Breast Cancer Awareness

Every year Jess and I walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We have so much fun doing it every year. It's a 5k held right in the middle of downtown Denver. This year we had some special company with us. I'm excited that Taylor is old enough to go now. In the years past I thought it was too early to wake her up and it's usually been pretty cold the morning of the race. We were all happy Joel and Renee came along! Renee and I decided we would make it a tradition to the 5k together. Next year we are going to make our own shirts. Hopefully next year DJ isn't working and he can do the race with us. I hope one year I am in good enough shape to run the 5k.

 I'm always amazed by how many participate. There is a 5k run that starts at 7am, a 5k walk that starts at 8am and at 9am there is a family walk. The night before the race there were 29,000 people registered to participate.

It's very rare you'd ever see Joel with a baby stroller . . .

I always love the goofy costumes people wear for the race. This was a team called the Boo-Bee's. They were too cute.

Taylor had the best seat in the house - Joel's shoulders or her stroller

In the 4 years Jess and I have done this together this is the only picture we have ever taken at the race

Half way through the race you get a beautiful site of downtown

My favorite part of the course is when the highway twists and crosses. The news always broadcasts live views of the race and from the air this looks like a breast cancer ribbon with all the pink walkers

October is Breast Cancer awareness month so pull out your pink! Maybe we'll see you there next year :o)

Retrieval. . .

For egg donation everything works on a schedule. For 3 weeks I took regular injections every night, then every morning and night. I also took pills and had daily blood work and ultrasounds. Finally, when my egg follicles were big enough they planned my retrieval. I had to take a 'trigger' shot exactly 35 hours before my surgery. This shot had to be administered into my muscle on the back of my hip. I couldn't do it myself so I made DJ. I had to take this shot at 1am on Wednesday. DJ did a great job. I thought he would pass out, take a while to administer it and it would hurt like the dickens. It didn't. I was proud of him. He didn't even go pale in the face. Thanks babe! This trigger shot stimulates ovulation. So mid-afternoon Wednesday I felt pregnant. Like the first trimester pregnant. I was uncomfortable, feeling sick and so tired. Luckily it was only for one day!

I had my egg retrieval Thursday afternoon. I checked in at 10:45am. I had my IV set up, met with the doctor and anesthesiologist. DJ kept me company while we waited and thought I needed a picture of myself. . .

Keep in mind, this is pre-surgery. I look miserable. I was hungry (I hate fasting for 12 hours before any surgery), I was tired and anxious. The injections I had also been taking made me an emotional wreck. It was shock to my body - basically like going from not pregnant to 9 months pregnant over night. During regular conversation on the way to the hospital I cried, laughed, got mad, angry and sad. DJ will be happy I am back to normal. :o)


At 12:30 they wheeled me away for surgery. They gave me a 'margarita' (the IV anesthesia) and that was amazing! I was out instantly. If I were a nurse I would laugh so hard about someone passing out so quickly or in my case, mid-sentence. When I woke up I said that was the best sleep I had ever had. By 2:45pm DJ and I were on the way home and in search of some salty food for me. I'm supposed to consume a lot of sodium over the next few days as part of recovery.

They were able to retrieve 25 eggs. I hope it works for the couple using my eggs. I wish them the best! Today I am back at work and life is back to normal.

Egg Donation

I'm not talking Easter Eggs here, not yet anyway. I'm talking human eggs. This is my journey through being an egg donor.

Last March I was driving home from work and was upset that I was a working mom. My entire life before Taylor I had dreamed of being a stay at home mom and hoped that one day my dream would come true. Unfortunately I'm not able to stay home. We need my income. So there I was, sitting in traffic, when the interesting topic of fertility/infertility/adoption was on the radio. A listener of the radio station called in for advice. Her boyfriend wanted a big family, they had been trying to get pregnant for about a year with no luck and without him knowing she had a fertility test done. She was infertile. My heart broke for her. I couldn't imagine anyone ever telling me I wouldn't be able to have children naturally. Callers suggested she use IVF, adopt, etc. Egg donation became a big topic. She could use someone else's eggs. As I listened to more of her story I wondered how many women were told every day they were infertile. Having to work didn't seem like such a problem anymore. And after having Taylor I knew being a mom was the greatest gift in life and every woman should be given the opportunity to feel such joy.


