Wednesday, October 30, 2013

15 Months



My baby is growing up into a little man. This has been the most fun age ever! From 12 months to 15 months, he has been on a learning spree :) It feels like every day he is learning something new. 

Milestones...
  • The biggest milestone in my opinion is his understanding of what we are saying to him or asking him to do. I am constantly amazed by his abilities. He will bring me his socks and shoes and sit down when he wants to go outside, he will lay down on his changing pad when we are out to have his diaper changed, he will help me put his toys away and then clap when he does it. He is his own biggest fan and claps for himself often. He can also point to his {and our} nose, ears, eyes, mouth, hair, and belly button. He gives us kisses and his doggie kisses. 
  • He not only walks everywhere, but he does a toddler run too. His balance and coordination get better and better each day. He does not want to be carried or sit in the stroller. He is Mr. Independent. He just moved to the next size shoe - toddler size 5 wide. He has feet like his Daddy :)
  • We flew to Florida a few weeks ago and he did really well. He did have a little crying meltdown, but it only lasted 5 minutes on one flight during takeoff. One thing I learned: at this age, buy your toddler their own seat! It made all the difference for us. We got lucky on both flights and were able to take three seats across to ourselves. 
  • His favorite toys are not toys at all. He wants to do what Mom and Dad do. We bought him a broom set so he can sweep like me and Nick made him a small wood "barbell" and he lifts it up over his head and squats, just like Daddy. I about die from the cuteness. He watches and mimics everything we do. He loves being outside and he loves figuring out how things work.

  • He says: mama, dada, bye bye, hi, duck, more. He knows all the sounds of his toys, like the car, the boat and the helicopter, and a bunch of animal sounds {bear, bird, duck, horse, frog, cat, dog, sheep, fish, cow} He uses his sign language very well. I am so thrilled that his daycare teacher started teaching him because it is so helpful for communication and we love it! He knows "more", "all done", "food", "milk", "tired", "thank you", "please". He also spins around for Ring Around the Rosie and he does Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with his fingers.
  • He loves to get into his little chairs and sit in them by himself, he is very good about backing off of the couch or a tall step, he will hold our hands when walking and reaches for our hand if he knows he needs help, he rides his toys everywhere, he kicks his ball around, he can throw the ball back and forth to us, he goes down the slide by himself, he loves the swings, he still loves bathtime and swimming, and he loves to dance. He still loves his dog and kitties. He and Apollo will play outside all day if I let them. Norman, our Bengal mix kitty, is my shadow so he ends up hanging out with Grayson a lot and they are becoming best buddies. G is great with petting any animal gently.

  • He drinks whole cow's milk and water. He uses a spoon and fork to eat, and actually stabs the food with the fork. His favorite foods - eggs, sausage, rice pasta, tuna, chicken, beef, buffalo, hot dogs, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, applesauce, Greek yogurt, string cheese, Gouda cheese, toast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, mini pancakes, waffles, Mexican food.
  • He has eight teeth and four molars coming in, two on top and two on bottom. Poor guy. We brush them every morning and evening with the silicone finger brush and I bought him a regular mini size toothbrush so he can practice on his own.
  • He absolutely loves daycare and his teacher. He is learning so much. I really, really love it and I'm so happy with everything about his school. We went to the back-to-school night and had a visit with the 18 month - 30 month classroom, where he will be moving in January. We love that teacher too and he knows her already because she helps during the before and after school hours.

His stats:
  • He is wearing 18-24 month and 24 month clothes.
  • He is wearing size 4 diapers.
  • He weighed in at 26.2 lbs and measured 30 3/4 inches long.

Both Nick and I talk about our little man every night before bed and every morning when we wake up. He is our whole world. We love him so much and enjoy every single moment together. I don't know if the Infertility puts life into a different perspective for me, but I don't take a single second for granted. It's all amazing. 

xoxo,
Megan

Monday, October 21, 2013

Negative Again

Blah. I only ended up with one mature follicle this time so my hopes were crushed early on. And my intuition was right. I was on 100 IU of Follistim for all seven days of stims! More than any other cycle and I get just one! My body sucks and appears to be getting worse. Sigh.

I am not sure what to do now. We will be taking a break next cycle as Nick is out of town for work in November. Do we try another IUI, maybe on a higher dose of meds? Do we move onto IVF? My plan is to talk to Dr. A about our options and what he thinks and go from there.

