Single Digits and First Trip to L & D

It's hard to believe but all of a sudden, we are into the single digit countdown and there are only 9 days left until my due date! I had a scare this weekend that made me think that I might not make it this far, but everything turned out okay. Last week I wasn't sleeping particularly well in general but was getting just enough sleep to function and stay healthy. My mom had come down with what seemed to be a cold. She didn't have a fever so we figured it couldn't be a flu virus. Then on Thursday night I had a really bad night where I got maybe 4 hours of sleep and was exhausted all day long. That night (Friday), I awoke around 1 am shivering and shaking with chills, body aches, and the general feeling that I had a fever. I slept restlessly for a few more hours, feeling alternately hot and cold, throwing the blankets on and off, sweating and then shivering. By 4am, I'd had enough and was worried that my temperature was getting too high, so I forced myself to get out of bed to locate a thermometer and some Tylenol.

Sure enough, I had a fever of 101.4, so I popped two Tylenol and slept a few more restless, sweaty hours. When I awoke on Saturday morning, I was a feeling a bit better but my hair was disgusting and matted with sweat so I decided to take a shower (even though normally I try to avoid washing my hair when I'm actively sick since I feel like having a wet head and getting water in my ears and sinuses often exacerbate my illness) and in retrospect I'm so glad I did.

I started to feel worse as the morning went on, and when my mom returned from her doctor's appointment armed with Ceftin for a possible sinus infection and learned about my fever, she called her pediatrician friend who said to call Labor & Delivery and that I might have to be induced early if it turned out I had the swine flu. We called L & D and they told us to head on over, so we did, although at first the front staff who are responsible for screening all visitors for possible flu symptoms didn't want to let us in the building when we said we were sick. When we told them L & D was expecting us, they called to confirm it and finally led us up there (with masks of course). I was admitted to an isolation room, but my mom was not allowed to stay with me. This was around noon.

A nurse hooked me up to the usual monitors for the non-stress test, one to measure baby's heart rate (slightly elevated), and the other to measure my contractions and baby's movements. I also had an IV line placed to administer fluids and a pulse oximeter to measure my heart rate (high) and blood oxygen level (98% on room air). Anyway, this post is starting to get too long already, so I'll try to just focus on the highlights (or lowlights) of the next 24 hours, which is how long I ended up staying there.

Originally they had said I would be discharged later on Saturday, but then it turned out they wanted me to stay the night for observation. A nurse did a nasal swab to test for H1N1, which ended up having to be repeated later by a doctor (unpleasant but I've had worse things stuffed up my nose). The monitor showed I was having some contractions, although I couldn't feel them at all, so at one point an MFM did an internal exam (the first of my pregnancy) to determine if there was any progress. I'm not dilated at all but my cervix has effaced down to about 0.5 cm from 3.5 cm at my 20 week ultrasound, so that's good.

Everyone kept saying that Ziggy looked great--he had nice heart rate fluctuations and was moving well. They did comment that his heart rate was a little high but explained that my higher heart rate from being sick was affecting his. Overnight both of our heart rates did come down. They started me on Tamiflu but failed to mention that nausea is one of the side effects. I also had some heartburn, for which I was given Maalox, but I don't know if that was from the Tamiflu or from lying down for most of the day. It didn't help that I was never brought a proper meal (I hadn't eaten much before heading to the hospital because I hadn't had much of an appetite in the morning). One nurse (I had six total during my 24 hour stay) told me she had ordered me a dinner. When I told her I was a vegetarian, she rushed off to change the order. She then came back and brought me a vegetarian sandwich (American cheese with vegetables) from the staff kitchen to tide me over until my dinner arrived. That was the last I saw of her. When the next nurse took over, she told me there was no dinner service but that my family could bring me food. This was news to me as I'd been told I couldn't have any visitors. So I called AC, who had flown in that afternoon for a brief 24 hour visit and had been hanging out with friends up until then, to ask if he could bring some toiletries over and also pick up a smoothie for me (I'd been craving one all day). So I finally got to see him (he had to don a mask and gown like the nurses and doctors whenever they entered the room) at around 9 pm, which is when visiting hours are officially over, so he couldn't stay long.

After a rough night, during which I didn't get much sleep due to a number of factors (feeling either too cold or too hot, having my vitals taken, being hooked up to all those monitors, which would beep when they got unhooked or my IV fluid bag ran low, having to lie on my left side for so long that my hip ached horribly, having to unhook myself from all the monitors and take my IV pole with me every time I needed to use the restroom, and in general just not feeling comfortable in the hospital bed). I think I maybe got 4-5 hours of restless, interrupted sleep. In the morning they actually brought me breakfast, although it was pretty bad and not what I would have ordered (a muffin and hash browns as my main course?! The oatmeal, banana, fruit cup and milk were fine, but what about some protein?!). The nurse had me fill out lunch and dinner menus for Sunday just in case I had to stay longer. I was taken to radiology for two chest x-rays (they shielded my abdomen), which the pulmonologist on call reviewed. Apparently they looked ok, and since I hadn't had a fever since I entered the hospital, the baby was doing well, and in general, they didn't seem to think I had the swine flu, they decided to discharge me around 1 pm. They did say that I should schedule an appointment with the pulmonary department or call L & D again if I took a turn for the worse.

I ended up getting to eat the lunch I'd ordered (pasta with squash, peas, and mushrooms) because AC insisted that they let me take it to go when they wouldn't let me eat it in my room (they had to prepare it for the next patient) or out in the hall because I had to wear my mask at all times in the hospital. So they put everything on a paper plate and I ended up eating it while sitting on a bench outside the hospital! By the way, the results from the nasal swab didn't get back before I was discharged, but they told me they would only call if it was positive, and since I haven't heard back yet, I'm assuming no news is good news. I was still prescribed Tamiflu for an additional 5 days just in case. Yesterday morning I took it after eating a relatively small breakfast of cereal, and it made me nauseous the entire morning. When I finally ate a mid-morning snack, I ended up throwing it up, so my streak of not vomiting during this pregnancy has finally been broken. My new plan is to eat a substantial meal before taking the pill.

All in all, I'm glad I had this preliminary trip to L & D. It gives me a better idea of what to expect when I go in for real (disorganization and lack of communication on the part of the staff, although most of them were pretty nice and seemed to be doing the best they could) and made me realize how important it is to be proactive, ask questions, and make requests, and to have someone there who can advocate on my behalf (when AC was there even briefly, it made things so much easier!). Mainly I'm just relieved that I don't have the swine flu, that Ziggy's doing well, and that I didn't have to be induced (I think I would have been too weak and tired to push and probably would have ended up with a c-section) and still have a chance to recover and regain strength before my delivery.

