RCC, Patient Portal

Yesterday, I received 3 bills for the blood work, ultrasounds, xrays, etc we've been doing. I wasn't sure what Blood work they did because they couldn't send out for the one test they wanted to do. I was curious if my online Patient Portal would have the results... sure enough it does. It was all the results. Follicle size, blood work, sperm count, mobility count, xray info. WOW. I was amazed. All our results at my finger tips. That's so rare! Super neat to be able to pull up the Ultrasound that I forgot to remember the follicle size and find exactly what I was looking for. It was 27 and 17 by the way. And the IUI labs have tons of info on the sample they took. I wasn't sure if I heard correctly when we were there but they say if there are 10 thousand sperm the sample looks good. I swear I heard 125 MILLION. So I double checked and yes that was correct. Wow, go Andy :)

Round 4, IUI - Month 23

Saturday June 18 - We got up at 6:45 so we could leave our house by 7 am to head to Sandy. It was IUI (insemination) day.  I packed my new saranoni blanket, a sweatshirt and a pillow for the drive home. My last 3 IUI's were painful so I've been nervous all week for this appointment. We headed out just a few minutes after 7 as Andy's parents arrived to wait for Kira to wake up. It was a long drive, but really only an hr and half though it seemed like it was way longer than that. I was tired and tried not to sleep so I could keep Andy company.

We arrived on time at 8:30. They were very nice and got us right in. The collection room was small but comfortable. They were very thorough and ensured Andy's name, Birthday and my name and birthday matched on everything they gave us. After the collection we had about an hr to spare before my appointment. We headed out to find breakfast. We ended up at Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Yum.

Once we were back at the Clinic we were a few minute early. We only waited 10 minutes or less and they called us back. Again the nurse/tech verified our names and birthdays on the solution, paperwork, etc. She asked what medications I've been on and wrote those down. I told her I was nervous because of my last 3 at the Dr's Office in Logan were painful. She apologized and said she'd be as careful as possible.

About 5 minutes later we were done. The speculum attached well unlike previous times and I only had MILD cramping. She didn't have to dilate me either. It was seriously like night and day compared to the dr in Logan. I couldn't believe it. Previous appointments I couldn't even go back to work because I was in so much pain. This time I felt like a million bucks! If I would have known the difference months ago I would have started going to the Reproductive Care Center sooner. I was amazed. I didn't cry, I didn't hurt, I could actually function. I did get some cramps on the way home but nothing in comparison to the pain from previous procedures.

I had been nervous all week about a wedding I had scheduled that afternoon. I hired my sister and another photographer to cover for me until I got back, unsure if I would even make it to the wedding. But with such an easy appointment I'd make it for sure.

So now our dreaded 2 week wait begins! Lucky us :)

Baseline Testing, Month 23

Today my mom and I headed to Clearfield to the RCC for my baseline testing. They got us Right in when we arrived at 845.

First up was the ultrasound.  Uterus looked good and normal. Size and thickness was normal.

Right ovary had quite a few small follicles and some up to 12 mm. Average at this stage is 5-7 mm.

Left ovary was the same.  It also had a few follicles larger than normal and also a cyst. 

I went in for bloodwork next. They filled 4 vials, including an extra one for a quick progesterone test to determine if the cyst is producing progesterone which would throw off my bloodwork. 

Paperwork and Rx came next. We went through the meds I'll be on this round including Femara,  3 FSH injections, an antibiotic for the die and xrays as well as a valium for the die and xrays appt on Friday.  Femara is easy and the antibiotic too. Injections don't seem hard but I'm sure I may change my mind if I woose out and can't administer them myself!  Hope andy is ok helping!! I've never taken a valium but now I'm super nervous about Friday's testing. If an IUI was painful, what's this going to be like?

After we got all the info and prescriptions we headed out. We were in and out in less than an hr. Wow! They recommended we stop at Costco to fill the prescriptions because they were cheaper at the cash price there and insurance doesn't dover them. We headed to Ogden and stopped there.  Costo was SLOW!! 45 min for 3 prescriptions,  one of which was ONE pill!!

