Fast track to IVF!!!

We're getting in for both of our consultations exactly 4 weeks. It would have been sooner but Jim's schedule doesn't allow for it, but my RE wants me off the BCP sooner rather than later so she's pushing us through the consults quick.

We've got an hour with the RE, full panel of bloodwork, and an hour with the psychiatrist on Monday the 18th. The day starts at 9am and doesn't end until 1pm. Then, on Wednesday the 20th we have our teaching class from 8:30am-10am where they instruct us on how to use the medications and administer the shots.

By the time we get done with both of those days, I'll have been on the pill for almost 4 weeks so I'd imagine they're going to have me starting stims by the end of June. I'm scheduled to visit my friend in Louisville (a yearly trip) and I told him I'd be arriving with a pharmacy in a cooler. If he was lucky, I might even let him give me one of the shots. Unfortunately, he declined, haha...I dont have any IM shots to begin with anyways as far as I know so regardless I should be ok giving them to myself.

Other than that, I think the only update that I'll have (unless something pops up!) before my consultation appointments, would be results of Friday's cd3 bloodwork. They're redrawing my thyroid levels too, which I'm glad. I'm curious to see where its at now.

Oh, and I've recently had a great idea. I'm going to start keeping track of all the unusual places and locations I've taken my medications before... so far, the bathroom of a funeral home, at my friend's house (who didn't know about our IF struggles at the time) in the middle of her Mary Kay party, and while babysitting. Right now the funeral home wins but we'll see if that can be beat as time goes on! Feel free (blog lurkers) to comment with your own strange location and/or situation!

Two posts in one day? RECORD!!

Yeah, well I guess I should have waiting a little before posting that last post because my RE has since called.

She actually called me herself when she saw on my chart that I was doing a 3rd IUI while waiting for the IVF consultation. She said she doesn't want me to do another IUI because of my response the last two times.

Basically, with a low dosage of the medication follicles grow but very pokey and as the medication is increased they grow TOO fast so there is no happy medium and that worries her with an IUI. However, having many many follicles (as I've been producing) is great for IVF!! She says I'm an excellent candidate for IVF and is pushing me through ASAP to get the consultation scheduled so that I'm not on BCP for too long. Also, she said that given the shape of my uterus (arcuate aka "heart shaped") that they would only be doing a SET (single embryo transfer). That should make Jim happy that we would have zero chance for multiples :)

So then Friday, I go in for cd3 bloodwork and provided everything looks ok I'll be starting the BCP and gearing up for my first IVF cycle. Holy hell I'm getting nervous!!!

And here we go again

I'm pretty sure my Chiropractor is a miracle worker. One visit to her and AF shows up the next day.

So we're calling tomorrow cd1 and on Friday I'll go in for my cd3 bloodwork and ultrasound.

My least favorite nurse called me back this morning. She's always really short on the phone like she's trying to get off the phone quick. I had to stop her this time again...am I taking the same medication? what dosage am I starting on? do I have any refills so that I can order the drugs myself? Hellooooo!?!?  She had no idea on anything she was just calling to tell me to come in Friday. Friday night I'm supposed to start the meds so how am I supposed to wait until then to find out what to do? Ugh.

Well, she supposes that I'm staying on the Menopur and to ask my RE on Friday what dosage she wants me on. Off I go to hopefully order my next shipment of Menopur!! It won't be my last that is for sure, but it will be the last time that I'm ONLY ordering the Menopur. My next order will be a smorgasbord of medications, injects and pills alike!

Called the RE office and...

...the nurse said that since this cycle was a better response than last month, AF just might take a little longer to arrive but give it a few days and it should come back. Once it does, I'm supposed to go in for cd3 bloodwork and ultrasound but this cycle they're going to be checking all hormone levels not just the e2. I'm kinda glad about that because those pesky hormones haven't been checked since February and I'm interested to see where they come in at now after three medicated cycles.

After I talked to the nurse, I called the front desk back and asked to have the IVF financial consultants call me to start the process of IVF. They check the insurance benefits and will call with an answer in 24-48 hours. From there, I'll schedule my first consultation which will probably be in a month or so.

I told the nurse at the RE office of our plan to do a 3rd IUI while waiting for the IVF consultation and she agreed that was a good idea. Why not, right? I'd hope the 3rd times the charm but at least if it fails again we still have the IVF consultation shortly thereafter.

Side note....my office was moved from the basement to my BIL's old childhood bedroom since there was zero cell reception in the basement. The desk in his room looks out the window over the driveway and street. There is a little blonde haired girl across the street....maybe 4 or 5 years old....who is outside playing nearly every day. She looks just like what I'd picture our daughter to look like so I have a feeling this summer might be tough during working hours. The blinds may be permanently down :(

Calling AF....come in, AF....can you hear me AF??

