Mattie conquers a tri!

I don't know how to say this except just to say it, folks:

I'm married to a triathlete.

BOOM!

Yesterday was the Big Day and despite his nerves, Mattie did AWESOME completing his first tri!!! I am SO proud of him, as is evidenced by the almost 200 pictures I took during our 3ish hours there. Don't worry, I'm only going to bore you with 190 of them. Out of the goodness of my heart. So. Much. Goodness.

So we had to be up by 5, which is obviously why I woke up at 3 and was unable to ever go back to sleep. It was super awesome.

We were on the dark and rainy road by 5:30. Have you ever driven around Athens at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday? I'm guessing not, since it seemed like the ONLY other drivers were other people participating in the tri. This was evidenced by the presence of fancy bikes on bike racks and various oval stickers with 26.2 and 140.6 on them. And also, I mean, why else would anyone in the world be driving around in the rain at that kind of hour? Exactly. They wouldn't.

Once in the park, we had to park about 11 miles away from where check-in was. Always great to get in a nice pre-race warm-up, right? Apparently some people thought so, since we saw some crazy folks RUNNING around (already checked in)...in the rain...in the dark...before they're about to do a tri?? Matt said he read somewhere that getting in a warm-up jog or something is a good idea, but I'm not so sure. I think those folks are just super nuts. Once we made it to check-in, near the transition area, it started feeling really real. There were people everywhere! Expensive equipment we've never heard of! People that look like they knew what they were doing! It was another world. But we adopted the 'fake it til you make it' philosophy and Matt headed off to 'body marking,' where they use giant Sharpies to write numbers all over your body.

My favorite body marking was the age on your calves. Every competitor had their age written on the back of both calves. I have no idea why, but it made my hours of people-watching much more interesting. I was extremely comforted and encouraged that tons of the most badass looking athletes were in their late 30s to late 40s! Unlike watching the Olympics, where I'm already a decade too old to think about doing any of it...this made me think that it's not too late, and that doing something like tris is something that you can continue doing into your 60s (there were tons of people in their 60s kicking tail!)...and also you will have a smokin' hot bod into your 60s. So, yeah. That was pretty great to find out.

Matt checked in (we'd picked up his race packet Saturday), got his timing chip, settled his bike and equipment into the transition area, lost his timing chip, panicked, found his timing chip, and then kissed me goodbye and headed down to the beach. I carried my 9,000 pounds of luggage/chairs (I looked like I was moving across the country or something. You know. Always prepared!) around in a very aimless fashion until I finally figured out where I could go to watch the swim. Right before the 7:00 start the sun finally came up and the rain slowed to a drizzle and I was able to switch to the dSLR for some mega zoom-lens action during the swim. There were hundreds and hundreds of competitors, so it was no small miracle that I actually was able to locate Matt amongst the throngs of shirtless, black-shorts-clad, blue-swim-cap-wearing men (and women, but it was pretty easy to distinguish him from the ladies)!

No idea where he is here, though.

 And they're off!! They entered the water 3 at a time, every 3 seconds. Matt was waaaaaay towards the back, so he didn't enter the water til almost 30 minutes after they started! (Meaning the guys that had entered first were like...done swimming and halfway done biking before Matt even started!)

I was standing very close to the finish line, so I never saw him enter the water. Matt's mom did, though, so she told me when he was in and then I waited 10 minutes and then started watching the finish area very carefully with my zoom lens. And then I saw him! Yay Mattie! You didn't drown!

Please excuse this gratuitous photo of my extremely good lookin' hunk of a husband. 

So they run up out of the water, across the parking lot, and over to the transition area to get ready for biking. Matt was totally ready for T1, as they call it (first transition), but I think he slightly underestimated one thing: pulling a compression shirt onto his wet torso. Please enjoy the most hilarious pictures ever: Matt Does Contortionist Things to Get His Shirt On-

After her got his shirt situation figured out, he quickly got the rest of his bike gear set and was on his way to the 14 mile ride!

 This meant I had a good chunk of time to kill. I walked up to the biking finish area, plopped myself down in my chair, and enjoyed analyzing all of the competitors as they rolled in. I was also glad to have Matt's parents there to chit-chat with as we carefully analyzed each bright-yellow-shirted-man in the distance and tried to discern whether it might be Matt. Don't worry, I have an entire photo series of a neon-yellow-shirt-and-black-shorts guy that isn't Matt. Of course, I didn't realize this until I he was 2 feet away from me and I was screaming "GO MATTIE!!!" like a maniac as I snapped pictures...well...oh well. Skinny guys with bike helmets and twinsie outfits...how's a girl to know?

This was my view most of the day.

