Welcome Noah!!

Well little Noah decided he was ready to come out and wanted to be here for Christmas. We tried to update earlier but the hospitals internet would not let us access our blogs or emails.

Noah was born December 23, 2008 at 11:13am! He weighed 7lbs 2.4 ounces and measured 19 3/4. He is adorable! We will post more pictures later but here is a sneak peak.Both Mom and Noah are doing great and I'm so proud of them both.

I will give more updates about the birth and craziness that occurred, but first Mom and I must rest as we just got home and we are exhausted.

Week 35 Update

I have more pictures to post. Pictures of his nursery, but until I upload them I thought I would give a quick update. We had a growth ultrasound which the ultrasound tech was awesome and let me come in for the whole thing. Kaiser's rules stink. They only let husbands back for the last couple minutes of the ultrasound. I probably ranted about this before. Noah is head down, Yay, and has hair! This was a surprise to us because both of us were bald babies and were betting that he would be also. He was also weighing 4 1/2 pounds and by now is probably somewhere around 5 - 5 1/2 pounds. Morrisa went for her fetal non stress test yesterday, and Noah passed with flying colors. Which he has been each time she has gone in. My little trooper. Anyway each time Mo has gone though she would start having contractions and they would keep her for 2 hours each visit to monitor. She is now dilated 1 cm and that hasn't changed for the past couple days which is good. Although her blood pressure was high 128/98 and her doctor made yesterday her last day of work. She is now on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy which is pretty tough for her because I know she wants to be up and about. She hates not being able to help around the house and such, but we need for her to be heathly as well as Noah. Keep both in your prayers. We go back for another NST on Friday and I will update on what we learn from that visit.

Baby Shower

So we had our baby shower on Nov 22nd. I know I haven't posted in a while and should have posted this earlier. We had a great showing of support from our family and friends. We an attendance of about 60. Little Noah is so blessed to have such great people surrounding him and who can't wait to meet him. I can't believe we have made it here. It seems like yesterday we were just at week 10. Still at week 34 we still can't believe we have a little one on the way.

This first picture is of the cake my mom made for the shower. Of course it has to be a Noah's Ark cake.

Mom and Dad also made three diaper cakes.

We received a special gift from Dad (Pop Pop) to Noah. He painted letters for the nursery.

We would like to thank all who helped with the shower as well everyone who gave us such wonderful gifts. We're still putting stuff away.
I thought I was just going to be a spectator. LOL

Belly Pics

Alright so I have given Morrisa plenty of time to post her belly pics first, but since she's too slow I will beat her to it. She claims to be too tired and busy. Just playing, honey I know you have been. Anyway here's some pictures

My dad painted her belly for Halloween. He's much more talented than we are so we recruited him. He had a blast, and while he was painting Noah was moving and kicking all around.


Here is a side view of Noah's house.

Congratulations!!

I wanted to share some good news from a blog that I have been following Faith In Fertility. They welcomed their little miracle to the world on Monday. Stop in and see their handsome little fella. Congrats J!!!

Update

Everything is still going great. Last night little Noah was doing some kind of crazy moves and was VERY active. We just sat there and watched Mo's belly shift around like waves and every once in a while see an arm or leg bulge out. It is so amazing to experience this, and we never would have imagined in a million years we would experience this. Of course we always prayed and wished it would happen, but never could imagine it because it seemed so far away. We went in for our first growth ultrasound and he was just under 3 pounds and was measuring a couple days behind, but our OB said it was alright. Morrisa's uterus is measuring a little ahead which he said was OK. So everything is going good. We have ultrasound pictures from the growth ultrasound, but they aren't very clear (I will post them) and our ultrasound tech was in too much of a rush to explain what she was looking at on the screen to Morrisa, and to even allow me back in the room. This ticked me off to the point that I got in contact with the CEO of our company (I work for our insurance company) and let him know how we have been treated. We have an HMO so everything is done in house and the ultrasound techs have told us that it is their policy not to let the fathers back until the end. That's a bunch of crap, it's my baby too and I should be able to see him. Ohh well, we'll see what comes out of my complaining.

I have been extremely busy as of late. I have started taking classes through the United Methodist Church to become a Certified Lay Minister. Once I have completed the course which ends this time next year I will be able to do everything our Minister is able to do with the exception of sacraments which include baptisms and communion. We have ministry teams that support us through this process and this team and I are building a ministry that we can implement in our church setting. We have decided to work on adding a Contemporary Service and I will be able to give the sermons, which I am very interested in. I feel I have been called to do so and God has equipped me by placing things in my life to give me the ability to do so. I am very excited not only for our local church and what it can do for us locally but for the church in general. In our class alone there are 30 people, and there are classes being held throughout Baltimore and Washington. It's exciting to think what we all can do and supply to our communities with people starting ministries to visit the elderly, help and give support to the homeless, help lead and guide the youth, etc.

Hmmm

So as you can see I've been away for some time now. I kind of had to get a way for a while. Sorry to those that continue to check and see if there are any new posts for leaving you hanging. I just didn't know what to write about. Before there was never a problem coming up with something because there were so many feelings and emotions that went along with all the treatments. Don't get me wrong there are still tons of emotions involved with the pregnancy, but it was tough to post as much as I did before. Anyway I have thought it over and I have decided I will continue to post, and do so more often.

To catch everyone up. Little Noah is continuing to grow and continuing to get stronger by the day. I have been dying to be able to feel the little guy kick me. Morrisa had been feeling him kick for a while and I couldn't wait until he grew strong enough for me to feel that. I kind of felt left out. Well for the first time maybe 2 weeks ago I was able to feel his little kick which has been getting real strong as of late. I can't even explain the joy that filled me the first time I felt him. Also my Dad was able to feel him kick for the first time at play practice yesterday, which has made my Mom upset that she hasn't been able to yet. Usually when we see them he is sleeping because he seems to be the most active late in the evening and night. So when he is born he is probably going to be a night owl, but I don't mind at all. For as long as we have waited I don't care if we ever get any sleep.
Here's some pictures from our last ultrasound:

Morrisa is doing well and I would post some belly pictures which we have taken. Although last Thursday our neighborhood was graced by the presence of some hooligans that thought they were entitled to take whatever us and our neighbors had left in their cars. So they took off with our digital camera. I even told myself don't forget to grab that on the way in when we get home, and left it on the floor. We were pretty mad, especially because our neighborhood is a nice quiet neighborhood. I guess it goes to show you that you always have to stay on your toes. So until we get a new camera the belly pics will have to wait.

