IVF Diary Vol II: 29-30 Jan 16

January 30, 201626 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Progesterone in Oil 1ml Intra-muscular injection, vivelle dot estrogen patches 0.1mg x2. Remember I was taking baby steps with self injecting the progesterone? Well, I have not progressed any further, in fact I probably regressed. I am really struggling to pull back the needle to check for blood and keeping the needle still, then I freak out when the needle is moving around in my butt!!! I have yet to take the plunge with putting the needle in myself. I am feeling pretty miserable with my lack of progress. I’m not going to give up, but I’m feeling frustrated at myself.

Medical procedures undertaken. 5 Day Embryo Transfer! Our transfer was scheduled for 7AM on Saturday, so we were up super early again. I learned my lesson from last time around. No tea before the procedure. Usually I am a real grump without my morning cup of tea, but as tea is a diuretic I decided to avoid it this time. I also didn’t drink anything until I arrived at the clinic. For our first IVF cycle, in addition to tea, I also drank 3/4 of the recommended water to take 30 minutes before the procedure (24oz) and I was painfully busting to go to the toilet. So, now knowing my bladder size a bit better, I decided to drink just a third of the 24oz recommended water (and no tea). I was a little nervous it wouldn’t be enough, but the ultrasound clearly showed my uterus (Dr also commented on the severity of my retroverted uterus as if it was a surprise!).

As I got onto the table ready for the transfer procedure the Doctor gave us a run down on the status of our 11 embryos. This time, she showed us the report (last time the Dr just told us we had 2 eight cell embies). We had not been given an update since the fertilisation report so I was very nervous!!! Amazingly, all 11 embryos were still alive. We had three blastocysts, graded 5BB, 5BB and 5CC. The other 8 embryos were still only 9-5 cells. They were going to wait one more day to see if they would catch up. When I said ‘so this means we will have at least one to freeze?’, she didn’t seem particularly confident that we would have any. But I will remain hopeful that the rest will catch up!! We were transferring the best two blastocysts we had, and I am happy with that!

We have named our embies Petrie and Spike…can you guess why we ended up naming them this?

Introducing Petrie & Spike – our Day 5 Embryos – now on board! (We think that weird stickie looking thing is a scratch on the petri dish – that or I will be giving birth to some stick man)

The Dr prepared me for the procedure, she washed out my ‘baby house’ as she called it, then practiced inserting the catheter, everything went smoothly! Then the embryologist came to confirm my identity, he went back to the embryology lab to show on the TV screen in our room our name on the petri dish and then a zoomed in picture of our embryos. Then he came back in the room with our embryos ready to be transferred. The Dr quickly did the transfer as we watched on the ultrasound monitor the liquid with the embryos in it go up into my uterus. Chris later described it looking like a ‘shooting star’. I thought that was a lovely way to describe this! I was wheeled back to the recovery room and I had to lie down for one hour before they would let me either pee or leave!!!

What are my symptoms? I think the estrogen and progesterone are starting to kick in and I had a good old cry last night. It wasn’t helped by my failure to do my own progesterone injection.

How do I feel today? I was pretty relaxed with the whole procedure today and I am feeling positive still. Woohoo!

Any results? I am thinking of doing a home pregnancy test everyday from 7 days past the 5 day transfer – last time I tested the day before the beta. But this time I am thinking of testing simply in the name of science. I don’t know why, I’ll have a think about this – I’ve got a while anyway! 2 Week Wait here we come!!!

What’s next? Beta HcG test will be 13 days from now :-s

Weight. NSTR.

Waist. The Dr showed me my squished uterus today from my stimulated ovaries – there were some pretty big follicles still in there. I am not surprised I am still bloated as I am. The Dr told me to keep up the drinking to help flush them out.

Boobs. Definitely growing.

~~Hours of Sunshine 🙂~~ Deleted from my diary…what’s the point? The one sunny day at a weekend – I am on enforced bed rest!!!

