Just sitting in the dark waiting...

Well it is 6:30 am local time and I am up sitting on the couch in our hotel room typing in the dark while Dan gets a little more sleep.  (He is going to need it as he has sole responsibility for Lena while I am on bed rest!)  I couldn't sleep anymore, partly because I always wake up early to exercise or hang out with Lena.  Only Lena isn't here this morning; she is with my parents.   I also woke up because the bed in this hotel is hard as a rock and my back was killing me!  Lastly, I keep thinking about our transfer this morning.  We have decided to transfer two of the blasts and I am anxious/excited to see how they will do in the "thaw".  I am not nervous about the actual procedure at all.  Dr. K and his team are just so awesome at what they do.  I don't want to have to make decisions about anything.  In our first transfer they asked me if I wanted to discard one embryo that didn't look so great.  I would NEVER choose to do that and I hate it when they ask me those types of questions.  I am hoping all goes smoothly...

My shots have been going well but I feel sick from the PIO shots this time.  I don't remember being so nausiated from them last time.  After we dropped off Lena and had a nice family dinner at my parent's house last night we dropped by to see my cousin and her family.  We had a good visit and prayer time and then headed to check into our hotel and sleep.  When I left my parents' house as I walked out the door I said, "The next time you see me I will be pregnant!"  This process is so wild.  However, it is becoming more normal to me.  Well, in a couple of hours we will head over to the doctor's office.  My transfer is at 10:00am local time.  I will post from my comfy bed at home later tonight and let you know how everything went!  Pray for us today if you think about it. 

First Halloween!

Last year on Halloween I was admitted to the hospital to induce labor for preclampsia.  This Halloween was a little more low key.  We did a simple Minnie Mouse costume since she loves her Minnie Mouse bath book and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show.  She was Halloween partners with her friend Adam who was Mickey.  We went to a bustling downtown area and had a nice dinner with our friends before heading home.  Kind of glad we don't have to Trick or Treat yet.

All dressed up with Pop!

Lena wasn't in the best of moods that night.

 Halloween is not my favorite holiday but we made it fun! I do love the fall season and a few days before Halloween we visited a real pumpkin patch to hunt for the cutest little Lena sized pumpkins we could find.  We also got to do a fun corn maze and see some farm animals. 

Too big.....

.....just right!!!!

Triggered!

We have been pretty consumed lately with some house projects, getting ready for Lena's birthday bash, and taking care of our little peanut who has been battling a nasty bout with bronchitis for the third time since June.  But.. people!  We are almost to transfer day!  I've been traveling to see Dr. K every week to get my lining ultrasounds and estrogen checks which have all been "perfect".  Last night we added the dreaded PIO injections to trigger my body for the transfer and I am trying to remember all of my injection tricks and tips as I already have bruising from my few weeks of delestrogen injections.  A few weeks ago I was discussing how many embryos to transfer with Dr. K and we agreed on transfering two of the blasts from Lena's group of embryos.  A few minutes after our conversation he said, "Are you sure you just don't want to transfer one?"  I thought in my head, "$3000 a pop?  Yeah... pretty sure!!!"  But I just nodded and said, "I am sure!  I am not afraid of twins!"  We will see what happens and I am excited for Lena that she will have a playmate and a genetic sibling.  Time after time I have found myself wondering if I should guard my heart more.  After all I know from experience that this process can be difficult and does not always result in a healthy pregnancy.  I just feel happy and excited about this transfer and I don't want to taint those feelings with fear.
On Sunday before the transfer we will be leaving Lena with my parents.  (Our first night away from her!)  Then early Monday morning we will be headed to Dr. K's office to get our babies!  I will post details and pictures from our transfer day hopefully soon after. 

Meeting with Dr. K

We have officially begun our next embryo transfer cycle to try to bring one (or two) of Lena's siblings into this world!  I just took my first shot of medicine Thursday night and will be making lots of doctor trips during the next few weeks leading up to our transfer date on November 5th.  Back in the doctor's office on Friday, I just sat there bubbling with gratitude and excitement (such different emotions than previous visits to the infertility doctor) as I waited to be called in to my appointment.  How is it that God has given Dan and I this amazing gift of Lena and her siblings?  My heart yearned for Lena's brothers and sisters who are still frozen in a cryogenic storage tank just a few rooms from where I was waiting.  We feel so blessed, so excited, almost to the point where I wonder if I should guard my heart a bit more... I know after all how brutally disappointing this process can be.  Please pray for us as we walk through this process again.  Thank you friends! 

