I’ve been away from the blog for almost a week. It’s been very hectic. L (and the baby) continue to do well.

What a whilrwind! Starting last Sunday, I traveled to Minnesota for an early morning Board of Directors meeting. On Tuesday, I was officially named a Vice President of the information technology company for which I work. I then flew to Washington DC for meetings today and only got back home well after midnight tonight.

Next week, I’m headed back to Washington (Mon-Wed). I then return home, pick up L, and then we’re off to Alaska on Friday for a 7 day cruise. Interestingly, we got a call from Holland America to upgrade to a deluxe balcony suite for only a couple of hundred bucks extra… so, I jumped on that chance!

This pleased L and thus conforms to my policy: what the pregnant lady wants, the pregnant lady gets.

I’ll write more over the weekend.

Now that we’re “out of the closet” so to speak, we’ve been telling friends and colleagues about our joyful news. In most cases, we haven’t mentioned the IVF, primarily because it just doesn’t come up. (I think twins might have yielded more baby-making related questions.) Of course, in a few instances, we’ve discussed our difficulties and the associated treatment, assuming people wanted to hear.

That said, I have one friend who I’ve avoided telling until yesterday.

Let’s call him “Bob.”

A few years ago, Bob was in town on business, and we met up for dinner at the world famous Bern’s Steak House in Tampa. We had an enjoyable meal and had moved onto the dessert room for dessert (surprise) and an after-dinner drink. Somehow the conversation moved on to children, and Bob confided in me the struggles he and his wife had had in TTC. At this time, L and I hadn’t even started TTC yet nor was I anything that even remotely resembled an expert on matters of infertility. So, I just patiently listened to the tale of woe, tried to remain sympathetic, and generally kept (thankfully based on what I’ve now learned) any stupid suggestions or opinions to myself.

Bottom line: after much treatment, Bob and his wife were not going to be able to biologically have kids.

Fast-forward to this week.

I had to tell Bob about our struggles and success (I only see him semi-regularly, but I couldn’t keep a child a secret for the rest of our lives). So, here’s what I said (after making small talk about other “news”):

I have some other news as well. After some unexpected challenges and then associated medical intervention (which I know you’re all too familiar with as well), L and I are expecting a child. She’s due in early February. Needless to say, we’re thrilled and excited by the prospect. We’re also extremely grateful for our good fortune in a way that I don’t think is possible unless you’ve struggled.

Seemingly, he took it very well. He offered me his congratulations and seemed to appreciate my sense of tact, saying something to the effect of “dealing with the emptiness is hard for us.”

Yeah, I know, my friend. Believe me. I know.

Sorry for the delay in my posts. It was a bit of a whirlwind of a week, having a new direct report starting for me (who’ll also be commuting from Florida to Minnesota) and some other (all good) career-related “stuff” going on (looks like I’ll be taking on more responsibilities / business functions). Needless to say, it’s all good, but doesn’t allow a lot of time for writing.

So, I have some catching up to do…

Established at OB’s Office

L’s now officially re-established at her OB/GYN’s office. After a little thrashing, we opted to stick with the rather large practice that she’s been participating at. It’s a little weird, because the practice consists of entirely female docs. Personally, I don’t get the “for bitches, by bitches” (as L calls it) selling point. Not that I’m opposed to female docs (indeed, my primary care physician is a women), but I just think it’s odd that of two candidates to add to the practice they’d have to pass on a better qualified / trained male for a lesser qualified female candidate simply because she had a vagina.

Marketing. Go figure.

Last Wednesday, we had our first appointment (I attended) and met with one of the eleven docs in the practice (you sort of rotate around to meet them all). As it happened, we’re fellow alums, having earned our respective doctorates from the same university. Oddly, I can’t say that was a comfort either.

What I did like about her: she was fairly mellow, which serves as a good foil to L’s strongly “type A” personality. Her take on various issues (paraphrasing):

Travel? Go for it. We’ve sent pregos to South America and China. Just no international travel after week 34. Exercise? Absolutely… go back on the treadmill, girlfriend. Food restrictions? The occasional bit of brie, gorgonzola, hot dog, or slice of deli ham isn’t going to cause any problems. Caffeine? You can visit a Starbucks once again. Splenda? Sure. Heck, go wild: make it a Coke Zero (Splenda and caffeine). Sex? Ride ‘em, cow girl!

