Flashback

It's time to get off of my Negative Nancy horse and move on to more happy things!  This post is going to be a bit of a flashback and will include a ton of pictures.  Probably way more pictures than you want to see, and way more information than you care to read!  

Last year at this time we were packing our bags and heading off to our honeymoon.  Yes, we went over a month after our actual wedding date, but there was a reason for that.  We had a few events we needed to be at throughout the week after our wedding and the ship we were cruising on only sailed once a month.  Originally, we could not decide if we wanted to go on a cruise or travel to Italy.  We decided to combine the two and go on a Mediterranean cruise.  We had a hard time deciding what cruise line and ship to choose, but ended up going with Carnival (I had been on one of their ships before) because it was the best bang for our buck and it was a brand new ship.  By brand new, I mean that we were literally the second sailing for the ship.  How awesome!

Our plan for the trip:  Travel to Barcelona, Spain a day early so we could check out the city and relax after the international flight.  Board the ship (Carnival Breeze) on day 2 and sail to all of the planned ports.  Return to Barcelona and make the long flight home.  Oh, if only things always went as planned!  You may get bored with this story, but it is too funny to us (and some of our family!) not to share!

Day 1:  Travel to BWI (Baltimore) to make the flight to Philadelphia and then connect to Barcelona. Yes.  Our first flight was from Baltimore to Philadelphia.  Had we known this, we would have opted out of the first flight to begin with.  Oh.. if only we had known.  We got to Baltimore two hours before our flight.. which was pointless.  There were storms in the area that day.  Our flight time came and went and still no plan sitting on the tarmac.  Ugh.  The staff informed everyone that was to connect to an international flight that they were going to miss their flight.  You have got to be kidding, right?  WTF.  (Keep in mind here that I can get fired up pretty darn easily!)  I call our travel agent.  She calls the airline. Sure enough, we are going to miss our flight.  She will find us something else.  In the meantime, the plane finally shows up.  We board (while the staff in Baltimore just tells us to go to Philly and they will direct us from there.. HA) and make the flight.  Twenty minutes from take off to touch down.  That pilot was not messing around.  Sure enough, as we touched down, our connecting flight took off.  Super.  

Back on the phone with our travel agent.  She says go to the international terminal and go to customer support.  If you have ever flown in or out of Philly, you know there are five terminals.  And you need a shuttle to get from one to the other.  We flew in to F, and we needed to be in A.  Of course.  On to the shuttle we go.  We get to customer service (while I am still on the phone with our travel agent) and they tell us they have nowhere for us go to.  Our agent says she got us on another flight (to Frankfurt!  Again.. WTF?) that was currently boarding.  We just needed the customer service lady to get our luggage pulled and put on the correct flight.  Her response, I can't do that.  You will not have your luggage by the time you board your cruise ship.  Now I am hot.  This woman was not cooperative and did not understand my request.  Ohhh.. so mad.  She also says we are not on the flight my agent says we are.  Ok, I am done with this lady.  Off to the gate our agent just told us to go to.  Yes!  We are on this flight.. but we need to print our boarding passes.  Ugh.  We print them.  Great!  Matt is in row 4, I am row 24.  Super.  A nine hour flight 20 rows apart.. on our honeymoon.  At least our agent has informed us that she personally called baggage and ensured our luggage was on this flight.  How great is she?

We board the plane and prepare for the long overnight flight.  Luckily, (for us) two people missed the flight (that might I add, was held specifically for us) so we were able to move seats and sit together.  Nine hours later we land in Frankfurt.  We now have two hours to claim our bags, get through customs, and then board a German flight.  Luftansa.  All in Germany.  Matt speaks no German.  I can count and give you the days of the week.  We get through customs (this was by far the cleanest and most organized airport I have EVER been in!) and find a super nice customer service rep who got us our tickets, checked our bags, and sent us on our way.  An hour later, we are in the air eating some nasty German snack from the airline.  Seriously.. Matt even said it was nasty.

Finally!  23 hours later, we land in Barcelona!  Thank goodness we planned that extra day in between!  We got to our hotel, took a half hour power nap, and headed out to explore the city.  What we saw was beautiful!

This is how excited we were about having to change flights.

Familia Sagrada.  Look it up.  So amazingly beautiful!

By this time, exhaustion had set in, and we knew we had another long day when we woke up.  We woke up Saturday morning (Day 1), got some breakfast, and then took the shuttle to the port.  We were able to check in and board the ship pretty much immediately.  But not before we bought some wine to take with us!  We did some exploring and the ship was pretty awesome.

Day 2: Monaco.  Holy beautiful.  This place is only about 3 square miles, but it is breathtaking.  We were told that if you wanted to purchase a 500 sq ft apartment here, you would only need a measly 1.5 million dollars.  Pocket change!  We even saw the prince while we were exploring!  Monaco is known for the Monte Carlo and their casino and yachts and famous, wealthy people that drive some kick ass cars.  The casino has a dress code and charges just to get in.  

