3/18/12 - Blood Work, HCG Recap

This morning I had blood work.  The office was packed with everyone doing their retrievals today.  Corey went with me, which was nice because he doesn't usually get to go.  They'll call me this afternoon with blood results, which I expect to be normal.  I'm a little worried that they forgot to give me instructions for Progesterone or something because as of right now, I don't plan on doing any injections tonight, which is weird to me.

LAST NIGHT WAS A LITTLE CHAOTIC.  We had to do the HCG and Lupron shots at 1:30am.  Our friends left our house at 12:30am and I thought I would take a little nap until injection time but I couldn't sleep.  I just kept thinking about that LONG needle.  The nurse said it needed to go ALL THE WAY into my love handle/hip area and you don't pinch up the skin, you actually stretch it a little before piercing.

This needle is A LOT longer than the other injections needles.  There's also a risk of hitting a sciatic nerve if it's not done in the right area.  My friend that's doing IVF right now at the same office said they drew a target on her hip for her husband to know where to do it, but they didn't do that for me!  Corey was really nervous too.  He kept questioning if I had heard the nurse right when she said it had to go all the way in (unfortunately he wasn't there for the instructions on this one so I was trying to relay everything).  He thought it would hit bone.

SO right before he injected me I said "WAIT!  Do you want to look on You Tube really quick and see how other people do it first?"  He thought that was a good idea so we found a video of a couple doing the shots and it was chaotic for them too.. AND they were watching a You Tube video of it while THEY were doing their shots!  Time was ticking and I was worried about having the exact timing we needed SO I just said LET'S DO THIS.  (By the way, my brother is watching all of this and about every two minutes he's saying "It's ok Kimmy" or "You'll be alright Kimmy" but I can tell he's freaking out a little too).  I laid on my stomach on the couch and just braced myself. 

WOW.

That was the EASIEST shot so far.  Hardly any pain at the piercing point and no burning while the medicine went in.  What a lot of spazzing and shenanagans for nothing.  Corey is so good at this!  We're thinking of opening a business where couples hire him to go to their house every night and give their injections.  :)

My advice to any other IVF-ers worried about the HCG shot is... DON'T.  Don't worry about it.  You'll be fine.  :)

3/17/12 - Ultrasound and Blood Work, Pre Op Exam

This morning I took delicious cupcakes from the best bakery in town to the fertility office. Hey, I think it's smart to bribe the people that have your dreams in their hands. All the girls in the office were freaking out over how delicious they were. It was a success :)

Blood work was normal. Ultrasound was good. 23 eggs!!!!! The average is 10 - 15. It's good that I have a lot of eggs but it does make me at risk of OHSS ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ovarian-hyperstimulation-syndrome-ohss/DS01097 )

I should know or feel if I have ohss within the next few days. If I DO, they would not be able to do a fresh transfer. I would transfer a frozen embie next month.

Since everything looked good to have the egg retrieval on Monday, they just went ahead and did my Pre Op today (blood pressure, heart and lung check).

I LOVE the staff at the fertility office ESPECIALLY the dr. He is sooo nice and thorough and caring and smart. I feel like I'm in such great hands. Just sayin.

I asked him again about his recommendation of transferring one embie instead of two. He still recommends one. So, I'm going to stick with that. If it doesn't work this time, I'll transfer two next time.

HEY! I'm done with the 3 injections I've been taking every night. Yay!!! Oh, but there are NEW ones...

I have to take "trigger shots" at a very specific time coordinated around my retrieval appointment. This "specific time" for me happens to be 1:30am tonight!!

The HCG injection makes me ovulate and the Lupron injection helps me to not get ohss (according to the nurse today).

I have a blood work appointment tomorrow (Sunday) and my retrieval appointment is Monday at 11:30am. The thing I'm MOST concerned about is that I can't eat or drink after midnight the night before. This girl gets HUNGRY!! Ok it's not the most important, but it does make me sad.

