Mark is home

E-mail I sent to family and friends:

Mark was discharged this morning but it was a rough day so I wasn't able to e-mail until now. I wanted to let you know before we went to bed for sure.

He's pretty weak and we're thinking he still maybe has a little bit of the bug. We're hoping he gets his strength back soon but we're both very happy to have him home. Usually these bouts last 5-7 days and this time it was 3 days. I think it stems from his exercising and being more active every day since his heart attack last spring. I'm so proud of him for that.

Thank you for all your prayers and support, the calls, etc. To those who e-mailed, I know I didn't respond to them, but when Mark was feeling better, I read every single one to him, so thank you. He really appreciates the support and prayers.

Hope you all have a good New Year.

And thank you all for the comments on the blog and Facebook. I also read those to Mark and he appreciates them so much.

I promise to get caught up on blogs. Honestly, I've been sick myself and think I still have the bug on top of being sleep-deprived but I'm hoping to get caught up soon.

Definitely praying for those of you who are struggling.....just know that I am praying.

Mark's still in the hospital

Mark's still in the hospital. He's very weak and has trouble just making it to the bathroom. It's not uncommon though as he usually gets like that when this happens. He's still throwing up and isn't able to rest much.

He's always been a hard poke and when he was first admitted, the only place they could find IV access was his foot. Unfortunately that IV has given out and they are trying desperately to find another spot. So far 2 people from anestheology have not been able to find anything....and those guys are the "best". Mark's been poked and prodded so much....the poor guy.

I am feeling much better than I was. I got a second bout of the bug yesterday. I'm still not feeling the best, but much better. Just glad I can focus on Mark more as he really needs me.

Please continue to keep him in your prayers. Thank you for all the support!

Mark's in the hospital

Mark and I woke up Christmas morning at 2 with the flu and spent Christmas in bed. Poor Mark also had severe neuropathy pain in both of his legs and he was really suffering. Now Mark has been admitted to the hospital with his diabetic stomach issues again.

Please keep him in your prayers that his stomach will settle down soon and he can start taking his antirejection pills again.

Hope you all had a good Christmas.

Our Christmas card and letter

I wanted to send a "Christmas card" to all my bloggers. This may be a repeat for some of you. If you didn't get one, it means I don't have your address, but if you want one, please e-mail me and I will send you one!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!





The 2009 Wondra ABC’s

Avon. I continue to sell Avon.
Baptized. In August, Mark professed his faith and got baptized.
Chicago. On Labor Day weekend, we took a trip with Matt, Danielle and the kids to visit Aaron in Chicago.
Disney World. In January, our whole Gustafson family took a vacation to Disney World. We had planned it for a few years and it was so much fun to go with the whole family.
Eddie. Eddie had surgery this fall to remove a couple tumors. It was a little rough on him, but he’s doing very well now. He’s such a great dog.
Fifty. Mark celebrated his fiftieth birthday in March!
Graduation. In June, Chad hit a big milestone in his life and graduated from Dunwoody Institute in auto mechanics.
Heart attack. In April, Mark was hospitalized for a week with his diabetic stomach issues and a heart attack. He completed 3 months of cardiac rehab and exercises almost every day, putting me to shame, and has been feeling much better.
Iowa. In November, we went to the National Toy Show in Dyersville, Iowa with my parents.
Journey. We continue to travel on our baby journey. God has opened doors and although sometimes the doors close, He never forgets us and leads our hearts in the direction He wants us to go. We are very excited about the opportunities for us in 2010.
Kidney. Mark’s kidney continues to function great. It’s been 7-1/2 years since his transplant.
Lucky. We feel so lucky and blessed to have the friends and family we have.
Music producer. Peter wants to go to college to be a music producer next fall.
North Shore. In November, Mark and I spent a few days at the North Shore at the Superior Shores Resort. It was so nice and relaxing.
Ouch. Between Mark’s heart attack, Eddie’s surgery and Chad getting his wisdom teeth out, we’ve had our share of “ouch” this year.
Prayers. We want to thank you for all your prayers this year. They have helped in so many ways.
Q-ute nieces and nephews. We are so blessed to have our precious nieces and nephews in our life. We are fortunate that we get to spend so much time with Tyler, Peyton and Draven and they always make us smile.
Rainy days in Breezy Point. In September, we spent a long weekend with our family in Breezy Point and, although it rained most of the time, we still had so much fun.
Senior. Peter is a senior this year and cannot wait to graduate next spring!
Transcriptionist. I continue to work at SCRMC as a transcriptionist and I am very fortunate I get to work from home.
Unforgetful trip to Texas. In February, we traveled to Texas as part of our baby journey. We were so blessed to meet two wonderful blogger friends there. We also got to stay with Mike and Amy and the kids which was so much fun. We appreciate their hospitality and it was great to spend time with them.
Vikings. We are still Vikings fans despite Brett Favre becoming a Viking.
Wondra Wheels. We travel to quite a few toy shows to sell cars for our business, although Mark wants to buy while I want to sell.
X-tremely thankful. We are very thankful for our family and friends and love you all.
Youngstedt’s Goodyear. Since graduating, Chad has worked as an auto mechanic at Goodyear. He loves his job and we are very proud of him.
Zero chance of Mark stopping collecting cars. Mark continues to collect cars (he has about 240) and his car room is really starting to come together.
Merry Christmas!
Love, Mark, Tammy, Chad, Peter and Eddie

