Ouch

This cycle has been weird.  CD 1 started off with about 15 minutes of pretty heavy bleeding, but then went done to pretty light flow.  CD 2-5 were light flow too and it's only been the past two days (CD 6 & 7) that I've had my normal medium flow.  I'm also having some pretty sharp pains that come and go (and have only happened really in the evening the past three days or so) in the area of my right ovary.  Since it's not consistent and hadn't really bothered me during the day, I haven't called PPVI but I'll call if it continues into tomorrow.

My youngest brother stopped in for the night yesterday on his way "home" (since my parents are living overseas, he doesn't really have a home) on the way home from college.  It was good to see him since I hadn't seen him since Christmas.  I'll see him again in August on his way back up to school.  He's working at a Catholic teen camp this summer and then going to Ghana for a mission trip in July.  Please keep him and the group he's going with in your prayers.

There has been so much wonderful news in the Catholic IF blogger world lately.  Congratulations to Sew, Jeremiah, and Thankful.

I need to work on hope in the Lord for myself like TCIE and Kaitlin talked about.  I've been feeling a bit down, like it's never going to happen for us (even with my FCP and Dr. H saying we have good odds).

An email should be going out about the Southern blogger get-together soon.

Giveaway, etc.

Living God's Will recently gave away a book called "Longing for a Child" by Kathe Wunnenberg.  I won but when I got the book I realized that I had already won the book from a different giveaway about 6 months ago.  I really like the book and although it's not specifically Catholic, it's Christian.    So comment on this post if you would like to win the book.

At adoration yesterday, I felt compelled to offer up my sufferings for three particular bloggers and carry the cross for them if they shall become mothers before me.  I hope that my prayers for them are answered (and soon, they've all been waiting a long time).

I think I'm starting to get sick.  I woke up during the night with a sore throat.  I was wiping noses of the kids I nanny for a lot on Friday, so that's probably where I caught it.  I've actually not had too many colds lately, so I'm probably due for one.

My body is still being a bit odd.  My period seems to be starting and stopping instead of just normal flow.  Hopefully my body will normalize after this and I can have a reasonable cycle.

CD1

Heavy flow late last night.  I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up.

Cycle Review, etc.

I had my first cycle review with PPVI today.  My P+7 progesterone was 27.0 ng/dL and estradiol was 46.2 ng/dL.  Dr. H wants me to take the 500 mg sustained release B6 and Mucinex twice a day starting on day 10 through P+2.  I may have called prematurely since I'm still not have constant flow, just crazy off and on.  It's either P+11 or P+14.  I took an HPT which was negative (just using the old take an HPT, get your period trick).  I also had a followup today with my wonderful practitioner, TCIE.  I do have some nausea starting, but one of the kids I nanny for vomited yesterday, so it could be just stomach virus nausea.  I promised TCIE that if I don't have real flow by Saturday that I'll test again.

If you haven't seen it, take a look at the prayer intentions link and add your prayers.

Quick Get Together News, etc.

Cool piece of news regarding the something going on locally during the planned time of the Southern Blogger Get Together (reminder: June 25-June 27, possibly in Shreveport, Louisiana, anyone is welcome, let me know if you are interested): Scott Hahn will be speaking at our cathedral (which is about 15 minutes from my house if we do the get together here).  The cost is $15 a person.  Right now for the get together we've got me, Keep Calm and Carry On, and 3 tentatives.

I'm somewhere between P+9 and P+12 (I did my b/w based on P+7 as Sunday).  I'm still have spotting in spurts and fits, but it does stop for periods of time, which is better than the previous crazy bleeding that I've had.  I expect CD1 between Thursday and Monday.

Southern ladies get together

Keep Calm and Carry On and I have picked a weekend for the get together, Friday, June 25 to Sunday, June 27.  It will be in the northern Louisiana area, possibly at my house in Shreveport (we'll let you know once that's decided).  Anyone is welcome; you don't actually have to be from the south.  Please comment on the post or email me (mrsblondies at gmail dot com) if you are interested and please share with anyone who might be interested.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions on the get together.

