IUI, Wednesday 11-10-2010

Not much to report on other than having the IUI! Very exciting. There really isn't too much to talk about, which I suppose in these instances is a great thing.  Everything went just like she said it would, she made comments throughout how great everything looked (haha) and how it was the perfect procedure.

Basically, now we are just playing the painfully long, 2 week wait game. That puts us at Thanksgiving to test.  I'm wondering if I should even test on Thanksgiving. I don't want to ruin the day if it's negative, so I might just wait until the next day.  Though at the same time, you know I'd be preoccupied the entire day thinking about the test, so I don't know! What do you think?

My period is unpredictable at best, so that makes things less awesome.  A normal woman would just wait for her period, if it doesn't come then the chances are better (obviously).  Mine may or may not come regardless of being pregnant or not. Either way, it's just two weeks! :)

If my period starts before the two weeks, we'll have the same drill as last time. I'll call on the 2nd day of my period, go in for an ultrasound and talk about using Clomid again or injections and go from there.  If it's positive after the two week waiting period, then I go in for a blood test I believe twice in a weeks period to see if some pregnancy hormone has doubled (like it should in a healthy pregnancy).  Then, some time after that we'll check for a heartbeat at which time I believe I would go off of my Metformin. I'll know more details on all this when the time comes.

Thank you for your positive thoughts, well wishes and prayers.  I believe they just might be working!

follicle check sunday, 11.7.10

Super awesome. It just deleted my whole effing post. I will try to duplicate.

Egg is at 16.4mm, exactly 3mm larger than it was on Friday. It's growing! Slow growing, but still progressing.  It's just a lazy potential-Garcia.

As of now, I've been instructed to grab an OPK (ovulation predictor kit). They're in the neighborhood of $60+, so I'm going to get the week supply, since I only need 2, for $20.  I wish I had time to shop online, I know I could find them cheaper--but I don't have the time. Plus, if this cycle doesn't work out the way we hope, maybe I'll have a use for the other 5.

Dr Chen wants the egg to be at 20mm before the IUI.  My uterine lining surprised us all when she checked it today--it was like a normal ovulating woman's uterine lining! I think it was 5? With that news, (the lining is supposed to thicken when a maturing egg is in the making to prepare for baby/implantation) she thinks I just might ovulate on my own, since the rest of my body is shockingly acting 'normal.' That would be amazing.  I'm a 'natural' type of person, so this process has been a mix of emotions for me.  I'm thankful and excited that we have a real shot at this with the aid of modern technology, but at the same time the more I can 'do' on my own the better I feel, the more grateful I feel.

Backtracking a bit.  The high dose of Clomid (I'm sure I've mentioned this) thins your uterine lining, and you need to be supplemented with estrogen. I'm so happy we're not going to need more estrogen.  Moving forward. Our instructions are to buy the OPK, use one tomorrow morning (Monday, 11-8) and Tuesday morning (at the same time I did it Monday morning).  God willing, it will be positive come Tuesday morning. If it is positive Tuesday morning, I am to call the office, tell them the good news and make an appointment for a Wednesday IUI.  If negative Tuesday morning, I will still call the office, but it will be to make (another!) ultrasound appointment for Tuesday to check the egg's progression.  By this time, at the rate it's been growing, it should be 20mm.. or damn close.  She'll give me the hCg (hGc?) shot to trigger ovulation and we will also make a Wednesday appointment for IUI--though I believe it will be a different time of day as opposed to the positive OPK appointment. Either way! Wednesday is the day, assuming nothing crazy happens. :)

Oh, I've been reading the famously ridiculously informative (and sometimes silly) book 'What to Expect When You're Expecting.'  Many things I knew prior to picking up the book, quite a few that I didn't, and some I laughed at. At any rate, I am much more informed than I was before.  I'm reading it alongside Sebastian and his book, 'What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding.'  His is mostly just hilarious. I bought them both on Amazon a couple weeks ago for about $11 total (including shipping). Of course, in his book the front page is devoted to a wonderful dedication about what a great dad Ronald was going to be in September, 1993.. but it was a sweet dedication, so I just crossed out Ronald's name and put in Sebastian's. And replaced John and Kim's name with mine.

they grew!! ultrasound 11/5/10

Well, one grew! One is better than none, but not as great as two or more--but nonetheless we have a ripening eggie! So we get to move to the next step this cycle. I have an appointment this Sunday at 8:30a to have another ultrasound to make sure that the egg has reached at least 18mm. Today it was just under 14 (13.6) which is more than double since the last ultrasound on Monday. Things are lookin' good!

A mature egg needs to be 18-20mm for the trigger shot followed by the IUI. She has no doubt it will be at least 18, but the date for the shot is up in the air.  Could be Sunday or Monday. We'll see! I'm excited that I'm going in on Sunday because Sebastian will get to go with me and not take any time off work.  Of course, for the IUI on Monday, he'll have to take time off work but the less time he takes off the better.

