2nd Follicle U/S = Blessings!

Today's doctor appointment went SO.MUCH.BETTER than I could of ever dreamed off!!  So many times we've left that office with such disappointment!  But today, oh, be still my heart!

Remember back to Wednesday this week at my follicle u/s appointment, I had one 10mm follicle (it needed to be about 18mm in order to trigger) and my estrogen blood draw level was 111 (for every 100 you have one mature follicle).  I had to take two more days of Follistim injections (plus order another 300 unit vial in case I needed some more tonight....more on that later!), and I started taking them in my thigh instead of my stomach. By injecting them in the thigh muscle, the body absorbs it better the nurse told me.  THANKS SO MUCH to my friend Brandi who is a nurse and has been giving me those injections, and to my friend Heather for letting me use her house as a meeting point and not charging me a facility charge!  HAHA!!  I'm fine with using the small needle for the stomach, but that bigger needle in the thigh seriously has me concerned.

Fast forward to this mornings follicle u/s appointment.  Today I had THREE follicles!!  THREE!  Are you kidding me? I've never had THREE.  I've been lucky to have one!!  Their sizes were 10mm, 12mm, & 14mm.  The nurse said I was really responding to the medicine in the thigh!  Since they aren't mature just yet (they grow about 2mm a day), I have to take another Follistim injection tonight in my thigh and again tomorrow morning in the thigh (I *might* try to attempt these myself).  Tomorrow night between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. I will have to get my trigger shot in my hip (I'll ovulate 24-36 hours after getting it, which is why it has to be administered at a specific time).  The nurse already has that medicine mixed up for me.  I'm definitely going to have to call on a nurse friend for that one though.  Shawn said he could do them.  I said no way Jose!  We also have our "homework" plan too!  Monday morning we go in at 8:30 a.m. to begin the actual artificial insemination (IUI) process.  PRAY PEOPLE PRAY!!

I also left with a prescription for Progesterone that I'll have to use for 2 weeks after the insemination so I've been calling insurance and pharmacies to see if my insurance covers it and and where to get it.  And three pharmacies later, I found one that has a supply of them so after work I'll go get that prescription filled.

Remember how I mentioned earlier I needed to order another vial of the Follistim medicine, just in case I needed it for another day or two.  I thought for sure I had some leftover, or even a new vial of it, at home in the cabinet from 2 years ago when we were doing the injections, but neither Shawn nor I could find it.  The drug company called on Wednesday to verify the order and collect payment...almost $300.  Well that night I was at home and I had a light bulb go off....why don't you look in the actual injection pen that you used for the injections.  Sure enough, there it was, and it had about 300 units of medicine in it still!  And guess what....it expires this month so it is STILL good!  I thought, oh Shawn is going to kill me!!  He didn't thankfully!  HAHA!!  I called the drug company first thing yesterday morning to see if I could refuse the package and the unopened package of medicine be returned to them and get a refund for the $300, but she said it couldn't since it has to be refrigerated.  I reminded her that it actually doesn't need to be refrigerated, and that they say that and put it on ice so that it isn't getting contaminated sitting in a hot warehouse or a hot delivery truck.  She said they still couldn't accept it back.  Well I tried.  So I'll use the medicine that expires this month first, and then use the new vial if needed.

Follicle u/s = good news & bad news

Shawn and I headed to Dr. Gentry's office for my follicle u/s this morning.  My appointment was at 8:30 a.m. I had my estrogen (E2) blood draw first and then the nurse called me back for my u/s.  Luckily for me there was only one nurse working on me, unlike last time when I had a nurse using the "Bob Barker's microphone from the Price is Right" digging in me to try and see my ovaries and another nurse standing over me pressing on my ovaries!

