A Little Bit of Everything

IVF:  My local gyn (not the old RE) prescribed a monophasic birth control pill for me to start with my next period.  Which should have started, um, a while ago.  But I'm stressed, and none of us are particularly surprised by its tardiness!  The monophasic pill is something Barbados Fertility Centre specified, rather than a diphasic pill, which is what I was on for KRM.  I'm not sure what the difference is, or why monophasic is preferable, but I try to be compliant ;-) That gyn also agreed to do my pre-Barbados baseline ultrasound, so YAY!  Our family doctor wrote orders for a laundry list of blood work... we both still need to go have the blood actually drawn.  

Curious about the kind of blood work required for IVF?  Besides all of the usual hormone levels, which I've had drawn a zillion times (so I had recent results to hand over already) we are both being tested for: HIV1, HIV2, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen, and Hepatitis C Antibody.  Additionally, I'm having blood drawn for: Full Blood Count, Antiphospholipid Antibody, Antithryglobulin Antibody, TSH and Rubella IgG.  Oh, and I have to have a recent gyn check-up, which I'm taking care of later this month... when insurance will let me :-)  

Grad School:  I finished my internship!  I don't think I've blogged at all since I started my second placement... the one at the high school.  This placement was such a blessing to me!  I had a lot of fun, and got to practice a lot of skills I've mostly read about in the last five years :-)  And my mentor at the high school was the mom of an old friend, and I got to know her professionally as an adult, which was really neat.  All of the counselors, teachers and administrators were so encouraging and good to me... when I left my final function on Tuesday night, I was fighting tears.  Hard.  And kinda lost that fight.  I am truly grateful to be ending my graduate school career with such an overwhelmingly positive experience!!  Speaking of ending my graduate school career, next weekend (May 10), I get to wear this: 

Around the House:  Housework has been slipping majorly since I started my second placement... it was exhausting!  But I made a shadowbox of our Disney trip, brought my wedding bouquet over from where my in-laws were keeping it safe while we moved, and discovered a new favorite cookie recipe (thanks, Pinterest!).  

We bought a football helmet display case from Michaels for the bouquet.  It fits quite comfortably in it!

I'll share the recipe soon!

Jewelry:  I finished jewelry for 6 members of a wedding party!  That was a LOT of fun!  I'm hoping the bride will let me share some pictures of the jewelry in use after her June wedding, but here's a little collage in the meantime.  Also... I got my handmade glass beads back from the studio where I made them, and I made myself a new long (32") necklace with some snake chain and jasper beads in a soft, spring green!

I also got a haircut.  Which doesn't really fit anywhere above, but now I think you're caught up on my last couple weeks :-)

I try to be honest with myself and all of you, so trust me when I say... I will NOT be back on the blog until at LEAST May 11!  I have a ton of stuff to finish up before graduation, so I need to buckle down and finish this journey strong :-)  Gotta make those future babies proud of their Momma... and their Momma proud of herself ;-)