SATC2 Tonight!!!

SATC has been a favorite of mine. I think it's because it's the out of control life in NY that I could have had if I had moved there for college like I had originally planned... no, I do not think that I would have ever lived life like that, even if I lived in NY. I just liked the escapism of it all. I could not imagine having a life even a fraction like any of the characters. I think I would have had a nervous breakdown in my 20s - and I wouldn't even want to think about what my mental state would have been in my 30s.

I am looking forward to tonight because the premier that I am going to is supporting a local Autism early intervention centre. I think it is great to take a much anticipated movie and raise money for an important cause. I've be attending a pre-show cocktail party at a designer shoe store and then it'll be off to the movie. And yes, I'm going with 3 friends so even if the movie isn't that great, at least we'll have fun!

UPDATE!!!


I had good fun tonight. I was a bit late to the cocktail party (ok, I was almost an hour late but it was tough getting out of the office). I didn't manage to change out of my work clothes but I did have on my Dune shoes that I purchased at Covent Garden in 2008 (I love them!). The cocktail party was pretty cool - cocktails in mod glasses sushi, raffle tickets for fabulous prizes (the draw is on my b-day - June 21), and lots of beautiful shoes to drool over. I met up with my friends and soon we were walking up the street to the theatre - about 60 or 70 ladies, dressed to the nines, all hiking up the hill to see a movie. It was kind of embarrassing but also sort of fun.

The theatre was decked out in pink and black balloons, men wearing black vests delivering popcorn to the ladies who purchased 'popcorn raffle tickets' (inside your bag could be  cool prize like a spa day or a limited edition SATC bottle of vodka, etc) and the reps from the charity wearing black vests with hot pink tutus. The theatre was packed and I was so happy that it meant that the charity would receive quite a bit of funding from the evening.

The movie was ok - not as good as the first movie IMO but that was to be expected. Some things weren't funny to me but I probably looked at it a bit differently due to the energy in the room. Yes, ladies were talking to the screen at times and reacting to what was going on. I can guarantee that when I see it on DVD, I will probably have yet another perception of it. While I won't discuss the movie since so many may still be going to see it in the coming weeks, I will say that it reminded me that life goes on - and the characters have moved on. I read a review before the movie that was somewhat critical of that fact but, upon seeing the movie, I do not believe that it could have been done in the same way as the tv series. In my final analysis, the characters have matured and so have I.

In any case, I had good fun tonight and I am glad that I got to share the experience with friends. It was great to laugh at things together, wolf down popcorn and teeter down the street in high heels.

Week 7

Date/Week: May 26 ; week 7


Total weight gain/loss: 166.2 (+4)

Belly measurement: n/a

Milestones: New bra size (sports bras are my friend); new blood pressure meds

Physical Progress: look bloated; bbs are quite impressive but the nipples are so painful (sorry for TMI)

Symptoms: pretty nauseous, some cramping and constipation

How do I feel about my body: feeling that I need to rethink my closet - did I always have so many tight clothes????

Food cravings/aversions: avacado dip; asparagus, sour skittles

Sleep: Desperate for a nap during the day. Sleeping in 2 hour stretches at night

Energy level: feeling pooped most of the time...

Exercise: walk almost daily; highland dancing 2x per week (more stretching, less jumping); cycling 1x per week; some prenatal yoga/pilates & fitness dvds

Baby Movement: not yet

Thoughts and Feelings? still pretty nervous

What I am looking forward to: seeing what the sproglet looks like at the next u/s

What am I reading / things I’m learning: 'Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy' / cramping is my uterus growing

Week 7

Sunday cycling excursion

Yesterday, we had to forgo the kayaking idea since Aidan hadn't registered the kayak with Marine & Ports (knowing our luck, the police would have been patrolling just as we would have started paddling...). Not one to temp fate, we decided to pull out our bikes and head towards Dockyard. Now, the bikes have been banished to our basement since the beginning of our TTC journey, when an overly anxious me read that cycling would be bad for "the boys" (if you get my drift). As things quickly went down hill, the bikes went further and further into the back of the basement. Yes we missed them - particularly for the Aquarium's annual fundraiser that we used to cycle around the Sound. So, it was with great nostalgia that Aidan pulled out the bikes yesterday morning and pumped up the tires.

We began riding to the railway trail and immediately Aidan realized that my gears weren't working properly. After riding about 3/4 of a mile, he tried to fix my top gear but it would take tools. We decided to keep going. Now, I had been complaining that I needed a workout. Well, I got one. I had to pedal my butt off to keep up with Aidan. Thankfully, it was a lovely day with a good breeze - I needed the breeze! Aidan did take some pity on me and we exchanged bikes at some point. Much better! However, the gel seat on my bike wasn't the most useful thing and I realised that my butt and inner thighs were killing me - from sitting... go figure! I worked through it and managed to get home by standing up whenever I went over a speed bump.

