Friday bullets

*Yesterday I went searching around for a maxi dress.  I wanted a long, casual dress that had thick straps and with a not-too plunging neckline so that I could easily wear a bra.  So I found this dress at Macys.com and I’m hoping it works!  If you have any other suggestions of maxi dresses that you think would work let me know in the comments!

*Today we are getting a new roof put on our house.  It is a big expense and we initially put it off when we first heard about the possibility of moving, but after speaking to a realtor, we realized that the roof needs to get done either way.  On Monday we had a big rainstorm and the ceiling in our sunroom dripped a bit.  We obviously want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again and want to make sure that we look like we have been proactive in taking care of the house (which we have- new insulation, removing dead trees, etc).  So, new roof today.  We knew when we bought the house that we would need a new roof in the first couple of years….luckily we got a nice federal tax return that is helping to pay for the roof.  CP is working from home and said that it is LOUD.

*Tonight we are having 6 couples over for a cook off.  The theme?  Indian food.  I am making homemade Naan bread (using a Cooks Illustrated recipe) while CP is making a grilled lamb kebab that we will put on the naan with a homemade salad and sauce.  I’m hoping it is good (and that we WIN).

*Poor Fuzzy Britches.  Monday morning CP noticed her peeing over and over in the back yard.  We immediately called the vet because it has something we have seen before- a urinary tract infection.  I had to a get a urine sample from her and pick up antibiotics.  The first two days she would be walking around the house and just start peeing while walking.  She had no idea that she was peeing in the house so the vet thinks that the UTI is pressing on her bladder.  So in addition to the antibiotics for the UTI, we are giving her anti inflammatories.  Thankfully she is already doing better, but has to go back to the vet in about a week because they found crystals in her urine (usually a sign of kidney stones) and want to make sure those are gone too.  *sigh*  My poor baby.

*For the past week or so I have been roaming around with horrendously dry eyes.  I was wondering if I had developed adult allergies, but after some Google searching, I found the culprit: Clomid.  Curse you again infertility!!  At least I am done taking it for this month and it seems to be getting better….

*I saved the best news for last.  CP just got a call that the company in Chicago wants him to fly out for an interview- possibly on Thursday!  YAY!  Also, parents are amazing.  My parents want me to live back near Chicago so badly they have offered me a job (despite the fact that I am not licensed in IL) if I can’t find one.  They know that this job would be a huge opportunity for CP and don’t want any reason for us to not be able to move.  I sincerely hope that it doesn’t come to that, but that was pretty great of them to offer that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

One Lovely Blog Award

Recently I received a blog award from both this lovely lady and this lovely lady .  I’m a new reader to both of their blogs, but I’m hoping that all of us get our positive pregnancy test soon!

1.       Share who gave you this award with a link back to their blog

2.       Write down 7 random facts about yourself.

3.       Give this award to 15 other bloggers.

4.       Let them know they have won.

5.       Pop the award on your blog.

Hmmm 7 random facts about myself.

1.       My biggest fear is getting into an accident (such as a car accident) with it serious enough that they would have to cut off my clothes.  Not only would strangers see my fat body, but what if I hadn’t shaved in a few days?  And what if they made comments about my body?  It is COMPLETELY irrational because I would hope that a doctor, nurse, or EMT would be focused on you know, saving my life, but it is still a fear.

2.       My second biggest fear is getting charged with a crime (like a murder) that I didn’t commit.  Like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And the police were able to come up with some plausible motive for me to kill the victim.  I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  I’m weird.

3.       All of the dollar bills in my wallet have to face the same way and be right side up. 

4.       My favorite food in the entire world is corn.  I am ecstatic that we planted four rows of sweet corn into the community garden last weekend.  If those babies grow we will have almost 100 corn plants.  CP thinks that we could have planted too much, but I could literally eat corn every meal of the day.  I love corn so much that I started to feel bad for loving it after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and hearing about all of the gross things corn could be made into.  But I still eat it and love it!

5.       CP and I have been enjoying The Frozen Planet series on Discovery. It’s kind of like Planet Earth (which we LOVED).  The best part about watching it is that Buster will watch it with us.  He watches and pays attention whenever land animals are on the screen.  When they show wolves he gets up and walks over to the tv screen.  It is ADORABLE.

