Most days the doorbell doesn't get used. It was used quite a few times today! The cleaning ladies showed up, and I wasn't expecting them. I had called the company's office in mid December and said I'd take the next several weeks off since I was on a break at school. It had been a month since they had come. I had left a message asking what date they would be coming next, and they never called back. I felt badly that they showed up for nothing, but there was no way they could clean the house without me having prepared ahead of time. Too many toys and books lying on the floor and such. We saved some money by going 6 weeks without the cleaning service as they'll be returning in two weeks.
Beth (our neighbor) also showed up. I had called her in the morning to ask if she could also babysit next Friday as yesterday the Dean sent notice of a faculty meeting being held on the 27th. Classes resume next week, and Beth will be babysitting the kids on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:50-5:30 (until Paul comes home). Gabby or Alexis will watch the kids from 3:30-5:30 on those days (after they come home from school). When I called her this morning she said she was in the middle of making stuffed shells. I commented that is one of Paul's favorite dishes, and I should make some this week as well. I certainly wasn't trying to hint in any way, but she brought over a small dish of shells to share with us. How sweet! We had stored her swimming pool in our garage for a week (while she was drying it out and cleaning it) several months ago, and she said this was her way of thanking us for that.
The mailman and UPS delivery man also rang the doorbell today. We had a lot of packages delivered in November and December because I did a lot of my Christmas and birthday shopping online. Not much has been delivered over the past month. Today we received three packages. One contained a 11x14 print I ordered from Shutterfly when they sent me a $20 off anything coupon code recently. Another contained Inchimals. I think they're really neat. Nadia was using them to measure things (like Sweetpea), and Ian enjoyed comparing them (bigger/smaller) and putting them in order from smallest to longest. The third box was from a lot I purchased on eBay. It had an assortment of things -some I had on my list of things I definitely wanted to buy and a few I wasn't planning to buy but sounded like they could be used. It included things like cuisinaire rods (which are based on centimeters), the teacher's manual for the pre-kindergarten level of Handwriting without Tears, some ABC flashcards from My Father's World curriculum, the Kindergarten teacher's manual for My Father's World, and some other supplies from Handwriting without Tears (such as sentence strips, a small slate, etc.). Fun, fun, fun!
I finished reading Charlotte's Web to Nadia today. In honor of that we watched part of a movie based on the book. We'll finish it tomorrow. Nadia of course wasn't very happy that Charlotte died at the end. She kept asking, "Why did she have to die?."
I have been having two pregnancy symptoms the past couple of days. I keep reminding myself that I'm taking Progesterone 3 times a day, and that is probably what is causing these symptoms. It's so hard not to read into things during the dreaded "two week wait" (which is actually a 12 day wait for me since I always break out the hpts by 12pdo). Just four more days....
Last night I checked online to see if the fall semester schedules had been posted yet. I was stunned to see what my schedule is supposed to be. I had asked for any two evening or online courses and ten student teachers. I thought that seemed very reasonable, but I figured the worst case scenario would be that I'd have a schedule similar to what I had from 2004-2008 which was to teach 2-3 classes either MWF or T/TH morning (or afternoon) and 1-2 evening classes. It never crossed my mind that I'd be scheduled to teach 2 classes on T/Th mornings (starting at 8am) and 2 classes on MWF (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). I looked up all the other schedules for the other faculty in my department for next semester, and I'm the only one who has a 5 day schedule. What?!?!?! I emailed my department chair and Dean today asking that I be given a schedule similar to my colleagues for next semester - either M/W/F or T/Th. There are only two professors in my department who have more seniority than I do, but that's really a moot point since I was the only one given such an awful schedule. If I didn't have children and lived really close to campus, I really wouldn't care, but I do have two young children and also don't want to spend 6.5 hours commuting to and from work each week. I'm hoping they will give me a more reasonable schedule. I didn't even ask for any particular courses. The two courses I was assigned will be new ones for me. I didn't even bring that up. It really hurt when I viewed my schedule because I considered my department chair to be a friend. It felt like a slap in the face that he would give me (and only me) such a schedule, especially when I have always tried to help him whenever he's asked such as when he asked me to write an accreditation report in June or when he's asked me to chair a committee. If I am pregnant right now, I won't be teaching the whole semester in the fall, but I do plan to start out teaching FT at the beginning of the semester in August as my due date would be October 4. My chair said the reason they gave me this schedule was because they want me to mentor a new ECE tenure track faculty member that we're attempting to hire right now. I'm happy to be a mentor to another new faculty member as I have done in the past, but being a mentor has never before meant you needed to teach 5 days a week. I hope I am feeling better about this situation next week when I'm on campus because right now I just feel very hurt.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Chocolate Hair and a Pink Tutu
On Monday Paul paid for Nadia's ballet costume for their recital, which will be on June 2. It cost (gulp) $45. For a woman who only shops at clearance racks, consignment shops, and yard sales, that seemed like a fortune. I can tell you with assurance I have never even spent $20 on an outfit for Nadia the past 3.5 years, and frankly it's been many years since I spent $45 on an outfit for myself. I hope she finds some other times to wear it as $45 for something she might only wear one hour seems like a lot. At least the costume is cute. We had to pay before we saw what we were paying for, which was a bit unnerving for me.
At lunch today somehow we got on the topic of chocolate, and Nadia said, "I like chocolate. Your hair is chocolate." Since Paul and I both had blonde hair when we were young and have brown hair now, Nadia and Ian will most likely have "chocolate" hair some day too. Of course I won't mind if their hair stays blonde!
Today I have found myself staring at the ultrasound picture many times. I guess it seems surreal to me that I'm PUPO (women who have had IVF use that term and it stands for "pregnant until proven otherwise"). Actually I guess it depends on what the definition of pregnant is. If it means an embryo is inside you, yep I'm pregnant. If pregnancy doesn't start until implantation, well then we don't know yet. Anyhow I have to saw it seems surreal this time around. I think I kept my hopes down lower this time than the previous cycles. Maybe it's because I've always viewed the age 40 as the line of demarkation in terms of fertility, but of course women DO conceive (even naturally) after age 40, and I'm still 39 for 3 more months. I was given an ultrasound pic of my first transfer (8/4/07). I found it rather ironic since I didn't have any ++ pregnancy tests that time around whereas in 2005 I had quite a few ++ pregnancy tests but no ultrasounds pics because that pregnancy was ectopic. I remember being disappointed when they didn't give me any ultrasound pics with Nadia's transfer (11-1-07), but then I had lots of ultrasounds during that pregnancy. I can't remember if they gave me a pic from Ian's transfer or not. Hopefully there will be more ultrasounds next month because I'll get a ++ next week. I'm 7 days past ovulation today. Just 5 more days until I start testing. At one point today Nadia prayed to God and asked if "pretty please give Mommy another baby." At dinner when she prayed, she said "I really want another baby." Awww.. I've told her the doctors are trying to help us have another baby, but God might answer yes, no, or wait. She's having trouble grasping the idea that a pregnancy last for quite a few months. She keeps thinking the baby would come home ASAP. What has helped her grasp it a little is that I've been telling her if we have a baby, the baby won't come home until after her birthday (which is in June).
