Zoey, our new God Daughter!

I have been a little obsessed with photographing and editing her pictures lately. She is a great subject and practice for my newborn in approximately 41-42 weeks


These are some pictures from 10 hours old to 2 weeks old.

10 hours old

6 days old

13 days old

13 days old

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1 injection down, 1,009,837 to go

I gave myself the first Lupron injection this morning and it was easy peasy. I am not going to lie and say my hand was steady as the needle approached my abdomen. There may have been a tremble but then I didn't even feel it and I felt like a fool. 

Next injection is at 7:30 tonight. Maybe just maybe I will let The Captain enjoy sticking me. I have to think about what I will get in return. muahaha ;)

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3 more days. . .

until the sticking begins!

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Who needs sex to have a baby?

When you have all this to get the job done. . .

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Comment glitch fixed

I had no idea it wasn't letting people comment. Apparently blogger has some issues right now on how you set up your comments.

Comment  away. . .

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IVF #1: T-minus 12 days

I say IVF #1 because we are doing the multiple cycle plan but hopefully that is the only one. T-minus 12 days and counting until I start the Lupron! 

We had our ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) class yesterday morning. We were there for 3 hours going over our calendar, medications and protocols. We got to practice mixing and giving each medication I will be taking; on a pillow not on me. They filled all the vials and cartridges with saline and we could do it as many times as we felt comfortable. The Captain really enjoyed stabbing the pillow with the 1 inch long Progesterone needle. Oh Lord, help me! I think he enjoyed it a little too much. But I think he missed his calling, he should have gone into medicine; I was very impressed at how careful he was to make sure all the air bubbles got out and that it was measured just perfectly in the syringe. This was just practice! I am very proud of him.

After the class I spoke with one of the coordinators about the Follistim I already have; although I have the right amount of drugs I only have 5 needles and I will need 10. I told her about it to see if I could add them to my order; she left the room and came back with a brown paper bag full of Follistim Pen needles for FREE.

All of my other meds will be arriving today! 

Our protocol - 

Name: Meldrum Protocol

Drugs: Lupron, Follistim, Menopur, Medrol, Doxicyclene (sp), HCG & Progesterone in oil

Egg Retrieval: September 21, 2010 *estimated date

Egg Transfer: September 26, 2010 *estimated 5 day transfer

If anyone else is taking Doxicyclene as their antibiotic Publix gives that prescription for FREE. Yes folks I said FREE. 

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Today I became a God Mother

Not the fairy kind. My best friend had her baby today via c-section. She had Placenta Prevaria and at last weeks ultrasound it was determined that baby was breech so they scheduled her for a c-section. On Friday night her and her husband showed up at the restaurant to ask The Captain and I to be the baby's God Parents. I am so honored and touched. They didn't want to find out the sex of the baby and this morning I got the call that I have a God Daughter. I can't wait to meet her after work!

Her name is Zoey and she came into this world at 8:01 am, weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz, 20 1/2 inches long.

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Griswold Anniversary Dinner: Part Deux

7:00 pm - Finally The Captain walks into the restaurant. It amazes me that although he dropped me off on time he was still a half hour late to dinner. How did that happen? At this point I am trying really hard not to let this ruin our evening even though my husband left me sitting in a restaurant by myself for 30 minutes, got a parking ticket under my name because he didn't want to not tip the valet guy. 

7:15 pm - We finally place our dinner order and tell our server that we are trying to make an 8:00 play so please put everything in at once. The theater is only 2 blocks away so it is a very quick walk. My husband will not stop sulking even though I have reassured him that I am not letting this ruin our night, so be happy. 

7:50 pm - That's right, our dinners have not arrived yet. Pretty sure we aren't seeing the play. Our server comes to the table and says...

"you said your play was at 8:00 right? I don't think that is going to happen. There are a lot of tickets in the kitchen". 

 Is she for real? I would never say that to a customer. Ever. She is talking to the wrong group. My husband is a GM of a restaurant and I have worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years. 

Well we didn't leave the restaurant until almost 9:00 that night. We ended up with a $25.00 parking ticket, an empty tank of gas in the car, and the worst steak dinner of my life. It was tough, stringy and waaaay to salty. 

I ended up drinking a whole bottle of Champagne by myself due to the Wii beer pong we decided to play when we got home. I can't tell if I won or lost? We did end up having a great time just playing games and laughing at each other all night. Definitely an anniversary to remember. Who knows maybe next year we will need a babysitter. . .

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The Griswold anniversary dinner

I promised you the anniversary story so here it is...

We both had to work the day of our anniversary with it falling on a Friday and all, but The Captain managed to leave the restaurant early (gasp) and made it home about an hour before I did. When I got home from work there were a dozen roses on the dining room table waiting for me. They were beautiful!  We had the perfect night planned, reservations at this new french bistro in downtown St. Pete and then tickets to the local theater to see a play. (back-story: I love the theater! It was/is very much a part of my life. So this was a special evening for me)  
 
Keep in mind dinner reservations are at 6:30 and the play starts at 8:00. 

