Friday, August 29, 2008

100th post

Who knew? I hoped that I would have transitioned this blog to the "Father-to-be" variety by now, but why would I want to do that? I'm just getting into the groove of this infertility thing, so why should I move on just now that I'm getting so damned good at it?

My wife's cousin announced she is pregnant this week. Yippee.

Off into the weekend ... should be an exciting one. Will spend a nice quiet evening with my wife and dog tonight, perhaps around a bonfire in the back yard, then I will release millions of deformed sperm unto her (my wife, not the dog). Tomorrow, off to see my pregnant sister, and one of my best friends, whose wife will probably announce she is pregnant. Then my sister-in-law will come to stay with us, and we'll watch the Michigan State game (can't wait for college football!) - sis-in-law is probably pregnant too ( ... probably a stretch ... )

In summary: Family stuff during the day while my testes generate subpar product to be sent on their tangled journey at night. Repeat.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Ethan's birthday

Went to our across-the-street-neighbor's-kid's birthday yesterday - Ethan turned five. There was a big inflatable bouncy thing, and children everywhere. We were the only ones without one.

At the party was a "holistic nutritionist" who worked in a clinic offering acupuncture, massage therapy, homeopathic, and other forms of voodoo / witchcraft treatments. We asked her what nutrition is important to people trying to become pregnant - she said women need more fat than they would think. Something to do with more efficient processing of fat-soluble vitamins. So, my wife will consume more butter. And we'll buy some shrunken heads, and rattles, and sage.

After the party we went to Rite-Aid to pick up our Femara prescription.

This cycle will bring us into our third year of trying. Scary to see that in writing.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

fin

.

And there you have it. So ends the recent flurry of blog posting, hope and progress. Period commenced about an hour ago ... lightly at first, as if not wanting to interrupt the fun.

Protocol will not change next month - we've another round of Femara + progesterone before us. If this one fails, my wife will be laproscoped, inspected and if necessary, cured of endometriosis via laser beams ... after that, we'll commence with medicated IUI cycles, and monitoring.

It was a frustrating, and disappointing month, but at the same time a bit nice. At minimum, we made a small step forward - the progesterone worked, and the spotting stopped. We tasted, ever so slightly, what it might feel like to clear the hurdle of infertility. I allowed myself to consider what it might be like if my wife were pregnant ... it was really nice, and I'll eagerly look forward to getting there, for real, in one future month.

There's always next month! Now I'll take my seat and become a spectator, cheering on the legions of blogging infertile. Go get em team.

The post where I correct misinformation from previous posts / comments

In case you have been following comments from the most recent post, I have to correct something. I've gotten the facts all wrong - my apologies ... here are the accurate figures, as certified by my wife:

  • August 4th: Positive ovulation test

  • August 5th: IUI

  • August 8th: Begin progesterone

  • August 18th: Expected period, but nothing

  • August 19th: Pregnancy test = Negative

So, as you can see, the negative pregnancy test came at least 14 days after ovulation (assuming ovulation was on time, as predicted by the kit)

I'm thinking the chances are slim, but we'll find out tomorrow. I'll post right away after finding out.

Thursday

Nothin ...

?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wednesday: No change

Still no period ...

My wife was unable use the second pregnancy test from the pack of two she purchased because in her excitement to POAS, she dropped it into the toilet. She has a habit of dropping things into toilets, like for example when she dropped our digital camera into the toilet in a Border's bathroom, in Boston. The camera, remarkably, came back to life (after drying for 5 days), but I'm sure it picked up many unwanted passengers along the way.

Either way, my wife has still not started her period, but we're pretty confident the delay can be attributed to progesterone, and not to pregnancy. We'll see on Friday though (if we make it that far)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday Afternoon (Infertile Blogger Acronym Edition)

Wife POAS with a HPT = BFN

Tuesday ...

Still nothing, but our enthusiasm is being held in check by some Googling on "Does progesterone delay your period?" - the answer is a solid yes, but not in all cases. My wife called her nurse at Dr. M's office to inquire further, and the nurse confirmed that progesterone can indeed delay a period, but that my wife should continue taking it until her period starts - OR - until Thursday, when if she still hasn't started (fingers crossed) she should call to schedule a blood test for Friday morning.

Another symptom my wife is experiencing is frequent urination - she has to go twice a night (which is unusual for her - has never happened before) The nurse said that this is unrelated to progesterone ... it could be that her uterus is enlarging due to the embryo inside - OR - her ovaries have swelled due to the Femara, thus displacing her bladder capacity leading to more frequent "urges".

