My long absence

Where has the time gone?  I have so much updating to do, but I guess the biggest one is that this cycle of IVF worked!!!  I am currently eight weeks pregnant with one healthy baby!

The egg retrieval was really rough, but the transfer was piece of cake.  After that we had the agonizing two-week wait and then I guess I got so caught up in everything that I neglected to update here.  I'll get back to it but for tonight I will leave you with my first ultrasound picture.  The baby's heart rate was 122 and he/she was measuring 6 weeks three days at the time.

 

The screen saver on my phone currently says "Keep calm and trust Him" and that is something I need reminding of every day!  I am praising God for this pregnancy, but I am still fervently praying that everything will go according to His will, which I am hoping is a healthy baby!  My estimated due date is June 25, 2013, which just happens to be my daddy's birthday!

Final ultrasound on stims

So this morning I had to get up at 5:15 in order to get ready to be at Dr. Nichols' office at 7:15. The sun wasn't even up when I left.

Today's appointment went well. They could actually see my uterus contracting because all of these hormones cause extra mucus, gross.

It looks like we will have around 20 follicles to retrieve. I do my trigger shot tonight at 11:00 and then I will have my retrieval on Tuesday.

After I left Dr. Nichols' office I ran through the drive-thru at Starbucks because I really needed a caffeine pick-me-up today. Then I had to pull over and do my Lupron shot in a parking lot.  Hey, there's a first time for everything :-)

Then I stopped at Food Lion before heading to church because I had to go to the bathroom. I also bought a protein drink since I only ate a banana for breakfast this morning. I picked up some lemon pound cake for the ladies I volunteer with as well.

It was a busy morning in the nursery today with lots of babies who were all tired and fighting sleep, which equals cranky babies :-(  I was able to talk to the ladies in my room some more about what is going on with my IVF cycle. Everyone wad very encouraging and supportive.

I've been feeling nauseous lately and having hot flashes; then I found out today that my estrogen level is over 2,000 because of the drugs!!! I'm looking forward to feeling normal again, well actually not "normal" but pregnant :-)

Lazy Saturday

September 29, 2012:  Cycle Day 29:  So the kids went to Brian's mom's house last night.  Brian had to work some this morning.  I took today to just relax and chill out.  Other than unloading the dishwasher, loading it back, and washing a few dishes, I really didn't do too much today.  Brian and I went to the store this evening, and then I cooked supper.  He had tacos and I had black eyed peas and cornbread.  I am still pretty much sticking to the no sugar thing.  For breakfast this morning I had a ham and cheese omelet with a piece of gluten-free toast.  I did have a small glass of chocolate milk made with Hershey's 50% less sugar chocolate syrup.  I did allow myself to get some kettle corn at the store last night, as well, but it is not overly sweet and only has 2 g of sugar per serving.

I did not have a headache today at all, but I was running a fever this afternoon and feel like I may be running one now.  I'm not sure what's up with that.

After supper Brian and I put the cover on the pool.

Mostly it's just been a lazy and relaxing day, which is something that I felt like I really needed.  I'm planning to go to bed early tonight since I have to be at Dr. Nichols' office tomorrow morning at 7:15 a.m. and then head to church to volunteer and attend service.  I am going to be exhausted when I get back home, that's for sure.

I'm hoping and praying that everything goes well with the ultrasound and blood work tomorrow and that things are still on schedule for the retrieval.

Second ultrasound on stims

September 28, 2012:  Cycle Day 28.  So my husband and I headed off to Dr. Nichols' office this morning for my second ultrasound on stims.  My uterine lining again looked good.  There were around 10 or so follicles on each side this time ranging from 17 mm to 22 mm, so they still have a little growing to do.

Dr. Nichols' office called me back later on and said that my blood work looked good, as well.  I go back tomorrow morning at 7:15, yes on a Sunday, for another ultrasound and blood work to see what size the follicles are now.  It's potentially looking like the retrieval will be on Tuesday October 2 with the transfer being 3 to 5 days later, so potentially Friday or Sunday.

