T minus 4 and counting
The donor coordinator called this afternoon. She's confident that the donor will trigger Friday night and ER is likely going to be Sunday. If there are more than 8 embryos, they'll try to take them to blast which means that ET will be Friday if things go well.
My e2 from Monday was 333 which is great.
That's all I know.
Lining check
Donor's doing great. I don't have details, but she's got "lots of follicles", some at 10mm -- her next check is wednesday and I'll know more then. I have a stunningly beautiful triple striped 9mm lining. No worries there!
One of the women at the office said "that's the best donor gift I've seen. It's perfect!" I feel better.
So donor has another check wednesday and they'll call me afterward. I don't go in again until transfer. I guess they've seen enough of my hooha for now.
There's no way a picture can say a single word
I mean, how do you thank someone for helping you have the family that you desire sooooo much?
Well, either way, here's the basket I put together for my donor. I haven't put it in shrink wrap yet. I'll do that at the last minute.
Enjoy!
Have another one, buddy!
Yesterday, a friend and I went to visiting hours at an inpatient addiction treatment center. We met there so I could drop off her daughter to her there. She and I went to the party store to buy some supplies for a birthday party later in the day. After I dropped off her daughter and left, I realized about 2 miles away that I had the kid's booster seat with me. So I called her to tell her that I had it and I was on my way back with it. Imagine my surprise when I heard her phone ringing in my car. (in addition to leaving her cell phone in my car, she also left her wallet. Nice!) Then my phone rang. Caller ID showed a number I didn't recognize. I answered. It was her telling me that I had her phone and car seat. So I get her stuff back to her and go about my day. Flash forward to about 8:00 last night.
My phone rings again with the same strange number. Here's how the conversation went:
Me: Hello?
Strange Sounding Guy: uh, Hello?
Me: Helllloo?
SSG: uh, Hello?
Me: Hello?
SSG: Who's this?
Me: This is Debbi.
SSG: Hello?
Me: Helllloooo?
SSG: Who's this?
Me: This is Debbi. Who's this?
SSG: uh, your number's on my phone
Me: That's because you lent your phone to someone earlier today so she could call me.
SSG: OH! I was at (treatment center) today.
Me: Riiiiiiight
SSG: Hello?
Me: Hellllloo?
(line gets quiet at this point)
Me: Who belongs at rehab, anyway?
I hung up and thought... Yeah, have another one, Pal. You should have just stayed there.
WTF?
Appreciation abounds
It's supposed to be 90 degrees here today. I suppose I'll finish all my computer stuff this morning so that I can put the laptop down for the day. It gets so hot -- I don't think that's normal. Anyway...
I've been putting together a basket for my donor. When it's finished (later today, I hope) I'll try to post a picture. This whole picture posting thing is new to me, but if K. can do it, certainly I can! Here are the contents so far:
Fluffy socks for egg retrieval
Comfy PJs
Comfy slippers
4 bottles of Evian water
Electrolyte replacement powder for the water
Assorted snacks (animal crackers, trail mix, dried fruit mix, cheese-its, etc)
Spa gift certificate
DVD of School of Rock
Thermacare heat pads
Handwritten thank-you card
There might be more, but since I haven't put it together yet, I don't know what I missed. What do you all think? I tried to stay away from personal gifts as I really don't know her and while I'm sure she'd appreciate the gesture of something personal, that doesn't mean that she'll use whatever I buy.
The ABC of me
Ok here's the game I stole from Katty. Let me know if you decide to post this. I'd love to see your answers. Have fun! The ABC of Me
accent: I don't think so, but I suppose I sound at home anywhere in northern New England.
chore I hate: Yes, I hate chores. Especially putting away laundry. It seems so silly. I'm only going to get it out again and wear it.
dogs/cats: I love dogs. At the moment we've got a German Shepherd Dog and a Rottweiler. They're both awesome except the Rott's kinda spazzy.
essential electronics: My satellite radio in my car, my TV DVR and my tablet PC. I couldn't live without any one of them.
favorite perfume/cologne: Calvin Klein's Eternity
gold/silver: I split the difference -- white gold
hometown: Small-town Vermont
insomnia: Never unless I'm mentally ill (and that's been known to happen on occasion but even then, never more than one night in a row)
job title: Support Analyst -- fancypants, doncha think?
kids: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
living arrangements: In a house that I hate, in a city that I hate, with a husband I adore.
most admired trait: I'm a great friend.
number of sexual partners: Now? or ever?
overnight hospital stays: Too many to count -- probably 5 or 6
phobia: I'm not a big fan of raised decks. I always feel like the railing will give way or the deck will fall.
quotes: none that come to mind at the moment. I like song lyrics, though.
religion: cafeteria catholic
siblings: 2 brothers, 5 step-brothers
time I usually wake up: 4:45
unusual talent: I can solve the rubik's cube. Does that count?
vegetables I refuse to eat: most of them
worst habit: I interrupt people during conversations. I'm horrible, I know.
x-rays: yes
yummy foods I make: HA! I'm married to a cook. 'nuff said.
zodiac sign: Scorpio
Aaaand they're off!
