Family Fun

Last weekend we had a family reunion (on Jacob's side) in Boise.  We actually stayed in Eagle which is a very pretty place! We only got to stay for a night, which we were kinda bummed about, but I got to meet A LOT of people I hadn't met yet! I can't believe we've been married for almost 6 years and there was still so many aunts/uncles/cousins that I'd never seen. Hopefully we will be better at visiting and keeping in touch now.

I wish that I'd taken more pictures~ we enjoyed time along the Boise river, hanging out at the campsite with Jacob's parents, Sushi (well, I dont like sushi but everyone else enjoyed it!), boating, Krispy Kreme donuts, and a movie night to see Captain America!

Here's a few of the only pictures I got:

I love this one... where's Jacob and his dad?! haha!

Richard & Karen

“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.” 

-Erma Bombeck

SSG Test Results

So today I had my SSG Ultrasound test.  In my last post I said it was the HSG test, but that one is on Monday. This was done because I had been bleeding so much during the last 4 months. It made sure that there were no adhesion's/cysts/other problems going on in there. Luckily, the test showed that everything looked good. Yay! So that means another surgery isn't needed (so far). I've got one more test left next week to check the tubes! CANNOT wait for them all to be done.

Here's the crappy part of the day: the ultrasound HURT LIKE HE**! I didn't take my husband because "ultrasound" didn't sound like anything that would be painful. I've had a million ultrasounds.  But, when I walked into the room and saw the little metal table filled with instruments and a bottle of fluid I started sweating. Then, Dr.O walks in and puts his hand on my leg and says "Don't be nervous. How are you doing?" I'm like, "Why should I be nervous!" So then he tells me that nothing he's going to do is going to be comfortable. Great! Sucky! I'm glad he told me so I could brace myself for the pain. He's actually a great doctor when you're in pain- constantly reminding you to breathe and making sure you're ok. That I DO appreciate about him. And he always tells me I'm a rocks tar after a difficult procedure.

I'll spare you all the full details of what exactly happens, but in a nutshell a catheter is placed inside the uterus, saline solution fluid is injected, and then they take a look with the ultrasound. I know it doesn't sound that painful, but let me tell you, the catheter hurts like crap, and when he counts down to 3 and injects the fluid, man oh man-- instant rush of pain like someone is literally taking your uterus out of you. Lol. It's a good thing the nurse came in to hold my hand and help me breathe through it!

Poor Jacob felt really bad he couldn't come up with me so when I called him crying afterwords he came up to pick me up.  It always takes about an hour for the bad cramping to go away. In fact, I'm still a little sore and not walking straight yet.  But it's similar to the IUI's I've had so it's nothing I can't handle! Such a good husband to drive all the way up there to bring me home. And thanks to Stephen too for coming along to drive my car home. :o)

Update

Ok so last week was a little dramatic. Leg issues, blue foot, doctor appointments, emotional breakdowns... we're better now. :o)

After my appointment with Dr. O I feel better about moving forward there.  I still have issues with a few things at his office-- namely the nurses giving the correct information and getting back to me timely, AND the LLLOOONNNGGG wait to see him. I mean seriously who has time to wait around 2-4 hours for a doctor appointment? Ridiculous. 

BUT, when he actually gets in the room with you he gets things done. He makes me feel comfortable. Which I need.  So we talked about the issues I've been having and he said he didn't have a problem taking me off the medicine and shots.  YIPPEE!! So after this last shot gets out of my system in a couple weeks I will have no more! I'm so happy about that. That stuff is making my body do crazy things and pretty much shut down. It's no fun to feel sick and tired and sluggish, especially in the middle of the hot summer.  He also referred me to get a vascular scan of my legs, which I got Friday morning.  I don't know the results of those yet, but the technician said not to be worried over the weekend (she can't tell me anything legally) and to take it as a good sign they were letting me go. My legs do actually feel better and I haven't noticed any blue in my foot. Maybe it was just a random fluke? Who knows!

I also had an ultrasound to check for lesions/cysts/etc and it all looked good except for fluid in the uterus. So net week I will have a Sono-hysterogram done next week to take a closer look. THEN, the following Monday I will get my tubes checked again with an  HSG test.  This is the one I'm not looking forward to. But, it had to be done anyways whether or not I continued the shots for another two months. I just have to do it earlier now.  Which also means, that if everything looks good then we're going to go ahead and start the fertility meds again! Exciting!

