My Fertility Journey

October 14th: 1st Appointment with Doctor Thyer, ultra sound, blood draw, polyp?

October 15th: 1st injection of Lupron 10 units

October 16th: Lupron 10 units

October 17th: Lupron 10 units, ultra sound, blood draw

October 18th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 19th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 20th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units, ultra sound, blood draw

October 21st: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 22nd: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units, ultra sound, blood draw

October 23rd: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 24th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units, ultra sound, blood draw, discovered 2 large polyps, and advise to wait on the transfer till after polyps are removed

October 25th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 26th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units,ultra sound, blood draw, 

October 27th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units

October 28th: Lupron 5 units, Menopur 1cc, Gonal-F 250 units, ultra sound, blood draw

October 29th: Injection of HGC shot

October 30th: Pregnancy test, faint positive, doctors office to double check

October 31st: Egg retrieval, 8 from each side, 16 total, ranked on a scale, "GOOD, FAIR, POOR"

November 1st: 10 natural fertilization, semen analysis rated super, count of 86 million with 90% mobility

November 2nd: 9 eggs rated good, one rated fair quality

November 3rd: all eggs rated good quality

November 4th: some eggs good some fair

November 5th: 1 blastocyst & frozen, rated "fair"quality, the other eggs develop poorly, bad morphology 

November 6th: all remaining 9 arrest, this Friday is when I got the crushing news

     I wanted to update the family with everything I have been experiencing lately and let you know where we are in our fertility process.  It has been a lot more grueling than I would have ever imagined....we have had some bright spots (I loved everyones reaction to my anesthesia video!)  But last week was especially challenging for me personally.  

     I know we all have challenges that we go through in life. But these past months might go down as some of the most challenging for me. There is one thing that I have always wanted, to be a Mother.  There is nothing I treasure more in my life than the experience I had growing up in a large family with 4 amazing brothers and 2 fabulous sisters! I love being part of a huge, hilarious family and have wanted that for myself for the past 6 years.  

     This past Friday was especially difficult for me.  I spent the whole day Friday crying because despite painful weeks of shots and fertility drugs, emotional highs and lows, countless doctors appointments, blood draws and ultra sounds, and after constant positive feedback from doctors and nurses, I could have never expected the phone call I got on Friday November 6th.  I am beginning to understand that the hard part is yet to come.

    

      The doctor discovered polyps in my uterus a few weeks ago, which were much more prominent after my lining shed, and since I had already begun my very expensive fertility drugs it limited my options.  So the doctor advised me to have the polyps removed before they transferred any embryos. It would make the transfer success rate much higher but, this would be an added surgery and an added medical bill and since we needed to operate first, my eggs would have to be frozen, which was again an added expense....sigh. So as you probably know, (due to a hilarious hoverboard video on Facebook) I had my egg retrieval on Halloween. Everything went great. They were able to retrieve 8 from each side! 16 total! I was thinking these were great numbers. The doctors proceeded to call me everyday with great updates. The first day, 10 fertilized, which I was very happy with and each day after that we got good reports about their progress. On day three, all 10 had made it to 8 cells, but one was progressing a little faster and made it to a blastocyst and was the first to be frozen. Then day 6, I was told that the 9 others had died! What?!? I was crushed. This was very devastating to me.  I had already made plans for these 9 little eggs, and lets be honest I was practically naming them! How did this happen? It was so frustrating.  I now have no eggs frozen for any future cycles and when we get ready for our transfer in January, we will have just the one egg. Which scares me to death.  Ugg! Sniff sniff. 

     I have no idea what's going to happen and for someone who thought this whole time I have such good odds....seems less and less probable now. I know I just need to have faith and Thomy says that this little embryo is a fighter, but we will see if it survives the thaw. He is truly my rock.  He is the person I thank God for everyday.  He is never wavering. As I say in my video,"I Love You."  So many obstacles I could never have foreseen when I started this process. I thought it was a clearcut simple procedure. 

     I couldn't sleep Friday night... my mind was reeling and I felt so blindsided and so ignorant to the process.  Why did I have no clue this could happen?  I started devouring information, trying to get answers... so I ended up searching online. "How many embryos make it to transfer?" "Whats a average number for a person my age and my situation..ect?" I ended up finding a forum of women who were posting their numbers....# of retrieval, # fertilized, # make it to day 3 and # that make it to blastocyst for transfer. There were 25 pages, so many women, just like me, and I stayed up all night reading every one of them. It gave me a lot of hope and comfort because apparently I am not alone, some a little better and some a little worse and everything in the middle. I'm trying not to stress, but I have always been a worrier.  I worry about money, I worry about my age, and now combine that with rapidly altered mood swings and the one thing I have been pining after for 6 years! I can almost here my mothers voice in my head..."You need to stop it Elizabeth!! Have you been taking your vitamins?'' I know, I know I need to just relax, and put it in Gods hands.

