Our First Doctor's Appointment

Well, the first scheduled appointment to move forward on our journey to becomming parents was July 19th. (first official appointment- we have been trying to conceive since last July- became pregnant in October and miscarried soon after- read my post from earlier- 'June 23, 2010'). It was really nothing special, to me, but a step forward I guess. I was really hoping for more aggressive treatment to begin with, but I know my doctor (Dr. M) was looking out for us finacially the most- which is nice. Since I am such a "normal" woman, I ovulate regularly (same day each month) and I don't seem to have any other problems, and the fact that I have gotten pregnant in the past, my docotor didn't want to put me on any kind of fertility meds at this time. Fertility drugs can increase your risk for multiples as well as losing a pregnancy too. Dr. M basicially at this time, wants me to come in and have some blood work drawn on my next cycle (which has been a bit of a hassle, considering it's been on a weekend and then my vacation week since we've been to see her.) The blood work she is testing is a Day 3 FSH level- which is the follicle stimulating hormone. The FSH helps control the cycle and the production of the eggs. The amount varies throughout a woman's cycle, but is at it's highest right before release of the egg (ovulation.) This level can help in finding infertility cause. Then she also wants a Day 21 Progesterone level. This test will show if I have enough progesterone in my body- which is produced during the release of an egg. It helps prepare the lining of the uterus to recieve the egg and become fertilized. This level will help assess infertility, whether ovulation is occuring (which I get positive OPK tests every single month, and the risk of miscarriage, should I become pregnant.) (I am sure once I do, I will have progesterone levels monitored for a while at the beginning of the pregnancy- I am thinking this could have been what caused my last loss- but who knows... it's just my guess.) Dr. M also wants Eric to go in for a semen analysis, which is the first medical step in male infertility. I know, not fun! He really doesn't want to do this, nor do I want him to, but we both know it's for the best in finding out what the cause is for me not getting pregnant again. If all these come back "normal", I think the next step will be a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), which is a X-Ray test that looks inside the uterus and fallopian tubes with a contrast dye to be sure there are no blockages and that the tubes are open. It will show that the uterus is of normal shape and there is no kind of blockages (adhesions, polyps, fibroids) that could prevent someone from becomming pregnant as well as losing a pregnancy. As I write this, it has now been a month since we've seen Dr. M. Still nothing has been done in taking steps forawrd since our appointment. (because of my crazy periods wanting to come on a weekend and my vacation, while away, therefore, I can't go to the doctor's office.) So, today, I am calling to make my first appointment with Fertility Associates of Memphis (the one and only fertility specialist in Memphis.) I am a little nervous about doing so, but I have many friends who have made the step already and are "getting the ball moving a lot faster" this way. This will be the docotor's office Eric goes to as well for his testing, which we will be scheduling soon (working around his work schedule to get in). Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel this road of becoming parents. We both appreciate it more than you know. And I will keep you updated as things progress. If all this comes back "normal"

Lake Trip 2012

Well, our annual Lake of the Ozarks trip came at the beginning of July. We traveled up on a Sunday morning and stayed an entire week, and came home on the following Saturday. We even made a pass through MO town to see Eric's parents for a few hours. Bella made the trip with us too, as usual- she LOVED the water this year! We had such a great week- Matt and Stephanie even came with us this year! It was so fun to have them there too! The week was HOTT and HOTTER! It was hard to even stay out of the water- 100's ALL week long! We spent most of our time on the lake, in the water... we went shopping one afternoon to the outlet malls, Matt and Eric went and played golf this day, somehow, I don't know- it was way too hot! We had some yummy out to eat foods as well as home cooked meals too! We spent our 4th of July holiday at the lake too! It was neat to spend this holiday at the lake- lots of pretty fireworks were shared! Enjoy a few of my pics!

First night at the lake- at Coconut's for dinner

Eric found a Mizzou chair! We so wanted to buy it, but it was $350! Wow, no thanks!

The family staying next to our house bought this huge trampoline float thing for the water- the kids loved it! Eric and I even played on it too for a bit! :)

After a long day outside, the boys are watching some MLB on the computer! ha!

Bella loves her Daddy!

Lovey and Me on the lake

The Ledbetter's and Shirkey's

Us with the sweet Howse's... we just love them!

All the guys and the pups... watching fireworks on the 4th

Kiddos

Melissa's yummy 4th of July cake

The pups- minus Nixie

Kristy's Birthday Bash!

Back when we were looking at houses, the day that Kristy went looking with me, and we came upon our house, she told me that this house was going to be it. And that later on, come June, she was going to have her birthday party here- well she did! We organized a sweet, fun party. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and had some snacks to go with it. We had a yummy birthday cake too! Kristy invited her close friends over and we had a great turnout! Here are some pictures from her fun party!

