2 week wait....

Well we are now on the two week wait to see if I might be preggo, if not we will have to wait 8 weeks to start all over. So while we are waiting I thought about cooking. I know I do not have kids and it seems I would have tons of time to just whip meals out. Well, when you buy a foreclosure and you are fixing, building or installing something every night, as well as Christmas is around the corner...well you get the hint. I LOVE my crock pot (slow cooker) to some. Nothing like taking 10 minutes in the morning to throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and come home to a wonderful smelling house. Well this morning did not go as I had planned. I saw a london broil in the fridge that I got a really good deal on, I thought I had bought it last week when I went to the store but with my brain lately I forgot I had bought it on 12/7. So when I opened the package, the smell hit me and after gagging I wrapped it up in several grocery bags and stuck it back in the fridge until Thursday when the garbage man comes. So I went to the store at 6:55 a.m. since I had already chopped and seasoned everything before I opened the package of green meat (YUCK!). I swear I am a good cook, ask anyone who knows me. LOL So I went to the store and my selections were limited but I found a nice chuck roast. Hopefully when I go home tonight the house will be filled with a lovely smell and all I have to do is make a vegetable. :)

My go to site for crock pot recipes is. http://www.crock-pot.com/Recipes.aspx
You can select which meat you have and it will give you tons of ideas. I do this when I look in the freezer and see a few meats that have not been used yet. When AJ and I shop we go to Costco or Wal-Mart and buy a bulk of meat on sale and freeze it. We don't eat meat every meal, I am more of a vegetarian. You can make desserts, pasta...etc. in a crockpot all year. Plus it has a huge bonus, during the winter time you get a hot meal and I have made some pretty good soups in it before. During the summer you don't heat your kitchen up and living in Florida where the weather changes from warm to hot and then to the "Are we in hell" HOT! Although during the summer we like to grill more than anything else. I love, love, love grilled veggies and fruits. AJ loves to grill fish and of course steaks. :)

TIME TO PLAY THE GAME AGAIN....

Well, this round did not play out like we thought so back to the, well, umm, stirups again. :)I started the Femara last week and last night was the last dose (for this cycle). Tomorrow I start the ovulation testing again (yeehaw) and Friday morning I go for another Ultrasound. If they find a viable follicle then I get to take home a shot again. Last month for the first cycle we wound up spending $500.00 between the meds and 4 Ultrasounds. Sheesh!!!That is all to report for now. :)

Oops!

This can get confusing at this point when they give you three drugs and only two have instructions. On Saturday I had another Ultrasound, since they found a follicle on Thursday, I got the all clear to do the HCG shot, Ovidrel, (only 1) on Sunday night to give to myself in my abdomen. Before I left though they gave me a presciption for one other drug I can pick up from CVS. The other two I was given there because they have a fertility pharmacy on site. :) The two I picked up are Ovidrel and Progestone (these are the ones that go in the umm well not orally), sorry to the guys reading this LOL. I was told the Progestrone to start that on Wednesday and the shot for Sunday night. The other prescription I thought was subsititute for the progestrone that could be taken orally. So fast forward to today (Monday) when I was scratching my head when they only gave me two pills of Estradiol. The progestrone they gave me at the office there are 20 of those. So I called the office and they just called me back at 3:00 p.m. and said I was supposed to take those two little pills, one Saturday and one on Sunday before the HCG shot. Arrgghh, they wrote only two of the meds down and every time they talked it was only regarding two meds not three. The little pill was supposed to make the lining in the uterus more receptable for a implantation. So I am already paranoid about maybe this not working and maybe miscarrying since most people that go through this you are throughly warned there is a higher risk of miscarriage. The nurse said not to worry though that since my lining was fairly good they did not forsee a problem. So no I have to make sure though that I DO NOT miss my progestrone. I was also confused because I was told to keep doing the ovulation tests until I see an ovulation. When I spoke with the nurse I expressed to her that everything I read said that I should have ovulated this morning but NOPE NEGATIVE again. She said "Oh you are still doing those, when you give yourself the shot you will ovulate there is no need to do the tests and that you should ovulate within 24-36 hours, the tests don't really work right with the Ovidrel. Also, do not do a pregnancy test for 18 days snce the shot will show you that you are pregnant with the hormones you just injected." So they were going to tell me this when, this is my first time on this particular medicine so a little more info from them would be great. :) I am supposed to take a home preg test in 18 days and if negative I go see them to do a blood test. If all is negative we start over again.

