October 18, 2012 by Amber Vo

Intrauterine Insemination, Cycle 2

Today we began our 2nd try at IUI by getting my baseline labs, including an ultrasound. I have 15 potential follicles on my right side, and 6 on the left, and I start taking the Letrozole Saturday. I don’t know why, but the first ultrasound of a new cycle is always depressing for me. I guess I still have lingering feelings of disappointment from the failure of the previous cycle. Plus, this time around there is a lot at stake since we know this may be our last shot at this for a long time.

I can tell the stress of all this is weighing on me, because today my heart was aching fiercely, and I don’t mean that in a sentimental way; rather, my heart literally hurt. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this in a blog post before, but I have 2 heart arrhythmias: sinus node tachycardia and premature ventricular contractions. Sinus node tachycardia basically means that from time to time, for no reason whatsoever (although stress can exacerbate the problem), my sinus node shoots too much electricity through my heart causing it to suddenly start beating incredibly fast. My resting heart rate has risen to almost 200 before in a matter of minutes. When this happens, there is really nothing I can do to slow it down again–I just have to wait it out. Typically, this does not have much of an effect on me, other than I may start sweating and feeling short of breath, and it most likely is what causes the premature ventricular contractions, which is just when your heart skips beats. However, I have had a couple of situations where I have passed out from the tachycardia attacks, which can actually be a good thing, because passing out causes my heart to reset itself and start beating normally again. The worst the tachycardia has ever gotten was when I started hallucinating due to the lack of oxygen getting to my brain. I had to call an ambulance, have my husband come home from work, etc. Anyway, all that to say that my heart was skipping beats a lot today and my heart rate was a little too high for comfort. I know it’s from stress, so I need to take some time to rest and get myself emotionally and spiritually prepared for this cycle. All I can say is I am REALLY looking forward to the weekend!

Fortunately for me, I had the opportunity to go to our friend’s house after my doctor’s appointment so I could take pictures of his Dogo Argentino puppies for him and record video footage of his dogs for his website. If you haven’t noticed from previous posts, I love dogs! It’s so true: dogs are incredibly therapeutic, even if they aren’t your own. By the time I left his house, my heart was beating normally again. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. I mean, who doesn’t feel good after seeing cute little puppies? Here are some pictures of his precious 3-week-old puppies:

Pictures courtesy of Dream Keepers Kennels.

October 1, 2012 by Amber Vo

Dream Keepers Kennels

This post is going to have nothing to do with my usual blog topics, but I have a friend who recently opened a kennel here in Birmingham, Alabama with several gorgeous Dogo Argentinos imported from Argentina. Some of them come directly from Morocho, the famous Dogo who saved his human’s children from a mountain lion, killing the mountain lion in the process. If you do a Google search for Morocho Dogo, you can read all about him. He was even featured in Animal Planet’s Dogs 101 episode about the Dogo Argentino. Bred for big-game hunting, these are incredibly loyal dogs that would be a great addition to your family, whether you want to use them as show dogs, hunting dogs, protection dogs, or simply a family pet. They are strong, intelligent, graceful dogs that would be well-suited with people who know how to raise a dog right.

Our friend’s kennel is called Dream Keepers Kennels, and he just had a new litter of puppies. If you are interested in learning more about this breed or would like to make a deposit on one of his puppies, you can go to his website, dreamkeeperskennels.com, or you can follow them on Facebook under “Dedicated Dogos”. He is really doing things right with his dogs. He has a great kennel set up, and these dogs are all trained and well-cared for. I’ve personally seen these dogs doing protection training, and they are FIERCE! I’ve also seen them walk away from the training session only to act like giant teddy bears with the kennel owner’s children.

Here are some pictures of the dogs:

And here is the new litter of puppies. There are 12 total:

If you are interested in buying one of these puppies, you don’t have to live in the area. In fact, there aren’t many Dogo Argentino breeders in the United States, so you probably won’t find one in your city anyway. Give them a call today!

And just to add a few more “aww”s to your day, here are a few pictures of Xanh with Savannah, a Dogo pup:

September 3, 2012 by Amber Vo

My Labor Day Weekend in Pics

This weekend, we met a new friend who just started a kennel for Dogo Argentinos. (If you don’t know what they are, look it up. They are gorgeous dogs bred for big-game hunting, such as wild boar hunting, in Argentina.) He has a little girl puppy that Xanh got to meet, and they were adorable together! I guarantee the majority of you will have to say “aaaw” at these pictures.

(Side Note: The guy in this picture is our fabulous dog trainer. If you live in the Birmingham area and want a FANTASTIC trainer, send me a message and I’ll share his info with you.)

We originally planned to go visit my sister and her husband in New Orleans this weekend, but they had to evacuate due to Hurricane Isaac. We had hoped to at least spend Labor Day at the lake or something, but of course it rained cats and dogs here, too. So, this morning I convinced my hubby to help me kneed the dough for banh bao, a Vietnamese steamed bun with a meat and egg filling. It took about 3 hours to make, but they are delicious!

The buns expand a lot in the steamer. Here is an uncooked bun next to a finished one.

We didn’t know what to do after that since it was raining so hard and most businesses were closed for Labor Day, so we decided to play with Xanh for a while and then take him to a couple of pet stores that were having Labor Day sales.