Just for fun I counted up how many injections I have had to give myself thus far.  The total count?  38 ouch!  I'll have to pack my Lupron dosage in a cooler tomorrow and take it with me to Dr. Nichols' office because I'm not sure whether they will want me to take it or not and I'm planning on heading straight to church afterwards so it will have to be given before then.

Here's a shot of this morning's Lupron injection:

After my ultrasound and blood work Brian and I headed over to the acupuncturist's office for my second treatment.  I managed to snap this picture when I was in the treatment room alone :-) You can kind of sort of see the acupuncture needles in my ear.  Please ignore my skin discoloration and fat rolls :-)

After the acupuncture treatment Brian wanted to stop by Steak Out and get some lunch.  We had to wait for about 15 minutes, so I snapped a picture of him just because I know it makes him mad :-)

After we got lunch we had to make one more stop by my parents' house.  As we were getting ready to leave there, we stood outside by the car talking to my parents.  The sun was pretty bright and I started getting the aura associated with my migraine headaches.  By the time we got home though, the aura had gone away so I set about working.  Not too long after that I started getting a throbbing headache. I went to use the bathroom and felt like I was going to throw up.  I tried to work some more after taking some Tylenol, but the headache just would not go away.  I ended up laying down for a bit and finally giving in and taking one of my migraine pills.

Shortly after this I threw up everything that was in my stomach forcefully and then went to sleep for about 30 minutes.  When I woke up the headache was down to a dull ache and other than my throat hurting from the forceful vomiting, I didn't feel too bad.  Unfortunately, throwing up like that broke some blood vessels in my face and I didn't realize until later how horrible I looked.

I'm seriously hoping that tomorrow is a better day.  I'm now worried that the acupuncture may have had something to do with the headache and vomiting, so now I am unsure if it will be a good idea to have her come to Dr. Nichols' office and do a treatment before and after the embryo transfer.

No more sugar :-(

September 27, 2012:  Cycle Day 27:  So I decided today, actually since I left the acupuncturist's office, that I was going to give cutting out sugar a try again.  After I took Brad to school today I decided to go by the store and get some healthy food to eat.

Here's a sneak peek at my buggy:

In the cart there is Tortilla chips and Wholly Guacamole, baby spinach, a low-calorie ranch salad dressing with omega-3 in it, bananas, oranges, a small container of Simply Orange orange juice, baby carrots, a shrimp fried rice kit, organic brown eggs, salted butter, Swiss cheese, plain Greek yogurt with hone, and preservative free honey ham and chicken, buried under the cheese.  I also got a gluten-free frozen pizza and a couple of bags of steam fresh vegetables after I snapped this picture.

I ran into two people that I know at the store from church and ended up telling them about Brian and I doing fertility treatments.  I don't know why I have shared with so many people this time, but most people are really supportive and say that they will pray for me, so that can't hurt right?

After the store I came home and made myself some scrambled eggs with ham and cheese along with a slice of gluten-free toast with butter.  This was really good and had over 35 grams of protein, which is what the acupuncturist said that I need to be eating a lot of.  It kept me full from 8:00 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. so that's a good thing.

I split the frozen gluten-free pizza with Brian for lunch and snacked on some tortilla chips and salsa while I was waiting for it to be done.  I had some grapes before supper since we ate so late tonight, again, but this time for a different reason.  For supper I made a recipe I found on Pinterest for Alice Springs Chicken like Outback.  It was really good.  We had that and baked potatoes.  I ate half a potato, but all of my chicken.  In the future, should I choose to eat they way the acupuncturist says, I will be buying organic meat as well as eggs.

I have had no sugar today so far.  I did have a really bad headache earlier and had to take a nap for 30 minutes to feel better.  I have been drinking lots of water today.  I'm a little worried because I know that I should have done all of these things, i.e. getting off sugar, eating more protein as well as a healthier diet, and findings more ways to relax such as acupuncture and meditation before I got this far along in my IVF process, but as Betty and the acupuncturist have told me, you can't go around focusing on what you did wrong in the past, you can only change it from this point forward and do better, so I am trying not to beat myself up too much about it.

Well, I'm off to watch a little TV and relax before taking my meds and calling it a night.  Tomorrow we will see how the follicles are doing.

