Had my baseline ultrasound on Thursday and I have 15 follicles already growing and he thinks we will have at least 20+ eggs by retrieval. He told me he absolutely loves my young ovaries and how well my body seems to respond to all of this. I just like that everything has gone rather smoothly so far and we are still moving forward.
We had a nice discussion at my appointment this week about pain relief and embryos. He's advising me to take Tylenol every day to keep from being in pain. He thinks the stress from the pain would be worse for my body than the actual medication. He said I will be very uncomfortable by retrieval and he doesn't see any need for me to just suffer through it. I can take 2 Tylenol every 6 hours as needed. If I'm still in any pain (not just discomfort from bloating) I have to call them immediately. Apparently, my left ovary is slightly attached to my uterus (endometriosis throughout the years) so he's worried about having too much pressure on that ovary and it pushing into my uterus. I'll be doing even more ultrasounds than normal because of this. Yay. I also talked to him a lot about how many embryos I feel comfortable with putting in. We agreed that if we have 1 excellent quality embryo then we will only put back 1 excellent. I would put back an excellent and then a lower grade embryo if we chose to put back 2. He was telling me about a patient that recently put back 2 excellent and 1 split so she is expecting triplets. I told him I do not want to end up in that situation if at all possible. I would rather have a singleton pregnancy just simply because I have to think about the children I already have. Being on bed rest for several weeks, being in the hospital longer, having NICU babies, bringing 2 babies home and needing help, and just taking care of 2 babies would affect my children's lives a lot. Having 1 baby that I could carry to term, bring home from the hospital, and take care of by myself would be much easier. Not to mention the financial part of having twins. The hospital bills, buying 2 of everything, 2 in diapers, supplementing with formula because breastfeeding twins is difficult… It just seems like a lot. If we put back 2 and they both took then we would be thrilled and make it work, but I told him I don't want to put back more than 2 for any reason. Even if they weren't good quality. If we put in 2 and one split then it's because someone bigger than me had that in His plans. I just don't want to be the one to put myself in that position. We have a plan for what grade and quality embryos we will freeze or put back and he will make recommendations based on that. He and the embryologist know where I stand on it and they will take all of that into account and do whatever they can to avoid a high multiples pregnancy. I told him I would rather it just not work than to lose 3 babies late into the pregnancy because I couldn't carry them to term. I also don't want to put that burden on the 2 children I already have. That's just too much for them to have to deal with. We won't know for sure until transfer, but I feel like we have a good plan.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
An End In Sight!
Yesterday my headaches finally got bad enough that I had to call and ask about taking something for them. I was to the point that all I wanted to do was lay in bed in the dark, and that just doesn't work around here. My fabulous nurse gave me the go ahead to take 2 Tylenol yesterday, but nothing more. It did help a little (as in I was able to function), but of course my headache was back today full force by 10 AM. Today is my last day of BCP so she thinks that it will help hugely to not be taking these both at the same time. Headaches are a common side effect for both and she said when you put them together it can be even worse. I sure hope it gets better! I only have another week of full dose Lupron though so even if it keeps going I know it's ending soon. There's a whole other list of problems that come with the other meds. :)
While we were on the phone she ran down the list of things not to do before labs that I have coming up soon. I actually found the information she gave me to be extremely helpful and informative. The biggest thing she said is that from this point on I have to keep a very low fat diet because when they draw labs the fat content in your blood can often make it harder to read the results. She suggested lean meats, veggies, fruits, whole grain breads, and such just so that it's not an issue. They rely on these labs to let them know what dosages need to be given for medications so it's really important that the results are accurate. She also told me that I will have to reduce carbs and increase my water intake greatly in a week. Carbs and dehydration both can cause OHSS to be even worse so it's just something I can do to lessen my risk. I think I can handle that.
My nurse is one of the sweetest people I've ever met in my life. She genuinely cares about what is going on in your life outside of treatment. She asked how the kids are liking school so far and said she's kind of sad that they won't be able to come with me to any more appointments because they are all during the mornings when the kids are in school. I'm only scheduled for one Saturday morning appointment at this point so the kids won't be with me as much. They love when I bring the kids in, but particularly Madison. She's at that age where she's interested in what's going on and what I'm doing. She sits in the waiting room while I do my ultrasound and then comes back if I have labs, meet with Dr. G, or have to do anything else. I like that she's kind of seeing how all this works and has some idea of what's going on. I don't share every detail with her, just what's age appropriate. She understands that this is what has to happen if she wants another brother or sister, but beyond that I think she just likes being the center of attention there. They also let her ring the bell up front a million times last time and she thought that was all kinds of fun. Jack has gone a few times, but doesn't ever ask to go and I certainly wouldn't ever make him. They both are on my ass at 8 PM every night though when it's time to do shots! It's like they think I can't tell time or think I'll forget. They are also both very good about opening the fridge very carefully because my meds are on the top shelf. I have to say there are some serious advantages to doing this while having older kids!
