Stim Day #2

Nothing too exciting last night and still not feeling anything different. I'm really tired today, but that most likely has nothing to do with my injections but who knows. Guess I'll wait it out and see.

On a side note, I haven't actually checked, but I think the needle in the Follistim pen must be thicker than the one I use for the Lupron. I say this only because both nights so far I have felt the Follistim needle going in, but not the Lupron. That and every time I pull out the Follistim needle I bleed. I don't with the Lupron needle. So, whether it's true or not, I'm sticking with my theory! ;-)

Also - I learned valuable lesson last night. Always read the labels/boxes that come with things. My Follistim cartridges are 300 iu. Each night, I inject 150 iu. So one would think that after two nights, the cartridge would be empty - you know, 150 + 150 = 300 = empty cartridge. But nope - there was some left over. So I freaked out a bit thinking - did I dial the pen wrong? Did it not come out? Did I not give myself the right dose?

But, thanks to the wonderful ladies on the Nest's TTTC, they kindly pointed out that they always overfill the cartridges - and, go figure, it's right on the box and the insert had I actually bothered to read it. Oops! Good to know, though - that way there's always enough to fill your pen and, if I for some reason need to stim extra, I may be able to fill up the pen with the leftovers from each cartridge. Not bad, eh?!

OK, guess that's it for now.

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend was great! A nice combination of relaxation and family time. We ended up heading north to my parents' house Friday afternoon since I had taken the day off and DH was done teaching early that day. So we packed up the boat, the cat, and enough extra "stuff" to last us a week. Oh well - better to be overprepared!

Friday night we dropped the cat and everything off at my parents house, said our hello's and then headed out to the lake with the boat. It was such a beautiful night out - I took about a thousand pictures. The views are just so beautiful beautiful up there, how could I not!



Even some local wildlife made the pictures!

DH did some fishing...



And I did some relaxing...



We had some snacks...



And some fun with my injections!



We stayed for the sunset that night before heading in - it was breathtaking!



It gets better...



And even better...



When we got back that night, Riley had definitely made himself at home!




Saturday, the weather was pretty crappy out - very humid and then some terrible thunderstorms. I even almost got hit by lightening when it came through the phone lines or something - it came within just inches of where I was sitting - yikes!


Dad worked most of the day so my sister and I spent it just hanging out with my mom while the boys (DH and my sister's fiance) went out to the lake to fish. Dad joined them once he was done with work - just in time to get out there and then have to come in because of the storm - oops!


And then Sunday was another gorgeous day - perhaps the best day of the three - sunny, clear skies, and practically no humidity - perfect for Father's Day! So we all hopped in the truck and headed to church. Then went home, had lunch, and then we all (except mom) went out fishing with dad. I decided not to get my fishing license this year so I played photographer for the day - yup - took another thousand pictures lol


Went to two different places - breathtaking views once again (gotta love the Adirondacks!)

Location #1:

My sister (7.5 mos pregnant - can't even tell, can you!) and my dad:

Second, and final fishing place for the day...








Fishing and spending time with dad (since we don't get to see him much) was our main gift, but we did get dad a few fun gifts. My parents don't drink, smoke, or anything. But we made a joke a while back that I was getting dad a six pack and a carton of cigarettes for Father's Day. So I poked around some stores and picked up a six-pack of root "beer" and some chocolate cigars. I really tried to find the candy cigarettes, but I guess they just don't make them anymore?

Before we headed out on the drive back home, we hung around my parents house for a bit and let Riley outside before being crated up for a couple hours - let's just say he knows how to get comfortable...

Finally, here are a couple views around my parents' property. It is just so beautiful up there - definitely nothing like the city life I live now!

Overall, it was an awesome trip back home. It is always nice to get away, relax, and spend time with family. Don't you agree?!

Hail - twice!

We have had some crazy weather lately. Super hot and humid, then cold, then sunny, then rainy and dreary, and then lots of storms thrown in. Well today Mother Nature added a new twist - HAIL. And not only once, but our house got hit twice. Thankfully, the only thing that got damaged were our vegetables. House, cars, etc... faired ok. I wasn't home to see it, but DH was and he said they about dime-sized. We were lucky - other towns near us had golf-ball sized hail - yikes!

The plants that took the biggest beating and were pretty broken and/or shredded were our cucumbers and peppers, but they all are worse for the wear. But they're coming back, thankfully.

Stim Day #1

So tonight was our first stim injection. DH was kind of nervous because the Follistim pen (blue & yellow item in pic below) looks so different than the regular sub-q needle, but he did think it was pretty cool that it literally looked like a pen - just fatter! lol


In case anyone's curious about what's in the picture: (clockwise from top/left)

• Alcohol and cotton balls since I ran out of alcohol wipes
• 5 boxes of Follistim cartriges and needles (silver)
• The inside of one of the boxes (white/pink)
• Lupron (little bottle)
• Lupron needle
• Follistim pen
• Follistim case

So we walked through the instructions together to load it and put it together - and then he injected me! So far, so good - it's only day one, so not really expecting to feel anything just yet. But I hear that towards the end of stimming, I'm going to feel quite hormonal, bloated, sore belly, and just "full/heavy" feeling. Then off to the egg removal and embryo transfer!!

Take me with You!

Riley apparently doesn't realize he's already coming with us to my parents' house for the weekend because he decided to crawl into my luggage and make himself comfortable last night when I was packing! Typical cat ;-)

Don't mind the bed - doing laundry!

Today = Friday (sort of)

I've decided I've had enough of being at work. Combine that with the fact that it's supposed to be gorgeous out tomorrow and we're heading up north to my parents' for Father's Day, I am taking tomorrow off, going to sleep in, enjoy not having to work, and then once DH is out of school (last day with the HS kids!) we'll pack the car and head up early. Figured we could take the boat out on Lake Champlain, do a little fishing, reading, and tanning. Not a bad idea, eh?!

OK - I'm already jealous of myself. I want to leave here now!

Some side effects...

Lupron Day 12. As I think I've mentioned previously, I've been really lucky as far as side effects so far. Some of the symptoms of Lupron are headaches, tiredness, moody, etc... And I've felt each of those, but i can't guarantee it's from Lupron and not others. For example - I often get headaches - usually due to lack of water, old contacts, staring at a computer all day and stress. I've been tired and moody, but I've also been under a lot of stress at work and more so in caring for my cat - and not sleeping much at night until recently as I've had to get up throughout the night to check on him. So who knows - they could be side effects of Lupron, or of everyday life!

But, there are some side effects that are definitely from the Lupron - although minor. For one, I've had a bit of bruising - I'm thinking it's from one of the times in the beginning where we pinched the skin really hard for the needle - oops!

And then every once and a while, after an injection, I get red and itchy at the injection site and a little bump - not sure if it's fluid or just from the injection.

Doesn't last long - 20 mins, maybe? I have to admit I kind of like it when it does happen - kind of makes me feel like this is real and something is really happening, you know? Especially since other (possible?!) side effects have been so minor. Yay for that!