Thursday Five

Time for another Thursday Five.  Some weeks these are easier to list than others!  This week, a little tougher!  Here we go...Wanna play?

just post 5 things that have made you..

Happy

Giddy

Grateful

Joyful

Gleeful

or all of the above..

and then link up with the rest over at MannLand5

Mine are...

1.  I found the greatest nurse practicioner that listened to me and seems to have a genuine interest in helping me with my migraines!  That makes me super happy!

2.  I was worried about my review at work for no reason...it ended up going great!

3.  I am having my first ever garage sale this Saturday.  I was dreading it, but now I am kinda excited about it.  I guess I am excited at the prospect of making $$ - nothing wrong with that!!

4.  This week it was super windy, but warm.  Rather than complain about all the wind, I enjoyed it.  Thanks to the wind we were greeted with the sweet smell of lilac bushes every time we opened the door at the office!

5.  We are starting our sprinklers this weekend...that means its summer!  Around here you have to wait till Mothers Day weekend to plant things.  Well I guess you don't have to, but every time I have planted early there has been a suprise snow storm right after I planted!  It didn't take long to learn my lesson!!

Happy Thursday!

Migraines suck.

(photo courtesy of elements4health.com)

If you have ever had a migraine, or known somebody that suffers from them, you would probably agree with the simple statement, migraines suck. 

I have suffered from migraines and headaches in general for nearly 14 years.  I started getting them when I was 20 and serving in the US Air Force.  In the beginning I went thru all kinds of testing.  I took different types of medicines to see what would work.  I felt like a guinea pig.  I was almost medically discharged due to the migraines and the fact that we could not find anything to help control them.  After all of that I decided to learn to live with them.  I guess you could say I had a sour taste when it came to neurologists and migraines! 

Four years ago I had a pretty bad one that happened to last for four days.  By that point I was worn out from the pain so I went in to my primary care doctor for a shot to relieve the pain.  She had me go in for an MRI that ended up coming back as "inconclusive".  I was referred to a neurologist with a four month wait and sent on my way.  There was never a discussion about testing out new drugs or anything.  I am sure if I kept the appointment with the specialist I would have ended up trying out some drugs or a plan.  Instead I cancelled my appointment.  It wasn't a priority, I didn't really want to mess with being a guinea pig again.  So I continued to live with them.

I have had a few really bad ones in the past couple of years, but nothing like the one I had on Monday.  Wow, that one was bad.  Seriously, that was pain I have never felt in my life. 

So, today I went back to my primary doctor to come up with a plan.  Things are different now.  I have an almost 3 yr old daughter that depends on me.  My appointment happened to be with a nurse practioner that is new to the practice.  She was awesome, we connected immedieatly.  Even better, her husband suffers from migraines...so she gets it.  She knows what its like to live with somebody that has migraines, she also knows first hand what her husband has tried along his journey.  She eased my mind so much.  We came up with a great plan.  For once, I have hope that we can figure out a way to control the migraines.  If nothing else, I might be able to find something I can take to reduce the pain.

Talk about a new lease on life!

You Know You're A Mom When-sDaze

Quite simply...you know you are a mom when, after 12 years of suffering, you realize its time to finally see a doctor about your migraines and see if you can't find some way to control them so that you are 100% for your child. 

Champps Mothers Day Deal

Last week Champps announced that they are doing the "Moms Eat Free for a Year Mother's Day Promotion" once again at participating locations.  Moms that dine at any participating Champps restaurant during Mother's Day weekend will receive a reloadable card good for a $15 off food purchases every month through April 2011. Moms will also be able to earn additional monthly rewards by registering their cards online.  Last year the card was only good thru December 2009...so they are giving us 4 extra months! 

Last year they also gave a free meal to mom's that dined there anytime on Mothers Day weekend.  I just called our local Champps and was told they are giving out the cards for sure, but the free meal is still up in the air.  Either way, its a great deal!  We loved getting our month free meal each month last year.  It gave us an excuse to go out to eat! 

