TRIGGER

We triggered it's 12:30 am Wednesday with 7500 IU of Novarel HCG and I am currently super sleepy  but here's a quick recap of the prior day. My final monitor check was yesterday ( Tuesday morning @ 7:15.am.) My lead follicle was 27MM, a fee 20's and a few 19's with still a few 16's, 17's and even 10's.....those lazy follies..LOL-overall I think 12-14 follies were announced out loud. I was given  a prescription for after ER of Estrace and Medrol.....transfer set for thursday 10/24 @ 9:00 am.

Doctor A asked if I was in pain and to be honest no....I am bloated but not really uncomfortable...weird. I was told that depending on my blood results it is very possible I would trigger with Lupron ( did not have) and would have to pick up at the local specialty pharmacy for $200. Lupron trigger is typically used to prevent OHSS....uhhhmmmm WHAT. I am all for this but why not say it earlier just in case...the thought of the $100 Novarel going down the drain is unsettling, I called DH and he basically said ( which is true) what difference does it make? Even if we have to get the $200 shot at this point there is nothing we can do but go with it. He was right and we would gladly pay it to get to the next phase. Anyway trigger done, bum slightly sore.

Nurse called I am to trigger with HCG, ( Praise God), at 7500 IU, everything is a go and E2 is 5254. I will do everything I can to avoid OHSS. Promptly after ER I will get some Gatorade and start the protein...I should go to sleep. Long day ahead..

Stim Day 9 Check

Stim  Day 9, Monitor check #2

So yesterday ( Sunday morning)  I had my second monitor check and things are good per the doctor , but I sense while good they are not great. My E2 is 2350, which is good since it almost tripled from 3 days prior but I have just 1 at 20mm; I have maybe 2 at 17, a few 15’s & 16’s but still 13’s, 14’s and quite a bit under 10. WHAT? Still under 10…Geesssshhh.  All in all I think 8-10 measurable follies for the count today.  I am trying not to freak out and worry about it. My lining is 10. I will be stimming for 2 more days  lowering the Gonal-F from 225 to 188 and upping the Menopur from 75 IU    to 150 IU     for 2 nights. I started the Cetrotide last night so I have 2 more nights to go on that one. It did not sting as I was ex  pecting from all the things I read online….it felt no different than  the Menopur that also has not stung.

My nex  t check is Tuesday 10/ 22; trigger the same day and Egg R   etrieval 10/ 24^th  this is all pending a good ultrasound Tuesday. I am PRRIAYNG that many of the follies catch up within the 2 days of additional stimming. I am fine with at least 20 follies but a minimum of 12 mature so we can work with. I know most women would want much more but 12 GOOD ones is fine with us..that is 6 tries ( if we put 2 in and if they are all good enough to freeze) I want this to work on the first go though…I would do it all over again if I had to but would prefer NOT to.  I am ready for the nex  t phase….I am ready to be pregnant and then mommy.

Today I saw  an  acquaintance I haven’t seen for 4 months and she is very pregnant and invited me and DH to her baby shower in 2 weeks….OUU   CH.   I am happy for her but my first thoughts were just great and here I still am..not pregnant…but then I thought come on follies grow…I need YOU    now more than ever to be healthy, do what you need to do inside my body , and be healthy most of all.  I guess I would feel better if  by the time she gave birth I am pregnant…please let this be true. Please let my Christmas gift to my family this year be me being healthy, and pregnant with twins.

1st Monitor Check

Today I had Stim Day 6 check & Ultrasound

Dr. A did my ultrasound this morning and he seemed pleased with the results but wants my follies bigger. My lining was 8.3 mm, which he said was "great." Since I had many follicles, all about the same size, this was considered to be good too.

Follies show anywhere from 7 to 13 mm or was there a 14 in there too? Hmmm honestly I cannot remember but 11’s-12’s were the average. He was calling out numbers to the nurse and it was going too fast I couldn’t catch on…but the shocker is that majority of them were in Righty……yeah I called her lazy at baseline check 10/4^th and I guess I should take it back, lefty is now the one lagging behind. I guess they don’t work well together? LOL I am trying to keep a positive attitude about all of this otherwise I will worry, ok who am I kidding? I did worry, prayed and then felt peace and when I feel worry try to creep in again, I keep my thoughts occupied with thoughts of strollers, maternity clothes, and the changes my body is going through with these meds.

