A piece of cake!

I think I was thinking about the shot too much. I was sweating and Eddie told me I was breathing REALLY hard while he was injecting the medicine. It was *almost* painless. It only hurt when Eddie pulled the needle out because he didn't pull it straight out. He wasn't really paying attention and he pulled it out an angle, so I yelled, "Ouch!" But it was too late....The needle was out and we were done. Hopefully, the PIO (progesterone in oil) won't be too bad, either.

The trigger shot is a doozie

I have to take my trigger shot in a little over 1 1/2 hours and I'm absolutely terrified. The needle is 1 1/2" and it has to be given in the upper and outer quadrant of my bum. Eddie and I had a practice session with a nurse, but that was exactly one month ago today. Eddie had to give me a practice shot in the bum and it was a scary process. Before doing the practice shot, the nurse suggested that Eddie practice on a styrofoam cup a few times to get the hang of it.....but only because he couldn't really do it properly. *GULP* I was laying on a bench, my pants slightly pulled down and I must have been sweating bullets. He did ok in the end, but I'm nervous about tonight.

I have to take my shot at exactly 10:00 p.m. tonight because my egg retrieval is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday morning. The retrieval is supposed to take place exactly 36 hours after the trigger shot, which is right before ovulation should occur. Eddie had to go in to the office today and he's still there. I hope he makes it back by 10:00 because there is no way I can give myself this shot. Most of you know that I'm terrified of needles and giving myself three 1/2" injections in my stomach every night was enough to make me nauseated. Can you imagine what would happen if I had to do the 1 1/2" shot? I'd be on the floor before I could even get the darn thin inserted. Oh well....Here's hoping everything goes well tonight.

My mom comes into town tomorrow (YAY!!!!) and she's going to help out while I'm resting after the retrieval. I better get back to cleaning, so she'll think that I live in a super-clean house all the time! ;)

We are a GO for retrieval!!

I just heard back from the dr's office and my retrieval is set up for 10:00 a.m. Monday morning!!!! I was told not to take my Follistim or Repronex tonight, but I am supposed to take my Lupron. Tomorrow, I'll take my Lupron injection at 6:00 p.m. and my HCG trigger shot (10,000 units of Novarel) at 10:00 p.m. I am SO excited!! My transfer is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 5th, but I won't receive a specific time until Tuesday afternoon.

PLEASE keep Eddie, me, and my doctors in your prayers. We're going to need all the help we can get!! :)

Oh, my aching ovaries!!

It looks like the medicines are really doing their job. I had my third appointment this week today and I have TONS of follicles. My left side has follies measuring 11, 11, 13, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22 mm. My right side has follies measuring 10, 10, 10, 12, 12, 16, 16, 18, 20, and 20 mm. I don't know what my E2 is for the day (yet). My lining is at 8 mm. I REALLY hope my dr. lets me trigger tonight, but I doubt that he will. There's a chance that he'll let my big follicles get overly mature, in the hopes that I'll have more of the smaller ones catch up. Only one more hour until I can call and get my E2 levels for the day.

Ok, my E2 is 3677, my LH is 1.8 and my FSH is 23. With so many follicles and such a high E2, I hope and pray that we avoid OHSS after the retrieval. Yikes.....

Slow Day

There's really not much to report today. I have my 3rd u/s and b/w tomorrow at my usual 7:30 a.m. time, so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, I'll get more news on my trigger shot tomorrow.

I had orchestra rehearsal last night and woodwind quintet rehearsal tonight, so I'm really looking forward to spending some time with Eddie this weekend. I wish I could schedule my rehearsals during the day, but it just doesn't work with all the different schedules of the group. Oh well....I guess I should be happy that I don't have any weekend rehearsals.

I'll post more tomorrow after my dr's appointment.

