I gave the trigger at 9:30pm last night. I know my time was suppose to be at 9pm, but I scared myself reading too much on google and didn't want to risk ovulating with doing it 37 hours before, plus if they are pushed back I could be really screwed. So I figured I would compromise and do the shot 36.5 hours before. I figure this was the best of both worlds. 90% of clinics do it at 36 hours, another 8% do it at 35 hours, so I figure at 36.5 hours I am already past those times, but before 37 hours so less chance of worrying about ovulating.
Another reason was I was on the phone with my father from 8:45-9:15 and didn't want to let him go by saying I needed to take a timed shot for ivf. He asked if I was busy and I said yes. I mean I am busy, between the ivf and dd's therapies my schedule is packed. He was happy to hear this because he thought it meant business was doing well. I didn't want to tell him that wasn't why I was busy since it would only upset him so sometimes a little lie is for the best. Of course it wasn't really a lie since I am busy, and I do have some house calls this month, just not as many that will bring in enough money to pay bills with.
So anyways, I woke up at just before 5:30 this morning to pee so took a test. After what happened with ivf#3, I have to make sure that at least the trigger worked and wasting a $1 dollar tree test is well worth the peace of mind. So I did the test and unfortunately forgot my watch in the room so I couldn't time things. However I waited what seemed like 10 minutes and though a line did show up, it was extremely faint, however was thick and pink unlike my evaporates and ghost lines from last cycle. I didn't know what to think. It was positive, but why was it taking so long to show up and so so faint. For 8 hours after trigger it should be super dark and clearly visible like the control line. I was debating doing a frer, but really didn't want to waste a frer for a fake bfp. So I gave up and went back to bed. Woke up 2 hours later at 7:30 and digged the test out of the trash (yes I do this) and to my shock is a blaring bfp. I have come to the conclusion that $tree tests are not very readible until they fully dry. I know this goes against how you are suppose read and use hpt, but when I threw that test out at the 10 min mark it was positive, but hard to see, plus a line didn't start to even hint to appear until around 5 min or later and now 2 hours later once the test is dried is a super dark (similar to control line) bfp that you can see clearly from across the room. I can understand how woman can think they aren't pregnant when they are if they follow the instructions on the test and do a cheap test like the $tree ones. For comparison, frer always are done by the 3 min mark. I know I would have got an immediate answer if I used one this morning, but didn't want to waste the $5 that that test likely cost me (it is bad enough having to waste a $1 to get a fake bfp).
I am starting to experience some major nausea that I can only conclude is from the trigger. It is funny how I never experienced this symptom before from the stims or trigger, but now have it this time. I don't know if it is because I haven't been exposed to hcg as much recently, like I was when I did ivf #2 and was basically chemically pregnant for 4 months by the time I got my bfp. It does suck though getting m/s before I even make it to ER, let alone get a bfp.
On other news, dh called last night and said he got his day off switched from Thursday to Wednesday so now he doesn't have to worry about calling in sick. This works out much better since I know how much dh hates calling in and having to worry about his job, even though his job sucks and he is leaving in 2 months. He will still work tonight and then go back on Thursday and then get the weekend off.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Stim day 10 - trigger night
So guess yesterday results were a fluke because I had 3 follicles at 20 today, so the tech said we will likely be triggering tonight. Of course dh wasn't pleased when he heard this news. I told him to tell his boss the truth and he needs Tuesday and Wednesday off, and instead he will work Thursday and next Sunday and Monday since he doesn't need those days booked off anymore. However dh won't do this. He told me he will just call in sick tomorrow and still work on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, I couldn't answer the phone this afternoon for the instructions. DD was in the therapy all afternoon and they called just as we were just on our way to the car to leave to go back home.
Another nurse called today instead of my regular nurse so I was kind of upset about that because she didn't go into much detail about today's results like my normal nurse does.
She did say estrogen was 1352 and there 22 follicles between 10-20mm. I was shocked about this, but it sucks not knowing the numbers since 10-13mm follicles will not be mature so it isn't an accurate number. Really they should tell me the follicle number that is over 15mm so I have a better idea of potential egg count, of course not like I can anticipate even that after what happened with ivf #3.
