Shannon: CD 1

So today is FINALLY CD1 (cycle day 1). Gotta love when AF waits 4 days to come! LoL

Here are my instructions for the Clomid (50mg):

• CD5 start Clomid and take on CD5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
• Intercourse every other day for five days (CD 10, 12, and 14)
• Blood draw for Progesterone level on CD 19
• Blood draw for Q-BHCG on CD 26

Steph recommended the ovulation test + pregnancy test kit at Walmart for $20 so I will buy that later this week.

And I am tracking my BBT too. 

Now if I can just get these allergies under control...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/evelynized/6880361201/

Mrs Red's results?

Not yet... We aren't quite ready to talk about it. I just wanted to update that I'm feeling ok but my hubby and I just aren't at that point yet where we want to share the results. Thank you everyone for the well wishes and continued prayer :-) I will tell you all exactly what the results were at some point but right now we just want to process it privately.

Thanks

Last Week of Puppies

I just posted my remaining puppies on craigslist. Kinda sad because I REALLY wanted to keep the brown one, but DH said no :/

Hopefully they will find really good homes. If you know anybody in the DFW area that would like one, here are the links:

2 Black Female Labs

Light Brown Female Lab

Clomid

Thanks to a comment from a reader I decided to do a little "investigation" online, lol.

Walmart sells Clomid (name-brand) at retail price, whatever that may be exactly.
They sell the off-brand, clomiphene citrate, 5 for $9 and 15 for $24.

Hope that helps anyone! I know that CVS sold name-brand Clomid for about $3.81 per pill. Still not that bad of deal.

Fur Babies

As most infertile couples, we have fur babies. Every few years we expand...




6 years ago was a cat, Fajita

Fajita

5 years ago was a black lab, Leo, and a black teacup poodle, Ellie Mae

Leo

3 years ago was another cat, Callie Jo

Callie Jo

2 1/2 years ago was another cat, Cheyenne
1 year ago a female black lab, Piranha

Piranha

We gave Ellie Mae to the DH's uncle because she was hard to handle at times. Callie Jo wouldn't stop peeing on his clothes so we gave her to an adoption shelter. And Cheyenne got out when we were leaving for a weekend out of town and we didn't notice. He is still around although DH doesn't believe me. I see him a lot.

BUT, what has me REALLY excited??? Leo and Piranha had babies of their own! Here are some pictures I took today:

2ww

Mrs Red's update:

Have I ever mentioned I hate waiting.... I'm not a very patient person, I have gotten better because if there's one thing I've had practice with my "fertility", it's patience!
But I still hate waiting! I try to over analyze every little twinge and headache. I want to know already! I want to take a test but what if it's a false positive? What if it's negative and tomorrow they say it is positive? Or what if it's truly negative? I hope all the things I'm feeling are real and not just placebo or side effects from the progesterone in oil...
I really want everything I'm feeling to be real and for the best possible reason ever but I am so afraid it's not. I want to stay positive but 2 weeks is a long time to wait people!!!!
Monday I will go for blood work, pregnancy test, and sono to check my OHSS. I've been feeling worse since Tuesday and it's hard to breathe. Today the hubby said he thinks they might have to drain me because I look really bloated all the way up to my boobs. I'm not sure if I'm offended or not from his observation lol I guess since I'm so uncomfortable and really am bloated I just agree lol. Oh well, let's get through the next few days.

I promised my mom I'd tell her first when the time comes so if it's positive I'll be holding off blogging or texting anyone about it.
I will also hold off blogging or texting if it is negative because I don't know how I'm going to take it. I've semi come to terms with the facts it could be negative but with everything I've been feeling and all the hormone I'm on, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be too sad to want to talk bout it.

Sooooooo, I'm not going to talk about it for a little while :-) quiet time for Mrs Red for a bit

Infertility is....

Silent Blogger

When starting this blog with a few friends, I had initially intended to be an informer of PCOS and infertility but didn't know when I would be doing fertility treatments myself. DH and I had decided we would wait til Aug 2012 and go from there on what we wanted to do. Either wait 2 more years until nursing school was over or just steam ahead.

Sometimes other people's decisions affect our own.

As we all know, Mother's Day was last weekend (sorry for the reminder!). Saturday evening the night before, I FINALLY heard back from the nursing school I applied to. I was rejected for the Fall 2012 semester start. Just what I wanted to hear on that weekend, as though it wasn't bad enough.

I didn't know how to react to that. I had expected it, deep down, but still hopeful. Kinda like how I feel whenever I do fertility treatments. Didn't expect it to work but hoped it would.

