Project Baby: Poppin'

Pills.  I'm taking a lot.  Some are my every day regimen for health reasons, some are new from our RE, some are because I read about it online.  I'm up to 10 each day - small, medium, large, and extra large.

The troops reporting for duty

Pills #1-3 are my every day friends: Lexapro (thanks, generalized anxiety), Singulair (thanks, year-round allergies), and over the counter Zyrtec (did I mention I have allergies?).  These keep me feeling like the best version of me mentally and physically; it's nice to not have crippling anxiety and worries and it's nice to be able to breathe.  I really don't ask for much, folks.

My new every day include the following:
4. The latest Rx for Project Baby (right now we're still on Femara to rustle up an egg in the apparently empty basket that is my one, lonely ovary)
5. Prenatal gummy vitamins that have DHA and Folic Acid.  You should start taking these if you're even thinking about possibly trying to start getting pregnant - so they've been in my routine for awhile now.  Still waiting for the hair & nail bonus.
6. Fish Oil.  Gives me fishy burps - not my favorite.
7. Metformin.  Prescribed by RE as it is shown in studies to promote conception during ART (assisted reproductive technology) treatments.  I take this twice a day.
8. B12 - promotes healthy cell growth; allegedly can help improve egg quality.
9. CoQ10 - also promotes healthy cell growth & allegedly can help improve egg quality.
10. PregPrep FertilPrep - see post from 3/3/18.  FertilPrep is NAC (N-acetyl Cysteine). NAC is a naturally occurring amino acid, mucolytic, and antioxidant that thins viscous mucus + mucus secretions. Thin cervical mucus may ease sperm transport, helping facilitate fertilization.  Why not, right?

That big white one is menacing in size!

I've read blogs, articles, reviews, comments, and stories all over the interwebs about what women have tried to get pregnant.  There is a wealth of information out there to read, and you get to the point where you'll try anything.

The last time we went through this process I went off the deep end.  Example: I read somewhere that eating the core of a pineapple had some properties that would make a fertilized egg stick better.  So I bought a fresh pineapple; cored it; and divided that core into separate baggies to eat over the course of a week.  I spent a week eating just the core of a pineapple, because someone somewhere got a positive pregnancy test result after doing it.  Surprise: it didn't work. At least not for me.  But what if it had?

Sorry Mustachio'd Shia, there is no magic pill or trick to making this work.  I wish magic existed; at the price we pay to try this every month you'd think there should be a little bit of magic in every pill bottle I crack open.

But while magic might not exist in the way we think it does or should - miracles do.  And they happen to regular folks all the time.  I probably won't find a miracle in a pill, in a shot, or in the core of a pineapple -- but who's to say it won't help?  

If you need me I'll be over here, choking down my handful of pills, waiting for our miracle.

xoxo

In a state with no required fertility coverage it takes a village to get it done - if you'd like to donate here's the link:
https://www.gofundme.com/projectbabyc

Project Baby: Day 5

It's a lazy Saturday in our house today.  We napped, I ordered groceries, we cleaned the house a little -- and we napped some more.  Our dogs have cabin fever so they've been in and out quite a bit trying to enjoy the 50-some degree day.  We need to enjoy the weather tomorrow - allegedly there is more snow coming.  I can hear the pups chasing each other in the bedroom right now; those sounds make me smile.

It's Day 5 of my cycle (measured by period days) and today was the first dose of Femara (generic: Letrozole).  5mg every day for the next 5 days.  This is the pill that tells my ovary to do something - make something - act now!!!  I hope it works.

