SOCIAL MEDIA

Thursday, September 17, 2015

INFERTILITY IS... {09.17.2015}

Infertility is...

Watching your husband playing with your friend's baby and
wishing you could give him one of his own.

Telling nurses to please take blood from your right arm because the veins in your left arm are all gone because of all the IVs you've had.

Avoiding people you haven't seen for a long time because you
don't want to hear the question, "Do you have any kids yet?".

Feeling very left out when your friends start comparing their
pregnancy or childbirth experiences.

Feeling like the whole town is pregnant except for you.

Getting tired of people always expecting you to do things
because "you don't have any kids to worry about".

Waking up in the middle of the night and wishing you could hear your baby crying.

Wishing you could give your parents grandchildren.

Wanting to fall apart if one other person says, "Why don't
you adopt?" Easy, right?

Sometimes avoiding friends who are pregnant or with newborns because you just can't handle the situation at that moment.

Every single time you babysit someone else's kid they go off about how you are getting "practice." I want my own child, I know how to change a diaper. Thanks.

Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
********************************************************************************
 
For all my TTC Sisters, I know the road is long and there's never a day we don't wonder or question "why me?" Sometimes God's greater plan is harder to see. Sometimes His plan is never on our time but He is always on time and always at the perfect time.
 
I think we forget that we are not in control. Even when you take medication, go through with IVF, use a surrogate, or adopt, nothing we do is in our hands. Everything is in His hands. I read an amazing blog post yesterday from Oh Baby, Baby's blog. She captured perfectly in one post how important it is to remember that each trial, and every tribulation we walk through has a greater purpose. Every time a cycle fails, a miscarriage takes place, or a baby is born still, it's completely up to Him. He knows what He is doing for us and we must be reminded everyday that His plan for us, which may take longer than we'd like, is always for the better.
*Read Oh Baby Baby's inspiring post here! *
 
With every road we walk, every step we take, we must know that God is right there beside us. Isn't it an wonderful feeling to know that someone loves us unconditionally? What an amazing Father we have.
 
Wednesday, September 16, 2015

CLOMID YEAR 2 • ROUND 3 {09.16.2015}

Hold up! Is this post really about Clomid? But, I thought you were done trying? Well, after much debate, we decided it wasn't over. We returned home from our cruise and felt that it was time to give it another round. Since I want to keep you updated, especially since I have some TTC sisters following, I decided to do another Clomid update. This cycle, AF started on her own, for the first time in a long time, I didn't need Provera! AF started on my 23rd birthday, September 9, (yay me!). Luckily, the day before, I placed an order for Clomid to be refilled. Everything was perfect timing. I literally picked up my medication on September 10, just in time for me to start taking it on September 11. This cycle, I promised myself that I wouldn't get crazy, I want to take it one day at a time while also preparing my body and doing everything I can to ensure this time we get a BFP with a healthy baby.
 
With our first pregnancy in July of 2013, I literally did nothing. We took the medication and basically didn't care about timing or temping. This is why, for almost 10 weeks, I had no idea that I was even pregnant. The most recent pregnancy, in January, was completely different. This time, we did everything! Vitamins, BBT charting, Acupuncture, OPKs, Pineapple core...you name it, we did it! Naturally, I decided that if we were going to spend the money on the medication, that we should make it count. So, this time around, we will be doing everything in our power to ensure that we not only get pregnant, but that this baby sticks and grows healthy and strong. With that, here are the results from Round 3 of Clomid.

Cycle Day: 1 (9/10)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil
Symptoms: Horrible headache in the evening
OPK or HPT: Neither
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled 
Milestones: Clomid starts tomorrow

Cycle Day: 2 (9/11)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil and day 1 of 100mg Clomid
Symptoms: Backache, extremely tired (but that is due to crazy schedule)
OPK or HPT: Neither
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones: Remembered to take my BBT this morning

Cycle Day: 3 (9/12)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil and day 2 of 100mg Clomid
Symptoms: None, felt great!
OPK or HPT: Neither
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones: First acupuncture appointment for this cycle, I can already feel a difference in both my stress levels as well as AF symptoms; Also temporarily lost my BBT so I had to use a regular thermometer

Cycle Day: 4 (9/13)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil and day 3 of 100mg Clomid
Symptoms: A little cramping but not horrible
OPK or HPT: Not yet
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones:  Just feeling great, no crazy Clomid symptoms

Cycle Day: 5 (9/14)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil and day 4 of 100mg Clomid
Symptoms: Slight hot flashes at night time, woke up this morning feeling really sweaty; Temperature outside in Texas is amazing for mid-September, @ 65 degrees!!! Horrible headache that started around 5pm and did not go away until I fell asleep.
OPK or HPT: Not yet
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones: Tomorrow is the last day of Clomid and so far I haven't had any crazy symptoms, just simple hot flashes but I still get those even when we are taking a break from Clomid

Cycle Day: 6 (9/15)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil and day 5 of 100mg Clomid
Symptoms: Surprisingly, after my horrible headache last night, I have no symptoms; AF is extremely light today, I can tell she will be gone by the time I get home tonight
OPK or HPT: Not yet
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones: LAST DAY OF CLOMID!

