Two week wait, 1 week down!

Hey everybody! First off, sorry for my absence during this round's 2WW (two week wait). I have been so crazy busy with work, my Gold Canyon Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Party, puppies and, the kicker, Curtis getting so sick we had to make a trip to the ER, I just haven't had time to blog. It doesn't help that with my new bedtime being right at 9:00pm, I don't have as many hours after work as I used to. Seriously, I am wide awake around 8:00pm. 8:45pm hits and BAM! eyes drooping, head leaning, and soon after, snoring! I have to admit though, I'm actually really loving going to bed and getting 8 1/2 hours of sleep these nights. Somedays I'm still waking up tired, but some mornings I've got a bit more pep in my step! That's WITH my decaf coffee too!

Anyways, back to the procedure. Back on the 11th, we had the insemination. Curtis gave a great sample of 16 million sperm with good motility and quality. We went and had breakfast and then returned for the insemination. They had me double-triple and quadruple check that they had the correct sperm from the correct guy. When the nurse first showed us the sample, it was pink and Curtis says, "It's pink? Why is it pink?" I told him, "That means it's a girl!" haha. The nurse and I just had to bust his chops about it.
As for the procedure....OUCH. I mean, BIG TIME OUCH. Now, the doctor that did the insemination wasn't my normal doctor. It was his practice partner. So I was nervous right there. When he first started, he said, "I'm going to clean all the mucus off your cervix.." and I remember getting all excited cause I had lots of cervical mucus! Yea, that stuff excites me. He then told me that my uterus was tilted forward, which was "Normal. Lots of women have that. It's normal. No worries". When he started trying to insert the catheter into my cervix he was explaining, "A little bit of pressure...the line from the cervix to the uterus isn't straight you see, so I have to feel the way....more pressure." It was not just pressure, it was straight up pain! He ended up pulling it out, and then getting some "scissor looking things" (that is a direct quote from Curtis) and trying again. I think he ended up having to open my cervix a little bit and then he got the tube in. He kept saying, "It's normal, it's normal...Good job guys. Good job both of you." which made Curtis and I laugh later. After the torture process was over, I laid on the table with my knees up for about 15-20 minutes. Then the nurse came in with the post-iui instructions and strongly recommended we have sex that night. I'll be honest guys, that did not happen. I still felt like crap from the iui and was cramping pretty decently and Curtis just did not feel up to it. So, no mattress mambo that night!

Since the procedure I've been cramping off and on. Nothing too severe, just steady cramping like Aunt Flow is coming any day. About 6-7 days past the iui, my boobs started hurting. It feels like it's more than just my normal PMS soreness, but I could just be hoping! I'm currently 12 days past iui and no symptom changes have occurred. I've noticed I'm not...well....pooping as often as I used to, but that could be the progesterone or other stuff. No nausea, no cravings, no weird smells, nothing that really stands out as a BFP. I'm fighting the urge to test, but I keep telling myself that it's too early. The doctor said not to test until Saturday, but I might only make it until Thursday. I've made a post on thebump.com's infertility forum to get a general consensus of when I could potentially test, so we'll see what those girls say. It's strange cause the whole wait since the iui has been me thinking that it actually worked, that I am actually pregnant, until Monday morning. Monday morning I woke up and just thought, "It didn't work. I'm not pregnant." I had a pretty crappy Monday to say the least. Then I woke up this morning and thought, "It did work. I am pregnant!". So, needless to say, I've officially fallen off the deep end during this last week's wait, which is pretty bad considering we already knew I was crazy!

In the meantime, please continue to send your BFP/baby dust, prayers, good thoughts, crossed fingers, whatever that we've finally got what we've spent 3+ years hoping for! I appreciate all of the support!

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!

Keywords

I was checking my stats and realized I hadn't checked the "Search Keywords" in a while. All of the keywords are pretty standard, but a couple of them bothered me.

"Remove tampon to pee?" I don't really feel comfortable answering this one. Please go ask your Mother or adult lady in your life. And while I'm all for googling, I'm scared of what else you found besides my blog.

Remember people: Use caution when googling!

"Is HSG covered by ahcccs?" First off, for those who don't know, AHCCCS is Arizona's government healthcare program. No, the HSG procedure is not covered (unless it is coded for something other than fertility/infertility). In fact, nothing in regards to fertility treatment is covered. I know this because I did my research. I may or may not have been on a tirade regarding welfare and other government programs at the time of said research. I also had someone tell me that it is covered (someone currently on AHCCCS and also TTC), so I had to prove them wrong. And since I don't want to get in to political opinions on this blog, I am choosing to leave the explanation at that.

"Longhorn shaped uterus" Three people after my own heart. I knew I wasn't the only one who compared those two things!

"Trying not to stress" You and me both! Sorry, I have no solid help for you there. Just go with the standard Wine & Chocolate. Repeat as necessary.

"I thought I was infertile until" I relaxed! Har har, just kidding. In all honesty, I wish I knew what that person was searching for...success stories? Guidance? A little hope? I've seen plenty of SAIF (success after infertility) and it can help to ease the panic and anxiety of treatment. I hope that person found some.

The rest is all pretty normal and not shocking. Plus, I have run out of funny* little quips to say. FOCKER OUT.

*By funny I mean things that make me chuckle, Curtis roll his eyes, and other people consider checking me in to a hospital for severe mental trauma. 

Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!

Unfortunately the ultrasound today did not go well. My follicle response to Clomid was, well, lackluster to say the least. *Cue sad face* So, to ramp up the ol' ovaries that seem to decide that now is a good time for a nap, we have been given 4 sets of injectables of Bravelle. 150 IU today, 75 IU Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We have another ultrasound scheduled for Monday to check any progress. Estimated insemination date is then Wednesday. Here's a picture of the "gift bag" we got today:

Forgive my over-instagram-filter-usage. I am an instagram addict. Hate on it.

Those boxes on the left? That's Progesterone. Vaginal inserts...cause we all know that I haven't had quite enough stuff shoved up my vagina this month. What's one more? I'm not to start those until after the insemination though. The nurse gave them to me now so that way I had them. Have I mentioned I love my doctor's office? 100 Gagillion Million times? I don't care. I love them. 

Curtis just gave me the first shot, the 100mg, a few minutes ago and it wasn't fun. Not that shots are ever fun, but I wasn't expected the pinch. Maybe it's cause he did right below my belly button, when I normally give the Ovidrel trigger shots on the side of my stomach...or maybe I tensed...or maybe I'm just a big baby. Oh well. Only 3 more to go! 

Also, a quick weight update: As of this past Saturday I am down 6 lbs! Yup. 207 to 201. I'm super excited about that and fully plan to get a scale this weekend to see if I'm finally below the 200 mark. Crossing fingers!!

Well, that's about all I got for now. As always send baby dust and I'm sending it back <3

P.S. For the record, I hate that song. The one in my title? Just awful. That and Dubstep are like dropping a banshee in acid.