Pinchy twinges - must mean it's working

Tonight is shot #5 of Menopur, my ovary simulation hormones. I have to say, I don't remember feeling this tender and achey this early on with the hormones last time. I definitely feel something going on with my ovaries, especially the right side. Any amount of walking was/is semi uncomfortable. And even while siting I feel something (twinges, pangs, pinches, tugs, pulling, etc).

I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong! I'm just observing and noting. Dr apt t'row. We'll see what's happening on the inside and hear what happens next.

The word is...

I received official confirmation yesterday that I will continue to have a job with my company, if I still want it. Of course I do!
Previously I had unofficial word from my boss that they want to keep me around, but nothing is better than the official word. It's great to know I am wanted and will be kept around even with all this madness of changes that are happening within the company lately.
And now back to work!

We've got a doctor in the house!

This past Friday, my husband defended his PhD thesis.

After 2 hours of debate and discourse, the opponents recommended that my husband be granted his PhD! Later that evening, we celebrated the defense with the post-doctoral party, ie the Dissertation Karonkka. The Karonkka is a dinner or party organized in honor of the Opponent(s) and Custos. It can also be used to thank any supervisors, professors or anyone who contributed to the work.

It was a long day, but a good one.

Is it only Wednesday?

Unfortunately, it IS only Wednesday. And so much has happened this week already.

As I was writing my last entry (Sunday evening), hubby was in pain with a stomach ache. It had started hurting Sunday morning and only got worse as the day and night wore on. He wasn't able to puke and all of the wretching he did try to do only sounded horribly painful. I asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital/see a doctor and he said 'no'.I was awake until 2am just watching over him. Then I tried going to bed, but each time he got up and went to the bathroom, I woke up too. Later in the night when I asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, he said in the morning. At 6am, I woke up to him heading to the bathroom once again. I half-dozed for 40minutes while he was in the bathroom. It was then that I decided enough was enough and that we were going to the ER. I told him I was getting dressed, then I would go out to warm the car and we would head to the ER. By 7:30 I had him in the car and away we went.

When we arrived at the ER entrance, I dropped him off and went to park the car. By the time I walked back to the ER, a nurse was taking him into a triage room. She poked his stomach a bit and then said she'd call for a doctor to come look. Within 5 minutes the doctor arrived, poked his stomach some more, then told us to give the rest of our contact info to the main desk and for hubby to wait in the lobby where someone would come get him to perform some tests. I was told I was not allowed with him during these tests. After our info was taken, I kissed hubby good-bye with a promise that he'd text or call me with an update in a few hours. I was in and out of there in under 30min!

Right enough, after a couple of hours, I get a text from hubby that they believe it is appendix and that he is going in for surgery. He should be able to go home the same day. Well, he did have his surgery, but they kept him over night. It sure was a quite night at home Monday evening. Not even the cats wanted to sleep with me. :(

Also, on Monday I was supposed to take a reservation agreement to the real estate agent for the duplex we are interested in. But, since hubby was so sick Sunday and in the hospital Monday, I couldn't get his signature. Yes, I know we should have had it all signed way before that, but...life sometimes gets in the way.

Tuesday morning had me up bright and early to head to the bank to discuss a house loan, then I drove to the hospital to  pick up hubby and take him home. Then it was to work. I was just so exhausted from the previous couple of days.

This morning (it's still only Wednesday!), I headed to the seamstress to pick up my wedding dress corset-top. The stays (I have no idea how I came up with this word, but it is correct!) were very thin and bent in such a way that they didn't support any more. Plus, they poked me in the ribs leaving bruising and pain!

After the seamstress, I had another bank appointment. Then off to work I went. I managed to get some work done. But the day isn't over yet!

At 13:20, I had an IVF appointment. Once the doctor called me back, made sure it was ok that a student-doctor watched, I undressed from the waist down and hopped up on the exam table. The doctor went over my situation with the student-doctor and then asked if my period had started and I told her no. She said that was a bit strange because I should have started bleeding if I had stopped taking the progesterone pills a couple of days ago... Uh, oops! I was supposed to stop taking the pills on Monday, but I totally forgot! I mentioned to her how my husband was in the hospital and had surgery (good information for them to know, as it could make the quality of his sperm lower because of the infection) and everything. The doctor just laughed (at me) and said it was ok. I am to stop taking the pills and come in for another control appointment next week.

