Tag Archives: Intralipids

Blog Update- 01/16 – The 411

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Above are pictures from my HCG wash that I had done this morning.  I arrived in Syracuse at 8:30 AM, checked into the hotel, changed my sweater, put on boots and left for the fertility clinic. I met a FB fertility page friend who donated three vials of Neupogen to me that she had left over from her cycle and then I went inside, checked in and awaited my name to be called.

My nurse, Allyson, did my HCG wash and then another nurse, who never gave me her name, came in and did the two bags of intralipids.

After my infusion, I was able to leave and I came back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit.  I have been waiting on my mom to wake up so that we can go out and grab a meal and tomorrow, I plan to go the AM movies to see Ride Along 2 since I missed the pre-release screening.  I am looking forward to seeing it.

In baby news, six of my eggs survived the thaw and three fertilized right away and are growing little embryos.  The others they are watching and if they fertilize, they will grown them out to see if they are good enough a grade to freeze.

I am so torn as to how many to transfer now.  If I only have three embryos, do I transfer all three hoping that two of them take?  Do I just transfer two and pray both take and then I have one on ice in case the transfer fails?   Do I transfer all three and if it doesn’t work, then just select a new donor and do a fresh cycle?

I guess I just need to wait until I arrive at the clinic on Monday at 10 am for my acupuncture to get an updated report on the numbers and grades of the embryos and then I will be in a better position to decide.   I was hoping I would have six embryos so that I could have the option of doing three transfers with this one cycle, but this all such a crap shoot !

I just pray that this cycle takes and I deliver healthy babies this Fall and that be the end of it.  I am exhausted !  This whole process is daunting and tiring.  The ups and downs… ebs and flow of it all is enough to drive a sane person as insane as my stalker is !

Speaking of stalker, this crazy woman somehow managed to “like” my film pages and fan page on FB and posted some foolishness on it.  I deleted the posts, banned her fake profile from the page, and then put a post on my main FB page alerting everyone as to the fake profile and asking them to block her should she contact them or send a friend request, which she has been doing for 2 weeks now.  UGH !!

Only positive thoughts and no stress !!

 

 

 

IVF #5 – 4DP3DT Intralipid Infusion – The 411

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ivf #5 - intralipid infusion bag and pole

Yesterday, Infuscience came to my home and administered my weekly intralipid infusion.  For some reason, my arm and muscle start to ache at times during the infusion, prompting me to move my arm in different positions.

The infusion is pretty quick and I make sure to drink lots of fluids afterward, as per doc’s instructions.

Today, we spent the day with our mom, taking her to brunch at this hard to get a reservation at restaurant called Founding Farmers.  The place is huge, and it is a buffet style brunch with too many food stations to name.  My mom and sister and I went.  We had a great time.   We came back to mom’s home and we presented her with her gifts, since my sister, Terry, will not be here tomorrow and we Ichatted my sister, Jessica, in.

We ordered my mom’s favorite cookies from Leri’s Sweets in Garner, NC, ordered Tiffany & Co. cereal bowl set from the Asian T&C store (they do not make them here in the States, nor carry them in the stores here), and we had a print of a lady quilting custom framed for her quilting studio.  She LOVED the cookies… LOVED the bowl set (which matches her mug she got for Christmas)… but… she was SPEECHLESS when she unwrapped that print.  Below is a pic of the print…

mom print

IVF # 5 – Trigger Day 2 !! – The 411

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baby - novarel trigger

Today, my day started off kinda rocky.  The hotel called last night and arranged for a car service to come and pick me up at 10:15 am to take me to my fertility clinic.  At 10:30, I was still awaiting their arrival and I was supposed to BE at CNY at 10:30 am.  I was LIVID!  One thing that irks me is waiting for people.  I am PAYING you, you are not transporting me for free.  The driver arrives and explains that he was told to run someone up the street to Hertz.  I of course checked him and then moved on.  He got me to the clinic in 5 minutes LOL.

I went in CNY Fertility Center and Spa- Albany and did my intralipid infusion of two bags of intralipids and I hung out with my nurse, Kimmy.  We took a few selfies and chatted for two hours.  I absolutely LOVE my nurses, Kimmy, Stacy, and Aileen !  They are the most down to Earth, calming spirits.  That is a good thing when you are going through such a trying time.

After I finished my intralipids, the clinic called a cab for me and then I came back to my hotel, ate some lunch and then watched my soap operas and the Real before getting concierge to take me grocery shopping.  I did my shopping and came back in and made a nice juicy burger for dinner since I did not feel like going to the mall.

My ovaries feel ridiculously inflated and I am a bit uncomfortable.  It will only get worse tonight after my double trigger shot.  But I hope this pushes my follicles right to the edge and all the eggs in there mature and are ripe for the picking in the morning when they put me on that table !

