Monthly Archives: October 2014

The Dreaded Wait- The 411

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baby- wait

I was not cut out for all this waiting !  My mind races to a million places and I worry.  It is killing me that I only have two embryos hanging out at the clinic growing and worrying if they will continue to develop and grow.

Thousands of dollars in medications, fourteen days of injections, perfect diet, and I get eight eggs and only TWO fertilized?   I really only need two, but hey, it would have been nice to have some back ups for FETs if this cycle did not work or ended in another miscarriage.

The embryologist does not check my embryos again until tomorrow morning .  I will definitely call them tomorrow mid-morning to check on my babies.  Prayerfully those two are great quality and the one being thawed out will make it through the thaw.  I already knew the frozen one was as 4AB so at least it is a great quality embryo.

This whole process is so unfair.  It is so nerve wrecking !!

No one told me that PIO would IMMEDIATELY yield symptoms ! Oh Em Gee !   My nipples are aching already and started hours after the first injection !   I have abdominal cramping and twinges.   I just hope I do not develop any allergies to the oil.   The injections are super easy, not what I expected at all.

I am beyond bored here in Albany !  I wish my mom could have come with me.  I will get out of the room and go to the mall tomorrow and see a movie or something…

IVF #3 Fertilization Report and the Plan – The 411

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baby- fertilization

This morning, I waited patiently for my clinic to call with my fertilization report.  I had to go into the clinic at 11 am anyway to get my PIO shot instructional.  Before I left, they had not called and when I arrived, the nurse told me she called me and left a message.  I realized they called my home number and not the cell.

Out of eight eggs retrieved from twelve follicles, only two of them fertilized. The other six were not of a quality / maturity to even fertilize.

I was given the option to do a three day transfer with the two embryos if they make it to day three or to wait and see how they develop and do a five day transfer.

I was disappointed that more eggs did not fertilize, but even with my first cycle,( twelve egg retrieved and only seven fertilized and four made it) and my second cycle (four eggs retrieved, three fertilized and three made it to blasts) I wanted to wait it out and let the strongest survive.

By waiting until Monday and doing a five day transfer, I had the option of thawing my frozen one and transferring that one with the other two, so ultimately, that is what I decided to do.  I had one frozen from my first cycle and it was perfect quality and made it to day six.

So…. on Monday, I will transfer the three embryos and pray that at least two of them stick !  My mom wants me to have triplets… why, I do not know !  Two would be more than enough but hey, we beggars can not be choosers LOL.  I will take whatever the good Lord wants to bring through me !

I was about to get in my feelings about only having two eggs fertilize, but then, I only really need two.  I do not want to be stuck with the decision of what to do with extra embryos should I have babies in this cycle.  That would be really heartbreaking to get rid of embryos.

I chose to remain positive and trust that THIS IS MY CYCLE !

As for the progesterone in oil shot, it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be !  Did not hurt at all when the nurse injected it !  I was really glad since I had been fearing the shot with dread.

The nurse gave me some extra needles so that I can do them myself or I can come back to the clinic to get it done.  I am not going to pay $20 RT in a car service just to get the shot.  I have to do this on my own.  I will try to do it in the buns but if I run into problems, I can always inject my thigh.  I have a prescription for Emla cream so I will fill that today and numb the area prior to injecting it.  You rub the cream on an hour before injecting.

I am now back in my hotel room and just whipped up a burger and baked potato for my lunch.  I put on a pot of collards earlier this morning to accompany my pan seared center cut pork chops.  For some reason after my retrieval, I am always STARVING !  I ate so much food yesterday when I got back, I felt ashamed.

So now ladies, pray for my two little ones that they keep growing and dividing and that my frozen baby thaws well.   Come Monday, I will be PUPO !! 🙂

IVF #3 Egg Retrieval – The 411

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baby- cny resting room spa

This morning, I left the hotel at 7:30 am and headed to CNY Fertility Center and Spa in Albany for my retrieval.

My mouth was dry as cotton since I was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight the night before.

I checked in, was promptly brought to the back and I got changed into my gorgeous bathroom and hospital gown and was walked down to my OR for the morning.  After voiding, getting weighed and asked a ton of questions, I met all my nurses, Dr. Grossman, the anesthesiologist, the embryologist, and then I was given meds and woke up with my intralipid infusion already under way.  I had a little cramping, and my nurse gave me more toradol in my IV.

I slept off and on while they continued to monitor me and by the time my second intralipids infusion was done, I was wide away.

The nurse came in and told me they got eight great eggs.  I had eight huge follicles and then the other 4 were smaller.  Based on my E2 being around 1700 at my last monitoring, I predicted I would have eight mature eggs.

