Infertility Journey Ends

About one month before our ski trip, we went to see our favorite Dr. in Chicago one more time: our infertility doctor from advanced fertility: Dr. Sherbahn and his team. We had one frozen embryo, a day 5 blastocyst of very good quality from Espen's 'batch. As this is Dr. Sherbahn we are talking about, I was very hopeful: of our 13 or 14 tries, we had only tried 4 times with this Dr. and all our miracle children are from this team. Amazing! Amazing and amazing. I call him my personal Professor Dumbledore!

After about 5-6 weeks of preparation with pills and shots, I actually went to Chicago with just Espen, and was excited to see everyone again. They have been there with us for 10 years now! The transfer went very well, the embryo had survived and had a good chance. We were still preprared for any outcome though, and felt so grateful for the 4 we have that 1 more baby would be an incredible additional blessing, though a negative result would be disappointing, but okay. This was our very last try, regardless the outcome! Scary and exciting at the same time.

Soon after the transfer, I started taking my record number of pregnancy tests. I think I have taken probabaly over 200 tests over the past 13 years already. On day 10 (5dp5dt I took the first test, a little earlier than I had before. It was positive, fairly faint, but positive. Then I realized that I took the HCG trigger shot 1 day later compared to the transfer than in fresh cycles, such that there was a possibility that it was left over trigger shot. This question was answered by the next day's pregnancy test, which was lighter, so surely it was the trigger. Oh well, we have 4 miracles already, we have been so blessed, we are good.

The next day, I took another (or several) test which was darker than both previous ones: maybe I am pregnant after all! We had to wait through the weekend to get our beta-test to find the HCG concentration, which menat I would first test on day 16 past retrieval (16 dpo), never done that before. As we had been through this before, I felt like the first number would give a strong indication. All my babies had a day 14 dpo of 100 (twins), 97 (Jasper) and 136 (Espen), while the early miscarriages were more like 30, 56, 49, and another around 50. So I was hoping for 200 or so at day 16, as these numbers should double every 2-3 days.

On day 16, the number was ... 78! Ugh, exciting, because there is someone growing inside, frustrating as it is not a good number for me. Of course I immediately started looking for excuses why there was another reason for the number to be low, the most convincing being that I had never had just one embryo transferred to me, such that I might have started with twins every time. I waited until Friday until the follow-up beta, which should have quadrupled by then. In the mean time I probably took about 30 more tests, so worried if they would be darker or not, the results were not helping one bit!

Friday finally came around, quadrupling meant 312, and the number was 336! That was a very happy surprise! However, I was still very worried, as this test was 20 dpo, and my previous numbers by then were over 2500 or 3000 (twins). So the next step was the first ultrasound, which would be after the trip to CO, at about 7.5 weeks. As my first ultrasounds for all my successfull pregnancies had been at the same time, I knew quite well what to be looking for: a 1 cm embryo, and a heartbeat between 120-160 bpm.

We went in and took the girls: we explained to them there might be nothing, but felt this might be their last chance to see a baby with a heartbeat at this early stage, which would be so exciting for them.
As the technician turned the screen, we could immediately see the most exciting sight: a flickering little dot in the middle. We then were able to hear the heartbeat: a strong galloping sound, though a little slower than expected: 112 bpm. That worried me a little, but so close to 120, and it not being super accurate, and it sounding so strong,I felt still hopeful. However, the yolk sac was still there and almost as big as the fetus, which looked so much smaller than what I was used to. Neither did I see any stumps for arms/legs. How small was it? The technician measured it at less than 4 mm, which meant at this very early stage, it measured already 10 days behind....... It was sooooo disappointing, that was way too far behind to be strong enough to make it, as I knew when the 'ovulation' had been to the hour. The technician tried to explian to us, why it looked good, she probabaly didn't know this was a FET, and Josh didn't seem to understand how scared I was, as he was so focused on just the heartbeat. I felt alone, as no one seemed to understadn how bad this looked to me, and I wasn't simply being my 'so-called' negative self!