6.       The hottest guy I ever kissed (other than my husband of course), was probably a guy that I met in Sweden in high school.  For two summers in high school I played tennis tournaments in Europe which was amazing.  Not only did I get to see a bunch of different countries, but it was an overall great experience.  Early on in my first summer we were playing a tournament in Gothenburg and I met a Swede who was also playing in the tournament.  All I can remember is his blond hair, bright blue eyes, and killer body.  I don’t even remember if he was a good kisser or not.  But daaaamn he was hot (and I generally don’t go for blonds).

7.       As I have mentioned on this blog, I am a monthly Brazilian bikini waxer.  I have been doing it for at least 7 years (wow).  My waxer in CT started to use hard wax which I think is better than the strips.  But this month I tried sugaring and WHY DID I NOT TRY THIS BEFORE?  I wasn’t sticky when she finished and it was less painful.  I am now in love with sugaring.

Now to nominate 15 bloggers:

1.       Alice’s Wonderland   http://aliceblogs.blogspot.com/

2.       Seattle Stevie   http://www.seattlestevie.com/

3.       Breathe Gently  http://www.breathegently.com/  (Good luck with your egg collection!)

4.       Joyful Follies  http://joyfulfollies.com/

5.       I Am Slowly Drifting  http://abluemind.wordpress.com/

6.       Musings, Graces, and Fate  http://musings-graces-and-fate.blogspot.com/

7.       Somi Speaks  http://somispeaks.com/

8.       Stacface  http://stacface.com/

9.       Terra the Bear  http://www.terra-bear.com/

10.   The Pussy Palace http://thepussypalace.blogspot.com/  (sounds dirty but it is not)

11.   These Little Moments http://theselittlemoments.wordpress.com/

12.   Airing My Dirty Laundry  http://whisperingwriter.blogspot.com/

13.   Amy Jo…On the Go  http://amyjoonthego.blogspot.com/

14.   Unruffled Lanie  http://unruffledlanie.blogspot.com/

15.   Navigating the Mothership  http://navigatingthemothership.blogspot.com/

Thanks again ladies!

UPDATE:  I have also received the award from this lovely lady.  Thanks!

Nervous for CP

Today is CP’s phone interview for the job in Chicago.  I’m nervous for him!  I really want to send him a “good luck” email, but I already told him that this morning before I left for work and don’t want to make him nervous.  I don’t actually know if sending the email would make him nervous, but I also don’t want to make too much out of it- it is just a phone interview.

HOWEVER, it is a phone interview that could drastically change things in our life if they like him and he continues interviewing with the company.  I haven’t lived in Chicago (or the burbs) since 2004 and I was only there for a year before heading out west to law school (previously I spent ages 5-17 in the Chicago burbs). 

Something that I didn’t even think of until this morning- what if my company doesn’t transfer me?  What if I do have to find another job?  What kind of insurance would come with that job (or CP’s job)?  Would it cover infertility?  My doctor seems to think that I have two IVFs covered (not fully, but at least partially) because CT mandates it (???!!?).  I haven’t done any research into that, but that’s what he said.  If that’s true and the next two IUIs don’t work then we may have to think about IVF.  If we move and infertility isn’t covered the pay bump in CP’s salary will be great….but RE visits could be very costly.  Or even if I stay with my company, IL may not mandate IVF treatments.  Who knows.

Interview starts now….I’ll be on pins and needles until I find out how it went.

NIAW

While I try to make sure to discuss other things on my blog, our infertility has become a big part of our lives.  When you are wishing and hoping and trying for almost two years….when you put your body through surgery just for the chance to continue trying…..when you subject your body to somewhat painful tests, blood draws, and lots of invasive questions, infertility creeps into your thoughts more often than not.

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW).  While I discuss infertility here, I won’t be posting anything on Facebook or telling friends and family.  A few friends and family know about what is going on with us, but for the most part CP and I keep it to ourselves.  I don’t need Facebook friends that I haven’t seen since high school or nosy coworkers to know that we are having problems with getting pregnant.  I have told a select number of people, but even then they don’t know what is going on with our monthly cycles.  They know that we were preparing for an IUI but I didn’t give dates.

There are a few reasons that we aren’t shouting about our infertility from the rooftops. 

1.  CP is from the Northeast.  As opposed to my Midwestern nature, people from the Northeast hold their cards to their chest a bit more.  I’m an open book, but I respect CP’s wish to keep our issue private.

2

      2.  We don’t want questions every month on how things are going.  I don’t need to hear things like “JUST RELAX”, “my husband and I did X and we got pregnant”, or “have a few drinks and then have sex.”  I get enough crazy thoughts during this whole process- I don’t need others hounding me about how to have sex with my husband or asking me every day if I got my period yet.

