My little MIRACLE.......

{Picture taken by Christina Humphrey's}

Keagan is my little miracle. Literally. How did I get him? It was so easy. I got married, went on the pill, and got prego a couple months later. easy. simple. wonderful. I thought I would pop them out like crazy! Yes but I never knew what a miracle he really was til this past Monday. I had an appointment with the doctor to check if my cyst was still there and my blood clot. He looked and they were both gone so we are going to do clomid, shots, IUI, again this month! I was really excited! Then he got quiet and started marking things on the ultrasound and talking to the nurse in another "language". Then he said...I'm not sure how we missed this but you have pcos (polycystic ovary-syndrome). I was so shocked because my original family doctor helped us with our fertility the first year. I had read about pcos and thought that I might have it because I have some of the symptoms. I asked my Dr. to see if this was my problem. He said because I  was regular that I didn't haveit and we moved on to other testing and option. My next Dr. I went to had us take ovulation test for 4 months. They read that I did each month. What i didn't know was that you can have a period every month and still not ovulate or function properly and have pcos. Then I have been going to the specialist Dr since August and we talked about it and he ruled it out again. I wish we could have caught it a 2 years ago and not thousands of dollars later but I am sure I needed that time to learn a few things.

OK so what is pcos? Doctors are not sure if a person has it right at birth but usually it shows its ugly face around puberty time with weight gain, painful periods, etc.. Pcos is genetic, my sister who has 2 sets of twins (fertility stuff) also has pcos. My daughters will have 50% chance of also having it. When you have pcos, your hormones are out of balance. Your body produces too much androgens. which can lead to yucky side effects of which I am grateful do not have all of them:) Most women who have pcos have a problem with their body using insulin, called insulin resistance. When the body doesn't use insulin well, blood sugar levels go up. This is why 70% of women who have pcos are obese when they are diagnosed. The hormones being out of wack cause cysts to form on your ovaries. Here are some of the side effects....
1. mood swings, hormonal changes rapidly.
2. depression
3. Weight gain or upper body obesity (more around the abdomen than the hips).Very hard to lose weight.
4. thinning hair
5. Repeat miscarriages. The cause for this is not known.
6.Inability to become pregnant
7.Causes too much insulin in the blood
8. Facial hair growth
9. Acne
10 Infertility
etc.
I am so glad I skipped out on the facial hair growth one:) I do have thinning hair and have had weight problems most of my life, had a miscarriage, infertility struggles, not really acne. Polycystic ovary syndrome cannot be prevented. But early diagnosis and treatment of it helps prevent long-term complications, such as infertility, metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease and more but will not be cured just helped.
In reading there are a couple options I have....
1. The pcos diet which I have been following since Monday. Very low carb, no bread, crackers, etc, high lean protein and veggies. When a normal person eats a carbohydrate, insulin levels rise to break down the resulting sugar in the blood. But women with PCOS are insulin-resistant, meaning they have defective cells that hamper this metabolism and increase the risk of diabetes. To try to compensate for the defect, their bodies produce more and more insulin, which can damage the insulin-producing system and make you gain weight which makes it harder to get prego. Vicious cycle huh?

2. Many women also take Metphormin  to help lower their blood sugar and help them lose weight making it easier to get pregnant.

3. Clomid will force ovulation but changes are much higher of miscarrying.

4. some women go on the pill because  it helps regulate their hormones and that is how I got pregnant with keagan....on the pill:) What a little miracle he is to me and I am so grateful for him.

I will go in to the doctors next week and find out more. The diagnoses is bitter sweet. I am glad I know what it is now so we can work on fertility more effectively than wondering in the dark but it is bitter knowing I will always have this, at least in this life and that infertility could be a long hard road.

Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
Tis better far for us to strive our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell -
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell-
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away, in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the saints, will be blessed.
We'll make the air, with music ring, Shout praises to our god and king;
Above the rest these words we'll tell -
All is well! All is well!

And should we die before our journey's through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again to see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!

Trick-or-Treat.....

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! What are you doing today? We are having a BBQ with friends! I'm making some cute mummy pizzas for the kids, witches hat cookies, witches fingers, and cemetary 7 layer dip w/ chips. Then it is off to go trick or treating! Keagan has been so excited all day asking me if we can go get treats yet! I love Holidays!

Carving Pumpkins.....

We carved pumpkins with a friends on Monday and had FHE about the Holy Ghost. It was funny to watch the kids get so messy getting the yucky stuff out of their pumpkins!

I helped him carve his.....just a little:)

Finally....

