grandbabies

my mom wants them...

She has recently come clean about wanting grandkids, and I've told her (with limited details) we're working on it.
Yesterday morning, in an email about other things, so asked if we've thought about names and said she started looking at baby stuff.
We have ZERO intention of telling anyone the names (well, at least our parents), since I don't want criticism and such.

So I told her "We're pretty set on Gertrude (Gerti) and Alfred (Freddy)."

And I mean no offense to anyone who likes these names, but they are total fakes

So she replies...

Old fashioned names…I like old fashion…Dad thinks you’re joking…he’s not crazy about either….I’d rethink Gertrude..too “old lady”……Trudie or Gerti are both cute…why even use Gertrude?  Alfred ..not bad…..my grandfather on my father’s side was Alfred (no nick name)…Freddy will remind people of Freddie Kruger…keep that in mind…Al, as  a nick name, might be better…

sorta progress

So 10 months, a lot of monitoring, oodles of weird drugs for Chris, tens of thousands of dollars billed to my insurance (and just a bit paid out of pocket by us, thanks awesome insurance sorta making up for my sorry salary), 4 total inseminations, 2 "normal" failures (one for me) and 2 bigger failures (which our doc calls "duds")...no kid on the way yet. So much for Christmas gift announcements...oh well. Maybe Easter.  I have this weird obsession with telling our parents they will be grandparents via card. And we don't really do cards, so I need an excuse...

But...my mom asked about babies yesterday. So I told her some of what's been going on (well, in general, I left out - entirely - the actually trying & failing parts). She ate just about a whole basket of chips (we were having Mexican for lunch) during this. I think talking about sperm donors stressed her out. She disagreed with me about a known donor having a super-creepy (for us) factor. And is really concerned we might not get what we pay for and could end up with a baby who's ancestors are clearly not from western Europe. The conversation went surprisingly well though, and I think she's hoping we have a kid soon so she can babysit instead of getting a new job (since she's recently quit & is unemployed).

And...today I get a random phone call from her. I kind of think she was sitting up all night mulling over the possibility of grandbabies with two mommies.  Our conversation today, pretty much verbatim:

Me: Hello
Mom: Hi
Me: Oh, hey, I was just going to call you [about something totally unrelated]
Mom: Yes, I know [taking care of it blah blah]
Me: OK, good.
Mom: So I just called to tell you I want to be Grandma Lizzy
Me: um?
Mom: Well, I don't know what Chris's mom wants to be called, but I want to be Grandma. So I can be Grandma Lizzy so the kids aren't confused.
Me: Well, um, OK, sounds good. So what does Dad want to be called?
Mom: (talking to him in car) Hey, what do you want to be called?
Dad: (sort of can hear this through phone; I think he was driving since I wasn't on speaker. Slightly less verbatim) Um, I have no idea. They're not actually pregnant, are they?
Mom: OK, call him Grandpa.

things that are weird

a) owning a sharps container (when you're not an insulin dependent diabetic)

b) giving yourself an injection

Chris has given herself at least half a dozen and is somewhat less phased by the whole experience than me, but it is very odd.  On the upside, kudos to the guy who invented the needle so sharp it goes through the skin with pretty much no pressure.  While I was assured this was the case, I was clearly quite nervous about the whole thing since our dog basically freaked out as soon as I opened the package (and he never cared when Chris did it!).

on babies

I've mentioned a couple of times we're/I'm really a little obsessed with babies. I even made a new blog recently for our future children.  This sounds nuts, but it is currently empty. I made it to talk about our fertility journey (ugh, that sounds....crunchy...or touchy feeley...or something...doesn't it?), but then I realized I wanted it more to post photos and such for our friends and family when the baby comes (eventually). And I don't necessarily want to share all the details of getting said baby with the mass family population (though they could find this blog through the screenname link, but if they're that sleuthy, do I care? Its not like I wouldn't tell someone who asked.).  Anyway, I've been considering for a while now - months now - talking about the whole getting knocked up process. I keep going back and forth, since it is a really private thing, but then its also so frustrating and I want to share. AND I have learned a lot from reading other's blogs and such about the whole gig.

I think I'm still on the fence since I'd never talk about it if, say, we could get knocked up "naturally" in the bedroom. For today, lets leave it at the basics - 7 months of monitoring, 4 rounds of Clomid and 2 iui's later, we don't have a kid or viable pregnancy.  This month is our first try with injectables, and thus far, Princess Charming's ovaries are a little too fond of the stuff. Sigh.  Still a possibility for a May kiddo though.