Finally he actually DID come by-- and we think his bike time (haven't gotten the official times from his chip yet) was around 50 minutes, which is better than he was hoping for!!

He graciously acknowledges his adoring fans, who are really just glad they're actually cheering for the right person this time.

He walked the bike back down to T2 and got ready to run. We weren't able to make it down this time, so no pictures--I'm sure you're devastated, but try to move on.

We headed over towards the end of the 5k course and set up our camp one more time. Matt's mom took a picture of yours truly.

A proud lady with a huge honkin' zoom lens...waiting to see her man run by!

It was a surprisingly short wait...and then we saw him!

I feel like his face says it all here. Pretty sure he was D.O.N.E.

And he was! Matt's mom was at the finish line and snapped a few right when he crossed it.

I sprinted to the finish line (so noble of me to jog 100 yards in light of such displays of athleticism...) and attacked him with a big ol' hug and kiss. He was sweaty and stinky and a teensy bit tired, but still obliged us by posing for a few pictures. I know. He's a saint, that Mattie!

And with that, his first triathlon was complete. And he PRd! Ha. I mean, we don't know what the record is, yet, but since it was his first...it was definitely a personal best. We headed over to the expo area and he got his shirt and lots of snacks and drinks. He regaled us with his perspective on the race, answered our dozens of questions, and then we packed it up and headed on home.

And then we slept. After he showered, of course.

It was a great day. I am so proud of him for his hard work training and for persevering and 100% earning his Badass Triathlete status. Yay Mattie!!

mud

Lest I be accused of being unable to organize my thoughts around a theme, please watch in awe as I attempt to write a post around the concept of mud in all of its literal and figurative senses. 

It's cool and rainy this week (and predicted to stay that way through the weekend). It certainly doesn't feel anything like Georgia in August, but it's a nice respite from...well, from a summer that has had very few complaint-worthy hot days to start with. Last night we took advantage of the cool weather (and prayed for the rain to hold out for a few hours) by walking to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, which is about 5.5 miles round-trip. We cut through some trails in the woods which was possibly not the smartest idea given the frequent rain. It was so muddy. I'm telling myself that it made the walk an extra-good workout, since my feet literally sunk down into the mud with every step and I had to heave them back out and plop them down again, only to sink down into the next patch of mud. It was crazy. Luckily I was wearing my non-cute Asics (no neon) that were already ugly and dirty, so it was no big deal. Just crazy. I've been walking those trails for four years now and never seen this much mud!

The triathlon is on Sunday. We spent most of the summer trying to mentally prepare for how hot it would be and how best to dress/prepare for the brutal 7am Georgia heat. Who woulda thought that the forecast is for rain and a high of 72??! And with much of this week being just like that, I'm guessing the lake water could be downright chilly (and VERY muddy)! Craziness. Luckily only Matt will have to deal with that, as my role at the triathlon this weekend is going to be spectator. That's right. 2013 will be the year that I trained for a tri...and...that's about it. :) I would like to blame patellar tendonitis and my inherent inability to stick with a sport for more than 3 months on my flaking out. It's okay though. I'm good with it. I will give myself an A for effort and declare myself to be a little bit badass. You know. Badass enough to want to do a tri. Just lacking in follow-through. Oh well! Join me on Sunday at 7 in cheering on Matt! You can do it from the comfort of your bed, though. No judgment.

Thanks for all your votes and opinions on the blog Facebook survey! Unfortunately, all you've managed to do is severely muddy the waters. Seriously. I've never seen less of a consensus about ANYTHING!! So far it seems like the general thinking is that no one inherently loves blog FB pages, you REALLY don't like your newsfeeds being clogged with 'new post!' reminders, but you think that I probably should start my own blog FB page, but DEFINITELY only if it's going to be awesome. So...thanks. No pressure or anything. And then the superhero thing? I'm just saying. I had no idea so many of you had such terrible taste in superheros. The WRONG superhero was winning for awhile, but finally the right guy has come out (barely) in front. Apparently people who like him are late voters? Ha! All that to say-- voting is still open...I'm hoping that the late-late weekend voters will come out in droves and provide some true enlightenment on the (FB) issue. Feel free to go vote again if you've had any mind-changing or are feeling extra passionate about something today! (Or you've seen the light in the err of your ways regarding superheroes...)

Finally, Mud. Did you know there's a Matthew McConaughey movie by that name? Last weekend (pre-cotton candy) my sisters-in-law and I noticed that it was playing in the local cheap theater. We were contemplating going to see it. When other family members were innocently commenting that they'd never heard of that movie and asking what it was about, here was my answer: "Matthew McConaughey." And the funny thing is that that is a PERFECTLY acceptable and reasonable answer to the ladies of my generation. Oh! The movie is about Matthew McConaughey? Perfect, count me in. There is no need for a plot recap, or a trailer, or a recommendation from The Academy. But people in other demographics apparently don't get that. "But what's it ABOUT?" Ummm...Matthew McConaughey. Didn't I already say that? 

