Many Happenings

SO busy lately. Unfortunately I don't think 'Hey, I need to get this onto the blog' so this poor Media forum has suffered. We're full of events and travels, but I don't have hardly any pictures, so I'll try and paint a picture :)

- The first weekend in November was AWESOME! I was able to make a trip up to Logan, Utah and have a blast with SO many wonderful friends and family. There were TWO baby showers and about a million laughs. It was wonderful and I am SO grateful for my sister Tasha and many close friends that put together a truly memorable weekend :)

- We then had Thanksgiving down in sunny, Southern California with my Mother-in-law and a few of Adam's family. Adam was able to go golfing a couple of times and I was able to tour a few shops at the outdoor market with my Mother-in-law and Step Father-in-Law. It was SO wonderful to enjoy the warm weather and relax for the weekend :)

- The next weekend we were able to go to Logan, Utah again for the wedding of my little brother :) We were SO excited for these two to FINALLY get married :) She's such a wonderful gal and they are so happy together. It makes my heart happy :)






- Seven days following this adventure (do you see why we've been pretty busy? :), we had another baby shower here in Alamo, NV. My awesome cousin Amie and my dear mother were able to put together another wonderful baby shower full of fun and friends. Everybody has been so generous and helpful with getting us ready for these little twins. It honestly makes me want to cry when I think about all the wonderful people in our lives, both near and far, that have supported us and helped us these past months and even years. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


- Within all these travels, we've been visiting the doctors regularly and trying to follow all instructions. This past appointment had great news and okay news.... My body is doing REALLY well and the bed rest has helped IMMENSELY. My body is now on track with twins at 7 1/2 months and the doctors are really happy about that. The 'okay news' I try not to dwell on and keep me up at night, is that Zach is a little too skinny. He measures in wonderfully with his length, but his stomach is too little. I feel some of it is genetics (taking after his daddy :), but then a few tests showed that the blood flow to the umbilical cord isn't as high as it should be. The solution to this is...... MORE bed rest :) I honestly would stand on my head and drink whole milk if I had to for this little one, but they said the only thing we can do is 'take it easy' and help the blood flow that way. It really is a comfort when he's kicking like crazy, because I know he's okay :) I love that feeling.

- Now Christmas is right around the corner, and I am SO excited! I LOVE Christmas and I love spending it with family. The traditions of music, caroling, and decorations make me feel like a little kid and I truly appreciate the focus we get to have on our Savior Jesus Christ. So many things could be said about my feelings of our Savior, but they're so dear that I have a hard time expressing them..... I truly appreciate his life and his ultimate sacrifice. It's a wonderful time of year to reflect on his mortal life and the sacrifices he made and the love he showed each of us by making these sacrifices. Truly the BEST time of year :)

The Results

I know this post comes in a little late, but I knew the information needed to be posted onto our blog :) We went to our Specialist a little while ago and we were FINALLY able to find out the genders of our little ones. We get to have a boy AND a girl :) We're SUPER excited to have one of each and to enjoy these sweet little ones :)


This is our boy Zachary hiding his face from the camera. He's shy showing the face, but it DEFINITELY wasn't a mystery as to his gender :)



















Our sweet Elizabeth's (Ellie) profile. She would show us her face without any problems, but she was REALLY hesitant to show us she was a girl. Adam says she's not shy, just modest :)












It was SO incredible to sit there for about 20 min and watch while they measured the babies. I could've sat there ALL day watching them measure their brains, kidneys, etc :) Everything looks great for them and they are completely healthy. The Dr. did discover a problem with my Cervix (it's too short), so they've put me on bed rest for awhile (probably the rest of the pregnancy). We've been monitoring it the past few weeks and it has not gotten smaller, so we're feeling good about everything. The Dr. said my body was reacting normally to a 7 month single pregnancy (which is what the weight of the twins were at), but I was only at 5 1/2 months with the two 1 pound twins. SO, we're taking it easy and I'm LITERALLY feeling like an incubator :) Every day I feel SO incredibly blessed to feel them moving and beating me up from the inside out. The greatest gift we could've EVER received and I'm SO grateful to our Heavenly Father. So many blessings.....

The Baseball Game

Adam's mom asked him what he wanted to do for his 30th birthday and he immediately suggested a trip to see a professional baseball game. We looked into Phoenix, LA, San Diego, and San Francisco, before we decided on watching the Diamond Backs play the Giants in Phoenix. We would be able to meet up with his family there AND enjoy a game. Win, win!













Adam and his mom enjoying the festivities :)












My sister is a HUGE baseball fan and hasn't been able to make it to a professional game, so my family was able to join us for the game! Sweet, huh?













