The Results Are In

We're pregnant! No ish about it. After too many at home tests, and two blood draws with our baby doctor, we're officially pregnant.

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I wasn't sure if I was going to test at home or not. I really thought I wanted to wait until our beta, but one trip to Target changed my mind. I started testing at 2dp5dt, 2 days past 5 day transfer, which equates to 7DPO, 7 days past ovulation. I thought I would still have some HCG from our trigger injection in my system, and sure enough I did. I got a faint positive followed by a full negative on 3dp5dt. After a full negative I knew any lines on a test would mean we were pregnant. Low and behold, faint line on 4dp5dt. We were pretty excited, but still cautious. 5dp5dt brought an even darker line. YAY!

I continued testing up until the day before our beta, and in all honesty that was a mistake. I started reading into the darkness of the lines too much. 7dp5dt was lighter than 6dp5dt, and all of the bad possibilites entered my mind. Then came Dr. Google which is always a bad idea. I bought more tests which did help to ease my mind. Seeing the word pregnant on a Clear Blue didgital test helps to put things into perspective. I am pregnant. Enjoy it. Stop worrying.

Monday morning I went in for our first beta. I got the call from my doctor at 4pm that afternoon that we were pregnant. Our first number came in at 230 which was a great starting point. My mind eased up a little after that call. I went in for a repeat yesterday, and our HCG was up to 423 and progesterone was over 40. Ok, now it's becoming real.

We have almost 3 weeks until we go in for our first ultrasound, which seems like forever but I know will be here in the blink of an eye. We are waiting to tell Brooke and Harrison about the baby until then. Tonight we get to do my last progesterone injection, which is cause enough to celebrate. YAY! The suppositories that replace the injection are not so great, but it's better than an inch and a half long needle in my butt cheek each night. So far I'm feeling good. A little extra tired, and a lot of extra thankful that H and B still take daily naps.

We went out for an early Mother's Day dinner with our parents and shared the news with them this evening. Now that they know, we are ready to share it with the world. Even though we're not even 5 weeks along yet, we're ready to enjoy this pregnancy. Welcome to the family baby, or babies!

Egg Retrieval

Friday morning I had a bright and early 8am monitoring session. We were up to 10 follicles over 18mm, so I was pretty sure we were going to trigger that night. So were all of the nurses. Sure enough, I got that call that afternoon that my estrogen levels were over 4,000 and that I was to do my trigger shot that night. The trigger shot finalizes the maturation process so the eggs are ready for retrieval. It has to be timed exactly 36 hours before egg retrieval. We did a 5,000 iu shot of Pregnyl for our trigger. I mixed it up, iced my bum, then made Robbie watch me do the injection. He looked like he was about 2 seconds from passing out.

Saturday was business as usual. No injections, YAY!! Our retrieval time was 8:45am Sunday morning and we needed to arrive an hour early. Our alarms went off at 5am and we were out the door by 5:45.We both managed to stay awake through the entire drive. We arrived at the Carmel office at 7:40. We signed in and were immediately taken back to the ART suite.

I got dressed in my sexy gown, socks, and cap. There was a warm blanket too, so it wasn't all bad. The nurse took my blood pressure, placed and IV, and then we got to sit and wait. We talked to the anesthesiologist, and embryologist, and then our RE, Dr. Bopp, came in. We were the second retrieval of the morning, I feel bad for whoever had to be there before 7, so we sat in our room and bided our time until it was time to go back.

When I walked back to the operating room, Robbie went off with his sterile cup to make his contribution. This is how babies are made people. ;) After I was on the operating table, the nasal cannula was placed and the good drugs started flowing through my IV. Dr. Bopp came in and asked if I wanted him to sing me some Neil Diamond. I remember saying yes, and then it was lights out. 

The procedure itself only takes about 15 minutes. I don't know how long it was until I woke up, but Robbie was back in the room when I did. The nurse was in almost immediately. She brought me pain meds, Teddy Grahams, and apple juice. I felt like I won the after surgery snack lotto. Once my snacks were done, the nurse made sure I could sit up on the edge of the bed for a few minutes. They let us know 14 eggs were retrieved, and that they would call us tomorrow with the fertilization report. Then I got dressed, and we took off.

We made a quick stop at The Cake Bake Shop in Broadripple before we headed north. I had been dying to go here since one of my IG friends posted a picture a couple months ago. The decor, the pastries, and even their packaging is all amazing. If you have the chance, GO! I don't know that we'll have time, but I'm hoping maybe we can stop in again before or after transfer.

