Burp Cloths

My mom helped me make some burp cloths this last weekend. We used papertowels to make a pattern, used 2 pieces of fabric and put batting in the middle. They are SUPER ABSORBENT and perfect size! We sewed them inside out first but left a hole in the seam where I could turn it right side out, then sewed around the edge again so it has a really strong hem/seam. I am so lucky to have such a crafty and talented mom. I am also lucky she is the sewing QUEEN and has TONS of fabric so I didn't even have to buy fabric. THANKS MOM! YOU ARE THE BEST!

To Make Up for the Long Post Below

Alright, my previous post is our journey through infertility. I currently know SEVERAL couples just in the beginning stages of this struggle so I felt I needed to share our story. But then I felt bad for the long post of things many of you already know....LOL!
So here is just a short and sweet something for all you others:
I am so grateful for the sunshine we have had the last few days.
I am wishing I could already break out the chacos and along with that, have painted my toes HOT PINK already!
Mike did AWESOME this week. As many of you know, last year he lost 30 unwanted pounds. Well, with some slacking on his part, he had gained back 6-7 of those pounds. He still wanted to lose 20 pounds anyways. So he has been working out really well but has not lost any weight. This last week he decided he needed to pull out some extra stops in order to jump start some weight loss. He rides the exercise bike at level 8-10 for 45 minutes a day, does some wii boxing, and this week for a jump start, was okd by the doc to go down to 1100 cals a day. (This will increase starting on Thursday to 1400.) So this week (since Wednesday) he has dropped 2 pounds after not being able to lose for 3 months. I am so proud of him. It has been really hard for him since I am eating a lot more calories then him (due to the pregnancy) but he has done well.
As far as my weight. I am even with my pre-preggo weight at this time. I lost 10 pounds at the beginning and have gained back 5 as of my last appointment. However, of the 10 I lost, I had gained 5 during the middle of that month from the overstimulation so I feel like I am even. The doctor still shows me as down 5 pounds though. I have my glucose test on Friday and am a little nervous.
That is about it for us. Everything is going really well. We both are feeling good and healthy. Nothing too exciting.

Our Fertility Story

Many of you know this story already but I have friends and people who I have met who are currently going through a struggle Mike and I went through for nearly 8 years. I felt that it was important to share our story again with them.

Mike and I were married October 13, 2001. From the beginning we decided we were not going to "prevent" pregnancy. While not activly trying to conceive, we felt that we were not supposed to prevent it from happening. We are very glad we followed this feeling/prompting now as it helped us realize there was a problem much sooner.
About February, I was late! WOW! Already pregnant? I couldn't believe it. I took an hpt and it came out negative. I waited another week and took another. Still negative. I had just had a friend with a hormone condition that, for lack of really knowing a lot about it, made her get FALSE NEGATIVES. (Extremely RARE) So just in case, I went to the doctor to make sure I was not pregnant. I was a little tired and had put on 5 pounds and still no AF. (Aunt Flow). The doctor confirmed I was not pregnant and then said I was probably just stressed. I was a newly wed in a new job and Mike was working as a framer so had not worked much because of it being winter. So this all made sense. Well, that year, AF only came once! And, even though I worked out like crazy and ate healthier, I gained 80 pounds in a year! Something was very wrong with my body.
