At Home Monitoring!

Today I received my very important package of my Home Monitoring Device! It arrived right on time this morning and a have the sweetest nurse who is my contact for helping me through this. It was super easy to set up, just a lot of pieces and such and of course I was here alone trying to do it myself, but I am a big girl and I managed.

I have to take my blood pressure before starting to monitor and monitoring is twice a day for an hour each. However, if I am feeling really bad and want it on, for however long, I can. That makes me feel good, because at night I contract soooo much and I would love to have it on and send it all my info for them to see really what goes on at night.

Also, I had stated that my insurance is not covering this, but my doctor's office is picking up the tab. My maternity benefits are great, but it doesn't cover anything at home. How that makes any sense is beyond me. The insurance will cover me staying in the hospital for months to be monitored and get injections, but not at home. Weird, our lovely system. So, my terbutaline pump is not covered either, which the doctor wanted me on by today, which I was devastated at yesterday. This is life or death for these babies and because of my insurance my sweet little girls are in jeopardy. It was a bad day yesterday. 

But last night when the nurse called me from the Home Monitoring place, we talked about the whole situation and she said that even though the doctors say they won't cover the at home pump, they most likely will. They always start with covering the monitoring device first and then when they see things that are not as well as they should be, they will almost always cover the pump too, so that I shouldn't worry; if I need it, I will get it. I was so happy to hear that, because I had been given so much negative news yesterday and, well all week, that I needed to hear something positive.

God does work miracles. It's just such an emotional roller coaster. My eyes are so sore from crying these last few days. To say this is a difficult time, is an understatement. But everyday that goes by is another day these little girls are growing right where they belong, inside their Momma. And I much rather be at home, with my pooch, kitties and my husband then in the hospital yet. I know it's pretty much inevitable at this point, so I am just trying to enjoy everyday here at home. I am hoping that there will be no change in my cervix come Monday morning at my next appointment, and I can at least make it through Thanksgiving with my family. I feel better knowing that contractions will be monitored and the doctors and nurses can see what's going on from my cozy bedroom.

So we will see. Trying to put some other posts up too, to keep my mind busy while I lay here. I mean I can only watch so much TV and my eyes do not want to read pages in a book right now.

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This morning after the first monitoring hour, I had to re-do another hour because I had already gone past my limit of four contraction an hour. When I re-did it I only had three, amen. The nurse described me once again as having an irritable uterus, but that is not that uncommon having multiples. She called the doctor who upped by limit to six contractions an hour rather than just four.

I just did the evening monitoring, and the nurse called and I had SEVEN contractions, so once again, drinking more water (after I have already drank 4 QUARTS today) and then waiting 20 minutes, going potty and monitoring again for another hour! Phew!

So we'll see what happens. Will keep everyone updated. Thank you to all who pray for our family, it is so appreciated!!!!!

OB Appointment -26w1d

Today I called my nurse and said I was having horrible contractions and cramping. Last night from around 6:00pm, it was literally horrible. I could barely keep track of all my contractions because they were all so close together until around 6:00am this morning when I finally fell asleep due to exhaustion. The cramping was weird too, I haven't had any cramping with the contractions, but every time I went to the bathroom last night, I would have these painful cramps too (like you would get right before the start of your period). I drank about a gallon of water and had taken on all my medications for the contractions on-time, so I was really worried.

But of course, I don't like to freak out and call, or get everyone excited, but after I got over to my Mom's, she was not going to take no for an answer, so of course when I called, I was told to come in right away. Great, just what I wanted to do.

My cervix is still BEAUTIFUL..measuring right at 4mm. Couldn't ask for anything better. All the girls are over 2 pounds, heart beats were great, and their fluid levels are all perfect too! The doctors are so impressed with my progress through the pregnancy, it's only me who is having all the problems. I rather it be that way though.

Still waiting for the anemia results, on meds now for the bile acid in my liver/gall-bladder, and still on the procardia every six hours for the contractions. I did the 48 hours on the indomethacin and, well, that obviously didn't do anything for me.

The doctors do not want to use up all the medications now at 26 weeks for me to stop contracting because they are afraid I will become immune to them and then when I really need them, they won't work.