Next Phase....

Onto the next hurdle or stirup, whatever.....

So I had my appointment last week on 10-19 to go over the HSG results while AJ was there so we can all decide on a game plan. LOL
First of all I think our Dr. just came off of a all nighter at the hospital, he looked like he had not slept in 72 hours. He asked why we were there and I basically had to review with him. I guess he was confused since I they had another Dr. in the same office do the HSG because mine had a family emergency that day. (Dr. talk for a golf game he wasn't going to miss)
So back to the office talk, he said everything about my HSG went great, my tubes are no longer blocked and my uterus looks fantastic. So we scheduled another appt. for when I am on cycle day 3 for a blood test and another ultrasound. So I had my visitor visit me and I had my Dr. appt. yesterday to do the blood work and the "FUN FILLED" ultrasound. Let me tell you when you are on day three and you have an internal sonogram, not so much fun. :)
He basically went over what I already knew, I have major PCOS on both ovaries but supposedly this fertility meds they are putting me on has a greater success rate then Clomid. This medicine is called Femara and is actually used on women who have breast cancer. They have found that it helps women with PCOS get better results and less side effects.
Dr. McNichol also is having me take 4000 mcg of Folic Acid due to the fact that Spina Bifida runs in the family and I am to take it one month before and three months into the pregnancy as well.
Day 9-15 I do an ovulation kit tester to see if I have an LH surge, if I do I use these (umm how do I out this politely) inserts of Progesterone (and no I do not swallow them they go in another area) 3 days after the surge. On day 12 I go back to the Dr. for another ultrasound to see if a folical burst or did not, if there is one that has not they will help it along with another drug and 2 shots I have to do myself and only do them at night. Then I go back on day 20 for another blood test to see if it all worked. If not we do this two more months, then onto the next thing which involves a lot of shots, more ultrasounds and more drugs.

The good news is that the blood tests they did in the clinic came back all normal. The ones they set out to a lab have not come back yet, they said one week.

HSG over with, onto the next hurdle. :)

I had my HSG yesterday and there was some blockage in both tubes. They were able to clear them both, so now I go back on the 19th to see what the next route is. I am not really sure what is next, other than drugs and shots like they had discussed earlier with me. The other good news is they thought my uterus was folded in half, which would have required surgery to fix, well it is standing like it should, nice and tall. LOL So now onto the next adventure. :)

No HSG for me please :)

Ok, so I went to get my HSG yesterday. More like tried to get it done. I was supposedly still in my "cycle" and the Dr. acted suprised. Because most normal women finish on day 5. You do the test between day 6-12, I was scheduled for day 7. Well, news flash Dr. I am coming to you because I am not normal. ;P So I wasted more of my lovely "vacation" time at yet another Dr. appt. I was told if he tried to do the HSG that is would push the flow upward and cause my mild Endometriosis to go to severe, it can also flush everything into my abdomen as well. Once you go to severe you can't go back. So back on birth control I go for another two months and then schedule my procedure for day 7 during the start of the new pack. I should have named this blog site "My life in Stirups" instead of Fuller Follies. Also another fun thing I wasn't told was that it may or may not cause Labor like pains, so it would be better if I had someone drive me just in case and to take (4) 200 mg Ibprophen before I go. So I had to basically reschedule it for 35 days out from now.

For those who aren't sure what an HSG is, it is also called a A hysterosalpingogram is an X-ray of the uterus and fallopian tubes which allows visualization of the inside of the uterus and tubes. The picture will reveal any abnormalities of the uterus as well as tubal problems such as blockage and dilation (hydrosalpinx). If the tubes are not blocked by scar tissue or adhesions, the dye will flow into the abdominal cavity. This is a good sign but it does not guarantee that the tubes will function normally. It does give a rough estimate of the quality of the tubal structure and the status of the tubal lining. Some cases where the tubes appear to be blocked where they join the uterus, may in fact be normal. Often blockage at this location may be due to spasm of the opening from the uterus into the tube or from accumulated debris and mucus blocking the opening. This can be managed by passing a very thin catheter into the fallopian tube either at the time of hysterosalpingogram or during a hysteroscopic procedure.

