Day 21: A wedding!

Good news: we have a wedding to look forward to! Our friend Sander finally got around to popping the big question to Alexandra last weekend. They are the living proof of the famous Dutch saying 'from a wedding comes a wedding', since they met at our wedding five years ago! When she sent me a text message announcing the exciting news, it made me all emotional. Of course I blame the pregnancy hormones for that!

I am given the pregnancy (HCG) hormone injections to support the implantation of the embryo and sort of kick start the system into believing it's pregnant. It could fool me: they make me nauseous, tired and wobbly. Fortunately Jonny has found the perfect balance between giving me full emotional support and not taking my rantings too seriously. Bless!

There is really nothing we can do but wait. Unfortunately patience has never been one of my virtues and I am finding this two week wait really difficult. Most of the time I am happy though. Happy about how far we have gotten and how close we are to having our own offspring. And most importantly, how strong we both are! :-)

In order to keep myself occupied, I drop off the new door handles in the house this morning. One of my friends said that the house is starting to look so good, surely the stork MUST want to pop by soon. I make a mental note of remembering to tell him that babies are not brought by the stork... I like the thought though, so I show emmy around and tell how nice the baby room to be is looking already.

Day 17: Blastocyst and books

I am now the proud caretaker of a blastocyst: it already has so many cells that individual cells are no longer recognizable.

Implantation can start to occur as soon as six to seven days after the retrieval. So that would be tomorrow or Tuesday. In order to give emmy every possible chance to implant I continue to take it easy.

There is a wide range of opinions on the subject of bed rest, but it has not been proven that bed rest will give a better chance of getting pregnant. However, it is a very good excuse to just potter around the house and finally read some books that were waiting to be read!

Painters and decorators

When we started painting the house a few weeks back, we were pretty confident that, despite taking a bit of time and effort, we'd be able to finish most of the painting ourselves, before it was time to move into the house. After spending a couple of weekends painting, the realisation of exactly how much work was required hit us with a bang and we unanimously decided it was time to call in the professionals.

 
We've been picking up some pretty good references and tips along the way... the company that installed our lights for us also recommended the guy to install our floor. So we decided to follow up their lead on the painter. After agreeing on a price, they started work early Monday morning. Even with two professional painters working full time, they anticipated that the work would take at least a week and a half. As you can see from the pictures, one week has gone already and they've not yet completed the front of the house and this is with three guys working! So we're anicipating them to finish at the end of next week.

But the timing is fine... with everything else that's going on in our lives at the moment, we've certainly become a lot less stressed about the house, simply because we haven't got the energy to! However, as a result, things seem to be ticking along quite smoothly and at a pleasant pace. As you can see from the pictures, the builders continue to be in and out as they've now installed nearly all of the doors. They were going to have the floor in the front finished this week, but decided to hold back and let the painters finish in the front before they come and lay the floor... which we're fine with.

The builders are also going to fit the kitchen for us. They've already lined it all up, but they need to make some modifications to the unit that is going to house the sink, since behind this unit is the manifold for the underfloor heating, which needs to be accommodated in the kitchen unit. But the builders seem to think it's no big deal, so we're leaving them to it!

 
It's been a couple of weeks since we made a post on the house... shows that our minds have been mostly elsewhere! However, this doesn't mean that we've not been busy on the house! The wooden floor panels have now arrived, as have the plinths, both of which I've committed to install, but I'll wait until the builders have finished before I start work. As you can see, colour decisions have been made for the painting, the doors have been installed and a decision has been made on door handle designs.

A quote has been received for manufacturing a stainless steel counter top for the sink... we're just waiting for another quote before we decide on preffered supplier! We've already fitted a washing machine in the cupboard in the kitchen (thank you Martin, Grada and Wouter, it fits perfectly!) and the rest of the white goods are waiting to be delivered.

So we're pretty confident that the house will be in an hospitable state by the time we need to move out of our current home, or at least I was until I discovered that my presence has been requested for a two week trip to the other side of the world... starting two weeks before we're due to move house! So, as is typical with life, just as things are ticking along nicely, there's a little twist thrown in to spice things up a little. I'm confident that Flo and I can keep on top of things though... I'm pretty overwhelmed with how smooth things have been maintained to date, which gives me confidence that we can handle whatever is thrown at us...

I've added some more pictures of the house to our growing photo album. I'll update this with some of the pictures of the house when we'd just bought it so that you can get a real feel for just how big a transformation has occurred!

