Updates: Friday

My last hormone injection today! Hurrah!! See how he holds the injection poised like a dart!!

I'm going crazy with the whole house situation too! .. the landlady of the townhouse we are interested in got back to us and said that yes, a November move would be okay afterall! This was after her saying that she had lots of interest from others to start a lease in October and so would not keep it for us! Out of the blue yesterday the agency told us that she really liked us, realising that we would look after her house and treat it as our own! Therefore, she is willing to wait until November. Meanwhile we had already decided to stay here and were happy and relaxed. Then, to add turf to the flames, our landlady told us this morning that she will renovate all hte bathrooms and kitchen for a small rent increase! Pffff.. decisions.. I give up! LOL .. At least it is keeping my mind occupied. :-)

Amandio's last day at work.

IVF 4

At Bumrungrad hospital at 08:00am on the 28th in treatment room No. 8 (Amandio pointed out all the eights ;-). The morning started off with a bloodtest (quick and efficient.. Amandio popped his head into the lab to sneak in this pic!) We then waited for two hours during which time we had breakfast and signed the millions of formal documents (things like who is responsible for the frozen embryos in the event of death or divorce).

After all the bloodwork was analyzed the doctor met with us and explained that the HC level was still low (meaning no fear of ovulating spontaneously - that first injection I had one week before my period to supress ovulation is still having an effect). My oestrogen level was about 800, an increase from 96 (or so) from the first blood test. It needs to be between 1000 and 1500 to indicate a presence of enough follicles (eggs) in order to remove them. The ultrasound also showed that there are now about 7 eggs in total, one of which is the right size 1.9cm and others trailing a bit behind. It was decided to continue the hormone shots for two more days, continuing the 300ml dose. On Saturday afternoon we will have another ultrasound to do a final check of follicle development before getting the final injection to induce ovulation. The extraction/harvesting operation may well be on Monday, Amandio's first day at work at Sofitel! Oops.. well, he just needs to be there in the morning to provide his 'sample' ;-) The operation won't take all too long and I should be out by midday or so.. I think Amandio can easily focus on his job that day and leave me to it. We will know more after the next ultrasound...

IVF 3

Time to start monitoring the follicles containing the individual eggs. We went to the hospital on 25th August (10am) for an ultrasound. Apparantely, my uterus is normal in size and shape (that's a relief!), the endometrial thickness is 7.2mm with double layers.. I suppose this is okay too.. haven't been told otherwise. My right ovary (where fallopian tube was removed) contains 4 follicles ranging from 9.4 to 12.2 mm, the left only one follicle of 10.1mm. The follicle sacs need to be 10-12mm big.. but we need more than 5 seeing as some may not be healthy.. there are several other ones which are much smaller and still need to develop further. Up goes the dose to 300mm per injection for another three days... more hormones, another bill and trip home with the freezer box. Next appointment is on Thursday 28th. I have stopped working at school completely now and have just my one private at home. Last night, I had a great girlie night with my Thai friend, lots of chatting over dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant and a feel good chick flick movie 'The Made of Honour'.. just what a girl needs ;-)

IVF 2

The 19th of August was Day 1-2 of my period so off to the hospital we went to do some blood tests. Hormone levels were checked along with all the usual pregnancy tests we had done already this time last year. We had to wait two hours for the results, but of course this was unrealistic seeing as Amandio had to go back to work. It was time to start the ovarian stimulation and monitoring phase with gonadotropin injections.. hormones!! The nurse trained Amandio on how to measure the dosage and administer the injection (intramuscular). The choice was either below my belly button or on my arm... I didn't hesitate for a second on that one! Arm!! We paid a small fortune, got our little freezer box filled with all the necessary drugs and equipment and off home we went. Actually we didn't go home, we had a viewing appointment with the landlady at the townhouse we are interested in to negotiate some of the terms of contract and renovations etc. The doctor called us later to tell us that the dose should be 250ml per injection for 5 days, starting the following day. (involves calculations based on hormone levels).

