Holiday Humor

Since it is snowing and I am feeling in the Christmas spirit, I leave you with a bit of holiday humor:

Where is AF?

WANTED: Mean ugly old lady named "Aunt Flo"
LAST SEEN: Sometime in the month of October

Have you seen "Aunt Flo"? I mean seriously. Yes, I know I am only on day 4 of taking the Prometrium but come on already! I am getting impatient. I just want to start this darn cycle already. I’m calling the pharmacy at 11:30 (they don’t open until 11:30 today) to make sure they have my meds (which had to be special ordered). If they have them we will pick them up tonight. I really have no idea how much they cost but I keep on having to remind myself that the money in our savings account is for the treatments. I am not really having much side effects with the Prometrium. I actually had a lot more side effects with the Provera. However, currently my face looks like a pimply thirteen year old, I am so bloated that my pants are cutting off my circulation, and I have awful, painful gas. But, really, no side effects (okay, maybe a few side effects).

Outside of IF, we decided that we need new tires on our Escape. The tires are two years old and are getting worn down. This is the last thing we wanted to spend money on right now but it is a necessity. So this weekend we will go tire shopping.

It is snowing outside!! This is our first snow of the season and although I think we are only supposed to get a coating it is beautiful to watch. It is really neat to watch the snow fall from the 25th floor of a building in Baltimore City (where I work). I had an amazing view before but the snow makes it even more beautiful.

I am having a really hard time concentrating on anything right now. I think it is the anticipation of starting a new cycle when we have been TAB for so long. I am also way more optimistic when usually I am a hard core pessimist. I can’t help but be hopeful that this will be it for us. I can’t believe that it has been five years since we decided to start a family. You would think after five years of IF we would be further along in the journey right now but a combination of financial issues and generally just needing to take a break from all of the stress has put us where we are today. After five years the only thing we have tried is SEVERAL rounds of Clomid/IUI and two rounds of Femara/IUI. Through all of that I only ovulated two or three times. My body just doesn’t do what it is supposed to. I guess that is what is causing me to be overly optimistic about the injectables. I mean really, I have only ovulated two or three times in five years, so assuming that there is nothing else wrong with me this should work right? That is the hopeful side of me talking, the cynical infertile side of me says that I will spend thousands on injectables just to have cancelled cycles or failed cycles and have no baby to show for it in the end. Then we will have to start all over with saving money unless one of us can find a job with insurance that totally covers IVF. I have learned so much in these past five years but it has been hard. I am ready to move on! Someone tell me that it is okay to be hopeful, that it is okay to dream. I am just so worried that if I am too hopeful and it doesn’t work that it will make it that much harder to deal.

Anyway, until next time! Hopefully I will be using the title CD1 for my next post!

Yay!

All is clear with the blood work and I am starting the Prometrium tomorrow night (the pharmacy is closes at 5 today.) My nurse confirmed that I would be doing the Follistim Pen. Looks like a complicated little bugger! She said she is going to call in my prescription for it because the pharmacy might need to order it. Bet you it's not going to be cheap! So, all of you that are hoping that AF won't show up for you, you can send her my way! Well, I'm outta here for the weekend. Hope all is going well with everyone. Happy Friday!

Pre-Cycle Re Appt.

Our appointment was at 7:15 a.m. We actually arrived a few minutes late and were surprised to find that there we a lot of people in the office for that time in the morning. They called me back for blood work and the lady drawing the blood actually remembered me. In case I haven’t mentioned it before I have very small veins which make it very hard to draw blood. Usually it becomes quite painful because they have to try in several different locations before they find a vein. Usually they end up taking it from the top of my hand or the middle of my arm (both not so pleasant places.) So, when I walked in the lab technician laughed and said “I remember you!” She already knew to get out the butterfly needle. She was actually able to draw blood on the first stick and we were both very pleased. Then they told me that my doctor wanted an u/s done. I asked why they would do an ultrasound before I even start my cycle and she said to make sure that I don’t have any follicles developing and to make sure that my lining is think enough to bring on af. So off to exam room one I went, after stopping by and grabbing DH who reluctantly put aside the latest issue of some sports magazine. A female doctor actually did my u/s today and she was very nice. My lining is 8mm. She said it is thick enough to bring on af but it will not be a heavy one (oh darn!) Then she moved on to my ovaries and said “there’s the polycystic ovaries.” I swear, I must be the poster child for PCOS or something. I have several small follicles on both ovaries but none larger than 10mm which is good. Then we went back to the consultation room and spoke with one of the other nurses. She gave me a prescription for Prometrium instead of Provera. She said my RE prefers to use the Prometrium instead. She said I can start taking it tonight once I get my blood work results from the nurse who will call me later today. She said I will take two capsules before bedtime for seven days or until af shows up. If af shows up before the seven days to stop taking them and set up my day 3 scan. I then asked about the injectables because I still haven’t been told which medications I will be taking. She looked at my treatment plan and said it looks like they have me down for the Follistim Pen. She asked if I needed to take the injection class again and I told her no but I’m not sure how to use the pen. She said when I come in for my day 3 they can give me a DVD to watch on how to use the pen. Of course I am going to confirm all of this with my nurse when she calls me today. So, for now it looks like I will be starting the Prometrium tonight. Hopefully af will come quickly so we can begin! I will update when I get my blood results.

