Friday, October 29, 2010

200 Followers GIVEAWAY!!

On June 10, 2008 I wrote a little post called, OK Here We Go!!

Back then I had no idea what this blog would eventually come to be. For the first month, it was a daily journal while I was going through my very first IVF cycle. For the 9 months after that, it was place for me to celebrate, vent, and even cry my way through pregnancy. Then on February 28th 2009, it became a virtual baby book as I documented London's every move. It wasn't until this past April that I decided that I wanted to take this blog in a more serious direction. I needed an outlet to express myself and The Infertility Overachievers seemed like the likely choice. At that time I had 27 followers, most of which were IRL friends or family members. Here I am 6 months later celebrating my 200th follower.

Thank you for all of your support over the last 2+ years. Y'all have always been there to offer support, great advice, and alot of much needed laughs. Y'all are the best!!

As a thank you to ALL of my awesome followers, I am doing a 
GIVEAWAY!!!

One lucky follower will win all of the following...

Because I love to cook, This super cute Vintage Inspired Apron!

Because I love a good glass of wine, this Hand Painted "Wine Snob" Glass.

 And because drinking wine will make your thirsty, this SubZero Stainless Steel Water Bottle

And because we could all stand to work out a little more, Brenda Strong's Yoga 4 Partner's DVD

And last but NOT least, 
Because I love to shop, 
A $25 CSN Stores gift card!



How to enter?

Since this giveaway is 100% funded by me! I have no sponsors to please so I'm not going to make you jump through a million hoops to enter. Since this is a giveaway for my FOLLOWERS, that is the only way to enter. 
You have 2 chances to enter. 
(Please leave a separate comment for each entry.)

Entry #1) Currently Be or Become a Follower of my Blog

Entry #2) Currently Be or Become a Follower of me on Twitter

That's it!! 

Giveaway ends Monday, November 8, 2010 at 11:59 EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced some time on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. 

Disclosure: I have nothing to disclose. This giveaway if funded by me as a way to thank my amazing followers. 

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

IVF Dilemma.

Yesterday, my RE's office decided to return my call from 4 days ago (6 if you count the weekend). The IVF coordinator apologized for not getting back to me sooner but explained that they are right in the middle of October's IVF cycle. You know, the cycle I was supposed to be in before I had to make responsible financial decisions. Blah! Thanks for rubbing it in lady! She did give me some dates and details

-November 10th: Mock Transfer. I didn't do one of these with my first IVF cycle, no sure why though.

-Call ASAP when AF shows up so they can get me in for blood work and antral follicle count. I'm expecting AF around November 18

-November 30th: Mike goes in for his part of the labs. Infectious disease blood work and a "sample" for his semen analysis. I am sure he is going to be THRILLED about this, but oh well. If I have to have a huge needle in my lady parts the least he can do is donate a few "boys" for testing. HAHAH!

It looks like I will start my stims in mid January and ER (egg retrieval) at the end of January.

All of that is fine and dandy but we have a little problem and I need your help. I am so torn about this. While on the phone with my nurse she was going over the my insurance coverage and what I can expect to pay for. She was breaking it all down for me. 20% of IVF, 20% of ICSI, etc... Finally she got to cryopreservation, (AKA: Freezing our embryos) and our insurance covers NOTHING! Now, and I always say this, I don't want to sound ungrateful because I know we are extremely lucky to have our IVF coverage. However, I do recall them telling me that this was covered when I first called to get our benefits. I called our insurance company to check and she was right. They cover nothing for freezing and storage. I'm gonna type this part in bullet points, and not because I'm annoyed this time. Mainly because I think I am going to ramble and make zero sense if I don't. Here are the facts.

-It will cost us an extra 1800 to have our embryos frozen. I know this doesn't sound like that much money but we are already forking out a large chunk of change for the first cycle.

-Under our insurance plan we have 6 IVF cycles covered (and another 6 FET's) so if we don't get pregnant from our IVF cycle in Jan we can do another fresh cycle for FREE a few months later (because we will have already paid our max out of pocket for the year so after this first IVF cycle, everything else will be covered 100% until next Jan)

- It would suck to not get pregnant and have to wait 3 months (which from what I hear from my fellow IVF bloggers is the standard wait time between IVF cycles). You can usually do a FET (Frozen embryo transfer) alot sooner.

-I'm getting older, I'll be 30 in February so each time we do a fresh IVF cycle we risk the quality of my eggs not being as good as the cycle before. This is kinda silly I know but this is the kind of crap infertile woman worry about, how much egg quality will deteriorate in 3 freaking months. HAHAHA!

