Friday, November 14, 2014

It's Been A While

I know it's been a while and some may have taken the no news as good news, sadly I wish that were the case.  Third successful round of the clomid and hcg shot combo and this morning we were greeted with a negative.  This was our fourth attempt; but the third where the drugs actually did what they were supposed to do.   Discouraging, yes.  Disheartening, yes.  Sad, yes.  Frustrating, yes.  And, this list could go one.  To sum it up though, I think my Facebook post as pretty on point.

"I'm tired of hearing "it's going to happen", "just be patient" and other similar statements. Every month it's like waiting for Christmas morning only to wake up and find out Santa didn't come for you, but somehow showed up for everyone else. The sacrifices we have made and will continue to make won't be easy, our patience will continue to be tried and I will continue to try."

We've received some positive replies to that and of course some private messages which were touching.  We appreciate the love, support and positive thoughts and/or prayers.

Today broke my spirit a little, I was so certain we were going to have a different outcome.  A year and a half of really trying seems like a lifetime.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Eating Better - Turkey & Sweet Potato Soup

I think I mentioned before that I've been trying to eat better, stick to a mostly whole/clean foods diet.  I enlisted in the help of a great nutritionist as well who provided me with a 7 day menu.   I started that menu on August 18.  Let's just say eating the same thing over and over again IS in fact the definition of insanity!!

Trying to switch things up a bit I was browsing Pinterest for recipes that met my requirements.  I've found a few and adapted one to my own liking today.  Turned our delicious, so I wanted to share.

Turkey & Sweet Potato Soup

Layer in this order in the crock pot (YES!!! crock pot meal..woo hoo)

1 Cup Diced Yellow Onion (I used bagged/frozen)
2 Cups Diced Sweet Potato, No Skin (I used frozen organic)
1 Container Simply Balanced Low Sodium Black Beans (it's equivalent to a can)
1 Can Diced tomatoes
1 Packet Low Sodium Chili Seasoning
1 Pound Extra Lean Ground Turkey (browned)
1.5 Cups Water

Low for 6 hours; high for 3-4 hours (if using frozen sweet potato you want to make sure it's soft)
Makes 7 - 1Cup servings

218 Calories
28g Carbs
2g Fat
27g Protein
2g Sugar

I added a pinch of 2% shredded colby jack cheese and 1/4 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt to mine.
I'm thinking I want to add some diced avocado tomorrow when I eat it for lunch.

**If you are not use to a low sodium diet where your seasoning does NOT come from salt based seasons this may seem a little bland to you.  You're free to use the non-low sodium alternatives and season turkey when browning**

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Walk of Hope & More Progress

The Walk of Hope is fast approaching, as a matter of fact, it's just a week away now.

From the website:
RESOLVE’s Walk of Hope is a 1-mile walk that recognizes the many ways in which families are built, supports local support and programs for the 7.3 million women and men living with infertility and raises public understanding of how the disease of infertility impacts families nationwide.
 The Walk of Hope is being held in several locations across the country. Funds raised from the Walk support local RESOLVE programming which includes support groups and educational events, public awareness initiatives, and advocacy efforts to ensure family building options are available to all!
 The name "Walk of Hope" embodies the emotion that most people living with infertility feel. They are hopeful their dreams of family come true. Some hope to simply find a peaceful resolution to their infertility journey. A Walk of Hope is an event that represents the infertility journey—a series of small steps, each one filled with hope and a reminder that no one should walk on this journey alone.
If you're interested or would like to join us or donate to the cause here is my page. CLICK HERE or copy and paste this link http://familybuilding.resolve.org/site/TR/WalkofHope2014/General?px=2069941&pg=personal&fr_id=1200
In my last post I noted "progress" - my body finally started to respond to the medications.  I was able to actually finish the cycle (1st full cycle); unfortunately after the agonizing two week wait to see if things "worked" we learned they did not.  While we were sad, we realized that doesn't mean the journey is over.  We will move forward and embark upon more treatments, and cross our fingers.
For those that have asked about it; yes we have changed our diets.  Here is what I have done:
  • July 7, 2014 - Gave up drinking alcohol all together (wasn't a big drinker to begin with, usually less than 1 drink per week; but it's totally out of the question now) 
  • July 7, 2014 - Started a several day "detox" from caffeine; been caffeine free since about July 18, 2014
  • August 18, 2014 - Started a balanced nutrition plan prepared by a very knowledgeable nutritionist who suffered from her own fertility issues and now has a beautiful little girl.  This diet is not restrictive at all; it's simply that is consists mostly of whole, fresh foods.  I learned that my daily sugar intake was nearly 3 times the amount I should be having.  So needless to say a little retaining of the taste buds was in order.  But now almost a month in, I'm not craving sugary things nearly as often and rarely do I exceed my sugar goal in a day.  
Some things I'm not excited about:
  • The treatments affect my work outs.  Because of the nature of my situation there are times when I am advised to do nothing more than walk for exercise.  Those weeks are hard.  There are time where my workouts must remain "light" or keep my heart under a certain beats per minute.  I understand the reasons behind this, it's just slightly frustrating. (I know, who complains about not being able to work out!!!  LOL...this girl!)
  • Hot flashes - yeah, seriously! 
  • Tiredness - I think this is a combination of emotional drain and treatments
The best news though is that treatments are working; so we're happy and excited about that.  We forge forward and continue on the journey.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Progress

