Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Chaos of the day

Today was scheduled for my HCG shot. I had to take it between 7-9AM.
Hal was suppose to give it to me. I had the directions, I had watched the video on how to give this shot. I had the medicine, the needles etc etc

Well Hal got called into work at 7AM so he was out to help me. His mom whom was visiting with us and a nurse was willing to help but she had left yesterday for vacation.

We asked our family friend to help- she's a nurse so we thought it'd be perfect!

I got up and left the house at 6:45AM so get to her house around 7:30 for my shot before she left for work.  I got to her house, rang the bell, came inside with my medicine, only to find out that the bottle of medicine had been broken. Here I was with 1.5 hours of time to take this shot and a broken bottle of medicine. NOW WHAT?

She told me to get to my doctor ASAP.

I called in the emergency line to get help for a new prescription. They sent me down another 30 minutes or so to pick up this prescription. I finally got my hands on new meds by 8:30AM and was out $200.00! When my original was covered 100% by insurance.

The doc asked that I come into the office for the shot now that I was strapped for time to get it done.

Did you ever realize how crazy infertility really is? it's all time sensitive- your body- your meds- your procedures- everything works around a specific time and NO you can't pick the time. Your body picks it.

You get calls DAILY in the afternoon after you have bloodwork done which is every other day- and they give you updates on how much medicine to take and at what time to take it.... talk about a '2nd job!'

So finally by 9am I got to the hospital where they helped give me the shot. I was told this was a FIRST! Never have any patients ever had a broken bottle of medicine!!!   I said hopefully this is the only fluke for this cycle!

I finally got home around 11am. So tired after nearly putting in 100 miles first thing this morning.  I did get frustrated and nearly cried to the answering service who couldn't figure out if this was an emergency or not. (IDIOTS)

I know I am pumped with a TON of hormones right now... so my moods are crazy. I'm super hungry. I'm puffier than ever. Everything is bloated out. it's great.

I can only hope that it pays off and soon!

Do you KNOW HOW HARD it is to be a FITNESS coach and be GROWING w/out a BABY inside?!?!?  IT BLOWS!!!! It SUCKS!!!

Learn from me- check all your meds when you are getting them shipped to your house from the special pharmacies. You just NEVER EVER KNOW!!!!

I pray all of this stress soon pays off and I get a healthy baby or 2.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Doctor Checks

I decided over the weekend I wanted to look into the credentials of the doctors I'm using :)

I never thought about where they've studied or their success stories so I figured I'd definitely look into this.

Here's what I found out:

1. Dr Roth- Loyola University & Rush University out of Chicago- BIG schools- GREAT educations!
2. Dr Levin- Pittsburgh, Northwestern, & UCLA!   More BIG schools & educations!

They both rated 4-4.5 out of 5!   Not to shabby!

Guess I have landed in the correct place for a reason.

I also found out today that my insurance covers what I'm going through 100%.  Talk about a blessing.

I am 1 round away from IVF, since switching doctors- Dr. Levin decided to try the injection/IUI round since it worked for him. He has twins. So does Dr. Roth. funny how I'm dealing with 2 docs who both have twins. hmmmmm

Anyway- please make sure you have GREAT health insurance. It's CRUCIAL for this kind of a situation.  I still can't get over the fact that it's 100% covered. Never have I experienced that!

So- I'm still doing shots until further notice.   Double dosed.

I find I'm super hot these days... I'm guessing the out of control hormones.

I work in the fitness business & naturally I should be fit & in shape but of course the injections cause you to bloat, be puffy, and gain weight. Sooo that is quite the fight. I have to remember this is temporary and a good thing to bring together a family. Then I can do all the fitness I want after :)

I do look forward to that day when I'm super fit & a mom of 2-3 !!! It'll be one awesome day!

I'm glad that I already have my own business in health & fitness that allows me to be able to stay home with my babies when they finally get here!

Want more info on working from home?  email me at lyndsiweise@comcast.net OR check out my website- www.lyndsiweisefitness.com   You can also find me on Facebook- www.facebook.com/lyndsi.weise




Sunday, May 27, 2012

Keeping up with Injections

I missed a couple days on my updates for the injection meds so let me catch you up.


Basically with injections it goes MUCH longer than Clomid or Letrozole/Femara. You pretty much inject the meds until you get to the point to trigger ovulation. 


