A Garden View Weekend

Friday

Last night I didn't get a restful sleep. I kept waking up flipping between taking the test and not taking the test. I didn't know if I could stand seeing another BFN. Plus Kevin said that AF always arrived either the day I tested or the day I was going to test. But I needed to know, so eventually I decided to test.

Kevin stayed in bed when I got up. The dollar store test comes with a little dropper instead of being able to hold it midstream. I collected, I dropped 4 drops and then I waited. And waited and waited and then magically that beautiful 2nd line suddenly appeared.
I immediately burst into tears while thanking God. Then I was fraught with indecision about how to tell Kevin. I mean he knew what I was doing in the bathroom so it's not like I could have just pretended that I hadn't. So I took the test and walked calmly to his side of the bed. I turned on the lamp and showed it to him. Right after he looked at it, he looked at me and I practically shouted "It's positive!"

That whole morning we were floating around the house. We talked about babies and plans. I tell Kevin that I think I am 15dpo cause I think I ovulated on CD19. While we were in Egypt. He starts calling the baby GV. For Garden View - the hotel we stayed at in Egypt had two options: Pyramid view or Garden view. We were assigned the Garden View.Which as you can see was actually a view of a concrete slab, some gross "ponds", dirt and then a bustling major road. Anyhoo, it was an awesome morning.

I called Dr. Grrr as soon as I got to work and they eventually called me back around 8:30. Since it was Friday they're only open a half day so J2 wanted me to get my Beta/P4 blood draw as soon as possible and they would mark it STAT so that hopefully they'd get the results before they closed at noon. I went to the nearest lab and waited impatiently. Finally around 9am my name was called. I got to sit in the room for another 10 minutes and finally someone came in. But I had forgotten to bring my insurance card and so they didn't know if they could do anything. There was some consulting and finally they said they'd do it. I confirmed J2 had sent the order STAT and then went back to work. At 11:50 J2 called me to say that they still hadn't gotten my results but that she'd leave a note for Dr. G. Hopefully if he came into the office he would check for it and call me with the results.

I never got a call. I figured no news was good news right? If there had been any red flags, he would have called right away, right!?!

Saturday

The morning started like yesterday morning. Me racing into the bathroom to POAS. I told Kevin I needed to check that I was still pregnant. It came up positive again.Yay! I had a tournament this weekend so I had no time to sit around the house today. I was out of the house by 7:30 am and out pretty much all day.

Today are when fears of miscarriage, chemical pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies first appeared. The cramps/twinges/pressure have continued. I'm waivering back and forth on whether this pregnancy is "real". I thought it would be so easy once I saw that BFP. But it's not. I'm still worried and I'm still cautious. How did it work? We've done expensive injectibles, triggers and IUIs and have failed every time. How did Clomid, no trigger and normal se.x work when it didn't work last year. Was it the self-prescribed Baby Aspirin? Then I freak out about that. Should I have told Dr. Grrr about it?

Sunday

Another soccer game to coach. My team hasn't been doing too well. We've not scored a goal all weekend. We are missing our main offensive playmaker so that's most likely it. Not because I've been distracted by all my pregnancy thoughts.

I took another pregnancy test in the morning. Another BFP!Although I freak out about how it's not getting as dark as fast as it did the previous days. I get home around 11 am and I am starving! I'm starving all the time now. Also I've been peeing up a lake. And the boops have gotten tender. I'm not any sleepier than I usually am during a tournament weekend. I research what I can eat on the internet and settle for cheerios for lunch. Yeah, we're not prepared at all.

After my afternoon nap I have to pee again. When I wipe there's slightly pink EWCM on the TP. I freak. I think my heart stopped in my chest. Of course I wipe furiously a couple (or 10) more times with new TP and nothing else comes up. I start checking every half hour and when I'm doing the weekly grocery shopping it stays in the back of my mind. Kevin is up in DC climbing with friends so it's just me and the dogs at home freaking out. Okay, so just me freaking out.