Anyway the original “planned ER” was Tuesday 10/22 (this was news to me) however the doctor said based on what the results are today for my E2 he “may” have me start on Cetrotide Saturday night, but for sure he thinks I will be doing an additional day of Stims ( I had to have them order from Freedom) and also he said he is now looking at Thursday 10/24^th. I suppose he wanted me to stop stims Sunday night but I will have to do Monday and then ER will be Wednesday or Thursday I will know more Sunday, the irony is I barely have any bloat but I think by Sunday I may be singing another tune….grow follies grow.

My next monitoring appointment is bright and early Sunday morning @ 7:15 am WTH!

I am so glad that I have a lot of work to do right now. It's the only thing that is keeping me sane.

I will update more later with the E2 levels once the nurse calls.

***Update***
E2 is 872 and the nurse said that is great at this level...so will Yay Yay...I am slightly, very slightly bloated.

100th POST...Woo Hoo

It's my 100th POST...and I have absolutely nothing interesting to say so I will just update on Stim Day 2-3 ( Saturday and Sunday) and then answer the 50 questions below so you can know me a little more.

Stim Day 2- Did okay....panicked a little
Not too bad, it was Zen DH was not there, I worried I mixed the wrong dose and had a slight panic attack when it was time to stick myself....and of course who showed up at 4:00 am...why AF of course...

Stim Day 3-Better and I cheated!
Again still nervous the meds look so very little and I did not prime the second gonal f pen as a result I heard less clicks when it was going into the menopur but I won't worry about it...why? tonight Day 4, I plan to empty the Gonal F pen completely.
My dose is 225 iu and the menopur is 75 iu...they give a little extra in the pen, this is not to go against the doctor  but I just want to be sure I am doing this all right and if I did less lastnight then it will be made up today..
cheat? I still had some numbing cream from the PIO shots I did last year with the mini ivf...I felt nothing :-) no pinch...nada.. DH not present.

Updated 10/15/13-
Stim Day 4 (Monday)-DH is back
Enough said?...LOL okay he was not as bad as stim night 1, he was great at the actual injection but he really thinks I am dosing incorrectly. I am certain I am not but he is making me really nervous and doubt myself and of course I wasted some of it but I am sure it is fine....and if you are thinking I should call the nurse it is fine, she called me first thing 10/14/13 to see how everything is and confirmed the doses...I am not "feeling" my ovaries yet, slightly bloated but I am also on my cycle so not sure which is causing it.

12 Things about me:
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yep a tennis player
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I don't know...been awhile am not a cryer
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? yes, print & cursive
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? TURKEY
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes am fabulous...
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not as much as I use to
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
9. PINK or RED? Pink all the way
10.FAVORITE FOOD? Seafood, thai cusine
11.ARE YOU ALWAYS LATE OR EARLY? Always running late or close to it
12. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE? Travel the world and have kids

Stim Day 1...........TRAUMA

Just as the title says....it was Traumatic, not because of needle fear, not because I was nervous about using the wrong doses, because of......................DH yelling at me that I was doing it wrong ( I wasn't) and making an already stressful situation worse....I will be happy to do the shots ALONE. He can do my PIO as he did on our mini cycle, clearly multi mixing makes him crazy. Truthfully he stuck me with the needle tonight and it was seamless but the anxiety, the yelling,
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THANNNNKKKKKKKKSSSSSSS
honey, smooches.

So what caused the dilemna?
It's simple really my husband is nuts..(not really) the doctor asked that we mix the Gonal-F into the Menopur....it came easy for me....DH on the other hand was convinced ( rightly so I suppose in hindsight, he was watching the videos and saw differently) that it should go directly in my stomach. Keep in mind "I" am the one the nurse gave the directions to, the one the nurse called, the one she confirmed with 3 times how this is to be administered, the one who even went on CNY youtube channels to see...why yes it can be mixed. Anyway first stick over and done with...and so is my sanity...even if the dose was off, screw it for now...for the next few days am doing it ALONE with soothing spa music in the background and my crazy husband....AWAY from me.