GREAT game to go to! Unfortunately, we had gone there to cheer for the Giants, but the Left-Fielder Adam knows, was out with a blown knee.... At least it was cool to see Arizona do so well :)















It was SO incredibly hot while we were there (ESPECIALLY being 4 1/2 months preggers with twins :), but at least we were able to have a great time with family. I think we might have to turn this into a tradition :)

Bladity Blah

Yup, I DON'T KNOW WHAT to blog about, so that has lead to the silence from this section of the blogging world.... Nothing too crazy is going on - just the regular everyday comings and goings.
- Adam is still working hard at C.O. Bastian High School as a group leader. We're PRAYING with all our heart that he gets another job that will HOPEFULLY open up at the same school. It's as a therapist and he'd be able to use his Master's Degree.... Fingers still crossed (we've been hoping and praying for about 4 months now, so we'd LOVE to see some progress on that :)
-As for me, I've been busy canning/bottling a variety of veggies and fruits, subbing at the local schools, and finding excuses to go to 'Vegas with my hubby :) After I passed the 12th and magical week of pregnancy, I want to live again and I have the energy to do a few projects a day. I never really had too bad of a 1st trimester (I didn't ever throw up or have excessive nausea), but I did struggle with being SO tired and wanting to do anything. I'm told that's normal, but you do start to feel lazy eventually :) I'm about to start my 16th week, and I don't even feel pregnant, except for the KILLER heartburn I have.... I'm starting to show a little bit (which is great to have SOME sign :), but it's not really an 'I look pregnant', its more of a 'Did you gain weight?' look :)
- Adam and I went to 'Vegas on Friday and bought a few Maternity clothes. SUCH a guilty pleasure. We don't have the dinero to blow too much money on pregnancy clothes (and I don't REALLY know how many other pregnancies I'll have), but really it was SO much fun. What girl doesn't want to look nice and fit into clothes while pregnant? Definitely a fun shopping expedition for a couple that didn't know if it would ever happen :)
- I have picked up a love for trying new recipes. I now have the time to experiment and I've found some fun recipes (a few from this blog). Shocking, I know, but I guess every girl can try new hobbies :) PLUS I love cooking with my mom and hubby.
- Is it weird that I PRAY for my siblings to come visit? They need to try some of these new recipes :) AND I miss them.
- We gave in and started watching the series Dr Who on Netflix. COMPLETELY cheesy, but oddly addicting....
- I ADORE this video. She's just SO passionate, it makes me want to cry....
Adele - Someone Like You (Live): Adele performs "Someone Like You" live at the 2011 VMAs.

That's all from us. I hope ya'll are having fun heading into autumn

The Results

So, after all those crazy procedures, we were FINALLY able to go get a pregnancy test done...... And we can officially announce our entrance into parental responsibility! We were SO excited to get a positive answer on the pregnancy test! 5 years and countless tears have set us up to be RIDICULOUSLY excited :)

We had barely digested that information before we headed into our first ultra sound (at 8 weeks) and found out that we would soon become a family of 4! TWINS! Adam was a little stressed out for a couple of days (you know how guys kick into providing mode :), but we honestly can't stop smiling about the whole thing. We are over-the-moon excited. SO many blessings....

Many people have asked me how I've been feeling, and honestly, I feel I'm doing pretty well. I'm WICKED nauseous all the time (but I haven't thrown up and can basically keep it under control if I eat regularly :), and SO tired, but I've known so many others that have been hospitalized that I feel pretty lucky. I've heard all symptoms can be compounded by multiple babies, so I figure that's why I've been so sleepy. I'll admit, I'm probably being a little bit like a wuss with the nausea, but tell me who DOES like to feel awful all the time? :) So, that's us in a nutshell. We're happy, sassy, and multiplying :)

IVF 101

I'll admit, I was SO naive when I first went into the In-vitro (IVF) Dr last summer. I truly thought there would be a couple of appointments and then the embryo transfer would take place and we would know within a couple of days if we were pregnant. Not so, my friends. There is a WHOLE world of appointments, medicines, and charting of calendars that I would soon venture in to. So, here are all the dirty details for your reading pleasure :)

- Start Birth Control (on this for at least 2 weeks) to help control when the cycle will happen.

- At least 2 weeks into the Birth Control (up to 4 weeks if needed) start the Lupron injections (Needles. I. Inject. Into. Myself. Gulp!)

