Waiting is the Hardest Part

Yes, Tom Petty said it best.  Although this song is not about the 2ww (two week wait) women suffer through to find out if that EPT will come out with a + or -, it still works...sort of.  Well, I'll run with that, cause Tom Petty rocks!!!  But I digress...

My last post stated I would not wait to tell the world that I had gone in for my 2nd IUI.  But I got busy packing and moving (yes, I decided to throw moving into the already complicated equation), and haven't really sat down to catch everyone up...until now.

So how much did you miss you ask?  Well if you didn't ask, I'm still going to tell you! :-)  I went in for my 2nd IUI on Sunday, June 17.  On the 16th, which was my CD14 (cycle day 14), I was very anxious about ovulating.  My doc said that since I was on Clomid, that if I hadn't gotten my LH surge by CD14, he wanted me to call and come in for an ultrasound and possibly and HCG trigger shot to induce ovulation.  The morning of the 16th I tested with an OPK (ovulation predictor kit) at around 8am...no surge.  I tested again at 2pm, still no surge.  At that point I called my doc and he said to come in on the 17th at 8:340am and we would decide on how to proceed.  That afternoon I went to pack up some boxes and stuff at my now previous abode; and well, I just began to feel a bit funny.  So afterwards I decided to do another test, this was around 7:45pm.  Normally I would never test three times in one day, but I just felt like I needed to at that point.  Well good thing I did because I got my surge!  So I called my doc back, gave him the news, and my 8:30am ultrasound appointment turned into my 2nd IUI appointment, yay!!!

So now what?  Now I'm once again in the midst of the dreaded two week wait.  I'll admit that at 6 days post IUI, I was a nervous wreck.  Last month that was the day my entire system went bonkers!  So naturally I was worried this month may be the same.  My doc did put me on Progesterone to help extend my cycle, so that was a bit of comfort but didn't complete alleviate my worry.  Needless to say, day 6 has come and gone and I'm still waiting, which is a very good thing!  Today I am 10 days post IUI.  If I read my body correctly this month, that would correspond to 10 days past ovulation (10dpo).  By this weekend, I should be ready to pee on a completely new kind of stick, the EPT kind!  Woohoo!!!

The one on the right represents my mom!

Many women at this point go ahead and drag themselves through testing way too early, only to be left with a pile of negative tests (false or not).  I am doing my best not to be one of those women!  I may test Friday morning, though.  While this will still technically be early and a false negative is most likely, I may not be able to handle waiting any longer!

I should probably follow the advice at www.countdowntopregnancy.com and not test till Sunday, but I can't promise anything!

Sunday Jul. 1, 2012 Expected period

14 dpo

Expected Period. This is the best day to test! You should miss your period today if you are pregnant! Accuracy rate of most pregnancy tests on or after the first day of your expected period is 99%. If your cycle length varies by a few days each month, you may still want to wait a few days before testing since you may not actually be late yet.

So, what are my symptoms at 10dpo you ask?  (Once again I don't really care if you asked, it's just one of those forum topics that seem to be on every baby-making website).  To be honest, I don't really have any.  Had some sharp pains in my abdomen last night and a few this morning, and I'm a bit on the bloated side, and my boobs are a bit larger than usual, but all these things can also be contributed to the progesterone, PMS, and possibly pregnancy.  So like a lot of things, I take them with a grain of salt.  Damn it!  Now I'm thinking about the tequila I can't have!!!  Which is horrible since it is Tequila Tuesday...ARGH!!!!  However, I will most likely enjoy a glass of wine when I get home, because for now I dub it okay and safe to consume in small quantities.  I'm sure some will disagree, but to each their own opinion on the matter.  Last IUI I was overly conscious about my eating and drinking habits, and the IUI failed.  My stress levels were at maximum capacity, and I know that did not help and could have possibly contributed to my system failing so miserably.  This go around I have decide to relax, enjoy the ride, and not sweat the small stuff.  There will by plenty of time to freak out during the 9-month wait!

Hopefully this will be me very soon!

Since I am so close to finding out whether or not this IUI is successful, I will try and update more over the next several days. Hopefully next time I'm back on here there will be good news!!! If not, I'll report the bad, too. Both are part of the process, so both deserve equal time in the spotlight. But for now I'll keep on the positive side and hope for the best outcome! And I'll leave you with this little bit of fun :-)

I love cats!

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Mother Nature FAIL

Now while the title of this post may sound negative, it's not quite all that bad.  I'll explain...

Cat pictures always make bad news good!