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

IVF Diary Vol II: 26-28 Jan 16

January 28, 20169 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Progesterone in Oil 1ml Intra-muscular injection, vivelle dot estrogen patches 0.1mg x2. I am taking baby steps in learning how to inject the progesterone myself. Last night I held the needle and hovered it above my skin but cried, well sobbed… and begged Chris to do it. I realised that I had never actually watched this huge needle go in before because I have always been lying down on the bed face down. So the first step was watching it break the skin. He checked for blood, then I took over from Chris and injected the oil so I know what it feels like and I took the needle out. There are definitely some challenges with injecting yourself and reaching round at the right angle – fortunately I am pretty flexible (thanks yoga!). We will do the same again whilst I build my confidence up! baby steps….!!

Medical procedures undertaken. Nil

What are my symptoms? My recovery from the Egg Retrieval surgery has been incredible! Compared with last time when I was practically crippled with pain and constipation I am in a way better place. The runny/dribbly/itchy nose and continuous sneezing has started to wear off. I treated the symptoms with nose saline spray (with aloe) and antihistamines. I was only constipated for about 1.5 days, and for someone who poos 3-5 times a day this wasn’t insignificant! But again, it was no where near as bad as last time when it was 3 days. I don’t sleep well when taking the progesterone injections or the estrogen patches, I’m not sure which is the culprit. I suspect it’s the progesterone because I remember being like that when I was only taking the progesterone suppositories for the IUIs. I woke up very early this morning with some sharp tummy pains, the kind you get from being very hungry. OK enough whinging, really, I am in a good place!

How do I feel today? I guess technically we are in the 2 Week Wait. I’m getting nervous that I am too positive now!!! Although last night I had a dream that I had to knit my embryos, and I dropped the last stitch, which meant I dropped an embryo on the floor and I had everyone looking for it!!! Don’t pscyho-analyse me too hard ;-p I went back to work on Wednesday and people were surprised to see me in good health because I had originally booked the whole week off as sick leave based on my experience last time. But it wasn’t needed!

Any results? Out of the 14 eggs that were retrieved, 11 of them were mature. Out of the 11 mature eggs all 11 fertilised successfully! This means an automatic go to Day 5 Transfer space!!! Our clinic doesn’t provide updates on the embryo progress unless things are going badly. We haven’t heard from the clinic and today is Day 3, so we are assuming things are all good. Our next update on how many made it to blastocyst will be on Saturday morning when we go in for our Transfer! It’s really strange because I know so many other clinics offer daily updates, but I’ve come to the conclusion that ignorance is bliss.

What’s next? Day 5 transfer is scheduled for 7AM this Saturday :-s who needs a lie-in when you can make a baby the good old test tube way!

Weight. Aghhhhh. I can’t even….

Waist. Seriously bloated and look pregnant.

Boobs. Getting bigger by the day – someone is happy about this! Not my bra, that’s for sure ;-p

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 The sun has been hiding. I think that the whole sun thing has no bearing on my fertility considering the amount of sun I got in August last year when we went through IVF the first time!

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

IVF Diary Vol II: 25 Jan 16

January 25, 201619 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Some cocktail of anesthesia drugs, x2 tylenol the nurse gave me before the Egg Retrieval procedure. I have avoided the pain killers so far.

Medical procedures undertaken. The Egg Retrieval!!! My appointment was at 0630 AM, so we got up nice and early at 0500, I actually slept quite well, I thought it might be a bad nights sleep with nerves, but it wasn’t. The nurse picked us up from the waiting room, she exclaimed “Oh I know you guys!!!! You are French!!!” (We thought she was teasing, but I found out later she wasn’t and she actually thought we were french). She said “Oh I am supposed to be just bringing the patients up today….but….I’ll sort you guys out!!” She took over from the other nurse so she could be with us. Haha, I think she actually just loves Chris 🙂 She was very sweet. Anyway, we were number 2 into the surgery room this time (out of 5). I was feeling pretty relaxed about it all, knowing vaguely what was about to happen.

