So Close

Tomorrow morning, I head three plus hours away for our IVF start appt. Just the initial bloodwork & ultrasound + nurse consult to sign paperwork & review meds. I am guessing our next u/s will be here in town on Friday, but I wi know for sure tomorrow by the end of the appt.

We got the meds in last Thursday & I am still amazed at the copay. Since we have a coverage cap for the IVF, I am wondering if they will still allow med coverage if we need to cycle again (even though we will pay most of the clinic's fees out of pocket) as our authorization is valid for a year from today.

But, I really hope we don't have to worry about another cycle!! :)

I will update, at least, for my own records how many antral follicles we are starting with.

Getting very excited, nervous, & emotional already! Hard to fall asleep when I am thinking so much about it!!

Quick Update: IVF #2

We finish BCPs Friday in anticipation of a start date of next Tuesday.

Got the call from the pharmacy today... I am still in shock at what the copay is... much less than I even anticipated! The meds are being delivered tomorrow. And, get this, 40 vials of Bravelle & 20 vials of Menopur are in the box. WHOA! And, hopefully that will be enough for the stims. I am guessing we will stim the same number of days this time as last time... 10 days. Wonder if it'll be less or more?

I go for my first u/s of the cycle Tuesday & then start stims that night. Hoping I will have more than the 7 antral follicles I started with in May when they found the polyp. Hoping for three eggs at retrieval!

Will update with more later. Just wanted to put it all done there!

Poo-Poo-Polyp

So, went for the mock transfer yesterday & the doctor "discovered" a polyp. Thankfully, so far it doesn't seem to interfere with our schedule. I will have a hysteroscopy next Tuesday, stop BCPs next Friday, then have my IVF start date the next Tuesday. So, two weeks from now. It appears we may be able to schedule an appointment or two here locally for monitoring, but I will still be heading to our clinic (approx 3 hrs away) most of the time.

I read up a bit on my phone about polyps... apparently they can also be a cause of infertility. Which means the last year we really didn't have a chance of getting pregnant anyhow.

I will admit... I am pretty upset. We do have IVF coverage, but it appears to be only enough for one cycle. Which, I am completely grateful. Knowing this in advance gives us some time to plan on another cycle if need be & saving up for it. At yesterday's appt, there were only 6 antral follicles. Ouch. Maybe we can still get 2 or 3 eggs from this cycle.

Anyone else been through this? A bit of advice would be awesome. If not, that's cool, too. Plan is still on, but I am just trying to take it day-by-day. Should hear from the insurance company's specialty pharmacy soon about making a payment & having it sent. Our protocol will be 4 bravelle and 2 menopur starting day 1. Starting off hard & fast right from the get-go. And apparently, Lupron is outta production, but we were planning on Antagon anyhow. Less shots is nice, too! ;)

Been A While

It has been a while... not sure I have anyone that even keeps up, but I am definitely checking in on many other IF blogs out there. I thought I'd update since my first time around the fertility clinic.

And, guess what?

I am hoping to get back in the st.irrups again.

Seems like it is pregnancy-central-station around here. Even though I have been hoping to become pregnant since my cycle returned about a year ago, it (obviously & expectantly) hasn't happened.

I have mentioned before that our new insurance has fertility coverage. No charge once the deductible is met. So, that & enjoying our first little guy so much hasn't made me feel rushed to hop back in.

I guess I feel like we're reading. DH has already mentioned adoption several times & he's also open to cycling. I scheduled the initial/physician consult today. It's going to be in just over two weeks from now.

I'm excited, nervous, & worried already that it won't work. Yikes.

I am guessing the earliest we could cycle would be April/May if I walk away with a BCP prescription. I have been looking through past blog posts & my old yearly calender to determine how the sequence went last time. The initial appointment will be with a different FS at the practice. I would like to go with the same as first time around, but he no longer travels to my town & I just don't feel like going to Jax already. I know we will be over there many times in the next couple of months, so I'd like to do as much as possible here in my area.