After the dr appointment I got a wonderful and relaxing facial. Then took a nap and at night went out to a new Mexican restaurant with Corey and my brother, then friends came over to plan a camping trip and watch movies. My ovaries were sensitive and crampy all night, but overall it was a nice day. Good night.

3/16/12 - My Dentist Did My Injections

Ok, ok... My dentist is one of my best friends. After work yesterday I met up with some girlfriends for dinner and shopping (got some really cute wedges). Then we went back to "my dentist's" house and made treats, played a game, and watched Footloose. I knew I'd be out past my injection time, so I just brought them with me, since I know my friend is good with a needle anyway - hey, she's a doctor! It went really well. She did a great job!... And I think she had fun doing it! :)

3/15/12 - 65 Months, Acupuncture and Injections @ Friend's House

I've been reading A LOT of IVF blogs lately.  I have mixed feelings about whether or not I SHOULD read them, but I'm addicted.  I'm actually finding more NEGATIVE blogs than positive.  Meaning, IVF never worked for them, or they're still in it and being REALLY negative.  I noticed that a lot of them mark their time "TTC" (Trying To Conceive) by months instead of years.  I actually kind of like that idea, because it really shows a better picture of how many cycles you TRIED REALLY REALLY HARD and got a neg.  So, I counted out my months.  Drum roll please............................ 65.  65 MONTHS!  Wow.  Believe me, I felt it every month.  The disappointment.

I'm surprised it took us so long to get to IVF.  It's just because "nothing" was wrong, so we just tried patience and all the small things first (chlomid, IUI).  Anyways, we're happy to be here now.

After work today I had my FIRST EVER ACUPUNCTURE treatment.  I have read and heard many times that it increases your chances of success with IVF... so I couldn't help it... I had to add it to my list.  The lady was really nice and has a lot of experience with IVF patients.  AND... she's walking distance from the Fertility office.  That's kind of a big deal because I live in a big city.  She said that if they transfer my eggs on a Saturday (which is the tentative plan), she will make room in her schedule to treat me RIGHT before my transfer appointment.  She said that's the best time to do it.  So she's on stand by until I find out when I'll be transferring.  :)  I bet if I had done acupuncture a month ago it would have been a lot scarier/harder but now I'm so used to needles.  Ha, one of the benefits of having to do IVF!

Then I was off to a friend's house where we met up with 3 couples for food and a basketball game (on tv).  My first time doing injections outside of our house.  I packed a cooler for the Gonal F and a bag with the other meds and stuff. 

Two of my girlfriends wanted to watch and we were fine with it.  They were sweet.  One of them said she felt weird for saying this but she felt like it was so sweet watching Corey do my injections, like "oh he loves her so much!".  :)  He does.  I can tell.
THEN MY HEART SANK.  Corey pointed out that I had packed the 300IU Gonal F pen that we had already USED!  It didn't have any medicine in it!  I was just so used to using the 900IU pen that I naturally thought we had a lot more uses left in that one.  SO... packing all the meds and doing them at a friends house so we could stay out later was pretty pointless.  We went home RIGHT AWAY... a 20 minute drive... and finished the injections with a new Gonal F pen.

3/14/12 - Ultrasound and Blood Work (continued)... TWINSIES?

The IVF Coordinator called me this afternoon and said my blood levels looked good and to continue on the same dosages of meds.

(Hold on for a sec, I gotta go get injected)... :)

(Wait, false alarm.  Corey's not home yet from Sportsman's Warehouse.  We're suppose to do injections right now.  I'll give him another 10 minutes, then I guess I'll inject myself.  : o  I guess I'll type more while I wait.)

We decided that Corey should work on Monday instead of taking me to the egg retrieval because it's a fairly new job and it's a busy week for him.  We didn't want him to ask for the time off.  We'll save that for the transfer day.

All my family lives in a different state.  I wanted my mom to come but she's working.  No Biggie.  So... I asked my BROTHER.  I called him and asked if he would take my drugged up self home from the dr's office and wait on me all day.  He said "YES!".  So he's coming to town this weekend and I'm really excited for him to help me.   

