Decisions - Decisions

The decision of the moment is that we are moving towards IVF. I feel so much better after making any big decision....now if we could only decide where to start our family I'd feel even better. But, the fact of the matter is we have to figure out what the baby situation holds for us before we can move forward. To get even further into this tangent, we are visiting Columbus Ohio in about a week in an effort to come closer to this decision. I know, I know, you are thinking 'Columbus Ohio! What?'...well, Chris lived there for college and it's like his Austin (which, btw, we have already looked at).

I digress. Back to the decision made. Tomorrow I will make a consultation appointment with our RE. I reserve the right to change my mind after said consultation! In September we are also going to an adoption orientation at a local agency...just in case. Best case scenario, we get pregnant all natural the old fashion way this month!

what's a girl to do?

Not pregnant. Went to the doctor today. Have many cysts on both ovaries. Can't proceed with treatments this month. Sucks.

Option 1: Wait a month and proceed with injectable drugs. Pros: Cheap, easy. Cons: 15% chance of working. If treatment fails I will get more cysts and be forced to take November off too.

Option 2: Wait a month and initiate IVF protocol. Have IVF in November. Pros: 50% chance of working. Cons: $$, time.

Option 3: Screw all treatment plans and skip right to adoption. Pros: will likely have a baby as soon as or sooner than by giving birth. Not having to actually give birth. Cons: not being pregnant, $$, scary, no little Chris or Jenn faces.

When I got home from the doctors office I read a packet of information on adoption and thought everything sounded great. Then I read the packet on IVF and thought everything sounded great. I'm so confused! Can someone else tell me what to do? And it best not be 'just relax' or you may get hit.

At the beginning of all of this, Chris and I decided to try IF treatments until the end of this year. At which point we would start the adoption process. In addition, Chris finishes his chief year next June and we are in the process of deciding where to live. That deadline is also by the end of the year (we need several months to get work licenses, sell our house, buy a house, etc). If we move down the adoption path we kinda need to stay put. Talk about decisions! Seriously, someone help!

Happy # 2

We decided to celebrate our 2nd anniversary this weekend rather than on the actual day. Tuesdays just don't accommodate a good time quite as much as a weekend. So we started off with a day trip to DC. It is a two hour trip (three if you count the inevitable DC traffic). We started off visiting Union Station. We got married in a train station so it made perfect sense. We shopped and got a bite to eat.


The train station has a food court, a few restaurants, a shopping mall, and some great architectural details (though it's not as pretty as our train station).


We then headed to a DC United/ LA Galaxy game. It had been raining the entire time we were in town (hence the dreary picture above) and the soccer game would only be cancelled for lighting. Needless to say, I was not excited with the idea of standing in the lightningless rain. And Chris was not excited about having to deal with me standing in the rain! But I traded in my dress for shorts, a tee, and a pancho. In the car I said to Chris "I wish we had a little hand towel so we could occasionally dry our faces and hands" but no such luck. However, as soon as we stepped in the gate there was a man handing out free hand towels...it's like he read my mind! Then to make it even better, when we got to our seats we realized there was an overhang over our seats and we were protected from the rain...hallelujah!


The game was fun, it rained during the first half but not on us! It was my first professional soccer game complete with Beckham...can't beat that view;) However, I was a little disappointed at the DC crowds constant booing every time he got the ball...very rude. The score: 0/0. You would think those boys could shoot and score at least once!

See the blur in white? That's pretty boy.


We then ended our weekend Sunday with dinner at the Melting Pot. It is always rated the most romantic restaurant in Richmond. The food was better than I expected. We started with a cheese fondue. Then onto the main course. I had no idea we would be cooking our own meat (if you haven't been you get a plate of raw meat and cook it fondue style). Pretty neat. We had chicken, sirloin, steak, pork tenderloin, shrimp, and lobster tail (and of course some veggies).


But the best part was the dark chocolate fondue with oreos mixed in. MMMMM. Dippers: brownies, rice crispy treats, marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and cheesecake! Could there be anything better? I think not. Well maybe him;) Happy Anniversary Baby!

It's Official

I can officially use the MSN title! School is over!

A couple days ago I walked into work. Walked straight to the fridge to drop my lunch off. I opened the fridge the door which caught my left great toenail and somehow managed to pull it up. Not off, but about 90% detached. Not that I looked. It was a bit (ok- VERY) painful and bloody. Fortunately the ER nurse a couple offices over was there to examine it. An hour later I was in the ER. After 6 (yes 6) shots in the toe they removed the nail. Then they trimmed it up and put it back on! Who knew? The doc said it would naturally come off in a couple days. The doc did not say that water would get underneath the nail, cause an infection, turn red, and be painful! So, my darling husband said take off the nail. Problem solved. I can't get it off! I think the water is causing my nail to suction to my foot and the infection is producing sticky stuff that is holding in on. Gross I know. The best part is my toe drips water at random.


Oh and as if I shots weren't enough, I had to get a tetanus shot. The shot itself was fine. However, the next day was a different story.

Onto the next medical story. After 5 days of follistim injections I had an ovarian ultrasound. Turns out I responded very well. They did a estrogen blood test and expected me to be around 200 or 300. Each 200-600 indicate a good egg. I was at 1300 (what can I say, Im an overachiever)! Before getting the results back I took another dose of follistim so who knows what my levels got up to. Since then I have taken a shot of Ovadrel (to make the eggs drop and be useful) and started a two week course of progesterone (to make a nice cozy environment for an embryo). This is the fist time in 9 months of treatment I have actually had productive results! Keep your fingers crossed;)

Lucky 21

I had an ultrasound today and the cyst is gone! Yea! Thank goodness because my body was rejecting the pill as evidenced by the many massive headaches over the last month. So, I start on injectables tomorrow and I have another ultrasound next week to make sure the drugs are working. We are approaching the 21st month of trying, but who's counting! Ever since I was a kid I have used 21 as my 'lucky number'. Growing up it was my bus number, Coach Wall was my bus driver, bet not many people remember this! Anyway, with that said it is bound to happen this month, right?

On another note, I passed my test! Woo hoo! I have a paper due this Friday and a class test next week then I will be officially done. That's all for now....