10 weeks and all appears okay…for now.

I can proudly say we made it from Week 9 to Week 10 without any sort of run to the ER or OB incident, so that’s a success right?  But of course on Monday I had some major black/dark brown Crinone (progesterone suppository) discharge and did kind of freak out for a second.  I did some clearing out Tuesday morning (I know, wicked fucking gross but, alas, this is my pregnancy…) and it was much less throughout the day on Tuesday and Wednesday (just little flecks which is quasi-normal for me and Crinone) and today I did some more “cleaning” and it seems to be all jammed up in there.  It’s so damn gross and it was just so weird that it was so dark and so much with the Crinone but I am proud of myself for not freaking out and not running to my OB demanding an u/s. No cramping and everything else relatively normal so I have to think I shouldn’t be concerned.  It’s probably just some old blood from the perigestational bleed – at least that is what I keep telling myself.  I just want to see the babies on the 20th at my first trimester (NT) scan and know all is okay – I sure hope it is…

My damn MIL asked Chris yesterday when we were going public. There is a family event this Sunday (that I can’t attend due to a charity dinner I’ve committed to) and I think she wanted to tell everyone!!! At first I was pissed that SHE wants to tell OUR news, but then I calmed down enough to be happy that at least she asked. That, of course, doesn’t mean that with a few Pinot Grigios in her she won’t spill the beans anyway but here’s to hoping. People just don’t understand that it’s TOO SOON. I will be comfortable going public once I see them again and if everything is okay. And, it’s our story to tell. UGH.

I just can’t believe how low symptom this pregnancy has been and it makes me super nervous for the scan on the 20th.  I feel like they’re going to find something wrong or everything won’t all be okay…  *sigh*  Damn infertility has made me completely unable to relax into this pregnancy.  I have to keep telling myself that I am literally sitting in the 95% of bringing home at least one, if not two, babies.  Those are pretty good odds.  If only I could buy myself an u/s machine…  I am going to borrow my cousin’s fetal doppler and I plan on using that to check in on them.  I don’t think you can hear their HBs yet, though, since I’m only 10w3d.  But ya, the only symptoms are pure exhaustion and peeing often.  Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am that I haven’t puked once – but sometimes I wish I was so that I’d know things were still okay.  Crazy, I know.

I have woke up the last few mornings feeling kind of crappy – like I’m coming down with a cold.  I’m trying not to freak out but I wonder if I should be checking my temperature and at what point is a cold / flu / strep risky to the babies?  God, I know NOTHING about this stuff!  I don’t even mind suffering through the cold but I just want to be sure everything remains okay with the babies.  In the meantime, I’m eating soup and drinking lots of fluids and trying to just lay low…

I am surprisingly still fitting in most of my clothes – I’m not saying they look all that great, but I am still fitting.  I am reading Belly Laughs by Jenny MacCarthy and it is so true – I’m at the stage where it looks like I’m fat and not pregnant.  Annoying!  I refuse to buy maternity clothes until after my first trimester (NT) scan on the 20th – once I know everything looks good, then I think I’ll be able to settle into my second trimester and embrace some of this stuff.  In the meantime, I laughed my tuckus off when I was looking through these wicked funny maternity shirts.  You know I’ll be buying a few of these!!!

EDIT:  Got a call back from Nurse Karen (oh how I miss her!) and I can stop the Crinone now!!  Yay, no more grossness!  She said they usually stop it around 7-8 weeks – which would have been nice to know when they graduated me…  But, I don’t think it can do any harm to the babies since some women are on it through 12 weeks.  I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like without gunk coming out of my vagina!!!  I’ll be a whole new woman!

