"Gotcha"

I, like many other young women with lupus, struggled with the decision if I should try to have a baby. Well, after much consideration, the hubs and I thought we would "try" to have a baby. The months came and went, but there was no baby made.

We were surprisingly calm about it and just went about our normal, everyday, life. I went for my check-up at the OBGYN and discussed my options with her. My mother went with me to this appointment because we were even discussing her as being a surrogate. The doctor recommended that I go see a fetal specialist at UAB. We made an appointment and off we went.

The second the doctor walks in and in huge red letters on the cover of my file read "HIGH RISK" I looked at the hubs and we were both like, OH MY!!!!

After a long discussion with the specialist, she told us that she couldn't tell us we shouldn't, and that she couldn't tell us we couldn't, but she wanted us to understand the risks to myself as well as the baby. We said we would give it another 6 months and if it was meant to be, it will be.

Long story short, we do not biologically have a child of our own. However, we do have a beautiful daughter that we adopted at a year old. She is perfect and couldn't be anymore ours than if I had birthed her myself.

We brought her home one year ago today. So, we refer to this day as her "Gotcha Day." We celebrate it as her special day. She gets to pick dinner and the hubs even brought her flowers.

Happy "Gotcha" Day to my princess!'

No naps......What the???????

So, I went to the doc today for a follow up on some new meds she put me on for my lupus fog. Bottom line....meds are working great; sleep-yeah, not so much!!! I discussed with her how I feel like I crash right after lunch and she said I needed to cut back on the artificial sweeteners. Soooooo, you know what that means???? I have to cut back on the Diet Mountain Dew!!!!!! What!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can have fully leaded soft drinks all I want, just not Diet!!! She also suggested that my protein may be low and suggested that I drink a protein shake in the mornings and eating frequent snacks. All of that I can handle, but then she dropped the bomb. She said, try not napping during the day. Has she met me??? I live to nap!!!! I will make no guarantees, but I will try if she thinks it will help!!!

What do you do to get over that time of the day when you "crash", and how do you feel about the "no nap" idea? I'm not going to lie...I am kinda nervous...

Have a great night lupies

~Tiffany~

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

I have been writing about the negative effects of lupus and what it has been doing to me, and that is no fun. So, I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite things that I look forward to and have made me happy this month.

Shall we begin:

 This is Phoebe girl!!! She is my first born and will be 8 in May. She is always by my side!!!

 I love the fact that my students are so passionate to find a cure for cancer. We support a young girl by the name of Gabbi and hope she will be cancer free and well soon.

 M & M's are my saving grace about 1:00!! As you can see I was out, but I can promise you that it was re-filled the next day :)

 My foundation primer!! It smooths out my face and makes my pores not to look like sink holes. This is a sample, but I will be buying the full size as soon as I run out of this.

 My Christmas turned Valentine's Day tree!! The kids love seeing the tree and the way it lights up the room during out power point presentations.

 My birthday was the 11th and I had happys waiting on me when I got to work!! P.S. I have the best hubs ever!!

 I know I have posted about this before, but I just can't get enough of it!! I tried some Clinique this past weekend, and I think I may try their BB Cream when I run out of this. I will keep you updated. I just don' t know of anything that can cover my butterfly rash better than this!!!

 My princess's birthday tea-party!!! What a great day to celebrate her turning 5!!!

 This picture sums it all up!! I am in love and cannot go a day without my apple devices, Diet Mountain Dews, and if I could, I would wear my red high heels every day!!!!!

 I have been noticing a few fine lines and "jiggly" eye lids lately. I didn't think that I wouldn't need age defying face products at 32, but the more research I have done, the more I have learned it is never too early to start. So, I bought a sample from Sephora of the Philosophy brand and it made my skin feel unbelievable!!! So, I bought the full size. I hope it last me a few months, because this stuff about broke the bank....lol!!!

 If you haven't figured out yet, that I am a sample junk, well I am. I got this sample of Benefit's They're Real mascara and OMG!!!!! It is amaze man!!!!!! Cut my time that I take to put on mascara in half!!!

 Once again another sample, that when I run out I will buying the full size. It is Benefit's What's Up highlighter. It is a small tube that takes the place of a highlighting powder under your eye brows!! It brightens up your eyes like a light bulb!!

 My new monogrammed lifeproof case!! It came from Boutique Me and I had it within a week of placing my order....love, love, love it!!!

And finally, the beginning of "girlifying" my house. I am beginning with the master bedroom/bathroom. The hubs is going away to medical school for 3 years, and it will just be my daughter and myself here. It is going to be drab enough without him here, I wanted a bright and happy home for us to come home to. This is my first purchase, a new new comforter and new throw pillows. I am going to be adding yellow and white chevron euro pillows to it as well. There will be more on this later!!

