Weekend Adventures

Finch and I took off on Friday to go surprise my Grandma for her 87th birthday - I told her that UPS would be delivering a package around 4pm for her birthday - we drove 3 hours and showed up with roses and balloons at 4pm wearing UPS hats that my uncle gave us (he retired from UPS) and Finch caught the whole thing on video!   She was so surprised and excited.  We spent the night with her and had to come back on Saturday since my wife had to work in the evening.... it was priceless seeing my grandma's face!  While we were there we had a little scare...OK, a BIG SCARE - I took the first round of Gonal/Menopur on Friday night - on Sat at 630am I wake up and am bleeding - my heart sank and i thought there was something seriously wrong.   My grandma lives in the mountains in WV and there is no cell service.  I had to wait until we were leaving to call the emergency line at our doctor's office - the nurse called me right back and I explained about the meds and that I was cramping and bleeding - she said, "oh yeah,  you will have a period after you are off the birth control pills...." I'm sorry we must have forgotten to tell you"  My heart came back up from my stomach and I told her I had been a wreck all morning thinking something was seriously wrong and that no one had told me I would have a period!!!  Of course we were relieved but I was a mess all morning thinking that our cycle would have to be cancelled and that one of the medicines had caused me to start bleeding.  Ugh - what a relief that everything is ok and I have continued with the meds...  the gonal f doesn't hurt a bit but the menopur shots sting my belly.  I go back in the morning at 715am for more bloodwork and another u/s....  fingers crossed that all will look good - we are supposed to have the retrieval around April 11th - only about a week away - ahh!! yikes - I feel like I have been waiting for the past 10 years to be pregnant and become a mom.  It is only days away from our transfer and it all feels surreal.  Finch worked last night til midnight so I worked on painting the trim in the nursery, a white high-gloss enamel - I finished all of the trim this evening.  We picked out the main color for the room and have a gallon of paint ready and waiting...it is called "gentle landscape" and is light green.   We have been looking on the computer for decals with trees, birds, owls, and flowers....we have narrowed it down to 2 so far.  Here's to hoping this week flies by - I have noticed I have been on edge and more moody the last couple of days - thank God I have a patient and understanding wife.....it has also helped that she has worked the past two evenings and hasn't had to deal with my grouchiness. haha.

April Fools Day

Today has been a looong day.... 3 states, 2 doctors and an April 1st - April Fools Day start for the Gonal F and Menopur!!!  Coincidence or not?!  I woke up at 6:00 and left to drive to MD for the first day of bloodwork/U/S at 7:15am  - the U/S showed a small cyst on my right ovary but only measured 1.33 and the tech said it was nothing to worry about.  I've never had a cyst in any ultrasound or scan so not sure where it came from or when it will leave??   We live in WV, the Doc is in MD and I work in VA  - I made it to work by 830 and the dentist called (I left a message asking for an emergency appointment last night as a piece of my tooth broke off).... after being at work for no more than 15 minutes I headed across town to see the dentist.  Two and a half hours later he had me put back together.  UGH - I HATE the dentist.  He had to reconstruct my tooth and ended up putting 3 pins in it and a pulp cap to prepare it for the crown I will need.  lovely.   I told him he wouldn't see me for at least 10 months until after we deliver a healthy baby.  Here's hoping the tooth holds up until then. (Thanks to those of you that left me a message encouraging me to go to the dentist - had I let it go it would have ended with a root canal)  Needless to say...I made it back to work around noon and worked for several hours. The nurse called around 3pm and my Estrogen Level was 53 and Progesterone was .2  -not sure what that means but she said it was perfect. That's the only thing about my day that was :)  I had a Board meeting for another agency tonight and just got home around 8:15pm.
I am off to sleep because I have State reviewers in my office the next 2 days - good times.  Super, Super exited to be on our IVF Journey.  My awesome wife made me Tortilla Soup so thank goodness I didn't have to cook when I got home...  off to bed!~  Happy Monday to you!

