I'm really hoping since this was a medicated cycle that it will be within the "normal" 28-30 days.

I tested Saturday which would have been 4-5 days early and the test was negative. I'm testing again tomorrow morning and I hope it's either positive or that my period starts so that we can move on without wasting any time!! Please pray for us! We really do want to be pregnant!

1 Thessalonians 5:18
...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Going to day shift January 31st! woot-woot!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I hope that 2010 brings good things to everyone. :)

New Years Resolutions to come later....what are yours?!

7 more days...or maybe a lil less if I test early. I really hope there's a baby in there!

If not...then its going to be a very sad day.

9 days (give or take a day) til I can test and see if this cycle was a success or not....

...really trying not to read into "symptoms" that I may or may not be having.

Just want this baby so bad! Also go back and forth almost daily dreaming about twins since it's a higher possibility. I think we better just hope for one healthy, happy baby at a time. :)

Snow has been coming down like crazy all day! Yay. :)

Got out of the house for a lil while today since Andy was watching football all day ...and still is. The semi-annual sale started today at Bath & Body works so I ended up with 6 things for $21!! Many great deals there...go check it out!

Then I went to Babies R Us...go there about once a month for my baby fix. :) They were having sales...they usually are having a sale on something every time I go there. I got a 5 pack of boy onesies for $2 (normally $14.99) and some gender neutral pants (white with green and orange stripes) for $1.40. Then I decided I might as well sign up for the Rewards card (kinda like a coupon card--it was free) since I've already spent some money in there before and will be spending more in the hopefully near future. fyi...their deals are usually better than Target and they have more clothing selection!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; Lean not on your own understanding; but in all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Merry Christmas Everyone! We are so thankful for the many great supportive people we have surrounding us. Happy Birthday to Jesus. He is the reason for this whole season. "Simplify the season, celebrate the reason."

Here's a quick update since I know you are waiting....

The left ovary did nothing...neither follicle grew hardly anymore. The 2 in the right went to 12 and 13. So no shot. The tech said they may still release on their own and we could potentially become pregnant. :( Didn't see Dr. L. He was out today, go figure.

And I started feeling sick at work last night....extremely sore throat and my face and eyes feel like they are on fire....great.

Talked to a friend at work who struggled with infertility for 3 years. We've been talking on and off about stuff. She told me she normally had around 10 follicles during her follicle studies. So I have some seriously lazy ovaries!...and I'm only 24 so I hope it doesn't keep going downhill from here! We might have to increase the drug dosage if this cycle fails.

If tomorrow's ultrasound doesn't show any growth then we might have to move on to the next cycle since it's unlikely they will release on their own or with the shot if they aren't big enough.

Now its off to work I go. Going to be up for about 34-35 hours before I get to go to bed tomorrow night since I have my appt in the morning and then we are going to 3 family things between mine and Andy's family. Freaking HATE night shift! ...hoping to be able to nap from 8am-10am...we'll see..sometimes that makes it worse!

Read at your own risk!

The ultrasound did not go well. Neither ovary did a stellar job ...yet.

The left one has a 7mm and a 9mm follicle growing. The right ovary has two 11mm follicles growing. ....Dr. L wants them to be at least 18mm. So no shot today.

He wants me to come back Thursday morning for another ultrasound to see if any of them grew enough to be released by the trigger shot. If this cycle doesn't work then he will let me try Clomid 3 more times at higher doses. Leading to -- me breaking down in tears in the exam room....

Here's the catch. Insurance, of course, does not pay for infertility treatments so this follicle study ultrasound was $170 out of pocket paid today and it'll be the same price for Thursdays ultrasound. I am pretty sure that the trigger shot is also out of pocket. Insurance did cover part of my initial ultrasound last month to look at my ovaries (since it was labeled as irregular periods) and we still owe $112 on that one.

So the insurance companies don't care about those that actually want a baby! This is so frustrating and sad.

Starting to get a little nervous/antsy about my ultrasound on Tuesday morning...hope it shows at least one good follicle that's ready to be released. :) Please pray for us.

It's Snowing!!!

