I’ve been MIA – I do apologize

So when I last posted, I had had an ultrasound to check on my follicles. The next day we had the IUI procedure. Then after an extra long 2WW, which was incredibly hard, AF showed up on Saturday.

Yes, I am missing a lot of details but at this point, I’m not into rehashing it all. I’m sorry I have been such a bad blogger but I needed a break.

So, where do we stand? What are the next steps? Well, Mr. Sunshine Bud and I have decided to jump right back in and go for another IUI. My body responded really well and there are no issues with starting right away. We aren’t getting any younger so I’m sure that was also a factor for Mr. Sunshine Bud when he immediately answered that he wants to try right away.
Here we go again – the protocol for the 2nd IUI cycle is this:

• Take Clomid cycle days 5 -9 (this Weds – Sunday) – there isn’t a need for a CD 3 u/s, which saves us money!
• Start using OPK’s on cycle day 12 (12/16) until the surge hits. If CD 16 (12/20) comes without a surge, then I will call the office. At that point, I will have an u/s to determine what my follicles are doing and most likely have the HCG trigger. Then the following day would be the IUI.

I am hopeful that I will detect the surge all on my own this time and not need the trigger.

So once again, as it common in this game, we wait. So I’ll be waiting until 12/16 till I start using the OPK’s.

I’m really tired of waiting but I am so very hopeful that this will be the cycle.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

I've been a bad blogger

I've been a bad blogger and I do apologize. So I'll provide several posts over the next few days to catch readers up.

On Tuesday, Nov 17th, I had an ultrasound as it was CD 16 and I hadn't seen an LH surge yet. My RE didn't want to miss the surge thus throwing this cycle out the window.

The ultrasound showed 3 follicles on the left that were large and ready to release. On the right side was 2 large and 1 nearly ready follicle that were ready. My lining looked great - 3 layers and nice and fluffy is what the u/s tech told me.

Now there were concerns over the number of follicles that were ready to release. We had to have a conversation discussing the fact that 4-5 of the eggs could be fertilized. We are just hoping for 1 egg - but honestly, I'm well aware of the potential for more.

At the end of the appointment, I was given the HCG trigger to help the eggs release within the next 24 to 36 hours.

Well that's it for the appointment on the 17th. The next post will be about the actual IUI.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

Day 5 of Clomid - Last Dose

All is well and no issues or massive side effects. Sure the hot flashes are a little more intense but that's all.

Now I just get to hurry up and wait! I did get my first "High" reading on my CBEFM.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

Day 4 of Clomid - Still doing good

Well I didn't have two many bad hot flashes or night sweats last night so that's good!

Other than that - nothing has really changed. Tonight will be my last dose.

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I suspect that tomorrow I will be asked to start testing using the CBEFM.

Dear Readers - please cross your fingers for me that I hit my LH Surge on Friday night into Saturday, so Mr. Sunshine Bud and I can have the insemination take place on Saturday or Sunday morning! That would take some work stress off of Mr. Sunshine Bud.

Until next time
Sunshine Bud

Day 3 of Clomid - aka Holy Hot Flashes Batman!

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Well after taking last night’s dose of Clomid, I went to bed and felt fine. No side effects! I was really thinking I was getting off easy. Oh I wish I had never had that thought in my head.

About midnight, I had a full-on hot flash / night sweat. Wowee! Well needless to say, it woke me up and there I lay, in bed, on top of the covers, trying (desperately) to cool off. I hope I don’t have any more that bad!

I will say this – I feel fortunate that I’ve only had minor side effects. Of course Mr. Sunshine Bud has referred to me as Medusa.

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But that too, is nothing new! Just his loving way of telling me to simmer down and be charming!

So that is really it for Day 3 – and now some Hot Flash humor for this fine Monday!

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And who doesn’t love Maxine and her wealth of wisdom? Power surge anyone?

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Until the next hot flash, errr I mean Power Surge,
Sunshine Bud

Note to self – maybe my bud name is playing into the whole hot flash phenomena??!!

