Today was my egg retrieval at Shady Grove for my second IVF. I was so eager to get in and get it over with :) i woke up at 2:15 and was able to sneak in a granola bar before the cut off for eating (3:00am). i was feeling a little full but really not as full as last time or nearly as uncomfortable. not a lot of twinges or pain or anything :)
i drove us to rockville because i hate traffic and like being "in charge" when we have to get somewhere by a certain time. we had an 8:30 arrival time, so left at 6:00 just in case we had another bay bridge snafu. luckily we had no major issues at all. the beltway was slow, though, so we got there at 8:10!!!
they took us right back when we got there and it was the same routine: change into gown and hair net, sign consents, meet the anesthesiologist, go over his consents. then my doctor for the retrieval came back-- a new doctor-- Dr. Esposito from Frederick. she was really nice! then Steve the anesthesiologist came back to get me set up. he is a psu fan (i learned about that from the SG facebook page) so we were talking psu football during the whole IV set up. I really don't mind the needles all that much at all and i actually like having fluids put in me, for some reason it's oddly relieving :)
matt goes and does his thing, i continue to wait & read a magazine, then it's go time! steve walks me back to the OR and i meet my nurses, get set up on the table, thank them for taking care of me and then steve says "we are" i say "penn state", he puts the nose mask on me and i am OUT. then i wake up in recovery, the nurse tells me i had 11 eggs, and next thing i know mattie is in the room with me! i was really woozy this time afterwards; i just wanted to sleep! my nurse told me that when i woke up i was telling steve what an awesome job he did, but i don't remember any of that!
we were home by 1:15 and i was in bed by 1:19. had a nice nap in the afternoon and now i am typing my blog for the day! luckily i have had very little pain all afternoon! hoping for a great fertilization report in the morning!!!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
GBMC office & Day 8 monitoring!
this morning mom and i drove down to GBMC in Towson. I was super excited to be able to have mom with me for my appointment! Sometimes i see women go in with their mothers for appointments and I am always jealous :) I want my mommy, too!
we were at my mom's house for my high school reunion this weekend, so we knew we'd have to make a plan for the monitoring appointments. at first i planned on going to rockville but mom thought that GBMC would be much closer, which it was. and what a beautiful campus GBMC is! it is absolutely beautiful! you turn off of Charles St into the entrance and you are in a wooded wonderland-- beautiful trees, landscaped walkways, so peaceful. i really loved it there. i would have liked to have explored it more!
for my monitoring a doctor came in with me, Dr. Katz, and was telling me a little more about the follicles, etc. he didn't think i'd need monitoring the next day and said everything was progressing nicely. i had 15 follicles on the right and 4 or 5 on the left. the left ovary is definitely really lazy!!!
on our way home from the appointment mommy and i stopped at target and got some clothes :) nothing like retail therapy!
the nurse called int he afternoon with my instructions. start ganirellix, increase menopur to 225 iu. My estrogen was 635 which is kind of high but I think it's okay because of my number of follicles :)
yayyyyy!
**i just read something that said e2 levels average about 200 per mature egg at retrieval.
we were at my mom's house for my high school reunion this weekend, so we knew we'd have to make a plan for the monitoring appointments. at first i planned on going to rockville but mom thought that GBMC would be much closer, which it was. and what a beautiful campus GBMC is! it is absolutely beautiful! you turn off of Charles St into the entrance and you are in a wooded wonderland-- beautiful trees, landscaped walkways, so peaceful. i really loved it there. i would have liked to have explored it more!
for my monitoring a doctor came in with me, Dr. Katz, and was telling me a little more about the follicles, etc. he didn't think i'd need monitoring the next day and said everything was progressing nicely. i had 15 follicles on the right and 4 or 5 on the left. the left ovary is definitely really lazy!!!
on our way home from the appointment mommy and i stopped at target and got some clothes :) nothing like retail therapy!
the nurse called int he afternoon with my instructions. start ganirellix, increase menopur to 225 iu. My estrogen was 635 which is kind of high but I think it's okay because of my number of follicles :)
yayyyyy!
**i just read something that said e2 levels average about 200 per mature egg at retrieval.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
IVF #2: First follicle count
Today was my first monitoring appointment on the stims. I had 11 follicles-- 7 on the right and 4 on the left. My estrogen level was 118.
My nurse Sarah called me and increased my Bravelle to 150 iu. So I am on two vials of Bravelle and two vials of Menopur. Easy enough :)
Just did my injection and I swore there was a little air bubble in there and it was driving me crazyyyyy!