Adventures in Acupuncture

September 26, 2012:  Cycle Day 26:  So today my work schedule was a little off because I had an appointment for acupuncture scheduled for midday.  So here's the breakdown:  It took me about an hour to get there, but I didn't get lost thanks to my trusty GPS.  The office is not in the safest of locations, but oh well.  The office itself is very  nice and neatly decorated.  The main focus on the wall is Da Vinci's drawing.

They had obviously been burning incense in there, which immediately tightened my chest up.  So the acupuncturist calls me back to her office.  I must admit I was expecting her to be a bit less voluptuous, i.e. overweight, but she was down to earth and she was real, and that's all that matters.

She took her time with me going over all of my medical records and the main reason I was there, which was fertility, of course.  We even got sidetracked talking about gluten-free because she eats gluten-free as well.  Basically her conclusion of me is that all of my health conditions are related to one thing and that is inflammation in my body.  I was honest and told her about my sugar addiction.  She said the best thing for me to do was to stop eating sugar at least until after the embryo transfer.  Funny how I have heard this from so many medical professionals, but have yet to make it more than a month without caving.

She then directed me to the bathroom to empty my bladder and then to the acupuncture room to undress (everything off except for bra and panties).  She showed me the needles and the tube that they use to put them in.  I couldn't believe how small they were, and they are very flexible too.  She took my pulse and asked me to stick out my tongue so she could look at it and in my mouth, I guess.  She then took her time explaining and letting me know each time that she was going to place a needle.  I think she put one in the top of each foot, one in the back of each hand, and several in my right ear.  I only really felt one or two of them, and it wasn't bad at all.

Now the problem is that I have been on baby aspirin for the fertility treatments, so my ear started bleeding.  She then turned the lights down and said someone would check on me in five minutes.  It was very relaxing and there was some oriental music playing on a little boombox in the room.  I tried to lay there and relax because at this point I did not realize that my ear was still bleeding.  Then, I hear the distinct sound of "ping", "ping".  Two of the needles in my ear fell out.  When her assistant came to check on me I told her and she said that she would tell the acupuncturist, but no one came back in there until about 25 minutes later when she returned to take the needles out.

Overall it was a good and relaxing experience.  I can't really tell so far if I feel any different, but then again I don't know what the time frame is or how many treatments it takes.  I have an appointment to see her tomorrow for another treatment and will hopefully find out from Dr. Nichols a potential time line for my retrieval/transfer, and then I can decide if I want to have the acupuncturist come to his office and do a treatment before and after the transfer.

First ultrasound on stims

September 25, 2012:  Cycle Day 25.  Today I saw Dr. Nichols for my first ultrasound after starting the stim medications.  The lining of my uterus looked good.  I had 18 follicles on each side (right and left ovary), but the biggest one was only 13 mm and they need to get much bigger.  The IVF coordinator called me later that afternoon and said for me to stay on the same dosage of medications and come back on Friday for another ultrasound and blood work.

After my appointment I had to go to Staples and get some stacking letter trays to try and organize all of the paperwork that accumulates in my office, i.e. mail, the kids' school stuff, insurance stuff, etc.  I also picked up an iTunes gift card for Abi who had to have four teeth pulled at the dentist that day.  She did really good.  She finally doesn't have any baby teeth anymore!  She goes back in a few weeks to have two more teeth pulled, and then that part of her dental work will be over and it will just be appointments for adjustments to her braces.

Before I went into Staples I went in the Family Christian Store, which was right beside it.  I saw the cutest picture frame that I will have to get if I get pregnant.

Here is the verse that's on it: 
 

"For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him."

1 Samuel 1:27

 

 After that I had to get my tail home and get to work :-)

 

Abi did so good at the dentist that she even wanted to go to church Tuesday night, so I took her and her friend Emily.  Our supper was extremely late since I had to work late that night.  We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and English peas.  I also went all Betty Crocker and made a loaf of banana nut bread.  I took the girls a piece to eat on the way home.

 

Then I was finally able to come home and chill on the couch with my "baby" Emma and take my nighttime meds.

