IUI #2 2ww Ramblings

Well it's 3dpIUI (that's all!?!) and my chest is still KILLING me. Not like scary, inside hurting. My... girls? I don't know what to call them on here. But you get the point. It's horrendous. Like I wake up if I roll over in my sleep because it hurts so bad. Super weird.

I was exceptionally well-behaved on Clomid this month. I don't know why, but my mood swings were WAY less strong, I was borderline actually sane. Even E mentioned it... he thanked me for pulling it together so much this month. lol. Poor, poor E. (note: as I'm typing this, E texted me to ask what prompted my text to him about how angry I am about last night's episode of Parenthood. I'm not going to spoil anything for you guys, but when I answered him it included "I'm like literally fuming". Over a TV show. Which is probably not the most sane emotion I've ever experienced. Whatever.)

I also didn't really get hot flashes this month. That was a first. I usually get them from a couple of times an hour to every couple of hours, max. This time around I got one or two, total. Which made me nervous, buuuuut we also read on a doctor's website (the RE in Indiana that a bunch of bloggers heard about the Low Amylose diet from) that patients who experience hot flashes on Clomid are statistically less likely to get pregnant. Or something like that. Don't freak out and don't quote me. I'll try to find the actual wording. But if that is the case, then not getting hot flashes could be a good sign! Right? Right?

Oh. Here's a super dumb question- does anyone know if the Ovidrel shot give false positives on OPKs too? Or just HPTs? Shoot me a line if you know the answer, please!

It's Getting Hot in Hurrr....

Oh, friends. These Clomid hot flashes are insane. They're not constant, but they're a few times an hour, sometimes a few times every half an hour. They come out of nowhere, and they're intense enough that they actually wake me up. So. I haven't been sleeping, which I'm sure is really adding to my already awesome mood swings. Honestly, those aren't as bad as I remember from past cycles, but I'll have to check in with E and see if that's an accurate assessment.

I'm also super over-the-top nauseous. The thought of eating is nauseating. It's not healthy, I know, but that, combined with only eating Low Amylose foods, combined with being on track with the Metformin has resulted in some weight loss. I'm down at least a couple of pounds just from last week, and in the past month I've lost 6.5 lbs. I'll take it- now I'm only 4.5 lbs away from my pre-Rosh Hashana weight. HOLLER.

How I felt on the scale today.

That's pretty much all for now.... I need to upload and edit the Thanksgiving photos still, but I'm going to save that for tomorrow. I mostly wanted to get this update recorded here before I forgot about these wicked awesome side effects. Wish us luck.

UPDATE:
I decided to add on to this post because I never intended for this blog to be a bunch of quick progress updates and I want to save my 20th post for something worthwhile. :)

Today is Tuesday and I'm still crazy nauseous. I tried making two or three different quick things for dinner tonight and I couldn't stomach more than a couple of bites of each. I'm not really sure what's going on, or why that would be. Additionally, I have a crazy bad headache- right by my forehead and temples.

Tomorrow is my first ultrasound since I took the Clomid, so seriously wish us luck. I'm also going to go there without having eaten because last week the NP had said she wanted to do a fasting glucose at some point. I should remember to bring a snack, but I also hope to get coffee with a friend who just moved somewhere right near my RE's office tomorrow after the appointment. Hurray! Socializing!

E won't be attending the appointment with me, I don't think, because he's working his third overnight in a row tonight AND he's in the middle of grad school finals so he a) hasn't slept in like 2 straight days, and b) has to finish a paper that's due tomorrow evening. And then we're going to a Chanukah party with another couple we know and love, at a new couple-friends' house. So it'll be a pretty exciting and fun but long day...

I'm getting nervous about tomorrow's appointment. I know I shouldn't expect much (I only finished the Clomid on Sunday) but I've been really good about the diet and pretty good about the Metformin (except! that I ran out of my old stash today and the new prescription STILL hasn't arrived yet... our insurance or pharmacy won't let us get it through our normal pharmacy because it's usually something people are on fo' lyfe so they do it through mail-order. I have to look into that tomorrow. I was really banking on it getting here just in time today...). So that's that. I'm going to drink some tea and try to chillax, and maybe try to eat something, before I head to bed for a bit before my appointment. Ahhhh.