      

      3.  Frankly, it’s no one’s business.  As far as people who don’t know that we are trying are concerned, maybe CP and I are saving money.  Maybe we are enjoying our marriage without kids for a little bit.  Maybe we don’t want to have kids at all.

4

      4.   I hate to look stupid or that I failed.  If I shout from the rooftops that we are having problems conceiving and then we never are able to have kids, EVERYONE will know.  Everyone will know that we failed.  That our bodies failed.  I know that I should not think about it that way, but it’s hard not to.  Our perfectly healthy (and least post surgery) bodies have not been able to produce a pregnancy.  And if that continues, we have failed.

5     

      5.  I’m superstitious.  Maybe if we are able to have kids, I will feel free to talk about our infertility problems, but for now I don’t want to talk about it and jinx having kids.  I know that sounds insane, but it’s a bit like talking about a job that you interviewed for.  If you talk about it too much and get too excited about it, you won’t get it.  So if I talk to everyone about the IUI that I am going to have in two weeks then I am jinxing the IUI and we won’t get pregnant.

So thank you to the other people out there that are willing to put their infertility out into the world.  Not all of us feel comfortable talking about this issue, so we need you to be loud and be heard.  Hopefully someday I can share my story….

ICLW Week

It’s been three months since my last ICLW week.  Since January we have stayed busy.  I finally got my period 5 months after my Lupron shot.  We had to force it with progesterone, so that is probably why I didn’t ovulate that next month.

The next cycle we made the decision to try an IUI with meds.  I took Clomid days 2-6 and had my first IUI.  Despite everything looking great, I had two negative at-home pregnancy tests and then bloodwork at my doctor’s office confirmed no pregnancy.  The two pieces of good news in this cycle: that my husband’s sample was EXCELLENT (something that we didn’t think that we would hear after tests performed last year) and that my luteal phase was extended by progesterone. 

Currently we are in the beginnings of IUI cycle #2.  I’m in the middle of taking Clomid and will start to test for ovulation towards the end of the month.  I’m trying not to think about it too much because I am worried that it won’t work again.  At this point there should be nothing wrong with either of us and an IUI should work….

Luckily we have a bunch of other things going on in our life to keep our minds off our infertility problems.  CP was randomly called by a headhunter a few weeks ago about an amazing job in Chicago.  Although we just bought our house a year and a half ago and really like our town, our friends, etc. the job is too great to pass up if CP gets an offer.  So on top of everything else we may have to deal with the headaches of moving soon…..

Thanks for stopping by to my little corner on the Internet.  Tell me a little bit about yourself!

Better to plan ahead?

As I have said many times before, I am a planner. Planning ahead is a great way to stay on top of things, but at times it can get you excited about things that never happen. You know, like the planning that I did in my head when we first started to try to make a baby….but that’s a different post.

This potential job in Chicago for CP requires a lot of planning ahead.

*We made a spreadsheet of all of the costs involved with moving and if it made sense financially.
*We made sure that the cost of living would be the same or lower so that we could still afford our lifestyle.
*We contacted our realtor who helped us buy our house for a comparative market analysis to make sure that we wouldn’t lose too much on the sale of our house despite only being in it less than two years.
*We checked into real estate prices in the burbs of Chicago to see what kind of house we would be able to afford.
*We thought about the furniture that we would sell/give away to make moving easier.
*We thought about ALL OF THE FOOD in our freezer (gallons of homemade beef broth, organic beef from our CSA, homemade meat pies, homemade Bolognese sauce, homemade sausage, etc.) and what we would do with it (a BIG PARTY!).
*I spoke to my boss about trying to transfer my job out to the Chicago office.
*I updated my resume and will start to apply to jobs out in Chicago because it may take a while.
*We thought about how to keep the house clean during showings and what we would do with the dogs.
*We bought plants and shrubs to landscape a bit more.
*We cleaned up the backyard.
*We put together a list of home improvement projects that would need to get done before our move.

A couple of these things we had meant to do anyway….but possibly having to put our house on the market pushed us to get these things done quickly.

But…..CP could totally bomb the interview on Tuesday (I don’t think that is going to happen, but you never know). CP could hear more about the job or the company and decide that it is not what he wants to do at all. It’s very possible that CP won’t even get an offer. And then we will have done all of this planning for nothing.

So in the end, is it better to plan ahead for something that may not happen? And risk getting let down from all of the excitement of making a huge life-changing decision? Or is it better to wait until you know more about the potential life-changing event and the possibility it may happen to you before doing anything?

