Our Fertility Consultation...

An oldie...but one of my faves

Or should I say "re-consultation", as this is our second time through? Anyway-whatever we call it-it went well. It was weird though, walking back through those doors, seeing all the nurses/doctors/NP's...people I hadn't seen in about 16 months. We brought Alex with us, so all the staff we worked with in the past wanted to see her. And she was a ham, of course, smiling and grabbing and squealing at all of them! To be frank, I was kind of surprised that they remembered us. They have so many patients that I wasn't sure if anyone would. But it was nice to be remembered. After all, we spent a heck of a lot of time with that staff, lol.

As for the appointment, we can't get treatment right away, which is what I was fully expecting. They want me to have....(get ready for it)......ANOTHER HSG!!!!! Bleh. I believe I already posted about my hatred for this particular procedure. However, Meg, our np was very nice and said that I didn't have to go through it again if I didn't want to. And as much as I don't want to, I figure that I should do it just to make sure that there isn't anything new/funky going on with my tubes. Plus she said that they would give me a Valium ;)

Apart from that, I am on a medication that may not be safe in pregnancy, so I have to go back to my general practitioner to get put on something else. So basically, we probably won't be actively trying until December'ish. And I'm really ok with that. I will get the hsg done, get off the medication and continue my eating healthy kick-I'm on a role now! Basically, I'm just glad to get the ball rolling! And once we have everything set, I don't have to be on a waiting list to go back, I just call and can get in the next day. So we're getting somewhere. And I have time to enjoy just being with Alex without the pressure of trying to have another baby.

* A piece of very good news is that my new health insurance plan is even better than the old one for fertility coverage! This new plans now covers 3 IVF's, 6IUI's and the cost of medication will only be about $100-$200 bucks-for injections! All office visits/diagnostics are covered 100% I really need to give my employer a big fat kiss for that one! I am so, so very grateful to have the insurance coverage we have because I know a lot of people aren't as lucky...

Oh...and we're skipping Clomid altogether when we do begin...going right back to Gonal-F and Lupron! We decided to skip Clomid due to the vision changes I had while on it-Meg said that was a pretty serious side effect and that she wouldn't want to chance Clomid again.

Ok-that's all for now-sorry about the book!

Eight Months Old!

Trying to crawl!

Playing with her friend-another "Alex"-at her friend, Jack's, second birthday!

Enjoying all these new toys!

Fall Jamboree-she's not letting go of that pumpkin vine!

Finally-they are all looking! Alex with her "cousins" Rylee and Reese

Alexandra turned eight months old on the 17th! I cannot believe it! Time has gone by so fast and it's so strange to think that in three days, we are going to begin the process of trying for #2. Alex is still so young, I know...but she doesn't seem like a little baby anymore. She's trying to crawl, is becoming more vocal everyday, is into everything and looks more and more like a little girl than a baby! It makes me so happy and so satisfied, yet so afraid of missing a moment. I'm sure every mom feels like that though.

In other news, I've been back to work for about two weeks now. It has been c.r.a.z.y. We have a new group of students who have some very significant emotional and behavioral needs. So they have been keeping me very busy at work. Being a school psychologist is very rewarding, but also very frustrating. I have to be careful not to let myself become burnt out and am pretty diligent about leaving my work at work. Plus, when I'm home, I want to make the most out of that time with Dan and Alex. Family comes first...and I won't spend my weekends working on evaluations as I once had, just not willing to make that sacrifice.

Speaking of which, our weekends have been jam-packed lately-birthday parties, fall festivals, etc. Its been a lot of fun though-this weekend we are decorating for Halloween. We would have done more, except for the fact that 3/3 of us are sick :( Alexandra came down with a cold on Tuesday, and is on the mend. Dan came down with it on Thursday and spent the day in bed. Well-looks like it's my turn now. I have the works....runny nose, cough and a sore throat. Hope it goes away soon. I'm sure we all hate being sick...but being sick on a weekend just plain sucks! Anyway, I'll have to post some Halloween pics once we're all up and running and back to normal!

Three days until we see our fertility specialist. I'm totally nervous and excited both!

Back to Reality

On the way up to camp for a chilly Labor Day weekend

Bundled up with daddy at camp

On the way home-zonked out from all the festivities

Well, summer is truly over and tomorrow I have to go to work for the first time in eight months (with the exception of the three weeks I went to work in June for health insurance purposes)! I know I know...I really shouldn't complain because many, many moms have only six or so weeks with their new baby. But I'm so sad to leave Alex :( My maternity leave FLEW by...I have no idea where all these months went?

Six am is going to come wayyyyy too early. And I'm sure I will not have a restful night of sleep. So funny that even at 30, I have the "first day of school jitters". Yep-this school psychologist is stable, lol. Apparently, according to my teacher friends, it's a pretty common phenomenon amongst educators. After all, they don't know who will pop up in their classroom, just like I don't know who will come walking (running, stumbling, barreling) into my office. Yep...those first days are interesting, and difficult. It takes awhile to get back into the swing of things. I just so wish that our school had a daycare for Alex. Is it unhealthy that I am jealous of our babysitter because she gets to spend all day with my baby, while I only get from 4 o'clock on???? :/

Please Please Please...No HSG...

We're down to the wire...less than three weeks before we go back to our awesome fertility specialist! I can't believe we'll be going back to begin the process again, to try for number two! It doesn't seem too long ago that we were trying for number one.

Our doctor is really great...very warm and believes in western and holistic medicine. He's kind of a loopy, ex-hippy, medical genius. He's all about hugging and about balance in your life. He's quite a trip, but in a good way. It's really interesting to have such a lively, "out-there" doctor who visibly loves his job. I mean-this guy LOVES what he does. And thank God....he's really just amazing.

But oh man! I HOPE that I don't have to have another HSG test. For those lucky enough to never have had to face an HSG-I'm jealous. Anyway, it's basically injecting dye into your fallopian tubes to make sure they are open. Some people say it doesn't hurt-but it hurt like h3ll-for me anyway! So my mantra lately is "please no hsg, please no hsg". Hopefully it pays off, because last time around I was naive, this time I know better! But you gotta do what you gotta do, especially if it gets us another healthy baby.

Last Beach Day

She's getting so good at sitting!

Showing off the belly

Alex with Auntie Jill, not enjoying the cold water!

Well Alex and I had our last beach day for the summer. I cannot believe how fast it has gone. Pretty soon we go back to "normal" life where I will be working, Dan will be working and Alex will be with the sitter :( I am totally not ready to leave my baby girl, but I am kind of ready to get back onto a normal schedule. Things have been so crazy with going to Australia, going up to camp, weddings, etc. I'm looking forward to those cool fall weekends where I can hang with the hubs and my baby and bake/try new recipes. I'm actually looking forward to having weekends where we don't have to go anywhere or do anything-where a big trip out is going to Home Depot!

Anyway-we had a great time at the beach yesterday. We went with my bff, Jill, and her two kids (Rylee, age 3; Reese, age 4 months). Alex enjoyed looking around and seemed ok with the sand-she did NOT, however, like the cold water! Just think-next year she will be toddling around the beach :) Alex is getting so big so fast. Within the last few days she has become quite a babbler-stringing her consonant and vowels. Right now her favorites are "bababababa" "wabawabawaba" "wawawawa" and "gagagagagoogoogoo". She's said "mama" a few times, which is quite heartwarming, and has also said "good" three or four times.

In other news: exactly 3 weeks from today is when we return to our fertility specialist. I'm getting excited, but also nervous. I hope I don't have to go through another HSG test again...especially now that I know what to expect!