Tick...tock...tick...tock...

Oh man! These next two weeks are going to be torture! With the obvious anticipation for testing, I also am leaving for Florida next Friday. My mind is crammed with thoughts of peeing on a stick and packing!

Speaking of peeing on a stick, I have to tell a cute story about my hubby. Last night we were both taking it easy - he came home from work not feeling well. He asked me if I took a OPK today. I said no. He said I should. I told him I didn't need to since I was going in Thursday for the ultrasound. He said "c'mon, I need to see a positive test!" I thought that was so cute...and true...So I went and peed on the ovulation stick and voila! it was positive. Well, actually both the control line and the test line were kind of faded out, since I didn't wait the whole three minutes to bring it to him. He wasn't completely satisfied with the faded lines so he set it next to him while he played Guitar Hero and waited for it to get darker. Neither line really did get darker, but they both were the same color, so that was a positive!! YAY, my pee isn't broken! :0)

He also said when I test in Florida he wants to be the first to see it...before me!! I said "HA! No way!!" We can both look at the same time - together! :0)

He's so funny!

Wow...I'd like to never do that again...

In a nutshell: it sucked, but at least I was inseminated.

I got tho the office about 5 mins early. I walk up to the counter and tell the receptionist my name. She as she looks at my chart she says "what are you here for? Oh, insemination." I say "yes". And she says "is your husband with you?" I say "No, he was here about an hour ago." She looks confused. The other receptionist says from the other room, "yes, he was here, you were watching Greys Anatomy". I almost laughed out loud at the ridiculouness that she didn't remember him only 45 minutes ago because she was watching TV. Nice.

Good news, Grey's Anatomy girl (we'll call her GA girl) brought me back right away to my room. She tells me to get undressed from the waist down and leaves.

Dr. M and GA girl come in a few minutes later. They get me to lay down and put my feet in the stirrups, he inserts the speculum and says "okay, now I'll go get the specimen" and he left. So there I lay, feet up, legs spread...va-jay-jay spread...waiting...He comes back a minute or so later and proceeds to "clean my cervix" - ouch! That was like the worst pap smear I've ever had - ever! I can't tell when he is done cleaning and when the actual procedure starts. I'm laying there gritting my teeth squeezing my eyes shut when I hear GA girl (who is observing the procedure) say "what is that, that ball on her cervix?". I think uh, oh, what the hell is it? Dr. M says "oh, that's just her anterior lip of her cervix". Gee, thanks GA girl for making me freak for a minute. He finishes and says he'll be back in a few minutes to give me some instructions.

A few minutes he walks in with a red chart...I know my chart isn't red. He comes over to me and says "I hear you've been having some contractions" - wtf!?!?! - I say "I am???" and he says "oops, wrong room!" and leaves. Ugh.

A few more minutes later he comes in with a post-it note with instructions on it:

Thursday: Ultrasound (to make sure I ovulated)
Monday: Progesterone test
April 14: call if no period

He then tells me for the last 5-10 mins I should roll over and lay on my right side (the side with the follicle). So I do. And I wait...and wait... and wait...I know more than 10 mins have gone by, but I wait...and I wait... finally, after listening to people pee in the bathroom and the two front desk ladies answer the phone and patiens and their kids coming and going I decide to get up. I stumble over to my purse to look at my phone (since there is not a clock in the room). It says 3:06. I was brought back about 1:55 and I know the procedure didn't last more than 15-20 mins...so I basically laid there for 45 mins. I know that is a good thing, I'm sure the longer the better...but still...was no one going to come and get me?

I decide to get dressed and head for the front. The Dr. is standing there talking to a patient, he sees me and I expect him to say something like "what are you doing up?" or "sorry I forgot to get you", but no. He says "oh, go ahead and make those appointments with Gerri". I'm thinking ok, whatever dude.

I told him I'm going to be out of town on the 14th, so he says that fine and to just "pee on a stick". Ok, I can do that...I've had enough practice. So I make my appointment with Gerri and I leave. Whew, glad that is over with.

