A journey (part 7) --- Fertility Specialist.

I'm going to copy and paste another piece of our journey towards expanding our family below. If you haven't read the previous parts, you can do so HERE.

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Today is January 4, 2014- "N" is for not pregnant. Last month I didn't get a single positive OPK test :( I called my OB to see if I could get a higher dosage of Clomid this month, but he told me no. So, I am now on my 3rd round of 50mg of Clomid. The side effects of this medication (at least for me) are: severe hot flashes, dizziness, and abdominal bloating. All of these side effects will all be worth it if we can just get 2 lines on the stick!

Also, this week I made an appointment for a consultation with a fertility specialist in 3 weeks! Never in my life (until recently) would I ever have thought I would need to go to a fertility specialist, especially because my first two pregnancies came so easy. We've been TTC for nearly 20 months now! This is nuts.

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Onto another piece of our journey....below!

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Today is January 24, 2014- we just had our first appointment with our fertility specialist! Sorry if you find this boring, but I feel like writing about it, so that I can remember everything that we did on this journey. Clomid didn't work for us again this month, January (not a single positive OPK, again!). Our RE aka fertility specialist doc, told us that if Clomid hasn't resulted in a pregnancy within 3 months, it most likely will never work for us, and we need to move on to other medications/methods.

Our RE doc wants us to try a few other medications before moving on to IUI's and IVF. I'm okay with this, because I believe that the doctor knows best, buuuut at the same time I just want to get pregnant and I feel like these medications and IUIs are going to be a waste of time and money. At this point, I feel like our most successful chance at conceiving is through IVF....but of course I hope I'm wrong.

Doc also told me that she is almost positive that I have PCOS (we will confirm at my next appointment).  Either way, I'm going to start two new fertility medications. The first is called Femara, (it increases hormones to create an egg) and the second is called Ovidrel (an injection that causes the body to release an egg/trigger ovulation).

Today I had some blood work done to check for insulin resistance (it's common with PCOS) and the other test was to check to see if I'm a carrier for any genetic abnormalities. I will be getting blood work and ultrasounds done about every two weeks (occasionally more often) from here on out to check hormone levels and follicle sizes.

Praying that we can find some answers that will help us get pregnant!

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-----> Current day Char here. Today, April 28, 2014, we would be celebrating our little angel's first birthday. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of Christ's Atonement and the Plan of Salvaton. I wanted to share an article that I read recently. It's by Chicko N. Okazaki- a former counselor in the Relief Society presidency for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

You can read the full article HERE. I just picked a few of my favorite parts above :)

The Balloon Fast

We've been busy getting adjusted back to real life- those two trips to the beach spoiled us! Soon after we got back from the beach, we ran over a nail and got a flat tire....that was interesting. I tried to help Jared put the spare on, but ended up causing the entire car to tip over off the little hoist thing-hah) So I decided to sit on the garage stairs and take pictures/watch and everything went smoothly after that....

......until we realized (after the matter) that our spare tire was flat too. Splendid.

...but we were able to pump it up enough to make it the tire store. Whew. Glad that's over!

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Kyler has been on a balloon fast the past two months- meaning we haven't bought him any new balloons. He used to be SOOO obsessed (it was all he played with and all he talked about). So we thought that by not having them in the house, he would find a new favorite toy. It worked (kind of). He still LOVES balloons, but at least he stopped talking about them (as much) and plays with his other toys again.

A few weeks ago, I took him to the dollar store because I needed to buy some gift bags (this is the place where we also usually buy him balloons). As soon as we walked into the store he sniffed the air and said "Mmmmm! It smells like balloons in here!" (hysterical?) but we left the store without him throwing a fit for a balloon so I call this balloon fast a success!

The Easter Bunny brought Kyler a balloon, a bike, and a few other gifts in his basket, but Kyler was most excited about the balloon. 

I wonder how old he will be when he stops thinking that balloons are cool?

He makes it possible.

I love this time of year for two reasons. One, everything is blooming and turning green...it's like nature is coming alive again! Two, and more importantly, I love this time of year because we pay special attention to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior so much. I'm grateful for the life that he lived, and for the example that he has set for us. I know that he truly did live and die for us, and that he was resurrected. He is what makes it possible for us to return to live with our Heavenly Father and loved ones again after this life!