While we were on the phone she ran down the list of things not to do before labs that I have coming up soon. I actually found the information she gave me to be extremely helpful and informative. The biggest thing she said is that from this point on I have to keep a very low fat diet because when they draw labs the fat content in your blood can often make it harder to read the results. She suggested lean meats, veggies, fruits, whole grain breads, and such just so that it's not an issue. They rely on these labs to let them know what dosages need to be given for medications so it's really important that the results are accurate. She also told me that I will have to reduce carbs and increase my water intake greatly in a week. Carbs and dehydration both can cause OHSS to be even worse so it's just something I can do to lessen my risk. I think I can handle that.
My nurse is one of the sweetest people I've ever met in my life. She genuinely cares about what is going on in your life outside of treatment. She asked how the kids are liking school so far and said she's kind of sad that they won't be able to come with me to any more appointments because they are all during the mornings when the kids are in school. I'm only scheduled for one Saturday morning appointment at this point so the kids won't be with me as much. They love when I bring the kids in, but particularly Madison. She's at that age where she's interested in what's going on and what I'm doing. She sits in the waiting room while I do my ultrasound and then comes back if I have labs, meet with Dr. G, or have to do anything else. I like that she's kind of seeing how all this works and has some idea of what's going on. I don't share every detail with her, just what's age appropriate. She understands that this is what has to happen if she wants another brother or sister, but beyond that I think she just likes being the center of attention there. They also let her ring the bell up front a million times last time and she thought that was all kinds of fun. Jack has gone a few times, but doesn't ever ask to go and I certainly wouldn't ever make him. They both are on my ass at 8 PM every night though when it's time to do shots! It's like they think I can't tell time or think I'll forget. They are also both very good about opening the fridge very carefully because my meds are on the top shelf. I have to say there are some serious advantages to doing this while having older kids!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Just Funny
This shirt just cracks me up. I saw it on a sidebar of a blog I read and it's so true around here. I get the feeling this next kid won't ever want to come out once it hears what this house is like on a daily basis.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Fitbit
Today I ordered myself a Fitbit Zip. I've had my Bodybugg forever, but I just don't love it. It's big, bulky, and I feel like everyone notices it. It's also a pain to connect it to my computer and upload the results every day. Yes it's accurate and works wonderfully, but it's just not for me anymore. Matt mentioned this morning that there was a new Fitbit announced so as soon as he left for work I researched it myself. I decided to get their $60 version because it does exactly what I want it to do and nothing more. It uploads into Lose It via Bluetooth so I don't have to connect it, plus it runs on a watch battery so I don't have to charge it. It counts steps and calories burned and sends them to Lose It (the app I use to track food) without much effort for me. It just connects on your pants, bra, shirt, or wherever else you want to put it so it's convenient and can be hidden easily.
By the way, shots are going well. Just some bruising, hot flashes, and headaches. It's not terrible because I do them about an hour before bed so I sleep through a lot of it. I'm just kind of waiting for the next step at this point. The next step is a big one and I'm so ready!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Lupron and Yoga Pants
I was going to post yesterday about how easy the injections are, but I had a blinding headache that wouldn't allow me to look at the computer screen for more than 2 minutes at a time! The actual injections are easy and completely painless. The headache and fatigue I've gotten from the Lupron are pretty awful. I could seriously fall asleep typing this. I don't know how I'm going to manage to stay awake all day! I'm also REALLY bloated. I've been drinking a ton of water because I knew this part was coming and I wanted to stay ahead of it, but no such luck. Oh well. I own lots of yoga pants. :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
My Birthday Date With FedEx
Guess who is spending their birthday waiting for the FedEx truck to get here with lots of boxes of meds? This girl is! I'm really ok with this because we think we figured out what was making me so sick (the antibiotic they had me on) so I'm feeling MUCH better and not like I'm on the verge of death today. Woohoo! Apparently Doxycycline and I just don't get along. We'll have to figure something else out for my retrieval, but she said it's not a big deal at all.
