And ICLW-inspired Summary

I signed up for this month's ICLW right at the end of last month's close and SO MUCH has happened since then!

My first IVF was a success (so far) and I am 5 weeks 4 days pregnant.  I'm feeling tired, my boobs are sore, and I'm having some other random symptoms, but they come and go in frequency and intensity so often that I often doubt that I'm really pregnant.  Although I really have no good reason to believe I'm not.

My husband and I have were TTC for 20 months, since the middle of our Costa Rican honeymoon.  We had a chemical pregnancy last September in month 14 which spurred us to go to see an RE.

I started acupuncture in January, and have done 3 unsuccessful Clomid IUI cycles since then.  We started our first IVF with an antagonist protocol in April, had our retrieval April 26th and our transfer of 2 embryos 5 days later.

Our first ultrasound is in 8 days and I can barely handle the wait!  I'm sure my husband thinks I'm completely crazy by now, but I guess that's part of this pregnant after infertility adventure!

I hope you follow along!  Leave me a comment and I'll come and visit you too!

Wild about Auntie! (Shower #1)

The grandma's-to-be hosted the shower today so it was a breeze for me! (I'm hosting next week.)

I was really proud of my present and couldn't wait for my sister to open it!

How freakin' adorable is that onesie?  I found it at Target and HAD to have it.

At the last shower, one creative lady put little stuff on a clothesline...she got lots of "oohs and aahs" from the audience.  When I saw the socks, I thought that copying her idea would be perfect!  So I just added a couple of pacifiers and 1 set of stroller rattles and voila!  Super cute present.  I got the little clothespins and twine at Michael's.  Tip:  Pull the twine up into the joint of the clothespin so that the items don't slide around.

In my head I want to plan a "Pinterest" worthy shower for my sister.  But realistically, I don't have the time to commit or the tools of creativity to make it possible...all I've really got are the ideas.  I'm going to try to stick to a blue and yellow color scheme, but that's about it.  I'll definitely show you how it turns out.

At the shower, one of my mom's friends said "I'm probably not supposed to know, but I want to say how excited I am for you."  I couldn't really have expected my mom to keep it a secret since I can't keep secrets either and since she's so excited.  But at least her friend was discreet!

I googled about everything related to cramping and miscarriage last night.  I have absolutely no reason to worry right now, but for some reason it seems that when I get good news, I have to pick something new to worry about.

I also dreamed that I was spotting.  I'm not though.  Love the crazy dreams.  They are no joke!

I also got some answers from the nurse at my RE.  My first ultrasound will be anytime after 6 weeks, 3 days.  Then they'll do about 3 before releasing me to the regular OB at 9 weeks.  (And this is covered under the IVF cost...very happy about that.)

Still moving along...

Beta #1

is.....233!

I was pretty sure it would be positive after the 5 FRERs and one digital that said the same thing.  Today's line showed up immediately and may be darker than the control.

But there was something about hearing it from the nurse's mouth that made it seem so much more official!

My follow-up beta is on Tuesday.  Then I'll have an OB ultrasound after the 29th (6 1/2 weeks).

I definitely teared up looking at Mother's Day Cards when I saw the "Mommy-to-be" ones.  I had to look away.

Today I have also officially passed one of my personal milestones - this is the most pregnant I've ever been.  Last time (you can read about it here, Worst Day Ever), I only made it 4 1/2 days (14 1/2 dpo).  I can totally tell the difference too.  There's a lot more going on in my body this time and the lines are MUCH darker!

Today is 15dpo (or 10dp5dt) and I'm feeling about the same.

• Tired - taking a mid-morning nap during my prep period

• Crampy - at times I've winced out loud!  While walking into the RE today I had to stop for a really intense muscle cramp-like feeling in my uterus (really small spot). Boob soreness - same; not extreme

• Teary - often

• Light-headed when I get up too fast.

• Peeing more frequently (does once per period yesterday count as frequent?)

• And I'm hungry much more frequently - mostly craving cheese.

I want to wish everyone a fabulous weekend.  If you are dreading Mother's Day, I sincerely hope that this will be your last without good news!  And if you're a mom or mom-to-be.  Happy Mother's Day!

