Living life two weeks @ a time

16th cycle charting

9th monitored cycle

5th medicated cycle

2nd IUI cycle

22nd cycle since my ectopic pregnancy

HSG done on CD8. The results were the same as the last one two years back but this doctor did it very well. The pain and discomfort was way lesser than last time. After he completed the procedure, he explained the images to me which the other doctor never did. The image showed good spillage on the right and nothing on the left. It was as if there was no tube on the left, the dye never left the uterus on the left side. After I dressed up, the nurse gave me a CD that had my images! I really like that. I could show the images to my hubby :)

As per plan I had my follicle ultrasound on CD12 and to my BIG BIG surprise I had a good follicle on the right measuring 19mm. Thank God! There were no big ones on the left, the maximum was 11mm which does not qualify. They gave me the HCG shot at 8.45 am on CD12. The plan was to have two IUIs done this cycle. We drove in early on CD13 and had the first IUI. I felt O pains around 8 pm on that day and I think I ovulated because there was a slight increase in temp the next day (0.2 deg). We did the second IUI the next day, CD 14. The doctor mentioned that my hubby's samples looked pretty good and he did not see any issues. The three days were very tiresome for us. The two hour back and forth drive from the clinic against NY traffic and the 3 hour wait at the clinic and then getting back to work with the sponge stuck inside me! It was all totally worth it!

Like he said on my last appointment, if it doesnt happen this cycle, then my right tube is something we can't take for granted. He said there could be issues in the tube at the microscopic level and might not help in the smooth transport of the egg. A similar situation could have happened two years back that caused ectopic pregnancy in my left tube. According to him, HSGs do not reveal microscopic defects of the tube and it just shows that the tube is open and we never know if the tube is actually functional...and I do agree to what he says because sadly I see no reason why it can't be true.

Today I am on 6 DPO and I have my progesterone blood work scheduled for tomorrow. For some reason, my temperatures are not that high this cycle and I am quite disappointed. It could be because I just had one egg that popped this cycle and the last few cycles I had 2 eggs....well we will find out tomorrow after the blood work.

I am kind of lost as to what will happen if this cycle does not work. I mean we have done all that we could this cycle to get a BFP. We did HSG (which I believe increases fertility), right tube was open, we got a right side egg, we did two IUIs...not sure what more is needed! The unknown fear is what happens next if this cycle does not work. My RE is leaning towards IVF as he says we should discuss that next cycle. I am not quite sure...we did only 2 IUI cycles so far (3 if we count this cycle as 2 IUIs) ..is that enough to determine that IVF is our only choice? or should we try more IUI cycles? I have been reading on acupuncture and I am thinking of doing at least 1 IUI+acupuncture cycle and 1 IUI+injectables cycle before we head to IVF. And we need 2-3 months break to save a little bit for IVF (based on our coverage we will end up spending a lot out of pocket).

Fingers crossed!!

Back to square one :(

Today is CD7, March 21. Our first 'very hopeful' IUI cycle ended last Thursday when I got my period :( and it was the most disappointing day for us.

We are on our second IUI cycle with the same Femara dose (3 x 2.5 mg). The plan is to have two IUIs this cycle to increase chances. But all these again depend on whether my right ovary produces good follicles. If we end up having bigger follicles on my left then we will have to cancel this cycle. My RE is kind of leaning towards talking about IVF as he thinks my right tube might not be functioning too well. The real problem is that I have a dominant left ovary and most of the time we had multiple eggs from left ovary(normal and clomid cycles). I really hope that my 'right' starts working up and getting up to speed. Before we have our IUI, we are doing a HSG to know the status of my tubes. I had my last HSG two years back (after my ectopic) and I thought it would be good to have another one now. At least it would increase our chances for the next few cycles. With a LOT of HOPE we are marching towards this cycle praying GOD won’t let us down this time!

One small step at a time

Today is CD13 on my first Femara cycle (3x2.5mg/day from CD3 to CD7). For better reasons I found Femara to be a better drug compared to Clomid. Clomid gives this unusual mood swings and thickens the cervical mucus. I kind of felt better on Femara. Today I had my ultrasound and it showed two big follicles, 22mm on the right (yay!) and 20 mm on the left (my left never gives up!). That number '22' made our day today! It’s like we are half way there though literally we are not even close!  When you go through infertility, any small positive outcome really gives you that little hope :)

Tomorrow is our IUI appointment. Two weeks back, the world was upside down and I was totally disheartened about our IUI plan. Now I feel much better...and its only because of the support and care my husband gave me.... If this is what it takes to have our baby then I am all the more ready to go through it. I pray fervently that God doesn’t make this journey longer and harder.  Good luck to us!!