Post 38: One Week Down

It's officially been one week since I started injections, and now the waiting game begins. I'm waiting for my period to start, waiting for my first ultrasound, waiting for the next round of drugs, waiting for the retrieval, waiting for the transfer, and finally, waiting to see if it worked. The Lupron injections haven't been that bad. The needle is tiny, but I've noticed the more injections I'm given, the more tender I'm becoming. Each injection hurts a little worse than the last. My side effects include an increased appetite (I'm eating at least 5 meals each day), insomnia (only sleeping 3-4 hours), exhaustion, and bloating. My stomach looks like I'm in the early stages of pregnancy, but I guess if this works, I kind of am!

According to my schedule from Wake Forest, my period should start today. Though I'm a very scheduled person, I'm not sure if they've gotten it right or not. I typically have a 28-30 day cycle, and today is day 27. I guess I'll just wait and see! I think this is the first time in over two years that I'm excited for my period to start, because I know that I'll be one step closer to becoming a parent.

Post 37: Halloween Dance

Our first annual Halloween ball was awesome! 

Our studio partnered with the YMCA, and a great time was had by all. I was pleasantly surprised that David and his entire family joined us for the evening. We got to talk briefly about our upcoming IVF treatments, and the protocol I'm following. 

And to top off the night, I got to sneak down to the YMCA office for my nightly Lupron shot. Not exactly the best part of my night, but it'll all be worth it in the end, and it ensures that I will always have a memory of our first Halloween ball. 

Post 36: Holy Shot!

The day is here! We officially start our medications tonight. We just left med teach (shot class as I like to call it) and are ready to go. We spent about 90 minutes learning how to correctly mix the medications and shoot me. Eek! Shaun said he's ready to go, but I'm a little concerned with the smile he had on his face during class. 

Is this the face you want shooting you each day? I guess it could be worse, and he could look terrified, or not show up like the husband of the other couple in the class with us. 

We also had to pay today for the entire IVF cycle, and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped when I handed over my parent's credit card. I definitely think raising a child will be cheaper than making one. But, $10,628 later, we're ready to go. We will get reimbursed for some of the expenses, and will be charged extra for a few unlisted items. However, this amount was the estimate. They're going to allow us to be monitored by David rather than driving to Winston Salem every 3 days. This will not only save us money on the IVF cycle, but also on our hotel costs and our gas expenses. 

In order to celebrate our milestone in our IVF joruney, we gave up the diet for the day. So far, we've had Krispy Kreme, Waffle House, Japanese, and a very large cheesecake cupcake. Yum! Back to the avocado tomorrow, but for today, we feast! 

Post 35: T-1 Week

Woke up this morning and peed on yet another OPK, and it was positive! My protocol was to start testing on OPK on day 10 of my cycle, and when the OPK was positive, to call our nurse, Roxanne for instructions. I usually don't ovulate on my own until day 14-16 of my cycle, but it looks like my eggs are ready to get the show on the road, as it's only cycle day 13! From experience, I would expect my OPK to be darker tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning, but I still think it's plenty dark enough to be considered positive. Take a look at the progression from days 10-13.

Today's test line is almost identical in color to the control line. I've seen my test line get darker than the control line on a few occasions though, so I might be jumping the gun, but only by a few hours, which I don't expect to make a huge amount of difference. Only two hours until I can call Roxanne, and one week until we start daily injections.

Post 34: Thoughts for the day

About a week ago, Shaun and I started cleaning out drawers, going through clothes, and organizing cabinets. When we opened "that drawer" we had a long conversation about whether it was appropriate to donate condoms to the local food pantry, or if we should just throw them away. Obviously, anything out of date was trashed, and seeing as we've been condom free for over two years at this point, we trashed quite a few. We eventually decided that donating condoms was a good public health practice, as someone may not be able to afford them otherwise, and (I'm laughing at my current situation as I type this) they may help someone prevent an unwanted pregnancy! Oh the irony!

We had all of the remaining condoms in a bag, and I was getting ready to donate them, when something inside of me said to wait. I'm really glad I kept them, because part of our IVF protocol includes using protection when having sex while on all of the fertility medications. Now, does anyone else see the irony in this statement? Use protection when trying to get pregnant, even though we've had unprotected sex for over two years, and haven't gotten pregnant! When you think about it, it does make sense. One of the drugs I've been prescribed is a Class X medication, and can seriously harm a growing fetus, and there are a few other Class D medications as well. When taking fertility drugs, the side effects are scary, and as my sister says,: "they may cause life, may cause death!" Hopefully, with the aid of many medications, a new life (or two) will be achieved soon!

