The Delestrogen injections have raised my estrogen levels higher than they would be normally and that's caused some pretty intense bloating. The picture below shows how bloated I've been! I look 5 months pregnant! And I not even pregnant at all! Haha I've also had a very hard time with digesting dairy so I've had to cut it out of my diet temporarily. If I eat even a little dairy, I get even more bloated, gassy, and stomach cramps. I'm not really upset about that, though, because I've had to cut dairy before when breastfeeding my youngest and I liked the way my body felt. I felt "cleaner" and not nearly as bloated just in general so I'm taking this as a blessing in disguise. I probably should avoid dairy all the time but I just love cheese and soft serve ice cream way too much. I mean, who doesn't?! The cramping, back pain, and headache have all gone away this week.
My appointment on Thursday went really well! They did an ultrasound (machine pictured below) of my uterus to check the thickness of my uterine lining. You want it to be thick and fluffy, which is ideal for the embryos to implant. The clinic wants to see the lining at least 7 mm thick and mine was...... *drum roll please* 13.93 mm!! Yay! Almost double the thickness they want! It seems my uterus is good and ready to house some babies :) This probably explains the full feeling I was feeling last week. They also did some blood tests to check my Estrogen and Progesterone levels, which were both on track to move forward with the transfer.
I had my usual acupuncture appointments and those went well. I saw a different acupuncturist on Friday because mine was out of the office and I really liked her. Her method felt a lot different than what I'm used to, though. Instead of a constant zing/vibration through the needles, it was a tapping feeling. I'm not sure what she did different but it was definitely noticeable.
Next Week: My medications are switching up a lot next week and I have more blood tests on Wednesday.
I'll continue the prenatals, aspirin, and Monday/Friday Delestrogen injections.
My last Lupron injection is tomorrow! This is a bitter-sweet milestone. It means we are SO CLOSE to the transfer but it also means that I get to start daily progesterone injections!
On Tuesday night I will start daily Progesterone injections which are... You guessed it... Intramuscular injections. So that's 9 butt injections a week! So far I've had really good experiences with the Delestrogen intramuscular injections but I've heard the Progesterone (aka PIO) is more painful simply because of the quantity of medication that's being administered. Right now my Delestrogen dose is 0.3 ml and the Progesterone will get all the way up to 2 ml! This increases the chances of lumps and soreness the days after. Plus, it's every day so my bum won't have much of a chance to heal before getting stabbed again.
I have devised a plan, though. To avoid lumps and soreness, I plan to:
• use my rice pack to warm the medication before injecting
• massage and apply heat after injections
• SQUATS!
It makes sense in my head that walking around or doing squats after heating and massaging will help to disperse the medication even more. Plus squats are good for preparing your body for labor and building a booty ;) This theory might backfire horribly and I might hate myself after trying it but I think it's worth a shot! (No pun intended)
I will also start another round of Doxycycline (antibiotic) and a low-dose steroid, Medrol, on Wednesday. Both of these are taken orally and both will just continue until the transfer day. The Doxycycline is to make sure there aren't any infections going on and Medrol is used to suppress the autoimmune from interfering with embryo implantation.
Long Story Short:
Monday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Delestrogen IM injection, last Lupron injection
Tuesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection
Wednesday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol
Thursday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol
Friday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Delestrogen IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol
Saturday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol
Sunday- prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin, Progesterone IM injection, Doxycycline 2x, Medrol
Total- 36 pills and 9 injections (1 tummy, 8 butt).
Wednesday I go in for more blood tests to make sure the first Progesterone injection is doing it's job.
I am beyond excited to make it to the transfer. I am planning to have a nice relaxing weekend next weekend and continue preparing my body for pregnancy during the week. I want to have a calm, peaceful state of mind when the transfer happens so the babies are welcomed into the most ideal, stress free house and hopefully decide to take out a nine month lease ;) I'm going to try to keep myself busy so I'm not just sitting around watching the seconds tick by. Ahhhh only SEVEN MORE DAYS!
<3
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Medication:
Days on Prenatal Vitamins: 73
Baby aspirin: 28
Baby aspirin: 28
Lupron injections: 28
Delestrogen Injections: 3
Active Birth Control Pills: 46 (finished 1/2)
Doxycycline: 20 (first round finished 1/7)
Procedures:
Acupuncture Sessions: 7
Vials of Blood Drawn: 14
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2
Vials of Blood Drawn: 14
Vaginal Exams: 2
SIS: 1
Mock Transfer: 1
Internal Ultrasound: 2
Weight:
Start of medication: 162.6
1 week of Meds: 163.4
2 weeks of Meds: 159.2
3 weeks of Meds: 161.6
4 weeks of Meds: 163.6
I was actually bummed to see that weight this morning, even though I was actually expecting worse. I am so bloated and retaining so much water that I knew my weight would be heavier this week. The thing that frustrates me is that I've been really good about my eating and getting into the gym so the athletic side of me isn't comprehending the gain. But I KNOW that it makes sense and will likely go away as my hormones even out.
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