14 Needles in ONE DAY!!! YIKES!

Today I was poked by not 3 needles BUT 14!!!! Only 3 of them were prescriptions, the other 11 were Accupuncture needles! :-) To preface this experience let me tell you how I even got the idea to do this in the 1st place. I am apart of a newly formed infertility support group called, Resolve. It's a National Infertility Organization with volunteers across the U.S. forming support groups for the infertile. I love it! For those who have "infertile friends" please tell them about it...there is probably a chapter in their area no matter where they live! www.resolve.org For the Birmingham area, we meet the 1st Monday of each month at 6pm at the Homewood Library..for those interested. Anyways...last month we had a guest speaker, Dr. Martha Ivey with Alabama Oriental Medical Arts. One of her specialties is accupuncture. She explained that it helps increase blood flow & you can't have TOO much blood flow (especially someone like me who has horrible circulation in my left leg due to past blood clots). The increased blood flow helps you have better eggs which in turn make healthier embryos. All of us in our "group" had always heard of it helping..but not many had tried it. Then my sister-in-law, Lauren Hinote, tells me she saw an article in Woman's Day magazine about accupuncture helping you get pregnant through in-vitro. Ryan & I decided what's a few $100 more dollars to possibly increase your chances of having a baby when you're spending thousands! So...I went today for my first visit....after I spent the weekend filling out a 12 page questionaire! I had to answer questions like if I had teeth marks on the sides of my tongue, how often I have a bowel movement, if I am cold a lot etc..etc...Pretty funny stuff! Luckily my great friend Brooke was there to inspect my tongue for teeth marks! What are friends for! :-) So basically what happened today was that I laid on a cushiony HEATED bed on my back, then Dr. Ivey put 11 needles in me...I didn't even flinch ya'll...and I don't say that to be cocky...It just DOESN'T HURT so there is no need to flinch! You wouldn't flinch either! She opened up the BRAND NEW pack of needles while I watched to be sure I could see they were new..then put one in my right hand btw my thumb & index finger, one in my left wrist, 5 in my tummy (no..not where my current bruises are) but above my belly button. Then one in top of my left foot, one in the inside of my right foot, one in the center bottom of my chest, and one in my scalp! From that point I laid there for 25 minutes with the lights completely out as ocean music (my request) played in the background. I just took that time to pray & take a nap! It was sooooo relaxing. I go back once a week until embryo transfer then I will go a little more often around that time. So...until then...I am thinking about what music I will request for next weeks session...I am thinking...rain! I love to sleep in a good storm! :-)

We're doing In-Vitro!!!

Well...a lot has happened since Thanksgiving in Kelly & Ryan's world of desiring a baby! As you all know a while back we announced we wanted to adopt. Well...in the midst of saving for that, we checked into the option of in-vitro. As a Christian I honestly didn't think it was possible to do without having to "throw" embryos away. We have it figured out though! I got a 2nd opinion with UAB's Fertility Clinic & love my new dr. there! I have to give my In-Laws props for helping make this happen..they have been very helpful...my father-in-law actually called this clinic to learn more about the dr's there etc. :-) So...this discussion started the beginning of December '08 & since, we have officially begun the journey of in-vitro. It's a process of about 2 months. I would like to let you experience this process with us via our blog. My Aunt Barbara actually sent me a blog of a friend who had gone through in-vitro. This girl blogged about all her experiences with this and it helped me tremendously. I am hoping that through my experiences I can help someone too. So please let your infertile friends :-) know about my blog...maybe they can get some support through it?!

Alrighty...As most know, I have three blood clotting factors (Factor V Leiden Mutation, Prothrombin 20210G>A Mutation & MTHFR) and have had a DVT blood clot in my left leg on two different occasions. Therefore I wear a compression stocking on my left leg everyday to help the blood flow back up my leg since I have scarring from the clots...my circulation will never be the same in that leg. Also I have to be on blood thinners the rest of my life b/c essentially I have 3 things trying to clot my blood..that's a little too many. :-) So before I could even begin any fertility "stuff" I had to come off of my oral form of blood thinner (coumadin) and start on my injection form, Lovenox Injections. I do this shot in the tummy twice a day until I get pregnant then continue through pregnancy & breastfeeding...I would swap back to the oral form of blood thinner once I was finished breastfeeding. You don't want coumadin in your system AT ALL when you conceive b/c that baby will have abnormalities. So that's why I can't just "quit trying" and hope to get pregnant...which is often the recommendation I get. :-) When Ryan & I say..okay we are ready to actively try and get pregnant, then I have to consult my Hematologist who writes me a script for Lovenox Injections, I get those going while coumadin gets out of my system...THEN we have the okay to "try." So I started these injections about 2 weeks ago.

