Naturally

I am so excited to see that people actually read my blog, and thank you to those that have commented!

So, I had another ultrasound today and much to my joy and surprise, I had 3 measurable follies! I had 2 on the left (where did those come from?!) at 12 and one on the right at 11 (this is my "little engine that could" follie that has been trying to grow since the beginning). So I finally left the RE's office not in tears. But, naturally, it couldn't be all good news... About 4 hours after I left I got the call that my E2 level was over 600 (can't remember the exact number) to which I respond, "Wow! That's good right?!" Well, of course it wasn't. The nurse said that it was a little high. So, I am back down to 75 IU tonight and then I have to go back tomorrow.

I am not super worried or disappointed yet. I figure, if it really was way too high they would have reduced the dose even further. However, I also know that my RE is worried that some of the other follies might catch up and he doesn't want that to happen since he'll only trigger with 3 mature. So, I am hoping tomorrow that I will see some growth in the three that I had today and no others growing. Fingers crossed!

Different perspectives...

I was thinking yesterday that I've never even considered the possibility that this IUI won't work. I have considered the possibility that I would overstim and not even make it to the IUI and I have accepted that. However, I sort of just figured that if we make it to the IUI I will definitely get pregnant. There's no reason for me to think that there are any egg quality problems (in fact, woment with PCOS usually have very good quality, they just do't ovulate them) since I am young, I'm a nonsmoker, vegetarian, and I excercise well...not regularly but every once in a while :) There are no male factor issues, I tell Brad often that he has rockstar sperm. So I just always assumed that if I could ovulate I would just get pregnant. I was telling Brad this last ngiht and he assumed the exact opposite. He said that he assumed that this wouldn't work and that it was just a formality for us to do before IVF. I thought that was interesting since we hadn't really talked about it. So, I may either be very disappointed or Brad my be very surprised. Let's hope it's the latter.

One bit of good news I received today is that my Follistim and HCG might be covered by insurance. I am scared to be too optimistic, so I won't get my hopes up but it looks like they were tentaively approved. I have been operating off of the assumption that they wouldn't be approved, so I am pretty surprised and happy. I will know in a few days whether they are or not and what my co-pay will be but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Also, I went to a birthday dinner for a friend with a 9 month old, the same age our baby would be if we had gotten pregnant right away. In fact, there were 2 babies there. I was surprised by how little it bothered my. In fact, I held them both (which would make the 3rd and 4th times that I have ever held a baby in my life) and it went relatively smoothly. I think I am colored by my optimism over this cycle. I hope it doesn't let me down!! I should be starting stims in a little over a week!

I finally have concrete news!

I mean, as concrete as things ever seem to get for me. I spoke with my nurse today and she said that I was good to start Provera whenever I'm ready, I just need to come in for bloodwork the day before I want to start it. So, I am trying to work around DH's work travel schedule, and am planning on going in on 4/20 and starting the Provera 4/21. Then I will begin Follistim and have an HcG shot to trigger. The nurse is going to call in the meds for me so that my insurance can begin the pre-approval process. I am so so excited because I have real information now. I feel like something is officially happening, which is great because ever since my father in law found out that DH and I are trying and having IF problems he is always asking us if we have news and what's going on. I have seriously never seen a grown man so interested in female reproduction :) My sister in law told me that after he found out that we were trying he was so excited that it was all he talked about that night. I really hope that we get PG sometime soon because I can't wait to see the look on his face. Plus, there's my mother, who has specially requested that the baby share her birthday...sure mom, no problem, let me just talk to my ovaries about that. All in all I am glad that we have parents to support us, I think it would be too difficult without them.

So anyways, that's what's going on right now...hopefully insurance approves my meds. If there's anything I've learned from IF, it's that insurance companies suck.

Oh yeah and an update about my NCAA brackets. This is how well I did, my final four were Wake Forest, Pitt, UNC, and Memphis with Pitt and Memphis in the finals and Memphis winning. Well, Wake lost in the first round and Memphis was the next to fall, then Pitt. UNC was still in last I checked but I think its pretty safe to say that I didn't win the pool :)

Super Excited!

So Brad and I met with out RE yesterday thinking that we were having an IVF consult and then we ended up somewhere else entirely! My RE had previously said that I probably wasn't a good candidate for IUI with injecible medication because I would probably over-respond and end up with a cancelled cycle. However, he seemed to be a lot more positive this time (maybe because he had some med records that he didn't have last time, or maybe because we'd had a lot of bloodwork in the meantime). He said it was up to us but that we can do an IUI with the lowest level of follistim (50 ius I think) and try that to see how I respond. He did caution me that my cycle could still be cancelled if I over-respond. Since we were going to try to do IVF in June, we want to work this IUI in immediately so that it doesn't push us back. I really hope this works and I am really hopeful. I will start Provera tomorrow to bring on AF and then it's on!

I have already begun thinking about things like: If I start Provery tomorrow, I should get AF on March 15th; that means I can start stims March 17th and if I stim for 7 days (I am assuming I will be a quick responder) then I would trigger on the 24th and have my IUI on the 25th. That would make my EDD about a week before Christmas! I know that this is kind of silly, since I am thinking about step 100 and we are on step 1, but this is the first time I have felt truely hopeful.

One thing that I am worried about is that Brad and I have a vacation planned for 2 weeks at the end of May. I would be around 11 weeks at the start of the vacation so I might not feel the best but I think I can do it! Besides, if the IUI doesn't work then I will really need a vacation anyways :) I am trying not to get ahead of myself, but I am so excited. I just hope that i am not setting myself up for a fall...

My FIrst Ever Blog Post!!

This is my very first ever blog post! My plan is to use this blog as a way to document my IF/IVF journey and hopefully onto my pregnancy and into motherhood. For those that are reading this and may not know me please allow me to introduce myself :) My name is Lindsay and I have been married for almost 5 years to my wonderful, supportive husband Brad. We live in a suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia. I am a public defender and Brad is an infant toy designer (ironic? yes.). We have been trying to conceive (TTC) for over a year. My diagnosis is slightly unclear to me at this point, I have been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome by one doctor but then another told me that I don't have PCOS, just "polycystic ovaries." In any event, since we have been trying for the past 14 months or so, I have ovulated zero times. Not once. I have tried several cycles of a fertility drug called Clomid (I tried 4 cycles of this) and one cycle of a cancer drug called Femara. Femara has the off-label benefit of causing ovulation in some women. Not me though! Brad has great swimmers so hopefully once I can get things together on my end we'll be good to go!

I currently have a plan to get things going. My doc thinks that IVF is our best option since he thinks that my ovaries will respond too well to injectible medications. If I develop too many follicles another procedure such as IUI would have to be cancelled since we don't want to be the next John and Kate. With IVF we can be sure that at most we will have 2 embryos put back and it will be safer for me. Soooo, here's the current timeline: 2/09-HSG (just to make sure that my tubes are clear); 4/09 IVF consult; 5/09 vacation (maybe our last as a childless couple!) and hopefully will start birth control for suppression for IVF; 6/09 IVF! That's our goal outline at this point. My plan is to post whenever I have something new to report, so keep your eyes peeled and your fingers crossed!!