Archive for June, 2011

The End of a Dream

  Well, we are not pregnant.  I stop all meds tonight and by sometime next week, my hormone levels will be tested one last time to make sure they went back to normal. I’ve cried on and off all afternoon, and I’m sure I will some more.  I can’t see us trying this again in the [...]

June 29, 2011   Posted in: IVF  One Comment

“He’s only MOSTLY dead.”

  In moments like these, only a Princess Bride quote will suffice. So, it turns out that I’m only kinda pregnant.  That’s both good and bad news.  It’s not bad because it isn’t a definitive no, but it is also not a definitive yes either.  Let’s see if I can ‘splain how this works.  They want [...]

June 27, 2011   Posted in: IVF  One Comment

We’ve Got a Bleeder

  My husband has been giving me injections for about a week and a half now.  I must say that he is doing a great job.  After that first hCG shot, he’s had a steady hand.  And aside from the one blood in the needle incident, he’s managed to give me the shot every night without [...]

June 22, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments

IVF: Returning to Normal

  Thankfully, my body is starting to feel somewhat normal again.  My ovaries have finally gone back down in size, and the bloating has stopped.  Yep, that means I can sleep through the night again without having to get up to pee…twice!  It makes it a little bit difficult to remember all the precautionary guidelines I’m [...]

June 20, 2011   Posted in: IVF  2 Comments

IVF: In Awe of God’s Creation

  Today we went in for our transfer procedure.  Originally, K and I thought we’d just be getting one embryo implanted.  With all the trouble we’ve had getting a good number of fertilized eggs, and the issues with the sperm, I figured that we’d better just go into today’s procedure with an open mind. One embryo [...]

June 16, 2011   Posted in: IVF  2 Comments

IVF: The Ups and Downs

  While yesterday was full of the excitement that they retrieved ten usable eggs, this afternoon’s disappointment was that only four fertilized. Okay, okay.  So the half they told us to expect still only would have been five, but when emotions are riding this high, any little disappointment feels big.  Plus, they specifically mentioned that the [...]

June 14, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments

IVF Retrieval Day, or, The Very Long Nap

  Everything seems to have gone very smoothly.  The doctor and the embryologist completely downplayed the sample issue, which made me feel much better.  The embryologist in particular was very adamant that he would find viable sperm to use for the procedure. The one piece of unwelcome news was that the bloating won’t go down anytime [...]

June 13, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments

IVF: Retrieval Day

  So, tomorrow is our retrieval day.  I feel like I’m  not as nervous as I should be, but my nerves often have a sort of delayed reaction; I’ll probably barely be able to sit still once we get in the car. The stress, however, is in full swing.  That’s what will make it difficult to [...]

June 12, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments

IVF: Ganirelix and the Very Bad Bounce

  So, Ganirelix is the med that prevents ovulation while the rest of the follicles get large enough to harvest.  The key to IVF is to closely control when ovulation occurs, thus the necessity of Ganirelix. Like a very good IVF patient, I followed my calendar and brought a dose of Ganirelix to my second visit [...]

June 10, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments

IVF: Let the Discomfort Commence

  This is the part that no one really talks about.  I mean, when they were talking the whole procedure up to us, they never mentioned “pain” or even “discomfort”.  Of course not.  They are, after all, trying to get you to commit to a huge financial undertaking.  Plus, the whole needle thing is scary enough [...]

June 6, 2011   Posted in: IVF  No Comments