     Oh man. Highs and lows....anyways, I did not mean to write such a long story. I just went off, but It feels good to put my thoughts down on virtual paper and organize my feelings.  It makes me feel more normal, but mostly I hope it will reach someone who is feeling the same way out there. I know there is hope and I know that everything I experience is for a reason.  Heavenly Father is teaching me everyday and helping me to grow.  This has definitely brought me closer to him and he has given me peace everyday as I pray for it. I should be scheduling my surgery this week. I'll let you know when that is.  And Yes, I will be going under anesthesia again. So more hilarity to ensue!!

Girl wants Hoverboard, Hilarious Reaction to Anesthesia!!

Anesthesia

So a lot of people are asking about this video...

Well Thomy and I have been going through a lot of changes this year. We were in LA and we were anticipating a big move to the East Coast for school.  So in May we were packing and prepping and getting all registered to start a new semester at George Mason University in Virginia.  However, the Lord had other plans for us.  A company named Adobe reached out to Thomy for a position involving Cyber Security which was exactly what he was interested in Studying.  That got Thomy curious about other opportunities that might exist out in that industry that would allow him to learn and grow and get a paycheck.  So Thomy did what he does best and got busy online, researching, connecting and with a focused perception of his desires, priorities, skills and aptitudes found a opportunity that couldn't be more perfect for him......On the West Coast.

Seattle, to be more specific.  It was an amazing company, F5, close to family, in the industry that he was planning study about anyhow and to top it off, they needed a French speaker!! It was amazing how quickly our course was altered.  After two weeks of interviews I had to quickly call our moving truck and "alter" our destination.  Everything was falling into place so seamlessly that it seemed as though we were being led by a higher power.  Our dreams of stability and growth were becoming more real.  This would be our 8th move in 6 years and to be honest I was ready to settle down a little. 

Don't get me wrong, I still have crazy wunderlust, but I needed a place to start growing a family.  A good environment with lots of good opportunities.  Which is why after 6 years of marriage we were finally ready to start having kids.  We have been trying for a while, but thing just weren't happening.  So I went to see a fabulous doctor, Dr. Angela Thyer at Seattle Reproductive Medicine to tell her my plans.  We went over the treatment procedures, which I will go into more detail later, for those who are curious, but needless to say on Saturday October 31st 2015, yes, I know Halloween, I had my egg retrieval that went very well, but left me a little out of it throughout the day:)

Moral of the Story, If you watch Back To The Future the night before Surgery you might have some adverse effects.

Celebratory Cookie Fest!

February 1st

Hi! So as most of you know I have made a goal to "transform" myself through fitness, fashion and nutrition.  I kinda neglected the first two things this month, hence the goal, but I have made some significant changes in my diet and it has already made a huge difference in my energy levels.  In just one month, I have gotten younger and more energetic.  Gratefully I have a mom who is a nutritionist so I can acurately measure my efforts. 

With the Omron scale we measured my body composition:

                     January                      February                March                     April    

Weight           134.6                          132.4            

BMI                 20.5                           20

Body Fat          31.6                           28

Muscle             27                              29.4

Kcal               1365                           1357

Visceral Fat        4                                3

Body Age         20                              18

The Omron scale is great for measuring the muscle and fat but what about the nutrition?

How do I know if I am getting the vitamins and nutrients I need to keep this body functioning optimally?
 Enter: the Bio Photonic Scanner!

its awesome. It measures how well you are absorbing the antioxidants and vitamins in the healthy foods you are eating and supplements you are taking.  10,000 or less, you are probably about to die from heart disease or you could get up to 75,000, which means you are a garden living green goddess. 

Well here are the Results so far from my Scans:

                      January                February

                     46,000 (green)     54,000 BLUE!!

GO Blue! Go Blue! its your Birthday!

Sexy Weave Wednesday

The Secret Gem of The South Bay

Hello All! Another crazy week of January has flown by.  I have been doing a lot of thinking about what this year may have in store for me. One my goals was to take care of one of my best assets, and unfortunately I take it for granted all too often. My HAIR! So I headed down to one of my Favorite Salons, its a hidden Gem of South Bay, La Dolce Vita in Manhattan Beach. Matilda, who is the best and most talented hair stylists I have ever known worked for hours to tame this mane!  Her prices are unbeatable and her skill is unrivaled!

Matilda 

La Docle Vita

1217 N Sepulveda Blv.

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

So I went into the Salon with pretty dark roots.  They looked something like this...