Frustration

In the last few months, my cycle had been looking pretty nice.  I had decent peak type CM, ovulation around CD 15, and a 14-15 day LP, with no irregular bleeding.  However, my body has completely freaked out this cycle.  I had weird peak type CM with a break in between the day. I think that I ovulated last Thursday (CD 13), but I had Peak type CM on Sunday, so I'm going to do my P+7 bloodwork on Sunday.  I had spotting/light bleeding last Friday that stopped after a day or so, but I had some more when I work up this morning.  I temped this morning and yesterday, so based on past post-peak temps, I'm pretty sure I ovulated sometime.  However I wasn't temping on the days I might have ovulated on, so I'm not completely sure.


If I did ovulate on last Thursday, we had decent timing (P-1 and P).  If it was Sunday, timing not so great (P-3).  However, since my body has gone wacky (and why won't it when the bloodwork starts back up) and I have bleeding, the odds are probably not very good for this cycle anyways.  I'll be starting on the Pain and Brain Supplement today (assuming the UPS site is correct about it being delivered today). 


I told D about the craziness of my body, and low and behold, he's been researching and reading about what to expect after the surgery (he hasn't taken much interest in how everything works in past almost three years).  He said that it'll probably take a couple months to get back to normal and since I hadn't gotten pregnant then we don't know that anything my body was doing was normal (specifically multiple days of lots of peak type CM...I like that).  For those who've had a laparotomy, how long did it take for your cycles to get back to "normal"?   


I've been feeling a bit down recently.  I'm feeling overwhelmed seeing or hearing about pregnancies.  I was sitting in our young adult bible study and I realized out of about 15-17 people, two couples and I are the one ones without kids and there are a couple of pregnant women in the group and one couple had their very young baby in the room instead of the nursery.  I'm going to D's best friend's wife's baby shower on Saturday, and I saw a couple more pregnancy announcements on FB.  


Keep Calm and Carry On and I are going to soon (as soon as we can talk) post some details/tentative plans for the Southern girls get-together.  

Prayer intentions

I have been thinking that it would be nice to have a way to have everyone's prayer intentions all in one place, especially so that it would be easy to print out.  I made a Word Document in Google Documents and I have shared it.  Here's the link http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ5klzkacsy2ZGRrZGtwenJfMWRmOTZrcGR2&hl=en.  I made it open for everyone to edit, so you can add your prayer intentions too.  I'm going to link to it in my sidebar (see the Prayer Intentions in the right sidebar), and everyone is welcome (and encouraged to add a link too).  To add the link, just go to Customize, then Layout and click Add a Gadget.  Choose Link list and title it something like Prayer Intentions and put in the link above to point it to and name it something like Prayer Intentions.  Add the link, save and you're done.

I hope that this is something that people will use.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Spotting, and PPVI update

I'm having some spotting/bleeding.  I hope it's from ovulation, but with my past history of crazy bleeding lasting from ovulation until my period (which I haven't had in months) I don't know and it worries me.  It better go away soon.  I'm not having any 10C/KL or 10KL today.  D and I did use the past two days.

A nurse from PPVI called me today.  They want me to start the Pain and Brain supplement (which I need to order) and have a P+7 blood draw.  I'll be calling on CD1 for a cycle review.

Congratulations to Life in Mazes, who got a BFP yesterday.

Cycle Update

I'm on CD 13 today, and I had 10C/KL starting yesterday.  We used yesterday and hopefully we can use tomorrow.  It looks like I should ovulate soon, so that's good.  I was a bit concerned about my mucus last cycle, but it's already better so it was probably just from ovulating soon after surgery and still not being able to eat well at that point.

