Operation Jellyman Kelly: Lupron Injections

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. ; )

OUCH!

I started Lupron injections 2 nights ago.....

YOWZA!

I'd heard that these shots hurt and was hoping I'd be one of the lucky women that didn't experience the pain and/or side effects from these shots...but alas....I'm not usually lucky.

Apart from the actual needle hurting when piercing the skin....the medication stings at first....then itches under your skin.

In addition to that......there is a TON of pressure at the injection site for the rest of the evening.

The first night my husband gave me the injection we were going out for the evening to meet up with family and take our coaches SUPing.  The entire night was just really uncomfortable for me.

Last night after the injection my husband encouraged me to take a nap because all I wanted to do after the shot was lie down.  I slept for an hour and felt good enough for us to take our coaches out for one last dinner and then when we got home I crashed.

Tonight we're driving an hour and a half into Mathews County for a crab-pickin dinner with friends.  We'll have to take the medications with us in a cooler and administer the injection at their house.

I'm hoping I don't feel too terrible since we'll be at someone elses house.

Wish me luck and more to follow!

A Shine of Rainbows...

Our UK Soccer coach that we just hosted a few weeks back (Lukas) reached out to us asking if he and another coach (Tom) could stay with us for a few days before they head back to Charlotte, NC and then home.

I must say....I was tickled that Lukas felt our house was relaxing enough and fun enough to spend some of his precious last days in the US.

So at the moment...I have a house FULL of boys.

My husband, the two coaches, and Kozy.

Boys will be boys and all...so last night when they broke out the video games I cuddled up in bed with a movie.

I watched a movie I'd never heard of called "A Shine of Rainbows" and couldn't believe how incredibly lovely it was.

It tugged at my every emotion.

It was one of the sweetest movies I've ever seen.

If you've never seen it....Netflix it. 

I promise you it's worth it.

Now I must get back to the boys...........

Operation Jellyman Kelly: IVF

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. ; )

Yesterday treated me to my first Sonohysterography.  This is where saline liquid is injected into the cavity of the uterus (enlarging it) while an ultrasound is being conducted to look (real time) at how the uterus fills, to measure the uterus, to look for cysts, polyps or any other abnormalities that could cause infertility or miscarriage.

This procedure wasn’t nearly as horrible as the HSG I survived 5 or 6 years ago as a first crack at figuring out why we weren’t getting pregnant…..but it was still uncomfortable enough that I wouldn’t want to do it again.

Filling the cavity of the uterus with saline caused me to cramp up a little….but what really got me was the sudden and overwhelming urge to pee!

I survived the urge and Dr. T said everything looked good.

Next step was a pretty intimidating walk through with the head nurse to go over all the medications I’d be taking throughout the cycle and how to administer some of the new injections.

After that I sat with the financial advisor and we calculated approximately how much we’d pay for this cycle (trust me, you don’t want to know).

Then it was back to work (bloated and uncomfortable) to finish out my tasks for the day and then an evening of phone calls with the pharmacy department to get the medications straightened out and paid for so we could get them shipped in time for my first dose on Thurs.

Injections begin on the 18th.

Labwork on the 25^th.

Ultrasound on the 26^th.

Possible stimulation from the 29^th through the 5^th of Sept.

Egg retrieval between Sept 7^th and 10^th.

Egg transfer between Sept 10^th and 15^th.

More medication.

Two week wait.

That’s what my life is going to look like for the next month.

Here we go……….

A song of our troubles....

A friend happened upon this song today.....

It was raw, powerful and I just had to share.....

Lyrics:

Jenny was my best friend.
Went away one summer.
Came back with a secret
She just couldn't keep.
A child inside her,
Was just too much for her
So she cried herself to sleep.

And she made a decision
Some find hard to accept.
To young to know that one day
She might live to regret.

But I would die for that.
Just to have one chance
To hold in my hands
All that she had.
I would die for that.

I've been given so much,
A husband that I love.
So why do I feel incomplete?
With every test and checkup
We're told not to give up.
He wonders if it's him.
And I wonder if it's me.

