Nov. 1, 2015
I realize my updates are slow going. I feel like this whole process is a whole bunch of hurry up and wait and then a mad dash to get everything situated. The weeks leading up to this were a whole lot of pricing meds and waiting. At the last minute, my coordinator finally put my orders in and my meds arrived THE DAY I started taking them. Way way way too close for my Type A comfort.
Last Thursday was my baseline ultrasound. My friend thankfully agreed to watch our son so we could pay attention at the appointment and not be trying to keep him entertained the entire time. To catch you up to speed, I'd been put on birth control pills with the hopes it'd jump start a period. I was starting to panic when Thrusday arrived (my last pill was Sunday morning) and I hadn't started my period yet. When I arrived I had the tiniest bit of spotting.
The nurse practitioner that did my ultrasound explained how I only had a 1.9mm thickness so perfectly within limits for a baseline measurement. I talked to her about my fear of not having shed lining since last March and would that be bad to start a pregnancy with that old blood hanging around in there. She assured me no. I will say, however, that I was thrilled to start my period hours after I left my appointment.
While she was doing the ultra sound, I got to see my ovaries again. My one, although good size was pretty quiet, no follicles. The other actually had something going on. She didn't know if it was a cyst of follicle but they marked it to monitor. We'll see if it changes by next Weds when I go in again.
After my ultrasound I met with the coordinator. I'll keep things very PC here, but I will admit her and I clash. I'm a pretty easy going person, but she can just be rude and condescending. I finally asked her to please be patient with me. Every question I asked she was annoyed and dismissive. I said we'd never done this before so my questions were new to us.
I wanted to clarify a few things in the contracts. One, our only two options when we were done building our family (all three remain ours until we are done) were to donate them back to the clinic for either destruction or scientific study. I was unsettled with that, but she assured me since they were such great quality, they'd be donated to another couple.
My other issue was they wanted to know now how many we were transferring. I told her I'd like to discuss further with the doctor. We feel like if the embryo thaws great, we will only transfer one. If the embryo thaws and downgrades, we may consider two. We just want to be on the same page as the doctor so he and the embryologist can decide at what point we'd like another embryo thawed.
After all our contracts and releases were signed, she showed us a quick video on how to administer the shots. The needle looked ginormous. I won't lie. She had me drop my pants and put two huge circles on my butt where I should be given the shot.
I also had to sign a release. Apparently, my varicella test showed my immunity was gone. I was a bit surprised because not only did I have chicken pox when I was little, but I showed full immunity when I was pregnant with my son. It was barely under so we decided to sign a release and proceed. To get the vaccination would push our transfer three months because it is a live virus. My feeling is it's a required vax so it isn't as common as it use to be and after researching it, IF I got it, there is only a 2% chance it would affect the baby in anyway. Now, if it was rubella or something, I'd have gotten the booster.
When I got home, we heard back from my blood test. My estrogen was a bit high at 121. They doctor likes to see it under 100, but since I'd just stopped birth control they allowed me to proceed thinking it may be residual estrogen in my system. I was given the go ahead to start my meds.
We struggled a bit with the shot starting out. First, my husband didn't get anything in the needle. Thank GOD we noticed it. The second time he kept pulling bubbles. I tried and did the same. Thankfully our friends who are now pregnant with EA were still up at 10 at night and talked us through it. They told my husband to put three times the meds in the syringe then shoot the excess back into the bottle. That took care of the huge bubbles. For the remaining, we just tapped the needle like suggested. The meds aren't like normal liquids you pull into a syringe. It's in castor oil (later the progesterone is in sesame oil) so it's very thick.
I bent over and my husband geared up to play darts where the nurse had drawn the circle. The initial poke wasn't too bad, but it was a strange sensation feeling him push the needle all the way in. It's 2" long. Not a tiny poke. He slowly injected it like instructed. It wasn't too bad. Very tolerable. I will say however this was only .1 cc. When I start progesterone that is 1 cc so ten times as much. That is the one I hear is very tender, especially doing it nightly.
Well, I am actually gearing up now for a shot. Right now, I'm just on pills, shots and baby aspirin. My meds should double this coming Weds if all is progressing well and then the following week and the progesterone will be added in (shots and vaginal suppositories.)
All in all, I'm feeling very positive and excited. Everything is paid for (well, on my credit card) at this point, so it's nice to have that bit of pressure off us. For now...
My TCM got back from China today. I plan to see if I can stop in for an acupuncture session on Weds after my fertility appointment since they are in a similar area. My mom will also be in town, so I know she'll be coming with me to my appointment. She'll (I'm sure) ask every question I've never even thought of. Ha! I can just imagine my coordinator's frustration now. Makes me giggle.
