[Coley]

CD 4 of Our 14th Cycle...

Well, I think I've done pretty well today. This is the first time I've been on the site all day. Granted, my day went in a way that was completely unexpected... but, I had access to the internet and I didn't take it.

I drove Danny in to work this morning and there was a horrible accident with a flipped over car on the opposite side of the highway. Traffic was snarled for miles, so I decided to go to my parent's and hang out with them a while until traffic cleared up.

That turned into all day. First, my dad's face is really swollen on one side. I'm actually going back tomorrow morning to take him to the doctor if it's not any better. We were going to go today, but he said he got a bad night's sleep last night and he wanted to lay down for a while first. That, also, turned into all day. That's my dad.

My mom and I, on the other hand, spent the morning and afternoon watching RuPaul's Drag Race! O...M...G!! That show is FABULOUS!!!! My mom and I were in tears laughing all day! It was great!!

Then we watched Sizing Up Sperm. She recorded it when it came on Nat Geo and saved it for me. That was awesome as well! Really cool to see sperm on a human size scale... even learned a few things I didn't already know.

So, as I'm sitting there watching TV with my mom, my cell phone rings. I look at it, and I don't recognize the number. But I see it's local. I flip it open and hear "Good morning, Nicole? This is Dr. Russell's office calling." So much for a cycle off, eh?

I went into the kitchen and did all the basics... That's when she told me they'd had a cancellation and could we come in tomorrow at 8:30 am? I said "Absolutely." It wasn't until I hung up that I realized I had made the Executive Decision that Danny was going to be late to work tomorrow! Then I remembered that I'm his wife now and promptly felt much better as I texted him the news.

Our printer is, I believe, deathly low on ink... I'm going to do my best to print out the rest of my charts to take in with me tomorrow. Unfortunately, as I wasn't expecting an appt. quite so quickly... I haven't had the chance to get my test results from Doc. Smith. I'm sure I can sign some kind of release at Dr. Russell's office allowing them to get the stuff they need.

So... this is it Girls... The moment of truth. 12 hours from now we will be sitting in the waiting room of a Fertility Clinic. I gotta be honest... it's kinda surreal.

[Servilia]

Nikki I am so happy for you!! I hope you have a great appointment and the DR figures out a quick solution - you two are meant to be parents!!

[~*Jackie*~]

Good luck, honey!!! Now just remember, they are probably going to order a lot of the same tests you've already done (most RE's do that), so it may still be a cycle "off", but you'll be doing things to get ready for that 2011 baby! I can't wait to hear about your appointment!

[fromustobaby]

so excited for you!!!!!!!

[JessMitch]

Oh Nikki! I am soo excited that you are seeing the RE tomorrow!!! I really hope you get the answers that you are looking for! And hopefully they are simple and non complicated answers!! Good luck tomorrow! KUP



Here's some Good RE appt

[fromustobaby]

hope it went well!

[LoLo'sMama]

Can't wait for the RE update Nikki! Hope it went well, and that you left feeling great!

[~*Jackie*~]

Any updates?? Hint hint nudge nudge.

[Coley]

CD 5 of Our 14th Cycle...

Loooooong day.

Love my RE!! He came in and shook our hands... he was very nice. He seemed a bit perplexed at me being on Clomid for 4 months when I was already ovulating, especially since it didn't really change much with my cycle.

He talked about putting me to sleep and doing a Lap to clear the blockage in my right tube and another HSG to make sure it's all clear. I said "The best thing you just said was Put Me To Sleep."

We are going for some b/w. He wants to re-do a few of them because, as he says, he doesn't trust anybody! He's also sending Danny for some b/w as well. I need to go rather soon... Danny can go whenever.

He asked me what CD I was on & when I said "5", he said "Perfect!" Next thing I knew I was in the u/s room about to see my eggs for the very first time!

He showed me my right ovary (blocked tube side) and pointed out two black circles. He told me those were leftover eggs from last cycle & that they'd continue to shrink. He then switched to my left ovary and pointed out 8 black circles. Those are my follies right now!

I didn't get all of the measurements... but I heard 3.5's and 3.7's I do remember hearing that my uterine lining was 1.7 He said everything looked just as it should.

I was then scheduled for a Hysteroscopy tomorrow at 10:45. I won't lie, I'm a bit freaked... I'm glad I still have one more dose of that Midol stuff I was taking on my crampy days.

I had to call our insurance to find out if we have diagnostic coverage only or if we have diagnostic & treatment coverage. We have diagnostic coverage, we have surgical coverage, we have coverage for 6 attempts of artificial insemination and we have 10k of coverage for IVF. This made Danny very happy today.

So tomorrow is the hysteroscopy. I'm feeling a little bit comforted... while I was there I was talking to the nurse about my HSG and how painful it was and she was saying how theirs aren't as painful because they use saline instead of dye which is lighter in weight and therefore less intrusive to the tubes. She also said they use 10cc's of saline whereas the dye is 2500cc's.

