Waiting. The first ultimate wait. This was our first cycle on injectible medications, Follistim and Pregnyl hCG Trigger shot to be exact, along with accurately timed Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).
I took Follistim 100 units for three days and then four days of the upped dosage to 125 units. On Monday, 04/13/09, the ultrasound revealed a complete surprise to us! First, we immediately saw my uterine lining which looked the plumpest I've ever seen it before! Oh, it was beautiful!!! Even Dr. Witten voiced his approval of it. Onto my ovaries... No longer was there just ONE mature follicule which now measured about 25mm but a SECOND mature follicule measuring about 22mm... I say abouts becuase I was rather distracted with the boys and making sure they were okay instead of writing down numbers on my brain. I had one mature follicule on each ovary!!! Holy cow! I also have several smaller follicules on my ovaries that he did not believe would ever catch up.
Dr. Witten then says, "IUI on Wednesday." My jaw was on the floor!!!! No way! I was hesistant at first as our insurance does not cover IUI or onwards right now... When I told him this he pretty much said I don't care and that this was our best option. Charles and I talked.
We then asked him about the whole eye issue and if it was related to the hormones or not as that would greatly impact our decision as well. It was decided that if this was our last medicated cycle due to the hormones messing with my eye then we would proceed with IUI but if not, we would just do timed intercourse. Dr. Witten was very much taken aback by this question on the hormones and insisted that before he proceed with anything further that I am seen by an Opthmalogist one floor below. The office itself called and made the appointment for that day at 1:45pm. It was now 11:00am ish so we had time to kill. We headed to Chick-Fil-A (My absolute favorite place to eat ever!) and killed some time. At the eye Dr. visit, I explained everything and then the Dr. said that he was going to pretend he did not hear anything I said and see what he finds. He looked. He said, nothing. He said all is well. I am a little a-symmertical but nothing that was to be concerend with and that I had his full agreeance to proceed further and that the hormones were doing nothing to me at all... :-)
So back to Dr. Witten's office we go... Charles and I decided to go ahead and move forward with the IUI as it does increase our chance of success. I was given the hCG Trigger shot at 3pm ish on Monday and was told that we need to drop off the "sample" promptly at 10am on Wednesday for the IUI to occur at 10:30am.
So, today we follow the timing precisely. When we were called back for the IUI they asked if we wanted to look under the microscope and see the spermies! Of course, I totally jumped on this! Oh, it was absolutely awesome to see all those sperm swimming around looking for the golden eggie but thankfully, no eggie was found in the petri dish they sat in! Oh, it was awesome to see though... And then Charles looked. It's amazing how when a man sees his "army" working as they should the pride and glee that take over their face. I loved seeing his facial reaction at this exact moment!
Then we go back into the room. It's funny. I am no longer told to get rid of my lower level of clothes but instead they just leave the room. haha! She verified my name and birthday to ensure that they had the right semen sample in the syringe reading for insemination!
When Dr. Witten entered, he asked Charles, "Do they have a GPS?" I said, "I sure hope so!" haha! I was totally expecting pain and completely discomfort but instead, I felt really nothing. I felt the speculum enter and about a minute later, I felt 10 seconds worth of warm burning sensation that was so slight had I been talking, would never have noticed it. And that was it. I then laid there for 15 minutes just as a precaution... I was told to take it easy for the rest of the day.
It was so weird feeling. Just the thought that maybe this is actually going to be it for us. You know. When we actually become parents. Charles and I are just excited and nervous and anxious to see how it all pans out... Everything humanly possible has been done. It's now up to God if we become parents or not. All we have left now is the faith and trust that we cling onto every single day!
As we were discussing some final details (such as me starting Progesterone supplements on Saturday twice a day) Dr. Witten came by and said that he feels as though we "hit a home run". He said that my eggs are incredibally happy (hence the Estrodoil number "well over 1,000") and the sperm are perfect... All the ingredients are there and no sense as to why it wouldn't work. While yes, science may say this but I know that just becuase it seems like all is perfect, I have learned that it does not guarantee anything!
So we will know May 1 or not if we are pregnant or not... Believe you me that I will let the whole world know if it succeeded or not! How will I occupy my time over these next two plus extremely long weeks.... Oh wait! I will continue peeing on HPT's!!! :-) Start looking out for more pee stick photos to come!
