Bath Night

So, while I was going through somethings tonight I found the kitty brush I brushed buggie all nice and pretty. Then tried with Dante and OMG! Did he stink! I tried the pet wipes, that didn't do it. Then I pulled him into the bathroom thinking that I'd do the foam bath, since he hates water. Since his stench was getting worse we decided to just fill up the bathtub and throw him in and shampoo him. So, we did - he really wasn't that bad in the bath I've seen him a lot worse just going to the vet for a check up. Then after he was done - we thought might as well move onto Hannah. She hadn't had a bath in a while. So, we rinsed out the bathtub and filled it up a little bit again and did the same thing. The last time that we tried giving her a bath she sounded like we were killing her. Suprising once again - she wasn't that bad. She started to play in the tub attacking the dixie cup along with cap to my shaving gel. The only time she really starting wining was when we were spraying the shampoo off. When we dried her off Eric thought it was a good idea to take her outside. I thought I would be a good idea to get Buggie while we were at it. So, I took her in the bathroom cleaned out the tub and filled it again. She struggled at first then finally gave up in the middle. I for the most part gave her the whole bath (besides rinsing) myself, while Eric was walking Hannah.

I took some after photos of them:

Early Anniversary Gifts...

So, for an early anniversary gifts to each other - Eric and I both decided to get tattoos. I've been wanting to get one of a lighthouse in honor of my grandfather. Eric wanted one of a bridge. We went to Inkporium in Lansing to see our Tattoo guy - Kevin! He's awesome and his work matches that.

Eric's Tattoo (Mackinaw Bridge - taken after it was done)


My Tattoo (Tawas Lighthouse - taken at home from an odd point of view)

Results from HSG...

From what they told me right after the test - Everything looks fine! Yay! So we will find out in two weeks that. But OMG, I hurt so bad afterwards it was hard for me to walk at first. I am feeling a lot better now through.

What is HSG?

I've had a few people ask what it is, this is what I found on webmd.com...

Hysterosalpingogram

A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) is an X-ray test that looks at the inside of the uterus and fallopian tubes and the area around them. It often is done for women who are having a hard time becoming pregnant (infertile).

During a hysterosalpingogram, a dye (contrast material) is put through a thin tube that is put through the vagina and into the uterus. Because the uterus and the fallopian tubes are hooked together, the dye will flow into the fallopian tubes. Pictures are taken using a steady beam of X-ray (fluoroscopy) as the dye passes through the uterus and fallopian tubes. The pictures can show problems such as an injury or abnormal structure of the uterus or fallopian tubes, or a blockage that would prevent an egg moving through a fallopian tube to the uterus. A blockage also could prevent sperm from moving into a fallopian tube and joining (fertilizing) an egg. A hysterosalpingogram also may find problems on the inside of the uterus that prevent a fertilized egg from attaching (implanting) to the uterine wall. See an illustration of a hysterosalpingogram.
Why It Is Done

A hysterosalpingogram is done to:

* Find a blocked fallopian tube. The test often is done for a woman who is having a hard time becoming pregnant. An infection may cause severe scarring of the fallopian tubes and block the tubes, preventing pregnancy. Occasionally the dye used during a hysterosalpingogram will push through and open a blocked tube.
* Find problems in the uterus, such as an abnormal shape or structure, an injury, polyps, fibroids, adhesions, or a foreign object in the uterus. These types of problems may cause painful menstrual periods or repeated miscarriages.
* See whether surgery to reverse a tubal ligation has been successful.

HSG Announced..

I found out today that they have scheduled the HSG for this Friday at 11:30. Starting today I have to take some antibiotics. She gave me a list of instructions over the phone. Everything should go fine. I hope so at least. This is the closest thing that I've had to be hospitalized, I've been rather lucky up to this point.

I'll keep you updated. Stay Tuned to The McGowan InFertility Struggle for further details!

After the Specialist Visit...

