IVF Cycle 5 - TESE (Todd’s Retrieval)

Friday, May 15, 2015

This morning was a relaxed morning for me and a nerve wracking morning for Todd.  We had a long breakfast at our hotel and took our time getting ready to arrive at Dr. Ahlering's office to meet the team for the first time in person.  I've been talking to these people for months via the phone and email.  I was excited to finally get to meet them face-to-face.

I was a little nervous for Todd, as well, because they had informed us they would not be allowing him to have general anesthesia.  I was quite frustrated with this "after the fact" change of plans, but there wasn't much we could do about it.  I gave him his Adivan and hoped it would relax him enough to make this procedure go smoothly.

Our game faces

Shawnie, our IVF coordinator that I have emailed with no less than 100 times, came to get us from the waiting room.  She took us into an exam room and told Todd to just pull his shorts down to his knees.  We were both so confused.  In the past, he has always been in a sterile surgical room, and I was never allowed in the procedure.  Not today.  As 4 others flooded into the room, I realized that I was suddenly a part of this process.  Six of us total in such a small exam room made for quite a cozy environment.  The urologist gave Todd a numbing shot, performed the procedure, and left the room to check the specimen.  Unfortunately, he returned a few minutes later to say they needed more.  They went back in for a second time and after another inspection, decided they had enough.

At some point, I asked the embryologist that was also in the room when he would be using the nanoselection beads on Todd's specimen.  (Remember, the nanoselection beads are what they throw in with the sperm when they spin them.  The bad sperm have a protein in them that attaches to the beads and causes them to sink, leaving the strongest still swimming.  We had already paid $500 for these beads for this cycle.)  Well, the embryologist informed me that we would not be using beads because all of the sperm would stick to them.  What?!  Again, last-minute information that somehow isn't passed along to us in a timely manner.  Before I paid for the beads, I was told the embryologist had approved us using them.  Frustrating, but we'll survive.

Then came the next surprise.  We needed a checkbook to pay the urologist.  I didn't have the right purse.  Todd's was at the hotel.  Luckily, the hotel was just on the other side of the highway.  I ran back over there, tore apart his briefcase, tore apart the car, and returned with no checkbook in hand.  Fortunately, we remembered that we had cash on us from Todd's most recent purchase...a boat.  That's another story for another day.  Anyway, in what looked like nothing less than a shady drug deal, I paid our urologist in multiple crisp $100 bills.  It was strange, but quite funny.

The view from our hotel parking lot to MCRM - literally across the highway

For anyone that knows me personally, you know that the change in nanobead news and the rush around town to track down a checkbook would have usually put me in a tizzy.  Not this time.  So much about my attitude and calmness has been different this cycle.  I’m loving it!

Before we left, Dr. Ahlering stopped by to shake Todd's hand and tell him he was his hero.  I felt a little star-struck since I have been talking to him on the phone for almost a year-and-a-half, and he's spoken so highly of by so many women in our situation.  I was glad we got to meet him before my retrieval tomorrow.

We grabbed lunch at a pub next to our hotel before heading in to let Todd rest, doctor's orders.  He was cracking me up with his antics.

Cleaning off the food he dropped.  Todd on Adivan is hilarious!

"Todd, what are you doing?"
"I'm having ice cream with a friend."

Then, this...

So peacefully sleeping

Around 5:30pm, he awoke and asked what time we had to be back at the doctor for my procedure.  I informed him it was tomorrow morning, and he looked at me with a very confused look.  Apparently, he thought he had slept for 14 hours!

We spent the rest of our evening in bed watching TV.  I ran back to the same pub to pick-up dinner and stopped off downstairs for more ice cream.  It's been such an awesome, relaxing day together. 

Todd is asleep right now, and I feel wide awake.  I'm excited to see how tomorrow goes.  I've been praying that we get good quality eggs.  I know we won't get very many, but we just need one embryo to make a baby.  If I was posting this realtime, I would ask for prayers.  Can't hurt to say a prayer after the fact, though.

Happy Friday!

IVF Cycle 5 - Travels

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Todd and I had a great day together!

 

His day started at 3am when he had to get up and head to the airport in Austin.  Mine started several hours later when I got up to go pick him up at the airport.

 

We spent some time at the airport just visiting and hugging and generally enjoying being back together after his 4 day work trip when we realized that the airlines had lost his bag...again.  He has an entire wardrobe of clothes purchased by the airlines for him on his trips.  We went downstairs to the ticket counter and back upstairs to the baggage claim office.  Within a few minutes, we realized that we had been spending our time at the wrong luggage carousel, and his suitcase had been waiting for us the entire time.  Oops! 

 

We spent the next 7 hours on the road.  The drive from Tulsa to St. Louis isn't quite that long, but we decided to make an extended stop to stretch our legs.  After all, it is often that we take road trips, but it isn't often that we get to take a road trip without a time commitment.  We pulled over at The World's Largest Gift Store and a candy store.  Both were totally worth it.

See, I didn't lie. It really is the World's Largest Gift Store.

Doesn't everyone pose while shopping for gifts for no one?

