Praying For Hope: Harumph!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Harumph!

The #$*&@ fertility monitor's prediction was wrong. I either ovulated on Friday or Saturday, not today. I don't know which day exactly since I forgot to take a reading when I returned home incredibly late Friday night after Les Mis. I'm setting it down as Saturday to give myself the benefit of the doubt, but I'm 90% positive it was Friday. I had spotting that day and a full day of 10CL and 10CKL. By Saturday, I just barely eked out 8CL in the morning (and I'm still questioning the L) with nothing following for the rest of the day. I know that technically, Saturday is THE peak day - that's the way it shows on my chart - but I believe ovulation was on Friday.

Well. DH and I didn't manage to get together until Saturday night at bed time. I wanted to earlier, but we were either busy or when we weren't, MIL was up and about. As much as we would have liked, we couldn't exactly say, "Will you excuse us a moment? We want to make a baby now. We'll be back in an hour. Thanks!"

I consider this cycle a bust. The last time we BD'd before Saturday was on Wednesday. Timing-wise, that's not bad. It could be better, but it's not bad. Without going into details, though, I'll just say that saliva was involved that day and saliva kills sperm. I don't have great hopes for that.

I'm in a "mood" now. Part of it's due to yet another cycle of no hope; part of it's due to my cousin. As you know, he's back home from Iraq. I'm happy. We were all worried while he was gone. But now that he's back, his sisters and mom are already talking about more kids from him. Right. That's all I need. He spends eight months overseas, and he and his wife will get pregnant and have their second child before DH and I manage to get pregnant with our first. Perfect. Just to be clear, I don't think they're pregnant yet, but it's only a matter of (not enough) time. The situation is harder to deal with when it's happening in your own family. It's much, much easier to handle coming from strangers, acquaintances, and annoying coworkers.

Anyway, that's my unproductive weekend . . . pun intended. I'm trying to let it go - really, I am - but I'm having problems getting past the point of wanting to take it in my bony fingers and strangle it.

4 comments:

the misfit said...: :( Sometimes the scheduling is the hardest part. (And, I'm finding, while the drugs will nominally help, they are making a previously crystal-clear cycle impossible to read!) Hope your MIL feels better (and goes home? Does she live with you guys?) and you get everything perfect next time.; June 15, 2009 at 12:51 PM
prayerfuljourney said...: I think the "timing" thing is a little stressful and can cause friction between two people who love each other. Do you think all the teens out there who are parents gave timing a thought? I just try to leave this all in the Lord's hands. It's all about HIS timing, right? I just aim to be "lovin" around my O time. That causes less stress. :); June 15, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Praying for Hope said...: Misfit, MIL lives two hours up state. She's with us temporarily. She may be going home later this week. Her neighbor's driving down to visit her son. If she does, she may be able to take MIL back home. Then again, this neighbor isn't reliable: she could change her mind about coming down as she's backing out of her garage.; June 15, 2009 at 3:36 PM
A said...: I know how it feels to have less-than-perfect timing, so many hugs and prayers coming your way. Maybe you'd have a chance to talk with your doctor over the next few weeks in case he/she wants to start a medication regimen next cycle?; June 15, 2009 at 9:04 PM

TTC History

9/1/2007 - Married to a perfect man.

10/28/2007 - Started the never ending road of TTC at the tender age of 37. How many other people do you know who can name the exact date they started trying for a baby?

3/12/2007 - Decided my husband and I weren't getting anywhere on our own in TTC and and that it was time to look for someone who could help.

4/10/2008 - Attended our first CreightonModel Fertility Care class and started tracking my cycle.

4/25/2008 - Had our first one-on-one session with our FertilityCare practitioner. We learned a lot. She suggested an appointment with one of the practice doctors, Dr. Mark Stegman, a skilled Napro doctor and surgeon, we took her up on the offer. We might be able to get an appointment some time in August.

4/28/2008 - Got a call from a receptionist from Dr. Stegman's office. Could I come in next week? Yes!

5/5/2008 - My first appointment with Dr. Stegman. He was very thorough in discussing our options and a potential plan of action for us. We'll begin with blood work to establish a hormone profile series in my next cycle.

5/2008 - Blood work every other day for two weeks. The nurse at the front desk knew me by sight by the time we were done. I nearly passed out at the payment desk on the day they took 10 vials of blood. That was pleasant. Did I mention that I hate needles?

5/27/2008 - Our first seminal analysis (SA). We're not keen on the special condom meant for the job.

6/30/2008 - Our follow up appointment with Dr. Stegman to learn about the results of our tests and where we go from there. My blood work looks good. My husband's SA looks good, too, except for forward progression. We scored a 1+. I believe 2+ is the preferred score. Dr. S recommends Proxeed. He also tells us he wants to schedule a selective hysterosalpingogram, a hysteroscopy, and a laproscopy some time late summer or early fall.

7/30/2008 - Being too cheap to shell out over $600 for a 6-month supply of Proxeed, my husband and I opt for the generic equivalent. It's a lot of vitamins, but it's much kinder to our wallet.

9/8/2008 - I have the preliminary exam, blood work, and tests prior to my surgery. I'm so nervous, I'm about ready to run screaming out the door, down the steps, across the parking lot, and straight home so I can hide under the bed with the dog. It's a miracle that I don't.

