Guess what!!

Yep. We're having a baby!!!











Our baby is due May 20th and we are happy to be ending the first trimester and heading into the second. We kept it very quiet for the longest time, a record for me! But we decided to only share with our parents to begin with. Over the last week we started to tell friends, extended family and work. The responses have been great and my parents and sister are making plans to come out next summer. J's mom has her knitting needles going at top speed!

Crazy busy!

We have been really bad bloggers and haven't added anything recently. I was told ages ago that it was my turn and just haven't gotten around to it. But here i am better late than never!
J is back into the groove of things at work and i'm sure it's like she never left. If she's missing the endless days of summer she hasn't said.
As for me. I was jumping up and down for joy when my charge went back to school. Her being back in school means that i'm finally based back in NJ for a while and we get some structure and schedule to our days. She made the transition into the olders class without any problems and her after school activities have filled up too. The little squirt and i are doing a couple of classes too. It was a shock for him to be with kids his own age to begin with and he wasn't sure about it all to begin with. After 2 weeks he's finding his feet and becoming more comfortable with all the activity.
This weekend is looking to be a busy one. We are headed to a friends wedding, followed by a Brandi Carlile concert on Saturday. On Sunday we are going to celebrate a friends birthday with dinner. Then on Monday we are going to see Pink. I know J is really excited. It's going to be great fun. Luckily for me i have Friday off, so that will give me chance to get ready for the big weekend!

Self-Confirmed Druggie - Not Really

Ha! I just did my first official self-inflicted subcutaneous shot of folli-something or other. I dialed my special number (75 iu) and secretly wished I was dialing up a number on a Sleep-Number Bed. You can indulge in this luxury at your nearest Radisson Hotel. I definitely think the Brit and I need to invest in one of these treasures as I LOVE soft, cuddly beds and she could totally hang on one that is hard as the nearest rock! Ok, well not that hard, but pretty firm none the less.

But, wait! Back to my shot. We just started our 5th cycle of IUI. This one is different because we are using the Gonadtropins for the first time. This will make you produce more than one egg - so the chance of multiples increases slightly. That scared the Brit (of all people). She is Ms. Nanny Extraordinaire, but got a little gray when the doctor agreed, "Yes, we cannot control for only one pregnancy." Secretly, I am thinking how cool that would be to have a bunch of little J's running around. Haha - that is probably why The Brit got a little freaked out! LOL. I just hope something kicks in this cycle and works out. If it did, we would be due at the end of May - a Taurus baby. Both the Brit and I are Taurus signs. So can you imagine? I keep telling her that this is the stuff that Reality TVs is made of. Forget Jon and Kate. Make room for
"J & The Brit - Just Can't Take It!" It would be Jon & Kate meets Super Nanny for the Logo channel! Haha, can't you see the marketing appeal??!

Oh yeah, the shot...I was a good girl and watched all of the how to videos. I would pause, complete the step and move on. Of course, my favorite part was flicking the pen to get the air bubbles out. That would have been a good job for the summer- official needle flicker, dont ya think?

So back to the docs office on Wednesday for more bloodwork and an ultrasound. They will see if we need to increase the dosage of the Folli-whatever it is called. Supposedly the first half of the cycle is slightly shorter so I best order some more Randy Danny to be sent to NJ soon. Should be greeting him in less than two weeks.

Off to watch Law and Order!

As i watched my blond haired, blue eyed charges play today i couldn't help but wonder what our kids will look like. Will one look like me and the other J as we're both planning to carry. I'm hoping that we bought enough randy danny that our kids will be half-sibs, but there is no guarantee that it will work out that way. Who knows how long the TTC process will take for me and we have to get J pregnant first!
Our appointment with Dr B went well and we found out that we have to do 2 rounds of IUI with shots before we can move on to IVF. Think we were both thinking going straight to IVF, as that has the greatest chance of getting the BFP we so want. But guess if we need it, it'll give us a trial run with all the shots, timings and any possible side effects. I was a little freaked by the increased chance of multiples. I'd really prefer just one baby at a time, but we'll take what we get. Some people find that weird especially as i'm a twin myself.
Cycle number 4 is drawing to a close. When J went in for her blood work after the insems they told her that it looked like she probably hadn't ovulated. We think we may have triggered too soon as the newbie Dr pretty much l let us decide when we wanted to do the shot. That meant no second shot for J and a weird sense of disbelief for us - kind of bummed, but also not quite believing it, hoping that they screwed up, wanting them to be wrong. We'll find out for sure by the end of the week.
J is driving up tomorrow so that we can spend 2 nights together. It was such a great surprise that she arranged. I can't wait to see her and look forward to the summer being over and getting to go home. I don't enjoy the amount of time i have to be away from her, but right now it's part of my job and we just have to get through it.

