Hubs and I went down to the fertility clinic on Friday, to be screened for surrogate pregnancy number two. The testing was easy; their phlebotomist gives really good needle, and the PA-C I saw for the sonohystogram was very gentle. Last time, having my uterus pumped full of saline solution was rather painful. Of course, this time I was also instructed to take 600mg of ibuprofen an hour before testing, which I did. I assume this also helped.
I talked with the head nurse about meds and learned that, assuming all of our tests come out well, I should start my hormone regimens fairly quickly. Because this is a frozen cycle instead of fresh (meaning I don’t have to sync my body up with an egg donor), the transfer date will be 16-20 days after I start meds. My guess is that this will happen in late April, early May.
After testing, we had a lovely lunch at the same restaurant IF took us to when we did testing for Wiggle-Worm. The food was delicious and despite the fact that I ate FAR more than I usually do, I still had a “B” from my phone’s calorie count application at the end of the day. We had a leisurely ride home; taking several detours along the way; stopped off in West Lebanon to pick up a couple books; got “The Walking Dead” issue fifteen for Hubs and “The Hunger Games” for Munchkin, who has been clamoring for it for almost a month now.
We dropped the book off to Munchkin at my dad’s house, then toodled up to a restaurant/pub our friends have been visiting for several months now. The food was delicious, and we got to try a new kind of Woodchuck, of which Hubs has become quite fond. It’s called Belgian White. It’s made with orange and coriander. Very good stuff. I got some excellent pulled pork and discovered that sweet potato fries; my very favorite fries on the planet; are NOT on the no-no list! WHEE!
We were going to go bowling with the friends who recommended this restaurant after dinner, but it turned out the bowling alley was packed, so instead we stopped off at their house and dropped off some books that Hubs had read for the Green Mountain Book Award Committee. Our lovely little friend ran a 10K race on Saturday, so she needed to get sleep, but her other half was working in town and they’re a one-car-couple at the moment. So I got to drive her brand-spanky new car into town!!! I guess I know what I’m getting once my car is paid off!
The rest of the evening was quiet and included much snuggling and appreciating the wonderful day we got to spend together.
The weekend was project-time. I finished rebuilding my mother’s couch, finished stripping and sanding the old family bench that goes with the table that’s not yet done being stripped at my dad’s house. Gave it a first coat of stain, too. It’s going to look lovely. Sunday I re-mounted the bedroom blinds in the windows instead of using the cheap plastic brackets that kept falling apart. I’m considering getting some kind of translucent contact paper or other frosting agent to cover Hubs’ window in his Shame Closet and maybe the big window in the bedroom too. That way I can open the blinds and still get plenty of light, but not have to be seen by the neighbors. Anyway. I cleaned the bedroom and washed the windows while playing my own personal “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” marathon on Netflix. –nerd-
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
FED UP.
Ok, I’ve had it. I’m done. I’m sick and tired of being fat and saying I’m going to do something about it and then falling off the wagon moments later.
I have done the numbers and come to the realization that if I bust my hump and really stick to it, I can SAFELY get to my goal size in 7 months. “Less than a year,” says I, “that’s no time at all!” And if I’m good at nothing else, I am good at working hard. If I look at this as a project, I can do it.
I’ve therefore recruited some friends to help me stay on track, and will begin biking in to work every day, starting tomorrow. No excuses. I will pack up the necessary bathroom items so I can shower when I get to work. I will set my alarm a half hour earlier so I can snooze and snuggle hubs and not feel like I’m losing out on that time. I will reduce my portions at meals. I will not give in to “the easy route” when I’m hungry. I have already downloaded a calorie counter for my phone, and will not exceed 2400 calories per day. I will go to yoga classes again (thank you, gaming group, for that gift certificate, by the way!) I will learn to run. When I can’t get outside to exercise, I will do pilates or aerobics inside (I’ve discovered both on Netflix, and my yoga friend gave me a yoga mat, so no more excuses there.)
It’s time. I hate looking in the mirror. I hate looking at pictures of myself in high school and college. I want to look the way I used to. And I will.
I.
AM.
DETERMINED.
And nothing stops me when I am determined. NOTHING.
I have done the numbers and come to the realization that if I bust my hump and really stick to it, I can SAFELY get to my goal size in 7 months. “Less than a year,” says I, “that’s no time at all!” And if I’m good at nothing else, I am good at working hard. If I look at this as a project, I can do it.
I’ve therefore recruited some friends to help me stay on track, and will begin biking in to work every day, starting tomorrow. No excuses. I will pack up the necessary bathroom items so I can shower when I get to work. I will set my alarm a half hour earlier so I can snooze and snuggle hubs and not feel like I’m losing out on that time. I will reduce my portions at meals. I will not give in to “the easy route” when I’m hungry. I have already downloaded a calorie counter for my phone, and will not exceed 2400 calories per day. I will go to yoga classes again (thank you, gaming group, for that gift certificate, by the way!) I will learn to run. When I can’t get outside to exercise, I will do pilates or aerobics inside (I’ve discovered both on Netflix, and my yoga friend gave me a yoga mat, so no more excuses there.)
It’s time. I hate looking in the mirror. I hate looking at pictures of myself in high school and college. I want to look the way I used to. And I will.
I.
AM.
DETERMINED.
And nothing stops me when I am determined. NOTHING.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Doom? No Doom?
Well now, things seem like they might actually move along after all! Not just in surro-land but in general. I was starting to think that perhaps the Mayans were right, and this year was the year we all found ourselves doomed. Every time I thought we were getting ahead and making plans and taking steps forward, something would come along and clothesline me in the face with a two-by-four. I daresay the bruises were starting to show.