I put in my call to PPVI for my 6 week post surgery follow-up, since I'm off today and I'll be dealing with all three kids that I nanny tomorrow and Monday (the twins go to Mother's Day Out Tuesday and Wednesday). The nurse called and check that everything was going ok healing-wise, but she still need to talk to Dr. Hilgers, who was unavailable for most of the day. I'll post when I've hear back from them, which will hopefully be tomorrow.

I found out yesterday that another cousin is pregnant with her third child.  She sent me a message on Facebook, and after an hour or so to process it, I called to congratulate her.  She knows about the surgery (pretty much everyone who knows us does), and that we've been trying for a while so she was very considerate about it.  Hopefully she will have an easier time with this pregnancy, she ended up in the hospital during both of her previous pregnancies due to extreme morning sickness.

Next weekend is my husband's best friend's wife's baby shower.  I'm looking forward to seeing people that I don't get to see often, but I'm not looking forward to the talk about babies for hours straight.  I'm really hoping to not get peppered with question about when we are going to have kids, since they all know we've been married 3 years now.  I'll be only P+7 to 9 at best, so there's no chance of a miracle BFP before the shower.

If you are interested in the Southern girls meetup (most likely taking place in Northern Louisiana, possibly at my house...but you don't have to be from the South to come), let Keep Calm and Carry On, Ann, or me know.  We'll probably try to work on picking out a date soon, and suggestions are welcome.

Meet-ups and more

I started back to work on Monday.  Things are going well, but I am tired.  The kids are very sweet and the mom and dad are great too.  I've got Thursdays off, so I'll be trying to comment more and get caught up on the unread  blogs in Reader.

This past weekend, I got to meet Keep Calm and Carry On and have lunch with her.  We had a great time, and like she posted, we taken about trying to get the Southern girls together (although anyone willing to drive/fly to wherever we end up meeting is welcome).  One option is that my house is relatively centrally located based on the Southern girls I'm aware of (email me if you want to know exactly where mrsblondies at gmail dot com), and D and I would be willing to host anyone who would be interested.  We don't have a particular date set either.  Anyone who is interested, please comment on either my blog or on Keep Calm's or email one of us.

I'll post more tomorrow.  It's bedtime.

New Cycle and Some Exciting Stuff

CD 1 was Saturday, D's birthday, which was not ideal timing.  Earlier I had said that my six week surgery phone follow-up was April 12, but it's actually April 19.  I had missed counted.  I had some cramps this cycle, but they weren't as bad as usual and my back didn't hurt at all.

I didn't follow the Endo Diet very well a couple days this week and I've had stomach problems.  I'm going to be more careful about following it (especially avoiding gluten/wheat).

I got the nanny job that I interviewed for on Tuesday.  I'm very excited.  I'll be starting on Monday.  They have 2 1/2 year old boy/girl twins (the boy has Down's) and a little girl who is 6 months old.  The kids seem very sweet and I got along really well with the parents (and they are Catholic, bonus!).  D was very happy that I got the job since my pay ran out last week (plus he's just happy I got it in general).

My dad is going to be back in the States this coming week for a meeting (they live in Qatar), so we are going to meet him in Austin and visit with my brother and my grandparents.  While I'm in the area, I'll also get to meet Keep Calm and Carry On for lunch, which I'm very excited about as well.  She'll be the second blogger friend I've met; I met Life in Mazes about 2 months ago.

Prayer Buddy Reveal

My prayer buddy during Lent was Alive in Hope.  I hadn't read her blog until I got matched with her, and low and behold she was having her laparotomy with Dr. H about 2 weeks after I had mine.  It's amazing how the prayer buddy matches are so perfect.

I mainly prayed for a successful surgery and for her healing after surgery.  I offered up my surgery and I also prayed for her during adoration and Mass, especially during the Triduum.

I'm going to post later about some other stuff, but I wanted to reveal my prayer buddy separately.

