Other Things in Life

I know all I really wright about is Lexi, but she's basically the center of my world right now! But let's talk about what else is going on...

I've had two sinus infections in the last two months. Sucks ass! I blame all of the snotty nose kids who run around the playground and my not being vigilant enough with the hand sanitizer. I'm currently on day 11 of my second round of sickness and it doesn't want to leave. I always seem to get sick right around this week every year. It's always right before, during, or right after ALF. ALF was actually a week early this year and good thing too or else I would have been miserable! 

Sept 27-29 was ALF (Clarion U's homecoming festival) and KJ, Lexi, and I had a good time this year. It was kind of cut short because we didn't have anyone to watch Tucker and Colby. MIL was letting them out for us, but that really doesn't cut it with them. Aussies need attention and exercise, and we didn't want to end up with a hole chewed through our wall. But other than that, we had a good time at the craft fair. There's always so many cute things to see. I got some cute winter hats for Lexi, and also a new purple tutu. The parade was fun. It was Lexi's first and she slept though it! Haha ALF was definitely different with a LO. Instead of drinking the night away like we did in college, KJ went for some drinks with our friends while I put Lexi to bed in our hotel room. It was actually a really nice night. She went down without much trouble, I had a bottle of my favorite wine, watched "Say Yes to the Dress", and was asleep by 9:30.

The week of Sept 23-27 we had new siding put on our house. Well, the bulk of it was done that week. The construction guys are still actually finishing up some little things here are there. Our house was in desperate need of being resided and we finally saved up enough money to get it done. This project was a big reason why I continued to work for as long as I did. We needed the extra money in order to save up enough. But, after a week and a half straight of men pounding on the house all day long, it's finally done and it looks great! We no longer have the crappiest looking house on the block! Yay! We are also getting a new front door put in, but it had to be special ordered, so it's not in yet. We have an older house and so none of the doors or windows (or anything else!) are "standard" size. That should be in next week, though.

Before...


And After!!


 Sept 22 was mine and KJ's 6 year wedding anniversary. MIL watched Lexi for us and we celebrated by spending a day in Pittsburgh. An Ikea trip was in order, of course. I got a nice new display case for my ALF glasses as my anniversary present, and we picked up some Christmas gifts for Lexi. We went to lunch at Steak and Shake and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummm!! We had a really nice time just the two of us. It's hardly ever just the two of us any more and it was really nice to reconnect. We needed that.

 Sept 21 I ran a 10k in Clarion and did really well. I crushed my old time and had a new personal best of 47:02. 6th female finisher. Really, really proud of myself!! Three years ago when I ran this particular race (the 5k) for the first time, I made it my goal to do the 10k one year. It feels really good to have met that goal and get a PB in the process!

Sept 15 was mine and KJ's 10 year dating anniversary. I can't believe it's been 10 years! We met my freshman year at Clarion, I was 18 and KJ was 21. We actually met my first day at school when I moved in. I still remember the first time I saw him, and no joke, I said to myself, " I wonder if I'll marry him?" I completely believe that when you find your sole mate, you just "know". We officially started dating three weeks later and have been together ever since. A week into dating I made my mind up that, yes, I would marry him. He didn't actually ask me until three years later, but I knew it all along! :)

Anyways, I ran the Sharon PD 5k that morning and did really well. 22:14 which is a new PB! I was also the 2nd female finisher. I got a nice plack... it'll got nicely right next to my dear rack... haha! Yeah, it's just a little "woodsy" for my taste. I hung it in our "rustic room". That afternoon, the three of us went to a weeding of our good friends. It was beautiful, but it was right in the middle of when Lexi usually naps. She was fussy the hole time. I didn't even get to see the ceremony because I had to take her outside. It was an outdoor reception, but it was very crowded. We tried to make the stroller work and it was just a great big mess. I really wish I could have enjoyed it more, but it was just not a good time for us. We left early and chilled out at home for the rest of the day.

I was having really good hair one night, so here's a good old bathroom selfie :)

Lots of Love,
KJsbabe

Where to Start?

Where to start? So much has been going on! Busy busy. You had better grab your popcorn now, because this is going to be a long one!

 
 
On Sept 20 I had an appointment with an infertility nurse at my new OB's for a consultation. She was really nice. I explained to her everything about trying, MC #1, the whole MC #2 debacle, and my short LP's. She was really wonderful about everything. She knew exactly what I was talking about and jumped right in to talking about testing and Clomid. She said that because we've been trying for a year and a half and have had two MC's, I qualify for testing with them. When she said I should start charting my BBT, I got really excited and said, "I love charting!". She was very open to looking at my charts (my old OB pretty much rolled his eyes at my charts) and even complimented how neat and organized FF was. The plan we came up with was on my next cycle to do CD3 blood work, a HSG on CD7, and a SA for KJ. The app really could not have gone better.

