2nd FET- Last Checkup Before Transfer

Justin and I started our morning with another ultrasound and estrogen level check at 7:30am.  I looked at my Facebook memories and saw a cute video of our big dog, Tucker as a baby and I started tearing up thinking he only had maybe 7 more years to live. haha!  He has been the SWEETEST dog lately and back to following me wherever I go and sleeping with me.  I'm a big blubbering mess on these meds.  I was beginning to think my estrogen had plateau'd like it did last time because I hadn't had many headaches or meltdowns these last few days.  I bet Tucker can sense my hormones. 

Tucker laying at my feet outside

I got my lab work done and my estrogen went from 331 to 514!  This cycle is so different than last time.  I imagine it's because I started my cycle myself this time.  I am happy that it increased so much because last time my estrogen at this time was only 248.

Dr. Rhoton did my ultrasound again and my uterine lining was an average of 8.4mm (up from 8.16mm).  Last time my lining was 8.2mm at this check.  Justin was able to get a picture this time since he was there. 

Crazy to think they will be placing 2 babies in that small space between the yellow and green dots!

Everything is going great and we are all set for our transfer in 9 days!  I get to start progesterone shots on Tuesday!  Justin's first day of work at Shands :)  

We are going to work on cleaning out our garage and front bedroom since it's the last day to donate to Goodwill this year! I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve and we have a lucky 2017 year!  

Enjoy this poster that I see each time I go in our ultrasound room.  Praying for our miracle!

2nd FET- First Check up & A1c

I am happy to report that we are 13 days away from transfer and everything is going as planned! I had my first ultrasound today where they measured my uterine lining. They typically want this to be at least 7mm but 8mm is ideal. They took three measurements of mine which showed 7.6, 8.6, and 8.3mm. Then they take the average of those which equals about 8.16mm. This is higher than last time which was around 7.9mm at this first check. I am very happy with that! A nice and thick lining for a baby to bury themselves. Haha 

Then they drew my estrogen blood level. This resulted at 331. This is also higher than last time which was 295. I could tell it was higher due to my headaches coming back and I have had some calf cramps despite trying to stay hydrated! Justin used his silly kinesiotaping skills on my calf last night and it did take away the cramp! Who knows if it was a placebo effect though haha

I have been emotional too so I am ready for this hormone roller coaster to end whether it's with a baby or not! Haha

I also was excited to speak with the embryologist today at my appt. We confirmed that we would be placing 2 embryos and I saw what looked like pictures of my embryo babies in my chart! I said hey! Let me see those! Haha She showed them to me quickly and there was such a variety between them all! I wish I could have taken a picture. The fair ones looked pretty ugly so I am praying we don't have to use those! Then I saw 2 that were almost fully hatched out of their shell! I am hoping these are my overachiever, lucky, extra sticky embryos they will put in me!  We will see. Normally we don't get to see pictures until transfer day. 

On another note, I had an appt with my endocrinologist last week that left me a little frustrated. She doesn't know much about infertility and so I feel like I am teaching her about the effects of all my hormones on my blood sugar. Every time I go in, she never makes any changes and I teach her more about IVF and so I almost feel worthless going in. I also have noticed that EVERY single time I get my a1c done, my dexcom continuous glucose meter a1c estimate reads 1% lower than my lab test. I had high hopes for this a1c since dexcom said it was around 5.9% but the Endo lab showed 6.8%. Last time was 6.9% so at least it's slightly lower.

 

I decided to post on my online diabetes groups to see if others have the same a1c issue. Turns out, a lot of them do depending on the meter they use! I came across two interesting articles that explain this further.

https://www.google.com/amp/onedrop.today/blog/2016/05/31/bg-meter-accuracy-10-meters-put-to-the-test/amp/?client=safari

https://medium.com/@chrishannemann/a-craftsman-blames-his-tools-blood-glucose-meter-accuracy-long-term-diabetes-control-9caac073dae9#.timlobrq7

I haven't decided what to do about this variance yet. As of now, I'm trying to dose insulin based off my meter readings hoping they will be higher since our insurance only covers one brand of meters. 

I did talk with my doctor regarding the steroids and she said to take double the insulin for meals on the steroid days and don't worry about increasing my basal yet. I hope it works! I am excited about trying them this time as I have read a lot about natural killer cells in your body that can attack embryos if there is too many of them. The steroids create an immunosuppression to prevent that. 

