Positive thinking

Two weeks ago today we went in for our last IVF transfer. They put three embryos inside & were told (based on the difficulty we'd been having with this & the previous cycle) that we had a one in three or four chance of conceiving.

This afternoon we heard the news... it took! We're pregnant & so excited we can hardly contain it. I'm guessing I'm due sometime in early to mid-Sept 2007! Thanks for all the finger-crossing & positive thinking out there!

Busy holiday time

Sorry I haven't posted in the past few weeks. Sometime later today or this evening, I'll be updating all of you on what's been going on with us. It's been very hectic (as with the rest of the world) these past few weeks. The holidays are fun but exhausting & seem to fly by!

The big news is that today we find out if we're pregnant or not from our last IVF try; considering how tired I get in the late afternoons it's actually possible even if our odds of conceiving were one in three or four. Cross your fingers all!

MacGyver's Type of Computer

My father-in-law's computer takes such a beating from frequent travels that it got banged up & he had fixed it with clear duct tape, rubber bands & paper clips. I'm sure that was an episode on MacGyver at some point! Anyhow, he's desperate for a replacement as anyone would be.

For example, these are some of the quotes from the MacGyver tv show (which I doubt my youngest sister even knows about) using the above mentioned products.

"A paperclip can be a wondrous thing. More times than I can remember, one of these has gotten me out of a tight spot."

"If I had some duct tape, I could fix that."

"His name is MacGyver. He can fix anything. He could fix a computer with a hairpin and a piece of duct tape."

What happens when ducks play follow the leader!

Nap 'n Eat

I love how our son kept coming to visit me while I was on bedrest. Here he wanted to nap with me which I also love.

Here he opened his peanut butter sandwich & got it all over his face!

Now Mommy is resting but was 'allowed' to join the land of the living for a short time during dinner.

What a mess!

Yesterday after we got home from the transfer, I was on bed rest as instructed. Our son refused to sleep & pretended to for an hour without making a sound. Afterwards my husband discovered to his horror that our son had made a poopy diaper, gone diving & gotten it over EVERYTHING! I do mean everything too. My hubby's response was "OH MY GOD!" It was on the walls (as seen in the picture), his bed sheets, the carpet, etc. I felt bad for him but I couldn't stop laughing at the timing. There I was unable to even sit up & he was stuck cleaning up crap... literally!

Don't fly away!

As I was sitting there after the IVF transfer yesterday, I was thinking "Girls (my nickname for the embryos), come on & stick!" Meanwhile these birds kept flocking to & from my in-laws tree.

Try your best

After resting for two and a half days from my last IVF retrieval, I am officially sick of being in bed again. I've been able to move a round a few times for very short time periods but my recovery this time around continues to be slower. At least this my cramping has reduced some today. Still, to finish off the day with two shots in the butt with a sore abdomen does not make me a happy women. Already the hormones are starting to mess with my body tempature & mood swings. All evening today I was racking my mind with what activities I could while lying flat in bed after my transfer this week. Other than crotheting more blankets & watching tv (which I'm sick of at this point), I'm drawing a blank. Still if it works & I find out I'm pregnant after Christmas, then it will all be worth it. I guess I shouldn't say that. Whatever the results are, this will all be worth it because I can say we've tried our best.

In the meantime, I love how affectionate my son has been to me. I miss being with him & can't imagine what he thinks is happening. We're making it very clear to him that we're doing all this to try & give him a baby brother or sister to share his life with. My son is being so wonderful which makes this easier on me while his grandparents watch over him during this trying time. We are so fortunate to have the family we do.

Which jobs are safe in the future?

Today I read this article about which jobs are expected to decline by the year 2010. After reading it, I have to wonder what jobs in our society will not be automated. What jobs will will be left for us. It scares me as to what kind of worl our children will grow up in.

Which would you like first?

So we have good news & bad news; which would you like first?

The good? Okay then...

Monday we went to the doctor & had our final retrieval done. Since they were more aggressive with the treatment, they were able to get 16 eggs which is good. After being in bed for a day & a half with cramping from the retrieval, we received word today that ten eggs were mature (which means they can attempt fertilization wih each one).

Now for the bad news.... Only four eggs fertilized normally. With the current aggressive plan, they put in three to four embryos at transfer. These embryos need to be A or B quality to be considered healthy & possible viable to conceive. Oh course A's are the best. That's what our first son was... an A quality embro. Can't say we don't do good work. Obviously A quality embryos are hard to come by for us.