Done with the pills...bring on the US and shot! lol :)

Tried to do some christmas shopping today ...they were sold out of one thing that I was looking to buy for Andy. Then I went to 2 different stores to find ski poles for dad...neither store carried them...but I have 2 other stores to check out. I am closer to being done shopping though. I love the busy stores and happy people. :)

Well the side effects from this medication haven't been terrible. Only one incident of dizziness so far and I most certainly get the hot flashes quite a bit! (those are the 2 big side effects from the drug) I was starving at work last night...my friend Jillian said that must be a side effect too...I think I just wanted to eat..lol!

2 more days of this drug. :) Then ultrasound at 9:30am on the 22nd!

Almost done with my Christmas shopping...can't believe 2009 is coming to an end. Hopefully 2010 brings many blessings and miracles. There is much to be thankful for!

Had a great time this weekend! Here's the best highlight of our trip!

Baby Matthew--- One month old!

Girls shopping weekend in Frankenmuth this weekend so I will be MIA from the blog til Sunday night. Can't wait to meet my cousin's new baby boy Matthew! He will be a month old tomorrow! :)

Have a great weekend!

Here's the low down so that you don't have to scroll through past posts to find the details.

~Clomid pills Sunday through Thursday.
~Ultrasound to check for follicles/mature eggs (this is where we need the most prayers) on Dec 21 or 22.
~If there are any I will get the HCG shot that day.
~Pregnancy testing will be around January 4th-5th.

*****Please pray that this works on the first round, you know how much we want this baby!*****

Thanks! :)

Look at my new ticker. :) Yes we are very excited!

2 disappointments in one day....

Yet another negative pregnancy test..why do I keep taking them??? This is CD 41 for those wanting to keep track. Considering calling my OB to get a script for the Provera to jump start it...just afraid of the side effects and not sure how much it costs.

I also received the call today that I will not be going to days for the January schedule and most likely will not going to days with the February schedule either. (insert swear words here!!) They decided nights is too short (even though I would still be there from 3a-7a). They posted 2 part time nights positions and hope to hire someone(s) soon to start in January and be trained by mid-February for level 2 (basic). So best case scenario would be the March schedule.

Why freaking tell me that I have the position and then not let me move!!!

I was so freaking tempted to just call in sick today because I'm so pissed but that's a bit irresponsible considering 1) I'm not sick and 2) I don't want to use up what little PTO I have right now!

I am done with 2 out of my 3 classes now for this semester. Yay for that. Now to make that important decision about whether to continue or not. Leaning towards stopping classes ...but fear that I will be labeled a quitter.

Nothing yet. Hate this.

Got up early so that I could test before Andy went to work and it was negative. :(

Guess my body isn't going to have a 36ish day cycle this time. Feel like a failure this week...depressing that I can't get pregnant when we want to. Doing everything right and it still is taking a while. Tried to go back to sleep after I tested and I couldn't so I've been up since 7:30...so unlike me.

In order news I checked out yet another book on Infertility from the library...this is another one written by someone who's been through this hell. I read another one written from this perspective and I read a more medical oriented one. A girl at work also recommended her infertility doc in case my OB can't get me pregnant with meds and injections. She brought it up...not me. Don't want you to think that all I ever do is talk about my problems. There are a few at work that seem to be geniunely concerned about me and interested in whats going on.

Sorry that this blog seems to be filled with sadness and topics of infertility every time you open it to read it. Welcome to my world!

This freaking waiting game better be worth it!! Good lord.

CD 36...so if I'm going to have another 36 day cycle like I did in Aug-Sept..my stupid period should come today. Still a no show at 4:30pm. Blah. I just want to know if I'm pregnant or if we are still playing the waiting game! I'll keep ya updated. :)

Still don't know when I get to go to day shift...it is supposed to be with the January schedule but they are not sure. It may be later than that since they weren't able to post any new positions until Monday (and they only posted one instead of the 3 that they were supposed to!)...due to us not meeting budget for 3 months in a row...missed it by a fraction is what I heard. How are we supposed to stay within budget if we are paying some girls call time to come in extra?? Lets hire a new person and pay them straight time...duh!

Still indecisive about school....so yeah...just waiting and waiting...this sucks...a lot!

Happy December. :) Bring on the snow!

Can't believe November is almost over. 2009 is flying right by...hopefully 2010 will be a good year!