Sleepy pants

Today? Well today I am exhausted.

Yesterday I ran 3.5 miles. It’s my longest run since (ahem) my half marathon last JUNE. Crazypants. It didn’t feel great for the first mile or so, but I ended up settling down and actually feeling good enough to sprint at the very end. My run went well enough that I bit the bullet and registered myself for an upcoming 10K in early June. It’s actually the same race that I did last year- except last year I did the half marathon. I am OBVIOUSLY not in half marathon shape, but I think a 10K is doable. I keep telling myself that I WILL NOT do the 5K race because my pride won’t let me drop down from a half marathon to a 5K in one year. So 10K it is.

After finally getting to bed last night I woke up at 1:15am to Buster walking up the stairs peeing. Yep. I have no idea WTF happened. He was taken out at 10pm like usual and has had absolutely no problem holding it throughout the night since being, like, 5 months old. But somehow he managed to pee in our living room, the kitchen, the dining room, up the stairs (literally on the stairs), in the upstairs landing and finish in our bedroom. After trying to dodge pee puddles I took him outside and he peed even more! WTF.

Groan. CP and I then spent half an hour cleaning up all the rooms, mopping, cleaning the carpets, etc. We were NOT happy campers.

After that it was hard to get to sleep because I was so grossed out. Buster, of course, doesn’t remember anything this morning so you can’t be mad at him. But EEWWWWW.

So yeah, sleepy.

Hope your day is going better than mine!

Spring projects

....And now to keep busy thinking about other things until IUI #2....


One of the reasons that CP and I are so gung-ho on house projects this year is because we realize that it is going to be very hard to do a lot of these projects if we have kids. Not just money-wise, but time-wise. So we are focusing on getting things done NOW so that we don’t have to worry about them in the future (or it results in lower maintenance in the future).

On a long drive a couple weeks ago we compiled our list of house projects for this spring and summer, estimated how much we think they are going to cost and the amount of time it will take for us to complete them (or if we would need to hire someone). This weekend we updated that list, deciding on the projects that we will ONLY do if we don’t move and the projects that we will try to get done regardless of our moving situation.

Things we are definitely going to do
Compost/Reseed Lawn- DONE
*While this was a great idea at the time, our lawn still looks a little weird from the mulch. It would have been nice to hear about the possible job offer BEFORE doing this. If we have to put the place up fairly soon, the front lawn could be an issue because everything is still growing in. But it already looks better than late last month.

Move Raised Bed- DONE
Paint front door- DONE
Paint back stairs- Bought paint
Mud walls and paint basement
Touch up paint on trim and door frames throughout the house
Spray paint outside oil tank pipe
Plant raised beds- early spring planting DONE
*This one could make me really frustrated. We bought all of our seeds before hearing of this job in Chicago. Obviously we are not going to hold off on planting our beds just because there is a possibility that CP could get the Chicago job. But to put all of this work in and then move before harvesting anything? Would be really annoying. Will planted beds be a nice feature in selling the house?

Sugar snap peas, green pole beans, yellow wax beans, red lettuce and green lettuce planted

Napa cabbage and some sort of chinese cabbage planted a few weeks ago


Mizuna, Lance, Argula (all salad greens), Pac Choy (like Bok Choy) down the middle

Things that we will do ONLY if we stay here
New Roof - *While I understand that a new roof would add value to our house, we are not going to get a bid $8000 higher than if we did not do the roof. We have the money sitting in our savings account, but have the roofer on hold until we figure out what is going on with the possible move.
Redo sunroom- *This includes putting a new subfloor down, a moisture barrier, installing bamboo flooring, and painting the walls, amongst other things.
Paint the upstairs bathroom
Paint master bedroom
Install new front screen door
Redo entrance/walkway/sidewalk in stone

The good news is that the projects that we are definitely doing are not expensive and not too time consuming (except for maybe mudding the walls and painting the basement because we have never mudded before and it’s a big space).

Do you have any spring projects?

Back to square one

Just got the call from my doctor. I am not pregnant. IUI #1 did not work. Not a surprise, but I was hoping for a miracle. Crossing my fingers I get my period soon so that we can try again next month (and hopefully have another rockstar sample from CP and good eggs from me!).

Thanks for all of your positive thoughts. I'll need them again next month!

Keeping busy

In an effort to keep my mind off the negative pregnancy test on Sat morning and my blood draw this morning, CP and I stayed VERY busy this weekend.

