A Bit Busted

Today we headed to Jax for our first monitoring appt. We woke at 5am & began the drive over. Two hours of rain & one hour of no rain.

When we got off the exit, I told Nick that I didn't think I was responding well. I know we only had 3 days of stims, but I would have thought I'd felt more going on.

So, our appt's at 8:45. We got in the exam room at 9:33a & the doctor came in at 10:12. Yeah, I watched the clock.

Apparently they had some complications with one of the earlier procedures & everyone got backed up.

I had a different doctor today & I really liked him. I usually ask lots of questions, but have felt uncomfortable asking too much at the clinic. But, I asked anyhow. So, he was great & showed me the screen & the follicles we had.

Not too hard to pick them out. There was only 3 on my right side & 2 on my left side. (on right: a 3, 5, 6; on left: a 5, 6) I knew something was off. He upped my bravelle to 3 vials (from 2 vials) & my menopur to 2 vials (from 1 vial). He said he's upping the menopur cuz my estrogen is too low... which he could tell because my lining was too thin.

I am pretty upset, but I guess still optimistic. He did say there were little follicles around, too, so maybe they will begin growing & "catch up". That happens, right?

Then the drive home... rained the whole way.

I came home & slept for several hours. Got up, did some cleaning. We took the shot. Burned a LOT more than the other ones. I had to have him stop several times.

This is my 1st time online since the appt, so I'll be heading to Dr. Google to see how my chances may fare. Feel free to leave any advice or hope that it may go from 5 follies to more by retrieval.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I have to go in a couple of hours to work tomorrow... in preparation for our monitoring appt on Wednesday (which, thankfully, is here locally). I'm trying to not use leave until the ER & ET & subsequent bedrest or house-rest.

That is, if there even will be an embryo transfer.

Not Too Bad

Stims aren't too bad. They definitely burn at the beginning & end, but not too bad.

Other than that, it's pretty non descript. It's like when I shopped for my wedding gown.

You've always dreamed of it, then when you're in the thick of it... planning, calling, coordinating, shopping... you expect it to be like an out of body experience almost.

Then, you find yourself just doing it. Making it through. And that's how it feels with this IVF.

We're doing all the steps & surprisingly I'm not obsessed with it. I'm not constantly fretting over the eggs & numbers. I'm sure I will be the deeper we get & get info at each monitoring appt, but for now I'm surprisingly relaxed.

Busy doing the stuff that needs to be done! :) Kitchen stuff, gettting Christmas gifts, all that jazz!

Day One

About to take the shot, but wanted to post my day 1 photo... am I looking rough or what?! LOL This was right after we woke up & still in bed at 9:30am. It was so nice!



Just got back from CVS. I freaking am now officially addicted to the CVS Extra Bucks deals! I started with a $20 purchase that is a Christmas gift, bought make-up, gatorade (in prep for IVF stuff), cleansing towelettes, macadamia nuts, 2gigSD card, & a Soleil razor system plus 2 king-sized candy bars... for only $2 extra. Yay!

Getting up fairly early to hit up WM for Black Friday. Since we live about 30m out of town, we have a WM closer & will head there to get the couple of items I saw. Like some cheap jeans for Nick to work in & something else I can't even remember. Or maybe I'll just sleep in again!

We have mostly everything back in the kitchen, which means the guest room + office are mostly cleared out. I will be organizing the stuff into the kitchen the rest of the weekend & hopefully get all the Christmas stuff out, too! First things first & that means the kitchen done! :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful T'giving. Clio, I'm excited we'll be starting the same day! :)

It's On!

We woke up super early again & headed to Jax. Got there around 9am. The waiting room was packed. Which was both surprising & intimidating. There were two other couples I feel I could "relate" to. Is that silly? I try to find others that are similar to us in age range, etc.

As soon as we were called back, the b/w + u/s went quickly. Doctor said my lining looked good & "thin" (didn't get a measurement. I *did* ask about antral follicles, so he shot the numbers out while doing the u/s. I had 5 on my right & 6 on my left.

To me that sounds good. I am really hoping we get 12 eggs. So, w/out further nerdy investigation, I am actually optimistic. I'll be checking it out in a few minutes, though! LOL

We are supposed to do monitor appointments here in Tallahassee & only the initial + final appointment in Jax. Well, the local u/s technician can't make any appointments until next Wednesday. Therefore, we are starting stims tomorrow {a day earlier than planned} & heading to Jax early Sunday morning for our 1st monitor appt. It's going to be more expensive than here locally + the obvious gas & time (6hrs round trip), but I'm glad we aren't going to be delayed w/ the cycle.

Excited. Definitely excited.

Nick starts antibiotics tomorrow for 10days. He's upset. Very much the "no doctor, no meds" kinda guy. I guess most of them are, huh? ;)

So, tomorrow brings the very beginning of our biggest, most realistic, chance of our greatest dream.