Well that's about it for now.  More good news to follow on my Sunday post. :)
Oh, and did I mention I have to give myself the shot? Super!

Ciao!

'follie' check eve!

Yes, on the message boards I've come to find out that eggs/follicles are fondly referred to as 'follies,' and I like that term. It's fun.

So--I've also come to find that I'm not nervous about tomorrow morning. Not at all, actually. I'm pretty calm.  Of course I hope that our eggs are mature, but if they aren't then they will be next month.  You gotta keep the faith, man.  And I have it. :]

Still, keep us in your thoughts tomorrow morning.  This month may or may not be ours, but it sure would be a blessing if it were.

Update manana!

egg progression

Had my 'egg check up' this morning. There are two eggs (one on each side) that are growing, but not all that great. She figured they'd be farther along now, but she was happy that they were at least bigger than before the Clomid. They're at 6mm and they were at 4 or 5 last week.  They need to be about double what they are now to receive the trigger shot and IUI.  So, here's hoping they double by Friday! I have an appointment Friday at 9:30a to check their progression again.  She's thinking they'll be 11 or 12mm by then, and we'll do the trigger shot Sunday and have the IUI Monday. If things don't look bigger and better, then we know that no amount of Clomid will work for us and we'll move to the injectable medications.

I'm a little bummed, but still hopeful.  You're supposed to ovulate 5-10 days after your last Clomid pill (read it online, not from Dr) which would put us in a range for between this Wednesday and next Monday. I also read that people need trigger shots when they are on high doses of Clomid (150+) but that some people don't need them.  Dr Chen seems to think that I do, and I trust that she knows what she's talking about!

So keep your fingers (and toes!) crossed that we get some serious egg growth by Friday!!

The Period!

All of my loyal man-readers.. stop here. You were warned.

My period showed up just after office hours on the last day of the work week. AKA Friday at 7:00pm.  If you remember, I was supposed to call the office right when I get my period and schedule an ultrasound for no more than 3 days after the start of my period. Of course, I will be going in Monday morning. Might just show up! Only problem being, while on this awful birth control I have had really heavy 3 day periods. I did however stop my BC pills, but it wasn't more than 5 days ago--so if this is a 3 day period, might not be here Monday!! Grr. I assume this 'while you're menstrating transvaginal ultrasound' BS is somewhat of an important step in this whole process of creating children.. so I will be a little ticked off if we have to start over next month. I think this is the one time in my life I'm hoping for a long, heavy period that lasts through the weekend. Ha!

Keep you posted after the ultrasound Monday.

She'll let me make payments!

So! Day one of no BC. I'm already getting cramps. So weird how fast it works on me. Anywho, we were trying to think of ways to come up with the $800 for this cycle, and we're great with saving money in general but we had very little time to come up with darn near $1000. $800 may as well be $1000 in my book. I think I had my last appointment and pap about a week ago. Actually.. exactly a week ago today. So I essentially had to come up with $780.00 in a week, if I get my period tomorrow or Thursday.  Knowing it's only been a week actually makes me feel a bit better about being stressed on where this money is coming from.  I called the office and talked to someone in billing. I got them (the Dr had mentioned they'd made slight payment arrangements for people in the past) to take two payments of $390.  One the first day or second day of my period/ultra sound and the next payment the day of the IUI.  Seems fair.  It's hard for them to take payments because if someone defaults on their payments, they are left with zero money since insurance doesn't cover fertility procedures.  If someone were to default in the OBGYN sense, at least they'd have something from billing the insurance.  Apparently, when she used to just bill you for her fertility services, people would get pregnant and then just find another OB so they didn't have to pay.  How awful!  So I understand.. and we'll be able to swing it.  Fingers crossed it works this cycle though, as I mentioned the next is $980, but includes the injectable meds. Still, not incredibly easy to come up with for us these days, but I'm sure we'll figure it out and cross that bridge if/when we get there.

Kind of random but the people I work with/for also have fertility problems.  She doesn't have PCOS, she has unexplained infertility.. which personally, I think is even more frustrating.  When I was originally diagnosed with NOT having PCOS a year ago, I was so incredibly frustrated. I didn't want it or any other real problem of course, but not knowing what the problem is, well that's just an awful feeling. You can't explore homeopathic remedies, you can't take meds that you know will benefit you.  The poor thing. They've done cycle after cycle of IVF with no success.  No miscarriages either, which is actually disheartening because at least with a miscarriage, you know you're able to get pregnant.  I think they have just a few embryos left and are trying to figure out what to do with them.  She's just over 40 now I think, so her eggs that she has now are most likely not viable. Her embryos are from when she was 38, I believe (and they are healthy).  I've suggested (nicely) maybe trying surrogacy, as her eggs are great, the embryos they have ready to go are perfect.. and they so desperately want a child.  I think she's actually thinking about it.  Either way it's really nice having someone who understands what you're going through, and if I ever need to run to the Dr,  it's never a big deal at all. So that's nice. :)