We're still trying to decide which insurance. If we pick PSU's, I might not have as many ultrasounds at the RE as I have with the previous pregnancies. I did call Hershey today, and they said Medicaid will pay for Ian's feeding program, which is good to know as they told me PSU's insurance will not (even though Ian's feeding doctor is a professor at PSU!). I also called the OB clinic I would use if I am pregnant again, but they didn't call me back. The union is also doing some research as they think that HR miscalculated how many months I'd have to pay the part-time rate. We're also trying to factor in the fact that we might do a FET in a couple of months. I believe Blue Shield would pay about $750 more towards the FET than PSU's insurance would. Such a hard decision!
I bought 3 hpts at Walmart today. It was a good deal as I got First Response Early Response (my favorite brand since I got my first positive with that brand in 2005 when my hCG was less than 20). I got 3 tests for a total of $6.98. I have one left over from a time several months ago when I wondered if maybe I was pregnant. So I have four tests on hand for next week. We shall see if I end up buying more or not. After seeing so many negative tests from 2002-2007, it does my heart so much good to see two lines on a test, which is why I probably go through more hpts in the early stage of pregnancy than most women do. Since ivf itself costs thousands of dollars, I don't let myself feel guilty about spending less than $20 on hpts. :-) The crazier thing is I can't seem to part with most of those tests even though I took pictures of them and have two kids running around as proof that I was indeed pregnant.
At lunch today somehow we got on the topic of chocolate, and Nadia said, "I like chocolate. Your hair is chocolate." Since Paul and I both had blonde hair when we were young and have brown hair now, Nadia and Ian will most likely have "chocolate" hair some day too. Of course I won't mind if their hair stays blonde!
Today I have found myself staring at the ultrasound picture many times. I guess it seems surreal to me that I'm PUPO (women who have had IVF use that term and it stands for "pregnant until proven otherwise"). Actually I guess it depends on what the definition of pregnant is. If it means an embryo is inside you, yep I'm pregnant. If pregnancy doesn't start until implantation, well then we don't know yet. Anyhow I have to saw it seems surreal this time around. I think I kept my hopes down lower this time than the previous cycles. Maybe it's because I've always viewed the age 40 as the line of demarkation in terms of fertility, but of course women DO conceive (even naturally) after age 40, and I'm still 39 for 3 more months. I was given an ultrasound pic of my first transfer (8/4/07). I found it rather ironic since I didn't have any ++ pregnancy tests that time around whereas in 2005 I had quite a few ++ pregnancy tests but no ultrasounds pics because that pregnancy was ectopic. I remember being disappointed when they didn't give me any ultrasound pics with Nadia's transfer (11-1-07), but then I had lots of ultrasounds during that pregnancy. I can't remember if they gave me a pic from Ian's transfer or not. Hopefully there will be more ultrasounds next month because I'll get a ++ next week. I'm 7 days past ovulation today. Just 5 more days until I start testing. At one point today Nadia prayed to God and asked if "pretty please give Mommy another baby." At dinner when she prayed, she said "I really want another baby." Awww.. I've told her the doctors are trying to help us have another baby, but God might answer yes, no, or wait. She's having trouble grasping the idea that a pregnancy last for quite a few months. She keeps thinking the baby would come home ASAP. What has helped her grasp it a little is that I've been telling her if we have a baby, the baby won't come home until after her birthday (which is in June).
We're still trying to decide which insurance. If we pick PSU's, I might not have as many ultrasounds at the RE as I have with the previous pregnancies. I did call Hershey today, and they said Medicaid will pay for Ian's feeding program, which is good to know as they told me PSU's insurance will not (even though Ian's feeding doctor is a professor at PSU!). I also called the OB clinic I would use if I am pregnant again, but they didn't call me back. The union is also doing some research as they think that HR miscalculated how many months I'd have to pay the part-time rate. We're also trying to factor in the fact that we might do a FET in a couple of months. I believe Blue Shield would pay about $750 more towards the FET than PSU's insurance would. Such a hard decision!
I bought 3 hpts at Walmart today. It was a good deal as I got First Response Early Response (my favorite brand since I got my first positive with that brand in 2005 when my hCG was less than 20). I got 3 tests for a total of $6.98. I have one left over from a time several months ago when I wondered if maybe I was pregnant. So I have four tests on hand for next week. We shall see if I end up buying more or not. After seeing so many negative tests from 2002-2007, it does my heart so much good to see two lines on a test, which is why I probably go through more hpts in the early stage of pregnancy than most women do. Since ivf itself costs thousands of dollars, I don't let myself feel guilty about spending less than $20 on hpts. :-) The crazier thing is I can't seem to part with most of those tests even though I took pictures of them and have two kids running around as proof that I was indeed pregnant.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thankful Tuesday
1. We were able to transfer 2 gorgeous blastocysts yesterday. PTL! I also enjoyed getting a great view of them. Normally we just see them on the ultrasound, and all we're really seeing then is the fluid they're in. It is cool to watch them move through the uterus. However, this time they had a camera set up so that we could see the actual blastocysts on a tv screen while I was in the hospital bed right before the transfer. That was really neat. Obviously they was a lot of magnification involved as embryos are tiny at this stage. The nurses and RE and utlrasound tech were all raving about how perfect the blastocysts were - that they rarely see ones THAT good (according to textbook definitions of what is the "ideal" blastocyst).
2. One blastocyst was able to be frozen. I was disappointed to hear that the fourth blastocyst stopped developing as we've never had a blastocyst on day 5 that wasn't frozen or transferred before, but Theresa said the one that was frozen was good quality - not as perfect as the two we transferred, but still very good. That description doesn't bother me because Nadia wasn't graded as "excellent" when she was frozen. Part of me wishes that Dr. Z had allowed us to transfer three yesterday as freezing embryos (no matter how many you freeze) costs $750, but maybe this transfer won't result in a sticky bfp, and maybe that FET will in a couple of months. It's nice to know all the eggs (or embryos in this case) aren't in one basket so to speak. I am grateful we had one make it to the freeze, as that didn't happen last time (and wouldn't have happened even if we had only transferred two as they said the morula we transferred that time wasn't good enough to freeze). We have 3 chances at a baby. Two are in my uterus, and one is frozen. PTL!
3. Paul found out today that his latest article submission was accepted for publication in the journal Surface and Interface Analysis. Way to go, Paul!
4. Paul was able to work from home yesterday and today (well yesterday he didn't get to work nearly as much as normal) to help me lift Ian a few times throughout the day.
5. It's so reassuring to hear, Regina, that bedrest isn't necessary for a BFP from ivf. The other REs said to have "pelvic rest," which they described as no lifting or doing things like vacuuming. This time this RE said bedrest for 24 hours, and he specified that as only getting up to go to the bathroom. I definitely wasn't on bedrest. The nurse told me to go home and watch movies. That would have been nice, but it wasn't feasible. I'm glad to know that one can have a sticky BFP even without doing bedrest.
