1.14.2012
Not Today
I believe I have made an almost full recovery from my time with the Valuim. I wish I could say it was a complete recovery, but until I get the videos of me acting like a loon off my husbands phone I don't think I can consider it a full recovery. Today, I was excited to take my ovulation test, it seemed like it took an eternity to give me the results. Sadly, today was not the day of ovulation, but I do have more time for it to be the day.
1.13.2012
Dazed and Confused
Yesterday was my HSG test. I wish I could say that I remember everything that happened but I can honestly say that I don't... My doctor had prescribed me a Valium to help me relax because the test is said to be quite painful. We got to the hospital and after I registered and signed my consent form I was instructed to take the Valium. Now for a girl that never takes medicine, the Valium had quite the affect on me. Within a few minutes I could tell it was working and within 20 minutes I started acting really funny. I don't remember much, but I remember I couldn't get my hospital gown on and I needed my husband to help me. I also remember that I kept apologizing to the nurses for acting like an idiot (even though I don't think I did act like an idiot.) After the procedure my husband kept trying to take my phone from me so that I couldn't make calls, however, I wouldn't let him take it from me and I did indeed make a few calls. LOL!!! Two of my girlfriends called my husband and asked if he was going to work and if they needed to "babysit" me and/or my baby. My dear sweet husband thought it would be a good idea to video me while 'under the influence', those videos will be destroyed.... I decided that I don't like the way that drug made me feel and I hope to never take one again, I can't figure out why people wanna feel like that on purpose, I hated it.
Anyway, as far as the results of my test go, the PA who performed the test said everything looked good. I am hoping that the test blew my tubes open and will make it easier to become pregnant, we will see. Now I am just waiting to ovulate, once that happens we will go in and do the IUI. Wish me luck! They have me on so many meds right now and it is making me so sick, I hope this isn't what morning sickness is like, yucky, but I'll gladly take it to have a baby:)
Anyway, as far as the results of my test go, the PA who performed the test said everything looked good. I am hoping that the test blew my tubes open and will make it easier to become pregnant, we will see. Now I am just waiting to ovulate, once that happens we will go in and do the IUI. Wish me luck! They have me on so many meds right now and it is making me so sick, I hope this isn't what morning sickness is like, yucky, but I'll gladly take it to have a baby:)
1.10.2012
Fertility Testing Update
Disclaimer: There might be a TMI (too much information) ALERT needed for the post.
Today I went in for my blood test and an ultrasound. The purpose of these tests is to help the doctor determine my female health and the condition and age of my eggs. I was slightly nervous for this test because it has always been my joke that my eggs were expiring and that I needed to have babies sooner than later. I was afraid my joke could actually be a reality and I wasn't sure I was ready to have that confirmed. Anyway, I had my husband stay home with the baby and went alone because it was going to be an easy appointment. They drew my blood first. When she was drawing it I said to the nurse, "So for my appointment today he isn't going to look up my dress is he?" She started laughing and said, "He's going to look up your dress alright." Huh? Ummm, no one has EVER told me that there is more than one way to get an ultrasound!! I thought this was going to be the situation where they put jelly stuff on your belly and ran a little thingy over your stomach....WRONG, they don't run it over your belly, it goes somewhere else. It wasn't a big deal, I just wasn't prepared for it. There are some things I'm learning the hard way.
So, the doc said so far I am looking good. My follicles (the little guys that can turn into eggs) are looking good and healthy, my ovaries are alright, my uterus is doing what it should. The doc said that as soon as the blood test results come back (3 days) he will know for sure that things are good or if we have cause for concern.
On Thursday I go in for an HSG test. I don't understand this text exactly, but from what I understand it is an x-ray of my lady parts. They fill me up with a special dye and look at my fallopian tubes and uterus. They are checking for blockages and other problems. Everyone says this test hurts, I guess I'll find out for myself.
After my test Thursday we will wait until ovulation and then do insemination. (I warned you at the beginning that this post was going to be full of more information than you probably wanted to know.) So right now I am on femara (it's like Clomid without the crazy factor, you get with Clomid,) it is supposed to help me ovulate. I am also on what feels like 100 other medicines, I don't usually take any meds and so remembering has been chore! Overall I am so thankful for modern medicine and thankful for the chance to expand my family in this way. However, if I had to/get to adopt all my kids I would be the happiest mom on the planet. I'll let you know how Thursday goes.
Today I went in for my blood test and an ultrasound. The purpose of these tests is to help the doctor determine my female health and the condition and age of my eggs. I was slightly nervous for this test because it has always been my joke that my eggs were expiring and that I needed to have babies sooner than later. I was afraid my joke could actually be a reality and I wasn't sure I was ready to have that confirmed. Anyway, I had my husband stay home with the baby and went alone because it was going to be an easy appointment. They drew my blood first. When she was drawing it I said to the nurse, "So for my appointment today he isn't going to look up my dress is he?" She started laughing and said, "He's going to look up your dress alright." Huh? Ummm, no one has EVER told me that there is more than one way to get an ultrasound!! I thought this was going to be the situation where they put jelly stuff on your belly and ran a little thingy over your stomach....WRONG, they don't run it over your belly, it goes somewhere else. It wasn't a big deal, I just wasn't prepared for it. There are some things I'm learning the hard way.
