Thursday, January 31, 2013

Monitoring Ultrasound and E2

I had my first monitoring ultrasound this morning.  I have 30 follicles that are all maturing!  The largest was 12.5mm with most of them between 8-12 with the smallest being 6. Everyone seemed really excited about it and how good it was going.  They called this afternoon with my E2 results: 806!  My nurse that was perfect because they want to see it double but not do much more than that.  They are leaving my meds alone for tonight and tomorrow.  I have to back on Saturday morning at 7:30am.  I am pretty excited that everything is going so well.  I am really starting to be bloated today too.  My doctor had me gain weight back in August so I was up about 8 pounds before I started IVF.  Now I am up just over 10! Needless to say my clothes don't fit very well!  Oh well I just going with and trying not to worry about my weight too much right now.  Have a great Friday everyone!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

First labs

I had my first labs this morning and my nurse called a little while ago with the results. 

My e2 results were 297! She said that was excellent and from everything I can see online that does seem really good.  She left my meds alone for tonight and tomorrow night at 150iu Follistim and 5units Lupron mixed with 1cc of Repronex.  She also cancelled my appointment for tomorrow and said to come in Thursday morning instead. 

I know that things can change every day, but I was really pleased with these results.  My nurse was as well and said that all of the symptoms I am starting to have are normal and great.  I was exhausted today! I worked a half day and came home and took a 3 hour nap! Not what I meant to do so I am worried about sleeping tonight!

I am meeting DP at the gym when he gets off work to basically sit on the bike. I am allowed to "workout" as long as my heart rate stays under 100 and I don't sweat!  I mean really, is that called working out??? Oh well I will take it.  Plus after last night and doing this I will never judge a women at the gym who I feel is not really working out but just chilling on the bike.  She maybe in the middle of IVF like me!   And in case anyone was wondering no you don't burn calories when you don't get your heart rate above 100!

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Getting started


AF showed up on Wednesday and I had an ultrasound/blood work on Friday.  The blood work indicated that the lupron had worked and everything was low were it should be.  My RE did my ultrasound and was counting follicles on the right side, he got to 18 and said there are more but I am done counting:-)  He moved to the right side and got to 15 and said the same thing!  He was very impressed with 33+ follicles to start with and said it is a great place to start for sure. 

Last night marked the first night of stim! DP is in charge of all of my shots.  He is so sweet when he administers them and tries really hard not to hurt me.  He has been doing a great job and every time I feel like he does a better job.   He seems to really enjoy having the responsibility of the meds, he gets them ready and I just stand there.  I love that it allows him to be involved in the process and I love the time we spend together every night.  Last night we had to mix the repronex and the lupron. For anyone who hasn't done this you have to use different needles that are really long (scary long!) to mix them.  As DP is mixing them and getting them ready for the first time he sticks himself with the needle! He was so funny, he had a few choice words as his finger starts to bleed.  I think he understood that the shots really don't feel good now that he has stuck himself.  The follism shot went fine, I am doing 150 right now and will continue to do that until I got back on Tuesday for blood work. 

I can't believe we are this far along already!  Retrieval is scheduled at the moment for Feb 6, which is soon!  Hope everyone is doing great!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Nerves

The past few weeks have been filled with nerves.  Nerves about IVF. Nerves about school.  Nerves about life after school.  Nerves about life.  I am going to try and summarize what I am feeling and help myself understand that being nervous in general is just fine. 

IVF Nerves
1.  Shots:  I have always hated shots. I even ask my mom about them the other day and she said she has always had to bribe me to get shots.  It's not the pain that scares me its the whole idea of a needle going into me!  Don't ask I am just weird like that.

2.  What if this doesn't work?  I know we bought the 2 plus cycle for this exact reason, but still what if it doesn't work the first time or anytime?  Will I be strong enough to handle it and move forward towards adoption or will I fall apart?

3.  What if this does work!!! I know it seems weird to be asking this when we clearly want to get pregnant but it still makes me nervous. All of the questions about would I be a good mom?  Are we really ready for this? What about my school, will I still finish on time?

4. Weight gain:  This is nothing I have really talked about, but gaining weight scares the crap out of me!  I ran through high school and college and when I finished I gained weight and it really did a number on my mind.  I have already gained 7 pounds per doctors orders while we were trying naturally.  Since going on BC I have gained another 2 pounds.  Up 9 pounds and I have not even started stim!!! AHHHHH.  I am running out of work clothes that fit already.

Non-IVF Nerves
1.  DP's job:  DP is a physical therapist and love what he does but lately he has not loved where he works.  He is actually miserable, which is not his personality at all.  He has an interview tonight at another clinic in town.  I really pray it goes well, because the idea of him hating his job and trying to find another one in the middle of IVF really makes me nervous!

2. Classes started back:  Classes started back last Monday.  This is finally my last semester of taking classes.  After 8 years of taking classes at the University level I am finally almost done with that part!  Granted I still have to write a dissertation but I am not in the classroom daily taking notes! 

3. Teaching started back:  I am teaching again this semester and someway have ended up with more students than ever! I have almost 400 this semester!!!! Ahhhhhh what am I going to do with 400 students emailing me daily asking questions I have already answered a million times!

4. Qualifying exams:  Part of our PhD program is qualifying exams.  Basically you are expected to remember everything you have learned since you started and do so without any notes!  I have to take these this semester and to say I am freaking out a little would be an understatement! 


So a combination of these 8 wonderful things have lead to my nerves being all over the place.  I really need to find a way to relax some before tomorrow night when I start lurpon!  I'll go to the gym.  That's right I am not suppose to exercise much starting tomorrow!!!!  Oh boy....

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Locked and loaded

Sorry for disappearing for the past week. My laptop broke right before Christmas and is currently being fixed. We have been traveling like crazy too and have not had Internet. 

A recap of the past 10 days:

  • AF showed up Friday December 21
  • Started birth control on Sunday December 23
  • Paid for meds December 24 (Merry Christmas Eve to me!)
  • Meds arrive Thursday December 27 (completely overwhelmed by the box and the number of needles!!)
  • Send in check  and contract to ARC Thursday December 27
  • ARC receives check and contract Friday December 28
So it has been busy the past 10 days!  Since starting birth control again I have had some really good days of feeling fine and a few days of feeling awful!  Several headaches and some nauseous days.  My emotions have been ok I think, DP might argue that. I feel like I can tell when I am emotional and just avoid people. We will see if I can continue this. 

2013 is here and I have no idea what this year will bring but I know this: we are going to trust God and what He has planned for us this year.  We are going to be open to His will and not ours. The first step of this is IVF. 

"We know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything"- 1 John 3:20