An exciting sight....

We got to see a building last night that we hadn't planned to in all of our planning. The local hospital...

Our fourth started out with a bang. As we were getting ready for bed last night, we were putting things away, and organized. I had just finished with the computer, so I took it over to the desk and Ben got up to get me the charger to plug it in. As he walked back to the desk, he just barely stubbed his toe on the leg of the bed - and it hurt! After a brief visit from the hotel's EMT and directions, I drove him to the hospital for X-rays.

Come to find out that he broke his toe, his pinky toe. Yep, first day in a city that we have to do a lot of walking, Ben decides he wants to break his first bone ever, in his life! Anyway, we were at the hospital until close to 2:30am, where they bandaged up his toe and gave him a "walking shoe" that will allow him to walk without flexing his toes. It won't be the most comfortable thing for him, but we are going to still try and get a few sights in today. Hopefully he will be able to handle it all.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

We've arrived!!!

Yesterday morning, we arrived in D.C., and actually without too much problem, traffic, etc. I was surprised, to say the least, that as we drove in we could see nothing from downtown. I expected to be able to see at least the Washington Monument, but there was nothing. However, as we crossed over the Potomac, there was this beautiful building on the other side of the water. It didn't take us all that long to realize that the building was actually our hotel!

We got there without a problem, actually got checked into a room with a gorgeous view of the Potomac through the hotel's indoor atrium that is nothing but windows:

After getting unpacked and a quick bite to eat for lunch, we got ourselves ready to go downtown and see the sights. We spent a good 4-5 hours downtown, walking around, and got to see some incredible things.

The Washington Monument- as we stepped off the subway!

The U.S. Capitol Building

The World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial across the Reflecting Pool

And upclose and personal...He was HUGE!

Vietnam Wall...talk about a serene place

Jefferson Memorial

The White House close to sunset

One quick thing that I realized as we reached downtown was that I am extremely proud of this city, and all that it stands for. I got a little emotional just realizing the importance that this city holds in the history of America. Someday, if you haven't already, you have to visit and experience it yourself!

On our way....

Well, Ben and I left home yesterday morning. Our plan was to leave around 9:00am, but we actually didn’t get on the road until closer to 9:30. After a few quick errands around town, we officially hit the road at 10:20am. We were glad to not be too far behind schedule, and we had a couple of stops we wanted to make on our way to the first hotel stop of the trip.

Aside from hitting a brief stint of traffic near Ann Arbor, we had beautiful weather and great traffic the entire day. We also got to see a lot of incredible sights on the road. While in Ohio, we did a quick side trip to Geauga Lake. It was kind of a sentimental trip, since our first trip together, ever, was to Geauga Lake. We just simply drove by, but it was interesting to see how much things have changed in 12 years.


Once we got out of Ohio, we reached Pennsylvania. Together, we have never been to Pennsylvania, and we had plans to visit Gravity Hill in Bedford, PA. This was pretty interesting as well, as we just put the car in neutral, and seriously the car seemed to roll uphill. The drive was absolutely beautiful through the mountains of Pennsylvania. There were some houses tucked up on some of the hills that were just amazing.


We also got to experience the mountains. We are using my husband’s laptop as our GPS, and on it is the altitude at which we were at that time. I would watch the altitude go from 400ft to over 2000ft in a span of 10-20 minutes. Then, I would watch it drop back down to 700ft or so, then back up. It was interesting – and our ears were popping like crazy. Some of the views however were great!


Today, we are on the road again. We left the hotel in Hancock, Maryland at 9:30am and were only about 100 miles out of Washington. More to come on the 2^nd day of the trip!

Unproductive

Or at least it seems....

I don't think I will ever understand how one can be so busy, and yet never feel like anything is getting accomplished.  I am that person these days.  Between everything going on at home, my hubby has been working like a madman.  Then, to top it off, I myself am busy at work, but leave each day as though I have gotten nothing accomplished.

To top it all off, we leave in just 2 days for a trip to Washington, D.C. (yes, we will be there over the 4th of July).  Yet there seems to be so much left to do before we go (laundry, shopping, etc.) that we are trying to figure out how to fit it all in!  I guess it just goes to prove that we both need this vacation - BADLY!  

It will be so nice to be off work for a few days, traveling with my husband, and enjoying the sights of Washington.  Anyone ever been before and can offer any suggestions on must sees?  We plan to do the normal touristy stuff, but love to take suggestions from others who have been there.  