Kristy's Birthday Table

Sweet Friends

Kasey got her a Pandora bracelet started! She was so excited!

Our Family

Sisters

Best Friends- Moms & Daughters

BIL & SIL

Kristy and her Granny & Uncle

Girlfriends

June 23, 2012

June 23, 2012... a date that will always hold a special place in my heart- the day our sweet baby was suppose to be born. As I said in my last post, this past Mother's Day was a little difficult for me. Back in October, we found out we were pregnant! (this was on a Sunday night)I was so excited, I couldn't believe it! I was getting ready for bed, took a bath and decided I'd just take a test- it was positive! I wanted to run in the next room and shout it to Eric, but I knew I had something special for him for when that time came, so I waited. I quickly bathed and went and found my perfect surprise for him. Since we were living in an apartment at this time, we had seperate bathrooms, so I went and displayed the willow tree figurine of the dad holding a baby, a picture frame that said 'Daddy and Me' and the positive pregnancy test with a little note beside it. This was the night of one of the play-off Cardinal games, so Eric was glued to the T.V. until it was over. Finally around 10:30 he came on to bed.. and of course, I had to wait up on him to see his expression! Can you imagine how excited we were!? I couldn't stop thinking about names, baby furniture, how I would decorate a nursery and the list goes on...We had already told some of our closest friends and actually had our parents and my sister over for dinner the following Saturday to share the exciting news! But, then just hours later, we woke up for church and I knew something wasn't right. I was having some bleeding. I knew this couldn't be good or normal. I was very upset and told Eric about it. He insisted we go on to church, so we did. We didn't make it to Sunday School, because I could tell something just wasn't right and I was continuing to bleed pretty bad. We went home and I just cried. I didn't eat, I didn't do anything, but lay in bed and think "why- is this really happening to me, maybe I am just having some early pregnancy bleeding, maybe everything will still be ok." But I knew better. I called the doctor on our L&D unit that is there all the time and shared what was going on. He told me to just wait it out and call to make an appointment with my dr. the following morning. So that's what I did. I am so thankful Eric was home with me on that Sunday morning. He was suppose to work, but had swapped his days so he could be here with his parents in town. The Lord knew all along that I was going to need his support that day, and boy did he do a good job! I am so thankful to have such a Godly, caring and thoughtful husband. I went in that Monday morning. Eric went with me. We had some blood drawn and we left. I was to follow up in a couple of days for repeat blood work, but they assumed I had miscarried and told me what to expect. So I stayed home for a few days... I wasn't really up for much of anything. I remember on that night, Eric was doing something late for work and wasn't home so my mom and sister came over and brought me my favorite food- Newk's! Kristy brought me some pretty flowers and the sweetest card! I spent the next day or so at home and finally went back to the dr. I believe on that Wednesday. Thursday I was ready to get out of the house and start over... I started it off with breakfast with sweet friends, Whitney and Laine and we spent the day making some freezer meals for the afternoon. I went back to work on Friday, and boy, was that hard! Being around pregnant women all day... That was our short journey through pregnancy... I know our baby was very short lived and I wasn't far along at all, but I still had a baby and was still pregnant, so the loss hurt like any loss would. I think about how things would be now if I had carried that baby. We would be at home with about a month old baby boy or girl at this time... oh how hard it is. I know God has a plan for Eric and me. I know it's going to be grand! He has blessed us so much already and I know he's not giving up on us. I can't wait to see when and what, but for now, patience is my constant prayer. I hope you have enjoyed reading my post, sharing in happiness and sorrow with me- it seems just like yesterday all this happened. I remember so vividly all the details. Please continue to pray for us as we walk this long, hard journey... (We actually go to the dr. this week to begin some counseling with my OB-GYN in order to take the next step- I will fill you in once that appointment comes)

Our Housewarming Party

Well, we knew at some point we would want to have our closest friends and family over to see our new home. However, I also knew it would be a while, because I needed everything in place, hung on the walls and cleaned as best I could do. So, we decided the first weekend in June would be perfect. We set our housewarming party for June 2. We had so many people stop by. I was actually surprised at all the people who actually did. It meant so much to Eric and I and we felt so blessed by everyone. Not only did we have so many close friends and family come by, so many people gave us sweet gifts too. I was overwhelmed and completely in awe at the amazing people in our lives! The party wouldn't have been possible without the awesome help of my amazing mother and sister. They came over the night before and began helping me cook some of the food and helped clean and get the house in tip-top fashion. Not only their help, but my lovely husbands help as well. We were so glad we could have everyone over... it was so much fun!

The Food Table

My sweet hubby and I

Some of our sweet church friends

Eric's parents even came down--- Ryan too! :)

The sweet Reed family came to see us--- even before their BIG move to Chi-town... We felt so special that they took the time to come out and see us. Bitterswwet good-bye for sure :(

The sweet Howse Family came by and visited a while... they are such special people in our lives!

