Baseline U/S & E2

Well, finally today was my baseline ultrasound and E2. The u/s came back great. I have no cysts on either ovary, although he had a hard time finding left ovary (this is usually the case). Other than that he said everything looked great. So I can begin my stimulating medications on Monday as scheduled. I am to continue Lupron, Dexamethasone, Prenatal, folic acid and baby aspirin and add Gonal F and Heparin. Then on Wednesday, I continue all of these (but decrease Gonal F) and add Menopur until my U/S & E2 on June 11. They will give me further intructions then.

I got a call from IVPCare and all of my medications have been approved by my insurance. They will send the final three and I should receive them tomorrow. Thank God at least that was covered. My next appointment will be next Friday, June 8th, for my IVIG Infusion from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. The infusion time is $380 for the 1st hour and $170 for each additional hour. Normally it runs 4 hours ($890.00) but if it does go over then it will be $170 for every additional hour. I will also need to call to make payment for the actual IVIG to N. Texas Infectious Disease. I will call them tomorrow.

I went walking today. Finally, I got some new walking tennis shoes and had to put them to use. I walked about 2 1/2 miles. It felt really great! Other than that, I went and had lunch with my DH at Pei Wei. I can not believe how good it is there! I have to get out because I get bored really, really fast. Then I came home and made some flour tortillas. Would you believe they actually came out good!

Time is flying by!

Well, we just got back from out of town this morning (around 3:00 am). Like usual, when we go to Corpus my DH doesn't want to leave. I guess I don't blame him since he doesn't see his family much. Since I am on vacation, I never really pushed us leaving until he finally decided it was time. I think we left Corpus at about 8:00 pm and in the Corvette (which he is selling, BTW) it was the longest drive ever. I just couldn't get comfortable. So anyway, we had a great time and we ate so much that I thought I had gained at least 5 pounds, but I didn't. We would go out and finally I had to tell his cousins' wives why I couldn not drink. I did take one little, itsy bitsy taste of a Mexican Martini, but it was nothing like the ones I make so it was not hard to resist.

I can not believe how time is flying by! Next week, on monday, I will already be starting my stims for my IVF. I just can not believe it.

My acupuncturist appointment went well today. She said it's great that I've lost so much weight (since I was unofficially diagnosed with PCOS). I think that I have lost about 17 pounds since last March after I had the m/c. I became really depressed and I gained a lot of weight. I look back and can not believe that I actually weighed so much. WOW! So she said that I can continue with my eating lots of veggies, but that I have to start adding protein back into my diet. I'm not much of a meat eater (although not a vegetarian), so I asked if I could drink protein shakes and she said it was fine. I'm thinking I will drink both in the mornings and then eat a balanced meal for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I just eat fruit for dinner, so I guess it will take a little getting used to. I have already set up my 2 appointments for next week (Tuesday and Thursday) since I will see my RE on Monday (6/4) for my CD9 and then have my IVIG infusion on Friday (6/8)morning .

I really hope this is it for us, but I have finally come to the conclusion that if I do not become pregnant it is because God has better plans for me and although this will be something really difficult for me to overcome, I am preparing myself for it as best as I can.

Lupron ouchie!

This morning for the first time since I began Lupron, it really hurt when I injected it. I don't really know what happened, but for some reason, the dart-like motion just didn't happen. Rather, it hit the skin, then I went as slow as possible. It was awful! Also, today I started the Dexamethasone. I was told to take it in the morning because it causes insomnia. Maybe that's why I didn't need a nap today! I have been cleaning my house like crazy today. I seem to have so much energy or is it the dexamethasone? Not sure!

The shuttle will pick me up tomorrow at 7:15 am and my flight leaves tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. I am so excited. My summer vacation officially begins tomorrow and I will be at the beach for the weekend (or very near it anyway!) I really miss my DH (although I can actually enjoy my sleep at night without hearing him snore!--LOL)

I did something I didn't want. We will be celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday on November 17th. WOW! So we (her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren) are planning a big birthday bash. We are all pitching in to help with funding. One of my aunts, the one organizing it all, asked if anyone had any other suggestions for the party. I suggested that we have a show for entertainment for her with the grandkids & great grandkids (18 and under) participating. She thought it was so great that she put me in charge! I really didn't want to be in charge I was just suggesting it, but I'm in charge now. I guess I will have all summer to come up with ideas on how to make that day unforgetable for her. I've already come up with some ideas which I think will be great, but I will work on them a little more next week when I come back from Corpus Christi.

