IVF#2 Stimming Day 10 – Feels Like the Flu

  
We have officially stimmed one more day than we did last time. I can’t really say that today was much different than the last few days. Overall, this time around the medications have mainly made me feel like I have the flu. The achy fatigue and the lack of energy have by far been my most prominent and continuous side effects this cycle. I have had very few short bursts of energy and being on my feet for more than 5 minutes exhausts me to the point I almost need a nap. I am thankful that the dizziness has been nothing like last time. Same with the nausea. I have been able to eat regularly and have only vomited a few times. The coconut oil has definitely helped (and possibly cured) the yeast infection and for that I am so thankful! My breasts are still sore my abdomen feels full. 

We did the same shots: Gonal F (225iu), Menopur (75iu) and Cetrotide. They all probably hurt the worst yet. Thank goodness we are done with those!!! Only two more shots and then retrieval!!

The struggle with the brain fog is real and I am so tired, I will just leave this here. Yay for trigger!! The finish line is in sight!

IVF#2 Follicle Update #2 – Blood Work and Ultrasound

I will make this short and sweet. Saturday morning (8/1) we went in for our second monitoring appointment. I am not sure what my estradiol (E2) level was since it was a Saturday, those results won’t be back until today (Monday). As for my follicles, we had about 10 follies between 13mm-17mm! Right on track as to where we want to be! Last time at our second monitoring appointment there were clearly two lead follicles. We are so happy that is not the case this time! The nurse told us to continue the same doses of Gonal F, Menopur and Cetrotide and we would have another appointment on Monday. Fingers crossed this time is the charm!

  

IVF#2 Stimming Day 9 – Are we there yet?

I’m over it. I’m ready for these eggs to come out and for me to feel somewhat normal again. I am very surprised I haven’t become the emotional monster I was last time, but man oh man am I miserable! I am writing this a day late and I can’t even remember how yesterday went! This brain fog and forgetfulness is real!

As I try and recall yesterday, I am blanking out. It is really like someone erased my memory of the last few days. Maybe that is a bit of medical trickery and they do that so you don’t remember how awful you feel. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we blog. So we DO remember, because this sucks! My positive attitude has been all but sapped dry. Maybe I shouldn’t word it that way. I am still positive regarding the outcome of the retrieval and getting our embryos. I am no longer happy, positive, perky person at this moment because my body is pumped full of hormones and I feel at any moment I am going to pop an ovary or vomit up everything I have managed to keep down for the past few days. 

We continued on our Gonal F (225iu), Menopur (75iu) and Cetrotide. Menopur didn’t burn one bit this time. It was strange and actually had me questioning whether I mixed it right (even though it’s pretty idiot-proof). Loving this lidocaine and ice combination we have discovered. I hope that works for the PIO when it comes to that. 

Side effects…way too many to remember…did I mention forgetfulness is a thing? Basically everything from the past few days compounded times ten. Fatigue, nausea, brain fog, forgetfulness, sore breasts, achy, flu-like symptoms, headache, abdominal pain, bloating and the yeast infection is still present. I talked to my nurse and since I cannot use Monistat yet she recommended I use coconut oil. Wait…you want me to out coconut oil where? At this point, nothing should surprise me and when a nurse tells me to shove something here or stick a needle there, I don’t even really question anymore. It’s like blind faith. Infertility makes you want an answer so badly that you are brainwashed to believe anything and everything. You want me to hop on one foot, rotating counter-clockwise at exactly 2:38 am while chanting under a harvest moon and then kiss a blue toad? Okay, if it helps me get our baby, I’ll do it! That might seem like an exaggeration but my ladies in the TTC and infertility community know what I am talking about. Oh! But by the way, the coconut oil definitely helps. For future reference, stock up on some for stimming because it will make you so much more comfortable!

Okay, rambling is over for now! I can no longer keep my eyes open…

  

IVF#2 Stimming Day 8 – So Tired

Nothing really new to report. Same side effects, another day. Fatigue, flu-like aches, headache, nausea, brain fog, sore breasts, abdominal pain, lightning ovaries, difficult moving in general…I got the works! I had a relatively quiet day working from home. An old friend came by to visit and we had wonderful conversation. It was nice to see someone other than my husband since I have sequestered myself in our house to protect the world from my rath! I will say that I haven’t had many emotional moments this time. I think a lot of that could have been tied in with my anxiety, which has been virtually non-existent this cycle. Thanks acupuncture!!