The clinic, too, has lowered much of their prices. Even with our coverage, this seems like a huge blessing. ICSI cost is almost half of what it was when we cycled. They even offer a mini-stim cycle... sounds like our first go-around... not intended to be a mini-stim, though! :) If you can recall, I produced only 4 eggs with 1 being immature & unable to be fertilized.

So, anyone else out there gone through the same clinic for your second cycle? I guess I am considered almost like a brand-new patient. How did it work out for you? Did they follow the same protocol for your next cycle? Did it take a long time to actively cycle or did they letcha hop right in?

Any advice or answers you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!

Oh, since last update, E has turned ONE... almost ONE.HALF now! I am working full time at the local hospitals in the labor & delivery unit (ironic, right?) nights & we purchased a new home. Lots of changes, but good changes. I hope the appointment scheduling does not interfere with my work schedule, but hopefully it won't be an issue. My bosses seem very open, so I plan to just talk to them once I get through this initial consult.

Have a wonderful evening!

Little Moments

I feel more comfortable coming back to this blog & writing more. Maybe it's cuz we are considering our second IVF or I've been stalking my IF buddies blogs or I've encountered so many other women going through IF. Anyway, it's good to be back. I'll be more active, I promise.

It’s amazing seeing all the ways Elias is developing! He’s definitely starting the imitation stuff. Last week, he used my phone in the “right” way. He grabbed it & held it up to his ear & even chatted! He also used a MegaBlock as a phone, too! Today, he found a small comb in the bathroom cabinet. He handed it to me, so I combed his hair a bit. When he got it back, he immediately used it to try to comb the back of his head! He copies us anytime we laugh or cough or sing or dance. It is so fun!

He has been pretty much on a nursing marathon kick now. When Nick has him while I work, he barely takes 6 or 7 ounces of breastmilk from a bottle… yet he nurses many MANY times during the day still. I read recently that over 8-10 months, the baby may refuse the bottle & only nurse straight from the source. He does a bit of both. Nick said he gets super playful with the bottle & offers it to Nick, then takes it back, then offers it again.

I’ve been using a washcloth to clean his teeth. He loves it & loves to bite down. He thinks it’s funny, too, if Nick or I hold it in our mouth & shake it around. He grabs it away, then shoves it back towards our mouth.

Elias does so many funny things with such personality. He’s been walking over a month now & it didn’t take long for him to STOP crawling! I miss his crawling. He kept one leg bent & the other straight. Made it super easy to sit up from crawling! And he was so quick! I don’t think he’s quite as quick walking now, but he’s getting there. He fights being in the cart @ Target & just wants to walk & be free the whole time. This can be a bit frustrating to Momma.

Little Man loves climbing up into cabinets (since we may be switching houses soon, we haven’t installed all the cabinet baby-proofing door pieces). He loves doors & swinging them back & forth. He loves looking at himself in the mirror. He loves dancing with his arms & twirling in a circle. He loves his sippy cup, but never actually drinks much from it. He still adores water. We have been to the water park several times this summer & he is unstoppable! He wears me out!

Guess that’s about it for now! Will journal more of E’s great little characteristics!! :)

{DUCK: Will miss seeing your updates, but loved seeing all the posts about little Monkey & Giraffe! Good to know you'll still be "out there".}

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from the last couple of months...

Nick's Dad has many tractors & here's E's first perch on one of them!

We went on vacation the week of Memorial Day & looped around Florida visiting family. We stopped in St. Augustine on the way back & we all ate. Elias must be moving his leg at all times. Napping, sitting, nursing. He kept putting his foot on the table, even though I moved it MANY times. I thought it would be cute to have Nick snap a shot. He just turned 9mths old.

The oil leak is definitely affecting parts of our coast, but thankfully it hasn't the beaches that are closest to me. This is @ St. George Island right about the time E turned 10mths old. He loved the beach & crawled ALL OVER the place in the sand! :) {This is also one of the cloth diapers we use as a swim diaper; a GroBaby... LOVE them!}

Nearing 12mths

Not sure if this will work, but I wanted to share some photos of our little guy...