Day 2 of Clomid - all is well

Well, there really isn't much to report! Here is Day #1's report: Day 1

So far, no side effects which I'm so very happy to report. I did have a racing heart at times yesterday but I really don't think that is from the Clomid but who knows and I'm NOT concerned at all.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Until tomorrow
Sunshine Bud

Product Review - Nature Made Prenatal with DHA

During my first visit to the RE, I was given about 4-5 samples of prescription prenatal vitamins. Each sample contains 5 days worth of vitamins. Some are two pills others are just 1.

Over the next few weeks, I'll post a review of the various prenatal vitamins that I've tried.

Today I will review an OTC (over the counter) Prenatal vitamin made by NatureMade.

Photo credits

Please note: This pill looks huge however, while it is larger than some, it is only about an inch in length and very easy to swallow!

This is the PNV that I've taken until I received the prescription PNV's. I really like this PNV for a few reasons:

• First, I can buy a 90 count bottle at Costco for about $15
• I like being able to take 1 pill and be done
• It is a liquid softgel which I personally feel that my body absorb's it better
• It contains DHA along with the other important ingredients like Folic Acid and Iron
• No constipation
• Easy to swallow
  

This vitamin contains 800 mcg of Folic Acid, 27 mg of Iron and 200 mg of DHA. Take note however, that this DHA is fish oil based which can raise concerns over mercury.

I have noticed that this vitamin will make my urine very yellow which is an indication that there are a lot of extra vitamins that my body isn't able to absorb completely.

I have found a great resource as well for researching Prenatal Vitamins - http://www.prenatalvitamin.com/ has a wonderful interactive website that allows you to specify the level of folic acid, iron, etc. to narrow down the options. This site includes both over the counter and prescription PNV's! You can purchase any OTC PNV's from their site but the prices seem to be highter than other sites and local stores. For those looking for chewables or vegetarian PNV's, this could be a great resource!

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

Day 1 of Clomid

Since yesterday was CD 5, I had to start Clomid for this cycle for the impending IUI.

Photo Credit

I took the dose at 8:30 p.m., in hopes that the side effects, which can include hot flashes, mood swings and other delightful things, would not impact me as much if I would have taken them during the day.

As of right now, I haven't really noticed any side effects. Of course, I just started last night, so we will see how I do later today and the days ahead.

Please note: One of the important things to remember when taking Clomid, is to take the dose at the same time everyday!

Well, that's it for now!

Sunshine Bud

We have a plan and answers

I was finally able to meet with my RE yesterday. It was nice to finally hear directly from the doctor, what may have hindered us from conceiving. Although the issues are from both sides they are both minor and NOT the end of the world.

The Female Issues

The main issue with me is AGE. Of course, it is always age. Ugh – I really hate that and it really is something that is out of my control. So I met the man of my dreams later is life - whatever! Oh well, we will just move past that.

The other minor issue is that I have what is known as an Arcuate Configuration of the Uterus. In the easiest way that I can explain it, I have a small cleft or impression at the top of my uterus. This is considered a normal variant and it is NOT associated with an increased risk of obstetric/gynecologic complications found in other subtypes like a Bicornuate or Septate uterus. Here is a picture of an Arcuate Uterus with a picture of a typical uterus:

Photo Credit

Can you see the minor difference? Look at the VERY top of the first image - see the little drop down in the middle - yep, that's it! That is what is deemed as a Arcuate uterus!

The Male Issues

As I have suspected all along, Mr. Sunshine Bud does have a minor issue which most likely is the reason we are not pregnant YET! He has what is known as Mild Teratospermia (what a mouthful). For a better explanation of Teratospermia click here


And Now (insert drumroll), The Plan

So where does this leave us? Well, we will need to do a medicated IUI cycle. And the great news is that we will start THIS CYCLE!!!!

This cycle will entail me taking Clomid (50 mg) on cycle days 5-9 (with monitoring). CD 5 is Friday!!! I will use my CBEFM to test my urine for LH testing. I will call the nurse the day after my surge and that morning we will do our first IUI.

After the LH surge, on days 8 and 11, I will have blood work done to determine my luteal progesterone levels.

