On Schedule

You can see the mark another patch left.  Today is my first day doing two patches.

I flew in last night and woke up early this morning so that I could get my blood work done.  My estrogen level is 103 which means I keep to the calendar.  On Saturday I go up to three patches and on Tuesday I go to 4.  I will continue on 4 patches indefinitely (well until the doctor says to stop which I think is at 10 weeks).

Update

Well the weather in Houston decided to go crazy and start flooding on Monday (the 18th).  Thankfully, I found out before I went to the airport.  My flight had a layover in Dallas that took off on time to get there, but the flight from Dallas to Houston was cancelled.  It would not have been fun to be stuck in Dallas!  I was able to change my flight to Wednesday and now it's direct!  I call that a win!  Extra time with my parents for free!

I was freaking out a little bit (common occurrence when everything is date and time specific) since I would be missing my Tuesday check-up.  Thankfully, the doctor/nurses said it would be okay and I could go in on Thursday.

Everything else is going well.  The shots are down to 5 units and I put on another new patch this morning.  I was a little worried about how much Lupron I have left, so I put as much as I could into one of my syringes to measure it out.  It looked like 45 units.  I am assuming I have enough until the 28th.  I have made several phone calls to the insurance company and pharmacy trying to figure out if I could get another one with just a copay (instead of paying the $379.90 again).  I finally got a pre-authorization and I am hoping that they'll call me tomorrow to tell me it's covered.

I also called to see if I could get away with doing something besides the progesterone in oil shots (after the FET).  They said no.  So it looks like my butt will be quite sore for the next 11 + weeks.

Good Thing I'm Not Hairy

I am now on my third patch.  I was worried that the patches would easily fall off in the shower or from daily activities.  I was wrong!  They must make them with gorilla glue because they're pretty difficult to take off!  I actually need to use Goo Be Gone since it leaves a sticky residue on my skin.

  

Thankfully, my skin has been holding up (no rashes or extreme discomfort).  I just have a bit of redness at the patch location.  

Tuesday I go in for blood work and an ultrasound!  Hopefully my body is responding to everything. 

BTW--I am grateful I took the week to spend with my parents in California.  It was so rejuvenating!  

Patches

I am actually writing this post on the BART.  On Sunday night I decided I wanted to fly out to see my parents before things get too crazy with my shots and (hopefully) being pregnant.  I flew out on Monday morning.  It has been great spending time with them, exploring the area, and seeing their new place. They were really interested to see how I did my shots too.

Today felt like a big day.  I started wearing my estradiol patches.  For some reason, that makes the transfer seem more real.  It will happen the first week of May.

The patch has not been bothersome on my skin yet (it's only been about 7 hours though).  I was worried about how my skin would react since I have extremely sensitive skin.  I will wear the patches constantly now (even in the shower).  Luckily they're hidden on my stomach because otherwise it would look like a nicotine patch! ;) The patch(es) get changed every other day and I'll eventually make my way up to wearing 3-4 a day. 

Overall--my main complaint would be the massive headaches I've been having, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good! 

Medication Update

I took the final birth control pill on Friday (hopefully it is my last one for a while).  Now we just wait for the BB so I can start Vivelle Dot patches on Day 3.  My insurance only covered the generic brand and so my patches are called Estradiol.  These patches are an estrogen replacement therapy.  We have to manufacture my monthly cycle so that my body is ready to receive the embryo at some point in May.  

So far, this round of frozen embryo transfer (FET) medications has been a lot less expensive than the retrieval drugs. My retrieval drugs were $671.78.   My most expensive medication for the FET is a progesterone suppository that is taken nightly when it gets closer to the embryo transfer date.  My out-of-pocket cost for the suppository was $105.

The crazy thing to me is how expensive all these drugs are (and we have good insurance).  Thankfully I didn't throw out any of my unused medication because reusing a couple from the retrieval round saved me $280 for the FET round!  I had exactly 4 azithromycin antibiotic pills left (corresponding with the number of days needed this round) and more than half of my Lupron left.  Each of these drugs would have been an additional $60 and $240 respectively.  All I had to do was ask my pharmacy for additional needles and those are free!

Lesson Learned--Never throw out any leftover medication out!  It may save you several hundred dollars!

Day 2 of FET Shots

While prepping my nightly 9 PM shot, I ice my leg to reduce the amount of pain.  As soon as the shot is over, I put the ice back on for a few minutes.  Even though I iced it tonight, it took me tree tries on different parts of my leg before I finally could push it in all the way.

Sometimes during the day (especially at night) I think of our one healthy frozen embryo hanging out on ice.  I wonder if he/she is up in heaven just as anxious as me for the transfer.  I will sometimes try not to get my hopes up, but other times I can't help myself.  I'll randomly giggle thinking about our little ice baby.  It is amazing that science is allowing us to grow our family this way.  As I told a friend on Facebook yesterday, the shots are temporary, but a baby is forever.  So though needles are one of my least favorite things in the world, it is not the end of the world. =)  

The first of many leg bruises.

I don't remember bruising after the first day of shots last round, but I woke this morning to my first bruise!  They're my baby battle wounds, and I'm sure many more are to come!

#CarlieThePinCushion

This picture makes me laugh.  It's kind of like, "Are you sure I have to stick these things in me again?" =)

Real Smile

I thought I was done with the Lupron shots, but alas, they're needed for a frozen transfer too.  It's like the cold you can't shake. ;) Luckily, they're done with a pretty thin needle.  It's also a way to prepare myself for the larger needle coming to my body soon (more specifically, my behind).  The progesterone shots are supposed to be pretty uncomfortable.  It's crazy to think that this set of shots are the final steps before transferring in our embryo.  Hopefully it will lead to a healthy pregnancy.

Today it hit me that I could be pregnant in a little over a month.  That is so wild.