Almost Wordless Wednesday

Well, the dining room is finally 100% complete after this weekend.  We have put a lot of work into it and I think that it looks great!

Clearly this is a "before" picture.  Ugly chandelier, awful wallpaper.  The entry way on the right heads out into the sunroom (transformation here) and the entry way on the left heads into the kitchen (to be finished shortly).

Another "before" picture.  This is prior to the floors getting refinished.  We love the hutches- they are similar to the hutches we had in our dining room in CT!

Starting to make progress.  Gone is the chandelier.  We were starting to take off the CEILING WALLPAPER (yes, you read that correctly) in this picture.  It's a bit hard to see but to the left of the light on the curve of the ceiling you can see the chipping paint.  After taking the wallpaper off, we had to take the wallpaper paste off the ceiling (and walls of course), chip off loose paint, then apply plaster, then prime, then paint.  Ugh.

Who wallpapers in inside of a hutch?  And with ugly wallpaper that doesn't even match the wallpaper on the walls???

Finally, a finished dining room!

We took all of the paint off the hutches and repainted everything.  We still need to do some organization inside the cabinets though.

Check out our new chandelier!  We have an 11 foot long dining room table so we needed something longer in length.

Our new hurricane candles for the table found at an antique store in MI.  :-)

Three rooms down.  A bunch more to go.

Pin cushion

Today I was a human pin cushion.  Needless to say, I’ve had better mornings.

My first appointment was for an ultrasound and bloodwork to see what is going on with my reproductive organs while I’m on Lupron.  The nurse called this afternoon and said that everything looks good….however I have a mature follicle.  I am not to have sex and I have to go back into the office next week to see if I ovulated.  If I do ovulate then I will have to do another month of Lupron.  *sigh* So pretty please send my ovaries DO NOT OVULATE thoughts this week.

After that I ran over to the hospital to get my stitches from my cyst taken out (OUCH), have an updated pap, and get some bloodwork done.  The phlebotomist was surprised that he only had one arm to work with and remarked, “boy you must be having a fun day today.”  Yep.

So now I wait, crossing my fingers that I don’t ovulate this coming week.

F*ck

I don't usually post twice in a day, but I'm posting because I am trying not to worry too much right now.  This morning, only 2.5 weeks after my month-long Lupron shot, I had some spotting.  Last time I took Lupron my reproductive organs were knocked out for 6 months, far longer than the 3 the shot was supposed to cover.  I was expecting the same thing to happen here....

I called my nurse and she told me to get bloodwork and an ultrasound done tomorrow.  She mentioned something about upping my dosage or having to tweak things because of the spotting.  I'm trying not to think about it too much but does upping my dosage mean that I will have yet ANOTHER month on Lupron starting whenever the shot arrives at my clinic?  I have been fairly patient waiting for this month to go by and for me to really get started with this IVF cycle.....does this spotting now mean I have to wait even longer?

Ladies, have any of you had spotting problems in the middle of long Lupron shots?  Any advice, stories, etc. would be appreciated- especially if you can tell me that it's no big deal and that tomorrow's appointment is just a formality.

 My day started out not-so-great....and has continued downward.  :-(  I need some chocolate.

Pinning

With CP out of town, I have been busy keeping my mind off the upcoming IVF cycle by pinning and then making items!  After my holiday crafting blitz I have been a little lazy on the crafting side, but home improvement is enough “crafting” for me these days.  We are desperately trying to finish off the kitchen before we have friends over for the Superbowl on Sunday. 

Frankly, my pictures are never as good as the person who took the time to stage their food, so most of these pictures will be from the Pinterest pin.  :-)

For a work holiday party, I ended up making these cheesecake stuffed strawberries.  Holy crap they were good (and really easy).  The only caution I have for you is to make sure that you make them the day of the event.  I made mine the night before and the strawberries were a little mushy.

