Bedrest Rocks?

So, after the transfer is complete, one is on doctor mandated bedrest for 2-3 days. Two days in my case. Many people look at the word "bedrest" and envision countless hours whiling away in bed with the TV remote, a take out menu, and maybe a good book or two. Sounds like a lot of fun.

It is. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, when staying in bed all day is your idea.

On the day of the transfer, I was allowed to get up and use the bathroom. No sitting up to eat, no standing in the shower. I could lay on my back or sides, but preferably not on my stomach. Tricky, as I'm a stomach sleeper.

I won't lie. The first day wasn't bad. We came back from the clinic, went back to bed, and pretty much crashed until about 4 in the afternoon. I fell in love with the pizza from the Italian place the night before, and sent Chris back there for dinner that night. By the time "bedtime" rolled around, my hips and lower back were getting a bit sore. But what the hey- I was going back to sleep anyway!

Day 2. I was allowed to move to the couch. Today I could sit up to eat my meals, and stay upright long enough for a shower. Bless Jason for booking us a room with a couch. It was great to have the option to move to a "new" location. I was awake more, but had a harder time staying comfortable too. About halfway through the day, I was wishing I'd packed some tylenol for the hips and lower back. Chris and I entertained ourselves with episodes of Weeds and TrueBlood, and had Chili's for lunch. And dinner.

Still. Enforced relaxation is a very different animal than just having a lazy day or two. For some reason, I kept having the crazy compulsion to get up and run around the room. Probably just because I wasn't supposed to.

I will say, though, that every time I did get up, all I could think about was those tiny little embryos falling right out of me. I think someone out there needs to invent some sort of bio-adhesive fixative they can treat the embryos with before transfer. Not something that guarantees implantation, just something that guarantees that the little guys will at least stick to something when they get pipetted in there. That way I don't have to constantly worry that they're going to fall out!

Really, before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head home again.

Oh!

I'd like to give a quick shout out to the name-unknown toll booth operator that Chris and I met on our journey back to the Philly Airport. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for letting us through the 5 dollar toll area (at 445 am) with the buck 55 in change I scrounged from the bottom of my purse. We, being from far out of town, were relying on our phone navigation to lead us back to the airport. Why the phone genie chose to lead us over a toll bridge, we'll never know. They don't have toll bridges/ roads where we come from.....

Transfer Day

Or, Valium Day, as I'm coming to think of it....

Our appointment was for 915 in the morning. Since we were literally just a mile from the clinic, this was no big deal. The only thing I had to do ahead of time was to start guzzling the water, so my bladder would be full enough for the ultrasound. I started with an 8oz glass about 845. I had at least three, if not four, glasses in before we even left the room.

Chris and I followed the instructions to the clinic. We pulled into a lot that was filled with commercial looking buildings- you know, where there are multiple business offices, doctor offices, dentists, etc. Well, we found three or four different doors, in 2 different buildings, that had the name of the clinic stenciled on them. Which one to choose, which one to choose????

The first door we went to was locked. We rang the conveniently located bell, but no one answered. The second led into this tiny reception area. We stood there for 3 or 4 minutes before deciding there was no one even in the "office". On to door #3. In we walked to a large wood paneled reception are (think late 70s, not mod office) , with the reception girls located behind counters and sliding glass windows. Looks like we finally chose the right door. Lots of women, lots of hustle and bustle.

After the requisite wait in the outer room, and another cup of water, Chris and I were ushered back to the "changing room". Shelved room, tupperware bins on the shelves, and lone chair in the corner. I bared all from the waist down, put on and OR hat and booties, and wrapped a paper gown around myself. Chris climbed into his bunny suit, and also donned booties and a cap. Then the nurse came in with the magic pill.

Most places will give you a pre-transfer relaxation medication. While given mainly to decrease the incidence of uterine contractions, it has the added secondary benefit of being an anti-anxiety happy pill.

On to the transfer room..... Up on the Reagan era exam table (the wood paneling matched the reception room...), and wait for that happy pill to kick in. Now, here's where the whole thing gets fuzzy for me. I remember the tech coming in to see if my bladder was full enough for transfer yet (No. Seriously??? I already have to pee...) Then a little more waiting. And another cup of water.