Anyways, I will be triggering tonight at 9pm with ER at 10am on Wednesday (with a 9am admit time). I didn't know how to feel about this. Usually we always had ER at 9 with an 8am admit. Doing it at 10 puts me in the latest slot. I called dh at work and told him this and that it may be better for him to call in on Wednesday instead of Tuesday since we will likely leave now at 6:30am instead of 5:30am. So I am not sure what he is going to do, however it seems to hard for him to go into work on Wednesday at 2:30 when we likely won't get home until 1pm. I hate having him go into ER with only 5.5 hours sleep but it may be the better plan giving the late ER time slot.
Unfortunately, I couldn't answer the phone this afternoon for the instructions. DD was in the therapy all afternoon and they called just as we were just on our way to the car to leave to go back home.
Another nurse called today instead of my regular nurse so I was kind of upset about that because she didn't go into much detail about today's results like my normal nurse does.
She did say estrogen was 1352 and there 22 follicles between 10-20mm. I was shocked about this, but it sucks not knowing the numbers since 10-13mm follicles will not be mature so it isn't an accurate number. Really they should tell me the follicle number that is over 15mm so I have a better idea of potential egg count, of course not like I can anticipate even that after what happened with ivf #3.
Anyways, I will be triggering tonight at 9pm with ER at 10am on Wednesday (with a 9am admit time). I didn't know how to feel about this. Usually we always had ER at 9 with an 8am admit. Doing it at 10 puts me in the latest slot. I called dh at work and told him this and that it may be better for him to call in on Wednesday instead of Tuesday since we will likely leave now at 6:30am instead of 5:30am. So I am not sure what he is going to do, however it seems to hard for him to go into work on Wednesday at 2:30 when we likely won't get home until 1pm. I hate having him go into ER with only 5.5 hours sleep but it may be the better plan giving the late ER time slot.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Don't know what to make of this
Okay so I had to go to Lexington this morning since it is Sunday. I woke up this morning having one of those days where everything goes wrong. DD woke up at 4:30 so that meant I was up before 5 this morning. Then I try and find our cat Honey to give her her antibiotic (she started with another UTI again yesterday). Found her downstairs, but when she saw dd she immediately ran up under the bed. I went to get some food to give to both her and Kovu and the food spilled all over the floor. I then had to take the one bed apart in order to get her out of it. Then as I was walking back down stairs I stepped in the spilled cat food, and then when I tried to feed dd her tray got tipped and a whole container of yoghut spilled all down my shorts and all over the rug and floor. Not fun.
Anyways, at least the drive to Lexington wasn't bad. When I got there they changed the waiting room. They now make you wait in a tiny waiting room if you are there for blood and u/s. I was suprirsed to only see a few people there. However, I never noticed the sign in book until the next lady came and started to sign in. Luckily she was only there for bloodwork so we both went back at once. I tried to have the nurse draw from my right arm since my left arm is the only that is always poked and I figure they were probably more experienced in Lexington, unfortunately she couldn't feel the vein so I am only left with my one poor vein in my left arm. Not sure what they are going to do about an IV at ER.
I had to wait 45 min though for the u/s. Had the same woman as I did back in February. The good thing about the Lexington office is the u/s screen is facing you so you can see everything being done. At Providence I can't see anything so have to rely on the tech to tell me everything. Anyways, as I was watching her I noticed how difficult it was being an u/s tech for a fertility clinic. It didn't make any sense of what follicles she chose to measure and sometimes it seemed like she measured the same one. Now I wonder if all my previous cycles my numbers were just off because the u/s were never done properly. I mean you can't highlight a follicle after you measure it to know it has been checked. Anyways, I tried to put this out of my mind since she was experienced and she was actually the person who trained the tech that I normally see.
However, now that they just called with the results I don't know what to think.
My estrogen rose which is good. It is now 1067.
Progesterone and LH are both less than 1.
Now here is where it gets weird.
Left ovary: 10, 11, 11, 13, 14, 15.
Compare this to 2 days ago: 11.1, 13.4, 13.5, 13.2, 14.7, 15.5
So either someone measured wrong or my follicles are shrinking!
Right ovary today: 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 15, 15, 16
(Two days ago they were: 11.5, 12.3, 12.7, 13.3, 14.3, 14.4 so these measurements seem okay).