I just hope it's worth it.

*** UPDATE: Did some googling & found that 10/11-14 total antral follicles is "good/normal". I guess slightly disappointing cuz I was hoping to have lots of them, but I'm surprisingly okay with it. I'm at peace with us doing all that we can to ensure this cycle is the best it can be! :) ***

PS- Am I the only one crying while watching Private Practice?

IVF Start Appt: Tomorrow

{Hmm, been using lots of colons in my titles lately... }

Okay, thanks so much for all of the responses on the antral follicles question.

I know that tomorrow's main goal is determine if I have any cysts so that we can continue with the IVF schedule. I know I'm a newbie to this & all, but it seems like if there wasn't a cyst when I went in last month (on the Pill) & we immediately moved to Lupron, then I haven't ovulated since then & there's no chance for a cyst to be there. But, I guess it COULD happen, right? Or there'd be no reason for us to have to have it done.

I didn't know *too* much about antral follicles, so wanted to see what to expect tomorrow. We will be meeting with our RE tomorrow; we were scheduled with another in the practice due to holiday rotations, so that's kind of nice.

I'm sure I'll update tomorrow after the appointment. Sure hope it's still a go for stims on Friday.

And, in less than 30m, I will not have to work for 6 days! Looking forward to catching up on house stuff & reorganizing the kitchen & getting Christmas cards & decorating done!

Have a wonderful Tuesday evening!

Quick Question: Antral Follicles

I've heard some others mention getting their antral follicle count at the baseline, u/s #1 at the start of IVF.

Did ya'll?

I've also been a nerd & checked out the success rates based on the range of antral follicles prior to stimming.

If they don't offer up the info, I'm gonna ask... but I wanted to find out if that's normal procedure {or} if they just kinda tell ya everything's fine to start your stims & how much to take.

Also, our 2nd u/s will be Dec1 after 3 days of stims. I guess at that point they'll tell me what to take & have me in for another u/s after 2 or 3 days of stims? Did any of ya'll have to go like everyday or only if you were a quick responder?

Just questions. Feel free to pipe in about your experience.

Lupron shot not so bad today. I think he's getting used to just darting the needles in & that doesn't even sting... compared to a slow shot.

Lupron: Day Ehh

So, 1st Lupron shot I felt nothing.

The next two were definitely a sting, but not too bad. Definitely tolerable.

The waking up at 6am on weekend days? Not so tolerable! LOL

But, it'll be worth it.

Had a nice visit w/ my cousin today! We celebrated T'giving this afternoon. Tomorrow evening, we will have a baby shower for her, so I can catch up with my great aunt + aunt then! There was so much going on, there wasn't enough time to chat w/ everyone.

This morning was my 1st emotional break in a while. Weeks, I'd say.

In church, my pastor introduced his daughter-in-law, who has also been struggling with IF & they have chosen to pursue adoption. I don't know if they know what they're dealing with, but when we pursued counseling with our pastor last year, he mentioned they tried for 8yrs with their 2nd child; this is when we found out about them & have been updated every now & then when we speak with Pastor. Anyhow, it immediately flooded me with emotions of seeing someone else & knowing how much pain they're in.

Then he announced two pregnancies: twins + an early one (6wks-ish?). And another woman in the hospital delivering her son.

I started feeling it. Glanced at the daughter-in-law, noticed her upset, too.

That was it. Had to leave the building crying. Fortunately, I could stop after a couple of minutes & lasted the rest of the service.

After the service, I wanted to talk with her. She was surrounded by others & I was too hesitant to say "Hi, my name is Rachel & we're infertile, too." It was just too awkward. I spoke with Pastor on the way out to please pass on the message that we're praying for them & think of them often. He thanked me & told me he felt something was going to happen & they would like to hold a prayer session for us... then I was crying again.

It's so hard sometimes. Really.

Feeling in a much better place now. Not sure how the next couple of weeks will be, but I'm trying to remain optimistic.

Kitchen is literally almost done. Oh, you've heard that already? Yeah, I know.

But, I really mean it this time! :)

The cabinets only need the doors hung (painted today, should be dry enough by tomorrow) & then MIL's work is done. We'll still have to move all the kitchen stuff back in & hang the pot rack + wall shelves, but it's so exciting!

Our plans changed somewhat last minute & we will be heading to the Tampa area after our JAX IVF start appt, then Thursday morning heading back home. Kinda crazy, but it will be nice to have the long weekend off... I'm off Monday, too! Which will also be my 1st monitoring appt.

So, we can organize the kitchen & rest of the house by end of T'giving day & prepare for Christmas that weekend. Already feeling relieved!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend & looking forward to checking everyone's updates!