Signs of Summer...

Hi everyone! Hope your weekend is going well. Mommy and Daddy continued with their commitment of "Family Day" today. In other words, we're trying to spend at least one day a week together as a family. This may sound easy to do, but over the last few months it was becoming harder and harder due to other commitments. But Mommy and Daddy are making an effort to make family a priority... and I love it!

Anyway, today we enjoyed some of the fruits of the impending summer... the loquats off of our tree in the backyard. None of us really knew what loquats were before we had a tree full of them. They're in season right now and are YUMMY! When they're ripe they taste like a cross between a cherry and a pear. And they just happen to be a fruit that I don't seem to be allergic too!

We also spent some time playing in our backyard this evening. It definitely felt like spring will be coming to an end soon. We saw a lot of little baby birds flying around. In fact, Mommy caught a photo of a Mommy bird feeding her baby bird on the neighbors fence.

I'm looking forward to the summer but hoping the spring doesn't leave us too quickly. I would be happy if the weather stayed like this forever!

Mommy's Post: This morning's appointment...

Well, I got in to the clinic this morning. After another ultrasound and review of my bloodwork, they've concluded that there's no tumor concern (Praise the Lord) and that I can indeed start with Clomid after all. Yay! No FSH injections! Or at least not yet! If the Clomid doesn't work they will indeed put me on the injections. I'm glad they're starting with the Clomid though because the medication is a LOT cheaper. The reason they got me in for an appointment so quickly is because you have to start the Clomid on the "right day"... which for me is TODAY! So I'm officially starting treatment tonight! Whoo whoo! They are also putting me on a drug that will hopefully drop my prolactin levels (because my high prolactin levels are inhibiting ovulation as well). AND they are also going to be doing artificial insemination (AI) to increase our odds. That's where all you friends are going to come in handy. I will have around 18 hours notice before I have to go in for an AI treatment, so I'll be calling around to everyone who will listen begging you to take my daughter for a morning. Since we don't have family here... I'll really need your help! Anyway, thanks everyone for your prayers and concern. We're happy that things are rolling now! Yay! Keep praying... it's working!

Mommy's Post: Medical Interpretation

Hey everyone. Just a quick update on the fertility quest. I had a bunch of bloodwork yesterday. One of the things I love about Kaiser (our medical group) is their excellent communication. Not only can I email any of my doctors (or Molly's doctors) about anything (something I never would have been able to do in Canada), but the second they have lab results they send me an email and I can check the results online. Very cool... but very dangerous. It's great to get instant information, but it's dangerous because then it leaves me to surf the net and interpret them myself before I meet with my doctor. Luckily I've taken enough physiology in school to have a decent understanding of how things work. Anyway, so far it's all good news. First off, this month I seem to be making low amounts of FSH. Granted, it's still too low, but some is better the none, right? Also, my DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) came back normal. DHEA is used to assess adrenal gland function. So in all likelihood, there's no reason to suspect an adrenal tumour. Phew! That doesn't rule out hypothalmic/pituitary issues though. And my LH (leutinizing hormone) came back normal as well... so that's good news. I'm happy. Today I'm on the upswing of my fertility roller coaster! Yay! I just ask that you pray they get me in to the doctor in a timely manner to discuss "next steps". I'm not good at waiting...

Editted to add: Alrighty, it's an hour later after I posted this and they are getting me in for an appointment tomorrow morning (Thursday). Yay! Now that's a quick appointment!

Fairytale Town...

Hi everyone. What a gorgeous day in Sacramento! Spring has returned and today it's around 68F (20C). It was a perfect day to spend some time with family outdoors! So we all headed over to Fairytale Town today! Daddy had never been so I had to take him on an extended tour of the place. We went to Jack and Jill's hill to fetch some water. He and I had a nice discussion on water pumping systems...

And then of course I took him on a ride aboard the Little Engine That Could...

And then we crawled through the Cheese that Stands Alone...

And of course we spent some time watching the local wildlife (no associated nursery rhyme for that)!

But my favorite part of all was spending some quality time with Daddy. I mean Mommy is great but I get to see her all the time. But I LOOVVEEEEE my Daddy!

Summer Already?

Hey everyone! Well, it seems like spring has fled momentarily, leaving us with a weekend hitting 90F (32C) on both Saturday and Sunday. So what better way to enjoy the weather then donning my bathing suit and enjoying a jaunt through the sprinklers. That was my way of keeping cool. Daddy had an entirely different way of keeping cool, and spent the day installing our new air conditioner (which goes with the ducting he installed a year ago). Except, this is no ORDINARY air conditioner, considering that Daddy is an HVAC mechanical engineer. This is a unit that he and a friend from work totally retrofitted with spare parts, to increase our energy savings by 25-33%! Mommy turned a little green when she saw them crack open the new unit and start welding things to it with a torch. But even she has to admit that it works like a charm. We're all impressed. It's absolutely amazing how quickly and efficiently our house cools down now. Good job Daddy! You're the HVAC king!

Mommy's Post: And the drama continues...

Well, I had my fertility appointment today. It was not as hopeful as I was expecting. I was hoping they would send me on my way with my Clomid prescription and that would be that. Not so lucky. Apparently the fact that my FSH was zero is not very common. Usually it's low in fertility patients, but to have it be non-existant is rare. It means that there's something wrong with probably my adrenal gland or my hypothalmus. It could be as minor as just some freak hormonal imbalance, and it could be as major as a tumor. So... more blood work. If it ends up being something minor, it still probably can't be treated with Clomid (a pill). Instead I may have to be treated with injectable FSH that would be administered for 8 days at home by a needle-wielding husband. Anyway, we'll know more after more testing. Sigh... I was hoping to be able to start treatment this month and now we have another month of lab work. So just pray that I have patience. And pray that it's nothing serious (read: tumor). I'm already sick of this whole process... and it's just starting...

Bilingual!

Well, I am slowly mastering the English language and I use about 50 words now pretty regularly (although Mommy is probably the only one who understands me). But did you know that I was bilingual? Yes... it's true. Unfortunately, I haven't found anyone yet who can translate my other language for me. Can you? (see video below)

Mommy's Want Monster...

Our friend, Auntie Dee Dee, has coined the term "want monster". Basically that's when you want something really bad that it's ugly. Well, today Mommy got a bad case of the want monster. We went over to Auntie DeAnna and Isabelle's house today because the two camera crazy mommies wanted to play. Well, that meant that Isabelle and I were their targets. Auntie DeAnna also just happened to have matching dresses for Isabelle and I to wear. How convenient! Anyway, now Mommy has the "want monster" for studio lights. Too bad for her that any extra money is going towards paying off our van! Anyways, here's some of the pictures that Mommy took today!