The Long and Winding Road

Husband had his semen analysis yesterday and I was able to have a good long chat with our RE. The sperm numbers are up but the motility is non existent; as in not even one sperm doing a little jiggle trying to move. So, it's not looking like the quality is ever going to really improve - and now I know not to waste my freaking time after sex and I can just get up and pee already!- so we can finally move forward with the next protocol.

Timing, Mother Nature, and whatever powers their may be out there being the motherfuckers that they are, yesterday s also the day my period decided to show up. I told my RE that I was going to sweet talk him into letting me start the cycle today and he laughed and said that it's unfortunately up to the insurance company; we still need approval for round two which of course has been on hold. Soooo, if it were up to my RE we would've started with monitoring today and gone straight to five days progesterone in a week or so and then straight forward to the transfer. Lovely, easy, all the work up to my husband this time around, right? Big fucking negative, Ghost Writer. 

We are one of TWO of his patients ever to have insurance say that egg thawing is still an "experimental science" and won't cover it (ahhh, a loophole. I know, I should not complain because we do get so much covered). Therefore, I get to do an entire round of IVF drugs again starting next cycle. Tell the folks what she's won: this will be a smaller round since my awesome RE is going to give the finger to the insurance company and thaw my eggs anyway on my retrieval day, so I'll get to skip Lupron all together, thank you baby Jesus. 

There's a lot to worry about, per usual and I'm completely jaded from my last retrieval experience but I've got about a month to get it out of my system and then I'll be riding the hormone crazy train again. Woowoooo. 

Trigger Happy

This title is super duper fitting in light of the Aaron Hernandez arrest. 

The past nine days have included:

-6 days of blood work

-5 ultrasounds (the dildo camera kind)

-23 stim shots

-6 mornings of up and out the door by 6 (which means all of the days are like that now. Thanks, scumbag inner clock).

And last night was 10000 units hcg and we have triggered!

                                    

                 The needle that went in my ass last night. Looks worse than it feels

My abs and back got a bit sore the past two days, but only in that "I just had a great ab workout and it hurts when I laugh" way. I'm actually shocked that I even remember what that feels like- I've absolutely gained a few pounds and have been doing no working out other than my normal daily movement (arguably more than most people's daily activity*). Bonus: my boobs look fantastic, despite being so sore that I have to grab them when I go down the stairs. 

Now my stomach felt a little crampy this morning, but here's hoping that is just the feeling of plentiful eggs growing in there!

So tomorrow is the big egg retrieval. I know some people get weird about procedures and stuff but I'm sweating the "no makeup, nail polish, or contacts" rule. I don't want my eggs to be retrieved out of a hideous creature.

*By "most people" I just mean those morbidly obese people at Walmart who use the motorized carriages. 

The Stim-sons

You guys have NO idea how much I wish I had a more clever "Stim" title. And I thought about it a lot. I do have the Simpsons theme song stuck in my head though.

Tonight will be night 6 of doing Gonal F injections. It's kind of like a cool little spy gadget pen mixed with a bee sting (I'm still doing my own injections- it's a bit empowering to do them all myself). It only stings a bit during the injection process and occasionally leaves a bruise and I sometimes feel really full (which could be the reality due to amount of food I'm consuming) and I feel like I look bloated but, again, the eating could be the cause. Other than that, I haven't noticed much of any side effects. I've been a bit weepy, which means I've teared up a couple of times in the car when I let myself think about our family dog who needs to be put down or when I hear 'I Will Wait' by Mumford & Sons - thanks a lot to whomever put it in my head to relate that song to my desire to have a baby. 

                      

Thursday night I added Menopur to the mix, which brings me up to three subcutaneous injections (in my stomach) per day. The Menopur is mostly just a pain in the ass because it has to be mixed every time but it kind of makes me feel like a mad scientist. Thursday was also the first time I received any empathy from Husband during this entire process, because he saw the welt from the Gonal while he helped me prep the Menopur for the first time and he kind of went "wait, what's the mark?" upon realization of the amount of shit I'm putting myself through - although yes, I did tell him multiple times that day how many injections I'd be doing* - he looked shocked and told me he "felt really bad" don't think that I won't try and milk that for as long as possible. 

