Spending Valentine’s Day at the Specialist’s

I know it has been awhile since my last update but it took some time before I could get back into finally seeing the specialist and actually having an update for sharing. Yesterday was my 1st appointment back at the specialist’s to see my old RE that I had met with just before getting pregnant with Adeline. I love Dr. P, she is the sweetest and most personable doctor. My appointment actually went very well! She really knows how to put my mind at ease and lift my spirits.

Dr. P said because I was able to get pregnant with Adeline without too much intervention, she didn’t see the need for me to get a hysteroscopy or for AC to need a sperm analysis. She went so far as to say she didn’t see my needing an iui or ivf in the future either! I hope she isn’t building me up too much for this all to come crashing down, but I am excited about all of this again!

My new plan of action is 1st, to just call back in 10 days to make sure all of my test results came back normal. I had to give 7 vials of blood at my appointment yesterday. Once that clears, I wait for cycle day 1 to roll back around. Unfortunately, I am only on cd7 today so it is going to  be a long wait! And I am sure I will need progesterone to get it to restart too, but what else is new. Anyway, I will call on cd1 and schedule an ultrasound for around cd10 or so, I can’t remember. And on cd 3, I will begin taking 2 pills of letrozole at night for 5 nights. This will be my first time with Letrozole but my doctor thinks it is going to be a lot better for me than Clomid was. I hope so! Dr. P is going to give me a mid range dose rather than starting at a low dose. Then during my ultrasound they will measure my follicle sizes and once they get one that is big enough, I will do a trigger shot to induce ovulation and then hopefully in 2 weeks I will be pregnant. I am so excited to finally be having a monitored cycle and to actually see how my body is responding to the Letrozole and what sizes my follicles are. I have never had a monitored cycle before so I am heading into some new territory here but I am trying to stay optimistic with all of this.

More new and better things about this cycle, thanks to being at a specialist vs my regular obgyn, if I do get pregnant, I will immediately start progesterone vaginally to help me from miscarrying. PCOS ups my chances significantly for a miscarriage so I am very pleased that Dr. P is going to be so proactive rather than wait until week 14 to start progesterone shots like my regular obgyn was going to do. I will still switch over to the shots regardless though to help prevent early delivery again since Adeline was born at 29 weeks/28 full weeks. Thanks PCOS for all of these stressors! But I am so excited and hopeful with this new plan of attack. I can see Adeline getting a sibling so much more clearly now! Wish me luck!

Oh and I hope you all had a Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy the random pictures of Adeline, I promise I will do an update on her soon, as she is 20 months now! I cannot believe it! And how cute is her first little pony tail?! She is getting to be such a big girl ❤

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Goodbye 2018 and Clomid

New year, new fertility treatments?

My 3rd and last round of Clomid went well. I ovulated when I should at least but then nothing happened after that. I don’t know why on the 1st and 3rd cycle of Clomid everything worked as it should, except for me. I did not get pregnant. I contacted Dr. C who said she recommends I go back to the specialist. It’s time.

I haven’t called them yet to schedule the appointment, I keep putting it off but I plan on calling them on my lunch break to get something set up. It’s just so disappointing to be here again.

On a happier note, I did find out that 3 of the doctors at the Specialist’s are now in network with my Tricare insurance! Supposedly I will be able to go there and only pay a $25 copay each visit. I really really hope that is true because that would be a huge burden lifted!

This weekend my best friend flew in all the way from Turkey! So even though I knew if I went to stay at my parents house over the weekend I would get snowed in, I had to go see her! And I am so glad I did, I love the snow and where I live, we only got rain. They got about a foot of snow.  So I was able to bundle up Adeline and take her sledding for a bit! And it was great seeing my friend, of course, too 🙂 Great weekend full of winter fun, it was much needed after the last failed attempt of Clomid.

Happy Christmas Eve!

I can’t believe it is already Christmas Eve! December always flies by so fast. Especially because it is busy at my work too and then there is gift shopping and all the holiday parties, plus both my mother in law and father in law have December birthdays! Oh and we also go to Busch Gardens Christmastown at least once this month as well. This year we have actually been twice, so much fun! I, unfortunately, have to work a half day today but got to take off Dec 26th and 27th so that we could spend Christmas with my side of the family! Yes, that is right, it is finally my turn again!!! I am so excited to be at my grandpa’s house for Christmas dinner. What are all of your Christmas and holiday plans?

