The manly-est place on Earth

 Today I surprised Lou with his Father's Day gift a bit early. We headed to Canton, Ohio to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lou had been here as a child and has been dying to go back. I thought it was such a neat experience for Lou and Dominic to share together. We had a great time--especially reading about when the Cleveland Browns won Championships! My boys weren't shy to show their Browns spirit! Lockout what?!

                                      Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads out there!! :)

How we got here..

Pretty picture huh? Well the road to get to that glorious moment wasn't as easy or attractive. I guess I'll start from the beginning-and I'll give you the condensed version (you're welcome lol)

October 2010-I had an MRI done during the summer showing that I had no new brain lesions. At this time Lou and I discussed when we would want to have another child.  In order to conceive I would have to be completely off of my Copaxone injections. So we came to the conclusion that I was in the best shape that I could be in at this time so it was time to discuss the subject with my neurologist.
We came together as a group and my doctor stressed that I was off my Copaxone for the smallest window of time before getting pregnant as pregnancy is believed to help offer a protective quality from MS. For most people this wouldn't be an issue-but I also have Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and do not ovulate properly. So it was on to my OBGYN to discuss our next step.

November 2010-Prepped with all the info from my neuro, my OBGYN decided that I would go off the birth control pill I was put on because of the Copaxone, begin treatment for the PCOS by taking Metformin (which made me super sick) and go off my Copaxone injections a week later. I would also be given Provera to begin a cycle so that I could start on 50mg of Clomid. (Keeping track of all these meds already?) We were pumped because we had a really good chance of conceiving the first time due to the sudden increase in all the hormones.....Fail.

December, January, February, March...FAIL

April 2011-Clomid is a tricky drug and you should only take it for 6 months, if you are keeping score I was running out of time. I was already off my injections for 5 months and time was ticking. We upped my Clomid to 100 mg and made an appointment with a fertility specialist. When we met with her I was at the beginning of my cycle so it was too late for a lot of the testing they needed to do. We decided that I would continue with the Clomid, get monitored for egg maturity and then induce ovulation with an injection of Ovidrel. If we didn't conceive this cycle-Lou and I would both undergo extensive and invasive testing and then attempt with an IUI.

Most people on Clomid find that they have plenty of mature eggs to choose from-hence the increased chance of twins or more. I had ONE. One tiny egg that was maturing very slowly which meant we were taking more than enough early morning trips out to Cleveland for ultrasounds. Finally we got the go ahead to inject with Ovidrel but even the nurse wasn't that optimistic about my lone follie.

May 3, 2011-(13 days past injection) It was the day after my birthday and I just wasn't feeling right. I honestly didn't think that it worked this cycle and was just so used to the disappointment that I didn't want to get my hopes up. We had a few dollar store tests in our house so I figured-what the heck...I did my thing and thought that maybe there was a chance I saw a very, very light 2nd line. I browsed the Internet to find out which test was the most sensitive, bought a test and decided to put my bladder to a 5 hour test. I dropped Dominic off at Lou's office and ran across the street to tan. Seriously, 4 hours must be my limit because I almost didn't make it back to Lou's office! I couldn't just waste all my hard work so I just tested at his office. (His secretary was gone for the day so it was only Lou, Dominic and I in the office). Booya-there it was. Another light, but definite second line. We were pregnant!

The shock of that test lasted a few weeks through blood tests and an ultrasound. When we finally heard the heartbeat at 6 weeks 2 days it finally got real. The fertility specialist (our 2nd because our 1st doctor just up and quit being a doctor altogether???!! lol) released me back to my OBGYN and wished us luck! :) We were able to see the little bean again another 2 times via ultrasound.

Now you are up to speed on the story of how we found out about this little miracle. The story isn't over yet as now I am in the mix of a slew of doctors and specialist but I'll save that for another post! If you stuck through and read through all this--bless you! If you didn't-I don't blame you!

Once again, thank you so much for all your well wishes and support. We lived through this process with only a handful of people knowing. I went through such a wide spectrum of emotions and I just want to thank Lou, my mother, Becky and Maggie for always being there for me!

Oh and to answer a few of your questions:
*We DO plan on finding out the sex of this baby-most likely in early-mid August
*I will have a repeat C-Section and discuss having my tubes tied with my OBGYN (I cannot get pregnant on Copaxone and after this baby-we have to continue with my treatment. It's bittersweet)

Dominic has an announcement...

Yes! It's true! Dominic is going to be a BIG BROTHER!!!! Grasso Baby Part Deux is due January 15, 2012. I am currently 9 weeks and 2 days pregnant and feeling every bit of it! We saw the high risk doctor today (due to Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus/RA-I'll write more on that later) and were able to see the baby for the 3rd time already! Measuring right along at 9 weeks 4-5 days and the we heard the heartbeat as well for the 2nd time beating strong at 177 bpm.

The road to get to this point has not been easy but every time I hear that sweet little heartbeat I know it was worth every second. <3

Summertime "do"

Last week was a scorcher here and Dominic was a sweaty mess playing on
the playgrounds. I decided to try and give him a "small" haircut--who
woulda thunk that a 4 guard would buzz all the hair off!?! I was
shocked at first but day by day the new "do" has grown on me. I think
he looks adorable and I don't have to struggle with him each morning
to comb his hair! Bonus!

We're still here!

We finally have gorgeous weather here so D and I have been soaking up
all the sunshine we can! I really need to upload some pictures from my
camera so until then-the iPhone will have to do! This weekend we are
going to Columbus (the saddest place on Earth as of lately, love you
Coach Tressel!) and visiting the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium! I will
definitely have my camera on me for that!!

Best part of baking

This picture is one I found in my iPhone today from about a month ago.
I always loved baking with my Oma as a child because she would let me
lick the batter. This totally grosses Lou out but I find it to be the
most fun part of baking together and I couldn't help but let Dom sneak
a few licks. That is until he grabbed both beaters and the rest is
history! :)

Tea for Two year olds!

I thought I would share this with you all. Dominic and his speech
therapist playing tea party today! I sit behind a two way mirror/
window thing so I always feel so stealth taking these pictures. It was
very cute, he poured tea then took his cup and said "cheers"!