Pulling Out...

of SHARED RISK.

We are switching insurance's at the beginning of the year and under the new plan, Aet.na will cover up to $10K for fertility.  So, we have decided to pull out of the Shared Risk program and let insurance cover IVF#2.  And if we need to do an IVF#3, it'll still be cheaper for us to pay out of pocket for that cycle versus going through the shared risk program.  Steve crunched all the numbers and it all makes sense.  Even though the shared risk plan allows us to do up to six cycles, we've decided that we probably wouldn't do that many.  I feel like we know we CAN get pregnant, but we just can't figure out why I can't STAY pregnant.  So by doing five more cycles, it's really not going to help us answer the why.  We will leave it in the Lord's hands. 

So in preparation for the cycle in January, I've been playing phone tag with the RE's office and the insurance company.  I'm suppose to go in on Tuesday, January 5th for my bloodwork/US, but I need preauthorization before my appointment.  Aet.na infertility can't give the authorization, or even view my 2010 benefits, until Monday, January 4!  It will be cutting it very close.  I just have this fear that something will go wrong and they won't be able to get the authorization in time.  Which will probably result in us waiting until April to start a cycle.  I'm hoping and praying that everything will happen like it's suppose to and that we will be able to cycle in January because we're NOT going to be able to do a cycle in February or March because we're going ....

on a  7 day CARIBBEAN CRUISE!!

This will be an early 10 year anniversary vacation (actual anniversary is in June). 

 Steve surprised me on Christmas morning with the vacation.   

I am super excited about it because it will be a much needed vacation for us.  Again, we are putting all our faith in God's hands and no matter what happens with the cycle, we will accept whatever the outcome is. 

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May we all remember the reason for the season!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!

Shopping and Baking

We've been doing last minute shopping and baking before Christmas gets here. 

I finally ordered Christmas cards last night and picked them up today.

Abbey and I finished shopping today and we even had time to get our nails done. 

I love spending time with my Abigail (that's what I call her, MY Abbey).  Earlier this week when we dropped her off at home (after being snowed in all weekend) she was crying for us not to go.  It made me sad, but I know that she knows how much we love her.

When I picked her up today, she was so excited to spend the day with me.  And even more excited to spend the next four days with us.  We are so blessed to live near family so that we can see our nieces and nephews. 

We are hosting Christmas Eve at our house so we will be busy cooking, cleaning and baking.  But most importantly, we will be counting all of our blessings this holiday season. 

May you all find joy this holiday season with your families. 

ICLW - December Winter Wonderland

Welcome ICLW!  If you have no idea what ICLW is, visit Stirrup Queen.  It's a great way to 'meet' new bloggers and start new friendships or keep up with the current friendships.

We are currently getting ready for IVF#2 in January. Hoping everyhing goes well with the new insurance so we can start right away.  See the sidebar for our IVF journey. 

This past weekend brought 22" of snow within a 24 hr period in VA!  It was a true Winter Wonderland in our neck of the woods.  We were snowed in with my niece Abbey.  But it was fun playing in the snow, watching Christmas movies and baking cookies. 

Look at all the snow! It completely covered the walkway up to the door.

Abbey making snow angels.

Thank goodness for nice neighbors who let us use their snow blower.  So much easier than trying to shovel all snow!

Abbey had so much fun playing in it.

Abbey and Steve ready to call it a day after sledding down the big hill by our house.

mmm....hot chocolate!  Nice after a fun day in the snow!

How to lose ten pounds in one photo!

It's the time of year where we will all be spending time with family and feasting on yummy food and baking lots of treats.  Then our pants start to fill a little snug so we get on the scale and then scream, "Darn it!  I knew I shouldn't have eaten that piece of White Chocolate molten cake!" 

I came across a blog post when I was surfing through blogs the other day.  It's from Ravenberg Photography, located in Utah.  Check out how she shows us how to look thinner in photos.  

Now, I'm looking forward to seeing all ya'lls pictures from the holidays where you're all ten pounds lighter!