-UGH, I don't wanna do another fresh cycle. They are so hard on me, both physically and emotionally.

- Our last IVF cycle worked the first try. I know that it doesn't mean we are going to be that lucky again this time. What if we are though? But then again, what if we are not, especially since I am only allowing them to put 2 embies back in this time. We put back 3 when we got pregnant with London, so I'm afraid only putting 2 back won't result in a pregnancy, which will mean we NEED to have some frozen.

-I am assuming we would have something to actually freeze. Last time I had 7 left, but who knows if we will even have any this time. This whole debate might be for NOTHING.

I flop back and forth between wanting to freeze and not wanting to freeze.

Right now, I think I will save the money. Do this fresh cycle and another fresh if we have to. Next cycle go ahead and freeze that way I don't have to potentially do 3 fresh cycles in a row. We also won't have to fork out another $1800 bucks if we don't need to.

Who knows what I am going to think tomorrow though.

Thoughts??

*FYI: unused embryos will be donated

Monday, October 25, 2010

Annoyed...The Update.

First off, I am happy to announce that I am finally able to type in full sentences again. Trust me, I'm as excited about that as you are.

 After my Annoyed  post the other day. I woke up bright and early on Friday and called my RE office back. I wasn't about to wait around for them to remember me. This time I decided to by pass the automated menu and go straight to the receptionist. I was hoping that I could pretend that I didn't know who to talk to so she would patch me right through instead of making me leave yet another message. Oh but the receptionist did one better, she had all the answers. Even if her answers did SUCK!

The Answer: They are going to have me wait until next month to get things started. I really don't know why I was so disappointed. I guess I just got it stuck in my head that something was going to happen this month when AF showed up.  I know it makes sense. I am still a good two and a half months out. I just got really excited a few months ago when she told me to call when I started my October period.  It appears that they haven't finished the January schedule yet so they really don't even have any details to give me.

Although her news SUCKED, I really liked the receptionist. She must have talked to me for a full 20 minutes.

So long story short. I am feeling much better now. I did end up having a good cry, not over IVF or my RE. Actually it was over this week's Brothers and Sisters episode. That show ALWAYS gets me. Just so you know, I'm in love with Justin. Sorry Mike, but it's true.  I know some of you don't watch the show so I will share the hotness with you.

I am feeling alot more like myself now. Thanks for all your comments. 
Y'all rock. 

We can resume the IVF talks in approximately 28 days, but until then it's back to same old boring Infertility Overachievers. I know, I know. It was almost exciting. I did however leave you with a picture of Justin, so I'm trying to spice things up a little. :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Annoyed

1) This post is going to be done in bullet points. I am so annoyed with life right now that I don't even have the energy to write in complete paragraphs!

2) I started my period today hence the title of this post and the bullet point above and all of them below.

3) I started my period today...YES,  I do know I already said that! Why do have to try to correct me all the time? Wait, I'm sorry. Don't go!

4) I started my period today. I did what I was suppose to do and called my RE fully expecting a full break down of my upcoming IVF cycle. I wanted to hear...

 "HI ALY!!!!!!! I see that you want to do IVF in January, right? Just so you know you will start stims on THIS DATE and get your BFP on THIS DATE and your due date will be THIS DATE BUT your baby GIRL will actually be born on THIS DATE so I hope you are prepared. Thanks for calling, see you then!"

Ok so I know that's stretching things a bit, but a girl can DREAM right? Anyway, I called to let them know it was CD (cycle day) One for me and they did not even return my call. This is time sensitive material folks! I have to have blood work scheduled for CD 3. That's SATURDAY, so it has to be specially ordered. How are they missing this? Please look back at #1.  I'm not feeling so great about this new RE now. What else are they going to forget? UGH!!!

5) Have you ever had a day when all you wanted to do was cry? For no real reason but you just felt the need to let it all out? That was today for me. The funny thing is that in the midst of choking back tears at every turn, all I could think about was this video from Dane Cook. I DID MY BEST!!!!


If you have a few minutes and have not seen this video, watch it!!! You will die laughing. Seriously, I hate to lose you as a reader, but you are going to DIE laughing. Trust me it is totally worth it!

I am going to call back to my new RE office tomorrow. Hopefully they will actually manage to return my call this time. If not, I will be shopping for a new RE in a few days!!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

ICLW- October

Welcome ICLW!!

My name is Aly.  I am 29 years old and SAHM to our IVF miracle, London. 
Welcome to my little slice of the interwebz. 

This is me


And these are the boys who have stolen my heart
 (AKA: Mike and London).




Now a little bit about us. 