Softball is coming to an end for the year and I have started taking classes to become a Certified Lay Minister. Classes started this past weekend and will continue for another 5 weeks for this first semester. I Love IT so far!! I will post more about it later. I have to get back to work because my lunch is up.

It's been quite a while

Wow I didn't even realize how long it has been since I have last updated my blog. Mo is doing very well. Her blood sugar levels have been great, as she has really worked hard to maintain them. I really admire her for doing so well with it. I don't know if I would have the will power to stay away from the things I love, like ice cream for instance.

Doozer is growing like a weed. Morrisa had a quad screen done which came back with good news that all was well. The only thing they wanted to investigate more was the screen for Downs. Which came back with a 1 of 39 chance for Doozer to have Downs. They sent us to a genetics counselor where they went over our family backgrounds and an in depth ultrasound where they measured everything. They measured the little belly, head, brain, heart, checked kidneys, etc. Everything measured where they are supposed to be at this point, and they don't think he/she has Downs. We wouldn't have cared either way, we would love him/her regardless, but it's good to get a clean bill of health. The sonographer (probably spelled wrong oh well) was able to tell us the sex of our little Doozer. Doozer is a boy!! We have named him Noah Michael, and he is already awnry. Now when we try to listen to him with the doppler he moves all over the place. It's too funny. Mo is just now starting to feel little poking feelings, and I can't wait until I get to feel him. We have been making trips to different baby stores and I hang out in the little boys section looking at all the little sports clothing.

We go back for another ultrasound on the 11th which was to be our big ultrasound. So we will verify the sex then, and we have to go back to the genetics counselor in another 2 or 3 weeks so they can measure his heart and look at all 4 chambers. He was a little bit too small this last time and you combine that with him being awnry and not turning the right way for her when she was trying to see his heart.

I will definitely update you when more comes up and I won't wait almost a month to do so this time. Also anyone who was reading my wifes blog and can no longer do so or contact her to get the password can let me know and I will pass on your info.

Comments Regarding Article

I wasn't going to add this to my blog because the crude comments to our article were just people who didn't have a clue about infertility spouting off nonsense, but decided why not just touch on it briefly. Some of you may have read through the comments on the Baltimore Sun website, but for those who haven't I'll just touch on the ones I've commented on.

"If they're leaving it in God's hands to carry the pregnancy full-term, then why did they choose to have science intervene to get pregnant in the first place? Perhaps infertile couples should get a clue and take their infertility as a sign that they weren't meant to have biological babies. Then they could pour the same amount of time, money and effort into adopting a needy kid or animal."

My Response: I'm just in shock at the immaturity of these responses. On second thought, no I'm not. What's your thoughts on medicine in general? By your comment are you saying that those battling an illness shouldn't persue any medication? They should just let nature play it's course and deal with whatever happens? Perhaps they should accept that they weren't meant to live. Give me a break. Your post was incredibly uncalled for and uneducated.

"I understand these people's desire to have their own children - to a point. Why is having your own biological child so important? There are plenty of kids in the world, in Baltimore in particular, who need homes and need to be loved. Why not consider adopting these lovable children? Why spend thousands of dollars on procedures that have marginal success rates? I know folks are going to say I'm heartless and insensitive but this practice is just plain selfish and wasteful."

My Response: I wouldn't say your heartless until you added the selfish and wasteful. That was heartless. Having gone through this myself I can add that yes there are a lot of children who are out there to be adopted, but there is also a lot that goes into adoption. It's not all that simple. You can't just say alright I can't have kids so I'll just adopt. It's a lengthy process and strict criteria. Also many people who go through infertility whether they are successful or not do adopt. It is more expensive to adopt in most cases than to proceed with treatments.

Other news: We went and saw my grandmother last night who is still in a rehab center recovering from her stroke. She seems to be improving. She has come a long way since I first saw her right after it happened, but she still isn't eating anything. In a way i don't blame her because some of the food there is nasty, but even stuff we bring in she only takes a couple bites. She also seems to be having problems with her short term memory. I hope and pray that she continues to improve and is able to come home at some point, but as of right now I'm not sure if that will happen. Please keep her in your prayers.

ALSO we have our first big ultrasound scheduled for August 11th at 5:30. I'm so excited and can't wait to find out if Doozer is a boy or girl!

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!

Alright here's the link to the article written in the Baltimore Sun this morning. I want to thank Rona Marech for the great article! Also I wanted to link to the other blogs listed in the article, so here they are: Sayer's Journey, Drama 2B Mama, Who Shot My Stork?, Stirrup Queens, and The Making on Baby V. I wasn't able to find which Impatient Patient was mentioned in the article. There were a couple that came up when searched. I loved the article as well as the picture. It's funny because she looks as though she was laughing and clapping. The truth is that it was hot out when they were taking the pictures and of course I was sweating as always. Well she wasn't clapping, she was wiping off my sweat. LOL

Phew!!

Well the morning started out as usual. We got up and Morrisa was hungry so I made breakfast and served her in bed, and then we began to get ready for work. Shortly after we got moving I heard Morrisa in the bathroom say "Uhh Ohh!" I asked if all was alright and she said that she had some brown discharge. This along with some cramps had her worried as well as myself. She had an appointment already scheduled for 10:30 today with her OB for her weekly check on her blood sugar levels. She made a call to the office to see if they wanted her to come in early, or what to do. After asking her numerous questions told her to lay down and rest and come in at the regular time. So while we were waiting we pulled out the doppler and listened for a heartbeat (which I'm getting pretty good at, usually as soon as she turns it on I have it) and we found him/her. So we go in and the doctor does a quick exam and tells us that the membranes in her cervix are very close to the surface of her cervix and are bleeding. He said that it is something that is common in some women and he was going to scar them using silver nitrate. We both wondered what in the world he was going to do and he took out 2 sticks that looked exactly like 2 long match sticks. He took these and applied them to the areas that were bleeding and that was it. No pain, although Mo is a little crampy right now. He said that everything with the baby looked and sounded great and we are to come back in 3-4 weeks. He also said that her blood sugar levels also looked great and to continue to do what she is doing as far as diet goes.

Of course I was a little bummed because I was hoping he would have done an ultrasound, but that didn't happen. I was spoiled at our RE's office with all the ultrasounds they did. Oh well I guess I'll have to wait until they do one week 18. :(

What's been going on?

First I'll start by updating on how Morrisa is doing. She's feeling a lot better in the mornings. Going into the second trimester it seems she has more energy and a lot less nausea if any at all. After her last OB appointment they informed us that her blood sugar levels were high and since he knows a lot about PCOS has decided to be proactive and diagnose her as having gestational diabetes. So she has to watch and keep track of what she eats as well as an insulin shot in the evening before bed. The reason for the shot at night was because her fasting blood sugar levels in the morning have been high. I clarify by saying that her levels have been high but not dangerously high. They just wanted get on top of it before it got any worse. She met with a nutrionist yesterday who said that she was on the right track and helped with meal ideas.