So, the doc said so far I am looking good. My follicles (the little guys that can turn into eggs) are looking good and healthy, my ovaries are alright, my uterus is doing what it should. The doc said that as soon as the blood test results come back (3 days) he will know for sure that things are good or if we have cause for concern.
On Thursday I go in for an HSG test. I don't understand this text exactly, but from what I understand it is an x-ray of my lady parts. They fill me up with a special dye and look at my fallopian tubes and uterus. They are checking for blockages and other problems. Everyone says this test hurts, I guess I'll find out for myself.
After my test Thursday we will wait until ovulation and then do insemination. (I warned you at the beginning that this post was going to be full of more information than you probably wanted to know.) So right now I am on femara (it's like Clomid without the crazy factor, you get with Clomid,) it is supposed to help me ovulate. I am also on what feels like 100 other medicines, I don't usually take any meds and so remembering has been chore! Overall I am so thankful for modern medicine and thankful for the chance to expand my family in this way. However, if I had to/get to adopt all my kids I would be the happiest mom on the planet. I'll let you know how Thursday goes.
1.08.2012
Adoption Finalization
Just before Christmas we finalized DCs adoption. It was wonderful to be there with so many friends and family members.
Open Adoption
If you would have asked me a year ago if I would be okay with an open adoption I would have told you there was no way. Things have changed. We made the decision early on that we didn't want DC to ever feel the emptiness that so many adopted people feel. It seems that the vast majority of adopted people I have talked to admit to always feeling like something was missing. It doesn't matter how incredible their adopted family is/was, adopted kids generally always feel a little space of emptiness. The thought of DC growing up with that makes my heart hurt. From the research we have done we have come to learn that adopted kids at the very least want to know their story. They want to know where they came from, who they look like, and why they might be slightly different than the rest of the family. Some people are happy to just know their story and maybe even see a picture of their birth parents. Other people end up wanting more, they want to meet or sometimes even get to know their birth families. We have also come to discover that the only relationships that really need to change are who mom and dad are, all of the other relationships can stay intact and the adopted kid can grow up with a happy and healthy life. **Disclaimer: Of course this is only true if the birth family is healthy and if is in the best interest of all parties involved, I feel this kind of goes without saying.**
In our situation with DC we are so blessed to have adopted him from a WONDERFUL family! His birth mothers family is incredible and we are so blessed to have them in our lives. (The birth father and his family aren't quite as healthy, we will save that for another day...) We knew early on that it would be in DC's best interest to know his birth family and to have a relationship with them. It was important for us to let go of any insecurites we might have had about him being close with his birth family, especially because this was in his best interest. I also had to ask my family to let go of their insecurites. We reassured our parents that they are still the grandparents and that they weren't being replaced. But can I say it's great having grandparents that live so close! When I need a babysitter I call Grandma and Grandpa first and they are always so excited to have him. I feel comfortable leaving him there because I know they love him and also want what's best for him. They are happy to see him and to have a relationship with not only him but my husband and I as well. We are lucky and blessed.
My hope is that DC will feel complete as he grows up, that he won't have the emptiness I fear he could have. I want him to know there are soooo many people that love and care about him. We will always be very clear with him who his parents are and I hope that he will grow up to understand every ones important roles in his life and that he will understand his. And if at any time it seems that he is overwhelmed or if for some reason he can't handle this, then we will reevaluate and make decisions based on what is in his best interest. But for now, he is one lucky kid because he has three sets of grandparents and lots and lots of family to love him!
In our situation with DC we are so blessed to have adopted him from a WONDERFUL family! His birth mothers family is incredible and we are so blessed to have them in our lives. (The birth father and his family aren't quite as healthy, we will save that for another day...) We knew early on that it would be in DC's best interest to know his birth family and to have a relationship with them. It was important for us to let go of any insecurites we might have had about him being close with his birth family, especially because this was in his best interest. I also had to ask my family to let go of their insecurites. We reassured our parents that they are still the grandparents and that they weren't being replaced. But can I say it's great having grandparents that live so close! When I need a babysitter I call Grandma and Grandpa first and they are always so excited to have him. I feel comfortable leaving him there because I know they love him and also want what's best for him. They are happy to see him and to have a relationship with not only him but my husband and I as well. We are lucky and blessed.
