Cough, Cough...

Most of NSW woke to a freaky red morning. It was apocalyptic and felt like we were on Mars.

This photo was taken at 6.45am from the grass at Bondi Beach. I couldn't see the water, let alone the horizon!!! Now everything is covered in blanket of red dust...EVERYTHING.

I went to yoga, took Ollie to the groomer, home to shower, then I went to see the Doctor about starting another round of IVF. We chatted about the one that didn't work and that every cycle is different. One can produce no eggs and the next can produce five good ones.

Also, the NSW Government is changing the laws regarding fertility treatments and donor sperm. In 2010 no one will be able to bring in sperm from another country to New South Wales. The closest state for the procedure will be Canberra. All the fertility Doctors have spent a lot of time and money fighting it and trying to figure out why, oh why this is such an issue for the Government.

Next period I begin again.

I went from there into the City to the Mac store. My iPhone battery has been running out by lunchtime. I made an appointment online a couple of days ago and caught the train in. The appointment was at 1.00pm and I was back in Bondi Junction and picking up Ollie at 2pm...with my new iPhone. They are very helpful and switched out my dud phone without a problem.

It's still incredibly windy and the air quality is dangerously high, so going to the park this afternoon was out of the question for pretty much everyone. I took Ollie around the block and we came home. It sucks because I can't even have the doors to the balcony open.

Apart from my new phone, I also have a cupcake, so all is right with the world...

Later

N x

damnit

Or as I said on FaceBook....eff ewe see kay.

It was a long shot and it didn't work. I got my period tonight.

I'm going to eat lots of chocolate now......

N x

Lunch

I just had a very yummy vegan pie from Funky Pies. I'm SO full now, though. It was scrumptious...broccoli, shrooms and something that resembled cheese, but it wasn't because all their pies are vegan. They have pies with pretend chicken and pretend bacon bits, although I've never understood why people who won't eat anything with a mother, want to eat something that's pretending to look like the thing they wont eat.

This vegan/vegetarian side of me is balancing out my new favorite food...BEEF SAUSAGES. For anyone who has known me for a while, this is quite surprising, seeing as I was a vegetarian for twenty-ish years and only started eating meat about eight months ago!!!

Said sausages only come from one source...Fox Markets. I take Ollie there on a Wednesday and he always makes a bee line for them. The guy has cooked samples to try, or in my case I take enough that Ollie and I can share them for lunch. My Mum, who was stunned the other day as she was watching me eat them, bought me a kilo. I took them home, rationed them into pairs and put them in the freezer, after bbq-ing two and eating them before my she date last night.

N x

Another Day, Another Blood Test

Here I am, back in the waiting room at the Fertility Clinic, in my yoga clothes because I figured I would get here really early and be in and out by 8.05am and I could still make yoga. No such luck. I arrived here at 7.45 to find every chair taken. Did people sleep here over night like when you line up for tickets to a concert...I don't, but many do, I see it on the telly.

I was really looking forward to yoga. I've gone back to practicing Ashtanga and realize how much I love it. Since moving back to Sydney, I've been quite unimpressed with the classes and teachers. Ashtanga was a big part of my life for 8 years, but I stopped because I kept injuring myself. There is one teacher in Sydney who I would practice with...we live in the same suburb and walk our dogs in the same park, so we've been chatting about my practice. Anyway, I went on Wednesday morning, loved it, but haven't been back. I'll figure this out for next week and start properly. I just have to work in walking Ollie first.
Priorities...

Oh, and I'm STILL waiting...

N x

Girl Date...

It's not what you think...I haven't changed teams.

I've met great peeps at the dog park and some, like me, are single. I was talking to a girl a few days ago, I think last weekend and she was asking me about NY and how I'm doing back here. I told her that not many of my friends are single and my social life has, well, pretty much sucked since I returned. She asked me whether I wanted to catch up for a drink this week and after thinking for about one second, I said YES.

