The Latest From My Dr. Appointment Today 2/8/2011

Well,  today I went to see the reproductive endocrinologist to see and learn more about the posibility for a diagnoses of PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome).  Today is cycle day #67 for me and my last cycle was 42 days long.  When I arrived at the appointment they had me take a urine pregnancy test, which of coarse came back (-) negative...  :o( .... But I aleady knew I wasn't pregnant (but it is still sad).  After that the Dr.s came in and asked me what seemed like a million questions and I shared my ovulation charts with them and discussed my basal body temperature changes and the MANY "daily ovulation kits" I have been doing.  After this they told me that based on all the information I had provided it appeared that a diagnosis of PCOS was pretty likely.  But before they could diagnose me for sure, they needed to do an internal ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries....(ok, I will admit...I was a little nervous about this part!)...It wasn't that bad and I actually thought it was pretty neat to see MY ovaries and uterus up on the screen!  The Dr.s said that I have "TEXTBOOK PCOS OVARIES".  In the pics I will post at the bottom you can see that there are a bunch of little circles inside of the big circle.  The big circle is my ovary and the smaller circles are follicles that mature and become the egg that will be released(ovulation).  In "normal" ovaries all of those follicles would be in the center of the ovary....whereas my follicles all cling to the outer rim of the ovary(this is what is typical in PCOS patients).  I have also posted a pic they took of my uterus.  PRETTY COOL!(I think..!)

        So at the end of the internal ultrasound I was diagnosed OFFICIALLY with PCOS.  The Dr. said that I need to do blood work tomorrow AM and then pick up two prescriptions.  One prescription is Provera, it is taken for 10 days to "force" my body to start my period and begin my next cycle.  It is pretty much designed to clean out my uterus for a fresh clean start....(kinda gross, I'm sorry).  The second prescription is Metformin.  This drug is used my a lot of PCOS patients and about 1 out of 3 women achieve pregnancy while taking Metformin.  For most women they need to take Metformin  for at least a few months before they notice it really working.  It should help with regulating my cycles, reducing abnormal hair growth, and possibly even help with loosing some more weight.  The Dr. also encouraged me to focus and living a "healthy lifestyle" but not to do anything drastic or major as that can stress your body out internally, and can throw off ovulation.  Many patience with PCOS see a decrease in symptoms when body weight is decreased.  Also the Dr. instructed Rob and I that we need to BD(baby dance...wink wink) about 3-4 times regardless of whether or not I am currently ovulating...because if my body does decide to ovulate you want to always have the "little swimmers" ready and waiting for it!  :o)

        All in all, I'm pretty happy with the appointment.   The only down side is that they will not be able to prescribe Clomid without it being considered "infertility treatment".  My insurance plan does not cover infertility so it would be 100% out of pocket for us.  So for now we will try this and probably give it at least 6 months before considering other options.

I am just happy that the ball is continuing to roll in the right direction, and that the possibility of Rob and I starting a family is still in the rehlm of possibility!   I will continue to keep you posted as we continue this journey!  Thank you to all of our family and friends for your love and support! 

 Love, Mrs. Lacy Hester!

My Right Ovary.  Here you see the small round follicles all around the wall of the ovary.

This is my uterus.  Dr. says it looks perfect and normal!

Test From Cell Phone

just tesing my ability to blog via text from my cell phone! i think that its pretty cool if it works!
Love, Mrs. H

Pics as I Promised!

   Rob and I have been busy decorating, wrapping gifts, and setting up the tree!  Im really tired and ready for bed so I wont be really writing in this blog just posting some pics!  Enjoy! 

Love, The Hesters

Time is Flying!

    With the exception of a little drama that likes to follow us around life is GREAT!  I got approved for medical insurance with Kaiser so as of December 1st I can make a Dr. appointment to discuss the possibilities of Rob and I starting a family!  Yay!  Been back on my food plan for a while now (90 days)  and definitely feel healthy!   I have been taking prenatal vitamins for the past month and have been doing my best to track any ovulation!  (Sorry boys if this bores you!!!  I am very excited about it all!)

     We can't believe it is almost DECEMBER!  It's so amazing that Thanksgiving has already passed us!  Rob and I spent the whole day together cleaning the house and decorating for Christmas!  Today we will go pick out our TREE!!  :o)  Last year we had a fake tree that we borrowed from my parents and this year we will be getting a real one!  Rob is very excited about this because he loves the look and SMELL of a fresh tree in the house!  I grew up my whole life with a fake tree so it never bothered me much to have a fake one!  But the real ones are nice!