I tried googling "Shrinking follicles with ivf" since I only know this is normal with a natural cycle and of course I start reading scary stuff about follicles shrinking down to nothing. I am praying this is just an error due to a different tech during the scan. Also the fact that today's values were all whole numbers might point more to this suggesting they were either rounded up or down. Anyways, it does worry me. Besides adding the ganirelix the only other difference was that for the past few days I was trying to finish off the rest of the gonal-f pens instead of just openning a new one. Not sure if that could effect things or not. Anyways my next three doses will be full doses with a new pen so we shall see what happens when I go back for tomorrow's results.
Anyways, at least the drive to Lexington wasn't bad. When I got there they changed the waiting room. They now make you wait in a tiny waiting room if you are there for blood and u/s. I was suprirsed to only see a few people there. However, I never noticed the sign in book until the next lady came and started to sign in. Luckily she was only there for bloodwork so we both went back at once. I tried to have the nurse draw from my right arm since my left arm is the only that is always poked and I figure they were probably more experienced in Lexington, unfortunately she couldn't feel the vein so I am only left with my one poor vein in my left arm. Not sure what they are going to do about an IV at ER.
I had to wait 45 min though for the u/s. Had the same woman as I did back in February. The good thing about the Lexington office is the u/s screen is facing you so you can see everything being done. At Providence I can't see anything so have to rely on the tech to tell me everything. Anyways, as I was watching her I noticed how difficult it was being an u/s tech for a fertility clinic. It didn't make any sense of what follicles she chose to measure and sometimes it seemed like she measured the same one. Now I wonder if all my previous cycles my numbers were just off because the u/s were never done properly. I mean you can't highlight a follicle after you measure it to know it has been checked. Anyways, I tried to put this out of my mind since she was experienced and she was actually the person who trained the tech that I normally see.
However, now that they just called with the results I don't know what to think.
My estrogen rose which is good. It is now 1067.
Progesterone and LH are both less than 1.
Now here is where it gets weird.
Left ovary: 10, 11, 11, 13, 14, 15.
Compare this to 2 days ago: 11.1, 13.4, 13.5, 13.2, 14.7, 15.5
So either someone measured wrong or my follicles are shrinking!
Right ovary today: 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 15, 15, 16
(Two days ago they were: 11.5, 12.3, 12.7, 13.3, 14.3, 14.4 so these measurements seem okay).
I tried googling "Shrinking follicles with ivf" since I only know this is normal with a natural cycle and of course I start reading scary stuff about follicles shrinking down to nothing. I am praying this is just an error due to a different tech during the scan. Also the fact that today's values were all whole numbers might point more to this suggesting they were either rounded up or down. Anyways, it does worry me. Besides adding the ganirelix the only other difference was that for the past few days I was trying to finish off the rest of the gonal-f pens instead of just openning a new one. Not sure if that could effect things or not. Anyways my next three doses will be full doses with a new pen so we shall see what happens when I go back for tomorrow's results.
Friday, June 15, 2012
cd 7 (2nd monitoring appt)
My ovaries started hurting yesterday so I was expecting some good news at today's appt and things seem to be going good.
Estrogen: 673
LH 4.88
Progesterone 0.053
Left ovary: 11.1, 13.4, 13.5, 13.2, 14.7, 15.5
Right ovary: 11.5, 12.3, 12.7, 13.3, 14.3, 14.4
So it looks like a few more smaller ones popped up. I am not sure if the nurse missed one since the tech told me she saw 7 on the right, but when I add up the numbers it is 6 and 6.
Anyways, I'm not complaining 12 follicles is a good number and the fact they are close together is even better. I looked back at my other cycles and the only one I responded faster was the last cycle (the flare protocol), but I also had a huge range of sizes which wasn't good. I hope the fact that this cycle has been going well from the start is a good sign.
I started the ganirelix tonight. Good thing it came yesterday. I almost missed the fedex guy because he came just after I took dd upstairs to get her ready for her nap. I was changing her diaper which happened to be filled with poop and then the guy decides to knock on the door. Good thing dh was home and he wasn't in the middle of a game or something and could run to the door since I was up to my elbows in poop.
