We should play the lottery…

The average couple has a 20% chance of getting pregnant in any month of trying.

With our In Vitro procedure, we had a 78% chance of being pregnant right now.

But we're not.

Once again, we have defied the odds. We will try again, but it has been hard. We are so grateful for the amazing people we have pulling for us. We're sorry that we don't get to tell you that your prayers did the trick, but we are still in this fight. We get to try again in January--until then, we get to enjoy Christmas and get into our own place.

Tomorrow's the big day. To be honest, between the holiday weekend and some trouble I've had getting a hold of the lab, it might be a couple days before we know our results. Also, if we take a few days to process before we shout out "yay!" or..."nay," don't be surprised.

What is everyone doing for Thanksgiving? You know how some families have traditions on Turkey Day? Like going around the table and saying what they're thankful for or playing football in the mud? We don't really do those things in the Galbraith/Burnett family, but we have our own traditions. Although the meal is hosted by different branches of the family each year, there are some things that never change. Always the table is beautiful and tasteful. Aunt Ginny's might be a little fancier and Aunt Susie's a little more intimate, but the men wear slacks and button-down shirts and the women wear skirts or nice trousers. There are hors d'oeuvres around the coffee table, and we eat in the evening (we aren't an afternoon meal family). Everyone brings something--a pie and something else. All Burnetts make good pie.  All of them. Doesn't matter who's making the apple and who's making the pumpkin and who's making the pecan.  The pecan pie always has dots of whipped cream piped around the edge of the pie with a pecan stuck in the middle of each whorl. And after the meal, when the food has set in, the cousins usually go back for more pie, and the board games might come out.

Aunt Susie's

See?

Scategories

Cousin Sarah, Aunt Susie, Aunt Ginny

A previous Thanksgiving at Aunt Ginny's



Feeding Austin pie on the table. See? We know how to loosen up. (Note the pecan pies.)


Maybe this sounds stuffy to some who might miss comfy clothes and football in the background, but not me. This is my family's big get together of the year, and I wish I could see my Aunt Ginny's beautiful table and my cousin's little girl whom I've yet to meet. Maybe next year.

We are looking forward to spending time with some of our favorite extended family of Jesse's though. Grandma Thorson flew in a couple days ago, and she's always a hoot. And we can't wait to see Jen and Carston from far away in Montana. And the rest of the gang, of course.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions?

Um...what?

Today I told Jesse:

"I hope I don't have skinny babies."

To which he replied:

"We won't--look at you!"

Yeah. And he didn't even try to back-pedal. Something about me not having been a skinny baby, but no back pedaling. Totally unrepentant. But it's ok, because later, when he asked if a certain shirt made him look fat, I tried to make him feel better by comparing him to Jim Balushi in Return to Me. Oops. Oh well.

Still waiting. By the way, if you do a Google image search for "chubby baby," amidst all the cherubic and obese babes, there is a picture of Hitler.   ?

Waiting on the world to change

Hey, is everyone as excited as we are for The Muppets? Out next week. On the 23rd. A good omen? I sure hope so.

And because it's almost this time of year:

I was raised on this Sesame Street Christmas Special, and I swear, I can still taste those typewriter buttons!

Just killin' time.

Promised Update

We're camped out here at the hotel in Portland, watching Food Network and being lazy louts. And it's Thanksgiving week on Food Network! But that's not the good news. We had our transfer yesterday! Everything went as well as our doctor could have hoped. We had two beautiful (yes, beautiful) little 4AA grade embryos tucked back in all cozy. If you're curious, that means they're already at the top of their class. And and aaand, the embryologist called this morning to tell me how many they were able to freeze. Ready for this? Seven. Yeah. Seven. And they were all of the best quality! So 9 out of 10 little guys (including the ones we used this transfer) made it, and made it to the highest grade. That's amazing. This is why we picked this clinic. Now we wait until the 23rd.

And I have to say, we have felt your thoughts and prayers very directly. Thank you so much.

Back in the Rose City

After church, Neil and I headed down to Portland. Poor Superman had to work. Tomorrow's the big day, and we're thinking happy thoughts. Thanks so much for all your support, guys. Keep ya updated.

Leggo My Eggo: IVF's a Blast(ocyst).

I've been hesitant about writing about this on our blog, but really, anyone who reads this blog knows we've been on the infertility train for a while now. Although we're both really grateful for all the opportunities we've had while we've been trying for kids, we're sooo done with this crap. 4+ years is a long time (yeah, sometimes I throw out that number when I'm feeling sorry for myself). We started the IVF process in August, and we're down to the final push now. We chose Oregon Reproductive Medicine in Portland because their success rates are the highest in the nation, and we've been really happy with them. So our Portland vacation wasn't exactly just a vacation, even though we had a blast. I had doctor's appointments most days where they did ultrasounds and blood work. This is what I see when I close my eyes. Someday, we're going to have an ultrasound, and Jesse will hold my hand, and there will be a heartbeat in there. And I will cry.