So, rest assured, we had to wait for another excruciating week, in which again I was trying to tell myself any excuse why this was not as bad as it looked, even measureing the sac, yolk sac, and embryo and compraing that to 100s of ultrasound pictures on the internet. Yes, I am obsessed, or may it is possessed! :)
The following Monday, we went in, with renewed hope, this time, I was with my sweet mother-in-law, who came to support me in this ordeal, knowing that we may not like the outcome. It was so appreciated, thank you mom for your eternal support!
The screen was again turned, .... no heartbeat, no growth. It was fully expected, and it still stung.....badly. It was so hard to let go of this special little one that we were so hoping for and that was trying so hard to come to us. Even more, I found it so hard to swallow that there would not be any more babies, no more births, no more little new bodies to welcome to our family.

I was actually overcome by grief, and was surprised by the severity of that feeling. I really felt I was prepared, I was ok with 'just' the beautiful 4 we already were blessed with... I prayed for strength that I might be able to shake that grief and could concentrate on those 4 miracles. Fortunately, Heavenly father answered that prayer only a few days later, a true tender mercy. We had some very strange happening at school that was related to one of our children, which made me realize the importance of now focusing on the special Spirits we already have in our charge. It was an upsetting event, but exactly what I needed to have this realization, and to be able to shake that grief.

I am thankful for a heavenly Father who listens to and answers our prayers, I am thankful for Dr. Sherbahn and his team, and most of all I am grateful for Sofia, Lilian, Jasper and Espen, and the true joy they bring Josh and me.

House Renovations

SO, already described the renovations, but here are some pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150629881568495.397250.605263494&type=3

Ski Vacation 2012

This year we were blessed once again to go to Colorado to go skiing. We had a such a great experience last year (besides Sofia's broken leg of course) with the kids' skischool that we went to Arapahoe basin again. We found a great deal for airplane tickets last year in August, but didn't decide on the condo until a few days before leaaving. We found a very cosy, warm, rustic place right next to a nice lake, which they had turned into a large ice rink!
The easy but sad part of all of it was that my little Espen didn't come along and stayed with grandma Becky, such that Josh and I could enjoy skiing with eachother, and the three other little ones, without having to take turns sitting up in the cafe with Espen, as Arapahoe basin does not have baby sitting available.
Espen had such a wonderful time with oma, and was even able to visit his 4 cousins in Dallas, texas! Oma sent us some pictures of his happy face, which was a very welcome surprise every time we did receive one. We also had various videos and pictures of mini-boefje which we watched several times every night together
How fun for a Dutch girl to be right next to some skating. We sure took advantage of that, rented some skates and went around with our three children. Yes, Boefje (Jasper) too! He used a little chair for balance, and had a blast, that little boy loves everything, it is imporssible to make him unsmile, and it is impossible to be around him and not smile yourself.
The girls did fabulous, especially considering that they get to skate only once/year for 1 hr on a very bad quality rink (zamboni had been once the year before, with 500 people 'skating' on a 200 meter rink). They skated a lot, and were introduced to ice hockey too. Several people were very nice to share their hockey sticks and pucks, such that Sofia and Lilian played it for hours, hitting back and forth, they had such a good time!

The first four days of the week, the girls had full days of ski school, including lunch. As A-basin is quite small, we were happy to be able to ski with and watch the girls skiing. They were doing so well, going down many mogulls and other black diamonds, not scared one bit. They worked hard on paralel turns, more moguls and large and small turns, getting better and better every day, adn apparently enjoying it more and more each day too. Their favorite parts were going through the trees and down the jumps! It was fun to spend the end of the day with them and have Jasper between our legs and have them lead the way.

In the evenings we sure loved the pool, including the inside, outdoor pool and hot-tub, as well as the sauna and turkish steam bath. Yes, we were SPOILED! The girls were good reading up a storm thatw eek, including 'Harry Potter, the Sorcerer's Stone', 'Oliver Twist', 'White Fang', and other classics. They were helpful with cooking, the dishes, and were just girls to be happy and proud to be the parents of.

