I have a lot to blog about today but I'm SOOOOO....OOOOOOO...OOOOOOOO tired. After a 17 hour workday yesterday, I arrived home and crawled in to bed at 1am this morning. I slept until 5:30am. Woke up to the sound of a cat vomiting, showered, and headed off to my ultrasound appointment. From there I skipped in to work, not literally, and finished out an 8.5 hour day there. Rolled home in my minivan, hit up the pharmacy, tossed on my jammies, scrubbed up some kitty puke, caught up on 2 days of Ellen, rummaged through whatever grubbage I could find, and finally find myself camped out in front of my computer writing to you.
How are you? I hope you are good. I hope you had a lovely day. I hope you aren't regretting now that thing you did this morning. You know what I'm talking about. C'mon. Don't deny it now! It's OK. There's always tomorrow. And then what you did for lunch! Amazing, wasn't it? I bet. Then that one thing that came in the mail - I bet you weren't expecting THAT today. Life's little surprises, right? And the neighbor. Can you believe that? Good grief! And don't get me started about what you heard today about what's her name. Geesh!
Ok - but enough about you. Back to me. Afterall, this is my blog. You will now go back to thinking about me scrubbing up cat puke. Are you with me? Ok. Thank you very much.
Today I had my baseline ultrasound. It all went well! I chatted with the technician about Justin Bieber and One Direction while she made sure everything was back to its original size in there, and it was. Then I donated 5 vials of blood to science right after I registered my alarmingly high blood pressure reading with my nurse. This afternoon I got the call that I am now being placed on thyroid medication. Maybe I won't have to say "sorry Weight Watchers" anymore. :) I can hope. The thyroid meds are to help prevent miscarriage I guess. My thyroid is in normal range, but they want me "lower" - limbo lower now - for baby-making. So, I stop BCP's tonight, start thyroid meds, continue with dexamethasone, baby aspirin, and vitamins. On Saturday I start shooting up stimulation meds, and add in some antibiotics. I have blood work scheduled for 6:30am on Monday, and an ultrasound scheduled for 6:45am on Wednesday. Things will be moving along pretty quickly now. Let the games begin!
PS - ever wonder what it would be like to type something with your fingers on the wrong keys?
yjsmld gpt trsfomh@
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
The long weekend comes to an end
I'm up early this morning. Couldn't sleep. My mind was doing that, "last day off till you have to go back to work" thing. This week will prove to be an insane one, starting with a trip to Eldridge, IA tomorrow. I sure hope the snow that's on the roads this morning is long gone by tomorrow, and that any fresh stuff holds off until Tuesday. Would like to have a safe ride in the good ol' company car (which I have been informed has back doors that no longer open).
My long weekend overall was a good one! Started off Wednesday night when I swung into a Weight Watchers location on my way home for a quick pre-Thanksgiving weigh-in. I miraculously had stayed "exactly" the same as my weigh in the Thursday before. I was OK with this since it was only Wednesday, and I usually weigh in on Thursdays. Had I had that extra day, surely I would be down something. From there I sped off to Kohls since I had my "black Friday" coupon that started already on Wednesday. Bless Kohls for knowing to start a "Black Friday" sale 2 days early. I needed to find a dress for Rob's cousin Dana's wedding which is next Saturday, 12/1/12. Now, being down 6.6 pounds, you'd think any dress in the store would look gorgeous on me. If you thought that, you were dead wrong, and I would know, because I literally tried on EVERY dress in the store. All the Jennifer Lopez and Daisy Fuentes's you could find. Every Lauren Conrad and Vera Wang. Even ones from the Junior and Grandma sections. I finally settled on a gold sparkly number with a LONG grandma sweater/trench coat to go over it to hide my chicken fat arms. Sexy. After spending about 2 hours in Kohls' dressing rooms, it was time to go home and start my relaxing weekend!
Thursday morning arrived and I started the day healthy. It was Thanksgiving. I was down some weight from Wednesday (yes, I caved and hopped on my bathroom scale that morning). I knew a big meal was about to happen, and I knew I needed to keep my new slimmer figure for my sexy grandma dress that I bought for next weekend. So, I started my day with a 3 mile run/walk around my neighborhood. The weather was gorgeous that morning and I was out as the sun was coming up. No other people were in sight that morning - it was just me, in last year's Turkey Trot t-shirt - and my latest Rhapsody downloads plugging away on the pavement. What used to take me 27 minutes when I used to run all the time took me nearly 40, but I did it. I felt good and was proud. I got home, showered, and started hauling out Christmas decor. Taking advantage of the nice weather, the dogs and I hung up our outside Christmas lights, of which two strands were not working - something my handy husband would come to my rescue on later. Once outside was decorated I got to work on 1/2 the inside, then it was time to make Sweet Potato Souffle and head off to mom and dad's house for some grub.