It is looking like ER will be next Wednesday or Thursday. DH will have Thursday off work for doing a double on Sunday, but he still needs to take the day before and if ER is on Wednesday this won't help at all. The tech did say they can write a doctor's note since it is medical necessary that he is there. I told her though it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't, dh will be leaving his job in 2 months anyways. If they are dumb enough to fire him for something stupid like this then he can just go down to the unemployment office and collect for the next year while also doing his masters.
Of course dh doesn't see things this way and he is freaking out, even though he hates his job and tells me everyday he wants to quit now.
So I will be going to Lexington on Sunday for bloodwork and u/s. Surprisely I wasn't too upset about this because I was expecting it. I mean it is Father's day so of course they will send me to Lexington. I do feel bad because FIL has to watch dd that morning for me now and it is also his birthday and I know he has plans he wants to do besides staying home and babysitting. I'm hoping that my experience there is better than what happened back in February and I can be back home by 10:30 so FIL can go out and enjoy his birthday and father's day with his friends.
Estrogen: 673
LH 4.88
Progesterone 0.053
Left ovary: 11.1, 13.4, 13.5, 13.2, 14.7, 15.5
Right ovary: 11.5, 12.3, 12.7, 13.3, 14.3, 14.4
So it looks like a few more smaller ones popped up. I am not sure if the nurse missed one since the tech told me she saw 7 on the right, but when I add up the numbers it is 6 and 6.
Anyways, I'm not complaining 12 follicles is a good number and the fact they are close together is even better. I looked back at my other cycles and the only one I responded faster was the last cycle (the flare protocol), but I also had a huge range of sizes which wasn't good. I hope the fact that this cycle has been going well from the start is a good sign.
I started the ganirelix tonight. Good thing it came yesterday. I almost missed the fedex guy because he came just after I took dd upstairs to get her ready for her nap. I was changing her diaper which happened to be filled with poop and then the guy decides to knock on the door. Good thing dh was home and he wasn't in the middle of a game or something and could run to the door since I was up to my elbows in poop.
It is looking like ER will be next Wednesday or Thursday. DH will have Thursday off work for doing a double on Sunday, but he still needs to take the day before and if ER is on Wednesday this won't help at all. The tech did say they can write a doctor's note since it is medical necessary that he is there. I told her though it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't, dh will be leaving his job in 2 months anyways. If they are dumb enough to fire him for something stupid like this then he can just go down to the unemployment office and collect for the next year while also doing his masters.
Of course dh doesn't see things this way and he is freaking out, even though he hates his job and tells me everyday he wants to quit now.
So I will be going to Lexington on Sunday for bloodwork and u/s. Surprisely I wasn't too upset about this because I was expecting it. I mean it is Father's day so of course they will send me to Lexington. I do feel bad because FIL has to watch dd that morning for me now and it is also his birthday and I know he has plans he wants to do besides staying home and babysitting. I'm hoping that my experience there is better than what happened back in February and I can be back home by 10:30 so FIL can go out and enjoy his birthday and father's day with his friends.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
ivf5 cd5
So had my first monitoring appt today after 4 days of stims.
My estrogen is 250 something and I have a total of 7 follicles so far, 3 on the left and 4 on the right ranging in size from 10-11 with one 12.4 on the right. Unfortunately I don't have exact numbers written down since the nurse called when we were waiting for dd's therapy to start. I figured since it is still early in the cycle she wasn't going to tell me exact numbers because I figured my follicles would be too small to measure so I decided to answer the call instead of letting it go to voice mail.
I am shocked at how quickly my follicles have grown since I have felt nothing in my ovaries yet and usually I am a slow responder as well as poor responder. I was hoping ER would be at the end of next week, but if things keep going this way it is looking like more like mid week. I know dh will be upset about this. I am glad that I ordered the ganirelix to arrive tomorrow (even though it means I have to stay home for my birthday to receive the shipment) because it is looking like I will be starting it on Friday.
I must say though that this course of stims has been the best so far in terms of side effects. I have only had a couple migrane headaches after the gonal-f and those only last a few minutes. Much much better than the flare protocol where I had migranes for the whole 2 weeks of stims non-stop 24 hours a day.