I went home, told DJ what I had heard on the radio and told him I wanted to become an egg donor. The next day I researched egg donation, applied for two clinics and waited for a response. Shortly after applying, I got a phone call. I had been accepted as a donor by The Colorado Center For Reporductive Medicine.


In the next couple of weeks I would go through a handful of tests, visits and phone calls. I had 13 vials of blood drawn for every genetic test that could affect any potential offspring. I had ultrasounds to see how many egg follicles I had on each ovary. I had a physical, met with a psychologist, took personality tests, and went over all the legal formalities of being an egg donor. Now I just had to wait. The easy part was done.


When a couple decides to use egg donation as a means of getting pregnant, they go through file after file until they find that special someone they think would be a good fit for them. To them I don't have a name, but a donor number. They got to see a baby picture of me, read about my hobbies, interest, family traits, religion, ethnicity, race, personality. I felt like it was an anonymous job interview. But in early May 2009 I was 'picked'. I felt like someone adopted me. I felt honored that a couple found me as a good fit to help them become parents. I felt deep joy knowing that a woman I had never met was going to be given the chance to become a mom because something I could give her.


The process of donating eggs is not easy. I needed to start and stop taking birth control every few weeks to get my cycle exactly one week ahead of my recipients cycle. Once we were on track I started the medication. I took one birth control pill, one dexamethasone pill and one injection of lupron every night. After a week I stopped the birth control, continued with the other pill and injection. During this time I went in for regular blood draws and ultrasounds. I got nothing but bad news. Because I had to start and stop my period so often I had cysts on my ovaries. They went away but every time they changed the birth control I got another cyst. I was frustrated, felt like I was wasting my time, felt like I let my recipient couple down.


Fast forward to now. It's the end of March 2010. One year after I applied and was accepted to be an egg donor. Because of the continuing cyst problem I do not have a recipient couple anymore. My body didn't like the process and wasn't going to work with me. Instead, I am still a donor, but my eggs will be retrieved and frozen for anyone to use. This way my body can stay on it's own track and I can stop forming cysts.


It started at the beginning of March. I started the birth control, went in for ultrasounds and blood work. 17 days in and I started my injections again. Now I was taking a birth control pill, dexamethasone pill and an injection of lepton every night. (This was the farthest I had ever gotten since my cysts always stopped the process). On the 21st I stopped taking my birth control, and continued with my other medications. Friday I went in for blood work, an ultrasound, pre-op physical and urine sample. I was given the "GO" that I was cyst free and would start my stimulation meds in a few days. Sunday I started taking one injection in the morning, two injections at night and a pill. Every day, starting today, I go in for an ultrasound and blood work. They measure the size of my egg follicles on each ovary and the size determines the amount of medicine I inject every night.

This is my box of "Donor Meds"

I will be going in for the retrieval surgery anywhere between April 7-10 depending on how quick my follicles grow.

My leg looks like a battle zone (picture doesn't do it justice). . .

All the red dots are needle marks from last night and this morning. The bruising is from the morning injection. If you inject the medicine too quickly it burns really bad. If you go too slow the needle starts to hurt. 5-10 minutes after the injection, there is a bump at the injection site and it's starting to bruise.

When they say a side effect of the medication is hot flashes they are not speaking lightly. I soak through my pillow and about 2 t-shirts a night while I sleep. I wake up with wet hair.

Before I make it to work now I will have had one injection, one blood draw and one ultrasound (all before 8 am)

But soon someone will be able to announce they are going to be parents because I was able to help them.

Updated Stats On Taylor

Taylor had her 6 month check up today. She is a big girl1 the nurse said she was very tough too because she didn't cry when she got her shots.

