Update....

So doc finally called. He was discussing the blood work results. They checked, white blood count, liver and kidney and protein counts.

White was 10.5 the low side of normal.
Results showed that I’m slightly anemic which I’ve always been.
Liver & Kidney looked good.
Protein 3.8 out of a 3.5 – 5.5 range
Some other Protein 6.4 out of a 6.0-8.5 range

He said the odds of me getting very sick based on my blood work and my appearance today is very low. He is okay with proceeding with transfer.

He said to be semi-conservative we would transfer 1 great quality blast. 2 great quality if we want to be semi-aggressive and 3 if the quality is not that good. He said we will let the embryos talk to us tomorrow and depending on the quality that we are working with we will go from there. He will not be there to do the transfer but has already spoken to the doctor who will be doing it.

I have to there at 9:00 a.m. to get two hedastarch IV bags and the transfer is at 10:30.

Pending Cancellation.....

Well not good news for me. Did my ultrasound, ovaries are swollen as they should be after what they've been through. Small pockets of fluid around them but not much. No fluid up around my lungs which is good. Met with my RE who I didn't even know would be at that office today. Said because of how things looks on the ultrasound and how I am feeling he would be [i]tempted[/i] to transfer 1. I was like what....one?!? I was like how we go from 3-5 to 1? He was like I don't want you to get sick and because of your levels I'm afraid to transfer two or more and you get pregnant with twins or more and then get really sick and end up in the hospital. He was like how you feel about that. I said I feel like transferring one will be a waste of time after I've already had 6 good quality Blast transferred and nothing to show for it, so how am I supposed to believe that one would do the job. He said I understand your concerns but we have to look out for your health. He said we need to think with our head and not our heart and I want you to pregnant just as much as you want to be. Then he got on the FET bandwagon again and asked how I felt about that. I told him I already told you its not something I want to jump to do because its using 2 attempts out of my four and given my history I feel like I need to hang on to all of them utilizing them wisely. He said well it all depends on how your blood work comes back. If it comes back normal or very close to normal I may consider transferring one or two at the most but I would prefer one and I know you would prefer more. He said but if it is abnormal we will freeze all and do a FET.


Ugghhh so now I sit here in limbo again just waiting on the call to see if I'm cancelled or not.

5DT here we come....

Nurse called and said we are doing a 5DT on Wednesday.

Didn't give me the time yet, will call back tomorrow with that. On another note, I haven't gained any weight which is good in terms of OHSS because it means fluid isn't builiding up. However, on the other hand I've thrown up twice today before 10 a.m. I took Ondansetron which was a prescription they gave me on ER day for nasuea/vomitting. Its the generic version of Zofran and that helped.

DH asked if I told the nurse when she called and I said no, she didn't ask...and she didn't.

Maybe...hopefully...it will get better before Wednesday.

I went and gave blood work today...because my doc said he wanted to keep monitoring me every few days... Doctors office called back. They want me back in tomorrow for ultrasound and CBC b/w.....(pretty sure these are to check on the OHSS status and see if I'm fighting it off) I hope this is not bad news tomorrow.....

Progesterone is >123.6 and E2 went down to 3,491.

Called my acupuncturist and told him what was going on and he brought me in today for session. Hope that helped get my levels in balance a little more.

2-Day Report

Thanks for all the well wishes. I really appreciate it.

I got a call today saying that it looks as though all 8 are still growing good. I am tentatively scheduled for ET tomorrow at 2:00 but they will most likely push to 5DT and someone will call me in the morning to confirm a time for Wednesday.

I am staying in bed today. I think I over did it yesterday. We went to the movies then my cousin called to tell me she was in town so we went and picked her up and I just did way too much moving yesterday so I'm very sore. I was trying not to tell her I had surgery but she kept making comments about how I was moving so I finally said I had surgery yesterday. She asked for what and I tried to think of the easiest and quickest way to say and cut the conversation. So I said, DH and I have been trying for over 5 years to have a baby, we've done four IVF's to try to have a baby and we're in the midst of another IVF. She then says oh it will happen just don't try so hard. Ugghhh I HATE HATE HATE when people say this not knowing what is really going on. So I said its not that simple for us as we have a lot of other issues that we are dealing with. Then she says oh the Endo well you know I have that and I have two kids maybe you're just trying too hard. By this time I'm irritated with the conversation and said this is the reason right here that we don't tell anyone what we're doing because people don't understand and always want to offer information that is not helpful to our situations. We've been at this for a while, lost two babies along the way and its not as simple as just not trying so hard. So this is why no one knows and I would appreciate it if you keep this between you and I because no one else knows and I don't want them to know. She says okay and finally drops it. Thank God! UgghhH! I already didn't feel like being bothered yesterday but felt the need to entertain since she called and said we are in town and I want to see you before we go. But needless to say I was so ready to take them back to where we picked them up from.

