IUI Number 6 – Insemination

Making Baby Mettler

Insemination went smoothly. There were something like 47 MILLION motile sperm, which is apparently a lot. We’ve been working out and have been cooking healthy meals and we’ve been doing Whole30 for 2 weeks at this point (halfway to 30 days!). I’m both excited and hesitant about this one. It’s our last attempt with me, but I can’t get discouraged because we do have options. I’m trying not to get my hopes up but I want to be excited about the possibility of making a baby this time.

The doctors at CRM are constantly reassuring us that the first 3 attempts with me “didn’t count” because of several different factors, mainly that they didn’t prescribe me progesterone. The meds they gave me are known to LOWER progesterone levels, which is why I am being supplemented with progesterone now. On top of that, the Dr. at the first place admitted that they missed my ovulation window the first attempt, and the second attempt was the sperm fiasco where basically all the sperm were dead. It doesn’t necessarily make me feel much better knowing I’m still 0/2 (as opposed to 0/5), and it certainly doesn’t make our bank account feel any better, lol.

The Pregnyl made me nauseous again, so I have been drinking diet ginger ale (no sugar) technically not whole30 but I’d rather not vomit, and I need to listen to my body. Hopefully, that wears off soon. We have a Nightly, The WLDLFE, and Sawyer concert tonight – I told Sam it would be really cool if I can tell our kid that they were conceived at a concert. Music runs through her veins.

Here’s hoping this 2-week wait goes by quickly. There might be a Disney adventure coming up this weekend, which will definitely help get my mind off of everything.

Baby Journey Cost:

CD 16:
Insemination: $350 

Total baby-making cost to date: $10,863.38 

IUI Number 6 – Part 1 – Pushing through!

Making Baby Mettler

It turns out 5 wasn’t our lucky number.

Well, this is it, folks! The final countdown. This will probably be the last attempt for Steph since we don’t have the money to cover IVF, so we will be trying IUI with Sam sometime in the months after this one regardless of the outcome. But boy, is our jar of hope overflowing for this one to work.

It’s 2020 as I write this blog. New year, new month, a new cycle, new insurance plan! And a new insurance plan means lower copays!!! Yay for saving money! We hurried up and purchased sperm before pricing went up for 2020 (smart move, Samantha!) which helped save a few hundred extra dollars.

The meds are the same, Clomid on days 4-9, shots on days 5, 7, 9, then I go in on cycle day (CD) 11 for a follicle check. Honestly, school started this past week and we are still in holiday recovery mode so the days are blurring by, so hopefully, that continues through insemination and the two-week wait (it’s always more fun when trying to do calculus homework).

CD 11

We Went in for the run-of-the-mill follicle check today. We started with my right ovary which has 2 tiny follicles (ut oh) but then she switched to the left and there were 2 HUGE ones in comparison, and they weren’t even that big, lol. I have a 13.9 and a 14.5 and remember we have to get them around 20. I do another Gonal-F shot (75cc, same as usual) tonight and go back in two days on CD 13 for another follicle check, then hopefully they give me a trigger and insemination date!

Side note: Steph has lost 15 pounds or so since we started this baby journey and this month we have been doing Whole30, which is no added sugar, grains, legumes, or dairy for a whole 30 days. We are blogging about that also, of course, so CLICK HERE to see our meal plans and read more about it.

CD 13

Went in today and had 2 follicles still! YAY! They’re growing slow but everything is on track. We got directions later in the afternoon (while we were at the vet for our 16-year-old cat – She’s fine) to do another 75cc Gonal-F shot tonight, then do the Pregnyl trigger shot Sunday night for insemination on Tuesday morning, which is luckily on the day that I only have 1 class that morning. We’ve been going to the gym pretty steadily still. Sam is 6 days/week and I’m joining her for 3 since my work/class schedule is so hectic.

Cost:

CD 4:
Ovary scan: $5 (co-pay)
Clomid: $14.79
300 pen of Gonal F: $170
Pregnyl trigger shot: $154.89
Credit for SMP messing up our shipping last cycle: +$20
Sperm from NW Cryobank: $525 for IUI Sperm $245 for shipping.