(This is me and my brother before a My Chemical Romance concert)



After work today I decided to take my "walk" at the mall :)  I picked up some CUTE new shoes and some fun new makeup.  :)  Then Corey met me there for dinner at Grimaldi's. 

At dinner we sort of decided (if the dr's ok with it) to transfer TWO embryo's instead of one.  We're ok with twins.  We had always assumed we'd end up with twinners if we did IVF, but very early on the dr was clear that he recommended only transferring one embryo because of our unexplained infertility... or fertility "health".  He was pretty confident that IVF would work for me even if I only transferred one.  He said it wasn't worth the risk and complications that come along with twin pregnancies and births.  Ultimately we'll follow his orders, but if he gives us the OK, we'll transfer two.  Oh, AND I've been having dreams that I have TWINS.  It's always a boy and a girl :)  Beautiful and healthy.

(ok, ok, so Corey forgot about injections.  I called him at about 9:10 and he was still at Sportsman's Warehouse (did I mention he's obsessed with guns?).  Anyway... thank goodness we don't live far from there.  I started preparing and mixing the meds and he ran in and did them.  I don't know why, but half way through, I had a little emotional "situation".  I started crying.  Not because of the pain (and tonight hurt more than any night so far - one injection site started bruising up right away), but just because I'm even here doing this.  Yeah, it's sad.  And it's hard.  But it will be worth it.  After injections Corey hugged me and offered to let me stab him with a needle if it would make me feel better.  :)  Just the offer made me feel better.)  :) 

I'm so grateful for having this opportunity and I'm happy to be a part of this process.  Good night.  :)  (yeah, lots of smiley faces tonight)  :)

3/14/12 - Ultrasound and Blood Work

This morning I had another blood test and ultrasound.  They'll call me later this afternoon with blood results but I just wanted to post real quick about the ultrasound.

When the doc 1st came in I asked him right away if he would cancel my cycle if he found that my eggs were not developing properly.  The reason I asked this is because the IVF Coordinator worried me a little when I asked her about my development the other day.  He said "Yes, we would cancel if we needed to, but you're developing nicely".  Then he did the ultrasound and counted off the sizes of my eggs (follicles ?) to the nurse and said everything looks good and healthy and I don't need to worry.

I was originally planning on my egg retrieval being on Sunday 3/18, but the coordinator told us from the beginning that there's a chance it could be pushed back up to 3 days.  Today the doc said he wants to plan on doing the egg retrieval Monday 3/19 instead of Sunday... to give my eggs a little more time to develop.  (Which is a normal process and nothing to worry about).  I LOVE how detail oriented they are.  They could easily keep their appointments on the same day, but they closely monitor everything and make adjustments as needed. I will need someone to take me home from the appointment Monday, and I think Corey will have to work.  I'll have to get to work on coordinating that.

My next untrasound and blood work is now Sat instead of Fri.

I also asked him when he'll know if I'll be able to do a FRESH TRANSFER.  He said he'll have a better idea by this weekend, but so far it's looking GOOD for a fresh transfer.  If my uterus and hormone levels were NOT COMPLETELY in line and primed for fresh transfer, they would freeze the eggs until the following month.  I prefer not to freeze because I'm pretty sure that means MORE injections for me.  But I'm happy to follow whatever the doc orders, so I have the best outcome possible.

Thinking about yesterday's post, I just wanted to mention that I'm not usually this lazy.  When I ran into a friend at the clinic last month, I knew she had A LOT of experience with IVF and I asked her what advice she had for me.  She said the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to relax and uncomplicate your life and schedule.  She said that during her cycles she would cancel everything and just stay home and relax.  So... that's what I've been doing and it has been really  nice.

3/13/12. - Awe, Relaxing Day

I had a non-eventful, pleasant day at work and a nice walk after. Then I came home and watched a movie till Corey got home and gave me my shots. Easy peasy.

I have an early ultrasound and blood work tomorrow. Good night. :)