After getting dressed, I went up to the spa and purchased a lavender heating pad that you pop in the microwave.  This thing is divine !

My driver picked me up, took me to A Tailored Tea Room to grab a few scones and I came back to the hotel and put on my jammies, got a scone, made some coffee and climbed in bed to watch tv.

I intend to stay in bed and rest today.   I made a burger last night so all I have to do is put a baked potato in the microwave and cook it.

It is raining in Albany all day today, so it is perfect snuggle under a warm blanket weather.

The only thing I am missing is my baby Langston (my four year old Maltipoo) who jumped in the car with my sister over the weekend and is visiting with her until I go get him around Christmas.  He is a traitor, I know !  It will be nice to have a little break.

Twas The Night Before Retrieval – The 411

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keep calm - just one more day

This morning, I arrived in Albany and the car service picked me up and delivered me safely to my hotel.  I checked in early and then the hotel staff took me to the grocery store.  I picked up a few groceries to get me through my stay, as my suite has a kitchen in it.

I came back, made a few burgers to get me through today and tomorrow, whipped up a baked potato, ate and then sat down to rest.

After a few hours, I met a guy for coffee at Starbucks across the street that I met on Match.com.  He is really cute, from Austria, and is 6’4.   He is a financial advisor and is pretty laid back.  We sat and talked for a few hours and then he walked me back to the hotel, had a glass of wine in the lobby and then he went home.  I came in and did my neupogen injection and took my prednisone.

We agreed to meet again for dessert and coffee in a day or so.

This dating thing is not as awkward as I thought it would be.  Well, I guess when you are hanging out with someone who has something in common with you, it is not too shabby.

My clinic sent me a message today that a production company contacted them about casting me for a show about SMBC.  The production company also sent me an inbox on FB.  I reached out to them and am awaiting one of the producers to call me to discuss.

I am very excited about my procedure tomorrow and am praying for good healthy mature eggs and an awesome fertilization report !

I will update tomorrow after I get in as to how many eggs they aspirate.

CDC Liked My Pic Post – The 411

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Screenshot_2014-10-28-03-27-08-1

I’m enroute to Albany for my IVF and I am taking no chances with catching a cold, flu, or ebola!  This lady at the gate kept coughing and not covering her face well.

I grabbed a few masks when I was at the hospital to take on this trip since I am not driving up.

I instagram’d the pic above and right after it posted the CDC liked the pic !  # hilarious

Wish me luck and sticky baby dust ~

IVF #3 – Trigger Day !!! – The 411

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baby - ivf 3 trigger day

This morning I went in for my last monitoring appointment !  My ovaries are FULL.   Most of my follicles are 25 now so I definitely have the bloat thing going on lol.  My E2 is now 1800 which is good and is higher that it was my first cycle when I had 12 eggs.

My nurse called this afternoon while I was packing and gave me my trigger instructions and instructions for the next day and morning of retrieval.

I called the car service and made arrangements for them to pick me up tomorrow and drop me to my hotel and I will also have them take me to Walmart to go grocery shop for my week in Albany.

I packed all my stuff and am shipping my clothing and some must have food items to the hotel for early am delivery.  I did not feel like lugging a huge bag with me.  I can now put my laptop in my carry on bag and my meds that I will need.

I contacted the local infusion center to set up my weekly intralipid infusions.  They are contacting my doctor’s office to get all the info and forms needed.

I am beyond worn out !  Every time I have to travel somewhere, I am always running around like mad trying to get ready and making sure I don’t leave anything.  Now I have to go hunt down my heating pad that I loaned my mom.

My best friends, both of whom are pregnant, should be delivering soon.  One had a baby shower this weekend, and I completely forgot about it.  I had planned to be gone to Albany already so I was to miss it anyway.  My other bestie is due on November 6th, my late father’s bday.  Hopefully all this baby stuff will rub off on me 🙂

I hope everyone else is doing well !

IVF #3 Stim Day 13 – FINALLY ! – The 411

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baby - lets get this party started pink keep calm

baby - IVF3 stim day 1

Tonight was my FINAL stim injection !   Tomorrow morning I have a monitoring appointment and will trigger at 9pm if all goes according to plan.   I noticed that by icing for 15 minutes with a solid block of ice, I did not have any bruises this time around.  I do not know how much of that is attributed to not doing Lovenox prior to retrieval this time or not.

I mixed all my meds and did my two injections and then put a homeopathic pain relief gel on my tummy.

The “over-bloat”, gassy feeling I have had all week has disappeared, thank goodness !  I am really happy about that, though sneaky little thoughts come in and I wonder if my ovaries went down or something.  I guess things have stretched out enough or I am just not as cognizant of it.  My tummy looks like I am about 4 months pregnant so maybe the fluid is just more upwards… who knows.   As long as everything looks good at monitoring tomorrow, I will be happy.