So, after much deliberation between my husband and I we have decided to stay with Dr.O for now and continue on with our plan. Despite the issues I've had, we've been with him for almost a year and we want to carry out the plan we had in place.  Deviating from that could be more work and heartache than we began with.  I feel good about our decision. And we'll just have to deal with the inconveniences of his office and really demand things when we need them.

I'll update again after my next ultrasound!

I'm a Smurf?!?!

Hi. You can call me Smurfette.

Why you ask?

Oh just because my foot is blue.

Yep. My foot turned blue today.

I've been having issues with my legs for the past week or so. Tingling, numbness and such.  I got into my chiropractor today who upon entering the room noticed my foot right off the bat. She goes, "Umm... what's going on with your foot, it's blue?"  I looked down and was like, "oh crap! Yep. I was just about to tell you I was having issues with my legs...." So, we dont have an answer yet. I go back tomorrow to get some other tests done. It may have something to do with endometriosis or the surgery I recently had. Could be the meds I've been taking, I have no idea.

What I do know is that I am NOT happy with my current fertility doctor.  4 months of Lupron--side effects and bleeding the whole time-- with me complaining monthly that I dont think it's working. Do you think I can see my doctor? Nope. The nurses tell me they'll ask him what to do and they report back to me.  They don't seem to be concerned in the slightest that I'm an emotional wreck, I'm in pain all the time, I've been bleeding for 4 months, tired all the time, I have muscle and joint pain, headaches, etc. Last week I asked for an ultrasound and bloodwork because I fear Im becoming anemic from losing a lot of blood. Nope. Not gonna do that. Against my better judgement I took the 4th shot of Lupron.  I think it's messing my body up but what do you do when you have a doctor telling you that you need it for 6 months? Frustrating!

So now, here I am, freaking out. My body is a mess and my foot is blue. Ok so at this current moment its not- when I lay down it seems to turn to normal color. It's when I'm sitting for awhile that it turns blue. Nonetheless... it's BLUE!!! Tomorrow it's back to get more tests, get results from blood tests hopefully (we'll see if i'm anemic), and start looking for a new fertility doctor for a second opinion.
*Sigh* When will it all end?!

Untold Stories of Traveling!

Sometimes traveling isn't all fun and games. I tend to get SUPER stressed right before we take a trip, or Jacob leaves town but I'm slowly getting better at this. I think Jacob might disagree though. Haha!

I thought I would take some time to share with you some of the funnier things that happened during our trip overseas.

1. First night of arrival in Istanbul we had a welcome reception at our hotel. The entertainment was a Turkish "spiritual ceremony" called a Whirling Dervish. Now mind you this a room full of for the most part "conservative" Christians who sell Church Insurance. There were a few gasps in the crowd, mostly from the older generations, saying "What exactly kind of spiritual ceremony is this?" I had to laugh. You have to experience different cultures right?! Except the Whirling Dervish might just have been too much for all of us. Seriously You Tube it.  It's a bunch of men chanting and spinning in circles. Really strange and not that fun to watch for 20 plus minutes after you've spent all night on a plane! Haha! 
2. We woke up the next day ready to hit the spice market and board the ship. Unfortunately I plugged my hair straightener (I DID have the converter mind you) into the outlet in the bathroom. Little did I know that in Turkey, Greece, and Europe apparently you can only use that outlet for men's shaving clippers. Would have been nice to know before hand!! Needless to say, it blew up. I tried everything to fix it. I had a bellman bring up a huge electrical converter to try and help me to no avail.  I then promptly started crying. Minor meltdown. Jacob thought I was losing my mind but I yelled at him "It's like my clothes! My hair is my clothes!!!"  Haha! It's funny looking back at now, but having a long thick, coarse head of hair like mine is not easy to tame without a flat iron! We randomly found a $10 one in the spice market with a european outlet so it sort of did the trick. I can't wait to get my new flat iron in the mail soon though! 3 weeks without wearing my hair down is starting to get at me! :o)
3. We were so tired after our tour in Kusadasi, Turkey that we laid down to take a nap around 4:00 pm and didn't awake until almost 10:00 when we forced ourselves to go eat something for dinner, then promptly went back to bed! We tend to do this on cruise ships for some reason! Maybe the rocking puts us to sleep?!
4. There were about 7 couples who got into mope-head/scooter accidents during the two days on the smaller islands! A lot of road rash and bruises but no serious injuries thank goodness!
5. One night I was getting ready for dinner and I was wearing a black skirt so I put on a white tank top. It may have been a little flowy and longer, and yes my hair was in a bun due to the lack of hair styling tools... Jacob says to me "Do not wear that. You look like an amish girl!" I got so mad, but I hadnt looked in a mirror yet. He may have been right. :o)
6. Jacob was looking for me one afternoon on the ship. I got hungry so went to grab something to eat by the pool. He asked some people from our group if they'd seen me and they told him they say me walking around with some "guy in a speedo." haha! There were A LOT of dudes in speedos. Gross!
7. We were swimming in the sea in Kusadasi and watched a little boy get carried out because he had a huge fish hook stuck through his leg. We did NOT get back in the water!
8. During one night on the ship it was particularly rocky. Jacob woke up in the middle of the night and staggered down the hallway, into the closet, then back to the bed. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Where am I? How do I get to the bathroom?" Haha! It really freaked me out for a minute!