I remember the doc coming in. I remember Chris putting on his mask, and I remember the ultrasound tech putting the scanner back on my belly. I vaguely remember the speculum (not a bad thing), but I don't remember the actual transfer at all.... I was really wanting to watch the embryos go in, but I totally missed it. Chris saw, and said it was pretty cool....

The next thing I know, the nurse is laying me basically upside down, wanting to know if I I needed the bedpan or if I could wait 30 min. Uuuummmmm... wait? Okay.

5 minutes later I was asking for the bedpan. I have a new appreciation for bedpans. They are NOT easy to use. I can hardly pee in a cup in the doctor's office in the bathroom alone. My bladder, ridiculously overfull as it was, was NOT thrilled with the bedpan idea. It took me awhile, but I made it happen.... All the while praying that those two little embryos weren't tumbling out as I, um, went.

An eye blink later, and the nurse was telling me that I could get dressed and head "home". Chris bundled my sleepy buns into the car, took me back to the hotel, and tucked me into bed. Where I promptly slept 90% of the day away.

We're here!

Yesterday was a looooong day. Our flight left at 7am, which means up by 5. We stumbled our way out of the house, made it to the airport, and caught our first flight. We made it to Chicago O'Hare without incident. Yes, I slept 90% of the way, as I'm prone to do on long trips.

Out layover in Chicago was about 3 hours, which is actually kinda perfect. Chris and I had time to wander around, eat, find our next gate, and people watch for a little while. Our connecting flight to Philly was on time, which was a miracle considering there were big storm systems moving in and out of the area delaying other flights.

We made it to Philly, then on over to New Jersey with no problems too. For a travel day, it went as well as could be expected. The hotel room that will be our home for the next few days is pretty awesome- a king bed, a little sitting area with a couch and ottoman, and a BIG TV hanging on the wall, positioned so we can see it from the couch or the bed. Big bath tub..... Restaurants I love nearby. What else could a girl want???

We met Jason, his mom and dad, and one of his sisters for dinner last night. After months of emailing, calls, and texts, it was so wonderful to actually meet in person! We all headed to the Italian place down the street. After a couple hours of great food and great conversation it was time to head back to the hotel for the night. Jason doesn't live particularly close to the clinic/ hotel, so that was all we are going to be seeing him this trip. Chris and I are both sad not to be spending any more time with him this time- we hit it off so well!

This morning, I'm up and fluid loading for the transfer!!! So crazy that the day is actually here......

T minus...

... 2 days and counting!!!

Getting things packed up and ready for our trip tomorrow.

My first progesterone shot was yesterday. The shot itself was a piece of cake (I had a co-worker give it to me). About 20 minutes later, though, the site started stinging like mad! It also gives me a pretty strange/ funny/ yucky taste in my mouth. But hey, that's what gum is for!!! I also started the progesterone suppositories as well.

I ended up with an eyeball blowing migraine last night, which sucked. I'm wondering if it was triggered by the progesterone; I know that headaches are a side effect. Hopefully my body adjusts to the dose fast!

Looking forward to the arrival of my mom and dad later this afternoon. Then tomorrow morning, Chris and I hop on a plane and head out!

Aaaaannnnnd relax.....

Well, after all my drama yesterday, things were (of course) taken care of.

By some weird quirk of fate, my husband came home from work early with a migraine. That enabled me to hit the local package store to fax my consents AND get them shipped overnight to the IVF coordinator. And lucky us, she got everything!

The good news from yesterday is that we were given the green light to start progesterone on Friday morning. An intense 4 day course of medication leading up to the transfer on the 25th! I was told by the technician here and the coordinator from Jason's clinic that my uterine lining looks "fantastic". Lol.

In the meantime, I'm getting ready for our trip. My mom and dad are going to come to stay with our kids while me and Chris are gone (thanks, Mom and Dad!!!). So, I've been cleaning and putting away all those little things that sit out for months and months. The laundry is getting done, the kids' rooms cleaned.....

On Saturday morning, I'm having a pre-transfer massage. One of the great perks of my agency is pre-pregnancy and pregnancy massage. Something I'm planning on taking full advantage of!

I work the next couple nights, then Chris and I are hopping on a plane and heading East. We're excited to meet Jason in person finally, and to spend a couple days together catching up on life.

The whole transfer still seems a little surreal. We all do all this work, and all these little chores leading up to the big day, and it seems like things are taking for-ev-er. But, before you know it, it's here. And it's here!

I'll post again when we get out East!