Secondly Morrisa was contacted by a writer from the Baltimore Sun who is doing a story on infertility bloggers, and I also had the priveledge to speak with her yesterday and add my thoughts and feelings. They sent a photographer over to the house on Tuesday evening to take some pictures for the paper, and will be coming out shortly. I will share when it comes out and hopefully be able to add a link. We are very excited to be able to share our story and hopefully be able to promote awareness about PCOS and infertility.

Yesterday we hit week 13! Very excited about that and Doozer seemed to be also. We used our doppler and listened both in the morning and in the evening which was a treat. Usually we listen in the evening, but he seemed to be very active with a new strong heart beat and a lot of thumping sounds. Our next OB appt is scheduled for next Wed. and I'm hoping we get to have anouther ultrasound. Just to be able to see Doozer again.

Lastly I know I haven't been posting regularly and have apologized and promised before about being a better blogger, but this time I promise I'll write more often.

So much to say,

Wow I have been so busy at work and haven't been able to post lately, so that has left me with so much to say. I know your probably reading this saying to yourself, well isn't that what your supposed to do at work instead of writing on your blog. Your right!
Anyway I will start with the fact that we received our doppler and we LOVE IT! We have made it an evening ritual to come home from work and listen to our little ones heart beat. Here's the video of it.


We were listening last night and you could clearly hear it moving. It was the coolest thing ever. It was neat because every time we would hear the different sounds of him/her moving the heart rate would raise from 172 to 183ish. I think getting the doppler was the best decision. Not only because we get to hear the little guy/girl every night but it really has helped calm some of Morrisa's anxiety waiting until our next dr appointment.

We have also been receiving little gifts from people, and it's been everything from maternity tops for Morrisa to diaper bag and clothes for the little one. The clothes for the little one have been from our family out in West Virginia, so they have all been WVU clothes. Which is alright with me since I have been slowly transformed into a WVU fan thanks to my cousin who is in the marching band. Here's our latest gift that arrived last night.
We received a jersey for myself, Mo, and little Doozer. The little jersey is so cute.

My grandmother has been moved to a nursing home closer to home for recovery from her stroke. She's improving some what. They have told us that she will be able to walk and is slowly getting to that point, but she may not regain the use of her left arm. The problem we are facing now is that she hasn't been eating anything. She will take a bite of something and that's all she will eat.
Also for those of you who also read my dear loving wife's blog I feel the need to shed some light on a topic she has brought up about the status of our house. For those of you who haven't read or don't follow my wife's blog she brought up the fact that our house is a mess. Since she has been so tired and with me playing softball we have neglected a few things. I should say it's cluttered and not dirty, but anyway she has mentioned that I have promised to do some picking up which hasn't been done as of yet. This is where I think some of the truth should come out. LOL I was about to do said cleaning when my wonderful wife said, "no, that's alright spend some time with me and clean later". So the cleaning didn't happen as of yet. Just wanted to shed some light on the subject. LOL

In the cover of night...

So when the time comes for me to get a hair cut I do it myself. I mean it's not that hard as you can tell from my profile picture it all comes off. Ever since I was little I have kept my hair extremely close. That and the fact the my hair is falling out and I'm not balding in any kind of normal pattern. When my hair starts to grow out I look like I have mange. I think I;m the only man in the world who wishes his hair would all just fall out. That way I don't have to cut it anymore. Anyway back to last night. So I was cutting my hair and my clippers stop working half way through. So I'm standing there in the bathroom with the entire front half of my head cut and the back half too long to finish with a razor. The only thing I could do is call my parents who live a couple miles down the road and see if they were still awake and could finish my hair cut. Luckily dad was up and said he would finish. The only problem was I had to drive over there and the drive includes a busy Route 1, but it was getting dark so I should be alright. I could only imagine pulling up next to someone and them seeing this wild hair do I was sporting. It was quite funny, but I made it without anyone spotting me.

On the baby front, our doppler should be arriving by the end of the week. Hopefully we can post a recording of the heartbeat.

The beginning of another week...

Here we go another start to another week. We rested this weekend instead of going to the mountains. Sunday we cleaned out our extra room which up till has been used as extra storage and where the cats litter boxes are. This room will eventually be used as our nursery, but we aren't going to start anything else with it until we are much further along. It was nice though to get rid of some stuff we had laying around. We both also spent the weekend debating whether or not to get a doppler. I'm not opposed at all, and this morning Morrisa emailed me with 2 doppler's she found and wanted to know what I thought about renting one. I told her either one was fine with me and she has placed an order for one. I think it would be great to be able to hear his/her heartbeat and give us the ability to do so whenever we wish instead of whenever the doctor allows us. Also it would alleviate some of Morrisa's anxiety waiting for our next doctors appointment as well as my own.

Speaking of doctor's appointments, we scheduled our next appt for Wed July 16th at 3:45. I will update and let you know when we are getting our doppler.

Amazed

Two days after our first appt with our new OB and I am still amazed at the sight of our little one moving. I have been so excited and yet still a little gaurded about being too excited up until this point. I think I was still in shock. Probably because as much as we really wanted this and prayed that God would give us our little miracle, 6 years of trying kind of made it hard to imagine that this day would come. As I stood there watching the u/s screen seeing our little one move for the first time for us it hit me that we've made it. Don't get me wrong I know there's still risk's, but I just have this calming feeling that everything is going to be alright. It's tough because as happy as I am that infertile feeling still hits me. I'm so happy that we've come this far, but also saddened by the fact that there are so many loving, deserving, and amazing people out there that are still battling the unfair, devastating, and evil demon that is infertility. What saddens me more is that it will always be there. There will always be a couple fighting the fight. I know it will never be an easy road for anyone to travel, but pray that society is more sympathetic and understanding of what we go through. Also that insurance companies realize that they are in the wrong for not covering infertility and stop taking advantage of the situation. As I said before it will never be an easy road for anyone to travel but it should be a little more smoother ride than it is with all of these potholes we come across.

I'm Still Here

Here's the newest picture of our little Doozer. We went in yesterday and everything looked great! We love her OB. We met him for the first time yesterday and he was awesome! He knew all about PCOS and was very knowledgable and understanding in regards to infertility in general. He did all the routine examinations and did an ultrasound. The u/s machine they had was brand new and they were also learning as they went. Which in a way was good because we had a longer u/s than we've had before, and were able to enjoy our little guy/girl. We also were able to see him move, which was amazing. At first he was just relaxing in there. So the OB moved the probe around to stir him up a bit. Doozer didn't seem to like that because it looked as though he took his little hand and swatted at the probe. Now we have to wait a whole 4 weeks until we get to see him again.

