So we had our third ultrasound yesterday and my lining is good to go.
So I will continue the estrogen patches, four estrogen pills per day,
lupron, baby aspirin and the prenatal vitamins. And now Leslie is to
start growing some eggs. The doctor had her stop her birth control pill
after last Wednesday and she actually started her period on Wednesday.
The doctor explained this was normal and expected in fact. We had an
estrogen test and an ultrasound and Leslie is good to go. I could
actually see the potential babies (eggs) and the doctor was very
pleased. Next step-follistim. Payback time :).
Follistim is referred to as liquid gold for good reason---it was over two grand for the medication. It came with a carrying case---nice touch but I would have rather they just took the fifteen bucks off the price. I read the instructions for the follistim twice before Leslie came home. I had the follistim stored in the fridge so I took the vial out to thaw as the injection is more painful when the medication is cold. When Leslie came home she was nervous for her first shot. I think I took the "dart like motion" instruction a little too serious as her eyes really wound up when I was going in for the puncture. There was a little bleeding at the site but it wasn't painful. Our next doctor appointment is on Monday.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Giving myself a shot
Leslie had to leave for work early one morning and I decided to sleep in. When I woke up I thought, hey, how hard could it be, I'll just give myself my lupron. So I prepped the needle and applied the alcohol pad to my stomach and I was ready to go except I could not give myself the shot. I was coaching myself outloud and even tried three attempts but I could not do it. Twenty minutes later and I realized I needed to get ready for work. I tried Leslie's phone to see how far away she was and was even planning my backup plan to call our friend Val to come over and administer the shot. Luckily Leslie wasn't far so she turned around and came home to administer the shot. Even if it was a pain for her, I know she was super happy to know that I needed her to give me the shot. She likes to feel needed :).
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Need more time to build the uterine lining
So I have been on Lupron for approximately three weeks now and estrogen and baby aspirin for approximately two weeks. We had our follow up ultrasound to check the uterine lining and I was just shy of the "seven" target that my doctor was looking for. I had the three layers but she wants to see my uterine lining above seven before Leslie starts to grow eggs.
We were very close so it was a judgment call, however, with how much we are paying we do not want to rush the process. We have been keeping track of the expenses thus far for doctors appointments, sperm (don't forget about the shipping and freezing costs), and medications and we are now over $20,000 in. Here's to hoping that we are successful with our first IVF. In the meantime, we have Leslie's follistim in the fridge ready and waiting for my uterine lining.
I do not have far to go so the doctor increased my estrogen to four pills per day (from three) and prescribed two estrogen patches that I change every three days. I was experiencing hot flashes and I developed a rash when I first started taking the estrogen. In addition, I was pretty short fused after taking it about a week. So Leslie was less than pleased with the thought of an increased dose of estrogen with a presumably increased level of side effects. After two days I am starting to have headaches and the hot flashes are more prominent. But hey, hopefully this means my uterine lining is growing and at our next appointment (Friday) we will hear that we can start growing eggs :).
We were very close so it was a judgment call, however, with how much we are paying we do not want to rush the process. We have been keeping track of the expenses thus far for doctors appointments, sperm (don't forget about the shipping and freezing costs), and medications and we are now over $20,000 in. Here's to hoping that we are successful with our first IVF. In the meantime, we have Leslie's follistim in the fridge ready and waiting for my uterine lining.
I do not have far to go so the doctor increased my estrogen to four pills per day (from three) and prescribed two estrogen patches that I change every three days. I was experiencing hot flashes and I developed a rash when I first started taking the estrogen. In addition, I was pretty short fused after taking it about a week. So Leslie was less than pleased with the thought of an increased dose of estrogen with a presumably increased level of side effects. After two days I am starting to have headaches and the hot flashes are more prominent. But hey, hopefully this means my uterine lining is growing and at our next appointment (Friday) we will hear that we can start growing eggs :).
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Getting up to speed
Leslie and I have been married for almost two years and are still madly in love. I am 29 and Leslie just turned 28. When we first decided we were ready to become parents, we had lots to consider. We decided that we wanted to try to conceive a child through reciprocal ivf where we will use Leslie's eggs and I will be the carrier.