The nurse got the Intra-Veinous drip into the back of my hand with no problems (because my hand has nice straight veins!!), it didn’t hurt at all. It was cold in the ward, I was wrapped up in lots of blankets but my right hand just wouldn’t get warm because of the drip running through it. We waited about 40 minutes or so, and even got a game of cribbage in. I was made to go pee. Chris was called to do his part for the day, and then it was my turn – the anesthetist gave me something that started to make me feel woozy, I was a lot more aware than last time around, so I tried to take a good look around. I was shuffled over to the operating table and was given something else, then zzzzzzzzzzzzz I was asleep. I don’t think I was awake for getting my legs into the stirrups this time!!! 30 minutes later I was waking up with the nurse asking me lots of questions. I was talking random crap about how nice they were. The nurse continued to monitor my vitals (blood pressure and heart rate), I was made to sit up, then finally I was made to go to the toilet to pee for her to check it. There was a teeny bit of bright pink blood, but not much.

Chris helped me get dressed and I was taken to my car in a wheel chair. I was feeling woozy, but no where near as much pain as I experienced last time around. In fact I was wondering if the local anesthetic was taking longer to wear off. I am sat here now 6 hours later, and I have some pain, but not half of what I felt last time. However, I do have a very very drippy sore nose. I think the oxygen tube must have damaged my nose somehow, or the anesthesia drugs have caused this.

What are my symptoms? Really not too bad apart from the runny, dripping nose. I am taking it easy on the sofa, but I haven’t needed to snooze yet and my tummy is tender, but not extremely painful. So overall I’m grateful!

How do I feel today? Super relieved to get today over with, I’m feeling very positive!!!

Any results? 14 Eggs retrieved!!! That is really much better than I expected. Last time we got 9 of which, only 6 were mature. So I am hopful for 9 mature eggs this time 🙂

What’s next? We will receive our fertilisation report tomorrow morning. Then hope for a 5 Day Transfer – this is our goal. But of course we will do a 3 Day Transfer if things aren’t looking promising.

Weight. Not even looked at it.

Waist. Continually growing.

Boobs. NSTR.

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 None. I’m tucked up on the sofa, hopefully tomorrow I will get out for a short walk.

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

Top tips in preparing for an Egg Retrieval

January 24, 201610 Comments

As this is my second round of IVF, I am feeling a little bit more prepared for tomorrow’s egg retrieval surgery. Here are some tips for preparing….

Take a day off work the day before Egg retrieval. Fortunately both times for me it has been a Sunday the day before and so have not been at work. The chances are you are waddling around by this point, ovaries full of beautiful follicles!
Stay hydrated in the days leading up to and after Egg Retrieval. Take a water bottle around with you every where (make sure it is BPA free, glass bottle would be better). Add in the occasional sports drink, such as Gatorade or Powerade.
Prepare you body to prevent constipation. Prune juice worked wonders for me last time around. I tried collace and that just did not get my bowels moving. I am trying prune juice and green tea the day before Egg Retrieval, just in case this helps. (I don’t know if it will, but it won’t hurt!). It’s a mix of the anesthesia drugs, pain killers (if you decide to take the narcotics), dehydration and your ovaries ballooning from the follicles that are leaking in your ovaries that create the conditions for constipation. Plus if you are constipated, you don’t want to be straining yourself after the surgery.
Pack your bag with some funky happy socks (ask if you are allowed to wear them), trashy magazines that don’t require too much concentration to read (you will be nervous whilst waiting so make it light reading with pretty pictures works well!), water bottle (remember you can’t drink/eat anything before the surgery so don’t forget this), powerade/gatorade for car journey home, with a banana or something similarly easy going on the stomach. (You are not supposed to eat fried/fatty/heavy food after the anesthetic – it helps with your recovery if you avoid these foods.)
Change bed sheets day before Egg Retrieval so you can snuggle up into nice clean bed sheets when you get home.
Get the hot water bottle/heat pads ready. I like hot water bottles because they are just that little bit warmer.
Have soft brushed, stretchy, baggy clothes ready, including pyjamas. Go to surgery in loose clothes…the bloating will be almost instantaneous after surgery you might think that they snuck a pillow into your uterus whilst you were out of it. Cosy socks – treat yourself to the ones with aloe lined in them, after all you will be in them for 24hrs or so, you might as well make them soft and beautiful whilst you are at it.
Stock up on healthy bite-sized snacks such as grapes, clementines, celery, raisins and pistachios. Chicken or vegetable broth is probably all you will be able to stomach for lunch, and is easy going on the tum! But also stock up on a little treat or two for later in the day. YOU DESERVE IT AFTER THE PAST FEW WEEKS!!!!
Borrow, rent or add to your watch list a completely new season of a TV series. Because really, the day after you are not going to be wanting to get off the sofa much.
I am also going to be keeping my sanity and avoid thinking every 5 seconds when I am going to get a fertilisation update by knitting, reading some more of ‘Gone With the Wind’ and adult colouring in (meditative colouring in no less!).
Egg Retrieval survival kit! On the left is what I will be wearing and taking with me to Egg retrieval. On the right what I will mostly be wearing (pyjamas!), eating and entertaining myself with!!!

