Charity, I will keep you in my prayers, I hope you find out something on Monday...

Thanks girls. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. I hope I am just overreacting. Which probably doesn't help matters. I will keep you all posted as to what, if anything happens.

Try not to worry about it. I don't know if I ever told you, but my mom took more than 2 years to get pregnant with me! Sometimes it just takes time and patience, but fortunately with today's medicine you don't always have to wait...

BTW, I found this really cool website...something like novias.com...and it has all the information you would need to plan a wedding in Mexico from church locations to flowers to cakes! Only problem is it's in Spanish...at least we'll have something if the time comes for that....

Yeah, I try not to think about it. It's just I have always been really regular and I can always tell when I ovulate because my sides hurt really bad. I haven't been having any pain on my left side since before Javier came home. Since it flip-flops back and forth between both ovaries, I am not sure how long it has been. My cycle seems to be messed up this month, as this was a left side ovulation month. I don't really know if it is a big deal or if I am just making one out of it. I just thought it would be best to find out sooner than later if there is a problem. That way we can start addressing it and hopefully fix the problem. Anyway, that's what is going on so we'll see what comes of it.

One of my best friend's uses NFP (I use FAM, the non-Catholic version), and she and her husband got pregnant on her first cycle that they were trying. It's worth looking into because you know exactly when you are the most fertile. I use the "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" computer program and I really like it. FAM/NFP are also good ways of figuring out if something is wrong with your cycle (even if you ARE getting your periods) such as a too-short Luteal Phase (the fertilized egg has diminished chance of attaching before the lining is shed). Just thought I would share:)

Thanks, I will look into that. I have done the ovulation tests and everything. Like I said in my previous posts, I never had a problem with when I was ovulating because it was obvious from the pain in my sides. When we did get pregnant, it was pure accident/luck. We had not done anything differently than what we normally do. Then I miscarried and we haven't had any luck since then. It's just really aggravating not knowing what/if any problems are there. Maybe it's just not the right time for us. Thanks for the info. I will see what I can find.

Another natural family planning method called the Billings Method is also good - my husband and I have used that to avoid getting pregnant and it also helped me diagnose problems I've probably had for a long time and never had gotten attention to, which I am now addressing so we can get pregnant hopefully next year when we're ready. I definitely recommend them - good way to involve your husband and experience true intimacy. just my opinion....

What do you all think of the May 1 protests? I think it's a bad idea-it will backfire and not have the desired effect that they are going for! People tolerated the illegals when they kept their heads down and did the work they say they want to keep doing. Now people are starting to hate them!!! It's not good!!

Charity: I guess I just need to pray harder for you and Javier. I so want you to be pregnant as well. I will keep my fingers crossed that everything goes well with your appointment. Maybe if you are not ovulating on the one side (that only gives you the chance to get pregnant every other month), they can give you clomid or something to jump start that other ovary.

Charity, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I hope I will be able to concieve after my reversal, but I decided one thing at a time. First I get him over here than we do the reversal, and see what happens. The funnest part is trying?

MissLiss, yes I'm envious I guess its like when you have your hair straight you want it curly. You always want what you don't have but sometimes it is fun being different and then again sometimes it's not.

Hehe, yeah I'm jealous of brown-skinned girls with long hair!!! I'm trying to grow my hair...well I don't know, Javier says he prefers white skin so I guess I should keep it that way!

Melissa: Not sure what they can accomplish in one day, and I am not sure if I am for it anyway. But if it helps with immigration reform then I hope that what these people chose to do does help. I do hope this does not hurt anyone and I wish the students would stay in school so they do not get hurt (even if it is not physical hurting, I am sure there will be some rude comments made). Didn't you say that you saw the movie "A day without Mexicans", I know it was a comedy, but what was the outcome of them being missing?

Benita, the outcome was that all farm work and construction, service type jobs went without workers for that day and basically nothing happened in Cali. It ended with them begging the Mexicans to come back. I don't think in all reality it will be quite that dramatic, especially with someone quoting figures to me the other day of like some 90% of individuals who fill those positions are legal.

