The Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise

Thanksgiving 2013!

This year, we continued with a tradition we started last year: The Portland Spirit Thanksgiving Day Dinner Cruise.



Our table and view...




Once again, the food did not disappoint. It was truly fantastic! We ate until our belly's ached - maximum capacity was reached! Danny especially...This time last year, he was so so sick, that he could hardly eat, and I honestly don't think he has much recollection of our holidays at all. It was exactly one year ago today, that he was admitted into the hospital needing fluids, antibiotics, and a blood transfusion. A Colectomy a few looong days later and 2 other surgeries over the span of 6 months were a result from this hospital stay. Look how far we've come! Yesterday, Danny not only ate 2 full plates of holiday food, but he followed that up with 5, I repeat, 5 pieces of cheesecake. I had to document it...


Although freezing cold, the day was clear, sunny, and beautiful! Here's our view from the boat...



Then Ty started feeling nauseous...


We tried going outside on the upper deck for some fresh air and sunshine. He got to steer the boat, so it wasn't total misery!


Back inside, the fresh air hadn't helped. He threw up twice during our cruise. Luckily he made it into the bathroom, so he didn't ruin the cruise for the other guests, but the last half of the cruise was a little rough for him. We all ate the same meal, so my guess is that this was just total coincidence and really bad timing for the flu bug. No fun! :(



Poor guy! He slept the whole ride home...


This last little gem is a side shot of me after dinner. Stretchy pants were a matter of LIFE.OR.DEATH. Now - remember the doctor telling me I will bloat a little as my ovaries plump up for harvest? Uh huh - NO KIDDING! Look at this belly!!! Although, I have been really lucky and have not experienced any of the crazy, emotional side-effects of the hormone injections, I'd say he was right about this. I look 6 months pregnant! UGH. I'm going to POP! Haha. Thank God, harvest is just a few days away and I can stop the (plumping) injections soon! There is an end in sight! Hopefully 6 months from now I will look like this again, only there will be a baby inside :)

Puppy Face

Last weekend, we had the fun opportunity to 'puppy-sit' my friend's 9 week old Pomeranian. She was so tiny and weighed all of a pound and a half! Her name is Wendy, but by the end of the weekend, the boys had been affectionately referring to her as "Puppy Face." We all kept saying, "Just look at that puppy face!!"...and somehow "puppy face" is all that stuck. Haha!

Now, I am not generally a dog fan, especially little 'yippee' dogs...but she surely gave me new insight to having one. She was so cute and so sweet - what a cuddle bug! Puppy Face!!! I may or may not have stuck her inside my jacket and went grocery shopping (See picture, below. Hehe) That being said, I was still the one doing most of the work taking her outside to potty in the freezing cold and cleaning up the potties she didn't make it outside in time for. (Sorry for peeing on your couch, Brittany!!!!) Puppies are a lot of work!! Needless to say, one baby at a time. The Johnston's won't be bringing home a puppy anytime soon. Wah wah.

Thank you Kendra for letting us watch your fur baby!! You can go out of town anytime and you'll always have a puppy-sitter! Ty teared up when it was time to give her back and has already been asking when she can visit again. We loved having her for 4 days! It was the perfect amount of time to get some puppy-lovin' :)
Here are pictures from our weekend...



Who can resist that PUPPY FACE?!?

Human Pin Cushion

I did it! Aside from some bruising, I completed all 10 of my injections this weekend without incident. I may have dragged my feet on the way into the bathroom, but I made it. (I don't want to hear any whitey pale jokes, naturally-tan-husband)...



Fun? Meh - not so much. But, hey. Ya do what'cha gotta do. However - I'm not done yet. I will continue with 3 injections each night until my "trigger" shot. Hey, 3 is way better than 5, OKAY?!

I really can't believe how quickly all of this is going! I know I'm lucky and blessed that it's going so smoothly for me. The injections are really no-big-deal in the broad scheme of life, and I'm feeling great! I've been tired and had a headache or two here and there, but overall, really really good. Harvest is next week already. NEXT WEEK! Eek! I'm excited. I know I will get more uncomfortable (still waiting for my ovaries to balloon) - but overall, excited to get this done with. I wish I could fast forward just a few weeks to know where I stand: Pregnant or not pregnant. That would help - but I guess God doesn't give sneak peeks...so I will keep on swimming.

5 days until my next appointment...Saturday at 7:45am. Which means I leave the house at 6:35am. Ugh. And this was the latest time they had left! (Grumble grumble grumble.) Oh well. As soon as that newborn is screaming, this may seem like a very normal wake-up time, am I right? Anyway, Saturday I will have another ultrasound and the doctor will look at how large my egg sacks are and based on what he sees, we will schedule the trigger shot. This is the shot that will make my ovaries RELEASE all of the eggs that are ready, so they can harvest them out of my body. We are praying for at least 12 healthy eggs. Anyway, Saturday will be a very important appointment and we'll know more then. So, as much as I know you are all sitting out there with bated breath just dying with anticipation for my next post, all I can say is: stay tuned!

Suppression Check Day!

This morning at 11am, we had our "suppression check." The doctor was checking to make sure the birth control did its job the last 3 weeks in suppressing my ovaries to prevent ovulation. Had my body not reacted to the birth control as desired, I would not be ready to proceed with the final few steps of IVF this round, so this was a rather pivitol appointment. I am happy to report, I passed with flying colors and we have been cleared for take-off! Here we go. Game on - FOR REALS!

