Poor baby!

Yesterday broke my heart! Mark had all four wisdom teeth removed yesterday, two of which were impacted and sideways. The surgery went great, but as soon as we got him home the vomit fest began! Do you know how hard it is to vomit without spitting? He would vomit and start bleeding again, once the bleeding stopped, he would vomit again and so on. I felt so helpless to make him feel better! This morning he is mostly back to normal. Only minor pain and barely any swelling. I have to say I am jealous, I was in intense pain for almost a week when mine came out! Though I am glad that he is doing so well so quickly, he has even stopped most of the pain meds.

We have growth!

...but not enough! At today's follicle check I was happy to find out that we had growth, just not enough. The left and right ovaries are mirroring each other with an 8mm, 6.5 mm and several smaller follicles a piece. With the goal of an 18 mm follicle,we are not where we need to be.
The answer? More bravelle injections! I will have two doses for both today and tomorrow. Then a single dose per day for the following two days. The next follicle check is on Tuesday!

Last dose...take two!

Today was my last dose of Bravelle...at least the last of the second set of bravelle injections! My next follicle check is on Thursday, so until then I guess I'll just let those follicles grow! I still feel bloated, and the injection sites are itchy....but I think it's the adhesive from the band aids causing it. I am reluctant to skip the band-aids though, because they minimize the irritation of my pant's waistline against the injection sites.

Yesterday was a sad day for me for two reasons. First, I hit 29! The last few birthdays have been hard because with each one the biological clock seems to tick a little louder! Secondly, I said goodbye to a dear friend. Yep! No more coke for me. We'll see if Mark can survive the caffeine withdrawals and the fertility drug crazies at the same time, Muahhahahaha!

Mood swings!

A little advice? Don't start any home improvement projects while doing fertility treatments.....no matter how small the project! In the space of ten minutes I went from shaking with rage and yelling at Mark, to crying, to laughing with joy! The cause? Hanging new curtain rods. I would have hated to see what a bigger project would have caused!

Follicles? Ha!

Yesterday was my follicle check and things were abysmal. I don't have any numbers or measurements to report because after I was told "there's not much going on on either ovary", I was afraid to ask. That being said I have a new protocol. Let's here it for plans changing last minute! I now get to have three more doses of bravelle. I go back in to have a follicle check in a week.

Here's the thing though, that means that the earliest that I would trigger would be cycle day 15. It seems like most people trigger between CD 12-14. Anyone trigger CD 15 or later?

Waiting.....and Bravelle

It seems that when you are dealing with infertility you are are always waiting. Waiting for a cycle to begin or end, waiting for a positive, a diagnosis or a doctor. Today I sit here waiting for my appointment. Today, I get to see how my follicles are developing for the IUI. We had decided that Mark would go to work and not accompany me to this appointment, but now that it is too late, I have changed my mind. It just suddenly struck me that in a few short hours I could get a glimpse of our potential future children. I wish I had thought of it earlier so that I could have Mark there with me. Yet, if wishes were fishes I would have an ocean full of babies by now.

The Bravelle injections have been a piece of cake. I have been really surprised and pleased at how easy and painless they have been. I wish everything with infertility was so easy! I am still a little nervous about the HCG trigger shot that hopefully I will get to take this weekend. Side effects have been relatively mild so far. I have been a bit more tired recently and more easily annoyed. My lower abdomen had been feeling very bloated, but that has subsided.

My HSG experience

This post may be a little too much information for some, but this blog is for me, and I want to record what this IUI process is like in reality. I can't do that without mentioning body parts or other personal details. Skip it if you are uncomfortable!


Yesterday I had my first Hysterosalpinogram or HSG. I have only one word to describe it.....ouch!!! That had to be the most physically painful event of my life. I laid on the exam table breathing deeply and mentally telling myself that I could get through thirty seconds of pain...anyone can get through thirty seconds of pain, right? After the first thirty seconds the dialogue turned into how I just got past thirty seconds, I could surely do thirty more. Even so, I was opening my mouth to have the doctor stop when she said something that was equally exciting and terrifying.

" We have spillage on both sides, that means no blockages...and we're done. Now let me just get all this stuff out of here."

The "here" part means my girly bits. Yeah, can we say terrifying? I was on the table imagining myself with some cyborg looking vagina at that point.

All in all, the test was a relief, however. The fallopian tubes were completely clear and ready to go. We did discover that I have an arcuate uterus. This, depending on who you ask, could be a problem. My RE was very quick to try and reassure me that an arcuate uterus is not linked to difficulties getting pregnant or carrying to term. I however asked DR. Internet this morning and he had something else to say. Apparently women that experience a loss often have an arcuate uterus, something like 6.5% of the time. However, research hasn't really been done within the general population so there is really no way to know how many people with an arcuate uterus go on to have healthy pregnancies. The other school of thought is that it is a normal variation much like attached or detached earlobes.

So I replaced one worry with another. Greeeeaaatttt.

In other news, I take my first Bravelle injection today, and of course, Mark started his new job this morning which means that I am on my own. I'm going to go poke myself with a sharp object now.