Need to pick your brains again

It looks like I'm getting my period today or tomorrow - so exciting!!!! This will hopefully be my first cycle back on the TTC train, after a 4 month pause.

We will be seeing the new RE, and have our new donor vials ready. Starting this cycle, I will be using Femara (or Clomid)

Question for you all:
How did taking Femara (or Clomid) affect your ovulation? I have a pretty regular cycle: 29-30 days, and I'm pretty sure I ovulate around CD15 (+/- 1 day). I've heard that Femara can make you ovulate 2-3 days early. One woman ovulated 5 days earlier!

My new RE said she has patients take Femara (or Clomid) CD3-7, then come in for an U/S on CD12. I'm worried CD12 might be too late? What if I ovulate on that day? That wouldn't leave me enough time to race to pickup the vials.

What do I do?? Should I ask for an U/S on CD11? I'm worried I'll end up paying for like, 5 ultrasounds - until we pinpoint the best time to trigger/IUI.

For any of you who've taken Femara/Clomid, I'd love to hear your experiences. (side effects, ovulation date changes, BFN/BFP, how many follies you had, etc.)

Wow - it's so weird to be back on the TTC train again. I gotta remember how to do this thang again. :)

Hurry Up & Get Here, 2009

Becky and I decided 2008 was a crap year. I have a thing with even/odd numbers - and odd-numbered years always outperform. This year was filled with sadness and disappointment. Some of 2008 highlights:
* After working 80 hour weeks trying to get an internal transfer, Becky was told they no longer had headcount
* My job got really bad (now is somewhat better)
* My aunt died suddenly
* My grandma died a week later
* Prop 8 passed
* The Mormon Church is making it difficult for me to leave, and I've received plenty of hate mail from Mormons
* I gained about 15 pounds
* We had 4 BFNs
* I had cysts, which forced me to lose 2 months of trying
* I had 7 polyps, and had to take 4 months off and undergo surgery
* Fairfax wouldn't refund us for 6 vials at 4mm, 5mm and 6mm counts.
* Our donor sucked, and we never even got 10mm count.
* Economy (my retirement funds are down 40%)
* Dog had surgery to remove cysts, and they are already growing back

I could go on....

But there is hope, and there were some nice things in 2008:
* Obama
* Tremendous post-mortem support for LGBT community after Prop 8
* 3 friends and 1 sister all had baby girls this year. :)
* Some of our fellow bloggers got BFPs!
* I discovered Top Chef, and it inspired me to start cooking
* I found you all! You bloggers have been a true anchor for us, going through this topsy turvy journey. I feel like I've made some friends for life (especially one Roslindale blogger who loves Dunkin Donuts. haha)

2009 is almost here. I have hope that it will be a much better year. We will be pregnant, and Obama will be sworn into office. We hopefully have try #5 coming up in December, so here's hoping for a little luck at the end of 2008. :)

This community makes me so thankful, I just have to say that. :)

Happy Smurf!

Thanks to everyone for their thoughtful input on my dilemma. I took your advice to heart, and had decided to tell my boss I had some medical monitoring going on at that time. I was all ready/nervous to tell my boss next week, when...
.... I found out that the December offsite got CANCELED!!!! SO HAPPY! No more worries. I swear, that is my guardian angel at work (because this team never misses an oppty for boozing offsite).
Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy....

well this sucks

So December is our first "try" in 4 months! This break is killing me. So we are totally ready to start again with the next cycle. It looks like my IUI date will be around 12/14-12/16. Guess what I found out today - my team for ONCE is planning a mandatory offsite in December. And guess what days they are looking at? 12/14-12/16!! A trip to Los Angeles, far far away from my RE.

What do I do, guys? I can't bear to lose another month, I really can't. Not for some stupid work event, and I dont even like most of the people on my team.

I will need to come up with some excuse, but trust me - it's going to look REALLY BAD, and I will lose a lot of favor with my boss and coworkers. I am so devastated right now. I really can't miss another month, especially when my RE said my polyps could start growing again in a few months, so "the sooner the better" on pregnancy.