What's next, you ask? On Saturday, I start the injections that will now send my ovaries into hyper-drive. I will take 5 injections on Saturday, then 5 injections again on Sunday. Yes, you read that correctly. 5. That is 10 injections in 2 days. Gulp. Sounds like fun, right? Can't wait. To give myself these injections, I've found it is easiest to bend over so there's extra pudge to grab while my stomach is relaxed, and I give myself the shot into the fat padded area on either side of my belly button in that position. Saturday and Sunday will be the worst of it. I have another blood check first thing Monday, and based on how my body responded to the hormone surge on Sat/Sun, that will determine how many injections I will take for the remaining duration leading to harvest. My egg harvest will occur the first week of December. We don't know exactly which day yet, but all of that will be revealed with daily ultrasounds that week. When the ovaries look plump and plentiful, I take a trigger shot - a huge burst of hormones that force my body to release all of the eggs at once. They will harvest exactly 36 hours after my trigger shot.

Although the next 2 weeks will fly by, they will be an intense 2 weeks on these hormones. This is usually the most emotional or "crazy" part of the ride - so buckle up, keep your hands and legs inside the cart, and enjoy the ride - and please tell me all about it later because I may briefly lose my grasp on reality.

;)

Injection Update..

We had our "injection clinic" today at the fertility clinic! Let me just say, I waaaay over-analyzed this one! To which Danny responded - "You, over-analyze???? NOOO!" Heavy sarcasm noted, husband. Haha.



The needle was basically the diameter of a hair! I gave myself the Leuprolide Acetate injection and I didn't even feel it. The needle wasn't even big enough to make me bleed. No big deal!! I will give myself the Leuprolide injection every night until this IVF cycle is complete. I will add an additional injection in 2 weeks, and apparently I shouldn't feel any bloating or discomfort OR crazy until that hormone starts on 11/23, so I'm in the clear for awhile! Yay! Thank God! And look - I even got my own biohazard box :)

Viles, Syringes, and lots of HORMONES...

The last couple of weeks have been interesting...

The first day of my period last week I started the medication Ortho Cyclen to put my ovaries to rest, preventing ovulation. The first few days of my cycle, I thought my uterus was in complete protest and directly PUNISHING me from the uterine surgery I had 5 weeks ago to correct my septate uterus. I feel like after having cramps that bad, labor should be a breeze! Those were a rough few days to say the least. Thank God for my lovely employees Kelsey and Jill for rescuing me last minute, so I could go home and sleep it off...which I did just that. Each day was better than the last and aside from the daily bouts of nausea that I feel from the Ortho Cyclen, I'm doing just fine...nothing a few saltine crackers can't cure.

This week, on Tuesday to be exact, I received a box full of all of the medications I will need for the next 4-5 weeks. I pulled everything out of the box and took a picture...



Then I put everything back in the box, and threw it in the back room. An emotion I wasn't expecting during this journey came over me.

Anger.

Angry that this is my journey. Angry that I have to put my body through all of this, when our bodies as women are designed to do this naturally - without help. Angry that there's always something and it can never be simple...as if Danny nearly dying and then having 3 major surgeries which included a colectomy from Ulcerative Colitis our first year of marriage wasn't enough, and now this journey through IVF our second year of marriage. Angry that women all over the world get pregnant without even trying every.single.day...some women who don't even WANT *GASP* their babies. Angry that life isn't fair sometimes. Boo hoo, poor me.

I am human. I had a moment of selfishness, and I knew it. I had to change my perspective. A day or two passed. I had a few pep talks. I connected with a beautiful new friend that just had a perfect baby boy using the same IVF/ICSI method that we're doing with the same fertility specialist we're seeing. She brought her baby into the shop. He was beautiful. I needed that. It filled me. My spirit was renewed. My fight was restored. I can do this. We are so blessed we even get the opportunity to do this, to try this. Our insurance is paying for most of it. That alone is HUGE and RARE and I am so so so so so grateful. Many couples pay out of pocket for this - taking out loans or second mortgages. It totals around $12,000 per 1 full IVF/ICSI round with no guarantee. That is a huge risk for couples without any help! I also know there are couples where IVF isn't even an option for one reason or the other, maybe physically or emotionally. I am healthy. I am strong. I believe God will bless us and use our story.

Tomorrow, we have a 9:30am appointment so I can be shown how to give myself the injections at which time, I will start said injections. This is it! It's time for the big guns. 4-5 weeks of daily hormone injections that will take my ovaries from almond size to grapefruit size. Ok, ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating...we'll say oranges instead. Either way, I'm about to get huge and look pregnant before I actually am. I've been told I will be bloated, bruised, uncomfortable, crampy, and I will feel like I am going to explode...oh, and crazy. Definitely crazy. Haha. I'm assuming this is a gradual process the closer I get to my harvest date, but regardless of how long it takes to get there, I'll be there soon. So, with a prayer and a renewed positive attitude, I'm ready. I can do this. Bring on the crazy. Bring on the moo moos, stretchy pants, strategically draped fall layering pieces!!

If you're following this blog and our story, I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment to let me know you've stopped by!

Halloween 2013

What does a 30 year old woman do on Halloween without cute, real babies to dress up?

THIS!!!!

Happy Halloween from Ty and Lu :)