From Arizona to Hawaii and Everything in between!

The move went smoothly, comparatively to how it could have gone. Our stuff made it with minimal damage. We went to Disney World during our PCS leave and it was AWESOME! Until the night before we were supposed to leave, well for me anyway. I started having some strange pains in my abdomen and by two in the morning, was in so much pain I could barely sleep. I went to the ER and found out that my appendix was blocked and needed removed. I had an emergency appendectomy at about 4pm the day we were supposed to fly out. We got our flights changed and managed to fly out the following day. The travels from Orlando to San Diego are blurry. I was 1 day post-op, drugged up on pain meds, being shuttled around in a wheel chair. I remember sleeping a lot and that's about it. We made it to Hawaii and have been enjoying it a lot!

We moved into our house a week ago and it's gorgeous! I love it and I can't wait until it's completely decorated the way I want. We're slowly getting it into shape. I've posted lots of pictures on facebook and plan on posting more as it gets unpacked and situated.

On May 14th, I began cycle 12 since starting this journey to become pregnant. I'm 9 days in and we decided that since we have our house, we should start trying again. It's been a long break with some stress in there but it's nice to be trying again. We tried a little since my last update but with no luck and mostly not actively trying and not actively preventing. Hopefully if we don't get pregnant in the next couple of months, we can discuss our options with our doctors to see what our next plan of action is here in Hawaii. I saw my doctor two weeks ago and she said that the IVF wait list is about a year and half long. That's a long time to wait but I am starting to think maybe we should get on the list now and see if we can get pregnant on our own in the mean time. Maybe it's time to speak with my doctor again.

So, here we are... Trying to conceive again. Hopefully I don't get spun up in the stress again. I haven't been temping or using my OvaCue, which has helped keep the stress down but we're just beginning so we'll see how well that works out.


Until next time,

Cycle #5, Month 7

My blood test (or Betas) came back negative at 1.2. My cycle started 3 days later than normal which of course was torture. The whole last cycle on medication was torture. I thought about doing a second medicated cycle but I just couldn't bring myself to voluntarily put myself and family through that again. 

With the move coming up quickly and needing to get so much done and ready for the children and animals before we go, I just can't let trying to conceive dominate my thoughts and cripple my motivation. So there might not be many updates between now and when we get to Hawaii. We won't be trying as actively as we have been in the past but we also won't be preventing. This has been a very rough road for me and I think having something else to focus on will do good things for us. I was in such a better place when Jay was away for school so I think the move might be a similar type of break for me. 

It is hard to deal with a failed cycle, let alone a failed medicated-paid-for-IUI cycle. Hopefully the stress diverted towards the move will be just what my body needs to let things happen. I've heard on many occasions to just stop stressing it and it'll happen but that's so incredibly hard when I know so much about all the complications that can happen to block our efforts especially with having the reversal thrown in there.

If there is one piece of advice and wisdom I've gained out of all of this, it's don't ever have surgery to prevent pregnancy. No vasectomy, no tubes tied because you never know what the future holds. Use temporary prevention if you have to but just don't make any permenant surgical decisions that you might (and probably will) regret later. 

Until next time, 

Traci

Testing time!!

So I have been testing out the trigger (the ovidrel shot) and finally it disappeared around 8-9 days past the trigger. Here's a pic of my trigger progression. 

Of course yesterday was my last Wondfo (cheap internet home pregnancy test brand) so my progression stopped there. 

Since the IUI was on Dec 31st, my blood test is on the 14th! Tomorrow!! So I'll find out for certain if I'm pregnant or not tomorrow. 

On the 7th, I went in to have my progesterone checked. It came back low at 7.37 so I started progesterone supplements last week. It's supposed to help but so far it's caused a lot of pregnancy symptoms! 

Hopefully tomorrow brings good news! 

Until then,

Traci

Renewed Hope

Whew! This holiday season has been the BUSIEST EVER! So Christmas Eve, I thought I was ovulating but then I got sick over Christmas which is known to delay ovulation. I started feeling better over the weekend and on Sunday, I got another "Peak" reading on my Clear Blue Digital Ovulation predictor test kit. So Monday morning I called the RE and we went in for an ultrasound that afternoon. The nurse practitioner said that I had not ovulated and gave me a prescription for Ovidrel 250 µg to do that afternoon. We went immediately to Safeway and got the medication. The pharmacist informed me that if I was not going to be taking the shot immediately that it needed to be refrigerated. AHHH! We were an hour and half away from home!! How were we going to refrigerate it?! Well, I had Jay give me the injection in the parking lot of Safeway and off we went with our day. The kids got to spend some time (and lots of money, Thank you Grandpa Orzeck!!) at Toys R Us! Then I started feeling sick so we went home.

