Good bye belly pokers

Last night I gave myself the final shot of the cycle. I was so nervous about missing the given time of 7.30pm I must have checked my instructions at least ten times and cross referenced at least three watches and two clocks. At 7.30pm SHARP I plunged one little trigger shot called Ovitrelle into my bruised belly to make all the follies mature into beautiful shining eggs. I need to think of a good mantra that makes the eggs mature just enough for retrieval tomorrow morning and not enough to be released. Also, I need the ovaries to be easy to find and easy to work with. I'll paint a picture in my mind of shiny, perfect spheres bobbing around inside my stomach waiting to be harvested. Mature & wait, little eggs, mature & wait. 

I'm actually surprised how fast the days of shots have gone by and how relatively pain-free it's been. The trick for me has been to have Hubster or Mamma count to three with a loud emphasis on THREE and then stab the needle in without hesitation. Once it's in, it's fine. There's been some bruising from hitting blood vessles and some stinging/itching from the Orgalutran but all in all it's been a piece of cake. Not to say I won't be happy about not having to take any shots tonight, because that will be sweet, but it's been easier than I thought.

I wish I had taken pictures of the snow that fell Friday but I got caught in the moment and missed the opportunity because the snow didn't cover the land for more than a couple of hours. Sorry I couldn't share the beauty with you. It was truly spectacular. 

Tomorrow morning is retrieval time. Our scheduled doctor is our original consulting RE, Dr. Boss Lady. I'm pleased. I'm confident she won't have as many problems as Dr. Doodle did getting my left ovary to cooperate. She's persistent and firm like that. She'll start with the Hubster, hook him up with some good drugs and assault his dudes. The plan is to perform PESA. Dr. Boss Lady is confident she'll get good results considering D has fathered three girls before the vasectomy and reversal. Then it's my turn to get juiced up (please let the meds knock me out) and strapped into the old stirrup throne for harvest time. I hope they find a bunch of perfect, shiny eggs and a mother load of supreme shiny swimmers. I hope they learn to dance and make magic and that we get at least one perfect little acrobat to put back on Sunday. I'm nervous. And excited. Filled with hope. And scared shitless.

And the snow started falling

I've spent the past 4 days silently repeating the mantra grow, follies, grow in my head and picturing a landscape of green growth in my ovaries. Today I went to Gothenburg for my second ultrasound and, ladies and peeps, we have 6 good looking follies on the right and the left side is sporting two big ones (and probably a few more hiding since Dr. Doodle still had problems getting a good view of my leftie). Dr. Doodle told me the lining looks good and is ready for a little acrobat, and that he wants me to take Gonal-F and Orgalutran for 2 more days, trigger with Ovitrelle on Sunday and be ready for retrieval on Tuesday morning. I was so happy and relieved I practically twirled out of the exam room.

Nurse Inga went over the detailed instructions for me and the Hubster (who needs to wash his dudes with special soap and give them a clean shave - whoot!) and gave me two little surprises. First surprise was that our scheduled transfer day has been postponed to Sunday since retrieval was pushed forward one day. Remember the thing about non-refundable tickets? Yup, our tickets home are for Sunday. Oops! But as I'm taking a big chunk out of that sour apple she brings out the second surprise in an orange bag from behind the desk. One 300IE shot of Gonal-F and one Orgalutran on the house! Nurse Inga rocks! I was not looking forward to having to cough up another six-seven hundred dollars for meds today on top of having to buy a new plane ticket. What a completely wonderful thing to get, I had to restrain myself from kissing and squeezing her. She probably wouldn't have appreciated that affection with the swine flu red alert thing going on in Sweden so instead I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. I left the fertility centre with a big smile on my face. And then the snow started falling. The first snow of the year covering trees still filled with yellow and red leaves with an icy white blanket. Absolutely gorgeous.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up D at the airport. I'm looking forward to covering him in big wet kisses. Life is good and I feel hopeful. Did I write that out loud? Yes. I feel hopeful.