Getting to Know You

Hooray...its May!  I am so ready for the warm, lazy days of summer!

For now, I'll settle for another round of Getting to Know You...

1. Are you superstitious?

No, not the least bit.  In fact, my favorite number is 13, and I absolutely love it when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday.  Something about it energizes me!  I was married on the 13th, and my original wedding ring (which has since been lost) had 13 (tiny) diamonds on it.  We didn't even plan that either...it just happened that way!  I really wanted to pick Friday the 13th for my induction date with my daughter but my doctor was going out of town that day so it ended up being the 12th instead. 

2. If you were an animal..what kind would you be?

I would like to be a dog...but not just any dog...I want to be Oprah's dog.  Those dogs have a good life, talk about pampered!  I remember watching an episode once when she said her dogs go to the hair dresser once a week to be pampered.  That was back when she had Sophie and Soloman...though I am sure the new puppies aren't any less spoiled!

3. You would never catch me wearing.........?

This may sound strange...but I wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of sweats.  When I say sweats I mean the old fashioned sweatpants with the elastic waist and the elastic bands around the ankles.  I have never (in my adult life) owned a pair and would not be caught dead in a pair...not even walking to the mailbox.  Now don't get me wrong, I love me some pajama pants and yoga pants though!

4. If someone posts a VLOG..do you watch it?

Most of the time!

5. Have you ever waxed your girlie/manly parts..or any other part of your body?

I have my eyebrows done occasionally...but thats it!

6. Are you a spender or a saver?

Both I guess.  I like to shop but only clearance items.  I love a good deal! 

7. If you were starring in a movie..who would you want to play your leading man/woman?

I don't know, I guess maybe Jennifer Aniston.  She has a rockin body, and she comes across as the sweet, girl next door type. 

8. Smoker..never smoked..social smoker..or smoked back in the day?

Never.  I tried it once, and coughed up a lung!  I have very weak lungs to begin with, and I end up with broncitis at least once a year.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have some type of asthma.  I certainly don't have lungs that can handle smoking.  Though, when I am sick and have that horrible lingering cough for weeks, people always think I am a smoker!

Well thats it...stop over at Keely's blog to join in the fun!

Saturday 9: Changes

1. Tell us about one thing that you'd change about yourself if you could.

Hands down it would be my weight...though I suppose I could do that, if I really wanted to put my mind to it.  I will one of these days!

2. Mattel decides to make a Barbie-like (or Ken-like) doll of you -- what would be the most important accessory or accessories they would absolutely have to package you with in order to portray your lifestyle?

Flip flops, jeans, sunglasses on top of my head and a camera around my neck!

3. Hey, do you like surprises? If yes, what kinds?

Sure, if they involve $, gifts or visits from friends!

4. What was the last snail mail that you received that was significant?

Well my daughter received a sticker club chain letter in the mail yesterday.  I suppose that doesn't count since it wasn't addressed to me!  Otherwise, I suppose Christmas cards.  Or the gift card/rebate I got yesterday from my new contacts!

5. If you could pick out a brand new nickname for yourself, what would you choose and why?

Okay, this one is hard.  I am not big into nicknames, never have been.  I don't particularly love the nickname that goes with my first name, and purposly picked a name for my daughter that was next to impossible to shorten for that reason!  Well heck, I don't know...I can't think of anything!

6. John Edward's mistress was on Oprah this past Thursday. She stated that no third person can break up a marriage, so it had to be broken before the two started doing the nasty. Do you buy that?

Yes, I do.  If he was fully committed and still in love with his wife, he would have never been open to the suggestions when Ms. Hunter showed up at his hotel that night.  Elizabeth may not agree, but she might not have realized yet that John's heart was no longer hers at that point. 