We had our first appointment with the fertility doctor in November of 2011. We identified what our plans were (at the time it was to begin the process one year from the date of this appointment). She went through the process with us and then started in our medical histories. I had just had my Mirena IUD removed just two months prior and was expecting regular periods (though it had been years since I had regular periods---I absolutely LOVED my Mirena). I was taking wellbutrin (anti-depressant) and ambien which we learned I would need to kick prior to starting the process. Leslie did not have regular periods and was on medication for hypothyroidism. Her doctors were still investigating why she wasn't experiencing regular periods and the fertility doctor retorted immediately-"well you have PCOS." We found it odd that this doctor who hadn't performed any physical examination could just through out a diagnosis but we took the diagnosis to her primary care physicians and it was later confirmed that she does have PCOS-polycystic ovary syndrome. The fertility doctor assured us that she has experience working with patients who have PCOS but cautioned that she will need to monitor Leslie very closely during the egg growing phase as the procedure does have the potential to be life threatening. We left the appointment knowing that we really didn't have to start the process until September of 2012; we had one more year to do whatever we wanted.
After three months of "doing whatever we wanted" we realized we didn't know what we were waiting for. So in February I kicked the wellbutrin and the ambien. I stopped taking them during a week long relaxing vacation which was a great opportunity for me as I didn't have the stresses of work to deal with. In March of 2012 we emailed the fertility doctor and indicated we were going to start the process. First step: no more caffeine or alcohol. We had one last hoorah on St. Patrick's Day and consumed a sufficient amount of green beer and jameson such that we had no desire to drink for weeks later. The caffeine was another story. Leslie and I both drink caffeine every morning at work; I drink black tea and Leslie drinks coffee. But ultimately after three days of headaches, we had kicked the last of our vices.
Next we had to make an appointment with our primary care physician to complete all of the bloodwork that the fertility clinic needed. We went through the primary care physician to see if we could get the tests covered by insurance. My tests came back as hoped. Leslie's tests came back and we had to have a meeting with the fertility doctor to discuss the results. The bloodwork confirmed that Leslie definitely has PCOS and that she is pre-pre-diabetic. Leslie was already taking 1000mg of metformin and the fertility doctor upped it to 2000mg. In addition, she gave the directive that Leslie had to drop weight immediately. When we first met with the fertility doctor, Leslie was a solid 198lbs. Leslie and I had just completed our fourth season of playing women's professional tackle football and Leslie was the star running back and middle linebacker. So Leslie started a low carb diet and after a month or so had already dropped the ten pounds the doctor was requesting (2 1/2 months later and she's still going strong (another ten pounds down)---so proud of her!).
In April of 2012, we selected our sperm donor. I am 1/2 puerto rican and we wanted to find a hispanic donor. We were looking for someone tall, smart, handsome, and well educated. We decided to go through the California Cryobank. We selected Don Or and had the goods shipped to our fertility clinic for frozen keeping while we prepared our bodies.
In May of 2012 we had all of our ducks in a row. We were waiting for my period to start as normal and on May 15th it did---I have never been so happy to get my period, I was actually giddy in the bathroom stall. So I started my birthcontrol pills right away and scheduled my sonohysterogram for May 24, 2012. In the meantime, the fertility clinic ordered the medications I will need in the process, including all of the needles (yikes). On the day of the sonohysterogram, Leslie and I were both sitting in the examination room (well, I was sans pants). A sonohysterogram is an ultrasound procedure that can determine if there are abnormalities inside the uterus that might interfere with pregnancy. Using a speculum, a very then, soft, flexible plastic catheter will be inserted through the vagina and cervix into the lower part of the uterine cavity. The speculum is then carefully removed so as not to disturb the catheter. A vaginal ultrasound probe is then placed into the vagina. Through the catheter, a small amount of saline (sterile salt water) is injected into the uterine cavity to separate the walls. The hardest part of the procedure for me was the speculum but I would say I experienced "mild discomfort." I have a pretty high pain tolerance (after you tear your acl and then break your leg playing football, you learn the difference between hurt and injured and pain becomes relative) and the doctor was pretty surprised that I wasn't in more pain or nauseous from the procedure. My uterus looked good so we were happy.
