Smooth Sailing

No pain!!! No cyst!!! Could this finally be it?

It wasn't there last month either. I wonder if my body is finally going to cooperate.

I'm beginning to think that it had something to do with all of the caffeine I was consuming...I haven't had a drop of it since August. I know caffeine causes fibrocystic breast changes, and just recently learned that it can cause ovarian cysts as well. Water is swell, but I sure do miss my morning bottle of Diet Pepsi!

I began my Lupron injections this morning, and will continue it every day for the entire cycle. They doubled my dose to 20 units in hopes that it will keep the cyst far, far away. If you remember last time, the Lupron is to suppress my ovaries until they are ready to add the stimulation drugs to the mix.

I know I said that last weekend would be my last football game of the season, but, well, you know...things change. My good friend is going to treat us to a weekend in Knoxville for the Carolina/Tenn game! Yay! Plus, Halloween is getting old around here...it's no fun with just the two of us handing out candy all night. We get jealous that we can't be out there with our own kids! Oh well, maybe next year...

We hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloweenie weekend!

The Islands Will Have To Wait

Hopefully, we can finally slather a baby in sunblock and take him with us to the islands instead.

IVF #2. Just so you know, it's a go.

The past few weeks have been crazy busy and I have had a hard time trying to find the time to sit down and give an update! I took on a side job to try to make some extra money for our cycles and it has been keeping me on my toes.

Today is cycle day 12. As of now, I'm back on the birth control pills and have been for a little over a week. I had an ultrasound on day 3 which showed that the "little cyst" had once again resolved...if I could just reach in there and beat the crap out of it I would! The goal is to keep me from ovulating while on the pill this time. I'm carefully monitoring myself for any discomfort down there as well as using an ovulation predictor test. So far, the tests have been negative, but it's still too early to tell. I always know when the cyst is rearing its ugly head. If I feel it, I will be calling my doctor that very second so that he can schedule an ultrasound. We've invested too much into this and we're not playing around or experimenting anymore. We are our own best advocates, right?

What happens if the cyst comes back? I was told that I need to pack up and head to Charleston to have it aspirated. Since the cyst and the hormones it was secreting affected my egg quality and the outcome of our 1st cycle, the sooner we get rid of it the better. Hopefully it won't come to that. I'm finding myself more uptight and worried this time around. I'm sure it's because I'm afraid that I'm going to have the same outcome as our 1st cycle. I just wish things would come easy to us...just this once. Fingers crossed!

On another note, the H1N1 has officially entered my workplace. I work in a hospital, so it was inevitable to begin with. A lot of us were unknowingly exposed, so we're praying that it doesn't spread like wildfire. So far, only a few employees are out, so we'll see. My concern is if I get it while going through a cycle...would a fever harm our eggs/sperm? I have the vaccine available to me, but I've weighed the risks vs. benefits and decided against it for personal reasons. Even if I received the vaccine today, I've already been exposed so it does me no good...considering it takes about 2 weeks to build up enough antibodies anyway. Besides, I think the media has completely blown it out of proportion.

If everything goes as planned, I have another ultrasound next week and will start my Lupron injections. Let's hope my insurance company accidentally pays for it again this time:) They didn't even pay for my pregnancy blood test last cycle, so I'm going to suck them for all they are worth!

This Saturday is the last Carolina game we can attend this season and I'm so excited! Our cycle will get in the way of the remaining home games, but I don't care. I love Carolina, but finally having a little family is our number one priority. My parents and sister are going with us, so it should be a good time!

I will be in touch:)

Another Award!

Thanks to Jess at Babyparamore.blogspot.com for nominating me for my 2nd award! She is a source of unbelievable inspiration to me. She and her husband have been trying to conceive for over four years and have experienced four miscarriages. I had no idea that such a huge infertility community existed on Blogspot...it has turned into one big awesome support group. I'm so grateful for the friends I've made, especially Jess. She rocks! We've already promised each other we're going to hop on a plane to each other's baby showers, ha!



All we need is a little LOVE! This blog award is about sisters uniting together and giving others some love because life is hard and who couldn't use a little love? The rules for this award are simple.

I LOVE YOU=8 letters which gives you 8 rules:


Here are the rules:

1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award and write a little bit about why you love them.

2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4-Nominate no more than 17 people (why 17?) who you love or you think could use some love

5. Write one word (you can only use a word once) about what you love about their blog.

6. You can not nominate someone who has already been nominated-the love has to spread to all

7-Post links to the 17 blogs you nominate.

8-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated.


I can't name just 17...all of the blogs I follow are fantabulous! So, if you read my blog, then I nominate you.

IVF or the Island Life?

Our visit to Charleston went very well! Our doctor had a lot of positive things to say, and we left more optimistic about going through with IVF #2. We have been a little skeptical over the past month about whether we should go through with it again, or just accept our losses and move to the islands:)

What went wrong? Well, Dr. P said that he and the two other doctors in the practice have been steadily trying to figure this out over the past month. Everything was perfect...I responded to the medications, my estrogen levels went up accordingly, the follicles grew, and the eggs were harvested.