CD 11:
Follicle check #1 and bloodwork: $5 (copay)

CD 13:
Follicle check #2 and bloodwork: $5 (copay)
Progesterone refill: $1

Total baby-making cost to date: $10,513.38 

January Whole30 – Week 3

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This week is by far the hardest week. Staying motivated is SO much harder. The best thing I can recommend for this week is to try to make the meals EASY because at this point you’ll be sick of eggs, and sick of cooking. Lots of easily accessible burgers, tuna salad, chicken salad, salad-salad, etc.

Thursday, Jan 16
Breakfast: Hard boiled eggs and berries
Lunch: Mini Meat Loaf and Mashed Potatoes
Dinner: Instant Pot Creamy Gnocchi Soup

Friday, Jan 17
Breakfast: Bacon and eggs for Steph/Fruit for Sam
Lunch: Leftover Soup/ Leftover mini meat loafs
Dinner: We went through the leftovers and had a random picnic basically.

Saturday, Jan 18
Breakfast: Fruit and a Chomp for Sam/ Smoothie for Steph
Lunch: Chipotle Whole30 bowl (we both get barbacoa)
Dinner: Hamburgers and Fries (Pro tip, get the sleeve of burgers from Sam’s club!)

Sunday, Jan 19
Breakfast: Smoothies
Lunch: Tuna Salad
Dinner: Actual salad with apple, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and Balsamic Dressing

Monday, Jan 20
Breakfast: Fruit (cantaloupe!) & chomps
Lunch: Mini meat loaf (We made a double batch and froze some for us to take to work!)
Dinner: Burgers and Fries with Bacon

Tuesday, Jan 21
Breakfast: Chomps and hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Leftover Burgers and fries
Dinner: Baked Chicken (rubbed with bbq seasoning from Sam’s) with green beans

Wednesday, Jan 22
Breakfast: Chomps and hard boiled eggs
Lunch: Leftover Chicken
Dinner: Chicken and Veggies (We get the Broccoli Normandy from Sam’s Club)

Making a Baby, IUI 5 – results

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Oh, the feelings.

I think in order to prepare our hearts, we have begun to almost expect a negative test so that when we finally get our positive, we will be able to be surprised and excited about it.

I thought this one was it. I’ve been way more emotionally and physically exhausted than usual and this time just felt a little different. I can’t really explain it other than having a glimmer of hope. It’s definitely discouraging especially watching my egg count dwindle down with each IUI attempt. Samantha is budgeting to make it so that we can afford to try again this month. That’ll be 6 IUI attempts for me and I think I may call it quits if that one doesn’t work. I can say with confidence that this has been the most mentally and physically draining experience of my life.

We have plans to start with Samantha sometime next year (2020), which will give us a few months to save up again.

2019 has been filled with our greatest hopes and our greatest challenges and I’m sure 2020 will come with its own characteristics that challenge us and shape us into the adults and hopefully the parents we will become. This is a learning curve with both of us, but we are here supporting each other and loving each other through all of it and that’s what matters most.

Cost:

Total baby-making cost to date: $9407.70 

January Whole30 – Week 2

whole30

We survived another week down on Whole30! This week was filled with some amazing food. I’ve been taking full advantage of snack packs of nuts since I have class super early in the mornings, then eating my eggs once I get to work. Chomps have also saved me a few times. I had planned on taking some photos of our meals, but I always accidentally eat them first. LOL. Oops. We found some almond coconut milk that I’m excited to try in my coffee too so hopefully I remember to add that next week!

Thursday, Jan 9
Breakfast: leftover Sloppy Jane + eggs (wouldn’t recommend mixing..)
Lunch: Leftover Chicken Sausage and green beans/Buffalo Chicken
Dinner: (banana, almond butter, blueberry, protein powder) Smoothies
Neither of us was super hungry for dinner this day, so we decided to make smoothies!

Friday, Jan 10
Breakfast: Smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers for Sam, Eggs and Guac for Steph
Dinner: Egg Roll Bowls

Saturday, Jan 11
Breakfast: We slept through breakfast…
Lunch: Leftover Egg Roll Bowls
Dinner: Chipotle (Now serving Whole30 Bowls!)

