UPDATE on earlier post

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2008 3:41 PM

Thanks to the great suggestions and information from Edmo and Laura, and after calling my doctor and the pharmacy, it actually looks like I was making a mountain out of a mole hill!  Yea!  The reason I was originally so discouraged is because our insurance website estimated the cost at $300!  So after talking to the pharmacy, it looks like that may have been six months of brand name, not just one month of generic.  Getting emotional means I sometimes don't pay attention as well as I should, which my mother reminds me of alot.  Anyway, the one month, or really 4 day, prescription is only going to be around $15.  And my husband has talked to my doctor too, and gotten all of his questions answered, so we're back on the original plan. 

Thanks again Edmo and Laura!  Your encouragement and advice is appreciated more than you know!

Blessing in disguise?

Posted Thursday, October 30, 2008 11:23 AM

I'm trying very hard to view this latest news as positive, but it is hard when it changes my plans...

My doctor had recommended that we start Clomid at the beginning of this cycle (started yesterday) and I had done alot of research on the side effects and risks associated with it.  My husband read everything that I gave him, but still had a few questions for my doctor and was getting ready to call and schedule a time to talk with her.  However, he has not done that yet because I found out last week that our insurance covers only testing and diagnosis.  Which means that they will not cover ANY treatment of ANY kind.  When I first found out, I have to admit that I was very sad, and that when I told my husband I started crying about how unfair it is.  I felt stupid for crying about it, but at the time, I was just so upset that they cover birth control and other preventative measures, but they won't cover even the cost of one prescription to help us when we want a child so much!

So no Clomid this go round.  I'm continuing to chart and this most recent cycle was 30 days, with possible ovulation on CD19, but my temps were so spiky and my CM never approached egg-white or even watery, so who knows if I actually ovulated or not.  Our insurance is so good in all other respects, that while it is frustrating, I do have to be thankful that we have good coverage for other things.  We are going to continue on this path for at least a few more months and really focus on doing all we can naturally (yea for lots of sex!) and then if we still don't have any success, we'll re-evaluate Clomid or other treatments and start saving for those. 

Sometimes you can't choose the path you walk, but you can always choose the attitude that you approach it with.  My choice right now is to continue with my goal of getting healthier and to face this new challenge with a smile on my face.  After all, I have a lot to be thankful for. (see my response to Edmo's post on luck!)

Jeeps, Football and the TWW

Posted Monday, October 20, 2008 4:08 PM

So I didn't write anything last week because I honestly couldn't think of anything that was fun/cool/exciting/interesting about my life.  Things were very quiet around our house for about a week and a half, and my husband and I didn't do much of anything except watch TV.  That is until this weekend.

My husband is one of those people that stays up really late at night during the week and then sleeps until noon on Saturday.  But this last Saturday, we got up early and were at the footbal field by 8:45.  His oldest godson is eight and he is playing his first season of football.  I have never been to a kids football game before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I have to say it was probably the most fun I've had in a long time.  The little boys are sooo cute!  They haven't quite figured out that the pads help protect them from getting hurt when they hit someone or someone hits them so they just ran at each other and then at the last minute turn their heads and kind of bump chests.  It is hysterical!  After the game we went out to lunch with my husband's best friend, his wife and their two sons (hubby's godsons).  We had a great lunch at IHOP and the boys were on their very best behavior which is a rare situation.

After lunch we went to a Jeep parts store looking for replacement seats for my husband's '79 CJ5 Jeep.  It's his hobby car and we've been trying to find decently priced seats for about six months.  We found two cloth seats for $50 each at this store, which was a steal, because they came in with the wrong mounting brackets.  Luckily, all it took to make them work was drilling a few holes in the brackets and they worked great.  We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon putting the seats in, and then went to dinner with a friend.  While we were at the parts store, we also found new mirrors for the Jeep, but hubby didn't have the right wrench to put them on, so our friend that we had dinner with helped us out with that.  The next project on the Jeep is going to be getting a new top and doors, but we'll have to save up for that.

Sunday was quieter, just watched some football and had chinese for dinner.  I have a new found love of the Peiwei chopped chicken salad, and with some edamame, I think it was a pretty reasonable meal.

Now, on the TWW front... here's the link to my chart if your interested http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/22dd0e... I think FF hates me!  Not really, but it is very frustrating.  I don't know if I'm really ovulating or if it's just a trick of the temperatures, but both months that I've charted, I've gotten the dashed lines because my CM doesn't match up with my temps, etc.  So, if I did O on CD19, then I am just at the beginning of the wait, but if I am not really ovulating then I'm just waiting for the next cycle to start so I can do all of this again.  We are considering starting the Clomid next cycle, but my husband wants to talk to the doctor and have some questions anwered about how it might affect my health in the long run.  He's very excited about having children, but he is also very concerned that Clomid has some dangerous side effects.  I'm so lucky that he is concerned and that he is finally coming around about reading and researching things on his own.  So, if you want check out my chart and tell me what you think, or just wish me luck in waiting this all out!

DWTS Week Three

Posted Thursday, October 09, 2008 8:24 AM

I don't have a lot of other stuff going on in my life, so Dancing with the Stars is all I have to talk about today...

I'm really, really sad for Misty May-Treanor.  She wasn't the best dancer this season, but she was working so hard and was getting better and better.  I have to admit that I almost tossed my cookies when they showed the footage of her injury with sound.  I know it was amplified, but hearing the pop of her achilles tendon was just about the most horrible thing that I have ever heard on TV.  I really appreciated her attitude about what happened... she seems like a very down to earth and upbeat person. 

I continue to be surprised and impressed by Warren Sapp.  He is amazingly light on his feet for a man of his size.  I was glad that he did so well.

