First Monitoring Appointment and Half Way There

Most of you (okay...some of you) know my love of Loretta Lynn and the movie Coal Miner's Daughter. Yes, I admit that it's a strange love, but a love none the less. Coal Miner's Daughter is my favorite movie, probably the reason I imagine singing to my kiddos, the reason why I've always dreamed of pulling up to the Grand Ole Opry (well, the old one at least), and why from time to time you may hear me say to Bret "Quit growlin. You sound like an old bur (aka...bear)." Oh yeah...I do realize that I'm a huge dork. With all of this said, it may be understandable why on my way to Louisville today, I became overwhelmed with emotion while listening to the song Coal Miner's Daughter. It was like all of a sudden I was so proud of Loretta Lynn and had this strong desire to meet her. Don't get me wrong, I've always wanted to meet her, but in that moment, she was my hero. I cried tears of joy. Folks, I believe that was my first crazy emotional moment from the medicine. Or at least I hope it was from the medicine. Lord help me if it wasn't.

Todays appointment was my first since I started the shots. I was so excited to see what my ovaries had been up to. I really hadn't felt much of anything until yesterday evening. My belly has started to feel like it's going to pop. I could see why as soon as the ultrasound started. All the little black dots, the follicles, were possible eggs! She said that everything looked normal and how it should be. That was nice to hear "normal". We have been anything but normal since we've started trying to have a baby. To hear that everything was progressing as it should be, normally, was amazing. She said that we will have "lots to work with". Meaning...lots of eggs to fertilize! Sounds so scientific...or like we're animals on a farm....whichever.

Oh...and did I mention that today was my fifth shot? Just five more Follistim injections. This Saturday I start the Ganirelex Acetate. This keeps me from ovulating too early. I will be doing the Follistim and Ganirelex through Tuesday. Monday I have another ultrasound (and blood work...I'm a little pin cushion short and stout...). Tuesday Bret goes in to have stuff frozen (as insurance just in case something happens on the day of the retrieval). Wednesday I go back in for another ultrasound. I take my HCG in for them to prepare. Take the HCG (which makes me ovulate) and then Friday is the retrieval! yay! Next week is big...very big. Everything's going by so fast! Yay! So far, so good.

And a side note...I am milking this whole "pin cushion" thing for all it's worth :) For instance, I ate all the left over Twix from Halloween. Bret pointed this out (of course) and I just noted that I was currently a pin cushion and deserved Twix. Then tonight we were out of milk and needed it for the cornbread (because I actually cooked), Bret said he didn't want to go get it. Then I quickly listed all the reasons he should go get it over me and being a pin cushion was on the top of the list. This will definitely be going on through next week.

PS...I *think* I fixed the comment thing. You should be able to comment now if you wanna :)

Follistim and Climara

Today is my fourth day on the Follistim shot and fifth on the Climara patch. The shot wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be after our Education Day. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently, but it definitely hurts more than the one I gave myself that day. It burns! Not the medicine, but the needle. Burns burns burns. It's really still not as bad as I originally thought it would be.

The dr advised to do the shot the same time every day. I decided on 8 am. I can be within an hour each day, so that puts me at a good time for photo sessions, etc. Got up that morning and asked Bret if he wanted to get up with me. I assumed he would say no and go back to sleep. He mumbled "yes", but I figured as soon as I walked out of the room he would fall asleep. I didn't mind. I didn't expect him to get up so early on a Saturday. As I'm getting everything ready, in walks Bret. He goes and sits, half asleep, and watches and gives moral support. I want to always remember that. There had been a few days when I really thought Bret and I were going to choke each other. We were just driving each other crazy. I have to admit that part of me thought he wasn't as into this as I was and that disappointed me. Today, I feel completely different. It was just a moody few days for both of us. Turns out this IVF thing can be a little stressful? Who knew? ;) lol. He's been wonderful. We've had the best talks about every aspect of this. What we fear the most, what we're excited about, All that good stuff. Sometimes I think we couldn't possibly talk about it any more, and then we do. I will say that every day we're waiting for me to be overly emotional and crazy...it hasn't happened....yet. Thank God!

So, the patch has definitely been more eventful than the shots. Within the first day it started peeling off and had fuzz all around it (from my shirt and the sticky stuff). I kept going back and forth about calling the dr's office. I don't want to be that patient. Today, after a newborn session, where I moved all around and was squating and bending, I thought there's no way this thing was going to stick. It had air bubbles and seemed to barely stick. After complaining to everyone, everyday, I finally decided to call. First thing they say "have you put a bandaid on it?". Really...I feel like an idiot. Not to mention my sister saying I should put gauze on it and tape it up. Why the hell didn't I think of that? Here I thought Andrea and I could conquer the world if we put our minds to it and now I find out we can't even think of a simple solution like put a bandaid on it! Wow! So, I now have a secure bandaid over top of the patch. All is well in the world of IVF again.

Next up...my first monitoring appointment tomorrow. They'll do blood work and an ultrasound to see how my little ovaries are doing.