Sunday, April 22, 2012

Journey to Baby

It's no secret that Boe and I have been trying to have a baby for the past 3 years or so. And it did not come easily. These past 3 years or so have been very hard with many ups and downs. We have learned so much, are faith has been tested, we have grown stronger as a couple, and our love for one another has been strengthed. Infertility is not easy and it took a long time for us to come to terms with. We have been blessed with wonderful caring Doctors and nurses along the way, been blessed financially, and with great Insurance. We have had such a great support system full of family and friends. We strated to investigate our infertility in the fall of 2010. We tried clomide (unsuccessful), 4 IUI's (Intrauterine Insemination) and lastly IVF ( Invitro Fertilization). We started IVF in the spring of 2011. It was the first time we felt we had a chance at getting pregnant. We started our fresh cycle in April which included many Dr.'s visits, lots and lots of shots, and a handful of ultrasounds. Once my ovaries were nice and stimulated we retrieved 12 eggs. We implanted 2 embryos. Those 14 days waiting to see if they took were the longest of our lives! To our surprise we found out we were pregnant! We were thrilled! The Dr. wanted to continue to check my HCG levels to make sure my numbers were going up like they should. But unfortunately they weren't doubling. There was concern over an eptoic pregnancy or the baby had stopped growing. I had to come down for an early ultrasound right away. Boe had to work so I had to make the 3 hour trip to Utah alone (worst idea ever). The ultrasound confirmed our worst fears. The Dr. said the gestational sac looked like it had collapsed within itself. My Dr. tried to reassure me that it was most likely natures way of protecting me from an unhealthy baby. But just to be sure they wanted to do a follow-up Ultrasound the next week. I was crushed and heartbroken. I needed Boe there with me. Luckily I have 2 sisters that live in Utah so I was able to go see them and find the comfort I needed until I drove back to Idaho. The next weeks Ultrasound showed an empty uterus and I "offically" miscarried 2 days later. Worst pain I have ever experienced. We took the required 3 month break and than in Sept 2011 we tried again. This time we did a frozen cycle which still requires shots but no stimulation. So it's alot easier on the body. Due to our embryos not being in as great of shape after being frozen we decided to implant 3 this time. Again another long wait but unfortunately none of them took. After 2 heartbreaking cycles we debated whether or not to try again. I was physically and emotionally drained. I had put my body through so much that past year and I was ready for a break. After many talks, fasting, and prayers we decided to try just one last time before the year was up. This time we decided to try a new Infertility Clinic.We are so glad we did. Not that the first clinic was bad but the second one was so much more personal and our results were better. We had one nurse and one Dr.this time who watched us closely and checked on us often. It was a new set of medications/shots with a slightly different regimine. We retrieved 24 eggs (this is fabulous results), 23 were mature (which is awesome and very rare to have that many), and 7 were excellent or top quality (they said that almost never happens) and 6 were great quality. We implanted 2 embyros two days after my birthday and found out Dec 29th we were expecting.Greatest birthday/Christmas present ever! This time my HCG level was high so no concern! I peed on 5 sticks just to be sure. We had our first Ultrasound in Jan. at 5 weeks and were able to see our baby's heartbeating. We were a little surprised we weren't having 2 but we didnt mind we just felt so blessed. We are so thankful and grateful for the wonderful Dr.'s, Embryologists, Nurses that took such good care of us and our embryos. I am again so thankful for wonderful family members and friends who prayed and fasted for us. I am very grateful for my mother who let me call her constantly and vent/talk/cry her ear off. She is such a strength to me. And to Boe who is my rock I could not have made it through with anyone but him. Our bond and love have grown so much and am thankful he was always there for me with his healing hugs. And we are especially thankful for a loving Heavnely Father who gave us the strength and faith to get through. This baby is going to be so loved. Im starting out 25lbs heavier than I would like due to all the hormones I have been on this past year and half but I dont even care this baby is totally worth it. IVF is obviously not the first choice of way of getting pregnant but honestly it is such a neat process its amazing how far science has come and I am grateful for it because without we wouldnt have this precious baby of ours and 7 more embryos waiting for a chance! : )
My box of all my medications/shots
This is me waking up from our retrival in Dec. I look high as a kite
Baby's first picture! This is a picture of the 2 embryos we implanted in Dec. Not sure which one became our baby.