Soooo....I woke up yesterday which was 14 dpiui and nothing. Figuring that AF was bound to show eventually sometime that day I put a liner on. Kept checking, and checking, and checking, but nothing. All symptoms of impending AF have disappeared as well so I'm thoroughly confused.

It is now Sunday, 15 dpiui, no AF and no symptoms. I bought a 2 pack of Clear Blue HPT and am planning on taking one tomorrow (16piui) and see what happens. If it's still negative (which I'm sure it is) then I'll have to call my RE to go in for a beta....waste of time but I know they're going to want one.

This shouldn't surprise me, since my pituitary works in mysterious ways. It hasn't been uncommon in the past for me to take the Provera and to not get AF. Although with last month, having it arrive exactly the day it was supposed to, I kinda thought that would be the norm for me while on a medicated cycle.

Oh well...provided this isnt a pregnancy in disguise, we've decided to stay with the PPO another year while we sort out all the IF stuff so I don't have so start changing doctors in the middle of our IF plan. Our current plan is to schedule our IVF consultations, which is a 4-6 week wait, and squeeze in a third and final IUI beforehand in June. I think that is a good plan, and I'm willing to give the IUI one last shot, but I'm honestly not convinced that anything other than IVF is going to get me KU anytime this decade!

I'm seemingly out...

I decided that it was less detrimental to see a BFN on a pee stick than to wake up Saturday morning to AF so I POAS this morning. Yup, BFN .....again. Granted I know some ladies do this for years and we've only been at the medicated cycles for 4 months but I'm exhausted. If it weren't for the fact that my pituitary was the cause of our issues, I'd say lets take a break and see what happens. However, that is just a waste of time with my case.

At any rate, I had some AF -like cramps and headache last night but woke up this morning with nothing. I was especially excited to POAS with the symptoms gone because I was sure I was going to get a BFP. Alas, my instincts were wrong. Although, minus the headache that has been on and off the last week, I still really don't have any AF like symptoms. Unfortunately, I didn't document anything from last month which is why I'm trying to be more detailed with my blogging. I'm trying to remember if I had any cramps last month before AF magically showed up or not.....I think I had cramps, and I was convinced they were BFP cramps but obviously not. I'm fully expecting to wake up tomorrow morning and see AF's not so lovely face.

Tonight...Jim and I are going to dinner at La Mex and I'm going to get a mucho grande margarita. That should help me wallow in my sorrow enough for tonight until the morning. We're undecided about our next step. My RE recommends IVF as our next option since the IUI hasn't worked twice. However, Jim is interested in switching us to an HMO, which would mean all new doctors including my RE, since none of my current doctors are covered under a BCBS HMO. Not necessarily a bad thing but just a really annoying thing to have to do right now. If we stayed with Cigna's PPO, the IVF process takes 4-6 weeks to start up. You have to attend medical classes where they teach you about the types of medications, plus they teach your hubby how to give you shots in the ass...fun. After that, they require both partners to have a 45min. session with their IVF therapist so that you both are aware of the psychological ramifications of a process like this. At this rate, if we stay with the PPO, we're looking at probably not even starting the stims until sometime in August. I wonder if all IVF clinics work the same? The only good thing is that I've already had the extensive bloodwork panel done for genetic testing, phew!!! At any rate, if we stay with the PPO and start waiting for the IVF process, we'd have at least time for one more IUI next month. But if we switch to the HMO next month, I'm not sure what will happen to our timeline.

I guess, in short, I'm hoping that today's BFN was a false negative. Unlikely, but a girl can dream!

Totes getting a pedi this weekend/next week

The way I look at it, either way I'm going to need some pampering. Either I get a BFN and need to wallow in sorrow while having my feet rubbed....OR , I'll get a BFP and get to celebrate. Regardless of the outcome from the end of this week, I'm going to enjoy that pedicure immensely. Tonight makes it 11.5 dpiui and so far still no cramps....just tired, tired, tired, and headache!!! Of course, I just made myself a liar as I type that I just got a little tingly cramping feeling, LOL oh well its gone. At any rate, despite looking at the one lonely little pink wrapped stick in the drawer every morning as I go for my Lovenox shot...I'm doing better today with the urge to POAS. I'm pretty sure if I've made it this far I'm gonna wait it out.

Tomorrow and Friday I'll be in a class all day so that will be a nice distraction. The class I'm taking is a fluffy one in comparison to the last one I took so the distraction should be just enough to actually distract me.