So now I'm back at my office, and I can't seem to get focused to work (that's why I'm blogging now :0)) I'm kind of crampy from the HCG shot, I have been all day - and bloated, but other than that, no lingering pain from the IUI.

Well, the spermies are where they are supposed to be. Now, just one of them needs to find my egg. *c'mon swimmers, swim with all your might!**

Guinea Pig

Turns out being a guinea pig wasn't so bad after all. We got home about 9pm after having dinner with Hubby's dad and girlfriend. It seemed to take forever to get to 11pm. But finally it came. Hubby mixed the two vials, came over poked my arm, and viola, it was over before I knew it.

Now, today...I'm feelin' it!! I woke up with a sore arm, but I managed to get the house cleaned and dishes washed, I even washed my car. But about 15 mins after finishing my car, my muscle started to get really stiff. I got to the grocery store and got stuff for dinner, now I'm chilling out on the couch nursing my sore muscle.

I can't wait for tomorrow!! I'll tell you all about it when I get home!!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I have to admit, I was really not looking forward to my appointment this morning, since I was assuming it'd be a big fat waste of time. I grumbled as set my alarm last night and hated hearing it go off this morning. I get to the appointment, I get called back 15 mins late. Sat have naked on the table for another 15 mins.

Finally, Dr. M comes in and starts the ultrasound. Checks my lining - good. Checks my right ovary - BAM! It's huge! 23mm! Woohoo! I could almost see the confetti falling from the ceiling. I was so happy! Left ovary - nothin - but that's okay, it only takes one!

We made a plan: Tonight - HCG injection at 11pm. Monday - Hubby gives sample at 1pm and I go in at 2pm for the IUI.

Yay!! I'm a little nervous for the IUI, just because it's the first time I have ever done an IUI. I am A LOT nervous about the injection tonight. Hubby has handled needles before because he gave vaccinations to dogs his family used to breed, but never to a human. I'm not excited about being th Guinea Pig. The doc and the nurse gave me the directions on how to swab myself with alcohol and mixing the vials, etc.

I'm thankful for distractions during this time. Tonight we are going out to dinner with hubby's dad and his girlfriend for our birthdays. Tomorrow I have a friend coming over to visit. I'm sure on Monday I will feel like the morning is taking forever, but hopefully I'll be busy. AND, thankfully, I'm leaving for Florida on vacation on April 10, so getting ready for the trip will be a good distraction for me to. I guess I'll be testing April 13. Woot!! woot!!

go figure!

So, I race home and into the bathroom, take out a OPK, squat, pee, and wait. I went and changed my clothes, made the bed, and went to check the test...nothing. Not even the control line. Apparently, I have bad aim or something, but it didn't let it soak up enough - what an idiot!

Oh well, I'm not stressing. My appointment is tomorrow morning and from what I read EWCM is just a sign of ovulation to come...

And the roller coaster continues...

So, just 5 short hours ago I said I had another negative this morning and I scheduled a u/s for tomrrow. Well...(TMI ALERT)...I just went to the bathroom and when I wiped there was a lot of CM - I mean a lot - like three wipes to get it all. And it was the classic egg white consistency. So now, I'm staring at the clock until I can go home and take another test. I leave in an hour and a half, and that is going to be torture.

I'll let you know if I get a positive! **I'm crossing my fingers, arms, legs, hair, eyes...** - lol :0)

Another negative...

...and another ultrasound.

I tested for the 5th time this morning and got my 5th negative. I called the doc and scheduled an ultrasound tomorrow at 10 am. I guess Hubby doesn't get to give a sample for his birthday (today).

This morning's test didn't even give me even a hint of a second line like Wed. and Thurs. I'm assuming this is another bust, I hope tomorrow proves me wrong.

Ugh, this is getting really old. I guess my future holds steroids or injections...nice.

Still waiting for the cigar

I took another OPK this morning...same result. There was an obvious, but faint second line...

If I get another negative tomorrow (CD 17) then I go in for another ultrasound tomorrow...

"C'mon ovaries, I feel ya working down there, finish up already and let go of that egg!"

