A Lonely Blog and a Sick Husband

How many times does one have to fail at something before they give up? By now, I have surely failed at a consistent blog, but, you know what? I'm not ready to give up. My motivation is like a roller coaster - one week I'm super pumped and can crank out blog posts and ideas one after another - the next week, I can't come up with a sentence much less a post. I guess maybe I don't think my day to day is entertaining enough to be put down in words but who am I trying to impress anyway?

Since I haven't posted in 4 months, I won't even try to cover what happened during them. Let's just start with this week, shall we?

Tanner is pretty prone to sinus infections, so when he started sniffling and coughing last week we didn't think much of it. Tuesday he came home and said he felt like he'd "been hit by a truck" and went straight to bed after dinner - that's when I knew something was up. He called out of work Wednesday and when I left the house to go to work he was still asleep, which is unusual because he's an early riser. About 2pm that afternoon he called me at work and said he thought he might need to go the hospital so I left work and picked him up from home. We made it to Urgent Care about 3pm and no sooner had the nurse laid eyes on Tanner she diagnosed him with the flu. 3 pharmacies later we had Tamiflu and some cough medicine and where headed home. The doctor wrote him a note to stay out of work for 3 days, so he can go back Monday. He slept all day Thursday and started to feel better yesterday. The hardest part for him has been staying inside. The flu might be wearing off but I think he's coming down with a case of Cabin Fever.

What a way to kickoff the month of March!

Nexplanon: Month 3

Men: Turn around. Run far away. Don't read this one, either.






Drained. Literally. That is all I can say about this past month. While month 2 was by far the worst, month 3 wasn't too hot either. I didn't cramp nearly as bad as I did last month, but I'm still bleeding and am so very, very tired. To be sure by now the hormones released in this devil's device and my body are well-acquainted so what could possibly be going on? I'm not sure how long I'll leave it in for, but it's making me a bit miserable. I just want to enjoy every bit of being married and I don't feel very good about myself because I'm not able to. I feel like I've taken something away from Tanner and that I'm not being fair to him. I'm thinking that if things have not changed by December, I'll have it taken out. I'm so sorry to be a crybaby over this. I was really excited to think that I had found a birth control option that worked for me. Hopefully, if you choose to have the Nexplanon implant you'll have better results than I.

Nexplanon: Week 3

So it looks like this is going to be an every other week update type of thing. Nothing really changed except my incision is itching constantly. I know this is just where it's healing but it's been so hard not to scratch. I'm making a valiant attempt at keeping lotion on it. The only other thing is that I'm feeling a bit sluggish, but I'm not sure if that's related to the birth control or that we've just had a very busy summer that seems to be flying by (2015 is halfway over, y'all). Over all, so far, I would say my experience has been pretty positive with the Nexplanon implant. Part of me is still a little worried that it could change after this first month, but I'm hoping all of the review I read where just written by really dramatic women. Have any of you guys tried it? What type of BC are you using? Any tips?

My Nexplanon Experience

Hello, ladies! Last week I ventured into a new territory with birth control so I thought why not take you along with me?

(Men, not sure you'll care to read this one.)

First, I must make a confession. Because I am the world's best procrastinator, I had been putting off visiting the lady doctor for quite some time. I know, I'm married, therefore obviously sexually active, and should have taken care of lady business a while ago, and I've learned my lesson.

Now, the main reason for my visit was a pap smear, with the intention of talking about birth control. Not only do I need something to make sure that Tanner and I do not bring an unplanned little one into the world (not that there's anything wrong with that, we are just not ready), but something to regulate my cycle. Since the 7th grade I have never been regular and it's time I get a handle on this.

After the whole pap smear, which was cringe worthy but not as bad as I expected, my doctor came in and talked with me about birth control options. There are 4 basic options; the pill, IUD, Depo shot, and Nexplanon. I knew right away that I did not want an IUD (too many horror stories) or the depo shots (a shot every 12 weeks, no thank you) so basically I had a choice between the pill and Nexplanon. My hang-up with the pill was that I knew I would probably forget to take it every day and I knew there was a possibility of weight gain. The doctor gave me a pamphlet about Nexplanon and said she thought that would be a good option for me. We talked a little more and I was on my way out. When I checked out, they gave me an appointment exactly 2 weeks away for my Nexplanon implant.

 

 

Nexplanon is a small bar that goes into your arm, between your shoulder and elbow, that releases hormones which cause your ovaries not to release eggs. You can leave it in up to 3 years, or if you decide you want children before then, you can schedule an appointment at any time to have it removed. I did a lot of research about Nexplanon and it seemed that the reviews were about 75% positive and 25% negative, so I decided to go for it. I arrived to the doctor’s office at 8:20am on July 2^nd. After check-in I peed in a cup, had my vitals checked then was put in a room. My doctor came in and asked me to lay back on the table with my left arm up. I had two small bug bites in the area where they normally put the implant so she put it about an inch lower than normal.

 

 

I wasn’t super nervous about the implant but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt a little. The worst part was the Lidocaine shot they gave me to numb the area. After that, I could feel the gun in my arm, but there was no sense of pain or anything like that. The whole process took maybe 2 minutes. The medical assistant in the room put a steri strip and band-aid on my arm then wrapped gauze around it. The doctor said that I would probably bruise and be sore for a day or so.

 

Boy, was she right. By the time I’d gotten home, I had a huge purple welt wear the implant was. It was little freaky to look at and if I touched it very gently I could feel the implant in my arm. By the end of the day my arm was pretty sore but it wasn’t until Friday that I started cramping. While shopping with my mom and cousin, I started having small cramps. I’m still having them today, but not as bad or often. Several reviews I read said they experienced heavy spotting and bleeding for the first month or so, but I haven’t experienced that, yet. So far, I don’t have anything very bad to say about the Nexplanon implant. Aside from the cramps and bruising, I forget it’s there. I’ll keep you all updated!