She took my number and sent me a text a couple of days ago. We decided tonight would be a good night for a drink. So, before I went to meet her, I started thinking about it...it really WAS like a date. We'd only met once, for all of 45 minutes, so this was like a first date. What if we ran out of things to talk about? I know we're both girls, but I've had the same situation before...chatted with a girl online and when we met in person, it was extremely awkward. We had nothing to say!!!

It really IS the same as going on a first date with a guy, I even got not one, but 2 pimples today. The only difference was that there was no awkward "goodbye". I wasn't having to anticipate her wanting to kiss me and me doing the quick peck on the cheek thing.

We have another "date" on Sunday afternoon. I'm always open to embracing new friends, whether she'll e around for the long run, who cares. I'm happy I met her, we can have a fun summer together...

N x

Squirmy

I'm sitting in the waiting room of the fertility clinic waiting to have a blood test. They want to check my progesterone levels. It's cute watching the men who are here...waiting.

Some are cool about it and others are really uncomfortable. There are never many guys, and they're usually here for moral support, but I've been here when they have their own appointment. I can understand it would be a tad disconcerting walking into a room full of women who are trying to get pregnant, you're the only male and EVERYONE knows what you're there for!!!

N x

Anxious Two Weeks

The embryo transfer happened yesterday. The cells in neither egg divided, but my Doctor said that although there is only a slim chance of either forming, the chances were not nil and I have nothing to lose.

Now I have those couple of anxious weeks where I DO NOT want my period.

I deserve to fall pregnant and have a baby (or two)...this HAS to work.

N x

Damn It

This is why I'm not getting excited...

I just received a call from the Fertility Clinic telling me my eggs have not divided and the Doctor wants to wait an extra day. So my insemination for today has been canceled and moved to tomorrow morning.

Lucky for me, I'm able to change my schedule without any problems.

I'm staying nonchalant til I'm eight months pregnant...

N x

Owww

Follicles live in your ovaries and produce eggs. For every follicle there is an egg. They start as nothing (after you ovulate) and grow when you have a period. If they get to over 2cm, they are then known as a cyst, which is what I am prone to. This cycle, everything, so far, has gone to plan.

I got my hopes up so many times last year, only to have them trampled on, I'm not getting excited yet, and probably wont until I'm pregnant....REALLY pregnant.

Today I'm a bit sore. I left the house to walk Ollie this morning and was in pain. My ovaries are sore and I'm bloated...both symptoms I was told about, so I wasn't surprised. I'm at work today, taking it very easy and waiting for a call from the Clinic to let me know if and how many eggs were fertilized and what time to come in tomorrow to be inseminated.

A OK

My eggs have been harvested. I had five, which, I was told, is good. The procedure took all of 20 minutes but I was given anesthetic and went to sleep. I remember nothing.

Tomorrow, they will fertilize an egg and call me to let me know what time to come in on Friday...to be INSEMINATED.

I feel absolutely fine tonight. I even ate dinner. My Internet isn't working at the moment. I think whomever I've been borrowing it from, has twigged and put a block on it...
Tomorrow I will organize my own wireless internet service.

I didn't go to bed last night til long after 1am. I went with a couple of friends to see Inglourious Barsterds...which I thought was great. I'm a big Quentin fan. We went to a 9.15pm session and it's a two and a half hour film which didn't get out until midnight. What were we thinking!!!

Don't Eat

I must remember not to eat this morning. I'm a big fan of breakfast but my egg retrieval is at 2.00pm and I had to fast from 6.30...which was kind of annoying because I didn't wake up until nearly seven. Going to be hungry later!!!

I'm trying to fill the time prior to leaving for the Fertility Clinic, so I walked Ollie to Tamarama where we watched a pod of dolphins coming back down the coast...not too many places in the world that one can do that.

Next, I'm going to the osteopath, which should take me til noon, shower, get picked up and o can get this show on the road.

Sorry about any spelling errors, I'm trying to post for the first time from my iPhone. Let's see how I do...

N x