Wednesday 28 November 2012

Fourth appointment, Day Seven of stims

Well we had another ultrasound today and all looks well!! Dr. G is very happy with the way things are progressing - we have many follicles anything from 7.8-14.3 mm - so we are slowly getting there!!

Next ultrasound is Saturday, and our tentative retrieval date is still Monday, December 03 - which is going to be here before we know it! It is very exciting!

We are lowering my medication tomorrow night just to ensure that we don't suffer from OHSS, we thought we would have lowered it tonight but my estridol rose to 772 and Dr. G thought it would be higher, so Dr. G wanted one more day at the higher dose, which is "A" ok with us.

DH asked Dr. G if everything is on track and he said he couldn't be happier - so that  is a good sign right?!

One thing that has my mind spinning now - is during my U/S today - Dr. G asked me if I ever considered being a egg donor (because I have sooo many follicles) wow something to think about - I mean with our first IVF attempt - we had 45 oocytes retrieved and I thought that was a lot and it was a "record" for my clinic at that time and from that we had 30 mature eggs - now if things went right and we had even 20 of those fertilize (oh if only) I would NEVER use them all - now I am wondering how many we will get here - Dr. G went on to tell me he has a patient who has no interest in having children but she does egg donation - and she is a regular at giving 85 oocytes!! yes you read that right 85 oocytes at a retrieval and NEVER suffers from OHSS - this boggles my mind - and obviously after hearing something like that it was a hot topic for my DH and I this afternoon.

I don't think that I would right away donate (and right away I mean this cycle), but obviously freeze any extras (here's to hoping) and then using them and maybe when we think we are done expanding our family then maybe at that point consider donation -but that is so, so far away - can't really make a decision at this point - but still 85 - WOW

Oh the hormones are definitely doing their thing - I can feel my tummy becoming tender I guess - that's the best way to describe it -
And I had a crying spell again - oh my poor DH - the tears just started flowing last night in the lounge of our hotel - no reason - we were just sitting there and the waterworks started - poor guy - damn hormones - but it only lasted a couple minutes and then they were over, he never knows what to do - and if he looks or tries to ask why - I just cry harder - but he did his job - he got me my tissue and that made it all better - oh the simple things to make it stop - lol - but it's all part of our journey and something I hope he has come to accept!!!!

Now we have a couple days to ourselves, we will golf tomorrow and maybe do a tour on Friday - maybe the lagoon boating tour - where you drive these mini boats yourself (I do not do well on boats, especially if we head into the ocean) so I hope I do ok - it's only two hours - so I am hoping I can last - I should do ok in the lagoon area since basically it's like a lake - and I can do lakes back home - but if we head into the ocean to snorkel - we may have a completely different experience - hoping the sun re-appears soon - these overcast days are not so much fun!!

I will probably post again on Saturday or Sunday after our next appointment - and hopefully soon sit down to give you all the down low on our "history"

Till next time!!

Thanks for reading :-)


Tuesday 27 November 2012

Third Appointment

Well we had our first ultrasound yesterday and Dr. G is happy - we have lots of little follicles all ranging from 6.2-9.8mm in size - in Canada I needed my follicles to be 18-20mm in size I haven't asked what they need to be here but I am assuming it is the same. Because of my PCOS I have lots so he never gave me an "official" count but I am ok with that - its something I've come to accept with the PCOS. Our estridol levels rose to 347 from I believe they said 42 on Saturday another good sign, still on the same dosage - from the sounds of it Dr. G won't increase it - if anything we will decrease he really wants to prevent OHSS so that we can do a fresh embryo transfer, and that's what we want!

We are back at the clinic tomorrow for another ultrasound and I can definitely feel some "action" happening. It's almost like cramps but not really - hard to explain but that's the "jist" of it (I know that's not a real word!!!!)

Today is a veg day - no sunshine very overcast but super humid - we found a great massage place about a kilometer away from our hotel $30/hour and wow it was amazing we will DEFINITELY be paying them another visit or two while staying in the zone here.

Cheers to day 6 of stims! Keep growing little follicles!!!!!

Saturday 24 November 2012

Second appointment

Well we had appointment #2 today! It was just to check my estridol levels and I am guessing everything is going well as my dosage has not changed.

Back to the clinic Monday for my first ultrasound - hopefully we have some good growing going on!!!

We met a couple at the clinic today from Philadelphia - they are nearing the end of their journey they have their Egg retrieval(ER) on Monday, we wished them much luck, they were sweet, they also had nothing but good things to say about FCC.

Day 3 of stims and I am feeling good - i just need to remember to drink lots of water and start on the Gatorade train to try to prevent OHSS.

Finally Mr. Sunshine made a good appearance today, we hung out at the sister hotel of our resort as my cousin and her bf and some of their friends are also down here so it was nice to spend the afternoon with them!