Feel free to add your Egg Retrieval tips below!! Share the love!!!

IVF Diary Vol II: 23-24 Jan 16

January 24, 20163 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Stimming phase: Days 9 & 10. PM: Saturday AM: cetrotide, Sunday PM: Ovidrel (the trigger!!!). I did the trigger injection myself and decided to record it and post the video to my personal facebook page #thisiswhatinfertilitylookslike. (the video is at bottom of my blog post :-))

Medical procedures undertaken. Monitoring appointment – ultrasound and blood test.

What are my symptoms? Tiredness – afternoon naps have been required!!!! Nausea that comes and goes. Sunday, I have felt a little bit better than I have done over the past few days, but the ovaries are starting to twinge with odd pains here and there :-s These eggs are ready to go!!!

How do I feel today? Excited. Nervous.

Any results? My follicles are looking great. Randomly, in my right ovary all the follicles look the same size and shape.

“My good English eggs are ready!!!”

(The Dr’s words…not mine!!! Every single time I have seen him he makes a reference to my Englishness)

What’s next? Egg retrieval Monday 0630 AM!!!! Trying to mitigate any potential mild OHSS symptoms like I got from last time.

Weight. I haven’t weighed myself, I need to do this before the surgery so I can monitor OHSS.

Waist. My waist is 6cm larger than the same time last time!!! Whoops!!!

Boobs. NSTR.

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 None. It’s winter. It’s cold out there. Oh and we were like the only city in Virginia to get a pathetic amount of snow, it was mostly rain for us! I am pleased so it hasn’t messed up any of this round of IVF. I hope other women didn’t face problems with the snow storm who may need to travel from further way.

The snow storm wasn’t quite so apocalyptic as it was in other parts of Virginia!

Fun Activity to keep Dani from going insane. It will be time to relax and recover, so no specific fun activities. However, I am quite excited to watch Orange is the new black – I have a lot of catching up to do!!!!

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

Hiding under the bed

January 23, 201615 Comments

On my first deployment to Iraq I met many people like me. Like me, they volunteered as a reservist to fight for their country in a war they didn’t really understand. In actual fact, like me, they were just running away from their problems at home, hoping the problems would disappear.

Almost 9 years ago I was driving the 4 hour journey back from my weekend of reservist training when two cars crashed and flipped several cars in front of me. I didn’t see the crash, but I sat for two hours waiting for the emergency services to do their thing, and All I could think about was how that could have easily been me. I could die just driving on these roads-any day. So why not join my squadron in Iraq? Why not volunteer to deploy to Iraq? I had more chance of dying here on the UK roads than being killed as a logistician in Iraq. So the next day I emailed my unit to tell them I wanted to deploy. 2 weeks later I left my safe analyst government job and was heading into my pre-deployment training.