Tested early yesterday...it was negative. :( Still have one more pregnancy test at home...hoping to hold out til next Saturday the 5th unless of course my period comes before that. Wish I could have known it was going to be negative...might have had a glass of wine at Thanksgiving dinner!....maybe it was just too early to detect the pregnancy hormone...that's what I try to tell myself!

This semester is so close to being done! I will be completely done with my Embryology class on the 5th and the other two classes will be done on the 11th. Crazy!

Happy Birthday to Andy!! :)

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Ours was fun...except I had to work 7p-7a last night. Mom and I did do a little shopping after I got up today. We went to Target and Jo-Ann Fabrics. :) Can't wait to celebrate Andy's Birthday tomorrow---he'll be 29!

Bedding :)

Since I'm a lil bored while football is still on... heres the bedding we like so far for each gender. :)

This is just one of the ones we currently like for a boy:




and this is our favorite right now for a girl:



We are 99% sure we are going to go with dark wood (espresso or cherry) for the nursery furniture. We also have our car seat/stroller picked out too. :) As well as other things...I'm a planner and have had some time to look and compare reviews and safety ratings! Both of the above bedding sets are at Babies R Us.

ARRGGHH....that's what I want to say right now.

In other news...Andy and I rented The Ugly Truth tonight since I got cancelled at work til 3am. It was good! :)

Finally Friday...but we don't have much planned..lol..oh well.

No new news to update anyone on. This is CD24 for me (cycle day 24)...so if my cycle is going to be another 36 day one than I would have ovulated within the last 48 hours....but all the ovulation predicator kit sticks were negative (all 7 days of them). So we will just wait and see. If it's another 48 day one then we still have quite a bit of time to wait....maybe it'll be in the middle of that..wouldn't that be grand?!?

Have to keep this blog somewhat light and cheery so that my readers don't think I'm a hopeless depressed woman. This way if I give out facts here and there one of you may be able to use it down the road when you are trying to have a baby.

On a happy note...we had an admission last night and the Neo let me call one of the shots since he was at home and decisions needed to be made before he was able to get to the hospital!

Still no word from the doc and nothing in the mailbox either..thanks Erica for suggesting that idea...thought it might come through the mail but it didn't. I am just going to assume everything is ok unless I hear otherwise since I'll be in contact with him anyways once my period starts again or I get a postive pregnancy test.

Feeling frustrated today...some days it is better than others but today I just don't understand why it can't be us right now that is pregnant! Andy is taking this quite a bit better than me. He just keeps saying that it'll happen when God wants it to happen. He is certainly much more patient than me...which is a good thing. Guess I just need to sit back and enjoy my life as it is right now.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!

Still very indecisive about continuing school....really wish there was a clear cut answer. The program has been cut by IUPUI due to budgeting reasons so everyone that is in the NNP program has to be graduated by May 2012 so I do have a little bit of time to play with if I do take a leave of absence. Just not sure what I want to do.

Makes me want to cry and scream at the same time!

Still no word from the doc. I waited on hold for almost 15 minutes today before giving up..and that was just to speak with the nurse...supposedly he will review the images and call me soon. ARRGG...I'll call again tomorrow if he doesn't call me. How long can they let someone wait. That's just ridiculous. I'm assuming everything is normal but I would like some confirmation!

While reading my Infertility book tonight...I read the section about the injections. The one that I'll be getting (if I don't get pregnant on my own this month) is called Ovidrel and the sting factor is listed as medium to high. ...great!

Dear Body,
Please get pregnant on your own. Your owner HATES shots and will usually pass out or become dizzy and/or nauseous with them.
Love,
Ashley

No news from the doc today. Maybe tomorrow.

I am getting more impatient with the whole baby making process. I just want it to be our turn. I know God is in control but I don't understand why there is such a delay! Just trying to live in the moment and take as good of care of myself as I can.

Classes are getting close to being done for the semester and I am happy about that!! Less than a month to go! Still going back and forth about continuing with school...leaning towards no right now.

No word yet from Dr. L...if he doesn't call soon I'll call the office!

Had my lovely internal ultrasound...highly recommend it if you wanna be violated by a wand! lol :) Anyways..the tech had a little trouble getting a good visual on my right ovary at first but said that everything looked normal to her. Dr.L will read the images and either call me today (unlikely) or early next week.