The Lovely Blog Award (3dp5dt)

It's taken me a long time to write this after Ali at Not All Dreams Are Free tagged me, but I've been a tad busy as you might recall : ).  As soon as I saw her post, I thought it would be perfect for the 2WW...and here we are!

Here are my random 7 facts: (This gets harder each time!  Forgive me if I repeat something I've said before.)

1. I love my quiet time in the morning.  It's possible that I don't speak for at least an hour on most days after waking up, except maybe a couple of words to Mr. GG who's still partially sleeping.   My commute is 25 minutes and then if I'm early, I'm in my room by myself, like right now.  On the flip side, I get really cranky when someone wants to talk my each off at this time of the day.

2. I am so in love with the "farm to table" restaurant trend combined with lots of small plates for sharing.  I love to share food, mostly because I can never decide on just one thing.  Most of these places (at least where I live) also have such excellent decoration!  Last night I had Fried Squash Blossoms with Ricotta, Purple Pesto, and a lemon sauce, an Eggplant and Goat Cheese Pizza, and a Strawberry Remolatta with Pistachio Gelato and Meyer Lemon.  Oh and the most delicious non-alcoholic drink I've ever had:

I SUPER LOVE that these are now appearing on regular menus!

3. I'm quite a procrastinator.  And I really need to plan my sister's shower.  It's in 2 weeks.  I want it to be cool, so I better get on it.

4. I'm pretty frugal.  I think about things A LOT before I buy them and I don't make many big purchases.  So I looked at stuff at LuluLemon for ages before buying anything.  $88 for pretty much everything?!  Is it weird that having my husband buy it, even though it's really all our money, made it easier?  I got a whole outfit! : )

5. I still don't have a wedding album.  I bought it as part of our package, but never chose the pics for the photog.  It's a ton of work and then as time passed, I felt really awkward about it and then put it off more.  I need to get over it and get my album!

6. I think golf is the most relaxing thing to watch on the weekends.  Especially when you want to nap a bit.  It's pretty, they speak in soft soothing voices....  I enjoy the actual golf too.

7. I've never been to the South.  I've been to DC, Texas, and the Midwest, but that's as close as I've gotten.  I don't even think I've stopped at an airport in the South!  My mom just got back from Charleston and Savannah and loved them.  I need to go!  And to Florida so I can go to Harry Potter World.

*     *     *     *     *

I'm making you read all the way until the end to get today's update!

Stark white FRER. 

I never really expected one of the world's earliest BFPs, so I think it's good to see a definite white stick with no hint of trigger left.  So now, a line will be real.

I think I'll skip tomorrow and test on Sunday...(10dpo).

Symptoms:  (I quit symptoms spotting ages ago, but I have some that are new, therefore, more real.)

• Cramping.  Off and on...I get nervous when I don't feel it, but I do pretty often and it seems pretty central.
• Sore boobs.  I do not get sore boobs.  They were slightly sore toward the bottom on 1dp5dt.  Last night they were the most sore they have ever been, all the way around to the top and into my armpits. I felt like I needed to hold them when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Right now (in the morning) I don't feel so much...
• Gas.  I'm not the least gassy person in the world normally, but it's been pretty constant and I haven't been eating anything weird.

2dp5dt

I witnessed a miracle yesterday.

It was the day after my transfer, a day on which many people stay home.

As soon as the embabies were on board, I became instantly nervous about going to school.  But at the same time, missing 3 days before the AP test is even more stressful for me, so I still went.

I was mostly nervous about the freshman before.  I actually joked to my sophomore, "Do you think I could just lock the door and not let the freshman in?"  Kidding, kidding.

We're reading Romeo and Juliet and I always have them make masks and then do an "Elizabethan Dance."  They always complain, but then really get into it.

But I wasn't sure if I really wanted to attempt this, the day after transfer, after having to yell at them for a bad sub report for the day of retrieval.

And miraculously...we had an amazing day!

First, they were all on time.  I'm not sure if that has EVER happened.  Then they paid attention and tried (as well as 9th graders can).