Remember the "little" cyst that delayed my cycle? Well, it did a little more than delay the cycle. That son of a gun messed it all up. With most women, an ovarian cyst will not affect the outcome of the cycle. This is why they didn't pay it much attention.

To explain this better, I should not have ovulated or developed a cyst while on the birth control pills...we already knew this. When you start a fresh cycle, they want all of the follicles to be uniform in size. Apparently, the cyst was causing my estrogen levels to stay elevated, which in turn caused two of the follicles to prematurely develop before I started the stimulation meds. These two huge follicles continued to grow and kept growing in front of the others throughout the entire stimulation. They were just planning on letting those go (not using them) while proceeding to grow the smaller follicles. With most women this works out great. I, on the other hand, do not have the reproductive system that agrees with these odds. In the end, the two big follicles interfered with the development of the smaller follicles. Hence, my outcome: 8 retrieved, 3 immature, 4 degenerated, 1 fertilized.

Was this my fault? No.

Dr. P said that if anyone is to blame, it is them for not paying closer attention to the cyst which led to the overdeveloped follicles. Now that he knows that I'm Murphy's best friend, the plan is to over-monitor my next cycle. He did a post-IVF ultrasound which looked great...my ovaries are back down to size, lining is great, and a follicle count of 17. Woohoo! I do have a small fibroid, but he said that it is out of the way and it won't interfere with anything. He recommended that we try to go ahead with cycle 2 while everything looked clear. Which means in about 1 week. Oh my goodness.

I will have an ultrasound on Day 3 of birth control this time to check for any "little" cysts. If one grows, then he said I need to pack up and head to Charleston that day to have it aspirated before it causes any problems. Talk about being proactive!

I will have more ultrasounds this time around...if anything looks questionable at any point in the cycle, I will have to drive to Charleston so that they can do an ultrasound themselves.

They will be increasing the doses on Lupron, Follistim, and micro-HCG. Also, Andy will have his sperm frozen ahead of time so that they will have more to choose from. Dr. P said that the 2nd cycle usually has a better outcome because they know what they're working with. He feels very optimistic that everything will turn out fine this time around.

Now we have a big decision to make...we can go for it now while all is clear, or risk it by waiting until after the holidays. My gut is telling me that now is the right time. We've waited long enough and it's time to get this show on the road. As always, I'm worried about taking so much time off work. I absolutely love my job, but I've got to make this my priority.

We will lay it all out on the table over the next week and pray that the answer comes to us.

Although we haven't really ruled out that whole moving to the islands idea:)

My First Blog Award...Sweet!

Babyparamore.blogspot.com has given me my first blog award!!!
Thank you so much Jessica!
This award comes with some rules and a survey I have to fill out.

Rules
1. You Can Only Use One Word (Yeah right...we know that won't happen!)
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. Alert them that you have given them this award
4. Have Fun!

The Fun Part
1. Where is your cell phone? Couch
2. Your hair? Long (Doing Locks of Love)
3. Your mother? My biggest supporter...hands down.
4. Your father? The Best
5. Your favorite food? Popcorn
6. Your dream last night? Had a baby that was shaped like a starfish and people were trying to steal it from me. k.
7. Your favorite drink? Weekday: Water...Weekend: Alcohol
8. Your dream/goal? Mother
9. What room are you in? Living Room
10. Your hobby? Gym
11. Your fear? Childless
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Picking my child up from school
13. Where were you last night? Driving back from Charleston
14. Something that you aren’t? Pregnant
15. Muffins? Chocolate Chip
16. Wish list item? Infertility Debt Forgiveness Program...ha!
17. Where did you grow up? North Augusta, SC
18. Last thing you did? Watch Football
19. What are you wearing? My Gamecock Gear!
20. Your TV? On, of course...it's gameday!
21. Your pets? My doggie...Ellie May
22. Friends? After last cycle, I now know who the true ones are:)
23. Your life? Uncertain
24. Your mood? Pumped!
25. Missing someone? Leeann!
26. Vehicle? Garnet Ford Explorer Sport (gotta have a gamecockmobile)
27. Something you’re not wearing? Underwear
28. Your favorite store? Hobby Lobby
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Last Friday
32. Your best friend? My husband
33. One place that I go to over and over? Doctor's office
34. One person who emails me regularly? Amanda & Mom
35. Favorite place to eat? Hmmmm...Mexican, Bonefish, California Dreaming, McCalister's, Wild Wing Cafe, Chinese, Japanese, Sushi, Blue Sky Kitchen, Mellow Mushroom, Pizza Joint...that was one word, right?

Recipients
1. Melissa at Banking on a Family
2. Naomi at 999 Reasons to Laugh at Infertility
3. FC at Fertility Chick
4. Shanny at I did, I do, I will
5. Megan at Infertile Myrtle
6. Lu at Fertility Foibles


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We did see our doctor in Charleston yesterday and he had a lot to say! I'm trying to gather my thoughts to write a post regarding the appointment. However, it's Saturday and college football is calling my name! I will be in touch!