Week 9 Pregnancy Quiz

I stole this from a fellow blogger...I hope she doesn't mind.

How far along: 9 weeks 2 days
Total weight gain/loss: 8 - 10 lbs I can't remember my pre-pregnancy weight
Maternity clothes: 2 pj bottoms, 1 pair of jeans, and 1 pair of work pants.
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: Pretty good besides having to wake up and pee 3/4 times thru the night.
Best moment this week: Being able to share the news with Mike's side
Movement: Too soon to feel anything
Food cravings: Fruits and Cheese
Gender: Won't know this till March, maybe sooner???
Labor Signs: Eeek - none!!! We want none of that for at least 30 more weeks.
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach
What I am looking forward to: Hearing my babies heartbeats at my 1st OB/Gyn appt.
Milestones: being released from the RE and looking forward to my 1st OB/Gyn appt.

Where to start?

I haven't been on for awhile and I'm mad at myself. But I've been so busy with the holidays and so tired I haven't had time either.

On Wednesday, December 16th I had my last appointment and ultrasound with my RE. Yep I've been released. The babies are getting so big the U/S pictures didn't come out as good as the last U/S because they are moving around so much...YAY!! But all my levels are right on track...HCG 106,236 and Progesterone 70.00. My due date is still July 30th, 2010. I have to stay on a few extra medicines for awhile, my baby aspirin till 14 weeks (Jan. 28) and my endometrim I'll be on that till Jan. 28 as well. But I get to reduce the amount I take on Jan 14 to just 2x's a day instead of 3x's a day. Here are the U/S Pictures...







I finally broke down this past week and bought some maternity pants... I got 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of work pants, and 2 pairs of pj bottoms. Comfort! Wow! Why didn't I do this sooner... My good friend reminded me that out at the Huntley Outlets there is a Motherhood Maternity, yay for cheap but good quality maternity clothes.

I also have made some book purchases.

Book 1: When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads by Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein, I've read the first 6 chapters and it has a lot of great information but some of it you have to take with a grain of salt.

Book 2: Baby Bargains by Denise & Alan Fields, this book has EVERYTHING to know what to purchase and what to stay away from. A good friend of mine read it during her pregnancy and she highly recommended me getting it with 2 coming. So far its very interesting and has some good ideas/points.

Book 3: 100,000+ The Complete book of Baby Names, Mike and I are having a hard time coming up with girl names. We only have a few girls in our families put together so its been challenging to come up with 2 girl names that we like. We do have 2 boy names we are playing with. But we need to have 2 girl names in the hat, too.

Book 4 This one was a gift: The Pregnancy Journal and Crib Notes by A. Christine Harris, PH. D., it looks like a wonderful journal to keep track of EVERYTHING that is happening plus it also has a ton of information in it for mother to be.



We went to the WI Dells the weekend before Christmas and I thought I would do some swimming but my swimsuit was a little too tight... But I still had fun taking lots of pictures of everyone else in the pools.

We then had Christmas and that also was a ton of fun. We finally shared the good news with Mike's side of the family...all of them. They were all very excited for us and couldn't believe we are having twins!! I'm still not sharing the news with work till after the New Year or on facebook so please don't mention anything there either. But this is how we told Mike's uncle.

We bought 2 White Sox tees, put the U/S pic from our 6w one because that was the better one to see, and the DVD Uncle wanted on top. We wrapped all of this in a shirt box so when he opened it the DVD was on top and there was a piece of tissue paper underneath. Well he then moved the tissue paper and saw the White Sox tees and was like these are not going to fit me...and the light bulb went off and he got it. Along with Mike's brother and sister-in-law. They were all excited and happy for us. Here is a picture of the tees and U/S pic in the box...



Mike helped with buying some baby items... He bought for me for Christmas a I love Mommy picture frame and 2 baby photo books, they are so cute. Here is a pic...



My first OB/Gyn appointment is Tuesday, January 5th...I can't wait. I want to hear my babies heartbeats, I'm going nuts. I might just have to make another purchase of a home doppler to use. I use to think people were nuts when they bought one, but NOW I totally understand why.

Here is last week's picture of my growing belly as you can see my bloat is lower from the previous picture and becoming more of a bump...yay...Can't wait!!




I hope all had a great Christmas / Holiday and has a Happy New Year!!

We have heartbeats!!

