It's been a while...an update is in order

When was my last post? Ah yes, fall of 2009. Well, the three to four months off of fertility treatment went faster than I thought it would be. During the time "off", I took DHEA. My side effects from the drug? Pimples! Lots and lots of pimples! They pop up everywhere! Oh yeah, my scalp feels more oily. By the afternoon, it's like I didn't wash my hair.

Since I have taken DHEA for over three months, I'm good to go (ie., start trying again). Now I'm on day 12 of my cycle and I have a left follicle that is already approximately 2.0 cm. Oh, before I forget, I took Femera on cycle days 3 to 7 and the dose was 5.0mg (double my previous doses). My FSH on cycle day 3 was 4.8 (normal).

I have also registered at the Alan E. Beer Center to have some tests done. The registration at the center required a lot of information about my past treatments. Luckily I documented my treatments over the three years. It's not easy to remember the 13 IUI's and the dates of each one. About two weeks ago, I finally got a recommendation from the center of what tests they would like me to do. Aside from lots of blood tests, they also require me to do an endometrial biopsy. Since I'm on my fertility treatment, I will not do the tests yet.

Okay, update complete.

IUI #12 - CD18 and insemination day

Attempt #12 has been a bit out of the ordinary. In this cycle, I took Femera on CD 3 to 7 along with ASA. In the past, I usually ovulate on CD16 on the first cycle with Femera and then on CD13 on the second consecutive cycle with Femera. This is the first cycle with Femera (took a break last month) and I'm ovulating on CD18. In addition, the second follicle is big enough to warrant measurement. There is no big jump in the size of the follicles as they grow gradually each day. My husband said the follicles are growing like me (I do things slow). I really hope this is a good sign.

Today I had my IUI #12 at around 9:45am. There is one large follicle (2.0cm) on the right side and a borderline follicle (1.5cm) on the left side. I know that ovulating naturally will only result in one mature follicle but I am hoping for a miracle.

The Beta test is scheduled to be on September 4th (a day right after our wedding anniversary). I will try to refrain from using the home pregnancy tests and wait for the blood test result. I hope that I can give my husband a sweet wedding anniversary present this year with a positive result.

Our next step...

Well, I am finally writing about our meeting with our fertility specialist on July 22nd. Since both IUIs failed, our doctor recommended IVF. In addition, she said that since IVF is expensive, she suggests that I have a hysteroscopy first just to make sure my uterus is ok (my uterus has a little dip in the middle). There is a waiting list for the hysteroscopy because the hospital only provides certain time slots for this kind of procedure. She said that there is approximately five months wait. Holy crap! I can't do nothing for five months. I've already been idle for the first four months of this year. I'm going to be 36 by the end of this year and my eggs are aging along with me. My husband asked if we can try with IUI and femera while we wait for the hysteroscopy. We got a go ahead from the doctor. Phew, I guess? At least I'm not idle. The doctor prescribed two cycles worth of femera so I guess I have two more tries this year.

Two other things the doctor brought up was IvIg and pre-implantation genetics diagnosis (pgd). She prefers that I do the IvIg in the hospital to be administered by the person who usually does this kind of treatment. Good news for me that she is cautious with regards to this procedure. As for pgd, she said that the clinic I went to earlier this year for the recurrent miscarriage analysis does this procedure. If we opt for this then we would probably have to do the IVF at that clinic. The problem I have with this is the full bladder and having to travel quite a ways. If we do decide on this path then I'll just have to suck it up and take it for the team.

IUI #11 - CD12 Second Day of Monitoring

I went in for bloodwork and ultrasound today. My right follicle is 2.2 cm and my uterus lining is 0.7. The co-ordinator told me that I am starting to surge because my LH has doubled from yesterday.

I took an HCG shot at around 8:30 pm.

I will be going in for an IUI on Saturday at 9:30 am.

This is it!!!

IUI #11 - CD 11 First Day of Monitoring

Today is my first day of monitoring. I went in for bloodwork and ultrasound. One follicle on my right side and I think my follicle size is 2.0 cm. Awesome!

IUI #11 - CD3 Full Bladder Ultrasound

Yikes! Today, I had to go in for a full bladder ultrasound to see if I have any cysts before taking Femera. I really hate the feeling of the pressure on my bladder.

