Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, today is my 33rd birthday. I was definitely not thrilled about it. Birthdays have really not seemed exciting since my early 20s, and they seem even worse now that I am hearing the tick-tock of my biological clock. I realize that if I'm lucky I'll be able to have my first child before age 35, but any subsequent children will be automatically "high risk" and amniocentesis / CVS may be recommended. Yikes.

33 is still "early 30's", though, right? I'm not ready to call myself "mid-30's" quite yet! Don't get me wrong, though. My thirties have been great so far. I met S a little over 4 weeks after my 30th birthday, and my life has changed in many wonderful ways since then.

Anyway, today was a regular workday for me (hematology clinic), and I didn't mention my birthday to anyone during the day. I was not with my lab group, so no one knew about it. Actually, one woman had noticed my garnet necklace last week and asked me if I was a January baby, which led me to tell her, but she had forgotten about it by today. I thought about mentioning it, but in some ways it seemed like an obvious bid for attention, and I wasn't quite in the mood. I'm a hippocrite, though, because instead, I'm bringing it up HERE!! Obviously, I must want some attention, or why am I mentioning it at all!

S remembered, though, and so did my parents, aunt, grandfather, several friends (via email and phone calls), and one other co-worker. S had to work until 7 PM, so we didn't go out tonight. Instead, he bought home Thai takeout (YUM!), cake, and got me two nice gifts.

Mandatory IF report:
I had an CD2 ultrasound yesterday. My lining was still pretty thick at 10 mm, which made sense as my period was just starting to really flow at that point. No major cysts, but just the usual polycystic "string of pearls" appearance to my ovaries. I got the go-ahead to do Clomid cycle #3. Again my dose will be 50 mg days 3-7. Bring on the night sweats, baby!!

Dr A did the ultrasound yesterday, and I appreciated something that he said. I made an offhand comment about how we'd be doing this cycle, and then maybe a natural IUI, and then IVF right after that. I clearly sounded like I did not expect the IUIs to work, and that IVF is inevitable for us. He said, "Wait! This (meaning the Clomid/IUI cycle) may well work for you. We wouldn't be doing it if there wasn't a good chance that it will be successful." I wonder if he knows how a little comment like that can brighten someone's day?

Anyway, I do like his positive attitude (but hate that he often seems rushed). The 3 recent IUI success stories among my blogroll friends have also been a source of inspiration. (I believe it was 1 Clomid/IUI, one letrozole/IUI, and one injectable/IUI.) Yay girls!! I also heard of a "friend of a friend" who got pregnant on IUI#4. Yay!

Second to last thing: Target ($22.99) is cheaper than either Sav-On ($28, I think) or Rite Aid (low $30-range) for Clomid 50 mg x 5 days. Also, there was a "free $10 Target gift card with any new presciption" coupon in the Sunday newspaper's Target ad, so that made it an even better deal. Yay. I also picked up my 3rd(!!) bottle of prenatal vitamins. Yes, I am almost done with my second 200-count bottle of prenatals. This means that I have been TTC for about 400 days. Sounds about right... I'm surprised that I didn't accidentally miss more doses than that along the way.

Last thing: My Pet Peeve in a retail establishment: when someone sees my almost empty shopping cart and proceeds to STEAL it while I am doing something else! Hey, bozo, there was a jar of lotion in that cart! In case you are completely oblivious, perhaps that almost-but-not-quite-empty cart belongs to the woman at the nearby counter who is filling out some pharmacy related paperwork! I swear, if I would have run into a customer with that raspberry body butter lotion in their cart, I would have probably said something to them. Grrrr! So, you don't feel like walking all the way back to the front of the store to get another cart... well NEITHER DO I!! Ahh, I feel much better now!! Thanks for letting me get that one off my chest. :)