Checked out 2 books from the library on Infertility...I've learned a lot from 2 of the girls at work that I talk to that have been through this but it'll be nice to read about things as well.

In other news..my cousin Stephanie had her baby boy!! Matthew Thomas arrived yesterday (2 weeks early)! They are home now and doing great. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Another girl at work had a miscarriage. :( She was due in March/April (can't remember at this moment). Life can be so unfair at times. Please pray for our NICU.

Time for an update for those wanting one!

Today was my appointment with my OB/GYN. After all the "yearly" stuff was taken care of we talked about my wack job of a body. He is so proactive (as I've heard about most of the docs in this practice) and I'm very happy about that!

Here's the plan: Ultrasound on Friday to make sure everything looks normal inside.

Then we wait for my period to start (god hope it comes before the new year!). On days 5-9 of my cycle I'll take the drug Clomid to force my ovaries to prepare a follice (mature egg). Then on day 13 or 14 of my cycle I'll have an ultrasound to see if either of my ovaries prepared any eggs. If they have I will receive a shot to force the ovary to release the egg...and then you know what needs to occur after that!

He said it is unlikely we will get pregnant on our own this month due to the long irregular cycles I've had. But we will still try.

This is all very frustrating and makes me quite bitter at times but I am trying to just not stress and go with the flow. Key word: trying!

Yes,..there are side effects to Clomid..hot flashes and moodiness. Oh well. There is an increased risk of twinning also. (Getting pregnant with twins.) He said the risk is not very high though.

Going back to using the ovulation predictor kits this month...now just gotta figure out which 7 days to use the strips since my cycles have been so wacky! Wish us luck!

Hoping & Praying for a "little turkey." :)

Really hope that November is our lucky month. "Third times a charm" did not work...this is month # 4...yippee..not! I go to the Doctor Nov 10th to hear what my options are. We just hope that my body cooperates and gets pregnant the natural way.

Still not sure what I want to do about school....waiting to hear back from my advisor on what the policy is on taking time off.

I'm turning down the St. Vincent NICU job...the offer is full time days at $22/hr. Not good enough to make the drive. I make very close to that amount right now. Oh well...it was worth a shot.

Found out yesterday that St. Vincent who has been staffing Parkview Norths NICU with neonatologists is about up on their contract..YAY! Dr. Biehl..who is our head neo might be taking over their contract so that we can "own" Parkview Norths NICU. If thats the case then he might be able to hire me and Christy (another girl I work with) after we graduate from NNP school. Now I just need to decide what I want to do about school!

Contemplating taking an extended leave of absence from NNP school after this semester... just want to focus on starting a family. Plus the job opportunities for NNPs aren't spectactular here since Lutheran and Dupont already have one and don't need anymore since they aren't huge hospitals....lots of thinking to do!

Very excited still about going to day shift in a couple of months...never thought it would happen!

I got the day shift position at work! I won't start it until January..maybe before that but most likely January. Yay!!!

God does answer prayers!

Then on my way home from doing my call time...I listened to my voicemails and St. Vincents NICU offered me a job...not sure which shift...they didnt say so I'm gonna call them back in the morning and see if I can make both jobs work. Wow!

Finally got my period....let's see what happens from here.

I love the girls I work with! :)

There are a few (prolly 8-9 girls) that have been through what Andy and I are going through and its helped so much to open up to a couple of them and hear suggestions on what testing to get and what to be prepared for. Infertility is quite an open topic at work because most of us are so closely knit. Also was nice to hear that they get frustrated by well-meaning comments from others that aren't in that situation! Oh well...wouldnt wish this on anyone...except maybe those that have too many kids that they cant care for or the drug addicts....

In other news...I may not get the day shift job I applied for. Theres talk that a girl that works weekends wants to go to weekdays. She's been there longer than me so she would get it automatically. The jobs go only on seniority to make it fair for all. Bummer...maybe she'll change her mind or maybe another day shift one will open up in the future.

Still haven't heard anything back from St. Vincents Womens NICU.

