I am sure I ovulated yesterday. I was crampy and felt bloated and pressure in the Nether regions all day long. Oh and it was 72 hours after the trigger shot too. So duh, of course I ovulated.
It makes me wonder if I have actually been ovulating these past few months, because it was a different type of feeling than I have been experiencing.
Every month since at least November I have felt aches throughout the 2ww every month. They always make me hopeful becuase I have never felt so much consistent action going on in my girl parts.
I am sure it is because my body is functioning better since lifestyle changes and medical assistance. Still, it can be confusing, because I am always wondering - is this it?
I am starting my 2ww today. Tonight I begin progesterone suppositories.
Last night DH was asking (after our marathon BD weekend) 'So what is next? Do we have to BD every other day for the next week?' I think he was a little nervous about keeping up this rate....
I assuaged his fears.
BD every other day from CD10 - CD20 can get old really quickly.
That is why we both are very excited about this cycle. It is the first time we are not in the dark. We have a specific set of dates and know when the right day is this month. In the past my cycle has ranged from 28 to 32 days. It means we never knew which would be the best day to ovulate. OPKs can work, of course, but I am not good at being consistent at peeing on a stick to watch it become darker. (plus it only reminds me of BFNs)
Anyways - here we go! Next weekend DH and I are traveling to Chicago to go to a Cubs game, that should give us something to keep our minds off of it. Oh and I get to go to IKEA. :) :)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
One for each Ovary
I went through the femara and the first three injections without incident.
The trip to NYC was pretty quick, but I was just thankful that I hadn't booked on American since they cancelled so many flights.
I went for my ultrasound today.
My lining was 10. I guess that is good, the minimum they want to see at my clinic (and I am sure most others) is 8 by CD10.
I have two good follicles. One for each ovary. The one on the left is at 16mm and the one on the right is at 14mm. The nurse said they want to see at least 18mm, so I am to do one more shot of Follistim tonight and move on to the trigger tomorrow.
I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I found it was just two. I had begun to worry that due to the PCOS I would hyper stimulate...phew.
They said I didn't need to go back in, which is nice, because it would have been a pain to re-arrange my schedule.
Surprisingly, my local pharmacy was able to fill my Novarel on the spot. I was concerned because they had to order the Follistim.
And, low and behold, my insurance covered the Novarel and it was under 10 bucks. I was pleasantly surprised.
So tomorrow the DH gets to try his hand at intramuscular injections. He is so concerned about hurting me...it is sweet...but I tell him - no pain no gain.
After that we are scheduled for a weekend of baby dancing.
On Monday I am supposed to start my progesterone suppositories and I am to get a PG test on the 25th if I have not started my period.
Well, off to stimulate those follicles.
The trip to NYC was pretty quick, but I was just thankful that I hadn't booked on American since they cancelled so many flights.
I went for my ultrasound today.
My lining was 10. I guess that is good, the minimum they want to see at my clinic (and I am sure most others) is 8 by CD10.
I have two good follicles. One for each ovary. The one on the left is at 16mm and the one on the right is at 14mm. The nurse said they want to see at least 18mm, so I am to do one more shot of Follistim tonight and move on to the trigger tomorrow.
I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I found it was just two. I had begun to worry that due to the PCOS I would hyper stimulate...phew.
They said I didn't need to go back in, which is nice, because it would have been a pain to re-arrange my schedule.
Surprisingly, my local pharmacy was able to fill my Novarel on the spot. I was concerned because they had to order the Follistim.
And, low and behold, my insurance covered the Novarel and it was under 10 bucks. I was pleasantly surprised.
So tomorrow the DH gets to try his hand at intramuscular injections. He is so concerned about hurting me...it is sweet...but I tell him - no pain no gain.
After that we are scheduled for a weekend of baby dancing.
On Monday I am supposed to start my progesterone suppositories and I am to get a PG test on the 25th if I have not started my period.
Well, off to stimulate those follicles.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Our first Induction Cycle
I know it has been a really long time since I posted. I have been reading everyone's blogs, but I just didn't feel like there was much news. Also, I have been wrapping up a huge work project (6 months!! AAAHHH!) so it seems like I can come out of hibernation.
This month we start our first month using drugs to stimulate ovulation. I guess what we are doing is exactly like an IUI - minus the IUI. Here is my protocol (or what I can remember from the phone):
2 pills 2.5 of Femara (Letrozole) for cycle days 2 - 6 days
Ultrasound on cyle day 4 to check progress
Follistim on cycle days 7 -9
Ultrasound and bloodwork on cycle day 10
Check to see if ready for trigger
trigger
At some point the nurses willl call and tell us to procreate.
I am really excited.
Of course, AF came four days early (which is not a bad thing on the whole becuase it meant my last cycle was shorter) but it really did mess up my plans. I was supposed to fly to NYC for work on April 9th, spend the evening there buttering up some clients and then fly home the morning of the 10th. Since I started on April 1st (my ovaries are playing a joke on me, right?) my cycle days go with the calendar, which mean I would have to be back early in the morning on the tenth for the ultrasound, bloodwork, and hopefully a trigger shot.