So today is day 7 of the injections. I went to the doc yesterday morning to check out my follicle growth... there are 3 growing on my ride side- one of which is leading big time in size. this is a benefit. Now of course if all 3 got fertilized then that means triplets who do not look alike. CRAZY to think about.  Unlikely though :)  


The doc checked my blood and called me with updates in the afternoon on dosage.


If you get these injections you will get an update every day in the afternoon of your blood level- which I'm not even going to try to explain. I don't want to confuse you.


So anyway- the doc called me to update and told me to double my dosage. I'm like good lord body can you just respond!!


I then went back to the doc today for more monitoring. You see when you're in this position you do what your body does. We run the process based on my body, not mind.


I am continuing on my double dosages for now. Back to the doc Tuesday.


The injections will make your stomach PUFF out- okay so I look FAT. haha. How else do I say it?  I'm VERY bloated and prego looking if you will. It sucks. You can feel the twinges of your ovaries growing. You can't cross your legs, you can't sit indian style, you can't bend, no lifting, no exercise except for walking or limited swimming (thank god it's summertime). 


We went to a wedding this weekend and I could not dance at the wedding, and if you know me. You know I LOVE to dance. So that was difficult to not get up and start bouncing around. 


I can't be cold/shivering. Not that one would want to be cold & shivering but it's bad for what I'm dealing with.  


I am super bummed on the fitness end because I have worked SOOOOO hard to get in shape and this is moving backwards for me.... now I have to keep reminding myself that THIS IS TEMPORARY! I will get the best gift in the world this way and I can workout all I want after :) It's a hard pill to swallow when you have worked so hard to lose weight and get in shape. 


I think overall its not so bad if you can deal with sticking yourself with needles daily. they are not too painful. Just annoying is all. 


Worst part of my weekend is that another freshly pregnant lady asked me if I was in the same boat as her... or assumed and it was like  'well no... trying..hard to explain...'


That was hard. Just because I don't have the happy news...and I still basically have to act as if I truly am pregnant- no drinking- no exercise etc etc   And naturally that sucks when we know there is NO baby YET!


BUT I truly believe there will be great news SOON!!!


xoxo



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 2 injections

Day 2 of my injections....

Bailey decided to jump on me today- he is my Puggle about 2 years old and 25lbs of pure muscle. When he jumps & lands it ain't pretty!  The doctors want me to set up gates so he wont jump for the next couple weeks. I guess injections are going to make my ovaries nice and large...exciting right? ha!

So the bloating is slowly beginning. I seem to be overly hungry on these and my body temp is crazy. I'm cold then warm then cold. I feel like my stomach is sticking far out which sucks.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on making sure I dont bend over, or bounce around the house, or over exert myself.  Seriously I can't even WORKOUT. All I do is walk. It's so not lyndsi. I'm soooo not myself with this. BUT I am trying to remain normal and stay positive as best I can.

Preparing for a long busy weekend coming up is kind of a struggle but I think it will be okay. I wish I could just be normal Lyndsi again. Not have to worry about plans and just going with the flow for the weekend but that's not how things roll for me right now. I have to plan out my meds, they have to refridgerated as well as taken on time. It's a lot of clean/prep work to add the new needle, clean it up, dial up then poke and clean up after that.

I do miss being normal and having a normal life. I pray no one has to deal with infertility. It's an absolute nightmare.

I also want to encourage those who ARE going through this to SPEAK UP with your doctors!!! They will listen if you SPEAK UP! Because I spoke up my doctors have been very aggressive moving forward for me.  If you dont speak up you're only going to move slow and waiting is truly the hardest part (thank you tom petty)

Today while injecting I noticed another needle in my kit and GOOD GOD is it HUGE. I am NOT looking forward to THAT!

I'll show you a picture here of this lovely needle.

I'm going to take a wild guess that its used for the HCG trigger shot later.

wish me luck as the process continues! I will keep you posted. Night Night!


Monday, May 21, 2012

Injections Begin

Hey Everyone!

Like I wrote in the last post.... I thought my cycle had started 2 weeks ago when in reality it did NOT! It started a week ago which my complaining in my previous post about switching doctors and losing out on 1 cycle really was God holding it off so I could get situated since I need to use injection medicine & IVF!

So that is very exciting. On a negative note though I may forfeit a couple amazing business trips because of timing BUT this is family we are talking about :)

The doctor ordered me my first set of injections- they come to you in the mail in a cooler. You have to keep them cold in the fridge!