Peyton's version of Adam and Eve

Peyton got a Golden Book Bible Storybook from her Sunday School teacher for Christmas. Obviously she can't read but she wanted to "read" it to me. She usually reads it to us by looking at the pictures and telling a story.

The first story was about Adam and Eve and it showed a picture of Adam and Eve in the garden. Peyton told me she was going to tell me the story of Adam and Eve.

"God put Adam and Eve in the garden. The snake came up to them and told them to eat the fruit and they did and God was saying "No, no, no, no! You can't eat the fruit" and God was very angry with Adam and Eve and God said they had to leave."

I have to say I was very impressed that a 3-year-old knew so much about Adam and Eve. Her Sunday School teacher must be doing something right.

She continued with her story:

"Then God brought Adam and Eve up to the North Pole because God had lots of presents for them, so they went up to the North Pole with God to get their presents."

Okay, so maybe she needs to learn just a little bit more. :)

Candelight service and my ears

Sunday night was our annual candelight service at our church. It's my absolute most favorite service of the whole year. At the end, we all light candles and sing "Silent Night". This year, Peyton got to hold a candle and because I carry a camera with me literally all the time, I took a couple pictures...and got quite a few stares and looks as it flashed....but I don't care. I got great pictures. :)




And here are promised pictures of my ears! It's hard to see so I apologize for that. But, you can see a close up of my left ear:


And I was making faces at Mark and he decided to take a picture:


And yes, those are Christmas pajamas and it is about noon. Ahh...the joy of working from home. :)

I do have to tell you a funny story with Peyton. We've lived in our house for 6 years. Mark has a huge pill basket full of his pills. We've always put it in this cupboard and it's never really quite fit. It sticks out a little too much so we can't close the door. Today we had taken it out and we were putting it in. Peyton was complaining that she can never close the door and I showed her why.

So she says, "Well, why don't you just turn the basket around?" and she proceed to turn the basket a quarter of a turn and it fit much better. In fact we were able to close the door perfectly.

It only took 6 years to figure that out and a 3-year-old figured it out.

So, after I said "I am Tammy Wondra and I am not smarter than a 3-year-old", I made Mark say "I am Mark Wondra and I am not smarter than a 3-year-old"

My life in bullet points

I've been very busy the last few days and so I have gotten behind on blogs and e-mails which I really hate. :( I'm hoping to get caught up today though! It drives me CRAZY when I get behind!!

