Making Baby Mettler

Follows our baby making process

22. 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 

20. 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 

18. 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

16. Making a Baby, IUI 4 – Part 2, Insemination and the dreaded TWW

Making Baby Mettler

Greetings!

We went in Sunday morning at 10:30am to get inseminated. (Exhibit A)

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We were called right back which was amazing. Everything went smoothly and the sample they looked at had RAPID motility and like 34 million sperm, which is fantastic! Plus it was a full hunters moon the night after our insemination so hopefully, we’ll get a little extra baby energy.

 


Fast forward to Sunday night. I had been feeling super nauseous all day and it pretty much felt like a bout of food poisoning throughout the day (with slightly more control). We finally got into bed and I felt something weird so I asked Sam to hand me some Tums to help my stomach. Not 10 seconds after I asked her, I was RUNNING to the bathroom (thank goodness our dog Hailey moved out of my way fast enough) where I spent the next 12 minutes throwing up. To be fair, I felt much better after that was all over. We called the doctor (because we googled stuff and got nervous) and they said that I’m totally fine and it’s just a side effect of the trigger shot. The next morning I got some ginger ale and more Tums.. just in case. The nausea is a little better but still present at this point and this was only 3 days post trigger shot. It can take 7-10 days to exit your system, so hopefully, the side effects go away.

One of the main differences between our other IUI attempts was that with this cycle, they prescribed me progesterone “insertables” for me to start taking 2 days after insemination.

the mettler adventures logo 2 png

10 Days Post Insemination:

I’ve still been feeling nausea off and on. It’s worse in the afternoons. I’ve been starving, which I’m not sure is a side effect from the progesterone.. I’ve been eating Tums to help at night and also drinking ginger ale during the day.

Tomorrow is the date that I am supposed to get my period according to one of the tracking apps I use. The other one says Saturday, so this is pretty much the worst time of the whole 2 week wait. I’ve been feeling some cramps, but at this point that could mean anything. Each day sans period is a good day so we are just taking it day by day. But there’s also this:

If your physician has recommended progesterone support, it will begin 2–4 days after ovulation. You will be given clear instructions on the type, dosage, and schedule of when to administer the progesterone. You should continue to take the progesterone until your pregnancy test, which is done two weeks after ovulation. Progesterone can delay your period, so a pregnancy test must be performed. If pregnancy occurs, the medications will continue until around the 10th week of pregnancy. If the pregnancy test is negative, the medication is stopped, and a period will occur in 2–7 days.

– Source

 

Cost:

Insemination $350

Total baby-making cost to date: $7257.39

15. Making a Baby, IUI 4 – Part 1

Making Baby Mettler

It’s officially go time again!

We are switching up the blog layout and decided to write basically everything up to insemination in a full blog, then follow it up with the results and all of that good stuff. This way we don’t have 17 chapters for everyone to read and follow.

CD 2: This morning we had our first Ovary scan of this cycle. It is cycle day 2, and our emotions are already all over the place! We are very hopeful this time because literally, everything has changed. Steph has been completely Gluten-free for 90 days now, the medications are almost all different. This ovary scan was the easiest and quickest one we have ever been to. So that was also great. The right ovary was completely quiet and the Left had a couple of follicles.

Steph is starting Chlomid tomorrow and for the next five days (CD3-CD8) and then adding Gonal F Injections on cycle days 5,7, and 9. We had some Gonal F leftover from our last attempt so we used that first.

Our insurance technically doesn’t cover “infertility” but DOES cover “diagnostic stuff”. CRM (Center for Reproductive Medicine) submitted a claim for the diagnostic (cost of ultrasound and bloodwork) which was $250 each time at the other office PLUS the copay, so now if insurance continues to cover it, we should only have to pay a $65 copay each time instead of $250, which would REALLY help cost wise.

Fun/Annoying fact that we learned: The regularly prescribed dosage (250mcg) Ovidrel trigger shot is only 50-70% as effective as the Pregnyl trigger shot. WHAT?!! So what is the point in using the Ovidrel at all if the effectiveness is that insignificant in comparison?!! That’s just silly… 

THE SCIENCE and RESEARCH

We also just learned that the original donor we chose (the whole donor fiasco is in our previous blogs) is suddenly no longer available for purchase. So we have to switch sperm donors again, but it’s probably for the best after that whole mix up.

