So I'm pregnant with a singleton! At this moment I am nine weeks and five days, my due date should be somewhere from August 30 to September 1. Apparently there is a difference of opinion based on the method you use when calculating an IVF pregnancy and all three resources that my OB uses give a different date. Oh well, how many people actually give birth on their due date?
I debated about continuing this blog, as it was to be about getting pregnant not being pregnant, but its therapeutic and I definitely need a little therapy right now (more on that later.) Lately its hard to find the energy to do anything other than work and sleep. Fatigue is definitely a side effect that I am feeling right now! I haven't really had an easy time of weeks five through now. Nausea has been a constant companion, and vomiting an occasional enemy. I tend to fight the urge to vomit though and most of the time I win.
Despite not vomiting much, I've lost weight. At least five pounds. Nothing sounds or smells good. I made dinner a couple of weeks ago and I swear it smelled like mildew. Tony said it didn't, that it was just in my nose, but that's what it smelled like to me. I found that I could eat cold foods much easier than hot so that was a trick for a week or so. The last four days I've been feeling better though. More and more foods sound good and taste good. And my stomach is a little steadier. I'm hoping this means that morning, noon, and night sickness is almost out the door.
In addition to fatigue and nausea, I've also had a permanently runny nose and sneezing. This is apparently a pregnancy side effect too. Let me tell you, I am sick of sneezing and constantly blowing. My nose is so dry I keep getting little bloody noses throughout the day. Hopefully this one gets better as time goes on.
Another weird thing is constant, incessant, diarrhea. Sure most women end up complaining about constipation through their whole pregnancy. Well apparently I'm special and have the opposite problem. And up until today I didn't know what if anything I could take for it which equaled a fun time for me. Thank GOD Imodium is on my approved drug list!
I had a consult with a nurse at my OB's office today. It was basically, here have some free crap and let's get your medical history. Friday I have my actual first OB's appointment with a completely different Dr. C. I'm going to mention the diarrhea to her and see what she says. I honestly wonder if its not partially due to the metformin they have me on.
Friday is also the last day of my medicinal supplementation of progesterone. First I was on the shot, lately I've been on Prometrium 200 mg, one capsule vaginally twice daily. While I definitely like it more than the shots, the stuff is messy and I won't be sad to see it go. Just a little nervous, truthfully.
Alright so that's the whats what in my pregnancy so far. I'm not too far in so there isn't much to report other than seeing the heartbeat on the ultrasound was the most amazing feeling in the world. Friday I might be able to hear the heartbeat! I have ultrasound pictures, but honestly right now it doesn't look like much. The last ultrasound I had was two weeks ago and I swear the baby looked like the side view of a gummy bear! Large head, tiny arm and leg buds, and so sweet!
So on to the title of this post. Worrying about breasts. Mine. I'm a 38 DD. So far I haven't noticed any breast changes and had very minor tenderness. I worry that this will not stay the case. Everything I've read says that they will get bigger by an average of two cup sizes. What does that make me then? A quadruple D. Is there such a thing? And where am I going to find a bra that freaking huge? A tent store? Circus People R Us? Not to mention, what is my back going to feel like after lugging those mammoths around for a couple months?
But really, my breasts aren't the ones that worry me. The breasts that are foremost in my mind right now are my Mom's. She was just diagnosed with invasive ductile carcinoma. Breast cancer. Its small. She's had yearly mammograms so she caught it early. The "lump" is so small you can't even feel it yet. Last week we met with the breast surgeon and while it is serious, it looked like it would involve an out patient surgery called a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation. Probably no chemotherapy required.
We still don't know about chemotherapy. It doesn't look likely as a CT scan did not show lymph node involvement, but only surgically removing a few for testing will tell for sure. But the out patient surgery is out of the picture now. Her CT scan showed more spots in her right breast and possibly one in her left. So right now she will have to have a mastectomy on her right breast and biopsy's to determine if the left one will need to be taken as well.
