A few months ago I did an interview with the Great Falls Tribune about my experience with infertility treatments. I just stumbled on the link by accident, and I thought it would be fun to share.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090421/LIFESTYLE01/904160362/0/NEWS01
Friday, June 26, 2009
What I will Miss in Great Falls
1. Check-a-Child: I judged this place at first, like much of you are probably doing right now, but this place turned out to be the best place ever. It is drop in child care. So I could take the kids there, for pretty much anything. I had a lot of doctor's appointments really early in the morning, so instead of bringing them with me or trying to find someone who didn't have kids in school, I would just take them to Check-a-Child. It was even great for Date Night. We could drop the kids off with some dinner, then go to a movie, or out to eat. It was so great. I really don't know what I am going to do with out it!
2. The Peak: This was my gym. I lived there especially in the winter. It was the greatest little escape in my day. They had an awsome child care that the kids loved. And I loved all the classes and people there. I even worked there the last few months as a group cycling (spinning) instructor. I never would have thought to get certified if it hadn't been for the classes I was taking there. I did my first triathlon there and I got back into swimming again. They also offered swimming lessons for the boys almost year round. It was a great place and again, I don't know what I will do with out it.
3. The Rivers and mountains: The Missiouri River ran right through town and it was beautiful. We would take the boys for walks along the river where they would throw rocks, and Mitch loved to canoe, kayak or float the river in some way. I was fun to have such a cool feature so close to home. There were also other rivers in the area that we were blessed to enjoy. We ran the Smith river a few times. Mitch did the Dearborn, and even got some good salmon fishing in on some other near by rivers. We had a great ski resort near town and the best part was they had super cheap child care for before Asher was skiing. It was also a great place for the boys to learn to ski. I will miss the mountains.
4. The Resturants: This one might seem strange for those of you who still live there, but I thought there were some unique local owned resturants in town that were really great and I will miss. The Breaks, Bert and Ernies, The Suki Cafe (new and so good), McKenzie River Pizza (all over Montanan, but not out here), and The Cattelmen's Cut just to name a few. Not to mention the Macaroni Grill where me and April went any time we felt the occasion warranted going out to eat. I will miss the resturants mostly because we dont' have Check-a-Child so we won't be able to go out anymore.
5. The GF 5th ward: Such amazing people. I still can't get over how everyone came to our rescue when everything happened with my pregnancy. We had child care and help with the move and the cleaning. Most of all we felt the love and support of people with hearts of gold. I am so grateful. I will also miss the R.S. book group. I enjoyed eing a part of the book group for the last three years. I made great friends and we read many great books. I was nice to have something that I felt enriched my mind, when so much of my day to day can seem like it is turning my brain to mush. I wish I could skype in on all the book group gatherings from here so I don't miss a thing.
6. Friends: I made great friends in Great Falls. Some of which I hope are lifetime friends. I am so gratful for fun people to laugh with. Smart people to learn from, kind people who were always there when I needed a person. In GF I really felt Heavenly Father looking out for me and providing a friend when I needed someone.
2. The Peak: This was my gym. I lived there especially in the winter. It was the greatest little escape in my day. They had an awsome child care that the kids loved. And I loved all the classes and people there. I even worked there the last few months as a group cycling (spinning) instructor. I never would have thought to get certified if it hadn't been for the classes I was taking there. I did my first triathlon there and I got back into swimming again. They also offered swimming lessons for the boys almost year round. It was a great place and again, I don't know what I will do with out it.
3. The Rivers and mountains: The Missiouri River ran right through town and it was beautiful. We would take the boys for walks along the river where they would throw rocks, and Mitch loved to canoe, kayak or float the river in some way. I was fun to have such a cool feature so close to home. There were also other rivers in the area that we were blessed to enjoy. We ran the Smith river a few times. Mitch did the Dearborn, and even got some good salmon fishing in on some other near by rivers. We had a great ski resort near town and the best part was they had super cheap child care for before Asher was skiing. It was also a great place for the boys to learn to ski. I will miss the mountains.
4. The Resturants: This one might seem strange for those of you who still live there, but I thought there were some unique local owned resturants in town that were really great and I will miss. The Breaks, Bert and Ernies, The Suki Cafe (new and so good), McKenzie River Pizza (all over Montanan, but not out here), and The Cattelmen's Cut just to name a few. Not to mention the Macaroni Grill where me and April went any time we felt the occasion warranted going out to eat. I will miss the resturants mostly because we dont' have Check-a-Child so we won't be able to go out anymore.
5. The GF 5th ward: Such amazing people. I still can't get over how everyone came to our rescue when everything happened with my pregnancy. We had child care and help with the move and the cleaning. Most of all we felt the love and support of people with hearts of gold. I am so grateful. I will also miss the R.S. book group. I enjoyed eing a part of the book group for the last three years. I made great friends and we read many great books. I was nice to have something that I felt enriched my mind, when so much of my day to day can seem like it is turning my brain to mush. I wish I could skype in on all the book group gatherings from here so I don't miss a thing.