Anyway. Just an interesting observation. We didn't end up going to see it (due to the cotton candy, of course), but it's still on my list. 

Have a lovely (and cold and rainy, if you're in Georgia) weekend!! Cheer hard for Mattie on Sunday! (And thanks for all your cheering for us yesterday. Yall are awesome.)

high five, fist pump.

You know what one of the best things about blogging is? 

You learn how much other people care. And how freakin funny people are. Exhibit A: a comment I received last night on yesterday's post-

I almost fell off my bed laughing at this. Homegirl (okay, Abby) made a SURVEY for me??! Clearly qualifies for BFF status, that's all I'm sayin'. 

But I guess that brings us to the topic at hand that Abby was alluding to: yesterday's follow-up appointment. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you probably saw me go all crazy-excited with WE GOT GOOD NEWS!!!!!!! as I was leaving the appointment. In retrospect, that was kind-of a jerk move, the vague 'GOOD NEWS!!!'--now quick, disappear and don't say anything specific! post(s). But I'm sure you can understand-- good news must be celebrated, and as such we went directly to Ulta. Obviously nobody has time for texting in Ulta. Sorrynotsorry.(Please note: had we received bad news, we also would have sought comfort by going straight to Ulta. Crazy how makeup works both ways. And also by 'we' I obviously mean that Matt indulges me. Pretty sure he doesn't find any particular comfort or joy in going to Ulta. Actually he probably spends the whole time praying for our bank account.)

SO! I had big plans to update the little chart I made last time, but daggumit I can't find the document ANYWHERE! I looked on all our home computers and jump drives...couldn't find it. Figured it was on my work computer. Can't find it. Stupid. So I can re-post the chart from June and then I'll just have to write out the new results in a paragraph. Such a data presentation failure...hopefully you can forgive me.

JUNE CHART:

AUGUST RESULTS:

Total Count: 95 mil
Total Active: 27.5 mil
Penetration Count: (didn't test this since last time was NORMAL!!!)
Survivability: Not sure about the percentage, but the isolatable fraction count was 1.6 mil (!!!!) (from 300k last time?!?!)
Morphology: (either he didn't test this or just didn't tell us results, oops)
Motility: 29%

He also had his bloodwork redone in order to monitor the effects of the drugs he's on. He didn't previously have any noticeable problems/issues with his hormone levels, etc., so they wanted to make sure the drugs weren't causing any or doing anything else weird. But a nice discovery is that his testosterone level (which was previously on the low end of the normal range, but still totally fine) DOUBLED from 464 to 857!! And the new level is still well within the normal range, so it's a good thing...not too high.

In summary: EVERYTHING WENT UP!!!!!

Dr. W's conclusion: Matt's body is responding REALLY well to the current drug cocktail. He was pretty jazzed (and unlike my freakin optimistic RE, Matt's guy usually keeps his emotions on lockdown a little better). Ready for this?

He said Matt's chances of impregnating someone (haha, I don't say me because I'm not really an ideal candidate...someone normal!!) naturally (w/o ART) have gone from the 10th percentile to the 40th percentile!!!

That's a huge increase!!! Woooo!

But even better??

Well, for one, he said that if we stay on the current drug cocktail (which we are), we can expect to see continued improvements for probably the next six months. Which is awesome!! He said our chances of conceiving naturally have increased dramatically. But of course we should do IVF because now there is like a billion percent chance that it will work. (He didn't say that part about a billion percent. It's just the impression that he gives in his tone, which of course I know is not true because DUH.) So we nod and smile because we're still really not interested in pursuing IVF right now.

BUT!

Then he says in this sneaky, offhand way: Well, if you're not yet interested in pursuing IVF...I would say you're on the cusp of being able to go for IUI again.

?!?!?! HOLLA!!!!

Because last month that was all I wanted to hear. And he shot it down completely. And our numbers were SO far from the minimum that they'd want us to have to consider IUI again. But now he's singing a different song!! And yeah...I can look at our numbers. They're still not quiiiiite high enough to be where he said he'd want them. But they're a heck of a lot closer. So that's probably why he said 'on the cusp,' which of course I immediately translated to 'WE'RE DOING IUI TOMORROW.' (But not really.)

