Flood aftermath

What a crazy night we had Wednesday night. Tom had to go into work early so he left around 6:00 and it just started to rain then. I cleaned up from supper and made a veggie pizza for food day on Thursday then off to Chris and Kristi's I went. I told all the boys they were going to have a new baby cousin. They were all excited. It rained the whole time I was there and finally it let up a little so I headed home. It was about 8:00. I pulled into the driveway and my garage door wouldn't open, oh great I didn't think I had a key to get in the house but I did, thank God, so I ran up the stairs with my umbrella, it was pouring! It was just like the night of Lady A, crazy! So needless to say the power was out. I went down and manually opened the garage door so I could get my car in. So since it was getting dark, there wasn't much I could do so I went to bed. I woke up a few times here and there and it was still raining. Thunder and Lightening all night long. Finally about 2:30 the power came back on. I was glad because I was starting to get hot. I got up to plug my phone in because it had died then I crawled back into bed.

I woke up at my normal time of 6:00 and it was still raining! Tom called me and said there was a house on Kelly Lane that had burned down and Perkins Restaurant too. Come to find out the house that burned down was Micayla and Brandon's uncle. It's a complete loss. They live just down the block from us on Old Mill Road. After Tom told me that I went and looked out Micayla's bedroom and here a part of our retaining wall came down, you can see where the stream of water came down the hill, crazy!

I went to check the basement and it wasn't too bad. Things were wet but nothing we couldn't handle, so that's our job for the weekend, to clean up since we will not be camping. We were supposed to go canoeing but that's canceled because of the high water and I think it's a good thing as well, I don't want to jeopardize this pregnancy.

My friend, Julie, was going to pick me up from work however she couldn't get to my house because of the house fire so I told her to go back home and stay there. I had talked to my boss and we were going to put the weather emergency on so no one had to go out in this mess. Most people couldn't make it anyways. As I was waiting for Tom to get home I walked down to the neighbors, the one with the playground in the yard, well, here is what it looks like now.

 

It's a total mess and I feel so bad for them, they just put there house up on the market but after I got talking to Kathy, the owner, they didn't know if they really wanted to sell it but thought they would try, well, they are not going to anymore, they decided to add on to there house. I don't know about the yard but that will come in time. Well, come to find out she's pregnant too and due in December and there are 2 other girls in our neighbor hood all pregnant too so we'll have lots of people to play with once our baby is born. We were so excited!

I went in this morning for another HCG test and my levels on Wednesday were 143 and today they were 422! They said that was awesome and perfect. I was so happy to hear that. Now I have to schedule my first Utlrasound and the doctor's here in DBQ are waiting for the fax from Davenport. Once that's done, no more Davenport or Iowa City! Yeah...

We are heading up to mom and dad's for steaks tonight. I'm picking up Chris and Kristi so they can drink. Chris already designated me to be the driver! LOL I love it though, it doesn't bother me one bit.

And the verdict is in..

After everyone's thoughts and prayers the verdict is in, first I want to share something that my mother-in-law said to me the other night. She said they were at church the day of our transfer day, Sunday the 17th, and she said "I forgot to tell you that the sunday you were having the implant that the sermon at church was about planting the seed." Wow, how awesome is that?? And I got a text message from Steph with Leah praying. It's the most precious thing I have ever heard. She says "Thank you for Rachael, and that she's a good time at the doctor" and then she goes on praying for her baby brother growing in his mommy's tummy, and after that it's hard to understand but it sure made my night! And again my Kokepelli chimes, they keep chiming away and I knew when I started to hear them that good things were coming.

So I know you're all anxiously waiting, well TOM AND I ARE HAVING A BABY!

It's so hard to believe that I'm saying those words but I love saying it, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. I've waited so long for this. I went in for my blood test this morning at 6:45am. I treated myself to McDonald's breakfast then headed to work. I was expecting a call around 10am but Allie, the nurse in Davenport, called me at 8:15. I was so nervous to answer the phone. When I did she didn't sound too excited so I wasn't getting my hopes up but all of a sudden she said CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE PREGNANT! Yeah, I almost started to cry but then he went right into what's next. So I go again for another blood test on Friday and my first ultrasound will be around the 16th of August, they will measure everything and I should get to hear the heartbeat. I will still be on the Progesterone and my thyroid pill, this will increase, but I'm not sure yet about the progesterone, I will know more once they call me back later today. They just wanted to give me the pregnancy results ASAP and I'm so happy they did!

What a great day it is and they gave me an estimate of when our baby will be due..April 4th!

Keep saying prayers that everything goes good from here on out.

One more day!

I can not believe tomorrow is the day for my pregnancy test. It seems like it's been forever ago since my procedure however I'm really nervous that it's already here. I like "thinking" I'm pregnant and now tomorrow I will know forsure, but I'm ready to know! It's driving me crazy. Last night I was telling Tom that I just want to take a pregnancy test and he said "NO" LOL So my plan for tomorrow is to get up at the crack of dawn, I'm sure I won't have a problem getting out of bed tomorrow, but I'm hoping to be up around 5:30, go give my blood, then come back home and get ready for work. At least that's the plan, but we'll see what tomorrow brings. All I know is the earlier the better, that way I get my results faster. They are doing two test, a pregnancy test and another test to check my progesterone levels, that one takes longer than the pregnancy test so they will call me as soon as they get the results.

