Why not Minot?

Can you believe something only 2.45 centimeters long can produce so much vomit?

On Friday we got to see the spine, two legs, two arm buds, and a beating heart. Also got to see the brain!

We had a great visit in Minot on Friday. I got up at 5:00 am to shop with my sister and then met Betsy at the clinic at 10:30 am to check out what was brewing in her uterus.

Something was brewing indeed! The ultrasound lady seemed like she was not in a rush so she spent a lot of time taking a look around up there.

She took quite a few photos and we got to see the heartbeat again. That was a big deal.

At one point, it looked like the baby was fist pumping as if it was going crazy at a small-town street dance. (Could this be Arsenio Hall's baby? If that is the case, I should quit typing and go visit with Betsy.)

You know, the other day I was sharing about getting the butt shot at the Fire Hall? Well, add another location to the list.

We went to "Blind Side" on Friday night with my sisters and Andy Wintermute (local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans agent - contact him for any of your life insurance or savings questions) and had to find a place to give a shot.

There are not a lot of places at a movie theater where you can take your wife's pants off. So, Betsy found a guy wearing a movie theater tuxedo and a Bluetooth earpiece and asked if we could use his office. He seemed concerned because his office had several stacks of money sitting on the desk. So he said he knew of a place. We followed him and he brought us upstairs where all the movie cameras were rolling!

It was so funny! As I gave Betsy a shot in her evening check, I looked out a tiny window and watched a scene from some-sort-of Ninja movie.

So far Betsy has had a shot in:

• Movie theater
• Dakota Square parking lot
• Fire Hall
• Dark, scary parking lot in Lakota
• a kitchen in Velva
• three kitchens in Bottineau
• a side room in a clinic in Fargo where I believe we violated some sort of HEPA rule

Well, I better get going. Hope you are watching some good YouTube videos or checking your facebook when you are done with this.

That's the first time I pulled down Betsy's pants in the fire hall

While surrounded by a U.S. Customs officer, a retired ND Highway Patrol Officer, a lumber yard owner, a truck driver, a electric company lineman, a heating & cooling company owner, a farm supply store manager, a carpenter, a dude who sells boats, a bar owner, and a mechanic, the ol' Bible camp director/campfire song leader/outdoor game leader has to try a little harder to seem like a tough guy.

That's my life every fourth Tuesday when I get to go to the Bottineau Rural Fire Department (Station 2 - Lake Metigoshe) meeting. I love it.

If I had to name the top four things I love about living in Bottineau, they would be:
1. Denny's Pizza Inn
2. Being a Volunteer Fire Fighter
3. Having a kick-ass pastor who saves our food scraps for her chickens
4. Denny's Pizza Inn

I love being a part of the fire department. Some other day I'll tell you about the time I almost violated a dead beaver at a fire, but I gotta tell you what happened last night.

So, there we were, all the fire fighters were taking a test on Proper Procedures for Radio Usage in Emergency Situations. Training last night was a classrooms setting, rather than a hands-on training. In September we all went up on the camp high ropes course and last month we practiced pumping from Lake Metigoshe.

Anyways, we are in the middle of the test and guess who shows up in her sweatpants.

That would be the lovely, pregnant Betsy.

Yesterday, Betsy decided to wear her trendy brown sweatpants and my XXL camp sweatshirt from 1996. She looked good and comfy:)

Smilely Betsy says, "Oh, hi!" Then giggles and motions me to come over. Thankfully there was a giggle, because in the 12 years going to meetings, a wife/girlfriend has never crashed a meeting!

The reason she came over was because it was 8 o'clock and time for a butt shot! We hadn't really planned this out too well, so she had to drive over to get a shot.

If you have ever been to the Lake Metigoshe Fire Department, or really any fire department, there really aren't a lot of private rooms to go take your pants off.

So, Betsy and I walked beside Unit #7 and she pulled down her trendy brown sweatpants. I have got believe this may have been the first time there has been a naked ass next to the spare SCBA bottles and spare hoses in that building.