Shots everyday the past month, you get the idea. On Wednesday, we had our extraction, and they were able to get 20 eggs. Of those, 14 were viable, and 10 fertilized. The goal is to have 2 really good-looking embryos to use and some left over to freeze, so we'll see how many make it to day 5.

Now we wait. How weird is it that any biological children we may have are sitting in a dish 6 hours away? I'm actually already attached to those embryos, strangely enough. Some of those blobs are our kids! On Monday at 2:00 is our implantation. This is a painless procedure involving a catheter. Then bed rest for a few days. Then we wait 9 more days until our blood pregnancy test.

Needless to say, Jesse and I are going a little nutso. It's all we can think about. Anyway, I'm posting this because sometimes we're the only ones in the world who have ever had trouble having kids. Which is not true. But gosh, especially when you're LDS, it can really feel true. I can't express how grateful we are to all the people who have been praying for us and sending good thoughts our way. We feel loved. I'll keep you posted.

Foxy Family

On Sunday, after eating lunch and visiting with Annie's dad and step-mom, we popped over to Sav's house so Jesse could say hi (that's wife for "I want to see my bestie again"). Savannah had made killer enchiladas and apple crisp, of which I had seconds.

The best thing about being an aunt--even a pretend one--is spoiling the kids. What's this I have in my purse? A Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Better get rid of that...

Love this girl. Can't wait until Carter's old enough to bribe with chocolate. (What's this in my purse? Pureed Peas? ...)

Good days

Today, Jesse and I had a doctor's appointment today--all is well! Then we hung around downtown Portland. We ate at P.F. Chang's and  walked over to Sur le Table (drool puddle) and Powell Books where we sat in the aisles reading all the Little Golden Books from our childhoods (is there anyone who doesn't love Richard Scarry?). And Jesse found his favorite Dr. Seuss book.

We also found this little number for Sarah who has a slug phobia:

We wandered around Clackamas Town Center (mall) saw The Help, which (as promised) was really good. It's been so nice to just hang out with my buddy!

Though not the most beautiful thing at Sur le Table, check out this wiener dog cookie cutter! Almost bought it. Should have bought it. Could have made Molly-shaped dog biscuits in my fictional Martha life.

After I picked up Jesse from the airport, I wanted to take him to Jam, an mmmm-delicious breakfast place Annie and I visited, but there was quite the waiting list. So, we headed next door to Hotlips Pizza (which, I'm told, is a Portland staple). Oh yum. Crispy thin crust but still yeasty, good sauce, foldinhalfable--totally Ninja Turtle Pizza.  (You know how it always looked so good, and then next time your family finally ordered pizza, you wished it had cartoon pepperoni and banjo-cheese?)

We're headed back to Spokane on Wednesday, then back here on Sunday afternoon.

More Portland

Portland is beautiful in the fall! Yesterday Annie and I drove around Laurelhurst, one of the old and swanky neighborhoods in the city. The trees met over the streets and the houses were all different--some Victorian, some craftsman, some Cape Cod--all lovely. We walked around a park nearby and had fun dog-watching.

Then I was introduced to New Seasons, a very Portlandy grocery store. Aaaand then we got our hands on some Thai food. Rejoice! Green curry...mmmmm. Today I got to spend the afternoon with Sav and her amazingly brilliant, beautiful, happy kids. No really, they are. It was so nice to have some time to just hang out and chat and watch the kids climb on their mama.

Annie and I made a trip to Voodoo Doughnuts for a good shot of "Portland weird." And boy was it.

A few more days until my Jesse joins me down here. I miss that guy. For now though, Annie and I are keeping busy with the Robert Downey Jr. episodes of Ally McBeal...

Halloween in Portland

I'm here in Portland with Annie Face. I drove down last night and Annie made me a yummy dinner and she introduced me to one of her childhood movies, Ladyhawke. It was so nice to just hang out watching cheesy movies and eating popsicles. Today we cruised around the city and went to Mio Sushi, which lived up to the hype. We tried to buy a pumpkin at several stores, but they were all out. By the way, it's hard to tell who's in costume in a Walmart in Portland... Then we happened to drive by a pumpkin patch! The pumpkin is now carved and the candy's ready. Now we just need to decide what not-so-scary movie to watch. Happy Halloween!


Update: we watched The Rocketeer, and I'm re-in love with that flying man. Had a great night. Will post pictures.