My Ironman

Jared did fantastic!!! I will share more details and photos later, but I just wanted to get on and let you all know that he is officially an Ironman. Here are some pics of him.

Swim Start

Bike

Run

Finish

Our plan landed after midnight last night, so we are both a little tired. I got to sleep in this morning and came into work a little late. Stay tuned for more details!

We're off!

Off to Coeur d'Alene, that is. Jared's Ironman is on Sunday.. don't worry, I will have to whole trip documented with pictures and video. I will try to blog from our laptop if we are somewhere where we have an internet connection.

As far as TTC goes, I have my follicle scan on Thursday next week. As long as everything looks good, I will receive the HCG shot to make me ovulate and we will go in on Friday for the IUI. Woohoo! I am so ready for this.

I know a blog is no fun without pics so, here are some pictures of my sister and her DH, Chris..

Happy Birthday Jared!

Jared turned 33 years old today. Here are some photos my sister took of us yesterday!

Jared being silly

Oh my...

Aww, I love him!

BFN

It's a BFN. And I see more color to my CM. I am just having an incredibly long LP, which is what I prayed for, even though I prayed for a BFP as well. Maybe it means that the IUI is going to work! We will definately be able to do the IUI now with no problems. YAY!!!

Sunday is Jared's birthday and we are having family over tonight to celebrate since Father's Day is on Sunday. We are having a mexican dinner and DQ ice cream cake. June is a bad month for me to try and cut back on fat and sweets. EEK!

We are also done doing chores because the family has returned home. Jared doesn't want to move back to the farm now. hahaa.. he said just doing the chores for the week gave him a little taste of what it used to be like. Also, our house has not had any action on it for at least a week now. We only had that one guy look and that was a couple weeks ago. We really don't want to move up there until our house sells, so looks like we may have to pass on moving back. Whatever is meant to be will happen, so if it doesn't happen, I won't be too upset. We will still keep our home for sale and if it sells, we will move closer to family. YAY!

Ok, have a good weekend!

Updated... AF is here. Thank you Lord for letting AF come so late so that we can do an IUI this month.

Dunno..

I tested and got something.. but, it's so stinkin faint that it is probably an evap. It's thick though. I also am seeing a little more color in my CM. If I am pg, I should be getting good looking lines by now. I could be a day off on my O date, but even then, I should be getting decent lines. Well, here's the pic.. don't get too excited. These are all the same test.. the first one is not enhanced. The bottom 2 are enhanced. You can really see it in the 2nd one.

Update..

AF has not started yet. Praise the Lord! He is listening to our prayers, that's for sure!!! I didn't test this morning because I thought my CM was just a little slightly tinged, but now it looks completely clear. Hmmm... I did test yesterday after work and I could have sworn maybe something was going to show up, but nothing did. Maybe just a slight evap. I really like the tests that I bought off ebay, they don't give me near as bad of evap lines as the dollar store tests.

If AF still doesn't show, I may test again this afternoon, but I really have a feeling that she will show later on. I called the nurse and she filled my prescription for me, so it looks like the IUI is a "GO" this cycle! Maybe since the Lord allowed my AF to be late, it means that this is "the month"! Thanks so much for all the prayers!! I love you gals =D

Look what I got!

Sorry, not a BFP.. it's a NEW CAR!

I got an 07 Toyota Matrix. I love it!! Jared put our Sable on Craigslist yesterday while we were at work. Within an hour, he had 2 calls and 1 appointment to come look at it in the evening. The people bought it, so we had to go and get me a car!

AF didn't come yesterday, Praise The Lord! But, I do see red streaks in my CM this morning. I imagine AF will be here full force later today. At least it held off a day later than I was expecting. What an answer to prayer. I don't know if it will be long enough for my Dr. to let me do an IUI, but maybe!! I will be on CD 14 when we return from the Ironman, which is cutting it a little too close.

Edited to add.. I finished up the video of the lambs. TOO FUNNY!!

Birthday pictures

I had a very nice birthday yesterday. We had all the family up to the farm and had yummy cake and ice cream!

My mom made me an apron for my birthday. I have never had an apron and decided that I would really like to have one about a year ago. She did a great job! When I opened it, I tried it on and my mom mentioned something about even when I am pregnant I can still wear it.. so I found some nearby diapers (clean) and stuffed them under the apron:




We also got out to see the sheep/lambs and Ted:

Happy Birthday to me!