Eleven Months Old!

 Our precious Lena Joyce turned 11 months old on October 3rd.  She is looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby everyday. 

Lena loves music and dancing.  Here you can see her demonstrating her happy dance!  She gets up on her knees and flaps her arms up and down. 

She is still in size 6-9 month pants and 9 month tops.  She wears size 2 diapers and is just going into size 3 shoes.  She is still pretty little for her age and still cute as ever!

Now that Lena is on the move we have put up the play pen in the living room.  She just learned to turn the pages of her books and speaks gibberish all the time.  She also walks around the room and says things like, "Oh Wow!" and "Ooooooo!!!" 

 Lena's biggest milestone this month was she learned to walk!  It started with a few steps at first and then quickly she picked up the pace.  Now she loves to wobble all over the little park in front of our house.

Dan taught her to say "weeeeee" as she slides down the slide.

This month we got to cheer my youngest brother on as he ran his first marathon in Long Beach.  We all wore our purple since Sam was running in memory of his father-in-law Mike Lamont who passed away from pancreatic cancer last year.  He did great finishing in well under four hours!  Lena had a fun time clapping as Sam ran by. 

Lena loves her Uncle Sam!

Favorite Things: House Party!

Do you know about House Party?  It is a company that pairs up willing hostesses (people like you and me) with companies that want people to try out their products.  Basically, you agree to host a small party and give feedback and the company sends you free product and goodies and coupons for your guests to take home.  It is a win-win situation.  You get free product and a fun party while the company gets good advertising and product feedback. 

Some one is excited about what is in this big box!

Touching the tape was fun too!

Open at last!

Last year I was invited to my first House Party for Benefit makeup by a friend.  I had never heard of this company before and thought it sounded fun so I signed up and waited for a party to open for application that I would like to apply for.  Finally I saw that Fisher-Price was looking for people to throw a house party so that families with kids could try out some of their new toys.  I jumped on the opportunity to apply and guess what????  I WAS CHOSEN!!!  It was an extremely popular House Party so when I got the email that I was selected I had 30 minutes to set up my party online and invite at least ten people by submitting their email addresses or they would give my spot to someone else.  Unfortunately I got the email on my phone while out running errands so in a panic I sped home and just finished setting up my party with one minute to spare.  Whew!

 A few weeks before the party my party pack arrive.  There were four toys valued around $200 total in my pack (which I get to keep when the party is over).  Then a package came full of goodies and coupons to give to my guests.

I had lots of fun snacks on hand!

 On the day of the party we had tons of kids and adults show up to enjoy the snacks and toys.  The Ballapalooza was the hit toy of the day.  I even love playing with it!

The Ballapalooza!

There are all kinds of House Parties: food products, movies, games, retail companies, etc.  Some of them have more enticing party packs than others.  You just have to check out what is available right now and apply!  Maybe you will have beginners luck like me and get the first party you apply for!

Playing with the Ballcano!

Triathlon 2012 and Weightloss Update!

 Official Results:  Finish Time- 1:52:48 
(Swim- 24:49  Bike- 45:43  Run- 35:20)  
Placed 17 out of 31 Athenas

I did it!  I finished my second sprint triathlon on Sept 16th in 1hour and 52 minutes!  I was hoping to beat my time from 2010 (1 hour and 51 minutes) but missed by one minute (ouch!).  I can't tell you how amazing it felt to set the goal of doing this triathlon, working really hard to train for it, and then complete it successfully. In my last post about fitness and weight loss I expressed my frustration with my body.  I had a breakthrough in August and September and was able to lose 17 pounds in about seven weeks.  I even lost four pounds on vacation in Hawaii!  I've been watching my carb intake at night, making sure I eat protein along with the carbs when I do eat them and I have been very faithful in my workout routine.  What made this triathlon different from last time was I was able to recruit two friends to do it with me and they did awesome!

My triathlon buddies: Janee and Johnny!

