January 9, 2016
Hi everyone! Now I realize the title of this particular entry sounds a bit harsh, but let me clue all of you who may not know this already….for those of us who battle with infertility, patience is always the name of the game and frankly, it sucks because it feels like ALL WE DO is WAIT!!!! Let me explain what we are waiting on right now…
After Jon and I discovered the causes of our lack of success with conception, the plan developed by our RE is that we would try 4-5 rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination) with the fertility drug Clomid and a ‘trigger shot’ of HCG 36 hours before the procedure, before moving onto the last option for biological children…IVF. IVF is the most expensive, even when you have insurance, we haven’t decided what we do at that point…we will cross that bridge if we come to it.
The advantages of IUI are that it is typically more reasonable in cost, the sperm are ‘washed’ about 1.5 hours before the procedure (don’t ask Jon about the process for them to collect his swimmers, lol), the wash just means that as many good sperm as they can collect are separated from the seminal fluid and placed in small tube that connects to a catheter. This catheter is inserted past the vagina and cervix and placed directly into the uterus where all of Jon’s little guys are released into and have the best chance for survival and meeting with one of my eggs. Ovulation is timed exactly with that HCG trigger shot I mentioned before (pretty much like everything else in the world of infertility treatments).
So, we did this for the first time on December 30, the day before Jon’s 40th birthday, and I am currently winding down my two week wait where in two weeks from the IUI exactly, I have my blood drawn so they can see if I am pregnant. So, two weeks isn’t very long, right? It’s Christmas vacation from school and that always flew by, so this should too, right???? WRONG……hence, the title of this entry. These two weeks are HELL….for those of you have not been there, let me explain.
While you are laying there in the room for the ten minutes after the procedure letting your thoughts wander or praying (I did both) you also wonder how on earth you will get through the next 14 days and what can you expect. Well, for those of you who have been trying to conceive for awhile, you can probably recite the signs & symptoms of pregnancy backwards while standing on your head…I can….and I have been experiencing several of them for about the last 4-5 days. Here is the kicker, part of the IUI process is that every night I have to put these Progesterone suppositories in vaginally (TMI, I know) because Progesterone is a hormone that helps the uterine lining thicken for implantation, it ALSO can cause side effects IDENTICAL to the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. So, being that you are already consumed with paying attention to ANY change in your body because you are hoping it means you are pregnant, it is not fair that you don’t know for sure if the cause is pregnancy or progesterone. I really feel right now that there is something going on with my body that is different, so a large part of me is choosing to believe that this worked and our long wait to be parents is soon to be over….BUT, there is also that part of me that is afraid to completely believe it because I have never been pregnant before. I will update after I get the results later on the 13th.