Enjoy your weekend! 

Day 15: 4 cell embryo

After an early night, our excitement continues this morning: today we are going to be another step closer to our baby!

I feel all relaxed after my appointment with the acupuncturist last night. She stayed late, especially for me, so she could see me before the transfer and ensure the best possible circumstances for the embryo. How good is that! Embryo you are very welcome!

The hospital has some good news this morning; the embryo has divided into two cells and is a good quality embryo. I'm told that if we get to the hospital early, we can have a look at the Flonny in the making prior to the transfer.

When we arrive in the hospital, our enthusiastic embryo has already divided into four cells and we can see it under the microscope. It is really amazing to see our embryo. This little life in the making, this little wonder is a combination of our cells! Jonny squeezes my hand and we smile at each other.

The actual transfer takes less than 5 minutes. On a screen we follow the embryo being transferred to my uterus. They double check that it is not left in the small cathether. And that is it. Officially I'm not pregnant yet, but it feels very special to have come this far. In exactly two weeks time we can do a pregnancy test at home.


We leave the hospital smiling.

Day 14: What's cooking? Two pronuclei!

We could call the hospital between 11:30 and 12:30 to find out how many eggs had fertilised. It made me wonder, is there anybody that waits until 12:25 to call? Just to increase the tension a bit more? We agreed Jonny would call since I was too nervous.

For a change ready on time, I was sat next to the phone at 11:25 waiting for Jonny to call me with some news. He didn't. Which I assumed had to do with serious phone congestion after seven egg retrievals yesterday. At 11:49 I could not contain myself any longer and called him.

Slight miscommunication from my side, telling Jonny he could call the hospital between 12:30 and 13:30. It must have been a slip of the finger when I typed up the appoinment in Microsoft Outlook. Since he was in a meeting I offered to make the phone call myself after all.

So at 11:50 the labaratory informed me that one egg cell had fertilised! They told me they had a bit of a scare, since it turned out the other one was immature and had no chance of fertilising at all. The one would have to do! And it did. Assuming it will divide further (this usually happens), the return to the mothership is tomorrow afternoon. This we will find out at 10:00 tomorrow morning. At 11:53 I called Jonny again during his meeting to tell him we are still in the race.

For those of you that actually want to know what stage the our combined DNA is at: the pronucleus of the female cell (egg) and the pronucleus of the male cell (sperm) fuse together to form a normal diploid number of chromosomes (2N = 46 in humans).

The appearance of two pronuclei (2pn) is the first sign of successful fertilization and is usually observed 18 hours after the ICSI procedure.

The embryo is placed in a CO2 incubator with a controlled temperature that is the same as my body: 37 degrees C. The conditions in the incubator and the culture medium are designed to mimic the conditions in the fallopian tube, so that the embryo can grow happily in vitro. The culture medium contains various ingredients such as protein, salts, buffer and antibiotics which allow optimal growth of the embryo – like chicken soup for the embryo!

Day 13: The puncture

Today we performed probably the most physical part of the ICSI procedure. We arrived at the hospital nice and early (we expected there to be terrible traffic due to local road works, but it turned out to be eerily quiet in the streets) and got straight to work on producing a sperm sample.

Normally, the production of the sperm sample is not particularly fun. The hospital has a sterile little room set aside for the male partner to cough up his deposit, but the whole affair is normally a bit seedy. However, on this occasion (and the previous one too), Flo joined me in the room and assisted with ceremony, which made for a much more romantic, intimate and fun event which, most important, yielded a fruitful outcome.

After handing over the specimen to the lab, we found ourselves a spare bed and cubicle in which to perform some DIY acupuncture. The last time Flo went to see her acupuncturist, she showed her where and how to insert a couple of acupuncture needles in order to relax Flo's uterus prior to the puncture procedure. Flo showed me where and how to insert the disposable needles into her belly (normally I would be a bit hesitant sticking needles into bellies, but I must say that I've become quite accustomed to it now!)... so I did just that and for the next half hour, Flo rested on the bed and relaxed, letting the needles do their work. I don't know if it was the needles or whether Flo was just tired from a restless night and early rise, but she certainly seemed quite relaxed when we returned to the waiting room and... waited.