Okay kiddies.  Talk soon.  Oh. And if we conceive this cycle, our estimated due date would fall on about July 28th.  Yay for being pregnant during the summer!! Oy vey.. ;)

Follow-up w/Dr Chen

Today I went in to see Dr Chen to go over my HSG results (and, to throw in a papsmear). I already knew that they were normal (HSG) as the Doctor that performed the test informed me of such right after! But it was nice to see the written report and to hear it from her, and to be able to spend a little more time talking about it. No tumors, both tubes were clear, no defects, no abnormalities involving the uterus or endometrial cavity. Yay? Yay!

Finally got copies of mine and hubby's blood work results.  We knew everything was alright, but again.. nice to go over in detail and to receive copies for our medical files here at home.  No STDs, no AIDS, I'm not a cystic fibrosis carrier, blood sugar is great, immune to chicken pox, I'm type O-Positive (thought it was negative all these years), insulin of course was 25.3 which is high on account of my PCOS.  Hubby just had a 'infertility ID screen'--which isn't as in depth as mine was so there isn't too much to report on, but semen analysis and STD/HIV panel was all perfect. So we've been COMPLETELY cleared to get crackin'. We're totally healthy!

So, remember how I had thought that I was going to have to finish out my BC pills? Well, she said just to do it for another week.. which means, our first cycle of TTC (trying to conceive) is in ..... deeeep breath... 2  and a half weeks there abouts. AHH! I'm so excited/nervous/scared/and more excited than anything.

The technical mumbo jumbo is as follows. Well, infertility isn't considered a 'medical necessity' so 99% of insurances (and all insurances in the state of CA) do not cover any fertility treatments.  I love my RE (reproductive endocrinologist), and her prices are in the normal range. It will cost us about $800.00 per cycle, at least the first cycle (month 1) because we will be using Clomid (cheaper than other options) to induce ovulation. Not cheap, but not as bad as it could be.. I suppose. This includes multiple ultrasounds/office visits--doesn't include the Clomid, though it's cheap @ Walmart pharmacy--and one IUI (intrauterine insemination).  Dr Chen's goal, as well as our goal, is to get this knocked out (and me knocked up!) as quickly as possible; the less cycles the better. A couple few at MOST. We're really praying/hoping this will work on the first cycle. The odds aren't really against us, but they aren't exactly cheering us along and showing us the way, either.  About 25% of the time, Clomid does not work. It's not a small percentage, but it isn't too discouraging. Some women, most actually, their Drs put them on cycle after cycle of Clomid.  Dr Chen and I agreed wholeheartedly that the longer something like this drags out when a medicine clearly isn't working with your body, the harder and more discouraging this will be on you, your husband, your job, your life in general and even your marriage.  An oxymoron, seeing as how you are creating a life and preparing for the happiest time of your lives together.

If the Clomid doesn't work in the first cycle, we will keep everything else the same (multiple ultrasounds/visits, IUI), but instead of the Clomid we will use an injectable ovulation medication: a trigger shot. On both cycles, we will be doing the IUI as well as the ol' fashioned way because Clomid and fertility drugs in general tend to thicken cervical mucus apparently, and makes it harder for sperm to find it's way. With the IUI, obviously, it has no problem getting to the uterus.  We might be successful with or without the IUIs, but in an effort to give ourselves the best odds, we've opted for doing that right from the start. The trigger shot 'package' is just about $1000.00 per cycle, $200 more than the Clomid package. This is the total cost per cycle, so you can see where this could get expensive...REALLY expensive if you weren't aggressive with it and just did cycle after cycle after cycle.

Oh, and since I've met my deductible with our HealthNet PPO/Insurance.. my prescriptions have been free for the last 3 months.  I was using Nature Made prenatal multi's + DHA (200mg of DHA in the vitamin), which were typically $18.99 a bottle. For a months supply. Not too bad, but hey.. if I can get pharmaceutical grade vitamins for free.. why not?! So I asked for a prescription and she said sure, wrote me one, and added that they didn't previously make (in the pharmacy) a prenatal with DHA in it. The ones she prescribed are called CitraNatal90DHA. They come in blister packs in the box and you take two gels a day, that look different so I assume this one doesn't have the DHA in the vitamin, it's separate.  I was just reading the box to get the name and noticed '..Gentle calcium citrate and dual iron, plus a stool softener...' Niiiiice.

I'll keep you updated! Next post will be how great or how not-so-great the new vitamins are. Not thrilled with the 'stool softening' bit on account of my taking Metformin 2x a day. G'head. Google Metformin side effects. You'll figure it out. Apparently, the new vits are amazing, according to Dr Chen and my pharmacist. So we'll see! The post after that one will be.... about... TTC, Cycle 1! Besos!