I ran the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, ran to the bank, fueled up my car, baked muffins, ate some muffins, and took a nap...all before lunch.
In the afternoon, I met my BFF/S and we drove across town to meet her new friend T. for pedicures and coffee (decaf for me, of course!). I picked S up at 2, and didn't get home until after 6. This was the first time I had met T., but I knew she was a patient at RE's office. She just had her second non-medicated insemination on Wednesday. And after one more, then she thought she was done.
I *hope* that after our conversation, she felt like there was so much more that they could do for her at our clinic, if she *wanted* to pursue more invasive treatments, but I fear that I may have overwhelmed her. She knew nothing about medicated cycles, or IVF, ICSI, hysteroscopy, etc. She's been through the counseling to use DS. She knows what Day 3 labs are, and she knows all the same nurses I do. But whereas DH and I dove head first into IVF, she's kind of easing into things with IUI.
Hopefully, she's pregnant right now and won't need to learn all the acronyms, terms, and procedures. But if I was paying for DS, I think I might want my egg count beefed up or some progesterone supplements, at the very least.
It was a little eye-opening for me, that treatment plans can be so different. We have very similar issues, other than the donor sperm, and she isn't having to go through half the medical assistance I did. Did I get hosed because I had unnecessary medicated cycles, or is she getting the shaft because she just emits one measley egg each month?
She did ask some questions about cost for IVF, so I was able to explain the kinds of questions to ask her health insurance company (no doesn't always equal no). We both have had cysts. She skipped ovulating one month. Her E2 was high. Her LSH were low. So, I reassured her that every cycle is different. Every month, all the stars have to align. And all these things were normal - for that month - and it didn't mean there was anything to worry about.
And I also suggested that if she has another IUI, that she insist an RE perform the insemination (normally, they're done by nurses). I had two failed IUIs at that clinic, with cramping, but when Dr VW did our transfer, I had no cramping. It's basically the same tube going into the same uterus, so I believe it was her magical touch that made all the difference.
Our IF struggles are never far from my mind. I always feel like I have no right to complain about ANY inconvenience in this pregnancy, because I am and should be grateful for it. It truly is a blessing, and there are many women out there struggling right now with what I went through, only their struggles have just begun or have been going on longer than mine. But even though its always in my mind and I still feel infertile, I was reminded yesterday of all the details that I don't think of all that often anymore. The progesterone shots were painful. The suppositories were gross. The daily vag cam / blood work appointments were an emotional roller coaster. Our first cancelled IVF devastating. Every negative pee stick. Every evaporation line. All of it. That's where she's at right now.
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Today, DH and I are meeting some friends at the WSU baseball game. It will be SO nice to be out of the house and in the sunshine. Altogether, it might actually feel like I had a weekend!
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