After 2 years of infertility treatments (due to unexplained IF ) we were finally able to get pregnant with London after our very first IVF cycle.   He was born in February 2009 but I officially have the fever again, and I'm not talking about the "Beiber Fever". I want another  baby ! My husband was an Army Captain before getting out a few months ago. It has been quite a transition to the "civilian life" but we are slowly getting used to things on "the outside". The good news is that his new company offers infertility coverage including IVF.  We really lucked out in that department. We have decided to do IVF #2  in January but the wait is all but killing me. 

Feel free to look around and make yourself at home. Here is our complete Infertility Journey starting back in 2006 if you would like to read all about it.  I love comments so don't be shy!

Prop up your feet become a follower and stay a while. 

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to getting to know you (and your blog).

P.S: Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway: Win a Pillsbury Grands! Prize Pack including a $15 Visa Gift Card.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mike vs The Neighborhood Kids

I hope all of you had an AMAZING weekend. We had a fantastic time. My Mom and Sister came into town including 3 of my nephews and 2 of my nieces (ranging in age 7-14). As you can assume my nieces were amazing with London. He must have gone on 2-3 wagon walks around the neighborhood everyday. He loves my youngest niece Marra the most. Every time she walks into a room his eyes light up. She is just old enough to be able to understand that your have to "entertain him" not just play with toys near him, but she is still alot of fun on her own. She does her best to make him laugh, including one very entertaining song and dance.

Anyway...

My nephews were in town too. I'm not sure I have mentioned this before but we have a shit ton (yep I said it) of kids in our neighborhood. They are EVERYWHERE. Sometimes this is fun and refreshing to see all of them playing in the streets on your way home. Other times, it SUCKS! It never fails that they decide to play basketball in the street in front of our house right in the middle of London's nap. This weekend while my nephews were in town they had a huge pickup football game going. Of course the biggest kid of all...Mike decided to join them. He was out there all afternoon. To hear him tell it he was the "quarterback", so he wasn't really getting tackled or tackling anyone else. However with all of that said, Mike still managed to come home with this on his eye.
It's only a matter of time before the neighborhood kids come knocking on my door asking if my husband can come back out to play. My response? Only if he eats all of his veggies first.

While my family was in town we also made a trip to the zoo. Every year the Columbia Zoo has something called Boo at the Zoo. Basically it is just a huge trick or treating Halloween party in the middle of the zoo. It was really neat, and all of the kids had fun, especially London. Although I am now rethinking my decision to let him watch Twilight with me.


P.s. Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway:   Win a Pillsbury Grands! Prize Pack including a $15 Visa Gift Card.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Leadership

I have no idea how I do it but I somehow always manage to insert myself into leadership positions. I'm not sure if its because leadership is something that I enjoy or if it's just something that I am kinda good at and end up naturally falling into those spots.

In 2002, when my then boyfriend, Mike went off to the US Military Academy at West Point, I joined USMA Girlfriends. 6 months later, I was a moderator, and one year later I was the owner. I taught myself  HTML and learned to let people rant at me without taking it personally. We had well over 150 members when I left that group.

Then in 2005 I co-founded  Army Officer Girls. I loved that group!! It was super low key, but still allowed me to assert myself when I needed too.

When Mike graduated from college and entered the big Army, I was the treasurer for his very first unit's FRG. That FRG only consisted of myself and 2 other wives, but we were a force to be reckoned with. We made a MEAN chili dog at fund raisers.

I have always had my hand in something. So when Mike got out of the Army, I felt like I lost a little bit of myself. In the civilian world there are no FRG's. There are no websites available for wives of Mike's new company. What was I supposed to do?

Well I did what any other woman would do... I joined a playgroup and 3 months later became an assistant organizer. What?!?!?

Yep, that's right, you are looking (OK, more like reading) at the new Assistant Organizer for...



I am really excited about this position. This group has really helped me out in the friend department. I've met some awesome ladies since I joined this group and now I feel like I can somehow help the group and other moms.

Remember that post all about Friends

I think I got it now!! ;-)

Monday, October 11, 2010

Mommy FAIL number 2864

Today started out calm enough. Just a normal Monday by all accounts. Mike's family came into town this weekend and we had an awesome time. After being busy all weekend, I was really looking forward to today being super low key and chill. HA!! That joke was on me.