After a very disappointing start to fertility treatments (my body just wasn't doing what it should) we got some good news today.  My body is starting to respond!   No this isn't code for "we're pregnant" it just means that my lady bits are starting to do things they are supposed to be doing.

One of the most frustrating things is taking medications; going to office visits with every exam under the sun and then hearing, "I'm sorry, it's just not doing what we want it to be doing".  Well...how do we make that happen?

Crossing our fingers that my body continues on this path of positive response.

~~

Join Us for the Walk of Hope: http://familybuilding.resolve.org/goto/gardiners

Saturday, August 9, 2014

I'm Just Trying to Help

We know that most people mean well, but if you've never been in our shoes, we can't expect you to always know what is okay to say and what is not.

Some days are easy, some days are hard and some days you don't want to do anything but yell and be angry.  We've learned, this is all normal and okay.  We've also learned that some days we want to talk about it and are okay sharing our process, and other days, we don't even want someone to mention the word baby.  It's a tricky situation, but trust me, we'll never bite your head off over it, we totally understand.

We recently saw this article online and while I didn't think some of the comments bothered us, I realized, afterwards, that yes, yes I do agree with this.  Redbook magazine published the article "Four Things to Never Say to a Friend Who's Been Trying


Support the Walk of Hope, visit our donation page: CLICK HERE

Friday, August 8, 2014

Green Drinks

So a couple of days ago I posted my "attempt" at a green drink, it was kale, cucumber, banana, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.  All my berries made my drink brown/purple.  So I posted on Facebook and asked friends for their favorite.  I've decided to put that collection here for everyone.

Lori's Green Drink
Kale, cucumber, celery, orange, green apple

Jacqueline's Green Drink
Water- 1 1/2-2 cups
Celery stalk- 3-4
Romain- head
Spinach- 1/2 head (large bunch) 3/4 (small bunch)
Apple - 1 cored
Pear -1 cored
Banana - 1
Lemon - 1/2
Optional:
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro (both w/stems)
Makes about 7 1/2 cups


Jennifer's Green Drink
handful or 2 of spinach, a banana, a few ice cubes and a cup of almond milk. You can add your protein powder to it too if you want. And the older the banana the better. It's sweeter

Tamara's Green Drink
 a few handfuls of spinach, kale, frozen strawberries, some frozen pineapple, 1/2 coconut water and 1/2 light lemonade (15 cals!) it gives it a tangy taste like jamba juice.

Patricia's (non green) Drink:
 Frozen blueberries, raspberries, peaches, some yogurt and almond milk.

Valerie's Green Drink (post wine drinking cure):
Green Grapes, 1/2 Green Apple, 1/2 Orange (remember to remove the outer peel otherwise it will be bitter), 1 banana, handful of kale, spinach & chard, few ice cubes (unless you use use a frozen banana), blend it up and that drink will be green. You can throw strawberries in as well and use a red apple but those two red items will make it more brown.

Karina's Green Drink that even a Dr. Pepper Lover Will Drink:
Ice
Almond Milk
Spinach
Pineapple
Parsley
Mint
Lemon
Raw Honey
best way to eat spinach ever....


