Moving to the Next Step- IUI

At my appointment yesterday, since we have done five rounds of Clomid with intercourse to no success, we decided it was time for us to move on to the next step. So treatment this cycle will be a little bit different. We've decided to try intrauterine insemination, or as some people call it, artificial insemination.

This cycle will be very similar in that I am still taking 100 mg of Clomid to stimulate follicle growth. I've had success with a good number of follicles on that dose, so we are keeping it the same for now. I'll still track the days after Clomid with an OPK to see if I get an LH surge and ovulate on my own. If I don't get a surge, I'll still have to use the hCG trigger.

The only difference is that when I do ovulate, instead of relying on just intercourse, the doctor will inject the sperm directly into the uterus, bypassing the cervix altogether, and placing the sperm as close as we can to the egg. The nurse practitioner told us that this practice will double our odds of conception. This is a good 2 minute video about how this is done.

We are going to be traveling, and really hope that, if I do have a surge and ovulate on my own again, that we will be back home so we can do the procedure. If my body decides to be a superhero and ovulate really early this time while we're traveling, we'll have to cancel the IUI and try with just intercourse again. 

Please, send us lots and lots of prayers! This month, so far, will be the best chance we've ever had. We may just get our January 1st baby!

Nothing... again.

Everything I was feeling was just the progesterone, I suppose. Here we go again. Can't it just be my turn already??

Progesterone, Pregnancy, or PMS?

The three P's in my life currently. I have been experiencing tons of freaky things in the last week and a half. The cause could be any of the three P's. Unfortunately, the side effects or symptoms of all are almost identical. It's enough to drive anyone crazy!

Luckily, I know that anything I felt prior to around 7 days after ovulation had to be the progesterone. Anything earlier than that would be much too early for pregnancy symptoms or PMS.

So far, this is what I've been experiencing-

1-3 DPO: Ovary pain, and sharp stabbing pain (which ended up being a bladder infection, so throw that in there and it makes it even more confusing). Conclusion: Ovulation pain and an infection.

1 DPO - Current: Sensitive nipples. Conclusion: Progesterone.

5 and 9 DPO: Big wave of depression. Seriously, like weeping all day, not being able to get out of bed, and no appetite. I was diagnosed with clinical depression in college, and that's exactly what it felt like. I even told John that I needed to go to the doctor and get my Zoloft back. I read online that women who have a history of depression can experience a new episode once they start progesterone. I have a long history of off and on depression, so that doesn't surprise me. Conclusion: Progesterone.

5-9 DPO: Backache. Conclusion: ???

6 DPO: A quick, sharp pain, and then tiny little cramps that I hardly noticed. Conclusion: Progesterone.

6-9 DPO: Nausea. One day I couldn't eat anything at all besides ginger ale and Ritz crackers. Conclusion: Progesterone.

7 DPO - current: Cramps and bloating. They started small and left me wondering if they were even cramps at all, but today they are definitely noticeable. Are they a good sign? A bad sign? Do they mean anything at all? Conclusion: Progesterone, PMS, or pregnancy. Who knows!


There is a reason why it's silly to track symptoms or think that a certain symptom means something. It's easy to talk yourself into thinking you are pregnant when you're not, and it's easy to let yourself lose hope when you feel PMS-like symptoms. Currently, I am trying really hard not to think too much about them. I'm telling myself they are all because of progesterone. The only thing that has been worrying me are the cramps. They feel so much like PMS cramps that I can't help but just know that Aunt Flo is right around the corner.

I ovulated on March 11, either in the evening or at night. When I had my ultrasound at lunch time that day, my egg was still there, and we could see that I had not ovulated yet. So, technically, when I tested this morning, I was only 9 DPO. That's still really early to test. So I need to pick up my chin and not count myself out yet! I just can't get over this nagging feeling that it's just not my turn this month.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I follow RESOLVE.org on Pinterest, and occasionally they post hilarious pictures, comics, jokes, etc. about infertility. This is by far my favorite so far!