Day one of the injections (20th August at 9:30am) was memorable. Amandio makes a great nurse.. but after it was all over, he admitted that he just 'had to go for it, without thinking' :-) No hiccups the first day. The second day.. well, imagine the scenario. Me standing by the window, looking away, with a needle sticking into my arm,
when a voice says.. oops! OOOPPS!!??? Amandio had forgotten to measure the dose which he realised only after he had stuck the needle into my skin. So, that day made for two injections.. the second one hit a vain too so bled a bit. I still have quite a bruise to show for it! We had a good laugh! Needless to say, my arm being just a little tender, we swapped to the left arm the next day. The next three days were uneventful. Amandio was really great and is now a pro. As for the side effects, well.. I didn't have any. I have heard about and read many experiences with this when the woman gets very emotional.. jumping from one extreme of tears to anger to laughter. Not for me.. I just started getting really tired and sleepy toward the end.. particularly on Sunday (Day 5) when I worked for a few hours at school. I slept that afternoon for hours which is VERY unlike me!

Updates: House hunting

http://www.bangkokfinder.com/rental-listings/rent-houses_property2846.html

Are we mad!? Perhaps... Here are my feeble attempts to explain this momentary insanity.. It all started with the need to renew our contract, only to discover that our rent was increasing by 5%. Curiosity lured us into the housing market to check if we could get something better (grass is always greener ;-) or perhaps closer to Amandio's new job (due to start 1st September) which incidently is one block away from my school. Needless to say, I am also an avid house hunter, analysing the endless lifestyle possibilities presented by each location, decoration, style and facilities. The second I walked into an apartment, I was already mentally decorating, rearranging furniture, imagining us carrying out our lives.. this ability of mine to visualise can be great.. but after viewing numerous apartments my head was lost in a whirlwind of options. We had to centre ourselves and quickly realised that though our apartment badly needs some renovation, particularly in the bathrooms and kitchen, the whole package surpasses anything else on offer. This is when we turned our attention to townhouses. In Bangkok, townhouses are what we would call 'a row of houses' but in a compound (size can vary) with 24 hour security and generally with a pool. Friends of ours live in a compound of only four houses and we have always been attracted to this style of living. Our agent selected a few for us to view and the one above has triggered the dream. The ground floor comprises of the living space (modern kitchen, dining and sitting areas) up a flight of stairs to the master bedroom, large walkin closet (yippee!!!) and large bathroom..up to the second floor with two en suite guest bedrooms. The last floor is mostly the maids quarters with the added bonus of a roof top terrace. This is just a concrete space for now, but I plan to get a gardner in to design a lovely peaceful haven. At present, two thirds of our view is sky. .which is something that I will miss.. however, to compensate we can make this home a garden paradise. Part of the front wall is completely glass, reaching from the ground to the roof with concrete plant beds waiting to be filled with orchids and hanging plants. Each bedroom as a balcony also with plant beds and of course the roof top terrace. Did I mention that the address is 'Garden Place'? LOL. The pool isn't quite as big as what we have now and unfortunately there isn't a tennis court (Amandio swears that he doesn't mind playing tennis with our neighbour in our current place at weekends). The house is in a new part of BKK for us.. Thonglor.. minutes walk away from loads of restaurants, shops and life.. that is a big plus too. THe fact that it is also quieter is also a big plus. Seeing as the rent is also cheaper, we would hire a live-in maid, who would double as a nanny when the time comes. This would also provide some peace of mind for Amandio when he travels and also prove beneficial when dealing with phone/internet/maintenance companies etc.
Hmmm.. I guess, what it all boils down to though is that both of us like adventure and the challenge of change. Starting a new family also somehow calls for a 'house' life. Right now we have left it all in the hands of fate.. having met the landlady requesting a few renovations (dining table and chairs for one thing. While I am prepared to buy bedside tables, book cases etc, big items of furniture seem pointless). If she agrees we will more than likely move in November (after most of the IVF treatment is over). For now though, we have pushed this aside and IVF is the main focus again. Que sera, sera :-)

IVF 1

Sitting down this evening (Amandio is watching football and Formula 1), having slept a couple of hours after I got home from work, to begin my IVF diary... before time passes and catching up becomes daunting. I am already 10 days into the treatment!