6. Friends: I made great friends in Great Falls. Some of which I hope are lifetime friends. I am so gratful for fun people to laugh with. Smart people to learn from, kind people who were always there when I needed a person. In GF I really felt Heavenly Father looking out for me and providing a friend when I needed someone.
7. Doctors: We had wonderful healthcare in our little town in Montana. Kelly Timmer is actually a Nurse Practitioner, she was a life saver. She handled all the infertility in town and she was amazing. She would come in any time any day, she was always a phone call away and I truely felt like she cared about us. She became a great friend. When it became clear that we would need IVF to have another child, she was connected with another amazing doctor, Dr. Corfman in Minnasota. We were able to do all of our preliminary work in GF and only had to be im Minniapolis for three days. When I became pregnant, she was almost as happy as we were. Then we were hooked up with Dr. Key, the high risk pregnancy doctor in town. He is my hero right now. He is the kindest man you will ever meet. Again, he truely cares and you can feel that, and he is so smart! I am so grateful for his thorough manner. We still have this baby because of him. I am also grateful for the doctors at Mitch's clinic. For some reason we needed to go to the clinic more than any other time in our life. We had broken arms, strep, swallowed pennies, ITP and other various illnesses and the great Docs of Flight medicine were always there to help.
8. Glacier: We were just 2 beautiful hours form Glacier National park. I was beautiful and such a great place to take our family for weekend camping trips. 
9. My House: I loved my house. Now that we are in a new place I realize even more how good we had it. I loved my huge basement, large and private backyard, kitchen, sun room, big driveway where the kids could ride there bikes for hours. I was a wonderful place to live. I will miss it everyday, at least for a while.
10. My husband: Mitch worked clinic hours. M-F 8:00-4:30. Yes there were times when he worked longer hours. He even took call a lot. But he was home pretty much every night. I remember intership. I remember putting my kids to bed by myself every night. I know what we are getting ourselves back into, and I know that I won't be seeing him as much as we did in Montana. I will miss him, and I know the boys will miss him as well.
Our time in Montana was wonderful. We are so greatful for our time there. We know that we were truly blessed to be living there for the last three years. We were a little unsure of our decision to do the Air Force when they pulled us into active duty before residency, but it turned out to be such a blessing. I hope to eventually make Montana our permanent home. One more big thank you to everyone in Great Falls, past and present, who helped make our time there so wonderful.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Happy Birthday Mom!
My mom is my other super hero. She had been with me for the past week, keeping me company, taking me to doctor's appointments, traveling with me from MT to PA, and now helping us get moved into our house. This has been a difficult time, but in this trial we have received amazing blessings. I feel so blessed to have my mom with me right now. She has been fun to have around and she is so helpful with the boys and unloading boxes, which would take a year and a half if she weren't here.
Yesterday was her birthday. I wish she could had spent the day with my dad, showered with gifts and all kinds of fun. Instead she was with us, and there wasn't much, but an ice cream cake and two boys who love their Nana.
She has been so wonderful. I am so grateful for her help. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love you!
Yesterday was her birthday. I wish she could had spent the day with my dad, showered with gifts and all kinds of fun. Instead she was with us, and there wasn't much, but an ice cream cake and two boys who love their Nana.
She has been so wonderful. I am so grateful for her help. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love you!
Thanks, brother
This is my little brother Connor. Connor was a life saver this past week. He volunteered to drive out to PA with us, then when things went bad for me, he ended up really saving the day, by helping us getour car out and helping Mitch with some of the bigger jobs that needed to be done. We really couldn't have done it without him. I just wanted to tell him THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! You saved us in our move.
Super Dad!
Mitch, with the boys on the drive to PA.
Mitch is a super Dad! And this year, he was especially amazing. I am still on bed rest since my procedure. During the time since my surgery and bed rest, we have moved out of our house in GF, moved across the country and moved into our new house. Mitch did most of this alone. And he is also starting his anesthesia residency.
This father's Day Mitch really deserved a blow out, but I had only arrived the day before. He deserves the best gift in the world, but I am unable to shop and funds are limited. All I can do is express how much I appreciate what he has done for me and our family and tell him and the whole world how much I love him. He is truly amazing. I am so grateful that at such a difficult time in our lives, he is there for me and our kids.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Movin'
We had a very interesting move across the country. Wendy unexpectantly went in for surgery and was put on bed rest the day the day the moving company came to move us from Great Falls. So me and the boys in one car, and Connor in the other traveled across the country. 40 hours alone in the truck without Wendy! The boys did pretty well considering the situation. We got off to a slow start, only making it to Billings the first night, but we did much better after that. Some of the highlight were the indoor swimming pool in Billings with a slide, floating lily pads, a basketball hoop, and big hot tub, stopping at Mt Rushmore, and a short stop on the Mississippi river. Connor was a great sport, and we couldn't have done it without him.
The boys loved hiking around Mt Rushmore. It was hard to get them back into the Truck
The boys showing off their pistols (a driving bribe)
The great Mississippi River way up north
The great Mississippi River way up northThursday, June 11, 2009
Upside down
We have been having a little bit of a tough time. If you care to know the whole story, read on.