Countdown to IVF

Tomorrow is my last BCP and I have a 7:15am appt for bloodwork and the first ultrasound on Monday morning. Meds will start on Monday too - woohoo!!!!! Looking forward to getting this show on the road - Finch is working til midnight tonight so I worked on putting masking tape up in the nursery.  We are going to start priming the room tomorrow... I want us to finish painting it in the next week so I don't have to breathe any paint fumes during the pregnancy.  Ok, I have a question - I have a chip out of one of my fillings - should I get this fixed in the next week with an emergency dental appointment or should I just try to wait it out and hope that all is good for the next 10 months or so?  I am worried about the pain medicine they use since we are less than 15 days away from retrieval.....any thoughts??

How many meds does it take to make a baby???

We just got all of the meds we need for our 1st IVF cycle....Hooray!!!!
I can't believe how many meds we need to make a baby - unbelievable!  We have put all our eggs (literally) into one basket by trying an IVF round. We went through Fertility Finance http://www.fertilityfinance.net/
(who we would highly recommend) to fund our upcoming IVF procedure and 1/2 the cost of the meds.
Over the past year and half after multiple tries from home, 3 rounds at the doctor's office and now our upcoming IVF cycle....we will have spent over $22,500 so far without insurance.  Ugh.  That is depressing to put into writing.

Plan B will be to try a frozen round or two depending on how many "frosties" we get from IVF.   I don't think we realized what an added emotional strain it has been trying to finance starting a family.  I worked 2 jobs last year and my wife has continued to work 2 jobs since last year.  She is an amazing woman. We will have our retrieval/transfer in April and are very excited and feel very blessed to have made it to this point in our fertility journey.

I am extremely jealous that some insurance companies actually understand the struggles women face with fertility while our insurance covers absolutely nothing.  While the President is working on this Health Care Reform, I would like to see universal coverage for fertility treatment for everyone regardless of your job.  If I wasn't already 36 going on 37 I would have considered switching careers the past 2 years just to get IVF coverage.

Injection Class and Medications

I went for the injection class yesterday and to my suprise it didn't seem too over the top or complicated. 
I am NOT a fan of needles but it was easier than I thought it would be.  I also did a practice shot on my tummy and it didn't hurt either.  Going through each step and each medicine helped to take a lot of the anxiety away.  Finch will be doing the intramuscular HCG shot for me but I can handle the rest.
I came across a great resource for those couples, like us who have 0% coverage from insurance - Mandel Pharmacy in NJ 1-877-252-0553!! Our nurse was able to find us some free meds that were left over in the office.  She faxed the remaining meds we need to 2 pharmacies.  The total cost for pharmacy #1 was $1600...the cost at Mandel is $1189.46.  Yes, we are counting every penny of cost savings! lol.  I also found out that Freedom pharmacy 1-866-297-9448 has the lowest rates anywhere for Gonal-F.  Both offer free overnight shipping.  What could be better?! Well, I guess I could say Insurance to cover the costs of our IVF and meds but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.  We are ordering the Gonal-F from Freedom and the rest from Mandel.   I already had the mock transfer back in January so we are all finished until 3/28 when we return for bloodwork/ultrasound.  Everyone is filled with great information on here, I love it!  Does anyone have any foods that you regularly ate to increase fertility?

 

IVF

Well I started on the BCP today and go for the injection class in the morning. I was expecting that our retrieval and transfer would be towards the end of April or so... not the case.  After speaking with our nurse this afternoon, I will only be on BCP for 10 days then start the medications.  The retrieval date is April 11th with a transfer on April 14th or 16th.  I think the reality just set in this afternoon that it will be within the next 30 days! OMG!!!  I am a little nervous...why?? I am trying to figure out how to work around my work schedule.  I am the director of a non-profit agency and April is one of my busiest months.  I have a Federal grant that is due sometime in April and a grant presentation on April 13th or 14th (which is the same week on our transfer!) I know that it will all fall together and work out, just nervous with the timeline and making sure I have plenty of time for rest and relaxation. 

2 questions:  How long are you supposed to rest after the retrieval?  How long do you rest after the transfer??   I'm trying to look ahead and map my days out strategically to take off from work or work from home :)

Start of our IVF cycle

AF arrived today so we are at Day 1 and starting off on our IVF journey...nervous and excited!
Praying this will be our "first' and "last" round.. and our family will be complete. More to come...