Blighted Ovum

Blighted ovum (or anembryonic gestation) is a common cause of miscarriage. It happens when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus but the resulting embryo either stops developing very early or doesn't form at all.

This is what a 10 week sonogram should look like:

Source

This is what my 10 week sonogram looked like:

Source

In January I had spotting with sharp cramping. After calling the doctor they said not to worry unless heavy bleeding occurs. Nothing else happened until Friday. I went in for my 10 week pregnancy check up and pap smear. Dr. Jones brought in a cheap sonogram machine to take a peek at the baby. I got my phone out all excited so I could take a picture and send it to Paul. After a few minutes looking around she called in Dr. Gurrero who is better at looking at sonograms. Neither of them could find the embryo. After the pelvic exam she ordered an official sonogram and blood test to check my hCG levels. After a quick call over to building B they sent me over right away. My bladder had to be full so I drank a ton of water and had to sit for an hour while it made its way to the bladder. I had to pee when I walked in the place... so you can imagine how bad I had to go while they did the sonogram! While I waited I had my blood drawn. After an hour I decided to tell the ladies I couldn't hold it anymore and they called me back. They did one sonogram on my abdomen and one with a probe inserted in the vagina (after I emptied my bladder thankfully). At 7 pm Dr. Jones called me and said that my hCG levels were pretty high (meaning there's a chance I could just be earlier in the pregnancy that we thought) but the sonograms showed an empty sack.

Tuesday I went in for more blood work (my arm is sore and bruised!) and this morning I called to get the results. My hCG levels were at 33 thousand when they originally took my blood. This test showed them at 18 thousand, confirming my worst fears. Miscarriage.

We have to wait a few months until we can start trying again. But try we will! :)

Guess what!?!?!

Even though I'm pretty sure that everyone that reads this already knows, but...

baby number 2 is on the way!

My due date is September 9th. We are really excited!!!

What a great Thanksgiving!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving! We went to San Tan Valley to be with Paul's family. We picked up Paul's brother Kevin from the airport that evening and just hung out and saw lots of family. Kevin's girlfriend Linda was also there so it was good to FINALLY meet her! Our Thanksgiving day feast actually went from an expect 20 or so people to just our immediate family so it was nice.

That night we (Cindy, Linda and I) made our way to Walmart for BLACK FRIDAY stuff. IT WAS NUTS! It was bumper to bumper shopping cart traffic. We got there at 9:58 and made our way through the craziness and I got everything I wanted.... but what I wanted wasn't anything in too high of demand.... a few sets of sheets and a telescope. After maybe 20 minutes of pushing through the crowd we stood in line for 45 minutes and then found Cindy (she parked the car for us and had left her phone at home so we didn't see here the entire time we were shopping). When we got outside it was pouring rain! It just made the night that much more fun! It was my first CRAZY black Friday experience, last year wasn't nearly as bad, but we went to Target and it was a bit after the sale had started.

But the highlight of our vacation was Friday. Bill has been asking us since we got married when would be a good time to do his family's temple work. Well we FINALLY were able to get started on it. It was so special to be able to get baptized for these family members who I never even met. We all got so emotional when Bill was able to baptize Paul in behalf of his (Bill's) dad. It was a very special day. We planned on doing everything, even the sealing of Bill's parents but the temple was so busy that we were only able to do the baptism and initiatory of the ones that needed it in the amount of time we had.

Before we did baptisms we were told it would be an hour wait so we went over to the distribution center and Paul got new scriptures (somehow his mission ones managed to get lost) and we were FINALLY able to purchase our temple clothes! It was so awesome... I think that is the best early Christmas present I've ever received! We haven't been able to do a session at our own temple yet because they don't rent clothes and we didn't have our own. It was such a special day!

After about 2 months of me nagging, I mean gently reminding, Paul we FINALLY (yes, I realize everything is FINALLY happening) were able to make our way into the city and find a scrub store for Paul to get new scrubs. He only had 2 pairs of pants and one was girls and flare on the bottom and I had to sew it straight before he would wear them. We got him 2 new sets and the lady at the store was awesome and even gave us 10% off just because! (turns out that she got married at the Mt Graham golf course 2 years ago... small world!)

It was such a great vacation and visit and Thanksgiving! We wished we could have stayed longer but Paul had to work today and no one would trade :( but that's okay because I was really glad to get to go to Clint and Tiffany's baby shower!!

I'm 3!

Hayden turned 3 last week! He sure was ready!! He's been saying he's 3 for a while now. Two days before his birthday I said "Hayden in 2 days your going to be 3! How do you feel about that?" He said... "4." Guess he was just counting up. We had a little party at home on his actually birthday where he opened gifts from mom and dad. He has quite a few little friends his age so I thought it would be fun to have a party at the park with friends. He picked "Blues Clues" as the theme but I really think he would have rather chosen CARS!

The at home party:

He also got this AWESOME Mater car that blows bubbles as you push it from Grandma and Grandpa Clites and let me tell you, he pushes that thing EVERYWHERE!! We decided instead of blowing bubbles, it should suck dirt! He even takes it to bed and it sleeps next to him and he sometimes won't let me go anywhere unless Mater is in the car! :) He's just so cute!

It was a special birthday! Thank you everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

and no.... we did not consume all of the leftover cake! :)

He had his 3 year old check up the day after his birthday and he was in the 13% for his weight and 4% for his height. I guess I need to feed him more veggies! ;) The doctor was asking all the "does he know" questions and one of them was can he count to 5? I said he can count to 20! He amazes me all the time with how smart he is. A few weeks ago he just randomly sang the whole alphabet!

I don't really think its fair

My sister's 10 year high school reunion is this year and I guess she goes to the planning meetings or something. She was telling me that they decided that only the people that graduated with them could come to the activities. I sure hope that whoever is on the committee when my 10 year reunion time comes around doesn't feel the same way. I grew up in this town and went to Thatcher K-11. My mom got remarried and we moved the summer before my senior year. Even though I didn't technically graduate at THS, I still want to see the people I grew up with. Is that so much to ask?

The key to taking pictures

A photographer's blog that I follow, Katie Evans Photography, is having a giveaway for her book "The Key to Taking Pictures" Go check it out here.

2 long years

2 years of prerequisites.

2 years of Nursing school.

Many, MANY trips to phoenix.

Lots and LOTS of hours studying.

Way too much stress.

Way too many energy drinks consumed.

More hours in class than at home.

Service hours.

Clinical Simulation time.

Shots given.

Playtime missed out on.

Massages given.

Pain medication taken.

Books purchased.

Books read.

Information learned.

Knowledge gained.

NCLEX..... PASSED!

2 years ago we found out that Paul got accepted into the nursing program. We were so scared and so excited and so overwhelmed all at the same time. I know that he will be a good nurse. I'm so proud him for all of his hard work, long hours and dedication. He amazes me with how much he knows. There was not a doubt in my mind that he would pass that test. All of his long hours and hard work have finally paid off. He is officially PAUL LINCOLN CLITES, Registered Nurse! And I couldn't be more proud!! I love you Paul, Congratulations!