Two freaking minutes!

The new RE, Dr. P, that we have had scheduled since October to see has a waiting list. Once all your paper work is turned in, they put you on a list and when a cancellation comes up, you are called in order on the list as a first come, first serve basis.

Today, just like any other day. Babies {it's the last day I can call them babies as they turn 1 tomorrow! WOW!} were down for their morning nap. 11:45am came, they woke, I went to get them. After trying to {what felt like} catch two greased pigs {AKA- change and dress two extremely mobile boys}, we headed back downstairs.

I heard the alert beep from my cell. Check it. I had a voicemail from an unknown number... They had called at 11:47am {TWO FREAKING MINUTES!} The voicemail was from a very sweet sounding lady from Dr. P's office saying they have a cancellation for this Wednesday at 3:15pm and if interested to call back ASAP as it is a first come, first serve basis and the list is incredibly long...

Needless to say, I immediately called only to find out that they had 'just filled the spot' and 'better luck next time'! ()$*(@*(!&(*~^(^~(*$)* ARGH!

So instead of only having TWO days until my appointment, I have TWO months still! :-(

*And I even tried to call Dr. S today to set up an appt to go ahead and discuss doing a December Femara/Inject cycle along with talking about IVF but they are booked out at least two weeks as well, and not convenient times might I add...* Bummer!

After wallowing in the 'what ifs' I have come to two good things about this phone call.
1~ They do actually call when a cancellation comes about!
2~ I must be getting pretty close to the top of the list in order to even get a call!

So needless to say, my phone will now be glued to me during all business hours as I dare not miss this phone call again! hahaha! February 3 just seems so far off...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today, reflecting on what we are Thankful for seems to be so important for me. It is not only a reminder to be ever grateful for our health, roof over our heads, great jobs we love, family and friends that always are supporting us but to also be thankful for this path God has led us down. The path of Infertility. As hard of a pill as that may be to swallow...

Infertility has brought me relationships I would have never otherwise had. Infertility has opened my eyes in dealing with situations where the up most compassion and empathy is needed. Infertility has brought about a new sense of caring for others that I have never experienced before. Infertility, although never something I would have chosen for us to endure, has brought us many blessings.

I am thankful for all the support, encouragement, and love that has been shown to us from people I know as well as I do not know! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you take a moment to be thankful for those things in your life that are 'blessings in disguise'.

Thank You!

I cannot even begin to express the overwhelming support and encouragement I received from you, my blogger friends!

Don't you just hate how those low days come, sometimes without warning?

Anyways. I have LOTS of thoughts but for now, I'm off to spend some time with my nieces!

Gingerbread Houses + Nieces = FUN MESSES!

I love, just about more than anything else, spending time with my nieces! This evening we {Three nieces, Charles, and myself} made mini Gingerbread houses. :-) Mine is the one without a ceiling... Fun stuff! I think they turned out pretty good though!

C, the oldest niece, tasted a bit of the 'house' and informed us we would not want to eat this at a later date so who cares how long they sit out.

How I love our nieces... I miss having them around like crazy! So now I'm off to play a family game and enjoy the craziness!

Lowest of the lows.

Ever want to talk to someone that truly understands? The aches and pains infertility brings. That common bond is amazing and in a selfish way comforting.

Well I need someone. An infertile. Someone that has not moved 'to the other side'. Thankfully everyone I personally know that has delt with infertility is now a mommy. I find encouragement when I talk to them that miracles still happen. This I am thankful for.

However this is not what I need right now. Tonight. Tonight I need someone who still has fresh wounds. Still has the deep heartache to be a mommy. Someone that finds themselves crying with both happiness and sadness with the news of a new baby coming into the world.

I need an infertile sister. Someone that I do not need to bring strong for but instead I can cry too for my own pain.

I just want to feel like I am not indeed the only woman on the face of the planet left childless.

Sorry to be depressing. It has been a very emotionally taxing day. Off to bed now thankfully.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Consequences of being careless.