I applied for a day shift position in our NICU last night. Our unit is still going through changes and trying to move what staff that they can to a position that they want to be on if theres room for it. Cross your fingers! It's a 3am-3pm position that would still be 3 days a week.


on to the depressing news...day 46 and counting..no signs...UGG!

day 44....negative test...trying not to stress about this.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Chronicles 22:13

God grant me the serenity to ACCEPT the things that I can not change COURAGE to change the things I can and WISDOM to know the difference. ~The Serenity Prayer


SOOO Excited that my parents are coming home today! They've been in Europe celebrating their 25th anniversary a lil early. (They got married Dec 8, 1984).

I'm spoiled rotten. :) Got to drink my favorite kind of Starbucks while grocery shopping and then we had Wendy's for dinner since it was getting so late! I love Andy!

43 days and counting.....

We've decided that we are going to take a pregnancy test once a week until either 1)I'm pregnant or 2) my period starts... just pray..

Oh..and a common myth is that infertility and trouble getting pregnant are hereditary...sorry but no they are not. If that were the case...I would have a few kiddos running around already! Heres some info ..

"There is no evidence to support the theory that a tendency to miscarry is in any way genetically inherited. Experts reckon that around 15% of conceptions fail in the first few weeks (even before a period is missed) and a further 15% miscarry in the next two to three months. In other words, miscarriage is, sadly, very common. you may miscarry, too, but if you do, this is likely to be a random event, rather than a genetic inheritance. You are certainly not predestined by your genes to have a miscarriage. Most early miscarriages happen because either the baby or the placenta is not developing properly - not because of any supposed defect in the pregnant woman. "


FYI --- I've heard of differing percentages of miscariage depending on how far along you are from the girls at work who have been there, done that and got the info from their Dr.

I had my job shadowing at St. V's Womens NICU yesterday afternoon and it went well. Everyone seemed nice and helpful to each other which is always a plus in a big unit like that. Still not sure if I even want the job now...I want out of Lutheran but the drive to Indy is quite far even if I did just do it part time! Guess we'll see if they even want to hire me and what the pay rate is.

In other news I got to go on another flight again last night! We went from Lutheran to Dupont to get a baby that has transposition of the great arteries (which is one of the defects we can't fix) and took her to Riley Children's Hospital. I'd rather fly with every transport...its shorter, less bumpy, and nicer!

*** I made my blog private and am restricting the readers....if you feel someone needs to be on the approved list just shoot me an email. ***

I made this blog private so that I could vent my feelings without the whole world having access to reading it.

So this trying to conceive thing can really be as difficult as some say. I figured that since I was somewhat young and healthy that we would be able to get pregnant within our time frame. Not so much. So heres some background to catch ya up if ya feel like reading it ...if its TMI then just skip this post! I stopped birth control Aug 1st and had the withdrawl bleeding shortly after that. Then between that "period" and my September period there were 37 days...I figured no big deal it's just my body adjusting. Well between my September period and now it's been 40 days and counting. Pregnancy tests have been negative and I had my blood drawn yesterday and it was negative too.

The office nurse said if my period doesn't start by Nov 10 (my yearly appt) then the OB/GYN will give me a medication to "kick-start" my periods. Just a little fyi in case you aren't very familiar with female cycles and infertility...if your cycle is less than 23 days or greater than 36 days then it could indicate that you are not ovulating at all or not ovulating consistently. Great! NOT!

Before you say...oh go try the ovulation kits...been there, done that. They were all negative. If my periods can't be regulated with the medication that the doc might be trying then I will be taking a medication to induce ovulation (somewhat complex med..more on that later if needed). Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Andy and I have decided that we will let God decide when a baby is right for us...we will continue trying (as we have been fairly often!) for as long as it takes. Andy's age is a factor...as well as mine...believe or not after a woman is 25 the chances of getting pregnant start to decline while the risks start to go up slightly. If that means taking a semester or year off of school or quitting then so be it. The desire to have children is much stronger than me finishing school. So we are playing the waiting game and hoping that God blesses us. For now I'll just focus on school, work and being with Andy as much as time allows!

2 quick updates:

~My parents are loving their time in Europe!! Hope they remember to come home!

~Andy's aunt is off the ventilator now but is not able to eat anything by mouth yet.

Please pray for a friend at work that just had a miscarriage at 16 weeks. Life is so very unfair at times. :(

Finally a nice fall day! The rainy past two days were depressing! It's nice to just relax around the house. We don't have anything planned for today....should probably do some reading for school though.