The Captain is notoriously a half hour or more late for everything. I mean everything. I have to tell him to be somewhere a half hour early just so he shows up on time.

6:15 - Leave the house and drive to the restaurant. The Captain decides at the last minute he wants to take my car. He never wants to drive my car. ever. I say "okay but I am going to need to get gas on the way home tonight, I am just under a quarter tank". He replies "okay that's not a problem". little did he know.

6:30 - The gentlemen that he is, he drops me off on time mind you, at the front door of the restaurant while he can park the car. Now, it's First Friday in St.Pete, that means there will be no free parking on the street, I inform him of this.   


Me: "we should just use the complimentary valet since we won't find a parking space".  
Him: "I don't have any cash to tip the valet guy" 
Me: "So, don't tip one time it's not going to kill you, it's complimentary"

My argument did not work. Now would be a good time to tell you that I did not bring my cell phone with me since we would be together all night.

6:32 - I give the hostess are name and she tells me that I can wait at the bar while the other half of my party arrives. I kindly inform her that no I will go ahead and sit since he is just parking the car.



6:40 -  Still no Captain. WTF? How long does it take to park a dang car? I think people are beginning to think I got stood up. Great, the hostess just gave me the stink eye. Maybe I should order something.


6:50 - Still no Captain. F*ck it, I order a glass of wine. Now it is starting to rain outside, I hope he knows I have an umbrella in the car. Remember, I don't have my cell phone with me. I kindly ask the hostess if I can use their phone apparently my husband has been abducted by aliens. 


Me: "Are you alright? What happened to you?"
Him: "I can't find a parking place that isn't metered and I have no change"
Me: "Just come back and do valet, you have been gone 20 minutes"
Him: "I found a spot and walking there now, I am 2 blocks away. Great, the meter maid just wrote you a parking ticket"
Me: *crickets* 


I hung up on him and went back to the table. He wouldn't do valet cause he didn't want to be the guy who doesn't tip but can get his wife a $25 parking ticket. 


To be continued. . .

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Blog Re-vamp

I am ready for a change so look for the new blog look soon. . .

P.S. ok it is up and running. Enjoy the new layout, I really like it. I hope you do too. It might be tweaked over the next few days but this is pretty much it.

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Photo break

Here are some recent photos with the new camera. Are you tired of seeing my practice shots yet?

The two black and whites are done with the Pioneer Woman's B&W photoshop action. She is a big inspiration in learning photography so check out her site if you haven't already. I love reading her blog and you must read the story of how her and her husband met and fell in love.

I received a dozen red roses for our anniversary

A rose by any other name. . .

Our furbaby girl

Our furbaby boy

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Out with the good and in with the bad

Let me start off by saying we had a wonderful time on our anniversary. It didn't start out too good but that is for a whole notha' blog post. Lets just say it was a wee bit Griswold's anniversary dinner.

Out with the good

This is an email I received this morning. . .

Good Morning Erin and James,

Attached you will find a receipt for your payment and participation in the Attain® IVF Program. 

Please let us know if you have any questions.

It's official! We are in the IVF program. We pick up our schedule and our medications Tuesday the 17th of August. AF should be right on time to show tomorrow, in 22 days I will be starting the Lupron!

In with the bad

Not but a few hours later I received  a phone call stating that we did not qualify for the Compassionate Care program through Fertility Lifelines. What does that mean? That means we will not be getting the free Gonal-F for our second cycle (God forbid we need it). I am praying that much harder that the first cycle works for us. 

How I will come up with an additional $2,000-$4,000 next cycle is beyond me at the moment? 

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Five Years!

Today marks The Captain and I's fifth wedding anniversary! I cannot believe we have been married 5 years now. It seems like yesterday I was getting my hair and makeup done anxiously awaiting walking down the aisle.  I remember that day perfectly, the champagne toasts starting at 9:00 in the morning, breaking out in hives and having my sister put cold rags on my neck, having a face full of cake. Yes, we were not nice when it came time to serve each other cake. It made for a really cute picture afterward though.

Tonight we are going to a fancy restaurant and to the theater to see the play Seafarer. I know nothing about this play except it is set in Ireland. I am just praying The Captain doesn't make me leave at intermission.

I married the most amazing, wonderful man that I know I could never live without. He is the one who lifts me up after every disappointment even though he is just as saddened. He is the cheese to my macaroni. I am a very lucky girl and one of these days we will have very lucky children.

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Rays vs Yankees

Rays win!! I had to say it.

I took my handy dandy new camera to the game withe me today to get some action shots and boy did I get some good ones. It's a good thing I brought my telephoto lens cause our seats were a little far away. Here are some shots from today.

Matt Garza
I yelled "Hey Matt look up" just like a paparazzo and he did. Thanks Matt

Really far away with the telephoto lens, that is why it is blurry

A-Rod might have gotten his 600th home run but Shields struck him out.

I <3 John Jaso

Well I know some of them are blurry but it was hard to keep the camera still after a couple of beers.

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