Lance and Lacey were so cute, but I agree that there was something missing in their waltz this week.  I hope that they don't try too hard to make Len happy and that they bring back some of the attitude.

Brooke Burke is really talented, and I like to watch her dance, but there's just not a lot for me to connect with in her personality.  I think that she'll make it to the finals, but I'm not sure if she has enough charisma to win it all.

I really think that the people that voted got it wrong this week.  I know that because of Misty's injury, no one is going home, but Rocco certainly should not have been the one with the fewest votes.  I love Cloris but she should have been the one at the bottom.  She's funny and entertaining, but this is a dance show and she isn't really doing a whole lot of dancing.  Rocco is trying to improve and I think that he may be the surprise next week.

No one else really stood out as great or horrible for me... can't wait to see what happens next week!

Our State Fair is a great state fair!

Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2008 10:29 AM

If you don't recognize the title of this post, those are lyrics from the musical "State Fair."  And they really do apply to the Great State Fair of Texas!  I'm not a native Texan and I have been to the fair in other states, so I can speak impartially here... Texas just does the fair thing better than just about anyone!  I went to the fair yesterday afternoon as part of a team builder for our office and had an absolute blast.  We saw a great Celtic rock band, called the Killdares (they have a fiddler and a bag piper in the group); we walked through the agriculture building and bought some local honey to help boost our allergy immunity; and we ate our way through some of the most amazing fried food on the planet!  The big draw every year for the Texas State Fair is the competition for the best fried food.  This year's winner was Chicken Fried Bacon, which I personally just couldn't imagine eating, but I did have a fantastic panko breaded fried grilled cheese, and a deep fried chocolate truffle... heaven!  I will be eating nothing but grilled chicken, salad and raw veggies for the next three weeks to make up for the amount of grease that I consumed yesterday, but all in all, it was totally worth it!  If you have never been to your state fair, I recommend doing it at least once... it's a great experience!

Random Thursday post

Posted Thursday, October 02, 2008 9:04 AM

This may be a bit random and jumbled... I just need to put down in writing somewhere all of the little things that have been going on this week.  If it gives you tired head, I apologize in advance!

Charting: I started charting last month right after AF.  Cycle started on 9/1 and by the looks of it, I ovulated on the 19th.  So, based on my previous cycle start dates, FF targeted the start date of my next cycle for sometime around 10/8.  WRONG!  AF showed up on Monday!  So, after several months of 35+ day cycles, I have one that is only 29 days.  I'm anxious to see what happens this month, because I don't think a 9 day luteal phase is a good thing.

SA: My husband did his SA on Monday, and the doc called on Tuesday to tell us that everything was "beautifully healthy."  I love the way she phrased that... made my husband feel pretty good too!  Even though it was really obvious to me that the reason we haven't gotten pregnant yet has something to do with my irregular cycles, he had somehow convinced himself that his little guys were just lazy!  It is just hilarious to me how completely oblivious most men are about how these things!  Speaking of... I've been trying my best to explain things to him, but his eyes just glaze over when I start talking... any suggestions on good books for him to read?

Clomid: So after the doc told us everything is healthy, she still doesn't think that I'm ovulating, so she is going to put me on Clomid next cycle.  Technically, I could have asked her to go ahead and write the RX on Tuesday and then I could have started on it yesterday, but I made the decision to give myself another chance to chart a full cycle and really try to get better in tune with my body.  I've waited this long, what's one more cycle?  Plus this gives me a few more weeks to improve my eating habits.

Lifestyle change: I've chosen to make lifestyle changes, rather than go on a "diet."  I don't just want to lose a few pounds to look better for one event... I really want to just be the healthiest that I can possibly be.  So, I'm making a personal commitment to walk during my lunch breaks for at least thirty minutes, and take our dog for a 45-60 min walk every night.  And no more grabbing a candy bar if I get the urge for a snack... I brought in a bunch of grapes this morning, and I put them in the freezer here at work... it's the best afternoon snack ever!  I've been packing our lunches for a long time, and it's always been pretty balanced, so that's not going to change much.  I am going to have to force myself to eat breakfast though... I've never been a big fan of eating that early in the morning, but I know that I need to do it to set the tone for the rest of my day.  I won't bore you all with a daily account of how it's going, but every once in a while, I might post something just to keep myself motivated.

Work: I love my job... everyday is new, fun and exciting.  We finally finished the remodeling of the Executive Office, and I have a bright new space to work in.  I now report directly to our CEO, and even though I am just a receptionist, he's given me a few new responsibilities and I'm really excited about that.  The airline industry is in a real mess right now, and if I worked for any other carrier, I'd be really scared about losing my job, but because I work for the company that I do, I know that I will have a job tomorrow, next week, next year, and five years from now.  We've never layed off or furloughed employees because of financial stress.  Yes, people have been fired for not doing their jobs, but there's a lot of job security in my company.

Well, I think that's enough for today... sorry to bore everyone!

DWTS Week Two

Posted Tuesday, September 30, 2008 4:15 PM

I really had mixed emotions last night with the quality of the dancing.  I think it was way too early in the season to throw the Rumba and the Paso at these contestants, and that it was really too early considering how few days they had to rehearse.  But then again, a couple of the stars really did a great job!  I loved Warren Sapp's matrix theme, and I thought that Brooke Burke was great!  And despite what the judges thought, I really liked Lance Bass' attempt at making the Paso a little younger and fun!  I am really disappointed by Kim Kardashian... it was an obvious ploy for more attention to even do the show, so she should be going at it like her life depends on it.  Instead, she's just going through the motions... Bruce Jenner would have put more enthusiasm into it than she has! 

Anyone else have an opinion on the show?  Are you pulling for someone in particular?

Looking forward to tonight and finding out who is going home!