Wonder why my eyes hurt? Well. I know you dont wonder about it but i do... Let me clarify. They dont always hurt. Just today. Or whenever i do this. So this morning i was using the Apricot Scrub on my face. I alternate days so it does not take away all my skin. I was stupid and did not close my eyes all the way and thus got little Apricot balls into my eyes. Yep. It scratches them. I then went to put in my contacts. Yeah. No go. Talk about burning! :-( So today i resorted to wearing my glasses. Oh how lovely they are... :-) so beware. When using a scrub on your face. Always tightly close your eyes... :-) and yes. That is my eye in the photo.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Pumpkin Puree, Homemade!

Scroll all the way to the bottom and view up. I'm too lazy to re-position them in order. Aren't you proud of my domestic-ness??? :-) Maybe later I'll share the Chocolate Pumpkin Cake I made using this puree. YUM YUM!

Let's talk. IVF.

This is the post I've been wanting to write for several days now. To get others {your} thoughts.

Charles completely caught me off guard the other day when he brought up IVF... It began like this.

Charles works with a lady who has triplets via IVF. She is actually the one that recommended we see the new RE {appt is Feb 3!} as he has fantastic success rates! Charles and her were able to have a rather lengthy conversation, especially in regards to her IVF experience.

Said her and her husband only agreed to do IVF if the Dr would only retrieve FOUR eggs. Fertilize those FOUR eggs. And thus transfer back, all FOUR eggs. That's it. No more. No less. Four. They now have triplets.

Charles now has it stuck in his head that this is exactly what we will do too... Four.

He is afraid we'll end up with some odd enormous amount of embryos left to freeze {thus costing money as our insurance company does not cover this in any way}. Not to mention, the thought of if we have more than we would want to use? What then? The thought of embryo adoption/donation to other couples kind of weirds him out. {I can admittingly somewhat sympathize with this...}

I have reminded Charles of my friend Cathy who is currently pregnant with twins via their first round of IVF. She had 43 eggs retrieved! Only two made it to transfer and none to freeze...

Then their is my friend Annie... She just recently had her two beautiful baby boys, her IVF miracles! For her, they retrieved 16 eggs. Transferred two. They have three snow babies.

Such extremes! So I guess I'm asking for opinions. What would you do? What did you do? How many retrieved? Transferred? Snow babies? Pregnant? With how many?

I just keep imagining us only doing four... YEAH RIGHT! With me stimming for timed intercourse or IUI, heck, I over produce! Four, that's it??? I just don't see my body cooperating...

What slipped today...

Scenario: Two people {me and Charles} in Khol's, shopping. LOTS of people around as they were having a 'special' sale from 6am - 1pm type thing.

Charles: "Why don't we go look at the trinkets and see if we can't get something for my mom."

Me: "Okay."

We're walking... I turn a different direction that obviously thew Charles off.

Charles: "Where are you going?"

Me: *Pointing towards the trinket area* "To go look at the tinker-toms." {For those that do not know me IRL, this was not purposely said. It was a complete and accidental tongue slip...}

Insert here TONS and TONS of laughter as we practically run down the isle to escape anyone that was possibly around who could have heard!!!!

Oh my. I wonder what goes on in my brain sometimes...

Sorry I failed again.

I know I missed another day, again. Last night I had a really good excuse. You see. A guy Charles works with invited us last min to the St. Louis Blues hockey game. It was my first hockey game. So it is not like I was just sitting around the house doing nothing... I was out and about watching fights and being entertained by L, the guy Charles works with son, as he was telling me all about hockey and the snacks he brought. He was adorable! And let me not forget- He asked if I had any sons. When I told him no he slouched and said oh. About how I felt too. I dont feel like it is just Charles and I disappointed cycle after cycle. I know this little boy L probably wont think about us again but still. Even he was disappointed even if only briefly. Isn t it amazing how I can turn just about every aspect of life into a huge red flashing sign yelling to the world that we are Infertile? I know. I
should seek help. But really. We did have a good time despite the Blues loosing 3 to 1... :-)

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Remembering All Veterans!

**Can you please ignore that I did not post yesterday and thus broke my NaBloPoMO agreement. Can I just say that feeling like crap from this head cold, exhausted from being up since 2:45am, and also welcoming in cycle number 40 all had me on edge and thus in bed by 7:30pm... No joke!**

November 11, specifically at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, we remember all men and women who have served our country! Thank you!

