Chronicles of a Fire Wife

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and  Part 3  so that you're up to speed on where we're at! ------------------------ "Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble & never stop praying." -Romans 12:12 Yowza! It has been a couple months since I've posted, but as the old saying goes... no news is good news. I haven't posted because I haven't had any updates. We went on vacation to Texas and then decided to take a break from the testing to just RELAX. The break was much needed, mentally. **I'd classify this post as TMI! If you're a male or you really  don't care to know specific details about the HSG/FemVue test, skip right on over this post. You're welcome for the heads up!** If you've been following along our journey, you know that the next step in the testing process for us was the FemVue (Sono HSG) test. You might be wondering why I didn...

"A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink." - Gina Carey 2011 When I graduated college and became a police officer in 2011, I was in the best shape of my life. I consistently worked out and ate clean. In 2014, I met my husband (Tony) and moved 45 minutes away from everything and everyone that I knew. Shortly after moving in with him, I suffered a severe concussion off duty. I was out of work for 2+ weeks. The concussion symptoms were overwhelming (vertigo, constant headache, nausea), so I spent most of my time on the couch watching TV or laying in bed. On my first day back to work, I  put my pants on and they were too tight. I was frustrated, but remembered that I hadn’t worked out in weeks. The concussion symptoms continued on/off for the next year, so workouts didn’t happen. Engagement '15 In July of 2015, Tony proposed! I was SO EXCITED. When we received our engagement pictures back, I was embarrassed by how I looked - my cloth...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out  Part 1 ,   Part 2 , and Part 3  so that you're up to speed on where we're at! "If you want it bad enough, you will find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse." Hi ya'll! I realized it has been way too long since I've posted a blog, so here we go! The past month and a half has been very busy with work and life in general. Unfortunately, I don't have any updates regarding our journey to parenthood. I decided to take a month off from testing to save up some money and to alleviate some stress. The last phase of our testing process if the Femvue test to evaluate my tubes and check for blockage. This test costs approximately $1,026... out-of-pocket. As you can imagine, there is added stress with the financial aspect of this process. Can we afford it? Meh... we do pretty well and could probably make it work. But I'm the type of person that likes to have a set a...

**Thank you for following our journey! If you're new to the blog, check out Part 1 and Part 2 so that you're up to speed on where we're at!** "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." - Romans 12:12 Now that you're up to speed, here we go...   After sending in our Health History packet, we waited for a phone call from the nurse. As I stated before, the doctor ("Fertility Specialist") reviews the packet and comes up with an initial game plan for testing. I had all of my in depth prior blood tests done in June 2017 with Doctor #3 to verify PCOS. The call finally came - I was nervous and excited. I was excited because I knew that if this whole infertility treatment process didn't work out for us, I'd at least have answers as to why  we were having issues conceiving and why  I was constantly feeling crummy due to the PCOS symptoms. The nurse informed me that I needed to make an appointment to go over the plan ...

"And now these three remain: FAITH, HOPE, LOVE. But the greatest of these is Love." - 1 Corinthians 12:13 If you haven't done so already, check out Part 1 of our story at  PCOS - The Beginning . And so our journey to parenthood, and my journey with PCOS, continues... We started trying for a baby in 2016 and now it's June of 2018. Almost 2 years. Can you imagine trying to start a family for 2 years? 24 months full of emotions, disappointment, unknowns, frustration, and so much more. Now, I'm not 'complaining' per say because I know we are blessed. We are both healthy. I know there are couples who have tried for way longer than we have and I know that there are couples who will never have children - If you fall into one of those categories, know that I'm praying for you . My point is that the past 2 years have felt like an eternity. So many friends have announced pregnancies, had healthy babies, etc. Although I'm extremely happy for them, I can...

I've been dragging my feet on this post for a couple months. My initial intention for starting a blog was to share my life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), but the truth is... it's personal. There are so many different emotions associated with it from the diagnosis, to the tests, to the unknown future. In fact, I wish  this wasn't part of our story, but it is and I'm going to try to make the best of it. I know there are people out there on their hands and knees praying to be in my shoes because they are in a way more difficult situation. I pray for those people every night. So, here goes nothing... Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - sounds scary, doesn't it? It's really not that  scary, but any diagnosis with the word "syndome" in it is a little intimidating. It's especially intimidating, maybe more frustrating, when it's a syndrome that's not totally understood by medical professionals. They don't know what causes it, what ...

80 Day Obsession - DONE! Boom. Bam. Goal crushed. What's up? I can't believe I actually completed the 80 Day Obsession. I have never ever stuck to a workout program for that long. I didn't skip a single workout for the entire duration. Sundays are "rest" days for the program, but I always did some sort of workout whether it was Core De Force, running on the treadmill, etc. After working out for 6 days in a row, I don't know how people can just take a day off. But for real, I am shocked that I stuck to this program (workouts). Peak Week was actually a lot of fun! It was nice to be able to do workouts from past phases to see how much stronger I was. Plus, my favorite workouts were in Phase 1 and Phase 2 (workout breakdown is listed below). It was almost like doing A Little Obsessed again, except it was the full length of the workouts versus a 30 minute preview. Because I know myself, I knew that if I went all in with workouts and  the timed nutrition.. I...

