I spoke too soon about the moods... I am feeling very annoyed and pissy today. I think it's showing, too. O'well. I'm still very happy though. Can you have all of those emotions at the same time? Yea, I guess so.
This dumb open house at work is getting on my nerves, too. We were supposed to have our current students as drivers and now somehow I have been conned into driving one of these vans and I'm not happy about it. I just keep thinking hopefully I'll be giving them my 2 weeks notice soon and be gone by the end of April. Why can't someone just drive me or better yet I'll walk or drive myself.
I called and scheduled a Swedish*Massage for April 7, which is the day before retreival. I decided this was a perfect day. I took the whole day off work b/c I will be doing pre-op stuff in the morning and thought relaxing to a massage in the evening was perfect way to lead into retreival. Yay! I wasn't sure at first where I was going to fit it in as it's unlocked, but then I realized I was getting accupuncture right before and right after transfer, so I better get some relaxation before retreival, too.
I want to go home and go to bed. My poor puppies are going to be shut up all evening and I'll be exhausted when I get home, but I'll still have to play with them and feed them before I go to bed. Godiva is already being a baby and knows Eric's leaving. I'm sure my moods are going to spike tomorrow being that I won't get too much sleep tonight. Great...
Chocolate sounds so yummy right now. Anything chocolate! I think I'll make a trip downstairs and get some chocolate milk...
I'm rambling...
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
CD 4
4 Shots Down! I did my first shot tonight by myself. It wasn't so bad, but Eric is definately much better than me! Mine bled a tiny bit even. It's all good though & I know I can do them by myself tomorrow night and Friday morning, maybe even Friday evening. I'll be glad to get back to just pinching and looking away though. :D Plus it's better when Eric is really involved.
So far I'm not feeling much. I noticed my very first shot spot is bruising a bit, but it's still light in color. I think we decided to do the smiley face under my belly button or at least that's the route it's going so far. I've been happy every morning this week and haven't been too grouchy or moody. I do feel a little evil though. I did something yesterday out of spite of my co-worker and thoroughly enjoyed it, too. :D I'm a little more tired, but not a lot more than usual although I think I could go to bed now and it's only 7 pm. I'm sure the next couple of days will drain me as I'll be out a little later Thursday & Friday. Plus I have to work Saturday morning. Oh and we have to get up early Sunday and head to Indy so no sleeping in for me anytime soon...
So far I'm not feeling much. I noticed my very first shot spot is bruising a bit, but it's still light in color. I think we decided to do the smiley face under my belly button or at least that's the route it's going so far. I've been happy every morning this week and haven't been too grouchy or moody. I do feel a little evil though. I did something yesterday out of spite of my co-worker and thoroughly enjoyed it, too. :D I'm a little more tired, but not a lot more than usual although I think I could go to bed now and it's only 7 pm. I'm sure the next couple of days will drain me as I'll be out a little later Thursday & Friday. Plus I have to work Saturday morning. Oh and we have to get up early Sunday and head to Indy so no sleeping in for me anytime soon...
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Sidebar addition
Ok, so I updated my sidebar again. I decided to just put a calendar up that you can click on and see what's going on w/ my cycle... Yes I'm anal like that... I will change periodically. For instance I don't know when all of my ultrasounds are schedule next week yet.
<<<----- Go take a peak!
<<<----- Go take a peak!
CD 3
I survivived! I was really dreading the first shot, but it wasn't too bad. We decided to do them in my belly as it was too hard to pinch an inch in my thighs. I know it's hard to believe. ha ha I definitely have enough to pinch on the inside, but not so much on the tops and outsides. So stomach it is. Eric is doing the shots for me with the exception of a couple I have to do myself b/c I'll be away from the house Thursday & Friday for our department open house. Overall not too bad though.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Collection
Here's the start of my collection... I will get the rest next week. No sense in stock piling it when I don't need it until then. Helps keep it from getting too overwhelming, too. :D
CD 2
We got up this morning, got ready and headed to Indy. Right off the bat we realized we forgot the checkbook, so we did a u-y and ran back home. Thankfully we hadn't got very far. We got there around 10:15 and went up to the lab to get our blood drawn for FSH, E2 and LH. We were also supposed to pay our money, but the price the lab quoted was less than what Dr. B's office had quoted, so I wanted to make sure that was correct before I wrote a check. They tried calling Dr. B's office, but G was busy, so lab lady said we could just come back up and pay after our meeting with G. She took me back to the room and asked me if I have any problems getting my blood taken. I told her that I've been told my veins roll and she told me normally when people say that the nurses just aren't very experienced. I just laughed and said ok, but don't dig around in there... Well, guess what? My vein rolled and she missed and had to dig around. She was gentle about the digging though. It wasn't too bad. On our way out I asked when the results would get to Dr. B's office and she said 1:00. It was only 10:30.
We headed down to Dr. B's office and waited there for a bit before G called us back. We talked about a few things and she gave us 2 pages to fill out while she checked to see if the ultrasound room was free. She came back and said we could go on back for the u/s. I had figured I would be getting one of these. No biggy. She told me to undress and hop up on the table. She started with my uterus and said it looked great, taking a few measurements. Next was my left ovary, again great. Then over to the right side she said, "Oh, what's that doing there?" I panicked and asked what and she said I had a "huge residual cyst". I said obviously that's not good to which she confirmed. She went on to say that she needed to talk to Dr. B. We weren't out yet, but we might have to skip this month and get it next month. There were some options. I sat in there, by myself as Eric had stayed in the conference room, for what seemed like 20 minutes. (I'm sure it was maybe 5) Finally she came back in and said that in order to be excluded from the study it had to be 25mm. Mine was 23.2mm. However it would likely compromise the production of eggs on that side. They'd really like to aspirate it, but she had to make some calls and see if/when I could get it done for cheap. She told me to get dressed and meet her back down at the conference room. I wanted to start balling right then, but I maintained myself, got dressed and headed down the hall.
G was already talking to Eric and the look on his face made me even that much closer to breaking down, but we both were ok. She said to go ahead and finish some paperwork and she was going to make some calls. We had some options.
1) They could aspirate it
2) They could let it be
3) They could put me on B/C for a few weeks and then do IVF next month
She left us to think about it (and stare at the pic of this huge cyst I named F-er) and went to make some phone calls.
Finally she came back and said that she was still making calls and we should go grab lunch and come back. That way they would have my blood work back and really everything was really contingent on what those numbers were.
Lunch sucked. I didn't know what to say. I was in shock. I tried to keep positive, b/c it wasn't over yet, but I just felt horrible. We grabbed lunch at this little pub down the road and headed back.
When we got back they were finishing up lunch so we waited a bit then G came for us. First thing out of her mouth was "It's a go". It didn't even sink in what she meant by it. She said my levels had come back great (FSH-8.9, E2-28, LH-6.7) They decided the cyst was non-functioning and that it should disolve itself. They were going to keep an eye on it though. BIG RELIEF!!!
So onwward we went. We signed a bunch of documents, went over the injections and training and talked about what was going to happen. We also let her know we want to do the accupuncture so they are going to get that scheduled. We start injections tomorrow and go back on Sunday for more blood work and an u/s. The u/s' will continue through next week. Retreival will be 4/8 and transfer on 4/11. And to add to the excitement our 3 year wedding anniversary is 4/12!!
<<<----I'm adding a timeline over in the sidebar to track all this, too.
This cycle is a GO!!! Yay!
We headed down to Dr. B's office and waited there for a bit before G called us back. We talked about a few things and she gave us 2 pages to fill out while she checked to see if the ultrasound room was free. She came back and said we could go on back for the u/s. I had figured I would be getting one of these. No biggy. She told me to undress and hop up on the table. She started with my uterus and said it looked great, taking a few measurements. Next was my left ovary, again great. Then over to the right side she said, "Oh, what's that doing there?" I panicked and asked what and she said I had a "huge residual cyst". I said obviously that's not good to which she confirmed. She went on to say that she needed to talk to Dr. B. We weren't out yet, but we might have to skip this month and get it next month. There were some options. I sat in there, by myself as Eric had stayed in the conference room, for what seemed like 20 minutes. (I'm sure it was maybe 5) Finally she came back in and said that in order to be excluded from the study it had to be 25mm. Mine was 23.2mm. However it would likely compromise the production of eggs on that side. They'd really like to aspirate it, but she had to make some calls and see if/when I could get it done for cheap. She told me to get dressed and meet her back down at the conference room. I wanted to start balling right then, but I maintained myself, got dressed and headed down the hall.
G was already talking to Eric and the look on his face made me even that much closer to breaking down, but we both were ok. She said to go ahead and finish some paperwork and she was going to make some calls. We had some options.
1) They could aspirate it
2) They could let it be
3) They could put me on B/C for a few weeks and then do IVF next month
She left us to think about it (and stare at the pic of this huge cyst I named F-er) and went to make some phone calls.
Finally she came back and said that she was still making calls and we should go grab lunch and come back. That way they would have my blood work back and really everything was really contingent on what those numbers were.
Lunch sucked. I didn't know what to say. I was in shock. I tried to keep positive, b/c it wasn't over yet, but I just felt horrible. We grabbed lunch at this little pub down the road and headed back.
When we got back they were finishing up lunch so we waited a bit then G came for us. First thing out of her mouth was "It's a go". It didn't even sink in what she meant by it. She said my levels had come back great (FSH-8.9, E2-28, LH-6.7) They decided the cyst was non-functioning and that it should disolve itself. They were going to keep an eye on it though. BIG RELIEF!!!
So onwward we went. We signed a bunch of documents, went over the injections and training and talked about what was going to happen. We also let her know we want to do the accupuncture so they are going to get that scheduled. We start injections tomorrow and go back on Sunday for more blood work and an u/s. The u/s' will continue through next week. Retreival will be 4/8 and transfer on 4/11. And to add to the excitement our 3 year wedding anniversary is 4/12!!
<<<----I'm adding a timeline over in the sidebar to track all this, too.
This cycle is a GO!!! Yay!
Weekend
Our weekend was pretty good. Friday night we grabbed dinner and hung out at home. It was a pretty lazy evening.
Saturday I got up and lounged around for a bit. Then I got a burst of energy. I decided I was going to clean the house. I worked on dusting the living room and cleaning up some things (like the mass accumulation of magazines my MIL bring us). Then I worked on the rest of the house. After that I worked on sanding some holes that I patched 3 or 4 weeks ago. :D The major ones were in the bathroom that we painted months ago. We've just been lazy and procrastinating. After sanding I painted them and also around the top of the tub where Eric had put caulking. I spent the afternoon being lazy after that. I finally started my period in the evening and was excited!! My sister came over and we made spaghetti for dinner.