So, instead, they are going to start the home monitoring device through our phone line to monitor the contractions in the evening and then maybe they will believe me when I say they are 2 MINUTES APART for hours upon hours EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

We will see, all I can do now is still more of the same, take all my meds, stay in bed, drink gallon after gallon of water, eat everything and anything, go to physical therapy and monitor the contractions page after page in my notebook!

Ugh! The Need for Sleep!!!

Last night was the first night I attempted sleep without the help of my beloved sleeping pill. I really want to be a big girl and stop using it but every time I have tried in the past six years, I fail. Because this drug is not a sleep-aid, but an anti-depressant, with an "off-label" to help insomnia, it is not one of the worse things you can do in pregnancy. But of course, I don't want to put any harm to the babies in their further growth, so even though the OB says it'd ok, but my prescribing doctor, says no, I will be trying my hardest to make this work.

As I lay in bed listening to Tim sleep, I am flooded with emotions....so jealous that he can sleep, why can't I be normal and just flipin' go to sleep, I could sleep all day if I wanted to and then when it's finally dark I can't sleep at all...UGH! Benadryl doesn't do anything, and melatonin, I will try tonight, but I do not have high hopes! Because I can't sleep, I twist and turn, pee every 45 minutes because I can't stop thinking about having to pee, I am just so restless, I can feel my body not being able to relax. Finally, I took some Tylenol and it helped relax me, so I could get a few minutes of sleep, but at 6:00am sharp, 4 hours exactly after taking it, I was wide awake! Wait, not wide awake...awake and pissed off, and so tired of not being able to sleep!!!

Today, I feel horrible. I want to lay here and nap all day since I really have noting to do but I know that won't help me for later tonight. My nausea feels worse today because I think I am just so tired and restless. It's way too hot to go outside and I already decided I wasn't cooking dinner tonight, instead left overs. The laundry is done, the house is in order and clean...what's a girl to do???! I feel like I have read every book I have already and my bed rest hasn't even begun.

I'm bored, lonely and tired. Blah.  I trust that with the help of the Lord I will be able to get through this struggling time. Only he knows my inner-most strenghts and weaknesses, and will carry me through this. I can do it and I will.

OB Appointment and Sonogram Photos!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we had our appointment with the OB! It seemed like forever between these last appointments, but I know that's just me. I am so blessed not to have to wait a whole month between appointments like if I had a singleton pregnancy; I would just die of waiting!

So we got there around 2:00pm, Tim, myself, my mom and my sister, Christine...all of us! I was called back pretty quickly even though the room was filled to the max with people. We had this suppppper nice sonographer, who was actually an OB, just not practicing right now, and she was AMAZING! The sonogram lasted over an hour, almost an hour and a half, and many times had to switch sides, shake my tummy around, cough, or stand up to try to get these babies to turn around and give good photos! They are so stubborn, all ready! Made me think, hmm, they are definitely Tim's children, since they are already miss-behaving and I wonder if that's a sign that they are all girls and take after their Mommy!?

This appointment they were checking for the thickness of skin behind the neck, for signs of down-syndrome. All the babies, once they cooperated, checked out perfectly, and the risk of down-syndrome is very, very low. I asked if the test is accurate and they said it is the most accurate test they have for triplets. If I was to have the normal singleton pregnancy blood work done, it normally creates false positives for women carrying more than twins and actually the sonogram is more accurate anyway. Ok, sounds good to me. Plus they said, due to my age and zero family history of any genetic diseases (other than high cholesterol), our babies should be in the clear for everything! All my other blood work have came back normal and so far the babies look perfect!

So, since the sonogram took so long, we had a long time to watch the babies and examine every little inch of them! I can't wait to examine every little inch of each of them when they come out, but this was fun too, in the meantime. We saw all their noses, eyes, mouths, even a tongue on one of them (because he/she was sticking it out....time-out for that, we do not stick our tongues out at the nice lady taking our pictures!!!!), all arms, legs (which look like real arms and legs now), hands and feet. We counted five fingers on most of their hands, it was so clear! Also, saw their spines, stomachs (which all of them had fluid in their tummies so that's a great sign and means their digestive systems are in place and working), rib cages, lobes of the brain, and of course their hearts, beating beautifully! All the heartbeats had dropped a little bit, which is completely normal, all were around 154. As they continue to grow, all the heartbeats will slow down and not be so fast.