Jim's Green Drink:
- Fill cup halfway with kale (spinach tastes better. Isn't as bitter)
- half of a pear
- half of a lemon (no peel, but keep white part)
- 1 small apple or half of a large apple
- cut about 2 inches off a cucumber and throw that in
- 1 or 2 strawberries (frozen preferred)
- tablespoon or so of chia seeds
- tablespoon or so of flaxseeds
- a few goji berries (if you have them. Not necessary)
- coconut water
- a few ice cubes
- If i want it sweeter, I use half a package of Stevia


Helena's Green and Purple/Brown Drinks:
Swiss chard and dandelion greens as a combo in my green shakes. I also use about a cup of fruit to 12oz of unsweetened coconut milk. Add half of an avocado, 2 big tablespoons of chia seeds and a tablespoon of unflavored veggie-based protein powder. Sometimes I'll swap the avo for 2 tablespoons of almond butter. I find if I use berries, it gives me purple/brown, if I use tropical type fruit, I get a nice vibrant green.


And some helpful tips from Nicole:
Adding a lemon cuts the "green" taste and definitely makes it easier to drink. I prefer to juice my greens rather then blend them in a smoothie because it ends up so grainy. But definitely adding citrus helps cut the grass taste. I also do apples and celery.
Don't forget to rotate your greens! Eating kale everyday is not a great idea. All greens contain micro toxins to protect them from birds-if you are eating greens from the same family everyday there's a good chance your getting enough of the toxins to affect your thyroid.

The Walk of Hope

We're not like everyone else; we're like 1 in 6 or 1 in 8 (depending on the research) couples.  We are struggling with infertility.  Having a baby seemed like a pretty easy task right, not so much for us.

After a year of trying to conceive on our own, with random suggestions of try it this way, eat this, drink that, take this, we decided to seek out a professional (sorry friends, you're all professionals in your own right, but unfortunately not with out fertility).  We went to Huntington Fertility Center (HRC) in Pasadena to meet with the incredible Dr. Nelson and his team of wonderful nurses. 

We'll be doing a walk in September called the Walk of Hope. Below is my page for the walk


The Southern California Walk of Hope is an event put on by Resolve: The National Infertility Association.  
RESOLVE’s Walk of Hope is a 1-mile walk that recognizes the many ways in which families are built, supports local support and programs for the 7.3 million women and men living with infertility and raises public understanding of how the disease of infertility impacts families nationwide.
 The Walk of Hope is being held in several locations across the country. Funds raised from the Walk support local RESOLVE programming which includes support groups and educational events, public awareness initiatives, and advocacy efforts to ensure family building options are available to all!
 The name "Walk of Hope" embodies the emotion that most people living with infertility feel. They are hopeful their dreams of family come true. Some hope to simply find a peaceful resolution to their infertility journey. A Walk of Hope is an event that represents the infertility journey—a series of small steps, each one filled with hope and a reminder that no one should walk on this journey alone.
Infertility affects 1 in 8 or 1 in 6 (depending which study you read) couples.  That number is amazing to me.  Wouldn't I know someone that had infertility issues?  Wouldn't I know that people worked really hard to get their little bundle of joy?  The answer is no.  What I've realized is that there is a lot of shame, self deprecation and anxiety that usually engulfs individuals with infertility struggles.  I know this, because I'm one of them.  You find yourself saying things like "well if I would have just ate better, or worked out sooner, or..." and the list goes on.  But the fact of the matter is, there probably isn't anything that could have been done differently. We've learned this and continue to make progress with our acceptance of this as the days go on.  We also know that being childless is not permanent.  We will be parents one day, no matter how we get there.  As we've opened up to people, we've found we are certainly not alone and guess what WE do know people who are currently or have struggled with infertility issues in the past.  It's comforting to share stories with each other.  The wonderful part for us is that most of these people now have one or more children in their lives.  That is extremely encouraging.
While the journey and process have been painful at times, we know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we'll continue towards that light to the arms of a child that's waiting for us to be it's parents.  
Many thanks for your support.
If you'd like to join us for the walk on September 21, 2014 please let me know, we'd love to have you there.  Or, if you'd like to donate, we have a page for that too.  CLICK HERE or copy and paste http://familybuilding.resolve.org/goto/gardiners in to your browser.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Meal Prep and A Few Favorites

Sunday has become the standard house chore day around here.  We've settled into quite a nice routine.  He takes care of the lawns I take care of the grocery shopping and meal prep.  Somewhere in between laundry gets done (he does most of it, I won't like) and I do light cleaning.