Monday

Finally Monday! I planned to call Dr. Grrr as soon as the office opened at 8:30 but break down and leave a message at 7:59. J2 calls me at 8:33. All excited and congratulating me. I ask for the results and she says "Didn't Dr. Grrr call you?" I tell her no so she looks up the results. Beta was 768 and P4 20.3. She said those were great numbers, kinda high for 15dpo but good nonetheless. I ask if I should get a second beta done and she says that they usually don't do a second one. I tell her about my continued cramping. Then I tell her about the pink EWCM yesterday and she asks if I've had anything else since then. I tell her no. Dr. Grrr isn't in today but he usually calls after getting the beta results so he'll probably call me tomorrow. If he's concerned he'll ask me to come in then. Grrr. Oh and they don't do an u/s until 18 days past a BFP. What!?! That's not till the 27th! I made the appt, but I'm considering calling and asking for the Thursday/Friday before.

According to the "pregnancy starts with AF" theory I'm currently 5 weeks 1 day. I'm 4 weeks 4 days if I go by my CD19 ovulation theory. However since getting the beta results I'm wondering if I'm farther along than I first thought. Could I have possibly ovulated on CD 15/16? I soooooo hate not knowing. Isn't it funny the things that will bug you? I mean, we're only talking about four days, but it's really bugging me.

If I wait till the 27th I'll be 7 weeks 2 days at the u/s. If I can go the Friday before then I'll be 6 weeks 5 days. Either way, we should have a heartbeat and I hope then that I can breathe a little easier if there is one. Please GV have a heartbeat.

CD33

***I tried to post this last Thursday but for some reason it didn't post. So here it is finally...***

Last Saturday when we were getting ready to leave for the soccer game/trip to Savannah, I wondered if I should pack supplies for AF's visit. On Friday I started getting cramps/twinges/pressure and so thought that she was going to arrive on Saturday or Sunday. I decided to risk it and go unprepared. Well AF never showed, the PMS symptoms continued. So Monday I decided to to take a BBT. 98.65°! The highest bbt I've ever had!! I was so psyched! Then Tuesday I took another bbt and 98.4°. Not as good as Monday, but still a solid post-o temp. Wednesday morning it was 98.2°. Hmmm. So enough to confirm ovulation (based on usual pre and post O temps), but I don't know when I ovulated so I have no idea what day of my LP I'm on. However, I looked back at my past charts and this seems to be the usual post-O pattern before AF starts. The cramps/twinges/pressure have continued so I've started taking supplies with me to work.

Tonight there was a lot of down time at agility so I started thinking... I usually ovulate on CD17-21. Later when I don't have a HCG trigger. So CD22 + 12 day usual LP is CD34. No AF yesterday. No AF today. Tomorrow will be CD34 and it's highly unlikely that I ovulated later than CD24. So I broke down and decided to stop by the dollar store for a few tests. Nothing crazy. Just three to make it through the weekend. Kevin was suspicious when I said I was making a stop before I got home. I told him yesterday about my ovulation confirmation, but I don't think he knew we were near possible POAS.

Approved and Applied

First off, Les is doing well. Still no after effects of her run in with the Jeep. She's been to agility the past two evenings and other than having come back from a month long vacation, she's behaving like normal. Just as moody and anti-social at home like before so we're good.

Next, our homestudy has been APPROVED! We got the packet in the mail while we were on vacation. It took us 3 months for the whole process since it's dated 9/16/09 and we started on 6/17/09. Most of that wait was on the reference letters, but they were all really awesome letters so I guess it's okay that we waited.

During the first weekend in September, we actually had the chance to meet a couple (NewMom & NewDad) that had just brought their adopted son (J) home the month before. Like us, they did their homestudy with JFS. They waited a year and nothing had happened. Then they found out that JFS wasn't looking for them (which we knew from the first homestudy appt.) and so they started sending out their adoption profile to everyone they could think of (which NewDad doesn't recommend doing because now they don't know who has got them or where they are). When that didn't work, NewMom started researching national adoption agencies on the internet. NewMom and NewDad had met online through a matching service and figured if that was how they started their family maybe that would be how they could add to it. They filled out the paperwork, paid all the monies and 4 months later got THE CALL. A birth family in another state was interested in them. After a couple of phone calls the birth parents picked them and two weeks later had J.

