The new me....

Alrighty... where do I start. Vegas was a blast! We ate and drank ourselves into a coma it was fucking awesome! I told myself I would allow an eat/drink anything I want on vacay, including the volcano lava brownie with ice cream and fudge, as long as when I got back, I started my "new me". So here I am. I told DH what I was looking for (in terms of weight loss, toning etc) and he devised a plan for me. When he was in Iraq, in his down time he studied up on weight lifting/workouts, so he's pretty good at this sort of thing :)

The Plan:

Weeks 1-3
Monday's- off

Tuesday's 40 mins of cardio- Heart rate (HR) 125-135
Machine Bench Press 2 sets of 12- 50 lbs
Leg Press/Squat 2 sets of 12- 40 lbs
Seated row/lat pull-downs 2 sets of 12- 70 lbs

Wednesday's- 45 mins of cardio- HR 125-135

Thursday's- Off

Friday's 60 mins of cardio HR 125-135, and same weights as Monday

Saturday's- 60 mins of cardio HR 125-135

So we got back into town late Sunday evening, and Monday evening we were at the gym. It feels great! I have been watching what I eat, my portion sizes and working out doing cardio and free weights/nautilus. I've been sore this entire week, but so worth it! I haven't even had any alcoholic beverages since we got back...and this is a rarity! lol

So, the dreaded stats. I'm laying this out to you ladies to keep me motivated and on goal. Kinda as in if I tell you and have no updates, then I suck!

Current Stats:
Height: 5'8
Weight: 176
Build: Med, and I do still have quite a bit of muscle (it's just buried under fat currently)

Goal Stats:
Height: (hopefully it stays the same- buahahahahaha)
Weight: 145
Build: Should stay the same, but I'm hoping to let the muscles make an appearance

I know I can do this, I just need to set my mind to it! Wish me luck ;)

Off we go!

So I'm excited to say we are off to Vegas tomorrow! There are so many reason's why I am grateful I'm going.... let me count the ways. One- because we've had TWO days of 70 degree temps this year and the sun is just (and by just I mean today) peaking, Two- because DH and I so desperately need a vacation/break from our everyday life-goings here at home, and Three because I can't wait to eat, drink and be merry in Las Vegas!!

I'm hoping that I O while on vacation, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I know I took clomid this cycle, and hopefully it works for me (cd14 u/s showed 2 mature follies)..... but I just can't get too excited just yet. I would love more than anything to have the best of the best and get KU while on vacation, but I'm not sure I really know how to have this feeling of hope. Either that or I'm just scared shitless to get excited again.

See you all when I get back! xoxo
-Papps

Updates

Ok, so I'm glad to say I finished my last clomid pill last night! W00t!
I didn't have too many s/e really, just a few nightly hot flashes, mild headaches and some irritability (I didn't think so but DH had a few suggestions). So all in all I came out unscathed. I have an appt with the RE this Saturday to do an u/s and see where I'm at right now and if the clomid has helped any. I'm a wee bit nervous for that, but overall pretty excited.

As for the rest of my life.... DH and I have been trying to spend more "weeknight quality time" together lately, which means I've been bumping less. I've had so much fun hanging out with him, and it's done wonders to our relationship.... but I'm kinda going through withdrawals too. I feel like I miss out on updates more from my ladies :( To add to that, every time I come back I'm overwhelmed by newbieness an it's a bit much lol

I'm looking forward to summertime, and hopefully having good results with clomid (pg or not)

Check this site out!

Canthardlywait (CHW) makes these and they're awesome! I just thought I would pass the site on since I know quite a few people who have purchased and loved them.

**Frames by Heather by framesbyheather on Etsy**

Since its been a while since I've done a positive post.....

OUR VACAY! Ok, so we're going to Vegas, and I am in desperate need of some getaway time. This should be fabulous for the soul :)

~We're doin' this up picture style~

So, here's the hotel lobby & room (just built in Nov '09)


The pool with the Shark tank & waterslide


We will of course be partaking in:

Here among many other places


Seeing this


And last but not least.....
Celebrating DH's 29th bday!!