As a reward, I let them show me a little bit of how they dance.  Gross.  (I said no partners, nothing resembling anything inappropriate, etc.)  It was pretty funny though and scored me a ton of points with them.

Oh and one of my Sophomores just said "Mrs. GG, You're so pretty!"  Aww.  She made my year!

*    *    *    *    *

I was super crampy yesterday.  AF-like all-over crampiness (from my legs to my abdomen) - for most of the day.  My research shows that this is very common the day after a 5 day transfer and is generally a good sign.  

My boobs are also starting to hurt (they never do).  Since I've been on Progesterone since retrieval and they didn't start hurting until yesterday (and more today), I'm also taking it as a good sing.

I forgot to POAS yesterday.

Today there was a squinter.  But I've seen enough white tests to know that a squinter is really there.

I'm going to be safe and try to believe that's it's the remaining HcG (I'm 9 days post trigger shot).  But I will definitely test tomorrow and hope for either total white or darker.

The earliest BFP I've heard from someone I actually know (internet know) is 3dp5dt.  

My hopes are up and I'm terrified at the same time!

Embabies on Board!

Our transfer could not have gone better today!

Here are our two precious embabies:

They are 2 "good" blastocysts.  The left one is starting to hatch (out of the ICSI injection area).  

It looks like most likely that only 2 of the other blasts will make it to freeze.  But three others still have some potential.  We'll know for sure tomorrow.

I'm really excited and really happy, but I feeling the crazy coming on.

I'm also feeling like I really don't want to work (pretty much at all) but I feel like I have to be there for my students (before the AP test).  I'm not worried about being active, I'm just worried about stress and mental-health, etc.

*     *     *     *     *

Ready for the long version?

Although I took the day off and my transfer was not until 12:30, I couldn't get anything done this morning.  I just googled various IVF info and stats.  

Luckily I called the office to check whether I needed a full bladder and confirmed that I did not.  That was nice.

I expected a sterile environment and warned DH that he might have to put on surgical clothes.  But nope.  We were in a normal room and I got to keep most of my clothes on (except bottoms of course).

The embryologist had the incubator in an adjacent room and communicated with the nurse over intercom. Weird.  

First, the embryologist showed us pictures of all 8 embryos and we confirmed that we'd like to transfer the best 2.  She thought that two of the 3 remaining blasts would make it to freeze, but was unsure about the third and the 2 embryos that hadn't made it to blast yet.  The last 1 hasn't grown in days, so it probably won't make it.

Then the doc came in.  He inserted an empty catheter.  (I barely felt a thing! He is amazing!)  He showed us the fluid in my abdomen and in my ovaries and then my uterus. (He said it looked perfect.)  When he was all set, the nurse told the embryologist, then they turned the lights off (because embies don't like UV light).  So she carried our precious cargo (covered) from next door to our room.  The doc attached the syringe (I think) to the catheter already in place and inserted it.

He said to watch for a "white flash" when the embryos (in fluid) exited the catheter and I totally saw it!  That was it.  I sat there and stared at the two blobs that are our babies for about 20 minutes.  

(That's them...the two fish-looking bright white areas above the arrow).

Then I walked across the hall and had acupuncture.

And then I went home.

I have no idea when I should test.  I don't know what I can handle or not.  I just don't know.  

If anyone has any testing advice like when my trigger might be out, when you got a positive, etc, I would appreciate the advice.

Progesterone Complaints and an Update

I am anxiously awaiting "the call" to see how the chickies are doing and when we transfer tomorrow.  This would be the only day they actually don't call me until the afternoon!  Since I am waiting to call a sub (I secretly might not take the day off tomorrow...crazy?)  I just don't have any more good lessons the kids can do without me there.  And the AP test is in 2 weeks!  But I need to know a time to know if this is even in the realm of possibility.

But this post is about Progesterone.  I'm taking 1 pill orally in the morning and evening as well as 1 Endometrin suppository at the same time.

The Endometrin sucks.  The discharge is disgusting.  Thick and chalky, but also chunks.  Gross.  I'm seriously contemplating switching to the PIO shots, but I already have all of the Endometrin. I don't know if I can handle it for 3 months though.

