Ultrasound results

Well, we went in for the ultrasound yesterday and everything is looking good. We saw the sac and the Dr. measured the yolk. Sounds like an egg right? The 'baby' is very tiny, only about 4mm in length (if I remember correctly). It appears that there is only one itty bitty (Oksana's code name for the baby), so unless they are identical there are no twins in our immediate future. They took more blood from Oksana for more tests and we have an appointment again on January 20th. We might be able to hear the heartbeat at that appointment (she'll be 8 weeks along).

First Ultrasound

Oksana is 6 weeks pregnant today so we have the first ultrasound later this morning. They are looking to see if the sac has developed and how many. Since Oksana had five viable eggs when the sperm was released, there is a chance that there could be multiples. Though the chances are really low. I'm still hoping for twins (a boy and a girl) so that we don't need to go through the legal hassles again, but if we do have twins we are in for alot of hassles during pregnancy and alot more costs because we'll need two of everything. Oh well, we'll see.

We're pregnant!!

Well, we (and yes, I know only *one* of us is actually pregnant) are officially pregnant. We went to the doctor Friday for the official test. So, of course we are trying to hold our excitement in check because the odds of miscarriage are still pretty high until you get past the first trimester (which is why you should wait to tell people until then). However, we are telling a few people before then. Because of the weird way they count weeks of pregnancy she's 5 weeks pregnant (the weeks start with the first day of your last period, not the conception which seems totally messed up to me). The due date using online calculators is September 3. But, we'll see what the doctor comes up with using more refined methods. Oksana goes in twice next week for them to perform some tests to make sure her hCG hormone is increasing at the appropriate rate. A week from Tuesday (January 9) she goes in for the first ultrasound. They are going to see if the sac is developing (not exactly sure what the doctor means by that, but that's what he says). We went to Half Price Books today and bought some books so now I'm reading them and learning what Oksana should and shouldn't eat and should and shouln't do.

Now we wait...

Well, we went for the 2nd insemination yesterday. Now we wait for two weeks to see if we're pregnant (and by we, I mean her). If we are woo hoo, If not, we start the process over again. We will get to take a home pregnancy test the day after Christmas, when we'll be in Oklahoma. Since my family is against us having kids, we'll have to be discreet on taking the test and handling the results.

So, enough about babyquest or as one of our friends so eloquently put it, Operation Turkey Baster :-P

The weather here has warmed up again. It's nice, but makes it seem not at all like Christmas. I put out a series of micro-geocaches called the 12 Micro's of Christmas with the premise that they were easy and close to where you could park because it had gotten so chilly. Well, now its all warm again. Oh well.

No progress on the dissertation front. I am waiting for the 2 CEO's to allow the study to be distributed. With the holidays and end of year stuff, they don't seem to be putting any kind of priority on this. Sigh. I'm just ready to move on.

Well, I need to get back to work and motivation is on the low side today. I want to play video games instead (go figure).

Babyquest update

Let's see, where did I leave off? Well, I don't remember so I'll start from last week. So, the early part of last week Oksana took Clomid (sp.) to increase her chances of getting pregnant. On Saturday morning we went into the doctor for them to do an ultrasound to figure out when the best time to inseminate would be. Oksana responded well to the drugs and has 5 mature eggs in her ovaries. So, Sunday evening at 7pm I had the pleasure of giving her a shot to trigger ovulation. This was not fun. It didn't end up being that bad but the anticipation of it was making Oksana all anxious which was making me feel guilty for having to be the one to give it to her. The needle was 3 inches long. I gave her the shot and she replied, "was that it? That didn't hurt at all". Oh well, now we know if we have to do it again. This morning we went to one hospital to pick up the sperm. We were told that it would be ready when we got there. But, no, there was a change in rules sometime recently and they won't start thawing it until the patient arrives. So, we sat there for over an hour. Oksana was getting livid. Oh, an unhappy Oksana with lots of hormones in her system is not a good thing. When we finally got the thawed sperm (in a container) we put it in her purse and walked over to our Doctor's office for the insemination. We got there and they did the procedure immediately. It was actually really quick. After insemination she had to lay there for 20 minutes to allow the little guys get where they need to be. We get to go through this tomorrow as well because tomorrow is the actual ovulation day. However, since you don't know exactly when your body will release the eggs, it increases your chances to have sperm there already. So, insemination today and tomorrow. I hope she gets pregnant this month so we don't have to go through all this time (and expense) again.

Kitty guilt trips

So, it's 2:20pm and I've been out of the home office all day and just now getting here. You'd think I hadn't been home in weeks given the way the kitties are acting. How can these creatures who can't speak the english language give such effective guilt trips? They've *never* been petted, *never* be fed, and did they remember to mention that they've **NEVER** been petted? Ugh, and I need to be accomplishing stuff that requires me not to have a furball in my lap.

Okay, okay, I'll post

Yes, I know it has been a *really* long time since I last posted. So, what's happened in the last few months....

My dissertation proposal was accepted by my committee and the University so now I'm in the study phase where I do the actual study proposed. Of course, the CEO's of the two organizations don't see this as high of priority as I do so I'm waiting for them to allow it to go out. Waiting is hard because I want it done!

We had Oksana's family here for Thanksgiving. Both her parents and her sister was here. It was really tiring, but a whole lot of fun. It's nice to have guests that you don't have to worry about entertaining all the time and can pretty much fend for themselves. I wish they lived a bit closer so we could see them more often.

On the baby front, it's almost time. There have been an extreme amount of hurdles and costs involved to get here but we are almost to conception. She goes into the doctor this weekend for them to tell her when they will inseminate. We got 10 vials from the donor so that should last us at least 5 months (and hopefully we don't need that long). I am still hoping for twins but the odds are just not in my favor. Even with the drugs Oksana is taking to make her more fertile, the percentage only goes up to like 7%.

The holidays are here. I love Christmas time. I just wish it seemed more like Christmas. We had such wonderful Christmas's as kids and I loved it. It just doesn't seem like people are in the holiday spirit anymore. Maybe the adults never were and it was just us kids. I hope my kids have the same feeling of Christmas magic that I once did.

Well, this is good for a first post in awhile. I will really try to be more regular.