The mastectomy involves an overnight hospital stay and two and a half weeks of at home care of a drainage tube. If she opts for reconstructive surgery she will have to have two separate surgeries. I hope she opts for it. Especially if she only loses one breast. If that happens and she doesn't opt for reconstruction she will have to wear a prosthetic. A bra won't stay up with one breast.
We will know more next week.
I am in a state of shock.
We have no history of cancer, let alone breast cancer. Sure my Mom's Dad died of cancer, but he was a painter back in the days of lead based paints. That surely doesn't count. But hello, one in eight women get breast cancer regardless of family history. But why in the hell does that have to include my Mom? I'm seriously pissed off with fate right now.
Showing posts with label intestinal distress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label intestinal distress. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, November 10, 2011
IVF update: Surgery and steps
Last Thursday Tony and I headed over to Dr. C's office for our IVF and Injection class. For the first hour one of the nurses, Sarah, sat down with us and went over the results of my ovarian assessment report. The results were good folks. Better than they had anticipated. This means that it should be easier to simulate to ovulation but more difficult in that they have to be careful not to over-simulate. She also went through our time table and stressed that all of those dates (that I put up in my last post) are just estimated and I only have a 50% chance of hitting them. Odds are that I will be close to those dates, but they will proceed according to how my body is responding to the medications.
What this means is that I will start my medication on schedule next week Tuesday, the 15th. I will stop my birth control as scheduled on the 20th. And on the 23rd I will go in for my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork. This will be the guideline of how my ovaries are reacting to the medications once I start them three days later on the 26th. I'll inject as directed by my calendar for four days and then I will head back to the office for another ultrasound bloodtest combo (which I will refer to as U/S-BT from now on to save myself from typing that everytime). Later that same day they will call me and tell me how things are going and direct me further on my medication. I will continue on the Follistim and Menopur, I just won't know at what the doses are until the 26th. Then two days later I will head back in for another U/S-BT. And later that day they will call with my new doses. And two days later I do it all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat...
Now this can change. If I'm developing slower than normal, I won't go every two days, I'll go every three days. And conversely, if I'm developing faster than normal, I'll go in every day. Sarah explained that these appointments are going to be super quick. I'll probably only be there for 15 minutes. Because of that, these are not appointments where you can ask questions about anything that isn't urgent. Its in and out. She said that they can feel hurried and impersonal and that's only because of how many they have to get through. Picture 15-20 ultrasounds from 8 - 10 am. With a nursing staff of two and one Dr. C. That's a busy morning for sure. She told me that later in the day, as they make the phone calls, they will be in a better position to field any non-urgent questions.
So, here I am, earning some serious frequent flyer miles at Dr. C's office and they get to U/S-BT to their hearts content. And all the while I'm injecting this and that, taking this and that. So one day, after one of my short and sweet progress report appointments, I will get a phone call telling me I am ready. This means that my ovary's follicles look nice and my bloodwork confirms it. When this happens I'll have about 36 hours until my retrieval.
They will schedule my surgery and 35 hours beforehand Tony will get to take out any of any frustrations he has with me by giving me an hCG intramusclar injection in the ass. Yes, you heard that right, my husband gets to shoot me in the ass. (The day of my retrieval he'll also start injecting progesterone in oil in my soon to be very tender hiney.) hCG will help mature the eggs for retrieval. Timing in this is super critical. Too soon and I'll ovulate the eggs they want to collect and my ovary will be empty. Too late and my eggs won't be ready for retrieval. So this is not a shot I will be able to put off until its more convenient. This one will have to happen exactly on schedule.
