Friday, May 30, 2008

My Grandma

My grandma has been in the nursing home since Dec. She is in her 90's and hasn't been doing well lately. The nursing home called the family in today because they didn't think she would hang on much longer. So of course we all rushed in there. I work an hour away from the nursing home and I was so afraid that I wouldn't make it in time. I did make it and got to see her. She is still hanging on but we don't think it will be very much longer. My grandpa passed away in December and she is ready to be reunited with him. So please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. I probably won't be on here much for the next few days but I will post when I know something.

On a side note- we found out that the company that owns the house we found is willing to repair everything that needs it. So we are going to go ahead and make an offer on it as soon as we can!!

We found a house!!!!

Ok so we found a house! It is absolutely wonderful!! It has 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, a fireplace in the living room and almost 1800 square feet. The price is really in our budget. It has a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. It has a wonderful kitchen with tons of cabinets and an island. We went and looked at it last week and again on Tuesday this week. Then we decided that we wanted my dad to come and look at it before we make an offer on it. My dad does construction and knows a lot about everything so we figured if there was anything wrong with it he would see it.

So he came over and looked at it last night. Everything was great until he crawled underneath it. He said that underneath the laundry room there is a layer of black plastic, then insulation, then the sub floor. As he was crawling on his belly, the black plastic was hanging low enough that it rubbed against his back and was very cold. So he turned over and lifted it up with his hand and heard water sloshing around in there. So he took his knife, cut a hole in the plastic and stuck his finger up there and water just poured out. There either is a leak there now or there was in the past and no one bothered to fix the damage.

So our realtor is going to call the realty company that owns the house today and tell them what we found and see if they are going to be willing to fix it. We decided that we aren’t going to make an offer until it is fixed to our satisfaction. We don’t know if they will be willing to sink the money into fixing it or not. But I just can’t see them refusing to do it since the house will not pass a home inspection as it is now. So anyone that is going to have a loan will not be able to buy it until it is fixed. So we are really hoping that they are smart about it and hire someone good to come in and do the repairs. We should know something this afternoon for sure.

So I am excited because we FINALLY found a house that we love. But at the same time I am disappointed at this new development. Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Go Arts Go Karts

Big John got to race go karts last Friday night for a charity event. He was like a kid on Christmas morning! He was so excited. There were 96 drivers that were split into 12 different heats with 7 or 8 drivers in each one. There were 7 drivers in Big John's heat. They drew for starting position and he got 5th. There was a driver from his rival radio station in the same heat. They were talking trash about each other all week leading up to the big race.


Once we started watching the other heats before Big John's it became apparent that there was a common theme in the winners. They were all short and scrawny. Some of them were high school kids. Now Big John is called Big John for a reason. He is about 6'6". So he was at an immediate disadvantage. He said as long as he finished in front of the other radio station it would be fine.


Now there was a masked man that started out in front of the pack. He was not a very good driver and was all over the track and trying to wreck everyone that was around him. Big John narrowly escaped that fate a few times.

When all the dust finally settled, Big John finished 4th in his heat. He was happy with that because he beat the other station. In fact, he almost lapped him! But he didn't finish first so his race was over for the night. So until next year, he will just have to drive for fun and get lots of practice.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Busy Times

I have really started to dread spring time. We get so busy around this time of year that it is just really hard for me to enjoy it. Let me give you a peak at our schedule from this week:

Monday: We stayed home
Tuesday: Big John had to practice racing Go-Karts (more on this in a minute)
Wednesday: We went house hunting
Thursday: We drove for an hour to see my nephew’s preschool graduation
Friday: Big John is racing Go Karts
Saturday: Big John has a car show that he has to emcee. I have to drive for an hour to go to my nephew’s t-ball game at 11. Then that same nephew is having his birthday party at 1. Then we have to go to my brother’s house to spend time with my sister-in-law for her birthday. Then my other nephew has a baseball game at 7.

Can you see why I am so tired!!! I woke up with a horrible cold this morning and I think I got it because I am so run down. I just need to take a day and do nothing but sleep. Doesn’t that sound wonderful???