In other news  AF isn't here, but per the doctor at the baseline to start stims anyway. I suspect it may be here in any day now....I was VERY nervous being on birth control because I took them for 2 weeks with the mini ivf 2011, and it seriously quieted down my body way too much. Anyway I cannot worry about it
now...onward and upward...

2 more days.........

To start stimming...... YAY...still not sure if I will go to the clinic for the demo, it's an hour away and to take more time out of work just for that doesn't make sense to me. There are video's out there, besides while it's been 2 years since we did the Mini and we are rusty, this isn't our first rodeo. We will suck it up and get it right, we watched the last ones over and over before we did the first stick, we will start tonight.

No sign of AF yet but I wasn't holding my breath either. Today I ordered a few more meds, the HCG trigger, the progesterone and more syringes they are scheduled to be here friday.
The ONLY med pending on the list is the Endometrin. I can order that even the day before needed. I like that with Freedom Pharmacy, they ship Fedex Overnight for FREE. Considering all that we have to deal with, this is awesome.

I am SUPER jealous of DH he gets Monday off (Columbus Day) :-/ wish I could get the same, would love an extended weekend for some much needed R & R.

Just 2 more days and I am excited, nervous, happy, crazy, anxious, and worried all at once.

CLARITY

 Spoke with my favourite nurse this morning, Nurse S.  She is so awesome and easy to deal with. Anyway regaring my concerns..
1. Cetrotide not on the schedule yet until my hormones show when to add them
2. Order both Endometrin and in Oil, the doctor prefers the suppository....crap... oh well perhaps I am jumping a head of myself to even worry about it, not that I am not going into to this with lots of faith and positivity.
3. What was the 3rd again...LOL oh yeah the time it takes to monitor, this is how they do it....O.K.A.Y. again not going to worry about it. Just going to pray I respond well to the meds I am prescribed and have lots of healthy embies....

I keep having broken sleeps the last several nights, it is a side effect of the BCP, I stopped that Sunday but I am sure it will take a few days to get out of my system but the CO-Q10 Ubiquinol probably is the one doing it as well. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO terrible at taking it. I probably do 1 100mg pill in the morning with breakfast every now and again when I feel like it. The positive thing is honestly it gives me so much energy throughout the day....I think it is a great supplement to take, it does say not while pregnant though.

Not much else to report...AF "should" be here tommorrow but I won't hold my breath.....since her long delay after my Lap surgery 7/2....she at the moment is unpredictable...but we shall see. Supposedly she should arrive 3-5 days after the BCP.

Kicking Rocks

Stopped BCP last night as the schedule says.
I emailed the RE's office this morning for my 3 concerns confirmations below...just waiting to hear back to put my mind at ease.
1.)  I start stimming 10/11 and do not go in for monitoring until 10/17th is this accurate? 6 days of monioring with absolutely no scans or bloodtests until day 7 when I will be doing the others?
2.) Also I noticed that my schedule DID NOT include cetrotide so waiting to hear on that too, from lurking on forums, posts and blogs most peoples start Cetrotide Day 5-Day 6 of stimming, I won't see them until Day 7 but the morning after doing Day 6 of stimming.
3.) Do I need to use both Endometrin and Progesterone in Oil. I would RATHER the oil and no messy pessy thanks

Let's see what I find out...according to this schedule, AF should be here on wednesay, I did ask if it did not show up if I should stim and I was told yes...I will confirm this but I hope AF come as she should..

Cycle Update & a Schedule

Looks like things are looking up............YAY....yay...yay (happy dance)
There is goods news, and kiss my a@@ insurance news..

Kiss my a@@ news
I did Lap surgery in prep for this cycle on 7/2. The clinic was kind enough to send me a huge bill of things my insurance WOULD NOT cover yesterday, LOVELY. Me and DH are hoping that they do not require we pay this all off prior to egg transfer, no way we can afford to. Not going to stress it now.....let's not borrow tommorrow's troubles shall we.

