It's Monday...so you know what that means. My appointment with Dr Dunn was today. I got great news. Although my ovaries still aren't their normal size, they are small enough that I can start the transfer. I will start a new medicine on Wednesday called Estrace. It is an estrogen supplement that will prepare my body for pregnancy. I go back for an ultrasound and bloodwork on 12/12/07 and then the transfer is 12/17/07. I can't wait!!! We aren't going to tell our families about the FET just yet. I want to be able to somewhat surprise them when we get our positive next month. I believe our blood pregnancy test will be on 12/28/07.
Now....I just have to try to keep this exciting news to myself and try not to give it away!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Waiting and waiting and waiting
Today made me realize how frustrated I am with the waiting for the FET. I am a member of a great message board for women that are trying to conceive. One of the forums is just for women doing IVF. I joined that particular forum in July when Dr Dunn said IVF was our best option. Since then several of the women have already been able to go through a full cycle and several of them have already gotten their positive pregnancy tests. They joined after me and they are already pregnant with a due date and ultrasound. It has made me sad to think that right now I should be ready for my pregnancy test or taking a home pregnancy test this weekend. I have going through all their IVF stories and I still don't have an ending of my own. I am so happy for them and wish them all the best, I would never want that positive test taken away from any of them. But when its supposed to be my turn, it needs to be my turn!
I'm sure by tomorrow I will be fine. I just wish I knew when the FET would be and what I need to do to prepare for it. What medicines will I take? How many appointments will I have? When will the actual FET be? I just want some direction right now. I think that would make me feel so much better. I go back to Dr Dunn's on Monday to see if my ovaries are back to their normal size. If so, we can start preparing for the FET. I pray they are back to their small little normal size.
I'm sure by tomorrow I will be fine. I just wish I knew when the FET would be and what I need to do to prepare for it. What medicines will I take? How many appointments will I have? When will the actual FET be? I just want some direction right now. I think that would make me feel so much better. I go back to Dr Dunn's on Monday to see if my ovaries are back to their normal size. If so, we can start preparing for the FET. I pray they are back to their small little normal size.
Monday, November 19, 2007
A lot happens in two weeks time
My last blog was almost two weeks ago. Since then I have been on bed rest for two weeks, been to the hospital for two emergency surgeries and have required around the clock company to help me eat, drink, and sit up. WOW...I love my babies :)
At my last appointment my blood work revealed that my E2 was over 14,000. When estrogen rises that high your veins tend to seep fluid. Everything I drank was seeping into my abdomen and causing me a lot of pain. My lower abdomen filled with fluid and that pushed my organs up into my chest. My diaphragm was shoved up so high that it was hard to breathe. On morning I was alone and getting ready for work. I decided to take a a brief time out and lay down to catch my breath. Within minutes I was screaming and crying and I couldn't breathe. I called my nurse and she had me come right in. Justin and my mom got me there as quick as they could. Once there they decided to take me to the surgery center for a procedure to drain the fluids. I had that same surgery two days later when they fluid came back.
Needless to say that was a two week period that I would love to forget. :)
On a few positive notes though....Justin and I went to our first ever NFL game. We went to the Texans game on Sunday. It was tough on me to walk that much but it felt great to get out of the house and just walk. I had been so weak lately that I couldn't sit up for more than a few minutes at a time. The game was much needed...and we won!
But even better than football, exercise and feeling better...out of our 12 fertilized embryos we had 10 make it to the blastocyst stage and into the freezer!!! Dr Dunn was expecting us to get 5-7, so getting 10 really made me hopeful for the FET (frozen embryo transfer) coming up in Dec/Feb. When we are ready for the transfer they will thaw a few eggs at a time until they get 2 good ones. I can't wait to find out when the transfer will be.
At my last appointment my blood work revealed that my E2 was over 14,000. When estrogen rises that high your veins tend to seep fluid. Everything I drank was seeping into my abdomen and causing me a lot of pain. My lower abdomen filled with fluid and that pushed my organs up into my chest. My diaphragm was shoved up so high that it was hard to breathe. On morning I was alone and getting ready for work. I decided to take a a brief time out and lay down to catch my breath. Within minutes I was screaming and crying and I couldn't breathe. I called my nurse and she had me come right in. Justin and my mom got me there as quick as they could. Once there they decided to take me to the surgery center for a procedure to drain the fluids. I had that same surgery two days later when they fluid came back.
Needless to say that was a two week period that I would love to forget. :)
On a few positive notes though....Justin and I went to our first ever NFL game. We went to the Texans game on Sunday. It was tough on me to walk that much but it felt great to get out of the house and just walk. I had been so weak lately that I couldn't sit up for more than a few minutes at a time. The game was much needed...and we won!
