Visit #1 to Dr. C!

Last week James and I visited a new fertility doctor in Dallas.  I'll call him Dr. C.  We were pretty anxious to meet with Dr. C.

When we arrived I found out that my medical records had not been sent.  This almost put me in panic mode but one quick phone call to my doctor in Lubbock and all was right in the world again.  There were a couple of things I was a little worried about.  One, Farrah was with us on this appointment.  Second, the one question I have had for years.....will we ever have a baby??

First, lets talk about Farrah.  Oh my goodness is pretty much all I can say about her.  James and I were both so anxious about this appointment and knew Farrah could handle it but I think we were wrong....haha!  When we were meeting with Dr. C Farrah was just everywhere.  Farrah was throwing fits and rolling on the ground.  By the end of the appointment I was begging Farrah to behave, I think I even offered to buy her Disney World...haha!  Needless to say, Farrah will not be going back to any appointments with us. 

Secondly, Dr. C was so amazing!  He gave us a lot of information and we have a lot to think about.  He looked over my medical records and after he was finished reviewing things he was very encouraging.  At the beginning of this appointment, James and I were facing some decisions that we prayed we would never have to make. 

After the review of my records Dr. C needed to do an exam and see where I was at.  He needed to see if my fibroid tumor had returned.  When it was removed the first time Dr. P could only get 90-95% of the tumor.  The great news is that the tumor was no longer there!  After some more pictures and measurements we were given the clear all.  At least once I get all the blood work back. 

Speaking of blood work.  I had to have five viales of blood taken.  Not a big deal unless you have the worst veins possible!  After the fourth needle in my arm they were FINALLY able to draw enough blood.  I know it's all worth it but oh my word it was painful!  The third time they tried to draw blood out of my hand and when they did they hit a nerve that about shot me out of my seat!  Needless to say, there won't be anymore trying for blood in my hand! 

Anyways....We received some great news on our fertility journey.  We are going to do IVF (in virto).  I will have my system shut down for one month and then the treatments will start.  It's a two month process.  To start this process we first have to get approval with a company that will do the genetic testing on every embryo.  We found out that we have a genetic "thing" that makes our case even more difficult.  Thankfully this genetic "thing" can be tested and found. 

Once we start the IVF process, Dr. C will retrieve the eggs have them fertilized and then freeze them.  After they are frozen, he will then ship them off to this company who will test the embryos for this genetic "thing."  After that this company will then ship the healthy embryos back to Dr. C's office.  After that I will have a month of injections to prepare my body for the embryo transfer.  After that I will continue the injections until a pregnancy test and WHEN that test comes back positive I will continue with the injections throughout the first trimester.  I was told it will be three different injections three times a day....so that's nine shot a day!  Yay me!!!!!  I'll do anything to have a baby with the man of my dreams so this will all be worth it! 

For now we are just waiting and waiting is the hardest part.  I know this is the road God has chosen for us and I think we've walked our road pretty well.  Have we failed...absolutely!  But I am so blessed to walk this journey with one AMAZING man!  James has been such an encourager and an amazing support to me.  When I wanted to quit he wouldn't let me.  He has loved me on my hardest and darkest days!  He is the reason I continue this journey.  He is the one I can't disappoint.  He is my everything!! 

Great Wolf!!

This weekend we surprised Farrah with a weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge.  Our friends the Louders and the Watts joined us with their girls.  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into but oh my goodness did these girls have a BLAST!!!

We turned into the Great Wolf and Farrah had no idea what this place was or what it was about.  She was so excited when we checked in and saw the indoor water park.  She was jumping up and down and couldn't wait to go swim!

Once we checked in Farrah discovered her friends were there too!  Now the excitement was over the top!  These girls played so hard.  Neither of them had a nap, we instead all headed to the water park.  Farrah did every slide she could do for her height at least 100 times....I'm not kidding!  She would come down one slide and run up to me and say "Again!" 

Needless to say these girls pretty much played and swam til 7pm that night.  Then we ordered dinner and after dinner we went to story time at the Great Clock Tower.  After the story was over Violet, the Wolf, came out for a visit and pictures.

After story time we bought the girls ice cream and this is where we could tell none of the girls had had a nap.  It was meltdown city!  It became pretty funny because we knew the girls were so tired and there was nothing we could do to make them happy.  After a quick dip in the bathtub it was time for bed.  I don't think Farrah lasted two minutes before she was out.

The next day we woke up to play again at the water park.  And again, these girls played hard!!  Farrah was so fun to watch with her little friends and how big these smiles were was priceless! 

After the Great Wolf we had dinner plans with some friends so thankfully Farrah had a nap so the night was pretty easy.  We had such a great time with our friends.  Farrah keeps asking when we get to go back.....hopefully we will get to go back every year. 

On our way home, James wanted to make a stop at the Bass Pro Shop.  It's a tradition for Farrah and James to take a picture every year in front of the store.  The first time was when Farrah was three weeks old....so its fun to see how Farrah has grown over the years!

One funny thought James and I had......Last time we traveled with Farrah she screamed and cried all the way home and we vowed not to ever travel with Farrah agian (just kidding....kinda!)  This time Farrah talked all the way home and this mom and dad were exhausted!  James just kept looking at me and asking, "Does it ever stop??"  "NOPE!!"  We had a wonderful time with our little family and our friends!! 

Girls trip to Canton

For the last three years for Kelsy's birthday we have taken a girls trip to Canton, TX for the trade days.  We have a blast every year.  I had to miss last year because I had shoulder surgery two days before we were suppose to go.  I was pretty excited about going back this year!

We left early Thursday morning at 5am.  There were 5 of us going together and then Paige was meeting us there.  Kelsey, Dana, Leslie, Abby and me were quite excited to leave the kids behind for a couple of days and shop til we dropped!

We made our first stop in Snyder for a photo opt for Team Tomi.  Our sweet friend, Tomi, is battling Breast Cancer and when she has a Chemo treatment we gather either at her house or the hospital and cheer her on to her treatments.  Since we were on the road we took a picture to cheer her on.

The laughs had already started by this time and I don't think it ever stopped til we got back home.

We made our way to Canton around lunch and started shopping!  It wasn't to crazy on Thursday but by Friday in was insane!  I heard this was a record setting year in attendance for Canton this year.  We had a great time shopping but I must say it was SOOOOO HOT!  It was close to 90 degrees all weekend but we still had a great!

On Friday, we ran into some of our husbands favorite hunter's.  The Duck Dynasty guys.  We met Phil's brother, James.  He wrote a book about Phil and how he started Duck Commander.  It was so fun to buy an autographed book for James. 

After Canton we came into Dallas and shopped some more.  We went to dinner at the Galleria and had pedicures that made our aching feet all better.  The next day we shopped at North Park and then finished our evening with cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  We all ordered a different flavor and went back to the hotel and rented a movie and shared cheesecake.  It was so yummy and fun!

I had a great weekend with some really amazing and fun friends!!  Thanks Kelsey for having a birthday and having a girls trip!  We shared a lot of laughs and made some great memories!