About twenty minutes later we were up. We shuffled into the now familiar procedure room and the doctor and nurse prepared for the procedure. It started with a quick look to see how things had progressed. Flo's follicles had continued to grow a little, but all five were still present. The doctor informed us that the results from the blood sample taken a couple of days ago indicated that Flo's hormone levels were a little high, indicating that the decision to stop the Menopure hormone injection a couple of days back was a good one.

After administering Flo with a mild sedative (which had the amusing effect of making Flo act a little drunk, slurring her words when she spoke), the puncture began. The procedure did not look at all comfortable for Flo, but I must say she handled it very well indeed... she was strong and brave and she almost crushed my hand because she squeezed it so hard. The procedure entails guiding a long hyperdermic needle (connected to a hose and a vacuum pump) using the ultrasound device that was previously used to view Flo's follicles. Having lined up the needle with the follicle, the doctor gives the needle a quick, sharp push and pierces each follicle in turn, sucking up it's contents through the tube and into a glass bottle on a side table. The contents of each follicle is predominantly fluid, but in each one it's hoped that there's an egg.

The puncture is painful, described as feeling like a hard punch to the stomach. Flo explained that it is more like a hard punch to the ovary. I hope that this is not as painful as a hard punch to the testicle, since not having ovaries, I'm not sure what a punch to these feels like. I know what a punch to the stomach feels like though... not as painful as a punch to the testicles, but painful nonetheless.

The procedure itself went surprisingly quick; about 10 minutes in total. Flo was then transferred from the gynecological chair (complete with stirrups) to a hospital bed and wheeled next door to a recovery room (to the same cubicle we'd used earlier for the acupuncture routine... so familiar surroundings in which to recover!). It took about 30 minutes for Flo to recover from the sedative, which was perfect timing for me to go and visit the lab for the preliminary results...

Two eggs were successfully recovered from the five follicles. Both Flo and I were a little disappointed with this outcome as we'd hoped that at least three or four would be recovered. However, we're both aware that we only need one good embryo to be returned, so there's still optimistic. Expressed mathematically (if you find maths boring then ignore the italic text)...

...the doctor informed us that there's an 80% chance that a suitable extracted egg will be fertilised and suitable for returning back to the womb. Therefore, since we have two eggs, there should be 96% chance that at least one of them is suitable for being put back (since there's an 80% chance that one will be OK, but if this one fails, then there's an 80% chance of the remaining 20% that the second egg will be suitable). However, there's only a 64% chance that both eggs will be fertilised and replaced.

There was good news however! I enquired as to the quality of my sperm sample... the lab guy went off and had a look and came back telling me that it wasn't very good, with only 400,000 (or 0.4 million) sperms. What he didn't realise however, is that all my previous results from the last three years have been hovering around the 20,000 mark (0.02 million), which actually means there's been a pretty big step change in the amount of sperm that I'm producing! I'd like to think that this is a direct result of the actions Flo and I have undertaken as part of "Project: baby making". These include: eating healthily; stopping drinking (except champagne of course); regularly exercising; eating organic food; taking the right supplements; undertaking alternative medicine to improve our body functions. Of course, it might just be the fact that Flo helped me with the specimen?

It's a really good feeling to have some real, measurable feedback that indicates an improvement in fertility... this has encouraged me to try even harder to control what I do and eat and improve things even further. However, it's still important to bear in mind that an average sperm count is 20 to 120 million, so even with my improved count, I'm still at best only 2% as fertile as average. So there's still lots of room for improvement!

Also, if this change in lifestyle has had such a positive response on my fertility (a 20 fold improvement), then it will undoubtedly be having a similar effect on Flo. I'm pretty amazed how quick Flo has recovered from her operation only a couple of months back and I'm surprised that we have got so far with this round of treatment. I'm very confident that if we went through the treatment again then we'd perform better, but given how well Flo has been doing now, I'm confident that there's a good chance of things working when the embryo is returned to the womb at the end of the week.

We find out tomorrow if the eggs have been successfully fertilised. Regardless, we start work on preparing Flo's womb for the embryo tonight with me continuing to inject the hormone Pregnyl into Flo's belly. Although we're both mentally strong and confident, we're both tired (mentally and physically... and Flo also has to deal with the soreness following today's procedure) and very anxious about finding out the results tomorrow.

Day 11: les jeux sont faites!

Today was the first day of the roadwork's on one of the city's busiest road junction. Extremely high levels of traffic were anticipated on the alternative routes in and out of The Hague and it was advised to leave the car at home. We toyed with the idea of cycling to the hospital but quickly dismissed it: surely the follies would not have appreciated the bumpy ride!

