The wait is killing me...Yes already!

After our IUI there is a certain date that we can test on to see if we are pregnant. I have not told anyone the date not even Lee but it's killing me already! I am only 3 days post IUI and I wanna test NOW! Even if I did it would come out positive due to the hormones in my body. That HCG trigger shot I took will be in my system for a while, that's why they don't want you to cheat. This is torture!

On a brighter note I must tell you all how supportive my hubby is. I have been very short with him this week. Not sure if I am just anxious or moody from the meds but I have not been pleasant to live with (Not me right). He keeps me positive day after day and as much as I complain I really can't because I have a wonderful husband who has my back through all of this.

The weekend is here and I am pretty sure we will not be doing anything. I get too nauseous by the end of the night like I have the last 3 nights and keep getting sick right before bed. I know this is the medicine and I hate it. If this cycle does not work we are definitely going to have to take a break. I am so sick of feeling sick.

Enough of my complaining...I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

No Pain No Gain

Since my wonderful IUI I have had just a few side effects. Of course right...why would it be easy?? I have something called "Ovarian Hyper Stimulation Syndrome" OHSS for short. Let me tell you what it says here in my paperwork from the Doctor.

"OHSS is a complication that occurs when the ovaries over-respond to the HCG trigger. Many follicles are produced causing ovaries to swell, enlarge and become very  painful." With this you get "An electrolyte imbalance, fluids shift from the blood vessels to the surrounding tissue and a collection of fluid settles in your abdomen. These symptoms usually occur within one week of the HCG trigger".

What does this mean...UGH...I have to drink 4 bottles of Gatorade a day. I cannot work out or do any strenuous activity including Thursday night bowling with my girls! I seriously thought I was being some big ass baby but I am telling you...THIS HURTS! I got into bed last night and I whipped over to my right side really fast and it felt like a monsoon of pain shifted from one side of my body to the other. I yelled so loud Lee was freaking out thinking something was wrong, well beside the obvious. I continue to tell myself No Pain No Gain but come on...Can I get a break!

IUI...Check!

After all those damn shots....I can finally stop! I am at work so I have no idea where I left off at (because we can't pull the blogs up at work but I figured out how to post) Friday and Saturday we did a "mini hcg" this helped prevent the little follies from growing but was too weak to keep the big ones from stopping. Sunday night was the BIG trigger and as of today (Wednesday) I still have a large red lump on my tummy from where it just sat! It was so painful Monday but started feeling better yesterday...YUCK! I really hope I never have to do these shots again!

Tuesday 1-25-11
Tuesday was the big IUI - "Intrauterine Insemination" They took Lee's little swimmers and as my friend Hallie likes to explain it they "Turkey Basted" them inside me. The procedure took about 5 minutes and I laid there for 10 minutes afterward. Remember in the beginning when I said I may give out a little Too Much Info...this is one of those stories. To complete an IUI they first take a speculum like you would for a pap smear and crank her open. They then take a catheter and suck Lee's sperm out of the tube and shove it inside my cervix. The catheter is smaller than a straw but hurts when they stick it in your cervix since your cervix opening is barely the size of thick sewing needle.  As soon as the spermies are implanted safe and sound she took the catheter out and then....THE PLUG! She took a round sponge covered in a little plastic bag (It looked like one of those little plastic favor bags you hand out at a birthday party) with a long string attached and shoved her inside. Try walking around with that inside of you for 4 hours. I guess it's too keep them all swimming in high places hahaha!

As far as how many sperm were participating in this procedure...296 million! Lee's initial sperm count was over 1 billion. The average is 60 million. Even after they washed and only took out the good sperms he still had above average count. Yes he is very proud and I still have not heard the end of it. So 296 million of his best swimmers are traveling inside me as we speak.

Now is the 2 week waiting period. There is a certain day I can test on but certain days I cannot test before. No one not even my husband knows the date I am going to test on. I want this to be a surprise. They way I have been picturing in my head for the last 16 months. And if it happens to be a negative result I do not want everyone calling asking what the result is when I am sure I will need some time to cope. It has only been 24 hours and I am already ready to test! So anxious but I am going to wait...this is the most intense experience!

IT WORKED!

Looks like all those damn shots worked! HOOORAY! I went in on Friday and looks like there are for sure 5 follicles on the right side and we could not count any on the left side due to the fact the little stinker sits behind my uterus. I have about 40 follicles on the right side. She told me that and I about fell to the floor. They of course are not all mature but they are definitely there. Here is what the next plan is...

Friday I had to start a shot called a Mini HCG. This medicine makes all the little follicles stop growing. Heaven knows we don;t need anymore. It will not effect the big ones, it's not powerful enough. Saturday I did the same. Tonight (Sunday 1/23) I will take our Trigger shot tonight. Thank goodness they don't want me to take the full dose or I would be getting shot up in the butt tonight by my husband. Lord only knows he is the last one I want to give me a shot! Monday we just get to relax and Tuesday....I'm getting knocked up! We are going to go ahead and do the Artificial Insemination. We always talked about trying "naturally" however if we did it that way and it didn't work we would have to do the medicine all over again. If this doesn't work then we are back to the drawing board. I know many of you are praying and we truly appreciate it. Everything happens for a reason and I hope I get 2 out of the deal LOL!

It's all Angel's fault ;)

I went in for my check today and this is what we found. My follies are growing FINALLY! Never had those before...However not only are they growing, but they are growing in MASSIVE amounts. My ovaries are covered with them. I have 7 that are looking like they are the main ones to get growing. I have 5 that are the potential follies that are maturing. What does this mean?? This means my sister has been going to church and praying that we have 5 babies. I told her God is listening because 5 follies are preparing to shoot out eggs. Let me break it down....Follicles grow, when they mature an egg shoots out. 5 eggs means 5 potential babies. Not what we were exactly looking for. With PCOS this is completely common. Great I told Lee we are definitely overachievers LOL!