Today was my first injection.  I went to get monitored and the doctor found 15 follicles on one ovary and 8 on the other. Do you know how many babies that is?!?! Dont you just love this disease?!??!

GOOD LORD!   The biggest risk is that multiples are an option. I'm okay with that at this point.

I learned how to use the 'pen'. We add the medicine to it, as well as a fresh new needle each time. I then stuck it into my FAT! ha!! and pushed the button and in went the medicine. There was a small burning feeling after which I assume means it worked. I forgot to clean that area after. OOPS.

Tomorrow is shot #2. I am getting comfortable already!

I go back to the hospital on Thursday to be monitored and see how the follicles are coming along.

The hope is that only 1-4 grow and not all of them. Otherwise they will cancel this cycle.

I have to say I do miss my primary doc. He's great and so laid back. These guys are a big more uptight, super friendly but not near as laid back as Dr. Roth and his staff. So I pray I get success soon so I can be released back to him!

The benefit is that I did not pay 1 cent for my medicine and so far am not paying much for my appointments either. Which is KEY to helping with infertility. It gets SUPER expensive.

The negative is that I ALWAYS have to go to the hospital. Parking there SUCKS. I get super frustrated with it. Then I get lost in the hospital as I'm still learning my way. This is the hospital I will one day give birth in, so I guess it's fair that I learn now. Might as well right!?  Here is to hoping this round works!

I will keep you posted as we move forward. Keep me in your prayers that these follicles calm themselves and I dont grow too many so we can continue!

xoxo good night

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

CYCLE CHANGE WHAT?!

TMI- fair warning!!! Stop reading now if you dont wanna know.

After the HSG I went home with some discomfort and was told I might see some discharge from the ink/dye and/or blood. But a light amount.

Well Sunday night a HUGE flow hit and I was like okay fair enough this is from the HSG. Fast Forward to today and I was like okay for real I still have a lot of this going on.

I called into the doc that I am now working with for the IVF/Injection procedure and they had me come in right away for an ultrasound to see what was going on. So I headed out to the doctor this afternoon and sure enough it looks as if my period is here.

Holy confusion batman!!! I swore it came on May 1st! Isn't this disease AWESOME!?!?! Apparently it's here now. They did run blood to be 100% sure that is correct. I will find out tomorrow for sure.

In the meantime they started me on my new meds- Clomid and then Gonadotrophins, also known as injections!  Oh yes. I got sent home with a DVD explaining how to give myself shots. Exciting isn't it?!
I can't wait to stick myself daily with some medicine.

But when all is said & done if a healthy baby or 2 comes out of this, then it'll be well worth it.

For now I'll leave you with this video that hopefully helps you get the idea of what goes through the mind of a person dealing with infertility. Not every single thing she writes does go through our mind but most of these do.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day

I'm not gonna lie mothers day should be good, but it's kinda hard. It doesn't help that I'm in the midst of a detox and DYING for my everyday nutrition menu again.

Being on social media is hard a lot, it's tons and tons of happy pregnancy, baby picture, family picture posts and it's really hard. REALLY HARD. But who can blame everyone. I imagine I'd be doing the same thing if I was blessed to have a child.

The detox mixed with mothers day and infertility is NO BUENO!!!!

Hal and I talked a lot about what happens if I never have kids. I refuse to hear it. I refuse to even think that is the case. I fully believe I'm meant to have children in my life. I can't help but wonder if maybe God doesn't want me to have them... but I'm pretty sure he keeps his promises and he does.

Rough day. Not much else to say.

Good Night

Friday, May 11, 2012

HSG

Today has been REAL interesting.  Enough that I can write yet again!

I spoke about the HSG yesterday and never really explained what exactly it was.

So check it out  HSG

The doctor required it as does my insurance so lucky me. I get to have my own doctor do it. He requested I come to the hospital tomorrow for the procedure. I hear it's painful. I'm not excited. But I'll do what I have to, to have a family.

I was talking to the Verizon Wireless Rep and he wished me a Happy Mother's Day. NOT COOL! I understand the kindness but NOT COOL!  Thanks for that reminder!!!!  It's hard- I'd say it's best to not say anything at all. You never know what someone is going through and you can judge or assume.