This whole meal prep thing has been quite awesome for us during the busy week, we have late nights and it makes it super simple.  We've found a couple of really good staples that hold up well and today I shared them on my Facebook page, but I thought I should do something a little more detailed, so that's what this blog post has turned into.

French Onion Chicken
(2) Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)
(1) packet dry french onion soup mix
(1) teaspoon melted coconut oil

In a large Ziploc bag, place the chicken and melted coconut oil, I like to give the breast a little massage to work in the oil (hey, you...get you head out of the gutter).  Then sprinkle the entire packet of dry onion soup mix into the bag.  Leave some air, seal and shake, shake, shake.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes (depending on the thickness of your chicken)

Serve with brown rice and it's almost as good as mom's Chicken & Rice Casserole from my childhood.

Ranch Chicken
Same as French Onion except replace the soup mix with a packet of dry Hidden Valley Ranch mix.

Italian Bread Crumb Chicken
Same as the other two, but with about 1/4 - 1/3 cup dry Italian bread crumbs, salt and pepper.

Fake Chipotle Bowl (Real Fake)
(1) package 93/7 ground beef
(1) can whole black beans
(3) tablespoons Trader Joe's Cowboy Caviar
(1/2) cup medium salsa
(2) tablespoons jalapeno juice (I just took it straight out of the jar of jalapenos)
(1) packet taco seasoning

Brown beef, then add everything else until hot.  Use this filling for burritos, tacos, alone or bowls.  I like to add a little brown rice, avocado, sour cream and shredded lettuce to this mix.

Fake Mashed Potatoes (aka Cauliflower Mash)
3/4 of larger head of cauliflower
(2) tablespoons light sour cream
(2) tablespoons land o'lakes light butter with canola oil
salt
garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
pepper

Cook the cauliflower as normal, pat dry, the mix/pulverize in a Ninja (or other similar device...BUT...be warned a regular run of the mill blender will NOT work) with all of the rest of the ingredients.  This is slight thinner than mashed potatoes, but tastes delish!  1/2 of this recipe is only 150 calories!!

Another thing I've been making ahead is a large fruit salad.  Watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes and pineapple.  I use a large bowl and keep a measuring cup in it.  Makes it super easy to scoop out into a bowl, baggie, Tupperware, etc.

Other prep ahead items:

  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Carrot sticks (yes, I buy whole carrots and cut them - it's cheaper and tastes better) - I cut each carrot and bag it in a snack bag
  • Snap pea, celery, cucumber - any grab an go veggie gets bagged into single serving snack bags
  • Oatmeal - single serve baggies (oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar) 
This makes it easy so we can just grab and go in the morning.

For dinners I'm relying on bagged salad mixes, steamer veggies and brown rice bags (the ones that you get from Trader Joe's and you just cut the corner and microwave for 3 minutes)  So it has started to make dinner less of a hectic "I don't know what do you want..." moment and just a quick, easy, and mostly healthy meal.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

So Domestic

Sunday was crazy in our house, we went from sun up to sun down cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.   Today I posted a photo of the Turkey Zucchini Lasagna I made and received a recipe request, so I figured this spot is as good as any to post it.

Turkey Zucchini Lasagna
20 oz Jenni-O Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey
1 large zucchini (shredded)
1 container low fat ricotta cheese
1 jar Classico Tomato & Basil sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese
6 pieces Barilla Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

In a casserole dish...
Even thin layer of sauce
3 noodles
sauce
ricotta (half)
mozzarella (quarter)
turkey & zucchini mixed together
ricotta (quarter)
mozzarella (quarter)
sauce
3 noodles
ricotta (quarter)
sauce
mozzarella (remaining half)

Bake at 375 with foil on top of dish for 25 minutes; remove foil continue baking for an additional 15 minutes.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Hot Damn...Hot Dinner!

I'm just going to go ahead and state the obvious - WE ARE BUSY!
No seriously, we go to work, come home, change clothes, go workout, come out, shovel some food in our mouths then crash.  So I cook based on ease; if you could even call what I do cooking (ahem...putting  frozen chicken strips and sweet potato fries in the oven).