I went to another doctor and she said I possibly had PCOS. PCOS (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome) in a nutshell is a hormone problem. Your hormones are out of whack. You may not ovulate like you are supposed to. Most women the first sign of PCOS is that you stop having periods. The other signs include hair growth, weight gain even with diet and exercise, fatigue, acne for some, and what look like mini "cysts" in your ovaries. Well, I had all these except acne. Also, women with PCOS usually have or develope insulin resistance. Many assume this is diabetes. It is not. (Although it can develope into it). IR is where your body doesn't react well to insulin, but rather then being diabetic where your blood sugar goes up, your body makes more and more insulin. At the time I was told I probably had PCOS they did not yet know the link to IR.
I was referred to my family doctor as the gyno I had seen believe my fam doctor could help with the PCOS and also maybe help me find a way to lose the weight. While PCOS causes weight gain, and makes it HARD to lose weight, one of the best combats for it is to LOSE the weight! (GO FIGURE!) Since PCOS was still really new back at the beginning of 2002 (especially in lil ole Idaho) my fam doctor didn't believe I had it because it had shown up so dramatically and so quickly. She did want me to diet and exercise.
A year later, after only a 2 pound weight loss while exercising close to 2 hours a day, I returned to my family doctor to talk about IR. My older sister had just found out she had IR and was put on Metformin to help it. My family doctor had learned a lot about PCOS and IR both during that year. She agreed I had PCOS and IR. She did prescribe metformin, which, while I did not lose weight STOPPED the weight gain. WOOHOO!
So for a year I focused on me. I lost 15 pounds. Even witht the metformin though there was still no improvement in ovulation. Even though, I was still heavy, I felt it was time for us to really think about starting a family. I started researching the effects of getting pregnant with PCOS while overweight. I looked at my family (who is mostly heavy) and what kind of pregnancies they had experienced.
(I want to take a moment to correct a myth. Being overweight, or Plus-size, DOES NOT mean you will not have a healthy pregnancy. You are at a SLIGHTLY higher risk for gestational diabetes or high blood pressure (only 1% higher then "fit" women), but that is basically it. If you take care of your self you will have a healthy pregnancy. ALSO- through my research I found that it is often better, if you are at least maintaining a steady weight, to get pregnant before losing weight. WHY? Because when you diet to lose weight you are limiting a lot of foods that you in take and working out pretty hard. Those foods you limit, usually are needed during pregnancy. So when you become pregnant, after losing 50 pounds, you now can not limit like that, must increase your calories, and your workouts must decrease often. You often GAIN more then you lost and ended up being heavier in the end. HOWEVER- if you are EXTREMELY OBESE, weight loss may benefit you before pregnancy. BASICALLY- do not feel that weight means a high risk pregnancy, but talk to your OB about your personal situation.)