Sunday we decided to go see a movie since we really needed to get out of the house. We headed over to see V*for*Vendetta. It was awesome! After the movie we made a quick trip to Pet*Smart and headed home. We grabbed pizza for a late lunch/early dinner and ended up watching Into*the*Blue. However we were apparently grand central station as everyone decided they were going to call us. It tooks us almost 3 hours to watch the movie, but it was good. I watched Cold*Case and then headed to bed.
This is going to be an exciting week for us. We will be leaving shortly to head to Indy for blood work, training & drugs. Please think about me and keep everything crossed in hopes that our blood work comes back fine. It would be a sad trip back to Indy to return those drugs... I'll update this afternoon after we get back and I know the results! Hope you had a great weekend, too!
Saturday I got up and lounged around for a bit. Then I got a burst of energy. I decided I was going to clean the house. I worked on dusting the living room and cleaning up some things (like the mass accumulation of magazines my MIL bring us). Then I worked on the rest of the house. After that I worked on sanding some holes that I patched 3 or 4 weeks ago. :D The major ones were in the bathroom that we painted months ago. We've just been lazy and procrastinating. After sanding I painted them and also around the top of the tub where Eric had put caulking. I spent the afternoon being lazy after that. I finally started my period in the evening and was excited!! My sister came over and we made spaghetti for dinner.
Sunday we decided to go see a movie since we really needed to get out of the house. We headed over to see V*for*Vendetta. It was awesome! After the movie we made a quick trip to Pet*Smart and headed home. We grabbed pizza for a late lunch/early dinner and ended up watching Into*the*Blue. However we were apparently grand central station as everyone decided they were going to call us. It tooks us almost 3 hours to watch the movie, but it was good. I watched Cold*Case and then headed to bed.
This is going to be an exciting week for us. We will be leaving shortly to head to Indy for blood work, training & drugs. Please think about me and keep everything crossed in hopes that our blood work comes back fine. It would be a sad trip back to Indy to return those drugs... I'll update this afternoon after we get back and I know the results! Hope you had a great weekend, too!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
CD 1
Such a relief to finally be saying that... Come on FSH & E2 levels! Let's get this started.
Just a note that I won't be home until the afternoon tomorrow, so don't expect an update until then.
Just a note that I won't be home until the afternoon tomorrow, so don't expect an update until then.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Finally!!!!!!!
I finally started just a while ago. I've never been so freaking happy to start my period. Since I started later this evening CD 1 isn't actually until tomorrow, so I won't log it in FF until tomorrow. Called G and have an appointment at 10:30 Monday morning for blood work. Then after that I go to Dr. B's office for drugs & training! Yay! This is really happening... Assuming my FSH and E2 levels are fine... Always something to worry about, right?
Congrats!
Special Congratulations to Jamie & Lance who tied the knot this weekend! Can't wait for their reception down here in May!
Check out their pics here
Check out their pics here
Friday, March 24, 2006
I'm really NOT alone
OK, so I know that there are "20 total participants", but I assume we'll never know the other "19" involved. I've spent the last several weeks searching for different "keywords" on the study we are about to participate in. Searching for anything really... Other participants, press releases, any sort of information I can find! So far I've only found the same articles over and over... Well, if you can imagine, I actually happened upon a message board today and found someone who is also participating in the study. Yay! I don't feel so isolated now. I'm keeping her anonymous b/c well, I don't have her permission to talk about her, not that I would anyway. Isn't that exciting though? Someone going through the very same thing as me! I know, I know. People do this all the time, but seriously we are going through something a little different than regular IVF. Wow! I'm elated! Keep us both in your thoughts, pretty please!
Any weekend plans for you gals?
I hope to spend my weekend being doubled over in pain w/ cramps and flo-age... :D I know you all hope that's how I'm spending me weekend, too and I know you mean it in the best way possible! hee hee
No Friday Five or Feast this week. I don't feel like taking my mind away from imagining up symptoms that flo is coming. :D I swear I've had cramps yesterday AND today when I woke up, but they keep disappearing about mid-morning...
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....
Any weekend plans for you gals?
I hope to spend my weekend being doubled over in pain w/ cramps and flo-age... :D I know you all hope that's how I'm spending me weekend, too and I know you mean it in the best way possible! hee hee
No Friday Five or Feast this week. I don't feel like taking my mind away from imagining up symptoms that flo is coming. :D I swear I've had cramps yesterday AND today when I woke up, but they keep disappearing about mid-morning...
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....
Same as yesterday
Temp that is... Still no sign... Do I have cramps? A little. I don't know which is worst, waiting for AF to see if you are pregnant or waiting so you can start invitro...
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Operation Panty Patrol
If you check my chart you'll notice I decided to temp these last couple of days so I can start my morning off right so to speak. It's obvious we've had quite the dip today, so as you can guess from the title, I will be on "Panty Patrol" anxiously awaiting the arrival of my dearest flo. I think I've officially checked the panties 158,564,995 times so far this morning. I'm having some slight cramps so I'm guessing she'll be coming at some point today... Still waiting... Let's hopes she arrives in the next couple of hours...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
My records have been received... Eric's, oops... **updated**
Finally I confirmed with Dr. B's office that all of my records have been received. Unfortunately they forgot Eric's bloodwork, so I made an urgent call to Dr. S's office who said they would fax it out today. I just hope they follow through. So here's the breakdown of all of the information I got today...
- Apparently my pap came back abnormal or ASCUS (atypical cells of undetermined significance), which they then tested for HPV as routine procedure. Thankfully that came back negative, so we are in the clear. Apparently another patient had the same thing and they cleared them, so there won't be any problem with mine.
-Gonorrhea & Chlamydia test came back negative/fine.
-My blood work-up came back fine.
-I am a type A- blood type. This is vital information to know. Basically if Eric is A+ then we have a 50/50 percent of our baby being A+. If it is a + then my body would produce antibodies that would reject it and I could miscarry. If I miscarried then I need to let whoever does my D&C know I am A- and they will give me a shot, which has antibodies so I won't reject future pregnancies. Unfortunately they don't normally do this until after you miscarry. Although from some research I've done on-line it looks like they might be able to give me small doses of the shot at certain points in the pregnancy, too. So it doesn't seem to be quite as scary as when I was first told, but still a little scary. I guess I understand the whole idea of it, but it's sorta confusing, so if anyone else has anymore information or is in the same situation, please e-mail me or leave a comment.
We also went over where I was at in my cycle again. As I think I said before G is going to be gone this weekend. Here's a breakdown of possibilities of start dates. Of course all this really depends on when AF decides to show...
-If I start Thursday morning it would be CD 1, then we would go to Dr. B's office on Friday for bloodwork, drugs & training.
-If I start Thursday afternoon/evening, they would consider Friday CD 1. We'd go down on Friday for drugs & training and back on Saturday for bloodwork.
-If I start Friday morning, again it would be CD 1 and we'd go down that afternoon for drugs & training and then back again on Saturday for blood work.
-If I started Friday afternoon (making Saturday CD 1) or later we'd go down on CD 2 for bloodwork and go back in Monday morning for drugs & training.
Obviously the best would be to make a single trip for both meaning I'd need to start sometime Thursday or Friday morning. I guess we'll see how that plays out. Maybe for once AF will arrive early and please us all.
I think I covered it all. We talked about so much and my brain is overwhelmed right now. Back to sitting and waiting on my period...
**Updated to add**
G called back this evening and she got Eric's blood work. Hooray for a fast response at Dr. S's office. Anyway, everything on him came back fine and we found out he is O+.
I asked her a little more about the A- thing and she said it won't make me miscarry my first pregnancy. They just need to know in case I start showing signs of rejection. Also regardless I will get the shot when I deliver because if the baby is '+', then I will have already built up some antibodies that could effect future pregnancies. I'm relieved that it won't directly affect my first pregnancy. She understood my concern and questions, so that was good, too. :D
- Apparently my pap came back abnormal or ASCUS (atypical cells of undetermined significance), which they then tested for HPV as routine procedure. Thankfully that came back negative, so we are in the clear. Apparently another patient had the same thing and they cleared them, so there won't be any problem with mine.
-Gonorrhea & Chlamydia test came back negative/fine.
-My blood work-up came back fine.
-I am a type A- blood type. This is vital information to know. Basically if Eric is A+ then we have a 50/50 percent of our baby being A+. If it is a + then my body would produce antibodies that would reject it and I could miscarry. If I miscarried then I need to let whoever does my D&C know I am A- and they will give me a shot, which has antibodies so I won't reject future pregnancies. Unfortunately they don't normally do this until after you miscarry. Although from some research I've done on-line it looks like they might be able to give me small doses of the shot at certain points in the pregnancy, too. So it doesn't seem to be quite as scary as when I was first told, but still a little scary. I guess I understand the whole idea of it, but it's sorta confusing, so if anyone else has anymore information or is in the same situation, please e-mail me or leave a comment.
We also went over where I was at in my cycle again. As I think I said before G is going to be gone this weekend. Here's a breakdown of possibilities of start dates. Of course all this really depends on when AF decides to show...
-If I start Thursday morning it would be CD 1, then we would go to Dr. B's office on Friday for bloodwork, drugs & training.
-If I start Thursday afternoon/evening, they would consider Friday CD 1. We'd go down on Friday for drugs & training and back on Saturday for bloodwork.
-If I start Friday morning, again it would be CD 1 and we'd go down that afternoon for drugs & training and then back again on Saturday for blood work.
-If I started Friday afternoon (making Saturday CD 1) or later we'd go down on CD 2 for bloodwork and go back in Monday morning for drugs & training.
Obviously the best would be to make a single trip for both meaning I'd need to start sometime Thursday or Friday morning. I guess we'll see how that plays out. Maybe for once AF will arrive early and please us all.
I think I covered it all. We talked about so much and my brain is overwhelmed right now. Back to sitting and waiting on my period...
**Updated to add**
G called back this evening and she got Eric's blood work. Hooray for a fast response at Dr. S's office. Anyway, everything on him came back fine and we found out he is O+.
I asked her a little more about the A- thing and she said it won't make me miscarry my first pregnancy. They just need to know in case I start showing signs of rejection. Also regardless I will get the shot when I deliver because if the baby is '+', then I will have already built up some antibodies that could effect future pregnancies. I'm relieved that it won't directly affect my first pregnancy. She understood my concern and questions, so that was good, too. :D
Giving ample warning to my work...
