We are back.

And our trip was absolutely amazing.
So many stories, so many details, so many pictures, so many memories.
And I really want to update, I really do.
But dang, I am SOO tired!! I need a vacation from my vacation!
And now the hubbs is sick, two days in a row of a 101 F fever. :( Poor baby, I have been waiting on him hand and foot, until I had to come to work today. I hope I do not catch what he has! (And praying that it is not H1N1.)
I am hoping that this tiredness is because I am pregnant, ha ha ha.....maybe the magic of being in Europe worked some kind of miracle.
Thursday I have an appointment with my OB. I am looking forward to it and super nervous at the same time. I need to take in my temping charts and figure out the questions that I want to ask her, and what else I want to talk about. And also explain that Chris already had a S/A. I hope it goes well. That is all for now, I'm too tired to think anymore!

Cycle #12 CD#19

In 24 hours.....

we will be on our way to Chicago, to catch our flight to Europe!
3 nights in Paris. 3 nights in London.
We are super stoked.

I have been wanting to update for a while but work has been super busy. My coworker went on a trip to Peru, and whenever he leaves I have to do all of his application input. This is a huge part of our company, and adds a tremendous amount to my workload depending on the day. So this is why I have been MIA, plus trying to get stuff ready for the trip.

So anyways, I feel like my mind is going in all sorts of different directions. I just want to be prepared and not forget anything! The weather forecast looks perfect. It is supposed to be in the high 50's every day. Perfect Fall weather!

So yeah, I am officially on Cycle #12. In regards to this, I have my yearly check-up after we get back, and will definitely have the "Ok, where do we go from here?" chat. And Chris finally has an appointment with the urologist after I BEGGED him this morning to please call and not wait until after we got back. You never know how long it will take for them to get you in, and low and behold it looks like it won't be until mid-November (which is also part because of his schedule.) I just feel like it will be the end of the year before we know it, which is somewhat frustrating. Oh well I guess, there is nothing we can do that we are not already doing. And I may not be pregnant dangit, but at least I am going to Europe!!!

On a brighter note....it looks like I should be ovulating while we are on our trip!! It should happen somewhere in the last four days or so before we leave. Coincidence??? Maybe....maybe not! ;) I just seriously cannot believe how that worked out? It would be pretty sweet to say I got pregnant while we were there.....

Well, that is all for now. I will update once we return!

Cycle #12
CD #6

Seriously...?

What are you doing body?!?
I normally ALWAYS have cross-hairs by now.



I do not like all this up down up down stuff. I repeat, I do not like it.
Hopefully I O'ed....what do you think???

I am also wondering if this is the affect of having a cold for almost two weeks now. I have been using VICKS Vapor Rub (the grease less cream of course) and taking cough syrup before bed pretty much every night. But then again I thought cough syrup was supposed to help promote better CM and it is weird because I feel like I hardly noticed any at all this cycle!! Which is unusual for me. I am not sure what the heck is going on.....
Also this morning my first temp was 97.57 and the thermometer went off in like less than two minutes (it usually takes like 5 minutes.) So then I took it again right after and it was 98.08. I went with that temp, because I was thinking that maybe the first temp was wrong, my thermometer was FREEZING this morning. It is super cold in our house right now, it got down into the 30's here last night and I am refusing to turn on the heat yet, it is so expensive! But yeah, so I chose the 98.08 over the 97.57. Ok, I am rambling.....that's all for now.

New S/A Results

So, the doc. called yesterday. Finally. At 5:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon. Once again we thought that was pretty funny, but I don't care, I am just happy that he called us!
So after not doing anything for about 14 days the test results were different. The count went up past 200 mil, Chris could not remember exactly what he said, but I guess that was good. The percentages for motility and morphology went up a little, but not much, so I guess he's not quite up to par yet. He told him that he could still drink one caffeinated beverage a day, and up to 3 alcoholic beverages a week, and changing that anymore would not make a difference. I still beg to differ regarding that, but whatev. It's a tough situation too, because anyone who knows my husband knows that he LOVES his coffee, and LOVES his drinks.....we are talking like a beer/wine/liquor connoisseur here people. He could care less about getting drunk. He typically only has one at a time, per day if that. He just genuinely loves it, and it's hard to want to take that away from him, but I can't help it. He is willing to give it up though, but only if the doctor says that is what he is going to have to do.
On a further note, then came the words I had been patiently waiting for and expecting: "I am going to refer you to a Urologist." In a way it stinks, because I feel like we are officially entering into a new journey. The "infertility journey." In another way, I feel fine about all of this, because the situation is not that bad, and there is totally hope. In another way, I am looking forward to his next appointment so we can get some more answers. The doctor said that he thinks it is a possibility that Chris just has some sort of lingering infection and if he got on an antibiotic that it may just clear it up and bam, he would be fine, and so would all his sperm. (I have heard about this before...) I am hoping that is all that this situation is.
That would be AMAZING.

