What an amazing day

Yesterday I attended the memorial service for my friend. The service was simply amazing. There were no less than 500 people there which is a true testament to the type of person he was. He was the type of person that everyone loved. I don't think in the 15 years I knew him I have ever heard someone say something bad about him. He was the type of guy that would give you a great big bear hug every time he saw you. He was always the life of the party and he will be truly missed by all people whose life he touched.

At the service you could feel the love that everyone had for him. His wife, his parents and brothers showed such strength in the face of this enormous loss. Although the service was full of tears, we all know that he is in a better place now.

The last time I saw him was at the wedding I stood in recently. He wasn't feeling well so he didn't make it to the service, but he did make it to the reception for about an hour. It was so great to see him out and about. Here's a pict from that night:


I hope you all having amazing weekends!

Highs and Lows

So I'll start with the lows first. A friend of mine from high school passed last friday night after his 8 year battle with cancer. He was diagnosed when we were sophomores in college and handled his diagnosis and the ensuing battle with such poise and grace. He had been moved into hospice last Tuesday so it wasn't a complete shock; never the less, it was really hard news to hear. My heart breaks for his young widow, their families and all our friends. Please say a little prayer for all of those grieving his loss.

Besides finding out that very sad news on Saturday morning, the whole wedding weekend was amazing! Friday night the rehersal dinner was at the top of Aspen Mountain. We were up the mountain before sunset and the view was spectacular. During dinner a huge storm blew in and we ended up getting trapped on top of the mountain for about an hour and a half after dinner. It was actually gorgeous it see the storm from the top of the mountain. It finally stopped lightening so they let the gonadolas start running again. The morning of the wedding we woke up and it was raining. We all freaked out a little bit, but luckily it cleared around 11am. We started getting ready around noon and were all done up for pictures by 4:00. The ceremony was outside at 5:30 followed by a cocktail hour and a seated dinner. At around 8pm, the band started and we danced like crazy! Picts do it more justice than I ever could:

The ceremony location:


All 4 of the sisters were bridesmaids


The newly weds:


Me, my sister and two of her friends.


I totally wish I was in this pict, its so cute of all my sisters!


She changed before they left. So cute!


These picts were all stolen from facebook. I can't wait to see the professional photographer's pictures because she looked amazing, so I am sure they are going to be incredible!

Cycle #14

Cycle 14 began Thursday after my all time longest LP. There wasn't much time to be upset with all the wedding festivities, but I had definitely let my hopes get way too high. I need to remember to keep myself in check this cycle.

The wedding was amazing, and I will post pictures and full details soon. I'm in training all this week so my comp access will be limited :-( Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Hum...

So I tested again last night (14DPO) with a CBE HPT and still a BFN. My longest LP ever according to FF is 15, but on that cycle spotting started 13DPO. I've had no spotting and no signs of AF so who knows. I am going to try to grab some more tests this morning before I leave town so I can test tomorrow 16DPO with FMU.

I leave today for my sister's wedding in Aspen! I am so excited. My DH has been there since Sunday, so I am really looking forward to seeing him and spending time with my whole family. It should be a great weekend.

And last but not least:
Weigh In Week 10
Previous Weight: 159.8
Current Weight: 156.6
Lost this Week: -3.2
Total Lost: 8.4
A good way to start the weekend! I hope it helps keep me motivated while I am away on vacation. I don't expect a loss, but if I could not gain I would be really happy!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

More Test Results

So on Friday I got my 7DPO blood work results back, blood work confirmed ovulation. I also got DH's SA results back, and everything looked really good except volume which was a little low 1.5 (normal range is 2-5 according to the nurse). His count was above the normal range, and the motility and morphology were both in the normal range. She gave me the all numbers but I was with my sister doing her hair trial and I couldn't find a pen to write down all the exact numbers. So doesn't look like we're going to deal with MFI.

Next step is that my Dr. wants to schedule an HSG. She wants to do at the end of my cycle or the very beginning. I'm actually at the end of my cycle now, but I am leaving for Aspen for my sisters wedding on Wednesday so I guess the means we'll have to maybe try for it at the end of next cycle.

I'm 13DPO today and for some reason last night I got a little hopeful since I was 12DPO (length of my usual LP) and had not spotted at all. So I jumped up this AM and tested...BFN. Blah. Hope is a killer sometime.

Oh, and in BIG news. I came out to one of my best friends on Sunday. We grabbed some coffee before I went to church and brunch with Papa and I just spit it all out. I think she was really shocked because we talk about it a lot and I always would just say I wasn't ready. But when I explained to her why we kept it a secret she seemed to understand. It was nice to get it all off my chest and to get her support.

Off the wagon

Is the best way to describe me in the dieting world this week. Why is this so stinkin hard for me?? I was REALLY bad this weekend (think late night McDonald's Friday, and calzones for dinner on Sunday). So I really have no one to blame but myself. as always, I'm hopping to get back on track this week! And more importantly not get derailed this weekend, which will be hard because I am hosting a baby shower for my girlfriend (I get points in heaven for this I am sure :-).

Weigh In Week 9
Previous Weight: 158.4
Current Weight: 159.8
Lost this Week: +1.4
Total Lost: 5.2

And to brighten up an otherwise downer of a post, below are some cute pictures from the wedding I was in 2 weekends ago.

At Brennan's for the Bridesmaids luncheon Friday:


At Arnaud's for the rehearsal Dinner Friday:


My Hair the day of the wedding, which I loved:


Me and the bride. For the record, we are both totally tone deaf.


Me preforming my BM duties! I loved her dress~


Hope everyone is having a good week!

CD20 BW/SA/Insurance Q

So I had my CD 20 blood work today to confirm O and dropped off DH's SA. I will probably follow up with my Dr on Thurs or Friday to find out the results. If everything looks good, I was planning on getting a referral to an RE since I am pretty sure that my OBGYN is going to want to put me on Clomid with no monitoring.

So now here comes the really bad part. My insurance only covers the Diagnosis of infertility, not the treatment which I have known about all along. I figured that I would find an RE on my plan and at least things like an HSG, and other diagnostic tests would be covered. Well apparently there are no RE's in the area that work with BCBS according to their provider finder. I'm at a total loss of what to do. I want to make the leap to an RE but I also don't want to be out of pocket for things that should be covered. I was planning on looking at all the other plans offered by the fed gov't and my husband's company during open season in October, but my guess is that none of them will cover IF treatments since the state of Louisiana doesn't require it. I feel so defeated. And discouraged. And frustrated. I guess I'll talk to my OBGYN and see if she does any of these other diagnostic tests. That way when I do go to an RE, I will go armed with all the info. If she does I guess I'll stick with her for a while more. If she doesn't I have no idea what I will do.

For those of you who don't have insurance coverage how are you financing all of this? I hate to totally drian our savings because then when we do get KU we won't have $$ for baby stuff. But on the other hand I hate to take out financing if we have some money saved. Ugh.

Also, for those of you who have done all the diagnostic stuff. What other testing did you do before you started treatment? (So far I've done post-coital, CD20 BW to confirm O, Dh's SA, 2 transvaginal U/S to check for cyst and will do CD 3 BW when next cycle begins).