Pregnant

This morning I went in for my first of three blood tests.  I was so nervous all the way to the doctor's office and all the way home.  The phlebometamist said that my blood needed time to clot and she would have results around 9:45.  This was at 9.  When I went in for my transfer the doctor said I would have results in less than two hours.  When two hours came and went, I called the office.  No one answered, so I left a message for the on call staff.  Thirty minutes later, no one had called back.  The message when I originally called said to expect a return call in under 15 minutes. I decided to call back in, because I may not have left my original message on the correct answering system.  About 15 minutes later, we got a phone call from the nurse. I put her on speaker phone for the hubby to hear.  She asked me how I was doing, I thought she was being pretty chipper if she was going to deliver any bad news. Anyway, she said, "I just got off the phone with the lab and your HCG level was a 9.6"  There was a pause as I processed the fact anything over a 5 meant pregnancy and I said, "I'm pregnant?!"  She said, "Yes, you are pregnant, congratulations!"  She did say my levels were on the low end, so she was going to call the doctor and consult with him.  A few minutes later my doctor called back and increased my progesterone from one shot a day to two shots a day.  I go back on Tuesday for a second blood draw.  We are praying that the HCG number has at least doubled or more.  I also go back on Thursday morning.

Here are some fun facts...

A few weeks ago my mom had a prediction that she would find out I was pregnant the same day she found out my sister was accepted into medical school. Guess what, my sister found out late last night and we announced this afternoon!

The due date will probably be November 5, 2011.

I am guessing we are pregnant with one wonderful baby, but we find out for sure in a couple weeks!

I think this is a HUGE testament to the power of prayer.  Thanks again for all of your love, support, and prayers. Please keep praying for my numbers to rise and a healthy pregnancy.

The hubby and I are ecstatic.  I think this is the second happiest day of my life (the first was marrying my dear husband)!

In the 2 Week Wait Update

So, I am feeling a little more optimistic.  There are a few reasons, so I will go through them chronologically backward.

Through this whole journey I have had this really terrible thought process that maybe my inability to become pregnant was somehow God's way of punishing me for my actions when I was younger.  Today at church the sermon was about love.  The part that jumped out at me was when the pastor talked about our God not being a God of retribution.  If our God was a God of retribution, we would all be, well in pretty bad shape if here at all!  Instead we have a God of love.  A God who has made us in His image and forgives us, because he is a loving God.  I am so thankful we went to church this morning, because this was the message I needed to hear.  Not to mention, our pastors are so kind.  As soon as we walked in both pastors came right up!  One of them pointed at us (like we were just the people he wanted to see) and walked over, sat down, and asked how IVF was going. Despite the fact he had tons of people to talk to, he sat and checked in with us right until church started.  He really seems to understand what infertility and trying to conceive is like.  It makes me wonder if he has had first hand experience, because he is so compassionate.  Just in case you are wondering, we had two pastors today, the one who gave the sermon was our intern pastor from Wisconsin and the one who sat with us for a while is our normal pastor.  Anyway, it was so nice to hear messages of love. 

On that note, I cannot even begin to tell all of you how much your love and support have helped the past few days especially.  I appreciate your prayers, love, friendship, and sisterhood more than I can even imagine.  Whether it's remembering us with flowers, a note on your Facebook comments, a comment on our blog, a call, or text, it has been exponentially helpful.  I am so blessed to have you in my lives.

I have been having some abdominal cramps which I think is a good sign.  I have had a series of other comical symptoms, but I chalk them all up to my daily shots of progesterone and estrogen patches.  Just for fun-sake here is what I'm experiencing: I am SO hungry,  I am wanting to eat some different foods than normal like fried chicken, I am nearly to a point where I want to sleep with a bra on, I have gagged twice- once over the smell of a dry erase marker being used on a white board and later when my piece of pizza had a tiny piece of Italian sausage that had a faint flavor of anise. They truly are a result of the drugs I am on.  They want your body to think and act like it's pregnant hoping the embryos have implanted.  The result is symptoms that are very difficult to sort out from what's pregnancy and what's drugs.  It's all sort of comical though.

