Just a Little Update

I haven't posted in a while and I thought I would try to recap the past month or so. I was seriously looking into starting acupuncture, I even scheduled an appointment for an initial consult and acupuncture session. I was inspired by the book The Infertility Cure. It discusses Traditional Chinese Medicine as a treatment plan for infertility, which uses acupuncture and Chinese herbs.
The week before the appointment, I got cold feet and canceled the appointment. While it was with a certified TCM practitioner, the practice was through the Oncology Department at a local hospital. I felt that if I was going to see at TCM practitioner, I really want to see someone who specialized in women's health and infertility.

Scott and I also took an entire cycle off. It was freeing for the first two weeks or so, but then I was feeling a little sad that we missed our window for that month. It made me realize that while there can be enormous amount of stress during a cycle, I am willing to endure it for the hopes of a successful cycle. I waited impatiently for my period to start, and when it did, I called the RE's office to let them know that Scott and I were ready to start another medicated cycle.
I filled my prescription for the Femara, and ordered my Ovidrel from the online pharmacy we've been using. It saves us nearly $70 each month. I also scheduled my mid-cycle monitoring for Tuesday the 13th, which consists of blood work and an ultrasound. Monday I took an ovulation test, and it was positive. Well, it really shouldn't be positive until Tuesday or Wednesday, so I called the RE's office when they opened at 9;00. I didn't know if I should wait and go in for my scheduled monitoring the next morning, or if I needed to go in that same day. The nurse called me back at 10:00, asking if I could come down now for my bloodwork and ultrasound. I was hesitant to have to leave work, but after talking to my boss, she said to go ahead and go. I didn't share all of the details with her, but she does know we are going through some type of fertility treatments.
I went to the office for the monitoring, then went back to work; two hours later. Ugh. The nurse called back that afternoon to tell me that I had two mature follicles, one at 25 mm and one at 17 mm. My E2 was 486, so everything looked good. I was told to take my trigger shot that night. For those of you who are not familiar with a trigger shot, it is used to release the mature eggs that my body is producing for better timing. I got home from work, took the trigger shot, ate dinner, and then I got a migraine. Those of you who know about my migraines know that once I get one, I am relegated to the dark and quiet until it passes, which is usually about six hours. Needless to say, there was no baby-making going on that night. Which means that I probably lost another cycle, and any hope for having a 2010 baby.

I was and am pretty upset about it. But, it is not anything I can control. It is frustrating to think that we paid all of that money for the monitoring and medications and then missed our window for this month.

The good news is that I finally decided to go to a peer-led support group hosted by Resolve. They meet once a month, and this month they also had a guest speaker who is certified in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The speaker was interesting, and the group was amazing. It felt good to be surrounded by other women and men who know what this journey is like, who have been there and struggled too. I met a few women, got some email addresses and phone numbers, and will definitely go to the next meeting. It's a 40 minute drive on a Friday night, but it was so worth it.