Either way, it's a waiting game ... funny thing is, there are no pregnancy tests left in our house. My wife exhausted her supply last month, and is nervous to go buy another one.

Will keep you posted.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Monday ... and ...

No spotting - still. This is highly unusual. Normally my wife starts spotting on day 23, or so, which was like last week. Then, she usually starts full-fledged period-ing on day 27, which was yesterday ... and at the latest, the morning after day 27 (this morning) As of now (which is right now), she is still keeping all of her uterine linings right up inside her uterus, where they belong.

No matter what happens, the progesterone seems to have done its job. Regardless of the outcome, this is a very big step in the right direction.

I'll keep you posted ...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Dr. Appt.

My wife had her bimonthly appointment with Dr. M to renew her Femara+Progesterone scripts, and consult on our progress. She asked him where we go from here, should our success rate remain consistent (at zero) - he said we should continue with one more month of Femara+Progesterone, and if unsuccessful, proceed with laproscopy (to check for endometriosis) and/or move on with medicated IUI cycles, followed by IVF if necessary. He left the laproscopy optional - it would give us more information, but wouldn't entirely change our approach.

My wife's reaction to the possibility of another go at IVF involved some commentary on our bad experience in our first go around. Dr. M asked "Where did you do your IVF again?" - my wife told him IVF Michigan. Dr. M gave several examples of former patients that had gone through IVF Michigan before ending up in his office - their stories were very similar to ours: Need help getting pregnant, one semen analysis reveals only chance for success to be IVF. The patients in his story ultimately end up pregnant through non-IVF methods. Dr. M told my wife that he doesn't think we should be doing IVF anyways due to our age (we're too young) - it's comforting to know that there are people out there that genuinely want to help in a cost-effective way. Dr. M is a good man, and we're happy to be under his care and counsel.

My wife is supposed to start her period on Monday of next week. She has not started spotting yet - this is a positive step. It appears, for now, that the progesterone is doing its job. I'm sure that the second I hit the "publish" button, small bits of her uterine lining will begin to precipitate. The publish button has a reddish-brown color ... coincidence?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Pain in the Back

My wife is currently experiencing very intense back pain - she's still at least a week away from starting her period and is in the midst of taking Progesterone supplements. Normally she NEVER has back problems ... is there a correlation to infertility/pregnancy? Is this normal?

Friday, August 8, 2008

Progesterone

It's Friday - a perfect day for my wife to shove tubes of Progesterone cream into her vag.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Monday, August 4, 2008

We're Back

We returned from our second honeymoon in Jamaica this past weekend. 7 days of bliss. It was everything we hoped it to be, and more. By comparison, it blew our honeymoon out of the water. It was that good.

Our honeymoon in 2005 was spent at Couples Ocho Rios, at the urging of several family members who had been there previously. We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to go back, only to a different Couples location (Ocho Rios is currently being renovated - it is the oldest Couples destination on the island of Jamaica, known by many of the staff as "The Original", so it needed a bit of updating) We chose Couples Negril, and couldn't be happier about it. The facilities were immaculate, the staff incredible, the food amazing, etc., etc. We didn't do much other than lay by the pool. I managed to play some tennis and ping pong (which I am AWESOME at - I won the tournament handily, and was rewarded with rum. Same held true for tennis, which I sort of suck at, but love - won a bottle of rum for my valiant efforts on the hard courts as well)

We managed to stick to our promise of not talking baby stuff while we were there, but now that we're home, we get to pick up where we left off, and that is with IUI #3 tomorrow morning (wife received a positive ovulation test this morning) She has been taking three Femara pills daily for the past week, and will begin with progesterone supplements three days after today (apparently it can interfere with pregnancy if taken too soon following an IUI) She will have an accupuncture treatment done tomorrow evening as well. We'll carry on with lots of intercourse along the way and hope for a positive outcome.

I will begin trying to rectify some of my bad habits, including overeating, chewing tobacco, drinking more than I should, not exercising and carrying too much stress. My goal is to bring my weight into the ball park of 175 lbs by mid-October (which will require some 20 lbs to be shed). My mind is clear, for the moment, so I am feeling more refreshed at work ... we'll see how long that lasts.

It was a sorely needed vacation, worth every penny. I am normally not keen on spending money on such luxuries, but I am very happy we did. The advice of "just go on a vacation and you'll get pregnant" may not hold true for us, but at least we escaped our infertility situation for a little while. If any of you are considering a trip, I can't recommend Couples Negril highly enough. Go there, and you'll see what I mean.

I'll be back in a few days to provide update on our next round. Thanks to everyone for your comments - I have really enjoyed reading them, along with your blog posts. Hope your own processes are going smoothly.