Another piece of information that I found helpful was that embryos don't typically do well after day 6 outside of the uterus.  They much prefer to be toasting like buns in an oven in a natural environment.  I felt much better learning and understanding this.  The doctor said the fact the others didn't make it to freeze had no impact on the success of the ones that were transferred.

I am more at peace, more hopeful, and am thinking positive thoughts at this point. The wait is really seeming crazy long at this point, fortunately I have a busy next couple of weeks at work to keep me rather distracted!

Thanks again for all of your love and support.

Remaining Embryo Update

Today was our day to call and see how many of our remaining embryos were frozen.  We had 7 contending and were excited because that could mean if this cycle doesn't work, I would easily be able to go through a much more simple process to try again or if it did work and we wanted more kids in the future, go through a frozen embryo transfer.  In my mind I had thought, investment wise, if this cycle didn't work, we would keep going until the frozen embryos had been used and that would be it.  That's where I would end this crazy journey. 
Well, the doctor let me know today that none of the embryos made it to be frozen.  I am crushed.  I have prayed and prayed and prayed some more that the two embryos inside of me make themselves comfortable and are carried to a full term pregnancy.  I feel like I have pleaded with God.  I'm not even sure if I can explain to most people how deeply rooted this desire to have children is and how if it doesn't happen, it's probably going to be some of the biggest grief I have ever dealt with. 
This whole process has been such a roller coaster anyway.  From monthly negative pregnancy tests to bad test results to my tubes being blocked and then finally figuring out the finances involved, I have shed so many tears.  Yet, I feel like in the end God has always taken care of us.  Something has always worked out.  So, I'm just trusting right now that this is all in God's hands.  There is nothing more we can do, but wait and pray.  I was worried about what might possibly happen with the other embryos if they had to be frozen for a long amount of time and now I don't have that worry.  I just have one big impending thought of whether I'm pregnant or not.  I'm not even sure if I can vocalize all of this. I was barely able to tell the dear husband and didn't make much of any eye contact when we ate lunch together.  I just knew if I did, I'd lost it and spend the lunch hour crying.  So forgive me for not telling anyone this in person or even over the phone with my voice, I'm just not able to right now.
Please, please keep praying for the two that are in my uterus to implant and be a successful pregnancy.

Transfer Day Update

Today was the transfer! Yay! We drove over toward the doctor's office early so we could stop for breakfast to celebrate the husband's birthday.  After breakfast we got to our appointment about an hour early, but that was just fine, they were ready for us.  I dressed in my cap and gown and the hubby got to wear a cute blue pantsuit.  We talked to the nurse, talked to the doctor, signed our release to have two embryos transferred, and talked to the embryologist.  The embryologist gave us a picture of our embryos to be transferred! Out of the embryos we had yesterday we used the one that was at 8 cells yesterday and one of the ones that had been at 4 cells had almost caught up! Next we were wheeled back to the room they did my retrieval and would do the transfer.  There are two sets of doors and they are never open at the same time to try and keep as much of a sterile environment as possible.  Once we were all in the hallway we shut one door and opened the next.  We put on our little face masks anytime the embryos were out or the lab glass window was open.  At this point the doctor did an ultrasound to see if my bladder was full enough, it wasn't, so we waited.  He did another ultrasound and my bladder still wasn't full enough, so we waited some more.  Finally, I was ready to go.  The transfer itself is super easy.  They use a catheter filled with about 2cc of liquid and push the embryos in.  What was not fun was the catheter to drain my bladder. Ick. That pain quickly passed and I just layed there for an hour resting before being "discharged".  I've been laying down all day since and am just sending prayers and positive thoughts for these little embryos to implant!

