Cycle Day 13 - Day 11 of Stims and Trigger Night

I was more than a little paranoid going to today's appointment. I was so bloated that I was thanking God that I brought all elastic waistband and drawstring pants on the trip, save one pair of low rise jeans. I did not have to have blood drawn so we had to be there for 10am. The waiting room was crowded but we only had a half-hour wait. Aidan played on his DS while I read an english language issue of Hello magazine that someone had left in the waiting room.

The u/s was good. We counted 17-18 follicles that were measuring at 18-20mm. There might be one or two more as my right ovary didn't want to cooperate. Both ovaries are about 7cm in diameter at the moment. That explains why I feel so bloated. My endometrium was considered optimal.

I was given a reduced amount of Gonal F and the last Ganirelix shot by the nurse. I was also given the HCG shot that we'll have to deliver tonight at 8.20pm. Retrieval is scheduled for 8.20am on Wednesday. Aidan has to check in at the same time for his sample. We'll be told the number of eggs retrieved at the clinic as I am required to stay for 1.5-2 hours afterwards to recover from the anesthetic. Our coordinator will tell us on Thursday how many fertilized. We're tentatively scheduled for Transfer next Monday at 1pm.

After the appointment I went to the thai massage place. I was scheduled for an hour long back massage. She started at my feet and worked her way to my head. It was amazing! The knots in my shoulders were a mess though and she has to use tiger balm to work them out. I can honestly say that I feel much better today than I did yesterday. I am scared to death about Wednesday but I am also feeling pretty positive about retrieval.

Cycle Day 12 - Day 10 of Stims

This is my "I feel like crap' post. I've had a headache throughout the last 10 days - some days it is a dull ache and some days it is a throbbing bass drum. I finally relented and went to have a Thai Head Massage on Friday and as I guessed, my neck and shoulders were knotted. It was the most hellish and most satisfying massage that I have ever had. I am going back tomorrow because I am just too tense.

I am also bloated like I have never been bloated. Yesterday, when we were in our amazing B&B room in Prague's Old Town, I felt fine about being bloated - in my drawstring pants I felt good and thought I looked good (great hair day, perhaps). This morning, after the Gonal F shot and a horrible Ganirelix shot that left a bruise, I just felt tired of it all. I hate feeling my ovaries right now. I used to relish being able to feel them during ovulation time. Now, it's old. They ache. Aidan says they're producing little hamster eggs. It was cute on day three of stims - it's not anymore.

I just want this process to be over and it's nowhere near finished. I am dreading each stage because I just want it to work. Sure, tomorrow I'll be my optimistic self and will see the whole experience as amazing. Right now, I think it's horrible to be going through this.... sigh.

Cycle Day 10 - Day 8 of Stims

Today's appointment went smoother than previous appointments. We arrived at 8am and I quickly was taken back for my blood test. We were in our doctor's office as soon as the results were available. The follicles were measuring between 14 & 16mm so I will probably have one last stim shot (lower dosage) on Aug 31 and the HCG shot that night at 8pm for retrieval on Sept 2. Transfer would be set for Sept 7th.

We discussed my intramural fibroid today. It has not grown due to the stims which is good. I've been put on extrimax because even though my endometrium growth is good thus far, he wants it to build up particularly in the area of the fibroid. He, like the RE in NJ, is fine with the fibroid but said that if I get pg this cycle, to have it removed once I give birth. He also advised to have it removed if I am not successful for peace of mind going through the next cycle, which I am fine with as well.

In any case, all is going well and I am contemplating making an appointment for a thai massage - I need to relax more.....

Cycle Day 7: Day 5 of Stims

The last few days have been interesting. I was pretty relaxed on Sunday when we visited Spilberk Castle in Bruno. Yesterday I was a mess. We visited the Zlin Zoo, Luhacovice and Uhersky Brod and while it was fascinating, I was getting more and more nervous about today's appointment. Aidan was not any better - when he posts on our vacation blog, you'll see how he was yesterday....

Anyhow, I slept relatively well last night. We have started watching True Blood so we saw two episodes before turning in and thankfully the second episode was pretty funny and helped with the feeling of stress. We got up this morning and the first thing that I did was put all of my meds in a little purple case that they gave me and then put that in my Lindos Bermudiana Shopping bag - It didn't make sense to my to carry everything in a plastic bag like I've seen everyone else do at the clinic. We went down and had breakfast and we're able to talk with Jenny & Issac again. We also met a couple from Japan.

We were making 9am and literally ran out of the door. At the bottom of the hill I realized that I left the meds - so we went back and somehow managed to get to the clinic at 9am. I had my blood test by 9.30 and then we sat and waited. We knew we'd have to wait 90 minutes for the test results and the clinic was busy as usual. We were prepared this time. Aidan had his DS and I read Women & Home (UK) and a Stephanie Plum novel (I'm on book 8).