Finally!!

Well, it looks like things are finally in motion! My RE gave the okay to do FSH/IUI. He wants me to do a “no menses work-up” which is essentially a blood pregnancy test (ha ha) and a test to determine if I ovulated (again..ha ha.) I will get that blood test tomorrow morning at 7:15. They also told me the doctor may do an ultrasound tomorrow although I’m not sure why he would do this. I’m on CD 30 or 40 something right now. They will call me with the test results tomorrow afternoon and if all is a go (which it will be because a.) I am not pregnant, and b.) I have never ovulated in my life) then I will take the Provera to bring on AF. I will call them on CD1 to schedule my CD3 scan and blood work. I am assuming when I go in for my CD3 they will give me my script for the FSH. Does anyone know if that is the case? Also, does anyone know whether I would inject the FSH with a regular needle or the pen? Obviously I forgot to ask these questions because I was expecting to do IVF but I will ask when I go in tomorrow. So, now we just wait for AF to show up. I usually take 2 Provera every night for 5 days and AF usually comes within 5 days after stopping the Provera. So hopefully within the next two weeks we will finally get to start! I am actually kind of glad we wont be starting until mid December because the last thing we need for a Christmas present is a negative beta or to be worrying about whether or not I am pregnant.

I also rearranged my blog links on the side into categories so that people who are reading my blog and looking for other blogs to read know before they open a blog if that person is pregnant. That way I don’t upset anyone. Hopefully no one minds that I put them into a “category.” I follow everyone’s blog no matter what stage of the process you are in but there are other who may not be ready. I love reading success stories because it gives me hope for myself. So, if you have been lurking and haven’t commented yet be sure to leave a comment so that I can add your blog to my list and keep up with your progress. I love reading your comments and it lets me know that someone is reading my crazy ramblings. Also, if I put you in the wrong “category” for some reason let me know. I found a nifty way to follow updates on people’s blogs, the website is called Bloglines. It keeps track of all of the blogs that you “subscribe” to. It is much easier than having to visit tons of pages every day. Everyone else probably knew about this and I am probably a little behind the game but the whole blogging thing is still fairly new to me.

That’s it for now. I will update after my blood work tomorrow.

Nothing new...

Sorry that I have been a bad blogger! I really don’t have much to say right now though. I spoke to my nurse on Wednesday (I was off of work on Thursday and Friday) and she said that she will speak to my RE, who was out of town and came back yesterday, to make sure he agrees with doing the injectables and IUI instead of the IVF. She also said that she has no record that anyone from their office actually talked to Kaiser. I told her that the woman from Kaiser referrals told my GYN that she called and spoke to a doctor from my RE’s office who agreed that I should do the IUI(which kind of pissed me off because it made it seem like I just “decided” to do IVF on my own). She said the doctors always make notes on the charts, especially when they speak to insurance companies. So, either someone forgot to update my chart, or the more likely scenario, the lady from Kaiser was lying. I told my nurse that either way they are obviously not going to approve the referral so we have no choice but to do the IUI/Injectables first. She also told me that before I take the provera to bring on AF I need to do a blood pregnancy test. I really don’t know why they insist on this because I literally take provera every time I need to make AF come. I am not paying for the pg test though! So, she told me if I don’t hear from her today with my “plan” then I should call her. I will probably call her this morning to remind her as I am ready to get this thing going! I will be back with an update as soon as I have one.

A turn of events…

Well, it seems that we have a turn of events. After much discussion with my doctor from Kaiser, the Kaiser referral people (whoever they are) and my RE they have decided that they would like me to do one, possibly two, rounds of injectables and IUI. I am confused, because my RE is the one that said that he wanted to go with IVF, I even asked about injectables and IUI. My concern is a couple of things: 1) That I will hyperstimulate or produce too many follicles and have a cancelled cycle; or 2) That I will become pregnant with high order multiples and will have to face the choice of having to reduce or put my health at risk. I am prepared for the possibility of having twins, but I don’t know what I would do with more than 2! But, nonetheless, I have no choice, because Kaiser will not pay for the IVF unless we have tried this first. There must be a reason for all of this or it wouldn’t happen. I am just hoping that the outcome will be positive. I would love to hear from any PCOS women out there who have had injectables and IUI. I do know that women with PCOS have success with injectables and that gives me hope, it’s just that my body is so darn stubborn! I only ovulated a few times in my many, many, cycles with Clomid and Femera. So, it’s hard to believe that somehow this is going to make me ovulate. But, I guess it is a step in the right direction. I am somewhat excited about actually being able to start something but a little scared about the issues mentioned above. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. Please, if anyone has any words of wisdom I would love to hear them. You can either post a comment or contact me by e-mail at Morrisa@lawcfl.com.

Outside the wonderful world of TTC… I finally baked a perfect apple pie! The first apple pie I tried to bake a couple of years ago was awful but I decided to try again this weekend and it was yummy! Shawn loved it and had two slices that night. I took a picture of it and I will try to remember to upload it along with the pictures of my fall decorations that I promised a while ago. Well, I guess that’s it for now. I promise to post more when something actually starts happening. I have a call into Shady Grove to talk to my nurse about the next steps to start this unexpected cycle. The first step I am sure is to bring on AF. I think I am on CD30 now so I am clearly due to an AF. Ta ta for now!