:( I am so so so upset.

Happy Holidays from Us!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My new uterus

Sorry if these pics are TMI! I had my post-op just now, and my doc gave me 10 pictures from the surgery. She said my uterus was LOADED with polyps, and she's 100% convinced that's the reason I was unsuccessful at TTC. She said now I have a clean slate, a new beginning. *insert angels singing*

Here are two pictures from the surgery. The first shows my uterus looking "fluffy" - as in, many polyps all over the place. The second one shows a nice, clean uterus after surgery. She also showed me pictures of my fallopian tube openings - that was cool.

Thanks to everyone for their CCB feedback, sounds like most of you have had a good experience! (And I welcome any additional comments readers may have)

Any CCB customers out there?

Assuming my post-op appt goes OK tomorrow, we're hoping for IUI #5 in December. For this next round, we've switched to CA Cryobank (and obviously a new donor).

I'm curious to hear if you've ever used CCB, and what your experience was? Sperm counts? We are really hoping for success. Our last donor from Fairfax was 4-6mm counts - awful!

Also - I'd love to hear your stories if you've used Femara. We will be using Femara (and 2 IUIs). What were your side effects, how many tries did it take with Femara, and how many previous IUIs had you done without drugs?

I'm all ears! :D

Update from Sick Bay

You guys - thanks for all the nice 'get well' messages! Here's the quick update for ya's. Me+sofa=best friends. My doc instructed me not to walk around, not even a nice stroll in the park. I think I know why - when I took my dog for a potty walk, I could feel all kinds of tugging/twinging. Then the inevitable bleeding. I can't stop bleeding!!! It's not a lot - it's maybe like Day 5 of my period. But it's a constant little dribble (sorry, TMI), and very annoying. I just want it to stop.

My friend loaned me Arrested Development Season 1 DVD. I'm almost totally done watching it - it's quite a good show. Being a girl, I have to say I feel fat fat fat sitting here all day in my pjs. Ugh...I really want to get back to kickboxing.

Today B and I are deciding what to do. It's 78 degrees and sunny, which means there is no option but to enjoy the outdoors. Santa Cruz? Monterey? Delightfully, I am reminded that today I can drink again. :D I will take it super easy, of course. Maybe just one glass of something.

My post opp appt is Tuesday, where my doc will confirm if we can "try" in December. You realize what this means!!!!!! (Yes yes, aside from the fact that I only have 4 weeks left of sushi and wine) - that this 4+ month pause from TTC might finally be over.

"TTC Train, 2 tickets, please." :)

Surgery over! My surgery story...

My hysteroscopy was today - it started out really rough. I couldn't eat the entire day before, and I get BAD migraines when I don't eat. My migraine got so bad, i didn't sleep at all last night. I have a superior threshold for pain, and this was a 10/10 - no joke.

At 6:10am, we arrived at the Valley Ambulatory Center. Did some paperwork, they weighed me, took my stats. The nurses were so great. I met my anesthesiologist, and told him I had a horrible migraine, so he promised to give me some strong n@rcotics. I was REALLY faint from the headache and low blood sugar. I faint when dehydrated, so they laid me down. My blood pressure was 106/68, really low. I felt so miserable: starving, throbbing migraine, nausea, faintish.

They put the IV in my hand, and that was pretty freaking painful. They had to do it twice! They upped the IV drip. Becky left to go back to the waiting room, and they lead me to the operating table.

The table looked like something medieval. Big boots to strap your legs into, and they strap your arms out to the sides (like being on a cross). I got really nervous about getting the general anesthesia. The anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me, and the nurses them pinched my neck. (For some reason they need to do this when giving general) He told me he was then giving me a cocktail to help me sleep - I just looked up at the nurse. Within 5 seconds, I felt this very calm sleepiness. I blinked slowly once......then twice.....and that was it. I was worried for nothing! It wasn't scary at all - it felt nice. It was like staying up till 2am watching tv, and then finally laying your head down to sleep. that really good "I'm going to sleep now" feeling, that is similar to the "Milk after eating chocolate cake" feeling. :)

They allowed Becky to wait for me in the recovery room. It took me about 30 minutes to wake up. My eyes were totally blurry - apparently they put this gel over your eyes during surgery, so they can stay open. They rubbed most of it off. I felt REALLY lethargic - I couldn't move. I finally was able to nod. Becky said they had an oxygen mask on me, and took it off. I don't remember that part.