My estrogen is 250 something and I have a total of 7 follicles so far, 3 on the left and 4 on the right ranging in size from 10-11 with one 12.4 on the right. Unfortunately I don't have exact numbers written down since the nurse called when we were waiting for dd's therapy to start. I figured since it is still early in the cycle she wasn't going to tell me exact numbers because I figured my follicles would be too small to measure so I decided to answer the call instead of letting it go to voice mail.
I am shocked at how quickly my follicles have grown since I have felt nothing in my ovaries yet and usually I am a slow responder as well as poor responder. I was hoping ER would be at the end of next week, but if things keep going this way it is looking like more like mid week. I know dh will be upset about this. I am glad that I ordered the ganirelix to arrive tomorrow (even though it means I have to stay home for my birthday to receive the shipment) because it is looking like I will be starting it on Friday.
I must say though that this course of stims has been the best so far in terms of side effects. I have only had a couple migrane headaches after the gonal-f and those only last a few minutes. Much much better than the flare protocol where I had migranes for the whole 2 weeks of stims non-stop 24 hours a day.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Stim Day 1
Started the gonal-f this morning. I must say I like this stim cycle the best since it is only gonal-f twice a day. Don't have to worry about stinging menupur, mixing meds, or doing 4 injections like last time when I was also on the lupron. Of course once the ganirelix is added later it will be bumped up to 3 shots a day, but for right now, 2 small pokes with the gonal-f pen is nice and easy. Of course once trigger comes this will all change and I will have to deal with IM injections every day then. This I am not looking forward to.
So far no side effects from the gonal-f, but I know in a couple of days the headaches will start to come on.
Still no sign of AF. I did have one spotting episode this morning, but it is now gone so don't know what is going on there. However since I started stims today the RE is calling today cd1, even though on ff it is cd17 since I haven't bled yet.
Still need to order the PIO and ganirelix. I am going to call the nurse on Monday to make sure she sends the script in. Unfortunately the earliest I can receive the shipment isn't until Thursday (my birthday) since I am going to be out for the first few days next week. I was hoping to go out on my birthday, but since I can't wait on this ganirelix since I will likely start it next weekend I need to make sure I have it before than.
Anyways, I am feeling very positive about this cycle so hoping it will work. If it doesn't I don't know what to do. I know that we will likely have to wait until at least the fall to try again since I don't want to use the new deducible after June 30 since we will only have HP for 2 months max. I would rather put the money to a plan that I will have for a year, than just a couple of months.
I have also decided to hold off on my dental crown. I received the estimate letter yesterday and I was going to book the crown, but then I found out that a crown takes 2 appts and at least a 2-3 week break in between. I can't do that. Even if I got in for the first part during stims, I can not do the second part so I have decided to wait until July if this cycle doesn't work, or if it does to do it in the Fall when I will be in the 2nd trimester. DH's school has dental insurance for me and him for just under $600 for the year so we are going to buy it since I can't go without dental insurance (thank you bad teeth genes). A crown on the new insurance will cost ~$600, compared to ~$300-400 on our plan right now, but I can not take the chance with cycling after putting so much time, money, and emotion into ttc.
So far no side effects from the gonal-f, but I know in a couple of days the headaches will start to come on.
Still no sign of AF. I did have one spotting episode this morning, but it is now gone so don't know what is going on there. However since I started stims today the RE is calling today cd1, even though on ff it is cd17 since I haven't bled yet.
Still need to order the PIO and ganirelix. I am going to call the nurse on Monday to make sure she sends the script in. Unfortunately the earliest I can receive the shipment isn't until Thursday (my birthday) since I am going to be out for the first few days next week. I was hoping to go out on my birthday, but since I can't wait on this ganirelix since I will likely start it next weekend I need to make sure I have it before than.
Anyways, I am feeling very positive about this cycle so hoping it will work. If it doesn't I don't know what to do. I know that we will likely have to wait until at least the fall to try again since I don't want to use the new deducible after June 30 since we will only have HP for 2 months max. I would rather put the money to a plan that I will have for a year, than just a couple of months.
