Monday, December 29, 2008

Moving Ahead

Hey, I'm still around, aren't you glad, LOL!

All is good, the beyouch came and is currently here as expected, gotta love her promptness and inexcusable visits even when she isn't welcome. Oh well, thats part of life. It's part of being infertile I guess too, sucks, but oh well.

Anyway, we are moving full steam ahead. After the insistant visitor leaves, I will go to doctor and talk about removing my only fallopian tube, the left one. The consensus is that MAYBE it has been the problem of NO implantations, MAYBE, just MAYBE?

It is useless really. But it just seems so final to me. After this NO MO' TUBES at all! Not like its helped me anyway, has it?  It is damaged and gives me pain sometimes and they said it could be leaking fluids (possibily infectious, took anitbitoics before last two transfers) into uterine cavity and interferring with implantation.

Even if its not the reason that all 6 of our transfers failed, i think it is a good idea to just get rid of it, don't you? Even though my tubes are unable to help get me pregnant, it feels scary somehow, but I have decided to just do it I guess.

In all fairness, before transfer number 5, two doctors did suggest I do the ligation, the closing off of it or a complete removal entirely. So what is best option, leave it, closing it off only or complete removal? I'll see what doctor says, what do you know about this, anything?

Nothing else too too exciting going on. Winter cooler weather is here, for us cold is like 40 F, LOL so we are punks for real! But I LOVE winter, especially these mild ones.

Hope you are all well, had great holidays and I am wishing all of us a baby-filled 2009! Oh yeah and I will also wish for PEACE in this crazy world of ours, you too ok?

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Strange weather

So i woke up this morning and it was such a strange day, weather wise.

Super dusty, sky full of clouds and very windy. We have a season here, but in springtime, they call it "khamaseen" when the wind and dust is crazy and it's really warm. But it's December, and cool, anyway just strange.

So I went to pick up my beta results at 8pm, it was pouring rain, which was cool cause it washed away some of the weird dust from today.

Not this time ladies. Paper read NEGATIVE. I know sucks, but was suppose to be this way, this time, I guess.

I'm okay, I just really thought this time was going to be "the time." Anyway, we have four embies frozen and will try again. I'm tired, my eyes hurt and will try to sleep now.

Love you all, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy everything else.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Cut and down

Well a fiber optic cable or two or three were severed south of Italy and Egypt's internet service was down all day yesterday and super, super slow this morning. My ISP is back to normal now, but i read online many of Egypt's other ISP's are still down.

You know not having the internet for a day really affected me. I know those of you reading this feel me, as you are online now and some of you (eh em) are online all the time, like me!

But the thing that REALLY got me is , look at this technology. A cable in the Mediterranean gets cut and here in Cairo and many other cities in the region have no internet. What an intricate system and something I never give a thought to when i get online, ever.

Anyway, just thought you guys needed to know.

3 days to go, no cheating for me, I am waitin it out. Keep em coming ladies, thanks for all your support, it means the world to me! xoxoxoxox

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Fava beans and falafel

So DH whispers to me in bed this morning, "what about egga francais, tamaayea and fool..."

Me: "You want me to go or will you?"

DH: "I'll go..."

Me: "No, you're so tired, I'll go."

DH: "ok"

Now that you're like, wtf ? Let me explain.

- Falafel a.k.a. tamaayea (say: tah-may-ah)
- Fava beans a.k.a. fool
- Egga Francais a.k.a. egga francais (LOL, its like beaten eggs with spices and mixed with falafel batter then fried I guess is the best way to describe it, sounds gross, nope its so damn good!)

The above two, being fool and tamaayea are the staples that many people in this country survive on. They are super cheap (1 sandwich is approx. 1.50LE = $0.27) and folks can buy these little pitas stuffed with fava beans and falafel and be full for the whole day. Sometimes they eat these things inside a small pita bread as a sandwich and sometimes they eat the fool, or fava beans from a bowl and dip the bread into it. For a quick meal on the go the sandwiches are the way to go.

Now us, thank God, we choose when we want to eat these little gaseous delicacies, many people don't have a choice and eat this stuff everday as it is all they can afford. So we are very thankful, believe me.

Anyway, i get dressed and go to the souk (shopping area) where we live. Go into a shop that is famous for these types of sandwiches and there is a freakin mob inside. Remember we have no concept of lines here. So there is a bunch of guys waving money in the air at the poor boy by the cash register. I decide no way.

I left my car parked there, decided to take a walk and maybe by the time I got back the mob would have subsided.

Nope.

Same scene about 30 minutes later. I called DH and told him is was not meant for us to eat tamaayea today.

He reminded me of the other restaraunt that sells great sandwiches too, of course I forgot.

So off i go, and it was alot less crowded and in much better order that the other place.

