Eggs and Vaginal Rings

Today I had my randomization appointment. This is where I am "randomly"assigned with either the progesteron vaginal ring or vaginal gel. I was hoping for the ring and sure enough that's what I got. Something about only doing it once a week instead of daily really got me hooked! We had to be down there at 7:45 am. I got to the office they drew my blood, took my vitals, and then took me back to the exam room. Lucky for me I got to have my favorite nurse Serena there. She is so nice. They asked me for my birthday, not exactly sure why, Andre says he thinks its so they know I'm who I say I am (but Serena knows me. lol I think it's procedure) Oh and while driving down we were waiting for John the embryologist to call and tell us how many of our eggs have been fertilized. He said he would call around 7 am. He didn't. We will get back to that part soon ;) (gotta love the suspense). They came back in the room and turned on a video about the vaginal ring. The video mostly said how to insert the ring, take it out, clean it, where to dispose of it (though I don't do the disposal work. We have to take it back in for the clinic to dispose of it since it's technically a biohazard). Then they came back in, gave me the rings, went over the basics, then left to have me put it in. Once it was in they had to do an internal exam to make sure I put it in correctly. They then gave me a new "notebook" and a new calendar. Then I was able to leave.

Right after they came in the first time John (the embryologist) called and told me that out of the 23 eggs we had that 20 had fertilized. "Wow that's good," I said. His response was, "No, that's great!" Then there was some friendly banter between Serena and John with me being the messenger, since I was on the phone after all. When I told Andre he couldn't believe that 20 had fertilized either. crazy! So Mason hit that one on the nose! Our transfer date is June 3rd, so next Tuesday. Yeah!!!!

Here are the results so far (we took the resulting number and subtracted the guess, so whoever is closest to zero wins). As you can see, Mason is winning so far!

#	Actual	Andre	Jen	Mason
Eggs Retrieved	23	-5	-2	+7
Eggs Fertilized	20	-12	-8	<0>
Embryos Transferred	-	-	-	-
Embryos Left to be Frozen	-	-	-	-
Resulting Babies	-	-	-	-
Total	N/A	-17	-10	+7

Retrieval Day!

After Jen's appointment yesterday, they called to let us know that her retrieval would be at 5:30 am today, which meant that we needed to be in the office at 4:45 am, which meant that we need to leave the house at 3:45 am, which meant that we needed to be up at 3:15 am to shower (yes, they explicitly required us to shower, not like we'd skip out on it). Stacia and Samuel Simonsen came over yesterday afternoon to hang out with Jen and Mason while I was working and then they stayed the night to be with Mason while Jen and I spent the pre-dawn hours in Clear Lake.

Before putting Mason to bed I told him Mommy and I would be at the doctor's when he woke up and that we'd be back before lunch. After pulling it out of him, he finally agreed to be good for Stacia (I think he was more tired than anything from waking up so early with us the past week or so). We gave him a kiss and a hug and then put him in bed only to hear him screaming a few minutes later. I checked on him and his excuse was that he needed his stuffed rhino; he was smart enough to mention one of the few animals not on his bed. I picked up the rhino and gave it to him, kissed him, and left his room.

About one minute later he was screaming again! This time when I went in he was bawling and when I asked him what was wrong he said, "I don't want you to leave me!" Talk about tugging on the heartstrings! I held him and explained that we weren't leaving, that we'd be back soon after he woke up and that if he thought about it hard enough he could feel Mommy and Daddy in his heart because we love him so much. Being four years old, that didn't satisfy him. So I showed him how I could send him an email to the Wii, which he thought was pretty cool. I also told him I'd call him when we were done so he'd know we were on our way home.

After putting him back to bed, he was screaming again, tears pouring down his face, a minute later. I ended up lying next to him as he fell asleep, although he kept checking on me every couple of minutes to make sure I was still there. Finally he went to sleep and Jen and I got to bed around 10:15 pm - in time to get 5 hours of sleep if we sailed off to Neverland as soon as we hit the pillow (Jen can do it, I can't).

The ride across Houston that early (or that late, depending on how you look at it) was fairly quick. She took her Valium at 4:30 and we spent about 30 minutes waiting in the waiting area. Why did we get up so early? After they took us back, Jen changed into her fabulous hospital attire and they explained some things to us. Then we heard them mention that Woman #2 (Jen was Woman #3) was late so we had to wait for her as she had to go through the procedure first due to the timing of when they had the HCG shot. We waited until about 6:00 am before they took Jen to get ready and to retrieve her eggs, which is much more of an extraction since it sound more painful. Retrieval sounds far too painless and not at all invasive.