My nurse Sarah called me and increased my Bravelle to 150 iu. So I am on two vials of Bravelle and two vials of Menopur. Easy enough :)
Just did my injection and I swore there was a little air bubble in there and it was driving me crazyyyyy!
Our Story So Far
I have been typing up my list of dates so that I can eventually make myself a treatment bracelet based upon all that went into this first baby. So, here are the dates:
Okay in order to preserve this for our posterity, and for future understanding of this road, in case we need to travel down this road again-- I fully believe I WILL get pregnant with a child and hope we'll go for a 2nd, and anticipate that in order to do so, we'll have to explore this option again-- here is a summary of our time at Shady Grove:
6/22 - Consult #1 with Dr. K
7/7 - 1st bloodwork & ultrasound
7/12 - Matt's semen analysis
7/14 - HSG in Rockville
7/23 - Followup with Dr. K. Decide to try IUI
8/2 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
8/10 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
*started Clomid, 50 mg/day days 3-7
8/19 - Bloodwork & Ultrasound (1 egg right, 2-3 left-- need to grow!)
8/21 - Bloodwork & Ultrasound (2 Left 19mm & 21 mm, 1 Right, small) Trigger?
-9:30 pm trigger Ovidrel (shot)
8/23 - IUI #1 @ 12:40 with Dr. Mottla
9/7 - Blood test (pregnancy) negative :(
9/13 - Day 3 bloodwork & ultrasound *start Clomid 50 mg/day
9/22 - Day 12 bloodwork & ultrasound (1 follicle on right at 19mm, 2 on L @ 13mm)
9/23 - Bloodwork/ultrasound (still only 1 follicle, others didn't grow!)
9/24 - Trigger shot ovidrel
9/26 - IUI#2 (1.5m pw)
10/14 - Dr. K suggests we move onto IVF
10/20ish - IVF consult, postpone IVF until after Africa trip
12/16/2010 - Start new cycle for IVf, decide to postpone after travel snafus
1/25/2011 - start new cycle, but have to postpone due to MSA
3/6 - start new cycle!
3/22 - Mock transfer
3/29 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
3/31 - MRI in Easton
4/2 - Dr. K calls to cancel cycle, tells me about the uterine septum & need for surgery :(
4/21 - Hysteroscopy in Rockville. Have to rest a natural cycle before starting again
6/16 - HSG to make sure everything is good & healed. it is! :)
Okay in order to preserve this for our posterity, and for future understanding of this road, in case we need to travel down this road again-- I fully believe I WILL get pregnant with a child and hope we'll go for a 2nd, and anticipate that in order to do so, we'll have to explore this option again-- here is a summary of our time at Shady Grove:
6/22 - Consult #1 with Dr. K
7/7 - 1st bloodwork & ultrasound
7/12 - Matt's semen analysis
7/14 - HSG in Rockville
7/23 - Followup with Dr. K. Decide to try IUI
8/2 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
8/10 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
*started Clomid, 50 mg/day days 3-7
8/19 - Bloodwork & Ultrasound (1 egg right, 2-3 left-- need to grow!)
8/21 - Bloodwork & Ultrasound (2 Left 19mm & 21 mm, 1 Right, small) Trigger?
-9:30 pm trigger Ovidrel (shot)
8/23 - IUI #1 @ 12:40 with Dr. Mottla
9/7 - Blood test (pregnancy) negative :(
9/13 - Day 3 bloodwork & ultrasound *start Clomid 50 mg/day
9/22 - Day 12 bloodwork & ultrasound (1 follicle on right at 19mm, 2 on L @ 13mm)
9/23 - Bloodwork/ultrasound (still only 1 follicle, others didn't grow!)
9/24 - Trigger shot ovidrel
9/26 - IUI#2 (1.5m pw)
10/14 - Dr. K suggests we move onto IVF
10/20ish - IVF consult, postpone IVF until after Africa trip
12/16/2010 - Start new cycle for IVf, decide to postpone after travel snafus
1/25/2011 - start new cycle, but have to postpone due to MSA
3/6 - start new cycle!
3/22 - Mock transfer
3/29 - Bloodwork & ultrasound
3/31 - MRI in Easton
4/2 - Dr. K calls to cancel cycle, tells me about the uterine septum & need for surgery :(
4/21 - Hysteroscopy in Rockville. Have to rest a natural cycle before starting again
6/16 - HSG to make sure everything is good & healed. it is! :)
6/25 - Pre IVF bloodwork & ultrasound -- good to start shots on Tuesday!
6/28- start stimming: 75u of Bravelle 75u of Menopur!
