cd 19: iui day!

so, to pick up where i left off in my last post, yesterday was the day of our iui! finally... it seemed to me like we were never going to get a green light.  and i guess i was a little apprehensive due to that clomid cycle i did with my OB last fall that just kinda fizzled out around cd 17 with my follicles not progressing.  yet another reason to work with an RE, they're in the business of trying to get you pregnant!

anyhow today i indeed tried to do something my future self will thank me for should this cycle be successful... this morning i had to drive J's sample down to the office at 9.  for those of you unfamiliar with transporting these types of "samples" it's recommended to keep it close to body temperature, which means i usually transport it zipped up in my hoodie or workout jacket... glamourous eh? it also needs to be at the office within and hour of the time it's produced, so i know J is very thankful we live about 20 mins from Dr. Mo's office that way he can do this in the privacy of our home. 

after dropping off the sample i hung out for a bit in the area and did a little work before driving to J's office to pick him up and head back to Dr. Mo's for the procedure.   

we knew Dr. Mo wouldn't be there for the procedure, and that one of the nurses would do my ultrasound and the PA would administer my iui... so, in fact they started with my scan and we were told that the follicles ended up measuring 22mm + 18mm and my uterine lining had gotten even thicker at 11mm, woohoo! so i guess that extra day and a half with the estrogen patched help bump my follicles + lining to the ideal range.  yet another answer to prayer, i was really excited to know that there were two possible eggs in the running, and that my lining was a healthy thickness {ideal thickness being 8-11mm}.  the nurse also said that the outlines of the follicles looked a little jagged which is a good indicator that ovulation had already started or was underway.  

after that the PA got me ready for the actual iui, she told us that J's numbers after the wash were 36 million, and 86% motility.  she said that they look for the motility to go up after the wash, and his did by about 20%, so that's great news!  an iui is prepped pretty much like a pap test, but they have a syringe filled with the washed sperm and there's a really thin catheter on the end of it which they insert past your cervix and up to the top of your uterus.  none of that really hurt as far as i noticed, but just as she asked are you feeling any pinching, and i said nope i felt it... it being an uncomfortable instant cramping similar to what an HSG feels like.  the only way i can describe it is a change in "cabin pressure" in your uterus... meaning it's all of a sudden filled with fluid that's not normally in there in that large a quantity.  after that she told me to hang out for about 10 mins with my knees up and then we would be free to go.  she did mention that she noticed that my cervix was pliable and bled a little when she touched it with the catheter, which in her words she said is a sign that there was "some action already going on" probably ovulation underway!  while laying there, J decided to check out the ultrasound machine, which led to him tripping over the stool where the PA had sat for the iui, the stool went flying and he almost landed on his face, and that made me start cracking up!  so i'm laying there trying not to laugh for fear i would disturb the new peaceful balance in there... oh it was terrible, between the air that was now trapped in my uterus, and clenching my abs trying not to laugh at him... ugh that guy!

after we left i noticed the little crampys getting more apparent, and by the time i got home all i wanted to do was curl up on the couch... and so i did... the rest of the afternoon, misty kitty and i had a nice long snooze.  when i woke up i tried to go about my normal routine i noticed the cramps were still there, ugh it killed me when i had to alioop my TJs groceries out of the cart, into the car, then carry them upstairs when i got home. soo, when i got home i got he temperature sensitive items in the fridge and ditched the bags right in the middle of the kitchen and resumed my place on the couch with kitty.

i'm a wimp right now, but hey i think i've earned the right to be a whimp after today!  and now folks we wait, it's official we're in the 2 week wait and i'm currently taking distractions as i really need them so i don't go crazy these next two weeks...

cd 17: a green light and early morning date

let me just preface this post by saying i'm currently sitting here at the Whole Foods killing time before picking up J and heading back to Dr. Mo's for our iui procedure... but i probably won't get to post this till after i'm home again.

