*Sniff Sniff*

On Friday I started sniffing Suprefact 5 times a day, as well as taking low dose aspirin. That means that in 3 weeks we will be in Calgary! I'm so excited; it almost feels like we're planning a vacation. Of course at the same time I am terrified, but I am really trying to stay positive instead of letting that fear take over and stress me out. I listened to an IVF relaxation CD last time we cycled, and I think I will begin using that again soon to help.

On Thursday night I was actually really looking forward to starting the Suprefact because it meant we were finally starting this cycle... However, I had forgotten a couple of things. One, it tastes really really bad. Anyone who has ever had to use nasal spray of any kind will know what I mean. It's kind of like squirting some very potent perfume up your nose and no matter what you drink/eat, the taste remains. Ick. Secondly, taking anything 5 times a day, especially something you have to squirt up your nose, is a pain in the ass. I have alarms set on my phone to remind me, but it always seems I need to take it when I'm right in the middle of something or with someone. All in all not a big deal; just things I overlooked in my excitement. I have gone through much worse than this (and will again I am sure) on our quest to become parents. The good news is that in a couple of weeks I will get to reduce it to 3 times a day, which is no big deal at all.

Now I'm looking forward to starting the needles, which I am sure I will change my mind about shortly as well. Hah.

The drugs have arrived!

This is what $1500 worth of IVF drugs and supplies look like:

Mom said they should have delivered it via armoured car, lol! At least they made me pick it up in person and sign for it with photo id. I start Suprefact and aspirin (ASA) on Friday. Suprefact is a nasal spray, which I need to snort 5 times a day. It also tastes disgusting. I have to set alarms on my cell phone because there's no way I would remember to take it that many times on my own.

In our package, we also received requisitions for more blood work (which we will do tonight), another Semen analysis for Nate (oh the jokes I could make about that, but I will refrain), and then a requisition for an u/s to check the number and size of ovarian follicles on February 14 (which I booked today).

We're pretty much all set to go, there won't be much more to report until the ultrasound is done and I start the injections (2 needles a day; Gonal F and Luveris).

Ready to go

Transfer almost all of savings (gulp!) to credit card... check!

Pay insane amount of money to the clinic... check!

Pay for and order drugs (to be shipped Monday)... check!

Book same hotel as last time... check!

Now all that is left to do is continue staying healthy and losing weight, and we are good to go. The weight loss efforts received an extra boost this week when I came down with a horrible stomach bug on Sunday night. Kelly is due with baby girl #2 in a couple of weeks, and she started having contractions last weekend. She asked me if I would like to be there when the baby is born, and of course I said yes! Sunday night it looked like it was going to happen, so Kelly, Chris, her sister Kristy, and I went to the hospital. She wasn't dilated enough to be admitted, so she was told to walk around for a while and see if there was any change. I started to feel kind of funny during the 2 hours of walking with her to induce labour, but I dismissed it as my stomach not agreeing with what I had for supper. After being checked again, Kelly was sent home as the contractions were all over the place and she wasn't dilated enough. I'm selfishly thankful baby chose not to come just then, because within half an hour of getting home I was throwing up violently and having to deal with the other end of things as well. I swear I have never puked so hard in my life. For like 8 straight hours. It sucked! I felt horrible Monday and ate nothing but soup and gingerale but at least the throwing up had stopped. Yesterday was better, though not great. Today I feel 100%, and the good news is I lot a few extra pounds too. Considering most of that was probably water weight, I don't have high hopes of keeping it off. Oh well, just glad to be feeling better! Kelly's baby girl has still not arrived, but she could make her appearance at any moment. I think she must have known it wasn't a good time, because her dad Chris had the same thing I did that night. Now that everyone's healthy I'm betting she'll decide to make her grand entrance. If not, there are other plans in the works!

Only 9 days until I start sniffing Suprefact!

Woo Hoo!!! Let the IVF fun begin!