God bless!
I realize my updates are slow going. I feel like this whole process is a whole bunch of hurry up and wait and then a mad dash to get everything situated. The weeks leading up to this were a whole lot of pricing meds and waiting. At the last minute, my coordinator finally put my orders in and my meds arrived THE DAY I started taking them. Way way way too close for my Type A comfort.
Last Thursday was my baseline ultrasound. My friend thankfully agreed to watch our son so we could pay attention at the appointment and not be trying to keep him entertained the entire time. To catch you up to speed, I'd been put on birth control pills with the hopes it'd jump start a period. I was starting to panic when Thrusday arrived (my last pill was Sunday morning) and I hadn't started my period yet. When I arrived I had the tiniest bit of spotting.
The nurse practitioner that did my ultrasound explained how I only had a 1.9mm thickness so perfectly within limits for a baseline measurement. I talked to her about my fear of not having shed lining since last March and would that be bad to start a pregnancy with that old blood hanging around in there. She assured me no. I will say, however, that I was thrilled to start my period hours after I left my appointment.
While she was doing the ultra sound, I got to see my ovaries again. My one, although good size was pretty quiet, no follicles. The other actually had something going on. She didn't know if it was a cyst of follicle but they marked it to monitor. We'll see if it changes by next Weds when I go in again.
After my ultrasound I met with the coordinator. I'll keep things very PC here, but I will admit her and I clash. I'm a pretty easy going person, but she can just be rude and condescending. I finally asked her to please be patient with me. Every question I asked she was annoyed and dismissive. I said we'd never done this before so my questions were new to us.
I wanted to clarify a few things in the contracts. One, our only two options when we were done building our family (all three remain ours until we are done) were to donate them back to the clinic for either destruction or scientific study. I was unsettled with that, but she assured me since they were such great quality, they'd be donated to another couple.
My other issue was they wanted to know now how many we were transferring. I told her I'd like to discuss further with the doctor. We feel like if the embryo thaws great, we will only transfer one. If the embryo thaws and downgrades, we may consider two. We just want to be on the same page as the doctor so he and the embryologist can decide at what point we'd like another embryo thawed.
After all our contracts and releases were signed, she showed us a quick video on how to administer the shots. The needle looked ginormous. I won't lie. She had me drop my pants and put two huge circles on my butt where I should be given the shot.
I also had to sign a release. Apparently, my varicella test showed my immunity was gone. I was a bit surprised because not only did I have chicken pox when I was little, but I showed full immunity when I was pregnant with my son. It was barely under so we decided to sign a release and proceed. To get the vaccination would push our transfer three months because it is a live virus. My feeling is it's a required vax so it isn't as common as it use to be and after researching it, IF I got it, there is only a 2% chance it would affect the baby in anyway. Now, if it was rubella or something, I'd have gotten the booster.
When I got home, we heard back from my blood test. My estrogen was a bit high at 121. They doctor likes to see it under 100, but since I'd just stopped birth control they allowed me to proceed thinking it may be residual estrogen in my system. I was given the go ahead to start my meds.
We struggled a bit with the shot starting out. First, my husband didn't get anything in the needle. Thank GOD we noticed it. The second time he kept pulling bubbles. I tried and did the same. Thankfully our friends who are now pregnant with EA were still up at 10 at night and talked us through it. They told my husband to put three times the meds in the syringe then shoot the excess back into the bottle. That took care of the huge bubbles. For the remaining, we just tapped the needle like suggested. The meds aren't like normal liquids you pull into a syringe. It's in castor oil (later the progesterone is in sesame oil) so it's very thick.
I bent over and my husband geared up to play darts where the nurse had drawn the circle. The initial poke wasn't too bad, but it was a strange sensation feeling him push the needle all the way in. It's 2" long. Not a tiny poke. He slowly injected it like instructed. It wasn't too bad. Very tolerable. I will say however this was only .1 cc. When I start progesterone that is 1 cc so ten times as much. That is the one I hear is very tender, especially doing it nightly.
Well, I am actually gearing up now for a shot. Right now, I'm just on pills, shots and baby aspirin. My meds should double this coming Weds if all is progressing well and then the following week and the progesterone will be added in (shots and vaginal suppositories.)
All in all, I'm feeling very positive and excited. Everything is paid for (well, on my credit card) at this point, so it's nice to have that bit of pressure off us. For now...
My TCM got back from China today. I plan to see if I can stop in for an acupuncture session on Weds after my fertility appointment since they are in a similar area. My mom will also be in town, so I know she'll be coming with me to my appointment. She'll (I'm sure) ask every question I've never even thought of. Ha! I can just imagine my coordinator's frustration now. Makes me giggle.
God bless!
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