Yes, you read that correctly we have 2 lovely, strong, and steady heartbeats...I'm so excited. I'm now 6 weeks 5 days pregnant. I was very nervous for today's appointment not knowing if we were going to see 2 or 1 heartbeats. I couldn't believe how big they had gotten in 1 week. When I read that they would be 10,000 times bigger then the day of conception I couldn't picture it...but now I can with my U/S pics. What I've read is that they are the size of sweet peas. I just wish that we could have U/S every week or every other week so that I can watch the babies grow. I get another U/S next week...I haven't schedule it yet. Then I will be released to my OB/Gyn. IF everything looks good which my nurse felt it would. My restrictions are still no lifting over 10lbs, no exercising, and to take it easy. I already have my OB/Gyn picked out I've been going to her for several years and can't wait to go see her pregnant. I know she will be just as excited as me...she helped get my treatments started. And helped with the referrals for my new insurance program. My blood work will come back tomorrow but I'm pretty sure my levels are doing fine with these two growing as fast as they are.

My symptoms are pretty mild I must say...sore boobs, upset stomach when I don't eat, and certain things taste better on some days then on others they are completely disgusting. I feel pretty good and am amazed that I'm pregnant and not having more symptoms...but I'm grateful and happy.

I took a picture last Thursday which is my day that changes what week I'm at so this picture is my 6 week pregnancy picture...its a bump but from bloat not babies yet...




Here is my 6w 5d Ultrasound Picture:


Here is the information on the size of the babies from The Bump.com



Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate.

Updates - Beta Results & 1st Ultrasound

I know I haven't posted anything for awhile but I wanted to wait to make sure my numbers and 1st ultrasound went well before I posted anything. Please remember if you know me IRL please keep this hush, hush. We are waiting to tell Mike's family on Christmas Day and I want to wait till I'm 10-12 weeks to tell work.

Beta No. 1 - November 20 - HCG 325 / Progesterone 31
Beta No. 2 - November 23 - HCG 753 / Progesterone 49.4

As you can see my beta's were nice and strong and tripling. The beta's only needed to double within 48 hours. Then we had the wait for the ultrasound on Monday, November 30th. My one friend told me right away that she thought it was twins...she too had gone through IVF and knew about HCG numbers from her own pregnancies.

Thanksgiving was awesome because I felt I could eat everything and not feel like a cow doing it. I ate one very full plateful of food and then some more mashed potato's w/sweet potato's mixed in. The rest of the green bean casserole and a roll. I think that was it...I just know I was full and was glad I had on elastic pj bottoms...LOL I then proceeded to eat an hour later desserts...yep 2 of them. Then we went home and that night around 11:00 I wanted a salad and a tomato. So I had a salad and 1/2 a tomato. That's how my weekend pretty much went non stop eating. I've gained a few pounds but nothing major to be concerned about I'm pregnant I'm suppose to gain weight.

Then Monday rolled around for the ultrasound. We started out and saw one sac right away. Then the tech asked what type of treatment IUI or IVF. We told her IVF. Then she asked how many did we put back? We told her 2. Then that's when the 2nd sac showed up... Yep we are having twins as of right now. Right now they look like black holes, but they are the size of apple seeds so you can't see much yet. Look below for ultrasound pictures. We are so excited! Everyone that knows at this point asks if we are in shock and I'm not, we're not. Since the ET we've been saying babies till further notice so when there was 2 sacs I was very happy that they both took. My HCG level is now at 14,540 and progesterone at 59.9. So I'm indeed pregnant.

Next Tuesday, December 8th is when we go back for our 2nd ultrasound to see heartbeats. We won't be able to hear them but we should be able to see them on the screen.

Symptoms are pretty mild...sore boobs, nauseous but as soon as I eat I'm fine, and I'm tired. Oh the favorite thing for all pregnancies... I have to pee all the time!!! Other than that, this is all we know for sure for now. More updates to come.

ET was today...

Yes I can be up and moving around...no bed rest instructions for me. I was just told to be lazy and not go into work. I will be back at work tomorrow... My other instructions are not to do any crazy exercises, no ab workouts (LOL), no lifting more than 10 lbs, and no strenuous activities.