Here are the measurments:
1= 11.5mm
2=11mm
2=10mm
2=9mm

All follies need to be 18 before we are ready to get busy (hee hee hee)

If you would like to see what a PCOS ovary looks like follow the links below. The first is a normal ovary ready to ovulate. The next link is a PCOS ovary. All the dark circles are follicles. Next visit I will ask for a copy of one of my own!

http://www.fetalultrasound.com/online/text/12-032_files/image016.jpg

http://www.ivf-infertility.com/images/ohss.jpg

Here is our new plan. Tonight (Thursday) I did two more shot and have ANOTHER ultrasound in the am. If they are growing at least to 13mm then we are on our way to baby making time... I will keep you all posted. Cross your fingers it's not 5! (Sorry Angel)

Udate update...read all about it

Hi All,

So Where did I leave off? Oh yeah shots...BOOOOO! I went in on Friday and had another ultrasound done. I had 2 follies growing...YAAAY! They only measured to be about 8 mm each. they need to get to 18mm to produce a mature egg. We continued shots Friday, Saturday and Sunday going in for another US on Monday. Sad news though...My follies had only grew to 9mm. So to get them really boosting, we had to do 3 shots Monday night, 2 Tuesday, and 2 Wednesday. Monday sucked but I will live. I have another US on Thursday morning (Jan 20) I Hope and Pray they will grow...GROW FOLLIES GROW! Update ya later gators!

It's Shotty shot shot time!

Well stopped by good 'ole Kohl's pharmacy to get my prescriptions. The trigger shot was $62. The lady told me that they had a discount program that took it down to $47...Yes please! The other set of injections are for the daily injections of Menopur. I got 2 of them for Wed and Thur... $302!!!!!!!!!! Let me remind you no insurance coverage what so ever! I was getting ready to pay when a worker from the backed walked up and looked at what I was getting and said "We have another discount program for that one too" Well hook me up sister because I need it. This is where pharmaceutical companies like to screw you! To sign up I gave them an email address and they took half off the price...Oh yeah I said half taking my total to $144! HELLO! What a scam. Here are these poor ladies who can't make a baby for free and no insurance cover these things so you will take all the money they have. I was furious but started crying and told them it meant so much more than they could ever know and said thank you so much for helping me.

Today was shot number 1. I got very nervous before I gave it to myself. I actually got so freaked out I called the pharmacist to walk me through it. Now I work with diabetes patients all the time and teach them to do injections all the time. Do you think just this one little shot would have been such a problem? Obvious that's a yes for me. I started to cry a little before I gave it and Lee was of course talking me through it, although he was about to faint looking at the needle. I gave it and......INSTANT BURN! Ouch! It of course was OK and I believe I am going to live. Tomorrow we shall do it all again. I will be bowling tomorrow when I give it so I will have my girls there to help me out emotionally. See you have to give the shot at the exact same time every night so 7pm it will be. Friday is the big ultrasound day to see if we have any follicles and that will determine the rest of the shot schedule. I will return Friday to update more and cross your finger for some Follies!

Results are in Let's start Treatment!

We went in for our new appointment to go over the results from our test and start a "Plan of Action". All of our Lab work was normal besides my testosterone levels which are always out of whack with the PCOS. The doctor looked over at Lee and said well lets talk about your count. All that was running through my mind was "Great, he has no sperm and we are going to get hit with a double Whammy" She went on to tell us that the average sperm count is about 60 million. Lee's count was 1 BILLION, so and so hundred thousand...Yeah  pretty AMAZING! She said you have nothing to worry about with Superman over here LOL! I told her to please not tell him that as I would never hear the end of it, and of course I haven't. I told my mom that we were meant to be together. I have this problem so super sperm can come on in (No pun intended) and make us a baby with these troubled ovaries. Thrilled is the best word to explain how we felt that day..Absolutely Thrilled!

Here is what we are doing now:
1. Started hormones to induce a cycle. (thank god it didn't start while we were in Arizona for New Years)
2. Started cycle on the 5th, day 3 of my cycle went in for an ultrasound to measure cyst's and check my lining to make sure it was OK to start meds. The cyst's look like bubbles covering my ovaries. It's pretty cool to see.
3.Starts Femara on the 7th (cycle day 3) Femara is a medication they give women with breast cancer and fertility issues. Let me tell you how exciting it was picking it up from the pharmacy: I went in and she needed my new insurance card. I knew this medicine would NEVER be covered by insurance but she insisted I get it, of course it was on the kitchen table at home. I drove all the way home grabbed it and went back. She told me the medication for a 5 day supply was $162. Great...just great! After she ran the card she walked up with a sour face and said "well how much did you spend in gas getting here?" Great it didn't take any off! Really! I said I dunno 5 bucks?? She looked at me and said well good thing you did because insurance covered the entire thing! WHAT! Yes I didn't pay a dime! Thank the lord!
4. On day 6 and 7 I will do a self injection of a medication called Menopur. This is a little boost for my ovaries.
5. On day 8 I will go in to have another ultrasound to see if it helped me to grow any follicles. We need follicles to grow so I can release some eggs. If it looks like it worked I will get a Trigger shot which is called HCG and that will help boost some eggs out.
6. If this all works they may to IUI also known as Artificial Insemination. We like to call it the "Turkey Baster"
One good thing is the side effects from the Femara are not as bad as the Clomid which makes Lee happy and me feel better. I am nervous about the injections though. I know I am capable of doing them however it's just a little nerve racking.

From here on out I will do a day to day update post's through this crazy process. Thanks for reading Ta Ta!