Start of PIO.

This morning was the start of my PIO (progesterone in oil) shots.  Even though it has been 4 months since we last did any PIO shots, Babe was a pro.  He didn't even have to review the steps on how to do the PIO shots.  He just whipped up the shot, stuck it to me, and we were done!  Didn't hurt at all.  In fact I barely felt it at all.  Today felt really good, like I didn't even get the shot, but it is starting to be a little sore tonight.  I know the soreness will get worse as time goes by.  Starting tomorrow, we will be doing the shots twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Whenever I start my PIO shots, I like to do a show-and-tell of the PIO syringe and needle.  I call the PIO shot my "Big Ass Shot".  Because the needle used for the shot really is BIG, and you stick the needle it in your ass (butt).  Ok, not really your butt, but in the "upper outer quadrant of your buttocks" (as per the training videos).  So technically it is more like the hip, but close enough.  Below are 2 pictures of the syringes used for this protocol.  Notice the size difference between these 2 needles!

The top is the syringe and needle used for the PIO shots.  You actually use a bigger needle to draw the oil out of the bottle, and then you switch it to a smaller needle for the actual injection.  As you can see the smaller needed is HUGE.  The PIO is an intramuscular (inside the muscles) injection, so the needle is long (1.5 inch) and wider (22G) to allow the the thick oil to be injected.  The bottom syringe is an insulin syringe used for the Lu.pron shot (0.5 inch, 30G), and injected subcutaneously (under the skin).  As you can see, it is much smaller and the needle is much shorter and thinner.

Top: Syringe for PIO shot, with 22G 1.5 inch needle
Botton: Syringe for Lu.pron, 30G 0.5 inch needle

Difference in size of the needles!

I need to do PIO shots until at least the first beta (pregnancy test), approximately 11 days after transfer.  If I am pregnant, then I will continue the shots until I am 10-12 weeks along.  So I will have to do at least 28 PIO shots at the minimum, and if everything turns out well, I will have approximately another 90-120 shots "big ass shots".  Fun times!

I am just about done packing for my transfer.  Most important, above all else, I must not forget my medications, syringes, needles, gauze pads and alcohol swabs.  I requested a letter from the NEDC nurse from the clinic stating I need to bring the syringes and medication on board the plane.  I probably won't need it since I didn't need it last time.  But I just wanted to be sure I don't have any issues with TSA.

My stash of medications, syringes, needles, gauze pads and alcohol swabs.

I guess I'm ready for my trip!  I'm all checked into my flight, and my hotel and car rental confirmations are on hand.

3 days to transfer!

Hopping on the plane tomorrow night!

Bye Bye Lupron

I just gave myself my VERY LAST Lu.pron shot for this transfer's protocol.  Hopefully this will be my last one, at least for a couple of years.  Meaning hopefully this May transfer will be successful and I will not have to do any more of these shots until we potentially come back for a sibling in a couple of years.

I have to admit I will miss doing these shots.  They are my "favorite" shots as they are the simplest, easiest and quickest shots, with the smallest needles.  And I will miss telling Babe, "I need to go shoot myself now!".

What I won't miss are the headaches, hot flashes and crazy dreams I get from them.  At least I think the dreams are from the shots.  I guess I did not blog about the dreams.  Let's just say that they are super wacky but unfortunately I forget most of them after I wake up.  I even had a scary nightmare.  As in "The Exorcist" and I'm-so-scared-I'm-afraid-to-to-back-to-sleep scary.  Hopefully these wacky dreams will end now.

Today I also increased my Es.trace (estrogen) pills to 3 times a day.  This will continue for another 8 days until my ultrasound and lab appointment that will determine if my lining is thick enough for transfer.  If that's a go (praying it will!), then our transfer will be as scheduled on May 16th.  PIO (progesterone in oil) shots will start after that.  And after that, off to Knoxville!

12 days to transfer.

10 days till we hop on the plane to Knoxville.

Unexpected Blessing

I received a HUGE unexpected blessing last night.

I was chatting with a friend on FB while watching a movie at home and eating a slice of peach tart when she asked me for my email address and then asked me to check my email.  I received an email from a hotel with a confirmation for a hotel reservation.  I was like, what's this?

My friend, bless her heart, had sneakily booked us a hotel room for our stay in Knoxville!  She is giving us our entire 4 nights of hotel stay for FREE using her credit card points!

Eeeekkk!! We were just talking over lunch about how I needed to book my hotel and car rental yet, and how the price of the hotel we used to stay in had for some reason gone up a lot.  I was contemplating staying at a cheaper hotel that we had never been in, but was a little nervous about.  I was telling her I may just suck it up and pay more for a nicer and more established hotel.  This hotel that we are booked in is really nice, and costs $160 a night, way beyond our budget for a hotel room.

When I looked back at our FB conversation, I see that she had been sneaky, asking me a few questions about where I was looking to book, etc.  I am so grateful for her generosity.  She said it didn't cost her anything but her credit card points, though she could use it for other stuff for herself.   She said it was a pleasure for her to help me out, so I didn't have to not worry about money and, I could, quoting her, ".... relax n enjoy n get pregnant dammit"!  I thought that was pretty hilarious.

I am so grateful to her for this generous gift.  She is a blessing to me.