Recipe here

I made these pretzel bites for a friend’s holiday party.  I ended up making both the cinnamon sugar and the parmesan bites.  I had NO idea what Rhodes Roll dough was and if I had more time I would have made the dough myself….instead I just used Pillsbury dough and they came out great!  I would absolutely make them again.

Recipe here

 Although it’s not quite the season right now for some of these veggies, this Summer Veggies with Basil Quinoa Salad was delicious.

Recipe here

Last week I wanted a casserole, but also wanted it to be something that was really easy to put together.  I found this recipe for a Chicken, Spinach and Pasta Casserole.  I used rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, fresh spinach (instead of frozen), and threw in some fresh mushroom into the dish.  It was tasty and easy to put together.

Recipe here

I can’t remember if I told you guys about this Chicken dish, but in case I haven’t, I’m posting it here.  This is a fantastically easy marinade and even though I’m not a huge fan of mustard, I could eat a whole lot of this chicken.

Recipe here

I love making soup in the fall, winter or spring.  I could seriously eat it every day.  I happen to LOVE corn chowder so I thought that I would make Quinoa Corn Chowder.  The soup is just okay- it seemed to be missing something- maybe a spice?  I ended up putting some Tony Chachere’s seasoning into the soup and it was better. 
 

Recipe here

CP bought me three beautiful silk scarves in Thailand on his work trip (I’m wearing my favorite one today and even took a crappy iPhone picture of it- see below ).  I used this handy scarf-tying guide to figure out different ways to tie my new scarves!

Finally, if you are looking for a delicious and healthy breakfast, look no further.  The baked eggs with spinach dish that I pinned was really easy because I had all of the ingredients on hand!  This is definitely a breakfast I will be making again.

Recipe here

Have you pinned anything interesting lately that you would like to share?

FB's new look

Fuzzy Britches somehow has a sore on her elbow.  I took her to the vet this morning and what did he recommend?  A long sleeve tshirt so that she can't lick at the sore anymore and antibiotics.  So far she is tolerating the tshirt well, but I have a feeling CP is not going to be happy with FB wearing a tshirt, even if it was vet-recommended.  I personally think that it's hilarious.

She looks so dignified in this picture, yes?

Good and bad

Today is a mix of good and bad things.  I’ll start with the bad.  I went to get a Brazilian yesterday and my waxer mentioned that I might want to head to a doctor because what I thought was simply a very large ingrown hair was most likely a cyst.  I don’t know why I am partial to getting this stupid things, but if you have  been reading for a while, I had a large cyst taken out of my back in the spring of 2010.    Thankfully this cyst was smaller and I didn’t need to be put under with general anesthesia, but I will probably be sore for a few days.  The worst part about it?  No sex for two weeks because of its location and to make sure that I don’t open the stitches.  Seriously???  I haven’t seen my husband for more than 24 hours in A MONTH and in the 24 hours I did see him, I of course had my period.  ARGH.

The good news is that CP’s work in Brazil has finished early so instead of leaving Friday night and arriving early Sat morning into Chicago, he is going to leave tomorrow night and arrive early Thursday morning!!  I’m very excited that I get two extra days with him and I’m crossing my fingers that he doesn’t have to go anywhere next week.  I seriously miss my husband- especially because it has been FREEZING in Chicago the past few days.  When I took the dogs out this morning the wind chill was -15 degrees.  I mean, I love my two furry blankets but snuggling with the dogs is just not the same as snuggling with your husband.

My other good news is that I actually got CP to agree to go to a couples group on how to support each other through infertility treatments this weekend.  It’s free and only an hour long so it can’t be that bad.  I’m just amazed that I didn’t have to beg or plead with him to go with me.  Progress!!