At the start this year I was much less nervous since I felt ready and had the experience of having finished a triathlon before.  This year I raced in the Athena/Clydesdale group again which is for women over 145 pounds and men over 200 pounds.  As we all waited on the beach in our orange caps for our wave to start several spectators asked me what group was the orange swim cap group.   To simplify my answer I just told them it was the group for the "bigger" competitors.  Ha ha!  The weather was VERY foggy that morning and the surf a bit stronger than my last triathlon.  It was difficult to see the shore let alone the course markers when we were swimming in the ocean so I wasted time pulling my head up to make sure I was staying on course.  I ended up swimming a pretty indirect route because of the current and my swim time was 24:49 for the half mile swim which was about four minutes slower than my last triathlon.  Quite a bummer since the swim is usually my strongest leg of the race.

Athenas ready to race!

In the second leg of the race I used my new road bike that I bought off of Woot a few months ago.  Last year I raced on my mountain bike and it was difficult to keep the pace that was needed in a timed race.  The road bike allowed me to put all those trained muscles from spin class to work and I finished the 11 miles in 45:43 which was four minutes faster than my previous triathlon.  I felt really good on the bike and one guy that I passed yelled out "Alright!  Lookin' strong!"  It is one my most favorite compliments I have received in a long time.

I told you it was foggy!  I am the biker in back.  The little boy was in a kids version of the triathlon.  I had to tell you that so you didn't think a little kid passed me!)

 The transition to the run was rough.  In fact all of my transitions were poor.  I wasted too much time changing legs and need to hustle in my next triathlon to improve my overall time.  The three mile run at first felt like I was trudging through mud.  My legs were heavy and awkward.  As the miles passed by I felt better and I was surprised to see that my running watch told me I was actually running 10:30 minute miles at first which slowed in the third mile.  My body felt worse than it was performing and I was very happy with my time of 35:20 even though it was a minute slower than my last triathlon.  It was my fastest post-pregnancy 3 mile run yet.  I give partial credit to a guy that I encountered on the back half of my run.  I was beginning to get really tired and sore and decided to walk a little.  He must have been running for awhile behind me and as he passed me he said, "Now you've been running so well!  You are doing great!  Finish strong!"  It was just what I needed to hear and I replied, "You are right!  I am right behind you!" and I was able to run the rest of the way in. 

I am in the back turning the corner on my run.

I can't tell you how amazing it feels to cross that finish line!  If you have never run in a race you really should try it just once for the experience even if you don't think that it is your "thing".  My favorite "athlete" is Matt Hoover who won The Biggest Loser many years ago.  A few years ago he completed the Kona Ironman - one of the most difficult races there is.  He said before the race, "Sometimes you need to see a chubby guy taking off to do something he is not supposed to."  I love his attitude which was so inspiring to me!  At the expo when I picked up my race packet the day before the triathlon I found that a little negative voice inside me was saying, "You don't look like the fit people that are here.  You don't belong..."  I started to get self conscious about the fact that even though I have lost some weight I still have so much more to lose.  I had to fight back at my negativity!  I had trained hard to be ready for this race!  I had lost weight- a lot of weight to be able to do this!  And when I finished that triathlon I swam, biked, and ran the exact same course as the most athletic and fit people there.  The metal I wore on my neck was the same as theirs.  I am glad I did the triathlon again and I can't wait to do it a third time and work hard to improve my time.  It is so worth it!

My favorite spectator!

At the time I am writing this I have four weeks before my next embryo transfer.  My goal is to lose eight more pounds before transfer day.  I am still doing bootcamp four days a week and I have decided to increase my running workouts to three days a week.  Running burns fat unlike any other exercise!  I am also experimenting with intermittent fasting right now.  The concept is to work for a weekly calorie deficit rather than a daily calorie deficit.  Last Thursday I fasted from 9 pm until 5 pm the next day.  I was able to lose two pounds and keep them off.  I also realized how mindlessly I reach for food and because I chose not to eat I drank a ton of iced green tea and water which is good for you.  I still need to take some updated weight loss photos and measurements but I can tell my body is responding to my hard work!  My clothes are getting loose and my body is finally feeling like me again.  My other goal besides losing eight more pounds is to change my thinking about pregnancy.  Right now in my head being pregnant means being an invalid and that needs to change if I don't want to gain another 80 pounds with my next pregnancy!  More on that later...

Lena, cheering on her Mama at the starting line!