We went over to their house to meet them and J. They were so cute! J was a little darling (yes I was offered the chance to hold J and I turned it down) and behaved like an angel, so we got to talk a lot about their adoption and adoption in general. They pretty much had visited the same agencies we had and just felt right with JFS, like us. NewMom got very specific about costs and time lines which was nice. They told us they were just as scared as we are of getting ripped off or taken advantage of, but that they believe God was with them every step of the way taking care of them. It was really great meeting them and I'm currently working on a crocheted puppy for J. I think the most beneficial aspect of our visit was that it's put Kevin at ease with the whole adoption thing. Even though he said before that he was okay with it, he still kept hesitating with every step we took towards adoption and away from TTC. But in talking with NewDad he was able to get all of his questions answered, even those he was afraid to ask.

Now we're moving forward! Kev and I have decided to apply with a national adoption agency in Florida. They were recommended by our SW and I got to talk to them back in the first week of September. We got a package of stuff before we left. We've poured over it and now feel ready to file an application. I filled it out and have sent it to Kevin to double check. Hopefully we'll get it finished this week along with our adoption profile book.

The Family's Back Together

We're all home from our vacation, safe and sound. Although Les seriously tried to make that untrue. But more on that later.

Kev and I have been back for almost a week. I am planning on updating my vacation posts with pictures and more text, hopefully this week. In the 13 days that we were on our vacation, we took 975 photos and 4 hours of video. We didn't take any photos/videos on 2 of those days (2nd day at sea and while we were in Athens). We took only 1 photo on our first day at sea, so taking the remaining days and the number of photos - we took 97.5 photos per day! In Egypt alone we took almost 300 though! So obviously, I'll have a few pictures to post.

Saturday after the girl's game (which we lost 4-1, bummer!) we headed down to Savannah to meet myParents. Oh, and Dave and Les! They got there about 20 minutes before we did. After checking in and as we were driving to the room, we actually saw myDad walking Dave and Les and so we stopped and just watched. Then we went into our room (we were right next door) and I called myDad and told him we were hiding so to bring the dogs over. Kevin hid in the closet and I hid in the shower. They found me first and of course got excited so they they started roughhousing. I kept trying to get them to look for Kevin but they were too distracted. Kevin starting inching his way out of the closet and finally Les saw him when he was already half out! I felt bad for Kev but I'm sure he understood. After catching up for a bit, we drove around Savannah determined to find a dog-friendly place to eat, but with traffic/parking/the crowd, we gave up and picked up pizza and ate it back in the room.

The next morning Kevin was downstairs loading the car when I suddenly need to ask him something so I opened the door. As I was walking out, myDad asked me a question and I turned around and came back into the room. I thought I had closed the door and as I was walking over to myDad, myMom shouted and I turned around to see Les sliding out the gap. I "walked" after her down the corridor as I didn't want to run, thus turning it into a game. I tried calling her name, saying "Come!" and "Touch!" but she just kept going. At the end of the corridor she could have turned right and circled around the second floor or turned left and gone down the stairs. She turned left. I panicked at this point because we were right next to a divided semi-major road and she was headed straight for it. So I started to run. And she did. Right across the street and onto the path of an oncoming Jeep. All I could do was just stand there and watch. She made it most of the way and at the very last second got hit by the car. She cried out, but didn't fall, just sort of spun. I crossed the street, but she ran away again and into the parking lot of the building next door to the hotel. Then she just stopped and I was able to catch up to her. I checked her out and felt all over but she didn't cry out. Kevin caught up to us by this point and carried her back to the room. myDad checked her again but nothing seemed to be wrong.

We spent the morning/afternoon walking along the riverfront and around Savannah and she never slowed down or limped. I figured if she was injured, after the initial adrenaline wore off she would start to feel the pain, but so far nothing. We're keeping watch for signs of internal bleeding (watching the color of the gums and eyelids) but hopefully she'll be okay.

We got home around 10:30 last night and after unloading went about like normal. So did the dogs! It was like they never left!

Athens (Piraeus)

The city we'll be in but not do anything. The ship docks at 4 am and our flight is at noon. We'll be home by 8 pm.

Nafplion

Excursion: MYCENAE & PALAMIDI

From Nafplion we'll venture to Mycenae and Agamemnon's citadel. We'll see the Lions Gate, a monumental statuary, and visit the Beehive Tomb. Back in Nafplion we'll visit Palamidi.