We transferred 2 embryo's that were already in blastocyst stage (see pic below)because of it being a 5 Day Transfer. It went really easy and couldn't believe how well my Dr. works that catheter...I didn't have an ounce of cramping. And let me tell you he had to work to get that catheter up there. My body does not like the catheter. Plus we had to wait a few minutes afterwards to make sure the catheter with the embryo's was clear and that the embryo's were transferred into me then he pulled out the catheter. The full bladder part kinda sucked and I was told I had to lay on the table after the transfer for 15 mins but I only laid there for 12 mins before I could not take it anymore and got up to go pee.

I'm not sharing when my beta will be as I have family and close friends that read this blog daily. No offense but I feel I need to keep it to myself and Mike until we are ready to share with everyone...and I feel grandparents need to know before anyone else does. Please don't be mad...

Other than that here are 2 pictures.


Here are my 2 little babies...


Here is the actual IVF process...if you look up in the left corner of the cicrle area and see 2 pieces of rice...one is the catheter and the other are the embryo's going in. Yay!!

Embryo Transfer on Tuesday

Yeap...I'm having a 5 day transfer on Tuesday the 10th. I talked to the lab today and they said that my embryos need a few more days in the dish and that they are not quite ready for mommy yet. It was very cute how she put it. But again we have to be at the Naperville office at 5:00 a.m. for 6:00 a.m. transfer...ahhh... Another 3:30 a.m. wake up call. Is this a sign that my child might not sleep thru the night or will always be waking up at 3:30 in the morning...LOL. :) No special instructions for this appointment besides not to take my endometrim before the transfer. Other than that I can eat and drink before going in so if Mike has another McD's craving I can eat too!! Yay!! That's all I know for now...must go take care of Shelby she's not feeling too good at all...Later :)

Fert Report

Out of the 10 eggs we retrieved yesterday...9 were mature...and 8 fertilized. Yeap I'm officially an octomom...LOL. I think that is an awesome number. I still don't know if it will be a 3DT or 5DT won't know for sure until tomorrow morning. So till then let those embies grow grow grow...

Egg Retrieval This Morning

I did NOT sleep at all last night I was up almost every hour making sure I didn't oversleep my alarm I had to be up by 3:30 a.m. or I had to get up and go pee.



Mike didn't have any problems because he was already up from working his 3rd shift. But the funny thing was when we were waiting for them to take me back for the retrival he fell asleep in his chair and started to snore really really loud. I thought for sure the nurse was going to come in and make sure everything was ok. It was funny and here is a picture of him sleeping. LOL...
He looks so uncomfortable :(

I wore my favorite purple pj bottoms with my World Series White Sox shirt with my Tigger socks...Yes I did wear them. On the way to the dr's Mike insisted he needed food and stopped to get McDonalds...it smelled so good and horrible all at the same time. My stomache was in knots and not feeling well from the excitement of everything.

We got to Dr. Millers office by 5:00 a.m. and there were already 2 other couples there. We were taken back around 5:15 a.m. and the nurse came in went over everthing, gave me a gown, booties to put over the Tigger socks, and a hair net. Got dressed (see pic below) and then the anesthesilogist came in and gave me my IV. Ouch but not that bad. He used the smallest needle he had...me and my stupid small veins...LOL After that it was a waiting game. Around 6:20 a.m. it was time for me to pee on more time and head back to the retrival room.

Once in there I had to say my name to at least 5 different ladies which is fine with me to make sure everyone knew who was in that room for the procedure. Next thing I know the anesthesilogist is in there hooking my finger up to the pulse machine, putting the blood pressure cuff on, and then I was OUT.

Don't know how I got back to my room, just like the nurse said I wouldn't remember. Mike said I was quite funny... I was crying the whole way down the hallway and for a good few minutes after they sat me back in the chair. Then I was brought my animal crackers and ginger ale...they tasted soo good!! Then about 30 - 45 mins I was released to Mike's care.

Mike told me that the doctor stopped in and said they got a total of 10 eggs.

We stopped on the way home for my special Tylenol 3 at Wal-Mart...that hurt to walk in there. I just went incase they needed me there to fill the script...but I sat on those benches by the pharamacy and Mike went to get dinner for tonight and more gatorade for me to drink. Then we went to get McDonalds again but this time I got to eat some too.

We arrived home around 11:30 ate, took my drugs, and went to sleep. It hurts to walk too fast but other than that I feel good. The children are behaving for me till Mike wakes up... And I've told 2 of them thus far don't ask for anything from me... I cannot make any important decisions for 24 hours...LOL

Thats it now we wait for tomorrow afternoon I should be getting a call from my nurse to see how I'm doing and the embryologist with the Fert Report.


