The Last Week

IVF injections will begin this coming Saturday, so during the past week Micah and I have been saying to each other, "This could be the last time we do _______ before our lives change...." Of course, we have no idea what will happen during this first IVF cycle, but we are hopeful that it will be successful and therefore we are trying to cherish these last few days before everything changes for us.  We are fully aware that a pregnancy is nine months so I know we will be able to do many things with the two of us for awhile even if the first IVF cycle works, but there are some things you can't do as a pregnant person or the experience wouldn't be the same as a pregnant person, so we are feeling a little sentimental.

Micah's parents were visiting this weekend so Karen and I spent A LOT of time in the kitchen.  We baked three loaves of rye bread, 44 peanut butter blossom cookies, a pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cheesecake.  We also made a few dinners together.  It was fun to have someone in the kitchen with me making all of that food, but it really made me wish my kitchen was bigger.  Two is definitely a crowd in that kitchen and three is impossible!  I know I will definitely be able to make all of this food once IVF starts, but I'm not sure how I'll feel or if I'll really have the energy, so it might be the last time for awhile that I'm so productive in the kitchen.  Here is a pic of Karen and me with our pie and cheesecake.  And that is pretty much the whole kitchen too... you can see how tight it really is!

When thinking about what to do Friday evening it occurred to me that it was really the last chance to go to Happy Hour before the IVF process starts since I'll be traveling this Friday for the contract work I'm doing (plus I'm not sure if I should have a drink the night before my first injection since all of the consents say I must avoid alcohol).  As I discussed in an earlier post, I am a fan of raspberry lemon drop martinis so we stopped by Elephant Bar for Happy Hour and I had one (or two :) ).

On Saturday, Micah's climbing buddy hosted his annual Halloween party.  Micah and I are not big fans of Halloween as we aren't very creative so it's hard for us to think of costume ideas, but when I mentioned my favorite costume as a kid was being a pair of dice with my friend Rachel, Micah said we should re-live that experience.  So here we are :).  We definitely could have won an award for the most "G Rated" at the party but we still got a lot of compliments!

After a fun weekend, reality hit that not only is this the last week before everything starts but it's also a crazy busy week for me.  I am finally getting some help on the accounting stuff for our church (thanks Sarah!) so I spent a lot of time yesterday cleaning stuff up, getting notes organized and training.  I've been spending about 8-10 hours a week volunteering for our church and I'm really hoping it will slow down now that someone else is taking on a good chunk of the responsibility as the whole point of me not working right now is to be able to relax.

Tomorrow I have my baseline ultrasound and my final consult for IVF.  We also have to hand in the dozen or so consent forms.  Unfortunately, my meds should have arrived last week but there was a miscommunication somewhere so now I'm on pins and needles waiting for my package.  I talked to a woman at the prescription company today and she said she would have them sent via UPS this afternoon so they should get to my house tomorrow, but the company is in Maine so I'm concerned there might be a bit of a delay due to the hurricane.  Luckily, I can borrow some meds from my doctor's office if I don't have them yet this weekend.  I hope the rest of the process goes more smoothly!

Tomorrow I also leave for southern Colorado as I'm visiting five agencies for the contract work I'm doing.  I will be driving 16 hours in three days in addition to performing mini audits at five agencies, so it is going to be a busy three days!  I just hope everything goes smoothly so I'm back Friday night since my injections begin Saturday morning.

I'll keep you all posted of the progress of IVF over the next few weeks.  I keep switching back and forth between really excited, really nervous and everything in between as I anticipate the process.