The dogs and I arrived at mom and dad's around 2:30. Rob came about an hour later...he had been busy at the shop, of course, all morning. (Business Owners don't get holidays off. Heck, they don't get weekends off either, and they NEVER get vacation). At mom's she didn't have any hors-de-ouvres, thank goodness. The only thing out was a small bowl of mixed nuts which I held off on, for awhile. But soon I was selecting cashews only...which then led to handfuls of the full mixed nut selection. So much for my turkey trot in the morning. I just consumed any calories I had burned off in nuts alone. We then had dinner and I proceeded to have 2nds and 3rds on mostly everything and polished it all off with Pumpkin Pie and whipped cream. Sorry Weight Watchers. All that planning I did on my paper plate in the meeting room this year went to waste. I went home that night, after a spirited game of Chinese Checkers with mom, dad and Rob, with an actual side ache from over-eating!
Friday morning I hopped out of bed and to my dismay realized I hadn't taken my Dexamethasone pill Thanksgiving night. That is not a good feeling. When your whole job with IVF is to make sure you take the meds correctly so the doctor can work all their magic, it is not a good feeling when you mess it up. I frantically read my directions and felt I could take my dose that morning, suffer any unpleasant side-effects, and would still be able to take my dose that evening. Things turned out fine. I took the pill with food...yes, more food which I probably didn't need to do...there was probably enough undigested stuffing left in my belly to catch that Dexamethasone pill...but I wanted to play by the rules, so I polished off some Honey Nut Cheerios to accompany my Dexamethasone, mostly to ward off any nausea that could throw a wrench in my Black Friday holiday shopping plans. I decided to skip any morning exercise plans since my legs hurt so badly from the previous day's turkey trot that I had to hobble around my house for the first few hours of the day! Instead of exercise, I watched my DVR'd Thanksgiving episode of Glee, and did some more decorating. Yes, I really have that much Christmas stuff. You accumulate a lot in 12 years (how long I've been a homeowner). I did throw some old ugly stuff out, and kept some of the other stuff in boxes since as I get older I like more of an "uncluttered" look when it comes to my decorating. This year is fun though because last year we were in the middle of a 4-month long home remodel where we skipped Christmas all together. No decorations. No lights. No presents. Which also equalled no stress, and no debt, which was one of the best Christmas's ever...but this year it was fun to drag all the stuff out again.
Mom picked me up at 10am so we could head out to the location where the rest of the population of the Fox Cities and surrounding area already were - the mall. After getting a good tour of the parking lot we finally settled on a not-so-close spot by JC Penny. The wind that did not exist on the beautiful 60 degree day prior nearly ripped the car doors out of our hands and blew us straight over to College Avenue as we held onto our hairdo's and ran for the mall entrance. I got a ton of shopping done that morning and I think all mom got was a new coffee pot - at a great price nonetheless.
We had lunch at Panera Bread. Normally I get a salad. That day I had 1/2 an adult grilled cheese sandwich, with bacon, and broccoli cheddar soup, with a baguette side AND a 99 cent pastry. WHAT?!?! Sorry Weight Watchers. That evening as I wrapped presents, I just had a small bowl of sweet potato souffle leftovers for dinner. Rob and I made a quick stop to "The Game Stop" so he could get his Formula One game. He played that like a content 7-year old while I made a mess of Christmas wrapping, bows, tissue paper, boxes, scissors and tape in the dining room.
Saturday morning arrived. My long weekend was winding down. I met my friend Janis, who I've been friends with since about 1984, for coffee in Kaukauna. She brought her 2 children who I swear I never met before, only saw adorable pics of them on FB. :( I did hold her daughter when she was first born, and when I was SUPER drunk at our 10 year high school reunion I no doubt uninvitingly placed my hands on her very pregnant belly and asked if it was a boy or girl for round number two. One of those "drinker's remorse" moments that still haunts me to this day. It's nice being sober to now finally meet her children like a responsible adult. :) Her kids are adorable. Great personalities. Polite. Entertaining. Talented. They look like mini-Janis and Jay's, and I can tell they are being raised with all the right manners. It was SO fun to catch up with Janis. She and I will have to get together more often. Watching her kids made me hope and pray that someday Rob and I could take our little children, little mini-Jennine and Rob's, to a coffee house on a Saturday morning.
I finished up Saturday by decorating the shop with a Christmas tree and window clings. I did a mountain of filing in our new shop filing cabinets - thank you Rob for making that purchase. Filing now is a breeze! I then went to Burger King for lunch. Sorry Weight Watchers. I got home and finished decorating the tree and got my entire house clean, all 3 levels, to perfection. Dusting. Vacuuming. Laundry. Scrubbing. Is there anything better than a clean house??? 4.5 hours later and my work here was done. Rob and I went out for a romantic dinner at the Fazoli's drive through (sorry Weight Watchers) and then we watched TV and I paged through the millions of catalogs that arrive in my mail this time of year. If I had Randy and Alyson's name for Christmas I would SO be getting them the Packers Toaster, but sadly for them (and gladly for my bank account), we're not exchanging gifts with our siblings this year.
It is now Sunday morning. Today I have NOTHING planned. My house is clean. My work at the shop is done. I have 2 dogs who could use a walk but the roads at the moment are snow and ice covered. We'll see if the sun burns any of that off by this afternoon. Is the sun even scheduled to come out today? I guess we'll see. Looking forward to a Packers victory tonight but that will most likely happen while visions of sugar plums are dancing in my head, since it will be early-to-bed for this working girl tonight. Hope you all had a great long weekend too. Tuesday is my baseline ultrasound so I'll let you know what our next move is then.
