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From Pin Cushion to Pure Elation!
Posted by
kkhetzel
,
09 August 2011
·
1073 views
Since my last post, I have gone from very impatiently awaiting the arrival of Aunt Flow (or Flo depending on your heritage or part of the country!) to becoming a pin cushion for the needles stuck in my arm.
MEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO AVOID THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!
But, before we get to the pin cushion status; let’s go back to Aunt Flow… She finally reared her ugly head the day before my husband and I left for a camping trip. For all of you grimacing, and saying oh nooooo! Your initial reaction doesn’t even begin to describe the evil cow that she was. While I won’t go into the nitty gritty details on her visit; I will say that there wasn’t enough Maximum Strength Midol in one bottle to cure it. And, the lack of proper restrooms made it just that much worse. I was truly proud of Brian and completely in love with him as he helped with some of the details even as my brother in law was completely disgusted and disturbed by the situation. Since I know that many of you women already know what I am alluding to; there are quite a few men that read this blog, and that is all that will be said. I love you baby, and thank you!
MEN IT IS NOW SAFE TO READ!
It was on day 2 of our camping trip (and cycle day 2) that Brian and I had had to leave our cozy pop-up camper named “Blue” after the movie “Old School” because, “You’re My Boy Blue! Was too good of a line not to re-use and the fact that our camper is the color blue just made it that much better! We made what was supposed to be the quick jaunt to KP for the blood tests that our former Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) was kind enough to request for us in order to save us money. Now not all RE’s will do this, but if you treat them nicely; they will treat you nicely in return! (It probably didn’t hurt that I wrote them a very wonderful letter of recommendation/patient satisfaction letter for their website!) He agreed to order the initial blood tests that if we would have gone through the IVF clinic could have cost us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for all of the testing that Brian and I had to do.
All of Brian’s blood tests were completed directly after the initial consultation with Dr. S at the IVF clinic and were perfectly normal, but mine had to wait until the precise time of the cycle to be performed. Brian’s tests were completed almost three weeks before mine could even begin. We had all of his results back before I had even begun the testing process. Since I had already been through the majority of these tests before (when we first started trying) over two years ago I wasn’t too worried; until I found out there was a new test that our former RE or my regular Gyno hadn’t performed, and that was the BIGGIN… the egg reserve test. This test monitors my FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) level on day 2 of my period. This is the test that lets us know if I have OAES , (and I am borrowing this acronym from a friend who has had it much worse off than I have; thank you Jen for the most amazing terminology EVER) … Old Ass Egg Syndrome.
The testing began: eight vials of blood were taken, and one serious light head later Brian and I walked out of KP to go back to our lives which was supposed to be camping, but there are always things that need to be replenished while camping. Ice, water, soda, drinks, a new bar-b-que grill, and five stops later, and three hours we were finally on our back to the campsite without some of the necessities. Why is it that when you really need something NO ONE has it!
Once arriving back at our campsite my sister was revved up for an 8 mile hike, which normally I would be up for, but today; after all the blood work I could barely walk at a snail’s pace. What was even sadder was the fact that one of my dear friends Audra had offered Brian and me a free pedal boat for the day, but I just couldn’t get myself back. The wooziness, combined with the screaming pain made me just want to sit in my ever-molding, and forgiving camping chair; which is exactly what I did. Both Brian and I were proud of me for making it through the entire camping trip; especially since at one point I actually asked for an epidural! (Audra, I will be back to spend the day with you! I promise!)
Today is Monday and my blood work was taken on Saturday. I know some of my tests had to be sent out of state for the results, but that did not stop me from checking my email every twenty minutes today to see if I had gotten any results. It was (of course) only once I had given up and had decided to not check my email again that Brian arrived home, and we began to budget out the month’s finances; seeing that we somehow had to find a way to afford this next step that Brian asked me to check one more time. It was with a deep breath and a bit of irritation that I said okay, and then… pure terror I had a new test result!
You see it was in this moment that the last few weeks of build up all came down to a pinnacle moment.
So I immediately began saying over and over again, “I have a new test result, I have a new test result, Brian I have a new test result!”
