Back in Town

Well, we're back.

And let me tell you a secret. The combination of jetlag and Fall Back sucks ass.

We did Fall Back twice this year.

The last weekend in October was Fall Back in the UK.

Much appreciated by the way after a long full day of drinking, ie. a wedding, last Saturday. That extra hour on Sunday morning was heaven when you have to get up and check out of a hotel.

But after landing this Saturday here in San Francisco and the clocks fall back again! It was already a struggle to stay awake until 8pm and THEN the clocks fall back.

Not appreciated.

Ugh. We were up at like 3:30 in the morning...which used to be 4:30, so really we got 8 hours of sleep, but UGH! Nobody wants to be wide awake at 3:30 in the morning!

This morning we were up at 4:45 after once again going to bed at 8:30...it's amazing the power of jetlag.

The only thing working in our favor was that Dom had a very early morning flight and was getting up at 5am to catch his plane anyway. But 4:45, really? It's 7:30 and I've been up FOREVER.

So aside from being completely exhausted by all the driving and traveling that we've done over the last 2 weeks the trip was wonderful.

I did a lot of this:

And saw a lot of these:

and drove through a lot of this:

And I have come to the following conclusions:

Beer is fattening.

Castles are awesome.

And Wales is beautiful.

More piccies to come.

Expect the Unexpected

This post is going to be about my period, totally TMI for those of my readers who are not interested in my infertility posts, just a warning.

Also I just have to mention it's 5:30 in the morning, jetlag sucks.

It has been 4 weeks and 3 days since the miscarriage and guess who decided to show up.

Aunt Flo.

The dirty elusive bitch has shown her face early.

And I couldn't be more pleased.

I did not ovulate. My temp chart is erratic and there's absolutely NO sign of ovulation whatsoever.

But it does not matter.

Because now I only have to wait 1 month before we can start a medicated cycle...if we so choose.

I can also opt to wait for the new year, which might still be the plan, I just like the fact that I have options again and I'm not just WAITING.

Everything I read said I should expect my period in the 6-8 week range after a miscarriage and my RE said at 8 weeks he would stimulate a period for me if it hadn't show up. And we all know how I loathe stimulating anything and really wanted to wait for my dear Auntie to show up on her own.

So, to say I wasn't expecting Aunt Flo for another month at the BARE MINIMUM is an understatement. To be honest I wasn't expecting her to show up at all. I was expected another 105 day cycle.

But here she is, unexpected but not unwelcome.

Good body. For once it's doing what it's supposed too.

Well, other than the not ovulating part.

Baby steps people. Baby steps.

Pun intended.

We're Off!

Well, we're off.

If you need me I will be here:

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And then here:

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Here for a moment:

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And then here:

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And then back here again:

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I will try to pop into blogland from time to time while we're away, but we all know how that goes when we're on vacation, oh wait excuse me let me switch into British mode now, when we're on HOLIDAY =)

See you all in 2 weeks!

Paleo Baking

I've mentioned before that I generally stick to a paleo-friendly diet. Not only is it a fantastic way to stay skinny without going to the gym, but it's also very PCOS friendly in that it keeps your glucose levels from spiking, thus supposedly helping the little ol' ovaries from reacting to too much glucose and producing too many follicles and clogging them up and preventing actual ovulation.

Not that sticking to this diet has helped me ovulate AT ALL, but whatevs, I actually believe it's a healthier way to eat REGARDLESS.

So whether I have PCOS or not, which I am STILL on the fence about, I find it helpful to stick to a paleo diet in my day to day life...most importantly when I am the one cooking. Eating out is a whole other ballgame in which all diet restrictions go out the window, thus we only eat out on the weekends!

That being said it's been hard to find ways to incorporate fall flavors like PUMPKIN into anything besides baking.

And baking paleo-style is a bit of a...challenge.

Luckily I stumbled upon this blog and I've spent the better part of a day baking my face off.

