He's here!

Enlarge to see the stats. We love our little miracle.

Our first full day in London was full of adventure, beautiful sites, and walking. Lots of walking. Here are the sights we saw on our first day: the London Eye (but didn't go on it until Thursday), a Thames River cruise, the Tower of London, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We had planned to also see the HMS Belfast, and the National Theater Backstage Tour but ran out of time. 

We took a river cruise from the London Eye (Waterloo Station stop) to the Tower of London. We loved it. On the river we saw the biggest photo of the royal family ever. It was put on the River Thames to honor Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. Here it is: 

As soon as we arrived at the Tower of London we took a Beefeater tour from a yeoman warder named Bill and he was absolutely hilarious as well as informative (you can see his video on youtube). TJ and I love history (we took our honeymoon to Williamsburg, VA if that has any indication as to how much we both love history) so we were in our element at the Tower of London. We saw the White tower (lots of stairs, but beautiful inside), the crown jewels (I want an upgrade to my wedding band), and the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula which was absolutely beautiful. We took our time and made sure that we could see as much as possible. 

The Jewel House where the Crown Jewels are kept.

The White Tower. Lots of stairs, armor, and history.

My first royal guard. No, we didn't go bug him.

Our Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) tour guide. Hilarious!

This is what the Tower Bridge looks like when you are crossing it.

Outside the Globe waiting to go inside for our tour.

The Globe! Well, a recreation, but still, THE GLOBE!

Our classically trained actor/tour guide. He did a wonderful job.

A view of the stage from the balcony.

Balcony seats. They were made just as builders in Shakespeare's time would have made them.

Please note the (awesome) thatched roof. It's the only one you'll see in London city limits.

Funny story. Apple upgraded to iOS 6 right before we left for England so we were able to take panoramic shots. I was excited.

In October, TJ and I had the amazing opportunity to take a vacation of a lifetime to England. We visited with TJ's best friend, Jon, and his wife and children and then we went to London. The time we spend with Jon and his family in the countryside was nice and my favorite part was the discovery of Cadbury Creme Egg ice cream. It was divine. I wish we could get that here! We also went to ASDA which is the UK's version of Walmart. It was fun going there and seeing the similarities and differences. ASDA was two floors and the top floor was all clothes! I loved it. I even got a pink fleece jacket because mine broke on the way to Jon's house and I think it a treasure!

TJ on the train to London

I have needed to update the blog with everything that has happened in the last few months and so I am going to start with our infertility challenges (and blessings) that have happened in the last year. After this post, I promise to update about our vacation to England and some of our day trips.

I want to start and say that the reason that I say everything with the pronoun “we” is that my husband and I are in this together. It’s not just me struggling here, we are going through all of this together and I refuse to say that he is the problem or I am the problem, because we are a team and WE are going through this together.

After the HSG test my (amazing) OB-GYN suggested that we try Provera and Clomid to induce ovulation. After four failed cycles we were referred to the University hospital’s infertility center to step up our “game” and see what they could do for us. I’ll start by saying that we absolutely adore our reproductive endocrinologist and his staff and are grateful for his knowledge and expertise in the area of infertility and their compassion and kindness shown to us. Our RE (hereby called Dr. Wonderful) suggested a few things: 1) that we take a genetic test to rule out the possibility of genetic defects in our future children, 2) that I take a glucose test (that pregnant women take to test for gestational diabetes), and 3) that we have our blood work tested to see how our bodies are functioning. He requested that we meet with him the following month (December) to go over everything and let us know where we stood and how we could proceed and that his initial suggestion was that we would only be able to successfully conceive by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and although our insurance would cover the procedure we were left not quite sure how we were feeling. Sure, we felt hopeful that these doctors could help us, but we also felt broken and helpless. I’ve never been so emotionally confused in my life and that was just the consult!

Our follow up appointment with Dr. Wonderful was a tender mercy from the Lord. While we did find out from the glucose test that I have something called insulin resistance and that is possibly the reason I don’t ovulate, I have been put on a medicine that will help regulate my insulin. Also, after looking at various tests results, Dr. Wonderful gave us the go ahead to try IUIs instead of IVF. He said that we now qualify for the procedure and we will go ahead with that as soon as he says my body is ready. We went from having just two tries at getting pregnant to as many as we need and we are very grateful for that prayer that was answered for us. Currently we are waiting for my body to acclimate to the Metformin so I can get my body regulated and we meet with Dr. Wonderful again in February. We really just want to get this whole thing started, but need to be patient and wait for the right time. We hope, and pray, that the time is soon.

Ok, now it’s back to our regularly scheduled program of happy things like England, beluga whales, and recipes.

So, the house we own is old. We're talking like 1890s old. It is an old two family house that is sturdy and is full of charm. Well, when my husband bought the house, he had my father-in-law paint everything a boring white color. He was a bachelor and didn't really care about how the house looked as long as it was clean. Then he married me and I changed it all. I made him asked him to agree to paint the living room. It's a gorgeous liberty blue now. Well, I wasn't going to be finished with just one room painted, that's for sure. I wanted to spruce up the whole house! And with a gracious gift from a family member that passed on, we are blessed to be able to finally make those changes that I requested.

Isn't it pretty?!

Our house makeover isn't done yet. We currently have our contractor here putting in a new bathroom vanity, painting the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room, and not to mention painting our ceilings and trim and woodwork. Yesterday, he was here painting our hallway, stairs, and banister. I love the colors I've chosen for the house, too. Hopefully all the work can be completed before we leave on our mega trip to England in 22 days. But that's another blog post (or two) all together...