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September is PCOS Awareness Month

Septemeber is PCOS awareness month and I feel it is my duty to dedicate a blog entry to the very reason this blog exists.  I will discuss a little more detail about PCOS and then tell my story.  As always, you can find out more about PCOS and Infertility on my website:  https://projectpcosbaby.wordpress.com/about-pcos-and-infertility/

About PCOS

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 1 in 10 women in this world.  It is an endocrine disorder, not an ovary function disorder, and is represented by an imbalance in a female’s sex hormones including estrogen, progesterone, and androgens.  There are many symptoms, however the difficulty with PCOS is that it doesn’t present itself the same in every woman and can present itself in different ways.  To be thorough, though, I want to include some of the symptoms PCOS’ers may find and I’ve highlighted and added notes to the ones I have:

Changes in the menstrual cycle including:

• Absent periods, usually with a history of having one or more normal menstrual periods during puberty   (If I am not on BCPs, I go months without a period)
• Irregular menstrual periods, which may be more or less frequent, and may range from very light to very heavy 

Development of male sex characteristics:

• Decreased breast size  (HAHA – those that know me know this is absolutely not the case here)
• Deepening of the voice
• Enlargement of the clitoris
• Increased body hair on the chest, abdomen, and face, as well as around the nipples
• Thinning of the hair on the head, called male-pattern baldness

Other skin changes:

• Acne that gets worse  (This was the second most notable sign after going off of BCPs)
• Dark or thick skin markings and creases around the armpits, groin, neck, and breasts due to insulin sensitivity

Other common symptoms include:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Weight gain  (Another struggle that became worse after going of BCPs)
• Obesity

There are no “tests” for PCOS that conclude you have it.  Instead, a battery of testing and procedures are done to put together a story that would indicate that PCOS is the diagnosis.  Often, your OB/GYN can assist with the diagnosis, however it is my personal opinion that you are better off being seen by a Reproductive Endrocrinologist even if you’re not actively TTC in order to have them conduct the testing and review the results.  REs are typically more educated in endocrine disorders than OB/GYNs and are able to offer treatment suggestions that fit in line with your lab results.

My Story

In 1999 I was a sophomore in college and had stopped using BCPs as I wasn’t sexually involved with anyone at the time.  About three months had passed and I finally realized I hadn’t had a period, which I thought was weird but wasn’t concerned about since I wasn’t having sex.  I made an appointment for the next time I was home to visit my OB/GYN and find out what was going on.

The appointment with the OB/GYN was quick – we discussed what had happened and she basically told me that my ovaries were “farting”.  When I laughed and asked her REALLY what was happening she said that if she told me the real thing it wouldn’t make sense so that was essentially what was going on.  Okay, I thought – and she prescribed BCPs and I was sent on my merry way…for over 10 years.

I always questioned whether I would have a difficult time getting pregnant, but not because of my ovaries and their apparent gas issue.  It was more because of my mother’s history with cervical cancer and endometriosis that had me concerned.  About a year or so after I got married, so in 2008ish, I went to my PCP to have a physical and to talk about this weight gain I seem to be struggling with.  I never really had weight issues growing up and even into my 20s, but it seemed to happen quickly.  She did a blood panel on me and told me my thyroid function was fine and that it was probably “marriage” weight I was gaining.  Yep – basically I needed to get my lazy married ass up and get back to working out!  Well, okay then…

I went off of BCPs in mid-July 2009 to give my body the 90 day cleanse it needed before we could start actively TTC.  I essentially ran out of excuses to give Chris for not TTC, so August was his last and final date and I agreed and there we go.  Except – no period.  For three months.  In the meantime, I started breaking out in terrible acne on my chest, back, and along my jawline.  I went to my dermotologist and she asked if I had been diagnosed with PCOS?  So yes, it was my dermotologist of all people that first suggested PCOS to me!  I told her no but that we were TTC and so she prescribed me topical solutions and sent me on my merry way. 

