Step By Step (oooh baby)

We heard from the insurance company yesterday. They accepted our request for IVF!  We are fully authorized for the February cycle. The number is good until May of this year...what does this mean? I dunno. I'll have to ask my coordinator.  Things are even realer now! :)  

I have my monitoring appointments scheduled for February 18-21. Carla (the coordinator at Del Val Genetics and Infetility) told me that they don't start monitoring until 630 (I swear this is not true. I didn't make up the idea that they start at 6!) So I will have to suck it up for that one week.  It's only a max of 6 days with a weekend in between, so it won't be too bad.  The next thing is the meds...I need to figure out a schedule. That's the next thing on our list to tackle. OMG. We are so excited!!!!

PS: I love Oprah. And I love using her to express emotions...so I'm not even mad about her 2x appearance this week...are you?

The question will be....are you fat or pregnant?

If I don't watch myself.

Ok, dramatic....well, I gained 7 pounds over the Christmas holiday. Seriously? Who does that? Ugh. How obnoxious. Oh well, back to the grind today. We went shopping this weekend and filled the house with healthy choices and I did a ton of prep work for crock pot meals and lunches...so hopefully it helps...I think the scale was the kick in the butt I needed!

In other news...I had a nice long talk with Dorri from RAD on Friday.  We talked about our upcoming cycle and the important dates. And while we are waiting for the final approval from the insurance, we planned some things out. And so it begins...February 4th! This will be a day full of appointments. Matt can't make it, so mad props to my Mama for agreeing to come along! 

Moootha!

Our next appointment will be during the week of the 10th...probably the 12th. This appointment will include a baseline ultrasound and med training...at which point, Matt will be taught all about sticking me with needles. (ummm? really?) The official cycle will begin on, none other than, Valentine's Day! I'll start my meds and have my first ultrasound on the 17th, Matt's birthday! I'll have the first ultrasound at RAD. Then I will have 4 days of monitoring at the facility in Marlton that I talked about in my previous post. I thought I would be lucky and able to be monitored in Vineland, but in order to have same day blood work and an ultrasound I'll have to go to Marlton. It's ok, because I have a friend who lives close by and we worked it out so that I'll stay with her for my week of monitoring. This way my 6am monitoring is easier to get up for :) I have to work out a few logistics with work, but after 4 days of monitoring in Marlton, I'll be back to RAD for a weekend of monitoring. At this point in the cycle Dr. N will decide if we need 2 more days of monitoring or if we're ready for the retrieval.

From that point, we'll schedule the retrieval and then 5 days later we'll have the TRANSFER!!!

So in other words...

Now listen here. And listen good.  Once the transfer occurs we will know if it has worked 2 weeks later. But don't expect me to jump on the interwebs and scream it from the rooftops...cause that ain't happening. Sorrynotsorry. That is not my style.

Love you. Mean it.

Rambling to follow...#sorryboutit.

So these last few days I've been sick. Off and on fever, sore throat, body aches and just all over yuckiness. So I headed over to Urgent Care, where they ruled out strep and the flu...so who knows what it was! The doctor gave me some medicine and it seems to have worked! I feel so much better! She suggested I take a day off to rest so I did just that! While I rested up I made some phone calls to figure out the logistics of our first IVF cycle.

You see, we live all the way here in CMNJ and unfortunately, we aren't close to anything...except a Walmart...and especially NOT Dr N. at RAD so we have to find a doctor's office who can/will monitor me during the first 12 days of the cycle. (This is the time when I need to go for daily ultrasounds and blood work.  They monitor me until they consider the eggs to be "ready" or mature and then they give me a shot that tells my body to ovulate and then they retrieve and then a few days later they transfer) Anyway, I digress. This first part requires a lot of meds...I mean, a lot.  Like pills and shots and the blood work too. So to add the extra stress of a 2 hour drive to RAD and back again, every day for 10-12 days is not something that I consider to be ideal. So Dr. N suggested I put some calls in to a few doctors "down here" (the closest being 20 minutes away).

So I started there. I called my OBGYN, who I love. Nope sorry, they don't do it. OK. I didn't think they did. So then I called the leading fertility specialists in South Jersey. They have their own "outside monitoring" coordinator! This could be it! My lucky phone call! Well, SJFERT doesn't take insurance for non patients. It's all out of pocket.  They charge a one time 100$ convenience charge, 230$ per ultrasound and 60$ per blood draw! That's almost 300$ plus gas per visit...for 10-12 days! Yeah, sorry. NOOO! We just can't justify that kind of spending this early in the process. My next call was to the High Risk doctor, who I'll have to see anyway once we are pregnant. The nurse there said "there is no way ANY doctor will do that kind of work for another doctor." Ummm, ok Isabel...calm the F down! I didn't ask for your sass!

Finally, I called a clinic in Vineland...which is an HOUR away. They offer outside monitoring. To the best of the front desk lady's knowledge, they take insurance for said monitoring. They have same day blood work. All available in their MARLTON office...which is an hour and 45 minutes away! CURSES! She said they can do the ultrasounds in Vineland but they can't guarantee the blood work everyday. I don't know what that means really...but I left a message for the coordinator and I await her call back. Unfortunately, I think I'll find myself making a lot of trips to DE over the next month...but it will all be worth it. That much I know!

But speaking of trips to DE...I am super stressed out over the amount of days I'll need to take off for this. A day here, a day there. Then 2 more days over here.  It is seriously stressing me out. My hair is falling out! OK not really...but I feel it coming. Once it is all planned out, I will feel better. But right now, I find myself giving Matt extra apologies and stealing a few extra hugs...<3

I leave you with a picture of our littlest fur baby, Eleanor. Who came to us in December.

My New Year's Resolution...?

Happy New Year!!!

So I guess, since I have been nothing short of inactive since May 2013, I should bring the blog up to date with what Matt and I have been up to!  And since I can anticipate a new life journey beginning, perhaps I'll be a bit more committed to updating the blog on the reg..so anyway...

Matt and I have been trying for our first baby since November 2012.  We tried everything you could possibly think of...green tea, Robitussin, vitamins, hanging upside down...you name it...we did it! So after months with no success, I called upon an old friend...the nanny babies' mom, who happens to be a Reproductive Endocrinologist and super woman!  We had our initial appointment, an exam and some blood work.  Everything came back normal. Matt's sperm are in tip top shape. My ovaries and uterus look good. Although my uterus was a bit heart shaped...no big deal.  I also have an incredible amount of eggs! And I get my period regularly! YAY! Except, doc was concerned about the amount of debilitating pain and suffering I go through every month when Flo comes. She suggested a laparoscopic procedure to confirm that Endometriosis was the culprit in my pain and our infertility.  So on December 11, I underwent a minimally invasive procedure where the doctor "cleaned me out" so to speak and while she was in there, she reshaped my uterus!

**heart like this

**not like this

OK! GREAT! What does all of this mean? Well, I have been diagnosed with Stage 3 Endometriosis with severe tubal damage. Dr. N is not confident that we will be able to conceive naturally, and the longer we wait, the more time the Endo will have to grow back...so this means that we will begin our first IVF cycle in February.  It is a very exciting time for Matt and me. We are ready for this next chapter in our love story.  As things get underway, I will try to keep the blog up to date...even though I never anticipated being the girl who put all her bidness out on the interwebs.  A big shoutout to The Bestie for all of her support and love and to the amazing staff at RAD for making this journey (even if it is just the beginning) a smooth sailing and love filled process.

xoxo