That wasn't so bad!

My second shot was a lot easier for me to do!  Was only nervous for just a second...

But I forgot about these killer estrogen headaches.  When on estrogen only, many times women have serious headaches from the hormonal imbalance.  You forget about them until they happen again.  I will likely continue to have them until April 9 when I start my progesterone injections to help balance those hormones out. 

In other news, our house is in shambles! We move to an apartment on Friday and move the majority of our belongings to DC to put in storage. We were also assigned a house on our new base and will be moving up there around June 9.  Check out our cute house-- we chose this neighborhood because it is quaint and cute.  It is historical.  We are losing 1,000 square feet from our current home but what we are losing in space, we are making up in character!  There is also a basement where laundry is.  We will be on the base up there because living in the greater DC area is ridiculously expensive to live and the traffic is a nightmare!  We are compromising a bit on the home we live in, but we will have a better quality of life without Kurt sitting in traffic for hours!

Link to our new neighborhood!

Lots of being busy happening in the next two weeks!!  Will keep everyone up to date on how the shots and lining checks! 

The anticipation was INCREDIBLE!!!

 

This bag of meds came on Tuesday with a few other things in the package.  I was given instructions to take Birth Control Pills until Tuesday night.  Get blood work and ultrasound on Thursday then wait for results for instructions to start injections.  

The ultrasound was unremarkable (and that is a good thing!)  My lining was 8mm because I had not started my period to shed my lining yet.  8 is a bit thick for a baseline ultrasound but I will likely shed some lining since I stopped taking BCPs on Tuesday.  At baseline ultrasounds, they are looking for ovaries that have no cysts, no lead follicles that might kick out a mature egg, also to make sure the lining/uterine walls look smooth without any obvious polyps or large fibroids.  

This is what my ultrasound looked like on my uterus/endometrial lining.  

The darker 'circular' area is the uterus and the bright white inside the circle inside the uterus is the lining.  

 Here are the measurements-- they are in cm so that means that .8cm for my lining means that it is 8mm (mm is how they usually measure -- or the more recognized across the surrogacy boards).  Also she measured every one of my follicles which none were mature-- mature is 20mm and mine were all around 5-7.  This just means my ovarian reserves are good.  Other measurements are included... 

Also I had bloodwork drawn -- Quant Beta (This test is the blood pregnancy test-- they give it to ensure no accidental pregnancy has happened prior to starting hormone medication) -- That was negative of course.  Also a baseline Estrogen and Progesterone level was drawn.  I am unsure what the results were but they were within the range that they expected. 

Next up was starting medications.  So I got that big package of meds-- I was fine with them when I saw them.  Then I pulled out the 12 page instructions from the clinic about how to administer medication.  I have medical training, I have given many injections.  Then I read the part about sticking the needle into the muscle all the way to the plastic part.  I get ill... Like 'What the heck did I sign up for?'  My palms got sweaty.  I go in and draw it up.  And the needle is somehow even longer than I remembered.  Seriously look at this needle-- it is HUGE!  

Let this sink in-- I will be doing one shot a day for 12 weeks and another shot every 3rd day in the same small area.  So I pull the instructions out to show my husband.  We took a little 'class' at the clinic, but that was back in November and this is March and he may have forgotten, and besides it was my butt he was putting a needle into.  My palms were still sweaty.  "Do you see this picture?  It needs to be on the X'"  He assured me that he had it and called me a Sally and told me to just turn around and let him do his job.  My last words were "Don't hurt me!"

So there I was, following instructions, heart pounding, sweating.  And it was over.  I barely felt it.  I was a wreck for what?  Easy peasy.  But this is only .15ml and not thick like the 1ml progesterone that is known for causing lumps!  Next injection won't be until Monday I think-- I haven't committed the schedule to memory but it is hanging out on my bathroom mirror and reminders in my phone! 

So far so good!  And go ahead, call me a pansy-- But something about the build up that makes us nervous then we realize "that wasn't so bad!"

More info about medications and other updates

I just wanted to come back and just talk a little about the different meds I am on and what is expected of me with the cycling. 

