Two Weeks, 3 Days Pregnant

I interrupt your daily activities to share my optimistic thought.  I find all it so odd that they calculate pregnancy starting 2 weeks prior to conception, but since they do I believe I am 2w3d today, with a FET coming up on Thursday.  My IVF calendar says "Day 0" on last Saturday, which would have been retrieval day for a fresh transfer and conception day for a hetero girl.  Since I'm going with the whole, "Pregnant unless proven otherwise" attitude, that means today I am two weeks 3 days pregnant.  How is that for optimisitc?!!

Don't Twist an Ovary

I'd be jumping for joy if I wasn't still at risk for twisting an ovary.  (I am under strict instructions, "no jumping.")

AF arrived in full force this morning.  I called the clinic as instructed and expected them to schedule an appointment to discuss a calendar.  Instead, the receptionist said our nurse, G, was with a patient but wants to talk with me directly and will call back.  She called and explained that due to our travel dates and Dr B's travel dates if we go with the calendar she is proposing I need to start BCP's tomorrow.  Given the short turnaround G emailed me a calendar to review/approve, rather than scheduling an appointment.

The virtual jumping for joy is because this calendar leads us to a FET on Nov 11 and pregnancy blood test Nov 25!  Previous conversations and speculations had us thinking the transfer would not be until early December.  I'm just so tired of waiting and am thrilled ecstatic to learn it will happen a whole month sooner than I was expecting.  AND, being a girl who loves numbers, a transfer on 11-11-11 is fabulous!  AND, confirming we are pregnant (remember, I will be getting pregnant this cycle) Thanksgiving weekend is the ultimate gift to be thankful for!

Now, how am I supposed to focus and get any work done today?  I'm SO excited by this news I can't possibly concentrate on anything but how perfect this is.

Proceed with Caution

After my last post I was going with the helpful comment, "If they're not worried, you don't need to be worried."  You are a great community and I deeply appreciate the support.

This morning we were at the RE again; my follicles are an average of 13mm and there are lots of them.  I go back on Sunday and if they are fast growers we will trigger Sunday and retrieve Tuesday.  Dr B wants to see the average at 18mm and the average rate of growth is 2mm per day, so it is possible I won't get to 18 by Sunday and we'll go back Monday for one more check .

After the U/S and conversation about retrieval Dr B let us know she is concerned I am on track to hyper stimulate.  Crap.  She explained that I have lots of follicles and my estrogen level has been doubling each visit even though we've been decreasing the follistim (Wednesday was 1,500, so it will likely come back around 3,000 today and 6,000 by Sunday), which are classic with OHSS.  She doesn't want to call it too early, but we need to be prepared for the possibility.  She instructed me, "Not to be stoic," and we'll keep monitoring.  She will make the decision as early as possible, but even if things look good they will watch me closely and the transfer could be cancelled right up until the day it is scheduled.

As I said before, I am really tired of waiting to get pregnant and I just want to get the show on the road.  I don't want to wonder whether or not we'll be able to do a fresh transfer, especially right up until the last minute.  That means 10 or 11 more days.  Dr B said, "It's too early to call it, but it looks like that is the track you are on."  So it seems to me like I have to shift my thinking to a frozen transfer in early November. There went my June baby and here comes being hugely pregnant in the summer (because remember, I will be getting pregnant my first IVF try!).

What A Headache

AF showed up yesterday, pretty light but that was the case last month on BCP's, too.  She brought with her the most miserable migraine I've had in a long, long time.  I usually get headaches with AF and I probably didn't drink enough water yesterday, and it all added up to a doozy of a migraine.  I took meds last night at dinner, woke up twice during the night with it, and by this morning it had made me nauseous.  I called in sick to work and took a second dose of meds this morning before it finally broke.  Fortunately I already have an acupuncture appointment for the end of the day, kind of like a one-two punch to make sure it's completely gone.

I started my lupron injections and dexamethasone last Thursday and we're just checking all the little boxes on our calendar each day.  I have had a little difficulty waking up in the middle of the night, so I adjusted the timing to earlier evening and that seems to have helped.  I don't know if the meds increased the severity of the migraine, but all in all I'd say things are going well.

Saturday I got to spend the day with my BFF and her almost-two-year-old.  We had a great time exploring the farmer's market, playing at the park, and catching up while the little one napped for a few hours.  I only get to see her a few times a year so it is always a treat to spend time together and we continue to scheme about living closer to each other again like when we were kids.  Maybe someday...

Let's Get this Party Started

I took my last BCP this morning, so AF should be here soon and I am ready for CD1 of IVF.  I did all of my homework and testing, I'm enjoying a little break, and I'm ready to start using all of those check boxes on my calendar.

Oh yeah, and I'm going to get pregnant this time!  I loved this post and I've decided to ride in the optimism car on my hope coaster.  Also, last week my acupuncturist (T) was asking me about my support system. I told her about the TTC blogging community and mentioned liking Isa's approach.  T specializes in fertility so she sees this cycle a lot and pointed out that we get disappointed even if we try to protect ourselves from it, so why not assume you're pregnant unless proven otherwise.  I like it.  I'm going with it.  Let's get started!

10 Day Coast

After all of my stress and complaining around the intensity of IVF, I have 10 days free of appointments, tests, and homework.  Sweet!

Yesterday was our consultation appointment with Dr B to talk about the risks related to IVF.  We already read the packet (part of our homework) and were not surprised by any new info.  She hit hard on the possibility of multiples and to be honest, I kind of hope for twins.  I prefer not to raise an only child and we aren't getting any younger, so I would welcome 2 at once.  For me, the scariest part of twins is the potential for premature births.

The next thing on our calendar is IVF class #1 on August 12.  If it is anything like the introductory workshop we had to attend before our first appointment with Dr B, it will be repeat info on the process of IVF, in a group setting.

In the meantime, we are enjoying some perfect summer weather in Oregon and spending time with our 17-year-old niece who is staying with us for 2 weeks.

Overwhelmed

I know that some people are excited to get their calendars, because it makes it all seem real.  I, on the other hand, feel like my head might explode.  How am I going to keep up with all of this?  It's another dose of reality, this is a big deal.

Backing up...I went to the bathroom about an hour before my appointment for my trial transfer and doppler ultrasound.  Fortunatly I remembered rather quickly that I was supposed to have a full bladder and basically chugged a 20oz bottle of water.  Dr B called me an overachiever on the full bladder request, phew!  As far as I understand everything looks good on those two tests.  Then they took 5 vials of blood for all of my "pre-cycle blood tests".  Next, we met with a nurse to go over our calendar.  Ah, yes, the official yet flexible calendar.

The calendar is based on a projection of my next CD1 being August 8.  Currently I'm on birth control to help regulate the length of my cycle, but if AF doesn't arrive by the 8th the whole calendar gets revised.  Just looking at all of those dates and meds and tests stresses me out.  This is a big investment of time, emotion, and money.  For a split second I wondered if I could handle it.  Then I reminded myself I always stress out looking at the big picture, and I get to my goals one day at a time.  I like the quote, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step."

I came home tonight and put the important dates into my google calendar.  Dates of appointments, date to start each med, date to stop each med.  The calendar they gave me at the clinic with 6 check boxes for each day can be put aside for almost a month.  I don't need to fret about all of those details now.  As we wrap up appointments at the clinic I try to be good about asking, "So our next steps are x, y, and z, right?"  I need to focus on taking one step at a time.