Cycle #11 CD #15

It's been a long two weeks.

I will be very thankful when tomorrow arrives.
In the morning Chris will be submitting sample #2. I feel bad for him. His directions were to -abstain from "doing anything" for 10-14 days.- Well, it's been about 14 days, and I shouldn't be complaining, cause I am sure he is feeling somewhat miserable. Thankfully we have been super busy, and AF was around for the first couple days. I have a good feeling that between holding out for a while, and cutting back on caffeine and alcohol that these results will be a lot better. I am very hopeful and trying to stay positive!

In other news, I have found out about a lot of other people being pregnant. There have been like 6 new additions including some coworkers. But that is ok, hopefully I will be joining them very soon!

My race yesterday went great. I beat my time from last week, and came in 7th place in my division with a time of 26.28 minutes. (37th out of 286 females, 114th out of 391 overall.)

Also, only 23 more days until we are in Paris.
;)
Things are going great, how could I not be happy about life right now?

Cycle #11
CD #8
3-7 days Pre-O

The results are in.

The doctor had called the hubbs two nights ago about the results of his S/A, but he was working so he just left him a message saying that "He needed to talk to him, and that they needed to discuss some things." Naturally I freaked out and was thinking the worst, and then waited all day yesterday and FINALLY he called us back at 9 pm last night. Yeah, weird I know. We thought that was a little late too, but whatev, I was just happy that he called and I didn't have to wait another day to find out what was going on.

So here is what is up: His count was good. 180 million. Seems like a TON but we will take it, we need all we can get. The problems are that only 40% of them are normal and then other 60% either have head or tail abnormalities. The doctor also thought it was a little weird because the consistency was a little thicker than normal, which Chris thinks that maybe it was because he was dehydrated? Also there was only 30% motility which he said was not good at all, they normally want at least 60% motility. So bascially the other 70% were not moving at all and not alive. NOT cool little swimmers...NOT cool.....
So, the doc. told him to cut back to only one caffienated beverage a day (we don't drink soda at all, but he does like his coffee.....) and only 3 or less alcoholic beverages a week. And then in another 10-14 days after abstaining they are going to do another test.
SO....now we wait some more. I am hoping that the next test results are better and produce higher motility and less abnormalities. And that is that. At least we have some answers now......

Lots of stuff going on.

Things are super busy as always. Right now I love it though.
We are coming into our favorite time of year: The Fall and the Holiday Seasons.
I am trying to cherish every minute of every. single. day. I love the weather, the atmosphere, the smells....I bought a bag of apples at the store the other day and they seriously just smell SO good. Every time I go into the kitchen I cannot help but to smell them. Chris and I keep discussing how sometime soon we cannot wait to get some apple cider and sugar-covered or pumpkin donuts. We always heat it up in a saucepan on the stove and Chris always "spices" it up. Literally. Cinnamon...nutmeg...and topped off with just a little brandy. We are going to wait until it gets a little bit cooler outside for that though. I think it probably won't be too long...we got a nice glimpse of that cool weather last week. I think it will return the beginning of October, just a guess.

Chris is doing his internship right now and so far it seems to be going really well. I am happy that he loves it and is passionate about helping people. I know he will do really great at it. Besides the long hours and lack of sleep, he is handling it well and so far not seeing each other much has not been too much of a strain on our relationship. In March we will have been married for 4 years. As time goes on I notice that we have better communication, and work more as a team, which in turn makes getting things done around the house and coordinating our schedules much much easier. I am thankful for him, he is such a great husband.

Since it seems I have a lot more free time during the week while Chris is gone I have been doing a lot to keep myself busy. I have a few 5K's and bike events coming up soon that I have been training for. I am pretty proud of myself, I have never been able to run 3-4 miles without stopping and now it is almost effortless. Of course some days are harder than others, but it is going great. I am also trying to bike to work every morning that I can, as long as it is not raining. I love it! I have gotten an opportunity to spend evenings with friends and catch up. I am much more willing to clean, prepare meals and keep up the laundry while Chris is at work. I blame on the fact that handsome face and charm are not there to distract me. I am also looking forward to all of the new season shows that start this week for the Fall line-up.

I am looking forward to this weekend!! Saturday morning is my first 5K. I am doing the Quest for the Cure...and I am pretty excited and nervous at the same time. That afternoon we are setting a monument, and then in the evening go to the football at Grand Valley because they play SVSU. I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and I always love it when we get to hang out with friends and family.
All in all I am really looking forward to this season, and feel so thankful and blessed.