The good thing about the ultra sound is that my lining is nicely thick (5,6mm) and my ovaries look good. If all looks good in a week, then I'll start injections and round 2 of IVF will be progressing!

And my day is still not over... once I leave work (yes, I'm blogging at work today. Think of it as my tea break, which I hardly ever take) I need to go gift shopping on behalf of my infirm husband. I'll be buying some cheese, crackers and chocolate for his professor to make into a gift basket for Friday.

I also need to go food shopping for us. When I finally get home, I am sure dinner will need to be made and I need to dye my hair and also finish making the name tags for the dinner seating arrangements for Friday.

I hope I can crawl into bed and go to sleep before midnight tonight. That will bring me one day closer to my weekend! No work on Friday for me!

Did reading all that make you as tired as I am from surviving it all?

Fast weekend, like always

As the title says, this weekend has gone by way too fast. Like they always do.

My Friday night was a lazy one. Hubby was at a friends playing their online game. I was at home watching a movie (Easy A) and 1 episode of a tv show (Being Human) on the computer. I then crawled into bed. I didn't go to sleep right away, but rather played Angry Birds on my phone. hehe

Saturday morning was lazy. Then we went food shopping, via car so that hubby could pick up our CPU from friend's house. I did the dishes and then made choco-chip cookies. We went to sauna. After sauna I made pizza dough and then pizza. That led to more dirty dishes, so I washed them again.

Through the day and into the wee hours of the night, hubby and I went downstairs to the young teens a floor below (and in the studio, not directly below us) and asked them to be quiet. First time hubby asked them to turn their rave/techo music down. Second time I asked them (in English) to turn their Nightwish/Evanesance music down. The girl came to the door with her black eye make-up streaked down her face. :( And finally again at 2am, I went down a third time to ask them (in Finnish, in case she didn't understand me in English) to turn down the music and their voices as we can hear everything. In addition, after 10pm it's supposed to be quiet and I have to be up early! They've managed to keep it down for the most part today. Maybe they've made up.

Today, Sunday, was glass class. I made 24 pieces of "art". I'll try to go pick them up tomorrow after work ,but before BodyCombat. And now this evening, I am catching up on some stuff. I tried to fill out an apartment loan application for the bank that I have a meeting with next week, but the form asked us questions that we just weren't able to answer as we did not have the information. I am also making some little key-chain/phone dangley angels from beads. I am thinking I'll give them to co-workers tomorrow for Valentine's Day.

I know this coming week will be insane! Monday, I will go sign a varaussopimus with a real estate company for a paritalo we are interested in. We have until end of March to get bank crap in order and decide if we want this place (and if hubby gets a job by then). And I need to go to the gym. Tuesday I have a bank appointment to discuss how loans work and all of the crap we need to know. Wed, I pick up my wedding dress/skirt top from the seamstress (the corset thingies were broken/bent) and then run to another bank for another loan meeting. Mid-day Wednesday, I have my next doctor's appt. After work I should to dye my hair. Thursday is a somewhat normal day, but I do have a couple hour meeting at work. And then Friday I am off from work! It is Mika's defense and Karonkka day. So, I'll be at the university during the day watching his defense. Then Pirkko and I run to the hair dressers, then back to get Mika, finish getting dressed and then go to the Karonkka. Who knows how late the Karonkka will last, but I'm tired already. LOL

sharing with rusty

It's Friday evening and hubby is at a friend's house, so it is just me and the cats. I've hardly seen Mansi all evening, except for treat time. Rusty on the other hand has hardly left my lap.

I watched the movie Easy A. During the whole movie, except for a break in the middle for treats for the kitties and dinner for me, Rusty was on my lap. After that I watched one episode of Being Human. Again, Rusty was on my lap the entire time. Only after I was done watching stuff and started to wiggle a bit did Rusty get up, grudgingly/whiningly. He still wanted to be near me, but not ON me. So I tried to share my chair with him, but my behind is bigger than hubby's and the two of us (Rusty & I) just don't fit on the chair well side-by-side.



He's now back on my lap & quite content. But it sure is difficult typing one-handed on an ergonomical keyboard. So I think it is time to end this and continue sharing my evening with Rusty.

On the go

Just downloaded the mobile blogger and had to test it out.