DFR

Today's post is "DFR" or daily follicle report. I had my second monitoring u/s and b/w today. My lining measured 7 mm, but it is showing a triple layer, which is a good thing. I'm hoping that it reaches 11 mm. by the time I trigger. My left ovary is still dominant. My follicles on the left measured 16, 16, 15, 14, 14, 13, 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, and three under 10 mm. My follicles on the right measured 17, 16, 12, 11, 10, and 9 under 10 mm. Just to give you an idea, my dr. wants to see the majority of follicles between 18-20 mm. in size.

My E2 was 1436 today and my LH was 2.4. My meds have been cut in half today, so I'll be taking 75iu Follistim and 75iu Repronex tonight and tomorrow night. My next (and hopefully my last) u/s and b/w will be on Friday morning at 7:30. The nurses think that I'll trigger either Friday or Saturday.

I'm really bloated and uncomfortable today. It hurts to sit, stand, lay down, walk....basically, it hurts to be awake and alive right now. I'm really hoping that the next few days go by quickly and that I can trigger sooner rather than later.

My pants are shrinking

There's not much to report today, which is why I am so late posting. Today is the first day that I have felt bloated and uncomfortable from all the injections. My dr. told me that I would start to feel more uncomfortable as the week goes by, but I figured he meant I would feel bad around Thursday or Friday. Oh well...I guess there's no time like the present to have my pants start fitting a little tighter. I haven't gained any weight from the meds, but I can definitely tell things are fitting differently today.

I had a session of acupuncture today, but Christine didn't use the electric stimulation. I was VERY happy to hear that! She thinks that my ovaries are doing just fine on their own and she doesn't want to over stimulate me. I almost fell asleep during my treatment today, so at least I know that the relaxation aspect of acupuncture seems to be working. Christine must have it a little blood vessel with one of the needles in my stomach because when she took it out, there was a little purple bruise. She felt really bad about it, but I told her not to worry. Besides, what's one more bruise added to the 15 that I already have on my abdomen? ;)

Tomorrow I go in for my second u/s and b/w. Again, I'm hoping and praying that everything is growing well and that I can reduce my medicines tomorrow evening.

My first date in two months...

I had my first "date" at the dr's office (u/s and b/w) this morning at 7:30. I arrived at the hospital 15 minutes early because I figured I would have to wait a while to get in, but NOPE! I walked right in because my dr's office had already registered me (THANK YOU Dr. Silber!!!). The u/s took all of 5 minutes. I've had at least 30 ultrasounds in the last 6 months, so I already knew what to expect. For those of you that don't know what to expect, I had an internal u/s. I affectionately call the u/s wand "the dildo cam." I think most of you get the picture. (Sorry Mom...I know that's a crude nickname, but take a look at one the next time you're in the dr's office.)

Anyway, my lining is 6mm. thick, which is fine for now. When I trigger, they like the lining to be above 10mm, so I'm well on my way. I have 14 measurable follicles and 18 "potential follicles." Here's the breakdown: My left ovary had 8 follies < 10mm, 6 follies @ 11mm, 1 follie @ 11mm, 1 follie @ 12mm, and 2 follies @ 13mm. My right ovary had 10 follies < 10mm, 1 follie @ 10mm, 1 follie @ 11mm, 2 follies @ 12mm. Obviously, my left ovary is my "over-y achiever" with 10 maturing follicles. (Sorry for the bad joke...I just couldn't resist!)

I won't hear back from my dr. until after 4:00, but I'm pretty sure he's going to lower my doses of meds (YAY!!!) and have me come back in on Wednesday. I'm hoping and praying that I trigger on Friday or Saturday. Mom, I hope you're ready to come up here on a moment's notice!

Ok, the dr. called and my E2 is 498 and my LH is 1.2. I was hoping my E2 would have been a little bit higher, but I guess I should be happy that I'm being stimmed slow and low. I was told to continue taking 150 iu Follistim and 150 iu Repronex for the next two nights. I'm glad I didn't place any money on my bet....

