Blog giveaway, Vegas, Charlie, yeast and more drama at Cig.na

First of all, let me say that Sew was the only entry in my blog giveaway, so progesterone in oil to you asap my friend!

Oh yes, and dh left town for a day so I got my shot at the doctor's office yesterday. They just pinch the fat and shove it in. And all along, dh has been spreading the skin taught.  It went in really smooth today and that may be why. Also, dh is so good about giving it slow and I can't believe how fast she gave it. But I am definitely feeling that today-thanks a lot! :( Curious as to your thoughts about skin pinching versus holding taught.

I called Ci.gna again yesterday because they can’t seem to repeat the correct things about my order two times in a row resulting in a different error every time they mail me meds or needles. That is five times now. Geez. One of these days maybe…one can hope. Weight gain and eating has slowed down to half of what it was before or more, probably because I am on half the progesterone and out of the first trimester. I got a progesterone draw today so hoping I can remain on this dose, but armed with my super strength progesterone in case I go back up to four shots a week (then it will only be two like now-yeah!) Also, dh and I just finished our ten days of orals that we go on every 8 weeks of the pregnancy per Dr. Toth. I am amazed at how well the Syn.tol is working at keeping any yeast at bay-for the “small” price of $70 for 180 pills-yikes!

On to fun topics, Dh and I had a little getaway last week to Vegas. It is funny, I would NEVER choose Vegas given the option, but I always have a good time. Dh had to go there for work and so I tagged along. We had an amazing hotel, oh my gosh (Ar.ia in the new City Cen.ter-paid for by his work)! A remote control worked the tv, lighting, do not disturb sign, curtains…it was crazy. I enjoyed days by the pool while dh was at his conference during the day for two days plus we had the whole day the day we got in to bum around. Dh did want to play some blackjack, and so we were able to find a few good alternatives to dark and smoky casinos. We especially enjoyed Harrah’s outside where the dj was good and we could sing along and enjoy the 75 degree weather (at night). Perfect. And we saw “O” which is absolutely incredible. It is the Cirque d’ Solei water show and it featured 9 former Olympians (divers, synchronized swimmers, and gymnasts). It was right up my alley (I don’t get into the other shows as much) and dh enjoyed it as well. And there was plenty of good food to be had the whole trip-I have a weak spot for Smit.h and Wolens.ky’s and envy those of you that live in Chicago. We don’t have one here, not that I could afford it more often! I wish I had pictures other than the hotel (the remote control is on the left side table), lol, but I didn’t take my camera around much and I have none of dh and I :(

It was also nice that Charlie did so well with my in laws, that went a long way toward us relaxing; they kept him on schedule and he slept great, which is probably why they were amazed at such a good boy he was. Sleep is imperative for that! They live 3 hrs away and I could tell they had a whole new bond when we got back so that was great too. Dh and I needed some time for just us. It was only the 2nd time we have ever left him for more than a date night. The first was only about 30 hrs (a quick getaway to a nearby bed and breakfast).

Speaking of Charlie, I know I rarely talk about him here, but that guys just melts my heart daily. He language is growing, but it is still the things he says wrong that I love so much, like “wiwi” for kiwi now and “wawa” for water. He gives tight hugs and pats our backs and comes up for random leg hugs or arm pats before running off to play with his trucks. His summer sitter is a friend of mine (speech path with the summer off-I have the best sitters!) and she has a 2 ½ year old daughter. She led him all over the house yesterday by the hand and it was cracking me up seeing him be her willing follower. I need to post a video or two of that man in action. He does keep me humble though! The other day we hit the library for the first time by our house and he saw a huge stuffed dog. He ran over, mounted it, and started “vigorously” riding it screaming “go horsie go” and other things I couldn’t make out. Let’s just say we had all eyes on us! He is definitely full of personality.:)  Here is a pic of another friends' daughter and him cheesing it up!

Why Going to the Ob/Gyn Always Raises My Blood Pressure (and other randomness)

Today I had an appt with my relatively new ob/gyn (referred to as #4 in past posts, though I realized today he is technically #5-yikes!)  This is the one I switched to after the birth of Charlie.  For the story on that, click here.  I have a tip for any of you who might potentially be switching doctors. Even if you think you are only doing it once, instead of sending a copy of your medical records to your doctor directly, get that copy for yourself instead (and then ask any doctors you see to copy them from yours).  The reason being that there is usually a fee-sometimes cheap and sometimes ridiculous.  One of my past ob/gyn charged $16 and then 56 cents a page (why isn't there a cents sign on the keyboard!).  Anyway, thank goodness my state has a law that they can't charge over $50 as I have quite a chart!  I made the mistake of paying that $50 to have them transferred to a doctor, and then the doctor couldn't transfer them to my new ob/gyn because of HIP.PA.  They can only send records that have originated in their office.  A pain! 

