First Major Snow Fall

We got our first snow that stuck last night. The little girls were so excited to go and play in it. So instead of doing homework like I should have, I bundled everyone up and we went sledding, built a snowman, knocked it over, and then came in for hot cocoa with whipped cream, sprinkles, and mini marshmallows. While I should have been studying... this was way better and much more needed. I feel like I neglect the girls a ton because of school, so I think I'm going to change my major, because family is more important to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Baby #5

So in January or February I made an appointment with Dr. Huynh to figure out why we were not getting pregnant. She was confident that I would be pregnant by the holidays, which I wasn't. Anyway she set up some blood work to be done on day 3 of my cycle because she said that was the first line of defense. I got a call from her about a week later telling me that my blood work was all normal except my AMH level, anti-mullerian hormone. She said she called a specialist friend because this was such a new test she didn't know how to interpret the results, but that he was out of town for a week so she would get back to me when she heard from him. Well a week was a long week. She finally called and said that her friend said my level was considered low, and that by numbers I was a 40 year old instead of a 32 year old. My next step was to make an appointment with her friend, Dr. Gustofson or Dr. G. to further evaluate. I made my appointment but it was a month out. I was pretty bummed because it meant another month of not knowing and still waiting. Well I got a call toward the end of the week saying there was a cancellation because someone hadn't filled out their paperwork in time, so I was scheduled a week away.

The day finally came and I met with Dr. G. he told me that because I had already had 4 kids and our youngest was 2, that we didn't need to do an ultrasound to check my uterus or fallopian tubes because everything was working just fine. He wanted Mike to do a semen analysis to make sure everything with him was okay, and then told me he wanted me to recheck my day 3 labs with his lab, and have an ultrasound to check my resting follicle count. We felt very blessed because I was selected to be in an ultrasound study of my follicle count so that we didn't have to pay for the ultrasound and they paid us a $100 dollar check.

My results were back so again I met with Dr. G. My original AMH level was .48 which they want above 1.8. Well, my new AMH level from his lab was 1.8 so that was fine but my estrogen level was high at 75 which they what at 50 or below. My resting follicle count (RFC) was 8, which by some tests are normal, but by their office they want them at 12 or higher. So with those two numbers together I was diagnosed with DOR or diminished ovarian reserve. That all means that I have good quality eggs but I am running out of them so we were basically running against the clock because technically I should have 15-20 more years of eggs but from their tests I only have about 10. I don't know how I feel about that. I don't know if I expect early menopause, if this will be something that affects my kids, or that I feel like I am a freak because I am abnormal. Either way that was their diagnoses. Mike's analysis came back and they said his morphology was a little low at 2%, they wanted it at 4% or higher, and his viscosity was a little high at 2+, and they wanted it at 1+ or lower. All of his stuff was fixable with a few vitamin supplements.

Dr. G gave us the option of continuing to try by ourselves or since we had been trying for over a year to conceive that he could help us with IUI. He gave us a 55-60% chance of pregnancy over the course of 3 months. We discussed it, called our insurance to figure out coverage, and then decided to go for it. If we didn't get pregnant within 3 months then we would take that as a sign from the Lord that we were done. On June 11, 2015 I started 100mg of clomid. I continued that until the 15th. I went in to CCRM (Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, Dr. G.'s office) on the 17th to do a follicle count and see how I was responding to the clomid. I had several small follicles and 1 mature follicle that would develop into an egg. They gave me a trigger shot of Ovidrel to take home and administer that night to make me ovulate roughly 36 hours later. I was a little upset because I only produced 1 egg...I mean I already produce 1 on my own so why even take the meds. Anyway, on the 19th at 10:00 am I went in for the IUI and had to wait 2 weeks to find out the results. They were negative, but we weren't upset because neither Mike or I figured it was going to work. I had to wait until the 1st day of my next period to try again. It did, but I was out that cycle because I still had 2 good size cysts left over from the side effects of the clomid.