In October 2009, I finally went to my OB/GYN to discuss this lack of period thing and beginning to TTC and that is when she suggested that I likely have PCOS.  She wrote it down for me on a piece of paper and told me to look it up online, but that I need to TTC naturally for about a year before a referral would be made.  She prescribed Provera for me and told me to take a HPT every 35 days and if it’s negative, use the Provera for 5 days to bring down a period.  She suggested I pick up some OPKs and track my ovulation and time the intercourse appropriately.  So, me being by the book, this is exactly what I did for a year.  And during that year I peed on a stick every day of every month (and spent TONS of money) and never got a smiley face.  I took them with me on business trips, I didn’t miss a beat.  Never once got a positive.  In the meantime, Chris had an SA done and got a glowing report card so we knew that all of this was on yours truly…

In November 2010, Chris and I both went back to my OB/GYN for a meeting.  As I am telling her about my lack of smiley faced on the OPK, I burst into tears as I think it was right then that I realized this was serious.  She immediately gave me the referral to an RE and handed me information on three different fertility centers in our area.

I went home crushed.  And with a lot of work to do.  I immediately began researching the various centers and making calls to get personal references – eventually ending up at Boston IVF with Dr. Zimon.  And the blog takes over from there…

I wanted to tell my story not only to support the awareness of PCOS, but to summarize my journey and my learnings along the way.  Things I would do differently if I knew then what I know now:

• When I was first told about the ovary “farts”, I should have inquired more about what it was and what it could lead to so I could educate myself further and get control of it as soon as possible
• I shouldn’t have waited over 2 years after getting married to TTC
• After 6 months of no ovulation, I should have went back to my OB/GYN and demanded a referral to the RE

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I feel that things do, in fact, happen for a reason.  But I will be honest and say, just because you get pregnant does not mean the stress and worry goes way.  If anything, it increases.  I am very lucky that after about 6 months of being treated by an RE I find myself 8w4d pregnant, but the pain and struggle of PCOS and IF won’t go away until I hold a beautiful baby (or two!) in my hands.  Then, I believe, I will come to peace with the process and know that it was all worth it.  For now, I walk around in constant fear that I will lose what I worked so hard to get. 

In the end, I will come out of this process with an in depth knowledge of my body, of PCOS, and what I need to do to fight it for the rest of my life.  Because, it doesn’t go away and will never go away.  But I can fight it through efforts to better my health – and we can all fight it through awareness.

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8w2d u/s and all is okay!

Much better news yesterday!!!  I went for the follow-up “viability” u/s and it was such a great experience!  The technician was awesome and you can watch everything that she did on a screen in front of you (unlike with Boston IVF where you couldn’t see what they were doing).  She explained everything, from checking each heart rate and doing the measurements.  She was absolutely amazing – it was great!  Their heart rates were 165bpm and 162bpm which is perfect.  They are now measuring a little ahead (and it appears a lot of growth has occurred since Friday!) as they are measuring at 8w3d and 8w4d now.  There was no issue with the yolk sac on either one and the technician said that now that we’re into the 8th week they are using the placenta more than the yolk sac so we are just fine.
 
I feel like a million bucks – OH OH and the best part!  While she was checking out Baby B something moved and I was like “wait, what was that?!” and she said, “it’s your lucky day – this is a bonus.  That wasn’t me – that was the baby moving!  They don’t usually move a lot at 8 weeks so that is a real treat you got to see that.”  He / she basically turned and faced the screen.  I about died – how unbelieveable!    She pointed out their little arm and leg buds – it’s just simply unreal. 
 
I got cleared to travel, which is good.  Just have to move around a lot on the plane and keep well hydrated.  I also was cleared to return to the gym to do cardio and pilates and yoga, so once I can muster the energy to renew my membership, we’ll be back at that.  I’m hoping next week. 
 
I’ll end my much happier note by including three pics – I swear I won’t send out u/s pics as our Christmas card but I do like to share these with everyone.  There is one of Baby A (lying on his/her belly), one of Baby B (sitting up), and one of both.

Baby A

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby B

 

 

 

Still Twins!

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7w4d U/S, Potential Yolk Sac Issue, 8w First OB, and Another U/S Scheduled

I’ve been severely neglecting the updates here and I sincerely apologize.  Last Friday’s u/s was not all that glamorous and between being worried about that and dealing with a busy life in general, it’s been brutal.  But, let’s share, shall we?

