I'd forgotten that doxycycline makes me nauseated. Three doses in, 17 to go. Yay. Oh, plus 7 more the week of transfer. My first transfer (when I got pregnant with Leo), I threw up that morning, before we left for the hospital. This is why. Yucko.
Lupron, on the other hand, is no big deal. Did the first injection last night. Easy peasy.
Tomorrow, I will bug Barb to find out when she wants me to stop taking birth control pills. Calendar says last one is tonight, but I think since I started a day late, she'll have me take one more.
Sure wish we could fast forward about a month to the exciting part. Or heck, another nine months to the *really* exciting part.
Growing a family through gestational surrogacy. Our journey navigating IVF, recovering from midpregnancy loss, and celebrating a triplet pregnancy. Two families come together to bring three babies into the world!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Blood for a cause
Just got back from the lab. Here's Rick recovering from his 6 vials. Just to prove that the husband doesn't get off scott-free in this process.
I only had to give 5 vials. Which makes me a little nervous, because I'm afraid they forgot to draw one. We went to Quest today, which is a new lab for me-- I've always gone to CPL or LabCorp. There was nobody else there, so that's worth remembering. No wait is a good thing.
I'm still waiting for the meds to be delivered. I had them shipped to the office, since they require a signature and I couldn't be sure someone would be at home (since we had dates with the phlebotomist). I'm going to break into them right away so I can start the doxycycline. I know how to live it up.
Ha, Barb just emailed me the calendar again. :) Got it! I think she's about to email consents, which I do need to fill out. M had an appointment at Houston IVF today to do labwork and consents, so we're working in parallel right now.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Calendar
I guess this makes it official?
It's all very hurried and last minute, so there are some details to iron out yet-- for example, it says I start Lupron today, but I won't get it until tomorrow. Barb says to just stay on birth control pills until she tells me to stop and that they can hold me for a few days without issue. We'll see.
N is scheduled to start stims on 2/16. Calendar says possible embryo transfer on 3/1, but that would be a 3-day transfer with everything running on the tightest schedule. Last time, it took a few extra days and we did a 5-day transfer, so I think around 3/8 is probably more realistic.
It's kind of wild to have a calendar already! Without contracts and screening and hoop-jumping, the process moves along pretty quickly. Tomorrow, Rick and I have to run to the lab for infectious disease screening again and then tomorrow night, I'll start injections. Alrighty then. Let's do this.
It's all very hurried and last minute, so there are some details to iron out yet-- for example, it says I start Lupron today, but I won't get it until tomorrow. Barb says to just stay on birth control pills until she tells me to stop and that they can hold me for a few days without issue. We'll see.
N is scheduled to start stims on 2/16. Calendar says possible embryo transfer on 3/1, but that would be a 3-day transfer with everything running on the tightest schedule. Last time, it took a few extra days and we did a 5-day transfer, so I think around 3/8 is probably more realistic.
It's kind of wild to have a calendar already! Without contracts and screening and hoop-jumping, the process moves along pretty quickly. Tomorrow, Rick and I have to run to the lab for infectious disease screening again and then tomorrow night, I'll start injections. Alrighty then. Let's do this.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
More date obsessing
I had a lovely whirlwind trip to Houston yesterday. Drove down, had lunch with M and N, and then had my hysteroscopy with Dr. Hickman. My uterus "couldn't look more normal" he says-- and sure enough, when he showed me the ultrasound image, it was just a perfect little pear-shaped blob, with a nice even lining. So no hang-ups there.
I breezed by lunch, but I should add that I hadn't seen M and N since Thanksgiving and I really missed them! I was glad to have the chance to sit and catch up.
I just emailed Barb to pester her about what our timing will look like from here. I just went back and obsessed over our old dates some more. Looks like N started her cycle on 4/28 (I started meds the next day) and egg retrieval was on June 1, so... 35 days-ish total to retrieval? This time, she's expecting a cycle the first week of February. If it's February 1, with the same exact timing, that would put us at a March 7 retrieval and transfer between 3/10 and 3/12.
Although at lunch, we established that we share a lucky number of 13. So maybe transfer on 3/13/13. That sounds super lucky! Double 13s = twins for sure.
Indulging that fantasy for a moment, the due date would be 11/29/13. Ha. The day after Thanksgiving. That would one-up what we did this year!
