In Vitro Fertilization

Our path to in vitro has not been as stressful yet as the many stories that I have read, but who knows what will happen. I am going to start the story from the beginning so I don't forget it. John had a vasectomy about 10 years before we got married. We had talked about having kids and we waited until about a month after we got married to have the vasectomy reversal. We went back to the surgeon who did the original vasectomy. He told us at the time that after 10 years there was not high percentage that it would work, but if we were planning on having multiple children it might be worth a try. If it didn't work the next step would be IVF. Some background information on vasectomy reversals...When a man has a vasectomy his body can sometimes create antibodies that kill the sperm, so even if the reversal "works"(the tube is reconnected) sometimes the sperm come out dead. After the surgery, the doctor told us that the reversal went well. One side had scar tissue, but the other side looked great. About a month after the reversal we had a semen analysis and the doctor was surprised at how many swimming sperm he saw. We were so excited that John didn't go through that painful surgery for nothing. He told us if we weren't pregnant by Christmas(this was in August) to come back. Well, needless to say we weren't pregnant by Christmas. Instead of going back to him we thought it would be a better use of our time to go to a doctor who could help us with the next step. We assumed that would be in vitro. We needed to have another sperm analysis done, but we figured we should have it done at the University of Utah where we would have in vitro done if that was really the next step. We made an appointment for a in vitro consultation at the University of Utah Center for Reproductive Medicine. More to come...

First Anniversary-June 17, 2011

Well, we have been married for one year and things are going great. It's so funny that I haven't added to our blog once during that whole time! I spent most of that time finishing up my masters degree and playing. We have had a fun year getting to know each other and traveling. This year we went to San Francisco for Valentine's Day, Acapulco for Spring Break, Lake Powell last week, Napa wine tasting next week and Turks and Caicos islands on July 15th. John sure took me seriously when I told him that traveling is something that I really want to do! One other thing I told him that I wanted to do was have a baby. We already have two wonderful kids, Dylan and Dakota and I can't imagine better teenagers. I know that he is an amazing father because how else would you get such amazing kids? John recently read a book that encouraged him to write every day and of course he thinks I would be good at this. I'm sure that the subject I am going to be writing on will be a little personal at times, but as we have been trying to get pregnant I have found it helpful to hear other people's stories so I am going to try and write down mine as well.

Fairy Tale Engagment

The proposal was simply amazing. The final wax of the ring had been approved, but I told the jeweler not to call me when it was done because I wanted to be surprised. Boy, was I surprised! I was on my way home from the gym and I stopped to get groceries because John was coming to Logan and we were going to make dinner. When I got home he told me that I should probably change into something a little cuter(he knew I would be pissed if I was in my gym clothes for the proposal). I changed and I was touching up my makeup as he was asking....Are you ready yet? He told me we were going to go on a little ride. We walked outside and there was a limo in the driveway. I knew what was coming and I couldn't wait to see what he had in store. The limo started driving north and I thought we must be going to mom and dads house, but then we turned. The driver took us to the Logan airport and up to the helicopter hangar. We went inside and the pilot took us to our little helicopter....we forgot the camera in the limo. When we got in the helicopter there were 12 individually wrapped long stem red roses. Each one had an envelope taped to it with a number on it. John had planned the flight plan to match the cards. Each one had a reason why he loved me written on the enclosed card. We flew all over Logan with corresponding cards. We flew over my parents house and they were outside waving....and he passed me the card that said I love you because your family is so important to you, We flew over USU and he passed me the card that said I love you because you are well educated, etc. It continued that way for 12 roses. After the roses were done we ended up flying in circles over what is now Smith's Market Place. John asked me if this place had any significance to me, I said no(looking for some message in the parking lot). He preceded to tell me that my dad had proposed to my mom in this parking lot. He had called my dad and got the entire story....can you believe how sweet that is? Then he asked me to be his wife...of course I said yes. The rest of the fairy tale follows:)

Our Wedding Story

We are happy to announce that we are now husband and wife. We were lucky enough to have our immediate family join us in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on the tip of Baja California. Because our family is spread out across the country we rarely get to just hang out together. This was the perfect opportunity to bond as a family. We were able to enjoy local restaurants, hang out at the pool together, go snorkeling and scuba diving, and explore the Los Cabos area.