These are all my used syringes...you can't just throw those in the garbage...I take them to my dr's office to dispose of in their sharps container.

The worst part of these shots is the mess! :-) I am no neat freak by any means..but it really bothers me to have to gather all this stuff together twice a day. So I made this little organized system on a towel bar in my bathroom I never use. :-) Band-aids...alcohol wipes, & shots! Everything in one place where I don't have go around the house gathering it all up every morning & everynight! It may look tacky but these ziplocks & scotch tape have come in handy. Ryan suggested I add some ribbon to make it even better! :-)

Let the Games BEGIN!!!

Today is actually the 1st day to really begin taking meds for this whole in-vitro process. But guess what I had to do before I started my newest drug? TAKE A STUPID PREGNANCY TEST! UGH!!! I thought I would never have to buy one of those dumb test again that will have a negative sign on it. Even better, the one I had was expired so after the Super Bowl lastnight, Ryan & I had to stop at Walgreens so I could get a new one! The 1st drug I take could harm a baby so they just wanted to be sure I wasn't pregnant.

So...this 1st drug is... guess what? An INJECTION!!! :-) It's called Lupron. It basically suppresses my system (otherwise known as Menopause) so the dr can get me & the other patients all on the same cycle so we all have embryo transfer the same week. Crazy huh? I had to be on this before after I had surgery for endometriosis. It's really fantastic! You have night sweats, hot flashes and you are way emotional! I can't wait for it to kick in! :-) As you see below it's just a little baby needle...I only inject a little...it didn't hurt. I have to do this one each evening. So now I am up to 3 SHOTS A DAY!!! That might be a world record? I am sure it's gonna get worse!


My new additions to my bathroom pharmacy! No children allowed in here! :-)

Here's the damage for now! I give all my shots subcutaneously (in the fat) of my stomach...nice huh? I don't really notice it unless the waist of my pants cut in that area..then that hurts! Most women show their pregnant bellies on blogs...maybe one day soon I'll get too...for now you get to see the progression of bruises! :-)

Well..I will have more news tomorrow...have a special appt in the morning..can't wait to tell you about it! To be continued...

LOT"S OF UPDATES!!!

Well...this is a gonna' be a huge post with lot's of pictures & updates!!! I am starting where I left off...with coming home from Utah after seeing my nephew Eli born. I have to tell the story of the night I flew home. My hubby picked me up from the airport & on our way home we stopped by the car place so Ryan could pick up his car that was being worked on. Since we were in seperate cars we chatted on our phones to one another the whole 5 miles home...we were glad to be in the same state after 2 weeks apart!!! As most know..I like to drive fast....and thanks to my mother in law getting a new BMW a couple years ago...she was so gracious to give me her '95 Infinity..which is a V6 & I love the smooth, fast ride! :-) SO...needless to say I was way ahead of Ryan. I pulled into our driveway first & saw a Christmas tree lit up in our front window! Keep in mind, I am on the phone with Ryan & I started screaming w/ excited over this Xmas tree that WASN'T there when I left for Utah! All I could say was did you do that? did you do that? I LOVE REAL Xmas trees and was so sad we weren't going to have one since I was only getting home like 5 days before Xmas. (especially since this was our 1st Xmas in our new(old) house.) At this point I am thinking it's a fake tree, & it's strung with lights I'LL TAKE IT! Well as I go inside..to my surprise...IT'S A REAL TREE, STRUNG WITH LIGHTS, ORNAMENTS AND THE STAR ON TOP!!! So..I just want the world do know MY HUSBAND IS AWESOME! How thoughtful was that? Oh..and one last detail about the tree...instead of the tree skirt I normally use Ryan found a Xmas throw blanket in the box with the ornaments & that was laid around the base of the tree.... :-) I was so grateful he tried I left that hideous blanket there! :-)
Now let's begin some pictures of our Xmas with the In-Laws...Butchly & Mama Key as I like to call them! Heisman stayed with us at their house through Xmas...owned the house by the time we left & had everyone wrapped around his finger. This bone was what santa brought him. :-) The biggest bone I have ever seen...