So, after doing my research, I knew through some strong promptings that we were going to need more than an ob who knew a little about PCOS and would just prescribe us Clomid. We went to ICRM- Idaho Center for Reproductive Medicine. These doctors and nurses are WONDERFUL! After some testing, we were told Mike did have a few problems but nothing big or major. Of course we knew about my PCOS. We also learned of other issues I had but they are too hard to explain, and really, they were more a problem of which drugs I could use to correct my PCOS, and wouldn't have effected me if I ovulated normally on my own.
We did around 3-4 cycles of Clomid and trying at home. I was monitored to see when I was ready to ovulate. Even when my body grew eggs, I did not ovulate on my own so I would have to take an injection of hcg to ovulate. None of these cycles were succesful. Partially because I could not use clomid.
We then went to FSH injections. This helped my eggs grow as well but did a better job. It also helped my lining thicken properly which was a problem I had with Clomid. I still would take the hcg injection to ovulate. A few cycles like this and still nothing.
By this time we needed a break, both emotionally, financially, and my body did physically. So we took a few months off. We started praying about adoption at this point. We knew either road would be long, hard, and expensive, but we were guided to continue trying.
We came back from our break and began another cycle. We still used FSH injections and a trigger shot but now we did IUI. IUI is where the sperm is "washed" (meaning, all the lazy ones and ones that wouldn't make babies taken out) and then they use a catheter to put the sperm directly in the uterus. Getting it closer means a better chance of it doing its job.
We ended up doing too many cycles of IUI for me to count. Every 5 or 6 months we would take a month or so off. Rethink the situation, pray, etc. As far as praying, the answer was always the same when we would visit adoption. NOT AT THIS TIME. KEEP GOING.
After about 4 years of going to ICRM we prayed and realized we had to take another step. It was a hard decision. The money we would pay for this step was almost enough for 1/3 of an adoption. We prayed long and hard about this decision. The one thing I tell everyone who is going through this is to always pray, read your scriptures, speak to your Bishop and follow whatever answer you receive. Our answer was to do IVF. IVF is in vitro fertilization. This is the "big one" where they take the eggs out of you after growing TONS, mix it with the sperm, grow embryos and put embryos back in you. Most people hear this and think Octo-mom. But that is very rare, and her doctor put a lot of embryos in her. We did the process, had 2 embryos placed, and the others were frozen for future tries. (This would save us TONS of money if we had to try again). We were able to conceive in May of 2008. However, we found out the beginning of June that we were miscarrying. It was really hard for us to go through as this was right when we were preparing to be Sealed in the Temple for time and eternity, but I was able to be comforted.
We did FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) with the embryos we froze that were able to survive the thaw but got a negative on the test. This was in October 2008.
Mike and I again, took a long time off. In June 2009 we revisited the issue. We were ready. It was time, we knew it. We prayed again about adoption. By now, others were pressuring us to adopt and to start the process as it can take a while. However, the answer was still the same, that adoption was not right for us. I finally prayed that I could not take this trial anymore, but that I would try one more time if that is what He wanted me to do. In August, 2009, we went for what was to be our last shot. We were only going to do IUI (the simpler one) and we would use left over FSH shots from the IVF cycle. I was not hopefuly about this cycle. I figured it wouldn't work, and that we would either be adopting or trying to receive the IVF Grant that is awarded to 3 couples a year in the US.
This cycle was hard for me. I was taking TONS of shots and my eggs were not growing. It was Day 14 of my cycle and they were still not near big enough. Usually day 14 is where you would want to be ready. I started looking at cancelling the cycle. I went in on Day 15 to find overnight many of my eggs had grown and I had 4 nearly ready, and 8 that were bigger, but probably wouldn't be ready. The RE and I decided I would return the next day to double check them. (The RN had wanted to wait 2 days). When I went in the next day I had 7 eggs READY and 10-14 that were close enough they could go. Rather than cancel the cycle, my RE made me trigger IMMEDIATELY (usually you time it to exactly 36 hrs prior to the IUI) and then they would fit me in 24 hours later for the IUI.
I went in for the IUI and for the first time in over 5 years, was asked to sign saying I understood I was at HIGH RISK for HIGH ORDER MULTIPLES (triplets or more). At this point, while I was a little more hopefuly for the cycle, I was sure at most we would get twins. I signed, we did the IUI and now I had to wait 2 weeks for the test.
I was not feeling pregnant. I cramped a lot. I felt like I did before AF or how I felt when I had miscarried. I also suffered from Over Stimulated Ovaries. Although, not bad enough to put me in the hospital, I had a day or 2 that I could not move from the couch/bed from the pain.
I was not hopeful. So, I in order to see if the HCG shot was out of my system, and hopefully still see a + result, took an hpt (my RE does blood tests so this was not needed) 5 days before I would have my blood test. It was negative. Since this was an early detection test, I lost all hope.
However, I still had a test the day before my blood test. It haunted me from under the sink. I gave in and took it. POSITIVE. I still didn't get my hopes up knowing that the hcg shot could still be in my system, and also knowing that these tests are very sensitive and I may have low levels and end up miscarrying if I was pregnant.
The next day I took a blood test and was told the great news. I was pregnant and my levels were GREAT!
I still had a lot of cramping and was worried about miscarriage so we did not share the news until after we had seen the baby a few times.
Since this has been such a long post, let me just say that we felt so blessed. We have always been very open about our fertility issues. It has helped me make TONS of friends. While we would never wish this on anyone, we would never ask for our journey to be changed.
For those who are going through this, please read the story in Alma 26. Specifically Alma 26:27. One night while my cheeks were covered in tears as I prayed to Heavenly Father, I was guided to read a scripture I had just read a few nights ago. It was the answer I needed at that time.
I am always here for those who have questions or need support. As is Mike.