On another note, those of you that have done acupuncture in conjunction with your fertility, how many times did you go a week?  How far in advance prior to retrieval did you go?  Was there a place that your doctor recommended or did you just find a place nearby?  My insurance wouldn’t cover acupuncture, but there is the place that my clinic recommends (place #1) or there is also a place that is connected to my gym (place #2).  Place #1 is a bit more expensive ($25 more for the initial consultation and then $15 more for follow ups) and farther away than Place #2 (25 minutes as opposed to less than 5 minutes).  I wondering though if the specialty acupuncture place (#1) is worth the extra money and driving time because infertility is really what they focus on.  Thoughts?

Garbled thoughts

I swear….I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth.  I got back to Chicago on Friday and have been crazy busy since getting back. 

I got my one-month shot of Lupron on Friday.  The shot wasn’t awful (the nurses said that the self injections for the IVF drugs will be easier), but Friday night I got a migraine and felt awful.  I only had 24 hours with CP before he jetted off to Thailand, but had to bail on the movie we were watching and put myself to bed at 9:30am (no lights and some drugs).  I still had a bit of the headache Saturday morning.  Boooo.  I can’t imagine that it could have been from the Lupron after just getting the shot that day, but who knows.  Either way, it sucked.  No hot flashes so far….still waiting to see if those reappear like last time.  I did buy Calcium pills because Lupron can suck nutrients out of your bones.

I love my husband a lot, but I wasn’t super happy with the condition of the house when I got home.  He did clean up the ornaments and Christmas stuff, but didn’t pick up the rest of the house so Saturday I did some cleaning before heading over to our friend’s house to watch the Packer game.  Sunday my parents came over and helped me with some painting around the house.  It was nice to see them and get some extra hands on some small projects.

This week I have been STRESSING over a big work event on Wednesday that I was single-handedly putting together.  I did as much work on the event as I could from New York, but that was sporadic at best and hard to do from mostly email.  I swear, sometimes when dealing with managers, it’s like herding cats.  You have to hold their hand through the entire process because they don’t read emails and god forbid they try to figure something out on their own.  Arrrrgh.  BUT.  The event was yesterday and it went GREAT.  My boss’ boss was very impressed- so go me!

FaceTime continues to be the best invention ever for a husband that travels a lot. It’s really weird how when he is calling me at 6pm my time, it’s 7am his time the next day.  It will be better when he gets to Brazil on Sunday and it’s not such a time difference.

Between Netflix and a 7-day free subscription to Hulu Plus (now cancelled), I am obsessed and totally caught up with Downton Abbey- just in time for the third season to get going!  I’m also excited about Girls (HBO) and Archer (FX) starting up again.

Today I received more information on my insurance coverage.  My insurance follows the IL IVF mandate, which means that I have a total of 4 lifetime IVF procedures or 2 after a live birth (resulting from an IVF cycle).  The cycles are covered 100% with a $35 co-pay which is INSANE to me (INSANE meaning we are so lucky).  I wish that everyone had access to this coverage.

Sorry for the random post. I’m still decompressing from the event yesterday and looking forward to the weekend- the dogs and I will be headed up to Michigan to hang out with my parents.  :-)

Thinking ahead

Staying in a hotel room for two weeks by myself  leaves me with tons of time to think. 

The recent news that I may have poor quality eggs based on my blood tests threw me for a loop.  Add a long discussion with my friend who is desperately fighting against a one child household.  Then add numerous bloggers that have decided on one child because they can’t fathom going through fertility treatments after the struggle for their first child.  Or other bloggers that have stopped fertility treatments for a second child because it has become too much.

What does that have me thinking about?  It has me jumping ahead through the major parts of IVF treatment- the Lupron shot, the injections, the retrieval, fertilization, etc- and straight to the transfer.*  For a while now I have been strongly on the “I only want to transfer one embryo” train.  CP travels a lot, sometimes for two weeks at a time (like he will this Saturday).  Our close friend here in Chicago has twins- her husband is around all the time and can tell me how hard it is.  Having two kids at the same time (then stopping) means that you are only going to have the infant phase once, the crawling/walking/talking/etc once, high school graduation once, etc.  Not to mention if you think that you need to do a better job with teaching X to your kid, you have another shot with a younger sibling.  My sister and I are 20 months apart- I think that our relationship and our personalities would be different if we were twins.