Anyway, I need to go and get ready for my day of appointments (car seat installation, non-stress test, and doctor's appointment), but I'll be back on Thursday with more updates from this week.

Weekly Update

I promised to update more about this past week, so here goes...Before my appointment with my pulmonologist last Friday, I first had a short spirometry, which showed that my pulmonary function continues to improve! My doctor listened to my lungs and thought I sounded great. I left a sputum sample for culture, so we'll see if the MAC is still present, but either way he doesn't recommend treating it while breastfeeding. He looked in my ears and sinuses and agreed that they didn't look too good, especially the left side, so I made an appointment with my old ENT (the one who did my sinus surgery back in 2001 and who amazingly accepts my crappy military insurance even though he's kind of a big shot) for Thursday (yesterday).

At that appointment, first this other younger doctor looked at my ears and sinuses and suctioned out quite a bit from my nose, both for culture purposes and for my own relief! It felt great and I could actually smell for the first time in ages, although some of the smells that hit my nose later in the day were not so pleasant (chemical cleaning products in a public restroom, the garbage room at my mom's condominium complex). As for my ears, both tubes have fallen out of my right ear, but the hole remains open. My left ear still has two tubes, but they appeared blocked, so my doctor gave me some samples of Ciprodex. The neat thing about his office is that you get to wear these glasses that allow you to watch along with the doctor as he's looking at your nose and ears (gross but also very cool!). He also recommended increasing my nasal sprays (Astelin and Nasonex) from once to twice a day and using a couple of drops of baby shampoo in my saline rinse (sounds strange, but it's supposed to help thin really thick secretions like I have). But he said he didn't want to do anything more rigorous until after the baby's born, so I'll go back at the end of November for a follow-up, when hopefully things will have improved due to the decrease in hormones. I'm also seeing my pulmonologist again at the beginning of December. So basically the consensus is that pregnancy has been good for my lungs but not for my ears and sinuses, but hey, it would be a lot worse if it was the other way around!

I also had my weekly OB appointment with the MFM fellow since my doctor is out of town. Nothing much to report there other than that my Group B strep test came back negative and everything else continues to look good. I asked her a few questions about what to do when I go into labor and what to expect if I need to be induced. This is what she told me. I should call or go directly to labor and delivery when my contractions are coming every 5 minutes, lasting for 1 minute, and this pattern continues for an hour (the 511 rule I learned about in my prenatal classes). Other reasons to call would be if my water breaks or I think it's broken, if I have severe abdominal pain that doesn't go away, if I have any bleeding, or if there's anything else I'm concerned about or that seems out of the ordinary. They will only check my cervix if I have any symptoms of labor, if I ask to have it checked, or once I reach 40 weeks. If I have not gone into labor by 40 weeks and especially if I show no signs of going into labor, they will start talking about induction, which it turns out can take place at any time, day or night, weekday or weekend, although they usually prefer to do them in the morning on a weekday. If my cervix is not ready, they will admit me to the hospital the night before the induction and administer a cervical ripening agent. Then in the morning they would start the pitocin. I also asked her when it would be safe to try some natural methods of stimulating labor, such as acupressure points, and she recommended no earlier than 39 weeks. I had my NST after the appointment, which showed that baby is doing very well and I'm not having any contractions. I also submitted my preadmission paperwork at the hospital, so that's one less thing to take care of.

In more exciting news, the accumulation of baby gear continues. My mother's psychiatrist gave/lent me the following baby books: What to Expect the First Year, Your Baby & Child From Birth to Age Five, and The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby -- From Birth to Age Two. I think I'm pretty set on reading material for the hospital and for these first few months, if I even have time to read anything once Ziggy arrives!

Then on Wednesday I went over to my cousin's house for dinner and, after she put her daughter to bed, we went down to the garage and rummaged around for some baby items. This is the haul I ended up with: a diaper changing pad, 3 receiving blankets, a pair of baby socks, 5 warmer all-in-one suits for baby for colder weather (luckily almost all of her daughter's clothes are gender-neutral or even "boy-colored"), baby Avalon Organics Soothing Zinc Diaper Balm and Protective A, D, & E Ointment, Lansinoh Brand Lanolin For Breastfeeding Mothers, 3 sets of used cloth breast pads and a bunch of disposable ones as well, a Medela Harmony Breastpump (a manual breast pump for occasional use), a book entitled Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and a Diaper Genie diaper pail. The main thing she couldn't find was the bassinet, so she's planning on contacting a friend whom she thinks she lent it to.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Week 25: Doctor Update

I'm officially 25 weeks today! It's been a week of doctor appointments for me. On Tuesday I saw my pulmonologist, who said everything continues to look good. However, she did mention that my last sputum culture grew MAC (along with the usual Pseudomonas aeruginosa), which I've heard is pretty hard to eradicate once it takes hold. She confirmed this when she said that treatment usually involves three different oral antibiotics taken for a year. Given the low number of bacteria in the culture and my lack of symptoms, she did not think I needed treatment just yet. However, she did say I should continue to monitor its progress with frequent cultures and had me leave another sputum sample with the lab before I left.

She also checked my ears out of curiosity (even though that's not really her domain) and said she could see the two tubes in the left ear, and that one definitely looked open, but that she couldn't tell what was going on with the right ear. So far, it hasn't been bothering me, so I'm hoping it's still open, although I haven't been able to blow air through it recently as I have with the left ear. She was also quite surprised that I'm still able to use the vest with my expanding tummy. I told her that I've just been pushing it up out of the way of the bump. She suggested that I switch to the Acapella device once I can no longer fit into the vest, but since I don't really know how to use it, she scheduled an appointment for me with a respiratory therapist to show me the ropes.

Other than that, I had my weight checked, and I was up a shocking 12.5 pounds since my last appointment with Dr. W 5 weeks ago! She said something about how I appeared to be gaining an appropriate amount of weight, and I said something along the lines of "It seems like a lot." Later I noticed in my chart that she had typed something like, "Worried about weight." You have to be careful about what you say around doctors I guess! Not that it was wrong of her to put it in, but it surprised me because I had thought of it as just an offhand comment, nothing to be taken seriously.

Anyway, today I had my glucose screen. I had already decided I was going to fast beforehand even though I didn't receive any specific instructions to do so. Unfortunately I woke up around 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, which meant I had to fast for 5 hours before my appointment! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be actually. Around 8:30 I was pretty tempted to eat something, but I managed to hold out.