First up I made these lovely pumpkin bars, which are sweet, moist and just plain delicious. Especially for being carb free, gluten free, sugar free, wheat free etc!

Pumpkin Bars

½ cup pumpkin (acorn, butternut or other squash) puree

½ cup agave nectar

2 eggs

1 cup blanched almond flour

¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

1. In a food processor, combine pumpkin, agave and eggs and pulse for 2 minutes
   
2. Pulse dry ingredients into wet for a full minute, until well combined
3. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish
   
4. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes
5. Serve

I don't own a food processor, so I just mixed it all by hand and since the flour is actually almond flour it doesn't really matter if it's a bit clumpy, it tastes delicious even if it's chunky because it's almonds...not flour, flour chunks are gross.

Anyway, I also threw in some chocolate chips because my husband is a chocolate fan and doesn't really think a dessert is a dessert without chocolate. My chips were 70% cocoa which means I had THE TINIEST BIT OF SUGAR IN THIS DESSERT but that was my own doing and was unnecessary. Either way, DELISH!

I also decided to make pumpkin bread, again using Elana's Pantry recipe:

Paleo Pumpkin Bread

• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
  
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ cup roasted pumpkin (I used canned)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ¼ teaspoon stevia
• 3 eggs

1. In a food processor
   
   combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and spices
2. Add pumpkin, honey, stevia and eggs and pulse for 2 minutes
3. Scoop batter into a petite loaf pan
   
4. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes
5. Cool for 1 hour
6. Serve

I didn't use the Stevia, because I don't like Stevia and again, turned out DELISH! It's sweet and cinnamony and YUMMY.

I was actually quite proud of myself that these both turned out. In the past my paleo baking has been a bit...meh. I tried using regular recipes and just substituting regular ingredients with paleo friendly ingredients and let me tell you...that doesn't work. And since I don't have the skill or the inclination to make up recipes that DO work myself I am beyond pleased to have found Elana's Pantry because then she can do all the hard work and I can just bake and enjoy!

Wow...This is Hard

A good IRL friend of mine was pregnant at the same time as me.

She was due exactly 1 week before me.

It was quite fun those first few weeks when most of the world didn't know we were pregnant and we could chat about symptoms, fitting into pants, napping etc.

Then I lost my baby.

And now I'm not pregnant.

But she still is.

I emailed her right after the miscarriage but haven't spoken to her since.

And now, today, her husband posted on Facebook, evil evil Facebook, that he got to feel the baby kick.

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach.

Everyone else who I knew that was pregnant with me was much farther along and already feeling the baby kick when I was only 11 weeks pregnant or so.

But she, she was at the same place as me.

And now she's feeling her baby kick, and her husband is feeling their baby kick.

And me, I have no baby to feel kick.

No baby for my husband to feel kick.

Wow...I was doing so well but this just got harder.

Chinese Herbs

At some point along this road you realize you will try just about anything to bring on ovulation/have a baby. I am not talking about medically, no I'm talking about all the crazy eastern and alternative shit that have no statistics to back up what your acupuncturist/midwife/naturopath tells you.

At some point you decide acupuncture is the answer. Or chinese herbs are the answer. Or that yoga is the answer. Or that your diet is the answer.

To refresh your memories I already went this route, I spent about 6 months last year denying the fact that I wasn't ovulating and trying desperately to avoid taking drugs to get pregnant and sought help from a naturopath who put me on herbs and gave me some diet tips for PCOS and suggested an acupuncturist, all to no avail as I had 1 period in the entire time I was with the naturopath.

I'm not saying it doesn't work...but it sure as hell didn't work for me then at that time.

And THEN I decided fine, I give up, give me the damn Clomid and BAMN I was pregnant.

But one miscarriage later and right now I'm not allowed another medicated cycle until January, so rather than sit around doing NOTHING I'm being proactive and decided that the ANSWER TO ALL is to find an acupuncturist. Along with acupuncture I'm taking some Chinese herbs WHICH IS ALSO CLEARLY PART OF THE ANSWER which my acupuncturist insisted she'd had lots of luck with for other clients to stimulate a period. The sooner I can get a period the sooner I'm allowed a medicated cycle.