On the OHSS front, still taking down my fluids. I was distracted yesterday so I didn't drink the way I was supposed to so I'm playing catch up today. My weight is staying around the same weight and actually down one pound today which is great. I'm supposed to weigh myself 5 times a day to watch for an increase of 5lbs in one day which is a sign that fluid is building up and severe OHSS is forming and you must call the doc immediately.

But other than the soreness I'm doing pretty good....so glad that its looking like a 5DT. The extra days will give my body time to get back right before transfer.

Fert Report is in!

Got fert report.

15 retrieved
11 mature
8 fertilized with ICSI

WooHoo!

This is in comparison to my last couple of cycles:

10 retrieved
3 mature
2 fertilized with ICSI

17 retrieved
(some genius made the decision to split them up and only ICSI half and let the other try to fertilize on their own. Bad decision since I have Stage IV Endo and the outer shell of my eggs are very hard)
Not sure how many were mature because of the split.
Only 3 fertilized....2 ICSI 1 normal.

Very first IVF:
16 retrieved
10 mature
9 fertilized

Now I believe in the power of prayer....I know all do not....but I do. But before this cycle I told God what I would like to have. I told him I would like 14 eggs retrieved and at least 7 of them to fertilize. I got 15 eggs retrieved and 8 of them fertilized. I'm too happy. TYG!

I am also feeling a lot better today. Not as sore and not as bloated as I was and no more episodes of throwing up.

Got 15

Hey ladies sorry for the delay. Went to sleep right when I got home after throwing up on the way here. I did this last retreival as well. Then I threw up again when I got home. Took a nap n now tying to eat some toast hoping they stay down.

They got 15.

My amazing doctor who didn't do the retrieval went to the lab to stalk my eggs. He told me they look great n 11 were mature.

This is always my dreaded wait tomorrow because last time I had 10 retrieved n only 3 mature and 2 fertilized.

I'm very happy about this. 1 hurdle down....a few more to go.

Typing with one hand as I lay in the bed, but wanted to update everyone. N thank all for you well wishes.

Triggered.....

E2 shot up again to 7644. (((sigh)))

Lining: 10.5

Left: 23, 22, 21, 19, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 15, 14, 12, 12, 11

Right: 23, 23, 21, 21, 20, 20, 18, 18, 16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 12

Trigger tonight at 9:30 p.m. for a Friday retrieval at 9:30 a.m.

I had protein IV's for my last IVF. I got two at transfer. But he said he wants to do them at retrieval as well as transfer. And the other meds he said pick up have been in some studies to help fight off OHSS. Wants me to start them tomorrow and take them for 8 days I was feeling pretty awful earlier. I was burping the vitamin taste of the vitamins I had taken earlier and I just felt off. Then I threw up...a lot....waited like an hour or two and took a protein shot...26g of protein. Starting to feel a little better now...even though I haven't been able to eat my double cheese burger I picked up from Wendy's (30g of protein) yet.

I did my trigger already....hesitated for a while but then figured OHSS or not these follies have to come out of me. No way am I going to just ovulate 20+ follies out on my own. My one and only IUI I thought I was going to die when I started to ovulate....worse pain I've ever felt in my life and it was only 6 mature then! So we'll see how it go after this and if push comes to shove I'll freeze if I have to. Safety first....

On another note:

I answered some of the comments about paying out of pocket in the comment section of the last post.

Some asked if I've had a high E2 before...the answer is yes. My very first IVF my E2 was 5,573 at trigger...threw up a few times (before & after trigger) and that was about it. My last IVF my E2 was 5,526 at trigger...threw up a few times (after transfer) and that was about it. Mind you it wasn't 7,000 but we shall see....

Not triggering....

