Here we go here we go now

I got a call from the RE’s secretary today and she said he said that level was great and we are a go on the next cycle!!!! I am so excited!  I will be ovulating in 3 days, so we have almost a whole month before we try, but that will come so soon!  He needs to still do some tests on the 3rd day of my period to check on some things and then we will try with that next O!  I am off to Oklahoma for the weekend to have one last drunken dancing night and then back to my regimented ways leading up to baby making time.  Now all we need is the pics to get here so we can give a definate okay to the donor.

OH MY GOSH I AM SOO EXCITED!
-S

Great News!

S just called with great news.  She got the results back from the doctor on her thyroid levels and she is at a 3.34 which is within the normal range!  Yes!!  We are so happy and excited.  Now, I have read that as far as pregnancy goes, between a 1-2 is a better number, so S called our RE to see if we can move forward or not.  We should be hearing back from him hopefully some time today or tomorrow to see what he thinks.  If we get the thumbs up from him then we could be doing our first IUI as soon as next month!  So much excitement!  I know that S and I are both just chomping at the bit when it comes to getting started on this whole process.  So keep your fingers crossed and send some good vibes out to the universe that we get the green light to go forward next month!

-Liz

I Hope He Isn't Ugly

This is a week full of answers.  Yesterday S went and got her thyroid levels checked.  We should know sometime this week if things are looking better.  Either way I’m trying to get her to go see a specialist because I don’t feel like our doctor is very competent in this area.  I think that S is working on getting a referral from her.  But I’ll let S write about her appointment later.  The other answer we should be getting this week is about our sperm donor.  We picked one out and he is one of the donors that has “Lifetime Photos” available.  This means that we can see a series of photos of him as a child, teenager, and adult.  We paid the $75 and should be getting the pictures in the mail sometime this week as well. 

S said, “What will we do if he is really ugly?”

And I told her, “Then we will pick someone else.  I’d rather have a donor that I don’t what they look like then someone I know isn’t good looking.”

Does that sound dumb?  I don’t want to see shallow, but when you are choosing from a virtual buffet of dudes and they all cost pretty much the same amount of money, why choose the ugly guy? 

So I guess that isn’t a ton of answers, but they are some pretty big ones for us, so I am nervous and excited to see what the week will bring. 

Another funny thing is that when my mom was here last she mentioned to me that she had told my youngest brother, who just turned 22 yesterday, about us having a baby and how we are picking out a sperm donor.  And I guess he told her that he would be willing to give us sperm so that I’d be biologically related to our kid.  Anyway, I called him yesterday for his birthday and he mentioned it again, and how it would be funny because it would put him one step closer to becoming his own grandpa.  Do you guys know that song?  I’ll include the video, it’s pretty special. 

As sweet as his offer is, it isn’t the route we are going to go.  For one, he lives far enough away that it would be annoying to make it work out and two; I think it would be weird in a lot of ways for us, him and our future child.   And also, wanting to donate sperm just so you can be ‘your own grandpa’ is probably not exactly the right reason.  

So we will keep you all posted on what answers this week may bring!

-Liz

Pop quiz hot shot

So, Monday is the day I go in to see how my thyroid is doing.  I am nervous.  I feel like I am going to take a test I did not have a chance to study for.  There is not much that I can do to help my thyroid along other than hope it works.  I take my medicine in the morning and a seaweed pill at night to help it, but that is about it.  I am one of those people that over prepares.  For example, I plan to pee on 3 tests this next cycle.  1 when I first wake up 1 around 10:30am/11 and one around 3/4pm.  Seems excessive, right?  Well, I am an overly prepared control freak, so just seems like the right amount for me.
All this I am still doing at work without anyone knowing, so I have a bag I lug to the bathroom and then sit in there for 5 minutes until the test comes up.  I do Thai Chi and dance around and make faces in the mirror to make the time pass.  The nice thing is our bathrooms are private and large, so I have room to dance around and such.  In case you didn’t notice, I don’t sit still very well:)
At this point in my peeing adventures, I am wondering what the front desk staff is saying about me.  I have to breeze by them from  my office, so they probably know the bag I bring into the bathroom.  Maybe they just assume I am bleeding and it is full of tampons, but then why does it take 5 minutes?  Maybe they think I am just wasting time and have a Nintendo DS in my bag.  Probably, most of them don’t even really notice.  I am a very observant person, so I would notice, but the girls are pretty busy, so maybe they don’t.  Either way….here is hoping to some good test taking.  -S

We Must Steal This Baby

I’ve decided that I don’t want just any old baby, I want this baby. So cute, I die.

-Liz

S Can Cook!