Happy Birthday, D

In honor of D's 28th birthday, here are 10 random things about him:

1. He's a very hard worker.  D not only works very hard at his main job, but also works on Saturdays so we can have some extra income.  He hasn't taken a single day off for being sick (even when he's been sick) in the more than 5 years we've been together.
2. He's very loyal.  D is the type of person who would work for one company for the rest of his life.  I don't know if that will end up happening due to the size of the company he works for and the fact that we'd like to move back to Texas, but he's definitely not a job-hopper.
3. He's got a great sense of humor.  D is always trying to make me laugh, even when I don't really feel like it.  He likes to hide and pretend that he's left without me and other silly things like that.
4. He'll eat pretty much anything (except strawberries since he's deathly allergic).  I never have to worry about D not being willing to eat what I make for dinner.  He even eats the things that don't turn out well, which are relatively few.
5. He loves sports.  Since he works lot, he doesn't get to play them as much as he would like.  He played soccer and basketball in high school.  He's looking forward to the upcoming softball league with some guys from work.
6. He's very smart.  He and his best friend love to have deep intellectual conversations.  He says that he wishes that he'd applied himself more in high school and college.
7. He's very good with our finances.  He's in charge of paying bills and is very good about it.  He does our monthly budget and has a spreadsheet of past years and the plans for the next year.
8. He's a great son.  He especially loves his dad and calls him with questions about things.
9. He's very handy.  He hasn't done much work on our house due to our lack of funds, but he built our TV stand, replaced all the locks when we moved in, and put in a path to our garage.  I expect that once we can afford it he'll be doing lots of projects around the house.
10. He's got the same hair color and eye color that I do so every once in a while, we get asked if we are brother and sister.

P+14

I'm at P+14 again.  Since peak day was less than two weeks after surgery, we didn't use any days of fertility so I'm definitely not pregnant.  I'm very excited to finally have a decent LP.  I haven't been quite as good as last month about following the Endo diet, but it still seems to be extending my LP (and removing the endometriosis probably helped too).  I'm having a tiny bit of spotting so today or tomorrow will likely be CD1.

My interview for the nanny position was postponed because the family was sick, and then the rest of the week is taken up by Holy Week things (the family is Catholic too).  It'll be next Tuesday evening.  I really need to start working soon, so I'm really hoping to get this job and start by April 12.

I'm going to try to stay off the computer after Holy Thursday Mass, so I'll be back on Monday.  D's birthday is Saturday so I'll probably have an auto post for that (which I'll need to finish later today).  I hope everyone has a blessed Triduum and Easter.

Updates

I wanted to update since I haven't posted in a while.  I'm doing pretty well.  My stomach is feeling much better; I did have some heartburn earlier in the week, but it's hopefully done too.  My incision is doing fine and I don't really have much pain from it most of the time.  I haven't taken any pain medication in over a week.  I'm pretty much sticking to the Endo Diet in the last week or so since my stomach is finally working more normally.  During my 2 week follow-up phone call from PPVI, the nurse asked me about the Endo Diet because she's dealing with endometriosis too.

I have an interview for a nanny job on Tuesday, and I'll update when I have some news on that.  I haven't been doing a whole lot lately other than reading (blogs and books), listening to my iPod and resting.  I do need to work on housework a bit.

D's 28th birthday is in 8 days and we are going to have a couple friends over for dinner, etc.  Since I'm currently unemployed, I'm probably just going to do a special dinner and cake as his present.

I managed to ovulate on CD 16 or 17, but I only had one day of good 10KL.  Hopefully that was just because of surgery and my body trying to get back to normal.  CM has never been a problem for me so I'm hoping that this was just a fluke.  I'm currently P+7 or 8, but this was a break cycle so I'm just looking for a good LP (13 or 14 days would be lovely).

My 6 week phone follow-up with PPVI is on April 12, and that's when I'll be finding out exactly what Dr. H thinks that we need to do.  The main thing that he's going to be treating me for is the inflammation that he found during my hysteroscopy in December.  I'm still taking Hydrocort (which is supposed to help with inflammation) and I'll probably be starting on the Pain and Brain supplement that's also supposed to reduce inflammation.  The Endo Diet is also supposed to help reduce inflammation too.  One thing that I have to remember is that treating the inflammation, since it's chronic, will probably take a few months so it may be a while before anything happens.

