Sunday, June 29, 2008

3dp3dt

Yet another lazy day. It feels good to just lay around and take it easy, I mean I do have a good reason, so I don't feel guilty about wasting the day. Testing mania begins tomorrow. Its way to soon to get a BFP (Big Fat Positive) but testing will at least give me something to do every morning. Mike goes back to work tomorrow, BOOO HISS!!! So I'll be pretty bored over the next few days. Ok I'm off to bed!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

2dp3dt

Wait, did today actually happen? Here is how it went down.

7am: Wake up and take my progesterone and QUICKLY go back to sleep.
9am: Wake up for the day (well, kinda)
9am-3pm: Lay around in bed and watch TV (GOD BLESS TIVO!!!)
3pm-7pm: SLEEP!!
7pm: Wake up long enough to eat the Chinese food Mike cooked (when I say cooked, I actually mean he went out and got take outs.)
8PM-10PM: Watched "Good Luck Chuck" with my amazing hubby. (cute movie, I love Dane Cook)
10:30pm: Update Blog
11pm: GO BACK TO BED!

So as you can tell I am DEFINITELY taking it easy. I keep rubbing my stomach and BEGGING the embies to implant. I mean, I am pretty persuasive. After all I am their Mother, they better start listening. :) Ok I'm headed back to bed, its been a GOOD 3 hours since I had any sleep, my body is craving it HAHA!

Friday, June 27, 2008

1dp3dt

Yep, I am officially ONE DAY past my 3 day transfer, and pregnant until proven otherwise. After 3 weeks away, I finally drove home today. WOOO HOOO, sleeping in my own bed WITH my husband will be NICE for a change. The 7 hour trek home was rather uneventful. I am happy to say, it is 9pm on a FRIDAY night and I (and the triplets) am off to cuddle in bed with my amazing husband. Life really is good!!!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

ET UPDATE!!

I some how managed to talk Dr P into transfering 3 embies this morning. We transfered 3 8 cell grade 1A little ones. I thought for sure he was going to do 2 good ones and a slacker 4 cell, but nope he decided to do the 3 perfect 8 cells. I am sooooooooo excited. The embryologist helped me talk him into it, I'm tall (5'10") so they decided together that I could handle 3 even if all of them took. I also mentioned that we were OK with reduction if any of them split and we ended up with more then 3 (which I have to say, I'm not sure we are ok with it, but it really helped my argument.) The only thing that sucked is that when we got there, they told us that we needed assisted hatching. The "shell" (I cant remember the proper name for it) was really thick on our embies so they needed a little help breaking out. That cost an extra $750 but in the scheme of things thats not really all that much. Dr P gave us a 25% chance of trips, 50% of twins, and 75-80% of a singleton. UGH, Let the TWW begin!!
Everything went well, Dr P is AWESOME and so is everyone at his office and Carolina IVF. This has been a totally positive experience for us.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

TRANSFER TOMORROW!

Well its official, as of tomorrow, I MIGHT be pregnant.

I just got the word, I still have 9 good embies left, and Dr. P wants to go ahead and do a 3 day transfer tomorrow. I'm trying to talk him into 3 but he really only wants to put 2 back in. I'm only 27 and healthy, so he really thinks 3 is too many. I'm going to ask him to put 2 of the best embies back in, and then one of the lower grades that probably wont make it to freeze anyway, hopefully that argument will work. I don't know, I'll be happy with 2 or 3 honestly!

If all goes well tomorrow, I will be heading home on Friday. WOOO HOOO!! It will be so nice to just lay in my OWN bed for a change. Oh and it doesn't hurt that Mike will be there with me too :)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Fertilization Update!

So I got a call from the dr today and of the 19 eggs they retrieved, 17 of them were mature, and 11 of them fertilized correctly. The Dr seemed VERY pleased with that, and told us we should be happy as well. So I guess we are. Tomorrow the Dr will decide if we will do a 3 or 5 day transfer. Right now he is leaning towards a 3 day but it all depends on how the embies are doing tomorrow.