Finally my first day of my period started in August and I was able to start a cycle again. This time I was on 100mg of clomid days 3-7 (August 1st - 5th) plus 5ml of injectables (Menopur) day 3,5, & 7 of my cycle ( 1st, 3rd, & 5th of August). I went in on August 7th to do a follicle count to see how many mature ones I had, and I responded well. I had 3 on my left ovary 18.6mm, 15mm, and 11.1mm. On my right ovary I had 3 also 15.8mm, 14.9mm, and 9.4mm. I then met with a nurse to see if they were going to continue this cycle or cancel it because I had the possibility of 4 eggs. Anything above 15mm is considered mature since once you do a trigger shot it ripens them another 2mm a day. Anyway, they had me sign a consent form saying the chance of multiples was higher and I was on my way home with a trigger shot and instructions to take and ovulation test to make sure we weren't missing the window and to wait to hear from the doctor on when he wanted to schedule the IUI. If I wasn't ovulating I was told to do 2 more Menopur shots one that night, and on the 8th when I did my trigger shot, which I did. Our IUI was scheduled for August 10th and 9:00am. This time they did an ultrasound to make sure I hadn't already ovulated, I didn't. I was feeling pretty optimistic because every thing seemed to be going our way. I got the Menopur for free, which is usually around $90 dollars a bottle, because they had some office samples that were going to be expiring, I produced 4 good size follicles so our chances were higher etc. Anyway, we still had to wait 2 weeks to test.

 On August 19th at 4:30 pm I figured I would just test to see if it was positive. I had some Amazon test strips, WONDFO, and at first it came back negative, but slowly showed the faintest line. I was excited but didn't want to tell Mike until the morning after I took another one and it was positive and I wasn't imagining things. Well that night I had the thought, that maybe it wasn't a real positive because the trigger shot could still be in my body and giving me a positive, needless to say I was really bummed, but still hopeful. I did some internet searches and found that the trigger should be out of my system by 9DPO but there are some who said it took up to 11DPO. I woke up the next morning and took another test. Same thing, negative at first and then slight positive. I called Cherstin and told her my situation. She asked if the second test was darker than the first because if it was the trigger shot it should be getting lighter, not darker. They were the same, so I took another test a few hours later and it was darker. I was thinking the IUI had worked so I told Mike that night when he got home that I though I was pregnant. I had to wait for it to be officially 2 weeks (August 24th) before I could call CCRM and have blood tests done, so I took pregnancy tests every day until then and by Saturday evening it was dark and I was positive I was pregnant.

Monday August, 24th I had some blood drawn to confirm I was pregnant. My HCG level was 205 (48 hours later my HCG was 520), they wanted it about 50 and my progesterone was at 99.9% and they wanted that above 15. I quickly started looking up levels for multiple pregnancies and I found that I was above the levels for a singleton pregnancy, but a little below the lowest level for twin pregnancies. All I could do was wait until my 6 1/2 week ultrasound to see if there was 1 or 2. That day came on September 10, 2015. They found 2 sacs. One had a heart beat at 115bpm, should be 100bpm or higher, and the other sac had what looked like the start of a fetal pole. Dr. G and the tech searched to make sure there wasn't a heartbeat and said that I would probably lose it, or it wouldn't continue to develop since it was significantly smaller than the other. He did say that my levels were indicative of multiples and he would have been shocked if there wasn't 2. I still had hope that maybe it would develop, but wouldn't know until my next ultrasound at 8 1/2 weeks. Starting on Saturday I had some pink spotting that lasted on and off for about 3 days and then stopped. I was worried, but because I didn't have any cramping or more blood and it wasn't red Dr. G. wasn't worried. They said it was me losing Baby B and that I needed to come in for a Rhogam shot.

Yesterday was my 8 1/2 week ultrasound and Baby B is gone. I was sad, which is weird because I wasn't even expecting there to be 2 and once I found out there was 2 the second never had a heartbeat. Anyway, weird feelings here. The heartbeat was fast at 177bpm and the baby was very wiggily. I graduated from CCRM and will now start seeing Dr. Huynh. We haven't told anyone about seeing Dr. G. except my family, Allyson Ragland (shee sees him too) Ann Brown, and Rachel Halatokoua. I don't think we will tell anyone else, including Marci and Mine, and Mikes side. I just feel weird or ashamed. That's it for now.