Overall, I think the break will provide us the opportunity to rejuvenate and hopefully we can both come back feeling like we may be able to accomplish something.  Check back often for pics from our trip, as I will try to update this blog while we are on the road!  

God's Unending Grace

A flowers petals shining bright

A yellow core enclosed by white
God is smiling down on us
And so in Him we must trust

These pictures are the proof we need
To show He’s here in word and deed
I felt the need to share with you
These flowers from my garden true

I had some help, and I’m very glad
For my sister-in-law and my dad
They helped me plant all these last year
And now the flowers give me cheer

They show me that regardless of things

God has blessings He always brings
In times when He feels it is right
And so with Him, I’ll be alright

Enjoy the pics of all the flowers
It seems I’ve stared at them for hours
They bring a smile to my face
As I enjoy God’s unending grace

Test Results

This post will be fairly brief, but I know that I owe it to everyone reading my blog. This past week has not been a good one for me, as I obviously anxiously awaited Friday's pregnancy test. On Tuesday, however, I started to not feel too good, causing me to worry a little bit. By Wednesday, it was worse, so I called the doctor. They offered to let me come in a day early for my test, just so that I could stop worrying.

Just as we expected, the test result came back negative. We have both been able to take the news in stride, and found all the good to come out of this result. The experience has brought both of us together, not only physically and emotionally, but spiritually. We have also realized that this experience has allowed the doctors to understand the medicine better - so that next time it is a little bit easier. Ultimately, it all is working out pretty well and now we just look forward to the next step.

For everyone who reads, and is such a huge support in my life, I just want to say THANK YOU for all the prayers. Please don't give up, as we do plan to try again - we just don't know when. As much as was spent on the pursuit of my college degree, I will not give up on my dream of being a mother - regardless of how we end up doing that.

And now we wait...

As I stated in my last post, this IVF process officially started on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. As a part of the process, I was required to go to the doctor's office every couple of days for blood work and an ultrasound. The blood work was to monitor how well my body was taking to the hormone injections, and the ultrasound was simply to see how my body was progressing in the process. Each time I went to the doc, I would be contacted in the afternoon with my instructions for the next few days (take this medicine at this dose, take this med at this time, etc.). This went on for just about two weeks.

On June 6, 2008, I went in for my routine blood work and ultrasound. That afternoon, I got the call I had been waiting for: it was time. That evening, my husband had to give me the mother of all shots (and he did an AWESOME job)! This medicine has to be given at a precise time as it usually corresponds to the schedule of the operating room. June 6th was a Friday - which meant that I was to have surgery (for the egg retrieval) on Sunday, June 8th.

Although it was a rough day for me, the surgery was a success. The doctor's were able to retrieve 17 total eggs of which only 16 were mature. The office would call the next day with the number that actually fertilized, which ended up being 13. Their plan was to transfer some of the embryos back on June 13 - weird how the number 13 keeps popping!

Everything went pretty well that week. On Friday, we showed up at the doctor's office where we found out that most of the 13 were still doing pretty well. Based on my chances and the health of the embryos, they decided to transfer 2 of the best looking ones. Success rates are becoming better with IVF, so they try not to transfer more than they believe is necessary. They then told me that two weeks later, I would go back from my pregnancy test. TWO WEEKS!

While I wait, I still have to blood work done every couple of days. They only call if there is an adjustment to be made in the medicines, but that I am not supposed to panic. You ever tried to not panic when someone tells you not to??? My first blood work, I was called. I wasn't too concerned about it, they just started me on some new medicine. It actually helped me to feel better, so I accepted it. Last Friday, I didn't get a call after my blood work - Yeah! Everything is good!! Today, however, they called again. Seems that I have a hormone level that is dropping - and that I should not panic! I should just take some more medicine and wait until Friday. Yep, this Friday is my pregnancy test - scary indeed.

You know, I waited for so long for a dream to come true, and now here it is just around the corner, and I am scared to death! I worry, a lot! Am I truly ready to be mother? Are we ready to be parents? What will happen if the test is negative? Can I/we handle news like that? I'm trying to stay positive, yet sometimes that truly is hard to do. Waiting is not fun - but Friday is only 4 days away (that is 10 less than it was when they first transferred the embryos back, so I guess that is a good sign)!