Best IVF aid ever...well I think so

See I told you that color coded calendar was ugly!

So I told you before that my mom gave me that amazing pillbox! (don't you just love purple and blue together??? no? just me? ok) Well I was having a bit of a problem the first few days with which little pill box was the one to take.  So enter the white board marker!!!!

I put the date on the top and then if I have an injection I also put it on there too!  I erase the info just after I take the meds, that way I don't get further confused. Then on Saturday night I remark and refill!
The L-5 is for Lupron 5units.  Since none of my injections begin with the same letters I decided shorthand was best...it's a small space!

Now when I get up in the morning and go down to take my meds (6am!) I don't really have to think about it or try to make heads or tails of the psychedelic calendar, I just open the pill box and check what I have marked on top.
And since my meds need to be on the cold side, I have it all set up on our kitchen table, (I move it if we have company) that way I can stop at the fridge, grab my meds (out of their home in the bottom drawer) chug some OJ and shoot up!

You guys may think I'm crazy to be so excited about a pillbox and a marker...but it's the small things in life people!  I have reduced my confusion in the am AND shaved about 5min of my morning routine!

To help matters more I have all my drugs (those not in the fridge) and their needles in a big box just behind this set up on my kitchen table. It makes for easy reloading of the pillbox. My sharps container is in front of the box and next to that is a little box of the exact amount of needles and alcohol wipes needed for my Lupron...and when the Menopur gets added to the routine I'll add another little box...the Follistim needle caps I'll put in a little box too.  Everything in it's own little place!

I totally admit to the OCD...without shame.  I am nothing without organization and note taking!

On the first day of "real" IVF meds

HOT FLASHES!!!
Holy Balls!
just sayin...thanks Lupron and the 106 degree weather we are having!

This morning was my first injection of Lupron (10units) and my first Dexamethasone pill.
I jabbed my gut around 6am and it stung like Hell! It got all red and itchy and was warm for about 2hrs...and what a fun two hrs that was! have you ever tried to itch your stomach while wearing rubber gloves and giving a 106yr old a shower???
no?
lucky me!

Although I did use a lot of caps and !!! today wasn't really that bad. 
I did also get the thirst that comes with taking Dex. (as I shall call it from now on, because I don't feel like looking up how to spell it every time I type it!)  but it wasn't that bad, I tend to always have a drink with me anyways. 
The bad part was how sick I felt with every hot flash.  I had to go get some ice to suck on until the nausea and hot flash went away.  Man I'm totally looking forward to the next month of that!

The most funny part of it all? AJ manufactures Dex. at work! (he's a smarty scientist)
He's sitting last night reading over my meds sheet and all the sudden goes "Holy crap" then grabs his iPhone and shows me the email entitled : Dexamethasone production.  Good thing insurance covered that one fully, or I would have thrown a fit if we could have gotten it from his work!

I was gonna...but old people can be soooo mean!

I had this big plan for a post today...
I sat this morning, at the bum crack of dawn, while a little old lady slept in her bed.
I was going to come home and tally up all the cost of this IF journey so far.
And then she woke up.
And all Hell broke loose.

She yelled as loud as she could
She squeezed my hand so hard I thought my fingers were going to fall off
She smacked me on the legs
She grabbed the book I had in my lap and threw it across the room
She pinched me
And the best of all???
She slapped me in the face

TWICE! (first time is all her fault...second time I should have seen coming)

And what does her son say in response when he came home???
"Next time you should do it back, you know like you would with a child."

I think my jaw cracked when it hit the ground.
I just stood there with out words for a few minuets.

I mean what do you say to that?

So needless to say I'm tired...so so tired. It was a 7.5hr day from Hell....I'm only supposed to work 6.

I'm slowly working up a price list so far, but I'm watching Netflix too...because I have to get up tomorrow and do it all again and late 90's tv shows are all that I want to deal with at the moment.
I know it's bad but I pray every night that the Lord just takes her...106 is just too old and she is just suffering with anxiety and her mind is going fast. She is no longer the happy little farm lady who tells me how to make pickles from green tomatoes.