Today, I finally booked our rental car.  We are renting from Enterprise car rental, another first for us.  Wow, this trip is full of firsts and new experiences.  I hope that is a good sign for our transfer as well.

On another note, today I increased my Es.trace dosage to one tablet, twice a day, an increase from only half a tablet twice a day.  Also today, I was just sitting here surfing on FB when BAM! Holy hot flashes!  Out of nowhere came this hot flash.  I have never experienced anything like that.  For a bit there I thought something was wrong with me, and then I thought oh that's right, I'm on Lu.pron.  Usually the only times I have ever felt any hot flashes was in bed at night.  This was a first and hopefully not too many more.

On Sunday I had received an email from Debbie, the counselor/mediator that works with NEDC donor families.  She passed on a note from my donor family that they are excited to hear about my May transfer date.  They wish us the best of luck, and are thinking of us often.  It's alway really nice to hear from the donor families.  They sound like a great family and are very open to having communication with us, even now, before our transfer.  We have decided that we will wait until there is a successful pregnancy before communicating directly with them, and are understand our decision.

17 days to transfer!

And So It Begins.... Again.

And so it begins.... again.

I started Lu.pron tonight.  I have been on birth control pills since March and will continue till Saturday night, but the Lu.pron shots officially (to me at least) marks the beginning of my protocol for my May transfer.

After talking over with Babe we have decided that we will stick with 2PNs as per NEDC's normal process for donors with both 2PNs and blastocysts.  Yesterday, Carol the embryologist called me after hearing that I had some concerns but I assured her that we have decided to stick with NEDC's usual process and go with the 2PNs.

According to Carol, they will thaw three 2PN embryos 2 days before our transfer, with the goal of having at least 2 of those will survive and grow into healthy multicells.  If all three are of great quality, they will only transfer two,  and will refreeze one for future use.  According to her, this is the best stage to refreeze embryos if needed.  She also said that 2PNs do very well at thaw and have pretty good pregnancy rates.  The pregnancy rate for 2PNs is the same as multicell and blastocysts.

The other thing Carol mentioned is Dr. Keenan tends to recommend patients going for their third try at NEDC to try embryos from a different stage than the previous attempts.  This is true as Dr. Keenan did suggest trying embryos that are not blasts this time around.  It just so happened that while looking at donor profiles, most of the donors that seemed right for us had blasts.  The family we selected just happened to also have 2PNs, so like I mentioned in my previous post, they were more of an afterthought.  But we have decided this is good thing, using 2PNs.  In the end, we are ending up to use embryos at a stage suggested by the doctor anyway.

One more thing that will be different for us this transfer.  Because we are using 2PNs, NEDC will have to do assisted hatching on the embryos, which at the time of transfer will be at the multicell stage.  There is an additional cost of $525, but that in the end, the cost is just another part of the process of working with embryos.

I have scheduled my 2 ultrasound and lab appointments for 4/24 and 5/12.  My endometrial biopsy is also scheduled on 4/24.  In addition, I have scheduled an ultrasound to check my uterine lining for polyps.  My gynecologist has suggested having the biopsy and ultrasound on the same day so I could save a trip to the doctor's office.  Unfortunately, the ultrasound tech is not in the office the day I need to have my biopsy, so I have to go in to the doctor's 2 days in a row.  My gynecologist wants to have the ultrasound done as close as possible to the biopsy so he has the most current results.  I also checked with my gynecologist if there are any other testing that can be done for recurring chemical pregnancies and he said no.  Dr. Keenan said the same thing, so I will let that rest.

So right now, all my appointments are scheduled, my calendars are updated with appointment and reminders to take my medication on my phone.  I just have to remember to do my shots and take my meds.

Next up, I need to book our flights, hotel and car rental.

10 Days!

10 Days till transfer!

Last night was my last Lu.pron shot.  Yay!  This time the shots didn't give me any problems.  No headaches or hot flashes that I noticed.  Maybe I was too distracted by my cough.

I also increased my Es.trace to 3 times a day instead of 2 yesterday.  I'm praying that my at my ultrasound appointment on Thursday my lining will be at least 7 mm.  I have been using a heated pad on my lower abdominal area to try and get more blood flow to the uterus. I also trying to eat raspberries everyday day for the same reason.

I feel like the transfer is here too suddenly!  I feel like I am not ready!  If all goes well we leave on Sunday and start our drive to TN.  But we will stop halfway in Indiana to see a high school friend.  Suddenly I realize I only have one week to have sushi and alcoholic drinks!  I need to start thinking about packing! And starting PIO!  Oh the dreaded PIO.......

This week is going to pass by too quickly!

October 2013 ICLW

Hello again, ICLWers!

I'm a couple of days late on ICLW this week.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up on commenting.  Welcome, if this is the first time you are visiting.

This next month should be a pretty exciting month for me.  Before the November ICWL, I will hopefully have had my transfer of my adopted embryos.  My transfer is currently scheduled for November 20th at the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) in Knoxville, TN.  I was originally scheduled for a transfer in September, but two days before I was supposed to hop on the airplane, we found out that I have a polyp in my uterus.  So sadly that transfer was cancelled, and I am currently scheduled to have a hysteroscopy & polypectomy to remove the polyp on October 31st, yup Halloween.  After trying for almost 10 years, including multiple rounds of Clo.mid, IUIs, surgeries (this will be my 4th hysteroscopy!) and 4 rounds of IVFs, AND turning 40 in August, I have to wait yet again.  But this is best as we want to ensure that my body is in the ideal condition for the transfer.