But now with my potential poor egg quality…..what if it takes us a while to get pregnant?  What if we lose the pregnancy(ies)? I’m 34 now and my egg quality is most likely only going to go down.  If it takes us a long time to finally get our take home baby will we be that couple that decides to only have one child?

Which leads me to…maybe CP and I should think about transferring two embryos with each IVF cycle.  Sure there are some risks to having multiples but then I only have to go through one C-section.  Then we only have to go through the terrible twos once.  Even if twins are harder to take care of, I won’t know the difference between how hard two babies are versus one because I won’t know any different.

I told CP about my thoughts and asked him to think about it.  It’s clearly not a decision that we have to think about right now, but I do want to have these discussions ahead of time so that we are not making spur-of-the-moment decisions that we may regret.  Plus I may or may not have rational thoughts while I am on IVF drugs.  :-)

Of course I am completely jumping over several major steps with this thinking.  We may get a good number of eggs at the retrieval and have a lot of them fertilize.  The supplements that I am currently taking may make a difference and result in good quality eggs.  Having a few good quality eggs ready and waiting to transfer may lessen the urgency to transfer two embryos because we would know that we have some quality eggs frozen for a second pregnancy.

I don’t know what the future brings, but I am looking forward to actually getting on to the IVF treatment instead of talking about it and thinking about all of the variables.  I’m also looking forward to getting home today so that maybe, just maybe, my brain will stop thinking about all of this so much!!

If you have gone through IVF how did you make the decision on how many embryos to transfer?  If you could do it all over again, would you transfer the same number?

If you haven’t gone through IVF, what are your thoughts on twins versus single pregnancies?

*For now, obviously, I am going to believe that everything with my IVF is going to go swimmingly although we all know that nothing ever goes the way you plan.

Friends and infertility

It is quite interesting how different my friends are around me (how they act, what they say, etc) regarding infertility.  It truly depends on the friend.  I'll give you four recent examples.

Last night I had a long, long conversation with a good friend who is also battling infertility.  She has now lost three pregnancies in trying for a second child.  My heart aches for her as no one should have to go through that.  When she was pregnant this last time she didn’t say anything until I asked because she didn’t want to upset me (she ended up losing that pregnancy too).  She rarely talks about her firstborn with me and when she does, she makes sure to say that she knows that she is very lucky to only have one (even though she and her husband want two).  I keep telling her that she doesn’t need to continually say those things- but she does it because she doesn’t want to seem ungrateful when I am trying so hard to have to my first child.  I appreciate her sensitivity to me because even though we are in different circumstances and have different triggers,  we both do our best to not upset the other person and what they are going through.

My law school friend here in Chicago didn’t go through infertility, but knows all about our struggle and asks what is going on.  She is great about allowing me to vent and doesn’t say stupid things like “maybe it wasn’t meant to be” or “just relax.”  A good example of a fertile that is sensitive to our infertility.

Oddly enough, my new next door neighbor is pretty good.  I have not told her about our infertility, yet she seems to be sensitive to the fact that we don’t have kids.  (This is the neighbor that is friends with the infertility doctor that I met at a BBQ at her house this fall.)  She has never asked whether we want them or whether we have had problems.  I have never hinted at the fact that we are having problems and when I’m around her I say things like “if CP and I have kids.”  But yet at the happy hour before Christmas she apologized that much of the conversation earlier in the day (another neighbor had all of the women over for Christmas tea) had been about baby monitors and other baby-related stuff.  I’m not sure if I somehow tipped her off to our infertility or if she is just nice and knows that someone that doesn’t have kids wouldn’t necessarily want to discuss baby monitors, but either way I appreciate it.