DH reassured me that everything was ok and this and that. They next morning he picked his words carefully and explained that he viewed it as a sign. Postponing school with no choice, his mom moving out (which isn't happening now...), and summer coming so his second job wouldn't be as stressful was like the pieces coming together. We need to focus on building our family.

So, Monday morning I called my previous OB doctor that also does minor infertility treatments and set an appointment. I expected the standard 2-3 month wait like the first time I went. Imagine my surprise when they said I could be in on THURSDAY!

The days passed and I got giddy and nervous and finally I was at her office.

She is a nice doctor. The only way I can describe her is that she is very professional and sometimes that makes me feel awkward because she doesn't tend to small talk or converse unless promoted, especially if she is entering notes on the laptop (they have a computer file system there). Me, being the socially awkward person in an awkward 1-on-1 situation provided plenty of small talk hoping to make both of us relax and she talked a little more... Anywho...

We discussed my options and she agreed that we would start clomid 50 mg once this cycle of BC was done. Luckily I had decided to start taking it back in January so that ended up cutting off three months of wait time. She also sent a prescription for metformin since it tends to help the clomid out.

I'm excited. AF should start in a week and we will go from there.

How do I feel about all this? Excited. BUT I don't think it will work. I'm hopeful that it will but don't  think it is probable. I guess I'd rather expect the worse so the letdown isn't as hard. We shall see :)

OH! And my insurance doesn't cover ANY infertility, not even clomid so the breakdown:
CVS Pharmacy
Clomid $19.09 for 5 pills (50 mg each) which breaks down to $3.818 per pill
Metformin $1.30 for 1 month (covered by insurance)

Last time we went through this (Spring 2009) Clomid was $18 a pill and generic was $1.80 (Walmart). We decided to just go ahead and splurge on brand name this time :)

Ashley's Update

Ashley's Update
Well ladies, sorry its been so long.  So much has been going on.  I was in the hospital for a few days again last week due to severe right lower quadrant pain. My right ovary is still 9+ cm.  I was feeling great last Wednesday and had my last ultrasound at my RE's office at 7am at 3:15pm I started having severe RLQ pain like I did a month ago.  I took some Tylenol and tried to get comfortable then I called my OB office at 4:15pm because nothing was getting better and my OB prescribed Vicodin and told me to go into the ER if that didn't help.  So my DH ran to the pharmacy on his way home and then got home at 5:15pm.  In the mean time I was shaking, vomiting and nauseous.  I took a Vicodin and thought it helped in the first 20 min. however after that the pain just kept getting worse and worse. We ended up in the ER at 7pm had and ultrasound and MRI.  They admitted me and the pain did not subside until in the afternoon on Thursday.  I still have a dull pain but nothing compared to when I had to go in.  My right ovary will hopefully go down in size in the next three weeks, and hopefully we won't have to deal with this anymore.  On a better note, the babies are doing great.  Heartbeats are strong, both are growing good.   I was so worried about taking the pain meds but the doctors assured me that they do not affect the babies unless its used for long term during the pregnancy in which the babies become addicted. 

Also, I am an aunt (my side of the family)!  My only sibling (my sister) had her first baby 5/6/12.  He is beautiful 6 lbs 12oz 19.5"  - Brayden Lee.  We spend from Saturday 5/5/12 at noon until Sunday at 10am in the hospital.  She went into labor and progressed good but he was turned on his side instead of facing her back so he wouldn't come through her pelvis.  She started pushing at 2am 5/6/12 for 2 1/2 hours with just a little morphine and then they decided to do the c-section at 4:30am.  He was born at 5:50am.  She is one strong lady!  We spent some time with them after he was born and then again on Mother's Day.  I really feel me finally being pregnant helped with everyone to bond even more through the birth of my nephew.  I truly feel so blessed!!

Mrs Red's OHSS

I am 8dp3dt and the past 4 days or so I've had absolutely no symptoms and been a little bummed. Occasionally I'll get some AF type cramps but not strong or anything and only after being up for too long.
So anyways I went yesterday for my progesterone and estrogen check and they called after lunch to let me know both were normal: e2=812 and progesterone=55 so that was great news to me, I know they don't indicate pregnancy but my IUI cycles it was never more than 20 for progesterone and e2 was always low... So I was happy.
So this morning.... I'm laying in bed after going pee at about 4 am and I feel restless. I couldn't get comfortable, felt hot and like I couldn't breathe right. Then the hubby gets up at 530 to take a shower and I roll over to take up more bed space, which usually helps. But then I notice a pain on my left side/back kind of a shooting pain like a kidney infection meets constipation/gas feeling but I didn't feel gassy and didn't feel I needed to "go", so I'm whining and rolling on my back hoping the pain will go away.