I am excited as we have started our protocol.  I started BCPs last week after a bit of a drama, which included taking a pregnancy test.  Took the test on Thursday, started BCP the same day and my period started on Saturday.  I started "loopy Lu.pron" yesterday.  Next week, I will have my baseline ultrasound on 10/30, and my surgery on 10/31.  And if everything looks good, I will start my Es.trace on 10/31.

For those of you new to my blog or to see how I got here, swing on over to my "Our Journey So Far" page.

I Took A Pregnancy Test

Yup, you read that right.  I took a pregnancy test today.

No, let me rephrase that.  I HAD to take a pregnancy test today.

You may remember in my last post I mentioned how I was a little concerned because I am supposed to STOP taking my BCPs (birth control pills) next Friday 10/25.  But I have not even started taking them yet because I still have not gotten my period since I stopped taking Estrace on 9/18 when my September transfer was cancelled.  I had asked Katie, the NEDC IVF nurse about it last Friday when I received the protocol.  She was not worried about it and said it is fine as long as I start my BCPs when my period started.  So, a week later and still no period, so I called Katie today and asked her about it again. Since it has been a month (minus one day) since I stopped Es.trace, she told me to take a pregnancy test, just in case.  If it was negative then start the BCPs today.  Well, I'm pretty sure I am not pregnant.  I even told Babe that I'd bet $100 that I'm not and he refused to take me up on it.  Smart guy.

I had to run to Tar.get to buy myself a pregnancy test kit.  Gosh I don't even remember the last time I bought one since I have always been pretty adamant about not peeing on a stick after my IVFs.  I think I threw out the last kit I had since it had long since expired.  I bought the cheapest Tar.get brand kit I could find.  Well what do you know.......I'm not pregnant.

So I started my BCPs today.  I will be taking it for only 8 days, and then will stop.  My period is supposed to come after that, and hopefully I will not still be bleeding (if I get a period at all) when I have my surgery on the 31st, 6 days later.  So, today was kind of exciting.... me taking a home pregnancy test.  I almost forgot how to do it and had to read the instructions again.

I had an interesting day yesterday.  When I cancelled our trip out to Knoxville in September, we had to cancel our flights too.  We currently have about $550 in credit with Delta airlines for those tickets.  Someone on the Face.book embryo adoption/donation group suggested I try calling Delta to see if I can get my rebooking fee of $200 per person waived due to medical reasons.  So I called Travelocity whom I booked our travel package with to see if I could do that.  After being on hold for about 15 minutes, I spoke to "Mike", and then was transferred to "Jerry".   We all know I was neither speaking to a Mike nor a Jerry as I was quite obviously speaking to someone in India!  I asked "Jerry" if I could speak to someone about waiving my rebooking fees as I had to cancel my travel plans due to medical reason.  I explained to him my procedure was cancelled due to a medical reason, and I had to have surgery first.  He asked why I didn't tell them about it before when I cancelled back in September.  I said nobody asked me why I was canceling.  I had only heard about Delta sometimes waiving fees due to medical reasons after the fact.  Then he put me on hold and contacted Delta.

He came back and asked me to provide information about the hospital and doctor information.  I tried to ask him which information he needed, the clinic where I was supposed to go for my transfer in Knoxville, or the hospital that I will need surgery from.  I have to say I was getting pretty frustrated and annoyed because not only was I having a hard time understanding him, he kept interrupting me.  I finally gave him NEDC's info and Dr. Keenan's name and clinic information.

The next thing he said totally surprised me.  Because I said "National Embryo Donation Center" and "Southeastern Center for Fertility and Reproductive Surgery" (Dr. Keenan's practice), he said don't worry ma'am', everything will be alright.  I was taken aback for a bit.  Did he just say what I thought he said?  He said him and his wife has gone through that before and everything will be OK, whatever "that" means.  He put me on hold again and spoke to Delta on the other line.  I kept thinking, don't tell me everything is going to be alright.  You don't know that everything is going to be alright.  You don't even know what I am going through.  What did YOU go through?  IVF? Donated eggs?  Adopted embryos?  Maybe things turned out well for you, but does not mean it will for me!  I was starting to get really annoyed.

When he came back, he said he will transfer me to someone from Delta and they will waive the rebooking fees.  Again he said don't worry ma'am, everything will be alright.  I was ready to hang up on him, and was so happy to finally speak to someone from Delta instead.   I know that "Jerry" said that with good intentions, but I didn't want to hear it from him.  Especially when he knows nothing about me nor what I am going through.   I think it was unprofessional of him to say something like that.  What do you think?  Babe thinks it was no big deal, that "Jerry" could relate since he had similar experience, and was probably just trying to be helpful.  I still think it was unprofessional.  Maybe I'm being too emotional.

Well at least the good news is I now don't have to pay the $200 rebooking fees on those tickets when we are ready to use them.

And FedEx brought this today.  My 14 day Lu.pron kit.  I start on Monday.

Last Day of Lupron!