When we were finally called I was ushered into the ultrasound room and Aidan was taken into the doctor's office. No hospital gowns here but I was warned - I had on a long sweater to cover my lower half when I ran from the bathroom to the table. My nervousness went away as the doctor showed me each ovary and began measuring the follicles. I dressed and went to the office. The doctor was telling Aidan that he was very happy with my response to the Gonal F. I had at least 16 follicles that he counted during the ultrasound and most were measuring at 8mm. Additionally, my estrogen levels were excellent. I have to continue theGonal F and then on Thursday I'll add Ganirelix. My next appointment is on Friday and he believes I'll be ready for retrieval on Tuesday.

So right now we're feeling pretty good and will hopefully be relaxed through Friday. My mom flies in on Thursday so we will be driving to Vienna to pick her up. Not looking forward to the second shot though... thankfully it is pre-prepared but the needle looks scarier - and the injection site will be my thigh.

Cycle Day 5: Day 3 of Stims

Welcome ICLWers! Sorry, no proper intro this month. I planned to do the A,B,Cs of me but time just got away from me. Please see my timeline on the side and I welcome you to follow along on our adventure.

I think I am fighting a head cold. I am also having trouble getting used to being 5 hours ahead. Other than that, all things are well. Yesterday, DH did injection #2 for me. We didn't let the alcohol dry before the needle went in so it stung a bit. I did the injection on my own today and it didn't sting at all. I did look at the needle for the next stage (Ganirelix)and that needle looks like it may hurt a bit. By lower tummy is a bit sore when I stretch but it's not too bad. I just want my period to end...

Every evening I either soak my feet in hot water or put them on a heating pad. Then, DH works on the acupressure points for this phase of the cycle. t is quite relaxing. I plan to do the guided visualisation this evening. I can't believe we're going back to the doctor in 2 days time - I guess that's what happens when a weekend is in the midst of treatment.

Vacation is going well. We're about to go for a walk and then will take a drive to Brno. We need to go to the grocery store as well - I ate all of the blueberries for extra vit c yesterday to get through this had cold. We're loving our little studio apartment. We have eaten here for the last 2 nights, making half of dinner ourselves. DH has purchased a potted blue hydrangea for the main room and potted lavender for the bathroom. I love both and am so thankful that I have a thoughtful husband.

    

Cycle Day 3 - Start Stims

Today was the day that I only managed to get nervous about once we finally managed to check into the hotel. There will be more detail of the vacation aspect of our journey on our family site but I will say that we had a long drive to get here as our GPS ran out of power before we even managed to leave Vienna (no - forgot to charge it before we left and then we also left the car charger at home...). It was fine though. We purchased some maps and drove through Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and saw some great scenery along the way. I wish my camera wasn't packed while we drove but I'll get pictures soon.

We checked in around 9.30pm (we have a cute studio with kitchenette and great views), unpacked and shared an egg sandwich and chips for dinner. We turned in by 10.30pm but my nerves started around 11.30 and I was up a few times due to that. By 5am I took out my iphone and listed to a guided visualization session to calm down. I then slept until 7.30am. We caught the news about Hurricane Bill before going to breakfast. It was lovely - sausages, scrambled eggs, fresh bread and jam and cereal. We sat with Jenny and her husband who are here from Germany and caught up in real life since Jenny and I met on one of the IVF boards. We then went back to our room to set up our wireless internet access while they headed to the clinic.

We got to the clinic around 10.15am. I got my blood pressure meds and then we had to wait. They took us in for our STD blood tests and my hormone blood test at 11am. It was easy - which is something for me to say since I am the worst person for blood tests. I guess she has tons of experience since it's an IVF clinic so it shouldn't have surprised me. We then had a long wait. The place is soooo busy but it does move quickly. I think we noticed how long the wait was because we weren't prepared - we only had my iphone and sharing it was awful. We talked with Jenny and her husband before they went in for their 1st control visit and then we were on our own. I looked at the pictures in the Czech magazines and even started picking up the gist of some of the articles.

We went in to see the doctor at 1pm. It was so worth the wait though. He explained everything to us - what our records meant in terms of what he was going to do, the entire cycle, the decisions we'll have to make, an ultrasound with descriptions of everything on the screen and what the results of my hormonal blood test meant in relation to the protocol he was going to give me. My FSH was 5.3 this morning and he was quite happy with that. He's started me on the Gonal F 900IU pen with daily dosages of 187.5 units through to Monday. On Tuesday (8/25) we have a 9am appointment where they'll do another hormone test and a vaginal ultrasound. I will then tentatively have my next visit on 8/30 where I'll probably receive the trigger shot and ER would then be on 9/1 and transfer would be 9/4 (for 3 day) or 9/7 (for 5/6 day - they don't do transfers or retrievals on Sundays here). So once we discussed that we were taken to learn how to use the pen. I felt nothing! It is so easy to use. They gave me all of my stims and I have put them in the fridge in our little studio apartment.

Well, off to do some grocery shopping and then we'll walk around Zlin a bit to get used to the residential part that we're living in. I am loving the gardens already.

Ready to Go

First of all, we're leaving with a hurricane coming. Hurricane Bill's closest point of approach to the island is currently calculated at 12 pm Sat, Aug 22, 2009. Distance: 184 nm to the west. So we're currently packing and preparing the house at the same time.

