February

February 2016 our lives will change forever!

After five long years of infertility we are overjoyed to finally become a family of three. Today we saw our little one and got to hear the heartbeat. It was the most incredible sound I've ever heard.

The love I already feel for this little one is unreal.

IVF Update

Obviously I suck at keeping my blog updated! We are roughly have way through our first IVF cycle, and I'm still in denial this is actually happening. I see the bruises and certainly feel the PIO shots, but it's still hasn't completely sunk in.

Let me recap the last week. I ended up doing stims for 9 days. My body has always been slow at responding, so I wasn't surprised I ended up on stims for a few days longer.

Thursday, May 14th we got the go ahead to stop stims, and that I would be triggering that night. I was so excited! The trigger shot SUCKED. In the past I used Ovidrel for my trigger shots, but our current Dr. doesn't like it. This time I used Novarel. The extra fun part was that since it's an intramuscular injection my Dr. prefers for you to do it in your upper arm. It's super awesome fun.

Saturday, May 16th we went in for our egg retrieval! WOOHOO! We got there at 9am, went back and started signing paper work and my IV got going. Our nurse was amazing. I love her and want to be BFF's with her. She also works as a labor & delivery nurse and we hit it off talking about home birth and all sorts of fun things. Travis probably wanted to run at this point. Around 10am they took me back and the good meds started flowing. When I woke up my first question (or so I thought) was "how many did we get"? Travis said the Dr. hadn't come in yet, but literally 30 seconds later he pulled back the curtain. He told us everything went great and he got 11 mature eggs and 2 more he thought would mature in time. I was thrilled. After he left I asked Travis if I was saying inappropriate things again upon coming out of anesthesia, and he confirmed that I did. Oops! Apparently I just asked them to use different sperm, of someone talk, dark and handsome. It was the anesthesia talking!!

After the retrieval we went home, I ate a huge lunch as I was starving and then slept most of the day. I had plenty of cramping and just overall soreness. The heating pad did not leave my side, hell, it still hasn't five days later. PIO shots started this evening. I've never had to do PIO shots before, and I was dreading it as I've heard the horror stories. I had Travis do the first shot, and it wasn't as terrible as I had imagined. The shot itself isn't bad, it's the knots in your back after that suck. Hence the heating pad still being part of my nightly routine.

Sunday, May 17th we got a fertilization update. One of the eggs did not mature, so going into fertilization we had 12 eggs. Of the 12, all 12 fertilized! That was a huge relief and so exciting to hear.

Tuesday, May 18th we got our next "update" phone call. They didn't call until 5:45pm and I was freaking out. We ended up losing one embryo after fertilization. As of yesterday morning the report showed the following:

(1) 4 cell embryo (1) 5 cell embryo (1) 6 cell embryo (3) 7 cell embryos (3) 8 cell embryos (1) 9 cell embryo (1) 10 cell embryo.

They told me 2 were rated good, 7 were rated okay, and 2 were rated poor. Hoping the okay one's perk up and move into the good rating.

Providing our embryo's continue to develop, my embryo transfer will be tomorrow morning.

Praying we have 2 embryo's to transfer, and if we had some to freeze I will be over the moon.

I will keep you updated on tomorrow's progress.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Protocol

Thank you for the sweet comments and encouragement! It's nice to know there are a few people still reading. I wanted to get my protocol written down so if need be, I can refer to it again at some point. I also think it's fascinating to see how different everyone's protocol is.

04/12 - 04/27 Birth Control
04/12 - 04/27  Baby Asprin
04/24 - 05-11  Lupron
04/24 - 05/11 Dexamethasone
05/05 - 05/10  Follistim
05/05 -  05/11 Lovenox
05/05 - 05/11 Folic Acid
05/07 - 05/10 Menopur
05/08 Intralipid Infusion

As of right now, I'm feeling pretty good. Lupron has brought on lots of hot flashes, which are always fun. You could also say I am slightly emotional these days.I was not prepared for the extreme exhaustion I would be feeling. I cannot get enough sleep at night, and I could go for at least 2 naps a day. I'm ready to have some energy back.

Tomorrow I go in for a baseline ultrasound and blood work. Hoping everything is normal and we are ready to go.

