Cooperation

For the first time in a really long time, I feel like my body is actually doing what it's supposed to do, when it's supposed to do it.

Wednesday was my last BCP, and within about a day and a half, AF had arrived. This is progress from last time when the silly lady never showed until after my cycle was cancelled. At least a week later than expected.

Tomorrow is my final suppression check before we kick things into high gear on Friday. I hope the blood work and ultrasound also indicate that my body has decided to cooperate.

*Fingers crossed all goes well tomorrow*

Feeling productive

Back in May when our IVF was cancelled, we kicked it into high gear and started on our fence project.

Why not? I'd actually be able to help with a majority of it.

Memorial Day weekend, we started digging post holes. 43 of them. Thanks to the help of some friends, and a rented power auger, all the holes got dug in one day.

Over the course of the next few weekends and many evenings, the posts were all set and many cross pieces attached.

Last weekend, we finally started on some of the vertical slats and now we actually have the beginnings of a very fine looking fence.

We only have about a week's worth of work left in me before I start on lifting restrictions again. Hopefully we can knock out a lot more this weekend and next week and still find some relaxing time in between.

These pictures were taken on Tuesday. One month from starting. It's a big project and hard to put it into perspective. Way bigger than I can squeeze into one frame.

Is this what I really meant when I said I was excited to get some of my summer back?

And Ben, thanks for all the help you've given us on this project.

Keeping "Hope" close to my heart

As I have mentioned before, Hope is what is pulling us through all of these hard times. I recently received this necklace from my best friend who wanted to give me a way to keep our Hope close to my heart.

Thank you. I needed that.

Good luck on Friday the 13th!

That's right. I said good luck. My appointment today was great! After being back on the pill since May 19th, both of my ovaries are quiet. Yeah! (Amazing what leaving the antibiotic out of the protocol will do.)

After seeing quiet ovaries, I was still so scared that something was going to come back wonky with my blood work. Nope! I was wrong. That was good too.

I think I have these numbers right; my Progesterone was 0.54 and my Estradiol was 23. When I had gotten my blood work back last time just before my cycle was cancelled, my Estradiol was 379 and my Progesterone was 11. So, obviously my numbers are looking much better this time.

Out of curiosity, I asked what my FSH was last time it was tested. In May, on or about cycle day 3, it was 8.3. Ideally they want to see it under 10, so I'm still good there.

So, the good news in all of this is I get to move ahead as planned and will start Lupron next Sunday. I don't go back until July 1st, which is 10 days into the Lupron. Being we already took a peek today, things really "should" be good at that point. It will almost be more of a typical baseline ultrasound.

Finally, some good news and forward movement. Now that's a good feeling.

Welcome to June!

It's June and we are that much closer to our actual IVF procedure.

I start my Lupron shots in June, but not before my one and only scheduled June appointment. This time my doctor is going to see me before I start my Lupron instead of waiting until I've been on it for ten days to see what's happening.

The last couple of weeks have gone by really fast. We've managed to keep ourselves super busy, so that has helped a lot.

It's nice to have a lot of little milestones to look forward to. It makes each thing seem more important and significant in the grand scheme of things.

Now, I just have to make it to next Friday for my first appointment. I think I can handle that!

Let's try this again.

Yesterday was my consultation with the IVF nurse. Basically it was just a quick run down of our new calendar and to actually get dates solidified. Nothing really changed from what I had already posted, just the addition of the first u/s.

• May 19 - Start BCPs
• June 13 - Ultrasound, Estradiol and Progestrone check (hope for quiet conditions)
• June 22 - Start Lupron
• June 25 - Last day of BCPs
• July 4 - Start stims
• July 6 - July 11 - appointments almost daily for U/S and blood work
• Week of July 15 - Estimated Egg Retrieval

Knowing that June is just around the corner is making me feel better about this timeline. Looking two months out was really hard when we were cancelled, but now we're already a couple of weeks past that.

Hopefully our weather will finally take on more of a summer-like feel and I can get out and enjoy as much of the month of June as possible before July arrives with all of those appointments.

Revelation - Confirmed!

This week I saw a friend of ours who is a pharmacist. I ran my little scenario past her and she agrees that it certainly could have been due to starting the Z-pak with my BCPs that caused me to ovulate through the pill.

She even mentioned the warnings that come out with an antibiotic saying if you are using an oral contraceptive to make sure you are using back-up protection.

I feel so much better, but still want to talk to my doctor about it. It just seems odd that they try to peg me as the rare 1% that the pill doesn't work for when they are the ones giving me antibiotics at the beginning of my cycle. Really, can I be the only one this has happened to? That just seems a little too unlikely.

At least this time I'm not taking a Z-pak, so hopefully things will stay nice and quiet as they should have. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

Tuesday is my nurse consultation, I'll be sure to mention my concerns then.