IUI Moved to Monday

I was right about my ovulation being delayed, but it's not by much. The doctor found one good follicle on my left ovary, but, it hasn’t yet developed quite enough. He said we shouldn't trigger until the follicle is at least 17mm in size, and mine was 16 mm this morning. However, my doctor said follicles grow about 2mm a day, so we should be ready to trigger tonight. Moving the trigger up 12 hours means that we need to move up the IUI as well, so we'll be doing it on Monday instead of tomorrow.

That's the plan. We'll be administering the HCG trigger right before bedtime tonight. I must admit a part of me is a little nervous about the idea of giving myself a shot, but, I figure, if thousands of women do it everyday, I can too :)

Ultrasound Today!

My ultrasound is in just a few hours! Fingers crossed that I have a good follicle and we can perform the IUI tomorrow. My OPKs are still very negative, and I have not had any EWCM yet, so it seems like I may have a delayed O this cycle, but, we shall see.

Oh, and I started to feel much better yesterday. The O-like pains went away, as did the stomach distress. Yay for that!

I will update this afternoon!

No Sign of Ovulation Yet

I'm not sure what is going on. I still feel like I have O pains, (little minor twinges of pain on one side), but there is no sign of O (very negative OPK and CBEFM results, my BBT is still low). My O pains usually last a few hours, and this has been going on for a day. I’m wondering if it has something to do with the HSG, but I am trying to not worry about it too much. My ultrasound appointment is on Saturday, so, if something weird is going on, hopefully the doctor will find it.

Also, I’m suffering from the side effects of the antibiotics I am taking: constantly nauseous and going to the bathroom. Fun times! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday!!!

I am About to Yell at My Ovaries

I keep getting what feel like ovulation pains. If I ovulate early, that means no IUI this cycle, and I will be so bummed! It sucks that OPKs don't usually give me positives in time. Hopefully it's just gas or something :P

This is a First - My Nutritionist Just Called

The nutritionist from the CF clinic just called me. I was concerned the moment I saw the phone number – the CF clinic doesn’t call me after a check-up unless something is wrong. And the nutritionist has NEVER called me before. Here is our conversation:

“Hi Kristen. I just wanted to let you know all of your vitamin levels are normal.”

(Thinking in my head. Come out with it – you didn’t just call me to tell me I’m healthy.)

“But, your vitamin D levels went down. They are still in the normal range, and this is probably just because you haven’t been in the sun as much as you were last April (the last time I had them checked). But we need to keep an eye on it because it could lead to bone loss if it continues to go down. (Women with CF are prone to early onset of osteoporosis.) And, you especially need to keep them up when you are pregnant. Luckily, your levels will be checked each trimester during pregnancy. And vitamin D is something we cane easily supplement.”

I guess I am going to start being more diligent about taking my Viactive!

HSG Results

My tubes are clear!

Overall, the procedure wasn't too bad. It did hurt and I am thankful I took the ibuprofen beforehand (oh, and no near-puking! ;). Apparently I have a curved cervix, which meant the doctor had trouble getting the catheter in. For most of the procedure, if felt like bad period cramps. There was just one moment when the dye went in that really hurt. But I still acted like a pansy and was squeezing the tech's hand and breathing really hard :P. I did feel like I was going to faint for a minute, and the doctor said that's normal when there is pressure on the cervix.

I also asked about Greg's SA, and the doctor said the count was 109 million (anything over 20 million is considered normal), morphology was right at normal, and motility was about 20% below normal. He told me that, if I didn't have any issues, he wouldn't recommend IUI at this point because the high count would make up for the reduced motility. But, because of the SA results combined with my CM issues, he definitely thinks IUI is the best option for us.

So, now my fingers are crossed that my body will gear up to O right on time. Last month I O'd on CD 13, which would be too early because my ultrasound isn't until CD 14. And hopefully my body doesn't decide to delay O this month either. We will see on Saturday!

HSG is in One Hour

Ibuprofen has been swallowed. Prayers for no vomitousness have begun. Ginger tea drinking has commenced.

HSG Today

My HSG is today. I am supposed to go to my doctor's office at 1:00, and then we will head over to the hospital to perform the test.

I must admit I am a little nervous. I've heard it can hurt a lot. My RE prescribed me 800 mg of ibuprofen, which I am supposed to take at 1:00. Which leads me to another reason I am nervous - the last time I took this much ibuprofen, I threw up, and, as I've mentioned in a previous blog post, I have a severe vomiting phobia. Luckily, now I know to take it with food, so hopefully I will be ok. The third reason I am nervous is simply because I hope we don't find some unforeseen issue. I really want the HSG to show I have clear tubes!

Positive Thinking

Today I was walking down the "female" aisle of the grocery store and grabbed a package of tampons. I stared at them for a minute and thought, "What the hell am I doing??", put them back on the shelf, and kept on walking :D

Clinic Visit Today

I had a CF clinic visit today. I have a new CF doctor, (because my previous one took a new job), and I like him. For a moment, he mentioned putting me on Pulmozyme, and, in my head, I started to cry, "Nooooooooo!!!! I don't have time for another nebulized med!!", but then he decided I have enough going on in my life, with TTC and all. Phew!!

Here's a brief run-down of my visit:

• FEV1 = 112%!

• I don't have to go back on Advair, considering it gave me the almost-invincible thrush and my lung function still looks good.

• My CF doctor said he has cared for other pregnant CFers, and he said some got pregnant on their own, and others needed fertility treatments.

• Once I am pregnant, I will keep going to CF clinic every three months like I already do now - no need to increase the frequency of visits as long as I stay healthy.

• He made a comment that makes me wonder if I might stop Colistin in the future - when asking about my meds, he said "Colistin....hmmmm...you haven't cultured pseudomonas in a year and a half...." Fingers crossed that my cultures continue to stay clear and I can go off it!!!! I think I would throw a party! (For those new to my blog, Colistin takes 15-20 minutes to nebulize, and I have to do it twice a day every other month.)
  

• I weigh more than I ever have in my life, thanks to my excessive wine and soft cheese consumption since starting TTC (you know, the whole "I might not be able to do this again for a while!" attitude).

That's all for now!

Our First IUI Cycle is Here!

I haven't blogged for a few weeks because, well, I just needed a break from obsessing over TTC. I still charted last cycle (because I can't stand not knowing what is going on with my body), but we didn't force ourselves to have "baby making sex" (i.e. none of that "we have to have sex NOW!" business). Instead, we just had sex when we wanted to (we ended up having good timing anyway - not that it mattered :P)

Now it is back to obsessing, and I am excited because we will be doing our first IUI in a few weeks! I know the chance of success is only 25% maximum with each IUI, but I am feeling very hopeful that we will get pregnant sometime within the next 3-6 months.

Of course, this is all assuming the HSG goes fine. I'll be doing that on Monday. If everything looks good, we will do an ultrasound and HCG trigger shot next Saturday, and the IUI will be done the following Sunday or Monday.

In none-TTC related news, Greg and I went to San Francisco over the weekend. It was my first time visiting the city, and we had a great trip. I didn't get much sleep, though, and now I am sick. I think it's just a sinus flare-up because I just have a low grade fever and overall crappy feeling - no lung issues - so hopefully I will be back at work tomorrow.