So triumphant, if not exhausted, we have returned to the world of cycling!

Week 6

Date/Week: May 19 ; week 6

Total weight gain/loss: 162.2 (-2.6)

Belly measurement: n/a

Milestones: first ultrasound (saw the heartbeat)

Physical Progress: nothing externally noticable except the inflating bbs

Symptoms: swollen bbs; some nausea

How do I feel about my body: feeling rather odd, particularly the nauseous moments

Food cravings/aversions: craving cheddar cheese and water crackers

Sleep: waking up at 1am and 5am consistently.... I need sleep!

Energy level: rollercoaster

Exercise: walk almost daily; highland dancing 2x per week; some yoga/pilates

Baby Movement: not yet

Thoughts and Feelings? cautious but excited

What I am looking forward to: the next u/s on June 4

What am I reading / things I’m learning:'Knocked Up' by Rebecca Eckler; the sproglet is currently the size of a blueberry

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

May ICLW!!!

HAPPY ICLW!!!!!

Welcome! I’m Marisa (35) and my husband is Aidan (37). Our history is on the left. As you’ll see, we just found out that we’re expecting. It’s the cautious time and we’re counting all of our blessings at the moment.

A friend of mine answered the questions to this quiz and I loved what I learned about her. I thought it would be a great way to share a bit about me for ICLW!

Getting to Know Me!

Apple juice or orange juice?  Apple Juice (Apple & Eve to be exact. There’s also a German one that I really like)

Are you a morning or night person?  Night. I can get things done in the morning – just don’t expect me to talk…

Which do you prefer, sweet or salty foods? It depends on my mood – and I sometimes like both together

What was your favorite childhood television program? The Muppet Show, Force Five Cartoons, JEM

Are you a collector of anything? Jewelry J

If you could be any animal, what would you be? I’d like to be a cat. I sometimes envy my cats’ lives.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep? Often what I am thankful for. Sometimes I try to organize in my head what needs to be done tomorrow.

What's your favorite color? Blue – midnight blue is my absolute favorite

Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets? Most definitely – in such a vast universe there must be more life out there!

Do you believe in ghosts? Sometimes

Ever been addicted to a video/computer game? Civilization and Journeyman Project

You're given 1 million dollars, what do you spend it on? I’d love to set up a philanthropic trust after paying bills, etc.

Have any bad habits? I’m a pack rat…

List 3 of your best personality traits: entrepreneurial, visionary, focused

List 3 of your worst personality traits: control-freak, impatience, can hold a grudge

Have any celebrity crushes? Hugh Laurie

List 1 thing you wish you could change about yourself: I have polycystic kidney disease – I’d change that!!!

Any tattoos or piercings? Pierced ears (1 in each lobe); used to have my belly pierced.

What's the first thing you notice in the opposite sex? Legs J

Are you mostly a clean or messy person? In the middle…

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Bermuda

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? Chile; Argentina; New Zealand; Egypt; Greece

List 5 goals on your life's to-do list: 1) Go to Paris  2) Lots and lots of theatre  3) Achieve my Highland Dancing Member’s status  4) Learn to Flamenco   5) Continue to make a difference in my community

Name 1 regret you have: I don’t really have any since I wouldn’t be where I am today without what had happened in my life.

Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid: Watching MGM musicals with my dad

Name 1 thing you love about being an adult: Travelling all around the world!

What's your favorite song of the moment? "Wave" Frank Sinatra

What's your favorite thing to do on a Saturday night? Watching Doctor Who on BBC America

What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon? Puttering around in the garden

You're about to walk the green mile, what do you have as your last meal? Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi!

If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be?  Talk to my great-grandmother whenever I need her guidance; take away the polycystic kidney disease in my family; Have enough to give continuously to the charities that need help

Ever wish you were born the opposite sex? No – I like being a girl!

Name 1 thing not many people know about you: When I was 6, I wanted to be an airline stewardess.

If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? I really, really like my name – particularly when it’s pronounced properly (in Italy or a Spanish speaking country).

POST A COMMENT!  CHOOSE ONE OF THE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER!

Embargo Lifted.... Original Message: OMG!!!!!!

Aidan asked that I not say anything until we were sure.... well, and ultrasound confirmed it today... WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!

It's been insane because we found out on Mother's Day evening. I was late, freaking out about when I would have to go in for my day 3 blood tests since my week was hell and decided to POAS just for the hell of it. Needless to say, I was more than a little stunned to see two lines. I started screaming OMG and shoved the test stick into the shower for Aidan to see it. I followed up with a digital and it immediately came up saying 'pregnant'. We were floored - no words can express the joy and confusion we experienced that night.

