day 4 stim check up

so i had my 4 day stim check up this morning @ 6:30:

Follicles: R:18 L:15 (nice!)
Mature Follies: none yet (none over 10mm)
E2=812 (too high!)
Lining= 7.5 (good- they like it @ 8 or above & i just finished AF)

so- the nurse called & told me to cut my gonal-f from 150iu to 75iu- this will help bring down my E2- help me not produce anymore follicles & help the ones that are there get "mature"
then i go back in on thurs (may 1st) for another check up!!! yay!
so i think everything is going well!!!
God Bless

my pound cake came out well- moist & thick. that sounds disgusting but, it's good.

if i wasn't so lazy i'd type out the recipe- maybe later.
God Bless

baby mama

omg- that movie was hilarious. of course it ended with a super sappy, everyone gets their way ending, but it was still funny. i laughed quite a bit, yes- it was nice.
anywho. i'm making pound cake- i'll post pictures later when it's done. i'm pretty excited about it because i love pound cake- alot.

also i will be taking my 3rd gonal-f shot tonight!!! it's taking me less & less time to stick myself now- ha- it's been TWO DAYS!!! and it already feels like forever. i have bloodwork & an ultrasound on tues @ 6:30a.m. yaaaay- we'll see how things are progressing then.

if all goes acording to plan, i will have my ERon May 8th- so according to the IVF calculator, i am currently 0w3d pregnant. HA! i can't wait till it's something "real" however, here is my 0w3d "belly pic":


i can't WAIT till it's actually something to look @- i'm even looking forward to the bloating & "looking fat" that i know will happen!!! i SO PRAY that this first IVF cycle works out- i just want to be KU ALREADY! PLEASE GOD!

so yeah- that's about it for now. i'm working the late shift this week: 11:30a.m.-8:30p.m. i had to switch with someone because i was supposed to work it next week but next week should be my ER week & i need to be able to take that day off- so thankfully one of my co-worker's switched- i love her for that.

ok- that's it! GOD BLESS!

FIRST IVF SHOT!!!!!

so i just took my first stim!!!!! gonal-f rff pen: 150 iu
7:30p.m. -ok so i got it all set up and prepped myself- for like 10 min!!!
it took forever- but i finally "took the plunge"...
"oh, well that didn't hurt AT ALL!!!!" now to listen for the clicking...
ALL DONE! i pulled it out and that was that!!!!
OMG! that was SO EASY! i wasn't freaking out until i actually had the needle in my hand- i had brandon waiting in the wings to document and the poor guy had to stand there for like 10 min while i made him convince me that this wasn't going to hurt- ha! but yeah, i finally did it and i didn't feel a thing. this is going to be a breeze ::finger's crossed::

so yeah- yay! TGIF & TGFSS (thank God for starting stims)!!! we both took our Zithromax tonight and we're on our way to maing a baby! i am SO excited about this whole process!

good luck to ALL the nest ladies starting stims tonight or tomorrow- i'm so stoked for all of us!

God Bless!

Stimming Starts on Friday

so i dragged my ass out of bed @ 4:30a.m. for the 45 min ride to Lexington, MA this morning for my suppression check @ 6:30a.m.- ugh. everything went fine & my nurse called me @ 4:15 this afternoon to let me know that i would start stimming on Friday 04/25. FRIDAY!!! i wish it was tonight but i can't complain. i will "live it up" for this last week & then start my "regiment" on friday. no more alcohol or caffeine or splenda- just natural crap- ugh! hmmm- it'll all be worth it in the end!!! i know it will!

so yeah, here's what we're looking at:
BCP: 04/03-04/21
Stims: 04/25-05/06(ish)
Trigger: 05/07(ish)
ER: 05/08(ish)
ET: 05/11 or 05/13(ish) 3 or 5 day transfer
Beta: 05/23-24(ish) depending on ET date

OMG- looking at that makes it seem so much more real- but i don't think it'll really hit me until friday when i start injecting myself full of drugs- woohoo!

so yeah- i'm pretty happy...hmmm- it's been wicked nice out too so that just adds to my mood- also i made a wonderful apple cake last night but i forgot to take a picture & now it's gone ::sigh:: alas- it was good though!

alright- that's about it for now- God Bless!

Lemon Curd Cake

so i made an AWESOME lemon curd cake- it was SO GOOD: i think it was moist & tasty because of the lemon curd that is actually incorporated into the batter:Lemon Curd Cake:
(from Emily Luchetti's Four-Star Desserts)

Curd Ingredients:
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/4 cup granulated sugar (divided into 3/4 cup & 1 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp (=half stick=2 oz) unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
6 large egg whites

To make the lemon curd:
Fill a medium pot 1/3 full of water and bring to a very low boil.In a medium heatproof bowl whisk together egg yolks, egg, 1/2 cup sugar. Whisk in 1/2 cup lemon juice. Set the bowl over the pot of water making sure water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes.Strain the curd into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd (to prevent a skin from forming). Chill curd until cold (but it's okay to chill it until it's cooled down to room temperature).
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 325F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round x 3-inch high cake pan.Sift together cake flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, lemon juice, zest, and cooled lemon curd. Stir in dry ingredients.Using the whisk attachment, in the bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Increase speed to high and gradually add the 1 1/2 cup sugar. Whip until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into batter. Spread batter into you prepared cake pan. Bake at 325F until cake tester comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool on rack and then remove cake from pan. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
it got rave reviews at work (i brought it in for a co-worker's b-day) and it TOTALLY beat out the other lady's homemade ice-cream cake (i felt a little bad because i could tell she was a little off-put because people seemed to appreciate my cake little more. she's a wicked nice lady so i didn't want her feeling to be hurt so i had a piece of her cake too and went on & on about it- she puffed up a little after that so i think she'll be ok) there was a lack of communication so my co-worker got 2 wonderful homemade cakes & they were both devoured. i managed to steal a little sliver of the lemon cake to bring home to brandon because i know he'll love it.

