The Sisterhood of the Blue Stilettos

[nickster]

Meg~ So...teething not going so well? One of the couples we went to Jamaica with brought their baby and he was (and I 'm sure still is) a very slow teether too. He had a tooth ready to come out a few days before we left and it still hadn't popped through the whole week we were there. Poor babies! You know the poor things are miserable. I wonder why it takes longer with some.
I'm glad to hear she has decided after 13 months she wants to become a sleeper though! That was awfully nice of her! Which, by the way, she looked absolutely adorable in her costume! I love that one of her walking...those short little legs...she looks so cute.

Tina~ Noah looked adorable too. He looks so big already! I feel like he shouldn't be that old. I'm sure the time just flies when their that age.
How's work been. Have you been adjusting a little better? Noah still sleeping good through the night?

Jenn & Angie~ Thanks to you girls I will never blow up a teething ring in the microwave, because that is totally something I would have done being the germophobe I am! I bet that was a huge mess.

Jenn~ I hope you are feeling better.

BTW~ If anyone hasn't been on Sassy's blog, she has pictures of the babies in matching pumpkin costumes for Halloween. They are so darn cute!

I am feeling a little under the weather. I have finally gotten a few days off work and now have a cold! Don't you just love when that happens!
Well I start my Lupron next week. We met with our coordinator this morning. She goes over all the meds and orders them for us So, our ginormous package should be arriving tomorrow or Saturday. I love, love, love this new clinic. They are wonderful.
Talk to everyone soon.

[meg12]

Hey, could someone pm me Sassy's blog again? I had it on the favorites in my computer, but my lovely DH deleted them all and I can't for the life of me remember it!

[vicky77]

Hi girls!!!!, I am sorry that it's been so long since my last post!.

Jenn.....congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!, that is so amazing, I guess it is the dream of all the IVF'ers, keep us posted!!

Angie....I did the same thing with the teether, melted it in the sterilizer, oh well, but as you said, I guess we will have to accept the idea that sooner or later everything will end up in their mouth anyway....

Nickster....good luck with starting Lupron tomorrow!!!!

Fee.....wow, I can't believe Rio is 1 already, where is time going????

I am doing great, Benjamin is so big, he has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months (thank you Babywise!!!), he sleeps from 8 to 7am, it is great!!!. I am applying again for residency, I have done 2 years of Internal Medicine residency a couple of years ago, but did not like it that much, so I took a couple of years off to reconsider/have a baby, so now I am ready to go back and I decided to apply for Pathology which I find fascinating and love the work!!!, right now I am doing a rotation at a hospital and going for interviews, hopefully I will enter to my first choice, keep your fingers crossed!!! The only thing that is hard, of course, is leaving Benjamin during the day, I am so used to being with him all day long that I miss him so much!!, the good thing is that he stays with my parents so at least I know he is being spoiled there and is having a good time......

[nickster]

Hi girls!

Vicky~ So good to hear from you, and so glad to hear all is well with Benjamin. How wonderful that he sleeps so long at night. You are a lucky girl! Good luck with the new job...sounds exciting.

How is everyone else?
Jenn~ Have you been feeling better?

We are just coasting along on the 'ol IVF trail! I start stims on Monday...can't believe it's here already.

Talk to everyone soon.

[Angie65]

great to hear from you Vicky - glad Benjamin is doing well and good luck with your residency ( not sure exactly what that is but it sounds very important!)

Nickster - I am crossing everything for you for this cycle - we need another preggo sister to keep Jenn company. good luck with the stims - look forward to hearing your follie counts.

hi to everyone else - just a quick post from me today. I am so tired - I am sleep deprived but not because of little Ams - I Just keep waking up in the small hours and not getting back to sleep. Crazy - my baby is sleeping, husband is sleeping and I am awake!

I am hanging out for my trip to UK so my mum can look after me - it will be bliss to have some help.

must go - lots to do. will write more soon.

[nickster]

Hey girls!