I never imagined it would be just as difficult this time around. Never ever.


IUI #2 
October 2013
CD3 - CD9: 100 IU Follistim

CD1 9/28/13
CD3 baseline u/s
CD6 u/s and b/w = {R: 14, 13, 12 / L: 10 / lining 5.9mm}
CD8 u/s and b/w = {R: 20, 14 / lining 8mm}
CD10 u/s and Novarel injection = {R: 25, 16 / lining 10.6mm}
CD11 u/s and IUI 2.1 = {R: 26, 18} Post wash sperm count = 30 million
CD12 u/s and IUI 2.2 = I ovulated the biggie! 17mm on the right was still visible on u/s. Post wash sperm count = 29.5 million
8dpo Progesterone b/w = 18
12dpo = BFN


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Baby Number Two - IUI #1 Recap

We didn't waste any time. We started our first treatment cycle for baby Number Two on the first cycle after our consult with Dr. A in August. I called in on CD 1 and they ordered my Follistim, Novarel and Progesterone. We had no infertility coverage last time, so we paid for all of our testing and treatments out of pocket. This time around we have some Infertility coverage. What a difference. My meds last time cost me $1,009. This time, just a $65 co-pay!!!

I felt awful the entire cycle, but the cycle seemed to go well. I started at a lower dose of Follistim and then he had to increase the dosage for the last four days. We had two, maybe three, mature follicles when I triggered and I am assuming I ovulated later on CD12 because the ultrasound that morning still showed follicles. Much less craziness than Grayson's IUI cycle when I had six or seven mature follicles and was almost canceled. It does appear that I am not responding as well as I did with that cycle either. I am not sure why, but it bummed me out. Anyways, just wanted to give you all a rundown of that IUI cycle. I also like having a reference to look back at.

IUI #1
September 2013
CD3 - CD5: 75 IU Follistim
CD6 - CD7: 100 IU Follistim
CD8 - CD9: 100 IU Follistim

CD1 9/2/13
CD3 baseline u/s
CD6 u/s and b/w = ? {R: 11, 12 / L: 11, 12}
CD8 u/s and b/w = 99 {R: 13, 13, 15 / L: 13, 13 / lining 6.3mm}
CD10 u/s = {R: 20, 19 / L: 17 / lining 8.3mm} Trigger day - Novarel injection.
CD11 u/s and IUI 1.1 {R: 24, 23 / L: 17} 18.5 million motile sperm
CD12 u/s and IUI 1.2 {R: 20 / L: 18} 20 million motile sperm
Progesterone suppositories twice a day
7dpo Progesterone b/w = 17
12dpo = BFN
14dpo = BFN

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Migraine Hell

I didn't blog about our first IUI, except that it failed, but it was a miserable cycle for me. I had two migraines early on and I threw up all night with the first one. It was so bad. Then I had another one a few days before my period started, and most recently had one from Sunday afternoon up until yesterday. Phew. Thank goodness that I am okay today, just a mild "hangover headache", as the migraine peeps refer to it. I have an amazing appreciation for every moment without a migraine. Perspective can do so much for your outlook on life, on a day-to-day basis.

It's frustrating to be in so much pain, with no relief but time and sleep. And sometimes even those don't help and I push through another miserable day. Those days are my lowest days. They are absolutely the worst moments of my life. They are debilitating - I can't think, I can't talk, I can't enjoy my family, I can't cook or eat... I cannot function. There are even moments where I just want to die, it's so bad. I know that is an extreme statement and I do not want to die, but those thoughts can cross your mind in moments of desperation.

I have always suspected my hormones are what drive these headaches, and it's more and more obvious that they are the cause. I have been tracking them and they always fall on days where my cycle is changing and I am sure different hormones are surging or dropping off. I wish I knew exactly which hormones so I can try to do something about it. Perhaps after I am done having babies, I can do more testing and see if there are any hormone related treatments. For now, it sucks. I can't do anything to prevent them, except get pregnant again. I didn't have a single migraine when I was pregnant with Grayson. I wonder if they are also affecting my fertility. All of my blood work comes back fine, but maybe there is something else that is being missed. Let's just say I am really, really looking forward to being pregnant again for more than one reason :)

xoxo,
Megan