Took a Test

Not pregnant.  I just want to curl up in a ball and avoid work today.  I'm sure my period will start today to add insult to injury.  Hopefully work will be a good distraction so I don't end up crying the whole day.

IUI - The Whole Story

This last Thursday was our IUI.  I didn't go into work that day so I should have been able to sleep in.  That didn't happen though.  I woke up before 6 and wasn't able to get back to sleep.  Some time around 8:30 Soren and I went to Home Depot to pick up some attachments for the shop vac.  We were there a lot longer than I expected so by the time we got home it was pretty much time for me to leave to take the sample to the clinic.  The only problem was we didn't have a sample yet.

Once I had the sample safely nestled between my boobies I sped off to the clinic.  I was very impatient with the other drivers on the road and couldn't understand why they couldn't either drive a decent speed or GET OUT OF MY WAY.  They didn't seem to mind that I was a little bit late at the clinic.  They probably don't want to hassle us crazy infertile women because they know we could easily blow up at them. ;)

They put a little blue sticker with my medical record number on the top of the sample cup and gave me a matching blue sticker so that they could make sure the sample didn't get mixed up.  Then they told me to come back in a hour.  Then commenced the long period of time where I tried not to think about how nervous I was or the fact that this IUI might not work.

When I came back in the receptionist just had me take a seat.  It was very quiet in the waiting room filled with other women there for infertility treatments.  I found it weird that we were all going through the same thing and yet no one was talking to anyone around them.  I guess I could have talked to someone, but everyone looked like they would bite me if I tried.

When they took me back in the room they showed me the sample all washed and concentrated in the little catheter syringe thingy.  They also double checked the color of my sticker to make sure it matched.  Then I was left to get undressed.  I hate waiting in the room half naked with your butt uncovered so I tried to wrap the drape they gave me around my backside.

I different RE in the practice came in to do the IUI.  I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't my RE doing the IUI.  She told me that my husband's sample looked really good.  She didn't tell me what the count was because she said they didn't do a full analysis.  She was surprised that I had ovulated on 50 mg of clomid.  I explained that I always ovulated on my own and that our issue seemed to be due to my husband's sperm count.

She wasn't very gentle putting in the catheter, but I survived.  She apologized and told me that it wasn't graceful, but that the little swimmers were placed exactly where they needed to be and that there was no going back now.  It made me think about Soren's comment about not being able to put the genie back in the bottle once you were pregnant.  It was a really quick procedure and the doctor told me she hoped she had gotten me pregnant before she left the room. I was then instructed to lay there for at least 10 minutes and call for help if I had any negative side effects.  The only side effect I had was that my abdomen was really sore.  This soreness lasted 2 days.

When I left the clinic I was told to call them and let them know if I ended up pregnant.  Nothing else was said besides that.  I really would have thought that there would have been a little more discussion of follow up, but oh well.

So, now its been 5 days and I have about another week to wait before I know if it worked.  I'm trying not to think about too much but that is pretty impossible.  I just hope that the time until next week continues to go by quickly and that my period will take a vacation for at least 9 months.

Mindy Gledhill - Anchor

I wanted to share one of my new favorite songs. I actually just found out about this artist. I absolutely love her album that just came out. This song is especially good.

Waiting Game

I'm sitting in the parking lot of the fertility clinic trying to read and wait for them to process Soren's sample.  They told me to come back in an hour.  It was going to go to the mall because it's nearby, but then I decided that wasn't a good idea because I'm so nervous that I would probably either buy a bunch of stuff or eat way too much at the food court. I still have a little over half an hour to wait for my insemination.  I'm really freaking out and thinking this probably isn't going to work.

The whole time I was driving to the clinic I was thinking about the fact that I was carrying our chance for a baby between my boobs.  I'm not sure what kind of volume is good for a sperm sample, but it just seemed so little in the huge sample cup.  I was so paranoid about keeping it the right temperature that I turned off the a/c, but then I was worried about it being too hot in the car so I turned the a/c on and just pointed it up at the ceiling so it wouldn't be directly on the sample cup.  I know I was obsessing, but I just couldn't help myself because I want this to work.

I'm going to try to stop thinking about all of this now and just enjoy my book.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

This is it. Wish me luck.

I got a positive OPK (ovulation predictor kit) this afternoon so I have set up an appointment for tomorrow to go in and do the IUI.  I'm so excited and cautiously hopeful.  The only bad thing is that they can't fit me in until 11:00, so I'm going to have to miss a whole day of work.  I guess I could go in for the afternoon, but since I didn't get a chance to tell my supervisor I have to go to an appointment it is probably just better to call in sick.

I really hope that this works!