Other news my grandmother seems to be improving in her recovery. Her left side which was paralyzed from the stroke is tingling. She said it feels like her left arm and leg were a sleep and the tingling hurts, but it's a good thing because she is regaining feeling. Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Here's the new shot of our little Doozer!!
I've been a terrible blogger lately. I haven't even had time to read others blogs and am so behind. I'm going to at some point this weekend catch up on everyone's blog's. I'm sorry. Things will be more like normal next week. Hopefully!

Graduation Day!!!

First let me apologize for my absence. I've been emotionally drained these last couple days and haven't been up to blogging, but things are getting a little better.

I never thought that this day would have ever come. I mean I have always dreamed of the day we would be discharged from our RE, but it always seemed just that, a dream. Today that dream has become a reality and we walked out of our clinic saying goodbye's. At least for now. It's a little weird. The appointment went great. We got to see Doozer again, and we've been looking forward to that since we walked out of our clinic last Wednesday. My how he/she has grown. Our RE said that everything looked great and that the baby is growing perfectly and it's heart rate was at 167 which was great! So now Mo has put a call into Kaiser so that she could schedule an appt with an OB. We had to make a decision whether we wanted to go with an OB that is located close to home and would deliver in a hospital that was closer, but wouldn't be as personalable and as understanding of our situation being infertile's. We also had a choice of going to the OB/GYN she has seen before which is right next door to Morrisa's job who has been awesome in the past and know's what we have been through throughout the years. The only thing with going with her would be we would have to deliver in Baltimore City which is 15-20 minutes from home. We have decided to go with the OB in Baltimore City so Mo is comfortable with her OB, which is really important to both of us. Will update when we find out more information, and will post a new picture of Doozer tonight.

Other news, my family has been hit pretty hard with bad news these last couple months. With the passing of my grandfather and his cousin the day before. Now another relative is in the hospital with cancer, which they were going to try to remove but weren't able to as it has spread all throughout his body and isn't going to make it much longer. Now my grandmother is in the hospital after she suffered a stroke last Friday afternoon. She has been improving the last couple days. She still has paralysis on her left side but able to talk more. The really hard part is that she was asking my dad yesterday if he was going to see my grandfather when he left the hospital. So she has no memory of him passing away. I hope and pray she continues to improve and with some help from the dr's or whomever we can find the best way to tell her that my grandfather is no longer with us. So many different stresses going on right now hopefully things quiet down for the weeks and months to come.

7wks U/S Pictures

Here's our new pictures of Doozer. I also added a second picture explaining what's what. I find it easier because if your like me I would have no idea what I'm looking at.


Can't wait until next Wednesday and we get to see Doozer again.

Growing Strong

We went in for our 7 wk u/s this morning and our RE said that everything looked great. Doozer has grown more than double his size since our last u/s last Wednesday. I keep referring to Doozer as a boy. I have no reasoning as to why it's just have a feeling we both share. Although boy or girl it doesn't matter which it will be. I have no preference. Anyway it was amazing to see his/her little heart pumping. Last visit we saw what looked like a little light blinking, but to see the heart actually pumping was amazing. I can't wait until the day we finally get to hold little Doozer in our arms. They gave us a picture which really isn't that clear, but I will still post it as soon as we scan it tonight. We also go back next Wed. for our 8wk u/s and will probably be discharged from our clinic to our OB. Continue to Grow Doozer!

Now for some sports.
Un-fertility related we finally were able to play 2 softball games last night. I wasn't able to play at all last week due to the rain. We lost the first and won the second by a run. I hit 2 home runs and the rest of my at bats were good hits. 3 years ago I guess it was I shattered my ankle playing second base. The throw was high and as I came down on one leg and tried to make the tag, the base runner (which was my cousin) was sliding. Well with all my weight on one leg and the force of his body hitting my ankle the outcome wasn't good. Anyway back to last night, I played second base for the first time since. Surprisingly I felt great and made some really good plays. Up until last night I dreaded playing any infield at all, but had a blast and more confidence than before I broke my ankle. Good thing my parents and Morrisa wasn't there because they probably would have freaked out and left. Not wanting to see a repeat performance. So it was a good night and looking forward to tonights games. I will post the picture later this evening.

Back From The Mountains :(

We're back in town. I wish we were still in the mountains, but what can you do about it. Until we hit the lotto and can build our dream house up there we have to come back and work. This weekend was great. We drove up Saturday morning and met my grandmother half way up for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We arrived around noon, and jumped in helping with the building of the front porch. What a project. Luckily there were several of us working on it. We were able to put up the support beams, cross beams and the roof. Next weekend we are going back up to put the shingles on and then the job is complete.It was nice to get away. I was able to relax mentally at least. Morrisa had a very relaxing weekend. She had a lounge chair setup in the front yard under a tree and read and watched us work. It was great. I'm ready to head back up already.

We have an appt tomorrow morning for our second u/s. I'm so excited and hope all is going well. I know everything is fine. I just have a feeling that all is going to progress like it should. I will update with all the details tomorrow.

TGIF!!

Finally Friday is here. Bring on the weekend! This weekend should be nice and relaxing. My grandmother has 117 acre property out in western Maryland with a a house big enough to house the family for a weekend. My grandfather built it as a place to live once they retire, but passed before he could retire. So now it has become a weekend get away for the family during the summer. It's nice spending the time with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Even though we are all squeezed into one house it's time well spent.

This is a view looking down the hill at the back of the house. We are currently working on building a covered wrap around deck.

And this is a view off one of the back mountains.

I love it up there. I would love to build a house on the property and live up there, but the only problem is there are no jobs up there. Only a minor problem. I can't wait to get up there. The closest neighbor is a mile away and it's quiet and when it gets dark, it gets DARK!

Mountains here we come!

U/S Picture

Here's our u/s picture of little Doozer.I labeled the picture above wrong. I put egg sac instead of Yolk Sac. Egg Sac, Yolk Sac there one in the same right? Oh well. :)

Thump...Thump!!

