Slowing Ramping Up

So been in contact with the clinic these last few days, sorting out a few final details about the plan and scheduling our call with the financial coordinator.

I'm really nervous for that call, which will actually fall on Halloween, simply because we aren't sure what our coverage will look like under this new insurance plan. So basically, we will be going over the covered expenses, and things that will be out of pocket. Hopefully the former will be the majority, but we'll have to wait and see.

At some point, we'll also have to get all the meds ordered which I'm terrified about. Meds cost so much and so far our coverage hasn't been the best. Boo. So we'll see what that turns out to be. I have a weird feeling it's going to be higher than past cycles especially since we're on all sorts of immune meds and they'll be coded for infertility likely and not immune related since we're not working with an RI (Reproductive Immunologist).

That aside, good news is our lovely friends back in New York have offered up their home for us to come stay at. We are definitely planning on taking them up on that, as it will immensely save on the cost of the cycle. It also alleviates a lot of stress too surrounding timelines since with IVF and FETs you never really know your dates for certain... It's all very fluid and changing, so when you have to be going with the flow it makes booking accommodating a bit tricky. Anyhoo, glad that's sorted as we don't even know our rough dates at this point.

I DO know that I need to start looking into where I'll get my intralipids done. Since I need to do one infusion 20 days prior to transfer, and a second one 10 days before transfer, it'll be best if I can find a place that will do it here in Texas. Otherwise I may have to fly out for the first one, come back to Texas, and then fly out for second one and probably just stay out there at that point. Even so, if I do that, it'll be almost 3 weeks that I'm in NY for, which isn't ideal. Need to figure out what to do about our dog. Eek.

Finally we feel like we're getting moving again though which is nice, so I'm glad to be back "in the game" so to speak. I have a pretty rigorous plan for our upcoming FET just diet wise and the "additional" things we're going to try like brazil nuts etc, so we're really hoping this is the one. Plus, not being home and around my dog which I'm allergic to, may be just what this little embaby needs to stick around.

Day 11 (day 9 stimms)

Intralipid time...

So today was a gloriously lazy day. Without my friend in town, I turned into the ultimate couch potato.. and unapologetically so. Hubby was super sweet and brought me to my intralipid appointment and hung out with me.

When we got there, the nurse brought me into the room (hubby had to wait outside) to hook me up to the IV. I got super lightheaded when she did it, even though she was super gentle, so I had to spend a bit of time slightly inverted to get blood flow back. Once I was hooked up she brought Homme InFertile in and we set up the laptop to watch a movie.

We rented a documentary for 99c, not because we're cheap but because it intrigued me, it was called Barista and was about 4 individuals headed to national barista championship competition. It was pretty good, and passed the time nicely.

In terms of the intralipid itself, my hand got a little numb/cold from laying it so straight and not moving it for so long.

Also the intralipids made me super sleepy so I really had to struggle to stay awake. All I wanted to do was sleep. Though I'm not sure if that's just me catching up from the busy days with my friend in town. I'm still super sleepy and its only 830pm but I have to wait up until 9pm to do my shots. Oh goodness I'm getting old haha.

Anyways, fingers crossed that the intralipids do the trick and we're successful. I'm back to being super bloated/constipated so I kinda waddle when I walk. Every step feels like a ton of bricks in my ovaries crashing around... not so pleasant. I go back in to the clinic tomorrow for ultrasound and bloodwork to see progress from Wednesday. I feel like theres definite progress, but that could just be the constipation bloat. Who's to say. We'll have to wait and see. I'm super nervous/excited to find out how things are moving along. Part of me doesn't want to trigger tomorrow, because my doc is back at work Monday, and if we trigger Saturday instead then he'll be able to do my retrieval himself. Just would give me more piece of mind, but I'm trying really hard to just have faith. 

Days 9 (7 stimms)

DAY 9 - day 7 stimms
Just another day in stimming paradise... or hell... whatever way you personally feel about it. For me, I'm trying to feel as much gratitude for being in a position to be able to be as proactive as we are. I'm grateful for 21 follicles growing. I'm grateful for the financial ability to do a cycle. I'm grateful for being unemployed and being able to focus fully on fertility. It helps a little to think of all the things I'm thankful for as my belly becomes increasingly bruised and my ovaries more and more bloated/painful.

Today was Homme InFertile's Birthday. 31! Wasn't anything overly special, but he had been wanting to check out this place Katz in NY (a staple) so we did lunch there, and while he went bowling with my friend visiting, and his friend who's also unemployed until they start their new jobs, I went to acupuncture. She seemed impressed at how well I've been doing/feeling, so that made me feel even better about everything... if that was possible.

I called to schedule my appointments for the next day (bw/us and intralipids) and got a lecture on how I was supposed to book intralipids weeks ago. I don't want to go into the nitty gritty of the conversation, as I'm trying to let it go, but basically instead of simply telling me unfortunately at this point there wasn't an appointment time left for Wednesday, but I could go Thursday instead (which I would have been totally chill and fine with... my bad for not calling earlier), I instead was told that I wasn't being responsible for not calling weeks in advance, and that's generally when people book these, and there are no appointments for today. So naturally I freaked out thinking I wouldn't be able to get an intralipid appointment time for 2 weeks, and thus started to cry. See I believe the intralipids are what could make or break this cycle so my mind started racing a million miles a minute. I just wish she would have handled the conversation a little nicer and preceded the lecture with "I can fit you in tomorrow" at bare minimum. No one told me the precedent on timing to book intralipids, and all other appointments I have been making a day or two in advance. Without this knowledge, how was I supposed to know any different, especially after checking on Monday that they received my intralipid medication, and that all was good for Wednesday... which clearly it was not. Grrr. Very different "service" level in the U.S. from Canada. They try and make it as stress-free as possible, where as in the states, its all on you the patient at an already overwhelming stressful time. Kind of silly, but cultural differences I suppose.

Shake it off.

Later we went out to a nice dinner followed by Les Miserables on Broadway which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! So great!

I had to push my evening injections to 10:15pm (I normally do at 9pm) as I wasn't sure how I'd go about timing it, doing it in the bathroom at the theatre, not to mention bringing the injections and keeping them cold (the gonal-f needs to stay in the fridge). It was all too stressful, so I just did it a little later. RE said it was fine if they weren't exactly at the same time, although that is ideal. FX all is well. I'm sure I'm not the first patient to do an injection an hour off schedule one day.

Anyhoo. Shots were less painful than the previous day which was nice. I'm a pro now it seems, although I still friggin hate my ganirelix injection which I'm delaying taking as I write this. Boo.