Close, but no cigar...yet...

Since Monday I've been taking the OPK's. This morning I got my first small glimmer of hope that my pee works - lol! I know that sounds funny, but I've been peeing on pregnancy test for 3 !/2 years and now these OPK's for the second month and I've never seen a positive. So I've been thinking maybe my pee is broken :0)

Well, this morning I took the OPK and got a faint line, but a line none the less. I took that test about 7am, I took another one about 1pm and still had the same result. So I'll wait and take the next one tomorrow morning. I'm REALLY hoping to get the positive tomorrow and do our first IUI Friday - which just happens to be hubby's birthday!

Appointment Update

I had my ultrasound this evening. Looks like I did actually have my period. I am already starting to grow my lining again. I started a higher dose of Femara tonight. I'm taking 7.5mgs for 5 days. He said that there is another option if this doesn't work. He said we could do 150mg of Clomid plus steroids. Or we could do Femara plus injectable drugs. Neither of these sound appealing to me, so I'm crossing my fingers that this round works.

AF Update

On Saturday I blogged about how my period wasn't doing much. Well, it never got heavier and now it's gone. Nice, huh? I called the doctor this morning and to my utter shock I got a call back just 4 hours later!!!! (You may remember last time I called him on a Thursday I didn't hear back until Tuesday - only because I PAGED him!!)I am going in for an ultrasound tonight after work to see if my spotting was enough to shed my lining and we'll go from there.

This sucks. I never thought that having a really really light period could ever suck, but in this situation it does. I guess we'll have to guess again this time to see when day 1 is/was and start my drugs accordingly. I wonder if the difference in these periods is because before I was given a stronger dose for 5 days and the last two cycles he's given me a weaker dose for 10 days. I'm going to bring that up and see what he says.

Well, as always, I'll update after my appointment.

Happy Monday ya'll!! :0)

I hear ya knockin' - won't you please come in?

Aunt Flo's been knocking for a few days, but she won't come in. I'm so confused. Last cycle the day after I stopped Provera I started spotting and I spotted for about 5 days and that was it. The doctor kind of just picked a day that was CD1. That cycle turned out to be a bust.

This time, I stopped Provera and didn't start spotting until a week later. I've been spotting since Wednesday and today seems a little less. Believe me, I love that these periods are really light with no cramping and really mild PMS, but it makes me nervous that this cycle is going to be a bust too.

This cycle, if it works out, is really good timing before we go on vacation. Even if I go to CD18 (which I've never gone longer...yet) that gives us a week before I hop on a plane to Florida. So I'm crossing my fingers that my period actually arrives so we don't have to guess and I hope that my darn ovaries do their job this time so we can complete a cycle. This is our last shot at a 2009 baby. **heavy sigh**

Parenting Do's and Don't's

I found these pretty funny and thought I'd share. Enjoy!!

and ANOTHER one bites the dust...

I really don't know how many times I can say it, seriously, ANOTHER one of my friends is pregnant...

"Dear God,

When will it be my turn?"

My-very fertile-Family Tree

Last week I started the project of putting together my family tree. I got a great list today from one of my dad's sisters. She listed a few generations, their spouses and kids. Even some birth and death dates. It is a great list. BUT I'm realizing on this list that my PCOS, if it is really a genetic issue, did NOT come from this side of the family!

My grandmother (dad's side) is one of 13 children! Those 13 children produced 43 more babies!! Holy smokes! My dad's siblings (5, including him) had 14 kids! Whew! This isn't even counting his dad's side of the fam (I'm waiting on that list).

My mom's side of the family - dad and mom (which I am still working on too) - will be huge as well. My mom is one of 9 children and they all have had at least a couple.

So, I guess for my case, PCOS and infertility issues are definitely NOT genetic - damn, so much for figuring out "WHY ME???"!

I've got my mom and my mother-in-law working on getting me some more info. So far there are 108 people in the family tree and there is A LOT more to add. After I get full names and some dates I'm going to start digging around to find out some history. It is all very interesting!!