2dp5dt

Today I am 2 days post 5 day transfer (or in infertility site jargon, 2dp5dt). I've felt a few little twinges in my uterus, but nothing too telling. All my other symptoms are the same as before my transfer. They can all be attributed to the progesterone, the Estrace, or both.

According to a timeline I found online, this is what is happening today:

The blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus

I've been visualizing the little embryos hatching and attaching all weekend. 

Been thinking of nicknames for the little embryos too. I'm leaning toward Thing 1 and Thing 2. J calls them Bert and Ernie. My mother calls them Itchy and Scratchy. Any other suggestions?

I was lucky enough to have J's aunt, a Nurse, administer my PIO shots the last few nights while he was out. No disrespect to J, but it was so much better coming from a professional! No soreness at all! Tonight, I am in J's hands, so wish me luck! ;)

Nothing else to report. I've been taking it easy. Googling and counting the days till I can test.

A snowstorm?! Really?!

Argggh the waiting. Well, tomorrow we'll know how T's ovaries are reacting to the meds. With any luck it's all going smoothly.

She reports feeling very bloated, full and tired. With some stomach aches. I'm hoping this means that her follicles are growing, but I also hope they're not growing too fast!  I guess that is what we'll find out tomorrow. It makes me feel so guilty thinking of her being so uncomfortable for us. She knows it's all for a good cause, and my hope is that it will be a successful one!

T is supposed to fly home on Friday in order to be here for whenever the retrieval will be this weekend or next week. Found out today that there's a snowstorm that is supposed to arrive on Friday as well. All I can say is, Mother Nature, please be kind.

I'll follow up with our results from tomorrow's bloodwork (for both of us) and ultrasound (for T).

Until then...thinking happy egg thoughts.

More side effects

Since starting the Estrace I've had some trouble sleeping which makes me tired during the day. My mood swings have been particularly nasty as well. I find that the smallest thing can set me off. Like for example, when my aunt repeatedly invites me to play Candy Crush, causing my phone to buzz over and over, making me want to go to her house, unplug her internet and ask her never to contact me again. That kind of irritability has been a staple the last week or so, so it could be the lupron, the estrace or even the pill when I was taking it, who knows! I just wish it would stop.

And when you're dealing with a toddler who is trying to kick the pacifier habit and potty training at the same time, it's not good to be so short on patience. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon enough!

As for T, she has reported a headache this morning and feeling slightly as though she's hungover despite not drinking any alcohol. I told her to drink more water and let me know if it gets worse. When I was cycling I got very bad headaches and they prescribed Fioricet which helped immensely. 

Hopefully her headaches will improve and not get worse. I'll keep you posted.

Uterus gets the green light!

I'm very happy to report that the hysteroscopy was a huge success. For those wondering. My doctor used a speculum, then fed a camera through my cervix into my uterus to see if there was anything that would prevent the embryos from attaching. I felt a little bit of pressure and the whole uncomfortable procedure was over in less then 3 mins. I couldn't believe how quick it was. Thankfully and the doctor found that everything looked great! So, we've made it past another hurdle. I'll continue with my lupron and birth control until my blood test on Monday!

Oh also, T got her box of meds today. She was amazed at the amount of needles, syringes, etc. I remember feeling the same way during my first cycle. But it really gets easier each day. I'll make sure to walk her through each of her meds her first time, so she feels comfortable doing it herself. Thank God for Skype and FaceTime!

2 more side effects

I forgot to mention that I have definitely noticed way more zits than I usually have especially at this time in my cycle, so that is from the Birth Control.

The other side effect I discovered when I stepped on the scale. I am absolutely gaining weight. I haven't been this high since I was post-partum. I still think I look ok, but it is really difficult to see that I'm up 12 lbs since last year at this time. Now, luckily, it's more of an aesthetic than a health issue, because I'm not technically overweight. It's just a bummer. But I just keeping reminding myself that this will all be worth it in the end!

Side Effects and the next step.

I wanted to make sure that I documented some of the side effects. A lot of this may be TMI, but I want people who find this blog while searching for information about this process to know what they're in for, so here goes.

I've been on the birth control for over a week now (today is day 11), and the side effects that I can attribute to those pills are very, very sore breasts. They've grown some too. Same cup size but I definitely runneth over, which, anyone who knows me can attest, is not the norm. I am normally a smallish B, now I would say I'm a B+ haha, but with lots of nipple sensitivity and breast soreness.  Not such a bad side effect, especially for my sweaters!

The next would be a quick temper/moodiness. I get very over-stimulated fast if there are a lot of loud noises (TV is on, toddler is screaming, husband is talking, dogs are barking/whining). If that happens I get so tense I have to leave the room to chill out. Normally, I don't love all the chaos at once, but I can totally calm myself down. On these meds, I feel like I have way less control over my emotions.

Stomach issues. This one downright stinks. When I eat, let's just say it's generally followed shortly after by an unpleasant trip to the bathroom. I don't think I need to elaborate on this. :)

I started the Lupron on Friday, and thankfully, I have not noticed any new symptoms that I can attribute to this drug. Although, I did have one hot flash, and I know that's a known symptom of the Lupron, but otherwise, it's been easy peasy.

Tomorrow I have my hysteroscopy. I am very nervous about it. It's pretty much make or break for us. If everything looks good, then we move on. If not, we will have to take action (to remove any deal-breakers in there). If that's the case, it may push us back a month and there's no way I want to start all this over again. For Taylor's sake alone. She's put a lot into this and gone out of her way more than I even thought she would have to. I'm asking so much of her, I just don't want it all to be in vain. So hopefully, tomorrow will go smoothly and we'll be off to the races!  Wish me luck!

First stick

I just gave myself the first Lupron injection. 20 units. I haven't injected myself in a few months, but it's just like riding a bike...except totally unpleasant and it stings a little. Or at least it did this time. Really, though, it was very easy and went smoothly. Hopefully, that continues. Yay for getting to the next step!

Christmas gifts purchased. Meds ordered. Bank account drained.

Well, I finally finished all of my Christmas shopping today, just in time for the infertility pharmacy to call and collect the rest of our money.

My meds will be delivered on Thursday. It will be like my very own Christmas. Tearing open the box to see all the colorful pills, shiny syringes, cute little gauze pads and big, fancy sharps containers. Eeeee! I can hardly contain my excitement. Santa's little elves have nothing on Big Pharma!

Not sure T will feel the same way about her package, but hopefully it wont scare her too much.

Also talked to one of the lawyers who works for my uncle. She is getting our paperwork taken care of and we will have another family friend look over it as T's lawyer and then we'll be done with the legality of it all.

The other thing I didn't mention yesterday is that the doctor scared the heck out of me about putting back two embryos. All of these statistics that are designed to scare us out of considering having twins. I know that multiple pregnancies are more risky, but I think (or I thought) it was worth the risk. After a day and a half of research and thinking about it, I'm still leaning toward transferring two embryos. Most twins are born just fine. As you can probably tell, I'm still a little bit conflicted. I'd love to have twins. I want twins, but not at the risk of losing them. I have some time to think about it, so I'll keep going back and forth I'm sure. 

Coordinating this cycle is starting to feel like a part-time job. I'm putting so many hours into talking to pharmacists, family members, lawyers, nurses, doctors, and assistants, I'm hoping this all slows down soon. Because I have to get back to focusing on being Mommy to my little T, and being a wife to my husband, and committing to my real job, and cleaning the house, and doing the laundry, oh and also trying to fit some exercise in there somewhere.

It's going to be a hectic month, but hopefully we'll never have to do it again!