OMG....Is It Summer?

Holy Summer! I can't believe it's about to be the 4th of July! Again, I've neglected the blog due to fishing tournaments, weddings and other various social activities. I do have proof that I attended these events and they were the cause of my non-blogging:

Neese Family Fishing Tournament-4th Place


Jimmy & Jenny's Wedding -Off the Chain!

So see, I'm not lazy, I just have lots of special events:) And there is plenty more where that came from! We typically go to Lake Anna for the 4th, but the husband is on call and we are going to try and re-schedule. Other than that, just movin' along!

P.S.-I got a great call today from a co-worker who wanted to thank me for helping her with some side project design work for her church. She said she thanked God for me and was so glad he put me in her life. I was so touched!

The Long, Slow Road

I visited the doc again and while things are going extremely SLOW this time around, there are still some eggs growing and we are moving forward. I've been highly nervous and anxiety ridden this time. Last time it was new, I responded great and unfortunately just didn't have a positive outcome. This time I know what to expect, but I haven't responded as well. I don't know if it's stress, or the fact that I grew every egg in town last time or what.

I had lunch with the lovely Carly on Friday and her equally adorable daughter. She was exclaiming that I had an overall good disposition about the whole thing. I will say that my whole life I have always been an optimist. I always believe in the best of people and all things. If it doesn't go your way, it's probably for a reason.

The truth is I am absolutely petrified. There is no way to explain sometimes how much of a roller coaster it all is. I cry often, but usually no one sees. My ritual now is to cry in the car after the appointment even if it went fine. Or to lay in bed awake basically all night wondering if they will cancel this round or if it will even work out at all. I try to remember that when I start to feel that way it is the devil trying to make me doubt what God has planned for me. That it is just doubt, and not what is truly meant to be. That if I have faith it will all work out in the end. It might not be when I want it to be, but it will work out.

I think I need a vacation.

Looking Up...

Things are getting better and better. I've started a new medicine regiment and Matt's dad came home from the hospital this week. He had a successful stem cell transplant and was initially told he would be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks. After just three he was well enough to be discharged. Awesome!

We've had some great times with friends over the weekend and Matt even won his work NCAA tournament! So things are looking up and we are ready for some warm weather! We are getting busier and busier with weddings, birthdays and holidays.

Oh Dreadful Day....

Yuck. That's how I feel after sobbing most of this afternoon. After what seemed like a terribly long time of waiting for all this IVF stuff to evolve it came to abrupt end today. While not being the end of the world, my doc canceled our IVF cycle because of some irregular hormone levels. I was literally having my retrieval tomorrow morning at 7am. Talk about let down. Apparently it rarely happens in young people, but they can adjust my medicine so that next time they control it better. I don't want to be too disappointed because it is a learning experience and we would be crazy lucky if everything worked perfectly the first time. I guess I would have felt better if it was like a week ago and not the day before the procedure. My doc was super nice and encouraging and I think he was just as upset as I was! He had a feeling something was up, but it wasn't until after I had some more blood work done that it was for sure.

I am giving myself today to feel pouty and then I just need to focus on what in the house we will need to sell in order to afford all the medication again:) We spent all of our loan money already and have a little bit of meds left over, but will need around $2500 to make it all happen again. At least we have three weeks or so to figure it out. I know we are lucky to even have this option, but it is still difficult. I guess it makes it that much more rewarding in the end.

It's Almost Easter...Let's Find Some Eggs...

I've had a lot of inquiries about our recent adventures in creating a child. For those who don't know, we are currently going through IVF. What is that? I thought I'd give everyone the breakdown and details that go along.

Here's some things to know:
IUI (Intra Uterin Insemination-we did this four times)
IVF (In Vitro Fertilization-AKA "petri dish love")
ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection-a lab person plays God and takes a needle with one sperm and injects it right into an egg-this is what we are doing and it's crazy expensive)

In February we had to take out a loan to get things started. How much does it cost? A lot. Like as much as a car. The medication itself is $2-3,000 and NONE of it is covered by insurance. This is pretty common-I am not sure if there are any that do cover it. Of course the economy has to blow right now and it wasn't hard to get a loan, just one that was reasonable for us to re-pay.

March 1st I started a suppression drug called Lupron. It keeps my body from making eggs until the doc wants me to. This requires a shot to the belly every night and Matt very graciously does it, even though I am able to do it on my own. On March 14th I began the egg making drugs, which are two additional shots in the belly. I was really sweating this because one of the meds I need a lab jacket and bunson burner to administer. For whatever reason it comes in a powder form and I have to mix it myself. I was absolutely petrified I was gonna mess it up. Not just the process, but the stuff cost $400 alone! Anyway, I made it through. I will be doing those shots for five days and then they see if I'm producing eggs.

What happens next is this: eventually the doc will say I've got a shload of eggs and he's ready to "retrieve" them. You take one more drug and then go in and get a mild sedative. Then they take the world's largest needle and "retrieve" the eggs through my lady parts. They send the eggs to the lab where they will individually inject an egg with a swimmer. After three days of baking, they will call us and say, "Congrats! X amount of eggs have fertilized!". I will return and have two fertilized eggs transplanted back. Then I wait two weeks and see if it takes.

I will try and be generous and update with information as we go along.

I Like This Ad Campaign

I was driving to work the other day and saw this:



Not exactly this billboard, but one similar, I think it was actually yellow. So it really made me smile. I just like the simplicity of their ad campaign. As I searched the Internet about this campaign, which some might remember started in the New Year, I came across a lot of brand sites that were totally hating on it.
Now I will say the logo is weak. I mean, all brands feel the need to "re-invent the wheel" with their marketing. At this point it doesn't really matter what they do to their logo, we know what it is. Of course it couldn't get anymore minimal, so what will they do in ten years?

So there are various billboards like this one with different saying and I think its very straight forward. I've always been a big fan of the postmodern. I like a sign above a door that says "Door". There is just something about the literal that always pleases me. I think it's the fact that it doesn't have to be over-thought to get a message across. In essence, "it is what it is." I don't need to see some supermodel sitting in a bathtub of Pepsi to make me drink their soda. Sometimes a simple word is enough to get people to notice.

Things that are annoying. One that is not.

1. It never fails. As I am cruising down the highway and going through a toll booth, I always get stuck behind someone who is unraveling every piece of their car to find some change. One day an old man totally tossed the change nowhere near the basket. He actually got out and was wandering around looking for it. I couldn't help but think I was being punished for throwing my gum out the car window or something.

2. Shopping carts. I seem to always select the one that has had its wheels put on backwards. Then I walk through the store sounding like someone with a bag of wrenches tied to myself. I know I am not the only one. I will say if you go to the Target on Midlothian, they have the BEST new all plastic carts that you barely have to whisper on and they navigate properly. It's beautiful.

3.It took me four months to get my cowboy boots. But I got them.

4.I like things that are shiny. Like glitter.