Although it took us twenty minutes to get out of the centre, extremely high levels of additional stress were avoided and it was a good dress-rehearsal for Wednesday morning: day of the egg retrieval! This day was decided during our 4th ultrasound this morning. It looked like three, four or maybe even five egg cells will join in for the party.

The smaller egg cells did not show a lot of progress since yesterday, so the doctor thought it was not worth stimulating the other follicles more at the risk of sacrificing the big ones. At eleven tonight we are going to administer the human chorionic gonadotrophin injection, code name Pregnyl. This hormone helps induce the release of mature eggs from the ovaries by mimicking the normal surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) that occurs mid-way through a normal menstrual cycle, and causes ovulation to begin.

Egg retrieval is performed about 36 hours after the eggs are triggered to mature with the HCG. This is why it is key to arrive in time on Wednesday morning! We are both excited and looking forward to the next steps!

To remind myself of what is coming, I read Kata's story over and over and absorb all the information. Kata is a couple of months ahead of me in the process: she and her husband are expecting their first child following their first ICSI-treatment. There is a complicating factor in their situation since her husband has cystic fibrosis (CF). This disease causes reproductive problems, since the sperm can not pass from the testicles to the point of ejaculation, even though the testicles are producing sperm. Her husband's sperm had to be removed surgically.

I have been following their journey from almost the start and I know it has not been an easy one. As everybody going through the IVF process, Kata has had good days and bad days. She describes how many hurdles there are to get through and how difficult the two week wait was: would she be pregnant or not? I sometimes checked her site for updates twice a day, keen to know if it had worked. Strange thing that is, having a peek into the life of a stranger, reading intimate details. Like I said to her, it must be one of the side effects of IVF, looking everywhere for information to give some hope. I was so happy for them when the pregnancy test proved to be positive!

Her positive approach is a real inspiration and reading her story has been helpful during momentarily lapses of good spirits. She has been following the Chezcorcutt adventures too and sent me an email yesterday, telling me to keep my spirits up and that she has her fingers crossed for us. Thanks dear Kata! We do remain positive and are aware that the number of eggs are just one step to the actual goal: having a baby.

I now follow her pregnancy journal, waiting for the first belly pictures and stories on the first movements from the little one. I am so looking forward to being pregnant too! Will we be lucky this second time around? I hope so!

Day 10... 3rd ultrasound!

Despite not having to get up early to give Flo her 8 am injection, we still had to be at the hospital at 09:45, so no Sunday morning lie in for us. It's turning out to be very tiring this baby making process!

The point of this 3rd ultrasound scan was to determine if Flo's smaller follicles were still growing and if so, whether they're growing at a rate quick enough to join in the party.

Well, relative to yesterday, things appear to be improving. The lining of Flo's womb continues to look "beautiful" and the smaller follicles are continuing to grow at a rate where they might mature just in time. Meanwhile, the over enthusiastic follicle is managing to contain itself and not become so ripe that it falls from the plant like a big juicy tomato... figuratively speaking of course (I initially wrote apple, but the image was replaced by the mess a tomato makes when squashed... I thought this was more apt). Personally, when I compare the manner in which Flo's follicles appear to be behaving with the manner in which Flo prepares to go out, it doesn't really suprise me what's happening... it's all being left to last minute when there's a sudden mad rush to get ready, which invariably leads to arriving late... but beautifully presented with a short, sweet appology and everything turning out OK.

We have to return to the hospital again early tomorrow morning to check that everything is continuing to progress as anticipated. There's now potentially four candidates in the running (a late entry was spotted but unfortunately has missed the boat somewhat)... we'll be happy if three are successfully "plucked", with one or two strong embryos returned to the mother ship.

The smart money is on a Wednesday puncture.

Day 9: second ultrasound

During fertility treatment one talks in days and during pregnancy that changes to weeks. We are now day nine.

We went back to the hospital this morning for another ultrasound. My womb lining is nice and thick and is almost the 10 mm that are required for implantation. It is good to know that there is a safe and healthy environment for the embryo waiting already!

We were a bit surprised to find out that there were actually three follicles in my right ovary, all around the same size and three at the left side. In my left ovary there is one really big one, it looked almost like it was competing with the others. It had definitely won!