All of my tests were great too. My cervix is NICE and LONG, the doctor was impressed. He said he expects it to stay that way for a long time, and that due to my age and health, I should be fine and hopefully will not need a cerlage. And as of right now I have a 100% chance of carrying these babies until 34-35 weeks, which most likely means no NICU time! Each time they'll give me a percentage of what they think, so this time is great news! He said some women by this time are already on bed rest!! Not this lady, nope!!!

Also asked some of my silly questions. Like, can I finally get my hair highlighted again...answer YES! Also, do I need any other vitamins other than then the thousand I'm taking already...answer NO! Back off of the baby aspirin and I finished the endometrin two days go, two pills off the list! Asked if I should be concerned that I haven't gained barely any weight...answer is YOU ARE DOING FINE! What if I am not eating enough, are they getting delayed in anyway because of me...answer, NO, they are fine and right on track, eat whatever you want whenever you want, no need to gorge and stuff yourself. AMEN! I also asked if I could see a nutritionist and they thought that was a great idea, so we got some names and I am going to call today or tomorrow.

I had blood drawn, and didn't pass out, blood pressure was still a little low, and they didn't weigh me, which I think they just forgot.

I think that's it. The genetics lady was kinda boring ad pretty straight forward--we have no issues or family history to be concerned with. Thank you, Jesus.

And our total appointment time, probably a record....we left a 5:05pm....so 3 hours, 5 minutes!

On to the photos, we only got a few. I was not happy about that and we really do not have a good one of Baby A, just a very scary one (see below)...but that's ok.

This is all three babies...at least their heads.

Baby C, the singleton. The one who stuck their tongue out!!!

All three again.

Haha, this is baby A...looks more like a scary Halloween costume! It's just a face-on shot, instead of  a profile.

This is Baby B, of the twins...I have no idea why this isn't rotated..UGH!

First OB Appointment!!

Today was our first OB appointment at Greater Washington Maternal Fetal Medicine and meeting our doctor, Dr. Thomas Pinckert. Basically you can only be referred to this practice if you (the mother) is/was very ill, the baby is very ill/has large defects or you have more then 2 babies. They don't even do too many twin pregnancies unless there is a problem with the mother or the babies, so they really specialize in 3 or more pregnancies. Dr. Pinckert described the practice as the patients who regular OB's don't want because they are too complicated. It's like the ICU of pregnancies. Nice, but glad to know I'm in good hands.

We got there right as my appointment time was beginning....I felt horrible for being late, because even on-time, is late to me, but I couldn't stop reading Facebook get out of bed this morning. We waited and waited and I was getting impatient filling out one hundred five forms. The sonographer took us in and was super nice. The room was awesome, such high-tech gear and huge flat screen TV's!  NICE! She said they would try a "regular" sonogram first and see how well the photos came out, but they would probably do a vaginal one. I was fine with either. I just wanted good photos. She said most IVF patients could care less about vaginal ultrasounds....haha, we are so used to those stirrups!

The "regular" sonogram gave some good photos but the vaginal ones were great. She put on the color option to see blood flow, which was really neat and we got to see them from every angel, for quite a long time! We finally got to hear the heartbeats and it was music to my ears! So wonderful to hear them each for the first time! I was so excited. Baby A's heartbeat was 169 bpm, and Baby B and C were both 164 bpm. It's amazing, simply amazing. We could also see two clear yolk sac's with the identical twins, which was good to see, looks like they are both very healthy. All babies were measuring 8 weeks, 2 days, which is exactly what I am!

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Identical Peanuts A and B

Peanut C

All 3 Peanuts!!!!!!!!!

Still unbelievable to see that there are THREE babies in my tummy! Still blows my mind! I think it will for awhile!

Next, Dr. Pinckert came in and spent almost 45 minutes with us! I swear I was wondering who was seeing all the other patients, since he was in the room so long. He did a "regular" sonogram to see some things for himself, talked a lot of about thing we should know and answered all of our questions.