Right: 21, 21, 20, 20, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 13, 11
Left: 21, 20, 19, 19, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 11, 10


So got another call from the doctor however this one wasn't as good at the others.

My E2 went up even further to 7092 from 6346 yesterday. Not a huge jump but a jump regardless. He doesn't want to trigger me today because he said that is too high and he doesn't want me to get sick. He mentioned doing the retrieval but not transferring and freezing them all for a FET later. Which sucks because it will use two of my paid IVF attempts with insurance. Insurance will charge the Egg Retrieval as one attempt and the Embryo transfer as another attempt using 2 of my 4. He said their % rates for FET last year was 88.4% so a high success rate. He said some studies have shown too high of an E2 level may hurt the pregnancy success rates and he doesn't want to coast longer than 3 days because that may hurt the chances as well because the quality of the embryos may start to break down. He wants to coast me for one more day to see if my E2 comes down then trigger me tomorrow. He said he definitely doesn't want to do the double trigger anymore because it will push my levels even higher. I asked what if my E2 go up again tomorrow instead of coming down he said we could still trigger you but if you are showing any signs of being sick when its time for transfer we will freeze them all no matter how bad you want them back in you. He said you've had high levels before and haven't got sick so your body may be used to the high levels and able to fight off OHSS. He said the main priority now is my safety. Told me to keep my spirits up...he was like do you hear me, I don't want you being down I still want you to be positive because the cycle is still going really good. He said I don't mind the 21's going to 23's and you still have some 18's and 17's and 16's that still have room to grow, so they can go one more day. I was like yeah I hear you its just after waiting so long for something to start and nothing can ever go right. He then says again that I have a lot of good looking follies and worse case scenario we can freeze all and do a FET later. So back in tomorrow for the same thing all over again....just don't know whats going to happen after that.

Stim Day 13

Right: 19,19, 18,18,18,17,16,15,14,14,12,11,10,10
Left: 19,18,17,17,15,15,13,14,12,11,10

E2 is 6346 they said it is starting to level off because it didn't jump as much as it has been. Yesterday it was 5683. Coast for one more day u/s and b/w in the morning and trigger tomorrow.

I can not believe it...but my RE called me again! I saw it was the doctors office and wondered why they were calling again as I has already spoken to the nurse earlier in the day....but it was my RE. He said Hey what you doing? I said just left the grocery store picking up some PowerAde. He was like awh great I caught you doing your homework! He said how are you feeling, I said I feel fine. He said great, he said I'm so proud of you and you're doing amazing. He said we wanted your E2 number to level out and it did just that and one more day and I think we're ready. He said I'm so please with your progress and everything is looking really good. I was like awh thanks. He told me to keep doing what I'm doing with my protein and drinking and he is expecting great things. I told him thanks for calling and that it really means a lot. He said no problem I have to check on you and make sure you do all the right things and just as I knew, you are doing all the right things.

It means so much to have my RE call in such a happy and pleased tone. I used to leave Dr. Perloe's office in tears because he was so negative about everything. If I was with any other RE I'm sure they would be all negative about my E2 number saying to cancel the cycle and try again, but he is not like that. I get off the phone with him or leave an appointment with him feeling really good, he actually helps me have faith and hope. I'm so glad I made the choice to switch to him and I have no regrets for doing so!

ETA: I've had a few comments asking who my doctor is...its Dr. Slayden at RBA.

Stim Day 11 & 12

Sorry for keeping you waiting on an update. I was so busy and tired yesterday...I didn't even cut my laptop on at all!

Follies are still growing but now my E2 is getting crazy sky high which of course they are worried about!

So yesterday was Stim Day 11:

E2: 3700
Right: 16,16, 15,15, 14,14,14, 13, 12, 11
Left: 16, 15,15,14,12,12,11

Today Stim Day 12:

E2: 5683
Right: 17,17,16,16,15,15,15,14,14,13,10,10,10
Left: 18, 17, 16, 15, 15, 13, 12, 11, 10

My doctor actually called me himself today. I answered the phone saying hello, he says hello how are you and I say fine...in the unsure who you are type voice and he said this is your friendly neighborhood doctor. I was like WHAT?!? I'm getting a call from the doctor himself! He said yes, I had to call and wish you a Happy Sunday! He asked how I was doing I said I feel great he said your E2 is sky high even with cutting your meds back as far as we could. Thats when he told me the number I was like oh...yeah that is high. He asked if I was feeling the effects of the high E2 number at all. I told him no, I'm not bloated or sore or anything. He said great you must be doing what you're supposed to be doing with the water and high protein. So now they are coasting me. He still wants me to get above 20 in my numbers and he hopes by coasting me that my E2 number will not continue to rise but will plateau out and if it rises to 6000 or 7000 we will wait another day or two in hopes that it will drop down a little.

