Sunday, September 21, 2014

SURPRISE- less than 30 days left of birth control

So my consult went... amazingly well.

I figured I'd be on BC until early November, with a late Nov ER/ET


Nope. SURPRISE. We're coming off the BCPs on 10/20 with a potential retrieval the 1st week of November.


I'm officially freaking out.

I am SO SO SO grateful to a couple of women who have sent me "care packages" that will help reduce some of my medication OOP costs. Because when I got my medication list, I realized that I would be needing a TON of meds.

Menopur: $850
Follistim: $1400
Ganirelix: $650
Lupron: $100
Novarel: $90
Progesterone in Oil: $50

And then of course there's the antibiotics, steroids, pain killers, and potentially lovenox.

So close to $3200 all in all. But thanks to the generosity of some friends, it's looking like I'm going to only be paying $850 or so for my medications! Praise God for amazing people!

I'm honestly still in a whirlwind of emotions. It doesn't feel real, I'm terrified it won't work, but I'm going to have faith that this will be our take home baby.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Double or Nothing

So by now I'm pretty sure you've all realized I like statistics. I like manipulating numbers. They bring me a sense of calm.

So I crunched the SART data for my clinic (again). Our Doc says that for our case in particular he thinks we have somewhere between a 50-60% chance of success on our first cycle.

And then I looked at the data for multiples. And my heart skipped a beat. My clinic has a slightly (every so slightly) higher than average rate of twins. Luckily their rate for HOM is lower than the national average.

I just can't shake this feeling that my body is going to offer me double or nothing.

I'm still obese. I'm down 20 pounds (YAY) but in an ideal world I'd probably still be 80 pounds lighter than I am right now. And I know that the risk is VERY real with a twin pregnancy.

So here we go. Numbers:

My clinic

Year Live Birth Twins Triplets
2012 36.5% 32.5% 1.8%
2011 32.0% 30.7% 2.3%
2010 37.0% 32.5% 0.0%
2009 45.5% 35.8% 1.1%
2008 48.2% 32.9% 1.0%
5 year average 39.8% 32.9% 1.2%

National Average


Year Live Birth Twins Triplets
2012 40.7% 29.5% 1.1%
2011 40.1% 30.8% 1.2%
2010 41.7% 32.4% 1.5%
2009 41.4% 32.9% 1.6%
2008 44.4% 33.3% 1.9%
5 year average 41.7% 31.8% 1.5%



By the numbers I've got a 40% chance of getting pregnant. By my doctor I've got a 50/50 shot at getting pregnant.

And then IF I'm pregnant, I've got damn near a 33% chance of having two. My RE is strongly encouraging transferring two embryos. I'm going to take his advice. But a 1 in 3 chance of having twins is absolutely terrifying.

I spend entirely too much time lurking on the Multiples boards online. I spend entirely too much time calculating out not only my EDD (estimated due date) for this potential pregnancy, but what milestones I need to hit- Viability Day, making it past the "micro-preemie" cutoff (28 weeksish) and my "twins are done cooking date" (usually doctors want a twin pregnancy to last at least 35 weeks).

I've looked up the statistic for what % of twin moms delver by X weeks, and I find quite a bit of comfort knowing when my potential future fetuses could arrive.

I'm not sure if I'm crazy or if I'm optimistic, but I'm ready to tackle this beast head on and finally escape TTC land. I'm ready for the Fertility Boat to come pick me up. It's my time for the golden ticket. I'm ready to cross over to the other side.

I've been moderating the May 2015 birth club board for the past month, and it has been amazing how they've welcomed this infertile with open arms until they can elect their own mod. I can't wait to have that experience with MY OWN BMB.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Om Nom Nom (that's the sound of me on pinterest)

So with my IVF approaching, and the weather turning cold again, I can't help but realize that the time for grilling will soon be over :(

Yes- this makes me a sad SAD panda

But that just means it's time to start thinking about crock pot cooking again! And in my eternally optimistic state of mind, that means it's time to start thinking about meal prep for the coming season.

I tend to surf pinterest at work when I'm bored, and it hit me today that I have over 80 pins on my crock pot make ahead meals board.

And another 58 pins on my freezer (non-crock pot) meal board

And 150 on my one pot wonder meals board

68 on my gluten free board

and 21 on my crock pot soups board.

That's 377 meals. I could literally not pin anything else and have a new recipe to try every single day for the next year.

So in order to save money AND start prepping meals for WHEN (not if) I'm pregnant and then for postpartum, I'm making a commitment to trying 25 recipes every month from my pinterest boards.  And as I find recipes I like, I will be moving them all into a postpartum cooking pin board.

My plan all along has been to start doing major batch cooking starting in early 3rd trimester, and add to it every couple of weeks so that by the time I have an outside baby, I will also have 10 weeks (roughly 60 meals) worth of dinners frozen and ready to either go into the oven or the crock pot. I plan to prepare enough food in each bag (or tray) to feed 3-4 people, so that way I have something for lunch (leftovers) as well as to feed any family that might be visiting.

Freezer meals tend to last for about 3 months in the freezer. So if I start cooking around 32 weeks (or earlier if we end up having a high risk pregnancy) and prep an additional 15 meals every 2 weeks, I should be covered! I know, it sounds horrible- preparing 15 meals in one day. But honestly, I often double the recipe and split it into 2 bags, and from start to finish it usually takes about 4 hours in the kitchen.

4 hours on a Sunday afternoon is a great investment if it means I don't have to spend ANY time in the kitchen for the rest of the month.

Week 32: Prepare 20 meals. Will need to be consumed by 4 weeks PP
Week 34: Prepare 15 meals. Will need to be consumed by 6 weeks PP
Week 36 Prepare 15 meals. Will need to be consumed by 8 weeks PP
Week 38: Prepare 15 meals. Will need to be consumed by 10 weeks PP
Total meals:  65

As I create the meal plans for each batch cooking, I promise to post them!


Do you have any go-to meals for meal trains/sunshine missions/church groups that I should know about? I'm always interested in adding more to my arsenal- especially if that recipe is gluten free and nut free!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Snap, Crackle, Pop

Those would be the sounds made by my body during my chiro appointment this morning.

It's been over 2 years since my last adjustment, and my back has been getting progressively worse. Gotta love our sedentary culture for that!

So I made an emergency appointment with my former (now current!) chiropractor's office.

The doctor FLIPPED when I told him it hurt to move my neck, and that my left arm and leg randomly go numb.

The good news: My body still responds really well to chiropractic care. And it sounded like he put a lot of things back into place (judging by the number of times my body went snap, crackle, and pop).

The better news: they're experienced with treating infertile women

The best news: they've seen many patients have successful IVF treatments after multiple IVF failures after incorporating chiropractic care. So hopefully by being proactive, we'll get a sticky bean the first time around.

I've also been calling acupuncturists to get pricing and their thoughts. I'm going to pour everything we've got into this first round of IVF, so hopefully it ends up being our ONLY round of IVF!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Here goes everything

So I had  my last appointment with my RE prior to my IVF cycle last week, and next week I go for IVF orientation.

Am I nervous: Absolutely
Am I optimistic that this is going to work: You bet your ass


I'm feeling pretty good about this cycle, despite the fact that we lost all IF coverage on my insurance (BOO!)