Also, an hCG trigger will only be used if I hit CD 16 WITHOUT an LH surge.

So that’s it, somewhat, in a nutshell!


Until next time,

Sunshine Bud

Well that figures

Open Enrollment has come around, once again, for Mr. Sunshine Bud and me. For 2009, after running the numbers, I decided that I’d cover both of us since it financially only made sense.

Well my company has decided to change their health insurance provider for 2010, so I once again have to make the calls to the various insurance companies to see what type of coverage they provide for Infertility. As I suspected – neither company has chosen to provide any type of infertility treatment. Oh sure, they cover you to figure out (test) what the problem is but not to treat it.

Please keep in mind that this is NOT the insurance company’s choice this is our EMPLOYERS choice. So where does this take us? Who knows but we will need to save the money up and I will also be researching infertility insurance providers and I’m really not looking forward to that part at all. We already pay a ton of money for insurance, yet we need more.

I guess we ARE special snowflakes. Ugh – I hate, really truly hate this. I hate that for some of us it is such a battle to have such a special thing. ARGh this sucks.

Well, until my next breakdown,

Sunshine Bud

Moving onto cycle 12!

Well, AF showed up bright and early yesterday morning. Yet another month gone. I'm really beginning to hate this. Why? Why can't I get pregnant?

Our re-scheduled RE appointment will take place tomorrow (11/4) and I'm so ready to hear what the doctor has to say and to get a plan in place.

Well that's it - short and too the point.

Until Next Time,
Sunshine Bud

97.7 is my number

Over the last few cycles of charting, I'm come to quickly realize that a temp of 97.7 at the end of my cycle, is a dead giveaway that AF will be showing up!

To me that means there is no point in wasting a test. So I'll patiently wait for AF to show. Heck I even MADE SURE that I bought tests yesterday while I was out and about. That seems like a guarantee to encourage AF to show up. Ugh she is suck a wicked witch.

I knew that this cycle wouldn't be ideal given that Mr. Sunshine Bud had several performance issues on what I deemed to be the "critital dates". Oh well!

Our re-scheduled RE appt. will take place this Wednesday in the late afternoon. I'll just be happy to hear the findings and results and to build a game plan. That's all I can do at this point.

Thank you readers and fellow Buds for your love and support.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

This blows

Well I have an ear infection and feel like absolute crap. As the night wears on, the worse I feel! Oh and did I mention that I'm most likely O'ing today. Just perfect.

Argh - why can't my body just cooperate.

Oh and Mr. Sunshine Bud is staying away as he is worried that he'll get sick and miss his big guys weekend around Halloween. Men!

Great day

So this post is a little lame but I was pleased to get my "egg" on my CBEFM and a smiley face on my digital OPK!

I"m thankful that I have a fertility monitor. This little gadget really does help me from NOT losing my mind on a monthly basis.

Yes, some may think I'm nuts by using a CBEFM, digital OPK's AND temping. But this is what is best for me, so I will continue to do what I've been doing.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

Is your RE clinic worth their weight?

Many of you live in areas where there is more than one IVF center. Choosing a center is one of the most important decisions you will make. How do you choose? Well, most of us get a referral from a friend or doctor, and then go and check it out. If we like the doctor we saw, we assume he or she is the very best, and go with the recommended treatment plan.

Well, there are a lot of clinics that are very popular, get many local referrals and have very nice doctors and staff. The problem is that many of these clinics have low pregnancy rates, and they are not advertising this fact. Why does it matter? Compare a good clinic with a pregnancy rate of 50% to a not so good clinic with a 30% pregnancy rate. The math is easy: out of 100 patients, 50 had a baby on their first try at clinic 1, while only 30 had a baby at clinic 2.

Well the majority of reputable RE clinics are members of an organization called SART. This stands for the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

Most members of SART submit their pregnancy rates, via computer, to the SART office. SART then works with the Center for Disease Control (otherwise known as the CDC) and produces a report. This report has the pregnancy rates for each clinic in the country. It can be viewed by going here: http://www.sart.org/

Just click on the state and look for your clinic.

