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!