6. In early September I attempted to put in our timeshare exchange request. Evidently, I didn't do it correctly because they had no record of me putting in a request. A week ago I did put in the request successfully, but I admit I was a bit concerned that it was a bit late. Well today we got our confirmation for a week in May that falls in between the spring semester and first summer session! WOOHOO! I traded our efficiency in the Poconos for a 3 bedroom unit in Grand Cayman. What a great trade! Paul's parents will be going with us. Paul is looking forward to going underwater in a real submarine for the first time, and I'm looking forward to snorkeling with stingrays for the first time! None of us have been to this particular island before. Now that Ian can sleep through the night, I'm sure we'll have fun!
7. Ladies Bible study resumed today! I probably won't be able to finish the session because of Ian's stay at Hershey Medical, but I'm grateful for as many weeks that I am able to attend. We're doing a study by Beth Moore on the book of James. She's challenging us to memorize the book of James over the next 5 months. I'm going to try to accomplish that goal.
8. I have time to read before school starts. I checked out two books by Karen Kingsbury today from the church library where I go for ladies Bible study. I'm hoping to find a way to still have time to read a little each week even once the semester starts up again next week.
9. I appreciate the things in life which bring us smiles and laughter. One that has been cracking me up lately is my bottle of Prometrium. The directions say to take it vaginally, but the pharmacist wasn't thinking about those instructions when he/she put two stickers on the bottle. One says "Swallow whole. Do not crush or chew." and the other says "Take with food or milk." LOL! Those directions only apply if you're taking it orally, ha ha!
2. One blastocyst was able to be frozen. I was disappointed to hear that the fourth blastocyst stopped developing as we've never had a blastocyst on day 5 that wasn't frozen or transferred before, but Theresa said the one that was frozen was good quality - not as perfect as the two we transferred, but still very good. That description doesn't bother me because Nadia wasn't graded as "excellent" when she was frozen. Part of me wishes that Dr. Z had allowed us to transfer three yesterday as freezing embryos (no matter how many you freeze) costs $750, but maybe this transfer won't result in a sticky bfp, and maybe that FET will in a couple of months. It's nice to know all the eggs (or embryos in this case) aren't in one basket so to speak. I am grateful we had one make it to the freeze, as that didn't happen last time (and wouldn't have happened even if we had only transferred two as they said the morula we transferred that time wasn't good enough to freeze). We have 3 chances at a baby. Two are in my uterus, and one is frozen. PTL!
3. Paul found out today that his latest article submission was accepted for publication in the journal Surface and Interface Analysis. Way to go, Paul!
4. Paul was able to work from home yesterday and today (well yesterday he didn't get to work nearly as much as normal) to help me lift Ian a few times throughout the day.
5. It's so reassuring to hear, Regina, that bedrest isn't necessary for a BFP from ivf. The other REs said to have "pelvic rest," which they described as no lifting or doing things like vacuuming. This time this RE said bedrest for 24 hours, and he specified that as only getting up to go to the bathroom. I definitely wasn't on bedrest. The nurse told me to go home and watch movies. That would have been nice, but it wasn't feasible. I'm glad to know that one can have a sticky BFP even without doing bedrest.
6. In early September I attempted to put in our timeshare exchange request. Evidently, I didn't do it correctly because they had no record of me putting in a request. A week ago I did put in the request successfully, but I admit I was a bit concerned that it was a bit late. Well today we got our confirmation for a week in May that falls in between the spring semester and first summer session! WOOHOO! I traded our efficiency in the Poconos for a 3 bedroom unit in Grand Cayman. What a great trade! Paul's parents will be going with us. Paul is looking forward to going underwater in a real submarine for the first time, and I'm looking forward to snorkeling with stingrays for the first time! None of us have been to this particular island before. Now that Ian can sleep through the night, I'm sure we'll have fun!
7. Ladies Bible study resumed today! I probably won't be able to finish the session because of Ian's stay at Hershey Medical, but I'm grateful for as many weeks that I am able to attend. We're doing a study by Beth Moore on the book of James. She's challenging us to memorize the book of James over the next 5 months. I'm going to try to accomplish that goal.
8. I have time to read before school starts. I checked out two books by Karen Kingsbury today from the church library where I go for ladies Bible study. I'm hoping to find a way to still have time to read a little each week even once the semester starts up again next week.
9. I appreciate the things in life which bring us smiles and laughter. One that has been cracking me up lately is my bottle of Prometrium. The directions say to take it vaginally, but the pharmacist wasn't thinking about those instructions when he/she put two stickers on the bottle. One says "Swallow whole. Do not crush or chew." and the other says "Take with food or milk." LOL! Those directions only apply if you're taking it orally, ha ha!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Four Blastocysts!
Our first cycle we had 7 embryos on day 1 and transferred 3 embryos on day 3 so we don't know how many of those would have made it to blastocyst since we transferred them before they could reach that stage. We have 4 left on day 3 that time, and only 1 of those made it to blastocyst. Nadia was frozen on day 6. In 2009 we had 12 embryos on day 1, and on day 5 we had 2 blastocysts, 2 morulas, and 3 embryos. We transferred 2 blastocysts and 1 morula. None of the other 4 made it to blastocyst by day 6 so we didn't have any frozen embryos that cycle. This time we had 8 embryos on day 1, and today (day 5) we had (drumroll please!) 4 blastocysts and 4 morulas!
This RE is very conservative. He refused to transfer 3 blastocysts even though I'll be turning 40 in April, and even though our previous transfers of 3 resulted in no pregnancy the first time and one baby (Ian) the second. The two blastocysts we transferred were described as gorgeous by the embryologist, and she is on the strict side with grading embryos. She said one of the other blastocysts was ready to be frozen today. She thinks she'll be able to freeze another one tomorrow, but she can't guarantee it. Nadia didn't reach the freezable state until day 6; so we might have another late bloomer. Actually she said she's still culturing all 5 of them (all that weren't transferred or frozen today) in case any of them make it to the freezable state by tomorrow. I'm planning to call on Wednesday to hear how many were frozen. I'm hoping to see two lines on the hpt next week, but if we don't, I know we'll have another chance at pregnancy through a FET. I was thrilled with the news that we had four blastocysts as that never happened before. Thanks for your prayers. Please keep praying for these two that are now in my uterus!
I thoroughly enjoyed my hour long massage this morning. It felt like a $35 well spent. Between that and the Valium they gave me, I was very relaxed. We were at the clinic for about 2 hours total. Paul's parents and Shawn watched the kids while we were gone. They also brought up Ian's train table that they gave him for Christmas. Paul took Nadia to ballet and picked up some pizza for dinner as the RE told me to be on bed rest for 24 hours. He said to only get up to go to the bathroom. I haven't been able to be that strict with the rest, but I have tried to avoid lifting the kids. I didn't have a book to bring with me to the hospital, so I clipped coupons instead, haha. My Beta is scheduled for 1/27, but if I get a BFP on 1/23, I'll ask if I can have the Beta on 1/24 because I'll already be in that town that day for ladies Bible study and it would save me a trip. In the past they've let me have the Beta early after I've gotten a +++ at home. Praying for two lines next week!!!