When I arrived at Dr. W's office, the receptionist sent me down to the lab to drink the glucola, the sickeningly sweet orange soda flavored glucose drink they make you consume. At the the first sip, I thought it wasn't too bad, but by the end it was getting pretty disgusting. Luckily it didn't make me nauseous or feel sick. I did feel slightly light-headed, but that could have just been from the sleep deprivation. The lab tech instructed me to return in exactly an hour, so I headed back to Dr. W's office for my appointment, except that it turned out Dr. W had unexpectedly gone on vacation, so another doctor in the practice was covering for him. I had the option of seeing her, but they were so backed up because of his absence that I opted not to--seeing her would have meant going back to the lab for the blood draw and then returning to the office again to wait for who knows how long. So I was just seen by the nurses.

There was the usual drill with collecting the urine sample, measuring weight, blood pressure, and fundal height, and checking Ziggy's heart rate with the doppler (it was 155 bpm). I am pleased to say my weight was only up 3.5 pounds from my last visit, which means I somehow lost 9 pounds since Tuesday! No, not really. I'm sure the discrepancy was just due to different scales, different times of day (my pulmonology appointment was in the late afternoon), normal fluctuations in water retention, and the fact that I had fasted before my appointment and had already had two bowel movements that morning (sorry, TMI, I know!), so I was pretty dang empty. Still, a 9 pound difference seems like a lot. I'm sure if I hadn't fasted, the difference wouldn't have been so extreme. I'm just kind of relieved that I haven't actually gained such a ridiculous amount of weight in a mere 5 weeks!

Other than that, I briefly discussed my heel pain and sleep trouble (some nights it's fine, and then others I wake up to go pee and can't fall back asleep). The nurse said that the foot pain was probably due to my weight increase and added something along the lines of how I'm so small that this must be the heaviest I've ever weighed in my life. Ha! Yeah right! I told her that as a teen I had weighed more, and she said something like, well, teens never have any aches and pains. I just think it's funny that people think of me as small or thin now, since for so much of my childhood and adolescence I was seen as large, heavy, big-boned, and even at times fat!

Anyway, she said for the time being to try stretching and massaging the bottom of my feet with something like a soda can (I already normally do this with golf balls, but I must admit I've been a little lax lately, so I'll have to be more diligent from now on), but if the pain continues to worsen to let them know so they can take care of it before it turns into a serious problem. As for sleep, she said it was fine for me to take Tylenol PM or Benadryl at night if I have trouble sleeping and, if those don't work or the insomnia continues to worsen, to let them know so they can prescribe me something for sleep. Personally I'd prefer to not take anything, but if I get desperate enough, I may just have to. It would probably be worse for Ziggy if I developed a respiratory or sinus infection due to sleep deprivation than if I took some over the counter sleep aids.

My next appointment is set for 29 weeks on August 20 at 10 am. Before I left, I had my blood drawn (they're also checking my thyroid hormone), and they'll call tomorrow only if I didn't pass the glucose screen (if my blood sugar went above 140) and they need to schedule the fasting 3 hour glucose tolerance test. So, in this case, no news is good news. By the way, it turns out I didn't need to fast for this test, but I'm glad I did anyway. Now if I don't end up passing, at least I'll know I did everything I could!

Pregnancy and Kartagener's Syndrome

So far I haven't written much about how pregnancy has effected my Kartagener's Syndrome, and really that's because it hasn't effected it much at all, or at least not nearly as much as I thought it would. I experienced shortness of breath and the feeling of needing to take deeper, fuller breaths in the first trimester, actually almost as soon as I became pregnant. But now that I'm in the second trimester, that feeling of breathlessness has gone away. My mother even commented that I no longer sound out of breath on the phone.

Now my lungs seem even better overall than before I became pregnant. My most recent PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) a few weeks ago showed improvement from the last one I had in November, my oxygenation was 100%, and my new Pulmonologist (Dr. A, whom I really like) said that my lungs sound good and I seem to be very healthy. She has some antibiotics in mind in case I do become sick, but for now, she said to just keep doing what I've been doing and focus on prevention. I have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far, but of course that may change as I get further along. As Ziggy gets bigger and my uterus expands higher into my torso, it may exert some pressure on my diaphragm and ultimately my lungs, leading to more difficulty breathing. The humidity here isn't great for my lungs of course, and Dr. W did recommend that I stay inside in air conditioning as much as possible during the summer when it's especially humid. I don't think that will be a problem--I can't stand hot and humid weather, and neither can AC.

Even though generally my lungs are a bigger concern to my health, it's my ears and sinuses that have been giving me more trouble since I became pregnant. Many women develop "rhinitis of pregnancy" due to the swelling of tissue and increase in blood volume, and I definitely have that, although it also hasn't been as bad as I expected it to be. My ears have probably given me the most trouble, mainly because there's not anything I can do once they become blocked. I went to my new ENT here when I first arrived in Little Rock (Dr. H, who is also great--I have been very happy with all of my doctors here so far), and he not only suctioned out my sinuses (which always feel so good afterward), he also decided to put new tubes in my ears since he said that would be the only way to drain the fluid that had accumulated. I've had countless ear tube surgeries as a child, but this was the first time I'd had it done while awake. It was a bit unpleasant but not really that bad--he anesthetized the eardrum locally, made the holes, drained out the fluid, inserted the tubes, and I was good to go. He said to just schedule an appointment asnytime I feel like my ears or sinuses are blocked, and he'll suction them out for me. When I left his office, it was amazing, because I could finally hear for the first time in weeks. I had been walking around half-deaf because my ears were so stopped up with gunk. AC was getting really annoyed because I kept asking "What? What?" to everything he said, and we had to turn the sound way up whenever we watched anything.

Anyway, here's my daily regimen of prevention to keep myself and, by extension, Ziggy going strong throughout the pregnancy:

Exercise 30-60 minutes daily
Vest treatment 30-60 minutes daily (unfortunately at some point I'll probably get too big to continue using The Vest)
1 ampule Pulmozyme nebulized daily during vest treatment
1 ampule 0.9% saline nebulized daily during vest treatment (this will soon be switched to 6% saline per Dr. A's recommendation)
Advair 250/50 1 puff daily a.m.
Advair 100/50 1 puff daily p.m.
ProventilHFA inhaler 1-2 puffs up to 4 times a day as needed for wheezing (used rarely)
Nasonex 1 squirt each nostril twice daily
Astelin 1 squirt each nostril twice daily
Saline sinus rinse 1-2 times daily

Armour Thyroid 45 mg daily
Rainbow Light Just Once Prenatal One Vegan Guard Multivitamin 1 tablet daily (I highly recommend it since it's gentle on the stomach and doesn't cause constipation)
Twinlab Dr. Greene Omega-3 Fish Oil Softgels--1 softgel containing 270 mg EPA and 180 mg DHA twice daily
Twinlab Calcium Citrate with Magnesium and Vitamin D citrus flavored chewable wafers--2-4 wafers daily containing 500-1000 mg Calcium, 250-500 mg Magnesium, and 200-400 IU Vitamin D (they don't upset my stomach like calcium carbonate chews do)

Week 16: In which I obsess over pregnancy weight gain and travel plans

Yesterday I had my second appointment with Dr. W at 16 weeks, and I'm happy to report that everything continues to go well. Like last time, after I peed into a cup (I wonder what exactly they're measuring when they do this--maybe I should ask next time), I had my weight taken. Warning: Long, obsessive tangent about pregnancy weight gain ahead!