Cycle Day: 7 (9/16)
Medication: Prenatals, CoQ10, B12, Fish Oil
Symptoms: None! I feel great!
OPK or HPT: Not yet
Next Dr. Appt.: Not scheduled
Milestones: I managed to make it through another round of Clomid without any problems. Usually Clomid makes you crazy, but I think I'm used to it by now so I'm immune to the effects. OPKs start tomorrow (Cycle Day 8); Just like previous times, I am taking them (3) times a day at 8a, 2p, and 6p, this gives me a wide range to work with daily and see the full possibility of ovulation

*side note: I will be taking Progesterone after ovulation*

***********************************************************
Fertility Chart (current from Cycle Day 7)
 
 Ovia Fertility Monitor (current from Cycle Day 7)

Sperm Meets Egg Plan

•{Clomid}
Cycle days 2 thru 6:
9/11, 9/12, 9/13, 9/14, 9/15

•{Baby Dance}
Cycle days 8 thru 22:
9/17, 9/19, 9/21, 9/23, 9/25, 9/27, 9/29, 10/01

•{OPKs}
Cycle day 8 thru 23:
9/17 thru 10/02

•{Two Week Wait}
Cycle day 20 thru 30
9/29 thru 10/09

•{HPT}
Cycle day 30 thru 35
10/09 thru10/14

•{Progesterone}
Start on Cycle day 18
9/27
Get all the details about what we did to get pregnant in January below:
Also, be sure to read our pregnancy announcement, bumpdate, and miscarriage story.

 
 
Wednesday, August 5, 2015

LET'S TALK LIFE {08.05.2015}

autumn, fall, leavesCan you believe we are in August? This is craziness! The years are flying by and sometimes I find myself coming to the realization that that means I am getting older. Sure, I'm not that old, but I'm also five years, almost six years out of High School. E and I sometimes find ourselves trying to remember our age. We both feel like we are still only 18. I definitely don't feel like we are nine months away from our fourth year of marriage. I don't feel like we've been together for almost six years.
 
I guess, time really does fly when you're having fun.
 
When E and I first moved in together, January 14, 2011: Huntsville, TX (I still remember that day like it was yesterday), we had literally $0.00 in our bank account. E had only lived with his roommates in college for one semester. We were just fresh, baby-faced 18 and 19 year olds trying to make it "work." We had to learn how to live together. I had never lived with anyone besides family so this was a huge change for me. The first year we lived together was, to put it in best terms, rough. Aside from not having money, E was in school and I was only able to find a part-time job paying $7.25 an hour. We were barely scraping by. We managed to get approved for government assistance which we only stayed on for about four months, this gave me time to move into the full time position at my job and E had left school to also get a job.
 
married, marriage, love, sign, happyAt the start of 2012, we were eagerly waiting to get married. By this point in time, we both had new jobs. E was working three jobs making about $250 a month and I was working for Keller Williams Bryan-College Station making about $8.50 an hour working full time. We managed to make it by but we still had our moments where our account was either overdrawn or just plain empty. May 12, 2012, I walked down the aisle, not really knowing where our life was headed. I think we both had our heads in the air. Neither of us knew the trials we would face together, but neither of us expected that even through those trials, we would come out stronger than ever! Immediately after our wedding and "honeymoon," E headed to Houston to live with his parents and start working in the Union. I stayed behind in Bryan, eagerly waiting to rejoin him. After a few months apart, many weekends back and forth traveling, we had finally saved enough money to move into our apartment in Cypress. This would be the start of our trials.
 