Ryan's youngest brother, Jared, went hunting & when Heisman saw him pull up on that 4 wheeler it was chasing time! Later I took Ryan on that 4 Wheeler & did some 360's in this massive mud puddle as Heisman chased us and was covered with mud!

Butchly put his safety shades on Heisman who was completely content with them! How funny!

He looks like he is using them to read in this one!

We spent Xmas day over Grandaddy, Grandma & Aunt Carol Key's house...Ryan & I thought we would be funny & disguise Grandaddy's gift card in a Victoria's Secret catalog I had... :-) He got a kick out of that!

ROCK BAND!!! Wow did we have fun with this...I haven't see Ryan stay up that late in a long time...Rock Band got his attention! My sister-in-law was jammin' out! :-) She's gonna kill me for putting this picture on here! ;-)

Ryan rockin' out on the drums!

Butchly LOVES classic rock..so we got him & his sister (aunt carol) to try it out!

Is that a face or what? :-)

Told you Heisman had us all wrapped around his finger....he slept everywhere...on the couch with Jared, the loveseat with Christi, the floor with Ryan, the bed with Butchly & Mama Key...our upstairs bedroom floor...he was the King of the house! :-)

After Christmas was over, I headed to Huntsville, AL for a youth rally called Exposure. There were 1, 000 people there! I taught the teenage girls class & stayed with my brother & fam...so I got to see my first nephew, Mason. He's so precious!

Once I was back in town again we had date night with our best friends Rick & Brooke Williams. We went to Cocina Superior for dinner, then back to their house for coffee & our favorite card game...NERTS! (the shirt I am wearing is one my husband ordered for me from New York & Company....he did so good didn't he?!!)

Now we move on to some babysitting I did recently. Our friends Ethan & Keri Southern have two adorable children, Ella & Baylee. They hung with us one afternoon & we took them to church w/ us that night while their daddy & mommy went on a short trip out of town. While hanging at our house...they found my sticky flags in our office...who knew you could have SO much fun with those things! :-)

The one eyed Ella!

Ryan encouraged Baylee to do hers like a football player! :-)

Since ONE of my nicknames as a kid was Bucky Beaver (thanks to my siblings)...I thought i would make mine teeth!

Then..3 nights later Baylee spent the night with me, which was a promise I made to her as part of her bday present. It was Friday night & "big girls" go out on Friday nights...so we went to the McDonalds drive thru for a happy meal & to the Dollar theatre to see High School Musical 3...which was exciting for this 5 year old!
After our movie we of course had to be super "big girls" and go through the Starbucks drive thru! When I asked her what she wanted she said, "that thing my mommy gets"...which is a white chocolate mocha latte (decaf of course)!

Every since she got a make up kit for Christmas she has been telling me that when we have our slumber party she is bringing that make up! I don't think I was ready for the 10 applications of purple & pink eyeshadow...but I learned real quick that was the "thing " to do!

She insisted on putting all 6 lip glosses on me...one after the other! :-) I figured a girls lips can't be TOO shiny!

THE GOODS!

At this rate, she'll better ready to wear make up by 6! I was able to teach her why that little eye shadow brush had two different ends...so from that point forward we applied then blended! :-)

Here she is...hair all brushed & her pretty make up

She looks so much older to me!

Somehow the word massage came up...so she said we could do some massages! Ryan & Heisman decided to join in at this point. :-)

Her massage was so funny...it was the tiniest squeeze of your trap muscle then her little finger nails would lightly scratch in between your shoulder blades. And she doesn't move around..just really focuses on those 2 spots. :-)

Saturday morning was pedicure day. I took her to my favorite nail place where we both got pedicures & she also got her nails painted.

I wanted to to experience a "real" pedicure...soaking the feet, massaging the legs and all...so she did!

Drying those nails!

She got the hook up with the flower painted on her toe & finger nail!