All of our sweet, beautiful gifts...they already have a perfect home

The cake pops my sweet friend Katie made for me to give our guests as favors. They were so yummy! And such a hit!

Catching up a bit.... A BIG bit

Well, 2012 started off quickly and hasn't slowed down much at all, considering in one more day it will be July and I Am just now posting from January. Wow! January... hmmm... Well, we started the new year off right. HOUSE HUNTING! The second week in January, my sister and I went looking at about 15 different houses in ONE DAY! I narrowed it down to about 4-5 that I really liked and the next day, Eric went back with me. We fell in love with one house. We wanted to think about it and pray about it before jumping in and making a big decision first. But after much thought, we made an offer! We went back and forth with counter offers, but about 2 weeks later, the offer was finalized and we would be homeowners soon! Wow! Then February came... we went and saw Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan in concert in Jonesboro with our brother and sister. That was part of Eric's birthday present. It was a lot of fun! Ryan got to come back to town with us and stayed the night and then we hung out the next day together. We celebrated our first Valentine's Day as a married couple... I made a sit-down dinner at home and we had a sweet, candle-lit dinner in our apartment. It was special. February flew on by, then came March. Busy, busy.... Eric did some traveling for work and for Brannon to make some extra money on top of our normal busy work schedules. We began moving March 9 and 10th. We would have never made it without the help of our friends and family! We were so thankful! We celebrated Mom's birthday at our house... it was our first time to have people over. We grilled out some steaks. It was a great way to start out the "get togethers." The very last day of March was our little Bella's 1st Birthday. We didn't celebrate until we were both off together and could get her a special treat. We did that on our anniversary... we went to Three Dog Bakery and got her a cake that had her name and a "1" on it. It was PB flavored. She LOVED IT. April came and we celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I can't believe it has already been a year... well now a year and 3 months... we celebrated by eating out at 'Flight.' It is a nice, upscale restraunt in downtown Memphis. It was soooo good and sooo worth going. We came back home and pulled out our wedding cake. It was ok and we were completely STUFFED from dinner but I think it probably didn't get wrapped good at the beach either. We took a few pics and I slipped back into my beautiful wedding gown! Made me feel good that I hadn't gained too much weight in a year :) I surprised Eric and walked up the stairs in my gown and sat on the couch with him and watched the NCAA championship game--- not too many wives would do something like that! April flew by and then came May and June... not too many exciting things happened. Some graduations, traveled to MO town for the day and Eric's parents came here for a weekend. We celebrated Mother's Day at Mom's house... it was a little difficult this year for me. (I will post about that in my next post, for you to read) We celebrated Memorial Day at the pool, like always. I will start fresh with June in a new post... for now, enjoy a few pics... :)

Concert in Jonesboro

Our Valentine's Day dinner

Us in front of our new home!

Mom's Birthday dinner

Bella Faye is 1!!!!

Anniversary dinner at Flight

Happy Mother's Day 2012

WAY Behind....Christmas 2011

Ok, so I am totally awful at this blogging thing... The only reason I can say I am doing it now is so I can print a blog book and have as a memory. I can't imagine how people with children and such busy lives even attempt, but here goes... Christmas this year, rather PAST year, was different... first, it was our first Christmas being MARRIED! Second, it will always be different because Eric's a cop and I'm a nurse. We will always have to work sometimes. We made a short trip up to Missouri to see his family and do a small Christmas get together, except the only days we were able to go up was during the week and his Dad wasn't even home. We had to come back to town, because I was suppose to work Christmas Eve. Luckily, I got LOW (lack of work), which I was very thankful for. One, because Eric was off, but had to work Christmas Day. And two, because I was beginning to get sick. Since I got to stay home, we did our Christmas together on Christmas Eve morning. We just hung out at the apartment most of the day and then went to the Christmas Eve service at church later that night. Then we headed to my parents house to celebrate my dads birthday that day and just hang out with the family a little. Mom made some yummu "finger-type" foods that we got to munch on throughout the night. The next day was Christmas Day... and I felt AWFUL! I slept probably half the day away, laid on the couch and watched TV all day and waited on Eric to get home from work so we could head back to my parents for Christmas dinner and time with them and my Granny. This is when we opened our gifts as well. Needless to say, it was a different Christmas for sure- but we made it through. Hopefully next year will be a little better- however, it doesn't really matter, because Jesus is the reason for the season afterall. Here are a few pics from our Christmas... Our first Christmas Tree together :) (I bought all new ornaments this year to do a red and green theme... I loved how it turned out!) Family time with my Dads brothers side of the family Our family's first Christmas 2011 All of our Christmas cards hanging... We are so loved! :)