I scheduled a meeting with my 2 co-workers for 4:30 pm to talk about some upcoming appointments I would be having. I spent the day going over things in my head (what to tell them, what not to tell them, how to say "don't ask me questions", etc.) Finally 4:30 rolled around and I gave them the details they needed and left out the ones they didn't. Overall it went ok. Of course I could only give them warning and told them I would know more details next week. My female co-worker asked some questions and I just told her I didn't want a lot of questions because it is too much pressure and said that I would tell her stuff that I felt comfortable with. In fact, none of our family (besides my in-laws) are even aware of what we are about to go through and for that reason. She said that she could still ask and I said, "yes, but I might ignore you or tell you I'm not discussing it" and smiled. I think she got the point. Of course she also brought up multiples to which I replied twins at most... She asked why and so I told her they are only transferring only 2 embryos. She just said "oh." This is the co-worker that drives me crazy, too.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Record Transfer - Round 2
I called Dr. S's office this morning to find out if my records had been faxed to Dr. B's office. I was put on hold forever, and then they realized I was talking to the wrong person so they forwarded me to the nurse's station. The nurse was clueless! (surprise!) She didn't even know if my blood work had come back. They were going to pull my file and call me back.
Finally got a call back & they just received the rest of the blood work results today, so they will be faxing everything this afternoon. Not sure why it took an entire week to get my lab results when it should only take 1-2 days, but whatever. They have it now and Dr. B's office will have it this afternoon. Now I just hope everything is ok for Dr. B's office. I guess I'll find out this afternoon or tomorrow b/c I imagine they will call if it's not. If not then I'll call tomorrow afternoon b/c I'm anal like that...
I'm starting to stress a little now... I'm getting a fever blister... This time next week I will likely be injecting drugs into myself. YIKES!
Finally got a call back & they just received the rest of the blood work results today, so they will be faxing everything this afternoon. Not sure why it took an entire week to get my lab results when it should only take 1-2 days, but whatever. They have it now and Dr. B's office will have it this afternoon. Now I just hope everything is ok for Dr. B's office. I guess I'll find out this afternoon or tomorrow b/c I imagine they will call if it's not. If not then I'll call tomorrow afternoon b/c I'm anal like that...
I'm starting to stress a little now... I'm getting a fever blister... This time next week I will likely be injecting drugs into myself. YIKES!
Hair, Caidence, Anal Probes, Chicken Poop, Pacers & Speed Humps
Saturday morning I got up and headed to C'ville first thing. I visited with my dad & Peg for a while and she trimmed my hair. I wanted it more angled, shorter in back and angled longer in the front, but she didn't angle it enough, so I wasn't extremely pleased, but it was ok. She knew I wasn't as pleased with it, but it's also different when I get home and actually fix it myself. After cutting my hair we headed to town to meet sister K & Caidence for lunch. Isn't she the cutest?
We played with her and ate. She was cranky b/c she's having problems eating. She has reflux real bad and actually spits up everything she eats. Needless to say K's going to make her an appointment this week at the children's hospital. It was fun seeing her though regardless. I kept telling her I was going to photoshop her bib to say "I love my aunt!" Oh and do you see her teeth coming in? So cute!
After lunch I met up with Danialle. We stopped by a local tattoo shop to schedule an appointment for some tattoos we are getting done in the future. The guy was super nice and we were pleased with his work and such, so we scheduled the appointment. He is new in town and has had several people cancel out on him, so he's requiring a $20 downpayment, which was fine, too. Neither of us had cash, so we headed over to the atm to get some real quick. As I was pulling out of the bank, I got sidetracked by this...
which caused me to turn the WRONG WAY down a one-way street!!! You'll notice all the cars are parked facing me and there is even a car turing towards us... We got so tickled that I even did it that I pulled a U-y and then pulled back into the bank, so we could get a picture for evidence. By this time we were in tears from laughing so hard. Good times.
After we dropped off our $20 deposit, we headed over to the local ice cream shop for some cherry & vanilla cokes. YUM! We then headed out to visit my brother's grave & cleaned up some leaves that were around it. (I miss him loads!!)
I had mentioned that I really wanted to dye my hair again and so we decided to head to Wal*Mart so she could help me pick out some hair color. We found a color that was quite bold and got out of that crazy store fast. After leaving there I dropped her off to her husband and headed home myself.
Eric & I ran a few errands when I got home, then my sister came over and dyed my hair this color...
It's really dark and had a hint of red in it. I like it, but it's definitely bold. We made some healthy chilli (using V8, ground turkey, & wheat pasta) and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Sunday we picked up Ashlee & Hugh and headed to the Pacers game. We had intended to get them to a Colts game, but weren't able to get the tickets, so they were content with going to see the Pacers. We saw this on our way there...
How'd you like to rub that on your lips? GAG!
Here's a couple pics from the game.
Finally we headed home, exhausted from our weekend. We dropped them off and took a picture of this...
We see this sign all the time and keep saying we wanted to get a picture. So it just so happened we had our camera with us as we passed this time.
We spent the evening on the couch and went to bed early.
We played with her and ate. She was cranky b/c she's having problems eating. She has reflux real bad and actually spits up everything she eats. Needless to say K's going to make her an appointment this week at the children's hospital. It was fun seeing her though regardless. I kept telling her I was going to photoshop her bib to say "I love my aunt!" Oh and do you see her teeth coming in? So cute!
After lunch I met up with Danialle. We stopped by a local tattoo shop to schedule an appointment for some tattoos we are getting done in the future. The guy was super nice and we were pleased with his work and such, so we scheduled the appointment. He is new in town and has had several people cancel out on him, so he's requiring a $20 downpayment, which was fine, too. Neither of us had cash, so we headed over to the atm to get some real quick. As I was pulling out of the bank, I got sidetracked by this...
which caused me to turn the WRONG WAY down a one-way street!!! You'll notice all the cars are parked facing me and there is even a car turing towards us... We got so tickled that I even did it that I pulled a U-y and then pulled back into the bank, so we could get a picture for evidence. By this time we were in tears from laughing so hard. Good times.
After we dropped off our $20 deposit, we headed over to the local ice cream shop for some cherry & vanilla cokes. YUM! We then headed out to visit my brother's grave & cleaned up some leaves that were around it. (I miss him loads!!)
I had mentioned that I really wanted to dye my hair again and so we decided to head to Wal*Mart so she could help me pick out some hair color. We found a color that was quite bold and got out of that crazy store fast. After leaving there I dropped her off to her husband and headed home myself.
Eric & I ran a few errands when I got home, then my sister came over and dyed my hair this color...
It's really dark and had a hint of red in it. I like it, but it's definitely bold. We made some healthy chilli (using V8, ground turkey, & wheat pasta) and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Sunday we picked up Ashlee & Hugh and headed to the Pacers game. We had intended to get them to a Colts game, but weren't able to get the tickets, so they were content with going to see the Pacers. We saw this on our way there...
How'd you like to rub that on your lips? GAG!
Here's a couple pics from the game.
Finally we headed home, exhausted from our weekend. We dropped them off and took a picture of this...
We see this sign all the time and keep saying we wanted to get a picture. So it just so happened we had our camera with us as we passed this time.
We spent the evening on the couch and went to bed early.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Blood work from hell.... Part Two....
I called Dr. B's office this afternoon to find out if they had received the paperwork from Dr. S's office yet although I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. Had to leave a voicemail...
G called me back and they have not received anything from Dr. S's office yet. I told her I would call them and she should have it tomorrow or Monday at the latest. Dr. S's office is slow obviously. She didn't seem concerned as long as they had it when I started. She told me that they had a recent retrieval of 23 eggs! Wow! They have also had great fertilization with the participants who have gone though so far, too. Their goal is a minimum of 10 good eggs retrieved and fertilization of 8-9 eggs. That sounds just fine to me. She asked me again where I was in my cycle. (You would think she'd write down an estimate since its all based around that...) Apparently G is going to be away the weekend I’m expecting my period, but it wouldn't be a big deal as one of the nurses would just get me set up. She also said that on Day 2 when we came in for the blood work they could just go through injection training and give me all of the meds that day. If something happened and my levels weren't right then we would just bring everything back to them. This made me happy because that's one less trip there and back. She said that if for some reason my levels weren't right then we still had another month to try and be part of the study. Woohoo! Finally she made sure we were aware that when we go in on the Day 2 testing we had to pay our out-of-pocket that day, which is fine. We have it in the bank and ready. I told her I'd call her again on Monday afternoon if I hadn't heard from her that she'd received anything.
I immediately called Dr. S's office. There are out today (figures), but I was able to talk to his receptionist. She said they were waiting on my blood work (surprise). She said it's likely that he got it today, but just hadn't looked at it yet and gotten it to my file. She had my records waiting to be faxed, but since I put on my form that I wanted that blood work faxed, too they had to wait on it. Dr. S is in surgery tomorrow, but he usually goes through some paperwork so they hope to get it out tomorrow or Monday. I will say that Dr. S knows it's urgent, so I am certain he wouldn't hold it up on his end.
Still more waiting... I'll be glad to just have to worry about the Day 2 testing...
G called me back and they have not received anything from Dr. S's office yet. I told her I would call them and she should have it tomorrow or Monday at the latest. Dr. S's office is slow obviously. She didn't seem concerned as long as they had it when I started. She told me that they had a recent retrieval of 23 eggs! Wow! They have also had great fertilization with the participants who have gone though so far, too. Their goal is a minimum of 10 good eggs retrieved and fertilization of 8-9 eggs. That sounds just fine to me. She asked me again where I was in my cycle. (You would think she'd write down an estimate since its all based around that...) Apparently G is going to be away the weekend I’m expecting my period, but it wouldn't be a big deal as one of the nurses would just get me set up. She also said that on Day 2 when we came in for the blood work they could just go through injection training and give me all of the meds that day. If something happened and my levels weren't right then we would just bring everything back to them. This made me happy because that's one less trip there and back. She said that if for some reason my levels weren't right then we still had another month to try and be part of the study. Woohoo! Finally she made sure we were aware that when we go in on the Day 2 testing we had to pay our out-of-pocket that day, which is fine. We have it in the bank and ready. I told her I'd call her again on Monday afternoon if I hadn't heard from her that she'd received anything.