So as of now.....just coasting and seeing what the follies do only on Lupron and Lovenox. I'm hoping I have some 20's by tomorrow and my E2 hasn't jumped even further so that I can trigger tomorrow night, but if not hopefully Tuesday at the latest.

Stim Day 10

E2: 2083
Right: 15,15,14,14,14,13,12,12,12
Left: 15,15,14,11,12

Dropping meds to 75 Gonal F/75 Menopur tonight and 75 Gonal F in the morning and 150 Menopur in the morning. My ultrasound and bloodwork is at 9:30 tomorrow.

I'm very happy with my growth and loving the fact that they are growing around the same pace.

Right now we're looking at trigger on Monday with ER on Wednesday!

Stim Day 9

Lining: 8
Right: 12, 13, 13, 10, 11
Left: 12, 11, 14, 12C, 11
E2: 1245

Okay I'll start by saying I love my new RE. He is awesome! He came in and he was so excited for me. So excited that I'm responding to the meds so excited for my growth, just genuinely happy for me. It feels good to feel that especially when you've been in a different situation with different RE's where you just felt like another number. He was very pleased with my numbers and growth. He said he wanted my E2 to be half what it was last time so it didn't' reach 5500 and he said it is exactly where he wants it. He said he wants my follies to go up to maybe around 20 or 22 before triggering. I was like wow are you a mind reader too. He was like no, I was like I wanted to ask you that because I was looking at my past charts and I wanted to go past 18 because even with 18 they wasn't mature. He was like yeah I was looking at that so I'm trying to get more mature from you. He said I also had a thought I would like to add something different. He said I gave you Ovidrel for your trigger shot which is a sub-q shot and now I want to add in 5,000 of the regular old trigger shot that goes IM too. He said I'm hoping with this double trigger it will shock your body and mature the eggs up even more for retrieval and make sure they all have a good release. He said this is why he wants my E2 not to get sky high because the extra HCG will boost the number even more. He said the amount of protein I have been on is good for now but at trigger he wants me to add one more protein drink to what I have been drinking making sure I'm getting at least 20g of protein in each drink so 3 protein drinks in total. Plus add 2 sports drinks but not Gatorade because it has too much salt, and stay on low sodium...too much salt is not good. I was like okay I'm with it. He said I also want to put you on two estradiol patches after retrieval because we don't want a huge drop in your E2. He said I'm looking into different studies to see if women who have been on depot lupron for 3 months need estrogen added back since they have been deprived from it for so long while on the lupron. I was like okay, I'm with it. Then he said I would like to bring you in over the course after the transfer to continue to monitor your levels to see how the added estrogen is helping out and what your hormones levels are doing. I was like okay I'm with it. Lets see...what else....oh yeah he is not sure when I will trigger but when he gets that feeling that everything is just right is when we may trigger. Could be Monday or Tuesday he is not sure, we will just watch my follicles and let them tell us.

Stim Day 8 and Thank You

Cycle Info first:

E2: 812
Right: 11, 10, 10
Left: 12, 13C, 12, 10

I got 6 to measure today...still going slow and steady but at this point I'm just taking one day at a time. My body is in no hurry so I guess I should just go with the flow. I picture myself stimming for about 12 or 13 days. I don't want to trigger when my largest reaches 18 like we did the past few times because they don't be mature. So I don't want to trigger until they are mostly 20 and if that means stimming longer then by all means chug-a-lug me right along. Will speak to my RE about this tomorrow at my history and physical appt. We figured it would take my ovaries a while to shake the cobb webbs off since I was on depot lupron for 3 months but they are seriously taking their time waking up!

Okay to the thank you part. I was overwhelmed by the love and support shown to me. I know that it is a very sensitive topic and I thank you all so much for enduring through the post and weighing in on it.