Sunday, Jan 12
Breakfast: Eggs and Oven-Baked no-sugar Bacon
Lunch: We skipped lunch since we had such a huge breakfast/brunch
Dinner: Beef Tips and Cauliflower Mash <<< we used immersion blender for texture

Monday, Jan 13
Breakfast: Hard boiled eggs and berries (ras, straw, blu, black)
Lunch: Leftover Beef Tips and Cauli mash
Dinner: Chicken Salad Wraps (wrapped in lettuce) – SEE BELOW

Tuesday, Jan 14
Breakfast: Hard boiled eggs and berries
Lunch: Leftover Chicken Salad
Dinner: [compliant] Turkey BLT Lettuce Wraps w/ bacon from ALDI

Wednesday, Jan 15
Breakfast: Hard boiled eggs and berries
Lunch: Turkey BLT Lettuce Wraps
Dinner: Mini Meat Loafs and Mashed Potatoes

For the Chicken Salad, we started with a whole chicken (We got it from Sams. They sell whole chickens in packs of 2 for ~ $10) and actually used a recipe for this because when dealing with the instant pot, we still get a little nervous with times, etc. It turns out THIS WAS THE BEST RECIPE EVER (Click here). It only took 28 minutes to cook and the meat FELL off the bones. If you don’t have an instant pot, I’m sure you can do it in the oven, it may just take a bit longer!

Pro-tip: we used avocado oil instead of canola and also added half an onion to the inside of the chicken. Once cooled, we shredded the chicken and put it in the fridge overnight. With our chicken salad, we add in homemade mayo, 1 green apple, chopped almonds, Trader Joe’s onion salt, tarragon, red pepper flakes, pepper, garlic, and a few squirts of dijon mustard. The overall rule is to add a fruit and a nut. We usually add cranberries but we didn’t have any. I prefer walnuts but the almonds (from trader joes!) were AMAZING. We’ve also used red apples, but we really like the tartness of the green ones. Feel free to add some peppers too! Sam usually scoops her chicken salad with the mini sweet peppers for extra flavor.

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Our Favorites:

Samantha’s favorite is always the egg roll bowls.
When eating leftovers, add fresh cabbage to make it crunchy again!

My favorite was tied between he mini meat loafs and the turkey BLT! One is super heavy and the other is lighter, so I suppose it depends on if you’re in the mood for comfort food.

Tonight we’re having creamy Gnocchi soup and I am SO excited for that. See you next week! Let us know how you’re doing or if you’re trying any of the meals we’ve made!

Making a Baby, IUI 5 – Part 2, Insemination and TWW

Making Baby Mettler

This is our 5th overall attempt, but our second attempt with CRM. We went to the gym to get one last workout in before the big day. All of the jitters from final exam week were finally gone (I passed both classes!) so this IUI I was actually pretty relaxed. We talked to the nurse a bit about when I could go back to the gym, how annoying it is to leave all of this up to science, and she told us her own struggle with infertility before she got her twins on IUI #6.

It’s not usually a physically painful process at all for me, which is great. She had to reposition a few things because she didn’t like the angle and wanted to get all of the sperm into my uterus so we had the best chance. I definitely appreciated that she took the extra time to make sure everything was perfect. It was nice having someone there who completely understood our struggles and the frustrations firsthand. Before she walked out she said, “maybe number 5 is your lucky number”, and we told her that was actually the name of our last blog… and we all 3 got chills.

Prior to the insemination, I had to do the Pregnyl injection, which made me sick last time, so I was prepared with ginger ale and Tums just in case, but I never threw up! *high fives* That was a huge relief.

After insemination, we were advised to take it easy at the gym. She suggested I do a rest day on insemination day just to be extra cautious. We had a very relaxing weekend and blew off a few Christmas parties (sorry guys!) for the extra rest time. We finally saw Frozen 2 which was amazing!!

It’s kind of a struggle to write about the TWW because it’s pretty similar each time we do this. Hopefully, this one just ends with a positive pregnancy test rather than a negative. Other than mild cramping and being physically exhausted, it’s been pretty similar to all the others. I’m trying not to get worked up about it since the progesterone mimics pregnancy/period symptoms.

2nd weekend of this TWW we saw Star Wars!! Made Cinnamon sugar roasted pecans in a crockpot (soooo easy) which turned out AMAZING!! Recipe here for anyone who needs to try it.

We went to the gym a few more times because it’s the holidays and sweet things and comfort food are everywhere. Samantha made her grandma’s top-secret Taco Salad recipe for a little bit of her grandma’s spirit around this time of year, and we are attempting a Maple Sage roasted pecan recipe while running around like chickens with our heads cut off to get our lives ready for Christmas and New Years. Wish us luck!