Mine and KJ's 4th wedding anniversary was on Sept 22. I was really sick all that week, so we had a low key celebration of take out, a movie, and FWP. I, of coarse, was O'ing while I was sick, but I wasn't about to give up on a perfectly good month just because I wasn't feeling well. We ended up going out to a nice dinner that weekend to celebrate properly.

I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to test until Monday, Oct 3, because I was planning on running two races that weekend. If I did happen to get a BFP, I didn't want to be thinking, "OMG, I'm PG, I'm so scarred to run!" I wanted to be able to run well and not have any emotional distraction. Well. I didn't even make it to my test date. AF came Friday (Sept 30) night and gave me another 7 day LP. Joy. Another reason I didn't want AF to come on that day was because last year my last AF before my BFP started on Sept 30. Now I'm lined up to O and possibly get a BFP exactly when I did last year. This is the one and only month I hope I don't get pg. It would be really hard go through the same time line again. I think I would be twice as worried as any other month. *Le sigh*




Saturday, Oct 1 KJ and I drove over to Clarion for the start of ALF week 5k. It was rainy and cold and all around gross outside. I ran anyway, but I didn't have a great time. I got 24:00 and came in 59th. I just wasn't pushing myself and was kind of disappointed because of it. Also, that day we went back to that yard sale from a few weeks ago and bought the rest of the ALF glasses that sweet old lady had. I have them all set up in my cabinet now and they look great. The search is back on for more!



On Sunday Oct 2, KJ and I went to the next town over and we both ran in the Clark Vol FD 5k. It was still cold and rainy (high of 49 degrees!), so there was hardly anyone there (42 runners!), but we ran anyways. It was KJ's first race and I was very proud of him. I also redeemed myself from the day before. KJ came in 22nd over all with 25:47 and I can in 12th over all and 1st female with 22:19, and new personal best. I was pretty proud of my time and that I won! I've never come in first before. I won a fruit basket and everything!




Monday, Oct 3 I did my CD3 blood work (even though it was cd4).


Wednesday, Oct 5 I took a half day of work and drove with my sister to Cleveland. We saw Hanson at the House of Blues!! I had such an awesome time. They are such great live performers. You know, sometimes you go see acts live and they don't sound anything like what they're supposed to. Hanson is nothing like that. They sound exactly like they do on their CDs and they're so energetic and fun to watch! The concert was by far the best I've ever been to! Life changing!




 

On Thursday, Oct 6 I had my HSG. It went pretty well. When they put the catheter in and blew up the balloon, I had a pretty bad cramp, but other than that it was fine. Everything looked good. My ute had a good shape and my tubes were clear, so that was good news. Also, I got my b/w back that day. Everything looked good except for my FSH and LH levels. They were out of balance which can be an indication of PCOS. I was pretty surprised by that. I've read over the symptoms a few times before and it's never sounded like something I had. My IF nurse sent me for more b/w and I also had an u/s done that day to check for cysts. It showed I have a small cyst on my right ovary. I'm not sure what that means. I thought I've read before that a cyst now and then is normal. I honestly haven't had time to look anything up about it.

Friday, October 7 I went in for my extra b/w and KJ had his SA drop off. He was kind of nervous about it, but got through it. After that, we headed over to Clarion for ALF. Every year on the Friday of ALF there's a huge craft fair down main street. it stretches for 12 blocks all the way from campus to the stadium. On years where the weather is nice (like this year) there's been up to a quarter of a million people all over this little college town. I officially started my Christmas shopping! I found some nice gifts for my sister and MIL. I got a cute little sign to hang in my kitchen, also.



KJ and I had a really good time catching up with all of our old college friends at ALF. A lot of KJ's friends are starting to have kids now. Last year at this time I was so sure I would have a baby to show off this weekend, or at least a nice bump. It was hard seeing everyone ooo and aww over all of these adorable babies. I tried to stay positive, though. It helped to know we're at least moving forward with the testing. Maybe someday I'll have a LO to take to ALF.



"Someday. Say it's coming soon"

Yesterday, my IF nurse called with KJ's SA results. She said he has good motility, a good amount of normal sperm, and good morphology. She did say, though, that they found white blood cells in his sample. She said it probably means that he was sick or is getting sick, and that's probably nothing. They do want him to see an urologist, though, just in case to check things out. KJ wasn't too happy about seeing a specialist, but is going to go for me. I really hope the nurse is right and it's nothing.