Interesting the things that laying flat on your back with a proverbial egg swelling on your brow will make you think, though.
Anyway, our illustrious IVF physician has decided that because Wiggle Worm has a little dimple at the very bottom of her back, it could possibly, maybe, theoretically suggest that there may have at one moment in time been the slightest, remotest chance that she could have been possibly, maybe prone to the mildest, minutest hint of spina bifida. Maybe. Possibly. So I’ve been prescribed 5mg of folic acid per day, starting as soon as it arrives. Honestly, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest; I.F. is paying through the nose to have every chance at the healthiest baby possible. I just think it’s funny that a dimple above someone’s butt is a concern. I’m probably a horrible person or something. But I digress. The point of this was to state that the pharmacy that the IVF clinic uses wanted $44 for a month’s worth of these pills. I talked to I.F. and decided I’d check into the cost of 5mg of folic acid every day for a month through WalMart. $17. Before insurance. Evil as major corporations are, I can see why people use them. Fortunately I.F. found a way to get the supplements for free, so neither of us have to pay a cent for them.
Hubs has an interview a week from tomorrow for a real, live teaching gig about two hours north of our current home, for the 2012-2013 school year. In his field and everything. A couple of my uncles have suggested that he take a deck of cards up and ask for ten minutes of the interviewers’ time, to teach them to play Pitch with 9’s and 5’s. It’s an old family game, and hubs is VERY efficient at teaching people to play it. He taught the munchkin to play months ago, for about ten minutes, then she never picked the cards up again till this past weekend, where she very quickly STOMPED me and my grandmother.
So if he gets the job, we’ll be moving to the same general vicinity as munchkin’s father. I’ll have to commute to work, but there are several people in my building who ride down from that area, so it won’t be a problem getting in. And the ex gets out of work before school lets out for the day, so he and munchkin could see each other every day for a couple hours till hubs and I got home from work.
And my nursing school plans may yet come to pass as well. If hubs gets this job, we’ll have health insurance coverage and a proper income, which is the biggest thing. Assuming he does indeed get the job, I can spend this pregnancy looking up grants and scholarships for school, and get all the paperwork lined up and done in advance, so the financial burden of school won’t be much of a burden at all. Once this baby is delivered, I can apply to schools for the following fall semester, submit my scholarship and grant applications, and if accepted, I can give my current job plenty of notice that I’m leaving. I can work evenings while I go to school to help pay the bills. Depending on what kind of scholarship and grant info I find, I can choose between a technical school where I could get my associates in nursing, take the NCLEX-RN and then get a job, and take RN-to-BSN classes through my job. Or if the package I find is good enough, I could do a four-year program, then do midwifery school and start my practice after that. Food for thought.
But I’ve rambled on long enough now, and I should shut up.
Interesting the things that laying flat on your back with a proverbial egg swelling on your brow will make you think, though.
Anyway, our illustrious IVF physician has decided that because Wiggle Worm has a little dimple at the very bottom of her back, it could possibly, maybe, theoretically suggest that there may have at one moment in time been the slightest, remotest chance that she could have been possibly, maybe prone to the mildest, minutest hint of spina bifida. Maybe. Possibly. So I’ve been prescribed 5mg of folic acid per day, starting as soon as it arrives. Honestly, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest; I.F. is paying through the nose to have every chance at the healthiest baby possible. I just think it’s funny that a dimple above someone’s butt is a concern. I’m probably a horrible person or something. But I digress. The point of this was to state that the pharmacy that the IVF clinic uses wanted $44 for a month’s worth of these pills. I talked to I.F. and decided I’d check into the cost of 5mg of folic acid every day for a month through WalMart. $17. Before insurance. Evil as major corporations are, I can see why people use them. Fortunately I.F. found a way to get the supplements for free, so neither of us have to pay a cent for them.
Hubs has an interview a week from tomorrow for a real, live teaching gig about two hours north of our current home, for the 2012-2013 school year. In his field and everything. A couple of my uncles have suggested that he take a deck of cards up and ask for ten minutes of the interviewers’ time, to teach them to play Pitch with 9’s and 5’s. It’s an old family game, and hubs is VERY efficient at teaching people to play it. He taught the munchkin to play months ago, for about ten minutes, then she never picked the cards up again till this past weekend, where she very quickly STOMPED me and my grandmother.
So if he gets the job, we’ll be moving to the same general vicinity as munchkin’s father. I’ll have to commute to work, but there are several people in my building who ride down from that area, so it won’t be a problem getting in. And the ex gets out of work before school lets out for the day, so he and munchkin could see each other every day for a couple hours till hubs and I got home from work.
And my nursing school plans may yet come to pass as well. If hubs gets this job, we’ll have health insurance coverage and a proper income, which is the biggest thing. Assuming he does indeed get the job, I can spend this pregnancy looking up grants and scholarships for school, and get all the paperwork lined up and done in advance, so the financial burden of school won’t be much of a burden at all. Once this baby is delivered, I can apply to schools for the following fall semester, submit my scholarship and grant applications, and if accepted, I can give my current job plenty of notice that I’m leaving. I can work evenings while I go to school to help pay the bills. Depending on what kind of scholarship and grant info I find, I can choose between a technical school where I could get my associates in nursing, take the NCLEX-RN and then get a job, and take RN-to-BSN classes through my job. Or if the package I find is good enough, I could do a four-year program, then do midwifery school and start my practice after that. Food for thought.
But I’ve rambled on long enough now, and I should shut up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)