So, here's the run down on what happened at the visit. Eric stayed out in the waiting room. I went back and the nurse asked me some questions regarding my history and cycle. She was quite pleasant and easy to talk to, which was nice. After the vitals - it was time for the exam... I had to get undressed and put on the paper cover-up. Then the Doc came in - introduced himself then started checking the breasts... and so on. When he was done with the exam told me to get clothed and go down the hall to his office where I would be joining Eric.

So, I make it down to the office - shortly after the doc walks in. He asks Eric a few questions about his history and so on.

He then moves to asking me questions on what I've been on and if I'm still taking any of the medication.

He said before he can set up a plan on what to do next he'd like to know what's going on. There's three things that we need to do before our next visit.
1.) I have to get a series of blood test done - 10 of them!! (that was to be done after we left, which it was)
2.) I have to get a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) this is where they inject a liquid into me and then they will x-ray down there to see if the there's is anything wrong with the tubes or the uterus. (this should be done within the next week or so, they are to call with the appointment
3.) Eric has to get a Sperm Analysis with Morphology with Kruger Strict Criteria (which was to be done within a week, but the earliest appointment for the fertility center was August 29th!! Don't know what the doc is going to say about that).

I'm suppose to start taking my Metformin again (even though I HATE to take it) and take the prenatals. The one that he's giving me are HUGE! And on the package it states that they are "Small film-coated prenatal vitamin" Yeah RIGHT!

Anyways we are to meet back there in 3 weeks to work on the plan. We were told to get a copy of our insurance policy. I guess the office doesn't want to do their job and get any of that information. Oh well. One of the ladies at the front desk was a crotchety old woman looking like she wanted to retire. Arg! The other lady though was really nice though.

We are just in another waiting stage until we find out when I have the HSG done and go from there. Yippie! I HATE waiting!

Specialist

So, tomorrow we have an appointment with the fertility clinic. I'm kinda nervous about it. I don't know what to expect. I don't know if they plan on doing any testing tomorrow or it's just the consultation tomorrow. Who knows. I'm just worried I guess that he might say that we are better off with the procedures than using any of the meds first. We just can't afford any of the procedures at the moment. I know they do financial plans for them, but I don't want to think about that if we don't have to. Well, I'll write tomorrow with what the specialist has to say.

Finally got something done!

I feel like I have done some around the house. I did some of the dishes (I'm slowly working on it). If you didn't know our dishwasher is just for looks, since we don't like to hear the high pitch squeal that comes from it when it's running. I cleaned out the cat box. Took care of the water dishes since the kitties and the puppy like to drop food in the water, cleaned the eating areas, gathered everything that I think I will need for tomorrow.

Now I just need to finish the dishes and clean out the fridge and I will have some of what I want done. Besides the papers that I still need to file or shred. Arg... The payback for procrasinating.

Dark Knight

Last Night Eric and I went to Celebration Cinema's on the chance that there were still tickets available for the 4:55 showing of Dark Knight. There were! Too be honest - it wasn't that cramped in there. I'm sure if we would've went to the later showing it would've. Since when we left the theater there was long lines.

But anyways, about the movie - it was good. If you haven't seen it yet - I'd recommended it. I would like to see it on IMAX next. But that will be sold out on the weekends for a while. It was all around great performances! Just a great movie!

Buggie needs a shrink!

Does anyone know of a kitty shrink in the Greater Lansing area?

I don't know what is wrong with Buggie, she's always been needy and has shown it before we got Hannah, but as of late - She's been pooping (not just on the rug outside of the cat box, which was her spot when she was pissed) We have found it on the kitchen floor, by Eric's bathroom door and by my tub. Then again she decided when I was in the bedroom getting ready for bed - to piss all over it. And the biting that she has gotten worse as well. I know the vet was trying to say that she has allergies, but I think it's mental even more so now. So, I guess we will just have to take her into the vet and see what Dr. Main has to say. Maybe she can get some prozac! That'd be nice. Maybe it'd calm her down a little bit.