You want to look at the live births per retrieval. This means the chance of having a baby if you made it to the point where your eggs were removed. Once you see this clearly, it’s easy to click onto any clinic’s page and look at their rates for comparison.

If your clinic is not listed, that’s a very bad sign. Some are not listed because they are too new to get on, but most who don’t report don’t report for a reason: their numbers are low. There is no excuse for a clinic not to report. Some will say they don’t report to SART because SART does not calculate the numbers correctly; not so.

You can also see that there is a delay in reporting. This is because deliveries occur well after the IVF cycle, plus it takes some time to get the reports out.

If your doctor doesn’t report, beware. If your doctor blurts out numbers (this is really common), the numbers are usually exaggerated. Go to the web and check the facts yourself. And don’t listen to anyone who says their numbers are lower because they take the harder cases. The clinics with the best numbers have the best reputations and attract many, many women who have failed other clinics first.

Please note: These reports are providing data on IVF cycles but it is still very wise for future patients to research their potential clinic and their numbers.

My HSG and advice

I had my HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) yesterday!  All went well - really well, in fact.

All I know at this point, is that my tubes are clear.  Once again, great news.  I will get full results in a few days.  The tech that performed the HSG is not comfortable giving her opinion or thoughts.  Therefore my RE will call with the full results after the radiology tech gives his/her findings.

I was disappointed; during the procedure I was unable to watch it happen in real time.  Oh well! 

For me, the HSG was really a breeze.  I usually have very little cramping when AF shows up, so I was hopefully that I wouldn't have any cramping and I didn't.  I know I am very fortunate to NOT experience any cramping or discomfort.

It started with a plastic speculum being used and then a balloon was inserted and expanded (I never felt it).  Then a wash of the cervix was done 3 times (they do this to greatly reduce the possibility of infection).  I felt nothing other than cold and wet. 

There were times that I could feel the dye being inserted but that was it.  I did have to move/roll onto my right side and then left side so the dye could flow in the appropriate tube.  The most discomfort that I felt was during the removal of the balloon, which is used to hold the cervix open and then to block the dye from leaking during the xray's.  The balloon was a little stuck and had to be coaxed out. 

A few things you might want to know - the dye is clear and super sticky.  Oh and don't expect your body to look exactly like the textbooks because my uterus is very tilted or should I say, offset to the left.  If I only had a picture.  I was shocked, to be honest!

Also, bring your own pads (no tampons) as you will have leakage.  Also, it was suggested that I take 800 mg of ibuprofen an hour before the procedure, to reduce cramping.  I did and I was fine. 

Keep in mind that for 24 hours after the procedure you can't use a tampon, a hot tub or take a bath.  A shower is perfectly fine but you just can't sit in water.  Also, expect a little cramping and minor bleeding or discharge.  That is all normal and to be expected.  Anything more than that, you need to call your doctor about.

That's it!  Easy for me but not for all!  Good luck to those the need an HSG, be calm and just try to enjoy the process and how your body works.  It IS fascinating.

Until next time!
Sunshine Bud

Day 3 and S/A test results

This is a follow up to my day 3 post found here! I have received the results from my bloodwork!!!  It's all good news too, so let me get started.

So as noted before, I had the following tests:  AMH, FSH, Estradiol and LH all tested.

Here are the results:  For the AMH, which to me, was the most important given the age factor, came back with a 3.9 and the RE likes to see 2.5 or greater, so I'm great with that test!  {Huge sigh of relief}

My day 3 Estradiol came back as 29 and the doctor likes to see it below 80.

My FSH came back as 6 and the RE likes to see it below 8.

As for the ultrasound results, I posted here but my resting follicle count is 20 on the right side and 10 on the left side. The RE likes to see at least eight with both ovaries combined.  So I'm well above that which makes me so grateful and relieved.

The S/A results are back and although I know the results, I won't post them just yet until I can read the results and the explanation.  I will say this, there is a minor issue with the morphology but I've been told and understand that it's not a HUGE issue.  Also, the count and motility were great!  More on the S/A results later.