Cost:

CD 16:
Insemination:  $350

Total baby-making cost to date: $9407.70 

January Whole30 – Week 1

whole30

It’s January 2020 and we’ve decided to start our new year with doing our second official Whole30. If you don’t know what whole30 is, check out the website HERE. Basically, you can eat meat, seafood, veggies, fruit, but no processed foods, sugar, dairy, grains, or legumes (not even hummus). AND you can’t step on a scale for the whole 30 days. It takes complete dedication, there are no “cheat days” or “cheat meals”, for an entire 30 days.

My favorite line from her website is:

This is not hard. Fighting cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You have done harder things than this. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth—the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. Hear me now: The Whole30 is exactly as hard as you decide it’s going to be, so repeat after me: “This is not hard.”

Whole30 has been known to assist with all sorts of health problems and issues like: high blood pressure • high cholesterol • type 1 diabetes • type 2 diabetes • asthma • allergies • sinus infections • hives • skin conditions • endometriosis • PCOS • infertility • migraines • depression • bipolar disorder • heartburn • GERD • arthritis • joint pain • ADD • thyroid dysfunction • Lyme disease • fibromyalgia • chronic fatigue • lupus • leaky gut syndrome • Crohn’s • IBS • Celiac disease • diverticulitis • ulcerative colitis. If you’ve seen this before, you’ve been reading our fertility blog!

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Okay, Let’s get down to business (comment if you started singing Mulan).

Samantha has come up with an entire month of meal plans and shopping lists so that we can eat the right foods on a budget. We’ve also been going to the gym and yoga on a regular basis and the weather is so nice we take a few of our dogs out for long (2 mile) walks once the sun starts to go down.

I think it’d be easier to share our meal plans each week with you guys and then follow it up with our favorites! (We started on January 2nd because we are rebellious). See some shopping hints below!

Thursday, Jan 2
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs (cooked in green chile oil with jalapenos!)
Lunch: Sheet pan chicken sausage (NO sugar), broccoli, and potatoes.
Dinner: Teriyaki (Primal Kitchen) Chicken and zucchini

Friday, Jan 3
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Teriyaki chicken and zucchini
Dinner: Hamburgers (no bun) and Air Fryer Crispy Garlic Potatoes

Saturday, Jan 4
Breakfast: Fruit + Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Burgers and Potatoes
Dinner: Chili Lime Crispy Chicken Tenders with Avocado Ranch and a honey crisp apple
**We cooked the chicken tenders in the air fryer!

Sunday, Jan 5
Brunch: Hard Boiled Egg + Chomp
Snack: We went on a long bike ride and stopped at Starbucks. We got Peter Rabbit fruit pouches and the Evolution pressed juices (‘super fruit greens’ and ‘defense up’ flavors).
Dinner: Sloppy Jane’s

Monday, Jan 6 (Steph Starts School Today – 730am class)
Breakfast: Egg Salad on Sweet Potato Toast
Lunch: Leftover Sloppy Jane’s
Dinner: Skinny Shredded Buffalo Chicken (good for wraps too!)

Tuesday, Jan 7
Breakfast: Egg Salad on Sweet Potato Toast
Lunch: Leftover Skinny Shredded Buffalo Chicken
Dinner: Philly Not-So-Cheese-Steak Stuffed Peppers

Wednesday, Jan 8
Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch: Leftover Philly Peppers
Dinner: Chicken Sausage and Green Beans

*** Our favorite was the Sloppy Janes ***

Side note: We went to trader joe’s and found these AMAZING date and coconut bites that have been helping between Steph’s morning classes. There’s a cashew apricot flavor and a blueberry almond flavor and they are Whole30. Click HERE.

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Just the TIPS:

We get most of our meats from Costco/Sams in bulk. We got a Food Saver for Christmas so we separate the meats into the portions we need which has been super helpful! For the sauces and seasonings, we spend most of our time at our local Trader Joe’s. We also really like Aldi for fruits and veggies and they sometimes have surprises like fruit pouches that are whole30. They’re really good to curb your sweet tooth – also Apple Sauce with Cinnamon.

We recommend getting a handful of Chomps (the Country Archer beef sticks are also Whole30) to snack on from Trader Joe’s. It’s not encouraged to have snacks on Whole30 since one of the purposes of Whole30 is to eat enough food to sustain you for the next meal and to stop you from reaching for the “snacks”. We also have boiled eggs ready to go in the fridge because sometimes that’s what we have time for and it’s super quick as a snack or a meal. Also, a HUGE help is to have a bunch of shredded chicken ready to go. You can shred a compliant rotisserie chicken or make your own in the crockpot or instant pot.

