20.5 Weeks to Go – Plan Update No 1

I had a very good week on the plan, I wasn’t perfect but I don’t expect to be – I am doing the best that I can. Here is a run down:

Physical:

Weight Loss:

Am down 3.8kg this week but that is mostly fluid from AF coming but also from some excellent eating and exercise – I am very proud of my work this week!!

Exercise:

• 3 X 30min Walk / Run sessions – I am on week 5 of the ‘Couch to 5km’ running plan – I was surprised that I could pick up where I had left off because I had a week off with my back being sore
• 3 X Weights program at the gym – another win for me on this front this week as I did all three sessions and felt pretty good afterwards, a bit stiff in the muscles but that is expected
• Yoga daily – this wasn’t as great – I think I only did 2 out of the 7 nights so I need to pick up my game on this one – I really like how the yoga makes me feel.
• Walking – did two walks with my bestie at lunch times this week so that was excellent. JourneyMan and I also did a 6km walk with JBB on Sunday and I have been making an effort to walk places rather than drive so another big success
• I also did 2 sessions of intervals on the home spin bike which was really good – I am hoping to raise this to 3 sessions next week

Detoxification:

• Skin brushing daily – this was a bit of a problem as I only did this once and JBB took the brush and has hidden it from me – need to do a good search of the house to find it and get this going again!!
• Clay bath – didn’t have one (forgot – whoops!!)
• Castor oil pack – did one pack which was good and wasn’t able to do anymore because AF came – will do two this week
• Clay foot bath – did this one – it is a pleasure and not as messy as the bath so happy with that!!
• Naturopath liver detox powder – was very good with this during the week having it twice a day but forgot a couple of times on the weekend, need to put some reminders in so I remember

Mind / Body Connection:

• Saw the psychologist last week and once again she helped me out with dealing with some issues and giving me tools with how to handle things – I feel like I only need a couple more sessions and then I can be left to my own devices – I can always go back if things go awry.
• Imaging, Subliminals, hypnosis – I have put the CD’s onto my phone and have done some imaging about 5 nights during the week so that was good
• Mind Map – haven’t done this one yet – JourneyMan and I will need to focus and get it done over Easter
• Make myself ready for another baby – well there is a proliferation of elephant keyrings in my world and every time, I look at them, I think of JBBS who has a face to me now. I had been thinking that if we had a boy, there would be some part of me that wanted to go again and try for a girl but yesterday, I felt the decision, two is enough – if we are blessed enough with two, regardless of whether they are a boy or a girl, I don’t mind – I will be happy and believe that we are absolutely blessed!!
• Meditation – have not started this one yet – need to find some time to slot it into my day.
• Relaxation time – I have a bath almost every day and that is my time to read a novel, I like that as my relaxation time. Plus the footy has started again, so that is also my time for myself – sometimes it is not relaxing but it is fun and that is the main thing!!

Financial:

• Bills paid on time – I have caught up on most of the bills – I have a couple to pay today and we are all up to date – I feel like I am starting to get a handle on this again now (thank goodness!!)
• Taxes complete and up to date – I have had to move my appointment with the accountant tomorrow to next week because there are some items that I still need to gather but I have made excellent progress in the past week so I am very happy about that.
• Stay within budget – this also needs some work, JBB and I are going to work on a budget over the Easter weekend for us to stick to!

House:

• Room ready for baby – still need to buy a mattress for the new bed for JBB & JBBS’s room – will do that over Easter
• Bedded down routines for cleaning – not a good start on this one, the house is a bit of a bomb site this week, I have joined flylady to see if she can help me out!
• Bedded down routines for the cooking – we had an excellent week of eating lovely home cooked food and only a couple of chicken and salad take-away days which was a good effort I think – this week is going to take some focus with Easter upon us – mmmmm chocolate!

Sleep:

• A very poor week sleeping wise because not only did we have JBB waking in the middle of the night, when daylight savings finished, he’s been waking up at 3:30-4am and will not go back to sleep for love nor money. We are trying some new things to get him down but I went to bed early which is really the best I can do at this point. JourneyMan and I will have to negotiate some sleep in’s over the Easter weekend.

Expectations:

• I have been great in this respect, doing what I can and letting negative thoughts go by without engaging with them. Moaning Myrna is still there but her voice is turned down right now which is good. I am aiming to keep her voice as white noise – I don’t need to listen to that chick’s crap.

Overview:

A very good start week – I am very proud of myself!! The new week has started a little shakily for me but I will pull myself together and get moving again!! Just writing this review of last week has made me realise that I need to put together a to do list for over Easter! Normally we go away at Easter to a country Victoria running race meeting, the Stawell Gift – it is the ‘richest footrace in Australia’ and draws athletes from around the world. It is beautiful there but this year we are staying in Melbourne because of course we are saving for another cycle, this is not the first time that this has happened but hopefully it might be the last time we miss for that reason (I don’t mind if we miss it next year because I am in the last trimester of a pregnancy!!).

Thailand 2.1

So, I am finally ready to talk about our upcoming FET cycle in Thailand. Firstly, let me just say that I have never done a FET before as we have never had anything for the freezer so that in itself is something new and different. In terms of protocol though, it is not much different that doing the fresh donor cycle except for the fact that I don’t have to be synched up with the donor.

It all happened in quite a rush because originally we were going away on Boxing Day (26th Dec) for our family holiday and we realised that it was going to be costing us about $3,000 for that holiday. When I did the sums of what it would cost for a FET in Thailand if only I went (we had already agreed that we didn’t really want to drag JBB over there for another time – he was pretty exhausted after we got back this time) and it came up at $5000 so it was a no brainer to cancel our holiday and organise the cycle for December (thank you IF for taking away our family holiday!).

The other convincing factor was that both JourneyMan and I already had time off work as well because our companies close down for a couple of weeks over Christmas. This meant that I wouldn’t have to take another week off work down the track (which is good because I am a contractor and don’t get paid for any leave) and that JourneyMan would be home to look after JBB for the whole time that I am away (if I was to go in March as we had previously planned, we would have needed some babysitting help so this works out much better).

All of these decisions were really made within the weekend after we got back from Thailand and then also found out that my sister was pregnant. I think people suspected that we were doing it so quickly because of her news but it really had nothing to do with it, it was really the perfect timing.

So, that being said – I have booked my flights and accommodation. I am staying a little closer to the clinic this time as the hotel was a little cheaper and I am flying out on 27 December at 12:30am and I get in to Bangkok at 5:40am. I will go to the clinic that morning for blood tests and scans. Here is my timetable:

24 October – start taking the birth control pill (and Clexane of course)
13 November – stop taking the BCP
17 November – AF due (yes today and of course not turned up – grrrf!!)
20 November – start taking BCP again (and Clexane)
10 December – stop taking BCP
14 December – AF due
15 December – Start taking progynova 3 x per day
27 December – Blood test and scan / start Crinone
1 January – Transfer
3 January – Fly home
11 January – Pregnancy test

It has been very strange to start preparations for this cycle when I wasn’t really over the last failed one. I have gotten there now though and my daily schedule of all my different preparations have been going very well.

I now feel in a pretty good place about this cycle – I feel like I am doing my absolute best to make it successful. I really, really hope that it will be.

Not long to go now, only 42 days.