But, I've been feeling particularly domestic lately so yesterday we had chili and tonight, well, tonight was supposed to be Mexican Tortilla Soup, but that's not quite what happened.  apparently I didn't have enough liquid and ended up with a chunky bowl of goodness.  It was actually so delicious in fact I'm sharing the recipe below.


Chunky Mexican (No Tortilla Used) Soup
2.5 Cups Swanson's Mexican Tortilla Broth
1.5 Cups Frozen Yellow Corn
4 Tablespoons White Onion (I used frozen)
8 Tablespoons La Victoria Mild Salsa
1 Envelope Taco Seasoning
1 Can Black Beans
9.5oz Shredded Chicken Breast

In a large sauce pan heat on high the broth, corn and onion.  Bring to boil, then simmer, reducing down the liquid content to just a smidgen on the bottom of the pan.  Add the black beans (undrained), salsa and taco seasoning.  Mix together well.  Shred the chicken and add.  Heat until chicken is hot, by this time there is very little liquid if any at all.

Serves 6
Calories 190
Carbs 26
Fat 2
Protein 15
Sugar 5

We topped ours with light sour cream and reduced fat cheddar cheese.  So Good!

Tomorrow night I've got visions of BBQ Chicken Pizza! Don't expect this experimentation to last long, I got clearance from the doctor to return to my workouts in two days!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Marriage Boot Camp?

Has anyone else seen an advertisement for this show?  I was sitting her watching the WE channel marathon of Law and Order and there was a commercial for it.  People were screaming at each other, one woman even said "there's only one way out and its death" as in she'd kill her husband.

What the heck?  Since when did people working out their marital differences air their dirty laundry on television?  I feel sad and sorry for them; even a little embarassed, but that doesn't last long considering they would have had to give consent to be on the show anyway.

Because I was so unfamiliar with this show I had to look it up...if your curious, here's a linke to the show.  CLICK HERE
Here is a snippet of what the site says "Marriage Boot Camp features five outrageous Bridezillas and their husbands living together in the same house to endure an extreme marriage boot camp in an effort to work out their marriage demons and answer the burning question - Is their marriage worth saving?"
http://www.wetv.com/shows/marriage-boot-camp/about

Basically they are put on national television to live out two weeks of their lives as they are deciding if they will stay married or divorce.  How crazy!

There is no such thing as perfect, I get that, but holy moly this seems like a recipe for disaster.  I would never in a million years go on television to hash out martial issues.  Would you?  

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Six Years And Counting...

It was 6 years ago this weekend (or some time very close to this weekend) that we met for the first time.  Some days it seems as if we've known each other forever and some days as if it's only been days.

Although we met at the end of January/beginning of February we didn't have our first date until February 16, 2008.  Yes, I remember the day.  I know exactly what I was doing that day too before our first date.  I had taken my car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change, the car the my now husband would start to call the "mini-van".  To be clear, it was a Suzuki XL-7; not a mini-van; but in his defense it did have three rows of seats (mind you I was SINGLE, who needed this big thing).

I just quized the husband on the date; he was a week off.  Then I reminded him when Mardi Gras was that year.  We met, he called, he went to Mardi Gras, he called again, we finially scheduled a date.

We've been through a lot together in the past six years...

  • I finished school (I think) - last class of my bachelors, all of my masters and then my post master certificate course have all taken place (not to mention the 6 classes I had to take at the community college between the undergrad and grad school stints)
  • We've moved...a few times each.  I went from North Hills to Fontana to Rancho Cucamonga then finally to our first condo in La Verne to now our own home in La Verne.  He went from Apartment in La Verne to Condo in La Verene to condo together in La Verne and finally our own home.
  • Um...like I just said we bought a house.  We were those crazy people that decided it was a good idea to buy a house right before our wedding.  We bought out house March 20, 2013 and moved in over Easter weekend.
  • We've traveled together to San Francisco, Scottsdale, Denver, Las Vegas, Reno, Montana, Jamaica, St. Martin and the plane we were on stopped in Puerto Rico.
  • I've become the #1 Kansas Jayhawks basketball fan and Denver Bronco's fan.
  • He's learned to love Angels Baseball
  • He's moved up in his Company
  • I've changed jobs (closer to home)
But most importantly, we got married.  We became our own family of two.  We've started our own traditions.  We've created a home.  We fell so in love.