Let the fun times begin!

As mentioned yesterday, I'm all set for the frozen embryo transfer on Sunday morning.  Now to get my body all prepped and ready to accept (and keep) an embryo or two, I will be taking....

• Metformin (3 per day), vitamin E, prenatal vitamin, and ASA stay the same
• Estrace (estrogen) reduces from 3 pills a day to 2 (totalling to 4mg each day)
• Fragmin (blood thinner) - one injection per day
• Prednisone - 10mg per day
• Endometrin (progesterone) - this is an "effervescent tablet" 3 times a day
• Prometrium (progesterone) - 3 pills at bed time

The bulk of these I'm taking in the morning.  I damn near needed a check list to be sure I got it all, but I'll be okay when it becomes routine. 

The Fragmin needle is quite fine and thus not overly annoying or painful.  But being a blood thinner, it will make me even more likely to bruise.  Injection sites usually become bruises and you can't inject into bruises so belly real estate will become an issue in another week or so.  I can inject into the fat in my thighs but that makes me a little nervous.  Not that I don't have fat there, but there is a whole lot of muscle to avoid too.  We'll cross that bridge when we get there.  At least this is the only injectable medication so I'm not trying to find injection sites for any other drugs at the same time.

I thought Endometrin was a cream, but it clearly says on the box it's an "effervescent tablet".  If you've ever taken yeast infection treatments that were the tablets, it's like that.  We'll see how it goes with a full day, but I can't feel any bubbly action going on with the effervescent tablet and I don't have icky discharge so we'll call it a win for now.  I'm still not thrilled about having to do this at work every day but it's better than some of the places I've done injections I suppose.

And as much as the pharmacy label says I have to insert the prometrium vaginally, the nurse said I can take it orally (which is how I have always taken it before).  Three cheers for that.  The worst part about infertility treatments (more so for women going through IUI or just monitoring for ovulation) is that it takes all the fun out of sex.  We are all sexual creatures and it's an important part of my life.  And not to say that all "happy fun time" is about my vagina, but it's hard to feel sexy when you know that part of your body is icky with medications.

So the one drug I'm feeling less sure about now is Prednisone.  Lots of people have been on it and had some pretty crazy side effects.  Googling indicates 10mg isn't a very high dose so I might be fine.  If I get the insomnia, it might be offset by the Prometrium at bed time because that makes me crazy sleepy.  I can put water weight gain into perspective and try to focus on making good choices rather than what the scale is telling me.  Good choices are that much easier when I've got an embryo hanging out in my uterus.  I'm already on metformin so blood sugar spikes might be offset by that. 

Did you know I have a pattern give away going on?  Really, it's true. 

And I seem to get about 20 minutes to work on Alma and get distracted by Mythbuster kittens.  I think I've got the back darts in the right spot and then I scooped out too much and took a step backwards.  I'll be tackling it again tonight while Mr. Lina has someone over to review the music video footage.  At least he won't call me to see what cute things the kittens are doing.

Alma V2

That's V2 as in version, not view.

A few weeks ago, I met up with K-Line and she kindly pinned out all the extra fabric on my first Alma.  While I think that shirt could end up being a wearable muslin of sorts (think camping), I didn't want to take her pins out and futz around too much and lose all the changes that needed to be made to the flat pattern.

I broke out my Ikea paper and traced new front and back pieces by looking at the pinned pieces and the original pattern.  I then cut out a new front and sewed up the darts.  It looked better just holding it up to my body, but I haven't had the time to get back to it.

Last night, I cut out a new back, sewed the front and back and then got playing with the darts.  I think the bust darts are okay, but some interesting things are going on with the lower darts. 

Let's look at the line drawing, View B is clearest because the belt isn't in the way.  The lower darts end before the hem, opening more fabric for your hips.  I had to take a lot of fabric in under my bust, my darts don't want to open back up.  They keep folding as if the stitching continued from the widest part.  So I'm going to sew them down to the hem.  I still have ease at my hips so I don't really need the extra ease space.