The Menopur stings during injection but again, haven't felt much. I'm starting to think maybe something isn't going right because other women complain of ovary pain and swelling and being emotional and I just kind of feel like I'm too full (which could totally just be the case as I've been eating as if I already am eating for two...or three. 

I've done the math and today was my seventh blood test since this began, and my third this week. I've had two ultrasounds this week and I can't even do the math for the injections I've been doing over the past two weeks. It's all going to be worth it. 

*Are we surprised he didn't hear me? Do they just all suffer from partial hearing loss?

                                           Day 5 on Gonal

                    My obsessive "am I bloated?" photos- bonus dog. 

                           

                                                        Day 6 

                                     A couple of barely there bruises 

The Lupron Diaries

Been emailing myself symptoms daily, with hopes to help out anyone who will be taking Lupron in the future. Keep in mind that most hormones and injectable exacerbate emotions or feelings that are already dormant - or not so dormant- inside of you and reactions will vary. I have not found this drug to be too horrible. *

*For those unfamiliar, Lupron(Leuprorelin) increases testosterone in the initial weeks of use and essentially causes the female body to believe it is in menopause. So the cycle is interrupted and the goal is for there to be no period, so that you can then go on to inject more hormones to make the body ovulate, etc etc (don't worry, you'll all hear all about the later injections...later).

Day one: Could not do it. Needles never bothered me until I had to do it myself. Husband did it in seconds flat. I think he gets a sick pleasure out of being able to stick me with a needle, no matter how tiny.

 Day two: Stuck myself. Quick and no problem. Partially because husband was sleeping and also bc I'd had no coffee yet....no time to think. Feeling a little anxious but could be PMSish or the rainy weather or just the situation itself. 

Day 3: Woke up a little late as it is Saturday, husband assures me it's not a big deal to take the shots an hour or so apart here and there. Stumbled into kitchen, shot my tummy. Last night I woke up feeling hot and with a sharp pain in stomach but fell immediately back to sleep. Not sure if I'm feeling a placebo effect or this is starting. I'm not going to say that's it's not that bad because that is a surefire way to wake up in excruciating pain tonight.

Day 3 update update - more picking on hub this afternoon. His Offense- he left clutter. In my defense- he has been home and out of work for two months. Two full, long, months. 

Day 4- so hungry. Bought Entenmann's donuts and raspberry strudel (only bc they were BOGO free) donuts are almost all gone. Still hungry. Husband is encouraging me to snack on carrots. Fuck. That. Shit 

Day 5- Jittery, tired.  Irritable.  Could easily just be me.

Day 6- Tired. Irritable

6still - feeling warm but not bad bc I'm usually always cold

6 cont- tired. So tired

Day 7- Headache.

Day 8- emotional. Not even 10am and already teared up twice. One at a Pharma commercial.

Day 8 cont- headache, day 2. I'm a migraine person so it's not the worst that could happen by any means. 

Day 9- Soooo tired. Not sure if due to  week of rain or meds. How's it possible to be SO anxious with racing heart and yet soo exhausted. Cannot wait to go home and be lazy. Not even 10am yet.

I think my boobs are getting sore, is that supposed to happen?

Day 9- Welcome back, headache. Not really, you ugly little cunt. 

Day 10 - so much anxiety. Also tried to go to local fair but preggosEVERYWHERE.

Night 10- Oh, what do you know? headache. And boobs are definitely a smidge sore. Not PMS sore, but a smidge sore. God I hope they grow during all of this. 

Day 11midnight, or day 10 midnight? Let's say it's day 11, just after midnight. Got my period. Spent entire night freaking out because nurse told me that was not supposed to happen. No sleep because of freak out. Call nurse at open and she assures me I'm on perfect track to be seen tomorrow for bloodwork and ultra sound as planned. Thanks a lot, first nurse. 

On no sleep and headache turns to migraine by noon, while I'm trying to help my dad celebrate Father's Day. It is full blown want to puke status by the time we make it to our second event of the day- a one year old birthday party. Did I mention I got no sleep?

Day 12- Tired. Start Gonal tonight. 

Well, now that I read that I sound like a whiny little bitch but it hasn't been as bad as I made it seem here, those were just the feelings at the exact second of the email. I went to work every day no problem, slept every night no problem (and took naps at work no problem) just a quick heartbeat here and there, usually in the first hour after the morning injections.