Katakolon

Excursion: ANCIENT TREASURES

Katakolon is the gateway to the mystical site of ancient Olympia, where the first Olympiad was held. We'll visit the Temple of Zeus, the Stadium and the Archaeological Museum.

Alexandria, Day 2

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We start the day with a drive south to Egypt’s first capital, Memphis. Sights include the Temple of Ptah, the fallen colossal statue of King Ramses the 2nd, and the Alabaster Sphinx of King Amenophis the 2nd. We'll drive to the oldest, ancient cemetery of Sakkara and see the Step Pyramid of King Zoser. Next we'll visit one of the Mastabas (tombs) built nearby, and visit ones such as those of Ptah-Hotep, Mereruca, Idut or Ti. Finally we'll head off to the Giza Plateau where we'll see Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Some exploring and then lunch. After lunch we'll head back to the ship.

Alexandria

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We'll take a bus ride from Alexandra to the legendary Al Qahira, internationally known as the teeming metropolis of Cairo. Highlights for today include the Citadel of Saladin, a drive through the ‘City of the Dead’, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali and Liberty Square where the National Archaeological Museum is situated. Then onto the hotel for check-in, lunch and a short siesta. Next a visit to the Papyrus institute and to end the night a dinner cruise on the River Nile.

Iraklion

This actually was yesterday but I wanted yesterday's post to be on our anniversary. Today is our "Fun Day at Sea," so in other words on our way to across the Mediterranean towards Egypt.

Excursion: KNOSSOS & VILLAGE LIFE

The Palace of Knossos was the largest and most spectacular of Minoan palaces. It was the court of the legendary King Minos, father of the mythological Minotaur, half-bull, half-man. Then we'll visit the traditional settlement of Arolithos.

To Us

Wedding Memories...

1. Where/how did you meet: We met in November of my freshman year of college. It was his first year (he was on a 3-year course). We met online in a chat program called 'burbs. We met face to face at the Manchester Airport 20 months later when I went to go visit him for a month! He came back with me to Florida for a month and a half. We've been together ever since.
2. How long have you known each other: Since 1995 - 14 years.
3. How long after you met did you start dating: We talked online for about 4 months before we made plans to meet up. We were friends up to that point but decided that we wanted to be something more.
4. Where did you get engaged: At our house! In December 2006 he sent Dave & I an evite from him and Les asking us to become Marriotts. He figured since we met online, we should get engaged online.
5. How long was your engagement: 9 months.
6. How long have you been married: 2 years!
7. What is your anniversary: September 22, 2007!
8. How many people came to your wedding reception: about 60.
9. What kind of cake did you serve: I don't remember. I don't think I had any other than the first bite. It was from Uk.rop's and I remember being annoyed by the "gold" detail. I asked them specifically if it was gold looking or just yellow and the lady told me flat out it was gold. Yeah, it was yellow! I was mad because I had told her that if it was yellow I would just change the color. I only wanted gold if it was gold looking.
10. Where was your wedding: in RVA. Most of my family lives in Texas, my parents live in Florida and Kevin's family were all from England. I figured if there was going to be a lot of traveling they might as well travel to us.
11. What did you serve for your meal: Mexican themed food! We went to A Shar.per Palate. They were awesome!
12. How many people were there in your bridal party: 8 - 4 bridesmaids, 1 best man, 2 ushers and 1 junior bridesmaid. No flower girls or ring bearers though!
13. Are you still friends with them all: Sort of. My sister was the MOH, Chicken, SIL and a sorority sister were the others with a former player of mine being the junior bridesmaid. The only one I don't regularly converse with is SIL. Not since her tiff with Kevin anyways. The best man was Kevin's mate from middle school (who with his wife wrote the most awesomest recommendation letter ever for our home study!) and the ushers were a friend of his from work (in England) and a good friend of mine from college.
14. Did you or your spouse cry during the ceremony: No.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day: While Kevin and I were waiting to be introduced at the reception he took my hand and squeezed. We were finally husband and wife!
16. Any funny moments: I fell down on the dance floor! I was dancing the Cotton Eye Joe (the real one not the Red Ne.x version) and either I or my friend stepped on my train and down I went! The photographer was still there so he got a few shots of it as well!
17. Any big disasters: Nope!
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon: Two years later we're here on a cruise in the Mediterranean!
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change: Get automatic cars! Both Kevin and I have manuals and between his friends and family not wanting to drive in the States and my friends and family not knowing how to drive stick shift getting everyone to all the places was an ordeal!
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on: The side farthest away from the door. That way if someone attacks us, I can get away while Kevin is fighting them off! :)
22. What size is your bed: Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple: Even though from the outside we seem like opposites, we are very similar in the ways that matter.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple: Early on it was adjusting to the differences between us culturally. Coming from different heritages, nationalities and religions there were some differences. It wasn't really a huge problem but we had to discuss things pretty early that most people don't face.
25. Who literally pays the bills: Kevin. I'm such a procrastinator that I never get bills done on time even though I have the money to pay them.
26. What is your song: We don't really have a song. There are lots of songs though that bring up happy, funny or special moments.
27. What did you dance your first dance to: "You'll Never Walk Alone" sung by Gerry & The Pacemakers. I was able to convince Kevin that we should get lessons so we had the whole dance planned out! This was good for Kevin cause he was really nervous about doing it and having the whole thing choreographed made it a lot less stressful for him.
28. Describe your wedding dress: White, simple and sparkly! It was empire-waisted with detail on top and in a band on the bottom. It had straps on the shoulder. Plus it was only $149! Steal!
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding: I'm not sure. They were all #ff6600y though!
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? No. Since the design goes all the way around they don't resize them they just give you a new one in a new size if it no longer fits properly. Funny story though, our bands are matching and only a quarter size apart. So when Kevin gave them to the priest, the priest had to ask Kevin whose were whose.