I immediately called Dr. S's office. There are out today (figures), but I was able to talk to his receptionist. She said they were waiting on my blood work (surprise). She said it's likely that he got it today, but just hadn't looked at it yet and gotten it to my file. She had my records waiting to be faxed, but since I put on my form that I wanted that blood work faxed, too they had to wait on it. Dr. S is in surgery tomorrow, but he usually goes through some paperwork so they hope to get it out tomorrow or Monday. I will say that Dr. S knows it's urgent, so I am certain he wouldn't hold it up on his end.
Still more waiting... I'll be glad to just have to worry about the Day 2 testing...
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
How do you like me now??
If you'll remember a while back I asked for helping changing up my blog. Well, the wonderful and creative Miss Milenka offered up her services. She came up with this lovely new look! I'm loving the new look. Please let me know how you like it as well. Or if something changed that you loved from my previous look or a color that's bugging you. I've changed a few things (adding, deleting, tweaking) so I may well have not copied everything over right. :D My mind is going about a gazillion different ways right now. ha ha ha
Thanks again Milenka! You are the greatest!
Thanks again Milenka! You are the greatest!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Blood work from hell...
Yesterday we went to get our blood work for infectious disease, HIV, hepatitis, etc.... What a nightmare!!! My favorite blood drawing nurse was not in much to my disappointment. Nurse I (for idiot) took us back and we were back there for nearly 1 hour! She had to enter all of our information in the computer. It took her f-o-r-e-v-e-r to figure out what exactly I was supposed to get done. You would think she had never done this before... At one point she even had to call the lab to find a code of one of the blood draws. Finally she turned around to take my blood. One down, one to go... Eric & I switched seats and she started going over all of the stuff he needed tested for. It was same as mine minus a couple of things. At some point she decided she did something wrong and went back to mine and printed new labels. She kept mumbling things and said she hoped we got it right. I honestly think she changed my insurance company to Eric's (we each have our own). She entered Eric's information and finally took his blood, too. We also found out that they still had me under my old doc at that clinic and I'm sure I've had blood taken since I changed over a year ago... Needless to say, I'm calling Dr. B's office on Thursday and if they haven't received my information I'm going in with my blood boiling... :D I guess if this is the worst thing that happens then it isn't so bad.
IVC - Part 1 or what's been going on in my life the last few weeks...
And now the moment you've all been waiting for.... I present to you...The Whole Story-IVC Study
This is from my journal that I started after finding out about the study so each day is who I was feeling that day.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The Article - Where it all started...
It all started with this article. I was intrigued and forwarded it to my two friends & thought to myself that I'd talk to Eric about it that evening. A few minutes later I got an e-mail from Eric forwarding me the link to the article. A few minutes after that my friend Danialle replied and told me to find out how to get involved in the study. I called Eric and we talked about it. I made him call the clinic to find out details of how to get involved because I was at work. He called me back and gave me the link for the study details. He said I should look over it, make sure I meet the criteria, then call to make an appointment for a consultation. We met all of the criteria except a few, but I decided to call anyway. I got voicemail, left my information and waited for them to call back.
That afternoon, I got a call back from G. She is the coordinator for this study. We went over a few things like the study criteria, etc. I told her that there were a couple of things we either hadn't had done or where out of date and she said that it was not a big deal, that they would just need them to be done before we could be included. She told me they were taking 15 patients for the study, plus 5 and a waiting list of 5. (This was a bit confusing and still is, but I went with it.) I asked her if essentially I'm #7 on the waiting list and #22 on the actual list. She said yes. This scared me a bit and I knew having 7 drop out of a group of 15 was a long shot, but it was worth it to us. She asked me when we were available for a consultation and we settled on February 28.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Consultation
I took the whole day off work. I had therapy that morning and then we headed to Indy. I was so nervous that I couldn't eat breakfast. I had hot chocolate, then stopped at Star*buck's for a mocha. My stomach was in knots. We realized after we left the house that we left the address and directions at home, but thought we would be ok as we were pretty sure we knew where it was. We stopped at Olive*Garden for lunch, then headed to Indy to find the office. As soon as we found them, we hit the bathrooms, located where we needed to go and then had an hour before our appointment. We drove around the neighborhood as it's a real ritzy one. Finally it was time to head back.
When we got there I checked in at the receptionist. The look on her face had me worried. She asked me if I was a study patient and I told her I talked to G last week and set up this consultation for today. She told me G had to go to the other office for an emergency, but she'd call her. By this time I was getting mad. She asked me how far we had driven and I told her an hour. Finally she got in touch with G, who confirmed my appointment and told her that one of the nurses could go over everything with us. RELIEF! She gave me a bunch of stuff to fill out. I was upset because it asked all these questions that I didn't have the answers to. I had asked G last week if I needed to bring anything and she said no, so I wasn't prepared. I filled them out to the best of my knowledge and figured we could get the other information later. I handed it back in and shortly thereafter the nurse called me.
Nurse A took us back to this little room and we started going over all the criteria. The tests we needed to get done to be included are as follows:
* Day 3 FSH and E2 Blood Work
* Negative Cervical Cultures for Gonorrhea & Chlamydia, which they said I should have done at my March 1 pap
* Semen analysis - By their specific lab because of strict criteria
* Uterine Cavity Assessment by hysteroscopy - Could be done in their office
* Negative Wet Prep or Cervical Culture for Bacterial Vaginosis - Could be done in their office
* Normal Baseline Pelvic Ultrasound - Could be done in their office
We went over the exclusion criteria, which we passed with flying colors. They mentioned that they liked that I was young, making me wonder if I was the youngest person interested. Next was a short explanation of the procedure. It was basically IVF with a twist. The twist was the little device they put inside you for 3 days to allow fertilization rather than fertilizing the egg in a Petri dish. We went over the drugs I'd be on (Gonal-F, Cetrotide, Ovidrel, Crinone 8% Progesterone Gel). Then we chatted briefly about some other things like the opportunity to freeze the left over embryos for future, acupuncture, etc. Finally we got the meet Dr. B.
Dr. B was a nice man, funny even. He joked about our names, of course asking us what we planned on naming our kids. He showed us the device and went over in a little greater detail exactly what the procedure entailed. They retrieve 10 eggs, which are put into the device with sperm & media. They put the device inside you for 3 days then remove it & compare all the embryos and transfer the best 2 back into you. The study started in January and they have performed it on 2 people so far. He said what they are finding is that the embryos are thriving better inside the body as opposed to in a lab. Basically because with them being inside you they are at your body's constant temperature and are exposed to your own body's gases. Then he said something that nearly made my heart stop... They were taking 20 patients and could even get a few more spots later. G had told me last week that they were only taking 15, so I was super excited. Also 2 patients had already been eliminated.
Could we now be within the 20???
Finally the meeting was over. Nurse A told me G would be calling me the next day, Wednesday, to go over a few more things with me. They would schedule the semen analysis and the UTA, culture, and U/S. Then all we would be waiting on would be the Day 3 FSH & E2.
We left there on cloud 9! We had such a positive feeling from the whole appointment. It's still a waiting game, but we feel like we are much closer. We sort of feel like if all our tests come back and we are included then we'll be just that, included, as opposed to being on the waiting list.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Phone Call to G
Nurse A had told me that if I hadn't heard from G by the afternoon to call the office. So about 1:45, I couldn't wait any longer and I called. Apparently G had to stay in the other office an additional day and wouldn’t be back in the Indy office until Thursday. I said that was fine, that I understood and that I would just wait for her call on Thursday. No big deal.
The Pap
Ironically enough I had this scheduled before the study happened and it worked out perfectly. I got right in to see Dr. S without waiting too long. The nurse took my weight and blood pressure and asked me if there was anything more I need to discuss with the doctor. I promptly said I needed to get the Gonorrhea & Chlamydia test and a culture for Bacterial Vaginosis. I'm sure her first thought was that I had been "exposed", so I told her that I was involved in a study and that they needed this done. She just said ok, told me to get undressed and the doctor would be right in. She was right. I didn't sit on the table, but maybe 2 minutes before Dr. S was in. (I knew I liked this doctor!) He asked me the reasoning for those additional tests and I explained what was going on. He said doing them was fine. He asked if this was the study with Dr. B and I immediately grew excited because he knew about it. Woohoo! He seemed to think it was a good thing. I also told him that I would be calling when my period starts again to schedule the Day 3 FSH & E2 tests needed. He did my pap and the tests and said the culture looked fine and I was on my way.
Phone Call with G
The home phone rang shortly after 8 pm. I was on my cell phone. I hear Eric talking and I assume it's a family member, but then he comes in and says it's Dr. B's office. I end my cell phone call and grab the phone. G said that she got the impression that I was expecting a call from her today, Wednesday. I explained that yes, Nurse A had said she would call, but that when I called and found out she was still at the other office, I just figured she'd call on Thursday. It was not a big deal. She proceeded to go over everything with me. First things first, Eric needed to get a semen analysis from their specific lab because they have strict criteria. I told her he would call first thing Thursday morning and schedule it for Monday or Tuesday of next week because we hadn't had intercourse recently. As we were going over the other stuff I mentioned my laparoscopy that I had done last April. She wants me to call Thursday morning and find out if they checked inside my uterus as well as this is common in most laps. If they did check it then I need to get that information faxed to their office. If they didn't, then after Eric's semen analysis comes back ok we need to schedule a hysteroscopy next week to check. They would basically shoot fluid into my uterus and do an ultrasound to make sure I'm fine. Prior to the hysteroscopy we would need to use protection when we have intercourse. I nearly fell over when she said this. In 2 1/2 years I've never been told to use protection! ha ha ha I obliged though. After that then we wait for my period to show. As soon as my period shows I call their office, go in for blood work on Day 2 to check my FSH & E2 and if those come back fine I would start the drugs on Day 3. I sorta freaked at this point. I said "So we are in if Eric's analysis comes back fine and my uterus is fine?" She said yes, that they were now taking 20 and I was on the list. Holy crap! This means I could be starting as early as the end of MARCH! We are already in the month of MARCH! She said that if I go in on Day 2 and my FSH isn't where they want it to be then I still have another chance when I start my period at the end of April. Oh My God! She said she'd talk to me tomorrow after I found out about the lab and my uterus and we'd go from there.
Then the phone rang again. It was G. She said she forgot to ask me the most important thing... "Why were we doing this?" I sat there speechless thinking isn't the reason obvious? We want to get pregnant! She must have sensed it because she said what she meant was if there was a reason for us not getting pregnant in the past. Oh! I said no, that we were considered "unexplained" that they had done some testing on us and did find mild endometriosis, but otherwise there was no reason why we weren't getting pregnant. She said good and told me she'd talk to me tomorrow.