She emailed me this today:
Last night after speaking with you I felt like I had said something wrong and I'm not sure what it was. I don't think I was being inconsiderate by telling you what i told you because i know that your main concern was the child being mistreated if I kept it. So could you please tell me what I said that triggered your emotions or was out of line because I would really like to know and would not have said anything if I knew it would have upset you. I thought you were pro-adoption.

I responded:
No need to explain my feelings because you would never understand them. I'm glad that you made the decision to give the child to a family that will love him or her. I will no longer be coming down to Florida for the delivery, I'm sure the adoptive parents will be there to show the baby love and right now thats all that is important.

She responded:
Well my mind is not completely made up that that is what i am going to do but it is definitely an option. Although some things are hard for me to understand because I personally have not experienced certain things I do pride myself in having an open mind that is capable of understanding a lot. I'm aware that you are going through your IVF cycle and we all are praying for the best and believing that you will give birth to a healthy baby. I must say that I knew you were coming for the child but i was also hoping that you were coming to support me but you no longer coming I can understand that too because maybe it is all too much for you right now considering the circumstances of your situation and my feelings..

My other friend "L" that told me to cut her off before when I sent her the email exchange between "BFF" and I she said how much do you want to bet that she will say something to try to get you down there for her because she is selfish. I was like nah I don't think so, I made it clear before that I was coming down there for the baby. Sure enough I just checked my email and the sentence in her response above stood out the most: I must say that I knew you were coming for the child but i was also hoping that you were coming to support me but you no longer coming I can understand that too because maybe it is all too much for you right now considering the circumstances of your situation and my feelings.. I now have to go back to friend "L" and say you were right.

I just don't understand it. I don't understand why I've stuck in this friendship as long as I have....I guess I feel bad because I know I'm her only friend. And if it were up to her she would be my only friend too. She doesn't like to "share" me as her friend, real nasty to my friends that I introduce to her. She won't speak to them cordially at all but will tell them that she is my best friend and that there is no room for anymore. Who does that?!? I mean...its so much that can be said but I'm sure you all get the gist of the friendship just by the little I've already said.

I had to respond to her email above even though I thought twice about not responding because I didn't want her changing her mind about adoption because she didn't think I approved. Because I actually think that will be in the best interest of the child. So I needed to respond and say that and I just hope and pray that she don't play with the potential adoptee parents emotions.

Again, I thank you all very much for your support. I really do appreciate it all! I've tried not to bring it here over the past 3 months just because of how touchy the subject is and especially with all of us battling infertility. But you know you can only hold stuff in for so long without getting it out.

Very Sensitive Topic.....

Warning: This is a very sensitive topic about pregnancy, an unwanted baby and some harsh words about the two. Please do not read any further if you feel you can't handle what this post may say. I just needed to get this off my chest and this blog is my outlet.


Why is it that I’ve been sitting her crying for the last 30 minutes after a call from my “BFF”? Most of you remember the text to let me know she was 6 months pregnant. Well since then I haven’t posted on here how much I’ve been through mentally and emotionally with her. But everything from her cursing the innocent child that is growing in her belly and hating it’s existence to not even acknowledging the growing baby in her belly as a part of her. She once said I’m just the carrier and it feels like an alien. I won’t even dare to repeat some of the other stuff I’ve heard because I don’t want my infertile blog friends to endure the pain that I have. It has been so hard on me and my mom and another friend and even my husband told me to cut her off. I don’t know why I felt the need to stay around and try to talk sense into her. I told her that if she didn’t want this baby and couldn’t show this baby love like the other two she already has then she should give the child up for adoption. She wasn’t hearing me at all. I asked DH about taking the child from her and he wasn’t entertaining the idea at all. He said that she is a grown woman and need to learn to take care of her responsibilities and use protection if she don’t want to get pregnant. He then says how awkward do you think it would be for you to be raising someone else child that you will still see on a regular basis. How will she handle seeing you raise her child if she didn’t want the child herself? I said I understood where he was coming from and never mentioned it again…although I would have took the baby in without a second thought. Now through all of this there have been plans set in place for me to be in the delivery room with her. I told her a few weeks ago after more negative talking against the baby that I was not coming down there to support her while she gives birth because she don’t need my support but my only reason for going there was so that baby could be held by someone and feel loved. None of which she has shown that baby the entire time he or she has been growing in her belly. She has never referred to the baby as a baby but always IT or THE CHILD. She is 3 centimeters dilated and hasn’t bought ONE thing for the baby, no car seat, no diapers, no clothes, no nothing! So I told her the baby would be the only reason I would break my neck to try to make it down there for the delivery. And she said good because IT would have been sent straight to the nursery and if anyone in the world would be here for it I would want it to be you. DH said that he is tired of having to build me back up after talking to her. I am so emotionally beat up and depressed after dealing with her. Why can someone be blessed with a child and not want the child when I’m sitting here and would give my left arm to be pregnant with a healthy baby. We always read about it but to be thrown in my face by my “BFF” of 20 years it hurts so bad.