In one of my catalogs that I flipped through last night there was a plaque that read: "You are the poem I dreamed of writing, the masterpiece I longed to paint. You are the shining star I reached for in my ever hopeful quest for life fulfilled. Now with all things I am blessed." Looking forward to buying that for my nursery wall soon. :)
My long weekend overall was a good one! Started off Wednesday night when I swung into a Weight Watchers location on my way home for a quick pre-Thanksgiving weigh-in. I miraculously had stayed "exactly" the same as my weigh in the Thursday before. I was OK with this since it was only Wednesday, and I usually weigh in on Thursdays. Had I had that extra day, surely I would be down something. From there I sped off to Kohls since I had my "black Friday" coupon that started already on Wednesday. Bless Kohls for knowing to start a "Black Friday" sale 2 days early. I needed to find a dress for Rob's cousin Dana's wedding which is next Saturday, 12/1/12. Now, being down 6.6 pounds, you'd think any dress in the store would look gorgeous on me. If you thought that, you were dead wrong, and I would know, because I literally tried on EVERY dress in the store. All the Jennifer Lopez and Daisy Fuentes's you could find. Every Lauren Conrad and Vera Wang. Even ones from the Junior and Grandma sections. I finally settled on a gold sparkly number with a LONG grandma sweater/trench coat to go over it to hide my chicken fat arms. Sexy. After spending about 2 hours in Kohls' dressing rooms, it was time to go home and start my relaxing weekend!
Thursday morning arrived and I started the day healthy. It was Thanksgiving. I was down some weight from Wednesday (yes, I caved and hopped on my bathroom scale that morning). I knew a big meal was about to happen, and I knew I needed to keep my new slimmer figure for my sexy grandma dress that I bought for next weekend. So, I started my day with a 3 mile run/walk around my neighborhood. The weather was gorgeous that morning and I was out as the sun was coming up. No other people were in sight that morning - it was just me, in last year's Turkey Trot t-shirt - and my latest Rhapsody downloads plugging away on the pavement. What used to take me 27 minutes when I used to run all the time took me nearly 40, but I did it. I felt good and was proud. I got home, showered, and started hauling out Christmas decor. Taking advantage of the nice weather, the dogs and I hung up our outside Christmas lights, of which two strands were not working - something my handy husband would come to my rescue on later. Once outside was decorated I got to work on 1/2 the inside, then it was time to make Sweet Potato Souffle and head off to mom and dad's house for some grub.
The dogs and I arrived at mom and dad's around 2:30. Rob came about an hour later...he had been busy at the shop, of course, all morning. (Business Owners don't get holidays off. Heck, they don't get weekends off either, and they NEVER get vacation). At mom's she didn't have any hors-de-ouvres, thank goodness. The only thing out was a small bowl of mixed nuts which I held off on, for awhile. But soon I was selecting cashews only...which then led to handfuls of the full mixed nut selection. So much for my turkey trot in the morning. I just consumed any calories I had burned off in nuts alone. We then had dinner and I proceeded to have 2nds and 3rds on mostly everything and polished it all off with Pumpkin Pie and whipped cream. Sorry Weight Watchers. All that planning I did on my paper plate in the meeting room this year went to waste. I went home that night, after a spirited game of Chinese Checkers with mom, dad and Rob, with an actual side ache from over-eating!
Friday morning I hopped out of bed and to my dismay realized I hadn't taken my Dexamethasone pill Thanksgiving night. That is not a good feeling. When your whole job with IVF is to make sure you take the meds correctly so the doctor can work all their magic, it is not a good feeling when you mess it up. I frantically read my directions and felt I could take my dose that morning, suffer any unpleasant side-effects, and would still be able to take my dose that evening. Things turned out fine. I took the pill with food...yes, more food which I probably didn't need to do...there was probably enough undigested stuffing left in my belly to catch that Dexamethasone pill...but I wanted to play by the rules, so I polished off some Honey Nut Cheerios to accompany my Dexamethasone, mostly to ward off any nausea that could throw a wrench in my Black Friday holiday shopping plans. I decided to skip any morning exercise plans since my legs hurt so badly from the previous day's turkey trot that I had to hobble around my house for the first few hours of the day! Instead of exercise, I watched my DVR'd Thanksgiving episode of Glee, and did some more decorating. Yes, I really have that much Christmas stuff. You accumulate a lot in 12 years (how long I've been a homeowner). I did throw some old ugly stuff out, and kept some of the other stuff in boxes since as I get older I like more of an "uncluttered" look when it comes to my decorating. This year is fun though because last year we were in the middle of a 4-month long home remodel where we skipped Christmas all together. No decorations. No lights. No presents. Which also equalled no stress, and no debt, which was one of the best Christmas's ever...but this year it was fun to drag all the stuff out again.
Mom picked me up at 10am so we could head out to the location where the rest of the population of the Fox Cities and surrounding area already were - the mall. After getting a good tour of the parking lot we finally settled on a not-so-close spot by JC Penny. The wind that did not exist on the beautiful 60 degree day prior nearly ripped the car doors out of our hands and blew us straight over to College Avenue as we held onto our hairdo's and ran for the mall entrance. I got a ton of shopping done that morning and I think all mom got was a new coffee pot - at a great price nonetheless.