But even better than football, exercise and feeling better...out of our 12 fertilized embryos we had 10 make it to the blastocyst stage and into the freezer!!! Dr Dunn was expecting us to get 5-7, so getting 10 really made me hopeful for the FET (frozen embryo transfer) coming up in Dec/Feb. When we are ready for the transfer they will thaw a few eggs at a time until they get 2 good ones. I can't wait to find out when the transfer will be.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Unexpected plans
I planned to trigger on Monday for my retrieval today. However, my E2 was over 14,000 and they were concerned about how painful it would be to ovulate. They decided to let me "coast" another day or so to see if the E2 would stabilize. I was disappointed but I had to do what they said. The nurse called me back and told me that Dr Dunn wanted to meet with me. I was pretty glad to hear that. When you are doing IVF, the only contact you have at the doctors office is the nurse and the ultrasound tech. Your doctor will review your chart regularly but you won't see him until the retrieval. I just knew that Dr Dunn wanted to meet with me to encourage me and let me know that everything was going to be fine.
I went in on Tuesday and waited almost 2 hours before he saw me. I was in really bad pain and the chairs in the waiting room just added to my discomfort. When we finally sat down to talk to he was concerned about the OHSS. He felt my belly and my hips to see how much swelling there was. He told me that they needed to wait for my E2 to level out before they would do the retrieval. He doubted it would be before Thursday. (He didn't know that I had been praying all night and all morning that God would control my E2 and make it exactly what it needed to be for retrieval). He also informed me that I would not be having a transfer right away. This was bad news to me. I have been giving myself three shots a day, taking two pills at night, going to the dr 3-4 times a week, including on the weekends, and I have been enduring all the pain from the enlarged ovaries and now he was telling me they wouldn't do the transfer next week.
He went on to tell me that they would freeze all my embryos and we would do the transfer in December, once my body returned to normal. He thinks it is too risky to do it now.
Yesterday evening I got a call from my nurse saying that the ER would be on Thursday (thanks for answering my prayer God!). So I took the trigger shot last night and now I wait. The ER is tomorrow at 10:30 am. I have decided to pray that my body would heal now so that the transfer could be next week. I am ok with it being in December if it has to be, but if I can heal now, why wait?
The success rate of a fresh cycle is better than a frozen cycle and that is my main concern. I don't want to take the chance of losing my best eggs in the freeze and thaw process. I've gone through too much already.
By Friday we will know how many eggs fertilized. I can't wait to get the results!!! I am going to ask Dr Dunn to reexamine me before he freezes the eggs to see if there is any chance of doing the transfer now. The eggs will be transfered to my uterus or frozen on Tuesday, Nov 13.
Tomorrow is a big day for me. Not only because I may feel some relief from the retrieval, but because tomorrow is the day my children will be conceived.
Lord - watch over my babies as they are conceived. I pray that the right sperm goes in the right egg and the children that you have planned for me are created perfectly in Your image.
I went in on Tuesday and waited almost 2 hours before he saw me. I was in really bad pain and the chairs in the waiting room just added to my discomfort. When we finally sat down to talk to he was concerned about the OHSS. He felt my belly and my hips to see how much swelling there was. He told me that they needed to wait for my E2 to level out before they would do the retrieval. He doubted it would be before Thursday. (He didn't know that I had been praying all night and all morning that God would control my E2 and make it exactly what it needed to be for retrieval). He also informed me that I would not be having a transfer right away. This was bad news to me. I have been giving myself three shots a day, taking two pills at night, going to the dr 3-4 times a week, including on the weekends, and I have been enduring all the pain from the enlarged ovaries and now he was telling me they wouldn't do the transfer next week.
He went on to tell me that they would freeze all my embryos and we would do the transfer in December, once my body returned to normal. He thinks it is too risky to do it now.
Yesterday evening I got a call from my nurse saying that the ER would be on Thursday (thanks for answering my prayer God!). So I took the trigger shot last night and now I wait. The ER is tomorrow at 10:30 am. I have decided to pray that my body would heal now so that the transfer could be next week. I am ok with it being in December if it has to be, but if I can heal now, why wait?
The success rate of a fresh cycle is better than a frozen cycle and that is my main concern. I don't want to take the chance of losing my best eggs in the freeze and thaw process. I've gone through too much already.
By Friday we will know how many eggs fertilized. I can't wait to get the results!!! I am going to ask Dr Dunn to reexamine me before he freezes the eggs to see if there is any chance of doing the transfer now. The eggs will be transfered to my uterus or frozen on Tuesday, Nov 13.
Tomorrow is a big day for me. Not only because I may feel some relief from the retrieval, but because tomorrow is the day my children will be conceived.
Lord - watch over my babies as they are conceived. I pray that the right sperm goes in the right egg and the children that you have planned for me are created perfectly in Your image.
Monday, November 5, 2007
OHSS
I went to the doctor on Saturday and was up to 30 eggs. (when I say eggs, I mean follicles. Eggs is just easier to understand). I have been in a lot of pain the past few days but today is probably the worst. I have 20 or so large eggs and the rest are smaller. Tonight will be the night I trigger.