It was with fear and trepidation that I pulled up the website that held the results. Immediately the monthly budget that we had so carefully been planning out for the last hour and a half ceased to exist. Our focus instead was on a website waiting to load.
There was not just one test result back; there was a handful, and the nerves grew even stronger. For months I have been reading about how important the FSH levels were to the success rate of IVF, and how the lower they are the better, but if they go too low it is dangerous. Pure confusion. I knew I wanted my numbers to be between 5 and 15 mIU/ml, but the closer to 5 the better. All of this shit is so confusing! You want to be low, but not too low, you want to have this, but you don’t want to have that, it is so exhausting, and frustrating trying to keep up with everything. How on Earth do people ever get pregnant naturally? The odds are so against you, you mutant freaks!
I am over my rampage!
So, again the ideal range of FSH for IVF is between 5-8mIU/ml; and once again remember that the closer to 5 you are the better your fertility prospects are with IVF.
And, my results were… DRUM ROLL PLEASE… Pure elation! A 6.1! I continued on through the results that were in: Prolactin levels perfect! Estradiol levels perfect! Thyroid Stimulating Hormone perfect! All blood counts were almost perfect minus two that were slightly high that were most likely caused from the dehydration from camping in the completely non-shaded area that we were in.
The next steps:
I still have a few other tests out there waiting to come back, but for now the important ones are in. The others are to insure that our future embryos can be kept with all the others, and there are no surprises here.
For the weeks to come:
On August 15th I go in for a saline sonogram of my uterus, and a literal mapping of my uterus, which is technically a practice IVF procedure. The embryos are so fragile on the day of transplant they don’t want to risk running into a bump or a hiccup. They want to know exactly which way they are going and for how long, really this is the GPS to babyland. Since Brian has to work I have asked my mom to come along because I don’t think I get anesthesia for this one, and I am worrying that it will be much like the IUI‘s (Inter Uterine Inseminations) that I have gone through in the past that hurt like a son of a gun about twenty minutes after they are completed, and at about that time I would just be hitting the highway, which doesn’t seem like a good idea if you know what I mean. My sister and mom are arranging other care options for my four year old niece, so that mom can be with me, and so that Brian will have peace of mind that I am taking care of even while he can’t be with me. I love my husband for being so protective of me.
I love you lovebug, and I can’t wait to have a baby with you!
MEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO AVOID THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!
But, before we get to the pin cushion status; let’s go back to Aunt Flow… She finally reared her ugly head the day before my husband and I left for a camping trip. For all of you grimacing, and saying oh nooooo! Your initial reaction doesn’t even begin to describe the evil cow that she was. While I won’t go into the nitty gritty details on her visit; I will say that there wasn’t enough Maximum Strength Midol in one bottle to cure it. And, the lack of proper restrooms made it just that much worse. I was truly proud of Brian and completely in love with him as he helped with some of the details even as my brother in law was completely disgusted and disturbed by the situation. Since I know that many of you women already know what I am alluding to; there are quite a few men that read this blog, and that is all that will be said. I love you baby, and thank you!
MEN IT IS NOW SAFE TO READ!
It was on day 2 of our camping trip (and cycle day 2) that Brian and I had had to leave our cozy pop-up camper named “Blue” after the movie “Old School” because, “You’re My Boy Blue! Was too good of a line not to re-use and the fact that our camper is the color blue just made it that much better! We made what was supposed to be the quick jaunt to KP for the blood tests that our former Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) was kind enough to request for us in order to save us money. Now not all RE’s will do this, but if you treat them nicely; they will treat you nicely in return! (It probably didn’t hurt that I wrote them a very wonderful letter of recommendation/patient satisfaction letter for their website!) He agreed to order the initial blood tests that if we would have gone through the IVF clinic could have cost us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for all of the testing that Brian and I had to do.
All of Brian’s blood tests were completed directly after the initial consultation with Dr. S at the IVF clinic and were perfectly normal, but mine had to wait until the precise time of the cycle to be performed. Brian’s tests were completed almost three weeks before mine could even begin. We had all of his results back before I had even begun the testing process. Since I had already been through the majority of these tests before (when we first started trying) over two years ago I wasn’t too worried; until I found out there was a new test that our former RE or my regular Gyno hadn’t performed, and that was the BIGGIN… the egg reserve test. This test monitors my FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) level on day 2 of my period. This is the test that lets us know if I have OAES , (and I am borrowing this acronym from a friend who has had it much worse off than I have; thank you Jen for the most amazing terminology EVER) … Old Ass Egg Syndrome.