Click to enlarge

I admit that I have all but three of these things in my house right now. The only ones I'm missing are a wine glass (I don't drink), a sharps container (only because the pharmacy completely forgot to send it to me with my hCG and needles), and stirrup socks (??).

Also, here's a cheeky thing they've posted that I thought was funny, too.

Here's my stork:

Fun with Clomid, hCG, progesterone, etc...

And finally,

At least I'll get to the end, right?

National Infertility Awareness Week

Every year, Resolve, the National Infertility Association, organizes a National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). The purpose of this week is to encourage people to educate others about infertility, clear up common misconceptions, and answer questions. It's such a difficult and life changing experience, and we want others to understand. There is a lot of misunderstanding, insensitivity, and prejudice when it comes to infertility. 

This year, NIAW is April 21-27. Until then, I hope to blog about different topics leading up to the actual week, when I will have one final blog that will be entered into the Bloggers Unite Challenge. My hope is that many of you can learn from my posts, and even be encouraged to share information of your own.

Morph

I stumbled across a new website that lets you morph pictures together. They had a feature to take pictures of two people, and make their baby. Sounds creepy, I know! So I took a picture of both me and John, uploaded them to the morph generator thing, clicked the button, and expected the worst. We were actually quite surprised at how cute our baby was!

Here is our morphed baby boy.

Isn't he cute?

*Edit* Okay, I realized that I forgot to post the website! It's Morphthing.com. Now, go have fun! I think John and I sat together and made different combinations of babies for about a half hour today!

Just One

I had my ultrasound yesterday, and saw one big, beautiful follicle on the right! Just one, so no chance of fraternal twins this month (we are actually a bit disappointed). But, it was on the right!!! We saw the left tube was clogged when I had my HSG, so it's always good news to see eggs coming from the right side.

I did not trigger with hCG this cycle because the nurse said no. I think I will talk to my doctor directly about it in the future if I need to. So the good news is that any positive I see will be for real and not a false positive from the shot. And this time, I only have to get a blood test done if I see a positive at home first. Let's hope to see some good news in the next few weeks!

No Trigger for Me!

I got a very, very pleasant surprise today when I tested with my OPK. Last cycle, I did not see an LH surge, so I had to use an hCG trigger to force my body to release the egg that had matured.

This time, I followed doctors orders by knowing-that-it-was-going-to-be-negative-so-why-am-I-wasting-my-time testing (TTC ladies will understand what I mean by that). And, shockingly, I saw this staring up at me! 

You can tell it's positive because the test line on the left is as dark, if not darker, than the control line on the right.

Or, if you don't want to guess the results with the lines, you can just read the digital window. I love that little smiley face! 

This is the earliest I have ever had a positive OPK, since I am only cycle day 12, so that added to my surprise. I still didn't believe it was a real positive for some reason, so I tested again a few hours later, and it was positive again! I can feel confident in saying that I have had an LH surge, and that I will ovulate all by myself this time! I still have an appointment tomorrow for an ultrasound. They will look to see how many follicles, if any, matured this month. Then we can know my risk of multiples in case I get pregnant this month. I may ask if I can still use my hCG trigger, because I have read a lot about how much the hCG helps with implantation if the egg were to be fertilized. I will take all the help I can get. This is exciting! Onto my two week wait!

My Current Family

Everyone who knows me knows how much I adore my cats. We got our first cat, Suki, just weeks before I found out I was pregnant the first time.

She was one of the absolute best comforts to me when I lost the baby, and has continued to be every day since. She will be turning three in May. She is my precious, and only likes me. She's definitely a one person cat. She follows me to the mailbox and back, and sleeps with me every night.

We've shared a pillow every night since the first night she came home.

We also have another cat, Momo (can you tell we like Avatar: The Last Airbender?). He was a stray that lived under a trailer at my work. One night it started snowing and hit record lows, and I laid awake all night long worrying about him freezing. The next day, I picked him up and took him home so he wouldn't have to stay one more night out in the cold.

He is one of the sweetest and friendliest cats we've ever seen. He is very cuddly, loves to play, and is really good at letting my little nephews love him in their own ways. 

Right now, that's our family. I'm so happy to share my heart with my two "fur babies."