I Knew There Was a Reason that I Don't Like Mondays

I prepared all weekend for my 4 hour round trip to my 3rd IVF ultrasound appointment scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning.  I watched the weather like a hawk.  I watched the automated radar forecasts hour-by-hour to determine if there would be snow, freezing rain, or sleet during my drive (which there would be all of the above).  I filled up the gas tank the night before, and out of the kindness of my heart for my dear husband, I parked in the driveway so that his car would be nice and warm in the garage.  I have a remote starter, so I would just start the car in plenty of time before leaving the house.   I took a shower before going to bed to save time in the morning.  I set the alarm for 4:45 a.m., and  I went to bed at 9:30 p.m.

After snoozing twice, I got out of bed at 5 a.m.  I was almost ready to go by 5:20 and I remote started the car.  I kissed the husband and dogs goodbye.  I got my water bottle, purse, and my paperwork that I always carry with me and left the house.  I unlocked the car and threw my stuff inside.  It had been freezing rain during the night so there was a good 1/8 inch of thick ice on the entire surface of my car.  The window defrost would take forever, so I pulled the ice scraper out and proceeded to use a lot of muscle into getting all the ice off.  It took a good 10 minutes.  I'm thinking at this point that I should have parked in the garage.

As I finished up the ice scraping, sweating from the effort, I went to get into the car to leave.  Locked.  The door was locked.  I tried the passenger side, the back doors, and even the hatch.  All very locked.  The remote start process apparently includes automatic locking after a certain point.  OMG.  I couldn't believe it.  Most people wouldn't panic at this point.  But what you don't know is that 1.) I don't have a spare set of keys.  The key is electronic/computerized to the vehicle.  Our used car didn't come with a spare set, and I didn't want to pay the $250 that the dealership wanted to make another set.  So, no spare key.  2.) I'm parked directly behind my husbands car in the garage.  Even if I wanted to take his car and let him deal with my mess, I couldn't.

So, I freak out.  It is 5:45, I'm already running late and it's crappy weather.  And now I have successfully locked my keys in the car - with it running and without a spare key.  I can hear the Eminem CD that my husband left on bumping from the interior.  Like he can do anything about it, I run to the bedroom and wake up my sleeping husband.  I then grab the phone book and start dialing any and all locksmiths (of course, my cell phone is in the car with my purse).  None will answer - even the 24 hour emergency service.  Many curse words are spewing out of my mouth and I'm on the verge of tears.  I'm ready to break a car window.  I even call a car rental place to see if I can arrange a pick up (no such luck - they can't do that until they open at 7:30 a.m.).  I keep calling locksmiths until someone groggily answers their phone.

After a brief discussion - yes, I would have paid anything they wanted - the guy agreed to get to the house as soon as he could considering the roads.  While I was waiting, I called the clinic's answering service to let them know I would be an hour late (I was being optimistic at this point).  Surprisingly, the guy was pretty quick, getting to the house at about 6:15.  It took him all of 2 minutes to unlock the car door with a very unsophisticated tool.  Of course, the guy wouldn't take a check or credit card.  Cash only.  I ran inside to ask DH if he had cash.  Nope, but he made sure to tell me that it wasn't a race - to take my time and drive carefully.  So, the locksmith followed me to the ATM where I proceeded to shell out $75.  And at 6:30 a.m., an hour after I should have been on the road, I turned onto the interstate to begin my journey.

The rest of the trip to the clinic was luckily uneventful.  The roads weren't great and it was slow going getting there, but I got there in one piece almost exactly 1 hour late, at 8:30 a.m.  Sheryl, my nurse, said I shouldn't have freaked out.  It was no problem that I was late and that they would work me in even though it's a holiday and the staff is limited.  She would have waited for me.  No labs today.  Just ultrasound.  I was back on the road by 9:00 a.m. and at my desk at work by 11:00 a.m.  I really don't like Mondays.

As for my follicles, we're looking pretty good.  Sheryl measured 6 on the left and 8 on the right.  They are measuring between 6mm and 15mm.  She did mention that my left ovary would be difficult to get to during retrieval because it's underneath my uterus.  At least I think that is what she said.  But, no worries, they can probably move my insides around to get to it during retrieval.  I don't care, I'll be passed out.  And luckily, more of the follicles are in the easy-to-access right ovary.  After speaking with the doc by cell phone (nope- still haven't seen the doc in person this year), Sheryl determined that I would continue with M4 on Monday and Tuesday.  Also, to prevent me from ovulating too early, I need to take a shot of Ganirelix each night. I ordered another day worth of meds.  My next appointment is on Wednesday, January 19th at 9:30 a.m.  Gratefully, later in the morning.  We'll see where we are at that point.  Maybe Wednesday will be better - I'm definitely parking in the garage.

P.S. - The kicker is that DH didn't feel well today so he called in sick to work.  He didn't even need the garage!