IVF Cycle #3

My two weeks of relative bliss are almost up as I start up again with shots on Monday. I’ve finally felt somewhat like a normal person the last two weeks; the first time since the beginning of March which was the start of my first IVF cycle. I was finally able to go on walks again, do more than lay in bed, cook, help around the house, garden a little bit, walk our dog myself, and I even squeezed in a couple of bike rides! I had the good intention of trying out yoga again this week, but it hasn’t happened because of the holidays.

I had my ultrasound this morning and everything is a-okay. Tonight is my last birth control pill, I go in for another ultrasound Monday morning, and I start my shots Monday evening. My husband will be gone for most of next week on a business trip so I’ll be on my own; totally fine as long as my back doesn’t give out.

My acupuncture sessions have been going well, and my energy level has also been improving. Quality of sleep still remains an issue to be worked on. I’ve been taking 6-9 mg of melatonin for the past three weeks (but still napping for 3 hrs a day) and only added back the first dose of Xyrem this past week. So far this seems to be a promising combination because I haven’t felt the daytime side effects of Xyrem, and yet I’m able to fall back asleep within a reasonable amount of time even after waking up several times during the night. My naps are about 1-2 hours per day now. I figure if I can’t achieve deep sleep for most of the night, 3-4 hours of deep sleep is a good alternative.

I had a follow-up appointment with my breast surgeon (not the reconstructive surgeon) last Friday and she’s happy with how things look right now. She wants to wait until October (once everything settles down from my reconstruction surgery) for me to get a breast MRI to use as my new baseline for my breast images.

I’ll be going to acupuncture twice a week for the next couple weeks to help my body as much as possible. My retrieval will probably take place on the 23rd, genetic testing five days later, implantation of the embryos a couple days later, then the long 11-day wait to see if our surrogate becomes pregnant. I’m good mentally right now, but I’ll re-evaluate my mental and emotional health in a couple weeks. I’m hoping the emotional roller coaster ride this time around will be less intense, but I really won’t know until it comes. I remember the crazy ups and downs from Cycle 1 that started with the retrieval, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling a bit nervous about this up-coming cycle.

I’m going to just really try to enjoy the next several days before my belly starts to over-distend; it’s actually still bloated right now from the last cycle. If I’m really ambitious, I might make it to yoga after all!