CD 3 tests today.

Today was baseline and another snow storm in Milwaukee. . . and all the way to the RE.

At the RE, I had my blood drawn, blood pressure tested (109/71) and had the "good 'ol" vaginal u/s during AF-- I hate that.

We also paid the remaining $2,500 bucks for the FET cycle. This gives us a grand total of $2,900 for the cycle and another $300-500 for the meds. (FET= $3,100-3,300...not including lost pay for missing work).

This is why I argued for transferring three embryos if one of the first two doesn't survive the thaw.

Here's the scenario in a nutshell:

• We plan to thaw two of our four remaining embryos. (6AA, (5BB?, 4BB?), 3BC)
• We would like to thaw the two highest embryos first; 6AA and 5??
• If both survive the thaw, we will but both in and there ends the story.

Where this gets tricky. . . .So if we thaw the best two and ONE doesn't survive the thaw, we will need to thaw another of our remaining two embryos to have TWO thawed to deposit during the FET. Sounds fine, right?

• Not if I think about my one low-quality embryo left just sitting in the deep freeze.
• If one doesn't survive the thaw in the beginning-- I prefer to just automatically thaw the other two at the same time and put whatever survives in. (A possibility of three).

My reasoning is NOT to create triplets. Triplets are a higher risk for both Mom and babies--not to mention financially afterwards. My reasoning is that one low-quality embryo has a very small chance of making it either way. Why leave it in the freeze--keep paying for it-- and then either never use it or pay the almost $3500 for another FET cycle for just one "not-so-good" embryo? To me, I rather use it, giving the best chance now. The chance of all three surviving is ridiculously slim--not impossible--but slim.

My hope it to give us the best chance possible with what we have.

Saying that, what DH and I really want is TWO PERFECTLY thawed, thriving embryos right away-- leaving two more in the bank--just in case. After all, we could use them after the little one(s) arrives from FET#1!

MED CHANGE:

• Lupron moved from 10 units to 5 units daily.
• Aspirin and vitamins still going strong.
• Add estrogen patches: One patch today through 2/9. Then two patches through 2/12. Then FOUR every 72 hours until 10-15 weeks of pregnancy--CRAZY THINGS!!!

Next Appointment is a blood work and ultrasound check-up on 2.23.11.

In other news: GO PACK GO!!!!

The Meds are here-- Ovulation--not so much.

THE MEDS HAVE ARRIVED!

After waiting going on three months since the last ectopic I can finally begin again!

Here's the inventory and some general information on the meds I am taking for the upcoming FET cycle:

Lupron or "Luprolide Acetate" is a Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Agonist (GnRH agonist).

Overstimulates the pituitary gland (which controls ovaries) causing LH and FSH to stop being produced--delaying ovulation until time for the FET/IVF or another ART procedure. It controls the time of ovulation so that the FET may be done at a precise time using the HcG trigger.

This is the first drug I will begin 8 days after ovulation--if it ever comes. I will take 10 units subcutaneous every night. (Along with the good 'ol Baby Aspirin). I will take this everyday until right before the FET. This stuff tends to give most people the horrible "Lupron headaches", mood-swings, and general crabbiness.

Estrogen. "Estradiol" Three 0.1mg Patches every three days or pills 2mg. (I haven't decided yet).

Stored at room temperature.

Other than the female parts, Estrogen controls the growth of follicles and uterine lining.

I begin taking the estrogen after the next period's day 3 test results.

I hate the damn patches. But after reading so much about how dangerous the pills can be after an extended period of time I am afraid to take those too. I'm pretty sure I am allergic (or at least very sensitive) to the adhesive on the patches, but a rash may be better than heart disease.

Side effects of the patches: Stickiness.

Progesterone in oil. (Sesame Oil, Cotton seed oil, etc.) "PIO".

Usually produced by the ovaries after ovulation, also produced by the placenta once pregnant.

4-6 days prior to the FET I begin to take PIO-- although I'm not sure how much yet. What I know is that these needles are much bigger than the tiny Lupron needles; stuck right into my ass once a day.

Tetracycline. 250 mg pills. 1 pill 4x/day.

Taken about the same time as PIO, right before the FET.

Antibiotic used to treat any infection before transfer, stopped a day or two before. Commonly used for many infections including acne--in my past. No biggie.

Medrol or "Methylprednisolone" 16 mg pill. 1x/ day before bed.

Begin about the same time as PIO, right before the FET. Last pill is taken the night of the FET.

Said to help with pre-embryo implantation.

HcG or "Pregnyl". 10,000 units. One time.

Does not need to be refrigerated, until opened.

