Follicles!

I am feeling a lot better now than I was a few days ago. I still feel a little crazy, but realize it is a small price to pay. My main symptom now is the BLOAT! Wow, I feel like there is a ball in my belly! After today's appointment I know why I feel SOOO bloated.

I went back into the u/s room and the cute hip nurse put Wanda in place. "Wow, look at all those follicles." On my left ovary I had over 15 follicles that were between 10-13 mm. My right ovary was no father behind. She counted over 10 that were right in range. "And you have a whole bunch that are under 10." Well no wonder I feel like I am going to pop! My uterine lining also looks perfect. I did my bw only an hour before my appt, so they didn't have the results in for that just yet. So now I continue on Gonal 150 iu for today and tomorrow and I am back on Monday. DH also gave his sample for our frozen backup. I asked if they would call to tell me how many men they found, they said they would only call if they couldn't find any sperm to freeze. So now news is good news today. The nurse said that the "big labs" don't always number them when there are so few. But the embryologist can take a much better look, so no worries, they will find what they need. I am trying hard not to think about it. Worrying won't improve his sperm.

So I need to keep drinking a half gallon of water and keep with the low salt high protein diet for a few more days. Hoping all these follies are in perfect range on Monday.

This is not fun

I am on day 4 of Gonal at 225 iu and it sucks! Please tell me there are other women out there who have had issues with stims. I can't even really describe how I feel. I feel anxious a lot of the time and just kind of all over the place. I think my body is revolting. I only have one more day at 225 iu and then Thursday and Friday will be at 150 iu. I am over this. It is funny because I had no real issues with bcp or Lupron. A headache here or there, but nothing to complain about. Please tell me I am not slowly going crazy. DH thinks I am just sick with something else and doesn't think it is from the meds. I do think my allergies may be flaring up, which can make me feel loopy. I just need to make it until Saturday and hope my follies are looking amazing. Also, I am feeling some fullness in my lower abdomen already. Is it too early for that? I am not like having to wear different pants or anything like that, I just feel a bit bloated.

This IF stuff is not for the weak.

First real appt

Let's start with the good:

Ovaries and uterus look amazing! My E2 was 38, also great. I will start on 225 Gonal tomorrow. Next appointment is Saturday, also wonderful, DH will be able to come.

The bad:

DH's recent SA was still not good. Very few sperm and not much motility. So we will be doing a frozen sample on the 27th to have as back-up.

The appointment was a total breeze. The nurse who did the u/s was wearing super cute boots and was so nice. She looked like she was about my age or younger. I was kind of surprised that she wasn't wearing scrubs. (like everyone else) They did take a bit to get DH's SA. Apparently they sent his results to some MD in the town we did the sample in (about 90 miles N) and not to our RE. I had never heard of the MD. And they put a "c" on the end of his last name instead of an "e". So no wonder they couldn't find the results. Overall I still fell really zen about everything. I am trying not to stress about the lack of sperm and realize all we need is "a few good men". It will all be ok.

Prepped and ready to stim!!

The Big Box

The rest of my meds finally came today!! It was a BIG box.

I ripped it open to find this...

Well I should say most of this. Some of it did come lat week. It wasn't as much as I thought it would be, still enough to make me go a little crazy but not bad.

Also I did my first Lupron shot last night. (Actually DH gave it to me.) It wasn't bad at all. I could barely feel the needle. The medication did sting a bit. But all in all a very good experience. I sat there afterwards and thought, "ok, I can do this." Not that I was going to chicken out now. I am so excited to get this ball rolling. It has been 5.5 years in the making.

Oh and my grand total for meds, $291.73!! That is with paying full-price for the Lupron. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to have something covered. Now I will have to write two very big checks in the coming weeks, one to the RE and one to the hospital, but somehow I am not as worried. It is all going to be just fine. I can feel it!

Updates...

I survived the flu! YES!! So far looks like DH will not be catching it. Double yes!

Well bcp have been no big deal. Today will make day 7 on them. On Wednesday I start Lupron. Not super excited about that, but hey it's what we IF ladies do. I received 1/2 my med order from Free.dom Pharmacy and the other 1/2 will come form CV.S. Good news is our meds will be covered by our insurance, CV.S! I really wasn't expecting that, which is why my order was broken into 2 parts. Our insurance would not cover injectable(s) unless they were provided by them. The only issue I had was I didn't know how long it would take for them to get my Rx approved. So I had FF ship the Lupron and non-injectables so we could have that in time for our start up on Wednesday. I didn't want to be even more stressed.

The insurance company called me today to go over the meds. (Yeah like I know what I am supposed to be getting!) I told her just to send it and then I would talk to the nurse at the clinic. The nurse called me before I could get to her. She said as long as I have Lupron and Gonal we will be fine for now. I will make a list of all the other great stuff I have and we can review it at my next appt on the 19th. Sounds good to me. I already feel like I have a ton of stuff and we aren't even half way done.

I had a friend ask me today if I was excited. Truth be told I am! It has been 5 1/2 long years in the making. I am nervous at the same time. Mostly about how my body will do all pumped up on hormones. I don't want to get crazy!!! I guess I need to keep in mind it won't last long and the end result will be worth it.

Home sick

I am home sick with the flu. I feel like death. I have been woken up the past two nights to quickly run to the bathroom and vomit. Sounds lovely I know. I have updates on meds and all kinds of fun stuff, but for now I would really like to just stay in bed. Maybe tomorrow I will feel good enough for a real update. Until then...