count down

     My appointment on Tuesday went well, according to the doctors everything is progressing nicely. As a reward for my uterus being so awesome I got to add another pill to the regimen and increase the dosage of my shots! The shots are still painless BUT next week I will have to do my first one al by myself! I am not really noticing any side effects from any of the medication other than a little breast tenderness and I am pretty tired. The tiredness could be from my crazy schedule and my husbands dogs need to wake up at the crack of dawn! If everything looks good next Tuesday I will start an additional injection, another oral medication and vaginal suppositories all in preparation for our transfer the following week! That's right, less than 2 weeks away! I am so excited to get this part done with! I also got the great news that at least one of my IPs will be there, which I wasn't expecting. I can't wait, we have not seen each other in person since our match meeting in March! I think is will be so neat for them to be able to watch THEIR little embryo actually be transferred into my uterus. Yeah, it sound weird but in a cool way! Science it pretty fascinating!

   To prepare for my pregnancy we are getting some fun stuff out of the way! After my last monitoring appointment on Tuesday I am taking my 3 kids and my niece Dallys to the Jelly Belly Factory. Please pray that I do not have a nervous breakdown driving strange roads in a strange city with 4 kids and that I do not get lost! My silly GPS is so hit and miss that I have been getting lost quite a bit these days!! THEN on Saturday we are taking the kids and Dallys to 6 Flags Marine World. I have not been there since I was little (and there were not rides) and it is our trade off for not going to the nasty local fair. Dallys lucks out because she is my babysitter so she gets to go all over with me! Then Monday it is off to Pasadena to get knocked up! The next 2 weeks are going to fly by! Now if I could just get someone to do my homework for me!! I can do it! I will get everything done because I am super mom! My husband and family are SOOO much help, but there is still a lot of stuff I have to do myself and things that I am to obsessive about to let anyone else do!

   So some have been asking about what actually happens at and after the transfer. My husband and I will fly to LA on Monday (after I take a test of course!) leaving the girls with their dad and Noah with Dallys and my mom. (thank God for having a teenage niece!) We will hopefully get there early enough to relax, not 2 am like our first trip! Then off to the clinic early the next morning. Immediately after the procedure I have to hang out on the table for about an hour letting the little embie settle in and get comfortable! After that we head back to the hotel where I am on bed rest (except to shower and pee) for the rest of the day and part of the next. Then we fly home. After that I am supposed to take it easy and not lift stuff or do any strenuous exercise until the BETA which is 12 to 14 days after the transfer. That is the blood test that will determine if I am actually pregnant or not.  Now as many of you know about me, I HATE surprises. I am totally the kid that peeked at Christmas presents and gives gift early because I cannot stand the suspense! So there is no way in hell I will be waiting 12-14 days to find out if we are pregnant. I have already bought a convenient pack of 25 pregnancy tests (just to be sure!). I hear that surros get positive results anywhere from 4- 10 days after the transfer soooo my plan is to start testing at day 7. Knowing me that really means day 4 though. After the first BETA there will be 1-2 more tests to make sure that the pregnancy hormone numbers keep increasing. If that all looks good, at 6 weeks we have our first ultrasound to confirm pregnancy and hear a heartbeat!

   Since I mentioned exercise I have to confess, I have fallen off of the wagon! Since the kids got out of school I have not found a routine that works! I have not gone for a run in weeks. AND I have put on about 6 pounds. This week I have been really working on eating well and my plan is to start my 5k training program again next week. I probably wont be able to drop all of the extra weight (and the 5 more I wanted to lose) by the transfer, but I will be back on a healthier path. These damn kids make it so hard to eat good, especially when we are on the go so much! They are not going to be happy when we are packing lunches for our trips next week! hehe! The encouraging part is that I know what I need to do to start losing again and I know that I am capable of doing it. Plus the way I was eating is much healthier for the pregnancy as well. Now I have not gone completely back to old habits, we have just been eating out a lot and I have seriously been craving carbs. Ok, and ice cream! Damnit!! Its so hot here and I love ice cream!! To help me stay on track I made a trip to the farmers market and stocked up on fresh produce. I have learned that if I am going to stay faithful to my eating plan I cannot have other stuff in the house. If I think that I have to actually leave the house and drive 15+ minutes to get junk, I usually change my mind. It is so true that change in your schedule can really set you back! Normally I would drop Noah off, run come home eat breakfast, do homework, make lunch pick Noah up, make dinner. It worked. Now I struggle with if I take him on a run it will suck pushing the stroller (it scares my dog a little) and if I don't go early it is too hot. All of these decisions usually leave me sitting on my ass. We have been kayaking quite a bit, but I don't feel like I am doing as much as when I bust my ass on a run. I have prepares to take it easier when I am pregnant, but until then I need to push  myself. I guess putting it in writing make me feel more accountable! I know I feel good when I break a sweat regularly and I have to make the time to do it!

  That is about all the news for now, hopefully more good results next week!