Fireworks, bonfires and long winters' eves will herald the Rat Smacketeers' BFPs this month and we are Brooking No Argument!

Ladies I hate to say this but we are all so quiet I don't think we are going to have a proper 'Christmas' fred

Oh dear keep too irreverent do you think? Damn to pre-AF spotting, but I am still holding out hope for this being your month. If it isn't IUI will sort you out pronto

solars love your name change!! Yes, tis me, geek.

boo loving your nc too, I did recognise you but only just

keep I've only just picked up on your comment about sparks' nc and now I can't get it out of my head hahahaha

biscuits it sounds like you definitely need to be a SAHM for the time being, that would be an awful lot of juggling to do otherwise.

OK, I didn't think previous name through properly did I? ment to say Yes Solstice tis I, Boo :) Have added the Boo, I like my Boo

Morning all

keep sorry about the spotting - might it be baby India getting comfy (again) ? But good news that MrKeep will be home soon

Loving the new names FFS I also love the Rude Alfred name :o Will try to think of new name for me or maybe I'll just recycle last years

FFS I also agree take the holiday, you deserve the rest. Could you sell some stuff on Ebay to earn a bit of extra cash?

sweetie 60% chance is fab (that is for each attempt isn't it?) Our dr mentioned a 75% chance of coming away with a baby after IVF but I think he was talking about the 3 attempts we would get. And that was purely based on my age as they hadn't done any scans or tests on me at that point. And great that they have so many donors available, I thought that there was a real lack of egg donors, but maybe that was through the NHS or something.

I've forgotten evrything else so I'll leave some mulled wine to warm you all up

stupid me, of course its Solars

Yes tis I, Solars!

So MissLToe is Boo and Mary is Geek right?

gotta be solars...
but boo yours and ggek are unrecognisable!

Loving the name WinterSolstice, but who were you before?

{Twirls}

It took me ages to figure out how to name change!! Plus now I'm a little confused with who is who (perhaps if I stopped twirling!)

Will be back a little later once I've caught up with you all!!

gosh biscuits sounds much better for you not to be working at the mo/for a while. juggling everything is so difficult isn't it.
Your disguises are too good, ladies.

Oh well, spoke too soon. Spotting is here, so now just wait a couple of days for AF and then bring ON the drugs!! No Baby India for me.
(should i be worried about mid LP spotting if it wasn't IB? could it be something nasty? maybe will mention to the doc when i have to go)

Cooee ladies ::twirls:: couldn't wait any longer to put on my chrimbly costume

I have been lurking and keeping up with the news, it all sounds very promising. Well most of it, what do you mean no Christmas Keep that is just

FFS/Geek I would take some time off if I could afford to, next year you have the surgery then the baby, you need to take the time while you can.

Nothing new to report here, booby is well and kicking up a storm but toddly has a cold man flu :( I will catch up properly soon.

Brooking for you all

And BOO to no Christmas!

I would be keep as ds2 is nearly 9 mths but I suppose technically I'm a SAHM at the moment. I gave up my job when we moved house a couple of years ago so wasn't employed when I got pg. but that was part of our plan of moving - with ds1 approaching school and doing pre school and half days and stuff we thought I'd take a few years out as my job was a v long commute and I was out of the house from about 6:30am - 7:30pm minimum (and these are short hours compared to my DH). So that kind of makes childcare difficult to sort out. Where we lived before DH went to work later to drop ds1 off at nursery, but this directly resulted in him working weekends to make up for lost time, and my in-laws collected ds1 from nursery and often would put him to bed for me as I wasn't home. So that was ok with nursery (although still a big imposition on my in laws). But now he's doing half days at preschool and heading towards school in September, and we moved to get into a better school area, so it just made sense for me to give up for a bit. Then I'll look for a job closer to home.

Rambling aren't I? Short answer is 'no'

i prefer this name. Pretty darned easy for Mary, you're right, though i suppose her son did get put to death later, so it wasn't exactly all roses for her. And giving birth in a stable and all...

have seen no hint of christmas here. Not sure they're going to be celebrating it, other than days off work.

weather here. Hot, muggy, cloudy, hot. not envious of the floods and cold and gales back home though!

i'm gonna keep calling you geek, though

biscuits are you still on mat leave?

@ biscuits

Oh, I get it....

Uurgh I can't do these dark rainy winter mornings. Hibernation should be compulsory

keep yay, yes it's me ( geek ) - thought I'd try out a christmassyish name. It was either this or RudeAlfredKnowsDrainsDear, still can't make my mind up Brooking like mad that the pre-af spotting either stays away or if it arrives that it turns out to be safe early-pg spotting. Your spotting last week has got to be a sign of an ironic pre-IUI BFP because I am Brooking No Argument.

sweetie yes those percentages are brilliant! I didn't pick up on them yesterday with my work-addled mind :)

sparks yes, I second keep's mat leave query - surely it counts as continuous employment?

Thanks for the advice on the christmas job, I think I'm just going through a bit of a control-freak phase and the only thing I feel I can properly control is money. You are both right though, I haven't had a proper break this year, I really do need to get off the treadmill (metaphorically speaking, as I've barely used mine this year) and unwind.

