Finally! I have two good, mature follicles at about 20mm each so we are good to go with the IUI! I will be doing the trigger shot tonight at 9pm on the dot so that 36 hours later at 9am on Sunday morning we can do the IUI. I am so excited that we finally get to do the procedure because it feels like we are actually moving forward with the process instead of just more waiting. And yes, I am quite aware that there will be even more waiting after the IUI to see if we are pregnant, but that is waiting for an actual result rather than waiting so we can wait some more. For the shots, I only had a panic attack the first time I tried to give myself the shot. the second time was much easier, and the nurse at the office said that the trigger shot is just like the hormone injections needle size wise. Continue reading “No More Waiting”
Author: Amanda
And the Injections Start
We had yet another ultrasound today and the follicles still aren’t growing well. As a result of this Dr. Amols is starting me on Follistim injections. I already gave myself the first dose and the second dose will be tomorrow morning, happy Thanksgiving to me. We will do another ultrasound on Friday to see if the injections have helped. We are not aiming for the IUI being on Sunday or Monday, assuming I react correctly to the injections. I am super grateful that I have a very understanding doctor and that Dr. Amols prescribed me a cream with lidocaine in it to help numb the area where the injection will be. I’m starting out at 100 (I don’t know the units) today and will be doing 75 tomorrow. I’ve been more emotional today already, but I’m not sure if that’s because of my phobia of needles or the meds working really well. I am praying that it is the latter :). As a side note, since we will want to be telling immediate family first I won’t be mentioning any results of the IUI (good or bad) for a few weeks longer after we find out. Work is also about to be absolutely crazy for the next couple of months so posts may be less often than the appointments anyway, lol.
We feel blessed by all of the prayers and support we have been getting and thank everyone for listening to me whine and rant about this whole process. God bless 🙂
Ultrasounds and Disappointments
So I had another ultrasound today to see how many follicles I had and if we were ready to go to the next step of ovulation and then the IUI. Unfortunately, I only have two follicles growing and they both seem to be growing slowly. Dr. Amols said he would prefer to see three follicles for an IUI. Because the follicles are growing slowly I have another ultrasound on Wednesday to see if there is any progress with the growth of the follicles. If there isn’t he said we would need to do an injection of hormones to try and kick start the follicles. It looks like Clomid alone won’t be able to get my body to cooperate with the whole ovulation thing and I’ll be doing injectables with the Clomid for future cycles. Unfortunately this puts a huge kink in things timing wise since Matthew has limited days off and it’s not easy for him to get random days off of work. We are hoping that if the IUI needs to be on a day he doesn’t normally have off one of his friends will be willing to take his shifts so we can make this happen. I know everything is in God’s timing, but it is also frustrating when we are just almost there and still can’t do anything. We appreciate all of your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for us, that I have patience with how long this seems to be taking and that Matthew is able to get the time off that he needs for the procedure.
Finally Starting Treatment
So we had our cycle day 3 baseline ultrasound on Sunday and got some awesome results! We are ready to start treatment and try to get pregnant! I started taking Clomid on Sunday evening and will continue to take it for another couple of days and then we get to wait a few days before our next ultrasound on the 23rd to see how many follicles I have ready to go. If there aren’t too many (Dr. Amols has yet to mention what that cut off is) and they are ready to go, and my uterine lining is ready for pregnancy we will do the trigger shot and then 36 hours later we will do the IUI procedure.
And Yet Another Ultrasound
So we had our 3 week follow up ultrasound to check on the progress of the cyst and see if it has gone away yet. Thankfully, it seems that the birth control has done it’s job and deflated the cyst in the ovary! The cyst now measures much smaller and looks kind of like a flattened blob. I also have fewer un-developed eggs in both ovaries which I think is also a positive sign as the mature eggs will be easier to see and count once we have started treatment. Dr. Amols said that I should finish the pack of birth control (which will be today) and then call them when I get my period again so we can do another baseline ultrasound before putting me on the fertility medication.
And The Waiting Continues
So this post will include some gross TMI female reproductive stuff. If you are sensitive to that or find it offensive, don’t read this and just continue on your merry way 🙂 Granted as this is a blog about our fertility journey and hopefully eventually on our journey as a family with munchkins TMI reproductive stuff will probably be a recurring theme.
With that out of the way, my period finally started! Of course it would start on the same day I was the matron of honor in a good friend’s wedding, but that’s neither here nor there. Continue reading “And The Waiting Continues”
No News is No News
So I’ve been asked a couple of times what all is going on with the whole have a baby thing. Unfortunately there simply haven’t been any news yet. We are still waiting on my period to start for us to start treatment. Dr. Amols does want me to go on a medication to kick start everything, but since the medication he put me on initially took longer than usual to work and can cause high prolactin levels in some people (which was what was wrong with me) I’ve asked him if he wants me to take the Provera again or if he wants to change the medication. Unfortunately there seems to be a communication breakdown somewhere in the pipe line and I haven’t gotten a response yet. I should be hearing from him by the end of today as to what to do and then start the medication to get the ball rolling. Continue reading “No News is No News”
Results and The Next Steps
We had our “what do we do now” appointment with Dr. Amols this week. We got all of our testing results and went over what all of it means, and discussed what to do next. We finally got the results for Matthew’s testing. There is good news and bad news. The good new is he has a super high sperm count and they are all of good quality, the bad news is he also makes a ton of the fluid that transports the sperm. The end result of this is that while his sperm count is high, it is also very diluted because of the high fluid amount. Continue reading “Results and The Next Steps”
Random Thoughts Before Appointments
So, our next appointment is in a few days and it got me thinking on a few things. We now know my prolactin levels are high (as previously mentioned), which makes me wonder if maybe I don’t have PCOS but I just have the high prolactin levels which are causing the symptoms for PCOS? This is something we will be discussing with Dr. Amols next Wednesday. I was told we would have to re-test the prolactin levels in about a month so I’m not sure if that means we will have to delay treatment or if we can go ahead with treatment and just test again in a month to see where we are at. Continue reading “Random Thoughts Before Appointments”
Test Results and More Waiting
The HSG was today. Everything went well, there was a little cramping but not as much as I had been afraid of. Apparently the horrible period cramps I had when I was younger prepared me to be able to deal with it. We got the results today as well and praise the Lord! My tubes are wide open and my uterus looks exactly like it is supposed to. There isn’t anything weird inside it and it is what would be considered a normal shape and size. Continue reading “Test Results and More Waiting”
Are They Twins? 