I took a whack of pictures last night and it was helpful to see what was going on.  It is so hard to see in a mirror since you have to twist to see things.  Or I pull the fabric straight so it looks okay, but really it's not when I stand for a picture.  I am not quite finished tweaking yet (and the camera is not with me) so I'm not sharing in progress shots today.  Writing this out is helping me take a step back and look at where I could adjust again.  Thinking time is sewing time.

Yesterday I was reading Lazy Stitchings blog, she posted her finished Mathilde blouse, a pattern by Tilly and the Buttons.  I've seen a couple of versions of the blouse, but I wasn't sure how it would suit my frame.  Would it fall from my bust line and look like a tent?  I'm all for hiding my tummy but not sacrificing my waist.  It was lovely to see a version that would more closely mimic my frame.  And while I was commenting, it clicked that it's similar to a top I want to replace in my closet.

Okay, so the Mathilde has buttons in the back and the sleeves are looser, but it's not those details I'm looking to replace, it's the place in my wardrobe.  Made in a cotton, it could be my go-to "it's too hot out to have anything touching my skin but I want my arms covered" top.  I like how Lazy Stitching thinned the sleeves a little, I'd copy that.  In a sheer fabric, it could replace this top:

It was like an epiphany in the middle of writing a comment.  So I bought the pattern, it's printed out at home, but Alma needs to be finished first.

Don't forget I have a Pattern Pyramid giveaway running.  There are some lovely dresses, the halter jumpsuit, a multi-cup Vogue blouse, Kwik Sew bra, Burda blouse...  it's a pretty good assortment to pick from.

And in non-sewing news...

Mr. Lina's film, The Post-Lifers, has won another "best short" award.  Saturday night we went to a horror festival in Hamilton, ON, not too far away.  The organizer went to the Blood in the Snow festival in Toronto in January (The Post Lifers also won best short) and thought maybe he could do the same in his community, focusing on short films.  Being the first year of the festival, it was small but successful.  All of the films were quite good, not all were to my taste, but well done for what they were.  Awards were decided on by the audience by paper ballots.  And what a great audience.  The theatre held 67 people according to the fire code and it was sold out.  All were real horror fans and clearly enjoyed the line up of films.  I hope he can run it again next year and expand the offerings. 

The next cool thing going on for Mr. Lina is the cast of TPL is being interviewed on Charred Remains, a horror blog run by Char Hardin.  Char named TPL her top independent short film for 2012.  It will be aired live on Saturday June 8th at 7pm EST, they will be taking phone calls and questions by chat.  After the broadcast it will be available as a podcast.  After that, I think the film is going to air in Calgary in August and a touring show in BC - 10 cities in 10 days. 

And in fertility news...  Today is Day 14.  In a 28 day cycle, this would be when ovulation occurs and hormones change from having high estrogen levels to rising progesterone levels.  For a Frozen Embryo Transfer, we're looking for the endometrium to be thick (it was 10.3mm this morning) and my blood work to check out.  I don't need to ovulate because we've already got the embryos on ice.  And I just got the call that we're a GO!!!!   Sunday morning (June 9th - deadline day for the Pattern Pyramid) we'll be transfering my embryos that are presently in a Manitoban winter.  This post is long enough, I'll let you know of next steps tomorrow.

Woo hoo!

Stop Press! Pattern Pyramid!

As the lucky winner of the Pattern Pyramid at Country Girl Couture, it means I get to have a give away myself.

What's the Pattern Pyramid you say?  It's a great idea from Karen at Did You Make That?.  She hosted a give away for multiple patterns to multiple winners.  As the winner, you got to keep one pattern of the 5 or 6 you were sent and pass the rest along.  What a great way to shake up our pattern stashes and share the love.  I went back to her original post to get the link and you know it's been almost a full year since the pyramid started?  Karen's post was June 22nd, 2012.  I tracked this pyramid back and the lineage is quite impressive.  I'm not the first Canadian stop for these patterns (I even had the pleasure of meeting Gjeometry at the Toronto Meet Up) and it's actually the spin off pyramid from Pretty Grievances.  As far as I can track the blogs back, these are previous winners...

