We had the retrieval at 6:30 yesterday morning. The IV was the worst part; the nurse stuck me twice before they found a vein. The procedure lasted 20 minutes and I was home by 8:30am. Dr. V retrieved 18 eggs! I had some mild cramping in my belly for the rest of the day, but nothing too bad.
Spoke with my IVF nurse this morning, 15 eggs fertilized!! That is the best news I have heard in months! So, now I wait to hear from them on Friday morning to see if when the transfer is going to take place!! Woohoo, 15!!!!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Harvest
It's almost time for the egg retrieval. Went and saw Dr. V this morning. I have 17 follicles; 9 big ones and 8 medium size. Dr. V said we are gonna go for all of them, but the 9 large are the most promising to produce a mature egg. Tonight at 6:45 I'm giving myself the ovidrel injection (to induce ovulation). We go in for the harvest at 5:30am Tuesday. It's go time. Keep your fingers crossed that we get lots of fertilized eggs!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Bloody Hell
Whoa, it's been a rough week and it's only Wednesday! Went to the Dr. on Monday to have my ovaries checked, 14 follicles! Got my blood work done at the lab. Everything was looking good. I was feeling great about the way things were going.
Tuesday morning I woke up gushing blood!! GUSHING! So, I called my IVF nurse and left message telling her that I thought I was bleeding to death. On my way to work I started feeling a bit weak and nauseous. Tuesday is deadline around here so I had to suck it up and keep working. Talked to the nurse around noon, at this point I was in panic mode. She said I needed to go the lab ASAP and have some blood tests run. Finally got done with work around 1:45 and headed straight for the lab, crying hysterically the whole way. Got my blood drawn and headed home. Waited, waited and waited some more. Nurse J called me back around 4 to tell me that she still hadn't gotten my results, but that she would wait around for a while so she could report back to me. She also told me that if my bleeding didn't slow down or something was off in my blood work that we would possibly have to cancel the IVF. Not what I wanted to hear! Cried some more, tried to sleep a bit. Finally, around 7 she called and said that the results still were not in and that she would call me first thing in the morning with the information. Needless to say, Tuesday was a long night and I had to take a Valium to calm my nerves and get some sleep.
Woke up this morning and to my surprise I had stopped gushing blood. In fact, my period seemed to be heading out the door. Yay!! Nurse J called when I was on my way into the office. Blood work is all good! We can continue with our IVF plan! Still don't know why I was bleeding to death, but it's almost over now and I'm happy that we will be able to stay on track. So, back to the lab in the morning for more blood work and then off to the Dr. for another follicle check. We are getting close to the retrieval; should be sometime this weekend or Monday.
Tuesday morning I woke up gushing blood!! GUSHING! So, I called my IVF nurse and left message telling her that I thought I was bleeding to death. On my way to work I started feeling a bit weak and nauseous. Tuesday is deadline around here so I had to suck it up and keep working. Talked to the nurse around noon, at this point I was in panic mode. She said I needed to go the lab ASAP and have some blood tests run. Finally got done with work around 1:45 and headed straight for the lab, crying hysterically the whole way. Got my blood drawn and headed home. Waited, waited and waited some more. Nurse J called me back around 4 to tell me that she still hadn't gotten my results, but that she would wait around for a while so she could report back to me. She also told me that if my bleeding didn't slow down or something was off in my blood work that we would possibly have to cancel the IVF. Not what I wanted to hear! Cried some more, tried to sleep a bit. Finally, around 7 she called and said that the results still were not in and that she would call me first thing in the morning with the information. Needless to say, Tuesday was a long night and I had to take a Valium to calm my nerves and get some sleep.
Woke up this morning and to my surprise I had stopped gushing blood. In fact, my period seemed to be heading out the door. Yay!! Nurse J called when I was on my way into the office. Blood work is all good! We can continue with our IVF plan! Still don't know why I was bleeding to death, but it's almost over now and I'm happy that we will be able to stay on track. So, back to the lab in the morning for more blood work and then off to the Dr. for another follicle check. We are getting close to the retrieval; should be sometime this weekend or Monday.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Stimmy Stim Stims
Saw Dr. V yesterday for my baseline ultra sound; no cysts on the ovaries. Everything is looking good and we are right on schedule. I start the Gonal-f (stims) tonight. My belly already has a bunch of little bruises from the Lupron injections and now I have to ad another one. I'll make sure and take a picture of my pin cushion stomach to post on here when I'm all done. Two injections everyday for the next two weeks, it doesn't get much better than this.