       The kiddos, Josh and Alyssa will be in town soon too!  I believe they get here on December 17th and they will be here through December 26th!  We are so excited that they will be celebrating Christmas day with us in San Diego for the first time in years!  It's a TRUE blessing that we are extremely GREATFUL for!

          Christmas shopping is pretty much done with the exception of 2 or 3 gifts and we even finished the majority of the wrapping!  :o)  It is really nice to have it all done already so that we can go and enjoy the festivities of the holidays!  We are looking forward to looking at Christmas lights, ice skating, going to the local mountains to play in the snow, baking days and cookie decorating and maybe a trip to Julian so Rob can enjoy a warm slice of the FAMOUS apple pie and cider!  Maybe go apple picking while we are there too!  So much fun stuff to go and do!  We are hoping to squeeze in a trip to Disneyland before 2011 also because we want one last chance to ride the big rides before I get pregnant and can't ride them for a while! :o)  That is Rob's one last request before we have any "Little Lacys or Little Robs" on the way into the world!

         I have been very busy with my photography business already as well!  I have already done three photo-shoots and it isn't even December yet!  I am happy to be busy because I love the job and the money is nice too!  :o)  I will be taking Rob's and my Christmas photos next week and will be ordering our Christmas cards!  We are excited to be celebrating our 1st Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. Hester!  :o)

~Love the Mrs.~

Will post pics soon!

Stress......Sleep Deprived......Over Worked

Wow....I feel like I could collapse!  I am pooped!  The past few weeks have been busy adding  third job to my schedule.  But after this week things should really start to settle down.  We are excited for Christmas time and I can't wait to decorate!   We don't really do much for thanksgiving as far as decorating goes so I am eager for it to come and pass so it can officially be "OK" to decorate with xmas stuff!  :o)  We are heading to Hazel and Jerry's tonight for dinner with the family but hopefully we can call it an early night.  I NEED a nice long night's sleep!  But as we all know there is always other things that need to be done!  And somehow they all ways take priority over sleeping!  I thought this phase of my life wasn't supposed to happen until we have kiddos!  Oh well!  I guess I am just getting prepared for it now!

Holiday Hype and The New Year is Just Around the Corner!

Its hard to believe that the 2010 Holiday season is quickly approaching!  What is even harder to believe is that Rob and I are almost done with our Christmas shopping and it is only the 1st week of November!  We are very excited that Josh and Alyssa will be joining us this year for the week before Christmas and Christmas morning!  It is the first time in MANY years!  I know that it will be an amazing Holiday season filled with many amazing memories of time spent with the ones we love the most!

The new year is approaching fast too!!!  Can you believe that it is almost 2011??  Rob and I have been married for almost 7 months now and I remember last year at this time we were busy doing wedding planning!  Before we know it we will be celebrating our ONE YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!  We are sooooo in love with each other and even in the tough times our love seems to grow even stronger!

Rob and I have many exciting things to look forward to in the beginning of next year!  I will be applying for a FULL-TIME  8a-4p job and hopefully Rob will be busy with more Substitute work.  We have been lucky this past school semester because Rob has been working a temporary long-term substitute position and it has really helped us out financially!  We are also looking forward to the beginnings of yet ANOTHER chapter of our lives!  A FAMILY!  We are NOT expecting a baby yet but it IS in our 2011 agenda!  We are very excited about the thought of starting our family and I will be getting medical insurance at the start of December 2010 so that we can begin trying at the start of the new year!

It is truly amazing when I think that all of the things going on in my life right now used to be JUST DREAMS!  Now they are coming to life right before my eyes!  We are truly blessed and are thankful for everything and everyone in our lives!

I'm hoping to use this blog a lot more soon!  So keep posted!

~The Hesters

Team LIGHT THE NIGHT FOR ELISE....

Rob and I and some other family and friends are going to be doing a fundraiser 2 mile walk to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Last year a little girl that I used to Nanny passed away from Leukemia at age 7 1/2.  We are walking in memory of her.   We would greatly appreciate any size donation to our team so that we can raise awareness and money to support an amazing foundation that does amazing things for the patients and their families.  

IN LOVING MEMORY

Elise Cecelia Goertz

August 8th, 2001- January 17th, 2009