Ok, Ok... I'm updating my blog!

Well, Robby and I went to our friend Emily's baby shower today. It was a beautiful day and we stayed outside in their awesome, tropical, shaded backyard! I love it! She got lots of cute outfits for her baby, Isabella. And she reminded me that I needed to update my blog...so here I am.

I believe I last blogged on Tuesday night. Ok, I went for bloodwork only at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning to check levels of estradiol. Got the phone call around 3:00 that afternoon with GOOD levels and Dr. wanting me to stay on the 150 iu of Follistim and 75 iu of Menopur. Did that Wednesday night, however when Thursday night came along I realized at 8:30 that night I didn't have enough Follistim to do the 150 dose. I started freaking out a little and thought about calling the emergency line (but didn't want to get charged) so I just dialed the Follistim to 100 (which is all I could get) and injected that. The next morning, yesterday (Monday) I went in for bloodwork, ultrasound, and a visit with the nurse. I confessed to the nurse what happened with me running out of Follistim. She said it was ok and gave me another vial to last me through the weekend. But back to the ultrasound...as the tech was scanning me I was looking at the screen and she was explaining what she saw and how my follicles were measuring. She said there were about 8 follicles measuring and that I would probably be ready for retrieval soon. I sort of paniced, thinking "doesn't there need to be like 20 or 30 follicles and she's only finding 8?" So I got dressed and went to see the nurse. The nurse, as well, said that I was going to be ready for retrieval probably on Monday. I, of course, questioned her with questions like, "are you sure?" "don't I need more eggs?" "can't I have more Follistim to grow me some more eggs?" I was just shocked!!! I couldn't believe the nurse was telling me that 8 is all my body was going to make. And that they needed to take them before it's too late and before the big follicles get too big. She said that she wanted me to come in again Saturday morning for more bloodwork and another scan to see how the follicles were doing. Needless to say, I called Robby as soon as I left and cried the whole way home. Then I called my mom and sobbed to her as well. Then I emailed my friend, Hayley, and cried over email...and made her cry. So the emotional roller coaster begins! She called me later that day and said my Estradiol looked good and to come in at 7:00 on Saturday morning...YIKES that is early...and Rob's coming with!!!

So, here it is ... Saturday night at 11:15 p.m. and it has been a LLLLLOOOOONNNNNGGGGG day! I woke up at 6:00 to take a quick shower...because I didn't want to be smelly, woke Rob up (oh yeah and took my LAST Lupron shot) and we headed to the Dr's office at 6:30. I was called in pretty quickly for blood work, but then sent back into the waiting room to wait in line for the ultrasound. There were soooo many couples there - probably about 10 or so couples. So we had a long wait. I wish I had taken my book but thought surely a Saturday morning would go fast...boy was I wrong! Robby kept himself busy sipping (he hates that word) on Starbucks and reading football articles. And of course I looked at Interior Design mags. Finally about 8:30 they called us to come back for the ultrasound. The nurse that scanned me said that I would be ready for retrieval very soon. There were still 8 follicles, but one of the fellas measured a 11.4 (which probably wouldn't make it by Monday) so that leaves us with 7...oh my goodness!!! I'm thinking in my head (and out loud too) "statistics say that about half of those won't make it (meaning they won't be good eggs or won't fertilize) - that's why they want like 20 or 30 eggs, so that leaves us with about 3 or 4...crap!" When we meet with the nurse she said that she wanted Dr. Schnell to look at the results of the scan before she made the decision about when to retrieve. Minutes later Dr. Schnells come in the room and said that she wanted to scan me again...so I undressed again and same response from her too, "you're ready". So as of this morning I have 8 follicles, 7 of which measure between 14.6 and 20.4. Those will all be mature for the retrieval on Monday. I was to take my trigger shot, Novarel, that night but they would call to tell me what time.

I received a phone call about 1:00 p.m. today from the nurse. She said to take another dose of the Menopur and Follistim as soon as we got off the phone and to take the trigger shot (which by-the-way releases your eggs)at 7:00 p.m. on the dot!!! The timing is very important because at exactly 35 hours later they retrieve...which would be 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. I was a little nervous all day about the trigger shot because the needle is 1 1/2 inches long and is intramuscualar (IM). Went to Emily's shower and sort of forgot about it...went to church and prayed about it...then I looked up and it was 6:45. So I went over to my neighbors house (who is a nurse) and told her I was ready. She did an awesome job! It felt like I was getting bloodwork, just that little pinch and that was it. I freaked out about nothing. Which I don't want to admit to Robby. I did HAVE to take a picture of the needle and post it because it is pretty big and I'm so proud of myself. [Holly must be having a dream right now because her whole body is twitching] Anyways, tomorrow (Sunday) is an off day. I am so excited because I don't have any injections, no office visits, and no intercourse (I'm sure you wanted to know that). However, I do have to take a fleet enema tomorrow night...that is so GROSS. I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight.


Here's that big needle I was scared of

I will blog on Monday night, if I am feeling up to it (we'll have to see how long it takes the anesthetic to wear off). I do get to take a Valium at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning to help relax me for the retreival. We have to be there at 5:15...another long day ahead of us.

I'll talk to you then...and have more pictures.


It's hard to tell...but Holly is getting bigger. She'll be such a good mama!