The Dramas of Infertility

I thought that after being 20 weeks pregnant, it was about time I posted some of the drama we had with this pregnancy, so I can have a record of it.

As you know, it took us a miscarriage, followed by a few years of infertility before Scott & I were finally able to get pregnant with Will - Clomid was our miracle drug. This second go around, I kept putting off fertility treatment b/c I thought my body had regulated, & I would be able to get pregnant without the aid of medication. After eight, often frustrating months, I'd had enough! I decided I was ready to start jumping through all the infertility hoops again, hoping we would find greater success with that than we were on our own. I did the bloodwork, had to do the horrible HSG (the main reason I was putting off fertility treatments), & then waited for the next step - hopefully Clomid.

About six weeks after my HSG, I got a call from the Fertility Clinic to set up an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner for an ultrasound & to figure out my options. I went to the appointment with Will in tow & was so relieved to finallly get to the part where they would give me my Clomid perscription. Well, it wasn't so easy. There were some complications with the NP telling me she wasn't giving me the medicine, & I would have to come back on day 5 of my period, which would end up putting me back in there in another week. I was extra stressed b/c if I was going to have the chance of starting Clomid that month, I'd have to start it on day 5, & this NP was possibly not going to allow it. She said my lining was really thick, & she wanted to make sure it shed enough before giving me the medicine.

After the initial appointment, I met the NP in her office to discuss things some more, & I just started bawling. I was so frustrated with having already waited so long to be pregnant, & they were having me jump through more hoops! I blabbered to her & told her how ridiculous the whole situation was since I already knew Clomid worked for me. The whole time, Will just stared at me like I was crazy, which I guess I was. The woman kept a serious, unemotional face, which aggravated me even more! Was she a robot with absolutely no feelings?!!! Finally, she told me that I had signs of pre-uteran cancer & they may have to do an endometrial biopsy. They weren't going to give me the medication I needed to get pregnant until they felt I was "safe." What?!!! Talk about a slap in the face! I started crying even more, & the whole time the nurse was talking to me, I kept feeling like she was on some power trip & just trying to scare me b/c I was crying & complaining about all the hoops they were making me jump through when other insurances didn't do that. I left a complete emotional wreck & didn't recover for the rest of the day. Poor Will was plopped in front of the TV with movie after movie playing while I researched pre-uteran cancer & felt like my possibilities of having another child had come to an end. Let me tell you, I never realized how terrifying the word "cancer" was until it was applied to me.

Scott happened to be doing OB/GYN rotations at this same time & talked to the PA there, who said my NP was full of it - I didn't even begin to fit the criteria for someone with pre-uteran cancer. This gave me a little comfort, but I still couldn't pull my head out for the rest of the day. The whole week was horrible, actually. Scott was so upset with how my NP handled things that he told me to drive up to where he was working his OB rotations, & they would write me the Clomid prescription. The night before going, Scott made me take a pregnancy test just in case. I fought it b/c every time I'd taken one, it was always negative, & I thought it would be a waste of money & just make me upset again. Well, I took the test, & it showed positive right away! It turns out I was pregnant (why the clinic didn't have me take a pregnancy test before coming in is a mystery to me). I was absolutely shocked & ecstatic! I had miraculousy gotten pregnant without the medication & was already 6 weeks along, which would have made me 5 weeks pregnant when I went into the fertility clinic, hence the thick lining! I wanted to march into the NP's office, show her the pee-stick & then punch her in the face for scaring me so bad.

It's taken me a long time to realize that I really am pregnant, even though I'm now halfway through. It was such a shock that I didn't need the Clomid that I still don't feel like it's real. I'm just so grateful that things have turned out so far & am reminded that the Lord's hand is in our lives & things happen in his time, not ours. The outcome of this whole ordeal is truly a miracle!

Working in the Garden

My grandmother, Sammie, gave us a lemon tree for Christmas two years ago. We've had it planted in a pot on our patio, & it just seemed to be getting worse & worse as time went on. So Scott & Will took it out of the pot & replanted it in our backyard. Here's hoping the extra space will help this tree out! I'm looking forward to some lemons!

William was filthy by the time they were finished. Look at those shoes!

a few suds never hurt anyone ~ the value of working as a family

The other morning, I went outside to find this: 

I was laughing so hard when I saw Will's face, I could hardly take the pictures.

tripping over the hose ~ soaked almost head to toe

climbing the step-ladder in the garage - he loves playing on this thing any chance he gets



It was so awesome to watch Will & Scott washing the car together. I love seeing them work together & am just reminded of how blessed we are to have this sweet boy to raise. Children really are a miracle, & I'm so grateful that we will soon have the blessing of another one in our family.

Folsom Zoo

(I would have written about this sooner, but Blogger has been acting up on my computer & oftentimes won't let me upload pictures - anyone else having this problem?)

A couple weeks ago, Scott & I took Will to the Folsom Zoo for a little field trip. We took him about two years ago, & he was pretty uninterested. Plus, the roosters terrified him each time they crowed, which was a lot! This time was another story. He ran around everywhere trying to see the different animals & chased the roosters instead of wailing every time they made a sound. This is such a fun age to see him observe & explore new things. We had such a blast with him!

Scott had to hold Will back from one of the roosters b/c Will was attempting to get a little too friendly for his parents' (our) comfort.

watching the donkeys

trying to spot the black tailed mule deer - Will was more interested in the roosters behind the fence.

Watching the huge mountain lion that was trying to escape for some privacy.