I learned some very interesting things yesterday at my appointment that I want to write down simply so that I can keep track of things. My memory has become awful with these hormones so I find that I'm having to write everything down. First, they think I'm a very high risk for OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) because my AMH number is only 4 (very excellent..I have a lot of eggs) and I have reacted perfectly up to this point. My lining was 7 yesterday, no cyst on my ovaries, and I had several follicles. He said he would estimate 20-40 eggs possible at ER!! That's an insane amount of eggs. 20 would be pretty average, but he said I have more follicles than he could easily count and my ovaries are "beautiful" and he "loves them." Yes, it's a little weird and creepy to hear such words out of context, but I get it. But this also means we have to be really careful with my protocol because they can't just turn on my body and put it into stimulation with that many ready follicles. I'll have to do the Lupron longer than most people to even out the stimulation meds. I'll start with 10U of Lupron, but then cut down to 5U and continue it until retrieval. My Menopur dose is starting at 75IU and my Gonal-F is 112.5. He said we will decrease the amount of Gonal-F most likely towards ER. He also moved my ER up to the 10th or 11th because he thinks I will stim very quickly. I know this doesn't mean much to anyone but me that reads this, but if I have to do this again I want to be able to look back at my protocol. Just for perspective, I have 3000 IU's of Gonal-F on hand and I will use nowhere near that amount. I will use just over 1100 IU's. I was fortunate enough to get the pre-loaded pens so I don't have to mix them and they are supposedly a lot easier to use.
I don't go back until the 27th so the next 2 weeks are just Lupron injections, but then everything will move very quickly after that. I'm beyond ready for this. I think a lot of this process is just mental and I am very mentally prepared for everything. I trust my doctor and I trust the science. I know this could fail due to things out of our control and I may have to do it again. I know I could miscarry because I have before. I know there is an 80% chance of multiples if we put back 2 embryos for me personally. I know I could have OHSS and my cycle could get canceled at any point because of this. But you know what? I can't do a damn thing about any of these things and neither can my doctor. We just have to work together to minimize the risks and do what we can so that we end up with the desired outcome.
I learned some very interesting things yesterday at my appointment that I want to write down simply so that I can keep track of things. My memory has become awful with these hormones so I find that I'm having to write everything down. First, they think I'm a very high risk for OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) because my AMH number is only 4 (very excellent..I have a lot of eggs) and I have reacted perfectly up to this point. My lining was 7 yesterday, no cyst on my ovaries, and I had several follicles. He said he would estimate 20-40 eggs possible at ER!! That's an insane amount of eggs. 20 would be pretty average, but he said I have more follicles than he could easily count and my ovaries are "beautiful" and he "loves them." Yes, it's a little weird and creepy to hear such words out of context, but I get it. But this also means we have to be really careful with my protocol because they can't just turn on my body and put it into stimulation with that many ready follicles. I'll have to do the Lupron longer than most people to even out the stimulation meds. I'll start with 10U of Lupron, but then cut down to 5U and continue it until retrieval. My Menopur dose is starting at 75IU and my Gonal-F is 112.5. He said we will decrease the amount of Gonal-F most likely towards ER. He also moved my ER up to the 10th or 11th because he thinks I will stim very quickly. I know this doesn't mean much to anyone but me that reads this, but if I have to do this again I want to be able to look back at my protocol. Just for perspective, I have 3000 IU's of Gonal-F on hand and I will use nowhere near that amount. I will use just over 1100 IU's. I was fortunate enough to get the pre-loaded pens so I don't have to mix them and they are supposedly a lot easier to use.
I don't go back until the 27th so the next 2 weeks are just Lupron injections, but then everything will move very quickly after that. I'm beyond ready for this. I think a lot of this process is just mental and I am very mentally prepared for everything. I trust my doctor and I trust the science. I know this could fail due to things out of our control and I may have to do it again. I know I could miscarry because I have before. I know there is an 80% chance of multiples if we put back 2 embryos for me personally. I know I could have OHSS and my cycle could get canceled at any point because of this. But you know what? I can't do a damn thing about any of these things and neither can my doctor. We just have to work together to minimize the risks and do what we can so that we end up with the desired outcome.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
It's on Paper Now
I got my printed calendar today with my "official" dates on it! It is being held up by headless Lego Star Wars magnets on my fridge.
I also learned how to give my injections, which seems kind of weird. How many people don't know how to draw medicine into a 1/2 inch needle and inject it at 90 degrees? That would have been enough of an explanation for me, but I had to prove I could do it 3 times before I got "approved." They have you use a fake skin thing at waist level so it's really not even like injecting yourself would be. I'm personally not scared of needles so it doesn't really bother me. I'm more bothered by the idea of Matt giving me the progesterone shots after my retrieval!
I also learned how to give my injections, which seems kind of weird. How many people don't know how to draw medicine into a 1/2 inch needle and inject it at 90 degrees? That would have been enough of an explanation for me, but I had to prove I could do it 3 times before I got "approved." They have you use a fake skin thing at waist level so it's really not even like injecting yourself would be. I'm personally not scared of needles so it doesn't really bother me. I'm more bothered by the idea of Matt giving me the progesterone shots after my retrieval!