Sometime if there is a blockage, during the procedure, the dye can force the tube open again.

Back to the Drawing Board

Well on 8/24/09 we will start with a fertility endocronologist. My OB/GYN said she has taken me as far as she can take me without a specialist. So hopefully this will help, if not we might have a house in a few months and can start the home study for adoption. Well, that is all for now, long day at work and the bed looks to inviting. :)

I love doing wedding cakes. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to come up with an idea and follow through with it. I love this cake and I think it is one of my favorite ones I did so far. Thank you so much Becca for trusting me to go crazy and do whatever I wanted. I just hope you were truly happy with it and that it tasted great. :)

Quack, Quack

 

AJ’s sister Tammy just had her baby shower this past weekend.  It was a wonderful party and she had a lot of people there.  Now granted this is not the best cake I have ever done, but it had to travel from Longwood to Avalon Park.  I swear his tail wagged all the way there and it made me so nervous.  The 3-D cakes are a little more nerve racking then anything else.  I am finding the more I do these, the more I am learning. 

Weddings, weddings, weddings....

Well, Saturday my friend Stella got married. It was a beautiful event and everyone had a great time.

She looked gorgeous and it was hard to not show emotions and keep it together.

After all how often do I wear make-up and do my hair. (smile)

Well the cake turned out ok, I would have loved to added more flowers but with time and other issues, well anyways.

This is the groom's cake, he loves NASCAR. Don't be too impressed, these were frosting sheets on a race car shaped pan cake. I did not have to do anything but bake, ice, peel and stick the sheets on. HUGE timesaver.

Mom and Dad came out to support their "other daughter", they had a great time and loved being there.

Brenda and Marvin were able to make it just for the weekend, it was wonderful to have them there for extra support. Plus, they helped me cut the cake. :)

Shelby (junior bridesmaid in pink), Trisha (bridesmaid in the middle), Me on the far right.

Bridal Shower

Ok so here are the pics from the shower I did a couple of weeks ago. I did a candy bar with a bling bling cake.

This was one of the cakes, not my best work since I was kind of rushed. I still like the diamonds on the top of it though.

The smaller cake had the larger pink diamond on it.

This was the candy bar (pink and green of course).

The label on the silver jar is what we used for candy labels.

LEEP Procedure

Well it is done and I feel blessed. I won't find out anything until the 23rd of this February. As I was wheeled into the procedure room they gave me a sedative so I was a little loopy. My eyes were playing tricks on me or so I thought. When I looked to my left I saw a guy standing there that looked so familiar but since I could not get my eyes to adjust and I was going into la la land..... Anyways, after the procedure was done and I was waking up I saw that same guy walking towards me. I was finally getting my focus back and I realized it was Jared Day (Angel's husband). I felt much better knowing that someone I knew was helping with the procedure and felt very blessed to have him in the room. Maybe that is why I have had no pain since yesterday, a little sore but no major pains. Thank you so much Jared for coming to say Hi after the procedure so I could see who it was and that it wasn't the drugs. Sorry I did not recognize you at first with the sedative goggles on. After this procedure hopefully we will be given the ok in May to start trying again. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers around that time. Love to all!!!

Girls who like cars.....

Ok, so I love cars, blame it on my Dad. My favorite car has always been a Mustang, a truly American car. When the car purrs to life I love it! I have a few favorites throughout the years..

The 64 Hard top

The 66 Fastback

The 69 Boss

The 84 SVO

The 89 5.0 LX (my Dad use to own one of these in a convertible, wish he still had it)

The 2007 Shelby GT500 (beautiful design but for a Shelby it should have more power)

The last car is a concept car that they are trying to release and if they do it is mine. No AJ you can not have this one and I will figure out a way to install baby seats in the back. :) Here are the pictures and some of you may think it is stupid but in the right shade of blue or pink, hey I am still a girl.

I still have one more love for cars but it is a truck, I would love to own a 1948 Ford Truck (fire engine red of course) with the wood floor in the bed of the truck.

Update on Brenda.