There’s a ton of Whole30 mayo recipes online and the sauces make everything amazing (Healthy Little Peach is our go-to for the healthiest, yummiest sauces). If you don’t have one yet, GET AN IMMERSION BLENDER. It will make your life SO much easier with sauces and mayo and homemade avocado ranch. Also, an instant pot would make your life easier and makes cook time WAY shorter. Most blogs will have an option for Instant Pot recipes and crockpot versions.

One of the most helpful tips we read before starting Whole30 was to clean and organize your kitchen. That way you have an inventory of what you have in the house plus you have a nice clean kitchen!

Sam writes EVERYTHING in her planner. She has our meal plans in there, the shopping list for the week, when to pull things out of the freezer, AND she has the printed recipes that are numbered for each day. She has a Happy Planner with Weekly Menu Plan inserts in it.

Sam’s favorite people to follow on Instagram (and their blogs) are @littlebitsofrealfood (Little Bits Of), @maryswholelife (Mary’s Whole Life), @thebetteredblondie (The Bettered Blondie), @tasteslovely (Tastes Lovely), @thedefineddish (The Defined Dish), @healthylittlepeach (Healthy Little Peach), @40aprons (40 Aprons), and…

BONUS BLOG: Nom Nom Paleo We know she’s not specifically Whole30 but most of the recipes can be altered and who doesn’t crave Asian food literally all the time (see her Pho recipe).

**Because this is our fourth round of Whole30 AND we are Gluten Free, we already have a lot of the flours and various ingredients that are needed for a lot of Whole30 recipes. Whole30 doesn’t have to be difficult and you don’t have to make a special Pinterest recipe every night. Whole30 is just about making healthier choices and eating enough vegetables to curb your appetite.

Making a Baby, IUI 5 – Part 1, Maybe 5 is our Lucky Number

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I was a bit nervous going into our next IUI cycle after having to skip the last one due to a cyst, but we decided to keep trying. At this point, each doctor’s appointment is pretty routine as far as procedure, so I think our excitement level is down to a normal level. There’s just SO much waiting and wondering and it’s been helpful to have my classes occupy that time instead of stressing and worrying about trying to get pregnant. I am trying not to let this blog be one bummer after the next so just know that we are trying to stay hopeful and excited for whatever the future holds for us. We’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly (I’m 3x/week and Sam is 5-6x) and I’ve been gluten free for more than 6 months now. All of this should be helping my body better prepare for a baby in addition to the 23705 vitamins I’m taking.

CD 2: Ovary Scan

They did my ovary scan and everything was totally normal! We are cyst free and ready to go! We ordered all the medication, Clomid, etc. and we are sticking to the same meds schedule as last time, which was I think Clomid on days 2-6, and Gonal shots on days 3, 5, and 7.

CD 10: Follicle scan

We are the grown-ups that laugh at subtle inappropriateness, so of course, when we walk into the room and the screen say’s penetration, we had a veryyyyyyy good laugh about it.

We have 2 follicles that are each 13mm. So that means another 75 Gonal shot on CD 11 and then come back on CD 12 to see what’s happening. Oh also Sam ordered the sperm today so we didn’t have to pay for fast shipping (same donor as last time).

CD 11

Fun story: CD 11 happened to land on our nephew’s birthday. We had planned on being in Georgia for his birthday and we couldn’t disappoint, so we packed up a cooler full of road trip snacks, and my Gonal pen, which can’t dip below a certain temperature. The shots we always have to do between 6pm and 8pm so, after the birthday party, Sam had to give me a shot in the laundry room so the kids wouldn’t freak out. We were able to store it in their fridge while we were there, then we packed up and headed back home with the rest of the shot pen on ice! Oh, also we forgot the alcohol wipes so thanks to Bath and Body Works for their Marshmallow Pumpkin hand sanitizer coming in handy when we needed it.. “This is probably fine..”

CD 12:

We got home from GA around 11pm after waking up at 5am, and our appointment the next day was 7am, so we were pretty out of it. They still take my blood each time to measure my estrogen levels, but apparently I was a little dehydrated which makes bloodwork way less fun. Props to my blood lady for being on point.