And I'm getting slight blurriness and dizziness again like I did on Estrace.  It sucks too.  I just feel a little spacey.

Anyway.  I will update when I have more information.

*     *     *     *     *

Ok, got the call.

We have:

• 2 morulae stage embryos (ideal stage)
• 2 compacted (right before morulae)
• 2 compacting 
• 1 8 cell
• 1 5 cell

So they're all still alive and kicking, but the 5 cell probably won't make it to freeze.  

Transfer is at 12:30 pm (Pacific) tomorrow.

I asked about freezing and he said it's usually 30-40% that make it to freeze.  We will be using 2, so that leaves 5 with a strong possibility of getting to freeze, but some don't survive the actually freezing process (I don't think).  So I'm going to hope for 2 frosties.

I'm very excited and definitely starting to worry about a BFN and how I will react.

One day at a time, right?

IVF#1: Day 3 Update

So today the embryos should be around 4-8 cells.

Here's what our chickie babies are at:

• 1 - 10 cell (over-achiever!!!)
• 5 - 8 cell (awesome!)
• 1 - 6 cell
• 1 - 5 cell
• 1 - 1 cell (this one is obviously not gonna make it...no biggie, I haven't been counting it)

They are all graded good or fair with minimal fragmentation which is also great.

: )

Actually, I'm pretty thrilled with the news, my little smiley face won't cut it.

= ) (That's a tiny bit better.)

Day 2 Update

My embryology lab is awesome.  They called me at 9:30 in the morning to update me even though the little card they gave me says that today is an afternoon call.

Today the embryos should be between 2 and 4 cells.

This lab grades either good, fair, or poor.  Good has to be essentially perfect.  Fair is fine for now.

We have:

• 5 - 4 cell embryos; 3 good, 2 fair
• 1 - 3 cell embryo; fair
• 2 - 2 cell embryos; fair
• 1 - still hasn't divided; they'll keep watching it

So we'll be doing a Day 5 transfer!  I'm really excited and relieved.  

I also asked about the possibility of a Day 4 transfer if things don't progress well and she said she sees that in about 5 cases out of 600 per year.  So she's pretty confident we will transfer on Day 5.

*     *     *     *     *

I know at least 4 bloggers that had their ET within a day of mine.  We are all getting different news at different times and while it's really nice to share this experience, it's also really difficult to compare your results with someone else.

Because of some disappointing results from other bloggers, I've been doing some research.

1) The overall success rate for IVF seems to be about 40% depending on where you look.  Some of the studies are a bit old, but I like being low conservative anyway.

2) 40% of the women who don't get pregnant during their first IVF get pregnant on their second, ostensibly because of the adjustment of protocols based on the initial response.

3) Number of embryos does correlate to the number available to freeze, but does not seem to have a high correlation with actual pregnancy rates.

4) Neither does day 3 or 5 transfer (according to an Oxford study from 2000 - not sure if things have changed).

So if you have an embryo, you have a chance.  It really only takes one.

I hope we can all get pregnant this cycle, but realistically, that will not happen.  Let's make sure that we continue to be extremely supportive in whichever manner each blogger wishes.

Hugs to everyone.  I hate the phrase "baby dust," but maybe I need to use it this once.

We made babies!

The fact that we conceived babies yesterday really blow my mind!  We've only conceived once that we've known about, but that only lasted 4 1/2 days.  Let's hope these babies make it a bit longer.

The embryologist called and 9 eggs were mature (that's exactly what I was expecting based on the number of follies that were 15 or larger on trigger day). 

She said that 9 fertilized...woo hoo!  But one is lagging behind so they separated it from it's brothers and sisters (Mr. GG is calling them chicks) and we'll see if it makes it until tomorrow.

I'm going to die waiting for their call each day.  Especially tomorrow!  I have no idea how many they are going to want to survive the night to call for a Day 5 transfer.  But I think it would have to be most of them.

Before she called I said to myself that I would be super ecstatic if she said more than 9.  Very happy if she said 9 or 8.  Ok with 7 and a little said at less than that (on down to potential devastation).  So Very Happy it is!  I like managing my expectations and emotions in this way...very helpful.