Here are a few things that have been going on:

-Work has approved overtime which is HUGE considering they want to decrease (but not lay off, just maybe change positions) the transcription department by 4 full-time employees in 2 years. So, when they offered overtime for us, I jumped at the chance. So, my blog and e-mail time has now been filled with work. :( But that'll change soon.

-A few months ago Mark's mom fell and hit her head. She says she just slipped on the rug but after much, much, much (did I say much?) convincing from the kids, she went to the doctor. They are very concerned about a possible stroke or tumor. This news really brought Mark down. They will be doing an MRI when she schedules it which may take, once again, much, much, much convincing. Please keep her in your prayers.

-Mark had a black out episode yesterday and ended up passing out. This happens sometimes because his blood pressure drops so much, but every time it scares me so much. It hadn't happened in awhile so it surprised both of us.

-Poor Eddie's arthritis is starting to act up. He's starting to have trouble climbing the stairs to our house when he goes outside so we have to help him up sometimes. We're thinking about building a ramp for him. I never thought I would build a ramp for a dog, but Eddie's too precious to us for us not to do it.

-Mark's going to take a picture of my pierced ears today so I'll be sharing that later!!

-I got the DVD to work! I downloaded a program and it worked good! I'm excited about that as now I can do more videos with the endless pictures I take. Not only will my family be bored and annoyed to death with pictures, but I can now bore and annoy them to death with videos! Woohoo!!!

-TODAY IS MY DAD AND DRAVEN'S BIRTHDAY!!! My dad turns....ahem....59. Draven turns 1. I can't believe Draven's 1 today. Unbelievable. Happy birthday Dad and Draven! I love you guys so much!!

Our consult

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers today!! I know so many people were thinking and praying for us and that means a lot!

Our consult went so well. In fact, it couldn't have gone better.

The doctor was so nice and gave us a lot of information. They recommended a psychology appointment but it wasn't necessary. When I told him we had one when we got on the donor embryo list here, he said that was perfect, so we don't have to see one again. Yay!

Then, we found out the embryos were frozen individually! So, it's completely up to us if we want to transfer 1, 2 or 3. Yay! That was a HUGE relief to us as some may know and as their parents, we were so happy.

It was also optional if we wanted to get additional FDA testing done on Kami and Steve. They were already done when they did their IVF but if we wanted it repeated, we could...but didn't have to. Yay!

Their survival rate is about 70-80% and the chance of pregnancy with the FET is about 40-50%.

They kind of went through the protocol, but being it's still quite aways away, we didn't get too much into it. We explained that we wanted to for sure wait until Kami's twins were born and then go on with the FET. So, right now, we're looking at end of January/beginning of February, of course depending on how Kami and the girls do.

And we want Samantha and Mia to come out very healthy so we don't mind waiting as long as it takes. We just want Kami, Steve and the girls to be okay, healthy and happy. :)

They also gave us a name of a hotel nearby that gives discounts if you are a patient. I think she said it was $59 a night or something like that. Anytime we can get a discount is so sweet. :)

All the monitoring can be done here and they'll just fax the orders. They actually said we'll just need to go to MI for 2 days, the day before the transfer and the transfer and we can be on the plane that night. We're probably going to rest for a couple days after anyway and be somewhat on bed rest, but it's nice to know. Our clinic here requires bed rest.

Everything just went so well. It was so nice to have something sound so positive and so reassuring. And when I was talking to the nurse, she said to be sure to say hi to Kami and that she was thinking of her....I thought that was so sweet and very personable. My clinic is personable, too, but it's nice to know there are others out there too and others that also don't seem to be really hitting you up for money.

Thanks again you guys!! Thanks for your prayers and support! We are so happy and so grateful it went well and grateful for the prayers and friends. :) Love you all!

Setbacks

I have been amazed and honored at the wonderful support Mark and I have gotten regarding our adopted embryos and our upcoming appointment and transfer. It truly has meant so much to us that people are so excited for us.

The truth is, I haven't been able to be as excited because I'm so flipping scared.

