It's amazing what you'll do for your kids.

Addison wants to be a big sister. Her mommie's want her to be a big sister and want to grow their family. Unfortunatley, my body hasn't received the memo. Diagnosed with PCOS in college, I have always been told that getting pregnant would be a challenge. Well, Addison was certainly a surprise as we got pregnant on our second month of trying with the help of Femara. After an amazing 9 months with her in our lives, we decided that it was time to start trying for #2. Knowing that it could be challenging because of the PCOS and my age, I wasn't getting any younger, we started with Femara again. After 6 months of trying on our own, we sought out the help of my OB/GYN. We then began the process of IUI's in the doctor's office and added injectible medicine to increase the amount and size of my follicles.  After almost two and half years of failed IUI's with doctors shrugging their shoulders and offering no reason for the failures,  we requested a referral to the University of Iowa's Reproductive Department. This blog is about the in vitro fertilization journey we are on to grant Addison's wish of being a big sister and our wish to grow our family. Our journey to conceive began in June 2009 and after many tears and dissapointment, this is the new road we will travel. Over the next three months, our lives will run parallel with the IVF process, we'll attempt to resemble our typical routines as we add trips to Iowa City for ultrasounds, trips to the lab at Mercy hospital for blood draws, oral medicines, injectible shots, etc. Hopefully after all of this, we'll head back to Iowa City in early June to have the mature eggs retrieved from my ovaries, injected with swimmers, fertilized and then placed back into my uterus. And in the end, we'll do the painful two week wait and another blood draw which will hopefully result in a pregnancy.
On April 5th, 2012- Deb and I drive the 84 miles to Iowa City to meet with two infertility specialists, a psychologist and a financial counselor. After a 5 hour appointment that included meetings with all of the above mentioned specialists, an ultrasound and a practice run at placing a catheter in, our brains are overwhelmed with information. Thankfully they gave us hand-outs of all of the information. We are cautiously hopeful, the doctors are hopeful giving us much higher success percentages and long discussions about multiple births and so on. We have been here before with the IUI's. We nod our heads and hope that this will be it. We take our folder of information, my prescriptions and drive the 84 miles home, all the while talking about the what ifs.
April 8th, 2012- I start taking the birth control pill (BCP). From the day I started the BCP, I counted down the days until I could stop taking it. The first 3 weeks of the pill were terrible. About 5 days into the pack, I started throwing up. And if by throwing up you mean, projectile vomitting and puke coming out my nose, then yes you have a firm grap on the art of throwing up. This lasted for 4 days. After Iowa City called in a prescription for suppositories that were supposed to go in my donkey (Addie calls her butt her donkey so we'll use this very technical term), my body got itself together and the puking stopped. I stayed on the pill for 42 days all of which including the lovely symptoms of nausea and headaches. Fun stuff.
April 26th, 2012- we head to Iowa City for an ultrasound to make sure everything is clear in my ovaries and we are given the thumb up to get the ball rolling. We brought Addie with us hoping she would be our good luck charm. She of course had to bring her baby stroller and both of her bitty babies. As soon as my name was called, we got up to meet one of the fabulous infertility nurses, who immediately said, "oh, I hope that is not a sign" pointing to Addie's twin bitty babies. We agreed. The nurse sat down with us and walked us through all of the shots and meds we will be using. After we are thoroughly educated, we are handed a list of prescriptions to pick up from the hospital pharmacy. We arrive at the pharmacy and handed a large brown grocery bag, FULL of oral meds, injectible meds, syringes, needles, etc. I'm fairly certain my blood pressure shot through the roof and the pharmacists voice was drowned out by the blood beating in my ears. We knew there would be a lot of meds and shots but actually seeing them all there was overwhelming. The best part about this experience was watching the pharmacist total all of the meds up and watching the cash register stop at $218. We had been told to expect the meds to cost around $2500. Our insurance, that covers none of this IVF process, had covered a majority of our meds. My mouth dropped wide open. I asked the pharmacist to run it through again and just about took off running with the meds before he could catch the error and retotal it. Amazing! There was no error!  We have taken out a home equity line to afford all of this and this surprise co-insurance took some of the pressure off. Now if we could just get them cover some of the other $18,000 we would be set. :-)
May 16th, 2012- we start the Leuprolide shot (20 units a day). Leuprolide is a med that keeps my body from ovulating too soon and releasing the immature follicles. It is a sub-q shot which means it is given with a short needle and can go in my thigh or stomach. I will get one of these every day until we hear otherwise. We have decided to do the shot in my thigh and save my stomach for the other two injectible meds, Follistim and Menopur. So far, the shot has given me a skin rash reaction that lasts about a day and is super itchy. Then it turns into a small bruise about the size of a blueberry. What makes that shots doable is the fact that Addison has always been my sidekick with shots. She holds my hand and always kisses the spot where I get the shot. I focus on her little hand in mine, her big brown eyes staring into my mine, the little smiley smirk on her face and the question she asks after every shot, "Mama, is their a baby in your belly yet?". "Soon, Addie. Soon".
May 22nd, 2012- off to the lab for my first blood draw to check my estradiol level. A phone call to the automated Patient Information Line at the U of Iowa tells me my level is 20 and is right where it should be. Next step, start the Follistim shot daily on Saturday, May 26th and return to the lab for another blood draw on Tuesday, May 29th.
May 26th, 2012- we start the follistim shot. This shot helps stimulate my ovaries to develop many follicles and mature eggs. It is also a sub-q shot and goes in my stomach. I think Deb really likes giving shots. The Follistim comes in a pen that you dial up, much like a pen someone with diabetes would use. She dials it up to 150 and then sticks it in my stomach and we watch as the little plunger spins in a circle as the meds go in.