I continued the birth control pills and I gotta say that I was not to happy to be back on those puppies. I was on Apri--I think that's a generic for the Yaz pill. I put on about 5 pounds after starting the pill and my chest definitely went up a cup size. The boobs were sore and Leslie would say that I had the symptom the doctor explained I would have---whiny.
We started lupron injections on May 29, 2012 following an exciting white water rafting trip over Memorial Day weekend with Leslie's parents. We had the injection class the week before and we decided Leslie would give me the shot every morning. The shots are in the stomach and the needle itself is just a small insulin needle. The first one we hit a capillary which caused the point of entry to bleed and also resulted in bruising. But we haven't had any issue with any of the shots after that. I hear that these are nothing compared to the progresterone shots that are to follow. I overlapped with the birth control pills for two days and then that was done. I was spotting while I was taking the lupron and had a regular period as well which the nurse explained was completely normal.
Leslie hadn't had her period since March so they prescribed her provera to start her period and on June 4th we did our happy dance when she started her period. So she started her birth control pills on June 4th and she is waiting for me to get my lining ready so that she can start growing some eggs :).
After 10 days of 10u Lupron injections, on June 7th I had my first baseline visit and the trial transfer. The procedure itself lasted about five minutes and the fertility doctor said she was optimistic of the actual transfer based on the positioning of my uterus (whatever that means). I had a blooddraw to check my estrogen levels and those also came back as expected so in addition to the Lupron, I was to start taking 2 mg of estrogen pills three times a day and one baby aspirin a day.
So now you are up to speed. I am currently taking the lupron, estrogen pills, and aspirin. I have experienced hot flashes while taking the estrogen so far but who knows if the symptoms will continue. Our next ultrasound is on June 16th and if my lining still looks great, we can expect to start Leslie's egg growing phase on June 18th. Wish us luck!
We had our first appointment with the fertility doctor in November of 2011. We identified what our plans were (at the time it was to begin the process one year from the date of this appointment). She went through the process with us and then started in our medical histories. I had just had my Mirena IUD removed just two months prior and was expecting regular periods (though it had been years since I had regular periods---I absolutely LOVED my Mirena). I was taking wellbutrin (anti-depressant) and ambien which we learned I would need to kick prior to starting the process. Leslie did not have regular periods and was on medication for hypothyroidism. Her doctors were still investigating why she wasn't experiencing regular periods and the fertility doctor retorted immediately-"well you have PCOS." We found it odd that this doctor who hadn't performed any physical examination could just through out a diagnosis but we took the diagnosis to her primary care physicians and it was later confirmed that she does have PCOS-polycystic ovary syndrome. The fertility doctor assured us that she has experience working with patients who have PCOS but cautioned that she will need to monitor Leslie very closely during the egg growing phase as the procedure does have the potential to be life threatening. We left the appointment knowing that we really didn't have to start the process until September of 2012; we had one more year to do whatever we wanted.
After three months of "doing whatever we wanted" we realized we didn't know what we were waiting for. So in February I kicked the wellbutrin and the ambien. I stopped taking them during a week long relaxing vacation which was a great opportunity for me as I didn't have the stresses of work to deal with. In March of 2012 we emailed the fertility doctor and indicated we were going to start the process. First step: no more caffeine or alcohol. We had one last hoorah on St. Patrick's Day and consumed a sufficient amount of green beer and jameson such that we had no desire to drink for weeks later. The caffeine was another story. Leslie and I both drink caffeine every morning at work; I drink black tea and Leslie drinks coffee. But ultimately after three days of headaches, we had kicked the last of our vices.
