CD23

So today is my CD23. No reason to think I am preggers. My tatas have been sore the past couple of days but that has been happening the past couple of months after I O (or think I have O'd). I had some cramps 2 days ago (7dpo) but I have nothing to blame it on. Here is my current chart:

As you can see, nothing spectacular. Trying to compare my chart to the past few months charts, I havn't really noticed any trends or patterns. I'm not supposed to start my period for another 6 days and my temp is dropping already. Not sure what to make of that.

Tonight I begin my new dosage of Glumetza. 1000mg's for the next 7 days. I have yet to have any side effects of the 500mg's I've been on for the past 7 days. But I have been sure to only take the meds after a meal just as my Endo advised. Hopefully I will avoid the side effects entirely.

I keep trying to tell myself that my situation is only going to be downhill from here. I'm getting this PCOS under control. And I've got my MTHFR mutations taken care of with my new NeevoDHA prenatal. I'm just praying this will happen for me and Mr. BB this Spring.

That's all I have for now.....will post updates if they come.

Belated Birth Story, part 1

Howdy everyone! Long time no see. Sorry about that! As I said in my previous post way back in October, my November 11-11-11 baby decided that he wanted to be a September baby! Despite being 6w2d early, and 18 days in the NICU he is home and thriving! At almost 5 months he weighs about 14lbs! It won't be too long now before he triples his 5lb 4oz birth weight. 

Here is the start of my birth story. It's long (I started having contractions 5 days before he was born!) and I think I'll probably also give a summary of his nearly 3 weeks in the NICU before he came home too. So this will be a multi-post story as my farewell. Congrats to all the recent BFPs, and I hope for more soon!

Everything started the day after my 27th birthday. On my birthday, everything seemed fine. I went to work, came home, Mr. Teacher Bud and I went out to dinner, came home, and did a Grey's Anatomy Marathon. I felt huge, but it was perfect.

The next day was homecoming for Mr. Teacher Bud's College Alma Mater, and his 5 year reunion. We were running late (of course!) so he dropped me off to pick up our tickets, and went to park the car. I had 2 FULL water bottles with me (the big stainless steel kind, not a 20oz.) I slowly walked (waddled) the 2 blocks to the stadium, where I met up with Mr. Teacher Bud and some friends. Because we were late, the only seats were waaaaay up at the top of the bleachers. It was a struggle getting up there, let me tell you! It was one of those days, that was sweltering when the sun was on you, but it was also windy, and when the sun went behind a cloud it was down right cold. Sitting on bleachers is also not great when you are 33 weeks pregnant - no back =ouch!

Close to half time, I started having contractions. I assumed they were just Braxton-Hicks, and were probably because A) it was hot, and B) I had to pee. So I climbed down the bleachers and went to the bathroom. I had several more contractions, and man! Those suckers HURT! I stayed in the bathroom for a while, and got to 5 contractions before they finally stopped. (When I had had BH contractions over the summer, my midwives said to call if I had 6 or more in an hour.)

I went back to the bleachers, and told Dan, and we agreed to try to take is easy the rest of the day, but we weren’t too worried. We’d used up our worry with the BH in July! Our group of friends decided to leave the game after the halftime show and go walk around campus. As we were walking to the first building they wanted to visit, I had a few more contractions, but, I was outside of the previous hour. I had 2-3 while we were walking, so when I got to the building, I parked myself in a chair. I had 2 more contractions before they stopped. Again, only 5 in an hour. We sat for a half an hour before continuing on. After about 20-30 minutes on my feet, the contractions started again. Same pattern, 2-3, sit down, 2 more, stop. We had one more stop to make, and again, the same thing. I could make it 20 min on my feet before they would start.

At this point, we decided I would just stay out of the heat, sit, and drink lots of water for the rest of the day. We went to his reunion, and I had a few more contractions, but only maybe 5 more over the next 6 hours or so, as I stayed seated the whole time.

We decided that this was just my body’s way of telling me I was over doing it, and so I would just take in easy from now on. I stayed on the couch for all of Sunday, but still planned to go to work on Monday. I’m a teacher, so I stand a lot at work. Luckily, my 1^st hour was taking a test, so I could just sit, and my 2^nd and 3^rd hours had their final research day for their project, so I could mostly sit then too. I decided to change my afternoon plans a bit, and bring a movie incase I didn’t feel up to my original lesson plans.

Monday morning when I woke up, I felt like the baby had dropped. As I described it at the time – my boobs no longer rested on my stomach. I made an executive decision that my afternoon classes would DEFINITELY be watching that movie afterall, and debated calling my midwives. Throughout that morning I also had some tummy troubles. I was having repeated loose bowels, which I knew could be a sign that the body was clearing itself out for labor. That was the nail in the coffin – I was calling.