This RE is very conservative. He refused to transfer 3 blastocysts even though I'll be turning 40 in April, and even though our previous transfers of 3 resulted in no pregnancy the first time and one baby (Ian) the second. The two blastocysts we transferred were described as gorgeous by the embryologist, and she is on the strict side with grading embryos. She said one of the other blastocysts was ready to be frozen today. She thinks she'll be able to freeze another one tomorrow, but she can't guarantee it. Nadia didn't reach the freezable state until day 6; so we might have another late bloomer. Actually she said she's still culturing all 5 of them (all that weren't transferred or frozen today) in case any of them make it to the freezable state by tomorrow. I'm planning to call on Wednesday to hear how many were frozen. I'm hoping to see two lines on the hpt next week, but if we don't, I know we'll have another chance at pregnancy through a FET. I was thrilled with the news that we had four blastocysts as that never happened before. Thanks for your prayers. Please keep praying for these two that are now in my uterus!
I thoroughly enjoyed my hour long massage this morning. It felt like a $35 well spent. Between that and the Valium they gave me, I was very relaxed. We were at the clinic for about 2 hours total. Paul's parents and Shawn watched the kids while we were gone. They also brought up Ian's train table that they gave him for Christmas. Paul took Nadia to ballet and picked up some pizza for dinner as the RE told me to be on bed rest for 24 hours. He said to only get up to go to the bathroom. I haven't been able to be that strict with the rest, but I have tried to avoid lifting the kids. I didn't have a book to bring with me to the hospital, so I clipped coupons instead, haha. My Beta is scheduled for 1/27, but if I get a BFP on 1/23, I'll ask if I can have the Beta on 1/24 because I'll already be in that town that day for ladies Bible study and it would save me a trip. In the past they've let me have the Beta early after I've gotten a +++ at home. Praying for two lines next week!!!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
What a champ!
I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I have to tell you I continue to be amazed by how easy it has been to potty train Ian. Last week he only had 2 accidents (both #2 and one was because I was in the shower at the time he needed to go). Today is day number 12 of potty training, and his big accomplishment was that he told the nursery worker he needed to go, and he went on the toilet in the nursery without crying! I had him go right before we left, but he must not have totally emptied his bladder because a few minutes later (on the way home) he started saying "pee pee." I urged him to hold it and kept encouraging him that we'd be home soon. Well my little potty training champ held it until he was on his froggy potty at home. Awesome!!! I have been bringing a change of underwear and a pair of pants with me whenever I've left the house with him, but the only time they were needed is when I didn't have him aim properly in the toilet last Sunday. If he keeps this up, I'll probably stop bringing the clothes with me.
Ian wore a suit jacket for the first time in his life today. All of his previous suits came with a vest not a suit jacket. I remember eyeing this jacket on a clearance rack last year. The original price was almost $79 as it's made by Calvin Klein. I had to wait a long time for it to drop under $10, which was the most I was willing to pay for it especially as it didn't come with a shirt or tie or pants or anything else. It actually cracks me up how well it's made. What two year old needs lined pockets on the inside of the jacket? I thought he looked rather spiffy, and I'm hoping next fall (and maybe winter) he can get a little more use out of it. I had to wait awhile for him to wear it because he didn't have any black pants until recently. Maybe his outfit inspired him to play the part of a sportscaster today. He was sitting on Paul's lap while I was getting lunch ready. Paul was watching the NFL pregame show. Ian suddnely started saying various cheers such as "Defense!", "Go Steelers", "Go Giants", and "Get a stop." The "get a stop" one really cracked Paul up because Ian kept saying it over and over.
Last night in the bathtub Ian picked up the foam letter "P" and said to me "P is for Pop Pop." Wow. All I can say is wow. He's obsessed with letters. When I'm feeding him yogurt he points out the letters he sees on the yogurt container. He's eating about 2 yogurts a day as I'm often feeding him 1/2 a yogurt at each meal and then alternate the bites with something else (banana, sweet potatoes, applesauce, etc.). If I try to only feed him something other than yogurt, it's a disaster of epic proportions. It's actually become harder to feed him other foods now that he's having yogurt again, but it is wonderful to have him asking for something other than milk (he says "yogurt, please"). Speaking of reading, I read two books last week! I wasn't keen on the one I read by Sparks, but I absolutely loved Heaven is for Real. I highly recommend it, and it's not a long book so it probably won't take you long to read it. It's about a 3 year old boy's near death experience.
I picked up some low dose aspirin today. The first cycle I ever took it was the IUI cycle that resulted in an ectopic pregnancy. I forgot to take it with my first IVF transfer. I took it with my last two transfers until a heartbeat was seen each time. It could be 100% coincidence, but since it can't do any harm, I'm taking one a day starting today. Many studies have shown it to be very helpful, and it can't do any harm. Many REs do advise their patients to take it. I have no idea why they ALL don't make that recommendation since it can't hurt, and some studies have shown it to be rather helpful. This fertility clinic has never recommended it. Tomorrow I'll be having my 4th transfer, and all four transfers will have been done by a different RE. Dr. Award did the first, he was the RE I saw the most over the past 8.5 years. Dr. M did the second. He was only at the clinic for 6 months. He was rather unconventional. He didn't even put on any special garb - just walked in wearing his street clothes (a suit) and did the transfer while the nurses, Paul, and myself (ie everyone else in the room) was wearing gowns, things on our heads, etc. However he was transferring Nadia so he did the transfer correctly. Dr. O did the last one (although Dr. A monitored me for most of that cycle). Both Dr. O and Dr. A retired a couple of years ago. Dr. A had been there over 20 years. Dr. Z will be doing my fourth transfer tomorrow. Please pray for wisdom in how many to transfer and that one blastocyst will nestle in until September. My EDD would be October 3, but I highly doubt I'd still be pregnant in October given my penchant to preterm labor. |
Everyday Ian watches the monitor while Nadia is taking her nap. He always says, "Nadia sleeping." |
Saturday, January 14, 2012
4 Letters and the Tiger
I am very happy to report that Nadia now can identify the letters "C," "N," "O," and "B." Yahoo! It took a lot longer for her to learn to identify a few letters than I ever dreamed it would, but I am guessing it will be a lot easier now that we've got the ball rolling.