6/29: 2nd round of injections, same amounts!
6/30: 3rd day of injections, same amounts-- 8:30 each night :)
7/1: bloodwork and ultrasound-- 7 follicles, bloodwork all good. 4th day of injections, increased dosage to 1.5 vials of Menopur, same level of Bravelle.
7/2-5th day of injections
7/3: bloodwork & ultrasound-- 12 follicles, 6th day of injections, increased meds & started Ganirelix
7/4 - 7th day of injections
7/5 - bloodwork & ultrasound, injections
7/6 - bloodwork & ultrasound, injections
7/6 - Urgent Care for Cellulitis :(
7/7 - bloodwork & ultrasound - 9 follicles above 18mm! Ready to go!
- Trigger Shot 11:30 pm (HcG 10,000 units of pregnyl)
7/9 - Egg retrieval: 11 retrieved
7/10: 1st Fertilization Report: 9 mature, 8 fertilized!
7/15: Day 6 transfer-- transfer on perfect 5AA embryo!!! Hopeful
7/21: Positive hpt! (positive 7/21, 7/22, 7/23, 7/24, 7/25)
7/27: Beta: negative :(
8/? - Post IVF consult with Dr. K
9/14 - Pre-IVF Evaluation: bloodwork & u/s okay! (small cyst right ovary)
9/17 - Day 1 Stims: Start stimming! 75iu of Bravelle & 150iu of Menopur
9/20 - Day 4 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - 7 Right, 4 Left, E2 117 - raise Bravelle to 150 iu
9/22 - Day 6 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - 11 Right, 3 Left, E2? -raise Bravelle to 225 iu
9/24 - Day 8 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - 15 Right, 4 Left, E2 635, raise Menopur to 225iu
9/26 - Day 10 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - same follies, E2 1325, same meds
9/27 - Day 11 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - same follies, TRIGGER!
- Trigger: Novarel @ 10:00 pm (great job, Mattie!)
9/29 - Egg Retrieval: 11 eggs
9/30 - Day 1 Fertilization Report: 9 mature, 7 fertilized
10/ 1 - Back to Rockville for fluid aspiration (from lining)
- Day 2 fert: 6 embryos (1 6 cell, 1 4 cell, 4 2-cells-- but 2 are multinucleated)
9/22 - Day 6 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - 11 Right, 3 Left, E2? -raise Bravelle to 225 iu
9/24 - Day 8 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - 15 Right, 4 Left, E2 635, raise Menopur to 225iu
9/26 - Day 10 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - same follies, E2 1325, same meds
9/27 - Day 11 Stims: Bloodwork/Ultrasound - same follies, TRIGGER!
- Trigger: Novarel @ 10:00 pm (great job, Mattie!)
9/29 - Egg Retrieval: 11 eggs
9/30 - Day 1 Fertilization Report: 9 mature, 7 fertilized
10/ 1 - Back to Rockville for fluid aspiration (from lining)
- Day 2 fert: 6 embryos (1 6 cell, 1 4 cell, 4 2-cells-- but 2 are multinucleated)
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand,strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO - what a ride!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
i have decided that for this blog i will not worry about capitalization and punctuation. i have been wondering why i don't like to write as much in here, the thoughts come so easily but getting it out feels so disjointed. so i will stop worrying about caps on here and type as i think. if you don't like it, don't read it :)
tonight i will start the shots for this cycle. i am going to do bravelle and menopur-- 75iu of bravelle and 150iu of menopur. the menopur should stimulate more eggs this cycle. last time i had up to 8 follicles that were visible and had 9 mature eggs retrieved. anything over that will be icing on the cake this round! i am just hoping the cycle works out-- the cyst they found isn't a problem-- my eggs grow nicely and not too much or too little-- and that the ICSI works as well as it did last time.
i am also going to do measurements of my chest and tummy b/c last time i really got bloated. i want to track it for my own peace of mind (and so i don't convince myself it's all in my head!).
tonight i will start the shots for this cycle. i am going to do bravelle and menopur-- 75iu of bravelle and 150iu of menopur. the menopur should stimulate more eggs this cycle. last time i had up to 8 follicles that were visible and had 9 mature eggs retrieved. anything over that will be icing on the cake this round! i am just hoping the cycle works out-- the cyst they found isn't a problem-- my eggs grow nicely and not too much or too little-- and that the ICSI works as well as it did last time.
i am also going to do measurements of my chest and tummy b/c last time i really got bloated. i want to track it for my own peace of mind (and so i don't convince myself it's all in my head!).
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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