Last night, S made dinner and it was, in a word, fantastic!  After her melt down about cooking a few weeks ago, I got her a basic cook book, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, and told her that she was now responsible for cooking one meal a week, using the cook book.  Two weeks ago S made a Bolognese sauce and pasta that was delicious.  Last week with all of our company we didn’t do much cooking, and then last night, S made chicken fajitas.  After dinner, S keep saying, “I can’t believe I made that!  It was so good!”  and while it was cooking, she exclaimed, “It smells like a restaurant in here!”  It was so cute to see her cooking happily and her extreme satisfaction at how well it turned out.  

Here is the recipe in case any of you would like to try it.  I think it would be just as good with shrimp or even beef.  We changed the original recipe up a little to our liking.  

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper

• 1 poblano pepper
• 1/3 medium yellow onion
• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken (we used the tenders, but breast meat would work fine)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• a small pinch of ground cumin
• 1 lime
• olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

First S cut the peppers and chicken into long strips.  I cut the onion earlier that morning for her because she hates onions so much and won’t cut them.  She only put the onion in for me and we reduced how much the recipe called for as well.  Then she put it all in a big bowl with the spices and the juice of half the lime and tossed it to combine.  It was supposed to marinate for 5 minutes, but S forgot and tossed it right into a hot hot pan with a glug of olive oil.  Jamie Oliver uses a grill pan for this recipe, but we don’t have one, so we didn’t.  Then all it needed was to be stirred around so it didn’t burn until everything was good and cooked.  The super hot pan put some nice color on the chicken and veggies.  There was a funny line in the cook book about how you should stir the pan and eventually you will be laughing and having a good time.  A bit weird, Jamie, but we like you anyway. 

Here is a shot of one of our delicious fajitas!

To serve we had some flour tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and guacamole.  It was so yummy that we bickered about who would get to eat the leftovers!  I think that I won, but then I forgot them at home today, so we will see if there is anything left when I get home from work.  

Oh and the other good thing about this meal was that between chopping and cooking, the whole thing was ready in about 20 minutes!  Take that Rachel Ray!

-Liz

Pug in a tux

Since Liz wrote about how we met, I will tell the story of how we became engaged.
I was sure I would wait 10 years before I married someone.  I know, it sounds insane, but L and I are both of the idea that if you are going to be together forever, why rush it.  Now, 10 years is a long time and we actually got married after 6, but that was just my weird number I had picked.  With that being said, I proposed to L on our 3.5 year anniversary.
At the time, I was working as a massage therapist.  I really liked doing massage because I have always wanted to make a difference and it was my way of doing it.  The thing I didn’t like about doing massage, was that you only work 20-25 hours a week, there is not steady pay and no health benefits.  This is all besides the point except for one thing…L worked a normal job, so I had plenty of time to find a ring and still get home in time for her to not know what I was up to.
I was just looking at her one day and thought, I want her to wear my ring.  I already knew she was the one for me, had no doubts about that, but suddenly, I wanted her to be claimed as mine by wearing a ring I picked out and purchased for her.  So, I started looking for a ring.  This proved to be quite a journey.  I went to tons and tons of jewelry stores and looked over their rings.  Originally, L wanted a ring from a company named Hidalgo, but I looked at those rings and thought, I can do better than that.  After all the looking, I had it down to 2 rings and could not decide.  I know L well, but it is still hard to chose jewelry for someone, especially expensive jewelry, so I had a friend go with me to look at the pieces.  She ended up picking the one I was not leaning towards, so then I started to get nervous.
I decided the best way to tell which one to get her, was to bring L to the shop and show her.  Here is where it gets tricky.  I had to do this in a way she would not know what I was up to.  I told her that I loved her and even though I could not afford it now, I wanted to start saving for her ring and thought I saw one she would like.  I took her to the place, and of course the guy remembered my name and pulled it out right away.  Fortunately, L did not seem to notice, and she took one look at the ring and said, “That’s the one.”  I ended purchasing the ring from an account my dad had for me and hid it in the apartment.  Everyday, I would look at it and it was really hard to not just do it on the fly, but I had other plans.