The testing began: eight vials of blood were taken, and one serious light head later Brian and I walked out of KP to go back to our lives which was supposed to be camping, but there are always things that need to be replenished while camping. Ice, water, soda, drinks, a new bar-b-que grill, and five stops later, and three hours we were finally on our back to the campsite without some of the necessities. Why is it that when you really need something NO ONE has it!
Once arriving back at our campsite my sister was revved up for an 8 mile hike, which normally I would be up for, but today; after all the blood work I could barely walk at a snail’s pace. What was even sadder was the fact that one of my dear friends Audra had offered Brian and me a free pedal boat for the day, but I just couldn’t get myself back. The wooziness, combined with the screaming pain made me just want to sit in my ever-molding, and forgiving camping chair; which is exactly what I did. Both Brian and I were proud of me for making it through the entire camping trip; especially since at one point I actually asked for an epidural! (Audra, I will be back to spend the day with you! I promise!)
Today is Monday and my blood work was taken on Saturday. I know some of my tests had to be sent out of state for the results, but that did not stop me from checking my email every twenty minutes today to see if I had gotten any results. It was (of course) only once I had given up and had decided to not check my email again that Brian arrived home, and we began to budget out the month’s finances; seeing that we somehow had to find a way to afford this next step that Brian asked me to check one more time. It was with a deep breath and a bit of irritation that I said okay, and then… pure terror I had a new test result!
You see it was in this moment that the last few weeks of build up all came down to a pinnacle moment.
So I immediately began saying over and over again, “I have a new test result, I have a new test result, Brian I have a new test result!”
It was with fear and trepidation that I pulled up the website that held the results. Immediately the monthly budget that we had so carefully been planning out for the last hour and a half ceased to exist. Our focus instead was on a website waiting to load.
There was not just one test result back; there was a handful, and the nerves grew even stronger. For months I have been reading about how important the FSH levels were to the success rate of IVF, and how the lower they are the better, but if they go too low it is dangerous. Pure confusion. I knew I wanted my numbers to be between 5 and 15 mIU/ml, but the closer to 5 the better. All of this shit is so confusing! You want to be low, but not too low, you want to have this, but you don’t want to have that, it is so exhausting, and frustrating trying to keep up with everything. How on Earth do people ever get pregnant naturally? The odds are so against you, you mutant freaks!
I am over my rampage!
So, again the ideal range of FSH for IVF is between 5-8mIU/ml; and once again remember that the closer to 5 you are the better your fertility prospects are with IVF.
And, my results were… DRUM ROLL PLEASE… Pure elation! A 6.1! I continued on through the results that were in: Prolactin levels perfect! Estradiol levels perfect! Thyroid Stimulating Hormone perfect! All blood counts were almost perfect minus two that were slightly high that were most likely caused from the dehydration from camping in the completely non-shaded area that we were in.
The next steps:
I still have a few other tests out there waiting to come back, but for now the important ones are in. The others are to insure that our future embryos can be kept with all the others, and there are no surprises here.
For the weeks to come:
On August 15th I go in for a saline sonogram of my uterus, and a literal mapping of my uterus, which is technically a practice IVF procedure. The embryos are so fragile on the day of transplant they don’t want to risk running into a bump or a hiccup. They want to know exactly which way they are going and for how long, really this is the GPS to babyland. Since Brian has to work I have asked my mom to come along because I don’t think I get anesthesia for this one, and I am worrying that it will be much like the IUI‘s (Inter Uterine Inseminations) that I have gone through in the past that hurt like a son of a gun about twenty minutes after they are completed, and at about that time I would just be hitting the highway, which doesn’t seem like a good idea if you know what I mean. My sister and mom are arranging other care options for my four year old niece, so that mom can be with me, and so that Brian will have peace of mind that I am taking care of even while he can’t be with me. I love my husband for being so protective of me.
I love you lovebug, and I can’t wait to have a baby with you!
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