My Heinz 57 post

Ok, so by Heinz 57 I mean a few topics wrapped into one. :)

To begin with, I am on cd44- I took my first Provera pill last night and will continue for 5 days. Hopefully this will get the show on the road and I can go in for cd3 b/w & u/s and move on. Though I am not sure what moving on will be now that we have the SA results back.

DH's SA results-

Sperm Morphology- 30 mil
Sperm count- 41.7
Total sperm- 145.9 mil
Motility- 80%
Volume- 3.5

I'm not sure if they will have him submit another sample to see if the first was a random fluke, or if we will discuss other options instead of just trying clomid.

Either way, it appears that both DH and I are somewhat broken.

My wonderful BFPB's

So, today I get home and there is a package awaiting me...... and what could it be?

Thank you so much Starbuck! She even got her to autograph it! I swear, anyone who enjoys cooking will LOVE this book. So many delicious recipes! You rock :)

That, and HHB found out the sex of her lil peanut this week! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I'm so excited for you both! XOXO :y
Love,
Papps

Figured it couldn't hurt right? ;)

The tortoise was a fertility symbol in Greek times, and an attribute of Aphrodite who supposedly ascended from the sea. Turtles represent wisdom, understanding that in order to taste life we must not pass through it running, but taking our time to live every action, every moment, calmly.
This turtle playing the flute and recalling the Native American kokopelli.

Kokopelli is an ancient character- a hunchbacked, dancing fluteplayer whose oldest manifestation is found on on prehistoric American rock carvings. Kokopelli himself is a symbol of fertility and life, often depicted as a phallic character, carrying a pouch of seeds, or wearing antlers. Kokopelli symbols often appear in the context of rain, pregnancy, prosperity, and marriage.

Here's to hoping!
Kokopelli

Can someone please help!

How the world does one comment in blogs?
I've done it before, but whenever I try and comment now it just clears out and never posts :( What am I doing wrong?

EDITED: I got it!! .......3 hours later ::le sigh::

Thanks ladies!

RE appt today!

Ok, so we totally loved him. Not only did he have a fabulous office with a gorgeous view ::smiles:: he was very reassuring and kind. He joked with us when appropriate, asked us how we met etc...

Then he looked at my charts and said yup, we got issues. I told him about my experience with Kaiser and stated how I wanted to be monitored and he agreed that's best. We also went over me taking OPK's and since I did get a positive when I O'd he will have me continue with them.

He ordered cd3 b/w, & a S/A for DH. We discussed the possibility of PCOS but he thinks its not likely since my internal U/S came back clean and I don't have many of the "standard" symptoms- but he'll test me just to make sure. I will not be doing 7dpo b/w since I don't ovulate much.

He prescribed me 50mg of clomid to start. So once we get all the testing done we can go pick it up :) So excited! He was really awesome in that he is ordering our tests through Kaiser so we can try and get our bennies (50% paid) and the only things we have to go through him on are the ultrasounds and procedures such as IUI's etc....

I can't even begin to tell you how great it feels to be 'going somewhere' now. :o)

Moving on and up

So, most of you know I had an IF consult appointment with my insurance (Kaiser Permanente) on Thursday. It did not go over so well. They really don't do things properly (no monitoring, no cd3 bloodwork, and they required me to come in on cd21 even though I never ovulate let alone on cd14). They also advised me they require me to do 3 in-house IUI's before they will refer me to the RE. Uuuum WTF, you're kidding me right? This had me so worried and in tears when I left the hospital.

I had asked when I was there what offices they work with when it comes to the RE's, so when I got home I looked them up and called them myself. They were extremely helpful and took down some info and made me an appointment. They stated that they could order the tests to be done through Kaiser, and I would still get the discount. Score! I truly hope they are correct in this matter, however we are fine paying OOP if needed.

For once I feel hope. It is the best feeling E-V-E-R. It makes me smile when I see how excited MH is about this as well. Makes me nervous about what they will find, but at least we're finding it, dealing with it, and moving on. How freaking awesome would that be to be pg by the end of summer or fall! A girl can hope :) xoxo

I googled Glimmer of Hope, and this is what I found. I like it