Looking Good so far

S had an appointment for an ultrasound this moring.  And it looks like so far we have two, maybe three contenders for this month!  She had two folliciles on one side that were around a 14 and one that was a 13 and then a few smaller folliciles on the other side, 12s and 10s I think.  So fingers crossed that the next few days of shots produces three good folliciles so that this month will be a success!  We have another appointment Saturday morning to do another ultrasound and possibly trigger.  We are looking at possibly a Sunday/Monday insem or a Monday/Tuesday of next week!  I really really really hope that this month is our lucky month, so send us the good vibes please!

-Liz 

Winner!

Amanda, you won the backpack!  I sent you an email but if you don't get it today please contact me.  Thanks for entering guys!

Aurorae Sling Backpack Review and Giveaway!!

I was recently given an Aurorae sling backpack to review for you guys.  I wasn't paid for my review but I was given the bag for free.

I've been using this bag for about two weeks now and even though it is technically a yoga bag, I use it as a diaper bag.  Or more accurately as a toddler bag for Jude.  Normally when I am out and about with Jude I have an extra pair of pants and undies just shoved in my purse along with some snacks and possibly a drink. And I know at least three different times now a sippy cup has somehow opened up and spilled inside my purse.  Ugh.  Just yesterday we were out and even though Jude doesn't really have accidents anymore, he still managed to pee on his underwear while sitting on the potty and so I got to put his wet undies wrapped in paper towels into my Michael Kors purse .  And it made me wish I had used my Aurorae sling backpack instead because it has a section in it that has a wet liner which would have been a far better place to store those wet undies.  So even though Jude doesn't really need a diaper bag anymore, he does need something.

This bag has worked out really well for us.  It has tons of pockets so that snacks don't have to end up in the same pocket as wet undies.  Its really durable and well made.  I really like how it wraps around your body and distributes the weight of what you are carrying so it isn't all pushing on one shoulder.  And because it is a backpack style it doesn't get in the way of holding Jude on my hip.  It has a mesh pocket on the side that is perfect for water bottles, sippy cups, bottles, whatever so that if they do leak or spill it isn't all over the inside where your phone or wallet would be.  The bag does have a cell phone pocket on the front of the strap, which I liked until my phone fell out of it.  I have an iPhone 5 and a pretty slim case so if you had something bigger you might not have the problem but I won't be putting my phone in there again!  I think it could be improved by having a snap or something to keep your phone from sliding out.  Another improvement I could see is that the zippers on the bag are all on the opposite side of what I would want.  I'd love to be able to just slide the bag around so that I could get into the pockets while wearing it, but where the zippers are now you have to take the bag off to get into anything without it being awkward.

The Aurorae sling backpack also makes a good gym bag and with how it holds a yoga mat I'm sure it makes for an awesome yoga bag, but I don't do yoga so I couldn't tell you anything about that.  So if you are looking for a bag to use with kids that is a little more practical and not totally girly or if you are looking for a great gym/yoga bag, check it out at www.auroraeyoga.com or enter to win one of your own!

Contest is open to U.S. residents only!  Just leave a comment below telling me what color
you would pick if you were the winner! Contest ends on July 15th at 8:00 am central time.  Winner chosen at random and will be contacted by email.  Good luck!!

Aurorae sells the best reviewed yoga mats, yoga apparel,and yoga and meditation accessories online. You can browse their yoga mats, yoga bags, yoga apparel and other yoga accessories here.

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Gearing up again

I know I've been totally absent from this space this last month.  I'm going to try to get back into it.  So just so,e quick updates to get the ball rolling.

-S has been taking birth control for the last three weeks to suppress everthing in hopes that we won't keep getting a bully egg sucking up the drugs.

-Birth control sucks and it has been a very hard three weeks, mostly for S.

-Last week we went in and she had a cyst on her left ovary.  Today we went back in and it was gone and so all things will move along. In a few days she starts the Fermara and then the Folistim.  We have another appointment on the 15th to see how things are progressing.

-Even if there is only one follicle we will still inseminate.

