Looks like I'm on overachiever....again.

Growing follicles...Most of mine are over 1 cm now!


Today was another followup visit to Nashville. Our drive up was uneventful and we arrived about 20 minutes early. We were taken back a pinch early, but to different areas. Adam had to cryopreserve his sperm today ($300 extra dollars), so he went into the "man room," while I headed to the lab. I had my Estradiol level drawn then headed to the ultrasound room. My ultrasound showed significant growth in my 20 or so follicles today, which is good! I kind of knew that though because I can FEEL my ovaries (inside...not from my belly)! As best I can measure, they've grown from a normal size approximating a kumquat/olive to a kiwi/tangerine in 48 hours. Looks like I'll have grapefruits by next Friday!

This afternoon, we received our telephone call with future instructions. Turns out, my estrogen went from 469 to 906 in 48 hours. While we want it to rise, doubling is a bit excessive! They dropped my Repronex again to 225 units tonight and guess what??? I get to drive to Nashville AGAIN tomorrow...sigh. Basically, I'm driving up to a specialty lab to have another level drawn. Then sometime after 5, I have to call Dr. Vasquez for instructions on how to adjust my medications.

I'm WAYYYYY overachieving at this point, which is good (that my ovaries work) and bad (that they work way tooo good). Hopefully the labs will be ok tomorrow. As expected, I go back on Monday for another ultrasound and blood draw. Thankfully, I have good veins! Can't do anything the easy way....it's in the Dampier genes!

Great Day!

This is what my ovaries look like right now.....Today was overall, a great day! I got up at 5am to get showered and head to Nashville. The traffic was really light (now that school's out), and I arrived 40 minutes early. I sat in the lobby and read my Nook Color while I waited. I was called back relatively on time and started with my labwork. I'm constantly impressed by the women who work in the lab! They seem to never miss and cause almost no pain! (Which is a good thing, since it has to be drawn so often.) I then went back to the ultrasound room and had my first "stimulation" ultrasound. I watched it and saw several follicles, but couldn't keep up with the ultrasonographer's counts as she was so fast! After it was over, I headed back to the hospital where I did 4 cases (2 of which were fairly big) and just got home about 15 minutes ago.

While operating, Anita at CRH called to let us know that we had 20 follicles on ultrasound and my estrogen was 469. (On Friday, my estrogen was under 60 and was likely approaching 0 on Sunday.) For only 3 days of stim drugs, my response is practically perfect! So, I'll take my same dose tonight (4 amps Repronex) and tomorrow I'll decrease the dose to 3 amps. Will continue my same Lupron dose for now as well. So, still 2 shots per day until Friday! I go back Friday for more labs and another ultrasound. If things continue to go this well, our egg retriveal will be next Friday for sure (the 24th)!

Also, our vet called today. Fonzie's repeat hearworm test was negative!!! They will recheck him in one month and if negative again, he's good to go! I am soooooo very grateful for this news and will just hope for the best next month!

We did it!!!

Well, tonight I survived the first "stim" shot! I guess the hormones hit their all time low today (which is technically a desirable thing) as I could hardly get off the couch. Other than showering, going to the hospital to round for a few hours, and going to dinner, I've been parked on the couch all day! (NOT like me at all....)

Because I felt so washed out, I was eager to start the hormones today! We have to take the shot around the same time every night (within 1 hour), so we picked 7:30pm. Ms. Lokey came over to help and give Adam some moral support...and to be supportive to me as well. Adam has never given any type of injection before and has a huge issue with needles. So...this was a BIG deal to him!

Overall, I'd give him a B+....or maybe an A-. He did everything right, but was a pinch slow. Ms. Lokey helped him and talked him through the process step by step. I'm glad it's done (for tonight) and that each day will get easier and easier...at least from an injection standpoint.

I'm thrilled that the process has officially begun and just pray that we see some growing follicles on Wednesday! Thanks to everyone who has sent messages and left comments these past few weeks. I've read and deeply appreciated every one of them!

June 10 Visit to CRH

Well, yesterday we went to the Center for Reproductive Health in Nashville (CRH) for our "suppression check" and "teaching" session. Since May 29, I have been taking Lupron injections daily. The goal of Lupron is to suppress the ovaries to prevent ovulation and hormone production. In layman's terms, it mimics menopause. So.....it's been an interesting couple of weeks! Overall, I've done fine. I'm still not too fond of giving myself shots in the tummy, but I HAVE managed to do it on time every day! I have mild headaches from the drug and some facial flushing, but really nothing that dramatically impacted my day-to-day life.