I'm feeling ALOT better today. I'm still REALLY sore, but I can sit and stand on my own now. Mike left this morning. I was a little worried about that initially because as of last night I couldn't even get off the couch with out him pulling me to my feet. They gave me a bunch of pain meds but I have not had to use them since yesterday. They told us to drink a bunch of Gatorade and V-8 to help prevent against OHSS. The Gatorade is not a problem, and I have been drinking about 60-80 oz a day. V-8 on the other hand is NASTY!!!!!! I took 3 sips of it today and almost puked. I think I'll stick to the Gatorade :)

Monday, June 23, 2008

ER Update!

I'm really pretty out of it ladies, but I just wanted to update that they got 19 eggs out this morning. Now I'm just waiting for the fertilization report tomorrow. Thanks for all your well wishes. I'm heading back to bed now for the rest of the day.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Long Story Short

Sorry I have not updated, I have been in lots of pain recently. I went to the Dr on Friday and I had 29 eggs. The ER will be on Monday at 8am. Mike got here LATE last night, and will be giving me my HCG trigger tonight at 8pm tonight. I'll try to update more tomorrow, but its hard for me to be in the upright sitting position (I'm standing to type this).

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

LIFE IS GOOD!

So after a week of eating Rice and Beans (I'm not complaining, they are good) I went out and got Chick-fil-A tonight. It was soooooo yummy!

I got a phone call from Mike today and yep, he got hired for his dream job. I've heard him talk about this since he graduated from West Point, and now finally its become a reality for him. He worked really hard to get this job, so I'm super proud of him. His new job does have perks for me too.
1) We won't have to move anytime soon. Well at least for another 2 years. Which means if we do get pregnant, I can justify spending the time and money on decorating a nursery.
2) Shorter deployments, I mean seriously, show me an Army wife that WANTS to do 15 months away from her husband. Shorter is ALWAYS better.
3) If we get pregnant from this IVF cycle, he will actually be here for most of the pregnancy and the birth. For all of you non-military wives reading, that is a HUGE concern for army wives these days. You would be surprised how many husbands don't ever lay eyes on there child until they are 3-6 months old, or leave a 3 month old and come back when they are 1.5 YEARS OLD.

On a different note, I got a call from my Dr's office today and I am responding so well to the meds they are again cutting the dose in half. I'm down to 75iu Gonal-F and 75iu Repronex (and of course my Lupron). I'm really hoping for a Sunday ER now, but it might not be until Monday though. Oh and my e2 was 1526 today for those of you who know how to read those numbers.

In short: THINGS ARE GOOD!

Almost 2 dozen!

I had another Dr appt today. I had 20 eggs this time, WOOOHOOO!!. They measured in size from 12-14mm. I'm guessing that is right on track because the u/s tech said they looked "REALLY JUICY!" I'm going to lay down for a little while. I got up at 5:45 this morning so a nap is well deserved. I'll update again this afternoon when I hear the results of my blood test.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

We have lemons!

I guess things are still growing well in there. I can definitely tell a difference since even yesterday. Nothing much happened today. It was ALOT of laying around and watching TV.

I have yet to mention my new hobby. I have started crocheting (its like knitting). It keeps me preoccupied so I don't go insane from bed rest boredom. Since I am making a little baby blanket it also keeps my thoughts positive. I had a picture that I took the other night but it appears the computer ate it. As soon as I can get my sister-in-law to email it back to me, I'll post it.

Have I mentioned that I miss my husband? Ugh, its really hard to go through all of this without him. I would give anything to be able to go lay in bed and cuddle up with him. I knows its only a few more days and he should be here but, wow, I never dreamed I would miss him so much. I'm sure part of that is TOTALLY hormones but we figured out the other day its been over a year since I was really way from him for this long. The last time was June '07 when he was away doing some training in NJ for 3 weeks. Its only been 10 days since I saw him last but it feels like its been FOREVER. I'm expecting him (if all goes the way its planned) to be here LATE Friday night.