· We went to the local nursery and bought creeper shrubs to plant behind our garage. We want to hide the lack of siding and these plants will attach themselves to the concrete. I planted and then mulched around them. (they aren’t much to look at right now) Grow plants grow!



· We ripped out the last of our spinach, lettuce and swiss chard from the winter growing season. We now have a ton of veggies in our fridge. The winter garden was a success and now we know how to make the garden even better for next year!

Herbs are flourishing after surviving through the winter. It was great to be able to have fresh herbs for all of our cooking!

Inside our successful winter garden (swiss chard, spinach, and lettuce).



· After taking the winter greenhouse plastic and garden cloth off our raised beds we planted spinach, swiss chard, snap peas, green pole beans, yellow wax beans, garlic, red lettuce and green lettuce. Germinate seeds germinate!

· One of our spring projects was to paint the front door to our house. The seller slapped a coat of red paint on the door and didn’t do a great job of it so we went a little darker. The project was easy- sand the door using a fine sanding paper, then paint two coats on the door. I love the new color!

Front door BEFORE



Front door AFTER

· I bought a carpet cleaner and used it on our basement carpet. I could have rented one, but we figured that if we have kids a carpet cleaner would be a helpful thing to have around for spills and everyday messes.

I should get my blood results back around 3pm today. Still not holding out any hope, but I haven’t seen a drop of blood and I’m currently on Day 34…my guess is that is due to the progesterone, but we’ll see in a few hours….

Still negative

Well, I tested again this morning- at 14dpo my pregnancy test clearly showed a negative. No hint of a second line whatsoever.

My only hope is that because the test is expired it isn't picking up the hormones it needs to. It's definitely a long shot- but I guess I will find out for sure on Monday.

Symptoms?

I pulled out my last pregnancy test last night and put it on the counter to use this morning. Unfortunately, Buster decided to wake up at 3am this morning with a desperate need to go out (his medication is making him quite constipated so I knew that he really had to go). Poor buddy, I know EXACTLY what you are going through. My 3am jaunt to the backyard resulted in me needing to pee….so I didn’t end up testing because I would not have had the four-hours-of-not-peeing window.

Guess I will use it tomorrow morning and test when normal people would usually get their period/test (aka 14 DPO). I’m still thinking that the cycle didn’t work, although I had a nasty headache on Wednesday night. I had to turn off the lights and tv (something I never have to do) while talking to my friend. I felt awful that I had to end the conversation early, but taking two Tylenol (which I was paranoid to take but my friend assured me it was too early) didn’t help that much. Yesterday I had to wear glasses all day because when I tried to put in my contacts my EYEBALLS hurt. WTF? Headache=pregnancy symptom? From the progesterone? Who knows.

So tonight I am going to offer to be the designated driver for a party with the excuse that I don’t want to drink too much because I’m worried my headache will come back (which is true). Hopefully it will keep my friend from being too suspicious….I have already told that I have decided not to drink during the work week. She was disappointed (we hang out with them a lot during the week), but it was an easy way to keep her from getting suspicious about not drinking every time we hung out with them if I am pregnant. CP thinks that they are going to figure out it very early on anyway because we see them so often. He’s probably right.

Anyway, have a great weekend! If I have any exciting news I’ll post it here tomorrow!

He has an interview!

Thanks for your suggestions on Tuesday. According to a chart on Fertility Friend, only 10% of people get a positive result on their pregnancy test at 10 days post ovulation. I decided to call my doctor yesterday to see when he recommended I take another pregnancy test. I was reading* that often times progesterone will continue to extend your luteal cycle indefinitely so at some point I need to figure out whether I am pregnant or not….if I am not then I will need to stop taking the progesterone so that I can start a new cycle. If I haven't started a new cycle I head into the doctor on Monday (16dpo) for a blood test. I will probably use my last (expired) test sometime this weekend.

*on the internet so the veracity of what I read is debatable…

-------------------------------------------------------

CP got an email from the headhunter Tuesday night. The company is interested in interviewing him so he will have a phone interview in the next week or so! This weekend in our drive down to NJ we discussed the possible move to Chicago if CP is offered the job. In the end, it is just such a good opportunity (potentially for both of us) that we can’t pass it up.

If CP rocks the interview, we still have to worry about moving my job. My boss called yesterday to let me know that the Chicago office is actually overstaffed right now. CRAP. So a transfer to the office may not happen. But I am going to contact someone that tried to help me get me transferred to the Denver office a while back (he is actually in the Chicago office) to see if he has any ideas- maybe I could move to a different division? Gotta use those networking skills!

