Spring

It looks like spring has finally arrived in our part of the world. We have had a lot of rain and a few gorgeous days thrown in here and there. The kids managed to get out and play without their coats on for a change. They spent their time making mud pies and digging for worms. 

Now that I'm only working a few days a week and N is only with me for 2 of them they have started taking his carseat out of their minivan when I'm off. Replacing it every time was starting to be a pain so I upgraded his seat for a booster with a back. It's much easier to move around and N loves it. Although the first day he was in it he asked if I was sure it was safe! He definitely looks more grown up in it and J can't wait until the summer so that she can have it in her car, she's over dealing with the old carseat. 

Transfer day is getting closer, although I'm not totally sure when it will be. I had an ultrasound and bloodwork done on Friday and the dr said that I'm getting close, with it possibly being the start of next week. Our nurse gave us 2 dates to choose from 4/15 or 4/19. We picked the 19th because its a Saturday, J won't need to take off from work and my guys will be in Florida for Easter. I'm a little confused as to how we can pick the date as I thought it was based on my body, not the calendar. At this point I am letting go and trusting that they know what they are doing. After all they do it all the time!! 

Babysitter sucess

Today we hired our very first babysitter for N. He is almost 4 (7 weeks tmrw!) and we have only ever left him with family or 3 very close friends. We had tickets to see the Long.Island.Medium and with J's parents in FL and probably needing to hit up our friends for help soon, we decided to bite the bullet and hire a sitter. We've been saying for ages that we need to find a sitter so we can go out on dates more often, but the cost and finding someone we trust has always been the drawback. Which is kind of funny considering that I was babysitting at 12 or 13 (and was totally fine) but wouldn't think of having anyone that young to watch N.

Our sitter is the son of the other nanny at my job. He is a really sweet 18 yr old college student and I've known him for years. The kids at work often ask if he can babysit them as they have so much fun with him. N wasn't that keen on the idea and asked lots of questions about who would be home with him - one of us, the sitter's mom whom he knows really well or the kids. And he has slept so badly the past couple of nights that I wondered if it was some kind of anxiety about it all. But none of us needed to worry. It turned out so well, the sitter said that N was great and really funny. Even better, N asked if the sitter could come and live at our house, if that isn't a great seal of approval I don't know what is!!

J and I had a great afternoon and both really enjoyed the show. It was amazing to witness other people getting messages from family members or friends that have crossed over. I told J in the car that I needed to bring tissues in with me and then forgot. I know I shed lots of tears during the show and wasn't the only one! I didn't go there with any expectations that we would get readings, our seats were not close enough to the stage, I just wanted to see the experience for myself and was so happy that I did.

Vacation

We are back from our wonderful, whirlwind vacation. It was so much fun, definitely the sun filled break that we all needed but came to an end way too soon. We were even talking about moving to Florida - shame it's non recognition state. 

Of course we couldn't leave for vacation without a little drama.... After complaining his belly hurt for a couple of days N came down with a stomach bug the day before we left! He seemed better the day we were due to travel so we headed off to the airport in the early afternoon for our evening flight. As we were hanging out waiting for the plane to board he announces that he needs to go. J takes him to the bathroom and nothing happens, then just as they start boarding the flight he again says he needs to go. I picked him up and started to head to the bathroom and then remembered that I'd put a diaper in my carry on, so doubled back to get it before we made it to the bathroom in time for a massive blow out. After a little convincing I managed to get him to put the diaper on and we headed back to J just as we were being called to board. 

As we got on the plane with all our gear (bags and the car seat) N was looking through the window into the cockpit when the pilot waved him inside. The lucky guy got to check everything out - they even let him press buttons and light everything up as well as push up the throttle. He was so chatty and told them that it was his first time on a plane, all while J and I carried on to our seats and got organized. He was then brought to us as I tried to figure out installing the car seat, which is harder on a plane because of where the buckle is positioned. We all got settled and soon took off just a little later than scheduled. 