We had lunch at Panera Bread. Normally I get a salad. That day I had 1/2 an adult grilled cheese sandwich, with bacon, and broccoli cheddar soup, with a baguette side AND a 99 cent pastry. WHAT?!?! Sorry Weight Watchers. That evening as I wrapped presents, I just had a small bowl of sweet potato souffle leftovers for dinner. Rob and I made a quick stop to "The Game Stop" so he could get his Formula One game. He played that like a content 7-year old while I made a mess of Christmas wrapping, bows, tissue paper, boxes, scissors and tape in the dining room.
Saturday morning arrived. My long weekend was winding down. I met my friend Janis, who I've been friends with since about 1984, for coffee in Kaukauna. She brought her 2 children who I swear I never met before, only saw adorable pics of them on FB. :( I did hold her daughter when she was first born, and when I was SUPER drunk at our 10 year high school reunion I no doubt uninvitingly placed my hands on her very pregnant belly and asked if it was a boy or girl for round number two. One of those "drinker's remorse" moments that still haunts me to this day. It's nice being sober to now finally meet her children like a responsible adult. :) Her kids are adorable. Great personalities. Polite. Entertaining. Talented. They look like mini-Janis and Jay's, and I can tell they are being raised with all the right manners. It was SO fun to catch up with Janis. She and I will have to get together more often. Watching her kids made me hope and pray that someday Rob and I could take our little children, little mini-Jennine and Rob's, to a coffee house on a Saturday morning.
I finished up Saturday by decorating the shop with a Christmas tree and window clings. I did a mountain of filing in our new shop filing cabinets - thank you Rob for making that purchase. Filing now is a breeze! I then went to Burger King for lunch. Sorry Weight Watchers. I got home and finished decorating the tree and got my entire house clean, all 3 levels, to perfection. Dusting. Vacuuming. Laundry. Scrubbing. Is there anything better than a clean house??? 4.5 hours later and my work here was done. Rob and I went out for a romantic dinner at the Fazoli's drive through (sorry Weight Watchers) and then we watched TV and I paged through the millions of catalogs that arrive in my mail this time of year. If I had Randy and Alyson's name for Christmas I would SO be getting them the Packers Toaster, but sadly for them (and gladly for my bank account), we're not exchanging gifts with our siblings this year.
It is now Sunday morning. Today I have NOTHING planned. My house is clean. My work at the shop is done. I have 2 dogs who could use a walk but the roads at the moment are snow and ice covered. We'll see if the sun burns any of that off by this afternoon. Is the sun even scheduled to come out today? I guess we'll see. Looking forward to a Packers victory tonight but that will most likely happen while visions of sugar plums are dancing in my head, since it will be early-to-bed for this working girl tonight. Hope you all had a great long weekend too. Tuesday is my baseline ultrasound so I'll let you know what our next move is then.
In one of my catalogs that I flipped through last night there was a plaque that read: "You are the poem I dreamed of writing, the masterpiece I longed to paint. You are the shining star I reached for in my ever hopeful quest for life fulfilled. Now with all things I am blessed." Looking forward to buying that for my nursery wall soon. :)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
My meds arrived today, right on schedule. I have laid them all out in our spare bedroom again just to make sure we have everything we need. It sure is a lot of medication! The new one, Ganirelix, has me a little worried. I've read online that some women say the needle is bigger and not as sharp as others so it's harder to inject. Good thing I'm tough as nails. I start Dexamethasone tomorrow night and continue on with my BCP's, which have caused my complexion severe harm. I have acne that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy right now. Lovely.
My appointment for my baseline on the 27th got moved up from 7am to 6:30am, which is fine, but I will be getting home from Eldridge around 1am that morning, and then will need to be at my appointment at 6:30. Ouch. I will probably then just go in to work because why go back to bed when I'm already up...I will probably just work a shorter day since Monday, Eldridge day, will be such a long day anyway...and if I'm half asleep at my computer I won't be much good on Tuesday anyway!
I heard Adam Sandler's "Thanksgiving Song" this morning on the radio. Is there anything better than that? Well, besides the Hanukkah Song, of course...
I am going to weigh in at WW tomorrow since it's Thanksgiving week and there are no Thursday meetings. I don't know how this week is going. I didn't eat too great at my Mother in Law's house on Sunday and I think I'm paying for it now. Darn Croissant Sandwiches and Chocolate Cheesecake! However, by getting my weigh-in out of the way tomorrow, I can use my 49 extra weekly points all on Thanksgiving day, and that is what I intend to do!
Today at work I helped Jessie with some of her homework. It had to do with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. I'm sure I've taken this previously in life, but I just took the test again tonight. My type is ESFJ. I am: "The Hostess of the World. Gracious. Good Interpersonal Skills. Thoughtful. Appropriate. Eager to Please. Most Harmonizing." That is just a very short description. If you want to take the test yourself, it is fun to do. Go to: http://humanmetrics.com Choose the Jung Typology Test. When you're done, you can learn more about your type just by Googling your 4 letters...ESFJ for instance...which is what I am. Rob also took the test. He is ENTJ. "Life's Natural Leader. Visionary. Gregarious. Argumentative. Systems Planners. Take Charge. Low tolerance for Incompetence. Most Commanding." Can't wait to see what that means for our kids! :)
Mom and I are headed out to battle the crowds on Friday...at like 10am...I KNOW! We are crazy! We should really sleep in. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. I know I have a lot to be Thankful for! :)
Turkey lurkey doo and
Turkey lurkey dap
I eat that turkey
Then I take a nap...