We hurried back to logan so I could get to work and to our Managers meeting.  I was there not more than 10-15 min and the Dr called. They had the results of my progesterone test. My levels were elevated enough that they could not send my bloodwork and get the Ovarian Assessment Report they need as it would be thrown off and unreliable.  Major bummer. That means retesting next month to get a baseline and hoping the cyst decreases in size and what it produces.  He did authorize us to continue with the femara and injections for this month BUT was only going to have us do 2 instead of 3 as my levels were already increased.

The pharmacy  (which is actually in Arizona not Oregon ) called to set up my account.  They ship the meds the day before I need them and ship them overnight on ice. They need refrigerated upon receipt.  I gotta figure out how to keep them cool in Evanston while we are at a wedding on Saturday! 

Work was rough again. Gossip gossip gossip. Seriously the center of conversation is never where I want to be. And this is not how i envisioned telling people we were trying to conceive. I'm hoping it blows over and people don't think much of it.

Praying for Hope and a little luck this week and next. 

A new month , Month 23

Today was the day. It's only 2 weeks later than planned but we finally started a new cycle. The last two weeks were rough.  4 pregnancy test, of course all negative.  I had two days of weird sickness and throwing up which I thought might be Morning sickness, wrong. It is actually nice to know for sure even if it isn't the outcome we wanted. The unknown is way worse.

I call the RCC tomorrow morning to get all our appointments scheduled. It'll be a busy couple of weeks for us. I do have to admit I am a little relieved that I didn't start until today.  Last week and this next week would have made it hard to get all the testing and IUI in my schedule.  This time frame couldn't be better for me.

A reminder of what this month brings:

Day 2/3/4 - Ultrasound and 5 Blood tests
Day 3 through 7 - Femara
Day 6/7/8/9/10/11 - X-rays of Ovaries, Fallopian Tubes and Uterus
Day 7, 9, 11 - FSH Injection
Day 12 - Trigger Shot
Day 13 - IUI and Semen Analysis

While we start our first round with RCC and on new meds, there are a lot of family /friends that are pregnant or just having kids. I found this and it fits me to a T today. 

Reproductive Care Center | Dr. Swelstad

Friday we took half a day off work and headed down to a new fertility Clinic called the Reproductive Care Center in Clearfield. We met with Dr. Swelstad. We reviewed both my medial history and Andy's as well as our journey with trying to conceive. We were there about 2 hours. We had heard a lot of good things about Dr Swelstad. Two people we know recently (in the last year) got pregnant through him using IVF first round. We also know someone that got pregnant with the same plan we are going to do.

This is what HOPE looks like. He was hesitant to suggest doing IVF which is actually what we assumed we would be discussing. BUT he has additional options that are less money that he's also had good luck on! Wahoo. Less money at this stage in the game is a bonus.

We decided we would continue heading toward IVF and do the blood tests, ultrasound, xrays and semen analysis to help diagnose any issues possible. They won't even start IVF until all of those are done so we are going to proceed with doing them on the next cycle.

We are also going to continue doing IUI's for 2-3 months. However, instead of Clomid we are moving to Femara which is similar but supposed to have less side effects. In addition we are going to be doing FSH Injections, Trigger shot and an IUI (Pending my schedule). We'll try that for 1-3 months and then move to IVF as needed and depending on what our tests show.

So this month will look like this:
Day 2/3/4 - Ultrasound and 5 Blood tests
Day 3 through 7 - Femara
Day 6/7/8/9/10/11 - X-rays of Ovaries, Fallopian Tubes and Uterus
Day 7, 9, 11 - FSH Injection
Day 12 - Trigger Shot
Day 13 - IUI and Semen Analysis or timed intercourse depending on schedules

I'm hopeful taking a more aggressive approach will pay off. Money at this point is still an issue but it's the back burner and just getting pregnant is the highlight right now. If that means IVF, I think we are both on board to proceed.