If I'm in the 50% of the population that sticks to schedule, this will happen on December 7th. But there is a strong possibility that is could happen anytime before or after that, probably within a few days. This poses a little bit of an issue with my work schedule. Retail and last minute day off do not go well together, but it can't be helped and we will just cross our fingers that the timing works. And if it doesn't... I'm going to have bigger things on my mind. Like making a baby :-D
At this point Sarah sent us to the lab end of the practice. The guy that actually will introduce Mr Sperm and Miss Egg. Mr. LabGuy has been doing this for over 30 years and said that Dr. C is as good as anyone he's ever worked with and has fantastic success stimulating the ovaries. He talked to us about what happens during the retrieval. Dr. C will aspirate a follicle and collect all of the fluid. This fluid will (hopefully) contain and egg and the cells that "feed" it. Everytime he aspirates a follicle the fluid retrieved will be turned over to Mr. LabGuy. He will then verify that there is an egg by doing a simple visual inspection, these guys are large enough to see without assistance.
This egg, and all eggs successfully retrieved, will be labeled with my name and date of birth and a color that will be assigned to me. They will aspirate all the follicles that have developed. Not all of these will contain viable eggs. But hopefully we will get enough. Once everything is collected they will place Tony's "sample" and my eggs on our own shelf in an incubator. After a few hours Mr. LabGuy will introduce them in a plastic petry dish with a growth medium. After about a day they will check them. At this point normal fertilized eggs should have two nuclei visible. If there are three in any they will discarded for having extra chromosomes. If they have not fertilized, they will be discarded. And someone at the lab will give us a call to let us know how our future possible babies are doing.
Sometime between day three and day five it will become obvious which embryos are the best. Either through process of elimination, or just from experience with their appearance. At that point they will book me for the implantation procedure. This will be another mystery date, but could fall on the 12th of December. I will not be allowed to work for four days. Again, this is not ideal in retail, but this is my baby we are talking about.
We both left with a better understanding of the process. I can't help but feel even more excited! Its getting so close, its starting to feel so real! It felt really real on Tuesday when I went if for my saline ultrasound. This was needed to really "see" the uterine lining. The process was simple. A vaginal ultrasound using the wand, which I've already begun to hate, and a catheter attached to a very large syringe of saline. Sarah had warned me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen before my appointment so I was sure it wouldn't be a fantastic experience. Personally I thought it sucked and was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever had done.
First Dr. C inserted the catheter, which was also kind of a dry run for my implantation as a similar instrument will be inserted in the exact same place. Then Dr. C inserted the ultrasound wand and they added a small amount of saline. This caused a bit of pressure and cramping but worked to open the uterine cavity so the lining was visible. After about ten minutes of uncomfortable crampiness it was over. And they'd found two areas that could be a problem. Both of them were at the top of the ultrasound screen in little "clusters." One on the right the other towards the center. Neither were very big, and 99% of the time are completely harmless. But, the fertility medication can make these small, harmless polyps grow and become a problem. So I have to have them removed.
Sarah wanted to schedule this on Thursday, two days later. That was not going to be possible so we compromised and I will be going in for my first ever surgery on Monday at 6:45 am. I'm trying to focus on the positive in this. I get an extra day off that week. It's and outpatient procedure. It shouldn't hold up my IVF in anyway. And most importantly, its going to very similar to what will happen the day of my retrieval so that part of my stress from not knowing will go away. So wish me luck for Monday the 14th! On a completely side note, Tony and I might be moving. A friend of his family is a realtor and she has a client that is looking for a two bedroom, two bath condo in our area and he will be coming by to take a look on Sunday. Talk about a lot going on!
ps. They had to reduce my dosage of Metformin to just one a day thanks to ALWAYS being nauseous and diarrhea like I've never had in my life. For a month I dealt with that. No longer!
What this means is that I will start my medication on schedule next week Tuesday, the 15th. I will stop my birth control as scheduled on the 20th. And on the 23rd I will go in for my baseline ultrasound and bloodwork. This will be the guideline of how my ovaries are reacting to the medications once I start them three days later on the 26th. I'll inject as directed by my calendar for four days and then I will head back to the office for another ultrasound bloodtest combo (which I will refer to as U/S-BT from now on to save myself from typing that everytime). Later that same day they will call me and tell me how things are going and direct me further on my medication. I will continue on the Follistim and Menopur, I just won't know at what the doses are until the 26th. Then two days later I will head back in for another U/S-BT. And later that day they will call with my new doses. And two days later I do it all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat...
