A funny thing happened at the gas station

Last night I HAD to stop at Tar-J to buy the Sex and The City movie. I also picked up some more pregnancy tests to have on hand for next cycle. Anyway, as I was cruising around I noticed the Mapco had gas....regular unleaded....AND there was no line! So I whipped into the station and filled my tank. As I'm standing at the pump I hear a faint, "Excuse me."

Me: "Yes?"
Him: "Hi, gay man here. I love your top. Where did you get it? How much was it?"
Me: "Thank you. I bought it at Target...oh months ago. I think I paid $15 or $16."
Him: Oh. Well it looks great on you, shows off all of your curves in all the right places and the color is fantastic!"
Me: Well thank you very much.

And off he goes. I had to smile to myself and it definitely gave me an ego boost. Compliments from gay men are awesome. It's been awhile since I've had one. I'm still smilling about it today. So thank you unknown gay guy for brightening my evening and now my morning too.

And yes I did watch the movie last night and yes I started crying at the opening credits. J had a friend over so I had to keep my sobbing to an approriate level. J watched the first 15 minutes or so and the last 15 minutes or so. I told him he missed all the good stuff so we'll have to watch it again...soon.

Beautiful floors

I mentioned last month that we decided at the spur of the moment to have our hardwood floors refinished. Our contractor did an amazing job! I love my floors. Our animals do as well. A few photos to give you an idea of the really bad state of our floors prior to refinishing. After much debating on a stain we decided to just clear coat the floors and bring out their natural beauty and color.

Infertility Update

Our appointment with Dr. Hill at Nashville Fertility Center was this past Tuesday. It went well. He's very nice, soft-spoken and he seems very determined. We went through our history and he discussed everything with both J and I. I had another vaginal ultrasound. I have a cyst...most likely from the Clomid and of course that polyp is still there. Dr. Hill examined me. Poor J-I think he was traumatized. He sat in the examination room with me the whole time so he saw my uterus and ovaries on TV.

We sat back down with Dr. Hill after my exam to discuss what the tech found on the u/s. I have either a uterine septum(I think this is the proper terminology) or something else which I have completely forgot the term but it is a deformity of my uterus or a uterine anomaly. That may pose a problem. Dr. Hill confirmed the cyst and the polyp. On CD1 I have to call to schedule another HSG. Dr. Hill mentioned doing a hysteroscopy and laproscopy. He wants to move quickly on these procedures so we can move forward and he can see what we are dealing with, especially in regards to my uterus. I spoke to him about Clomid and he wants to try a Clomid challenge which will involve a lot more monitoring than I just had or had in the past. It will also involve an HCG trigger and an IUI. Unfortunately, Sally did not send my records over in time so things may change a bit once he sees those results.

J and I went ahead and had the blood test to determine if we are CF(cystic fibrosis) carriers. J kind of balked at this but I pushed him to say yes. The man hates needles with a passion. I just reminded him that one little prick is nothing compared to how many times I've been poked and prodded thus far and what is still to come.

I told Dr. Hill about not being told I was not a good candidate for IVF and he said he doesn't think that is the case but he needs to review my records from Sally first. However he did say we may be closer to IVF due to my age. He doesn't want to wait and he said he will do everything in his power to help us and that he does not give up easily.It was a pretty good visit so I'm happy. I think J is scared of all of this. We didn't really have a chance to talk about it afterwards as he had to get back to the office.

The latest in bullets

~We met with a contractor last night regarding our hardwood floors. He offered us an AMAZING deal to refinish the floors if we wanted to start Friday so we agreed. Last night we had a frantic pack em up and move them out and proceeded to pretty much empty out the rooms with hardwood. Sadly or perhaps to our benefit everything will fit in our family room. I'm so glad we don't buy a lot of "stuff." We managed to pack and move everything except our bedroom last night in 3 hours

~Nothing new on the baby front. I am blissfully late but not pregnant. Why blissful? Because of my May superstition I did not want to conceive in August and deliver a May baby. So I'm just letting nature do it's thing and if AF has not arrived by next weekend I'll start taking the meds to induce AF and then we can get back on track with doctor visits and sex.

~This weekend, courtesy of a work event I will finally step foot in 3 Nashville landmarks: The Parthenon, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium(original).

I thought I had more but can't think of anything else to say at the moment.

Ultrasound results

To put it succinctly, they sucked.....at first. The U/S tech looked using both the dildo cam and looked externally. My ovaries were not getting any action....at all. Not one little follicle to be found and we were hoping or BIG ONES!

I take my depressed ass along with the results to Sally's office. She takes a look and asks me if I ovulated yesterday. I told her I have no idea as I stopped monitoring. I have not taken a temp, checked cervical position, cervical mucous or peed on a stick. Actually I peed on one stick. I'm almost out of test sticks for the clearblue easy fertility monitor and you are not supposed to mix test sticks from different boxes. I haven't had an opportunity to go to Wal-Greens for more so I kept putting off testing. On Monday I said screw it and tested which was CD 13-kind of late to be starting. I forgot to pee on a stick every morning since then. Then she asks if we've had sex recently to which I replied yes.

She proceeds to tell me that after ovulation she expects the endometrium...the lining of your uterus which needs to be thick to sustain a new little zygote...to measure at 8.0 mm. Mine is 9.0mm. Based on that Sally thinks I may ovulated a little earlier this month so probably sometime between Monday and Wednesday.

I am to take a pregnancy test on August 7th if I do not have my period yet. If it is negative than I've had yet another annovulatory cycle. Wish us luck.

Ultrasound & updates

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday to determine follicle growth/maturity. I am praying for good news as we leave for Mexico this Saturday so this will be our only chance to monitor this month.

We spent the 4th in Jacksonville Beach with our friend Craig aka Dupree. We had a great time and are trying to figure out when we can go back. Lucky bastard lives smack dab on the beach! Life really is a beach for Craig.

We've added a screened gazebo to our deck so we can enjoy our deck more in the summer months without being eaten alive by mosquitos. It's working well so far although I still get bites walking to and fro. We purchased the floor model as the gazebo was out of stock but putting the gazebo back together Saturday was easy and relatively quick. One benefit of buying the floor model...you have a better mental picture of how it all fits together.

Nashville is officially suffering from extremely hot and humid weather. I think it was 103 yesterday! The dog days of summer have arrived. I think our weekends from here on out will be spent in my in-laws pool.

The 4th

Today is my Friday as we leave for Florida tomorrow! Four glorious days of sun, fun, and relaxation I hope!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!