HCG Update

All the twin speculation is over - we had a scan today and can categorically tell you there is not two babies in there.

Unfortunately that is about all we know for sure right now.  After such wonderful HCG levels so far, yesterday's blood test caused some concern with only a very small rise in the 4 days since our last test.  The clinic was understandably concerned and thus the ultrasound this morning.

The scan showed a bleed in my uterus which also happened with our pregnancy which gave us Noah so in itself may not be too terrible.  The scan also showed one good size egg sack albeit sitting lower than is optimum.  It's too early for a foetal heartbeat so it's impossible for them to determine if the sac they can see is still a viable pregnancy.  Blood tests will provide better information so we have another one on Saturday morning and then another scan in a week.

All we can do now is hope and pray and take it one day at a time.  It has always been the limbo that is the hardest part of IVF.  We are back in a holding pattern - the initial excitement replaced with worry and fear but we will certainly be trying to be optimistic.



P.S.  Sorry for the lack of light and fluffy Easter posts promised but I'm sure you understand.  I will still be drawing the winners of the hot cross buns from all the peeps who commented over the week.  Last comments that can be included will be Saturday April 2nd at midnight (WST)

Where do you draw the line??

I am not a budget food shopper.  I didn't grow up in a budget home.  We always had lots of nice food and nothing was really out of bounds.

I am not a loyal shopper - I flirt with them all making no commitments to one favourite supermarket. I shop at IGA sometimes even though I know it is more expensive but hey it is open 7 days 12 hours a day and it's convenient.

If I'm shopping and an item we need is on special I may buy extra and 'stock up' but that's about as far as it goes.

When I was in primary school I had a friend whose mum would read all the catalogues and make shopping lists for every store based on what was on special in each one.  I admired her dedication but even back then at the ripe old age of 12 it seemed to me to be a false economy.  All that time and effort to save a few dollars overall.

I knew another woman who would take a small paring knife shopping with her and actually cut the ends off the beans so she didn't pay for any weight she didn't need.

I remember my mum telling me stories about my Nanna coveting stone fruit but not buying it because it was too expensive.  It's a scenario I simply cannot imagine but today when I went to buy 2 largish bananas and it was going to cost  $6 - I had to draw the line.  I'm sure I've paid as much before - probably the last time there was a banana shortage - but it would have been hidden in a larger grocery bill. Seeing it broken down like that was just too confronting.  On an average day Noah eats 2 bananas sometimes 3 - that's a minimum $42 a week banana habit.

Are you a budget shopper?  Are you a disciple of the catalogues and specials?  Have you bought any bananas lately??

A Camping Weekend

HCG Update

As of Saturday my HCG level is 3960.

These were the stats my husband had compiled previously -
Day 21 = Sat

Single = 1929

Twins = 2896

Kirsty = ???

I think we can all see where this seems to be heading.  Some people are even starting to utter the word Triplets - god help me.

Tune in tomorrow for more frightening HCG numbers.  

Twins??

The twin speculation around these parts has hit a fever pitch.  We eagerly await the results of each blood test for Hcg levels to try and see if they can shed any light.  We will know for sure one way or another in only a few weeks when we have our first scan but still we care very impatient.

My husband  has done literally hours of research on the Internet (google can be such a dangerous tool in the wrong hands!!) and being the super nerd that he is has created a graph.

Yes - a graph.  He has mapped known Hcg levels according to a couple of research studies he found and has added my results to the graph.

As you can see from the graph my levels are tracking high.

Here is the exact email my gorgeous crazy husband sent me Wednesday

Day 12 (Thurs)

Kirsty = 100

Day 14 (Sat)

Single = 142

Twins = 212

Kirsty = 400

Day 16 = Mon

Single = 321

Twins = 481

Day 18 = Wed

Kirsty = 1600

Day 21 = Sat

Single = 1929

Twins = 2896

Kirsty = ???

I’ve plotted this up below. Call me a scientist, but I reckon we’re headed for twins!!

Blood results on Saturday would be very interesting/informative – maybe I should take Monday off work, so we can head down south after bloods on Saturday and stay Sat/Sun night instead of Fri/Sat??

Just in case there is any confusion yes he is suggesting we change the dates of our planned camping weekend  just so we can have a blood test exactly at Day 21 for the purposes of 'the graph' and yes I agreed to it.

Ah bless him and his nerdy ways.  In the end what will be will be but we are very excited for the prospect of twins as this will almost definitely be our last pregnancy.  Either way we are feeling very lucky just to be pregnant after such a long challenging journey this time around.

I'll keep you posted

As I was typing this my husband called to tell me he is leaving work early to go and line up to buy an iPad 2 when they are released at 5pm - does the nerdiness know no bounds??

A Delivery

Look what the courier brought us today...................

The very kind and generous people at Bakers Delight sent 3 bags of warm hot cross buns for us to taste test.  I have to say I was a little bit concerned that I was going to have to eat them all myself which of course I could certainly do (I'm eating for 2 or 3 now you know).  Luckily today happened to be a day where there were lots of visitors popping by.  (Hmmn now that I think about maybe they all knew about my stash of hot cross buns)

So anyhoo throughout the afternoon everyone enjoyed a cuppa and a ridiculously soft and delicious hot cross bun.

The traditional ones were a hit and being that Noah is currently having a bit of a serious romance with sultanas he was over the moon excited with them.  I can't go past the mocha ones - need I say more - and chocolate chip is Easter all over.

We still have plenty left and as we are heading off camping over the weekend I'm looking forward to toasting them over the campfire.

Have you had any Hot Cross Buns yet this season??  Are you a traditionalist or do you love the new flavours??