Today was my last Lu.pron shot!  Woo hoo!  So glad that is done with.  Hopefully my hot flashes will go away now.  I also increased my Es.trace to three times a day instead of two starting today.

I heard back from NEDC about my donor fees.  My first donor's fees ($775) included labs, shipping and storage expenses for the embryos.  The fees can vary greatly for each donor because some process labs through their own insurance, but others pay out of pocket and pass it on the the adoptive families.  Some donors assume the responsibility of the storage fees while others pass it on to the adoptive families.  In the case of my second donor family ($77) , there is only the fees for shipping the embryos.  If I remember it correctly, this family conceived their embryos via IVF through a trial, so most of their cost was covered by their clinic.

Only 11 days before my transfer!  Babe and I have decided to take a mini vacation and drive the 6+ hours to Chicago this weekend.  We are going to Six Flags Great America!  I had wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday with a big bang on some crazy roller coaster rides but timing was not great and Babe was not able to take time off due to busy work schedules.  But we are doing this now.

I am super excited because this could  possibly the last time I can go on thrill rides for a while (**keeping fingers crossed**).  If When baby comes along, I won't be able to do this easily.

Babe got Friday off, so we are planning on leaving sometime tomorrow afternoon and arrive late at night.  Not sure what our plans are yet Friday, but we will keep it open and take it easy.  Maybe hit Chinatown.  Will be spending all Saturday at Six Flags.

Bring on the rides!! I'm so ready for this!

"Coming Out" & Happenings

Yesterday, Liz from Wishing On A Snowflake posted that she created a new embryo adoption/donation group on Face.book.  It is set to a secret status, so only a current member of the group can add another person.  This group is meant for anyone on any step on the embryo adoption/donation journey.  If you are interested and want to be added to the group, please read her post here and email her at wishingonasnowflake@gmail.com.

So, I joined this group on Face.book.  In a way, I am "coming out", sort of.  Because I write this blog anonymously, people don't know who I am, other than my sister and a few friends in real life.  By joining this group, I am revealing my true identity, at least to those in this FB group.  It is a little nerve wrecking but exciting at the same time.  It's nice to meet others going through or have gone through the EA journey.  So if you are on the EA/ED journey, I invite you to join this group.

Today, I also emailed NEDC my Thaw and Transfer Instructions form.  This form indicates how many embryos we wish to transfer.  We have indicated we are willing to transfer 3 at the very most.  NEDC usually only transfers 2 embryos, unless the quality of the third is not great, then they will transfer up to three.

I took my last BCP (birth control pill) tonight.  Thank goodness!  I have been on BCP for 64 days straight.  Hopefully, my period will come soon though I have already been spotting for the last 2-3 weeks.  I have an appointment scheduled for Friday for blood work and an ultrasound to make sure my body is responding properly.

I think the only real side effect I am feeling from Lu.pron is hot flashes.  I'm also a kinda tired, but I'm also feeling under the weather.  I have been fighting an emerging cold for the last few days which started the day before I started Lu.pron shots.  So it's kinda difficult to tell if what I'm feeling is from the cold or the Lu.pron shots.

Only a little over 3 weeks before we hop on the plane to go meet our babies!

Hello, Lupron!

Hello, Lu.pron, my old friend!

We finally meet again, after 3 2 long years.  I guess it is time to rekindle our friendship.  Please be kind to me this time around.  I hope you will keep your headaches, dizziness, and hot flashes to yourself.  Fortunately, I only have to maintain our friendship for less than 3 weeks, and only to once a day.

If it makes you feel any better, you will be happy to know that you have always been my "favorite" shot to give myself.  You are simple, quick, least painful, and have the smallest needles.

Still, I hope we will never have to be friends again after this.  I hope you understand.  No hard feelings.

Protocol and Meds Are Here

This morning, I received my FET protocol from Katie, our nurse at NEDC.  This was a nice surprise as Katie had told me earlier that I wouldn't be getting my protocol until after the 15th.  Looks like I will start Lu.pron on 8/23 and will continue on BCPs until 8/27.   I'll be putting together a calender together to make sure I get all the medications and shots all in one place.  Maybe I'll share it later.

A couple of hours later, the UPS guy dropped off my medication.  I'm quite familiar with most of the medication, except for the progesterone in oil (PIO).  They include PIO, Lu.pron kit, Es.trace, Va.lium, a whole bunch of syringes and needles, and a sharps container.

Here's the progesterone in cottonseed oil.  There are actually 4 bottles of this.  This is a new one for me.  I'm a little nervous about the PIO, to be honest.  Heard it's a real pain in the butt.  Literally.

This is the first time I have used a Lu.pron KIT.  I was surprised to open the box to see the Lu.pron bottle, syringes and alcohol pads all included.  I love this kit.  Though I can't really say that I love "Loopy Lu.pron".  I'm pretty sure I will have side effects again from this.  We'll see.

Looks like I'm ready to go.  Just need to make the appointments at the local fertility clinic for when I need to get my ultrasounds and blood draws.

Also, if you haven't already, sign up for my 40th birthday giveaway.  Make sure to leave a positive comment about turning 40.

