Pregnancy Test

On Monday May 11th I went to the lab to get a blood pregnancy test. It was negative. I was not prepared for how out of sorts getting that result would make me feel. We have had years of negative results, but this time felt different. I knew every step of the way that my body was doing what it was supposed to be and we knew that I had an elevated level of egg production and had a much higher chance of concieving. The combo of all that came down on me hard.

So now it is back to square one.

Testing 1,2,3

Yesterday I went in for a blood test to look at my progesterone level. Progesterone is a C-21 steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy (supports gestation). Doing a blood test during the second half of a woman's cycle can tell the doctor if she is ovulating.

Progesterone levels are low during the preovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, and rise after ovulation. Progesterone levels tend to be > 5 ng/ml after ovulation. If pregnancy occurs, progesterone levels are initially maintained at luteal levels. With the onset of the luteal-placental shift in progesterone support of the pregnancy, levels start to rise further and may reach 100-200 ng/ml at term.

I found out my progesterone level was 15.15 as of May 4th, the 24th day of my cycle. I am in the normal range for a woman who has ovulated during her cycle. This could be good news. I am still trying not to hang my hopes on the moon. I need them to be a bit closer to earth so I do not fall so far.

Insemenation

Sunday morning I had a positive ovulation test so when church was over my dear friend Bethany was kind enough to give my smiley face a nose and inject the medication for me.

So today I had to go in with a specimen and they do what they call washing the sperm which separates them out. that took 45 minutes. I sat in waiting room and read. They have to check to make sure everything is normal with the sample so once they called me back the nurse let me look at sperm under the microscope, which was really pretty cool.

Then they use the same tool they do for pap smears, use the BIGGEST q-tip i have ever seen to clean off the cervix. Apparently I am in the 4% that it is difficult to get the tube in the right spot so she had to use an additional tool that grabs onto the side of my cervix to pull it into the right position. she was able to get it up further but said there was a last ridge that she just couldn't get past so she got the sample up as far as she could, not as far as they normally do though. I am not sure how much that will affect anything.

Then I got to lay there for 15 min. and then get dressed and go talk to the nurses about where I go from here. I am supposed to go in next Monday for a Progesterone test which will tell them if the Clomid really worked and I had a good ovulation which will determine what we will do next month in the way of medication if needed. Then a couple weeks after that I will go in for a blood pregnancy test. So at this point the Dr. has done everything medically they are going to do this month.

How you doin?

Another Dr. appointment today. The ladies needed to do another sonogram to see how things are coming along. My ovaries were checked to see if the Clomid worked and if I had any follicles maturing. Good News! The Clomid did work and I had 4 follicles. This doesn't mean that they will all mature or be fertilized but it is good that they are there.

Now I was told to start using an ovulation testing kit and that the morning I received a positive test I needed a loved one to give me a shot in my hip. The purpose of it was to help create a nourishing environment in case any of the follicles matured and became fertilized.

Navigating the course

Paul and I decided to go forward with the plan of action the doctor we met with offered us.

To begin with it was a waiting game, I had to wait till I began a new cycle then call the infertility nurses and let them know. Within the first 3 days of my cycle I needed to come in and have a sonogram, they wanted to look at my ovaries to make sure there were no cysts on them. If there were any cysts then we would not be able to proceed this month.

I did not have any cysts on my ovaries, and the nurse said everything looked really good and was easy to find and see. (that's good news I suppose?) She then gave me a prescription for 100mg of Clomid for 5 days. I took the Clomid days 3-7 of my cycle. The nurse also put me on 81mg of aspirin and a prenatal daily. The aspirin is supposed to decreased the chance of miscarriage.