Update - Night Before Transfer

This morning I had an ultrasound and labs.  My labs today included a urinalysis. I hate peeing in public bathrooms, especially when I know I need to give a urine sample.  I had to leave the lab and come back! At my ultrasound the doctor said I should definitely be able to pee because my bladder was full, I think it was just nerves. Anyway, there was some fluid in my abdomen and my ovaries were a little larger, but all in all I am okay.  I was glad that I didn't have OHSS or had hyper stimmed. I think there is still a small risk, but for now we are doing good. I am still keeping up on my fluids and drinking EmergenC.  I talked to the doctor and we are confident in our decision to put two oocytes in tomorrow.  Hopefully one or both of them implant! The embryologist said that this morning there was one 8 cell blastocyst, two 6 cell, and six two to four cell.  The ones that haven't grown as much have the rest of the week to grow, so that's okay.

Tomorrow is the hubby's birthday too! Should be an exciting day.  I am giddy thinking about tomorrow being such a big day!

Day 15

This morning the doctor called to give us a fertilization report.  We had opted to use ICSI which is Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection.  This process injects a single sperm into the oocyte in order to increase the chances of fertilization. Out of the 20 eggs, the doctor performed ICSI on 18 of them.  The benefit of keeping two off to the side is to see if they would have fertilized on their own, in our case they did not.  Out of the 18 that did fertilize, 9 are developing and growing normally so far.  This is a good number.  A lot of women only start with 10 eggs and go down from there, so to have 9 in the running is excellent.  In a strange way knowing that they fertilized only with ICSI is reaffirming too.  Moving on to IVF was the best move for us, because IUI (where they just inject the sperm into the uterus to mimic normal conception and is much less invasive) would not have been successful for us.  Between my tubes and needing to use ICSI, I am very confident we made an appropriate decision.  I won't get a report tomorrow, but the doctor does want to touch base with me to monitor for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome or OHSS.  In fact, I need to go weight myself as part of the monitoring.  I am feeling okay today, sleepy and sore, but doing okay.  I'm so relieved to know we have 9 little embryos in the making.

Day 14- Retrieval

We got up at 5 this morning to be to the doctor's office by 6.  The sleeping pill wasn't at all what I expected.  It took me a bit to fall asleep and the only difference I noticed was not remembering my dreams.  I woke up to my alarm clock just fine.  The hubby gave me valium this morning.  I kept my eyes closed all the way there I think.  When we arrived they took me down to my pre-op room. It was decorated very comfortably, like a guest bedroom.  They rubbed some numbing medicine on my hand before giving me my IV. I was glad, because it still pinched a tiny bit.  Can't imagine if they hadn't! I just took off the cotton ball and have a bump and bruise.  They hooked up the monitors and the doctor slowly gave me some anti-nausea medicine, some drugs for conscious sedation, and something else I think.  He injected them really slow so they wouldn't burn.  Other than a few seconds of mild burn, it was not bad at all.  After prepping me, they had the hubby give me a good bye kiss.  They wheeled me to the operating room.  I didn't think I could feel the sedation, until it was time to roll to the other bed.  My body just didn't want to move.  Of course I was able to cooperate and got up on the table fine.  They put my legs in holsters and had me scoot to the edge of the table.  From that point it felt like an annual exam.  I could feel the speculum, them prepping the area by cleaning it, etc. 
Retrieval from my right ovary went smoothly.  I don't remember any pinching.  My left ovary was trickier.  They did not have to go through the bladder like they thought, but it was still a lot of pinching sort of pain.  To put this in perspective, there is a long needle attached to a vaginal ultrasound probe.  Since they have to be so careful, I have to lay very still.  I was thankful during some of the painful ultrasounds he had worked with me to take deep breaths.  Anytime I felt pain, I just breathed in deep, held it, and exhaled slow.  At one point I was breathing lots of deep breaths, but it got me through.  I tried so hard to lay still, but it was difficult.  I grabbed the edges of the bed to stabilize myself and that helped.  I also did not go ever go all the way under.  Afterword they told the hubby it might have just been how nervous I was that I stayed so conscious.  I don't remember feeling nervous, was just so curious about the procedure and what they were doing with my potential babies!
After the procedure the doctor said it was the most difficult retrieval he had done.  This is just because of where my left ovary is located.  It tucks in between my other organs and is very lateral.  Out of the 20 eggs they retrieved, only 7 were from the left.  They sent me with a prescription for pain medication.  This is because they thought I'd be sore from working so hard to get to the left ovary.  Overall things went really well.  My 20 eggs is a great outcome.  Out of those, I expect around 15 to fertilize.  Tomorrow we get a phone call to let us know.  Hopefully, we will have some to transfer and some to freeze. 
I am feeling a little nauseated and pretty groggy. I slept when we got home.  I finally had a little to eat about an hour ago.  I am feeling okay, but to be very honest I am nervous to pee.  The catheter still pinched, even with some sedation and numbing medicine.  It was not as bad as the one I had in the emergency room, but it still really hurts.  The nurses and doctor were so kind though.  They kept tell me I did a good job and were telling me how well I did. I had the easy part, they had the difficult one!  One of the nurses stood beside me the whole time just to comfort me, which was so nice to just feel like someone was monitoring me in ways a machine can't.  They figured out quickly that I wiggle my toes when I am in pain, ha ha.
The hubby has been taking good care of me. He made us breakfast burritos for lunch.  I told him to make something soft because chewing would be way too tiring.  I also drank some EmergenC.  A random thing I learned that all of you could use, is to get in electrolytes a lot of people think Gatorade.  To put it bluntly the nurse said Gatorade is crap.  She instead suggested V8 or EmergenC.  I will admit the EmergenC is not the best drink I've ever had.  It takes like diluted vitamins, but it does the trick. 
Oh and the funny moment, to me anyway, is that when they were finishing up I felt a very cold sensation down under.  I asked the doctor what he was doing and they said it was the speculum, that he was just doing a final check.  I said, "Oh, okay, I was worried you were putting an ice cube in." We all laughed.
Well, I am pretty tired, so I am signing off.  Since I know part of the medications were to leave me with little memory of the process, I wanted to write while I could still remember as much as possible.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. Hopefully, tomorrow I will update with how many have fertilized and how the hubby did giving me my progesterone shot.  Have a nice day.