We went in for our 6 week u/s and we were both nervous. Morrisa was nervous that things weren't progressing like they should, but even more optimistic than any other time we have entered through the clinics doors. I was a little nervous but excited at the possibility of seeing our little baby. We sat in the waiting room which only had 2 other patients in it, and it felt like an hour had passed before they called us back. Which once we got in the room I noticed we were only out there for 15 - 20 minutes. Dr O came in and immediately hugged Morrisa and congratulated the both of us which was really nice of him to do. I'm really glad that we were blessed to have a great doc through these years. They started doing the u/s and we were able to right away see her uterus which has become very easy to spot as I think we have become pros at what to look for and recognizing what is on the screen. Although we have never seen what we saw today, and it was amazing. While they were looking around Dr O explained that he had to look around before pointing things out. While they were scanning around I could notice a blinking on the screen. For hearing other peoples explanation on what to look for this blinking it what I thought was a heart beat. Dr. O then started pointing things out on the screen and sure enough there it was. Doozer's little heart was thumping away. Dr. O measured Doozer's heart rate which was 90bpm and said that everything looked great. Tears immediately filled my eyes as this (other than the birth it self) was something I've been waiting for, for so long now. We have a picture which we will scan tonight and post for all to see. Morrisa took it to work with her and hasn't been able to put it down. I don't blame her because if I was the one to hold it until we get home I would be the same way. We go back in for another u/s next wednesday. I can't wait!

Another note my mom called last night and said that my grandmother who has been pretty good since the passing of my grandfather, and she had a message for Mo. She had been watching the news and there was a story that pregnant women shouldn't talk on cell phones. She couldn't remember why & what happened if they did but all she heard was that they should use cell phones, and had to let Mo know right away. Shes too cute.

Our Zoo Trip

As promised here are some pictures from our zoo trip.

Since we are huge Baltimore Ravens fans we had to visit the ravens cage.

Aren't they beautiful?

As we were admiring Samson the baby elephant we looked up to see 5 planes flying over spelling out "GEICO". At first we thought it was a message from God. LOL

And below is the talkative cheetah we had the pleasure to spend time with. If you listen real close at the end you can hear his little squeak.

Awesome Weekend!

This past weekend was a blast! On Saturday we went to the Baltimore Zoo to see the new baby elephant they have. He was so tiny compared to his momma. It was nice because we got there as they opened so there wasn't a lot of people there yet, and were able to take our time and move around at our own pace. We got to get up close to the cheetah they have and he was very talkative just like our cats at home. It was too cool. We then came home for my softball game which once we got to the field we were notified the game was canceled. So we went to my parents house and hung out with them for a while. Their so excited at the possibility of being grandparents. Mom has a calendar which tells her what developmental stage the baby is reaching every day. On Sunday we went to church, and for dinner I took Morrisa to Medieval Times. I've went with my cousins for a bachelor party and thought she would would enjoy it. So we went and she had a blast. The food was awesome and the show was too cool. We couldn't get over how well trained the horses were. i will post pictures of this weekend later this evening.

WOW!!!

So the results of our third beta are in and not only did it increase by 66% from the last beta, it went up 105%. Our last beta was 883 and it rose to 1813!! I can't even tell you how much weight has been lifted. I was stressing big time worrying about this beta. I have to cut it short because I have reports to run, but we go in for our u/s Wed. 5/21. I'll update more later. Thanks for the uplifting comments.

Come on Friday Afternoon!

After a worry filled day yesterday today is much better. After we both had time to digest all of the information we feel much better about the level increase. Today was a little crazy as I was the only person in my department to show up for work today. I thought it was a Saturday when I walked in this morning. I actually prefer days like today because the clock goes by much faster. Hopefully nobody will show up tomorrow that way I have less time to worry about the beta results.

Morrisa has been extremely tired these past couple days which is a good sign. With my softball schedule I'm out of the house 3 days a week, so the house needs some picking up. Tonight I will be a good hubby and pick up so she can rest and take it easy. Speaking of softball it seems the three teams I'm playing for have all hit a slump as the past 2 weeks. All 3 of them haven't won a single game. It doesn't bother me really. I'm just having a blast going out and playing the games. That's all that matters to me. Luckily I play on teams where everyone is the same way. I've played on pretty competitive teams and they've all have bad attitudes. You really don't look forward to spending your free time watching a bunch of adults yelling at each other and throwing stuff everywhere because someone was thrown out going for an extra base.

Anyway I will update as soon as I hear the beta results tomorrow. Bring on the weekend!

Second Beta Result

So Morrisa just called and said that they called with the results and I could tell right away that she was worried because she didn't sound as excited as I thought. They said that the levels rose from 522 to 883 which is 69%. The nurse told her not to worry, which isn't going to happen and that it was a good rise. I told her that as long as it was over the 66% it was a good thing because they wouldn't use that benchmark if it wasn't good. Her concern is that it didn't double which she has seen everyone else's do. I have no idea if 69% is a sign of bad things but I trust in our clinics experience and if they say it's good, then I won't worry about it. I mean they wouldn't use 66% as benchmark if it wasn't good right? Should I be worried also or should I put trust in the nurse and believe that she isn't saying that to make us feel better?

Beta Results Are In

No sooner did I post the last blog when my phone began to ring, and Morrisa was on the other line saying the results were in. She said that the level was 522 and that the nurse said it was a good number. So now we go in Wed. morning for more blood work and hope that the numbers continue to rise. I think I'm still in shock that this is all happening, but extremely excited. WoooHooo!!! We have to change our chant from Dig Doozer Dig to Grow Doozer Grow! There's so much more I could say but have to hold off until after work.

Wait, Wait, Wait!!

Alright so I'm not blogging about my life right now because we're still waiting to hear from our clinic with our beta results. I know we have 10 positive test since last Tuesday, and to some that may be a little obsessive LOL. After 6 years of getting nothing but negatives, getting these positives has been fun and although I feel everything is going to come back good. I wish they would just call us already and give us a good high beta result. Anyway we continue to sit and wait.

Finally Friday

So last night we stopped by my parents house because we couldn't take not telling them. We got there and talked with them for a couple of minutes and I mentioned that there was a picture that I wanted to show them. I told them that it was a picture of a bug that the cats had found in the house and we've never seen anything like it before. Which wasn't all a lie. We have never seen one of those (a positive preg. test) in our house before. Well I pulled up the picture of a positive test and they both just stood there looking confused and mom finally looked at Morrisa and said "Are you pregnant?" It was perfect because they knew we were going in for our beta on Monday and o the thought never crossed their mind that we were going to show them that. Dad thought it was an advertisement that came up on the screen. We told them that we still had to wait for the beta, but they are excited. As much as we want to have a kid we want to give them a grandchild. We see how they are with my little cousins and so want to give them a grandchild to spoil.

I've been thinking of a good blog to post, and I think my next blog will be about my life. We've talked about recent events in infertility, and I thought I'd take you back to the beginning. So look for that to come up. Everyone have a great weekend. Tomorrow we have a mother's day picnic for my grandmother, and Sunday we're going to Morrisa's mom's house for mother's day.