Here are some pictures...



Already to go back for the retrival...don't I look cute...LOL

Tyler don't look at this next picture...LOL







Here is my IV...the anesthesilogist was funny really funny...It's great when you get someone like that, that early in the morning.


All done... I look even prettier in this picture... LOL Eating my animal crackers and ginger ale...best food I got all day I think...LOL

I am Triggering Tonight!!!

Just go my update from this morning's appt. Everything is a go for Thurs for the ER...

My numbers are:

E2 - 4,167 - Is this really high?? I thought when it got above 2,000 RE's where concern about OHSS...Any imput would be greatly appreciated...

Eggs - 10-12 Ranging from 23 - 15 mm

I give my HCG shot at 7:30 p.m. tonight. That means I have to be at my RE's office at 5:15 a.m. Thursday...ahhhh I'm not a morning person at all... I'll have to be up at 3:30 a.m. Yikes!!! Wait until I tell DH he works a 3rd shift...that will screw up his schedule as well.

Other than that, thats it... Its really happening... Yay!!!

Day 9 Stim Check

Here is my update from this morning’s appt. I thought for sure I would be going in today and them saying yeap your ready for your retrieval. I feel my ovaries when I do the stairs, when I get up and out of my office chair, and if I stretch…that hurts the most. But other than that I feel really good. I have been eating ramen noodles, frozen meals, and anything else that has a high salt content for lunches/snacks and have been drinking lots of water and gatorade. Come to think about it I need to go get another glass of water. I'm really getting excited about this and can't wait to know how many official eggs I made and then how many embryos' we'll get.

Estrogen Level (E2) 2,950 – I thought that they never wanted to see it above 2,000 but I must be wrong…I feel fine and don’t have any symptoms of OHSS (ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome) = very bad…

Follicles –
Left side – 6 (21 mm being the biggest)
Right Side – 4 (17 mm being the biggest)

Dr. Miller wants to grow them a little bigger…so tonight I will be doing 1 vial of Menopur and 50 IUIs of Folllistim.

Tomorrow morning I will go in for another ultrasound and blood work in Schaumburg.

I Do NOT know when the ER will be still…that’s still in the air or they just don't want to give your hopes up.

I did have my favorite U/S tech this morning and I do believe that she will be in the Schaumburg office tomorrow because when I was leaving she said that she would probably see me tomorrow morning for another scan but at the Schaumburg office. I really like her and she seems to take her time and really measure everything thoroughly.

Day 7 Stim Check

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Good news...everything is going up but its going up slowly and correctly... My estrogen level (E2) was 1,089 and I have 7 good measuring follicles. I know on Wednesdays check up I had 8 but maybe one shrunk...I don't know... I also had the evil U/S tech from the Schaumburg office came to the Naperville office today. I was so looking forward to the other technician. Plus I never get to talk to the nurse I have to call into a voicemail. Something I finding out I don't like. Because when the nurse left my instructions for my medicine protcol she left out what to do Monday morning. But yes my meds have changed too. I'm dropping my follistim down to 75 IUIs tonite and then Sunday night down to 50 IUIs. My menopur stays the same of 2 vials and I still do my 5 units of lupron. I go back in Monday morning for another U/S and bloodwork. I'm hoping this means I go in on Wednesday/Thursday for the ER...I'm hoping I don't know yet.

Other than that...thats it. I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my Halloween night watching scary things on TV and watch SAW after Trick-O-Treating hours are over with...oh and eat some chili...YUMMY!!!

Update: Day 4 Stim

I called my nurse first thing this morning complaining about yesterdays nurse and her brief message that left me hanging for more information.

Here what I have 8 follicles (1 is at 10mm) and a bunch of other small follicles that should be playing catch up the next few days. That all I wanted to know...the other nurse just stated I had a bunch of little follicles. My estrogen levels are right on track and so is my lining. Everything is looking good for this cycle. More information to come on Saturday.

Day 4 Stim Check

Here are my results from my Day 4 Stim Check...

Estrogen Level: 261

Follicles - Small = That's it...that's all they said. No count, no measurements... NOTHING!!! UGH!!

I go back in on Saturday morning for another follicle check and blood work at the Naperville office. Get to see my favorite U/S tech. Yay - one good thing!!