We hadn't been in the air all that long when N said he needed to use the bathroom again. Luckily the seat belt sign had just gone off and I lost the rock, paper scissors game and took him to the bathroom. I'm not a fan of flying and always avoid the bathrooms - my worse nightmare is the plane going down while I'm stuck in there. But I sucked it up and manoeuvred us both into the tiny bathroom. Again it was another blow out and just as I got his diaper and clothes back on he had to go again. Poor guy was not feeling great at all. Once he was done and back in his seat he settled down to play with his Peter Pan figures and was happy for the rest of the flight.

We landed at 10.30 and by the time we got off the plane, got our luggage and sorted out our hire car it was midnight before we got on the road. N fell asleep soon after we left the airport (he had napped earlier) and we made the nearly 2 hour drive to J's parents place. We hadn't taken into account that it was daylight savings so we arrived at 2am, which was really 3am! I transferred N straight into bed, we said hello, got what we needed from our bags and crawled into bed with N. 

Luckily for us N slept until 9 the next morning so we managed to get some sleep before we really started our vacation. We spent the first day around the house, taking rides in Gram and Pop's golf cart, made a quick trip up to the pool and popped to the store to get a probiotic for N's poor tummy. 

On Monday we went to Seaworld where N got his first taste at dealing with crowds and waiting in line to do the things he wanted. He liked seeing the animals, especially the penguins but probably liked the rides more. He rode a kiddie roller coaster with J a bunch of times (I don't do roller coaster) as well as all the other rides they had. He even played in the arcade and won a couple of stuffed Orcas that he was really happy with. The penguin ride and exhibit had the longest line and I ended up being really happy that I'd thrown the Ergo in the case at the last minute. It was so helpful for keeping him contained and happy while we stood in line when we weren't allowed the stroller. He even took a nap in it as we stood in line at Disney. 

We had planned to visit the magic kingdom on Wednesday, but when the weather forecast started showing rain and thunder storms we switched it up and went on Tues instead. After much debate about how long we were going to be at the park we got our act together and got there at 11.  I have to give the folks at Disney credit, they are great at dealing with the crowd and coming up with plan B when they need to. The monorail wasn't working and before we knew it there were a bunch of buses that arrived to take us from the parking lot to the park entrance.

There was a performance in front of the castle when we got there and N was mesmerized. He loved seeing his favorite characters and insisted that we watch the whole thing. Despite our attempts to move him along so we could start getting in line for the rides. He dealt so well with all the lines which saw us waiting 30-40 minutes. We had stuffed a backpack with toys, snacks and water so that helped with. His favorite ride was Peter Pan, which had one of the longest waits so we only rode it once. 

By around 5 J's parents were done and I was telling J that I didn't need to come back again any time soon. I really wanted to stay for the parade so J took her parents home while N and I hung out, rode some more rides, ate ice cream for dinner and waited for her to come back. We missed the parade at 9 but did get to watch the fireworks - N and J from the speedway! J has to cutest video of him trying to see the fireworks while he was supposed to be driving. By 10 we were staking out our spot for the 11pm parade (thanks Amanda).  Watching N's reaction to the parade was the highlight of the whole day for me. He loved it. He waved and called hi to all the characters and smiled the biggest smile ever when Cinderella blew him a kiss. 

Wednesday saw us hanging out at Gram and Pop's house for most of the day. It did rain, but not as much as we thought it would. The great thing about Florida is that even when it does rain it doesn't last long. The warmer temperatures and light rain meant that we could still play outside. N sang and danced around in the rain and said that he wished it could be summer all day long :-) 

The three of us went back to Disney for dinner on Wednesday night. We had booked a table at Chef Mickey's thinking that we would end our day there after the park, but we were so glad that it worked out the way that it did. We got the full day in the park the day before and were well rested for dinner and to meet the characters. N started out a little shy, but in no time at all he warmed up and was happy to meet all the characters, especially his favorite Donald Duck. 

Thursday was our last full day and we decided to visit Legoland, which is only 15 mins from J's parents. After experiencing the efficiency of things at Disney we found the park very slow. It wasn't crowded but they could barely handle the visitors that they did have. Lines moved really slowly and we only managed a fraction of the things we thought we would. N still had fun and at the end of the day that is what it's all about!