I'm going to be honest in saying that I went into the appointment already discouraged, defeated, and not feeling hopeful.  Probably comes from all the times when it's been like that.  It's hard to be excited for something that, in the past, has always been disappointment!  I did get a little bit of good news though.  I had one follicle that they could see.  Granted it wasn't mature enough yet, but it was there.  It was 10mm in size and the Dr. wants it to be at least around 18mm in size for it to be mature enough for me to get my trigger shot.  The nurse said she's going to get the results of my E2 blood draw and then talk to Dr. G to see what he recommends.  Chances are though that I'll continue taking the Follistim injections for a couple more nights and then go back into the office for another follicle u/s to see how much the follicle has grown.  When I ordered my medicine last time, I ordered it in three 300 unit vials so that I would have a little extra medicine in each vial versus just a little extra in one 900 unit vial.  That extra should buy me two more days at least.  And then they'll probably have to call me in a refill for another 300 unit vial.

I wrote the above paragraphs this morning.

I just got a call from Dr. G's office.  My estrogen level was 111, which was higher than the nurse expected it to be with the size of the follicle.  Normal is about 100 for each mature follicle.  Dr. G wants me to take another 150 units tonight and tomorrow night and inject them into my thigh.  Then we will go back on Friday for a repeat performance of today's activities.  I also had to order another 300 unit vial of Follistim just in case I needed to take more medicine on Friday and over the weekend.

Metro called shortly after I got off the phone with the nurse to confirm my order and get payment and my meds should be here tomorrow.

Fingers crossed!  Prayers appreciated!  Love to all!

My First Blog Book....and I love it!

I've known about blog books for a while now and have uploaded mine to print a couple different times, however the price to print one always detours me from actually printing it.  A friend from Facebook posted the other day that she had printed some with Blog2Print and it intrigued me again.  This time I took the plunge!  I made it (after much trial and error), then decided I wasn't sure about it. Despite numerous reviews out there about the few companies that make blog books, I thought for sure I could find something better.  I couldn't, not without spending a HUGE amount of time making one.  I decided to print the one from Blog2Print.  Then I accidentally deleted it and had to start over!  No biggie, by this point I was a seasoned pro at making them! 

I decided to print 2013 first and thought if I liked it, then I'll go back and print 2007-2012.  My 2013 book is 400 pages!  No joke!  I blogged that much last year.  Shew, it was an active year for us apparently!!  The book cost $160.  I told Shawn that since I didn't really scrapbook anymore and because I don't really print pictures anymore, that I really wanted to print this book.  I went to order it, and then second guessed whether or not I really wanted to spend the money on it.  I googled reviews of it, and talked to a couple blog friends that have them, and I was reassured that if I did print it, I would love it.

So I took the plunge.  I found a coupon code online to make the book cheaper, but then ended up upgrading the shipping so I could get it faster.  I'm SO, SO, SO glad I did.  Words can not describe how much I love this book!  It's a book of memories, cherished moments, funny stories, sad times, happy times, lots of pictures, and so much more!  I can't wait to start printing my 2007 through 2012 blog books!

As soon as I got the email that my book was being shipped, I started tracking it.  I had it shipped to my work so that it wouldn't sit at home on the porch if I was raining on the day it would get delivered.  However I accidentally put in my home zip code with my work address.  So Saturday the book was at the wrong post office.  I called and asked them what would happen to it and she said it would get rerouted to the address on the package.  This morning I saw that it was back at the downtown post office.  Instead of waiting for it to come in tomorrow's mail, I busted down there on my lunch today and hoped it would be there.  As you can guess, it was.

The packaging was all in tact and inside the box was a beautiful hardback bound book.  All of the pages are numbered and have the title of my blog on them.  I got to choose a photo for the front and back cover.  There is a dedication page I got to personalize.  And then there are table of contents pages.  The pages are a nice, sturdy quality, and the pictures are all in color.  The shipping time was alot sooner than quoted.  And their customer service was excellent.  Every time I had questions, I started a chat and got my answer promptly.  The only thing I dislike, is that there is widows/orphans - meaning I couldn't control what all is on each page.  There might be a description of the picture at the bottom of one page and the picture that goes with that description at the top of the next.  

Lookie what I got...

