‘Twas the Night Before Beta

And all through the house, this girl was ready to go to bed at 4:30 because she’s so over this waiting game. Oh my gooood.

Over it. Over it. Over it. It’s anyone’s game at this stage. I think. I’m not as confident as I was before because I’ve had some time to mull over a negative result. Since I’ve been there before I kind of know what to expect so I’m just reliving those feelings and getting myself ready. I simply can’t wrap my mind around being pregnant. It’s strange. I keep thinking about hearing a positive beta. Or writing the words in text or my next post but my brain goes blank. I’d rather not think about it. Thinking about a negative beta just makes more sense. I guess because I’ve been there I think I’m just scared. Scared of the unknown I guess.

It’s going to be a long day but as soon as it’s time to clock out, I think I’m going to have a pretty awesome weekend regardless of the outcome. I’m quite proud of how plans turned out. The clinic opens at 6:30 and I’m going to be there bright and early. I’ll have them leave a voicemail and I’ll wait for N to come home to listen. He just walked in so it’ll probably be around this time tomorrow. Then we have dinner plans with friends. We haven’t seen them in a while so I’m really looking forward to it. Of course it’s a Groupon dinner so that’s even better.

Saturday we’re going to see Bill Burr. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. I’m crawling out of my skin. I’m going to go ahead and say I’m more excited for Bill than I am for the Beta call. Bill won’t disappoint. Since it’s over an hour’s drive to go see him we decided to stay over so that’s another score!! And we’re going to eat out again. Seriously, any weekend where I get to eat out more than once is a great weekend in my book.

I realise that if it’s a positive beta they’ll want to do another draw on Sunday and we won’t be home then. I’ll just ask them to move it Monday. It might upset grumpy nurse but I’m okay with a Monday draw.

And that’s all I have for you today. Thank you everyone for keeping me sane during this TWW. Thanks for coming along for the ride. We’ve done all we can. This round was a lot smoother and a lot calmer and for that I’m grateful at least.

Cheers to our little hatchling! Good luck little baby. Mama’s proud of you either way.

8 on Day 8

I couldn’t do the Ganirelix shot. I held it in my hand ready to go and I broke into a cold sweat. Had to wake N up to do it. How do people give themselves shots? Hats off to you if you’re able. I am not.

We now have 8 follicles growing nicely. I forgot to ask when my expected retrieval would be and also if I’d need to order new meds. Next appointment is Tuesday. I’ll ask then. I’m happy with 8 so far. I’m not going to Google and do comparisons. I have 8. These 8 are mine. I am happy. I talked to my right ovary and she gave me 2. I’m very proud. Well done Righty!

Day 8, IVF 2:
300iu Gonal F
150iu Menopur
1 syringe Ganirelix

E2: 1400
LH: Not given
Lefty: 6 ranging between 10mm and 15mm
Righty: 2 glorious little ones around 12ish mm

Physical:
Same as before but becoming bearable.

Emotional:
Same old same old

Food:
Leftover steak and cheese calzone and calamari.

Moment of Zen:
I love stand up comedy. Love! Here’s Louis CK talking about his daughter playing hide and seek.

Let’s Get Going!

I don’t have anything exciting to report today. These meds are officially kicking my ass. I’m so tired I’m going right to bed after this. And I was so sick last night. I woke up in the middle of the night with violent motion sickness. It felt like I spent all day slamming Jack Daniels in the sun. Ew.

Tomorrow is my first monitoring appointment. Time to kick this cycle into 2nd gear finally.

Day 4, IVF 2:
300iu Gonal F
150iu Menopur

Physical:
Really tired.
All day nausea. A cosmic joke?

Emotional:
Blah

Food:
Leftovers from yesterday.

Moment of Zen:
Edit: Actually going to link this entire Buzzfeed article. So funny!
27 Vines That Will 100% Make You Laugh

In Other News

If you won the lottery what would you change on your body? If you say nothing, I don’t want to friends with you… Just kidding but man, that would be awesome. I actually think for the most part I’ve made peace with my lumpy bumpy areas and such but one part I have always wanted to fix is my damned teeth.