I had my baseline US scheduled for this am but yesterday my coordinator called and said since I started AF after being off bcp, I wouldn't have to come in for an ultrasound until after I'm on the stims. I thought it was a little odd since I've never done it that way but apparently that's how this new clinic does it. Then she called right back and said "actually, he has a note on your chart that he wants to see you for your baseline no matter what". So..I'm like ok...what does that mean? So, I get there this morning and he tells me "I wanted to see you for this US because your past records (including the IUI records from a few years ago) show you have a high fsh". Huh????.....I have NEVER heard this before. He said the FSH level in and of itself doesn't concern him but he wanted to see how many follies I would be starting with. So I am starting with 4 on each side. Eight, instead of the 18 I started with in my IVF less than 2 years ago. So needless to say we were a little shocked. I told dh I want to go back to the old days when we were annoyed because they always told us everything was soooo beautiful and they just couldn't understand why we couldn't get pregnant. I think we kind of took that for granted. I am trying so hard to keep positive and remind myself it could certainly be alot worse! We'll just hope like crazy out of those eight follies, there's one (or two) babies for us!

[meg12]

Nickster--You know I'm not a big fan of cliches, but you have to admit that most of them make sense. And do I have one for you right now...."It's not quantity but quality". I'm thinking those 8 eggs are going to be rock stars. I think it's a good sign that this new doctor is doing things differently and looking at different things. I feel very good about it. (I must have an inflated sense of self tonight because for some reason I feel sure that the last sentence I just typed is totally going to reassure you. Hmmmm, where did that come from???) Keep us posted!

Angie---For God sakes, girl, get some sleep! (See, inflated sense of self is leaping up again. All heed me!)

Seriously, are you worried about something and not even realizing it? Usually that's why I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes, though, I put off sleeping just because it's so nice just to have some me time. I love my baby. Love, love, love, love, love. But a little time by myself at the computer or reading a book or even going to the bathroom (tmi, I know) is a luxury right now. Don't know how I got off on that tangent.

I think I'd better go get some sleep! I should be back to normal in the morning!
P.S. Hi to everyone else!

[nickster]

Thanks Meg...you're right.
Like I said, I am just trying to make myself realize that 8 would be a mega number for some and like you said, we're just hoping those babies (pardon the pun!) are just going to take off.. and do well.. and fertilize.. and everything else they need to do!

Hope everyone has a good weekend.
It's FREEZING here. I'm not ready for winter yet!

[tinaO]

Nickster - To reassure you some more...my clinic is very conservative. They don't want you to grow a whole bunch of follies if possible due to all the risks. So, they stopped me when I got to having about 12. They retrieved 12 in total and 10 fertilized. So, I guess I never really thought about the fact that 12 wasn't that many. It seemed like plenty to me! So, I am thinking that 8 is an awesome number. Isn't it horrible how you second guess everything along the way? I remember crying when only one made it to freezing. I cried and cried. My husband told me not to worry about it because I was already pregnant (though we of course did not know it yet as I had just gone through the transfer - he was just thinking positive). Anyway, now I am glad I didn't have a ton of eggs as I would not want to be left with a bunch of frozens. I am excited we have just one and that will be the one we hopefully implant one day and give Noah a brother or sister! Anyway, think positive. I feel so good about this one for you. I do! I do!!! Have you read the book The Secret? Did I ask you this before? It really helped me to think positive during the process.

All is well here. I have been sick with a cold...which sucked...and now my husband has it. Noah doesn't seemed to have gotten it yet. Noah is just such a dream. He is the easiest baby. Sleeps so well....last night from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m. I feel so lucky. He is just such a good baby. I really wanted to get out this weekend, but now my husband is sick. It just sucks. I was sick all last weekend!!!! Uggghhhh.

My birthday is Mon. I will be 38. Double ugggghhhh.

Noah has flat head on one side. Anyone dealt with that? It is the way he sleeps.

Tina

[nickster]

Tina~ Thank you and that does make me feel better. It is horrible how we second guess EVERYTHING. I do have to say though, I have been much more laid back this time than the last two cycles...so far.
Funny you ask, I have read "The Secret", actually just finished it a week or so ago. I actually bought it after we had the miscarriage earlier in the year and never really started it, so it got buried somewhere and I forgot about it. Then in the last few weeks I felt like everywhere I went I kept seeing it, a couple people asked me about it, etc. So I finally read it and sooo glad I did. I really do feel so much more positive, and that's not usually like me!
I am so glad to hear things are going so well with Noah. You guys are so blessed to have such a great baby!