Cooking School 103

I had my final day of cooking classes today from 10:00-4:00. We made foccacia, breadsticks, roasted garlic and mustard vinegarette with mixed greens, compound butter with blue cheese, pan-seard strip steaks, potatoes gratin, french onion soup (with the beef stock we made yesterday), and pears poached in red wine with fresh cream. It was a long day of cooking, but everything turned out REALLY well and now I have a bunch of new recipes and techniques that I can use in the future. Maybe I missed my true calling and should have gone to culinary school......Naaaaaaaah!! Too much work and not enough pay (not that the music field is ANY different!)

Tonight was my fourth night of stims. I'm still taking 150 iu of Follistim, 150 iu of Repronex, and 10 units of Lupron. I have my first u/s and b/w tomorrow morning at 7:30 and then I'll hear back from my dr. tomorrow afternoon about my new doses. I'm hoping that they lower my dose of Repronex because I don't have much left and that stuff is VERY expensive! It costs $50 per vial and each vial only has 75 iu in it. I'm using two vials a night, so I'm starting to run out. I only bought 15 vials, and I'm really hoping that I don't have to buy any more. Please think "big follicle" and "high E2 (but not TOO high)" thoughts for me!

I'll post my follicle count, size, and E2 levels as soon as I get results tomorrow!! People have told me that once you start the stims, the time really flies, and now I'm starting to believe them!!! :)

Cooking School 101 and 102

I signed up for a 3 day cooking class. The first class was last night and it was from 5:30-9:30. We made a simple vinegarette dressing with salad, papaya and pineapple salsa, pico de gallo, grilled mahi-mahi topped with roasted corn/pepper salsa, and homemade strawberry shortcake. It was really interesting to learn how to properly dice an onion, skin a tomato, and a bunch of other simple things that I do in the kitchen on a regular basis.

I had to leave the class to do my injections, and I had to do them in the public restroom. Now THAT was an interesting experience. I politely excused myself, grabbed my bag of medicine and headed to the restroom just as the class was getting up from the table and going to the counter to start cooking. I quickly pulled out all my needles and started mixing the medicines. Another woman from the class saw me get up and she followed me into the restroom and said, "You had the right idea to come to the bathroom before we get started with the cooking." She then looked at the 1 1/2" needle I was holding in my hands, looked at the sink and saw the remaining 3 needles and meds and said, "Oh, I'm sorry...I can use the restroom later." I quickly had to explain that I was doing IVF and I had to take my medicines at the same time every night. She breathed a HUGE sigh of relief and then offered to get her nurse friend to leave the cooking class and come help me with my shots. So much for keeping my shots a private matter. It all worked out in the end and I was able to join the class without too many people looking at my suspiciously.

I am, however, VERY sore and bruised from my injections over the past two nights. You can see every single spot I have injected, so my stomach looks like I have some kind of rash on it. The Repronex shots leave bruises about the size of a silver dollar. Most of the bruising is deep enough that you can see it, but it hurts when anything touches my stomach. I'm not looking forward to the next week of shots because I'm already running out of "bruise-free" areas on my abdomen.

The second session of the cooking class was today from 10:00-3:00. We prepared chicken stock, beef stock, sauteed chicken with white wine/tomatoes/garlic/onions, plain jasmine rice, rice pilaf, brussel sprouts with pecan butter, broccoli almondine, and lemon curd tarts with fresh fruit. Everything tasted SO good and it's all relatively easy to make. Being at these classes makes me wish that I had all of the fancy kitchen gadgets and tools that we are using. It sure does make cooking a lot more easy! I was able to make and decorate two tarts, so I decided to bring them home and shar them with Eddie. Hopefully, he'll get home from work at a reasonable time tonight (hahahaha...Riiiiiiiight) and we'll be able to enjoy them before bed.

Here's a picture of the tarts....



The third session is tomorrow and it promises to be just as good as the first two classes. There's not much going on right now other than my injections. Only two more days until my u/s and b/w to determine how well I'm responding to all of the drugs in my body. Woo-hoo!!!

