Have you been waiting to find out if it worked? Sorry about that. No, it didn't work. I'm not pregnant yet.
Part of the reason I haven't updated recently is we are again considering adoption. I want to be pregnant again, but more than that, I'd like to have another child. It's been a back and forth, day-to-day decision. My mind cannot be made up. There are equal pros and cons to both options.
So, today, we are planning on trying another IUI on my next cycle. More details to come soon.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
My memory has been compromised
Something happened to me after my daughter was born. I was well versed in all the pregnancy and motherhood phenomenon because I'd read approximately 3,176 books on the subject while trying to get pregnant. But then I had my daughter and forgot half of what I'd learned in my lifetime. She made me stupid?
Curious about early symptoms from pregnancy 5 years ago, I looked at my old journal I kept while still smart, bb (before baby). My facts, what I thought were facts, were wrong.
Here is a list ofcorrections from previous posts.
1. I did not have 5 follicles ready when my daughter was conceived. I only had 2. (uh oh?) I had five in a previous attempt.
Ok, so it was just that one thing. But it's a BIG thing. 2 follicles equaled one baby. what does 5 follicles equal? hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...hmmmm.
Curious about early symptoms from pregnancy 5 years ago, I looked at my old journal I kept while still smart, bb (before baby). My facts, what I thought were facts, were wrong.
Here is a list ofcorrections from previous posts.
1. I did not have 5 follicles ready when my daughter was conceived. I only had 2. (uh oh?) I had five in a previous attempt.
Ok, so it was just that one thing. But it's a BIG thing. 2 follicles equaled one baby. what does 5 follicles equal? hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...hmmmm.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
And now we wait for the pregnancy test
This morning I was inseminated with 8 million good sperm without any problems! In 6 days I will have a blood test to see if there are any pregnancy indicators. :)
During the 20 minute rest afterwards my husband and I started making plans for the nursery. Maybe too soon to talk about but fun nonetheless.
During the 20 minute rest afterwards my husband and I started making plans for the nursery. Maybe too soon to talk about but fun nonetheless.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Phone rang
The docs want to do the insemination on Saturday morning... not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow... They want to give the eggs some more time to grow. So Saturday it is. Tomorrow night I give myself the injection.
It's happening. :)
It's happening. :)
Waiting for the phone to ring
I had the ultrasound at 7:30 this morning. The ultrasound tech said, "Wow, you've got a lot going on here." within seconds of looking at the ultrasound screen. I have five eggs ready to go. They are measured in size to see how many have matured from the ovary stimulation medication, Clomid. Any follicle measuring 14mm or larger is considered a possible pregnancy. I had one 19mm, two 18mm, and two 14mm. I also had five follicles possible when our daughter was conceived.
A blood draw was also done to check hormone levels. Now the doctors are considering the blood test and follicles to decide when to inject the hormone and inseminate. I'm supposed to be hearing from them anytime now... anytime... anytime.
Yes, I am excited to get the insemination done... but right now I am more concerned with planning around it. I know that the insemination will take place tomorrow or the day after. If it's tomorrow I have to make 2 phone calls to break commitments. If it's the day after I need to find a sitter for my daughter and possibly break 1 commitment. My husband will have to take one of those days off too... just don't know which one yet.
I am a planner.. I like things organized.. I need to update my calendar. Waiting is tough.
And I'm excited. :)
A blood draw was also done to check hormone levels. Now the doctors are considering the blood test and follicles to decide when to inject the hormone and inseminate. I'm supposed to be hearing from them anytime now... anytime... anytime.
Yes, I am excited to get the insemination done... but right now I am more concerned with planning around it. I know that the insemination will take place tomorrow or the day after. If it's tomorrow I have to make 2 phone calls to break commitments. If it's the day after I need to find a sitter for my daughter and possibly break 1 commitment. My husband will have to take one of those days off too... just don't know which one yet.
I am a planner.. I like things organized.. I need to update my calendar. Waiting is tough.
And I'm excited. :)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
My new Super Hero name is Fertile Myrtle
Ha. At least I think I'm super fertile.
It's midnight as I find quiet time to update the blog without interruption... so technically, because it's now the wee hours of Monday morning, I am on the 9th day of my cycle.