Today I got a new iPhone! I'm excited! This is a really big step for me. I've had the same LG flip phone since before we were married. It's still in pretty good shape, so I really didn't feel the need to upgrade. I have an iTouch, and between the two, it did pretty much everything I needed. Lately, though, I've been seeing the need more and more to get a smart phone. I wanted the GPS, camera, Internet anywhere, touch and phone all in one pretty package. I really like it so far. I'm just trying to transfer everything over now. What a pain!




Phew! That was long! If you made it all the way through, that deserves some cheese cake!

 


Lots of Love,
KJsbabe

And I waited for you...

This weekend was pretty busy. On Saturday KJ and I drove over to the Peanut Butter Festival and I ran the 5k. It was a chilly morning, but it turned out to be a good race. My time was 23:32, which I was really happy with. Only 9 seconds off of my personal best. I came in 22nd over all, 4th woman, and 2nd in the 20-29 female age bracket. I got a silver medal!

On our way home from the race we saw a sign for a yard sale, and since we both love a good sale, we stopped. The town we were driving through was close Clarion where KJ and I met and went to school. Every fall for homecoming they hold the Autumn Leaf Festival. It's this huge thing where a quarter of a million people come to this tiny college and swarm main street in search of crafts, fried food, and of course, leaves. We go back every year and we love it. Also, every year since 1959 they have made a commemorative glass to go along with the theme that year. I started buying them half way through school and thought it would be cool to collect them. So, whenever I see an old one I pick it up. Back to the yard sale,  we hit the jackpot! This sweet old lady was having a sale and had a ton of old ALF glasses. It was awesome! I only had $12 on me so I bought six glasses: '01, '99, '98, '96, '95, and '94. We got to talking and she obviously knew all about the glasses and how people collect them. She offered to keep the rest of what she had back for me for later. I couldn't believe she was willing to do that! We'll be going back to Clarion for a 5k on Oct 1, so now we also have plans to go back to this woman's house and buy eight more glasses (much older ones) for $30. Plus she said she'd keep an eye out for any more for me. It was an awesome day!



Sunday I ran the Sharon PD Five-O 5k. It was another chilly morning, but that's September for you. The race went really well and I made a new personal best! I had a time of 22:44, 22nd over all, 4th woman, and 1st in the 25-29 female age bracket. I can't believe I'm in the 22's! I never thought I'd get that fast. I'm very proud of my new time! I got another medal, too.



Sunday night I stared feeling like I was coming down with something. This morning I woke up with a full blown sinus infection. I feel like poo... There's a race on both Saturday and Sunday that I haven't signed up for, but could still do. I guess I'll have to see how I'm feeling towards the end of the week and decide if I feel up to them or not.



I hope I feel better soon...

"Maybe some day..."

Lots of Love,
KJsbabe

Cd1- On to Cycle #2 Post MC

Well, this month was a bust. I was really hopeful at the beginning, but once my temp dropped yesterday, I knew AF would show up shortly. Also, I'm back to my 9 day LP. I need to find a way to get an appointment with that new doctor. She won't see me just to chat, but I really feel like there's something going on with me. Everything I've read says that 10 days and bellow isn't good. It's probably because I'm PMS'ing but I'm really grumpy about it today and I'm pissed off that no one will talk to me about it. I'm so tired, I just want to go back to bed.

This next month will be the last one where we could get PG and be able to announce it at ALF. Every year DH and I, and all of our old college friends go back to Clarion for homecoming and the Autumn Leaf Festival. Since we started trying I have been looking forward to having a bump at ALF, and later taking our babies to show off to all of our friends and old professors. If I got PG this cycle I would be 16w then. I wouldn't have a huge bump, but it would be something, and we would have a 6mo old for the following year. I am hopeful...

If I don't get PG this cycle, but do the next, I would only be 12w at ALF. That seems like it would still be too close to the high risk 1st tri to announce comfortably. This past time, we told some close friends at 10w and I still really regret it. I don't think I'll really be comfortable telling anyone until, like, 20+w. Maybe after we find out the sex, I'll be able to relax... When ever that happens.

As bummed as I am about cd1, I'm still very grateful that we can try at all. I keep thinking back to the four months of hell, and it makes me very thankful that I have my cycle back and we are able to actively TTC. This is cycle #2 post MC, cycle #9 overall.

"Tomorrow we can follow through with all that we've begun. Tomorrow we'll be free, my love. We'll never be afraid."

Lots of Love,
KJsbabe