3rd times a charm??

I bet you're wondering where the post is for the 2nd insem...I actually had to go back and read a little bit of our last blogs to find out what we've talked about... THAT'S how big of slackers we are!

OK a bit of recaps...or to catch myself up that is. I know I will probably mention things that we've already posted about, but in case you're just tuning in, you'll be on the same page as everyone else..hopefully. Think of it as the beginning of Glee where the guy talks really fast and tells you what happened on the last episode.

-We did our first insemination (months ago) and it ended in Sheila getting a pelvic infection because her doctor thought she may be allergic to our donor's sample. She was put on antibiotics to get rid of it before it did more damage and risk never being able to get pregnant. During that healing time, her next month's cycle was all screwed up and she actually never ovulated. Her body was stuck in cooking mode (estrogen) which means, her body kept producing eggs and growing them and growing them since the progesterone never told them to stop growing and producing and to pop out of the ovaries. When Sheila went in for her follow up appointment they checked and she had some HUGE follicles on both sides and there were smaller ones still growing. The doctor was shocked to see SO many and asked Sheila if she were on fertility drugs. We decided not to inseminate after her body popped all those eggs because we didn't want to end up being the Octo-Moms!

-After her body was all healed we were able to do our second insem which was last month. We got some bendryl for her to take just in case she is in fact allergic. I don't really recall all the details, but I do remember I was REALLY tired! We did the insem around 10pm Sept 3rd.

I don't know why she was so happy looking because I definitely wasn't...

We also did an insem the next day and I was looking a little more happy after being able to sleep..

We waited our 2 weeks and were getting slightly excited since the red lady was a couple days late only for her to burst in the door and crush our hopes. Sheila also had no complications this go around, so either our new way to transport the sample is cleaner or the benedryl is doing it's job.

OMG SIDE NOTE...As I was just typing, I hit a random button that wasn't delete and everything got erased from this post. Thank goodness for Ctrl Z!!

PHEW! Going on...

After the red lady came for a visit we were gearing up for the next 2 weeks. Making sure our donor was good to go and we had all the supplies we needed since after 2 times things start getting low. That 2 weeks went by and we were tracking her ovulation like crazy. She never got 2 full dark lines, but she's getting better at trusting her body, so we went ahead and got a sample on Oct 5th and did our 3rd try. After updating Fertility Friend it showed that she ovulated right on that day, so it was pretty good timing. We forgot to take pix this time.. :(

She's at day 9 today and her temp is slowly coming down, so I'm not too sure it worked, but we'll keep trying until it does eventually work. She's been kind of nauseated, sore boobs, and been having headaches. Those are all the same signs as the red lady is coming for a visit, so we will have to wait a few more days to see. Fingers crossed!

I had a funny thought that it would be crazy if some how I ended up getting preg from inseminating her. We're usually on or near the same cycle and I always manage to get the stuff on me! I scrub up before hand and Sheila is allergic to latex, so I don't use gloves. I always wash after, but wouldn't that just be SO weird if that actually happened?? Freaky!

I think that about does it for getting everyone caught up. I'll have to get better at updating sooner. I've just been finally working a lot, so I'm too exhausted to do anything! You don't believe me? You should see how dirty our house is!

-Amity

OK time for a funny picture....



What a bunch of slackers!!

I have been wanting to post a blog for over a month now since I don't think we've posted in like 2 months. This is basically a post to say that I'm going to post a real one most likely tomorrow. Haha I know we suck and you have to wait longer. I will tell you that Sheila is 8 days past ovulation today and we did 2 inseminations! Who0t!

So yeah...hang in there a little longer until I can gather everything I want to write about. :)

-Amity

Follow-up

I had two follow-ups after my first appointment. Basically all she did was check my temp and asked how I was feeling.

Today I told her that everything in my pelvic region is doing good. She again expressed concern about doing at home insemination and is trying to encourage me to do intra-uterine insemination (IUI). (I'm saddened by this because it makes me feel like because I don't have a penis, I am incapable of knowing the insemination process and how it works. :( )

For now I think we're gonna keep trying the at home insemination(yes, we are), at least one (or 5) more go around. If I do have issues again with it then we will explore other options. Because if I keep having infections then it will destroy my chances of ever getting pregnant. (We're going to try taking benedryl before these next insems to see if that helps with the possible allergy. Also what I don't understand is that there's no real difference in our inseminations and doing an IUI. They just stick the swimmers into the uterus instead of making them go thru the cervix to get to the uterus. Wouldn't you still get an allergic reaction? I think so.)

So, we will try again this month. Maybe... I just gotta make sure everyone is back on board. But I think Amity is ready to try again (I never wanted to stop trying, but you're health comes first.). She asked me last night if I think I'm ready because I should know my body better then anyone else.

Well, that's it for now.
-Sheila- (commentary by Amity)

In the recent news about the earthquake on the east coast I share with you this picture that I thought was funny (because no real damage was reported).

Doctor's appointment

So I know a lot of people are concern with how my appointment on Thursday went so I figure I should probably tell you guys.