Ian's big accomplishment yesterday was that he started telling me when he needed to go to the bathroom. Woohoo! It took Nadia much longer than one week to master that skill. He didn't have any accidents the past three days! What a big boy! This morning I was very surprised that his diaper was only wet as 99.9% of the time it's also a poopy diaper. I thought this meant we could work on teaching him to poop on the potty. I forgot that bit of information though when he asked to go to the bathroom around 8:30am. I was surprised when he didn't pee as every other time when he's told me he needs to go, he's actually gone. I then took my shower, and he pooped in his pants while I was showering. As soon as I got out of the shower he said "potty." I called for Paul, and Paul took him down and discovered he had pooped in his underwear. He did pee on the potty at that point though. I felt badly as he obviously had tried to poop earlier, and then if he said something while I was in the shower, I didn't hear it. However he had two big accomplishments today with potty training. First, when we were at the mall today, he peed on an adult sized toilet without crying. Woohoo! Although he had stopped crying at home, he still cried in a public restroom the last time he went (Thursday). Second, he told me this afternoon (at home) that he needed to pee, and when I put him on the potty he actually pooped. YAHOOO! He earned his stuffed animal tiger that had been sitting on the top of the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. This was the first time he pooped on a potty. I have to say potty training Ian has been a breeze. I actually never dreamed it could be this easy! The only thing left to accomplish is staying dry through the night. I don't think that's going to happen until he's eating a more normal diet. His diet is so fluid based that he would have to pee several times in the night, and since he's in a crib, I'd have to get up and take him to the bathroom. I'd much rather let him wear a diaper so I can sleep through the night.
HR finally got back to me yesterday regarding our health insurance options. I had emailed my questions the week before Christmas. Option #1 is to drop Blue Shield insurance (yesterday would be our last day) and go on PSU's insurance for this semester. We'd go back on Blue Shield on July 1. We'd have double coverage for July and the first week of August. Option #2 is to stay on Blue Shield. I'd be paying $735 a month for 6.5 months and $192 a month for the other months. Option #2 would cost a total of $2,881 more than option #1 over a 9 month period. If Ian didn't have Medicaid, there wouldn't be any decision to make because PSU's insurance doesn't cover the intensive feeding program. Also, I don't want to go back to driving 5-6 hours per doctor appointment for Ian, but that's not going to happen because Medicaid will work with the local hospital. Paul and Nadia almost never go to the doctor, and their doctors work with PSU's insurance. One disadvantage for going on PSU's insurance would be IF Paul, Nadia, or I needed any medications, we'd pay a little more than we would through Blue Shield (although the difference wouldn't be as great as it was last year when we didn't know we were supposed to have things filled on campus). The other is that if I do find out that I'm pregnant in 9 days, PSU's insurance will only pay for two ultrasounds (one in the first trimester and one in the second). We have until January 23 to accept or decline PSU's insurance. I am not sure what the deadline is with my university. I'm actually leaning toward option #1 because I figure even if we need to pay for a couple of ultrasounds, that won't cost anywhere near $2,881. We'd be on Blue Shield before the baby was born (presuming there is another baby). Any recommendations? If Ian didn't have Medicaid, I wouldn't even consider option #1. If this ivf doesn't result in a pregnancy, then option #1 is definitely the way to go as Paul, Nadia, and I hardly ever go to the doctor when I'm not ttc or pregnant. The day we have to make the decision is the same day I'll be 12dpo, which is when I usually find out if I am pregnant or not (by hpt).
Ian's big accomplishment yesterday was that he started telling me when he needed to go to the bathroom. Woohoo! It took Nadia much longer than one week to master that skill. He didn't have any accidents the past three days! What a big boy! This morning I was very surprised that his diaper was only wet as 99.9% of the time it's also a poopy diaper. I thought this meant we could work on teaching him to poop on the potty. I forgot that bit of information though when he asked to go to the bathroom around 8:30am. I was surprised when he didn't pee as every other time when he's told me he needs to go, he's actually gone. I then took my shower, and he pooped in his pants while I was showering. As soon as I got out of the shower he said "potty." I called for Paul, and Paul took him down and discovered he had pooped in his underwear. He did pee on the potty at that point though. I felt badly as he obviously had tried to poop earlier, and then if he said something while I was in the shower, I didn't hear it. However he had two big accomplishments today with potty training. First, when we were at the mall today, he peed on an adult sized toilet without crying. Woohoo! Although he had stopped crying at home, he still cried in a public restroom the last time he went (Thursday). Second, he told me this afternoon (at home) that he needed to pee, and when I put him on the potty he actually pooped. YAHOOO! He earned his stuffed animal tiger that had been sitting on the top of the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. This was the first time he pooped on a potty. I have to say potty training Ian has been a breeze. I actually never dreamed it could be this easy! The only thing left to accomplish is staying dry through the night. I don't think that's going to happen until he's eating a more normal diet. His diet is so fluid based that he would have to pee several times in the night, and since he's in a crib, I'd have to get up and take him to the bathroom. I'd much rather let him wear a diaper so I can sleep through the night.
HR finally got back to me yesterday regarding our health insurance options. I had emailed my questions the week before Christmas. Option #1 is to drop Blue Shield insurance (yesterday would be our last day) and go on PSU's insurance for this semester. We'd go back on Blue Shield on July 1. We'd have double coverage for July and the first week of August. Option #2 is to stay on Blue Shield. I'd be paying $735 a month for 6.5 months and $192 a month for the other months. Option #2 would cost a total of $2,881 more than option #1 over a 9 month period. If Ian didn't have Medicaid, there wouldn't be any decision to make because PSU's insurance doesn't cover the intensive feeding program. Also, I don't want to go back to driving 5-6 hours per doctor appointment for Ian, but that's not going to happen because Medicaid will work with the local hospital. Paul and Nadia almost never go to the doctor, and their doctors work with PSU's insurance. One disadvantage for going on PSU's insurance would be IF Paul, Nadia, or I needed any medications, we'd pay a little more than we would through Blue Shield (although the difference wouldn't be as great as it was last year when we didn't know we were supposed to have things filled on campus). The other is that if I do find out that I'm pregnant in 9 days, PSU's insurance will only pay for two ultrasounds (one in the first trimester and one in the second). We have until January 23 to accept or decline PSU's insurance. I am not sure what the deadline is with my university. I'm actually leaning toward option #1 because I figure even if we need to pay for a couple of ultrasounds, that won't cost anywhere near $2,881. We'd be on Blue Shield before the baby was born (presuming there is another baby). Any recommendations? If Ian didn't have Medicaid, I wouldn't even consider option #1. If this ivf doesn't result in a pregnancy, then option #1 is definitely the way to go as Paul, Nadia, and I hardly ever go to the doctor when I'm not ttc or pregnant. The day we have to make the decision is the same day I'll be 12dpo, which is when I usually find out if I am pregnant or not (by hpt).
Friday, January 13, 2012
Transfer on Monday!
The nurse called me a few minutes ago to say that all eight embryos still look great, and usually they can start to tell a difference in quality by this point. I remember last time when they called me 2 days past retrieval they said 10 still looked great and 2 looked "iffy" at that point (compared to them saying all 12 looked great on the first day). So they feel very comfortable with a 5 day transfer on Monday, but if something weird should happen and a bunch of them stop growing before then, they will call us ASAP and reschedule the transfer for Saturday or Sunday. I feel better knowing that they check the embryos every day and will change plans if necessary. She asked me if we were planning to transfer two. I said we did 3 embryos in our first transfer, 1 frozen blastocyst in our second (because that's all we had left), and 2 blastocysts and 1 morula in our third transfer. We are open to transferring 3 or 4 depending on what Dr. Z thinks is best considering my age plus the quality of the embryos at that point. She said the decision wouldn't be made until we get there on Monday. Please keep praying for our embryos and for our decision on Monday as to how many to transfer. Thanks! Oh and one other prayer request would be for me to never miss a dosage of Prometrium. I am to insert one three times a day, and I'm so nervous I'll forget a dosage! These are far better than PIO shots. I have put the ring I usually wear on my right hand on my left hand, and so far that's working. When I think why don't I have a ring on my right hand, I remember take the Prometrium!