We had a great weekend, Friday night was Lady Antebellum, what an awesome concert, however if the rain would have held off it would have been that much better. Boy, do I wish I had some pictures of the rain. We all thought our phones were shot because we were completely drenched! A big storm came though about half way through concert and after the concert another round of storms came along with 60 MPH winds and thunder and lightening.. Let me tell you it was like needles stabbing you. It didn't bother me as much as Linda and Erica probably because I've had needles poking me for the last month. LOL It was just unbelievable. Here is a picture of Lady A, it's not the best picture but at least can see where our "seats" were. We didn't have seats we were on the track standing.

and once the rain started it was a mud hole! Erica and I had flip flops on and we had to take them off to be able to walk. Anyway, it was a lot of fun! We also got to eat some good fair food. We each a Gyro, a Lemonade and I had Ribbon fries. You should have seen this, it was a boat full of potatoes! Yummy..Oh and as we were eating our yummy food, we got to see the Clydesdale horses, they are so beautiful..

Once we got back to the car we collected ourselves before driving home. I had drove and thank God my car had leather seats because we were soaked. I can still smell "wet" in my car but I'm working on airing it out since it's finally nice out and I can stand the heat. But I was planning driving up to the campgrounds but I decided to dry off and just go to bed and get up in the morning and head up. That's what I did and thank God my phone was OK. I had to air it out because it was wet and I was trying to text Tom but it wasn't working but the next day everything was fine.

Before we left for the concert on Friday I stopped to see mom and Grandma, here's a picture of mom "feet"

She broke her toe on her left foot, so she's just a mess right now, but she's at home now and is getting around good. Kristi suggested she gets on of those things where you put your bad knee up and push yourself around like you're on a skateboard or something. She's love that!

Camping was the usual, nothing too exciting happening up there, it was Christmas in July, however we didn't participate we just hung out with the other campers and went swimming. That night about 8:00 I started feeling crappy so Tom and I hung out in the camper and watch a movie - Due Date then I went to bed and Tom hung out by the fire with Brandon and Casey. The next day I still didn't feel the best, so it must have been a little bug I caught or something.

Weekend is finally here!

Wow, what a long week, that's all I can say. Today I felt like I've been eating everything in sight. I'm hoping this is a good thing because if I end up not pregnant I will have a lot of work to do to get back on track, but I'm thinking I'm so hungry is because I'm now eating for two! This morning I had a bowl of cereal, my favorite Special K Fruit and Yogurt, it's so good. Then I got to work and about 9:00 I was hungry, usually I get hungry about 10:30 not at 9:30, so I ate my banana and that just didn't cut it, so I had a bowl of ice cream, we had a little ice cream treat for a fund raiser her at work so I had a pretty big bowl of that with chocolate and caramel topping along with nuts. Then of course it was lunch time about an hour later so a friend and I went to Salsa's and split a chicken quesidilla and lots of chips and salsa. And to top lunch off I had to have my Milky Way Caramel candy bar that I found in my purse! We got these at Walmart last night, there were 2 left in the box so I said to Tom "these must be in here for us" it's our new favorite candy bar. I'm feeling very blotted and tired right now. But I feel my 2nd wind coming around, I have a big night ahead of me.

Lady Antebellum is tonight at The Great Jones County Fair. The concert starts at 8:00. We will be leaving DBQ about 5:45 or so, once Linda gets to my house we'll take off. I will have to pick up Erica early since Tom is going camping she's going to give me my shot so that's all taken care of. I'm really looking forward to it, they have some really good songs. It's too bad mom can't come, I will have to take lots of pictures for her. I feel so bad for her. I've never seen her where she can't do anything and I know it's driving her absolutely nuts!

Last night we moved Micayla into her new apartment. Well, I didn't help move, I just watched since I can't lift anything. I think I could get used to not being able to lift. Just kidding! But she's got a cute apartment and once everything is situated to there liking they will like it that much more. Here's a pic of Micayla on her bed, this is her new comforter from her mom for her graduation. She's going with the zebra print.

And of course I have lots of pictures of her apartment but I can't get them rotated, so I know from now on when I take a picture with my phone to hold my phone horizontally instead of vertically, which to me, does not make any sense, but whatever. She even blends into her bed with her zebra dress she has on. LOL

Waiting stinks!

I know it's only been 4 days since my transfer but this waiting stinks! I have to wait until Wednesday morning to go to the lab. I called the nurse today to make sure she had everything set up because I never got a lab work request form like I have in the past and plus I had to ask her about my thyroid prescription. I can't go to a local pharmacy anymore, my 3 refills are up, otherwise they charge me full price, so we have to go through Medco, a mail order pharmacy, so they are taking care of that for me. I also asked what time they want me up at the lab. They said earlier the better, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep Tuesday night anyway, so I'll be there at the crack of dawn.

