jab me

I started stimulation yesterday. This time I’m on Puregon 150 IU. Only a bit higher than last cycle (125 IU). Uterine lining was nice and thin – as expected – at 2.9mm. As the doctor checked on my ovaries, I quickly looked at the screen and I got to see some small (quiet) follicles. I think I saw more follicles on my right ovary than on my left. Next scan will be on the 6th of September and I’m praying I’ll get to see more big follies this time.

I asked the doctor about my husband’s prednisolone and she said it shouldn’t have any effects on his sperms as he’s only taking it for a short period (3 weeks) and on low dose as well – really happy to hear that!

I started spotting again today (period stopped 2 days ago), it’s quite a bit and I blame it on the nasal spray. I had some spotting after my period on my first IVF cycle and it stopped a few days after starting stimulation. So nothing to worry about.

What else.. Oh I had acupuncture this morning and told my acupuncturist I had started stimulation yesterday, holy cow! it seemed like the needles just kept coming out from the box! I had 17 needles all over my body! I like them though, I always like acupuncture session during stimulation as I get more needles *No I don’t have a fetish for needles, lol* It’s just that It makes me feel like I have something more done to help the follies growing. Anyway we shall see if all the supplements and the needles make any difference this time..

an update and a story

So far everything is going as scheduled. Period came only one day late, so that’s checked. I was saying to myself if It didn’t come in 2 days, I will do a home pregnancy test! I guess I scared my body off and period came the next day! 😉 I’m still taking the supplements and had added omega 3 fish oil as well, been taking it for about 3 weeks now. Only 3 days to go until the scan and I’m not worried at all as I’m confident that I’ll be down regulated (as always).

There’s something else to worry about though. Husband has been put on corticosteroid (prednisolone) for his frozen shoulder. About 4 months ago he started to feel sharp pain on his right shoulder, well actually the pain started few months before that but he chose to ignore it and then it started to get worse that he couldn’t sleep at night. He did have a tear on his muscle some 10 years ago from playing footie so I forced him to see a doctor and he’s diagnosed with tendonitis and was told to see a physiotherapist, which he did. He felt better for a while until about 2 weeks ago when his shoulder started to get really stiff and the movement became so restricted that he can’t lift his hand all the way up. The shooting pain came back, this time from his shoulder down to his arm and the sleepless night started again (for some reason the pain got worse at night). So he went to a shoulder specialist and yes he has a frozen shoulder. I read about corticosteroid a long time ago and its effect on sperms. It’s not good. It affects sperm motility and/or count. I didn’t say anything to my husband as I didn’t want to make him worry. He is a person with very high tolerance for pain so the fact that he tells me that he’s in pain and the fact that he can’t sleep at night, tell me that he’s in PAIN.  BUT last night, out of nowhere, suddenly he said to me that he’s wondering if the medicine would affect his boys and he GOOGLEd IT!! I’m telling you now.. this is very unlikely of him!.. and of course google told him the same thing. So now he’s worried. I told him that we’re going to do ICSI anyway and maybe the boys are so strong that they won’t be affected at all!

So yes, another hurdle, but it’s something that has to be done (ie. taking the medicine). We’ll just hope for the best.

DR day 8

Side effects have started. Hot flashes started since day 4 but it doesn’t bother me too much, easy solution e.g open the windows/go to the balcony for fresh air. But last night I got the worst DR side effect I’ve ever felt in all my cycles. Husband and I were waiting for our luggage at the airport (back from a trip to London) and out of nowhere, BANG.. I started having cold sweats and my head just started to feel very funny and fainty that I had to sit down on the floor! Husband was nowhere close to me, he was standing by the normal baggage belt and I was on the other side, by the fragile items belt. I started taking deep breaths, trying to keep myself calm.. 5 minutes, still not gone.. I was aware of the eyes that were looking at me funny.. anyway thank goodness suddenly I saw my husband walking towards me and he aked “why are you sitting on the floor?” and then “why didn’t you call me?” We had a good 15 minutes waiting until I started feeling better and got to walk out of the airport, and about another 15 mins before I felt completely normal. I started acupuncture again today, been off for 2 weeks due to holidays (hers and mine) so I hope it will stop any of these weird things from happening again.

Period is due today but no signs of it coming yet. I hope it’ll come tomorrow.. if not, then this will be my 1st problem with period during down regulation. Oh well.. as they say, no cycle is the same..

here we go again

Counting down to cycle number 3. Down regulation will start on August 12. When we first started this IVF journey, we never thought that we would use all the 3 cycles included in the contract with the clinic. I secretly thought that It would work on the first try (how naive!).. My husband was more “realistic” and didn’t expect much from the 1st but thought it would work the 2nd time around especially after the surprise natural pregnancy. Guess what.. we were both so wrong!