but let me back up to saturday morning and my early morning date with J to Dr. Mo's for my cd 15 check up.... she came in on saturday to see us and what seemed like about 3 other couples, apparently i have some other cycle buddies, and to my surprise they all seemed to be about our age which i guess seems like we're all younger than i expected people to be with fertility challenges.  so when Dr. Mo came in for our ultrasound, she asked how the estrogen patches went and i told her it felt like there was a lot of action going on since i put them on last thursday.  and low and behold my feelings were right, my dominate follicle was at 18mm and the other was at 16mm!  she said she wished she could give the 16 a few more days to catch up, but at least the dominate one was at the appropriate size for us to get the HCG ovulation trigger shot.  on that note, i was saying my follicle sizes were in cm's but it's actually mm's.  back to the check up, she said that my estrogen patches sure did work because my lining had grown to 8cm {i think that's measured in cm's, i don't know anymore}.  

so we were given the green light to trigger ovulation sunday morning, and before we left we were given the tutorial on how to mix the hcg trigger shot and then we were done.  it was very surreal to know that we were just on the cusp of being able to "try," well with the help of an iui, but still it was a good feeling to know that my cycle progressed {albeit slowly}, but progressed without any issues thus far.  thank you Lord for that, because i know if this wasn't part of His plan the door could've been closed at any point.  

after our appointment we headed off to brunch at one of my favorite brunch places, Plum's and had a little post doc's visit brunch date.  mmm waffles... =)

it really was a great time together, we don't have a lot of time during the week to really talk and enjoy our time together.  it was really nice and very needed especially given all the conversations these days seem to revolve around babies, and trying to start a family... it was nice to just talk and enjoy each other's company like the old days.

we were told at our appointment that sunday morning i could go ahead and remove my estrogen patches and administer my hcg trigger shot.  so that morning J let me sleep in a little bit and came and woke me with the shot all mixed and an ice cube to use to numb the area.  so i sat for a few mins with the ice cub numbing the spot on my tummy chub {yes i said chub} for J to administer the shot.  i will say it did hurt a little, but it really wasn't that bad, however now i'm kinda wishing i would've done the upper thigh injection because anytime i sit down now it feels a little bruised and my waistbands seem to hit right on that spot.  

also, J had planned an early 30th bday celebration for me on sunday with my close girlfriends for a spa day, which couldn't have been any more perfectly timed given that the iui was going to be the next day.  so after getting my shot i hopped in the car with my green smoothie J made me and went to meet the girls at Burke Williams.

 i hadn't been there before, but it was amazing to spend time with 6 of my closest pals to loung around in robes, sit in a whirlpool {my last time doing that for a little while} with cucumber eye treatments, sauna, steam room, and all the amenities.  can i just tell you they have some of the best lemonade i've ever had!  they also had fresh fruits, spa water, tray passed frozen grapes, teas.... can you tell i enjoyed myself? haha, also since it was for my birthday i was given a complimentary enhancement to my massage... it was honestly one of the best massages i've had, i tend to really carry a ton of tension in my back so my firm Swedish/deep tissue massage was just perfect and just what i needed to take my mind off our iui that was coming up today, and it really helped relax me... just what the doctor ordered!

after our spa day we went and got a delightful lunch and headed home where i proceeded to pass out on the couch the rest of the day, what a bum i am!  later that night i realized after taking my last bath for awhile {RIP evening baths per Dr. Mo's orders} that my estrogen patches + my hcg injection site were super red and the injection site was raised and felt a little bruised... no bueno

the bottom red area is from one of my patches the top one is from my injection, yeah, note to self: if we do another injection i want to try it in my thigh.

so that brings us up to today {monday CD 19} IUI day!

as you can see above on my fertility friend chart it looks as though i did in fact ovulate!  temping for ovulation typically follows a pattern of ups + downs in the first 2 weeks of the cycle, then a low temp dip followed by a thermal shift up of at least .5* which it appears happened with my temp on iui day today. 

post iui procedure update to follow...