I hope I haven't bored your too much with some of my favorite things....but these a few of the things that make me happy, look forward to, and help me make it through my life with lupus!!!

What makes you happy?

Have a great week lupies!!!

~Tiffany~

Attention all the lupus ladies

Doesn't that make you start singing "All the Single Ladies"???? Haha!!!!

Just curious.....when I apply my concealer in the a.m. it burns my butterfly rash like crazy!!! This is even after I have put on my primer and BB cream. I use MAC concealer. Do the make up products you use burn your face and if not, what do you use?

Now on the birthday party update...It was wonderful!!!! I knew I wouldn't feel like or have the energy to do the party myself, so the hubs and I hired a children's shop to have a princess tea party for her in their shop. They did fabulous!!!! We had cake and cookies on China, and then the girls got makeovers!!!! It was so much fun, and to be honest, it was not that more expensive than if I had done it myself!!! For sure the way to go!!!!

Just a heads up....when this little ole blog reaches 25 followers, I will be having a give away of one of my favorite things!!! Stay turned for a blog of some of my favorite things!!!

Here is a picture of the princess and myself right before her party!!! As always, follow me on twitter @tiffanyfaith and on Instagram @tiffanyadonnan. Happy Thursday lupies!!!!

So, I went to the Rheumy yesterday.....

After having a TIA, I went to my Rheumy yesterday for my 6 weeks check-up. I had my notebook of things to talk to him about such as confusion, memory loss, limited function in my right hand, insomnia, continued hair loss, and a few other minor things. I talked with the fellow first, and he was extremely helpful!! He told me that it may be time to make some changes in my medication and do some further neuro testing. I was like, finally, something is going to happen and I am going to fell better!!!! Well, that was short lived. My Rheumy came in shortly after and reviewed my labs from 6 weeks ago. Fortunately, everything was in normal range. He felt of the joints on my hands, moved my arms around a little, and said bring me your most recent MRI and I will see you in May. WAIT A FLIPPIN MINUTE!!!!! The fellow then spoke up and told him all the other problems I was having. His response was to talk to my psychologist about it......ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I have been coming to you for 8 years and you are passing off my symptoms, that are clearly lupus related, off on someone else because all my labs looked good from 6 weeks ago. Frustrated is not the word!!!

What do I do?? I have been with him since being diagnosed 8 years ago, and he has kept me as well as can be so far, but it is getting worse. I want answers. I want changes. I want at least an attempt to try something to make me feel better..... I am so upset. I talked to my husband about changing Rheumy. He doesn't think this is a good idea because I have a national renown Rheumy and is suppose to be one of the best. Maybe it can't be fixed or maybe it won't get better, but have to guts to tell me that!!!

After what I felt like was a wasted trip, Em J and I went for a little retail therapy. In my latest IPSY box, I got some liquid eye liner, but I didn't have a brush to apply it with. I went with the classic MAC pointed eye liner brush....I'm in love!!! It goes on sooo smooth. My concealer brush was flaking (it was $1 e.l.f. from Target, so I splurged for the MAC concealer brush as well. Also, worth the $$$

Next I returned my Sultra Bombshell curling wand that I got for Christmas. I just was not working for me!!! I returned it for a T3 Single Pass flat iron. I plugged it in this morning, and it's a dud. It will not get hot!!! Called tonight and I am returning it tomorrow. Thank goodness today was "hair day" and I don't have to worry about fixing it for a few days!!!

Lastly, I bought The Hubs his Valentine's Day gift! A milk frother!!!! Yes, folks.... he wanted a milk frother. Hey, as long as he fixes me some yummy drinks with that frother, I think we all win :)

Tomorrow is the princess's tea party birthday party!!! I am so excited, because this year we opted on a party where someone else does all the work!!! I am pumped!!! The party starts at 1:00, the people told me to be there about 12:40 and they would have everything!!!! What a blessing!!! I will post pictures of the tea party and let you know how it goes!!!

What do you do to make yourself feel better after a disappointing doc appointment? Do you get ugly and demand answers or are you like me and walk out feeling like you wasted your time and money?

I hope you all have a restful and pain free weekend!!

I post a bunch of pictures on instagram, so follow me (@tiffanyadonnan) to see what all I am up to!!!

Cheers to the weekend!!!

Ahhhh...The Power of Sleep

Never, underestimate the power of sleep!!! It has been one week since the doctor changed one of my meds and I finally had a good night's sleep last night!!! I am so thankful!!!! It was beyond time!!! I feel so much better this morning!!