TTC: So we are officially in the 2 week wait. I ovulated on cd 19, which was this Wed. Dec 19th. I am not really feeling any signs yet, but it is only 5dpo so it is still insanely early to start worrying about it. I am just sooo happy this round actually worked since last month was such a huge fail. Although, I am a little concerned because on the night of ovulation I had sever cramping so much so that it was painful to sit down to dinner…and then Saturday morning I woke up to more cramps! Only these morning cramps were so excruciating I was doubled over in agony and had AC get Adeline packed up so he could drive me to the hospital! I took some extra strength Tylenol which helped dull the pain pretty quickly though so at the last min. I had AC turn the car around and go home. Now I am a little concerned I might have Endometriosis or something on top of my pcos and am wondering if I really have a shot at all for getting pregnant this month. I plan on calling my obgyn after the holidays to see if they can test for that, or look into other causes. I will keep you all posted as always.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Clomid for the Last Time

Well, this is it. I just finished my very last dose of Clomid this past Monday. It is kind of scary knowing there will be no next cycle after this one. If it doesn’t work, we move into a gray area and will have a lot of things to figure out on what our next steps will be. I am going to start testing for ovulation tonight, cd 12, just so there is no possible chance that I miss it. If all goes well, I should ovulate sometime between cd 17 and cd 19. We’ll see! It would be the best Christmas gift but I am trying to not get my hopes up…

Thanksgiving 2018

Happy Thanksgiving my American friends! Yes, I am aware it is almost a week late 😛 Normally every year AC and I rotate whose family we see on Thanksgiving and Christmas but this year we tried something different. We managed to visit both sides of the family! I think it went really well actually and even the traffic driving to Northern Va

and Williamsburg really was pretty great. No major slow downs! We started our Thanksgiving journey out on Wednesday evening after we both got off of work and headed to my family’s house. We had Thanksgiving the next day out at my Aunt and Uncles house. Everything was delicious and we all had a good time catching up. Adeline mostly ate a bunch of cheese slices…and then discovered the cranberry sauce. Which she ate a little of and then immediately rubbed into her hair and all over her adorable little dress that I wore as a baby.  We then moved onto dessert and of course she had to eat the chocolate pudding pie! So that went all over her face and dress as well. By the end of the night, we had to strip her down and just let her run around in her diaper.

She seemed to be having a ball though. Oh and when I say running around, I guess I should throw in that Adeline is now walking just before turning 18 months! Pretty much that week leading up to Thanksgiving she has been taking more and more steps, not running yet but definitely building up her speed.

I think her having to wear dresses for the holiday really helped because crawling in a dress is a huge pain and just gets in the way.

Anyway, then Friday morning we bundled up (it was 30 degrees!) and packed up the car and were on our way to spend the rest of the weekend at AC’s parent’s house.

He still got the majority of the holiday since Thanksgiving is his turn this year. His mother works on Thanksgiving so we always do a 2nd big dinner with his family afterwards. This year we walked around Colonial Williamsburg on Black Friday, it was packed but still a lot of fun to site see and get a nice warm lunch at the pub. And once it got dark, they had trees lit up and their ice skating rink was aglow. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures there! Saturday we  just relaxed most of the day and then Sunday AC’s parents and our little family went over to his sister’s house to have our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner. This was the 2nd year we have had a Thanksgiving at her house with her in laws too, it was a packed house! After dinner, dessert, and playing outside for awhile(much warmer that day, in the 60s) AC, Adeline and I headed back on the road around 5pm to go home. Overall it was a great holiday weekend filled with lots of food and family! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!

**TTC- and for those of you wondering were I am in this cycle, I just took my last pill of progesterone last night. Yep, I had to resort back to restarting my cycle that way as I am on cd40. Ugh. I am so hoping this very last chance on Clomid works…Also because last month was such a huge flop, I upped my Metformin dosage from 500mg to 1000mg. The higher dose did make the first 2 days on it miserable, my stomach hated me all day but after that it has actually been ok. I hope it stays that way, Metformin is very unpredictable with how my stomach reacts. but hopefully it will all be worth it!