Tummy Troubles

The main problem that I've had in healing from my surgery is stomach issues.  I had some serious constipation on Friday (4 days out from surgery), and my stomach has continued to have difficulties (mainly nausea) since then.  The nausea was still around a bit as of yesterday, so I've had a really hard time eating much since the surgery.  I've lost 10 pounds in the 10 days since the surgery and I really need to gain it back.  I'm hoping that the nausea issues are finally done so that I can get back to the Endo Diet since you've got to pretty much eat whatever you think you can handle when you are nauseated.

I haven't really had issues with the actual incision or much pain.  I stopped taking the Dar.voc.et on Friday since it can slow your digestive system.  I took ibuprofen and tylenol for a couple days, but I haven't even take those in 3-4 days.  The only time that I really have pain is when I laugh or cough.  I did have a rash near my incision, but I'm not sure if it was an adhesive allergy or if I had an weird immune reaction to the surgery.  I do tend to get a rash on my hips whenever I get sick, and no doctor that I've talk to has any idea what could be going on.

I had my follow-up with Dr. H on Monday afternoon.  He was really happy about how my incision is healing and with how the surgery went.  He says our odds of getting pregnant are up to about 75%.  I have to call PPVI on this coming Monday and then in another 4 weeks.  The 6 week post surgery call, on Monday, April 12, is when Dr. H will let us know exactly what we are doing moving forward.  He did say that he'll be order some bloodwork, but I don't know how extensive it'll be yet.  He'll also have me start on the Pain & Brain supplement, which is supposed to help with inflammation.  Since my hormone levels were good (and will be tested again), his main concern now that the endo is out is the signs of inflammation that he saw inside my uterus.  The hydrocort is supposed to help with that too.  Dr. H also briefly mentioned the Endo Diet, but said that he hadn't had time to really research it yet.  

The pathology report from the surgery confirmed that the 8 spots removed were endo, plus I had a benign growth on one of my ovaries removed as well as the cyst on one of my tubes removed that had be weighing it down.

I haven't really had any peak-type mucus yet even though I'm on CD 16, which isn't very surprising since my body has been under a lot of physical stress in the last 10 days.   

I'm out

I got out of hospital yesterday.  I'm actually having a rougher day today with a bit more pain.  My back is bothering me quite a bit.  I need to got walk around more I think.  D will be leaving tomorrow morning to go back home, and my mom will be staying with me through Monday when we fly back early evening after my appointment with Dr. H.  This is going be a relatively long post going over the surgery and recovery.  I'd like to thank LIM for posting on Monday and to thank all of you for your prayers.

Here's an overview of the last few days:
Sunday- I did the bowel prep and showered.  The bowel prep wasn't too horrible.  I tried to go to be before 10 but didn't sleep very well.

Monday- Surgery day.  I woke up about 4am.  I wasn't planning on getting up until 5, but I couldn't fall back asleep.  I got on the computer until it was time to leave for the hospital about 5:25.  We got to the hospital about 5:45, and they got me back to start doing the prep with the cleaning cloths about 6.

  The cleaning cloths were really difficult to open, but I finally got them open and did the whole body wipe down.  I had the same pre-op nurse as I had in December for my laparoscopy.  She got my IV started.  The priest at Creighton came in after D and my mom came back, and I got anoiting of the sick.  Dr. H came by and talked to me briefly.  I don't really remember after they got my sedation meds started. 

The surgery lasted about 3 hours and Dr. H removed 8 spots of endo as well as the cyst on my tube (I can't remember which tube right now though).