The Start of Something New

Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? My how life has changed since my last post. To quickly sum up the last 16 months we moved to Nevada (never saw that coming), supported my sister during the birth of my first niece, and added another amazing dog to our family. And we are still on our journey to creating our family.

When I last blogged we had announced we had made the decision to adopt. We spent almost a year meeting with adoption agencies, fundraising money, and trying to to find the right agency for us. Just when we thought we had found the right agency, T was presented with a job opportunity in Nevada. We felt it was in the best interest of our family and his career to take the opportunity. We moved and quickly realized we could not use the agency we had intended back in CA because of some of the laws here. So we started looking for agencies here. Needless to say, it's beyond slim pickings. We either met with the agency and knew it wasn't right or we simply could not afford the agencies fee's. I started looking at fertility clinics here and quickly came across one that caught my eye.

I called to make an appointment to meet with the Dr, and was informed his next available consultation was 4 months away. I snatched up the appointment. We got lucky and received a call 2 months later informing us he had a cancellation and would we like the appointment. Hell yes we did. We met with him, and instantly felt this was where we were supposed to be. He spent an hour with us on our first visit, going over all our history and previous attempts at pregnancy. He gave us his personal cell phone number and told us to call him if we ever needed anything. We left feeling on top of the world, and that this was the reason the opportunity to move here came about. Because believe me, moving to Nevada was NEVER on our radar.

All this to say, our first IVF cycle is starting soon. Very soon. I start Lupron tomorrow morning! I am excited. I have such a sense of peace and calm right now. Two things I have never felt during our previous cycles. I truly feel we are where we were supposed to be all along. Looking back, things have (or haven't) worked out because if it had it probably would have never led us here.

The reason for my sudden return to the blog is because I want to document this journey. Even if nobody is reading this, I want to have it all here to look at and remember all the details of this new adventure.

2014

Happy New Year! 

I say it every year, but man did this year go by fast. 

I cannot believe it is 2014. 

So much has happened this year, both good and bad. 

It has been a tough year in so many aspects of our life, 

and not just for us but for many of the people we love the most. 

Travis and I are so looking forward to the blessings

and possibilities that the new year holds for us. 

I always enjoy reading others resolutions for the new year,

so I am sharing mine. 

1. Get organized. The older I get the more I seek an organized lifestyle. It does not

come naturally to me.  It's a struggle for me. But I'm determined to get things in order this year.

Getting laundry under control. Setting a cleaning schedule for the week. Menu planning...

2. Cooking. I never cook. It's terrible. We spend so much money eating out, it's insane, not to 

mention it's so unhealthy. This is the year I start making dinners and packing lunches. 

It has to happen. It's time to put that Pinterest recipe page to use.

That's it. I'm trying to keep it simple. I feel like if I can accomplish these two aspects 

of our life, it will make huge improvements in many areas of our life. 

Here's to 2014...may this year bring you all your heart desires.

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Much Love,

J&T

Big Ass Blog Sale

In an attempt to get rid of things we don't need

we are selling tons of stuff around the house right now. 

This includes me insane stash of baby clothes. 

No, this doesn't mean we have given up on having a baby, 

there is still a lot I just can't part with, but I can always buy clothes

so I am parting with most of it. 

I started a second blog for all of it so I didn't fill your 

blog reader with 50 different posts. You can thank me later for that. 

Everything is brand new with tags still on it! 

Feel free to share with your friends. 

Happy Shopping! 

Blog Sale

Job, What Job

If I am being honest,

as thrilled as I am to be back home in California,

it has been rough.

And I mean R O U G H.

I still haven't been able to find a job. 

It's killing us financially.

And it's killing me emotionally.

This time has made me look and question every career 

decision I have ever made. 

I've questioned why on earth I spent over $40k on a college degree.

I have cried, and cried, and when I thought I couldn't cry any more,

sure enough there were more tears. 

I have yelled, screamed and uttered every 4 letter word there is. 

I have sent out at least 90 - 100 resumes. 

 Nothing makes you feel worthless like nobody wanting to hire you. 

This is certainly a season of growth for me. 

I don't seem to be handling this season well. 

I'm ready for it to be over. 

Obviously I need to get over whatever feelings I have that I'm 

too qualified or too good for some jobs. 

I don't know anything that is as humbling as this experience. 

I have three interviews tomorrow. 

I'm praying an pleading with God that at least one of these offers me a position. 