I tried to play it cool, like I really could care less if our numbers are creeping up into the almost-normal range. Ya know, like my eggs are getting YOUNGER every day. I was all "well, we're doing some traveling this month and next month, so I really don't think I could squeeze it in...you think we could do it in the fall sometime?" and he was like "yeah, that would give you a little longer to see even better results from the meds...that would be good." Totally cool. I'm sure he had no idea I was excited by this news.

Of course, this means I have to get the idea approved by my RE. Dr. W said he'd chat with Dr. S and let him know that he'd approved the idea. I need to make an appointment with Dr. S because I haven't been monitored or had an ultrasound in a year now, since my surgery, and I have no idea what the State of the Uterus (and tubes, and everything else) is. So it's not like we're totally in the clear, but we're a heck of a lot closer than we were on Tuesday!

I don't know why I'm so excited...I think it's just been three long years since my 3 IUIs in fall 2010...three long years of NO DOCTORS BEING WILLING TO DO THEM AGAIN because we were too broken for even that. And that's really something, when it's basically a low-risk, easy-peasy procedure that they get paid a lot of money for whether it works or not. So it's just nice to finally feel like we have an OPTION (that isn't a $20k IVF).

So there's our "WE GOT GOOD NEWS!!!" update. Big numbers improvement and a halfhearted clearance to pursue IUI...I'll take that over an appointment like June's anytime.

And thank YOU for your prayers, for the sweet texts and emails and comments, and for just generally being awesome and caring. You make infertility a much less lonely journey than it used to be. I'm really grateful.

confessing again

'Bout that time, eh? Let's get to it.

1. My getting-rid-of-dead-flowers issues haven't improved any this summer.

This little lovely is on the dresser in my bedroom. You know, where I see it at least 50 times a day. Not like...tucked away in some remote corner of a guest room where it's out of sight, out of mind...this is in the prime time, buddy. And yet...just look. That's nasty. Who lives like this??! While you're busy being disgusted at how gross I am, you can also spend a moment trying to sound out the titles of the books Matt reads for fun. Not even kidding. FOR FUN! This stuff is not even related to what he does for work. It's entirely possible that man is certifiably insane.

2. I bought some of this a few weeks ago to help me get rid of some plain vanilla ice cream I had lingering in the freezer:

source

It's entirely possible that it is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted in my entire life, and now that the vanilla ice cream is gone, I just eat it by the spoonful. I know. That's terrible, right? I almost considered getting some more ice cream so that I could be more socially acceptable. BUT- then I realized that really, putting it on top of ice cream is a LESS healthy choice. I mean, if I really couldn't care less about the ice cream, that's just a ton of wasted calories serving as a carrier for what I really want. So if what I really want is a couple amazing bites of salty caramel, then it's really healthier to just...eat a couple bites of salty caramel and leave the ice cream at the store. Right? Right. So there you have it: Diet Tips from Erika. (PS. Don't complain when you get fat. I have a hunch this is a terrible diet tip.) (P.P.S. I was answering some kind of survey or questionnaire the other day that asked whether my blog could be classified as 'healthy living' or a 'health' blog. I think that after this tip, I can confidently answer that question with a resounding YES.)

And now that we've established that I'm gross and fat, let's polish off the trifecta of awesomeness with a final confession: I am less technologically advanced than most 80 year olds, because...

3) On Sunday, August 11, 2013, at age 30 and a half, I downloaded iTunes for the first time.

I'm not even Amish.

I just managed to make it this long without something that pretty much everyone else in my generation has counted as critical for the last decade or so. And it wasn't even really intentional, the not-having-iTunes!! It wasn't like ohhh I hate iTunes, I'm NEVER going to sell out!!!...it was just like...I never needed it. Or cared enough to get it? Or something. Probably helps that until recently I've never owned an Apple product (yes, means that neither my husband or I have ever owned an iPod, which is probably equally shocking. How have we survived??!! Amazingly well, it seems), which makes it much easier to never 'need' iTunes. Even after getting an iPhone, I didn't have to get iTunes...until the Apple people needed to replace my phone, which meant that if I didn't backup everything on iTunes (or a CLOUD, whatever the heck THAT is) that I'd have to start over on my new phone. Which would obviously be dumb. But anyways. I felt like a cavewoman or something on Monday night when I had to Google 'how do you download iTunes?' But I did it, and managed to back up my phone and reload everything to the new phone, which was the whole point of it. I still have not used iTunes to listen to a song, so I'll hold on to that for awhile and hope that it lets me keep some of my street cred at the retirement home.

And I'm done. If we can still be friends after all of this, that would be great. You can come over and admire my dead flowers while we eat caramel sauce from the jar and listen to my eight-tracks. BEST DAY EVER!

PS. We have another appointment with the RE today to get test results for Matt. If you want to join us in praying that things go better than last time, that would be awesome.