Ugh. Cars.

So we live in the ‘burbs and pretty much can’t go about our working days without two cars. Today we found out that our trusty 1995 Volvo needed 4000 dollars of repair work done to its exhaust system (rusted because of the damn Toronto winters and over salting). We knew this day would come- where the cost of repairing it doesn’t seem worth the value of the car.

So now we’re vehicle shopping. DW thinks we need a minivan. I too, think a minivan would be nice for the storage capacity and roominess, but I am hesitant to cross over to being a minivan owner. I’m sure I won’t care once I see how useful they are for carting around babies and dogs and stuff all at the same time, but right now it kinda freaks me out.

The vehicle we are looking for needs to:
– be able to comfortably fit two kids
– be able to comfortably fit two dogs
– have room for everyone’s stuff (luggage/food/coolers/cottage stuff/a hockey bag)
– be reliable
– not be ugly
– be easy to park
– be affordable

So I mistakenly posted a “suggestions for minivan recommendations” on FB, and now the wife is kinda mad at me because it has created some suspicion among our friends that our family is growing. She wants to keep everything super secretive until like 14 weeks, but I just had a problem that I wanted advice on and I have a lot of FB friends to speak to minivan experience- both with and without children.

Anyway, there seems to be a lot of minivan hate out there. A lot of people telling me that I can find an SUV that can meet my needs. But what I’m finding to be the piece that is most difficult to satisfy is the darn dogs. We could get an SUV, if we just had two kids and stuff, but where do the dogs go?

Anyway, I would love some advice on vehicles you like which might suit my needs.

Thanks in advance!

IVF 1 Day Post Embryo Transfer

May the Obsessing Begin: the Dreaded TWW

Okay, so not quite two weeks. We wait nine days until we go into do some blood work. But you can be sure that I will be obsessing about every little detail in this table from http://www.nyufertilitycenter.org/ivf/embryo_transfer:

Embryo Transfer Day

We started our day with a pineapple force-feeding and a caffeine-free steamer (steamed milk and Starbucks vanilla syrup). Then DW laid down for a pre-transfer acupuncture treatment and face/scalp/foot massage. DW then chugged a litre of water and we got showered/dressed for our appointment.

I also presented DW with some surprise jewellery:

Just before we headed out, I spotted the wishbone we had been saving…

And we made our wishes…

Once we got to the clinic, DW’s full bladder felt like it was gonna burst. Since they were running quite behind, she was given permission to empty it, which made her happy.

She was gowned, and I got to wear the fancy paper smock:

Then we went into the treatment room and they imaged DW’s uterus:

Isn’t it fabulous?

As we were waiting, I noticed pictures of our blastocysts on a screen:

They looked gorgeous!

This is them inside DW’s uterus (they are the two bright blobs):

We were moved back into the “lounge”, where we were told to sit for 20-30 minutes before leaving. We made friends with the Chinese couple beside us, who were impressed by my trilingual abilities and how young DW looks (she’s almost 38!). They wanted to be pen pals with us at the end of the lounge time (they were nice, so we agreed).

DW described some minor sensations in her uterus, but felt good, so we went for Korean food!

We test on February 5th, but until then, I’ve got some half-finished posts to entertain you (and myself) with.

I’ve officially passed the baton to DW in this relay race we call baby making!

Embryo Report Day Five

Just a shorty for now.

Embryo transfer just happened!

We had 7 total blastocysts make it to day five. All were graded as “very good” BB, except one, which was graded BC.

We transferred two into DW and the remainder will be frozen.

Day Four Embryo Update

Just got the call from the embryologist…..

Out of 11 that made it to day 3:
8 are compacting and at the morula stage!

So far, our stats have been:
21/38 follicles were large enough to be retrieved
19/21 eggs were mature
14/19 eggs were successfully fertilized
11/14 zygotes made it to day 3
8/11 embryos made it to the morula stage

Can’t wait to find out how many we have to freeze for future siblings!

