Christmas

So we celebrated Christmas last night with my Mom, Stepdad and little brother (adopted 8 yr old from China). I can't believe how tall my brother is already. I didn't check, but he is probably close to being the same height as me (that's not really saying much). My parents are in their 60's a raising a young child again. My Mom seemed exhausted and she said that they had been running around all day. It was nice to see them and have dinner with them in our new house. My Mom always gives the most random presents, so we are left to figure out where to put everything now. I got a book I am really excited about reading from my stepdad. It is called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I started it last night and didn't want to put it down to go to bed (no wonder I was so tired waking up this morning.) It's interesting how they tie some things about IVF into the book (well so far I only read a little bit but they alluded to it.)

Things are going well though. Last week seemed to go by really slowly, but I think it is because I am looking forward to the holidays and having a little time off. I am hoping this week goes by more quickly, but somehow I doubt it. Despite my needing to make money, I have decided to work a very light schedule the week between Christmas and New Year's. I have been getting calls about picking up more cases. It is hard to say no because I know I will be losing some at the end of the year and people always cancel. That is why I am sitting here typing today, because I had a cancellation this morning. I love working per diem and having all the flexibility, but it makes me really nervous not working when I know we will be paying for IVF soon. I have the money at least for one round and maybe two, but then my "rainy-day fund" is all gone. Christmas is SO expensive, but I really like giving nice gifts to others. 

We have our appointment scheduled for Tuesday at 2:00 to do the trial transfer and sonohysterogram.

 I'm just hoping it all goes well and we can look forward. My boss' wife is a member at the gym in an amazing spa in town. She has guest passes and is willing to give me a few to go. I love the steam room, sauna and hot tub there so I am hoping to go with my mother-in-law before starting all the injectables. I think this will be very relaxing. I am debating telling her about it (my husband and I have talked and think she would be the best person to tell), but I will cross that bridge when I get there. She was there post-op and heard that my best option for getting pregnant would be IVF. She is the only one who really knows and is sensitive about these issues. Also, she wants more grandchildren!!

Speaking of relaxation, I have found a great guided imagery CD from the library. It is called Self-Heading with Guided Imagery by Andrew Weil. My husband and I have listened to it a few times already and find it to be very relaxing and freeing from all the day-to-day stress. We are hoping to use it more during all the early morning appointments and injectables in order to help reduce stress. 

We did some research about acupuncture and found that the biggest factor for IVF success is stress and that acupuncture tends to relive stress. I have done acupuncture before and found it to be amazingly relaxing, but I'm not sure I need to pay all that money to relax. I am a little stressed about money so don't want to be paying an extra $100 a week for stress relief. I have been trying to exercise more to also help relive stress. Really, I just want the next three weeks to fly by so we are actively trying to get pregnant (although like the nurse suggested we are continuing to have "relations"). I'm not completely decided about the acupuncture and will probably ask at my appointment on Wednesday. I know the doctor will talk our ears off as he always does, but I appreciate how thorough he is. My questions to ask are: Should I be on the BCP? (I am planning to call today to ask this ques), Should I be on baby asprin? Do you recommend acupuncture? Any other ideas for questions???