On Wednesday morning I will drive to the fertility doctor's office for an ultrasound. The ultrasound will determine the day and time for insemination. I'll know how many mature follicles (eggs) are ready in my ovaries and if my womb is able to accommodate a pregnancy. Once this information is known I will schedule the insemination for either Thursday or Friday. The ultrasound is a bit uncomfortable. It is an internal ultrasound, and if you've never had one, it is a long plastic stick inserted into the vagina. Ugh. And the worst part of it for a fertility patient is no lubricant can be used. The lubricant may hinder the ability for sperm to move freely. Again, uncomfortable.
Wednesday or Thursday I will inject myself with a hormone forcing ovulation. My eggs will release into my fallopian tubes not long after the shot. The most painful part of the hormone injection is the price. I paid $109 a few days ago for one shot. The pharmacy actually called me to see if they should place the order for the shot since it was so expensive... and not covered by insurance. Oh well. Our daughter was worth every penny of her conception and if we are Blessed again it will all be worth it again.
The very first time I had to stick a needle into my belly it was beyond scary. I was standing in my bathroom with all the necessary components... alcohol wipes, shot, sharps container. I washed the area several times trying to get the courage up to do it. My husband was on a business trip so he was unable to help. Finally I took the shot and pointed it at the area just to the left of my belly button. I stood there frozen for a few minutes. I'd had shots before without any complaints.. but I'd never even considered sticking myself with a needle! (Deep breath, want a baby, I can do this.) And... shot. You know, it barely even hurt. I got myself all in a tizzy for nothing big. It was a let down, really. hahaha Well, anti-climatic.
So anyway, back to 2012 and our first attempt at a 2nd baby. My husband will take the day off work for the actual insemination. I at least would like him in the room when we conceive. :) Once the donor sperm is thawed and counted it will be placed in a small syringe with a long thin catheter attached at the tip. We will have a chance to inspect the packaging to make sure we are being given the correct donor sperm. We'll also be told our chances of conceiving multiples. I 'll have some forms to sign and away we go.
I'll be on a pelvic exam table and the catheter will be threaded through my cervix and into my uterus. It hurts a little bit, not terribly, just crampy. Once the catheter is in place the sperm will be slowly injected into my uterus. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Once the sperm has been placed and the catheter is removed, the exam table will be tilted up at the bottom end. I will rest for 20 minutes with my hips elevated to aid the sperm in their direction. Then I go home and wait.
So. There you have it. The whole formula.... Super ovulation + Sperm concentrate + precise ultrasound timing + Assisted sperm delivery + prayers = pregnancy (hopefully).
I will have a blood test done on day 26 of this cycle to see if the IUI worked.
It's midnight as I find quiet time to update the blog without interruption... so technically, because it's now the wee hours of Monday morning, I am on the 9th day of my cycle.
On Wednesday morning I will drive to the fertility doctor's office for an ultrasound. The ultrasound will determine the day and time for insemination. I'll know how many mature follicles (eggs) are ready in my ovaries and if my womb is able to accommodate a pregnancy. Once this information is known I will schedule the insemination for either Thursday or Friday. The ultrasound is a bit uncomfortable. It is an internal ultrasound, and if you've never had one, it is a long plastic stick inserted into the vagina. Ugh. And the worst part of it for a fertility patient is no lubricant can be used. The lubricant may hinder the ability for sperm to move freely. Again, uncomfortable.
Wednesday or Thursday I will inject myself with a hormone forcing ovulation. My eggs will release into my fallopian tubes not long after the shot. The most painful part of the hormone injection is the price. I paid $109 a few days ago for one shot. The pharmacy actually called me to see if they should place the order for the shot since it was so expensive... and not covered by insurance. Oh well. Our daughter was worth every penny of her conception and if we are Blessed again it will all be worth it again.
