IVF Calendar

Got my calendar today! 

Here are the highlights:

• Sun 6/6: stop BCPs
• Mon 6/7: Baseline Sonogram and HSG
• Fri 6/11: Start stims: 225 IU Folli.stim & 75 IU Meno.pur
• 6/17 - 6/19: HCG Trigger when ready
• 6/23: tentative date for Egg Retrieval
• 6/28: tentative date for Day 5 Transfer
• 7/7: tentative date for first beta

Holy cow, this is really happening?  Wow, I'm so excited!

Next? Ordering meds. I won't wait until last minute like last time (that was stressful). 

Oh, and I need to tell my boss that I'll need some flexibility for medical appointments. I never told you all, but when I finally told him about our TTC and needing ART, he actually said, "Jem, take some time off after National Sales Conference (which just happened). You just need to go on vacation." Implying all we needed was to get a sunburn and drunk off pina coladas and we'd be KU!

Sigh. 

I didn't want to say, "Well, for one thing, I won't be ovulating then. Plus, we've been TRYING for years, thank you very much. Medical intervention is absolutely necessary as Mr. Jem's sperm count is crap." Somehow that seemed like TMI. 

Thanks for the ass-vice, tho, Boss-man!

Today's WTF appointment & CD2 for IVF#2

And we're off!

We drove down to the Clinic today at 10:00 a.m. to meet with Dr. W. He recapped what happened previously: Fresh IVF with excellent response resulting in 26 eggs, 5 embryos, 2 transferred fresh ending in a biochemical PG and 3 transferred frozen ending in what they were calling an ectopic, but they were not sure where the PG was.

His conclusion: do the same thing again - antagonist protocol, starting BCPs tonight (CD2), and blood work today or tomorrow. I pushed a bit about additional testing. We agreed to do an an HSG x-tray test next week to see if my tubes are blocked, which could have a low chance of causing the chemical and/or ectopics. When we draw blood today, he also prescripted Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Panel, along with chromosomal analysis / karyotyping for both me and Mr. Jem. I also got the nurse to get them to test my iron and ferritin levels, as my iron levels were low during my FET in January. Oh, and they'll measure my FSH and Estradiol levels, too, of course!

The last thing we did (before Dr. W rushed off to do an embryo transfer) was to ask for a new IVF coordinator. Our original nurse kept dropping the ball on details. We didn't rag on her to Dr. W, just simply asked if we could work with another nurse, let's call her Nurse S, who is known to be very, very supportive and great to work with.

We decided, no, let me re-phrase this, I decided to go ahead and go with this cycle as our next IVF cycle. Mr. Jem deferred to me, as "it's my body," even though he really wanted to move forward as soon as possible. I have been super stressed and tired because of work and he wanted to be respectful of my need to feel ready physically. Luckily I've been resting all this week at home - a "stay-cation" and I'm starting to feel rested.

So, I start BCPs tonight and should have my IVF calendar tomorrow. When I get it I will share it with my acupuncturist who works at the Clinic. We saw her today and she already started me on herbs.

Question: Is this officially IVF#2? Does the FET just count as part of IVF#1?

Okay, gotta run to the pharmacy to pick up the pills, drop off my dry cleaning... (and on and on...)

Glad to be back on track!

Jem

WTF Appt Questions?

Thanks for the warm welcome back to the blog world. I sure missed you all.

There were some good suggestions in your comments. Made me realize I need the blog community's help coming up with new questions for Dr. W for our WTF appointment, especially given IVF #1 resulted in a chemical pregnancy with the fresh round and an ectopic for the frozen.

Heading into IVF #2, Stacey suggested I look into recurrent pregnancy loss panels. What are included in those? What other tests should I request?
What other questions should I ask?

Gosh, I remember going to my first RE appointment, way back when and being shocked when I was treated as the patient. "But, it's Mr Jem's swimmers, not me!!" How naive I was!

I sure appreciate any input/suggestions you can give me!

Thanks,

Jem

Happy Belated ICLW

Happy ICLW!