After I got off the phone I freaked. I was so excited, yet guardedly optimistic. We still have a few tests to go through before we are actually IN, but we are even closer now! I think things will be on our side and allow us to go through this. Even if we don't get pregnant we are part of a HUGE clinical trial that is so amazing in itself. Of course I do want a child out of this, don't get me wrong.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Collecting Information and Making Appointments
Eric called and got his semen analysis set up for Monday, March 6 at 9:00 am.
I called Dr. S's office to find out when they did my laparoscopy last April if they also checked the inside of my uterus (hysteroscopy). I was fairly certain they hadn't, but needed to confirm. As I suspected they had not checked the inside.
So I called Dr. B's office to let them know the details of Eric's appointment and schedule a hysteroscopy for me. G said the results usually take 3-5 days, if I haven't heard anything by March 9 then to call her and she'd call to find out the results. If the results are good we could schedule my hysteroscopy for next Saturday, March 11.
Panic sets in with Eric because Dr. B's office said that two couples had already been eliminated due to semen analyses. That's why they are waiting on his results before they do the hysteroscopy on me. I don't think he has anything to worry about though.
Monday, March 6, 2006
The Semen Analysis
9:00 am – Eric went for his semen analysis. We should have the results in 3-5 days & definitely by the end of the week. G told me to call on Thursday if we hadn't heard from her yet, hopefully she'll call on Wednesday though!
Therapeutic Massage
I scheduled a massage in hopes of de-stressing myself a bit and helping to pass the waiting game away. It was great! She really massaged all of my tension spots. So much in fact, that my shoulders were actually sore after my massage. The rest of my body felt great though.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Wellness Screening
Had to go for a wellness screening at work at 7:45 pm. Work is offering this wellness screening and health assessment incentive. Just for doing both they send you a $100 check. Same goes for Eric. He had a complete physical last fall for his so we just had to call for the results. We are still waiting. My screening went well. My HDL was right on the line and I can increase that to a "normal" level by exercising a little more and eating more fruits and veggies. I thought I was already doing this, but I guess I'll do more. Overall I'm in good health though. Woohoo!
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Call from G - The Results
Shortly before 4 pm my cell phone rang and I realized it was Dr. B's office. Wow, a day earlier than I expected! I answered and it was G. They had got Eric's results and everything was fine with him. Next step was to get me in for the hysteroscopy. I told her Saturday, March 11 would work best for us so I wouldn't have to miss work. We had already planned on this day anyway. She said it would be Saturday morning, but she would call tomorrow with a specific time. I'm so excited! This was definitely an early birthday present for me! Yay!
Pedicure
Scheduled a Pedicure again to de-stress me a bit and help pass the waiting game away although since we got good news this afternoon I have a little relief. Now I just have to fret over Saturday's appointment. Now I can have pretty toes when I'm up in stirrups. ha ha ha I don't like feet, so I'd much rather let someone else pretty them up than have to do it myself and during the spring & summer (or in stirrups...) when I'll be showing them off it's even a better reason!
Thursday, March 9, 2006 - My Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Today I turned 27 years old. I don't feel old, so to speak, just a little older.
Call from G - Time Scheduled
G called late in the afternoon and let us know that we should be there at 10:30 am on Saturday for the hysteroscopy and ultrasound.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Hysteroscopy & Ultrasound
We arrived at about 10:10 or so. Eric stopped off at the restroom and I stood outside and took deep breaths. I had to have a partially full bladder so no restroom for me. I was so nervous!!! When we got upstairs there was a sign on the receptionist's window that said come on back, so we did. We finally got to meet G in person. She told us to have a seat in the consultation room and she'd be right in. Thankfully she eased my nerves because she came in and we started going over some stuff since she hadn't actually met with us yet. We were a little overwhelmed because there is some out of pocket expense. We knew of only the acupuncture expense. We found out that we have the cryo (freezing of remaining embryos) expense. They do not destroy embryos, which we found to be great news. Of course we'll have a storage fee and we can use them either for ourselves in the future or we can donate them. Also if I produce more than 10 eggs, we have the option of fertilizing those (above the 10 for the device) regularly in a petri dish and freezing the resulted embryos. We went over some stuff I needed to do this week. I have to call my doc and have my recent pap results sent to them with the G/C culture results. Also Eric & I have to get some blood work done to make sure neither of us has HIV or an infectious disease. Not major stuff, just routine I suppose.
Finally we were ready to do the hysteroscopy, which was a b-r-e-e-z-e! It was fast and painless and my ute was perfect. We talked a bit more and G said to call her on CD 1 and we were on our way.
I wasn't really sure what to say when we left. I was so overwhelmed that this is actually happening now. We've spent the last few weeks preparing for this moment, what with all the tests and documents, etc. and now we are basically clear to start the cycle as soon as I start my period! I think I'm going through all of the emotions right now. The money freaked me out and I was scared Eric would say that we just couldn't afford it. It isn't that much, in fact it's less than we would pay for an IUI, but Eric was totally on board though and we are both extremely excited about it.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Call to Dr. S - Records and Blood work
Called Dr. S's office and we get to go in today. I, of course, have to fill out some forms to give consent for them to send my records to Dr. B's office. We are also able to do our blood work there and have that sent over with the other documents. Hopefully that will be a little better for insurance purposes.
This is from my journal that I started after finding out about the study so each day is who I was feeling that day.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The Article - Where it all started...
It all started with this article. I was intrigued and forwarded it to my two friends & thought to myself that I'd talk to Eric about it that evening. A few minutes later I got an e-mail from Eric forwarding me the link to the article. A few minutes after that my friend Danialle replied and told me to find out how to get involved in the study. I called Eric and we talked about it. I made him call the clinic to find out details of how to get involved because I was at work. He called me back and gave me the link for the study details. He said I should look over it, make sure I meet the criteria, then call to make an appointment for a consultation. We met all of the criteria except a few, but I decided to call anyway. I got voicemail, left my information and waited for them to call back.
That afternoon, I got a call back from G. She is the coordinator for this study. We went over a few things like the study criteria, etc. I told her that there were a couple of things we either hadn't had done or where out of date and she said that it was not a big deal, that they would just need them to be done before we could be included. She told me they were taking 15 patients for the study, plus 5 and a waiting list of 5. (This was a bit confusing and still is, but I went with it.) I asked her if essentially I'm #7 on the waiting list and #22 on the actual list. She said yes. This scared me a bit and I knew having 7 drop out of a group of 15 was a long shot, but it was worth it to us. She asked me when we were available for a consultation and we settled on February 28.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Consultation
I took the whole day off work. I had therapy that morning and then we headed to Indy. I was so nervous that I couldn't eat breakfast. I had hot chocolate, then stopped at Star*buck's for a mocha. My stomach was in knots. We realized after we left the house that we left the address and directions at home, but thought we would be ok as we were pretty sure we knew where it was. We stopped at Olive*Garden for lunch, then headed to Indy to find the office. As soon as we found them, we hit the bathrooms, located where we needed to go and then had an hour before our appointment. We drove around the neighborhood as it's a real ritzy one. Finally it was time to head back.
When we got there I checked in at the receptionist. The look on her face had me worried. She asked me if I was a study patient and I told her I talked to G last week and set up this consultation for today. She told me G had to go to the other office for an emergency, but she'd call her. By this time I was getting mad. She asked me how far we had driven and I told her an hour. Finally she got in touch with G, who confirmed my appointment and told her that one of the nurses could go over everything with us. RELIEF! She gave me a bunch of stuff to fill out. I was upset because it asked all these questions that I didn't have the answers to. I had asked G last week if I needed to bring anything and she said no, so I wasn't prepared. I filled them out to the best of my knowledge and figured we could get the other information later. I handed it back in and shortly thereafter the nurse called me.
Nurse A took us back to this little room and we started going over all the criteria. The tests we needed to get done to be included are as follows:
* Day 3 FSH and E2 Blood Work
* Negative Cervical Cultures for Gonorrhea & Chlamydia, which they said I should have done at my March 1 pap
* Semen analysis - By their specific lab because of strict criteria
* Uterine Cavity Assessment by hysteroscopy - Could be done in their office
* Negative Wet Prep or Cervical Culture for Bacterial Vaginosis - Could be done in their office
* Normal Baseline Pelvic Ultrasound - Could be done in their office
We went over the exclusion criteria, which we passed with flying colors. They mentioned that they liked that I was young, making me wonder if I was the youngest person interested. Next was a short explanation of the procedure. It was basically IVF with a twist. The twist was the little device they put inside you for 3 days to allow fertilization rather than fertilizing the egg in a Petri dish. We went over the drugs I'd be on (Gonal-F, Cetrotide, Ovidrel, Crinone 8% Progesterone Gel). Then we chatted briefly about some other things like the opportunity to freeze the left over embryos for future, acupuncture, etc. Finally we got the meet Dr. B.
Dr. B was a nice man, funny even. He joked about our names, of course asking us what we planned on naming our kids. He showed us the device and went over in a little greater detail exactly what the procedure entailed. They retrieve 10 eggs, which are put into the device with sperm & media. They put the device inside you for 3 days then remove it & compare all the embryos and transfer the best 2 back into you. The study started in January and they have performed it on 2 people so far. He said what they are finding is that the embryos are thriving better inside the body as opposed to in a lab. Basically because with them being inside you they are at your body's constant temperature and are exposed to your own body's gases. Then he said something that nearly made my heart stop... They were taking 20 patients and could even get a few more spots later. G had told me last week that they were only taking 15, so I was super excited. Also 2 patients had already been eliminated.
Could we now be within the 20???
Finally the meeting was over. Nurse A told me G would be calling me the next day, Wednesday, to go over a few more things with me. They would schedule the semen analysis and the UTA, culture, and U/S. Then all we would be waiting on would be the Day 3 FSH & E2.
We left there on cloud 9! We had such a positive feeling from the whole appointment. It's still a waiting game, but we feel like we are much closer. We sort of feel like if all our tests come back and we are included then we'll be just that, included, as opposed to being on the waiting list.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Phone Call to G
Nurse A had told me that if I hadn't heard from G by the afternoon to call the office. So about 1:45, I couldn't wait any longer and I called. Apparently G had to stay in the other office an additional day and wouldn’t be back in the Indy office until Thursday. I said that was fine, that I understood and that I would just wait for her call on Thursday. No big deal.