Our next set of instructions are to take a full 75unit dose of Gonal on CD 13 between 6-8pm, trigger with Pregnyl (here’s hoping it doesn’t make Steph throw up this time *fingers crossed*) on CD 14 (24 hours later) and inseminate on CD 16! (three days earlier than last time)

I have 3 follicles now which are pretty good odds. I have a 12 and 16 on my left and a 13.6 on my right. Hopefully all 3 fully mature and that way our chances will be higher. Uterine lining is 8.1 which is basically perfect for implantation. It’s getting close to GO time!

 

Cost:

CD 2:
Ovary scan: $65 (co-pay)
Chlomid: $14.79
300 pen of Gonal F: $170
Pregnyl trigger shot: $154.89


CD 10:
Follicle check #1 and bloodwork: $65 (copay)
Sperm from NW Cryobank: $525 for IUI Sperm $245 for shipping.

CD 12:
Follicle check #2 and bloodwork: $65 (copay)

Total baby-making cost to date: $9057.70 

Making a Baby, Future Planning

Making Baby Mettler

Samantha here.

We figured it was time for more of an update to what our future looks like.

We had to get realistic. We would like to have a big family, and no matter how many high hopes, well wishes, fertility crystals, and prayers that we have, the facts are still the facts; Steph’s egg count is insanely low. 

We started discussing me carrying and what all that would entail. And as much as I always said I didn’t want to carry, it all boiled down to how badly did I really want to make our own babies. We knew that we needed to start this process with me soonish, since we know from experience, how long this can all take. We didn’t know what my egg count looked like, if I had hormonal imbalances that would keep me from being able to carry, or who knows what. I have an IUD, and have for 6 years. I haven’t had a cycle since the first 3 months or so that I got the first Mirena (I’m on my second one). I’m overweight and I read soooo many things that scared me about being pregnant and being overweight, so we knew it was time for a professional opinion.

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I saw my primary doctor first because my insurance requires me to have a referral in order to see a specialist. She told me that weight doesn’t really play a HUGE factor in Fertility and that it’s based more on health (which is the same thing my gyno said), so she said that if this is something I really want, I need to get serious about losing some weight so that I have an easier pregnancy.  She ran a whole bunch of bloodwork and turns out, I’m pretty damn healthy. My Bad Cholesterol was 3 points higher than it should be, and she said that wasn’t anything to really worry about as long as I was sticking to working out and eating the things that I should be eating. Long story short, stay away from white things. She prescribed me Phentermine and explained that it would only help me lose more weight while I was actually trying and putting forth the effort, but that it wasn’t a magical weight loss pill. I needed to be the one putting in the work. 

Two weeks later, I had my first consult with our doctor to discuss what she would need from me. Ie. how much weight would I need to lose and what our next steps were going to be. She told me that there wasn’t a specific number that she needed to see, just that she needed to see that I was serious about trying to be healthier. She ran a million more tests (12 vials worth of blood) to check allll the things I was concerned about. And she did an Internal Ultrasound that day, which I was NOT mentally prepared for. (I still don’t actually know what the purpose of that torture was…but whatever lol). The nurse called me about a week later and told me that my hormone levels were all great, my blood type was O+ (the exact opposite of Steph’s 0-), and I am CMV Positive (which broadens our donor search ALOT if we decide to switch donors for whatever reason, because being CMV negative is super rare, which means having to select out of a LOT fewer donors who are negative).

Got the Bill for those things like 3 days before my follow up appointment about what our next steps would be and found out that my insurance didn’t cover a big portion of them. So there was an extra $223.63 I wasn’t prepared to spend.

The follow-up appointment told me what my AMH (egg count) level is. Turns out, I have allll the eggs. My AMH is 2.4, and to give you an idea of how many more eggs that is than Steph’s…Steph’s was 0.52 three months ago. I told the doctor when we wanted to start the IUI process with me and so the doctor and I made a plan. She will see me again in 3 months, to make sure that I am still sticking to everything that we discussed, and from there, I will schedule to have my IUD removed with the Gynecologist. One month after I get the IUD removed (I have to wait because my IUD may have put a dent in my uterus and I have to wait for that the reshape), I will have the HSG test to make sure that both of my fallopian tubes are open and that my uterus isn’t tilted and is the shape it’s supposed to be for optimal baby-making. If I haven’t started my cycle by then, she will do whatever they do to force it to happen, and then we start the IUI process. 