The very first time I had to stick a needle into my belly it was beyond scary. I was standing in my bathroom with all the necessary components... alcohol wipes, shot, sharps container. I washed the area several times trying to get the courage up to do it. My husband was on a business trip so he was unable to help. Finally I took the shot and pointed it at the area just to the left of my belly button. I stood there frozen for a few minutes. I'd had shots before without any complaints.. but I'd never even considered sticking myself with a needle! (Deep breath, want a baby, I can do this.) And... shot. You know, it barely even hurt. I got myself all in a tizzy for nothing big. It was a let down, really. hahaha Well, anti-climatic.
So anyway, back to 2012 and our first attempt at a 2nd baby. My husband will take the day off work for the actual insemination. I at least would like him in the room when we conceive. :) Once the donor sperm is thawed and counted it will be placed in a small syringe with a long thin catheter attached at the tip. We will have a chance to inspect the packaging to make sure we are being given the correct donor sperm. We'll also be told our chances of conceiving multiples. I 'll have some forms to sign and away we go.
I'll be on a pelvic exam table and the catheter will be threaded through my cervix and into my uterus. It hurts a little bit, not terribly, just crampy. Once the catheter is in place the sperm will be slowly injected into my uterus. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Once the sperm has been placed and the catheter is removed, the exam table will be tilted up at the bottom end. I will rest for 20 minutes with my hips elevated to aid the sperm in their direction. Then I go home and wait.
So. There you have it. The whole formula.... Super ovulation + Sperm concentrate + precise ultrasound timing + Assisted sperm delivery + prayers = pregnancy (hopefully).
I will have a blood test done on day 26 of this cycle to see if the IUI worked.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sperm is pricey these days! And more things you may not know about sperm:
Sperm. Sperm. Sperm. There, it's out there. I buy sperm.
My husband's male factor infertility is caused by Klinefelter's Syndrome, also known as XXY Syndrome. Biologically he will always be unable to father a child, however, you should see how great he is at being a Daddy!
Several years ago when we were just starting the process of donor insemination we had to first select a donor. Man, what a decision that was! We were led into a small conference room by a nurse. She pulled out an ENORMOUS binder and set it on the table. The binder was so heavy that the table leaned to one side.. ok, over exaggerating a bit, but still.. very big binder and each page represented a possible donor. And not an over-exaggeration here: there could have been more than 500 pages. The binder was organized by blood type. (Why? Because if you decide not to tell your child about the donor, you don't want the whole story to unravel during a 6th grade science experiment.) So we looked under A+ and O bloodtype headings. Then we looked for someone tall. Then we looked for brown hair, green eyes, and light complexion. Then we looked at family health history. Then we looked at career choices, schooling, grade point averages, and hobbies. Seriously, there was so many choices and so many details. An hour later we were still sitting in the little room, reading about our future child's possible genetics. I decided to let my husband make this decision. It was overwhelming. How do you actually decide about this kind of thing? We had no picture of the donors. All we had was a broad description of their appearance. We went back through our specifications and widened the complexion preference to "medium"... and brown eyes were ok too... and we made "health history" our main priority. Finally, we were able to narrow down our selection to 3 possible donors.
Once we had selected a donor, we had to purchase a vial. At the beginning of my first cycle I had to call the office and place my order. It was so weird! I had the donor codes from the donor binder pages. Each donor had a unique code.. Our #1 code was unavailable... too many pregnancies... what!? Yes, after a certain number of pregnancies there is a risk of meeting a sibling someday and falling in love. Eww. I ordered our 2nd choice.
In 2006, the cost for one vial of sperm was $250. Shipment was an additional $80. (Why so much for shipping? The shipment is done by UPS and the sperm vial is placed in a coffee- thermos-looking container filled with liquid nitrogen. It must be handled carefully and delivered quickly.) So, in 2006, our cost for donor sperm was $330.
Today I paid $490. Inflation?
Once a pregnancy is achieved, a small amount of vials are set aside for future siblings. Thankfully, today I was able to order the same donor's vials. We had decided beforehand that if the same donor was unavailable for some reason, our quest to have another child would be over. It is important to us emotionally to have a full sibling for our daughter. Game on.
The sperm is "washed" before being stored for purchase. What does that mean? One word: Concentrated. All of the unnecessary "ingredients" are spun out of the original "deposit" (LOL). What I am inseminated with is pure sperm.
