Oh what a life we live

So, as you are reading this yes you will realize it is 4 in the morning, and why you may ask am I blogging now? Oh because I cannot sleep! UGH! But that's life. Also, I realized the other day I truly enjoy reading other people's blogs and love when others post on a consistent basis, yet I do not hold the same standard for myself. So, here is me posting (not promising to do better from here on out... but I am posting tonight/this morning. We will see if I continue to not sleep then you may get more posts).

So... what has been new in the lives of the Juries? Well... Let me do a quick recap for the last what? 5 months? Well... September was quiet busy for us... we did a very short and WONDERFUL trip to Atlanta! We loved it.. of course we hit up my favorite place on earth.. COKE WORLD! and also enjoyed all the other sites. We also had the opportunity to see Aaron's brother and SIL and also a friend from Columbia who moved away and meet his wife, Scott and Julie (you guys are sooo cute together!). It was very fun. What was not fun was having the bright idea to fly home early on a Tuesday and make it to work by the afternoon.. WHAT WERE WE THINKING?? We also went to claim school the next Sunday after getting back. Claim school is basically a week long training session for work on being a better Auto Claims Adjuster. We were lucky enough that we actually got to go together and did enjoy a trip to Bloomington, IL at our corporate headquarters. Bloomington is a lot like Columbia... not much there besides State Farm.

September also brought the decision to try another round of IVF. This decision was very difficult to make, especially when you factor in how much money it costs and how hard it is on my body.  But after much thought and prayers we decided to go all in and try one last time before we threw the towel in.

The last part of September and  beginning of October was pretty rough.  This IVF round we adjusted a couple things to help the results. Lets just say my body was NOT a fan of me. Shots X2 a day, lab work every other day and internal ultrasounds were not fun.  This time around I also had severe pain in my ovaries. The time before I was just uncomfortable a few days before retrieval however, this time a few days into injections my body was SCREAMING and the bloating from all the meds was quite severe. Retrieval was also pretty rough.... I guess thats what happens when you have 15 eggs sucked from your body. Our numbers obviously were much better this time and we even got 2 little embryos frozen if we ever need them. Implantation was also an adventure, nothing like not having a full enough bladder to being forced to sit in the operating room with a bottle of water and a nurse waiting for your bladder to fill. Our embryologist was getting bored and began drawing us pictures on pee-tree dishes to make us laugh. Once my bladder was finally full we had a smooth transfer, however once I got home I started having terrible cramps... the most severe ones I've ever had. After transfer you have to wait 2 weeks until you go in for blood work to find our results. I am sure you can all imagine me during those 2 weeks, as patience is not a virtue I posses, also during those 2 weeks mix in minor to severe spotting and I was WRECK. However, obviously as most of you know, this IVF round was a SUCCESS!!! 

So, what happens after you have a successful IVF? You still get the joy of taking shots every night for the 1st trimester. Aaron got the joy of giving me progesterone shots in the booty... he loved that. But hey if you ever need a shot he's a pro! What else happens after a successful IVF? EXTREME MORNING SICKNESS! Yes, that is right... puking day, night, mornings.. it doesn't matter, I am an equal time of day puker. I like the blame my sister Mary for this, I don't know how but she cursed me with her pregnancy sickness! Oh yes, I have heard the it only last the 1st trimester... LIE! It only lasts until 15 weeks.. LIE! If you suck on lemon it will go away... LIE. If you eat/drink ginger products that will help...LIE! Nothing helps, besides Jolly Ranchers, the strong taste helps me combat the sickness and usually helps me make it to a toilet before I throw up, although, Aaron is getting really good at pulling the car to the side of the road quickly so I can barf my guts out on the side of the road.I think I may be one of the few people who actually loses weight when they get pregnant.

So, lack of energy and sickness has been ever present in this pregnancy. Now that I have taken a whole paragraph to complain about how terrible it is, I would like to follow-it up with all the paragraphs I hated when I couldn't get pregnant. Even with all of the terrible things that come with pregnancy. I am still happy I get to experience it. After 4 years and literally THOUSANDS of dollars, I can honestly say I never thought this day would come. I never thought I would experience pregnancy for myself. Do I love it.. NO... is it was I expected it to be.. NO... but is it an answer to prayers.. YES! After going through infertility and still seeing friends and family suffer through it, I pray that their trails will be softened and they will gain understand/the desires of their hearts. How lucky I am that I get to experience this... because I know not everyone does! I know the heartache that comes from empty arms and an empty house. So, as I am hugging the toilet bowel, I try to remember two things... 1. I am LUCKY! I am the luckiest girl in the world to experience this... even if I never get to do this again... I am lucky! 2. I paid thousands to get this way, As my mom would say SUCK IT UP! I wanted and prayed for this!

Now what else have we been up to? We had our 5 year anniversary and spent it in Dallas, now that is a city I could see myself in! It was super fun. And we are now impatiently waiting for next week when we hit 20 weeks and get to go find out the gender of our little nugget. What do you think girl or boy???

Sorry this is such a long post... hope you enjoy!