I began this post on Wednesday morning before work. I meant to finish it and post that evening. With the events of that day, this post could wait. Instead of working on this, Austin and I watched history being made in response and in spite of the American insurgents wreaking havoc on the capitol and democracy.
Wow. The support Austin & I have received in the last 36 hours is incredible. In a time where I’ve felt so alone and isolated, this is exactly what I needed. This whole infertility journey has sucked. Adding the COVID chaos has made it even worse. But wow. I only share my blog on Facebook. I still feel weird posting about current struggles for all to read as they scroll. In my brain, if you are reading my blog, you care enough to know. I don’t know. I know that’s weird and messed up. 🤣 But with creating the GoFundMe page for IVF, Austin openly posted about our struggle and shared the campaign. With both of these posts, we have received so much support! People have been messaging us about their infertility journey, sending love, and sharing info/tips for financing IVF. The financial support is more clearly seen by all, but these things are not. But the money 👉🏼 Almost $500 raised in less than 2 days! What?!? That’s crazy!!! I am just overwhelmed with everyone’s support!
Since posting on Monday, I’ve done a lot of research. If you know anything about me, I love to research. I dig. I investigate. I hyper-focus (thanks ADHD). So I’m understanding what IVF will look like and what to expect even more. I shared my findings, so far, with Austin last night. After that, I felt so much lighter.
Monday 1/11– Today was ultrasound day for IUI #10. We basically accidentally did this IUI cycle. There was miscommunication over the holiday with the nurses, so we are going with it. We look for follicles that are over 16mm. Usually when I go in, I have ones that are 18-22, but today, I had one at 24 and one at 14 (both on the left). 24 is HUGE!!! So, as long as my progesterone level wasn’t too high, the plan was to trigger as soon as possible and insemination tomorrow. My progesterone was nice and low, so we are sticking with that plan! I got home a little early so I could do the trigger shot early. Normally, we do the trigger shot at 11pm, so I am in bed before it starts working its way through me. We did the shot about 3 hours ago, & I am REALLY feeling it. Like this…
I am just so ready to be pregnant. Those hormones are NOTHING compared to going through fertility treatment. Up, down, up, down. My body, my skin, and my mental health are affected. My boobs are HUGE and keep getting bigger. I’ve gained so much weight. I could attempt to lose weight, but my mental health is more important than my weight. Especially considering the hormone fluctuation and COVID. My skin is like a teenager’s! I’m constantly broken out. I’m just ready for all of this to be worth it. You know?! This all sucks, but when I’m holding my precious baby in my arms, it will ALL be worth it. I’ve gotta keep my mind on that image.
As of right now, we have raised $570 towards our IVF cycle. Today, I paid $500 towards our cycle. So far, that’s about $2100 of the $15000 or so. If we get pregnant with this IUI, we will get our money paid toward IVF reimbursed, so that’s exciting. I’m not holding my breath for the IUI as we have had 9 failed ones, so our fundraising efforts will continue. I’ll be posting later about the cost of our treatment so far. I created a spreadsheet to document everything. I’m a nerd, I know!
Fingers crossed for tomorrow! May the egg release and the sperms swim fast!
Ryan’s Ramblings 