The Beginning All Over Again

Well I figured that blogging helped me so much the first two times I did IVF that I might as well do it again, I still look back on those posts or reference them or send them to people that need help or have questions. It's like a personal journal for me that I'll forever have, so I've decided why not. I'm writing this for me. I have a hard time remembering things. I probably should've done this for Hank's first year, oops! :/

Okay, sooooooo here's the dealio! Casey & I have wanted another baby for a long time. We love Hank so much we want him to have a sibling, he plays sooooo good with other kids, it's amazing! He's seriously going to be the best big brother. We decided, let's not wait around and at least TRY on our own because what does it hurt. Well 15 months later, and still nothing. It's funny after going through all the infertility procedures I went through and only ever getting pregnant via IVF that I would even have any hoping of getting pregnant naturally. But it's there, and I cannot help it. Getting AF month after month sucks!! It was regular for awhile which was nice, thought maybe my body was kicking itself into gear, then I'd be late, get hopeful (OMG I'm pregnant), then NOPE, hello AF! You son-of-a-bitch! I hate YOU!! Anyways......

We've been on Casey's health insurance for a year now (they don't cover IVF) and I knew they didn't. We decided to go on his insurance to get a bit of a monetary break and since I was nursing, I didn't want the thought of doing IVF jeopardize that. So we knew we could not do IVF while on Casey's insurance. Guess what?! I'll be going back on my insurance as of January 1, so we can do IVF again.

I setup a meeting with Dr. Sullivan up at Buffalo IVF a few weeks ago. It was a family outing for us. He got to visit with Hank, we got to see our favorites up there & they got to see how much Hank has grown and see one of their miracle babies! We love visiting them! They're like a family to us. We went there for 2.5 years before they released us! Anyways, Dr. Sullivan decided we know what worked to get us Hank, so let's do that again! Yay! :D

So we're in the EARLY stages of preparing my body for IVF. I know the next 5 weeks are going to fly by, so I'm very thankful for that. First, Dr. Sullivan started me on metformin again, ahh my old nemesis. I was on metformin for YEARS. It's given to women with PCOS to help regulate your cycles essentially. Metformin is known to TEAR UP my stomach (and most women's stomachs who take it). So they have you ease into the drug. Start taking it very slowly. I took it with dinner on a Friday night and it was within 30 minutes that my body was like WTF!!! Ugh, great, this again!! Thankfully, as I've been increase the prescription and up to the full dose now it's really not too bad. I have to make sure I take it on a full stomach in the mornings, or I feel like I'm going to puke, learned that lesson a couple weeks ago. And taking it right before bed after I've eaten dinner works for the night time dose. I have to be careful what I eat specifically around taking it, which is a good thing. Sometimes during the day too, that's more of a guessing game. Good excuse not to carb-load or eat greasy! Which I shouldn't be doing any ways! Haha!

Next step was to wait for AF, theoretically she shouldn't arrived around November 10th, of course not though haha. Buffalo wanted me to call up on November 17th either way, so I called, the nurse says give it one more week (since we aren't in any rush here). So after more than 2 weeks late, it arrived with a VENGEANCE on November 23rd. So I got blood work this morning, November 24th, down at Brooks. Had 7 vials of blood taken and had the best phlebotomist thank goodness!! I love when they actually listen to me when I tell them I need a butterfly needle because it was painless!!

So now the next step is waiting to hear back from Buffalo IVF about how the labs look and when I'll start the birth control. This part always makes me laugh. Going on birth control before doing IVF, doesn't that sound like an oxymoron? We need to do this so we can get my body "normal" and this way we can control when to do certain things. So I'll be on that until sometime in January.

Next things we have to do are: blood work for Casey and a sperm-analysis, which I know he's greatly looking forward to both of these haha!! Then WAIT for the NEW YEAR!!!!!! Ahhh I'm so excited!! I seriously cannot wait to give Hank a sibling :D

Oh one more thing to add, in the myst of all of this, I've had to wean Hank. I know, I know, we went WAY longer than anticipated, expected, etc. and he's only been nursing 1x/day for months, but I really loved those few minutes in the morning with him before he started tearing ass around the house haha!! I decided the last time I would nurse Hank would be his 18 month birthday (mean Mommy haha), I truly treasured that last time, more so even because I knew (or planned) it would be the last time. I just changed up the morning routine and he never once asked for it. And I'm so excited that I never even felt a thing either! I'm telling you, THAT is the way to wean!! So thankful I didn't have to go through that pain! :D

Sooooooo, that is what is going on :D So stay tuned!!

July 15, 2012

I forgot I wanted to make a post on here on Sunday and I forgot. I updated my Facebook, but since not everyone is on there, I wanted to share my status:


"Exactly 2 years ago today, Casey & I decided we would start a family. Little did we know we'd be here 24 months later childless after driving thousands of miles back & forth to buffalo, spending (idk how much) $, injecting myself with countless amounts of drugs, having prolly close to 100 ultrasounds & more bloodwork drawn than most have in their life, going under anesthesia 3 times, having many procedures & having an angel baby! Wow it's been a tough 2 years but we will prevail & have the child we deserve! I have the best husband for sticking by my side & being my rock thru thick & thin! ♥" 


Two years or 24 months is a long time - I've known people who have gotten pregnant and had 2 children during this time period! I never would've guessed that on July 15, 2010, it would have come to what it is today. No one could've prepared me for everything I would go through. Most people really have no idea what is involved with infertility. All the appointments, all the drugs, all the "poking and proding," it's just crazy. I put on 100 miles each trip I take to Buffalo, and I couldn't tell you how many appointments I've had up there. Each "easy" cycle was at least 5 times, my previous IVF cycle was at least 10 times. Crazy. Not much else I can say but crazy! Anyways, I'm hoping this is nearing the end of trying for our child. I really hope our next IVF cycle gets a happy, healthy baby in our arms. <3

The Invisible Pain

So I'm going to do a quick lunch post based off an article I came across on Facebook. The Invisible Pain of Infertility is the article that is on Redbook.com, and I found it very refreshing to read. Most of you probably didn't know about me suffering with infertility until a couple weeks ago. Only some close family and friends knew. Since I wrote my first post to just get it out there, I've received tremendous support and it feels good to not feel like I'm hiding everything I'm going through on a daily basis. There were a few lines I just wanted to quote about this article that really hit home for me, and that's about it.

• Infertility can be devastating, and it's time we openly acknowledged that. 
• Everyone has the right to privacy, of course, but that secrecy has left so many women to cope alone, in pain, and often uninformed
• When women dealing with infertility can communicate with others in their situation, they get through it in a much better state of mind and also share needed information about their options
• Even when they find a community online, the exchanges are largely anonymous; in real life, they are typically silent
• Twelve percent of reproductive-age American women — about 7.3 million — are having trouble conceiving or carrying a baby to term (that's about 1 in 8 women)
• One reason infertility is considered hush-hush is that it's wrapped up in sex, a subject Americans are notoriously squirmy about. "If you start discussing infertility, you have to talk about ovaries and semen and all kinds of things you don't usually discuss over dinner"

P.S. I'm back to work today. My back is sore, this is the longest I've sat upright in the last 4 days and I am still tired, but other than that I'm doing okay! My belly button is almost completely healed up, and my other incision looks good, it's healing well and the swelling is decreasing. Have a great day, everyone! :-)