I took Follistim 100 units for three days and then four days of the upped dosage to 125 units. On Monday, 04/13/09, the ultrasound revealed a complete surprise to us! First, we immediately saw my uterine lining which looked the plumpest I've ever seen it before! Oh, it was beautiful!!! Even Dr. Witten voiced his approval of it. Onto my ovaries... No longer was there just ONE mature follicule which now measured about 25mm but a SECOND mature follicule measuring about 22mm... I say abouts becuase I was rather distracted with the boys and making sure they were okay instead of writing down numbers on my brain. I had one mature follicule on each ovary!!! Holy cow! I also have several smaller follicules on my ovaries that he did not believe would ever catch up.
Dr. Witten then says, "IUI on Wednesday." My jaw was on the floor!!!! No way! I was hesistant at first as our insurance does not cover IUI or onwards right now... When I told him this he pretty much said I don't care and that this was our best option. Charles and I talked.
We then asked him about the whole eye issue and if it was related to the hormones or not as that would greatly impact our decision as well. It was decided that if this was our last medicated cycle due to the hormones messing with my eye then we would proceed with IUI but if not, we would just do timed intercourse. Dr. Witten was very much taken aback by this question on the hormones and insisted that before he proceed with anything further that I am seen by an Opthmalogist one floor below. The office itself called and made the appointment for that day at 1:45pm. It was now 11:00am ish so we had time to kill. We headed to Chick-Fil-A (My absolute favorite place to eat ever!) and killed some time. At the eye Dr. visit, I explained everything and then the Dr. said that he was going to pretend he did not hear anything I said and see what he finds. He looked. He said, nothing. He said all is well. I am a little a-symmertical but nothing that was to be concerend with and that I had his full agreeance to proceed further and that the hormones were doing nothing to me at all... :-)
So back to Dr. Witten's office we go... Charles and I decided to go ahead and move forward with the IUI as it does increase our chance of success. I was given the hCG Trigger shot at 3pm ish on Monday and was told that we need to drop off the "sample" promptly at 10am on Wednesday for the IUI to occur at 10:30am.
So, today we follow the timing precisely. When we were called back for the IUI they asked if we wanted to look under the microscope and see the spermies! Of course, I totally jumped on this! Oh, it was absolutely awesome to see all those sperm swimming around looking for the golden eggie but thankfully, no eggie was found in the petri dish they sat in! Oh, it was awesome to see though... And then Charles looked. It's amazing how when a man sees his "army" working as they should the pride and glee that take over their face. I loved seeing his facial reaction at this exact moment!
Then we go back into the room. It's funny. I am no longer told to get rid of my lower level of clothes but instead they just leave the room. haha! She verified my name and birthday to ensure that they had the right semen sample in the syringe reading for insemination!
When Dr. Witten entered, he asked Charles, "Do they have a GPS?" I said, "I sure hope so!" haha! I was totally expecting pain and completely discomfort but instead, I felt really nothing. I felt the speculum enter and about a minute later, I felt 10 seconds worth of warm burning sensation that was so slight had I been talking, would never have noticed it. And that was it. I then laid there for 15 minutes just as a precaution... I was told to take it easy for the rest of the day.
It was so weird feeling. Just the thought that maybe this is actually going to be it for us. You know. When we actually become parents. Charles and I are just excited and nervous and anxious to see how it all pans out... Everything humanly possible has been done. It's now up to God if we become parents or not. All we have left now is the faith and trust that we cling onto every single day!
As we were discussing some final details (such as me starting Progesterone supplements on Saturday twice a day) Dr. Witten came by and said that he feels as though we "hit a home run". He said that my eggs are incredibally happy (hence the Estrodoil number "well over 1,000") and the sperm are perfect... All the ingredients are there and no sense as to why it wouldn't work. While yes, science may say this but I know that just becuase it seems like all is perfect, I have learned that it does not guarantee anything!
So we will know May 1 or not if we are pregnant or not... Believe you me that I will let the whole world know if it succeeded or not! How will I occupy my time over these next two plus extremely long weeks.... Oh wait! I will continue peeing on HPT's!!! :-) Start looking out for more pee stick photos to come!
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Jennifer