Preparing For Embryo Transfer

(Photo from: http://m.inviafertility.com/uncategorized/drvkarande/top-10-interesting-facts-about-ultrasound-guided-embryo-transfer)

Tomorrow is our embryo transfer! So far, DW has been taking estrace everyday (beginning on day 3 of her cycle- dose decreased from 3 pills a day to 2 pills a day on the day of our retrieval). She has also started her prometrium (3 capsules orally per day) and endometrin (3 vaginal suppositories per day). She’s not particularly enjoying the vaginal suppositories, and is making her way through our stock of maxi pads and panty liners. She is being a good sport though, and in addition to the busyness of work and this drug schedule, she is still taking care of my OHSS ass.

Oh yes, still bloated and in pain. If my stats have not improved by tomorrow, I’m going to insist on having an ultrasound to see how bad my ascites is. Two days ago, a chiro friend of mine and I were playing with my belly, doing the fluid wave test for ascites, which we had learned in clinical diagnosis class back in the day. On day 4 today, my weight continues to climb by just under a pound (now a bit over 3 lbs more than on retrieval day) and my circumference remains the same as yesterday. The nurse called yesterday and implied that perhaps I wasn’t resting enough. All of this resting is driving me insane!

But exciting times are upon us my blogosphere friends. We went for sushi yesterday as one last hurrah for DW (who loves sashimi by the way). We called it the Last Supper.She is also shovelling the driveway right now too because a) I’m in too much pain right now, and b) she is on doctor ordered bed rest for two days after tomorrow.

In preparation for our transfer, I did a nice acupuncture treatment on her this morning (she played an iPhone Settlers of Catan game while her Qi did its thang), and I made her this pineapple-rich smoothy:

Mamaetmaman’s Pineapple Smoothy (for good implantation)

1/5 of a pineapple, rind trimmed and chopped but core not removed
2 tbsp coconut cream
1.5 cup coconut milk (the thin beverage kind, not the cooking kind)
1 ripe banana

Throw all ingredients into your blender and blend on high until smoothy no longer has fruit chunks in it. If it jams, add more liquid.

For a refreshing change- pre-freeze your pineapple and banana for an icy consistency .

Pour into a large glass and serve with an umbrella!

For even more fun times, double the recipe and make two drinks- add Malibu Black into the NGP’s glass!

Day Three Embryo Report

From: http://www.rrc.com/images/Early_human_embryos.png

I think I have OHSS. In fact, I’m certain I have it. In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve gained nearly three pounds, and my abdomen has increased in circumference by at least 3 centimetres. My belly is taut and hard to the touch, and it hurts changing positions, going pee (and poo), and coughing. I imagine this is how it feels to be extremely pregnant.

In other news, I received an update from the embryologist!

Of our 14 fertilized embryos:
8 of the 10 ICSI-fertilized embryos are at the 6-8 cell stage
3 of the 4 IVF-fertilized embryos are beyond the 8 cell stage and are growing fast!

In total, we have 11 embryos still in the race, on their way to becoming morulas in the next 24 hours!

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes

So, I get bored easily when I can’t do physical things- like exercise, workout, play sports, or even walk the dogs.

So what’s a girl with an injured vagina and angry ovaries to do?

Bake of course!

So I made these:

And then made my special cream cheese icing and spread it on:

The cupcakes turned out amazingly delicious, and were a lot less work than my cinnamon rolls. I used this recipe, but instead of buttermilk, I used coconut milk:
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-cinnamon-roll-cupcakes/

I doubled the recipe and made a couple of regular sized cupcakes, mini cupcakes, and also a mini loaf.

This recipe is a keeper!

Fertilization Report

So as you know, I elected for 7 ova to be fertilized the old fashioned IVF way:

(Photo from: http://m.123rf.com/photo-23226463_ovum-and-spermatozoon-fertilization.html)

And 12 ova to be fertilized via ICSI:

(Photo from: http://www.sisuhospital.org/icsi.php)

The embryologist called this morning to inform me of our fertilization results:

Of the 7 ova to be fertilized via IVF:
4 fertilized
2 were abnormal
1 had 2 sperm fertilize it –> abnormal

Of the 14 ova to be fertilized via ICSI:
10 fertilized
2 were immature
2 did not fertilize

So in total, we have 14 zygotes!