Sorry I haven't updated sooner. It's been a crazy week of appointments, multiple ultrasounds and blood draws. But, we finally have a plan!

I'm sitting with 4 good follicles between 18-22mm and again, a couple of smaller ones. My lining wasn't as nice and cushy as my doctor would have liked it, so we focused on fluffing that up a little the last few days. (His words, not mine.)

We trigger tonight with IUI on Monday. This will be my first time using Ovidrel. We are hoping a purer form of the hCG will prevent the pea to marble size lump and soreness that I get around the injection site.

I detect a pattern here. IUI #1 - Aug 1st, IUI #2 - Sept 1st and IUI #3 Oct 1st.
Funny how that timing has worked out.

I will be sure to post following the IUI on Monday to let everyone know how this one goes.

That has to be it. There can't possibly be any other explanation.

I have agreed to go ahead with another injectable/IUI cycle. After the experience of my last IUI, I was really thinking that I needed to take a break. However, after seeing how good my ovaries were looking, I just couldn't do it. Not only that, but a lot of the stresses of my daily life are on their way out the door.

This will be my 4th injectable cycle and 3rd IUI. With every cycle we learn a little more about how my body works. The doctor makes a little tweak to my protocol and we see how I do with the new plan.

We are going to mimic the last cycle for the most part as it was a nearly perfect IUI cycle. My response was awesome, I had a good amount of follicles most of really good size and my hormone levels were the best they've seen. Only problem was it didn't result in pg.

The nurse says we should consider the bad IUI experience an isolated incident and not let that interfere with our plans of going forward. I've had one really good one and one really bad one. I have to believe she is right and go into this expecting to have another awesome one like I had the first time.

Today is cd4, so our time-line for trigger and IUI will most likely be 9/29 cd13 (my birthday!) and 10/1 cd15. My office doesn't do Sunday appointments. Maybe there will be some luck in triggering on my birthday!

Today is our 3rd anniversary. I'm not expecting a gift of leather. Or even crystal or glass.

Looking back on our wedding, we had several good messages. This is one of the more important messages that was a part of our special day:

Art of Marriage by Wilfred A. Peterson - The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say 'I love you' at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

Happy Anniversary!

It's finally here. 14dpIUI.

I was hoping to come on and share some really good news today, but it just isn't going to happen. Should I spell it out? BFN

What does a girl have to do to get a break? I went into my IUI with at least 4 nice big follies and 2 smaller secondary follies.

The Prometrium did its job and kept any early spotting away, so of course I had a glimmer of hope going into testing this morning.

After this last IUI, I'm not sure if I'm ready for another one right away. I'm almost secretly hoping for cysts so I have to sit out a cycle. Is that bad?

I may not be big on prayer myself, but I've seen several references to different prayers for us infertiles. Here are a couple I'd like to share.

Prayer to St. Gerard For Motherhood
O glorious Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God, and wonder worker of our day, I call upon you and seek your help. You who always fulfilled God's will on earth, help me to do God's holy will. Intercede with the Giver of life, from whom all parenthood proceeds, that I may conceive and raise children who will please God in this life, and be heirs to the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

St. David's Infertility Prayer
Thank you, Lord for all the blessings in my life. Help me to remember them as I face the challenges of infertility. I pray that I can surrender myself into your hands. Let me accept the reality of this situation and have the wisdom and courage to take action where I can. Strengthen my body, mind and spirit to endure the trials of infertility. Keep me ever mindful of the needs of others and grant us your peace. Amen.

Infertility Prayer
Good St. Gerard, powerful intercessor before the throne of God, wonder-worker of our day, we call upon you and seek your aid. You know that this marriage has not as yet been blessed with a child and how much [husband’s name] and [wife’s name] desire this gift. Please present these fervent pleas to the Creator of life from whom all parenthood proceeds and beseech Him to bless this couple with a child whom they may raise as His child and heir of heaven. Amen.


And maybe even more importantly, patience.

To Obtain Patience
O powerful and everlasting God, Who didst endow Thy faithful Servant Saint Gerard with an invincible patience in the midst of contradictions and persecutions, slanders and infirmities, and didst thereby make him an image of Thy suffering and crucified Son; grant, we beseech Thee, that fixing our eyes on the crucifix, as he did, we may through patience, atone for our sins and prove our love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

and I don't have much to report. I've been a good girl taking my Prometrium 3xs a day since Sunday. Woo hoo! Actually, the inconvenience of the Prometrium 3xs a day is far less annoying than the reaction I get to hCG boosters.

I hate being a symptom analyzer and fortunately for me, the only "symptom" I have been having is my chest is a little more sensitive. Especially when I turn over in bed and lay on my stomache. Ouchy!

I also hate the fact that Prometrium will keep AF away. Well, you know what I mean. ;) I'm just not an early tester. So, I guess I'll be testing on Saturday, Sept 15th. If it's negative, I'm to stop the Prometrium and expect AF in 2-3 days.

We continue to ride on Hope for another week.

I can not be more happy to have that over and done with.

This morning was really rough. I went into the IUI feeling a sense of pressure in my ovaries. Well, of course. Those 6 eggs were getting ready to burst out of their follicles. It wasn't something I hadn't felt before. I used to always feel ovulation pain. It was just more intense with the increased number of follicles.

It only took the nurse about 15 minutes to process our sample. Then she called me back. She asked me how I was feeling, and I said I could feel some pressure in my ovaries. Again, that was normal.

Right away I noticed that she had a different type of syringe than was used last time. It didn't have the flexible tube catheter. It was just a syringe with a longer thinner end on it. I mentioned that it was different from last time, but she said this was the kind they usually use and they must have been using a sample product last time.

The nurse completed the procedure and raised the foot portion of the bed a little to elevate my hips. She told me there was a tiny bit of blood on the end of what she referred to as the catheter. She said that was normal, probably just due to the cervix being irritated. She set the timer for 10 minutes, and we'd be good to go.

Right away something didn't feel right. Wow. This one really hurt compared to last time. OMG!!! Why does it hurt so bad? I could not believe the intense cramping.

Uh oh. Here we go. I'm about to pass out. Next thing I know, the doctor is sort of bear hugging me asking, "Are you with us?" From there, the pain got even more severe. Apparently passing out is the brain's way of responding to the foreign object in the body. So, whether it was the actual apparatus of the procedure or the solution that was injected into me, I'm sure we'll never know.

I was in the room for almost an hour laying on the table curled up in severe pain. My doctor gave me something to relieve the cramping and the pain finally subsided. What he gave me was the same thing he gives out prior to HSG testing to prevent cramping.

I came home and slept for about 45 minutes. About an hour after leaving the clinic I was feeling a lot better and the cramping is now totally gone.

We opted to do Prometrium tablets in the LP instead of the hCG boosters, so we'll be ready for testing in two weeks.

I'm hoping for good news after today's ordeal.