Halloween Treat: Stims!

Yesterday’s blood work and ultrasound were uneventful which is a good thing. This morning we combined the 10 units of lupron with 10 units of HCG for a new daily shot mix. Husband also started taking his doxycycline this morning, which he will take twice a day until our embryo transfer.

Today starts day one of stims. While we’re handing our candy to trick or treaters we’ll be prepping our follistim pen to 187 IU and doing our first injection (this cycle) sometime between 5-8 p.m. tonight.

Last night we “carved” our Halloween pumpkins. And by carved I mean drilled polka dot holes a la Eddie Ross. Below are the photos from Eddie’s blog that inspired our versions which I will post later tonight.

Looking forward to sitting by the fire, eating roasted pumpkin seeds and cooking the butternut squash husband brought home – what a perfect fall night.

Momentary Obsession: Thanksgiving

As newlyweds in the fall of 2004 we were keen to host Thanksgiving at our house. Luckily we have held onto this tradition and this time each year I become obsessed with planning my menu. This is also the time of year my husband becomes obsessed with building a fire at the first hint of a chill in the air. We have a hilariously huge stack of firewood which is used oh, two months out of the year.

Our first Thanksgiving I pretty much lazily delegated the whole meal to my husband, parents and in laws while posing for "Our First Thanksgiving" photos with my pearls and monogrammed apron around the table and in the kitchen. On our second Thanksgiving I actually cooked a little while my husband fried the turkey. Last year we were thrilled to include my aunt, uncle and cousins who joined us from their four respective cities in our new house. This year there will be 10 of us again snuggled tightly around our dinner table.

Next weekend I go to Charlotte for a girl’s trip which will include a visit to Trader Joe’s for some pantry treats. I estimated that my beta (pregnancy test) should fall right before Thanksgiving which could make for a very uplifting or rather depressing holiday season pending the results. Anyways, below are two recipes that I am currently mulling over.

Baked Spinach and Gruyère

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Here We Go Now

Since my last post we switched doctors within our practice and have been very happy so far. I turned 30 and we spent a long weekend celebrating with friends and many bottles of wine in the mountains. We also celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. I have joined a neighborhood gym and have lost a few pounds doing a half-a**ed attempt at Weight Watchers.

Recently we have started openly talking about our fertility problems with friends (particularly under the influence of the aforementioned wine). We had originally planned to start IVF #2 in November but due to the embryology team’s holiday schedule and annual conference (affectionately known as Beerfest!) we were told it would need to be October or January.

The HSG procedure was not fun. In order to verify I have no blockages in my tubes the catheter had to be inserted 3 times due to my uncooperative cervix, ouch. Luckily the RE gave me an A+ and found no blockages or other problems. Friday we went in for this cycle's first ultrasound and my lining appears to be looking swell. Lupron started this morning and I have a nice bruise on my stomach as a not so gentle reminder.