Day 12 and 13

Day 12  was exciting! At my ultrasound the doctor decided it was time to give me directions for my trigger shot.  This shot gets the eggs ready for ovulation.  This was also the first shot Jasotn had to do. He did a good job.
Day 13 was easy, no shots! I have taken a sleeping pill and am just waiting for it to kick in.  Tomorrow morning we will go in for my egg retrieval! I am so excited! Hopefully  there will  be lots of eggs and a smooth retrieval.  They may have to go through my bladder to get to the left ovary, but otherwise it should be a straight forward procedure.  Now off to bed, hope my sleeping pill kicks in.

Day 11 update

This morning the doctor informed me that its looking more like Sunday or Monday now.  I was a little disappointed. We have been so patient and it just keeps feeling like the wait is longer and longer.  I realize it's like one or two days, but that's one or two more days of shots, waiting, blood draws, trips out of town, etc.  I started out thinking, I can do anything for 9 days. Now that I am on day 11 of shots and looking out to a few more days, it's difficult not to know when the retrieval will be.  They kept my dose up today.  They are worried if they back off I will regress.  I am feeling more cramped every day.  I think this God forcing me to learn patience.  This is a crazy process, that's for sure.  Oh and I had the lab use my left arm again, which felt like a hard pinch and she barely got the blood to flow. Back to the right arm again tomorrow I guess.  My left arm bruised quite a bit too.  I have bruises on both arms, but maybe the right one will feel better since it had a couple days "off".  Keep praying for growth.

Day 10 Update

This morning started out a little rough. There was bad weather, crappy roads, and it took longer to get to my appointment.  I called to let the office know I would either be on time or be late if I went to get my labs done first.  We are suppose to get labs done first usually.  They said to go ahead and get labs done, then come in.  Well when I got to the lab they didn't have my lab slip. So, I had to wait while the doctor's office faxed them over.  I had the lab tech draw my blood from my left arm today, it felt a lot better. We were nervous for a second because it took a little extra tap on the needle to get my blood flowing.  I couldn't believe how different it felt in my other arm.  I think I will have them draw from the left arm tomorrow as well.  I'm trying to keep up on my fluids so that it's easier to do the blood draws, so far it's working.  In this process I know I have done well over 40 vials of blood and it's not even close to over.  After my lab work I had to wait for an opening at the doctor's office. I was a little frustrated because I didn't realize when they said I could come in later that I'd totally give up my earlier appointment.  I want to be fair to the other people there, but I wish they would have told me I would've been bumped so far out of the schedule.  I was frustrated waiting.  Especially because it would not have been a big deal to go there first and the lab second.