7. Do you think it is okay to keep secrets from your s/o?

It depends...big secrets are a no no for sure, but the odd ball little white lies are pretty harmless.  Of course now that I have said that, I can't think of a good example! 

8. Have you ever played Truth or Dare? If yes, what's the weirdest dare that you did?

I played it when I was young but I don't remember anything odd when we played it.  It was either too long ago, or not all that memorable!

9. What, in hindsight, the stupidest thing that you have ever done?

The stupidest thing....hummmm....another hard one!  Most things have worked out okay in the end so I guess they don't really rank as "stupidest".  Though the time I put the gallons of paint in my trunk after purchasing them at Lowe's without checking to make sure they were closed was pretty dumb...but it worked out okay.  Last weekend when I ran into a metal pole at the playground and broke my front tooth...that was pretty dumb too!

If you want to join in the fun, hop on over to Saturday 9.

National Infertility Awareness Week

This week (April 24 - May 1) is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW).  The goal of NIAW is to raise awareness about the disease of infertility which affects 7.3 million Americans.

In honor of NIAW, I have decided to share my story, so that I can provide hope to the millions of Americans currently on this journey. 

In May 2003, after nearly nine years of marriage, we decided it was finally time to start a family.  Back then we had no clue about infertility and the struggle it caused for so many couples.  I thought I would end up pregnant right away once I quit taking birth control pills.  Boy was I wrong!

The first three months my cycle was normal.  I don't think I had another "normal" cycle for years.  A few months later my doctor recommended I try out the ClearBlue Fertility Monitor to see if I was ovulating.  Once we established that I was not ovulating, she referred me to a specialist within the same practice.  I saw him for the first time in August 2004.  Since I had been a patient in the practice for so many years, he felt I was the problem and opted to not test my husband at all.  Big mistake.  We started Clomid right away, each cycle was more monitored than the next...it got me to ovulate but all the timing and monitoring caused so much stress on our marriage.  In January 2005 we decided to put the baby making on the back burner for a while. 

Eight months later, in August 2005, we decided to see the other fertility specialist in town, for a second opinion.  This time he tested my husband right away.  It turns out I wasn't the only issue in our fertility struggle!  Bingo, that helps to explain why we were trying so hard yet getting nowhere!  The bad news, we were told we had less than a 1% chance of concieving on our own.  The best option for us was IVF.  We were also given payment options and a penciled in date of September/October 2006 for our first IVF cycle. 

In November of 2005, we decided it was time to explore other options.  Since November is Adoption Awareness Month, we got to attend a local adoption seminar.  We met parents who had adopted, we talked with representatives from various adoption agencies etc.  By December we had signed up with a local adoption agency and started training to become certified to foster/adopt local children. 

Fast forward to April 2006...All our training was complete, paperwork was turned in.  We were waiting for our homestudy.  I went to the doctor on April 7th for my physical to clear me to adopt.  It was at that appointment that I found out I was pregnant for the first time!  Imagine my surprise considering we "couldn't" get pregnant on our own! 

April 15, 2006 I had my first miscarriage, I was 7 weeks pregnant.  We were crushed.  We went thru so many emotions that week.  We were not sure what our next step would be, so we put the adoption certification on hold.  We felt it was best to ride out the summer with no decisions.  We told the agency we would be in touch in October to decided if we wanted to go ahead with the certification.

On October 31, 2006 I found out I was pregnant again!  Of course you can imagine how scared we were.  First off we had less than a 1% chance of getting pregnant on or own...and here we were pregnant for the second time!  Not to mention how scared I was of having another miscarriage.  The ironic thing, we got pregnant the same cycle that we originally had planned to do IVF!  Amazing how things work out!

Our beautiful daughter was born July 12, 2007...her middle name is Hope. 

We found out we were expecting again in August 2009.  This time it was a complete surprise.  Sadly we had another miscarriage a few weeks later.  We have since made the tough decision to get off the infertility rollercoaster.