We have been fishing all summer and really have caught nothing:) still really fun though. Jeremy wanted to go one last time last week and I am glad he did because they caught 9 fish and it snowed this week. He went with my dad and his friend Hunter.

(In)Fertility Update.....

I have had quite a few people email me and send me messages on facebook asking about the baby making so I thought I would just update it on the blog instead of writing it over and over..... If you remember I had a little trip to the ER at the end of September and I went home not really knowing where the pain was coming from.
We started going to a Dr. August 2008 doing tests but never did any fertility drugs, just natural supplements. I just started doing all the shots, medications, 2 artificial inseminations, etc etc. at the end of August. I went to the Dr. 13 times in September. September was unsuccessful so I went in to start clomid again this month but when they did the ultrasound they found that I had a cyst burst (explains the ER trip) and another cyst that had not burst yet and a blood clot in my right ovary:( He said when I already ovulate and use fertility drugs it overstimulated my ovaries or something. I had 3 eggs on the right side and 2 on the left. I have never had any cysts before but just from the drugs I guess. He said he wanted us to wait for a while before trying to get prego again and do another ultrasound in a couple months and see if I am all healed up before doing anything else. ......a couple months of waiting was hard to hear when I want nothing more. I just prayed so hard that I could stop focusing on it so much and stop being so emotional about it. It has been such a nice lift and break not to think about it. I had to even look at the calender a few times this month to see what day it was. That usually never happens. Hopefully I will heal fast but I am not holding my breath. I think the Lord knows I need to learn patience:) Keagan helps me stay happy, so grateful for him. Yesterday we drove past a ghost in someones yard and he said...."mom, look its the Holy Ghost" :) I have lots to post about of things we have done but that will wait for another day......

p.s. I have 4/50 spots left for custom design Christmas cards so let me know. I will have 10 Christmas card templates on my design site up at the end of this week and don't have a limit to those. I had to limit the Christmas ones so I can have time to sleep some nights:)

Brian & Kelsey's wedding!

Last week my baby brother got married in the salt lake temple. It is so fun to have all 6 of us married now but it makes me feel old when the baby gets married. It was such a beautiful wedding and amazing sealing!

My 2 sisters and I. Missing 1 of the 4:(

 Brian right before the wedding. I thought it was funny because he seemed so calm and not a worry in the world and Kelsey was stressed. That was just like me and Jeremy. Just show up in your tux and you're good to go.


Jeremy got glasses a couple weeks ago. He doesn't need to wear them but does sometimes. I like him better without so you can see his big blue eyes.





Keagan had fun playing with his cousins Brody & Preston. I wish my family lived closer and not all over the country so they could play more!

Eating at chilies the night before....

Reading books to Preston. Preston was the only child my sister brought. she has 2 sets of twins so Preston was loving getting lots of attention to himself!



We had so much fun but didn't sleep much. The day after we got home Keagan slept from 8pm until 9:30am! That has never happened before! I'm so happy to have Kelsey as a part of our family. she is very sweet and loving. I got lucky in the bro/sis in-law area!

Blessings from Heaven!!!

Today was a cold windy day but Keagan and I went outside anyway to play in the backyard. While we were out there a gust of wind flew by and a pile of leaves landed in front of me. This was no ordinary pile of leaves. This pile of leaves had a 50$ bill in it!!!! What?!? I know crazy! Heavenly Father must have dropped it:) Malichi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a there blessing, that shall not be room enough to receive it.

The Pumpkin Patch....

This week we headed to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. Keagan wanted all of them...

Running to get the pumpkins...

Me and my pumpkin.....

I am not a huge lover of Halloween but do love carving pumpkins and the fall season.

Hair school....

I always wanted to go to hair school when I was younger. One time I asked my dad and He said....sure I would pay for hair school the day you give me your bachelors degree. Well now I have a bachelors degree but no time and love being a momma but i still like to cut hair. I have never actually taken a class or been taught but I like to do it. I was surprised when my sister said I could cut her hair. Here is the before.....

And here is the after...both cute:)

I love her NATRUAL hair color. Gorgeous!

Our cute boys.....

General Conference....

Two times a year our church holds General Conference where we are able to listen to the prophet Thomas Monson and many other of our church leaders. It is inspiring, uplifting, motivating, and relaxing to be able to stay home and have a little break from callings. We have a tradition of making crock pot chili and pumpkin bars for lunch. My parents came up form st. george to spend the day with Keagan and I because Jeremy had to work on sayurday. He was able to listen on the radio though. I love living in Utah:) Here is keagan right before it started. I had to get out a few activities to keep him busy. He liked the matching apostle game, coloring and singing the most.