Another Day Closer

So for those who don't read my wifes blog I'll catch you up. Since we have been testing positive we wanted to move our beta date from Monday to Friday. The reason for doing so was A) We don't want to wait until after mothers day and the day before her birthday in case we get bad news and B) We wanted to tell our parents for Mothers Day and wanted to have a good beta before doing so. Well she called our clinic and she was informed that her nurse that has been with us since the very beginning is GONE. What? So they passed her to her new nurse who was a little rude about the whole thing and told her that "I'm not going to do that". Her reasoning is because the levels won't be where they would like them on Friday. So we must wait a little longer.

Anyway Morrisa tested again last night and this morning (since we have never received a positive it's fun to test and see it) and both were positive. We even tried a digital and it said "Yes". We were hesitant to try the digital because all of the ones we took before were so mean with their "NOT PREGNANT" messages.
I'm glad it's Thursday! Bring on the weekend! We lost our 2 softball games last night. Oh well you can't win them all. I played good and hit another home run. That makes back to back nights with a homer. WooHoo!

Another song I love! Tunnel by Third Day http://youtube.com/watch?v=IXAAiSoBweU

Did Doozer Dig?

I promised you all that my next post was going to be better than that last post was. So yesterday afternoon Morrisa called me and said that she wanted to take a pregnancy test that evening. So for the remainder of the day, the drive to pick her up, and the drive home I was lost in space. So we get home and she does the test and while we're waiting we do the progesterone shot. Once we're finished with that we both ran into the bathroom already preparing ourselves for the negative we are about to see as we have for the past 6 years. Once we arrived to the awaiting test something was wrong. It doesn't look like all the other tests we have had in the past this one had 2 lines instead of one. A BFP? Are you serious? No way!! It can't be.
I think we both were in shock and we both started crying. We were both so excited but I felt bad because I was extremely excited and yet I was kind of holding back my excitement at first. I felt that the infertility has kind of cheated me of how I should be feeling. We should be jumping for joy and planning all this baby stuff, a room, furniture, a wish list of stuff. Yet we know all too well what could go wrong.
So we went to my softball games still excited and dwelling on the what if's. We lost the first game 15-5 but returned the favor the second game beating them 35-8. I had to throw some sports in there. I hit a monster home run, which Morrisa missed because she was busy talking with the other fans. Some fans huh? Just kidding.
Anyway we tested again this morning dreading that something was going to change. It looked just as the other did last night. We're so excited and so scared. I guess it's normal though. Below is the picture of the 2 side by side.
Now I can't wait for the beta and hope it comes back with strong numbers. I sure hope Doozer dug!

This post is going to be boring...

I've been thinking of what to say since we're still waiting to test and for our beta. It's been pretty much quiet as far as what to blog about. The weekend was good. We went on a date Saturday and went to see "Made of Honor". It was a "chick flick", but it was good. We had a good time. It was nice getting out of the house and having something take our minds off of this cycle. For my birthday I received a lot of gift cards to different places so we went to lunch on Sunday to "On the Border" which is a Mexican restaurant. It was our first time going there and that also was nice. I still prefer Don Pablos. We then stopped by Home Depot and picked up a bird feeder and some seed and went home and set it up in front of the dinning room window so the cats can watch them during the day. Other than that it has been pretty much uneventful. Sorry for extremely boring post that this has turned into. I promise I will find something exciting and possibly funny to talk about next.

Thanks Google!

Yesterday was good, at least it started that way. I was hopeful and thinking maybe this cycle could be it and Doozer will pull through. That was until I went and picked up my wife from work. She came out and got in the car and was telling how bummed she was and that she doesn't think this cycle worked. This was due to her cramps which she described as the same at the end of our last IUI cycle that ended in a BFN. The other thing that caused this depression was that she found online through a Google search some data that is used when calculating success rates for IVF between single transfers and 2 embryo transfers. This data said that the single embryo results were not from just one fresh cycle, but that of fresh cycle and one frozen cycle. So this news bummed her out even more, and brought me from hopeful to absolutely miserable thinking this is a failed cycle. This has not been the first time that information regarding infertility found through Google has made her upset and depressed, and I'm sure it won't be the last either. I know it's not Google's fault that all the depressing news my wife finds is posted on these websites but they are the vehicle that takes he there. I wish they would drive her to good news more often than the bad. Anyway that's my rant on Google and her obsession with using it as "Dr Google". I have tried to steer her from getting her info from the internet but she doesn't listen.

Anyway today has been good. Thanks to all of you wonderful people out there she is feeling more hopeful and I woke up this morning feeling my optimistic self. You combine the two and it makes for a good start to the weekend. The chant continues, "Dig Doozer Dig".

Waiting Sucks

I hate waiting. I've never been a very patient person when it comes to something that I really want. Waiting in lines, traffic, things like that no problem. It's things like this though that drives me crazy. I know I'm not alone. I told Morrisa that I wish they installed a little screen on her belly so that we could see if Doozer was doing anything. It would make everything so much easier. Since that's not the case I guess I'll just continue to go crazy waiting. Come on weekend!!

I thought that I would share with you my song of the day.

Our Little Doozer!

Here's our little Doozer. I have found myself as well as my wife looking at the picture throughout the day and have to tell you I have become quite attached to it. So far I have been so optimistic and in previous cycles if things didn't go well I talked myself through it telling myself it's o.k. we'll just keep on trying. This is where my fear comes in. I have such high hopes for this cycle and have become quite attached to our Doozer that if for some reason this cycle doesn't work it may be more devastating than the many others. Oh well I guess I can't worry about that now. All I can do is patiently wait and leave it in God's hands. I so hope this is it!!

Transfer Complete!!

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I've been kept busy taking care of Morrisa. Our transfer was pushed back a day, so we went in today. Everything went smoothly. We had 2 emdies that were ready for transfer, and 7 that were on th brink of reaching the blast stage. At first we were debating putting 1 or 2 back but finally agreed with our RE on putting 1 back. We have named our embryo's Doozers from Fraggle Rock for those of you who remember the show. Anyway we're home now resting and hoping that our little doozer digs in. I will post of picture of our embryo as soon as I scan it.

Embie Update!!

For those reading both my blog and my wifes I apologize for the repeated blogs, but I'm updating both while she is resting.

We just got a call with our transfer time for Monday. We are scheduled for 1pm. Also we asked about the state of our embies, and she said that all 10 are doing excellent. She said some were 6 cell, some 8 cell, and some were beginning to compact. We are so proud of our little embies!