[Angie65]

hi nickster - I will add my theory to all of this ! FSH numbers, Follie numbers, embryo quality numbers, beta numbers etc etc I reckon try not to read anything into it ( I know easier said than done ) but as an observer now, looking in, my theory is if it is going to work, it is going to work..... I honestly thought we were a hopeless cause and now we have a baby girl. I still can't believe it.

You sound like you are in a really positive space right now so stay right there and you will be fine. Wishing you all the luck in the world.

Now girls, I will soon be off on my big trip to England so may not be able to post much until after Christmas. Can't wait to see my family but they know nothing about the IVF and never will, hence it may be a bit difficult to visit this site....(but I will try my hardest as I want to hear of Nickster's news).

Happy holidays/Christmas to all. Will be thinking of you all.

[jenn]

Hey girls!

Happy Birthday Tina!!! Hope you are having a great day! Sounds like Noah is doing great. I think of Anna as a dream baby too. She is pretty easy. I am worried this one will really give us a run for it! So, when will Noah be getting a brother or sister?

Nickster~ I think 8 eggs sounds FAB! We only got 6 at our highest so think positive. Meg was right- Quality Not Quantity. My nurse actually said that to us as I was sobbing over my 3 eggs on our first cycle. She said she would rather have a few great ones than a batch of 20 something that are mostly duds. She was right, my lazy ovaries eventually worked for us! I can't wait to see how well you do! Keep positive!


Gotta run- eye dr. and baby dr. appt. today. Busy!!

Later!

OOH~
Angie- hope you have a wonderful visit with your family! Enjoy your holidays and come back to us and tell us all about it!

[nickster]

I know I can always count on you girls to make me feel better! Thank you!
We keep saying the same thing, if it's meant to work this time...it just will.
Not much new going on. Started stims last night, so just movin right along.

Angie~ Have a good trip.

[FionaA]

Hey Girls! How are we all??? I am slowly comng to the realisation that I will never have any time again to spare EVER! It is 11.00pm and I have just wrapped up my working day...

Nickster, you are doing great, 8 is fantastic! I bet they will all be winners too. Your post reminded me of how bloody nerve wracking the whole thing is, I recalll having many freak outs along the way....I am going to get to re-live the process soon too cos I have booked into the clinic on 21 January to see about having number 2 (if I am am lucky)!

Angie and Jenn your sterilising stories cracked me up. I was sterilising up a storm (in fact boiled my breast pump parts so much that I ruined them within weeks of buying them - when I ordered replacements they questioned me closely about my sterilising practices and I kind of glossed over my little germ obession.) Now Rio likes to lick the floor and I have given up...

Angie have a great holiday you will love having your mum to help I am sure, and I bet they are going to love Ams, look forward to hearing about your hols

Jenn how's the pregnancy going???? Send good vibes to me I would love to have another without IVF!

Mego am impressed that you have got Lucy to sleep on her own. That is major. I still have Rio in my room. And every night we lie down together and cuddle and that is how he falls asleep.... how am I going to break that habit??? Will be hard for both me and him I think...

Vicky, great to hear from you, how are you finding work and mothering? I wonder if everyone finds it as hard as me? Somehow I make everything look hard though, am not one of those accomplished type women who look totally together, am lucky to brush my hair every day...

Tina how are you and work going? Glad to see you are reaping the rewards of your hard work before mat leave. Noah sounds like a dream baby. Are you working full time??? Happy 38 th! Gawd that will be me next year....

Sassy! Love your blog, you are doing great. I do believe that gypsy fee predicted you would have a brood....yet another triumph for my psychic ability...

Robbo. what is going on with you??? Are you going to do another round????

Better go, I need to have a shower, actually I need to wash my hair but I really can't be bothered, I really have let myself go...

Fee

[FionaA]

PS Tina, sorry forgot to mention that Rio also got a flat spot on his head. It is from sleeping the same position. Apparently we are supposed to to get them to switch sides of their heads that they sleep on, not that easy, specially since they are sposed to lie on their backs. I don't think it causes any harm and I think they fix up as they get older. Also I think that as baby gets older they move around more in their sleep and so the flat thing gets less of an issue??? That's my two cents on the issue