My dad is a Veteran as well as Charles' dad. Specifically, thank you to our dad's for serving this country and preserving our Freedom!

From our house to each and every one of you who has or is currently serving, THANK YOU!


And to share a slightly humorous story that I always think of now when mentioning Veterans Day...

Back in {I believe} 2001, my family decided to open our home and hearts to be a "Visitation Family" for a teenager in Foster Care. This "Visitation Family" was to lovingly and structurally be a positive example as to how exactly a family functions. {Pre-divorce, we were a great family!} I so longed to have a sister that this was such an answered prayer for me!

We were matched with a girl named "C". :-) The first day I met "C" was on a Friday afternoon when my parents picked me up from school a bit early and there she was, sitting in the van along with my two younger brothers. She was blonde headed with fake nails {oh how she loved her fake nails!!! Saved up her money to get them all the time...} and short! We joked about this often as we are all tall and here she is, little shorty. :-) Her and I were six months apart in age {her older} but our lives were drastically different. I was enjoying high school and friends while "C" was constantly packing her bags to move from house to house.

We were able to get "C" on the weekends and usually every week if not every other and holidays. I loved having "C" around as I enjoyed having the 'sister' connection. We shared a bedroom and would often spend all night just talking. "C" and I did not see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues but that was okay. We instantly connected. I referred to has as my sister, no explanation needed.

You see, "C"'s birthday was on November 11. She would tell people that she was born on Veterinarian's Day instead of Veteran's Day... :-) It's an innocent mixup but still it brings a smile to my face thinking about her punky self.

Happy Birthday "C"... If you ever happen to read.

Sick. Again?

I do not know what my body is thinking! I am sick, again! :-(

I have had like two colds my entire life and here I am, two colds within weeks of one another! I think if I could stop the whole ear issues I would be much better off. You know, that whole they are so full they hurt all the way down your throat full??? Oh yes. And the coughs. Annoying, non productive, coughs. And while I'm complaining, the sore throat... The runny nose...

And on that note. I'm cutting the post short. Hey, I kept to my word and have posted every day so far, sickness or not! ;-) I'm off to snuggle in bed and watch a few episodes of Friends before the way early bedtime hits. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better and can post what I have been wanting to post for a couple days now and really get some of yalls thoughts... Really, I want/need it!

ilovepeanutbutter

.com

These are my new favorite products!!! Oh how I wished they would send me tons of free peanut butter for telling the world how delicious they are!!!! Unfortunately, yet fortunately, I am sharing this new found love obsession of mine for free!

www.ilovepeanutbutter.com has an amazing selection of well, peanut butter!!!! Delicious and, when not eating it by the spoonful straight from the container, south beach approved!

Our first flavor we tried was the cocoa chocolate mix... Oh so yummy! It's a dessert! I particularly enjoyed it on fresh pineapple! YUM!

The one I picked up today is the white chocolate flavor! I had this on banana and YUM!

Oh, and in case you were wondering... I found them at Wal-Mart of all places and pretty decently priced! Much cheaper than the website lists! :-) I say totally worth the splurge!

And yes. If I have not said it before, I have a peanut butter obsession... I do believe I get this from my dad...

Website Debut!!!

After much deliberation, Charles and I decided to get just a basic website to introduce Lost Stork to the world! Today, I have spent at least 10 hours fiddling with HTML, templates, loosing the work and having to start all freaking over again! {Can I say I do not know how anyone does this all day, everyday for a living??? I admire those that do!!!!}

So, if you're easy on the critique, I proudly want to share with you the website!!!!

www.loststorkfoundation.org

I am in utter shock that this is even happening! That we have a website! That the domain names {loststorkfoundation.com too} are ours! I am in awe that this is why we have walked the road of Infertility... God is using our story in big, big ways!

So please, check out the website and do tell me what you think!!!!!!

{I will say that this is our 'placeholder' site and we're purchasing a website building kit and will have a site that has all we have ever dreamed of in a couple of months, hopefully!}

"Fifty Nifty United States"

Anyone know this song????



