Med's Arrived

I received the majority of my medications in the mail the other day. I feel like I am mostly ready for this third round of IVF. We are doing a mini-stim cycle so it is more Clomid and less injectionables but it is still pricey over in the US!! In Panama we paid about $1,200 for the full round of injectionables, progesterone, Clomid and all the miscellaneous pills I was blessed to take!!

I am done with BCP's tomorrow and Progresterone pills which is good because my body is whollly confused. I have been spotting the past three days and have had to start taking a double dose of BCP's to prevent AF from coming too early. I have been really crampy and feeling bloated which I will be glad will be over in a few days as well.

My first appointment for the start of this cycle is this Monday. I am going to really go over ways we can ensure my lining is up to par and that we are taking all available measures, since that is something I have a "feeling" is part of the problem that those embryo's aren't sticking.

OPK 3 - starting to sense a change?

So, here is the result from day 3 of OPKs... Does anyone else sense a change? I took this one last night, I just didn't get to posting it until now...



Today is CD 15, two days before the last time I got KU (on day 17). So I will definitely be testing tonight. But, in the meantime, Mr. DBud and I figured it's not so bad to practice the BD in the meantime ;)

If this month doesn't do the trick, we may consider finally visiting the fertility clinic. We just wanted to actively try on our own before we went that route... I guess we'll see if this cycle turns out to be a bust or not.



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Week 11

Today marks the beginning of my 11th week of pregnancy. Not much has changed in the last week. The biggest news is that today I heard from my nurse and I can stop taking my meds!!!! I am so happy! I will take another blood test in five days, and if everything is fine, then I will be out of the care of the fertility clinic, and just overseen by my midwives. I am still nauseous a lot, but trying to stay optimistic that I will feel better soon.

We are starting to get past our fears of miscarriage since our doctor told us we could feel better about it after our 9 week ultrasound, so we have told our families. We have also not been too careful about waiting, and have told a few friends, but plan on waiting a couple more weeks before letting everyone know.

This week our baby is the size of a small lime, or a fig. 

OPK day 2

Hello!! Just stopping in to share my results for day two of POAS/OPK ;)

Here it is:


I don't see a major change, so I am going to take the advice given by one of our wonderful readers (comment on my most recent post) and continue looking for a change in result. I am also considering purchasing a new BBT and temping again. Good thing is, I can track temp on Period Tracker app, too. I just have to actually pick up a new BBT cause my last one got chewed up (by my dog). I may also pick up some more OPKs, since I don't have many left, and may need to test more than 4-5 more days.

Will continue to update. Again, any suggestions or comments about your own experiences with OPKs are more than welcome, if not encouraged. ;)



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Not much to report (yet again). As I'm sure you all guessed, no BFP this month. Ironically AF came the very evening of my last post. =o(

Like Diva, I have decided to go the OPK route. And like her again, I bought the pharmacy generic brand. I decided to buy the kind with the strips rather than the POS kind. I started Monday, so we'll see. Everyone around me seems to swear by OPKs but I'm the only person I know with two MCs under my belt. I hope the OPK will prove as successful for me and Diva as they have for others.

OPKs and PCOS

I finally decided to go the OPK route. I purchased a box of Generic Pharmacy Brand OPKs the day before my last period began, and used the 1st one then. To my surprise, the next day, AF came to town. No wonder that one came up negative ;)

Anyway, today is CD12, so I figured this may be a good time to start testing for the big O. Here is my result:




As an OPK first timer, I am not sure how to interpret this. Is that a very light line? I may have to re-consult the instructions from the box and see... Or maybe test again tomorrow??? :-/ I don't know what to do. As a 1st timer, I feel a bit lost. I am not checking my BBT and haven't really been paying much attention to my CM... So this is really all I have to go by. Any thoughts? Comments? I am really interested to know how your experiences have gone with OPKs, especially drug store generics. And of course, any suggestions are always welcome. I said this before, and I will say it again... I am determined to cook up a little Turkey this year :)



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10 Weeks

Huge congratulations to Buttercup Bud. Thanks for sharing your birth story with us!

I am 10 weeks along now(as of 11/10). Here is what I have to report for this past week.