Looks like I am going to have to start taking a HUGE amount of vitamins, not just a pre-natal vitamin, but like hundred other vitamins too. The babies will be taking everything, my blood, oxygen, nutrients, vitamins, and so women who carry 3 babies or more (high order multiples) need LOTS of supplements. I am not looking forward to that because the pre-natal vitamins make me SO constipated as it is and I only take one. I will also have to up my Levothyroxine for my hypothyroidism, and will need blood work frequently to monitor my cholesterol levels.

He talked a lot about bed rest and recommend that I stay off my feet when I can, do not lift anything over five pounds and no super exercising. No worries there. He told Tim, if it was possible to make sure I only work a part-time job or something off of my feet...hmmm, ok. Doctor's orders. Of course, he isn't paying our electric bill or buying us a new car (ahem) mini-van, so I will do what I have to do. However, a side note....my lovely husband received a BIG raise today from his wonderful boss. Such a wonderful, wonderful man; we are so beyond blessed to have Tim work for such a wonderful company and wonderful man. So whatever it was, Tim's great work ethic or the fact we are having triplets, or both, I am VERY proud of my husband's hard efforts for our fastly growing family!

There were a lot of other things mentioned, like staying on the Endometrin and Estrace for a few more weeks and the possibility of some other lovely things, that I won't get into at this moment, because I am not even close to wanting to google anything right now. But for example, things such as stitching up my cervix...OHHHH BOY!

Oh and I will be monitored every two weeks, so my next appointment is Monday, July 19th!

4w3d - Beta #2

Today I went in for my beta #2...and I just got the call from my Nurse and my number went from 641 to...

1255

That is great news. I have also managed to go well-over 24 hours with NO pain medication (just some extra-strength Tylenol)! No episodes of vomiting or rolling around in a fetal position like I'm going to die! I'd say that is improvement!

I was concerned a little about the stretching and pulling feeling that I am having from the top of my rib cage all the way down. So, this morning when I signed in for my blood draw, I asked if I could speak with the Nurse too. The lady said, "Sure, go on back," so I did.

I saw Dr. Stillman standing there and I just decided I would skip the Nurse and go to him. After all, I'm practically family.  I said, "Oh Dr. Stillman, thank you for calling me. We are so excited, I just can't believe it, thank you so much for your kindness and help"...blah, blah...and then I said, "is it normal to have all this pressure and bloating and soreness"? I just kept going on and on. He says, "well ya know, there could be four babies in there.." Insert here -- an almost completely white faced woman practically on the floor -- haha! I was like, "no really, it's ok, this is normal...I've never been pregnant before ya know". So he said, "well lets go take a look"...I'm like awesome!!! He mentioned over to the Nurses and I was in the room ready before I could say ok. No worries though, I just have HUGE ovaries and some fluid. Nothing major, he said my lining was more than perfect and plush. I thought, wait, are we describing a couch or my uterus here! I asked if it was too early to see the babies and the Nurse and Dr. Stillman looked for a few minutes but it's still too early to se some saks. Heehee...I was just tickled to death! I got the royal treatment!

So, all and all it was good! My tummy is still very sore and anything that touches it hurts. I hate sleeping on my back and my side, so it's been hard to get used to this already. I just NEED to sleep on my tummy. And I have been peeing a lot! Whahhooo! I love this already though! I'm so excited. I just keep thanking God for giving us this gift. It is such a wonderful gift. Last night, I forget what we were watching we were watching Bill and Guilana (LOVE that show) and this couple said they had done 5 IVF's and I just started bawling. Tim kept asking what was wrong with me, and I'm like, look what a gift we got, on our first try!! We are so lucky, and I will never forget that. Such a miracle God has given us. I am forever thankful.

Looking forward to telling everyone at Softball this evening. Tim's team never has games on Memorial Day Weekend and then they had a bye last week, so we haven't seen everyone in three weeks. So excited to tell them all. Everyone was so sad to hear we still weren't pregnant (I wrote about this briefly before) on the first game, so I'm sure they will be surprised now, however, it was no secret that we were doing IVF!

And then this weekend we are heading up to PA to visit with Tim's family. He has four aunts that will all be there, so to tell everyone our good news together will be awesome. Something I have been dreaming about for over a year now! We have some fun things planned so it should be a great weekend!

So next beta (#3) on Monday!

