Tonight I had a great night - but first let's talk about how today went since I know most of you have tuned in specifically to hear how my baseline ultrasound went!
That's right, today was my baseline, a moment we had been waiting for. Being on Lupron is exciting, but the process REALLY starts after the baseline. But first, back up 2 nights and let's talk about hot flashes and memory loss. I've read that being on Lupron is nearly like being in Menopause because everything is being down-regulated. So, hot flashes may occur. Well, in the middle of the night I woke up screaming hot! I started tossing cats off the bed, ripping off my t-shirt and sweatpants and shoving covers down past my ankles. I felt like I was standing in molten lava. At about this same time I realized I had forgotten my Dexamethasone pill and wanted to punch myself for being so irresponsible and throwing off my regimen! I ran into my spare room/pharmacy/laboratory and popped that little 1/2 pill in nearly 3 hours overdue. Having that struggle behind me, I was looking forward to what this morning would bring, but was also feeling quite nervous. Would it go well, or wouldn't it?
What if I would get bad news at my u/s? I went in for my sonohysterogram thinking everything would be hunky-dory, and then "whoopsie, there's a polyp!" Who knew what this morning would bring. Hopefully no more delays!
Rob and I arrived on time for our appointment. However, we had to wait in the waiting room for a period of time. All of a sudden my nurse came up front pushing a cute little guy in a stroller. My nurse explained to us that his mother was in the back having an u/s and the little man just wasn't cooperating. Perhaps the dark u/s room was frightening him, but he definitely wasn't having it! They finally had to wheel him out so the u/s Tech could concentrate. Up front by us the little guy, Evan, was quite content. We learned that he was a product of IVF and that mom was in the back for round two. Rob joked that we could just wheel Evan out to our car and save ourselves a lot of hassle. My nurse laughed and said we could almost get away with it. Rob wants a boy, he's a boy. He has blond hair and blue eyes, he could pass as ours But, then we all decided that the whole running from the law thing would get old, and his mother would probably be pretty mad. Eventually Rob, I, and Evan were ushered to the back so I could get started with my blood work. My nurse parked Evan in the hallway and we went into the b/w room.
First she took my blood pressure. Darn-it-all it was high again. It was high after my surgery, it was high in MN, and it was high today. My nurse concluded that most likely it was from nerves. I suggested maybe it was because I'm packing on the pounds, and she said "NO! You do not have high blood pressure due to your weight!" That made me feel better. And kind of made me want a donut. Anyway, we then had the blood work - she joked that my blood should come firing out of me with b/p that high! Yikes! I gave about 6 vials of blood and my inquisitive husband watched AND asked questions as to how the vacuum in the vials work, and how does she mix them, etc. His mechanical brain just HAS to know how things work! I don't care. Just take my blood and give me a baby.
After b/w it was off to the u/s room. For those of you who were wondering, don't worry, we didn't end up stealing Evan, and he didn't stay parked in the hallway alone for long either. His mommy came and got him from the hallway and took him home with her. I used the restroom and met Rob in the u/s room. The tech came in and got right to work. It was so funny because there was no screen for me to watch, so I just stared at the faces of Rob and my technician as they watched a TV program of my "insides". I knew two things to be worried about (and once I know what to worry about, I worry about it) were that my uterine lining could be too thick and/or I could have cysts on my ovaries which could delay our process. I mentioned the lining concern first to my technician who immediately confirmed that my lining looked great. This was good news to me because I had read how most women bleed when they are on Lupron and therefore don't have a thick lining because they are shedding it. Well, I am not bleeding on Lupron so of course I was worried. However, for those few days that they took me off the pill, I bled like an unlucky murder victim in a horror film, so that must've done the trick. So - good lining - check. Next it was on to the ovary hunt. I mentioned then that they had diagnosed me with PCOS in MN. She said "Oh yes, ovaries usually look like chocolate chip cookies and yours will have LOTS of chocolate chips on them." They found my right ovary and there were MANY follicles just ready to be stimulated. No sign of any large cysts, so we were good to go there. She mentioned how, if I respond well to stimulation, that I may have lots of good eggs for them to retrieve with that many follicles. Yay! Good little ovaries! She also checked my left side which also had a lot of follicles but not as many. She told Rob it was nice he was seeing what they look like now because after stimulation it will look like a "bunch of grapes" in there. I've read that your ovaries can swell to the size of small oranges. Sounds fun.
After finding the ovaries and measuring the follicles it was time to get dressed and go meet with my nurse. She confirmed that everything looked good and that she would send it all off to MN and that I would hear back from her around 3:30pm. She said that because my u/s looked good that most likely my b/w would come back good too. I did get my call from her at 4pm today and she said MN says we are good to go!!!! I start my stims on Saturday, and have my first b/w on Monday the 10th, and a follow-up u/s and b/w on Wednesday the 12th to see how things are growing. Also - after completing the u/s today, my nurse rechecked my b/p. It had come down slightly. My nurse said if I had a medical issue with b/p it wouldn't have come down at all, so she attributed it to just nerves. I hope she's right!
Talk about a great day! To top it off I went to dinner with my girlfriends that I work with and my friend Nikki who I used to work with who we haven't seen in awhile. Had a great dinner in Oshkosh with great conversation and lots of laughter. Almost crashed, burned, and rolled Sky's new 4runner on our way home (just kidding Sky, but some jacka$$ did turn right in front of us). Other than that event, the rest of tonight was so fun - another one of life's blessings - good food and good friends. They did all tell me stories about their children though and it does freak me out a little bit. What kind of mother will I be? What will my children be like? It's so hard to imagine any of that. Right now I'm just going to concentrate on baking my chocolate chip cookies.
So tomorrow is business as usual as far as just my Lupron injection and Dexamethasone pill (provided that I remember it all!), but Saturday Rob will help me mix my new stimulating hormone injections. I'm not nervous about them at all. Looking forward to seeing what next week brings. I think Dr. Stassart might be right. He predicted retrieval on the 17th. I'm going to see how close we come to holding him to that date. Just think, that is only a week from Monday. Wow.
As for tonight, I'm going to finally go cuddle Rob and the pets on the couch for the 15 minutes I have left before bedtime. Tomorrow is another busy day - retirement party for our Customer Service Manager at work. Looking forward to my sweet dreams tonight after such a blissful day. Someone should check my b/p now! :)
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