Meanwhile, I had a fantastic time with my CT friends over New Years Eve/Day, but a few of them simply just don’t get it.  My one friend is clueless as to infertility (she had her two kids with no problems) and would often make some of the comments that you shouldn’t make to infertiles.  Another friend had no problems conceiving her three kids but would at least ask how things were going and ask questions about the various techniques/options because she truly knew nothing about infertility.  The only person that seemed to be at all sensitive to the fact that I wouldn’t want to hear every little detail about her pregnancy, the baby’s room, preparations, etc. was my pregnant friend (she had three miscarriages before her current pregnancy).

It just goes to show you that you can tell someone all about your infertility journey or you can keep the details to yourself….but you never know what they are going to say.

Have you found a large difference between your friends when it comes to your infertility (or anything other major thing going on in your life)?

Delay

Going to New York ended up delaying my first IVF cycle.  While I wouldn’t take back the experience that I am getting and the help that I am giving out, it was disappointing that I wasn’t able to get my one-month Lupron shot before I left.  Because my doctor believes that the Lupron shot really helps with IVF success, I will be getting it this Friday, the day I arrive back in Chicago.  Then I will have a month on Lupron prior to starting any other IVF drugs, which means my cycle will really start in mid-February and I probably won’t have a retrieval (if I get that far) until the beginning of March.  (For more on the basics of IVF go here.)

I am definitely worried about even getting to the retrieval phase.  Based on my experience last time with the three-month Lupron shot, I had no sign of a period even three months after surgery and after the shot was supposed to be out of my system.  I had to take progesterone to “jump start” my system again so I wonder if the Lupron is going to heavily suppress my reproductive system again.

I keep telling myself not to put too much hope into the first cycle.  I never used injectables with my IUIs so I have no idea what the fertility drugs are going to do to my system and neither does the doctor because every patient responds differently.  So will the Lupron over suppress and I won’t have any eggs and/or I won’t have eggs big enough to even retrieve?

But when I start to worry too much, I try to think of my motto for the year.  While CP and I do have to think about what happens if any IVF cycle(s) don’t go well or don’t work, I don’t want us to dwell on it.

I'm just really ready to get this show on the road after so many months of WAITING!!  Bring on the month of hot flashes baby.

My personal hell

I saw this writing prompt on Perks of Being a JAP and thought it was a cute idea!

My personal hell would consist of:

*The only drink available is coffee.

*Justin Beiber, Miley Cyrus, or Carly Rae Jepsen playing on repeat.

*A large group of fertile women telling me that I just need to relax, take a vacation, and/or drink some wine to get pregnant.

*I could never use a Q-tip again.

*Constantly having popcorn kernels or other food stuck in my teeth.

*Forced to watch American Idol, The Voice, X Factor and Seinfeld all day long.

*Forced to wear a bikini everywhere I went.

*I never had access to gum, mints, mouthwash, toothbrush/toothpaste, etc.

*I was put in a room filled with spiders, taranchulas and fire ants and/or told to eat them.

*Sitting next to someone whistling or singing all day long.

*The only food available to eat is chocolate (makes my stomach hurt), tripe, olives, or pickles.

*Sitting next to someone that never wore deodorant and farted all day long.

*Watching the Twilight series or Titanic next to 100 13-year old girls.

What would your personal hell look like?

By the way, click through and check out my new blog design.  Do you like?  I keep trying to make the picture a bit smaller but then it screws up the formatting.  

Exhausted

Yesterday I finally got a day off from working on Sandy disaster efforts and it couldn't have come at a better time.  I was mentally exhausted.  I can't go too much into it, but it's frustrating when you are the only person (at least it seems like) going the extra step (or more) for these people that have already suffered enough.  People around me (not from my company) were telling me, "Oh that's not what we were told to do."  So you have to be told to give a sh*t?  *sigh*

I'm also physically exhausted after working so many days in a row. I'm not sure why because I'm sitting all day, but 10 hour work days plus the commute and going out for dinner every night leaves little down time. Only a glass of wine seems to help in slowing down my brain down after a tense day. I never thought that working on the weekends would lead to not knowing what day it is! Needless to say, it's probably going to be a really good thing that I get back into Chicago on a Friday so that I have the weekend to decompress after these last two weeks.