 

 

 

 

Let's go

September 24, 2012:  Cycle Day 24.  I had my therapy appointment today with Betty.  I usually go on Wednesdays, but she will be out of town this week, so I saw her earlier in the week than usual.  I called Dr. Nichols' office on the way and talked to the IVF coordinator about my having left my Lupron out, but she said that was fine and all is well.

After I saw Betty, I had to run through the drive-thru at the bank and deposit Brian's paycheck that his work for some reason did not direct deposit into our account.  Then I went home and got to work.  My mind just wasn't on working today, as is often the case when I go to my therapy appointments.  However, I was able to get my line count in.

After working I had to go and get groceries since I put that off yesterday.  I would like those two hours I spent at the store back please :-)  Brian fixed supper for the kids while I was gone, but he had it easy because it was all frozen food.  Cheese sticks, pizza rolls, and mini corn dogs.  I haven't eaten yet, so I am going to have to find myself something soon.

The kids were out of school today, but only Brad was here because Abi spent the night with the friend that came home from church with us yesterday.  She got home shortly before I got done with work and left to go to the store.  I ran into someone from church at the store and started talking to her.  Her family had banana splits for supper last night too, so see we are not the only crazy ones :-)

Well, tomorrow is the first ultrasound since starting the stim meds, so I am anxious to see what is going on.  Now I'm off to eat something and watch a little TV before taking a quick bath and shaving for tomorrows "wanding" appointment (mine and Brian's term for a transvaginal ultrasound).

A little freak out

September 23, 2012:  Cycle Day 23.  An early Sunday morning around here as is usual since we volunteer at our church's 9:15 service and then attend the 11:15 service.  We are currently doing a series in Kidspring (our kid's ministry) entitled "Heroes".  Every Sunday for the past six weeks all volunteers have had to wear our super heroes shirts.  I always feel a bit like Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory when I wear mine.

Abi had a friend come home after church with us.  We had to go to Best Buy and get a new wireless router because ours had been acting up, so we went and ate at Five Guys first before going to Best Buy.  After we got home I took a short nap and then did my invoice for work.  I should have gone and gotten groceries, as Sunday night is my grocery shopping night, but I was just too tired and was really craving a banana split for supper.  So we ended up taking the kids to Pizza and Then Some for pizza and banana splits.  I was even able to convince Brian to eat out outside.  I had a good time, but of course Brad was acting a fool.  That boy was off the chain yesterday.  He has ADHD and I gave him the choice of either taking his medicine or not before church.  He chose not to, which was fine because he has been forgetting it on Sundays anyways, and he is able to sit still through the service.  Well, he bought a huge cookie at the Awake coffee shop and a Monster energy drink, so he was just off the chain all day!!!

The message church was really good and something I really needed to hear, that God is still great and God is still good even when we don't feel His presence or feel like He is listening to us.  We have to praise God no matter our circumstances.  I stood for prayer at the end and held my hand out to Brian, who stood up with me.  Several people put their hands on our shoulders and prayed for us as Perry was saying the closing prayer.  One lady introduced herself to me after the service and I ended up telling her that my husband and I were doing fertility treatments.  She told me that she would keep me in her prayers :-)  I also ended up telling the women that I volunteer with in the nursery about me doing IVF.  Some of them didn't even have a clue that I wanted to get pregnant.  I usually try not to tell a whole lot of people because then that's more people you have to tell if/when you find out that the cycle didn't work.

Anyways, now an explanation for the title of this post...I did my injections last night and put everything away.  I thought I had put all of my medicine away (in the fridge) but I forgot the Lupron!  It ended up staying out for three hours!!!  Needless to say, I was freaking out and doing all kinds of internet searches to see if that was okay.  Of course I am not the first one to have ever done that.  I called Dr. Nichols' office this morning and all is well.  It's okay for it to sit out as long as it isn't 24 hours or more, so phew that's good.  I also asked about mixing the three shots to make one, but that's a no go :-(

Feel the burn

So on Saturday, Cycle Day 22, I did a lot of work around the house cleaning and decorating for fall.