The next morning, we got up early and made the drive back out to Tucson to do the IUI. It was uncomfortable but not horrible. The sample Jay gave was not the greatest but we went on with the IUI and hopefully we'll know in a few weeks if it worked or not. The IUI was with a post-wash sample of 3.5 million with 99% motility. It's not what I was expecting so I was rather disappointed yesterday but today I feel as though my hope is renewed and that we have as good a chance this month as we have any other time we successfully got pregnant. Now the wait begins but after the last few weeks I've had, I'm thankful to be in the "sit and wait" time frame. It's relaxing and less stressful. The only thing I feel like I'm missing is a beach with a warm summer day! LOL

FYI, if this cycle is successful, I'll be due September 23rd (ish)

WOOO!

Until next time,

Sick and cancelled IUI

Merry Christmas! I know I'm a few days late but better late than never, I say! I hope everyone had a great Christmas or holiday or whatever you celebrate. If you celebrate nothing, then I hope you had a happy day! lol

I started feeling bad on Christmas eve but I went to my appointment anyway. Jay and I started taking some airborne in hopes that we'd be able to fight off whatever it was we were starting to feel. Jay managed to fight it off. I was not as lucky. Christmas I was feeling worse but still managed to get through the day fairly smoothly. Yesterday was probably the worst day of all. My temp was high and my head was pounding. So I asked Jay to call the RE and cancel our appointment because not only am I sick but now my oldest son is feeling really bad too.  Jay and I have decided to move forward with a medicated "natural" cycle. Meaning, we're just gonna go at it like normal people and hope for the best! LOL Of course being sick isn't very sexy and I haven't felt "up for the task" but hopefully we can get back to our trying. With the higher temps due to clomid, possibly false positives on my clear blue digital advanced ovulation predictor kit, and the sickness throwing the rest of my temps off, it's really hard to know if I have or have not already O'd. I'm still testing with cheap ovulation test strips and those have not shown a positive so I'll keep going with that until I either get a peak or AF shows. I'm 14 days in to my cycle and if my ovulation date is like my past ovulations I should be ovulating between CD15 and 19. Only time will tell! Wish us luck! We're gonna need it!

Until next time!

Clomid Side Effects

I am five days into my cycle and only three days into my five day prescription of clomid. I am already feeling side effects. Yesterday it started with just the crazed hormones. I'm not as patient as I usually am with the boys which results in a lot of yelling and frustrated corrections to them. Poor kiddos. Then last night I had a nose bleed which was weird. Then it happened again this morning. I think it has a lot to do with the hot flashes. So far I have hot flashes and craze hormonal mood swings. Let's hope they subside when I stop taking the medication! The kids are praying, I'm sure!

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is all for a greater cause. I just pray that these side effects are because my ovaries are producing a couple eggs so that we have a higher chance of success! Any suggestions or comments are welcome! I'd love to hear about other people's success stories or their process through clomid, IUI or both!

Until next time!

Cycle Day 1 of our IUI Cycle

   Today is CD 1! (Cycle Day 1) So immediately I called the clinic to ask them what I should do. I had an appointment scheduled for the 19th of December because I thought I would start closer to then instead of now but my body decided differently! Thank goodness I have all of my medications ready! 

   On Monday (CD 3), I will start my clomid and continue taking it for five days. This is supposed to help my body create and mature my eggs better. There is a possibility of multiples as it can cause a few eggs to be released at the same time. Generally the risk of twins while on Clomid is about 10%, though it can be higher depending on the person, (Info came from here). At this point, I just hope I get pregnant sooner than later. The risk of having triplets or more is less than 1% so I'm not even worried about that. These numbers would be so much higher if we went on with IVF! So thank goodness for our opportunity to do IUI instead of IVF! 

