So exciting

I met a girl online (not in-real-life) through the IF board I frequent on The Nest. i took an interest in her story as she is also a patient of Dr. Swansons. Her blog is titled "Our Stork got lost...now what?" and is in my blog list below. Long story short, Kerry got her BFP yesterday after IVF #1. Check out here blog and read her post about her BFP. It's great! She really captures the excitement of her whole journey. I am so excited for her - although I have never "met" her. It is amazing the support and "friendships" you can create online - especially on The Nest's TTTC Board.

Congratulations Kerry!

Meet Dr. Swanson

All of this talk about Dr. Swanson and Conceptions made me think I should introduce you to them. Here is the link to check them out:

http://www.conceptionsrepro.com/

Wednesdays thoughts...

I called the Dr.s office yesterday and left a message for my Dr.'s nurse, Suzie. I let her know that we would have to pass on this cycle since Jason was out of town. i was secretly glad that i was able to leave a vm because i wasn't sure if i would "be in trouble". I am sure iui couples cancel - but i didn't want the office to think of us as "slackers". I got a message from Conceptions and it was SO reassuring...they even apologized to me that this cycle had to be cancelled. However, they did want me to test for my LH surge. Apparently, if you do not ovulate on clomid it can cause cysts. Fast foreword to that evening - I tested and sure enough I had my surge (CD 14 - textbook). So no worries. Now I am just looking forward to this next cycle. If all goes as planned our iui will be the week of Sept 8th...hmmm that would make a June baby. That is a TERRIBLE habit I have - figuring out a due date of a baby I am not even pg with. Oh well- one can dream.

IUI #3 Cancelled

I haven't posted in awhile. We went out of town for the weekend to go camping (had a blast) but before we left we found out Jason had to go to Utah this week for work. Ugh! It was important that he go - they are bidding on two large jobs up there and that will keep QPS busy during the winter (we need paychecks in the winter too) but I couldn't help but feel so put out that I took the meds for five days only to find out it was for nothing. After sulking for a few hours - I decided that it was for the best and we could save some money this month and get ready for next month. Everything happens for a reason.

Back to camping - we went up to Horsetooth reservoir with my sister and her family and some good friends of ours. We had so much fun! It was a nice distraction from IF. Check out the photos below.

I have also added a blog list to my blog. On the lower left hand side I will be adding my favorite blogs that I read, I just thought that I would share :).

The man that still makes my heart pitter-patter!

Abbey and Shane (Our niece and nephew)

The Party Cat!

Me sliding head first off of the Party Cat!

Me and the kids

Me and fearless Abbey going down the slide!

I get to do Acupuncture again!!!!

I started acupuncture back in January to help us out with IF. I LOVED it but had to stop going in April because it was $70.00 a treatment X 2 to 3 treatments a month. Ouch! On Monday I was reading over my health insurance policy (thats what you do when you are paying OOP) and I discovered that I have acupuncture benefits! Yay! My copay is $20.00. $20.00 vs. $70.00 - I can do that! So I called Anthem to find an in-network provider and low 'n behold if they didn't name Betsy who I had visited back in January. Betsy actually got me in on Monday. My pulses were still good so I wasn't too far out of whack from not seeing her in 2 months. I will go back and see her Friday the 15th after my IUI. At least our insurance covers something...

Mom and Aspirin

My mom has been doing some research on her own and has discovered the benefits of one baby aspirin a day for infertility.
The issue under research currently is whether this low-dose aspirin can also contribute to other aspects of the reproductive process, namely if aspirin can increase the blood supply to the uterus and ovaries. If so, it would mean that the uterus and ovaries would be on the receiving end of a more substantial dosage of serum-carried hormones, improving ovary productivity and thickening the lining of the uterus.
Studies out of the CER Medical Institute in Buenos Aires found that women undergoing IVF treatments who were administered aspirin became pregnant almost twice as often as women also undergoing IVF but who did not take aspirin. This was in part credited to the belief that aspirin contributed to an increase in egg production.
According to a study published in Fertility and Sterility, "Low dose aspirin treatment significantly improves ovarian response, uterine and ovarian blood flow velocity, implantation rate and pregnancy rate in patients undergoing IVF. Aspirin seems to be a useful, effective and safe treatment in patients who undergo assisted reproductive technologies."