My fertility package arrived Thursday of last week!  All of the contents were in tact.  I also picked up the Femara pills from the pharmacy.  I started the pills Tuesday night and take 2 a day for 5 days, and the Follistim injections tonight by injecting 150 units once a night for 6 nights.  Wednesday we go in for the bloodwork and a follicle ultrasound.  If I have enough mature follicles, I'll get my trigger shot to make me ovulate and then Shawn and I will go back on Friday to get our first IUI.  If I don't have enough mature follicles, then it's all wasted time and money and I'll come home and have a pity party for myself.  I'm trying to be positive and excited, but after 7 years of trying and having disappointment each month and each time we try something, it's hard to be happy and have a smile.

I appreciate all of your prayers, thoughts, and kind words from my last post.  I truly appreciate them!  

Another Friday @ the Owensboro Riverfront

I took a half day vacation on Friday and hung out again at the Owensboro riverfront.  Twice that day actually.

I left work at noon and drove to Rockport to pick up my sister and Gavin.  We had been having exceptionally great weather this week so I thought it would be fun to go to Smothers Park, or as Gavin, well and us, calls it, the park under the blue bridge.  

We started off the afternoon with lunch at Angelo's in Rockport.  Yummy Stromboli's, mini sausage pizza, and their deliciously, yummy bread sticks with cheese and marinara sauce.  And of course Big Red fountain drinks!  And every time I'm there, I have to take a picture of the bread sticks, post it on Facebook, and just wait for all the comments from haters!  LOL!!

Next stop, the park off the blue bridge.  When I had the idea of playing there, I had planned on Gavin playing on the playground part, but he informed me that he was taking his goggles.  I guess he associated the park with the splash park!  LOL!!  Fine with me bubby!  Remember how I said we had been having great weather, well while it was still great, it was a tad bit warmer than it had been.  And that sun was hot!  LOL!  I wish I would of packed my swimsuit cause we would of headed to the pool instead.  It sure was warm outside!  Me and Tootie didn't stand a chance out there.  LOL!!  Gavin played in the water for a little bit, and then played on the playground for a few minutes and then we headed towards home!

I hadn't planned on us spending alot of time at the park anyways cause Gavin had VBS that night and I had plans with Shawn, the Robinson's, and the Lantrip's to go back to Owensboro for dinner and to go to the Friday After 5 event.  On the way back to take Beth and Gavin home, I remembered a friend from high school was having a yard sale, so we ran by her house to say hi.  I ended up buying 3 Vera Bradley purses, 2 Vera Bradley billfold's, another purse, and a 31 water bottle coozie that I'm going to use for one of my camera lenses.  It was like the yard sale motherload for me!  HAHA!

After I dropped Beth and Gavin off, I headed to the Robinson's, we picked up Zoe from her friend's house, and then we were on our way to Owensboro.  We met the Lantrip's at a pizza place down on the Owensboro riverfront called Fetta Specialty Pizza.  The Lantrip's got us a table out on the patio.  While it was still sunny and warm, we had a great time out there.  Our waitress and the staff were exceptionally friendly and kept checking on us.  We always had full drink glasses and never had to wait on a refill.  They even brought out a couple shade umbrellas and put them near some of the outside tables to block the sun. 

While I was extremely still full and hot from lunch and the sun, I didn't eat much, but what I did was pretty good.  I ordered a garden salad and a slice of white bean and sausage pizza.  I only ate a few bites of the salad and a bite or two of the pizza.  I tried a bite of Kristi's mashed potato pizza...nah.  And then a bite of Shawn's pulled pork pizza...it was OK.  I definitely want to go back and try it again when I'm hungry.  LOL!!  

After dinner, we walked down to the Friday After 5 event area.  A group called After Midnight was playing 70's big hair band music on the main stage.  Of course the usual Friday entertainment was there too!  LOL! 

 

 I was super bummed that they didn't have the photo booth down there last night!  I wanted all of us to get in the booth for a crazy picture!!  Me, Heather, Kristi and the girls did manage to get in a photo frame picture, but it wasn't the same :(

A few more pictures from the evening. I so want to rent a boat and spend an evening on the river during the Friday After 5 event!

After the event, we all parted ways.  And the Robinson-mobile headed to Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt for a sweet treat before heading home!  Dairy Queen would of been better, but Shawn had to have his way ;)  HAHA!!