Survey Says!

HARVESTING IS MONDAY! 10:45am. Which means I am triggering tonight at 12:45am. Oy. These people do not care that I haven't slept in weeks.

After my appointment, I spent the afternoon visiting my grandmother. She's almost 91 with Alzheimer's. God what a shitty, shitty disease. She also suffers from osteoporosis. She fell out of bed about a week and a half ago and broke her leg. This is the second time in about 6 months. Poor thing is a mess. She's on bedrest for 6 weeks. I just felt awful for her. She was in a pretty good mood and had a good deal of sense about her (it's very in and out), but she was very antsy. Who wouldn't be? One day of bedrest and I'm out of my mind and my back kills me. She's 11 days into bedrest and still in a good mood. I would most definitely be throwing things at people.

It was a good visit overall, I'm not entirely sure she knew exactly who I was (my name/relation), but she definitely remembered she was comfortable with me. There was about a 5 minute span where she even asked about J - so at least then she definitely knew me for a few.

Ugh...Alzheimer's sucks. I have always been very close to both my grandmothers. On the bright side though, she has led this truly amazing life. And 91 years - I hope I've inherited the longevity.

The best part of waking up

J and I went to the doc appointment together this morning. Blood work and ultrasounds. Man, I am sick of blood work.

Follicle is up to 19mm. The doc says 90% chance that my harvesting will be Monday...but they want to wait on my labs to be sure. They'll call this afternoon and let me know for sure.

Surprise

Lab results came back in and it looks like the harvesting is going to be Monday. I didn't fight it - my hormone levels were still on the low side. So all my faith is riding on this dude...and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I took a half day from work - left the office around 11:30. Got out of DC on a beautiful day - a quick drive past the cherry trees, which still blooms on them. Although when I drove past (which the help of a little breeze), it looked like snow. Makes me miss DC in the Spring. Windows open, people flying kites on the mall, tourists with their noses in maps, horse and carriage rides. Ahhhh....

Got to my grandparent's house around 1 - had a little lunch. And Jeffrey - who said he'd be here around 4 - turned out to be a big fat liar and showed up at 2pm. Good surprise...made me cry. So incredibly glad to see him. It's been unbelievably weird doing all this without him. I'm so glad he'll get to go to my appointment with my in the morning - time to get this boy involved...no doubt it feels VERY unreal to him!

I Walk The Line

The little follie (who has already been nicknamed "Lefty") is up to 17.5mm. It's supposed to be between 18 and 20 to be considered mature enough to trigger. So I'm on the line. I'm in the gray area. Do we trigger tonight, harvest Sunday? Or do we wait one day longer - let it mature, but risk ovulation and harvest Monday?

The docs are still mulling it over. They'll make their decision based on my blood work results that should be in by this afternoon.

I have a feeling that if we wait until Monday - it'll be gone. They'll miss it. I'm hoping when they call, they'll tell me Sunday. But if they don't...I'm going to push for Sunday anyway. What do I have to lose?

In other news: I am feeling fabulous. I will never, ever, ever hop back on those stim drugs. In comparison with how I'm feeling right now (totally normal) it really scares me at how screwed up that stuff made me. Terrifies me, actually. My god, I was a nutjob for a good solid 8 months strictly from hormones. Then I was an emotional trainwreck for loads of months afterwards just from the trauma of the whole ordeal. Never again. I'll be singing praises for Natural Cycle from the highest mountaintop even if it doesn't work.

Hell, I think I'm a little in love with my doctor for even offering it.

The Quick Egg

I'm having one of those days where I'm totally in awe of the human body.

I went in for my bloodwork / ultrasound this morning, and that little egg is just growing away. Already I'm at 15mm (mature is between 18 and 20). So the good news is the doc seems to think this cycle is going to go by relatively quickly - less needle pokes, I get to sleep in my own bed sooner. The bad news is the doc seems to think this cycle is going to go by relatively quickly - the faster my body works, the trickier the timing gets.

But all that aside - the egg is growing. I find this the slighest bit amazing. Why you ask? Well because I'm getting by on about 3 hours of sleep a night, I'm so busy between clinic visits, hours of traffic for each one-way leg of my trip and work that I'm actually forgetting to eat. I've been constantly on the go - I'm up at the latest by 4am everyday. I'm wiped. I'm drinking WAY more coffee than I should be (actually, I shouldn't be drinking any). I AM eating healthy (you know - when I remember).

And still - I'm growing an egg. And quickly.
Must be one tough little guy...hopefully it'll stay that way.

Dear Such and Such

You know those excuse notes you would have your parents/doctors write when you were in school?

Dear Such and Such,
My daughter has a sprained ankle, she should not participate in gym this week.
Sincerely,
Mom - or Dr. Whoever

I need one of those notes, man!

Dear Such and Such -
Please excuse K for her social inept-ness for the next two weeks. For her inability to concentrate, respond to simple questions and her miniature mental breakdowns when faced with decisions like: "Paper or plastic?", or "Would you like fries with that?", or "What would you like to drink with dinner?".
She has IVF-head this week. Expect side effects of: extreme anxiety, crying at the drop of a hat, insomnia, exhaustion, and irritation at everything.
Sincerely,
Dr. Charges Too Much

Day 1

Mother Nature has kicked in, and this cycle is officially underway. I called my IVF coordinator this morning, she's supposed to call back and get my order form in to the pharmacy for all my drugs today.

J and I are heading up to DC on Saturday for a wedding - he'll be coming back home on Sunday and I'll be staying there for treatments.

I feel like hell, but man I'm excited! :)