CD 2: Yeah, you read that right...

(FYI - This is going to be long. Sorry in advance.)

IUI #1 didn't work. And not only did it just not work... my luteal phase was 9 days. I got my period 10 DPIUI. Which, lucky me, also happened to be the first day of school. So, on top of dealing with a new class of students, I also had to try to hold it together all day long. To say it was incredibly difficult is a huge understatement. I basically cried from the time I got in my car after school until I went to bed that night. I would have been upset no matter what if it didn't work, but the fact that my period came so early just made things so much worse because it was such a surprise.

Honestly, I don't even know what the heck happened. I talked to my nurse this morning and her explanation was basically that things are "different" with my body because of all the injects and the HCG trigger shot... something about how the "process" of ovulation starts when I give myself the trigger shot, so my luteal phase was really a couple days longer. Okay, that explantation just doesn't fly with me, because if I do ovulate right away with the shot, then the IUI 36 hours later is done too late!!! Luckily, I have an appointment on Thursday with my RE (in addition to my baseline appointment), so he better have a much, much better explanation for me.

Needless to say, it's been a tough couple of days. So, today I went to go ahead and get my first few days of meds (long story, but basically with my appointment being at 3:15 on Thursday, and the pharmacy I use closing at 4:30, I needed to go ahead and get it). I will need 15 vials of Bravelle to start with (assuming I can actually go through with this cycle... AKA no cysts). I had my nurse fax in a prescription for 10 to start with because there is a coupon where you can get to $500 off if you get 10 vials (you get less off if you get less vials). The coupon is only good once per cycle. Well, when I got there I found out that apparently it's actually only good every 30 days, and since my period came so freaking early, I can't use it until like Monday or something, which will be too late. Awesome. I left empty handed, because I'm not about to pay an extra $500 when I don't know for sure that I will be able to cycle.

So, I called my mom when I left, and I was just explaining everything to her. And I told her that if we wait until next cycle it would basically cost us $500 less, so we may just take this cycle off... and she said she and my dad had talked about it, and if it was just finances stopping us, they would help us out and they would send us $500. I immediately started sobbing hysterically. I think it was just such a relief to finally feel not so alone in all of this... like someone else was helping us to carry this tremendous burden.

If you can spare some extra prayers, we could really use them.

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CD 18: IUI Complete!

Everything went very well this morning. Thank you so much for all of the prayers! It was a lot easier process than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, J's counts weren't quite as good as when he was originally tested (I'm thinking because we had to have sex last night since he had been out of town), but in the end they were still very good according to my nurse. After everything was all said and done they ended up injecting 67 million motile sperm into my uterus. I'm feeling fine, just a bit crampy and like my ovaries might explode! Ha!

So, now I wait. I can't decide if I want to test out my trigger or not. Part of me just doesn't want to see two lines on a test knowing it's not real, ya know? We shall see, though. I usually am not good when it comes to resisting the urge to test!

CD 17: IUI Is Tomorrow!!!

I'm kind of freaking out. Our IUI is tomorrow morning! I gave myself the trigger shot last night because  at my monitoring appointment I had three mature follicles - two on my left (YAY!!!) and one on my right. I am so thankful for these results, and hoping that things go well tomorrow.

Funny story really quickly... J is giving his sample at home. My RE gave me a specimen cup on Wednesday, and somehow... I managed to lose it. I mean seriously? Only I would do something like this. So, I called Walgreen's to ask if they carry them because it shows on their website that they do in store. The lady who answered the phone acted like  I was a complete weirdo, and they apparently don't have them. So, I ended up going to a doctor's office and asking if I could have one. The receptionist also acted like I was a weirdo, but thankfully she gave me one.

Needless to say, J is very happy he won't have to be giving his sample at the office!!!

God, please let tomorrow be it for us. Please.

CD 13: Monitoring Update

This is just going to be a quick post. I had another monitoring appointment this morning, and things are looking a LOT better. My lining was at 7.2, and it still has some time to grow, so it's looking great. Right now, my biggest follicles are 14, 14, and 12. The two 14s are on my left (WOOHOO!!), and the 12 is on my right. Unfortunately, I did have to buy more injections... 3 vials a day for 2 more days. So, there went another $300. We are up to well over $1,000 now for this cycle! I go back again on Wednesday, and hopefully will get to trigger Wednesday or Thursday.

On another note, J's granddaddy is not doing very well. He is supposed to have a procedure on Friday and said to one of his friends that he doesn't know if he can make it until then. If you pray, please pray for continued growth of my follicles and that J's granddaddy will be alright.

CD 9: Not In a Good Place

I had my first monitoring appointment today. Needless to say, it didn't go how I wanted it to go. My lining was at a 6. I'm not too worried about that because it's obviously too early. Apparently my follicles really didn't grow a whole lot from baseline. I had two 9mm follies on my right at baseline that are still at 9mm. I had a 6mm on my left that is now a 9mm. Those are the biggest follies I have, along with a ton of smaller ones.

So, after taking Bravelle 150iu for 5 days, it basically did a whole lot of nothing. When my nurse called me today, she said my E2 had only gone from a 33 at baseline to a 58 today. I don't know much about E2, but apparently that's not good. Now I have to take 225iu of Bravelle today, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday... and then go back on Monday morning for more monitoring.

I guess I just assumed the injections would work some kind of miracle. Instead, we just paid another $650 for something that might not even work. However, I am remaining hopeful that the increase in meds is just what I need to make my follicles grow.

If you pray, please pray for the following:

1) For our finances to be in order... the costs this cycle are adding up FAST.
2) For the higher dose of meds to have the needed effect on my follies.
3) For me to be at peace with everything.

If I am being totally honest, today was one of the roughest days I've had in awhile. I feel so upset that my body isn't doing what it should be able to do naturally even WITH the help of a ridiculous amount of meds.