No Drama
Written on 18 July 2008 by AmyThis time around I’m not super obsessed with the IVF process. I’m not trying to find every little bit of information, I’m not lurking around the forums, or obsessively reading blogs. I’m just not that into it right now and it’s been nice. I honestly don’t even feel like doing my own blogging much less do more then skim other blogs. Things are definitely different this round. I don’t know if being more relaxed will help, but it certainly can’t hurt. I just need to step away from it all as much as possible for my own sanity. Tonight I start injections and that’s all I have to report for now.
The Long Wait
Written on 3 July 2008 by AmyAs you know, we’re embarking on our second IVF cycle. Shots, blood draws, exams…. the works. It’s impossible to plan anything because I never know when I’ll have a DR appointment. It all depends on how my body responds to the meds. And the DR is in San Francisco which isn’t exactly right down the street from my house.
About 2 weeks ago I got a Jury Summons. No big deal right? Wrong. It’s a HUGE deal. This is the first summons I have received in - I kid you not - over 10 years. I want to serve on a jury for a big case. I think it would be the coolest thing EVER. Granted, most people call in the night before and are dismissed, or are dismissed the next day. But there is still a possibility of being called to serve. Of course, my date has to fall on July 18th. There is just no way -for those of you familiar with the geography of the Bay Area - for me to make it to the DR in San Francisco, and then back to the courthouse in Fairfield on a weekday morning. I’m going to have to ask for a deferral and hope they call me again. This sucks.
And They’re Off!
Written on 1 July 2008 by AmyWe’re on to round two. I’m back on the birth control pills and we’re on a new protocol. For the first IVF we were on the “Long Lupron Protocol” and now we’re doing the “Antagonist Protocol”. The stimultation meds are the same, but no Lupron at all, and something called Ganirelix Acetate used later in the cycle. Overall there will be less injections so that’s always a good thing.
My friend Jenny was in town over the weekend and I gave her a demonstration with a saline injection… it’s amazing how giving yourself shots is like riding a bicycle. It’d been a while, but it was easy enough to do. Her reaction reminded me of my own when I saw our trainer show us how to do injections. Comical.
I was suprised at how long I’ll be on birth control… 18 days. And maybe it was that long before, but the first time the Lupron shots overlapped with the pills so I think it seemed like we were moving on the next step quicker. So for now I’m back on “the pill” and then move on to the stims on July 18th.
Oh The Irony
Written on 23 June 2008 by AmyAt any other time a late period might be cause for celebration. In post-failure IVF land it means your body is still out of whack from the drugs. From what I’ve read, it’s not uncommon for your natural cycles following IVF failure to be late by days or even weeks. I’ve been so regular over the years you could set your calendar by me … assuming you wanted a 26 day calendar. This is foreign territory for me. And now we wait.
You Really Need a Reader
Written on 19 June 2008 by AmyI subscribe to feeds for 63 different news, blogs and entertainment sites. The breakdown is as follows:
IVF blogs: 35 feeds
Reality News: 8 feeds
News News: 4 feeds
Friends and Family: 16 feeds
I would have to be crazy (or have way too much time on my hands) to go to 63 sites every day to check for updates. So I use Google Reader to keep track of the happenings out in the world. I let Google go out and check for updates to all the web sites I read regularly and it will let me know when a new blog or article has been posted.
The great thing is that almost every site these days publish feeds of their material. A feed is generally the title along with a snippet of text, or the full text, of the published article. It will include clickable links which will take you directly to the original source.
There are so many feed readers these days. Feed support is even built into the browsers these days (Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Firefox). Just look for this little icon: 
If you regularly read blogs or look at news sites, you have to use a feed reader. It just makes web surfing that much easier.
Here We Go Again
Written on 19 June 2008 by AmyAs Drew talked about in his blog, we’ve had a tough decision to make - fresh or frozen for the next cycle. Since none of this is covered by insurance - and all of it by credit card - we had to look at options, talk to people, and talk amongst ourselves. We decided that we had to set ourselves up for our best chance at success - and that means our second and final fresh cycle. We can’t afford a third. As soon as my current natural cycle completes I’ll be back on the meds. Wish us luck.
The Cost of Doing Business
Written on 21 May 2008 by AmyIVF: 11,000
ICSI: 1,500
Meds: 5,000
Freeze Embryos: 1,000
No insurance discount: -2,000
Home pregnancy tests: 50
Positive Negative blood test = Priceless $16,550
No News is Bad News
Written on 20 May 2008 by AmyI saw that on someones infertility blog once “No news is bad news”. In other words, if you don’t hear anything in the near future it’s probably because I have nothing to shout from the rooftops.
Results Due
Written on 20 May 2008 by AmyI had my blood test this morning. We’re not holding out much hope. Today is 17DPO and every pee stick test has been negative - including this morning. While it is still possible, it is very unlikely that the blood test results will be different. Some women never register a positive result on a pee stick no matter how pregnant they are. Others don’t test positive until 20DPO+. But those are the exceptions. The one-off cases. The ones you hear about and go “Wow!” because they are unusual. I’m going to guess that we have about a 5% chance of actually being pregnant despite the negative results seen already.
The lab said they’d process the results today. We’ll see.
Snow White
Written on 15 May 2008 by AmySo of course I broke down early and tested. I’m only human. So far all I’ve gotten are Negatives. It’s still early - 12 DPO, but I see many women on the boards getting positives at 8, 9, 10 days… So, early or not, there was a possibility. And there is still a possibility. You’re not supposed to start testing until around 14 DPO anyway. Luckily this isn’t my first rodeo - I’ve had plenty of experience with Negative tests over the years. I’m not an emotional wreck over it.
Deep down I think I expect it not to work. I don’t know if I’m just being realistic based on the odds (which are 60/40 against us) or if I’ve had too many years of this not working out. Maybe it’s because everyone we know who has had IVF didn’t succeed on the first try. Not to mention the countless women I read about in the forums and blogs. It’s hard not to be pessimistic. It’s easier to set myself up to not be too disappointed.
The beta blood test is 5 days away. It doesn’t matter how many times I pee on a stick between now and then. A Positive on a pee stick wouldn’t even mean much if the beta number is too low on 17 DPO. That blood test will be the definitive answer.