Well I certainly wasn't expecting a call on a Sunday! But sure enough, the phone rang and it was the Calgary RFP calling to offer us treatment. Here is our timeline:

January 28 - Start Suprefact nasal spray 5 x a day and ASA (low dose aspirin)

February 14 - Baseline ultrasound

February 15 - Start injections and antibiotics

February 18 - Day 4 blood work (8 am at Royal Alex Hospital)

February 20 - Arrive in Calgary

February 21 - First clinic check-up (b/w & u/s)

February 21-27 - More check-ups

February 28 - Tentative egg retrieval date

March 2 or 4 - Tentative embryo or blastocyst transfer date

I can't believe it's finally happening! I'm so excited! We have until January 27 to pay for the treatment, and then we'll also be paying for the drugs next week. Nate is going to book the hotel through his work as he gets a discount, and then we are pretty much all set.

High Five to Aunt Flo

Hurray! I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my period. Cramps, schmamps. I called it in today and now we have to anxiously wait until Monday to hopefully get THE call. I made sure to mention we are ready to accept treatment any time now. Hopefully they got the hint, lol!

Memories

Today I dug out my hand-written journal from our first IVF. I kept really detailed entries, and I am so glad I did. It was really helpful to read over our last protocol and all the excitement and planning leading up to Calgary and what happened during that cycle.

One thing I am on the fence about is whether to do acupuncture again or not. I didn't find it helped much the last IVF or FET, other than I found it relaxing, so I'm not sure it's worth the time and money to do again. Hmmm. I'm leaning towards not doing it. Maybe I will look into booking a couple of Reiki treatments while I am in Calgary instead.

As for getting healthier, I am proud to report that I am almost 13 lbs lighter than I was after our first cycle, and I should be at least 20 lbs lighter around retrieval/transfer time. I lost 2.6 pounds last week (as of today, 3.4!) and am feeling really good. My period should arrive any day now, and I am hoping it is soon so I can phone it in. We should be offered treatment next week if it arrives! Fingers crossed! I am so ready to get this show on the road.

Finances almost in order!

The money we have saved for this IVF cycle has now begun to be transferred, and all I have to do is go and sign some papers on Wednesday. That way we are ready whenever the clinic calls so that we can put the money on our credit card and not have to rush around trying to get everything together. Just one more thing off the list, and it feels good.

The working out and eating healthy is going well so far, and I only had 1.5 Coke Zeros yesterday! Woo!

Getting healthy

Starting out our IVF as healthy as I can is a big goal of mine. I joined a Biggest loser challenge on a message board I'm part of, and I think it's the perfect motivator to get started.

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, and I hate adding to the cliche, but the timing for me does coincide with the beginning of the year, so I'm going to go with it.

Of course, losing weight and getting in shape are not the only things I need to change. I also need to take all the medications I need to be on regularly, and cut out pop.

Being on both prenatal vitamins and taking Metformin has made me really nauseous in the past, and so I've been avoiding taking them. Last week I started in earnest and the first few days were brutal (Thanks Metformin!) but I seem to be over the worst. Now that I'm on both Metformin (working my way up to 3 a day) and PregVit I feel like I have taken some control on being as healthy as I can be for me and our future baby(ies).

The next big change is to cut out pop completely. I am soooo addicted to Coke Zero, and I don't need the sodium or the aspartame in my system. My plan for this week is to cut down to 3 max per day. Next week will be 2, then 1, then none (except for dinners out, though when pg then water only).

The plan for losing weight is to watch what I eat and exercise my butt off while tracking calories in vs. calories out. I have an elliptical that is gathering dust, tons of fun new fitness games for the Kinect, dogs that love walks, a good flight of stairs that can be climbed, some free weights, and I am going to try to get mom to go to aquasize with me. So lots of options to get my butt moving!

Operation Baby 2011 is underway, and I can't wait for this cycle to get started!