Fast Sunday Request

Dear Family and Friends,

Dustin and I have been wanting to have a baby for over a year. Despite our efforts and desires, we haven't been successful. We've had two miscarriages: one last September and one in January. We had an appointment today (Friday) with a fertility specialist at Kaiser. When it comes in fertility problems, 30% of the time the problem lies with the female, 30% of the time with the male, 30% of the time both partners have a problem, and 10% of the time there are no explanations for the problems. We fall into the 10% category. Medically, everything is just fine with both of us. While that is a blessing, the flip side is that the doctors have no explanation for why we haven't been able to stay pregnant or get pregnant again. The next step medically for us is called an IUI - and it's basically a step below in-vitro fertilization. Needless to say, hearing that today was a little overwhelming and we are now faced with the decision of moving forward with an IUI or waiting a few months longer doing things the good old-fashioned way.

We are going to be fasting this Sunday (since our Stake is having Fast Sunday the Sunday before General Conference) for help and guidance with our fertility challenges. We would be so grateful if you would join in our fast. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan at work and we know that with fasting and prayer miracles can be performed.

We are so grateful for each of you in our lives and that we have the blessing to be your friends and/or family members! Thank you for all your love and support!

Landon and Dustin

Motivation and Inspiration

I wish I was blogging about our vacation right now (you know, the cruise, the day at Disneyland, the time spent with some awesome friends), but the charger thing for my camera has mysteriously disappeared meaning I can't upload pictures. And, be honest, you don't want to hear about my vacation (it was awesome) as much as you want to see pictures from it.

We both came home feeling much more relaxed and rejuvenated. I found new energy to tackle life's hurdles head on (as opposed to side on? backwards? crawling under them? I don't know...) which is awesome. And, I think I even found some motivation to finish some of my incomplete projects (all which were started with the best intentions, but then somehow were never finished). So I'd call that a win.

And now for the reason for my post!
We have a two bedroom apartment. The second bedroom has kinda been my space. My sewing machine, computer and (our) piano all live in that room. I decorated it to be a place of peace and escape for me (at D's permission and encouragement, of course). Well, the room wasn't really serving its (where does the apostrophe go in that word?) purpose. While we were in Disneyland, we went to the Disney Store in Downtown Disney. We found some great treasures. I first said the L word to D while we were watching the movie Cars and D found a really cool print of Lightening McQueen. He also found a statue thing of Mickey Mouse shaking a fire fighter's hand. We left with both in tow but with no where for them to live at our house. Which got me thinking. And those thoughts turned into actions today!

The second bedroom is getting a face lift! Goodbye tan curtain, hello red curtain. Goodbye greens and browns, hello reds and blues! The of the Coca-Cola clock mixed with the firefighter statue is awesome. A print of the Chicago skyline is on its (again, apostrophe where?) way to join the room - D served his mission there. I love that the room is about us.

I think that our bedroom is going to get a facelift next... :)

Progress

Warning - this may be TMI for some of you readers so feel free to skip this post. I won't be offended.

After a over a year of hard work and heartbreak, we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

We've had two miscarriages, one last September and one in January, and we haven't been able to get pregnant since. A couple of months ago, we started all the background testing (blood work and such) and today we made an appointment to put together our game plan with a doctor. The nurse who scheduled our appointment was super nice (she actually called back to schedule us with a different doctor because she wanted us to meet with the best one they have) .

I'm so grateful to have Kaiser because their fertility treatment options are awesome. They don't consider anyone to be infertile, they just see their patients as having fertility challenges. I love that attitude and I feel more hopeful than I have in a year!