There are 3 or 4 new topics in Off Topic today about this subject...all of them Mexico this and Mexico that. I really can see why Pedro left VJ, lol. I'm sticking to this forum. Also because I was called annoying by someone yesterday...

Thanks again ladies. It's so nice to have such a great support system. I love you girls!

Melissa: I am not sure of what the protests will do. I have thought about it and I think it could have different affects in different areas. Around here, it could be disastrous, because people are still so ignorant. In other places where people are more accepting of things, it could turn out okay. I don't really know.

Benita: Thank you so much for praying for us. I hope it turns out to be me just getting excited over nothing.

I sent an e-mail to Legal Net. It was probably not the best thing to do-anyway, they probably won't tell me anything. I simply wanted to do something, anything...

Benita, thank you, I got it! At least half right, CDJ is our vacation, ha! I'm hoping it will be sooner than that.

Melissa let us know when you receive some news. I know I said I would not call the horrid number again but after having some interesting dreams last night about CDJ, I could not help myself. I called early this morning, I wanted to get someone new and hopefully in a right state of mind. I got a hold of someone different and all they told me was that the petition was still pending at the consulate. That was all, but that's what I expected anyways.

Bonnie, sorry you didn't get anything...I'm chilling at home if you want to talk or anything...of course you all will be the first to know if I hear anything.

thanks Melissa, I'll call you a little later I've got to do my rounds and pick up my kids from school. Everyone have a good weekend! Remember to show your support on Monday! If you have to work that is cool, but don't buy any goods, gas or food that day do it all this weekend or on Tuesday, let's see if we have an impact! Remember this is also for family unity.

When you get a chance, ladies go to Off Topic and click on the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish thread...it's a beautiful song and an emotional experience to hear it. Somos iguales-we're all the same. Que Dios nos bendiga!

We have a trato hecho (deal made)...

Javier came out with a shocker tonight...he's ready to give up on the Visa and get married! So we made a deal...if in one month, we haven't heard anything about the Visa, we'll start making wedding plans...yikes, I hope we hear something!

Melissa: I think getting married sounds like a wonderful idea. It will be good for you and Javier. Also it will help you two start gathering evidence to prove that this is a valid relationship. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Benita, if we get married in Mexico there's not going to be a Visa...not now, not ever...so proving my relationship is the least of my concerns.

Feliz Dia de Trabajador to all your Mexican husbands.

better judgment told me to delete that.

Hola Muchachas....

Good morning... How are all of you doing?? One month until Dante gets out of school..... Yay

Melissa... good luck! I hope you get what your heart desires!

Charity... I hope everything goes well at the dr. let us know

I did not understand everything. I didn't know that the decision to get married in Mexico meant that you would live in Mexico and abandon the visa process.

That's exactly what it means Benita...that's why it's not an easy decision to make.

Just as a note, please excuse me...I am in a FOUL disposition today, carried over from last night and I really don't have any energy to be cheerful. Having said that, I love you all and apologize for any snippiness, real or presumed.

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the words "rounded up"?

Hello ladies! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had an eventful one for sure. Saturday we got up fairly early and ate breakfast. Then we went to the autoparts store so Javier could get stuff to fix his truck. He was fixing away when he yelled at me to come down there. He had broken a spark plug and needed me to run get him another one. So, I got to the autoparts store right before they closed. We had already made plans to go see my niece before her prom. So we could take pictures and stuff. My brother and his kids showed up at my house and did not leave until 3. We had to take a shower and leave by 4. We were running around like crazy trying to get ready. So we finally left and got to see her off to the prom. Then we went on to Johnson City to eat and shop around. We got home around 10 to a message telling us Jaime was on a plane to Raleigh. It was supposed to land at 11:30. We had 1 1/2 hours to make a 3 1/2 trip. So we rushed to get ready and packed some clothes. We made it down there by 1:45. We picked him up and found a hotel. Then we got up at 9:30 the next morning and drove home. We got home at 1:30. So that was our weekend. Busy, busy, busy.