1. Me
2. CG Couture
3. Dresses & Me
4. Sew Biased
5. Tropical Threads
6. So I Sewed This
7. G Marie
8. Kathy Sews
9. Hugs & Kisses
10. Curious Kiwi
11. Gjeometry
12. Symon Sez
13. Tulle & Tweed
14. Mrs Mole
15. The Material Lady
16. Velosewer
17. And Anne herself.

So here are the patterns for my giveaway (it's hard to make 7 patterns look like a pyramid, but my backyard stairs helped).

6 are from CG Couture (the Vogue pattern has cup sizes), but I've replaced the one I took with this one.

Kwik Sew 2101 is a bra I have made.  It is not a bad pattern, but it's not the right pattern for my breasts.  If you have wanted to try making a bra but lack a pattern, here is one for you to check out.  The size range is 32A to 38DD.

And what did I take?

I was sorely tempted by the halter jumpsuit in this pattern:

But it would have required grading from a 34" bust which is well beyond my skills (and attention span) at the moment.  So I went for a fun sundress instead that will not require grading.

 

 

 

THE RULES

• Anyone, anywhere can enter the giveaway by posting a comment below by midnight EST Sunday June 9th BUT you must have an active blog.
• I will randomly select one winner.
• I will mail the above 7 patterns to the winner.
• The winner will pick a pattern to keep for themselves (although some people have picked more than one and replaced them with others, that is in the spirit of the pyramid), then host their own giveaway.
• Although I've added a pattern, you are not required to add to the pyramid for your giveaway.
• If you are a winner, Karen would love it if you could make a small contribution to The Brooke. This is a charity close to the heart of Catherine, who so generously provided the original patterns.

Happy Friday!

What a week of ups and downs...

• Icky car bill
• Came out of my office last night to see I had a flat tire
• Which is why we have CAA, I haven't the faintest clue what to do about that
• Apparently I have a spare tire in my trunk, I didn't know that
• But I didn't need it
• They couldn't find the leak, given that I had the tires rotated on Tues/Wed, the cap probably got knocked causing the slow leak
• So three cheers for not needing a new tire!
• The CAA guy was so nice, he taught me how to check the pressure and didn't treat me like a bumbling idiot because although I could recognise what a pressure gauge looked like, I had no clue how it worked or what the numbers indicated.
• In trying to find a tire gauge in my car, I found the camera!
• Yay for blog posts with pictures!
• Of course not yet since I just found the camera
• Making good choices has been a little harder this week, my weight reflected the all you can eat buffet (and alcohol) of Saturday and the salty Swiss Chalet dinner that Mr. Lina ordered while I was napping on Wednesday
• Swiss Chalet can be healthy, but I licked up every bit of salty dipping sauce, he ordered me mashed potatoes when a better choice would be baked and I ate the salty, crispy skin.
• Yesterday my body seemed to clear all the water it was holding onto and I'm now back to my previous "recent low" and I feel better for it
• Now to make good choices tonight while playing board games tonight.
• I have more people to train and mentor at work, that's always fun.
• I'm wasting too much time playing stupid Facebook games at night when I'm tired.
• What's too much?  I woke up at 3am dreaming about sliding candy pieces around
• We booked a trip to Manitoba last night for the week of Canada Day.
• If things go well, it will delay my 6 week ultrasound (and third intralipids) by 5 days, but the clinic said that's fine.
• Nothing wrong with a week off work if things go well, my in laws don't stress me out.
• Although our choice to travel might stress them out.
• If things don't go well, I can lick my wounds without going to work.
• If things don't go well while we're there, it wouldn't be because of the trip, and geography won't change the fact they can't make bad things stop happening.
• Mr. Lina's grandmother (who will be 90 in September) had another spell this week, she's spending 5 days in the hospital and should be getting a pace maker this weekend if I understand right.
• His great aunt and uncle are celebrating their 60th anniversary on July 6th, we'll leave the next day.
• My MIL thinks his uncle will stop dialysis after that party, he's been fighting a good fight for a while.
• It's a lot of pull to visit now and not in 3 months or 6 months. 
• IT'S FRIDAY!!!  YAY!