Updates:
~Andy's aunt is improving more and more each day. Please continue to pray for her as she is still in the ICU at St. Joe.
~My parents should be landing in Germany at approx 8:30pm tonight. They will be in Europe until Oct 23 traveling to 7 different countries!

~I had not one but two interviews in Indy today! Crazy! The first one was at Community North hospital which is a 36 bed NICU. It has its pros and cons but is similar to Lutherans NICU. They share neonatologists and NNPs with Riley Childrens Hospital. They do not do transports.

~The second interview was at St. Vincent Womens (fyi. when people say St. V's NICU--they mean St. Vincent Womens NICU). They have a 75 bed NICU, 20 Neonatologists, 8 NNPs and 1 PA. Whoa! They do everything but open heart surgery and ECMO. St. V's is more appealing just at first glance today. They also have a $20-25 a night hotel house on their campus for employees and families of patients.

~You may be asking yourself...why the heck is she applying to jobs 100-120minutes from her house?...well ...I am likely not going to be offered a job at Lutheran as a NNP (we already have one and don't currently have a need for more) when I graduate so I am trying to investigate other RN opportunities elsewhere to get my name and face out there for when I do graduate. If I am offered either job we will have some thinking to do. I would more than likely commute to Indy for now and we will decide later if we want to move closer. I would hate to leave Fort Wayne but I can't see myself staying a RN forever...I need something more in life!

Andy's aunt is making some improvements! Please continue to pray.

Please pray for Andy's family. His aunt was taken to the hospital Tuesday in very critical condition and is not expected to make it through tonight. She is married with 3 kids and 2 grandkids. :( Her name is Julie.

Very sad afternoon today. My primary baby in the NICU died from multiple complications. He was born May 8th so he had been in our NICU for almost 5 months. I was able to go in today along with his evening shift primary nurse to help out during those last few hours and then be with the parents. So heartbreaking for them.

The life of the Coak doggies....

....while the owners are out the dogs will play! I had to run 2 quick errands this morning so I left Larry and Lacy out of the crates (dumb move I guess). I came back to 2 destroyed ink pens. I had left them on the coffee table...out of their reach..or so I thought! I don't think they ate any of it but the plastic pieces were all over the living room.

About 5ish minutes after coming home...Larry brings me my highlighter from off the coffee table...is this a sign that maybe school work is overrated?!?

Then later today...Lacy dug a big hole in the yard...with Larry's help.... while I was cleaning the house/on the computer. It does not take her long to dig trust me! So I had muddy paws and faces to wipe off! Yes, you read that right ..faces! For some reason our dogs put their nose into everything!

Gotta love 'em!

Happy October! Its 47 outside right now! Woke up to a freezing house. Now its off to take a very warm shower and get started on my reading for school....maybe I can try to get ahead so I'm not frazzled on Monday and Tuesday?! (most of my school stuff is due tues and wed eves)

Two cute pics from today. The girls and I at Danne's baby shower and lil miss Gracie! She'll be one on Nov 1st...where has the time gone?! Danne is due Nov 4th....her new baby and Gracie might share the same birthday!

frustrated with so many things right now.....but....

Excited I get to see Abbey, Gracie, Danne (&baby), and Jill at Danne's baby shower tomorrow!

I just applied to a part time 7p-7a position at Community North. Wish me luck! I kinda want to get out of my current position. Need more experience before I take the NNP leap!

Time is flying by very quickly. Classes and work are keeping me insanely busy. Then add on genetics clinical to that....granted its only 2-3 days a month...but the anticpation of that looooong drive is a bummer. :( Very excited for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy tonight....I was supposed to be on call but found someone who doesn't watch Grey's to take it for me! Better go get stuff done so that I can watch it in peace tonight! :)

Sitting here again not able to sleep. A lot on my mind and I slept late today from working the night before...boo. Really should go work on school work...at least I could be productive that way!!

Please say a special prayer for the safety and health of the pregnant moms and babies in our NICU unit. We have had a very scary situation present itself at work and its effects on the unborn can be quite severe.

insomnia sucks!

so ...my boss just quit.....crazy! I haven't been at work (this upcoming wknd is my wknd) so I don't know the details ..I guess she mailed us a letter. I've been in Indy all day so we didn't get the mail and I see there are few ppl from work are talking about it on facebook....who's gonna be in charge of us now?? We are a tough bunch of girls to please...