But anyway…she called to tell me that she had a doctor’s appointment today and the doctor could tell just how much she hated being pregnant and the child by her attitude and asked if she had thought about adoption. She said she told the doctor yes. The doctor then told her about two couples she knew wanting to adopt and asked if she gave her the couples numbers if she would call them. She said no probably not, so the doctor asked if it was okay for the couples to call her. She told her yeah that was fine. So she was calling to tell me that she has been talking to this adoptive family all day and that she was considering giving the baby up for adoption. To this all I could reply was un-huh. She was like you don’t have anything to say and I said uh-un. Unable to say a word to keep myself from bursting in tears. She was like I don’t understand why you sound that way when I’m listening to what you wanted me to do. You been mentioned this and now I’m entertaining the idea. I didn’t say anything and she was like this is totally not what I expected. She apologized for messing up my night and I said un-huh again and hung up. I immediately start crying after I hung up and DH is sitting here asking me why I’m crying. I have nothing to tell him because I don’t even know myself. I know in my heart giving this child up for adoption will be in the best interest of the baby but why am I so hurt??? I wanted to tell her you can’t just entertain an idea when dealing with want to be adoptive parents. You can’t just dangle this carrot if you are not serious. You can’t expect me to be in the delivery room with you to watch you hand the baby over. I’m not even carrying the baby but I’ve shown more attachment to the baby than she has. I can’t and I won’t go down there to support her have another baby. I was only going for the baby so the baby can feel loved. In an adoptive home is probably best for the baby, I guess I just wish it was my home. However, I know how DH feels about adoption and thats nothing that I can change; he has to change his own thought process on that. I keep telling myself that if she is serious this is the best thing for the baby….so why am I so upset? Why am I so hurt?

Stim Day 6

E2: 311

Yesterday's Stim Day 5 E2: 179

Cancel monitoring appointment for tomorrow...stay on same dose and come back Wednesday morning.

Nothing measurable on the screen yet. I had some .8's but nothing 1.0 an larger. Here is the pic of the ultrasound printout that I took with my cell phone:



Top pic is right ovary...black dots are the follies that are not quite big enough to measure yet. Bottom pic is left ovary. The round greyed out circle is a cyst size 15.

I'm finally starting to feel a little action going on so hopefully come Wednesday I will have lots of measurable follies.

My current schedule has me stimming for 11 days so I still have 5 more days of stimming to stay on track with that schedule.

Stim Day 5

Well I had my first monitoring appointment today. No ultrasound just blood work. My E2 is 179 which my nurse said my RE was very pleased with. Stay on same meds for tonight and tomorrow morning. Tomorrow starts the everyday ultrasounds and blood work appointments.

Comparison from IVF #4:

IVF#4: Stim Day 5 - E2: 520

IVF#4 had no suppression which is why I think my E2 was so high so quick which was not good in the end because my E2 ended up rising too fast and it didn't allow my eggs time to mature. At trigger my E2 on that cycle was 5526. Way too high and although 11 were retrieved only 3 were mature.

So I'm hoping this time my E2 has a steady increase allowing the eggs time to grow and mature as they should.

On another note - I just finished watching the movie Cars for the first time and that movie is actually very good and funny. DH was looking at me like I had lost my marbles for watching it but it was very good!

Awwhh....Good News....Again!!

Oh my goodness what is really going on....good news two days in a row!!!!

So my job sent this out today:

On maternity leave, the Board agreed that we should aim to be a market leader within the US employment market, and exceed international minimum standards - as set by the ILO. We therefore decided to increase the period of fully-paid maternity leave from two to eight weeks, with immediate effect.