Moving Along

Our donor families approved us to adopt their embryos on Monday.  On Tuesday, we mailed a check for the Open Donation Agreement (ODA) fees to the National Fertility Support Center (NFS).  The ODA is a contract that both the donor and recipient families sign agreeing that we will maintain communication if a child is born from the embryos adopted.  It includes such things as:

• Information of the child born (name, sex, date of birth, etc.)
• Types of information to be communicated (medical info, development progress, etc)
• Frequency of the communication that will take place and for how long
• Method of communication - email, letters, phone calls, texts, etc.
• Medium of  communication - through NFS, licensed adoption agency, attorney, 3rd party or directly between families.
• Whether there will be direct contact in the future between families and genetic siblings.

NFS' roles is to help with our embryo adoption plan and education, preparing us for openness, negotiating of our ODA with the donor families, and to support us through the embryo adoption process.  We have an initial meeting over the phone with Debbie, the counselor at NFS scheduled for next Friday.  She will help us with the mediation process for the ODA.  After this, we will also have phone meetings with each of the donor families.

Today, I spoke with the Briova, the pharmacy that will be providing us with our medications for our September transfer.  NEDC works with Briova as they are supposed to be the cheapest ones around.  Unlike our previous IVF cycles, this time around our insurance company does not provide any fertility coverage at all.  The cost of the meds will be mostly be out of pocket, adding up to around $345.  Here is the approximate breakdown of the cost of the drugs:

• Lu.pron - $129
• Es.trace - $195 (for 60 tablets)
• Progesterone in oil (PIO) - $20 (for 4 vials)
• Va.lium - $0.42

Fortunately, because we are doing a FET (frozen embryo transfer), we will not need any drugs that stimulate follicles to produce more eggs.  These stims cost thousands of dollars!  I was quite surprised at how expensive Es.trace is.  This is most likely because NEDC requires that the brand name drug be used instead of the generic.  That's more than $3 per tablet, and I have to take 2 - 3 per day!  Not sure how long I will need continue taking it after the transfer though.

What has everyone else paid for meds?  

Getting Some Action

I'm finally getting some action..... in the ovaries.

Today's appointment went well.  My lining today is 9 mm, which is great.  I need a minimum of 7 mm to sustain pregnancy.

So far, 9 follicles have responded to the meds.  They are now measurable, meaning they are 10mm or larger.
    Right ovary: 13, 12, 12,12, 11 & 10
    Left ovary:  10, 10 & 10
Looks like rightie is winning this race.

I am to continue my same dosage of meds: 5 units of Lupron and 2 vials of Meno.pur in the mornings, and 300IUs of Follis.tim in the evenings.  I am hoping that more follicles will grow within the next couple of days.

I go back on Sunday for another ultrasound and bloodwork. Because the clinic has very limited hours on weekends, the only time I am able to get in is 7 am in the morning.  7 am!!

Of course, we must not forget that this Sunday is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, which means we spring forward one hour.  So, technically it would be a *6 am appointment.  Meaning I have to leave the house by 5:30 am!

Yikes!!  I am already so not a morning person, and having to be at a *6 am appointment really sucks!

I only have 3 cartridges of 300IUs of Follis.tim left, enough to last me through tonight, Saturday and Sunday nights.  Depending on how my appointment goes on Sunday, I may or may not need another 300IUs of Follis.tim for Monday.  Because the mail order pharmacy my insurance approves of is only open Monday through Friday, I would need to order more meds today, to get it in time for Saturday or Monday.  My nurse today advised me to refill my Follis.tim today.

While driving home, I thought why would I want to refill and pay for meds that I may or may not need for Monday?  At shots injection class, we were told that each Follis.tim cartridge comes with an overfill of 75IUs.  I have 3 cartridges of leftovers right now, and 3 more unused ones.  That means I would have enough for 300IUs from the overfills if I need it on Monday.  I wouldn't need my refill then.  I called the nurse and left a message, and she called me back later this afternoon.

She agreed that it would make sense to use up all overfill first.  I thought that we could withdraw all the overfills into one cartridge so we would only need to do one shot using the pen.  However, she was concerned about air getting into the cartridge and then the dosage might be off.  So she suggested using the the overfill first before using a new cartridge, meaning I would need to do 2 shots, one from the old cartridge with the overfill, and the second from a new cartridge, still amounting to a total of 300IUs.  I would need to do this 2 or 3 nights.

Two shots to save $100 in co-pay in meds I may or may not need?  I'm all for it.

We should know by Sunday the status of my follies.  If all goes well and I am ready, I may be triggering on Sunday night and egg retrieval would be on Tuesday!!

Again, we'll have to see how Sunday goes.  Will keep you updated.

Grow follies, grow!

Lazy Follies

I had my date with Mr. Wandy (ultrasound) and Helga (blood work) today, day 6 of stims.

My lining was 5mm, which is good.  However, my follies are lazy.  I have 10 small follicles on each ovary. 10 small.  Small.  I would have thought by now my follicles would have been at a measurable size, especially since we double the dosage of Meno.pur.  Dang lazy follies!

I suppose the one good thing is I now have 10 follicles on each ovary instead of 8 since March 2nd.  So I grew 4 more follies in 8 days.  Yay!!  Grow follies, grow!

