The BIG 3-0!

Today's my birthday! I'm at work right now and I pray this day goes by quickly. I'm getting my eyebrows done after work and then getting home to cook. My BFF, her hubby and son are coming over today to spend some time with me. I can't drink or anything but that's ok!

Phantom symptoms

1) My face is acting up...I have tiny bumps all over my forehead that you can't see really but I can feel it especially when I'm washing my face.

2) I have tiny red bumps on my chest and collarbone area. They aren't itchy or anything...they're just there.

3) I had lots of trouble getting out of bed this morning...I felt my sleep pulling me back in. It was one of those deep heavy sleeps that feel like you're stuck in molasses. (If that makes sense).

4) Constipation (but I'm on progesterone so it could be from that)

I hate phantom symptoms. I've had them for each and every failed cycle. For 2 cycles I had times where I had a very strange metalic taste in my mouth. Sore boobs late in the 2ww. Lightheadedness.

Do I have sensitive skin that is prone to acne breakouts for all my life and can explain away my face bumps? Yes! Have I had these weird little red bumps on my chest and neck before? Yes! Have I ever been sleepy in the morning? Every day, yes! Have I ever been constipated? I'm now realizing, yes, I have been. I am very irregular!

So, you see, all phantom symptoms do is confuse you. They make you think you MUST be pregnant when in reality you may not be. There could be a ton of other reasons why you are having these reactions.

You just don't really know until you test...which I'm doing in 3 days. T&P please!

Oh my aching bum!

DH gave me my PIO shot last night (as he has every night since the ER) and this was the worst one yet! It was so painful going in and now it hurts as I sit here at work. Owie!! It's strange because, for the most part, they haven't really hurt at all. A little pinch going in and that's it. The right side has hurt slightly more than the left for some reason but last night...wow that hurt! I think we're going to stick to the left side for a few days.

In other news, I've been stressing about the absense of my boob soreness. Ever since the day after the trigger shot, I've had sore boobs. Makes sense since it's hcG, right? Well, I'm not sure exactly when it happened but the soreness went away. I think it stopped over the weekend because I definitely haven't felt it in the last few days. So maybe this means the trigger is out of my system? But I hope and pray that I'm pregnant so I hope to start feeling that tenderness again very soon. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything but it comforted me somehow.

DH and I decided that I'll POAS on Sunday morning which will be 10dp3dt with the beta scheduled for Monday morning. Please send Ts&Ps and any PPVs!

Confession time

Over the weekend, I was so bored! No, that's not the confession.

I was so bored I surfed the web more than I usually do. I ended up obsessively "window shopping" for maternity wear!

I know many of you out there dread maternity clothes...they're expensive, you just want to wear your own clothes for as long as possible, etc. Me? I want to wear maternity clothes now!! Well, not just for the sake of wearing them but because that means I'm pregnant! And people will know, and they will look at my round belly and say "awwwwwwwww".

Ok I just threw up a little in my mouth.

I really don't want people coming up to me and fawning over my expanding baby bump but I so want to be pregnant and wear maternity tees, tank tops, flowy dresses, etc. Even the sleep bras?! And I want a snoogle! Now!

::sigh:: I just want to be pregnant.

Maybe I am! We'll see this weekend.

Now for some maternity wear that I love:

These are from Motherhood Maternity

$40

$30

$20

$25

Guilt by McGriddle

I need someone to slap some sense into me please. I'm totally irrational.

I grabbed a McGriddle on my way out of the RE's office (the office is in a hospital which has a McD's on the first floor) for breakfast and ate it in the car while driving to work. While eating I guess I inhaled (not my proudest moment) a small piece of yummy syruppy goodness down the "wrong pipe". I had a coughing fit which then, somehow, led to a sneezing fit.

And, as you could probably guess, the only thing I could think of were my embryos! "Oh please don't dislodge little ones!"

That's what I get for buying a McGriddle for breakfast :(

Longest weekend EVER :-/

Hey peeps!

I'm back at work today (been off since Thursday's ET). This weekend felt soooooo long and I missed all the pretty weather just to come back out today to rainy and cold weather. Boooooo!