Wish I would have got a BFP, but I didn't. BFN today too. My cervix was still nice and closed up this morning though, so maybe AF will be a day or two late, which would be wonderful!! Then maybe we can still do an IUI this month! Please pray that AF will hold off for a couple more days so we don't have to take another break cycle!! I am expecting AF tomorrow.

My parents took me and my sister out for breakfast this morning at the Cracker Barrel. It was great! I didn't know my sister would be there so that was a nice surprise. Then I came in to work. When I got to my desk, there was 3 pink roses in a vase and a card from Jared. How sweet :) My team is going to lunch today. There are 3 girls on my team with birthdays in June so this is to celebrate all of ours.

Tonight, we are going up to the farm and having everyone over for cake! I may take Ted for a ride. That would be a wonderful way to spend my birthday! I will take pics tonight so I can post some pics finally.

Well, as long as my cervix is still closed up, I will test again tomorrow!

House sitting

We started house sitting for the owners of the farm on Friday. They are out of town, so we are living in their enormous house and taking care of the animals. I have been sleeping like crud. We sleep on the 3rd floor in their guest bedroom. There is a king bed in there, which is a "must" for Jared and I, but it gets so warm and it makes it hard to sleep. Hopefully I will settle in soon and start sleeping better. Thursday night will be our last night there.

I tested this morning and got a BFN. I'm not feeling it this month. All signs are telling me that AF is on the way. I know I am not out until AF shows, but I imagine she will. I will keep testing, as long as my cervix stays closed. It still is nice and closed up but it usually starts softening and opening sometime during the day of 10 DPO, so we'll see.

If we are not pg this month, I am pretty sure that we will have to take another break cycle. Jared's iron-man will be right during my fertile time (if I am on meds) and we won't be able to do an IUI.

AF is due on Wednesday. My birthday is tomorrow! YAY for Cake!! haha

I will need to get some pics and/or video of all the baby lambs up at the farm. They are so funny when they run and jump in the air. Ok, have to get ready for work.

Clouds

There were some beautiful clouds in the sky last night. God's creation is so amazing! We had some storm warnings in our area. Living in the midwest has allowed me to see some crazy things happen with the weather. In Oregon, we either saw rain, clouds, a little sun and then some clouds and rain again. hahaha I love Oregon weather too, but it is just so different to see the sky and heavens transform themselves like it can in the midwest.

silly video

This is my first attempt with using the Adobe video editing software.. I haven't bought it yet. This is just a free trial version and I think that is why it has the Adobe logo on it. I was just messing around with it, so I thought I would share my creation.

Weekend?? what weekend?

I cannot believe this weekend is already over. It went so fast!!

First of all.. the most exciting part is that I O'd either on Friday or early Saturday. We had good BDing timing too. So, I am now in the 2WW. I will be 11 DPO on my birthday (June 12th). Hopefully I will get a great Bday present this year!

Saturday, the guy came and looked at our house but his wife didn't come with him. He really wants to buy a home in our subdivision, but his wife wants to live in a different area. Hopefully he can talk her into living in our subdivision, but I doubt that will happen. haha I spent all morning cleaning our home, then I left and took the dogs to my parents house while Jared showed the guy around. I went to lunch with a good friend of mine and my mom and sister came too. After lunch, I went back to my parents house and my mom and I practiced the song that we were going to sing at church the next day. The pugs and I left their house and headed back home around 1:30.

Jared and I hung out at home for a little while. We talked about cars again and started looking online at the Mazda 5. My brother has this car and he really likes it. It's like a mini, sporty minivan, but it's really still a car. We searched online and found a used one so, we went to look at it before we went over to a friends house for dinner. We liked the car, but probably will not buy that actual one. We may still look around for a good used one, but could possibly look into buying new.

After we looked at the car, we went over to some friends house and had a cookout with them.

Sunday we went to church, my mom and I sang, then Jared and I came home. He had to go into the office for a couple hours to get some work done, so I went and got my hair cut.

Later on, my sister came over to visit and we all went to Best Buy to buy a new camcorder. We bought a JVC camcorder a few months back, but I can't get it to work on my video editing program. It records in a really weird video format that is hardly recognized by anything. So, we bought a Sony instead. We will sell our JVC on ebay.