Today, in addition to tying things up as best we could, we also visited our acupuncturist. DH came with me and I had an acupressure session at which our acupuncturist showed DH what he wants him to do during stims, before retrieval, after retrieval and after transfer. Many of the points are lovely. He printed out tons of information to remind DH of the correct spots and so we're set!

So, I took the last BCP on the night of Aug 17 and AF began this morning. Guess this cycle has started. We've emailed our coordinator this information and told her we'll see her on Friday.

WOW - it's starting to happen!

Getting Ready for the Adventure

We started packing this weekend. I generally don't pack early but since we're away for so long and need to ensure we have things to live there for a while, I thought that I should start and figure out what's missing. We then went shopping to pick up a few things - tylenol, suitcase scale, benifiber, etc. I also got another sweater from Marks & Spencer, this time in grey. We've gone through our documents and our only major thing we need to do is get a few customs forms so we can take the computers and cameras in and out of Bermuda.

I'm starting to feel a little nervous. Right now it is a fear that I will get out there and go to the first appointment and them saying that we can't do it for some reason. Outside of that nightmare, I am still concerned about needles and such. I know it'll all be fine once we get started and then i will worry about other things...

As for the vacation part, we purchased a few guide books for Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. We've decided not to schedule anything yet and to keep this vacation as normal as possible (we generally don't schedule anything other than theatre tickets...).

I have forgotten one thing due to the hectic nature of the last few weeks. Our dating anniversary/engagement anniversary is on Wednesday. We usually go out to dinner but we'll be on the airplane this year. I went to look at the gift to see if it would be ok to carry with me on the plane to give it to him and realized that I don't have anything! I have the b-day present for September but forgot this anniversary. I can't give him the b-day present so I had better find something in the next 4 days. I will make a card today. Any thoughts for a simple gift that will travel well?????

One Lovely Blog Award

I have 15 Lovely Blog Awards to bestow upon some very deserving
bloggers and blogs! Without further ado...the winners are...(drumroll)...

Rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. (Thank you Mad Hatter!!!)
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The envelope please....
15 Lovely Blogs I have recently discovered and enjoy (in no particular order)...
1. Not A Fertile Myrtle
2. Conceive This
3. Relaxing Doesn't Make Babies
4. Incinta
5. Confessions of a Chocoholic
6. Slice of Pie
7. Infertility Rocks
8. Through the Eyes of A Stranger
9. The Happy Hours
10. My Journey to Mommyhood
11. Diary of an Infertile Mad Woman
12. Anla knits. No, really she does!
13. Hobbit-ish Thoughts and Ramblings
14. All Things Griffin
15. Life Induces Thoughts, Mostly Random

Early Morning Post

Just a quick post early in the morning. The dogs wanted to go out and have been playing so I thought I'd get online for a little while. It's another busy week but a lot less stressful than last week (thankfully the weight loss has tapered off). I'm enjoying the programme but am now feeling sad that I'll miss the last 2 days. The teachers and the students are great and I look forward to continue working with this programme in the future. I have to fit my other client in over the next five days so it'll be more hectic but I should manage.

I haven't packed a thing yet! We have the list and I've even got home early for the last 3 nights (won't for the next two though - dinner with the students tonight and Mambo Nights on Friday). I need to start this weekend because I need to know if there are last minute things to get on Monday/Tuesday. I also need to call my credit card companies to tell them that I'll be travelling. Perhaps I need a special to-do list for the weekend. We have the dancers coming up again on Sunday so I really need to do it before I pick them up Sunday morning...

Other than that, looking forward to getting to London and spending some time at Gatwick before we head to Vienna. Not having any thoughts about CZ yet - just a bit nervous about starting stims next Friday. I've been thinking more about getting back to London on Sept 11th. I can't believe we'll be heading back home a month from today.

More Test Results...

So we got out STD test results today. As we expected, we're STD free. We got a surprise in the test though. Our doctor tested DH's prolactin level and it was down 10 points! It was like 1 point above normal! DH called me excited but sad. He's only been drinking milk in his cereal at breakfast (vs 2 glasses at each meal) for the last 3 months and the doctor believes that has played a major role in his prolactin levels lowering. So, he's on the milk once a day regimen from now on! Still, we're happy and hope that it'll help with the samples that he gives when we go for treatment!

We've since sent the results to the clinic and they've confirmed receipt. That's it until we get there next week!I want to take the coordinators who have helped us a present from Bermuda. I am contemplating picking up a few mugs painted with Bermudiana flowers when I go to Dockyard on Sunday for them. They have been so wonderful.

Busy week this week (and next) but I have more control over the schedule at the moment. Still really long days but more room for breathing. I so can't wait to get on British Airways next Wednesday night, though - I plan to sleep all the way to London!

Boy, I am tired

I'm in the midst of a major project that has me pulling 18 & 19 hour days. It's going pretty well but I am sooooo tired. I am usually so pooped when I get home that I don't even dream when I sleep.....

The BCPs are awful. I'm still spotting like two weeks into taking them.... sigh! I go to my acupuncturist tomorrow though so he may be able to help.