ER: The Long Version (seriously, it's long)

Ok, I'm ready for the long version.  I tried twice yesterday, but the computer made me even more nauseous, so I had to quit.

I feel soooooooo much better now.

So here's the long version of the story.

*     *     *     *     *

I got up easily yesterday morning.  And totally unlike me, I cleaned the kitchen before we left.  I knew it would stress me out if it was messy when I got home and I wouldn't want to clean it.

Also, Mr. GG was gone last night.  I'm pretty sure he told me the other day, but it didn't really click that he'd be gone the night after Retrieval.  I was a little stressed about, but he told me he'd cancel if I was feeling too bad, so I felt better.  He also took the rest of the day off work yesterday which he wasn't planning to do because he felt guilty.  So that was nice. : )

Before I left I also got all of my meds together for last night and the next few days.

• Endometrin (vaginal progestrone)
• Prometrium (oral progesterone)
• various meds for the next few days - I'll tell you about them when we get there

When we got to the RE, I took my Zofran.  I was a bit hungry after not eating since 9:30pm but not too bad.

They took us back to the recovery area and went over procedures and discharge instructions.   The doc came in and leaned in awkwardly close to my face and told me everything would be ok and that he would take very good care of me and that he would be meticulous about finding all follicles and eggs.  Then the embryologist came and went over what would be happening the next few days.  She also said that we qualify for a research study which we get $200 for. Score!  The study checks for biomarkers in the morula and the follicular fluid (stuff they would remove from the egg and throw away). So it won't affect our IVF in any way, but they'll see if any of these biomarkers can predict fertilization and pregnancy rates.  Last, the anestheseaologist came in to start my IV.

Then the doctor seriously "hug-walked" me to the room.  The nurses kind of laughed at him because he was technically doing their job.  It was sweet, but extremely awkward.  I got on the table, lying flat with my legs hanging over the edge.  The doctor held my hand and said more comforting things while the anesthesiaologist put the sleeping med in.  He said I might taste it. I did and it was nasty.  I filled up my whole throat with a weird taste (but no liquid) and it made me cough.  I remember closing my eyes about 5 seconds later, then I was OUT!  They weren't kidding when they said it takes 10 seconds to work.

I woke up in the recovery room and the nurse told me they got 12 eggs.  Then for some reason I started streaming tears.  I won't say "crying" because it was more of spontaneous leaking.  No one was in their then, so I just moved my mask and wiped my tears.  I was extremely woozy and sleepy and kept dozing off.  When the nurse came in again, I said "You said 12, right?"  And she confirmed.  Mr. GG was on a conference call, so he took about 15 minutes to come in.  They gave me a hot IV bag to place on my abdomen and I asked for one more because my stomach felt uncomfortable higher up too.  My pain never reached higher than a 4 (the entire day) but I did still have her give me some IV pain meds.

The only time I really started crying was when the dizzyness got really bad.  This was after she explained my discharge instructions and I had to read (or I did anyway) and answer her questions.  I was not in a state to attempt listening and speaking. 

The doc came in again to tell us that everything went great in his opinion, that getting 100% eggs from follicles was rare and to expect 70% of those on average to be mature.

Then we left...

*     *     *     *     * 

The ride home was pretty painful (nausea-wise).  I guess some people go eat lunch right after?  I was in no state to be in public. Every time the nausea got really bad, I had a major hot flash.  Mr. GG was blasted the AC the entire way home.  Cold air was the only thing that really made me feel better.  I decided that I wanted an Acai Bowl from a coffee shop by my house and Souplantation chicken noodle soup.  So DH got the Acai Bowl, took me home and then went to fill my pain prescription and get the other stuff.  When we got home I went immediately into the back yard and just sat.  I figured it would be nicer to puke on the grass and the cold air felt good.  About 5 minutes later I was ok.

My best friend yesterday was pretzels!  During the retrieval DH got my shopping list: pretzels, bread, soup, rice, yogurt, berries, milk of magnesia (which I haven't tried yet), and Tylenol.  

I never puked at all, but I had what I would call 3 major episodes of nausea.  It was seriously horrible.  It makes me think being awake would have been better.