I talked to my boss about it, but the people I am going with I just told them I had a doctors appt I couldn't miss. I found a flight that left at a reasonable time on the ninth to get me home. I still have to go. It is our biggest client, and they want to talk to us about the future of our software...blah blah blah....all good things, just bad timing. It did cost money to the company for me to switch flights, but I figure I have given a lot of my time and effort and life so far for this product - and sometimes I need a bit more in return than a regular paycheck.
I have never done this before, so I was wondering if the follistim has to be done at the same time every night? I can imagine having to go into the bathroom of an airplane to shoot myself in the butt.
In other news, I started taking a class with my Dr's office for women with PCOS. It is pretty cool. One night a week for six weeks. The first hour is educational, the second is a PCOS support group with a therapist.
Oh - and follistim is pretty expensive. Any ideas on the typical cost of a trigger shot? Just wondering what I should expect next week. The Femara was covered in a second tier in my insurance, and I think the follistim is 3rd tier. The dr ordered 2 vials and I think my insurance covers 50 bucks a vial. I don't know if i will even need both of them. So - 125 bucks is not too bad, but I am not sure what the trigger will be. At least the ultrasounds and all that stuff will be covered.
I just hope we don't have to do it over and over again. 125 bucks could get expensive if it is several months in a row.
I am very hopeful right now. I just want to see how it goes. I will not be too let down if it doesn't work the first time, but I am excited...we have been working for so long on natural methods - diet/exercise/metformin and then I had the surgery, but this feels like the first real fertility treatment we have had.
Wish me luck!
This month we start our first month using drugs to stimulate ovulation. I guess what we are doing is exactly like an IUI - minus the IUI. Here is my protocol (or what I can remember from the phone):
2 pills 2.5 of Femara (Letrozole) for cycle days 2 - 6 days
Ultrasound on cyle day 4 to check progress
Follistim on cycle days 7 -9
Ultrasound and bloodwork on cycle day 10
Check to see if ready for trigger
trigger
At some point the nurses willl call and tell us to procreate.
I am really excited.
Of course, AF came four days early (which is not a bad thing on the whole becuase it meant my last cycle was shorter) but it really did mess up my plans. I was supposed to fly to NYC for work on April 9th, spend the evening there buttering up some clients and then fly home the morning of the 10th. Since I started on April 1st (my ovaries are playing a joke on me, right?) my cycle days go with the calendar, which mean I would have to be back early in the morning on the tenth for the ultrasound, bloodwork, and hopefully a trigger shot.
I talked to my boss about it, but the people I am going with I just told them I had a doctors appt I couldn't miss. I found a flight that left at a reasonable time on the ninth to get me home. I still have to go. It is our biggest client, and they want to talk to us about the future of our software...blah blah blah....all good things, just bad timing. It did cost money to the company for me to switch flights, but I figure I have given a lot of my time and effort and life so far for this product - and sometimes I need a bit more in return than a regular paycheck.
I have never done this before, so I was wondering if the follistim has to be done at the same time every night? I can imagine having to go into the bathroom of an airplane to shoot myself in the butt.
In other news, I started taking a class with my Dr's office for women with PCOS. It is pretty cool. One night a week for six weeks. The first hour is educational, the second is a PCOS support group with a therapist.
Oh - and follistim is pretty expensive. Any ideas on the typical cost of a trigger shot? Just wondering what I should expect next week. The Femara was covered in a second tier in my insurance, and I think the follistim is 3rd tier. The dr ordered 2 vials and I think my insurance covers 50 bucks a vial. I don't know if i will even need both of them. So - 125 bucks is not too bad, but I am not sure what the trigger will be. At least the ultrasounds and all that stuff will be covered.
I just hope we don't have to do it over and over again. 125 bucks could get expensive if it is several months in a row.
I am very hopeful right now. I just want to see how it goes. I will not be too let down if it doesn't work the first time, but I am excited...we have been working for so long on natural methods - diet/exercise/metformin and then I had the surgery, but this feels like the first real fertility treatment we have had.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Indiana Weather
In the past three hours, we have had:
- 50 degree weather
- Raining
- Thunderstorms
- High Winds
- Tornado Warnings
- Hail
- Freezing Rain
- Snow
- 17 degree weather
Welcome to the weather of Indiana.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Post OP
On January 10th I went in for my post op with RE.
She showed me pictures of my surgery.
She actually gave me copies which I thought about scanning and posting, but there just seemed to be something gross about posting pictures of my internal organs, not to mention the concept of privacy and where do you draw the line. I will definitely be posting ultrasounds and things when I finally get pregnant, but I think I will draw the line at posting pictures of my useless apendix and big white bulgy ovaries.
My ovaries were enlarged (common for PCOS ladies) and then after their diathermy they had a slightly deflated look. Kind of interesting to see my uterus, which did appear pink, smooth and rather pretty. I was surprised.