Transfer Update

Wow what a night and start to the weekend. Last night Morrisa was in extreme pain and had a lot of pressure in her upper abdomen and I couldn't take seeing her in that much pain so we agreed that a trip to the E.R. is probably the best thing to do. If anything they could do something for her pain right? So after ultrasounds and hours of waiting to hear from the E.R. doc the verdict was that she had fluid in her abdomen as we suspected from hyper stimulation and she also has fluid in her lungs. We were concerned about her having fluid in her lungs but they spoke with the on call dr at Shady Grove and we can leave and go to Shady Grove in the morning. So at 3:45am we departed for home and left the house this morning at 8am so we could make it to Rockville. She felt sick all night and when she got up this morning vomited a couple times. She also still had a lot of pressure right below her sternum I guess it is (rib cage) and what she said feels like a beach ball in her stomach. They took her right away and did another ultrasound and the dr said that "yes there is fluid but if it were up to him and if we were transferring today he would still go ahead with it." With that said he then told us that they moved our transfer day from today to Monday. He couldn't give us a total number of embies that are still growing but did say that there were quite a few. We have to call first thing tomorrow morning to let them know how she is feeling and we will ask then because we are so curious to know how many of the 10 embies there are remaining. As of a couple hours ago Morrisa was still feeling bad but took something they gave her for her sickness feeling and a vicodin and has been sleeping since. So I will update when I know how she's feeling now and when we hear how many embies we have.

Fertilization Report

Just wanted to pop in and give a quick update. Our nurse called and said that 16 eggs were mature and that we have 12 embryo's. Morrisa was the one to call and let me know and we're both excited with this news. Even though she's still in so much pain.

Chicken Little

Yup, that's what I am! Chicken Little! So when we triggered the other night I was to give Morrisa the shot. I mean that's why I have been the giving her the sub-Q shots to work myself up to the IM shots. I couldn't bring myself to give her the shot. I forgot to mention this earlier. I was reminded as I was about to give Mo her first Progesterone injection and simply handed her the needle. I just can't get past the size of the IM needles. Oh well. She seems to not have any problem doing it herself, so don't fix it if it ain't broke right? Thank you everyone for your kind comments!

Egg Retrieval Time!!

We arrived this morning at Shady Grove in Rockville at 8:40 for our egg retrieval. They were pretty quick to take us back to the recovery area where we would wait for the procedure that was scheduled at 10:30. It was what seemed like an extremely long time filled with anxiety and a little fear that something might go wrong. 10:30 finally rolled around and they came in and walked Morrisa into the O.R. I then was shown the way to my waiting room where they would then escort me to my collection room. Which I might add wasn't all that bad. For those of you who may be curious they had a recliner type chair, tv, and material. Which I was curious if they would have since before we went to Shady Grove I had to give a sample at Kaiser where I had to share a public restroom with whomever walked in and out.
Anyway, around 10:50 I was allowed to go back into the recovery room to see Morrisa. She was really groggy, but was in good spirits. The doctor who did the retrieval came in and said that they were able to collect 16 eggs!! She also said that she drained about 4cc's of fluid which was from pre-hyper-stimulation. She said that she doesn't think there is anything to be concerned about but to keep an eye out for any symptoms for the next couple days.
We're both home now and Morrisa is recovering on the couch where I get to baby her for the remainder of the day. We should hear from a nurse tomorrow with the fertilization results and how many eggs mature.
Other news my dad's surgery went very well and he is recovering and was up walking a little today. Also I'm a little ticked off that the Washington Capitals lost last night and are no longer in the playoffs! Oh well there's always next year.

Monday? Blah!

Happy rainy Monday to everyone! The weekend was short as usual. We were at Shady Grove Saturday and Sunday mornings to monitor Morrisa's E2 levels as well as the growth of her follicles (or egg farm as I like to refer to it as.) and all seemed well. Her E2 levels continued to rise as expected with the growth and number of follicles that she has. The last results we have heard on her E2 levels they were at 2175 and of the eight follicles they measured they were all pretty much in the 16-18 range with one being a 20. They kept us at 50 units of Follistim and lowered the amount of Menopur from 75iu to about half of that.
We went back in this morning and the follies have grown and the ones on the right side seem to be the growing pretty consistently. All seem to be between 22-20, so it looks like we are going to be triggering tonight. WooHoo!! We still have to wait to hear the official word from our nurse but that's the way it looks as of now. That would put the egg retrieval taking place on Wednesday. I can't believe that we're finally approaching this stage of the process.
This is the start of a busy week for us as my dad goes in tomorrow to have his other hip replacement, replaced. He had his his left hip replaced back in October I believe it was. He originally has both hips replaced years ago and the plastic has worn down so they are replacing all of the hardware. He said it's no where near the pain and recovery he had during his original surgery, which is good. He was up and back at work after 3 weeks from his last surgery in October.
Then we have the egg retrieval on Wednesday (hopefully) and if they do a 5 day transfer which we're praying for we will have the transfer on Monday. So now we wait for official word from our nurse.

Thursday? Why Can't It Be Friday Already?

Well as I struggled to keep up with my wife this morning we made it to our dr's appt. After another 2 softball games last night, 4 in 2 days I am to say the least completely sore from head to toe. The appt went good. Her lining was 8 and she has 27 antral follicles. Now I have no idea if this number is good or bad, but I can guess that since it's a high number it's a good thing. That and my wife seemed happy that the number was high, although it probably means she's going to be very uncomfortable in the coming days. As we we're walking into the office we ran into Erin as she was there for her beta. Hoping she gets awesome news later today!

I'm going to go find some Advil, Asprin, Tylenol, conference room floor to lay on, anything to help feel more comfortable.

We've Started..Yippee

Well the weekend was a relaxing weekend. I just wish my wife felt better so she could have enjoyed it a little more. We went to Gettysburg and stayed at a Bed and Breakfast and Morrisa was sick all weekend so we pretty much stayed in the room the whole time, but it was nice to be together and relax. We cam back Monday and went to our appt. that morning for her Lupron evaluation. The nurse called Monday afternoon and gave us the go ahead to start our stims that night. So now I am giving her 5 units of Lupron in the morning, 150iu of Follistim & 75iu of Menopur in the evening. Giving the shots is comical at times but I guess I'm getting the hang of it. We go back for an appt tomorrow morning to see whats going on with her follicles. It's exciting to finally start stims but I'm nervous as well. I hope everything progresses as they should and she doesn't over stimulate, but we can't control that so all we can do is put it in Gods hands and listen to the Dr.
Also I started softball last night and we won our first 2 games of the season. This is the first season I am playing on 3 different teams. So I'm playing 2 games on Tuesday, 2 games on Wednesday, and 2 games on Saturday. My legs are already killing me and that's only after 2 games. We'll see how tonight goes.
I promise I will be a better blogger and update more often.
I also want to send out a huge congratulations to Jon and his wife who just announced Monday that they got a BFP!!!

