house!

We bought our first house! It's scary and exciting and so, so wonderful to think that we now own our own house... along with about half an acre, and twenty or so trees (including a beautiful magnolia off to the left). I found a patch of strawberries growing on the side of the house, and there's a chipmunk who lives in the backyard and likes to come say hello. How fun to get to know this house, and make friends with it.

We'll do the big move on Saturday, and have been doing a load or two in the car over every evening after work with smaller things like kitchen stuff, clothes, and pictures. I've also been painting the master bedroom... or rather, will paint now that I've finally gotten a good coat of primer over everything. The previous color was a gray/lavender purply color with darker purple trim... and since there is a lot of trim everywhere - floorboards, crown molding, around the window, door, bathroom door, and closet door - it's taken 2-3 coats to generally cover up the darker color. When I finish the walls will be a pale, sunshiny yellow called "spun honey," with very white paint on the trim. It's a smaller room, and I think that will make it feel warm, and peaceful. And most important, it will make it feel like ours! Karl doesn't quite get why we (I) need to paint at all, since the old paint was "perfectly good," but I think it's important for me to make this mine. And it's been fun... and so nice to be there in the quiet house by myself, praying over our lives in that room and that house.

I am VERY thankful that the thyroid medication seems to be helping, since I have a ton more energy than I did a month ago... I don't know how we'd do this if I still felt that tired (painting would probably be out, anyway). I go back to the doctor in two weeks to see where my numbers are, and we'll go from there... we're homeowners!

answers

For almost the past year, Karl and I have been trying to get pregnant, without success. In February and March, we had some tests done to see if we could figure out what was causing the problem, and a month ago we got the answer: I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a form of hypothyroidism where my immune system has attacked my thyroid, and it has stopped producing enough thyroid hormone. Since the thyroid helps regulate metabolism, every cell in the body depends on those thyroid hormones to properly function. When there isn't enough, this causes all kinds of things like chronic fatigue, achiness, difficulty concentrating/memory problems (I've seen this described as "brain fog"; my mom calls it "chemo brain"), and increased susceptibility to getting sick because of a weakened immune system, as well as infertility. I had all those symptoms, but had just assumed it was because we were busy, or had a lot of stress in our lives, or I needed to get more sleep - so I was hugely relieved to have an answer for not only the infertility but all the rest, too! It's really, really exciting for me to think that I might not have to live this way, being tired all the time. It's sobering, since this is a chronic autoimmune disease that will require medication every day for the rest of my life. BUT, it's so very good to have a name for it, and hope for the way ahead.

They did some more bloodwork today, and on Monday or Tuesday I should be able to get the first prescription. It will most likely take several months to find the right dosage, so that means a date with me and a needle every 4-6 weeks until my blood levels are in the normal range. After that, I'll just need to be checked every 6-12 months to make sure the dosage is still working.

One unexpected blessing with all this is the fact that we haven't been able to get pregnant - untreated hypothyroidism can cause impaired cognitive development, greater risk of miscarriage, and other problems for the mother and the baby. Now that I've been diagnosed, we're waiting until my levels are normal before we start that process again, and once I do become pregnant they'll know to check my levels every month and adjust the meds as needed to make sure the baby and I are both healthy. For the last eleven months we've been praying so hard for a baby, and didn't understand why God seemed to be saying, "not yet..." Now it's clear that He was protecting us, and making sure everything was safe for our little one. Yet another example of why I need to remember to trust Him and His timing!

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for me, and for us... I'll keep you posted.