I guess that there can be bleeding and other pain from the procedure.  I didn't have one drop of blood.  I'll have to credit my awesome doc for this.  I feel a little uncomfortable when I sit on a hard surface, but I think it's more due to the gas and liquid pressure than anything else.  

So I'm glad I took work off today. I probably could have been there, but I would have been moving really slowly and I would have had to get up early.  Sleeping in (until 10) was really nice.

The embryologist called when I started this post, but I don't want to put the results at the bottom, since this is sooo long and I bet few people made it this far.  So I'm gonna make it a whole other post.  My babies deserve it. : )

Happy, but feeling like crap.

I'll start with the news that you probably want to hear first. 

We got 12 eggs! 

The doc said that there was an egg in every single follicle...normally only about 70% yield an egg.  He was very happy and so are we.

I feel disgusting.  But pretty much all of it is due to anesthesia, not to the retrieval.

I'm almost too dizzy to be typing, but I've got to update my peeps!

We find out tomorrow how many eggs fertilized and then on Saturday whether we do a 3 day or 5 day transfer.

I'll tell the longer story later, but I am having massive waves of nausea (no puking yet) so I need to go lay down some more.

Love you all! Thanks for your support!

Retrieval-Eve

Sidenote: Some of my longer-time readers might remember that I have the same birthday as Harry Potter...July 31st.  Well I don't know how I missed it the past 6 years I've been teaching it, but I have the same birthday as Juliet too!  The nurse says "Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen."  Lammas Day is August 1st.  (Naming this post "Retrieval-Eve spurred that digression in case you were wondering...)

But that is not the point of this post.  I want to talk about preparing for retrieval.

One of my IVF graduate friends had a doctor who called for very low carbs and high protein during the entire stim period - with special emphasis after retrieval.  Apparently this has been shown to lower the incidence of OHSS (which she still had a severe case of).

I asked my office about this and they said that it can be good, but didn't not stress it in any way.  They just said to avoid caffeine and alcohol (or maybe they just said alcohol!).

I chose to eat healthy, but somewhat normally during the stims.

But I am now hearing that I need to prepare for extreme constipation after anesthesia.  Awesome.  My first hint of this came from a blog mentioning another blogger's "poop" post and saying that prune juice didn't cut it.  Then my acupuncturist asked her secretary to go over the "retrieval diet" with me.

To prevent a painful situation, I am eating as easy-to-digest foods as possible.  I forgot about it until after I had bought a lamb gyro last night for dinner.  And I kind of forgot when my student offered me a cupcake this morning.  But now I'm on track.  I even gave away my organic (high fiber) apple.

Mid-morning snack: plain bagel with low-fat cream cheese (I haven't had a plain bagel on purpose in years!)
Lunch: Chicken Noodle Soup
Beverage: Grape G2 (and water)
Dinner: Regular pasta with olive oil (I'll have to see if I have any non-whole wheat pasta!)

I'm probably going to just pretend chocolate is easy to digest for dessert.

Then, no eating after midnight...retrieval is at 10 am.  Arrive at 9.

*     *     *     *     *

By the way, I REALLY appreciate all the well-wishes!  It's really nice to have a sort of "team" cheering me on.  Yesterday I had 430 some page views.  Incredible!  Thanks for the support.

-Sarah 

(That's my name!  I think I'm going to start using it now...  But you can still call me Mrs. Green Grass too.)

IVF#1 - Ultrasound 4 (and trigger!)

I got the official word that we trigger tonight for retrieval on Thursday morning.

Here are the new stats:

There might be a couple of others; it was hard to tell.

The NP said that the size on trigger day was the best predictor of maturity and she said they like them to be above 15.  Hopefully the two 15s will grow a bit before I trigger tonight, then I can expect 9ish mature eggs.

I'm very excited to get to the real part of this process!

But some of my irrational fears are also starting to set in:

• What if they shrink before Thursday?
• What if I ovulate on my own?

And I'm starting to think about the rational fears too:

• What if the eggs don't fertilize?
• Will I have any to freeze?
• Will the embies make it to a 5 day transfer?

I'm going to go schedule a massage for this evening and celebrate my last shot!

