Finally Something to Write About!

Our big box of baby arrived yesterday! Yep, that's right.  We have a large box full of glorious medications that are going to bring us a baby :) Sort of. But honestly, I've never seen so many needles. 

The appointment to learn how to use said needles is July 1.  I'll also be doing an ultrasound and some bloodwork that morning...because my first Lupron shot is the evening of July 1! That's only five days away now!!!

We also had an appointment right before we left for Napa to check things out one last time before the big starting day.  I was concerned- I had been breakthrough bleeding for almost three weeks and had some sharp pains coming back. So I was glad to be going in for another ultrasound to make sure.  But Dr. Z said all looks well.  My lining is normal right now, and I have no cysts (and both of my ovaries are still showing up for the party!)

We ended up paying $350 out of pocket for all of the medication, but it's about $4000 worth.  We have a $10,000 lifetime coverage, so that means only one more time before we start having to pay quite a bit more out of pocket.  C'monnnnnn twins!!!  Oh, and it was drama dealing with the insurance company.  The pharmacy my doctor sent the script to wasn't covered by my insurance and my insurance pharmacy took a week to get back to me on whether they would even be covering me! But it turned out alright, and they paid for overnight shipping which I liked.

On another lovely, but not IVF, note- we ordered our window treatments last night!!! The blind place came by at 4:30 to do an in home consultation and didn't leave until 8:15! It was insane.  But they actually almost hit our budget which was super unexpected after the last estimate we got.  We went about $800 over with all installation, hardware, and taxes included.  Not bad!  We'll have window coverings in about 4-6 weeks :)

Napa was awesome by the way. I'm a little concerned that all that drinking is going to affect the IVF...or even the baby if we get pregnant this time.  But I think worrying about that is going to do nothing but stress me out.  So I'm trying to think about the fact that it was a month before our actual transfer will be if all goes smoothly.

I did however gain another 4 pounds on this trip.  In only four days... But I've already lost 3 of them and we've only been back three days.  Maybe water weight? Or wine weight...

B's been awesome. I bought a book yesterday at the grocery store.  My first baby/pregnancy book that wasn't given to me by a doctor. I was worried he would think I was being a little premature.  But it had some good stuff about what to avoid and I figured I should start avoiding them as soon as we get started with this.  So it's no more radon or fluorotelomers for me...

July IVF Sched!

Here's my protocol for our upcoming IVF cycle :)

Thursday, July 1 9:00am:  Appointment for injection training, signing of consent forms and payment.

Thursday, July 1 9:00am: Appointment for Ultrasound

Thursday, July 1 Evening: Start Lupron 10 units injections every evening

Sunday, July 4: Last day of birth control pills, continue Lupron

Sunday, July 11: Stimulation Start! Begin taking 225 IU of Follistim and 150 IU of Menopur every evening. 
**Decrease Lupron to 5 units, start baby aspirin and prenatal vitamin
***Zithromax Tripak starts for 3 days for both B and I

Thursday, July 15 8:00am: Appointment for Ultrasound and blood test to assess ovaries (I'll be called this evening with further instructions regarding meds dosage and next appointment date and time once the results are in.  I'll be seen every 1 to 2 days for Ultrasound and blood draw until Retrieval.)

Sunday, July 18: B's "prep" day :)

Thursday, July 22: Estimated day of EGG RETRIEVAL!!! (35 hours after HCG trigger shot is given) And B's big day :)

Tuesday, July 27: Estimated day of Day 5 EMBRYO TRANSFER!!! (5 days after egg retrieval)

I need to call the pharmacy tomorrow because they left me a message that they have all of my perscriptions.  I think they'll send them to me once I call and give them all of my info.  So, it's still the waiting game until July 1!!!

I'm seriously working to get those 7 pounds off that I gained while we were on vacay. I'm trying to get down 10 pounds by July 1...I'm already down 4.  I'm thinking I might up it to 12 or even 15 if things go well.  But I'm not supposed to do more than 4 hours of cardio per week at this point, and I've heard that I'm gonna be packing on the pounds with all of these medications anyway.  But it can't hurt to do as much as I can right now. So I'm trying to cut the calories a bit, eat a lil healthier, and hit the gym more regularly. 

I'm pretty stoked right now...this schedule really makes it feel incredibly real.  Just around the corner! By July 27th I'll be in the dreaded 2 week wait if all goes well.  Bring it on!

Just Waiting

We're back from vacation, have been here for a week now.  It was so good, incredibly relaxing, and really the definition of a vacation for the real world.  Any sort of "all-inclusive" lifestyle isn't real life.  It's an escape from reality, and I took that incredibly literally.  Apparently, I think that my vacation body won't gain excessive amounts of weight if I eat and drink whatever I want to (think 4 pina colada's per day and chips with guacamole at every meal...).  I actually gained 7 lbs in 7 days, that's some sort of record! At least that's a non-medicated record.  I was gaining that much on Lupron easy.  But this had no excuse. It was just me, thinking that I could do whatever I wanted because that's how escaping from reality goes! 

Along with leaving any sort of sense about food and beverage intake, I left my thoughts of IVF behind.  We really didn't talk about it much, which was a great thing.  I thought about it from time to time, but never those lingering thoughts that get me in trouble.  It was more of a "well I won't be drinking like this in a couple of months" type of thinking rather than the "what will we do if it doesn't work in three rounds?" kind of thought process I was on before we left.  It was a great vacation from that reality.

So now we are in that dreaded holding period.  It's really ok, though. I feel like we've got a lot going on so that works.  B's brother is coming into town next week for five days.  Then we're going to Napa for a murder mystery dinner party and wine tasting trip!  Then about a week after that we get to start the fun that is "injection time".  We got our schedule from the nurse in the mail just before we left, so that was a relief!  I'll post the exact schedule when I get home, but it basically says that we start injections the first of July!!!  Retrieval will be somewhere around July 22nd :)