Now that the ring was taken care of, I got to do the fun part.  We lived in a large 2 bedroom apartment.  I went to Whole Foods and ordered flowers.  Tons and tons of flowers.  I wanted the place covered in them.  Then, I picked out a fancy meal to make.  I made lamb stuffed with cous cous.  It turned out delicious even though I was so nervous I couldn’t eat a bite.  I told Liz I wanted to buy us an outfit so that we could dress up for our fancy 3.5 year anniversary dinner.  The nice thing is that L came home and thought I had done all of this for our anniversary, so she was not clued into the fact that I was going to propose.
I then got our pug, Pedro Puggy Sanchez, a tux and put it in the spare room with the ring all ready to go around his neck.  We ate our dinner in our fancy outfits and then I said I had one more surprise. I called Pedro to follow me into the other bedroom.  I asked L to sit on the couch with her eyes closed.  I grabbed Pedro, got him suited up and put the ring around his neck.  Then I turned on our song (Possession by Sarah McL) and set him on the couch next to L.  I asked her to open her eyes and take the box, but not open it yet.  I went into my spiel…I am not going to share with you guys now…and then got on a knee and asked her to marry me.
She said Yes!!  I was so excited and she just kept saying, “I can’t believe you just did that” over and over and we were officially engaged.

Years later, we got married and will have been together for 9 amazing years this year.  I feel like the luckiest woman alive to have L as my wife.  Every day I wake up next to her and know I did something right.  I am still so crazy in love and am so excited to bring a baby into this family:)

Keep on Keepin’ on

I have my Drs. appointment in less then a week.  I am excited.  I am feeling so much better, so I am hoping my levels are fine.  It’s hard to tell.  L thinks that it is too soon for it to be better, but I am trying to stay positive.

I ordered my second batch of Sepal OPK kits.  They just got here today and I should start peeing on things in less then a week.

We picked our donor.  We are now going to use Cryogenic Laboratories because it is more cost efficient for us.  Our donor is a blue eyed, blond haired 6’2 164lb guy who loves dogs and surfing and is an engineer.  Works for us.  Honestly, we are not all that picky as to who it is at this point since we have looked at so many.  We still have certain credentials such as a clean health history and family medical history and blue eyes, but not a ton.  I also want him to not be too big or too tall because I do not want to deliver a 10 lb baby, which I feel is reasonable, but L thinks is goofy.

I think all the info on the guys is really funny.  3 things cracked us up while we went thru donors today.
1. Quite a few people put fish as their favorite animal.  L and I have a long history of her wanting fish as pets and them eventually freaking her out, so then we give them to other loving homes.  I feel if your favorite animal is fish, then you just really don’t like animals.
2. One of the “staff impressions” about one of the guys with 2 daughters was that he, “loves his little ladies”.  L likes to order for me at restaurants and call me her “little lady” because it embarrassed me the first time she did it.  For example, she likes to say, “the little lady will have a sasparilla” even though no where serves sarsaparilla.
3. There is a part of the profile that has different measurements of different parts of their bodies.  It has waist and head and foot size and such.  L decided that she wanted to know the penis size of these men.  I of course rolled my eyes and asked why and she said that if we have a boy, that will be an important part to him, so we should know what the father is packing.

I just let you in on how strange we are, so hopefully it was funny and not too strange for our followers.

On the plus side of everyday things, we have figured out how to live very cheaply.  We just refinanced our house for a much lower payment and we paid off all credit cards.  We don’t have cable or gym memberships or any other extraneous expense, so we are rocking and rolling on getting set up to be a one income household.  I am going to ask for a raise in the next week.  I have never done that before and am pretty nervous, but the worse thing they are going to say is no, so I figure it is worth a try.

I will update you after my Drs. apt. results are back next week.
-s

Spring Break Fun

This has been a great week at our household.  We’ve been having so much fun with everyone who is on Spring Break that it has almost been like we got a Spring Break too.  My mom came down on Saturday and on Sunday morning we had our yard sale.  The yard sale was a success.  We made about $200 and got rid of everything.  I was hoping to make a bit more money, but it’s plenty to redo my studio and make it a respectable room.  Now that all of the random furniture is out of there, this weekend I’m scrapping down what I can of the awful wallpaper and getting started priming and painting.  Fun.  I love home makeovers. 

It was a lot of fun having my mom in town.  We laughed a lot and went and saw a movie and did some outlet shopping and just hung out.  I wish she lived closer to us.  She left on Wednesday to go back to Oklahoma.  Right now one of my best friends from college is in town visiting along with her husband and another friend from college and her boyfriend.  We have been having way too much fun with them all.  And one of the guys, the boyfriend, who is a great guy, has a great name too, Grayson.  We love his name and really for a minute thought, hey, possible baby name, until he told us that kids used to make fun him by calling him Gayson, which isn’t too bad and not too obvious until you factor in this little boy having two moms.  So, maybe for a middle name? 