Being silly...

What do you think Dr. Ahlering would do if he walked in and found me wearing these in his stirrups?!  We shall see!

We are trying to be like the guy on the building.  See him?!

We pulled into St. Louis, made a quick stop at Walgreens to get a prescription for Todd's procedure and headed to the hotel.  We spent the rest of the night catching up on missed sleep from earlier in the day.
 

We did a lot of laughing on the trip to STL.  I'm so glad I was able to make this road trip with him!

Kaleb's Graduation

I never posted any pictures of Kaleb's graduation.  However, I ran across them today and wanted to share.  These are fun.

This picture was taken at our friends' house, the Kleypases.  They were kind enough to host us for a late lunch before graduation.

This is what it looks like when you have to sit on the back row of your son's graduation, and you arrived 10 minutes after the doors were opened.  Or maybe this is what it looks like when you have to arrive at graduation an hour-and-a-half early, and you don't know a soul in sight.

The real pictures.

IVF Cycle 5 - Retrieval Plans, Stress-Relieving Techniques, & Chasing Reports

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Well, we are all set to retrieve this weekend.  Todd will have his retrieval on Friday.  I will have mine on Saturday.  Apparently, the urologist doesn’t work on the weekends.  That bothers me that we weren’t told that before.  However, I am trusting that God will take care of his guys until it’s time to fertilize my eggs.  I’m excited.  I’m just ready to get on the road to St. Louis tomorrow.  I will pick Todd up at the airport and head that way.  We aren’t going to get any play time, like we had hoped.  That’s okay, though.  We’ll just have to visit St. Louis when we have some free time.

One thing I have noticed is that I’m not nearly as stressed by my schedule during this cycle.  Last week and this past weekend were crazy.  However, I wasn’t running around to massages, yoga, and acupuncture appointments.  Those are the stress-relieving techniques that I have used in the past that I am actually thinking might cause me more stress than they relieve.  Working my work schedule and social calendar around those can be difficult.  Because I have had a little more freedom after normal work hours, I’m actually caught-up on my missed time at work.  Therefore, when I return next week, I won’t have to make-up any additional time.  That gives me so much relief!!

What does not give me relief is that I had to track down my ultrasound report today.  When I left Dr. Nilson's office, Dr. Ahlering's office informed me they needed the report immediately.  Ugh!  After five phone calls, 2 1/2 hours of stressing, and several emails, the report was finally where it needed to be.  That was a stressor I didn't really need today.

Hope everyone is having a wet Wednesday!  Sorry, but I’m loving this rain.

IVF Cycle 5 - More Miscommunication, Travel Reset, & Shots

I do apologize for so many blog entries.  I know this is much more than I usually write.  However, I wanted to make sure I'm documenting this process, so I can remember everything.  Thank you to everyone that is still following along.

 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

We have had one more little mini setback with being told one thing and finding out it’s completely different.  Shawnie, my IVF coordinator, contacted me today to tell me that Todd would be having his TESE surgery this Friday.  Well, my retrieval will not be until at least Saturday, so that doesn’t make me feel good at all.  They are supposed to retrieve from both of us on the same day to make sure everything is fresh for the ICSI process.  I don’t like where this is going.  I’m waiting for her to speak to the phlebotomist, but I’m thinking of contacting Dr. Ahlering directly.
 

As for the car rental, it turned out we couldn’t use free days with Todd’s account because National didn’t have any cars in St. Louis for the time we needed.  Who knew they could run out of cars in such a large city.  I did get our car rental refunded…I think.  I have to wait 10 business days to be for sure.  Dumb me didn’t think when I set a non-refundable, non-transferable rental.  However, Priceline is going to be kind enough to help us out since the change is for a medical reason.
 

Also, I was able to postpone my flight, so we now have 1 year to use the credits for that.  I already have a plan in mind!  Air trip!
 

Todd pushed back the dates on the hotel.  No issues there.
 

It seems all of that work we did to make decisions on lodging and transportation were just a lesson in futility.  I’m excited to be traveling with Todd instead of alone, though!
 

Also, I wanted to mention how I’m feeling about my shots this cycle:

·         Gonal-F:  This is the first time I’ve used Gonal-F.  It’s basically the same thing as Follistim, except that it’s not.  J  I already mentioned that the pens are different.  Well, the pain is different, too.  After you inject and remove the needle for Follistim, it feels like a dozen little needles pricking you.  Well, with Gonal-F, the pain is at the same time (after the needle is removed), but the pricking is more dull and spread over the entire area.  It’s like one larger pain instead of a dozen small pains.  It’s bearable, though.

·         Menopur:  In the past, I have said that Menopur feels like acid entering your body.  I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t hurt as bad this time.  I have constant pain during the injection from where the needle is, but I’m not feeling the Menopur as much.  I’m not sure what changed on that, but thank you, baby Jesus!

·         Ganirelix:  After this shot is over and the needle is gone, I feel like I’m starting to bruise immediately.  I told Todd that.  He just kind of laughed at me…until he could see the bruise in the injection site an hour later.  It’s strange.