- Go off Birth Control and continue Lupron shots (this is when the dreaded monthly visitor comes around :)

- At this time, you start 3 shots a day of Lupron, Repronex, and Follistim (side note. The Repronex is PAINFUL stuff) In this time, I discovered I bruise EASILY. I really never knew this about myself, so I was surprised to see my body spotted with purple bruises.

- After a week and a half of this funness, you go into the dr every morning for ultra sounds and blood draws. You do this until they say your eggs are 'ready' for a trigger shot of HCG they give you. This has to be timed perfectly with your 'egg retrieval' at EXACTLY 36 hours before your procedure. The needle is HUGE but I had an amazing friend that did a great job and I didn't even cry :) (from the size of the needle, I really had worked myself up into a panic and thought I would pass out :)

- You then stop the previous 3 medicines and start taking an antibiotic the night before the 'egg retrieval'. You go in the next morning for the 'egg retrieval' and are put under. Coming out of the procedure just in time to take more medicine and then start Progesterone shots (that you continue until a pregnancy test. If pregnant, keep doing for 6 MORE weeks... Again, Gulp!) These are the same size needle as the GINORMOUS HCG shot, so I'm a little nervous about these...

- 5 days later you then go into the dr's office and FINALLY have the 2 best embryos transferred. Yeah!!!!

- About 12 days after the embryo transfer, you find out if there will be a 'little one' on the way in 9 months :)

Whew! Quite a few steps, right? I appreciated that they gave all those steps only one at a time, so you didn't get confused and mix anything up. This whole experience has been super educational with a steep learning curve. SO worth it though if the percentages work in our favor and we get to finally start our family.

Mother's Day

I always thought Mother's Day was a good time to remind us all that we should be grateful for the women in our lives (as I feel most Holidays are good reminders :). I never minded Mother's Day..... up until a couple of years ago. I won't go into the gory details, but that Sunday ended badly with me crying like a little baby in bed. I told Adam I didn't think I could handle another Mother's Day at church and I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to stomach the torture again (I might've been a little too close to the situation and forgot that time does pass :) So, any who, I was surprised when this Mother's Day crept up and I wasn't too emotionally distraught. I took a deep look and realized that the first time in 5 years we had progression on the 'fertility' issue, so that was probably why I didn't feel so crushed. The day went without a hitch (gotta see my dear mom and chat with a great mother-in-law :) and then Adam bought me this painting of Hannah and Samuel. I don't know if you can read the caption, but it says 'For This Child I Prayed'. My favorite ALL TIME PAINTING now :) Tears and all that were FINALLY of happiness and I felt such hope for the future.

Cancun

I happened to mention to a good friend that the snow in January was, "killing my soul" and she agreed that she was feeling the same discomfort :) She is an 'on the ball' type of lady, and before we knew it, she had found a SERIOUSLY good deal to Cancun. The deal included airfare, hotel, and rental car. WHAT?! Needless to say, we were excited to leave the 10 feet of snow that was here in Logan :) Here are a few pics of our wonderful get-a-way :)
Us at 'Explore'. A really cool theme park that had zip lines, underground rivers, and off road vehicles










Can you believe the blueness of that water?! I might be a little homesick for that beach.....










The gang at Tulum, Mexico. These were honest-to-goodness temple ruins built about 100 AD








This is the back part of the temple and you can see how close the amazing Caribbean Sea is to the temple. Can you imagine this as the view from your temple?! SO peaceful...








This lizard almost killed me! He was headed for my lunch and didn't care that a human was right there holding it. I don't think the pic shows this, but he was HUGE! I swear I'm not a pansy :)







I MIGHT have had a birthday while we were there, and it MIGHT have been a big one (beginning with a 3....). But I'm not admitting that age until Adam joins me in July :)

















Ginormous stairs in Ek Balam, Mexico (another temple built about 200 AD)











Us at the tippy-top of those ginormous stairs in Ek Balam, Mexico





We're now at Chichen Itza, Mexico. AMAZING Mayan temple with thousands of astrological connections with the layout of the temple grounds and how the buildings are built. I can't remember all the details, but EVERYTHING had a meaning with the seasons and their religious beliefs.






Can you see the carving in this temple called 'the white god'? Yup, that's a white man with a beard.... Interesting, huh? Built about 200AD






This serpent was built as a railing up to the top of the temple (Which we can't go up anymore. Apparently someone fell a couple years ago, and that was the end of touring the temple). There is a period of about 2 weeks where the sun goes across the temple and gives the serpent scales. This JUST happens to end on April 6th.





