So here is the infertility blogpost. Last month Josh and I did our first IUI as part of our ongoing quest to get a baby in my belly. The decision was hard for me because I am emotionally worn down. It is really difficult to try and try month after month and not succeed. With us having gone to the adoption seminar and feeling so good about it, I was content to stop trying for a bio kid for awhile. Between Josh wanting to try it and me feeling like I should exhaust every option, I finally agreed to give it a shot.
The first part of procedure is to take Letrozole which is a medicine to make sure I ovulate and that the egg/follicle is bigger than normal. I've taken the medicine a lot before and it isn't the most fun. It makes me super hormonal and gives me migraines. It was par for the course though, and I plowed right on through. Next we did an ultrasound on day 13 of my cycle to estimate when I was going to ovulate. For this procedure, it is very important to have exact timing.
To get the timing right I had been doing ovulation predictor tests every morning which are just like taking a pregnancy test except mine has a digital body that you stick a pee stick in. I have been using the same monitor for consistency's sake because the scientist in me likes to have fewer confounding variables. That is all well and good except I've been using the same one for over a year and it is battery operated. Yep, it broke...in the middle of a reading. I saved up so much pee I was absolutely about to bust and the the gosh darned thing broke. I said something not very nice and just stared at it, like this inanimate object was playing a trick on me. When I realized that was unlikely, I called the doctor who said I should just come on in.
Last week was one of the busiest weeks of Josh's life. He had three tests, a quiz, an all day interview, church stuff, and trying to get pregnant which is WAY harder when the doctor who is helping is only available 9-5. Thankfully, he was close to home and was able to hurry up to the doctor to do his part. The actual IUI wasn't nearly as bad as I had read. It didn't really hurt, it was just a lot of pressure. There were also a lot of people in a tiny room all looking way up in my business. Afterwards the doctor showed us the sperm and egg swimming around in my uterus. It was cool, like a pre-baby picture. We did that twice, on back to back days. The second time was a little more painful because I was sore. What from you ask? The cranking. To do this procedure they have to dilate your cervix and they do so with a little machine that cranks it open. It doesn't hurt in the moment but it is VERY uncomfortable to hear and is sore afterwards. Shew. I shudder to think of the noise.
All was fine and dandy and I was ready to wait til Test Day to see if the IUI worked and then I learned about The Pills of Satan, otherwise known as progesterone supplements. My progesterone is normal, but procedure dictates that all IUI patients take progesterone pills. My body hates meds and it particularly hated these meds. At first it was just crying. I'm a crier, so this wasn't a big deal, but one day I did cry four times at work before 10:00. Okay, I can deal though. Then came the faintness, hot and cold flashes, night sweats, and the most God awful nausea I have ever experienced. I was so sick that I was sick in my dreams. I'd wake up so sick couldn't go back to sleep. And also in a completely sweat soaked bed so let's toss sleep deprived onto that list of side effects. I was miserable to say the least.
So I call my doctor and I tell the nurse (who is also the good doctor's wife) what all is going on and she says "That's impossible. You can't have side effects when progesterone is taken vaginally (forgot to mention that tidbit, these pills weren't the oral kind!). The medicine isn't systemic you aren't having side effects." Call me Clara Oswin Oswald then because I am the impossible girl!
The the nurse follows up with: "Everyone here has the stomach bug so we just gave you that." Oh goodie? Is that somehow better? Hope I didn't pay extra for that privilege!
I only have a few more days on the horrid pills, but until then I'm drinking chamomile tea like I'm Peter Rabbit as that is the only thing that helps the nausea besides holding my breath which is sort of a short term solution at best. There is only a 9% chance that this worked so I'm fully expecting another negative test. We will do this twice more and then reevaluate.
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