Why do I have a headache almost everyday for the past month?! So very frustrating!

Trying to enjoy my pumpkin spice latte and work on my research hmwk...it's boring!

My first genetics clinical is tomorrow in Indy. Gotta wake up super early and I am soo not a morning person! I hope I see a lot of interesting patients.

Got my raise today...over the phone so that it can go into effect for this payperiod. A whooping 5% raise...that's pretty good!! :)

Andy is going full time starting Monday!! He will also be getting a pay raise with it. :)

Hopefully I can get my annual review taken care of soon so that I can get my pay raise also! Work is not appearing to settle down at all. I've had to do all of my call time for the past few weeks and the unit is full of complicated babies right now.

School is certainly in full swing for me. Keeping up with the reading for three classes is proving to be more challenging than I originally thought. Oh well...it'll be sooo worth it when I have my degree and a better job! Clinicals start next week for genetics ...in Indy..but its only 6 days spread out over sept, oct and nov.

The NICU graduates reunion is this Saturday at Franke Park...can't wait to see all of our little babies growing up!

Also very excited to help Emily start shopping for her bridal dress and bridesmaids dresses!!

I hate not knowing!

I'm starting to think August was not our lucky month. We'll see. Bummer :(

Stephanie is home from the hospital now. Whew. Hopefully she can make it to at least 35 weeks.

I got to go on my first MICU flight last night! It took us 10 minutes to fly to this hospital that normally takes 40-45 minutes driving! Crazy. I loved the flying part....but we only fly if the baby is really bad or if it is a micro-preemie. This baby was in quite a bit of respiratory distress. But I had my favorite neonataologist with me...he met us there...they don't fly! Hopefully I'll have more chances in the future to go.

Andy is really liking his new job :) One of the other tellers just put in her 2 week notice so maybe in a few weeks he might be able to go full time! School is going well for both of us so far. Week one down...15 to go! Work is picking up like crazy for me! I was running around non stop last night. We have 22 babies now. So looking forward to summer being over and fall weather to be here.

Please continue to pray for my cousin Stephanie. She has been in the hospital since Saturday for preterm labor. She has received the necessary steriod shots for the baby's lungs. She is 27 weeks and 4 days today....baby Matthew needs to stay in for a bit longer. Her OB thinks she will not make it to term though. I wish she was in Fort Wayne so she could be in my hospital/NICU if need be!

nothing really new to update on.....

Andy is at his first day of work today! Hoping that it is going well for him. :)

Classes started this week for both of us. I'm looking forward to all 3 of mine...don't know if I can say the same about Andy! lol

Andy starts his new job on Tuesday!

Andy got the job at Dekalb Financial Credit Union!!!!!!!!!! 30 hours a week...Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri! We are excited!!!!!!!!!!

Andy said his job interview went well. They will be making a decision by tomorrow or Thursday!

Just a few neutral things we've gotten on sale for future Baby Coak!

another potential job!!!

Andy got a call from Dekalb Financial Credit Union (branch in New Haven) this morning! They want to interview him tomorrow for a part time teller position!!! Awesome!!! This is what he really wanted to do when he started sending out applications. Anything bank or credit union related will make him happy. :) Please pray for him/us.

Lacy is feeling much better....thank goodness!


Amy and Curtis's wedding went very well yesterday...only one major glitch. She was a beautiful bride. :) They are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon....wish I was going on vacation!!

Today we decided to get a new vacumn at Lowes. We had the dirt devil vibe originally but we really needed a new filter and they don't sell them anywhere anymore....they don't even make the dang vacumn anymore. So long story short...we got the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser!! Love it! I vacumned the whole house and the couch....lots of dog hair...it put the other one to shame. Poor thing! I highly recommend it if you have pets...it has 2 different attachment for furniture depending on what kind of fabic you have. Now I sound like a saleswoman...lol. :)

bees

My little (big) girl Lacy got stung by a bee this evening. :( It stung her on the face....she was trying to catch it and we were in the process of trying to kill it! Her lip swelled up and her eyes started watering so I called the vet. She wanted to see her so off we went. She ended up also having a fever with facial swelling. Got a shot of benadryl ...hope it helps! She was not happy getting her temp taken though!! She kept trying to get away and held her tail real close to her butt! :) Hopefully the bees just stay away! Oh, she also got weighed at the vet and shes 48lbs now!