Then hubby gets out of the shower and hears me whining and come an sits with me asking what's wrong. Said to try to "go" and I try but nothing. The trying just made the pain worse. Then I lay down and try to find a comfortable position. Really the only thing that 'helped' was the fetal position over a pillow.

Then the pain started getting intense and I wasn't getting any relief, my whines turned into sobbing pain. Hubby rubbed my back which seemed to make it subside. We did my daily PIO shot and hubby continued to get ready for work. Then the pain came back with a vengeance! I got so dizzy and was in a dripping cold sweat and we decided to go to the hospital. We called my RE line and left a message but the pain was too intense, hubby basically dressed me like a baby because I was just crying and couldn't move, every movement hurt like heck.

The pain migrated to my uterus/ovary area AND my back. After I was dressed I felt so nauseous and said 'I think I'm going to throw up' and he said lets go to the bathroom, as soon as I stood up I felt it, ran the two steps and got some on the floor but most in the toilet. It was a weird gel-like yellow vomit (TMI I know lol). After it finally seemed like my stomach was truly empty we started leaving to go to the hospital. When we got halfway down the street the RE called. I told him the morning events and he said to come in around 9 as a walk in. I said ok but sat there thinking, uh... 2 more hours?! Hubby said it would be better to wait if I could but we would do whatever I wanted. I was actually feeling a little better after throwing up, so we sat in the car until the pain all seemed to dull, it was still there but tolerable. Came inside and laid down and then a miracle happened, I fell asleep. Hubby woke me up and I said I wanted to shower since I was feeling a little better and the pain wasn't as bad.

We went to the clinic and they took my weight, which I lost 10 lbs from the start of this cycle :-) and then took me to the sonogram rooms, asked for a urine sample and then did the ultrasounds. They said 3 weeks is too little to see anything and really didn't look at my uterus more than a split second to measure it. Then that's hen we saw, my right ovary was HUGE! And there were 2 big pockets of free fluid just hanging out in my belly. I had a few 3 cm cysts on my right ovary, then my left had 3 3.5 cm cysts. She said my ovaries should each be the size of one cyst! Then she checked all my organs and everything looked fine. They measured my belly which was bloated and said to monitor my weight and belly size, if it gets worse they will need to drain the fluid.

So I officially have OHSS. It's not as bad as some people they said but it's new to me and the hubs. They also said that its likely that I'm pregnant but to wait until Monday for my test. I did read some forums that said to eat a lot of protein and Gatorade since the fluid lost in my tummy will dehydrate me and contains protein and I'll be losing sodium. Let's just hope this doesn't get worse! But I'll be taking it easy til it's gone.

It's that day again...

Totally should have bought this tshirt for today.... Jus sayin

We gotta hang in there gals, our day will come....

Medication cost

I posted a while ago about insurance non-coverage, well here's some numbers I wish we're easier to find, since the mail order pharmacy is shady about giving out this info:

Gonal-F ( I needed 3 900 iui pens)
$1380 each!!! If you can get the discount card for cash paying patients, it's $744 each. If u have insurance coverage you can get for free but u can only use either card once in 28 days so try to get all ur medication at once.

Microdose or low dose HCG (an injectable compound)
$95 at the local pharmacy out of pocket plus the cost of syringes -__- which were $4 each bag of 10.
Mail order from freedom pharmacy was $70. This was one my pharmacy couldn't do because it was an injectable compound.


Certatide (I needed 3 of these but was prescribed and paid for 4 :-/)
From freedom pharmacy $86 each for a total of $344, the maker back orders it for smaller pharmacies.

Novarell
$89.90 from freedom, it was discontinued for my pharmacist to purchase. The alternative is Ovidrel which is $95

Vivelle dot (estrogen patches since I have estrogen issues)
This one has a discount program that is free with insurance, but freedom told me they were 67.81 for a box of 8, or 9.51 each. Which stinks because these are estrogen patches meant to be changed once every 72 hours, however the longest mine have gone is 48 hours...

Doxycycline (antibiotic and typically covered by any insurance)
Freedom said copay was $10.67, idk how much it really was but my pharmacy got it for me for a $5 copay.

