Day 6

Had my second monitoring appt. today (day 6). I have 12 follies on the left side and 8 on the right. The tech measured the largest one and it measured 9.6mm, which she assured me is right on schedule for Day 6 (with only 5 doses of meds).

I got the call back from my favorite nurse, T, this afternoon and they were a little concerned that my ovaries were responding too much to the meds. My E2 level was 204 on Saturday and today it is 763....big jump. I am a little worried, but T assured me that all was okay. They are going to have me reduce my follistim to 75 (down from 150) and keep my menopur at 75 and Lupron at 5.

Of course I am panicking. There is no reason to, but I am anyway. I need to just chill out! I did feel really crappy all day today, and I was really irritable at my students, but whatever. I am just feeling so bloated and so nauseous. I don't have any energy to make dinner, so I guess it is mac and cheese tonight.

I honestly can barely keep my eyes open. I am going get dinner, put G in the shower and get her to bed, then I am heading to bed myself!

Cry Baby

That's me! Cry Baby. I expected this...I cry over everything anyway. PMS? Watch out! This is extreme. Crying over EVERYTHING! Oh, well. It is all part of the package.

I went for my first monitoring appointment on Saturday. Saturday morning was action packed, as we had to go to Rockville (an hour away) for our 7:30 am appt. At 9:30 we were meeting J's sister's family to go tour the White House. Fun, Fun!

Anyway, at the appt, they said that I had 10-12 follicles on my left ovary and 3-4 on my right. I was surprised to hear that I had so few on the right, as that is the side that is exceptionally sore! In terms of symptoms, I have been feeling okay, other than a little bloated and sore. I feel like I can feel my ovaries, though. And they tingle. It is really weird.

I go in for my 2nd monitoring appt tomorrow (Day 6). Hopefully we will see lots of good follicles!

Day 1

That's right...Day one of stims! I had my lupron evaluation this morning which went well. I have a very small cyst on my left ovary, which I was told would probably not cause problems (and the blood work confirmed that there were no problems). I was a little worried about my e2 level, since my estrogen was high on my day 3 blood work a few months ago. Everything checked out, though and we are good to go!

I just finished giving myself 150 of Follistim and 75 of Menopur....Follistim was not too bad, but boy that Menopur! I had a horrible time filing the syringe without getting a huge air bubble! And that sucker stung going in!!! I did NOT expect that! Oh well, it is done. Nine more to go!

Strep?

Well, Grace has strep. She was sick last week, but she seemed to get better, so I sent her back to school. Sunday night she started really complaining of a sore throat and lo and behold, she has strep. I also have a sore throat, and am a little worried about having strep myself, although it might just be because I talk all day long to 7th graders. I had the rapid strep test...results are pending.

I wouldn't think it would be a huge deal if I had to be on a Z Pack for the next few days. I am supposed to be starting stims tomorrow and I will be on an antibiotic eventually anyway. Hopefully the test will be negative, though.

Lupron evaluation is tomorrow. My period came right when it was supposed to (although it is a bit weird), so hopefully my body is responding the right way to all of the meds. I am not nervous about starting the stim meds, but the trigger shot scares the crap out of me! I need to suck it up and keep my eyes on the prize!

Advocate

I really feel like I need to warn others with Crohn's, Colitis or IBS....be aware that your fertility can be adversely affected simply by having the disease. My hydrosalpinx was caused by a bowel perforation that dumped sewage in my pelvic cavity....this is not uncommon among women with bowel problems. I have had Crohn's for 11 years and I had never heard that my fertility could be damaged until it happened to me. Even women who have had an appendectomy are at risk. I really feel like I need to speak out to help women preserve their fertility....I don't know how I am going to do that yet, but I really feel that it is important.

In other news, Lupron shot #6 was this morning! I should start stims on Wednesday, but I need to fight with my pharmacy again first...they gave me the wrong needles for the follistim pen. When I asked them about it, the pharmacist yelled at me that they gave me everything that they got from the supplier. yikes! Either way, I need those needles!!!

Happy Monday!

Side Effects

So the side effects of Lupron have hit hard. Insomnia, night sweats, headache, nausea! Oh well, I have to keep my eyes on the prize! Lupron shot #4 tomorrow morning!

Hopefully my body will follow the doctor's plan: my visitor should come on Monday, 5/3 and I will go in to the doc's office for blood work on 5/5 and I should start the Follistim and Menapour that evening....if my body decides to cooperate. :)

As for now, I am just rolling with the headaches and nausea. I am so lucky to have a numb belly (My lucky side effect of my salpingectomy!) Though I don't feel the needles entering my skin, I have started to feel some soreness.

I have been spending a lot of time reading other women's blogs to get a feel for how the experience of "stimming" goes. Through this reading I have had a definite "a ha" moment...I know what causes my infertility and I have (and can afford) a very viable solution. I feel blessed that I have this knowledge. So many women simply don't know why they can't have a child...for whatever reason, they just can't. They have to try many avenues before reaching a treatment that actually results in a healthy baby. My husband and I have been trying for two years, but we found out the problem about a year ago and knew the solution immediately. Granted, we fought with the insurance company for a year, and yeah, this all really sucks, but now our time has arrived. I am sure that this is our time and we will have a beautiful and healthy baby in February 2011!

My first shot!

So much has happened these last few weeks! I have been on BCP for 19 days now and today was my first shot of Lupron! I was so nervous about injecting myself (since J has to work late tonight). The shot was absolutely no big deal...the needle is so small and my skin is still numb below my belly button (side effect of the surgery).

Hooray! One shot down and about 50 more to go!

P.S. Is it too early to have a headache from the Lupron? About 2 hours after the injection, a horrible headache crept up.....psychosomatic??