9/9/2008 - I have the SHSG, hysteroscopy, and laparoscopy and, much to my surprise, I survive. My tubes are good (woo hoo!), and I have no adhesions. Dr. S removes three polyps and "quite a bit" of endometriosis. It doesn't look that bad in the pictures of the surgery. It's fascinating to see what I look like from the inside out.

9/10/2008 - 9/12/2008 - I look like Shamu.

10/30/2008 - We're told that everything from the surgery looks good. The scars will fade over the coming months. We're to try to make a baby on our own for the next 6 months. Dr. S calls this "the fun part."

1/30/2009 - We have another appointment with our FertilityCare practioner (we've had quite a few before this, but I haven't mentioned them). She thinks Dr. Stegman might try me on Clomid as a next step. I hope it's Femara. It's not nearly as drying.

2/3/2009 - We have our second SA. We're still not keen on the condom.

3/4/2009 - This is fun?

3/27/2009 - The scars from the laparoscopy are nearly gone. Oh, and I'm 39.

4/9/2009 - Another appointment with Dr. Stegman. We learned the results of the SA. The numbers are no worse than the first - in fact some are much improved - but forward progression is no better. Our plan of action: optimize mucus by taking Mucinex twice a day from CD8 - P+1 plus 500 mg of extended release B6 daily for 2 months followed by 100 mg daily. DH is to make an appointment with a local urologist while Dr. S contacts a urologist in Philly with an interest in male infertility to learn if there is any more we could be doing. Next follow up: August.

4/29/2009 - We - or more like DH - had our urologist appointment. Official dianosis: nothing. No varicoceles, no prostate problems. Prescription: continue doing what we're doing. For this we needed a urologist?

5/29/2009 - Dr. S is booked for the month of August! They said they'd call when August opened up for appointments. I didn't hear the phone ring. September opens up next week. An additional month of nothing. I'm 39 - Methuselah in TTC years. How many months do I have left?

7/16/2009 - Ho hum.

7/24/2009 - Another FerterlityCare appointment. Our FertilityCare practitioner, Kim Lane, suggested that Dr. S may be taking his cue from me as to how aggressively we want to pursue treatment. I need to come up with a few new cues so we can get off the wait-and-see treadmill.

9/17/2009 - Another follow-up with Dr. Stegman. Our plan starting with the next cycle: 1) Limited hormonal profile, 2) An ultrasound series to monitor follicle development, 3) Ovulation stimulation (type and amount to be determined by the u/s series), 4) Food intolerance testing (is it ALCAT?), 5) Five cycles of Amoxicillin from CD8 - CD12 to improve CM.

9/28/2009 - The beginning of another hormone profile and, a new one for me, a follicular ultrasound study. This should be interesting provided I can keep track of all the appointments.

10/4/2009 - 5th ultrasound and three follicles! Can you imagine? So what does that make FSH?

11/11/2009 - Progesterone and Thyroid support! We had another appointment with Dr. S to discuss the test results and come up with another plan of action. FSH and LH were only 5.7 and 5.1 respectively - good levels, good ratio - but TSH and Reverse T3 were slightly high and progesterone plummeted afer P+5. Ovulation looks great, so no ovulation stimulation . . . yet. Ah, well.

12/8/2009 - I am a fertility magnet. Anyone in my vicinity will, given the opportunity, become pregnant within a year, TTC or not. Whether it be a 20 year old woman or an 80 year old man, it doesn't matter. All those around me, as long as they're not actually me, will have a child. I am blessed with an awesome power. . . . How do I reverse the polarity?

1/27/2010 - BFP. Stunned.

1/28/2010 - I called Dr. S's office the moment they opened. We have blood work this afternoon, 200mg of Progesterone, and a prenatal appointment. Prenatal. With a midwife. I'm really pregnant. Me.

1/29/2010 - P+17 numbers are hCG, 472, and Progesterone, 10.2. PIO twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. I can’t sit down, but I’m too restless to care. The HPT was right.

2/1/2010 - You do not make a desperate, hormonal woman wait for P+21 hCG results! By the way, they're 1670. I'm limp with relief.

2/11/2010 - There’s a baby in there! Our first ultrasound. Junior is measuring 6 weeks, 1 day with a heart rate of 96 bpm.

2/16/2010 - Progesterone results from the last blood draw haven’t budged, so we’re adding daily progesterone suppositories to the twice a week injections. I’ll do whatever it takes.

3/2/2010 - Progesterone has risen to 27.4, zone 3! No PIO for now, just suppositories until the next blood draw in two weeks. If it still looks good (fingers crossed), we may be able to stop the suppositories. Knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood . . . .

3/27/2010 - New decade: I'm 40!

4/5/2010 - No more progesterone. The level at the last blood draw is 30 which I don't think sounds particularly high. If the experts are happy, I'm happy. And the results from the Down Syndrome screening came back: we're at no greater risk for Downs than anyone else. We're breathing again, until the next milestone at least.

5/18/2010 - It’s a mobile, little girl! Keep growing, kiddo.

10/11/2010 - Welcome Kathleen Elizabeth.