The day before my IUI procedure

Had my follicle monitoring yesterday, friggin' doctor was 1 hour late. After changing my clothes, I was asked to lay down with my legs open. And guess what? The doctor was still on the phone and I still waited for another 15 minutes before he started the procedure. WTF?!? Anyway I guess I should be happy with the result. CD14 and I have 3 dominant follicles measuring 21mm and two 17mm's. I'm a bit sad though because the two dominant follicles came from my right ovary, such a waste! But I'm still thankful that the biggest follicle is on my left so there's still hope. I actually have 15 follicles in total, but the rest are small (5mm-10mm). My doctor gave me the remaining shot of Puregon because there's still a small amount left. She also congratulated me for a job well done, I was able to inject myself and there's no visible bruise on my belly. I am hoping that the last Puregon shot will make my remaining follies bigger.

Today I had my trigger shot at 2pm and tomorrow at pass 12 noon, I'll have the IUI procedure. I am hoping that the timing is accurate. From what I've been reading, the perfect timing for IUI is 36 hours after the trigger shot. I'll have mine at 22 hours so I'm a little bit concern. According to doctor Google, washed sperms only live for 12-24hrs and they lose their potency after 6 hours of insemination. So if you do the math, my IUI timing is way early. I'm crossing my fingers though and I'm praying for a successful procedure. I should stop myself for reading too many articles and over analyzing things. I should trust my doctor because she knows best. I should trust GOD and pray hard for a miracle.

Tomorrow's the big dayJ Pray for me please..  

Puregon up close and personal...

I went to my OB gyne yesterday and was given a Puregon shot. I also bought the kit which contained 5 needles and 250IU of Puregon, it's safely packed in an ice filled lunch box type container.  I can't believe I'll be injecting myself with this. It looks easy, I was taught how to and my doctor was very patient in answering all my questions. She said, she'll gladly do the injection herself but I need to travel everyday to the hospital and it's going to be expensive and tiring. She instructed me to place the kit inside the refrigerator and inject myself with 50IU every day. Timing is also important, I need to inject myself the same time every day.

I did a lot of research and found out that Puregon is Follistim in other countries. It also has a high success rate compared to Clomid. The alarming thing that I read though is the high rate of ectopic pregnancy from using it and I only have one patent tube so I'm hoping I won't end up losing both.  I wrote down all the instructions given to me by my Doctor but just in case I'll forget I found this helpful website with a step by step instruction on how to inject oneself with Puregon. Here's the link: http://www.ivfworldwide.com/Education/instructions-to-inject-of-puregon.html. I am hoping I'll be able to produce good quality eggs this cycle. I'm also helping myself lose weight. I'm not eating rice, pasta or bread at night and I'm exercising 30 minutes every day. Hopefully all these will help me achieve my much awaited BFP.

Unfortunately my hubby wasn't able to have his SA last weekend, the clinic was closed when we went there. It sucks because I called them days before to inquire if they will be open and they said yes. I wish his count and motility increased, we need at least 10million motile sperm to raise our chance of success with IUI. I'm quite excited about the procedure next week, I'm trying not to get too excited though.

Until my next post, I'll keep you guys updated.

My IUI journey...

Another unsuccessful cycle, AF came today, on time as always. I asked my husband 2 days before if he will agree on undergoing Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) this month and he agreed. He asked if there is another option beside IUI, I said we could always wait and do it the normal way, no drugs no scheduled Bd (baby dance= baby making). He answered, well then we should do IUI. He was right of course, he's always right. But then I thought about the expenses and suddenly I had second thoughts. I will be spending approximately Php30,000 for the whole procedure, I can buy a lot of things from that amount. I can buy a Tiffany chain bracelet, a pink blackberry 8250, a gym membership and a new set of  clothes. I'll have all those things and those things I can hold, I can use and wear. If I don't get pregnant from IUI, I'll only have tears, a broken heart, resentment, anger and loss. Would I be able to go through another cycle? We went to church to attend the Sunday mass after our conversation and I wasn't asking for signs. Well I was suppose to ask for signs but I can't think of one so I said to myself, If my OB will go to work on Holy Wednesday then we will go for IUI. Inside the church, there were a lot of people probably because it's Palm Sunday (the beginning of the Lenten season which is a big deal in our country, since 80% of the population is Catholic) and a lot of kids are pestering the adults, laughing, having fun. A lot of ugly kids (sorry!) as well but I was just smiling at all of them. Well I was frowning at first then I don't know what happened, I just watched them and wish that I have my own dirty kid to pester me. In short, I went to my OB today and yes we will proceed with IUI this month.

Since I already finished 3 cycles of Clomid, this time I asked for injectable. Also I read that there are higher success rates of IUI with injectable than Clomid. Injectable drug produces more quality follicles than Clomid and the more the merrier. It's more expensive though and well I have to inject myself with the drug but I'll do anything to have a baby. Here's my schedule this month:

*  Day 1- First day of period, went to the OB

*  Day 3- Take Ovamit (much cheaper than Clomid) 2x a day. She explained why I have to take Clomid again but I wasn't really listening (sheessh)

*  Day 4 or 6- Hubby's SA

*  Day 8- Doctor's appointment, Tutorial on injecting oneself with drugs 101.
   Take Premarin 3x/day

*  Day 8 to 14- Injectable (I can do this!)

*  Day 14- Follicle monitoring

*   Day 15 or 16- IUI

           *   Day 15- Take duphaston 1x/day
           
           *   Day 28- Last day of drinking medicines

I'm going to very busy this month, I love it! Here's the estimated cost for the procedure:

*    Oral Medication- Ovamit (2x/day for 5 days= 10 pcs @ Php 100 = Php 1,000), Premarin (3x/day for 20 days= 63 pcs @ Php33= Php 2,079), Duphaston (1x/day for 14 days= 14pcs @ Php56= Php 784) Total of Php3,863

*        IUI procedure at Victory Art= Php12,000 (inclusive of doctor's fee)

*        Injectable- name of the medicine to follow and dosage= Php 13,000

It's super expensive, I know but IVF is more expensive. I pray we don't have to do IVF. But I'm actually looking forward to the procedure this month. I wish I'll be able to produce a lot of good quality follicles, 3 on my left and 1 on my right. I also pray that hubby will be able to produce good quality swimmers. The timing is also crucial to make it successful so I hope my doctor will do a great job in pointing out the correct time. Everything I achieved, I work hard for and now even at becoming pregnant, I accepted the fact that I too will work hard to get it.

Prayers, faith and hard work will make anything possible.