Home finally with two egga francais', two tamaayea's, and 4 fool sandwiches. We devoured ate three sandwiches each with two more being in refrigerator for a later heat up.

So that was my excitement this morning in our little Cairo suburb here, LOL.

I will say that I usually make fool at home. (well i cheat alittle, I buy the canned fava beans and then hook it up my way)  I have yet to try and make the falafel, but it is easy enough and I will try to make someday soon.

If you guys want, here is a simple yummy fava beans recipe you can try at home.

WHAT YOU NEED....

1. One can of fava beans (you can find at any middle eastern store, maybe even like a trader joe's or something, but you'd get the best from an Arabic grocery store.)
2. 1 small lemon
3. Olive oil
4. Cayenne pepper
5. salt
6. ground cumin
7. chopped sauteed onions (optional, if you don't want to use just skip step number 1)
8. Pita bread

WHAT TO DO...

1. chop up a small onion with a bit of oil and sautee in small pot unitl tender. remove from heat.
2. Open can of fava beans and dump into pot, along with juices, do not drain.
3. take a potato smasher and smash up the fava beans, i leave a few whole, but basically smash up most of them.
4. add just a dash of salt.
5. add about a teaspoon of ground cumin.
6. add cayenne pepper to your liking.
7. squeeze juice of lemon.
8. add a splash of olive oil.
9. heat just to boil and then thats it.

Now this way I like to serve them is this....

Spoon some beans into a flat bowl, splash some olive oil on top of them. I like to add the following garnish, but you can leave garnish out and just eat that way they are just as yummy too.

MY SPECIAL GARNISH

1. Chop a few slices of red onion fine
2. Chop a small (or half) green bell pepper finely
3. Chop a handful of black olive slices finely.
4. Chop a small tomato finely.
5. Drizzle of tahina

Okay now you add all these finely chopped veggies around the bowl edge and finish off with a drizzle of tahina in middle of bowl. Looks beautiful! Then i mix all together and eat it mixed up!

Walaah, your perfect egyptian breakfast! Eat with some toasted or warm pita bread and you'll transport yourself to Cairo! LOL, enjoy! Do let me know if you try it.

Oh i am trying not to think about my preg test on the 23rd. Trying to keep my mind busy to pass the time, you know what its working. But of course I do my usual hands on tummy to send good vibes.... Please God let it be this time for us.....love you all! xoxoxoxoxo

Saturday, December 13, 2008

IVF Pregnancy Due Date Calculator- UPDATED!

Hey I posted this awesome online tool here before awhile back, but I just got an email that it is NEW and IMPROVED!

Go check it out at http://www.ivf.ca/duedate.php

What an awesome calculator just for US!

Tag team

The wonderful, sweet Cassandra at Baby Smiling In Back Seat has tagged me. I know, some of you have tagged me before and I have been super lame in not playing, but now I have the time and will play.

The rules are:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about you.

3. Tag 7 random people at the end, and include links to their blogs.
 
Here goes...
 
1. I have a pair of "house" glasses and "going out" glasses. Strange cause their both cute and stylish, if I may say so- but I must wear one in house only and the other if I am not wearing my contacts out.
 
2. I cannot let anyone wash my dishes. Hate, hate, hate it! If they succeed, I re-wash. (see here, DH's family members come and they're like "oh let me do them..." I insist no, they do em, then I rewash after they leave)
 
3. I cannot see or watch a needle penetrating my skin... ever!
 
4. I MUST cut my fingernails every week, usually on Fridays, not always but most times.
 
5. I am a recovering shoe freak, fanatic, addict, whatever you want to call it.
 
6. I have many shirts, tops that are too big, but i will not tailor them as I waiting for that baby to come and then they'd make perfect maternity clothes, LOL!
 
7. I LOVE LOVE ebay! Even though here in Cairo I am unable to sell/buy. (mail is non-existant here. well i do buy sometimes and send to a friend who i wait will send to Cairo with anyone we know coming.) The exciting thing is I have starting selling with my Dad. Well kind of. I do computer listing from here, he ships fomr there. He uploads his photos to me, tells me a few things about item, I write description, post and manage computer portion. Its totally legal and we cleared it with ebay before we started. It makes me so happy and I am back on ebay again, woo hoo.

So i hereby tag the following divas: (sorry if you been there, done this already...)

1. Julia at Got Embryo's
2. Anita at Hope.Faith.Patience
3. Kara at Becoming Parents
4. Nit at a Soldier's Girl (um, cause where the heck is she???)
5. Sam at The Life and Times of Me
6. Damona12 at The Baby Dust Diaries
7. Hope2Morrow at It's Not The End of The World

Friday, December 12, 2008

Two to stick please...

We went at 1:30PM. We were the only ones there, so much different than yesterday. So Doctor K came just for us. And Doctor K is cool by the way, we stayed and talked for about an hour after transfer with him.
And yes his diarrhea was gone.