Next Cycle Down for the Count

Well, I am calling it. This month was a bust. As good as the last cycle was, that’s how bad this one is. I am on cd 24 and nothing has happened! I haven’t ovulated and it doesn’t seem like I am going to. The only thing I can do is keep using the OPKs every night until cd 35 when I can take progesterone and start over. This next cycle will be my 3rd, technically 6th round on Clomid, which means it is my very last shot before I am sent back to a specialist/ RE. I honestly think if that is the case, AC and I will probably take a break for awhile and just see what happens continuing on with the Metformin and Myo-Inositol. We are not prepared to go back to the RE since it is 100% out of pocket. Our insurance doesn’t cover infertility treatments and with the holidays right around the corner, we aren’t going to be able to swing that kind of expense for awhile. Ugh, well that’s where I am at for this round, a big nothing. Though I guess it isn’t officially over until cd 35, but I don’t see this turning around. I hope I am wrong

Busy October

October has been a busy month and I love it. Fall is definitely my favorite month (Though Christmas will always be my favorite holiday). October 12th was AC and my 4th year wedding anniversary! It has been challenging at times to say the least, what with infertility, pcos, and all the hormonal mood swings but we have made it another year! This year we decided to head back to West Virginia, up in the mountains where we got married. I was picturing gorgeous fall leaves everywhere and the perfect 60 degree fall weather. Boy was I wrong!! Even though 4 years ago it was peak leave peeping time, it wasn’t even close this year. Everything was still green everywhere! It had been very warm up until that weekend so I guess that delayed things up in the mountains this year. The weekend of the 12th was not warm however, it was in the 40s half the day and then would warm up to 50 in the late afternoon! We did not prepare for such cold temps, I didn’t even bring a jacket only sweatshirts! It was still a lot of fun and we got a lot of hiking in and walked around the cute towns of Berkeley

Springs, WV and Winchester, Va. Adeline is a huge fan of any and all bodies of water. She loved looking at all of the little falls on the hike and would throw a fit when we would drag her away. Such a little water baby. I really hope we can get her into a swim class next summer.

This past weekend my parents came to visit Adeline and I to keep us company while AC was away for an Army conference. I was so grateful to have extra help! It was another chilly weekend but in the 60s so warmer than the mountains of WV at least! So we were able to go hiking together that Sunday before they headed back. I live in more of a city/ beach area so I was really surprised when my dad found us a wooded area with long hiking trails running through it 3 min from my house! How did I not know this existed?! We got a good 4 mile hike in and Adeline slept about 3 of those miles haha. My dad was carrying her and I guess she was super cozy in her warm puffy coat and knit boots. It was so great to see my parents though, they don’t get to travel to my house that often so I has extremely happy with the visit.

 

TTC News: this 1st round back on Clomid paired with Metformin didn’t work. Well it did and it didn’t. I am not pregnant but I ovulated on cd 18 which never ever happens and my period came naturally 2 weeks after I ovulated. Again, never ever happens! So I am actually very pleased with this 1st cycle. I am on the low dose (500mg) of metformin still and after re-reading old blog posts about how poorly my being on the high dose of 1,500mg went, up until the 3rd round of Clomid when I got pregnant with Adeline, I am super pleased and give all credit to Myo-inostol! I now have dangerously high hopes that this 2nd round of Clomid will work…I start the 2nd round tonight actually, so here we go! Round 2 of 3!

A Good Start to October

I don’t know if it was the myo-inositol paired with my Metformin but I ovulated on Friday the 5th! I am so relieved that I wont be needing to up my Metformin dosage yet. I am currently 4dpo, so not much to really report yet but I am hopeful.

This whole last weekend was actually a really good one. Friday I ovulated, then Saturday AC and I dropped Adeline off at her grandpa’s house and we went off to Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream! It’s a tradition for us to go every October and is so much fun. I wish it wasn’t so humid but it was still great to walk around and see all of the spooky decorations. Then on Sunday we went to church and afterwards stopped at a pumpkin patch. The 80 degree weather was a little off putting so we only stayed to take a few cute pictures. I am not going to lie, we didn’t even get our pumpkins yet! I don’t want them to rot before Halloween in this heat. Luckily, this weekend is calling for 60 degree temps so maybe fall is finally coming…

$10k fertility grant — I think I need to enter this!

