TTC2.0 IUI#2

So we triggered on CD18. I really didn't like the idea of not having another ultrasound that morning. I was left with the fact that the follicle was 16.5mm the day before and my lining was 8mm. So I have hopes that it grew to at least 18.5-19mm and that my lining grew to 9-10mm. But of course, I'll never know. I was also not crazy about the fact that my E2 level was only at 167 the day before trigger.

Day of IUI, we go in and everything is good, except... the sperm count.. We only had a total motile of 11.1 million. Last IUI was 28.5 million. We actually paid for the high motility on this vial and everything. It was 46 total motile before wash. It really decreased. The vial we got was from 2016. The vial with last cycle was 2013. Guess it's normal for the motility to decrease as the donor ages. Needless to say, with all of the above info, we are not feeling optimistic at all. Going in on Thursday for progesterone blood work and then next Thursday for beta. We'll probably test next Wednesday. I will probably have a glass of wine for Super Bowl this Sunday because our home town team, the Eagles, are playing! And I HAVE to celebrate.. right?!

TTC 2.0 CD15 and CD17-UPDATE

So, we went to the RE on Saturday morning and finally my follicle is growing. there was 1 at 13mm and lining at 6mm. Went again this morning on CD17 and the follicle was 16.5mm and my lining was 8mm! My lining has NEVER been that good. Waiting on blood work to come back and they will call me. HOPEFULLY I'm not close to ovulation because we obviously want that follicle to grow. I'm definitely disappointed that I only have 1 good follicle. I've never had this issue with Clomid before. I've always had 2 good follicles. But I'm hoping with 1 good follicle and a thick lining, things will go well.

IUI#2 so far
CD4-12 follicles on the right, 6 on the left. Thyroid levels came back at 1.24!
CD11-All follicles about 10 or under. Looks like 3 main ones so far. lining at 5.5. The only good thing about this is that my lining still has time to grow. Have to go back on Thursday! E2 was 47.6
CD13-Follicles around the same size. Still about 3 main ones. Lining still at 5.5. Will update with E2 levels later. E2 levels up to 122! She said that's good and to come in on Saturday. Hoping my wife and son will be my good luck charms since my wife can finally come to an appointment!
CD15-1 lead follicle around 13. Lining 6. E2 level actually dropped to 102. I assume that's because all the other follicles stopped growing and left only the lead follicle.
CD17-1 lead follicle still around 16.5 on right. A lot of small ones 7-8mm on the left. lining is 8!!! Will update with levels later! E2 Level 167. Triggering tomorrow night on CD 18. IUI on CD 20. This is by far the LATEST IUI ever.... We're not feeling optimistic about this round.

TTC2.0 CD13 UPDATE!

Back to the RE this morning and my lining is STILL 5.5 and my follicles barely grew. UGH! I'm definitely getting discouraged but have to remind myself that my normal cycles are 37+ days long. I was just hoping for SOME growth and definitely wanted a good lining. So, depending on how the blood work comes back today, I'm either going in on Saturday, CD 15 OR Monday, CD 17. Going to find some Pom juice at lunch time and hope that helps. Really hoping this cycle isn't a bust :(

IUI#2 so far
CD4-12 follicles on the right, 6 on the left. Thyroid levels came back at 1.24!
CD11-All follicles about 10 or under. Looks like 3 main ones so far. lining at 5.5. The only good thing about this is that my lining still has time to grow. Have to go back on Thursday! E2 was 47.6
CD13-Follicles around the same size. Still about 3 main ones. Lining still at 5.5. Will update with E2 levels later. E2 levels up to 122! She said that's good and to come in on Saturday. Hoping my wife and son will be my good luck charms since my wife can finally come to an appointment! 

