I Survived the Scratch

Today was my scratch appt.  The scratch is the most painful appointment amongst all these other crappy appointments.  The good news is that it doesn't last very long.  The whole procedure takes about 2 min.  The pain is so sharp that it instantly brought tears to my eyes.  I am now about an hour post scratch and all I have is some mild cramping so as I write this, I have a heating pad on.

Ryan was traveling for work and I'm too wimpy to go to that appt alone so my Mom went with me.  This is us waiting in the lobby before the procedure.  Clearly it is before the procedure because I am still smiling.

  Here is a link to an article that talks in a little more detail about the procedure endometrial scratching.  Some clinics call the procedure a traumatic scratch.  My clinic called it a disturbance scratch.  The first step is just a lot of sterilization, jar on the left is iodine.  Then the catheter, and then finally the scratch.

Because I have had this procedure done before, I knew what was coming.  I am glad I can count on my Mom and that she came along.  I am even more happy that the scratch is now behind me.

Thanks for reading,
HEATHER

The Calendar & The Protocols

We received our calendar and all of our protocols and everything else that comes along with an FET.  Its exciting and nerve wracking, high anxiety, tons of fear and lots of hope and literally about every other emotion that goes along with it.  We have consulted with our naturopathic doctors, our reproductive endocrinologist, our acupuncturist, our friends in our support group, our friends in our online support group and of course the internet.  We decided on a protocol that we both feel comfortable with. We are literally doing everything we possibly can to help our embryos implant.

Our protocol includes; bcps, lupron, vivelle patches, prednisone, dexamethasone, lovenox, endometrin and antibiotics.  For treatments and procedures we are doing the scratch (Ryan is out of town but luckily my Mom is available and she will go with me), intralipids and acupuncture.  I have 4 blood tests along the way to make sure that all my hormone levels are where they should be and the last one is specifically to test my thyroid.  At the transfer, along with the embryos we will inject hcg in the catheter.  If I stay on track and all the blood tests and ultrasounds look good then our FET is tentatively scheduled for Sept 30th.  And then all that's left to do is hope and pray that this works.

Here is my latest calendar (written out on my Chargers calendar).  It is so much easier to have it all written out.  With so many drugs it makes it much easier to keep track.  Its also a great visual to know where the end goal is.  Once I start the injections, I start crossing the days off and counting down how many needles I have left.  It's little things like that that help me get through the craziness of fertility drugs.  31 injections until our FET.  Our last IVF cycle we did over 80 shots so just writing 31 makes me feel so much better.

August

September

Thanks for reading,

HEATHER

The Next Step is Finally Here

I finally got the all clear from all my doctors and started the next step of the process which is priming for the FET.  I started bcps last tuesday and I got in tomorrow for blood work and an ultrasound.  If everything checks out ok, I will get my calendar for the upcoming FET.

We are going to throw everything we can at this transfer which means doing every procedure, every drug, every supplement and every lifestyle change we can to hope and pray that this one works.

So far I have focused on my fertility focused diet and as much yoga as I can possibly do.  One day I did 3 classes!  I am taking supplements for health, being a vegetarian and for the transfer.  Next I am going to work on the mind part of this.  I just ordered some affirmation cards and I am going to start meditating on a more frequent basis.

As far as how many embryos we will transfer, at the moment we are leaning towards transferring both.  However we are always changing our minds so we still have time to change back to one only.  The final decision has to be made the day before the transfer so we have until then to decide for sure.

Lastly, my mantle of hope has grown a little bigger.  A friend gifted to Ryan and I a rock that says live to help us to remember that our infertility and our struggles don't define us, yes it is a part of who we have become but it isn't the whole part.  We have to remember to LIVE!

And on that happy note, Ryan and I are off to Kauai to celebrate our 5th anniversary, to relax and destress and get ready for our transfer.

Thanks for reading,
HEATHER

Lipoma Surgery - Follow Up

So the first day post-surgery I felt fine.  I did go to a yoga class, but I really should not have.  I pulled one of the stitches and it started bleeding.  I went to the doctor and he cleaned it up and then put a ridiculous amount of gauze around my arm and some more tape and told me I wasn't allowed to do yoga again until the stitches came out the following week.

The next day I woke up to just wanting to itch my whole arm off.   I figured it was the healing process, until I looked down.  I had bumps all over my arm and my stomach.  So I called the doctor to tell him I was having an allergic reaction.  Unfortunately this had happened before back in 2011 so I knew what was going on.  Back then I had surgery on my hip and I had an allergic reaction to the bandage too.  The doctor told me that I had developed an allergy to latex.  Since then, I have informed every doctor of my latex allergy and I haven't had another issue until now.

The doctor had me take photos and send them to him because this happened Friday night.  He confirmed that I was having a reaction and wanted me to remove to strips.  Turns out I am also allergic to the adhesive in the steri stips.  So Ryan took off the strips and I washed with antibacterial soap.  I woke up on Sunday with a horrific looking arm with blisters now from shoulder to wrist.  I went to the doctor on Monday and he walked in and literally said "Oh my gosh, I've never seen anything like that!'.  If I wasn't already feeling crappy, this just confirmed it.  He gave me a prescription for a week of steroids and told me to take tylenol pm because the steroids would keep me awake.  After a miserable 4 days, my arm has finally started to look normal again.

This was supposed to be a simple procedure with the healing time of a couple of days.  Ugh!!!  Why is every single thing I do have to be so darn complicated......


Thanks for Reading,
HEATHER