Susan...That's great news that they got 2 good quality embies for you, and your ET went smoothly! I know your 2ww will be torture, but just know this is the one for you...Best Christmas gift ever! I'll pray the 6th comes quickly for you...
Angie...Your day is almost here!! I will be thinking of you tomorrow dear...Like Susan, your 2ww will be killer, but you'll have all of us here to help keep you sane. Just keep thinking about how far you've come. Wow! It's all such a miracle. Isn't it?
Jordan...Starting downregging tomorrow. I know some women have had side effects from Lupron. I hope you aren't one of them, and this part of your cycle goes smoothly. Take care dear...
Sasslynlv...Starting stims tomorrow. How exciting is that!?! I hope you have the biggest & best follies ever! PMA PMA PMA...Keep us posted on your scans and such...I know you will, but love hearing the good news...
Carolyn...How fricken' awesome!! Your follies sound perfect! You take care of yourself the next few days, and have fun "shooting up" at the theatre. That would be an interesting one to try to have to explain! By the way, I have to agree that the rainbow was a sign...Now if I get into an accident on the way to the clinic contorting my head trying to spot a rainbow, I'm coming to you first! Take care dear!
Sonja...I wish I had seen that National Geographic special. That would have been neat to see. You mentioned the coffee for the motility of dh's sperm. Did they happen to mention how long before collection they should consume? I wonder if say Red Bull would be the same, since it has a lot of caffeine in it too..? Just thinking aloud. My dh is not a coffee/tea drinker, so think that would be the only way I could get him to drink it is in a soda beverage. I'll have to research that one...How did the visit with the in-laws go..? I'm thankful that my in-laws aren't too awful. The MIL means well, but has some odd idiosyncrasies. Like she'll stare at your lips while you're talking and will move her mouth as if she were saying the words...Even before you know what your next words will be, she's already trying to lip them...Weird!
Rachel...Did you get all your Christmas shopping done? You're a step ahead of me. Still need to get the FIL, and my dh's nephew done. Also want to get something small for the MIL. I get my mom and dh's mom a Swarovski crystal snowflake and glass dome to display it in each year. They both love them, they hold their value, and it makes the season so much easier. Hard to get something for the moms when they have everything they already need and want. The FIL is a bit easier. My dh can always get him tools, and he's as happy as a clam. Hope you didn't run into to many Grumpy Gus'es out there. If you have any MIL gift ideas, I'd love to hear them...
Aunty...Wow! 11 eggs from just one ovary. You are a fertile Myrtle, chickie. You were talking about trying to get a job in retail to help with the financial burden of acupuncture. I used to work in retail, and the way I figure it, you are better off not getting one of them. You would have needed acupuncture just to deal with the stress from the job, so you wouldn't be any further ahead. There's probably less stress in your current situation, so it's probably a mixed blessing. Especially with treatment coming up. Their loss anyway! The big boogers!
Janice (BWHD)...You had asked if anyone knew if your ovaries move. I have my right ovary tucked behind my uterus normally. Found out from my HSG test. When I went to the RE, I mentioned that I was worried he might have trouble getting to my right follicles and asked if I should be concerned that there might be injury to my uterus if he tried to get to it. He said not to worry. In his experience, the ovaries have a tendency to drop quite a bit when they become heavy with all the follies, and he didn't foresee there being issues. He must have been right, because he had no issue when it came time for EC. So, you may very well have nothing to be concerned about. Not to worry sweetie...It all works out in the end. Easier said than done, but that's my PMA today!
Bec...Funny story. Here's a lead into a joke...When do you know that you've been dealing with IF too long? When a friend wishes you happy birthday and to "have a blast", they don't mean a blastocyst! That's the first thing that came to my mind. That's so sad, isn't it!?! I had to laugh at myself. Although, I do have to say, that would be the best wish anyone could have given me! Thank you for that wish...
Nimble...I'm so glad to hear that you're having trouble keeping up too...I thought maybe I was the only one. I almost feel like I'm not getting know everyone as good as I'd like, because I find myself skimming more. Missing the finer details, ya know? Here's wishing your dh makes it home, safe and sound, real soon! Take care my dear...
Christine...Congrats on the witch rearing her head! Who ever knew we'd be congratulating each other on getting af?! When we were trying naturally (which we still haven't given up on completely), AF was the biggest b*tch around. Now, we're almost happy to see her. Screwy isn't it?! I'm sorry to hear you toasted your finggies. I too am a victim of holiday cooking. I filleted my thumb when cleaning up from making squash for Thanksgiving Day. Still a little raw, but healing faster than I thought it would. Wish yours heal just as quickly. Toasted tootsies are terrible...