Hmmmm,I know we are not doing IVF but if 1 little baby aspirin a day could help - sign me up! Thanks Mom!

Let me explain...

Okay - so I think I am getting ahead of myself - and everyone else. I just read over my last post and realized that if you are new to the world of IF you will have no idea what some of this gibberish is. So here goes. The process of an IUI starts out on the first day of your period - this is cycle day 1(or CD1). My protocol is to take 50mg of clomid on CD5 - CD9. On CD 12 I am supposed to start testing for my LH surge. What in the heck is an LH surge you ask? Well, here is the long explanation thanks to ovulation-calculator.com:

At the beginning of the menstrual cycle, the body begins to produce follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH facilitates the formation of a follicle on one of the ovaries. The follicle contains and nurtures the egg. When a follicle has adequately matured, a surge of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) causes the follicle to burst and release the egg into the fallopian tube - the moment of ovulation.
Throughout the menstrual cycle, a small amount of LH is produced - but during the middle of the cycle LH briefly and dramatically increases. Elevated quantities of luteinizing hormone facilitate ovulation - and OPKs detect this LH surge through anti-LH antibodies contained in the sensitive testing membrane of the test.
The LH surge is, alas, very brief - and in order to detect the LH surge, a woman needs to test at the right time of the month - and the right time of day. As LH is produced by the body in the morning, mid-afternoon is considered the ideal time to test.
Once the LH surge has been detected, successful fertilization is most likely to take place one to three days following the LH surge - with peak fertility at 36 hours post-LH surge. Since this ovulation "window" only opens once per month (and the unfertilized egg has a short 24-hour life-span) predicting ovulation accurately is very helpful when trying to become pregnant

So....

If i detect my LH surge I will call the Dr's office the day I detect it and we go in the next day for the IUI. Before the IUI i get an ultrasound and they look to see how many follicles I have, how big they are (usually, a mature follicle is about 20 millimeters in diameter, or about the size of a small grape, just before it ruptures and releases its egg) and what my lining is measuring at (measuring the thickness of the uterine lining, known medically as the endometrium, relates to determining how receptive it might be to the pending implantation of an embryo). If I do not detect my LH surge by CD12 I will go in for an ultra sound to measure the size of my follicles. If they are big enough (18mm or larger) the Dr.'s office will give me a "trigger" shot. A trigger shot is an injection of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which actslike LH, can be given to stimulate final egg maturation and follicle rupture, releasing the egg. I should ovulate about 36 hours after the HCG injection, which can be confirmed by further ultrasound scans or an ultrasound for release. 24 to 36 hours after my trigger we go in for the IUI.

So that's it in a nutshell. I don't know about you but my head hurts just thinking about it! Hope this helps!

IVF!?!?

I called Dr. S's office on CD1 and Suzie got me all set up for my dates this cycle. I remember Dr. S telling Jason and I that we will do 3 rounds of IUI and then regroup. So I asked Suzie if she had any idea what the next step is for us. I, of course, was thinking baby steps and that maybe we would move onto injectables with IUI before the big one.....I.......V.....F. And wouldn't you know it, she says to me, "most likely IVF" {{heart beats faster, hands get sweaty}}. Apparently injectables are for women who do not ovulate on their own or who don't react well with clomid. The Dr. is pleased with my results on 50mg of clomid - I have been producing two good sized follicles and my lining has been good as well. Suzie also said that the Dr. might be okay with us trying a couple more IUI's (but at $700.00 and change do we want to!?!?!) So I guess we will pass that bridge if and when we get there. I have two days of clomid down - 3 more to go. I will go in on Tuesday the 12th for an ultrasound if I do not detect my LH surge before then. Hopefully I won't have to get a trigger shot this time - my bum was SO sore after that!