IVF Medications

Well, its that time again. Time to start posting about our progress with infertility.   We will be doing our second round of IVF this Friday when we implant our remaining two embryos. In order to prepare my body for the big event, and to make it believe that it is already a week or two pregnant, I need to take quite a few medications. 

I begin every morning with four pills- a baby aspirin, a prenatal vitamin, one doxycycline and one Medrol.

Then I get an injection of progesterone. In my upper bottom. Where might that be you ask? Well sit up straight and put your hands on your hips. Where your thumb is touching is my “injection location”.

That needle is a bit hard to see. But nevertheless it is about 1.5 inches long.  It only pinches a bit when it goes in, but several hours later I have deep muscle bruising that makes walking and transitioning from sitting to standing rather painful. Tonight I am trying some natural bruise remedies that have been recommended. I hope it works because I don’t like the idea of poking my bruises with needles. Ouch!

I have had no shortage of people asking to help with the injections. I wonder what it says about me when so many people want to stab my toosh with a big huge needle? Hmmmm.  Anyway, Jacob helps when he can, and when he is unavailable my friend Amanda and my sister Alex both help out. Such good friends.

Then at night before bed I take one more Medrol and one more Doxy.

On Tuesdays and Fridays I get an evening poke of Estrogen as well. What fun times!

This will all continue until this Friday. After the embryo transplant, I have two more weeks of progesterone injections daily, progesterone suppositories daily, and bi-weekly estrogen injections. The prescription pills will be gone, but the prenatals continue, obviously.

My upcoming weekend (post transfer) will be spent in complete bed rest, so look for more updates to come this weekend. I’ll have plenty of time on my hands to tell you all about the transfer itself.

In the meantime, I am very grateful for all of the prayers on our behalf. Jacob and I are looking forward to a happy ending to this long and arduous trial known as infertility.

Politics

I went to the Twin Falls Republican caucus tonight. I was moderately impressed for several reasons.

1. There was a HUGE turnout.  I knew that there were a lot of Republicans in Twin Falls but I had no idea how many people would come to Canyon Ridge High School to cast their vote.  It was kind of inspiring.  The lines rivaled Splash Mountain at Disneyland. Who would have thought?
2. Things were relatively smooth.  Did it start 45 minutes later than anyone thought it would? Yes. Were there a million more people than expected? Yes.  Were people mostly wandering around looking confused? Yes.  Was there panicking? Was there anger? No. Not really.  Everyone took their turn standing in lines. Everyone was polite.  There was a method to the madness and I appreciated that.  
3. There wasn't a lot of armtwisting.  I expected to be bombarded with people trying to convince me to vote one way or the other.  But there really wasn't much of that. Some people were wearing Romney t-shirts. Others were wearing Ron Paul stickers. A few had some Santorum posters that they were waving occasionally.  In all actuality, I think most people came just to see who else had come.  It was one big meet and greet of old friends. I know I ran into quite a few old friends and thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit with them. 

I will say that I'm glad there won't be another one of these for 4-8 years. There is certainly a lot to learn about caucuses, and I'm pretty sure the next one will run smoother and be less chaotic, but I'm not in a hurry for anything but my bedtime. :)

The Third Quarter Slump

I'm at school right now. It's my prep period. This is my time to catch up on grading papers, make phone calls, and finish lesson plans.

Today I'm using it to eat chocolate, blast Broadway music, and unwind a little bit.

We've hit my least favorite part of the school year. I call it the third quarter slump.  The school year is no longer new and exciting: our pencils are dull, our brains are dull, the weather is dull, the world in general is in a slump. Last summer has become a distant memory, and this upcoming summer is painfully out of reach.

Don't get me wrong. I purposefully teach my favorite part of the curriculum during this quarter. I still look forward to coming to school most mornings (I like it better once I'm here. It never seems appealing while I'm at home, cozy in bed).

But I would feel more intelligent talking to an empty room than I do these kiddos. I LITERALLY did jumping jacks in front of the class today. I asked them to pay attention to what I was pointing at. I demanded that they pay attention to what I was pointing at. I instructed them to put down their pencils, close their binders, and give me their full attention, and finally, when I was at my wits end I began jumping up and down waving my arms frantically like I was putting out a fire yelling at the top of my voice, "Look at me, Look at me, Look at me."  Finally, I had their attention. Until I said, "Now that you're paying attention, what are the two parts of a paragraph?" (topic sentence and supporting sentences). Immediately eyes glazed over and drool formed on their lips.

Oh Sunshine, Sunshine. Wherefore art thou sunshine? Forsake thy clouds and deny the cold. For if thou wilt not, I will never be able to reach these kids. (Forgive me, Mr. Shakespeare).

My Voice

Phew! My voice did return, although even my students were a bit skeptical that it would ever happen. I think they were looking forward to a bit of a repreive from my constant nagging. Jake probably was too. : )

It did some funny changes though. There was a point where one student actually said, "Hey, at least you got your voice back, even if you do sound like a man." Thanks buddy. I wish I had recorded the many different stages of recovery. Today I sounded like a teenage boy in puberty. I'd be doing just fine and all of a sudden -- squeak!

