Operation Jellyman Kelly: Holy Double Dosages Batman!

DISCLAIMER: Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out. These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now. ; )

So here are a few things I've been up to while hopped up on infertility meds:

Cage fighting - I've been picking fights with my husband, myself, my computer, my dog, my dog's cage....it's been ugly.

Buddhism - That is to say I've developed a Buddha belly since starting the Clomid alone so my belly is ripe for worship.

Saving trees - My toilet paper consumption has dramatically decreased since starting this cycle.  Gross, I know.  But the drugs have officially freaked out my body. It's going to be bittersweet when we return to regularly scheduled programming.

Developing mind control - I'm pretty sure the pain in my head is a superpower growing in there.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

And all of that was just on the Clomid!

Today was the first FSH injection. 

I'd almost forgotten how scary it was to see my husband coming at me with a needle!

He was extremely sweet and patient and took the time to make out with me to calm me down first. 

It wasn't terrible.  ; )

I'm scheduled for the next U/S on Sunday where Dr. T will see if my follicles are big enough and from there we'll determine when the IUI's will take place.

I'll keep you posted....

Operation Jellyman Kelly: Here we go again

DISCLAIMER: Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out. These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now. ; )

Well I must say....it has been absolutely wonderful for me having taken the last 3 months off from treatments.

No drugs.

No going crazy from the drugs.

No needles.

No ultrasounds.

No charting.

No false hope.

But alas....like all good things....it must come to an end.

IUI #3.....here we go again.

Dr. T has doubled the dosage of all the drugs to see if I can produce more eggs this go round.  This IUI cycle will also be used as a test to see how well this dosage works so we have a good idea of how much I'll need to take when we go into our first IVF cycle.

First U/S was this morning and first dose of Clomid was this afternoon.

Headaches, mood swings and extreme bloating...here I come!

Operation Jellyman Kelly: IUI Delayed

DISCLAIMER: Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out. These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now. ; )

I went in for blood work and another ultrasound today.

Dr. T was able to make out what he thought to be 5 or 6 eggs.

Great news!  I think?

The only problem...they're not big enough.

So....I'm continuing on the gonal-F injections for another two nights and then go in for another ultrasound on Friday morning.  If everything looks good Friday, they'll give me the trigger shot and we'll be doing IUI over the weekend.

Wish us luck!!!!!!!

Operation Jellyman Kelly: More shots

DISCLAIMER:  Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out.  These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now.  ; )

We've done three nights of FSH injections now and my husband has been handling the needle like a champ!

I have to admit...I'm a little worried about the next set of injections (HCG) we're expecting later this week.

I've heard they are delivered via the buttocks and that is what I'm terrified of.

When I was a child, it took at least 2 people (sometimes 3) to hold me down for shots.

I was that afraid of needles.

I was willing to fight my own mother in order to avoid any kind of injections.

And injections to the butt or legs.....those were the worst for me.

So I'm hoping I can keep myself calm and just get through it.

Cross your fingers for us....if all goes according to schedule we should be doing the IUIs on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Operation Jellyman Kelly: First injection

DISCLAIMER:  Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out.  These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now.  ; )

Last night was the night.

The first FSH injection.

Dr. T and his nurses were adamant when telling us to do the injections at the same time every night (4 nights total) and so my husband and I settled on 6:30 p.m. since we both felt certain we could be home from work at that time during the week.

I spent all day freaking out over this shot.

A couple of times throughout the day I even opened the fridge to look at the injection pen.

It was ridiculous.

My husband and I started an episode of "Dexter" at about 5:45 p.m. hoping it would get us to 6:30 without me really thinking about what was coming at 6:30.

At 6:27 my husband checked the time.  The episode wasn't over yet, infact it was just reaching a big climactic scene so my husband asked if we wanted to wait until 6:45 or 7 to do the shot.

I couldn't wait any longer.  I couldn't be anxious for another half hour.

"Let's get this over with."

We paused "Dexter" and started prepping.

I grabbed an ice pack and started icing my stomach.

My husband cleaned the injection pen, loaded the needle and flicked the pen a few times as instructed.  I was getting a little light-headed at that point.

He cleaned the injection site on my stomach and moved toward me with the needle.

Instinct took over and I started backing away from him.

"Aren't you going to at least tell me when it's coming??!?!" I was slightly panicked.