I can't complain too much though because, of course, I have it way better than Sandy victims.  And being back on the East Coast has meant getting to see a few friends and family when I do have time off.  After finishing work on New Years Eve I headed up to CT to see friends and celebrate the New Year with them.  I loved having a home cooked meal as it has now been a while!  Then last night I headed into the city to have dinner at Ed's Lobster Bar (delicious!) with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.  I originally thought that I would go do something in NYC since I had the whole day, but a day of doing laundry, watching football, and sleeping in was more of what I needed!!

CP always tells me that traveling for work is not as glamorous as it sounds.  After my first two week work trip, I would have to agree with him.  Eating out for every meal, not having the comforts of home, and being on a totally different schedule in a new city gets old (especially if you are not even IN a major city*).  Not to mention spending time with coworkers that you either have never met or have had limited time with in the past and having to deal with their crazy quirks, backgrounds, annoying habits, and opinions- YIKES.  One of my coworkers is perpetually late, asks inane questions, and tries to make himself more important than he is.  I'm trying to hold back my snark and b*tchiness when talking to him but it's hard when you are already mentally and physically exhausted.

And don't get me started on missing CP and the puppies.  I Facetimed with CP last night and like the crazy dog people were are, I talked to the dogs.  It seemed to confuse them more than anything (where is that voice coming from??), but they at least recognized that it was me.  :-)

I'm definitely looking forward to early Friday morning when I head back to Chicago.  I'll get to have a quick 24 hours with CP before he leaves for his two-week work trip around the world, but at least while he is gone I will be HOME with the puppies.  I think that I will have to check back on this post when I'm feeling jealous of some of his work trips to remember that maybe, just maybe, the fact that he is in Asia, Europe, South America, etc is not as cool as one might think.

Do you travel a lot for work?  What are your tips on staying sane?

*I'm actually staying on Long Island and I don't have a car- my coworker has to drive me to/from work!

2013 request

Can I make a request of all of my readers/commenters so early on in 2013?  Often I read your comments on my posts and would LOVE to send you a reply via email but your email is not listed on your webpage.  Pretty please with a cherry on top could you update your profile/about me/etc to show your email address?

Doctor recommended supplements

A number of people commented on my potential increase in vitamins and other supplements to prepare for my first IVF.  This information and the large number of supplements are not combed from the internet, but I  received the list from my doctor.  So in an effort to help other IVF patients out there, I’m going to summarize what my doctor gave me in hopes that it may help another patient.

First off, I am not a doctor.  You should get a blood test prior to starting this regime to find out if you even need the supplements.  THE FOLLOWING SUPPLEMENTS ARE TO HELP IMPROVE EGG QUALITY.  My doctor suggests that you start these three months prior to treatment, but that they can still help even if you don’t have three months (I do not).

1.      Take a prenatal vitamin with DHA daily but stop with the trigger shot or with ovulation.

2.      Myo Inositol- 2 gm, two times a day

a.      Shown to help with blastocyst (embryo) development

b.      Also correlated with higher E2 (estradiol) levels within the follicular fluid and better quality embryos