The Pap
Ironically enough I had this scheduled before the study happened and it worked out perfectly. I got right in to see Dr. S without waiting too long. The nurse took my weight and blood pressure and asked me if there was anything more I need to discuss with the doctor. I promptly said I needed to get the Gonorrhea & Chlamydia test and a culture for Bacterial Vaginosis. I'm sure her first thought was that I had been "exposed", so I told her that I was involved in a study and that they needed this done. She just said ok, told me to get undressed and the doctor would be right in. She was right. I didn't sit on the table, but maybe 2 minutes before Dr. S was in. (I knew I liked this doctor!) He asked me the reasoning for those additional tests and I explained what was going on. He said doing them was fine. He asked if this was the study with Dr. B and I immediately grew excited because he knew about it. Woohoo! He seemed to think it was a good thing. I also told him that I would be calling when my period starts again to schedule the Day 3 FSH & E2 tests needed. He did my pap and the tests and said the culture looked fine and I was on my way.
Phone Call with G
The home phone rang shortly after 8 pm. I was on my cell phone. I hear Eric talking and I assume it's a family member, but then he comes in and says it's Dr. B's office. I end my cell phone call and grab the phone. G said that she got the impression that I was expecting a call from her today, Wednesday. I explained that yes, Nurse A had said she would call, but that when I called and found out she was still at the other office, I just figured she'd call on Thursday. It was not a big deal. She proceeded to go over everything with me. First things first, Eric needed to get a semen analysis from their specific lab because they have strict criteria. I told her he would call first thing Thursday morning and schedule it for Monday or Tuesday of next week because we hadn't had intercourse recently. As we were going over the other stuff I mentioned my laparoscopy that I had done last April. She wants me to call Thursday morning and find out if they checked inside my uterus as well as this is common in most laps. If they did check it then I need to get that information faxed to their office. If they didn't, then after Eric's semen analysis comes back ok we need to schedule a hysteroscopy next week to check. They would basically shoot fluid into my uterus and do an ultrasound to make sure I'm fine. Prior to the hysteroscopy we would need to use protection when we have intercourse. I nearly fell over when she said this. In 2 1/2 years I've never been told to use protection! ha ha ha I obliged though. After that then we wait for my period to show. As soon as my period shows I call their office, go in for blood work on Day 2 to check my FSH & E2 and if those come back fine I would start the drugs on Day 3. I sorta freaked at this point. I said "So we are in if Eric's analysis comes back fine and my uterus is fine?" She said yes, that they were now taking 20 and I was on the list. Holy crap! This means I could be starting as early as the end of MARCH! We are already in the month of MARCH! She said that if I go in on Day 2 and my FSH isn't where they want it to be then I still have another chance when I start my period at the end of April. Oh My God! She said she'd talk to me tomorrow after I found out about the lab and my uterus and we'd go from there.
Then the phone rang again. It was G. She said she forgot to ask me the most important thing... "Why were we doing this?" I sat there speechless thinking isn't the reason obvious? We want to get pregnant! She must have sensed it because she said what she meant was if there was a reason for us not getting pregnant in the past. Oh! I said no, that we were considered "unexplained" that they had done some testing on us and did find mild endometriosis, but otherwise there was no reason why we weren't getting pregnant. She said good and told me she'd talk to me tomorrow.
After I got off the phone I freaked. I was so excited, yet guardedly optimistic. We still have a few tests to go through before we are actually IN, but we are even closer now! I think things will be on our side and allow us to go through this. Even if we don't get pregnant we are part of a HUGE clinical trial that is so amazing in itself. Of course I do want a child out of this, don't get me wrong.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Collecting Information and Making Appointments
Eric called and got his semen analysis set up for Monday, March 6 at 9:00 am.
I called Dr. S's office to find out when they did my laparoscopy last April if they also checked the inside of my uterus (hysteroscopy). I was fairly certain they hadn't, but needed to confirm. As I suspected they had not checked the inside.
So I called Dr. B's office to let them know the details of Eric's appointment and schedule a hysteroscopy for me. G said the results usually take 3-5 days, if I haven't heard anything by March 9 then to call her and she'd call to find out the results. If the results are good we could schedule my hysteroscopy for next Saturday, March 11.
Panic sets in with Eric because Dr. B's office said that two couples had already been eliminated due to semen analyses. That's why they are waiting on his results before they do the hysteroscopy on me. I don't think he has anything to worry about though.
Monday, March 6, 2006
The Semen Analysis
9:00 am – Eric went for his semen analysis. We should have the results in 3-5 days & definitely by the end of the week. G told me to call on Thursday if we hadn't heard from her yet, hopefully she'll call on Wednesday though!
Therapeutic Massage
I scheduled a massage in hopes of de-stressing myself a bit and helping to pass the waiting game away. It was great! She really massaged all of my tension spots. So much in fact, that my shoulders were actually sore after my massage. The rest of my body felt great though.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Wellness Screening
Had to go for a wellness screening at work at 7:45 pm. Work is offering this wellness screening and health assessment incentive. Just for doing both they send you a $100 check. Same goes for Eric. He had a complete physical last fall for his so we just had to call for the results. We are still waiting. My screening went well. My HDL was right on the line and I can increase that to a "normal" level by exercising a little more and eating more fruits and veggies. I thought I was already doing this, but I guess I'll do more. Overall I'm in good health though. Woohoo!
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Call from G - The Results
Shortly before 4 pm my cell phone rang and I realized it was Dr. B's office. Wow, a day earlier than I expected! I answered and it was G. They had got Eric's results and everything was fine with him. Next step was to get me in for the hysteroscopy. I told her Saturday, March 11 would work best for us so I wouldn't have to miss work. We had already planned on this day anyway. She said it would be Saturday morning, but she would call tomorrow with a specific time. I'm so excited! This was definitely an early birthday present for me! Yay!
Pedicure
Scheduled a Pedicure again to de-stress me a bit and help pass the waiting game away although since we got good news this afternoon I have a little relief. Now I just have to fret over Saturday's appointment. Now I can have pretty toes when I'm up in stirrups. ha ha ha I don't like feet, so I'd much rather let someone else pretty them up than have to do it myself and during the spring & summer (or in stirrups...) when I'll be showing them off it's even a better reason!
Thursday, March 9, 2006 - My Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Today I turned 27 years old. I don't feel old, so to speak, just a little older.
Call from G - Time Scheduled
G called late in the afternoon and let us know that we should be there at 10:30 am on Saturday for the hysteroscopy and ultrasound.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Hysteroscopy & Ultrasound
We arrived at about 10:10 or so. Eric stopped off at the restroom and I stood outside and took deep breaths. I had to have a partially full bladder so no restroom for me. I was so nervous!!! When we got upstairs there was a sign on the receptionist's window that said come on back, so we did. We finally got to meet G in person. She told us to have a seat in the consultation room and she'd be right in. Thankfully she eased my nerves because she came in and we started going over some stuff since she hadn't actually met with us yet. We were a little overwhelmed because there is some out of pocket expense. We knew of only the acupuncture expense. We found out that we have the cryo (freezing of remaining embryos) expense. They do not destroy embryos, which we found to be great news. Of course we'll have a storage fee and we can use them either for ourselves in the future or we can donate them. Also if I produce more than 10 eggs, we have the option of fertilizing those (above the 10 for the device) regularly in a petri dish and freezing the resulted embryos. We went over some stuff I needed to do this week. I have to call my doc and have my recent pap results sent to them with the G/C culture results. Also Eric & I have to get some blood work done to make sure neither of us has HIV or an infectious disease. Not major stuff, just routine I suppose.
Finally we were ready to do the hysteroscopy, which was a b-r-e-e-z-e! It was fast and painless and my ute was perfect. We talked a bit more and G said to call her on CD 1 and we were on our way.
I wasn't really sure what to say when we left. I was so overwhelmed that this is actually happening now. We've spent the last few weeks preparing for this moment, what with all the tests and documents, etc. and now we are basically clear to start the cycle as soon as I start my period! I think I'm going through all of the emotions right now. The money freaked me out and I was scared Eric would say that we just couldn't afford it. It isn't that much, in fact it's less than we would pay for an IUI, but Eric was totally on board though and we are both extremely excited about it.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Call to Dr. S - Records and Blood work
Called Dr. S's office and we get to go in today. I, of course, have to fill out some forms to give consent for them to send my records to Dr. B's office. We are also able to do our blood work there and have that sent over with the other documents. Hopefully that will be a little better for insurance purposes.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Still rather boring...
I've thought about what I can talk about this afternoon and really it doesn't amount to much, so I'll just ramble a bit...
* We had dinner for my birthday last night at a Japanese*Steakhouse. We had the entire place to ourselves! It was quite nice. I got Chicken & Shrimp Teriyaki, Veggies & Fried Rice and it was wonderful.
* I got the cutest birthday card from my niece. She signed my card w/ her footprints. How sweet!
* We are still going through some tests before we are officially "IN" for the study. Hopefully I can share a little more with you next week. I've got to work out a few details. Wish me luck b/c tomorrow I go for a BIG test in the morning. Hopefully they say everything is perfect and give us the big "All Clear".
* I'm sorry I'm keeping you in suspense about this study. I feel weird talking about it until we are officially in. Even then I won't tell you the twist of it b/c it's so new. Let's say if I do a search on X, I find less than 10 results. I am keeping a journal tracking the "whole story" that I hope to post later, probably in a couple months. Mostly I just don't want to jinx ourselves. I hope you can forgive me for the time being.
* My co-worker (the one who "doesn't acknowledge Halloween") is on vacation all next week. I'm trying to be a little nicer b/c she did give me a $20 gift certificate to Star*buck's for my birthday...
* Still don't know anything about my old job. Hoping to hear something more next week. They definitely want me back, just not sure on all the details and if its going to be worth my while to go back.
* Sunday we are meeting my in-laws for my birthday. I really have had a whole week of celebrating this year. Considering it started last Saturday w/ a dinner at my Dad's and is going through this Sunday w/ lunch w/ my inlaws. Yay! Love Birthdays!
*I've been working on eating healthier and exercising more. Eating healthier is going pretty well. Exercising is not going so good b/c we've just been so busy. I know as soon as the weather changes the exercising will change, too. Recently I decided to stop eating red meat altogether. And the only pork I eat is in sausage gravy, but I think I can find turkey sausage to even substitute that. So essentially I eat turkey, chicken, and the occassional fish. I also am trying really hard not to eat fast food. So far it's going pretty good. I think I've only eating fast food a couple of times in the last 3 weeks or so. That's not bad. I'm feeling better in general. I'm s-l-o-w-l-y shedding a few pounds, too. I'm trying to be realistic about it, too and make it fit into our lifestyle, which includes eating out a few times a week. It's slow going, but it will come off. I have no doubt. And as long as I don't gain anything I'm fairly content with where I'm at. I say fairly b/c is anyone ever content with their weight? Ugh!
