Remodeled

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while. Since there's nothing too exciting to write about with a FET I figured it was a good time.

We moved into our house a little over two years ago. When we looked at the house I loved everything about it but the upstairs bathroom. I decided if we bought it we would remodel the bathroom before we ever moved it.

Right around the time that we closed on the house I had lap surgery #1. This was when we were told both of my tubes were blocked and that IVF was going to be our only option. Needless the say we moved into the house without changing the bathroom.

In all honesty it was fully functional. It was just hideous. It looked like it was straight out of the 70's. Everything was brown or yellow. The floor was an ugly brown linoleum, the shower doors had tropical stork-like birds on them, the vanity was a marbly yellow color, and the wall had a marble patterned tile board on them. I regret now that I didn't take more pictures so you could get the full effect. Oh yeah, and there were large fluorescent lights on both sides of the vanity mirror.

Here is the only "before" picture I took

Well, this past spring/summer we remodeled it. We used our tax return and with the help of my step-father and FIL we did all the work ourselves. The only thing that stayed was the toilet and tub. For the tub we got it refinished. I initially wanted to replace the tub but when we found out it was cast iron and would be extremely difficult to get out, we decided instead to get it refinished. I'm glad we did because we basically got a brand new tub.

We re-tiled the floor and put radiant heat underneath. The radiant heat in the bathroom is helping me to be more of a morning person. It is amazing!! The floor is about 80 degrees when it is on. Getting out of the shower or bath and stepping onto that floor feels great. We put new tile in the shower and got a new vanity. My step-father also built us a cabinet to perfectly fit a previously unused space.

Here are pictures I took during the process:

And here are the after pictures:

I think it is a huge improvement!

IVF #1 CD 2 (suppression check)

So everything went well. I was cleared to start stims yesterday and the ultrasound was uneventful. I am currently on 150 IU's on Gonal-F and my Lupron was reduced to 10 units/day.

Speaking of Lupron, we had some issues yesterday. I had the nurse call in a script on Monday to my pharmacy and went Wednesday to see the status. They told me they were waiting for pre-authorization from my insurance company form the doctor's office. I asked yesterday and the nurse said she never heard from them. Well, the kit I had was almost gone so the nurse had to do some scrambling to find some. Due to the shortage, the closest she could find it was a pharmacy in NYC. I had to pay the full price since I didn't have time to get the pre-auth from insurance, and pay to have it delivered next day. The price wasn't too bad and my insurance company will reimburse me if it is something they cover. I just received the package and have a new Lupron kit in my possession.

The worst part about my appointment yesterday was the nurse. She is the main nurse at this clinic because it is small. She is the one I talk to with my questions, she did my IUI's, and is basically my go-to person. Well, I walked in yesterday to see she was bald. I finally asked her if everything was OK and she shook her head and didn't really say much. She then talked about how her voice has been bothering her and she thinks it is from the new round of chemo she started. I knew she had surgery a few months back but thought it was just back surgery. I felt really sad for her the rest of the day.

We had dinner on the boat with my in-laws yesterday. The weather was amazing and the wine was delicious. Going to the lake reminds me of when W and I first met and would hang out. We were both working at a restaurant and I would often go to his parent's lake house to hang out after work with him. We have so many great memories there, and just being there reminds me of how lucky I am to have him and everything great in my life. I am so thankful we are even able to have the opportunity to do IVF. Maybe I will be brave enough to go swimming today, we will see.

Something horrible happened a little while ago. I checked on the robin eggs to see whether they had hatched or not and then went back inside. About 5 minutes later I heard a loud boom and looked out to see the hanging basket fell and the eggs were broken on my front porch. I felt horrible (and still do). I'm sorry momma robin : (

Happy May Day

I don't really know what May Day ism and when I think of it I think of a distress call, but happy May Day! I can't believe it is May already and spring has definitely sprung around here. The trees are all in bloom, the grass is green, and flowers are aplenty. It is amazing how fast it happened, we just needed a few warm days. 