It wasn’t just the car accident that prompted me to deploy. A couple of months prior Chris had dumped me. We hadn’t been dating for too long, but I was gutted. It was a complicated time in my life. I also had graduate loans to pay, a new apartment I recently bought with my ex that I could just scrape by to pay for. Quite frankly, I’d had enough of men. I was single, I needed time away to figure stuff out and I could do with the money.

And during my tour I met many others like me. Particularly those who were recently single. I can tell you from experience that the problems from back home never go away. And for some, going back to any sense of normality after a tour in Iraq would never be possible.

As a logistician by trade I knew I would be on base, nice and safe. Well that’s what I told my family anyway. But it wasn’t until after I volunteered to deploy that I discovered that the bases were being bombarded by lethal rocket attacks on a daily basis. The news never covered the truth of these attacks or the number of people being sent home injured. I quickly found out as one of my jobs was helping plan medevac flights out of Iraq back to the UK. The flights were frequently full and sometimes people would have to wait a few days longer to return to the UK than ideally desired.

At the worst of it, the rocket attacks would be 4-5 times in a 24 hour period. They would attack at 11pm just as I was falling asleep. I’d roll out of bed get under my bed on the floor and throw my body armor and helmet on. 20 minutes later the all clear alarm would go off and I’d climb back into bed. Then again 2 hours later, the incoming rocket alarm would go off and I’d roll out of bed onto the floor in a hazy state. Sometimes, I’d fall asleep under the bed waiting for the all clear. I set up a second bed under my bed for those mid-night rocket attacks.

After several weeks of this I stopped automatically rolling out of bed, and I lay there as I heard the rockets land in the distance, calculating whether or not it was worth getting out of bed for. Which was ridiculous because a rocket could land anywhere, anytime. It was exhausting. The enemy sure knew how to mess with our heads.

It was only towards the end of my deployment that they decided to build Kevlar bunker beds for everyone to sleep in. Basically we called it the metal coffin. A mattress on the floor with bricks built up all around it, sheets of Kevlar metal on top to create a roof, a door to crawl into the bed space and something like 60 sandbags on top of the metal roof. Yes, this seemingly overkill ‘coffin’ did actually save lives and even someone has been known to survive a direct hit from a rocket sleeping in this thing.

Anyway, why am I telling you this story? Well it is 2AM here in Virginia, I can’t sleep because my belly is swollen from ovaries full of growing follicles and we are in the midst of a storm. I am wide awake because all I can think of is the huge pine tree that is swaying and groaning in the winds outside our bedroom window. And it’s the irony of surviving all those rocket attacks in Iraq that I will be squished to death by a tree whilst I sleep in my bed.

Messed up, isn’t it???

IVF Diary Vol II:21-22 Jan 16

January 23, 2016January 23, 201612 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Stimming phase: days 7 & 8. PM: Gonal-F 300 iu & Menopur 150 iu. AM: cetrotide.

Medical procedures undertaken. Monitoring appointment – ultrasound and blood test.

What are my symptoms? Tiredness – I had to have a 1.5hr snooze in the afternoon because I just couldn’t keep my eyes open! The headache was just awful yesterday, it was persistent, however, today it has not been so bad. My tummy generally hurts when I bend over.

How do I feel today? Awesome because I gave myself the menopur injection. MY FIRST SELF INJECTION!!! That’s right, I have managed to get this far without doing one single injection myself because I have been terrified to do it. Today I overcame my fear. Chris got excited because he thought this meant he was getting out of injection duty. Oh no dear hubby we will go 50-50 from now on with this job! I like that he is a part of this. I treated myself with some ice cream as a reward :-p

I played dodgeball last night, I’m not sure how I managed it…I really got into the game, played through any paing and kind of regretted it afterwards, my body is a bit sore today! But I very much enjoyed it, it’s a social league so it’s not overly competitive and we have a good laugh. I have no one to blame but myself for my non-stimming related aches and pains.

