New House

 It's been a month since I wrote a personal update so I thought it was about time. Heaps has happened but there has been so little time to blog.

Regarding the move things are coming along well. We actually have a place to move to now which is awesome. Some friends of ours just bought a new house and will be moving out of their old place just a few weeks before we arrive. They have very generously offered to rent it to us, so that we have place to stay for the first few weeks whilst we look around and decide where we want to live. We can even buy that same house if we wish to, so it's a try before you buy situation really. Their house isn't where I thought I wanted to live, and has one bedroom less than I thought I wanted, but actually when you look at it, it is quite well located, and there is a huge extra room that we could use as an office / playroom/ work room and also use a spare bedroom with the simple addition of a sofa bed. It has views over parkland to the town, is close to a really good (but large) primary school, close to a great grocery store, close to sports facilities... It looks lovely from the photos they have sent. They have renovated quite a lot, but there are still a few things to do, like the bathroom, so I still get to make my mark on the place. They have created some great outdoor spaces with kids in mind, and there is space for a veggie patch, chickens, fruit trees...

Some days when I think about it, I think we will probably just stay there. It is nice and close to everything. But then other days I think of the little school and community that I did have in mind. I did have doubts about that area too though, as there's no grocery store, and a drive of 10km or so to all facilities. Not so bad now perhaps, though I do like to be able to just 'nip to the shop' on foot rather than having to drive. In the long term it could be annoying for BB when he wants to go and do stuff himself. So there's pros and cons to both. I guess we just have to wait and see how it is once we arrive, but I get the feeling that once we are settled in the new space we might not want to move again.

Quite a lot of our stuff is packed already. We seem to be taking a lot. More than I anticipated. But when you work out what I paid for things, what I could sell them for here and what it would cost me to buy them back there, it is actually cheaper to ship what we already have. I am also taking a lot of BB's toys. It's great now that we have a place to live already as if we get our things shipped from here in the next couple of weeks, they will arrive around the same time we do. I figure it will help BB to settle into our new space if his toys and other familiar items are there - it will feel more like home.

He seems to be coping with the whole moving issue really well too. He has the occasional moment when he says he wants to stay here because he will miss various things and people, but mostly he seems excited to be going. He's looking forward to seeing his friend G, to living by the sea, to having a bigger garden and more sunshine.  So am I.

On the IVF front, part of the rush to get stuff packed up here is because I want to get all the heavy lifting done before that, so that I can relax and give little emby the best chance possible of sticking around. I think it's all coming together nicely. We are just waiting on egg retrieval from the donor at the moment. It could have been at the end of last week or the beginning of tis coming one. I heard nothing on Friday so I am guessing it will be the start of this week. That gives me a couple more days when BB is at nursery to get things finished off here, so the timing is perfect really.

I haven't blogged much about the whole process. I think I am doing that deliberately. I find it incredible that a woman who I can never meet or know is currently going through the process of donating eggs for me. What a truly amazing and selfless act. Something I would never have even thought of doing when I was younger. When I really think about that her generosity overwhelms me.

As far as I am going physically, I had an injection to halt my own natural functions and for the last 3 weeks or so I've been on 4 mg oestrogen daily.  It has its side effects - I am not enjoying it. My legs ache and I am retaining fluid. I had a scan almost two weeks ago that confirmed I am ready - now we are just waiting on the eggs. I think I am more tired than usual, but then its hard to tell really - I am spending my days packing and lifting and moving heavy boxes around - that will be having an impact on my energy levels and aches and pains too.

Psychologically I am pleased to have the packing and sorting to focus on rather than dwelling on the what ifs about the IVF. I just do what needs doing each day, with the goal of getting all the heavy work done before transfer and this is doing a great job of keeping me sane. I have found myself wondering what I will do if it doesn't work, can I ship my frozen embryo's to Oz and carry on? I don't know, I think I would look into it though. But fingers crossed I wont have to ponder that.