Post 33: Baby Diet

I've slowly been changing my eating habits in the off chance that the old wives tales actually work! However, it is so expensive to eat healthy foods on a daily basis. My normal grocery bill is around $80/week for the two of us - this includes three chickens, three pounds of ground beef, pork chops, deli meat, bread, and salad mix. Today I spent $150, and barely have any food, and essentially no meat! I do have avocado (yuck), Brazil nuts, walnuts, beans, coconut water, whole grain bread, and a variety of fruits and veggies. The only meat I ended up with was ham and turkey for sandwiches, and a thick piece of ham for soup. I really hope this works, and I'm not eating rabbit food for no reason. It's crazy what we are willing to try when TTC. 

Post 31: It just got real!

After almost five hours at Wake Forest today, we are officially on our way to starting a family through IVF! We arrived about an hour before our appointment to complete paperwork, and it took almost an hour to complete. We answered more questions than I knew existed. Everything from medications and vaccinations to my menstruation data and family history. If I've sneezed in the past 26 years of life, they know about it. 

After paperwork was completed, we were taken to the consultation room where we met with two residents. They took a full history, and we discussed my prior treatments. With Shaun and I both bring healthy adults with no risk factors, they decided we were in the odd category where they don't know what's wrong or why we haven't conceived on our own. When they'd asked all of their questions, they consulted with our reproductive endocrinologist, or RE for short, Dr. Erika Johnston-MacAnanny.

Our doctor is awesome, and not only spent over an hour talking with us and answering our questions, but she also performed my ultrasound. Though IVF was the recommended treatment plan, there were other options offered, including:

1) increase our clomid dosage and try another round of IUI, but since three cycles of IUI failed, it's not likely that it'll work 

2) undergo a laparoscopy to get a better look at the small endometrioma that we've been watching for a few months, which includes anesthesia, intubation, and surgery, and may not show anything helpful

3) change to injectable medicines and try timed intercourse or IUI, which will only increase our chances of conception by about 5%

Once we heard our options, it strengthened our decision to start IVF! Once the decision was made, I was whisked away to ultrasound to look at the endometrioma, and to check my follicles. Since I'm not in any pain, we decided not to remove the endometrioma at this time, especially since it hasn't grown much in the past year. 

After the ultrasound, we met with someone to discuss finances, and were given our orientation packet. One cycle of IVF is estimated to be $11,000. They would like to perform ICSI on half of the eggs retrieved, which means that they'll crack my eggs and put Shaun's sperm directly into it to ensure fertilization. This process will be an additional $1200-$1600 depending on how many eggs are retrieved. There's also a $900 charge for cryopreservation - the process of freezing any fertilized eggs that aren't transferred during IVF. Medications are also not included in the estimate, and they are estimated to be around $2500. So, in total, one cycle will cost approximately $17000, and the money is due up front! 

After finances, we met with our goto nurse, Roxy. If we have any questions, at any point, we are to call Roxy.  With this meeting, we looked at a calendar and estimated when we should start trainings and medications. In order to start IVF, we have to go through a medical teaching class where we learn more about IVF, specifically how to mix and administer drugs legally! 

We have our training on October 21st, and should start our first series of injections the same week! We discussed which medications I'll be taking, but the meeting was extremely brief since Roxy will be leading the training in two weeks. When we'd finished our meeting with Roxy, we were sent for blood work. Shaun and I both had to be tested for sexually transmitted infections due to FDA regulations, and I had additional tests, such as my AMH level to check egg quality. The photo below shows Shaun's required blood work on the top, and mine on the bottom. Every sticker was a different test, and a different vial.

They took around 12 vials of blood from my arm, and a urine sample.  After blood work, we were finished with our first appointment. We celebrated by going to IKEA and Dave & Busters in Charlotte. 

Only a few days until we get started! Fingers crossed that this works, and we conceive a healthy pregnancy on the first try! 

Post 30: Two Year Mark

We'd passed the two year cycle mark a few months ago, but today marks two calendar years of TTC. We're officially at 24 calendar months, and 28 cycles, and I have yet to see two lines on a pregnancy test. It also signifies the anniversary of my moms diagnosis of frontal temporal dementia, and her 57th birthday. It's a sad day, but we celebrate joyously. We're blessed that my mother is still functioning unassisted, and though her conversations are not as detailed, she is, essentially, the same woman she's always been. I am beyond grateful to still have both of my parents, and am thankful for every day God gives me with them. My mom is my rock, and has been a wonderful support system. On the plus side, I can tell her the same story ten times, and it's always new to her!