How did I end up here?

Last Tuesday, Jan. 28th was our egg retrieval. I was so happy that I had made it to this day and I could not wait to here all about embryos. We arrived at the office at 6:10. My aspiration was scheduled for 7:30. I was hooked up to an IV and met with the anesthesiologist and my doctor. I remember going into the procedure room and laying down in a very warm comfortable bed. They told me that they would give me some medicine to help me go to sleep. I could feel the burning of the pain medicine going through my IV. The next think I remember is waking up back in the same bed that I started out in. Jeremy was not back yet, but the nurse was there. I think I asked him at least 10 times how many eggs they retrieved (29!!!) I was still pretty out of it from the medication so I remembered that I had asked him but I just couldn't remember the answer. I was in a lot of pain and they gave me more medicine for it. Then I started to feel very nauseous so they gave me something for that. J came back and said his part went well except for the fact that the office had a broken VCR that day ... poor J !!
It wasn't too long before the embryologist came to let us know that his sample was good and we could go home as soon as I could get up and go to the bathroom. We were home around 11:45.
The following 2 days I felt very sick..almost flu like. I could not eat and it was extremely painful to move. I called the doctor and ended up going in on Thursday. They noticed some fluid beginning to collect on an ultrasound, but gave me instructions to eat salty food and drink a lot. On the way home we stopped and got a Target popcorn (very salty!) and a gatorade. Well, not to get into too much detail but that did not stay down for very long. The next few days until Sunday were really a blur. I was happy to hear that we had 19 embryos that were doing great. I, however, was not doing so great. I was unable to eat anything and I could only stomach very small amounts of liquid (about an ounce an hour). Every day was a battle to get through, but I wanted so badly to get to Sunday. Each night J would drag me out of bed to give me my progesterone shot and I would be so lightheaded I could barely stand up long enough for him to do the injection. We debated going to the hospital nightly and looking back that is definitely what we should have done. I was severely dehydrated and gaining a lot of fluid weight. But I just kept thinking, "maybe I will wake up tomorrow and feel better." I had been waiting so long to get to this IVF and I just couldn't bring myself to make the decision to end it by going to the hospital. Somehow, I made it to Sunday (transfer day)...
To Be Continued...

It's A Go!

Yesterday was a big scare in my little IVF world. Just to recap...
I have been to the RE (Dr. T) every day this week for bloodwork and ultrasound. Even though my dosages have been reduced almost daily, my estrogen level continued to rise. Yesterday the nurse called to let me know that my estrogen was very high and she wanted to prepare me for this cycle to be cancelled. First, we were going to try one night of "coasting." This means that I took only the Lupron- no Gonal F, no Menopur. She gave me a 50/50 chance that this cycle would continue.

This morning I went in for more bloodwork and another ultrasound. My poor arms. They are so bruised from 5 blood draws this week. It is a good thing the weather is still a little chilly and I can wear long sleeves. I have spent the past 24 hours trying to prepare myself for the cancellation of this IVF. I looked at the phone in the middle of church and there was a message from the nurse. I teared up just knowing it was there. I waited until I got home to listen to the message and call her back. And, we received great news. Although my E2 had risen since yesterday it had not skyrocketed to such a high amount that we would have to cancel. We will do the HCG trigger shot tonight and my egg retrieval (originally planned for Thursday) will be on Tuesday morning. I am so happy about this news. I feel like not much with infertility has ever gone my way, but finally this is something.

Tonight is J's first chance to give me an injection and it is a big, important one. He says he is not worried about it. I am worried about giving up this control to him. I would feel better about injecting it myself but I think I think that would be difficult (but not impossible) given the location.

The transfer will be either Friday or Sunday. After yesterday's scare I am back to my usually optimistic self. Just for fun, I went on an IVF due date calculator. If all of this results in pregnancy (and I really hope it does), my due date will be Oct. 20th. Of course I know that this might not work. I might not get pregnant, but for now I can't think about that. This is the closest I have ever been to pregnancy really happening so I am going to enjoy it for now. I have the 2 weeks after the embro transfer to freak out!

“To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping”
-Chinese Proverb

IVF Update

Yesterday was my first ultrasound and bloodwork check. I still have a lot of small follicles which is normal for this early on. My estrogen is really high though. From what I know, it should be right over 100 and mine was 751. This has me very concerned. They cut down my Gonal F from 225 to 150. I have another check scheduled for tomorrow. Since tomorrow is Day 6 I am hoping that we might have some measurable follies, but I am not sure if it is still too early. I was really hoping that they might cut out the menopur. I am not exactly sure what menopur does, but it burns and seems to inject sooo slowly!
I am feeling okay, but extremely tired. Today I almost fell asleep during a reading group. I definitely wish that there was a nap time in 2nd grade. I need it now. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow being Friday.
We are also still going by our original IVF calendar which means my egg retrieval will be Jan. 29th. I can't believe that this is less than a week away. It really is so surreal still. I have to get substitute plans ready since I will probably be out Thursday & Friday if all goes as planned.

IVF #1 is On...

Yesterday I got the go ahead to start the stimulation medication. I was worried because the girl doing the ultrasound said there were 2 areas that the doctor would "need to look at." Given my history of cysts and endo this was not good news and I spent the entire day a nervous wreck. It really was the entire day, too. I did not get the go ahead call until 6:00 pm.
I started the injections at my usual 7:30 time slot, but it turned into a 45 minute ordeal. It turns out I did not have the right needle needed for the Menopur injection. After going through my entire box of supplies several times I called the emergency nurse number. It turns out that the size needle that I needed was never ordered. The nurse apologized on the phone for not catching this error. I ended up having to use one of the HUGE needles and inserting it only half way. It really was not too bad once I got over the initial shock of the needle size.
So now I am on 3 injections nightly- Lupron, Gonal F and Menopur. I had me preop appointment for the egg retrieval today. It was uneventful and I was able to pick up the right needles for tonight.
So far giving these injections is going pretty smoothly. It takes awhile because I am double (and sometimes triple) checking the dosages.
My next appointment is on Wednesday. They think I may stim quickly (Yeah!) due to the large number of follicles on my ultrasound yesterday.
Today I also bought J a Valentine's card and then I started thinking that I could be pregnant by Valentine's Day... how exciting!