So here I am, working out 6 days a week, staying under my calories with healthy whole foods, and still trying to adult.

WHY DOESN’T ANYONE TELL YOU HOW HARD THAT IS?? 

I work until 5pm Monday-Friday. I get into the gym by like 5:40 once I’ve battled traffic. I get home around 7-7:20ish, I have to cook, clean up, and take care of the dogs. Steph gets home between 7:40 and 8pm (usually starving and ready to chew off someone’s arm #sorrynotsorry), we eat dinner, relax for an hour, go to sleep and then it’s time to do it all over again. We are working on figuring it all out and getting a system in place, but this shit is hard. Despite all this, it still won’t make me quit. Having a family and being around to see our kids grow up thing means too much for me to give up. 

So for now, just know that I am probably just busy at the gym and learning how to adult in a new way, and not ignoring you.

We’ll talk more about the journey with me in about 3ish months when I have things to report. Until then, Let’s get a baby in Steph.

TL:DR – Sam started getting tests done, she’s been kicking butt at the gym, she’s super healthy and in good shape for when we’re ready with her. Adulting is hard. 

 

Cost:

Primary doctor for referral: $30 copay
Bloodwork deductible: $37
Primary followup on bloodwork: $30 copay
Fertility Doctor consult: $55 copay
Fertility Bloodwork: $223.63 out of pocket cost that insurance didn’t cover
Fertility Doctor followup: $55

Total baby-making cost to date: $7753.39

Our Christmas 2019

Married Life

Christmas 2019

Oh man, where to start… This will be a “short” Christmas letter because 2019 has been pretty consumed with trying to make babies. Earlier in 2019 Samantha and I started the (very long) process of trying to have babies! We’ve been to loads of doctors appointments, spent tons of money, and been administered a TON of medications. Over the course of the last 9 months, we’ve tried IUI 4 times and we’re hoping that 2020 is our year! So we are basically fertility professionals now. Steph has been totally gluten free for 7 months and we’re basically just sitting ducks learning the value of patience. Lucky for you all, we’ve been keeping track of all the details on our blog: themettleradventures.com <<< Shameless plug.

In other news, Steph has passed all her classes this year. She managed to get an A in Calculus and the math classes keep piling up. She’s officially able to apply to the Aerospace Engineering program instead of the “pending” status. WOOHOO We almost have an actual aerospace engineer major on our hands! But don’t stop sending all the good vibes because rocket science isn’t easy, it’s rocket science..! Samantha remains the glue holding us together. She’s been to every doctor’s appointment and has been riding the Mettler roller coaster through all the fun hormones and negative tests. We’ve been going back to the gym and Sam’s been KILLING IT going 5+ days/week and Steph’s joining her on the weekends.

Back in March, we went to Birmingham, Alabama to see Mumford and Sons in concert, which was amazing. While we were there we visited the haunted Sloss Furnaces and went to Saturn Cafe which was basically a rocket themed coffee shop! We’ve been going to Disney a lot (so long as the weather is below 80 degrees). We started collecting Disney Trading Pins, which, if you haven’t started now DON’T DO IT, lol. We finally got to visit Star Wars Land, which was totally epic. Steph almost passed out from excitement.

This year, we also got to babysit our *bonus kid*, Gavin, who we took to a concert and to the water park, and then we celebrated Steph’s birthday at Kennedy Space Center. I’m pretty sure we might have a future rocket scientist on our hands! Steph even took him to a calculus review session and he got to help with some of the math. For Samantha’s birthday, we went to the wax museum and the aquarium (sharks AND a wax figure of Ryan Reynolds in one day!?), then, like any totally normal married couple, we went to IKEA.

For the first time in the 4 years that we’ve been living in our house, we decided (steph decided) to put Christmas lights on the house! Also, despite having 72 different color variations for Christmas bulb ornaments, we had to get JUST one more package of Christmas bulbs. Now we have officially completed the trifecta of Christmas color schemes. Santa would be so proud. Blue and gold? Got it. Silver and pink? Got it. Green and red? Got that too. We’re set for life now so long as our great dane, Apollo, stops sticking his head into the tree and using it as a head scratcher.

This year has been filled with so many ups and downs, but we are both so excited for what 2020 holds. Wishing everyone so much love this holiday season!

Love, The Mettlers