8 Still Holding On..

Yesterday didn't go quite as well as I thought after I blogged. I layed down and was in a lot of pain for the rest of the day. My stomach was SO bloated and full of air that it looked like I was four months pregnant already. I haven't had any bloating at all until after the retrieval and still today it looks a little better but not too much. I was SO nauseous yesterday and when I finally couldn't take it anymore, I called Nurse My Favorite and she called me in a scrip for Zofran. That little pill helped sooo much and I was able to eat dinner and go to bed.

I did manage to work today, but I am home resting as of right now before going out a little later to run some errands and a quick Dr.'s appt.

Ok, so about the babies...

Today we have 8 embryos still fighting for a chance. I have to say, I am a little concerned because they are not "beautiful" embryos, they are "just alright". When Nurse My Favorite said that, I said what do you mean they are "just alright"? She said that they are all between 2 and 8 cells and all are 10% fragmented. Of course I did not want to hear that my babies were anything but perfect and beautiful; but this is the reality. In a "perfect" embryo, 8 cells and 0% fragmentation is the best and they grade them as an A. Well there are plenty of women who get these grade A embryos and still do not have children and they are plenty of women with fragmented embryos and even "poor quality" embryos and they still go on to have beautiful, perfect children. That's the thing, there is nothing to say what's better or what's not as good, everything is just up to the make-up of that particular embryo.

I am a little concerned but I didn't have my retrieval until 1:30 on Tuesday and Nurse My Favorite was already calling me with my Day 2 Update at 9:50am this morning. My embryos haven't even been out for 48 hours, so they really are right on target; and they shouldn't be giving me a Day 2 Update when it hasn't even been two days yet. I know so many people have told me that they could look at the embryos one hour and see one thing and then the next hour they could be completely different, so I am not loosing all hope here. They have a lot of growing still to do.

With that said, we are going to do a Day 3 transfer, which will be tomorrow at 4:15. They decided to do Day 3 because if the embryos are fighting a little harder than they should be, the best place for them to be is in my uterus. I am glad for that, because then I know they are safe and warm and I will be giving them the best possible home. If for some reason, they do well over night and then embryologist changes her mind, then we are on for a Day 5.

Either way, I am optimistic and hopeful. It's all in God's hand's and I trust He will do what's best for our family.

Trigger Shot

Early this morning, we set our alarm for 1:10 am so that we would have enough time to prepare the shot and ice my tushy. I got it ready and Tim got the ice and then I got really nervous. I just didn't know how it was going to feel and I was worried that it would hurt like the Menopur did. I told Tim I was scared and he knew I was. We said a quick prayer and I rolled over and said DO IT! It didn't hardly hurt. Just a little, and I was surprised. I looked at the syringe and it was really all in me, so I was happy! I put the heating pad on it and Georgie came and layed on me while I thanked God for that going so smoothly. Went back to bed and this morning my tushy is a little sore at the injection site. Apparently it bled some during the night which I was surprised, but no bruising, just a sore area.

My Nurse called also this morning, since she was off all weekend and she was all happy and giddy knowing that we triggered, and I thought it was so nice that she called. She asked how graduation went and said that she was sorry but tomorrow is a planned day off for her so she won't be there for the surgery. Oh well. I still thought it was nice that she called, because to be honest I was sad that she wasn't the one giving me all of my instructions yesterday, but oh well.

I made my fruit salad, which I plan on eating for the rest of the week if I can keep Tim's hands off of it. Also, I made some brownies...at Tim's request. He said that if I get what I want, he wants something too, so he picked brownies, which I was of course fine with!

I'm sitting here watching Make Room for Multiples on TLC, and the couple got pregnant with triplets on their first IVF! Oh twins, I dream about, but triplets, I pray that God knows what I can handle. LOL.

Tomorrow Tim will go to work for the morning and then be home around 11:00am to take me in by 11:45. The surgery is set for 1:45pm. This morning my mom said "tomorrow is the day you lay your eggs"...and I almost died. When my sister and I were little she would joke about how we were born, saying, "I layed an egg and we cracked it open and watched you hatch", we were so gullable that we bought it for the longest time. So, this morning I almost died of laughter when she said that.

So, tomorrow, yes, I will be laying my eggs.

Brad Paisley Concert, ONE YEAR Anniversary and Update on Cycle

Yesterday started out like many other this week...a monitoring appointment. We we're up early and got an early start...must have been all that sleep the day before. Ha.