I have scheduled a massage for myself (5 minutes from our house) for 10:00am on Monday. We'll need to be on the road by 11:15 as I'm to arrive at noon for my Valium, etc. I should be VERY relaxed between the massage and the Valium, ha ha! This will be my 4th embryo transfer in the past 4.5 years, and it's my 4th massage in the past 10.5 years as the only times I've had a massage since we've been married has been right before an embryo transfer. Maybe I'll need to come up with another reason to treat myself to a massage now and then in the future. :-) Paul's parents will be coming up on Monday to watch the kids. Paul will be going with me to the transfer. He's at PSU today, but he'll be staying home on Monday due to my transfer and the fact I'm supposed to be on bedrest for 24 hours after the transfer. I did a longer span of bedrest after the last two transfers, but that's not really going to be possible this time around. I'll be at ladies Bible study on Tuesday so that will be relaxing as the kids will be in the nursery.
Have I mentioned recently how much I love being a mom? Well I do. It's the BEST! Today as I was listening on the monitor Ian was singing in his crib before he fell asleep. He sang "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast, "Baa Baa Black Sheep," etc. How sweet it was to be serenaded by him as I listened to the monitor. This morning we resumed reading Charlotte's Web for the first time in a couple of weeks. I love reading to the kids while they play with Play-Doh or color. Ian was taking little plastic animals and making tracks (footprints) in the Play-Doh. We also played some hide and seek, one of the kids absolute favorite things to do. They both laugh a lot with that game! Such simple things bring the three of us SO much pleasure. Thank you, Lord! I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about Ian that his attention span for listening to books has dramatically increased in the last couple of weeks. I can now read all the words to several books (such as Curious George) in a row to him. WOOHOO!
I have scheduled a massage for myself (5 minutes from our house) for 10:00am on Monday. We'll need to be on the road by 11:15 as I'm to arrive at noon for my Valium, etc. I should be VERY relaxed between the massage and the Valium, ha ha! This will be my 4th embryo transfer in the past 4.5 years, and it's my 4th massage in the past 10.5 years as the only times I've had a massage since we've been married has been right before an embryo transfer. Maybe I'll need to come up with another reason to treat myself to a massage now and then in the future. :-) Paul's parents will be coming up on Monday to watch the kids. Paul will be going with me to the transfer. He's at PSU today, but he'll be staying home on Monday due to my transfer and the fact I'm supposed to be on bedrest for 24 hours after the transfer. I did a longer span of bedrest after the last two transfers, but that's not really going to be possible this time around. I'll be at ladies Bible study on Tuesday so that will be relaxing as the kids will be in the nursery.
Have I mentioned recently how much I love being a mom? Well I do. It's the BEST! Today as I was listening on the monitor Ian was singing in his crib before he fell asleep. He sang "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast, "Baa Baa Black Sheep," etc. How sweet it was to be serenaded by him as I listened to the monitor. This morning we resumed reading Charlotte's Web for the first time in a couple of weeks. I love reading to the kids while they play with Play-Doh or color. Ian was taking little plastic animals and making tracks (footprints) in the Play-Doh. We also played some hide and seek, one of the kids absolute favorite things to do. They both laugh a lot with that game! Such simple things bring the three of us SO much pleasure. Thank you, Lord! I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about Ian that his attention span for listening to books has dramatically increased in the last couple of weeks. I can now read all the words to several books (such as Curious George) in a row to him. WOOHOO!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
25 Months Old
Ian's major accomplishment over the past month was certainly being daytime potty trained. He's learned how to keep his underwear dry (even during his nap) and pee on the potty every 1-2 hours without crying. Whenever I put him on the potty, he pees within one minute. Woohoo! Of course he still has many things to learn - how to poop on the potty, to tell me when he needs to go so I don't have to watch the clock, and how to stay dry during the night. However it was really easy to accomplish this first stage of potty training. We definitely had to use a LOT more carpet cleaner when potty training Nadia.
His vocabulary also continues to expand at a rapid pace. If I pause while reading one of his favorite books, he can usually tell me what the next word is. Some of his current favorites include Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do you hear?, any Spot book, Llama Llama Misses Mama, nursery rhyme books, and books that can be sung (such as Down by the Bay, Lady with the Alligator Purse, etc.). If he's having any sort of trouble with a toy, he either says "It's stuck" or "It's broken" (even if neither word accurately describes the situation). He sings All The Time and is now singing the majority of the words to many songs including a few Christmas carols such as "Joy to the World." Another phrase that is said many times a day is "call Grandma." That boy is obsessed with talking to his grandmas on my cell phone! He's also just started to say his own prayer at dinner time. It's so sweet!
He still often cries when we put him down for a nap or at night. I can't wait until he outgrows this. Karen (OT) is amazed that he's still crying for about 10 minutes on average before he takes his nap. His nap is on average 30 minutes long. At this point I have pretty much given up hope that his nap will ever be longer than that. The good news is that he sleeps almost 12 hours at night. Most days he goes to bed between 7:45-8:00pm and gets up around 7:30am.He gained 1/2 pound over the past week (weighs 26 lbs), which means he currently weighs one pound less than what he weighed at his 24 month doctor appointment and 2.5 pounds less than what he weighed on Dec 12 at his allergy appointment. He's made a lot of progress over the past month in terms of not crying as much when I feed him. This is largely dependent on what I am feeding him. I don't have to hold his head any more when I feed him.
He's still very obsessed with shapes. All day long no matter where we are he is constantly pointing out shapes that he sees. He will say what the shape of the object is rather than the name of the object (ex. Nadia's change purse that is in the shape of a rectangle - he calls it a rectangle). He also is very obsessed with letters. His favorite letter is "B." If he doesn't know the letter, he calls it "B." He's also very interested in matching up words with letters for example he'll say "P is for Pop Pop" and such like that. He also enjoys (rote) counting.
Daddy has definitely moved up the totem pole with Ian. He now cries when Paul leaves just like he's done for most of his life with me. He gets very excited when Daddy comes home! He also is doing really well at playing independently in the church nursery. He used to be the one to start crying, and now I am told that he's usually the only one not crying when one of the other kids starts the crying chain effect.Eight Embryos!
In 2007 they retrieved 26 eggs and tried to fertilize 18 of them (the others weren't deemed "mature"). Only 7 of those fertilized (39% fertilization rate). We transferred 3 embryos. Of the four remaining embryos, only one made it to the freeze (Nadia).