2013 proved to be one of the hardest years ever! In March, my grandmother (who was like my mother and practically raised me) passed away from Stage 5 Cancer. Four weeks later in April, my mother passed away in a total accident. Only 3 months after that, I lost my job, two days after that E's grandmother passed away suddenly in her sleep, and two months after that we miscarried our first baby. Somehow, we managed to come out of all of that darkness. We decided to move away from that apartment and find something new. A brand new start was what we needed.
 

wood, railing, ship, boat, deck, water, sea
In August 2013, we moved to Katy, where we met in fourth grade. We settled into a gorgeous apartment, I found a wonderful job, and E was just starting school for his Union Pipefitter job. 2014 was our turning point. I managed to find a new, even better job working for Capital One Bank as a Fraud Investigator, we were able to travel. We took a five-day cruise to Mexico, we enjoyed a full week in Las Vegas, and we even headed to Florida for a week during November. After returning from Florida, we decided to start our weight loss journey. I was about 200 pounds, and E was about 300 pounds.
 
By January 2015, we had both managed to drop about 10 pounds each. We endured another miscarriage, this one much earlier than the first. But we picked up the pieces and kept on. Today, we have managed to lose 35 pounds each, we are days away from another long vacation, we both have really amazing jobs, and I can officially say that we have made a wonderful life for ourselves. We came from $0.00 to being able to afford things and never have to ask for help with bills. We take trips and enjoy each others company by working out together daily. This gives us time to spend together and is my favorite thing, especially because we are both very competitive so we push each other to go further than we thought possible.
 
pink, roses, flowers, bouquet
All this to say, I love our life. It's not always easy, but it's an interesting ride. I still find it hard to believe that just four years ago, we were in a completely different situation, living a completely opposite life. I don't think that when we lived in Huntsville, I could have envisioned us being where we are today in just four years. So where do we go from here? Well, Christmas is on the way, so there's that. But really, we go up. We climb the ladder and work hard. We are eagerly looking forward to being able to build our first home together. We are eagerly looking forward to all that life will throw our away.
 
Side note, it's hard to believe that I will be 23 in just a months time, and E will be 24 in two! That's just unbelievable.
 
Thank you for reading and letting me be "chatty".
 
May life and God bless you with happiness and even when you go through the dark, may you always find the door to lead you into the light.
 
God Bless
 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

KEEPING THE FAITH IN THE DARKEST OF TIMES {02.18.2015}

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was having some slight spotting. Well, this morning, the slight spotting turned into full on red period-like blood. We rushed to my doctors appointment, waited for about an hour, and finally the doctor called us back. He requested a urine sample but ended up not using it after all. I laid down on the table and was ready to figure out the fate that lie ahead of us. 

For a moment, I felt hopeful but the more he searched the less hopeful I became. My doctor finished the ultrasound and we  discussed possibilities. I then left and headed for the blooddraw area. I got bloodwork done and then E and I decided that it was time to go home.

We hung out for a few hours and finally after getting tired of waiting, I called for my results. Well, it's definitely not good. The doctor said that my HCG level measured at 2! I didn't know that was possible. So they confirmed it. I miscarried. This one was so early, so fast.

My doctor assured me that if we wanted to continue trying, that I would be considered extremely high risk, which means I would be doing constant ultrasounds and bloodwork, and he would put me on progesterone as well.

E is at the point where he is done. I am torn as to what to do. I guess we will give it one more chance and see what happens.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support as always!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

A Tribute to Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss {10.15.2014}

Hello Ladies and Happy Hump Day!

In honor of today, Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day, I wanted to share with you a tribute to Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss. If you have suffered a miscarriage, I want you to know you are not alone! I hope this video will inspire you to keep going on your journey. Be sure to light a candle with us tonight in honor of those who have suffered a Miscarriage or Pregnancy Loss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Am3QD0hUU

I hope you enjoyed the video.

Tomorrow I will be doing a post all about Pre-Seed! I will also have a new Vlog on our channel that will be the "unboxing" of Pre-Seed. If you are interested in finding out whether or not Pre-Seed is worth the money, be sure to stay tuned for Friday's Vlog where I will do a review on Pre-Seed. Also, in conjunction with Friday's Vlog, I will also be doing an update for you! You won't want to miss this!!! This is probably one of the greatest updates, and best part, I didn't even expect it to happen.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten, I will be doing a 2&3 Week PCOS Diet and TTC Update for you ladies that details out everything that has taken place.

Be sure to Subscribe to our Blog and YouTube channel so you can stay up-to-date with our TTC Journey, Vlogs are posted daily Monday through Sunday!

