New cycle...New hope

My new cycle started at the end of May. The dr. put me on the same 100mg dose of clomid cd5-9. I had to have blood drawn daily from July 7th-12th for my estrogen levels. We also did u/s's on the 7th, 10th, & 11th to look at my follicles. I was definitely going to ovulate on my right side. The biggest follicle was 6mm on the 7th. It grew to 20mm on the 11th (17mm or larger is considered a viable follicle to produce a healthy egg). I got to see my follicles & my uterus (which he said was nice & thick, good for implantation). On the 11th he said that he was sure I would get a positive OPK the next day. Well, it was positive later that night. So, on the 12th, I called in to see when we should do the IUI. He decided we do it that day because my estrogen levels peaked the day before & started to drop already. So, that day was actually the best possible day for the IUI.

By doing the daily blood draws as well as the u/s's, we have learned that when I get a positive OPK.....It's time! Usually, when I got the positive OPK at night, I would call the next morning & the IUI was scheduled the day after that (apparently, this is how it normally works for women, but not for me, mine happens sooner). Meaning, we likely have missed the prime day for doing the IUI the previous times. Seems like a waste of money right? The 2 times that we did the IUI, which failed, actually led us to new findings. So, yes, while we took the chance & they may have been bad timing, the new stuff we found out is taking us that much closer to having a little one.

Today, I am extremely tired & have some small cramping. Could just be a coincidence, but you know me......I'm holding out hope that it means we are pregnant. I take a blood test on Wed to find out. If we are pregnant, something I get to do that most women don't is to say that I saw the follicle for the baby before it actually became a baby. That would be neat.

More disappointment

My cycle started again. As if that wasn't enough disappointment, I get hit with more.

For some reason, my drs. office failed to return my call about my new cycle in a timely matter. This resulted in them calling after I sent an email wondering why they did not return my call. Being that it was already cd 6, the dr decided that it would be too late to start clomid. I am to call when my period starts again.

So, this cycle is all natural. It doesn't seem fair. Haven't I "waited" long enough? I've been through enough that I don't really think them adding to it helps emotionally & mentally. I'm very frustrated & very disappointed with the drs. office right now.

I'm sure this comes across as bitter/harsh/whatever you want to call it. I'm trying to keep it honest & real. It's how I feel right now, so I write it how it feels.

I know, it's possible we could become pregnant naturally. I honestly don't have high hopes though.

Disappointment today but progess is made

For this cycle, I took clomid for 8 days & then I was to get blood drawn for lab work 6 days in a row. The dr. wanted to try to nail my estrogen level for optimal IUI timing. So, I started my 6 day "poke" marathon on Tues. I got a positive OPK Wed. night. So, I called the drs. office 1st thing yesterday morning & they scheduled me in for an IUI today.

I guess we never listened to our phone messages yesterday, as when I got to the drs. office, my nurse asked if I got her message. My estrogen levels were really high on Wed. but were much lower on Thurs. The dr was thinking we might miss my ovulation, so I had to get an u/s done to check my follicles. He wanted to see if there were any that were still big or if the egg had already released. He found that I no longer had any decent sized follicles (some people call them follies- whatever you call it, it's an egg that is "ripening" so it can release). He also found some fluid behind my uterus which indicates that I had already ovulated. He said that while we could do the IUI today to increase our chances, it didn't look promising. So, he let me decide if I wanted to try it anyways or not since we are paying out of pocket for anything having to do with the IUI/infertility. I decided that I didn't want to try it.

So, while I am disappointed that we are not doing the IUI this cycle, it is still promising as this cycle helped the dr pinpoint my ovulation. I told him that I test 3 times a day on an OPK when I get closer to peak time. He was unaware of this, as you really are only supposed to test once a day but the same time. When I got the initial positive OPK, it was the same day that my estrogen level was the highest. So, this can help us plan better for next time.

He also talked about 2 different options for the next cycle (should we not be pregnant with this current one) but was not sure what we would do next cycle just yet.

1) Do exploratory laparoscopy to see if there is a scarring issue that is preventing me from conceiving. Remember, I've had 2 c-sections & an ectopic removal, scarring could be a possibility.
2)I will do the estrogen testing daily again starting on a certain day of my cycle. We will also do u/s's, possibly daily u/s's so he can watch my follies & better determine what day would be the best day to perform an IUI.

