OUR CRUISE - DAY 2

Its not something that many wonder, but today we got to experience what your clothes feel like in the washing machine. From what people told me, being on a cruise, was no different then being on land, your not supposed to feel the sea. I must say, if land felt like this … there would be no need to drink, as the world already seems spinning.

To be fair, this all started yesterday, but I figured, why write about it, as im sure its not a normal thing. As I awoke this morning, I found it that if its not normal, then im not sure we’ll see normal at all this cruise. It’s a little disorienting in the cabin. Without windows, its fairly dark. That just makes the moving even more strange. At first I wasn’t sure if I was awake, or dreaming of floating between clouds. A loud crashing cart passing by our door confirmed indeed I was awake.

You would think the motion of the ocean would make you sick, but in reality, it just takes some time to get used to. We got served room service breakfast that brought back memories of our honeymoon. It wasn’t as good as the honeymoon, but how can you beat eating breakfast as you watch the sunrise over the ocean. Smelling the cool ocean air and watching the waves gently kiss onto the sand. Now with that said … it was good, but if you didn’t get enough, don’t worry, you could head upstairs to a buffet and get a omelet or sausage or almost anything your heart desires.

Today was much nicer weather. With the nicer weather also comes the hordes

of people. We got a late start, so that meant that we had very few chairs to pick from. After walking around a bit to explore the outside of the ship, we found a couple at the rear of the ship. Kristy had her mom’s kindle, as I tried to read the old fashion way, by turning the pages. Turning the pages is not easy when you have a consistent rush of wind flowing past you. Apparently we must be moving when cruising, who would have thought? Kristy got to get her first fun and fruity drink of the trip full with a coconut monkey head to boot. The selling point of the monkey head is that it doubles as a coin bank.

Not sure if it was just me, but since kids can’t drink the alcohol, I don’t think many adults will be putting all their pennies in the pretty monkey bank when they get home. But what better way to get a tasty drink, and a nice souvenir for someone at the same time. We moved around our reading spot a few times, but despite the hunt, never found a place with sun. Don’t get me wrong, its nice and warm, but I think the sun might be taking a vacation in Wisconsin right now, as we haven’t seen it since we left.

We got a chance to take a nap in the middle of the day, and then began our prep for the night of fun filled activities. It’s the formal night, so we get to dress up to the 9’s and have an elegant feast filled with dancing and shows. We started the night with a dance show that covered many different styles and times through the ages. Some of the numbers were good, while others were a little tacky.

Our dinner was more interesting, as we had table guests. I mean not really guests, but since the other couple did not show up the first evening, I figured that perhaps we were going to be able to eat alone all trip. They seemed nice, and have been on this same cruise ship 2 times before. They let us know that despite what we heard, the swaying we felt was very much normal, and up to this point in our cruise, its not the worse they have felt. Great.

The meal was fairly good, as we both got lobster and stuffed mushrooms. Despite the name of red lobster, I think we’ll still go for the crab. Lobster is good, but you can’t beat the crab. Kristy finished up the dinner with the warm melting cake, and we were ready for a night on the town … I mean ship.

After dinner we had a little time to kill before our 10:30 show, so we came back to the cabin and finished the movie “up in the air” that we started earlier. For anyone who hasn’t seen it … stop it about an hour in, and call it a movie. The ending is lacking to say the least.

The 10:30 show is for adults only, so I was ready for some raunchy humor. All things considered, the act was fairly tame, but had many parts where we got to laugh. The only part that made it R was that he swore a lot and really that is nothing since Kristy tends to have a potty mouth at times as well.

After this show we checked out the night club scene and realized we were not comfortable enough to enjoy the night clubs, so back to our rooms for a costume change and we went exploring again. We went to one night club and danced a few songs but realized that we could only bounce to so many raps songs and the other bar that had more our music was not open on this night. So we went up to get a snack and checked out the adult only swim area (we will defiantly be hitting this area up tomorrow), and gazed out onto the ocean with the one you love there was no better romantic way to end the evening.

The thing I was most impressed with today is that we have become more outgoing. Whether it was talking with our new table companions at dinner, or asking strangers to take our picture,

we got it done with ease.

OUR CRUISE - DAY 1.5

Well to start I should probably explain where day 1 went and how it became 1.5 instead. Our first 17 hours actually started on noon Friday. We left work around noon, and began our drive down from Wisconsin to Mobile, AL. The roads we choose to take prevented us from crossing any major cities, so we missed all the traffic and headaches that typically come with a Friday cross country drive. One thing that I had not planned however, was that because we missed all the major towns, there was also much less to do or see on the drive. It was a usual sign that next gas station was 40 miles which is a little weird when your used to seeing 3 or four every block.