Let me start from the beginning though, Mike ended up having to work last night. He doesn't work very many weekends and even fewer nights. Something came up this weekend though and he had to go in. So after getting home at 4am. He was asleep in the bed this morning when London and I got up and moving around 8 am. We did the normal routine of eating breakfast then going outside to play. I was standing in the kitchen (which overlooks the yard) when I heard him cry. This isn't all that unusual for him and sadly I have become immune to it. You see London has this toy grocery cart that he pushes around our back yard like a little homeless man. He is quite obsessed with it. The only problem is that it will occasionally get stuck in a little hole or on another toy. When this happens you would think that his whole world was crashing around him. He gets frustrated and throws the biggest fit. Well today when I heard him crying I had no reason to believe that this was any different from any other day. I was positive this was a just another stuck grocery cart.

Just as I always do I looked up to check though, and that is when I saw London crying on the ground with a blood covered face. To say that I panicked would be a huge understatement. I scooped him up and ran to our bedroom where by the grace of God, Mike was sleeping.

In a tone of pure panic but not wanting to freak London out any more than he already was I said "Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, you have to wake up! I need help!" Well he must have heard the utter fear in my voice mixed with London's cries because he flew up out of that bed. I sat the lil man on the sink where Mike held him while I ran to get a clean towel out of the dryer. By the time I got back in there London was only whining and Mike was handing him various bottles of my lotion and body splash. It was every toddlers dream, an all access pass to Mom's toiletry basket.

I wiped his face, but the blood continued to pour. We finally narrowed it down and figured that the blood was coming from then inside as well as outside of his nose. We sat there for a minute wiping his blood, trying to make it stop, debating on whether I should take him to the emergency room, and trying to keep London from touching it. Finally after a few seconds it started to slowly stop bleeding. At that moment I looked over at Mike and said, I'm gonna pass out. I finally looked up at myself in the bathroom mirror and I was GREEN. I had to get something to drink so I walked into the kitchen where all the sudden my vision and  hearing started to go. Even though I have never actually passed out I knew I better get on the floor or risk falling and Mike having to taking both of us to the emergency room. I sat in front of my refrigerator sipping a cup of ice water for about 2 minutes before I started to feel like myself again. I got up and walked back into the bathroom where London had stopped crying and Mike had managed to get the bleeding to stop. After all of that I did what any good mom does, I grabbed London and we cuddled on the couch while sharing a much deserved pack of M&M's.

I have no idea why I almost passed out. I don't usually do blood because it grosses me out but this time I wasn't grossed out at all. It was like a biological response to seeing that much blood. I didn't want to be sitting on the floor in the kitchen while my child was in pain and bleeding in the other room, but my body didn't offer me a choice. It seriously just shut down. Even once I had gotten over feeling like I was going to pass out, I couldn't stop shaking for at least a half hour. I was a mess! What would I have done if Mike had been at work like he was supposed to be? Would I have had the same reaction or is there some sort of override switch that as Mom I could flip in the case of an injury to your own child? Why am I such a freaking WIMP!

London has only had a few serious spills before this one. The last being on his first birthday when he fell and pretty much ate the baseboard at my friends house. Mike was also there then. Coincidence? Mike works alot and he always has. On average he only gets to see London for about an hour a day and then on the weekends. It is mathematically impossible that I am with London pretty much 24/7 yet the few times he has ever been injured Mike has always been there. What is the saying? God won't give you anything you can't handle. Well that man is BRILLIANT! He obviously knows that I can not handle my child's injury on my own.

In the end,  London is fine and it looks as if he fell down and split his nose open on the outside thus damaging it on the inside too.  He was such a trooper. If only Mommy could be that strong.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Calm Before The Storm

I've lost my blogging mojo. I don't know where it went, but I hear that this happens to everyone at some point. This is my time.

I guess this is the calm before the storm in my life. If, and when,  AF shows up in 2 weeks  then we will start taking the first steps in our IVF cycle. Exciting? Meh...It just seems so anti climactic at this point. I'm sick of waiting but I've kind of gotten used to it, comfortable if you will. The idea of moving forward at this point is a little scary. Birth control, which is the first step used to suppress your ovaries, always makes me super moody and icky feeling. I'm actually still shocked that Mike married me since I was on birth control for the first few years. For lack of better words, and despite the fact that my sister swears it's just a natural part of my personality, birth control makes me a BITCH!

So here is how all of this is going to go down: 2 months of birth control, 10 days of stims (we all know what those do to us, um...how do you type the sound a coo coo clock makes?), 10 days waiting to find out if I'm pregnant (let the maybe I am pregnant, wait no no I'm definitely not pregnant, mood swings begin), and then last but not least I am either pregnant and get to enjoy the emotional overload for 8 more months or I am NOT pregnant and get to freak out and cry about it for a few month until we can do a frozen cycle (and hopefully we will have something to freeze) and then this WHOLE vicious cycle begins again. 