Glad to hear that Jaime arrived safely.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about my appointment this morning. She didn't really do anything. I didn't think she would. She said she needed to refer me to a fertility specialist. So we are in the process of trying to decide where we want to go for that. When we decide we will call her back and she will make a referral. I hope it won't be too long of a wait. We just went over my cycle this morning and determined, since I know when I ovulate, there wasn't anything else they could do for me there at that office. She said they may do some tests or they may have some other things for us to try first. Will see what happens.

Melissa: Thanks! I am glad he got here safely and I don't have to worry about it anymore. And, "round up" to me sounds like a cattle round up. That's the only time I have ever heard that terminology used so that's what I associate it with.

Charity, sorry you didn't get any answers. I hope the fertility specialist will be able to help!

Well I was probably a little misleading when I posted Friday. I just go to a family doctor so basically I knew all she would do was refer me somewhere else. I just thought maybe she would have some answers for some other questions I had, but she said she would let them handle it. So I have to track everything really good this month or until we get an appointment. She said sometimes it can take a year to get in one of those places. I hope it doesn't take that long.

We've been denied. It's over.

Sorry to hear that Miss Liss. The appeal process is over. But your life with Javier doesn't have to be. I wish you much luck in the coming days to find the strength to figure out a plan B.
take care.

This is hard..............I want to answer everyone first, but it is impossible. So.....

Melissa: I am so sorry about the denial. Can he wait out the ban and then reapply? I can imagine a whole lot less appealing places to live than Mexico. Even if I had to live where Alex is from I could make it work to be with him. So whatever you decide I will be rooting for you. By the way round up to the next dollar????


Charity: I am sorry your family dr could not tell you anything. Just plot everything you can for the specialist and keep your fingers crossed that they can let you know what is going on. I am also glad that Jaime arrived safely. Is he going to stay with his dad for right now?

Benita: Yes he is. Thank goodness. I think we have somewhere for him to go after his dad leaves so that is good too. I know, I need to write everything down. I am not too good about that so it will be hard.

hey guys...i just wanted to say that for me, living in Mexico is no big deal. i would go there tomorrow if i just had to worry about me. this is going to break my mom's heart. i'm her only surviving child. i don't know how i'm going to break the news to her.

Forgot to mention that I had a Dr appointment this morning with Ultrasound. Baby is fine, heartbeat was 146, was squirming around. Got pictures, even one of a foot. I go back on May 31st.

Benita: I love your new ticker. I am glad things are going good with the baby. That's great.

I hope everyone is having a great day today. It's beautiful here so that always makes for a good day. We have an appointment May 18th at the Reach Clinic in Charlotte. That's also our anniversary, so hopefully we will hear some good news. I am not sure what the first appt will be like. It may just be a consultation type thing. They are sending me a packet of info that I need to fill out so maybe I will know more after I get that. I can't believe we got in so quickly. I was expecting it to be about a month, not two weeks. Maybe this is a sign of good things to come. I will keep you all posted on what we find out, if anything. Thanks girls for always being there for me no matter what situation I am in. You all are great.

Charity….I am glad you got in so quickly!! And I am sure you’ll hear good things because that is your anniversary too! A good omen. In other news, you were in my dream last night. It was weird. You worked at my old college and I remember being so baffled that I had never seen you when I went to school there. VJ is creeping into my unconscious thoughts!! Ha, ha.

Benita…glad to hear you and baby are doing well. Hope the next appt goes just as smoothly.