I poked her in the right check (aka, the evening cheek) and the shot was done within moments. We laughed quietly and Betsy was on her way and I was back to taking an open-book test on emergency radio techniques. 10-4

Hope you have a good Thanksgiving. Betsy has another ultrasound and bloodtest on Friday - we hope that goes well. Talk to you soon

She's always wearing my sweatpants

On October 31, 2008, I bought, what I would soon find out, the most comfortable pair of sweatpants at KMart in Bismarck. I needed a costume for Halloween - something appropriate to wear to the Governor's Mansion.

The costume consisted of grey, elastic-cuffed sweatpants and a red North Dakota tank-top that had a screenprint of a soaring eagle on it.

The costume was near perfect, but Betsy now has laid claim to these Joe Boxer sweatpants and I am concerned how often they are being worn.

Don't get me wrong, I love sweatpants and I am not pregnant. So, if Betsy wants to wear these men's XL sweatpants for the next 32 weeks - I say go for it.

But Betsy, here are the rules:

1. If they have cheese on them, I gotta wash them.
2. If you can't remember the last time they were washed, I gotta wash them.
3. You can wear them to Wal-Mart. But if you wear them to Wal-Mart, you can't shuffle your feet and just look at the magazine rack.
   
4. If you think the sweatpants are giving you a rash, your sweatpants are probably giving you a rash.

That's it. Only 4 rules for wearing those sweatpants.

Now, the good thing is that Betsy's sassy, malassy friend, Maurya, was kind enough to send her a pair of women's sweatpants. (Maurya, she got them yesterday and they only have been off to shower. I think I may buy her another.)

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts during this time. We continue to be cautiously excited. We have another appointment in Fargo on the Friday after Thanksgiving. If that one goes well, Betsy gets passed on to a doctor in Minot.

Talk to you soon

One more thing

Didn't get this on the previous post - here's a little video for you to take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROBQsr1OjQM

A lot has happend since February!

There is a ton to tell you, but I am just going to start with this:

Betsy is pregnant and Birki is not impressed.

Okay, now for some details.

Earlier this summer, Betsy scheduled us for another IVF procedure to take place in October. As you can see from reading below in past posts, we had some disappointing news in February when we found out our first IVF was not going to work.

However, we were ready to try again in October. By try again, I don't mean having timed sex.

Rather, it means Betsy starts taking shots and having several instruments placed in unspeakable areas. I had already done what I needed to do...in February.

This past winter, the doctors were able to "harvest" enough eggs to save some for another date. So, in early October three embryos were shot back inside Betsy to see if they would latch on.

If there is one thing that I thought I would get better at during this whole 4-year process, that would be waiting. However, it is hard to get better at waiting.

After the IVF procedure, it was back to waiting. Eleven days to be exact. Eleven days does not seem long in the grand scheme, but it felt like 11 years. It was nice to have things to do with friends during that waiting period.

Betsy actually had a pregnancy test on day 9. However, we asked not to be informed about the results of that test. We did that because the results could be negative, but still have a chance to change to positive in two days. In February we got the negative on day 9, and it was awful waiting two days and then find out for sure it did not work.

So, it was a Thursday when the first test happened, and we had to wait until the following Monday for the second test. That was a long weekend :)

So, on Monday, October 26, Betsy took her second pregnancy test in Minot then left for a meeting in Rugby. Again, we had to wait.

We were expecting a call about 3 pm, but at noon I got a call in Bottineau.

The nurse said, "Is Betsy there?"

"No."

"Oh, this is Meritcare and we need to speak to her. Is it okay to let you know the news?"

During this time I was outside walking nervously knowing that this would be either really really good, or really bad.

I said, "It's okay to tell me."

So, there was a little commotion and then the sound of being put on speaker phone. Then, I started hearing indiscernible screaming in the phone!

"Is this good news?" I asked.

"YES! Betsy is pregnant!"

Now remember how I said Birki was not impressed? Well, I had no idea what to do except run home and talk to my dog. How sane does that seem? I fist-pumped and spoke loud and quickly to Birki.