Other than that....that is about it for now. Hopefully my next posting isn't a rant and rave about stupid AF's arrival. I saw someone post on thebump the other day that she thought AF was just jealous because she was "just an aunt" also and never a Mom, so that is why she comes with such a vengeance. Hmmm, makes sense I guess :)

Last call for Crazytown....All aboard!!!!! Choochoo!!!

The first week went so well what the hell happened!!! All of a sudden I want to pee on sticks, cry in bed all day, and bite people's heads off for talking to me!!!  This all snuck up on my over the weekend, I wasn't really expecting it at all, holy hell!!

This morning, I got mad because Jim was chewing too loud. I almost said something to him but then realized how hilarious it was that I was mad about his chewing!!!  Which then made me laugh.... I had to just take my coffee and go up to work.

I've been upstairs working since around 9am and really haven't done too much today. I'm in need of a serious nap and am contemplating calling it a day and taking a 2.5 hour nap before my Chiropractor appointment tonight. I suppose that would be a bad business move on my part though...and with my luck that would be when the phone started ringing off the hook anyways. So I'll continue to just lay on my desk and pretend I'm accomplishing something today.

I miss the days where certain websites were off limits...I definitely wouldn't be spending nearly as much time as I have been googling symptoms for 9dpo and posting on TheBump.com , etc., etc., etc. Anywho, guess I should sign off for now today.

This is my state of mind, LOL

Dixie Chicks Song About Infertility

OMG, I want to POAS

Today is 7dpiui and I admit, the urge to POAS has increased. The damn progesterone has kicked in only with the fatigue so far. The last few nights I've gone to bed at 9pm and slept until around 8am but last night I went to bed at 9pm (on a Friday night, LAME!!!) and slept until 9am. Holy crap, 12 hours of sleep! I was so tired that I skipped the Resolve meeting!!! OOps!! However, I do feel very refreshed!

Ok, so 7 days down and 7 left to go. Still no other side effects besides the fatigue which I'm not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing. Last month, I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I had cramping on and off the entire 2 weeks and, with the exception of the first night, I haven't had any!!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day....while a little unhappy about my situation, at least there aren't any babies in our family that would damper my mood! :) I bought my Mom an arrangement from Edible Arrangements, chocolate covered strawberries. Probably not the best food for someone on a diet, but I'll have to tell her tomorrow that I'm more than happy to help her eat some :)

Well...I think that is about all for now. Till next time!

4 days down 10 to go!

4dpiui and feeling pretty good about not POAS. These upcoming two weeks are going to keep me so busy I doubt I'll even know that its been 14 days....unless that beotch AF shows up.

I started my progesterone suppositories on Monday night and am anxiously awaiting the side effects. If this month is anything like last month, then I would guess they'll show up on Mother's Day of all days.

I'm going to a Resolve meeting in Plainfield on Saturday morning. I'm really looking forward to meeting woman who are struggling with IF as well. The Bump boards are nice but its also nice to have someone IRL who knows what you're going through.

Jim and I are going shopping tonight for a suit for him and a dress for me for the two upcoming weddings we have. When we packed our clothes from the condo, I brought a really cute dress that I wore to a summer wedding last year. I had intended on wearing it this year but looks like that is out of the question. It was a little snug on me last year but I've gained weight since then, lack of exercise plus the medications. I had hoped that I would be pregnant by the time these two weddings came around though and that the snugness of the dress would accentuate my baby bump. Well....there's a bump alright but there sure ain't no baby in there! So its off to Kohls in hopes of finding a cheap dress to hide my rolls, LOL wish me luck!

What a week!!!!

Ok so Saturday's appointment brought mostly all the follicles under 10, but one at exactly 10 and one at 11.

They instructed me to come back on Monday morning for a repeat after continuing on the 300ui of Menopur. Little did I know, that I would be back in that office every morning this week!! (well except Friday!)

First the follicles weren't growing. Then they all shot up in size together for a total of around 5-6 nearly mature sized ones. They decreased my dosage which then started getting the follicle sizes to decrease but then the nearly mature ones were just sitting around hanging out. That is where we've been for the last week....not enough mature and too many with possibility. Every night my dosage has been decreased all the way down from 300iu to 37.5iu last night.

Today I went in...again...for a repeat and at least this time there are two lead follicles so there is a chance of twins....so we'll see I guess!  IUI#2 is Saturday morning. If this round doesn't work they're recommending IVF next so I'll be picking up a packet of info. on Saturday morning to prepare myself just in case!