-Fingers crossed that this is the time and she gets pregnant.  But if not we have decided we are done with the drugs.  We will still try a few more times but it will be with just unmedicated IUIs.  It's just not worth all of the side effects.  And not to mention how hard it is to do all of the doctors appointments when she already has a demanding full time job.

-I have a product review and give away that I'm going to post later this week, so keep an eye out for that!

-Liz 

7 Years, No Itch

Yesterday was S's and mines 7 year wedding anniversary.  Wow, time does fly!  I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful woman who does EVERYTHING for our family.  I love you baby!

Because my mom is in town visiting we didn't do anything romantic to celebrate.  Instead we did so,e hard manual labor.  No kidding!  We went to breakfast and we're talking about how we didn't know what we wanted to do with our day and I mentioned how I'd like the flower beds out front that were full of rocks to be dug out and planted.  So we powered up with coffee and went to town.  It was soooooo much more work than we anticipated.  I thought with the three of us we could get it down in a few hours but it actually took all day.  But it looks awesome!  Some before and after pics

Hard to tell, but along with this bush and some junky tree weeds growing in this bed there is also like six inches of gravel/railroad rocks.  Ugh, the people who owned the house before us must have two tons of the stuff in both the front and mostly back yard.  I hate it!

S working hard to dig up the six-eight inches of rock plus a few bricks buried in there

The beautiful after!

It looks even better in person and is going to looks so dang cute after I go get a new flowery wreath for the front door.

A sweet friend also got us an edible arrangement which was so yummy!

And my sweet mom got us a new gas grill!  The one we had she bought for our wedding present so it was really cute of her to get us a new one for our anniversary.  I love it!

-Liz 

Another Cycle Bites the Dust

This month has been busy and on top of my birthday, Mother's Day, visitors, and all the rest of life, we have been TTC.  This month S did the same Femara and injectables combo.  When we went in for the day 3 ultrasound one follicle was already bigger than the others so they cut the Femara down but kept everything else the same as there were two or three small follicles working on either side.  But when we went in for the ultrasound yesterday it showed one big mature follicle on one side and like two tiny unmatture ones on the other side.  So, cycle cancelled.  Again. Boo.

Our doctor is giving us another free "re-do" month next month.  We were tempted to go ahead and do the IUIs this month, especially as S's mom offered to pay for it, but ultimately we trust that the doctor knows what he is doing.  We'd rather spend the money she offered if we get to a point where we can't afford to go forward rather than taking a gamble on one follicle just because we are tied of this.  

So next month once S starts her period they are going to do two weeks of birth control pills and then do the fertility treatment.  I think that they are hoping to suppress the whole one big follicle thing and hopefully get things jump started after that.  Next month if we end up again with just one follicle we will go ahead and do the IUIs and then see where to go from there.  It's frustrating for S to have to take all of these drugs with the up and downs that go with them only to not even try to get pregnant, but I think it makes sense to take advantage of the "freebie" and skip trying.  Normally he only gives one free do over month, so he is being generous giving us two.

So ready for this part of having a baby to be over!

-Liz 

Cycle Cancelled, Boo

Well today our ultrasound appointment revealed that S had one bully follicle that soaked up all of the Follistim, leaving the others in the dust.  So after talking it over with our doctor we have decided to cancel the cycle.  The goal is to have at least two, if not three or four, follicles with the medications, so going ahead with just one would be a waste.  The nice thing is that they basically have the policy of if you have to cancel the cycle due to under or over stimulation they give you one "do-over" cycle for free that next month.  The really nice thing is that our doctor oddly enough cannot handle seeing someone cry and of course S was upset to have gone through taking the drugs only to have to cancel, so he is going to give us two "do-over" cycles if the same thing happens again next month, though hopefully it won't due to increaseing the Follistim.  And the Follistim did end up being a bit rough for her, lots of bloating, and feeling emotional, so she is not looking forward to doing that again, especially increasing it.  

While we were there they went ahead and gave her a trigger shot to get everything cleared out and onto the next cycle.  And after that we went out for a lovely dinner while grandma was at home with Jude.  Jude got a super cute haircut today so I leave you with his cute face.