Big John is racing Go-Karts tonight for a fund raiser. It is for the Community School of the Arts. They have 96 drivers that have entered. They have different heats and then take the winner of each heat and put them in 2 qualifying races. Then they take the top 4 of each qualifying race and they race in the feature race. Then they declare the winner. He is so excited!! He’s kind of like a kid on Christmas morning.

We actually have nothing to do on Sunday after church except clean the house. We are having some friends over on Monday and our house is trashed!! But it won’t take us very long to clean and then I am going to lie around and do absolutely nothing the rest of the day.

The only good thing about being so busy is it makes time go by really quick. So it doesn’t seem like so long in between doctor’s appointments. Before I know it, the summer will be over and I will be more than halfway through my pregnancy!!!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

House Hunting

We are currently renting our house. Now that we have a baby on the way, we have outgrown our house. It’s really too bad though because we really like our house. But let me tell you, it’s really exciting to look for a new house. Just to know that we will finally be able to own our own house is an awesome feeling!! What I don’t really like is the process in getting there.

I really am not exaggerating here. We have looked at around 40-50 houses so far and haven’t found a single one that we would want to make an offer on. Now we have seen some nice houses but with all of them there was just something that we didn’t like. We’ve also seen some dumps!! Some of the houses we’ve looked at were not fit for a dog to live in let alone people. And most of those houses were on the market for almost $100,000. I just think it’s absolutely amazing that people think they can get that much for a house that you would have to go in and completely gut and start over again.

We don’t ask for much in a house. We want 3 bedrooms and would like to have 2 bathrooms but that’s not required. I want a kitchen that I have room to cook in. Big John wants a yard that our kids can play in and a garage. We want a living room that is big enough for our furniture and still have some floor room for kids to play. We want bedrooms that aren’t so small that once you get the bed in there nothing else will fit. We want a heating system that is not falling apart. We would like to have central air but again, that is not required. I just want to be able to walk into a house and say this is home. Do you think that is too much to ask??

I think we can afford to be picky. There are so many houses on the market right now it’s insane!! It truly is a buyers market. Sorry to all of you that have houses for sale but the market for sellers pretty much sucks right now. Interest rates are super low. Our realtor has told us over and over that we will never go in and offer asking price for a house. We are also going to ask the seller to pay our closing costs and our down payment. I didn’t even know that you could do that but our realtor insists that it’s a normal occurrence. How cool is that!?! Hey, if you want me to buy your house, you not only have to reduce what you’re asking for it, you also have to pay all closing costs and our 3% down payment!!

We are going to look at some more tonight. We have 7 on the list to see. So maybe our luck will change and we will find our house tonight!!!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Emotional Rollercoaster

I went off of the evil Depo-Provera on 8/24/06. This means by all the information I had received up to that point that I should have been back to my normal pre depo self by 11/24/06. My body was so out of whack I didn't have my first cycle until 2/07. And then it was every 2 months from there. Most doctors won't do anything for you until you have been trying to conceive for at least a year on your own. So when I went for my yearly check up in 9/07 I finally was able to talk to my doctor about my issues. She gave me Provera which was to bring on a cycle. Then on day 21 I was to have a blood test to see if I was ovulating. Which I knew that I wasn't because I was taking my basal body temperature at the time. For some reason, that cycle didn't even last 21 days. So I had to wait until day 21 of the next cycle. I got the blood test and the results were just as I predicted, negative. So my doctor told me she wanted me to have a test called hysterosalpingogram (hsg). It is a test in which they shoot dye into your fallopian tubes and watch it through an x-ray to see of your tubes are blocked. I had that test done in 10/07 and everything came back normal. The doctor told me I should be a "fertile mertile" now.



So that brings us to 11/07. I still wasn't ovulating on my own so my doctor told me about a drug called Clomid. It is supposed to make you ovulate. I was all for it once I found out that it doesn't really increase your chances of having multiples. I didn't want to have 6 babies at once. So I started out on 50 mg on days 5-9 of my cycle. Then I had more blood work done on day 21 to see if the drug worked and I ovulated. That test came back negative again so I was prescribed 100 mg. Now, I should tell you that when reading the print out that comes with all prescription drugs I found a side effect that I found pretty funny. It actually said that one of the most common side effects was "an emotional roller coaster." With the 50 mg I wasn't too bad. But when they upped my dose, I turned into a monster. I would cry for no reason and then turn around and get really crappy with Big John for no reason at all. Yes, those were trying times. The first month I was on 100 mg, I actually ovulated!! So we continued with that dosage for the next few months. I would have to be seen by the doctor on day 28,29, or 30 of each cycle so that they could check and make sure my ovaries weren't hyper stimulated or that I didn't have any cysts and then they would give me my next prescription. Well, each month I was totally convinced I was pregnant! Only to have my hopes diminished in the office.



