Where pet sitters and infertility intersect

First off, today is my birthday. YAY! I took the day off to enjoy all-about-me-on-my-birthday time, but I ended up filling my day planned for chores and other things that I needed to get done. Ugh. Why did I do that to myself? Somehow I'll make sure to find some time for a pedicure somewhere in the mix. :)

The first thing on today's agenda was to interview a pet sitter. With Nadia's diabetes requiring pretty much around-the-clock supervision and care, it's been very overwhelming. We've recognized that we need to hire someone to help us out in the event we can't be home to feed, test, or give her shots. It's been hard to find one that can do what we need. In fact, I interviewed a pet sitter a few weeks ago who had been a vet tech for 10 years. But later that day her agency emailed me saying they weren't a good fit for us. We were just too much work. Fair enough, but back to the drawing board.

I decided to get serious about it and signed up for a subscription to SitterCity (great site, by the way) and really dig in and find someone who could meet our needs.

I found a woman who recently started her own pet sitting business and was willing to do everything we needed and more. I set up her meet-and-greet this morning at 7:45am so I could demo shots and tests. As I was showing her the cat's insulin syringes in the laundry room, I realized my FET medication box was sitting out on the counter. I quickly explained that I had medical issues and clarified that she should be careful to not use any of my syringes or medications on the cat. I'm sure Nadia doesn't need her ovaries suppressed. She's spayed lol.

Toward the end of the visit, I explained that we will need to have her come on the morning of September 12th, which is the day we are travelling to San Antonio for our transfer. I decided to just let her know at that point that I'm going through fertility treatments. I figured, why not? I try to be an advocate for infertility and embryo adoption when a situation presents itself. And this one did.

Shockingly, she said "I kind of thought that when I saw your box of medication." Ha! I found out she used to work at my previous clinic as the billing person before leaving to start her own pet sitting business. In fact, she worked there during my IVF cycle and had even ordered all of my IVF medication! And on top of all of that, she was actually a gestational carrier for another infertile couple and carried twins. This pet sitter SO gets where we are in life without an explanation needed. Even though her job as a pet sitter has nothing to do with infertility, it feels good to find a real life connection with someone who "gets it" without having to explain.

Anyway, she's hired. Not because she "gets" infertility, but because I'm confident she will do a good job. I'm relieved to have a pet sitter lined up like you wouldn't believe.

And in other fantastical birthday news, Nadia isn't limping anymore! It's unbelievable considering how badly injured she was on Tuesday. My vet called me this morning to tell me that he had a consult with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and the two of them decided her injury was not as serious as first thought and it will NOT require $2000 surgery! He recommended a week to a month of cage rest. Nadia is doing great. Our wallet is doing great. We have a pet sitter lined up. I am so happy I could scream! My birthday is off to a fantastic start!

I'll leave you with a picture of a birthday gift that came in the mail for me yesterday from my dear friend and fellow EA blogger, Jess.

It is a bracelet that says "expect miracles." I am trying to do just that! It seems a miracle happened with my cat's injury... hopefully there are some more in store for us. What a sweet and perfect gift.