IDIOTS!!!

I swear that I work with a bunch of idiots that drive me up the wall. And the one that's been here the longest (longer than I have been alive) is the looniest of them all and he's going to drive me over the edge. I swear he does what he can to get under my skin (as in aggervating me). When you talk to him and try to explain anything he gets on his defensive side and gets all mad. He's got to research EVERYTHING! He cares too much about nothing. Things that aren't a big matter - he worries. Then on top of it that drives me the most batty - he has his own computer to do cost invoicing, but does he use it? Maybe 25% of the time. Where is the other 75% done?? My F'ing computer! Not only does he log me off and he's not the cleanest person around. So, not only do I have to periodically wipe my desk area down with disfecting wipes (kinda like Monk). Also, in the morning when I have to log in it takes like 10 minutes because the system is SO old! (I'm still running 98 and the program that I use AS/400 the last update for it was 97 I think). Yeah, everything down here is basicly prehistoric that also makes it a wonderful work environment. Not including in the winter time it's FREEZING and in the summer time we don't have A/C and it's usually at least 82 degree's in my office (that's not even the "HOT" point).

Ok, enough with my vent. I just needed to let some of it off my chest.

Knocking at 30's door....

Well, today is my 29th Birthday. I went to work as normal and on Eric's way to work he stops to Biggby and gets me a coffee and a scone. He delivers it to me at work along with a birthday card that's from the cats and the puppy. Guess what kind of card it was! It was a Hannah Montana card. What a shocker!?! haha! It was a nice suprise though. I didn't plan on him doing anything like that. I kept on working throughout the day as normal. After work I was picking up Eric from work (why pay for two cars to park downtown when we could just pay for one). We went to lunch at Troppo's that is located downtown. I've never been there for lunch, but I have been there for dinner and their menu had a lot more variety on it than what the lunch menu had to offer. So, I was rather disappointed. Oh well, I ended up getting the chicken sandwich and it came with a specialty salad. The food was good and filling. It even came with chocolate chip cookies with the bill.

After lunch I dropped Eric off to get his car. And I have been home relaxing since besides the usual pet owner stuff like the following...
Cleaning up cat puke.
Watching Hannah puke (Eric offering to clean it up)
Cleaning up cat turds spread across the floor (due to Hannah getting into the litter box)

Now Eric is at the Condo Association Meeting. I decided to stay home this time. I didn't want to be bored. Since though half of it - Co-owners can't talk just the board members. So, why even bother.

I received cards from My mom, Grandma, Granny and Auntie Connie & Uncle Bob

I got birthday wishes from friends on Myspace and Facebook. Along with a few text messages. I did get a phone call from mom at 11:04am (during my lunch break)... she asked me if I looked at the time. I was dumb - I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. "You were born at 11:04". So, I ended up talking to mom for a few minutes before she let me go. Later on in the afternoon I did get a phone call from dad (eventhough we had to play phone tag for a few hours).

At least with Eric gone I might be able to take a bath or a long hot shower and relax before I go to bed early. Hopefully the pets are willing to cooperate with my plan.

B-Day Dinner with In-Laws

For birthdays (the closest Sunday to the Birthday) you get to choose where you would like to eat. So, I choose Stillwater Grill. My father-in-law was unable to make it, since he has been sick and has no appeite. I had the Prime rib... MmmMmmm... Good.. After dinner we decided to go shopping at the Eastwood shopping center. Until it was getting kind of late. So, we left Eastwood and headed back to the in-laws house to be able to eat my Dairy Queen Ice cream cake - MY FAVORITE! How could you not love Chocolate Ice Cream, Fudge, Chocolate Cookie crumbles and Vanilla Cream?? So, now my in-laws for my birthday they always get me the cake... And now I have just a little less than half of it left. We'll see how long that can last. I doubt that it can last till Wednesday. hehe