Brenda went through the D&E very well. Mom had called to say she is doing well and resting. It is at times like these that I am so thankful for family. Sorry this is going to be a short post since I have bronchitis myself and the codeine is kicking in again and I am sleepy. I stayed home today to try to rest and recover before my LEEP procedure this Friday. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love,
Renee

Cakes, cakes and more cakes

These will all show the cakes I made first up until this past Christmas. Hopefully you will see the progress I have made since 2004. :) I won't bore you with all of them since I have so many but I think this will give everyone and idea. I have gotten a lot better especially with the flavor combinations. After all it is not what it looks like that matters, it is more the taste that does.

This was a cake we had to do for my first class, it was a stacking test and a buttercream icing roses test. I made a "Mad Hatter Garden Party" It was ummmm, interesting.

This was for St. Patrick's Day almost 3 years ago, it barely made it to the party, it was 2 feet high and shifted the whole ride there. When we cut into it, it fell apart.

This was Brenda's Birthday cake in 2005

These were my roses I made out of gumpaste during my second series of classes.

This was another test cake we had to do with scrolling on the sides.

AJ's dads Birthday cake 2 years ago

Ann McCullough's bridal shower cake, it was a Luau.

Then shortly after her Baby Shower cake, she had a carousel theme.



My Aunt Karen's birthday cake from 2 years ago, she loves pink roses.

This was an Easter Cake I did this past Easter. The flowers are all gumpaste.

This was for a Black and White Themed New Year's party we went to this year. I actually loved this cake, even though it was simple.






I just did this cake in November for a 50th Wedding Anniversary for friends of my Mom and Dad's. It took me three days 1-2 hours each night to hand make the flowers. The two cakes were put on different plates because the two tiered cake was a loaded carrot cake with walnuts, a toasted walnut cream cheese filling. The other was a butter cake with a strawberry cream filling. So just in case of allergies.

Ticker's and Updates on Biopsy results

As you can see we have a race. :) My sister Brenda and AJ's sister Tammy are both pregnant. I know Tammy will deliver first but it looks like race. The other ticker is my journey into weight loss. As you can see a lot is gone but I just got over the hump. I started on Novemeber 1, 2008 with this weight loss clinic and lost 30 in the first month. Yes that is a big 30! Trust me when I say it was NOT easy during the holidays and I did allow myself one bite of a cookie (very small), I let AJ pull a piece off and give it to me. The reason I started this whole eating right thing was in part of my fertility Doctor. After almost 7 years of trying for baby it has taken it's toll on my body. Between the drugs and procedures I look like I should have had 3 kids by now. Besides it really is not good to try to get pregnant when you are heavy anyways, to many risks especially with all the issues I have. Well, between 3 different doctors they have finally found all the problems. I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), Endometriosis and endometrial hyperplasia. So even when I was on the Clomid it would have never worked without trigger shots and other pills. My pap came back abnormal as well this month and they had to do a uterine biopsy. I went the other day to get the results and the cells are worse than they were two years ago. Part of this could have been prevented if I did not skip last years pap. Now they have to perform a LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure), basically a more invasive biopsy and scraping the abnormal cells, the samples go to Pathology. I do not have cancer but I am in the precancerous stage, it is a warning sign and some of it can be fixed and reversed. After that procedure two months later I have to go back to break up the scar tissue so we can try again. For the next two years I have to have a pap every 3-4 months depending on what the test results from the LEEP show. We can keep trying in those two years, hopefully I will have lost the rest of the weight by the end of April (I am shooting for a goal of my 35th birthday that month). Well that is enough depressing news for now. :) I am keeping a VERY positive attitude about all this. I do feel very blessed though since I never really get sick or hurt and if this is my only issue I can be thankful. If nothing comes about by the end of this year though we are going to start the paperwork for adoption. :) I will post pictures of the weight loss though soon, so keep an eye out. LOVE TO ALL!!!!!!

Once upon a blog....

Well even though AJ and I do not have much to post from our day to day life little things do happen along the way. :) This is basically a venting blog for me and a way to share my cake decorating success stories and total disasters. Also I can vent on the fun of infertility, trust me I won't go into to many gorey details. Other than that any little funny thing that comes along will probably be thrust into this blog of ours.