Waiting for AF and the snow....

Here I sit at the computer patiently waiting for AF and the snow storm they are predicting for tonight into tomorrow. The good news is tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have to go anywhere. I was pretty certain earlier in the week that AF was going to come earlier than usual but the stubborn witch is playing her little games again. I was fortunate to receive free meds again from the IVF nurse. They have saved us a ton of money again this cycle and we are so grateful. I'm hoping to have a BFP very soon and I do plan on sending the RE and the IVF team something wonderful in appreciation of all they have done for us. I'm just not sure exactly what that's going to be yet.

I also got a surprise in the mail on Thursday. I received the approval letter from the insurance company for the IVF cycle and they also approved ICSI! ICSI stands for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection which means they physically inject a sperm into each egg for fertilization. According to my insurance rules, you have to have less than 40% fertilization on a previous IVF cycle to qualify for ICSI. We had about 50% but ended up with none to freeze. ICSI costs more money but they probably feel it's warranted with us since I'm older and it's likely the outer shell of my eggs is tough and hard to penetrate naturally. I'm told this happens when you hit age 35. It's also cheaper if you have frozen embryo's to do an FET-Frozen Embryo Transfer in the future. There's no heavy duty meds needed and no surgery. I'm sure the insurance would rather see us have extra embies to freeze for an FET if this cycle fails then they wouldn't have to shell out bundles of money for another fresh IVF cycle. Either way, I'm excited to see how things go this time around. My RE is also increasing my meds. I was a little terrified at this. I thought 24 eggs was a lot but then again only 1/2 fertilized so maybe more medication will help them mature a little better before retrieval. I hope I can walk out of the IVF center after the retrieval. This is gonna hurt. I just know it.

Oh well, the pain will all be worth it in the end if we get our little bundle of joy.

Lupron tonight...

It's finally time to start shutting down the old girls (aka...my ovaries). I will start my Lupron injections tonight around 9pm. Tuesday I meet with the RE for my post-op check and that will be the last night I will take a bcp. Hopefully, it's the LAST bcp I will need for a long time. I'm hoping my E2 level cooperates this time and stays low on the first blood work check. And maybe AF will come sooner than usual after I stop the bcp's!

I'm hoping that this IVF cycle is the one for us. We didn't exactly get what we wanted for Christmas. Let's hope our March birthday wishes are answered next month!

Surgery update...

All went well today. No polyps. I'm surprised there weren't any. How can they grow back so quickly the first time and none come back a year later?? Who knows. I felt bad that I insisted on the hysteroscopy but there really wasn't any other test that would have given me confidence that my lining was clear for IVF#2. I didn't ask for the D&C, my RE insisted on that one for peace of mind. At least I have that now. I was lying in the recovery thinking..."I am so ready to be pregnant now"...I felt really at peace about it. I hope it's a good sign.

I was secretly hoping for polyps so I would have something to blame the failed IVF cycle on. Still the cause of the demise is unknown and I'll have to accept that. Chris threatened to leave me at the hospital when I started obsessing in the recovery room about it. I can't help it!

I guess my surgery could have been earlier today but they forgot to call me from the RE's office last week to tell me to come early. The hospital called at 12p and told me my RE was running ahead of schedule. My RE told us the schedule got changed last week and she was excited she was going to be done earlier today. She couldn't believe they forgot to call us with the new time. Oh well. We got there about 12:45p and I went into the OR at 1:30p. I got home at 3:45p! I woke up quite easily this time, drank, ate and peed! And out the door I went. My legs and arms feel weak and I have mild cramps but that's it. I'm off tomorrow and hoping the DELL tech can fix my laptop which has not been working since Wednesday. I'm not sure it's fixable. I think it's just dead. We shall see.

Next step is the Lupron on 2/23 and onward we go back to IVF-land!

Happy Superbowl Sunday!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy day! What's not to love getting to watch Tom Brady tonight!?! Too bad they have to wear those helmets while on the field...he's some pretty nice eye candy to watch. It's good to be a New Englander....first the Red Sox, now the Patriot's. Let's hope they make a clean sweep tonight! Here's a wonderful pic of Tom!

Change of plans!!

I got a call today from the RE's office asking if they could move my surgery date up to February 12th! I ran to work to check my calendar and the schedule and called the RE's office to tell them yes. This means we can start the IVF cycle this month and hopefully have another ER and ET in early March. Now I won't have to worry about finding weekend coverage in April nor will there be any worries about getting the cycle completed before the IVF lab closes for cleaning in April.

Finally, things are looking up. I've felt a little unglued lately and I think it's because I had this whole month to get through before moving on. I really couldn't find anything to do to occupy my time. My surgery will be at 230pm that day and I took the next day off of work to rest. I can start my Lupron on 2/23 and stop the BCP's on 2/26. Keep your fingers crossed that I breeze through the anesthesia this time and will be back up and running like new in 2 days!