And my medicine protocol stays the same.

Thats it that all the information I get...I'm very frustrated I want to know how many follicles and sizes. Plus they didn't leave the message until 3:47 p.m. thats a long time to wait to know what your protocol is going to be/change or if you need to set up an appointment. I need to keep work in the loop if I was going to be in late or not that type of thing. So now I have to call first thing tomorrow morning to get my appointment in for the Naperville office. Yippee...another Saturday morning of not sleeping in. But its all for a good cause I realize that.

Follistim Pen

I forgot to update my blog last nite about my nightly injection of Follistim Pen. I was very scared at first cause I didn't know if I could control how fast the medicine would go into my body... But I can control it but it burns just a little... Not as bad as the Menopur but still hurts. I'm so proud of myself for giving myself all these injections without Mike's help. Tonight when I was doing my Follistim Pen my youngest almost ran into me... Every one yelled at him to not do that again. He didn't know there was a needle at the end of the pen...oops!! But other than that all is calm. I go in Wednesday morning for a stim check and see how these eggies are growing. Side effects thus far minor hot flashes, little headaches, and tiredness.

Background Poll?

Do you like my new background or is too busy... let me know. Thanks!

Don't know how to do a correct poll...So just answer in the comments, PLEASE!

Stims Pictures and Menopur Frustration!!!

Here is the BIG picture of everything!!! LOL :) Well this is my morning cocktail I have one more medication I have to take tonight and that's my Gonal-F pen...more to follow....


I was very frustrated this morning when I had to mix my new medication - Menopur. My nurse had told me to draw up 1 cc of air before I put the Q-cap into the Sodium Chloride...Well all that did was cause more air bubbles and the syringe was moving on its own. It took me 3 tries to get the Sodium Chloride in the needle...then I had to move onto my first vial of Menopur. Same thing I would push in the Sodium Chloride in then the syringe would move on its own and cause air bubbles. When I thought I had figured it out by the second vial and took it out of the second vial there was this HUGE air bubble. I tried to push on the plunger to get it out and the medication came flying out. So there goes the medicine all over the paper towels...well not all of it but some of it... So I started all over again with a new Q-Cap and new vials of Menopur. I feel like I just flushed money down the toilet.... So for future references do NOT put air into the syringe before putting into the Sodium Chloride all that does is cause major air-bubbles.... That’s it... The injections didn't hurt and no blood. The new needle is smaller than my Lupron needle that’s for sure. And I didn't have to go buy more needles for my Lupron...my nurse gave two bags (20) of them for free. She is so AWESOME!!!

Other than that c'mon eggies grow, grow, grow!!!

Suppression Check

This morning I went in for my suppression check. I HATE getting up early on Saturdays / Sundays but for this cause I did it. And I know once I have a little one that will be gone too. BUT till then I'm sleeping in. Oh when I did my shot this morning on my RIGHT side I bled again... I've come to the conclusion my right side does NOT like taking the shot...LOL :)

Back to the suppression check information my estrogen level (E2) was less than 20 anything less than 75 is great; LH level was 8.6; progesterone was .9; and my lining was at a 5.4. My immature egg count is 21 eggs. YIKES!!! But GOOD!!! I do believe so myself!!

So my medicine protocol changes tomorrow dropping my Lupron down to 5 units in the morning, adding Menopur (2 vials) in the morning, and then Follistim Pen (150 units) at night. Plus I will continue taking my Prenatal vitamin and adding Baby Aspirin.

Then Wednesday the 28th I go in for another round of blood work and ultrasound to see how all those eggs are doin. I also start my antibiotic and mike starts his too, 2x's a day.

AF came....

Ha Ha He He Ho Ho.... I knew if I complained enough she would show her evil face. LOL :) Now I wait for my instructions from the nurse...

Day 7 of Lupron

I'm on Day 7 of Lupron. The injects are not hurting at all till today. This morning when I did the inejection I felt the needle more than normal and when I pulled the needle out there was blood. Ouch!! I put a band-aid on it and went on with my normal morning routine. But I hope not to do that again. I don't know if I pinched my skin incorrectly or what... My only S/E's I'm having are some minor hot flashes and tiredness. I have a slight headache when I wake up in the morning but it doesn't last very long...so I don't think thats a S/E.