I was up 8 pounds since last time! Granted my appointment was in the afternoon this time rather than in the morning, which could account for a couple of extra pounds of food and fluid, but still, I was a bit surprised. They didn't say anything so I guess it's not a big deal. Honestly I would rather be gaining too much weight rather than too little, since all the pregnancy books I've been reading state that gaining too little weight can seriously affect the baby, while gaining too much weight is usually more a problem for the mother, in terms of her discomfort in the last trimester and difficulty in losing the postpartum weight. Of course gaining too much weight for me probably isn't a great idea since excess weight will put more pressure on my lungs and make it harder for me to breathe, especially in the third trimester.

But I'm not sure there's anything I can really do about it anyway. I exercise almost every day for 30-60 minutes, I only eat when I'm hungry (which I'll admit is pretty often!), I try to eat really healthfully and avoid sweets as much as possible (sometimes I'll have a bite or two of something AC's having, but this is pretty rare), so what exactly could I change? Because of my history of anorexia, I don't want to start going down a road of worrying about my weight and what I eat. One of my fears before doing the IVF was that gaining weight during pregnancy would trigger my eating disorder. So far that hasn't been the case. For the most part I'm enjoying seeing my body expand, but still, when I read about the official guidelines for pregnancy weight gain and how much one's supposed to gain in each trimester, I start to worry that I'm gaining too much too fast. At this rate, am I going to end up a total blimp by week 40?

From talking to other women who have gone through pregnancy, my impression has been that the amount of weight a woman gains during pregnancy is practically predetermined. I've had a number of women tell me that they gained almost exactly the same amount of weight with each pregnancy, that trying to make changes like exercising more or eating less were pretty futile, that not only was the amount of weight they gained the same, but the pace at which they gained it and where they gained it was also the same. I'm sure that extremes of eating, such as starving oneself or eating tons of junk food, can have a significant effect on weight gain during pregnancy, but it seems that as long as you fall somewhere in the middle of eating and exercising normally, then your body will gain the amount of weight it wants to.

According to all the books I've read, weight gain during pregnancy for woman of normal starting weight should be about 25-35 pounds, and since I started out pregnancy at the lower end of normal for my height, I thought it would be safe for me to gain at the upper end of that amount. My mother gained 35 pounds while she was pregnant with me. I was sort of assuming I would be about the same. Well, it seems I may even exceed that! Oh well, I guess I should just get used to the idea.

Anyway, enough obsessing about my weight! Moving on...Dr. W felt the top of my uterus and measured its height, which was normal. Unfortunately I didn't have an ultrasound, but he did pull out the doppler to measure Ziggy's heartbeat. I had actually just listened that very morning with my at home doppler, which made it a little anticlimactic to hear it in the office. But it was still very reassuring to hear that familiar whoosh, and it was nice to get an official measure of the heart rate (168 bpm, which wasn't far off from my estimated measurement of 160 bpm that morning).

I had blood taken for the AFP screen (that's the maternal blood test that can identify babies with open neural tube defects) and also for the Quad screen (the maternal blood test that can identify babies with Down syndrome, Trisomy 18, and open neural tube defects), although I'm not 100% sure about that. I sure hope they did both. I probably should have double checked with them, but my scatterbrained pregnant brain didn't think to ask. I suppose the AFP screen is more important for me since I have a family history of neural tube defects (my paternal grandmother has mild spina bifida, which manifests as severe scoliosis and back pain), whereas there's no family history of Down's or mental retardation. I'm also having my TSH level rechecked to make sure I don't need to adjust my dose of Armour Thyroid. They're only supposed to call today if the AFP screen comes back positive or my level of thyroid medication needs to be adjusted.

Other than that, I discussed travel plans with Dr. W. He said it would be fine for me to fly to the wedding in June, and not to worry about the "swine flu," that it should have pretty much run its course by then. He did say I should be especially vigilant about washing my hands and trying to avoid people who seems sick, but those are things I should be doing anyway. When I asked about traveling throughout the pregnancy, he said it should be fine to fly up until the very end, but that I shouldn't take any long car trips after 34 weeks because of the increased risk of blood clots. I was surprised that he thought flying even in the few weeks before my due date would be fine (all the pregnancy books usually say no domestic flying after 36 weeks).

Since most likely AC will be leaving Little Rock to go to Albuquerque sometime in October (although we don't know the exact dates yet or if AC will even finish his training here on time), we've been trying to figure out exactly what I should do if we have to move during the end of my last trimester. Unfortunately AC can't just fly directly to Albuquerque. First he has to drive back to Corpus Christi, since that's still considered his permanent duty station, take care of all the necessary out-processing paperwork, and make decisions about our possessions (what we want shipped to Japan, and what we want put in permanent storage). Then he has to drive to Albuquerque, possibly with a trailer hitched to the car dragging some of our stuff. All in all, I'm guessing it will take him at least 10 days, if not two weeks, to get to Albuquerque.

I'll be 34 weeks as of September 24th, and I really doubt that AC will be done with his training by then and ready to go to Corpus. So the question for us is, since I can't accompany him on the car trip, do I fly to Albuquerque and wait for AC there? I wont have a car, I wont know anyone, including my doctors, I don't know how I'll be able to get to my doctor appointments, I'll be completely alone for two weeks, and basically, it will just suck. Or do I spend those two weeks waiting here in Little Rock and then fly to Albuquerque once AC arrives there? Most of the same problems will still remain. Since we're planning on loaning one of our cars to a military couple (they will probably come here to pick it up sometime this summer), I wont have a car, I wont have any of our stuff because AC will have driven it all to Corpus, and I'll be all alone. The only benefit to remaining here during that time is that I'll know my doctors, but I don't know how I'll be able to get to my appointments without a car.

