IVF # FET #2 CD 12 What I am doing differently.....

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my difficult first PIO injection. I could barely walk all day long yesterday...I was seriously limping around...it hurt like hell! All day long I just kept thinking...if this is the way the PIO shots are going to be, I'm going to have to wuss out and go back to the suppositories! But, this morning, I drove up to the clinic to have one of the nurses give me the shot. She took one look at my leg and said "ugh...don't EVER give yourself an injection in the leg again. Always come here and I'll do it for you!" I was like "no problem!" My leg is feeling slightly better today...it is still ugly with blood pooled around the injection site and I am still limping, but not as noticeable. I've been icing it a lot which is helping some. Let me tell you.....I had an IM injection on Wednesday (hcg,) and another one this morning (PIO) and they feeling NOTHING like my leg does! My hip/butt is sore...but my leg is seriously injured and a MUCH deeper/sharper pain...not just a soreness! Don't EVER give yourself an IM injection in your leg...EVER!  DH is home now and all is well...he'll be doing the shots from now on and let's just hope we don't have anymore incidents like that one!

As promised, I wanted to give a run-down of everything we are doing different this cycle. As we were getting ready to enter into the cycle for our next FET, I couldn’t help but think of every little thing I could possibly do different this time to give our cycle a better chance for success. I’m just one of those people who refuses to just “do the same thing we always have” when it clearly did not work. So, I did a lot of research, talked to a lot of friends and made some decisions on things I can do differently this cycle...some are my choice, some are my RE's choice.  Here is the list:

-I have cut gluten and sweets/desserts out of my diet. Yes, this is not easy, but I’ve done it before I know I can keep it up. Planning meals ahead of time and having gluten and sugar free snacks around are KEY!

-I am cut out my cup of decaf coffee with vanilla creamer in the morning and substituting it with tea throughout the day. My acupuncturist recommends lemon balm and red rooibos teas. I asked if these would just put me to sleep and she said....no, the teas will just help take "the edge" off (meaning the anxiety and stress,) which will in turn give me more energy since I won't be using up all of my energy on the anxiety and stress.

-I am continuing to drink lots of water with lemon (this helps alkalize the body, mine tends to run a bit acidic.)

-As you all know...I am doing the progesterone in oil shots rather than the progesterone suppositories. It is still a debate as to which is better but Dr. B said that he’s seen more success with the PIO shots.

-My estrogen patches are different this time. Last time they were these huge annoying thick pads that wouldn't stay down, this time they are small clear patches that actually STICK! What a concept! Make sure you get "climara" patches, the other ones are shit!

-I am only taking 2 days off work for transfer. I took 4 off last time and I feel like it made me obsess too much.

-I am staying completely away from google and forums. I am limiting my blogging time too, so you might not hear from me too much in the 2WW.

-I plan to stay busier during the 2WW and try to keep focused on other things.

-I am doing 2 sessions of acupuncture right before transfer and then another session a few days into the 2WW.

-We are transferring THREE embryos. You may think I am crazy, but we have good reason. We heard that embryos actually help each other attach, so the more you have in there the more likely you are to have them attach. If we don’t conceive this time, we can’t just do another FET with whatever embryos we have left, we have to move to another fresh cycle (due to the program we are enrolled in.) And, we all know how the fresh cycle went……so in order to try and avoid another fresh cycle, we are choosing to “throw the kitchen sink” at this cycle.

-I am taking prednisone.

-I am giving myself a lovenox injection each day for elevated anti-cardiolipin antibodies. Please let this be my answer!!

-I am taking a super b complex vitamin each day to help with the MTHFR mutation.

-I hope to stay much calmer this cycle and try not to dwell on every single little twinge or cramp or emotion. I am going to just stick to the plan and hope that everything I’ve done is enough to give me a sticky baby!

If any of you have any other suggestions, please DO share! I had planned on doing the bromelaine (pineapple core,) but found out that it is a blood thinner, and since I am already doing a blood thinner (lovenox,) I didn't think that would be too safe. Also, I drink fertility tea which has red raspberry in it, and my acupuncturist said to make sure to stop red raspberry at least a week before transfer because it has been shown to cause uterine contractions...not good when you're trying to get sticky babies in there! I know that I don't have a whole heck of a lot of control over the outcome...if the embryos are good and my uterus is receptive we'll get pregnant, but it makes me feel better to at least be doing something!