At the moment only two follicles would be big enough for retrieval. The chance that an egg cell fertilizes with IVF-ICSI is around 80%. The smaller follicles would still be retrieved, but probably only contain immature egg cells and would not develop into healthy embryos, if fertilized at all. The doctor said it was a lot of effort for a relatively small chance and gave us the option of stopping.

There is also a possibility that we leave the enthousiastic follicle to its own devices and give the other ones a chance to still join the race. This is only an option if stop being lazy. To help them with that, we are still an extra day on the FSH medication. Tomorrow we will have another ultrasound and then decide with the doctor how to proceed. The retrieval is then either on Tuesday or on Wednesday.

Either way, we are going ahead. We have come this far and we remain hopeful. After all, one egg cell is all that is needed to produce a baby and the first IVF baby ever was born from a single egg cell too. We are still positive that we will be talking in weeks here soon!

Day 8: first ultrasound

At a quarter to nine this morning Jonny and I were staring at the screen at the IVF ward of the hospital, curious to know how many follicles I had produced. There are two smaller ones in my right ovary and two big ones in my left ovary. A bit less than we hoped for, but there is a chance that the smaller ones might still join in le projet néné.

And if not, even two follicles would be enough to do the procedure with. In the end it is the quality of the follicles that matters, not the quantity!

The ones in my left ovary are the right size for pick-up already and the surpression drug Decapeptyl prevents them from ovulating, so they can be stimulated a bit more to give the other ones a chance to catch up. Tomorrow morning we are going back to the hospital to see if the small follicles have caught up. Go follies, go follies!

Day 7: side-effects

It is not that long ago that even Western doctors would examine the tongue to make a diagnosis. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), the different areas of the tongue tell about physical and emotional health because they relate to different areas of the body. So it comes as no surprise that the the acupuncturist picked up on my nausea this morning. I told her that instead of her asking me how I felt, I should be asking her how I felt! That made her laugh.

The nausea is one of the side effects of the hormones I am experiencing. And I am tired, but that could also have to do with the fact that I am resisting early nights and lie-ins.... Furthermore, I am in good spirits. I take the side-effects as a sign that there is something happening in my body. We are both excited about finding out tomorrow how many egg cells are participating. We will also find out how much longer we need to inject me with the follicle stimulating hormones. Jonny is still doing a great job: no bruise in sight!


In order to take our minds of le projet néné (as dubbed by one of my friends), we decided to go to the cinema last night and submerse ourselves in some mindless entertainment: Pirates of the Caribbean. Part two. It sure took our minds off it for a loooong time!

Zen and the art of being a kitty

The kitties had a go at the game of Rummikub this week. Boris then decided that the box was best used for lying in and relaxing after a hard week of being a kitty.

Labaratory chezcorcutt

Yesterday we started with the injections of the second hormone, Menopur, the real stuff! The follicle stimulating hormone in this medication is prepared from human urine and encourages my ovaries to produce several egg cells (women normally release only one egg a month). This is to ensure a sufficient number for the in vitro fertilisation, so that the hospital can pick the prettiest egg cell to inject Jonny's most handsome sperm cell into.

The FSH is supplied in the form of ampoules, which contain a powder that first has to be dissolved in the accompanying fluid; Jonny mixes the injections at our kitchen table. Each morning he gives me a shot with two ampoules and one at night. And doing very well at that: no bruises so far! We also continue with the Decapeptyl injections, to make sure my own cyle does not interfere. On Friday 18 August we'll find out how many follicles are growing!

Floor plan

I was just dimensioning a plan of the kitchen for Flo so that she can get a quote for the kitchen counter top and it suddenly dawned on me that I've never posted a plan of the house! So here it is...


And talking of the kitchen... it's being delivered tomorrow! A bit of a surprise, but the supplier needs to free up some space in his workshop... so expect some pictures soon!

Updated pics from the house

Flo and I intended to spend the day painting. To her credit, Flo managed to put a third layer of paint in two of the bedrooms, while I had to drive back home to pick up a ladder and some tools... the builders have almost completely cleared out! This means we can no longer abuse their equipment and instead have to use our own.

With all the builder's junk out, we're starting to get a completely different feel for the house. It feels much bigger in the front now, especially with the addition of an echo with no furniture to absorb the noise.


Most of the electric sockets and switches have now been installed, which means we can now switch on the spot lights... and I have to say that I'm really happy with them! As you can see from the picture above, the spot lights give real mood to the house... I like the way there's light and dark areas and the way the shadows are cast... using single sources of light to light the entire area would have really washed out the rooms.