We narrowed it down to a few this weekend and will be ordering it this week once we decide on one and get the all-clear from the dr.

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One Week later CD 10: 

We went for our follicle scan on Friday, there were 3 follicles growing, Two 12mm and one 10mm. Still not big enough, so they told us to do One more Gonal-F injection the next day (Saturday) and then come back on Monday (3 days later) to check on the growth.

The nurse advised us to go ahead and order the sperm now so that it was at the office in time. This office has the capability of using their own Cryo tanks to store it in case something happens to where we would need to wait until the next cycle, etc. which is SUPER awesome. Normally the “to-go” tanks that they use for shipping are only good for 7 days. We decided to go with a Donor from NW Cryobank for quite a few reasons. They had a better selection for the things we need and want. The CMV negative donors are much fewer in numbers so to find one with the qualities we were looking for was an adventure in itself.

Sam and I have different things we look at when selecting a donor – I look for whether they’re educated, whether they’re a nice, caring person, their favorite things (TV shows tell a lot about the person!), and what they do for work. Sam looks for things like how old their parents and grandparents lived to be, whether there’s been cancer in the family, how many siblings, how many siblings are girls.. (basically all the DNA things that are actually controllable as opposed to my assessment of whether they’re nice, lol). In spite of our nature vs nurture conversations, we found a donor that is amazing and fits all of our criteria.

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Monday CD 13:

Follicle scan was this morning at 7:30 am and we have LOTS of activity… One follicle is at 14.5, One is 13, One is 12.8 and one is 10. One of the things we have been doing differently now that we are at CRM, is that they take my blood each visit (yay me) to measure the amount of estrogen in my body. They use this as a more accurate way to detect ovulation. As much as it sucks getting poked and prodded each time, I know the end result will be worth it. Currently, we are waiting for a phone call to tell us what to do next based on the results, whether I need another Gonal F shot, or whether we ride it out and come back or trigger, etc. It’s looking like we will be coming in this week for insemination, we just don’t know specifically yet until we get the call. As of 3pm, we are both anxious as hell.

Monday, later(4:52pm):

The nurse called. Tonight we have to do another Gonal F shot, but just a half a dose of only 37.5 because they are trying to slow down 1-2 of those follicles. If there are 4, they will cancel the cycle and that is NOT what we want. We go back on Wednesday morning to check up on them and then we will decide what our next step is.

Wednesday CD 15:

Last night, we lit some incense, and put our fertility stones around the fertility statue that our best friend got us for some extra luck with slowing down that extra follicle! We felt like it surelyyyyy couldn’t hurt anything.

This is a statue of the Celtic triple goddess of the Sun, the Moon, and Childbirth.

We had our next ultrasound to see what our follicles are doing at 7:15 this morning, And they slowed down all right! Maybe a little too much. We are down to 2 possibly 3 follicles and those ones haven’t really grown much at all…One is 15 ish, one is 14 and one is 13 (They were 14, 13, 12, & 10 respectively before). Butttt Steph has cervical mucus, which is a sign of ovulation, so they added a progesterone check to her bloodwork to check her progesterone levels, which are able to tell us if she’s actually ovulating or not.

And nowwwww we wait for that phone call again to let us know what our next steps are going to be. This waiting game is going to be the death of us. Whyyyy does it have to take allllll day to get our results. (We are working on this patience thing…)

(Progesterone levels peak a week after ovulation. Measuring progesterone levels at this peak time gives us a way to assess ovulation. A progesterone level above 3 generally indicates that ovulation has occurred and a level 10 or higher suggests adequate production to maintain a pregnancy.)

Wednesday Later (3:30pm):

GOOD NEWS! Steph is not ovulating! Progesterone is only at 0.3! So tonight we will do another Gonal F half-dose shot of only 37.5 units. And we go back in Friday morning at 7:45 am to see what our follicles are looking like.

Come on babies, GROW GROW GROW!

Friday CD 17:

Follicle scan this morning! We have two mature follicles. One is at 19, one is at 14, we also have an 11, but that one won’t end up releasing. They said that the 19 and 14 will grow a little more over the next 24-36 hours, and we should have the two eggs when we inseminate. Hopefully the 14 is able to get to at least 16 to increase our chances way more! Tonight between 6-8 pm we will use the Pregnyl trigger shot to force ovulation (this can take anywhere from 12-36 hours to happen). And then Sunday morning at 10:30 am we will inseminate!