Now this can change. If I'm developing slower than normal, I won't go every two days, I'll go every three days. And conversely, if I'm developing faster than normal, I'll go in every day. Sarah explained that these appointments are going to be super quick. I'll probably only be there for 15 minutes. Because of that, these are not appointments where you can ask questions about anything that isn't urgent. Its in and out. She said that they can feel hurried and impersonal and that's only because of how many they have to get through. Picture 15-20 ultrasounds from 8 - 10 am. With a nursing staff of two and one Dr. C. That's a busy morning for sure. She told me that later in the day, as they make the phone calls, they will be in a better position to field any non-urgent questions.
So, here I am, earning some serious frequent flyer miles at Dr. C's office and they get to U/S-BT to their hearts content. And all the while I'm injecting this and that, taking this and that. So one day, after one of my short and sweet progress report appointments, I will get a phone call telling me I am ready. This means that my ovary's follicles look nice and my bloodwork confirms it. When this happens I'll have about 36 hours until my retrieval.
They will schedule my surgery and 35 hours beforehand Tony will get to take out any of any frustrations he has with me by giving me an hCG intramusclar injection in the ass. Yes, you heard that right, my husband gets to shoot me in the ass. (The day of my retrieval he'll also start injecting progesterone in oil in my soon to be very tender hiney.) hCG will help mature the eggs for retrieval. Timing in this is super critical. Too soon and I'll ovulate the eggs they want to collect and my ovary will be empty. Too late and my eggs won't be ready for retrieval. So this is not a shot I will be able to put off until its more convenient. This one will have to happen exactly on schedule.
If I'm in the 50% of the population that sticks to schedule, this will happen on December 7th. But there is a strong possibility that is could happen anytime before or after that, probably within a few days. This poses a little bit of an issue with my work schedule. Retail and last minute day off do not go well together, but it can't be helped and we will just cross our fingers that the timing works. And if it doesn't... I'm going to have bigger things on my mind. Like making a baby :-D
At this point Sarah sent us to the lab end of the practice. The guy that actually will introduce Mr Sperm and Miss Egg. Mr. LabGuy has been doing this for over 30 years and said that Dr. C is as good as anyone he's ever worked with and has fantastic success stimulating the ovaries. He talked to us about what happens during the retrieval. Dr. C will aspirate a follicle and collect all of the fluid. This fluid will (hopefully) contain and egg and the cells that "feed" it. Everytime he aspirates a follicle the fluid retrieved will be turned over to Mr. LabGuy. He will then verify that there is an egg by doing a simple visual inspection, these guys are large enough to see without assistance.
This egg, and all eggs successfully retrieved, will be labeled with my name and date of birth and a color that will be assigned to me. They will aspirate all the follicles that have developed. Not all of these will contain viable eggs. But hopefully we will get enough. Once everything is collected they will place Tony's "sample" and my eggs on our own shelf in an incubator. After a few hours Mr. LabGuy will introduce them in a plastic petry dish with a growth medium. After about a day they will check them. At this point normal fertilized eggs should have two nuclei visible. If there are three in any they will discarded for having extra chromosomes. If they have not fertilized, they will be discarded. And someone at the lab will give us a call to let us know how our future possible babies are doing.
Sometime between day three and day five it will become obvious which embryos are the best. Either through process of elimination, or just from experience with their appearance. At that point they will book me for the implantation procedure. This will be another mystery date, but could fall on the 12th of December. I will not be allowed to work for four days. Again, this is not ideal in retail, but this is my baby we are talking about.