The casino.

We all have one of these in our garage, right?

Day 3: Florence and Pisa.  Our days were literally jam packed.  The first half of our day was spent in Florence.  I really wanted to do the Jersey Shore tour (yes, I love trashy reality tv) but time did not allow!  We did get to see some beautiful sights, thought!

It was good luck to rub this guy's nose.

Our afternoon was spent in Pisa.  Yep, that tower really does lean.  A whole lot!  You can walk inside of it, but only 30 people at a time so it doesn't fall over.  Seriously!

Day 4: Rome.  Matt had been to Rome before, so we did our own walking tour.  We literally busted our butts and saw every single thing we wanted to see!  It was amazing!

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain 

Pantheon 

St. Peters Basilica

Day 5: Naples, Capri, and Amalfi.  Ok, this was by far my most favorite place.  We docked in Naples, then took a boat to Capri.  This place was so peaceful.  I could live here!  We had a delicious lunch here and then took another boat along the Amalfi Coast into the town of Amalfi.  We were able to explore here for an hour or so, and then we took a bus up one of those roads you see on tv.  Zig Zagging back and forth, higher and higher.  

Capri

I could not get enough of this water!

Amalfi Coast

Day 6:  Finally!  A relaxing day at sea.. spend lounging by the pool!

Day 7: Dubrovnik, Croatia.  The water here was by far the prettiest I have ever seen.  We spent the morning at a pebble beach, and then toured the old city in the afternoon.  The city it still surrounded by a stone wall that was used to protect them during their Civil War.

Day 8:  Another day at sea capped off with a beautiful sunset.

Day 9: Venice - Murano, Burano, and Torcello.  We decided to avoid the main island of Venice and go see some of the smaller, quaint places.  Matt had been to the main island before and said I would enjoy these much more.  We started the morning in Burano, where they are known for making lace.  This place was silent and colorful!  Then we traveled to Torcello where we got to see a wedding (only 20 people live on this island!) and eat another delicious Italian lunch!  We then went to Murano where they are known for making glass.  We got to watch a factory worker make a few things, and then of course were sent into the gift shop where the cheapest thing was almost $2000.  We ended the day with a boat ride past Venice to see some of the famous sites, including Elton John's house!

Elton John's house..

Each color represents a family name!

It was literally 130 degrees in this place!

Day 10:  Sea day.. which consisted of many naps and dips in the pool!  We were getting pretty exhausted at this point with 11 hour back to back tours!

Day 11:  Messina, Sicily.  Hmm.. we did not do any excursions here.  We were going to do Mt. Etna, but they said we did not have a good chance of seeing it because of the fog.  Instead, we decided to venture on our own.  We referred to this place as the ghetto of Italy. It was pretty dirty, but had pretty good shopping district.

Day 12:  We ended with one final day at sea.  One last day of relaxation!

Day 13:  We got off the boat and traveled to the airport.  Our luggage arrived an hour after us.. which left no time for breakfast.  Grr.  Our flight from Barcelona to Philly was nice and event-less.  Once we landed in Philly, we had to claim our bags, go through customs, and then take the lovely shuttle from terminal A back to terminal F.  Then re-check our bags and board our flight.  All within 40 minutes.  After a few sprints we made it to our gate as they were boarding.  Yes!  And then we sat on the tarmac for over an hour while they cleaned up a fuel spill.  Ugh.. we had NO luck with our travel days on this trip!

We finally arrived back in Baltimore and made the hour drive home!  Home really is where the heart is!  Our trip was absolutely amazing and I would do it over and over again, but it was also nice to be home!

I know this was a LOOOOOONG post filled with more pictures than you ever wanted to see, (and probably more information than you ever wanted to hear) but this was a trip that we truly enjoyed and love to look back on, especially this week!

As for our cycle updates, nothing much right now.  I am on week 2 of 3 of the BC pills.  My baseline ultrasound is in less than two weeks, and then the fun begins!

We are now off to my parents for the day to spend time with family at my Grandma's public Estate Sale.  So bittersweet.  Happy Hump Day everyone!

Frozen Cycle

I've been a bit MIA from the blog world lately.. for a few reasons.  First, there hasn't been much to write about.  Second, I've been in a bit of a funk lately and didn't want to spread my negativity to others.  People (who have NO IDEA what we infertiles go through) can be so rude and just plain ignorant at times!  Personally, I would like to slap them in the face and kick them in the shin.  Hard.  Oh, and let's throw in the dead-beat parents there as well.  You know, the ones who breed like it's their job (it probably is), have no real job, could care less about their kids, and constantly complain about their kids and their stretch marks and their weight gain.. and I could go on and on and on.  Sorry, I will spare you from that!  Or the teen moms who think they are going to play house and life will be magical.  Third, I feel like I have spent most of my time on the phone with the insurance company and OBGYN trying to figure out who screwed up and in the end just getting more frustrated at the fact that we have absolutely no infertility coverage, yet people can get an unlimited number of abortions.  Makes complete sense, right?  See, here I am.. spreading my negativity.  So, onto bigger and better things.

