The lengths we go to

I've been doing my hormone injections for almost a week now. These are all of the supplies for the one medication I have to inject everyday. My jaw about hit the floor of the pharmacy when I picked up the huge paper bag of supplies and then again when I saw the receipt - nearly $700 for these and one other syringe of a different medication. Yikes!



The first injection was terrible, but I blame myself completely for that. I knew fully well that I just needed to prepare the syringe and stick it in fast without thinking about it, but I wimped out. I wound up standing in the bathroom with the needle in my hand for 15 minutes before I could convince myself to do it. I almost had Alan do it for me, but after I handed the syringe to him, I remembered that I was the one who went through the 30-minute training and I didn't really trust him to poke me with it. It didn't hurt much when I finally got up the guts to stick it in my stomach, but I think I forgot to breathe and nearly passed out before I was finished. I hate that light-headed, nauseous feeling. I was fine after lying down for a few minutes and the rest of the shots have been much easier. I still can't let myself think about what I'm going to do while I'm preparing it though. Faster is definitely better.

I had my 4th doctor's appointment in two weeks this morning and I'll have at least two more this week. Driving there and parking takes about 45 minutes each way. I don't know how anyone with a regular job could do something like this. It's pretty crazy how involved it is. Every time I go in, they draw blood and do an ultrasound to keep close tabs on my hormone levels and on how things are progressing. I'm usually in and out in 20 minutes so Spencer just comes with me and looks at books. I probably only have 3-4 more days of injections left before I do an injection of a different medication and then IUI (intrauterine insemination - I'll let you google that one if you're interested.) I'll be relieved when this is all over, but it will be so completely worth it if it works.

Preschool in a Can

I can take absolutely no credit for this idea. Awhile back, my sister-in-law Caralee sent me a link for a preschool in a can from here. I immediately thought it would be perfect for Spencer. He usually loves to do structured activities with me and I figured this would be a great step before he starts a preschool co-op next fall. It took me a long time to get this simple project together, but I'm happy to say that we're finally using it. Coming up with all of the different activities was the hardest part of the project by far. I wanted 50 ideas to start with. I came up with a few on my own, but got most off the internet. Let me know if you're interested in doing something like this and I'd be happy to email you my ideas.

I chose to do 5 categories: math, art/music, physical, language & science. My original plan was to pick one stick each weekday, a different category every day. Spencer only likes the paper on the language stick though, so so far we've only done language. (Trying to get him to pick a stick from a different category resulted in a lot of crying. I quickly caved because I want this to be something Spencer likes and wants to do rather than something mom wants him to do.)






We've only been at it for a week or so, but we've done some fun things and Spencer and I are both enjoying it. I'm not very creative at coming up with games and activities on the spot, so this is perfect for me too. Most of the activities take between 15-30 minutes. It helps fill our long afternoons before Alan gets home from work. Thanks for the tip Caralee!