This part sucks
It shouldn't even be possible to feel this sick without being pregnant. I've spent most of my morning feeling like I'm going to throw up at any given moment. It's awful!! I go for an ultrasound and my injections training this afternoon. I'll be the one who looks like she's about to hurl, still wearing yoga pants, hair in a pony tail. That's the best I've got today.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Walgreens Can Suck It
On Friday my nurse called the last of my meds into Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy so that I could have them Tuesday so I called to verify the price and make sure they didn't need anything from me. I was told my doctor ordered 10 Menopur (eek! Way more than I estimated) so I was shocked at the $904 price tag, but told them as soon as the order was processed to give me a call and I'd give them my credit card number. The pharmacist hadn't gone over the order so I wasn't allowed to pay yet. So then today while I was out with a friend doing some shopping I got a call that the order was processed and they were ready for payment. I asked them to verify the amount for me (I ask every.single.time.) before I gave them my information and suddenly the price was $1054!! I had called a few other pharmacies in the process and so I knew I was getting screwed. I told them to forget it because I knew I could get my medicines cheaper elsewhere. So here I am sitting in the car in the Lowes parking lot with my good friend and we are both calling fertility pharmacies. I gave her my list of meds and we both called to get prices. I called one of the ones I had called previously and they quoted me an even better price than they had previously so I told them to go ahead and set up a chart for me and I'd get my nurse to call in my scripts. I called my nurse and explained that Walgreens was trying to screw me over and I had chosen another pharmacy and she gladly called them in for me pretty quickly. Mandell's Pharmacy called me back an hour later and after I explained the Walgreens ordeal I got my meds for $863! They were able to get insurance to cover my syringes and needles and offered me free overnight delivery. They even offered to have them delivered same day if I needed it FOR FREE! I seriously had the best experience with them and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. Tomorrow I go for my pre-Lurpon sonogram, pick up my meds in their fridge, hand over the millions of forms they need from me, and learn how to inject myself with various medications. Yay!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Ick
2 days later and I am still fighting a headache and nausea from that stupid dye! We are supposed to go see a baseball playoffs game tonight but I'm not sure I'm going to make it. Other than the headaches, nausea, tiredness, bloating, and mood swings, everything is going well! Found out today insurance should cover my progesterone and Lupron, plus we received my HCG injection free. We should only end up paying for Menopur and my copays for the other 2. I'll take it!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Another update
This morning I got a call that my grant meds should be arriving at the clinic today and I can pick them up anytime. She wanted to verify that I only needed 1200 IU's because I could get up to 3000 with the grant, but they all have to be ordered at the same time. I had no clue what to tell her because I had no idea that my meds had been ordered! I called the nurse at the clinic just to clarify and we have it all straightened out. Apparently since this is an order directly from the manufacturer they didn't know how long it would take to get shipped and they didn't want to risk it not getting here in time. So my meds are sitting in their fridge and I pick them up Tuesday when I go back. The Lupron, Menopur, and Progesterone will be ordered in a few days and I pick them up or have them delivered on my birthday most likely. Happy Birthday to me!
My nurse is so sweet and I just love her. My doctor is a little scatter brained (but very smart and good at what he does) so it's a good thing his staff is amazing and keeps him organized. I honestly don't know how she does it. She told me that I'm her favorite patient and that I'm always her favorite to call because I'm just so pleasant. I learned a long time ago that when dealing with these places it is a good idea to be nice to everyone because you are going to be speaking to them a lot and they will always call you back sooner if you're not a crazy bitch that they dread talking to. Getting all nuts about dates, calendars, and paperwork doesn't get you anywhere. If I have a question I call and ask, but for the most part I just let them do their jobs and know that they will let me know when they need something from me. I think it just makes everyone's life easier.
My nurse is so sweet and I just love her. My doctor is a little scatter brained (but very smart and good at what he does) so it's a good thing his staff is amazing and keeps him organized. I honestly don't know how she does it. She told me that I'm her favorite patient and that I'm always her favorite to call because I'm just so pleasant. I learned a long time ago that when dealing with these places it is a good idea to be nice to everyone because you are going to be speaking to them a lot and they will always call you back sooner if you're not a crazy bitch that they dread talking to. Getting all nuts about dates, calendars, and paperwork doesn't get you anywhere. If I have a question I call and ask, but for the most part I just let them do their jobs and know that they will let me know when they need something from me. I think it just makes everyone's life easier.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
It's TUESDAY!
I had my HSG and mock transfer today and it was all clear! It wasn't as bad as the biopsy, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience that I care to repeat any time soon. It was kind of cool to watch the dye flow through everything and be able to see what exactly was going on. It made the discomfort a little easier. We had our "orientation meeting" after where we managed to get in a group with someone who had far too many questions for being so far along in the process. It was frustrating because I was fairly sore and was fighting a headache from the dye absorbing. I still have the headache, but it's not the worst thing I've gone through in the last few months so I won't complain too much. Now it's just down to finances and schedules…
My next appointment is the 11th. That's my last pre-med ultrasound to check for cysts and lining, and I start Lupron injections next week!
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