Justice League - Allie & Harris Style...

When my phone rang at school, just after lunch on Friday, I thought it was odd.  When Harris asked me if I'd been home - knowing that I work 45 minutes away - I knew something was way beyond odd.  Turns out, someone had broken thru the glass on our backdoor, reached inside to twist the lock on the knob, and come inside to steal anything easy to carry.

I've always tried to make my home a place where people feel welcome and want to come.  However, I had no clue that a burglar would feel so "at home" that he would stay long enough to go thru (yes, really) all of our drawers, closets, cabinets, and cupboards.  Um, eew.

So, beyond the creepiness that exists knowing somebody has looked thru your underwear, exists the joy (written with TOTAL sarcasm) that comes from finding out it's going to cost almost $1,000 to replace the door and repair the damage he caused. 

Only dumb people steal from us.  Really, you don't realize who you're messing with - we don't take crime laying down - and we're big supporters of the "you do the crime, you do the time" mentality.  I knew what was missing; so did Harris.  We took off to the local pawn shops, began asking questions, giving item descriptions, along with our contact information, etc. and were able to track 6 of the stolen DVDs to one specific store.  Now, here's where the story gets REALLY GOOD.

Post Part II:  AKA, "Dumb Crook News"
There's this wonderful little caveat to the law in NC which states that any person wanting to sell an item to a pawn shop must present a valid, state issued ID card.  Our burglar, being not the sharpest knife in the drawer, gave the pawn shop employee his current drivers license!  The investigating police officer met us at the pawn shop and took the details about the seller.  The officer has made contact with him, and is hoping to have arrested him by Monday.

Oh, and one other thing to note:  The guy is currently on probation for breaking and entering.

Thank Heavens we had a stupid criminal instead of a criminal mastermind!!!  While we don't expect to ever see the laptop and other items again.  But, hopefully we'll at least see our day in court!

Carry On, Carry On...

Remember a few posts back when I said that my next ringtone would be that song, "Carry On," by the group FUN?  Well, it's time.  I'm officially switching over from the devastatingly sad song about loss to my new hang-in-there-and-carry-on song! 

"Though I've never been through Hell like that, 

I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back."

"May your past be the sound of your feet on the ground.  Carry on, Carry on."

My feet are most definitely on the ground...and they're heading to the bank tomorrow to send our 1st payment for a FET cycle with 2 of our 4 embryos.  Fingers crossed!

TRYING to move ahead...

The update this time includes our attempts to begin moving ahead on a FET (FROZEN embryo transfer) cycle.  However, we have been a bit discouraged and frustrated because of the warnings and ominous predictions that we've gotten.  While we appreciate the "reality check" that sometimes comes from doctors dealing with infertility, it has been a major source of frustration this time around.  Basically, we've been reminded that the likelihood of success with a frozen cycle is much, much, much, much, much, much (seeing a pattern?) lower and probably, most likely, almost certainly will end with a negative result if we push ahead with that.  We're being encouraged to try and come back for another fresh cycle - which we don't object to - because that would give us the best shot...again.  One of the best things about SCI, is the honest information and guidance that's given.  Having a doctor that answers emails is a phenomena unheard of in the US. 

Okay, so here's the question that keeps rearing it's ugly head in our minds - if the FET cycle is so unlikely to work, why in the world did we do so much to fight for having left over embryos?  All those drugs, all that waiting, feeling like grapefruit are hanging on both sides of my hips, and then crossing fingers and hoping that we have more than enough eggs.  Why did we do all that, if it wasn't for the goal of using them?  Again, I do appreciate the reminders that a fresh cycle and a frozen cycle are very different in odds of positive results.  But, is it so low that it's not worth trying for half the up-front cost???

I mean, from our perspective, we've got 4 embryos on ice, and we've been talking/debating trying to put in 2 rather than all 4 - kind of the ole "don't put all your eggs in one basket" mentality.  If one or both of the 2 didn't survive the thaw, we'd be okay with thawing the other 2 and using those in addition or in place of.  The other thought we had was that if those first 2 didn't work, we'd have only spent about half the money we'd have used and could do another FET cycle or *possibly* stop and do a last fresh cycle in June (because God hates me and that's the earliest I could go back - yay, another June in India - whoo hoo).  That would give us a short few months to work on paying down the cost of the frozen cycle and evaluate finances before heading over.

Changing directions completely - my anxiety meds are working well enough to take off the extreme highs and lows.  I tried one prescription and it had a strange side effect.  So, I've switched to another one now.  It's non-addictive, and I could come off of it right away with no issues.  But, my doctor said he would want to have me not taking it for 3 months or so before I tried another egg retrieval.  Makes sense to us, and my goal was never to have the meds be a long-term solution.  I just needed/need something to help me get back on track emotionally.

Sorry for being so quiet over the last month or so.  I know that everyone who's walked this road understands the need to withdraw sometimes and think.  We are sending congrats to everyone who's had babies, received continued positive scans and results, and we mourn with those who are still fighting for that BFP.  Hang in there!  We'll find ourselves celebrating one day, I hope.