Jasper had a few 1/2 day lessons and one full day lesson as he loved it so much. The weather was very very cold and windy such that the perceptive temperature was sometimes -20 F! His cheels were bright redand he must have been freezing, but he sure didn't mind at all! Although he did start learning the snowplow, he was actually not interested in learning that at all. He just wanted to go down as fast as he could. He would just look at his teacher and pass her, ski straight down, thendo a parallel brake of 90 degrees toward the lift at the very bottom. One time, he actually went down the hill on the other side of the lift than the coach, went straight down, didn't brake at all, skied straight into the net, fell over with his skis criss-cross, then rolled down the snowpile on the other side of the net. I could see he didn't get hurt, so I just had to laugh so hard and really wished I could have filmed that. I did ski to him as fast as I could and he was just laughing his head off. My funny boy. During the rest of the lessons, he would just zig zag like a pro, with parallel skiing, simply shifting his weight. He is going to be my (very little) ski-bum! The teachers were hooked to him too, as he has such a silly type of humor. E.g he would pull up one side of his ski goggles, and say 'I am a pirate!". Jasper was hooked on the tree route soon too, but his favorite was definitely the ski jump park. I tried to hold him up high in the air while we jumped together, it was so fun to see him feel the thrill.

After a week of great fun, we were able to stop and stay for a night with the Murreys, where Sofia and Lilian became instant friends with Brittain and Brooklyn, while Jasper's new best frined was Austin. I am so proud of my kids for being able to instantly love new friends.

Finally, after a week of great fun, but also a week without my sweet sweet sweet mini boefje. We all could hardly wait to jump off the airplane and just cuddle him to pieces. He was soooooooo excited to see all of us, soooo fun, so sweet, so special. In truth, after a fantastic week, that was definitely the best ending of our vacation. Thank you a million times a million Oma Becky, for taking such good care of my very special boy!

Christmas Break

We had a marvelous 2.5 weeks off of school for Christmas Break.  It was also a time when both Josh and I had little work to do, so we got to spend some extra special time together as a family. My favorite thing to do!

WE played many games, like spot-it, clue, scooby-doo game, buzzword etc. We went to the playpark to meet with some visiting teachers and simply for fun outdoors, we went to jump-2-it, we went to the zoo for almost 4 hours (we love the zoo membership, have had it probably for 5 years, yeah!). We made some really fun crafts: we made snowglobes from jam jars and small toy animals, fuzzballs and pipecleaners. We also made the cutest napkin rings for Christmas dinner with some family and friends, using cut-off toilet-roll covered in aluminum foil or other pretty paper,then using pipecleaners, cotton-balls, glitter, other paper to cover the pretty napkin rings with a Christmas tree (Sofia), Santa-face (Lilian), snowflakes (Boefje and mini-boefje), and gingerbread-men (mama). I love making crafts with them, and they really enjoyed these ones. Making crafts always gives me a aspecial sense of being close to my kids, doing something fun, creative, and feeling that we accomplish something. I love to stare at their faces when they are concentrated on making these things. I love it!

We started running with the girls, just to our playpark and back, which is just over a mile total. We take a break at the playpark to play, and then run back. Mini-boefje comes along in the stroller ofcourse, and Boefje's first tiem went on his 'motor-cycle' (a balancing bike), later on his little bike with training wheels. Lilian looks like an antilope whne she runs and ran all the way without stopping without even being tired. Sofia can run very fast with her strong legs, just wants to learn to 'build up her race'. They both love running and now want to join Cross Country running!

We also had a lot of relaxing time, where we left the kids to play by themselves, which is a little different for me. I always felt like the one thing that made me a 'good' mom was the (extreme) amount of time I spent with them, playing/teaching/laughing/building special bonds of love. I realize now though that continuing that amount of time with them and not letting them do their own thing may in fact turn me into a 'bad' mom. I find it a little hard to let go, and let them be responsible, independent and creative in that way.

We had a special time watching Christmas movies togetehr, listening to Christmas music, and the girls playing a LOT of Christmas songs on the piano (they still do, and I love it). We enjoed the tree with the lights, Josh had made it look so beautiful again, the scented candles, all reminders of the special feeling for this special season. We loved reading stories of Jesus, every day of December, as instigated by the Primary Presidency, and on Christmas Eve , reading the fukll Christmas story together. We also read from a cute children's book that explains 'the real reason for Christmas joy', lots of special fun, with the special Christmas Spirit in our hearst.

