1dp6dt and my super bladder

Obviously I have nothing in the way of symptoms yet and don't expect to feel for quite some time even if I do get pregnant. I am sort of surprised that my breasts aren't really sore from all the progesterone I'm on (1 cc of PIO, and 2 suppositories a day). My ass however, does hurt. I've got a huge welt on my right hip that is really bothering me. I'll have to use my left side for a couple of days I think.

The transfer went very smoothly. We transferred one sad looking de-frostie. The embryologist and RE said that the embie was perfect as it is a 1AA 6 day blast, and that the blast just looked strange because it had been dehydrated for freezing. I dunno. I supposed I can understand that. I just hope he/she is o.k and has a fighting chance at implanting. I just don't feel confident and hopeful like I did the last time.

I drank about half the required water before my acupuncture session as someone recommended in the comments of my last post (thank you so much). And I went in for the acupuncture session feeling pretty calm and relaxed. But by the time I got up from the table I had to pee. And once I went back for the transfer my bladder was ready to burst. So my RE let me empty it a little bit. Now ladies this is a difficult feat. Eliminating just a little urine. This actually happened during my last transfer so I knew that conceptually I could do it but was still scared about executing the task. Here is the trick. Pick a time (I had 5 seconds), then after the time stand up. You won't pee on yourself. I promise. I felt so much better, didn't feel the urge to pee anymore, and my bladder was still adequately full. So the lesson learned is that you don't have to drink all the water they ask you to necessarily. I drank about 18 oz of water and my nurse had said 24-50 oz. Anyway, it struck me that having a full bladder played a huge roll in trying to save Lydia and trying to get pregnant again. When they tried to get Lydia's amniotic sack back through my cervix, the on-call OB put a catheter in my urethra and filled my bladder with water. It was terribly uncomfortable. The OB and nurses were all surprised at the length of time I endured the full bladder without complaint. So maybe I've just got a super strong bladder.

Well now we wait. Beta isn't for another 8 days. But I'm just not that anxious about it. I think I'm really just getting more and more blah as I get closer to Lydia's EDD September 3rd. But I will try to send some good vibes to my little de-frostie everyday. I know that being a little more zen about things is best for my own psyche and better for de-frostie. So I'll try.

My acupuncturist is a mad genius

Hysteroscopy is on.  I have it scheduled for Thursday morning in the surgery center at my RE office.  This is the same room where they did my egg retrieval.  I've had good luck in that room so I'm not worried.  That and I've had more procedures down there than I'd care to remember.

I'm just happy to get this out of the way so my body has lots of time to heal.  And I'll be using Traditional Chinese Medicine to help me heal faster.

I've had pretty good luck with acupuncture in the past.  The needles never hurt.  I was always relaxed and felt very calm afterward.  The first practitioner I visited was this older Chinese man who was all about business.  His clinic was just a basic office built out of an old San Francisco Victorian.  He put in the needles and would sometimes light some incense right on my belly.  It regulated my crazy cycles and helped me ovulate earlier.  But with the endo I was meant for IVF.  So when I decided to IVF I started up with a new practitioner.  This was mostly because I didn't feel like driving all the way to San Francisco every Saturday morning.  This woman was in my town and I could go after work.  Her clinic was very different from the first.  She played spa type relaxing music and had her rooms all decorated in zen images, had tea for patients, and had one of those sand/rock gardens to look out at when waiting.  You also had to remove your shoes at the front door and put on slippers.  It was really relaxing.  And I know that she helped me relax during stimming as well as help my lining get to a good size.  She was also able to help me with "the bloat".   I love her.  But as you regular readers know we moved to a new town.  And I really didn't want to drive all the way to my old town just for acupuncture.  I found a new practitioner and she is like the best of the other two with a hint of crazy.  She is totally old school and uses different guage needles which can sting a little going in but then cause extreme relaxation.  She did a lot of needles in my ears to help me deal with my emotions since losing the baby and dealing with IF and it has really helped.  I can't explain it properly but it is something like little waves of emotion trickling off and out of me.  I feel so much better after her sessions.  She has the spa music too, and puts an eye pillow over my eyes during the rest period.  It is so wonderful.  But it still kind of freaks me out that it is works so well.  Yesterday was day 3 of my cycle and she put in way less needles but talked to me about how the body releases tension during menstruation and to just let it out.  I found myself crying on the table.  It was so weird.  And my flow had been sort of on and off before the session but about an hour later it was totally normal.  So I think she is some sort of mad genius.  I'm glad I found her.  And I'm sure she'll help me heal fast from this hopefully last hysteroscopy.  

