Saturday, October 20, 2007

Endometriosis and Fertilty

I remember hearing when I was around 20, when I was in grad school, that women with endo are often infertile - one of my friends at the time was diagnosed, she was not married, and very worried about her prospects of ever having children. At that time, I was worried for her, and also wondered if I had endo. I seemed to have all the symptoms then, but had never been diagnosed. It quickly left my mind when I graduated. After all, no one in my family has ever had problems having children.

So, when I was told by the doctors that I had endo and it would affect my fertility. I wasn't all that concerned. Still thinking, no one in my family has ever had problems.

Now, I know there is a problem. The only thing is, most doctors have no idea what to do about it. And the studies that are out there are controversial. But, I have convinced myself that something in my body keeps a embryo from attaching. I keep feeling like everything goes really well for the first few days after the transplant, and then something happens. And we have decided not to pursue any more fertility treatments until we can get more answers on this or treatment.

This is the introduction to the latest article I found
: "Proteins missing from cells lining the wombs of women with endometriosis may help explain their infertility, according to findings from a study headed by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientist." And then ... "The new study headed by Dr. Bruce A. Lessey, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UNC-CH School of Medicine, suggests that a reduction of the proteins in question may interfere with embryo implantation in the uterine lining."

This doctor is a lot closer, he works out of SC, and less expensive than the other one I was considering in NJ. So he is on our new list of folks to visit at some point ... who knows when.

Today I screamed like a girl

Today, I did scream like a girl, but I decided that is OK - that is usually what happens when I am chased by yellow jackets, can't get away, and get stung. I only got stung once today, on the ear. It was stuck between my hair and ear, I really couldn't get away. So when I came inside, it came with me. Thomas dutifully attended to me, killed the bee, and took me to the drugstore to get some benadryl.

I've been sick all week, mostly just a crappy cold, nothing to stay in bed for, but it made me dead tired. And when I lay down, I can't sleep because I start coughing. I decided I felt a lot better today, I woke up with an appetite, the weather is gorgeous -- so around 2pm I thought it might be a good time to weed the front bed under the big oak tree. I only weeded about a 6 inch area before I was being chased. I'm thinking it might be a while before I finish. I need to make sure they are good and dead.

While, I've been sniffling all week, Thomas has been studying. He can't escape from the books or computer for any period of time. I'm a little worried he's missing out on life, but there really isn't anything I can be doing right now anyway. I have been trying to give him lots of time for his schoolwork, using most of my evenings sewing. I had a really, really nice Viking sewing machine here while mine was being repaired. But that has come to an end.

That is about all that is happening around here.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Update on the House

I've been wanting to add some photos of the house so everyone could see before and after photos of our home. We haven't done much of anything lately. But we did a whole lot those first few months after moving down including ---
* New pool liner and pump
* Cut down 10 pine trees
* Cut down lots of volunteer trees, brush, and weeds
* New roof
* Put down 10,000 sq ft of sod
* Painted indoors
* Had bookshelves built for office
* Bought two new beds
* Put in new dishwasher

And so many more things. So I've added photos to our Flickr account so everyone can preview. CHECK IT OUT.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Finishing the Paperwork

Finishing the last bit of paperwork and requirements for the fostering process can be a little aggravating ... if you let it get to you. I stopped that last month. For the last month, I have been extremely patient with some of the idiosyncrasies of the process and some of the things I've been told.

But here is a quick update. We have the crib, we've assembled the crib. Today we bought a car seat. (That was a nice last minute surprise which we were previously told was not required). I was given one last final list of things to get done and turn in. I took a three hour lunch - shopped for the car seat and turned in the last few things they asked for.

I'm told that tomorrow morning, our paperwork will be sent off, and I just don't mean mailed ... it is going to be hand delivered! woo hoo! Finally. I think part of the reason was because they felt so bad about how long their part has taken. It will hopefully be delivered with care to individuals who are "in the know."

This means that we could have a child in our home shortly. I was told last week that it takes 1 month to process the paperwork. Today, I was told they had children that needed a foster home immediately. =)

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hand Dyed Fabric


One thing I've wanted to do for the last 2 years is to hand dye fabric. It is really important when you quilt that you have some solid fabrics. Solids at the store are super boring and its hard to get the color you really want. But hand dyed fabric adds a nice touch with just a little variation to make solids much more interesting.
So I took some birthday money and bought some dyes. And had a blast last night doing it. I think I could get addicted to this. I already want to try some more colors. So I spent several hours last night dying and then this morning I rinsed and washed the fabrics. Pretty cool, huh?