We left around 2:00pm for the Brad Paisley concert, since we wanted to get something to eat before hand, since food there is SO expensive and it takes about an hour to get to Nissan/Jiffy Lube Live. I was feeling kinda nauseous so I just told Tim to pick something cheap and quick and I would try to stomach the idea of it, if possible. He picked Burger King. Not exactly what I had in mind but whatever. We got some burgers and made it to the pavilion. We ate in the car and it started pouring. It was hilarious to watch all the "children" running around in the rain as they were trying to put food away and cover up things in their tailgate area. I say "children" because most of them were probably between the age of 15 to 23 years old, DRUNK, obnoxious, ignorant and apparently irresponsible. Tim said, "oh, they're just having a good ole time, leave them alone"..I thought obnoxious and we discussed the fact that our children will never go to a concert alone until they are our age. I never acted like that and I would be appalled if my children ever did. These "children" just think it's so cool to walk around wet, covered in mud and with their big-gulp cup with beer in it (to cover it up of course, news flash....cops DO know what's in there!!).

After we ate and the rain slowed down a little bit we gathered everything and started to make the LONG walk to the pavilion. We made it about half way and I realized that I didn't have the tickets. Lovely. We turned around and went back to the car to get them. Tim was just a little mad...not at me, just that we had to walk all the way back and get them in the rain. But we did and turned around and walked all the way to the pavilion, through the drunk fest of "children". There were a few even wilder "children" that were getting citations, which I thought was funny, and the highlight of the walk over there. We went to go in, and the guy checked my bag and asked, "is that a professional camera"? I said no, and he asked if the lens comes off and I said yes. He then proceeded to tell me that "professional cameras" were not allowed. I looked at him, and said "Are you kidding me, I am far from a professional photographer. I am in the freakin' fifth row to see one of my favorite artists and you are telling me that I will now not be able to have a camera?????"1 I was LIVID. He said sorry and said I would have to take it back to my car. That meant walk ALL the way back to the car, in the rain and mud and back AGAIN. What??? I was soooo mad. I cursed at myself for not bringing my other camera/less professional camera for a just in case scenario such as this one. I never thought this would happen. I pouted the whole way and through the night, especially later on when I saw other people with detachable lens camera taking plenty of photos! UGH!

We made it in and went to go sit in the pavilion and the security guard informed us that no one could get in until 6:30pm and it was only 5:15pm. That meant standing in the rain for one hour and fifteen minutes. We stood under a tree with our umbrellas and other people waiting. It was miserable. Finally they decided since it was raining so hard that they would let people in at 6:00pm. Amen. Our seats were so awesome! I was psyched that they were only $45 bucks and we were in the 5th row! People around us said they had paid $150 bucks per seat and wondered how we got such a deal. I said, well thanks to Citi Card, I got a great deal!

We watched Justin Moore, which was really good. he sings some great country songs and reminds me a lot of Jason Aldean, which we love too.

Tim couldn't relax until it was time to take my injections. You know we swore that we would not let IVF control our lives and let us stop living and this was a perfect situation. Saturday morning, I called Nissan and informed them that I was coming to the concert and needed to take some injections at 8pm and if the First Aide area would be available to use and they said no problem. I brought my prescription, my doctors name and number, my ID, and everything I needed. Finally, we went over to First Aid, which was right next to where you would go if you were arrested or too drunk to function...it was so funny listening to all the people there from inside First Aid trailer. The nurses were so funny and they were like, oh this is nothing! Tim gave me the iinjections and we were back in our seats right at the start of Darius Rucker.

Brad was wonderful, as usual. He was so good last year and again this year he didn't let anyone down. He was so close to us, I like almost got emotional. I blame that on the meds. Everyday, I swear I fight back tears like 3-5 times, since these meds.

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We made it out of there and we're home by 1:30am. The alarm went off way too early at 7:00am and Tim was less than thrilled to get us and get moving for my Dr.'s appointment. We stumbled out of bed and made it on-time. The doctor and nurse were going back and forth about whether I would be ready to trigger tonight or if I would have to wait another day.  The nurse gave us all the instructions and I asked for her to mark the "X" on my butt to show where Tim was to give me the shot and when she did, she said, "oh you don't have much of a butt, let me get the smaller needle for you guys to use"...AWESOME! So instead of the 1 1/2 inch needle, we will only use the 1 inch. I know that doesn't seem like a lot but when you see a needle that big, an 1 1/2 seems HUGE!!

