The IVF Consult

The IVF consult this evening almost ended in disaster.  Our appointment was set six weeks ago for six o'clock this evening.   At five fifteen as we were leaving for the appointment, I checked my voice mail only to find that the clinic had called.   The clinic wanted to push back by appointment by an hour.   As we drove over, we really had no idea whether or not anyone would actually be at the clinic.   Oh, the emotions!   I hadn't realized until that thirty minutes of uncertainty how much having the consult before Thanksgiving meant to me.   It was Thanksgiving 2011 when we announced to family our plan to move on to IVF.  I really needed to feel as though we had moved forward in life, in treatment in...well, everything. 
Fortunately, everyone was still at the clinic waiting for us, and the appointment went well.   We were given a number, a guess, an estimate of success of 76%.  It looks like we will be using a lupron trigger protocol, ironically, the protocol that I know the least about!
I start provera as soon as I get the prescription filled and then the real fun can begin!

The nerves...

.....are getting to me!  Tomorrow we have our IVF consult with the RE.   It's such a huge step, and I am both anxious and terrified of beginning the process.   All week I have been writing down questions to ask and I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of all that I should know.  Anyone have anything that they wish that they had known before IVF? 

In other news, I am listening to Christmas music as much as I can while Mark is at work.   He won't let me listen to it until after Thanksgiving if he is around!  He is totally not a fan of Christmas creep! I am also preparing for Thanksgiving dinner.   Lots of shopping, ironing linens and such.   I may be crazy, but I decided to try out a bunch of new recipes this year.  We will only have a group of twelve, but it should still be fun!  I am almost finished with all my Christmas shopping as well, which should make the Holiday season a little less stressful, a good idea during an IVF cycle, right?

Today.......

Today I am thankful for a warm bed, the wonders of the internet and laptops, an amazing husband and a beautiful life.

28 Days

I have scheduled our IVF consult for November 20th.   That is 28 days a way.  It feels so close and so far away at the same time.  It just seems so surreal.  I halfway expect to wake up and find all of it to be a dream.  I feel like I should be in a major planning mode, but there is nothing to plan at this stage, it is just waiting.  I am filling the time with deep cleaning for the holiday season, crafting, and ever so slowly getting over the inner and outer ear infections that I have been battling.

In other news, Mark is no longer working out of town, and I actually get to see him each night.  The change has been so good for us.   We also finally finished putting in the new flooring on our main floor.  We just need to get the new base moulding in and that will be one thing crossed off the list. 

This is huge!

We have a fairy Godfather!  A dear, sweet, amazing man decided to make our dreams come true.   He is providing the much needed funds for IVF.  Yikes!   Come January, we will be in full blown IVF mode.   I am speechless, and in absolute awe that someone would care enough to do this for us.   I guess all I can say is THANK YOU! 

That gives me roughly two and a half months to get as healthy as I can.   The goal is to lose twenty pounds and kick the soda habit.   It also means starting the metformin again!  I have been researching the best nutritional approaches to PCOS, so hopefully, I will succeed with my goal!

Today's garden harvest!

Cucumbers, lemon cumbers, habanero peppers, watermelons, honeydew melons, corn, acorn squash, strawberries, basil, parsley and tomatoes galore!  

Today's Tomatoe Harvest!

Our poor, neglected garden has been good to us this year!   That bowl full of cherry and pear tomatoes are just from this morning's harvest.   Tomorrow, there will be even more to pick, including our first ripe romas. 
This morning, I also picked the last of the green beans, a few zucchini and a few cucumbers.  I even picked our first  ever lemon cucumber.  
The corn is as tall as I am, but is still not doing much, I think it is destined to simply be a fall porch decoration.  The storage onions will soon be ready to be picked and braided.  The potato plants are up to my waist and flowering prettily.  I have tons of winter squashes on the vines.   I even have soft ball sized cantaloupe  (more than we will ever be able to eat!) that are growing quickly and should be ready to harvest in a week or two.