The next morning we went to my GP for a blood test. At 11am I got a call - it was positive. The results were sent to my OB/GYN and Nephrologist. The OB/GYN immediately called and requested 2 betas. The May 11th beta was 1,732 and May 13th beta was 4,452. He then set an u/s date for today to see if everything was in the right place.

I spent the rest of the week and weekend freaked out completely. I took a test daily to tell myself this was real. This morning I was up at 4am, I was so nervous. We got to the doctor's office 30 mintues early and had to drive around a bit to not look too eager. Then came the vaginal u/s. Both of us held our breaths until my doctor pointed out something. It's in the correct place, we saw a heartbeat and is measuring at 5w 6d. We've been given a due date of January 12, 2011. Needless to say, we're stunned to unknown levels. Since I am high rish, our next u/s is June 4 followed by an OB visit on June 9. The OB is consulting with Boston as they may have to change my BP meds and the plan is for me to deliver in Boston (maybe - depending on how things go). And... we're still off to Budapest in June since everything is already booked.

In posting this news, I really want to thank all of you for your support over the years. Many of you have become good friends and without you there were days that I believe I would have stayed in the pits of despair. I am grateful for this community as I did not have the courage to seek out people to talk with IRL when we were diagnosed with infertility. I am grateful for your advice, love and kind ear since 2007. I do understand that with this news, some may not wish to read or comment going forward. I understand completely. However, I want everyone to know that you all are in my thoughts and prayers, as you have been from the beginning!

A Saturday Lie-in

I need to slow down - I know it. Every morning I'm up between 5 and 6.30 and I don't seem to stop until I climb into the bed at 11-11.30. That's why I revel (and I do mean revel) in a Saturday morning when I can sleep in. It happens once or twice a month but I won't complain. I love to get up, deal with the animals and then climb back into bed for a few hours. The last Saturday lie in resulted in me getting up at 1pm. Indulgent... definitely!!!

The Saturday lie-in has worked against us in the past though. We generally leave the door to your backyard open for the dogs and cats to go in and out of the house. One time, Artemis (the white cat) came in with "something to show us". She meowed loudly until we yelled her name to indicate where we are (sort of a cat/human version of Marco Polo). So she came upstairs into a lovely dark room with two dogs  and a cat asleep on the bed. Then all hell broke loose. The "something" was a live bird!!! There was a lot of flapping and squawking, dogs barking, two cats growling at each other, and feathers everywhere. Aidan then starting flinging animals off of the bed and out of the room to figure out where the bird was located. Eventually, there were two dogs and a cat on the other side of the door, Artemis with the bird hunkered behind the toilet growling at Aidan and a bedroom and bathroom covered in feathers! Needless to say, we now keep the back door closed on lie in mornings.

So grateful for my housekeeper

Today was another hectic day - work, teaching dance, doing a million other things in between. I got home at 9pm and as I opened the door, the scent of a recently cleaned house welcomed me. It's Wednesday night and that meant that we had our weekly housekeeping visit at some point today.

We don't get much done - just the floors, general dusting and straightening up and the bathrooms. We handle the dishes, laundry, windows etc. This arrangement work for us because 1 - it's not too expensive; 2- it keeps the pet hair down; and 3 - it brings some peace of mind!

Tuesday Already???

I'm busy as usual. I hope things will slow down soon. In any case, I hope everyone had a very Happy Mother's Day. We had a lovely one.


We took both our moms to lunch at the Tennis Club that Aidan's mom and sister are members (We can't bring ourselves to join since we're not consistent enough to spend that much money!). It was a lovely day - just a tad bit overcast with a breeze. There were 13 of us (including our niece) and we had a lovely table outdoors overlooking the beach and next to the jazz trio. When the lunch started our table was nicely shaded but we still had to wear sunglasses. By the time we went in to the buffet, the shade was quickly disappearing. Unfortunately, the breeze was strong enough that they did not have any umbrellas available. The food was sublime but it got hotter and hotter as the meal progressed. By the time we got to dessert, Aidan's grandfather abandoned us for the covered balcony and my mom followed shortly afterwards. Aidan and I took our niece up after we ate since she kept saying "hot, hot". She fell asleep shortly thereafter. As everyone else finished, they joined us on the balcony for a few minutes and then we headed out for our other activities.

Aidan had to play for an event in the afternoon so I relaxed a bit at home, spent a little time in the garden and made dinner. I roasted a small leg of lamb, made some roasted potatoes as a treat (I don't do potatoes much anymore) and some scalloped cabbage (from scratch). It was so yummy. We rounded out the evening with a few episodes of the third series of 'Jonathan Creek'.