Ultimately, it would come down to my blood work and what my estrogen showed. On Saturday it was 1800. Today when I got the call from the nurse, it was 3391 and so they were convinced that the other follies would definitely be ready and mature by Tuesday. So, I still have around 12. We will take the Trigger shot tonight/early Monday morning at 1:15am and that makes my retrieval Tuesday at 1:15pm!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!! I am so glad to see the Menopur and Gonl-F done with! I have a nasty bruise on my tummy from them and my Sharps container is FULL to the max. Not bloated at all (which surprised the nurses because I have so many good eggs) but my boobs hurt and the nausea is TERRIBLE! But no complaints here...I hope I am nausea for nine more months! :)

Oh and today is our ONE YEAR anniversary! I cannot believe it has been one year already! I am so happy. Being married to your best friend is the best thing in the world.

Ok, I think I have rambled on enough. Tomorrow, I will update on how the shot went. Going to make a fruit salad and some extra good food to eat while I'm home recovering and then on bed rest.

12 Follies Growing Strong!!!!

Ok, so Nurse My Favorite just called and said my estrogen is perfect so far. On Monday it was 220 and today it is 528. I have (as of this morning) 12 nice and perfect future half babies (half- since they aren't fertilized yet) growing perfectly inside of me! I go back again tomorrow (because of Graduation on Friday) and then again Saturday and Sunday. Nurse My Favorite said she is still expecting my trigger to be Sunday night and retrieval for Tuesday! Pants are still fitting at this point but I'm sure as these babies grow, I will be growing too...

I also asked her about my FSH level, which I assumed that it was fine because she has never mentioned it being a problem during the last year and it's perfect! So happy! I am a 7 on average, which anything under a 10 is good/normal. A lot of the women in my RESOLVE support group have high FSH levels (and none of them have ever been pregnant), so I was really curious about mine, but everything is great! At least it's one less thing to worry about! I'm not used to my body working in normal capacity.

Still hating Menopur though...but the end is near! If all goes well, I should only have 4 more nights of it! :) BIG smile!

Update

Well where to start..it's been over ten days since I blogged last and a lot has happened.

First, I'll start with how the meds are going...I started with 20 IU of Lupron on Friday, May 7th..and other than being really nauseas and having terrible headaches...I was fine. I went in for blood work and sonogram on Friday, May 14th and I was told everything was perfect and we could start the stims! I was beyond excited. We went to Tim's softball game and then when we got home we sat down to figure it all out and we both looked at one another and we're like, wait what do we do..(mind you, we were conscious when we took the Injection Class)...but somehow at 11pm at night after a long day, our brains weren't working...imagine that. But thankfully our clinic gives lots of lovely handouts and educational videos on their website, so we eventually figured it all out. There are 2 shots to be given each night. 150 IU of Gonl-F (which isn't bad at all) and 75 IU of Menopur (which is so PAINFUL, it brings tears to my eyes). So by now, we have a routine and it works great expect the last part when Tim gives me the bigger Menopur shot...I just cringe, it hurts so badly. I think because it's such a large amount of fluid going into my muscle..ugh, no fun! Icing before does help a little and heat and massaging it in after helps a lot. I still am taking 5 IU on Lupron each morning, so it's a total of 3 shots per day, along with all the oral meds. With adding the other two shots, I haven't had any side effects other than headaches and some weird twinges in my ovaries, oh and peeing A LOT..because I guess my ovaries are growing, like they should be!! I got really mad the other day when I posted that I wasn't feeling well on Facebook (I know, ugh, hate Facebook) and someone (pregnant with the same disease I have and knows were doing IVF) said "maybe it's all the crap the doctors put you on"...I literally screamed some choice words and felt like crying. People can be so RUDE and INCONSIDERATE! To call the miracle drugs that will be the only way I will be able to be a mom, crap, ugh, I was ready to punch a wall. I prayed about it and Tim and I talked and I felt much better. I just can't stand people sometimes. Ok, enough of that.