I am looking forward to having a week of solitude and quiet.  I will be going food hunting with one of my nurses from my clinic.  We are going to the tea room and we will also go to some restaurant she swears by for vegetables.  I have been on a serious greens kick.  I ate an entire pot of mustard greens and spring onion like it was ice cream in the past day ! I need help LOL.  During my first stim cycle and pregnancy, I craved cooked vegetables, especially mustards all day long !  The second cycle I only craved pollo a la brasa with the cilantro pesto sauce.

As I am sitting here typing, I think I spoke to soon !  My abdomen feel TIGHT.  I have not been sitting straight up much all weekend, so that is probably why I didn’t feel this water balloon about the hoo haa feel.

Anyway, I am going to finish packing my clothes for the trip and then am going to finish watching “Sex Tape” with Cameron Diaz that I rented on demand.

I am getting really excited about my cycle and feel good about it.  I think three times is a charm !

IVF #3 Stim Day 12- The 411

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baby - bloating

Today is my 12th day of stims !  I feel like I am harboring two water balloons in my pelvis !  LAUD ! I only have hopefully one more injection tomorrow night and then on Monday, I will should be triggering at 9 pm.  #fingerscrossed.  I got in an acupuncture session this morning and will go another on Monday after my monitoring appointments.

I mixed my meds and did my injections while eating dinner at the table and I completely freaked out my sister lol.  It has become so common place that I do these that I just whip out my needles and mix and eat then inject all in one sitting.  My mom is used to seeing me do it lol.

My other sister, who is an RN just got here today to visit with our mom.  I guess my text messages and pleading to COME HOME and see our mom hit a nerve somewhere.  My mom was ecstatic to see the kids and my sister, so I am very happy !  Both my sisters are here at mom’s house and she has all three of her girls and most of the grandkids here.

baby - IVF3 stim day 1

I need advice from you ladies on how I should handle my pursuit of motherhood and dating.  At what point should I even mention it?  I am apprehensive about mentioning my ivf tries because there are no guarantees and I also do not want to run off potential life partners by mentioning something even a married man freaks out over – KIDS !  What would you do?  How have you handled things?

IVF #3 Stim Day 11 and Beyond…. – The 411

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baby - waiting

Today, I went in for what I thought would be my LAST monitoring appointment.  Alas, I got the call from my nurse to continue on the same meds thru the weekend, go in for monitoring on Monday and then they should be ready to do my retrieval on Wednesday.

I had to call the hotel, call Amtrak and get an appointment for Monday for monitoring.  I was able to get everything done.  I decided to just stay in Albany the entire week instead of coming back to check on my mom.  Since I leave on Tuesday, there is no point in my coming back on Thursday and then going right back there on Sunday for Monday’s retrieval.  I actually got a $35 refund on my ticket because I changed the return date to a week out.

Currently, I have 12 large follicles and there are still some smaller ones that are growing.  They want to make sure all 12 are maxed out in size before they try to do a retrieval.  They are not in the range they should be yet to get me to the finish line.  My E2 is now 1000, which is good and will surely rise quite a bit between now and the time they check it again on Monday.

I am a tad disappointed that I am not ready for retrieval yet, but at the same time, glad my doctor is closely monitoring me and making sure that we maximize this cycle and work to get the best possible eggs.  By waiting until Wednesday to retrieve, I will have more mature eggs to work with which means better quality, stronger and will likely have more fertilized eggs.

I am in the process of mixing my meds now and will do my injection at 6pm.  I let my meds sit out at room temp for 30 mins before I mix them. I am short on my Menopur since I have to stim longer.  I am short 75 units per day.  The doctor said I can substitute 75 units of Gonal F for the missing Menopur.  WHEW !!  I was about to go into total freak out mode !  lol  Tomorrow I am going in for an acupuncture session and will probably do another on Monday before heading to Albany on Tuesday…. hey… it can’t hurt !

baby - IVF3 stim day 1

IVF #3 Stim Day 10 – The 411

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baby - IVF3 stim day 1

Today is stim day TEN !   I feel like I have two water balloons where my ovaries sit.   I feel pretty good and am excited about this cycle.

Today, I went out and got all the stuff I will need while I am in Albany.  I got my gatorade and all my meds together and will start packing tomorrow.   I have in my head what I will take with me, especially since the Fall has come to visit in full force.

Tonight, I mixed my meds and did the injections and just popped the last two prednisone for the night.

I am going to relax after eating a great dinner I made and spend an hour on Match and EHarmony while I wait for Scandal to come on. 🙂