Next we had to make an appointment with our primary care physician to complete all of the bloodwork that the fertility clinic needed. We went through the primary care physician to see if we could get the tests covered by insurance. My tests came back as hoped. Leslie's tests came back and we had to have a meeting with the fertility doctor to discuss the results. The bloodwork confirmed that Leslie definitely has PCOS and that she is pre-pre-diabetic. Leslie was already taking 1000mg of metformin and the fertility doctor upped it to 2000mg. In addition, she gave the directive that Leslie had to drop weight immediately. When we first met with the fertility doctor, Leslie was a solid 198lbs. Leslie and I had just completed our fourth season of playing women's professional tackle football and Leslie was the star running back and middle linebacker. So Leslie started a low carb diet and after a month or so had already dropped the ten pounds the doctor was requesting (2 1/2 months later and she's still going strong (another ten pounds down)---so proud of her!).
In April of 2012, we selected our sperm donor. I am 1/2 puerto rican and we wanted to find a hispanic donor. We were looking for someone tall, smart, handsome, and well educated. We decided to go through the California Cryobank. We selected Don Or and had the goods shipped to our fertility clinic for frozen keeping while we prepared our bodies.
In May of 2012 we had all of our ducks in a row. We were waiting for my period to start as normal and on May 15th it did---I have never been so happy to get my period, I was actually giddy in the bathroom stall. So I started my birthcontrol pills right away and scheduled my sonohysterogram for May 24, 2012. In the meantime, the fertility clinic ordered the medications I will need in the process, including all of the needles (yikes). On the day of the sonohysterogram, Leslie and I were both sitting in the examination room (well, I was sans pants). A sonohysterogram is an ultrasound procedure that can determine if there are abnormalities inside the uterus that might interfere with pregnancy. Using a speculum, a very then, soft, flexible plastic catheter will be inserted through the vagina and cervix into the lower part of the uterine cavity. The speculum is then carefully removed so as not to disturb the catheter. A vaginal ultrasound probe is then placed into the vagina. Through the catheter, a small amount of saline (sterile salt water) is injected into the uterine cavity to separate the walls. The hardest part of the procedure for me was the speculum but I would say I experienced "mild discomfort." I have a pretty high pain tolerance (after you tear your acl and then break your leg playing football, you learn the difference between hurt and injured and pain becomes relative) and the doctor was pretty surprised that I wasn't in more pain or nauseous from the procedure. My uterus looked good so we were happy.
I continued the birth control pills and I gotta say that I was not to happy to be back on those puppies. I was on Apri--I think that's a generic for the Yaz pill. I put on about 5 pounds after starting the pill and my chest definitely went up a cup size. The boobs were sore and Leslie would say that I had the symptom the doctor explained I would have---whiny.
We started lupron injections on May 29, 2012 following an exciting white water rafting trip over Memorial Day weekend with Leslie's parents. We had the injection class the week before and we decided Leslie would give me the shot every morning. The shots are in the stomach and the needle itself is just a small insulin needle. The first one we hit a capillary which caused the point of entry to bleed and also resulted in bruising. But we haven't had any issue with any of the shots after that. I hear that these are nothing compared to the progresterone shots that are to follow. I overlapped with the birth control pills for two days and then that was done. I was spotting while I was taking the lupron and had a regular period as well which the nurse explained was completely normal.
Leslie hadn't had her period since March so they prescribed her provera to start her period and on June 4th we did our happy dance when she started her period. So she started her birth control pills on June 4th and she is waiting for me to get my lining ready so that she can start growing some eggs :).
After 10 days of 10u Lupron injections, on June 7th I had my first baseline visit and the trial transfer. The procedure itself lasted about five minutes and the fertility doctor said she was optimistic of the actual transfer based on the positioning of my uterus (whatever that means). I had a blooddraw to check my estrogen levels and those also came back as expected so in addition to the Lupron, I was to start taking 2 mg of estrogen pills three times a day and one baby aspirin a day.
So now you are up to speed. I am currently taking the lupron, estrogen pills, and aspirin. I have experienced hot flashes while taking the estrogen so far but who knows if the symptoms will continue. Our next ultrasound is on June 16th and if my lining still looks great, we can expect to start Leslie's egg growing phase on June 18th. Wish us luck!
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