After Best Buy, we went to Chili's for dinner, then went back home. Jen left after a little while and then Jared and I messed with our new camcorder. It's a long story, but we actually didn't need to replace our camcorder.. what we really needed was a new video editing program. But, we actually like the Sony camcorder better, so we will keep the camcorder, sell our JVC and buy a new video program. hahaha I had a huge headache after messing with it all last night. Glad we finally can get it fixed though. I will post the video that I made last night when I get home from work. It is a really retarted movie, but it is pretty funny.

Well, that was our weekend!!

House showing!!!

Someone is looking at our house on Saturday! YAY! I hope they love it and make an offer!!

I met with my old manager at work this morning and it is a done deal.. I am going back! I announced it to my new team at work too. Everyone is completely understanding, so it makes me feel better about going back.

Things are starting to look up again.

Job

I talked with my manager today and she completely understands where I am coming from and has agreed that I can go back to my old department. I am so happy about this. Now, we just need to get everything arranged and determine when I will move back. It may not be until Mid-June, but at least I know that I will be going back.

I just pray that I can stay at my old job until I go off on Maternity leave and never go back!! Although, it looks like my job will be pretty secure there for even longer than that.

Well, just thought I'd share my good news! As far as TTC goes.. I am seeing EWCM and my cervix is nice and open so I imagine I will be Oing somewhat soon. Could still be a week away though haha.

Slow as a snail

Could this TTC thing go any slower?

busy, crazy

Hi there. Been a while.

My new job has been keeping me away from the internet during the work hours and it has also been keeping me very stressed. Uggh. Not really what I wanted to get in to job wise. I loved my old job and wish I would have just stayed. I found out that they are hiring 5 more people in my old department because so many have left. I also found out that they are planning to keep a team of about 20 reps in Kansas City, even with India up and running. Before I left my team, they were kinda talking about keeping a team in KC, but it wasn't a for sure deal. So, I am having a chat with my new manager tomorrow and I am going to ask if I can go back. It's going to be a hard coversation to have with her, but I hope she understands. She knows we are going through fertility treatments and that will be one of the points that I bring up to her. The stress of my job cannot be helping any with me trying to get pregnant. So, hopefully I will be going back to my old job here soon.

We have our house for sale, but no lookers yet. We have had some calls though. We won't be moving up to the farm until our house sells. If our house doesn't sell by the end of August, we are moving up anyways.

Last weekend, I played volleyball for the Corporate Challenge tournament. Corporations in the Kansas City area team up against eachother in a bunch of different events. Our ladies volleyball team got first place!! With only 5 players!!

Nothin much else is new really. We are getting closer to getting me a new car. I really would like a minivan, but I think we are going to wait to get one until we have a 2nd kid. We have been looking at the Ford Freestyle, which is a crossover vehicle. Jared and I seem to change our minds alot, so it will be interesting to see what we actually get. haha

I think I am getting somewhat close to O'ing, but who knows. I've hardly had time to think about it during the week. I took Friday off, so I have had a nice 4 day weekend which has really helped me relax and get work out of my head.

Well, that's all for now.

Engagement pics

Yesterday, I took some pics of a really good friend of mine from work and her DF. Their wedding is Oct. 6 and I will be a bridesmaid. I posted pics of her veil making last month. They are also having their professional photographer take engagement pictures, but Lesley wanted some with her mom and their dogs, so I agreed to take some. We had a great time and I think I got some great shots. Here are some of my favorites:

Lesley and Taylor

We're moving!!

We are moving back to the farm where we lived when Abby was conceived and before we bought our home.
The couple that took our place on the farm decided that it was time to move on as well. As you all know, Jared and I have been contemplating selling our house, in fact we had it for sale in January. We will be in our home 1 year on May 23rd.

We talked with the family that owns the farm tonight and they are just thrilled about us coming back. They are letting me get new carpet and linoleum and we are going to re-do some of the master bathroom. We are excited about going back. We are not looking forward to selling our house and actually moving, but it will be nice when we are all settled back in there. We are comitting to at least 2-3 years of living there. Chores were kind of a pain, but it's definately not the worst thing in the world and it is worth the free home.

This will now give us the option to start a business, if we still want to go that route. Well, need to start packing and need to get our house for sale!

