirt. Then take your sponges and paint! 

 This is what it should look like. Now just wait until it dries (it shouldn't take too long). If you're in a hurry you can blow dry it dry. Then peel it off and behold the results!

Beautiful! 

School's out forever!!

I finally got my Bachelor's degree!! Yay for me! I finished in May 2011 and got my Bachelor's in Communication that I started oh so many years ago. Now, I want to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist so I can be a personal trainer but also coach people about their nutrition. One day I would like to become a registered dietician! That's my goal. Anyway, Michael threw me a surprise party for graduating. Isn't he so sneaky? Except I knew about it, I just didn't know when it was :)

 This is my cool sign!

 These are my cool friends!

These are my cool presents!

Hooray for graduating!!