7w4d U/S with Dr. Zimon and Boston IVF & Potential Yolk Sac Issue

Both babies were measuring a bit behind at 7w1d, but I was told their heartbeats were in the 150s (come to find out after a call with Nurse Karen, only one baby’s heartrate was measured and it was 153 but it was noted the heartbeat did exist on the other baby and we did see both on the screen).  The babies looked like gummy bears!  The u/s technician noted that it appears one of the yolk sacs is a bit misshapen – specifically “possible irregular yolk sac”.  Dr. Zimon basically brushed everything off (the measurement and potential misshapen sac) and said that she thinks this was an overall great report.  She even graduated me to my OB.

Of course, I went home and discussed it with Dr. Google and it appears that misshapen yolk sacs are an omnious sign for the pregnancy and lead to miscarriage.  That lead immediately to tears and complete devastation and confusion around why my RE would be so dismissive of it when it could be a huge issue?  I called Nurse Karen and left her a sobbing message asking her to call me as I had additional questions.  She called around 5:00pm and had spoken with Dr. Zimon and essentially, they’re unsure of the clinical significance of the issue with the sac and what could happen to the baby.  Essentially, if there is a 5% chance of miscarriage for me right now – this baby would fall into the higher end of the range.  Nurse Karen didn’t know if it would or could negatively impact the other baby, so that was a question on the list for my OB.  Both babies did measure at 7w1d (and I was 7w4d), which is a good sign and she said that the measurements can sway 2-3 days either way. 

I called my OB and they squeezed me in for Monday (yesterday) with another OB in the practice, Dr. McNulty.  It was the longest weekend of my life.   I had a really tough time sleeping on Saturday night.  I just couldn’t shut my brain off.  I know there’s nothing that can be done to prevent a miscarriage, but it’s so hard to already have an issue this early. 

8 Week First OB Appointment and Follow-up U/S Scheduled

Yesterday was more like a first OB appointment with family history, urine sample, bloodwork, pap smear, exam, etc…  I did get to discuss the potential yolk sac issue with the OB and she’s going with the fact that my RE wasn’t really all that worried and the report being so vague that if there was something truly significant, it would have been noted.  All the report said was “possible irregular yolk sac” and they didn’t measure the heartrate on that baby (which was something that could have been useful for my OB to see – stupid u/s tech!).  My OB’s office wants to see it for themselves, so I’m going tomorrow (Wednesday) for an u/s and then meeting with my actual OB after to discuss the results.  And, in the end, there is nothing that can be done so it’s very much a waiting game.  I was comforted a bit by knowing that it shouldn’t affect the other baby if something does happen.  I can’t imagine losing both.
 
Hopefully tomorrow shows them both measuring closer to 8w2d and normal yolk sacs (whatever that means or looks like).  I swear, this is more stressful than the damn fertility treatments!  So, not a lot of answers but a little bit of comfort – and I just have to find peace in the process and that I have little control.  It will be nice to see them again on the screen and I hope it looks good.  After this I won’t have another u/s (unless there is an issue) until 12-13 weeks.

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Cycle #4: Egg Retrieval and Fertilization Report

Sometimes I really feel like I’m discussing things that should be in a Farmer’s Almanac and not coming from the likes of my vagina.

I had my egg retrieval yesterday morning – a procedure that kinda sucks but the people at the center were super nice and that made it more tolerable.  After almost two hours in Monday morning rush hour traffic, we checked in and then Chris was sent to do his thing.  I was then brought into the surgery center and placed in a comfortable recliner chair.  A nurse came over and took my vitals and reviewed my medical passport (something I completed online the night before).  Chris then joined me and we hung out for a bit after I changed into my johnny and bathrobe and my big, fluffy red socks I brought from home.  The anethesiologist came over and asked me a bunch of questions – he was a large, LARGE man.  I wouldn’t mess with him…  Then another nurse (who was super sweet) came over and put my IV in with some fluids since I couldn’t eat or drink past midnight.  I then got to meet the RE who was doing the retrieval and she was really nice.  And thank GOD she was a she – I’m not a fan of male doctors, especially when it comes down to my girl parts.  Finally after kissing Chris goodbye, the OR nurse, Bonnie, walked me to the OR with her arm around me.  I’m not typically a huggy person with people I don’t know, but it made me feel really good.  She was a bit cooky, but super sweet.