Used to "trigger" ovulation as I would if I needed to use the eggs. It makes the body "release" and simulate the same hormones at a specific time. Not everyone does this for FET's but my RE thinks it is best. It also helps increase the lining of the ute. For FET I take this at the same time I give the first PIO shot. Yes, MANY things begin with the start of PIO. It's a long day of poking.

Prometrium. 200mg capsule.

Progesterone product, used to help relax the uterus before the transfer.

Inserted vaginally--yes, you heard it right. The morning of the FET the capsule is inserted high into the vagina. After insertion lay flat for at least 1/2 an hour.

***********************

Phew!

I hope that was somewhat informative-- and after all of that I am still learning myself.

However, until I ovulate I can't begin ANY of these medications. Good lord.

I really hope that the lap has not effected my ovaries. I am on CD 14 today and still nothing. This is unusual for me. I usually ovulate on days 11-13. On Thursday-- I will begin to panic. Until then, I will try to breathe and relax.

TTFN!

MEDS--Again.

Tomorrow I order my next round of meds.

I will get everything from last time except for the Gonal-F. . . I think. I told them I also want the estrogen pills instead of the patches since they make me itchy, rashy, and sticky from the adhesive. BLECH. I seriously rather take PIO than wear those patches every hour of the day. I just hope they work as well.

Anyone heard of any difference between estrogen patches and the pills?

LA Times article about Pill vs. Patch

(BTW: Don't type in "rash" or "estrogen patch rash" into google to find a photo for your blog). . .

UPDATE: Yeah, I've read enough. Pills apparently cause a much higher risk of developing many diseases, heart attacks, and can actually make women with IR and PCOS's symptoms worse since it effects the insulin. Patches and cream have shown no such effects and seem to supply a more steady stream of the hormone.

So screw that shit. I'll deal with the rash.

You owe me, future children. You owe me BIG.

Stupid people strike again-- AGAIN!!!

BAH.

Today, poor DH got up bright an early (on a weekend) to give me my morning shot of Gonal-F and then sit around and wait for our delivery of a refrigerated Gonal-F pen to come from Freedom pharmacy before noon.

He watched a movie, did some school work, ate some cookies and waited. . . . and waited. . . and finally, he came upstairs about 12:30pm and told me nobody came yet.

WTF.

I called the pharmacy and told them how we are still waiting for the package that was supposed to arrive before noon. The lady said, "wait. . . let me track it. Can you hold?"

Can I hold. Kinda ironic I think. I've been doing a LOT of holding for other people lately. More work and stress on my part for other people not doing their jobs

"Yes." I say. So now I wait. . . and wait. . . and finally another chick answers the phone. She says "Can I help you?"

I sure as shit hope you can, lady.

I tell her how I've been waiting and explain the whole thing over again. She clearly had no idea what I was on the phone waiting for before she answered. I told her I need this today--in fact hours ago. This is a fertility pharmacy. They should have a clue.

She tells me they have the wrong address on the shipping slip and that it appears it was sent to "1135" instead of "1335".

Seriously?

You've sent me 5-6 packages in the past. I've never had to change my address. In fact, I repeated my address to you when I made this order. Whatever. The fact is somebody screwed up and I'm still sitting here waiting for an 800 dollar pen. She said she'd email this info to customer service and get back to me. I told her I want to talk to someone NOW. I need to know what the Hell is going to happen. She assured me someone will call me back within the hour.

I wait. . . again. DH goes down the street to the imaginary "1135" address. No building is there. I try to spend time panning healthy meals for the week.

An hour or so later I get a phone call. This time it's from Fex Ex. They apparently claim no responsibility for the package being addressed to the wrong place. I get that. They try and take it to where it says it needs to go. But that doesn't change my predicament. She says, "We'll have someone bring it to you Monday."

Monday.

BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I told her, "Uh, not a chance in HELL. It needs to refrigerated, hence the refrigerated package it's in. It's an 800 dollar medication that I need today. No, not Monday, TODAY. I need someone to bring this now. I don't care who's fault it is, all I know it's not my fault and I need it--NOW."

She says, "Well it's not our fault it's the company that sent it, they made the address--"

"You don't seem to understand", I interrupt. "I don't care how or why this happened. I need this today, you have my medication. You know where it needs to go. You need to bring it to me. Period,"

Now she goes and talks to her supervisor.

She comes back onto the phone and says, they don't know what time, but they'll have it for me sometime today-- Now we're talkin'.

Another hour later, she calls back and says it'll be here in about 20 minutes.

I'm waiting.