Shot time was still the same three shots. Gonal F (225iu), Menopur (75iu) and Cetrotide. Menopur still sucks!!! Ain’t getting any easier! Luckily I only have a few more days. I have to keep my eyes on the prize! Making this short and sweet because I am exhausted!!

  

IVF#2 Stimming Day 7 – Lightning Bolts

As expected, each day I feel worse and worse. And I am so happy about that!!! Truly I am! Because that means these eggs are growing and becoming more mature every day! Does it suck? Absolutely! But my eye is on the prize!

The Menopur is not joke. It means business. Within 12 hours after my first dose, I became so bloated and could feel my ovaries more than I ever have before. I has now become more difficult to walk. Just the movement of walking through space causes discomfort and sometimes pain. Speaking of pain…lightening bolts in the ovaries is a thing. I had to use the restroom and as I was peeing I got this really sharp electrical pain in my right ovary that made me yelp out loud and jump up a bit…which of course caused me to pee on myself. Infertility is so glamorous! That was yesterday morning and since then I have had those lightning bolt pains on either side on and off. I did freak out a bit and texted Praying to Be Mommy, who assured me that, unfortunately, this lightning bolt pain was indeed a thing. Thanks, Menopur!

Honestly, it almost feels like it did the day of egg retrieval last time and we still have a week to go! That gives me so much hope that they will get a lot of good quality eggs! But it also makes me fearful of just how difficult this next week will be. I don’t doubt that I will be able to do it and I will do my best to get through with a smile on my face. So far I haven’t had too many emotional breakdowns. I have cried a few times over ridiculous things and almost caused a scene in Panera, but I have kept it together better this time around.

TMI Alert!!! In addition to the lightening ovarian pain, I still have a whole bunch of symptoms going on: nausea, fatigue, malaise, flu-like aches, diarrhea, vaginal itching, bloating, mild headache, difficulty walking. The vaginal itching has gotten so bad I had to end up calling the nurse. It took her 6 hours to get back to me because my doctor was in surgery. I am not to use any kind of cream or anything down there. I was called in a prescription for Diflucan and I took the pill last night. The packaging says I should feel relief within 24 hours and I cannot wait until it starts becoming effective! Until then, I have been keeping a heating pad on my stomach for the ovarian pain and an ice pack on my hooha to stop the itching. Did I mention how glamorous this process is?

Yesterday was also our 4 year wedding anniversary!! We didn’t plan on doing anything because we anticipated I wouldn’t feel up to it. We will go out on a date night to celebrate when the retrieval is done. I asked Chris to pick me up some gatorade and peppermint tea on the way home. When he arrived, he had bought me a huge beautiful orchid! I was so surprised I started crying. Then he pulled out Minion cookies and I lost it! I’m sure the estrogen had something to do with my reaction, but it was really sweet and unexpected. To top the night off we also got take out from our favorite hibachi restaurant.

Shot time came and it wasn’t as bad as the night before. I decided that Needle Roulette was the way to go so I didn’t know which one was coming and when. We did 225iu of Gonal F, 75iu of Menopur and 1 kit of Cetrotide. This time I showed Chris which syringe was what so at least he knew. We also agreed that he was going to try and inject the Menopur slowly to hopefully ease some of the burning, however if it burned just as much and I wanted it done with I was going to say “Muffin” and that was his cue to just inject it all and get it over with. I did NOT use the safe word. It was a LOT better being injected slowly. Instead of feeling as if I was being stabbed with a knife, it only felt like the knife was being drawn across my skin. Great analogy, I know, right? But it’s true. I’m not going to sugar coat it. Menopur still sucks!

Tomorrow is our second monitoring appointment! Fingers crossed for more growth!

IVF#2 Stimming Day 6 – Menopur Sucks!!