1. I have been tapering off my medications for over a week. I took a blood test today. If everything is okay, I will get to stop soon. This is good because the shots are not that fun, and a 20 day supply of the progesterone and estrogen is about $400.

2. I bought my first pair of maternity pants. I am not really showing yet, but my pants were pretty tight. I wished that I had gotten them sooner because they are so comfortable and there is not so much pressure around my waist.

3. I am still feeling sick most days. I have been soooo tired, and throw up most mornings and evenings. If I weren't sick and tired, I probably wouldn't even know I was pregnant. For such a HUGE miracle to finally happen, I thought I would somehow feel pregnant, but I don't... just sick. It doesn't all feel real yet.

4. We got a message from our embryo donors a couple of days ago, seeing if they could send some things for the baby. It was so thoughtful of them to think of doing that. This is big for us because we hoped to have some sort of open relationship with whomever our donors ended up being.  Our donor family seemed like they might want things to be more closed, except for receiving things from us about the baby, so I am happy to see them reaching out to us. We will just have to wait and see how things progress.

5. Milestones for the baby this week are:
     a. According to babycenter.com our embryo is now a fetus. Hurray!
     b. Fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and are starting to grow nails.
     c. Peach fuzz hair is starting to grow on it's tender skin.
     d. S/he can now bend their limbs.
     e. Spinal nerves are starting to stretch out from the spinal cord.
     f. Baby is 1 1/4 inch, the size of a kumquat.
     g.  Vital organs including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver are in place and starting to function, and will continue to develop throughout the pregnancy.

I guess if a pregnancy is 40 weeks, we are 1/4 of the way through!

Lucky Bud

Medications Purchased

Congratulations Buttercup Bud and your wonderful birth! What a great story to get to read!!

I made the purchase of the majority of my medications from an online pharmacy in England called IVFmeds.com. I saved about $1,200 from going through them but I do have to wait 2 weeks before they arrive. I am going to get the HCG, progesterone shots and Femara, I think, through my local pharmacy who seems to have competitive rates. My first appointment is the 21st and then I will start the medications the on the 22nd. I am excited to get going but truthfully really scared it isn't going to work again and I am not sure I am ready for another BFN or ectopic for that matter!! I guess that isn't any reason not to go forward but I don't think I can be truly optimistic about this round after two failed rounds, pretty much a successful one will be the only thing to make me hopeful! Oh the many joys of IVF, it takes the joy out of trying to have a family!!!

First off...

I'd like send a big, fat and joyous CONTRADULATIONS to Buttercup Bud for her little miracle! Yay! =oD

Secondly, I'm sorry that it's been a few days since I've written. I've checked the blog almost daily but have strangely enough lost track with how long ago my last post was.

There isn't much to report in my neck of the woods. I'm just waiting for Friday so that I can either do a HPT or welcome (NOT) AF. I did a HPT test this morning and, of course, was disappointed with a BFN. I tried not to be too down about since I did it early anyway. Secret? - My attempts to stay chipper didn't really work. =o/ *sigh* I'll let you all know Friday or Saturday when I check again.

I think if I don't/didn't conceive this month, I'm going to get an ovulation kit. Mr. CB didn't really want to do one since we haven't had an issue conceiving in the past, but I'm getting antsy. This month marks 1 year in our TTC journey...

Baby BB has arrived!

Asher is here!



Asher arrived Friday, November 4 at 9:31 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 11 ½ oz. and was 22 inches long. I went into labor on Thursday around 6 pm. My contractions started around 7-10 minutes apart and at around 11 pm got to 5 minutes apart. We called my Sister-In-Law to come to our house and stay with the older kids. I called the midwife on call to ask her when she wanted me to come in. I could still walk and talk through the contractions but the midwives had advised me to come in as soon as I thought I was in real labor since we live an hour away from the hospital.

The midwife on call told me she wanted me to come in and at least get checked. Our bags were already packed so once Sister-In-Law arrived we left. My contractions were still 5 minutes apart.

When we arrived around 1 am I got wheeled up to the Alternative Birth Center (ABC) to be checked. I was at 5 cm so the nurse was calling my midwife in. Eric and I decided to walk to halls to see if we could get my contractions to pick up. We walked for about a half an hour before my midwife arrived. She said what we were doing was good and also suggested bouncing on the ball. I tried that when I got tired of walking but my contractions stayed 5 minutes apart.