I am so glad that I found a doctor who is making progress with me & not just letting whatever to happen.

Drs. appt. & update

I had my drs. appt Friday. We have done 7 rounds of clomid, 2 of those with IUI. He said that he would like to do more monitoring starting this cycle. 1) My estrogen levels have been pretty low, but he said that those levels move like a roller coaster. So, getting a blood draw at 10am can be a very different number from a draw at 2pm. So, he is not worried that my levels are low as we might just be missing the peak. However, he does want to monitor this more by doing a draw every day from a certain day of my cycle until I ovulate (day to be determined when he decides on when I will start clomid). So, there is a possibility that we will be changing around my clomid dose &/or # of days taking it. Also, possibly doing the HCG shots. These shots will force me to ovulate so that he can make sure we are doing the IUI on the correct day. 2) I asked about my lining possibly being thin from being on clomid for so many years & that maybe causing implantation problems. He said that when he did the u/s last cycle, he checked my lining & it was within normal range. Also, that each month your lining sheds & you get a new lining so he doesn't see this being an issue. 3) More u/s's. He wants to monitor my ovaries to make sure they are not being over stimulated & also make sure that the ovaries are able to connect to my tubes. He said that it's possible I could be ovulating but the egg isn't even making it to the tube. 4) If all is normal & we are still not pregnant, he wants to do exploratory laparoscopy to see if there is scarring that is preventing pregnancy. 5) Today is CD1 So, that means the 2nd IUI was not successful. We did have some excitement last week. I could see faint lines on pregnancy tests. They turned out to be evaporation lines (lines that you can see but are grey in color- when they are faint like that, it's hard to tell if they really are grey or have color to it). I started a new batch of tests & all of the tests did this. So, we got all excited for nothing. I will have to keep that in mind while using this batch of tests.

On to the next cycle

The IUI was not successful. Of course, just having the IUI makes you have higher hopes but they came crashing down on Friday. I am on clomid cycle #7/ IUI cycle #2 with this new dr. I am to take 100 mgs of clomid from Feb. 24th-March 3rd. Wait for a positive OPK & go through the IUI process. Then, I will have a progesterone test around March 17th (he usually also schedules a HCG test as well, so that may be ordered later in the cycle).

IUI Done!

I had my IUI done on Friday, 2-8-13. This was a very different process from my previous IUI's (The last one I had was Sept 2011). They did sperm washing this time. So, only the really good swimmers were the keepers & were injected. The doctor was very happy with the number of good swimmers present before & after the washing. My abdomen was extremely tender the whole weekend & then slightly tender on Monday. I ovulated the day after my IUI. I had a nice big temperature change. I started taking 200mg of progesterone last night. So, now we wait. I have orders for lab work on Friday to check my HCG & progesterone levels.

**Updating for the 1st time in almost a year**

So many things have changed. What a difference an "almost" year makes. Long story short: I got new insurance which allowed me to start seeing new doctors. As I have written in the past, the doctors in my insurance plan didn't seem to be much help. This new OBGYN I found didn't mess around. From the 1st appointment, he was able to determine that the reason I keep having miscarriages is because I have 2 blood clotting disorders (MTHFR-both & PAI-1 4G/4G). I just don't understand why it was SO HARD for the other doctors to run these tests. I will have to give myself shots everyday with a blood thinner to hold a pregnancy because of the disorders. I KNEW it had something to do with my blood, I can't remember if I wrote it in this blog or not, but I knew it! So, because of his findings, I have been given a whole new hope. A whole new willingness to to give it another shot. I am taking it day by day & not really stressing. Each month, he would try tweaking medications, when to do labs, etc. (trying to find the right combination). Some months were good & some not so good. At least we are heading in the right direction. Last cycle, he did an u/s of my ovaries to make sure I was not being overstimulated (this has never been done by any of my previous drs.). Though we were a day late, he was still able to determine that I had ovulated & everything appeared normal. This cycle I was on 100mgs of clomid for 8 days (starting on cd5). I just got a positive OPK & tomorrow we are doing our 1st IUI with this new dr. So, until the next update.....