On top of everything else, CP got an ominous email from his company today that there are “going to be drastic changes” because the company is not making enough money. CP thinks this means layoffs so this new job couldn't have come at a better time. There are only 11 people in his company and the boss isn't going to fire himself. Sounds like we NEED this job in Chicago!!

In small world news, I was randomly on a step second cousin's Facebook page (who I see once a year at a family Christmas event if we go home to Chicago) and saw that she works for the company that is interviewing CP! After some messages back and forth she actually works IN THE GROUP and knows the guy interviewing CP and is going to put a good word in for him!!! Facebook IS useful!

Nut surgery

Buster's nut removal surgery is today. He wasn't very happy with me when I broke the news.

But his hormones have been flying off the charts the past month or so (right around his 1st birthday), so it's definitely time to neuter him. We were told by our vet and the breeder to wait until he was at least a year old because with larger male dogs, you want the testosterone in their bodies as long as possible while they are still growing. After the surgery he will most likely plump up and look like a regular Berner (he is currently a lean and muscular 80 pounds).

He plays with a four year old Labradoodle down the street and up until about a month ago, he would allow her (yes HER) to hump him and then they would run around. Now when we let them loose they take turns humping each other. That is the extent of their "playing." It's rather awkward. Here's hoping Buster calms down a bit after his surgery.

CP talked about getting Buster Neuticles- essentially plastic nut implants.

CP wanted to get the biggest ones possible (seriously??) because he thought that Buster would miss his nuts. I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard and thankfully our vet does not perform the procedure so it's a no-go even if he wanted to add a couple hundred dollars to the surgery. (WTF)

The last time Fuzzy Britches had to wear a cone she would run into a door frame, then stand there until someone moved her (it was pretty funny). I wonder what Buster is going to be like when I pick him up this afternoon.....

Negative. 10dpo

This morning I woke up and was immediately relieved that I didn’t have my period. If this was a normal cycle and I wasn’t taking Crinone (progesterone), I’m sure that it would have arrived today, only 10 days after ovulation (aka too early for me to successfully get pregnant).

That being said, my First Response (ahem expired as of last month) pregnancy test was negative. I know that it is still early but I was REALLY HOPING that I would see two lines.

So how long do I wait to test again? If I don’t have my period in two days? Three days? I only have one test left, but I can’t imagine that my period will hold off for too much longer. But who knows how long the Crinone will push off my period if I am not pregnant?

This weekend I told CP that I didn’t think that the IUI worked. After he asked why I told him that despite the fact that we have no medical information to the contrary, that I think that there is something still wrong with me, even after my surgery. The whole weekend I hoped for implantation bleeding but didn’t see anything (I know that only 30% of women get it but it would have been a nice sign). I don’t feel any different either. I know that it is way too early to feel different even if I am pregnant, but in my mind because I feel completely normal (other than my crazy thoughts of course), I am not pregnant.

I did cry after watching the guy who started Post Secret’s TED talk, but being slightly emotional is normal before your period too. And it has been a few months since I have cried so I am probably due a good cry.

Tell me, when do you think I should take my next (and last in the three-pack) expired pregnancy test? Or should I just buy some up-to-date tests?

Easter weekend

What a relaxing Easter weekend! CP got home from work travel on Friday night and Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed down to my aunt’s house (last year I went to the spa weekend at her house).

We were a little worried about the fact that there would be SIX dogs at her house this weekend. Yes, my aunt and uncle have four dogs- and one of them is not spayed. We were extra worried about Buster’s hormones going into overdrive because she will also be in heat pretty soon. Thankfully, all of the dogs got along and our dogs came home EXHAUSTED from running around.

When we go to my aunt and uncle’s house we know that we will get two things: 1. Great food and 2. Great wine. They have a huge garden and relationships with local butchers, seafood markets, etc. They also have a ridiculous wine cellar and my uncle is quite knowledgeable on the subject. This weekend was no different- especially for Easter lunch.

My uncle decided to break out his roasting box and roast a pig. The pig goes into the box and the coals are on top, cooking the pig below. It took about 3.5 hours.

CP helped my step-cousin smoke eggs (who knew you could do that?) and smoke a couple of birds my uncle hunted last fall. Add some delicious scalloped potatoes (made even better with no cheese) and some veggies and it was a fantastic meal.

The dogs passed out for most of the ride home….Buster in what looked like the most uncomfortable position in the world.