My appointment for my baseline on the 27th got moved up from 7am to 6:30am, which is fine, but I will be getting home from Eldridge around 1am that morning, and then will need to be at my appointment at 6:30. Ouch. I will probably then just go in to work because why go back to bed when I'm already up...I will probably just work a shorter day since Monday, Eldridge day, will be such a long day anyway...and if I'm half asleep at my computer I won't be much good on Tuesday anyway!
I heard Adam Sandler's "Thanksgiving Song" this morning on the radio. Is there anything better than that? Well, besides the Hanukkah Song, of course...
I am going to weigh in at WW tomorrow since it's Thanksgiving week and there are no Thursday meetings. I don't know how this week is going. I didn't eat too great at my Mother in Law's house on Sunday and I think I'm paying for it now. Darn Croissant Sandwiches and Chocolate Cheesecake! However, by getting my weigh-in out of the way tomorrow, I can use my 49 extra weekly points all on Thanksgiving day, and that is what I intend to do!
Today at work I helped Jessie with some of her homework. It had to do with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. I'm sure I've taken this previously in life, but I just took the test again tonight. My type is ESFJ. I am: "The Hostess of the World. Gracious. Good Interpersonal Skills. Thoughtful. Appropriate. Eager to Please. Most Harmonizing." That is just a very short description. If you want to take the test yourself, it is fun to do. Go to: http://humanmetrics.com Choose the Jung Typology Test. When you're done, you can learn more about your type just by Googling your 4 letters...ESFJ for instance...which is what I am. Rob also took the test. He is ENTJ. "Life's Natural Leader. Visionary. Gregarious. Argumentative. Systems Planners. Take Charge. Low tolerance for Incompetence. Most Commanding." Can't wait to see what that means for our kids! :)
Mom and I are headed out to battle the crowds on Friday...at like 10am...I KNOW! We are crazy! We should really sleep in. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. I know I have a lot to be Thankful for! :)
Turkey lurkey doo and
Turkey lurkey dap
I eat that turkey
Then I take a nap...
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sooner or Later
I type this as I listen to Mat Kearney's "Sooner or Later." Rob and I are on our way. Sooner or Later we'll have the family we've dreamed of! I think sooner rather than later! :)
I survived my 24 hour day/night/day. I slept for about 4 hours when I got home, woke up, ran to a WW meeting (mostly so I could get my weigh in out of the way so I could EAT something!) I lost 2 pounds. I was happy with that. Down 6.6 total so far.
I just got off the phone with Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. $484 later and my meds will arrive on 11/20/12! Looking forward to starting the madness again to feel like we're really doing all we can again to make our dreams come true.
Birth Control Pills start tomorrow, and I scheduled my baseline ultrasound for 7am on the 27th. Stay tuned!
I survived my 24 hour day/night/day. I slept for about 4 hours when I got home, woke up, ran to a WW meeting (mostly so I could get my weigh in out of the way so I could EAT something!) I lost 2 pounds. I was happy with that. Down 6.6 total so far.
I just got off the phone with Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. $484 later and my meds will arrive on 11/20/12! Looking forward to starting the madness again to feel like we're really doing all we can again to make our dreams come true.
Birth Control Pills start tomorrow, and I scheduled my baseline ultrasound for 7am on the 27th. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
...one more thing...
For many women, getting their period is a discreet thing. We know not to wear white pants around that time of the month. We carry tampons in our purse at all times just in case. Since our grade school days we feared not being prepared, or risking a "leak" that would let the whole world know what was going on with our bodies at that time of the month. Our boyfriends and husbands think anytime we're in a bad mood we are PMSing. They've come up with lovely words for when they suspect their lady is menstruating...like, she's "on the rag," or even more thoughtful, "she's raggin'." There have been jokes made like "how can something bleed for that many days and not die?"
A woman's period can be such a taboo subject. Most woman don't want others to know when they're experiencing this joy of nature, but the tightness of her jeans - a gift from the Bloat Fairy - or the map of zits on her face tend to give it away. The amount of money a woman spends on tampons and pads in a lifetime is no doubt astronomical - we should be proud of the money we drop on those items sort of like how we brag about what we spent on a new designer purse or a new pair of sexy boots - yet when we have them in our cart at Walmart we pray we don't run into anyone, and we choose the check out line with the "old lady" cashier for when we unload them from the cart to the moving belt. Sometimes we let our closest friends know, usually just because we need to borrow a tampon. And our poor husbands usually find out when they learn that any bedroom antics are "off the table" for an entire week. But, here's how it's been for me lately:
Rob knows when I get my period so we can plan our trip to MN.
My friends at work know when I get my period so we can plan our work schedules around my crazy doctor appointments.