Now she is 18lbs 9oz, 27 1/2 inches and her head measures in at 17 1/4 inches.

Taylor has always held her neck more to the left than she has the right. Due to this she is getting what her doctor calls short neck. she's had this for a while but we've been trying to correct it at home. She is able to tough her left ear lobe to her left shoulder but the same is not for the right side. She'll have to start going to physical therapy to get this corrected and starting tomorrow she can begin to go. I had never heard of this before but they say if it is not corrected, one side of her neck will always be shorter than the other causing her to never see strait.

I'll keep everyone posted!

Changing Life Styles

DJ and I joined a new gym this weekend; Lifetime Fitness. This gym is amazing; more like a spa than a gym if you ask me though but that is not any complaining from me. This gym has over 6,000 sq ft of equipment, an indoor lap pool, family pool, 2 over sized hot tubs with 5 ft water falls, a sauna, 2 full size basketball courts, indoor rock climbing wall, salon with the works, a healthy cafe, a kids area; I could keep going but I think I'll stop. I can't wait for my first work out in this new gym. I am looking forward to the pilates and yoga studios (they even offer heat yoga!), cycling classes and classes that are offered all day every day. One of my goals for 2009 was to get back into shape and be able to run the entire 39.3 miles breast cancer walk! DJ's goal has been to get back into shape for a while and he has been very good at going to the gym when he can. The new gym offers basketball, soccer, volleyball, and flag football leagues. I want to join the volleyball and DJ is looking forward to the flag football. I'll let you know how the classes are when I take them.

As a new member you are also given 2 complimentary sessions with a personal trainer.In the first session they will go over your goals and work out schedules, also tell you you BMI( Body Mass Index) and everything else you want to know but don't really want to know. I am excited about this. No, I am not looking forward to hearing how much body fat I have but I do think these are critical things to know when trying to reach certain work out goals. I am also looking forward to learning about new weight lifting machines - this gym has machines I have never seen in a gym before. I can just picture me now - like a mickey mouse cartoon where Goofy gets tangled up in the gym equipment (I'm sure many of you have seen this cartoon!)

Now, to get back on track. DJ and I agreed with each other that this will have to be a joint effort. We also think this will make our bond stronger. We are going to go to the gym together on Wednesday and Thursday nights when I get off work and Saturday and Sunday mornings before he goes to work; and if it's possible maybe sneak in a night or two by ourselves but that might be pushing it for my energy level. So we also decided if we were really going to go through with this we would need to start eating healthy- realistically healthy. So I told him I would gather new healthy recipes, make a menu plan and grocery list. So I got online today and started looking for new recipes. However, I ran into a road block. Because our precious, beautiful little girl grows so much we are constantly buying new clothes and formula so I am not looking to spend a bunch of extra money on groceries; at leas not much more than we are spending now. I understand it's going to take some diligence on both of us to clip our coupons more often (I love coupons), seeking out deals more and possibly shopping at more than one store (we already buy in bulk at Sam's club). But every recipe I found called for most ingredients that are rare or spices that I don't have in my spice rack or cupboard yet - I hate the price of spices! So here's my problem, how am I going to quickly find easy to make healthy recipes that are not almost impossible to make on my current grocery budget? If anyone has any I would love to get them!

Taylor has been so precious lately. She got a very special treat on Wednesday night though! Grandma Carrie fed her rice cereal with a spoon for the first time. DJ sent me a text message picture of it and it was so cute! So now she is one step closer to being able to eat baby food - I am so happy about this because I look forward to the day I won't have to buy bulk in formula just to get us through one week! :) Currently Taylor is getting a 6 ounce bottle every 2 hours. The largest container of formula, which runs about $23 after using a $5 rebate check from Similac (I appreciate those) only makes about 36 bottles. So yay for baby food!