We feel very excited about this cycle. Everything feels so positive and just.. different. Sunday night is a full moon and will be exactly 90 days (that we’ve been counting) of Steph being gluten free. All of our fingers and toes are crossed for babies!

Steph’s been having some headaches and hasn’t been super hungry but we’re chalking it up to the Gonal. She’s been super tired too, but that may be due to the crazy math and Engineering homework… This is the most hormones she’s had in a given cycle and I think this is the longest we’ve gone without triggering as well. Average ovulation is between CD 14 and CD 21 depending on the length of the cycle (28 day vs 35 day) so CD 17 is right smack in the middle which would be roughly the same as our “natural” ovulation date. The fertility clinic basically helps the follicles grow and mature so we aren’t ovulating with eggs that are too small to be able to conceive. They of course also control ovulation so we can pinpoint when exactly to inseminate since we only have that one shot.

We will end this blog post here and pick back up for our next post which will be all about the insemination and our Two Week Wait. Pray for us to have some semblance of patience!

Cost:

CD 2:
Ovary scan: $65 (co-pay)
Progesterone: $44
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 $310 for shipping.

CD 13:
Follicle check #2 and bloodwork: $65 (copay)

CD 15:
Follicle check #3 and bloodwork: $65 (copay)

CD 17:
Follicle check #4 and bloodwork: $65 (copay)

Total baby-making cost to date: $6907.39

14. Fall is Here and Here We Go Again!

Making Baby Mettler

Samantha here! 

We know that those last 15 blogs were a lot to follow. But we wanted to fill everyone in on what we have been through throughout this fertility journey. We wrote each of those blogs as we went, and were waiting to publish them until we were pregnant. But here we are, three tries down, 10 months into our journey, and no bun in the oven. We decided to take a different approach and to involve our families and friends because we didn’t want to keep everyone in the dark anymore. The more Love and Positivity, the better. 

Our current update:

We chose to switch fertility doctors and try a different approach. We met with the Center for Reproductive Medicine and we were very impressed with our new doctors’ approach. She is very focused on nutrition and the role that it plays when it comes to fertility. Steph has been Gluten-Free for almost a full 90 days at this point. We have been much more active, calorie-conscious, and just more aware of the things we put into our bodies. 

This new doctor is switching everything up. Instead of Femara, Steph will be taking Clomid (pray for me during her mood swings) and they will be combining that with the Gonal F injections at a higher dose. They are changing up her trigger shot (to trigger ovulation) to one that is 4 times as effective as the Ovidrel apparently (probably more expensive and I will let you know the name once I know it). And then the day after insemination, they will start her on progesterone as well to be sure there’s as much “sticky dust” as possible! 

She also required us to go to a counseling session so that we could discuss how we would handle different conversations or scenarios because we are using donor sperm. We found an awesome therapist and the whole experience was actually really interesting because it just showed how much we truly are on the same page. 

We are so ready to get things moving again and are just waiting on Steph’s cycle to start. 

Our emotions are alllll over the place. We are excited, nervous, impatient.. all the things. But we are so ready to be moms. We also discussed having all of the tests run on me during this cycle so that we know what we are working with if me carrying ends up being our next option. At this point, I’m totally up to it as long as it means we end up having babies at the end of all of this. 

Right now,  we know more things about the human body and fertility than any average person knows. I have gone down more research-rabbit-holes than what would probably be deemed healthy. And the only realllll thing this journey has been teaching me is patience. (which I apparently very seriously lack).

 

Cost:

Second opinion appointment at Center for Reproductive Medicine: $65 (co-pay)

Total baby-making cost to date: $5363.71

13. Infertility and Celiac Disease

Making Baby Mettler

Im about to get real science-y so buckle up!

Apparently, roughly 1 in 17 women are experiencing infertility due to Celiac Disease. Yep, that’s the “fad” diet where you don’t eat bread, pasta, or anything else with gluten. Only it’s not a fad, it’s a VERY real thing.

