And so we begin

LET ME WARN YOU NOW THAT THERE IS LOTS OF TMI IN THIS POST AND THAT PROBABLY WILL BE THE CASE FOR MANY OF THESE POSTS.


 It actually began yesterday with the consult but since my next appointment was this morning less than 12 hours later I decided it could be one post.

And with it all came some drama...

So my sister was very excited that she was going to watch Mandie while we went to our appointment. (Very understandably they prefer you not bring children into the office seeing as most of the people in there are struggling to obtain one. Not that they would steal her, but as we remember, it is hard to see cute little babies when you are struggling to have one.) Well first my sister's kids got sick, and so we rearranged plans and she was going to stick her husband with her sickly children to come spend time with mine. Then yesterday, the morning of our appointment, my sister wakes up sick. She had left me a message so I called her to see how really sick she was, maybe she could just not touch Mandie much. She was really sick.

Now we don't have child care. I call the office to see if I can go and Paul can skip it, and they say that they prefer we both be there. They also explain that the next appointment available if we reschedule is way out, and I know that with where I am in my cycle I can get several of the tests out of the way if I go now. So she and I talk and she looks at the schedule and we are the last appointment of the day so she says to just bring Mandie.

We load Mandie up with toys and after scoping out the waiting room to make sure it was empty we go in. Of course after we get registered people show up out of nowhere. Now we feel bad and we look foolish as we try to kind of hide Mandie and keep her quiet. Then we get called back. We go through the forms and the doctor tells us what changes he thinks will help this go round. Everything is pretty standard until I comment on his MANY terrariums, then he is suddenly all "WOW YOU SHOULD GET THIS PLANT" ..which is very nice of him but I don't own a terrarium.

So then the nurse comes in and gives us lots of papers and instructions and gives Paul a cup. Then the financial lady comes in and says that our insurance basically will cover everything ...which we knew but is always awesome to hear. I schedule an appointment for today for hormone testing and ultrasound. We stop at Target to fill the prescription for birth control that I will have to take next month. I come home and order the prenatals that the doctor wants me to switch to and order my genetic screening kit to test for things including SMA. After learning about Avery I felt that this was important. 1 in 40 adults is a carrier, that is scary.

We fill out paperwork that includes having to decide what to do with any embryos that are fertilized but not used. These are the first big decisions you make when going through this. The first time we had to discuss and figure out what we wanted to do. This time we had both already agreed that we are not going to freeze any for future use because we hope everything works on the first try AND because insurance will completely cover another round of IVF but will not cover the cheaper option of freezing and using frozen embryos. I offer mine up to science. It's either science or trash, and I feel like if we can learn something from them then that is awesome.

My appointment for the next day is at 0715 and we all know I don't like mornings but we'll make it work ... So I wake up at 0515 when the baby gets up and once we give her her milk I go to get ready. It is day 4 of my cycle and they are going to be doing a transvaginal ultrasound, which means they are going to be in my junk. The thought of this is is not one I enjoy, but if it's going to be done I can at least make sure things are neat. At 5 something in the morning you do what you can but I honestly just hope it doesn't look like I have mange.

We get in the car and get on the highway. I'm excited that we aren't late and everything seems to be going well. Mandie is being fussy, but she tends to be that way as she is falling asleep in the car. Then suddenly as we are in the middle of traffic she makes a noise and for the first time EVER throws up. There is lots of throw up, and anyone who knows me knows I don't do throw up. I'm handling it well though. I am calm and I am talking to her and the smell, though gross, is not making me sick. She calms down and we are turning off of our exit so I'm glad that we'll be able to get back to her to take care of her. Then I see a stink bug inches from my head by my visor. Paul says to get it out of the car but I could see that turning into an accident when it flys and hits him in the face or something, so I let it wander and just keep an eye on it.

When we pull into the parking lot for the appointment I am thankful that I have to go in and Paul will be doing clean up.

I get into the office and feel oddly comfortable. I guess this being my second time makes it easier in that sense. They call my name take my blood then take me back and look at my ovaries. Everything looks good (and I just received a call that the hormone levels are all where they need to be).

Now we need to get our labcorp blood tests done for HEP and HIV and stuff. Next Tuesday I go have my uterus measured and Paul has to be a cup humper.

Oh and on the ride home the stink bug, who Paul thought he got rid of, reappears and I have to shoo him out of the car. All of this before I even started my work day!