My infertility battle started about a year and a half ago. My sister had just had a baby and it sparked the desire for hubby and I to start TTC. It was just before Christmas when my co-worker sent me a link to a website to check when I would ovulate. At the time it seemed so clinical and took the fun out of things, but I filled it out anyway. It showed my fertile days being right over Christmas, and it even showed which days I would be more likely to have a girl or a boy. It seemed so easy. Well Christmas came and went, as did 6 more months of TTC when I decided it might be time to go to my OB and see what the problem was. I was referred to Dr. Swanson at Conceptions for further tests. I met with Dr. Swanson and I really liked him as well as the Conceptions staff. He said IUI would give us a great chance of conceiving based on what they knew of our infertility battle (looking back, it amazes me how little we still knew, but I will get to that later). First two IUI's were unsuccessful, the second of which caused a large cyst from the Clomid. I had to take a month off, which seemed so upsetting at the time - I wanted a baby and wanted one now. After a month off, we kept going with two more attempts at IUI with Femara. My body handled the Femara much better than the Clomid. I got one less follicle (2 instead of 3), but I ovulated both months on my own, and my lining stayed thicker on Femara. Regardless of the "perfect" situation, we had now had 4 unsuccessful IUI's. Hubs and I reconvened with Dr. Swanson who said the dreaded words - IVF. B didn't handle it as well as me and it took him several days to even be able to talk about that as the possibility. In his eyes, we were healthy 27 year olds and there wasn't anything "wrong enough" with us to warrant such drastic measures as IVF. When he finally got more on board, we decided that we should at least get a second opinion for IVF. We are fortunate enough to live in south Denver near some of the best fertility clinics in the world. We decided to go consult with Dr. Schoolcraft at CCRM. He has patients fly in from all over the world to see him, so it seemed silly to live 5 miles away and not at least hear what he would have to say about our case. We got an appointment 6 weeks later (he's a busy man after all!)
At our consult with Dr. Schoolcraft I was very nervous - it felt like we were meeting a movie star or celebrity with how famous he was. He looked at our paper from Conceptions and immediately noticed a few things that were worth a closer look. We decided to come back for the one day workup at CCRM a week later to spend a day learning all about IVF and getting more tests done. Some we had already done at Conceptions, which is frustrating, but it seemed worth a try. Our one day workup was a great day. They ran a ton of tests and took a lot of blood, but the best part was meeting our IVF nurse, Annie, and meeting with Dr. Schoolcraft. He seemed to think with the additional information that we would be great candidates for IVF, but it made sense now why our IUI's had failed, which somehow gave me peace of mind. Next it was time to start the meds...because of a blood clotting disorder that I have, I would have to take Lovenox in addition to the other fertility meds.
I have never been a fan of needles. When I found out I would have to be giving myself shots I had a freak out moment. Annie thought we should start Lupron end of June, when I would be traveling in Indianapolis for work. Not only did I have to give myself a shot, but I had to figure out how to pack it on ice, travel with it, store it in my hotel room, and give myself a shot every night...yikes! I'm happy to say the Lupron shot is the best of all of the shots that you take - the needle is about half as big making it much less scary than some of the others. After the first shot, I was elated - I could do this.
I started my stim drugs last Saturday (8 days ago). My protocol was to take one menopur in the morning, 75 Gonal F, Lupron, and Lovenox at night. The day after the menopur I was exhausted. I took a 3 hour nap, and I am not a napper. That night I woke up in the middle of the night feeling nauseous, sweaty, shaky, and upset stomach. I spent a good portion of the night on the cool bathroom floor because it was close to the toilet in case I got sick and the cool tile felt so good on my clammy body. I was so nervous because I was starting a new job a few days later and didn't want to feel sick starting this new job. Thankfully, I have done very well since, and after talking with my nurse she said it is common to feel sick from those first doses.
I just found out today that my tentative retrieval date I was first given (7/12) is going to be pushed at least 2 days out because my follicles aren't big enough yet. This unfortunately creates a bit of a hiccup in the process because I have to figure out a way to explain to my new boss why my surgery date is changing (he doesn't know what it's for). B also starts a new job the following week and may not be able to come to the transfer, which is also a bummer.
I feel like I just typed my life's story in a few pages, phew!
No comments:
Post a Comment