I'm in a Glass Case of Emotion!

AKA Happy Thanksgiving(!!!), AKA I started a Clomid cycle. And yes, this is truly how I feel:

I'm gonna go ahead and throw in a Jump Break here, because this post got over-the-top long-winded. So if you're interested in reading my return-to-the-RE drama, read on, and if you're just here for the crafts, you can skip this one. :)


Yep. It had been over a year, but we finally made it back to our Reproductive Endocrinologist this month. The whole getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things process has been a lot of hurry up and wait.

First, I needed my annual exam from our OB-Gyn, because the RE won't start anything until the results come back A-Ok there. A week later we were in the clear so we called to make an appointment with the RE (to discuss a game plan) but they didn't have any appointments until the following week. So there's another week. At that appointment, the RE was super excited that I'd lost weight (I'm currently down about 10lbs... I had lost about 18lbs but gained 8 or 9 back over Tishrei and I haven't been able to lose it since. I did run out of Metformin, and/or was taking it sporadically there, so I have a hunch that the Metformin is what's doing the trick, unfortunately), but because I'd lost weight he was hesitant to move on to the injectables like we had discussed doing before we took our break (partially because I was nervous about moving on to the injectables). In short, he was afraid that the injectables would work TOO well and we'd end up with more follicles than we could manage, and would have to scrap the cycle. Cool.

In the end, we're trying 200mg of Clomid again. It's kind of nice to be back in familiar territory. And walking into the office for that meeting was awesome because all of the secretaries and nurses, etc. were SUPER excited to see us. There were a lot of hugs, smiles and a bunch of playful accusations that we'd left them for another doctor. They also did blood work for both of us that Thursday, saying it should be back late the next week.

Welp, it didn't come back for 12. Freaking. Days. I think I was freaking out so much because I was scared I'd have another case of cold feet and we wouldn't end up back there for ANOTHER year. Or that my period would inconveniently (yet miraculously) come while we were waiting and then we'd have to wait even longer because the RE wouldn't write the prescription for Clomid until the blood work was back, and therefore we'd miss this month's cycle.

When it finally did come back Tuesday afternoon, they wanted me to come in the next morning. But I work on Wednesday mornings from 6:30am-9am, and the blood work hours are 6:30am-8am. #winning. Normally, that'd be fine- I don't work Thursday mornings, so I could go the next day. EXCEPT that the Thursday in question was Thanksgiving, so the Brooklyn office was closed, and they suggested I head there the next Monday. #winning

Basically, like a crazy person, I moved heaven and earth to find coverage for my shift and was able to make it to the Wednesday appointment. You don't even want to know how many favors I owe said coworker. It was actually only my 2nd time ever going by myself, without E. True story. While I was there the NP informed me that my thyroid levels were slightly elevated, so she wrote me a prescription for Synthroid. It was a 2.9, which is on the high end of normal, so she said if we weren't trying to get pregnant they'd never put me on meds for it, but pregnancy can elevate the levels so they want to prepare for that. Actually, they checked it twice- once in their office and once at the lab they sent the blood work out to, and at their own office it came out as 2.1. So it's really just a precaution.

Ha. So much for cutting it short. The point is, now I'm on Synthroid, a prenatal vitamin plus Vitamin D, metformin 3x/day, and Clomid. And now I'm ALREADY (on day TWO) an emotional basket case and sobbed like a baby (ironic) this Thanksgiving. Which I really felt was legitimate at the time, but now a few hours later and the suggestion of my husband, I'm pretty convinced that it was the Clomid.
I think that's enough for now, I'll post more about our attempt at a Low Amylose Thanksgiving meal ASAP.

Have I ever mentioned that Alanis Morissette forever warped the concept of irony for me? Jagged Little Pill was my 2nd CD, ever. 5th grade. I was young and impressionable. I love her, but I think my entire most of a lot of people my age have this problem. You should totally watch this if you have the same issue. It'll clear some things up. #firstworldproblems