Monday, April 29, 2013

Team Purple!

Tuesday (April 23) morning we arrived at the Fertility Center and got checked in. I think the ladies at the front desk were just as excited for the day as we were! You could see it in their smiles that reached all the way up to their eyes. C was already there waiting. While we were sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called back one of the nurses called my cell and asked me if I planned to make it in for transfer?! I think we were both really confused when I told her that we were sitting in the waiting room.
It wasn't long until we were called back and ushered into at tiny glass room. Inside was a large exam chair covered in a blanket with a gown and paper "blanket" setting on top. Another smaller chair set beside the wall. On it set surgical coverups with a hairnet and booties.
I quickly changed into the hospital gown with my slipper socks and hairnet. E slipped her lovely attire over her clothes and we sat and waited. The nurse came in and talked to us a couple of times before Dr. S came in and went over the embryos and procedure with us.

They used a different grading system than the one OU Fertility used so I wasn't sure at the time what it all I meant. I later looked it up and found out.
They defrosted two embryos from a purple petri dish. One of them graded 9 and .075. The other graded 8 and .075. What does that mean? I think it means that one was 9 cells, the other was 8 cells and both had .025% fragmentation. I could be wrong? What I do know is that it was great news!

The nurses walked us down the hallway to the procedure room. Things happened so quickly that I didn't have a lot of time to look around and take in my surroundings. What I do remember is the exam table and the chair setting next to it. E sat down in the chair while I climbed on the table and untied my gown. I assumed the position, you know... scoot all the way down and place your legs in the stirrups.
The monitor was to my left at stomach level. There was a microphone that dropped down from the ceiling and a TV screen to the right. Dr. S began by cleaning my uterus. It did not feel quite as strange as it did the first time and I don't think it took nearly as long as before. The other doctor (I forget his name) held the wand over my abdomen to help Dr. S guide the catheter into my uterus. I had to talk to the invincible lady in the microphone and state my name and what I was there for. She than showed the embryos on the large TV screen on the right side of the room.
Once Dr. S had the catheter in place he called out to the lady in the microphone that we were ready. With the tilt of the bed I wasn't able to see how everything happened so I just watched the monitor. I could see the two tiny white bubbles again. They shot up and floated until the rested beside my uterus wall. Amazing! Dr. S checked to make sure the catheter was empty, it was, and we were done. 

I walked back to the glass room and got dressed.
Back in the waiting room we greeted C and told him we were all done! E went and got one of the front desk ladies to come and take a picture of the three of us. I couldn't tell but I think the lady had tears in her eyes. I love that about this Fertility Clinic, they seem like family to one another.
I left with instructions to continue my estrogen patches and progesterone shots. I also had orders to have my blood drawn to check HCG levels on May 7th and again on May 9th.
I was told NOT to take a HPT but that seems like pure torture!! Because there are only 12 days between the transfer date and first blood draw I can't really take a HPT until the same day as the blood draw any way. So I guess we will just wait.

************************************STICKY DUST*****************************************************

North Carolina Bound

One thing about doing a transfer outside of the state is having to wait until the last minute to book a flight. If anyone has ever had to do it, you know exactly what I mean. The pickings are slim. I ended up leaving Austin Monday afternoon. But before I could get to North Carolina I had to fly down to Houston. Crazy. Luckily, there wasn't a big layover in-between. I was really concerned that we would be delayed with all the air traffic control delays but thankfully both flights were right on time!

When I arrived in NC both E and C were there to pick me up. It was my first time actually meeting C in person. It was kind of funny. I sat there thinking that he was nothing like I expected and looked much younger than he did in pictures.

I think that is when it occurred to me that during this process it is really hard not to compare your previous journey with the current one, and I had totally been doing that. Especially because E and B are friends.
Both B,C and E,C are beautiful people. You know, the kind that seem flawless. Perfect hair. Perfect teeth. Perfect skin. But they are really quite different in so many other ways. I think my journey with B and C caused me to shield myself a little from E and C but I didn't realize that until the moment we sat down to dinner.
E and C took me to Maggiano's Little Italy. The food was amazing and the company was pretty entertaining! I felt so comfortable with them and was able to relax and enjoy myself. 

I have to say... at one point during the conversation C said that is cray cray! I LOL'd because earlier that day I said the same thing while dropping my 12 year old off at school. He scolded me and told me NEVER to say that again! HAHA! Just wait until you have pre-teens, C. We are never as cool as we think we are!

When I walked into my hotel room I was surprised to see that E had left me a card and gift bag. The bag was full of snacks and goodies to cover my few days there. Such a sweet gesture.
I honestly spent my time at the hotel laid out on the king size bed with my laptop, kindle, and phone. I may or may not have set the snacks on the bed too...

I had trouble sleeping that night, but that isn't anything new for me. I'm not sure if it is the added hormones that make it difficult or something else all together. I did manage to get up in time the next day to take a shower and have breakfast before E came to get me at 8:45am. Off we went to our 9am appointment! 

Friday, April 26, 2013

Imperfection is Beauty

April 16th was my final appointment with Texas Fertility before transfer. Of course, after hearing that you have an imperfect uterus it's hard not to obsessively worry that it could happen again. The doctor was running late but I was told she was on her way and to go ahead and undress. I took the time to over think and drive myself crazy. It actually didn't take long before she came in and really only took a few seconds for her to do the actual exam. She said, "Everything looks great!". By great she meant that my uterus lining was 13mm's thick. What does that mean? The clinic wanted to see 7mm... pretty sure that means my uterus was PERFECT! :)
 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Medication Administration Instructions

I thought I would post this for those of you that may be curious...

Day 1: Apply 2 patches (Estrogen) 

Day 3: Apply 2 new patches 
Day 5: Apply 2 new patches 
Day 7: Apply 3 new patches
Day 9: Apply 3 new patches 
Day 11: Apply 4 new patches 
Day 13: Apply 4 new patches 
Day 15: Apply 4 new patches and have ultrasound to check uterus lining.

If everything looks okay with my lining I will decrease the patches to 2 per day, changing every other day, and start injecting Progesterone Oil once daily.

As of right now we are looking at transfer taking place the week of April 22. So exciting! 

Ready... Set...GO!!!

Did I already say that things never seem to go as planned? A few weeks ago E and I had a conference call with the fertility clinic to discuss dates. They thought it would be a good idea for me to stop taking birth control a week early. The thought was that in doing so I would start my period early. Ha! Sure, in a perfect world.
I was beginning to think that I would just skip the month all together. I must admit, it made me feel awful. I hated the thought of E having to wait another month when she had already been waiting for so long. I was thrilled, no seriously... thrilled!! when my period started on April Fools Day! Mother Nature is funny isn't she?!
I sent E a text letting her know and she contacted D Fertility to get things moving. Boy are they fast!

My first appointment was this morning to have my ovaries checked at Texas Fertility. Let me just say that having that done while on your period isn't fun, at all. The good news is that my ovaries were clear! No cysts!
After that I went to the lab to have blood work done. I didn't get to hear the results before D Fertility closed, but I'm hoping everything was fine.
I ended up making it home just in time to sign for my medication and ended the day with my final step... starting Estrogen patches.
Here we go again!!!