After we dragged Will away from the zoo, we went to some random (kind of gross) frozen yogurt shack. It was something cool to eat on a hot day, but other than that, we weren't huge fans. Will prefered playing with the topping scoops & was so upset when we told him it was time to go, hence the tears in the car. 

All in all it was a great day, & we're excited to find an even bigger zoo next time - something with elephants (his favorite).

Playing Ball at the Temple (outside the gate)

Last Monday for Family Home Evening, Scott & I attempted to take Will to the Folsom Zoo (to talk about the Creation & the Garden of Eden . . . there were animals there, you know :), but apparently it's closed on Mondays. Not to be thwarted, Scott decided to drive on to the Sacramento Temple where we ran around & kicked a ball in the grass (Is it okay that we did that at the temple? I assume so since people have Mutual there, & there's a baseball diamond on the grounds. Plus, we were outside the gate.). Anyhow, the temple was so beautiful, & we loved having it for our family playtime backdrop. The weather was perfect, & it turned out to be the perfect day!

Crime & Punishment - Being Distracted Can Lead to . . .

The Crime: grafitti

The Weapon: orange Sharpie

The Suspect:this kid 

The other night, I was upstairs working on a new header for my blog. I had the thought, "I should probably check on Will." In fact, when talking to Scott on the phone, I remember saying, "I just heard the barstool moving, I should see what Will's doing." Well, I was a little caught up in finally doing something with my blog that I decided Will was fine. A couple minutes later, Will came up the stairs looking like the above picture. Cute, right? I thought so (He looked like such a little thug with his arm all tattooed. And notice he only got his left arm - he's definitely right-handed).

Seeing him like that was enough to really get my attention. I took him downstairs to see the extent of the damage . . . . . & there was damage. He apparently had started out by coloring on paper (he had great intentions - but as I mentioned in the previous post, "hell is paved in good intentions" . . . my hell, that is. Next, he moved to the granite counters, then the cupboards, then the white entertainment center (thank goodness he didn't get the TV), then two of his puzzles, & finally my cell phone. At this point, Scott came home from I don't even remember where (but he'd had a long couple days, so this wasn't ideal for either of us). Scott assessed the situation & noticed more drawings on the fridge, the trash compactor, & the wall. He grabbed the stainless steel cleaner & got to work in the kitchen, while I grabbed some water & baking soda to work on the entertainment center (While working over there, I noticed some more "drawings" on the carpet, & decided I just didn't care anymore. At this point, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or pull my hair out). After a long time scrubbing, Scott finally found a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, & everything wiped up perfectly (minus the puzzles & carpet which we ignored). We just kept saying, "It could have been worse" & tried to smile.

We were tempted to make an example of Will by making him wear his crime for a while - like the big "A" Hester Prynne wore in The Scarlet Letter.

Scott had mercy & decided to clean him up, but left the orange dot on his face. That would be punishment enough.

Valentine's Day Follow Through!

It's been said that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." And let me tell you, I've always had great intentions for every holiday, but very rarely follow through with any of my ideas. Valentine's Day is no exception!

Scott's & my Valentine's Days are usually horrible! I don't know what it is - laziness, procrastination, not wanting to give in to the commercialization . . . Whatever the reason, we usually end up with brutally failed dinners (my first attempt at making the "perfect" dinner & dessert for our first Valentine's), lack of gifts (I like presents, so I'm all for them - although I never get around to buying one for Scott either), & a heart-shaped pizza for dinner since all the restaurants are booked/too crowded (the pizza is usually fine, but I can't stand it right now with this pregnancy, so that wasn't an option for Lover's Day 2011).

Well, this year was going to be different! I actually planned ahead - ME! I haven't done that in so long! I bought heart-shaped pancake molds on sale at Crate & Barrel, made sure I had the ingredients for Wheat Germ Pancakes (my favorite breakfast!), & bought fresh berries & whipped my own cream (from the carton, not the cow) instead of opting for the spray kind (my mom trained me better, but I'd fallen off that wagon long ago). I also went to See's to splurge on some sweets for my sweets - red foiled chocolate hearts for William & sour (& I mean sour) hearts for Scott.

I'd never used pancake molds before & was amazed at how fun & easy it was. I went out & bought 2 more, so I have them for next year.

I was also excited to pull out my Valentine's Day glasses that I bought when we were first married. I don't think we'd used them in five or so years.

I told Scott a couple days before the BIG day that I didn't want flowers from the store, but would rather have flowers to plant or flowers from an actual florist (not that store-bought flowers aren't beautiful, but the others are just exceptional). Since I didn't give him much warning with my request, I didn't expect much. Well I was shocked when he actually had a present for me, wrapped in a bag & everything! It was a beautiful silver necklace with circle pendants hanging from it (one saying "L & S" with our anniversary engraved on the back, & the other saying "W" with Will's birthday). I'd been wanting a necklace like this for years & was unsure if I still really wanted one or not, but after seeing it, I got so excited - it was even prettier than the ones I'd been looking at! He did such an awesome job & totally surprised me!

Now I'm just hoping I can keep up the follow-through for the other upcoming holidays. I was amazed at how accomplished I felt - like a real domestic wife from the 50's or something (I even wore a cute vintage-looking apron while making breakfast to add to the illusion of "domestic perfection").

This was by far the best Valentine's Day I've had!

WHEAT GERM PANCAKES

1/2 c. flour

3/4 c. wheat germ

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. sugar

1 c. milk

2 eggs

2 T. oil

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. Mix liquids & add to dry mixture (don't overmix!)

3. Let sit for about a minute & add more milk if it's on the thick side.