I feel like I should be a good hostess to my little follicles. It's not their fault thier cramping up my ovaries. But, I don't know how to be hospitable to a follicle. I decided if I were a follicle, I would want some warm hot chocolate all around me. And only the best for my little follicles, so off to McDonalds I went. It is $3 of pure heaven. Also, it put me in a good mood for shot time. The ganirelix hurts. I have to put a cold pack on afterwards. Jennifer tried to trick me tonight and stuck me before I was ready. She thought the pain was all in my head and if I wasn't thinking about it, it wouldn't hurt. She was wrong, but it was nice of her to try. I'm off to the doctors again tomorrow. I'm excited to see some proof that the meds are working.
“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”
- Jimmy Carter
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Hello Follicles
The follicles have arrived! My ultrasound revealed approximately 13 little follicles growing in my ovaries. There are two overacheivers in there that are 14mm. The lab will call this afternoon to let me know how my results will change my meds. The nurse predicted that i will decrease the hormone that makes the follicles grow and add 2 more shots. One will keep me from ovulating until its time and I'm not sure what the other one does. Ive decided not to read the warning labels. For some reason, if I read about it, I think it's happening to me. No need to create symtoms that aren't there.
The picture attached is of my right ovary. The black things that look like rocks are my follicles. If you look real hard, in the top righthand follicle, you can see a little baby shape. Its kind of like looking in the clouds and thinking you see a giraffe, but im still excited. My next utrasound is Friday. They expect to see lots of changes by then.
"There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can." -Henry Ford
The picture attached is of my right ovary. The black things that look like rocks are my follicles. If you look real hard, in the top righthand follicle, you can see a little baby shape. Its kind of like looking in the clouds and thinking you see a giraffe, but im still excited. My next utrasound is Friday. They expect to see lots of changes by then.
"There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can." -Henry Ford
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Day 4
Today is day 4 of the meds. Until today I didn't feel much of an effect. I was starting to worry that my body was too use to the hormones and they werent working. But today my belly is a little tender and I can feel some cramping. Im excited for my appointment tomorrow. I hope we can see some progress.
Friday, September 23, 2011
First Appointment
Today's appointment went really well. I have the all clear to start meds tomorrow. There were no cysts in my ovaries and my hormone levels were fine. As always, the nurse had a hard time getting my blood. I don't know why my veins have to be so difficult. I left with three Band-Aids. I've decided that it hurts worse to take off the Band-Aids than to get the blood drawn.
I had my list of questions memorized today so I could slide them in casually while she was doing my monitoring. By asking my unofficial questions, I found out that there is a big packet of information that I never got. Since I skipped some initial steps that weren't needed because I had already had 2 IUI cycles, they didn't realize I hadn't had an appointment were I would have received it. I'm anxious to read it tonight.
The nurse reminded me to take one step at a time. Until my next appointment on Wednesday, all I have to do is take one shot a day. The shot is a hormone called Gonal-F. It makes my follicles grow larger in size and number. Each follicle houses an egg until it gets released during ovulation. During a normal cycle, only one follicles will produce a mature egg. So, in order to get lots of eggs out of one cycle, they have to give the follicles a little boost. They should be around a 12mm by next Wednesday. They are mature when they reach 16-18mm.
I don't know how many days it will take, but the nurse said I will start feeling really bloated and uncomfortable because of all the extra action in there. Its the same medicine I took before with the IUI's, just a lot more of it. At least when I feel yucky, I will know that it means the meds are working.
I had my list of questions memorized today so I could slide them in casually while she was doing my monitoring. By asking my unofficial questions, I found out that there is a big packet of information that I never got. Since I skipped some initial steps that weren't needed because I had already had 2 IUI cycles, they didn't realize I hadn't had an appointment were I would have received it. I'm anxious to read it tonight.
The nurse reminded me to take one step at a time. Until my next appointment on Wednesday, all I have to do is take one shot a day. The shot is a hormone called Gonal-F. It makes my follicles grow larger in size and number. Each follicle houses an egg until it gets released during ovulation. During a normal cycle, only one follicles will produce a mature egg. So, in order to get lots of eggs out of one cycle, they have to give the follicles a little boost. They should be around a 12mm by next Wednesday. They are mature when they reach 16-18mm.