So-called Company get together

Earle (one of my co-workers) decided to throw a picnic/pool party at his house. I had created a sign up sheet for him and we hung it up in the break room. Well, people had signed up. I think there was a total (on the sheet) of 6, besides family members. Well, Eric and I were the first to show up. And a little later Rusty and his girlfriend and thier baby showed up. So, there was 6 adults, 1 baby, 1 puppy and 1 dog. It was nice though. We all got along and took advantage of the pool! Towards the end of the night we did play with the Wii. Which I had never played a Wii before then. It's a lot of fun. I like it. Then again... I'm not going to spend that much on a game system. To expensive for me. What can I say, I'm cheap at this moment in my life.

But all in all it was fun. Good food + good company + good entertainment = Good time.

Giving it up.

So finally yesterday Heather said she wanted her Guitar Hero back. Boo-hoo! Oh well, at least I didn't get totally addicted to it. I don't plan on buying it anytime soon, due to I don't want to spend that much on a game. Even though it's on sale. At least I still have it on my phone! :-)

OMG!!! BAD KITTY!

So, last night right before I was going to go to bed, I was fixing the sheets, Buggie was under the loose sheet as I was trying to fix it. Didn't think anything of it, since she has done it in the past and just plays. This time is different though! She gets out from under the loose sheet and then starts to pee!!!!!!! Yes, she was pissing on the bed! Thank god for mattress pads! It didn't let any of the pee get onto the mattress! She's never done anything like that before! I don't know what's brought this on. I swear she needs some prozac or something. That cat is just mental with LOTS of issues.

Any Ideas?

Whoo-hoo!

I'm so proud of myself. I'm getting better at Guitar Hero. We have been borrowing it from my sister-in-law since Jennifer was down here visiting. And while Jenn was down here I didn't get a chance to play it except for once. I'd been trying to beat one song and I just couldn't do it. I beat it today! YAY! Then I went on and passed another level (clearing 3 more songs, not including the intro's). Eric tried to play it again tonight. Yeah, not so much. He can't do it at all. He's really good at the version for his phone, unfortunally can't be played on his phone, but it can on mine. Oh well, at least I'm getting better. I guess practice does make perfect. :-)

Changing insurance?

Eric and I aren't sure if we should change our Insurance to PHP (Physician's Health Plan) HMO. We don't know if they would cover anything differently than Blue Cross Blue Shield. We tried calling, but once again - the insurance company was very limited on what they could say. Why can't the insurance companies just be up front with what is covered and what isn't?

Do you have any advise? I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best bet since we have to go through the treatments. UHH.. I HATE my body!

Bad Puppy!

OMG! Yesterday I was about to scream from the top of my lungs (if I could have). I had taken Hannah outside to do her business when I got home, well, she went pee then just sat in the grass watching the birds. So, I let her for about 10 minutes. Since it was so hot I took her back inside. NOT EVEN 10 minutes as I'm sitting on the love seat reading the mail - I smell shit. So, I start looking around. Oh yeah - right by the fireplace. But no, that's not where it stops - she had stepped in it and wherever she went there was a paw print, it wouldn't have been so bad, but it was all over the living room carpet, the rug, the blankets I keep on the couches and a pillow! So, I had to take her in the bathroom and put her in the tub to try to get it off. And then I left her in the bathroom while I tried to clean the mess. She didn't stay in there long, since she was SO loud. I ended up putting her in her crate until I was done cleaning it up. It took me 1/2 hour just to clean the living room area! Ugg... Sorry - Just needed to rant about it.

Thank you for reading! :-)

4th of July Weekend...