The ultrasound went well.  There is lots of growth which is good.  Our prayers are being answered! We are still looking for growth, so keep praying! Today the doctor said it is looking even more like a Saturday retrieval! This afternoon the nurse called and said my E2 finally broke 1,000 in fact it was almost 1,500! This good news totally made up for being cranky this morning at bad roads and having to wait for my appointment. I'm so curious to see how many eggs there are and keep moving through this process.

Day 9 Update

This morning felt like a "productive" day.  I have noticed a few people who seem to be going through the same process. We show up on the same days for appointments, are at the lab at the same time, etc.  This morning I was so glad when one of the ladies "broke the ice".  I saw her at the lab and again shortly after arriving at the doctor's office.  She said, "Am I following you?!"  We joked for a minute about being on the same schedule.  I think we both wanted to ask one another, like are you doing IVF too?  How is it going? etc. We were able to get to a point where we figured out we were both doing IVF. Her retrieval is suppose to be this coming Thursday.  She had an English accent and was so kind.  I introduced myself and shook her hand as the nurse called me back.  Her name was not one I have heard before, I was going to look it up and see if I could figure out where she was from.  I think she said Rasheen. Anyway, I was happy to make a sort of IVF friend. We will see if our paths cross again. 

The doctor said that yesterday my E2 was 657 or 697 (I didn't catch the middle number and didn't bother to clarify since it's a sort of ambiguous number at this point).  Almost all of my follicles were in the double digits today! We had lots of 10s and 11s.  We want to see 20s though, so I still have a way to go.  I am feeling pressure in my abdomen which is making me have to use the ladies room constantly and feel a more intense pressure when I do.  I can't imaging what the next few days will feel like.  My lining is continuing to look very nice. I stayed on the higher dose of medication today. The most exciting part of today was that he said he thinks my retrieval will be this weekend. He said there is a slight chance of having a Thursday or Friday retrieval and that most likely it'd be Saturday or Sunday.  He also said a Monday or Tuesday transfer was a slight chance.  I am very happy to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I need a couple days without shots at this point.  I'm starting to have an issue with the feeling of the needle going through my skin, not the puncture, but the needle actually sliding in.  Isn't that strange? I didn't get an E2 number today, but it had to be higher.  Of course I go back tomorrow.

This evening I drove home from work and realized I left the extra meds they gave me in the refrigerator at work.  The dear hubby jumped in the car with me and we drove back to my office, which is at least a 15 minute drive. We got up to the door and the dear hubby pointed out I needed my keys, not his to get in the door. My keys were at home. So guess what, we drove home, got my keys and drove back to my office. I already had a headache and that just made me crazier! I also had a conference call for work which I had to then take while I was in the middle of shots and driving home.  I also realized my excessive trips to and from work meant I needed to fill up with gas.  I was thankful the hubby put Kahlua pork in the crock pot today!  Otherwise it would have been a fast food, order out, I'm not cooking sort of evening.  All in the name of IVF! I did find out on my conference call that the first weekend in April I get to fly to Seattle! Fun.