To be continued…

It never hurts to ask.

It's shocking how much infertility can cost. Especially when your insurance doesn't cover it.

Mr. Bossy and I are OOP for all infertility procedures. Fortunately, my hysteroscopy was covered by insurance due to my PCOS diagnosis, and I do receive free metformin from our local grocery store's pharmacy because of their fight against diabetes. But nothing else is covered. Florida BCBS just doesn't have it in their plan.

We knew this when we began our journey, and we've been blessed with a generous family. We went with the Attain Program that works exclusively with our clinic. We paid $15,700 for four attempts (two fresh and two frozen). Meds for our first fresh cycle amounted to almost $3,000! Our RE is positive that one of our attempts will result in our take home baby.

After the d&c, Mr. Bossy and I returned to see our RE to discuss the FET protocol. As we were leaving, I spoke with the receptionist to pay for our visit (Insurance does cover for me to see a specialist. My co-pay is $40 per visit). The receptionist told me that we had a previous unpaid balance. [ I remembered receiving a statement in the mail from the clinic a few weeks prior with an amount that I didn't agree with. At the time, I called the billing department and spoke with someone in charge. She agreed that something wasn't adding up, and she would have her boss look over my account with a "fine-toothed comb."] I relayed the information to the receptionist, and she told me that the amount had become larger due to insurance not covering the entire d&c. Everything totaled to almost $500. I was livid. The receptionist was really nice, and told me that she would write a note on my account to have the billing department call me again. I did NOT pay the full amount that day. I had some calls to make.

I called my insurance company to question the amount that was not covered. I'm typically a very go-with-the-flow kind of person. I do what I'm told, and I don't rock the boat. Infertility costs have changed me entirely. I wanted to know why I owed such a large amount. A d&c is not infertility. Fertile women have miscarriages all of the time. I needed answers.

I spoke with a representative from BCBS. Now- with all of my anger, I was still able to be polite. I realize that the person on the other end of the line is not personally responsible for any mistakes that were made and being nasty to them isn't going to help the situation. I explained that I didn't understand the amount that I owed and it was more than I had expected to pay. The woman from BCBS was SO nice. As I explained our IVF and d&c, I began to cry. She completely understood, and she worked feverishly to find out why my coverage was denied. It took some time on the phone, but she agreed that insurance should have covered the entire procedure, and I should have only been charged my co-pay - $40! She submitted the claim to be re-reviewed and told me it would be about 30 business days until they made a decision. I told the representative that she was officially my new best friend!

The anesthesiologist had also charged me too much, and BCBS submitted that claim to be reprocessed. I was walking on air!

Yesterday- I received a new statement in the mail from BCBS saying that they had reprocessed my claim. I, now, only have to pay $40! When in doubt, it never hurts to ask!





Bossy Bud

25 Weeks

Only 101 days left until Baby Girls due date! Our baby is now 1 1/2 lbs, 13.5 inches, and growing fast! She is moving around plenty and I can often feel her kicks from the outside with my hand.

Overall I am feeling great except I have very mild heartburn in the day at times, and the past few nights I am having a hard time sleeping. I am not huge and uncomfortable yet, but it is just a combination of a lot of small things, like I keep getting hungry, have to pee so often, have a stuffy nose, cramping in my feet and non stop kicking from the Baby Girl. None of it is that bad, but all together I just can't sleep the past few nights. I was sooo tiered today and went to bed at 8pm, and here it is 1am and I still can't sleep. At least it is the weekend so Mr. Lucky Bud can watch the kids while I take a nap tomorrow.

I am having fun getting a lot of projects done and the house better organized before the baby is born. Knowing that the midwifes are going to be in my house is an extra motivator to get things a bit tidier and in order. I finished a little quilt last week that I made for the baby. I will have to post that picture and a belly picture this weekend since I didn't get around to that this week.

Hormone Update

So I don't know if it is the extra hormones but I am super emotional lately. I feel like crying most days and when I do man the water works are hard to stop. I am struggling to hold it together most days and am feeling super overwhelmed and jealous of all those people that have babies. I am sure it is just a phase but it is an annoying phase to say the least, I hate crying about a lot of nothing!!
I am supposed to go get my hormone levels checked but of course I have now lost the blood work order so I will have to locate the dang thing before getting my blood drawn! So we will see how high my levels are and if they still aren't high enough get more pellets put in.

I'm Finally Back.....

...............and knocked up.

Yep, after 4 miscarriages, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get my take home baby.

After my 4th miscarriage, I took a break from this blog and all things baby, for about a year. After coming home from vacation in July, I looked and Mr. SB and asked him if he wanted to give it the old college try again. If it didn't work this time, we would make our way to the Cleveland Clinic for IVF with genetic testing on the embryos - although deep down I know my heart couldn't take coming to that. Mr. SB agreed and I made a call to my RE that afternoon.

