I am The Luckiest

Today marks a very special day, our 4 year anniversary! I never thought it possible to love, laugh, enjoy, and have so much damn fun with one person. I definitely consider myself the luckiest to have such a great man to call my partner :).

Quick IVF update, my suppression check went fab! No cysts, ut lining looking good, yay yay yay! I started microdose Lupron injections (10u units) Wednesday and take that twice a day. Tomorrow I'll keep doing Lupron and add 450 units Follistim and 75 units menopur which comes out to 4 injections a day. Yikes. I'm going to be a big, fat, purple pincushion! I'll have my first blood draw and ultrasound Tuesday (Day 5) to check progress. Game time is here, and I'm getting very nervous!

Round 2, "DING!"

In gearing up for the fam to arrive and craziness fixing to start, I figured now would be a good time for an update! I have been taking my estrogen pills and ganirelix injections. No complaints there. I had a real fear I wouldn't get to take either because of my nonexistent LP but here we are, 10 DPO and going strong! Right on track with the calendar; a huge, HUGE reassurance. I have a few minor bruises but nothing compared to what I'm sure is coming with 450iu of Follistim. I learned a little trick to ice my belly before injecting to dull the pain a tad, works great! I'm not near as hesitant to stick my fat (otherwise I'd stand there with my "inch" pinched for 30 seconds and have a 1, 2, 3 attitude). It is hard to stick yourself when you know the poke is coming. My suppression check should be early next week and if all is well, stims will begin by late next week! I am super excited for this time around. I am still very scared IVF might not work again, but so many positive things have happened and are happening, I just can't help but be positive.

For instance:
- it was a little more than 7 months ago I met with Dr Z when he told me to check into IVF stat. He said with a little luck we'd be holding baby M by next May. At the time I though, "May?!? Ef that, I want it in 10 months! now!". And wouldn'tcha know it, EDD with this cycle will be right around April 30.

- We were also hoping to get lucky on our Maui vacay, our last ditch TTC effort before spending the big bucks! Our hotel concierge was very excited for a Maui Baby and let us know it. Of course it is just coincidence, but where we're we April 30th this year? You guessed it! While not quite a "Maui baby," still pretty cool.


The eggs have def been getting lots of love and I'm am all but convinced that makes a difference. With all my yoga, imagery, and mantra-ing, my chakra has got to be centered by now! I've also been a baby book and article reading ho! Yesterday I took "What to Expect When You're Expecting" to read for entertainment while the oil was being changed in the jeep. ;) A few months ago I was too afraid to read any pregnancy or baby related articles as I didn't want to 'get ahead of myself.' I thought the disappointment would be worse if I was all prepared to not eat sushi and had the crib already picked out. Unfortunately I found out disappointment really sucks whether I was educated or not. With the power of positive influence on my brain, I have to say I have really enjoyed eyeballing maternity fashion and getting smart about all things baby. Even J has taken a stroll or two through the baby section in the store checking out the goods... Awwww. I started using green cleaners and making a lot of my own. I started lifting light weights(affectionately known as my "granny weights"), ya know, cuz babies and carriers and diaper bags are heavy! We've also started eating a bunch more veggies and *pout* less cheese. I've all but given up wine and even J has put down the beers for now. We've taken proactive, super healthy and smart steps to make Round 2 as successful as we can stand it to be. I'm feeling good. J's feeling good. Hopefully those eggies are feeling great!

We have exactly 47 hours until the house occupancy is tripled. Today I think I'm going to watch the birds, watch the squirrels mess with the birds & my bird feeders, and enjoy the silence. It's going to be a long, exciting, emotionally charged three weeks!

Oh the things we'll do!

I just got home, and even though I iced my bum before and after, it still hurts! Let me explain:

Last cycle I got a BFN! Are we surprised? I've just been sitting around the past 2 weeks waiting. Dr. K decided LEAP was the way to go and so I've been monitoring for ovulation with OPKs. On Friday I talked to Nurse Katie and she informed me they wanted to see me Monday (today) for an ultrasound just to check everything out. (Thank goodness I'm not working, or I'd def be getting fired for all these appointments!) She had mentioned sometimes they trigger ovulation with an injection of HCG, but I didn't think that was likely for me since I have an LH surge and ovulate on my own. Negative OPKs all weekend (I wasn't expecting a +until Wednesday anyhow).

Today the ultrasound is performed by the same doc I saw when I was cancelled. Ut lining is looking good and he sees 5 follicles measuring on track. I'm on my way out with instructions to keep using OPKs and I'll hear from Dr K and Nurse Katie this afternoon. I do a little happy dance for those 5 follies. :) 1pm rolls around and I get a surprise phone call "hey M, we want you to trigger tonite, will that be a problem?" I say no, but then realize I forgot J is CDO today. CDO is Command Duty Officer on the ship or HMFIC He is in charge of everything that goes wrong for the next 24 hours and can't leave the ship. Try as I might, I realize there is no way I can give myself The Money Shot. I frantically call a local friend who has done this, but she is out of town until tomorrow.. oh what to do! I email J... "uhhh, babe, will you have a couple minutes this evening to shoot me in the bum?" "yes, but we'll have to do it in the car." Really, in the car?? Gotta do whatcha gotta do, eh? I gather my supplies in a ziploc baggie and wedge an ice pack between my butt and the car seat on the way to see him. Driving through the gate to get on base, I feel like a criminal with my needles sweating for my next drug fix. Its 6pm, still very light out, and there are far more people walking around than I anticipated. We get some very odd looks as I mix and draw up the medication in the drivers seat. Instead of baring my behind for all of the shipyard and coworkers to see, I decide to reverse it 200 yards and park between a bunch of parked gov't vehicles and a dumpster. I hand over the syringe and hop out so J can eyeball where he is supposed to dart this thing in. I hop back in the car, crank the seat back and the steering wheel up for maximum access. For a guy who is squeamish with needles he sure knows how to stick a girl. As I'm pulling my drawers back up, the loudest loud speaker you've ever heard crackles announcing a fire drill. I steal a quick kiss and watch as J runs back to the ship hoping to not get caught outside! Talk about an adventure. I still can't believe I got a shot in the car, much less at J's work.... our baby book is going to have some amusing memories!

We don't have an "official" calendar yet for IVF #2 but it'll go a little something like this: Although today is Cycle Day 14, we are renaming it Day 0. On Day 8 I will start estrace(estrogen) pills. Day 9 I start a ganirelix injection. Do those until menses shows up. Start Follistim & Menopur CD3 until ? Trigger, +36 hours retrieval, +5 days transfer, +14 days HCG blood draw. The first and second weeks of August are going to be bery, bery busy.

As a side note, we found out we are officially moving back to San Diego! J's next job is going to start in July and will be for 3 years. According to the guy who does this job currently, he will be teaching leadership at a center for professional development and it will be cake. We are so excited! We were really worried how everything would play out and hoping we wouldn't have to move twice more before next summer... just once: from WA to Cali with the boat! A huge weight has been lifted. Everything is lining up perfectly for this April/May delivery! I think these next lil follies will feel a little more prone to grow knowing they won't be as stressed with moving and will be in SoCal for 36 months ;)