Christmas day was extra special this year, as it was ona  SUnday. We went to church, only for the one Sacrament hour, then went home to unwrap our presents. We were sure spoiled with many clothes, shoes and race-cars, and especially with a beautiful digital piano, we LOVE it! Josh' parents gave us some precious photobooks of the cousins camp and family reunion this year, made by Emily, they are wonderful and we look at them very often!!! Jasper and Espen got the most beautiful LDS quiet book I have ever seen, with which both of them play every week, they love it, thank you oma BEcky!!!

We had fun preparing a special Christmas dinner that we were having with Jana and Wayne, and with the Mahes. The kids all played very well together, not even sure if they even ate anything.! They did love the cake-pops we made as well as the ham. Apetizer not so much (made with cooked shrimp, I think I ate about 90% of it! yum!). Anyway, the napkin rings we made were a success, yeah! The recipes were all nice and simple, thanks to Kraft recipes.

And then Christmas was over :( That didn't keep us from watching Christmas shows and from Christmas music, we like to stretch this out as long as we can! Unfortunately, we ended up taking down the tree after the New Year, which definitely makes me feel like Connie in 'The Forgotten Carols' when she sings 'I cry the day that I take the tree down, I want the season to last all year round'.

After all this fun, relaxed, special time with the family, it was time to return to reality, including school, work, and crazy busy schedules. I must admit I was sobbing when it was that time. I always miss the kids when they are in school, but after these 2 marvelous weeks, I did not want to let them go! Of course they were smewhat sad, but also so excited to see some of their friends again, the way it should be!

During the first week of Christmas break, we also started 'renovating' our house. We really only painted, but the result is in my mind so amazing that it seems like a full renovation! Josh and I painted our kitchen cabinets: top ones white, bottom ones black, while we replaced the range hood from the dark wooded box (beast, looking more like a semi tractor trailer) to a smaller stainless steel one. Wow, that sure changed the look of our kitchen LOOOOOOOOVE it!. We painted the walls in the kitchen and tv-room a very very pale lightbluish-grayish color, and put a humongous picture of our family on the fire-place mantle (thanks to Wayne, picture is included below and also currently my facebook profile-picture). LOOOOOOOVE it. We then asked some painters to do the rest of our home, as the living room has very high ceilings, and because it is quite challenging to paint when you have 4 little children running and crawling around! The rest of the main floor ended up a very very pale yellow, with a little darker version in the dining room and powder room. With the black dining table set, coffee-table it looks super duper awesome, especially after Josh (with a little help from me) painted the teal cabinets (which I did NOT like at all) black also! I love it all so much, and am so grateful Josh was open for this change. Yeeehaaaw! :)

Anyway, we are still listening to Christmas music, the girls are still playing 'the first noel', 'what child is this', 'we wish you a merry christmas', ... etc, and I love it!

PICTURES TO COME LATER

Espen's FIRST Birthday!!!

My sweet little Espen turned 1, can you believe it? Time flies faster and faster. What a special year with a special boy. He is so calm and so sweet, smiles about 99% of the day, is serious the other 1%, until he sees you smiling at him, then his face turns into a warm, smiling fukll with dimples round face that lights up adn melts your heart. He loves kissing me, or really grabbing my face, pullng my face to him by my ears, cheeks or hair adn then sucking on my upper lip. I love it, so sweet, and I feel loved. :)

His first birthday ofcourse came with a nice dark chocolate cake taht he was allowed to bask. Well, he didn't bash it at all, in fact he didn't even touchnit with his hands. He just let his face fall in it, take a bite, come back up and literally dive in again, no hands needed! It was hilarious, and he looked so funny with cake in his eyes, wondering why every one was laughing so hard. What a special boy!

Ginger Bread Train

Our Christmas time tradition is making a ginger bread house with the kids. This year we are still going to do that, but on a trip I found a ginger bread train that was too cute to leave in the store (and made a great little gift for all kids at once). The day after Thanksgiving we started setting up the tree adn create the train. It is so fun to have the kids work together to make it look pretty, to see their fun, smudgy, sticky faces and to see only half the candy on the train (the rest in their very sticky teeth, yuck :) ).

Here are our pictures!Chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo!