Nugget's Story - The Backstory

I decided that I needed to start to write down Nugget's story before I forget all the important stuff that happened along the way.  If you are friends with me on any of the many social media sites I frequent, you probably know most of this story.  If not, well, here you go.

Jim and I got married in August 2009 and we knew that if we wanted to have a baby, we needed to try right away.  We weren't getting any younger.  So beginning in October 2009, that is what we did for 7 months until it was time for my annual doctors appointment.  At that point, because of my age and the fact that we hadn't been successful yet, she ordered some preliminary testing for both of us and referred us to a reproductive endocrinologist.

We chose Shady Grove Fertility Center.  They are a very large clinic with many offices, including one directly up the street from our house.  We met with our doctor, Dr. Levens, for the first time in July 2010.  I had done a lot of internet research and from my time spent hanging out on The Nest, I was already pretty sure of what information we were going to be given at that first meeting, but I think it was very helpful for Jim.  Prior to the meeting, we had completed extensive medical histories (4 pages for Jim and about 8 for me) and returned those.  We went over all that history, my charts of my cycle and the test results from my OB/GYN and Dr. Levens laid out a plan for us.

First, there would be about a million more screening tests for both of us.  For me, that included a mammogram and an HSG (this is an x-ray type test where they fill your uterus with dye to check the shape and make sure your tubes are open).  For Jim, it meant a semen analysis.  There was also blood work for both of us to check for STDs, a screening for cystic fibrosis, hormone levels and lord only knows what else.  And we both got a dose of antibiotics.  Then we would start with several cycles of IUI.  We are very lucky and our insurance covers up to six cycles and all the testing.  Many people have no coverage for infertility (IF) at all.

We did our first IUI in October 2010 and it didn't work.  Our second in November did, but I miscarried and had to have a D&C in January 2011.  This was the worst, because we found out about the miscarriage on the same day we were heading home for Christmas to share the good news with my Mom.  Instead, we had to give her bad news because it was possible that I'd start to miscarry on my own and we'd spend Christmas at the hospital.

February, March, April and May 2011 all failed.  On our 7th try in July 2011, we were lucky again.  Again I miscarried and had to have a second D&C in September.  At that point, we were done and resigned to living childless, since our only option would be IVF with donor eggs and it would be completely out of pocket.

Part 2:  The Donor Egg process.

November and December

In November and December, we saw a lot of performances at the Kennedy Center, hosted some holiday dinners and had out of town company.

November 10th - We saw a concert with Lang Lang that was essentially a masters class for 100 local piano students between the ages of 8 and 18.  It was fascinating to watch him work with these students.  We had also had a first tier seat on the side so we could watch him play.

November 22nd - We hosted Thanksgiving dinner and all ate too much.

November 23rd - We saw Jekyll & Hyde, starring Constantine from American Idol in the lead.  This was a very enjoyable show.

November 27th - The Kennedy Center dedicated the new Rubenstein Organ with a free concert.  They showed a time lapse video of the installation of the pipe organ that was just amazing and the instrument is beautiful.

December 13th - Merry Tuba Christmas at the Kennedy Center.  This was the 39th anniversary of this holiday tradition founded by Harvey Phillips in which tuba, sousaphone, and euphonium players from around D.C. play traditional Christmas music.  It is always a packed event; the audience fills pretty much the entire Grand Foyer.

December 15th - The National Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops concert, with New York Voices.  They made it snow inside the Concert Hall. 

December 22nd - Irving Berlin's White Christmas.  They changed some of the songs from the movie (my favorite holiday movie) and rearranged the story a little bit, but did get all the big numbers in there.  This time they made it snow in the Opera House.

December 23rd - The Annual Messiah Sing-a-Long.  My sister got here just in time for us to go to the Kennedy Center for the sing-a-long.  I've been trying to do this since I moved here and have never made it.  We had a blast!  They have soloists for the arias and restatives, and the audience sings the choruses.  The Kennedy Center has been doing the sing-a-long since 1971.

December 24th - We (Jim, Sara and I) went to the Newseum.  If you haven't been, this is one of the coolest paid entry museums in D.C. and totally worth the price.  Especially since the ticket lets you in on two consecutive days.  That evening, we hosted Jim's mom and sister for our traditional spaghetti dinner.

Happy New Year!

Way to completely ignore the last quarter of the year, Reeb.  We did stuff, I swear.  Let me 'splain...no, there is too much.  Let me sum up.

October:

In October, we spent the weekend in Baltimore for my birthday.  It was a wonderful trip.  Jim had a hydrangea delivered to our hotel room, we ate some really good food at Miss Shirley's Cafe and we visited the National Aquarium (huge, definitely takes most of the day.  We didn't see it all) and the Baltimore Zoo.

The next weekend, we drove out to the Shenandoah Valley/Skyline Drive.  Once we got out there, we got a wild hair and decided to go on to Luray Caverns.

Finally, at the end of the month, we saw a ballet production of Dracula at the Kennedy-Center.

Next post: November.

Jalapeno Poppers

My brother-in-law, Mark, has a garden with approximately 90 billion jalapeno pepper plants in it that go absolutely bonkers every year.  I have never known what to do with the peppers, but my other brother-in-law, Randy, makes a lot of poppers each summer.  I got Randy's recipe and gave it a try.

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno peppers
1 pound of pork sausage
8 oz cream cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
Bread crumbs

Ready for a bath

Cut the stem ends off the peppers, slice them in half length-wise and remove the seeds and ribs.  I was not too careful about this step, since I like a little heat in mine.

Stuffed for baking

Blanch the peppers in boiling water for 1 minute and remove to an ice water bath to stop the cooking.  This removes more of the heat, so feel free to skip this part if you like them hot.  Dry the peppers.

Golden brown and delicious

Brown the sausage, and crumble into very small pieces.  Drain.  Cool slightly and mix with the cream cheese.  Fill the peppers and place on a greased baking sheet.  Top with grated Parmesan and bread crumbs.

Bake at 375* for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Nom, nom, nom all the peppers.

Wednesday Photos

On Monday, my sister and I went the National Museum of Natural History and visited the butterfly pavilion.

Summer Restaurant Week 2012

Saturday was the last day of Restaurant Week for this summer.  I was so excited that my sister was going to be here to experience it.  Plus, with three people, we get to try even more great dishes.  If you haven't been before, 200+ restaurants in D.C. offer a prix fixe three course menu for $20.12 for lunch or $35.12 for dinner.  It's a great chance to eat at some fabulous places that we wouldn't go to otherwise. 

This time we tried District Commons, which is located right at the Foggy Bottom metro stop and is owned by the same restaurant group that operates Acadiana, D.C. Coast and Passion Fish.  I love to go to restaurants in this group because most of the restaurants that participate in the Restaurant Week give you a limited number of choices for your meal, but Passion Food Group lets you choose any entree on their menu. 

Appetizers:   For our first courses we had Texas Chili (Jim), Mixed Greens Salad (Sara) and Seafood Chowder.  Jim's chili came with this adorable star shaped cornbread and my soup had Hidden Valley Ranch oyster crackers.  The salad had excellent deviled eggs with pralined bacon. 

Entrees:  Jim ordered the Pork Rack Chop “Blue Ribbon” with Benton Ham, Mozzarella, Eggplant Chow Chow and a Jonnycake.  My sister ordered the Roasted Duck “Low & Slow” with a sorghum chili glaze and Wild Rice-Sweet Potato Hash.  I ordered the North Carolina Mountain Trout with Broccolini, Pine Nuts, Citrus Burnt Butter, because I can never say no to trout when I see it on the menu. 

Dessert:  Honestly, I'm surprised we had any room left for dessert at this point, but we had the Boston Creme Pie, Peach and Mango Sundae and the Chocolate Raspberry cake.

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord...*

I see that it has been nearly two months since I came to visit you at this blog.  What can I say, I've been busy.  In that time, we found new tenants for our rental property, got said property ready for the new tenant (carpet cleaning, painting, etc), went to Tennessee to see Jim's brother and his wife and all our nieces and nephews, went to a baseball game, went to a soccer game, and celebrated our third anniversary.  I'm exhausted!

Food on a stick

Last night, we went to the Arlington County Fair, mainly to indulge my addiction to traveling death rides and fried food on a stick.  It did not disappoint.

Keep your head & hands inside the Sizzler

It was starting to get cloudy when we left the house, so we were just hoping to get some rides in before it started to pour rain.  Plus, you always want to do the rides before you eat.  We almost made it.  First we rode the Sizzler.  The Sizzler, which is sometimes called the Scrambler,is my favorite carnival ride.  It has three main arms with four buckets on each arm and it just whips you around so that it looks like you are going to hit either the middle support or the fence around the ride. 

After the Sizzler, we went to a ride called the Hurricane.  This ride has six arms with a bucket that seats four people.  It rotates and uses compressed air cylinders to bounce riders up and down.  This is ride we were on when it started to pour rain.  It was also at the far end of the fair ground, so we had to run the whole length of the midway to get back to the indoor exhibits.  Needless to say, we were completely soaked.

Mmm,  Twinkie

Fortunately the rain didn't last long, so we were back outside and looking for food on a stick.  We got corn dogs, the obligatory funnel cake, lemonade and Jim ordered a deep fried Twinkie.  I have to tell you, it was better than you would have thought, although how you would eat a whole one, I don't know.  I only had a small bite, but the Twinkie gets sort of melty and creamy once it's fried and it is very, very sweet.

So, as the title says (thanks to Charlotte's Web), a fair has a little bit of everything and I, for one, will never pass it up.

Soaking wet and lovin' it!