The Conception Chronicles: Win

This is the tenth installment in a short series about baby making.

5w4d ultrasound. Healthy yok & gestational sacs.
6w4d ultrasound. Healthy sacs, measurements, and heartbeats.

We followed this up with a couple of rocky weeks (for reasons I don't want to rehash, but since resolved) of appointments with our RE, and graduated to the OB! Since we're moving, we had to find a new doc, and I was lucky enough to get a referal from an old friend who is a NICU nurse to a really awesome MFM (high risk OB) to take care of us. Why the MFM instead of a regular OB? Well, whenever there's plural babies, a pregnancy is inherently higher risk. While we didn't HAVE to go this route, I feel safer with it. And, bonus points, our MFM does deliveries, so we are only seeing him, not an OB + MFM for consults. One stop shopping win.

our twins, EDD Sept 1, 2011 (but more like Aug. 10!)

And folks, the Conception Chronicles are complete (for 2011 at least!).

The Conception Chronicles: Back on the Wagon

This is the ninth installment in a short series about baby making.

After I didn't get pregnant in October, we changed donors (goodbye pharmacist, hello musician) and returned Chris to the injectibles.  I think the cycle started right around Thankgiving.  Stim went better this time, still not great lead follicles, but her E2 stayed reasonable and with a slower pattern (and pushing ovulation out a couple of days with other drugs!) we had two leaders and a few laggers. So we triggered mid-December (clearly dates are not important to me), and gave it a shot.

And we got the faintest line ever, the kind of line you have to hold at the right angle to see in the light, at 10dpo!

We left for St.Louis for the holidays on Dec. 23, making a pit stop on the way to the airport for bloodwork. Her 14dpo HCG was over 300. Score.

Of course, heading to St. Louis for 10 days, there was no follow up bloodwork or 5 w ultrasound, so we were left in suspense until our return at 5w4d. Luckily, she was pretty much exhausted and slept through Christmas, so I felt good about her status as newly pregnant!

most boring post ever, part 2

a follow up

I've actually been on track the last two weeks, not exactly as in my schedule but doing all my miles. I did only do 10 & 10, not 11 and 12, for long runs like I wanted, but I know that was ambitious for someone who was running 7-10 miles/week 8 weeks ago (I've been over 20 all month, woot). One more 10+ this weekend - hopefully without a break in the middle for a conference call or an open house stop by, teehee - then the race.

I'm promising myself to enjoy the race and not stress about time or beat myself up if I don't hit my 2 hr dream(ish, this used to be easy) goal. I'm still 15 lbs heavier than my last (good) half, and I'm certainly not running 30+ mpw. So a good race would be nice.

I do PLAN to hit 90 minutes at the Broad Street 10 Miler in May though!!

most boring post ever

I ran 4, 4, 4 and 6 last week. TECHNICALLY above the 4,4,4,4 of my planned stepback, but quite below the 4,4,4,10 I wanted to do to make up for the 9 I missed a couple of weeks back. Fail. I have three long runs left (11,12,10) I MUST hit to be ready for this half in a month...not even a month. March 3.

andddd I was 173 this morning. Apparently Roy Rogers on the Turnpike + sausage my mom cooked + not really counting last week + random bedtime almonds means I am up 3+ lbs this week. Sigh. I need to be better about the details.

looking ahead: 3, 6 with 3x1m, 2, 11 this week. And I WILL do it.

medium dog, mini bed

When 9 lb Mini Dashhounds visit, Bailey gets a new pillow (stolen and placed atop our bed...)

rejection and the attic

Remember how I couldn't find a job? Or an interview?
Well, 50 or so applications (Jan-Nov. 2010) and 6 interviews later (July, Aug x 2, November x 2, Jan) things have turned around.

I am still a little insulted I received exactly three rejection notices this whole time though, only one being from a job I actually interviewed for (twice, for a total of 5 hours!). How hard is it to tell someone, "sorry, we don't like you"?

Anyway, I did finally get a job, in my field of preference (Institutional Research). It is in NYC, so I'm having to deal with the escalators...still not the money I was hoping, but the field is right and it is a step in the right direction (annoying commute aside).

Of course, this means we have to finally move on from PA and get a new place in NJ. Given that we don't make oodles of money nor have oodles in the bank, we're staying with my parents until our house sells and we can get a new one (being a contingent buyer just isn't an option for us). Hence, the attic.

running update

No pun intended.
I scrapped the 9 miler. It is lost.
I did get in all my mileage last week though. Schedule: 2, 5, 2, 10. Did 5, 3.5, 2, 10. YES! No failure.
I'm even down another half pound. 169. teehee. Whatever, I'll  pretend it is a real loss and not dehydration (WW and me weren't friends last week).

I am glad I have another 4 long runs before the race. I stopped A LOT on that 10 miler, and my pace was about a 9:50 without stops. A long way to go to my 2 hr (9:06ish pace) half marathon goal!  I hit a 2:03 on a downhill course last year at this weight, and supposedly 5 lbs is enough to take off 2 minutes. Can I lose 10 lbs this month and make my goal on a sort of hilly course since I'll be better trained this time? That's a lot of ifs/maybes. But I AM GOING TO TRY DAMMIT.

on the move

Our house is up for sale again.  For three weeks now. We listed at 2.5% less than the Summer of 60 Showings And No Offers Even Though The Neighbors Houses Both Sold, which puts us in a new price bracket.  Thing is, with having bought just 3 years ago, we only have about another 2.5% to go before we forfeit our down payment after closing costs and Realtor fees are accounted for. I think I need to accept this might be a reality.  I've already accepted we'll lose every dime we put in (tree removal, ac, electric panel, etc). Thank goodness our "big" updates (kitchen, bath, den, floors) were super budget friendly.

Fingers crossed. I don't want to live in my parents' attic forever, so we really need to walk away with something. Oh, the attic you say? yeah, more on that later.