Image source: http://easter.mormon.org

I can't even begin to describe the love of Christ, but I feel it- and it truly is wonderful!

Another week at the beach- lucky us!

This week we went to the beach with some more of Kyler's cousins- but on Jared's side of the fam this time!

Jared and my nephew found some pretty sweet sharks teeth this trip!

Our  little boy is growing up too fast!

We purchased a really cool pirate ship kite...but it wasn't windy enough to fly it. Kyler still had a fun time watching Jared try though!

Kyler ran around so much that he took a nap that lasted just over 3 hours right after the next two pictures were taken:

This is blog worthy because he usually only takes a 1 hour nap everyday... 2 hours if we're lucky...but a 3 hour nap is crazy long for him!

I had some fun girly time with my nieces...painting nails, shopping, watching chick flicks- you name it, we did it! They were my little buddies this week :)

They flew back to their home in New Mexico today...so sad- we're going to miss them!

Some pretty darn cute cousins!

Poor Kyler's face is still a little pale from being sick yesterday, but at least we were able to snap a few pictures of the cousins with out him pouting too bad (he didn't want to cooperate).

Charley also was sick is this picture, and Dani was sick a few days ago. Don't you love family vacations when everyone gets sick? hah. Still fun though!

Getting little kids to hold still for pictures is near impossible. Here's an awesome picture of Kyler's pouting face. He hates forced posed pictures (and apparently baby Gemma does too!).

I read this article awhile back on how to take good pictures of kids (obviously I don't actually follow any of those tips.... LOL ) but maybe you will... and will get some fantastic looking pictures!

Anyways, my favorite pictures are always the spur of the moment type like this one:

Some Lucky Leaf Time

This week we are spending some time at The Lucky Leaf Beach House with some of my family. We have 5 family members out of 7 here- Just missing my sister and her family (from Cali) , and of course my parents (who are in Chile). Kyler doesn't have any cousins that live by us (yet) so it's been an extra fun week for him.

At the fish market with cousin's Rome and Carmella from Texas

Kyler met his newest cousin- baby Gemma! She's a doll. Kyler is obsessed with babies, and keeps asking to hold her, put binkies in her mouth, and cover her with blankets- 

He also has been sharing his toys with her. This boy is going to make a stellar big bro someday (not an announcement- just had to clarify that).

The ocean is still freezing, but the kids don't seem to notice/mind. A few of the grownups braved up and went out in wetsuits.

Yesterday was a cool, foggy day, but still fun...

....and today we've been hit with the stomach flu. So far it's hit 5 adults and 3 kids (including me, Jared, and Ky).

Not the most exciting way to end a vacation, but hey, at least we got a few days of fun and family in!

Earthquake in Chile/ my parents

Today, several friends asked me how parents are doing, and I know there are probably many others wondering...so I thought I'd share their experience up here on the blog:

If you haven't already heard, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck Chile last night, which then triggered landslides, and generated a tsunami (news link). My parents, who are serving a 2 year church mission, live right on the coast of Chile. We (my siblings and I) tried getting ahold of them last night, but weren't able to reach them. We finally heard from them this morning via email!

They said something along the lines of:

Around 9:00 last night the towns alarms went off, and the police drove around with loud speakers telling everyone to evacuate because of the threat of a tsunami. They were shocked! They jumped into their truck, and helped others get situated to higher ground too.

They earthquake happened way further north than where they were, so they didn't even feel it, and it was such a calm night that they could hardly believe there was a threat of a tsunami. It was surprising to not find from tv/internet but from sirens and neighbors!

They had to stay on top of a hill until about 2:00AM before they were permitted to go back to their home by the ocean- the waves didn't get very big where they were, thank goodness- and they are safe and doing well! Thank you for all of the prayers/phone calls!

Here are a few pictures of them from the past few months:

I miss my parents so much, but am proud of them for leaving all they knew behind to serve others and teach about Christ. I've heard about miracles they have witnessed, and I have experienced many blessings because of their willingness to serve. I just love my parents-