These are my night-time shots.

This is my morning shot.

I went in on Monday for blood work and ultrasound and I have 5 follies growing on one side and 7 on the other. Dr. Not mine, but still Nice, said "it's all about quality not quantity"...yeah, yeah, ok and I thought, "it's my wallet, not yours". I go back tomorrow to be checked again. As of right now, it looks like we will continue the stims and then most likely "trigger" on Sunday night to have the retrieval on Tuesday morning. WOW!

We have a very busy weekend ahead. My Master's Degree graduation from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Social Work is Friday! I am still in denial that I am actually finished and they are really going to give me a Master's Degree!?? Freaks me out still. I don't think it will hit me until the fall, when after 19 years, I will not be going to school. I love it though, my new found freedom is so nice! On Saturday, we have our 5TH ROW concert tickets to see Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and someone else (ugh, the name slips my mind right now). I LOVE Brad Paisley and he was so amazing last year so this years show I'm sure will be great too! And then Sunday is our one year anniversary. WOW! I cannot believe it has been one year already, it still seems just like yesterday! "Trigger" will be that night and then the whole next week we will be consumed with the retrieval, recovery and the transfer (which looks like the 30th).

Some other things that have happened in the past few days weeks and thus the reason of no blogging (but that doesn't mean I don't read everyone else, because I do!):

1. SIL, Megan and her boyfriend, Julian were in town for 8 days from New Mexico. We miss them so much, so we had some fun times while they were here. We got to spend Mother's Day at PB Dye Golf Course for brunch and then go to Liganore Winery, which was nice. Also, Tuesday evening we had crabs at our house and with my MIL, it was such a fun time!! I took some photos and then they some how got erased...so I don't know what happened there!

2. Tim has officially started back to softball (ok..three weeks ago was the first game) and his team is off to a better start then normal. They haven't one a game yet but let's be serious...the have won ONE game in 3 YEARS. But the game they did win last year, knocked the highest ranked team out of the playoffs...so it was AWESOME! This year they are really scoring a lot of runs so I bet they will win one this yea too! It's still so fun regardless of who wins! All the guys on the team are so nice and I love hanging out with all the wives late into the night on Fridays! We both really enjoy our time! Of course this year, many people came up to me asking why I wasn't pregnant or that they expected me to be wobbling over to the bleachers this year...blah, blah, I know...I said at the last game last year that I would be pregnant when I came back this year so it was kinda a bittersweet day of the first game. I'm over it now.

3. Last night, I had my RESOLVE support group. I LOVE RESOLVE and the women who are in my group. For those of you who don't know what RESOLVE is; it's a support group for women struggling with infertility and it's a blessing in every way! I have blogged about it a few times. We meet once a month and give updates on our cycles, bitch about doctors, infertility, clinics, meds, shots, ignorant people, pregnant 15 yr old...you name it, we complain about it, but it's so nice to get things off your chest. As a social worker, I am a big believer in support groups and therapy so I love it. However, each month I attend, I say this is the LAST month I am going to be able to attend, but somehow, I am always back again, along with everyone else. If it wasn't for RESOLVE, I and/or my sister wouldn't be here. My mom stumbled across a RESOLVE article back in the early 1980's and she contacted them and they got her in touch with Dr. Stillman, who performed many surgeries on my mom and finally after 13 years my parents were able to have me! My mom was the 4th person in the US to receive IVF, but got pregnant the month before they were to start, but Dr. Stillman had been her doctor for about 6 years before me. So having Dr. Stillman as my doctor is so amazing to me! I love him and am so blessed to have him hopefully help us conceive too. It will be a great story to tell our children that without him, none of us would be here!

4. A side note...a few of my friends, some real and some online/blog-related found out they are pregnant. :) Some IVF, some not, but I am HAPPY FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!!

5. We went strawberry picking on Saturday and had a lot of fun. I have been picking strwberries since I could walk I think, so it's normal that we go every year a few times. This year Tim was eager to come too....don't ask me how that happened, but he came along and we had fun. I just ate them and Tim picked. It was fun though!

He picks....I eat.

Ok, well enough for now..I'm going to go take a nap but I promise I'm going to be keeping up with my blog each day!