The final option, and the one I think we're seriously considering, is to have me fly to California to stay with my mom while AC's on the road. Once he gets to Albuquerque, I can either remain in California and deliver there or else fly to join him, depending on my health, what the doctors recommend, and how far along I am in the pregnancy. Albuquerque is at a higher altitude, so that might have a negative effect on my lungs during the third trimester and might be a reason not to go there. Meanwhile the benefits of remaining in California are numerous: the weather and climate agree with my health, I'll have access to my mom's car, I know the area, and quite a few things are within walking distance, I have doctors (especially pulmonary) that know me there and could recommend a good MFM, I have a few friends there that I could spend time with, it would be nice to spend some time with my mom, especially since we'll be leaving for Japan in February...Anyway, really the only disadvantage is that I would be away from AC (of course that's a pretty big disadvantage). He would of course fly to California for the birth and use his 10 days of paternity leave and maybe his saved leave as well to extend his stay. Well, we have a lot to think about and decide. Hopefully as AC's training progresses we'll have a better idea of when he'll be done here.

Anyway, assuming my AFP screen is normal, I return to Dr. W's office on June 18th for my week 20 appointment and for the "big" ultrasound, where we'll get to know the sex (assuming that Ziggy is cooperating of course)! Yay! If we bring a DVD, we can also have the ultrasound recorded. I can hardly wait! Ok, this post has gotten way too long, so I'll stop here. I guess this is what happens when I don't update for a week!

No More Progesterone

Just wanted to share the highlight of my day so far. Dr. W's nurse called to say I should stop the progesterone suppositories since my level is so high (well above 90). So that's it, I'm done! And I just ran out yesterday and was about to go to the pharmacy to pick up the refill when she called, so the timing was perfect. I'm stopping one week earlier than Dr. M would have liked, but given my high numbers, this seems like the right course of action. Yay to no more leakage and having to change my underwear several times a day (sorry if TMI)!

Week 13: Pregnancy Quiz

So I finally caved and decided to do that pregnancy quiz I keep seeing floating around cyberspace. I think it would be a little repetitive to do it every week, but since this week marks the end of the first trimester, it seemed like a good time to do it.

How far along? 13 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Don't actually know since I haven't been weighing myself, but I'm definitely gaining weight (will post belly pic soon).
Maternity clothes? No, not yet, but I have started wearing some of my larger/looser/more comfortable clothes. Will probably need to buy some maternity clothes soon though.
Stretch marks? None more than usual :)
Sleep: Somewhat restless, especially toward morning. Have lots of vivid dreams. Get up to pee a lot. The worst is when I wake up at 2 or 3 and can't fall back asleep :(

Best moment this week: Finding out that my progesterone is above 90!
Movement: I know Ziggy is bouncing around in there because I saw it on the last ultrasound, but unfortunately I can't feel it just yet.
Food cravings: Ok, these are all the cravings I've had since the beginning of my pregnancy: angel hair pasta with peas and parmesan cheese, smoothies, milk, hummus, avocado, cheese, cream of wheat with strawberries (used to eat it as a kid), toasted oats cereal (like cheerios) with milk and banana, mac and cheese, pizza, english muffin with fried egg, scrambled eggs...I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Gender: I don't get how people can know one way or the other, aside from just guessing. My mother says boy since I had such mild morning sickness. I really have no idea, although I would be totally happy either way.
Labor Signs: No, hopefully not for a while.
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Not much really. I guess I miss not having perpetually bad skin! And not being constantly gassy :P And not waking up to pee several times each night.
What I am looking forward to: Stopping the progesterone suppositories, getting my doppler fetal heart rate monitor in the mail so I can listen to Ziggy's heartbeat whenever I want to, feeling Ziggy move, seeing Ziggy on the next ultrasound with AC, finding out the sex, Mother's Day (yay!)
Weekly Wisdom: Don't rush the pregnancy

Milestones: This week is the dividing line between the first and second trimesters!

Week 11: In which I make the Acquantaince of Dr. W

A week ago today I had my first appointment with Dr. W, who seems really nice, knowledgeable, and pretty flexible. Even though he didn't agree that I needed to continue the progesterone suppositories and shots until 14 weeks (he says he usually discontinues progesterone supplementation at 10 weeks for his patients), he said I should continue whatever plan Dr. M laid out for me, since he was successful at getting and keeping me pregnant, and we don't want to mess with that. He also didn't agree with me being on Armour Thyroid, but again deferred to Dr. M on that. He did want to measure my level of TSH though, and when it came back low the next day, I was told to halve my dose from 90 mg to 45. I wonder what Dr. M would have to say about that! I'm sure he wouldn't be pleased, but at least they're letting me stay on the Armour Thyroid at all. I always felt like the dose was maybe a little high; plus, my plan is to taper the dose and get off the medication altogether by the time I give birth so I can safely breastfeed.

Hmmm, so what else happened at the visit? I urinated in a cup (not sure what they were measuring there), had my weight taken (up 4 lbs since the last time I was weighed at a doctor's office in November--I don't weight myself at home), had blood drawn, talked to Dr. W and his nurse about my Kartagener's Syndrome (they've actually had a patient like me before, and seem to know what it entails), and best of all, had an ultrasound. This was my first abdominal ultrasound, which was so much more comfortable than the vaginal ones. As soon as the ultrasound started, I saw little Ziggy jumping and bouncing around in my uterus! It was amazing! I didn't realize s/he was already moving so much--I wish I could feel it, but I guess that wont happen for a few more weeks at the earliest. I found the experience of seeing Ziggy moving a lot more powerful and emotional even than hearing the heart beat--it kind of hit me even harder that I really do have a baby inside me that's growing every day.

Anyway, Dr. W said it's a "beautiful baby," which I guess means everything looks good and is where it should be at this stage. He also said there's no sign of bleeding, so I guess it must have reabsorbed! Yay!!! He measured Ziggy three times to try to get a week 11 measurement (since I was exactly 11 weeks at the time), but kept coming up with 10w6d. So Ziggy was measuring a day behind, but Dr. W said it's not a big deal. Even so, I have been worrying about it a little and trying to make sure I eat every few hours. I read in one of my pregnancy books that babies get better nutrition and grow better when you eat frequently, rather than eating a few large meals a day. Plus, I find that I get hungry every few hours, so it seems to be working out.

Dr. W said I should return in 5 weeks when I'm 16 weeks, at which point we'll discuss doing a blood screen for chromosomal abnormalities, so my next appointment is on May 21. I really hope AC can make it, so he can see Ziggy dancing around too! I wanted him to be the there this time, but unfortunately he had a simulator :(

Before I end this post, I also want to update on the progesterone in oil situation. After stressing the whole weekend that I was going to miscarry because my progesterone would drop too low, on Monday I called to ask if they could measure my progesterone just to make sure the level wasn't dropping too low with me just being on the suppositories. The nurse told me that Dr. W didn't see the point in doing the blood test--basically what would we change if the numbers were low? I said I would go back on the shots if absolutely necessary. I also said that Dr. M had wanted my level measured a week after I stopped both forms of progesterone at week 14. She asked what the point of this was, and I told her that he would want me to continue the progesterone for the remainder of the pregnancy if my levels were below 20. This surprised her. She said they didn't have any patients on progesterone for the whole pregnancy, and that in general they no longer do progesterone monitoring since it had not proved clinically useful. She did say that Dr. W was willing to order the test for my peace of mind.