The best part was - my migraine was gone! They must have given me a horse narcotic, because that headache would have hospitalized most people. I felt so great. No headache, no nausea. Just very hungry! And groggy. it took about an hour from the time I woke up, to the time I could sit up and carry an easy conversation. It was nice having Becky there the whole time.

My doctor came by to tell me the news: I not only had 1 giant polyp, but she found 6 other "buds" that would have started growing in the next few months. She was glad I did the surgery, as I had a very hostile uterus environment with 6-7 polyps. The big one was 3 cm long, wow. I was relieved to hear it went well, and she caught those other ones. of course, the other part of me got scared. What if I am prone to chronic polyps??? She said it's possible, and that they could start growing back in a few months. She half-joked that it'll be best if I get pregnant in the near term. Hellz yeah!

Luckily, she feels I should be fine starting up again next cycle. So this time, since my polyps might come back - we're not effing around. It's going to be Fem@ra, HCG, ultrasounds and 2 IUIs. I'm hoping to switch to B's insurance for 2009, and they have a $20,000 lifetime fertility benefit. Only $10 copays! (except for IVF)

I think we might try another 6 months, then consider IVF. If we move to IVF, I will want another HSG and possible hysteroscopy again - just to clear everything out.

I HOPE HOPE HOPE this is what we needed to get pregnant. Damn, I had a giant polyp, 6 budding polyps, a donor with 3mm-5mm counts, etc. Next time I will have a cleaned-out uterus, a new donor, and a new doctor. and new drugs. :)

I was so happy to eat again today - we went to Chevys, and it was like heaven. Still recovering the next few days. feeling groggy, slow, crampy, bleeding like it's day 5 of my period, etc. And a wicked strep-like sore throat from the endotracheal tube. Good times.

We kept the hospital wristband, and hope to start a "Making Baby" journal. Someday our kid(s) will see what we endured in order to bring them into our lives. :)

RIP, Equality

Wow, I am so overdue for a post. We've been very busy the past few weeks, volunteering every minute of our time with NO on 8. Phone banking, tabling, rallies, etc.

I wish I had the energy to write everything going on in my head, but I am exhausted. We're overjoyed that Obama won, and disappointed that CA voters have decided to change our state's constitution to allow discrimination. I've gone from sad, to angry, to destructive, and back to sad. I'm getting very involved with local LGBT groups, as we figure out our next steps. In the meantime, I have resigned from the LDS church and am encouraging others to do so.

Someday I will write down my lengthy thoughts on Prop 8 - for now, I need to recalibrate my head a bit.

Now for some good news - In the past 7 days, two of my lesbian friends have had baby girls! AND my sister just had a baby girl 2 days ago. SO I am surrounded by babies. :) It's definitely reminding me why I'm working so hard to get pregnant. Which brings me to my next topic...

This Thursday is my hysteroscopy. I had my pre-op appt today, and got the "all clear" to move forward with surgery. I am worried about going under general anesthesia, coming out of anesthesia, and that this somehow will not improve my fertility. The are removing at least one polyp. I asked if we can continue TTC the cycle after, and they said I'll need to wait. If they do a lot of work, I may need to wait another cycle. LORD, we will have already waited 5 months!

I just want to get this surgery over with. We're ready for some nice additions to our lives. the past 3 months have been rough - working long hours, my aunt died, my grandma died, Prop 8 passed, and now surgery. We are hoping that 2008 is just a bad bad year, and that 2009 will be better. It will be the year Obama is officially president, and hopefully the year I get pregnant!

Question = for any of you who've had polyps removed, how soon after did you start trying, and how soon after did you get pregnant?

Ok, now I am off to catch up on all your blogs!