We were taken back quickly by Anita (the IVF Nurse Cordinator). She organized each medication into separate bags with cute labels...practically idiot-proofing them! She them went through exactly what we were to do and allowed Adam to "practice" his injection skills. His practice round went well from the standpoint that he didn't pass out, but I'm a little nervous... He REALLY wants to give them and be a part of this process (he gets the "good" part), so I'm going to grit my teeth and bear it tomorrow night... I will have Ms. Lokey with us though, so that she can inject if Adam wimps out (or hits the floor)! We were given our schedule and then send down the hall for our ultrasound and labs.

The ultrasound looked great (thin lining and lots of follicles) and I assume the estrogen level was low. (Anita said that no afternoon phone call meant good news.) So, we are good to start the next phase. We have survived the suppression phase and are now starting the stimulation phase tomorrow.

For those who really want to know, here are details:
Today: Last dose of Lupron 10 unit suppression.
Tomorrow (Sunday) through Wednesday: Start Doxycycline twice a day (both of us). Decrease Lupron to 5 units per day. Start Repronex (hormones) via hip injection nightly. So, looks like 2 injections per day at least until Wednesday's appointment!

Will post any "new" news Wesnesday... I did learn about my week of bedrest yesterday, which was NOT what I had in mind! From Monday the 27th through Friday, July1, I can't shower or get out of bed for ANYTHING except for using the restroom! They are VERY strict about the bedrest protocols... I even have to eat in bed. Since I'm not lazy and I'm definitely not someone to stay in bed, that is going to be an interesting week for sure.... Hormonal, dirty with frizzy hair, and on steroids.....watch out!

More to come on Wednesday... If things do work out and everything goes according to the schedule, we'll have our first pregnancy test on July 8. If they don't, we'll at least know what to expect!

Our Sad Days...RIP Lilly

Well, the Memorial Day weekend was wonderful. Unfortunately, the rest of the week was a doozy. I worked really hard and did several cases during those 4 days. On Thursday night, we noticed that Lilly just didn't look good. Her apetite had been poor for several weeks, despite feeding her all of her "favorite" foods. I knew that I might have to make a tough decision, but was going to take a "wait and see" approach over the weekend. Unfortunately, despite trying everything we could think of (including letting her bask outdoors), Lilly died on June 3, 2011. She was nearly 16 years old and I had had her in my care since March 12, 1996. We took her to the vets and had her creamated. She was with me almost half of my life, so it's definitely weird to wake up and not have to feed her and buy greens for her twice a week! Overall though, she had a great life and I'm glad to have had her in mine for so long! RIP Lilly

If that wasn't enough, we found out this Wednesday that Fonzie (our 13 year old chihuahua) has heartworms. At this point, 3 different vets are reviewing his tests to determine what the best course of treatment will be (if any). It's complicated because of his age and his history of a heart murmur before heartworms... Will just have to wait and see what the recommendations are next week. I'm pretty worried about him. Thankfully, he's his normal (slightly less active) self for now though!

Memorial Day Weekend (continued)....

Not my best look, but still a good pic!

On Sunday, Dad declined his invitation to hike again. Adam and I slept in and then headed out to Meigs Creek Falls. We thought it was an easy hike and we felt like we were "game" to do it. Unfortunately, Sunday was hotter and more humid that Saturday had been! We started our 3 mile hike which consisted of LOTS of elevation changes, sunshine, and creek crossings. Finally, we made it to the falls! We took some photos and headed down the trail. I had a craving for the Melting Pot, which I knew had recently opened in Gatlinburg. So, sweaty, hot, and wet, we had a nice dinner at Melting Pot!

On Monday, we had breakfast at Old Mill and headed home. Overall, it was a GREAT weekend outdoors in the Smokeys!

It's Back...Starting with Memorial Day Weekend

Well, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind for sure! I've had several emails and notes and figured the blog was the easiest way to tell "everyone" what was going on in our lives! This is going to be a long post......
On Memorial Day Weekend, Adam, Mom, Dad, and I went to Pigeon Forge. We arrived Friday night and got settled in our hotels after a shopping trip at Bass Pro Shop. On Saturday, we all had breakfast at Cracker Barrell. Dad, Adam, and I then went to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail to hike to Rainbow Falls. Because we had to park quite a ways from the trailhead, we actually hiked 6.6 miles round trip with 1800 feet of elevation gain! It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.

Dad and I on the trail at the "teaser" falls!

Adam and I at Rainbow Falls.

After we finished our hike, Mom and Dad met up with their friends and Adam and I went for dinner and Old Mill Icecream. We had a rough night (probably from being so sore), so slept in Sunday morning. (Actually, I got up at 7 to start my shots, but went back to bed....)

More to come in next post....had to break it up for photos.