Our first cycle was in August. I upped my Clomid dose to 150 mgs (helllooo crazy!), and the cycle failed. My first only failed cycle with Clomid. Devil pills worked like a charm every time before. So, being the neurotic head case that I am, I convinced myself I couldn't even conceive anymore.

Next cycle was in September - 150 mgs again (poor Mr. SB).

10 DPO - nada

12 DPO - peed on stick, went in shower, washed hair, looked at stick, thought I saw 2 pink lines, thought my eyes were still "sleepy", jumped out of shower, woke up Mr. SB to confirm lines, lines confirmed by Mr. SB, phone call made to RE. Diagnosis? Pregnant.

The next few weeks was pretty much the hardest thing I have ever been through. Blood test after blood test to make sure the babe was growing. The first was the worst - especially since my beta was a mere 14. But 48 hours past, and it jumped to 110. Bingo.

And at 8 weeks I saw this, and was released from my RE:

To date, my most treasured picture. This is the little dude at 7 weeks 5 days with a strong heartbeat. One of my saddest days was saying goodbye to my RE's office, especially to Nurse K - who hugged me and cried with me when we found out I had miscarriage #4. Their last words to me were, "Make sure you send us a picture of your baby!", and my eyes instantly welled up with tears. It made it all seem so real - it was really happening - I was having a baby.

A few days after this picture was taken, morning sickness kicked in full force. Have you ever driven down a highway at about 65 mph, find yourself dry heaving and despite your best efforts can't find ANYTHING to puke into inside your car? And you find yourself praying to Baby Jesus that if he spares your freshly cleaned upholstery just this one time, you promise to never cuss, take a fake sick day or gossip (insert sin here) ever again? Well, that was a day in my life, and after that day, I never left home without my trusty puke bucket (pictured below):

I was one of those lucky broads that was sick for about 16 weeks. Not the oh, I kind of feel like I have bad heartburn sick, but the holy bajesus, I need to go to the bathroom now and oops I just puked on my pants kind of sick. I kept a peppermint teabag at my desk so I could just smell it when some idiot cooked fish or burnt popcorn in the break room. Ginger ale and saltines were my new besties that I couldn't go an hour without.

I also ate orange sherbert - a lot.

But as bad as it was, morning sickness gave me a great sense of security. If the dude wasn't growing, I wouldn't be hurling - so in a way I sort of appreciated it (not that I'd want it back or anything, but you know).

So this was a basic recap of my first trimester. I'll post again soon to recap the second (didn't want to make it too long).

Congrats to all my buds that are now pregnant (Diva, I'm looking at you!), and for the ones that aren't don't give up hope. You will all have your take home babies soon as long as you keep the faith.

5 weeks!!! <3

I can hardly believe it! 5 weeks! I know I still have a long way to go... But it's good to have already passed the dreaded stage of loss from last time, and feel like we're still going strong :) Even though the hospital had me at 5w5d, due to my long cycles and late O, at the time of MC, I was only 4w5d based on my O date (I have a 35 day cycle vs a 28).

Apparently, Baby is .10 of an inch and weighs next to nothing. He/she is about the size of a sesame seed! It's hard to believe that in the next few weeks, this tiny little being will start to take on all its human characteristics.

As far as symptoms, my breasts are sore, all the time. I am getting some heartburn, and have had moments when I am completely starving. I've also had to run to the bathroom for both #1 and #2, but lately #2 has had me a bit unhappy (slight diarrhea). Sorry if TMI. No other major symptoms just yet... Let's see what happens in the weeks to come :)

I am eating VERY healthy, cooking at home, using organic items and whole grains, etc. I am also keeping healthy snacks nearby and eating smaller meals more often.

I hope to finally make a decision about a practitioner today, so that I can call and make an appointment... It'll probably be within the next 3-5 weeks depending on the Dr.'s procedures.

Mr. DBud is beyond thrilled! He is being so sweet and helpful, and constantly asking how our little "Frijol" (bean) is. We are remaining cautiously optimistic... For now, all we can do is pray and stay positive :) I believe God will do the rest.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Finally!!!

Aunt Flo arrived yesterday!! After cramping for almost a week, she finally showed her face. I have to admit, I was starting to wonder if we had succeeded on our own this cycle. But- she finally arrived, and I'm totally fine with it.

Now, it's time to get this show on the road! I immediately phoned my favorite nurse, and she instructed me to begin my BCPs on Thursday. I will take my last one on Thursday, March 8th. My first appointment for our FET is Monday, March 12th. I'm also supposed to begin retaking my metformin tonight. Who would have ever thought that I would be SO stinkin' excited about Aunt Flo showing AND starting BCPs?! As Mr. Bossy said to me this morning- "It's babymakin' time!"

