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 15: bring on the estrogen!

today was another check in with Dr. Mo, she asked if i was making any progress, and i thought "how the heck would i know??"  she checked my ovaries and my right one is proving to be a total dud, i remember the first ultrasound i had with the clomid round last fall with my FAVORITE u/s tech Marty {which i can't wait to start going to see her again}, anyhow Marty said that my right ovary was really "shy."  meaning that it's waaaay off in right field, so it really doesn't surprise me that i don't have any follicles growing on that one.  but on the left today Dr. Mo said i now have two follicles in the running, one that's 15cm and one that's 13cm!  hooray, that means there may actually be more than one target to hit when it comes time for the iui.

while my follicles are starting to look good, she did say my uterine lining was pretty whimpy.  she said she'd like to see it at 8cm, and right now it's at a measly 5cm... dang it.  when we tried the clomid round each ultra sound i had Marty commented on how beautiful or fluffy my lining was {almost like being told you look prett, haha}. so it's a little odd given that one of the major side effects of taking clomid is that it can thin your lining, and the up side to femara is that it usually doesn't... but o'well c'est la vie.

they had a solution, and i am now sporting two new vivelle-dot estrogen patches...  and i didn't really think before and i just slapped them on.... upside down, go me!

the nurse said you can either double them up on one side of your lower tummy, or one on each side... and now that i think about it, i probably should've just doubled them up on the left for the sake of helping my left follicles to grow, but i did one on each side.

Dr. Mo also said she's thinking our iui could be monday or tuesday, but would need to see what happens this weekend... huh?  as far as i knew my RE's office wasn't open on weekends, so i asked "sooo, when should i come back in for my next scan?"  she said saturday, so ok 9am saturday it is, and you better believe J is coming with me and taking me to brunch after =).   i guess they open up shop if patients need to be seen, which is comforting because i was starting to wonder what would happen if something needed to be done on a weekend, especially since fertility and cycles still march on over the weekends.

funny thing is, as soon as i drove away from the doc's office all of a sudden i got really flushed and felt little throbbing type feelings right under the areas where my patches were {kinda like i could feel my ovaries working}.  so i'm gonna assume that means the patches were already working... hormones + hot flashes here i come!  yeah, probably should've asked what the side effects are of the patches but i like to live life on the edge, i'm figuring out that sometimes in this process it's better not knowing what i "might" expect...

oh, and on a happy note: i got my hair did tonight, last month i had my friend/stylist add more lowlights to my hair, which i'm not really a big fan of too many lowlights since i feel like i start to look my hair is always dirty {it's a blonde thing}.  so tonight she added more of my platinum back in just in time for my big 3-0 that's quickly approaching on the 28th, ack!

 and it's also just in time for our glorious so cal weather to return again, hooray! will follow up after saturday's check in...

a new year, a new cycle...

{just FYI i drafted this over a week ago and am now finally getting around to posting it}

happy new year to anyone who may have happened to stumble upon my blog, i'm convinced due to my blog analytics that anyone reading this is viewing my blog completely by accident due to the "keyword" searches being done to end up here, but whatever... as of Christmas there hadn't been any sign of late ovulation so i went ahead and started a progesterone challenge to start a new cycle knowing that i should end up with a new cycle right around the start of the year.  after about a little over a week my cycle started, which was a relief i think to both my husband and i... i personally think you start to get a little hormonally outta whack when you go too long without a period, and i think he would agree with me that i was getting quite snippy without actually PMS'ing...  we discussed that when we got back from traveling to see family for Christmas and being up in Arrowhead for new years we would move forward with our first IUI cycle this month.

so i will warn you that due to a random series of events leading up to yesterday i'm a little down emotionally, but i'm determined to blog whenever i visit the doc for posterity's sake.  anyhow, yesterday was CD 5 {cycle day}, and the protocol is to go in on days 3, 4, or 5 to have an u/s {ultrasound} to check your uterine lining + follicles, and yep they're both still there.... it was interesting because my u/s lasted no longer than 2 minutes, and they had me back up at the front desk.  since i have no fertility benefits/coverage they did let me know now that they're actively trying to help us conceive, they wouldn't be billing insurance.  cash it is... and that 2 minutes of my time was a solid $105, which could be worse, however when i told my attorney husband he said "man i picked the wrong profession." and on the topic of money, we've decided since we have a nest egg saved {we had originally intended that money to be for purchasing a home, we've since decided we will use some of it to go towards IUI rounds}.  now if the IUIs aren't successful we may have to revaluate things when we get there to decide what our priorities are at that point.  but for now we've decided since we have the money saved we'll just use our Starwood card to pay for all of it and pay it off as we go with the funds we have saved, in hopes that we might be able to use those points to go on a babymoon {well that's more my wishful thinking perhaps}.  also, i did ask Dr. Mo what she thought about Femara vs. Clomid, and she said it's for women who haven't really responded to clomid... and then said we can do Femara, and seeing how my OB only did one cycle of clomid at 50mg {the lowest dose}, we could've tried a hight dose, however i was leaning more toward wanting to try Femara and stay away from Clomid if possible.