Our Channel "Pickles & Icecream": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHuPHdd4MumSf76evJllOQ

Well Wishes and Baby Dust

Monday, October 14, 2013

So Much To Do, Such Little Time {10.14.2013}

So this past weekend was a very, very busy weekend for Erik and I. Let's start with the fact that our electricity went out at 4 am Saturday morning when we had to be up at 7 am. It was so frustrating!!! Erik and I are hot natured so as soon as the electricity kicked off...BOOM...we were WIDE awake. We decided to just try and sleep through it but 30 minutes later our alarms were screaming at us. We got up, got ready, and headed to E's parents house. We jumped in their car and sped off to the BBVA Compass stadium for the University of Houston vs. Memphis football game. It was HOT!!! {That's really an understatement, it was MISERABLY HOT!!!} But we still had a fun time. During halftime, we were able to go down on the field and let the Cougars run through us. That was such a fun moment for the family, we've never done anything like that before! Afterwards, we hoped in the car and drove over to Harwin. Harwin is a place where they sell things at wholesale prices. It's kind of a scary area, but it's so fun! After we left Harwin, we were dropped off at E's parents house and off we went to the Katy Rice Harvest Festival. It was fun but it was a little rainy and so humid. We walked around and checked out the 300 and something vendors. Before leaving we had to get me a Turkey Leg but it was nothing like the Ren Fest Turkey Legs! Speaking of Ren Fest, we can't go until the Halloween weekend because E's mom and I are going to be participating in the Katy Market Day this upcoming weekend so we won't be able to attend Ren Fest this weekend. {Back to this weekend...} So after spending a good hour or so at the Katy Rice Harvest Fest, we went home, kicked back, and relaxed until we were just too tired. Sunday was a lazy day in our house! We didn't get up until 11:30 am!!! {I know, I was shocked myself!!!!} We jumped up, got dressed, and ran out to E's parents house for the Texans game {which was soooo embarrassing to watch but it's E's team so I can't complain}. Sunday night was spent resting and getting E ready for work this morning. Coming up soon is E's 22nd birthday! Last year I threw him a surprise party so I think this year I will try to do something a little more calm. He's not really one to want a party, he just likes spending time with close family and friends. I'm trying to plan something I know he will enjoy, so we will see what I come up. Now, I have to get back to making bows for our craft show this weekend. Looking forward to posting pictures. If you have a baby girl, or two, check out www.squareup.com/market/bayou-baby for baby accessories and bows galore! 

Oh and I just have to say, I can't wait to head out to the pumpkin patch this weekend. I just really love pumpkin patch pictures!!! Hope to post some of those this weekend. And did I mention how absolutely excited I am for Christmas?? Oh, it is my favorite time of year!!! I'm already planning gifts and stocking stuffers. I even started buying a few things. I bought two ornaments, one for each of our little fur-babies, and I even bought one for our SweetPea in Heaven, to remind us of our first baby that we lost. We try to buy one ornament each year to symbolize what happened that year and I just knew that I would want to buy something for our first ultrasound picture. (See photos below for ornaments).

Thanks for reading and God Bless 

Megan 






Friday, October 4, 2013

Fall is here and so much has happened...where to being!? {10.04.2013}

SINCE OUR LAST POST
Erik and I have been very busy! We moved into our new apartment August 30th. It went smoothly and the new apartment is great! Erik started school and so far, things have been ok. My 21st birthday came and flew by, it was great and so much fun! Dinner with close family and friends is the best! Erik's 22nd birthday is right around the corner, got to start thinking of things he would love to do. Every year I try to do something fun for my hubs to remind him how much he is loved. My best friend, who is expecting a girl, is only days away from having her baby and I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are to meet that sweet little peanut. Hope to post pictures of that sweet peanut soon!

A SAD DISCOVERY THAT HAS CHANGED OUR LIVES
We found out on Sunday, September 29th that we were 9 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, at our first ultrasound and prenatal visit, the doctor informed us that the baby passed away at 8weeks5days old. It was very difficult yesterday after receiving the news, but we are trying to keep our heads up and be hopeful that we will get pregnant quickly and with a health little bean. Today, as I was walking the dogs back into the house, a butterfly flew in front of me and I immediately had this overwhelming feeling that it was our little Sweetpea angel and it made me smile. A quote that has been helping me through, which I hope will help others going through this, is "An angel in the book of life, wrote down my baby'a name, then whispered as she closed the book, "to beautiful for earth."" That has been such an inspirational quote for me. 

WHATS COMING NEXT
I'm hoping that the hubs doesn't have to work tomorrow so we can make a visit to the pumpkin patch. I'd really love to get a pumpkin or two! Then, Ren Fest starts next Saturday and I'm hoping we can go but hubs might have to work...boo!!! I am looking forward to more posts now that I have time, so here's to blogging again!

Thank you for reading and much love,

Megan