I’ve hated them my whole life. Well as long as I’ve had them anyways. I had braces for a bit but let’s just chalk it up to an unqualified dentist. So here I sit with a messed up grill and years of insecurity about my smile.

So I finally went to see someone about my pearly yellows and looks like I’ll be getting braces in 2016. I met with a dental surgeon yesterday and he was like “Ew, I can’t fix this, go see an orthodontist”… I’m sure he used more professional language and he was actually very nice and made me very excited about my options but it wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t a bit dramatic.

So I’m off to see the orthodontist in 27 days! N is worried that I’ll have to get the old school train track looking ones. I am just excited to be getting my teeth fixed! I’ll even go so far as to say I’m a teensy bit more excited than I am about egg retrieval. Just because I know the outcome of this will be awesome.

It’s going to be a great December, everyone.

Day 3, IVF 2:
300iu Gonal F
150iu Menopur

Physical:
Injection site sensitive. Found a bruise from yesterday.
No more dizziness
No more funny taste
Period seems to have ended. Happy day.
Twitches felt in abdomen. Whoop!

Emotional:
Read above about teeth. This is overshadowing any fear/anxiety of IVF process.

Food:
Roasted chicken
Sweet potatoes
Cheesy cauliflower gratin

Moment of Zen:
So cheesy but I lol’d.

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tomorrow is the start of my favourite month!! I can’t wait! I go into complete holiday mode. I’m not the best employee in December. All urgency goes out the window. I have parties to look forward to. Gifts to buy. Eggs to grow!

As you can tell, I’m feeling a lot better today. I’m a little bummed that 1. I can’t put up decorations yet because we’re in the middle of the reno so there’s no place to put it and 2. since we’re in super saver mode, I can’t buy any Christmas gifts until mid December after we pay for the PGS.

But all that aside, I think the fact that this is the best month of the year is making the IVF stress a little easier to bear.  Today anyway.

Let’s see how we’re doing so far:

Day 2, IVF 2:
300iu Gonal F
150iu Menopur

Physical:
Injection site sensitive
Slightly dizzy immediately after injection
Funny taste at the back of throat
Period still on full flow. Is that normal?

Emotional:
Excited. About Christmas
Thoughts of egg count still in the back of my mind.
Zita West CD helped a little with stress level.

Food (Just to keep track of what I’m eating in an attempt to shame myself into eating better):
Cheesy stuffed slowcooker meatballs with pasta
Last slice of cheesecake
Mango,pineapple,coconut water smoothie

Moment of Zen (unabashedly stolen from the Daily Show):
This video made me laugh out loud. Going to try to post something funny every day.

 

Coconut Twist

So much for blogging every day, huh? So much to working on my time management too, huh?  *shaking my head*

We had a pretty busy weekend and a fun one for once. Fun because it involved zero working on the house. Well, I shouldn’t complain, the shitty part of the reno is over. The shitty part being the incessant mudding and sanding. It never seemed to end. The best part of the weekend was when I had to work for 4 hours on Saturday while hub did the final mud and sand while I was away. Hooray!

I picked a paint colour as well. We’re going with something called coconut twist. Which is actually just white-ish but not as white as the white the ceiling will be. That’s the extent of my colour selecting prowess. I’ve never seen that many shades of white in my life. I really hope I chose the right one.

Saturday evening we had dinner with our friends. It was the first time any of us had been out in a while so we really took advantage of the situation. We ordered way too much sushi, had 2 cocktails a piece that were difficult to handle and we ended up staying until the restaurant closed like any group of married folks would do.

And just like any other couple of married folks we were promptly in bed by midnight. I really had a blast though. We hadn’t seen them in a while and I think I needed human interaction after being cooped up in the house for that long.

Hmm, I realize now that this post doesn’t have any point. I guess just an update on my rip roaring social life. It’s back to the hermit hole now until the dreaded room is complete.

So with that I’ll leave you with this clip from a Chris Rock show. The first 2ish minutes reminded me of how our double date went. I lol’d.

