What to do…

I’ve been thinking about everything we tried before we finally resorted to IVF. I’ve been thinking about

the pregnancy tests, ovulation tests, fertility monitoring,

the diet changes (no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, no caffeine/coffee/chocolate),

the supplements (DHEA, primrose oil, etc.),

de-stressing (quit a job, stopped exercising, said “no” to more opportunities),

the acupuncture,

meeting with a naturopath,

the Mayan abdominal massage,

the testing, IUIs, hysteroscopies, that painful HSG,

reading, reading, reading, and

the wishing, hoping, and praying.

Now, we are here, on the other side, with a teething toddler and toys everywhere. Is it possible to still be in awe of it all? Am I still in denial that we are actually here? Is it possible we could be so lucky again? Do I go back and try all those things again or do I just ignore the fact that we ever needed treatment? It all feels like a long, long time ago… yet only three years have passed since our miscarriage, two years have passed since our FET.

Tomorrow, I go in for more tests: bloodwork, trial embryo transfer, doppler of blood flow, and another hysteroscopy. I hope all tests will yield positive results and we can move forward in hopes of adding to our family again.

Meds are here!

All the meds arrived yesterday! I have been through them all twice now, checking that they’re all there and making sure I know what to do with each one.

Acupuncture today was even better than last week which was very relaxing. Both of these latest treatments have been face-down which I think I prefer over laying on my back.

I’m sticking with my diet changes (avoiding gluten, wheat, dairy, sugar, and caffeine) and my supplements (prenatal vitamin, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, methylfolate, methylcobalamin B-12, P-5-P B-6, and DHA/EPA). I will stop the low dose aspirin tomorrow as it is “stim. day 1.”

I also put a request in with Mr. Wonderful to watch only funny movies and tv shows from tomorrow until egg retrieval. He reminded me that our IVF nurse said the medication should make me happy since it is dominantly female hormones. I certainly hope that is the case, but just to be safe, we’re still planning on lots of “funnies” around here.

I left about 3-4 inches of hair on the salon floor today! I decided I needed a fresh look to go along with everything else. Time to move on! Here we go!

P.S. I tried hypnosis and imagery cd samples, but it was not for me. I fell in love with Daniel Levin’s “Zen Cards” and found them as an app! A great way to start out and end the day or distract from stressful moments throughout the day.

Big Day

Today was a big day. We met with the financial consultant (signed papers). We also met with our IVF nurse (medication and injection info AND signed more papers) and I began to chug 32 oz. of water. We were also informed that due to my egg health (low AMH), we would be doing a dual trigger. The additional medicine would be put into our pharmacy to arrive with the other medications. Then, we were off to the trial embryo transfer (TET) with a very full bladder.

Nurse checked it first, then Doc showed up and applauded my “good job” (haha) of filling my bladder sufficiently. I wanted to ask how many ladies pee on him in the process, but I refrained (yes, I was afraid I was going to do this, so I had a change of clothes in the car). The transfer was complicated by an obstruction of sorts and Doc said he would explore further with the following hysteroscopy. He was still able to pretty easily get the catheter right where it needed to be. Doc left and the nurse did our doppler ultrasound. My blood flow didn’t seem to be as free as they would like, so I will continue to avoid caffeine and inform my acupuncturist, increasing appointments to twice a week.

The hysteroscopy revealed the tissue complicating the TET and Doc was able to make necessary changes that will hopefully make our real FET (frozen embryo transfer) a breeze.

A big day. A good day.

What I Eat

Over the past 14 months, I have adjusted what I eat a few times. I made HUGE changes November of 2011 eating for Traditional Chinese Medicine, taking herbs along with acupuncture. After following that plan for 7 months, I made another change.

I met with a naturopath who recommended I continue to steer clear of dairy but that I also stay away from gluten and wheat. I started that very day and noticed changes after three days. My mind cleared up. I could follow a whole conversation without losing focus. I started to “get” jokes. I know, it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but for me, it is worth the adjustment. I have experimented with adding it back into my diet (once was accidental) and I end up with a nasty stomach ache.

After staying away from dairy for over a year, I began adding it back. The result? Abdominal pain. Sad day.

I also adjusted my vitamins. The naturopath suggested I begin a whole slew of supplements which led me to buying a weekly pill organizer with a separate area for AM and PM doses. Some of which were chaste, evening primrose oil, vitamin D, calcium/magnesium, and DHEA in addition to a four-pill-a-dose prenatal.

I have stopped the chaste and DHEA. I felt the DHEA was making my scalp burning hot and sensitive. I also felt that I was losing much more hair than normal when I began the IUI cycles. My scalp is significantly less sensitive and the excessive hair loss has let up. Due to my MTHFR homozygous c677t diagnosis, I have added folate but not folic acid.

I changed my prenatal to a food-based vitamin so the folate is food-based so it is more easily used. I have added an additional folate as methylfolate, b-12 as methylcobalamin, and b-6 as p-5-p (pyridoxal-5′-phosphate). All these forms of b vitamins are more easily used.

So, for the question “what DO you eat?”
I eat anything I want whenever I want. I just avoid dairy, gluten, and wheat. Yes, I also avoid processed foods (including caffeine and sugar) as much as possible, too.

Is it worth it?
If my health and happiness isn’t worth it, what is?

A breath of fresh air!

We met with a new doctor at a new clinic and it has been so positive already. I understand that confidence in your work doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have success, but it sure provides more hope than dwelling on the negative. I’m so glad we made the change. The new doc. expressed his concern with the lab used for the AMH testing which would explain why my result was 1.0 last October, 1.1 that November, and 0.93 this August – it shouldn’t go up. I had blood drawn yesterday to repeat tests that I had done just a few weeks ago as well as a resting follicle count (which was 17 – up from the 13/14 that the other clinic found a few weeks ago). Monday, I will have a hysteroscopy, a scope to check out my uterus and make sure there is no septum to cause pregnancy complications. If that is all clear, we will move forward with a letrozole IUI cycle next month. 

Finally, a breath of fresh air!

…Or is THIS Square One?

Maybe I was wrong when I posted before. Just this past week, April 24, in the middle of the night, I began to have such severe cramps and bleeding that I woke up at 1:45 a.m. The pain rivaled the pain of my miscarriage. I was wide awake in pain for 2 hours until the extra strength quick-release acetaminophen kicked in. I continued to take the maximum dosage, staggered throughout the whole next day.

This makes me wonder if what I thought was my first period post miscarriage (27 day cycle) was actually just the conclusion of my miscarriage. I had just lost a bit more tissue the day before that first period started. I would guess the severe cramps this time around indicate my first actual period. That would make this period 61 days from the day I miscarried at 11 weeks.

I haven’t gone back to my RE because I frankly don’t think I could handle any more negative information of another reminder of “you don’t have many eggs left” and “the ones you have aren’t of good quality” and “you’ll likely go into menopause in your mid 30’s.” If I don’t ever have to go back, I won’t. We proved the statistics wrong once, so we will do it again. My AMH went from 1.0 to 1.1 in just two months with diet, acupuncture, massage, reduction in stress, and lots of prayers.

Keeping you all in my thoughts.