Day 8 Update

This morning at my ultrasound the follicles had grown some more.  There appear to be about 11 on my right ovary and some more on the left.  My left ovary is still my "Phantom Ovary" as it is still difficult to see at times.  He is hoping as things grow, my phantom ovary shifts over so it is easier when they retrieve eggs.  The largest follicle I saw him measure was a 14, it needs to be around a 20 and I need more than one that size.  I had many more that hit the double digits today.  I need most of them to be probably twice as large now.  My lining is looking good.  Hopefully tomorrow we go in and are really seeing the growth we need to have a successful cycle. So far my headaches are not as bad today, which is really nice.  I am starting to feel pressure in my lower back. I am guessing it is my ovaries adding pressure to my abdomen.  Keep praying for growth!
Last night I got to hang out with my dear sister-in-law, niece, and mother-in-law over dinner! We had Chili's.  Afterword we played board games with her nieces and nephews. So much fun! A night out was just what I needed to keep my mind off everything.
Happy Super Bowl! We are having queso and buffalo wings. Have fun and be safe today!

P.S. Day 7 Update

Doctor just called, my E2 today was just a 326, so it did not go up very much. We are increasing meds today and may "switch medications up" tomorrow. I think at this point I can just pray for growth and starting to respond better to medications.

Day 7 Update

This morning brought another set of labs and ultrasound.  I found out my E2 yesterday was 216.  To put this in perspective, this is the level you would expect on day 3.  The good news is that my doctor seemed pretty optimistic.  He said there is the potential to have 20 follicles one each ovary.  To be clear with everyone reading this, each follicle is a potential egg.  If I have 20 on each ovary or a total of 40, that will be way too many and I will over stimulate.  However, this is a huge investment in every area of our lives and only having 4 or 5 follicles mature is nerve racking.  Just because we have to watch to see if they mature and make it to the next stage in development.  A small number harvested could greatly decrease the odds of having some embryos to put back in my uterus.  Anyway, we are keeping my dose of Follistim high and I go back tomorrow.  They might raise my dose again tomorrow depending on what my labs from today show.  It's still too early to tell when I might have a retrieval, hopefully the next few days are more telling.

Day 6 Update & Work Today

Today was another ultrasound and set of labs.  I don't know what my lab results were.  The doctor closes his office at 1pm on Fridays and I know they would've gotten labs just before closing.  I was in a meeting at work, so didn't get the office called.  I figured since I am going back tomorrow morning I could just ask then.  They work so hard and through the weekends that I didn't want to call just to ask for my lab results right before they left for the day.  My ultrasound seemed fine.  He said again there was lots of potential.  He kept me on a higher dose of Follistim.  He also thought that it was going to take some higher doses of medicine to get my follicles stimulated, but then they would go crazy and we would be backing off medicine as quickly as possible.  I have started having headaches.  I know I am drinking plenty of water, so I am guessing it's the medication I am on.  I also woke up in the middle of the night to tell the dear hubby it smelled like onions.  Really, our bedroom doesn't smell like onions, I think my sense of smell is just "off". I'm curious to see what's going on in the morning. 
At work today I had a meeting that was really good and then a series of great phone calls.  One phone call was from the person hiring for a promotion I applied for back in the beginning of December.  It was the nicest rejection phone call I have ever had in my life! She said she was reaching out to me personally because she so enjoyed interviewing me and wanted to help me shine in our division.  She said I was very talented and she thought I had the potential for a promotion in my future, this just wasn't the right timing.  Right before talking to her I received a phone call that I was selected to be on a task force at work.  This is pretty cool because there was a lot of competition.  I have co-workers who applied and were passed up a few years and a row.  This was my first time applying and out of our 12 states, I snagged one of two openings!  I don't get a pay raise for it, but it is an excellent opportunity to prepare myself for a promotion!  I shared this news with the lady who called to discuss the other promotion with me and she said she had really advocated for me to get this opportunity.  She felt it would get my name out there a little more and set me up nicely for a bigger and better career! I felt so good.  I also felt valued and was so honored to get such personal phone calls.  Finally, another phone call this afternoon was with a mom who is dedicating her three year old's birthday to fundraising for our event! I was super excited talking to her and was able to make one heck of a sell! I felt like I was having the best day at work ever.  I can't wait to see what the future holds, besides the plane trip I now get to make in April! I will be flying to either Phoenix or Seattle. Yay!

