We're here!

I'm in Denver! I left Kansas City late afternoon on Monday. There were pretty severe storms, so I waited an extra hour or so before leaving. Good thing! I missed all the nasty stuff and when I drove into Salina (my pit stop for the night) it looked like a major disaster had struck! Trees down everywhere, trampolines pulled up from their spots in backyards and strewn across front lawns, sidewalks, and driveways, even a church steeple pulled off the top of the church and sticking into the church roof- down into the sanctuary. Yikes. No tornado just 80 mile an hour straight winds and probably a microburst or two. Glad I missed that one!

I left Cooper in the hands of Mom and Dave, where I know he is being spoiled- allowed to sleep on the couch during the day, getting loved on by my nephews and niece, and getting extra special treats from Dave's bbq. He won't want to come home! Yesterday he played with my niece, Anah. She is just about 7 months old and apparently LOVED Cooper. He loved licking her and staring at her toys longingly. Oh what he would do for a squeaky ducky and teething rings....

Barley and I left Tuesday morning for the loooong drive to Denver. Not that badly actually- it took us about 7 hours because we had to stop for lunch in Hays (I apologize now to my family that is from there, but I think that is one depressing town), and several potty and leg stretching breaks for Barley. Otherwise, he slept most the way in his big kennel in the back of the Forester. He was a very good boy! He did get some of a chocolate shake from Hardee's that I had to stop for in Colby. We both enjoyed that one (he ate AFTER I was finished- I love my dog, but I'm not that much of a weirdo).

Kansas is actually quite pretty this time of year. It is very green, calm, quiet, and peaceful. There are a few small towns dotted across I-70 but for the most part, it is fields of wheat, corn, and milo- all offering different colors to the landscape, cows grazing (not these huge feedlots, but actual grazing in huge fields), some rolling hills (the elevation is slowing getting higher as you trek west- and yes, there are some hills in Kansas!), the Konza prairie, limestone, post rock, giant white windmills (finally someone caught on that there is a LOT of wind power out there!), and a nice smooth easy driving highway. I was really appreciating Kansas for its natural beauty on that drive! Now, I don't want to get into what it looks like in January, but I'm appreciative of my home state for what it offers this time of year (and anytime of year that is not winter!)

Finally the mountains- we got hereTuesday evening. Denver is so beautiful. Barley is loving the fact that there is no humidity. I think he just knows he is close to mountains (he is a Bernese MOUNTAIN DOG) and he has a little sparkle in his eyes! Matt and I will take him for some little adventures while we are here- over to Golden, CO to go on some easy mountain hikes (I'm not allowed to do anything other than easy walks right now) and we will also head over to Boulder on Saturday. We might as well do some sight-seeing and enjoy our time here!

I went to CCRM yesterday for my ultrasound and blood work to set a baseline. My nurse said everything looks good- blood work was good- follicles were good. I was a little disappointed though, as she told me the ultrasound sonographer saw about 8 follicles on each side, 4 on each side she measured as being "larger". Larger is better as that means that they will be mature enough to fertilize. When I did the ultrasound back in June, they saw about 21 resting follicles, so to just see 16, was a bit of a let down for me. It is still early in the stimulation phase with meds though- and they expect more to grow in the next few days. My friend Jenny, who is also going to CCRM, had 5 additional follicles show up by the time she did retrieval that they hadn't seen before. She ended up with 24 (I won't get to that number- but I'm hopeful for high teens). It is a little selfish of me to want that many, but during each phase, a certain % get knocked out. For instance: they expect 65-85% of eggs retrieved to be fertilized, 50% of those to make it to Day 5 (that is blastocyst stage and when they transfer or will freeze for testing), and about 50% of those that get frozen to come back genetically normal. I got to skip my appointment today and go back tomorrow for more blood work, another ultrasound and an IVF physical- (not sure what all that covers, but I'm sure it is something to look forward to!). Matt flies in on Friday and gets to do a "back-up freeze"- self explanatory, really. As far as we know, we are still set for a retrieval date on the 18th!

Barley and I are going to go enjoy the beautiful weather, drive around and look at mountains, eat lunch in the park, stare lovingly into each others eyes (not kidding- I'm obsessed with the dog!) and try to enjoy this experience! I can't wait for Matt to get here and enjoy all of this with us!