After dropping C off at work, I ran up to get my estradiol tested. I was early, and was able to get into the blood test chair ten minutes before my appointment, which was good - I was hoping to get back to work to catch the tail end of a teleconference. But then the nurse asked me if I needed to use the restroom before the (transvaginal) ultrasound. Surprise!
I stripped down and wrapped the sheet around me and sat on the table... and sat... and sat for just over half an hour until the on-call doctor made it in with a resident and a nurse in tow. The nurse went to her place at the computer behind my head, and the doctor got started, but when he started measuring my uterus the nurse said "I've got computer problems, hold on a minute." So I got to lie there with the ultrasound wand for a couple of minutes while the nurse tinkered, and then we continued. It didn't take long; he measured several follicles (he wasn't even that interested in being accurate with a count because it's early yet, but there were at least 8 on one side and closer to 12 on the other I think, and they were all 6-8mm across) and measured a couple of fibroids (one of them he was a little concerned about interfering with the uterus so he was going to review my chart but I'm not too concerned because my doc wasn't concerned when he saw them last time). And then he spent another couple of minutes panning around my organs for the resident. I was glad I had put too much time on the meter!
This afternoon they called and said my estradiol was at 346, which was too high for a day 4 level, so they're having me back off on the Follistim by 50 units and they'll see me again on Thursday.
...and I missed the teleconference. :)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
I'm dead inside!
Went to the doc this morning for my suppression check. The nurse took blood for an estradiol test and then the doctor did a quick transvaginal ultrasound to look at my ovaries and uterine lining. He also measured three or four fibroids but said that they didn't look like they'd be in the way of anything. He took snapshots of my ovaries, apparently, though I didn't see a thing on the screen, and then they sent me on my way. I met C out in the waiting room, who had been in the other room giving a backup sample to be frozen, just in case the one he'll be giving on retrieval day doesn't cut it.
The nurse called at about 4 to tell me my estradiol was at 28.2 and my ovaries looked good, so we can start the Follistim and Menopur tomorrow! I go back up on Tuesday for a quick hormone check.
Last night we used the last syringe that was in the Lupron kit, so tonight we had to use a different style. Not sure why, but it hurt a lot more than the kit needles. Guess I'd better get used to it; I hear the stims are pretty sting-y.
The nurse called at about 4 to tell me my estradiol was at 28.2 and my ovaries looked good, so we can start the Follistim and Menopur tomorrow! I go back up on Tuesday for a quick hormone check.
Last night we used the last syringe that was in the Lupron kit, so tonight we had to use a different style. Not sure why, but it hurt a lot more than the kit needles. Guess I'd better get used to it; I hear the stims are pretty sting-y.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Birth Control: Done!
Yesterday was the last day of birth control. It feels good to be clearing hurdles!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Knife and the Needle
The Knife
Last Tuesday night, I rolled over in bed and felt a weird pain down by my left ovary. I continued to feel it throughout the night; it would wake me up any time I used my lower abdominal muscles. I woke up a little worried that I couldn't tell the difference between wonky ovaries and pulling a muscle in that area.
The next night I felt it again but to a much lesser degree, and I slept through the night.
Thursday night I let the dog up on the bed, and as I shifted my weight next to him I got knifed in the right side of my groin. That's what it felt like, anyway. I yelped and ordered the dog off the bed, and stood up and leaned over the bed. C was so worried about me going into the IVF process with a problem that he told me he would stop talking to me if I didn't call the doctor the next morning.
On Friday morning the pain had diminished but I could still feel like something was a little off. As I was getting ready to go, I talked to C about why I didn't want to call the doctor. He'd either say it was nothing, or that I'd have to put off the IVF for another month. And that was about the last thing I wanted to do. I went without my breakfast and coffee, I was so upset.
And then, as I was putting on my shoes, I sneezed. Oh, man. Again, the knife. It was enough for me to decide to call and leave a message for the nurse when the RE clinic opened.
I got a phone call back pretty quickly, which was surprising considering how long it took last time. It was the nurse who had taught C and I how to administer my shots. After sharing a few details about what I was doing when it happened and how it felt the next morning, she concluded that it was most likely a muscular thing and that I should just wait and see if it went away on its own. And it largely has. After the first day of avoiding sneezes (at one point I drew in my breath to let one fly and at the top of the breath I remembered the knife - and that urge to sneeze disappeared quick!) it hurt less and less, and now it's just a dull, slight pain that I catch when I sneeze or throw my leg over my bike or something like that. What a fun little scare to start off my active IVF cycle!
