Monday musings

My weekend was pretty good. How was yours? I had off from the og Friday night (always yay! for that), Saturday night at the bar was crazy busy but very profitable and Sunday I had off to go to a baby shower (yucko). It was for a girl I work with. This is the one who lost her little girl due to anencephaly. I sat with my fellow og mates and caught up with the goings on in their lives. It was nice to see everyone but seeing all that baby stuff and multiple pregnant women was too much. I couldn't wait to come home.
My very talented husband made Rita Kennedy's famous Irish baked potato soup. It's a soup that I used to get at a restaurant in Blooms.burg called Russell's. I won a cookbook and a cooking lesson with the owners (a couple). How cool is that? I'm so glad I have the cookbook because the wife passed away a couple of months ago and right before that they sold the restuarant. That made me very sad because it was my favorite place to eat since I was little.


Rita Kennedy's Famous Irish Baked Potato Soup

2 quarts chicken stock
4 large baked potatoes, diced (leave skins on)
1 quart heavy cream
1 large onion, cleaned and diced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic
1/2 stick unsalted butter
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
8 ounces sour cream
1 pound bacon, cooked and diced
16 ounces cheddar cheese
roux (1/2 melted butter to 1/2 flour)

Saute onion in butter, in saute pan, until transparent. Add garlic to onion and cook for 2 minutes. In large soup pot bring chicken stock and potatoes to a boil. Add onion mixture to soup pot and cook for one minute. Add heavy cream to soup pot and heat, do not boil. Thicken with roux (about 1 1/2 cups).
Ladle soup into bowls, add cheddar cheese, bacon and a dollop of sour cream on top.
Yield 8 servings (It made a huge bowl. I don't know how they figure out their servings. )

We got the invoice for the i.vf. 9200--covers all the procedures, icsi, and embryo freezing. The meds should be around 5k. I so wish that Pa would cover treatments. I know of two companies that pay for some treatments but I do not forsee myself quitting school and my jobs to work for them. Maybe a fairy godmother or a very generous tipper can come into play now.

More about meeting

The re's office called me today. A very nice nurse named Kate spoke with me about what is to happen next. Information about i.vf and cost will be mailed to us. It is after we begin payment that M's special i.vf sperm analysis and a sonohysterogram will be done on me. M is worried that his numbers are going down but I explained to him that as long as he is making some swimmers we should be okay. She asked me when we would like to start and I explained to her about my back. Nov 28 should bring some answers. I'm so ready to go and I hate waiting. But what am I going to do.
I do have other things going on. A unit plan for math, a virtual reality field trip to make for social studies and my p.raxis II are on Nov 15. I'm doing good with my weight. I'm within ten pounds of my goal weight for ww. Physical therapy is alright. I do a pool workout when I go and finish up with ultrasound, electric shock and a massage. It's not making the spasms go away. Sometimes my back feels so weak. The pt is supposed to make my back muscles stronger with the stretching and exercises but it's not really helping.
I stayed up to watch the election results. I am very tired today. The dogs and I all took a nap in the basement. Mine was about 15 mins. I can't wait to go to bed tonight!

Today is a special day!! now with update

It is my birthday!! I'm so excited because it's my special day! I worked this morning and I voted. Now I'm here at home. I'm going to have some lunch and relax. Then it's our appt. with the re. Hopefully we'll have a plan to go with when we leave. I'll post an update later.
Me and Chachi at Balloon Festival

Update:
The meeting went as expected. The re was very nice and warm. I really liked talking with her. They do want a special kind of analysis done on our swimmers, some kind of i.vf analysis. She asked if we knew we were headed in the way of i.vf and we said yes. She gave us the run down on what i.vf is and how we get to that point. A refresher for me but I'm glad she explained it to M. Based on the new analysis we will know if i.csi is needed. She gave us a 40% success rate with regular i.vf and 60% success rate with i.csi. Now I have more waiting--my nov 28 appt with my neurosurgeon. I have to find out how my back is-- specifically do I need surgery and can my back handle a pregnancy. More waiting. But like my husband said--you need a good foundation before we can tackle a pregnancy. I pray to God that we figure out what to do with my back and get it to where it should be.
We went out to dinner at one of my favorite Ch.inese restaurants where we ate cruncy noodles w/duck sauce, shrimp tempura, sweet and sour shrimp. I drank tea until I floated out of the restaurant. I was born in the year of the Rabbit. I married a Boar--which is said to be my perfect match. My Mom is a Rabbit who also married a Boar. This year they are celebrating 39 years of marriage. I think that's pretty amazing!

News I can do without

In the two classrooms I'm in as a TSS there is a pregnant aide in each. Alright this stuff happens. Today I get the news that in one of the classrooms the teacher is three months pregnant. Oh my gawd I wanted to crawl in a hole and cry. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.
I can't wait for our RE appointment next Tuesday. I want to schedule my IVF w/ICSI NOW. Make that yesterday.
I was in T.arget last week for odds and ends. I hear a child crying. Then I hear why he's crying--the mother screaming at him. And she wasn't just screaming at him she was saying things to him like f*** y** and asking him if she scared the sh** out of him. She had another little boy with her. I'm going to have to do major fertility treatments and God gives her two. I know it's not my place to understand but I so want to understand--just a little.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my best friend Magnus!! He is 10 yrs old today. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday my Mom and Dad brought him home. He was so little he needed help up the front steps. Magnus was a well fed puppy--his belly was so big that when he went to scratch his ear he couldn't reach it.

Happy Birthday Magnus!! Thank you for being my best friend!!
Love,
Susan

Bugs

I'm sick. We call it having the bug in my family. I knew my schedule was going to be crazy with my two jobs, three classes, an internship and helping Elisabeth with her school and keeping up with the house (kinda) would be a lot but I didn't think it would hit this soon.

Goings on

I couldn't wait until Jan 5 for my RE appointment so I bumped it up to Nov 4 (my birthday!). It's an initial consultation but I already know our diagnosis and what we have to do. I expect to get right down to the nitty gritty and talk IVF w/ICSI details.
I have my evaluation for my back this Tuesday. And then I begin P.T. I hope this will bring answers and some kind of relief for my back. Yesterday I had a terrible day with pain. I was getting into my car and it went into spasms. What fun.
I just want my back to be good and I want a baby. Is that too much to ask for?