Catch Up

I've been a little quiet.  Sunday did not go quite as expected.  I did get a day to myself, sadly I shared it with a hang over.  I don't know what it is about my bowling year end, but I have to remember to switch to water a little sooner.  Well, let's start with switching to water at some point in the evening.  Sunday was a complete write off.

On the plus side...

• We did get the patio furniture together
• Mr. Lina bought a storage box for the deck so we have a place for the cushions
• I did have a lot of fun at the bowling party
• Year end party means I get my winnings. 
• Somehow I ended up with the second highest prize money in our league.
• The majority of money won is based on your team, not individual.  My team did well and I won a singles award (high triple with handicap I think), mostly because in fairness, you can only win one award, so I probably came in third but the people above me won prizes worth more like high average or high single flat.
• Mr. Lina finally got his screening blood work done
• My thyroid levels came back high on Friday, so I went with him to get it rechecked
• Thyroid levels checked out fine on Saturday, still slightly elevated based on my Googles on the subject, but if the clinic says it's normal, I'll trust them
• I had the endometrial scratch and intralipids done yesterday
• Scratch was WAAAAY better than last year, more like an aggressive pap test
• Intralipids were not bad, but not as comfortable as last year
• I was the only one getting it done so they put me in an exam room, not the comfy leather chairs in the basement
• I couldn't get comfortable on the hard table
• IV had to go into my left hand, my right arm had too much bruising, my veins on my left are too deep
• They needed to check my blood pressure every half hour on my right arm which was towards the wall
• So I couldn't sleep with my IV hand tucked under me, so I'd try to nap with my right arm down but then I'd have to roll over for the blood pressure. 
• Last time I had a blood pressure cuff and in the chair they could access each arm, it was much easier to nap.
• Mr. Lina was a trooper and drove me to all my appointments
• Good thing too, when I got home from intralipids, I napped for 2.5 hours
• Probably a sign I shouldn't drive if I could sleep that long
• Next visit to the clinic isn't until Sunday, so a nice break of just taking my Estrace.

On the down side, since Mr. Lina was squiring me to appointments, I took my car in for an oil change, tire rotation, etc.  Apparently there were 3 or 4 other things wrong with it (I was given the full list between intralipids and the nap, I vaguely recall the conversation) so my car had to stay the night and I have a bill with roughly an extra decimal point from what I thought it would be.  My credit card is going to be doing the funky chicken pretty soon between the IVF, drugs (which I should get some money back from insurance, but right now it's on my card), intralipids ($750 each time) and now the car bill.  As much as I won a good chunk of change, it's not enough to put a big dent in those bills. 

And on the down side, I can't find my camera.  And I do have pictures I'd like to take.  Hrmph.  It HAS to be around here somewhere.

Three Cheers for Fridays!

I love Fridays.  So much potential with the weekend ahead, just good things to look forward to.  Let's start with the clinic, it's been a busy day on that front.

Today started with a visit to the clinic, the usual blood work and ultrasound for Day 3.  Day 3 visits require both full and empty bladder ultrasounds and well, I did a very good job of filling my bladder.  I could barely get my pants undone.  It was also hard to empty it all for the second ultrasound, even when it felt empty the tech said it wasn't.  If it was an IVF cycle and we needed exact measurements, I suspect she would have sent me back to pee again.  Problems you'd never think you'd have to worry about.

I start Estrace today.  3 tiny little pills every day to get my estrogen levels to the right place until Sunday June 2nd (Day 12).  Tuesday (Day 7) I'm scheduled for intralipids and the endometrial scratch.  Sadly, the timing is less than ideal.  My doctor has to do the scratch so that's booked for 8am.  The intralipids are booked for 12:30.  It's about 35 minutes drive to the clinic in the morning, 20 minutes .  I guess I'll be going back and forth a fair bit on Tuesday, it's not worth waiting around for 4 hours to save 40 minutes of driving. 