We flew home very early on Friday morning and were greeted by the freezing cold. The whole plane was groaning when the pilot announced the temps when we landed! I was hoping we could bring back some of the sun and warm temps with us but we couldn't squeeze it into our cases ;-) 

Waiting

Why is it when you are waiting for AF to arrive she decides to take her own sweet time? My irritability, cramps and cravings for chocolates tell me that she's almost here. All the drugs on the kitchen counter mean that we are officially counting down the days to our FET....or would be if only  it was cd1 already!! 

After so long on the TTC train you would think that I would have more patience for the waiting game, but no. I'm ready to get this show on the road and watch my belly start growing :-) 

N update

I feel like I've taken over the blog with TCC stuff so thought it was time for a N update. 

He is feeling lots better - but was kind enough to share with me and I passed it on to J. Just so she wasn't left out ;-) 

N went from taking no classes to being enrolled in gymnastics, basketball and soccer. He is loving gymnastics and can often be found tumbling around the house. We got to watch a class recently and enjoyed seeing what he does while he is there. The coaches were surprised to hear that this is his first gymnastics class as he has caught onto everything so quickly and does a good job of following the instructions. N gets a little confused between basketball and soccer and can be found kicking the basketball and attempting to dribble the soccer ball! I personally think that the basketball looks a little boring as there is a lot of time standing on their colored dot waiting for a turn to dribble and shoot. I have seen him 'accidently' dropping his ball so he can run around the gym trying to catch it. Soccer is more active and he has an English coach (that he thinks talks funny!) so you can't go wrong there ;-)

I have also been trying to get him back in the pool. He is very cautious in the water and definitely forgot that he was swimming so well last summer. It took some coaxing to get him in the first time and he cried until I managed to get him through the fear. If we leave it too long between swims he goes backwards a little. We had to take a break to wait for his wetsuit to arrive as he gets super cold, quickly and if I'm going to all the effort to get us in there we are staying more than 10 minutes!! Now I just have to figure out a way to be warmer myself and we will be able to work on improving his skills. It's hard to believe that last summer he was jumping in and swimming, as well as diving down to retrieve things from the bottom of our pool. I'm sure he will be back there by the time we open out pool again this year. 

School is still going well - if you don't include the getting up part! I'm always glad when Friday rolls around and I don't have to wake him up. J went to his parent teacher conference last week and his teacher said that he's doing well. He still hangs back a little and they are working with him on inviting friends to play with him instead of choosing to play alone. She also said that he has a great imagination, but that his pretend play can get a little out of hand. Or in other words his pretend sword play can go a little too far. He is doing well at rhyming words, can identify most of the letters and counts with one to one correspondence when appropriate. Still working on beginning sounds but he can now write his name and a number of other letters too. Now that I'm not working as many days I'm trying to work on more play dates to fill our afternoons.

While N is a lot of fun he is definitely pushing the limits and my patience frequently. We are working on doing a better job at listening, he has already started talking back and the annoying habit of copying everything you say. He is also trying his hand at playing us against each other to see if he can get what he wants from the other mom, when one has already said no!. I really thought we had a little longer before we saw those not so desirable habits - but I guess our boy likes to keep us on our toes! 

We took him bowling for the first time and he loved it. It was a lot of fun for all of us and was a nice glimpse of the things we will be able to do now that he is getting older. Thank goodness he gave us the excuse we needed to use the bumpers! J and I were both a little rusty and used them a couple of times ourselves. He handled the ball well and even started to follow his throw with his customary slide on his knees. I see a lot of holes in the knees of his pants in our future with that one :-) There were only a couple of occasions when we wondered if his ball was going to make it all the way down to the pins as it was moving so slowly. 

Just a few more days are we are leaving on a jet plane for sunnier skies :-) We are trying to balance our trip to Florida with lots of fun things for N and some down time for the moms too. We will be staying with J's parents so hopefully we can squeeze a date in there too!

Fever boy

It feels like my kid is never going to get back to a full (4 day) week at school again! 

School was canceled thursday and friday last week because we had well over a foot of snow. He had school on Monday and it was canceled again on Tuesday because of yet more snow and then he got sick.