3.      Melatonin- 3 mg, once at night

a.      Helps scavenge the free-radicals that can damage delicate sperm and egg DNA

b.      DO NOT take this if you are on thyroid medication

4.      Co Enzyme Q10- 200 mg, three times a day

a.      Helps support and improve mitochondrial function

5.      Omega-3 fatty acid- 1000 mg, once a day

a.      In one study a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio was associated with higher numbers of follicles

b.      Eat more leafy greens, nuts and seeds and high quality, purity tested fish oil supplement

c.      Eat less snack/fast foods, factory/grain-fed red meat and processed oils

6.      Vitamin C- 500 mg, once a day

a.      Helps prevent oxidative mitochondrial damage

b.      Supports healthy blood vessel structure

7.      Vitamin E- 200 IU, once a day

a.      Helps prevent oxidative mitochondrial damage

b.      May improve glandular epithelial growth and development of blood vessels in the endometrium

8.      L-arginine, 1000 mg, two times a day

a.      Encourages your pituitary gland to produce more Human Growth Hormone, which helps improve with quality and quantity of egg production

9.      DHEA- 25 mg, three times a day

a.      Positive effects have been reported to egg and embryo quality

10.   Pycnogenol, 100 mg, once a day

a.      Anti-inflammatory effects

b.      Supports blood vessel structure

So there you have it.  10 different supplements recommended to boost egg quality by my doctor.  It certainly seems like a lot, but I am going to try to help my old and crappy eggs as much as possible!!  (NOTE: I may end up NOT taking everything on this list- I'm trying to decide which ones are most important.)

If you are on supplements to boost egg quality, what are you taking?  

2013 Goals

Well, the new year is here (although I am few days late with finally getting this post up).  It brings with it a lot of uncertainty and a dash of hope.  I have been waiting for January for a while because my new insurance with IVF coverage finally kicks in this month.

Without further ado, my goals for 2013:

Keep in touch more with friends.  Just “liking” someone’s status on FB or commenting on a picture doesn’t mean that I am catching up with them.  Some friends are harder to get on the phone because of their kidlets, but an email is at least a little more personal.

Take whatever steps are necessary to ensure IVF success (within reason of course).  I don’t want to think that I could have done more if I have one or more failed cycles.  Currently I am taking DHEA, CoQ10,  and L-argigine in addition to my regular prenatal vitamin.  I will be adding to this regime as I will start Myo Insitol that I just ordered and will be delivered by the time I get  home from NYC.  I also would like to add Melatonin, Omega-3 Fatty Acid, Pycnogenol, and extra Vitamin C and Vitiman E (all were recommended by my doctor).  It’s a whole lot of pills, but again, you never know what is going to work and help my eggs!!

Workout 3 times a week- even if it is just walking.  There will be times that I won’t be allowed to work out; there will be times that I will NEED to work out  my frustrations.  I will try to balance this as much as possible and do what I can when I can.

Fewer status updates on FB.  I’m not a daily poster by any means and I try to keep my updates funny and/or interesting, but I'm sure that I could cut down.  I kept my pledge to stay away from political posts last year and will continue to do that this year.

I will look into the Mediterranean diet.  Gypsy Mama’s latest blog had a link to a Huffington Post article on a study showing that the Mediterranean diet could triple IVF success.  Sold!  I love Mediterranean food (had some last night in fact), so that sounds like a win-win to me!

I am going to do my best to stay positive about IVF process.  Despite getting the bad news from the doctor about my hormone levels, I am going to try my hardest to stay positive.  If I start to get stressed, I will use mediation to calm myself down and remember to breathe.

Read at least 30 books.  I think I read 22 books last year but now I have a 30 minute train ride two times a day and can get a lot more reading done this year.

Continue to stay away from the soda!  I have been slipping a little bit because of the 12 hour days in NYC, but I’m hoping to work on getting more sleep the next week or so until I return to Chicago and hopefully that helps.

Finish updating our house in 2013- at least the extent that CP and I can do ourselves….

Read every single entry in the 2012 Crème de la Crème list.  

And finally, my 2013 motto will be:

“If you get caught up in the worst case scenario and it doesn’t happen, you’ve wasted your time. And if you are caught up in the worst case scenario and it does happen, you’ve lived it twice.” -Michael J. Fox