Phase 3 is DONE!! Yes! If you've been following along as I've made my way through the 80 Day Obsession program from Beachbody, you know  that Phase 3 was by far the toughest phase for me. The workouts were kicked up a notch and the moves were advanced. Like, way advanced. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little there, but it was tough. I was on the struggle bus every day, but I didn't skip a single workout. Nope, not even one. If for some reason I wasn't able to get my scheduled workout in for a day, you better believe I was doubling up the next day. Hello, challenge. I had sore muscles just about every day in Phase 3. I don't know if it was because I upped my weights twice as much or if it was the different moves. Either way, I had all the sore muscles. I made a point to drink my  chocolate  flavored Recover every day throughout this phase. Unfortunately, I personally didn't see any results from that... I still had sore muscles. Oh well, it still tastes like hot ...

Week 3 of Phase 3 is complete. Gah, Phase 3 has me on the struggle bus. I mentioned this in my Week 10 review post, but I just don't "enjoy" the moves in this phase as much as I did in the other two phases. I'm not sure what the deal is with that, but either way I just keep pushing forward. I'm almost  done with this program and I am feeling so proud of myself. Prior to finding Beachbody on Demand , I would fall off the bandwagon after a week or two. I have always had gym memberships that would cost me $40+ per month, locked into a contract for a minimum of 1 year (that's $480 alone!). That's a crazy amount of money. I was always the person wandering around the gym aimlessly trying out different machines. I'm not a fan of working out with a lot of people around, so that was always a convenient excuse. I maybe went a handful of times throughout the duration of my gym membership contracts. I literally cringe at the thought of how much money was wasted....

To the Mom who didn’t have to Wait, I don’t understand what it’s like. I never will. It’s a foreign concept to me. I didn't expect to be part of the 1 in 8. I was shocked when I found out. I don’t understand having a conversation with your husband regarding the timeline of when you want to have kids and it actually going according to your plan.  I once thought that is how my story would be, but almost 2  years later  and I can tell you it’s not that way for everyone. 2 years. Can you imagine waiting that long? The truth is, I don’t want you to imagine. It’s painful and it’s so hard. 2 years might not seem like a long time, but some days it feels like an eternity. I’m writing because I want you to know how many women all over the world would do anything to be in your shoes, including me.  Anything? Yes, anything. Spend thousands of dollars just for testing. Spend thousands more on treatment that may or may not be successful. Inject medications in their b...

Week 2 of Phase 3 - CHECK. Unlike the past two phases, Week 2 of Phase 3 was just as hard as Week 1. The moves in this phase are a lot more challenging and it's been tough to fully master them. I'm almost there though! Cardio Flow (8 rounds, well, 9 rounds) is still the most challenging in my opinion. I always feel amaze-balls when I finish the 8th round, but there is a lot  of cussing going on from the beginning to the end #sorrynotsorry. I've also realized that I'm kind of getting "bored" with this program for whatever reason. I'm not sure if it's because I'm in the home stretch and I'm ready to do Core De Force again (my favorite!) or if I really am getting bored. I personally don't enjoy the moves in Phase 3 compared to the other two phases. Phase 3 has a lot of compound movements and doesn't seem to get my heart rate up as high. I have been trying to do a 1 mile warm-up before each workout so that I can raise my heart rate and keep...

Phase 3 has officially started and the first week is in the books! YEAH! You guys, Phase 3 is nuts. The workouts are tough, the moves are way more advanced, and the overall pace is faster. This phase is where the magic happens. At least that's what I'm told... and after doing Week 1, I believe it. Remember last week when I mentioned that Cardio Flow would have 8 reps? Yeah... that was incorrect because Autumn Calabrese changed her mind. It's 4 reps (hallelujah), but you repeat the entire sequence 8 times instead of 2. EIGHT. What was she thinking?? Brutal. Bbbrutal. This took the mental and physical challenge up to a whole new level. Let me back up a bit and give you some back story that you should probably know... When Autumn kept saying that we would be doing 8 reps in Phase 3, I was intimidated to the max. Cardio Flow has been a tough and challenging workout for me every since Phase 1. Tough to the point of dreading it every day. While looking at the calendar, I notic...

Phase 2 - Week 4 of 80 Day Obsession is done, which means Phase 2 is officially completed! How the heck am I at Day 50 already?? That's just crazy. When stepping back and looking at my Phase 1 and Phase 2 calendars, I'm feels like it is flying by. Some days, though, it felt like time was standing still and like the workouts were taking forever. That's just me being on the struggle bus though. I'm still waking up at 0430 every day for the most part, which has slowly been getting easier. Slowly. I have been making a point to keep track of my weights throughout this program so that I can look back to see how much stronger I get as the weeks go on. I also plan on doing the full 80 Day Obsession program over again once I complete this first round. I'm debating whether or not to do a round of Core De Force in between, just to change it up a bit. Plus I love love love the Core De Force workout program. I think every female should go through the program because it is MMA...