Wait a minute...

My wife received a call yesterday from her nurse telling her that her Day 3 E2 levels were too high to start stims last night. Her E2 levels were 78 and they needed to be below 50, so we continued with the Lupron shots this morning at our usual 20 units. We go back in on Friday morning to check her levels again. Looking at the positive we won't have to drive to Annapolis on Saturday or Sunday and can stay in Gettysburg. I know this news though has my wife devastated because we have been so looking forward to starting and feels that this cycle is already a bust. I try to help by being my optimistic self and tell her it's not the end of this cycle and that we are just pushing everything back a couple days. Although by being optimistic and sharing that with her I also don't want her to feel that I am making it seem like her feelings aren't valid and that she's over reacting. I know it can seem that way sometimes but I do understand her fears, it's just I try to point out the positive points to cheer her up. So we will wait until Friday and hopefully her E2 levels drop and we can start our stims that night. This week isn't going by fast enough!

Green Light

We had our Lupron evaluation appointment this morning and all is good, so we got the go ahead to start our stims. We have been doing 20 units of Lupron in the morning and that is being dropped to 5 units. Thank God!!! We are starting with 150iu of Follistim tonight as well as 75iu of Menopur. I'm excited because that means I get to give 3 shots a day instead of the one. This is starting to get fun. We have to go back in on Friday morning to monitor so hopefully there is growth. Also I'm hoping that we don't have to go in for monitoring over the weekend because I have planned and paid for a trip to Gettysburg, PA. We've kind of made it our annual get away. If we do have to go in, we'll have to drive to Annapolis which is kind of a long hike. Anyway we'll see what they decide when we go in on Friday.

Back to normal

Well it's finally back to normal, I guess. AF has visited Morrisa so we have an appointment setup for tomorrow morning to go in for her Lupron evaluation. So as long as everything goes good which I think it will we will start stims tomorrow night. I am so excited to get started! I'm getting better giving shots, I guess. The other day was funny because just as I was about to stick her with the needle I stopped mid poke which wasn't quick enough. The point at where I stopped was when the needle tip hit her skin (It didn't break the skin though). :) I quickly pulled back and her expression was "Ouch why did you just poke me and take it back out!" I don't know why, but I found it hilarious.

We had my grandfather's viewing on Thursday and it was packed. Then the funeral on Friday which was more of a celebration of his life which had the church so packed there was people standing around the sanctuary and out the door. Even though there were also a lot of laughs shared as everyone recalled the good times. It was an amazing ceremony.

On Saturday we had my B-Day party which was a blast! It was great to see everyone from out of town that we don't get to see that much of. We even got my grandmother out on the dance floor and she boogied down to the awesome 70's music our DJ had going. It was good to she her having a good time.

All in all these last few days have been tough but good times spent with family and friends! Now I'm hoping we can start our stims tomorrow so that we can get on our way to hopefully bringing some good news to everyone.

Sad Day

I want to thank everyone again for your continued thoughts and prayers as my grandfather has been in andout of the hospital. The family received a call this morning to all meet at my grandparents house because he wasn't doing good. Everyone arrived and he passed away this morning at 9:40. My parents, wife, myself and grandmother sent hours with him last night and he was his usual awnry self. It was nice to have that time with him while he was feeling good and joking around. I know he's in a much better place now and isn't in pain anymore. We were all saying that it is so Pop to wait until April fools day. Also in other family news my grandfahers cousin passed away yesterday. Our family has never had much luck with this time of year. Our hope is to have a successful cycle so that we can have something to celebrate soon.

IVF News: I gave Morrisa her second Lupron shot this morning and had no problemdoing so. Now she is concerned that I am getting too much enoyment out of giving her shots.

Here we go...

Whew... I gave Morrisa her first injection of Lupron this morning. This is the first injection I have ever given her. During our IUI's I always let her do the injections, but since I am going to be the one giving her the inter-muscular injections we thought it would be best if I get used to giving her injections. Once I got past my fear of doing something wrong and hurting her it was a breeze. I say that now because these needles are small SubQ shots. We'll see how the bigger ones go when we get there. With the IUI's I was the one mixing or dialing up the dosage and she would inject and that was fine with me, and I still felt like I was a part of the whole process. Although I must say giving the injections myself I feel even more a part of the whole thing. It's weird to say this but I'm looking forward to shooting her up some more.


Today is the beginning of a very busy week. Sunday I turn 30 and Saturday as most of you have heard my wife and mother are throwing a party. So we have relatives coming from out of town and staying with us so we have to prepare for that. On top of all of this my grandfather who had a good week last week had a bad day yesterday so we still have his health to worry about. I can't wait until March is over with!

Will Friday Ever Get Here?

It seems as though Thursday just doesn't want to end. I don't know if it's because my job requires me to always look at the clock or if it's because the area I'm in has no windows. Is this what doing time in prison feels like? I mean I am surrounded by crazy people all day long and have to watch my back because I don't know who's coming up behind me or what the have in their hands. Today for instance someone in the lab thought it would be fun to stretch the hose into our area and attempt to soak someone. Real smart considering the computer equipment we have.
Speaking of time moving slow, it seems as though Morrisa has been on BCP forever now. I know it hasn't been that long since she started taking them but I've always been an impatient person when it comes to something that I'm excited about. Although I have become a more patient person thanks to the infertility. How's that for finding something good out of something that has caused so much emotional and physical pain not only to the two of us but those close to us. Well the physical pain has been endured by my lovely wife, what a trooper!
My grandfather has been home since Monday and hasn't been sleeping well and it is really showing. My parents live right next door and can see in through their kitchen window and into their living room where his hospital bed is setup. My mom said that last night they kept glancing over and everytime they did they saw my grandmother standing watching him sleep. So dad went over to talk to her to take her mind off things. She's taking everything so hard and understandably so. They have been married for 60 years. She's also been having trouble with her memory lately which is adding to the stress of the family. We're hoping and praying that she doesn't have the beginnings of Alzheimer's. Her mother had it and I know she's always worried about having it herself. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to have support out there.

Look what the Easter Bunny left!

I thought that I would give a quick peek as to what the Easter Bunny left us.



I also thought I would post a picture I took of the inter-muscular needles. We are so used to seeing the subQ needles that these were a shock! I'm glad it's not me getting the shots. Sorry babe!

Yes that's a quarter, and no this isn't the mixing tip!!!