Happy Hump Day

I am toying with the idea of looking for a new job and/or going back to school. This is probably the worst possible time to take on any new endeavors, since we will start a new cycle in a few weeks. However, I am wasting away at this job. I need a challenge or something to keep me from wiling away my days alternating between watching Nip/Tuck on my work-issued computer and obsessing about having a baby. Considering how much we will have to come out of pocket for the IVIg, I know this is not the time to be thinking about quitting my job. And I just don’t know if another job would give me the flexibility to go to my numerous doctor appointments, acupuncture, not to mention my lunchtime shopping excursions. So I guess I will start looking into going back to school. Now I just need to figure out what I really want to be when I grow up.

This past weekend I spent some time hanging out with my parents. They are always so happy when I come over, even if it is just to eat all of their food, lounge on the couch and watch their enormous tv. I think they just like having someone there to run interference for their numerous and never-ending “debates.” I get a kick out of how they will each pull me to the side to tell me what the other one did. Anywho, I ended up helping my dad with his iPod. This was a bigger task than it needed to be because he has so much CRAP on his computer that it runs as slow as molasses in the wintertime. There is no room for a single icon on his screen. My dad says he usually turns his computer on first thing in the morning and by the time he showers and shaves, it is usually up and running. This made me laugh for about 10 minutes. My brother and I might need to pool our money to buy him a new computer for his birthday. We ended up driving to the apple store because his hard drive was damaged. Thankfully it was still under warranty, so they gave him a new one. My dad is convinced that most electronic devices have a chip installed that makes them self-destruct just after the warranty expires. My mom thinks companies actually send a signal to selected devices based on how the company is doing financially. “Your iPod will self-destruct in five seconds!” They might be right. Haaa!

I don’t really have much to report from the IF front. I started my birth control pills a few weeks back, and I’ll start the Lupron injections next week. I have been spotting a little this week…not sure what that’s about, but I’ll ask the nurse when I go in for my “training” on Friday. In other health issues, I am still having problems with my eyes. One doctor told me that he thinks I am allergic the particular brand of contacts I’ve been wearing. I went back to my original optometrist and she says I have corneal keratits (again). Gaaah! I’m thinking a nice little zap with a laser will cure all of my vision problems. But I’m pretty sure I can’t get a doctor to do this in the midst of cycling. Oh well.

A Glimmer of Hope

This past weekend I went to my husband's family reunion in Little Rock, Ark. They have a reunion every three years and it is always a good time...lots of food and fellowship. One of Bernie's cousins went through IVF and she now has a beautiful two year old daughter. And as fate would have it, having one baby must have triggered something for her, because she got pregnant naturally (and very unexpectedly) shortly after having her first baby. So she also has a darling eight-month-old baby girl. I had a lot of fun playing with the girls. Somehow, I think seeing and playing with an actual child conceived via IVF within my own family, knowing that her parents went through a situation similar to mine, and seeing first hand that there are happy endings out there, made me feel more hopeful than I have in a very long time.

Last Thursday we went to sign all the consent forms and whatnot for our next round of IVF. I expect to get my plan in the next few days. The new clinic is extremely organized. They have already given me dates for when I start my stims and when I go in for my first IVIG treatment. We are shooting for a retrieval/transfer around the week of August 21. So far, so good.

Well, I gotta boogie for now. :-)