We have officially begun our frozen cycle.  I patiently waited for good old AF to rear her ugly face for approximately six weeks after my D&C.  I can honestly say that I have NEVER wanted her to appear so badly!  She finally showed up on the evening of July 5th, making the first day of our cycle July 6th.  I began taking birth control pills on Monday, July 8th.  A frozen cycle works backwards compared to a fresh cycle.  Our transfer has already been scheduled for the middle of August, so the entire cycle now revolves around that specific date.

I will take 21 days worth of pills, and then we will begin another round of injections.  After about two weeks of injections, we will have our transfer.  There are significantly less appointments that go with this type of cycle.  In a fresh cycle you go for blood work and ultrasounds almost daily during the injection period.  This cycle will consist of two appointments (as long as everything goes according to plan) and then the transfer.  I will have a baseline ultrasound at the end of this month and will begin the Estrogen injections that day.  Ten days later I will have a second ultrasound to ensure that the uterine lining is building itself up so the embryo(s) can stick!  I will also begin the Progesterone injections that day, and they (as well as the estrogen injections) will continue for an indefinite amount of time depending on the outcome of the transfer.  The biggest difference between the injections this round compared to last round--these will be intramuscular.  This means they will go in the muscle right above my butt.  I'm not going to lie, I am more than a little nervous for this.. but it will all be worth it in the end.

Here is a snapshot of our protocol.

DATE	Period 7/6/13
7/8/13	Birth Control Pills:  Please take one active pill daily for 21 days
7/28/13	Take last Birth Control Pill
7/30	Baseline Appointment on day 2 after your last birth control pill:  Please make sure your signed, notarized consents have been turned in to your nurse.  (**See below**)
	DEL ESTROGEN Do not begin until instructed.	PROGESTERONE Do not begin until instructed.
7/30 appt.	0.2 ml IM (intramuscular)
31
8/1/13
2	0.2 ml IM
3
4
5	0.2 ml IM
6
7
8	0.2 ml IM
9
10 appt.	Office visit for Ultrasound of lining,  P4 ______, E2 _______	***M.D. and R.N. will instruct you when to begin your progestrone***
11	0.2 ml IM
12
13	We call you with time for Transfer
14	0.2 ml IM
15	TRANSFER
16
17	0.2 ml IM
18
19
20	0.2 ml IM Q3 days until Beta test	Continue until pregnancy test
21
22

Again, all of these dates are tentative.

On another note, we have had some great family time among other things over the two weeks.  We spent a few days over the Fourth at my parent's house in Central PA.  A little relaxing, some dog walks, craft show shopping, festive drinks, and hot spot dinners!

I refer to this as Heaven in a crockpot.

We also traveled to Quantico, VA to attend a good friend's retirement ceremony (from the Marines!) and their wedding a few hours later!  It was a beautiful weekend.

Marine Corps Museum

Chapel

So happy for you two!

As I stated before, we are also doing some serious organization and rearranging in our house.  We have moved furniture, removed the same furniture, cleaned out closets, made more of a mess in the basement (hey, it has to get worse before better, right?), and organized cabinets, pantries, and vanities.  Exhausting, but so worth it.. especially since I am a bit of an OCD freak.

Our next couple of weeks are pretty busy, so the 21 days of pills should pass rather quickly. Matt is coaching a youth basketball camp this week.  Tonight we are heading to an Orioles game with friends.  This weekend we are playing in a golf tournament to benefit a scholarship fund in memory of one of my former lacrosse players that was tragically killed in a car accident. #flyhighgaby  Next week, our poor little Rooney is going to lose his manhood and we will be traveling back to my parents to help out with my a public sale at my Grandma's house.  We also plan on heading to Knoebel's (a pretty kick a$$ amusement park in Central PA), and we are going to see Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake in concert!  Yum :)  Oh.. and throw in a week long grad class during that time as well!  Sometimes I think summers are more crazy than the school year.

I'm going to end this post with a simple request.  Some of my ttc girls are going through just as tough (many of them tougher) times as I/we are right now.  A quick, simple daily prayer for all of us would be more than appreciated.  It is amazing what the power of prayer can do!

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

Nothing Comes Easy

Where to start.  First, I have to say that we had the most relaxing two weeks in the Outer Banks.  While I was not ready to come back, I was happy to see our furry kiddos.

