HSG...short for...unpronounceable

I've had it scheduled and rescheduled several times since last October but finally worked up the courage to have the dreaded HSG or Hysterosalpingogram (yeah I pasted that word) test done this week. I was really worried about it because of the stories I've heard from my Mom and other peole I know about it being really painful. An HSG is for infertility and is basically a"dye" test where the doctors inject a solution into the fallopian tubes and uterus, and then observe by x-ray screen where it flows to determine if "the way is clear." I did plenty of internet research and found lots of stories of women accounting the terrible pain it caused them. Most reported moderate pain. My doctor also told me it might be painful and he instructed me to take 600 mg of Ibuprofen an hour before going in for the test, which I gladly did. Once at the hospital and on the table, the technician also warned me it might be painful, but that it depended on a lot of things. He told me that once they injected the dye, they would be able to tell right away by looking at the x-ray screen, whether the ways were open or not. After he started, the whole test took about 10 minutes - it was more prep than process - and I had two pieces of good news! The first was that the test was NOT as painful as I had been worried about. The worst part was something equal to bad period cramps. The technician and nurse did say I was tough though, that the girl that had taken the test just before me had bawled the whole time. The second piece of good news was that the way is open and clear! The tech told me that the month AFTER the HSG test is a very good time to try and get pregnant because the dye kind of "pushes" things aside even more. He said that a lot of women get pregnant that month. (My Mom got pregnant with triplets the month after her HSG test. Yikes! Don't want that much of a result!) So now I guess my next task is going to be to try and find a way to prevent Kyle from switching to an opposite shift than me next week. Any ideas? ;)

Big Families Rock!

Today was a special day. Trenton went through the temple for his first time! Me and Kyle were lucky enough to be able to go with him, and Kyle had the privilege of being his escort. We were also pleased that all the people attending our session gave him special attention and congratulated him on his mission to Scotland. Everyone was very eager to shake his hand and pat his back, much to his embarassment.
We've had an enjoyable couple of weeks. Here are a few of pictures taken last week from our hot dog roast up at Pioneer Park and from our swim at the clubhouse in our subdivision. I don't care how much they criticize - having a big family is the best! I don't ever feel lonely for friends because I have plenty to do having my family around. Thanks guys!


Tim enjoying his favorite past time - texting. And Matt his favorite - eating.


No, I am not below posting unflattering pictures of myself. Here's one of me scarfing up a hot dog. Gracious eh? :)

Yet more grazing....

The Man-of-the-hour and his momma enjoying a hot dog and a sunset.

************************************************************************

Swimming until much later than Shirley would approve of. (Shirley is/was the pool lady that used to give us warnings that the pool would be closing in X number of minutes.)

Kalin and his best buddy, Joe Jarvis

The Birthday Clock

My aunt sent me the link to this neat "Birthday Clock" that tells you some pretty interesting things about your birthday. Here are some cool things I found out about my birthday:

17 March 1982

As of 1/21/2009 9:56:57 PM EST

You are 26 years old.

You are 322 months old.

You are 1,401 weeks old.

You are 9,807 days old.

You are 235,389 hours old.

You are 14,123,396 minutes old.

You are 847,403,817 seconds old.

Your date of conception was on or about 24 June 1981 which was a Wednesday.

You were born on a Wednesday under the astrological sign Pisces. Your Life path number is 4.

Your fortune cookie reads: It doesn't matter. Who is without a flaw? (I, by the way, absolutely love this quote.)

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/25/1982 and ending 2/12/1983. You were born in the Chinese year of the Dog.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Wolf,
Your plant is Plantain.
You were born in the Egyptian month of Pachons, the first month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Top songs of 1982
I Love Rock `n' Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
Centerfold by J. Geils Band
Maneater by Daryl Hall & John Oates
Jack & Diane by John Cougar
Don't You Want Me by Human League
Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band
Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago

In 1982 there were approximately 3.6 million births in the US. In 1982 the US population was approximately 226,545,805 people, 64.0 persons per square mile.
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 3.83835616438356 years old.
Your lucky day is Thursday.
Your lucky number is 3 & 7.
Your ruling planet(s) is Jupiter & Neptune.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.

There are 55 days till your next birthdayon which your cake will have 27 candles. Those 27 candles produce 27 BTUs,or 6,804 calories of heat (that's only 6.8040 food Calories!) .You can boil 3.09 US ounces of water with that many candles.

Your birthstone is Aquamarine --> Aquamarine is often used to experience love and mercy. It is said to help ease depression and grief.