The Rest of July

I signed Emily and I up to run a 5k bubble run. Mine and Marci joined us and it was really fun. The weeks prior Emily and I went on a couple of runs together. She talked the whole time, and twirls and runs backwards all while I'm just trying to breath. Haha. We plan on doing more runs together.

Later in July the kids and I drove up to Rock Springs, Wy to visit Felicia and her family but also to see Wanda and Rachel since they were driving through to pick Joseph up from BYU-I. It was a fun visit and makes me ache for family to be close again.

Last, but not least I graduated from the pathway program this month. I'm so glad I did it! I made some very good life long friends and I'm furthering my education.
 

 

11 Years

Mike and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary today. My words are not sufficient enough to say how much I love this man. He supports me in so many ways...from schooling, housework, church callings and many other ways. He is a wonderful husband and father and I more than blessed to call him mine. To celebrate we went to dinner at the restaurant, Carabbas, that we went on our first date and then we played two rounds of mini golf. Here is to eternity.

Rogers Family Reunion August 2014

We had our Rogers family reunion August 7-12th. We rented a "unique" house in Holladay where we all stayed. The cousins had fun playing together from early morning until late into the evening. Ivy was a pill most days. At first we thought it was because it was a new place and tons of new people. Then we thought it was because her schedule was off, but then we realized it was and is because she is teething some major molars. Once we figured that out, not until our reunion was almost over, we doped her up on meds and she was much better to deal with...not normal, but easier. 

We enjoyed swimming, family pictures, hanging out after church at Grandma and Grandpas house for a talent show FHE, the guys did some bowling and the girls had lunch and a book club/favorite things exchange. It's always sad to leave because we have so much fun.

Summer Happenings

We had a pretty laid back summer! This is what I found almost every morning.

 

JUNE

 Unfortuantley we didn't spend much time at the pool because the pool heater broke and they didn't get it fixed until the end of July, but there was some fun times had at the pool.

The beginning of June brought family. Cherstin and Dan made their trek to Alaska and on their way they stopped here to visit and to baptize Abby. Mom and Dad were here and Felicia and Tom came too. It was so great to be able to see them all and to share in Abby's special day.

 

Of Course before Chestin and Dan left, Mom and Dad stayed for another week before heading to Joey's for Levi's baptism, we all headed to Krispy Kreme's.

 

 

 Also while Mom and Dad were here we got to celebrate Daddy's birthday. We took them out to Outback Steakhouse. Daddy was a good sport and sat on the saddle while they sang to him. They left the next day so we also gave him our Fathers Day gifts.

 

 



For Fathers Day the kids gave Mike a new rotary fertilizer thing. I gave him P90X3 which we have been doing together every morning for almost 2 months. It is nice to have the extra time together, alone, in the morning before our crazy day begins. Mike is a wonderful Father. The kids all flock to him when he comes home, and he LOVES it.

In June Mike and I also celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We were supposed to head to Hawaii, but we did our master bathroom instead. It was a good thing we didn't go to Hawaii because we had a babysitter the night of our anniversary so we could go to a movie and Ivy freaked out the whole time we were gone. She was and is still too young for Mike and I to both leave here for a week or more.

I love this man so much and I am so glad he picked me to spend his Forever with.

 

Finally at the end of June we had Mordecai officially tested for his suspected allergies. He came back positive for peanuts, tree nuts, dogs, and Bermuda grass. We also had him tested for exercise induced asthma and found out that he has a really mild case of asthma in general. He was a trooper for holding still while getting poked a ton. It still breaks my heart looking at these pictures.

 

JULY

 

We headed to Colorado Springs for our own family vacation. See our other blog posts.

 

Keith and Kim and their girls came out to celebrate the 4th of July with us. We tried to go swimming, did Jump City, where Kim broke her tail bone 5 minutes before we left, and of course Fire Works.

 

 





 

 

In July Emily sang in a chorale group that performed at various rec centers and senior centers. It was fun, but I was glad it was over because she had practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00-2:15 which was in the middle of nap time.

 

 

And now for some random photos.