Ultrasound #1

There are two follicles growing! Both follicles are on my left side, but they are not big enough yet. They both measure around 1.1. I asked the woman who did the ultrasound how big they like them to be when ready. She said in a non-PCOS patient they will wait until at least 2.0, but in a PCOS patient they can be mature at 1.5. My next appointment is on Saturday at the crack of dawn, 7:50 in the morning! Too early for a Saturday! It will be at the Minneapolis office since the Lilydale one is closed on Saturdays. Hope I can find it!
The spots on my abdomen seem to be getting better after a couple of days. However, another one shows up about 4 hours after an injection. Pray they keep going away.
Thanks for every one's messages and prayers!

Love, Kristen & Eli

and it begins....

Everything was going great with the injections until recently when I started seeing the same reactions happen; warm to the touch, pain, swelling and redness at the injection site. Here are some pictures of my abdomen and worse spot yet so far. This is a result of one injection. I'm not too worried about any of the spots on my abdomen so I will just wait and mention it to them on Thursday when I go in for my first ultrasound. Hopefully I won't get too many more. They take awhile to go away and I don't want my whole abdomen full of them, it already hurts to wear jeans! Besides the reaction nothing more is new. I will update on Thursday after my ultrasound.

Keep praying!!!

Love, Kristen & Eli

New Cycle

I started my injections today! I had my baseline ultrasound this morning and everything looked good to go ahead and start. My next appointment is not until next week on October 29th. Seems so far in between now and then. Dr. Kopher's office always made me go in every 2-3 days. I hope by then I am not too overstimulated since my ovaries are so sensitive. Please pray this will be my time! I believe this will be our last try with injections. Thank you so so much!

Love, Kristen & Eli

FINALLY got my period yesterday! I think this is actually the first time ever I have been so excited. It always seems like forever when I induce a period. It isn't fun either because I haven't had one in about 3 months so its no good but oh so worth it. Tomorrow, day 3, I have my baseline ultrasound. I most likely will be starting injections tomorrow, depending on the ultrasound results. This month I am going to really try and relax about the whole thing and not sit an worry all the time about whether it will work or not. I have a few distractions that I am planning on using to keep me busy ~Aren't they so cute?? We got some family pictures taken last weekend and this is the best picture we could get of them two, sort of both looking :) Those are my girls~

Here are some more pictures that we had taken. I think they turned out great!

Love, Kristen & Eli

Okay to start!!

I had my blood drawn this morning and my progesterone level was exactly the same as last week. They are thinking that's just my baseline. I also had a negative pregnancy test, no surprise there! So they gave me the okay to start Provera to induce a period. On day three of my cycle I will have my baseline ultrasound. The injectable medication I will be taking is called Menopur. From what I have been reading it is the same as the Repronex I was on. Same medication just different names. I am a little nervous about starting that again as last time I ended up with cellulitis. However, Dr. Malo thinks its the best medication for my situation. Dr. Malo's office uses a mail order pharmacy so I will be having my medication brought to me by UPS tomorrow! One less time I need to make a trip to the office! I excited to be starting another cycle but can only pray this time it will work. I will update when I can, but for now take medication to bring on a woman's worst time of the month :(

Love, Kristen & Eli

Delay

There has been a slight delay on getting this cycle started. The last two times I have had my blood drawn my progesterone has been elevated. Could mean two things; I have ovulated on my own or my body is thinking about a period. My pregnancy test was negative so we ruled that out. They wanted to go ahead and start the Provera to induce a period until I told them I have been having pain on my left side, GREAT! I should have never told them! I HIGHLY doubt it was ovulation because I have had this same pain before. I contribute the pain to the surgery I had when I was 15, but who knows what causes it. So now I am to go in to clinic tomorrow and have another blood draw. If I continue to have the pain she wanted me to also have an ultrasound. I have had some pain, but do I dare say anything? I really think its nothing. I will see how I feel tomorrow.

This weekend Eli and I had an amazing time in Duluth, MN. It was an Anniversary trip from my dad. We were to go in May but that's when I ended up in the hospital so we postponed it. We stayed in a hotel in Canal Park right on the Superior and we had a suite with a jacuzzi, two rooms and huge windows that faced the water. It was gorgeous. We did wish it would have been a little warmer as we didn't expect to wake up on Saturday and see snow on the ground! Its always nice to be home though! My dad and his girlfriend Trisha had Jordan and both of the dogs while we were away. I bet they are glad we are home too! Little Miss Mya needs a little more time with potty training :) Hope everyone had a good weekend even though this weekend only reminded us of the dreaded winter that is coming!

Love, Kristen & Eli

Good News!

Things have been going well! The Metformin side effects have finally settled down some and although somewhat discouraging, I have lost 6 lbs. I hoped for more by this time but I will keep working on it. I have lots of other good news as well!

We got another puppy! She is 7 weeks old and is the most adorable thing ever. Her name is Mya and her and Macey just love each other. I was worried about having 2 dogs, but actually found out 2 is easier then 1. They play with each other and keep each other company. Here is a picture of our newest addition:

The other good news is Eli and I talked about things and have decided to go ahead and try another round of injections and IUIs before the end of the year! I think our biggest influence was the fact that we won't be paying anymore out of pocket this year, insurance covers everything 100% since we reached our max out of pocket. We made a deal to try once or twice more before the end of the year and if by that time we still don't have our miracle we will talk about IVF. Eli did say that if we were to do IVF we would have to wait until Spring or Summer when his business picks up or I get another job or increase hours. So we will wait until Spring or Summer :) I had my blood drawn at clinic the other day because they want to induce a period since I haven't had one since July. The pregnancy test was of course negative, however my progesterone level was up so we can't induce one yet. I go back next week for another lab draw!

Hope all is well with everyone! Missing summer already but ready for fall!

Love,

Kristen & Eli