I feel like I have been stressed to the max these last few weeks/months.  Yes, I did put it all on the back burner while we were gone, but of course it all returned.. PLUS some.. when we returned.  There are some things that have been done and some comments that have been made to me and about me and our process that have been weighing on my mind.  People do not realize the impact their words and actions have on others.  I know they are just plain ignorant and that I need to forget it all, but sometimes that it just difficult to do.  Sigh..

Let's add to it.  Our house was built last summer and we moved in the week of Thanksgiving.  It is not even a year old.  When we got home Sunday afternoon we found the following:

1 - Our kitchen sink/faucet has been leaking for who knows how long.  The cabinet underneath is now warped from being so wet.  Super.  One visit from the plumber and we think it is fixed.  If it starts to leak again, we have a faulty faucet and will need to have it replaced. 

2 - Our 2.5 acres of grass grew for two straight weeks without being cut.  We had rain half of those days.  The grass is (was) long.  Matt started cutting it, and our tractor (that is only two months old) died.  Just quit working right in the middle of the yard.  So, between the two of us, we cut the entire thing with the push mower.  Talk about a work out.  The tractor is now at the "beauty shop" getting fixed.  Thank goodness for warranties.

3 - My OBGYN billing department called Tuesday to tell me that I haven't paid my bill.  Hmm, I didn't know I had a bill to pay.  Of course the billing department woman was quite rude.  Normally I would blame my hormones for thinking she was rude, but Matt heard the whole conversation and he wanted to pay her a visit when I was done.  So this rude woman proceeded to tell me that our insurance did not cover my baseline ultrasound or my HSG.  Super!  After some research by her manager, they realized that they never did send me a bill, but determined there was nothing they could do because it really wasn't their fault (how so, I do not know).  Also, I never did get an apology from that negative Nancy.  Boo to her.

**On a side note to this, I have been debating moving to a new OBGYN.  My doctor has retired, and the hospital they are associated with does not have a NIC-U.  This little experience may have just sealed the deal on me moving.  I don't need to deal with rude people like this.  So not worth it.

4 - Our tax collector called today to inform us that our escrow account never paid our taxes.  WTF?!?!?!  Upon further investigation, we are 99% sure we just got billed for our neighbors taxes.  They had the wrong address (our neighbors) on our account and therefore the bank would not pay it.  I seriously spent at least two hours on the phone today talking to various departments to figure this crap out!

And to think.. it is only Wednesday!

Ok, I promise I am done ranting about the crappy beginning of this week!  Sorry for being such a Negative Nancy myself!

On to some more positive things!  I had my HCG blood test on Monday.  My levels are officially negative, which is a very good thing.  Now we just wait for AF to arrive (anytime within the next 3 weeks they believe) so we can move forward with our FET.  (I don't think I have ever wanted her to make her lovely appearance so badly!)  I have decided that it is time to organize our house (as I have said before, I am *slightly* OCD) and get things 100% put away.  Yes, I am excited about this.  I will have before and after pictures if anyone cares to see!

Today was a big deal for me.  I had my first acupuncture appointment.  After doing some research, I found a place that is literally two miles from my house.  How convenient!  The first hour of my appointment was spent discussing my medical history and what I was hoping to get out of this treatment.  He found some major stress located in my neck, shoulders, and right side of my back.  No duh!  My treatment began with some magical Chinese oils and a roller thing (it reminded me of a meat tenderizer on a wheel) to help get rid of the stress knots.  I was very skeptical of this, but holy crap.. it worked!  My knots are completely gone!  Next, we moved on to the needle part.  My fear of needles is pretty much no longer existent, but I was still not sure how these would feel.  I had needles on the outside edge of both hands (right behind my pinky finger), top of my wrists, edge of my little toe, outside of my Achilles tendon, about 12 on my back, and one lonely one on the top of my head (surprisingly, this one felt good.. odd).  I laid fell asleep with the needles doing their thing for about 25 minutes.  Talk about some serious relaxation!  He then removed the needles and I was free to go. I felt like I could have slept for hours!  It did not hurt at all.. not even in the least bit.  He says we are doing treatments on my kidneys, spleen, energy level, and stress level.  So far, I am pleased.. but I will give my final verdict in a few weeks!

Next, I want to give a big shout out to my ttc nail polish exchange sister for such an awesome package!  Everything was just perfect, and the packaging was so pretty!  Also, a big shout out to Chelsea for organizing the entire thing!

Finally, we were able to use our fire pit for the first time last night and roast some s'mores before the storms moved in.  Nothing compliments s'mores more than red wine in a flip flop glass!

Happy Hump day everyone!  Here's to a better end of the week!  We will be heading to Quantico, VA to see one of our friend's retire from the Marine Corps Saturday morning and then marry another one of our friends at the base chapel Saturday evening.  So excited for the two of you!