Any results? I am excited because my estradiol results are much higher than last time (but not too high!) this has to be a good thing for more mature eggies!!!! My follicles are also growing evenly i.e. they are all around the same size, which is a bit better than last time too.

What’s next? Tonight is hopefully my night of stims (mostly because I only have one vial of menopur left!), hopefully the final monitoring appt Saturday morning, trigger Saturday eve, then Egg retrieval Monday morning.

Weight. NSTR

Waist. BLOATED

Boobs. Bigger and squishier.

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 None. We are in the midst of a snow storm!

Fun Activity to keep Dani from going insane. I went to Michaels and stocked up on wool for two new knitting projects! A kid’s cat scarf, and a cable knit scarf. I have been practicing cable knit and it’s actually not too difficult. I probably won’t finish them this weekend, but I will make a good start at them.

Cat scarf knitting project

Cable Knit Scarf Project

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

Avoiding the Mirror

January 21, 20168 Comments

I have been avoiding the mirror a lot lately. I look at my face in the mirror, but not my body. I can’t even look down, when I shave my legs I avoid looking at the area between my legs and boobs. It’s the part of my body that feels disgusting to me (apart from feet – feet are pretty disgusting to me too). I don’t necessarily mean that I am disgusted with the way my physical body looks, but I have some strange issues with my stomach in particular. Both in the physical and emotional sense. I am slim build, lucky to have a fast metabolism, I don’t have any eating disorders, I love food and we have a good relationship (except for the sugar, sugar and I are always going at it head to head!!). So this doesn’t have anything to do with me thinking I am fat.

I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and this means that I suffer from random stomach pains and I get terrible bouts of diarrhea. Certain food and stress triggers my IBS. My relationship with my stomach has never really been a good one.

The worst issue I have are things touching my stomach – whether that is me, my clothes, the cats or even Chris. There are times in the day where I cannot bear for things to touch my stomach – even my stomach touching the stomach (i.e. when bending over). I hate the way it feels. I have tried to explain it to Chris many times and even to myself, but I just can’t put words to how it makes me feel. Disgusted is probably not really the right word, but it’s pretty close to how I feel. But then there will be occasions when I am absolutely OK with my stomach being touched – I am unpredictable, there is no way of knowing if it is OK or not. It is worse after I have just eaten, but I can often mitigate this by having a hot water bottle on my stomach, this helps for some reason.

The weirdness of not touching my stomach also extends to not looking at my stomach. I don’t know why, but may be I have so much hate for the pain and grief it has caused me over the years.

Add in the bloatedness from the stimulation drugs from this IVF cycle and the problem perpetuates. I hate squeezing my tummy ready for the needles, I hate touching it and I hate looking at it.

What will I be like when I am pregnant? Well from the short period of time I have been pregnant I think this weirdness will still prevail, will it get worse? I hope not! For Chris’s sake at least because I know he will be wanting to feel close to the little one growing inside of me!

Mirror, mirror on the wall…..

IVF Diary Vol II: 19-20 Jan 16

January 20, 2016January 20, 20169 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Stimming phase: days 5 & 6. Gonal-F 300 iu & Menopur 150 iu. I started cetrotide this morning, day 6 (20 Jan) – this is the drug that stops me from ovulating prematurely and losing all those eggs!

Medical procedures undertaken. Monitoring appointment – ultrasound and blood test. So for my last appointment there were loads of people in the waiting room – it was like chaos. This morning, there was no one except little old me. It made me nervous! I don’t know why, but it just did – I wondered if I was an odd ball with my cycle.

What are my symptoms? Tiredness – I am struggling to keep my eyes open today. I went into work after my appointment and this afternoon I taught a 2 hour lesson as part of our staff development training. I give a highly interactive class with practical tasks, so it is incredibly draining on the brain as the ‘students’ always have lots of challenging questions for me!!! I am amazed I survived. At the end, one of the organisers asked me if I was OK, was I tired? Clearly I looked pretty rough!

I also have a headache. It is not dehydration because I have hydrated constantly all day, carrying around my water bottle with me.