The best thing is.. I will have my Ted back!!! He will of course still be their horse, but I can pretend that he is mine ;)

Jared and I know that God provided this home for us when we initially moved there. I have sometimes felt that Jared and I made a rushed decision in buying our home when we did, I have also had the idea on occasion that we have not been blessed with a pregnancy because we are not in the right place and we didn't pray enough or listen to God enough when we moved from the farm. I feel as if God is making the farm available for us again and I hope we are blessed because of it. Please pray that our house sells quickly. I know that if it is God's will, he will provide a buyer for it.

Break

Well, I just talked to my Dr's nurse and she thinks I should take a month off. The main reason is because my fertile time will fall on Memorial Day weekend and they are closed that weekend and won't be able to do an IUI for me. They also will only give me 3 cycles on the meds (which was news to me) and they want me to have the best shot at our next cycle, so we are taking this month off of meds. We will be trying all naturale again. If AF comes, we will start the meds again on my next cycle and do an IUI. If that doesn't work, I have no idea what our next step will be.

I don't really know how I feel about this. I am disappointed, but kind of happy at the same time. I know the Lord's timing is everything and perhaps this is all a part of his plan. I know he is listening to our prayers! Thank you so much for your continued support. I was hoping this stuff would have worked by now.

I bought some pregnancy tests off of ebay this morning. I am getting 30 test strips for $9.25. That comes out to a little less that 30 cents per test. hahaha I can't wait till they get here and I can go crazy with testing.

Edited to add.. I called my nurse back because I forgot to ask her for my progesterone results and they were 22.4!!! WOOHOO!!!

I talked to her a little more about the medications we could try and also clarified the "3 cycles" thing. She said that they will only give the oral medications for 3 months. If there is no success, I will go back in for a consultation with the Dr. and we will talk about other different medication options, such as follistim. These would require me to give myself shots for a period of days and they have a very high chance of multiples. Chances are increased by 30-40%, compared to Clomid's 5-10%.

She thinks that the Dr. will try me on a different medication next cycle called Femara. It is very similar to Clomid, except that it will not affect my lining. I have googled Femara in the past because I knew this was a possibility and I was finding some scary stuff on it, but she assured me that those studies are done on women who are already pregnant, where I would be taking it before a pregnancy occurs. That made me feel a little better.

So, that is our plan now. Pray that we just get a BFP on our break cycle!!!

BFN again

I tested again this morning, even though I saw a little pink in my CM. It was a BFN, of course. AF hasn't started full force yet. I doubt it will until tomorrow. Once it starts full force, I will make a call into my Dr. and figure out what we'll be doing for this cycle.

I know the Lord will bless us soon. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I know God is listening because I have felt at such peace the past few days, even though I knew that AF was imminent.

I will post, once we have our game plan for this cycle in place.

BBQ Pics

I posted most the pictures from Mother's day on Our Pictures website, but I will post my favorites here:

My MIL, Judy

My brother Brian and SIL Lisa

Me and Andrew

My mom and dad

Jared

My niece and nephew Ashley and Andrew

Andrew

Mom

My sister's MIL, Michelle

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is my Mother's Day gift:

Yes, I tested early. I have had some crazy sore bbs the past couple days and yesterday evening was the worst. Even going to bed, it was uncomfortable to lay on them. I never get this sore of bbs in the 2WW, so I caved. I have no idea why my bbs are so sore, but it obviously is not because I am pg. Well, crap.

I had a bad night on Thursday. Because I knew I wasn't pg this month. As you all know, I am psycho about checking CM and CP, well, my CM started drying up just as it always does before AF. I got in a bad mood and told Jared that I just want to give up. I am so sick of infertility and I feel like the fertility meds are not going to help us. We talked and Jared put my head back on straight and told me that we are not giving up, that we are just at the beginning of the fertility treatments, there are so many more things that we can try. I know he was right, but there is just this fear that we will try all of these treatments and none of them will work.

I can't really describe it, but it is one of the most stressful, depressing things that I have ever gone through. Then I get these sore bbs and think I still may have a chance. uggh.

Well, I don't really know what our next step will be. I do know that whatever meds they put me on, I will be asking to start the IUI's on this next cycle. They may keep me on Clomid or they may try something else that will not thin my lining. I will call my Dr, once AF is here and discuss it at that time.

Sorry for my venting this morning. I hope all of you Mom's have a wonderful day!! We are having family over to our place for a BBQ, so I will be sure and take lots of pics and post some here.