We stopped on the way down at a southern Illinois town and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Applebees. Who would have known that the menu we know and love with oriental chicken rollup’s does not exist down there. But it was a little different then I expected as I felt like we were in the heart of KY, as there was country music being played everywhere (I mean everywhere, even in the bathroom), and everyone had a heavy “southern” accent.

The majority of the rest of the drive was uneventful, which all things considered is a good then when your driving for 17 hours. The negative however was that about an hour out of Mobile, It was still only 4 AM. Our cruise ship allow boarding until 12:30 so that’s just a touch early.

Due to our choice of road however, we were not on main roads and did not have access to a rest stop to stop and have a little shut eye at. We decided to pull into a small motel grass area and just park on the side of the road and try to rest. Up to now, Kristy had been loving the new car for travel. From the much more storage space, to the reclining seats and don’t forget about the ipod jack. The backseat became a full sized bed with pillow and blankets, a couch that allowed relaxing and reading and a movie theater where her laptop acted as a big screen production.

Now however, when you put John and Kristy into that same bed, it became like trying to have two people do a hula hoop at the same time. It can work, but its not comfortable, and it sure isn’t pretty.

After trying that for about an hour, we decided to continue on and just hit up a starbucks in Mobile for some pick me up juice. Good old starbucks, same old coffee, all across the nation, and free wi-fi for our phones as well. O how we’ll miss those phones. I don’t think you’ll know how much you’ll miss a smart phone until when you have it. Its sort of like DVR. Until you have it, you think, eh whatever. But as soon as you get it, its hard to image your life without it. Our iphones are the same, and when we are on our ship, there is no phone access. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. There is phone access, if your are willing to pay $.50 per text, $2.50 per minute per call, and $40 per MB of data. So If your rich, bring your phone, if not, turn it off I guess.

Starbucks, as welcome as it was, did not take us as much time as we would have hoped. It was still only early morning. We tried to go by the dock, but were turned away and told to come back later. I must say, coming from Waukesha, I am used to strange street plans, but Mobile takes the cake. It seems like every road we went on was one way. There was even a point, where I think 4 one way streets all came together and there was no way out. That’s one way to keep people from leaving I guess.

Luckily the car came to rescue again. We found a place to park, and check what was playing in our personal movie theater. BandSlam, don’t mind if I do. Tickets for two, no need for popcorn, front row seats, alright. It was a great experience. The movie was good, but just to have things going south, and yet we found a way together to have fun and pass the time. Its going to be a good trip. We also wandered around this beautiful park that we parked next to. There were fountains and the trees were absolutely amazing, they seemed to look like they came straight out of the Disney movie Tarzan all twisted and covered with moss.

After passing enough time, we went back to the docks, and now found a line waiting for us. Figured, come to early, get turned away. Come still early, just not as much, get in back of a massive line of cars. O well.

I wish I could say that was the only line we stayed in on our first day, but like Kristy says, “All good things have a line, just look at Disney.” Where is the fast pass when you need it? We had a line to get through the metal detector, a massive line to get checked in (although Kristy was kept entertained by her mom’s kindle, and John made small talk with a nice retired couple who decided to take us under their wing and help us get use to a cruise), a line to get on board, and a line for food.

I must say that the ship was pretty nice. I had heard that Fantasy was an older ship, so I had feared that it would be run down. It was not at all. It has many decks each with things to see. It has a fun workout area, a small casino, lots of food option, a theater, and a lot of people.

O, I guess I forgot to mention one of the biggest things. It has been raining all day. Not like downpour always, but never did I see the sun come out. What that means for us is two things: a lot of time inside the ship instead of out on the decks and a little more rough cruising. The time inside wouldn’t be as bad if everyone else did not have to be inside as well. It just means there is a lot less space for a lot more people to be in.

Our first meal ended up being very good. I didn’t expect a ton, as its safer to not expect much. I was pleasantly surprised as I got lasagna of some type, that was different but good, and Kristy got a steak. The service has been very good, and everyone seems nice that is cruising with us.

We ended the night with a show on the ship that was supposed to welcome us on board. It was a very fun show, full of dancing, singing, and comedians. All in all it was a full and great first day. Hopefully the weather improves and then I know it will be an amazing vacation!!!

Vaction here we come!!

John and I booked a cruise last night.

We will be leaving in 11 days!! Sunshine and ocean breeze i can not wait.

We are doing a carnival cruise to Yucatan, Mexico and Cozumel Mexico.

Better than i feared, Worse than i hoped.