I'm going to lay down because I can not longer sit upright with out it hurting! Ugh, only a few more days of this!

Monday, June 16, 2008

I was right!

Yep, the Dr called earlier and they are lowering the dose on my meds (cutting it in half actually). It's a good thing, it means that my body is doing a good job at growing little eggies. My next Dr appt is Wed (6/18) at 7am. I'm now thinking that my ER will be moved up a day to the 22nd. I'm really excited about that. The earlier it happens, the earlier I will know if it worked or not :)
The massage today was AMAZING, however I must say, the lady who did it was a Chatty Cathy so I didn't really get to fully enjoy it. It was still super relaxing though.

Well I'm off to watch a little TV then I'm hitting the hay early tonight!

WOOHOO!!!

Well I just got back from this mornings ultrasound and it looks like I have AT LEAST 18 eggs. Hopefully over the next few days more and more will be popping up. I'm so excited! This is REALLY good news! The Dr will call me later and let me know how my blood work looks and give me my new dosages of meds. I think they will be lowering it a little. I'll post again as soon as I hear from them. I'm off to lay down then at 1:30 I have a MASSAGE!! I'm sooooo excited!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

OUCH OUCH OUCH!

So not much is new today except the grapes in my ovaries have now been upgraded to cherry tomatoes. I'm expecting them to be grapefruits by the end of the week, I can't wait!! :-/

I've been doing alot of laying around watching movies with my mother-in-law over the past few days. So here is my IVF movie reviews. (This is to help you make your list Sierra :-) )

Derailed: GREAT!!
Reign Over Me: GREAT, sad, but great!
No Country For Old Men: GREAT, crazy and a little sick, but great!
Fracture: Eh, not so great, but at least Ryan Gosling is fun to look at ;)

Movies to follow later in the week:

Next
Kite Runner
Devil Wears Prada
Michael Clayton
Music and Lyrics
We Own The Night

Laying around all day watching movies actually does have its downsides, believe it or not!
On a positive note, new episode of Army Wives comes on tonight so at least I have that to look foward to.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

I can officially feel my ovaries!

Since this isn't my first ride on the infertility train, I kind of know what to expect. However after waking up from a nap today, I felt like I was smuggling grapes across the boarder in my ovaries. Today is only day 4 of my stims so I can only imagine how much worse it's going to get over the next week or so. Right now I'm wearing work out shorts with an elastic band, and I have to keep pulling them up over my belly button so nothing touches my painful midsection. On top of feeling like an overstuffed fruit basket, I'm SUPER bloated. So these shorts that I keep tugging on are on the verge of no longer fitting. I'm drinking a TON of water and Gatorade to trying to keep from getting OHSS (over hyper stimulation syndrome). It usually doesn't happen until after the ER (egg retrieval) and there is no real way of preventing it, but the Dr's told us that TONS of fluid helps.
Besides feeling new parts of my body today, it has been relatively uneventful. I talked to Mike this morning and assuming he is still able to get a 4-day pass has decided to drive up here (rather than fly) for my ER. This will work out ALOT better because now we don't have to deal with the time constraints of a flight. Also he will be able to drive down to Savannah when he leaves here to pick up "The Girls" (Leia, Maddy, and Abby). They are still at my sisters in bad doggy quarantine.
Well I better be off, its movie night with the mother-in-law again. Tonight we are watching, "Reign Over Me" with Adam Sandler. Hopefully its good.

Friday, June 13, 2008

A MUCH better day!

