Break it Down

This cycle has been horribly crazy with sickness and everything.  I am going to break it all down for you all as I know many people saw my post on facebook last night and wanted to know updates so this will explain it all.   We have said that this cycle has been so crazy and abnormal that this one would be the one to work.  Anyways, here it goes.

12/21/12 - Cycle Day 1 - Baseline Ultrasound showing 13mm cyst - Baseline Estridiol levels 66

12/22/12 - Cycle Day 2 - nothing

12/23/12 - Cycle Day 3 - Follistem 75IU day one

12/24/12 - Cycle Day 4 - Follistem 75IU day two

12/25/12 - Cycle Day 5 - Follistem 75IU day three

12/26/12 - Cycle Day 6 - Follistem 75IU day four - nausea, dizziness, headache

12/27/12 - Cycle Day 7 - Follistem 75IU day five - nausea, dizziness, headache

12/28/12 - Cycle Day 8 - First follicle check showing 4 not mature follicles on right side (shouldn't be mature at this point) and 1 mature follicle on the left side at 22mm (huge shocker) - Estridiol level 458. - nausea, dizziness, headache, head cold, full of snot, throat hurt, etc. - took Ovidrel trigger shot for ovulation

12/29/12 - Cycle Day 9 - I almost called and cancelled this cycle myself due to sickness - IUI #8 with awesome motile sperm counts for a frozen vial - nausea, dizziness, headache, head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc. and woke up broke out in hives and itching like crazy. - Was told by nurse at the fertility center to treat hives myself with Benedryl and if not gone by Monday to go to my family doctor but for them to treat me as if I was PUPO (Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise.).  She also said that she didn't think any of this was side effects to the shots.

12/30/12 - Cycle Day 10 - Head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc., Hives and itching

12/31/12 - Cycle Day 11 - Head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc., Hives and itching. - Went to the doctor concerning all of the previous stated however all I heard from them was "I hate to tell you this but you are basically going to have to suffer through it all."  That was ok with me because I would MUCH rather be safe than sorry.  I don't want to take anything to risk a possible pregnancy with everything we have been through.  Later in this afternoon, at the very bottom on my butt and the very top of my legs, on both sides, I had pain.  It was very painful and I couldn't figure out why.  I took some Tylenol and went to bed that night and woke up the next morning and the pain was gone.

1/1/13 - Cycle Day 12 - Head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc., Hives and itching

1/2/13 - Cycle Day 13 - Head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc., Hives and itching.  Woke up with pain in my shoulders and elbows on both arms.  I done some research and found a website that said joint swelling and pain could be an anaphalactic reaction to hives.  I have had hives in the past but NEVER have I had this pain.  I then called my family doctors office and left a message for the nurse to call me back concerning this.  She called me back around 6:00pm and said that they felt like the pain was most likely related to the fertility shots that I had taken and they thought I should follow up with my fertility doctor the next day.  At this point, my pain was also in the crease of my leg at my groin area and my knee on the right side.  The pain was so bad several times I was in tears crying.  Trent kept begging me to go to the ER or to call the emergency line at the fertility center.  I hate to bother the doctors at home as I know they have families themselves to spend time with.  I refused the ER multiple times due to knowing they can't do anything for me since we are treating me as if I was pregnant.  I did finally however, give in to calling the emergency line at the fertility center.  Dr. Eblin one of the fertility doctors in with my doctor called back and said that she really didn't feel like it was the shots causing the pain.  She would say a blood clot however since I am hurting on both sides and in my arms also, it wouldn't be that.  She also suggested it could be an infection from the IUI however, it couldn't be that because the pain was in my arms and legs and not my stomach.  If it was infection from IUI, my abdominal area would be hurting.  She said if it was pain from the shots that my estridiol levels would most likely be in the high 1,000's or 2,000.  Again, mine was only 458 when it was checked before ovulation and after ovulation, it drops so we know it hadn't went up anymore.  She again reassured me she didn't feel like it was the shots but felt like I needed to go see Dr. Hill, my fertility doctor, tomorrow to have him to check me and make sure.  I then took 2 tylenol and 2 benedryl and fell asleep in the recliner.  At 1am, Trent woke me up and said it was time for us to go to bed.  When I tried to get up, I couldn't hardly move and I thought my right knee was going to absolutely crash on me.  I was in the worse pain I have EVER been in in all my life.  I barely made it to the bed and then I laid there and cried like the biggest baby.  I almost at that point agreed to go to the ER but instead, Trent got me the heating pad and I slept with it against my will because heat can make hives worse and that was the last thing I needed.  I finally got a little bit of relief and fell asleep.  I woke up this morning and it was still sore but no where near as much pain as it was last night.  I then moved the heating pad to my left shoulder as it was bothering me and went back to sleep until time to wake up and call the fertility center to get an appointment with my doctor.

1/3/12 - Cycle Day 14 - Head cold, full of snot, throat hurts, etc., Hives and itching.  Pain continued in my shoulders, elbows, and right leg.  The pain was no where near as severe as last night.  It was tolerable but still there.  I went to see Dr. Hill and he done a urine sample on me and an ultrasound.  He said the pain was in no way related to the Follistem shots.  If I had pain in my stomach they would think hyperstimulation however, I have not hurt in my stomach at all.  Based on the ultrasound, I did have very little free fluid in my pelvic area.  I asked what that meant and they said that when you are hyperstimulated, you have free fluid.   Dr. Hill said since mine was so little that he did not believe I was hyperstimulated.  I also haven't had weight gain, stomach pain, fever, bloating or any of the other common symptoms of hyperstimulation.  That is good due to the fact that hyperstimulation can be dangerous.  He did say though that since I had a little bit of free fluid, he was going to be on the safe side and not let me take the Ovidrel shot today (what I was supposed to be using as a progesterone supplement) just in case I did have a mild case of hyperstimulation going on.  Ovidrel is HSG however, that would have tricked my body into thinking it was Progesterone somehow since I just took one a week ago tomorrow.  I don't know how all that works but that is how they explained it to me.  HSG can make hyper stimulation worse so that is why I can't take that shot today.  That really sucks because I just spent $75 on this stupid shot that I was supposed to take today.  Instead, he has prescribed me actual Progesterone pills in which I just went and spent $45 on.  That is so frustrating since I just spent $75 on that dumb shot that I was supposed to take.  Dr. Hill did say that when he heard what I was coming in for, he was very hopeful that I was pregnant.  Pregnancy can make hyper stimulation worse so he thought maybe I did have some hyperstimulation.  Then he realized my IUI was just done last Saturday so it was too soon to tell anyways.  They were dying to do a pregnancy test on me and everyone was so sad it was too soon.  Talking about Saturday, Dr. Hill was real impressed with our numbers and our good follicle for the IUI.  Now that I don't have to take the second Ovidrel shot, we can now test on the 14th instead of the 17th.  I asked Dr. Hill what I could do about the pain and he said nothing right now.  I could take some aspirin but he preferred I didn't take much of it.  I had told him I had been taking Tylenol and he said that was safe so I was fine with that.  As I type, my right shoulder is hurting pretty bad.  My left isn't too bad and my knee is sore but not horrible by no means. 

It is so crazy to me that we are now 5 days post IUI when normally, IUI would have been somewhere around today.  This cycle, I feel like has been disasterous with so much sickness and junk that I can do absolutely nothing about until after the 14th when we find out if I am pregnant or not.  I have called my regular family doctors office and left them a message to let them know what Dr. Hill said.  I am waiting on them to call me back but again, I really don't know what they are going to be able to do about it. 

I reckon this is all of an update for now but I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on as of now.