  
After our appointment this morning, Chris took me to my acupuncture appointment. He hasn’t been with me before so it was interesting for him to see the place and meet my acupuncturist. He asked questions and was able to watch the session. My acupuncturist focused on different points than normal because my main complaint was nausea. This was the first time since my first session where I felt waves of energy and heat move throughout my body. It’s not uncomfortable, it’s just an odd feeling. He said that I felt that strong sensation because I was more out of balance due to the medications. We have been able to bring me in balance over the last few weeks which is why I haven’t had that sensation recently. I am still skeptical about all of this, however I have noticed many improvements and it has been helping me. Even though I don’t understand it, I don’t necessarily need to understand it to see that it is helping me. Chris wanted to feel what the needle felt like so my acupuncturist picked a point in his arm and put a needle in. He felt the wave of energy flow up and down his arm and even continued to feel that sensation on the way home. He is interested in it and it may be something he will consider in the future. 

 

Normally my feet look like pin cushions! Only one in each foot today!

 
The rest of the day was relatively quiet. I laid down and tried to sleep for most of the day. I hardly slept last night. Partly because I couldn’t get comfortable due to the increased pressure in my ovaries and I sleep on my stomach and roll over even when I fall asleep on my back. I think we are going to have to surround me with pillows tonight so I won’t roll. The other reason I didn’t sleep well was how worried I was about today’s appointment. I had a nightmare that I missed the appointment and missed tonight’s injections. Then I woke up in a night sweat and was up from 2-4am. I was unable to take a nap today so I am going to take some Benadryl tonight to help me sleep. 

TMI Alert! My symptoms have definitely increased today. I have nausea, dizziness and fatigue. I am experiencing brain fog. I cannot find the right words for certain sentences. I cannot always make sense when speaking and sometimes I will respond to Chris in my head and won’t vocalize it but think I do which causes a really awkward silence and makes me look insane. I have noticed a large increase in CM and I have had vaginal itching. This is a new symptom and I asked my nurse if I could use Monistat or something similar to help and she said if it was tolerable to avoid using anything and call her if it gets worse. My breasts have also become sore. Not too bad at the moment compared to what I know is coming. And as the same with previous days I have had vivid dreams, bloating, diarrhea and abdominal discomfort and pressure. 

  
I know all those symptoms sound horrid, but honestly they are tolerable and not unbearable at the moment. This is so worth it to have our baby in the end. This pain and discomfort is temporary and totally doable. What I am not pleased with, however, is the Menopur. We started Menopur (75iu) and Cetrotide (1 kit) tonight along with the Gonal F (225iu), so we went from one shot to three shots…woo hoo!!

So shot time came…I prepared the shots and instructed Chris not to tell me which one he was giving and when. I told him to do the Menopur slow. Well…I forgot to tell him which shot was which so when he stabbed my lidocained and iced belly with the Menopur shot first and shot that medicine in fast, I yelped in pain! Man that medicine burns!!! I couldn’t feel the needle but I felt that medicine and it was NOT okay. He then gave me the other two shots which hurt less because I was still in pain from the first one. I don’t know whether it was better to do it all at once and get it over with or draw it out to a long slow burn. Either way I don’t think there is any easy way to inject this medicine and I am just going to have to suck it up!!

As I am laying here writing this I am incredibly nauseated and sore. I am in for a rough several days. I just keep reminding myself it will all be worth it! Pain is temporary!

  
 

Medications Arrived!!

Our medications arrived today!! It was a bigger box than last time. We only got the medications for stimming. When we get ready to do our FET we will get another box of medications. It truly is amazing how quickly you get to know the ins and outs of IVF when you are thrown in head first with no life jacket. I know I have said it before, but it really is a very interesting and unique experience to go straight from trying to conceive naturally to next step: IVF. Part of me envies couples that were able to start out with rounds of Clomid and then move to IUIs and then gradually if needed move to IVF. In a way, the gradual transition seems easier and less stressful (even though I know it is not!) than just being thrown into the world of IVF with no infertility knowledge or previous experience of other procedures. But the majority of me is so thankful that we did NOT have to go through many failed rounds and heartbreaking months to end up at IVF anyways. We have definitely taken it upon ourselves to research and educate ourselves as quickly as possible so we can make the best informed decisions for our family.

