Wed Follie check & bloodwork!

I had an U/S yesterday and had the following follies!

Right Ovary 12, 11, 10, 9.5 and smaller
Left Ovary 8.5, 8, 8. and smaller

I have more this time than last time!!!

But I have a kidney stone I think (I can hear my sister now saying, "This would only happen to YOU" haha....:( I've been in pain and I thought it was a UTI, so went to my GP yesterday after my RE appt, but the test came back negative, so now I'm pretty sure it's a kidney stone, b/c it feels the same way at first. I'm drinking tons of water and cranberry juice and trying to hopefully pass it w/out going to the ER. Seriously? now?

I'm thinking retrieval will be Monday or Tuesday, so still on track.

They changed my meds to start me on the ganirelix shot and one vial of Menopur to keep me from ovulating early.

I go back tomorrow for another follie check and bloodwork. I probably will find out when I trigger and/or when retrieval is on Friday!! Getting close now :)

Chugging along with Shots!

We are just chugging along! Saturday I started shots, Monday I went in for bloodwork and tomorrow I go in for an ultrasound and bloodwork. So far the 2 shots of Menopur (2 vials) and Bravelle (4 vials) is going well. Tomorrow I switch down to just Bravelle. Praying I have some good follicles growing tomorrow!! Here are some shots of my first shots hehe :)

All of my supplies for my first shots


Mixing up the Bravelle


First Injection



My disgustingly bruised leg!

Baseline U/S and B/W

I had my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork today! My AFC (Antral Follicle Count a/k/a teeny, tiny egg follicles) were 4 follicles < 10mm on the right and 5 < 10mm on the left, with a lining of 3.9A....last time was 3R/6L and 3.8A....so I seem to not have changed much in three years LOL....no msg for me on the voicemail system, so my E2 (estrogen) must have been good and supressed. Last bcp was tonight and I start Injectibles on Saturday = 4 vials of Bravelle and 2 vials of Menopur, two shots a day, I have Appointments set up for Monday and Wed next week at 9:15am. This is 2 vials more of Bravelle a day, than I did last time. They are hoping to bump up the eggs right away to get more to mature than last time (I had 4 last time). And they took me off Lupron as they thought it supressed me too much. I'll be adding Ganirelix and Menopur at the end to prevent me from ovulating early before the retrieval. I'm happy with this new protocol, it's exactly what I wanted.

I had acupuncture tonight and it relaxed me, but then I fell in the parking lot (dumb, checking my phone and slipped on ice). My leg above my ankle is a bit swollen, but doesn't hurt too much. So silly.

I got some big 'ole boxes of meds today - I found out today that with the Ganirelix, I have to take Menopur with it, thus the 3 extra vials they added to my order. DH FREAKED out when he saw all the needles, he said they made him woosy just looking at them. It's not even like he has to inject himself, he doesn't even have to inject the shots for me, for that matter. LOL . Good thing I don't mind needles!

Ahhhh, this is it. I'm excited and scared. I've been freaking out about the $, the added costs every time I turn, my insurance is going up $250 more a month starting in June and they just raised it $80 in March! Criminal. And don't get me started on thinking about a new car if it happens to be twins, or re-doing my office as a new room for Mallory. I'm freaking myself out about it all and I know I can't worry about all of that right now....I just have to concentrate on the day and moment!

Breathe in....breathe out :) Hope everyone's having a great week :)

One step closer

I made my appt for Monday to ok me for anesthesia and surgery. I have to go to my regular Dr. for a physical type appt for this. Check!

I talked to the pharmacy on Friday night regarding most of my prescriptions, they are calling me back on Monday to let me know what my insurance covered (antibiotics & valium, probably a whole $10, big whoop!) And so Monday, I'll probably have to pay for the meds and have them shipped! Check!

I remember last time getting that HUGE shipment and being overwhelmed at everything, but I'm not as worried this time around (maybe that is the acupuncture talking) or maybe just because I know everything that is going to happen.

Either way, we're ready!

Started my bcp's again today and I go in on Tuesday for my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork.

Struggles....

I read this today and thought I'd share :) .....

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could,and it could go no further.

So to help the butterfly;

He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of it's life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometime struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Remember...what we struggle with makes us strong!

IVF Start Program Appt!

It's here! We had a long appt, but well worth it! My saline u/s was a bit painful, but mock transfer was a piece of cake. So happy all of that initial paperwork/testing is done. We did find out about another $1400 cost for today, which we didn't have to pay last time *sigh*...the bills keep coming and there is not an end in sight. I have to order a couple thousand in meds in a week. It will all be worth it in the end, though :) (fingies and toes crossed)....and I got my protocol today (happy dance!)

Here it is!

3/12 Stop BCP
3/16 Start BCP's 2 pills a day through 3/19
3/19 Baseline Ultrasound and Bloodwork
3/23 Start injectibles, Ultrasound (300IU Bravelle & 150IU Menopur)for 4 days
3/25 Bloodwork
3/26 Change Meds to only 300IU Bravelle, no Menopur
3/27 Bloodwork & U/S, med review, 9 days on stims as of today, Ganirelix?
3/31 Tentative trigger shot,
4/02 Tentative retrieval
4/05 or 4/07 Tenatative Transfer
4/19, 4/21 or 4/23 Beta Blood tests!

12/25 Possible due date of Xmas day! I'm so excited, it's going to go fast now! The 3 hr roundtrip to get to the clinic, will be wearing, but I did it before, I can do it again :) SOOOO excited :)

Program Start Appt is scheduled!!

I just got a call from my coordinator and made our Program Start Appt for next Tuesday afternoon! This all seems to be moving so fast now. Last time it took 3 wks and then they had me go off bcp, back on for a few weeks, then start meds...so a month later than what I initally thought. I have a feeling it's going to go faster this time. I'll have another mock transfer, due to my C/S...they want to see where the scarring is. Meds injection training, consent signing, Mike gets checked out, and then we get our protocol. I'm so excited and nervous and wish I had lost more weight, eaten better, cut out caffeine more already. And it looks like if it goes as fast as I think...we'll be in line with a December baby. Next week will be here before you know it. Breathe in, breathe out....