In IVF news… I’m on day 4 of bcp’s and they are kicking my ass. It’s never been this bad before. So dizzy. So sleepy.

Just Five More Minutes, Mom

I’m afraid my blog is going to become decidedly boring if you’re only looking for TTC related posts. We do have a new plan for making a baby but it involves a hiatus of at least 5 months, which I’m finally okay with since I have a lot to do to prepare.

My WTF appointment went really well. He’s decided to start me on higher doses of meds (Menopur and Gonal F) in the beginning and then dropping me down after, if the need arises. That way we’re not catching up. He’s also going to make me get 2 different triggers (Lupron and a different one, I forget which) and then decide which to use based on follicle sizes at the end.

And because my insurance is as it is we have to redo some of the diagnostic tests. N’s SA, disease screening, etc. But a new test is the sonohysterogram. I’m obviously dreading this but it’s a long way away so no need to work myself up now.

I think that was all but of course, now there’s the wait. I’ve said this before but it bares repeating. My insurance only covers 2 cycles at 80%. The catch is that they count a retrieval and a transfer as two separate cycles. We had them cover our first retrieval and we paid for the transfer out of pocket. Now we’re going to repeat this process and have to save up the 20% for the retrieval and another 5ish grand for the transfer…

So there you have it. The wait is on.. again. I do have plenty of things to do in between then and now to keep myself occupied but I’m still not done hiding under the blankets. I’m not ready to start fighting yet. I think it’s because I’ve realized now how big of a fight it is. I know I can do it but it’s so much easier to stay under the blankets.

Maybe tomorrow…

download Quote Nothing in life worth having comes easy

Embaby on Board

I’m 1dp5dt (1 day past 5 day transfer)… Wow, I never thought I’d get to write that ever. I’m in shock. Again, one of the many things I’m feeling. Here’s the blow-by-blow.

We got to acupuncture at 8:30. Dr L is so great he came in especially for me since he doesn’t open that early so that was greatly appreciated. I was relatively relaxed and had a hell of a lot more needles put in. It was a good session but was subsequently ruined when I saw a voicemail from the clinic. My heart was racing when I listened back but it was just them saying they’re definitely doing the transfer but pushed my time up to 11:45. I’m very glad that I made us get a move on early. We were up there by 10:30 and faffed around until 11:15 when I had to do my nervous pee.

My transfer was set for 12:45 but I had to come an hour early to start drinking water and take a valium and sign paper work. She said do 2-3 cups of water and to space it out since we had a lot of time. I forgot that I have a toddler’s bladder and I only got through a cup and a bit and I was bursting… and we still have 30min to go. I don’t listen to instruction well when I’m nervous. I asked the nurse if she knew if my child survived the thaw and she was like “Yes, that’s the only reason you’re here.”. The morning phone call is to tell us to come in or not. That made me feel really good but she said that the day 5 embryos always thaw perfectly and they have it down to an art :). Dr G gave us and 80% thaw survival rate. That 20% still had me up at night.

I was given a wrist band with my details on it and we were ushered into the room where the magic happens. I only had to undress the bottom half and neither of us had to wear the bonnets or shoe covers some people wear. The old doctor with the high waisted scrubs who did my retrieval was doing the transfer which makes me wonder what our RE’s job is if he’s not doing retrievals or transfers.

My bladder was ridiculous at this point. I really could barely deal but I was brave. The nurse said it was perfect and didn’t want me to go empty it a little. So, it was a party of five in there. Me, N, ultrasound nurse, old man doctor and cheerleader clipboard nurse who had very complimentary things to say about my uterus. She had me confirm my name to her twice to make sure we don’t get any embie mix ups. Then it was speculum time.

ultrasound nurse was so gentle I wanted to kiss her. So I didn’t pee all over Oldie. The speculum was as it always was, terrible. He also cleaned my cervix with the cheerleader smiling at my vagina creepily. The catheter was a breeze, I saw it on the ultrasound but didn’t feel it go in. I did start shaking though. I was getting very cold. So they brought me a warm blanket and life made sense again.