Methylpredisolone (idk what this was but took 16mg once a day for 4 days after the retrevial)
Freedom said the copay for this one was $4, again idk how much it was for real because my pharmacy got it taken care of for me, so I think it's one of those on a discount thing. It was 16 mg a day for 4 days.

Progesterone in oil (so far just 2 vials)
Freedom said $55 each vial.

Apparently some of these medications have discount cards that can get the medication heavily discounted or free when used with insurance! Big thanks to Raj and the staff 15RX pharmacy in San Antonio who worked for 2 days straight to help me pay as little as possible! They were like angels from God when I needed stress relieved.

Freedom pharmacy said I would pay $3090 out of pocket (mind you this is with insurance)
Shopping around I paid $1792 out of pocket. Could have been less if I didn't wait for the last minute to order everything (mind you this is the EXACT SAME FREAKIN INSURANCE!) I'm grateful for the insurance coverage I have but still think its ridiculous how little it pays and how my lifetime max is $5k! Thats one cycle!

Anyway, I hope this helps people get an idea of out of pocket costs

My Dream

I found this song earlier last week and I have to share. The words may not be exact for the infertility battle, but it gives a lot of hope :) I will always have my dream of being a mom.

Mrs Red's transfer

The days after my retrieval I took it easy. Did some housework here and there but for the most part I rested. My hubby wanted me to just relax and even offered to do most of the chores, I still helped until I felt nauseous. Everyday I've been waking up at 630 to take my progesterone shot, we decided that early morning would be easiest for us to be consistent with the shots. We've tried midday which I is just really hard to time/remember and then we've tried after work to evening which doesn't work for us either because we never have a consistent schedule and who likes to stop in the middle of spending time with each other/friends/family to take a shot and then answer questions? No, we are always home in the morning and rarely leave the house before 630 so this was the easiest solution.

Monday was transfer day and I had a list of instructions, at 630 took progesterone shot, second to last dose of antibiotic and methylprednisolone (sp?), then a little before 8 I took a shower, changed my estrogen patch (vivelle dot) because it fell off AGAIN! Then at 8 sharp I had to insert a medicine called "endometrim", I didn't know I needed this pill but my doctor gave me samples the day of the retrieval so I wouldn't have to go buy it. After I took it I just laid there for like an hour. Then at 1030 I was told to empty my bladder and immediately drink 24-36 oz of water. I was feeling incredibly nauseous so we went to the store to get me a second bottle of water and crackers. Then off to the clinic! Had to be there at 1130 and got there right on time. After a short wait they took me back to the same procedure room as the retrieval.

The embryologist came in and gave us our full day 3 report, most of my eggs were doing great! I had quite a few bigger than 8-cells but they like to transfer 8-cells so they picked 2 of the 5 8-cells and showed us pictures of them.

One of our 8-cells!

Then she left and I undressed from the bottom down and the sonographer came in and checked my bladder. My ovaries were still HUGE and were pushing my uterus and my bladder so she said she was going to wait to call the doctor so that my bladder could fill more and push my uterus into a better position. It looked all squished.

Then we heard the page for the doctor and he came in with the nurse and the sonographer. He explained that the embryologist would load a syringe with a little solution, an air bubble, the eggs, another air bubble, and some more solution. They would put in a speculum, clean off my cervix, then put in a catheter with a removable center, they would then put in the catheter with the embryos and we would watch the sonogram for the air bubbles since they can't see the embryos. Then they would take out the syringe catheter and check it under a microscope to make sure they stayed inside. Once they get the all clear they would insert the other endometrim tablet and then have the nurse empty my bladder and then I'd lay there for 30 mins.

So everything pretty much went as they described but it was really uncomfortable. They had me sit not with my legs in stirrups but like the child birthing pose.... It was odd... LoL hey hubby was holding one leg and the sonographer held the other.... Irony... Anyway that helped relieve the pressure I was feeling. Then everything else went "normal", we watched them inject them and then we got the all clear the first try, they took out the uterine catheter and gave me one to pee.

Then it was just me and my hubby. We just talked the rest of the time about how with all the technology and whatnot, there's only a 70% chance, and the rest is entirely relying on God. It wasn't a negative conversation in the least. It's just amazing how no matter what, God has it all in His hands. All we can do now is pray and hope its His will.

I go back on May 14th for progesterone and estradiol levels and then on May 21st for my pregnancy test. I'm staying home on bed rest through Wednesday and debating if I want to work from home Thursday and Friday.

And Ashley was right, there is NOTHING good on TV.. Lol

Mrs Red's retrieval day!!!! And everything leading up

Today was the day! I could hardly sleep last night, I was so excited!