My parents know when I get my period so they can plan on when to babysit our dogs for us. (My poor dad).
Some woman named Nancy who works at RMIA knows I have my period because I just dialed long distance this morning to tell her.
My nurse here in Appleton knows I have my period because I just emailed her to tell her about it.
No doubt Dr. Wagener and Dr. Stassart know I have my period.
And, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, everyone that reads this blog, plus anyone they read it to, plus anyone that probably Googles the words "Dr. Stassart" or "RMIA" and is lead to my blog now know I have my period.
And that is just some funny stuff, period.
A woman's period can be such a taboo subject. Most woman don't want others to know when they're experiencing this joy of nature, but the tightness of her jeans - a gift from the Bloat Fairy - or the map of zits on her face tend to give it away. The amount of money a woman spends on tampons and pads in a lifetime is no doubt astronomical - we should be proud of the money we drop on those items sort of like how we brag about what we spent on a new designer purse or a new pair of sexy boots - yet when we have them in our cart at Walmart we pray we don't run into anyone, and we choose the check out line with the "old lady" cashier for when we unload them from the cart to the moving belt. Sometimes we let our closest friends know, usually just because we need to borrow a tampon. And our poor husbands usually find out when they learn that any bedroom antics are "off the table" for an entire week. But, here's how it's been for me lately:
Rob knows when I get my period so we can plan our trip to MN.
My friends at work know when I get my period so we can plan our work schedules around my crazy doctor appointments.
My parents know when I get my period so they can plan on when to babysit our dogs for us. (My poor dad).
Some woman named Nancy who works at RMIA knows I have my period because I just dialed long distance this morning to tell her.
My nurse here in Appleton knows I have my period because I just emailed her to tell her about it.
No doubt Dr. Wagener and Dr. Stassart know I have my period.
And, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, everyone that reads this blog, plus anyone they read it to, plus anyone that probably Googles the words "Dr. Stassart" or "RMIA" and is lead to my blog now know I have my period.
And that is just some funny stuff, period.
Ding Ding Ding! ROUND TWO!
Good morning!
Timing of things is funny. This time of year is always EXTREMELY busy for me at work. I was worried that IVF treatments would get in the way of everything I have going on professionally. So funny how everything is timing out so nicely. I told my boss "look at what a great employee I am timing my fertility treatments around all this important work stuff!" LOL!
I am home this morning since I am going in to work tonight and basically working 3rd shift (5pm tonight to 6am tomorrow) so when my period showed up today I had all the time in the world to call RMIA and get everything I needed to know to get things started. Much easier doing it at home when I have free time than trying to squeeze it in after work and before the clinic closes!
I got my dates and they are as follows:
11/16/12 - start birth control pills
11/21/12 - start Dexamethasone at bedtime
11/27/12 - have baseline ultrasound appointment at FVRM in the morning
11/27/12 - if things go well at the baseline, stop BC pills
12/1/12 - start stimulation meds
12/10/12 - TENTATIVE retrieval date at RMIA in Woodbury, MN
Notice no Lupron injections! Could this get any easier? That is my new protocol that we are trying this time around. Let's hope it works! Retrieval could be less than 1 month away. How exciting!
Also funny timing that I am to go in for my baseline ultrasound on the 27th, which is the day AFTER all my crazy busy work stuff kind of comes to a halt. I travel to Eldridge, IA on 11/26, and will get home around midnight. I usually go in to work late the next morning, so I will be able to have my baseline that morning without feeling rushed to get in to work. Perfect! I will be doing stim meds when we hand out Holiday Hams to the employees on 12/6/12, so I will be careful with lifting things since my ovaries will probably be screaming around that time, but it will all work out. If things go well, we could be at transfer either on the 13th or the 15th of December, then the 2-week wait would time out right around Christmas/New Year's. Hopefully Santa brings us good news and we have a lot to celebrate when we ring in 2013!
Since I'm home this morning I watched VH1's "Behind the Music" - Pink. God, I love Pink. I think she is so cool, so pretty, so smart, so tough, so FUNNY! It was so adorable to watch her talk about how her daughter Willow had softened her, and that her life just revolves around that little girl. Inspiring. She also spoke about her break up with Carey Hart and how had they not gone through that they wouldn't be as strong as they are today - which totally resonates with me. What a good start to a great morning.
Now I am off to Shopko and then I'll try to sneak in a nap before my 13 hour night. Thank goodness for Donuts at the driver's meeting at 3am - it is what I will be living for tonight. I think I can have the donut, then go home and SLEEP all day tomorrow until my Weight Watchers meeting at 5:30pm. Hoping to see another good loss - I will report back tomorrow with that news. Perfect timing to take some pounds off before starting all my fun bloat-inducing meds in the weeks to come! If it means Rob and I, like Pink and Carey, can end up with our own little child to take our breath away and steal our hearts, then of course it's worth it! Let the bloating begin!
Timing of things is funny. This time of year is always EXTREMELY busy for me at work. I was worried that IVF treatments would get in the way of everything I have going on professionally. So funny how everything is timing out so nicely. I told my boss "look at what a great employee I am timing my fertility treatments around all this important work stuff!" LOL!