We both left with a better understanding of the process. I can't help but feel even more excited! Its getting so close, its starting to feel so real! It felt really real on Tuesday when I went if for my saline ultrasound. This was needed to really "see" the uterine lining. The process was simple. A vaginal ultrasound using the wand, which I've already begun to hate, and a catheter attached to a very large syringe of saline. Sarah had warned me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen before my appointment so I was sure it wouldn't be a fantastic experience. Personally I thought it sucked and was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever had done.
First Dr. C inserted the catheter, which was also kind of a dry run for my implantation as a similar instrument will be inserted in the exact same place. Then Dr. C inserted the ultrasound wand and they added a small amount of saline. This caused a bit of pressure and cramping but worked to open the uterine cavity so the lining was visible. After about ten minutes of uncomfortable crampiness it was over. And they'd found two areas that could be a problem. Both of them were at the top of the ultrasound screen in little "clusters." One on the right the other towards the center. Neither were very big, and 99% of the time are completely harmless. But, the fertility medication can make these small, harmless polyps grow and become a problem. So I have to have them removed.
Sarah wanted to schedule this on Thursday, two days later. That was not going to be possible so we compromised and I will be going in for my first ever surgery on Monday at 6:45 am. I'm trying to focus on the positive in this. I get an extra day off that week. It's and outpatient procedure. It shouldn't hold up my IVF in anyway. And most importantly, its going to very similar to what will happen the day of my retrieval so that part of my stress from not knowing will go away. So wish me luck for Monday the 14th! On a completely side note, Tony and I might be moving. A friend of his family is a realtor and she has a client that is looking for a two bedroom, two bath condo in our area and he will be coming by to take a look on Sunday. Talk about a lot going on!
ps. They had to reduce my dosage of Metformin to just one a day thanks to ALWAYS being nauseous and diarrhea like I've never had in my life. For a month I dealt with that. No longer!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Burp, burp, blarg...
Metformin sucks people! I've been on this medication for four days now. Dr. C put me on 2 Metformin ER 750 mg tablets every day, to be taken with my evening meal. This is a high dose. A lot of people only take 500 to 1000 mg and I'm on 1500 mg!
The first two days I was fine. I had no ill effects despite having been warned that most people complain of upset stomach. Yesterday I took my dose around 7 pm with a frozen pizza dinner (yeah didn't feel like cooking after my class.) But around 8:30 pm I started feeling awful!
My stomach was upset and I felt like I'd seriously over eaten. I hadn't, but it felt that way. I ended up grabbing a ginger ale out of the fridge and nursing that. By the time I went to bed, a bit before midnight, it was bearable but still not normal.
This morning I woke up feeling great. My stomach was steady and comfortable. I had a hard boiled egg and two slices of microwave bacon and that sat fine. In fact the bacon made my tummy very happy, yum! I munched on some edamame and half of a naval orange at work, still no problems. And then I went to lunch and had half of a Jimmy John's Beach Club sandwich, which is by far my favorite sub on their menu.
I didn't even finish my lunch before the nausea hit. I also had cramping so I headed to the bathroom and quickly decided I needed some Imodium, sorry for the over-share. So here I am, sitting in the corner of the pharmacy hunched over, feeling like absolute crap. And of course we are busy, so I keep having to get up to grab drive-thru or answer the phone or grab the register. All the while feeling like I might hurl on someones shoes.
Finally I decide to see if we have some ginger ale. It had done the job last night so it was worth a shot. We didn't carry it, so I settled on a bottle of 7-up and a fist-full of Imodium chewables (I really only took four but normally one of these will do the job so that tells you how bad it was.) A few swallows into the bottle a burp slipped out and OMG the RELIEF! I started making myself burp, quietly and away from patients of course, and with every burp I started to feel a little bit better.
By the time my shift was over I'd gone through one and a half 20 oz bottles of 7-up and felt almost completely normal. I took my evening dose around 8pm tonight and am keeping with the carbonation therapy. Dr. Pepper right now, but if I continue to have to do this I might have to get some carbonated water. Every few minutes I burp and the nauseating pressure in my gut goes away, for a little while at least.