Update: Trigger Tuesday

I got the call that I will trigger tomorrow for a Thursday retrieval.

The NP said they were being "greedy," that they wanted to get a few of the smaller ones to a mature point.

My E2 is now 1300.

IVF#1: Ultrasound 3

I just deleted my whole post because I'm rambling so much!  I'm feeling quite anxious just because I'm nearing the end and I want more information about everything at every moment.  And that is making it hard to concentrate on anything else.

Let me try again.

At my ultrasound today, I got this picture:

14 follies 9mm or bigger.  The largest is 23mm.  I'm happy with the number.  The 9's may or may not be mature enough at transfer, but even if they're not, 11 or 12 would make me very happy.

The NP said that depending on my blood test results, I will either trigger tonight or tomorrow night which means retrieval either Wednesday or Thursday.  YAY!

But that's also where my brain goes into overdrive.

Note: We are in block schedule at school right now for state testing.  I have each class for two hours, one day the odds, the next, evens.  This means I only have a prep period every other day.  Throughout my time at the RE, I've been able to schedule 90% of my appointments during my prep period (which connects with lunch).  Since block start, my prep has only lined up with 2/3 ultrasounds...meaning lots of teachers covering my classes out of the kindness of their hearts.

Scenario A: Trigger tonight.  Need sub for Wednesday.  Wednesday is still state testing, so it'll be a pretty easy day to plan.  If I'm out Thursday, it's odd block day which means two hours of the freshman for the sub - reading Romeo and Juliet - ouch.  I'm going to have to work very hard to come up with a good plan for them.

Scenario B:  Trigger tomorrow night.  Go in for another ultrasound tomorrow.  Find someone to cover my class tomorrow at the last minute since I do not have a prep period.  Out on Thursday (see above).  Potentially out on Friday.  No big deal because the classes will repeat Thursday's work.

I'm hoping for the trigger tonight.  I still have to do the same amount of planning, but do not need any other teachers to cover for me.  Hopefully they call back soon!

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And now a bit about Estradiol (E2).  I've seeing a lot mentioned about Estradiol levels in other blogs who are cycling right now.  My levels have been 198 on Day 6, 500ish on Day 8, and whatever today is.  I'm seeing many people with much higher levels as well as one scientific article (from 2001) that says higher is basically better.  My RE said that it's impossible to compare because the E2 level depends on the number of follicles and that as long as it's rising, it's good.  So I guess my levels are fine...just wanted to put the info out there.

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And now a few questions for you:

1. How many of you needed to take an additional day off after transfer?

2. Why do I have to take off my nail polish for the egg retrieval?  (not important - just curious!) : )

Starting to Feel It

I'm uncomfortable.

And really glad that I bought myself some new "IVF" sweatpants.  Sweatpants make me happy.  They are purple and soft and I love them.

I started to really "feel" my ovaries yesterday (Day 7 of stims).  They just feel large.  It's kind of hard to describe, but now I get the no major activity during stims rule.  Do you think golf will be fine?  Ovary torsion sounds like one of the scariest most horrible tortures ever invented.

I was also kind of crampy yesterday.  Like pre-AF crampy.  For me, sometimes this goes into my upper legs.  Like yesterday.  And my boobs hurts a little (and I NEVER have boob pain).  It's extremely annoying having hormonal symptoms when you know you are not pregnant.

My tummy is also very sore.  I have had 2 shots bleed, both on the left side.  I was going to try to avoid this side for awhile, but starting last night, I now have 2 shots instead of 1.  The Cetrotide actually hurt a lot less than the Bravelle/Menopur combo.  That one stings a bit going in.  I didn't feel anything with the Cetrotide.

Here's a quick list of the numbers (You'll like this Belle!)