A temple there called 'The 2,000 warriors'








Then we finished this INCREDIBLY hot/humid day with a refreshing swim in this gorgeous Cenote. They are sink holes found around the Yucatan Peninsula that are filled with fresh water. They use to be for drinking water, but now everybody gets to enjoy them as a swimming hole :)


















I know I'm SUCH a geek, but I really enjoy touring old buildings and cultures. There is something to be found in looking through their records and beliefs. It fascinates me to feel like I'm connecting with people that lived thousands of years ago.... I often wonder if they knew their temples/alters/carvings would last until at least 2011? Or if they knew how much we would still have in common 2,000 years later (still trying to raise/teach children values, or do the right things in life) or how very different our lives would now be (with technology and advancement). I felt the same way in Italy and Spain as I did in Mexico and I can NOT wait until we go on another journey :)

Catch Up

Yup. I have really lost the thread of blogging.... It's so lame to say 'we're busy', but the truth can sometimes be boring :) The biggest news was that we heard back from the Miracle Fund people... WE WERE APPROVED!!!! (we then promptly left on our trip to Cancun, which is why this news wasn't reported sooner :) It happened like this...

I came home from work a little while ago and was on the phone with my sister. I dropped my stuff down and noticed a letter on the table from the University of Utah. I did a double-take and realized the letter was very inconspicuous and only one page (having applied to a couple of colleges/programs in my lifetime, I thought 'Oh, crap'. EVERYONE knows a thin letter is NOT a good sign...) I glanced over it, while my sister dealt with her 18 month old son chewing her out for letting a balloon float out of the car (ps. I LOVE my niece and nephews! :). Nothing jumped out at me, so I went back and started reading the whole letter. 10 very short sentences latter, and I was screaming and hollering to Adam. I ran over to him and yelled, "Is this for real?!" He started laughing and said, "I think so!" I hollered at Tasha to hold on a min and then went tearing through the house laughing, crying, and generally making a fool of myself :) I couldn't stop repeating over and over, "I can't believe they got back to us so quickly!.... I can't believe they approved us!" I'm pretty sure my sister thought I had lost my dang mind :) Eventually I explained to her what all the chaos was about and then SHE started laughing and being just as crazy :)
One of my all-time favorite memories....
So, pending a visit from a Social Worker (they treat it like an adoption), we will start all the meds soon and do the whole procedure in June.... Thank you all for the millions of prayers you have already sent up. Thank you for your support and love! We would appreciate one more favor... if a couple more shout-outs for everything to go well in June could be sent to our Heavenly Father, that would be swell :) Truly we are blessed...
(Cancun pics to come soon :)

Weddings and News

Last weekend we were able to go down to 'Vegas and enjoy the wedding of Adam's mom. She has found a great guy and they decided to 'tie the knot'. It was beautiful and we THOUGHROLY enjoyed the sunshine and wonderful weather.... It started us thinking that maybe we needed to be further south....

We came back up and stopped at the Clinic there at the University of Utah and the Doc gave me a clean bill of health! WAHOOO!!!! We were VERY excited to have that step done, but knew the next couple of steps would be critical.... Another Doc had to review everything and decided if we would be 'worth the risk' of using these private donations to pay for our In-vitro. Fast Forward another week and TADAAAAA!!!! We got a phone call from the head of the Miracle Fund and she said the 2nd Dr gave us the green light!!!! So, now we have an appointment set up with her (kind of an interview/application process). Our info will be brought before a board and they will decide if we can use the Miracle Fund to pay for In-vitro. We would appreciate all thoughts and prayers sent our way :) The whole process is nerve wracking, but the past several years have smoothed down my edges and have me relying more on the Lord and his timing. I can sit there and stress out and make a million phone calls, but none of it will progress until his timing has been met. He's really starting to teach me to become more Zen :)

Surgery

We've been trying for 7 months to put some paperwork in for a program called the Miracle Fund. It's set up through the University of Utah and is funded by private donations to help people with the cost of Invitro. There is a MILE long list of requirements but if you jump through all the hoops, it's worth it, right? Well, that's what I thought 7 MONTHS AGO. It has been a never ending process of 'one last test' and trying to hit the right time of the month to take the 'one last test'. But we BELIEVE this past week we finally did our last test/proceedure.
One of the Xrays/dye tests found that I had some skin in my Uterus that needed to be trimmed out. This said skin didn't prevent pregnancy, but could increase the chance of miscarriage (not what we're going for when you drop $12,000 on Invitro :) So, my dear sister took me down to SLC last week and I was put under to have the knife taken to my VERY sensitive area. All I could think was, "PLEASE let this be worth it". We will be going down to 'Vegas this weekend for my Mother-in-law's wedding, and we'll stop through SLC on the way back to see if everything was successful. Fingers crossed!