I'm still waiting for AF to start. I took my last BCP on Sunday and my nurse said it could be any where between 3-7 days after my last BCP to get my AF. I can not move onto stims until I get my AF. So come on AF... That sounds really weird to want AF but I do... LOL :)

IVF Consult, Injection Class, & 1st Injection

Yesterday Mike and I went for our IVF Consult and Injection Class. A LOT of information was given to us. I felt like we were signing for a house with all the paperwork we went over. But in the end instead of key we should be getting a baby. Much cooler I think since I have already done the house thing twice and I'm done buying for awhile. I rather get a baby this time around...LOL. My nurse is awesome, she is very sweet and explained everything very well. We will be doing IVF w/ICSI and possible assisted hatching if need be. All covered under my new insurance THANK YOU GOD!!

My Protocol is Luteal Lupron. I'm on 10 units of Lupron (a.m.) and I take my last BCP on Sunday. Then when I get AF I go in for bloodwork and ultrasound to see when I start stimulation. For my stimulation right now I will be doing 2 vials of Menopar (a.m.) and 150 IUs of Follistim (p.m.). After 4 days of stimulation I go in for more bloodwork and ultrasound to see how things look. I will also be on antibiotics and baby aspirin. This all I know for now.

My 1st injection was yesterday as soon as we got home. So I had to kinda of rush my 1st injection because we had to get to my oldest football game. But I did it. I was shaky at first and it took 3 pokes to get it in but after that it was EASY. I couldn't believe it. Then this morning I woke up and did my 2nd injection all by MYSELF. I'm quite proud of myself... I hope all the injections are this easy. I have a little redness afterwards but within 5 mins its gone.

Below I have posted some pics of me doing the injections and my little set up for the injection.

Blog Award

Rules

1. You Can Only Use One Word!

2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers

3. Alert them that you have given them this award!

4. Have Fun!

The Survey~

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk

2. Your hair? Brown

3. Your mother? Nanny

4. Your father? Retired

5. Your favorite food? Pasta

6. Your dream last night? Snakes

7. Your favorite drink? Milk

8. Your dream/goal? Baby

9. What room are you in? Office

10. Your hobby? Reading

11. Your fear? DEBT

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mother

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. Something that you aren’t? Outrageous

15. Muffins? Blueberry

16. Wish list item? I-Pod

17. Where did you grow up? Illinois

18. Last thing you did? Blogging

19. What are you wearing? Underwear

20. Your TV? Vizio

21. Your pets? Dogs

22. Friends? Awesome

23. Your life? STRESSFUL

24. Your mood? Tired

25. Missing someone? Uncle

26. Vehicle? Dodge

27. Something you’re not wearing? PJ's

28. Your favorite store? Kohls

29. Your favorite color? Blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday

31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

32. Your best friend? Many...

33. One place that I go to over and over? Work

34. One person who emails me regularly? Dad

35. Favorite place to eat? Chili's

Bloggers I want to past this award on to:

Is it my turn yet?
Gum, 2, 3, 4
Thoughts from the mind of Maydaygirl (private blog)

I don't have 6 Bloggers to pass this onto or don't feel comfortable asking them too...

Sick....

Well I'm not sick, sick...but I'm having all kinds of sinus issues. My sinus's are draining down the back of my throat causing a horrible sore throat. I'm sneezing and my nose is running away. This SUCKS!! I did go to the doctor to make sure it was just Sinus issues and it is.

So...the next couple days I'm going to be taking my Sinus Decongestant and Sinus Allergy pills, completely safe for me to take right now. Eat some chicken noodle soup, drink hot green tea by the gallons, REST and get rid of this before next Friday. I can't be sick for this cycle I really want to get this IVF process going... Yes I will be cautious to make sure I'm the healthiest I can be before I continue on and will let Dr. Miller know about this just in case.

I do; however, have my birthday party this Saturday... :( And I really want to go to my moms and hang out with my family and open gifts and eat chili. I think I'll just skip the part where we all were going to go to the Pumpkin Farm. I rather stay in and stay warm. Other than this, this is all I have to post about. I think over the next week I'll share more on my family and home.

Pharmacy ....

