Go Big, or Go Home

You guys, I'm so tired! Not like regular Monday morning tired, although that's usually pretty bad (have I mentioned I'm a fan of the four day work week?). No this is an exceptional level of tiredness. In the last ten days I've: had surgery, gone to work for three days, had my post-op, traveled to Augusta, gone to three separate graduation shindigs, cleaned the grodiest rental ever, celebrated Mother's Day, packed up all some of our stuff, and moved, not to mention the regular stuff like church and small group. But today, we're going to focus in on that teeny little part smack dab in the middle of all of that: my post-op appointment.

I had my post-op Thursday morning last week before going down to Augusta for Sam's graduation (more on that later). Now, a little background to set the scene: Dr. Slayden and I had discussed some next steps during my appointment in April. We discussed skipping straight ahead to IVF, which we can't do because we don't have the funds. We also discussed, a multitude of other less expensive options with various chances of success. My doctor is super nice and understanding about the financial issue, so if it's on the back burner, he figures we might as well try to be successful in the mean time without spending too much money. His scenario with the greatest chances of success (other than IVF) was the surgery (Laparoscopy + Hysteroscopy + D&C) + Pregnitude + Metformin/Glucophage + Femara + IUI... he briefly mentioned the IUI. We spent much more time talking about the other options. Sam and I are really over IUI's. We've done three. They didn't work. It has seemed to us that it would be the definition of insanity to keep throwing $1,500+ a pop at something that doesn't work, when we could save twelve of those and pay for IVF.

So with that said, I spent a small amount of time before the surgery deciding how we would proceed. If we found endometriosis, our odds would increase; therefore, it might make sense to try an IUI (and all the other stuff). If no endo then we would do nothing. The only thing I was really prepared to invest in after learning that there was zero endometriosis inside of me was Femara. I've had good, safe results of Femara. I ovulate regularly, with good healthy follicles, nice, lush linings, and no cysts. However, my nurse said that they wouldn't prescribe Femara without a full cycle of monitoring. So I even thought about calling my OB/GYN to get a script. But Femara was my only plan upon entering the post-op appointment.

And then my doctor entered. Have you ever met someone who just sweeps you away with their enthusiasm? That's my doctor. I sometimes wonder if he tells EVERYONE that they can set something up, but that he's confident they'll cancel before the appointment because they're pregnant. But seriously, he was just SO EXCITED; I couldn't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm... a little. He took several photographs during the surgery, and you guys, you'd have thought it was Christmas! He was so excited about how beautiful everything looked, how gorgeous my fallopian tubes are, that he got to see a spleen, etc. I'm not a biology/anatomy kind of girl, so I just saw grossness, but I tried to humor him.  But once we got past that part, he jumped straight into scheduling my next appointment to get the IUI cycle started.... what? wait a second... why are we doing an IUI? I've done three of those. But he wasn't having any of that. He was full of phrases like "hit it hard" and "go big or go home".

By the end of it all, I guess he had convinced me. Either that or I just didn't have the heart to squash his excitement. So... I guess that means we are doing another IUI. You can't be as surprised as I am. But apparently between the D&C and the thorough flushing my tubes received my chances are practically 100% increased a little. "So what's the game plan?" you may be wondering. It's kind of shocking. If I don't start a new cycle on my own between now and Memorial Day, I'm going in for a baseline scan. Dr. Slayden swears that I don't actually have to start a new cycle... my hormone levels and follicles just need to be in the baseline range. From there, we're doing Femara for five days from CD3-7 and then, wait for it, on CD8 we're doing some form of an FSH injection at 75 units. Yes, I almost died when he said this. No, I'm not sure this is a good idea. Yes, I'm scared to death of 4+ follicles. Yes, my husband will kill me if I get pregnant with triplets. No, I don't want to be the next John & Kate + 8. And no, I don't want me cycle to be cancelled. But with all of that said, I don't really want to do another Femara cycle (at least one that costs a zillion dollars) and only end up with one follicle. I want the follicle stimulation of Clomid 50mg and and the lining support and ovulation timing of Femara at 7.5mg. Dr. Slayden feels like this is as close as I'm going to get.

So get excited! Come along for the ride... it's sure to be crazy. And I'm sure to be pregnant by the end of it (or so my doctor says).