I am also so excited for my sister buds!

Diva- I think about you every day! You've got this, girly! Sending you tons of positive vibes and sticky mojo. :)

Buckeye- I'm so glad that you were able to meet with your new RE, and you were finally given a diagnosis. What a relief you must have felt!

Curly- Glad to see you and Baby Curly are doing well! I was beginning to wonder where you've been.

Bossy Bud

Still going strong :)

I am so happy! 20DPO and still going strong :) I have continued temping and occasionally POAS just to make sure it's not too good to be true. Take a look at my last two FRER tests:

17DPO - late evening

20DPO - fmu

I think its a good sign when the test line is darker than the control line, and starts to show up before the control line as well ;)

Also, here is what my chart looks like as of this morning:



I had a bit of a temp jump this morning, which is reassuring. :)

I have been taking really good care of myself lately. I have been eating right, and not doing anything too strenuous. Mr. DBud has been helping a lot, too, which is great. He's been washing dishes, and helping me organize after our recent move. He was concerned cause I had some lower back pain yesterday, but I blame it on spending all day Monday organizing our house after our move (which I am still not done doing). Today, it is much better :)

I pray that this baby continues to grow, and that this pregnancy continues to progress. All position vibes and prayers are MUCH appreciated and welcomed :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Long Awaited Answers

I'm not sure I had ever been more excited to go to the doctor than I was today. Hold on, I take that back. Baby 1's 1st ultrasound was the most exciting moment of my life until I found out I had miscarried. But any who, I went to the endocrinologist today and met one of the most amazing doctors I have ever had the privilege of directly dealing with. After going over my recent blood work and all of my symptoms (which includes severe facial acne, facial hair (blonde, thank GOD), oily skin, irregular cycles, high testosterone levels, and infertility) she was able to diagnose me with PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome)!!!

It might sound crazy but I could not be more excited to finally have someone confirm with me that there IS something wrong with me hormonally. In June of last year I had a dermatologist tell me that my acne was due to hormones. In August I had an acupuncturist tell me many of my symptoms were hormonal (excessive sweating and body heat) I wasn't sure how to approach my RE about this so it kind of just sat in the back of my mind. I certainly wasn't as educated about the reproductive system as I am now, otherwise I would of spoken up about it.

So, rather than Metformin, which is what most women seem to be treated with, my Endo chose to put me on the brand name GLUMETZA. Unlike immediate-release metformin, GLUMETZA is released slowly and steadily over several hours. This delay in the release of the medicine may result in fewer stomach-related side effects, such as nausea, in the 1st week of taking the medication. She wants to get me up to 2000mg a day, so here is my future dosing schedule:

Week 1: 500mg 1x day
Week 2: 1000 mg 1x day
Week 3: 1500 mg 1x day
Week 4: 2000 mg 1x day

She also advised she would like me to reduce my carbohydrate intake to less than 120g daily and my protein up to 60g daily (at least). She says that will boost my weight loss since I'm currently at a standstill after losing 20lbs.
**Also, She said that my initial weight gain is what actually brought the PCOS to the surface. Since I have been off of BC since April 2010, the weight gain triggered it. And even after losing the 20lbs it won't completely go away. It has actually made it worse for some strange reason. It gets worse each and every week.

SO, my other good news involves my 2 MTHFR gene mutations, which my Endo happened to know a lot about. For those who don't know what this is......it's a blood disease that deals with blood clotting and the inability for my body to metabolize Folic acid. She explained that the Folic acid that I currently have a prescription for (1mg 2x daily) is considered synthetic Folic acid. She wrote me a prescription for NEEVO DHA. This is a prenatal that also contains L-Methlyfolate, nature’s active form of folate as found in leafy green foods. L-methylfolate is superior to synthetic folic acid. Several months ago one of the BB Blog readers commented on my post about this so it has always been in my mind. And to my surprise today my Endo mentioned this so I became pretty excited. This will be taken in place of my existing Pre-Natal 1x daily. On a side note, she did tell me that these mutations were most likely the cause of my 3 miscarriages (not the 1 tubal though). No one has yet to tell me that (not even my RE) so it was such an amazing feeling to hear that news. Nearly 2 years I have been waiting to hear that.

If you also unfortunate enough to have 2 mutuations of the MTHFR gene and would like additional information, here is the brands website:
http://www.neevodha.com/

Well, that is all I have for now, I will be very surprised if many make it through reading this entire posting. If you do, I much appreciate it :) So I end this cold rainy day with hope in my heart. Sad songs didn't sound so sad today, and my optimism is at the highest it has been in a very very long time. Please keep me in your prayers that I will soon get my baby back. I know he is up there waiting for me to bring him back down :) Let's hope the 5th time's a charm!!