Thanks to this song, I won the Name 3 to Win game this morning on the radio! :-)

Every Friday morning, our local Christian Radio Station plays this game. Three contestants participate. The goal is within a total 15 second time frame, you are given a category and you must name three items in that category to move on. The person with the most categories, win.

This morning, it happened to be three girls. All three of us ended up with three complete categories at the end of the 15 seconds. On to the tie breaker...

The tie breaker is still only 15 seconds but you only have one category and must name as many items as you can and the person who listed the most, is the winner.

Before starting the tie breaker, the first gal asked for the easiest category. That is when Greg, one of the morning show hosts, went on about how they are all particularly the same randomness and it all depends on your background if one is easy or not...

So for the three way tie breaker, the first gal had "Name as many US Presidents as you can." {She got like nine} The second gal had, "Name as many current and past Cardinal's baseball players as you can." {She got like two! Better than I would have done!} I had, "Name as many US States as you can."

I immediately reverted back to the fifth grade, when I was apart of the chorus {although I can't carry a tune in a bucket...}, singing this Fifty Nifty United States song and began listing them in alphabetical order... I got to the K's before I was cut off {I won.} and the radio hosts were laughing. Again, Greg made a comment on how it is all based on one's background if a question is easy or not... hahaha!

Off air, I was asked if this really was a song and informed them that yes, yes, it is a song... They were amazed to say the least! And so was I!!! That I remembered the stupid song!!! haha!

Who knew that after all these years, that stupid song would still be stuck in my head AND to help me win a morning radio show contest! hahaha! Made me chuckle for the day. :-)

So now I'm awaiting the several CDs I won to arrive at my mailbox for enjoyment! :-)

Overwhelmed

My to-do list is a mile long. At least it would be if I actually wrote everything out on paper. Instead, I try to keep up with it in my crazy head of mine. Keeping everything straight. Organized. ha!

I am overwhelmed {mostly because this is my main focus right now} with all that needs to happen with Lost Stork... All the paperwork. Legal stuff. Fun stuff.

And since I have officially 'come out' with Lost Stork Foundation, I feel all the more pressure. This is not necessarily a bad thing though... :-)

And then Charles and I talked about IVF... Really discussed details. We have a lot to come to agree on before proceeding with it, that is for sure! Will share more about that tomorrow...

So for now, I'm off to rest my head on my comfy pillow and sleep until awaken by the invention of the alarm clock tomorrow morning.

Introducing...

Toastmasters' 101

Way back when {2002 if you must know} I was a Freshman in college at University of West Georgia, I took a lovely Speech class. This was the most boring class ever! I was required to do like two speeches the entire semester. Certainly did not learn anything from this wasted money spent on the class...

So here I am, just got home from my first Toastmasters Club meeting. I am PAYING to re-take Speech class although this time, I am actually interested in learning and am not afraid of peer-pressure and impressing the cute guy sitting two rows over...

My mom has spoken highly of her Toastmasters Club meetings she attends every week at the hospital she works at. She loves it and is learning to not only be more confident speaking in front of others but learning different aspects of hosting a meeting as well as writing speeches.

With the Foundation becoming more and more real every day, I know that the day will come when I am going to present the Foundation to others {more so than just via blog, letter, or telephone conversation}. I can talk but lack a lot of professionalism. I use a lot of "filler words", meaning um, excessive and's, the's, so's, and you knows enter my conversations more than I would like to admit. Talking to children who can barely say "mama" or "dada" all day long, every day, does not exactly help any. I want to feel confident when talking with others, regardless if it is about the Foundation or not.

Due to my mom's encouragement {she e-mailed me not once but twice the local Toastmasters clubs within like a 10 mile radius to my house!} I attended the first meeting tonight... Just as a bystander checking it out anyways. I did though, get up and participate in the "Table Topics" so that was impressive on my behalf. :-) {And no one said anything about me smacking gum while speaking!} I was one of 13 tonight at the meeting. Two of whom have won major awards for their speeches. I do believe I can learn a lot from this group of people! Oh yes, and let's not forget that two of the people gave their first speeches tonight, one was the Executive Director for a non-profit organization and the other is a high school marketing teacher. I wonder if I could do some brain picking... :-)

I am really looking forward to bettering myself. Feeling confident when speaking to another individual as well as a large group. I do not want people to hear me talk and classify me as another immature 25 year old. I want to be taken seriously as I believe and am passionate about the Foundation and the couples that I hope it will reach!

