Mid-Cycle Check, IUI #3

Northern Starr and I were soooo excited to be able to see my right ovary that we got to our REs 45mins before our appointment lol! But without further a do... Ladies and gents... my right ovary

She has some follies in their too. But none were mature enough to be a contender. On my left side however.... were 2 really good candidates!!! Here they are.

My follicles measured 19x20 and 21x25 We are a go, mission control for IUI#3!!!

CD 7 of IUI#3

My hot flashes have begun.  I started taking Clomid on CD 3, I'm surprised its taken this long.  My last day on Clomid is this Saturday.

I really hope and pray that my follies will be really mature, I want at least 3 "good" ones.  At the end of July, Dr. S saw around 50 follices in my left ovary.  And now that my right ovary should be visible, I'm more optimistic that everything will work out!  I know, I know.... I shouldn't set myself up and jinx it.  I will be devastated if this isn't "THE ONE." 

I wish infertility didn't exsist!  Next month will mark our 3 years of trying to get pregnant.  Lets hope we won't have to mark it ;)

Post Operation Check-Up

Overdue again, I blame myself for being lazy.

We got to our REs on the 27^th, waited in the waiting room for a few minutes and Glenna (Dr. B’s nurse) called us back.  She took us straight to the exam room.  Northern Starr said, “Wow, no choice for you, it’s straight to the exam room!”  So we get in there and Glenna tells me to just unbutton my pants and lay down so Dr. B can inspect my incision scar.  Then she left the room.

I just looked at Northern Starr… “They’re not going to look at my ovary?  I want to see it.  I shaved my legs for this!”  Insert Northern Starr’s uncontrollable laughing here. LOL!

Dr. B comes in and checks my scar.  He said that I’m healing just perfectly!!!  I told him that I’m still numb from under my belly button to the top of my scar.  He said that I may never get feeling back there.  It’s all about the way my nerves heal and come together.  Dr. B said that if I do get feeling back, it will come and go a lot.  Insert my shocked face here, and Northern Starr’s “I told you so.”  Hate that he knows a lot of medical stuff.  I’m never right in these situations.  All because he’s a certified EMT.  BLAH!

Afterwards, Dr. B said for me to get dressed and for us to meet him in his office and we’ll go over a few things.  He left; I sat up, got off the table and buttoned back up.  We headed over to his office, down the hallway.  We talked about Provera, which I told him that I wanted because even though I started when I was supposed to after my surgery, it was only for 2 days and really light, so I didn’t have much of a period.  He agreed and wrote the prescription.  Then he asked what we wanted to do as far as treatment.  I said that we want to do Clomid plus injectables.  Dr. B said, “let’s compromise.”  He feels that it’s too soon to jump into something that will over stimulate my ovaries, so we are just going to do Clomid this cycle with the IUI.  Should this cycle not work, we can do Clomid plus the injections.  And possibly back to back IUIs. 

Game plan set.

I started taking the Provera and 5 days after AF came.  I’m on CD 3 now, day 1 of Clomid.  And our mid cycle check is on the 23^rd.

Provera made me more grumpier than usual.  And now, with the Clomid, here comes more moodiness and the hot flashes.  Bring it on!!  It will all be worth it in the end when we are holding our little bundle(s) of joy!

Seeing Dr. B Tomorrow!

So tomorrow is my post operation appointment!  I must say that my scar looks great!  Like in the middle of it, it doesn't even look like I've had surgery!!!

I hope tomorrow Dr. B will do a vaginal ultrasound (weird that I actually want it this time lol) just so I can FINALLY see my right ovary... In all her wonderful, beautiful, magnificent glory =).  This is what IF does people.  I never thought I'd be excited for a Dr to examine my va-jay-jay.  We're also hoping that he will start me on Provera asap so we can get this party started! 

On another note... This will be my first attempt at posting a picture on here.  Hopefully I do it right... Here is a picture of Northern Starr's sisters son.  He's going to be such a heart breaker!!!  16 months old and full of Handsome!!!

Yay I did it!!!  Okay have a great rest of the week yall!  I'll post next week about our appointment with Dr. B and if slash when we will be able to start up treatments.  My FIL got a job in South Carolina, so Northern Starr and I are driving him there and helping him get unpacked and situated this weekend.  Post-Op tomorrow (Thursday), leave for SC Friday, unpack everything Saturday, and then drive back to VA Sunday and it's back to the work week grind. 