I watched the gorgeous days pass by from my couch. All in all though, it was pretty relaxing until I started feeling antsy and I just wanted to spring up off the bed or couch and hop around to get rid of some pent up energy. DH quickly put a stop to that each time telling me to get my butt back into bed or into the recliner.

Surprisingly, I didn't read any books at all. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. I just watched TV and some of our DVRed stuff too. DH rented Brothers on Thursday...that was a good movie! And on Friday my very pregnant and very good friend and her hubby came to visit us. I LOVE seeing her, she is the best! And I loved rubbing her belly (don't worry, I asked permission).

Saturday and Sunday are a blur of boredom and PIO shots. Dh was really great. He waited on me hand and foot. Oh yeah, we played a little Wii last night which brought my spirits up.

I went in this morning for my proesterone blood work. I hope they say that 1cc is fine and I don't have to increase the dosage. We'll see when they call me later.

My beta is in 1 week!! Ahhhhhh! I'm thinking of POAS on Sunday...I have to consult with the hubbs though. Hopefully we'll come to a decision that we're comfy with. I'm just so terrified of a negative result.

Today was the egg transfer!

I'm lying here now relaxing and allowing our little one's to snuggle into their new home!

The process was very similar to a pap smear or IUI. I didn't feel any pain. Here is the picture:
I have 2 other embroys that are good enough quality to freeze today. The rest are good and are going to be watched over the next couple of days to see how many more can be frozen.

I go to the RE on Monday morning for my progesterone bloodwork and then again on May 3rd for the beta!

Fertilization report!

11 eggs fertilized!! I'm ready to have 2 of those lovely embies transferred on Thursday!

I have to be there by 11:30am for a 12:30pm transfer. I can eat beforehand this time, which I'm happy about but again, no fragrances (so no deodorant). And I must arrive with a large bottle of water because they need a full bladder for the transfer! And although they don't prescribe bed rest, I will be on bed rest anyway so I am going to be out of work on Thursday and Friday.

Oh, and they confirmed that I will get a picture of the embies being transferred! Yippie!

Update: 3 of the remaining embroys made it to freeze :) 2 were day 3 freezes and 1 was a day 5 freeze.

My egg retrieval experience

Yesterday was my egg retrieval. I'll try to describe the experience as best I can (for those readers who are curious).

I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. I couldn't wear makeup, jewelry , or any fragrances including deodorant and hairspray. We got to the center at 8:30am and registered. I alomost had a little heart attack when the lady said our insurance was showing that we were rejected for IVF but then realized she had entered some incorrect info. It went through ok, thank God!

So we were in the waiting room for about 30-40 minutes before they called me in. They put a hospital bracelet on me (I don't think I've ever had that before). The nurse had me change into a gown (they made me really comfy with a robe and some socks. They took my blood pressure, amd asked some questions. The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and then my RE came in to say hi and chat for a minute or two. Then she walked me in to the procedure room and there were a bunch of other people there. I met the embryologist too.

It was kind of dim. They took my robe and I had to hold my gown closed behind me. I laid down on the bed and they had me stretch my arms straight out. On one arm they took my blood pressure again while the anesthesiologist put my IV in. My RE came then and told me I'd be falling asleep soon and that the next thing I'd remember is waking up in recovery. She was right!

I woke up in a large room. I wasn't in pain or anything. I still had my IV in my arm. I think I took a couple of short naps (maybe 5-10 minutes each...at least that's how it felt to me). The nurse then came and took my blood pressure again and checked my IV and took my pulse. She said something like, so 23 eggs?! I was like, what? She said, yeah they told you before how many were retrieved....23. Ok, I definitely didn't remember that. 23 eggs!! She pulled up my gown while I was laying there to check the gigantic pad they had placed between my legs to check for bleeding then she helped me put on these weird hospital gauzy underwear. Then she wheeled me into another room where she helped me off the stretcher and into a chair.

They had crackers and juice waiting for me (oh, and tylenol). Another nurse then took my blood pressure yet again and she called my DH in to sit with me. After a while she said I'd have to pee to be allowed to go home so I peed and she had to check the toilet before I flushed to see if there was blood or anything. And she had to check my pad (both were clean). She then took my IV out and then I changed and went home!

