BFN#12

Not even pr0gster0ne could keep AF from coming 2 days early.

Not Looking Good

We've been so hopeful this cycle. Optimism has run rampant in our house. Even when her temp plummeted yesterday, we tossed around the idea that it was a REALLY low implantation dip. This morning's temp eroded our confidence and the spot of blood around noon has it pretty much shattered.

Two Sets of TIny Little Baby Parts

Our very good friends welcomed their beautiful twin boys into this crazy world on Monday. Trina & I have spent every possible moment in the NICU gazing at them in all their 4 pound glory. Those little boys are amazing in every way. I couldn't be prouder of them or their wonderful parents. Being around them makes our baby fever palpable. Please, please let this be our cycle...

Spread The Love

IUI Cycle #12

OK, I'm over my minor freak out about timing. :) I think the pressure of this cycle just got to me. With the cost of these injectable cycles being so high, I just don't know if we can afford to do this again. At least not for a while. We'd have to pay down our TTC debt a bit first. Anyway...

Wed morning as we drove down to the RE's office, I was still on edge about timing and such. When we got there I asked the Dr if we could check Trina's progesterone to see if she had ovulated overnight. If she had, we'd still do that morning's IUI, but we'd skip Thurs's. He said he was sure our timing for both IUI's was perfect. That her Tues morning LH showed she was "surging" not "surged". He even drew a diagram (I heart diagrams) showing that the LH goes up to 60 or 70 at it's peak. Her LH was only 33 pointing to a true surge scheduled for Tues night. We also triggered Tues night so her body should have all the umph it needed to ovulate all 5 follies. I felt much better and apologized for being such a freak. He waved it off and said if I ever had ANY questions I should ask him. Otherwise how would I learn? Then he flashed me one of his killer smiles. I swear he should patent that thing. I know I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE our RE. :)

Once again both of the IUI's went smoothly. Barely any cramping and no spotting at all this time. Trina's cervix was open for the first IUI but closing or closed for the second. That points to her ovulating sometime between the two. Her temps have been all over the place since we started using FSH, HCG and Progesterone so we no longer have any clues for when she ovulates other than cervical opening. So far I feel really good about this cycle and our chances. I hope I can hold onto this optimism for the next 2 weeks. 

Tools of the trade.

Post-insem grin. 

   

The cute sperm-dialed timer set for her required Post-insem resting period.

New Numbers, New Questions

Around 10 last night Trina made mention of her 2 days of copious EWCM. I asked her to use one of the OPK's on her next trip to the restroom. Sure enough it was positive. Damn, she's surging before the trigger. I tossed and turned all night dreaming about her ovulating before we had a chance to inseminate. I was up long before the alarm went off. Much to my despair her temp rose .4 overnight. I was a little less than cautiously optimistic on the way to our u/s appointment this morning. Steeling myself for the worst, I was surprised when the nurse said everything looked good. I asked her if she would've been able to tell if Trina had already ovulated. She said that the follicles would have been hazier and that they would have looked "deflated" instead of round. My fears were eased for the moment and there was nothing to analyze until the numbers came in later. I really wish I was one of those people who could operate on blind hope or faith or whatever it is that happy "ignorance is bliss" people function on. Alas, I am not one of those people. I'm a person who analyzes numbers and any other form of information made available to me.

The numbers came in around noon. They are as follows:

Estradiol- 861

Progesterone- 3.3

LH- 32.8

Left Ovary- 14.22, 14.65, 14.65

Right Ovary-17.46, 17.88

I was VERY pleased to see the progesterone under 10 indicating no ovulation as of yet. I know I should've taken the nurse's word, but I'm just not very good at that. I still can't stop myself from worrying that she'll ovulate today or tonight before we inseminate. On a more positive note, I'm thrilled to see those 2 large follies. They are both bigger than the one we had last cycle. I can only hope that they will make us some twins. :) Tonight we trigger, tomorrow morning we have IUI#1 then Thurs morning IUI#2. In the meantime I'm going to try VERY hard not to "what if" myself to death...

Beautiful Numbers + EWCM

Trina has had EWCM for 2 days now. This is SO unlike her. Then today we got amazing numbers. She now has 2 great responding follicles on the right side measuring 16.92 & 16.33. She also has 3 so-so follicles on the left measuring 11.8, 12.12 & 13.62. Her estradiol went up to 656. We have another scan and set of blood work scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9am. My guess is we'll be triggering tomorrow night and inseminating Wed and Thurs mornings. So far this cycle Trina's body is doing all the right things. 

CD-8 Scan & Labs

Today was our 3rd u/s and blood draw for this cycle. We were both excited to see what this scan would show after adopting a more aggressive injection schedule. At this point last cycle, she had a 12mm follicle. It was the one and only follicle that responded and continued to grow. Today we had 3 follicles measuring 10.12, 10.94 & 11.16mm. Her estradiol is at 226 whereas this time last cycle it was only 138. So far everything looks good. I can't wait to see what Monday's appointment brings. 

And So It Begins

Last night Trina injected herself for the first time this cycle. The plan is to use 1 vial of Brave11e the first 2 nights then 2 vials the 3rd night followed by an ultrasound and blood the next morning. We're hoping for 2 or 3 responding follicles this go round instead of the singleton  that popped up last month. Our doc was nervous about upping her dose due to her high reserve, but we pushed the issue. We assured him that we would be ecstatic about one baby, elated with twins and might not even pass out at triplets. :) Anything more than that would land me on the floor mumbling incoherently. 

BFN#11

Today was our beta appointment. As our nurse took us back to the exam room she asked us if we were excited. We told her we weren't due to Trina's temp dropping significantly and the neg HPT. She offered to do the baseline u/s & blood work along with the beta. By doing it then instead of waiting for results we already knew, she saved us a trip and a copay. As we were leaving, she came out and handed us a box of Brave11e. She said they were all very sorry. They had really expected our cycle to work so they were going to help us out with the next one. We were speechless. We already loved everyone at this clinic from the quirky receptionist to the charming doctor for their professionalism, but this is a true testament to how much they care about their patients as people. We couldn't be happier to have found them. I just wish we had done it sooner. We decided that we had done enough mourning for this cycle in the past few days. We're going to embrace our clinic's good deed and look forward to the next cycle. This time we'll make our twins or at least mature enough follicles to have a chance at them. That's the plan anyway.