Once the day of insemination is decided, the sperm is thawed at room temperature for about 45 minutes. A small drop is placed on a microscope slide and inspected by a fertility nurse. I am given three numbers: total number of sperm in vial, percentage of those with good motility, and further percentage of those normal. In 2006, when our daughter was conceived, I was inseminated with 12.5 million normal sperm with good motility. I am also given an estimated risk ratio for multiples.
At one cycle many years ago, the order for sperm was placed late. It was a weekend and shipment would not be an option with such late notice. But I was determined to get that insemination done if it killed me! I picked the vial up myself for an IUI that same day. I was instructed to place the wrapped vial in my bra to aid in the thawing process on the way to the fertility doctor's office. What an interesting drive that was! A pregnancy did not result from the effort, however, a funny story did.
Here is a Purchase Agreement to buy sperm:
My husband's male factor infertility is caused by Klinefelter's Syndrome, also known as XXY Syndrome. Biologically he will always be unable to father a child, however, you should see how great he is at being a Daddy!
Several years ago when we were just starting the process of donor insemination we had to first select a donor. Man, what a decision that was! We were led into a small conference room by a nurse. She pulled out an ENORMOUS binder and set it on the table. The binder was so heavy that the table leaned to one side.. ok, over exaggerating a bit, but still.. very big binder and each page represented a possible donor. And not an over-exaggeration here: there could have been more than 500 pages. The binder was organized by blood type. (Why? Because if you decide not to tell your child about the donor, you don't want the whole story to unravel during a 6th grade science experiment.) So we looked under A+ and O bloodtype headings. Then we looked for someone tall. Then we looked for brown hair, green eyes, and light complexion. Then we looked at family health history. Then we looked at career choices, schooling, grade point averages, and hobbies. Seriously, there was so many choices and so many details. An hour later we were still sitting in the little room, reading about our future child's possible genetics. I decided to let my husband make this decision. It was overwhelming. How do you actually decide about this kind of thing? We had no picture of the donors. All we had was a broad description of their appearance. We went back through our specifications and widened the complexion preference to "medium"... and brown eyes were ok too... and we made "health history" our main priority. Finally, we were able to narrow down our selection to 3 possible donors.
Once we had selected a donor, we had to purchase a vial. At the beginning of my first cycle I had to call the office and place my order. It was so weird! I had the donor codes from the donor binder pages. Each donor had a unique code.. Our #1 code was unavailable... too many pregnancies... what!? Yes, after a certain number of pregnancies there is a risk of meeting a sibling someday and falling in love. Eww. I ordered our 2nd choice.
In 2006, the cost for one vial of sperm was $250. Shipment was an additional $80. (Why so much for shipping? The shipment is done by UPS and the sperm vial is placed in a coffee- thermos-looking container filled with liquid nitrogen. It must be handled carefully and delivered quickly.) So, in 2006, our cost for donor sperm was $330.
Today I paid $490. Inflation?
Once a pregnancy is achieved, a small amount of vials are set aside for future siblings. Thankfully, today I was able to order the same donor's vials. We had decided beforehand that if the same donor was unavailable for some reason, our quest to have another child would be over. It is important to us emotionally to have a full sibling for our daughter. Game on.
The sperm is "washed" before being stored for purchase. What does that mean? One word: Concentrated. All of the unnecessary "ingredients" are spun out of the original "deposit" (LOL). What I am inseminated with is pure sperm.
Once the day of insemination is decided, the sperm is thawed at room temperature for about 45 minutes. A small drop is placed on a microscope slide and inspected by a fertility nurse. I am given three numbers: total number of sperm in vial, percentage of those with good motility, and further percentage of those normal. In 2006, when our daughter was conceived, I was inseminated with 12.5 million normal sperm with good motility. I am also given an estimated risk ratio for multiples.
At one cycle many years ago, the order for sperm was placed late. It was a weekend and shipment would not be an option with such late notice. But I was determined to get that insemination done if it killed me! I picked the vial up myself for an IUI that same day. I was instructed to place the wrapped vial in my bra to aid in the thawing process on the way to the fertility doctor's office. What an interesting drive that was! A pregnancy did not result from the effort, however, a funny story did.
Here is a Purchase Agreement to buy sperm:
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