• 11 needles inserted (9 at home, 2 blood draws)
• 3 bruises (2 on belly, one on arm)

And the "trash":

• 9 syringes and their wrappings
• 8 alcohol swabs
• 8 Q caps
• 18 needles (every syringe comes with a big scary one - then I put on a much smaller one)
• 16 bottles of Bravelle
• 9 bottles of Menopur
• 8 bottles of Sodium Chloride
• 1 bottle of Cetrotide

I had another first last night too!  I brought all of my stuff and shot myself up at my sister's house.  I was hoping no one asked what was taking so long when I got up in the middle of the movie.  But 4 out of the 5 people probably guessed what was going on.  (I went over there because my dad came down for the night.  He knows we are trying, but I haven't discussed any medical stuff with him.  Mostly because his girlfriend is a weirdo who would find someway to make it awkward.  She's the one who told me she thought I was pregnant when I posted on Facebook about having food poisoning.  And said she had a dream that I was having a girl at Thanksgiving.  Both of these incidents were after a year of trying unsuccessfully which she knew.)

Everything went well!

I'm at school right now proctoring a Practice AP Test for my kids.  I'm wearing my wonderful sweatpants and I don't care what they think about it!

IVF#1: 2nd Ultrasound Results

I'm not sure if these results make me happy or unhappy.  You tell me what you think.

I had 13 follicles on Wednesday, ranging from 5-11mm.  Today I have 10 ranging from 7-14 (although she only measured 8).

I'm a little bummed because I was hoping to have more than 13, not fewer.  But I guess it's good that they are pretty close in size.

I would really like to hear from some of you about your follicle sizes on different days of stims and what you ended up retrieving.

Definite good news is that my lining is 8mm and "perfect."  That's never happened before so, yay!

Tonight I start Cetrotide in addition to my Bravelle and Menopur and I add an additional Menopur so 150 iu each of Bravelle and Menopur.

Retrieval is still most likely the end of next week.

Ultrasound #1: So far, so good.

We started out with my left ovary which had 5 follies measuring from 11 to 5 mm.  When we got to the right, she said "good, there are more over here."  There were 7 or 8 with roughly the same measurement range.

There can still be more next time, right?

Either way, I'm responding.  Things are happening.

She estimated that retrieval would be near the end of next week.  It was SO NICE to get an actual estimate!

I should hear later today whether I continue the same dosage or not...after they run my bloodwork.

Here's the pic of the ultrasound - otherwise there is no way I would remember the details!

Staying Hydrated

So apparently I'm supposed to be ingesting insane quantities of liquid during this IVF.

I've done a tiny bit of research, but it's yielded mixed results.

Most people say to drink Gatorade.  I might switch to Gatorade after retrieval (which seems to be the most critical phase) but for now I'm just trying to drink more.  And it seems that although it may be necessary to restore electrolytes after transfer, Gatorade seems mostly to be an internet-fueled recommendation more than a doctors.  Please comment if you know better!  I'm still learning.

I had a terrible headache yesterday.  (Like a lump of tension underneath my eyebrow).  I realized I had not changed my liquid intake.  And I usually have less on weekends anyway.

So here's how I am staying hydrated:

So far, I've had two large mugs of tea (probably 16 ounces each).

My two teas of choice right now:

Tension Tamer

I typically don't like fruity herbal teas.  I like the ingredients to be as naturally as possible.  This one is really delicious!

Ingredients:

Eleuthero, peppermint, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, West Indian lemongrass, licorice, catnip, tilia flowers, natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors (contains soy lecithin), hops and Vitamins B6 and B12.

My other favorite:

Yogi, Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut

It tastes great.  It smells even better!  I first found this at my acupuncturist's office and I went out and got my own the next day.

Ingredients:

Roasted Chicory Root, Carob Pod, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom Seed, Ginger Root, Stevia Leaf, Clove Bud, Black Pepper, Natural Flavors, Essential Oils

*Hmm...not a fan of the Stevia Leaf or Natural Flavors.  But oh well...it's yummy.

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It is harder for a teacher to go pee than the average person, but I'm suffering through it!  I just can't leave for a second during 5th period.  Damn crazy freshman!

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After 3 days of injections, still feeling pretty good.  Tired.  Headache (although may be due to sinuses).  And a slightly sore tummy at the injection site (I'm not sure if I pinched myself too hard or if I did the injection too close to the first night.  Oh well.)  My sleep is also weird.  When my alarm has gone off for the last 3 days, I have literally had no idea what day it is.  Like not even weekend or weekday.