I made sure not to overdo it because I didn't want to mess up anything in my back.  I had fun scarring the cats by vacuuming.  I scared one of them so much that when I went to get in the shower after I was finally done cleaning, our cat Gracie was asleep in mine and Brian's shower!  For another interesting tidbit, our other cat Emma started gagging and the proceeded to throw up in a trashcan!!!  I have taught her well :-)

I changed the filter, hose, and mask on my CPAP to get it all ready for me to start sleeping with it again since I haven't been since I had that two-week long sinus infection from you know where.

 

I even cleaned off my makeup table and put my lap desk on it to make room for my needles and syringes and such.

Here's what I have to look forward to every evening...

That one in the middle with the orange cap?  It sure looks innocent enough, but that medicine burns like a mofo going in!!!  I'll be glad when I'm done with that.

Finally after a long day of cleaning, bill paying, organizing, and decorating for fall, which Saturday was the first day of Fall by the way, I sent Brian to Wendy's to get supper.  I had a small chili with cheese and a small strawberry milkshake :-)

Pincushion

September 22, 2012:  Cycle Day 22.  Okay, so I am starting to feel like a pincushion.  Yesterday was officially stim day 1, which basically means the first day of the "big guns" injections.  These are the ones that stimulate, hence the term "stim", your ovaries to grow those follicles.  At the same time, I stay on the Lupron to basically keep my body from ovulating all of those follicles that we are trying to grow.  So yeah basically the doctor plays science experiment on your body, AKA your uterus does not belong to you anymore.

So yesterday morning I did my Lupron shot and then last night I did Lupron, Gonal-F, and Menopur.  The Gonal-F is in a pen-type injection, which is different from what we had 8 years ago on our first IVF cycle.  The Menopur has to be reconstituted, which means you draw up 1 cc of sodium chloride and then mix it with the powder(s) depending on your dosage.  So I had to do a total of three shots last night, and yes it does hurt.  Also, my abdomen is so bloated and I just feel "ick".  It sucks that I am already feeling so bloated and we just started the stims :-(  I did find an interesting video online from another fertility clinic that tells you how to mix Lupron, Gonal-F, and Menopur into one injection instead of three.  That would be awesome, but Brian won't let me do that until I ask if it's okay with Dr. Nichols' office.  It was worth a shot though, get it shot, ha ha.  I slay myself :-)

Anywho, I called yesterday to question about acupuncture.  Turns out there is a physician in Greenville that works with Dr. Nichols' office and will actually come to his office on the day of your retrieval for a 3-hour session, and she stays with you the whole time!  The cost for that is $350, so I am not sure about that, but I figured it would be worth a try to go and meet her and have a consultation.  So, I scheduled that appointment for this coming Wednesday since I had that day "free" since Betty (my therapist) is going to be on vacation and I see her on Monday instead.  I felt really bad having to let my work know that I have appointments this week on Monday (therapist, even though I don't tell them that), Tuesday (first ultrasound and blood work after starting stims), and on Wednesday (for the acupuncture).  I just told them that this one was for a consultation that could not be rescheduled.  They don't need to know that I'm doing acupuncture.  The problem is that the appointment is at 2:30 in Greenville, so that means I will have to leave my house by 1:30.  Then the appointment will last until 4:00, meaning I won't be home until 5:00.  Luckily the company I work for is in a different time zone, so they are an hour ahead of me.  Betty says that I should stop worrying about any extra appointments because this is only temporary, but I don't want to jeopardize my job because then that would definitely mean we couldn't do fertility treatments until I found another job, and I don't think anywhere else would be so understanding of my fertility treatments and crazy schedule with all of this.  Well, I should just put it all in God's hands.

On another note, I did download the fertility meditation program for IUI/IVF and listened to the first session last night.  It was very relaxing and I almost fell asleep while listening to it, so that's a plus.  The program is designed to be listened to on specific days during your treatments, but I'm starting a bit late so I am playing catch up.  You can check out their programs here:  Circle + Bloom

I did do better on my diet yesterday until last night when I had some apples and caramel dip that I really did not need to eat.  I was just stressed, feeling bloated, and hurt from the three shots to my stomach.  I will try to do better today.  So far this morning I made some gluten-free apple cinnamon muffins with flax seed (it was a mix), and I had two of those for breakfast.