There's a specific Walgreens in our area that stocks all the fertility drugs, and while I was waiting for my $4.17 Femara (the cheapest part of this entire process) I found some supplements in the vitamin area:

learn more here: https://pregprep.com/

I've never heard of or seen this before, so I picked up a bottle to learn more.  According to the box this is a mucus thinner developed by a doctor who was trying for her own pregnancy in her late 30s.  I've heard about women taking Mucinex before while trying to conceive, but never understood why.  Thanks to this packaging it explained it: a woman's vagina produces mucus and thinning it can help the sperm travel more freely to the egg.  Makes a lot of sense, so what the hell -- add it my growing stash of supplements.  $30 a bottle and that's a 1 month supply.  I'm supposed to take it twice a day, but I forgot to already.  I'll start that tomorrow then. LOL

My next ultrasound is in a week and that's to see if I'm responding to the medicine and producing an egg.  Fingers crossed.  And legs, toes, eyes, etc.  We need this to work.

Speaking of work, I'm looking into part time jobs to generate the funds to pay for Project Baby.  I am a PartyLite girl (don't hate) but that's really not doing anything for me.  I don't know where all the candle lovers are, but apparently they aren't in my network of friends or family.  I've driven for Uber and Lyft before, but hate the idea of driving strangers around late at night.  I've looking into StitchFix, but they aren't accepting new "stylists" in my area right now.  What else is out there?  A paper route?  Delivering food?  I need to figure something out, as our big baby bill is going to be due really soon.

If you have any suggestions let me know.  Until then I'm going go to back to Netflix and enjoy the rest of my weekend.  Monday always comes too soon.

xoxo

In a state with no required fertility coverage it takes a village to get it done - if you'd like to donate here's the link:
https://www.gofundme.com/projectbabyc

Project Baby: What now?

My period finally came.  And boy did it arrive with a vengeance!  Not having regular cycles I forget what I'm in store for.  Oof.  Add the hormonal wave and it's been a fun week!

With my period came the next doctor appointment.  Baseline ultrasound on Day 3 of my cycle to take a peek and see what's happening in there.  That was today, and my uterine lining is still at a 9.  For those that don't know: that's pretty thick and I've been warned that I might be in for a long one. Lovely!  Everything else looked fine and it was really quick in and out of the stirrups, and time for a conversation with the next nurse.

One of the rooms.  All ultrasounds are done trans-vaginal at this stage, so at least they warm the wand!

My view as I lay there in position.  Each room has different designs, today it was the mossy green

The plan: days 5-9 I take Femara (this will tell my lonely ovary to produce one or more eggs).  Day 8 I need to go back for a saline infused sonogram (saline is injected into my uterus to glow on screen and illustrate the condition of my uterus and show if there are any fibroids -- hopefully there are none).  This is another diagnostic test they can perform, and probably the only thing covered by my insurance. Day 10 I go back for the next ultrasound and see if anything is cooking; we hope for at least one or more follicles to measure at a 20 as that indicates maturity.  But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  For now, ride this 'flow' out and start Rx meds accordingly.

A little blood work to run beta HCG ... again

Right in the wrist!  So tender today - I didn't think blood work was on the docket so didn't pregame with water ... whoops

I also got an updated estimate for this endeavor.  It was staggering.  I knew this wouldn't be cheap, but right now we're looking at $1,246 per cycle for just ultrasounds & insemination.  That does not include any medications, or the semen prep.  Holy crap.  I took for granted the insurance coverage I had before, paying only for medications and Dave's portion of each cycle.

I don't know how we're going to pay for this.  The time I have with Dave and our pups, not to mention the rest of our family and friends, is invaluable to me.  I hate the idea of working 60+ hours a week between a FT and PT job -- the time away from them is too precious.  Especially when there are no guarantees this will even work.

So, that's where we're at tonight.  I don't know if we keep going since we've already started, or put the breaks on now.  When we got married I picked up a part-time job to pay for our wedding -- totally worth it but I'm tired of having to work so damn hard at everything.

When will it get easier?  When do we catch a break?

I have a lot of questions tonight, and not a lot of answers.  Today wasn't a good day.

xoxo

In a state with no required fertility coverage it takes a village to get it done - if you'd like to donate here's the link:
https://www.gofundme.com/projectbabyc