Monitoring #1

Today was my first post-stim start monitoring appointment.  I was excited to see how the follies are looking -- I've had all kinds of weird twinges, bubbling and tenderness in my abdomen this weekend (real or imagined) and I was excited to see what the 11 may look like today.  Turns out this was an E2 only appointment. Bleurgh! :(

I just had the call from the nurse.  E2 was 48.8 today (lower than the 58.6 I had at my last appointment... isn't that stuff supposed to go up when you start stimming?) But she didn't seem to have any issue with that number so I guess nothing to worry about.

Anyway... Per the doc I continue stims as I have been.  225iu Follistim AM and PM. Micro Lupron 20 units AM and PM.  Then on Wed I switch the evening Follistim for 225 Menopur.

Thursday morning I have another monitoring appointment this time with ultrasound.  Phew!  I am hoping that since I hadn't emptied my bladder enough before baseline u/s that there were more follies there than the nurse could see.  Now I am going in there with an empty bladder, and after a week of stims.  Hopeful that a few more might  magically appear!  If not, let's hope that the 11 are growing consistently and all keeping up.

In other news, holy Lupron headaches!! Pounding head all day today and I can't take anything stronger than Tylenol. :( Hope that this time it goes away, but I know from last cycle that these tend to go on for days.

Baseline

All I have today is my antral follicle count which was Rt ovary 6 and Lt ovary 5. Not fabulous but 11 is a decent number and I'll take it. Hoping for 8 eggs at the end of this... You hear me ovaries?? I need 8! (But I'd love it if you shocked the hell out of me with 11.)

Blood results tomorrow.

Lupron begins Thurs. Stims begin Sat.

Game on!

Apology & Update

This has been a rough, ROUGH weekend.  I am sad, depressed is probably more appropriate, stressed out and embarrassed VERY embarrassed.   Not sure how many (if any) of you read my last post, but to those of you who did... well... you will know what has happened and hopefully you will understand why I am feeling this way today.  That post wasn't up for too long, but it was unnecessary and ridiculous and I apologize to those of you who saw it.

I am going to leave that there and move on...

Tomorrow we finally go in for baseline US, bloods, and med walk-through.  After what has felt like months of waiting around taking BCPs by Thursday I should be starting Lupron, and Saturday I should start stimming.  At this point in my last cycle I would have listed all the things that could go wrong between today and first Lupron shot... But I am still trying to keep this a zen cycle and so I will not.  We're moving forward with a positive mindset and looking at tomorrow as the starting gun.  Let's get this train moving!!

1 Year Blogging

Today is my one year blogging anniversary. Tuesday Mr R will have been at his current job for one year. Meaning he has had this same insurance for a year, and, had we checked back in June of last year we could be writing a very different blog.  Maybe.

This all just occurred to me this morning. I am so mad at myself for not checking sooner. We've always considered his insurance pretty low-rent and had therefore assumed that they wouldn't cover infertility. 

One year blogging still no baby.

Whoops!!!

So you know yesterday I posted a pic of my blister pack of BCPs with one extra missing because I'd already portioned it out into my bowl?  Well I went to take my pills this morning and found that the pill wasn't in my bowl.  A ll others were there. Mr Rs bowl was empty because he dutifully took them last night. Sooooo I think I must have accidentally given him my BCP!

I called the clinic in a panic this morning and they say it's not a big deal and they'll give me one pill to make up for it. Phew!

To be fair, pill serving is an arduous task in our house. Just look at this...

The white bowl is mine, the owl spoonrest is his.

Oh man I have to be more careful!!  He's already taking Chlomid for his sperm.

IVF #2: First Blood

So here we go... First bloods drawn this morning, first of 20 BCPs in (tomorrows is in my pill box).

I had forgotten how awful it is driving for 2 hours for a 5 minute blood draw appointment. Of course the fact that I was up for the second night in a row with excruciating cramps didn't help my mood. For 3 hours I paced up and down in tears. If this round doesn't work it's definitely time for me to get back in with an OB about my endo. And the best part of today's draw? I got Nurse Butcher. My arch nemesis. I don't honestly know how she keeps her job. I have never had blood drawn by her without leaving with a huge knot and blood blister.

We've Got Dates

So apparently they do this by email and not by phone... who knew!

First up 20 long days of BCPs, with an overlapping 10 days of antibiotics and I won't even see Dr S or a single needle until 6/24 when I go in for pre-Lupron u/s, med review, labs, consents, and possibly (because this wasn't noted in my paperwork) Hysterosono and test transfer. Do you have that with every IVF cycle, or just the first?

The Schedule:
6/3 - CD1
6/24 - Baseline appointment
6/26 - Start Lupron
6/28 - Start stims
7/8 - Expected ER
7/11 - My 36th birthday
7/13 - Expected ET

And so you see I will be crossing over into the 36+ bracket next month.  But do not fear.  My ER is on the 8th, so while my uterus will be 36, the eggs will be those of a 35 year old.  *fist pump!*

I am heading back to bed.  I decided to re-watch Sherlock from the very beginning.  Can't focus anyway!

Just Killin' Killin' Time

What to do when your period shows up at last (okay, only a day late) and you've called in to the nurses line as instructed, but no one has called you back?

Well of course you distractedly avoid the enormous pile of work on your desk while you wait for that call...  So far today I have unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, done two loads of laundry, mopped the floors, watched the entire series of Does this Baby Make Me Look Fat, called RE front desk trying to schedule CD1 appointment myself - I can't, I have to wait for my nurse to call me, and lastly find a new blog template.

Not sure I like it.  It's very orange. It may not stay.

Next I am toying with the idea of hitting Netflix for a little Sherlock, Season 3 action...

Still Waiting...

So today should be CD1, only it's not because the one freaking time I am relying on my always-punctual AF to arrive perfectly on schedule, she doesn't... So now I am left trying to plan out my work week blindly allowing for a possible 5 hour block of missing time so I can get to the RE, do testing and consults and drive the 1.5 hours it takes to get home. Thank God I am now freelancing so my time is more flexible.