Your birth tree is Lime Tree, the Doubt:
Accepts what life dishes out in a composed way, hates fighting, stress and labour, tends to laziness and idleness, soft and relenting, makes sacrifices for friends, many talents but not tenacious enough to make them blossom, often wailing and complaining, very jealous, loyal.

The moon's phase on the day you were born was in its last quarter.

My Super-Duper New Water Bottle

After eagerly watcing the mail for a week, today I finally received my new, all-aluminum, earth friendly, BPA-free water bottle, made by the swiss-based company, Sigg! Groovy baby! I found this cute, black and neon-lettered bottle that bears the message "Make Love Not Landfill" on Amazon several months ago. I absolutely loved the hippie-style graphics and message, but I wondered why someone would drink water out of an aluminum bottle insteaed of the typical, plastic bottle. I did some research and became educated on something called Bisphenol-A, or BPA for short.

Bisphenol-A is, by definition, "a hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. It has been known that scratched and worn polycarbonate bottles (and even cans) will leach this chemical into liquids." Now I thought this sounded a little paranoid. After all, I was raised eating and drinking out of plastic bottles and containers, and lots of the food I eat came out of cans. Most of the general population does the same; BPA has been on the market in products for 50 years +. But the research I did told me that the chemical was indeed harmful to me. In lab experiments, it caused cancer in lab rats. But after all my digging, I concluded that we receive this chemical in such small amounts, that it doesn't have time to build up and become truly harmful during our relatively short human life. Many, many scientists say otherwise. They say that we don't see it add up - we aren't tested for it - but that sometimes cancer and birth defects may be attributed to it. I remain unworried. Sheesh, we're all going to die of something, right?.

Here's a little news story done on BPA if ya care to watch.



In the end, I think BPA DOES have an effect on us. But rather than become paranoid and throw out all my nice Rubbermaid storage containers and forever swear off Campbells soup, I chose instead to try and reduce my exposure by investing (and I do mean investing), in this non-plastic water bottle. I carry a water bottle with me pretty much everywhere, so I figure if it IS harmful stuff, a non-plastic bottle will be a major mitigator.

So back to my totally awesome new bottle. It's very strong and not heavy at all. Empty, its actually lighter than my plastic water bottles. It does feel a lot colder than the plastic bottle when it's got ice and water in it, I guess because metal is a better conducter. Come summer though, that will turn into a blessing.

All this for a silly water bottle? Lets just say I'm easily entertained :)

Great Start To 2009

Hooray 2009!
December 28th I switched back to a normal, 4 to midnight shift, which has been wonderful! No matter how used to graveyard shift I get, there is nothing quite like getting 8 hours of consistant, unbroken sleep during the NIGHT hours. New Years Eve I worked in dispatch, which was actually very fun! Everyone dressed-up (dressed down from uniform really), and we all brought a dish to share, which made for a fabulous dinner. Since I got off of work at midnight, I met Kyle and some of my family outside the PD to watch the fireworks.

The semester started January 5th, and even though I swore to take time off from school after the stress of last semester, I decided to enroll in a class anyway because I am one measly little class away from getting my Associates of Science degree. I had fulfilled all of my required classes and could have gotten away with taking any easy class I wanted, but I decided that as long as I was paying the money, that I might as well take a class that would further me in getting the 4-year Biology degree that I want to begin working toward next. So I'm taking a Princicples of Biology class AND its required, one-day-a-week Lab class. So two classes after all. The class requires two books and when I went to the DSC bookstore to buy the books, I found that ONE of the books alone (the one in the picture) costs $173.00 and the other $53.00!!! I almost started laughing when I picked up the more expensive book and realized that it was about 20 pounds and would probably break my backpack if I put it inside. But I didn't laugh, and I left the bookstore rolling my eyes at the incredible expense of my "one class" idea for Spring Semester. Oh well. At least I'll have a milestone to admire in May when I get my Associates!

Trenton, on the other hand, is getting closer and closer to leaving each day. He has just a little more than a month left and he's been getting paperwork filled out, shots done, and recommends validated. His international applications, suits, coats, shoes, sweaters and white shirts cost him a lot more than he thought they would, and the expense has depleted his savings account quite a bit. I feel really bad because I have seen him working SO hard for the last couple of years landscaping from sunrise to sunset, and then stocking pop until late every night, to earn money for this. I know his hard work will pay off though. I know it will make the mission more worthwhile to him, and make him a hard-working missionary. My mom has been working long hours at two jobs as well, trying to help him with high expenses. I think that the blessings in store for our family will be great because of Trenton's dedication and determination - and I'm very very proud of him.