It's a struggle like I've said,  I get a lot of people who tell ME first they are prego. It's like what do I have 'PLEASE TELL ME!!' plastered to my head?!?!

I understand that excitement for sure. I will be the SAME way when my day comes.  So I try to be happy and excited and ignore the fact that this is reality for me and IVF is waiting.

I told you yesterday that I cannot travel during these procedures because of blood flow, sitting too long, and all the monitoring. So the decision now is do I wait a month and travel or do I cancel my traveling?!

I want badly to be there for my team, for the pictures, and the memories. This is really difficult for me believe it or not.

With this disease you never know if a round is going to work or not. You never know if you're body is going to develop cysts that will scrap your round or if it will work.

I love being in the unknown. NOT!

I'm trying to enjoy this journey... really I am.

I was just thinking about how exercise has been cut from me yet I need to exercise. So I was thinking I could swim this summer. It's different, slow paced, or fast if I choose and I bet it wont affect my body! That's something to look forward to :)

Anyway- happy mothers day to those who are and those who are not keep pressing forward, one day it'll be for you too.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

New Doctor

Today I met my new doctor. Well my IVF doc. I get my regular doctor back once I'm pregnant.

I think I already explained that the reason I switched my insurance was specifically to work with my current doctor. He was brand new to me and we knew it was going to be a lot of visits and treatments so we picked insurance to work with him.  Well when it was time for Injections/IVF he was told that insurance had sub-contracted out the IVF procedures to a different facility. It's not comfortable... but whatever.

So I met the new doc today after a CRAZY day.  I am doing the Ultimate Reset by Beachbody. It's a 21 day body detox, helps to remove the toxins, chemicals, crud, and fat in my body. PCOS is tied to toxins soooo perhaps this will help me! We shall see. Hal is doing it with me. Check it out Ultimate Reset

I made homemade dressing in the Magic Bullet for our salads today. When Hal poured his dressing serving he twisted the cap SO TIGHT that when I was trying to get mine out... I could not twist it back off for anything.  Detox & Medical Insurance can make a girl go crazy for real!!!  So after many attempts and my anger building up I finally broke the piece, and dressing ended up splattering all over my kitchen. I was NOT HAPPY.  On the detox you don't eat the everyday food. Now the food is great. It's a lot of salad so naturally the dressing is a big flavor you want and I dont want to cheat on this and eat a non-homemade dressing.  So I flipped out.  I understand part of this is the toxins releasing so release away!

I struggled with the insurance company as well today just learning about my benefits for IVF. Not gonna lie it might just be worth all this struggle and hassle because I am getting A LOT covered. I had read that this new doc requires payment in full before they treat you. But because of my insurance it should be all covered. So that's good to know.

This doctor is located in the hospital that I will eventually deliver at, whenever that day arrives. It was my first time at the hospital. Like I said we had switched out my old doctors and hospital for the new one who I now can't even work with. Super Annoying!

Parking at this place is a nightmare. I was in tears trying to park. I finally got into the docs office 30 minutes late. I got lost, I was so frustrated!!! But finally I got into meet this doc.

He showed me my options to move forward- but first they decided to do an HSG only to keep insurance from fighting anything. HMO is awesome for coverage but they tell you who you have to see. Hence my doc switch out of nowhere.

So tomorrow I'm supposed to get this done. I'm trying to go back to my reg doc to do it instead though so we shall see. I hear it's uncomfortable... so not looking forward to it!

From there we move to injections... sadly though I cannot travel with these procedures and I have  A LOT of traveling coming up.... I am torn on how to deal with this. Any input would be great! My traveling is for business but fun at the same time. So it's a toss up... because family is priority...so hard decisions.

This is my ultimate goal... do I wait or do I move forward?   Can't it just get easy already?! SERIOUSLY!!!!


Friday, May 4, 2012

Unexpected Updates

Let me start out by saying HEALTH INSURANCE SUCKS!

The day I was getting started with my round of Injections/IVF the doc called for pre-approval of everything by insurance.

Now lets talk about insurance.... I own my own business which basically tells you I dont have insurance. Small biz life!  It's bittersweet! I do love it though!

Hal put me on his insurance and to make it cost efficient as he does work for a small biz too. We had been on a flexible spending/savings because naturally we're young healthy people right?

HA!!!! Talk about a change!!!  Who ever knew this disease would come to me. Well I guess I've had it forever, but you know what I mean. I just found out about it at 29 yrs old practically 30. Scary huh?