In 2009 they retrieved 14 eggs and tried to fertilize 13 of them. All 13 fertilized, but one only divided once. When they gave the fertilization report, they said we had 12 embryos (100% fertilization rate). That was still the case on day two, so they agreed to a five day transfer. By day 5 we were down to seven - two blastocysts, one morula that they thought would reach the blastocyst stage within a few hours, one morula, and three embryos. We transferred two blastocysts and one morula. None of the other four were good enough to freeze.
In 2012 they retrieved 11 eggs and tried to fertilize 9 of them. As of today, we have 8 embryos (89% fertilization rate)! Normally they schedule you for a 3 day transfer if you have fewer than 10 embryos on day 1. Because we've had at least 1 make it to blastocyst each time, they are okay with doing a 5 day transfer even though we only have 8 embryos. I asked if we could reassess that decision tomorrow, and they agreed. Last time we still had 12 on day 2 but were done to 7 on day 5. Please pray for wisdom tomorrow in scheduling the transfer. It's scheduled for Monday at 1pm at the moment. Please pray for the embryos to grow, grow, grow! We'd love to have 3-4 still developing on Monday. Last time 58% of them made it from day 2 to day 5. If something similar happened this time, we'd have 4-5 left on Monday. There is always some risk in choosing the 5 day transfer that none will be left, and maybe one or more of those would have continued to thrive in my uterus, which is obviously a better environment than the lab can provide. On the other hand, as we saw in the first ivf cycle, time is the best predictor of which embryo is the best as the "best" one wasn't accurately selected on day 3. All morning I kept waiting for that phone to ring. It rang around noon. I'll be anxiously awaiting the update tomorrow. Thankfully despite my nerves I was able to sleep last night. I really needed a good night's sleep as I didn't sleep well at all the previous night. Every time I did wake during the night I said a quick prayer for our embryos. I'm thrilled that even though I'm almsot 40 years old we have 8 embryos. PTL!
In 2009 they retrieved 14 eggs and tried to fertilize 13 of them. All 13 fertilized, but one only divided once. When they gave the fertilization report, they said we had 12 embryos (100% fertilization rate). That was still the case on day two, so they agreed to a five day transfer. By day 5 we were down to seven - two blastocysts, one morula that they thought would reach the blastocyst stage within a few hours, one morula, and three embryos. We transferred two blastocysts and one morula. None of the other four were good enough to freeze.
In 2012 they retrieved 11 eggs and tried to fertilize 9 of them. As of today, we have 8 embryos (89% fertilization rate)! Normally they schedule you for a 3 day transfer if you have fewer than 10 embryos on day 1. Because we've had at least 1 make it to blastocyst each time, they are okay with doing a 5 day transfer even though we only have 8 embryos. I asked if we could reassess that decision tomorrow, and they agreed. Last time we still had 12 on day 2 but were done to 7 on day 5. Please pray for wisdom tomorrow in scheduling the transfer. It's scheduled for Monday at 1pm at the moment. Please pray for the embryos to grow, grow, grow! We'd love to have 3-4 still developing on Monday. Last time 58% of them made it from day 2 to day 5. If something similar happened this time, we'd have 4-5 left on Monday. There is always some risk in choosing the 5 day transfer that none will be left, and maybe one or more of those would have continued to thrive in my uterus, which is obviously a better environment than the lab can provide. On the other hand, as we saw in the first ivf cycle, time is the best predictor of which embryo is the best as the "best" one wasn't accurately selected on day 3. All morning I kept waiting for that phone to ring. It rang around noon. I'll be anxiously awaiting the update tomorrow. Thankfully despite my nerves I was able to sleep last night. I really needed a good night's sleep as I didn't sleep well at all the previous night. Every time I did wake during the night I said a quick prayer for our embryos. I'm thrilled that even though I'm almsot 40 years old we have 8 embryos. PTL!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Eggs, Milk, and Tears
Paul and I arrived at the hospital at 7:20am. The first thing I did was talk to the financial lady so that she could charge $3,500 on our medical account card and refund that amount to our credit card. It's nice that you can spend the full amount in January even though the full amount won't come out of my pay checks until the end of the year (they're taking out about $130 per check). This is the reason we waited until January to do the procedure (because we'll save at least $700 in taxes and such). If it results in a pregnancy, my due date will be October 3. I went back to the procedure room around 7:30. They don't let husbands come back until after the IV is in. Well that took awhile. Joanie first tried my left hand and then my left arm. She contemplated calling the IV team (which was necessary for my retrieval in 2007), but then she had success on the third try (right hand). They gave me an antibiotic and an anti-nausea medication by IV. I hadn't weighed myself in a long time. I was pleasantly surprised that my weight hadn't changed as I feared I had gained some weight between the holidays and also not getting as much exercise lately.
I asked the nurse what my E2 was on Monday. I was stunned when she told me it had dropped. She said Dr. Z wasn't worried because he cares more about quality of egg than quantity. My first two retrievals my E2 was about 3,200 after 10 days of stimming. Mine was about 1/3 of that this time. I was grateful I didn't know that on Monday as I would have been stressed out about it the last couple of days. My first ivf I was on 225iu for 10 days. The second time I was on 225iu for 4 days and 200iu for the last six days. This time I was on 225iu for 4 days, 150iu for 2 days, and 75iu for the last 4 days. I was questioning why he did things so differently in terms of dosage when my first two rounds were successes. Why mess with success when it's the same woman on the same medications (Follistim and Menopur)? Well one thing that calmed me down was remembering that my egg quality in 2009 was much better, and they retrieved far fewer eggs that time (14 compared to 26). Dr. Z retrieved 11 eggs today. I left the hospital a little more than 4 hours after we arrived. The first time I threw up for 5 hours. The second time I only threw up once, and that was on our way home as I was trying to eat lunch from Wendy's in the car. I learned from that experience and suggested a bagel from Dunkin Donuts was probably a better choice for lunch in the car today. I didn't throw up at all today. PTL! I felt very lousy this afternoon so I turned on Nick Jr for the kids and fell asleep on the couch with Ian in my arms and Nadia sitting beside me. I wasn't able to sleep soundly as Ian kept climbing all over me, but at least I was able to close my eyes for a bit. After some Tylenol and dinner, I started to perk up. I think my blood sugar was part of the problem since I had missed breakfast today. I'm still in a fair amount of pain, but I'm hoping I'll start feeling better tomorrow. I had to skip choir tonight as I was told I couldn't drive for 24 hours due to the sedation. The only place I plan on going tomorrow is the Toyota dealership for an oil change/tire rotation on my car as it's been 10,000 miles (and 9 months) since the last time I had it serviced.
Hopefully I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight even though I'm anxiously awaiting the fertilization report tomorrow. How many embryos we have will determine whether my transfer is on Saturday or Monday. Please pray for our embryos! It feels like part of my heart is sitting in petri dishes at the hospital. In that sense I'd rather do a three day transfer to get them back where they belong two days sooner, but since our one three day transfer wasn't a success, I'd like to make it until Monday if possible. Actually with our 2009 transfer we transferred 2 blastocysts and 1 morula if you want to be really technical. What I keep reminding myself all day long is that it's in God's hands. It only takes one egg so eleven is certainly enough if God wants us to have another baby. Doing ivf definitely helps me to put into practice the habit of praying without ceasing. I pray many, many, many times a day when doing ivf! I've also been praying for my friend who is planning to do ivf (with donor egg) in the next month or two. Just twelve more days until I break out the hpts....