After he did the ultra sound he tried to map my uterus so things could go smoothly on the day of the transfer. That didn't go so well. My uterus point straight down, so it makes things a little difficult. He couldn't do it without making me super uncomfortable, so we just decided to stop. When I have my retrieval he's going to have to put a stitch in my uterus to hold it in place. Thankfully, I will be under twilight anesthesia.
So far so good. I go in on Monday to have my first follicle check and lab tests to check my estrogen levels.
After he did the ultra sound he tried to map my uterus so things could go smoothly on the day of the transfer. That didn't go so well. My uterus point straight down, so it makes things a little difficult. He couldn't do it without making me super uncomfortable, so we just decided to stop. When I have my retrieval he's going to have to put a stitch in my uterus to hold it in place. Thankfully, I will be under twilight anesthesia.
So far so good. I go in on Monday to have my first follicle check and lab tests to check my estrogen levels.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Rest & Rays
This weekend was great. Spent a lot of time doing things that made me feel good. Friday night Chris and I had a nice little pizza party and caught up on our shows. I'm so glad that my favorite Thursday night shows are back on. Saturday morning I got up early and went to the farmers market with Tab. Got lots of good stuff this week. Beautiful hydroponic tomatoes, lots of kale, and some great ravioli from the Austin Pasta Company. I cleaned the house for hours on Saturday afternoon. A clean house always makes me rest easier. I haven't been cooking that much lately because Chris is gone a lot during the week with class, or remodeling jobs. So, Saturday night I made a delicious meal. I marinated some chicken boobs in lemon and olive oil all day and grilled um up. Then I cooked up the ravioli from the farmers market. It was stuffed with ricotta cheese, walnuts and apple wood smoked bacon, mmmm... Whipped up the kale with some caramelized onions and mushrooms a little brown butter sauce and a tasty Pinot Gregio. It was superb! Sunday was great too. Watched La Vie En Rose while enjoying my whole grain cinnamon toast and over easy egg. Read a book while bathing in the beautiful sun and went for a nice long walk at a park by our house.
It's great how a little relaxation and sunlight can cheer me up. I'm feeling better, still optimistic and ready for everything to fall into place.
It's great how a little relaxation and sunlight can cheer me up. I'm feeling better, still optimistic and ready for everything to fall into place.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Blah
I'm usually in great spirits on Fridays since the weekend is almost here. I wish that were the case today. I'm feeling overly emotional and blah. Feeling sorry for myself. Whenever a wave of this comes on I just ride it until it passes. I think I have every right to wallow in self pity. I'm ready for this journey to be over.
Whenever I feel this way all the things that people, friends and family have said to me over the last year start popping in my head. The thoughtless ugly diarrhea words that spewed from their mouths. This is very delicate situation, so I understand that people don't know what to say and love to offer up their opinions and thoughts on what we should do. Please, please think before you speak. Don't tell me to relax, put my legs in the air after sex or go on vacation. Those things don't work when you have fertility issues. Please, stop offering up the option of adoption. I think adoption is a great thing, but we are not there yet. Don't act like you know exactly what you would do if you were in my situation. Cause, honestly, you have absolutely no idea how you would act. I had my plan on what I was willing to do to have a baby and man how that plan has changed. Yes, I'm taking hormones, and yes I know the possible side effects. So, please don't tell me your opinion on them, I don't care what you think. Take a look at all the things you put in your body that could cause cancer and illness (cigarettes, alcohol drugs!!). C'mon people think before you speak.
Woo, it felt good to get that off my chest.
Whenever I feel this way all the things that people, friends and family have said to me over the last year start popping in my head. The thoughtless ugly diarrhea words that spewed from their mouths. This is very delicate situation, so I understand that people don't know what to say and love to offer up their opinions and thoughts on what we should do. Please, please think before you speak. Don't tell me to relax, put my legs in the air after sex or go on vacation. Those things don't work when you have fertility issues. Please, stop offering up the option of adoption. I think adoption is a great thing, but we are not there yet. Don't act like you know exactly what you would do if you were in my situation. Cause, honestly, you have absolutely no idea how you would act. I had my plan on what I was willing to do to have a baby and man how that plan has changed. Yes, I'm taking hormones, and yes I know the possible side effects. So, please don't tell me your opinion on them, I don't care what you think. Take a look at all the things you put in your body that could cause cancer and illness (cigarettes, alcohol drugs!!). C'mon people think before you speak.
Woo, it felt good to get that off my chest.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Claws
Mine are out! It has to be the hormones. I have no patience for anyone, everything is irritating me. When I had my visit at the acupuncturist on Tuesday she added some points for my mood. I felt great when my session was over. Then, I start heading home and get stuck in traffic for an hour. So, by the time I get home, I'm pissy again. ARGH!