I have not cried at all today, and I must say it was quite an accomplishment. Today went well, I was able to get out of the house FINALLY. I went out to lunch with a friend of mine, then on the way home I stopped and picked up the new Gavin Degraw Cd (it really sucks by the way). After that I just took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.
My mother-in-law and I rented the movie "Derailed" to watch tonight. I've already seen it but she started watching it on Lifetime today. I QUICKLY made her turn it off because they were cutting out some of the best parts. So we stopped at Blockbuster (and Taco Bell HAHAHA) and rented it.
On the IVF front, I have finally figured out what the heck those red welts are on my stomach. Apparently one of the shots I take is giving me a bad reaction. I put them all in different places on my stomach this morning, so I was able to figure out that it is the Repronex. My only option to make it stop is to give it to myself IM (inter-muscular). Those are the shots you get in the butt when you go to the Dr office and they HURT. The idea of putting a huge needle in my butt twice a day is NOT APPEALING. So, as you can imagine, I have chosen to just stick with the way I am doing it now and just COPE with the welts.
Mike picked up Daisy up from the kennel today, which made me SUPER happy. I'm sad that she will have to go back on Sunday, but TONIGHT she is home and sleeping in her own bed. I told Mike today that I WISH she was better behaved, because honestly I think I would feel MUCH happier if she was able to be here with me. I mean, I love all my dogs, but Daisy, Daisy is my BABY. I mean I got her when she was 6 weeks old and she is almost 7 now. Oh, well, I cant have everything, but it does look like Mike will be able to make it for my ER, although ticket prices went up to over $300 in the last 24 hours :-/

Ok well I'm off to watch Derailed.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Today was ROUGH!!

The title says it all!!! The emotional roller coaster has started. I cried almost all day today FOR NO REASON!! I keep telling myself that its normal and its just my body's way of practicing for pregnancy HAHA.

Besides the tears, today was Ok. I went to the IVF labs orientation. It was pretty boring. However I did pay for my IVF. That was definitely the biggest purchase I have ever made. I guess there is no turning back now, even if I wanted to. :)

Ok I'm off to bed, I'm going to try to sleep away this horrible day.

What the heck is this?

So yesterday, as I mentioned before, I gave myself 3 shots in the morning and 3 at night. The 3 in the morning went just fine, no tenderness afterwards, nothing. Well, the 3 at night didn't go so well. Giving the shots was a breeze, but I think I did SOMETHING wrong, because the area I gave them in is all red and puffy and TENDER today. I have no idea what I did wrong though. I retraced my steps to make sure I mixed everything/cleaned everything properly, and I did. I can't figure our what could have caused this. I did this morning injections and at almost an hour later, they are not swollen, red, or tender. Ugh, since it appears to have been a ONE TIME THING, I'm not going to worry or make a big deal of it. At first I thought it was some sort of allergic reaction to the meds, but I don't think I can be allergic to something 1 out of 3 times. If it had done it again with this mornings shots I was going to call the DR, but I guess somehow it was an operator error.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Just what I needed...

So as most all of you know Mike and I have 4 dogs. Daisy (a bulldog) is the resident bitch in our household, Leia (a hound mix mutt ) is our super sweet, outgoing, good natured dog, Abby (a 15 year old 3.5lbs tea cup poodle) is going deaf and sleeps all day, and Maddy (a Lab mix mutt) is a very nervous, sweet, scaredy cat type dog. Well ever since I left for Ft Bragg, Mike has been in an Army school so I had to do something with the dogs (aka: The Girls). I took Daisy to the vets to be boarded because she fights with all my sisters dogs. Then I drove Leia, Maddy, and Abby down to Savannah to stay with my sister. Well I called my sister this morning and she was sitting at the vets office with her two min-pin's. Come to find out, Leia attacked her dogs and she had to take them to the vet to get their wounds cleaned and stitched. I just don't get it. Leia is SUCH a good dog, she NEVER fights with dogs, we take her to the dog park all the time and she plays with dogs of all sizes. So now I am totally stressed out about this, and I feel guilty that she hurt my sisters dogs. Iwould tell my sis just to take them to the vet and board them, but then again I feel bad boarding Leia because she HATES staying inside. Man, I worry about these dogs SOOOOOOOOO much, I can only imagine if all this IVF stuff works and we end up with a baby. I'm going to be a MESS!!