One more thing I forgot to add. I began reading a book my Joyce Meyer, Confident Woman. It is great! Very positive, powerful and very influential!

Moving right along!

I guess I really don't have much to report today. I am really excited because IVF #2 is moving right along. I will begin Dexamethasone tomorrow which means that I'm one step closer to the procedure. Today was my students' last day of class so that means that tomorrow is my last day at work until August 21 I think. YAY! Now I can focus on this procedure and relaxing a lot more. The Lupron shots have not been bad at all. I thought that I would have gone nuts by now with so many injections. I guess I just haven't gotten to the hard part yet when I inject 4 shots a day! YIKES! Not looking forward to that! I am especially not looking forward to PIO shot!

BTW, I received a call from my DH today asking me how late I was working tomorrow so that he could buy me a ticket. I guess his conscious really got to him this time. So I ordered my ticket and I will be leaving on Saturday morning. Looking forward to seeing Josh & Sabrina and spending some time with them.

Feeling Down!

I'm not feeling much like myself today. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just tired, maybe I'm sad. What I do know is that DH is going out of town for his son's graduation tomorrow and I'm not. He could afford to pay half of a ticket for his uncle to come from Illinois, but he can not afford to buy me a $150.00 ticket! What rage! Then, he's trying to use reverse psychology on me making me feel bad because if he does buy me a ticket then he will be completely broke! Yet he has the nerve to tell me how much he's going to miss me! How dare him!

Okay, so I've been MIA. A lot has happened since I last posted. I had bloodwork drawn on 5/4 to check my progesterone level. On May 7th I went in to see nurse for consult on Lupron. Since progesterone level was greater than 5 I began my Lupron on May 9th. I had to pay full price for it since prior authorization takes about 4 days they said. On May 12th I had an acupuncture appointment and I am officially off of chinese herbal teas (since 5/6, if I remember correctly). She put some needles on my forehead since Lupron was giving me headaches and surprise, surprise! They went away. I talked to nurse and had her call in all other meds on 5/16 since Lupron has not been approved and it has already been over one week. I had another appointment on 5/17. I went in with DH for a calendar review. They went over all meds and showed DH how to inject PIO. He of course was freaking out. I don't know if I more afraid of the PIO injection or him giving it to me! I am on the L5 protocol. I am currently taking:

• 3 mg folic acid QD
• 1 prenatal vitamin QD
• 1 baby ASA
• 5/9: Lupron 10U QAM
• 5/15: Lupron 5U QAM (dose change)

My next appointments/medications are as follows:

5/25: begin dexamethasone 0.75mg QAM
5/29: acupuncturist appointment 1pm
5/31: baseline appointment with US & E2
6/4: begin actual stims meds

• Gonal-F 375 units QPM
• Heparin 5000 units BID

6/6: must pay for IVIG & change dose of meds

• Heparin 5000 units BID
• Gonal-F 150 units QPM
• Menopur 1 vial QPM

6/8: IVIG appointment 8am to 12pm
6/11: CD9 appointment with US and bloodwork (E2)
stop all but Heparin 5000 units QAM
expect further instructions
6/13-6/14: probablye HCG trigger shot
6/15-6/15: Probable Egg Retrieval
6/21-6/22: possible ET

I have received all of my medications but I am waiting for Gonal F, Menopur and HCG prior authorizations. My Lupron was finally covered today (since 5/4) with a $10.00 copay and I should be getting a credit of $189.03. It took them 17 days (11 business days)! OMG I sure hope it doesn't take them that long for the previous 3 because I don't think that I can affort them!

NO AF

I called nurse yesterday because, even though I just ovulated a couple of days ago, I'm afraid I won't get AF in time to start BCP's to do IVF in June. Before I was told I could take Provera to initiate AF, but when she called me todya, I was told that because I just ovulated, the ovum in my uterus could be affected somehow and so the Provera was out of the question. My next option would be to go in to have Progesterone blood level taken, and if it is around 5 then I can begin Lupron on Tuesday. I asked them to send me the requistion form so that I could go tomorrow to the Labcorp down the street. This way, they would have enough time to get results to determine whether I could start Lupron on Tuesday or not. I will also go in on Monday afternoon (4pm) for Lupron injection class. Later I can go in for the Nurse consult on the rest of the meds.

Balance due is expected to be paid by May 14th.