Ok, enough of my ramblings. Hope you all have a good weekend!
* We had dinner for my birthday last night at a Japanese*Steakhouse. We had the entire place to ourselves! It was quite nice. I got Chicken & Shrimp Teriyaki, Veggies & Fried Rice and it was wonderful.
* I got the cutest birthday card from my niece. She signed my card w/ her footprints. How sweet!
* We are still going through some tests before we are officially "IN" for the study. Hopefully I can share a little more with you next week. I've got to work out a few details. Wish me luck b/c tomorrow I go for a BIG test in the morning. Hopefully they say everything is perfect and give us the big "All Clear".
* I'm sorry I'm keeping you in suspense about this study. I feel weird talking about it until we are officially in. Even then I won't tell you the twist of it b/c it's so new. Let's say if I do a search on X, I find less than 10 results. I am keeping a journal tracking the "whole story" that I hope to post later, probably in a couple months. Mostly I just don't want to jinx ourselves. I hope you can forgive me for the time being.
* My co-worker (the one who "doesn't acknowledge Halloween") is on vacation all next week. I'm trying to be a little nicer b/c she did give me a $20 gift certificate to Star*buck's for my birthday...
* Still don't know anything about my old job. Hoping to hear something more next week. They definitely want me back, just not sure on all the details and if its going to be worth my while to go back.
* Sunday we are meeting my in-laws for my birthday. I really have had a whole week of celebrating this year. Considering it started last Saturday w/ a dinner at my Dad's and is going through this Sunday w/ lunch w/ my inlaws. Yay! Love Birthdays!
*I've been working on eating healthier and exercising more. Eating healthier is going pretty well. Exercising is not going so good b/c we've just been so busy. I know as soon as the weather changes the exercising will change, too. Recently I decided to stop eating red meat altogether. And the only pork I eat is in sausage gravy, but I think I can find turkey sausage to even substitute that. So essentially I eat turkey, chicken, and the occassional fish. I also am trying really hard not to eat fast food. So far it's going pretty good. I think I've only eating fast food a couple of times in the last 3 weeks or so. That's not bad. I'm feeling better in general. I'm s-l-o-w-l-y shedding a few pounds, too. I'm trying to be realistic about it, too and make it fit into our lifestyle, which includes eating out a few times a week. It's slow going, but it will come off. I have no doubt. And as long as I don't gain anything I'm fairly content with where I'm at. I say fairly b/c is anyone ever content with their weight? Ugh!
Ok, enough of my ramblings. Hope you all have a good weekend!
Friday Feast
Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how intuitive do you think you are?
Maybe a 6 or 7?
Soup
What is your favorite kind of gum?
I like cinnamon gum the best.
Salad
Name a CD you own that you would never get rid of.
Definitely my Power Ballads mix CD! ha ha ha
Main Course
When was the last time you said something you didn't mean?
Hmmm.... I'm not sure on this one. I'm a very blunt person and I don't normally need to take back anything I say. I say thing to Eric sometimes that come out wrong, but he knows what I'm meaning. :D
Dessert
What is the sum of the numbers in your birthdate?
3 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 9 = 38
This sort of a boring Friday Feast. I'll try to talk about something interesting this afternoon...
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how intuitive do you think you are?
Maybe a 6 or 7?
Soup
What is your favorite kind of gum?
I like cinnamon gum the best.
Salad
Name a CD you own that you would never get rid of.
Definitely my Power Ballads mix CD! ha ha ha
Main Course
When was the last time you said something you didn't mean?
Hmmm.... I'm not sure on this one. I'm a very blunt person and I don't normally need to take back anything I say. I say thing to Eric sometimes that come out wrong, but he knows what I'm meaning. :D
Dessert
What is the sum of the numbers in your birthdate?
3 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 9 = 38
This sort of a boring Friday Feast. I'll try to talk about something interesting this afternoon...
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Happy Birthday To Me!
Today I turn 27. Wow! I don't feel old, however I do feel a bit older. I enjoy birthdays, but this year I just don't seem quite as excited about it. Probably b/c I have a ton of other things to keep me quite occupied. Today is a windy, rainy day but my grams told me last night that the weather was the same some 27 years ago.
For my birthday I got the following so far:
*Kitchen Aid Food Processor
*Trail Shoes
*Pedicure
*Mullah $$ (with which I purchased a 2 new shirts)
*Several Cards
*DQ Ice Cream Cake (yummy!)
Now a few fun things...
What happened in 1979...
*Jimmy Carter is president of the US
*A major accident occurs at a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island near Middletown, PA
*An American Airlines DC-10 loses its engine and crashes seconds after takeoff, killing 275 people
*Hurricane David kills over 1200 in the US and the Dominican Republic
*Some 90 people, including 63 Americans, are taken hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran
*The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
*ESPN starts broadcasting
*Aaliyah, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Norah Jones, Heath Ledger, and Kate Hudson are born
*Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series
*Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl XIII (ironically a repeat in 2006, too)
*Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup
*Kramer vs. Kramer is the top grossing film
*Sophie's Choice by William Styron is published
*"My Sharona" by The Knack spends the most time at the top of the US charts
*The Facts of Life premiers (I'm knee deep in them myself right now...)
For my birthday I got the following so far:
*Kitchen Aid Food Processor
*Trail Shoes
*Pedicure
*Mullah $$ (with which I purchased a 2 new shirts)
*Several Cards
*DQ Ice Cream Cake (yummy!)
Now a few fun things...
| Your Birth Month is March |
 You love life and exude an outgoing, cheerful vibe. Blessed with a great sense of humor, you can laugh at adversity. Your soul reflects: Respect, desire, and generosity Your gemstone: Aquamarine Your flower: Daffodil Your colors: White and light blue |
What happened in 1979...
*Jimmy Carter is president of the US
*A major accident occurs at a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island near Middletown, PA
*An American Airlines DC-10 loses its engine and crashes seconds after takeoff, killing 275 people
*Hurricane David kills over 1200 in the US and the Dominican Republic
*Some 90 people, including 63 Americans, are taken hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran
*The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
*ESPN starts broadcasting
*Aaliyah, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Norah Jones, Heath Ledger, and Kate Hudson are born
*Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series
*Pittsburgh Steelers win Superbowl XIII (ironically a repeat in 2006, too)
*Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup
*Kramer vs. Kramer is the top grossing film
*Sophie's Choice by William Styron is published
*"My Sharona" by The Knack spends the most time at the top of the US charts
*The Facts of Life premiers (I'm knee deep in them myself right now...)
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Pamper Mrs. T Week
This week has been quite crazy. Monday as I said before I had a theraputic massage. OMG! It was wonderful, however the chic was really into massaging every SINGLE tension spot in my shoulders. It felt great at the time, but my shoulders are still sore today. I think next time I'll just go for the swedish. Its not as hard/deep as I like it, but the theraputic was a bit too hard at least on my shoulders. Still relaxing though.
Tuesday I had to go for a wellness screening for work. See they are offering this incentive right now that I just couldn't pass up. Both employee and spouse can participate and if they do all 4 steps, they'll send each of us a $100 check. Eric had a physical for an insurance policy last fall, so we only need to get those results for his wellness step. Last night we headed over to get mine done. They check your height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL and glucose. Overall I was in great health. I probably need to lose a few pounds although I'm already working on that. And my HDL was right on the line, so I need to work on increasing that. Basically the higher the number the better. To increase that I have to eat more fruits and veggies and exercise more. I'm doing pretty good on eating fruits and veggies although I'm sure I could do better. I'm desparately lacking on the exercise. I'm trying to get a couple days in a week, but it's rough. I know it will get much more frequent when the weather warms a little more b/c we spend a ton of time outside... Gardening/landscaping, biking, walking the dogs, etc. I just have to do the best I can until it warms up.
Tonight I go for my pedicure. I can't wait! I've seriously been neglecting my toes. I'm embarrased about them. It's just so much nicer for someone else to cut them and pretty them up! Maybe I'll take a picture of them tonight for you to see the final look. I won't make you gag at the before pic though. ha ha ha
Tomorrow is my birthday!!! Yay!
Tuesday I had to go for a wellness screening for work. See they are offering this incentive right now that I just couldn't pass up. Both employee and spouse can participate and if they do all 4 steps, they'll send each of us a $100 check. Eric had a physical for an insurance policy last fall, so we only need to get those results for his wellness step. Last night we headed over to get mine done. They check your height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL and glucose. Overall I was in great health. I probably need to lose a few pounds although I'm already working on that. And my HDL was right on the line, so I need to work on increasing that. Basically the higher the number the better. To increase that I have to eat more fruits and veggies and exercise more. I'm doing pretty good on eating fruits and veggies although I'm sure I could do better. I'm desparately lacking on the exercise. I'm trying to get a couple days in a week, but it's rough. I know it will get much more frequent when the weather warms a little more b/c we spend a ton of time outside... Gardening/landscaping, biking, walking the dogs, etc. I just have to do the best I can until it warms up.
Tonight I go for my pedicure. I can't wait! I've seriously been neglecting my toes. I'm embarrased about them. It's just so much nicer for someone else to cut them and pretty them up! Maybe I'll take a picture of them tonight for you to see the final look. I won't make you gag at the before pic though. ha ha ha
Tomorrow is my birthday!!! Yay!
Monday, March 06, 2006
What to do, what to do???
I have just today been presented a crossroad... My old job has opened back up... It is still currently at the lower level, but they are checking into upgrading it to a higher level (just for me). The new level would definitely including web duties, which I did before, but not to the extent it would be now.
I really like my current job b/c of the interaction with the students. However it isn't any more or less challenging than my old job.
The potential is that a girl in that office would take maternity leave and not come back and I could essentially move right into that position, which is basically what I do now.
The risk is that the department is in major debt and currently under review. A previous similar department just went through this and laid off several people. I could be in that situation. It's unlikely with some of the new duties I would have, but it is a possibility.
I'm not sure about pay either. I would want a little more money and I don't know if this is an option. I suppose if they want me bad enough it would be an option though. And yes they want me back, I'm certain of that...
I guess I'll see what happens in the next few days... Wish me luck. I know the decision will be clear when all the options are presented to me.
As if I needed one more thing to think about with all that's going on in my life right now...