While there are numerous reasons for fertility problems, one that is almost always overlooked by conventional fertility specialists, and that is easy to take into your own hands, is gluten intolerance. A recent study found that undiagnosed celiac disease may be the reason for “all cause” infertility in 3.5% of women, and unexplained infertility in 5.9% of women. It is possible that the rates are quite a bit higher, because celiac is so often under-diagnosed. Another study found that women undergoing fertility treatments had an increased success when they removed gluten from their diets.

– Source

In 1986 when my mom was struggling to get pregnant, she was 90 pounds and doctors told her she needed to eat fatty foods in order to gain weight. They prescribed her mac and cheese, grilled cheese and pancakes. This only made it worse. She eventually got pregnant with me, with the assistance of a fertility drug Clomid. I was full term (plus a few days) and born weighing 4lbs 12oz (severely malnourished).

Mom and I, 1989 (I think)

My mom was finally diagnosed with Celiac disease in December of 1988. I was 4 months old and she had reached a low of 78lbs. After months of doctors telling her that she was anorexic and being sent to shrinks, she finally had an answer. (PS Celiac can be somewhat dormant until you have kids, then it comes out full force – it also shows in different forms from skin rash to digestion to headaches, etc.).

Celiac disease is genetic, though I’ve never been tested for it. We had our follow up with the fertility doctor at Brown today and Sam brought it up to him as a possibility. Celiac has a bunch of symptoms, but some people don’t show any. Weight loss or weight gain are the main factors. However, Celiac can also cause problems with fertility. There’s a good chance I have CD, so we’ve been doing a bunch of research about how the two are linked. There are significantly more studies from the UK than the US. The new fertility Dr at CRM basically told me I needed to stay Gluten-Free for 90 days and take a bunch of supplements. Celiac can cause Iron, Zinc, and selenium deficiencies, so we went ahead and ordered all of those to take before trying IUI again.

There’s also several foods that can be considered “cross-reactive“, meaning they can affect you as well. These are dairy, milk chocolate, instant coffee, oats, corn, millet, rice, and yeast_. So if you’re avoiding gluten, I’d avoid all of those as well. This post isn’t sponsored at all and once again, I’m not a doctor. I’ve posted the articles I’ve cited below including medical journals mostly from the UK since they’ve been doing much more research on the topic of how celiac relates to infertility. I would highly recommend reading through the articles and doing your own research as well.

Sam and I have done three Whole30 ‘s before and will be starting it again tomorrow. To read about Whole30, click HERE. It’s meant to be a lifestyle change but the first 30 days are no alcohol, sugar, dairy, gluten, grains, legumes, and a few others. Just read about it and decide for yourself. It’s HARD to stick to, but it’s only 30 days.

Testimonials from thousands of Whole30 participants document the improvement of any number of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.

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

-From the Whole30 website

If you’re struggling with infertility and think it may be Celiac related I’d LOVE to hear your stories.

Links to Articles:

Links to Peer Reviewed Academic Journals:


Cost:

Follow up appointment: $65 (co-pay)

Total baby-making cost to date: $5298.71

12. Making a baby, IUI 3 – Results and plans

Making Baby Mettler

My period decided to come 4 days early so that’s another BFN (big fat negative) attempt. It’s all just really emotionally exhausting. My logical brain can’t comprehend why it’s not working.

We have another appointment coming up with the fertility doctor at Brown so we can do a follow-up appointment to see what our options are and what the cost may or may not be. We also have a second opinion appointment with another Fertility clinic to see if they have other suggestions or options that maybe we haven’t heard from Brown.

So basically, we have some options. I’d love to say we have more options than a straight couple since we are two women, but we’re 0 for 3 so I can’t say how accurate that really is, lol.

There are two sets of eggs between us and two uteri. My eggs are slim pickings basically, and haven’t been super awesome thus far, but we may be able to use them for IVF. That would only make sense if the sperm hasn’t been able to fertilize my eggs. The other thing that could be happening is that they’re getting fertilized, but not implanting, and another could be that they’re just not great eggs and aren’t turning into viable blastocysts (balls of cells that turn into a fetus). IVF would make sure that the eggs are fertilized before implanting them back into me. I’m not sure that there are any tests they can run to see where in this process my eggs aren’t doing what they need to do.. I would also assume that if we try IVF and they can’t fertilize my eggs, then we’ve found the problem, but then do we still have to pay the $20k for the whole process? (end of thought vomit paragraph)

Our other options include using Sam’s eggs and doing IVF with our donor and then having me carry, OR we can try IUI with Sam.