I think my husband wanted to do this quickly so I didn't have to think about it any longer...but I needed to know when I would feel that needle going in.

He sighed and started counting to three.

Everything in me wanted to ask if he was going to inject ON three or AFTER three but I left it alone.

He counted to three and slowly stuck the needle into my stomach.

I could feel the needle going through my fat which was really, really wierd.

The whole process felt very slow.

He injected the hormones, counted to 5 and pulled the needle out. 

It hadn't hurt.

I couldn't believe it.

Post-injection did result in some pain in my abdomen (mostly pressure) and I also started getting really fidgety and hyper (much like how I was reacting to the Clomid) but this time it was more immediate.

We watched the rest of the "Dexter" episode and then I used that crazy fidgety/hyper feeling for good and made a big dinner.

My husband admitted that it was kind of terrifying giving me the shot...I'm SOOOO happy he didn't tell me that until after!

Although...he does have to do it 3 more times....

crap.

Operation Jellyman Kelly: IUI Cycle

DISCLAIMER:  Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out.  These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now.  ; )

And so it begins....

My cycle started on a weekend (lovely) and so this past Monday was day 3; which meant a quick ultrasound to make sure everything looks fine before we start the cycle and my first dose of Clomid.

I'm on a low dose of Clomid so I didn't think it would have that much of a hormonal effect...but I've definitely noticed a few things........

for instance....

I'm more fidgety than normal.  I can't seem to keep my hands still and my foot always seems to be rocking back and forth in an almost panic-like state.

I'm EXTREMELY thirsty so I'm drinking a LOT of water thus causing me to use the latrine every 20 minutes.

I'm also experiencing waves of emotion at random times which luckily has not struck while I've been at work yet.

I'm also very feisty in the evenings....(unfortunately for my husband...I've been picking fights every night since I've started the Clomid).

I can't seem to focus on one thing at a time either.

I get easily (super easily) annoyed too.

The most unfortunate side effect I'm experiencing are the hot flashes in the evening.  I'm so uncomfortable that I can't sleep and so I'm exhausted at work all day.

So, that's how the Clomid is treating me.  ; )

Days 3-7 are Clomid days.

Days 8-11 are injections of Gonal-F.

I'm really not looking forward to days 8-11.

On day 12 there is a blood test, urine test, repeat ultrasound to see if I need further stimulation.

If all looks good, I'll get an injection that triggers ovulation, we'll do the IUI procedure (twice) and then cross our fingers and hope we made a baby.

Today is day 7. 

Tomorrow marks the start of the shots that my husband will be administering.

His homework is to practice with a sample injection on an orange.

We just got the medication (and needles and biohazard waste can) from the Dr.'s office yesterday.

I thought it was quite adorable that the nurses threw in a bag of chocolate Hershey kisses.

Very, very sweet of them.  =)

Operation Jellyman Kelly: Surgery Follow-up

DISCLAIMER:  Any blog posts titled "Operation Jellyman Kelly" will no doubt gross you out.  These posts will describe our current treatments for infertility...so if you have a weak stomach or don't know how you'd have a conversation with me in person after reading this....stop reading now.  ; )

Three weeks after my laparoscopy my husband and I went to our "check-up" appointment with Dr. T.

I had been looking forward to this appointment because I really wanted to see the pictures Dr. T took with the laparoscope during surgery.

(I allowed him to take photos of the surgery for educational purposes.)

I had been extremely jealous that my husband had already seen these photos...shortly after the surgery.

As it turns out....photos of your uterus and ovaries are kind of...gooey.  I'm not entirely sure what I expected of the photos....but it was a little gross.

He summarized how the surgery had gone and that he'd found absolutely nothing wrong.


"So as you can see...nothing exceptional."


Nothing exceptional?  Way to make a girl feel special Dr. T.


He pushed the photos towards me on his desk...


"These are copies if you'd like to keep them..."


I laughed and respectfully declined.  Not exactly the type of photos I want to put up on the fridge.

Dr. T asked how we wanted to proceed regarding treatments, so we decided on the least invasive, least expensive (and unfortunately least likely to succeed) treatment....IUI (or intrauterine insemination).


I asked how soon we could try a round of IUI.

"As soon as you start your cycle."

Awesome.  My cycle was scheduled to start in a week and a half.


We didn't expect to walk out of that appointment with a plan, a prescription for Clomid and a practice kit for FSH injections...

but we did.