Yesterday was my last dose of Humira.  It came in a different format, more like your typical needle with a plunger rather than the pen format (picture an epipen where you press it to your skin, press a button and the needle triggers).  I liked the syringe.  The needle is crazy fine, you don't feel it going into the skin at all, but the drug stings.  With the syringe, I could control the speed of the injection and go slowly, letting it spread slower I guess.  A minute with an ice pack after it was done and I was fine.

And last bit of clinic news, it seems my thyroid level is elevated again.  They say it sometimes elevates on Day 3 so they want to recheck before putting me on medication.  That's two cycles in a row.  Mr. Lina is going in for his screening blood work tomorrow, hopefully they can fit me in at about the same time.

So it's Friday, what's up for the weekend?

Tomorrow night is the year end party for my bowling league.  We're going to the Mandarin (chain of Chinese buffet) and my walking/bowling friend is having some people back to her place.  That works for me, it's stumbling distance so we can both have a drink (or three).  I can't say I'm thrilled about the Mandarin (buffets and my food allergies do not generally mix well) but I haven't been in so long I'm hoping for the best.  Maybe it's a good thing if I can't eat most of what is on the buffet, easier to take smaller portion sizes but harder to get veggies on my plate.  I hear they do sushi now, that would be a HUGE improvement for me.  In my league, we win money.  Everyone wins something, just some more than others.  Tonight I'm going to meet with a few other league exec's to do the envelopes.  Fortunately it's close to home so I can get a little exercise and walk.

Hopefully after the quick trip to the clinic we can get our new patio furniture together.  The last step will be filling my planters so the deck is the welcoming place it should be.  And Sunday?  Sunday Mr. Lina is doing movie stuff that doesn't involve me.  Hopefully I'll have a clear head and can get into the sewing room!  Yay!  That also gives me time to set up the post for the Pattern Pyramid.  There are some pretty awesome patterns in this package.

And I'm Back

Welcome to the happiness that is Day 1.  I woke up to find out that my period has arrived.  YAY!

I'm so glad that didn't drag on.  First because I don't like the side effects of Provera (amazing how much more awake I feel today) but also because now the FUN STUFF begins!  YAY!

So what's next?  I'm in for blood work and ultrasound on Friday (Day 3, full bladder appointment).  That appointment (if not sooner) I'll be told exactly when to start other drugs etc.  My third dose of Humira is tomorrow and I've got all the drugs for the rest of the cycle at home.  It was a rather sizable bag they handed over the counter.

Good times, good times.

Oh, except the cramping.  I swear I get 2 hours of being happy that my period has arrived and then it's onto the Advil train.  Let's have one more YAY! before that sets in.

YAY!

Nearing the end of the crazies

Victoria Day weekend was lovely, warm afternoons, relatively warm nights...  Perfect for camping.  It really feels like summer is here and winter isn't going to sneak back and screw things up.  Until May long, you can't be sure that we won't have a killing frost here, so it's safe to put tender annuals in the ground now.

Being away has helped me deal with Provera.  When I posted on Friday, I thought I was doing pretty well - no tears or hot flashes, just this brain fog.  I guess because I have to work harder through the fog, when I got home on Friday, it was like I melted.  I didn't leave work as early as I hoped, things came up for my client and I couldn't abandon them.  I felt rushed, stupid and tired.  When I got home, Mr. Lina was grumpy and said something that set me off.  I was about to go bat shit crazy on him, it would have made our worst fight look like a happy family moment.  But I knew that I was going to say things I would regret, once I started there would be no filter and I couldn't sort out what was real emotions and what was Provera induced fury.  So I bit my tongue and let him leave for camping (we needed to take both cars anyhow).  He knew I was mad, but I told him that he really didn't want to hear it.  I don't think he made it to the end of the street before I fell apart.  I cried so hard and so loud that it's probably a good thing that no one lives in the other side of the semi at the moment.