They left me in the room where Jen changed clothes, but apparently they were supposed to lead me to an inside waiting room where they'd call me back for my contribution to the process, much easier and less painful than what Jen has to go through. After 30 minutes, I found the nurse and she realized that I'd been hiding out and sent me packing to the right area. After making my deposit I was called back to see Jen.

It was obvious that she was in a lot of pain and very understandably so. In a previous post we mentioned how they suck the eggs out of the follicles, the part we didn't throw in there is that they insert a long needle into a catheter and insert that into Jen. Then they push that needle through the vaginal wall up to the bloated ovary and suction out the eggs from that side, then they move to the other. Thank goodness Jen was put under and didn't have to be awake during the procedure. Afterwards, she wakes up and they ask how she's feeling and if she needs anything. Of course she asked for pain killers but they can't give her any. First they fill her bladder up with two liters of saline, plus whatever Sprite she can drink. After emptying her bladder and some excess blood, they tell her after she starts keeping down soda crackers she can take Tylenol, that's it. Plus, no caffeine until after the pregnancy test. The nurse was amazed at how well Jen handled it all. I was amazed that she really had no side effects from the injections (except for some obvious pain from overstuffed ovaries) and no nausea from the anesthesia.

Before we could leave, we had to wait for the lab to give us the green light that my swimmers were fine and that I didn't need to make another donation. After getting approval, they took Jen to the car in a wheel chair and we made a stop at Wal-Mart to get the essentials for post-retrieval: protein drinks, protein bars, Gatorade, extra strength Tylenol, soda crackers, and Dr. Pepper & junk food for me. We also had to get gas on the way home. Luckily we've been taking my car so the multiple fill ups aren't affecting us as much as if we had been using the gas greedy Sequoia.

While in Wal-Mart I called Stacia to let her know were on our way and to talk with Mason. He didn't want to talk to me, which was actually a great sign that he was doing OK without us.

Jen is now taking a nap and trying to recover as best she can for another early morning tomorrow when we receive the study drug (progesterone) in either the gel or the ring. At 7 am, we'll also hear from the lab on how many of the 23 retrieved eggs (yes, almost two dozen...Jen is closest so far) were good and how many were fertilized. Transfer will be either Sunday or Tuesday. Getting closer!

Bruises and Bets

We made another wonderful trip to Webster, Texas this morning. With so many early mornings, Mason has started getting up on his own shortly after 6 am. Mason and I walked around Wal-Mart while Jen had another ultrasound and more blood tests. The retrieval will be this Thursday, which means that at 6:30 pm I had to stab her with a 3-inch long needle to make those follicles release the eggs. I held the needle about two inches above Jen for at least 10 seconds working up the courage to stick her with it. With all of the other injections Jen has to do, we decided to take a picture. Please keep in mind it has looked worse and this picture does not show her thighs, which are also bruised.

On the way home from the IVF office we wrote down some guesses as to how many eggs, fertilizations, babies, etc. each of us thought we'd get. The estimates are summarized below. Afterwards, we'll see who was the closest. Anyone else want to weigh in?

#	Andre	Jen	Mason
Eggs Retrieved	18	21	30
Eggs Fertilized	8	12	20
Embryos Transferred	3	3	4
Embryos Left to be Frozen	0	6	16
Resulting Babies	1	2	2

Growing Follicles, Bursting Ovaries

Yesterday morning Dr. Schnell performed my my first ultrasound following my follicle stimulant injections. I couldn't believe that she was the one doing it (she even came to the waiting room to take us to the ultrasound room); mostly because usually the nurses do pretty much everything. She was a lot nicer than last time, too, though she still seemed like she was in a hurry. She was little personable at least. Once she got the ultrasound probe in (trans-vaginal) she said, "Wow! Your ovaries are bursting!" I didn't get to see pics of anything, but Andre did and he said that my ovaries and follicles were big and that there were so many follicles and that they were so huge they were all squished in there. One of the first things I said was, "Now you can see why I am so tender, huh?" Both Andre and the Dr. said "Yeah!" Since it took longer to get my estrogen levels where they needed to be (from 40, to 143, to 3,000 and now to 12,000), my eggs need a little more time to get to the size they are supposed to be. So they postponed my retrieval date from Tuesday to Thursday. We were a little disappointed, but at least it's only a couple days. Before Dr. Schnell left I asked her how many eggs I had and she said "around 20," which was a relief to Andre and to me. I have the final ultrasound on Tuesday, along with the HSG shot and whatever else comes that day.