But no call from Freedom pharmacy yet. Weren't they supposed call over an hour ago. I'm calling those bastards now. . . .

Update: No response from the pharmacy yet. Fed Ex, finally dropped of the package at 2:45pm. But, Freedom pharmacy, I'm not done with you yet.

Lupron, Day 5.

Today I will have my fifth shot of Lupron.

So far I've developed headaches, a sore throat, itchy/runny/sneezy nose, exhaustion, and bruising in 3/4 of my injection sites. Nice.

I will take Lupron every day until the Egg Retrieval (ER). But this Thursday, I will hopefully get all the info for beginning the stims.

In the meantime, allow me to read to you the massive list of items I was sent in my refrigerated box and will be taking this cycle. Ah hem:

1. Baby Aspirin

2. Lupron

3. Gonal-F

4. Estradiol

5. Novarel (HCG)

6. Progesterone in oil

7. Tetracycline

8. Methylprednisolone

9. Prometrium

Jesus. I'm gonna be bruised from head to toe! HA!

If we didn't work hard enough for a baby before. . . . .

MASSIVE UPDATE.

So last time we chatted, I was about to head to our CD3 tests.

Then . . .LIFE GOT IN THE WAY.

So here I am, almost two weeks later. But with lots of info to share.

First of all, we got there at the crack of dawn, asked lots of questions and then did the many blood draws. My tests were just fine and nothing was out of the normal.

We did later find out that DH's sperm count was something like 241 million. That's a lot--That's great. The bad news? One of the other aspects of the swimmies is not so good.

The motility or morphology (too confusing that day-- can't remember which) is only at 3%.

I am really hoping this means I won't have to do ICSI, but who knows now. This just gets more annoying each day. . .

Either way, for the most part everything was still a "go" for us. Bring it on.

9.20.10-

I went in for the scary "Mock transfer".

The nurses told me it would consist of three different metal catheters being inserted through my cervix and into my uterus--they will get progressively bigger as they go--Awesome.

I also had to arrive with a FULL bladder.

On the way down there I took 3 vicodin (by my own choice) and drank tons of water. I also donned my lucky green socks, and three lucky necklaces; one from my exchange buddy, one from our honeymoon (I always wear) and a new horseshoe necklace I bought myself for luck. I was ready--kinda.

When we arrived at 1:45pm, I first explained to the billing lady how screwed up our insurance is and that although they claimed at one point that they will pay for IVF--they say another time that they really won't. They are also not paying for tons of other bills that were NEVER coded for infertility--they need to pay this shit.

After talking with her, we went back to the u/s room. They began by checking to see my uterus on the screen--but apparently I hadn't drank enough water for them. (When your bladder is full--or inflated-- it raises your uterus up so it's easier to insert something straight) So I drank another bottle and waited. . . they checked me. . . still not enough. . .drank another bottle of water . . .waited. . .finally I was "good enough".

By this time I was good and juiced on my vicodin (the plan) and could only feel the last bit of the procedure. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had DH right there with me. But I definitely felt cramping. I also had to pee every five minutes for the rest of the night.

Before we left I asked about a billion questions. The nurse must have wanted to kill herself. But we were literately signing lives away; what to do with the embryos, do we freeze DH's sperm, how will you pay this 10,000 dollars, sign, sign, sign. . .

On the way home, we stopped for Mexican. I figured it was a fair trade-- Hector's Mexican is not ordinary Mexican food.

9.22.10-

MEDS ARRIVE.

DH took off of work today (because I can't) and waited for the refrigerated box to arrive. It needed a signature and we couldn't just have them leave 1500 dollars worth of meds on the back porch. So about 10am DH called and said it had arrived. I was antsy the whole day to get home and see what was there.

Once I arrived home, I opened the fridge to see DH had thrown everything in the fridge. Including the needles and alcohol wipes. HAHA. When I asked him about it later, and I told him only one box (out of 15?) needed to be refrigerated, he said, "I just wanted to be sure . . ."

At 8:30pm tonight, DH gave me my first shot of Lupron. We read carefully. We even googled what "subcutaneous" meant. He washed his hands, wiped off the bottle and filled the syringe with 10 cc of the Lupron. I squeezed my gut-fat and POKE! It felt a bit strange after a minute, but it went away soon after. I am also finishing up the tetracycline from the mock, birth control, and will stay on baby aspirin until further notice.

Next up?

My first baseline test and u/s is on 9.30.10.

But more importantly, DH's and my 5 year dating anniversary is tomorrow. So much has happened to us in such a short period of time. From just knowing each other as friends to now, going through our first IVF cycle. I don't know what I would do without his love and support. :)