I will continue my regimen of 5 units of Lu.pron and 2 vials of Meno.pur in the morning, and 300IUs of Follis.tim in the evening until my next appointment on Friday.  They will decide if anymore adjustments will be needed then.

I asked Nurse Amy when she thinks my egg retrieval will be.  Most people have the HCG (trigger) shots after 9 to 12 days of stims.  At the rate of how my follicles are growing, the nurse estimates that I would need 12 days of stims.  HCG shot is 36 hours before retrieval, so I am estimating that my ER would possibly be March 18th.  We'll see.

Helga drew my blood again today.  I'm starting to think that she is the only one that will be doing all my blood draws.  Not so excited about that.  I decided to switch and have my blood drawn from my right arm instead today.  My left arm was still sore and bruised from the last couple of visits.

As soon as I told Helga I wanted my to use my right arm this time, I started to panic!  It just occurred to me that I have never used my right arm for blood draws before this, ever!  I have always been so proud of left arm as I have never had any problems with it.  I noticed that my right arm does not have a nice visible vein that pops out a little, like my left arm does.  Suddenly horror stories of people being poked multiple times in the veins unsuccessfully came to mind!  Images of black and blue arms flashed by!

Argh!!.... what was I thinking?  Of course I was too embarrassed to switch arms by then.  Fortunately, Helga had no problem with my right arm.  I noticed that it hurt more after though, since I use my right arm more.

After the appointment, I called the pharmacy to refill my Meno.pur, plus I filled the rest of my prescription needed for the rest of the cycle:  Tetracy.cline, Va.lium, Endome.trin and Vi.velle.  Total cost: $296.95.  Again, thank you insurance company!

A side note: I have been experiencing headaches in the afternoons for the last couple of days.  I think it's the double dosage of Meno.pur.

I'm praying that my follies will behave and keep growing.

Come on..... Grow follies, grow!!

Stims-O-Rama

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days.  I have been feeling too lazy to write, been mostly lurking and reading blogs over the weekend.

I started my stims (stimulation injections) on Friday.  In the mornings I do 5 units of Lu.pron (reduced from 20 units), and one 75 IU vial of Meno.pur.  In the evenings I do 300 IUs of Follis.tim.  So 2 shots in the morning, and one in the evening.  I'm beginning to look and feel like a human pin cushion.  Luckily not too much bruising, yet.  Maybe I will take a picture of my tummy one of these days.

Lup.ron is simple, you draw out the 5 units, and then you inject it into your tummy.

Morning: Lu.pron with insulin needle

Meno.pur is little more "fun" as there are a few more steps to do.  There are 2 vials, the diluent (liquid) used for mixing, and the actual Meno.pur powdered medication.  Using a special cap called a Q-cap, the Meno.pur medication is mixed with the diluent before it can be injected.  There are a few more steps and switching back and forth between vials.  Injecting Meno.pur took a little more time than I originally expected, but I am getting better and faster at this.  It helps to take all the medication, syringes, alcohol swabs and cotton gauze out and lay them out in an orderly fashion the night before so everything is organized and ready.  I also found that Meno.pur tends to sting more, which the nurse at the injection class actually warned us about.

Morning: Diluent, Meno.pur powder, Q-cap and 27 gauge needle

Diluent and Meno.pur powder

I have taken Follis.tim before during my IUIs and previous IVF cycle, so I am quite familiar with it.  Follis.tim uses a special pen where you "dial up" the required dosage before injecting.  A nifty injection tool.

Evening: Follis.tim Pen and cartridge

So far, no real side effects worth mentioning.

If you are really interested in how these and other medication is done, check out the videos from Free.dom Pharmacy (if you get to a page asking for email, etc try copying and pasting this link to a new window instead: http://www.freedommedteach.com/player/Videos.aspx)

Today, I had my blood work done at the clinic, no ultrasound though.  That's for Wednesday and Friday.  I got a call this afternoon from nurse Jill.  They want me to increase my dosage of Meno.pur from 1 to 2 vials (150 IU) tomorrow and Wednesday.  My estrogen level is only at 68.  What does that mean, I ask.  I guess at day 4 of stims, they like to see the level close to 100.  If it is less than 100, then then increase the  meds.  If it's more than a 100, then decrease the meds.

I'm not sure how to feel about this.  Is it bad news, or just normal adjustments they make?  68 sounds kinda low to me.  I know in the past, I have had to continue stims for one or two more days than expected, so maybe it just means my body is not responding as well.  Still, it would be great if my body would be a super star and respond really well, or at least respond normally.  It just makes me nervous.

So the game plan for now is to increase my Meno.pur dosage to 2 vials tomorrow and Wednesday, and the Lu.pron and Follis.tim dosages stay the same.  I have another ultrasound and blood work on Wednesday and Friday.  They will be able to tell more then how my body is responding and if any more adjustments are needed.  It does sound like I will be needing a refill on my Meno.pur, which mean I will need to pay for another copay.

On another note, my MIL's birthday was a success.  It as a low key dinner at a local family restaurant and then we all headed to our house for cake.  Thankfully my Babe had Friday off, so he did an awesome helping pick up his crap stuff from the family room and did the vacuuming.  The house was clean (for the most part, minus the junk room, bedroom and office, which was off limits!) which was a good thing because Babe's 90-year Grandma joined us for dinner too.  She may be 90, but her vision is sharp and doesn't miss much.