The bloat…the bloat….the bloat is on fire! Aghhh! How many days do I still have left? I’m just over halfway hopefully! I am currently sat in my fluffy fleecy pyjama bottoms. They feel sooooooo good!

How do I feel today? Apart from the tiredness thing, I’m feeling not too bad. I am excited to be on this IVF journey still and haven’t given up hope just yet 🙂

Any results? I have 6 follicles in the right ovary and 7 in the left, with a few smaller ones hoping to catch up!!! Last time around my right ovary was the dominant one, this time it is the left. It looks like I am responding well in terms of follicle numbers similar to last time. Which is good because they collected 9 last time (6 were mature, 4 fertilised) so I am hoping for some more mature eggies this time around!

What’s next? The same injections then monitoring appt on Friday morning. The Doctor says I am currently looking good for an Egg Retrieval on Monday!

Weight. NSTR

Waist. slowly growing 😦

Boobs. Slightly bigger.

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 None. Snow expected soon!

Fun Activity to keep Dani from going insane. Dodgeball season starts tomorrow evening, I am not sure if I will play yet! I am doubtful. But I will go along anyway to support the team even if I don’t play.

Rahhhhh – Dodgeball is a great place to let off some steam – But not when you are in the middle of an IVF cycle!!!! :_-(

13 follicles – with a few at 3-4mm left to catch up

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.

IVF Diary Vol II: 17-18 Jan 16

January 19, 20163 Comments

Medication(s) administered and dosage(s). Gonal-F 300 iu & Menopur 150 iu. We tried the injections with me sitting down, Chris preferred giving them to me this way. It doesn’t make a difference to me either way, they still suck.

Medical procedures undertaken. Monitoring appointment – ultrasound and blood test. My appointment was at 0830 – I left at around 1000. There were waaaay too many people in the clinic today for my liking. Chris came with me because it was a holiday here – Martin Luther King Day, so we were both off work. That was really nice, especially as we waited for quite some time.

What are my symptoms? Little to report except for starting to feel a little tummy bloat, and a thumping headache. I bought a new water bottle last week so that I can take water with me everywhere. I ummed and ahhed between two and decided to buy the bottle that was $5 cheaper. Got it home and realised it was a piece of crap, can’t put it in the dishwasher and wasn’t BPA free. Bah that’s what I get for being a cheap skate! Anyway, I’m hoping my headaches are from lack of water (something I can control opposed to if it was being caused by the meds)

How do I feel today? Feeling pretty good! I had a lovely weekend not making any decisions. Chris took me on a surprise date – we went to Dave and Buster’s – a kind of modern day arcade thing with lots of games. We released our inner kid. Then afterwards we stopped at Ruby Tuesdays to have a virgin cocktail and share a sundae ice cream. It was great fun to do something random and just be silly.

Any results? My uterine lining is looking great. I have a few follicles, the Dr didn’t count them all, but I’m on track. I called in for my instructions, and the nurse told me start my cetrotide on Wednesday morning. This means that I am starting the cetrotide a day later than last time around. I’m hoping that is a good thing 🙂

What’s next? The same injections on Tuesday, adding the cetrotide injection on Weds morning, then monitoring appointment following that.

Weight. NSTR

Waist. slowly growing 😦

Boobs. NSTR

Hours of Sunshine 🙂 It snowed yesterday unexpectedly. It was very random considering the day before had been warm and glorious. Weather here in Virginia is CRAZY. They are also talking about 10 -20 inches of snow on the East coast maybe as far down as here on the border of North Carolina, this weekend. So long story short. I think it is going to be hard for me to get much sunshine this IVF cycle.

Fun Activity to keep Dani from going insane. We discovered that Tuesdays at our local cinema is half price entry and half price food so we will be going to the movies! I want to see the new Quentin Tarantino film The hateful eight or The Revenant.

*Notes. I take First Response Reproductive Health multi vitamin gummies (pre-natal) and CoQ10 200mg gummies daily. NSTR = Nothing Significant To Report.