7 Quick Takes: IuseNFP and the Caracass Snatcher

**1** I am totally in love with the IUseNFP facebook page! Are you a fan yet? If not, you should be. The buttons. are. awesome. Especially this one.

And this one.

Oh and this one.

But not this one.

Because Michelle Duggar is in fact my idol.
**Update** My SIL reminded me that Michelle Duggar is NOT in fact my fashion idol. This is very true. When we are shopping I have many times said "I dunno this might be a little too Michelle Duggar." It is hard when I am shopping for long skirts.

**2** My husband just showed me this clip from Family Guy the other day.

Not a show either of us watch but this made me cry a lot. Ok I didn't really cry but the reality of it all was sad. It is kind of awesome they addressed this though. The sad part is I am sure a lot of people would rather have a fancy car, big house, horse, etc. over a house full of kids. Not me.

**3** I said to my husband at dinner tonight that I am going to be known as the carcass snatcher. He seemed to think that was a terrible idea because people would think I steal dead bodies. Human bodies. Let me just say for the record I have never stolen a human body. Okay now that that is clear, I have found myself asking at family functions (dinners not funerals), if I can have the bird carcass or beef bones to make homemade stock with. I got THREE turkeys this past Thanksgiving! I mean they are just gonna through them away and store bought stock cannot even come close to comparing to homemade stock. So delicious!

**4** Just because I am a little worried about the police knocking on my door, I do not steal dead bodies.

**5** As long as Dominic has been eating solids, we've given him a good, healthy, balanced diet. It is very important to me that he learns good food habits. Lately he has been not eating cooked veggies so much. What? I thought all two year olds LOVED cooked veggies! But Geoffrey started this awesome game while eating homemade soup (with delicious homemade stock) called "find this". He would say "Daddy found a carrot in his soup. Can Doc find a carrot?" He did, and ate it, and he loved this game! We tried it again the next day and it worked with all the veggies. WIN!

**6** For my birthday (April 3) my dear SIL gave me the ZUMBA Rush Fitness game for XBOX Kinect. I love it! I've been doing it at least 4 times a week and am feeling great to be working out and dancing! It is truly a fun workout. I am hoping it helps me shake some of these unwanted pounds off from the last pregnancy/misscarriage and hopefully before I get pregnant again. Anyway the other day I just finished working out and left the room really quick to do something. Dominic was dancing with me and knows how to perfect work the Kinect. So I come back into the room to find "confirm post to Facebook" on the screen. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL!!! Pffhew that was a close one. I'm not sure exactly what it would've posted, probably just the stats of my workout, but my fear is that it was going to post a video of me dancing. Now I love the Zumba game, but I am no dancer. I am quite terrible actually. Oh how embarrassing this would have been!

**7** I really hesitated to post my last post. I don't want to be negative or make people think I am super depressed. I'm not even a little depressed, just overcome sometimes with it all. But it was very nice to get some thoughts out. I feel bad though that I completely blew over the fact that it is Easter. HAPPY EASTER! We had a blessed Tridduum and Easter Sunday. I hope you did too.

For more quick takes check Jen out!

Fertility Issues

Sorry for the silence lately, I've been thinking a lot, too much. I believe in staying positive, and trusting in God's plan, but sometimes it is so hard. Since our second miscarriage two months ago, I've been seeing a Creighton Fertility specialist. My cycles as far as I can tell have always been pretty normal, but now they are all messed up. It is suspect that I might have a Post Luetal Phase Defect, though I won't have hormone testing till later this month. Basically what this most likely means is that my progesterone levels are too low to maintain a pregnancy naturally. Again right now this is all my speculation based off of charting and such.

I am so ready to be pregnant again and to have another baby. I have been for over a year. Some women have no problem getting pregnant while breastfeeding but that didn't turn out to be me. Dominic nursed every two hours until 15m old and nursed very frequently until about 18m. I am sure this kept me from getting pregnant, though I don't regret on demand nursing him one bit. He was 18 m when I did get pregnant. He still nurses once or twice a day with skipping sometimes (signs he is weaning). It is possible I think that it could be a factor, maybe my progesterone levels are suppressed more than normal while bf? I won't know for sure what the issue is however until I get the testing done and right now, the wait is killing me. A few weeks ago I thought I might be pregnant, and I was terrified. Knowing that my babies have died at 5.5/6 weeks (though I don't misscarry for another 8 weeks!) I was terrified because I knew if I was pregnant, I was already 3-4 weeks. It would mean I had 1, 2 weeks at the most to fix my progesterone problems and it was honestly, maybe too late already. Though I really want to be pregnant, the thought of another miscarriage is so scary. I don't want to bury another child. Obviously I wasn't pregnant.

Lately I've been getting a lot "when are you going to have another one?" or "I bet you're ready for another". These questions are certainly innocent and well-meaning, but painful none-the-less. I feel so many women take for granted that they can get pregnant and carry a healthy baby to term, when they want. It isn't such a luxury for everyone. Though I do know I am blessed more than many women to have one wonderful child on earth and two waiting for me in Heaven. Still on most days when I am longing so much for another I just try and pray hard. I long ago turned my fertility over the God, I just need to remember that vow.

The future is uncertain, as I suppose it always is. I find myself struggling though, struggling with what my I thought my family would look like after almost 5 years of marriage. My heart is longing for something so much.  I always thought I would have child after child; big family, close in age. I thought this was from God. But maybe I need to let this dream go. His will is better than mine, perfect in fact. And who knows? Maybe 10 yrs down the road as I chase my small army around, I will laugh at all this. I need to trust. I need to trust. I need to trust.

Only Heaven knows what will happen. God-willing this fertility issue will be an easy fix and we will conceive again soon, but in the mean time I think I need a sign on my wall that says "I have three children". It helps in those few moments when I am feeling a little sad, which are usually when Dominic is asleep because let's face it, it is hard to be sad when he brings me such joy.

Right now I am trying to...
Trust
Stay positive
Hope in God
Carry my cross
Offer up my suffering
Be joyful
Keep my eyes fixed on Heaven
AND
Love my children and husband like only Jesus has loved.