To back track for just a moment, I have not included much about the medical side of the treatment up to this point. One piece I will share, is that they typically use birth control pills to control a woman's (or women's) cycle. This way the clinic predicts when you get your period and thus, when your treatment cycle will start. This means, for example, if you have a work conference, you can take the pill for one more week, and then do treatment - the miracles of modern medicine, right? They do not even really rely on a woman's cycle!
However, in C's case, the doctor was slightly hesitant to do so. There was a teeny-tiny titch of risk associated with her taking the pill. Now, C was not concern, nor was her own OB. However, a doctor putting her through medical treatment for the purpose of pregnancy with someone else's baby... that doctor is sensitive about liability issues. So, this meant that we had a decision to make. We could either follow C's normal cycle, or us the pill to manipulate is to make timing work out.
Within two weeks of our Big City appointment (I think, this is why I should have written everything down originally), C's thyroid was back to normal. (Yay!) And then, she was getting her period. All of a sudden things were moving super fast. C and I spoke with one another and the doctors. We had a decision, we could quickly get ourselves sorted out for treatment this cycle (meaning, my daughter and I move to Toronto), or we wait until the next cycle, and maybe use the pill to manage things. C and I quickly agreed that we should simply make this work - get started!
My poor husband though... he is someone who likes predictability, plans, follow through. He struggles with flight delays. So, I knew going into dinner that night, that he was going to react poorly to my suggestion: time to do this. This is especially true because we thought her thyroid would take longer to regulate and that we would end up with a couple of weeks' notice before starting. Instead I told him at dinner that C had her period and that we had about a 2 day window to get me started on the fertility medications. I was right about his reaction... he was resistant, generally negative that we could navigate the logistics... he wanted to wait until the next cycle. And the truth of the matter is, I was desperate. I needed (well, wanted) to start as soon as possible. I think I wanted to be back in a position wherein I was actively doing something to change our story, to have more children. I can get so caught up in the logistics, and the medications and protocols, but the truth is, there is so much emotion tied into every single one of my decisions. And, C was excited to get started too!
So we did. A gracious aunt and uncle agreed to house my daughter and I, as well as C and Lee as needed. I gave work notice, packed up my daughter, and Lee drove us to Toronto in time for World Pride and Canada Day. We started medications and attending the Dyke March together. We were finally getting started. C started some medications from home (just pills). Lee returned to work. My new job was coping with all of it on my own, in the city, in someone else's house. That was harder than I expected...
xx
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