I am home this morning since I am going in to work tonight and basically working 3rd shift (5pm tonight to 6am tomorrow) so when my period showed up today I had all the time in the world to call RMIA and get everything I needed to know to get things started. Much easier doing it at home when I have free time than trying to squeeze it in after work and before the clinic closes!
I got my dates and they are as follows:
11/16/12 - start birth control pills
11/21/12 - start Dexamethasone at bedtime
11/27/12 - have baseline ultrasound appointment at FVRM in the morning
11/27/12 - if things go well at the baseline, stop BC pills
12/1/12 - start stimulation meds
12/10/12 - TENTATIVE retrieval date at RMIA in Woodbury, MN
Notice no Lupron injections! Could this get any easier? That is my new protocol that we are trying this time around. Let's hope it works! Retrieval could be less than 1 month away. How exciting!
Also funny timing that I am to go in for my baseline ultrasound on the 27th, which is the day AFTER all my crazy busy work stuff kind of comes to a halt. I travel to Eldridge, IA on 11/26, and will get home around midnight. I usually go in to work late the next morning, so I will be able to have my baseline that morning without feeling rushed to get in to work. Perfect! I will be doing stim meds when we hand out Holiday Hams to the employees on 12/6/12, so I will be careful with lifting things since my ovaries will probably be screaming around that time, but it will all work out. If things go well, we could be at transfer either on the 13th or the 15th of December, then the 2-week wait would time out right around Christmas/New Year's. Hopefully Santa brings us good news and we have a lot to celebrate when we ring in 2013!
Since I'm home this morning I watched VH1's "Behind the Music" - Pink. God, I love Pink. I think she is so cool, so pretty, so smart, so tough, so FUNNY! It was so adorable to watch her talk about how her daughter Willow had softened her, and that her life just revolves around that little girl. Inspiring. She also spoke about her break up with Carey Hart and how had they not gone through that they wouldn't be as strong as they are today - which totally resonates with me. What a good start to a great morning.
Now I am off to Shopko and then I'll try to sneak in a nap before my 13 hour night. Thank goodness for Donuts at the driver's meeting at 3am - it is what I will be living for tonight. I think I can have the donut, then go home and SLEEP all day tomorrow until my Weight Watchers meeting at 5:30pm. Hoping to see another good loss - I will report back tomorrow with that news. Perfect timing to take some pounds off before starting all my fun bloat-inducing meds in the weeks to come! If it means Rob and I, like Pink and Carey, can end up with our own little child to take our breath away and steal our hearts, then of course it's worth it! Let the bloating begin!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
My last post...
So a few of you were "concerned" for me after my last blog post. :) I'm fine! The thing I was referring to doesn't really have anything to do with me. I just didn't want to throw the names out there of the people it was regarding because it wasn't my place to share that info with all those who read my blog. I just was trying to show how it affected me. It's still a bummer, but it is what it is, and we'll all move on. As for me though - I'M FINE! :) But thanks for caring! :)
As for the period...still not here...but I have been all over Google (go figure) and have learned that it is common for it to be significantly late after a failed IVF cycle. It may day 40-50 days for it to get here, and today I'm on day 35...so we'll just continue to wait and see. No wonder the nurse at RMIA said "Call us when you get your mid to late November period..." she knows better than I do how this stuff all works!
As for weight watchers - I lost 4.6 my first week back. YES!!!!!!!! I have a LONG way to go but I'm not looking at it that way. Every little bit counts. We did go out to dinner last night and I have NO CLUE how to count what I ate, so I just decided to get over it and move on to today. Keep up with the exercise and stay on my points target the rest of the week. However, there will be donuts at work on Thursday morning....hmmm. . I guess I better plan to fit one of those in!
As for the period...still not here...but I have been all over Google (go figure) and have learned that it is common for it to be significantly late after a failed IVF cycle. It may day 40-50 days for it to get here, and today I'm on day 35...so we'll just continue to wait and see. No wonder the nurse at RMIA said "Call us when you get your mid to late November period..." she knows better than I do how this stuff all works!
As for weight watchers - I lost 4.6 my first week back. YES!!!!!!!! I have a LONG way to go but I'm not looking at it that way. Every little bit counts. We did go out to dinner last night and I have NO CLUE how to count what I ate, so I just decided to get over it and move on to today. Keep up with the exercise and stay on my points target the rest of the week. However, there will be donuts at work on Thursday morning....hmmm. . I guess I better plan to fit one of those in!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Life throws curveballs and I was usually picked last in gym class
Ever get news that just punches you in the gut and lingers there for days? I heard news yesterday that made me so sad. I'm not going to share what that news was, but many of you that read this blog already know what I'm talking about. I think sometimes news shakes us to our core because it's something we just don't know how to process. It's news that changes our world from the way we knew it to be. When I think about this news I wonder if there was anything I could've done better to prevent it from happening. I think about how even though it had begun to seem inevitable, there was that speck of deliriousness that had me convinced it would never happen. It leaves me wondering where do we all go from here? And I think - why am I making this about me so much? How I wish I could go back in time, for so many reasons of course, but right at this moment for this one in particular, and make things right - so that the outcome would be so very different. All of this floods through my mind and yet it almost feels like this isn't really happening. As time marches on it will feel more real, but for me, it has been a whirlwind of emotions the past 2 days. Many memories have played through my head. It is as if I'm mourning a death. A great loss of what should have been. If it is a sad experience for me, I can only hope it is playing out more favorably to those directly affected. I can certainly understand how it would positively benefit them, but I can't wrap my mind around its reality. I hope that we all find peace as we move forward. And we will. And yes, that is how tortured I really feel. I guess I'm just a sensitive weirdo. :) (And no, this is not about the election, you sillies!)