I definitely see why people have problems with this medication! I asked my boss if this "intestinal distress" would go away after my system got used to it. He said it should, probably by the middle of next week. But if it didn't I should keep in mind that I am on a high dose and perhaps talk to Dr. C about reducing my dose to one a day until my symptoms dissipate.
Yesterday I didn't know if I could handle even a few days of feeling like this but today I think I can make it as long as I have a carbonated buddy with me. Thank goodness for burps!
Has anyone ever had any experience with this medication? Aside from the gas/nausea thing, I think its also making me sleepy. I start to notice fatigue a few hours after a dose, but I wonder if that's just the construction in front of our house keeping me from getting a good nights sleep. I don't feel like I'm not sleeping but I definitely notice the noise as I try to fall asleep at night. Tonight seems to be all quite, they must not work on "weekends." Lucky them.
PS. Ironically enough, the noise that has been annoying me for the last few nights is the city putting up a noise blocking wall. Haha.
The first two days I was fine. I had no ill effects despite having been warned that most people complain of upset stomach. Yesterday I took my dose around 7 pm with a frozen pizza dinner (yeah didn't feel like cooking after my class.) But around 8:30 pm I started feeling awful!
My stomach was upset and I felt like I'd seriously over eaten. I hadn't, but it felt that way. I ended up grabbing a ginger ale out of the fridge and nursing that. By the time I went to bed, a bit before midnight, it was bearable but still not normal.
This morning I woke up feeling great. My stomach was steady and comfortable. I had a hard boiled egg and two slices of microwave bacon and that sat fine. In fact the bacon made my tummy very happy, yum! I munched on some edamame and half of a naval orange at work, still no problems. And then I went to lunch and had half of a Jimmy John's Beach Club sandwich, which is by far my favorite sub on their menu.
I didn't even finish my lunch before the nausea hit. I also had cramping so I headed to the bathroom and quickly decided I needed some Imodium, sorry for the over-share. So here I am, sitting in the corner of the pharmacy hunched over, feeling like absolute crap. And of course we are busy, so I keep having to get up to grab drive-thru or answer the phone or grab the register. All the while feeling like I might hurl on someones shoes.
Finally I decide to see if we have some ginger ale. It had done the job last night so it was worth a shot. We didn't carry it, so I settled on a bottle of 7-up and a fist-full of Imodium chewables (I really only took four but normally one of these will do the job so that tells you how bad it was.) A few swallows into the bottle a burp slipped out and OMG the RELIEF! I started making myself burp, quietly and away from patients of course, and with every burp I started to feel a little bit better.
By the time my shift was over I'd gone through one and a half 20 oz bottles of 7-up and felt almost completely normal. I took my evening dose around 8pm tonight and am keeping with the carbonation therapy. Dr. Pepper right now, but if I continue to have to do this I might have to get some carbonated water. Every few minutes I burp and the nauseating pressure in my gut goes away, for a little while at least.
I definitely see why people have problems with this medication! I asked my boss if this "intestinal distress" would go away after my system got used to it. He said it should, probably by the middle of next week. But if it didn't I should keep in mind that I am on a high dose and perhaps talk to Dr. C about reducing my dose to one a day until my symptoms dissipate.
Yesterday I didn't know if I could handle even a few days of feeling like this but today I think I can make it as long as I have a carbonated buddy with me. Thank goodness for burps!
Has anyone ever had any experience with this medication? Aside from the gas/nausea thing, I think its also making me sleepy. I start to notice fatigue a few hours after a dose, but I wonder if that's just the construction in front of our house keeping me from getting a good nights sleep. I don't feel like I'm not sleeping but I definitely notice the noise as I try to fall asleep at night. Tonight seems to be all quite, they must not work on "weekends." Lucky them.
PS. Ironically enough, the noise that has been annoying me for the last few nights is the city putting up a noise blocking wall. Haha.
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