I have been keeping quiet over the past week or so while anxiously awaiting the results of my first IUI.  Something in my head went the route of "don't tell anyone cause it could jinx the results!"  Well that is just idiotic!  Nothing of the sort will jinx the outcome of an IUI.  There is only about a 10% chance that a natural IUI (one without meds) will be successful in the first place.  That's 10% less chance than doing it the old-fashioned way, if you know what I mean.  Both those percentages are based on success rates when no fertility issues are involved...having those can drastically change that number (and of course age is a mass factor, too). Needless to say, my first IUI was not a success story.  Here is how it all went down...

On May 28th I got my LH surge.  For those unfamiliar with the acronym, LH stands for Luteinizing hormone.  Basically it is a hormone release by the anterior pituitary gland.  In females, the release of this hormone triggers ovulation.  Usually ovulation will occur within 24-48 hours of the LH surge.  The LH surge is detected through ovulation predictor kits (OPKs).  They are sort of like a pregnancy test...you pee on a stick and it tells you whether you are surging or not; pretty simple and straightforward.  Once the LH surge is detected, you call the doctor and then go in the following day for the IUI.  The IUI is a very simple procedure that takes less than a couple of minutes.  Basically the doc takes the thawed, washed sperm and uses a catheter to directly inject it into the uterus.

See, very simple!

After the procedure you have to lay down for 15 minutes, and then you're off to live life as you normally would...with the exception of cavorting around bars and living it up like you were in Vegas!!

How NOT to handle the wait!

Remember, at this point you should already be thinking like a pregnant woman!  Once you're done at the doc's, the only thing to do is wait the 2 weeks it takes for fertilization, implantation, and a hopefully a positive pregnancy test.

Well, that's not exactly how it went for me.  My LH surge occurred on the 28th.  On the morning of the 29th I had my IUI.  I took the rest of the day off just for good measure.  I ate healthy, relaxed, didn't drink booze...I was a model patient!  But that doesn't always guarantee a successful outcome.  Unfortunately my hormones and Mother Nature decided to do their own thing.  Six days after the IUI on the 3rd, bam, my cycle went nuts!  To make TMI less TMI, I started my period 10 days premature.  Now this never happens so I was highly disappointed in my hormones for acting like uncontrollable morons!  But what can you do?  Mother Nature will do as she pleases and usually at completely inappropriate times!  And this was obviously the time she had chosen.  Oh well, now what?

I called my doc first thing Monday morning (June 4th) and let him know that Mother Nature failed me (please review title of post now).  Today (June 5th) he had me come in for another vaginal ultrasound to check out the goods and make sure there was nothing to be overly concerned with...basically making sure it was just a wonky month and all systems were still go.  Lucky for me, all systems are still go!  But the doc did decide to go ahead and put me on 50mg of Clomid for this next cycle.  Clomid is used to treat ovulation issues in some women, but for me it's basically being used to increase my progesterone and lengthen my cycle.  I have no issues with ovulation, so once again we're going to wait on the LH surge and proceed as normal.  With Clomid my chances for conceiving with IUI jump from 10% to 20%, so that is a bonus!

So on to more good news!!!  Since I was 10 days early this month, now I get to go back in for my next IUI within the next 11 days or so.  This is good news because I don't have to wait all those additional days this month.  When you're trying to conceive, any extra waiting is just torment (especially at my age)!  The only concern I really have right now is the increased chance for multiple births that comes along with Clomid.  There is a 5-12% chance of twins (depending on your source, with 8-10% being the norm), a 1% chance of triplets (highly unlikely for women over 35), and .1% for quads (yeah, that's not happening!).   Since I ovulate like a champ, I am concerned that any drug which excites my ovaries to produce more than one viable follicle at a time may be risky. But I'd rather have twins than no children at all, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Aren't they just so damn cute!

Be careful what you wish for!

I think that about catches everything up to date.  This evening I start my Clomid, take it for the next five days, wait until day 12 of my cycle to start testing with the OPKs, and hopefully by day 14 or 15 will get my surge and be in for the next IUI by day 15 or 16 (June 17 or 18).  This time I will not keep it a secret that I've gone in.  No more of the paranoia regarding jinxing the whole thing.  If it's meant to be it will happen when the time is right...everything is about timing!  Hopefully this time around I will come back with a positive result and a successful procedure story.  If not, well then it's off for one more round before other methods are discussed with my doc.  So here's to the rest of this month!

Want to learn more about IUI and Clomid?  Try this link: http://www.raising-twins.com/clomid.html

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