We have enjoyed the holidays with both families. My mom and her husband Greg came to visit for a night for Christmas. We are blessed with all of our gifts. Justin got an apple watch for his birthday and I am excited to start learning brush lettering. I need lots of practice! 

My next check up is New Years Eve. Hopeful for continued progression of my baby holder (uterus haha) and symptoms of meds to subside. Thanks for following! 

 

Getting Nervous

It has been an exciting past few weeks.  I can't help but think everything is falling into place for us.  

You all know that I was able to start my period on my own and that was a blessing in itself.  My blood sugars have been better lately so I think that has helped.  I try to eat a lot of protein with my meal, not more than 30-40 carbs, and bolus myself with insulin 15 minutes before eating. 

I have also started daily walks with the dogs and my mother-in-law who lives in the neighborhood.  It is keeping both of us in shape and the dogs are happy!  We even had a dog trainer come to the house and teach us a few tricks to help with Ollie's barking and their jumping, etc.  It has been SO less stressful with the dogs behaving better. 

We also felt called to serve in our church's children's programs.  Justin is working with the middle school kids and I am teaching preschoolers Sunday school.  It has been so fun to interact with healthy kids for once!  This is something we have always wanted to do but we never thought was possible due to our difficult schedules.

And then the biggest excitement was Justin getting a job right before his 31st birthday at Shands Hospital where I work!  Shands is SO hard to get a job with and it almost seems like you have to know someone to get you in the system.  Justin was able to apply, get an interview solely on his cover letter because his resume never got forwarded, and get offered the job literally within a week even though he was an "external applicant" and had never done any rotations at Shands.  Our life is just going to get better and better! 

I took birth control pills for a month and started my Lupron shots last Saturday.  I forgot how much they make me have hot flashes.  I literally keep forgetting that I am in the middle of this process again and sometimes I am even late on my meds because it doesn't seem as exciting.  I think a part of me is nervous and afraid to get to transfer day because the end result was so hard last time.  I am being optimistic but I can't help but expect the worst.  I really thought it was going to work last time and it didn't so now that I am seeing how our lives are getting better and I think it's finally my time to get pregnant, I am afraid to get my hopes up.  I have a lot of things in my favor though like less stress in our lives, 2 embryos being implanted instead of one, and one bad embryo already knocked out of the running so hopefully there isn't many more.  Remember if 40% on average are bad, that means 3.2 embryos out of our 8 could have faulty chromosomes. I sure hope 3 of our good rated ones aren't faulty!  Dr. Christman has high hopes for us.  

I had my mock transfer again today where they measure where to place the embryos.  Dr. Christman had the OB resident do it this time and she did a good job.  This was my third time getting it done this year and the last resident couldn't do it so I was nervous when he said he was letting this one try.  They are supposed to scratch the uterus to get it to grow back thicker which in theory, is better for implantation.  I remember he told me about this last time and they used a hard catheter to do it, but this time it was a lot less painful so I am not even sure if he scratched it or not!  He said my lining was thin so I have a long way to go to get it thick for babies!

Anyways, Dr. Christman and I both decided that it was best for me to try the steroids this time around with my protocol of meds.  He said if it was him, he would just take more insulin and risk it.  The steroids help the body from not fighting off the embryos.   I only have to take them for 4 days so I think it would be worth it!  I also plan to stay super clean and not risk any UTIs!  That is my goal this time around- no UTIs, good blood sugars, and 2 embryos.  If I try all of that and it STILL doesn't work- then I know I did my best! 

Our transfer will be the first one of the year on January 9th.  I plan to do acupuncture again and I may even throw in another session to help me stay calm while I am in the 9 day waiting period before testing.  I also had someone pick up a shift for me and I plan on having 5 days off after transfer to rest and relax.  

Please continue to pray for us and specifically that I can enjoy this upcoming month with less worry about the outcome.  I will get the results of my lab work tomorrow to make sure that I am suppressed enough to start estrogen patches next week.  I did my lab work a little early due to my work schedule so I am praying that my numbers are good enough since I have only had a few days of the Lupron.  

Thank you for following our story! I won't be seeing another doctor until my endocrinology appt on Dec. 22nd where I will get another a1c and then my next ultrasound is on Dec. 27th.  I will update then!