  While speaking to the clinic, I was informed that I will be needing the HCG injections which I assume will be to trigger ovulation so we can schedule the IUI precisely with ovulation. They wanted to see me on CD 12 but that is Christmas Day so I will be going in on Christmas Eve to have an ultrasound to check if my eggs are ready to be triggered. I will probably then be advised on when to administer the trigger shot and an appointment will be scheduled for 36 hrs after I am given the trigger shot to do the IUI (intrauterine insemination aka artificial insemination). I also have progesterone injections from the prescription I was given when we were going to do IVF so I will discuss the use of those after the IUI when I see the doctor on the 24th. Progesterone helps with the thickening of the lining and the implantation of the egg. Hopefully, I will be given the go ahead on those.

   I'm excited and nervous! It's all starting. Hopefully this isn't a waste but I think that if we don't get pregnant this cycle, we will do a medicated non-IUI cycle next month. Hopefully the doctor is ok with that. 

Until next time,

Breath of fresh air!

   I get a phone call about one my prescriptions. Turns out the clinic forgot to fax over the script and during the phone call the gentleman told me that it was going to be $1432 for the medication. YIKES! So I call the clinic upset because I was told it was $35 for the medication when it was really $35 PER vial! That's a big difference. 

At least I was thoughtful enough to ask what the results of the sample Jay left to be frozen yesterday were.

His sperm count is 37 million with 43.2% motility. Which is AMAZING. We had thought he had scarred over!! Now he's got numbers better than anything we've seen!! 

WHICH MEANS WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO IVF!! Yay! The doctor called in a prescription of clomid and we'll do an IUI during my next cycle. If this doesn't work then I don't mind moving forward to IVF eventually but I'd rather not spend that kind of money if we don't need to.

The beginning of our IVF journey

  Yesterday we had our first appointment to start our IVF cycle. I received four medications. That turned into a debacle trying to get those scripts filled. Which then made me realize that once I start these meds, I'm going to be 100 times worse. I'm going to be given hormones to stimulate my cycle. I feel pity on my husband, my children and any poor soul I encounter in the next 30-45 days. Please pray for them, and me. lol 

   All this stuff starts next week, I have an appointment scheduled for the first day of my cycle. Then, hopefully they will explain to me how all of these medications work, how to take them and when to take them.  I'm feeling very confused and out of the loop on how this all works. The staff doesn't give a whole lot of details on what's happening and how it all works. Hopefully, they will at least explain the drugs and how to take them, when to take them and the appointments we have to make at our next appointment when my cycle starts. Until then, I'm reading what I can online.
   I found this general chart of the flow of IVF. This is helpful because now I have a general timeline. Thank goodness for the internet right?! 

Synarel/Lupron
(Approx. 12-15 days)

Baseline Ultrasound

Stimulation
(Approx. 10-12 days)

Trigger Shot

Egg Retrieval
(36-37 hours after trigger shot)

Embryo Transfer
(3-5 days after retrieval)

Pregnancy Test
(14 days after retrieval)

Ultrasounds
1st - Approx. 6 ½-7 weeks pregnant
2nd - Approx. 7 ½ - 8 ½ weeks pregnant
Release to OB at 8-10 weeks pregnant

The chart and any other information can be found here.

So as long as my cycle starts on time (C'mon Dec 19th!!), my time line is looking like we'd be able to find out if we're pregnant on Feb 1st or so. 

The more I read into this process, the more real it becomes. Let's pray one cycle is all we need! I'm feeling nervous, anxious and scared. At the same time, I'm excited, happy and can't wait to find out if this works. Is it too soon for baby names?? LOL 

Until next time,

The Break is Over!

I took a much needed break from TTC and the whole process. Mostly to gather myself, mourn the idea I had that didn't pan out and reformulate a plan, if we decided to move forward.

In October, my husband went off to a 5.5 week school. The kids and I drove out to the east coast for his graduation and we just arrived home yesterday. During our 3 day drive home, Jay and I discussed our options at length. We have decided that if we are going to do this, we should just go ahead with IVF w/ ICSI. I'm not sure when we will start this but I'm hoping we can start it next cycle. I will be calling our fertility specialist soon to discuss the options and how quickly we can get started.

Of course, our minds can change at any moment. This is a very big decision and we will be talking about it constantly. We always discuss the pros and cons and things come up with out notice. But as of right now, this is our plan. Hopefully it works out for us.