It's Week 12...

I have started my 2nd trimester. We went to the OB today and got all checked out. My blood work is good and the baby looks good so far. I will be having my amnio towards the end of July. Once that comes back clean, Joe and I will breath a giant sigh of relief! Then we can start planning in earnest! And oh the planning! Baby room theme, baby furniture, names, baby clothes......

Week 9 and graduated

I have graduated from the IVF doctors. The baby is developing normally and my hormone levels are perfect. That means no more shots and no more patches. Unfortunately, this is the last of the weekly ultrasounds. Kaiser only does sporadic ultrasounds. I believe I will get one at my June 30th appointment, which will be at week 12. The next big hurdle will be the amniocentesis. Ahhhh! Big scary needle!
In this ultrasound we saw the baby sucking it's thumb and kicking its legs!

Week 8

Here is the ultrasound from week 8. As you can see, the little one is getting bigger.

Week 6

I hit my six week mark. We saw one little heartbeat so we are pretty sure only one egg took. The picture shows the embryonic sac, the yolk sac and the little baby.
The large dark circle is the main sac. The little dark circle outlined in white is the yolk and the baby is to the right as the white spot.

Week 5 and counting...

We went in for our first ultrasound.

Will it be one baby or two? Will there be anything at all?

As you can see, we have one embryonic sac! Yes! I wouldn't have complained if it was two, but one is more manageable. So we are on our way. The adventure begins!

I'm pregnant! Again!!

So I'm pregnant again. But it's going to go well and easy this time. No heart aches, no tough decisions. Just smooth sailing with a baby in nine months...or maybe two babies! I'll find out on Saturday. My HCG level is higher than the last time we did IVF, so its possible both eggs took this time. Anyways, looks like our wave of good karma is coming through.


Speaking of babies, we had a surprise birth on Monday. Our Owl Monkey pair had a baby. We didn't even know she was pregnant. They are very elusive and nocturnal monkeys, so it's not like they are out and about all day.

RIP Spot

Always, always, take care of your animals when it is hot. We lost Spot to heat stroke.

This is Spot as a baby when he was being raised by his "foster" mom.















Spot as a growing boy!










Spot with his best friend Charlotte. He will be missed by us and many zoo visitors who watched him at the farm over the last 15 years. He was 18.

Gratuitous work pictures...jealous much?

Mary Lou loves to use us as a perch.














Eloy! What a good boy!













Edward kisses. (And people think Edward Cullen is cute)













Nothin' like a good ol' scratch behind the ears.

I must be crazy

So we are trying again. Tuesday we had two embryos implanted. Hopefully third times the charm. I have two feelings on this one; 1) it won't work and we will have to use our other two embryos and 2) it will work, but both will implant and we will end up with twins. I will go in for the blood test on May 3rd. Until then I will have to hope for the best.
Honestly though, this hasn't been driving me crazy like last time. I guess because when you have been thru hell, or at least feel like you have, you loose some of that excitement. I know if it does work and I end up pregnant, I will be nervous for months on end. Last time we figured all would be well once we got the ammnio test results. Then learned that even if the genetic part of the results came back good, things could still be horribly wrong. I guess I just won't be comfortable until I am holding a healthy baby. They say that life isn't fair and that it is what it is. Things so far this year have been pretty great. Hopefully this wave of good karma will continue. I won't hold my breath, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

Up up and Away!

Ever have an elephant pick you up? It's pretty cool!

Bowling for Rhinos

On February 21, I participated in a bowling fundraiser with my fellow zoo keepers. Our team consisted of Jenny, Jill, Kelly, Shawn, Ethan and myself. Several other zoos and aquariums participated from all over Southern California. The event was held at Jewel City Bowl in Glendale. Of the two games we played, I won both of them. Yay for Wii Bowling! Anyways, the event raised $29,000 and the proceeds will go to the Lewa Wildlife Preserve in Africa to protect Rhinos and to help the local communities. It is truely a great cause!



Jenny missed a strike!












Shawn got a strike!













The Aquarium of the Pacific paying respect to The Big Labowski.














The girls having way to much fun!

Stuff and Stuff

The zoo has been in the paper recently. We have had 4 births in the past month. Pictures will be coming soon.
Sam came to visit in February. He looks good and it was great to see him. We went to Disneyland, but forgot our camera. I am hoping he will send me some of his pictures.
Joe got a new job. I'll let him blog about that, but I am pretty much a bachlorette for the month of March. He has lots and lots of training ahead of him.
And finally, February is over! Yay! It wasn't as bad as I though it would be. I had a few down days, but I am feeling pretty good now. I think I am ready to move forward and maybe try again. Hopefully third times a charm with this baby business.



One of our new baby Golden Lion Tamarins born on Inauguration Day!

Super Bowl

Since the Larkins had their kitchen gutted due to a leaky pipe and killer-black-death-mold(tm) the super bowl party was canceled. We decided that since we have a nice big screen we would have a small party here.








Bill, Ellen and my Mom all came over to watch the game. I must say that it was nice to actually be able to watch the game and see the commercials instead of tending bar or listening to drunk stories.








A good time was had by all. ;->

Winter Garden

I went by the garden to check on it and do a little weeding. The garden always looks so sad in winter. Nothing is really growing except weeds and the Amaranth. Spring will come soon enough. I'm going to try growing soybeans this year along with the usual crops.

San Diego Zoo

On the way home from the NATD show we stopped by the San Diego zoo for a brief visit. Zookeepers just love zoos. Even though they work all day long at a zoo not one of them can pass up the chance to go to any zoo.

Vanessa LOVES the big cats.

















It was a rainy day so all the animals were super sleepy. Some of them were out and about but this guy was having none of that. ;->









Meerkats!! I love those guys.

Trade Show

We are down in San Diego for a trade show. The gaslamp district is
nice. There are a couple of great Irish pubs. The Hard Rock hotel
sucks though. It's like a 22 year old kid's idea of cool. Lots of
steel and concrete.

Lots of Stuff

I just realized I hadn't updated the blog in forever. We've been pretty busy in the new year and it has just gotten pushed back I guess.



On the day after New Year's Mom, Eileen, Chaz, Rene & Ella all came over for dinner and a visit. Aunt Vanessa wasted no time in putting her boots on little Ella. She was a bit puzzled by having giant shoes on but she was a trooper and her Auntie play dress up with her. ;->














It was good to all be together to ring in the new year.









On Saturday the 3rd we went to go visit Vanessa's grandfather for his 90th birthday!! 90!! Can you believe that? Her family all came into town for the big celebration. We hardly ever get the chance to hang out with them. They are always fun and so nice to be around.

Me and my Aunt Sue.







My Grandpa - He's the best!












My Aunt Patty












Uncle Tim











Grandpa telling stories about his days in the border patrol.










Looking at old pictures










Top Row (L-R): Flynn, Andy, Tim and Tigi
Bottom Row: September, me, Patty and Sue
Grandpa sitting













That evening was the annual installation of officers for my Masonic lodge. After a nice prime rib dinner we had a short but meaningful ceremony. I was installed as Senior Deacon for the year.

Art, the outgoing WM.






Dick & I being installed.

Ebelskivers!

I got an Ebelskiver pan for Christmas. Ebelskivers are a treat from Denmark. They are basically filled pancakes and they are delicious! Theses were filled with maple syrup tossed pieces of sausage.






Here I am dusting them with powdered sugar.










The finished product! Yummy!