I also mentioned that I had expected them to remove the speculum after they got the catheter in and they never did and she made sure to tell me that they DO remove the speculum.

So I'm open to the possibility that this may be better. This may be bearable. My GF "J" has offered to go with me.... I dunno. I'm gonna sleep on it.

[Wizza]

Wow, what a great visit! They really move fast, I hope you get some good news tomorrow.

[CandaceDianne]

Thinking of you today! I hope your procedure goes well!!!

[fromustobaby]

soounds like a GREAT doc and appointment (and insurance)!!!!!
I cant wait to hear very good news soon

[~*Jackie*~]

Good luck today! I had a hysteroscopy done during my lap surgery last year, so I can't say how it is, but I'm thinking of you! I'm glad he already has the ball rolling- and that's so awesome about your insurance coverage! (*jealous* )

[ndsai05]

I'm so glad it went well Nikki! Can't wait to hear how it goes today. And on the insurance, that is crazy awesome!

[LoLo'sMama]

Yay for new doctors who rock! He's gonna get you pregnant (along with Danny's help, hehe), just wait and see. And after just getting off the phone and talking to MY doctors office and getting the cost on all the tests I have do do before IVF even starts, totally around $3,000....I am thinking you're a lucky gal with awesome insurance!! So yay for someone out there getting insurance!!!!

[JessMitch]

where the heck are you nikki?! We wanna hear about the procedure!!!

[ZaydensMomma]

That is so awesome you had the RE appt! I hope the procedure goes smoothly for you! Hang in there

[denalibear]

about your great appointment!!!! Your RE sounds great

Wow...your insurance sounds wonderful too!!!!! So excited for ya girl

[Coley]

CD 7 of Our 14th Cycle...

Man, has it been a busy few days?!?

My dad is still in the hospital. He's doing really well, but they still want to observe him. So I've been dealing with all of that.

Danny hasn't been feeling very well as of late, so he went to the doctor and we both did our b/w yesterday. He has an appt for an u/s this morning at 10:10.

As for the RE... I love that place! I get in the room and see that instead of the normal table & stirrups that there's a chair in the room. The nurse tells me to take off my undies and cover up with the giant paper napkin.

Dr. Russell's PA came in, introduced herself and said she'd be doing the procedure. She said she understood I had a painful HSG experience and said she'd do everything she could to be quick, but if it became too much for me to take to let her know and they'd stop and have me come back and put me to sleep for it.

"Really?!?" She said "Absolutely. You are driving this... so whatever it is that you need... that's what we'll do." Wow. I'm not used to that kind of medical care. So I get ready to scootch all the way to the edge and she tells me I don't have to do that. Just sit back and let them do their thing.

The chair kicks on and starts tilting back so that my head is kinda upside down and my Hoo-Haa is in the air. As soon as she started to feed the catheter/camera in is when it started to get painful again. The nurse was great, she rubbed my arm and was very encouraging the entire time.

They were sure to ask if I wanted to continue several times and I figured "I'm here now... and I brought my Big Girl Panties, so let's just do this." They were FAB. They talked me through it "I'm almost completely in" "2 more pics" "One more" It helped me to hear that... it's like in my mind I told myself "Okay, only 2 more... I can do this for another 10 seconds" ya know? And then it was over.

I finally had someone explain to me why these sorts of things are so painful for me. It's because I have a Retroverted uterus. Probably got it from my maternal Grandmom. She had one too... and 6 kids!

She said it's tilted toward my back and that the catheter is not flexible. So once it gets into my cervix, they've got to force the catheter against the natural position of my uterus and that's why it's so painful for me.

She told me I did a fantastic job considering my retroverted uterus is and how much it hurt... and needless to say, my uterus looks just fine. No polyps, no fibroids, no scarring, no nothing.

So I told her I was going to do my b/w after I left there and she said they should have the results by Friday. If I don't hear from them by Friday, I'm to call them and find out what my next step is.

So that's where we are with all of that.

It's been a whirlwind of the last few days... what with my dad in the hospital, my RE stuff, Danny's Dr's appts... That's why I've been so MIA.

After his u/s this morning, we'll be driving in to Philly so he can go to work. Then I'm going to my folks to pick my mom up and either A... go visit my dad in the hospital or B... go pick my dad up from the hospital.

So in a nutshell, it's going to be another long day. For those of you whose journals I normally read and comment on... please forgive me for not having stopped by the past few days. I will do my best to get caught up on all of you the moment things start settling down.

[~*Jackie*~]

I'm so glad the procedure went well and your doctor and staff are so caring! And hooray for great results! I hope your Daddy gets to come home today, and I hope Danny gets to feeling better!