The calm before the mayhem

There's lots going on, though it isn't particularly interesting. Today is my last day at work. We close on our (ten million trillion dollar) house today, too. Tomorrow is my CVS. We're throwing a going-away party for ourselves on Saturday. The movers arrive next Tuesday to pack up our shit; next Wednesday, they load the van. Next Thursday, we fly to San Francisco. Next Friday through Sunday, we'll be at a wedding in Sonoma.

We move in to our financially injurious house on July 17. On July 19, I fly back to the Midwest to pick up our dog and drive him to California (since he's afraid of things as minor as hardwood floors, we felt that flying might be too much for his little brain). From July 24-27, we'll be in the mountains of Colorado for another wedding.

I'm excited but a little bit nervous about living in Bern.al Hei.ghts. It's sort of the Pa.rk Sl.ope of SF -- you know, where I'd be taking my life into my own hands if I were seen feeding a baby formula in public. But, like Par.k S.lope, it probably gets a bad rap on that stuff. And given that I cannot spend five minutes in conversation with another parent without revealing that S.oren is the product of IVF, everyone will know about my unnatural ways soon enough.

I'm sad to be leaving this job. Of the jobs I've had, I loved my first one and this one. And I've really loved the benefits package here, so if you're in the Midwest and need infertility coverage (and a good IVF clinic), you might want to apply.

In closing, here's a recent shot of my boy, who occasionally takes some steps on his own and employs many signs (most often "help" -- lazy bastard).

Will report in after CVS.

So happy!

My friends TLB and Brando, long-time (and I mean LONG) IF sufferers, just welcomed their hard-earned daughter Libby to the world. Congratulations!!!

OB appt. #1

Today, I saw my OB. Two things made me happy about this visit: (1) I weighed less than usual, which I didn't expect since I've been eating way more than I did the last time around, though possibly still less than usual, and (2) although I'm just 9w1d and have a severely tilted uterus, we heard the heartbeat (165). I'll be ordering up a Doppler post-haste.

The one downer from my visit was that some retard (I suspect Jim in Scheduling) had cancelled and rescheduled my CVS and had not told me. And the rescheduled date was, oh, after we move. I demanded that they rectify the situation. Stay tuned. I will really freak out if they don't for a variety of reasons, including (1) I would miss the window for a CVS and (2) I have my insurance here but not my CA insurance next month, meaning no CA doctor's visits except for the ER until August 1, and I don't think you can get a CVS done in the ER.

We spent the weekend in the TX Hill Country with my parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. It was fun, and So.ren is now beginning to walk. Also, I killed a scorpion with my bare hands (and a wastebasket).

Never again will I help other people!

So, yesterday, I sandbagged again. The day before, I'd moved books and boxes out of special collections from the main library on campus. All in all, I was feeling both virtuous and manly. And occasionally not nauseated, since the physical activity helped to quiet my overly sensitive vagus nerve.

Well, today, I woke up to SPOTTING. Now, although I am a big whiner, I have been lucky enough never to have had spotting before, and I thanked my difficult cervix for this. So of course I panicked. And called the OB resident on call, who told me everything was probably fine and that if it wasn't, they couldn't do anything anyway, and I was like, "I'm an IVF patient! I have to have an ultrasound!" So she reluctantly said I could come in and recommended I try the ER first since L&D was very busy.

Part of the reason it was busy, you see, is that the floods have shut down all but one bridge going from the east side of town (my side) to the west side of town (the big hospital's side). So I suspect the stress of the uncertainty whether they could get to L&D drove women into labor. Anyway, I went to the ER, which has been totally remodeled and is extra-deluxe, and I insisted more than once that I was not leaving until I had an ultrasound. ("I'm an IVF patient!", I repeatedly exclaimed by way of explanation.) One of the nurses' daughters had done IVF, so we talked about that. I told them I needed a transvaginal u/s due to my severely tilted uterus, and I think this piece of information frightened off the staff ER physician, who said he was no expert.

So up to L&D I went, where I met the OB resident on call, who looked awfully familiar and who, it turned out, had made my c-section incision with So.ren. She totally liked me in person even though she had clearly thought I was insane on the phone. She tried a transabdominal u/s, but, guess what? It didn't work. So we went dildocam and saw the heartbeat. She wasn't adept enough with the u/s machine to measure it, but it looked fast enough to me. And then she had to rush off because the woman in room 3 was 9cm.

I've been instructed to take it easy. My husband has to get to the municipal airport shortly to take a puddle jumper to the main airport in the region since that road is closed and the detour involves going 287 miles (vs. the 25 it normally involves).

Anyway, moral of the story: don't help other people, or you might spot.

In non-uterine news...

...we made an offer on a house in Bern.al Heig.hts in SF yesterday, and it was accepted. Surprisingly, this house is larger than our current house here in the Midwest. Inspection is occurring as we speak. If all goes well, we will officially move in mid-July. Inconveniently, mortgage rates shot up today due to inflation concerns. Awesome.

Speaking of the Midwest, I have one word: FLOODING. I've been sandbagging (well, tying sandbags with wire) and am about to go do some more. Apparently the university here has already laid one million sandbags.

Ultrasound update

I had a very bad feeling going into this ultrasound for two reasons: (1) some weird cramping I'd been having and (2) my lack of debilitating, soul-crushing, will-to-live-ending nausea. So I steeled myself for the worst, and when the ultrasound cam was first showing nothing but endometriomas, I wasn't even that surprised. I mean, hey, maybe the embryo had implanted in my appendix or something.

But then there it was -- one clearly visible sac, and then a clearly visible heartbeat. The stats: heartrate of 130, measuring perfectly on target at 7w1d. Due date: 1/25/09. I hate January, so it would be nice to have something good happen then. My husband's flights were cancelled yesterday and then again this morning (fucking Midwestern weather), so he actually got to go to the appointment with me.

While in the waiting room, I did read Conceive magazine, and, let me tell you, I really wished it was Infertile Whore.

Regarding my nausea, it comes in waves and prompts vomiting about once a day. I occasionally feel totally fine, particularly if I've just had a cup of genmaicha green tea, which sounds disgusting and which you're really not supposed to drink while pregnant because it interferes with folate absorption or something, but it works magic on my tummy. I feel worst in the late afternoon/evening and best in the early afternoon. On the HG boards, some women have HG hit them as late as 8w, but I'm crossing my fingers that I just have normal m/s, which is NOTHING compared to HG. I realize it's annoying to have people say shit like that -- like, "Oh, I'm sorry you have a cold; I also felt bad when I had CANCER." But that's what I feel like right now, just comparing my experience now to my experience last time around.

Next up: I am scheduled for a CVS on July 2.

A post about not much of anything

So, basically, I'm just sitting aroud, waiting for my u/s on Monday. I have been experiencing waves of nausea, but they may be psychosomatic. As soon as I do anything physical -- like go on a walk or take the garbage cans out to the curb -- the nausea goes away. Same thing if I get engrossed in conversation or work. So who knows? I have been having INSANE dreams, but that's probably just the PIO. And I'm tired and pee often, but that's not different from my normal life. Occasionally, I POAS, which just confirms that I have hCG in my system.

IV.F Connec.tions has been down for a few days, and I'm going through withdrawal. I visit a couple of other boards, but those also have fertiles on them, and sometimes I just want the comfort of IVFC.