Here is the Time Lapse of the work that went into my hair transformation.  I have been blessed with my moms hair AND my dads hair....Literally! Its a ton! My hair is not only long and curly, but super thick, so notice as Matilda is putting in the color, and alternating between between the gold and platinum...she has to cut and divide and untangle all at the same time..

after 3 hours Matilda begins the Blow out process...so to all you men out there... i hope you are learning to appreciate and have a better understanding of all that goes into this!

By the way Matilda has an incredible way with people.  We talked the entire time, Trust me! This is Better than confession. Incredible conversationist.  If you need to unload this is most definitely the place.  

BAM!!

DOUBLE BAM!!

It came out beautifully! A very professional job.  There was seamless blending from the old color of six months ago and no lines of demarcation! I looks very natural and most importantly I feel BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks Again Matilda!

I highly recommend Her! For appointments call 310-545-1798

Food Log

The Week of Successes and Failiures

So I am trying everyday to eliminate sugar, processing chemicals and refined simple carbohydrates.  This is turning out to be more difficult than I thought.  Im realizing this is not an overnight, cold turkey kind of switch, but with every green salad and veggie predominant meal I make, a slight step to new and healthy lifestyle direction I take.  I admit, I ate a little more sugar than I should have this week and I never knew there was so many products with chemicals in it, but over all I think my diet improved this week... I really like the saying, 

"If You Can't Read It, Don't Eat It."

Jan. 12th

Seaweed Chips

Apple Strawberry Crisp (Sugar oops!)

something else (I Forgot)

Jan. 13th

Raspberries

Apple Strawberry Crisp (I was in too deep, no turning back now!)

Shrimp

Shrimp Pasta Salad

Corn

Jan. 14th

Raspberries

Cashew Nut Butter Sandwich
with Jelly (Sugar AGAIN!!) Errrr

Salmon Salad

Jan. 15th

Scrambled egg

Green Smoothie

Blueberries

Raspberries

Frijoles w/ Chicken 

Multi-Grain Cracker

Veggieburger on Wheat (ketchup, mayo, mustard)

Shepards Pie (Grassfed Ground beef, peas, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potato)

Bite of Homemade Cinnamon Rolls (We made these from Scratch in our Relief Society Activity)

Half a slice of Homemade Bread (It was White bread, but on a positive note, there were no chemicals or preservatives, which in my book is a major plus!)

Jan. 16th

Blueberries

Green Smoothie

Homemade bread (YUM!)

Bite of Chicken Taco

Veggies

Salmon

Red beans & Rice (This wasn't so healthy, from a box, white rice, lots of chemicals...baby steps)

Salad 

Corn

Jan. 17th

Homemade Bread

Cashewnut Butter

Banana

Chicken

Corn

Potato

Salad

Granola

Jan. 18th

Blueberry Smoothie

Fruit and Nuts

Salad

Green Juice

Green Beans

Salad

Turkey Egg Sandwich

Broccoli

Whole Wheat Pasta and Sauce

Zuccini
YAYYY!! Very Green Day!! I am proud of this day, and my cravings for Chocolate almost beat me this day....

Jan. 19th

Chili

Veggie Patty

Seaweed Snack

Fish Taco

Ovaltine Milk ( This was my BIG Cheat) Chocolate Ovaltine in Almond Milk! YUM!! I did pretty good this week so I gave in to the Ovaltine. 

Salad with Turkey, Nuts, Apples

Apples with Cashewnut Butter

So Things I need to work on is less Dessert, Less White bread...I think i ate a whole Loaf Equivalent:) Yum.  <3 Carbs, and reading more labels so I can avoid foods with chemicals.  I haven't stepped on scale yet, but it will be interesting to see if my efforts have had any affect.  

ZIP FIT FRIDAY!!

My Crazy Adventures (and MISHAPs) This week as I Try and get into shape!

Monday 

Running!

Tuesday 

Rollerblading

Kids, do not try this at home....

Thankfully we have a kind soul to assist me, or laugh at me, as he lectures me about bringing flip-flops to the beach to walk down big hills.

Meet Viet.... (a Manhattan Celebrity)

Things were smooth sailing after that!!

Jamming it out!!

Me feeling Dead after!

Wednesday 

Bike Day!

I didn't get pooped on but it was a Close Call!

Here is a close up of Scuttle:)

This reminds me of the time Stacey brought Braelyn over to Play.  I told Stacey that she needed to be FREE!! just let her roam around..... on a second floor stone stair way......open balcony.....overlooking a pool.  Stacey simply said, "Liz, she's 3!" hee hee....born to be wild.

Thomy is laughing at me and saying, "It looks like you are just taking videos of Birds! How is that working out? Aren't you suppose to push hard and break a sweat or something?" Lol! to each his own.

Thursday

Long Boarding

Friday

VolleyBall