Have I Done Any Good?

As I have mentioned before, Mike and I don't get out to the movies much. Mostly because we would prefer to wait until they are much cheaper to see them via Redbox or the Cheapseats. However, for Valentines Day we decided to go out and use some movie passes I had gotten Mike for Christmas. We decided to go see "The Blind Side" at the local theater.
If you have not seen this movie- you need to. The difference that we can each make in someone's life is AMAZING! What we may not realize is the difference they can make in ours. This movie shows the true meaning of Christ Like Love for our neighbors. After seeing that movie I am constantly wondering what I can do to help my neighbors.
For those who don't know, this is based on the real life story of pro-football player Michael Oher (Spelling?). I definitely think it is one of the best, most heart-warming stories I have seen in a long time. I can't wait until it comes out on video so we can watch it again as part of a Family Home Evening.
I am so glad we went and saw this movie in theater!

A Day Late But Here We Are

I think it is the angle of the camera but I look a lot bigger in this picture then I do in person. People at work agree with me.

Wednesday I hit the 28 week mark. So no matter what book, ob, or website you go by, I am OFFICIALLY in the 3rd Trimester! YAY! It still feels so unreal to me at times! I have so much to do in the next 10-12 weeks! I have not even really started getting things ready.

Speed Bake Option?

Let me first explain that while we lived in my parents home (while they served a mission), their oven had a little switch on it that you could hit and "speed bake" whatever you were making. I personally never used the option more than once or twice but Mike remembers this option being on the oven.

This week, Mike and I were sitting on the couch relaxing. Out of the blue this conversation happens (started by Mike)-

Mike- "Is the baby done yet?"

Me- "No. Not yet."

Mike- "Is there a speed bake switch or can you turn that oven up so he will be done sooner?"

Me- Laughing "Sorry hunny. Only 3 more months give or take a week or two"

Mike- "He is taking FOREVER!"

This made me laugh so hard! I had to share it with people on facebook. Mike sees that I have shared it as my status. (I only share the first 3 lines of the conversation.) He then decides I need to pay him ROYALTIES for sharing his quote! He tried to charge me $5.00! I told him we are married so his quotes are my quotes. Now every time he says something funny he says I can repeat it for a quarter. WHAT A GOOBER!

Mike is very excited, and impatient, for this baby to arrive. It is so WONDERFUL to see him get so excited. He still is ANXIOUS to feel the baby kick! I have many friends whose husbands by this time are no longer interested. Not mine! If I make a noise (like ooh or ouch) while laying in bed he immediately asks "Is he kicking?" and doesn't even give me a moment to reply before putting his hand on my stomach. I am so grateful for my husband. He is going to be such a GREAT dad! He is one of those guys that is just meant to be a dad. I can't wait to see him with the baby! He already says that when he is home visitors that are coming in May (Terrie and Sarah) will only get to hold the baby when he needs to use the restroom or shower, etc. We shall see how long that lasts!

So I had to share the speed bake story. It really put a smile on my face and still makes me laugh and also be grateful I have a husband who cares as much about family as I do (if not more).

5 Things To Be Happy About in February

Sorry so late! I kept wanting to do this in January for some reason. When February came around I got busy and really, just forgot about it. Most of you probably did not even notice or care, but it puts me looking at things in a positive light for the month so I NEED it. Here we go:

1) Love between family and friends! We love you all!

2) Warmer weather- at least here!

3) Entering the 3rd trimester!!!!!

4) All things sweet- Candy, Flowers and my AMAZING husband

5) Lower heating bills

Happy Valentine's Day!

May your world be filled with LOVE today and every other day! We love all of you! Remember, Valentine's Day isn't just about the one you are married to, but about all those who hold a special place in your heart. May you see all the love that is in this world!

Why Mike Doesn't Control The Camera

This is why Mike doesn't control the camera....

He never lets you take a decent picture. He likes to get you talking or just with a DUH look on your face and then snap it. Like the one I have here. I hope he can change (at least a little) before our little man comes otherwise I will NEVER be in a picture with my child....LOL

My Sweet Husband!

My husband is so sweet! This is what I came home to today!

Yes, this is partially for Valentine's Day, but we had agreed that we didn't need to try and be romantic. He knows I LOVE white roses and so he brought me this. I also found that there was candy in the "candy" drawer for me (I did ask him if he was trying to make me gain more weight then I need to this pregnancy...LOL). And all I got him was a shirt he wanted.....YIKES! I did get him a sweet card and a date night. We are heading out tonight to see The Blind Side (finally! We are slow) and maybe get some dessert after at Chilis. With my new thrifty attitude, he doesn't get to talk me into going out much. (I will be honest too, we actually have gift cards to both the movies and Chilis) but I figure, any guy this sweet deserves a night out with his wife before they have a baby to take along.

TREASURES!

Today I worked on scanning some of my wedding photos into the computer and even edited a few of them. I found some new treasures that I can not WAIT to get printed. This is my current favorite.

Mike, hamming it up and making us girls laugh! WOW! We all look so YOUNG and SKINNY!

Just an Update

Just a little update on the Robins Family.....

