My plan for stress relief

I know that the IVF cycle is going to stress me out and I want to avoid obsessing over it.  I'm therefore preparing a "kit" to help handle the stress: funny DVD's (I took "The Wire" off my Netflix queue for now and added a bunch of comedies and silly sitcoms), downloading lots of guided meditation podcasts, buying chocolates and other treats.  I will also go to acupuncture as often as needed in the next few weeks.  We planned a long weekend to Ireland and will be leaving about 3 weeks after "test day."  That way, we can either celebrate our success or drown our sorrows if it doesn't work.  Either way, it will keep my mind occupied.  My mom forwarded me this article, which says that laughter after your IVF transfer could increase your chances.  It's a good thing 30 Rock is back on - that show makes me laugh more than anything (except maybe Colbert!)

The Lupron is treating me well so far - no side effects that I've noticed.  I'll stop BCP's on Tuesday, then stims next week.

Bring on the Lupron...

I started the Lupron this morning and will have a date with the needle every morning for the next 4 weeks.  Fun!  Hopefully I won't get the dreaded side effects that everyone is talking about.  Work is very busy but should slow down in the next few weeks, and I've cleared out my schedule for most of February.  I found out yesterday that my "natural killer cells" bloodwork came back normal so that's good news.  I'll check back in a few days.... running out the door for a meeting.

Pre IVF testing complete!

Bloodwork - check!
Semen analysis - check!
Cervical culture - check!
Saline sonogram - check!
Trial transfer - OUCH! - check

As of today, all of our pre-IVF testing is complete.  I had my trial transfer, cervical culture, and saline sonogram this morning.  All went fine and no issues, but man, the trial transfer hurt!  I guess my uterus deviates a little to the left (as the doctor put it) so they had issues getting the catheter to go to the correct spot.  So, he poked around quite a bit in there and it hurt pretty bad!  The saline sonogram was totally clear - my polyp of doom hasn't returned.  I'm on BCP's till the 25th, antibiotics for the next 3 days, will be starting Lupron on the 19th and then starting stims Feb 4th!  So, things are moving along fine.  We did hit a bit of a speed bump with my bloodwork -- they found that I'm not immune to varicella (chicken pox) anymore, so they said I need to be vaccinated ASAP.  Luckily, my local Wal.greens clinic does them, so I got the vaccine on Saturday.  It could have screwed up the whole cycle, because you can't get pregnant for at least 30 days after the vaccine.  But the timing of this vaccine was OK - the earliest date I could possibly be pregnant is the 17th of February. 

Lots of stuff going on, I'll keep you all updated.  I'm glad to see many of my blog friends are going through IVF around the same time as me - let's keep each other sane!

Here we go with IVF #1!

Things are getting going with IVF #1!  I'm starting birth control pills tomorrow and Lupron around the 19th.  Then, I'll start stims shortly after that.  Retrieval will most likely be the week of Feb. 14th, and transfer later that week or the following week.  The only issue is that the Bunny will be away from Feb. 5 - 12th on a snowboarding trip with friends, and if retrieval ends up getting moved up a few days, he'll have to come home early.  I have to try and talk about it with him tonight - he won't be happy at all if he has to cut his vacation short.  I'm going to pick up the meds tonight.  Exciting times!