The Needle
Saturday was our first Lupron injection! I thought about it all day and got more and more nervous as the afternoon wore on, mostly because I knew C was nervous too. (I don't really have a complex about needles; but being at the receiving end of one who's powered by a nervous first-timer was nerve-wracking.) I even bought myself a bottle of Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon just in case. I'd read the Stirrup Queens' Guide to Sub-Cue Injections a couple of times, and while C was drawing up the Lupron I started painting a spot next to my belly button with an ice cube. He went through two needles and several minutes, trying to get all the air bubbles out of the syringe, and once we were both satisfied I leaned back on a chair and he went to it. And it was fine, he did great! I felt a little poke (the same as when nurses do it) and the site was a little uncomfortable immediately afterwards (I think because of the medication) but it was fine! And then we were both so happy that we did it afterwards that we hugged and kissed and all my nervous energy let itself go and I felt really weird. I think I was just proud of us and all the day's nervousness was evaporating through my head or something.
So we did it once, and tonight we did it again, and it was fine! I was still nervous though, and C has learned to loosen his grip on my belly as he injects the Lupron and pull the needle out a little bit slower because when he kept squeezing me and he popped the needle out some of the Lupron beaded on my skin. Oops. I also made a pretty little rice pack for the stimulating injections that will happen in a few weeks. Never hurts to be prepared.
I'm still nervous about the intramuscular progesterone-in-oil, but that is fodder for another day, when it's actually staring me in the face.
Last Tuesday night, I rolled over in bed and felt a weird pain down by my left ovary. I continued to feel it throughout the night; it would wake me up any time I used my lower abdominal muscles. I woke up a little worried that I couldn't tell the difference between wonky ovaries and pulling a muscle in that area.
The next night I felt it again but to a much lesser degree, and I slept through the night.
Thursday night I let the dog up on the bed, and as I shifted my weight next to him I got knifed in the right side of my groin. That's what it felt like, anyway. I yelped and ordered the dog off the bed, and stood up and leaned over the bed. C was so worried about me going into the IVF process with a problem that he told me he would stop talking to me if I didn't call the doctor the next morning.
On Friday morning the pain had diminished but I could still feel like something was a little off. As I was getting ready to go, I talked to C about why I didn't want to call the doctor. He'd either say it was nothing, or that I'd have to put off the IVF for another month. And that was about the last thing I wanted to do. I went without my breakfast and coffee, I was so upset.
And then, as I was putting on my shoes, I sneezed. Oh, man. Again, the knife. It was enough for me to decide to call and leave a message for the nurse when the RE clinic opened.
I got a phone call back pretty quickly, which was surprising considering how long it took last time. It was the nurse who had taught C and I how to administer my shots. After sharing a few details about what I was doing when it happened and how it felt the next morning, she concluded that it was most likely a muscular thing and that I should just wait and see if it went away on its own. And it largely has. After the first day of avoiding sneezes (at one point I drew in my breath to let one fly and at the top of the breath I remembered the knife - and that urge to sneeze disappeared quick!) it hurt less and less, and now it's just a dull, slight pain that I catch when I sneeze or throw my leg over my bike or something like that. What a fun little scare to start off my active IVF cycle!
The Needle
Saturday was our first Lupron injection! I thought about it all day and got more and more nervous as the afternoon wore on, mostly because I knew C was nervous too. (I don't really have a complex about needles; but being at the receiving end of one who's powered by a nervous first-timer was nerve-wracking.) I even bought myself a bottle of Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon just in case. I'd read the Stirrup Queens' Guide to Sub-Cue Injections a couple of times, and while C was drawing up the Lupron I started painting a spot next to my belly button with an ice cube. He went through two needles and several minutes, trying to get all the air bubbles out of the syringe, and once we were both satisfied I leaned back on a chair and he went to it. And it was fine, he did great! I felt a little poke (the same as when nurses do it) and the site was a little uncomfortable immediately afterwards (I think because of the medication) but it was fine! And then we were both so happy that we did it afterwards that we hugged and kissed and all my nervous energy let itself go and I felt really weird. I think I was just proud of us and all the day's nervousness was evaporating through my head or something.
So we did it once, and tonight we did it again, and it was fine! I was still nervous though, and C has learned to loosen his grip on my belly as he injects the Lupron and pull the needle out a little bit slower because when he kept squeezing me and he popped the needle out some of the Lupron beaded on my skin. Oops. I also made a pretty little rice pack for the stimulating injections that will happen in a few weeks. Never hurts to be prepared.
I'm still nervous about the intramuscular progesterone-in-oil, but that is fodder for another day, when it's actually staring me in the face.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Protocol!
Today C and I went up to learn how to do shots, and get the medication! I feel weird now, like a weight was lifted (in that now I know when and how everything is happening), and like another one has settled down (in that now I have to actually DO this stuff, not just talk about it happening someday).
The nurse was a cute, very Portlandy-looking lady with an eastern European accent. She sat us down in front of a table littered with little vials and syringes and round skin-colored lumps, and C practiced drawing liquid out of the vials and sticking it into the round lumps. It kind of reminded me of CPR class, with the victim stand-ins.
Then we went downstairs and sat for about an hour waiting for the meds to be gathered together in the pharmacy. They gave us a little pager a la restaurants-with-a-long-wait, and I crocheted and C used the wifi for a bit.