Electroshock therapy, anyone?

I went back for my second acupuncture treatment today and it was quite a different experience. I told Christine that I had started my stims. last night and she said, "Oh good. Now we can use the electric pulses on your stomach." Say WHAT?!?!?!? Yes, she put four needles in my stomach and then proceeded to hook them up to some kind of device that sends out electrical pulses. It looked like a little box with four wires coming out of it and at the end of each wire was a metal clip. There were two red clips and two white clips, and they looked just like jumper cables for a car battery. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. She hooked me up to the cables and I nearly jumped off the table when she turned her little "device" on. It felt like someone was taking an electric fence and poking me over each ovary ever 1/2 second. Christine realized that she had the "charge" up a little too high, so once she turned it down, it wasn't so bad. So, I got to lay there with pulses of electricity going through my abdomen and about 20 other needles randomly placed all over my body for 45 minutes. Once it was over, I actually felt pretty relaxed. Who'd a thunk it?!?!?

I also started my Anji IVF meditation CD last night before I went to bed. (Yes, I know I'm getting "weird"....but like I've said before, I'll do ANYTHING to help this process work!) It was VERY relaxing and I probably slept better last night than I have in the past 5 months. I guess I should start looking into other Eastern practices of medicine, because I've been very thrilled with the ones that I've tried so far!

Tonight I have a cooking class from 5:30-9:30. I'm supposed to take my injections at 6:00 every night. I hope no one minds while I excuse myself to go "shoot up" in the bathroom. The only problem is that I'm really bad at mixing the Repronex, so it takes me about 10 minutes to get everything mixed and injected. I hope that I'm able to sneak away without causing too much concern. Anyway, the cooking class is taking place tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. I think most of you know that I LOVE to cook, so this should be yet another fun thing I can do to help keep my mind off of the IVF cycle.

Just for kicks, here's a picture of the meds that I'm taking on a nightly basis now....



The 3 vials at the top are the Repronex (2 vials) and the mixing solution. The large vial underneath the Repronex is the Lupron. I use the needle with the orange cap to inject the Lupron. The 2 needles to the right are used with the Repronex. Fortunately, the big one is only used for mixing the meds and the smaller needle is used for the injection. The little needle underneath the Lupron is the Follistim needle, which is used with the blue Follistim Pen. The white square is just the alcohol wipe that I use to sterilize everything.

I'll take this concoction of drugs through Sunday night and then I'll receive new instructions on Monday. Thanks again for taking a look at my site and I hope you all have a great weekend.

Now the REAL fun begins!

Ok, so I determined that playing a 2 1/2 hour rehearsal with a migraine is not a lot of fun. It was only my second rehearsal with the group, so I couldn't call in sick. We spent a lot of time on the contemporary piece, so I think it only made my headache worse.

On a positive note, I went for a Swedish massage today and it felt GREAT!! I highly recommend it to all of you out there going through IVF or any TTC issues. I have been trying to stay relaxed and "stress-free" so the massage definitely helped. (Thank you Molly for the gift certificate, which inspired me to go!) The woman giving my massage said that I had a lot of tension in my neck and upper back. She asked if I was nervous about anything and I said, "Not really, but my upcoming IVF might have something to do with all of my tension." She was really surprised to hear me say that and then said that she had seen several women come in who were also doing IVF. All of them got pregnant, so maybe she's kind of like a good luck charm. I sure hope so! I plan on going back for another massage with her next week.

Ok, I'm REALLY excited because...I have *officially* started my IVF cycle today!! I added my 150 iu of Follistim and 150 iu of Repronex to my "shooting up routine" tonight. I have done the Follistim before (Thank you, Missy H.!!!!) and those aren't so bad, but the Repronex is another story. The Repronex stung so bad that I wasn't sure I would be able to inject all of the medicine. I have heard other women talking about how it stings a little, but I wasn't prepared for the pain that I felt tonight. Once the medicine was injected, I was fine....It was just the actual injeciton that stung.