When I went for my monthly appointment at the end of March, the nurse practitioner I had been seeing said that if this round of Clomid didn't work for me then she wanted me to see one of the doctors in her office. She said that they were more experienced with infertility and there was nothing else she could do for me. She also decided to up my dose again to 150 mg. She said that it wouldn't hurt to try it. So off I went with my new prescription and I scheduled my follow up appointment with the same doctor that did my HSG.



My emotions were running rampid with this new dosage. I felt like it was the first time I had taken Clomid. I had an appointment for 4/22 with the new doctor. I was due to start my period on 4/24. So I knew that it was kind of early for my appointment and that there was a chance that I could still be pregnant and not get a positive result at the appt. So off we went to the office. I always start out with a urine test if I hadn't started my period yet. So I made sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day so I would have to pee when I got there. It was a while before the doctor came in. As soon as he did I just knew that my test came back positive. He came in and asked me how I was feeling. I told him I had been very nauseous and my poor boobs were really really sore! He said that my test came back (insert dramatic pause here)... positive!!! I was finally pregnant. He said that the line was very very faint and he had to ask someone else to make sure the line was really there. So he had them draw my blood to check my HcG levels and sent me on my way.



The next day I got a call and they told me that my levels were consistent with being about 4 weeks pregnant. But they wanted to do the test again to make sure the levels were increasing like they were supposed to. So I had another blood test done 48 hours after the first one. They called me and said that the levels were increasing like they should and everything looks good. So we could officially celebrate now!!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!! I'm Sarah and this blog is all about me and my pregnancy. I am pregnant for the first time and my estimated due date is 12/31/08. I'm 25 years old and my wonderful husband just turned 30 in April. We found out that we were expecting 2 days after dh's birthday. He said it was the best birthday gift ever.

We had been trying to conceive for almost 2 years. I was on an evil form of birth control called Depo-Provera and it messed up my whole reproductive system. So, almost 2 years and a few rounds of fertility meds later, here we are. Now the meds I was on are not that strong and my chance of having twins is just barely elevated. Normally, your chance of having twins is 3-5% and mine is 4-6%. So not bad.


We have only met with the nurse so far. She asked me about 100 different health questions, gave us our official due date and a ton of information to read and some free samples. Our first appointment is June 4th. I will be exactly 10 weeks along and will hopefully get to hear the heartbeat at that appointment. I am anxious to be out of the first trimester. I have been pretty queasy pretty much all the time. Let's just say I don't leave home without a box of Saltine Crackers. Doesn't that make you hungry???


We already have names picked out. I think we have had them picked out since before we were married. For a boy, it is going to be Elijah David. For a girl, it will be Emma Grace. I just love both of those names!!


We found out the good news on Tuesday 4/22. As I said before, Big John's birthday was 4/20. We had planned his birthday party for Saturday 4/26. We decided that we wanted to tell everyone at the same time so we waited until the party. Let me tell you! It was so hard to keep quiet about everything! But we wanted our families to be the first to know. And we had a great idea of how to tell everyone. Big John decided that he wanted a picture of everyone that came out for his 30th birthday. So we had everyone get on our deck for a group picture. Right before he took the picture he said "Everyone say cheese!!!" Then he decided that that one didn't turn out good enough and he needed another one. So this time he said "Everyone say Sarah's pregnant!!!!!!" We had figured everyone would react and we could get a picture of the aftermath to put in the baby book. Well, everyone just stood there with the same smile as in the first picture.



Then it sank in what he said and my mom started screaming and everyone followed suit. So we were able to get some pictures.

















That's me in the polka dot shirt and my mom is the one in the sunglasses.



It is pretty much the same still. Everyone is so excited for us because they all knew how much we struggled to get here.





Tune in later and I will tell you my experience with the "gentle" fertility medicine!!