When you all think about your baby names, do you worry about how they could be made fun of by other kids.  I worry about it, but S has this theory that because she has kind of an unusual name that kids were able to make fun of her for her name which was better than being made fun of than something else about her that might have hit home a bit more.  I think that as long as the name isn’t too bad, they should be fine.  I work with a lot of people who have weird names and every time I just think, what is wrong with her/his parents!  For example, I used to work with a woman named Princess.  I swear, her real actual name is Princess.  Can you imagine growing up with a name like that?  Awful.

So S goes in next week to get her thyroid checked out.  Everyone send good vibes out into the universe that it is looking better.  I have a feeling that it will be much better, but the question is, will it be enough better that we can move forward with the baby-making?  I have a feeling that it might not be.  But on the positive, it is obvious that S is feeling better than she has in a while these last few weeks.  For the first time in what feels like forever, S is getting things done around the house on her own accord, and not because I’ve nagged her for days.  She isn’t going to bed at 8:30 every night and the best part, even though she isn’t do anything different diet/exercise-wise, she has lost about 8 lbs these last few weeks (probably closer to 10 lbs now, actually).  And you can tell by her mood and energy level that things are back on track.

It’s funny how easy it is to write off the signs that something is wrong.  Before S got the thyroid diagnosis, all of her symptoms we totally dismissed as being related to stress, winter-time, and what not.  I was talking to my mom about that and she told me that when my aunt got lung cancer it went untreated for a long time because she thought that her symptoms were related to menopause or stress and things like that.  So who knows if S hadn’t gotten a physical how long it would have taken us to figure this out. I’m so thankful that we found this out early so we could get it taken care of and get the little lady back to normal!

-Liz

Real Life

It feels like we are just in a suspended state of waiting right now, just waiting for the thyroid to decide that it’s alright, waiting to be able to inseminate, waiting for the star’s to align.  And unfortunately that doesn’t leave us with much to blog about other than real life.  So let’s talk about real life. 

My mom is visiting this weekend.  She is on her way from Oklahoma right now with her new SUV and her new puppy, Hope.  I’m really excited to see her, but stressed as well because A) when my mom is coming to visit I never feel like I can get the house clean enough to be at mom standards and B) she is helping us have a yard sale tomorrow, which we threw together in about a week.  So it’s been stressful trying to get ready for both.  And I know doing a yard sale on a Sunday isn’t exactly the best day, but it’s the only day that will work probably until April.  But I’ve been reminding myself as I sort things and gather things and price things, that the point of this isn’t to make money (though that would be nice), but the point is to get rid of stuff.  We have lived in our house for almost five years now and we have collected far too much stuff.  And as we get closer to the possibility of having another person join our family, it has become a reality that if we are going to fit baby stuff into the house, something has to go.  It’s probably a bit early to start clearing stuff out of the house for a baby that hasn’t been conceived yet, but in Austin, it will be hot as hell here by the end of May and I know I won’t want to sit outside and lug stuff around then.  So cross your fingers that we sell lots of stuff!

In other news, my mom told me last night that her and my step-dad want to take S and I to Mexico again this summer.  We went last summer with them to an all inclusive place right outside of Cancun and had a blast.  But it was a really big group, S and I, my mom and step-dad, his two daughters, my youngest brother, and my middle brother and his wife.  So 9 of us in total.  Now the nice thing about it is that all of us “kids” are somewhere in our 20’s, which makes it easy when every thing pretty much revolves around drinking and being lazy.  But the bad part is that is a whole heck of a lot of people to get going each day and meet up with, etc.  So this year they are taking two trips, one my step-dad and his kids, and then another with my step-dad and our family.  I am so excited!  It’s going to be so much fun, and regardless of how the next 3-4 months of TTC go, it will be coming at a much needed time.  It will either be after 2-3 months of actively trying which as most of you know will be frustrating and a vacation will be in order, 2-3 months of waiting to try (if the thyroid isn’t cooperating), or the best time ever to tell my family that we are pregnant!  Either way, poor S will probably not be able to enjoy all of the unlimited booze that will be available, depending where we are in this maddening process.  

So that’s all I’ve got for now.  We should know by the end of the month if the thyroid is back to normal.  We’ll keep you posted.
-Liz

All You Need Is Love

So I was inspired to write about how S and I met and fell in love, the PG version.  

It all started back my freshmen year of college during the spring semester of 2001.  My best friend was dating a guy at the time, J.P., who was a theater major and thus hung out with all of the theater kids.  S was also a theater major and they were friends.  Anyway, when I went to college I had a lot of friends from high school at the same college so I didn’t really have to go out and make a bunch of new friends, but pretty much all of my old high school friends were straight.  

So I was complaining about not knowing any lesbians to my best friend and J.P.  Almost instantly JP said, “I know this great lesbian that you just have to meet.  Her name is S and she has a cute little girlfriend too.  You guys should be friends.  I think you’d really hit it off.”

