It's a Go!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing husband!! He's 33 today. We've kept our celebrating to the minimum since it's on a Monday and we're in the midst of another cycle. We agreed not to do presents this year as the cost of infertility treatments (and hopefully a child) is enough. But, I started feeling guilty so I decided to make it a day of service. Food service, that is. How does the saying go? "The way to your man's heart is through his belly?" Well, that was my motto today. I woke up early and made scrambled eggs, bacon, and a large coffee to-go. I pulled the balloon that was hiding in my trunk out to surprise him while he was eating this morning. On the way home from work, I picked up some of the best cheesecake in the world, which he still doesn't know about. I think we'll eat that after doing my injections. For dinner, I made his favorite meal: chicken pot pie, served with a large glass of Pinot Noir (wine for him, water for me). He got two cards,  one from me and one from the dog. Yes, I'm that girl. He's a good dog-daddy and deserves some loving from our puppy. From what I can tell, he loved it. I'm hoping all the goodness in his belly made up for not doing gifts this year.

            


IVF Update
My first monitoring appointment went well today! I was so nervous going in. The doctor that did the ultrasound was trying to make small talk and I couldn't even think to converse with him. If I recall correctly, I made a joke about feeling funky and cheering on Michael Phelps while doing injections each night. It was definitely an awkward conversation.

Before he started the ultrasound, I let him know that I have 2 cysts. As this is not my regular doctor, I thought it best to let him know. There was no way I was going to let him mistake a cyst for a dominant follicle and cancel my cycle. He started with my right ovary. There were so many follicles! My right ovary is always the sleepy one that gives us 2-4 tiny follicles. Today, there were at least 8 follicles on that ovary, all decent sized. I couldn't believe what I was seeing or hearing. Then, he moved the wand to my left ovary. The cyst popped up immediately. He looked shocked then said, "That must be the cyst. We'll keep looking." Thank goodness I remembered to tell him it was there. He started calling out the measurements of the follicles on my left ovary and I lost count. This has never happened to me before. I've never had more than 10 follicles during an IVF cycle. I don't even know what to think!

The nurse called this afternoon. My Estrogen is at 845, Progesterone is 0.1. They want me to continue injecting meds the same way. I'll add in a full vial of Cetrotide tonight and continue this until Wednesday's appointment. They will do another ultrasound and blood draw on Wednesday and will update the protocol from there. BEST DAY EVER!!

The only bad thing about this cycle is the Cetrotide that starts tonight. This stuff made me break-out really bad during our second IVF cycle. My stomach was covered in red bumps and was extremely itchy. I'm dreading it! I decided to take a before and after picture to show the difference Cetrotide makes. Honestly, my stomach is already looking pretty gross with all the red bumps and bruising. It's so sexy, I can't even begin to understand how my husband is resisting me at this point. ;)

Ew. Sorry you have to see this.

Somehow, I ran out of Menopur. I realized on Friday that I only had enough to make it through tonight. Since the pharmacy is closed over the weekend, I had to put in a special overnight order today. Bye, bye $$$$$$. Hello, follicles!

Day 6 of Stims. Added Cetrotide. 4 injections a night.