On the way to pick up Mason from the Simonsen's, Andre commented on how the gas light usually turns on when it's that low. We turned the car off and knocked on their door, but they were at church. We went back to the car to go get Mason and the car wouldn't start because we were out of gas! Andre walked to a gas station in the nice humid 90+ degree heat and game back with some gas just as Joseph was driving up with Mason. Luckily we didn't run out of gas on the freeway or some other dangerous place.

Increasing yet again!!!

So I feel like a human pin cushion. Seriously! They have increased my dose of Gonal-F again. Originally (last Friday) I started at 75 cc. On Monday they doubled that to 150 cc and now - get this - as of yesterday I am on 375 cc. Apparently my estrogen levels aren't as high as they want them to be. Hopefully this will do it, as I am finding less places covered by bruises on my stomach and legs to poke myself with, lol. Oh well, hopefully the outcome will far outweigh this process. =)


In other news... Mason has been asking me everyday for the last week or so if I have a baby in my tummy yet. I say no it's not time yet, I have to keep taking my medicine, so hopefully we can get one. His response was something like this, "Mom you need to take the GOGO medicine, It makes it so that a baby gets in your tummy really fast, but you will have to go to Denver to get it." So needless to say I am taking the wrong medicine and in the wrong state! lol He is such a funny character.

Mixers, and increasings!

Mixing meds the first time was interesting... I had to follow step-by-step directions so that I wouldn't mess it all up, especially since they pretty much give you only what you need. The Gonal-F and Menopur sting more as they go in, but it's really not too bad. For some reason I have bruised more with these than just with the Lupron though. After mixing them for 3 days I can do it without having to consult the instructions. I would consider myself somewhat of an amateur expert, hehehe.

I also went in for a blood draw today and found that my estrogen levels aren't high enough so the are increasing my dose of Gonal-F for the next two nights, and then I go in for another blood test on Wed. It's crazy to think that a week from tomorrow we will be doing the transfer!!!

Ultrasound and 2ed set of Injections

I went in for my ultrasound and blood work yesterday, Everything is right on target. My ovaries are nice and suppressed, ready to start getting mega stimulated. I will continue to take the Lupron (to avoid Ovulating) but at a lower dose. I also start two other injections on Friday. Menopur and Gonal-F, These two injectable drugs are hormones that will ultimately over stimulate my ovaries to get lots of eggs. They went over how to mix both medications so that I only have to do one shot instead of two. Which I am really happy about. I also got a pink and brown tote like bag. (that they give to all the study patients) We will see how the side effects of these hormones will be! Hopefully I am not loopy and cranky with everyone. If so be forewarned its the drugs talking. =)

Side effects...anyone???

I really have had an easy time so far with the injections - minimal bruising, (which for me is a miracle), no pain because I ice it so that I can't feel anything. The only real side effect I have had is hot flashes. For me this is really weird, as I am usually cold. The only other time I remember being hot like this was when I was pregnant with Mason. So it will take some getting used to. All in all though it hasnt been near as bad as I thought it would be.

Injection Time

I started injections on Friday morning. They really weren't as bad as I had imagined, especially when I ice the area. I am not a needle person, and even though they are 1mm needles (same size as people who do insulin injections for diabetes) I was still really nervous. When we got the the appointment, I had scheduled an ultrasound, as that's what my calendar and the nurse told me to do. I had a full bladder and was waiting for about 20 minutes. When they took me back they told me that I could use the restroom and then MaryAnn (NP in charge of the study) would be in to talk with us. I let the nurse know that I had scheduled an ultrasound for pre-Lupron injections, and that I was told to come with a full bladder. She left us in the room to consult with the doctor, or study nurse, I'm really not sure. Then she came back into the room and said that I didn't need an ultrasound today, and that I could use the restroom. By this point I was really confused. The reason they do the ultrasound before starting the Lupron is to make sure that my ovaries were suppressed enough with the birth control. When MaryAnn came in I asked her about it, and showed her my calendar, she told us that they don't need to do a pre-Lupron ultrasound for the study. (Who knows; they aren't very organized in some aspects, which I'm sure has to do with all the regular patients on top of the study patients) She then did an overview of the basics of doing the injections. She told me they wanted an ultrasound on the 14th of this month, and then sent us on our way. So apparently my next ultrasound is on the 14th. I keep doing the injections up until the HCG shot, and then it's time for the retrieval.