Positive Mental Attitude

I'm feeling so positive.  Really happy.  Happier than I've been in a long time.  I think it started when got my IVF calendar last week.  Looking at the calendar and talking to my nurse coordinator made me feel like this is really happening.  Like a baby is just within my reach now.  No stupid temperature charts or OPKs and wondering what is going on with my body.  It is all carefully controlled.  Just the way I like it.....did I mention that I'm a type A personality.

And I'm so excited.  Although I'm nervous as hell about giving myself the injections that will allow for all this control.  I'm supposed to go in for my PreLupron sonogram on Thursday morning and then beging lupron that night if all is well.  My dad is so cute.  He keeps asking me every time he calls if I've started the injectibles yet.  He is as nervous as I am.  My mom thinks I'm being a big baby.  She is diabetic and is no stranger to the needle.  I know it will be fine.  I just....ugh, I don't even like it when other people have to give me a shot.  O.K. enough with the pity party.  This stuff is gonna get me where I need to be so I'm just going to suck it up and shut up about it.  

We also paid for everything this week.  K and I finally decided to do a a multicycle treatment/shared risk plan.  The one we chose pays for 2 fresh and 2 frozen cycles.  Although we feel really good about our chances of getting pregnant on the first go around, we want to be prepared to keep trying if need be.  So we figured paying for it up front would make our lives easier by taking one thing off the plate.   The tricky thing was I had to fax our application for the program from work on Thursday.  I was so scared that I would drop one of the papers and expose myself.  I don't plan on sharing the fact that I'm undergoing IVF with anyone other than you guys and our families.  Even our closest friends will not know right now.  Anyway, I hate sending faxes.  I almost always accidently dial the phone number instead of the fax number.  I was really careful to dial the right number this time because the last thing I wanted was "you've reached integramed IVF program" played loudly for the entire office to hear.  After carefully sending the fax, I hovered by the machine a little bit to make sure it all went through and that I didn't leave any paperwork behind.  This would have been a lot easier if the program just accepted pdfs.   Well at least now it is all taken care of, and now we can just concentrate on the treatments.

My favorite part of the treatment is acupuncture.  I am supposed to give my acupuncturist  a copy of my calendar so that she can schedule me for extra sessions during certain points of the treatment.  She is also going to change up her treatments to suit the different stages I'll be going through.  For instance, she will do some needles on my back at a particular point.  I'm looking forward to all of  this.  I really like her and think she knows what she is doing.  And I really like her attention to detail.  Acupuncture is pricey so it is nice when you can feel so well cared for.  

Pins and Needles

I had my first acupuncture appointment yesterday morning. And I have to say that it was pretty relaxing. Kind of like going for a massage. The doctor actually did start with a light massage, then started the pin cushion treatment. It was weird. But did not hurt at all. I didn't really expect to have pins in my ears, ankles, forehead, and lower abdomen. After the needles were in, I was told to lay there and think happy thoughts. I thought of John Mayer songs and clouds. I would never have thought to do this if it were not for my friend who had her little miracle baby in September. She encouraged me to try this and even got a recommendation of which place to use from her acupuncturist. She also took herbs and swore that the combo of herbs and acupuncture did the trick. So I'm just going to see what happens. No matter what, I'll still feel relaxed after the treatment. And I keep hearing that if I just relax I'll get pregnant. So we shall see.

By the way, that is not me in the picture. Just something I googled.

I miss paradise

So here are a couple of photos from our lovely Christmas vacation in the Caribbean. I will visualize these images when I try to chill out and relax this cycle. Also to help with my stress I am starting infertility acupuncture. My good friend recommended this to me since it worked for her in 3 months after having 3 years of infertility, failed IVF, failed IUIs, chemical pregnancies, and miscarriages. Now she has a gorgeous daughter. And she claims it is all due to infertility acupuncture and herbs.

I was reluctant to start the treatment until my cycle got all wacked out last month. I am just sick of waiting for this to happen. And I'm not getting any younger. Actually my birthday is this week so I'm freaking out. I really thought I'd be a mom by now. So we'll see. I liked the acupuncturist. He gave me all of these dietary restrictions such as avoid seafood and wheat. Saturday I start taking the herbs and have my first procedure.