Wednesday, February 1, 2012

IVF #1

If this IVF leads to baby #1, I want to remember how it all began!!

Start Date: Friday, July 13th

Needle count: 34
Blood draws: 11
Ultrasounds: 6

Jule 13: b/w confirmed ovulation
  • start 10 units of Lupron @ 7:45 pm to catch up
July 14: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:45 am

July 15: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • did shot at hotel in NY
July 16: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • accupuncture appt.
July 17: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • injection site bled, pretty sure I took some skin off when I pulled the needle out, oops!
  • feel like crap, lethargic, gross, not myself
July 18: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • starting to wonder what my stomach is going to look like after about 30 more injections! I am sure I will be able to play a crazy game of connect the dots!
July 19: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am

July 20: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am

July 21: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am

July 22: 10 units of Lupron @ 8:00 am

July 23: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • accupuncture appt. @ 12:30
  • stomach is starting to be consistently sore from all the shots

July 24: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • period finally arrived around 4 pm
July 25: 10 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • woke up around 4 am with awful cramps from my period (hopefully it's the last time for a while)
July 26: 10 units of Lupron @ 6:15 am
  • Baseline appt. @ 7 am (b/w and u/s)
  • Cleared of any cysts and lining looks nice and thin, go ahead to begin Gonal f tomorrow night

Begin Stimulating Drugs (2 shots a day)

July 27: 5 units of Lupron @ 7:45 am
  • 112.5 iu Gonal f @ 6:30 pm
July 28: 5 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • 112.5 iu Gonal f @ 6:15 pm

July 29: 5 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • 112.5 iu Gonal f @ 6:45 pm
July 30: b/w appt. @ 7 am to check estradiol levels
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 6:30 am
  • accupuncture @ 1:15
  • had to drop Gonal f to 75 iu (estradiol came back at 340)
  • 75 iu Gonal f @ 6:00 pm
July 31: b/w and u/s appt. @ 7:15 am
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 6:30 am
  • estradiol came back at 540...still rising, but a little slower, continue Gonal f at same dose
  • 75 iu Gonal f @ 6:30
August 1: same protocol
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 6:30 am
  • 75 iu Gonal f @ 7 pm
August 2: b/w and u/s @ 7:30 am
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 6:45 am
  • 3 follicles measuring greater than 12 mm and LOTS of smaller ones
  • estradiol came back at 1,100
  • continue Gonal f 75 iu @ 6:45 pm
August 3: b/w and u/s @ 9 am
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • 8 follicles measuring greater than 12 mm and LOTS of smller ones
  • accupuncture @ 9:30 am (YAY!)
  • estradiol came back at 1,580
  • continue Gonal f 75 iu @ 7pm
August 4: b/w and u/s @ 8:15 am
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • estradiol came back at 2,695, take lowest dose of Gonal-f (37.5)
  • Gonal f @ 7:30 pm
August 5: b/w and u/s @ 8:15 am (please trigger tonight!)
  • 5 units of Lupron @ 7:30 am
  • estradiol came back @ 3,500
  • Trigger shot @ 7:30 pm EXACTLY
August 6: NO SHOTS!  But starting to feel VERY uncomfortable

August 7: Egg Retrieval @ 7:30 am (GET THESE THINGS OUT OF ME!!)
  • retrieved 19 eggs, everything went well
  • stitched up my cervix to make transfer easier on Friday
August 8: Spoke with Embryologist
  • 10 eggs have fertilized (6 the conventional way, and only 4 w/ ICSI)
August 9: Accupuncture @ 10:45
  • spoke w/ embryologist (embryos have continued to divide into 2-cell and 4-cell, and 2 more eggs fertilized over night!!!)
August 10: Transfer Day
  • Of the 12 fertilized eggs, most have stopped growing
  • Transferred two 7-cell embryos
  • Not sure any will make it to freeze
August 12: 2dp3dt
  • Work up in the middle of the night with major cramping, doubled over in pain, spend rest of night between bathroom and couch
August 13: 3dp3dt
  • Starting to feel better finally
August 14 & 15: 4dp3dt & 5dp3dt
  • Feel great, bloating is still there but no longer uncomfortable, haven't felt this good since before starting Lupron
  • tested trigger shot out of my system
  • found out one of our embryos made it to freeze
August 16: 6dp3dt
  • I blogged about feeling nothing. In fact I blogged about feeling great. But, that night I went to bed telling P that I knew there was going to be a second line the next morning.
  • I woke up in the middle of the night screaming at P something about my eggs (I was having a nightmare obviously) I kept saying I forgot to take my medicine for 3 days, what is going to happen to my eggs! He did eventually calm me down and get me back into bed. (I swear I have PTSD from all the injections)
August 17: 7dp3dt
  • There it was...a second line
  • I ran into the other bathroom where P was showering and showed it to him, it was the first time I saw his eyes light up in a very long time
  • Throughout the day I felt pretty crummy, in the way that I had earlier in the week: Bloating was now uncomfortable, it hurt a little to go to the bathroom, just a real heaviness down there along with a little cramping!
  • Was exhausted around 3 pm and laid on the couch for a few hours
  • Had to get up twice in the middle of the night go to the bathroom
  • Woke up in the middle of the night feeling dizzy after going to the bathroom, decide to spend the rest of the night on the couch
August 18: 8dp3dt
  • There was still a second line, but it was the same shade as yesterday's
  • Uncomfortable, feels like my ovaries have swelled again, very bloated by the end of the day
  • Continue to be very dizzy when I get up after sitting for a while
August 19: 9dp3dt
  • Extremely bloated/swollen and uncomfortable (mild case of OHSS?)
  • Dizzy and lightheaded
  • Exhausted, spent most of the day in bed
  • Still peeing regularly and no weight gain (both good things)
  • More importantly, got another positive...this one was even a little darker!
August 20: 10dp3dt
  • put a call into my clinic, beta isn't until Wednesday, but want to know what is going on with my stomach, talked to nurse who was reassured that I was still peeing and not gaining any weight, told to continue to monitor everything
  • nurse told me because I had 19 eggs and such elevated estrogen levels that my follicles are most likely filling back up with fluid/blood because I AM PREGNANT!!!!
  • can take anywhere from a few days to entire first trimester for severe bloating to go down before my body reabsorbs the fluid as it is supposed to
  • besides feeling extremely bloated, am doing much better than yesterday
  • Woke up at 2am with massive cramping (felt like period was coming)
  • Night sweats
August 21: 11dp3dt
  • Stomach is still huge, hope it goes down in the next few weeks before the real baby weight begins!
  • Besides that, no real symptoms (wondering if the Bromocriptine I am still on is keeping some of it in check, if I get a positive Beta, I will most likely discontinue it)
August 22: 12dp3dt BETA DAY!
  • Beta # 1: 202
August 24: 14 dp3dt
  • Beta #2: 360 (78% increase)
August 31: 21dp3dt
  • Beta #3: 3,817
Ultrasound coming soon!!

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