Number 4

This morning was the second day of insemination. We have a new donor, affectionately called Daniel by S, but nicknamed Randy by me. So I am combining the two and calling him Randy Danny! Let's hope his little swimmers are feeling randy this go round. 15.9 million and 16.0 million respectively. It is amazing how many more you get when you go for ICI vials as opposed to IUI viles that George was. The typical George expresso shot was 8 or 9 million. We thought we hit pay dirt when we were using the last of George and they said there were 12 million. Woohoo, we thought. Nothing though. So Randy Danny, we're keeping our fingers crossed. I go back for blood work on Tuesday morning. Keeping my fingers crossed that all of these damn yams/sweet potatoes /oysters actually help to raise my progesterone, which is typically just under 6. We need that magic number 8.

The great thing was that my sweetheart was home and was able to come to the appointments like normal. Despite having to work this weekend in LI, she will be home for Monday and Tuesday. We meet with Dr. B on Monday to discuss next steps if Randy Danny doesn't do his thing. This cycle seems to be moving fast - maybe cuz life is moving a little faster these past two weeks. This week will be fun because my good friend T. is coming out and then I'm heading down to Atlantic City at the end of the week. The only super downer is that S. is leaving for Nantucket, yet again, on Wednesday. She will be gone for three weeks. I hope I have a new heartbeat for her to hear when she comes home at the end of August! :) At least she doesn't have to drive up in the truck with her bosses as she sits wedged between two wingey (did I spell that right honey?) and whiney kiddos.

Well off to bed. Happy weekend!

Home again

We are finally home. Back in our little 'cottage'. I've been gone for a month and although it feels great to be home it's a little strange at the same time! I'm sure it'll take no time at all to get back into the swing of it. The sad thing is that I'll only be back for a week before I hit the road again ;-(



We spent the weekend in Plymouth for a friend's wedding. It was so much fun, the best wedding that I've been to. It was great to hang out with our friends and the bride and groom thought of everything to make sure it was a great party. How many wedding have the guests donning wigs to boogie to the eighties music?

Although the weather had been more than a little grey and rainy leading up to the big day, the day itself was gorgeous. The sun shone and it was dry.
We partied until 2 am. Can't remember the last time i did that.
It was great to catch up with everyone, especially those that traveled in from other countries to be there. We did miss those that couldn't make it, but a great time was had by all.
J got to have a drink as we are at the start of our 4th cycle. It managed to shift the attention to someone else who elected not the drink and started some raised eyebrows!

We have picked our new donor and had a great time checking out the new feature on CCB. They match donors to celebs that they look like. Thankfully we think the celeb they matched our donor with is a good looking guy, even if we don't know who he is!!!

Have started sticks and will probably insem at the end of the week. Fingers are crossed for number 4!

Quality time

I've been keeping my eye on all the blogs that are TTC this month and hoping for good outcomes for everyone and us along with them. But sadly one by one they haven't gotten the BFP results they were hoping for and neither did we.
Now we have to pick ourselves up, dust off and prepare to start over again. We have no George left so the search for our next donor has started. I find looking through all the options incredibly overwhelming. When you plug in your search criteria there are so many to look through. I want to see each and everyone, but find myself loosing track and getting them confused. Guess what i'm saying is that i've pretty much handed that task over to J. Once the list has been narrowed down and we're looking at the full profile and baby pic etc, i'm more able to get into it all.
J is going to try IUI again next cycle and then we have an appt with Dr B to talk about what our next step is.
The exciting news is that i only have 2 days left at work before my vacation starts!!!!
I'm psyched to be getting a break and even better is that J is coming to Nantucket. We are going to stay here for a few days before heading to our friend's wedding. I'm so looking forward to lots of quality time and plenty of hand holding!!! We don't have any great plans for our time here, we're just going to see what we feel like doing and of course it depends on the weather! 2 whole weeks of just the 2 of us is going to be great...tho maybe J will be sick of me by the time that's done!!
I hope the next few days fly by and that the vacation time leaves me relaxed and rejuvenated. My batteries are definitely nearly empty and need to be recharged. Being away from home for weeks on end is the toughest part of my job. The more i build my life with J the bigger the wrench leaving is. It's like a part of me is still in NJ with her and i need her by my side to really be able to feel whole again.