Last week I went in my my scheduled 20 week ultrasound, after checking all the usual fun stuff with the baby, (it's still a girl). The ultrasound tech told me she had to check some other stuff as part of the exam. Our first red flag. Basically my cervix was opening. This is not good. I think here is a good place for a little background. We were in the process of moving. Movers were at our house packing boxes that very day. The truck was coming the next day and we were scheduled to drive away just a few days later. So, back to the story. My doctor came in, gave me the news then told me to go home pack a bag and go check into the hospital where I would be on bed rest and given medications in preparation for surgery the next day. He would be placing a cerclage to close off my cervix and keep the baby in my belly. We began to spin our wheels and try to figure out a new plan. We found child care for our kids, found some one to come supervise the movers and tried not to think about how scary this all was.
I spent that night and half of the next day in and inverted position. That is where it started to get ugly. All the blood that rushed to my head made my eyes swell up, and I had really pretty bed head. That afternoon I was wheeled in for surgery. There the doctor found that things were worse than the day before but he was able to place the cerclage and save the day. I then entered three days, again in an inverted position, that I don't have much memory of other than, pain, fear and a revolving door or wonderful nurses.
By Tuesday I was starting to enter the world again, and Wednesday I was home. Well, sort of. Remember the moving part. Our house is empty with the exception of a mattress, suitcases, a few camping chairs and a camp table, and of course our lap top.
I am doing well. The baby is doing great, and we are expected to make a full recovery. The move to across the country is on, just a little more complicated and I will be on bed rest of some kind for the rest of the pregnancy. This little girl already has quit a story and she is only 14 ounces!
Dr, Key, Ronnie and Karen are my heros. They were so kind and concerned when helping us understand everything that was going on. Dr. Key is a genious who has been so helpful, and we feel so blessed to have had him as our doctor during the remaing time we have here.
I also want to tell everyone that has been so helpful thank you, thank you, thank you. Mitch and I could never have gone through all of this without all the help and prayers that have been offered on our behalf. I don't know if I will ever be able to express how grateful we are. And for me I am so grateful for a husband who was so loving and helpful when all the weight of the move and everything else that we have coming up shifted on to him. He just pressed forward, got everything done and remained my support and comfort during such a difficult and scary time. He truely deserves the Father, and Husband of the Year award, every year for the rest of his life!
This is me in the hospital one week ago. There are no other pictures because it gets pretty ugly after this.
Last week I went in my my scheduled 20 week ultrasound, after checking all the usual fun stuff with the baby, (it's still a girl). The ultrasound tech told me she had to check some other stuff as part of the exam. Our first red flag. Basically my cervix was opening. This is not good. I think here is a good place for a little background. We were in the process of moving. Movers were at our house packing boxes that very day. The truck was coming the next day and we were scheduled to drive away just a few days later. So, back to the story. My doctor came in, gave me the news then told me to go home pack a bag and go check into the hospital where I would be on bed rest and given medications in preparation for surgery the next day. He would be placing a cerclage to close off my cervix and keep the baby in my belly. We began to spin our wheels and try to figure out a new plan. We found child care for our kids, found some one to come supervise the movers and tried not to think about how scary this all was.
I spent that night and half of the next day in and inverted position. That is where it started to get ugly. All the blood that rushed to my head made my eyes swell up, and I had really pretty bed head. That afternoon I was wheeled in for surgery. There the doctor found that things were worse than the day before but he was able to place the cerclage and save the day. I then entered three days, again in an inverted position, that I don't have much memory of other than, pain, fear and a revolving door or wonderful nurses.
By Tuesday I was starting to enter the world again, and Wednesday I was home. Well, sort of. Remember the moving part. Our house is empty with the exception of a mattress, suitcases, a few camping chairs and a camp table, and of course our lap top.
I am doing well. The baby is doing great, and we are expected to make a full recovery. The move to across the country is on, just a little more complicated and I will be on bed rest of some kind for the rest of the pregnancy. This little girl already has quit a story and she is only 14 ounces!
Dr, Key, Ronnie and Karen are my heros. They were so kind and concerned when helping us understand everything that was going on. Dr. Key is a genious who has been so helpful, and we feel so blessed to have had him as our doctor during the remaing time we have here.
I also want to tell everyone that has been so helpful thank you, thank you, thank you. Mitch and I could never have gone through all of this without all the help and prayers that have been offered on our behalf. I don't know if I will ever be able to express how grateful we are. And for me I am so grateful for a husband who was so loving and helpful when all the weight of the move and everything else that we have coming up shifted on to him. He just pressed forward, got everything done and remained my support and comfort during such a difficult and scary time. He truely deserves the Father, and Husband of the Year award, every year for the rest of his life!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Now We Know
It's A Girl!
After ultrasound #3, we finally got a fairly clear shot and we can now say, we are having our first girl. The boys, especially Jackson, are really excited about the news. Jack has been praying for a sister, much to our surprise, for months now.
Bring on the Pink!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)