Black and Blue and Happy About It

Things on both fronts are moving along at a rapid pace...

On the adoption, we had our last homestudy on Sunday. Most of the day Saturday, we spent cleaning up piles of junk we've neglected for six months or more. We went under the assumption she would be looking in every drawer, cabinet, etc. We even locked all the fertility meds in the trunk of my car. Thankfully, I even remembered to take down my calendar from the bathroom mirror.Whew - that was almost a close one!

The homestudy itself ended up being much less than we anticipated. She walked through the house and basically took a 30-second cursory look at each room - that was it! She didn't even ask to see if we had adequate fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, etc. I even tied up the cords on the blinds - all for nothing.

She did forget to send us some forms we need to mail into the Colorado Bureau of Investigations - so that's going to set us back another month. Had I not asked when she expected our fingerprint cards back, she would have never know about it. The more I work with this woman, the more disorganized she seems. On the other hand, I still believe their organization will get the job done. I anticipate we'll be fully approved in about 30-45 days - so perfect timing to know if the IVF worked.

On the IVF front, I took my last dose of lupron on Saturday and am now on the following:

• 2 pre-natal vitamins
• 2 fabb tablets (extra folic acid, B6 and B12)
• 1 iron supplement
• 1 baby aspirin
• 1 medrol @ bedtime  (until Thursday)
• 4 tetracycline (until Thursday)
• 1 lovenox injection (blood thinner)
• 3 endrometrin suppositories (progesterone)
• 1 progesterone-in-oil injection (every other day for extra progesterone)
• 2 vivelle patches (estrogen - change every other day)

 I feel like a mobile drugstore. It's hard to keep it all straight.

So far, the Lovenox shots were not as bad as I read (especially compared to the PIO). They are no worse than the lupron shots going in, but they sting a little after the medication is injected. They also leave black-and-blue marks on my abdomen (about 3/4" round) - that don't hurt, but look awful.

Went for a lining check today and I'm at 11mm with a perfect triple-stripe. Still waiting for my E2 / P4 results, but I think this is more a technicality at this point so that they can regulate my drugs.

So, as of now, all systems are a go for Friday. Hip, hip, hooray!

Single Digits

Didn't think I would ever get here (yes, I knew it would happen eventually, but it seemed to be taking forever). SEVEN days until I am FINALLY pregnant!

Lisa - Thanks for lighting a candle...hope it does the trick like it did for LN10.

Here is my current calendar - the one thing that might be confusing is that I am still on 2 Vivelle patches every other day - so I will be changing them on 3/12.

It's so much fun to finally be on the home stretch to the FET.

As Time Goes By...

Stood at my bathroom mirror this morning, lined up my drugs:

2 Folbee Tablets (extra B6 and B12)
2 Pre-Natal Vitamins
1 Baby Aspirin
1 Iron Tablet
1 Lupron Shot
1 Vivelle Patch

and then glanced at my calendar again. Suddenly relized I come off Lupron in 12 days. 12 DAYS...12 DAYS...less than two weeks - that's no time at all!

Isn't it funny how us IVF'ers count our days in drugs?

Met my friend last night who is adopting too to talk more one-on-one. It felt so good to have a friend to confide in. We are both in a book club, so we decided to keep our secret between us.

Our third house study is this Sunday afternoon - so the weekend is going to be spent straightening up and getting ready. Glad there's only one home study and this is our last one.

A Head Start on Spring Cleaning...Check! Calendar...Check!

Thanks for all the warm wishes from everyone for my "bonus" D&C today. Everything went great!

My surgery was scheduled for 7:15 am (so we had to arrive at pre-crack-of-dawn o'clock) and I had the entire surgery center to myself. Lynn, my primary nurse for this procedure, even remembered me from a surgery I had in June! (You know you're officially an IVF Veteran when they remember your name...).

The surgery itself was fast and easy. The surgery was at 7:30 am, I was awake by 8:45 am and on my way home by 9:30 am. We even detoured for a scrumptious breakfast at The Original Pancake house on the way home (since they took stuff out of my body, I figured I could compensate by putting a few extra calories back in, right?). Strawberry crepes with a side of the most delicious bacon in the whole world! Yum!!!

The timing of this procedure couldn't have been better. I learned the other day that I don't have to wait three months (you only have to wait when you're pregnant (which I was last time) - not for your body to heal)!

I finished a pack of BCP's today  - so I am on the super-fast-track for my next cycle and my FET is now scheduled for Friday, March 25! I was not expecting this at all - so this is exciting! We may get to hold our very own newborns in our arms before the close of 2011 after all!!!  The second amazing thing is that I get to take my first BCP on Valentine's Day (can't think of a better day to "start" my cycle! The third amazing thing is that I will be on less days of Lupron! All-in-all, a win-win!

Since Dr. S will be out, Dr. Gustofson will be performing the actual transfer. As my DH said, it doesn't really matter who "pushes the plunger". They've all done it hundreds of thousands of times at this point.

For those of you interested, here is my current IVF calendar: It looks like they changed a few things from when I was supposed to cycle in January (they have me on one Prometrium and one PIO  shot daily - but I am asking about if I can go back to PIO every other day and Prometrium 3X / day- and added an U/S check closer to the beginning).

Unlike my January FET, I am actually excited again. I honestly think it was seeing the u/s of Em and her DH's twinkies the other day that renewed my hope! Congratulations Em!!!