Had a little cry at dinner my poor DH but I couldn't hold them back!!!! It was nothing bad, we were just discussing how happy we are with our decision and how right everything feels and talked about how great everyone is here and the tears just came - not a full on bawl just happy tears I guess - darn hormones lol!!!!

Well we have tomorrow to ourselves so we are off to golf in the morning, hopefully beach time in the afternoon and then we are off to a steak/lobster house tomorrow night that Dr. Gaytan recommended with my cousin and her entourage of people that are also here so it should be a good day!!!!

Till next time xo

Friday 23 November 2012

First appointment

Well we had our first appointment yesterday at Fertility Center Cancun and what a wonderful experience. It started by us being picked up by Sheri of IPF - what a wonderful lady she is - she took us to our appointment. When we got to the clinic we were greeted by Emma who seems to play the role of the office manager - it's amazing to see the cultural difference compared to Canada, I've only ever emailed with all these ladies prior to my arrival and we were greeted with hugs by everyone and made to feel so welcome. Then we met Daniela who is the "head" nurse and seems to be Dr. Gaytan's right hand lady - she took us into our examination room which was comfortably large, there is a sitting area and then you go back a bit and it's the ultrasound area and a big bathroom to change into your gown. I went and got changed and then sat on the examination chair - it was awkward to sit in as your straight up and then it raises and lays you down so you can have the U/S performed and wow do you lay high compared to my u/s in Edmonton - it was surprisingly comfortable. And the technology - WOW - very new compared to the clinic in Edmonton - Dr. Gaytan had his monitor and DH and I had a high def tv to look at the u/s while it was performed - just had a checkup u/s to make sure everything is "quiet" and ready to "endure" the next 10-13 days - and we are good to go! So we started our stim meds last night. We are starting on 225 IUI of Gonal-F and 75 IUI of Menopur.

Dr. Gaytan wow what a doctor - again I've only had email communication with him prior to our arrival and one phone call and when he came in the room what comfort we both felt with him - and he knew his stuff - he actually knew my history!!!!!!! He Knew I had slight OHSS on our previous IVF attempt and my thyroid and PCOS history - so he knows my ovaries need a good "kick start" so I am assuming that is why he gave me both Gonal-F and Menopur - that is one thing I need to ask at my next appointment as I only took Menopur in Edmonton. He performed the u/s and was happy . And that was it! I went to change and DH and Dr. G sat back and chatted about whatever, golf, places to see, eat etc - DH said it was a different and at the same time welcomed.

So we were giving our tutorial on how to give me my shots - needless to say nothing to learn as its the same as what I've done before and then it was all done!

We also did our first "local" experience - we took the local bus to wal-mart to get some things we didn't bring with us - surprisingly easy and it only cost us a dollar each to take which DH thinks we "overpaid" as we used US $$$ as we had no pesos on us.

So now we relax till Saturday when we have our next appointment. We just need these clouds to disappear and see some more sunshine!!

Thursday 22 November 2012

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Made it to Cancun!!!

Well we made it! We've settled into our hotel and are taking tonight to ourselves - I did not get much sleep last night - my brain was going a million miles a minute. We are heading to FCC tomorrow afternoon, hopefully AF shows herself tonight or tomorrow so we can get this show on the road tomorrow night!!!

Entry 1

Well this is my first entry - it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for me as I have been battling the worst cold EVER - but all my tests came back healthy.
For those that know me and my dear husband, we have been trying to start a family since we got married in 2009, but so far no success :-(

Well this is my third time attempting to complete this entry, so here is to hoping that the third time is a charm!!!!

Well as I have typed before haha - on another post I will tell you everything we have tried to try and start a family.

I am very open about our journey and will tell anyone that is willing to listen. We have attempted IVF and had no luck this past summer and again more on that on another post!

For those who know us we are heading to. Mexico for an extended vacation. For those VERY close to us know its more than that - we are actually heading down to attempt IVF again - why Mexico? 1) the cost - it's half of what it is in Canada 2) I feel like a person and not a number at Fertility Center Cancun

So even though we are vacationing its a little more than a vacation for us, it is hopefully the start of our family for us!

I am very excited that our day has finally arrived, I have kept myself so busy since making the decision to go to Cancun I haven't really let it "sink in" until tonight, when I dropped my fur babies off at "grandma and grandpas" and I cried, oh did I cry - but as anyone that's gone through fertility treatments, those damn hormones are catching up, so I am bound to have another good cry in the next day or two and I've already apologized to my dear husband (DH) who knows when or where it will happen but I have a feeling it will!

I've got such a good feeling starting this journey this time - I am not an overly religious person but I've been praying and asking everyone to think of us and keep us in their prayers. I believe everything happens for a reason and the timing of this trip and when I made my decision it was sort of like Devine intervention.

I am very much looking forward to the next couple days and weeks and finally meeting everyone at Fertility Center Cancun and the lovely Sheri at International patient facilitators they all have made this journey stress free so far!!!

My intention is to update daily, so I will see if I do - if not I apologize in advance.