So today we went in for our test results. I went in thinking that i was going to be told that we couldn't have children, but i was definitely hoping that they would say nothing was wrong with my uterus and that we could easily do IUI's. I was also praying for a definite answer, i wanted the Dr. to tell me what we were going to do. Well the results were better than i feared, i will be able to have a child, but not as good as i was hoping as we have to avoid multiples as my uterus is what they call a unicorn uterus which is half of a uterus.
This is my uterus i have half of what is suppose to be there with 1 working tube and ovaries on both sides. The other half that is suppose to be connected is just hanging around having a good time being useless. A unicorn is when the uterus never fully develops which shouldn't have come as a surprise to me as my cleft lip and palette were formed by the tissue never fully developing.

Well the Dr. gave us this news and then told us that we have 4 options. What 4 options? dude you were suppose to tell me the game plan and i would be all happy to go along with it. but no i have to actually make some hard decisions now.

So here are our options

1. Keep trying the old fashion way as for someone with 1 tube it actually takes 2 years to be considered having fertility problems. Um if i wanted to keep trying i would have saved myself the $3,000 we have already spent on figuring out what is going on. So i'm saying that this option is a big fat NO!!
2. Go ahead and do regular IUI's with an ultrasound ahead of time to see what side I am ovulating on. If its the correct side (my left side) then we will inseminate if not we will try the next month. I'm open to this idea but I don't want to keep doing this forever. The percentage for this is only 15% when its the correct side, still not likeing my odds then.
3. Do IUI's but with Clomid to increase the egg production. Again do the ultrasound however if there are too many follicles we can't move forward either as my uterus would not be able to carry multiples. This could be good as the percentage increases to 20% however this could be bad as if too many follicles we couldn't move forward either. if we did option number 2 for three correct side cycles then we would have to move to option 3 or option 4.
4. Do IVF this summer. well this always was the thought but we can only put 1 embryo in at a time and if the first time doesn't work then we will have to save more $$ to try again.

So all in all i have no idea what i want to do as if we could get pregnant from IUI we would save a ton of money but we have a better chance with IVF around 60%. I just wish someone would tell me that they looked into their crystal ball and saw which option would work. I'm more upset not from the news but from not knowing which way to go. well i had read before that a unicorn uterus could effect your kidneys so yay for having no kidney problems.

I know that we will come up with a good option i just don't know what that is that still allows us to go on vacation, do house projects and achieve our end goal of a beautiful baby.

MRI

Friday I went in for my MRI. The whole thing was relatively painless, the only thing that hurt was when i had to have an IV put in. The MRI machine is a very, very loud machine that makes lots of beeps and whistles which kind of freaked me out at first but after a while i barely even noticed. John and I took off that afternoon for the MRI so we went shopping at the mall for Jeans then out for lunch and then drove to a cute neighborhood and walked around enjoying the beautiful day. Then we went to the MRI and we got to park in a parking lot that sounded like a whole lot of frogs (such a unique way to identify the different levels). I thought i would have a hard time laying still but it really wasn't that bad. The only hard part was when i needed to have my hands over my head for 10 minutes, so even that wasn't that bad. I also got a lovely shot to slow down my bowels for a clearer image, kind of messed with my stomach but not the end of the world. John then took me shopping at Kohls for even more jeans, such a great guy! We ended the day with culvers custard and me then going home and taking a nap.

Now the super hard part, waiting for the test results.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Favorite Things from March

1. Gyros

Nothing beats a good Gyro after having a long, hard, emotional day. John and I are able cuddle up and enjoy a good gyro and a good t.v show after we find out that everything we thought about how our future would go turns a different way. Gryo's are our comfort food.

2. This girl

Without this girl this past month I would have gone insane. Besides John, Renee was the person I could cry to and the one who would force me to see the silver lining. Thanks Renee for making me face things and learn to accept them.

3. Chick Flicks

One of the best thing for a stressed and overwhelmed girl, a good chick flick that can make a girl smile and feel the love is the perfect opportunity to unwind. Add a big glass of wine and you have an amazing night. Lucky for me I got an added bonus of a wonderful husband who is willing to watch movie after movie with me.

4. My Mom!!

Sometimes when life gets tough a girl just needs her mom to tell her it will all be ok!

5. Lie to Me

This show is AWESOME!! This show is about a guy who is the worlds best Lie detector, he is able to tell when anyone is lying just by watching their face for the facial ticks that show off emotions. After watching this a few times I keep watching John’s face as he talks to me to see if I can spot the different emotions. Its so thought provoking to see that everyone has the same small facial movements to show the particular emotion. And the very, very best part is curling up on the couch with my dog and my hubby. It’s the perfect way to relax after a long day.