As soon as we hit the interstate, I started feeling nauseous. I was hoping for a little iced decaf caramel machiatto action, but I opted for just a buttered croissant that I scarfed down in a gas station parking lot while Robbie got me Gatorade. I cuddled up with my pillow and fell asleep as soon as we started moving again. We made it home just in time to pick the kids up before their nap.

Brooke and Harrison both brought me a few daffodils from Grandma's garden. They were so excited to give them to me. It was adorable, and definitely my favorite part of the day. I was pretty sore for the rest of the day, so movement was limited. I was still sore enough on Monday that I took some Vicodin when I woke up. Today I am not as sore, but I am still very bloated and uncomfortable. I have been chugging Gatorade in hopes of keeping fluid out of my ovaries and abdomen. 

I got the call yesterday morning that of the 14 eggs, 11 were mature, and 8 fertilized with ICSI. Unless our embryos all take a steep decline, we are scheduled for a Friday blastocyst transfer. The Carmel office will be calling tomorrow with our transfer time for Friday. I got all set up with Indiana Reproductive Acupuncture, so I will be having acupuncture done before our transfer.

We started a new set of meds yesterday, but only one injection. Unfortunately it's a 1.5" needle intramuscular injection. Robbie was a little nervous, but he did a great job last night giving me the injection. He hadn't had to do any injections through either of our IVF cycles up until last night. 

Our next few days around here will be pretty quiet as I try to rest, and we get things ready before I am on bed rest for a couple days, and the kids have their longest stay away from home. Two full days at Grandma's, and maybe an extra night depending on our transfer time. As always, news makes it to Instagram well before it makes it to the blog, so feel free to follow along @jennpargeon.

IVF #2 Update

We are just over a week into stimulating for IVF, and things are going well so far. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start, but we're smooth sailing now. When I went in for my monitoring appointment last Thursday, there were only 11 follicles that were growing, and my estrogen levels were at 82. That's really low, and not what they like to see. So they upped my meds and told me to come back in two days.

My appointment on Saturday was met with better results. Estrogen levels were approaching 300, and a couple follicles had reached the 10mm mark. We're aiming for 18-22mm, so still a ways to go. At yesterday's appointment, there were 26 follicles at 6mm or higher, and 2 of those were at 15mm, and my estrogen was at 753. Things are looking good. 

When they upped my meds, I went to 187.5iu of Menopur and 200iu of Follistim per day. We were tentatively scheduled for retrieval on Friday, but I have a feeling they're going to push us a day. The slow start put us behind enough that I thing we're looking at Saturday. I go back in tomorrow for another ultrasound and more blood work, and we'll know tomorrow afternoon if we will be triggering that night, or if we'll continue with stims. 

By Sunday morning, I was really starting to feel the bloat come on. Something as simple as chasing the kids around the playground, or giving them underdog pushes on the swings has become difficult. Monday morning I decided it was time to give up on real pants for the rest of this cycle. My jeans still button without a fight, but man do yoga pants feel so much better. 

We've been telling Brooke and Harrison that mommy is going to have tummy surgery and that's why I can't pick them up or run around with them. They seem to respond to that logic, but it's hard to not be able to pick them up. We've been trying to get out of the habit for a couple months now, but it's tough. I've still been picking them up if they get hurt, but I won't carry them anymore if they ask for it, and after retrieval it will be no lifting at all. 5 lbs will be my limit.

I've been trying to be conscious of what I'm eating, but it's hard with 6724 pounds of Easter candy in the house. In the grand scheme of things, I know a couple pieces of candy per day won't make or break a cycle. I have been eating a lot of protein and healthy fats, along with fruits and vegetables. Hard boiled eggs, yay Easter, avocado, grilled meats, pistachios, Penne Pomo, because olive oil, and Virgin Marys with lots of olives are a few things I've been consuming in mass quantities over the last week. I've been drinking as much water as possible and have also been upping my milk intake. I know I need to kick my decaf coffee to the curb, but I swear my days go better with a cup of decaf. I know I didn't worry too much about any of this last time around, but this cycle feels so different. So final.

Other than being sore and bloated, I am feeling really good. No crazy hormonal side effects and no headaches. I'll hopefully go in tomorrow and see lots of follicles approaching the 18mm mark. I'm ready for my last day or two of stims, and then the dreaded PIO starts. Bring it on!

