Back on Track

I can’t believe that I met with Dr. L just yesterday and now we have been given the go ahead to start treatment. Since my old nurse left, Dr. L has assigned me to Supernurse. She is awesome! She was informative and professional without being condescending. She answered my questions promptly, both those I asked in person and the emails that I sent after I arrived at my office (I’m a bit anxious). And today, she confirmed that I have been approved to begin stimming on either April 10th or 11th, assuming all goes well with suppression. (I cannot imagine that suppression will be a problem given that I have been taking birth control pills continuously since October to curb the painful effects of endo!)

She has email my complete schedule. Here it is:

OK. That didn't work. I can't copy the table that she sent me.

I'll just tell you -- We start Lupron on Sunday (4/2) and stop taking the pill on 4/4. We continue taking Lupron until day 2 or 3. On day 2 or 3, we go in for baseline u/s and bloodwork (approx. around 4/10 or 4/11). At which point, we will be given the green light to begin stimming (follistim and menopur). She has estimated a possible trigger date of 4/21 and egg retrieval around 4/23. Hopefully, I'll have eggs to retrieve (A BIG HOPEFULLY THERE SINCE I'VE BEEN ON THE PILL FOR SO LONG. BY NOW MY OVARIES MAY BE COMATOSED!!!) and 3 or 5 days later, we will have embryos to transfer. I know there are alot of "ifs" and "hopefullys" in this paragraph 'cause as all good infertiles know, the road to mommydom is laden with pitfalls and disappointments.

With the pessimism aside, I can’t believe that we are on track to begin! I got a call from Ginormous’ finance office and was told that our old approval for insurance coverage for two IVF tries is still valid but expires on April 1st. The finance person informed me that she will call my insurance company and request that the coverage be extended. She said that it shouldn't be a problem at all!

OH MY GOD! Could we possibly be pregnant by the end of APRIL!!! Please let this work . . . please let this work . . . please let this work . . .

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad, bad blogger.

But I'd like to thank all of you, who continue checking in on me, despite my long absence. You are truly a phenomenal group of women and I sincerely hope that great things lie ahead for each and every one of you.

Also, I'd like to congratulate all of you who are now either pregnant, actively pursuing adoption or have become moms! I am so happy that things are working out for so many of you.

As for me, it's been a rocky ride. Oct. and Nov. were awful months. I was tested for every ailment under the sun. They. found. nothing. Just endo. I lost 20 pounds. I skipped work. I took painkillers. We cancelled our IVF cycle. In Dec. and Jan., I went away for a few weeks and visited my parents. They live outside of the US and were very concerned about my health. While staying with my folks, I sat on my butt and did nothing. I was literally waited on hand and foot. I even visited my parents' holistic doctor. I slowly began feeling better. I returned to the States, hubby and work in late January. I am still not 100% (taking pain meds a few times a week) but I am probably as good as I'm gonna get.

So today I returned to Dr. L's office to pursue IVF. Because I've been on continuous BCPs since October, I may actually be able to begin Lupron injections on Sunday! WOW! Our tentative schedule (assuming that I am able to stim after being on BCPs for so long and everything goes smoothly) would have us doing ER and ET before the end of April. It's totally unbelievable.

But yes, we are ready to move forward and hopefully, there is a little baby (or 2) waiting at the end of the road for us. And somehow, I feel more at peace about this whole baby business. I'm not crying about it. I can happily embrace my friends' babies. I think I am in a much better place. So thank goodness for that.