I guess I'm not THAT organized...

We've accomplished a lot this week:

1. We've gotten all of the testing forms for the required tests that are needed for the consult in Budapest.

2. I've sent current results to our coordinator and had another set of tests this afternoon.

3. We've booked our flights.

4. I've arranged our acupunture apointments leading up to the trip.

5. Our Budapest hotel is booked for June 17 & 18.

6. Our London hotel is booked for June 19-22.

7. I've gotten tickets for the matinee performance of 'War Horse' on June 19.

8. We're going to Kew Gardens with friends on June 20th.

9. We're making plans with friends for the evening of June 19.... we know which restaurant that we plan to go to though.

10. We've decided what we want to do on my birthday on June 21.

Unfortunately, with all of the to-do lists, emails and confirmations, I messed up a simple theatre booking this afternoon. We've decided to see Dirty Dancing on my birthday night so I decided to go through Ticket.Master. It was an easy booking as I got to use the interactive seat choice feature. I paid for everything and then when I printed out the receipt I realised that I booked the tickets for June 22! Damn! Customer service was closed and it looks like I'll have to sell the tickets to friends and buy another set for the 21st.... Double Damn!

Anyway, our trip is booked and I can't wait to go!!!

I could have been a travel agent...

I love planning vacations. I love choosing the location, reviewing all of the options, looking for special things to do, pre-paying as much as possible. Then came last year and I failed miserably at planning the trip to CZ. Sure, we got the flights and cars sorted but I planned nothing for when we got there - and neither did Aidan. We sorta did things when we had to and even then we had to push ourselves. I can blame stress for our careless planning job but thankfully, everything fell into place and we did have a great time (with great pictures to remind us of our adventure).

This year we're starting out a bit more organized since we know what we're facing. We're also loving this concept of the coordinator and are using this resource more than we did last year. We heard back from our coordinator this morning, who thanked us for my pap and hsg results and gave us lots of info on the consult schedule. So basically, we need to get to Budapest on June 17th. We'll be picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel by our guide who is assigned to us for the trip. The hotel has been booked so our room is already set! We'll have breakfast in the morning and then our guide will pick us up and take us to the clinic for our 10am appointment. The visit might not be as long as some since we will have done most of our tests up front. We'll then purchase our drugs for the identified protocol and then our guide will take us on a city tour. The day will be rounded out with a visit to the apartment building near the clinic that they encourage patients to stay (complete with kitchenette, etc.). If we fly to London on the 18th, they can get us to the airport by 5 or 6pm. If we stay overnight, we'll fly out early in the morning. Either way, our guide will take us to the airport. We're contemplating staying overnight because it's cheaper than an extra night in London... no decisions yet. If we do, I need to start looking for good restaurants in the area!

So I am hoping to redeem my travel agent dream self with the help of my IVF coordinator in London and my on-the-ground guide in Budapest. Sure, having a consult is like a run-through as well. I would guess that the 10-14 days that we'd then spend in Budapest in September will end up with us getting out of the city.... I am already planning on getting into Austria (I'm addicted). As fror London, you know my ideas from yesterday's post. I plan to start booking that once Aidan has purchased the airfare. That said, we're still hoping for a minor miracle so we can replace our September ideas with solid plans for Ireland...

Preparing for June!

Yes, we've started to get ready for June. We're in the midst of booking our 'first visit package' We're going to stay at the Hotel Central Basicila - right in the city center. We've been to Budapest before but we didn't stay in a hotel (we boarded our river cruise and slept on the ship) but we did go shopping, do some sightseeing and ate at a sidewalk cafe when we were there. We will only be in Budapest for one or two nights. Included in our package is the consult, the hotel (2 nights, with breakfast and free internet), transportation (airport transfers and clinic transfers) and a city tour. We'll have to pay for the drugs for the cycle separately. Hopefully, Budapest will be the whirlwind experience that it is looking like on paper.

We're also working with our doctor to pull together all of the required tests for the consultation. I had two of the tests in March (I scanned those and sent them to the coordinator by email today) and will do all of the other tests over the next 3 weeks or so. DH will be doing his tests as well. Next we'll need to book our flights to London and then to Budapest.

We'll also be spending a few days in London to celebrate my birthday. At this point, we'll be in London for 3 nights (4 if we only do one night in Budapest). I've already started exploring the musicals that are on in the West End, have been campaigning for peonies for my b-day and have had amazing daydreams about visiting my favorite restaurants. We've also discussed trips to Kew Gardens (I've never been there in a warmer weather month - always October or November) and Hampton Court (I've been trying to get there since 2001). I am truly hoping for a relaxing break.... we need a mini-vacation!