So I had an appointment with my OB-GYN on Thursday morning. They ask me what's wrong and everything, so I describe my symptoms to the nurse and explain to her that we are trying to conceive. She proceeds to take my blood pressure and had me go pee in a cup. Then tells me when I get back to strip from the waist down. So I get back to my room and start unbuckling my belt when my physician comes in and says wait don't get undress just yet. She sits me down and asks me some questions, like how exactly did we do the insemination, when did we do it, and when did I start having pains.

After her questioning she tells me she wants to do an ultrasound first. The ultrasound tech explains to me what I'm seeing on the screen. It's all Greek to me... She at first couldn't find my left ovary so she had to go a different route. She found a lot of eggs in my left ovary, and four eggs in my right. She asked if I was on any fertility drugs. No I am not. Now keep in mind that I haven't ovulated since June 20th, so Amity says that if I ovulate all those eggs are gonna drop. We're hoping I don't become the next octo-mom.

So after the ultrasound I go back to my room and Kalea, my physician, tells me what the results are. I don't really recall what she said. (That's why I wish Amity was there...) She does tell me that I do have small cysts, but nothing to be concern about. I then get a pelvic exam (it actually hurt a lot) and proceeds to tell me that it looks like a pelvic infection.

She prescribed 3 different anti-biotics to "attack the infection aggressively before it gets any worse so we can avoid a trip to the hospital." And sends me to get blood work done.

I have a follow-up appointment on Monday, hopefully I'll have more details then. I'm also gonna ask for the ultrasound pictures so I can share with you guys.

So as of today, Saturday, I'm feeling better then I have. I don't know if it is the drugs because honestly, I think it's too soon to tell. My stomach does hurt more at night and early morning then anything else.

Well that's it for now. I'll have more information after Monday, hopefully.

Needing ovulation vibes!

Sheila still hasn't ovulated this month and she's on cycle day 22!! This month has been SO weird! She's had all these "symptoms" eventhough she had a visit from the red lady the 8th of July.

All day long she had excrutiating pains in her lower abdomin area. It even hurt to place a hand on her tummy. She was SO tired and crabby. I think if she could've killed me, she would've.

So, we decided maybe we should get a pregnancy test just to be TOTALLY sure that she's not pregnant and there's something wrong. Then again, if it's negative and she's having these pains, maybe there's something wrong anyway which is also preventing her from ovulating.

Yes, it is from Wal-Mart. It's close and sort of cheaper. I can't believe for just this one it was almost $4! I should invent something to pee on and give you results in 1 minute just to have it be thrown away. I'd be rich! Hmmmm...what would people need results for that they could pee on a stick..? I'm talkin males and females, not just females. I'll ponder it and let you know if I decide on something.

Looking over the directions for the test we thought this diagram picture was funny. What girl can pee like that (in a stream) without getting it all over the place or even standing up at all unless you're in the shower? I'd like to meet them and learn their trick if there is such a person.




While I was admiring this and having a photo shoot, Sheila was doing her business and we finally got the answer we were wanting to know. Negative.

We're going to monitor this pain she's having and if it doesn't get any better, off to the doctor or hospital we go! I'm curious to know if an ectopic pregnancy will also show up as a negative. I know it's looking for hCG levels, but I wonder if it differs since the embryo isn't in the uterus. Maybe we should have them do an ultrasound just to be sure? We'll keep you all posted in the next few days if we decide to go get her checked out.










Happy thoughts and vibes for us that she will ovulate soon!
-Amity

Nothing new...

Just taking temps and watching CM. The temp chart isn't as crazy as it was last month! Much easier to read.

It's a good possibility our donor will be going on vacation during the time Sheila ovulates next. We're currently on day 12 of her cycle and she should pop her egg sometime this weekend (if her body cooperates)...that being said, our donor may be in another state. Boo. But you know what? When it's our time, it's our time. It'll all work out. Everything happens for a reason. Even if we don't like it.

That's that. Short and sweet. Fingers crossed!
-Amity

The verdict is...

I like expressing my thoughts in pictures....

If you didn't get what I was trying to say, it's that this time didn't turn out how we would've liked it to. Everything in this two week wait was going really well (or so we thought). Let me explain...

Pretty quickly after the insemination, Sheila began having cramps and such and we just thought it was her ovulating and the swimmers doing their job. Her temperature rose and continued to stay really high for four days and took a small drop (.13 degrees) and stayed that temp for 5 days. In those 9 days she seriously was going to the potty it seemed like every hour, she was nauseated at smells and thoughts of food, she had tender nips and skin color changed around them, overly exhausted, emotional, and just felt like she was preg. Her cramps started up again, so we looked it up and it said that around the 10th day you can have implantation cramping. We were thinking YAY, it must have worked! Then Thursday, July 7th, her temp dropped A LOT (.42 degrees), didn't feel the same feelings anymore and had what seemed like menstrual cramps. Lo and behold, the red lady came Friday morning with a vengeance. :(

So, we've already got this month's plans going and we will try try again until it works. Hopefully this months cycle won't be SO friggen crazy, temperature wise, and just be normal...or whatever normal is.

I leave you with a fail pic that I thought was funny and had to share...

-Amity