I just lathered my backside with Emla cream to numb the area I am going to do the IM injection of the Novarel at 9:30 pm.  I want to go to sleep, but the film crew will arrive at 11:30 – 12 so I will probably lightly sleep until then so I can greet them when they come in.

I am very tired, but also excited about what possibility tomorrow can bring !  I am claiming this to be MY cycle !  I am claiming that my eggs WILL be mature and they WILL fertilize and I will more eggs than I need for Tuesdays transfer and will have a few to freeze for another time.

I am hoping and praying for 10 or more eggs. Putting that out there in the universe and whispering it into the ears of God !  If He wants to give me more than 10 dynamic eggs and wants to give me 14 or 15, hey, I am not arguing !  lol

Thanks to you all for your prayers, your concern, and for sticking this out with me.  You all mean so much to me !  xoxo

IVF #5 – Trigger Day 1 – The 411

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baby- trigger shot

Tonight at 9:30 pm was trigger night !  #wootwoot  I did my Novarel 10,000 hcg shot IM !!

Today was such a long day for me.  I got up at 2:30 am and took a shower, did my Ganirelix, Neupogen and Lovenox injections around 3 am on my way to Union Station to hop on the train to NYC.  I got to NYC at 7 am and met my make up artist for breakfast and then hopped back on the subway to the Bronx for the visitation and homegoing services.

Some of my actor friends met me at the funeral home and we paid our respects.  The service was very nice and surprisingly not at all sad as I expected it to be.  It was truly a celebration of life for Grandmom Kate, who was 90 years old and Jared, who was 15.  Cristal was very composed and even spoke the zillion people who came from far and wide to celebrate the lives of the great grandmother and grandson who left Earth together. I did not attend to the burial program at the cemetery. I just could not do it.

I left after the funeral with a friend of mine and we went to midtown to Pio Pio and had a great Peruvian dinner.  I then headed over to Penn Station to board my 4 pm train to Albany.   I was upset that my car service was 30 mins late picking me up and then I missed the steak dinner the hotel serves on Thursday nights right off the grill !  I ended up eating mac n cheese from the freezer in the hotel mini grocer, waited until 9:30pm and then mixed and injected the first trigger shot.

As instructed, this morning, I did my am shots and I have taken my synthroid, prednisone, prenatal vitamins, and a baby asprin.  Tomorrow, I am going over to the clinic to do my intralipid infusion which will take an hour to do.  It is easier to do them on Friday when there is a full staff and a full day, as opposed to waiting until Saturday before the retrieval.  I do not want them to be rushed on Saturday, so I will go ahead and get it out of the way, plus it gives it a day  earlier to work and get my immune system dormant.

Praying that I have all immature eggs this cycle and that all of them fertilize.  I am hoping to have 4-5 embryos to transfer on day 3 and that two of them stick !   Putting it out there in the universe in case she is listening to me.  I am also hoping that I have  a few left over that I can grow to blasts and freeze for another cycle later.  It would be nice 🙂

IVF # 5 – Stim Day 6 – The 411

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baby- lovenox shipmentIVF 5 stim day 2ivf 5 stim day 4 neupogen

Today, I went in for monitoring and blood work.  My nurse just called to give me the instructions for the next two days.  My estrogen is 1000 because of the Delestrogen, so they decided to add the Lovenox now instead of waiting until after my retrieval so that I do not have clots due to elevated estrogen levels.

IVF 5 stim day 6 monitoring

Tonight, I do my first Follistim (125 units) injection and again tomorrow night and I have another monitoring appointment for sonogram and blood work on Friday.  On Saturday, I will start the Menopur.

Things are progressing nicely, as I have 7 follicles on each side and that is before adding the gonatropins. !!  I hope to have a lot of good follicles with mature eggs in them this cycle, that will develop into awesome/beautiful STICKY embryos ! 🙂

I am going to order my sperm vial to be sent to CNY on tomorrow so that it can ship out on Friday and get to CNY on Monday.  It appears that my mom may not be able to come with me to Albany because she is due to start radiation on April 27th and if my report date for procedure is closer to the end of next week or pushed back to the 27th, I will be traveling alone, but my film crew will be coming up the day of procedure to film everything….

Infuscience came today to do my intralipid infusion.  I decided to do the infusion on stim day 6 and then again at retrieval and weekly thereafter.  There has been promising data on increased live birth rates when the intralipids are administered in this manner as it helps put the immune system to sleep !

IVF 5 stim day 6 intralipids IVF 5 stim day 6 intralipids 2

As you can see, I have converted my mom’s quilting studio in to a make shift infusion center !  lol

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers ~

IVF #4 – 4DP3DT- The 411

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Infuscience - 1st infusion

I am four days past three day transfer today !!   I am starting to feel slight cramping to more intense cramping off an on.  My private duty nurse from Infuscience came today after my acupuncture session to do my intralipid infusion.  She is pretty cool.  She was worked with a lot of pregnant patients and also administers IViG at home too.