If you'd like to see some more pictures of the house, I've posted another thirteen at the end of this house album.

It's been an interesting week... while walking 'round the house with the builder on Monday evening, we were bouncing on the floor in the study wondering how to tackle the problem of the uneven floor. We had been toying with the idea of pouring some cement on the floor so that it found its own level, but since we suspected the problem to lie with rotten floor beams, we figured that in the long run this would not be the best solution. So we decided to just pull up the floor there and then and take a look... a very empowering moment! And I'm so glad that we did... since indeed, the floor beams were rotting, but not half as bad as I expected. It seems that when the previous owners decided to plonk their new garden on top of the old one, they were in a bit of a rush or perhaps were unwilling to pay for a skip to remove all the rubble from the existing garden. As you might recall from a previous post, lots of rubble had to be removed before the new garden could be installed. Well, underneath the floor boards we found a whole lot more rubble! This, coupled with the fact that the garden had been previously raised and in the process the ventillation grills covered, had trapped in damp beneath the floor and caused the beams to start rotting. But fortunately, the beams were only rotten at the point where they are supported in the foundation of the house.

Although this is quite serious structurally, it meant that it was easily fixed by removing the rotten section and bolting on a new beam to rest in the foundation bearing. The builders also installed a new vent to allow air to flow beneath the floor to keep it dry and rot free in the future.

We met up with the building contractor this afternoon and he advised us to get on with the preperation for painting the walls and the wooden bits like windows and stairs. We therefore decided to pop to the builder's supply center and get some sand paper, a sanding machine and lots of acrylic filler to fill up all the gaps and holes before painting them up. We can then spend the weekend sanding and filling. The good thing is that it's supposed to be crappy weather this weekend, so at least we won't be tempted to spend the weekend at the beach or off on cycling tours.

After our not so hard day's work, we treated ourselves to a steak dinner since today we officially started our IVF treatment again (and so I get the please of finishing off Flo's previous post with "...GO!"), which meant that I got the pleasure of injecting hormones into Flo's belly. But I'm not complaining... I think I've got the better half of the fertility treatment deal, plus if it all works out we'll have a little fella (or missy) to share our shiny new house with (and smear banana all over the freshly painted walls).

On our marks, get set!

This morning we had an ultrasound to see whether we could start the IVF-treatment this month. They checked the existence of cysts (none), the number of egg cells (enough) and the thickness of the endometrium (beautiful! How deep does vanity go? :-)). Since it is all looking good, we can now start! I was so relieved by the good news that I burst in to tears. Of course the tears could also be a symptom of my upcoming period...

As soon as my period starts, we start with the hormone injections in my stomach. "We" because Jonny will give me the injections, since I seem to cause massive bruises when I try to do it myself!

I am on the so-called "short IVF protocol". This means we inject Decapeptyl during the first three days of my cycle. This drug suppresses the production of hormones being released during the normal reproductive cycle. It also suppresses ovulation and enables improved control of hormonal stimulation. On day three we also inject the stimulant Menopur. This medication will fool my ovaries into working overtime to hopefully produce lots of eggs!

Kitchen coming together

 
We received a very enthusiastic email from our kitchen supplier last night along with some new pictures of the units as they are fitted together. As you can see from the picture above, it all seems to be coming together nicely!

Judging from the pictures, you'd never really guess that the kitchen is bespoke (the depth of the units is a little unusual in order to accomodate the floor heating manifold that's located under the sink... sorry... being a bit geeky there) and it actually looks like it's brand new... it certainly doesn't look like it's 50 years old!

Tom, the guy who's refurbishing and fitting it all together, seems to be very happy with his handywork, commenting that our kitchen is the best one he's made so far! He must have found himself a new supplier for the replacement parts (like the runners for the doors) since he commented that these new items are ten times better quality than the previous parts he'd been using.

So, it looks like there's no reason why this kitchen won't still be around in another 50 years time! 

Magic beans

Since fertility treatment is a whole-body event, we are trying to mostly eat wholesome and nutritious foods to make conception more possible. That means as much natural foods as possible, complex carbohydrates (wholemeal bread, potatoes and pulses), lots of fish and loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. And a long list of foods better to avoid... :-)

I firmly believe in organic food. Jonny and I both think that especially organic fruit and vegetables taste better, but that is of course subjective. However, organic food is relatively free of pesticides and additives. Pesticides are known to be 'hormone-disrupting' chemicals, while organic fruit and veg are believed to contain higher level of minerals. Pesticides have to be metabolized by the liver and so are an added burden to the system. So eating organic food also helps to reduce the stress on Jonny's liver, helping him to cope better with the effects of his Gilbert's syndrome.