Family Pictures

If that doesn't work, here's a couple of my favorites...



Planning a tractor-themed birthday party for the end of August & I'm still blessed to be staying @ home with my little guy. I recently started working as a shift supervisor @ a local nursing home; it's every other weekend, 16hrs/wkd. It's still very hard leaving E, but I am happy to be able to contribute some money to the family budget. We are in the middle of trying to sell our house & purchase another home through a short sale. It's been a bit crazy, but we're hoping it'll work out. If not, that's okay!

I still check all my buddy blogs, but don't comment as much. I'm sorry. I will be better about this...

We are already talking IVF#2. Possibly starting in the Spring. We have to be weaned for at least 3mths due to my prolactin levels being too high to give us the best chance of pregnancy.

I realized yesterday it's been over 3 months since I've posted here. Sorry for that!

Since my last post, I passed my state board exam & am officially a Registered Nurse. I'm perusing the job postings, but still planning to stay home w/ Elias for as long as possible. If something comes up that's truly exciting & @ night, I may consider applying for it! :)

Elias is a little wiggle worm that's gone mobile. He's not what I would call crawling yet, but he definitely gets around the floor. He's pulling up on everything & trying to stand on his own sometimes. He has so many expressions & sounds... he is so entertaining!

I have gotten better w/ this whole motherhood thing. We understand him better. We can anticipate what he needs before he needs it, so if he begins getting slightly fussy... we are prepared.

We are still bre.astfeeding. Almost exclusively. Sometimes E gets a bit of pureed babyfood or a taste of our soup, but I'm really interested in pursuing baby led weaning. Also, E just sprouted his first baby tooth a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping we can progress in solids as his set of toofies come in!

We had to file an amendment to our tax return & are planning to use it to buy E's bigger boy carseat. It's a convertible, but I'm not sure what the official term is. Soon we will no longer be using the infant carseat/restraint. I've prepared myself to get used to this & leave the carseat in the car. We carry him in & out of the car since we'll have to do that with the new convertible seat.

E is officially 8mths old today. Estimating his weight, I would say he's about 20lbs or 9kgs. Maybe a bit less or more. I am not sure of his height; I'm hoping to measure him today or tomorrow to mark the info for his babybook. Yes, I'm trying to keep up w/ his babybook! I keep it stored in the living room, so I can add info when I think of it!

We are pretty much using cloth diapers exclusively. I have not ventured into using them during the night, but have recently purchased some that should work through the night for us. It's almost become addictive. So many cute options & they are so versatile. I actually love cloth diapering! :) {Following are a couple of pictures of E in some of his cloth diapers.}



What else? I'm not sure what I'm leaving out, but I will share some photos with you all!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! We are enjoying the incredible weather! I love the sunny days & evenings!! I even just bought a bathing suit to help hide those ugly spots from post-baby body. I've gotten down to my prepregnancy weight, but hoping to get down to my pre-IF treatment weight by the end of the summer. About 10lbs left to lose. Maybe more if I'm lucky.

Already getting the bug to be pregnant again. My cycle has started back. Twice I've gotten my p.eriod, but @ 5wks apart. Not sure if it'll stay that way or not, but I'm going to count on it now... so I don't get my hopes up. We are thinking if we're not pregnant when E turns ONE, then we'll be visiting the clinic again & hopefully cycle by the end of the year. Has anyone else checked out their clinic for pricing lately? I'm shocked @ the discounted cycle prices now! Even ICSI is cheaper, the monitoring, etc. I can't believe it's gone down in price that much in just over a year; I've been stalking our clinic's website since the beginning of the year. Either way, we are blessed to now have insurance that covers IUI &/or IVF completely once the deductible is met. I'm sure we'll still have to pay the meds, but that puts our cost @ a fraction of what we paid for E's cycle. I feel like we hit the lottery w/ IVF#1 & am scared to tempt by doing another cycle that will fail. We'll see. Plenty of time to figure out our plans!!