I am grateful that my mom opted to pay to have a private duty service come to her house to do my infusions while I am visiting her, as opposed to me having to commute to Albany to have this done.  It is actually cheaper to have it done at home.

I am a bit worn out and am getting increasingly sleepy.

I finished up the Pho Beef Soup I was making today.  I simmered the broth for 24 hours.   It was absolutely delish !!! Right now, I have a Boston Butt in the crock pot and I am making Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork.  It will be done in 15 minutes !   I have to chop the meat and then drain the liquid and add the meat and onions back the crock pot with some bbq sauce. I can not wait to try it !

Pho Beef Soup 2

Pho Beef Soup

I am going to take a nap now that I am full of Pho.  For some reason, the acupuncture coupled with that infusion has really worn me out today !  🙂

IVF #4 – 3DP3DT – The 411

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baby - one more day praise the lord

Today, I am three days post three day transfer.  I am feeling great !  I have been taking it pretty easy.

Last night, I took my mom to the emergency room at the urging of my sister.  Her blood sugar had dropped from the 600 range down to 285.  Her platelet count is coming up a bit, her red blood cell count is low and her white blood cell count is elevated because of the Neulasta shot she was given after her chemo 2 weeks ago.  I asked the ER doc if she should be on a low dose of Metformin to help regulate the insulin in her body and he agreed with my assessment and thought I was a doctor LOL.

We left the hospital at 10:30pm and the roads were a sheet of ice !  We got home safely and in one piece.  I wanted to go to the grocery store to get the items I needed to make authentic Pho Beef Soup, which by the way is AWESOME for pregnant or TTC women.  Any bone broth soup would be.  I decided to drive straight home since the temperatures were plummeting.

This morning, my mom had a follow up visit with her Oncology nurse.  All is going well and they are glad that we made her go to the ER and that I suggested the Metformin. (something they should have done from the onset considering they knew 2 wks ago her blood sugar was at 400 because of the steroids she is on !)

I was able to get InfuScience to set up my in home infusion services for weekly intralipid infusions.  I refuse to go to Albany on the train every week for this !   I will just pay the $235 out of pocket and submit to my insurance company in case they will pay for it.  I am out of state so they may give me grief…

I get my infusion done tomorrow after my morning acupuncture session.

infuscience

I did go to the International grocers today as well as Harris Teeter to get all the items I needed and I have been simmering oxtails with a whole onion, garlic, and some spices since noon.  I will turn it down and let it simmer overnight, just as they would in Vietnam.   I can not wait to make it for lunch tomorrow !!

For dinner, I made the Guinness Beer Chicken, Fresh Corn on the cob, and a five cheese skillet mac n cheese.  It smells divine so I am going to eat with my mom and grandmom.

IVF #4 – Egg Retrieval Day – The 411

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baby - seven ehThis morning, I arrived at CNY Fertility Center and Spa at 8:15 am.  I checked in and sat in the lobby with my mom until I was taken to the dressing room to change into a hospital gown, cap and socks.  I got changed, verified my information, got weighed in and then was escorted to my operating room.  I got on the table, discussed the procedure with the nurse, spoke with the Anesthesiologist, met with the Embryologist, and met with Dr. Ditkoff.  They answered all of my questions, and I theirs.

My IV was put in and I remember getting the antibiotic and after that, I woke up.  I do not recall anything else, not even the doctor coming back in.

I awoke and learned that they collected 7 eggs that looked pretty good.  I went back to sleep as they infused the two bags of intralipids.  I woke up a couple of times and then I woke up for good and was ready to eat.  I had heavier bleeding this time than I remember having in the past.  The bleeding subsided later in the day.

After the driver picked my mom and I up from CNY, we went to A Tailored Tea to pick up scones.  We went back to the hotel and rented a movie on PPV.  I had the concierge take me to grocers down the street and got the stuff needed to make garlic mushroom chicken, buttered noodles, squash with onion and peas with snaps.   I came back and started dinner, which my mom was supposed to finish, but when I looked up, she was in the bedroom lying across the bed watching Law and Order SVU.  I finished dinner and ate and am relaxing in my fluffy pink post egg retrieval socks I found at Target.

dinner

baby - fluffy socks ivf 4 post er

My fluffy pink post retrieval socks

I am going to relax the rest of the evening and just watch tv.  I wish I could hop in the shower, but was told to wait until tomorrow.  I am feeling pretty good.  I have no bloating yet, thank goodness.  Maybe I will get lucky and will not have any…  I am keeping a heating pad, on low, on my tummy.

Tomorrow morning, I will get a call from Embryology to update me on the eggs, fertilization, etc.  Prayerfully, all of the eggs will fertilize and grow.  One can hope right?

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.