The lovely people at Bakers Delight have also sent me 5 vouchers to share with you all - each one is for a bag of hot cross deliciousness of your own.

Over the next week I am going to post various Easter related posts so pop on back and leave a comment on any of those posts (or this one) and you will be in the running to win one of the vouchers.  (Entries close midnight WST Saturday April 2nd and I'll email the winners directly)

Happy Weekend

Can you hear the sound of bunnies hopping??

Unless you walk around all day with your eyes closed or you haven't been near a shop since the whole Christmas shopping debacle it can't have escaped your notice that Easter is coming.  Not as soon as the shops would have you think though.  Despite the fact that it's a late Easter this year, there were Easter eggs and all the paraphernalia in the shops the first day of trade following Christmas.  Am I the only one that thinks that's crazy??  I like at least a few weeks break between my holiday hype.

I've managed to ignore it for the past 3 months but now I'm ready.  I'm ready to buy eggs and eat hot cross buns and enjoy all the fun of Easter.  I'm particularly excited this year as we are going to host our first ever Egg Hunt for all our friends and their kids.  We are also hatching chicks at our house over the Easter period to really get  in the spirit.  I've got lots of fun craft activities planned too.

Do you have any Easter traditions??  What are your plans for this year??

40 Bags Update

I am motoring along with my Lent mission - today is the 11th day  (Sundays don't count for Lent) and I'm almost on track.  I've disposed of 3 bags from the linen cupboard, 3 bags from the study, 1 bag from the bathroom cabinet and 1 bag from the filing cabinet.  I still have 3 bags to go to be up to date which will be caught up easily when I continue on with the study this week.

The most interesting thing about this project is the decisions about what to keep and what to let go of.  I am somewhat of a hoarder particularly when it comes to memorabilia. I have already accumulated a large collection for Noah and he's not even 3. I think it stems from the fact that my parents seemed to be the opposite and I was always envious of people whose parents had kept every drawing, every home-made card, school projects, toys,  books and even baby clothes.  I have spent a great deal of time as an adult searching for books that I loved as a child and restocking my bookshelves with them.

Wanting to eliminate 'stuff' from our lives means I am having to challenge my ideas of what is important.  I have boxes filled with diaries, photos and old letters from boyfriends and high school friends (before everyone just face booked and emailed).  My husband and I have been together for 9 years and I'm sure my kids will never be interested in my life before Daddy so I guess it's time to throw them away.  Or is it??  They are a part of my history, a part of what makes me who I am.  I never look at them except when the annual spring clean comes around and then I have a flick through and they take me back to different times and different life experiences which I really enjoy.

I'm stuck on this one, I think I'll have to give it more thought.  I'd hate to regret my decision and one day wish I had kept it all.  This my friends is the catch cry for every hoarder 'What if I need/want it one day'??!!!!!

What do you think??

Sculpture by the Sea

The results are in

I haven't slept well at all this week so I finally caved and called the fertility clinic begging them to do my pregnancy test a day early. I didn't even tell Rob I had arranged it - I wanted to save him from the agonising clock watching between taking the test and getting the result.

After 18 months and 7 attempts we are finally pregnant.  We are so thrilled there are no words satisfactory to express it.  It means so much more to us after having fought so bloody hard to get here.  I'm only 4 weeks so we are still going to be on tenterhooks for a while but right now it's all positive.  Our first scan will be in about 4 weeks and then we will find out if there is one heartbeat or two!!

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone - thank god for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

We are almost there.  Friday is the day we find out if our latest round of IVF has worked.  The 2 week wait for the pregnancy test is torture.  Every minute goes by so slowly and where normally the weeks fly by they are dragging on.  On Friday my blood test is at 7.30am then I have to wait until 2.30pm to get the results - I will be watching the clock closely that day.

I don't know how I feel this time - I'm quietly confident but you just never know.

See you on Friday.

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lent.  I have often toyed with the concept of Lent but not taken it very seriously.  When I was in my early 20's a girlfriend and I would nominate something to give up that we never really had anyway - a cheats way to make a sacrifice for Jesus.  Today when I told my husband and Father-in-law that it was Lent my FIL joked that he's going to 'give up giving up things'.

This year I am taking a challenge inspired by Memories on Clover Lane a gorgeous blog you should definitely check out.  This house proud mum is purging 40 bags in 40 days.

When I told a friend that today she was a bit taken aback - 40 bags is a lot.  I still think I can do it.

I'm going to use plastic shopping bags which are smaller than say a regular garbage bag.  I have recently done a great deal of spring cleaning but I am convinced there is still 40 bags of excess stuff in our lives.  I haven't planned it out exactly but I do plan on targeting every room and I also plan to discard some 'cyber' rubbish'.  Let's just say my computer filing system is not pretty and my desktop is a disaster.

As I've been sick over the last week today Noah and I are going to start with a bit of a cheats bag and rake up all the bougainvillea debris in the yard.  Easy on the brain and I think I can convince Noah to do most of the work.

Why don't you join me it'll be fun and imagine how organised your house will be come that lovely 5 day Easter break.  One bag a day is pretty manageable.

Housekeeping

Just a little housekeeping note that the commenting system has changed.  I have been getting some abusive comments from some people that I thought my little blog could do without so from now on all comments will come to me first for moderation before they appear on the comment page.  Please still leave comments because I love them and after all that is part of the fun of blogging.

Siblings

Daddy hasn't posted in eons, but I'm just feeling so positive about our IVF transfer this morning that I'm declaring that these are Noah's new siblings. Go little guys,  keep dividing, stay strong, and transform into beautiful little babies... you couldn't wish for a better mummy XXX