She is starting to giggle. Yesterday she laughed when I played peek-a-boo with her. She loves when her daddy blows kisses onto her neck. She is too cute. She doesn't cry too much except for when she is hungry. She still sleeps through the night which has been a true blessing. She's starting to show signs of getting coordinated enough to crawl too. And her new trick . . . blowing bubbles! It's adorable but I always end up with spit in my face! At least it's not intentional. :)

I'll keep everyone posted on my workout progress. I think if I blog about it I might be more inclined to work harder because I'll be sharing my success with everyone who reads my blog. . . whoever that might be.

Saving Second Base

One of my New Years Resolutions was to get back into shape and finish losing the 26 baby pounds I have left to shed. Since making this resolution I have only been in the gym once. I am sure many people would say not to worry about it because you can't tell I have had a baby, it's understandable because having a baby changes your life dramatically and raising kids takes a lot of time and energy. I feel like I have let myself down. So this morning while riding the bus into work I was thinking of motivations that would get me into the gym at least a few times a week. And I thought of it. I've always wanted to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer; a 2 day, 39.3 mile event held the 27-28th of June and this year I am going to do it. In 2007 my best friend Nicky and I participated in the Susan Koman walk but we didn't register for the Avon walk on time. This year I said I was going to do it. So that is my motivation.

This morning I sent out an email asking everyone to join my team, Saving Second Base, for the Avon Walk. So far we have a team of 11 people. My goal is to not only surpass the minimum fundraising goal to participate but also to show up on race day and be able to run the entire 39.3 miles. I sound insane, so I have been told, but isn't it great motivation?!? I am very excited about this. Each participant is required to raise $1,800 by the day of the walk. All donations are welcome if anyone wants to help us out!

I can't wait to start Saving Second Base!

Health Update (For Real)

Yesterday I had titled my post Health Update thinking I was going to blog about my recent doctor's visits. I decided not to but forgot to change the title. But today I am going to blog about my health.

Friday the 14th (exactly one month after finding out I was pregnant) I went to the doctor for some liver function tests. In November 2005 I had taken some birth control and it made my liver go haywire. I had many tests done, had my common bile ducts scoped etc. I saw a liver specialist and he was the one who figured it was probably due to my birth control. When your liver goes haywire it creates more of a chemical called Billirubin and your body has to find a way to get it out of your system so it seeps through your skin. It causes an insane itching all over your body that you cannot stop or control. I had begun to have the same itching again and thought it would be best to have my liver functions tested so I knew I wasn't allergic to the prenatal vitamins or something else.

Monday afternoon my doctor called me back and said my liver functions were elevated and I needed to return for more blood work. This time they wanted to do a CBC (complete Blood Count) to make sure everything else was functioning properly. They said my AST and ALT results were the two that were elevated. Your normal if your AST is between 20-30 and mine were at 92. Your normal if your ALT is between 6-10; mine are at 218. So Tuesday morning I had an appointment to discuss the results and what I needed to do from there. She wanted to do an ultrasound of my organs (pancreas, liver, where my Gall Bladder would be had it not been removed etc). They all seemed to be functioning and appearing just fine. They drew more blood and were going to run other tests on it. She was also going to talk to a liver specialist and see what they thought about it. Tuesday afternoon the liver specialist said I needed to be monitored but they didn't think they needed to see me yet or have my pregnancy placed at high risk. That was good news to me!

Last night my doctor called me and my liver functions they tested on Tuesday came back elevated again. My AST that was at 92 on Friday had risen to 101. My ALT that was 218 is now at 290 ( now a whole 280 points above the highest average range). She told me she had spoken to an OB doctor that specializes in high risk pregnancies and they both thought it was very urgent that I see a liver specialist no more than two weeks from now but the sooner the better. Now I am waiting to hear from the liver specialist to figure out exactly what this means for me and the baby. My doctor said that pregnancy can cause a lot of funky things to happen with your body and maybe my body just has trouble handling a baby growing inside of me. We'll wait and see.

Pray for me! And I will keep you posted on when the appointment with the specialist is.