So I'm going in on Monday to have blood drawn, and they should have the results for me on Tuesday. I really hope my progesterone is at a decent level. I wonder if I can convince them to test me again at my next appointment after I discontinue the suppositories in two weeks. They probably already think I'm a difficult patient, but I don't care--better to be difficult than lose a baby, right? I tried to impress on his nurse how different it was to go from an infertility clinic, where you're seen every week and closely monitored, to a regular OB, where you're seen every 4-5 weeks, and they seem to take a much more blase attitude toward things. I also told her several times that the reason I was so insistent on careful monitoring is that if for some reason I lose this baby, I can't just get pregnant on my own in a few months like another women might. I'll have to do IVF all over again (well, fortunately the frozen embryos will make it easier), but it will still involve going back to NY and going through almost everything again. She seemed somewhat sympathetic, but I still got the sense that they view me as a drama queen or something.

Anyway, to end on a positive note, here are the week 12 sonogram pictures of Ziggy:

Week 9 Belated Post

I apologize for disappearing for a while! It's been an eventful two weeks, to say the least. Thursday, April 2nd marked my final appointment with Dr. M, which was somewhat bittersweet. I felt like there wasn't a proper goodbye, like I didn't really have time to express my gratitude for everything he's done. I think I'll write a letter to him once the baby comes complete with photos, etc. I also didn't get a chance to say goodbye to everyone on the staff. It felt sort of incomplete to just disappear from there, but I guess that's how it normally works. I'd like to return with Ziggy in person at some point, so Dr. M. can meet the little person he helped create. What a cool job he has, helping make people's dreams come true :)

Anyway, I had the usual blood draw and ultrasound. The ultrasound showed Ziggy was measuring exactly 9 weeks, which is great, since I was exactly 9 weeks at the time. S/he is growing so fast! The heart rate was 146 bpm. The sonographer also said the umbilical cord is attaching "beautifully." Thankfully the area of bleeding had diminished (yay!), and Dr. M said I was good to go. He did say it was very important that I continue to take the Armoud Thyroid throughout my pregnancy, and that if my new doctor wanted to discontinue it, that I should find a new one. I really hope that's not the case!

Anyway, enough blabbing! I'm finally getting around to posting a photograph of Ziggy. I think it (I can't wait till I can say "he" or "she" instead of "it"!) looks like a little teddy bear, don't you?

PS: I also added week 7 and 8 sonogram images to the previous posts. Amazing how much change there's been! I can't wait to see what Ziggy looks like at week 11!

Sick and Tired

Yesterday I had another scare at Dr. M's right before I was supposed to go for my ultrasound. I went to the bathroom to empty my bladder and some stuff fell out into the toilet. I wont go into the gross details of what it looked like, but suffice it to say that I thought this was it, the end, my baby was gone. I was unbelievably relieved when the ultrasound showed the baby completely healthy, heart beating away! It has started to separate from the yolk sac, and the sonographer said the umbilical cord will start forming this week. She said that the stuff that came out was a blood clot from the bleeding I had and probably some mucous as well. Dr. M said I should continue to take it easy but not be too concerned if I experience any more bleeding and only to call if the bleeding/cramping is worse or different than what I've experienced.

So I return in a week (Friday) for another ultrasound and blood test. It will be hard to wait a whole week to see my sweet little baby again. I'm just so scared that something will happen to Ziggy this week. Fortunately my bleeding has stopped, I have very little pain in my abdomen, and my progesterone is 38.4, so things are looking good. Unfortunately I seem to be getting sick; last night I was coughing more than usual and feeling especially tired and weak, and when I took my temperature, it was 100. After a rough night of shivering, sweating, coughing, and feeling in general sick, my temperature was 101.6 this morning. I don't know if I should take some Tylenol or just wait it out. From what I've read, it seems that a fever of 102 and above could possibly harm the baby. I guess I should probably call Dr. M's office just to be sure. Anyway, it seems like today will be a low-key day with lots of rest and fluids.

Week 7 Scare

On Tuesday I finally got to see Ziggy on the ultrasound! S/he look like a small bean curled around the round yolk sac. S/he's only 7.5 mm long, but already has a heart beat of 156 bpm! I could actually see the flickering/pulsing of the heart. My progesterone was measured at 37.7, so it's still increasing slightly. Dr. M said everything looked great and that I could stop taking the estrogen patches but should continue with the baby aspirin for another week. He also said that after seeing a good strong heartbeat, the miscarriage rate drops from 35% to just 5%. In another two weeks, it will drop to just 3%.

So I was really surprised and shocked when the next day things took a turn for the worse. I started to have some cramping really low in my belly. I also had pain that felt like hemorrhoid pain, so I thought maybe my hemorrhoid was acting up. Suddenly I felt some fluid gush out of my vagina, and when I looked in my underwear, I saw bright red blood! This completely freaked me out so I immediately called the nurses at Dr. M's office, who told me to come in immediately. Luckily my dad was staying with me in CT, so he could drive me into the city. The drive was excruciating! It helped to talk to AC, but I was still terrified the entire way there, imagining that I was miscarrying and that there wouldn't be any baby on the ultrasound this time.

The office was completely empty when I got there, which was a little eeire. They actually had to call the sonographer to come back because she'd already left for the day. She asked me what happened and then did the ultrasound, which to my immense relief showed little Ziggy and the heartbeat still there completely unharmed. She did find two small spots of bleeding in my uterus that fortunately were not close to the baby, and she said that this is relatively common in the first trimester. She did say it's possible I'll have some bleeding/spotting for the remainder of the first trimester. Dr. M came in looking very concerned and seemed greatly relieved to learn that the baby was fine. He said I should discontinue the baby aspirin. The sonographer told me to take it easy and rest with my feet up if I experienced any more cramping. I return tomorrow morning just to make sure everything is still ok.

Before I left the sonographer told me the baby is measuring at 6w4d and the due date is estimated to be November 7th, although yesterday I was really 6w6d (based on when fertilization took place). I was too overwhelmed by what had happened to ask what that meant, but maybe tomorrow I'll find out. I was planning on doing a week 7 post today, but now I'm not sure I really am at week 7. Anyway, I am still somewhat shaken by what happened. I dread going to the bathroom and seeing blood, and evey little pain or twinge in my abdomen makes me feel panicky. I can't wait till tomorrow to see that the baby is still ok. If they let me, I would probably go in everyday for an ultrasound! I know I need to relax and rest and just hope for the best. From what I've read, there's not much one can do to prevent a miscarriage, so there's really no need for me to obsess (although it's hard not to). I'm already doing everything I possibly can for the baby--taking my progesterone suppositiories three times a day, injecting myself with progesterone in oil every night, trying to stay off my feet and rest as much as possible--so I guess I should just calm down (easier said than done of course). I'll be back tomorrow with a (hopefullly) positive update.