Well, I've done my morning shot of Lupron, had my breakfast and took my morning meds, and even paid the bills (which was kind of hard to do since Brian's paycheck was not direct deposited for some reason).  Luckily we have his tuition money set aside in the bank for fertility treatments and I was able to pay the bills with that for now.  My checkbook is in a perpetual state of negative because of keeping different funds separate.  At least I have my little "fertility ledger" to keep everything separate.

Day two of injections

September 20, 2012: Cycle Day 20. So last night out of nowhere I started bleeding. Dr. Nichols and the IVF coordinator both said that I would probably have somewhat of a period, but I guess I just wasn't expecting it without the normal symptoms. It hasn't really been that heavy at all today, so that's good.

I feel very bloated today, and I haven't even started the stim medications!!! These shots hurt worse than I remember. Funny how the other day I told Brian that my doctor should just put me on insulin so that I could eat what I wanted sugar wise, but these are insulin needles that I am using for the Lupron, and I couldn't imagine doing these multiple times a day with no end in sight!!!

Still doing some thinking about acupuncture, yoga, and meditation to help me to relax more for this cycle. Right now I'll just settle for Xfactor, my couch, and my cat :-)

Tomorrow I start antibiotics, baby aspirin, and two more pm injections.

Gearing up

September 19, 2012:  Cycle Day 19.  I started my Lupron injections today.  One in the a.m. and one in the p.m.  These are not too bad.  They use the little insulin syringes and just have to be given subcutaneously (under the skin).  They do sting a little.  I got Brian back by thumping him in his bare stomach though :-)

Saw my therapist today and talked about well stuff.  In total I have lost 55 pounds, although I keep gaining and losing those last 5 pounds over and over.  I lost the weight intentionally so that it would increase my chances of fertility.  I see my therapist every Wednesday and had been in the habit of weighing myself every Wednesday and then reporting my weight to her.  Well, since the kids have started school again it is hard to find a time in the morning to weigh because everyone knows you have to weigh completely naked to get the most accurate weight :-)

Anyways, I am going to try and limit my sugar intake because I have insulin resistance due to the PCOS and my sugar addiction is not going to help anything at all.  This morning for breakfast I had a banana.  I was hungry on the way home so instead of getting a mocha from McDonald's or Burger King or even a candy bar at the store, I got fruit smoothie from the store with no added sugar.  It was pretty good, but I still overate today :-(

There's me getting naked!!!

I really need to get my act together, exercise more, and eat less.

Tomorrow will be day two of the Lupron, and then I start "the big guns" on Friday.  Well, off to watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Child in a bit.  Yes, I watch that show and I love it and I am not ashamed!

Bring on the drugs!

September 17, 2012:  Cycle Day 17.  Back to work after a somewhat rough weekend.  First day with no birth control.

September 18, 2012:  Cycle Day 18.  Baseline ultrasound and blood work at Dr. Nichols' office.  Multiple follicles seen on both ovaries, mostly due to PCOS.  I was also informed that I have a small fibroid on the outside of my uterus, but it will not effect the IVF.  The doctor's office was supposed to call with my lab results later in the afternoon, but I never heard from them.  It was a rainy dreary day.  Brian didn't go to my appointment with me because he had to stay at home in case my medicine came.  It ended up coming about 10 minutes after I got home and this was after I went to the chiropractor and got my hip put back into place, eek!

 On my way to my first ultrasound and blood work for this IVF cycle.

Blood work, the aftermath :-)

Mystery box delivered on a rainy day.

Opened and sorted.  That's a lot of medication!!!

A little reward for me on the way home from the doctor's office.  Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks yum!

Waiting to start

September 11, 2012:  Cycle Day 11.  My "little" brother's birthday.  I say "little" because he is about a head taller than me and we are only 19 months apart in age.  Supposedly I was going to be my parents' last child, hence the reason I was named the female version of my dad's name.  However, God had other plans, and my mom got pregnant for one last time when I was around 10 months old.