On to the national holiday I like to call my birthday!!! It was absolutely the best day ever!!! The hubs got a key and went in and decorated my classroom and left me a good bag with gourmet truffles on my desk, every class sang Happy Birthday to me (I even had one class throw me a party), Em J and I went for a mani/pedi after work, and then I finished the day with Em J cooking me homemade chicken fingers!!!! Oh my, what a fabulous day!!!! Not to mention I received my Ipsy box :)

But, when it is my birthday, we celebrate all month!!! It is Fat Tuesday!!!!! I hope everyone is wearing their beads and eats their King Cake!!!! I hope you have a pain free and happy day!!!

Here are a few pics from yesterday's celebration :)

Em J's Magic Find

When you live in Alabama, the weather is always changing!!! Since Christmas it has been rain, rain, and more rain. Then after it rains, it turns as I like to refer to it as, "butt cold." It is actually the most miserable time of the year for me!! I ache, I hurt, I am exhausted, and because of my sjogrens, my skin is terrible!!! Thanks to my great friend Em J, she has found the most awesome hand cream!! Here's the problem. She randomly found it in her mom's Tahoe, and we can't find it anywhere!!! It is the most amazing lotion for cold, wet weather!!! So, if you know where we can find it, please let me know!!! While you are there, grab some for yourself too!!! Happy Saturday!!

Just Dance

Give the world a reason to dance!!!!!


http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Oh My Medicine

Don't you just love going to the doctor to hear her say, "I think we are going to change some things about your medicine." This was actually music to my ears because I have not been doing well in some aspects lately. The doctor goes over all the advantages and  POSSIBLE side effects. Possible......hahaha!!!!!!! The doc said to take the meds in the morning, but the pharmacist said to take it at night. So, I take the pharmacist's advice and take it at night.....WHOA!!!!! I took the first 1/2 of a pill Monday night. I have only had 4 hours of sleep since then. Talk about insomnia!!!! I know that when you change meds you can have some difficulty, but oh my!!!! I have chills all day, nausea, and insomnia!!! I just want to sleep, but then again that's all I ever want to do. They say this med is wonderful......if you can tolerate it.

Keep me in your prayers that this med works for me and the side effects will go away with time. Have a great rest of the week :)

The Spoon Theory

The most amazing article on lupus I have ever read. Where has this been the last nine years?


http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Sleep and Mommy Guilt

I have been awake for a total of 5 hours since 9 p.m. last night.


The hubs, the princess, and I went to senior night for our high school's basketball team last night. It is always fun to watch these kids grow up and represent our school so well. However, I was exhausted last night. I was up at 5:15, worked all day, had a hair appointment to have my hair colored that I didn't get out of until 6:30, then it was off to the games I went. Having done all that and then sitting at the games took its toll. We came home about 830, put the princess to bed, and off to bed I went.

That was all she wrote until 11:30 a.m. this afternoon!!! Yes, I slept for 14 straight hours. I don't know how any healthy person can sleep that long at one time. The hubs is so awesome that he gets up with the princess and has orange rolls waiting on me when I wake up. That is just one of the amazing things he has done today!!

During the next few hours, I lay in the bed, order my face cleanser (we live in a small town so far away from a city, that shipping is cheaper than the gas to get there), and we watch the AKC dog show as a family!! Just as I was about to get up and be productive, I fall back asleep and sleep for another 2 1/2 hours!!!!! I wake up once again and find that the hubs has gone to get supper and has it ready!! Talk about Mommy guilt, yes I have it today!!

I have done absolutely NOTHING for my family today. I feel so helpless on days like this. But, I can't be Debbie Downer about it and feel guilty!! I have to make those hours, even minutes, count 100%, that I am up and feel good. I love on my princess, the hubs, and even my fur baby, Phoebe!!

On the flip side, I am thankful for the days that I have to do this and allow my body to repair itself from the week. People with lupus are not able to do all that I do without giving the body time to heal and repair. My advice to you is take that time!!!!! Your family will appreciate you more if you are happy and loving towards them for a few hours, than if you are tired cranky, and helpless. There is always that feeling of guilt, or there is for me anyway. I feel I should be cleaning, baking yummy Saturday treats, or playing with the princess. But, this is the life I was given and I have to accept it. I am just thankful that I am blessed with an understanding husband that encourages me to take care of myself in any way that I can!!

I am planning on a very low key evening of watching Michigan basketball with the hubs and doing some light cleaning!!! I hope you all have a great night and Go Blue!!!!

This is a picture I snapped today of the princess and myself!!