I appreciate all of the feedback from my post on Friday about when to take the gonal-f. The reason I didn't call my clinic is because they are not open on the weekend, and my first shot is tonight. I am planning to do it around 7 and hoping for the best. My hubby is a pro at the little syringes at this point, but that big pen will take some getting used to. I am looking forward to starting tonight and much more hopeful for this cycle. 

My Dad came out yesterday and we worked on some gardening. Since we have an acre lot, we have a lot we could do. We went to the store and as a housewarming present he bought us a ton of bulbs, seeds, a magnolia tree!!, some herbs, fertilizer, etc. He also brought out some plants from his garden including catnip. We were busy, busy working until 8:15 planting last night. I was sad he didn't stay the night, but we got a lot accomplished. We put in a walk way a few weeks ago (an entire weekend project) and we added some plants along there. Here are some pics of our recent landscaping projects:

This was our walkway before. It would get extremely muddy when it rained, so we found stepping stones in another part of the yard and moved them here. See the big tree to the left? Can you say LOTS of roots below the ground. W became a pro in no time with the axe. 

Here is is with the stones and newly planted items alongside. 

We also worked on this flower bed last weekend which already had the daffodils growing in it. It also had a ton of coal which we raked out. 

Yesterday we worked on this flower bed. We put down the plastic and plan to mulch when the bulbs pop up. Growing there will be calla lilies, beebalm in numerous colors, stargazer lilies, iris, peonies in three different colors, and day lilies.

Before:

With plastic down and no mulch yet. Not exactly instantly gratifying. 

We also tilled and fenced in an area for our veggie garden. 

Today we planted the Magnolia tree:

I know all of our house improvements aren't extremely exciting, but those are the updates in my life. I have been feeling pretty crappy between my period coming and having a little cold. I usually don't get sick despite work with little kids, but in the last month I have gotten two different minor colds. Last night my throat was killing me and my neck was super sore (still is today). I am hoping it feels better tomorrow. Also, the Metformin is definitely having it's "effect", but nothing too bad. So far it is tolerable. 

The 2WW is good for something

Well, the 2ww officially ends on Friday, but I'm pretty sure my period will be paying me a visit any day now. People say that PMS symptoms are very similar to pregnancy symptoms, but I think I can tell the subtle differences. Sure, my boobs are sore, but more in a I'm getting my period kind of way that huge and pregnant kind of way. I feel moody, but don't even remember feeling that way when I was pregnant. My sense of smell is within the normal range and I haven't been stopping to use the bathroom much at all. When I look back at the time before I knew I was pregnant last time, the things that stand out the most were SUPER sore boobs and getting up in the middle of the night to pee. I always sleep through the night and have been doing so all week. 

That being said, I have an appointment with my RE for Friday to discuss our future options. This was an appointment I voluntary scheduled today since I feel like we need to sit down and talk. I haven't actually talked to him since before we even started the Clomid. I was starting to feel like I was being treated by a nurse and wasn't comfortable with this. Maybe this is just the part of me who was about to do a cycle of IVF and am now doing IUI's. I know they aren't as involved, but it is hard to go from one treatment to the other with the same expectations. My hubby and I were talking about it the other day and we said it's like I went from point A to point C and am now back at point B. It has been an interesting and confusing journey and we're not even to our destination yet. 

 I tried to call my RE on Monday to ask a few questions and called a different number he had given me. Since I go to a University clinic, he also has an "academic" number. I know this number leads directly to voicemail and that I could leave a message that he would receive. Well, he called back at 6:25 on Monday night (I left my phone in the car as we were at calling hours). I was disappointed to see he had called back and I didn't expect it, but his message made me think this wasn't a number to call with general questions. He basically said I could get ahold of him the following day through the clinic if it were an emergency, or call the nurse at the clinic with questions. I don't feel like she can answer some of my questions and she isn't the most thorough. She tends to be brief and almost always seems annoyed with me. I will let you know how the appointment goes and the answers to some of the questions that have been bothering me. 

Since I have given you the update on IF, I decided to update you on what I kept myself busy with over the past two weeks. Some of the projects were started a little before, but here is what we did:

Painted our office:

Before (a dark green). These pictures were taken before we moved in an had furniture in the room. 

