Only one shot to go!

First day of shots

I guess I thought I had at least updated the blog after starting medicine, but evidently not!  Sorry about that friends, but thanks to social media I've been able to do quick updates.  Also, I've been a little flighty, so this blog post may be even more ADD than you folks are used to!

September 15th was my baseline appointment, starting my adventures of driving between Muncie, Marion, and Carmel.  (Pat McAfee's podcast and comedy show have been the soundtrack to these commutes from home to school to doc or acupuncture.  Laughter is the best medicine and doesn't give me headaches or bloating like the lovely Menopur, Follistim, and Ganirelex shots I have given myself.)

Last weekend, I really wanted to go see Shaun Latham again in Indy.  It's possible that my poor husband wasn't as excited as I was and that after only two days of shots...I played the IVF card to guilt him into going.  (I think it was something about being stuck in the house, full of hormones, and just wanting to get out and laugh)  I'm not proud, but we did go to Chubby's Comedy on Saturday night and got some laughs in!

Tuesday was my first monitoring appointment and thankfully they start at 7:15 so I could get back to preschool before the morning class left.  Everything looked good and I just had to wait for Nurse Alison to call me that afternoon and let me know to come back on Thursday.  Joe had to go for that monitoring appointment because we had to initial and sign our consents.  Someone was up a lot earlier than he was used to!  Thankfully, Joe got a good nap in before my lovely meltdown Thursday night.  (I made it a week on shots before having a meltdown, so that's not too bad)  Thanks to Joe's patience, girls who have been through IVF encouraging me, a hot bath, and some Jim Brickman on Pandora, I came out of the dark side.  I think I could have won a daytime Emmy for my soap opera crying, I'm just saying!

Yesterday morning, I ventured down to Carmel for monitoring.  Everything was looking good, but Nurse Sherry wanted me to hang out around Indy until she heard from Bopp about my trigger shot protocol, which thankfully will just be the HCG that I'm used to!  After my labs came back, Sherry called and said to come back for monitoring Sunday.   Cheryl was our nurse today, she's been with Dr. Bopp since we have been seeing him!  She was pretty sure that we would trigger tonight for retrieval on Tuesday, which was what I had been planning on and have Baryoh booked as my sub...it's a win-win.  Labs came back and she called to confirm that we will do our trigger shot tonight for retrieval on Tuesday at 7:30 am.  (I'm so thankful that it's early because I'm not the nicest and happiest girl when I can't eat or drink)

The alarm is set for 7:30 tonight for the trigger shot AKA the last shot, back in the morning at 7:15 for labs and pre-op instructions.  After that appointment, I will head to my kiddos.  It's hard being gone so much!

Here's our specific prayer requests for now...

• Safe travels 
• My allergies are driving me crazy, my head hasn't exploded yet, but it's been close.  Pray that it doesn't turn into a sinus infection or anything like that.
• Preschool:  My assistants Sarah and Bethany are holding down the fort and thankfully we have Baryoh as a sub for the days I'm out now.  I've got caffeine and chocolate, so that part is covered.  I'm so thankful for all of my preschool peeps and my preschool families!
• On Tuesday morning, pray for us as we travel to Carmel.  The retrieval is done under anesthetic.  Please pray that they are able to retrieve healthy follicles and that those follicles will fertilize!  

I will try and update on Tuesday after I nap or Wednesday after I get the fertilization report!

Thanks for the love and prayers!  I can't imagine going through IVF without the amazing support system that we have.

Love to all!

Sarah and Joe

Game day shots

A new podcast on Friday morning made that shot easier!

#TheMorningSnap

https://twitter.com/TheMorningSnap

It's like this post was written about dealing with infertility, but it can apply to every area of life.  Matt Overton is the Long Snapper for the Indianapolis Colts and shares The Morning Snap on social media daily, and I always love it!  This one really hit home and I had to share it on here because I am going to have to go back to it frequently.  

(I'm sure you guys know Matt, he's the other guy on the field with Adam and Pat...#45)

The next day, Matt tweeted another one that just hit home again.

I really appreciate everyone taking time to share in our story!  (now, go follow The Morning Snap)

Have a great week and Go Colts!

Sarah

Hello September!

September is here which means it's time for football...and IVF this month!  You would think having the medicine delivered and taking up room in our fridge would be a reality check for me, but no...just changing the calendar did it.  I really thought I had updated our blog at least once this summer since the ultrasound, sorry for being a slacker.  We kicked off August with some tests at Midwest Fertility which were just to make sure all of our levels were in the normal range and give Dr. Bopp up to date information to make the best game plan for our upcoming cycle.  
There really wasn't much time to stress about lab results when I wasn't able to get into my new classroom until the Wednesday before school started.  Thankfully, Joe has connections to a furniture store truck and was easily able to move all of my stuff to Justice in one load.  It took a village and a lot of caffeine, but our room was ready to rock by the time the kiddos rolled in.  

Nurse Alison let us know labs were good and we were ready to move ahead and get medicine ordered.  Bless my momma for waiting at our house all day long for the FedEx guy who came at 3:50 when I was on my way home!  With meds here and in the fridge, I kept thinking about needing to get plans and everything ready for the sub when I'm out for monitoring, retrieval, and transfer-test.  (side note, those plans are still a work in progress LOL)   

When I was in my IVF binder, I came across some flyers Joe had taken from Indiana Reproductive Acupuncture.  They are located right by Dr. Bopp and work with Midwest frequently, but I had to check in with my trusty nurse before making an appointment.  Alison replied that they had several patients do acupuncture and many had good results.  Helping withs tress and anxiety was one of the biggest pluses to trying acupuncture, so I made an appointment.  Joe went with me for my consultation and first session, and the only painful part was the terrible traffic we got stuck in.  I didn't get any pictures of the needles, but I go again on Tuesday so maybe I will take a selfie!

Here's the link if anyone is interested; http://indianareproductiveacupuncture.com/fresh-cycle/.  It really was super relaxing and I'm looking forward to another appointment!

It's just waiting for the next couple weeks for the cycle to start and then the fun begins, it should be around the 16th.  (Pray for preschool because the 12th and 13th, I'm at a professional development!!)   We start with a baseline ultrasound and then medicines on day 3. 

Here's what you can pray specifically for right now...

• Working on cutting back/almost eliminating caffeine    
• Safe travels back and forth to school and appointments
• TSH level to say between 1-2
• Allergies to be tolerable and my head not to explode (no Claritin D or nasal spray during IVF)
  

I will post another update as we get closer and/or if I get a fun picture from acupuncture.  Thanks for the love, support, and prayers as we continue along our infertility adventures. 

Sarah

Here's a few fun summer memories that kept me from updating the blog!