I never understood why I had to go in with a full bladder when afterwards; they always do a transvaginal ultrasound. This time, I asked the lab technician. According to the lab technician, the full bladder ultrasound gives her a better view of the pelvic area, the ability to detect large cysts and possibly see things that might be missed by the transvaginal ultrasound. Okay, good enough for me.

I was told that I don’t need to have a really full bladder because it makes my uterus tilt and as a result, not much can be seen. Phew, that is good news for me.

I got the green light to start Femera today.

Infertility Sucks! Part V

January 2009

- no longer taking Chinese herbal tea

February 11, 2009

We went to see the specialist that studies recurrent miscarriages. I had a blood test done at the clinic (took 8 to 10 vials) and another test done at the nearby hospital (took 8 to 10 vials).

April 23, 2009

Follow up at the specialist. The Feb. 11 test results showed elevated TSH level (may be the reason for the miscarriages). The specialist recommended low dose ASA (81mg) and for us to go back and see him when we are pregnant so they can monitor us. Took another TSH blood test and another bunch of blood tests for study purposes. Later found out that the TSH blood test came back normal.

April 2009

- stopped acupuncture

May 14 - Jun. 13, 2009 (IUI #10)

- 2.5 mg of Femera on cycle days 4 to 8, Bromocriptine 1.25mg, ASA 81mg, IUI, progesterone suppositories and Crinone

- full bladder ultrasound on May 16th (cycle day 3) to see if there are cysts before starting Femera

- blood tests on May 16th: TSH = hypo, PRL = 12, and FSH = 5.1

- forgot to take Femera on May 16th so started on May 17th (day 4)

- blood test on May 26th (day 13) showed normal TSH level

- left follicle: 2.2cm and uterus lining: 0.8cm

- IUI on May 29th (day 16)

- Jun. 11th pregnancy test was negative

Infertility Sucks! Part IV

Aug. 20 - Sep. 17, 2008 (IUI #8)

- 2.5 mg of Femera on cycle days 3 to 7, Bromocriptine 2.5mg, Metformin 500mg (3 times a day), Chinese herbal tea, acupuncture, IUI and progesterone suppositories

- HCG shot and acupuncture on Sep. 2nd (day 14)

- right follicle: 2.25cm and uterus lining: 0.1cm

- IUI on Sep. 3rd (day 15)

- Sep. 15th pregnancy test was negative

Sep. 18 - Nov. 22, 2008 (IUI #9)

- 2.5 mg of Femera on cycle days 3 to 7, Bromocriptine 2.5mg, Metformin 500mg (3 times a day), Chinese herbal tea, acupuncture, IUI, progesterone suppositories, Crinone and HCG support

- full bladder ultrasound on Sep. 20th (cycle day 3) to see if there are cysts before starting Femera

- left follicle: 2.369 cm and uterus lining: 0.8cm

- acupuncture and IUI on Sep. 30th (day 13) - Hubby came with me for the first time

- hpt on Oct. 12th - First Response showed positive - Hubby wanted reassurance so we went out and bought Clear Blue Easy to Read and it said "Pregnant"

- I cried because it finally happened. I was worried that the D+C might have had a negative effect on my chances of getting pregnant.

- blood test on Oct. 14th (cycle day 27 or 14 days past IUI) and HCG was at 123 (best result of the three pregnancies)

- stopped taking Bromocriptine on Oct. 15th (day 28)

- blood test on Oct. 16th showed HCG at approx. 300

- light brown spot on underwear on Oct. 24th (24 days past IUI)

- dark brown spotting on Oct. 25th

- light brown spotting on Oct. 26th

- blood on tissue on Oct. 27th

- ultrasound on Oct. 28th (week 4) showed sac in the uterus; picked up another bottle of HCG and 18 applicators of Crinone

- ultrasound on Nov. 7th (week 5 and 4 days) showed fetus growth rate is fine but heartbeat is a bit slow - 94 to 95 rpm

- ultrasound on Nov. 17th (week 7) did not show any heartbeat (had bloodwork done at the hospital)

- D+C on Nov. 23rd

ARRRRGH!!!