so here they are... my 10 little femara pills which i'll be taking twice a day for the next 5 days till i get to CD9.  Dr. Mo started me at 5mg {the mid range dose}, so we'll see how that plays out.

also, she wanted to make sure i was on a prenatal + DHA, so they gave me an assortment of prenatal samples that fit the bill {let's be honest at $100+ a visit i would sure hope there are freebies coming along with my expensive visits}!

so i'll be on this regimen till friday {1.11} and then i'll head back for my CD12 scan to see where my follicles + uterine lining are at.  and not to sound like a debbie downer, but knowing me chances are good that i won't be ready for the trigger injection yet.  just knowing that it took some time to see results when i was taking clomid last september i'm thinking it might be the same with the femara, but we'll see.  and just in case i forget what the tentative plan of attack is they gave me a cycle guide for the next month of my life, which you'll see in the photo above....

so i'll check back next week after my CD 12 doctor's visit

2nd appointment with the RE: test results + metformin

today was my second appointment with my RE, and i feel at little more at ease compared with last night... just so i can get it off my chest and move on to the point of this post, i must share another facebook story...

i know, i know... but, i happened to log into FB to see a comment from a friend who was wanting to buy our SC tickets for this weekend's game, and there it was... another pregnancy announcement {boo}.  only this time it was this particular couples' third pregnancy announcement in what feels like the past year {but it's actually been more like the past 4 years}.  needless to say, she was announcing that they were so surprised to find out they weren't just expecting another baby, but 3, yes count them THREE babies naturally.  so of course my jaw dropped to the floor and so did my heart to see that not only did they accidentally get pregnant with a third child but this pregnancy will potentially add triplets to their already family of four.  {side note: why do people really call un-planned pregnancies surprises?? seriously people, we're all adults, we know how babies are conceive, is it really a surprise if you aren't doing anything to prevent it??}  ok, rant over... but i really do believe that God has an awesome sense of humor, and it took me an hour or two to get it.... no, i'm not laughing at them or wishing them ill will, i will for sure be praying for that family.  but even though i want nothing more than to become a mom to at least one child, i couldn't even image the stress and fear going through their minds planning for how to cary, birth and take care of triplets.  for the first time since ttc, i am not envious of their pregnancy, maybe God has softened my heart... i'm hoping so!

ok, now back to regularly scheduled programming:

so i met the RE bright and early this morning, and i found out the following...
 
       *  i am Vitamin D deficient: time to start soaking up more of that So Cal sun, no dear husband pool time isn't as bad for me as you've tried to convince me it is! =) actually dr. M suggested i take 2000mg of Vita D a day to help with that.

      * my thyroid is borderline off... my dad has suspected this for years because i could sleep all day long if allowed to, however over the years the "basic" thyroid tests have said i'm just fine... i guess it took a little digging to get to the bottom of this one... bottom line, not treatment right now, but when i do get pregnant they will need to keep an eye on me to ensure i don't miscarry.

       * my blood glucose levels were on the high end: she said the top of the range is a 5.6 and i was at a 5.5, so she said she felt good about putting me on metformin {hooray}, maybe i won't be saying that in a few days, take a look at the list of side effects + warnings on the bottle... oh dear...

from what i understand, metformin{a diabetes drug} will help balance out what seems like insulin resistance in my body, and lower androgen levels too {which i already know i produce too much of due to the cystic hormonal acne i have, the funky hair growth, funky cycles + lack of ovulation, as well as the tummy weight i've put on in the past year due to being borderline insulin resistant}.  androgens play a big role in PCOS, and it is so not glamorous, but i'm excited to be moving forward to treat this issues that have developed over the past year.  she did mention that this can do a number on your body and act as a diarrhetic in the beginning and can make you nauseous, so she's prescribed 750mg 1x per day for 1 week and if i handle it alright after the first week to add a second pill each day...  i'm feeling a lot better about treating my body in a way that should help get my body to doing what it's supposed to rather than just shocking it into submission by forcing it to ovulate {a la Clomid}.  so this is positive #1 for me today.

       *  the other genetic testing came back negative as well as our STD panels {which we weren't worried about since we were abstinent till we were married, yet it's a test docs are require to do according to CA law}... so it's nice to know those preliminary things are out of the way.

         *  dr. Mo also double checked my ovarian reserve too... this is positive #2 from today!  she said they like to see a number over 1-2 and i was a 12!!!  apparently my ovaries are very healthy, have tons of eggs, they just need to start working on maturing them and releasing them again on a regular basis... so Praise the Lord i have plenty of fertile eggs, and time to have babies.  she did reiterate that because i have so many eggs that i would be at a super high risk of hyper-ovulation if we ever did injectable treatments and i would have to be watched very closely should we even decided to pursue IVF down the road.  but i'll take lots of eggs any day.

so, i'm excited to start down the road to hopefully, Lord willing, getting my body, cycles, and hormones back in balance, and after Thanksgiving we will see Dr. Mo if we're ready at that point to move forward with IUI.