Day 230 - Okay, So I'm A LITTLE Tired...

Holy cow. How do Mom's do it? I couldn't settle in to sleep until 0100. The alarm went off at 0630. I have heard of this hour before, but I didn't want to believe that it existed! I had heard crying & movement around 0330 & then again at 0530. Oh boy, I have a lot to learn!


Jenn left for work at 0645 & both kids were wide awake. At least 2 of the 3 of us were. Harrison is 2 & Heidi is 5 months. I won't bore you with too many details. Well, maybe I will. Heidi is a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed, smiling & content little girl. Harrison is a brown haired, brown eyed, little gentleman. They are incredibly well behaved - Mama & Papa must be doing something right!


We had breakfast, changed the diaper, bottle fed, coloured, sang songs (shhh, don't tell anyone!), watched Bob the Builder, played with Valentina & then Heidi went down for a nap. She slept for 2.5 hrs. In the meantime, Harrison, who is recently potty trained, had accident after accident. Me, not knowing the foggiest thing about childhood behaviour, figured it was simply because Daddy was away, Mama was away & here is this strange lady singing to me with her funny little dog... ?? We had a couple of #2 accidents. The first one, no biggie. The second one... Let me enlighten you...


After the first pair of wet undies, I couldn't find any pants for Harrison. As it was raining out & we would be indoors, I grabbed a pair of shorts. Then another pair. Then I finally noticed the basket of clean clothes in the living room. When I asked him if he was dry & he said 'No', but I could see the front of his pants told me otherwise, I thought, well, let's just change him in the living room. WRONG.


As I pulled down his undies to change them, didn't I just get an extra bonus falling out of his shorts. He was upset that he'd messed in his pants, so he was crying. When bonus #1 hit the carpet & I could see bonus #2 on its way down, I thought we better dash for the bathroom. Before I could pick him up, he stepped in bonus #1. As I picked him up, my hand cupping bonus #2 & his poor little bottom, Valentina makes a dash for bonus #1. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! We head downstairs, with the dog shortly behind. I put Harrison in the tub for a good wash & try my best to scrape the mud pie off of my hand, meanwhile I'm gagging & wretching with my back to the poor little toddler crying in the tub. We get scrubbed up & clean clothes on. 


I was really baffled, as he managed to finally pee in the toilet, but as I go to pull up his shorts, they're wet! We change them. No kidding, 10 minutes later he's wet again! Then another 20 minutes after that! I give up! Even the gummy bear 'treat' incentive isn't working! Well, Mama gets home & when I tell her the happenings of the morning, she said he's NEVER done that & she's never heard him so upset. (I'm thinking, oh my, I've scarred the poor child for life!) It turns out today was the day his 2 year molars decided to make  themselves known. Lucky me! 


After I knew that poor Harrison wasn't traumatized forever & he was happy to be with Mama again, I made a dash home & picked up my drugs, as it was time to start. I had to go for my ultrasound tomorrow morning. Unfortunately this meant I had to be in the city in the morning. Jenn had to work. Sadly, I couldn't convince my Mom or any of my friends to help me or Jenn out for a few hours. It was pretty disappointing, as Jenn's family really needs every penny possible! By the end of the night, she had to phone work & say that she couldn't come to work the next day. I felt terrible!


I decided to have a shower while I was at home, but before I even got in, I fell asleep on the bed! I woke up 2 hours later. Guess this Nanny thing is hard work! I drove back to Jenn's, but before I went there, I stopped at Safeway to pick up some Freezies for Harrison - just in case his teeth were bothering him again. Once I was back at Jenn's, we finished watching Alice In Wonderland. It was really good! I was so amazed by the creativity & imagination that went into it! Wow! By the time 1100 rolled around, I was beat. 


I hit the hay & that was that.
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Peek-a-boo!

Valentina enjoys the house!

Saying 'Cheese' while playing the cars game on my iPod. Kindergarten.com has some brilliant apps to teach kids animals, transportation, fruits, veggies... It's a great distraction from boredom in Ikea, at home, wherever... :o)

My little action man!

Miss Heidi quite content!

Day 204 - ANOTHER Long Day In The City

This morning was my big appointment at the Fertility Clinic. I was VERY impressed. Granted we're (Jaco) is paying them $$$$, so they should be awesome, but they certainly were! Dr. Foong is phenomenal. She's so personable & caring. She answered all of my questions & applied for Compassionate Care for our medications, so hopefully we'll have some of them covered. I also met with one of the Nurses, who answered all of my additional questions & listened to me ramble on & on... I don't ramble, do I? Nah, didn't think so! :o) I visited the Sperm Lab & then had some more blood work done. Yeesh. 