Please pray for me or send some positive thoughts my way. 

I would greatly appreciate it. 

 

 

California Here We Come (came)

6 months.

That's how long it's been since I have posted anything here. 

I wonder if anyone still reads this thing. 

Guess we will find out. 

Things have changed over the past six months. 

For starters, we no longer live in Texas. 

July 9th, we packed everything up and moved back to California.

I couldn't be happier to be back. 

We are less than 5 minutes from my parents house and 15 minutes from my sister.

The dogs are LOVING it here in California. 

But who wouldn't? 

We were incredibly blessed to find an amazing house to rent,

and we got an insane deal on it. 

Once it starts looking more like a house I might post some pictures. 

We live in a great neighborhood filled with kiddos, a park, several pools

and everything I could want or need within 5 minutes. 

Travis was able to transfer back out here with his job. 

I however am still looking for a job. 

It is not going well. Not going well at all.

Anyone need a nanny?! 

If you had told me 6 months ago we would be living back in California by July

I would have thought you were slightly crazy. 

We did intend on moving back by the end of 2013,

but not this soon. 

Things started happening in our life, and the lives of those closest to us

and we realized we just needed to be back here and close to family and friends.

So here we are.

 And we are here to stay. 

 

A Few Favorites

I thought I would share a few things I am loving right now. 

They are a little random!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

{Source}

I cannot say enough about this. I don't know how I lived without it for so long.

All of the colors are great, amazing pigment, and blend beautifully.

You can create so many different looks, just with this one palette.

And the Eyeshadow Primer Potion it comes with, rocks my world! 

I'm dying to get the Naked Palette II

Garnier BB Cream

{Source}

This stuff feels amazing on.

It is so light, goes on easy and really does hydrate.

I've always had insanely dry skin, and since I started using this 

I don't have to apply moisturizer 10x's every morning. 

Coconut Oil

{Source}

I've recently learned of the millions of benefits of coconut oil.

Is there anything this stuff cannot do? I don't think so.

I found a giant tub at Costco for only $16.00, which is a crazy good deal.

So far I have used it for: DIY vapor rub, lotion, in my smoothies. 

I have many, many more plans for it. 

If you don't know of the benefits, do some research,

this stuff is amazing.

Essential Oils

{Source}

Along with the coconut oil research, I've been reading a lot about essential oils.

I'm slowly building my stash. Very slowly.

There are so many EO's out there, and it's a little overwhelming. 

So far I have Clary Sage, Peppermint and Eucalyptus. 

The Clary Sage is supposed to be good for fertility.

I've used them with the coconut oil topically, and also inhaling them. 

I also bought espom salt, threw it in a bowl with peppermint and eucalyptus EO's,

mixed them up and have my own relaxing bath salts. 

 

Cali/Callie

Wow. I'm a really terrible blogger. 

Let's do some catching up. 

The first weekend of February I flew home to Cali

to spend the weekend with my family and attend the girls 3rd birthday!

{The birthday girls. Kim, I straight up stole this pic!}

I cannot believe they are 3 years old!

As usual, Kim did an incredible job of their party. 

I really have NO idea where she finds the time to do all that she does.

The girls had this bounce house, and to the right was a slide.

Miss Sophia asked me to go down with her, the key was I had to carry her

up the inflatable stairs. Those bad boys are not meant for an adult. 

Let alone an adult trying to carry a 3 year old! 

It was a workout. Especially since we did this no less than 25 times.

I feel so blessed that I have been able to fly home

the last 2 years to attend their birthday. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

It was a really, really quick trip. It felt like it was non-stop chaos.

It was so great spending time with my parents and sister.

I miss them all terribly, but I am grateful for the time I had with them. 

 I am already counting down to our next trip back in June for my 30th birthday.

{No trip is complete without going to a winery and enjoying Sangria}

{My dear dad}

Saturday morning I woke up to find Callie not her usual self.

She had a really hard time standing up, let alone walking.

I took her to the vet and he thought she had sprained her knee.

Gave her pain meds and sent us home. 

Last night I was petting her and noticed a very large bulge on her hip of the same leg.

She did not like it being touched. 

When I woke up this morning I noticed blood on our bathroom floor. 

She had licked her hip raw and was bleeding. 

I had to work today so Travis took her to the vet this morning.

