Baby Crazy News

I have had an exciting last two weeks. I will tackle them in order. First I had my menses a little after I post last. Woohoo! It started on the 31st, the dated maybe important for calculating 40 weeks.

So I called the nurse's triage. They scheduled me for my blood work for the Tuesday after. That was to test for STDs, and also general hormone levels. They also told me to start my femara later that same day. I could take it at any time, but I would want to take the medication the same time every day.

As you may know femara is officially used to treat breast cancer, however is has been used in fertility since the 90s. It is used in a similar way as clomid which has been used since the 60s. You take both medications for a few days after your menses, usually 3-5 or 4-6. Clomid works by blocking the estrogen receptors in the brain. The brain thinks there isn't enough estrogen so it instructs the body to make more estrogen. Femara works by preventing androgen from becoming estrogen. So the brain thinks more estrogen is needed. The extra estrogen helps produce an egg. The benefits of femara are that the hormones are out of your system in days whereas clomid takes weeks, this could make it more difficult to get and stay pregnant even if you produce an egg. Another benefit is that with clomid the body produces a lot of follicles which results in a lot of eggs, whereas femara usually only produces one big follicle. Therefore the chances of twins with clomid up to 10% and 1% for triplets, the chances of twins with femara does is about 5%. The chances of twins normally is about 3% age and race can increase chances too. This is my layman's understanding of how they work.

I took the femara from Tuesday the 2nd until Saturday the 6th. I had one night where I felt flush and nauseous after taking the femara, but other than that no real side effects.

Then, on Sunday the 7th I went to Tucson because it was my uncle's 71st birthday and his granddaughter's 1st birthday. Ainsley is the first great-granddaughter on that side of the family. She was so happy and adorable. The party was really fun, even though she wasn't much of a cake smasher. She had no problem being past around to anyone who would hold her. I think it made me only a little sad to say good-bye. I will hopefully see them again for Easter or at least Mother's Day.

When I arrived home from my long weekend visiting family, there was water in my garage. My water heater had started leaking! My water heater sits on a pedestal that goes into the house and backs up to the living room/kitchen. So, I contacted my work to let them know. The next morning I called a few water heater people and found a good company called Classic Guys Plumbing. They were really great about replacing the water heater. It is on the ground for now, but they said they would come back out to put it up, or maybe the repair people could. They also had a company that would take care of the drying, called EcoDry.

At that same time, I was supposed to go to the doctor to do an ultrasound to check my follicles and a Hsg test to make sure my tubes were not blocked by mucus, which is a common issue with fertility. So, I called my dad to come out to the house to meet the plumbing people. I actually returned home before they arrived, but if my dad hadn't been there I'm sure they would have shown up earlier!

So at the doctor appointment, my ultrasound was a little bit of a let down. I knew from cycle tracking app Flo that it was pretty far from when I would ovulate. My cycles are about 33/34 days, so I wasn't really surprised that the follicles were still small. So I scheduled another appointment for Thursday.

Then I went next door to the lab to do the Hsg test. It was a very quick test, the waiting took the longest part. A few nurses asked my medical history, and took my blood pressure. Then I went into the lab. Dr. Craig performed the test. He is a really good doctor. He explains everything before he does it. For example, when he put the speculum in he would say okay going to left, then would move it to left. So, you are always prepared for what he is doing. This was helpful to keep me relaxed and calm.

Anyway, the test was very quick, and there was some pressure and cramping, but just when it gets bad it is over. So, if I have to I am fine doing it again. I did have some bleeding the next day and some bad cramps then, but not any worse than when I was a teenager. I don't really have bad cramps with my period anymore, especially not compared to back then. So anyway the results were great and there is an added bonus to the test, it helps clear a path as well, so you are 3 times more likely to get pregnant in the next 3 months, and twice as likely for six months, and the test is good for a year. Dr. Craig also said this after it was over.

Then, I ran home to handle the water heater snafu. The EcoDry people helped me call my insurance to deal with the water damage that was in the garage and in the house. They work with insurances a lot so it was a really simple process. The claim was filed and EcoDry scheduled to come out on Tuesday to start the drying process.

I didn't want to take another day off of work, so I asked my dad again to come out to the house to be there with the EcoDry crew. He came out again! He is about 40 minutes away and it took all day. The damage is where my television is so he didn't have much to do, so instead he deep cleaned my kitchen and living room and spare rooms. What a treat when I returned home.

So, on Wednesday and Thursday the EcoDry company came out to assess the progress of the drying. I work about 30 minutes away so on Wednesday I took an early lunch to meet them. I had to make up a little time after 5 pm. On Thursday, they scheduled to come at the same time as my second ultrasound! So, I had to call the Fertility Treatment Center and they helped me reschedule to Friday. The receptionist was worried that it would mess with my cycle, but because of my long cycle I wasn't worried.

Also, on Thursday I had a meeting with my director, because I asked for a 20% raise on the Friday before. I got it! I was also promoted to paralegal! I have been acting as a paralegal for at least 6 months after another paralegal quit. That is why I was asking for the raise, but I am glad that I was promoted. I will officially move to my office on Monday the 22nd. I will have to work 40 hours instead of 36.25, but I have pretty flexible schedule. I need to bill 1600 hours a year. That is about 32 hours a week for 50 weeks. Paralegals also get 6 weeks of paid maternity leave, I was planning to use FMLA for all 12 weeks, now I will only need to do 6 weeks.

On Friday, I went into my ultrasound at lunch. The doctor said my right ovary wasn't very active, not a surprise, sometimes I can feel it when I ovulate and it's always on the left side. So I think I mostly ovulate on the left side. The left side is superficial so it is really high up. The doctor couldn't get a good look at it from inside, so she did it from outside. There I had one follicle that was 21 mm, there was also an 11 mm follicle in there...a little bigger and they both might produce an egg.

So, I was given the go ahead to do my trigger shot. I am going to go in on Monday at 11:30 am to do the insemination, so 36 hours before that is tonight, Saturday the 13th at 11:30 pm. I'm super excited, but also a little nervous. It's always a little scary to make this decision and at every step I could pull out, until Monday. After Monday I will have the 2 week wait (2ww). I think I can take a pregnancy test on the 25/26th and it might show up positive, but I  am going to try to wait until Monday the 29th.

Anyway, at first I thought all of this water heater and water damage was an obstacle and a sign to not continue the cycle, but actually the traveling back and forth to meet with the drying company has provided a bit of a cover at work. On Monday, I also have an insurance agent coming out to assess the repair work, and there will also be repair work. My work is pretty flexible that I can make up the time missed before or after, even on the weekends. Also, I think a bit of an obstacle may mean that this is a sign that the IUI will be successful this time. It has taken my mind off of worrying about getting pregnant and that is always helpful. Also, the fact that the obstacle is outside my body now there won't be any obstacles inside my body. Plus at the end of the week, I was given good news about my job, and also about my follicles. So, I believe it will all work out the way it is supposed to.

Ok, so on Monday, I will do the insemination. I will try to post next weekend, even though it is Easter weekend. I might have some pregnancy symptoms then, so be prepared for me to talk about my sore breasts, however, I will mostly talk about how the procedure and shot went.