Having said this, a lot of foods are hard to find organically grown. I am even forced to go into grim looking health shops where the people look miserable. Maybe not surprising since most of them seem to think that 'good' food means environmentally sound and nutritious food (think murky dishes like buckwheat and lentils), forgetting about flavour, looks and fun. Whilst I fully endorse the afore-mentioned qualities, I also believe that food is supposed to be tasty and fun. Jam without sugar is not funny and certainly not tasty.

Luckily we have a little vegetable stall on a square a few minutes from our house. It is a run by a middle-aged couple who drive around the Netherlands to get the best locally produced (mostly organic) fruit and veg. And they do a wonderful job, especially since I always seem to leave with a lot more than I originally came for! They sell seasonal products only, so lately we have been munching away on the sweetest cherries, the tastiest cherry tomatoes and the most delicious broad beans. Last week they proudly told me they had 'magic beans': dark purple beans that turn green once cooked. Of course I had to try them! They tasted a lot like green beans, but with a slightly different, and definitely a lot more, flavour. My five year old niece Dana can confirm this, since she kept asking for more when she was over for dinner last weekend. Let's hope they work magic in our bodies too!

What is Flo doing with her time?

I have now officially been a SAHW for a month and I am not bored yet. A bit of a shame, since I read yesterday that being bored and doing nothing sometimes is good. Apparently it gives the mind a chance to recuperate from the thousands of impressions that we get every day and helps to find the deeper purpose of life (link to the Dutch article here).

What I keep myself busy with? Things like meeting my friends for lunch, flogging the contents of my wardrobe on Marktplaats, amusing Jonny with my acrobatic skills, getting colour swatches for the new house and cooking natural meals. Basically I have three job titles at the moment: project manager 'building, moving and decorating', domestic goddess and part-time student brand management (and yes, the thesis is coming along fine thanks). Oh and we are preparing ourselves for the next round of IVF-ICSI.

The preparation involves healthy natural food and ridiculously expensive supplements. Good nutrition is vital in preparation for IVF to support the body's ability for developing and growing eggs, building the lining of the womb, helping with the healing after the retrieval of the eggs and for the implantation of the embryo. In order to get not too worked up about our food, we are following the 80/20 rule, being health-conscious about what we eat 80% of the time.

The possible stress that I get from finding all the right ingredients for our dinners I reduce by abdominal massage and acupuncture. Abdominal massage detoxifies and strengthens the lower abdomen and improves the blood flow. Acupuncture before and during the IVF-treatment helps to balance the body and grow follicles. A German study shows that acupuncture might increase the chances of a full term pregnancy.

So if (anything in) the treatment goes wrong, at least we know it's not in the preparation. And the healthy living makes us feel good, which is a major bonus!

We have an appointment in the hospital next Wednesday. This is a couple of days before we are supposed to start the treatment again, so they can check if my body is ready for another go. This appointment is at my request, since I felt I'd rather know that we cannot start yet, than psyching ourselves up for the treatment, start injections to only then be told that the best time has not come yet. Best spannend dus!

Career change

As some of you may be aware, Flo is currently taking a time out of her career to concentrate on other things. However, this doesn't mean that she's resting on her lorals, since as you can see from this short video above, she's been training hard on her auditioning act to join the Nederlandse Vrouwen Sociale Circus!

First pictures of kitchen

We've just received the first pictures of the kitchen units, fresh back from being powder coated in cream (the colour we finally decided on) with the red handles.

 
The kitchen was supposed to be delivered last weekend, but the supplier is having difficulties with his subcontractor to have some bespoke end pannels manufactured. The latest delivery date is now 12th August, although we may have to delay this further since we doubt the floor will be installed by then.

 
It's good to see it coming together... the plan is that the supplier will pre-assemble the kitchen in three parts so that once it's delivered it will just need putting in the right place and fixing to the wall.

 
As you can see from the picture above, the old units have been completely refurbished (remember, this kitchen was originally made in the 1950s!) with new/modern fittings, like these new drawer rollers.

We're both really looking forward to cooking in our new kitchen!