When the pager flashed at us, we went back to the pharmacy, dropped $3045, and came away with a cooler and a grocery-sized paper bag full of medications.
So here's the protocol:
Continue taking birth control until 8/13.
On 8/6 (this Saturday), start taking Lupron daily.
Go up to the RE for an ultrasound and estradiol test on 8/19, and wait for a phone call that says all is well. (If it's not, they'll rewrite my protocol.)
If all is well, decrease Lupron by half and begin Follistim in the morning and Menopur in the evening.
Go to the RE for a blood test on 8/23 and then again every 1-3 days while they check my hormone levels.
Retrieval between 8/28 and 9/2 (enema the night before, and of course trigger shot 36 hours before)
2 days after retrieval, take progesterone in oil daily until a positive pregnancy test and weekly for several weeks after that
Transfer 3-6 days after retrieval
Bada bing, bada boom. Hopefully. For now, we're squarely in the hopeful and happy phase.
The nurse was a cute, very Portlandy-looking lady with an eastern European accent. She sat us down in front of a table littered with little vials and syringes and round skin-colored lumps, and C practiced drawing liquid out of the vials and sticking it into the round lumps. It kind of reminded me of CPR class, with the victim stand-ins.
Then we went downstairs and sat for about an hour waiting for the meds to be gathered together in the pharmacy. They gave us a little pager a la restaurants-with-a-long-wait, and I crocheted and C used the wifi for a bit.
When the pager flashed at us, we went back to the pharmacy, dropped $3045, and came away with a cooler and a grocery-sized paper bag full of medications.
So here's the protocol:
Continue taking birth control until 8/13.
On 8/6 (this Saturday), start taking Lupron daily.
Go up to the RE for an ultrasound and estradiol test on 8/19, and wait for a phone call that says all is well. (If it's not, they'll rewrite my protocol.)
If all is well, decrease Lupron by half and begin Follistim in the morning and Menopur in the evening.
Go to the RE for a blood test on 8/23 and then again every 1-3 days while they check my hormone levels.
Retrieval between 8/28 and 9/2 (enema the night before, and of course trigger shot 36 hours before)
2 days after retrieval, take progesterone in oil daily until a positive pregnancy test and weekly for several weeks after that
Transfer 3-6 days after retrieval
Bada bing, bada boom. Hopefully. For now, we're squarely in the hopeful and happy phase.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Rawr.
The clinic just called. "We got your fax for your husband's blood draw results and we noticed that he didn't get an RPR done [for syphillus]! If he can get it done before Thursday we can go ahead with the procedure even though we're technically not supposed to without the results..."
So my local lab is supposed to be calling me back. They'd better be quick. (They also forgot to check his cholesterol levels when they tested him last time, so I guess I'm not surprised that they missed the syphillus screen too.) Thanks, clinic, for being so quick to look at my fax and call me back! (It was only a week!)
Update: Crisis averted. C was able to get a hold of the local clinic after they should have been closed and he's got his blood test tomorrow morning. We'll likely have the results by our Thursday RE appointment if they hurry up!
So my local lab is supposed to be calling me back. They'd better be quick. (They also forgot to check his cholesterol levels when they tested him last time, so I guess I'm not surprised that they missed the syphillus screen too.) Thanks, clinic, for being so quick to look at my fax and call me back! (It was only a week!)
Update: Crisis averted. C was able to get a hold of the local clinic after they should have been closed and he's got his blood test tomorrow morning. We'll likely have the results by our Thursday RE appointment if they hurry up!
Friday, July 22, 2011
CD1!
My body enjoyed teasing me for the past three days, spotting ever so slightly and then stopping. But my temp dropped yesterday and then again today, just in time to go away to work the renaissance faire all weekend. Yay for navigating port-a-potties in giant skirts AND having to deal with a period. However, I am assuming(/hoping) it'll be the last one I have for a year so I'm trying to be nice to it.
So, for now, the plan is to fax some paperwork in to the doc on Monday, have C pick birth control up for me tomorrow while I'm at the faire and I'll start taking it on Sunday when I get home, for 12-21 days. And on the 4th I have an appointment with the nurses to go over my protocol and learn how to give myself injections and figure out where and when and how everything is going to happen.
I'm excited, but this really feels more like another step in the hurry-up-and-wait process and so I'm being very conscious not to let it be the main focus of my life. That makes it way easier to wait.
So, for now, the plan is to fax some paperwork in to the doc on Monday, have C pick birth control up for me tomorrow while I'm at the faire and I'll start taking it on Sunday when I get home, for 12-21 days. And on the 4th I have an appointment with the nurses to go over my protocol and learn how to give myself injections and figure out where and when and how everything is going to happen.
I'm excited, but this really feels more like another step in the hurry-up-and-wait process and so I'm being very conscious not to let it be the main focus of my life. That makes it way easier to wait.
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