So: transfer is tomorrow. I really wish they could have held on until Saturday, for a five day transfer rather than a three day transfer, but it is what it is.
I don't know how many embryos will be transferred. I suspect not all four will be of good quality; I guess I'll find out in the morning.
** **
With transfer tomorrow, they want two days of bed rest. There's really no proof that it helps, but I figure it can't hurt.
An unexpected Thursday/Friday off from work, with no notice and with all kinds of people in town from the company that bought us, is not an easy thing to explain.
I had to manufacture a "family emergency." I really hate doing that, but there wasn't any alternative. It was a pretty believable falsehood, too-- I'm disappointed about the transfer being tomorrow rather than Saturday, so I'm already a little upset. And, to be honest, in the three months since I lost my little Vertigo Dog, tears are never very far from the surface.
And it is kind of a family emergency. It's my family. Or could be.
I'm taking vacation, so I'm not cheating or anything. I just feel bad that I'm not there during what's been one of the busiest weeks I've had in a long time. I should be able to work from home for part of the time, too, so that's good.
** **
I have acupuncture before and after the transfer. My wonderful acupuncturist is dragging herself out of bed at a hideous hour to meet me at 7 a.m.. Seriously, I love her like pie.
** **
I'm watching an American Experience about Joan Ba.ez. Dang, she looks gorgeous. I hope I age half as well as she has.
Showing posts with label acupuncture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acupuncture. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
These needles, I don't mind
Not everyone needs acupuncture. Not everyone wants acupuncture. (We had to stop talking about it this weekend in front of my dad, who went completely white when I started describing some of the points my acupuncturist uses. If I didn't love him so much, I could totally screw with him.)
But if it's something you've ever considered, for whatever reason, I'm going to be the non-paid-spokesperson here and say: give it a try.
Of all the things I've learned on this journey to potential IVF-momhood, the thing that probably suprises me the most (other than the fact that I've now shot myself up in a bathroom stall-- because that's never going to stop being completely freaking bizarre) is how much I like acupuncture.
It is relaxing. It is refreshing. It is, almost every time, an oasis in my day (or week), and I come out of it feeling more focused and more serene. Regardless of whether it helps with my nearly impossible IVF (TBD!), it absolutely does help with my tension levels, and it has helped with a couple of other minor things related to medication side effects.
I just might be addicted. In a good way, not a shooting-up-in-a-bathroom-stall kind of way.
Heh.
But if it's something you've ever considered, for whatever reason, I'm going to be the non-paid-spokesperson here and say: give it a try.
Of all the things I've learned on this journey to potential IVF-momhood, the thing that probably suprises me the most (other than the fact that I've now shot myself up in a bathroom stall-- because that's never going to stop being completely freaking bizarre) is how much I like acupuncture.
It is relaxing. It is refreshing. It is, almost every time, an oasis in my day (or week), and I come out of it feeling more focused and more serene. Regardless of whether it helps with my nearly impossible IVF (TBD!), it absolutely does help with my tension levels, and it has helped with a couple of other minor things related to medication side effects.
I just might be addicted. In a good way, not a shooting-up-in-a-bathroom-stall kind of way.
Heh.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Bookends. Sort of.
My day started with a visit to my doctor's office, where I met with my nurse practitioner. We went over, in exhausting and terrifying detail, the wide variety of drugs I'm going to be putting in my body beginning in early October. My day ended with an acupuncture appointment.
From the most unnatural hour, to an extremely natural hour. What a day.
** **
When I pick up the box o'drugs (next week), I will take a picture of it, because it's gonna be huge. The extraordinarily cheerful dude at the drug place described it as "more than you'd take on a picnic." That's... a lot of drugs.
I'm not looking at my notes, but off the top of my head there are three injectibles I take pre-retrieval, one injectible that will act as both my trigger shot and as potential boosters post-embryo transfer, and then another injectible that goes in post-transfer. There's also an antibiotic in there somewhere, and possibly another pill I'm forgetting. And one-- ONE-- Vali.um.
Seriously, people, what is that? One? Give me a whole damn bottle.
The pre-retrieval injectibles are all subcutaneous, using leetle tiny needles, and should be easy. However, the trigger shot med and the post-retrieval injectibles are all intramuscular and involve needles as long as my palm. And, not only are they ginormous needles, but I'm going to have to twist around and shoot myself in the ass.
("Usually we're teaching this to people's husbands," the nurse said. Yeah, I know. I wish.)
My nurse went carefully over the different drugs, how to mix them, what needles to use, etc.; we even practiced injecting on a fake bump of skin. It was helpful, and I took piles of notes. She's crabby but competent, and while some days it'd be nice to have a warm shoulder to lean on, most of the time I prefer that things not be sugar-coated.