My midwife suggested I try to rest while I could so Eric and I decided to sleep for a bit. It was hard to sleep because the nurse had to check Asher’s heart rate every half an hour. I think I ended up sleeping around 1 ½ hours. When I woke up around 5 am my midwife wanted to check me again and I was closer to 6 cm and 80% effaced. This was frustrating to me because my contractions were not picking up. I felt like I stalled and they would send me home. My midwife assured me she would not send me home because I was in labor.

My mom arrived around 7 am and Eric slept more while she and I talked and laughed while I alternated walking and bouncing on the ball. The first midwife left and my second midwife arrived. She said she would check me around two and suggested I try nipple stimulation to get things moving. I bounced on the ball in the shower for a while and it seemed to pick things up a bit.

My midwife checked me again around two and I was at 6-7 and still 80% effaced. I was definitely getting very frustrated at this point. A student midwife accompanied the midwife at this point and they suggested castor oil or breaking my water. Eric and I talked about it a little bit and I decided I’d rather have my water broken than deal with diarrhea and contractions. The student midwife attempted to break my water for about 5 minutes before I got angry and asked for someone who knows what they are doing to break it. My midwife broke my water around 3 pm Friday, on the first try and she said it was nice, clear fluid.

This is when things finally started to progress. My contractions came harder and stronger and I wanted to get into the tub. The nurse filled up the tub and I got in. I leaned against the side while Eric put a cold washcloth on my head and the student midwife poured water down my back. During my contractions I zoned out and relaxed, my mom and Eric both said I looked so peaceful. They were impressed with how I was handling my contractions.

Around 6:30 I wanted out of the tub because I was uncomfortable. I got out and had to go to the bathroom. Everyone helped me out and dried me off. I went to the bathroom and had a hard contraction. When I was done I wanted to lay down, I was so exhausted because I had been up over 24 hours. I got into the bed and this is where things get hazy. My midwife checked me again and I was at 8 cm, I was so mad because I was in serious pain by now. I started crying and lost my focus. Eric and my mom tried to calm me down.

My contractions were hurting so bad I started thrashing in the bed looking for any position to relieve the pain. My back never stopped hurting so even in between contractions I was in terrible pain.

This is when I started making noises and begging for drugs. My mom and Eric reminded me of all the reasons I wanted to have a natural birth, encouraged and praised me along with the midwives and nurses.

I decided to go to the bathroom again or maybe someone told me to, I can’t remember. I regained some of my focus in the bathroom and made it through a few contractions on the toilet and on the floor.

This is when I remember the most amazing nurse coming in to help. She came in and said “You CAN do this, you ARE doing this. Work with your body!” She gave me some motivation. I went back to the bed and soon I was ready to push. All the midwives (there were 3 now- the student, the midwife who had been there and another one to observe) were giving me ideas of how to push but they were not helping. Eventually my rock star nurse told them to let me figure it out. Once I did what I wanted things moved quickly. Eric said he was out in 10 pushes after that. My mom was at my back and Eric was ready to catch our baby.

I remember my mom telling me to look down and see the head. I opened my eyes and looked and that gave me more motivation. I was almost done. Finally I pushed his head out and with another contraction I pushed his body out. Eric immediately put the baby on me but forgot to check to see if we had a boy or a girl. He lifted baby’s leg and said “It’s a boy!” I was crying now and just looking down at this little person who I was so happy was out and here and mine.

He barely cried so I kept asking if he was okay, my midwives assured me he was. I held him and Eric and I stared at him deciding who he looked like. After the placenta was delivered my midwife told me I had a small, small tear and asked if I wanted stitches. She said I didn’t need one so I opted not to get one.

I was then able to attempt to nurse Asher. He latched on very well and it seemed like he ate and ate and ate.
Overall I had a good experience. I definitely could not have made it through without my husband, my mom and a supportive midwife team. I wanted to give up but they wouldn’t let me. I’m glad I made it through without any medications but mostly I am glad for a happy, healthy little boy. I love him SO much!

Thank you to everyone who read my story from TTC to the birth of my sweet little boy. I enjoyed being a part of a wonderful group of ladies who I wish all the best to in their journeys.

Goodbye for now,