Ovaries Like Footballs

I know I've been a total slacker about writing and I apologize. I've been a little busy, though, giving myself shots every night and winning battles with the insurance company.

Last you heard, the insurance company had informed us that we had zero coverage for IVF and they sincerely apologized for two months worth of telling us that we did. Well, that was ridiculous to me and we continued to fight. I asked for a document to review with my lawyer (not an empty threat) and they came back with a settlement offer. A very nice offer. We reviewed that with the lawyer and Brad and I agreed to sign it. They gave us the maximum infertility benefit as a lump sum in exchange for dropping the fight and agreeing to not submit claims. We're still waiting on the check (last I heard, it was mailed on Friday) and I'm so excited. The settlement is enough to pay for two tries and the new dining room chairs we ordered. Priorities, people.

My Follistim kit. Pretty user-friendly.

 

While we were in the midst of fighting with insurance, Brad's parents loaned us the money we needed to start the process. I was on birth control pills for three weeks in order to regulate my cycle and then I began nightly injections on November 30. For one week, I had nightly injections of Follistim. I began at 150 units, but had to double the dose in order to see results. Beginning on December 3, I've had every other day ultrasounds and bloodwork to check progress. I added another shot--Ganirelix-- on December 7. I've done really well with giving myself shots, which is a huge deal. My poor stomach has little bruises and I'm bloated, but I'm surviving and thriving.

Follistim pen in use. Well, not actually.

This picture was a bit staged as I need both hands

for my shots--one to operate the pen and the other to a bit of stomach chub.

 

At this point, I have around 16-20 follicles of varying sizes happening. Most are mature, which means they're huge. It hurts to sit sometimes and I'm wearing dresses the rest of the week for comfort purposes. Hence the title of the post. I know they're not really the size of footballs, but they feel big.  I've also had to increase my fluid intake to keep headaches at bay. And I cry. A lot. Pretty much, I'm a mess. I'm so optimistic about this, though, that it makes up for it. I'm going to add my trigger shot tonight or tomorrow and they'll harvest and fertilize my eggs on Thursday or Friday. That means that implantation could occur as early as Sunday or Monday. Guys, it's happening. We're moving forward.



I will keep you updated as we learn new things, but expect maybe some silence or fluff posts around January until we're OK sharing the news (either way it goes). Oh, and because they're gorgeous, here's our new chairs that United Healthcare paid for. Brad's dad is building us a dining room table for Christmas and I'm beyond excited for that, too. More frequent dinner parties are for sure in my future.

These beauties are from Industry West.

We have six of the tall ones and two of the short ones.