1 + 1 =3

We are so thrilled to announce we are having a baby!!! We are due Sept. 3 2012!We found out Dec. 29th so it was the best late Christmas Present ever! Even though we found out through a blood test I still peed on 5 sticks just for fun! I am now 21 weeks and feeling great! This pregnancy hasn't been to bad so far. Was only really sick between weeks 6-9. I feel huge already but im loving the bump! Boe is so thrilled about becoming a dad! He loves to touch the belly and can't wait for when he can feel the baby kick! I haven't felt any real distinct movements yet, there have been a few times that I think I felt movement. At our last ultrasound I asked about the location of the placenta and it's in the front so she said I probably wouldnt feel movement until I was farther along. That happened to my sister as well so I'm thinking probably in the next couple weeks I will know the movement for sure. We are in love with this baby already and can't wait to for Sept! We feel so blessed and honored to get the chance to raise one of Heavenly Fathers special spirits! Only 19 more weeks to go!!
Baby G at 11 wks
The bump at about 18 weeks
Baby G waving at us! 18 wks

Thursday, March 22, 2012

My recent Crafting

Cute Halloween craft I did with my Sisters


This one is much cuter in person because you can see the cute scrapbook paper I used better
Finally got around to finishing my Valentines sign. Only took me a year and a half. I love it but I noticed the "v" block is smaller than the others so it looks uneven. Oh well! I have come to find I really like doing crafting (even if im not very good) and thanks to Pintrest I have more ideas!





Christmas 2011


I am very behind on my blogging! Lets face it I'm terrible at this. Mostly because Boe and I never take pictures and we don't have anything super interesting to blog about. But anyways here are a few snap shots of our Christmas this past year. It again was super low key and pretty lonely for me. Boe had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas. I didn't get to see him until 8pm that night. Since we weren't able to spend Christmas morning together I made us a yummy dinner on Christmas Eve, we watched The Church Nativity movie, and lastly opened presents while watching Its a Wonderful Life. It was nice to have a little time together cuddling next to our beautiful Christmas tree. Christmas day was the hardest I went to Church by myself and then came home a lounged on the couch for awhile watching Elf. Exciting right? Then went up to Boe's grandparents for Christmas dinner and presents. It was nice to hang out with family but I was so happy when Boe finally got off work and we could be together. Looking forward to this years holidays where I get Boe for all of them!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Our Very Thankful Anniversary

This year we celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss. This year our Anniversary happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day. We definitely had something to be extra thankful for this year. The only unfortunate thing about the day was we didn't get to spend it together. Boe had to work all day. It was hard having to spend a major holiday and our Anniversary apart for the first time. Hopefully we will get to celebrate soon. I am So blessed to have married such a wonderful man and to be sealed to him for all eternity. Our 4 years of marriage haven't always been the easiest and 2011 has brought many trials and heartaches but I am so grateful to have him by my side. I know I couldn't get through these hard times without him by my side. He is my best friend and the man of my dreams. I love you Boe

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Fall Fun!

About a month ago my cousin Emily and Ian came to visit me from Utah! It was so good to see them! I hadn't seen Ian since before his mission and Emily in about a year! The night they got here we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and then came home and watched Lion King in 3D. Which by the way is AMAZING. And stayed up way to late catching up. The next day we slept in and Ian made us a fabulous breakfast! After that we went to Bear World! I have always wanted to go but Boe never wants to take me because he says we live in Idaho and we don't have to pay to see wildlife (which is probably true) but it was still fun! We loved seeing all the animals and the petting zoo was a hoot! Especially when Ian kept getting kicked by the baby deer! Most of the bears already had a jump start on their hibernation but they were still fun to look at! After Bear World we hit up the mall and got some yummy smelling candles at Bath and Body. That night Emily and I drank apple cider, watched Young Frankenstein, and made homemade caramel apples rolled in crushed up Halloween oreo's. They didn't look beautiful but they were soo good! I'm thinking I need to make them again. It was a fun 2 days that went by way to fast! Can't wait for them to visit again!






Boe's B-day!

Oct 6th is also Boe's birthday! Poor guy had to spend his 28th birthday working and cutting up a tree. I hadn't seen Boe in a few days because we work opposite shifts occasionally so I made sure he felt loved on his birthday. I got him a bouquet of balloons (which our dog was petrified of, so funny), hung a banner, and wrapped all his presents. It was all waiting for him when he came home from work! We weren't able to celebrate his birthday on the actual day because we both worked. But we did have a birthday celebration at Red Robin on Saturday! So happy this guy was born so I could marry him! He is such a wonderful stand up guy and I'm so lucky that he is mine.