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.

Today was a mildly momentous day: L stopped taking progesterone.

She’d been on PIO shots until a couple of weeks ago. At that time, she switched to Crinone 8% (which is really expensive but fortunately was covered by our medical insurance because it was pregnancy and not infertility related). As a result, the past few weeks have been far more comfortable… and I’m no longer a nightly “pain in the ass” by administering shots.

All told, we probably have something on the order of $1000 in unused pharmaceuticals and supplies (extras from during and/or after the IVF cycle). At some point, we’ll need to dispose of them. For now, we’re keeping them around as a kind of “military surplus” in our War on Infertility, though we hope to live in peace from this point forward.

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?

Today, we had our first full family (L’s parents / my mother and grandfather — yes, a small family) gathering post announcements about the pregnancy and “rest of the story” (i.e., knocked up after infertility treatment — more on that later) . Like always, I was the primary “chef” and opted to serve fairly typical barbecue fare. I can certainly do better in the kitchen, but I was being lazy… almost to the point of feeling guilty for my lack of effort. This really was a walk in the park (despite nearly everything being homemade).

Anyway, I still have more to relate from the prior week, but I’ve been busy with holiday prep work and other stuff.

I’ll try to write more tomorrow, prior to my travels on Monday. July is going to be a busy month. I’m currently slated to be on the road 3 out of 4 weeks.