Just us girls!

Last weekend Brandon headed up to Chicago for a last minute guy's night with a friend he had not seen in over a decade!  As he was pulling out of the neighborhood, Josie and I were planning our girl's only day!
We started our day at one of our favorite fall spots in Champaign, IL- Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch!  Last fall, Josie and I visited Curtis Orchard a handful of times.  It's free to get in and they have lots of fun activities (which are not free) for the kids!  We also hand picked all of our Halloween pumpkins from Curtis last year!  We physically removed them from the vines, which I had never done before.
This was our first trip to Curtis this year! Knowing it might be our only trip (and that I desperately needed a tired Jojo for an easy one parent evening), I let Josie do just about all that her tiny fall-loving heart wanted.  First stop- naturally- was for pony rides! Followed closely by feeding the goats.

Shortly after a ride on her trusty steed, we went to stand in line for face paint.  The line was only 5 kids long and I knew this was by far the shortest it would be all day.  It took at least 35 minutes, which is basically FOREVER in toddler time. Although, I am certain Jojo would say it was totally worth it! 

After we were officially feline we moved over to the giant slide/tractor ride section!  I don't have any pictures from the this part of our day, but she had a great time.  And, finally, you can't visit Curtis Orchard without sampling their delicious Apple Cider or Apple Cider Slushies (I don't know if we have these in the South, but they are legit and delicious) and homemade Apple Cider Donuts!  Here is Jojo patiently waiting as I stand in line!  It's a tough life at Curtis Orchard!

To round out our fall fun, we got up early Sunday morning and made homemade (ish) pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  Pinterest pages are currently flooded with a million ways you can use pumpkin and pumpkin spice to create your Fall dream.  I used this pin in particular to create our breakfast!  These were so easy to make!  

I wish I had followed the suggestion of spreading only a thin layer of pumpkin on the crescent roll.  As you can see from my photos, I went a little overboard, which makes them a bit messy.  I also thought the glaze was a little too powder sugary for my taste, but I truly appreciated that it was effortless and fast to whip up.  Overall.....it was pretty darn good and we ate more than we should have!

This weekend, we are heading off to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur, IL.  We have never been to this patch in particular and hear wonderful things about the children's activities and donuts.  Because, let's not kid ourselves, the real reason I am going is for the donuts!

Final Recap

In December of 2010 we contacted our RE and let her know we would plan to start the IVF ICSI process in January 2011. All of our medication was ordered, some from domestic pharmacies, some internationally.  To be honest, it was overwhelming and we hadn't even started.

In January I started taking lots of medications. Some made me nauseous morning, noon and night. I started giving myself shots in the belly. Actually, Brandon gave me the first few because I was too scared to do it. I started taking birth control (yep, birth control) and other hormone injections. Within 6 weeks I was a walking talking mess of hormones and nausea, not to mention lumpy injection sites as the new injections were an oil that had a tendency to get lumpy if not warmed before injection. Those hurt. My doctor assured us it had all been worth it. I was being monitored closely by the end of the 6 weeks and we had several healthy eggs (mature and not too big and not too small).

On a Wednesday morning in late February of 2011 Brandon and I both had our retrieval.  My doctor was able to retrieve 18 eggs from my ovaries. Of those 18, 12 were considered mature and initially we thought 10 had been successfully fertilized. When we went back to the RE on the day of our embryonic transfer we learned that only 6 had fertilized and were usable either in the initial transfer back to me or to freeze. The Monday following our retrieval, we transferred two embryos back to my body.  The remaining 4 embryos were frozen for future use. Both Brandon and I were happy with these numbers.

Two weeks after our embryo transfer we found out we were pregnant! I was still taking medication and would continue to take some medications for the next several weeks. I also suffered OHSS or ovarian Hyper-stimulation Syndrome and was in a lot of pain for about 3 weeks after the transfer.  Apparently some cases can be so severe that women need to be hospitalized. I will tell you it was extremely painful and I hope to never feel that way again, but thankfully I did not need hospitalization.

In November, after an extremely uneventful pregnancy I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl! She changed our lives forever and I could not be more grateful for this little girl! We were not sure we would ever be able to have a child, yet there we were holding this precious bundle of joy! In January of 2013 we started preparing for our first FET- frozen embryo transfer. We had four frozen embryos to use. Once again I started medications and shots. About 6 weeks into the new year we had our first FET scheduled. Two frozen embryos were thawed, but only one survived the thawing process. That embryo was transferred to me, but sadly two weeks later we learned that the embryo did not survive and I had not gotten pregnant. In March, we decided to try again. We had two frozen embryos left.  Once again, I found myself pumped full of medications. Again, only one embryo thawed properly. Sadly, two weeks later we learned the pregnancy had not stuck.

I was a mess of emotions and I blame that on both the medications and the loss of embryos. Our hearts were broken, yet we still felt like the luckiest parents on this earth. We had beat the odds and had our perfect baby! So many people spend their lives praying for the chance to be a parent and never get that opportunity.  At the time, we were too broken to even consider another round of IVF ICSI. I did not even want to discuss the option. Especially since trying again meant we would have to start from scratch.....all the way in the very beginning. All those medications and shots and all that money. And oh no....the OHSS. But, here we are, almost exactly 3 years since our FET's and 5 years since our original cycle, with a nearly 4 year old girl, preparing ourselves for a whole new cycle of IVF ICSI to start in January 2016!


We must be crazy!