Ready for Take Off

Ultrasound is clear.

Estrogen has dropped.

No cysts.

All resting follicles healthy and happy.

Is this seriously going right for once? Why yes...it is!!!

I had about 14 resting follicles (all uniform in size) on my ultrasound this morning. My estrogen level has bottomed out which is where they want it. I am officially in artificial menopause at the ripe age of 30. The reason they do this is so that they can have full control of my cycle...IVF is all about perfect timing. They cease my body's natural hormone fluctuations and replace them with the medications I am taking by injection. Click here to read about this time last cycle.

I had a little scare this morning when I was handed my instructions for the coming days.

I was supposed to decrease my Lupron from 20 units to 10 units this morning? I already gave myself 20 units! I was supposed to add a low dose HCG injection this morning? Andy was supposed to start his antibiotics this morning? Um, what?

Keep in mind that it was already 10 am and my medications are supposed to be done no later than 8 am. In a frantic I jumped in the car to get back home as fast as I could so that I could inject myself with the other medication and grab Andy's medication to take by his work. On the way back to my house, I phoned my work to let them know not to look for me anytime soon. I also phoned my clinic in Charleston to find out why they waited until this morning to tell me this rather important information. We did, after all, pay them the equivalent of a 5 series BMW this year, so I expect nothing short of awesomeness from them.

My nurse is out of the office on vacation. Sweet ridiculousness. I left a voicemail with one of the other nurses explaining the situation and she called me back not even 5 minutes later. She said that it was okay that I took the extra Lupron and that we would just lower it tomorrow morning. The HCG injection could be given this evening with my Follistim injection, Andy could start his antibiotics tonight, and HCG could be added with the lower dose Lupron tomorrow morning. Whew. I'm confused. I know you are too.

The truckload of meds arrived last Friday and I already have them organized and ready to go. Thankfully I don't have to deal with the fear of the unknown this time. Looking at all of the vials isn't quite as overwhelming.

I took my first Follistim injection this evening to begin the stimulation phase. I'm so ready for my ovaries to feel like bowling balls again. Please let it work this time...I don't know how much longer my body and mental health can take this! I will say that this will be the ultimate test to find out the true quality of my eggs. If they are still degenerated after this perfect cycle without a cyst, then we may have a major problemo.

My next appointment is this Thursday. I believe they will just be doing bloodwork. I will probably have to go in sometime this weekend for an ultrasound. Please keep us in your prayers! I will be in touch:)

Word of the Month: Ridiculousness

I'm sure most of my infertile blogger friends read Naomi's blog on a daily basis. If not, check it out. It may not seem funny to fertiles, but it's the raw truth about infertility jacked up with sarcasm. This girl cracks me up!!!

999 Reasons to Laugh at Infertility


Hey, I have to find some way to laugh at the ridiculousness that has become my life...

Everything continues to go as planned. I'm still doing double Lupron injections every morning. I'm starting to get some belly bruises, but not too bad yet. I started my cycle this a.m., which was expected after stopping the birth control pills. I am ecstatic because this didn't happen on time during our first cycle! This means that the cyst is definitely not there and that my estrogen level has dropped. I go back for a scan and bloodwork on Monday morning to make sure everything is clear so that I can start the stimulation meds. They will also do an antral follicle count so that I can get an idea of how many possible follicles there will be to stimulate. It varies month by month...last month I had 17. So far, this has been a textbook cycle.

I can't wait to take a picture of this truckload of meds...they increased the doses which means I will probably have to choose between keeping food or medications in my fridge!

In other news, I'm about to be an aunt for the second time this year...my sister is about to have her baby girl! Anytime now!

Andy is heading down to Charleston tomorrow to drop his load at the clinic. Lucky him.
They will be separated and frozen so that they won't be hastily searching for soldiers on retrieval day. We should have plenty to choose from this time. Now, if the eggs will just cooperate.

Geez, I could have used a little more couth up there...you have to admit it was pretty funny though. Besides, we've lost all modesty nowadays. Wanna know how we accomplished that? I've put my legs up in stirrups about 500 times in the past 4.5 years. Andy has become a professional sharpshooter into the depths of a sterile container, all the while cheap porn drowns out the laughter of lab personnel on the other side of the door. Top that.

Ridiculousness. Lol.

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:)

This Is Your Ovary...And This Is Your Ovary On Drugs.

***Note: These are not my ultrasound pics...however, this is very similar to what I see each time I get an ultrasound. Each black area is a follicle on the ovary. The bottom half of the pic is a stimulated ovary***

We are almost there!!! Yay! I have about 5 mature follicles along with quite a few smaller ones. My labs look really good and they told me that I was almost ready for retrieval. I was told to take another stimulation shot tonight, then my other injections in the morning before going back to the doctor for more labwork and another ultrasound. My nurse believes that I will have to "trigger" tomorrow night and have the retrieval on Sunday morning in Charleston. My appointment tomorrow will give us the final answer. Let's hope I don't have to wait almost TWO hours to be called back like I did today! I guess they don't care that you have to take off work every other day to do this.

