I love my MIL

Can I just say that I LOVE my MIL (mother in law for those of you who aren't tech people)! She has been here for the past ten days or so since MJ had her surgery. She has been a God-send. Dinner is made every night, laundry is done, dishwasher is emptied, and so on. It is amazing how much it impacts the household when one person is out of commision - It really makes me realize how much of a team MJ and I really are. Anyways, my MIL is leaving in three short days and it makes me quite sad. She has been such a help.

MJ is on the mend and feeling much better. We are also looking forward to Try #8 next month. In about 3 weeks we will be back into the game and starting our next cycle of trying. So, I guess life is good - really good!

Here is a pic of us with my MIL last summer at the summit of Pike's Peak!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Happy Birthday, Alan!

Today is my brother's birthday! So to celebrate, we had lobsters, crab legs, chicken kabobs, salads, apple crisp and chocolate mousse pie. It was a wonderful way to spend the day with family and friends. It was a beautiful day outside as well. Here is a picture of the birthday boy and our mom out on the back deck.

Yesterday it was so beautiful out and we have been dying to work outside especially since we had such a horrible winter. So MJ, my MIL and I headed out to get flowers yesterday morning, then we headed to get a load of nice composted dirt and planted away. We also got a great garden cart from my MIL. It is awesome!!! It is great for moving things around the yard. So, I will leave you with a picture of the cart and a before and after pic of one of the gardens.

Our awesome garden cart.

before

After

10 DPI

Ten days past insemination and BFN! I am not pregnant - guess try #7 was not the lucky one. I got the results from my progesterone on Monday and the level was 4.5. The doc wants it to be 12 - 15. A level like 4.5 says that I didn't even ovulate. I am so angry and frustrated with this whole process! We are going to talk to the doctor about progesterone supplement for next try. I sure hope that she agrees with that. If not, I don't know what we'll do.

In other news, the patient is doing well! I went to Boston yesterday to pick up my MIL as she has come to help for a couple of weeks. I love that!! It makes life so much easier knowing that someone is here with MJ during the day. Its also nice to have the little chores around the house all done!

Tomorrow is Friday!!!

All is well . . .

All is well with MJ - she came through her surgery with flying colors. I spent some time with her this afternoon and then I had to run off to my class for a few hours. Luckily, this was my last class, so no more being gone on Monday nights!! Then I went back to the hospital for a couple of hours to check on my girl! Everything is going great and she will be home tomorrow. It is awfully quiet around here this evening as my parents offered to take the dogs for the next two nights - they are the best. Well, off to bed so that morning will come and I can bring MJ home. But, before I go, here is a wonderful picture of her today before they wheeled her away:

Off to the Operating Room . . .

I am sitting here at the hospital as MJ was just wheeled off to surgery about 45 minutes ago. Hopefully I will be hearing soon about how she is doing. I am just waiting for my beeper to go off. I will update more later - including the fun picture I took of her with her "party hat" on before she went in!



As for me - I am either pregnant or my body is playing nasty, nasty tricks on me. My boobs are KILLING me! I also have been very nauseous and crampy as well as quite tired. Never mind the fact that my basal temp keeps rising every morning. I am going to go crazy!!! I went for my progesterone check today, so we will know whether or not that level is good (indicating good ovulation) either tomorrow or Wed.



I'll keep you posted. . .

Time has almost stopped!

I HATE the TWW! This week has gone by so slowly it is agonizing. Well, I POAS to make sure that the trigger shot was out of my system and it is! We went to the Dollar Store and stocked up on HPT's as well. So we are all set when we start testing mid week. I don't know if I'll make it that long! So, in order to help us all survive the next 5 days, here is something fun I found:

The idea is to make a copy of this list and highlight via boldface or underlining all the things you have done. So, obviously, the bold ones are things I have done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para sailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

There - now you know more than you ever wanted to about me - at least it killed some time though!

and so begins the dreaded TWW

For those of you who don't know, TWW stands for Two Week Wait. As of 10:15 this morning, that is what we have entered. It is the time from when you inseminate until you can conclusively use a home pregnancy test. When TTC (trying to conceive) you live your life in 2 week cycles. Two weeks of meds and monitoring, then the dreaded TWW. This is when your body does a great job at playing tricks on you. You suddenly feel different and of course think you have every pregnancy syptom in the book. Well, we should know whether or not we are pregnant by May 19.
Reggie (the swim team) looked great after he thawed out, so now Reggie needs to just meet up with an egg or two and snuggle in to that nice lining my body has prepared. The only problem is that I am convinced that I ovulated on Saturday as my ovaries were on fire all day long. MJ keeps telling me to stop reading into things and really she is right. This whole TTC thing really is a crap shoot anyways.
In other news - today is our Anniversary! We celebrated last night with a wonderful fondue dinner and wine since I can't drink wine now, and I have class from 4 - 8 on Mondays! It was great and yummy as usual! I just love to fondue - it forces you to just enjoy your meal because you have to cook it as you eat it. It is great for just sitting around and enjoying great company.
So, since it is our anniversary, here is a picture from our civil union! Oh, and so I don't forget to give credit where credit is due - THANKS SUE FOR TAKING THIS PICTURE FOR US!!!




That's all from here!

Anniversary Weekend

Well, it is our Anniversary weekend. The actual day is on Monday, May 5, but we will celebrate this weeked. 2 years ago we hopped the border to Vermont and had a Civil Union ceremony. We never though NH would EVER legalize Civil Unions, but alas they have - surprise, surprise. Our VT Civil Union is reciprocal though so we are good to go. The best part is that when we do finally get pregnant, MJ's name can go directly on the birth certificate when the little one is born.

Speaking of the little one - I went to the doc yesterday had 9 follies - 21mm, 19mm, 17, 17, 15 on the left and 17, 15, 13, 13 on the right. My E2 level was 764 and they would have liked to see it more around 1000, so we did one more injection of Follistim last night and trigger tonight. IUI is set for Monday at 9:00 AM - our wedding anniversary!!!

As for the celebrations - we are going to see Larry the Cable Guy tonight - my parents had tickets and have decided that they aren't going to use them. Free tickets - I'll take them! The show is in Portland, ME and they have tons of great shopping, so that's what we'll do today. Tomorrow night we are going to fondue at home YUM YUM! And we have a bottle of wine too - hopefully this will be the last bottle of wine I can drink for the next nine months because I will be pregnant!

Reggie (the swim team - we changed his name b/c it has more of a fun ring to it) arrived at the doctors office yesterday - so he better be getting ready for the big day on Monday!

That's all from here - let the celebrations begin!