I woke up in the recovery room and was there about 30 or 45 minutes that I remember before they moved me up to my room.  I wasn't feeling too bad pain-wise when they had me on the morphine.  D ended up going to buy some ear plugs (the hospital didn't have any) so I'd be able to sleep.  I highly recommend earplugs if you are going to be in the hospital overnight.  The nurse cleaned my teeth with some swab things that made my mouth feel much better and less fuzzy.  I finally got some ice chips about 6 pm and it was so wonderful.  I didn't sleep very well that night, and it wasn't just because of the people come in and checking on me.

Tuesday-  I woke up pretty much at about 3am, just before the nurse came to check on me.  A lab person came to draw some blood about 4:30, and then Dr. H's med student came in about 6 to talk to me.  He was very nice and seemed pretty knowledgeable.  Dr. H's fellow came in a little later and told me that they would start me on the clear liquids, and I got the clear liquid breakfast.  I didn't see Dr. H that day, but my mom and D said that they saw him on the floor.

I still was doing pretty well with the pain and they switched me to oral pain meds in the late morning and I started back on my T3 and hydrocort.  I was able to take a shower midday and started doing the walking.  The nurses were impressed on how well I did with the walking. 

After dinner (meaning Jello, juice, broth and tea), I started not feeling well.  I hadn't had any issues with nausea up to this point.  The nurse gave me nausea medication, but I don't remember which one.  I was feeling uncomfortable sitting in bed so I had D go walk with me, but we barely made it 20 feet before I realized that I needed to vomit.  Thankfully I made it to the bathroom in my room.  I got back in bed, but started feeling off and restless in the bed so we got up to walk again, and I talked to the nurse and ended up vomiting again.  She gave me more nausea medication, this time Zofran, and I didn't have any more nausea issues.  I think that at least part of it was my system not being used to that much sugar. 

I actually slept pretty well from about 10pm to 6am, but there was a miscommunication between D and my mom and he ended up locked out of the hotel room and sleeping in the car.

Wednesday- The med student came and checked on me again, and then Dr. H came and check on me.  He said he was very happy with how the surgery went, and that as soon as I was able to pass gas that I'd be able to get started eating real food.  Thankfully after my breakfast, where I just at the broth and the tea, I finally did pass gas and then Dr. H's fellow came in and said that I could have real food for lunch.

After lunch, they said that they had the discharge orders for me.  We just had to wait for D, who had been resting and then went to work out after the locked out drama of the night before.  We got back to the hotel about 4 and I ate my first meal of non-hospital food.

D dropped off my prescriptions, but he had to come back and get the new RX card from me since he only had the old card, so it took about twice as long as necessary.

Thursday (today)-  I've been having a few issues with slight pain in my ears and some back pain.  I actually feeling a bit more tired that I was yesterday.  I'm very thankful that D was here to help me shower.  The pain from my actual incision isn't as annoying as the other issues.

I probably will post again when I get back home on Tuesday with information about what Dr. H says at my appointment.  I've been reading blogs, but I don't really feel up to commenting right now.  I am keeping all of you in my prayers.

Surgery Update - new information :)

Hi, Life In Mazes here.  Just wanting to fill you all in tht Mrsblondies made it through surgery and is currently in recovery.  There are no specifics on the surgery at this time, but let us continue to pray that she is receiving the best possible care and has a swift recovery!  Will update if I get any additional information.
New Update:
I did just get a new update from mrsblondies' Mom.  She said that she is out of recovery and doing well.  She did have eight spots of endometriosis removed and the cyst on her tube was removed.  Praise God!  She was in surgery for three hours and in recovery for two.  So glad to hear that she is in her own room right now!!

Surgery tomorrow

My surgery is tomorrow at 7:15am, so we have to be at the hospital at 5:45.  My mom, D and I got are checked into the hotel and I got my pre-op blood draw done.  I ate some soup and I'm going to do the enema when they head out for dinner.  Life in Mazes will be updating my blog sometime tomorrow and D will hopefully post on my FB tomorrow when I get out of the surgery.  I appreciate all your thoughts and prayers and I'll probably post once I'm out of the hospital either Wednesday or Thursday hopefully.