Skip to main content

IVF CD6 and Basil Pesto Recipe

I went to the doctor today for my IVF monitoring. The doctor himself did my scan and not a lab tech. I was out of there in record time it was so quick! Anyway, I have 3-4 follicles on one side and about 4 on the other side. They are all still small and growing at the same rate, so that's a good thing. We don't want any "leaders" as I call them, eating up all my meds for their own growth potential. I just listened to my voice mail from the doctors and I'm to continue with the alternate nights of 2 Bravelle and 1 Menopur and the other night 3 Bravelle only. I go back again on Saturday. Also, can you believe that DH currently has a business trip to NYC during the window that I may have retrieval??? I love him, but I knew this would happen. We'll work it all out though. He said he could just go in the afternoon if they want to retrieve in the morning, but then we'd need to have a friend pick up Phoebe from summer camp, as I won't be cleared to drive that day because of the anesthesia. It's only one day during the possible retrieval window, so we'll see. I'll mention it to the office and maybe they can try to make me one day vs. the other.

Alright, I never got to this yesterday, so I'll make sure I post today. My pesto recipe is so not precise. This is definitely something I cook by feel. But the base recipe shows me proportions of things and it's from a cookbook called "Sauces". Here's the ingredients and proportions and then my version of preparation instructions:

Basil Pesto Sauce
1 lb fresh basil
5 garlic cloves
3 TB toasted pine nuts
1 TB coarse salt
8 oz parmesean cheese (I use locatelli romano)
1 cup olive oil

Toast the pine nuts in a 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes. Shake the pan every now and then to ensure no areas toast too much. You just want to release the flavor of the pine nuts.

In a food processor, combine the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, salt and grated cheese. I usually never have an entire pound of basil, so I usually downgrade all the measurements appropriately. Chop all this up in the food processor until you have it ground to a small consistency. Keep blending and add the olive oil until it looks like the right consistency - this is the "feel" part, sometimes I feel it wrong and add more olive oil later. I like to refrigerate this overnight to let the flavors combine and blend.

Comments

sara said…
Thanks for the good story about your aunt, it always is nice and gives me hope to hear about stories with happy endings! I wanted to wish you the best of luck on your cycle ahead. I hope your follicles behave also and no pesky lead ones emerge. During our cycle we started out with like 12 follicles, but a few pesky lead ones took out and we only ended up getting 5 follicles that were mature. But all five made it and we transfered two and frozr the three. One is now our little girl spot in there! So here's to some good scans ahead and a great cycle!
Happy said…
That's great! May them all be good quality and fertilize!
Great attitude about setting up the ER with DH's business trip, that's what friends are for! BTW, haven't met Gwen Stefani, but I will be on the lookout next time I go "over the hill to the Westside". (Translated, over the Hollywood hills into the Beverly Hills/Bel Air area where her and Gavin live.) I wonder if she will deliver at Cedars Sinai again, thinks she's in town for her second babe. Thanks for the update- Go Follies Go! Be Happy Follies, Grow! (see never was a cheerleader, but work with me here)
RBandRC said…
Very glad to hear that things are progressing nicely! :)
Kate said…
Sorry to hear about the potential hiccup in your retrieval with your husband being away. I hope that isn't the day. Thanks for the recipe! I usually make pesto by "feel" too but I think yours is better. I always forget to add cheese and we all know cheese makes everything better. Just like butter :-) Yum!
Nadine said…
Wow that could be a pain if your DH is away, hope it all works out. Good to see that all the follicles are behaving and no one is being greedy for the drugs
Rhea said…
Thanks for the recipe! Sounds yum. I am glued to your blog for updates. All my fingers are crossed.
I love pesto. Love it so much. It is soon pesto making time. I also cook by feel. Do you freeze your extra pesto?

8 follies sounds great. You sound like you are in a great frame of mind too!
Anonymous said…
Sounds like your follies are progressing nicely. Good luck to you. And don't worry about DH being gone, these things have a way of working themselves out. I try not to let those things get me all worked up anymore as it seems to do what it's supposed to anyhow.

Good Luck!!

Popular posts from this blog

Bouncing Back From Depression

I've been pretty depressed lately. Monday I hit my all time low, which coincidentally was also my dad's birthday. Needless to say I'm sure I'm on his not favorite child list as I forgot to call him I was so depressed. This whole two mortgage thing with no contract in site is really frustrating. Especially when lots of other houses on our block are selling. Our house is really very lovely, just no pool. It has a really flat backyard perfect for putting a pool in though. Anyway, on Monday, Mom called to make sure I didn't forget to call Dad and tell me she read my blog over the weekend and sent me an email about it. Sorry, Mom, I still have yet to check my emails to see what you had to say. Mom told me I needed to bury a statue of St. Joseph in the yard to get it to sell quicker. Wish I knew that sooner. I was going to wait for her to mail me hers, but yesterday I got really mad at myself and wanted to do something to improve my situation, so I found the nea...

Bad Dreams Go Away Magic Spell

Wow! Two posts in one day!!! I just had to blog about this. Indigo Girl had posted about her daughter having bad dreams and looking for advice. I had to post what we do in our house to keep away bad dreams. I have to admit it was one of my most brilliant mommy moments as I pulled this one out of my a$$ when I came up with it. When Phoebe was about 3 or 4 years old, she started complaining about nightmares. I knew it was half true and half stalling for bedtime. She has always been very into witches, wizards and spells (heck she was named after the character on Charmed and my due date was Halloween), so I came up with a magic spell on the spot to keep away bad dreams. I figured all it had to do was rhyme. I will share it with you all and feel free to try it if you need it: Bad dreams, bad dreams go away In Phoebe's dreams she must play She should dream of ice cream and cake Until the morning when she wakes She loves it! She still asks for it sometimes if she's had a ni...

The Boys Are Here!!!

I'm trying to post this from the hospital Internet access, but I will be able to do this announcement better justice from home, but it is a very odd, but short birth story. They came so fast and furious there was nothing anyone could do. But the boys are in the NICU and doing well. They were born at 31 weeks 5 days gestation on 5/29/2009. I will post their names and information (no comments on names unless you like them, LOL): Baby A: Thomas Michael III born at 2:09 AM Weight - 3 lbs, 15 1/2 oz Length - 18 inches Baby B: Liam Jonathan born at 2:20 AM Weight - 4 lbs, 1.4 oz Length - 17 1/4 inches long Just a word on their health, Thomas's breathing is doing well and he did not need any help in that area so far. I had two steroid shots from when I was admitted until before they were born, so I think that helped. Liam was intubated and given surfactant when he arrived in the NICU and is now on CPAP, although he can't stand having the tubes in his nose. Both are under t...