I'm finally getting home from what has been a very long day for Adam and I! At 5am, we got out of bed and got dressed to head to Nashville for our 8am appointment. Because traffic is so horrible heading north on I-24, we left at 6am and arrived around 7:15am. We sat in the car and played on our toys (Adam's new netbook and my Iphone 4) for a bit before going in. As usual, we signed in and waited for about 20-30 minutes (remember we were super early).
Anita, who is the Cordinator for IVF and will probably become a very important person in our lives for these next several months, called us back. The 3 of us sat in the conference room and signed over 20 pages of paperwork. There were some interesting questions that had to be attended to, most pertaining to the future embryos in the events of divorce, death, or us meeting our desired number of children without needing the frozen embryos. After making some careful decisions, we were done with the paperwork.
We then had a "teaching" session, which mainly went through the drug protocols and our calendar. We will continue our aspirin, high dose folate, and fancy pre-natal vitamins (as well as my usual BP and thyroid meds) through the process. I feel like a walking pharmacy!
Here's the series of planned events:
Soon (within the week): Start birth control pills and continue until May 30. Injectable meds ordered from special pharmacy.
May 29: Start Leupron injections daily.
June 10: Our next visit to Nashville for more "teaching." Start Repronex and several other injectables.
June 24: Egg retrieval.
June 27: Embryo implantation!
So, after signing all of our forms, we got a not-so-nice surprise... She informed us that today was the day for our cervical mapping.
Now, here's the TMI section...so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to read it! Cervical mapping is designed to measure the uterus with the actual embryo catheter so that on the "real" day of embryo transfer, things are perfect. Obviously, I got to undress from waist down and wait in the room with Adam. Dr. Vasquez and Anita came in. The first speculum was placed (the cheapo deal all Gyns use), the cervix was prepped with betadine, and the catheter went in. After lots of movement, he couldn't get the view and angles he needed. So, then the big metal COLD (and I mean REALLY COLD) speculum was requested and placed. Another betadine prep was done and he was then able to get what he needed. Anita warned me that when he hit the uterine walls, I would experience severe cramping. I felt it all 3 times, but really didn't think it was too terribly bad (the big cold speculum was worse). Then I showed him a tiny black spot that was in a bad place and asked if this was concerning... He was kind of worried about it and stepped out while I got dressed to call one of his collegues, who is a big Dermatology dude with Vanderbilt. 10 minutes later, I was given the address and phone number and told to head that way.
Adam and I then went back to the financial office and paid our remaining balance. We finished up at Dr. Vasquez's office and went down the street to see Dr. Horowitz(the dermatologist).
We filled out all of his forms (only 3) and were back in the exam room within 25 minutes. He was flanked by a Family Practice Resident as well as a Nurse Practitioner student (both females). After lots of "shop talk" and talk about my many moles and previous biopsies, he looked at the lesion. Once again, I had the opportunity to undress from the waist down...sigh... After some discussion about options, we decided that burning it would likely solve the problem and wouldn't do any harm. (He felt it was a vascular lesion, just atypical.) He grabbed the lidocaine and I can honestly say that it hurt like hell when he injected the lesion! (And I've had hundreds of injections...so I'm NOT a wimp!) He then burned it and we were on our way within minutes. Overall, not my favorite experience but glad it is taken care of by someone VERY knowledgeable in his field.
Adam and I came back to Shelbyville and arrived at my office around 1. I saw 2 consults, then went to the hospital to round. While there, I also did an apendectomy and just got home. So, it's been a very long day. Overall, I'm really excited about getting this process started and think things went very well today!
And by-the-way, our odds (when scientifically calculated) of twins are 53%!!!
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