I'm on the fence with the whole Chinese herb/acupuncture regiment and how well it actually improved one's fertility, but seriously, I'll do anything that COULD be helpful right now rather than just wait it out.

A word on Chinese herbs...Chinese herbs taste like shit.

I repeat. Chinese herbs. Taste. Like. Shit.

Truly disgusting, and yet someone tells me that they will help me get a period and I'm like YIPPEE, GIMME GIMME GIMME! I TOTALLY BELIEVE YOU! I TRUST YOU COMPLETELY ACUPUNCTURE LADY THAT I'VE ONLY MET ONCE!

Infertility messes with your head. Makes you a little nutty.

Since I know I have some new followers who are part of the infertility club, please tell me, what's the nuttiest thing you've done in an effort to conceive???

UK Bound

This Sunday we're off for our annual trip to the UK. Since my husband is British and thus my in-laws we try to make it out to the UK at least once a year. This year our trip includes a wedding in Bath as well as some family time.

Our trips usually consist of London and Bath, the fam is in London and Bath being where we were married and where Dom went to University and thus a special place in the UK for us both.

Rarely do we manage anything beyond these two places.

But this time, this time we're off to Liverpool!

The hubs daddy's side of the fam is Liverpudlian and thus a plethora of family members still live in Liverpool and after 2 years of marriage and a fair amount of time spent in the UK I have yet to see Liverpool.

We are also going to make time to do a few things that I have always wanted to do but just have't made time for during our previous trips.

1. The British Museum. Famous museums of the world include the Met, Louvre, Smithsonian, Cairo Museum and The British Museum, yes? I have been to 3 out of 5 and since I've never been to Washington DC to see the Smithsonian it's ok that I haven't been there, but the British Museum is in London, I'm in London every year, I MUST go to the British museum!

2. Kensington Palace - My mother-in-law lives pretty much right next door to the palace, which is where we stay EVERY time we're in London and I have yet to do more than walk through the gardens outside the palace on my way elsewhere. Princess Di lived here when Princes William and Harry were young and it was her official residence up until her death. It is also, according to Wikipedia anyway, the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

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3. I need to do some Tudor sightseeing. I've been to the Tower of London several times, LOVE btw, but that's the extent of my Tudorness that I've taken the time to experience. I'm thinking since we're driving to Liverpool and thus have a car I gotta include a Tudor castle or something into the itinerary. I have a few contenders on the list so far.

Hever Castle - This is Anne Boleyn's childhood home and you know how I love me some Anne Boleyn. And bonus...it's only 30 miles outside of London.

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Hampton Court Palace - Henry VIII's longed for son Edward VI was born here, his third wife Jane Seymour died here and Henry's ill-fated fifth wife, Catherine Howard's ghost is said to haunt here. I love haunted anything. Also, it is again super close to London.

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Thornbury Castle - Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII spent a week here soon after they were married. This castle is a hotel and apparently you can stay in the actual room that Henry and Anne stayed in during their visit. COOL. Another bonus for Thornbury is that it is part of the Von Essen Hotels, which "our" hotel Ston Easton (where we were married) is also part of the Von Essen Hotels. This castle is close enough to Bath/Bristol that we can hit it on the way up to Liverpool.

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Berkeley Castle - Another castle that Henry and Anne stayed at during their very brief 3 years of marriage. Also Berkeley Castle was the where Edward II was imprisoned and murdered. Not Tudor in any event, but I like famous murder houses as well as haunted ones! This castle is also on the way from Bath up to Liverpool.

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Assume I've done the other touristy things that you come to mind when you think of England/London, ie. Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Stonehenge etc. Anyone have anything fabulous in England that I should include in my itinerary? Some Liverpool Beatles fantasticness maybe?