Joys In My Life

Since I'm not planning to do any home pregnancy tests, as I'm afraid I'll get a false positive from all the hcg boosts they had me do, all I've got for hope right now are the multiple pregnancy symptoms we all check for. Here's the list I've got right now: 1. Having to get up and pee in the middle of the night - Check! Past several days I wake up at 3 AM, go pee and go back to bed for a few more hours. 2. Boobs hurt - Check! Then again I'm on tons of progesterone right now, but they are quite sore. Don't like Leo hugging me too tight right now. 3. Really tired. Kind of. I haven't fallen asleep in the car on Leo this weekend, which is usually a good indicator, but it may be too early for that. I have been getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night and I can't help it that I seem to need it. And I'm yawning all day for the past few days. 4. Sex dreams - Check! Happened last night for the first time since the pregancy this summer. I ...

I want to admit here publicly that even though we've been trying for another child for many years now, I've secretly been scared if we succeed. I mean, Phoebe is 8 years old now and so independent. There haven't been sleepless night and diapers in our household for quite a long time. I know Leo agrees with me, because he's more vocal about his nervousness of going back to babyhood, but I haven't voiced my concerns too much because I've been so gung-ho about getting to the successfully pregnant part. But reading the blogs of others with babies and toddlers has gotten me excited to experience that again. The wonder, the newness of everything to them, the first smile the first wave goodbye, the way their whole body shakes when they are so excited to see you (Phoebe is quite blaze when we show up. It's not that exciting anymore. Unless she's been at her grandparents for a week. Then she's excited to see us.). I'm really hoping Tuesday shows an...

All eight embryos were still doing great! I can't believe it all went so well! They transferred three embryos at noon today. I'm on bedrest until I go to Phoebe's show tomorrow. I'll be taking it easy the rest of the weekend. We'll have company, but I think playing cards or Catch Phrase aren't really very taxing. Leo will cook for us, but we're thinking of going out to dinner tomorrow. I got all the cleaning done last night and went to Harvest Market to shop for some good veggies, fruit and tea. So I'm ready for some downtime now. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that one or more of these embies stick!

I just listened to my voice mail box at the doctor's office. My embryo transfer time is scheduled for 12 noon tomorrow (Friday). All 8 embryos are still going strong. I'm curious if he'll transfer 2 or 3 of the best quality tomorrow. I'm really pleased with what I've heard so far this month as I had lots that stopped growing during our last IVF cycle. I only had two left to work with at the end and only one of them was a good quality. The other was fair. I'll get to ask about the quality from the doctor tomorrow. I'm very excited!!!!!! I'll be working from home tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday is a holiday at my office (Veteran's Day). However, Phoebe has her big show tomorrow and we'll have company all weekend. I'll enjoy the company and I'll be taking it easy - no helping Phoebe get ready for the show. I'll leave that to Leo. Leo is a good cook too, so as we have company, he'll take care of our guests with food and dr...

I hope you all voted out there! I was working from home today, as Phoebe's school was closed and we had a lot of non-work stuff to do. First at quarter to 8 in the morning the HVAC guy came to do the heater maintenance for the year. After he left, we worked a little and then went to the polls. I haven't mentioned it lately, but I have been waivering on who to vote for president. I still went back and forth until last night when I finally made up my mind. I liked the way I put it to Phoebe this morning that where as the last presidential election, I didn't like either candidate, this election the other person could win and I'd be perfectly fine. I don't know who DH voted for, he wouldn't tell me. Which is funny, because I kept telling him that we shouldn't tell each other who we were voting for. He kept wondering why not, and then when I told him who I voted for, he wouldn't tell me, LOL! The other thing we had to do today was go back to the orth...

I just listened to my voice mail at the doctor's and they left the fertilization report for today. Out of the 13 eggs they retrieved, 8 were mature, they used ICSI for fertilization on those 8 and I currently have 8 embryos! Let's all keep our fingers crossed they all grow and at least 2-3 of them look fabulous for a 5-day transfer on Friday!!!!

So my egg retrieval was Sunday morning at 7:30 AM!!!! We had to be there at 7 AM for prep work. Phoebe slept overnight at a friends' house, so we didn't have to drag her out before she's used to even being up. At least we had an extra hour for the fallback from daylight savings time, so we still got some sleep. When I first got there, the doctor did a quick scan because my estrogen in my bloodwork the day before had dropped, but he also said everyone's did, so he thought there was a problem in the lab. He checked me out and proclaimed me ready. I was a little nervous and kept talking while they were putting me under. Apparently I kept talking, so they kept giving me more anesthesia. I should've warned them I talk in my sleep sometimes. Yesterday seemed to be one of those sometimes. They got 13 eggs. I'll find out today how many were really mature and how many fertilized from the fertilization report. Most likely, my transfer will be this Friday with ...