Let The Stims Begin

There is a lot of waiting involved with IVF, and infertility treatment in general. Waiting in the lobby, waiting for test results, waiting to save money, waiting until you can take a pregnancy test. As much as I hate the dreaded two week wait leading up to a pregnancy test, I hate waiting for cycle day one even more. It so tedious to wait for a new cycle to start. Knowing any moment it could happen, but it hasn't yet.

We made it through our suppression phase and are now onto the good stuff. Monday morning I went in for a baseline ultrasound and to get my estrogen levels check. The Lupron has been doing it's job, and my estrogen levels were at 35.8, they like to see less than 50. My lining is at 6mm, nice and thin, and we were able to see lots of visible follicles. 17 on the left and 18 on the right.

Once I was done getting poked and prodded, I got my calendar, was handed a stack of consent forms to go over, and handed over a big fat check. I was super excited when I left the office. Excited for 9pm to roll around so I could give myself a myriad of injections. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Right now I'm not anxious, I'm just excited. We've been through this before. For the most part I know what to expect, and at least for a few days, I'm in control. 

My nightly protocol now includes 5 units of Lupron, down from 10. 125 units of Follistim and 150 units of Menopur. Follistim is by far my favorite injection. Yes, I just said favorite injection. There's no mixing or measuring. You just click the pen to the right amount, screw on a needle, and shoot up. Menopur I could do without. It burns like a son of a you know what. Last night was my first time taking it, and I'm already over it.

I'll continue on with this regimen at least until Thursday. I go in Thursday morning for another ultrasound and blood draw. I'm then back on Saturday and again on Monday. We will hopefully see quite a few follicles growing. If they're growing too fast, too slow, or if my Estrogen levels are off, they will tweak the med dosages.

Right now we are tentatively looking at retrieval on Friday the 17th and transfer on Wednesday the 22nd. That can definitely change depending on how I respond to the meds, but I think last cycle we were pretty spot on with the calendar. We had 20 eggs retrieved, 19 that fertilized, and 5 that made it to blastocyst transfer or freeze. Similar results this time around would be fantastic!

I have been continuing with weekly acupuncture appointments and will continue with those at least through transfer. If you did acupuncture to accompany IVF, how often did you do it while you were stimming, and did you keep going after transfer? I need to ask about it on Thursday, but I'm curious as to how often others did it.

I probably won't do another IVF blog post until we for sure know when retrieval will be. I will however be overgramming, as per usual. You can follow me on Instagram (@jennpargeon) for the daily play by play.

Medication Start Date

We officially have a start date for injections. March 25th is when I'll be taking my first dose of Lupron. Come 9:00 that evening you'll find me with an ice pack, a syringe, and a vial full of drugs. I'm excited to start, but most of all I'm anxious. I don't remember feeling like this last go round. My heart was racing on the drive to an appointment at my RE's office. I thought it was because I was rushing to make it there on time, but I had a hard time settling down even after I was seated in the waiting room. It wasn't until I was sitting across the table from my favorite nurse that my heart rate started to slow.

Even typing about it now has me a little worked up. I don't know if it's because we're paying out of pocket, if it's because I know it's our last fresh cycle, or if it's because there are so many other things going on in our lives right now. I do know that I've never been more thankful for an acupuncture appointment. During Thursday's acupuncture session, I could feel my entire body relax. I didn't even care about the fact that I drank to much water before my appointment and it felt like my bladder was about to explode. I was beyond relaxed.

140. That's how many needles I received in my oversized box of medication. I will thankfully not be using all of them, but yikes! 

I received my huge box of medications on Wednesday. There was something oddly comforting about unpacking all of the vials and syringes. A sense of having done this before and being back on familiar territory. Since there are a couple new drugs in my protocol this time, I met with Brook at Dr. Bopp's office on Thursday to go over mixing and injecting the new drugs. Everything seems straight forward enough, but it was nice to have a little crash course. Menoupr is the biggest new one this go round. I have to mix liquid with powder, and then once it becomes a liquid, it then gets mixed with even more powder. It's not hard to do, but definitely a process I was happy to have laid out visually in front of me.

So now we're just biding our time over the next week and a half. I wonder if the kids have any sense of big things to come?  We aren't going to be telling them anything about what's going on until after a couple positive ultrasounds, but I do think they've noticed that mommy has been spending a lot of time visiting the doctor. Once we start monitoring, I'm sure they'll be coming to appointments with me, so I'm sure there will be some questions then. Although, maybe I'm over thinking it and it will be no big deal to them.

I am gladly taking suggestions on your best relaxation techniques. If you've done a fresh cycle with kids before, I'd also love any advice you have on answering questions regarding the process. Hit me with some answers, please!