IVF-ing Pregnant

Saturday night at 10:30, we pulled the trigger! Luckily, we were down at our good friends Meg and Mark's house and Meg did a little photo shoot! It hurt, and Jason was not a big fan of sticking me with a needle Basically that means I took my trigger shot to mature the eggs the rest of the way, this also induces ovulation approximately 40 hours later, which is why my egg retrieval was scheduled this morning at 10 am. They get in there and drain the follicles to get the eggs right before the eggs are ready to release. This morning I woke up with some cramping, but that is from the trigger shot. Everyone at the office loved my Socks and Shirt!  We had to be at the office at 9 am to get prepped and then they took me back to the OR. They didn't put me all the way under, and I could feel EVERYTHING! The anesthesiologist get having to tell me to take deep breaths because apparently I wasn't breathing very well. She said she ended up giving me 3 times the amo...

Well this past week has been a bit of a whirlwind. Tuesday I went in to the office for an Ultrasound, Blood work, and an Intralipids infusion. She said my lining looked great, and the follicles in my right ovary were maturing right on track, but my left ovary had not responded as well, so my schedule got pushed back 2 days. She asked me if I felt fuller from the follicles growing, but I hadn't at that point. After the ultrasound I had to get an Intralipids infusion. They explained that to me as this: The Uterus has natural killer cells to keep everything safe for a baby to grow, however, these killer cells will also try to kill everything that tries to get in, including sperm and our future embryo. Since I don't a diagnosis as to why I am not able to get pregnant, I am thinking this has been my problem all along. I have an abundance of these killer cells, so hopefully that will do the trick. The infusion didn't go as well as it should though, I sat there for an hour with ...

I feel like we have entered the home stretch! We have a little over a week until egg retrieval, and 2 weeks until our transfer! Last night, I began taking Gonal F, which is an FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone). This is what will help grow multiple eggs. There are a few steps when it comes to taking this shot. Much like the Cetrotide I have been taking for a week now, it comes in a powder form and I have to add Saline to it, and then inject it into my belly. So now I am up to 2 shots a day. Side effects so far have included fatigue, headaches, and hot flashes. I have been surprised with my stress level throughout this. So far my stress level has been very low. I mean, I had an anxiety attack the day we went to the doctor just to talk to her about starting the process. All the pills and shots have just become part of my day, my new normal. I may be singing a different song as I get closer to egg retrieval next week, but hopefully not. I really think the Acupuncture has helped re...

This past week, wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I'd thought. I began taking Lupron injections on the 19th. Lupron is a medication taken in shot form to prevent an early LH Surge, or Ovulation. One of the main side effects of this are headaches, and boy did I have some! Sunday through Tuesday was one long headache that did not seem to want to go away. Other than that, other side effects included being exhausted after work everyday and the occasional hot flash. Also last week I began going to Acupuncture. I am not sure if it is helping, but I am all for anything that will increase my chances! Today I had to go into the office for a Baseline Ultrasound and more blood work. In this Ultrasound, Dr. Zarek was checking to make sure the uterine lining is looking good and that there are no cysts growing in my ovaries. Everything looked great and we are on the right track! I am really starting to get more and more excited about all this. For me, that was a hard obstacle to overcome....

Yesterday Walgreen's finally called saying my meds were ready to pick up, so i excitedly got on my Walgreen's App to check out what was waiting for me. Shock and awe rang through my body as I scrolled down the 22 item list. No, that is not a typo, 22 items is correct. Now, not all of the items are medications, quite a few of them were things like alcohol wipes, needles, syringes, etc. Also included on the list were the prices. Oh the prices... I won't get into specifics, but lets just say it rhymes with schive schmousand, not quite that much, but close. I frantically looked for coupons last night to help bring the cost down since we didn't qualify for anything more than a 10% rebate on 3 of the more expensive ones. I went to bed thinking about the prices and how I was going to get everything organized because if there is one thing I have read over and over again on countless blogs is that ORGANIZATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS! Luckily for me, when it comes to organizing im...

Yesterday, I had yet another small surgery. Like I said 2 weeks ago, they found another small polyp in my uterus that needed removed. A Polyp is a small skin growth and is very easy to remove, so easy in fact they were able to do it in the office. When I got into the OR, Sam Smith was playing in the speakers and the nurses were all talking about much they love him, they asked my opinion, and if you know anything about me, you know I hate Sam Smith, to me he is a whiny little bitch! The Anesthesiologist got a big kick out of that, and naturally I could hear Sam Smith the whole time I was under. I also dreamt the whole time. It was like one of those screen savers from the 90's with the pipes. Dr. Zarek said the surgery went great and that everything looks good inside. We came home and I slept on and off for the rest of the day. Today I had to do a 2 hour fasting blood glucose test. This is the one you take when your pregnant to see if you have gestational diabetes. So I got into th...

Ever wonder what an IVF schedule looks like? Yes, most items on there are the medications I will be taking. Today boys and girls, IVF stands for I'm Very Flustered! Wow that was a lot of information to take in at our schedule overview. Whatever I thought I knew about this process, was very little compared to everything we went over today. I will be taking five injectables and 2-3 pills daily. Its a good thing needles don't bother me all that much. Shout out to Dr. Kronomer for sending me to get blood work done every time I had any kind of illness as a child. Little did I know, he was preparing me for all the blood work and medication I would need as an adult.  Not only did we get our schedule today, we got instructions on how to do all the medications, as well as a giant packet that Jason and I have to read through, sign, and notarize. Needless to say, we have out work cut out for us... I truly want to thank everyone who took the time to read my little blog. I loved...