I went in for another ultrasound and bloodwork today monitoring my follicle growth. I have sizes anywhere from 22 to 14. I seem to have between 6 to 8 on each side. I didn't see the doctor today, but the two ultrasound techs that usually take care of me. They said Sunday is a possibility, but that they will discuss it with the doctor. They said they do Sunday retrievals and transfers when they have to. I must admit they all must really love what they do to work 7 days a week. But then again, I'm sure they don't get called out in the middle of the night, so it is just day work. But I still give them all credit. I only work 5 days a week and I'm not sure I'd like to do more than that. I feel all bloated and want to go to the ladies more frequently than usual. I think my ovaries are squeezing my bladder in between them, LOL! I feel like my brain is total mush. I'm having a hard time concentrating and it's difficult to get anything out of this brain ...

I'm so happy the Phillies won last night. I'm wearing my red sweater today over a white button down shirt. Phoebe wore her pink Phillies t-shirt with a white long-sleeve t-shirt under it. And I'm sure she wore her Phillies jacket to school too! We let her stay up late last night to watch the game. She was really getting into it, and when you knew they were only playing 2 1/2 innings, you knew it shouldn't be a long game. And boy was that a far cry from the 1993 Phillies that was playing in this series! To end the game striking him out was awesome! I remember Mitch Williams from 93 and let me tell you, watching him pitch, you'd be biting your nails until you got to your elbow! He was such a loose cannon pitching. Watching the pitcher that ended the game last night (I can't remember his name now) was so calming. You felt like he had things under control. It must be that statue of William Penn they put on the Comcast Tower to help break the curse. It h...

Well things are truckin' right along. I've got at least 4 follicles developing on both sides. Hopefully they all have good genetics and will develop into healthy embryos. I go back Wednesday morning for ultrasound and bloodwork. Not sure if they'll have me do HCG on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night yet. BTW, it's Merlot's fault I've been so absent the past several days. She recommended I read the books that True Blood is based off of and she was so right. I just finished "Dead Until Dark" which is the first book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries and it's awesome! I have to say I think I like it even better than Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles because the vampires in these books can have sex! I mean that's truly what we all wanted to do with Lestat, right? Oh, is that just me? I can now say I know who is killing all the girls in Bon Temps. I'll have to keep it secret from Leo as he's been watching the show with me. Hope...

I had my first scan and bloodwork after 3 days on Bravelle and Menopur. All is cooking away nicely. There are several small follicles developing, nothing is growing faster than the rest. So no leaders to suck up all the meds so far. I'll be calling into my voice mail box at the doctor's office this evening for the next few nights of instructions and then I have another bloodwork and ultrasound scan of the ovaries on Monday morning. My sinuses seem to be clearing up, but I don't want to speak too soon on that. Considering I'm already on Zithromax, you'd think that wouldn't be a problem, but I've had a sinus headache for the past few days. This is day 3. I woke up with it, but I put some Vicks under my nose before I got in the shower this morning and then I took some Tylenol on my way to work. By the time I got to work I felt human again and it's continued all day. It's 3:30 in the afternoon here and I still feel OK. Let's hope it stays t...

I almost forgot to take my shot last night. Leo is out of town for work and after Phoebe and I got back from her ice skating class, we had some leftover birthday cake and I was wiped. My brother called me last night and talking to him I remembered that I had forgotten my shot and antibiotic. So I went downstairs and took care of the shot and went back upstairs. Later while I was watching TV, I realized I forgot to take the antibiotic, so I went back downstairs and took care of that. I think my brain is all fuzzy because I've been suffering through a lot of sinus pressure all day for the past few days. I don't know what's causing it other than the change in temperatures outside. It's been very brisk out lately. I still have all this sinus pressure right now, but I'm getting a lot done at work today, so I'm feeling a bit better on the "time issues" thing I posted about yesterday. I just wish sometimes I could press the slow play or pause button ...

AF showed up on Sunday, so tomorrow is my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork for IVF#2. I'm really excited and trying to be as positive as possible. I still need to give up my one cup of coffee at work, I had my last glass of wine last night at Phoebe's birthday party, and I'll be working hard to eat healthy and take all my vitamins. Phoebe's birthday party went great yesterday! It was total chaos and I loved it. It was a costume party and all the kids looked great. We dressed in costume too and had a great time. The kids played a pass the pumpkin game kind of like playing Hot Potato and they loved playing freeze dancing to Halloween music. Leo got them silly string and let them play with it until it ran out. My SIL helped clean it all up from the floor, LOL! Leo is the best cook. He made hot roast beef sandwiches and a sausage, bean and hominy soup that was to die for. The kids had pizza and breadsticks that I ordered. Some of the parents of the friends from...