“But she has a girlfriend.  I don’t want to meet lesbians with girlfriends already,” I whined.  

“Just meet her, you’ll like her.”

Apparently he had the same conversation later that week with S and she also didn’t really want to meet me, seeing as how she already had a girlfriend.  But we were all going to the same theater party that weekend, so it was decided that he would introduce us.

That night at the party, to put it mildly, I was wasted.  Some friends of mine in the dorms had gotten a keg of Honey Brown and there were only 6 of us to drink it before it had to go back the next day.  Also, at the party there was a Margarita machine for the birthday girl who was throwing the party.  Let’s just say that I ended up meeting S and her girlfriend and was a drunk mess, and did not really impress them.   And I didn’t think much of them either.  I do remember making at one point a “margarita angel” in the bed of the birthday girl before the end of the night.  I was a classy lady back then.

Anyway, fast forward about a year.  S and her girlfriend break up and I end up back with my ex girlfriend.  S and I end up both working at the same restaurant.  She works in the kitchen and occasionally waits tables and I am a terrible waitress at said restaurant.  We remember each other from the party the year back and hang out once or twice as friends with all of the other people we work with.  We aren’t really friends, but we know each other. 

The next year, my junior year, my girlfriend and I at the time break up.  (Unknown to me, she thought we were taking a break and I thought that we were done)  I’m a mess and basically throw myself at S one night, who is the only single lesbian I know, and she thinks, “why not”.  So after a lot of drama with my ex, S and I date for about 6 months.  

After a month I move in with her, mostly because my best friend and I have to basically squat with people due to a month between the lease on one apartment ending and the next beginning and my only other option is my ex, who really isn’t much of an option.  After that first month I have my own apartment, but we go back and forth together, so we are still pretty much living together.  After 6 months we break up because I’m not sure if I want to be with S or my ex.  Drama ensues.  My ex and I are back together for about 6 months when more drama ensues and I am back with S.  

This time things are different and better.  The drama is over and we fall deeply in love.  S is a year older than me and thus graduates a year before I do and moves to Austin to go to massage school.  We do long distance for a year, which is so much harder than I could have ever imagined, but we make it work.  Once I graduated from college, I moved to Austin to be with S and we have been here in sunny beautiful Austin ever since.  

Six years ago we got engaged, which is a story in itself, almost five years ago we bought a house together, and then about 2 and a half years ago we had a beautiful wedding in our back yard.  So all in all we will have been together nine years in August and will have been married three years in June and are still going strong.

And they lived happily ever after.  The end.
-Liz

Skills for the future

Those of you who know me, know I can do a lot of different things.  What you may not know about me, is I expect to be really good at everything I do even if I have never done it before.  I know, this is very strange, but is it one of my things.  I ran into this the other day.  L is working a weird schedule, so she is not here to cook dinner. I decided to give it a whirl with what we had in the house.  When L came home, I was upset because I made such a crappy dinner.  I made chicken, which was fine.  Then I made 2 steamers, those things you nuke in the microwave, they cook in the bag, and then squish around and serve.  Well…they were gross.  I got upset because I feel like making steamers is a fool proof dinner.  L comes home and asks me how my dinner was and I say CRAPPY!  Then I proceed to go on a tirade how I am going to starve for the next 5 weeks without her here to cook dinner and I can’t even make ONE GOOD MEAL!  She of course laughs at me, “why are you upset baby, are you mad at the steamers?”
“Yes!!”  I say.  She laughs, picks one up and informs me they have been expired for 8 months and that is why they are so crappy.  Oh.  
She then asks me, “did your mom teach you to cook?”
“No.”
“Did I teach you to cook?”
“No.”
“Have you been watching cooking shows?”
“No.”
“Why do you expect to be able to cook?”
“Because I am a grown woman and should be able to prepare a meal!”
“Okay, let me teach you to cook.”
Like I said, I expect to be able to do things I have never done before and do them well.  Maybe I should cut myself some slack.  L ordered a beginners cook book for me:)  I think it will be a good skill to get down before we have kids, so my night to cook will be more than pizza night!

On another note, I feel like myself a little more everyday.  The thyroid meds finally got my energy levels back.  On Friday I had an insane day at work and I still came home and walked the dogs and did the dishes.  Now that sounds more like me!
I also determined that my cycle length is 28 days and so far is like clockwork.  I should be ovulating in the next few days(3-4 to be exact).  I am sad to not be trying this time, but feel that it will be so soon that I am still excited.  All seems to be heading in the right direction.  We might have taken a detour to babyville, but we will get there soon!
S