I'm going to go ahead and tentatively pencil in transfer for that week. Positive thinking!
I posted this already, but I'm coming back to edit-- that week is spring break week! Even better. I have to believe that my two little good luck charms would love to come with me next time.
I breezed by lunch, but I should add that I hadn't seen M and N since Thanksgiving and I really missed them! I was glad to have the chance to sit and catch up.
I just emailed Barb to pester her about what our timing will look like from here. I just went back and obsessed over our old dates some more. Looks like N started her cycle on 4/28 (I started meds the next day) and egg retrieval was on June 1, so... 35 days-ish total to retrieval? This time, she's expecting a cycle the first week of February. If it's February 1, with the same exact timing, that would put us at a March 7 retrieval and transfer between 3/10 and 3/12.
Although at lunch, we established that we share a lucky number of 13. So maybe transfer on 3/13/13. That sounds super lucky! Double 13s = twins for sure.
Indulging that fantasy for a moment, the due date would be 11/29/13. Ha. The day after Thanksgiving. That would one-up what we did this year!
I'm going to go ahead and tentatively pencil in transfer for that week. Positive thinking!
I posted this already, but I'm coming back to edit-- that week is spring break week! Even better. I have to believe that my two little good luck charms would love to come with me next time.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Slight adjustment
I just took my first birth control pill tonight. My cycle was a little slower to start than I'd guessed, so day 1 was yesterday. Noting it here only because I know I might look back for dates. That puts my appointment at Houston IVF on day 6, which is perfect- Dr. Hickman wants me there between days 4 and 8.
Also, I got a call back from Dr. Berry's office and my appointment with him is February 7th at 2:00. I'll be interested to see how that goes.
This makes no sense, since we haven't even really gotten started, but I have a better feeling about things this time. I just really believe everything will work out.
Also, I got a call back from Dr. Berry's office and my appointment with him is February 7th at 2:00. I'll be interested to see how that goes.
This makes no sense, since we haven't even really gotten started, but I have a better feeling about things this time. I just really believe everything will work out.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Like I'd leave it there
Anyone who has read this blog should know that I couldn't just stop at "I have no idea what happens next." No, not this numbers girl. I spent approximately 5 minutes being ok with leaving it there.
I skimmed through my entries from our first cycle and these are the important dates:
3/30 - Hysteroscopy
4/30 - Started meds (Lupron)
6/6 - Transfer
In between the hysteroscopy and the start of meds, we also did a mock cycle, which we're not doing this time. So I think that timeline would be the latest-case scenario for us. Translated to current dates, that would be:
1/15 - Hysteroscopy
2/15 - Start of meds?
3/22ish - Transfer?
12/8ish - Due date :)
I might have finagled those last two dates a bit. 3/22 is my wedding anniversary. 12/8 is Rick's birthday. Like I said, though, I think those are the latest dates I'd expect. I think anywhere from mid/end of February on is our transfer timeline.
In any case, baby by the end of the year! Let's do this!
I skimmed through my entries from our first cycle and these are the important dates:
3/30 - Hysteroscopy
4/30 - Started meds (Lupron)
6/6 - Transfer
In between the hysteroscopy and the start of meds, we also did a mock cycle, which we're not doing this time. So I think that timeline would be the latest-case scenario for us. Translated to current dates, that would be:
1/15 - Hysteroscopy
2/15 - Start of meds?
3/22ish - Transfer?
12/8ish - Due date :)
I might have finagled those last two dates a bit. 3/22 is my wedding anniversary. 12/8 is Rick's birthday. Like I said, though, I think those are the latest dates I'd expect. I think anywhere from mid/end of February on is our transfer timeline.
In any case, baby by the end of the year! Let's do this!
Dusting off the ol' blog
I claim no significance to the lyrics except for this: "Here I go again!"
I start birth control pills tomorrow.
I have my first appointment with Dr. Hickman for a hysteroscopy (a peek at the inside of my uterus) on Tuesday 1/15 at 2:00. I imagine I'll also do the infectious disease screening then, since we have to do that again.
I'm waiting for an appoint with Dr. Berry that will be a "preconception consultation" to go over what, if anything, he thinks we should do differently this time when I do get pregnant.
I really don't know what the timing is after Tuesday, but I'm thinking we're within 6-8 weeks of transfer? Maybe?
Here I go again...