Santorini

Excursion: GREEK STYLE FIESTA

We’ll drive to Pyrgos village and visit the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah, the highest point of the island. Leaving Pyrgos we head to the northern end of Santorini to the village of Oia and then a local winery for lunch. After lunch is Fira town, the picturesque capital of the island built on the rim of the caldera wall.

Mykonos

Excursion: MAGNIFICENT DELOS

Not far from Mykonos lays the island of Delos, the ‘island of light’. According to mythology, Zeus, the King of the Gods, fell in love with a beautiful Titaness named Leto, but when his wife discovered his infidelity, she forbade Mother Earth to give Leto refuge. Lonely and pregnant, Leto wandered the earth until the island appeared amid the waves so that she would have a place to give birth to twins: Artemis, goddess of the hunt and virginity, and Apollo, god of truth and light. Sights include the Avenue of the Lions and Mt. Kynthos.

Ephesus (Izmir)

Excursion: MAGNIFICENT EPHESUS

Today we’ll visit Ephesus, an ancient city that was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Her temple was once considered the Seventh Wonder of the Ancient World and attracted pilgrims worshipping the female; first Cybele, then Artemis and finally the Virgin Mary. Sights include an amphitheater, the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, the Scholastic Baths, the Lower Agora, State Agora, and Odeon. Afterwards, we’ll visit a carpet weaving center for refreshments and the opportunity to learn about carpet making before returning to the ship in Izmir.

Istanbul

Excursion: OTTOMAN TREASURES

We'll visit the Blue Mosque or Yeni Cami, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, one of the biggest covered markets in the entire world.

Traveling to Istanbul

Today we landed in Paris at 11:30 AM)(6:30 AM RIC time) and somehow have to make it through CDG in 65 minutes to catch our flight to Istanbul. You might think it would be easy lest you forget Customs & Immigration as well as the hugeness that is CDG (so I've heard). Good luck to us.

We'll land in Istanbul around 4:55 PM (10:55 AM RIC time). We'll take a taxi to the ship and then plan on crashing until tomorrow morning.

Today is our cruise to Egypt!

Well not really. But today we're getting on a plane and starting our vacation. I'm really looking forward to this trip because we've been talking about going to Egypt for a while. I've scheduled posts that say what we are going to be doing on each day. I'm hoping that once we get back I'll fill in what actually happened along with photos. Okay need to start reading up on the places we're going so I'll catch up with you all when I get back.