My parents eating lunch.

We made some pumpkin cookies to take to our neighbors. Keagan made one for himself too....

some of my favorite quotes from conference were:

Elder David A. Bednar -Within the walls of our own homes we can and should bear testimony of the divinity of God's Son. When was the last time you shared your testimony with your spouse or children or parents? What we know is not always reflected in what we do. We are not only striving to know more but also do more. We need to live and bear our testimonies.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland -
The Savior warned that even the very elect could be deceived in the last days. Think of the heart as the poetic location of our loyalties and values. Heavenly Father knows all of our troubles of the heart and soul. The Book of Mormon begins with a great parable of life - hope vs. fear, salvation vs. destruction, etc. Mists of darkness arose to make the hard way even harder. There was a rod of iron that led the way - it was a manifestation of God's love - it was His word.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks - God's love is tied to His laws. It is not completely unconditional. Mercy cannot rob justice. Those who receive mercy are they who received the covenant and kept the commandment. God's anger and wrath are part of His love. He wants us to become like Him and is displeased when we do not follow Him.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf -
God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

First article of fatih....

We have been learning the articles of faith recently. Here is a video of the first one. he knows the first 3 so far. I have to video them because when I ask him to do it for Grammy & Grandpa, family or other people he gets shy:) Enjoy...

FHE videos...

We learned this song for FHE to help Keagan know the apostles for Conference......

And watched this one for laughs.....

Women's Conference.....

Did you all not LOVE Women’s conference? I need that like once a week! Here are some things that I liked…
Sister Julie B. Beck:
• Pray for one sister in your ward, morning and night.
• Never surpass a generous thought!
• Visiting teaching is never finished it's a part of life, not something we cross off our lists.
• No more ENRICHMENT, home, family, and personal enrichment. Just relief society activities, meetings, etc. I am the Enrichment leader in my ward, does that mean I don’t have a calling anymore? Now I’ll just have my stake calling, yippee! j/k I love my callings
Silvia H. Allred:
• Share with those sisters who are not engaged in RS the blessings of RS.
• Have more concern for service and not being selfish.
• If you feel inadequate in a calling you are not alone and do it anyway.
Barbara Thompson
• The difference in believing you're a daughter of God and knowing you're a daughter of God.
• The saviors love, is this not GREAT love?
• Our lives don’t go as planned, the bubble pops but no matter what be faithful. (I loved her saying where is my handsome husband, 2 girls and 2 boys? You can find happiness in the saviors plan if you are active and faithful. His plan is better than ours.
• The difference between believing in Jesus Christ and being valiant in Jesus Christ.

How firm a foundation was the intermediate hymn. This part really stood out to me….

In every condition, in sickness, in health;

In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,

As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

Henry B. Eyring:
• There is no salvation without compassionate service for both men and women.
• The history of RS is recorded with records and numbers; the heritage of RS is passed from heart to heart.
• The pioneers were able to find joy and serve others even when their own needs were not met.
• They left their happy fields and traveled the plains through trails, pains, losing loved ones, but had hope in Zion. We must look to Zion.

 This was what I had in my notes so it is not exactly quoted correctly but you can go HERE to listen to the whole conference!

The other day Keag and I got back from going to my little workout group and I jumped in the shower while Keagan was playing in his toyroom. When I got out I found him like this. He had turned on the TV, gotten himself a carrot (not washed or pealed), got a blanket and decided to take a nap. They get easier and easier as they get older huh?

Going bike riding.... I'm gonna miss our bike rides this winter.

Keagan likes to walk around in heels and say...I'm skateboarding!

This is Aiden. I watch him about 20 hours a week for my friend who is newly divorced and goes to work and school plus it helps keagan learn to share.

 

HOPE in the form of 23 dresses......

Two years ago, I was talking with my mom how Jeremy and I were starting to try to have another baby! I was so excited. Then she told me when her and my father were trying to get pregnant with me, the third girl they had tried for 2 months and on the third month after not getting pregnant she went out and bought a new maternity dress.My mom said it brought her HOPE that she would get pregnant again. she got pregnant with me the next month:) I decided to do the same thing but baby dresses and not maternity dresses. Each month after finding out were not pregnant I buy a new one. Jeremy is a good sport about it. Most on sale. If we have all boys at least I will have baby shower gifts. I now have 23 little baby dresses that represent that HOPE I feel for the future. I get to buy another one this month, yay! (that was sarcastic if ya didn't notice).

Me and my cute mom. This weekend I went to her concert, she is in the heritage choir in st. george. she is excited to go to China next month with her choir. Love her.