Official Foundation Mail!!!!

Oh how I wish I could give more information but I cannot, yet!!!

I get home from work today and the first thing I did was check the mail for bills and such. That's when I saw THREE pieces of mail addressed directly to the Foundation!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two from the IRS and one junk mail flyer! It is so becoming real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Yes. I totally did a screaming jig when I saw these items!!! Charles looked at me like I was crazy but I was talking to my mom so it was okay as she squealed with me! :-) haha!!!

I went to go open these items and noticed they were already open! My husband opened the first piece of mail I get for the Foundation! That heffer! hahaha! {He later said that he was pretty excited for me so he wanted to open it and read! So I let it slide...}

I also got a "we missed you" slip from some gal named Melony. No clue. It requires an ID and signature so I'm hoping it's the official business license I'm waiting on! Will pick it up tomorrow morning {this is totally a dragging-the-boys-out-of-the-house-for-a-mini-field-trip-to-the-Post Office-event!} and hopefully screech with excitement, again! :-)

My mom

As you all know was much needed, my mom came for a {very} short visit. It was {very} short but better than waiting another three weeks or so to see her again!

The visit was much needed {I think on both ends!} and much appreciated! Charles and I were both encouraged and renewed! Still trying to tackle it all but that is okay.

(For those wondering, Berry is in reference to Berry College in Mount Berry/Rome, Georgia. My oldest brother attended here and I confiscated this sweatshirt from him many a years ago...)

We headed back to Morning Star Church this past Sunday. Let me tell you what... God never ceases to amaze me! He always puts the right people in the right place at the right time for the right purpose!

I had went to the lobby area in the middle of the service to ask about a marriage mentoring program, if they had one, but specifically another couple who personally knew the struggle of infertility. I was told to go talk to the Pastor {another Pastor was preaching} who happened to be in the lobby at that exact moment. Go figure! I re caped what I was wondering if existed currently in the church and was told no but that he and his wife battled with infertility for seven years... They had a happy ending and said that although not everyone has a happy ending, they would love to connect later this week sometime if we were interested. OF COURSE WE ARE!

Anyways, I am not back to my "place" but do not feel as low as I did this past week... Thank you all so very much for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers! You all are the best blogging {and some in-real-life} buddies ever!

Giveaway Winners!

The winners for the three UPrinting.com Giveaways are...

Stickers/Labels:

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 2
Result:
2
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats Squirrelgirl! Meredith, you must tell me how Miss K enjoys her own personalized labels! :-)

Business Cards:

No need for Random.org as only one entry... Congrats Lynn Roberts! I am sure you are excited to use them for your personal use for the Foundation!


Brochures/Flyers:

Again, no need for Random.org as only one entry... Congrats Lynn Roberts! I am sure you are excited to use these Brochures for motorcycle awareness!

NaBloPoMo

Welcome to the first day of NaBloPoMo! For those that don't understand, that's National Blog Posting Month!

This is the first time I am participating and am rather nervous as to if I can fulfill the requirements... The only requirement is to post every day for a month. That's 30 posts! This is going to get interesting as we'll be visiting Georgia for a whole week to celebrate an early Thanksgiving since we can't do so actually at Thanksgiving! Should be fun though!

I understand from reading about other's though that writers block does occur so please, pretty please, leave comments and ask questions or randomly suggest a topic to blog about so that I can fulfill the duty of posting everyday for the next 29 {yes, today counts as my first post!} days... :-)

Anyone else that wants to join, it's not too late! Just head on over to NaBloPoMo's website and sign on up! You do have to have a blog to sign up though... After you sign up, let me know and I'll add you to my list of NaBloPoMo on the left hand side, just under the NaBloPoMo gadget!

**And slightly off topic... The three giveaways {stickers, flyers, business cards} currently going on are open to Canada residents as well! You'll just have to pay taxes and shipping costs!**