Hormonal highs and lows

 Some days I thoroughly hate hormones! Especially when they make me terribly moody and for no reason (other than the hormones themselves) at all! At times I know I'm being irrational, but I just can't help it. And even that can make things worse. In the last few days alone I've been terribly weepy, crying, depressed-feeling and anxious among other things. I don't mean they are all at once, nor do I feel this way all the time. I have an even keel of mood and then *BAM* something triggers me and I'm off kilter.

Taking drugs (medications) to alter my body's balance for IVF treatments isn't the most fun either. Thankfully I don't seem to get many of the "common" side effects, but I guess I get enough of them to be annoying. In addition to being moody, I've been feeling quite bloated and my ovaries are sensitive. My period cramps were a bit more painful and longer lasting than normal this time around.

I've been taking Suprecur (the nose spray to gently put my ovaries to rest) for almost 2 weeks now. And it seems my body isn't quite responding to the drug as it should or intended. My ovaries are supposed to stop producing hormones and thus not produce any eggs. Well, at today's appointment the doctor saw that not only are my ovaries still working, but I have growing eggs on both ovaries!! I don't quite understand it myself. I've always been under the assumption and knowledge that a women's body generally only produces 1 egg from 1 ovary per month. Yet, here I am taking a drug to stop ovary stimulation and production of eggs and my body grows more than the norm! *shakes head in confusion*

As my hubby said, when I mentioned this to him, it sounds like my body is reacting just like I do when I'm told to do something. I protest and stubbornly continue to do what I've been told not to do even more!


The doctor did inform me that although this is rare, it does happen from time to time and not to worry. I am to continue to take the nose spray as previously. She also prescribed me some progesterone pills (not suppositories!) to take for the next 10 or so days. This is because my endometrial lining is quite thin. I believe these pills should help the lining grow thicker and be more prepared to receive fertilized eggs. The doctor did say that my body reacting this way could lead to better quality eggs. Let's hope so!

This cycle isn't a bust! I am still able to continue with IVF this month. I'm just not sure when I'll be doing injections or when harvesting and transferring will take place. All of this uncertainty of when things will happen, work and stress from looking to buy a rowhouse or duplex is making me a wreck. They are all good stresses, but stress none the less and I should be staying away from stress if possible. Doctor's orders!

Stupid hormones

Cycle 32 started Friday. It's a good thing and a sad thing. Sad because it means I'm still not pregnant, but good because my period needed to come before my doctor's appointment on Tuesday.

Thursday night when I reached my parking spot and had the car turned off, I dug through the CDs in my car. I put the Natural Born Killers soundtrack in my player and then turned off the car. Friday morning rolls around and as I start driving to work, I turn the "radio" on, forgetting I had put in a CD. The first song to come up was Leonard Cohen's Waiting for the Miracle. I've always loved this song (and L. Cohen's voice) since I first heard it. Only, on this day, I start crying as I listen to the song! Not sure why, but some of the lyrics just struck my hormonal mood and I cried. I sure felt stupid crying, but what could I do?

Leonard Cohen - "Waiting For The Miracle"

Baby, I've been waiting,
I've been waiting night and day.
I didn't see the time,
I waited half my life away.
There were lots of invitations
and I know you sent me some,
but I was waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.
I know you really loved me.
but, you see, my hands were tied.
I know it must have hurt you,
it must have hurt your pride
to have to stand beneath my window
with your bugle and your drum,
and me I'm up there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Ah I don't believe you'd like it,
You wouldn't like it here.
There ain't no entertainment
and the judgements are severe.
The Maestro says it's Mozart
but it sounds like bubble gum
when you're waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Waiting for the miracle
There's nothing left to do.
I haven't been this happy
since the end of World War II.

Nothing left to do
when you know that you've been taken.
Nothing left to do
when you're begging for a crumb
Nothing left to do
when you've got to go on waiting
waiting for the miracle to come.

I dreamed about you, baby.
It was just the other night.
Most of you was naked
Ah but some of you was light.
The sands of time were falling
from your fingers and your thumb,
and you were waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come

Ah baby, let's get married,
we've been alone too long.
Let's be alone together.
Let's see if we're that strong.
Yeah let's do something crazy,
something absolutely wrong
while we're waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Nothing left to do ...

When you've fallen on the highway
and you're lying in the rain,
and they ask you how you're doing
of course you'll say you can't complain --
If you're squeezed for information,
that's when you've got to play it dumb:
You just say you're out there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.