I started my injectables on Saturday April 21, .01mL of microdose HCG, and 150 IUI of gonal-f. Hubby started taking doxycycline twice a day to make sure he doesn't get sick. I went Tuesday April 24 for stimulation day 3 E2 and sonogram. I had 4 follicles at 8-9mm! But my e2 was only 34 so they increased my meds to 225 IUI gonal-f same microdose HCG.
Thursday April 26 I went fr my next r2 and sono. I had more follicles at 8-9mm but nothing more than that. They called me later with my e2 and it was only 61 and it needed to be more than 100.... I cried at work. I was so stressed at work and I know it was effecting me... They increased my meds to 300 IUI and said come in on Saturday... So we decided to be a little more diligent and started up juicing again...

Friday after work, we made a commitment to having a stress free (as much could be controlled) weekend and no work talk or thinking of work. We went to the movies Friday and saw 21 jump street, very funny and it helped kick start the weekend. The. Saturday morning we went back and praise God, my e2 was 467!!! My sono showed I had a handful of eggs over 10mm and one at 14! So same dose and come in Monday with my meds and to bring one of the cetratide kits! For dinner we went and ate sushi to celebrate and because if all goes well I won't get to eat it for a while

Monday we get to the doctor after having a juice packed with fruits and veggies full of phytoestrogens. My sono showed 16 follicles over 10 mm! And like 3 at 15 mm! I ran out of gonal-f and spent the day calling around to get a good price for a 900 iui pen.... Took .01 mL of the microdose at the doctors office, then they called later and confirmed to keep taking 300 IUI of gonal-f and to take my cetratide medicine. Cetratide is a medicine to prevent the mature eggs from releasing on their own. My e2 Monday was 1264!

Took .01 mL microdose hcg, 300iui gonal-f and cetratide tuesday and then went back to the doc Wednesday. They told me to take all my doses for the day and that would be my last dose of those medicines. At 9pm Wednesday night I took 1CC of novarel to mature my eggs. At the sono it showed I had 13 follicles that were ready and thy said the rest would probably continue maturing. The sonographer gave me a print out of my "kissing ovaries"

Thursday I went in the morning for another e2, and they reminded me to brig warm socks and to take a fleet enema that night and no food after midnight. I have to admit.... The enema was uncomfortable and weird but I'm doing everything they say to do!

This morning I couldn't sleep, partly because my "kissing ovaries" we're pushing on my bladder and I have to pee soooo often lol! I'm so thankful I haven't gotten sick with how big they are. We got to the clinic at 710, they took us back an got me changed. I swore I had to pee but only a little came out. It hurts to pee because oh the ovary size but it's not too bad. They put me in the room and hooked me up to the iv. Miguel kissed me and then I saw the doctor for a sec, they gave me "loopy" medicine and it made me sleepy but I fought it, I wanted to be nosey loo. Then the doctor came and said we were ready, they wrapped my legs with some dark blue tarp looking things and they started the anesthesia, it burned like bad carpal tunnel days. Then I was out, I woke up to the nurse and anesthesiologist talking about vacations lol first thing I said was "go on a cruise" lmao, we talked for a while as I woke up then they got Miguel and got me animal crackers. He told me they got 29 eggs! Even the doctor was shocked! A while later they said I could go home and gave me instructions for the next 4 days.

We went and got breakfast then home. I slept for a few hours and then logged into work to make sure everything was set so no one will call me lol. Now we wait for the report on how many fertilized! :-D

God is great!

My "kissing ovaries"

Avery Lynn Canahuati 11/11/11 - 04/30/12

I don't know how many of you have heard or read about baby Avery. If you haven't, you must visit her blog/bucket list.

It is a blog written as her by her parents. 

April 6th she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

As I don't know much about it, I highly recommend going to her blog and reading all about it. Anybody with kids or that wants kids should definitely look into this.

The blog is Avery's bucket list and the following below is one of her last. Please look into doing what you can. Even if everyone does $10 that makes a difference! 

"One of Avery's newest Bucket List goals was to help raise the remaining $365,000 (out of $1mil) needed to bring Dr. Kaspar's SMA Gene Therapy program out of the lab and into her SMA friends.  Dr. Kaspar's SMA Gene Therapy could cure Avery's friends or at the very least offer advancements towards a cure for them.

Click here to donate to Dr. Kaspar's SMA Gene Therapy through Sophia's Cure which is a non-profit organization so all donations are tax deductible."