This week, I will stop taking birth control on Tuesday.  I will have my baseline appointment for ultrasounds and blood work on Thursday the 19th.  Baseline ultrasounds are vaginal ultrasounds that are looking at the ovaries to make sure there are no cysts, it is making sure there is a nice smooth uterine cavity with no obvious deformities and it is making sure the lining is the correct thickness for the beginning of the cycle.  I have been on birth control for about 6 months now.  The Birth control helps to 'keep the ovaries quiet' meaning it makes sure there is no ovulation which could cause cysts.  That is the important part that BCPs have in the process for surrogacy/IVF.  Also, at this appointment, I will have blood work done.  My progesterone, estrogen and beta (test looking for hCg -- pregnancy hormone) to make sure I am not pregnant.  This is standard in IVF protocols because they do not want for the carrier to be pregnant and medications be started.  (No concerns of that in this house though!) 

On Friday, if everything is normal with my ultrasound (which we are anticipating) I will start my del estrogen shots every third day.  The estrogen in the early part of the cycle is to build up that lining inside of the uterus.  It usually is around 3mm or less when the lining has been shed by a period.  The estrogen will help to build it up so that it is nice and fluffy and prepared for an embryo to snuggle in!  

On April 8, I will have another ultrasound completed as well as the same blood work (minus the beta) to see how thick the lining is and to make sure the levels of estrogen are good.  

Just before transfer, I will also start progesterone in oil shots.  These are 1cc each and many people have issues with lumps from this injection due to the thickness of the oil.  The progesterone is the hormone that signals the body that it is pregnant and not to shed the lining.  In a standard normal cycle, the Luteinizing hormone (Lh) will signal the body to release an egg.  When that egg is released the Lh also signals the body to begin making progesterone to keep the lining nice and thick.  If a woman gets pregnant naturally, the placenta of the embryo will begin to produce progesterone and will signal the body to not shed the lining or have a period.  If a woman is not pregnant, the progesterone will stop being made by the body and the level of progesterone will drop rapidly thus causing a woman to have her menstrual cycle and shed her lining.  So this thick oil will be continued until about 12 weeks because the body is being put into a false state of pregnancy and until the placenta/baby can sustain the progesterone itself naturally, the doctors alter the hormones by giving the injections or sometimes they do vaginal suppositories.

Sometimes reproductive endocrinologists (the doctors that get us pregnant) will also require antibiotics and steroids and also valium just before transfer.  I do not see the medications listed on this protocol, so right now, I am assuming that I will not be using these medications during transfer.  They prescribe antibiotics to reduce chance of infection when anything is put into the uterus.  Steroids are given because there is some research indicating that it helps aid in the body not rejecting the embryo.  Finally the valium is given to help reduce cramping during and after transfer.

Then of course we have the transfer on April 14.  I have a friend going with me to keep me company on the ride and in the hotel so I am stoked for a couple of days of girl time!

Between now and the transfer, our family will be moving from our beautiful house to an apartment.  We were fortunate and sold our house to a friend (also a military family) but her husband deploys in May and she wanted to be established before her husband left which is totally understandable! We don't move to the DC area until mid-june so we will move to an apartment until we leave this base and then again in June.  We are moving most of our household goods to storage in the DC area.  We will be virtually camping in a beautiful apartment for a few months, but again, we feel blessed that we were able to sell our house!


Finally, I sent a package to L.  Some of this stuff I had since our cruise in December.  I have just been holding onto it.  I got her a scarf that just looked like the trendy woman that L is and a clay ornament from Cozumel that I thought was beautiful.  I also got her an Origami Owl necklace and plan to add charms to it throughout the journey!  I chose hope, faith and blog for our first 3.  I think the first two are obvious why, but the blog is a big part of our journey because of you faithful followers! We can share this with the WORLD (literally) with the click of the share button! She received this gift and loved the things I sent-- She is so fun to shop for because she is so stylish!

https://graceful.origamiowl.com/ (In case you want to check out the wonderful Origami Owl Collection!)


I will be sure to update after my appointment on Thursday with how the ultrasound was and if I am lucky, they will give me a couple of print outs for everyone to see what they are looking at and measuring!  Also I will as L if I can share other exciting news too! 

Ciao. 

Update on our transfer date!

Short but sweet update for our Transfer Date!

It will be on April 14!

Here is a photo of my medicine and ultrasound schedule!  I will update more to explain what these medications are for in the near future, but for now, I have some school work to tend to!  Injections will start on March 20 so just 10 days until we start meds aside from birth control!