IVF Calendar and a Box-O-Meds

I had my calendar review yesterday with the nurse.  She gave me a ugly little sheet calendar that is horridly color coded....now I love color, but this was bad.  So I made my own! (and put a tab up above for it too)

It feels so good to have something, in my hands, that lets me know when things are happening. I've said it before, but I'll say it again....I have OCD tendencies. I MUST know what is going to happen.  I make lists for everything...EVERYTHING.
Even with this calendar there are unknowns. Like the day of retrieval and transfer, but I go in on the 13th for an ultrasound and they should be able to pinpoint better when retrieval will be!
Having this calendar gave me a giddy feeling, like it's actually going to happen.

When I got home from my appointment there was a box waiting for me at my front door.
Want to know what was inside???

 

(I think I got a bit carried away with making arrows...but I digress)

I think they over sent needles...well lets hope they over sent! That brown bag is FULL, well most of them are FULL of needles.  The bags are doubled up because one is full of needles for drawing up meds and the other is for giving meds...thank God because an 18g needle is WAY bigger than I want to jab in myself!  

My mom gave me the nicest pill box, it's two sided. One side for AM and on side for PM...best part? it's blue and purple! It should help me keep all the pills sorted and taken at the right times.

The Metformin, BCP and Asprin were not in the box-o-meds, but since I take them for the same reason I figured they should be part of the picture fun too.  The lab bill is from the required test that need to be done before the CDC will allow an IVF to be processed.  The Chocolate is a reward for every shot I have to take...and I'm thinking a pedicure is in order soon too.

I'm in the process of making a price list so that anyone going through IVF in the future might have a heads up as to costs of meds and the like.  I know it's one thing that we would have liked to know beforehand. 

Hope you all have a great TGIF! I'm shampooing my carpets and baking a turkey! (because I'm so ready for fall I can't stand it)

AJ and I are having a puzzle night and then a date night tomorrow night. It's my pick for what to do tomorrow and I have no clue what to pick. It's going to be hot, so I'm thinking inside plans.  We have a HUGE weekend planed for next week, and it's going to cost some big bucks, so we are trying to play it cheap this week...any suggestions would help!

wordless wednesday

sometimes life gives you unexpected wakeups

In the midst of my stressful life, God hands me a smack to the heart.

My third cousin (I have a ton of cousins...I'm Irish) just gave premature birth to twin boys. They are both about 1.5lbs and fighting.  Tonight they asked for the simplest prayers, wet diapers.

Sometimes God says "here's proof that it's not as bad as it could be"

If you could send a little prayer out for the boys my family and I would be very grateful.

it's been a while...I know, but

shit has been crazy.

when they say:
When it rains it pours
I know what they mean.

The last week and a half has been hell.
My grandfather was moved from the hospital to the nursing "rehab" center.
The guy I work for is verrrry fickle and changes his mind daily...making me question if I will have a job tomorrow or not.
The BCP has been giving me constant headaches.

And just when I thought I couldn't handle any more...
AJ got a DUI

There are other issues that came to head along with the DUI, ones that almost made me leave him.  Instead I threatened to leave if he didn't cool it with his drinking. I'm not one for divorce, I choose to work at it and there are few things that would change my mind, his drinking is not one of them.

We decided, after a long talk, to continue on with the IVF. We know our marriage has some issues and needs some work, but we feel that our love and bond is too strong to put of the process.

So I went in for a Fluid Ultrasound and Mock Embryo Transfer last Thursday, AJ goes in tomorrow for another SA and next Thursday the 19th I go in for my calendar review.
It's kinda killing me not having that calendar in my hands already.

The nerve racking part is that the IVF will be done either the week before or the first week of classes of the Fall semester...meaning that I had to drop a class and I'm going to have to work it out with my other teacher so that I can miss up to two classes. I have a friend that said she would go be my replacement and take notes for me. I'm just hoping he will go for it. If he doesn't I'll be a year behind. I don't want to be a year behind, and quite frankly I can't afford to take a semester off. My loans will want me to start paying if I do.

I just feel like my life at the moment is just one big crazy mess.