Mountain Mama

A couple of months ago, I saw 3 or 4 deer down at the end of our driveway, so I picked Ben up and we watched them out the window until our dogs chased them away.  For at least 2 weeks after that, Ben would say, “dee!  dee!” and beg to be picked up, or drag us to the window.  He wanted to look out the window for deer.  We also saw several deer in the next weeks by the side of the road or crossing in front of us.  For a while there, Ben was seriously obsessed with deer.

Then that obsession faded and he hasn’t mentioned deer for a while (nor have we seen any lately).

This morning, I was sitting at the bar, checking my email, with Ben on my lap.  He said, “dee!  dee!”  I absentmindedly said, “yes, Ben, we can look for deer.”  Then he said it again: “DEE!”  I glanced up, and there was a deer standing RIGHT THERE in our kitchen window!  We watched it for a while until it walked out of sight.  

Smart little guy!

PS- that is a picture of a deer I ripped from the internet.  ;)

My brother is spending 8 weeks in Tanzania this summer, studying Swahili and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  He arrived there this morning!  Follow his blog at http://summerintanzania.blogspot.com.

Disclaimer: Anyone who finds information about gynecological and/or reproductive health offensive should not be reading this blog.  Thank you.

Last Wednesday (June 10), we finally had our appointment at the IVF Center!  It was familiar and new all at the same time.  Almost all of the people who work there are the same, but I had forgotten about all the preliminary work that goes into an IVF cycle.  You can’t just call up the doctor and schedule an embryo transfer!

We went into Dr. McGinnis’ office and sat down.  Tim had brought a couple pictures of Ben to show off.  A few minutes later, the doctor came in, followed by a woman I recognized right away, but not from the IVF Center.  He shook our hands and started to introduce her.  I said, “Actually, we’ve met. You helped deliver Ben!” and I showed her his picture.  As if she would remember, much less recognize him!  She was one of the doctors who performed my c-section, and she actually signed his birth certificate.  I guess she is a resident.  She said, wow, it must have been a couple years ago!

They went over all the risks and benefits of  IVF. (Risks: ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, triplets, infection, etc, etc.  Benefits: baby).  They had to go over all the possible negatives that could happen, however small the chances.  Basically, in all scenarios, you have about a 0.0001% chance of dying and they have to tell you about it.

Then we went over the timing of everything, and I was more than a little disappointed.  The lab is closed in July (apparently, they close every other month for sterilization purposes.  Imagine that- wanting a clean lab to create embryos in!).  There are still a few tests we have to get done beforehand anyway (they have to test my ovarian reserve and estradiol via a blood test, and I have to have another sonohistogram and a pap smear.  Tim has to have another SA).  So we won’t get into the injections until August.  More waiting!  I had been thinking all along that we would be doing the process in July, but it was not meant to be.

Ben has a name for me!!!

For about a week now, I’ve noticed Ben saying “ma-ee” to me and when pointing to my truck.  I thought he was saying “my” at first, but I’m 95% sure he’s saying mommy.  He says “da-ee” for daddy and “pa-ee” for potty, so it makes sense that “ma-ee” would be mommy. 

I’m serious, he says something new every day now!

Go Ben!

Ben peed in the potty for the first time this morning!  

I was changing his diaper and he said, “pa-ee” (potty).  So we went into the bathroom and I encouraged him to stand in front of his little potty.  He got distracted quickly and started walking around the bathroom.  I got up to go get a clean diaper and he started to pee on the floor.  I moved him to his potty and…success!  Then, of course, I emptied it into the big toilet and let him flush it down.  

Immediately afterwards, he said, “more, more.”  He tried to go again but didn’t have anything left. 

Yay, Ben!