Anyway, we transferred two embryos. One blastocyst and one morulae. So we'll see what happens.

Here are their photos. They gave paper with photos to me, it was printed on a black and white laser printer so photos are not that good after i took them with my digital camera to share with you. (no scanner at home)



So keep our little embies in your thoughts and lets hope they stick and make it through the next few weeks.

Oh, here is a site I came across that has IVF podcasts. I haven't listened to any yet nor subscribed. If you do, let me know if they are any good.

So have a great Friday and see you all soon. xoxoxoxo

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Diarrhea anyone?

Well, i have another entry for the TIE ( T.his I.s E.gypt ) book. I just may really start a book, but for now the list calculates in my head.

Check it out....

So our appointment today for our embryo replacement is at noon. We arrived at 11:45am. When we walked in, we burst out laughing cause it looked like a mob....there were SO MANY people. Not enough seats and so many standing. Okay we thought, the Eid holiday is just finishing up and maybe they overbooked.

We waited until 3:30pm to be seen!

We go in to see Dr. K. We know him, he knows us- he's been the one we've seen for all of our previous transfers. I tell him how we'd been waiting for hours, they should have called us in am to reschedule, etc etc. He apologizes and tells us how he has diarrhea and is very sick and many of the other staff are sick, blah blah. No friggin excuse for that long of wait!

He pulls out a paper, stating how many ovum collected, how many fertilized, frozen, sperm report, etc.

They collected 12 ovum. 11 were fertilized. 8 cleaved. 4 cryopreserved and 4 for replacement today. I think that what it all said. All i know is 4 frozen and they wanted to replace 4 today.

So he starts to tell me that the embryos are slow. Slow? They have not reached blastocyst stage, but the compacted stage. I cried. He says alot more stuff that confused me and I questioned him on alot of things, as they didn't sound right. But bottom line for me, i wanted to see pics of all 4 embryos and he had only 2. He said he'd be right back. Oh and I asked for DVD like we usually get, they stopped making them. Sweet.

He comes back and apologizes. He said how unprofessional he must look. But that today is just day 4 and this is a consult and should not have been scheduled to be a transfer. That indeed my embryos are not slow, rather excellent FOR DAY 4!!!

My bad too, sort of. I was counting retrieval day as Day 1. Its actually Day 0. They count Day 1 as day after retrieval. The lab was right, he was just not up to speed  because of his diarrhea for whatever reason.

I said to him, had I not said anything would you just have replaced these 4 embryos? He assured me no. Once he went to lab, they would have (and did) tell him they are at Day 4, not quite blastos yet and no transfer is to take place yet. Whew....

So i will call him tomorrow around 11AM and we will see. Transfer will be tomorrow or Saturday early AM.

I need to put a proverb or some saying about patience here...cause man you have to have ALOT here!

Still in all, after, we laughed it off, after all we are feelin' good about this cycle and maybe this was a evil omen good sign, LOL! Hey if we don't laugh we cry, laughing is better.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I'm so ready...


Tomorrow at noon we will get my our baby (ies). I am so ready for this.

Like i've been saying for the last couple weeks, I think this is it. I just have a really good feeling.
Not that i didn't have good feelings with my previous 5 transfers, but this time I feel different. More optimistic, believe it or not and it feels good.

Whatever the outcome, I still feel this cycle was better than good and my spirits were the best they have ever been with any of our IVF trials.

So think of me tomorrow at noon Cairo time, wherever you are and climb aboard cause the dreaded awesome 2 week wait is coming.

Much love,
Wishy
xoxoxoxo

Monday, December 8, 2008

Just in case you haven't heard...

but I am so sure you have....

Navigating the Land of IF

Author? Our very own IF Queen of the blogoshpere Lolliepop Goldstein, hooray!!!

Win a SLEEPY WRAP!

How cool is this?

Click here to enter to win a sleepy wrap.

And lets hope we all need one soon!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Opps, took an injection for the heck of it!

Well they retrieved 12 eggs....yeah! We'll see Thursday what's what when I go in for replacement.

Can I just tell you I am so sore!!!

I don't remember having this much pain or soreness last time after retrieval. Maybe I did and I forgot? We'll see tomorrow if its any better, I am hoping it will be. Did any of you have a soreness in your abdomen after retrieval? If its not better I will call my doctor, but I am guessing its normal maybe.

So...what about the title of this post? Curious?

Just before leaving the center, as always, they give you an instruction sheet. It lists what medicines to take and the date you should report back for embryo replacement. Its in Arabic. Ok no biggie, DH reads it.

So I saw the name of antibiotic in English, ok got that one. Saw the other two medicines I should take, in English, one being progesterone injections and the other a tablet taken twice daily. Ok got those too.