We also talked about making a trip to Indiana for Babe's nephew's first communion and birthday, and his niece's baptism the fourth weekend of April.  I'm hoping that I WILL be pregnant by then!  It will make an interesting trip, depending on if I am truly since I WILL be pregnant, and if I have to deal with morning sickness, and hiding the news until the second trimester.  We don't plan on telling the in-laws until the second trimester.

p/s I updated the last part of my post to a more positive tone!  I have to believe I WILL be pregnant at the end of this cycle!

Lu.pron Day 10 Appointment

I had my appointment at the RE's office today.  My little "date" with Mr. Wandy (ultrasound wand) went quite well.  My body seems to be playing nice.  My lining today was nice and thin at 3 mm, which is good.  My ovaries were "quiet", which was also good.  There were 8 follicles on each of my ovaries, which I guess is a decent number.  Somehow, I thought there would be more, since at my last ultrasound on 2/9, I had 17 on the left ovary, and at least 11 on the right.  I suppose we don't want too many, or risk OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome) which would be bad.

So everything looks good so far.  My Lu.pron dosage will be reduced to 5 units starting tomorrow, and I will start my stims (stimulation drugs) of Me.nopur and Follis.tim on Friday.  This will be a fun time of side effects, I'm sure.  It will be a fun trying to figure out what is the side effect of which drug!

I found out from the nurse today the with IVF, our usual calculation of menstrual CDs (cycle days) kind of gets tossed out the window.  While on Lu.pron, we use "Lupron Day", as in today is Lu.pron Day 10 for me.  Then when stims start, it will be considered "Stims Day" X.  The age of an IVF baby would be counted from the day of egg retrieval.  Totally different from non-IVF babies.  The nurse also said that when we are released to a regular OB, they send the OB all the information about egg retrieval dates, etc to help figure out accurate due dates.  The nurse also suggested researching an OB now and that I should also consider a midwife or doula,  so I will need to start working on that.

After my meeting with the nurse and ultrasound technician, I was sent off to get my blood drawn.  Of course Helga was there.  She took my vial of blood without much incident, thankfully less painful than the last time.  Still, she could use some work on her bedside manners.  Still rough and just as crabby.

After my appointment, I ran some errands and was really tired by the time I got home.  I took a nap and woke up with the worst headache ever, even though I have been faithfully wearing my Phi.ten necklace!  I know I promised I wasn't going to talked about headaches anymore, but this was bad.  Maybe it was a migraine, I'm not sure.  I took some Tyle.nol and that seemed to help a little.  I thought with being off BCPs my side effects would hopefully subside, but no such luck I guess.

I always thought my body could handle drugs really well with little or no side effects.  Not so sure about that now.  I'm not looking forward to the addition of Meno.pur and Follis.tim to my routine!

AF and Toxic People

AF arrived this morning.  Today is also the 9th day of 20 units of Lu.pron in the mornings, and 5th day after my last BCP.  For some reason, I kept thinking that I would not be getting AF this time, even though the nurse specifically wrote "bleed" in my calendar on days after my last BCP.  Not sure what I was thinking.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment scheduled for and ultrasound and blood work.  I'm hoping that all goes well so I can start my Me.nopur and Follis.tim shots on Friday.

We just received our federal income taxes refund in the mail today.  It's going directly into our bank account tomorrow!

Last night, my Babe told me that he finally told his best Buddy that we have been trying for a kid for 6 years.  "Buddy" and my Babe were winter camping on Saturday with some boy scouts.  The slept outside, yes in the MN winter, and were chatting till 2 in the morning.  Buddy was telling him all the crap that he as dealing with his daughter's mother (Buddy had a daughter when he was in college, but did not marry his daughter's mother) over trying to have his daughter over the weekends.  Buddy is now married with a 2 1/2 year old daughter.  Of course they got married a few years after us, and they got pregnant about 6 months into their marriage.

Anyway, after Buddy told my Babe about all his troubles, he asked so when are you guys having kids?  Since he just poured his heart out, Babe felt bad and told him yeah, we have actually been trying for 6 years, but he didn't want to get into any details.  I have to say though that I think this is the first time Buddy has actually asked my Babe over the 7 plus years we have been married, this question.  So at I appreciate that he is not nosy, or least didn't pry!  Buddy asked if we've tried any "help".  I guess Buddy and his brother T had discussed us not having kids and had talked about different kinds of treatments we could try.  T is completing residency as a medical doctor and thinks he is a know-it-all.  Without being real specific, my Babe just said, "we are way ahead of you!".  Hopefully we won't get any more questions from Buddy or T!  I don't want to go into any details!

So now, Buddy knows that we have been TTC for a while.  I'm kind of worried that he will tell his wife, which I'm sure he will.  See, I think if she knows, she will most probably tell a friend of ours, M.  We all used to do a weekly game night where we would get together to play board games.  M is one of those people my sister would call "toxic people" (I think it was an O.prah term).  People that sucks to be around, and you feel worse after being around them.