And I felt better.

Oh sure, I still wasn't thrilled with him, but the blind rage of every unspent emotion was not sitting at the surface like a powder keg with a short fuse. 

And when I got to the camp ground (ah, more 2 hours after him), he was happy.  And he knew that he needed to pull out the kid gloves and make things right with me.  I found over the weekend that  I did not have the patience that I usually do, or the ability to see humour in things that are annoying, but nothing I couldn't walk away from.

I took my last dose on Sunday night, now I'm just waiting for my period to arrive.  As "okay" as I feel, I know I'm going to feel much better the moment it arrives.  The sooner the better because then all the good stuff happens.  I'm picking up all of the drugs tonight on my way home from work.

I need to get back to Alma.  Every morning is a reminder that my summer closet is not very work appropriate.  Version two of the front has been cut out...

Victoria Day List

Provera is making my head rather fuzzy, paragraphs are challenging so let's go for a list...

• It's actually Friday, not Tuesday!
• 4 of 7 pills have been taken of Provera
• No hot flashes, no tears, no apathy
• Horrible brain fog.
• Grocery shopping with brain fog is not very efficient or effective.
• I wanted to buy non-paper tape for wrapping up my toe (it still aches with some motions) and Mr. Lina's hand.
• I am sure I looked at cloth tape
• I am sure I priced out that the roll was cheaper than the tape dispenser.
• I bought paper tape.
• It's a long weekend - Victoria Day.
• We have an unofficial early close, if nothing is due, you can leave early.
• Like I should be trusted to get anything done without errors when I can't buy cloth bandages.
• I am 7lbs down from my high weight and feeling rather happy about that.
• The strategy to make better choices is working and one good choice reinforces wanting to make the next good choice.
• My pants fit better, I don't feel bloated, it's good.tr
• I think I felt a small earthquake this morning.
• The Pattern Pyramid has arrived, post and contest to come soon.
• It's almost time to go!
• Yay!

Weekend Reboot

• I woke up and hit snooze
• I don't have to wash my hair this morning, I can sleep a little longer.
• I hit snooze again because it's Friday, meh.
• My drive is predictable on Friday, snooze a 4th time won't hurt.
• I finally got up and turn the radio off. 
• It's Friday, no need to reset it for tomorrow.
• I brushed my teeth and thought about the upcoming long weekend.
• I'm not ready for camping, so it must be next week.
• 'Cause, you know, it's Friday.
• I got into the shower and start to wake up.
• And realised it's Tuesday.
• Tuesday.
• 3 days to get through before it's Friday.
• That's a whole lot of time.
• It's like my brain wants a reboot, restarting from May 10th.
• Sigh.

I mentioned we did a lot of visiting over the weekend.  On my quest to make better decisions for my health, I think I get a shiny gold star.  Twice chips (a serious weakness for me) were around and I ate a grand total of one handful of chips.  It did help that at the second party they didn't refill when the first chips were gone.  I had lots of fruit, vegetables, small piece of birthday cake, was the DD for both events so no additional alcohol calories.  Actually, I did such a good job of having normal portions, my stomach was grumbling at 1am both Friday and Saturday night.  We stopped for late night food both nights but I aimed for smaller portions, cheese quesadilla (LOTS of salsa and cilantro) that I shared with Mr. Lina and a small chicken wrap at Wendy's.  I managed to weigh a little less this morning (I didn't weight myself Monday, I needed a full bladder at 8am for the ultrasound, I start drinking the second I wake up) than Friday, so again, a weekend win.  Tonight I'm going for a walk with a friend I carpool with to bowling.  We both want to get moving and it's more fun to do it together when schedules allow.

I've just confirmed we'll be hosting with Home Routes again in the fall/winter.  I don't know all of the artists that we'll be hosting, but I'm super happy to have Bill Bourne coming to my house in November.  He's from Alberta, has a very wide range of styles (so hearing one song is not really representative of everything), and a great stage presence.  I get the impression he's kind of quiet, we'll see if that's true.