Round 7 IUI update

Today was the day we finally got good news this round: The injections worked and we have about 4 mature follicles ready to trigger tomorrow night. Here is our schedule for the next couple days:

• Trigger (have Curtis give me the shot of Ovidrel) at 10:30pm tomorrow night. She said that we don't have to do it exactly at 10:30, as long as it's not too much later.
• Thursday morning Curtis has an appointment to "do his thing" at 8:30am.
• My appointment is 10:30am.
• TWO WEEK WAIT!!

After the insemination I'll start my "pregnancy diet". You know, the things a pregnant woman can and can't eat. I'll continue nuking my sandwich meat in the microwave prior to eating it. I will cut out caffeine, which really sucks cause last time I did that, I was falling asleep at my desk by 1!! I didn't realize how much I relied on that morning cup of coffee! And in order to get my caffeine fix prior to Thursday, I'm sitting here enjoying a Cherry Coke Zero as we speak. It's gonna be a long two weeks, that's for sure...

I'm super nervous about the insemination, since it's not our doctor doing it (way to plan a trip to Disneyland DOC! GAH!), but I'm really staying positive. I just keep telling myself that this is it. This is what we needed. I've always thought we would need the IUI, so I'm glad we're finally here.

In other news, I'm not sure if I mentioned it before (and I'm far to lazy to look), but our dog Ava had puppies again. I'm almost positive that I talked about her last litter (last year)...Well, she had another litter this time. Only instead of 2, she had 7! LET. ME. TELL. YOU. 7 puppies is ridiculous. They are only 3 weeks and I'm already counting down the days until we sell them. Thankfully, we already have people interested, but we haven't even got to weaning them yet! I cringe just thinking about it. I keep trying to leave the dirty work to Curtis, since this is kind of "his thing", but my OCD takes over and I have to get in there and clean and try to get the smell out. Ok, I'll admit, I think they're totally adorable and I play with them a bit too, but that doesn't mean I want to keep them or do this all over again anytime soon. Oy vey, it's just a lot of work!

OH! and I forgot to tell you. I was talking to the Dr. Formally-Awesome-Now-Disneyland-Butthead about the cost of the injections I had to take. I told him that I read that they were $500 a shot. He said, "Oh God no! The 5 shots you took were like a total of $200. The ones I will give you were like less than $50 a piece!" Talk about a load off!! Of course I'm hoping that we won't need to take those shots ever again, but to know that if we have to I won't have to shell out $3,500 for medicine, I'm relieved. To say the least! Ha ha.
Also, just a quick side note, I'm watching TLC while typing this and the commercial for Say Yes to the Cure: Lori's Fight came on. Can we say tears?? Damn I'm emotional.

Anyways, nothing but GOOD news today at the doctors! Yay! I'll be sure to give you all an update soon! Lots of love and baby dust to all of you!

P.S. If my Nana is reading this (she just got a computer and I sent her a link, so I'm hoping she figured out how to use it) I love you and can't wait to see you this weekend!! Muah!

Cycle Update - Entering the 2 week wait

This little sucker cost us $90!! 

As you can see from above, our ultrasound yesterday went splendidly! Doctor found 3 follicles on my left ovary, all around 15-18mm, and one follicle at 18mm on my right ovary. He said while that is still a high number, he felt ok with us going ahead for the month. He also said that we could even go down a smidge on the Clomid next month, but I'm, of course, hoping that there won't be a treatment plan next month! 

Anyways, for those who don't know, that little shot in the picture above is called the infamous "trigger shot". 36 hours after injection, I will ovulate and potentially drop all the mature eggs I have growing. Since we've gone the trigger shot route, we will not need have timed intercourse (every other day). We only have to  have our marital relations, like, three times in the next 36 hours. Anything after that is pointless because the egg only lives for 24 hours. That is one reason I decided to ask for the shot. The other is that I HATE those over the counter LH tests (ovulation predictor kits). When I was taking them in November, it said that I ovulated, when we all know that I was not responding to the Femara at all. I told my RE yesterday that I really didn't want to have to rely on those to narrow down my ovulation date. He completely agreed with me. He said those tests are horrible and misleading. So he called me in the shot and here we are! 

Now, you can't get this shot at just any pharmacy. You have to go to a special one called an Apothecary. The wait was pretty fast (about 20 minutes) and the pharmacist is super nice. It was right across the way from another fertility clinic, so I'm sure they get orders like mine on the regular. They also gave me an ice pack, since I'm 1,000 miles away* from home and the shot needs to be refrigerated. Of course Curtis just had to be the one to give me the shot, since, ya know, he's an EMT and that makes him the most "qualified" in our house for any and all medical needs. (Sorry for the sarcasm honey! You know I'm just kidding...). Regardless, he did a great job, even though he was really nervous about "sticking me". The injection didn't hurt at all and I have no redness or anything. I'm sure that's expected as this isn't like Lupron or Progesterone, but I figured I would let those of you who were curious know how it went**. 

The next step is to do the dirty and wait. As of Wednesday morning, we will be in what most call the 2 week wait (2WW). If Aunt Flow doesn't show up by February 29th, I pee on a stick and pray for two lines. If she does show up before then, well, we have our answer. But I'm not allowing myself to think those thoughts! I'm staying super positive and telling everyone we will be pregnant this month. Yesterday, I had nothing but positive thoughts in my head. I told everyone that it was going to be a good day, and we kept saying that we were drawing the line at 4 follicles. Low and behold, there were 4 follicles! I feel that it's all a sign for good things this month and I'm so excited! I also had a stern talking-to with my Pop. I told him that he's had almost 3 months with my kiddos up there in heaven and it's time he send one or two home or I was going to be very upset with him. Pop never liked it when I was upset, he always did everything he could to make me happy, and I know that this month will be no exception. 

So I hope you all are ready for this blog to turn in to a pregnancy/mommy blog because, We're getting pregnant this month!!

*Okay, that was an exaggeration. I'm only like 90 miles away, but 1,000 just sounds so much more dramatic. 

**Sheesh, did that sentence make any bit of sense? I am entirely too tired to function right now.