Side Note:  Don't worry, I'm still not allowed to carry anything heavy, so I won't be moving any boxes, that's for the boys to do.  I'll be inside unpacking those boxes and putting things away.  =]

Surgery: Part 1

This is so long overdue… You can blame the pain meds that made me sleep ALL THE TIME and my husband for not setting up our laptop for me to blog about the surgery.

So Thursday, the night before the surgery, we stayed up as long as we could and ate dinner REALLY late since I wouldn’t be allowed to drink or eat anything as of 12am Friday.  We went to bed close to 12am.  Northern Starr fell asleep quick, he tends to do that, he can fall asleep anywhere.  I on the other hand, didn’t fall asleep until 2am.  My alarm goes off at 7am.  Needless to say that I kept waking up throughout that 5 hour span; but I got out of bed, got ready, and we were off on our 1 ½ journey to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and checked in.  Almost immediately a nurse brought us back for me to put on “my party dress and party hat” as she called it, and to sign some papers and answer any questions we had.  Later we met the anesthesiologist, Northern Starr asked him if there was anything they could give me to help calm me down because I kept shaking my right foot and twirling my hair LOL!  He said of course and that his nurse would come in and give it to me once my IV was set up.  He left, and my nurse started to hook me up to my IV.  As soon as she did it, I started balling!  It finally hit me… I am having surgery done… today.  You know when little kids cry hysterically?  Eyes screwed shut, mouth wide open, snot rolling out of their nose, and it sounds like they’re having trouble breathing on their own?  Yeah, that was me.  And the funny thing is; I’m not exaggerating.

My nurse then left to find my anesthesiologists’ nurse.  While she was gone, Dr. S came into my room!  She was dressed in scrubs and told me that she was going to be in the operating room with me.  Dr. B was the lead surgeon and that she would be assisting him!  It felt great knowing that both of my REs were going to be “working” on me.  But that didn’t stop my crying.  She left, Dr. B came in… he saw me crying, and he kept telling me that everything is going to be okay and he held my hand and rubbed my leg and he left the room.  Then the anesthesiologist nurse came in and I watched her start to inject the calming medicine into my IV.  I saw the medicine was halfway gone and then I was out.  I do not remember anything after that, the next thing I remembered was semi waking up in the recovery room.

Per Northern Starr this is what happened after I received the calming medicine.

            ***As soon as the nurse gave me all of the calming medicine, I reached down to the foot of my hospital bed, grabbed “my party hat” and put it on my head and started to stuff my hair in it.  I started to get frustrated because not all of my hair was getting in it (thanks layers!).  Northern Starr told me it was okay not to put it all in the hat, but I kept doing it until it was all in there.  I was having conversations with anyone who came into my room.  When it was time for them to roll me back to the operating room, Northern Starr kissed me and told me that he’d see me in recovery, that he loves me, and that I’m so brave for doing this for our soon to be family.  While they pushed me away, I was talking to everyone.***

I really wish I knew what I was saying.  I hope nothing embarrassing LOL.

Bad News...

My ultrasound was yesterday.  We left feeling confident.  The tech said that she thinks she caught my right ovary on camera; she just needs the radiologist to confirm.  My Dr should have the results Tuesday or Wednesday.

Dr. S called me this morning.  The results are in.  I have (what they think is) a dermoid cyst either in front of, or ON my right ovary and this is the reason why no doctor has ever seen it.  The next step is to have an MRI, which is scheduled for August 15^th.  The MRI will confirm what type of cyst it is.  Dr. S said that dermoid cyst are benign, and that I will need to have surgery to remove it since they can’t “go away” on its own, and since it’s pretty big.

I’m scared.  I’m heartbroken too.  Dr. S said that this cycle is out of the question now.  I can still take the Provera to shed all the lining I still have.  But I cannot take the Clomid.  I’ve never spent the night in the hospital before.  I mean, I have for other people, but never for myself.  I’ve heard different stories though.  The surgery could be a simple outpatient procedure, or I might have to spend the night there.  I guess we’ll learn more about this as we go.

I’m trying to remember… But I think an ex-coworkers daughter had a dermoid cyst.  And once she had it removed, she and her husband had a baby… NATURALLY!  Let’s hope this is the case for us too!

So we’re OUT.  Literally. L