Then Ultrasound opened a side door and said “We’re ready”. 2 embryologists (I assume that’s who they were) appeared in unison with another clipboard and asked my name and checked my wrist band, then left and closed the door…in unison. Cheerleader said they’re just prepping and I should see it pop on the screen. 5 seconds later there it was.

I let out a really loud gasp and Cheerleader and Ultrasound said “awww”… So tiny and perfect. They took a pic for us. They said it thawed perfectly. I still can’t put into words what I was thinking or feeling. The screen went back to the ultrasound and we waited until the embryologist twins came in with my baby in a tube and silently left and we watched Oldie do his thing. It was over before I knew it. I didn’t get a picture of the little white line in my uterus that was my baby but seeing it was priceless.

After that, our new friends wished us luck and we were given all the necessary instructions. No bed rest, just take it easy and that was that.

Back at acupuncture I couldn’t really relax when I was on my back. My mind was racing and it was colder than usual but when I was on my stomach I was out like a light. It was awesome until the heating lamp thing dinged and startled me. I twitched really hard and pulled something in my lower back and felt a twinge in my abdomen. I’m really scared about that, but trying to put it out of my mind.

When we eventually got home, I’d hired 3 movies (Catching Fire, Delivery Man and Big Hero 6). Catching Fire and Delivery Man were trrrrash. Don’t bother. Big Hero 6 was awesome. We had a really late lunch/early dinner and I had halloumi cheese and olives as a 9pm snack. I’m going to write a post about my love for halloumi cheese. It warrants it’s own post. And then we went to bed and as I was dozing off N put his hand on my tummy thus making a perfect day even more perfect.

This whole transfer experience was surreal and awesome. And even if it doesn’t work out for us this round, I highly recommend it… well, you know… if you have to.

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The Call

We’ve finally made it. It’s finally transfer day eve.

The call came at 3pm. Do they do that on purpose you think? Oh yes, let’s make them sweat until their about to snap and THEN call them *evil laugh*. I’m sure they have a process but man that’s a long wait. I took half of today off and went to get some socks to wear tomorrow. I was looking for ladybird socks but settled for cute pineapple ones. I also found very cute ladybird earrings. I also realised that I still have the t-shirt I wore on our first date, so I’m going to wear that too.

To say that I’m excited is beyond an understatement. Actually excited is one of the many emotions I’m feeling. I’m certainly not going to be sleeping tonight. I have my first acupuncture appointment at 8:30 then we take a long drive up to Lexington for noon. I’ll then drink water for an hour and take some yummy Valium. Transfer is set for 1pm after which I’ll go back to the second acupuncture appointment.

Unfortunately, I’ve taken no time off work. I have 2 weddings in July in South Africa and I have to save all my time off but depending on how I feel I may work from home.

So that’s it… 4 more hours til bed time. I’ve already cooked dinner. I made my favourite soup that should take us until Thursday. I don’t want to have to cook anything for a few days.  Now how am I going to kill 4 hours? Maybe I should do my hair…

I’ll leave you with some pics of the stuff I got for the transfer. And a little painted stone ladybird from our yard. N’s grandmother painted it a while back and I forgot we had it.

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Ain’t No Party Like a Crinone Party

We added Crinone to the mix. Things are ramping up.  I’m still not feeling any side effects, though. I would be worried but all my tests are saying that everything is running smoothly. I have had to take a melatonin to help with sleep. But other than that I’m sound as a pound.

They told us when we started this process in November to abstain from sex until transfer… That’s over 3 months of no sex. That’s not realistic. But I think last night was the last for a while now that I’m doing vaginal progesterone suppositories. I mean that’s really not sexy. We did use a condom last night. It was weird to be using a condom for the first time in 5 years.

OMG! I just realized yesterday was our 5 year anniversary of knowing each other. Wow! I’ve never been in love with someone for 5 yrs nor have I have I fallen more in love as time progressed. Right now he’s sitting next to me cursing at his laptop for some or other reason, just being all cute. I’m gonna go kiss him for a bit.

T-minus almost time for transfer. (I still can’t physically write down the date. lol).

xxx