Happy New Year!

So I realize it's been awhile since I've done a new post about our journey, so I'm finally sitting down and writing one.

When I last posted, we were in a month of trying to get pregnant "the old fashioned" way ;) Well I got excited that cycle because it was longer than normal, I ended up going to Buffalo for a pregnancy blood test on a Saturday, thereby not receiving results until Sunday. I got a phone call Sunday morning that it was negative, and hours later my cycle started...hence, my body hates me! If only I'd waited another day, I would have saved myself the copay, gas money, and time to get a test I didn't need.

My next cycle, I went back to the treatment pre-surgery. I started out on the Femara pill, then took the Follistim shot, then the Ovidrel shot 36 hours before insemination. Since Casey is now laid off, he came to the insemination with me. That same morning, a fellow infertile friend had an insemination. I asked her how it went on my way to my appointment, and she told me that her's was horrid! She said it was very painful and that the nurse was very rough with her. I asked her to describe the nurse to me and it happened to be the same nurse that I once had and had a painful insemination with. Inseminations are not meant to be painful, they can be uncomfortable at times, but definitely should not be painful. As Casey and I waited in the waiting room, after 30-45 minutes (very unusual wait time), we were called back by that same nurse. My stomach instantly sank and I became very nervous. I was almost in tears knowing that she'd be doing my insemination. Well before the insemination, they do an ultrasound. This was a very uncomfortable ultrasound (which normally they are not), which made me even more nervous for my insemination. The insemination was long and painful. When it was time to leave, Casey talked to a fellow nurse and asked if there was anyway that I could chose to not have her again. It's not something they can put in our file (which is understandable) but when we checkin we can request to have a specific nurse or request to not have a specific nurse, thankfully. I'm already emotional about this whole thing, I need to be as comfortable as possible when having a catheter inserted!! I know most people would agree here!! Anyways, unfortunately a new cycle started two days after Christmas. Thankfully the day it started, I had plans to do lunch and shopping with a friend. That definitely helped get my mind off things for a bit. Thanks Lindsay! :-) Anything to take my mind off starting a new cycle is a good thing!!

So we're doing one more cycle of the same combination Femara, Follistim, Ovidrel and IUI. They've upped by dosage of Follistim this time, so hopefully that'll help! I've been monitored via bloodwork which checks the Estrogen levels. Ohh and I've given myself every single Follistim and Ovidrel shot in the last 2 cycles, go me!! (I guess it's not necessarily a good thing I'm getting good at these). The one I gave myself tonight kinda hurt, and so did last nights! I think the skin gets a little tender after a few days of the shots. So I have bloodwork tomorrow morning (Saturday) and I'm assuming I'll go back into the office on Sunday or Monday for bloodwork and ultrasound. I'm guessing my IUI will be somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday, my guess is it'll be Wednesday. Then we'll wait and see what happens.

In the meantime, on Thursday January 12, we have an IVF consultation with Dr. Sullivan. IVF is also known as In Vitro Fertilization. This will likely be the last thing we do to hopefully beat infertility. It is considered to be the most expensive and most intensive infertility procedure. My guess is that if this cycle's IUI is not successful, we will begin IVF. I don't know a whole lot about IVF, I mean I know they take my eggs and Casey's sperm and put them together to make an embryo and then insert 1-4 back into my uterus, but I'm not sure what meds I'll be on and how often I'll have to be monitored. I'm assuming the meds will be like the ones I'm on now, but my guess is I'll have to be monitored closer, therefore more ultrasounds and more bloodwork. I've found a couple links that describe the IVF process and it is very interesting. I'm really hoping it works. At least doing all this, I'll know that I've done everything possible to conceive my own child, and hopefully I'll have the piece of mind knowing that I did what I could do. One link I found is through the American Pregnancy Association it basically explains IVF in "Layman's" terms. Another link I found is a Youtube video that's a 3D animation of how IVF works.

So that's what's been going on with us! I'm still hopeful that we will get pregnant.

Onto fun stuff, we're going to Vegas January 21 through 28th, I absolutely cannot wait!! We definitely need a vacation to get away and to get things off our mind!! I really hope that Vegas will bring us some good luck!! Casey plans on doing some gambling, I might play a couple slot machines but that's about it! I'm more interested in seeing everything and shopping!! I can't wait to see all the ritzy stores that I dream about! :-) We will be taking a day to go to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, I've heard that it's breathtaking, I cannot wait to step foot onto the Skywalk and look down! Haha! And take tons and tons of pictures and use my new Flip video camera!! We're also going to visit the Hoover Dam as well. Hopefully we'll see a couple shows as well! I know that it'll be a busy week, but I can't wait!!

I'm still selling Miche Bags and loving it!! Definitely a great thing to get my mind off things and have some extra fun! I got a new website which is pretty awesome, check out My Website! Feel free to shop around and let me know if you have any questions! I'm looking for parties. I want to share the word on how awesome this product is! :-)

Anyways, thanks to everyone who's reading and offering their support. Since I've started writing my blog, I've received support from people I didn't realize I'd receive support from and it's been great! Writing has definitely helped me to express everything I'm feeling emotionally and to just get it out there! So Thank You!! :-) Happy New Year!