After 3 days of being very uncomfortable I finally feel like myself again! 🙂 Yesterday I went in for an ultrasound to make sure there wasn’t too much fluid and my AO wasn’t extremely enlarged. They said I looked fine, a little fluid but most of my discomfort was due to constipation. So the doc recommended taking Mirilax and to try to enjoy my weekend. A few hours after taking the stuff I went in for acupuncture to help move things along. I must say as soon as she started “manipulating” the pins in my stomach I could feel things rumbling. She said we “woke something up” Ha!  Later in the evening we met a good friend of ours for some Spanish Tapas and wine and let me say I feel great today! Who knows what really worked, however I am leaning towards the tapas and wine.  So today we are going down to Little Italy to enjoy some pizza and maybe gelato. Damn that book!
xoxo

On a sadder note, Shane’s aunt lost her battle with MS last night 😦 So again I am very lucky to have family close by as he may have to fly out in the next few days. Sending big hugs to his family!

We got the call from the Embryologist and 11 out of the 14 mature eggs fertilized!! 🙂 Our transfer has been scheduled for Monday at 11:00am and then I am on strict bed rest for 48 hours. I am very lucky to have my folks close enough to come help out for some of that time!!
I have been in some discomfort since the ER and they say that is expected, however they want to do an ultrasound just to make sure my AO (awesome ovary ) is ok. I scheduled an appointment for tomorrow  A.M. and I called my acupuncturist to see if she could squeeze me in. I read that acupuncture can  make the fluid shift and lower my diaphragm, we shall see! I do feel a bit better as the day goes on so I am pretty optimistic that all is well and I will be fine. I have been told that the progesterone shots that I start tonight can increase the bloating since it causes constipation. It looks like I may feel this way for a while, just need to invest in some very comfortable, loose-fitting pants and shorts to get me through the month!

Today has been a nail biter. I went in to our appointment this morning pretty sure my follicles were ready to go and that tonight would be the night we do the trigger shot. The ultrasound showed that my leading follicle was 20mm! That means since Saturday it grew 5mm :0 We sat down with Dr. Garzo and signed the consent forms but he cautioned that if my estradiol levels were still high we would have to keep doing daily blood draws until it came down, until it was safe enough to go through the ER. If they were to retrieve the eggs while my estradiol levels were too high and since I have a lot of follicles that puts me at risk for OHSS. OHSS  Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is the most serious complication of IVF.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_hyperstimulation_syndrome  I was also told that I shouldn’t be doing strenuous exercise, which I was never told.  The nurse told me to skip the gym today since my ovary is so enlarged I am at risk for Adnexal torsion. Which means twisting of the ovary…Another shocker because that is the reason I only have one ovary. I already lost one to adnexal torsion. Holy Cow, could you imagine? So I opted to skip the workouts until my one and only precious awesome ovary is back to normal. So after meeting with the Doc we sat with my nurse so she could show Shane exactly where he will be sticking me with a large needle tonight if  we get the green light. I now have a black circle on my bum to guide him to the right spot. Like target practice. After everything was signed and we both felt comfortable with the injection lesson we were sent home to wait for the phone to ring. I tried so hard not to worry about my levels and tried not to even think about it. I spent the afternoon laying on the beach finishing my book.
Finally at 4:30 we got the call…the green light…the go ahead! Thank goodness! The nurse told me to take the injection at exactly 9:00pm and to arrive at the Dr. office Wednesday at 7:45 for the ER!  Phew, we made it…ovary still intact! I was also prescribed Dostinex which is supposed to help bring my Estradiol levels down. Tomorrow I am going to work a normal day and hopefully get some acupuncture. I am ready!

Since I had an ultrasound yesterday and things seemed to be right on track I didn’t have to have one today, just my daily blood draw. The nurse usually calls me in the evening to tell my dose for the night and the next day. But today when she called she said the my Estradiol shot up significantly. “Huh, what does that mean?” I asked and she replied, “that means your awesome ovary is doing its job.” So she told me to stop all stim meds and that she is pretty positive that tomorrow will be our pre-op and the HCG injection. Right on! was my initial reaction..no more stim meds, no more headaches and a maybe baby on the way~however as the day goes on I have started to do what I do  best….worry! What if I my follicles grew so much that now I am going to ovulate on my own before I get to the Dr. What if we have to cancel this months ER and ET because I may get hyperstimulated…what if, what if, what it!!! Ugh! I know what you’re thinking..I am sure you are fine and I am sure you are right. I just need to get my mind to stop thinking about it and wait until tomorrow’s appointment!

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/first-u-s-ivf-baby-has-a-baby-of-her-own/

This morning I had another ultrasound to check the size of my follicles. There were some that were 15mm and some a bit smaller. Once a few of them reach 18mm we will do a pre-op and that night Shane will give me the trigger shot to start  ovulation. My Drs. guess is that the ER will happen Wednesday or Thursday. I am still battling this stupid headache, I am very curious to see if it goes away once I stop the medications. I don’t seem to have a headache when I wake up but about 15 minutes or so after my injections I seem to get one. I thought for sure it was from the lack of caffeine but maybe not..Boy I hope not!

I had a realization today while DH (dear husband, sorry for the lingo hey you’ll catch on) well him and I went out to Julian for a hike today. Once we got there and started walking in the heat we soon realized that we didn’t bring enough water.  It was about 3 miles to the waterfall and as we were walking it dawned on me that next week my whole thought process is going to have to change. Sure today we will be a bit scarce on water, probably get really hot and tired but we’ll be OK. It was hell on the way back up hill for 3 miles in 87 degree weather with a few sips of warm water left but we made it! But I need to start thinking about more than myself now. I know  a lot of women don’t really think this way until they are already preggo because most don’t realize it until those 2 lines show up of the HPT. (home pregnancy test) However I am in a different situation and need to act like I am pregnant starting the day of the ET.  So I guess during our hike today it hit me that soon it wont be all about me anymore!  Next time I will be more prepared!

Today is day 5 of my stim meds and things are still looking good. After yesterdays blood draw I  was told to reduce my follistim dose, yay!  That means things are moving along nicely. I am sort of hoping that will also mean that the ER will happen a day or two sooner!

I learned a couple of things at the last few blood draws. 1: I have beautiful veins and 2: my veins like to roll. It took three  different needles yesterday to finally get enough blood and today it took three needles and 2 nurses to  get enough for the lab tests. The worst part is both arms are bruised so now they are looking for new places to stick me. Tomorrow’s blood draw should be fun!  Tomorrow is also my ultrasound to check how my follicles are responding to the meds.

I still can’t shake this constant headache.  Tylenol dulls it a bit and I feel fine  while working out but the rest of the time I just can’t get rid of it! I think it’s time to research au natural ways to cure a headache. Ideas greatly appreciated!