My hope is that DC will feel complete as he grows up, that he won't have the emptiness I fear he could have. I want him to know there are soooo many people that love and care about him. We will always be very clear with him who his parents are and I hope that he will grow up to understand every ones important roles in his life and that he will understand his. And if at any time it seems that he is overwhelmed or if for some reason he can't handle this, then we will reevaluate and make decisions based on what is in his best interest. But for now, he is one lucky kid because he has three sets of grandparents and lots and lots of family to love him!
Too Much Information....
I started my period yesterday... Yeah, I said it and I'm owning it. We are beginning into the not so magical world of fertility testing and you can't begin many of the tests until your cycle starts, so hence my announcement. I have had many of my friends ask how it's going, I decided my blog was the best way to let everyone know how it's going without having to explain it a million times.
Here is our story and I will update it whenever there is something new to tell. We have been trying to have a baby for close to 2 years now. I have had a couple very early miscarriages and other than that no pregnancies. About a year ago we went to our family doctor who gave us orders to get a blood test for me and for my husband to get his swimmers checked. I am not sure why but it took us a year to actually go in and get tested. I think we were afraid to hear bad news. Well, we had maxed out our out of pocket expenses for 2011 so we finally went at the end of December and did the testing we were dreading.
Anyone who had ever done any sort of testing knows that it is a LONG wait until you hear the results. Our son DC had an appointment with our doc a few days later, so while my husband was there with our son he asked for the results. Much to his dismay the doctor (who we won't be seeing anymore) sent her very young CNA in to deliver a referral slip to a fertility specialist and bad news. Within a week we were sitting in the fertility specialists office discussing our options. He had looked over our results and said not to worry quite yet, we weren't beyond hope. Thank heavens.
We left the office with a plan and that felt great! We feel so hopeful knowing we have such an experienced confident specialist working with us. His office staff was so helpful and everyone was so NICE! They made us feel comfortable and spent all the time with us we needed and answered all of the questions we had.
Monday I go in for a more extensive blood test and an ultrasound on my ovaries. Then a few days after that I have to go to the hospital for another test, they tell me it's going to be unpleasant... Then in 10-14 days we are going to try insemination! At that time they will also do a more extensive test on my husbands swimmers... Bottom line is by the end of the month we should know what the problem is. I am trying so hard not to get my hopes up about the insemination, but I just can't help it. The doc says it usually doesn't work the first time, I'm trying not to forget that.
Meanwhile, I am SO thankful for my sweet baby boy. He is perfect and we love him so much. He filled a hole in my heart and everyday he makes life wonderful. I am thankful things have happened the way they have otherwise we might not have him and that would be unimaginable. No matter what happens this month with our testing I am going to do my best to just put my trust in The Lord. So far he has followed through with all of his promises and I need to learn to trust his timetable. Adoption has blessed our lives in ways we could have never imagined and so if we end up adopting all of our kids then we will be the happiest people on earth.
I'll let you know how the testing on Monday goes....
Here is our story and I will update it whenever there is something new to tell. We have been trying to have a baby for close to 2 years now. I have had a couple very early miscarriages and other than that no pregnancies. About a year ago we went to our family doctor who gave us orders to get a blood test for me and for my husband to get his swimmers checked. I am not sure why but it took us a year to actually go in and get tested. I think we were afraid to hear bad news. Well, we had maxed out our out of pocket expenses for 2011 so we finally went at the end of December and did the testing we were dreading.
Anyone who had ever done any sort of testing knows that it is a LONG wait until you hear the results. Our son DC had an appointment with our doc a few days later, so while my husband was there with our son he asked for the results. Much to his dismay the doctor (who we won't be seeing anymore) sent her very young CNA in to deliver a referral slip to a fertility specialist and bad news. Within a week we were sitting in the fertility specialists office discussing our options. He had looked over our results and said not to worry quite yet, we weren't beyond hope. Thank heavens.
We left the office with a plan and that felt great! We feel so hopeful knowing we have such an experienced confident specialist working with us. His office staff was so helpful and everyone was so NICE! They made us feel comfortable and spent all the time with us we needed and answered all of the questions we had.
Monday I go in for a more extensive blood test and an ultrasound on my ovaries. Then a few days after that I have to go to the hospital for another test, they tell me it's going to be unpleasant... Then in 10-14 days we are going to try insemination! At that time they will also do a more extensive test on my husbands swimmers... Bottom line is by the end of the month we should know what the problem is. I am trying so hard not to get my hopes up about the insemination, but I just can't help it. The doc says it usually doesn't work the first time, I'm trying not to forget that.
Meanwhile, I am SO thankful for my sweet baby boy. He is perfect and we love him so much. He filled a hole in my heart and everyday he makes life wonderful. I am thankful things have happened the way they have otherwise we might not have him and that would be unimaginable. No matter what happens this month with our testing I am going to do my best to just put my trust in The Lord. So far he has followed through with all of his promises and I need to learn to trust his timetable. Adoption has blessed our lives in ways we could have never imagined and so if we end up adopting all of our kids then we will be the happiest people on earth.
I'll let you know how the testing on Monday goes....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)