Turns out she doesn't have a sprained knee, 

she actually has an abscess that had ruptured and was infected. 

My poor girl. The vet said she was in a lot of pain, but handling it like a champ!

They had to drain her leg, which is very painful. 

But she is now back home resting and on antibiotics. 

No idea how she got the wound in the first place, one vet

thinks she was bitten, his wife thinks she laid down on a nail in the yard. 

(We don't have nails just laying around the yard, but live near lots of construction)

I'm hoping she is back to her usual, insane self quickly.

 

{My sweet girl lounging}

Perspective

We have been living here in Texas for almost a year and a half now.

I have to say, I really do love the people here. 

We have made some amazing, life long friends. 

We have added two wonderful dogs to our family.

Travis finally got a much deserved promotion. 

Texas has been great to us. 

And I can't wait to leave!

Living here, away from family has really put a lot of things into perspective for me.

I always knew I was close with my family, but never

truly realized how much I would miss them until we moved. 

A big part of moving here was because it was that dream that we would be

better off financially, and be able to "live the dream". 

The idea was we would be able to afford for me to stay home once 

we had kids, and be able to purchase a house, and fly home 

when I needed to see my family and friends. 

But that's how it works, it's always "supposed" to be a certain way. 

I can tell you, it hasn't been a single one of those things. 

But what moving here has given me is time to think about what is really 

important to me. What do I REALLY want?

What I really want, isn't a beautiful big house, it is a comfortable

place to call home within driving distance of my sister and parents. 

And if having to work after having kids is what has to happen, so be it. 

I grew up living very close to my grandparents, and seeing them all the time.

I always dreamed of having the same thing for my children one day.

That simply isn't going to happen living this far away.

I want my kids to grow up near their cousins and my friends kids. 

I want to be around when my first niece or nephew is born. 

Or when something exciting happens, to be close enough to celebrate.

I want to be able to meet Kim for margaritas and happy hour on Friday evenings,

and spend a few hours with the girls more than twice a year.

I want to be able to sit with my parents in their backyard chatting the afternoon away.

I want to take the dogs to the beach! 

I have realized those are the things that mean the most to me.

And those things are all back in California,

where I long to be. 

I will never look back on this decision to move to Texas as a mistake. 

It has shown me what I want and what is important. 

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to make you realize

everything you ever wanted was right there in front of you all along. 

And while life there wasn't what you hoped and dreamed it would be,

it was actually much better. 

Hoping and praying we will be back in California by the end of 2013!

Love Light Session

Damn, I'm really bad at keeping up with things. 

For instance, our Christmas cards are still sitting on my desk,

addressed and ready to go...yet there they sit.

So it's really no surprise I never posted the pictures

from our Love Light Session with the amazing Lyndsay at Life In Motion Photography.

These were taken last August. Like I said, I'm on top of things.

I really cannot say enough about Lyndsay. 

She is incredible. 

This session was only a mini session, and I had the hardest time 

deciding which 5 photo's to chose. 

I can only imagine what a full session with her is like. 

Should I ever get pregnant, I'm driving my happy ass back to Austin

to have her do our maternity photo's. 

 

A Change of Heart

I haven't written about our infertility journey for a while. 

Back in September we met with our RE to discuss IVF.

After that meeting we decided to move forward with IVF as our next option.

Our plan was to start in December. 

But, that was going to be a little more difficult than just waiting for the day to come.

Our ART's department was going to be closed the last two weeks of December/

early January. My RE was going on vacation until Jan. 5th. 

My cycle would have had to start no earlier than Dec. 23rd, no problem 

as I was "supposed" to start Dec. 25th, and I'm nearly always "late".

As the start dates got closer, I was not comfortable with our decision.

I had a lot of doubt and spent a lot of time second guessing this choice.

I in no way felt IVF was wrong, but just wrong for us at this moment. 

Don't get me wrong, I want to be pregnant more than anything, 

but starting IVF right now just didn't feel right. Something was telling me no. 

I talked to Travis about it, and he agreed if it didn't feel 120% confident

we shouldn't be doing it right now. 

The day after we had this conversation my cycle started. 

December 19th.

The decision was made for us, we wouldn't be doing IVF this cycle even if 

we had wanted to. 

Maybe that was God's way of protecting me from being upset having 

to "cancel" our treatment. 

As for now, I'm working on getting my body healthy.