All of this was a bit much for L to process, as she’s been in uber-careful mode ever since starting the IVF cycle (and per RMG instructions). But, the doctor kept stressing that she’s in really good health (normal BMI, good vitals / blood work) and still relatively young (at 32)… so, really, she’s just another normal, low-risk pregnancy at this point. They’ll let L know if/when there’s something to worry about.

One other “observation” — from what I could tell, there’s another side effect in having an all-female office: they seemed to have potpourri and flower arrangements everywhere. But, then again, it was my might first trip to an OB/GYN office, aside from the RMG. Maybe that’s the norm?

Well, I’m back from my brief trip to Washington, D.C. This month is going to be a whirlwind of (business) travel, followed by our planned annual (vacation) journey to London in early August. I actually have a lot to bring you up to speed on: telling the fam about the pregnancy status (and IVF history); first “normal” OB/GYN appointment; update on the PIO shots, etc.

However, I don’t have the time or energy for all of that tonight. I just need to relax… and unwind.

Exhale.

That’s what I need! To take a breather, which we all need from time to time.

This seems especially apropos, as my first column at Exhale Magazine came out today! Yup. That’s right. I’m now one of the regular writers for this smart online magazine for people who have either lost babies or struggle to make them in the first place.

So, I’ll have more to say tomorrow. But, in the meantime, why not go Exhale with me tonight?

Following yesterday’s ultrasound, we met briefly with Dr. Goodman, L’s reproductive endocrinologist at the Reproductive Medicine Group. She seemed genuinely thrilled about our success… complete with an ear-to-ear grin and hugs for us both! Up to this point, she’d been mostly “down to business” (which I appreciated), but I have to say that L and I have been very favorably impressed by the RMG throughout. They’ve been both technically competent (obviously) but also demonstrably caring.

In short, we’d highly recommend the Reproductive Medicine Group.

Now returning to regularly scheduled programming…

Yesterday was also graduation day for us. This was (thankfully / mercifully / hopefully) our last trip to the RE office. We’re now just a “normal couple” expecting their first kid. So, L will be headed back to her regular OB/GYN practice (after confirmation w/ Dr. G that it was “recommended” by her).

L’s first appointment at the OB’s office is next Wednesday. I think I’m planning to attend this appointment too. My schedule should allow for it, as I have a short business trip (leaving tomorrow, returning on Tuesday) to a conference.

Here’s a gift for the lovely parting contestants.

As a graduation gift from the RMG, we were given a copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” I’d been tempted to order this on Amazon, but then I opted not to because I’d read a lot of reviews that said (paraphrasing) “this book will scare the shit out of you.”

Not exactly something I thought we’d need.

That said, having now read a lot of it, I think it’s only scary to the uber-fertiles, who are generally (as we all know) completely and utterly ignorant about matters of conception and pregnancy compared to their IF counterparts. I was surprised by both how much I already knew (good Paul!) and how much we’d already been through (good news!).

Conception: Ha! (ROFL) Check. (After writing a large one.)

Dietary changes / restrictions: check.

Activity restrictions: check.

Symptoms: check, check, check.

First month: check.

Second month: check. (Well, nearly over…)

Knowing that shit can go wrong: check. (All too familiar).

So, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” isn’t too scary at all (and an easy read).

No more PIO shots! Ohhh… maybe not!

Finally, we learned yesterday that L could stop the IM PIO shots, if she wished, and move on to Crinone (a Vaginal gel), but when we called the pharmacy we got a crazy price for the product ($405 for a 12 day supply, which we’d probably need to order twice).

Libby’s attitude: “Fuck that! I’ll stick with the shots.”

So, it seems that we’ll continue the PIO shots until: 1) we find a lower price for Crinone, 2) we get Crinone covered by my medical insurance (possible as this is for pregnancy, not infertility), 3) our doctor switches the prescription to a lower cost alternative, or 4) we simply make it through the end of week nine (when all progesterone support ends).