The Stockings were NOT hung by the Chimney with Care

As you can see, no stockings are hung on the mantle this year. 

We each have our own stockings with our initials on them, but I did not put them out this year because it would be another reminder to me that another year is coming to an end and we have not added to our family.

The picture of Christ, the angel and the picture of the temple all gives me hope. It's a gentle reminder that the Lord is very much aware of our desire to start a family and that we need to keep having faith and believing.

AF showed up over the weekend so I called the RE and I started the BCP yesterday.  The next three weeks on the pill, then we go in early January to start IVF#2.  I'm not excited or anything about this cycle.  To me, it's just routine. Kind of like something else we have to check off our 'to do' list. I'm hoping and praying that this next cycle will complete our 'to do' list and that we won't ever have to see it again (for a long time). 

Christmas Tour of Homes

I'm joining the Nester for her Christmas Tour of Homes.  I love to see how people decorate their homes for the holidays.  Last week I hosted a progressive dinner so I was busy cleaning the house and getting it ready.  So, without further ado....

Visiting Santa

I stopped by to see Abbey on Friday night and helped her with her letter to Santa.  On Saturday, we met up with my other niece Mya and her momma at the mall.  The line for Santa was very loooong.  We waited in line for 2 hours!  But it was worth it to see the excitement in Abbey's face. 

Santa asked her who her favorite Princess was and about her favorite books.

Mya wasn't so sure about Santa though.  She sat still enough for a quick picture.

This was the BEST part of the day for me:

Me: Abbey, did you have fun today?
Abbey: Yes! What was your favorite part?
Me:  My favorite part was seeing you give Santa your letter and watching him read it and talking to you.  What was your favorite part?
Abbey: Guess!
Me: I don't know, I need a clue.
Abbey: It starts with a B and sounds like Be...Be...Be.
Me: hmmm....that's hard, I need another clue.
Abbey: Okay, it's Be...Be...Be...and Wa...Wa...Wa....and Yu, Yu, Yu.
Me:  Wow, that's hard.  I give up, what is is?
Abbey:  My favorite part is Being With You!

My heart melted!  That alone was worth the two hours waiting in line to see Santa. 

Catching Up

We had our first snow fall of the season last weekend.  It was fun to be able to go out and go sledding and build a snowman and make snow angels.  Abbey had a blast because it was her first time sledding. 

We have just been plugging along.  I haven't been blogging much lately because I think last months challenge of blogging for 30 days straight just wore me out.  But I've been reading everyone else's blog.  I was just feeling sad and depressed after Thanksgiving and was sulking in my own pity party.  But I'm doing better, for now.  My mood swings are giving Steve whip lash (refers to quote from Twi.light). 

The nurse from our RE's office called this week and said that the dr. wants to do a recurrent pregnancy loss bloodwork on us before we start our next cycle in January.  It's a Chromosome Analysis (aka Kary.otype Test).  I had to fast before going in to get my blood drawn and they took 15 vials!  I have the worst veins so they had to prick me in both arms AND my hand to get all the blood they needed.  It takes two weeks for results to come back.  So, here we are in a different kind of 2WW.  I'm hoping that the test will reveal something as to why we are miscarrying. 

AF has not shown up since my last miscarriage in October.  I took a OPK test earlier this month and it was positive that I ovulated.  So I'm hoping we are successful on our own this month.  If not, we start the drugs next month to start the ball rolling. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  Abbey and I will be writing letters to Santa and will go see him tomorrow at the mall.  (Maybe I should draft a letter to dear old Santa too and see if I'll get what I want for Christmas this year!)

Show & Tell - Nieces - part 2

Here are the pictures from the photoshoot with my nieces a few weeks ago.  Join the show and tell at Mel's to see what everyone else is sharing.

Mya wasn't not very cooperative so we only got in a few shots of her. 

Here's Abbey.  She looks so big in this picture.

Silly Pictures