Can NOTHING be easy?????

I'm annoyed. And crabby.

With my meds came a stack of consents for the clinic that needed to be signed. Yay!!!! More paperwork.... These consents had to be signed, notarized, and returned to the clinic "as soon as possible". Gotcha.

So, I start my meds. Very exciting, next step, blah, blah, blah. Then I'm off of work for 8 days. We go to my folks' house the next state over, we go to my sister's place- three hours away from that. We come home, I clean, I go back to work.

This weekend, Chris says to me, "Wasn't there something that we needed to have notarized?". I won't lie. It took me about a minute and a half before I had a clue what he was talking about. Then I remembered..... Oh s@*t. The consents. Well, it's Saturday. We'll have to get it done early next week.

Tuesday rolls around, and we have the stack signed and notarized. Whew. Done.

My follow up ultrasound and blood work appt was this morning. So I emailed the coordinator at Jason's clinic to let her know to expect results from the clinic here. I also asked her about the consents. Can we just bring them with us, as we'll be seeing her on Monday, or does she want them faxed first?

The return email boggles me. Well, you'll have to fax them to me as soon as you can, and overnight the originals. Apparently I can't continue on to my "big gun" meds until they have the consents in hand at the clinic. WHAT??????? Nowhere in my paperwork does it say that!!!!! Just "return as soon as possible". Now, I know I'm the one that forgot the consents, and that's totally on me. However, if the paperwork had said something to the effect of me not being able to continue my meds, the consents would have stuck a little more firmly in my mind.

Well, I think, I'm going to be down at the clinic, so I might as well fax the consents from my unit while I'm down there. That way, I don't have to pay anything. So that's what I do. I use the fax number that is listed on Jason's clinic's web page. The same fax number that I've used to fax everything. The same fax number I've given to the clinic here to fax results to.

Now I'm home. I let the coordinator know that the consents are faxed. She says that they haven't received anything, and what number did I fax to? So I gave her the info: the fax number on the contact page of your website. "Oh", she says, "well, that number doesn't even fax into our building, so can you re-fax it to my number?"

NO!!!!! I CANNOT re fax it to your number. I'm at HOME, and I don't have a FAX MACHINE!!!!!!!! My two year old is napping, and my husband is at work. I probably won't make it out of the house until AFTER your office closes. And on top of that, not only am I going to have to still send these papers overnight, I'm now going to have to pay to fax 11 stupid pages through. (If you've known me long enough, you know that it annoys me to have to pay for something I could otherwise do for free.) And I live 35 minutes, both way, away from my "free" fax machine.

And I'm supposed to start my "big gun" meds tomorrow. If this is hung up for another day because I didn't get the paperwork in, Jason's probably not going to be pleased.

UGH!!!! I'm trying to not cry, yell at my kids, and keep my head from blowing off my shoulders.

At least the IVF clinic here in town managed to keep it together for my appt this morning.

Whew!

So now you're pretty much caught up with the story. I recieved a rather large box in the mail the Friday before the 4th of July (well, I think it was Friday...) containing the medications I would need. Since we weren't needing to coordinate my cycle with an intended mother or an egg donor, my med regimen is a bit simpler than that of some others I've heard.

I've been taking estrogen supplements for the last 10 days or so. I had a baseline ultrasound to measure my uterine lining, and some blood work , and will have a follow up of the same tests later this week.

I'm lucky, I've learned. My estrogen is in pill form. Most of the other gals I've talked to, or know, who have prepared for IVF have had to give themselves estrogen shots. Oh, but my time is coming......

If all looks good with my follow-up ultrasound and blood work, then I'll start what I consider the intense preparation meds. I'll have to start giving myself daily shots of progesterone. It's an IM shot. Right into the bum muscle. Says the girl who couldn't even poke her finger for a blood sugar in anatomy lab.... Chris swears he's NOT going to be giving me any shots. He and needles do not get along very well. Really. I'll just have to get through that first shot. If I can do one, then I can do 100. Good thing, too. If the transfer takes and I get pregnant, I'll have to give myself progesterone shots for awhile....

So far I haven't noticed any side effects from the estrogen. I don't think I've been particularly grumpy, or emotional. But I haven't asked Chris, either... he may have a different thought on that! I'm curious to see what the other meds do, if anything.

I can't believe my transfer is in a week. The time is just going to fly by!!!