All I Want For My Birthday is to Be Knocked-Up

Here I am on stimulation meds day 4: sleepyhead

Could it be that these excessive amounts of hormones are making me a better person?  Several people have stopped me this week to report that I am "glowing."  What a hoot...I'm definitely not glowing!  The side effects seem to be extreme exhaustion and feeling a little bit more spacey than my usual level of spaciness.  However, notably missing are increased irritability, edginess, and the urge to kill.  Do you know what this means?  I finally caught a break! Health-wise, I've been due for one for about 32 years.

Monday, against all odds,  I came in to work bright eyed and bushy-tailed.  I couldn't help but laugh as my incredibly caring team poked their heads in one by one, surveying the scene for safety and then cautiously asking, "How's it goin'?" I have been blessed above and beyond to get to work with four amazing people: Dan, Drew, Judy, and Meri.  I warned them last week that I could come in this Monday as an unrecognizable whirling dervish of a crazy woman who looked like someone they used to know.  I spent a lot of time issuing preemptive apologies for my inevitably irrational behavior.  No one is more surprised than me that besides serious fatigue and a higher pain level than normal, I'm doing okay.  

I went up to OHSU this morning for my eighty-billionth ultrasound, and happily it was good news!  The past two visits were a little disappointing, with the process having to be delayed while we waited for my body to catch up.  Today we could see 14 little follicles (the eggs are inside) developing and the doctor was very pleased.  My blood test revealed that all my numbers are right where they need to be and we are on track. Yay!  At the least I have four more days of shots and at the most ten. I'm really hoping that the hormones don't have a cumulative effect; for example, what if I feel good now on day four, but by day eight it becomes a Bob/Leland situation and all they can find of my husband is his golfing glove?

Note: If you were born after 1982 it is unlikely you will understand the Bob/Leland reference.

On a rare tender note, it was very special today to have my mom come to the ultrasound with me today and get to see what I have been attempting to describe up on the screen.  IVF is a pretty amazing process, miraculous really, and it helps to have a visual to go with the verbal depictions!  I can only imagine what it will look like when I actually get to see a baby on the monitor! (Or two babies...there is a 15% chance of twins with IVF).

Speaking of being dog-tired, it's time for my nap.