And so here I am today in my 4th egg retrieval cycle. I’m on vacation in Park City because vacations are good for my soul. They help me to relax, to replenish my tank, to tune back into a grateful spirit.
After the failed transfer I felt God calling me to share my story. When people asked if I was going to have another child, I usually would just brush it off, but if I sense the smallest amount of probing I tell them my story now. Why? Because in the midst of this I have learned a lot of things, but among them is, I am not alone. This is still a topic people are sensitive about which leaves many women feeling alone, because it happens all the time. God is making me stronger. God is drawing me closer to Him. God is teaching me that even though I think I’ve let go, I’m still holding on.
So for women who want some details, here is my current protocol:
- Vitamins. I take prenatal vitamins, vitamin D, probiotic, NAC, CoQ10, DHA, DHEA, and Metanx because I have MTFHR (which much of the population does).
- Diet. I’m off alcohol and caffeine. I try to eat little gluten, refined sugar, and dairy. I try to eat organic as much as possible. Usually I do a cleanse in between my cycles to help my body detox from the drugs. This included eliminating, soy, gluten, tomatoes, corn, dairy, gluten, red meat and sugar for 21 days (all meat was eliminated for 7 days). This was suggested by my acupuncturist and included additional supplements.
- Prescription drugs (aka the shots). I take 20 units of micro dose Lupron in the morning. 12 hours later I take another 20 units, plus 30 units of omniotrope and 450 of gonal (which is an alternate to follistum). I am also on thyroid medication which I take every morning. This affects me in no noticeable way, but the doctors would rather I just take it to be on the safe side, so I do.
- So far this cycle I’ve spend $8,000 to my doctors office plus another $2,000 on medication. This doesn’t include what I’ll spend on acupuncture, vitamins and my oral prescription drugs. And keep in mind this is my cost after insurance coverage.
I had my initial appointment on Feb 11 to make sure I was clear to start treatment and meet with my coordinator to go over my protocol. Each appointment includes a blood draw and ultrasound. I had my last check in on 2/22. From the emailed results it appears I have 4 follicles on each side measuring between 4-12 right now. From what I understand from my time with Dr A they like them to get to about 20. I have my next appointments on 2/25 and 2/27 and then I have my retrieval set for 3/1.
Now that I have you up to date I will be able to give you more insight into what my individual weeks are like.
I'll go first 