Don't get me wrong...I'm SO happy to have adopted our embryos, so happy WE were the chosen ones, SO thankful to God to have been given this opportunity and so happy the time is almost here!!

I'm just so scared of yet another setback.

Anyone who has followed our journey knows we've had quite a bit of setbacks in our journey. I really hate comparing our journey to other people's as everyone is different and everyone goes through different situations no matter how "similar" they are. But, I do feel we have been through a lot of setbacks. I do know others have been through more, but I do feel we have been through a lot of them.

And I'm scared we'll have another one.

I think my fear not only stems from the setbacks during our infertility journey, but also the setbacks we had during Mark's transplant. I won't go into all the details and if you want to read more about his transplant journey, you can read it here. Poor Mark had one setback after another. Even his coordinator said she had never had a patient go through so much to receive a transplant.

So, you can see how I'm absolutely terrified of another setback.

But, what gives me hope is that with Mark's transplant, he was able to receive it despite all the setbacks we had. He ended up receiving the kidney from the one brother we knew did it for Mark and did it out of the kindness of his heart. Since receiving the kidney, Mark has never had a rejection episode (which is very rare as 90% of kidney transplant receipents have some type of rejection episode) and Mark is coming up on his 8-year anniversary of his kidney transplant. And the bond he has with his brother, Scott, and the bond I have with his wife, Rose, is something we cherish so very, very much that we wouldn't give that up for the world. So, despite all the setbacks, all the tears, all the frustration, all the depression, it was worth every second for us to have the life we have now.

When I read that last sentence, it gives me hope. It gives me strength to keep going in this journey and know that it will all be worth it and that everything happens for a reason in God's time.

Please keep us in your prayers on Monday as we have our consult with the doctor from Michigan at 2:00. That's when we find out what steps we can take to make this happen. We want these babies in our arms so badly. We love them more than words can express and we are so honored to be their parents.

Please, God, let this appointment go well and let this be the end of our setbacks and let this be the "happy transplant journey" ending in our infertility journey.

Valued Blogger award

I was recently awarded the Valued Blogger award by Chelle who said the nicest things. Thank you so much sweetie!!



This award is not like all of the other blog awards because we all want to not only know about you, but your opinion of your fellow bloggers. So, without further ado, I present you with the rules.

Tell your readers how your journey into blogging began. Be as verbose or shy as you like.

Pick 3-5 fellow bloggers whom you adore and write what exactly it is you value about that person or their blog. The more you write about them the better. This is a chance to really appreciate your blog friends who have been there with and for you through thick and thin.

Let the blessed winners know they have been awarded.

That's it. Those are the rules. Now, before you think you can give the old line, "I don't want to pick anyone to pass this award onto because I don't want my readers to feel hurt if I don't pick them, so consider yourselves all tagged" I want you to realize that excuse tells all of your blog friends that you are wimping out, amongst other things. ;) Don't feel bad that you can't award everyone, the award will make its rounds and eventually everyone will get it. If you feel bad enough, you can always award more than 5 bloggers.

This award was started in December because it is the season of giving and bringing cheer to others. What better way to do that than to let the people in our lives know that we cherish them.

Okay, so here is the reason I started blogging: I started back in August 2007 (like, holy cow! I've really been blogging over TWO years??). I really started because I realized that a lot of my friends from the Northwest board were blogging and I felt like I was "missing out" on a lot of news because I wasn't blogging. To be honest, at first, I found the blogging to be annoying because everyone blogged their news, but didn't put it on the board.

So, I started blogging, mostly just to stay in touch with a few of my close friends from the board. Since then, I've met soooooo many wonderful, amazing people and I don't know what I did before blogging. Plus, blogging has been such great therapy for me and I find I can vent about anything and I get so much support. It really means so much to me.

So thank you!!!