Birki - not impressed. Somewhat bored even. She yawned and stretched while we visited.

I realized that I had left the lunch table at work and they were expecting to hear the news. I spent several minutes outside replaying the phone call in my mind so that I was sure that it was not a dream!

I finally got myself in and shared the good news and told them I needed to go buy something. I didn't know what, but I needed to buy something before Betsy came home.

Now, here was the tricky part. Betsy was in Rugby and still at least an hour before she would be home. I quickly drove to town to buy a bunch of pink and blue balloons. I had to hide from some people in the store so they wouldn't ask why I was buying 15 pink and blue balloons. I had already decided that I would tell them we were having a baby shower for someone up at the lake and I was sent to town to buy stuff.

Anyways, I came home as fast as I could and waited on the road for Betsy to come home. She rounded the corner and I stood in the road with the balloons and a sign that said, "You did it!"

Those next several hours were a bit of a blur of excitement. We had a chance to call some friends and family and just wallow in this special news.

Then, there was more waiting. Damn it. I still am not that good at waiting.

During this waiting time, Betsy continued to take medication - including shots in the ass.

One time that sticks out was on our drive to Fargo for the first ultrasound. At 8 pm, the designated shot time, we were driving on Hwy 2 and had to stop in Lakota. Not a lot of private spots in Lakota. So, isn't it obvious that we should stop at a dark parking lot along the highway? Makes tons of sense.

Because I have to give Betsy a shot in the keyster, she has to get into a position where I could give her shot...while in a car. I'm not sure when the last time you tried to take your pants off in a car (by the way, I DON'T want to know when) but it is a little tricky. (It was easier in college! Just kidding Al!! Seriously, I am just joking!)

Anyways, the decision was made that Betsy would stand next to the drivers door where I was sitting and get her shot. So, in this dark parking lot, next to the busy highway, Betsy stood by the door and dropped trou! I had to somehow stop laughing, grab some ice out of my McDonalds cup to numb her check, and give her a shot.

Well, finally got the needle in, but when we were done, we realized it was a bleeder! She immediately started bleeding, I dropped the band-aid, lost the needle, and started yelling for a sponge as if I was a doctor on MASH!

Remember when all you had to do to get pregnant was have sex?

Okay, back to the waiting. We ended up having our first ultrasound last Monday, November 2. We were anxious and excited. Betsy's "numbers" were great, but needed to see if there was something growing and if it was in the right spot.

Bob, the monotone ultrasound guy, did his business and we got to see a black splotch in the right spot! Great news!! We were so excited and the doctor told Betsy that she thought our baby was an over-achiever. Betsy loved hearing that.

Okay, now we have to wait again. Betsy has been pregnant twice before, but we have never made it to an ultrasound where we saw or heard the heartbeat.

Wait.
Wait.
Wait.

Today, Friday the 13th, was our next ultrasound. We quietly drove to town knowing this could be the greatest day ever, or a repeat of a very disappointing day. We kept encouraging each other and we also knew there were a lot of people thinking of us.

Again, monotone Bob came in and did his business. I don't think he completely understood how big of a day this was for us. We had to explain that we have twice came to an ultrasound and nothing was found. This, Bob, was a big deal for us.

So, all of a sudden up on the screen we saw the black splotch with something tiny in it. Then, a briefly, and I mean briefly, heard the heartbeat!!!! Betsy and I immediately did this kinda laugh/cry thing that made the ultrasound photo go away. Laughter apparently mucks up an ultrasound.

(Imagine this said very casually and sorta sleepy-like) "Everything looks good," says Bob.

BOB!!! This is so awesome!!!

Bob left and we hugged and smooched. This was pretty awesome. When we arrived I was looking around for a side door to leave just in case we got bad news. They probably didn't want us walking through the waiting room if we were completely devastated.

Then we went to see our doctor and she gave Betsy a hug and I gave her a high-five.

She told Betsy she almost just a regular pregnant lady.

Alright, I gotta go eat. Talk to you soon.