These results basically mean that even if all the embryos are of good quality at the time of transfer that they will all be transfered into my body & no embryos will be left for freezing for later usage. So if this IVF try #3 does not work, then we are out of luck as for giving birth to our own child. I keep picturing myself holding two little ones to complete our family & give our son one or two baby brothers or sisters. If for some reason, this does not take then we do have domestic adoption within our reach in a year or so; so not all hope is lost to fulfilling our family dream.

Either way, we will make our dreams come true & continue to fly on the wings of love with friends & family who have helped us along our journey. Thanks to all of you!

Foggy lights

By this evening, the fog was still a blanket & had gotten even thicker as dusk fell.

Mist rolls in

Yesterday evening a deep fog rolled in & covered the local area

throughout the day & into the evening.

You'd never guess there's an intersection

at the end of our block in the picture here!

You could barely make out the houses two yards away from us!

You could only see about half a block down!

Movie scenes

On Sunday, we went out for a nice family dinner

before my medical procedures this week.

This was one of those silly moments that burn in your memory forever,

only to become another part of the movie that plays in my mind

of all the precious moments with our son since his birth.

One day I will back on this movie in my mind

when he is all grown up, & treasure each precious moment & memory.

Bonding over life's silly moments

Angels over us

Father & son put the christmas angel on our tree

after we put the ornaments on as a family.

Our son remembered our 'talking' bird which his grandma gave him last year.

Here he was telling it to 'chirp'!

As the wind blows

It's funny how life changes. Now that I'm going through IVF the 3rd time, I know what to expect & can deal with it accordingly. It's much easier when you know what & when to expect things. Of course, this plan is much more aggressive than the previous ones but I'm still able to understand it clearly.

Today I found out that I have 24 follicles (so far) which is better than I've done in the past. They're not all big but some are a fairly good size already. Now we just need a lot of them to be mature; that's the real catch of it all. They've changed my shots a bit for this weekend based on my hormone levels which are going well. It's a pleasant change. Most likely I'll have the retrieval early next week with both sets of grandparents to help me out with my son. The hormone levels are starting to get to me & give me bouts of occassional nausea (not associated with my pill medication). I'm dealing with it though.

We won't know until after Christmas & before New Years if it works. I really hope this does...

Naughty Nurses to Serve You

This article talks about how the waitresses where naughty nurse uniforms to please the 'patients' at Heart Attack Grill in Arizona. I really don't see anything wrong with it as long as families with children know to avoid it for family meals. If it's that well known though, it seems to be a common sense thing. Hooters is okayed by the public & is a national chain (even an airline now!) so what's wrong with this restaurant? They even have their own theme song (with different versions) & a cartoon off their website. I couldn't eat all that fat but let those who want to enjoy it!

Final touches

Although we've yet to put our ornaments on, the house feels festive with holiday decorations up inside & outside. Such a special time of the year. It's a shame it doesn't last all year long!

A welcoming face to greet us each morning!

Round & round the bannister we go!

Deck the halls!

I love putting up my Christmas village.

It makes the room feel so festive!

Ooooh! A sweet shop - Mama's favorite!

Angels watch over the log cabin.

Gum-drop Shop!

Our fiberotic house which is currently out of commision,

but looks nice with the nutcracker keeping post.

Everyone loves a holiday song.

Cold Toes

Our son recently re-started his phase of taking off his socks & shoes in the car. The problem now is that he does it when it's frigid outside with snow on the ground! If his grandmother could see him now! Try as we may, he just doesn't want to keep them on. Of course, his preference is for barefeet (like his mama) but in the cold car! Sometimes we can get him to keep a blanket on but what he really needs are new slippers. At this point, I'm willing to try anything.

Comfortable & relaxed!

Why would anyone do this?

Today I read this article about how a man in Illinois was blow up a mall in Rockford, Illinois on Dec 22 "because it was the Friday before Christmas and thought that would be the highest concentration of shoppers that he could kill and injure". I understand there are people who don't know or care about right from wrong but I still don't get why you would do this? The scary thing is the location. I'm just glad they caught him before anyone got hurt!

Mango it is!

Yummy in the tummy!

Mango is my son's new favorite fruit.

"I'm holding this moment

I'm loving this moment

I'm giving this moment

My life"

"...Holding onto memories until they've come undone

my hands are tied..."

Weird place to nap

The other day our son decided to take a nap...

on the wood coffee table!