M and her hubby got married young, at 19.  They had an "oops baby" not long after.  M is the kind of person in which everything is about her.  About how smart she is, how she is the top of the class, how the world is trying to screw her over because they won't pay her the salary she thinks she deserves right out of college (it's ridiculous!)  They had another "oops baby" a few years ago, and she complained about it her whole pregnancy.  All she talked about was how she didn't want to be pregnant, how she didn't want another baby, how miserable her pregnancy was, how the one time they didn't use birth control they'd get pregnant; all this while we have been TTC for a few years, and around guys and women there were either not married, or pregnant.  She's the kind of person that expects her husband to do everything for her and the kids.  She also expects others to watch her kids when we are at game night, and lets them do whatever they want.  Worse yet, she would not discipline her kids because they are "so perfect".  She hates it when people tell her how to raise her kids, and then thinks they people with no kids know nothing about parenting!

Ughh!  She makes my blood boil just thinking about her!

Getting back to my original point, I'm worried that Buddy or his wife will tell M about our TTC issues which I would not be surprised if they did because they are pretty good friends.  We on the other hand have been avoiding M and her family in the last couple of years.  I just know that if M found out about our TTC issues, she would have lots of mean things to say, and would just drive me crazy!  I am still avoiding them, but it's just a matter of time before we meet again.  Hopefully by then we would be pregnant.  Even then, I'm sure she will have all kinds of advice to give.  In a sick sort of way, I am hoping that M would say something one of these day, I'll get super pissed off and finally just tell her off!!

Of course I can't always come up with the best things to say at the most important time, and will probably come up with something really lame!  Sigh......

Headache, Again & Hot Flashes

OK, so much for no hot flashes.

Not such a good day for side effects today.  Headache again.  And just for good measure, hot flashes kicked in today.  I was making stir fried long beans and omelette for dinner tonight and I was sweating up a storm!  I felt like I was having a fever and was going to be sick!

I actually skipped my Zum.ba class tonight, and you gals know how much I love Zum.ba!

Instead, I stayed home and made some brownies with Valentine sprinkles, a belated Valentine treat for my Babe.  Then we watched The Mentalist and the Olympics women's figure skating finals on TV.  Korea's Kim Yu-Na is amazing and truly deserved the gold medal!

Thanks to one of my commentors (thanks, Audrey!) who reminded me of my Phi.ten necklace, I put that on and that seemed to help.  Phi.ten is a brand of products that promotes health, energy and well-being.  My sister and BIL swears it helps with headaches, migraines, and other aches and pains.  It has helped me with headaches in the past too.  It comes in necklaces, bracelets, tapes, etc.  Lots of professional athletes wear it.  If you are interested, you can check out their products and claims here on the Phi.ten website.  Here's a quote from the official Phi.ten website:

Phi.ten products work with your body’s energy system, helping to regulate and balance the flow of energy throughout your body. Proper energy balance helps to alleviate discomfort, speed recovery, and counteract fatigue. Athletes find that they tire less easily and recover faster from intense physical activity. Further benefits of Phi.ten’s exclusive technology are more relaxed muscles leading to less stress and a greater range of motion that can be of great benefit to an athlete or anyone in any walk of life

I don't know too much about the science of how it works, but it seems to help.  I'll have to remember to wear keep this on now that I am on "loopy Lu.pron".  I have the titanium X30 necklace pictured below.

* Please note, this is not a product review, just a personal view.

Oh, and one more thing, no more BCPs for me!  Last night was my last pill, so anymore side effects, I will officially blame it on loopy Lu.pron, until I start stims of course!

Headache

Just when I thought I was all clear from feeling any side effects, I got whammed with a huge headache this afternoon.

It started about 3 p.m. this while I was reading the blogs.  At first I thought maybe I was dehydrated from working out earlier, so I drank some water.  But then it got worse, so much so I had to lay down for about 15 minutes.  I even took some Tyle.nol and that seemed to help a little, but I'm still feeling it.

I'm not sure if this is from the Lu.pron shots, which I'm on Day 4 today, or from my BCPs.  Tonight will be my last night of BCPs, so we'll have to see if anything changes.

I do think though that I'm experiencing some warmness from the Lu.pron shots, though I still can't say it feels like hot flashes.  Just needing a sheet and only part of the down comforter while in bed.  I usually like to bury myself in my comforter in these Minnesotan winters.  No major discomfort yet so I'm not complaining, for now.

But the headache, it's got to go!

I finally replaced my library card today, after giving up on trying to find it since it went MIA a couple of months ago.  I figured I'll be needing some DVDs for my recovery after egg retrieval and bed rest after transfer.

I rented "Up" from the library today.  You can't beat 50 cents a day rental!  OK, I'm off to watch it with my Babe!

© Disney/Pixar

Show and Tell: Box O' Meds

It's Wednesday, which is also Hump Day, which also means it's time for Me'ls Show and Tell!

This week, I am showing my Box O' Meds that I received in the mail on Friday.  These are the injectibles that I will need for my IVF cycle, including:

• Lu.pron kit
• Follis.tim pen kit
• Follis.tim
• Meno.pur
• Generic HCG
• Various types of syringes and needles
• Alcohol swabs
• Sharps container

This doesn't seem like very much, because thankfully I am not doing PIO (progesterone in oil) shots.  If I did, there would be a lot more meds, syringes and needles.  Already with this, I feel like such a druggie.

As always, go check out what the rest of the class is showing at Mel's.