This, plus the existing provision of 6-8 weeks leave under our short term disability benefit (70% of salary) will give local staff up to 16 weeks' paid maternity leave, with the option of adding annual leave entitlement and a period of unpaid leave onto that. The Board agreed that paternity leave (two weeks on full pay), which was identical to that for UK-based staff, should remain the same.

Okay so last time I got pregnant (the chemical) I figured out how much maternity leave I would get. I figured the most I could get using some personal leave times was like 2 1/2 months. With this new change I can now get almost 4 1/2 months of maternity leave. 8 weeks of that at 100% of my pay and 6-8 weeks at 70% of my pay and like 2 weeks at 100% of my pay using vacation time.

This is awesome and the change comes at perfect timing! I can't wait to the day I am able to utilize this new change! And its so much better that I would get more time to spend with the baby/ies before having to put him or her into daycare and now they can go in daycare at 4 months old instead of 2 months old and that makes a HUGE difference!

Okay....okay...bring me more...bring me more....I love getting this good news!!!!

Awwwhhh....Good News!!

Good news first:

So my nurse finally called and told me my blood results from yesterday. She said your FSH is 3. I said huh, say what? She said a 3. I said no seriously did you just say a 3 and she said yep. My FSH has gone from a 13 to a 3. No Way! I'm too happy about that.

Tears second:

Awwhh thanks everyone for cheering on my cycle. I had no idea I had so many waiting patiently with me to start my cycle up. I really do appreciate it.

Ouch third:

So I just did my nighttime shots. I did Lupron, Gonal F and Menopur this morning so tonight was Gonal F, Menopur and Lovenox. I must admit that I was scared to death of the Lovenox shots because of all the horror stories I've heard about the bruising (See Alison's belly here), and the burning. So I did my Gonal F and Menopur cocktail shot and my stomach decided to bleed. Enough to fill an alcohol pad so I had to grab a cotton ball. This doesn't normally happen to me...but I was like um okay, its cool. So I could no longer do the Lovenox on that same side because I didn't want to make that side all sensitive....I mean I still have a lot of days ahead of me. So I switch to the other side that I used this morning for the Lovenox.

Okay...jab....okay...they told the truth....it burns....all of it...but not to the point of OMG pass out burn. But its cool.....I can handle it. LOL! I say that now....but what will I do when I run out of easy to grab fat on my belly.

And One....

And the picture says it all. After 3 months of Depot Lupron, another SHG, and another Endo Biopsy, lots of waiting.....IVF#5 is finally underway.

It has taken a lot of patience to wait these 3 months out. Been lapped by so many pregnancies and oops pregnancies and thrown in my face I'm pregnant but don't want this baby ordeals. Just a lot to deal with. But now I can finally feel proactive at working towards getting pregnant.

At today's baseline I had 10 antral follies on the right and 6 antral follies on the left and a small cyst on my right ovary that they are not worried about. They did test my E2 and FSH level again but when my nurse called she didn't have the numbers so she said she would call me back tomorrow to give me the numbers.

So tomorrow morning I will do Lupron, Gonal F and Menopur and tomorrow night I will do Lovenox, Gonal F and Menopur. My RE also wanted me to start taking Caltrate which has Calcium and Vitamin D in it. He said this once he found out I would be on Lovenox for an extended period of time, so I guess it may effect my calcium level or bones or something.....not sure.

First appointment will be on Sunday which will be stim Day 5 just for blood work and everyday after that is blood work and ultrasounds.

Vegas Pics...

Finally got my pics from Vegas uploaded. Countdown is at 2 days. Baseline tomorrow. Update more then.

......7

So I think I can finally begin my count down. It seems like it has taken FOREVER for this cycle to start and come Wednesday I can begin sticking myself in the belly again. Who in their right mind would look forward to and enjoy sticking a needle in their belly, not one, not two, not three but FOUR times a day? That would be me....one desperate woman on a quest to make her husband a daddy!

So I had my Endo Biopsy done on Monday. I had this done back in November by my old RE after my second chemical but my new RE wanted to do it again ....one to check that everything is kosher in there and two because of some studies that showed having an endo biopsy right before your IVF cycle could possibly increase your chances. I found this article that talks about it in detail First Biopsy, Then Baby

And another one Mother of Invention

And another Endometrial Activation

What do you ladies think? Anyone done it and think it helped with your success?

It would be great if it does help out. Hoping that my results come back all clear. I should have them in about a week.