so yes- all in all my day went well. it usually does when i drink my tea from this mug:

doesn't that just make you feel...happy? even if i'm feeling tired & pissy, all i have to do is glance at my mug and i smile. it cannot be helped. mr. happy mug comes through again. there is a mr. grumpy mug too but even he makes me smile- it's a win-win.

so that's about it- i'm still twiddling my thumbs- waiting to start stims for IVF #1 but i guess being impatient won't make time go any faster. booo! i did get my recent ebay purchase in the mail though (Dollanger Series) so that should help keep my mind off the stims- at least for a little while. i just need to make it through another week or so...eeeek!

well that's all for now. God Bless!

Pumpkin Bread

today i made Pumpkin Bread:

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 applesauce
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 (or 2 9x5) inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. (you can also add a cup or so of chocolate chips)
Bake for about 50 (or 1hour 20min for 9x5) minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (i also melt about 2 tblsp of butter & throw in a little pumpkin pie spice- then i poke holes in the still hot bread and pour the butter over)

last week i made Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins:






they were good- nice & fluffy & light. the recipe is from my Williams & Sonoma Muffins cookbook and it's almost perfect. i alway tweak the recipe & add a little of this & that and i'm good to go.





in other news: i'm still on BCP till the 20th- then i'll go in for my suppression check go from there- i'm impatiently waiting!!!
also last night the RED SOX WON! woo-hoo! there was a rather annoying 2 hour rain delay, but they were winning before & just continued to hold off the Yankees- we kick ass. so yeah, that made my night.
hmmm- not much else- back to work tomorrow (ugh) and the countdown to the weekend. amen.

God Bless

red sox game

SO WE JUST SCORED TICKETS FOR THIS SATURDAY'S (04/12) RED SOX/YANKEES GAME. I'M BASICALLY PEEING MYSELF WITH EXCITMENT!

WE ALSO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE RED SOX/ANGLES GAME ON 04/23- SHOULD WE SPRING FOR BOTH? OR JUST THE RED SOX/YANKEES GAME? HMMMM. WE SHALL SEE!

YAY!

wow- just wow.

warning: LONG

i have one fully biological brother who is/has done the following:22- crazy- bi-polar- a liar- a con- a thief- an all time asshole- in the marines(sort of)- married(shotgun wedding in Dec)- poor- jobless- has a jobless wife- stole all of my younger (18 year old) brother's hard earned money- has been a dictator for the last 3 months that my younger brother has lived "with" them in the apt HE paid for, FOR them- etc etc etc.yes- is & his 20 year old slut- i'm sorry, i mean wife (who i have met all of twice & actually spoken too all of once)are crazy. and one more thing- pregnant. yes, that's right folks, they are having a baby boy in June. my brother told me he "thought" they were pregnant in Nov but then stated that they weren't- but after their shotgun wedding in Jan i knew they were, i just never called him on it because he's an asshole & i hate talking to him.so my mother just called to tell me she had to throw my brother (22) out of the house because he came to "get" my other brother (18) who snuck out of their apt this morning with (22)'s car to run home to my parents because he just realized that brother (22) is phsyco. yeah- long story. in any case my brother (22) basically went all bi-polar weird on my mother and accused her of trying to stab him when he lived there (if my mother tried to stab him she wouldn't have missed) and how she gave his slut wife "dirty looks" and blah blah. basically, crazy talk. anyway so she called my dad who said he was coming home & in the mean time she kicked his ass out- all while my 3 younger siblings were watching in horror because they used to basically worship him (22) before they became old enough to realize what an ass he is.so yeah- now brother (18) will live with my parents (thank God because that poor kid would do anything for (22) and now realizes that, that was a huge mistake) and brother (22) & his slut wife will most likely get evicted from their appt (because brother (18) isn't there to pay the bills anymore) with a newborn in tow. and what will they do? come begging to all of us to help them and we can't say no, why? because how are we going to say no to the baby? ::sigh::i'm sorry that was long: who would have thought my sweet, little brother would turn into such a monster & get his then-gf now slut wife pregnant? who knew?if you're still with me, thanks. and it's funny because i'm so annoyed i don't even feel like crying (boo hoo, whoa is me) all i can do is laugh. brother (22) & slut wife= fucking morons.

IVF drugs

so i got all my IVF drugs today- it's a bit daunting but i'm very excted about all of this- i started my BCP last night but i still have a good 2-3 weeks before i have to start stims so till then i'll just wait impatiently!

one of my friends at work is in nursing school (gradutes in May) and she is going to help me with everything (mixing & such) she's one of the only work people i've told because she's the shit & i love her. so yeah.

my co-workers are going out tonight for drinks & such to say goodbye to the 2 dispatchers who got laid off- i should totally go but I DON'T WANNA! i don't have an excuse because the bar they're going to is directly across the street from me ::sigh:: maybe i still won't- but i feel bad because i always weasel out of going! it's kind of boring- meh.

well that's about it.
God Bless

finally

update: FP finally started today- with a vengence!
so my IVF schedule is as follows:

04/03- Start BCP
04/20- Stop BCP
04/21- BW & US
04/2?- Start Injectibles
05/??- ER & ET

yay!