It all started on the 12/13th of August (Mother's Day in Thailand) with a trip to the doctor. The first task at hand was an ultrasound to check that my uterus and ovaries were clear of new endometriosis build up and cysts. I have to admit that I held my breath during that, fully aware that the smallest white blob in the sea of black swirls could be another setback. Our doctor took the time to carefully point out everything in detail, taking measurements and scrutinizing each mysterious fold (god knows, I just nodded along.. trying in vain to distinguish each one :-) .. thankfully there were no problems there.

Step 2 was an injection (a new innovation to replace a nasal spray which would have been awkward as it has to be administered every 6 hours) to supress some hormones to prevent early ovulation (as far as I understood). I had that week off work and really started feeling a bit restless. I made one last valiant effort to go to the gym every morning and was back to running 5kms in 25-30 minutes in the realisation that I would soon be sitting on my laurels, forbidden any kind of strenous exercise for at least the next three months.. I could just visualise those pounds piling on. Also knowing though that when the time comes my only concern will be keeping the baby and all aspirations of looking good will be irrelevant. As I said though.. I was bored... to such an extent that I actually asked my director for some work (two hours a day) to keep me occupied. That along with one private student at home kept my mind busy. Though I think it is good to enter into a relaxed frame of mind, I don't really want to let IVF be the only thing going on in my life.. particularly when I don't feel any side effects and still have lots of energy to burn ;-)

Updates: Mother's Day

It was Mother's Day in Thailand on the 12th August (The Queen's Birthday). This particularly auspicious day also marked the beginning of the long awaited IVF treatment. Combined with the Amandio's lucky 08-08-08 birthday, the odds are in our favour, the planets are well aligned, the angels are watching over us - all those 'lucky' expressions.. If I were a gambling man... LOL! two reasons why that is a ridiculous statement to make! Besides the obvious genitalia issue (though 20,000 Baht is synonymous to an Act of God for alterations in that department in Thailand), gambling is illegal in Thailand ;-) Hmm.. my mind is wandering off track (more than usual blondy?) or is your recent hormonal injection having an effect? Right, IVF is for my next post and I am talking to myself... time to move on... fast!!

Levi's Birthday

It was my little cousins second birthday on 09/08/08. I wish the whole family a wonderful day.. I have such wonderful memories of being with them and miss them terribly! Such a beautiful baby ;-) Making me feel all motherly just looking at these photos..

Jo's Birthday

It was Amandio's birthday on 08-08-08! According to the Chinese (in fact most Asian cultures) this is a very lucky date, the number eight representing prosperity, luck and power. It is not by chance that the most popular mobile phone/house/street number, birth/wedding date.. is eight. It is also the symbol of infinity and of course coincides with the start of the Olympics in Beijing.

This year, it being a special date and also foreseeing that there will be a lot of attention on me once the IVF starts, I wanted to make his birthday extra special. We usually buy a joint present for both our birthdays but this year we decided to not to have any presents. Excellent, that meant for a real surprise!! Long story short, after a month of searching, involving many of our friends and attempts in vain, I eventually found a company in Singapore that shipped a Mahogany Poker Chip case (750) and a Blackjack dealer shoe. The difficulty lay in the fact that gambling is illegal in Thailand so most online companies wouldn't ship here. Anyway, I am sure that there will now be many card nights ahead with the guys. I remembered how Amandio used to love nights like that with his French friends when we lived in Ireland. He can dazzle all his new friends with his card tricks and croupier skills ;-)

The night before his birthday his friends from work organised a really lovely surprise party at a Thai restaurant. This is one of the toughest things to do, especially when you are like me and can't keep secrets! The decoy (invitation for drinks at a friend's house who just got promoted) along with Amandio's suspicions that we were planning something for him on Friday night, threw him off the trail and he was genuinely surprised that night. Thanks you guys!

The night of his birthday we were invited to the Four Seasons to an Italian restaurant by a Portuguese friend of ours. To mark the occassion we had champagne in the lobby with a quartet playing classical music behind us and toasted at 8:08pm. (forgot to take a picture of that!). Here he got his third birthday cake!! He had already received a huge chocolate one at work and of course the previous night too at the surprise dinner. Hmmm...

To compensate he went out yesterday and bought a top of the range tennis racket to start sweating off those extra kilos ;-)