Okay, so I chose the awards based on the people who started me blogging...the ones who truly inspired me and changed my life forever. I now bestow this award upon (in no particular order):

1. Michelle's Path. I've known Michelle since I came to the board in 2006. I'll never forget the moment I realized what a wonderful person she is. On my very first cycle, right after her miscarriage and her husband in Iraq, she posted that my chart looked so wonderful and that she was so sure I had a BFP and she was so happy for me. I knew then that she was a special person. She has been there for me through so much...so much that I can't even express how much. She has always supported me and I know I can e-mail her anything and she'll be there for me. Both Michelle and Nick have supported us in amazing ways and Mark and I are better people because they are in our lives.

2. I Want To Be a Mommy. Michell is one of the "old-timers" from the Northwest board who has struggled so much to be a mom and hasn't gotten her dream yet. She's been through so much and she never gives up. She recieved donor embryos and will be undergoing a FET early next year and I couldn't be happier for her. She's a wonderful person who I have been fortunate to call on the phone. I really hope she gets her well-deserved BFP.

3. If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name. When I think of onemorebaby, I get the biggest smile on my face. Talk about a sweetie. She's always been there for me with so much love and support and she's another one I've been lucky to talk to on the phone. She's always there with an encouraging word of support. She's a sweetie.

4. All About Austin. Meg and Kris are a sweet couple who went through a lot to get their sweet Austin. I remember when they were going through their IVF and I was praying so hard for them. And when I was going through IVF, Meg was so sweet to answer all questions I had. They've been there for me since day 1 and it's been so nice to know them.

5. The Looney Mooneys. Ah, Rachel. This woman has a heart of gold....truly. I just love Rachel so much. she's literally changed my life in so many ways. She's one that I've not only been able to talk to but also meet along with her husband and kids. Her kids are soooo cute. :) Rachel's been like a sister to me and I just love her so much. I wish we lived so much closer.

So, there you go. These are the 5 who inspired me to blog. Thank you so much you guys for changing my life! I love you all!!

Sweet friends

I've met some wonderful people through the world of blogging. People are so sweet...and people we've never met in real life.

It's amazing to me.

Not too long ago, Mark and I gave a little "gift" to a couple dealing with infertility. To us, it was such an answer to prayer to help this couple and we were so happy to do it.

Just the other day, we received a wonderful bouquet of flowers from them as a thank you. It was soooo sweet and meant a lot to us. I don't know if they want their names announced, so I'm not going to say their names, but you know who you are. :) Thank you!

Here are the pictures of the flowers:




Then, I ordered a few things from Serendipity Bees. I HIGHLY recommend checking out her site. I was very happy with what I got.

What is sad is that she mailed out our items awhile ago and it never made it despite being tracked as 'delivered'. Unfortunately we think someone "borrowed" the package. So, Mel remade everything. I felt so bad she had to do that. Because I had to wait so long (which really wasn't that long), she made a tutu for Peyton at no charge. It was so nice and so sweet. Peyton absolutely fell in love with it! She was so excited!

Thank you Mel for making Peyton's day:


With all the bad things in the world, it's so nice to know that there are wonderful people in the world who can really make your day.

Another one bites the dust

Now, how many of you are singing the Queen song? :)

About 3 years ago, I joined the Northwest chat board. I was a newcomer surrounded by the most knowledge women ever about TTC. This board as a "Trying to Conceive" side and a "Beyond TTC" side.

In the last 3 years, I've seen many come on the "TTC" side and transfer over to the "Beyond TTC" which has been wonderful to see. Now, I know a lot more on the "Beyond TTC" side than I do on the "TTC". Kinda sad, but I know there is a reason. :)

Actually, I've seen some come back to the "TTC" side and a few are TTC their t-h-i-r-d child.

Now that stings a little bit.

Anyway, there are very few of us that are still on the "TTC" side and have been since I joined the board. The "old-timers" club has really lost their numbers. It kind of gets lonely, but honestly, I do like it when the club loses a member because it means their dream has come true.

And I am soooo happy to announce that we have lost another member! Yay!!