Our appointments are later this month so we will see what they both have to say and what they think the best options for us would be. We are not against trying IUI one more time either, but that’s another bunch of money and I don’t want to keep spending money on this without changing something because clearly there’s some reason why it’s not working.

We can’t control everything.

I still have an A in college physics so there’s that. LOL.

Cost:

Total baby-making cost to date: $5233.71

11. Making a Baby, IUI 3 – Part 2

Making Baby Mettler

We had our second appointment on Monday (CD13) and I have 2 follicles on my RIGHT side, which is new since the last 2 times have been on the left. One is measuring 18 and the other is measuring 19. These are the largest I’ve had going into IUI, which I’m hoping is a good sign. Also, if I can remember right, I think my HSG test (from one of the 1st blogs) revealed that my right fallopian tube was much more open than the left side.

We are getting inseminated on Wednesday (CD15) and then the 2-week wait happens again. Crossing our fingers, meditating, holding crystals, praying, and putting good vibes into the universe.

TWW Edit: This two-week wait has been pretty similar to the last two. Some things that are definitely recurring are the feeling of being full, bloating, and the PMS symptoms around day 6-8. Some differences (or things I’m just now noticing that I didn’t last time) are this time I’m noticing a lot of nose related issues. I’m having to blow my nose a bit more than usual and there’s some blood in my mucus. My digestion has also been very different this time around and I’ve been gassy, which isn’t like me. I’m not eating any gluten and haven’t for 2 weeks despite REALLY wanting pizza. We got a cauliflower pizza the other day that was GF – California Pizza kitchen frozen pizza that we found at Publix, but we are sure you can find it anywhere at this point! Other than that no major changes. 

Cost:

Ultrasound #2: $250
Insemination: $500

(luckily our sperm was covered because of that whole mix up last month)

Total baby-making cost to date: $5233.71

10. Making a baby, IUI 3 – Part 1

Making Baby Mettler

After our second negative test, we geared up for our third run. Now, because we’ve been to the fertility office so often, they pretty much know how I react to the meds and can nearly pinpoint when my follicles will be ready without an extra ultrasound midway (yay for saving $250!). I went in, no cysts, they gave me the 5 days of 2 pills, then we skip a day, and do 3 days of injections. Those end on Friday (CD 10), and we go back in on Monday for our ultrasound to see where my follicles are at size-wise.

After that, we get an insemination date and do this whole thing again.

There’s such a huge difference between the details in our first blog posts with the first IUI vs this third one. If you’re looking for more details, go back and revisit our first try! It’ll give you a way more in-depth blog about the whole experience. At this point, I think we are both exhausted and trying to be as patient as possible. Also, I have a bunch of physics homework that’s keeping me busy.

Last week we went to our local “witchy” store called Avalon,  which has pretty much anything ranging from incense to tarot cards, to books on Greek mythology, crystals, jewelry, herbs, oils, and mediums. It’s a really neat place to visit. Sam did some research about which stones and crystals can help with the fertility process, and we picked out a few things. At this point, nothing can hurt. Going to school for Aerospace Engineering requires me to take Chemistry and Physics classes, which just furthered my knowledge of energy. I also filmed and edited all the meditation videos for our local Yoga studio (Warrior One) so I learned a bit more about chakras and meditation from that as well. #shamelessplug #notsponsored

If that scene is not for you, that’s totally fine. It’s also okay if you don’t believe in any of the energy stuff. I come from a religious background and throughout my life my faith/religion has altered and grown with me. My personal faith doesn’t keep me from wanting to learn about other things. That’s something I truly admire about Sam and I and our relationship is that we are always learning, growing, and teaching each other things. This is our personal journey and I’m trying my best to share it with people who are trying to have babies in case anything works for them. Hopefully, this works for us!

 

Cost:
Femara: $3.11
Ovidrel : $53.50
Gonal- F Pen: $170 (thank god for our 50% discount)
Ultrasound #1: $250

Total baby-making cost to date: $4483.71

(do we get to count the crystals too? lol those were optional though sooo probably not)