This is THE week

Welcome to Sunday. This is THE week of the transfer.  :: Deep Breath ::

Today I start the progesterone. Progesterone makes me cranky and anxious, but I know that in advance so I'll do my best to keep my attitude in check. The progesterone signals to my body that is has ovulated.(although it has not and will not. I have two small eggs growing that will hopefully just dissolve.) That simulated ovulation makes my body think an egg, emitting progesterone, has been released and helps it ready itself for a fertilization. The embryo was frozen at day 3 of development and it takes about 2 days for the fertilized egg, in a natural scenario, to travel down into the uterus, so when it is placed in there, my body will be none the wiser that the embryo wasn't fertilized inside me. That's a good thing.

Results from my ultrasound and labs on Thursday are looking good.
Estrogen is at 1062
Progesterone level: 0.6
Lining 11.3 triple stripe

The mother had some concern over my lining getting too thick. The RE said that anything under about 20mm is fine. Other sources tend to agree that around 13 - 16ish is ideal. I think we'll be in that range by Friday. I may have missed a few pills here and there contributing to a bit of a slow down. (Not intentionally. My life is just busy with two little beauties to keep my hopping.) 

In preparation for this week, I've whipped up several freezer meals so that my husband doesn't have to cook while I'm gone. I also wrote out our schedule, ideas for activities that he can do with the girls, lunch ideas, snack ideas, and I'm going grocery shopping shortly, making sure the house is full of snacks and maybe a few fun new crafts.

I got a message from my grandparents yesterday, who are freshly back from snowbirding, and they'd like to come visit the girls on Monday. Let the "cleaning like a crazy lady" commence also. Grandma had 4 boys (!) very close together and always a spotless house. I honestly have no idea how. Maybe I need to get a few notes on that. (Although, no doubt, she didn't have dark hardwood floors, dark counters, white cabinets, and stainless appliances. WHAT were we thinking?)

I also have some entertainment lined up for myself. The book I'm hoping to read in my upcoming down time arrived a few days ago. It's Called Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. Raising two little girls, I want to be sure that I'm armed with information to have good discussions with them about beauty, confidence, and other things important to a little girl's development. I'm excited to read it. Especially since there is no shortage of "princess" gear in the stores and on TV. So far we've mostly avoided a lot of it as my oldest isn't much of a girly girl. I do see our youngest being a bit of a dress up queen though. She already asks for bows... although she barely has any hair.  lol !

I was also going to bring along some felt so that I could cut out and sew some little animals to go with my youngest daughter's wall mural. I used magnetic primer on her wall before painting it, so with little magnets tucked inside the animals, they should stick on the wall. I then realized that there's no way the TSA is going to let me bring a scissors on a plane. (I don't plan to check a bag.)

I also realised that it might be a bit hairy bringing my progesterone gel in my carry on bag. The thought of explaining that to a TSA agent kind of make me chuckle. "Um you see sir.... it goes in my... and then... I come home with another couple's baby. You know. Ordinary stuff."   Yeah. That's not happening. The mother was so kind as to refill her Rx for the Crinone and she'll let me use what I need while I'm there. Whew!

I also plan to organize the girls' picture albums and weed through and clean up some of the recipes in my cooking blog while I'm on bed rest. Thank goodness for computers and wifi. So with that... I leave Wednesday evening. Nervous.Excited.Butterflies.Sad.Hopeful and a lot of other things going on. :)  I'd better get moving!