The room was bright with lots of people.  Some dude Bob was there and I’m not sure what he does?  I think he prepares everything for the doctor.  Bonnie got me situated on the table and some other lady did this tie down thing, which freaked me out at first but then Bonnie made a joke about making sure I don’t escape with my eggs so I laughed and settled in.  The embryologist, who I swear was younger than me, came over and introduced himself and had me confirm who I am.  They put oxygen over my face and then the jumbo anethesiologist came over and put something in my IV (anethesia) and tightened my oxygen and the last thing I remember is Bonnie saying “see you in a bit”.

I was overly emotional after I came to from the anesthesia, but I guess that can happen. The recovery nurse went and got Chris for me and gave me ginger ale and some graham crackers.  The doctor came over to give me my results and I burst out crying again.  They only got 6 eggs – which didn’t help with the emotions, especially after hearing the girl next to me got 16.  I am wondering if it’s because this was a conversion cycle from IUI to IVF?  I guess it only takes one, though, right? I just hoped that we’d get some to fertilize – but was doubtful we’d get any to freeze in case we have to do this again.  The thought of going through this again made me insane.  *sigh*

Chris drove me home and I was *this close* to puking.  I ran upstairs and went to bed and slept on and off for most of the rest of the day.  I was super sore – they said it would be like menstrual cramp sore, but this was worse.  I took some Tylenol and put a heating pad on and stayed like that for most of the evening. 

I got the call late this morning – ALL SIX FERTILIZED!!!  Wooo hoooo!  I was totally shocked and couldn’t believe it.  I guess it’s not quantity, it’s quality? 

I am scheduled for noon on Thursday for the egg transfer.  We have decided to put two embryos back in.  I won’t know quality until I arrive on Thursday, so I’m hoping there’s a few stellar eggs in there for me.  And maybe even a couple to freeze just in case?  Positive thinking…

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Cycle #4: CD17 – Follicle Farm

For the girl who struggled to grow 1-2 follicles, I’m now housing a farm of them!!!  I went in this morning for bloodwork and u/s and had one of my favorite u/s techs.  This, my friends, makes me happy.

I got the call from Nurse Karen – going to stim for another night so more Gonal-F (225iu) and Ganirelix and I go back tomorrow morning.  I asked Nurse Karen to guesstimate when I’d trigger and she said probably tomorrow or Saturday, which would make ET on Sunday or Monday.  I’m really hoping for Sunday as my RE is on this weekend so she’d be the one doing everything.  Chris leaves Wednesday morning for work for 8 days so I really want to get the ET over before he leaves to use a fresh sample vs. frozen.  Ahh, the stress!
 
And of course we screwed up the embryo freezing paperwork so I had to run out and meet him at a notary to re-sign everything.  I’ll blame the hormones since I’m usually pretty detail oriented!  I joked that with all the money Boston IVF makes, they should start using electronic signatures and forms. 🙂
 
My E2 is 1,109 and she said there is 8 (not sure where the 10 came from the tech this morning):  17.5, 16.7, 16.1, 15.9, 15.0, 12.8, 12.7, 12.6.  I assume they’re trying to get them a bit bigger (although I meet minimums for the insurance criteria to convert), so we’ll see what tomorrow brings… 

Dr. Zimon and I have been struggling to connect.  She called me this morning in between IVFs and said that she’s had a tough on-call schedule for some reason so all the times I was available she wasn’t, unfortunately.  She wants to give me all the time I need, so we’re going to connect this afternoon.  I have a lot of questions – mostly around benefits / risks with putting in 1 vs. 2 embryos.  Chris has decided (without any information, I must say) he wants to put back in 2 but I’m struggling with the decision.  Our intent was to have one kid even before we knew of this infertility crapola, but I wouldn’t be SO offended by twins.  Although, in the back of my mind, I know what I witnessed Julie go through with carrying twins, bed rest in the hospital, NICU, etc…  I’m exhausted just thinking about it…