TTC2.0

Well, I've definitely been slacking in the blogging department. I'll have to do a whole "where are we now" post, but for now... TTC2.0! Our first IUI was a bust. I forgot how awful it feels to get a BFN. Especially since EVERYTHING seemed to be perfect. I had a follicle of 22 and a 15. My lining was 7.7. Although low, it's the highest it's ever been for me. Sperm count was great as well. That was our last vial that we purchased when trying to get pregnant the first time. LUCKILY, although our donor is retired, there are still over 100 vials available and only for sibling births. So, onto IUI #2! Today is CD11 of IUI#2 and things are already different. Here are some comparisons:

IUI#1
CD4-Baseline ultrasound showed 10 follicles on the left, 8 follicles on the right. Thyroid levels came back elevated at 4.04. They were fine the month before.
CD11-3 Follicles at 18, 13, 13. Lining at 5.5 Thyroid levels still high. prescribed synthroid
CD12-4 Follicles at 22, 15, 13. Lining at 7.7---Triggered that night E2 was 413
CD14-Total motile 28.5 million lots of cramping afterwards. I definitely ovulated right after the IUI
CD25-11dpo. It was New Year's Day so we tested hoping to start the year right! BFN

IUI#2 so far
CD4-12 follicles on the right, 6 on the left. Thyroid levels came back at 1.24!
CD11-Today... All follicles about 10 or under. Looks like 3 main ones so far. lining at 5.5. The only good thing about this is that my lining still has time to grow. Have to go back on Thursday! E2 was 47.6
Hoping for a Saturday IUI. That would be lovely. Even Sunday would be fine too. This cycle, I've been drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea to thicken my lining. My lining is SO thin! It was 6 when I had my son though! If this cycle doesn't work, we're probably taking a break for a bit because we really don't want a november-january baby.

I'll try to keep this updated as we go through TTC2.0!

2 Months

Holy cow has the time flown! I want it to slow down. :(. Here are his 1 and 2 month photos.

and here he is talking up a storm

Birth Story

It was April 29th, the night before my last day in the office and one of my dogs was just pacing and going nuts. My wife and mother-in-law went to the casino for a bit while I stayed home with my father-in-law. My in laws had been here finishing our basement! I texted my wife around 11 to tell her to come home because our dog was going crazy and I couldn't sleep. She gets home and around 1:30, i go to the bathroom and there is a little blood and mucous plug. I start having contractions. I was in bed for a few hours trying to deal with them and timing them. They immediately started off at 5 mins apart. Around 4, I had horrible diarrhea and then got into the shower. I told my wife to get some sleep. The shower felt great. (As great as it can feel while you're having contractions) They start getting more intense and I'm pretty much screaming my head off. My wife calls our doula around 5 and tells her what's going on. She suggests getting in the shower again to see if the contractions lessen. They just get more intense and I'm losing more of my mucous plug and I'm pretty sure my water is breaking. I get out of the shower and we decide to tell the doula we are going to the hospital. This is around 7:30. We get stuck in rush hour traffic, of course, and make it to the hospital a little after 8. When I get in, a nurse checks me and says I'm about 3-4 cm dilated. Great! Then the doctor comes in and says I'm only 1.5. It was very discouraging. The nurses explained that he is stingy with his measurements though.

After that? I continued to have contractions and had horrible back labor. Thank goodness the doula is a massage therapist and was able to counter pressure my pain. I also had this amazing heating pad that you plug in for 15 minutes, then unplug it and it stays warm for hours and becomes portable! That also helped. I was in many different positions to try to help. Mostly, I was leaning over the bed with the pressure on my back! I kept telling everyone that I felt like I was going to poop. Haha. I was also waiting for that moment of transition because I was afraid of more pain. Apparently I was already in it because my wife said I looked like I was having an out of body experience during contractions. They had become very different than the other contractions I was having. Meanwhile, I'm falling asleep between contractions. I hadn't eaten anything since the night before and didn't sleep at all! Then I felt like I needed to push so the my wife got the nurse in to check. She immediately said, oh my god his head is right there! So I started pushing. It felt amazing to push! It was hard because I have asthma and felt like I couldn't breathe through some of them, but after about 45 mins, there he was!! He shot out so fast that the doctor was like, whoa hold on. His cord was around his neck so thy had to cut it immediately. They left some for Jaci to cut too. They immediately put him on my chest for skin to skin contact. He must've loved it because he peed on me haha. I ended up having almost a 2nd degree tear. He had to give me a shot to numb where he was stitching, but I still felt it! I was just very glad not to tear more than I did. Needless to say, we were immediately in love and are now just obsessed with him. Here he was yesterday.

Liam Maverick is here!!

I'll give a full birth story soon, but our little boy was born! His original due date was May 8th and he decided he wanted to be an April baby so bad that he came on April 30th at 5:13pm. Here he is!!