PS: I've added week 7 ultrasound pics below.

Week 6

Hard to believe I'm 6 weeks pregnant as of today! That's about halfway through the first trimester! Sometimes the whole thing seems very unreal. I guess that's normal since I can't really feel the baby inside me yet. I do feel some of the side effects, but they're really not that bad, and if I didn't know I was pregnant, I would probably attribute them to something else. The side effects also seem to have improved, which somehow doesn't seem quite right. Aren't I supposed to be feeling worse as things progress? The bit of nausea I had last week, which I thought was the beginning of the horrible morning sickness my mother had warned me about, seems to have abated. My mother says it was off and on in the beginning for her too so maybe it will hit me with full force soon. I don't know, I feel like I'm getting away with something by not feeling sick all the time.

So my symptoms are:

• swollen, sore breasts (although this started after the retrieval when I was put on estrogen and progesterone, before Ziggy was even inside me),
• frequent urination I guess (although it's hard to tell because I tend to drink a lot of water and pee a lot anyway)
• some fatigue (although it's improved a lot, and I love the fact that I can actually fall asleep and stay asleep--yay for progesterone!)
• increased appetite in the beginning (now I don't feel particularly hungry and kind of have to force myself to eat)
• occasional dizziness/light-headedness
  
• increased forgetfulness and stupidity (is this the "mommy brain" I've heard people talk about?)
• headaches (they were pretty bad at first, but have practically gone now--this was probably the worst side effect for me)
• mild nausea (will it get worse?)
• irritability, mood swings, and increased sensitivity and weepiness (kind of like PMS, but they've improved a lot as well)
• bloating and lower abdominal distention (this is the one side effect that is increasing!)
• bad taste in mouth and increased salivation (I probably wouldn't have really noticed this if I hadn't read about it in a pregnancy book)
• increased sense of smell (since normally I have such a bad sense of smell, this has been pretty cool except of course when there are nasty smells like in NYC :)
• very mild occasional heart burn
• twinges/tugging sensation in my lower belly (these have pretty much gone away by now)
• increased heart rate and respiration which makes me feel kind of breathless when I exert myself
  

So, overall I feel pretty good right now. As for the baby, Ziggy is about 2-5 mm in length (about the size of a baby pea!) and starting to form tongue and nasal pits, as well as "flippers" which will later develop into arms. Ziggy's eyes and ears are also beginning to form, as well as the surface layer of skin. A groove (known as the laryngotracheal groove) is forming and will later become the larynx or voice box while the beginnings of the mouth, digestive system, and respiratory systems are evident as well. Ziggy's head, brain, and nervous system are undergoing rapid development too, which is why I started taking some prenatal DHA and EPA today. Most amazingly, Ziggy's little heart is starting to beat and should be visible on the ultrasound on Tuesday! According to what I've read online, these next few weeks of embryonic development are especially important, so I'm going to try to avoid all possible hazards. I want little Ziggy to have the best possible start in life.

Happy Update

Wonderful news! The blood test on Wednesday measured my Beta hCG at 1100 and my progesterone at 14! So it looks like I am out of the danger zone for now--phew, what a relief! Dr. M wants to see my progesterone go even higher so I started progesterone in oil shots on Thursday. They have to be injected into my gluteal muscle, which hurts a bit, but it's all worth it for baby :) While AC is here, he can administer the injections, but I'll have to do them myself once he leaves on Monday (that may be a bit tricky, especially with one arm in a cast!). My next appointment for both blood work and ultrasound is on Tuesday. I also get my cast off on that day. Yay! I also just wanted to mention that I am 5 weeks pregnant as of Thursday! Hard to believe, huh?! I will post pictures of my 5 week belly when I get a chance later this week. My plan is to take pictures and post them every week so we can all see how my belly grows.

Why Google Is Not Always a Good Thing

I had my followup blood test yesterday, and the good news is that my Beta hCG went from 165 on Saturday to 416 on Monday. The numbers are supposed to double every 48 hours or so, so this is a very good sign. Unfortunately my progesterone level is not so hot. It's still within normal limits, but it's on the low side; it dropped from 11 to 9.5 from Saturday to Monday. The lower end of normal is 9 but, according to the nurse, Dr. M likes to see at least 13 or 14 at this stage in the pregnancy. She said it was nothing to worry about, but that Dr. M wanted to switch me from Endometrin to regular progesterone suppositories, which are supposed to be stronger.

Despite the nurse's reassurance not to worry, being the worry wart that I am, I immediately started to google low and falling progesterone levels in pregnancy. Bad idea! From what I read, it seems that low (and especially falling) progesterone levels can be a sign that the pregnancy is doomed to miscarriage! :( Of course I also read some anecdotal stories of women who had had ridiculously low progesterone levels but went on to deliver healthy babies. I also read that vaginal progesterone like Endometrin usually doesn't show up in the blood tests as well as progesterone pills or shots because most of the progesterone is absorbed directly into the uterine lining where it needs to be rather than going into the blood stream. I really hope these new progesterone suppositories bring my level up. They're messier than the Endometrin, but if they work, it's all worth it. I go in tomorrow (Wednesday) for another blood test. Until then, I am going to try to relax and not stress too much (easier said than done, of course!). AC arrives tonight, and I can't wait to see him. I need him and his calming influence right now.

Tomorrow is...

the big day! Retrieval will be tomorrow, a day earlier than we expected, and I'm really happy because this means one less day of waiting! Luckily AC was able to change his plane ticket to fly in this evening rather than tomorrow morning so he (and his boys :) can be there. Even though I'm sad about his eye flaring up again, the injury is what's allowing him to arrive a day earlier than we'd planned. Every cloud has a silver lining, right? As for his eye, it seems to be healing well for now. Only time will tell if this is going to be a persistent problem.

Since I haven't posted in a few days, allow me to backtrack a bit. My appointment on Saturday with Dr. M was the same as the Thursday appointment. I had blood taken, they did a sonogram, and Dr. M told me everything was coming along nicely and that I should continue the same dose of the medications. He was still projecting a Friday or Saturday retrieval at that point. On Monday (after the usual blood and sonogram), he reduced the Follistim to 100 IU and said that retrieval might be Thursday, but we'd know for sure on Tuesday. Yesterday (Tuesday), I had a feeling the retrieval day would be moved up. Not be too graphic, but the flood gates had really opened up "down there" if you know what I mean! This wasn't any normal mid-cycle increase in cervical mucous; it was a deluge!