I am thinking of changing careers. I know that sounds crazy but I think I need a bit more action. Sure this paralegal/interpreter stuff is fun at times but there is such a routine that at times I feel like a robot. I am thinking nursing. However Miguel keeps saying, if you become a nurse remember to be nice to the patients. I was like what?! And then I remember that I am at times “brava” and rather sarcastic. So I said, well I’ll just save that for YOU when I get home. Ha, ha. I go on Thurs to an info session and on Friday to meet with an advisor. It might just be a crazy idea right now but perhaps it’ll turn into something. Nothing like when things calm down I gotta put stress and financial uncertainty back into our lives. Ha, ha.

Stephanie: A change in career sounds nice. I would like one too. I just don't know what else I would like to do. I am not really interested in much. I would like to just be rich so as not to have to work. That's too funny about your dream. It fits though since I actually do work at a college. I hope we hear good things at the office. I looked up their website and it is very informative. I think we picked a good place to go. It says on there the first appt is a consultation. We'll see what we find out.

Charity: Your signature looks FANTASTIC. I am glad you figured out the flags and that you left your name first. GOOD LUCK AT THE DOCTOR.

Benita: Thanks. I did good, didn't I? It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Thanks for the luck too.

Melissa-
I am so sorry about the denial. I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes. I called you so we could talk but you call me if you want. The way I see it you have three options. Take Care girl.


Charity-
my sister had trouble getting pregnant the first 4 years she was married and then she went to Juarez and saw a Dr. there. They gave her pills and some injections. She now is pregnant with her 5th child. She has a 6, 5, 4, 2 and one on the way. Sometimes it takes a while but don't stress over it because sometimes that is all it is, stress.

Benita-
that is so sweet! Remember these precious moments because when they are teens you will forget how cute they were.

I have been soooo busy, I went to the rally last night and I'm tired I have not stopped since last week, I know any day now I am just going to stay home, not work and go to sleep. I need it.

Bonnie: I am sure a lot of it is stress. I think going to the doctor and finding out nothing is wrong will alleviate some of that stress. At least I hope that's what we find out. I mean, we know I can get pregnant because I have had a miscarriage before. It's just taking forever and we don't know why. The first time it happened pretty quickly. We got married in May and were pregnant by September. That's why we don't understand what is going on. I am sure what ever it is, this clinic will be able to help us. Thanks.

Everyone have a great day today. It's Wednesday already!

Charity: I know a couple that would agree that stress is a major factor. They tried for almost 5 years to get pregnant, they used all types of fertility treatments (invitro, hormone therapy, etc...) They had finally decided they would complete the move to their new house and then adopt. Right after they moved in they found out they were expecting. And in November they just added #2 to their family. Here are their 2 miracles (Evan & Adam). I know after my miscarriage we were in a stressful situation and it took getting out of that (his girl cousin was living with us), for us to get pregnant with Emily. With this baby, it took no time at all, but that may have been because when I went to CDJ to get him we knew he was getting his visa and that sure as heck reduced our stress.
SOOOOOOOOO.....Take a deep breath......try to put all your worries behind you and let nature take its course. I will keep you and Javier in my thoughts and prayers.

Elvia, Javier was trying to call you back. Do you need me to tell him something??

Benita: Thanks. I thing about it is, I don't feel stressed out. I mean, not particularly bad. We are just living life, with it's normal stresses. And it's not like we are stressing about it every month either. We are both like, if it happens it happens. We are just tired of it not happening on it's own. We feel like it has been long enough for the natural course of things to take place. Maybe we are just being to impatient. I thought for sure it would happen when Javier got home but it hasn't. We may be completely jumping the gun here. I don't know. It may happen on it's own if we just waited. Which would be much better money wise. I can only imagine how much this process could end up costing us. Thank you so much for your encouraging words.

Elvia, the curiosity is killing me...call me or something!

Good morning ladies. In case you couldn't tell already, we've picked a wedding date. February 17, 2007. I'm going to need lots of help to plan this one!

Congrats MissLiss…you must be very excited. Good luck in the planning. And remember the important part about all of this isn’t how your dress looks, how the food tastes, how the flowers smell or if the guests are enjoying themselves….it is about the fact that you are marrying the person you want to spend the rest of your life with!