All of those thoughts came about because when I opened the box and saw the mass amounts of medications and varying size needles and syringes, I immediately knew what everything was for. What syringe goes with what medication. Which needles were mixing needles as opposed to injection needles. This is knowledge that a few months ago I would have never thought I would have known.

I will post an IVF Med Haul 2.0 video soon showing you guys all the goods. I am going to try and post more vlogs. I feel like sometimes that can be more real and authentic than an edited written post. But for those of you that are curious about our protocol here is what we got:

• 5 boxes of Gonal-F 450iu Multi-Dose vial
• 3 vials of Menopur (I already have 7 courtesy of the beautiful Praying to Be Mommy)
• 4 boxes of Cetrotide (already had 1 left over)
• Lupron trigger (Prefilled synringe of compound medication)
• Sharps container
• 1 10ml syringe
• 11 3ml syringes
• 2 22G needles
• 20 30G needles
• Alcohol wipes

I have added the (non-refrigerated) goods to my IVF Tupperware container. They are now with the left over PIO, Vivelle dots, needles, syringes, alcohol wipes, bandaids, lidocaine cream and baby aspirin from last cycle. On Monday I will pick up the pain medications and antibiotics from our local pharmacy.

Whew that’s a lot of meds and needles! Hard to believe we are beginning IVF cycle 2 in a little over a week!! We have Amazon Prime and  with tomorrow being Prime Day (so excited!) I plan on making myself an IVF Survival Kit!! Stay tuned!

IVF Cycle 2 Here We Come!

We finally had the long awaited appointment with our RE to discuss what happened and the next cycle. It was very informative and went very well. I feel silly that I was so anxious about this appointment!

Dr. E answered all of questions. Here is a recap:

• Only 2 eggs were retrieved. There were not not eggs retrieved that were immature, there were only 2. Period. We had 100% fertilization rate and it’s almost unheard of for all 100% fertilized to make it to transfer. This bodes well for future embryos.
• My estrogen level being so low one week after transfer was indeed abnormally low. Whether the low level caused a chemical pregnancy or the estrogen reflected no implantation, that is unknown. We don’t have to worry about this in the future. More on that in a minute.
• The most probable reason why our cycle failed is that I didn’t progress on the medications the way we had hoped and they only obtained two eggs and transferred on Day 2. Ideally we want them to make it to Day 5.
• I likely did NOT have a reaction to the Progesterone in Oil and it was most likely contact dermatitis from something I had come in contact with. We will use the PIO again and should know very quickly if I am allergic or not.

Now, what’s next? We are heading right into our second IVF cycle! We will start stimming on July 24th. I will remain on NuvaRing until our baseline bloodwork and ultrasound on July 20th just in case there are any residual cysts. The nurse is superstitious and didn’t want me to take out the NuvaRing before and tempt fate. Starting on July 24th I will be on Gonal-F 225iu a night for 5 nights and then go in for my first monitoring appointment on July 29th. That night I will start Menopur and possibly Cetrotide (yay for THREE injections!!). From there, we all know how the story goes, it’s really just going to depend on how I progress. When it comes time to trigger I will be doing a Lupron trigger with low dose HCG. We will do the retrieval and hopefully get more than two eggs! We will be freezing the embryos on Day 5. We will then wait for Aunt Flo to arrive and afterwards start three weeks of estrogen. My lining will be checked to make sure it is at least 8-9mm, then we will start PIO for 5 days before transfer. We will have the embryo transfer and then voila! we will be in the 2WW again!

Okay, so that is a lot of information. Why did we decide to do a freeze all cycle? We discussed it with the doctors and we all agreed that we would rather be more aggressive with the medications to get more eggs and risk getting a mild case of OHSS. It also allows the doctors to increase the meds as needed to get more eggs without having to weigh the risks of not being able to do a fresh transfer. It also allows my body time to recover of the stim cycle. In addition, my parents are going out of the country for a month at the beginning of August and my brother is coming up from Florida to house sit for them. I want to be able to spend time with him. I also want to transfer at a time when I will be the least stressed and have my support system in place.

I think I have summarized all the information from the past few hours! We will be getting our medications in the next few days. I will post an IVF Med Haul 2.0 video and explain our treatment protocol in more detail.