baseline is done!

I took my last BCP on Sunday and today was my baseline scan and our injection training.  The training went pretty quickly.  R has finally realized exactly what I'm going to be subjected to for this.  He had to practice giving the intra-muscular trigger shot (same needle as PIO shot) on this rubber thing they had.  Even though I told him many times, it didn't really sink in just how big these needles are, or that he would be sticking them and inch and a half into his wife....for 10 weeks if all goes well.

R also dropped off his back-up sperm sample on Monday for freezing.  I asked what his numbers were and they gone way up since last year SA!

Last year's:
count = above 30 million (anything over 20mil is normal)
motility = 53% (over 50 is normal)
morph = 7% (between 5 and 14 is normal)

Monday's:
count = 84 million
motility = 54%
morph = 12%

And that is just for back-up, hopefully the fresh one will be even better.  I am really pleased that the morph went up, that was always one area of concern for me, even though the RE always said it was fine.

So....Friday both R and I start doxycycline for 5 days, and I start my Follistim and low-dose HCG.  Speaking of which, it is a good thing I drug all those meds in to be checked, because despite my calling the office to double check I the right stuff when they came in, the pharmacy actually sent the trigger and not the low dose HCG.  They told me they'd send everything but the trigger.  So I need to call and have them overnight that now.

Meds are here!

This is almost all of them.  The trigger shot will be sent later (so one more small box).

Clockwise from top left: Follstim Pen w/ 600 IU and 900 IU cartridges, sharps container, 3 boxes of progesterone in sesame oil, estradiol pills, doxycycline, and methylprednilosone, needles for PIO, insulin needles for low dose HCG, needles to replace huge ass needle that came on PIO syringe, Ganirelix, Novarel, and finally, alcohol wipes.

And to prove I wasn't joking, here is a close up of the huge ass PIO syringe.  The 18 gauge needle shown can twist off and be replaced by a slightly smaller 22 gauge needle.  If you've ever seen a tongue ring, those are usually 12-14 gauge, just to give you an idea of how big 18 really is.

Mock transfer complete.

It wasn't as bad as I expected.  The worst part was, of course, the full bladder.  My appointment was at 10:15, so I started drinking water at 9am.  I was supposed to drink a total of 32oz., so I drank 16oz at home between 9 and 9:45, then took a water bottle with me and drank about 10oz of that...which, according to the nurse, was perfect.   My timing was pretty good too, because it didn't really hurt until I got to the office, so I was only uncomfortable for about 20 minutes or so.  The procedure itself was only a few minutes, but there was a minute or so in the beginning where all I could think of was R's joke at our consult about me peeing on the nurse, because let me tell you...when you have a full bladder, an ultrasound wand pushing on your abdomen, a speculum and a catheter between your legs, it becomes a frightening possibility.  I managed to hold it together and focus on the u/s screen, where I could actually see the catheter going in.  The next time I see that, it will be transferring our embryo!

the pharmacy called!!

As in, the big fancy pharmacy that handles my IVF medications!!   They wanted to set up a shipment date, but since my first IVF consult is this afternoon, I will call them back once I have my IVF calendar, because the low dose HCG is only good for 30 days.   So, I now know that I will be taking Ganirelix, Follistim and HCG as part of my protocol.  And of course I asked how much this order was depleting my lifetime max of 10K...the Follistim alone is about 5K.  Luckily I had a friend give me two unused cartridges of 600IU Follistim, so once the RE adjusts the order that should knock off about 2,500.  I am way more excited about this than I should be, but everything is really coming together!

hystero went well.

When I had my Lap there was some confusion about surgery time, so I was too rushed to notice much of the pre-surgery prep.  We reported to the surgery center at 11:30am and I had about an hour to kill this time, so when the took me back they gave one of those bair paws gowns, where they can attach a little air heater to the gown to keep you warm.  It was pretty neat but the air tickled a little bit and I kept have to readjust it because the connection piece was right above my knees.  The anesthesiologist came and talked to me and got my IV started.  They used my left hand, which hurt a bit and started a saline drip.  Well, apparently she started it on too heavy a drip speed because the next nurse turned it down, which much have made my veins constrict because my wrist and forearm started to burn.  So they turned it back up and it got better until a few minutes before surgery time and my IV bag ran out, then my arm hurt again.  So they got my a new bag and I was up and walking to the OR.

I had informed the anesthetist in pre-op that I had had a recent sciatica flare, so she told me they would position my legs before I was asleep so I could tell them if I was comfortable. Obviously I was aware my legs were strapped up during my Lap/hystero, but I didn't give it a whole lot of thought.  Thankfully I had blankets covering me while the nurse positioned them because there was no room left for imagination by the time she was done.

Once I was all strapped down, they gave me an oxygen mask and told me to breath deeply but I barely heard them because it was about this time that I felt a searing pain start up my arm (somewhere in there they told me they were starting anesthesia, but I must have been distracted by the giant padded boots my legs were strapped in).  They told me to take deep breaths again and I started swearing because it hurt so much.  My arm was on fire...all of it.  I wonder if the Twilight author had the same experience and used it for her "turning" description, because that pretty much summed it up.  By the time it reached my shoulder I seriously thought there was going to be permanent damage...luckily it actually kicked in at the same time and I was out.

When I woke up I was surprised to find that I had no abdominal pain.  I did, however, have a very dry and very sore throat, so ice chips were my first request.  After the nurse retrieved my ice chips and got R from the waiting room, I did have one round of sharp cramping, which she kindly gave a percocet and some ginger ale for.  I was kept in recovery for close to an hour from what R said, but it only felt like 20 minutes or so to me.

We were discharged around 2:30, and by the time I was home I was just feeling tired and groggy from the anesthesia so I slept most of the afternoon.  My throat is still a little sore and last night I could barely swallow my dinner.  The bleeding has mostly stopped and I am back at work for a few hours today.