Motto
“If you get caught up in the worst case scenario and it doesn’t happen, you’ve wasted your time. And if you are caught up in the worst case scenario and it does happen, you’ve lived it twice.” -Michael J. Fox
Remember how I was worried that an early period while on the flare protocol would screw up my cycle? Well it turns out that I had a bit of bleeding for part of a day but my full period never came. It's currently Day 34 and nothing. ARGH. Usually I'm a Day 28 kind-of-girl so the flare protocol must have screwed up my system.
I have an appointment on Monday for bloodwork and ultrasound to see what is going on. If I don't start stims prior to December 4th I am going to have to wait until January to cycle because the lab closes for Christmas.
While it is helpful that it doesn't look like I will have to drive into Chicago from my parents place in MI this weekend for my baseline, I am beyond frustrated that I can't get a stupid period. JUST BLEED ALREADY.
The one piece of good news (but also sad in a way) is that it looks like I have blown through our medication deductible this year with our insurance company. This year I have spent at least $5000 on meds which means that I have my RE ordering the meds for the next cycle now even if I don't cycle until January. Might as well save myself a few thousand dollars, right?
Maybe the tryptophan in the turkey tomorrow will not only put me to sleep, but also induce a period? One can only hope....
Once I knew our IVF cycle #2-turned IUI cycle was a bust, I started taking my doctor-recommended fertility supplements again. Prior to cycle #2 I had been a little lazy and had only been taking the main supplements- DHEA and CoQ10. Prior to cycle #1 I had been taking almost all of the recommended supplements (except for Pycnogenol because I couldn't find it at my local drug store) and that resulted in Izzy.
I remember how prior to cycle #1 I said that I didn't want to regret anything, so I was doing everything in my power to make it a successful cycle. Why wasn't I doing that again? So back on the supplement wagon I went and I have been faithfully taking all of these (some of them twice a day) since I got my BFN from the last cycle.
What is so frustrating is that here I am taking 10 pills and 2 gummies a day with 4 of those pills being huge horse pills all to help increase our chances of a good cycle. The doctor has asked CP to take a multivitamin and CoQ10 twice a day. That's it. Yet he complains because CoQ10 gives him loose bowel movements.
Let me get this straight. I'm taking all of these pills, injecting tons of drugs into my body, having a needle pierce through my uterine wall during retrieval, going through countless vaginal ultrasounds and blooddraws and you can't handle some loose bowel movements?
You have got to be kidding me. Men are so ridiculous.
Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.
Did you guys see this TIME article on how the use of "medical clowns" increased pregnancy rates?
"A study of 229 Israeli women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to treat infertility found that a 15-minute visit from a trained “medical clown” immediately after the embryos were placed in the womb increased the chance of pregnancy to 36%, compared with 20% for women whose embryo transfer was comedy-free."
First off, what is a medical clown?
Secondly, I have already emailed CP to start preparing for his routine next month. :-)
This morning I saw blood after I went to the bathroom. I am not sure if this is going to be an issue as I haven't finished my protocol and I am only on Day 25 of my cycle.
Let me back up. At the end of last month I met with my RE to discuss the failed IVF-turned IUI cycle and gear up for the next one. My doctor decided based on my high FSH level at my baseline last month that the flare protocol (also named the Schoyer protocol) would be the way to go (sorry ladies, she did not come back from the conference with a miracle protocol- but I did ask!).
The protocol looks like this:
11/13- put on Minivelle patch (this was Day 22 after a Day 20 blood test to make sure that I ovulated)
11/14- 250 dose of Ganerelix
11/15- take off old patch, put a new one on and 250 dose of Ganerelix
11/16- 250 dose of Ganerelix
11/17- take off old patch, put a new one one
11/19- take off old patch, put a new one on and keep it on until it falls off or HCG trigger
The hope is to make my body produce more antral follicles for the next cycle. But my body may have screwed things up with a period at least 3 days early. Now I wait for my nurse to give me the good or bad news.
*UPDATE- My nurse finally got back to me and it's not a big deal if my period has started. I just may have my baseline appointment a few days early....