A little hard for my preference but to each their own!

Time to get comfy people!

Raise your arms!

And then down you go!

Oney's

We stopped at Oney's Tree Farm where we had a fun family outing after picking up an actual train with metal tracks to use with our christmas tree for years to come. The train is fully repaired & is the kind my hubby had when he was a kid growing up with his father.

At the tree farm, did a few things. We saw Mrs. Claus who gave us yummy candy. Then it time for a pony ride followed by a wagon ride through the tree forest. Luckily we had already bought our tree at home (evenb if it's not decorated yet) so we didn't have to trudge through the deep snow in the frigid cold. Finally we warmed up with a homemade cinnamon roll, hot cider & popcorn. Our son was watching the little girl (about the same age as him) the entire time we ate.

Let's go on wagon ride through the tree forest!

Our son loved ringing the jingle bells along the way!

Nice & warm after some hot cider & popcorn!

Figures in the Snow

Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree,

How lovely is your... head??

Mr. Snowman, you have Daddy's face!

Santa Claus looks like Mama!

Mrs Claus & Pony Rides

Mrs Claus was so friendly

& gave us candy cane chocolate kisses!

He even got Daddy to give him a pony ride without a word!

It was a long ride for a good price.

Bubble Trouble

Yesterday I took my medicine (without milk) then went to enjoy a bath while my son was napping. Alas, it was not everything I dreamt & more - not for lack of trying, mind you! There I was ready to dip my toe into my heaven of bubbles when I started not feeling so well. I would like to say it went away but unforunately I ended up kneeling at the toilet thinking "I am not looking forward to this part". After a few minutes I started to feel okay & did not want to waste my lovely bath. So in I went. The water was perfect to relax yet that taste in my mouth lingered. It just wasn't all it could be though. After 30 minutes or so, I decided to get out. So I dipped my head back to wet my hair when it happened again & quickly! I had to cover my mouth, rush out of the tub covered in bubbles & kneel over the toilet dripping wet while I was sick again for another couple of minutes. Then I cleaned up, got back in the tub & washed my hair WITHOUT leaning back once.

It happened a few days ago when we were out & about. I took my medicine without milk (becaus eit doesn't say to) & got sick in the bitter cold over the weekend on the side of a gas station. Not the highlight of my weekend! Then again, if the IVF works I'll most likely end up with morning sickness again. I guess this is a warm-up! Lucky me. LOL

Bubbling Waters

Relaxing in these fine bubbles... between getting sick of course!

Negative views

The other morning when we awoke, our son was already awake & getting into trouble. He's so darn sneaky that one! It's like he know we sleep like the dead; as it is it takes three alarms to get us up. Anyhow, we couldn't find him anywhere in the house until my hubby looked into mybedroom closet. His response was "Your mommy is going kill you!" I took one look, stepped backt to count to ten & then talked to my son. I told him I was very upset & that he he does not touch those things. He replied, "Sorry. No touch." When I told him he had to sit in the corner, he got very upset.

Now what could he have done you ask? Oh but my! He found, uncovered & opened a box of negatives for my childhood photos. Why stop there though? Nope, that's not his style. He procceeded to take the negatives out of each individual envelope (which was organized in date) & then take each negative out of the protective sleeve.

Yes this was very bad. I cannot replace those photos or negatives. But yet again, he didn't stop there. He took off the extra shoes I keep in my closet & was 'stomping' the negatives with them. So now the negatives had fingerprints & dirt all over them. I calmly put them in the box to painstakingly organize once again at a later date, put my shoes away & had my son apologize. Then I managed to move beyond it without thinking too much about it again. Until now that is... but it's done & time to move on. I'll worry about the negatives after the new year which is quickly approaching.

Expansion

As a result of my expanding ovaries from the hormone shots, my jeans are currently to snug on my sensitive tummy for the time being.  So it's back to workout outfits & loose pants for the next two weeks.  They're expecting the retrieval to be on sometime this weekend so we should know if it works a few days after Christmas.  Cross your fingers, your legs & anything else because this may be our last try!

Drawings of expression

At bathtime, I re-introduced our son to bath crayons which he loved. He drew all over the tub floor, sides & walls. This was what everything else looked like before I cleaned it up. Yes, perhaps a mistake but it made him so happy.

Then there was this morning where he fell asleep at naptime & asked for milk while he was sleeping! How sweet. If only they could stay this age forever...