I closed my eyes the whole ride home and felt woozy. I was also feeling some abdominal discomfort so I was kind of walking hunched over up the stairs into my apartment. I immediately went to the bedroom and laid down. Unfortunately, I felt sick right away and promptly threw up my crackers and cranberry juice into the toilet. I felt a little better after that but overall, I felt like I had a slight hangover all day. Also, whenever I'd go pee I would feel strong pressure in my abdomen after wards. I basically stayed in bed all day and napped on and off. I barely got up to do much at all.

I had to take Doryx and Medrol for the first time that night which are pills. The Doryx was fine but the Medrol tastes disgusting! Take it with juice or something if you ever have to take that med not with water like I did. Yuck!!

I also had to do my first PIO shot that night. Oh boy, the anticipation was so horrible I was whining like a child. DH started getting a little nervous about the amount of time that the needle was exposed to the air while waiting for me to turn around. Finally I turned around, bit down on a throw pillow, and he'd done it. It hurt a little coming out actually. I rubbed it a little and put a heating pad on it but I don't think it was enough because I am a little sore there today.

Follie check #4 & ER scheduled!

The RE only payed attention to the follies with the potential to mature fully by Mnday. I'm pretty positive that the RE just totally ignored the 10's and 11's because she counted 20 follies; 17 of those 20 follies are already over 16mm!! 2 are 15 and 1 is 12 so the 15's will definitely catch up and the 12 might too! Here is the breakdown:

1 @ 12mm, 2 @15mm, 2 @ 16mm, 4 @ 17mm, 3 @ 18mm, 3 @ 19mm, 3 @ 20mm, and 2 @ 21mm

I am done with the Follistim and Lupron. I trigger tonight at 10:30pm and then we go again for b/w and u/s tomorrow morning. The ER is scheduled for Monday at 8:30am!!! So that means the ET should be on Thursday!

Follie check #3 = 23 follies!

Ok so (by the way this feels like the count down to New Year's or something - well, to me at least!) today my lining is at 9mm still but I have some new follies growing! I've got 23 all 12mm or more! Here's the breakdown:

4 @ 12mm, 5 @ 13mm, 2 @ 14mm, 3 @ 15mm, 1 @ 16mm, 4 @ 17mm, 3 @ 18mm

The RE says that I need about 1 more day of stimming (tonight) and I might even be triggering tomorrow night for an ER on Monday! I'm so excited!!

UPDATE: I stay on 125 units of Follistim with 5 of Lupron tonight and back to the RE for b/w & u/s tomorrow morning.

Follie check #2 = 18 follies!

My lining is at 9mm!

And here are my follies today:

2 @ 10mm, 2 @ 12mm, 4 @ 13mm, 5 @ 14mm, 4 @ 15mm, and 1 @ 16mm

UPDATE: They are having me reduce again to 125 units of Follistim from 150 (originally at 225), stay with 5 units of Lupron (thank God I got extra Lupron needles from my RE office today) and go back for b/w and u/s tomorrow.

Follie check = 13 maturing follies!

So far I have 13 follies cookin' in there! I really hope I get more. Right now there are:

2 @ 10mm, 3 @ 11mm, 6 @ 12 mm, and 2 @ 13 mm.

My lining is at 6mm. I'll update this post later on today with my next protocol and appointment date.

UPDATE: They told me to stay at 150 Follistim and 5 Lupron for tonight and come back in for b/w and u/s tomorrow morning.

Update: My IVF cycle

So Lupron has been a piece of cake so far, thank God! With all the horror stories I'd been hearing I was so nervous to start that one. I think the needle is a tiny bit thicker than the Follistim needle because sometimes I have to push a little harder to get it in, but other than that...no problems.

I started Follistim at 225 units on Friday night with half the Lupron dose (5units) and I had my first monitoring appointment this morning. My lining is at 5mm and I have about 20 follies less than 11 at the moment. I think my largest so far is only at about 9mm but it's still early. They're going to call me later today for my protocol for the next couple of days.

UPDATE: They called and told me to reduce to 150 Follistim with the 5units of Lupron. I go back Wednesday morning for b/w and u/s.

At this point, I really think we may be looking at an ER this weekend. I'm excited about the ER but nervous about 2 things. (1) the PIO injections, and (2) I am supposed to do a presentation to our board of trustees on the 21st and I'm nervous that the ER/ET may land on or around that day.