The new plan

Well she's here. AF came yesterday just like my the app on my phone predicted. I knew it was a long shot but I thought it just might work since I had the endometrial biopsy the month prior.

One really good thing did come out of all this though. At the beginning of this cycle, we were supposed to do one last IUI (because we still had quite a bit of Follistim left) but it got cancelled due to a leftover follicle. The RE thought that it would become the lead follicle and would ovulate before all the others. I decided to use OPKs just in case and ended up ovulating on CD 22. I knew this was late but stranger things have happened so I did everything possible to get pregnant including Prednisone and Lovenox since CD 6. Although our plan was to try another IUI before moving on, Brad said we could move on without doing another IUI now. We're finally done with all of this and I couldn't be more thrilled.

So the new plan is to do a FET this summer. We have 5 frozen embryos: one is our genetic baby, the others are donated. We've had them for a couple of years but we were waiting to get my body "fixed' so I wouldn't kill them too. Now I'm starting to wonder if I can get pregnant and carry any babies but the only way to find out is to try somebody else's. I want to do another endometrial biopsy just to help a little with implantation the month prior to transfer. I've never done a FET before so any suggestions about the process would be great. If I want to do it either in June or July, when should I start the process?

I don't care anymore if this child is genetically mine. I want to be pregnant and with donated embryos hopefully that dream can come true. But more importantly I want to be a mother. If this is the way Brad and I get to be parents then it's the right way. And if we want to try for our own again later after we've already become parents, we can. My prayer is that I'll get pregnant with twins, one that is my own and one adopted!

No infusion needed!

I have been stressing out about not receiving my immune numbers yet but the AEB Center called me back this morning and told me that my numbers looked excellent! She didn't say what they were and said the doctor hadn't actually reviewed them yet but told me I definitely won't need a pre-conception infusion this time. And it's a good thing I don't need one because I am almost ready to trigger (possibly tonight) and I couldn't get an appointment at Coram for the infusion until Tuesday. God is so good! I have just been thanking Him and praising Him all day for saving us lots of money and possibly from another miscarriage should I get pregnant. Now I am asking Him to please let this be our cycle for our take-home baby(ies). Our follicles look good (possibly 4 mature in all), my NK cells and cytokines are low, I'm on Lovenox for my clotting disorders and APAs so it just has to work, right? I am asking you to pray this same prayer with me. Thanks girls!!!You all are always in my prayers as well.

BFN

It didn't work. I had all these plans to document every step of this cycle but when I got to the first follicle scan and I only had 2 on the right, none on the left, I got very discouraged. By the second ultrasound one was measuring 25mm and the other 13mm so neither one was very good. I got a positive OPK the day of that last scan so I had to go in for the IUI the next morning. Now that I am looking back, I should've said no thanks and went with TI but we went ahead with it.

My breasts started to feel very sore on Friday morning three days before the scheduled beta. When I got home from school, I took a test-negative. Maybe it's still too early? Took another on Saturday, then Sunday-negative. At this point I'm starting to believe it didn't work but my boobs start to hurt worse so you start to think maybe all those FRERs are wrong. Well they weren't. I started on Tuesday.

The good news is that I was able to go for an ultrasound today and start my Follistim for our next cycle. I want to put that last one behind me and focus on making descent follicles this time. This will probably be our last attempt. If this doesn't work we may try a FET next.

IVIG and follicle tracking

It has been a busy week both in the infertility world and teaching world! On Wednesday I went for my first IVIG infusion in Nashville. I still haven't heard if I will get any insurance coverage or not so it was cheaper to go to the facility instead of having a home health care nurse come to me to administer it. My mom went with me since Brad was out of town. Everything went great! The people at Coram are awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better nurse.

My appointment was at 10:00 in Nashville. We only got lost a little! It's not that it was hard to find, it's that my mom and I have no sense of direction whatsoever. 

It's time! I was getting nervous that it was going to start to make me sick soon but it never did. So blessed!

All done with the IVIG. Now for the water solution. 

My nurse, Mary. She was so awesome and made this experience a pleasant one.

So the infusion was on Wednesday, October 30. Halloween was the next day and since I'm a teacher taking the following day off isn't an option. Luckily I never did feel bad from the infusion. I felt a little sick at lunch on Thursday but I think it's because I didn't hydrate or eat enough the day after. Just so you can see why I needed to go to school, here's a pic!

My assistant and me, the chicken and the egg! Notice how I even incorporate eggs in my costumes!

I went to my RE on Friday afternoon for a follicle tracking ultrasound. I was a little disappointed when I only had 2 on the right and several on the left that were too small to even measure. I usually do much better on Clomid than that but it is what it is. They told me to take OPKs this weekend to make sure we didn't miss ovulation. Luckily they were negative so we are going back for another scan tomorrow. Hopefully the two on the right will be ready soon and I can trigger. I will keep you updated!

My stupid left side is always a slacker.