Sounds like we'll be getting snow soon. Where in Wisconsin are you from? I'm in south central. Janesville. Very close to the Illinois border. We're actually going to a clinic in Rockford, IL because we're closer than we are to Madison, WI. Take care my dear, and if you have any leftover cookies, I'd be very willing to take them off of your hands. Your poor toasted hands...

Almost forgot! Wish dh good luck with his biopsy for me. My dh is sooooo afraid of needles, that surgery would never be an option for us, so I envy you that your dh is willing to do so much to make that miracle happen. You are blessed.
Jackie...Only 2 weeks left!! Can you believe it! I'm sure it feels like a million years away, but you've got your plan and know exactly where you're gonna be. You lucky duck! I'm still in a little bit of limbo. Know that I'll be starting BCPs after this month's af, but after that, not sure when exactly I'll be starting stims. Re said he wanted me back before we start our next cycle, so I'll see him in mid-January, and will have a better idea of dates. You hang in there, and those two weeks will be gone before you know it! Where in Illinois are you from? I'm just over the Wisconsin border (about 2 hours north of Chicago). That would be so great if you, Christine and I could meet up to compare bellies one day. PMA PMA PMA...Take care Jackie!!
Keisha...I know that the shared risk programs are an awesome way to go. Especially if you believe you're going to have a higher chance of having to have repeat treatments. I had the opportunity to switch clinics this time to go with a shared risk clinic, but they're out of Las Vegas, which is just not feasible. However, the clinic did send me their price list and their schedule of what percentages they offer different demographic couples. We opted not to. If we had success on our first try, we would have ended up paying nearly twice as much as a non-shared cost program offered by the same clinic. However, if we had repeated failure, then it would have been an awesome way to go. You've had a pregnancy, but I'm not sure if you have other immunity issues that might increase your chances of miscarriages. So, you really need to look at your history if you think there are higher chances of miscarriages, then you might want to go with the shared risk program. Another problem we would have run into is my age. If we did do repeat programs, our shared risk would have changed with my increasing age. Therefore, the sharing of repeat treatments wasn't as great as it would have been when we initially entered the program. So, we had to consider that, as well. I don't recall your age (I think 33), but you might want to discuss that with your dh to see if you do have to do repeat treatments, how soon does your clinic allow, and will be able to schedule, you in for each follow-up treatment. If there's a 4 to 6 month stretch in between each treatment, then you might want to make sure that your clinic isn't going to change your rates if you reach 35 before conceiving. Just a thought, as that was something to be considered for us. Oh! There's also your mental state to consider. If you have repeated failures, are you mentally prepared to continue to undergo treatments? I'm not sure I could do it over and over again to take full advantage of the benefits the program offers. I'm not sure if this was of helpful, but just thought I'd mention some of the issues we would have run into if we had opted for the shared risk program. I wish you all the luck in the world in making this decision. You have to do what's right for you and dh. Just make sure you two are on the same page and discuss all your options together.
Jemma...I'm glad to hear that you're feeling healthier. I know that the weight I've put on over the last few months has been depressing. I've been watching what I've been eating (with the exception of Turkey Day and my birthday dinner last evening), so have been feeling that I'm doing what I can to get in a better place. Regardless if I loose any actual weight or not, I know I'm eating healthy and feel good about that. I've been debating acupuncture too. I just found out that my husband works closely with a guy whose wife have an acupuncture clinic here in town. I think I'm going to sign dh and I up for a session just after the new year to see if it makes any improvement in our stress levels. If we think there's any benefit, then we'll continue through the treatment. My dh is like me and holds a lot of stress inside. Doesn't even know it's there until it gets too much for him to handle alone. It was funny, I asked my RE how he felt about acupuncture, and he said that he didn't put a lot of emphasis in it to change the outcome of IVF. But, then he went on to say that it must do something if it's been around for hundreds of years. Basically, his final conclusion was that if the patient thought it helped, then it was good. Anything that would relieve stress was good. Whether it was acupuncture itself, or the patient believing it was acupuncture. What was funny was within minutes of him telling me he didn't put much faith in it, he mentioned that there was a support group that I might consider joining, and pulled a flyer from his wall, and handed it to me. Their next session was going to have a guest speaker and was focused solely on...what do you think...Yes...Acupuncture! Here he's telling me in one breath that he doesn't believe in it, and the next recommending that I go to a meeting discussing nothing but acupuncture and IVF. Dork! I do have to agree with him though. If it relaxes you, that can only do good for your treatment outcome. Whether it's directly linked to acupuncture itself or your reduced stress is yet to be determined. Hang in there kiddo, and the answers will come.
I hope I haven't missed anyone...If I have, I will catch up with you later...Better get back to my house cleaning. Those clothes aren't going to wash themselves. Hey wait...With today's washing machines, I guess they will! We have it so rough with our modern conveniences, don't we!? Take care ladies. Hugs to you all...TTFN...