Oh gawd I'm late...

biscuits that would be amazing if you donated eggs! I have thought about it, but am wondering now if i have cruddy eggs, so none'd want them anyway

60% sweetie that is A.Mazing. Wonder why it's higher than us regular under 35ers. Maybe cos we have hidden / unexplained issues i suppose... Gosh, am even more excited on your behalf now. sounds like there are so many options for you to choose from, bit weird having a 'menu' like that if only it were that simple; i'll have a girl baby born in september then a boy baby born the following christmas, or some such

FFS is that you, geek...? Love the name anyway. TBH i'm not sure i'd do too much work on your xmas break if you can afford not to. You've had a tough few months with work and ttc, and you have another hard bit coming up.

sparks does that mean if it's in the same company your mat leave entitlement won't be messed up? good luck with the new job, when do you start? 3.5 weeks till break up - awesome! Twins would be scary but fab, so don't worry about that. Also, is it just me or does your christmas name sound a little dirty. Ie Santa's secret stash of porn that gives him a sparkle in his eye and gets him through his super stressful seasonal job

no, geek, i just had spotting last tuesday, all at once really, then a bit of pink cm last wednesday, having got peaks on cbfm the previous tuesday and wednesday. Am likely to start pre AF spotting tomorrow, and then will be would be calling the clinic on cd1. sigh.

6 days till mrkeep is home!

I can't get it to work sweetie

sparks yes there would be quite a tax hit, 20% on everything, plus NI contributions of about 9% I think. 3 weeks to Christmas break-up - yay!

Hey, it's 3 weeks to my christmas breakup too - double yay!

Just popping in to share a really sweet clip.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=30uKAo57AxE

Beware it plays music for those at work.

Geek Im only messing, you're posts are ace!!

Regarding getting a new job. I guess for that period I'd maybe look at getting something part time, for a few extra pennies! But you'd need to look in to how much they'd sting you for tax, I remember I once looked at getting an extra part time job and by the time I'd been taxed it was hardly worth it!!

BUT at the same time I'd think maybe you should spend some time chilled out? things are going to get frightfully busy for you next year.... hmmm decisions decisions.

Yes same company different post for me. I've worked out that its 3 weeks Friday when we break up for christmas! how very exciting, thats nearly 2 whole weeks off, its like the light at the end of a very dull tunnel!!!

sparks I am sure your new job will have space for a little MNing, you too can become proficient in the ways of the ninja-poster Remind me what your new job will be doing again? Is it still at the uni? Sorry about mega posting, I'll try to keep them shorter in future. When I get started I just babble on, I'm a bit like this irl too if people let me

sweetie darn tootin it's all confusing! Seems you have a pretty good grasp on what's what though, and you are armed with your list of questions which is always good. If you're anything like me your mind goes completely blank the minute you walk in the door of the clinic and re-populates with all the things you should have said the minute you walk out!

solars have you been able to speak to anyone about the antibodies/percentages? I hope they can give you a bit more information. That letter sounded like it raised more questions than it answered.

Erm is that it? Am I caught up?

Slightly fuming here, I've just found out my prommised payrise isn't happening because dink boss didn't get his spine and balls for Christmas. I have to wait til next October, and fulfil a development plan that I have evidence of fulfilling two years ago. But hey ho, I refuse to let it stress me. I have a job, and I'm at least not taking a pay cut.

Ladies, a question for you. My full time job is 9-5 (or 8-6 if you factor in travel time) and I'm on annual leave from saturday 15th December to New Year's Day inclusive. Would I be a little mad to try to get a christmas temping job to cover that period, or should I just take that time to chill and relax? We aren't desperately short of pennies, but I just feel like I need to get as much money as possible in the bank to cover all eventualities (mat leave/self-funded IVF/all the other odds and sods we have promised ourselves for the house and garden that haven't materialised because we are saving for mat leave etc/"plan B" expenditure)

PS - shock revelation of the week - I am wearing a skirt to work! (only because neither of my work trousers got washed at the weekend)

Biscuits I believe the donors have to be under 35 and then the process is the same as the IVF cycle. I am not sure if down regging is required or they just stim and then egg collect. Egg collection was ok in my opinion, I was very nervous but it was a breeze. You do your egg release jab 36 hours before EC, the evening before and morning I was given a sedative tablet to take. Then on the morning of the process you are given pain relief and heavy sedation. The actual process only takes 30 mins, none of which I remember. Just woke up/came around and all was done. I was a bit groggy all that day but fine the next day, slight tummy cramps a bit like AF pains but nothing too much.

Geek when they guarantee egg numbers, I think they tell us if it is less and we can decide to cancel that go or get a refund. There are loads of rules for the different options for various outcomes, and of course these all cost different too. It is quite confusing to be honest.

May I ask a question of those of you in the IVF know? To be an egg donor do you just essentially do IVF up to the egg collection bit? So would you need to do the down regging, stim and EC bit? And what does EC involve?

It is something I have vaguely considered but I don't know how you'd go about it? Am I right in thinking that you might have to be under 35 as well?