More Than Two Egg Follicles!

Well I had another doctors appointment this morning, and today was the first time since our very first appointment that it has not rain. The sun was out bright blue sky so maybe that is a sign. I told the doctor that i was having some pressure/ bloating feeling in my right side and he said that could because i was ovulating on my right side this month. As my friend and I meet again he shows Jon and I that I have two egg follicles on my right side one at 30mm and the other was 28mm...Then he checked my left ovary and there was one egg follicle there at 20mm.....Thats right 3 eggs this month. Sister in law is on her way out to give me the Ovidrel shot and lets all cross all fingers and toes and whatever else we need to do because if we get pregnant this month we will have a HALLOWEEN baby and we all know that would be AMAZING since we love Halloween so much. I will keep everyone posted!!!

Day 34 ends up being day 3...12 & 9 to many numbers!

What was supposed to be day 34 ended up being day number 3 of my menstrual.  I had a doctors appointment this morning, same routine go in draw blood and then the exam with my new Best friend.   Everything looks great the doctor said. " Lets count the follicles in your ovaries. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12." " im sorry did you just say 12 yes on my right side and 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9 on my left. I am sorry again but a total of 21 follicles." Can that be good?  So I go back back in 11 days for more blood work and another ultrasound and shot. After my appointment i call my husband to tell him the news and got "THATS WAY TO MANY!" LOL i think he thinks i am going to get pregnant with 21 kids. Love it!

Sunday Morning SURPRISE!!! 1-16-11

As I was getting ready for church this morning I noticed I was feeling a little weird not myself. Well I know why? No I am not pregnant I took a test it came back negative and I started. As I thought I would be sad and upset, I have a positive outlook maybe next time. I now know that the medicine is working it is doing its job I forgot what it was like having a monthly cycle because I haven't had one in 9 months. Run to the store....I have to call the doctors office tomorrow and go for more blood work this week and start the clomid again on days 5-9  I will keep everyone posted.

Waiting for day 34!!!

I am not going to lie..This is the hard part waiting to pee on a stick and hopefully see that your pregnant.. Why wait till day 34? I am not going to get my hopes up though...The doctor did say it usually takes woman around their 2nd and 4th month of being on clomid. So my next question to myself is, do I do IUI next month to greater our chance of conceiving???

Trying On Our Own The First Three Months!

The doctor told us at our first appointment that if we tried on our own with the help of clomid making me ovulate we have a 30%-40% chance of conceiving on our own. Those are the same percentages as a normal couple. If we choose to do the IUI we have a 50% chance. As that chance looks better it also cost $350 and is not a guaranteed it would work. So we choose to try on our own for the first three months and if that doesnt work our next step is IUI.  Lets cross all fingers and toes and hope that all works out well.

It Has It's Own Language!

The time in between doctors visits i find myself busy looking things up all the time on the internet. I dont have anyone else to ask questions to.  As i continue to search information about infertility i started to notice crazy letters like IUI, TTC, US, and many more. I found myself trying to decode everything.  So through out this process  i am sure i will start speaking the language of infertility codes so i am providing you a guide.

Learning the Lingo:
2WW = 2 Week Wait (the two weeks after ovulation and before AF arrives)
AF = Aunt Flo (menstruation/period)
B/W = Bloodwork
BCP = Birth Control PillsBeta = Blood pregnancy test
BFN = Big Fat Negative (negative pg test)
BFP = Big Fat Positive (positive pg test)
CD = Cycle Day
DH = Dear/Darling Husband
DPO = Days Past Ovulation
E2 = Estradiol (Estrogen)
ER = Egg Retrieval
ET = Embryo Transfer
FET = Frozen Embryo Transfer
FMU = First Morning Urine
FSH = Follicle Stimulating Hormone
H&H = Happy and Healthy
HCG = Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
HOM = High Order Multiples
HPT = Home Pregnancy Test
HSC = Hysteroscopy
HSG = Hysterosalpingogram
IB = Implantation Bleeding
ICSI = Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
IF = Infertility
IM = Intramuscular
IR = Insulin Resistant
IUI = Intra-uterine Insemination
IVF = In Vitro Fertilization
LH = Luteinizing hormone
LMP = Last Menstrual Period
LOL = Laugh Out Loud
LPD = Luteal Phase Defect
M/C = Miscarriage
MFI = Male Factor Infertility (ex, low sperm count)
OHSS = Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome
OPK = Ovulation Predictor KitOV = Ovulation
P4 = ProgesteronePCOS = Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
PG = Pregnant
PNV = Pre-natal vitamin
POAS = Pee on a Stick (ex, take a pregnancy test)
RE = Reproductive Endocrinologist (Infertility Specialist)
S/A = Sperm/Semen Analysis
TMI = Too Much Information
TSH = Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
TTC = Trying to Conceive
U/S = Ultrasound

It's Shot Time.... I Have To Put That Where????

January 1st 2011...It was time i had to give myself a shot to release the eggs. I couldn't do it so my husband said he would. My husband has given shots before, he gives my neighbor her allergy shot sometimes so i knew he could do it. As we are reading up on this shot the paper said to give the shot in the stomach. Well my husband then started second guessing himself, he has never given a shot in the stomach. I cleaned an area of my stomach off with an alcohol wipe and he pops the cap off the needle he put the needle to my skin and i freaked out no i cant no this. Needless to say we called his sister (who gives shots all the time) and she came right on out and before i could say i was ready she already had the shot in my stomach and pulled out. I didn't even feel anything it really wasn't all that bad.

DAY 14...Did The Clomid Work????