My donor starts stims today. I thought it would NEVER happen! Her first ultrasound is Monday and coincidentally that's my first lining check. I increase to 3 estrogen patches tonight and increase to 4 on Sunday. It's such a waiting game. Any time-killing suggestions? I actually found a game on Katty's blog that I'm going to complete. I'll post it when I'm finished. If I'm feeling particularly frisky, I'll tag someone with it. Wish me luck.
CycleSISTA
I added my cycle to Cyclesista today.
GO! Give your support! It won't hurt a bit. I promise.
As a show of support, I've added the June/July cyclers' blogs to my links list over here --------->>
Good luck ladies!
KETCHUP!
So the donor cycle is going well. I have some catching up to do with it:
I had the sonohystogram on June 1 and it went very well. Uterus is normal and I had a couple of corpus luteal cysts on my ovaries. *sigh* What else is new? In hindsight, I should have raised a red flag, but we live and learn. I stayed on Lupron (.1cc daily) and stopped birth control on Sunday, June 4.
Last Friday, June 9, I went back for a supression check. BIG FAT NEGATIVE. One of the cysts was 45mm. Soooo. I doubled up on the lupron and started .2cc daily with instructions to return yesterday. By Monday I was freaking out. My coordinator, M. was OOF so I had an email thread with the other coordinator, F. She didn't give me a whole lot of confidence and I really freaked out. Specifically, she told me that if I wasn't supressed Thursday, there were 2 options: either complete the cycle and freeze the embryos for transfer when I'm ready or delay the cycle until next month. Neither of these options sounded very good to me. Waiting another cycle is bad for a couple of reasons: 1. My donor wants to do this cycle early and 2. that really just gives me time to grow more cysts. I mean, time is not on my side in this situation. Freezing for this cycle doesn't appeal to me either because success rates are better with fresh cycles. I was wondering why we couldn't just keep the donor on birth control pills for a few more days until I was ready to start. She wrote back that they did ask the donor to stay on the pills for 5 more days and then said "We can’t make any promises as to her availability." OK I don't know what that means, but it's not good and I don't need to hear something like that.
Tuesday, C. had to go into the office to learn how to give my PIO shots (they're IM shots given beginning 3 days prior to transfer and continue thru 1st trimester) and while he was there, talked to M. about my concerns, mostly related to the cysts and what will happen if I'm not supressed when I return. She made C. feel much better and when he came to the office for lunch, we called her together and I felt SO much better after I talked to her. She assured me that things would work out just FINE. She told me that she's been in contact with my donor and she's still 100% committed to my cycle and would wait for me until I'm ready. She also told me that she's confident that I'd be supressed for my next appointment.
Yesterday, I went for another supression check and the cysts were still there, of course. They were about half the size, which still makes them pretty big. Fortunately though, the e2 was under 50 so I started estrogen patches last night -- 2 patches every other day until Monday then increase to 3 patches every other day. At some point I'll move to 4 patches but that's at least a week away. While I was at the REs yesterday, I had a lovely meltdown beginning with the fact that I sat in the waiting room for over 30 minutes for my appointment. Pretty much an overall bad day but here's a safety tip if you're interested: if you have a meltdown at the office, you get to see the donor coordinator, the PA and the RE all at the same time, while the phlebotomist is drawing your blood! I guess someone must have said "uh, you better go talk that Debbi off the ledge -- she's about ready to blow a gasket." Which is fine with me.
Today, I noticed after my workout that I was bleeding. Hey, I guess I'm really supressed! it's extremely light now and M. tells me that when the e2 level starts to rise, the bleeding will stop and I'll start to build my nice, fluffy lining. *WHEW*
Next up: Donor starts stims early next week and I go for lining check next Monday the 26th.
Hi Blogland!
Just checking in...
I'm still alive but it's so crazy busy! I've been helping K. with the kids and we've actually done some really fun things :-)
I'll tell you all about them when I can.
Blog Vacation
Well, it wasn't a vacation but it explains why I haven't been blogging.
My mom called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that my dad was in the hospital. I spent a week there with them as he was very touch & go.
Additionally, I've been focusing much of my energy on my dearest friend who's in a life-crisis.
I'll admit: It's a good thing that I'm distracted from this cycle. I also like the feeling of being able to help.
I'll further admit: It's a fine line between helping and not letting go over what little control I fantasize that I have. I'm working on it.
More when I have the time.