Andy's second interview at NYL went well. He now has to get some info from 10 different people and then have a third interview. Long process! Work is finally picking up, we have 14 babies now. It was great seeing the girls on Monday. Gracie is getting so big! She can stand on her own for short periods of time now!! :)

:)

~Andy has a second interview with NYL on Monday. Wish him luck!

~Abbey, Gracie, Danne & Jill are coming to Fort Wayne on Monday!!! Very exciting. Haven't seen Danne & Jill since Oct '07 and I haven't seen Abbey and Gracie since March! We are planning to go out to lunch and then do some shopping. :)

~I have all my books for fall semester now....3 classes! I'm ready for school to start already...yes I'm a dork. :)

Done

...done with birth control....let the fun begin!

Updates

~Andy's interview at NYL went well...it's a mostly commission position. He has to take some kind of test and might then have a second interview.

~Today he found out that he might be able to go back to Porter Paints part time soon! That would be awesome because he already knows how to do the job there so it would be a easy transition back and of course a paycheck every week!

~Work is soo slow...we only have 10 babies now. :( My primary baby may have Leukemia now...I hated leaving him this morning to a nurse that has only had him once and he's going to have a battery of tests today that can only be done on day shift since he will have to leave the unit for them. Hopefully the Hem/Onc doc can figure it all out. He's a very sick/fragile little boy.

Prayer

Tomorrow is Andy's interview at New York Life. Please pray for him and us. Thanks in advance!

hangin out

Not much to report this weekend. I got books for 2 out of my 3 classes for fall today. A girl at work that is also in the NNP program is letting me borrow hers for the semester. Yay for friends! Our census is dropping...14 babies right now unless we got more after I left today. Crazy! We like to stay right around 20-22. Oh well I picked up a ton of extra hours the last 3 weeks. Andy has his interview this Wednesday so please pray that he gets this job!! This coming week is my last week for my nursing theory class....with the big paper due August 3. I'm hoping to have it done by this coming Friday though. I haven't started actually writing it but I've researched and read 5 articles so far for it so hopefully crunch time helps me get it done! That's all for now.

Interview

Andy has a interview next Wednesday at New York Life!!! Please pray that he either gets this job or one very soon!!

baby things :)

I've had baby fever for as long as I can remember and I love buying other babies (and their mommies) baby stuff. Well this past weekend I bought 3 new things for our (someday soon) baby! I got this fleece blanket at Babies R Us but its in a much lighter green color...silly internet! Isnt it cute....and gender neutral?!

updates

Updates~

• Andy and I are going to start trying to add a member to the family in September!!!!
• Andy's been working with his dad to earn some money while continuing to job search.
• I am almost done with my nursing theory class!!

Please pray for a job for Andy to become available soon and for us to have luck while attempting to conceive this fall. :)

It's July!

Wow...it's already July! Yay!! I just want this summer to be over! It's been sucky...but things are looking up.

Job

PLEASE please please pray that Andy gets a interview or a job asap! If you know of any banks or credit unions hiring please pass along that information. :) The sooner he gets a job the sooner we can have Baby Coak!

Halfway there!

Well my Pharmacology for Prescriptive Privilege class is over and I got an A! It was only a 5 week class. I am halfway through my Nursing Theory class....very happy about that because that class is pointless!! Or so it feels.

Babies, babies, babies

I wish my baby fever would settle down a little bit. It's hard to focus on anything else sometimes. If Andy had a full time somewhat well paying job we could possibly be trying to conceive our first baby within the next couple of months...but the job market sucks big time!

I just try to focus on school and working extra but it doesn't always help....especially when people ask me all the freaking time... "So, when are you and Andy going to have a baby?" At Alan's graduation party I got asked this question by at least 6-7 different people! Then of course the girls at work tease me about it.

Sorry just needed to vent. As of right now our start date to start trying is August 1, 2010...booo! But at least by then I would be graduated before the baby arrives. Only time will tell when our family gets a new member!