Could you, or someone you love, use $10,000 to put towards fertility treatments? Are you interested in winning this grant by simply sharing your opinion from the comforts of your own home, in your sweats and without having to make a video or jump through any hoops? If the answer is YES, keep reading! FertilityIQ […]

via $10k fertility grant. — Trials Bring Joy

“FertilityIQ is currently giving away one $10,000 grant that can be used towards IVF or another fertility treatment and entering to win it is simple:

• If you have seen a fertility doctor in the US, go to FertilityIQ.com and click Evaluate your doctor.
• Complete this anonymous assessment form on your experience with your doctor and clinic. What did you like? What didn’t you? What details can you provide to someone who is searching for the right fit for them?
• After you complete your assessment, send in proof that you were indeed a patient to the email provide at the end of the assessment. (Think a screenshot of a portal log in, or forwarded email, or photo of a protocol sheet. Nothing confidential!)

THAT’S IT. You are entered and come October 13th, you could be receiving an email that will change your life, or someone you care about, forever.”

Clomid, a Cold, & a Funeral

The night  of the 18th, right after my last post about my long cycles and things taking forever, I got my period. Haha isn’t that always the way? 😛 So I proved myself wrong and was able to start Clomid last Saturday, CD 5 while it still being September! I took my last pill of Clomid this past Wednesday on CD 10 and have started my OPKs the day after, which was yesterday. It was negative, obviously.  Hopefully if all goes right in the world, I will ovulate sometime next week, the first week of October! Although to be honest, and I guess I am being a Debbie Downer, but I don’t feel like this first round will work. Not with my low dose of Metformin. I really hope I am proven wrong though, because I do not want to up my Metformin dosage. I will if I have to but I know it is going to be rough and I’ll have major anxiety about leaving my house…

This past weekend was extremely busy. It started with Adeline and I driving to my parents house after work last Thursday night to be a few hours closer to the National Cemetery where AC’s grandfather would be buried the following day. AC wasn’t able to attend, if you can believe it! He got called on to do 2 weeks of Army duty to help them wrap up the fiscal year and would not let him take off that Friday for his grandfather’s funeral! Which he was being buried with full honors and a 21 gun salute, I might add! As he was a high ranked Colonel. But I guess that is life in the Military, you are going to miss birthdays, holidays, funerals, even in the Reserves. It was a beautiful funeral that honored his grandfather. Adeline was mostly behaved, as I kept feeding her yogurt melts to keep her occupied during the service.

 

Once at the burial site, Adeline was pretty squirmy, wanting to walk around and play in the grass. But it was drizzling and very muddy. I was surprised when they did the gun salute that the loud bang didn’t scare her one bit!  She passed out shortly after the funeral was over and then we made the hour drive back to my parent’s house.

Just after midnight I was woken up to Adeline coughing pretty badly and she was kind of wheezing and felt warm. I was instantly awake! I ran her to the bathroom and turned on the shower to the hottest it would go because I have heard the steam helps with bad congestion. Well after maybe 15 min of that, she threw up, which freaked me out so I turned the shower off and ran up to my parents bedroom and started banging on the door to wake up my mom. (I had some serious flashbacks doing that lol) Once my mom finally woke up, I had her get a thermometer and told her what was going on. Adeline had a 102 fever so I made a mad dash to Walmart at 2am while my mom stayed with Adeline. I grabbed Tylenol and a Nose Frieda, and some baby vapor rub for her chest. Thankfully after all of that was administered she was sounding and looking better or I would have been making a trip to the ER. After that night I have been keeping Adeline on a strict Tylenol regiment that kept her feeling her normal self all weekend. Then on Monday she wasn’t doing so hot again so Tuesday I took her to the doctors along with my MIL. The doctor said she has a cold but it is a lot worse for her because she is a preemie. He gave her a 10 min nebulizer breathing treatment that he could immediately hear the difference in her lungs afterwards thankfully. We were sent home with an inhaler to be

used for at least 3 days, which will get us through to the weekend. I am hopeful she will be completely better by Monday.

• My dad and Adeline watching Daniel Tiger ❤  —->