Anyway - update on the fertility front. Still no period. Period, oh period, where for art thou, period? As soon as that starts we can get the ball rolling. I wait in great anticipation for its arrival.
Saturday is the 13 year anniversary of my sister's passing. Hard to believe. So much time has gone by, yet I remember a lot of it pretty clearly which is interesting because usually my memory sucks. I guess when you really want to hold onto a memory, you are able to. Those last few days and her funeral are what I hold on to to remember that she existed, that she once walked this earth. Of course I remember beautiful memories of her being younger and healthy and vibrant too, but I can't let go of what I remember of her disease and of us saying our final goodbyes to her. The other day I stared at my nephews picture on Facebook. It is incredible that he exists only because of her. Her two boys are still a living part of her even though she has been gone from this life for so long. I hope she is doing well where she is now, and I hope she can help nudge things in the right direction for Rob and I to have a family! :) I mean, it has to help to have such close ties with an angel, don't you think?
I started Weight Watchers again last week. I joined on Thursday and tomorrow night is my first weigh in. Many of you won't believe this but I have NOT stepped on my bathroom scale at all since I joined. I am going to weigh in tomorrow at my meeting and see the results of my efforts then, and only then. I used to torture myself with multiple daily weigh ins and if I had been working hard on my weight and didn't see a change on the scale I would get so defeated. So, I'm leaving it to the WW meeting room to be the place where I will do my weigh-in dirty work. The rest of the week I will blissfully eat right and exercise and hope like heck it is working!
Lastly, looking at the pictures of the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, seeing the picture posted at work of a friend's lost puppy, seeing people spew their angry rants and raves on Facebook over who was or wasn't elected President, remembering the cancer battle my sister endured that eventually took her life, and learning about the news I mentioned in paragraph one, it just made me realize that infertility isn't the worst thing out there...for Rob and I it may be the worst thing right now, but we've dealt with worse things than this, and tough times may even be on the horizon. I just have to remember that everyone is going through something. This is our something. We continue hold on to our patience, and our faith, and our belief, and with your support we are making it through this storm. No matter what the outcome, at least he and I will always have each other, and that I know for sure. :)
I think Pink's lyrics spoke to me the most today in our quest to have a baby...where there is desire there is gonna be a flame, when there is a flame someone's bound to get burned, but just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die, you've gotta get up and try try try. And that is what I intend to do.
Anyway - update on the fertility front. Still no period. Period, oh period, where for art thou, period? As soon as that starts we can get the ball rolling. I wait in great anticipation for its arrival.
Saturday is the 13 year anniversary of my sister's passing. Hard to believe. So much time has gone by, yet I remember a lot of it pretty clearly which is interesting because usually my memory sucks. I guess when you really want to hold onto a memory, you are able to. Those last few days and her funeral are what I hold on to to remember that she existed, that she once walked this earth. Of course I remember beautiful memories of her being younger and healthy and vibrant too, but I can't let go of what I remember of her disease and of us saying our final goodbyes to her. The other day I stared at my nephews picture on Facebook. It is incredible that he exists only because of her. Her two boys are still a living part of her even though she has been gone from this life for so long. I hope she is doing well where she is now, and I hope she can help nudge things in the right direction for Rob and I to have a family! :) I mean, it has to help to have such close ties with an angel, don't you think?
I started Weight Watchers again last week. I joined on Thursday and tomorrow night is my first weigh in. Many of you won't believe this but I have NOT stepped on my bathroom scale at all since I joined. I am going to weigh in tomorrow at my meeting and see the results of my efforts then, and only then. I used to torture myself with multiple daily weigh ins and if I had been working hard on my weight and didn't see a change on the scale I would get so defeated. So, I'm leaving it to the WW meeting room to be the place where I will do my weigh-in dirty work. The rest of the week I will blissfully eat right and exercise and hope like heck it is working!
Lastly, looking at the pictures of the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, seeing the picture posted at work of a friend's lost puppy, seeing people spew their angry rants and raves on Facebook over who was or wasn't elected President, remembering the cancer battle my sister endured that eventually took her life, and learning about the news I mentioned in paragraph one, it just made me realize that infertility isn't the worst thing out there...for Rob and I it may be the worst thing right now, but we've dealt with worse things than this, and tough times may even be on the horizon. I just have to remember that everyone is going through something. This is our something. We continue hold on to our patience, and our faith, and our belief, and with your support we are making it through this storm. No matter what the outcome, at least he and I will always have each other, and that I know for sure. :)
I think Pink's lyrics spoke to me the most today in our quest to have a baby...where there is desire there is gonna be a flame, when there is a flame someone's bound to get burned, but just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die, you've gotta get up and try try try. And that is what I intend to do.
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