The trigger injection is one of the most critical parts of the cycle. It induces the final maturation of the eggs, loosens the egg's attachment from the follicle wall, and allows for timing of the egg retrieval. It basically prepares my body for ovulation...however, my doctor will manually ovulate me before my body does the deed itself. I will have the retrieval exactly 36 hours after I give myself the trigger.

The trigger is called HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) and is the same hormone that is present in pregnancy. This hormone is what makes a pee stick turn positive when you are preggo. Therefore, if I try to pee on a stick (too much info, I know) in the next couple of weeks, it will say that I'm pregnant. The only way to confirm that the IVF works is through a blood test 14 days after the retrieval.

I know this because I had to take this injection with all 6 of my IUI's and made the mistake of testing too early. It is pretty cool to see a positive on a pregnancy test though. Sometimes I would just do it for the fun of it, haha!

And P.S...My ovaries don't feel like peaches, they feel like WATERMELONS!

The Little Cyst That Could...

I went in for another ultrasound/labwork this morning. As it turns out, the "Little" cyst is still hanging around. My nurse called me this afternoon to inform me that my estrogen was still elevated and that the Lupron had not suppressed it. From what I understand, I probably ovulated through the birth control pills. Because of this, the ovulation left a cyst on my ovary which is producing estrogen. This probably explains why I have yet to start my period...the estrogen level has to drop in order for it to occur. Also, if I were to begin the stimulation meds without my estrogen being low, then that would put me at risk for OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome). You can read about it here:
http://www.ivf-infertility.com/ivf/standard/complications/ovarian_stimulation/ohss.php


Hey, atleast we're dealing with elevated estrogen instead of elevated testosterone! I don't need anything else to shave:)

Instead of beginning my new medications tomorrow, I will continue the Lupron injections to try to suppress my system. I have to go back Tuesday morning for another ultrasound and more labwork to see if we've made any progress. If so, I will begin my stimulation meds next week. If not, I will probably continue Lupron until the cyst is gone and my hormones are null and void.

So far, I am feeling good. We are a little disappointed that this cycle is being delayed, but there is a reason for everything! I was so scared that they were going to cancel it, which means a lot of moolah and emotional investment would have been flushed down the toilet. We have been through a lot thus far, so it is easier to mentally prepare for setbacks. We have learned that this entire journey is about playing the waiting game. God doesn't give us more than we can handle, and patience is extremely hard but definitely a virtue when it comes down to it. As you may have guessed, our original dates for egg retrieval and transfer will be changed. Hopefully, we will have a better idea next week!

We would also like to give a shout out to Andy's sister, who will be having a little girl any day now!!! This is her first baby, as well as the first niece in the family. We love her and wish her the best of luck with delivery!

I think I can...I think I can....choo choo!

Back To Reality...

Annnnd...we're back from the beach! It was sooo good to get away, but I feel like I need to sleep a week to recover! I was able to "let loose" for the last time to get everything out of my system. Our vacation was filled with lots of bike rides, beach time, beer, sunsets, beer, excruciating sunburn, beer, good food, beer, and the obligatory Hucko drama. Speaking of excruciating sunburn...my mother, father, brother, Andy, and myself were confined to the beach canopy, a.k.a. "Burn Unit", for the last half of the week because of our irresponsiblity with sunblock. Must have been the beer. We arrived each day donned with SPF 50 and packed ourselves in like sardines underneath the canopy. I must say it was pretty humorous. Note to self: reapply sunscreen after 2 hours.

I stopped my birth control on 7/23 and began my Lupron injections on Sunday 7/26. My belly is a little bruised and sore, but not too bad. As suspected, I have had the hot flashes, irritability, and a little nausea. One thing that I have noticed is I am extremely anxious and having trouble sleeping. I'm not sure if it is the medicine or if I'm just nervous about the rest of the month in general. Today, I called my mail order pharmacy to request that the next round of medications be shipped. The pharmacist says, "Oh wow, your doctor called in quite a few medications this time." She then proceeded to spout out a list of about 7 medications that I couldn't even pronounce if I tried! They'll be calling me back tomorrow with the final price and to collect payment before they ship them out. Do you think my insurance company will not recognize them as infertility medications and cover them by accident?!? Fat chance, but it would be pretty entertaining to rip them off for once:)

I go back to the doctor on Friday for more labwork and another ultrasound. They also told me that I would have another menstrual cycle this week as well, so I'm waiting on that to happen. I'm praying that the cyst has disappeared, but we will know for sure on Friday! They are also supposed to counsel me on how to give myself those other medications. If all goes well, I should start those on Saturday.

After much persuasion, we were able to get a few family pics on the beach! These are our first family pics in over 10 years as well! I've posted all of them on facebook, but here are a few of my faves. Enjoy:)

With momma...

The Aunts and Grammy lovin' on my sister's baby bump


With our sweet daddy:)

Annnndddd....The Burn Unit:)