Day 5 Update

This morning was another ultrasound and set of labs.  I didn't sleep super well last night.  I woke up around 3:30 this morning and had to go to the bathroom.  I could not go back to sleep after.  I thought maybe it was close enough to when I needed to wake up for the day so decided to check my phone, that's when I found out it was a little after 4.  I tried so hard to go back to sleep and felt like I finally drifted off around 6, who knows, maybe it was earlier.  It felt like forever.  I woke up around 6:50 to get ready to drive over to the doctor's office and get labs in before my 8:15 appointment. 

The ladies in the lab are starting to recognize me and get that I will be seeing them a lot.  They are very nice and got me in so quickly today.  I have to sign a new privacy agreement every time I have a blood draw, which is comical to me.  Too bad they aren't electronic. I am going to have killed a tree signing this privacy statement by the time all is said and done. At the doctor's office there were more women than usual waiting.  I wondered if they were all doing IVF like me.  It's interesting to see how diverse the group is, all goes to prove you can't "spot" who might have fertility problems and who won't. 

Anyway, in my ultrasound the doctor measured a number of follicles.  I think tomorrow I am going to try and count how many he is measuring.  He said they are maturing at different rates, which is okay since I have PCOS.  I guess if they all were maturing super fast it would not be ideal.  I mentioned that my pelvis felt heavier.  He said the follicles had definitely grown, but we still want them to be two to three times larger than they are now!  He increased the dose on my Follistim, left my Menopur the same, and added a third shot to my cocktail.  I am now adding in Ganirelix which is a day ahead of what was on my original calendar.  I think this is sort of a good sign, because if you remember the Ganirelix prevents ovulation.  I must have some follicles getting ready to ovulate since we are suppressing the ability to with another shot.  The nurse called just a bit ago and said my E2 (estrogen) level was 124 today.  This just confirmed they were going to increase my Follistim dose to get everything growing a little more.

I go back in the morning for labs and an ultrasound.  I flexed out of work this afternoon to work on reading for my literature review.  I'll be honest though, I really want to take a nap! Oh, and I tried giving myself a shot in the thigh yesterday. That was a little bit painful.  I asked the nurse if I could do them all in my stomach if I just rotated where and she said I could, thank God!  For now I am just trying to stay hydrated to make my labs as easy as possible to obtain and praying for my follicles to grow.

Day 3 Update

Today was day 3 of shots.  Our office was closed today due to "extreme cold".  It made me laugh.  It was in the negatives.  I have seen a wind chill of -65 in Montana. Here it is with a high of 1 and a low of -24 with wind chill and we close up shop.  Although I will say people don't plug their cars in here, so if you don't have a garage it's tricky to get the car started sometimes. I get the schools closing, there are so many children who don't live in homes with reliable transportation and it's not a super normal thing here to be THAT cold, so parents aren't prepared. Anyway, I thought some of you would get a kick out of our office closing due to "extreme cold". I did not get a day off though, I still went in to the office and worked.  I had an event this evening to prepare for and in case you are curious, it went fantastic!

Anyway, this morning I drove to the lab and then doctor's office. At the ultrasound the doctor could see a number of follicles growing, but it was hard to see.  He thought we might get the most information out of my lab results. He referred to my ovaries as possibly being, "sleeping giants".  Basically with my diagnosis of the poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) they are being very careful to monitor me for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).  OHSS could make me very sick.  Anyway, the good news is I am no where close to that.  The flip side of that coin is that I need to be stimming a little more than I am.  My E2 levels came in at 86.  Which I feel like is a low number.  They were going to reduce the amount of one of the drugs today, the Follistim, but I am keeping the same does and don't go back in for another round of labs or ultrasound until Thursday.  I feel like my prayers are a little mixed, I want to pray for my follicles to be stimulate, but not too much.  So, I decided my prayer is going to be for my follicles to grow appropriately. 

Since I had an event at work today, I had to do my shots in a public bathroom!  I washed up good and was really careful with everything.  The bathroom didn't have a main door to close, so people walking by could see what I was doing.  It was so strange.   Anyway, I did it, so I was happy about that.  For now I am just going to keep coasting along in this crazy process. Just wanted to post an update in this crazy IVF road trip.