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PSA: Birds and Bees

There’s not much about IF that makes me laugh, but this PSA from EMD Serono (maker of my wonderful Gonal-F and located here in the south shore of MA!) had me cracking up laughing.  Boston IVF posted this on FB this morning and I’ve watched it twice – many of the messages hit home and are true.  I’m hopeful this will help spread the word so that other couples know when it’s time to seek advanced help with an RE.

I don’t like to live my life with regrets, but if I could turn back the hands of time – I would have started this process a lot sooner.  It’s one of those “if I only knew then what I know now” things – I wouldn’t have kept pushing Chris off (literally and figuratively).  Hopefully from people reading my blog, friends hearing about my experience, and local and national efforts for IF awareness – less couples will make a potentially fatal mistake in the TTC process by waiting too long or not seeking the proper assistance. 

Hope you enjoy the video!

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Boston CBS News: Infertility Doesn’t Just Affect Older Women

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/05/26/infertility-doesnt-just-affect-older-women/#comment-107538

I guess when I first read this article and saw the newscast, I thought to myself “no shit”.  But that’s probably the wrong attitude to have and likely evidence that I’ve about had it with the misconceptions about infertility.  I should stop assuming that the general public is more aware of infertility and the struggles we face and put some work into educating about it.  I guess this blog is likely a good start, no?

I do appreciate that Dr. Alice Domar with Boston IVF is getting a lot of air time lately as I believe it’s providing a lot of information to the general public.  It’s interesting to note the link between stress and fertility – my therapist has been working through this with me as well.  It’s hard to reduce the stress from my job – so we’re trying to see where else we can impact it.  Yoga, Pilates, and the gym in general is a huge help.  I’d love to be able to take part in the Domar Center, but it’s quite the drive for me so hopefully I can take some of the concepts that Dr. Domar focuses on and get some benefits locally.

I hate that the newscast got the cost of the fertility treatment wrong – there’s a significant difference between $1,800 and $18,000 and the latter is the true cost.  I feel like people seeing that story or reading it may have more reason to cast infertility aside because, quite honestly, $1,800 is a sizeable amount of money – but us going through fertility treatment would give ANYTHING to only pay that much!  I am hopeful they do a correction to make sure that it’s very clear what the true costs of infertility can add up to.

Of course they brought up how MA has insurance coverage for fertility treatments.  Again, another blanket statement that isn’t entirely accurate.  I am considering sending the post I made for RESOLVE’s NIAW on busting the myth that insurance covers treatment.  Yes, for those companies based in MA and that are not self-insured, there are MA laws that mandate infertility as a health condition that require treatment coverage.  However, if the company is self-insured or based out of state, they do not have to abide by the MA state laws.  Many companies are self-insured these days – so although the law is better than none, it isn’t a blanket coverage for all MA residents. 

All in all, I’m 50/50 on this article.  I wish they could have taken the time to get the facts straight to provide an accurate portrayal of infertility.  I do like the education piece about how infertility is not only affecting older women, but women in general.  Again – education is key to spreading the word and educating the public on something so many people go through – yet so little people talk about.  Even in the comments section you can see the two sides of the story – with the uneducated reply saying this isn’t newsworthy and those responding in support of all of us who face this each day.  People will be people – we can only continue to arm ourselves with facts and spread them at every opportunity.

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Cycle #2: Discussion with Dr. Zimon

So – I finally spoke with Dr. Zimon (after freaking out because I missed her call by literally a minute and then they were being ridiculous about transferring me directly to her when I called back).  She made me laugh with, “well you’re probably wondering what is going on…or actually what isn’t going on in there…”  She said people on Clomid sometimes have 35-40 day cycles, so I’m still right there in the middle of my cycle, but she really doesn’t know what is going on.  She is not concerned about my estrogen dropping (what I considered a drop apparently is what she considers staying the same).  She did say that sometimes PCOS women can have follicles that turn to cysts rather than grow as mature follicles and we’ll see if that is the case.  She thinks that tomorrow will show us some more information – I asked if tomorrow was the deciding factor and she said depending on what shows she may have me go in one more time. The good thing is she is the doctor on call so she will be the one actually looking at my results – that made me feel better. 