I really like my current job b/c of the interaction with the students. However it isn't any more or less challenging than my old job.
The potential is that a girl in that office would take maternity leave and not come back and I could essentially move right into that position, which is basically what I do now.
The risk is that the department is in major debt and currently under review. A previous similar department just went through this and laid off several people. I could be in that situation. It's unlikely with some of the new duties I would have, but it is a possibility.
I'm not sure about pay either. I would want a little more money and I don't know if this is an option. I suppose if they want me bad enough it would be an option though. And yes they want me back, I'm certain of that...
I guess I'll see what happens in the next few days... Wish me luck. I know the decision will be clear when all the options are presented to me.
As if I needed one more thing to think about with all that's going on in my life right now...
Weekend Recap
This weekend was a little busy. Friday night we grabbed dinner and ran some errands and then relaxed at home before going to bed. Eric has a lot going on with his job right now and he's pretty stressed about it. He was in a meeting for a good portion of the day Friday. Hopefully I'll be able to share more later.
Saturday I got up and started working on another turkey creation as we were going to my dad's for dinner that night. We had bought a breast on Thursday that I let thaw in the fridge. When I got it out Sunday morning I panicked b/c I realized it was a breast w/ a bone in it. I hadn't thought about how to prepare this so I made Eric go get one w/out a bone it in. He went to our regular grocery store and apparently they only carry the "bone in" ones now, so I made him go to the other grocery store down the road. Thankfully they had one. I decided I was going to have to at least cook the "bone in" one anyway and that it probably would have worked out in the end. So I put the "bone in" breast into the roaster and let it go. Then I took the regular breast and put it in the crockpot. I put together maple syrup, cinnamon & some amaretto and used that to basted both breasts in. Then periodically, about every 30 minutes or so, I poured regular maple syrup over it. It smelled yummy all morning. Finally the "bone in" breast was done. I took it out and let it cool, then dissected it. Unfortunately it was also a breast that had the skin on it, so after I peeled that all off you couldn't taste as much of the sweetness. It was still good and very moist though. Then, my sister & her boyfriend came over to do laundry early afternoon and I fixed them the leftover citrus & garlic turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits. Apparently it was a hit!
Around 3:00 we packed everything up and headed to C'ville. We stopped at my brothers grave then headed to my dad's. Surprisingly they had also invited my grandparents who I haven't seen since Thanksgiving, so I was very excited! We chatted and fixed some things, then began slicing the turkey. The turkey was a big hit. You could definitely taste the sweetness of the maple syrup. My stepmom poured some of the juices over it and that made it even better. Definitely something I will cook again, too! After dinner Eric took a nap, my dad & gramps sat and talked and my stepmom, grams & I played some cards and talked. It was nice just sitting around visiting with them. We had some ice cream cake and then left around 8:30 to head home.
Sidenote: I'd definitely recommend the maple syrup and cinnamon baste for a turkey. I think I'd scratch the amaretto in the future. I'll have to experiment with it a little more.
After we got home, Eric had a headache and went to bed. I stayed up with the dogs for a little while since they'd been couped up for a few hours. I heard this weird noise coming from the kitchen... Godiva was caught picking ice cubes out of the sink. We had used them to keep the ice cream cake cold for our trip home... Isn't this hilarious?? I joked that maybe she was inspired by all the cooking I've been doing and wanted to help out with the dishes.
Sunday was a little lazier. We got up, had breakfast and read the newspaper. Then we ran some errands. First off we wondered around Tar*get. We don't get there as often anymore and I was really in the wondering mood. Not so good on the checkbook though. After that we grabbed lunch, then stopped for groceries. Now that I'm cooking more it seems like our grocery bill is getting higher, but I suppose that's ok if we aren't eating out as much.
After we got home I baked some brownies. I have been craving them and I had a coupon, so why not? Then I made a salad and used my early birthday present to cut up the carrots and such. I spent the afternoon watching "Yours, mine & ours", which was quite funny and spent the evening watching the Law & Order marathon and munching on junk food.
This week is going to be crazy busy for us. Tonight I have a much needed massage at 6:30 and Eric is going to the city council meeting to argue about the smoking ban. Tomorrow I have this wellness screening for work. Wednesday I'm going to have a pedicure after work. Thursday is MY BIRTHDAY! We should also find out the results of one of our tests. Saturday we may be going to Indy for another test. Sunday we are meeting my in-laws for a birthday luncheon. The only day we actually have free right now is Friday night! Ugh!
Saturday I got up and started working on another turkey creation as we were going to my dad's for dinner that night. We had bought a breast on Thursday that I let thaw in the fridge. When I got it out Sunday morning I panicked b/c I realized it was a breast w/ a bone in it. I hadn't thought about how to prepare this so I made Eric go get one w/out a bone it in. He went to our regular grocery store and apparently they only carry the "bone in" ones now, so I made him go to the other grocery store down the road. Thankfully they had one. I decided I was going to have to at least cook the "bone in" one anyway and that it probably would have worked out in the end. So I put the "bone in" breast into the roaster and let it go. Then I took the regular breast and put it in the crockpot. I put together maple syrup, cinnamon & some amaretto and used that to basted both breasts in. Then periodically, about every 30 minutes or so, I poured regular maple syrup over it. It smelled yummy all morning. Finally the "bone in" breast was done. I took it out and let it cool, then dissected it. Unfortunately it was also a breast that had the skin on it, so after I peeled that all off you couldn't taste as much of the sweetness. It was still good and very moist though. Then, my sister & her boyfriend came over to do laundry early afternoon and I fixed them the leftover citrus & garlic turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits. Apparently it was a hit!
Around 3:00 we packed everything up and headed to C'ville. We stopped at my brothers grave then headed to my dad's. Surprisingly they had also invited my grandparents who I haven't seen since Thanksgiving, so I was very excited! We chatted and fixed some things, then began slicing the turkey. The turkey was a big hit. You could definitely taste the sweetness of the maple syrup. My stepmom poured some of the juices over it and that made it even better. Definitely something I will cook again, too! After dinner Eric took a nap, my dad & gramps sat and talked and my stepmom, grams & I played some cards and talked. It was nice just sitting around visiting with them. We had some ice cream cake and then left around 8:30 to head home.
Sidenote: I'd definitely recommend the maple syrup and cinnamon baste for a turkey. I think I'd scratch the amaretto in the future. I'll have to experiment with it a little more.
After we got home, Eric had a headache and went to bed. I stayed up with the dogs for a little while since they'd been couped up for a few hours. I heard this weird noise coming from the kitchen... Godiva was caught picking ice cubes out of the sink. We had used them to keep the ice cream cake cold for our trip home... Isn't this hilarious?? I joked that maybe she was inspired by all the cooking I've been doing and wanted to help out with the dishes.
Sunday was a little lazier. We got up, had breakfast and read the newspaper. Then we ran some errands. First off we wondered around Tar*get. We don't get there as often anymore and I was really in the wondering mood. Not so good on the checkbook though. After that we grabbed lunch, then stopped for groceries. Now that I'm cooking more it seems like our grocery bill is getting higher, but I suppose that's ok if we aren't eating out as much.
After we got home I baked some brownies. I have been craving them and I had a coupon, so why not? Then I made a salad and used my early birthday present to cut up the carrots and such. I spent the afternoon watching "Yours, mine & ours", which was quite funny and spent the evening watching the Law & Order marathon and munching on junk food.
This week is going to be crazy busy for us. Tonight I have a much needed massage at 6:30 and Eric is going to the city council meeting to argue about the smoking ban. Tomorrow I have this wellness screening for work. Wednesday I'm going to have a pedicure after work. Thursday is MY BIRTHDAY! We should also find out the results of one of our tests. Saturday we may be going to Indy for another test. Sunday we are meeting my in-laws for a birthday luncheon. The only day we actually have free right now is Friday night! Ugh!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Friday's Feast
Appetizer
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
1 Pillow, but L-O-T-S of warm Blankets (Sheet, Cashmere Blanket, Down Comforter, Furry Blanket. So yea I stay warm with all that plus my hubby and warm cuddly chocolate dog
Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?
Food*Network, Grey's Anatomy, Survivor, myspace, green tea, bananas
Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?
Motivation to get up in the mornings to go to the gym and/or ability to stay up a little later w/out feeling terrible the next day.
Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
Hmmm....Stupid?
Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
Hell no, but I did try to hitchhike with my cousin in her front yard once. It was on along a busy highway and my aunt nearly killed us when she caught us. I was young and yes, everyone was home...Boredom...
How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
1 Pillow, but L-O-T-S of warm Blankets (Sheet, Cashmere Blanket, Down Comforter, Furry Blanket. So yea I stay warm with all that plus my hubby and warm cuddly chocolate dog
Soup
What are you currently "addicted" to?
Food*Network, Grey's Anatomy, Survivor, myspace, green tea, bananas
Salad
If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?
Motivation to get up in the mornings to go to the gym and/or ability to stay up a little later w/out feeling terrible the next day.
Main Course
Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
Hmmm....Stupid?
Dessert
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
Hell no, but I did try to hitchhike with my cousin in her front yard once. It was on along a busy highway and my aunt nearly killed us when she caught us. I was young and yes, everyone was home...Boredom...
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Consultation
Yesterday we had our consultation for the study we volunteered for. I'm not going in to a lot of details right now, but I can say this.
1) We are still on the waiting list (boo!) We have potentially moved up a few slots though.
2) We have a few tests to do before even getting off the waiting list. Mostly just basic tests that you must meet to even be included in the study.
3) I have my yearly scheduled for today so I can knock out one test right off the bat.
4) They liked the fact that I was on the younger side. (Score one for me!)
5) I am writing the whole story elsewhere at the moment until I feel comfortable sharing. So hopefully in the near future I will be able to share that with you.
Overall we both felt GREAT after leaving the appointment. We are still not "IN", but after talking with them we feel much better about our chances. Stay tuned for more information. :D
1) We are still on the waiting list (boo!) We have potentially moved up a few slots though.
2) We have a few tests to do before even getting off the waiting list. Mostly just basic tests that you must meet to even be included in the study.
3) I have my yearly scheduled for today so I can knock out one test right off the bat.
4) They liked the fact that I was on the younger side. (Score one for me!)
5) I am writing the whole story elsewhere at the moment until I feel comfortable sharing. So hopefully in the near future I will be able to share that with you.
Overall we both felt GREAT after leaving the appointment. We are still not "IN", but after talking with them we feel much better about our chances. Stay tuned for more information. :D
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