I don't know how many days it will take, but the nurse said I will start feeling really bloated and uncomfortable because of all the extra action in there. Its the same medicine I took before with the IUI's, just a lot more of it. At least when I feel yucky, I will know that it means the meds are working.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Hunkering Down
I only have a few more days to get ready. I’m trying to finish up projects and do some extra cleaning before I start feeling yucky again. I’ve also been compiling lists of books to read and shows to watch for the days I will be stuck in bed.
I reviewed the official Timeline the doctor’s office sent and there is only one medicine that I don’t know what to do with. I plan to take it with me to my appointment on Friday. I printed full page calendars for September and October so I can keep track of when to do what. My first three appointments are already scheduled and calendared. I’m feeling very prepared.
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
- Leon Joseph Suenens
I reviewed the official Timeline the doctor’s office sent and there is only one medicine that I don’t know what to do with. I plan to take it with me to my appointment on Friday. I printed full page calendars for September and October so I can keep track of when to do what. My first three appointments are already scheduled and calendared. I’m feeling very prepared.
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
- Leon Joseph Suenens
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Medicine, Medicine and More Medicine
I decided to write a blog because I want to remember what I am thinking and feeling during this experience. I’m sure some days will be really hard but hopefully there will be some really exciting ones too.
Just incase someone wants to follow me through this experience, I will give you some background info. So far we have done 2 IUI cycles with no success. There is only a 10-20% chance that an IUI cycle will work. I do believe that method would work eventually, but IVF has a 60% chance of working and the investment, being both time and money, would be put to better use.
The pharmacy called with the gigantic list of medicines they were shipping me. They didn’t know how much it would cost but said that I could set a limit on how much could be charged to my credit card. If it went over that limit, they would call me and I could either cancel the order or authorize the higher amount. Thinking that cancelling the order sounded pretty good at this point (considering how much meds they were trying to force on me) I set the limit at $50. I knew that there was no chance the medicine would cost any less than that. My guess was that the total would be around $500.
A couple days later the pharmacy called to tell me that the medicines cost more than I authorized. By this point I was done having my panic attack (for the moment) and had decided not to cancel the order. When the representative told me the total was going to be $350, I was relieved (I had planned on $500). She said “Oh, I thought you were going to be upset because I see you set your limit at $50”. I explained to her that it was my “temporary out” and that I would be fine with raising my limit.
A few days after that, the medicine came in the mail. The box is huge. There are so many syringes, I have no idea how I’m going to possibly use them all. The nurse won’t release or timeline, which tells me when and how to take everything, until our blood work comes back and proves that we don’t have any infectious diseases. And thanks to my very loud nurse, everyone who was in the waiting room at the South Bend Medical Foundation during my testing now thinks I have HIV. Thank you nurse lady.
I don’t start my meds until next Saturday. I’m excited that I get one more week just to me be.
Just incase someone wants to follow me through this experience, I will give you some background info. So far we have done 2 IUI cycles with no success. There is only a 10-20% chance that an IUI cycle will work. I do believe that method would work eventually, but IVF has a 60% chance of working and the investment, being both time and money, would be put to better use.
The pharmacy called with the gigantic list of medicines they were shipping me. They didn’t know how much it would cost but said that I could set a limit on how much could be charged to my credit card. If it went over that limit, they would call me and I could either cancel the order or authorize the higher amount. Thinking that cancelling the order sounded pretty good at this point (considering how much meds they were trying to force on me) I set the limit at $50. I knew that there was no chance the medicine would cost any less than that. My guess was that the total would be around $500.
A couple days later the pharmacy called to tell me that the medicines cost more than I authorized. By this point I was done having my panic attack (for the moment) and had decided not to cancel the order. When the representative told me the total was going to be $350, I was relieved (I had planned on $500). She said “Oh, I thought you were going to be upset because I see you set your limit at $50”. I explained to her that it was my “temporary out” and that I would be fine with raising my limit.
A few days after that, the medicine came in the mail. The box is huge. There are so many syringes, I have no idea how I’m going to possibly use them all. The nurse won’t release or timeline, which tells me when and how to take everything, until our blood work comes back and proves that we don’t have any infectious diseases. And thanks to my very loud nurse, everyone who was in the waiting room at the South Bend Medical Foundation during my testing now thinks I have HIV. Thank you nurse lady.
I don’t start my meds until next Saturday. I’m excited that I get one more week just to me be.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)