I'm going to have to give myself shots in the ass.
Oy.
** **
Acupuncture was, as usual, an oasis.
I love my acupuncturist more and more, and now that I know for sure she's pregnant (hey, I never assume-- some people gain weight in the belly) I need to find a baby blanket pattern and get to work crocheting. Something in a gender-neutral color, and I think in a nice cotton. Organic, if I can find a sale.
Yay! More yarn! What? I don't have a problem. Shut up.
Now that I'm getting a better idea of the time frame for this IVF shindig (it won't be 100% certain until my next cycle actually starts), I can see her moving the points around, thinking things through. She also started me on some Chinese herbs, with the idea that I'm done with them before I start with the needles.
I don't know if acupuncture helps, but it certainly can't hurt. And I absolutely walk out of there feeling better. It might just be the enforced down time, but I'll take it.
** **
If you've never read Post Secret, it's addictive. But this secret just wrecked me.
Thank God I was there for her, right until the end.
From the most unnatural hour, to an extremely natural hour. What a day.
** **
When I pick up the box o'drugs (next week), I will take a picture of it, because it's gonna be huge. The extraordinarily cheerful dude at the drug place described it as "more than you'd take on a picnic." That's... a lot of drugs.
I'm not looking at my notes, but off the top of my head there are three injectibles I take pre-retrieval, one injectible that will act as both my trigger shot and as potential boosters post-embryo transfer, and then another injectible that goes in post-transfer. There's also an antibiotic in there somewhere, and possibly another pill I'm forgetting. And one-- ONE-- Vali.um.
Seriously, people, what is that? One? Give me a whole damn bottle.
The pre-retrieval injectibles are all subcutaneous, using leetle tiny needles, and should be easy. However, the trigger shot med and the post-retrieval injectibles are all intramuscular and involve needles as long as my palm. And, not only are they ginormous needles, but I'm going to have to twist around and shoot myself in the ass.
("Usually we're teaching this to people's husbands," the nurse said. Yeah, I know. I wish.)
My nurse went carefully over the different drugs, how to mix them, what needles to use, etc.; we even practiced injecting on a fake bump of skin. It was helpful, and I took piles of notes. She's crabby but competent, and while some days it'd be nice to have a warm shoulder to lean on, most of the time I prefer that things not be sugar-coated.
I'm going to have to give myself shots in the ass.
Oy.
** **
Acupuncture was, as usual, an oasis.
I love my acupuncturist more and more, and now that I know for sure she's pregnant (hey, I never assume-- some people gain weight in the belly) I need to find a baby blanket pattern and get to work crocheting. Something in a gender-neutral color, and I think in a nice cotton. Organic, if I can find a sale.
Yay! More yarn! What? I don't have a problem. Shut up.
Now that I'm getting a better idea of the time frame for this IVF shindig (it won't be 100% certain until my next cycle actually starts), I can see her moving the points around, thinking things through. She also started me on some Chinese herbs, with the idea that I'm done with them before I start with the needles.
I don't know if acupuncture helps, but it certainly can't hurt. And I absolutely walk out of there feeling better. It might just be the enforced down time, but I'll take it.
** **
If you've never read Post Secret, it's addictive. But this secret just wrecked me.
Thank God I was there for her, right until the end.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
I swear I'm not going to start talking about past lives or anything. Really.
Had a truly amazing acupuncture treatment this morning. I got the usual stickies, but she also used heat on various points-- she's trying to draw out some of the water associated with my BC weight gain. (Some of the weight gain is also the Ben and J.erry's light chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream I polished off this week, but that's not all of it.)
Anyway, after she left me to rest, I became very deeply relaxed-- not asleep. Truly relaxed. After a while, it was the weirdest thing; I almost literally felt weight leaving me, drawing down through the ends of my arms and legs. And when I say "weight," I don't mean pounds. I mean heaviness related to stress, and sorrow, and anger, and negativity. I could almost feel as if darkness was leaving my body.
It was awesome, and I'm not describing it well. I am totally not the kind of person into crystals and astral pla.nes and all that, and I know this sounds like that kind of thing, but was very real.
When I left I felt lighter and freer. I may have been imagining it... but I don't think I was.
The rest of the day was spent helping a friend with serious yardwork (she's a new widow, far too young, and is working towards selling her house), and tonight another friend is coming over for some Bollywood fun. A good, albeit unusual, day.
Peace.
Anyway, after she left me to rest, I became very deeply relaxed-- not asleep. Truly relaxed. After a while, it was the weirdest thing; I almost literally felt weight leaving me, drawing down through the ends of my arms and legs. And when I say "weight," I don't mean pounds. I mean heaviness related to stress, and sorrow, and anger, and negativity. I could almost feel as if darkness was leaving my body.