When Ian's patch testing results were read on December 12, the allergist who we saw said Ian's allergist would be calling us back with the next steps. Well we never heard back from anyone since that point so I contacted the allergist on Monday, and she wrote me back yesterday and said that since he hasn't been throwing up and since the patch testing was negative, we can try to reintroduce milk or soy (my choice). I picked milk. Last night I gave him some mango yogurt. Can I tell you how wonderful it was that he didn't cry AT ALL during the whole meal. I fed him 10 bites at a time without any difficulty. Bliss. Please pray that he won't have an allergic reactions because it would be soooo wonderful if he could have milk again. I am going to stick with the rice drink for awhile longer as she said to gradually reintroduce milk. For now I'll just give him yogurt. When we tried in October, it took 2.5 weeks before he started throwing up again; so it might take more than 2 weeks until we know if he can tolerate milk. It was really helpful that he could have yogurt as Gabby was able to feed him a yogurt this morning for breakfast. Otherwise I doubt they'd have been very successful in getting him to eat any solid foods. The allergist wrote me back again today saying she thinks he should have another endoscopy in a few months to make sure he's still in remission. I don't plan on actually doing that. I'll go by whether or not he throws up (which is the protocol the previous allergist followed).
Another thing that made me do a dance of joy yesterday was when Ian peed without crying at 4:30pm and 6:00pm! WOOHOO! I'm thrilled that he's outgrowing this phase of screaming while he pees!! Unfortunately Beth didn't put him in the underwear I asked her to put him in (I mentioned this orally and in the note I left her this morning). She put him in a diaper. Nuts. As soon as I came home I took off the wet diaper and put him back in underwear. He objected at first (which he hadn't done since last Thursday), but he soon got back in the routine of peeing in the potty. Whew. He only cried ONE of the times he peed today. WOOHOO! Several times when he finished peeing he said "good job." Yes, you are doing a very good job, Ian! He had one accident last evening (#2), but he hasn't had any today. He also told me when he needed to go a couple of times today, which was another big step forward.
I asked the nurse what my E2 was on Monday. I was stunned when she told me it had dropped. She said Dr. Z wasn't worried because he cares more about quality of egg than quantity. My first two retrievals my E2 was about 3,200 after 10 days of stimming. Mine was about 1/3 of that this time. I was grateful I didn't know that on Monday as I would have been stressed out about it the last couple of days. My first ivf I was on 225iu for 10 days. The second time I was on 225iu for 4 days and 200iu for the last six days. This time I was on 225iu for 4 days, 150iu for 2 days, and 75iu for the last 4 days. I was questioning why he did things so differently in terms of dosage when my first two rounds were successes. Why mess with success when it's the same woman on the same medications (Follistim and Menopur)? Well one thing that calmed me down was remembering that my egg quality in 2009 was much better, and they retrieved far fewer eggs that time (14 compared to 26). Dr. Z retrieved 11 eggs today. I left the hospital a little more than 4 hours after we arrived. The first time I threw up for 5 hours. The second time I only threw up once, and that was on our way home as I was trying to eat lunch from Wendy's in the car. I learned from that experience and suggested a bagel from Dunkin Donuts was probably a better choice for lunch in the car today. I didn't throw up at all today. PTL! I felt very lousy this afternoon so I turned on Nick Jr for the kids and fell asleep on the couch with Ian in my arms and Nadia sitting beside me. I wasn't able to sleep soundly as Ian kept climbing all over me, but at least I was able to close my eyes for a bit. After some Tylenol and dinner, I started to perk up. I think my blood sugar was part of the problem since I had missed breakfast today. I'm still in a fair amount of pain, but I'm hoping I'll start feeling better tomorrow. I had to skip choir tonight as I was told I couldn't drive for 24 hours due to the sedation. The only place I plan on going tomorrow is the Toyota dealership for an oil change/tire rotation on my car as it's been 10,000 miles (and 9 months) since the last time I had it serviced.
Hopefully I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight even though I'm anxiously awaiting the fertilization report tomorrow. How many embryos we have will determine whether my transfer is on Saturday or Monday. Please pray for our embryos! It feels like part of my heart is sitting in petri dishes at the hospital. In that sense I'd rather do a three day transfer to get them back where they belong two days sooner, but since our one three day transfer wasn't a success, I'd like to make it until Monday if possible. Actually with our 2009 transfer we transferred 2 blastocysts and 1 morula if you want to be really technical. What I keep reminding myself all day long is that it's in God's hands. It only takes one egg so eleven is certainly enough if God wants us to have another baby. Doing ivf definitely helps me to put into practice the habit of praying without ceasing. I pray many, many, many times a day when doing ivf! I've also been praying for my friend who is planning to do ivf (with donor egg) in the next month or two. Just twelve more days until I break out the hpts....
When Ian's patch testing results were read on December 12, the allergist who we saw said Ian's allergist would be calling us back with the next steps. Well we never heard back from anyone since that point so I contacted the allergist on Monday, and she wrote me back yesterday and said that since he hasn't been throwing up and since the patch testing was negative, we can try to reintroduce milk or soy (my choice). I picked milk. Last night I gave him some mango yogurt. Can I tell you how wonderful it was that he didn't cry AT ALL during the whole meal. I fed him 10 bites at a time without any difficulty. Bliss. Please pray that he won't have an allergic reactions because it would be soooo wonderful if he could have milk again. I am going to stick with the rice drink for awhile longer as she said to gradually reintroduce milk. For now I'll just give him yogurt. When we tried in October, it took 2.5 weeks before he started throwing up again; so it might take more than 2 weeks until we know if he can tolerate milk. It was really helpful that he could have yogurt as Gabby was able to feed him a yogurt this morning for breakfast. Otherwise I doubt they'd have been very successful in getting him to eat any solid foods. The allergist wrote me back again today saying she thinks he should have another endoscopy in a few months to make sure he's still in remission. I don't plan on actually doing that. I'll go by whether or not he throws up (which is the protocol the previous allergist followed).
Another thing that made me do a dance of joy yesterday was when Ian peed without crying at 4:30pm and 6:00pm! WOOHOO! I'm thrilled that he's outgrowing this phase of screaming while he pees!! Unfortunately Beth didn't put him in the underwear I asked her to put him in (I mentioned this orally and in the note I left her this morning). She put him in a diaper. Nuts. As soon as I came home I took off the wet diaper and put him back in underwear. He objected at first (which he hadn't done since last Thursday), but he soon got back in the routine of peeing in the potty. Whew. He only cried ONE of the times he peed today. WOOHOO! Several times when he finished peeing he said "good job." Yes, you are doing a very good job, Ian! He had one accident last evening (#2), but he hasn't had any today. He also told me when he needed to go a couple of times today, which was another big step forward.
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