I have also decided to hold off on my dental crown. I received the estimate letter yesterday and I was going to book the crown, but then I found out that a crown takes 2 appts and at least a 2-3 week break in between. I can't do that. Even if I got in for the first part during stims, I can not do the second part so I have decided to wait until July if this cycle doesn't work, or if it does to do it in the Fall when I will be in the 2nd trimester. DH's school has dental insurance for me and him for just under $600 for the year so we are going to buy it since I can't go without dental insurance (thank you bad teeth genes). A crown on the new insurance will cost ~$600, compared to ~$300-400 on our plan right now, but I can not take the chance with cycling after putting so much time, money, and emotion into ttc.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
No more bcp ever again (hopefully)
So took my last pill last night and had my suppression check this morning. I was hoping to speak with the nurse when she called because the pharmacy still doesn't have the script for the PIO, but unfortunately the music in my car was probably too loud and I missed her call. I didn't check my phone again until 4 when I was leaving to pick dd up from school and thinking it weird she still hasn't called since she usually does between 2 and 3, and there was the missed calls and voice message from an hour earlier. Guess this means I am going to have to call tomorrow, leave a message (since they never pick up the phone), and wait for who knows how long to call back. I would like to place the order for PIO and ganirelix tomorrow so it can arrive on Friday.
Anyways, now I am on med break again (except for the prenatal and q10). I start the stims on Saturday and go back for bloodwork and u/s next Wednesday. So it is looking like ER will be between June 20-22.
The good news is I don't have to worry about my citizenship interview anymore interfering with the cycle time line. I got my letter the other day and we go on July 10. I will either be 5 weeks pregnant by then or coming off of a horrible AF. Let's hope for the first. The good part about that too is that it will be just before I should have any bad pregnancy symptoms so don't have to worry about m/s or being extremely tired during the test and long waiting.
I am glad that the wait for this cycle is finally over and we are starting to get the ball rolling again. Though I hated having to wait, I think it was good for my psyche. I have a fresh and renewed feeling going into this cycle. Even though it has only been 7 weeks, it feels like it has been 7 months. It did help though that other parts of my life have been very busy the past month and a half.
It has also helped blocking signatures and pictures on ff. I never realized how much that stuff affected me before, but it was really eating at me. Even thinking about it, how all the woman in my dd's due date group have already given birth again or are in the third trimester and I am hoping to just be getting pregnant. It really hit me tonight when I was on fb and one of the woman had a picture of her 2nd baby saying it is 9 months today. It made me really stop and think, here she was already with a 9 month old (and she wasn't the first one to give birth again). That means that it has been 9 months since she gave birth and 18 months since she got pregnant on the first month of trying. Meanwhile I remember when she got pregnant me and dh had been trying for 6 months already, so add that up and it means we have been ttc #2 for 2 years now.
Kind of depressing when you think about it :(
Anyways, now I am on med break again (except for the prenatal and q10). I start the stims on Saturday and go back for bloodwork and u/s next Wednesday. So it is looking like ER will be between June 20-22.
The good news is I don't have to worry about my citizenship interview anymore interfering with the cycle time line. I got my letter the other day and we go on July 10. I will either be 5 weeks pregnant by then or coming off of a horrible AF. Let's hope for the first. The good part about that too is that it will be just before I should have any bad pregnancy symptoms so don't have to worry about m/s or being extremely tired during the test and long waiting.
I am glad that the wait for this cycle is finally over and we are starting to get the ball rolling again. Though I hated having to wait, I think it was good for my psyche. I have a fresh and renewed feeling going into this cycle. Even though it has only been 7 weeks, it feels like it has been 7 months. It did help though that other parts of my life have been very busy the past month and a half.
It has also helped blocking signatures and pictures on ff. I never realized how much that stuff affected me before, but it was really eating at me. Even thinking about it, how all the woman in my dd's due date group have already given birth again or are in the third trimester and I am hoping to just be getting pregnant. It really hit me tonight when I was on fb and one of the woman had a picture of her 2nd baby saying it is 9 months today. It made me really stop and think, here she was already with a 9 month old (and she wasn't the first one to give birth again). That means that it has been 9 months since she gave birth and 18 months since she got pregnant on the first month of trying. Meanwhile I remember when she got pregnant me and dh had been trying for 6 months already, so add that up and it means we have been ttc #2 for 2 years now.
Kind of depressing when you think about it :(
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