Cabo San Lucas

Last year we went to Cabo San Lucas for Spring Break. While we were booking the trip we saw pictures of weddings in Mexico. My first choice was definitely Italy or Paris, but decided that was a little too far for the family to travel. We decided that Mexico would be the next best place, and we did a little research. We found out the hotel where we stayed has a wedding planner (sigh of relief!) We put down a deposit and started telling the wedding planner what our dream wedding would be like. There were times where the language difference became a little frustrating, but it got to the point where we just had to hope for the best! Luckily, it was perfect. Thanks Lorena!

The Bubble Ring

When my cousin Phil was planning on proposing to his wife Melissa Jo, they came to Santa Monica where I was staying with Aunt Julie. Melissa had seen a ring made by Tiffany & Co. that she liked so we decided to make our way to Beverly Hills to check it out. If you have ever shopped in Beverly Hills you know that you have to look like you belong for anyone to help you in any of the stores. For us to succeed we had to get into Julie's jewelry :) When we got to Tiffany, Melissa showed me the bubble ring and a few others that she liked. I fell in love! Ever since then I have wanted that ring. I never thought it would be my wedding ring, but when I went to try on rings, the bubble one kept popping into my head. We had a local jeweler make a replica of it, and it looks great!

The Dress

For those of you who don't know the story of the dress.......

John and I were watching some awards fashion show and I saw this dress that I absolutely loved! I told him if we ever got married I wanted a dress like this minus the feathers, and probably not black. When looking at wedding dresses, I could not find my dream dress so I asked my mom if she would make me a dress. She said she would, but then went shopping to see if she could find one that I might like so she wouldn't have to make it. I met her at all of the bridal shops and of course none of them met the fantasy I had in my head, therefore, she had to make it. It was very frustrating and time consuming for her, but she did an absolutely fabulous job and we loved it! Thanks Mom for making my dress so memorable and special for me!

Right before the Ceremony

On the day of the wedding ceremony I went to the spa at the hotel to get a massage and have my hair done. The woman who did my hair had her own idea of the perfect up-do and didn't really care what we had to say. Katie, Melissa and Mom were all there as we were trying to explain to her that it should be kind of loose and messy. Instead we got tight and curly and she said it would look beautiful. We didn't have any flowers so Melissa picked a couple off of the flower arrangement in the spa and we added them to the hair-do. No decisions=No stress. Perfect! Mom, Melissa and Katie came over to help me get the dress on and get ready. Mom had to sew me into the dress....which turned out to be fun at the end of the night when John had to cut me out of the dress!

Family

It was great to get the immediate family together for the photo sessions before and after the wedding ceremony. We did lots of different combinations so we could get parents, siblings, kids, and everyone all together for the shots. The hotel offered a great backdrop for these photos. We had so much fun. The beach shots are on the southern tip of Baja California on the Pacific Ocean.

The Ceremony

It was a breezy summer evening on the Pacific coast with the ceremony at 7:00 p.m. There was a trio playing Mexican music as we gathered. We thought they were going to play a Mexican wedding song and weren't sure when we should start walking, but when they broke out into the classic wedding march we started laughing, and knew that was our cue.

The wedding planner informed us that the ceremony would be in Espanol and that we could have a translator if we provided one. Luckily Papa Scott graciously accepted the challenge and was able to read (in English) what Judge Carlos Martinez was saying in Spanish. It was great to have Dad be part of the ceremony. It was a simple ceremony that focussed on our love. We exchanged vows as Dad read them with a contagious smile. :)

After the ceremony the band played while the family visited over hors d'voeures. We then made our way to the restaurant where we put the cameras down and enjoyed each other's company.