So, now my routine is 10 units of Lupron, 150 iu of Follistim, and 150 iu of Repronex every night at 6:00 p.m. I will continue these doses until my first u/s and b/w, which is on Monday morning at 7:30. I will then get new instructions from my dr on Monday afternoon. I'm willing to bet that my doses of Follistim and Repronex will be lowered. Anyone wanna make a bet?

I had a rehearsal with a piano and woodwind quartet tonight. We're playing a really nice Mozart piece. Too bad the piano player can't keep a steady beat, otherwise the group would be halfway decent. Oh well, at least it's another chance to play and it's making me practice more, which is a VERY good thing.

Tomorrow I have another acupuncture session and I start my 3 day series of cooking classes. It should be an interesting weekend. I'm just hoping and praying that time will really fly by now that I've officially started my IVF cycle! :)

Tennis and Menopause...TTFN!!

The apple pie was a success!! Too bad there are only two of us to eat it, so I gave some to my builder and his handy man. They are doing the finishing touches on a new house across the street from mine and they have been SO good to Eddie and me. I always try to take them cookies, brownies, cake, pie, or whatever I happen to be making. I figure if I keep them happy (and well fed) that they will continue to help fix little things around my house without charging me!

I would just like to say, for the record, that migraines SUCK! I've only had 4 or 5 in my life, but I'm having one today and it's probably from this dang Lupron. As if the hot flashes and regular headaches weren't bad enough....Sheesh! I'm trying to function but it really is hard with a stabbing pain on the left side of my head and the little flashing jagged lines that appear every time I open my eyes. I really hope this IVF works because I definitely don't want to go through all of this again!

I had my final tennis lesson this morning. My dr. is making me stop tennis while I'm doing stims and during the two-week-wait (a.k.a. 2ww or more fondly known by me as the two-week-torture). I'm really bummed about it because I have really enjoyed tennis and I'm finally getting to the point where I can go out and try to play a game or two. I've been taking lessons for the past 5 months and it's been a great diversion from all of this TTC and IVF stuff. I guess I'll have to take up a new hobby until I'm allowed to return to the courts.

I'm also happy to say that today is my last full day in menopause...or at least for 15-20 years!!! I get to start my stimulation meds tomorrow night at 6:00. I don't know who is happier about this....me, Eddie, or my mom! I think she's been looking forward to all of this almost as much as me!

Tonight I have a rehearsal from 7:30-10:00 with the St. Louis Philharmonic. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to play Brahms' 2nd Symphony and some new (awful) contemporary piece with a migraine. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

In the mean time, here's a picture of my IVF meds. I'm still missing some bottles of progesterone in oil (PIO) and I only have half of the needles in this picture, but you get the general idea....

As if 176 needles aren't enough...

I went apple picking this morning with a friend and her son. I think it was just what I needed to get my mind off the upcoming IVF cycle. The only downside is that I promised Eddie an apple pie, so I guess I get to be Betty Crocker this afternoon.

I also went to my acupuncturist today. I started going twice a week last week and it has been a very positive experience. I see a girl named Chirstine Kleinschmidt and she appears to know what she is doing. I told her last week that I was having constant headaches, so she placed some extra needles on me and my headaches went away for two days. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I don't think so. Who'd a thunk that I'd ever get into actupuncture?!?!? Heck, if my dr. told me that walking on my hands and dying my hair bright purple would help this IVF cycle be a success, you can guarantee that I would dye my hair and be walking on my hands right now!!

Anyway, Christine said that she will go to the hospital on the day of my transfer and do a session right before and right after the transfer. Supposedly, the acupuncture helps to keep the uterus from having small contractions, which aids the embryos during implantation. Again, I don't know if it really works, but heck....why not give it a shot?