So here we are again.. hoping and praying..

Quick update – baseline scan result

My ovaries are nice and quiet. Lining is thin at 2.4mm and no cyst. I officially start stimming today and they put me on 125 IU of Puregon. I’m going to do it at around 4pm as I did last time. Nasal spray also reduced to 4x a day. Spotting stopped 2 days ago!

Next scan will be on 7th of June. 

 

4 days to go..

.. before my ultrasound. Hope everything will be ok. A little worried as I had weird period. I had my normal 5-day period (and on time too) but on CD7 I started bleeding again and continued until yesterday (CD9). It’s only light bleeding (look like my day 3 or day 4 period) and only came out in the morning and the rest were just spottings. Nothing yet today, hopefully it did stop altogether. I hope it’s just my wacky hormones.

Fortunately, this time down regulation has been very easy on me. I hardly have any side effects, maybe a few lightheadedness but that’s about it.. well maybe I should mention my food cravings as well! My appetite has significantly increased.. food..food..food! I have to say It’s a lot easier this time around and I feel like days passing really quickly. In a perfect world, I would have an easy stimulation, easy collection, get some nice embryos and  smooth transfer, and get pregnant! hey who knows?!

today could be the start of something beautiful

First day of taking nasal spray. Am I excited? YES. Am I optimistic? I’m not quite sure about that. Let’s just say that I’m preparing myself for the worst more than hoping for the best. Although I do feel less stress about the whole thing this time around – taking the meds and such. I know everything I need to know about IVF. I know that no matter how hard I try to do things perfectly, It won’t determine the result. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.. and if it’s not, it just won’t happen. I know anything could happen and I’m more realistic about it now. Anyway, I will have my scan on the 29th and if everything’s ok I will start stimulation on the same day.

Wish me luck!

 

 

questions answered

Period came yesterday, so no second miracle for us (yet). But that’s ok, as this means we can start our second round of IVF in 20 days! 😀 My cycle has gone back to its normal 28 days, which I’m very happy about as I had a 21-day cycle last month (I counted the day I took misoprostol as CD1). It’s still heavier than normal but apparently it’s quite common after a miscarriage. 

I rang the IVF clinic on Friday as I started light bleeding in the morning and told them that we’re ready, only have to wait if it was indeed CD1 (turned out CD1 was yesterday). I asked for a new script for nasal spray – still have the 2 bottles from January but I don’t know if they’re still good to use, they’d been taken to Sydney and Jakarta and they got pretty warm there. Something less to worry about if I get new ones.

I told my acupuncturist that we’re starting IVF soon and she suggested to have 2 sessions per week for the next two weeks for some extra preparation, so I’m going to do exactly that. Food wise, I’ve been eating more kidney beans, berries (blueberries & raspberries) and leafy green vegetables. The last  one I found it hardest as I don’t really like leafy vegetable. I prefer some broccoli on my plate – I guess they do the same job. I’ve been drinking nettle tea as well since starting acupuncture. 

So not long now.. 20 days count down begins!

stimulation & fertility forum – it was a good day!

Good news from the doctor yesterday… Went to the clinic in the afternoon for ultrasound and my uterus lining is 3.3mm! 😀 I started stimulation yesterday, doctor did the first injection on me… this afternoon I have to do it myself.. not worried at all.. EASY PEASY *let’s see in a few days if I start writing my complaints* 😉

Doctor showed me how to do it, plus I have this How-to VIDEO for puregon Injection, just in case.. so they put me on 116 IU, that’s 100+2 clicks 😉 I’ve decided I’m going to do it at/around 4pm everyday.. also I’m still on nasal spray, they reduced the frequency though, I only have to do 4 sniffs now, I schedule them for 7am, 12pm, 6pm and 11 pm.

so yes it was a happy day, first stage completed as planned.. my husband and I had our special dinner, as promised, then we went to the movie to see the BOURNE LEGACY.. hmm I’d say I prefer the last ones with Matt Damon 😀

I will have another ultrasound on the 21st.. we shall see what happen then 🙂

Yesterday before I went to the clinic, I(finally) joined this fertility forum .. People are so helpful there! your questions will be answered   ! It’s nice to be “around” people who’s been through/going through the same thing… they know EXACTLY how it feels 🙂

what a doughnut I am!!!

Arrrggghhh I ALMOST FORGOT my 3pm sniff!!! I heard the reminder from my phone at 5 to 3, but I was thinking another 5 minutes.. and I completely FORGOT!! I just did it now… an hour late 😳