She did ask if I was getting frustrated with this cycle and I said a bit, but more because I don’t understand why it’s so different than how I responded the first time.  She admitted that she truly doesn’t know why this time is so very different but that it’s all sort of pieces to the puzzle.  I think she was going to offer me to opt out of this cycle if I wanted to but, goodness, I’ve come this far…what’s another round or two of bloodwork and u/s?

She wrapped up by saying that if this doesn’t work we’re going to have to sit and decide what to do next.  I asked what that typically entails and she said fertility injections – basically stronger drugs to help me respond. She knows I can respond as they confirmed ovulation last month so we just need to get there again.

Chris is probably going to lose his mind because he thinks the answer to “what do we do next?” is IVF.  Pray for me while I give him this update…

But seriously, Dr. Zimon is so nice.  She just is normal and not doctor-ish and as much as I may get frustrated that it’s like Ft. Knox to reach people there, Boston IVF is dedicated to its patients.  Nurse Karen really pulled through in arranging my conversation with her and it makes me feel better knowing that she, too, has thought about “what next?” if this doesn’t work out and she, too, sees that we need to fast track and get this done.  GET ‘ER DONE.

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Cycle #2: Never question AF, CD1, and the plan

Seriously, I’ll never question the abilities of Aunt Flo again.  Holy shit.  I went to the Red Sox game last night (which is a whole other topic I’d like to forget…something happened to them when they left Spring Training i.e., they FORGOT HOW TO PLAY) and I started spotting again.  When I got home, it was heavier and when I woke up this morning it was just – wow – she’s here and she’s here with PRIDE. 

Ahh, PCOS, you’re freaking ridiculous.

So, I called Nurse Karen to see if we’re counting last night as Day 1 or today.  I suck at this whole cycle count thing.  But the good news is – we get to start the party again!!!!  Clomid and Ovidrel – here I come!

I spoke with Nurse Karen and we’re classifying today as Cycle Day #1 (CD1)!  So, here is the plan for our second cycle:

– Take two tablets (100mg) of Clomid starting on Thursday, 4/14 through Monday, 4/18 (CD3-7)
– Pelvic u/s and bloodwork on Friday, 4/22
– Ovidrel trigger TBD
– IUI procedure TBD

The funny thing is, if my body reacts similar to how it did in the first cycle, I would trigger on Friday, 4/22 and have the IUI on…Easter!  Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring me a sticky bean?!

Of course, Chris’s consent to thaw form expired a couple of days ago so he has to sign a new one and get it notarized before he leaves on Monday, 4/18.  Since he’ll be gone through 5/1 or 5/2 for in doc in Cleveland and training in Dallas (my husband is a pilot who was recently recalled from furlough to his position with Flight Options – a fractional operator), we’ll be using the frozen spermies.  He doesn’t get in from his last week with Cape Air until Thursday evening so he essentially has Friday to wrap all this crap up.  He’s stressed but we’ll get it done.  I am now so grateful that we decided to freeze his sperm – and there is no statistically relevant data to show that frozen sperm is any worse (or better) than a live donation.

And, because this is how my life works, I am scheduled to fly to Chicago on Tuesday, 4/26…  Here’s to hoping it all just “works out” and the IUI procedure happens before Tuesday.  I’ve already alerted my boss to the fact that I may have to change my flight to the afternoon on Tuesday or cancel it altogether but I really want to be on-site for these meetings.  We shall see.

And here’s a video with my RE – I have to put all my trust and faith in her that she will get me a sticky bean.  Positive thoughts…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70qZjXOxD0&feature=related

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