Friday afternoon Mike headed up to camp in the snow at Klondike. This is a boy scout event where the boys normally sleep in snow caves, compete in different events, etc. Well, the snowcaves were out as the snow was plenty but not the best snow for making snow caves. I will be honest I was in TOTAL SHOCK when my husband came home from a YM Presidency meeting saying he had volunteered to go up. He really strongly dislikes the snow! However, he had a GREAT TIME! He and the YM President headed up there Friday afternoon with a few of the young men from our ward who were working as staff up there. Mike enjoyed helping with the events and seeing all the boys that came up compete. He thought the young cub scouts (who only came up Saturday during the day) were so cute trying to do all the events. He got home Saturday smelling like a soaked, sweaty MAN (as he would say). As soon as he got home and showered, I gave him a haircut. He has needed it for about a month but BEGGED I wait until after Klondike so his head would be warm.

I have a severely pinched nerve in my back. FUN STUFF! It has been not too bad until last week when I twisted the wrong way and it got pinched even more or the muscles around it tensed up or something. I have been using a home-made heat pack (THANKS MOM- 3 years later and I still use it!) on it for the pain. It is starting to get better. This weekend I spent most of the time Mike was gone with it on my back because even though the nerve was getting better, the rest of my back was now sore from a week of barely being able to move. After reading about a gal in the area (who runs a save money blog) who pinched a nerve in her back this weekend and started having contractions, I promised myself that if it is still bothering me by my next appointment, I will talk to the OB about ways to treat it other then heat.

While Mike was gone and I was feeling a little better, I got out the pac n play we purchased and put it together. We went with a "mini" travel pac n play. It is really cute and is actually the size of a real bassinet. I figured it was one less thing Mike would have to put together.

Mike is doing well in school. He now likes both his teachers. His math teacher was originally a new teacher who, while nice, was not as experienced and so Mike struggled with having her. However, she received a job out of state and so he has a new math teacher which he likes. He really likes his economics teacher and says that economics is a lot more fun with a teacher who has a sense of humor about it. He has already felt the need to warn both his teachers that his wife happens to be due finals week. Both have been very understanding that he may be missing right towards the end if I can't get this little man to stay in until after his last test.

We are planning our EXCITING trip for this year. NAUVOO! Since last year we studied the D&C and Church History (I loved teaching those lessons in Primary) and this and last year was Teachings of Joseph Smith, I figured this was the perfect time to go to Nauvoo. The trip was in the works before we found out Little Man was on the way but we still plan on going! He will be young enough to sleep most the time in the car. Probably just enough to be wide awake every night...LOL! Mike has never been to Nauvoo. I thought this was an important trip for him to take. I remember when my family went and drove clear to New York. We went to Palmyra and then followed the route of the Church. I remember specifically going to Carthage. The Spirit was so strong there. Even though I was not even 12 years old yet, I remember how strong it was. I gained a strong testimony that day of the Prophet Joseph Smith that I have never doubted. I want Mike to be able to have that same experience.

We have also debated a few small trips this year. They may get put on the back burner but we are not sure. We love to travel and have missed it since we have not gone anywhere since Labor Day Weekend. We hope to make it out of town either the end of this month or a weekend in March.

We hope all is well with all of you! We promise that once it warms up some we will start being out doors more and getting some new pics up. Right now we have mostly been working and staying home.

I Have No Life

I realized tonight, I have no life! Mike is up at Klondike (the event where the YM go and sleep in snow caves) tonight. He and the YM president drove a few of our young men up who are working as staff. They get to just hang out up there. Not where I would choose to hang out but to each his own....
So what do you do when your husband is gone for a night? Girls night...well, most of my friends either live out of town OR have jobs that keep them busy on weekend nights (working at a theater and a sports arena). So that is out.
So here I am, sitting on the couch with a heat pack on my back (I have a nerve that has been pinched the last few weeks and then I moved wrong a few days ago and so it is REALLY painful right now). Just watching some TV and playing around on the computer. I should clean the kitchen and start the laundry so that tomorrow I can work on the baby's room. Will I? Probably not.
I really thought I had a life but my family is my life...I miss my hubby! I hope he is keeping plenty warm and having a good time. I will be so happy when he is home tomorrow!

It's going to be a long week!

It is only TUESDAY! I already feel like it should be Friday! This week is going to be a long one. Add to that the fact that this is the week I do not get Wednesday off! UGH!
While I am SO GRATEFUL to have a job right now, it is REALLY SLOW! My days just seem to DRAG! Also, I only have 13 WEEKS (at most) until my LAST DAY! So, I am training the others to do all my stuff, taking away more of my work! Boy, it will be a LONG week!