K&H came on the board about the same time we did and just yesterday got their long awaited, long overdue BFP!! These guys have been waiting so long and they deserve it! I was sooo happy to read this. They have been so supportive of Mark and I and have always been there with an encouraging word, so this was so special to come onto the internet at 5:30 (yes, 5:30) this morning. I was so tired, I thought for sure my eyes were deceiving me. :)

CONGRATULATIONS Kathryn and Heather! You guys deserve this so much! I'm so happy for you!!!

Poop and pee

I'm glad you guys enjoy my pictures. :) I always worry that I'm bombarding people with pictures, so I love that you guys love them...thank you!!

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what this post is about, huh?

During a conversation this weekend, I was reminded of an event that happened this summer.

My sister and I were watching Tyler playing T-ball. His coach nicknamed him "TP". I told my sister that when he gets older, I really didn't think he would appreciate that nickname too much (in case you don't understand, TP also means toilet paper...probably self-explanatory, but I thought I would mention it just in case).

My sister did agree and said they did better with Peyton.

All of a sudden, it hit us both....Peyton's initials are PP.

Kind of gives you a chuckle. But, poor Peyton. When she's older, she's really not going to like her name.

Then, today, when I was commenting on someone's blog, the word vertification I had to type in was "pooper". One time I had "horney", but usually don't get actual words. I thought it was funny I got "pooper" and Mark thought it was kind of funny, too. :)

So, there you go....poop and pee!

Adelaide's birthday party

During the weekend of the open house (which was a great turnout and lots of sales :)), we also celebrated Adelaide's third birthday.

And of course, I have to bombard you with more pictures.

Sigh....

I know it gets old.

Here is Adelaide, Peyton and my mom frosting Adelaide's cake:


Peyton and Adelaide:


My mom reading a story to Peyton and Adelaide:


Peyton running around with the gift bag on her head:


My daddy:


We are a family that aren't huggers. Okay, maybe not.

Tyler and Adelaide hugging:


Peyton and Adelaide hugging:


Grandpa and Adelaide hugging:


Adelaide and Sam hugging:


Here is Mark:

After I took this picture, I asked Mark why he wasn't smiling. He replied with "Well, I get my picture taken like 20 times a day!"

Adelaide, the birthday girl:


This is Mark thinking about taking a nap with Adelaide's new blanket (I don't think he thought anyone would notice):


Adelaide blowing out the candles on her birthday cake:

My mom and dad's open house

This weekend was my mom and dad's annual open house for their store. They do it every year the first weekend of December. This year everyone except for my one brother was there, which was really nice. We also celebrated Adelaide's birthday and I'll be putting those pictures on here later.

After I put up these pictures, I realized I didn't get any of the customers, just us...oops! Oh, well. :) We're still cute. :)


Here is Tyler shoveling off the deck getting ready for the show. It's his job to shovel the snow off the walk:


Here is my dad. As you can tell, my family really gets tired of me taking pictures:


Tyler:


A picture of the store:


Another view:


My mom, my brother-in-law, sister and Peyton:


Mark and Peyton inside the house taking a little break from the store:


My brother, Chad, and his son, Sam:


Adelaide and Peyton:


Sam, Chad, Adelaide and Peyton (being a little fuzzy):


Adelaide on the tractor:


Peyton pouting because she really didn't want to get on the tractor to have her picture taken:


Peyton on the tractor, but really not too happy:


Adelaide:

Sooooo behind

Arggh! It drives me CRAZY to get behind on blogs! Like I'm missing out on being able to support someone or be there or miss important news or something. It drives me nuts. It's been a wild few days and this weekend is my parents' open house for their store so I'll be helping up there all weekend. So, I'm not sure when I'll get to blogs.

I didn't want you guys to think I was ignoring you! I'm going to get caught up!! I pray for all you guys and want to be there like you all have been there for me!!

Thank you all soooo much for the support the last few days! It really means a lot!!!

And if you're in the neighborhood of western Wisconsin, come on up to my parents' store. :) You get free food! :)

Please head over to Michelle. They were trying so hard to adopt Kayla's brother and it wasn't meant to be. I know she sure could use a hug. My heart just breaks for her.