Here's a quick recap of my IF story: Started ART last year. First fresh IVF cycle ended up in a chemical pregnancy. FET ended up in an ectopic. Two BFPs (more like small positives) that ended up in disappointment and heartbreak. We will be going for IVF #2 this cycle or next. Today is Cycle Day 1 minus 1. This Wednesday we have our second WTF appointment with Dr. W after being on a long break from TTC. Work has meant that I didn't have time for all the medical appointments, etc.

I'm writing late for ICLW as I'm just back from 7 days in Las Vegas. The first 5 were work, the rest was for fun with Mr. Jem. I am so happy to be back home, no matter how much fun was had. And it was had. Despite the white tiger - yes, boys and girl, they had the tiger as "entertainment" at the Awards banquet. The worst part was that you could hear it back stage, its claws against the Plexiglas of its cage. I had to leave the banquet room until after the act.

The conference and training went really, really well, but I'm very tired. I gave my colleague a pedometer and we tracked how much we walked each day - 8-10 miles per day!! Not counting the evenings!

In sum, Vegas was a blast, great food (I ate a $80 steak on night - delicious but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it!), too much drink (can you tell I didn't take my 2WW too seriously), lots of fun with friends and colleagues. I even won almost $300 at craps (first time playing) and broke even at Blackjack (earning comps at the hotel, which is always fun). Mr. Jem and I had a lot of fun together. We went to a show _Defending the Caveman_ which is a one-man show about relationships. Excellent. I totally recommend it. It should be re-named _Defending_Marriage_  or _Defending the Differences between Men and Women_.

Vegas was fun, but not relaxing. It's totally over-stimulating. Luckily I don't have to be back to work until June 1, so I will catch up on my sleep, spend lots of quality time with Mr. Jem, the two kitties and enjoy my home. Oh, and blog! This month I intend on becoming an Iron Commentator.Wish me luck!

Love, Jem

Vegas, baby!

I'm "working from home" today as I leave for a week in Las Vegas for work. By "working from home" I mean that I slept in, watched an episode of _House_ on the DVR while eating breakfast, looked at a couple of work-related emails, and now am blogging. Oh, and the laundry is going, as I have to pack today.

Later I'll work out, shower and then go get a mani/pedi and then one of those spray tans (see illustration - mind you my body is this, plus 30 lbs! Thank you, IVF!). I've never had a spray tan before, so I'm looking forward to the illusion of being tan, without the skin damage. As a melanoma survivor I don't lay out in the sun. Strange word, "survivor." I hope to say one day, "I'm an infertility "survivor." Okay, infertility can't kill me, but still!

I won't be doing any blogging for at least a week, so don't call the coast guard if you don't hear from me for a while.

Jem

Non-ART 2WW

Just back to SF from a couple of days in Dallas for work. Officially in my two week wait, non-ART style. Chances of getting PG very low, but you never know!

Lots of work and more travel ahead...

Jem

40 candles

That's sure a lot of candles to blow out! I bet you are wondering what I wish for. Ha!

Here's to a new decade of fun and adventure!

Jem

P.S. I'm surprising myself by enjoying my birthday entirely. Despite being having to get Mr. Jem to remove the nasty spider from my shower and having to work today, I'm having a great day. Mr. Jem had two dozen roses delivered to me at work. I'm going to head home early and go to dinner with him at a local French restaurant! Needless to say I've had a smile on my face all day.

M.I.A.

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm thinking of all you out there in cyberspace. My work has been super busy leaving me little to no time to blog. I feel bad about that, but will be back in full force at the start of the next cycle. Promise!

I appreciate the kind words of those of you who responded to my "What IF" post. I felt a bit self-conscious about it afterward, as most of the other "What IFs" were so different from mine. I guess this "break" from TTC has been wearing on me a bit. I feel inertia seeping into me. However, I'm two days away from my 40th birthday (Scary!!) and I'm feeling a little jet of motivation. Time to get things into gear!

Mr. Jem and I are planning to spend a couple of extra days in Las Vegas after my conference there in a couple of weeks. Should be fun. Then we'll fly home to SF for a week of stay-cation (and the WTF meeting w/ Dr. W on the 26th).

Okay, time to hit the hay! Nighty-night!

Jem