I haven't felt different or anything, but I'm sure that's normal. I've been reading a blog that Stephanie found for me, it's http://mattandjuleeturner.blogspot.com/ I've been keeping up with this blog because she has gone through the same thing we have and she's now 20 weeks pregnant. Well, she posted today about God and I found it very interesting, she writes, "I know it's Satan trying to ruin this joyful time and it makes me angry that these thoughts have arrived when I know God has shown himself so clearly by giving us this precious baby."

It's so true, I have these same feelings like this process is not going to work and I have a whole week to think about it. I know I have a 60% some chance that everything is perfect but what about that 40%, it's scary and I know exactly how she's feeling. It's scary and right now I'm very emotional, maybe that's a good thing, right? Hormones??? I have no idea but all I can say is I can't wait for next Wednesday.

On to better things, my party last night was a success, I will have to pick out a lot of items and I can't wait to see what I all get.

Friday night is Lady Antebellum. I'm going with my friend Linda and my cousin Erica. Mom can't go because of her foot so Erica is going in her spot. Should be lots of fun. We will come back Friday night and I'm hoping to head up to Whitetail to have a relaxing weekend with my husband.

Micayla's Graduation Party

It was a hot one! We celebrated Micayla's graduation on Saturday up at Murphy Park overlooking the beautiful Dubuque. She had a great turn out of family and friends with good food and even an ice cream machine. We needed it since it was over 90 degrees out. Here are a few pics.

 A view from the pavilion we were at.

Brandon and Micayla's brother, Andrew eating ice cream.

 The ice cream machine! 

Brandon and Micayla's sister, Madison

 My sweetie grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.

Above is the girl Micayla is getting an apartment with. I think she is moving out on Thursday. We are a little nervous for her but it's what she wants to do.

It was a great day, mom and I went to get a pedicure and decided to get a manicure too. What a great way to start the day and have pretty toes for my procedure on Sunday. 

Our baby!

Here is our baby! Out of the 9 fertilized eggs, one was an excellent blastocyst, another words, embryo. I guess everything about this picture is perfect from what the doctors said so we are super hopeful that everything is going to happen.

Tom and I had to be there by 10:30 everything went very smoothly the staff at the U of I are unbelievable they are super nice and want the best for us. It makes everything we are going through that much easier. Tom had to get into a pair of scrubs and I got into my beautiful gown, not!

I very upset that I can't figure out how to rotate this picture, because where I have it saved on my computer it is upright but when I upload it to this blog it doesn't save it. I don't get it! Steph, help!!

But he looked so sexy in those scrubs, I was hoping we could take them home but no such luck. The procedure only took about 10 minutes once we were all set up. We got into the room and they had a CD player in the room with CD's to choose from because it was a quiet room and who doesn't like to listen to music when your feet are up in the air. One of the CD's was and IVF mix, we immediately put that in but I think we were both going to fall asleep so Tom switched it to a relaxation CD. The first song was a wedding song, it was quite funny. The nurses and doctor's came in and said ohh, it's a wedding song. We all laughed.

The doctor explained to us about all 9 fertilized eggs. Only 1 was excellent so they are not sure we will have any to freeze. I will find out today, if not, hopefully the excellent one they transferred will be the one! Again, they are very hopeful.

So I was under strict orders to go home and do nothing other then go to the bathroom, so that's exactly what I did. But first we had to stop for lunch, we chose Sonic! I was thirsty and as we were driving out of town we drove by a Sonic so we decided to stop and eat. I didn't have to get out of the car so it worked out great and it was so good!

We got home around 2:00 or so, Tom headed to bed and I relaxed and watched TV. I got all caught up on my shows and even watched a movie, Step Up 3. I know I'm a dork.

Mom decided the other day that she would make a pot roast and bring it up for us to eat since I wasn't allowed to cook or anything, so it was a great idea, or so it seemed. Mom and dad got here around 5:40 and mom came up through the front and headed down the steps to open the garage door so dad could bring the roaster up. Well, as mom was going down the steps, she didn't turn the light on, and she missed the bottom step and sprained, we think, her ankle. She kept yelling at me to stay there and don't get up. Come on, mom I'm not crippled! So I opened the garage door and dad didn't know what the heck was going on. Well, she was hurting. Tom woke up because he could hear us, but he wasn't in a sound sleep because I had to wake him up at 5 to give me my shot. I felt so bad but I had to do it.

Mom crawled up the steps and got up on the chair with some ice. Again, I can't get this picture rotated.

So instead of mom waiting on me, both dad and Tom were waiting on us, it was quite comical. Dinner was excellent and hopefully she didn't break anything. She's going to get it X-Rayed tomorrow.

Now the dreaded wait! I go for a blood test on Wednesday the 27th! The waiting is going to drive me nuts and they said not to take a pregnancy test because I'm still taking progesterone and this could alter a pregnancy test so I'll try and stay away. I just want to see that pregnant sign.