Now I have had some bad ob/gyn experiences, but the worst is detailed here.  Because it is a long post (aren't they all?!) that includes my 2nd pregnancy, I highlighted the relevant part in dark blue.  I was going to my appt today for an annual as part of my "things to do before you start ttc" list (I had x-rays last week at the dental office, have consumed massive amounts of raw cookie dough and moderate amounts of alcohol-yes, sometimes at the same time). 

Going to the ob/gyn is always a bit of a nerve racking experience, and I am sure you ladies can probably relate.  First there is the fact that you have lots of information to tell them.  And it's all very important.  If you are like me, summarizing doesn't come easily.  And you know they don't have a lot of time.  And you don't want to come off psycho.  To combat this, this time I brought my records from the 2 ob/gyns that matter-the one I had miscarriages with and the one that delivered my son.  Then last night I drew up a summary sheet.  This idea was inspired by another blogger, and also because I was appalled at all the errors I read in my previous charts (information that supposedly came from me was misquoted).  I made myself limit it to one page, but I had to go front and back.  It started with a chart-diagnosis in one column, treatment in another, and how it was discovered and by who in the 3rd.  Then I had a short paragraph summarizing each of my 3 pregnancies.  I often have my docs fax each other, so their names and contact information was in the header.  I love organization and have a weird love of treating IF like an occupation (still waiting for the paycheck), so I was pretty proud of myself.  He genuinely seemed to appreciate it.  Secondly (have you forgotten point #1 already? I don't blame you, it was a lot of words ago!), the information is usually unpleasant to talk about.  For example, why must they ask "how many pregnancies?"  and "how many live births?"  That has to be the most insensitive question ever!  And then they confirm: "because of miscarriage?"  Seriously?  I mean, first I had to fill it out on the paper and then you have to make me verbalize it?  But it made me think, why else?!  And then I had that "duh" moment where I realize people who actually don't want to get pregnant but do, and in way too many of these cases, they abort.  Sobering thought.  Then I realized some of those women probably don't like that question either.  I imagine there is enough of us, between both camps, to get a petition going.  Anyway, between these two reasons, my blood pressure is always elevated at the ob/gyn!

The appt went as wonderfully as an annual can go.  First of all, I had to get rid of some pesky yeast (sorry TMI), as you can imagine that would put a damper on ttc; getting it was unavoidable since my 40 days of antibiotics (nothing spiritual about the # in that context; also not the norm-I take 10 days of biaxin cyclically, then doubled amox last month so 10 days due to long mucus phase, 5 day z-pack for infection tied to respiratory junk that stays in your system 10 days and then, bam, time for another 10 days biaxin cyclically again!)  I was a little dense though and let it get raging bad before I called Dr. H for diflu.can and it was not doing the trick.  So ob/gyn did see that on the slide and gave me another script (this time with 5 refills for future-good to have! Esp b/c I forgot to ask for one for dh-Dr. H always gives it to both of us).  Secondly, I was worried about bladder infection because despite the crazy load of antibiotics, I have had blood in my urine (my only symptom).  They tested and found something.  Interesting.  They are going to do further tests since they hate to put me on more antibiotics unless it's necessary.  Which leads me to wonder what the hell can survive all that has already been given?  Scary.  More on that later.  The third thing I wanted to get accomplished today was to remind my ob/gyn who I am since I have only seen him once, and what my ttc and pregnancy protocols are.  He totally wowed me by doing his homework before he walked in and confirming all of that before I opened my mouth.  He got triple bonus points for rejecting my gift of "Physicians Healed" since he already owns it, read it, loved it (he doesn't prescribe contraception-part of why I switched).  And he recently bought Dr. Hilgers' text book and is really enjoying it.  Hoping and praying that he will get trained in Omaha as he is Catholic, totally living it even as an ob/gyn, and we have zero napro trained ob/gyns in my area, shockingly.

So, the appt went great and all continues to be on track to ttc when fertile CM decides to appear (CD 14 and nothing yet) if I can get rid of this UTI and yeast infection!