September 12, 2012:  Cycle Day 12:  Saw my therapist today and told her the baby names Brian and I had picked out.  She told me she loved them, and that she had good feelings about this cycle.

September 13, 2012:  Cycle Day 13.  Called Dr. Nichols' office to check on status of funding for our IVF cycle and the status of our fertility medications being filled.  The funding is in and things are going smoothly for the medicine.  One of the medications is a compound medication, so Cigna specialty pharmacy does not have it.  This will be called in to Freedom Drug and will cost around $100.  The insurance may or may not cover it, but that's okay because it's not that expensive.  Also called New York Cryos to start processing my refund for the two vials of donor sperm we still had stored there.  We were able to get back 75% of what we paid plus part of the storage fee back.

September 14, 2012:  Cycle Day 14.  Faxed the paperwork back to Cryos New York to process our refund for the donor sperm.  Talked with Cigna about our medications.  Picked up mine and Brian's antibiotics that we are to start on Cycle Day 19.  Cigna called while I was at the store to arrange delivery.  Because we weren't going to be home on Saturday, they are going to ship out on Monday and be delivered on Tuesday meaning that Brian can't go with me to my baseline ultrasound because someone has to be here to sign for the medicine :-(

September 15, 2012:  Cycle Day 15:  Birthday party for sweet niece Olivia, who is turning 1.  Her mom never thought she would be able to have kids because of having Parkinson's.  God surprised her with Olivia, and it's like she has purpose in her life now.  You can truly see joy radiating from her.  She and her husband just celebrated their 17th anniversary.  Got a horrible migraine headache later in the afternoon and had to take Imitrex.  I felt really bad and nearly threw up because of the pain, and then I started freaking out about a possible drug reaction between Imitrex and Zoloft called serotonin syndrome.  The headache finally calmed down and left me with that fuzzy feeling and my forehead painful to touch.

September 16, 2012:  Cycle Day 16:  My older sister's birthday.  Felt like I had a headache hangover all day, but was able to make it through volunteering at church, the service at church, my sister's birthday get together, and then buying groceries.  I am currently exhausted.  This was the last day of my birth control pills.  No medicine until Wednesday the 19th when I start my antibiotic, a baby aspirin, and Lupron injections.  On a side note, doing a pregnancy test tomorrow morning just to make absolutely sure that I am not pregnant before we have $4,000 worth of medicine sent to our house!

So it begins

August 30, 2012:  Cycle day 1.  The beginning.  Call Dr. Nichols' office and talk with the IVF coordinator to let her know that my cycle had started and I am ready to start birth control on cycle day 3 (Saturday).  Give her pharmacy information.

August 31, 2012:  Cycle day 2.  Brian diagnosed with shingles.  I freak out about IVF and try to call it quits on the whole thing.  End up apologizing and go by pharmacy to pick up my birth control.  Nothing had been called in.  Feel like crying.  Call Dr. Nichols' office and have them page the doctor on call, who just happened to be Dr. Nichols.  He calls in the prescription.  A little later the pharmacy calls me back and tells me that they are out of it but will have it first thing in the morning.

September 1, 2012:  Cycle day 3.  Got to pharmacy and get birth control.  Take first dose at 2:00 p.m.

September 4, 2012:  Cycle Day 4:  Find out that we actually got approved for a loan to help cover fertility treatments until Brian's tuition reimbursement finally comes in.  Had to go to our bank in the middle of the day to have documents notarized.

September 5, 2012:  Cycle Day 5.  Call Dr. Nichols' office and schedule lab work for the required STD testing.  Brian calls the same day and schedules his semen analysis and lab work for STD.

September 6, 7, 8, and 9th, 2012:  Cycle days 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively.  Continue taking birth control on or around 2:00 p.m. daily.

September 10, 2012:  Cycle Day 10.  Brian's appointment for his semen analysis and lab work for STD.  Find out that Brian's sperm count is in the 43 million range!  Best it has ever been!!!  Have our consultation with the IVF coordinator, go over medication protocol, and pay our up front fees.  We now have a plan, although it is subject to change.