Anyway, Dr. M said it looks like I have 15 mature follicles ready to go and called in a prescription of Ovudrel for me, which I injected in my belly last night at exactly 10pm. The timing is important because retrieval needs to be done exactly 36 hours later. The actual procedure should only take a few minutes. AC and I will be going to Dr. M's at 8:15 am tomorrow, AC will do his thing (although we have frozen back-up sperm in case he, ahem, has performance anxiety!), I'll be put under anesthesia, they'll stick a giant needle in my vagina to extract the eggs (I'm glad I'll be asleep for that!), and then I'll wake up and go to the place we're subletting on the Upper East Side while the doctors do their magic in the lab.

I knew that AC and I would not be able to maintain our sanity if we stayed with my dad for an entire week (plus we want some privacy), so this past week I've been searching for a place to sublet on Craigslist and have even checked out a few in person. I finally managed to find an adorable and quite spacious studio apartment on the first floor of a doorman building on East 71st St. between 2nd and 3rd. The only downside is that we only have it until Tuesday at 2pm, so we'll have to spend two nights at my dad's before AC leaves next Thursday (February 19th), but I think we'll be able to survive for that short time.

Suffice it to say, I am so happy right now! And me, my bloated, distended belly, and my 15 mature follicles are so ready for tomorrow! More news later--until then, wish me luck!

Good and Bad News

This morning I took the bus to Dr. M's office (no more walking through central park for me after what happened last week!). The staff drew some blood, did an ultrasound, and then I met briefly with Dr. M, who reassured me that everything is looking good. When I asked him how many eggs he thinks we'll retrieve, he said it was too early to tell for certain, but thinks it should be more than ten (yay!). I'll continue the same dose of Follistim and Lupron tonight and tomorrow and then return on Saturday for another blood test and ultrasound. I also met briefly with the financial advisor, who informed me that the only thing we have to pay for is the $500.00 fee for the anesthesiologist on the day of the retrieval, which is nothing considering a normal IVF cycle is 10-20 grand!! So everything is going well in terms of the IVF. That's the good news.

Now for the bad news. Unfortunately I can't say everything is going well in terms of AC's eye. His recurrent corneal erosion has, well...recurred. He's been DNFed (placed on Do Not Fly status) for two weeks to allow the cornea to heal, but it may very well recurr again. He will automatically be dropped back a class, which in and of itself isn't a big deal, but if this turns into a chronic condition, AC may not be able to fly at all! He is pretty upset right now, as you can well imagine. :( I'm sorry to say we kind of had a fight on the phone just now about his eye and the quality of care he's receiving from the military doctors. I wont go into detail, but suffice it to say that a lot of our arguments about health and doctors is a direct result of our completely different upbringingings, attitudes, and experiences regarding the health care system. AC has another appointment with the doctors tomorrow, so hopefully there will be some good news to report. Until then, I'll try to sort out my conflicting feelings and make amends with my dear husband!

Lame Update

This will just be a quick update because I'm tired and my left wrist hurts (since now it has to do everything). Last night I took my first dose of Follistim 200 IU. Today I already felt a lot more emotional and on the verge of tears (but this could have more to do with my father driving me crazy than with the hormones!). Today I also had my appointment with the hand surgeon who saw me last week at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. He removed my splint, took some x-rays, and put a more permanent cast on my arm. It's a pretty blue color, and I can actually get it wet, although it will take 3 hours to dry, so I'm not sure how often I want to do that! I'm supposed to continue to rest and keep it elevated for a couple of days, but then I can start using that hand more. Of course my thumb is immobilized, which means I can't grasp anything, but I guess I can use my fingers a bit. I'll be back to see him in 5 weeks to have the cast removed. Other than that, there was the usual BS with the insurance, which I don't really feel like posting about. Right now I'm just tired, and my wrist hurts. Thank goodness tomorrow I don't have to go anywhere! I'mplanning on taking it easy and relaxing before my next appointment with Dr. M on Thursday.

The Case of the Missing Lupron

I woke up yesterday (as usual around 5am) in a panic, realizing the night before that we'd forgotten to give me my Lupron shot. Horrible visions of having to cancel the cycle swam before my eyes as I stood in shock, mindlessly repeating "OMG, what have I done?!" out loud. I pictured myself having to call Dr. M's office when it opened in a few hours to confess my awful blunder and dreaded the disappointment and blame I'd hear in the voices of his staff. I quickly got on the computer, conducted a few searches, and soon found out that missing one shot was not such a big deal. Plenty of other women had missed a dose and go on to continue their IVF cycles, many successfully conceiving, so I calmed down a bit. Thank goodness for the internet!

Then when SH woke up an hour or so later, I told her and she immediately gave me the shot, reassuring me that it really wasn't a big deal. In order to prevent this from ever happening again, I have started setting my alarm to go off at 9pm. I've also taken to keeping the Lupron box on my pillow--if that doesn't remind me, I don't know what will!

So, anyway, the crisis was averted, but I am kicking myself for having let this happen. I start the Follistim tomorrow, so it's imperative that I be on top of everything from now on. It's time to kick my butt into gear!

Good, Bad, Ugly

Note: Taking a page from Xin Lei's book...

Good: My appointment with Dr. M went well yesterday, and most likely I will be starting Follistim (the medication that stimulates ovaries to grow multiple eggs) on Monday, February 2nd with retrieval (removal of the eggs) projected for Friday, February 13th when AC will hopefully be here.

Bad: While walking through Central Park on my way to the appointment, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice and hurt my wrist.

Ugly: A trip to the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases revealed that I've broken my wrist (first broken bone ever!) and will be in a cast for at least 6 weeks. Eek!

I've decided my blog is a bit boring without any pictures, so to start off with some visuals, I thought I'd post some photos of my Lupron injections. As you know, I've been on Lupron shots for two weeks (10 mg injected subcutaneously into the belly each night before bed). The injections actually haven't been as unpleasant as I'd thought they'd be. Sometimes the injection site will sting, burn, or itch a little, but otherwise it really hasn't been all that bad. As for the side effects, I definitely get hot a lot more easily (although this might also be from the Thyroid medication I'm now taking), and I'm starting to feel a bit more weepy and sensitive (kind of like with PMS). I also now have a nice little bruise on the left side of my belly (my first war wound from my battle with infertility :) The needle (featured below) is the same one diabetics use to inject their insulin. It's hard to believe that some diabetics have to do this every day of their lives, several times a day! I definitely have a new appreciation for what they must go through in order to stay healthy.

And now I'll just shut up and let the pictures speak their thousand words (by the way, those are my dad's enormous hands! :)