The acupuncture was very relaxing. She ended up putting a needle on my forehead, two on my neck, four in my ear and a whole bunch on my legs, feet, and arms. I was supposed to stay there for 30 minutes, but she felt that a few extra minutes would be good for me, so I laid there and practiced my relaxation techniques (like breathing, calming visulaization, etc). After the session was over, I felt like I had just awoken from a peaceful nap and I felt great. Too bad acupuncture is kind of pricey, or I might consider doing it more often.

Tomororw is my last day of taking 20 units of Lupron. (Thank you, God!!!) The injections didn't hurt in the beginning, but now they are really starting to sting so I'm getting really tense before each injection. Fortunately, I get to reduce my dosage to 10 units on Thursday. Unfortunately, I'll be adding two additional shots of Follistim and Repronex. For you IVF guru's out there, I'll be starting out with 150 iu of Follistim and 150 iu of Repronex.

That's all for now. I don't have anything IVF related tomorrow, so it should be a pretty slow day. Things will really start to kick into gear once I start my frequent ultrasounds and bloodwork on Monday next week.

Dr. DeRosa is Da Bomb!

I just got back from seeing Dr. DeRosa (the assisting ObGyn for my IVF) and it was a great appointment. We just went into his office and he walked me through the ER (egg retrieval) procedure. We decided that I am going to be completely asleep (instead of twilight sleep) because I don't deal with pain very well. He also told me the risks that are involved with the ER. He could puncture a major artery and then I would have to have emergency abdominal surgery, although he's never punctured an artery before, he told me that it is a possibility. He also said he could poke a hole in my bowel, but he's never done that either. If my bowel was poked, then I could have part of my colon removed, but again, he's not too worried about that.

He did tell me that I am at a very high risk for two things. The first thing is OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome). This is when my E2 levels get too high (above 5000) and fluid starts to collect in my abdomen. If I see signs of shortness of breath, nausea, fluid retention, and a swollen stomach, I should call DeRosa immediately so that we can remedy the situation. The worst case scenario would involve me being in the hospital for a few days with a catheter in my stomach to remove the fluid. If I do develop OHSS, we will have to freeze all of the embryos and do a FET (frozen embryo transfer) on another cycle.

Now, don't you ALL wish you could go through IVF?!?!?

The second thing I'm at risk for is.....MULTIPLES!!! Because of my age (28) and my low FSH (3), he thinks there is a good chance that the two embryos we place back in could stick. I hope he's right! I *think* I would LOVE to have twins out of all of this!!

The doctors are expecting to get a lot of eggs from me and they are going to watch me like a hawk to try and make sure that I don't hyperstim. like I have with my past IUI cycles. I just have to hope and pray that this works on the first shot.

All in all it was a great appointment and I feel much better after hearing DeRosa's confidence in my upcoming cycle. YIPPEE!!

Joining the crowd....

Well, everyone else in the world seems to have a blog, so I thought I would try it out. Heck, it'll be a great way to record this crazy journey that I'm on right now.

I've decided to call my blog "Pincushion Princess Diaries" because I'm just starting my first IVF cycle. For those of you that don't know, IVF requires a few needles.....no, make that A LOT of needles. I'll be using 176 needles (to be exact) if my cycle is a success. I don't know about all of you, but I am absolutely terrified of needles, so forcing myself to shove one in my stomach, leg, or butt every day scares the heck out of me!

I've really gotten the hang of of my first subcutaneous injections of Lupron. I only have to use a 1/2" needle and I get to stick it right in the fat in my stomach. Fortunately, the dining in St. Louis is amazing, so I have lots of extra "cushion" in my stomach! I started the Lupron (20 units daily) on Sept. 7th. Since then, I have ever so slowly been going through a chemically induced menopause. Now, doesn't THAT sound like fun? Basically, this just means that I have constant headaches and frequent hot flashes. Hey, the silver lining is that I know what to expect later on in life!!

So, that's where I am right now....I'm somewhere in the middle of my first menopause and waiting to start my hormone injections later this week. Now that you're all caught up, I'm going to get outside and enjoy the amazing weather! More to come soon!!