So while I am ecstatic about having another baby. I am in no way excited about the emotional and hormonal aspects of getting to that point. It's a win/win or a lose/lose, just depending on how you look at it. 

I will get through this slump and eventually remember why I am doing all of this....


I remember now.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Who I've Become.

Very few things have changed since Mike got out of the Army. He is still up and out of the house by 5:30 in the morning and he still gets home around 6:00 or 7:00 every night. He still comes home exhausted, plays with London, eats dinner, and then falls asleep on the couch. It's life as usual around here. Yes, some of the bigger stuff has changed. I don't have all of the worry anymore. I know he won't have to deploy and we don't have to plan our life around his training schedule. Things have changed, I have changed.

Mike was gone last week. He left on Monday morning to go to TN for business. No big deal, nothing crazy, nothing dangerous, but he was still gone. I remember when I was an Army wife, I always wanted to cause physical harm when one of my civilian friends complained about their husband being gone for a few days. I wanted to shake them and scream, "It's a freaking week! It's also probably the only week this year that he will be gone! Toughen up, put on your big girl panties, and quit complaining to ME!"  To an Army wife, it's like the ultimate sin for a civilian to complain about their husband leaving for a few days. It's right up there with telling a infertile "Just relax". You.Just.Don't.Do.It.

It wasn't until Friday morning, that I realized I am officially THAT GIRL now. I woke up that morning and all but squealed in delight at the idea of Mike's "homecoming". Yes ladies, I said it. "HOMECOMING!?!?!" I started to think about a cute outfit that I wanted to wear and about getting my hair cut and nails done.  WTF is wrong with me? Back in the day his return from such a short time away wouldn't even warrant me shaving my legs. This time though, I wanted to make signs for the door. Seriously, that thought really crossed my mind. How did I change this much in only a few months? I actually sat in my car as I drove home from dropping him off at the airport and almost broke into tears when I realized I had to watch Glee alone...for one week, not the entire season...just ONE WEEK! I wanted to tweet about it but I quickly decided it was in my best interest to keep that to myself. I felt/feel some serious guilt for having these emotions. I just can't help it.  I guess being a civilian again has changed more than just Mike. I know, I suck!

I feel the need to apologize to all of my Army wife readers. I know I didn't write a whole "Woe is me, my husband has been gone for 36 hours" post but I thought it. That in itself is bad enough.

I promise I will try to be better. I promise I will try not to be That Girl again. This is my life now though. I feel like I turned in more than just my ID Card when Mike got out. Bear with me as I try to figure all of this out.

P.S. Don't forget to go enter to win 250 Die Cut Business Cards. Only 2 days left to enter.

Friday, October 1, 2010

New Blog Friday-Megan





Here is a message from Megan:

Hello! My name is Megan and I am super excited to be a part of New Blog Friday! Here is a little bit about me, my family, and why I blog. I am a wife to a pretty amazing guy named Willie. He is my rock and my strength through life. I honestly have no idea who or where I would be without him. We have two equally amazing sons. On July 25, 2009 I gave birth to identical twin boys we named William Glen (III) and Michael Joseph, who we called MJ. Will was born at 3:26 am and was healthy in every way. MJ was born one minute later with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). CDH occurs when the diaphragm does not fully form, which allows the stomach organs to migrate and grow in the chest cavity, which severly hinders lung and heart development. Only 50% of CDH babies survive the surgeries required to save their lives. MJ was diagnosed with CDH when I was 21 weeks pregnant. Every indication was given that he would have a good outcome and that we would bring him home. MJ battled for 35 amazing days before passing away peacefully in my arms on August 29, 2009 at 8:15 pm. My son is forever loved and forever missed.

I can honestly say that living life without him is harder then I have ever imagined. Raising his twin brother brings lots of tears, but also a lot of smiles. Sometimes I can't believe how bittersweet life is. We never thought we wouldn't bring him home until the day we lost him. We are still picking up the pieces. Our hearts will forever be broken, but we are trying again. We want to bring a rainbow into this world after the storm that we have endured. But again God has other plans for us. I am ending my fourth month of fertility medicine and next week we meet with a fertility specialist to explore further options. It is our hopes that one day we will be blessed with another life; another baby to love. We have loved and we have lost, and I can say without a doubt that it is better then to have never known my son. His short life has forever changed me. My choice to be better or to be bitter. I want to be better for knowing MJ.
Go check out Megan at MJ's Memories
 Give her a big welcome into the blog world by leaving a comment and/or becoming a follower .  


Would you like to have your blog featured on New Blog Friday?