Cycle Update/ Schedule & Good News
So my baseline was yesterday, after being on BCP ( Birth Control Pills) since 9/7. The doc said my uterus looks beautiful.......awwwww this made me blush. We did an AFC ( Antral Follicle Count) at leaast 13 on left and at least 6 on the right.....once again I want to kick righty in the ovary, clearly she is completely LAZY. Well I am focusing on lefty and hoping that all works out. They did blood draw to track E2 levels but I told myself I didn't want to let my self go crazy with numbers this cycle, as long they say good or normal I can work with that. DH could not make the appointment so the doctor wanted to know if he could "produce" on demand....I said lots of pressure but I am sure he can. Did you remember in June DH was required, yes REQUIRED to cryo-freeze his sperm for backup when they did the analysis? So I said "won't that be available" and not surprisingly there was silence. I am aware we are being nickel & dimed...I guess I see their position, ladies and gentlemen NOTHING is truly ever free. At the end of this "Free IVF" I will let you know our costs.

Protocol-OCP / Antagonist...which is Oral Contraception Pill Antagonist
I will scan it and create a tab later. I did some research since I wanted to have an idea on what exactly this would all include. Basically stims and then Cetrotride to prevent Ovulation and supposedly this protocol isn't so hard on the body and less injections......now this I am excited for.
Looking at this schedule, it shows stim for 6 days then go in for Labs? Yeah am confused too but it also shows from stim to Day 9 for trigger, it also does not include the Cetritide that the doctor ordered. I will ask about that monday, didn't see it until now which sucks I spent 2 hours there which included watching a Follistim video....while I do not plan to focus on numbers, I know I have to be my own advocate, and ensure I am getting the right info. I am not surprised though, there was a review from this clinic and a patient said something along these lines. Meds I do not play around with, also they want me to come in on Stim Day 1 to do the first injections with me. I am not worried nor do I care to do it but might to appease them. I think they have forgotten that I have been through IVF before, albeit MINI with less drugs but still Menopur and me are no strangers, the Gonal F pen looks easy peasy, but we shall see.

Scedule so far
Stop BCP 10/6
Expect menses
10/11 Start Stim ( Gonal F 225 IU & 75 Menopur as well as baby aspirin & antibiotics, and prenatals)
10/17 Labs 7:30 AM
10/20 Tentative Egg Retrieval

**The good thing about this schedule is that I have something to go off of in regards to letting my employer know am out. I am secretly HOPING egg retrieval is on the weekend so no time from work really but eitherway we will have to do what we must, this is more important.**


Update 10/7/2013
Day 2 of Stims start taking antibiotics (Doxycycline) oh how I hate this one, took it just one day post my lap in July and it made me feel awful. I know we will have to take with food to minimize the side effects.....and yeah you read right both me and DH will be taking them for 10 days. DH thinks it is a great plan. I don't know how I feel about it, I guess it doesn't matter as long as it helps, besides if it will minimize any infections during Egg Retrieval then bring it on. I have to remind myself to drop this off at the pharmacy.

Kudos to Freedom Fertility Pharmacy

While they did not call they shipped my meds yesterday and they are here today.....I had them delivered to a Fedex location on my way home, did a quick check and put them back in the refrigerator. Life is good. I cannot wait to get off the birth control pills....:-) I have mixed emotions....one minute its YAY...am on my way and the next its this sucks, this really sucks......

1/3 Check

I am happy to report that my Menopur are here (happy dance). My prescription says 10 vials and I got 15 so far, actually 16.....still have a vial from my mini ivf not sure if expired though

What I am not happy to report is that Freedom Fertility did not call me today as promised to confirm my order for Gonal-F and Cetrotide and to ship it.........lovely. GOOD thing i don't start stimming until 10/11. Take note order your meds ahead.

And tonight DH made a comment about "when am pregnant"..makes me so nervous. I don't want to let him down but this is out of our hands.....its in Gods and there I leave it...