Well when open enrollment took place we decided to go with the HMO plan... note to self... when you are not healthy... choose PPO.

Fast forward back to the day of insurance pre-approval before Injections began.  I got a call that my doctor could NOT do the procedures on me, that the insurance company had sub-contracted out all IVF/Injection procedures to a new facility. REALLY?

You mean to tell me the doctor that I specifically changed my insurance for CANT even treat me now?

We have been trying to fight it... but in the meantime I'm meeting the new doctor next week and I guess preparing for procedures with him.

I had to go in and get some paperwork/updated charts from my doc. The good news is he can treat me once I am successfully pregnant. So that is nice to know, and really I can't complain... i could not have insurance at all.

But COME ON!!! I switched JUST to have this doc. I lost all my other doctors. Can you imagine?! After going through cycle after cycle....

My doc wants to know everything going on so that is good to know.

Everything happens for a reason right?!  They say you're go through a super dark valley in life before the sun shines....  I am DEF in that valley. Been here too long....I hope the sun will shine soon.

In the meantime I am doing a Detox. It's a 21 day Vegetarian moved into Vegan style. Lots of great clean whole foods in it. You never go hungry! But it helps to release the toxins and chemicals... and there have been a couple studies that toxins and chemicals are part of PCOS...so.. what would it hurt?! After all I did lose this cycle round. Might as well!  Hal is doing it with me. There have been amazing results on it! Lowered Cholesterol, weight loss, even cellulite removal!!! It's from all the toxins! The pollution in the air, the detergent in our laundry, processed foods etc!   All the toxins who happily stay put in our bodies! I am stoked for my results and shockingly the food tastes amazing!  You can't really exercise on this so that's good considering I got the restraint! check it out! www.myultimatereset.com/fitnessfourlife

So my patience needs to be high, the wait for this is going to seem like forever, although May is a super busy month... when you go through infertility it's like being a kid waiting for your birthday. No Joke.

That's all for now! Good Night!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

When will Rock Bottom FINALLY hit?!

Today I mark 15 months of dealing with infertility/trying to conceive etc

It's one of those days when you wake up and think it was just a dream right?? I am FINALLY here? Finally past this nightmare?

I was at the White Sox game last night and AC/DC Thunderstruck started (intro to game song) and we had used Thunderstruck when we were first introduced and Mr & Mrs Hal Weise at our wedding....  I felt an excitement when I heard the song- it reminded me of happy days. SUPER HAPPY... I should say.

Because today I am happy, but I guess I don't feel complete.... and that is super scary to say right? Aren't you suppose to feel complete? Yeah I did back then...  now here I am going on 2 years of being married- not long I know but I'm also going on 31 years old and I'd like to have 2, honestly if that's all God will give me. I'd take it. And I'd like to run young with them.

You're probably wondering why I'm not discussing IVF treatments as they should've started today.

Well sadly the Insurance company has declined allowing my doctor to treat me.  He's trying to make it work, but it's not looking good. I will get sent to a new facility. They decided to sub-contract out to a new treatment center and wont cover me going to him... as of right now. He is trying to help if he can.

Do you know what that is like? Honestly. I LIVE in my doctors office- I go there every other day and get greeted by my first name. They know me, I know them- my doctor CALLS me on the phone rather than me having to talk to a nurse about ANYTHING with this subject.

I've NEVER had that kind of a doctor before. And now insurance wants to take that away.

I specifically switched to this insurance just to HAVE THIS DOCTOR. I lost EVERY other doctor I EVER had because I had to switch plans to have Dr. Roth, and now I'm being told I can't even use him anymore.

Going to a new center means ALL New treatment ALL OVER- new checks- things I've already done.

I HATE INFERTILITY. I HATE MY BODY RIGHT NOW FOR THIS DISEASE

IS THIS ROCK BOTTOM OR WHAT?! Honest to God. It's hard enough to be riding this roller coaster just to have a family, it's a non-stop fight.

I believe your family will feel complete when you have one or two little ones with you and your husband/wife. It's a different kind of happy I think. What do I know.  But I think it's more of a complete feeling and that super happy life...  the one you thought you'd have... little did you know you'd have miscarriages and deal with infertility.

There has to be an uphill soon.  right?...  or maybe this isn't meant for me?