All I want is a family,
Like everyone else I see.
And I won't understand it
If it's not meant to be.

Cause I would die for that.
Just to have one chance
To hold in my hands
All that they have.
I would die for that.

And I want to know what it's like
To bring a dream to life.
For that kind of love,
What I'd give up!
I would die for that.

Sometimes it's hard to conceive,
With all that I've got,
And all I've achieved,
What I want most
Before my time is gone,
Is to hear the words
"I love you, Mom."

I would die for that.
Just to have once chance
To hold in my hands
What so many have
I would die for that.

And I want to know what it's like
To bring a dream to life.
How I would love
What some give up.
I would die ...
I would die for that.

Hosting....

We've been hosting another soccer coach from the UK for Challenger Sports and it's been another great distraction from the 2 week wait and the not making it through the 2 week wait.

Lukas was our coach this time and as fate would have it....he knew Roisin and Ben (the coaches we hosted 2 weeks ago).

Turns out....Lukas was the source of all the "Dave is SO dangerous..." jokes that Roisin could not stop herself from making every couple of hours.  ; )  It was quite funny having the creator of the jokes staying with us.

Because we wanted to be sure Lukas had a good time, we hosted and organized a few gatherings throughout the week.  And that made me realize something...

I really enjoy hosting.

Not just soccer coaches from the UK....everyone.  I really enjoy being a hostess.

Having people over at our house, making sure they have everything they need, providing a place, company, etc. for people that I care about...it feels wonderful!  Granted...there is sometimes a bit of a mess to clean up after..and sometimes it can be a little stressful.....but it's absolutely worth it.

Here are a few of my favorite snapshots of our time with Coach Lukas...in no particular order...

Operation Jellyman Kelly: Third Fail

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, for the third time...I didn't get to make it to test day.

We're officially going into round one of IVF.


Please, please let this be it.

35 Hours

I've been living away from my family just about 10 years now.

And while I've visited them as often as possible...I miss them like crazy.

So when my brother Nick emailed me saying he'd be in Philly for a week of training and asked if he should extend his stay and come down to Virginia for the weekend...I was STOKED....to say the least.  ; )

Unfortunately with flight schedules and such he couldn't stay the entire weekend....it was really a 35 hour visit....so we packed in as much as humanly possible...

We had great burgers and beer at Capital Ale House while catching up on life.  I had no idea my brother had turned into such a beer connoisseur.  He spoke at length about his favorite beers and one beer that apparently tasted like motor oil.  Yum.

We went SUPing on the James through some class 3--5 rapids.  That was actually amazing.  It was the first time I was able to show Nick why we love SUPing and why we love Richmond.  (If you want to read more about our SUP adventure you can check out our SUP blog here: SUP Virginia)

We had a wholesome lunch at Whole Foods, picked out some craft beers and then high-tailed it back to the house for a quick nap before we broke out our ultimate Slip N Slide.

I tell you, I've never seen so much smiling in my life.

It was the perfect afternoon event on a hot summer day.

After several hours of slip n slide awesomeness we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for food, beer and a Strikeforce Fight.  Only BW3's didn't air the fight.  They apparently don't have Showtime.  In a matter of minutes at least 3 people were on their iPhones trying to find a bar/pub/place that was airing the fight.  No luck.  So it was food, beer, minus the strikeforce fight.  Thankfully, good people make good conversation...so we all survived without the fight. 

Next thing I knew it was 8 a.m. the next morning and I was driving Nick back to the train station where he'd ride up to Philly and catch his flight back to California.

I was incredibly sad when I watched him board the train.

I realized in that very moment that I'm stronger....I'm.....whole, when I'm around my family.

I really miss that.

That's not to say that I don't feel "whole" with my husband or his family or our friends...

It's just a different kind of "whole".
 
And now I'll stop before I start balling because that's how much of a spaz I am about my family and I'll share some of my favorite snapshots of Nick's visit....in no particular order....