Baby #1 is on way

Well crazy to think that we are going to have a baby in only a few short months!! Well 6 to be exact but still that will be here before I know it! Preston and I have been together now 7 1/2 years and just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It really feels like yesterday that we met, time really does fly by. This has been an especially tough year for us (or me) with the diagnosis of my rare skin condition. We both always knew that we wanted to wait a while before we had kids. We had talked last year that maybe we would start trying this year to conceive, thinking that it would take a while for us to get pregnant. I was hoping we would get pregnant quickly so that I could have a baby and start treatment for my condition. Well sure enough first try and we made a baby!!! YIKES was sort of my first reaction, I just couldn't believe that we were really pregnant. I figured it would take months so you can imagine that I was a little freaked out and wasn't sure if I was ready. But after a couple day or so I was fine. One funny thing is that I had actually gone to see a fertility specialist, in case we had trouble getting pregnant they wanted to start me on fertility drugs to speed up the process. Well I didn't need any drugs because I was already prego!! Anyways here is the story of how we found out. It was July 15th and I woke up that morning with the most vivid dream that I was pregnant, I just thought no way it was just a dream and fell back asleep. I woke up again with the same dream and weird feeling- I AM PREGNANT? I was supposed to start my period in a day or so, so I thought well maybe I could be pregnant, I only had one pregnancy test and I sort wanted to wait to see if I started or not but I just couldn't shake this feeling that I was prego. So I took the test and it was NO! Only one line appeared, so I guess it was just a dream. I went down and told Preston and I was a little bummed but just thought oh well we will try again next month. So I got ready for work and sure enough I still couldn't shake the feeling so I went and pulled the test out of the garbage and believe it or not there was a second faint line- WE WERE PREGNANT!! Preston was ready to leave for work, I walked out of the bathroom with tears in my eyes and told him everything. I still didn't believe it so I went later that day bought a couple more tests- all positive, still didn't believe it so I went to the Dr and had my blood drawn. Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant yep we are pregnant. We are so excited, we got to hear the heart beat a couple weeks ago,and that was amazing. I have felt GREAT! I have not been sick at all, most days I still wonder if I am pregnant, other than I can't button my pants. I sailed through my first trimester and am hoping the rest of the pregnancy will be the same. My skin however is not liking the pregnancy, so I am covered in bumps, but I figure I can survive through the bumps for this little baby of mine!! So that is my story long I know so sorry!

Spring Muddy Dog Car Tips

I found these great tips for us dog lovers from this site...
http://blog.craftzine.com/

Spring has sprung, bringing with it a combination of wet, muddy conditions. I've been using a couple of simple techniques for keeping the Subaru from turning into a smelly sandbox. The first is using a twin-sized fitted sheet for covering the backseat, aka Sugar's dog bed. They're much cheaper than specialty dog-specific seat covers (especially if you score one at the thrift store), and they're easy to wash. If I think conditions are going to be particularly soggy, I'll put down an extra sheet, blanket, or towel on the backseat, and then cover with the fitted sheet.

Next up is a gem of a trick gleaned from Michael de Jong's awesome book Clean: The Humble Art of Zen Cleaning. To eliminate funky wet dog odor from your ride, soak a piece of bread in a bowl of white vinegar, roll up all your windows, and leave the bowl in the car overnight. In the morning, like magic, the funk is gone. There is a slight vinegar odor that dissipates in no time.

Last, but not least, for removing dog hair stuck to your seats, instead of expensive pet-specific fur removers, try a rubber dishwashing glove. Put that bad boy on, and run your hand across anything covered in fur (works great for clothing too).

I would never deny my dog Sugar (seen above after a brisk swim in the Sierra's Donner Lake) the joys of getting wet and dirty, and these tips help keep my car not so wet and dirty when it's time to load up and go home. Happy playing!

Light Box Treatments

Well I have stopped all medications. I was having some really bad side affects and I am just tired of taking so many different medications. I have decided to start doing photo therapy light treatments, I did my first treatment on Friday. My insurance is covering this treatment but I have to pay my co-payment each time I go in which is $30 for a specialist and my doctor wants me to go three times a week!!! I am grateful my insurance is paying for it but that is $90 a week, $360 a month, $720 for two months I think you get my drift. I can't afford that :( So my doctor is letting me go twice a week and I will go tanning once a week for a month and we will see if I have any results. I am praying this will help!!! Plus I guess I will get a nice tan. They started me off at 45 seconds yep that is it, usually they start you off at 20 seconds but I tan very easy and rarely burn so then they just slightly increase your time each treatment.

Another reason for stopping all meds, even birth control is that we want to start trying to conceive. But have now run into some new complications, I actually have not had a period since last year. I was running a lot, training for the half marathon so my gyno and I thought it was because of all my running, so I have not been too worried. I actually stopped running this last winter, one because I run outside and it's too damn cold and I thought if I stopped running my periods would come back. It has been 5 months and still no periods. So needless to say I have seen two doctors and they are stumped!! One week they thought I was going through
pre-menopause, then maybe a tumor on my pituitary gland. Great just great this feels like deja vou'. So they are sending me to a endocrinologist but they can't get me in until June. We have since found out its not pre-menopause so that is good news!!! So once again I just have to wait, but I am getting pretty good at it. It really is amazing at how much I can handle, I still have multiple daily breakdowns but I am trying to hang in there. I will post any new news.

Our Laundry Room

We finally finished our laundry/mud room. I can't believe we have lived with it not finished for so long, so it is very nice to have it done. Now I just need to find nice cabinets and decorate!!! Yea!!!

Life...

Well it's been a while since my last post. My last post of our trip was so amazing but it did bring on some unexpected health issues. The last six months have been full of Doctors, Doctors, Doctors, 6 to be exact. What we thought was a bug bite I received in St. Marteen that would just not heal turned out to be a very rare skin disease called Lymphomatoid Papulosis. It is a one in a million disease so it is very rare and they don't know a lot about it. Maybe it was never a bug bite and it was just my first bump or maybe the bug bit triggered it to start, they really don't know. I must say that has been the most challenging part of this whole ordeal is the waiting, hurry up and wait, wait, wait. Wait for test results, wait to see if this medication works, it has been a absolute nightmare. At least right now it is not cancerous and they did say that if I have not Lymphoma already before it is rare that it will turn cancerous. There is of course some medicine that will suppress the bumps but it is a pretty harsh drug and you can not use while pregnant. As many of you know we were going to start trying to conceive, finally after 7 wonderful years we were very excited for this year and all the new journeys but BAM just like that LIFE happens. Life can be so great at times and Life can be horrible too. Right now it is a nightmare.It makes you put everything into perspective. Why me, why when I have already had such a trying life am I faced with this horrible disease the rest of my life? My husband is my rock, he is honestly been the only reason I have been able to get through this. Our life together has been like a fairytale, we have the best relationship, a great house, best dog, great family and friends and sometime I felt too lucky to have it so great. So now once again I am faced with a fork in the road. I can dwell on it or I can live life. I choose to live my LIFE even faced with this hardship I have to deal with it and move on. It is amazing how our health can affect us so much. It is very hard to make these decisions, take harsh medications that have side effects or try your own holistic methods? My life has definitively taken a much different path that I never could have imagined. So just live life because you never know when it will change and if it does change be the stronger person to overcome it!!