On an IVF note, I started taking my stims this morning. That means from here on out I'll be taking 6 shots a day, wooohooo!! LET THE EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER BEGIN! Stims always make me super emotional. All of that has not started yet though, so right now the only problem I have is with the Loopy Lupron. It has made me a little distant, like I am trapped inside my own head. Its nothing bad, almost like the feeling you get from taking cold medicine. Other then that and a tiny nagging head ache. I'm feeling pretty good. In an attempt to de-stress, I made an appointment to get a massage next Monday. I'm very excited about that. Ok well I better go, I need to look up plane ticket prices for Mike to HOPEFULLY come up for my egg retrieval. My fingers are crossed that all of that works out!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

This is what trying to have a baby looks like...

These are all my meds for my IVF cycle, keep in mind, that they are covering a love seat!

Ok here we go!!

After months of waiting, IVF time is FINALLY here. However, I have to say that I am WAY more nervous than I expected. Any-who, I'm a little late starting this thing so let me start from the beginning.
Sat. 6/7: I left Columbus with 3 of the 4 pups in tow, and headed down to Savannah. I have to say pulling out of my driveway KNOWING what I was about to embark on was a little scary. It made it worse when I realized that the passenger seat was empty, and Mike was waving goodbye from the wrong side of the window. A few minutes and a short panic attack later, I was ON MY WAY!!!
Sun 6/8: After a brief stay with the family, I again am off to FT BRAGG. This time my panic attack was not over leaving Mike, but over leaving Abby (yes, you heard that right, THE DOG!). I came soooo close to packing her in the car and bringing her with me, but after reflecting on the last time she was here and remembering her little 14 year old 3.5lbs body tumbling down the stairs, I quickly decided to leave her on level ground. Anyway, I arrived here at 10:30pm and immediately checked my meds that had been sent to my in-laws house on Friday. Some of the meds had to be refrigerated, so I quickly checked to make sure everything was where its supposed to be. As I'm checking through everything, I noticed it, well actually, I noticed the LACK of it. I was missing one of the meds. I started to FREAK, here we go with panic attack NUMBER 3!!! My mother-in-law (Wilma) quickly tried to calm me and find the box with the packing slip. Low and behold, she had thrown one of my "REFRIGERATED" meds away in the box. Keep in mind this was the med I was supposed to start taking the very next day. Well to make this long story short...I think the med will be fine, I asked the nurse about it and she said not to worry, so I'm going to try this whole NOT worrying thing for once.
Mon 6/9: Well, I officially STARTED my IVF cycle!! :) I had an orientation class to attend which due to a RETARDED Tomtom (GPS) I got LOST and ended up being 15 mins late. That was ok though. The class went well, I got two more bags of meds and was told that I will be taking 6 shots A DAY, 3 in the morning 3 at night. You're supposed to give them to yourself in the stomach, so when my child is a teenager and complaining about God knows what, I'm going to lift my shirt and show them my PUNCTURE WOUNDS I got while conceiving them, but if they are my child that probably still wont shut them up. So for the next few weeks, I will be going to the Dr every day or every other day for ultra sounds and blood work to monitor my egg growing progress. As it stands right now, I should have my Egg Retrieval (ER is where they pull all my eggs out of me and fertilize them) between June 20-24 and they will do my Embryo Transfer (ET is where they put them back inside me) 3-5 days later.
Tues 6/10: Today I started my Lupron, the first of my meds (you know the one that got thrown away haha) so I'm expecting some side effects, just to give y'all an idea, its nickname is Loopy Lupron. Apparently it makes you a little crazy, GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES! Ok that's all from me for now. Don't worry this blog is a work in progress, I'll make it more fun later! :)