So i go to pharamacy, buy anibiotic and other tablets, then Super Nice Doctor Gal gives me the progesterone injection.

Then i come home, look in my little "IVF book" where i keep daily records of what i take and their dates and the cost. I got my book because after i take injection I log it. (i know....)

So i look back to last cycle and saw that i started progesterone injections closer to replacement day and not day of retrieval.

So i ask my husband to read the Arabic to me, oops. I am to start the tablets and injections in a few days not today!

So i hit the progesterone too early, LOL!!! Oh well, it wasn't that bad and hey a little extra can't hurt right? No I'm kidding its only one dose and should be fine I am sure.

So kids, until Thursday we pray and wish and hope for our embabies to be healthy and strong and stick away the way they should.

*** Oh, DH took a video of me on his phone when they brought me back into my room, HILLARIOUS! I look like I was dead and being revived and trying to talk....if this blog wasn't annonymous I would so post....but it is, so sorry and trust me you wouldn't want to see me, but to hear me, now thats some funny shizit!

Love you all.... xoxoxoxoxo

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Pain free and he's da man!

I just have to say my husband is amazing. Not because he gave me a pain-free trigger shot this morning at 2AM, which by the way was a whole better than the Super Nice Doctor Gal but because he just my best friend!

(Oh i have to tell you what I did.....I went to the pharmacy where I get my daily injections, and I had Super Nice Doctor Gal mark my b.u.t.t. with a pen...she drew a square in pen so DH would know exactly where to inject me....when he saw it, he said man, that was a good idea... it was. )

Ok..... I know so many of you too, dealing with this wonderful infertility we've been dealt, have great supporting spouses too. We are lucky indeed ladies....

Doesn't it just make it all the more easier? Not easier I guess, but at least we have the strong support of that one person who is so close to us and who too, is experiencing infertility first hand.

Do any of you ever feel bad for your husbands? (This is probably a statement that a shrink would analyze and have lots to tell me about myself) But sometimes, I just feel so guilty. I know its not my fault that I can't seem to get pregnant, but he is so darn patient and so supportive and sometimes I just think, "what if he married someone else and had a wife who could get pregnant, and didn't have to deal with this shit we have been dealing with for 10 years now...."

Then, I smack myself and know that those thoughts are wrong. Our being brought together was SO from God, big, big time. We have weathered tons of stuff , he has been so forgiving and patient with me, and in the end it has made us both so much stronger and the made us the people we are today. And you know what I am good with that. Baby would be great though.... LOL.

Anyway, just rambling here, but am feelng really good about this, this time.

We are planning a blastocyst transfer for Thursday as I said before. Not sure yet how many they will replace, we'll see I guess how many eggs they get tomorrow and then how many embabies are created.

Looking forward to retrieval tomorrow actually. For us, its a really special day for more than one reason actually. Its a spiritual reason and we are really optimistic that God Will Grant us our most asked for supplication, of course that being a healthy baby.

So my dear friends, I love you all and have a great day wherever you are. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your warm wishes, prayers and thoughtful commments. I so love that I have "met" all of you and you guys mean so much to me!

Hey when we have our baby, I'll have a big party and want you all to come to Cairo, ok? We can take the baby with us sightseeing and stuff....wouldn't that be a blast? I wish i could buy you all tickets to come, really I do! xoxoxoxoxo

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Retrieval Sunday

So today I still had 8 follicles on right measuring 18-21mm, 4 on left measuring 17-20mm.

Endometrium a very healthy 13.

Will do trigger shot Friday at midnight and go in for retrieval Sunday am.

Planning a blastocyst transfer to be done Thursday, God Willing.

Let's hope this is it girls.... I feel it will be. Lots of praying for me here and will check in again soon. xoxoxoxo

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

We got some

Well we have 8 follicles on the right ovary and 4 on the left.

All measured from 14-17mm today. Endometrium  11.

I continued with the injections today and will see doctor tomorrow and everday now until retrieval. Which he is estimating to be Saturday or Sunday.

We will do a blastocyst tranfer again, and i am PRAYING that we have enough embabies to culture to blastocyst stage and freeze some too. As you may remember or not, last trial we only could do a blastocyst transfer and had none for freezing.

Anyway thats it for now, will let you know what he says again tomorrow.

I have to say I am feeling pretty good about this time....God Willing this may be the one....or two...or three, LOLLLLLLLL

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Calling all follicles

I am getting ready to go to doctor and see progress of my follicles. I have to go dressed right now.

Please, please little follies do have grown and multiplied and given us enough for retrieval plus freezing.

I so hope these injections are responding well this time. They did with first few trials, not so well with ivf 5- so I am hoping this time we get lots.

I'll check back in later..pray for lots of follies for us..... xoxoxoxo