i'm sure you were all sitting on the edge of your seats, wondering what came of my iui experience... okay, maybe not. but first, let me address the anxiety that surrounds knowing you will have a pregnancy blood test on -x- date, and not being able to do a damn thing about it. it's downright awful. i was told to treat my body as if i were already pregnant, because... just in case. but then the worry kicks in: even if i am pregnant, what happens if i miscarry yet again? do i really want to put my body through that a third time this year? so then i convinced myself that it's totally okay to get a negative test (we'll just try again next round). but then the worry kicks in: do i really want to go through this whole process again? and so, you get it. the cycle continues.
anyway, there's nothing you can really do about it all but wait. so wait i did. and this morning, i went in for my blood test. and then, there was more waiting. and checking my phone. and more waiting. and checking my phone. and just when i was no longer able to access my phone, the call came in. . . . POSITIVE! :)
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i don't want you all to think i'm crazy, kooky, or into the latest fads. the following "stuff" that i've added to my life are, in fact, "alternative", but these changes came with lots of research backing them.
first things first, with a new diet, came a whole new outlook on the foods i ingest. this does not mean that i went 100% organic, but i do my best to eat locally-sourced foods and buy fresh produce whenever possible. that means that most weekends are spend food prepping because i'm not popping a frozen something-or-other into the microwave for an easy weeknight meal. i feel better about what i'm eating because i know exactly what is in each meal. this doesn't mean that the hubby and i still don't treat ourselves out on occasion... but i choose carefully and wisely when we do go out (without being the annoying customer who makes 50 thousand substitution to her meal). i examine beauty product labels in a whole new way. my mind was *blown* when i started looking into even my favorite brands. this spans everything i put on my skin! i did away with my regular moisturizer and swapped to carrier oils and essential oils. as someone who has frequent breakouts, i was really reluctant to give up my salicylic acid, but my face is actually less oily now. i switched to using native deodorant, which is paraban and aluminum free. it's not as "clear" as my old brand, but it does the job and i like subtle scents. i don't really wear a lot of makeup (okay, that's an understatement: my husband is lucky if i slap on some blush and mascara with chapstick!), but i started buying juice beauty brand - they actually list all of their ingredients, and nothing in synthetic. i even switched shampoo and conditioner to ogx because they all smell incredible and they aren't dousing my head with chemicals. (there's no promotional advantage to me listing these brands, by the way... just purely my opinion!) lastly, i go to acupuncture every. single. week. my acupuncturist is actually a mother of one of my students, which was, admittedly, awkward at first... but she is amazing. when i first started seeing her, i had miscarried the first time. she saw me through the second (short but sweet) pregnancy, and has been preparing my body for an upcoming (hopefully, fingers crossed) pregnancy. at the very worst, this is totally relaxing and just lets me rest deeply once a week. at the very best, it helps move energy around my body where i need it most and can help me support a babe. and, slightly off topic... i know i bash the insurance companies a lot, but due to 'medical necessity' (read as: major anxiety about pregnancy due to multiple losses), my acupuncture is actually covered! so, take it for what it's worth, but i'm definitely feeling better about the things going in and on my body. if you have any recommendations along these lines, please reach out! :) this morning i went in as a follow-up to round one of iui. i had a blood test done to check progesterone levels. when my doc called back with my results, she said, "we hope to see a number of 8 or higher. yours was 23.56." having no idea what in the fuck this actually meant, i did some research. while progesterone levels can not predict a pregnancy, higher numbers means a better chance of supporting a pregnancy, if i were to become pregnant. (just in case you didn't know, sperm can live up to five days! this means one of three things: i am already pregnant, i am not yet pregnant [but technically could get pregnant as late as tomorrow], i am not pregnant and i will be getting my period again soon.) assuming i do NOT get my period between now and then, i go back to the doc's for yet another blood test on the 24th. this next one will either conclusively confirm or deny a successful iui procedure!
...and so, the waiting begins again (this time, coupled with a little anxiety)! this morning i had another iui appointment. ...except today, i experienced a LOT of cramping as the day went on. yesterday was easy-peasy. today, not so much. i called the doc just to be sure, and she said that this was totally normal (and could even be a good sign... although i'm not getting my hopes up).
this morning, before school, i had my first iui (intrauterine insemination) procedure. before i went into the office, my loving husband went in to drop off a specimen. the sperm then undergo a process called "washing", which means the lab separates out all of the best sperm for use. when i went into the office, the actual procedure starts off much like any visit to the ob. catheter threaded in, sperm injected. boom. the whole thing is literally done in 30 seconds or less. then, i just lay still on my back for five minutes, and off to my regular life i go! fingers crossed! painless and easy.
wow. if i thought i was getting lots of blood drawn before, man, was i under a serious misconception of what "a lot" means! now that i've been injecting follistim (50ius) nightly, i've also been going in for blood tests and ultrasounds every other day. the blood tests measures my progesterone and estrogen and the ultrasounds measure the size of the uterus, the number of follicles in each ovary, and how large each of the follicles are.
i wasn't responding as quickly as my doctor had hoped, so she upped my dosage for the next few nights to 75ius. (in the grand scheme of things, this is still a very small dose.) i'm thinking that my next blood test will reveal that i'm about to ovulate, and i can go in for an iui procedure! |
Authorjust a girl growing into womanhood growing into motherhood. Archives
January 2018
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