She said they did find a teeny tiny amount of endometriosis on my uterus during the surgery, but was very adamant about the fact that it was extremely superficial (as she called it) and that it really didn't mean anything. She cleaned it up and moved on.
So it seems like all went well. I had gained four pounds since the surgery and I cowered, waiting for admonishment from her (for some reason I think of her like a stern teacher that expects perfection and I am worried I might get a B or for heavens sake a C! I have always had a problem with not getting above average grades). Instead, she was extremely postive, said most people gain weight in the holiday season and that the new year is time to get back on the program.
While I was there I asked to switch back to Met.for.min from Glu.met.za. Although G is pretty good in the way it is digested, it also costs 50 bucks minimum a month. M is on the super duper generic drug list for our insurance company so it is completely covered and free. She did put me on M Extended Release, so I am hoping that will help to process better in my digestive system. I made the whole decision because I have decided that the reason G was so much better was because I took it all at night, and that M would be just as effective if I took it at night. That has turned to be a correct observation. I think I would rather save 600 dollars this year, than have slightly better digestive processing...I mean really it wasn't THAT much better.
So when I went to pick up the met.for.min, they said my insurance card was inactive. Well I wasn't going to pay 80 bucks for a drug that I switched too so I could have it for free. It turns out, DH's HR or insurance company messed up and switched his gender so they deactivated our insurance (little did I know I had a life partner for a few weeks - I had to do a spot check on DH just to make sure all the right organs were in place - whew!). In the end last week the HR said that our old policy should be back to normal and active, but when I went to get the M after this was supposed to be fixed they said we DID have a new policy. Why is it that when you try to do all of the right things or NOT doing anything to make sure it goes well, some one comes up and sucker punches you? It is like we are Charlie Brown and Lucy keeps taking the football away. We didn't make any changes to our insurance, yet I will still be making 10 phone calls to the freaking insurance company this month - something I did NOT EVER want to do. I hate insurance companies - right? Its like they want me to have high blood pressure so they can deny the claims...
Oh well - I will get over it.
She showed me pictures of my surgery.
She actually gave me copies which I thought about scanning and posting, but there just seemed to be something gross about posting pictures of my internal organs, not to mention the concept of privacy and where do you draw the line. I will definitely be posting ultrasounds and things when I finally get pregnant, but I think I will draw the line at posting pictures of my useless apendix and big white bulgy ovaries.
My ovaries were enlarged (common for PCOS ladies) and then after their diathermy they had a slightly deflated look. Kind of interesting to see my uterus, which did appear pink, smooth and rather pretty. I was surprised.
She said they did find a teeny tiny amount of endometriosis on my uterus during the surgery, but was very adamant about the fact that it was extremely superficial (as she called it) and that it really didn't mean anything. She cleaned it up and moved on.
So it seems like all went well. I had gained four pounds since the surgery and I cowered, waiting for admonishment from her (for some reason I think of her like a stern teacher that expects perfection and I am worried I might get a B or for heavens sake a C! I have always had a problem with not getting above average grades). Instead, she was extremely postive, said most people gain weight in the holiday season and that the new year is time to get back on the program.
While I was there I asked to switch back to Met.for.min from Glu.met.za. Although G is pretty good in the way it is digested, it also costs 50 bucks minimum a month. M is on the super duper generic drug list for our insurance company so it is completely covered and free. She did put me on M Extended Release, so I am hoping that will help to process better in my digestive system. I made the whole decision because I have decided that the reason G was so much better was because I took it all at night, and that M would be just as effective if I took it at night. That has turned to be a correct observation. I think I would rather save 600 dollars this year, than have slightly better digestive processing...I mean really it wasn't THAT much better.
So when I went to pick up the met.for.min, they said my insurance card was inactive. Well I wasn't going to pay 80 bucks for a drug that I switched too so I could have it for free. It turns out, DH's HR or insurance company messed up and switched his gender so they deactivated our insurance (little did I know I had a life partner for a few weeks - I had to do a spot check on DH just to make sure all the right organs were in place - whew!). In the end last week the HR said that our old policy should be back to normal and active, but when I went to get the M after this was supposed to be fixed they said we DID have a new policy. Why is it that when you try to do all of the right things or NOT doing anything to make sure it goes well, some one comes up and sucker punches you? It is like we are Charlie Brown and Lucy keeps taking the football away. We didn't make any changes to our insurance, yet I will still be making 10 phone calls to the freaking insurance company this month - something I did NOT EVER want to do. I hate insurance companies - right? Its like they want me to have high blood pressure so they can deny the claims...
Oh well - I will get over it.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
My year...
Um....I was negative three...but I guess you just can't be eclectic anymore.
| You Belong in 1974 |
 Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! |
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year
This song was written by my good friend Gwen Mitchell. I find it is a good one to listen to when you are trying for a fresh start.She has a groovy band in Chicago. So if you have a chance and you are in Chi-town, you should go see her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