The pharmacy has arrived at my house... As I promised I would post about my IVF drug package. I had the package delivered to my mom and dads house knowing that they would be home to sign for the package. They were completely shocked when they saw how big the package was. As some of you know you have to keep some of the meds refrigerated and mom had to make room in her garage fridge for this huge box. She didn't want to open the package. At lunch time I went to my parents house to go inspect the package. Holy crap! I opened it up and there are drugs, drugs, needles, drugs, needles, etc... You get the point. I couldnt' dig out the ones that needed to be refrigerated so with it being cold outside I left everything in the box/styofoam box stucked it the van and hoped for the best. I did go back to work for the afternoon so they were only in the car for 3-1/2 hrs. When I got home the drugs on the very bottom were still cold and those were the only ones that had the refrigerate sticker on them. I was shocked on how much was in that package and I shouldn't have been as I have read other bloggers responses to opening their own IVF packages. And have seen pictures. Below is some pictures of all the drugs and the list of them all.

• Follistim
• Menopur
• HCG Trigger
• Lupron
• Doxcycline
• Methylpred Tabs (16 mg)
• Endometrin (NO PIO SHOTS---YAY!!!)

That is all the IVF drugs...the package also included needles, follistim pen, needles, antibiotics for DH, more needles, prenatels, syringes, and baby asprin.

Needles....eeek!!!!!!!

Wide View of all the drugs...on the coffee table


Close up!!!

Let the journey begin...

I'm starting this blog now so that in the future I can reflect on this whole IVF experience. The reason I named the blog One More Meatball is that my husband, Mike, is 100% Italian and we are trying to add one more meatball to our sauce. Mike has three children from his previous marriage...Anthony (14), Shelby (13), and Christopher(12).

Mike and I got married July 1, 2006 and in September 2006 I had a melt down. I was ready to be a mom, not a step-mom, but a mom. We threw out the BCP's and said lets see what happens.
Six months into trying I started getting worried and found my wonderful nesties on the TTTC board to vent about my frustrations. Granted I was only 6 months into it and probably could have stayed on the BOTB board but I didn't like the atmosphere. I had a feeling that this was not going to be as easy as the miracle of life video makes it look.

One year rolled around and I was devastated. I went to my annual OB/GYN visit and told my feelings to my OB/GYN. She was wonderful and open minded. She started the testing right away on me and Mike. My hormone level/numbers came back fine but Mike's SA numbers did not. I know everyone is shocked when I tell them we have MFI but that is the case. We don't know if it was all the years in the Army and all those shots they give the soldiers and his age or what it is. We were told to go see an urologist, Dr. G.

Dr. G was very understanding and did all the testing he could. Plus he put Mike on Clomid for 3 months to see if that helped - it did nothing. I was also put on Clomid for 2 cycles and my progesterone approved but it didn't result in a pregnancy of any kind.

So now it's January 2008 and I break down and call an RE office - FCI of Illinois. We went in for our consultation in March 2008 and did all the testing in April 2008. We were at that time totally OOP. Plus we were trying to sell our house and we had already moved in our brand new house. So we had to stop treatments due to money issues.

In May 2008 Mike's grandma passed away. But with this we were left some money...money to help pay for some treatments. So in January 2009 we did our first IUI. I was so excited, nervous, anxious, you name it I was feeling it. But it too resulted in a BFN. Then in February I had a major cyst that made me sit out for a cycle. When March rolled around we had traveling to do...in the beginning of March we went to Canada and the end of March we went on a Cruise to the Bahamas' the most awesome vacation ever! No good time for treatments. In April I found out through my HR manager that my company offers health insurance that covers IF treatments...OMG!!! But I can't sign up for it till July. So now we decided to take a nice long break and get our finances together and wait for the insurance to kick in. I get my Insurance - BCBS of IL - HMO plan. Everything is covered, but FCI of Illinois does not accepted BCBS of IL HMO. So I have to find a new RE. GREAT!!

I find one through my co-worker, Dr. Charles E. Miller and Associates. I set up the appointment in August. Dr. Miller goes over my paperwork and is very disappointed that I did an IUI with Mikes numbers. He suggested right away that we move onto IVF.

So here we are starting our IVF journey. We just finished all of our testing...aka Day 3 B/W and U/S, Mike's repeat SA, and a SHG and an uterus culture. Everything came back normal for me and Mike's numbers are still very low. So we will be proceeding with IVF w/ICSI. My IVF consultation is Friday, October 16th and I get all my drugs tomorrow, October 6th. So I will be posting again with pics of my drugs...LOL.