It's not that we didn't like the color, it was more that it was dark for the space and I wanted to do STRIPES. Here were go!

First we pained it all a lighter color:

Then we measured and taped (my hubby was ready to kill me during this process):

Then we painted the darker color and pulled off the tape. The touch ups were done courtesy of my hubby and I think it looks pretty fantastic. 

 That's probably enough looking at my house pictures, so I will spare you other projects until I update again (Ok I lied, here are some pretty spring pictures I took today). Hope everyone is having a great week and that spring is visiting them too! ICLW has been great and I've been enjoying reading some new blogs and having new visitors. Thanks for stopping by!

Home Improvements

I has been nice to make some improvements/upgrades to our house. I know a big part of this is me being able to have control over something positive in my life with a little hard work and money (unlike my fertility), but who cares, things are looking good!

These are photos of the bathroom before:

   

Notice the beautiful frog border?

Now here are pictures of after:

We also got a new light for the foyer and an antique framed  stained glass that we hung in our window of the stairs.

Foyer before:

 Foyer After:

Here is the stained glass:

A little disappointed

So I took another HPT this afternoon (1 week post D&C) hoping it would be negative. I got so excited when a second line didn't appear right away, but within a few minutes it was there. When I took tests previously, the second line appeared almost immediately. The line isn't as dark as other times, but it's still there. It is a weird feeling to wish for a negative test, but I know as long as I still have the HCG in my body, it will take longer for my period to return. Here is a pic of the tests I have taken (the dates are on there). What do you think?

I called my RE's office yesterday and left a message with the nurse asking about the fasting glucose script. She called me back this morning and was surprised my RE wanted that done because he had done my glucose levels previously. I guess I never did fasting ones before. When I talked to her I also asked about HCG levels and getting them tested again. When I went for my pre-op appointment on Monday Feb 21, my levels had risen, but were still low. I really am not sure whether I ovulated when I started taking the Lupron (January 5) or before. I can't figure it out and it doesn't much matter. Either way, my HCG was 4457 10 days ago.

Here are the levels by date:
January 21, 2051
February 8, 3972
Feb 21, 4457

The nurse just returned my call after talking to my RE and said he wants me to do a fasting glucose test. I don't have to do the challenge, just get a fasting level and then he can figure out the difference or something like that. He also wanted me to wait at least a week before getting my HCG levels tested again, and today is exactly 1 week since the procedure. I asked her how long it usually takes to go back down and she said it really depends on the person. Usually, after a D&C is goes down pretty quickly.

I don't really have any pregnancy symptoms anymore, and had lost many of them even before finding out about the miscarriage (only when I look back do I realize this). My hubby looked at me this morning and was like, "Wow, your nipples look so small." I have to admit, I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I was amazed to realize I didn't have to stop to use the bathroom AT ALL during the day today and I drank tea this morning and a decent amount of water. I am glad to not be getting up in the middle of the night to go anymore, and that was incredibly frustrating after I found out the pregnancy was no longer viable.

When I think about it, I think I will probably wait until next Wednesday to do the blood work since that will give the lab enough time to get it to my RE for my appointment, but also allow my HCG levels to come down some more (hopefully). I wish there was something I could do to make them drop!

In other news since I finally uploaded some photos, here are pics of our new bed and the bathroom before (I did take some stuff down before taking the pics, but you can tell how small it is).

Notice our fertility symbol Kokopelli on the wall? I'll take all the help I can get!

The bed is so big it's hard to get all in one frame, but the cat had to be in there! We love having the king size, and I think the cat hogs the most space. 

Here is our downstairs half (closet sized) bathroom. We don't typically keep all of that medicine on that sink, but I took the medicine cabinet down and put them there temporarily. My DH didn't think to move them before taking a picture (oh, the minds of men!) I would love to do something with the sink, but think it will be hard to find a corner sink... nothing else would fit. 

The spots that look strange had the medicine cabinet and another strip of wood with hooks and shelves. I took them down in a craze before I realized it would be good to take pics first. The border had frogs on it, and the color really isn't all that bad in the pictures. It seems brighter in person.