I'm working on eating healthier and working out. 

For now, we have put off IVF until June. 

We are discussing adoption, but at this moment it is nothing

more than a discussion. 

I'm praying for a miracle in the next six months. 

But if it doesn't happen, I know in my heart that one day, somehow

we will be parents.

December

This post is going to sum up the entire month of December. 

Don't worry, it won't be as long as it sounds.

Here is how our month went...

I did some Christmas crafting.

Glittered Canvas

  

Wreath on the front door

Callie had her pictures taken with Santa Paws at the 

daycare we send her to. It was free for all the pets and they sent 

me 7 pictures from her photo shoot!

This was the best picture.

She looks like she is having the time of her life!

 

 

Meet Hershey, the newest addition to our family. 

 

Travis has always wanted a chocolate lab, so she was his Christmas gift.

We adopted her from a military family who is moving and wasn't able to take her.

She is the sweetest dog ever. 

It took Callie a little while to warm up to her, but now they are BFF's.

 

We hosted our first Christmas at our place. 

Travis' parents, sister and Grandmother came over.

The highlight of the day for me was that it snowed!

I have NEVER had a white Christmas, hell, I don't remember 

the last time it rained on Christmas. 

Everything was so beautiful covered in snow. 

And the dogs loved it. 

 

 

This past weekend we celebrated Travis' 30th birthday.

We didn't do much. He hates his birthday. 

But I took him out for a day of all his favorite things:

breakfast at Chick-Fil-A, a trip to Bass Pro, a movie 

and lunch at Hard Eight BBQ. 

The day after we got to enjoy a relaxing day together and have lunch with

our good friends. It was so nice to have two relaxing days off with him.

Beer and a movie in a huge leather recliner...the only way to see a movie

  

The "menu" at Hard 8

 And now we are sitting in our pj's, watching House Hunters and waiting to ring in 2013.

Happy New Year friends!

Another Sale!

Hi Friends!

I'm having another "please get this out of my house" sale. 

If you see something you want, leave a comment with the item and your email

so I can send you a PayPal invoice.

I will update the page as to what has been sold. 

And remember, since I am insane (I know I am)

all of this is BRAND NEW and NEVER USED. 

Let the shopping begin. 

Circo Onesie - size NB  $2.00

 

Carters Onesie - size 6 mo. $3.00

Circo Onesie - size NB  $2.00

Just One Year Sleep & Play - size NB  $5.00

 

Tag doesn't have brand name, I think I got it at Target 

3-6 mo $4.00 

Circo Sleep & Play - size NB  $4.00

 

Just One Year Onesie Pack - size NB  $3.00

 

Gerber Onesie Set - size NB $5.00

Gap Collared Onesie - size NB (up to 7lbs) $8.00

 

SOLD Gap Onesie - size 6-12 mo.  $7.00

(this thing is sooo soft) 

SOLD Gap Onesie - size 3-6 mo. $5.00 

 

Robin Wren Onesie - size 0-3 months  $15.00

(retails for $28.00) 

 

Gap Boardshorts - size 6-12 months  $8.00

Dwell for Target Onesie (0-3 mo.) and Blanket - $10.00 for both

 

Gap - size NB (up to 7lbs)  $15.00

(it is so darn cute and so, so cozy) 

Old Navy Romper - size 3-6 months  $5.00

Just One Year - 6 mo.  $5.00

Gap Onesie - Size 3-6 mo.  $5.00

Old Navy skirt - size 0-3 months  $6.00

Old Navy Ruffle Butt Shorts - size 3-6 months $2.00

Gap Dress - size 0-3 mo.   $10.00

 

Swaddle Designs Ultimate Receiving Blanket  $12.00

Carters Receiving Blanket Trio - $10.00

TrumpetteToo socks - 0-6 month  $5.00/set

SOLD BabyLegs  $5.00

 BabyLegs  $5.00

 

SOLD BabyLegs - $5.00

** All girls "baby legs" are NOT actual BabyLegs, and were made by me.

AKA; they aren't perfect! **

SOLD $2.00 

SOLD $2.00

 

SOLD $2.00

 

SOLD $2.00

 

 

SOLD $2.00

  

 SOLD Cherokee Hat - size Infant  $4.00

Cherokee Clip-On Tie - 12-24 mo. $3.00