a little set back

All the IVF books I read said to expect the unexpected. I read it. But didn't really take it to heart. Most of our cycles have always went fairly smoothly, but yesterday we got some bad news. I went in for my sonogram and blood work to check for cysts and make sure my estrogen levels were low enough. Well, there is a huge cyst on my right ovary : ( I was supposed to start my stims (injections) on Saturday. My nurse said she would call me with my blood work the following day. So, today she called and my estrogen level was 598. They wanted it to be under 50! I'm not sure if I really understand all of it, but maybe the cyst is causing my hormones to rise. She said that I need to take my birth control pills for another week, come in on Wednesday, check the cyst and do blood work again. If my estrogen is low enough, they will drain it and I can start injections next Saturday. if not I'll need to continue birth control for longer. : ( I'm pretty bummed that everything is getting delayed. I really wanted all of this done before Thanksgiving. I'm just praying that next week, everything works out somehow so we can get this show on the road.

Here's to more waiting!

My trial transfer

On Thursday, we went in for our trial transfer. I paid my $6000 (ouch) At this appointment, they practice inserting the catheter into the uterus for the embryo transfer. I think it's just to make sure the cervix is easy to bypass and lets the doctors have a practice run. Mine went really smoothly. It took probably 2 minutes and my doctor said the transfer would be no problem.

After that, we met with our nurse for our teaching session. Can I just say that I loved her. Like really, really loved her. This is super important and I'm so glad she's mine! She was bubbly, positive, and really reassuring. She gave me her personal email address and phone number... how nice is that?  I love her already. She went over everything with us including our calendar and medicine protocol.

It looks like I'll be starting my injections on the 25th of this month. I'll be taking follistim for 5 days. This causes lots of eggs to grow. Then I'll start doing 2 injections each night, follistim and ganirelix. Ganirelix prevents the eggs from ovulating too soon. I'll continue both of these injections for about another 5-7 days. Then, once the eggs are mature, I'll take my trigger shot and my retrieval will be scheduled for 36 hours later.

My nurse answered all the questions I had. Like, I won't have to take those awful PIO injections that leave knots and nerve damage. you guys have no idea how happy this made me! What a relief! I also won't be starting any injections for another two weeks. This works out perfectly because we planned on going on a trip next weekend. I was so worried about having to cancel or fly with meds. So the trip is on! We're going to Kansas City for the Ryan Adams concert. By far our favorite artist ever. We've been dreaming of going for years. Also, the nurse said I could do afternoon/evening appointments!! So that means no missing school or busting my butt to get to my appointments and back in my 45 minute planning period. After the meeting, I felt like everything I was worried about was completely worked out. No painful injections, concert is on, and juggling school is no problem. What a blessing!

Right now I'm just waiting on the pharmacy to call me back for a quote on the meds. I'm also checking to see if anything is covered on my insurance. On Blue Cross Blue Shield, my Gonal-F was almost completely covered which saved us about $900 each month. Of course, my district switched insurance carries so I think we will end up paying out of pocket. But we will see.

I can't believe in about two weeks I'll start injections! I've never been so excited about shots in my life : )

Step 1 is done!

The first step in our IVF process has begun! My cycle started on Thursday. Then on Saturday, we had a sono... it was super fast. He took pictures of what things should look like normally. This visit, we met with Dr. Escobar and he was very nice. That night, I was supposed to start birth control. We dropped off the prescription at walgreens. Later, I asked my husband to check on when the pharmacy closed. He said 10:00. We went to dinner and then stopped by to pick them up, and they were closed! I tried not to panic... went home and started calling all the walgreens nearby. Thank goodness we live in Dallas! I found one that was open late, so we transferred the prescription and picked it up.  Whew! I was like... I know I'm not messing this up already haha.  It's been almost 3 years since I've taken birth control... feels so weird to start them again.

I also ordered some fertility yoga dvd's and an organizer for all the ivf meds. I'll post pictures of that later once we get our shipment.

Right now, I'm trying to change my way of thinking. I've had the mind set of this is never going to work for us, something is wrong with me, I'm not meant to be a mom thoughts for too long now. I'm trying to change those to this could actually work for us, I could be pregnant really soon, we will have actual embryos that are from us! so amazing.

Did I tell yall I started acupuncture? well I did! and I'm going twice a week. It makes me feel so calm and relaxed. I'm also eating avocados like their chocolate. I'm hoping that the yoga, acupuncture, and diet help me feel better about the whole process.

I go back on Thursday for a trial transfer and injection teaching class. Ill post about that next time : )

Here's a picture of my baby now... 

Ready or not...

Hey guys! Just a little update. CD 1 is today, so that means we're on our way! (not sure if I want an ! or a . after that sentence haha) my first appointment is saturday morning.... first sonogram and birth control should start soon. I'll let yall know how it goes : )

Here we come, IVF!

Yep, we're moving on. On to bigger and better things. I'm excited and absolutely terrified. My stomach starts hurting just thinking about it.

After over 2 years, 1 miscarriage, 9 medicated cycles, 3 IUI's, 1 canceled IUI, and 4 months of injections, we're on our way! I can't believe all the heartache and stress that has come with this journey. I'm praying it has a happy ending very soon.

We are switching doctors for the IVF. My doctor was about $4,000 more expensive than the one we're going to now. The new RE's success rates are just as high. At our IVF consult on Wednesday, the doctor gave us a 60+% chance of success with the first transfer. That's pretty exciting!

He went over all of our testing and history and agreed that there was nothing wrong.... so we're still unexplained. I will start the cycle in about 3 weeks, which is the beginning of October where I'll take birth control pills and lupron injections for about 3 weeks. Then, I'll move on to about 2 weeks of follicle stimulating hormone injections (FSH) like gonal-f. Retrieval should be the first week of November and transfer about 5 days after that.

I think we've decided to transfer two embryos, if we have two to choose from. I'm praying for plenty of embryos that fertilize beautifully. I get so excited of the thought of having embryos to freeze that will be waiting for us!! This is so scary, and new, and exciting. I'll keep you guys updated : )

IUI #3 cancelled

It was devastating. At my appointment, they said my IUI would be tomorrow. I texted my husband got it all scheduled and then the nurse says she wanted to check on one more thing. Before I knew it, the whole cycle was canceled. I had fluid in my uterus (a symptom of gonal f) and we were unable to proceed with the IUI. So, we paid 1500 dollars and left the office with no chance of anything working. I was really upset. I had spent that entire week doing injections that brought me to tears for no reason at all. not to mention the wasted money. So, we are going to give it one last shot. Hopefully, my IUI will be in three weeks if things go well. Then, it's on to IVF. our last shot. freaking out.

iui #3

My test was negative. I'm so sorry i didnt update! I completely forgot. We decided to do another iui. probably our last one. My husband said we could move on to ivf this fall if it doesnt work. i am freaking out guys. we are getting so so close to doing something that might actually work! I'm terrified of it failing, of finding out whats wrong, of not getting very many embryos to freeze, of having too many to freeze and not knowing what to do with them, of miscarrying again... i could go on and on. i cant even think about it because it gives me such anxiety. i just feel like this will be our last chance. we wont be able to afford this again probably for a long time. if it fails, i dont know what I'll do with myself. for now, im trying to think positively that we may not even have to do it. please pray this iui will work! i started my injections on our 5th anniversary. i told my husband, we would have never believed this would be our future. but it is. and I'm so ready to feel like my old self again. happy.