Oh well, I'd rather have a funny voice than no voice at all. I never appreciate the telephone as much as I do the day after my voice returns.

Haha.

Thank goodness for modern conveniences.

And for the experiences in life that help us appreciate them.

Laryngitis

I’m feeling guilty today. I’m sitting at home instead of at work. I’m watching TV, eating yummy foods, and lounging around the house. I feel great. I've folded three loads of laundry, ran an errand, and played with my puppy.

I have laryngitis. 

I can not speak. I open my mouth, I shape the words, and no sound comes out. I am completely mute. I can’t even utter a whisper. I’ve tried. But after a few sentences, even that is gone and I have no sound left in me.

I’ve done my best to get it back. I’ve curled up with my new humidifier. I’ve taken a hot shower. I ate warm foods. I drank warm drinks. I’ve swallowed a million cough drops.

I’ve lost my voice before and it always comes back within a day, but now I’m worried. It’s been over 24 hours since my voice packed up its bags and moved away. What if this condition is permanent? What if I never speak again? Should I begin learning sign language? Should my students? Tomorrow when I go back to work (and I am going back tomorrow, because I was not made to be a stay-at-home dog sitter) will I be able to teach my students with no ability to speak to them? 

If any one has some secrets to share, this would be a great time. I’m not sharing them with anyone, I promise.

Say What?!

Question of the Day: What did you learn about prepositions this week?

Student Response: More than I knew before.


Well, thank goodness for that.

Trying IVF Again

I just got off the phone with the doctor’s office in Boise. They have a plan, they’re confident in their abilities, and I am feeling really good today. I am letting that familiar feeling of hope begin to settle in to my soul again. It’s kind of scary to have hope. It opens me back up to pain of failure.

I had an appointment yesterday which was kind of hard to get through. It was a painful procedure that resulted in the same information that we already knew. I felt that the whole thing was a waste of time, but in the interest of letting go and just trusting in the grand scheme of things, I went anyway. We got to go out to dinner afterwards, so the trip wasn’t a complete waste of time.

I am nervous about my extensive calendar of medications. Some meds are taken every day, some are taken twice a day, some are taken every third day. Jennifer, my specialist, has created a color-coded calendar that outlines my medical plan and comes with detailed instructions of what to do and when to do it.

I probably won’t have a lot to update on the subject for several weeks. I just have lots of medications to take and waiting to do. The official day of embryo transfer is March 16^th. That’s when things will get a bit more exciting. Two weeks after that, we’ll know our results!

That is so much easier said than done...

Who’s Really in Charge Here?

It’s been over a month since I blogged about my infertility. However, it has not been far from my mind. Very much the opposite, in fact.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been approaching the whole. . . situation, for lack of a better word, incorrectly.

On the one hand, I am trying to convince myself that I am acting in faith. I tell myself that when the Lord says that it is time for me to be a mother, then I will be. But then I turn right around and I stress about the statistics of success rates and I worry about what the doctors are going to do or say. 

Who am I really putting my faith in: my Heavenly Father or the doctors?

So here is the deal. The NEW deal. We are going to go back up to the doctors in the next few weeks, and we are going to do the implantation of the two embryos in crypto preservation. However, I am NOT going to stress about whether or not it works. I am NOT going to jump online every ten minutes to read about what “experts” have to say about IVF. I am NOT going to hype myself up about being pregnant or worry about losing the embryos.

Why? Because it does not matter how many blogs I read, or websites I look at, if the Lord says, “No, this is not your time” than there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I can do about it. If the Lord decides to say, “Yep, here’s your baby” it won’t be because I googled “IVF success rates” or decided to cross my legs in just the right way.  It doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that.  I have to back off and trust that this is what the Lord wants for me.  I will go to these doctors because they are successful, intelligent people. I will listen to their advice, and take the medicines that they recommend. And then I will sit back and say, “I have done all that I can do, and the rest is up to You.”

Holiday Update

I really didn't mean to disappear for over a month. When I said I was taking a break, I didn't actually mean from blogging. I guess if I’m not blogging about babies or school I don’t have much to say. Actually that’s not true at all. I just don’t have enough time to say it!! So, I will update with some pictures.

Right after Thanksgiving, Jacob helped me decorate the house. It was so nice to have him home to share in these holiday traditions. He even put lights on the outside of the house for me! In the dark even!

Jake completely spoiled me at Christmas time. Not only did I get a Nook Tablet and some cookware, I also got this little treasure.

We went to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the New Year. It was wonderful! It’s always fun to spend time with family!! For more pictures of our trip there please visit Sara’s blog here.

And now it is 2012! School is back in session as usual and life is settling into a good routine again.

More posts to come in the near future! Seriously, lots of posts!