Making the long haul up 71 to Bethesda North hospital i was really nervous about this appointment. We get there they call us back and my husband is still laughing because they changed the socks on the stirrups! I get myself ready for this US (ultra sound)  and away he begins with the magical Harry Potter wand (Dildo Cam). This was a different doctor than i had seen before. He asked me in the middle of my US how old i was. 28 i replied. He then proceeds to tell me the EXCITING NEWS!!!! The clomid worked my ovaries had produced two eggs and what looked like a third one. The doctor told me to go home and on Saturday January 1st take the shot to release the eggs and on Saturday night into Sunday , he looked at Jon and said "Happy Humpings".  Lets cross our fingers...........

Beginning The Medicines!

I started the prenatal vitamins right away, I thought they would make me sick but they didnt. I then began the provera and started 10 days after i began. i called the doctor and  went in for blood work on day three and they called me with the results that night EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD and i started the clomid. They warned me about this drug. They said i would be very moody and over whelmed with hormones and many things could happen with my body. I snapped at my husband a couple of times but not as bad as i thought i would and i cried ALOT! Round One COMPLETE!!!!!

Medicines..How much is that????

As for someone who never takes medicine i am beginning to think i have a pharmacy at my house.

~Prenatal vitamins 1x a day =$30.00 for a month supply

~Vitamin D pill once a week for 6 wks=$20.00

~Provera 10 days=$10.00

~Clomid 5 days = $20.00

~Ovidrel Shot= $100.00

Grand total= $180.00 for one month supply of Fertility medicine.........

November 30th...First Fertility Doctor App. A long Blog

Hello November 30th, This was a very important day to us. This was the beginning of that next chapter of our lives. Our appointment was at 8:30 am and they told us to arrive 15 minutes early due to the over amount of signing your life away paper work, and also that our appointment would last about two hours. Really what could they possibly talk to us about for two hours. They called us back into a conference room and sat us down at the table. The doctor came in with a large stack of papers and a folder and talked to us about EVERYTHING that had to do with the reproductive system all the way down to having sex and what the percentages would be of us trying to conceive as a normal couple (ones without fertility problems) or us non normal (the ones with infertility.) Time 1 hr into appointment. After our little meeting he wanted to do an ultrasound(US). So we went into the cute little home style room and instantly my husband was laughing because they had Christmas socks on the stirrups (really this is what he has gotten from the appointment so far).  I changed into a gown and up on the bed i went. The doctor game back into the room and  said OK Mrs. Tucker i am going to preform and US(ultra sound). All of a sudden he pulled out this wand looking thing with a condom on it. Dildo cam ( a view from inside) as i call and away he began with the testing. While he is moving this uncomfortable Harry Potter wand around inside me he (the doctor) begins to say huh, really, your ovaries they are not what i expected. I instantly began to sweat and i got really nervous. When the US(ultrasound) was over with i changed my clothes and i had to walk across the hall into another room to have 4 tubes of blood taken from me because they wanted to check some things. I was so nervous and upset from the doctor saying my ovaries wasn't what he expected that when they were drawing blood from me i got really hot and almost passed out. (i never do that).Time 2 hrs into our appointment. When all said and done we went into another room with a table and they came in  and explained to me that my ovaries were not PCOS ovaries which meant the reason why i was not ovulating or having a period is due to my hormones being crazy and still diagnosed me with PCOS because i have everything else that comes with PCOS,. GOOD NEWS!! They handed us 3 prescription papers and then began to explain our process that we needed to follow.
The steps as following:
1. Begin to start taking prenatal vitamins
2.Begin to take the provera (medicine to make me start my period)
3.Call the doctors office day 1 of period
4. Day 3 of period go in to the doctors office for blood work
5.Days 5-9 begin taking 50mg of Clomid(fertility medicine)
6.Day 14 come into the office for an US(ultra sound)
7.Day14 GIVE SELF SHOT (Ovidrel, shot to release the egg)
8. Call doctors on day 34 if you started your period or even if you haven't.

Time 3 hrs into appointment.  Really 3 hrs i just spent in a doctors off. I cant explain the joy and excitement i was feeling that day knowing that everything could be ok and that these people were going to do everything it takes for us to try and have a baby. I am so thankful of the staff at Bethesda North for Reproductive Health and Fertility.

Wanting a baby......Making that first step....

After my husband and I got married we decided that we wanted to start a family right away. I really never understood the whole your biological clock is ticking but now i understand it. I AM IN BABY MODE!! After many late nights up talking about finances, and EVERYTHING else, we made the go and i called Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health and Fertility two weeks after our wedding and our appointment was set up for November 30th.

PCOS!

As I was laying there, I instantly felt my heart drop into my stomach. 'You have Polycysticovarian diease!" That was the first time i had heard anything about PCOS. "Am i going to die?" was my question to the doctor. I freaked out, what is a person to do when they hear the word DISEASE!!  I found out I had PCOS in 2002, I immediately started doing some research to find out that they call it  (PolyCysticOvarian Syndrome). After doing some heavy research and learning everything there is to know about PCOS I hit the next phase of the worrying, "Am I going to be able to have kids?" From 2002 till 2006 I put the whole PCOS on the back burner. In October of 2006 I started dating my husband. As the months, into years went by the talk of marriage and children came up. I started to feel that empty sick feeling i felt that day at the doctors office, how am I going to be able to tell someone that I love dearly and want to spend the rest of my life with, that there is a chance that I may not be able to have children, or the road to having children could be a long struggle. I then broke the news to him and his words were, "I am with you because I love you, If we are not able to go through that journey in our lives of having children, then we will adopt Teena!" As the tears ran down my face I knew then that when we decided to start that journey in our lives at some point there will be a light at the end of the tunnel by having children of our own, or giving a child life through adoption.