My next post will be about the HSG.

Until then,
Sunshine Bud

Update to CD 3 Bloodwork and Ultrasound

So yesterday (Sunday) was cycle day 3 for me, which meant a trip to the RE to have my blood drawn as I mentioned in this post located here.  I also had my CD 3 ultrasound done too.  I didn't have any pain or discomfort during the u/s.  I also didn't experience any cramping during or after the procedure either.  The u/s was completed within about 10 minutes which was nice too.

The nurse told me that the ultrasound showed 10 follicles on the left side and 20 follicles on the right side!  My lining measured 3.7 mm and NO cysts!  That is all great news and the lining is exactly what they'd expect or want to see on CD 3.

My HSG is scheduled for mid-day Friday, Oct 9th.  And Mr. Sunshine Bud's SA will be completed on Wednesday.

We will then just have a long wait until Weds. Oct 28th for our follow-up consult with our RE.  That is when we will found out my blood test results and Mr. Sunshine's SA results along with next steps.

That's it for now!

Have a great week!
Sunshine Bud

Taking the Emotional Leap

Mr. Sunshine Bud and I have put all we have, and then some, into making a baby.  I've devoted months to charting, we've spent plenty of time BDing and we've experienced the emotionally draining ups (time to test again) and downs (it's negative, once again!).  We have done absolutely everything we physically can, to conceive on our own.  Emotionally, I was and yet, I wasn't, ready to get help.  I have had to overcome this emotional hurdle, so we can begin seeking the help we now need.  I had to realize, the sooner I begin seeking answers and possible treatment, the sooner we'd have the baby of our dreams.

Wednesday (9/30) was the day that I've known would come.  We met with the RE to figure out what the issue may be and to take the next steps in the journey to conceive.  I wanted to cry but NOW I'm fine.  We have the beginning of a plan as I've outlined below.

The plan for me is:  I will have blood work taken on day 3, which will test for FSH, Estradoil, AMH & LH.  Then between days 1-5, I will have an ultrasound for the Basal Antral Follicle count.  Finally, on day 6-12, I will have an HSG performed.

The plan for Mr. Sunshine is far easier.  He will have his SA completed on Oct. 7th.

Since AF started late last night, I will call and set up my blood for CD3 today.  This test will determine my ovarian reserve.  This is done by measuring my "day 3 FSH".  FSH or Follicle Stimulating Hormone is the all-important hormone that signals the ovary to release an egg.  The fewer good eggs (and good follicles) left, the more FSH is released.

By measuring a baseline FSH on day 3, my doctor can get an indication of how close I might be to having fewer and less viable eggs.  And THAT is just scary, but I'm over it.

The AMH or AntiMullerian Hormone is also used to determine ovarian reserve in older women (isn't that nice - they just called me old!).  AMH levels reflect the number of follicles present in the ovaries and can estimate how close a woman is to menopause!!!

Well, that's all for this post.  My next post will detail the ultrasound and HSG.

Until next time,
Sunshine Bud

What I Want

I've been bad at blogging lately - I apologize.


So while I'm in my 2WW, which is driving me nuts, I think of all the things I want.

• First and foremost - I want to be pregnant
• I want to go to BRU and shop, not for a friend or relative, but FOR MYSELF!!
• I want to look at nursery furniture and think of cute baby things
• I want to come up with a list of future baby names but I try not to think that far down the road.

Obviously, I want several things that seem to be within my grasp but somehow always seem to slip away and I HATE IT! 


I'm quickly becoming bitter and jealous and its not good for me or anyone around me.


But, I have to remind myself of the bright side - I have less than a week until I visit the RE for our consultation appointment.  I am a little fearful and anxious as to what the next steps will be.  I'm also anxious to hear what may be causing our issues.  I've been patient this far, so I really don't have that much longer to go.  I'll just try to be patient with myself and the calender.  Once again, I'm wishing my life away and I don't like that ONE BIT.


Happy Fall Everyone!


Until next time,
Sunshine Bud


P.S.  Have a great weekend everyone!