Injectables Training

After going through injectable training yesterday, now I know why Jodi recommended the surgery first. Once the surgery is over (it is scheduled for June 11) and I'm clear to try again, I'm going to go through a lot.

On day three of my cycle, I'll begin daily blood work to measure my estrodial level and of course, the ever enjoyable internal ultrasound. And I'll speak to someone from the office each day and they'll tell me how much Gonal-F to inject in my stomach (not as bad as it sounds -- the needle is really small and thin). Every day. Until my levels get to where they need to be and then I'll go in for another internal ultrasound and if I have no more than four mature follicles, I will give myself a shot of hCG, which will induce ovulation, and then I will get inseminated the next day.

And I should be prepared for bloating beyond the bloat I have when I get the shot of hCG. I have to weigh myself every day and really watch my diet since I could possibly gain as much as 10 pounds from the medicine and that would be an indication of my ovaries going into hyper-stimulation and then shutting down. On the bright side, the belly fat (that I've gained from the Clomid) really is a side effect of the Clomid and hopefully it shouldn't be as bad with the Gonal-F.

And I should be prepared to not go on vacation since I will be the hospital lab's best patient and will need to be in daily contact with the doctor's office so I know what dosage to give myself with the Gonal-F pen.

My chances of multiples goes up (5% for triplets, 20-30% for twins), but with that, my chances of conceiving just one also goes up. It's about at 50-60% now. I can live with those odds.

Tie-Dye

I had the dye test done the other day -- or more officially a hysterosalpingogram. They told me there would be some discomfort. Who knew that pushing a little radioactive dye through a catheter, through my cervix and into my uterus could be so painful?! The worst cramps I have ever had, times 10. But as soon as it was over, I felt fine.

The test showed that, once they really pushed the dye through, my left fallopian tube opened right up. So there may have been some blockage and the dye swept it away. On the right side, the dye went through in a very thin line, indicating that there could be some blockage or that the tube had a spasm from the contractions and cramps.

My choices, as given to me then, were to go ahead with the injectable hormones and if, if three months, I'm not pregnant, I should go ahead and have the laparoscopy. I asked the doctor what she would recommend if I were her daughter, and she said she didn't know, that she could go either way, that it was a personal preference. I knew when she said to "go home and talk to your husband about it" that she wasn't going to help me make this decision.

So I talked to one of the nurse practitioners that I've been working with for the past year. And Jodi said if she were me, if I were her daughter, she would say have the surgery. Why spend the money, why go through the shots, the ultrasounds, the blood work, when we don't know if all conditions are optimal for getting pregnant? That's what I wanted to hear -- someone to give me an opinion. It was the way I was leaning and thinking, but I needed someone with a medical background to validate it.

I'm still waiting for the office to call me to schedule it, but it will be sometime in the middle of June. I go in for injectables training on Tuesday so that when we are ready to do the next IUI, I'll be prepared.

I met with the doctor again yesterday and she went over the procedure and the risks, and what they'll be looking for. When they go in, they'll either see that everything is okay or if it's not, they'll try to scrape off or blow out anything that's hanging onto the tube that shouldn't. And in the rare case that they can't unblock the tube, they'll take it out, and I'll only work with my left ovary and tube to get pregnant.

It's a lot to take in. Even though it's in and out surgery, it's still surgery. But hopefully it's one step closer to getting what I want.

Walking All my Problems Away

I walked tonight -- and it felt great. I've realized -- and it's very hard to admit -- that I've been using the fertility drugs and drama as a crutch to be unmotivated, to be the full blame of the weight gain.

Part of me hates myself for gaining it back, part of me wants to go back to the obsessive person I was (and really what's so bad about being obsessive about being healthy)...but then part of me knows that's not right.

So I've made a deal with myself, and I will use a full key people to hold me accountable (this blog included). The gym on campus that I go to during the year is closed for the summer, it reopens at the end of August.

I have no idea how many days it is between now and then -- I'll figure it out later. But between now and then, I will work out (whether at the fitness center with the students -- ewww, walking my hills at home, walking the track at school, or something else)....I will work out for at least 30 minutes, 100 times this summer. If that means I have to do two-a-days, I will.

I'm not going to kid myself into thinking I can get back to the physical shape I was in two years ago, that's too daunting of a task. But I can walk, I can use the elliptical -- and those are things that I can (and should) do if I get pregnant.

So...I'm going to count my walk on Saturday. Two down, 98 to go.

Clear Sailing?

So an update on the baby news....I spoke with my nurse practitioner this afternoon. The doctor wants me to go in and have a dye test on my fallopian tubes, so I'll do that next Tuesday, and then take the day off. They said there would be cramping and that I should take 4 to 5 200 mg of Advil about an hour before the test. Great!

If the tubes are clear then we'll do a couple cycles of IUI (same as I've been doing) with the injectable hormones (which triples my baseline levels). I have injectable training scheduled for the day after Memorial Day. And I have a list of questions to go over with her when I do that -- side effects, disposal of needles, etc.

If the tubes aren't clear, I didn't ask, but I'm assuming that we just jump right to IVF. I have to go in and meet with the doctor on Thursday, so she'll go over everything with me. And I'll have a list of questions for her, too.

Stay tuned.

It only hurts now...

Last summer, when I told my nieces that I was about to embark on this baby project, I told Erica (the one who is getting married next month, the wedding that is the source of such family drama) that if this first attempt (last August) worked, that I would have a baby for her wedding.

Her response: "You better not steal my thunder."

I shrugged it off. She's a bride-to-be; of course she's thinking that way. However, as the months of negative tests progressed, that statement stuck in my head. Each month, it was as if her statement was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And so, on my last chance to be pregnant for her wedding (I've long given up on the dream of having a baby to show off to my out-of-town relatives), it has failed again. I found out on Friday that the test was negative.

It felt awful. Painful. Gloomy. I left work early. My eyes were so raw from crying so hard in my office, I just didn't have the strength to go to a web team meeting that afternoon. And so I went home, sat under a blanket and watched "Days of Our Lives" and "Law and Order." By 5:30 or so, I was feeling less like a hermit and actually got up and got some things accomplished.

It still hurts. It's still a painful, dull ache inside of me, but each day gets a little better. And I have to believe that I'm still moving forward, still working toward the goal of getting pregnant.

I Either Am or I'm Not

Tomorrow I go in for my blood work and by tomorrow afternoon, I'll know if this insemination worked. I told my mom that the test wasn't until Monday. Last month she knew the exact date of the test and drove me crazy in the days leading up to it. When I told her it was Monday, her response, "oh...I thought we'd have something to celebrate on Sunday."

I can't help her deal with her disappointment when I'm dealing with my own. And I don't know how to tell her that without hurting her feelings.

So tomorrow it will either be....

Oh my god, I'm pregnant. Finally. It worked. I'm going to have a baby. I'm going to be someone's mom. It was worth the frustration, the emotional roller coaster, the hormone shots, the weight gain, the drives to Horseheads every two weeks, the ultrasounds, the blood work....it was all worth it.

OR

I'm not pregnant. Again. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I know it takes time. I know that there are people out there who have tried to get pregnant for much longer than me, who are still trying to get pregnant. Two weeks ago, I was filled with hope, with the promise that this might take this time, and if it didn't, I can pursue the adoption angle a little more. Right now, there's no hope. It's all dark. It's frustrating and I want to know what I've done, so horrible, in my life, that I don't deserve to be this kind of happy.

I'm hoping for the first paragraph, but self-pity and crying on a Friday afternoon are just not my idea of fun.