 

Those are the three shots I’m doing this cycle.  I’m keeping a shot count, so I can share that later, too.  However, I feel like the shots have gotten considerably easier.  Maybe that’s one of the benefits of being on your fifth cycle.

I hope everyone has had a thrilling Tuesday!

IVF Cycle 5 - Lost Blood Work & Ultrasounds

Monday, May 11, 2015

This has been kind of a wild few days.
 

Friday, I went to Dr. Nilson’s office for a blood draw.  Simple enough, right?!  Nope.  Substitute phlebotomist = no good news.  First of all, I had to tell her what I was there for.  Then, she didn’t know which vial to use.  Next, she told me that they couldn’t have my results back that day.  Hormotional Laura almost came out at that point, but I kept my cool.  I calmly explained to her that Dr. Nilson has retrieved these results the same day in the past.  She said she would call the coordinator, Cora, and get it worked out.  I didn’t trust the situation, so I had the receptionist check with Cora before I left.

 

And then, the results were never returned…until today.  You know what happened today?  I had a new estradiol blood draw that negated the results from Friday.  Dr. Ahlering basically had to guess on what my protocol should have been over the weekend.  Not cool at all.  Hormotional Laura cried in Dr. Nilson’s office today as she explained to Cora and Nilson how things should not have been like this.  For the record, I’m not sure either of them really cared.  Dr. Nilson tried to explain to me that those results weren’t that important.  I didn’t fall for that malarkey.

 

I had my blood drawn this morning at St. Francis Hospital in order to make sure I didn’t have to wait for anything.

 

Dr. Nilson did my ultrasound this morning, and it was just okay results.  It seems I have 9 follicles on the left ovary that are growing very well.  I have only 3 on the right ovary that are not growing very well.  Based on these results, I will not be leaving for St. Louis on Wednesday morning.  Instead, I will return to Dr. Nilson’s office for another ultrasound on Wednesday.  Todd will be home on Thursday, so I get to drive with him to St. Louis that day.  The flight and car rental that we booked ahead of time are going to not be needed.

 

That’s about all there is for an update on the cycle.

IVF Cycle 5 - Flights, Sedation, Shots, & Girl Party

Thursday, April 30, 2015

We booked my flight to St. Louis last night, so decision made there.  Just as I was about to book, I realized that the “Wanna Get Away” fare on Southwest was less miles than Todd had in his account.  Score one for a free ticket…not!  They were going to charge us $60 to transfer those miles from his account to mine.  That would only save us $50 on the ticket, so we passed in order to utilize those miles for free in the future.

Then, this morning, we found out that the urologist isn’t going to fully sedate Todd.  If I could insert an emoticon of a ticked off face right here, I would.  This is something we had discussed with Dr. Ahlering months ago.  He had said it would be no problem.  How do I take this news?!  I immediately start to think that it’s another sign that we should postpone the cycle.  Level-Headed Toddly brought me back to Earth and made me realize that at this point in the ballgame, I’m always going to wonder if we’re making the right decisions.  We’re in deep in this IVF stuff.  Planning round 5 is much harder for us than planning round 1 when we were hopeful and bright-eyed newbies.

Anyway, this made me think how I wish I could give my personal opinion on the three doctors we have used in this process.  Then, I realized that I could do just that on the blog.  Why not?!  It’s my blog, and you’re all my captive prisoners!  Mwah ha ha ha ha!!  <evil laugh>

Stay tuned for that blog entry after this cycle is complete.

 

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Shots have begun!  Actually, I’ve had 3 of them.  I’m doing Gonal-F this round instead of Follistim.  That’s like saying I’m eating bread instead of a roll.  Same difference.  However, the pen is a little different.  It dials a little differently, and the vials are already inside of the pen.  They really aren’t that big of a difference, though.  (This only means something to you if you have or ever will use Follistim or Gonal-F.)

Tomorrow, I have my first blood draw to check my estrogen levels since I started the shots.  Hopefully, everything is progressing nicely. 

Monday, we have our first ultrasound since these little follies started growing, and I’m pretty excited about that.  It will be after that appointment that I will know when we need to be in St. Louis.  I’m very excited about that!

As far as my anxiety goes, I’ve had a few instances that are out of my control that are causing it to rise.  Todd and I are working together to find ways to creatively eliminate those outside forces.  Hopefully, I’ll be back to cool, calm, and relaxed in no time.  He gets home from a business trip tonight, so I can’t wait to see him.

I spent Monday and Tuesday night at my mom’s house because Todd and my dad are out of town.  We had a grand old girly time.  We ate dinner.  We went for a walk to Sonic to get our dinner.  Yes, that’s a thing.  We watched TV.  She scratched my back.  I even took two shots at her house.  And she deserves props for doing a great job of keeping me chill and not bugging me with too many questions.  Thanks, Mom.  You’re the bestest.

That’s about all there is for an update on the cycle.  Mother’s Day is Sunday, and this year, I’m going to focus on it being about my mom, Mimi, and Todd’s mom.

Happy Little Friday!  (Sorry, Princess Burlap.  Can I steal that one from you?)