He woke a lot during the night starting soon after he went to bed on tuesday and by 3.30 wednesday morning he had a raging fever. I gave him some medicine and led in his bed with him trying to convince him that sleep was really what he needed until he finally dropped off at 5. Just as J was getting up for work I was calling school and emailing his teacher to let them know he wouldn't be in. I crawled back into bed at J headed out the door   :-(   She had been home since thursday too and it was very sad to have her back at work. 

N got up at around 8.30 still feeling hot - I don't really take his temp unless I feel like it's really high as I don't like to start obsessing about the number. I gave him more medicine and he starting to complain about his ear hurting. We have been so lucky with N, I can count the number of doctor sick visits he has has on one hand, but I wondered if he had an ear infection so we headed to the drs. There his temp was 100 even, both his ears were clear and a strep culture was negative so it's just a cold. 

He is still warm this morning, so no school again. The sad thing is that today is his rescheduled valentines party at school so he has to miss that too. Luckily I sent all the valentines that he made for his friends in on Monday so they will be handed out for him and his teacher will collect his. To be honest he probably doesn't even realise there is a party, I din't talk that much about the party because the weather was not looking good last week anyway! 

There have been quite a few changes over here in the last week culminating in a whole lot of ugly crying from me over the weekend. I'm so grateful to my wonderful wife who weathered the storm with me, picked me up and held everything together while I truly lost my shit. I don't deal with change all that well, guess I like a somewhat orderly life and changes with work, vacation plans, TTC and a very willful 3 year old all at the same time threw me for a loop. I did write a post about it, but am still not sure how much of it I want to share. Cliff notes are that we have 9 frozen embies (still waiting for biopsy results on them), my hours at work have been cut, we had to move our vacation up to March and aren't doing a transfer this month. 

29

We finally made it home from the retrieval nearly 12 hours after we left!! When I woke up at 4am and peered out the window there was already a couple of inches on snow on the ground. J and I both showered before she headed out to clean off the car and I got N ready to leave. Despite fighting sleep until 11 sunday night he woke as I was getting him ready at 5.30 and didn't go back to sleep in the car.

It usually takes 30 mins for J to get to the clinic (40 for me!) and thanks to the snow and slow moving traffic it took close to an hour to get there. I was amazed that we were only 15 mins late. J did such an amazing job getting us there safely. She dropped me off first and headed to our friend's house to drop N off. I checked in, signed paperwork, had my exam with the nurse and was just getting into my gown when J made it back.

The retrieval went smoothly and as I woke up the nurse had a piece of paper with the number they got on it. I usually wear contacts so had to squint to see the number and was totally surprised to see 29!! I was in some pain so they gave me some meds in my iv and I took Tylenol. Then before I knew it I was being fed cookies and soda, being walked to the bathroom and getting my discharge instructions. 

We made the 5 minute drive to our friend's house and decided on the way there that we were going to have to stay there for a while. The roads were so bad and the snow was coming down pretty fast. My friend had made up a spot on her couch for me and I hung out watching the kids (N plus her 3) play. J had to venture out again to get some painkillers for me as my friend didn't have any. 

J was such a trooper. She drove in some pretty horrible weather and ended up shoveling our friends driveway so we could go home. Then she had to shovel our driveway once we made it home! 

We sure got lots of snow! 

On Tuesday we heard that 25 of the eggs were mature and 20 of those fertilized. We won't get another update until the 9th when they pgd and freeze them. 

J took off work yesterday and we have a snow day today and I'm so grateful that she's home. Monday was rough, yesterday was better but I was definitely moving slowly and today is pretty bad.  I'm feeling bloated, but the hardest thing is that I feel like there is a band around my lower ribs. It's hard to get a deep breath. My ovaries also hurt more today than they did yesterday. I think I probably have mild OHSS and I'm trying to keep it at bay with lots of salty food,  keeping my fluid intake up and taking Tylenol every 4 hrs. I'm no longer sad that we aren't doing a fresh transfer as I think my body needs a break. I am also no longer sure about the homebirth that I always wanted. Think being knocked out is the way to go!!! Lol