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.

2WW

This 2WeekWait thing really gets old. I have absolutely nothing fun to talk about, but I figured I should post since it's been a week.

We have had buckets and buckets and more buckets of rain dumped on us in the past couple days. We have finally got a little break from it. My in-laws basement had some water in it yesterday. They are out of town right now so Jared and I had to clean it up. Jared competed in a half-iron man on Sunday but it was cancelled when he was on about mile 24 of the bike, because of the rain and storms, so he came home early. I'm so glad I didn't go with him as I would have been soaked.

Well, I am 5 or 6 days past O. I have been so busy at work but it still seems like this 2WW is creeping by. Ughh. Hopefully it will pick up.

Really no symptoms yet but it is still a tad early for those. I did get a cold sore this morning on my lip. May or may not mean anything.

Testing will be next Wednesday and I have my blood drawn for the progesterone check on Friday.

Since a post is no fun without a pic, I will show one that I took of the dogs and then messed with on photoshop. I seriously need to learn how to use photoshop better.

scan

My scan this month is same as last month. 3 mature follicles!!! 1 is a little large and the other 2 are perfect. My lining was still thin (this is a side effect of Clomid that I have been blessed with), measuring at a 7. But they did give me the shot and said that it's not thin enough to not give me the shot. Women can become pregnant with that lining. So, we will see.
I will have my progesterone checked and if it still good like last month, we will probably continue on the Clomid route and maybe start the IUI's. That is, if I don't become pregnant on this cycle. Because my lining is thinner (due to Clomid), the Dr. may decide to try some other meds on me. Those could include Letrazole or possibly injectibles, which may not affect my lining so much.

But because my progesterone was good last month, they may just keep me on Clomid. Who knows.. it is all up in the air I guess. We will be able to tell better after my progesterone results are in. I get my blood drawn for that on Friday, May 11th and will get the results probably around the same time as testing/AF time.

Well, that's all for now. I should be Oing tomorrow'ish, so we will be busy BDing again over the next few days. I pray that this is our month!!!

Tag!!

This is my first blog tag. Kristy tagged me, now I get to tag you!!

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Gift Shop at the Vista House
2. Culpepper Western Store
3. Rosie's Bridal shop
4. JPMorgan Chase

B) Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Pure Country
2. How to lose a guy in 10 days
3. Father of the Bride 1
4. Father of the Bride 2

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Corbett, OR
2. Independence, MO
3. Kansas City, MO
4. Lees Summit, MO

D) Four television shows I watch:
1. THE OFFICE
2. Extrememe Makeover Home Edition
3. Everyone loves Raymond
4. King of Queens

E) Four places I have gone (or will go) on vacation:
1. Disneyland
2. Lake Tahoe
3. Canada
4. Alaska

F) Four websites I visit almost daily:
1. babycenter
2. twoweekwait.com
3. blogger (this includes stalking my friend's blogs too!)
4. hotmail

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. anything mexican
2. anything italian
3. the salad bar at Jason's Deli
4. ice cream

H) Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. In my bathroom, holding a positive pregnancy test haha
2. Riding a horsey (either Frankie, Ted or Abu)
3. With my whole family on a Colorado vacation
4. shopping

I) Four people I tag:
Just 4??????
1. Staci
2. Sapphire
3. Jamie
4. Jessica
5. Whoever else wants to do it!

Ok, I am off to my appointment soon. I will post as soon as I get to work =D

Minivans

We went out today and test drove the

1. Kia Sedona

2. Honda Odyssey
3. Toyota Sienna Our favorite was the Toyota and 2nd was the Kia. We were not very impressed with the Honda. The Kia was very nice.. nicer than we were expecting. Toyota's are just over-all better quality than Kia's, but, once we are ready to actually make a purchase (soonest would be probably 4 months), we will just have to see what the final prices are and then decide. We realize the Toyota will be more money, but we just have to weigh both options. I think the Kia's are a little cuter, but I know looks aren't the most important ;)

I am worn out now.

Only 2 more days until my follicle scan!!

Recital

I have another video for my online piano recitals! The clicking noises in the background are the pugs walking on the hardwoods.



Thanks for all your comments about the vehicles. I'm surprised more of you weren't "pro-minivan" lol. My parents had vans when we were kids and my sister-in-law loves hers, so I just always thought I would get a minivan when I have kids hehe. We do plan on having more than one kid, so I want to get something that will fit us for a good while. Although, at the rate we are going, we will be lucky to just get one kid. ;)

I wouldn't mind getting an SUV, but Jared just bought one and to me, I think it'd be kinda silly to have two of them. Definately something we will have to think long and hard on.

I will keep all of your suggestions in mind! Thanks so much for sharing :)

April Showers..

..and some pretty flowers.


I was finally able to get some flowers planted for the spring. Sorry the pictures aren't great. It was raining and I really didn't want me or my camera out there very long.

Well, not much new here. AF was nice for me this cycle, but I still seem to have small episodes of extremely light spotting every now and then. I was pretty much done with AF on CD 4 though. I have never had one that short.

My follicle scan is on Monday. I think my sister-in-law will be going with me. If she can't then my mom will. Jared can't come this time and it's not like I need someone there with me, but my SIL is very interested in all this and so is my mom. They both think it'd be really neet to see the scan.

I may be going car shopping on Saturday. My Sable is 8 years old and we want to get a new car for me before a baby comes. Just have to decide if we want to go ahead and buy a different car now or wait until I am closer to the end of my pregnancy. We are thinking of getting either a minivan or small SUV like a Ford Escape. Moms.. what would you recommend? I am not opposed to a minivan, but I do kinda lean towards an SUV a little more. If we do go for a minivan, we will wait until I am actually pregnant before we get one. Ideas???