Here's the skinny. I am actually so fascinated by all of this... Basically we have to wait until my next cycle. On day 1, I call the Period Hotline. Yeah, I know. Forget Crimestoppers, this is WAY more exciting! On day 2, I have a baseline ultrasound & more blood work. Day 3, I start my meds. A week or so later the Egg Retrieval is done & then the embryos are made. 3-5 days later, we've got Mini-Wee's chillin' on ice! I think the affectionate term is 'Totsicles'. :o)


So what exactly do they do? Well, every month, lassie makes one egg follicle. That follicle breaks open & releases the egg to be fertilized by the lucky swimmer to cross the finish line first. When I take the meds (Luveris & Gonal-F), they are Follicle Stimulating Hormones (FSH) & they do just that. Instead of making one follicle, I'll make somewhere between 8 & 20. The Clinic will do several ultrasounds & more bloods to monitor the progress of the follicles & when they are mature, the Egg Retrieval is done. They use a hollow needle to extract the follicles via ultrasound, which I will get to watch on TV as they do it! 


The eggs will then be fertilized via ICSI. Basically instead of thawing the straws of sperm & letting them do their thing, the lab will manually fertilize each egg. The embryos will then be incubated for 3-5 days. On day 3 there will be 8 cells. If they are healthy looking embryos, they will be incubated for another 2 days to create what's called a blastocyst, which is anywhere from 80-200 cells. A blastocyst has a much better chance at successful implantation, however, you need a hot lookin' 3 day embryo to get a good blastocyst. If the 3 day embryo isn't REALLY good, there's not point to incubate it past that. It's best to freeze it & let it do it's thing once it's implanted. 


And once the embryos have been incubated sufficiently, they will be frozen at -196 until they are needed! And yes, when I'm 40 I will still have the embryos of a 31 year old! If only they could do that with my wrinkles! :o) So there's your Egg Retrieval lesson in a nutshell! 


Essentially I'll be ready for chemo the day after the Egg Retrieval. After anaesthesia you are legally intoxicated for 24 hours, so I guess I'll wait until the anaesthesia hangover is gone! :o)


Pray that all goes well with the procedure & there are no complications.


After I left the clinic I headed towards Costco. The phones we picked up lacked headsets jacks & belt clips. Yes, we use our phones that much. They didn't have much, but I picked up a different set. We'll see if they are any good! 


Next stop was Ikea. I was supposed to meet Dave & Collet there around 1230 - 1430. It was now 1400. I called & Collet didn't answer her phone. As I don't have a cell phone, I said I would call back in 20 minutes. When I called back, she answered & they were just pulling up. They had a busy day planned with plenty of stops, but when I saw her, they hadn't been anywhere yet! Oh boy! 


They were on the lookout for a wardrobe. What a process! It took 5 hours! I was wiped by the time we left! I needed a nap, but still had to get groceries & drive home! I have realized that I am just going to have to say I am tired & I have to go. I'm in need of a lot of rest & relaxation these days, and I'm not used to saying 'no' to anyone. 


I had a great time with them & Ezra has grown so much again! He's talking a lot & potty trained! What a good boy! I got a chuckle out of him, as we walked through the showroom, he had the urge to lick every mirror he came across... Too funny! Collet's got a cute little belly coming along & I'll be very excited to meet the newest Stephan! 


I made my way through Superstore like a zombie & then headed home. I went straight to bed! These 10+ hr days in the city are killing me! Perhaps literally!!! Here's to a good lie in tomorrow!


Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Waiting in the lab

Waiting in the lab again!

Ezra - lickin', er, lookin' good!

3.5 Stephans in Ikea

Ezra enjoys the stickers from Aunty Jill

Ezra's sled dog training with a monkey on his back!

Day 165 - Seriously?

Well, I'll keep today's post short & sweet, as it was so NOT what I was expecting to hear. 


I met with the Oncologist today. Yup. 6 months. Every 2 weeks. Full dose. Yup. The EXACT same thing as Canada. ABVD. Hmpf.


Ain't that just a kick in the pants. No guarantees on fertility, no guarantees on my heart or my lungs or the numbness or tingling in my fingers & toes. It's not about the hair loss, believe me, I'd be happy to get rid of the hair on my face & my legs :o) & I'm cool with wearing fun wigs - purple, green, blonde, red head... It's the other stuff I'm not so fussed about! 


I took the last shuttle back to the clinic & managed to meet a couple who were leaving Dr. Donato's clinic. The husband had been given 6 months to live with an inoperable tumor on his aorta & was sent home. They found Dr. Donato & that was 1 year ago. The tumor has shrunk by 75% & the cancer is gone from his lungs as well. 


I am encouraged & feel like there is still hope left. I meet with Dr. Donato on Tuesday of next week & I hope & pray that I can conquer this without the full blown dose of chemo for half a year! 


I returned to the hotel & went to bed. I was wiped. It's been pretty draining, both physically & emotionally. I have been quite stressed these past few months & when I'm here on my own, I'm finally able to let go. I slept from 1800 until 2100 & then thought I should wake up & make something to eat! Of course, then I I couldn't fall asleep! Again, silly American TV - Cake Boss - have you seen what they do? Wow! 


Anyhow, here's to a brighter & better day tomorrow!


Love & hugs & healing,
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Hiding in the blankets

Sneaking a nap in!