Tuesday, September 24, 2013

BFN

I went in this morning for my blood test.  As the day went on I had a pretty good feeling the results were negative.  They seem to call a lot earlier when the results are positive.  Sure enough I got a call and the results were negative.  I am off of all the progesterone and estrogen but will continue my levothyroxine, baby aspirin, and other vitamins.  Handsome and I have an appointment with Dr. Behera on Monday so we will see what our possible next steps are then.

ttyl :(

Monday, September 16, 2013

Princess Duty

Our transfer was Friday afternoon.  I took off Friday and Monday so I could relax and have let people at work know that I cannot do any lifting for the next week.  FTC works a little differently than ARMS in terms of the transfer.  First there have been the additional medications and a lot more blood tests to verify all my hormone levels are correct.  Second during the actual transfer (which is done on a full bladder for the imaging equipment) they let you pee right after and you don't have to lay down for an hour or use a bed pan.  They put you on princess duty or couch rest.  They want you taking it easy but not to be afraid to take short walks around the house or switch positions while on the couch.  Afterwards they ask that you do no lifting over 15lbs or heavy exercise until the pregnancy test.  (Mine will be on the 24th so keep your fingers crossed!)

Our transfer was scheduled for 1:15 but we arrived early for my acupuncture.  We checked in next door at the surgical center and then went over to FTC to await my acupuncturist.  The needles went in easily and I relaxed while Handsome read.  After about 30 minutes I went back over to the surgical center and we got ready for the transfer.  Handsome had to put on a gown, hairnet and booties on over his clothes while I had to change into a gown.  Once they were ready I got onto the table and they put lots of ultrasound jelly on my stomach.  They said my bladder was nice and full which was NOT news to me.  Luckily the guy holding the ultrasound dealie was good at getting a picture without pressing to hard on my bladder.  It was a little weird to me that he was a guy, and not just a guy but a big burly guy with a  beard.  I am so used to women with the exception of a few male doctors who have never been burly and have never had a beard either.  The embryos were transferred and we got to watch it on the screen - I have always thought the picture looked like a spaceship but Dr. Behera described it as shooting stars and I liked that better so that is how I thought about it. Afterwards I had acupuncture again and when the needles were placed and the acupuncturist turned them it was like a ZING!!! through my whole body.

Now the not-so-good news is that Dr. Behera said the embryos did not look of good quality to her embryologist.  She seemed so apologetic and said that her embryologist has very high standards and has never rated anything as better than good (no "very good" or "excellent").  She must have seen our faces fall because we had been told by ARMS that they were of OK to GOOD quality but considering we heard that after pestering them and had never been made aware of the quality from the beginning I do not know if I believe them.  She said that lower quality embryos didn't mean lower quality babies it just meant that the probability of them sticking (implanting into the uterus lining) is lower.  So I have been visualizing my embryos as little grass seeds (you know, the ones you brush up against and they stick to your clothes, your skin, whatever and are almost impossible to brush off).  Still I respected the fact that she was giving us all the facts, that she told us what was going on at each step and she gave us hugs.  It feels as though she really cares.  I know Handsome feels the same because afterwards he said he wished we had gone to FTC from the beginning or at least much earlier.  We feel as though our chances are much better with them.  We are keeping our hopes up (even Handsome) and wishing for the best on the 24th. ttyl

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Rock on Uterus!

Let me update you on what has happened since my last post.  I had started the Lupron shots which used a subcutaneous needle in the lower stomach area.  They weren't too bad but the needles seemed dull and my skin would dimple until they finally punched through.  We began to run out of those needles and the FTC gave me some new ones that said, I kid you not, "Comfort Tip".  The comfort tip needles did seem to go in better and definitely didn't hurt as much.  I had no bruises once we switched to the "comfort tip" needles. 

I took my last birth control pill on August 21st and had my baseline ultrasound the following Friday.  The ultrasound technician said that I may or may not have a period but since she measured my lining at 7mm the said it was likely.  I also was going to start the estrogen patches that Saturday.  By the way the patches totally suck.  They are fine going on but the edges are sticky and they move a little when you are moving around so lint from my clothes (especially my jeans) sticks around the edge and I get the weird blue halos around the edges of the patches.  Plus they are a pain to take off (and I mean that literally) and leave red marks on my skin and I have to use rubbing alcohol to get rid of the halos.  The ultrasound technician said that at my ultrasound on the 6th she wanted to see a lining at least 8mm and with three white lines...  To be perfectly honest I wasn't quite sure what she meant.  I started tracking all my medications using the nifty spreadsheet they gave me with sparkly stickers I got at Target.  Handsome said I could just check it off but obviously he doesn't understand that sparkly stickers work the best!
 I had a blood draw on the 28th and they called to let me know my estrogen levels weren't as high as they would like.  They added two Estrace pills a day and I started my prescribed estrogen cream that Saturday.  Handsome and I also got a treat that weekend and were invited up with friends to stay at a cabin up in Flagstaff with them.  I had been wanting to make an owl for their son for a while and this gave me the final push not to put it off so for the week leading up to our time away in Flagstaff I made them "Lewis" (his name may be changed by them at a later date).  It's a bit hard to see the lion on the butt, but it is there.  I should have used thicker floss.


On our way back from Flagstaff we stopped in Prescott to see the art show at the square and had dinner at one of the breweries there.  We both got a small cold but luckily mine is almost gone which is good since I start the prednisone soon.  Every morning I take 7 pills and until yesterday also got my Lupron shot.  Today we switched from Lupron to Progesterone in Oil (PIO) which is a much larger needle and goes into the muscle of the butt.  I had an ultrasound and blood test Friday.  The ultrasound tech said my lining looked gorgeous, it had the three white lines she was looking for and was 9.5mm, she was so effusive in her praise I felt a little proud of my uterus.  Like, ROCK ON UTERUS!!!  So every morning I take 7 pills, a PIO shot, and progesterone cream; every night I take 3 pills, progesterone cream, and estrogen cream.  I switch out my estrogen patches (two of the sticky buggers) every 3 days and will start the prednisone on Tuesday.  Below you can see almost all of my medications (I think only the Lupron and Prednisone are missing).
Everybody keep your fingers crossed for Friday the 13th!  13 has always been a good number for me, after all Handsome and I married on October the 13th.  ttyl!