To Turkey & Greece

We had an amazing time in Turkey and Greece.  Cruising is really the way to travel over there if you want to see it all because there is just too much to see! It was so nice to get away from phones, internet, and daily life for 2 weeks and just spend time together exploring and relaxing. No stresses! It was wonderful! If we were to visit again, we would definitely spend more time in Istanbul and Mykanos. Those were our two favorite places.

Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

 The spice market in Istanbul, Turkey. So vibrant and such a different culture than anywhere in the U.S. It was so random, FILLED with people and craziness. Loved it!

 Another favorite: Breakfast in our stateroom on the ship every morning. Hand delivered and set up by our butler. Aww living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

 Relaxing just the two of us! So good for a marriage!

 Virgin Mary House. Where Mary was believed to been taken by the apostle John when the Christians were being badly persecuted. I felt the presence of the Lord here and was literally brought to tears entering the house. We were able to light a candle and say a prayer. It was a very neat experience!

 Ancient Ephesus in Kusadasi, Turkey. Where the Roman temples and Colosseum/theater remain. Everything was VERY well preserved. It was like you stepped back in time! I cant believe the streets and the structures they made out of marble. It's beautiful!

 Group photo in Mykanos! We met some great people on the trip!

 Mykanos, Greece. Our favorite island. So much character and the beaches were gorgeous!

 Streets in Mykanos

 Santorini, Greece. Probably the prettiest and most unique island.

 Donkeys (aka burros) in Santorini. Walk 30 minutes up the cliff or take a mule for $4 euro! Lol!

Athens, Greece.  The Parthenon, Acropolis, and Mars Hill. This was a cool thing to visit. 99% of Athens is covering ancient ruins. People there are not allowed to dig because they're pretty much guaranteed to uncover ruins! Crazy!

All in all, we loved our trip and would go back to some of the places again but we are happy to be home and back in the good old USA!

Home Sweet Home!

We're back!

We had an amazing two weeks in Turkey and Greece but are oh so happy to be back on American soil and back to our pup and kitty! (Ok so we're a little sad that we won't be having breakfast in bed everyday and our own butler at our beckon call, or the amazing Greek food!)

Our flight's going to Turkey were great. The overnight flight was great since it was dark, everyone was quiet, sleeping or watching movies and there was no turbulence.  On the way home however it was daylight the entire time, our flight to Paris from Athens was so turbulent I actually was scared to death. I have to admit I did cry a little. I've never done that on a flight before!! Maybe it was because the pilots and the flight attendants were Italian and everyone was speaking French or Greek. I swear the pilots thought they were flying a spaceship. We were an hour late off the ground so we were late to Paris and had to SPRINT through the most confusing airport, through customs, and barely made it on our flight. We were sweating so bad! The runways were so busy there that we were late getting into Salt Lake too (after the 11 hour flight). Again, we had to go through customs there and re-check our bags so we ended up sprinting again to make our flight. We arrived just in time for final boarding. Unfortunately our bags didn't make it so we wound up at home with no bags, which had our car keys, so we had to wait for my brother to find our spare key and drive up to give it to us! Such a long day! We crashed when we got home at 6:00 pm!

I must say this about Delta international flights though~ they know how to keep you happy! We had movies, tv, 2 full meals (dinner and breakfast), snacks (sandwiches one time and pizza and ice cream another!) pillows and blankets. I was very surprised at the good service!

I'm still uploading pictures and have lots of stories to tell, so when I get them all sorted out I will do a more elaborate posting!

Parthenon in Athens, Greece

Athens, Greece