The trigger shot is the one that causes my body to ovulate. Then 36 hours later is the retrieval. I can't wait for the retrieval! No one should have to go around feeling this kind of torture. I'm so happy to have responded so well to the medicines, but I hate that it comes at such a huge price. I have over stimulated. This is called OHSS. Here is what I am going through (copied from Wikipedia):
The trigger shot is the one that causes my body to ovulate. Then 36 hours later is the retrieval. I can't wait for the retrieval! No one should have to go around feeling this kind of torture. I'm so happy to have responded so well to the medicines, but I hate that it comes at such a huge price. I have over stimulated. This is called OHSS. Here is what I am going through (copied from Wikipedia):
Symptoms
Symptoms are set into three categories: mild, moderate, and severe. Mild symptoms include abdominal bloating and feeling of fullness, nausea, diarrhoea, and slight weight gain. Moderate symptoms include excessive weight gain (weight gain of greater than 2 pounds per day), increased abdominal girth, vomiting, diarrhoea, darker urine and less in amount, excessive thirst, and skin and/or hair feeling dry (in addition to mild symptoms). Severe symptoms are fullness/bloating above the waist, shortness of breath, urination significantly darker or has ceased, calf and chest pains, marked abdominal bloating or distention, and lower abdominal pains (in addition to mild and moderate symptoms).
Friday, November 2, 2007
Three more U/S
I've had three ultrasounds this week. Monday I went in and they found 4 eggs. That is really good considering they weren't expecting to find any this soon. My E2 - which is the hormone that tells you how many eggs you have was kind of high, so they lowered my stims from 200 to 150.
I was pretty proud of my four eggs but secretly concerned that I only had 4. Other girls I know have up to 50 or so by the time of retrieval, would I have that many?
I went back on Wednesday and thank God, I had 12 eggs!!! That's 8 more chances of pregnancy than I had on Monday. I can't believe I grew 8 eggs in 48 hours. Go me! :P That definitely explains all the swelling in my abdomen. Did I mention that I have started wearing maternity pants. Michelle was awesome enough to let me borrow several pairs of her maternity pants and man did I need them this week. I look like I am about 4-5 months pregnant. (oh, and they reduced my stims to 75 today as well, my E2 was really high)
Today, Friday, was my most recent appointment. I was hoping that my 12 eggs would have grown by leaps and bounds and were ready to be retrieved soon. Well, that isn't exactly what happened. However, something great did happen, I have 11 more eggs for a grand total of 23!!! I was so excited when I found out that I can't stop smiling. 23 eggs..that is 2 dozen mini-me's :P When the nurse came in to tell me the results of the scan she said, and I quote (and paraphrase:) "WOW, you are doing great! Are you feeling uncomfortable" Uh, yeah, I feel pain every time I stand, sit, talk, walk or go to the bathroom. But that's ok, I'm just preparing for pregnancy!!! Now I am waiting on a call back from my nurse to see if my stims will be decreased again tonight.
Tomorrow I have yet another ultrasound at 8:30 am and then again on Monday. I really hope that I am able to trigger this weekend for a Monday or Tuesday retrieval. That would be so great!!!
Oh, and about the shots...OUCH! The latest one, Follistim, hurts! It feels like a bee sting. Poor Justin had to walk in on me while I had a little mini-meltdown the other night. Sometimes IVF just becomes so overwhelming. Between daily shots (I'm up to 3 a day now), people asking me if I am pregnant yet, the finances, the emotions and the physical pain of it all, I wonder how I am doing this. How can I face this challenge every day? What makes me keep doing it? Am I Superwoman and no one informed me? :)
I was pretty proud of my four eggs but secretly concerned that I only had 4. Other girls I know have up to 50 or so by the time of retrieval, would I have that many?
I went back on Wednesday and thank God, I had 12 eggs!!! That's 8 more chances of pregnancy than I had on Monday. I can't believe I grew 8 eggs in 48 hours. Go me! :P That definitely explains all the swelling in my abdomen. Did I mention that I have started wearing maternity pants. Michelle was awesome enough to let me borrow several pairs of her maternity pants and man did I need them this week. I look like I am about 4-5 months pregnant. (oh, and they reduced my stims to 75 today as well, my E2 was really high)
Today, Friday, was my most recent appointment. I was hoping that my 12 eggs would have grown by leaps and bounds and were ready to be retrieved soon. Well, that isn't exactly what happened. However, something great did happen, I have 11 more eggs for a grand total of 23!!! I was so excited when I found out that I can't stop smiling. 23 eggs..that is 2 dozen mini-me's :P When the nurse came in to tell me the results of the scan she said, and I quote (and paraphrase:) "WOW, you are doing great! Are you feeling uncomfortable" Uh, yeah, I feel pain every time I stand, sit, talk, walk or go to the bathroom. But that's ok, I'm just preparing for pregnancy!!! Now I am waiting on a call back from my nurse to see if my stims will be decreased again tonight.
Tomorrow I have yet another ultrasound at 8:30 am and then again on Monday. I really hope that I am able to trigger this weekend for a Monday or Tuesday retrieval. That would be so great!!!
Oh, and about the shots...OUCH! The latest one, Follistim, hurts! It feels like a bee sting. Poor Justin had to walk in on me while I had a little mini-meltdown the other night. Sometimes IVF just becomes so overwhelming. Between daily shots (I'm up to 3 a day now), people asking me if I am pregnant yet, the finances, the emotions and the physical pain of it all, I wonder how I am doing this. How can I face this challenge every day? What makes me keep doing it? Am I Superwoman and no one informed me? :)
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