Everything is going as planned with the IVF. Had an ultrasound on Monday, no cysts on the ovaries. Started the lupron injections on Tuesday morning, it stung like a bumble bee, and left a whelp. I'm getting used to it, wasn't that bad this morning. Went to a IVF seminar last night, it was very informative and answered a lot of our questions. Our IVF nurse called this morning and informed Chris that we are going to have to do ICSI after the retrieval. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) (pronounced "ICK-see") is a procedure used in conjunction with IVF in which a laboratory technician, using a microscope, attempts to inject a single sperm directly into each egg. Chris has a really high sperm count and his motility is great too, but his morphology is a little on the low side. Yes, yes, I know way more about sperm than I ever wanted to. Basically some of his spermys are misshapen and could have problems penetrating the egg. We don't want to take the chance of not getting any fertilized eggs, so ICSI is our best bet. Just another step of the process. I go back next week for my baseline ultrasound before I start my Gonal-f (stimulates my ovaries to produce lots of follicles). Dr. V is going to do a mock transfer at that time to map my uterus. Ha! I would think with all the time that man spends looking in my uterus he would know it blind folded, but if it helps him on the day of the embryo transfer it's fine with me. I wonder if I can get a copy of that map?
Gonna go have some fun tonight, hopefully it will help my moodiness. Chris and I got tickets to see The Mars Volta; they always put on a good show. I plan on having a few alcoholic beverages. Shit, more than two these days and I'm drunk.
Everything is going as planned with the IVF. Had an ultrasound on Monday, no cysts on the ovaries. Started the lupron injections on Tuesday morning, it stung like a bumble bee, and left a whelp. I'm getting used to it, wasn't that bad this morning. Went to a IVF seminar last night, it was very informative and answered a lot of our questions. Our IVF nurse called this morning and informed Chris that we are going to have to do ICSI after the retrieval. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) (pronounced "ICK-see") is a procedure used in conjunction with IVF in which a laboratory technician, using a microscope, attempts to inject a single sperm directly into each egg. Chris has a really high sperm count and his motility is great too, but his morphology is a little on the low side. Yes, yes, I know way more about sperm than I ever wanted to. Basically some of his spermys are misshapen and could have problems penetrating the egg. We don't want to take the chance of not getting any fertilized eggs, so ICSI is our best bet. Just another step of the process. I go back next week for my baseline ultrasound before I start my Gonal-f (stimulates my ovaries to produce lots of follicles). Dr. V is going to do a mock transfer at that time to map my uterus. Ha! I would think with all the time that man spends looking in my uterus he would know it blind folded, but if it helps him on the day of the embryo transfer it's fine with me. I wonder if I can get a copy of that map?
Gonna go have some fun tonight, hopefully it will help my moodiness. Chris and I got tickets to see The Mars Volta; they always put on a good show. I plan on having a few alcoholic beverages. Shit, more than two these days and I'm drunk.
Friday, April 4, 2008
April Showers
It's been dark, gloomy and extremely humid all week. The rain is good for my garden, but not so good for my mood. I can tend to get a little blue from the lack of sunlight. Hopefully, the sun will show it's pretty face this weekend.
Things are going good with the IVF so far. I had my consultation with my IVF nurse on Tuesday. She went over the whole plan with me. Answered all my questions and set my mind at ease. Yesterday was my first appointment with the fertility acupuncturist; it went OK. I have had acupuncture many times before, but never like this. It was all done on the backs of my legs, top of my ass and two needles in my arm. The needles on the backs of my legs and buttocks were hooked up to a little machine which gave electrical impulses for the session. It didn't hurt at all, but was weird. I still managed to relax and drift off for a little power nap. I'll be seeing them two times a week up until my embryo transfer. The day of our transfer I will be in twice; once an hour before and then an hour after.
The next month is going to filled with appointments. Going through the IVF process is like having a 2nd job that you pay for.
xo - yaz
Things are going good with the IVF so far. I had my consultation with my IVF nurse on Tuesday. She went over the whole plan with me. Answered all my questions and set my mind at ease. Yesterday was my first appointment with the fertility acupuncturist; it went OK. I have had acupuncture many times before, but never like this. It was all done on the backs of my legs, top of my ass and two needles in my arm. The needles on the backs of my legs and buttocks were hooked up to a little machine which gave electrical impulses for the session. It didn't hurt at all, but was weird. I still managed to relax and drift off for a little power nap. I'll be seeing them two times a week up until my embryo transfer. The day of our transfer I will be in twice; once an hour before and then an hour after.
The next month is going to filled with appointments. Going through the IVF process is like having a 2nd job that you pay for.
xo - yaz
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