On to more current events...my work had another party! Our newest issue of Perfect Wedding Guide came out so we had a party at The Dorothy McDaniel Flower Shop in Homewood, AL. It was a lot of fun...with guitarist, Keith Williams playing live music for us. Here are "the girls" ....Katie Burks: Engaged Librarian & Operations Manager, Stephanie Whitaker: Publisher & creator of Engaged- A Wedding Library..check it out at www.engagedweddinglibrary.com

and me...Account Executive (otherwise known as the Sales Person!) My job is to get wedding vendors to advertise in our magazine! I love my job!!!

So...this photo has a story behind it! I told my sister to get my hubby some muscley like shirts from Armani Exchange for Xmas. Well..she did and I encouraged Ryan to wear one to this party. I couldn't wait to see his oufit we had planned! :-) He was gonna look so HOTT! The owner, Dorothy McDaniel, overheard me talking about how hot my husband is! :-) So..when he arrived she came over to him & said she just had to see this HOT husband of Kelly's! :-) It was hularious! So...they decided they needed pictures together.. :-) we were all dying laughing before it was over with...they look like they are at Prom together! :-)

My friend Faith Peck (who was my trainer for 6 months at Riviera Fitness) came to our party too...

Me & My Hott hubby... :-)

Well...that updates you from the past month and a half...Keep checking for some up and coming EXCITING NEWS!!! (no I'm not pregnant!) :-)

Update on the new Nephew!

Our little man is doing well. They decided after he was born that he should stay in the NICU for 5-7 days due to an infection he contracted from the ambiotic fluid. So my sister went through her dose of antibiotics & Eli just has to be on his a little longer. He hasn't looked or seemed sick the whole time. He eats just like his daddy that's for sure. (my poor sister!) :-) Today though he got out of the incubator thingy & so he is progressing well. He might get to go home tomorrow!!! Which I am hoping for because Dad & I leave on Thursday...so one day at home with him would be nice. :-)

Holly thinks that Eli has my feet....french fry toes!

This is the day he was born...I got to snuggle with him! I seem blissfully happy here...with that smile don't I? :-) As I was snuggling I felt a rumble in the jungle....:-) So I got the honors of changing the diaper! Boy was it messy....

This was a beautiful view of the mountains with the sun setting across the way...we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot all taking pic's of this! I suppose we looked like tourist? ya' think? 

Friday night we went to Temple Square where the Mormon temple is b/c they have Xmas lights on display. It was fun...my dad, aunt janet, aunt Becky & cousin Terri all went. This was a Spanish nativity scene. :-) 

Becky, Me, Terri & Janet in front of the temple. 

This was the Indian nativity scene :-) The way the lights were shining it looked like I was laying out in the bright sun!

I thought this was funny...instead of Eli Yetman or Baby Yetman it's baby Holly Yetman! 

daddy & son's hands

Rock on man! This was too funny! 

Saturday night we drove up to Snowbasin to ride the gondola up the mountain to the tip top where a restaurant sits called Needles. They have a huge buffet on the weekends so we went up there to eat! This is Aunt Janet & her daughter (my cousin) Terri. 

Me, Dad & Aunt Becky (my dad's youngest sister) It was cold even though the gondola is enclosed. I figured out real quick that my Mary Kay compact can be used as an ice scraper! We couldn't see out the gondola windows since they were covered in ice so we had to improvise! Later I learned my powder was broken...I guess maybe you shouldn't use those as an ice scraper afterall! :-)

Look at this sweet baby boy...

Look at this hair...Yes! It is reddish brown...

Kevin giving Eli his sponge bath....how sweet huh?

I thought he sorta looked like he was smiling here. 

He see's his favorite Aunt KeKe...he's gonna associate the clicking of the camera with my name! :-) 

He's got daddies little ears & we think mama's big eyes...still hard to tell though....

Eli & Aunt KeKe.....

Apparently it snowed some more lastnight...so I got ready this morning & wanted dad to take a picture of me on those rocks in the background behind Holly & Kevins house. Well..as soon as I stepped in the snow it sunk down a little further than I thought...so I decided since I was only wearing two pair of socks & crocs...I should not walk all the way to the rocks....so this is what you get!

Big foot went tromping through the backyard...or maybe it was just me! ;-)