One little Sandra and one little Justin

Yippee! Can you tell which one is me and which one is Justin? Everything today went well. The blastocysts (5 day old embryos) look great. The one on the bottom is already hatching.

So now the hard part starts, tick tock, tick tock. I'm keeping everything crossed!! Thanks for all your support!

A fond farewell to The Boys

Well folks, here you have it, it's the old snip snip for Rufus' Big Boys. He started growling at me and Justin this weekend (a ferocious, snarling growl). He actually bit me (no marks) this morning. He's had some food aggression issues for about a month. Our vet thinks he's trying to establish dominance and said we need to nip it (or snip it) in the bud quickly to get control of it before it becomes a pattern. So, the world will be at a loss because the galacial man parts will be gone.

Our vet thinks part of this could be because Justin left (for school) but then came back (for the weekend) - probably something like Rufus had me all to himself and then Justin came back and was too much man for Rufus - that's my super manly, man, Justin.

Well, at least the basset nazis will be happy.

He's recommended some behavior modification like hand feeding and not letting him on the bed, so I'm ready, and I have my wooden spoon within reach in case I have to lay the smack down on him. Right now, he's asleep on me like a little angel.

On the non dog front, I am still HOT and rapidly approaching D-Day, Thursday.

I have a rental car because Justin's car has been in the shop for a week and a half now and every time they work on it, they mess up something new. But, hey - I'm just glad I don't live in Iraq!

Think good pregnant, baby thoughts for me this week!

I am HOT!

Oh good lord have mercy - I am officially having HOT flashes! I totally empathize with all the menopausal women (and Rebecca) of the world. Wow, it's intense. I'm scared I might catch on fire like that couple on Like Water for Chocolate. I don't think it's the Lupron since I've been on it before (and at a higher dose) so it must be the estrogen, or maybe the combination of both. Whew!
I hope you all have a good rest of your weekend - and stay cool!

What I learned about injectables . . . the hard way

Here's a look at the carnage from this morning. Today was my first day of several new meds. It's a good thing I didn't have to go to work this morning because I would have definitely been late. I was holding my Lupron needle in my mouth while I cleaned the injection site with an alcohol pad and reached up to take the needle out of my mouth - I stabbed my finger and the needle went in on one side and came out the other side. Ouch!

The other picture shows the aftermath of my meds this morning. I wore the pharmacy out.

Good to go

I went to my doc in Atlanta today and everything looked good - so we will do the frozen embryo transfer next Thursday. They'll thaw them out starting on Wednesday and will call me Thursday morning to let me know if they made it. If they survived the thaw, then off to Atlanta and we'll put the babies Gardner in and hope like hell they attach.
Saturday I start antibiotics, steroids, blood thinner injections, and progesterone injections (and keep taking the estrogen, aspirin, folic acid, pre-natal vitamins, and lupron injections).
Since Justin's gone at school, Rebecca's agreed to be my shot giver (the one in the hip) - thanks Rebecca! Now I can say you're a real pain in my ass! HA!
Keep your fingers crossed!

Big day and irrational thoughts

It's a big day because the honeymoon has officially concluded and Justin went back to Athens today - boo hoo. At least he's getting his 2nd year of pharmacy school under way so we can get it over with.
I've been having crazy, irrational thoughts about in vitro/pregnancy stuff - like 1) I'm going to take the blood thinner again this time, will start it Saturday, but I wonder if I shouldn't because I got pregnant the first time when I wasn't taking it and didn't get pregnant the second time when I was taking it, and 2) the night before my transfer last time (when I didn't get pregnant) we had a great dinner of ribeye and mashed potatos, and I was thinking about what to do the night before the transfer, and my first thought is I better not eat that again. You know the thoughts are crazy but you just can't keep them from creeping into your mind.
Well . . . thanks for traveling with me on my journey . . . I'll keep you posted.

Estrogen makes you happy?

Today I started taking even more estrogen. Justin says I've been happier, or more carefree, or something like that. Maybe we should all take estrogen every day! I still don't notice any difference other than the blue stuff but you don't really want to know about that.
We are enjoying the olympics.
I am learning that we all have so much to be thankful and grateful for - so be happy with what you have and rejoice in it. Life could be much worse - and if you need some examples, contact me.
Sandra

What a great weekend!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the bike ride from Athens to Macon - a great century ride. The newbies did great! And thanks to everyone who attended the party afterwards and rocked the night. The shock box, as always, was a big hit (see picture). It was dog mania with Max, Rufus, Duchess, Rupert, Ben, Toby, and Alex - and Rufus was beside himself crazy in love. Thanks to Chris for the live music - you rock!! And thanks to everyone who helped out.

I haven't really noticed anything from the estrogen, so just more of the same and some waiting to get the show on the road.

Full of estrogen

I'm officially full of estogren - don't really notice a difference.
I have a transfer date for August 28.
I'm in New York for business - more later.

The next step

Well I started a period today, which is the next step. I will start taking the estrogen tomorrow after talking to my nurse. The estrogen dose increases over time. I'll take the estrogen (and other drugs) for about 3 weeks, then thaw the Babies Gardner and hope like hell they make it, then transfer (put them in), and wait for a pregnancy test.
I can't wait to see if I get all crazy on the estrogen - it may be a good thing that Justin will soon be living in Athens during the week - in case I have estrogen induced psychosis.
Holy cow, woo hoo, I'm on my way!

The tp bandit strikes again!

Gee, I wonder who did it. I can only guess that Hellcat, aka Rufus, got into the toilet paper again, even though I had a serious talk with him and gave him strict instructions not to do it again.

Party time!

Ok, just one more - next weekend is party time. The group is riding bicycles from Athens to Macon (104 miles!) Saturday morning then a big end of the summer party - with the tent, good beer, Inglside Village pizza, and the famous shock box (thanks Mom!!). I just hope the young bucks can keep up with the old farts.

Deep thoughts and Rufus' nuts don't mix

I just couldn't bring myself to mix my deep thoughts blog entry with what's up with Rufus acting so crazy lately blog entry. Is it his large testicles excreting so much testosterone that he's gone wild? Or am I thinking too much about his non-neutered man parts because of the nazi basset folks brainwashing me with "cut his balls off" propaganda?
Well, at any rate, he's gone koo-koo: tearing up the toilet paper roll (I'll post a picture next time he does it), playing a new "I'm not going to eat my food" game, growling at Max in a serious "I'll mess you up" kind of way, biting human body parts that aren't made to accessed by a wild and crazy dog (ouch!) . . . and of course all of this just fuels Justin's contention that he needs an active playmate to keep him worn out . . . which fuels the "nazis won't give us a dog" issue. Oh my lord, fun, fun, fun.
Have a good weekend!

Deep thoughts with Sandra

I wish I had something more exciting to report on the IVF front. I shoot Lupron, do the same the next day, and the same the next, etc., etc. I'm just thankful to have the opportunity . . .
Today was humbling, once again I visited my friend N. He is in a rehab facility recovering from a diabetic coma. He's young, married, expecting his first child. He's gone from a normal fully functioning guy to being incapacitated - lucky to be alive and learning to walk, talk, all the basics. Wow - I am still profoundly affected by my recent losses and the sadness is very present, BUT out of all this mess also comes a powerful appreciation for just being alive and having your basic needs met, appreciating the simple things, being more aware of what is good. I'm trying my best to remind myself of this when I am uptight about things that really don't matter; and instead, bring joy to myself and those around me. Cynthia (aka Flaca Loca) turned me onto "Be the change you want to see in the word" (Ghandi) and I want to share it with you. Make the most of all your moments!
Sandra