How was your Easter weekend?

Headhunter

Last night I had a dream that I was at the doctor and she confirmed that I was pregnant but that it was still very, very early. I woke up and was so disappointed that I wasn’t truly in the doctor’s office! Still counting down the days until Tuesday morning!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

In Tuesday’s post I alluded to a call CP received from a headhunter last week about a job in Chicago. Initially CP just played along with the guy until he heard about the position AND the 50% pay raise! He emailed me while I was at work and I about fell out of my chair. Last weekend we put together an Excel spreadsheet (ahhh being married to an engineer) of pros/cons/costs, etc and decided to at least look into the job a little more. We have started to love living in our CT town (house, location, commute, town) and have made some awesome friends, etc. so the job has to be worth it career-wise and money-wise for us to make the move. BUT, I have family in Chicago and we would be a heck of a lot closer to family in Chicago than we are to family here. Not only would it potentially be great for CP career-wise, but it might be great for me too. I would be moving to a bigger office, which means more opportunity. And if I wanted to leave my company Chicago has every industry imaginable so it may be easier for me to find something that I want.

But moving SUCKS. Just two weeks I remarked to CP THANK GOD WE DON’T HAVE TO MOVE ANYTIME SOON. Ha ha. Joke is on me (potentially). CP brought up the fact that when do we stop moving and just settle down? I agree with that statement because we said that we would stay in our current house for at least five years. But moving for a great job would be a heck of a lot easier without a kid or kids. CP wouldn’t have to get his MBA in the future if he got this job, potentially saving us tens of thousands of dollars. Then again, we would most likely lose money on selling our house and we are not renting it out in addition to the condo out west!

I spoke to my boss yesterday about the possibility of transferring my job to the Chicago office. As you may remember, my boss was angry at me when I went behind her back and tried to get transferred to the Denver office. I decided that this time, I would actually tell her in advance because this truly fell into our lap. I told her that CP received a call from out of the blue and that if the job is not perfect we won’t move because we are enjoying ourselves here. Then I asked her about getting transferred. She said that if CP starts to interview and it looks like things are heading down that road that we could start filling out paperwork. Just because there are not job postings for positions right now doesn’t mean that they don’t have an opening for someone.

As you can imagine, this discussion went MUCH better than last time.

If I don't have a job out there through my company we won’t move.....no matter how great the job is for CP. I have accrued vacation time and sick time in the hopes that I get pregnant sometime soon….if I move to a new company I won’t have that.

Stay tuned….

Nook books

I have continued to read a bunch of books on my Nook. All ratings out of a possible 5 stars.

Wicked by Gregory
4 stars
I thought that the book was a good re-telling of the Wonderful World of Oz, but from the Wicked Witch of the West’s perspective. The story did get bogged down at times and I wonder if the author just wanted to beef up the book. It has been a few years since I saw Wicked, but I thought that play was AMAZING (and I generally don’t like plays). Still, the book kept me interested and I give it 4 stars just because it was the basis of the play.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
5 stars
This book was absolutely an amazing story and I can’t believe that it is all true!! Louis Zamperini is a childhood misfit who ends up at the Berlin Olympics before becoming an airman. When his flight is shot down his amazing tale of survival, POW camps, and resilience is awe-inspiring. Wow, just wow. Everyone should read this.

Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli
4 stars
I’ll admit, I don’t know a lot about the Nazi death camps. I’ve never seen Schindler’s List and haven’t read too many accounts. But when this book came up as a free book for my Nook I knew that I shouldn’t pass it up. The author is Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, a Jewish man who was spared death so that he could perform “scientific research” on his fellow inmates under Dr. Josef Mengele. His horrifying account of his time at Auschwitz was a surprisingly fast read, but made my stomach turn constantly.

Blood Safari by Deon Meyer
5 stars
I partly loved this book because it was set in South Africa and I could use our honeymoon trip to understand the cultural references and some of the locations. But this was a good thriller even without the beautiful setting. The book is about Lemmer, a private bodyguard who is hired to help Emma hunt down her long-lost brother and a network of eco-terrorists.

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) by Jim Butcher
3 stars
CP laughed at me when I told him that I had picked up this book based on a Goodreads recommendation from a friend. The main character is Harry Dresden, wizard for hire, who is called in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with the blackest of magic. I struggled through the book as it is just not my type of genre. I have heard that the series gets better after the first few books, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Butcher’s writing style so I don’t think that I will be reading any more of his titles.

IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
4 stars
It’s hard to boil this 925 page book down to a sentence or two. The gist of this amazing book is that two Tokyo citizens get wrapped up in a parallel world (1Q84) instead of the “normal” 1984. There is a mysterious religious cult, a wealthy old woman who runs a shelter for abused women, and a host of other odd characters. The book is beautifully written and I definitely want to check out other books by this author.

11/22/63 by Stephen King
5 stars
It has been a while since I have read a Stephen King book. I used to LOVE and DEVOUR books like The Stand, It, etc. I didn’t mind that they were almost 1000 pages. I had heard great things about this book and thought that I might try reading Mr. King again. Boy was this book worth it. This book is about Jake Epping an English teacher in ME who gets the chance to try to go back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. I didn’t want to put it down and when I finished it, I was sad that it had ended. I’m back on the King train again!

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
4 stars
This book is about a few people who live in Annawadi, a slum in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. The author spent three years talking to her subjects before writing this book. I originally picked it up because a reviewer in Entertainment Weekly said that this book was making all of the other books on their shelf look stupid. This was a fantastically sad book and it’s extremely sad how much poverty and corruption there is in this world.


Have you read anything good recently?

The State of NSC- March 2012

A monthly take on my world.

Weight: 212 (down .5 lbs)

Current Feeling: Anxious for the results of my current two week wait. Trying not to think about it too much.

Running Stats
Total Miles Run: 2.05 miles
Time Spent Running: 25 minutes, 2 seconds
Longest Single Run: 2.05 miles

Current aches and pains: Nothing right now, but that’s probably because I only ran once last month. How I was able to run two miles last week when it had been over a month is beyond me. Hopefully I can do it again tonight!

Current Favorite Song: Nothing comes to mind. Have any suggestions on something new for me to listen to?

Looking forward to: The next Game of Thrones episode. CP and re-watched the first season and then saw the season 2 premiere on Sunday. CP is already into the third book and promises that season 2 is going to be AWESOME.

Annoyed about: Nothing really. Life is pretty good!

Proud about: Being married to a sought after smartypants. CP got a call from a headhunter about a fantastic job that we are considering. More on this later this week!

How are you feeling with the start of this new month?

First IUI

Thanks for all of the supportive comments last week. I was definitely nervous going into it but the fact that I had people crossing various body parts for me made me feel better (hey, I’ll take all of the good vibes I can get!).

So, the IUI. CP went in that morning to give his sample. Afterwards he came back to report that the porn was from the 80s and the clinic was still using VHS tapes. He wondered why they couldn’t invest in a DVD so that the men could skip to a scene they enjoyed. LOL. He also found it very weird because when he showed up there were 5 other guys in the room clearly there to do the exact same thing he was doing. Awkward!

Meanwhile, I headed into Hartford to rock my stair climb! I didn’t sleep well on Friday night (hmmm maybe I was excited about something?) and had (ahem) other, more important things on my mind, but I still had a fun time with my friend. We were VIPs because we raised over $500 for the American Lung Association so we received a dri fit tshirt, a regular tshirt, a sweat armband, and drink tickets for the after party. I finished the 35 flight race in a little less than 9 minutes which wasn’t too bad. The winner ran it in 3:07 which is INSANE.

After the race I ran home to shower (no time to shave- whoops!) and then headed over to the clinic. I was brought back into a room, where I noticed this:

Ha ha. Really??? They couldn’t name it anything else?

The nurse came in and I asked if this was going to hurt like the HSG test. She said that if anything, it will feel like a pap smear, but there is minimal pain involved. We went over CP’s sperm sample which was EXCELLENT. I was shocked because his sperm analysis results last year were not great. The stress from his job, any possible sickness, etc. must have affected him back then. I was estatic to hear that his sperm was back into normal levels.

As the nurse used the Sperminator, she remarked that everything looked great and I had an open cervix. I laid on the table for 15 minutes after getting turkey basted and then left the clinic. I walked out full of hope and ready to give CP the good news about his sperm.

The rest of the weekend we made jokes about the “bebe” in my belly, but I can’t imagine that is going to be great for my psyche if I end up not being pregnant. But it’s our way of making the awkward way we might have made a baby less awkward.

Yesterday I started using Crinone, a progesterone that should help extend my short luteal phase. I have no idea how I am going to be able to wait another 7 days to break out my first pregnancy test. Right? The earliest you can start testing is 10 days after ovulation? Can I use an expired pregnancy test? I have two tests left from last year that technically expired in February.

Keep sending those positive thoughts!