So, the weekend has now passed. I had to work Friday and Saturday. That was fun, NOT! After work we went over to the in-laws for a BBQ on Friday, but we ended up going over there on Saturday too during the day, so, I could lounge in the pool and get some sun. Friday Night we went to the Ingham County fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. The display was alright. We got kinda bored during the show. I guesss after having seen Bay City's fireworks this wasn't very good. The fireworks were very sparse and had moments of black sky. And it didn't seem like they were in order at all. Oh well, it was free entertainment! haha. Saturday night we left with Heather to go to Coldwater to go the DRIVE-IN movie theatre. Which was awesome. It was a double feature and we saw Hancock and Don't mess with Zohan (or something like that). Eric had never been to a Drive in before, I have but it's been a while ago and not in this state. :-)

Then on Sunday Erik and Mikey came over for dinner. Which was a spur of the moment thing to do. So, Sunday morning I was going around trying to make sure everything was clean. It was nice to see them it's been a little while and now Mikey has met Hannah for the first time and LOVES her. It was so funny watching him play with her. All I have to say is Mikey is a little bit crazy! haha!

Now it's back to the work week. Ugh.. Is it Friday already?

Blue Cross Blue Shield

GRRR!!! I think I HATE BCBS! Trying to get information out of them is HORRIBLE! I have to try to figure out what is covered with our insurance, we are going to go to the specialist now. And they are not willing to go the extra step to help me at all. When I called the first time immediate response was, "Oh no we don't cover that" and when asking if they covered anything at all to due with it all she could say was no.

So, when Eric got home he called. He had a little better luck with the person that he got. But she was talking way to quick and Eric only got some of the information. Then she says that she will send out a hand book of what's covered.

I received the book and look it over. I don't think I ever seen such soemthing that was as vauge as this book was!

Ok - There's something not right with being able to terminate a pregnancy or getting "fixed" for both male and female, but it DOESN'T cover infertility treatments! I mean WTF! They don't even cover the minor stuff!

Since Eric's co-worker has been though some of the same stuff that we have been through and are going to go through, but has the other insurance that the state offers and at least with that it's got a slightly better options. We just don't know if that's going to be the best bet for us. With the meds that he needs and everything. There's just too much to think about at the moment. And I need not to stress myself out about it.

Our TTC battle is still Ongoing.

So, here's the story... (if you didn't already know it)
-We decided to actively start trying March 2007.
-Last year I was diagnosed with PCOS (after trying for six months or so and having problems with my cycle).
-After the finding out about the PCOS my regular doctor put me on Metformin to try for a couple of months.
-After that was a dud, she referred me over to Alliance OBGYN. Where I saw Dr. Halverson (or something like that).
-Got an Ultrasound to take a look down there to see if there was anything wrong. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Everything looked normal.
-While meeting with her she had decided that Clomid and the Metformin would the starting point and moving up the dosage from that as the months go by. She said we would try it for three months and if nothing came about from it that she would refer us to a specialist.
-We are now being referred to Lansing Infertility. Our Appointment is for July 22nd! We'll just have to wait and see!

Welcome

This is the first posting for this blog. I knew it was about time to start blogging...

The latest news (from like a month ago)...
I hit a deer with my Chevy Malibu - the insurance totaled out my car.

We ended up getting a newer car - 2005 Chevy Impala. We got a good deal on it that we couldn't pass up.

We got a new addition to the family - a Puppy!







The Puppy is now 18 weeks old and is a Terrior! Her name is Hannah Montana McGowan. She's 1/2 Beagle and 1/2 (we think) Rat Terrior. She's a ball of energy and loves attention.

My mom Visited us for a week May 30-June 7th. It was nice having her around. She helped me out while she was here.

My Cousin came to visit for a week June 20-28th. That was an experience! We took her to Cedar Point (where we met up with Heather, my sister-in-law). It was nice that Heather met us there, so Jenn would have a partner to go on some of the rides with. We took her shopping and she got some new clothes. She even got Eric to buy a Hollister Shirt, but he hasn't worn it yet. He has worn the the American Eagle shirt that she mistaken it for the Hollister shirt.