It was awesome, and I'm not describing it well. I am totally not the kind of person into crystals and astral pla.nes and all that, and I know this sounds like that kind of thing, but was very real.
When I left I felt lighter and freer. I may have been imagining it... but I don't think I was.
The rest of the day was spent helping a friend with serious yardwork (she's a new widow, far too young, and is working towards selling her house), and tonight another friend is coming over for some Bollywood fun. A good, albeit unusual, day.
Peace.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Looking around
One of the reasons I started this blog was to connect with other people in similar situations to me-- women trying to conceive (TTC), single moms, all that. I haven't really done much about that goal yet.
I'm finally trying to get around a bit more and find blogs written by people that not only have things in common with me, but that seem like people I'd actually like to know. You only know so much about a person from their blog, really, but it's nice to find a blog written by someone you think you might get along with in real life.
(This isn't always the case, of course. One blog I read regularly-- not linked, and I won't give the specific location-- is someone I just plain don't like. I'm fascinated by her take on life in general not because I share opinions with her, but because her worldview is so incredibly different from mine that it's like encountering an entirely different species. I guess we learn from all different types, hm?)
One recent find: Sarah Solitaire. Sarah has been TTC for over four years, and has gone through more than I can imagine. She does it all with a great sense of humor, and reading through her archives has been really interesting. It's sobering, though; she started this whole process far younger than I, and has stuck with it much longer than I plan to (well, honestly, I will not be *able* to stick with it as long as she has; I'm aging out of the process fast). She's not a saint, and her writing is engaging and honest.
I know what I'm doing is a total shot in the dark; I hope when my attempts fail-- as they're likely to, let's face it-- I can keep my sense of humor and face the next thing as well as Sarah has.
** **
Apparently it's highly unlikely that I have the gene for cystic fibrosis. So that's good.
(I got the results of my pre-IVF blood panel. Forgot to ask what my FSH was, though. Given that at my age it can rocket up in a few weeks, I'll call tomorrow.)
** **
I've now had several acupuncture sessions and I must admit it's a little addictive. Is it the masochist in me? I dunno. I do know that really like my acupuncturist, and I like her space. Who knows if it's actually doing anything, but at least I'm trying. I also mentioned the annoying BC-pill related weight gain (seriously, we're up to five pounds in six days, with no change in diet or exercise! Argh!) and so she hit a few extra points that will, hopefully, help.
I was especially wiggly during last night's session. She likes you to rest for 45 minutes to an hour once the needles are in, and I barely made it to 45. "You didn't look like you were getting much rest," she observed.
"I'm really wiggly today," I replied. "I'm not good at staying still."
She smiled. "You'll get better." She said this with calm, absolute certainty.
I react really well to people who believe in me.
I'm finally trying to get around a bit more and find blogs written by people that not only have things in common with me, but that seem like people I'd actually like to know. You only know so much about a person from their blog, really, but it's nice to find a blog written by someone you think you might get along with in real life.
(This isn't always the case, of course. One blog I read regularly-- not linked, and I won't give the specific location-- is someone I just plain don't like. I'm fascinated by her take on life in general not because I share opinions with her, but because her worldview is so incredibly different from mine that it's like encountering an entirely different species. I guess we learn from all different types, hm?)
One recent find: Sarah Solitaire. Sarah has been TTC for over four years, and has gone through more than I can imagine. She does it all with a great sense of humor, and reading through her archives has been really interesting. It's sobering, though; she started this whole process far younger than I, and has stuck with it much longer than I plan to (well, honestly, I will not be *able* to stick with it as long as she has; I'm aging out of the process fast). She's not a saint, and her writing is engaging and honest.
I know what I'm doing is a total shot in the dark; I hope when my attempts fail-- as they're likely to, let's face it-- I can keep my sense of humor and face the next thing as well as Sarah has.
** **
Apparently it's highly unlikely that I have the gene for cystic fibrosis. So that's good.
(I got the results of my pre-IVF blood panel. Forgot to ask what my FSH was, though. Given that at my age it can rocket up in a few weeks, I'll call tomorrow.)
** **
I've now had several acupuncture sessions and I must admit it's a little addictive. Is it the masochist in me? I dunno. I do know that really like my acupuncturist, and I like her space. Who knows if it's actually doing anything, but at least I'm trying. I also mentioned the annoying BC-pill related weight gain (seriously, we're up to five pounds in six days, with no change in diet or exercise! Argh!) and so she hit a few extra points that will, hopefully, help.
I was especially wiggly during last night's session. She likes you to rest for 45 minutes to an hour once the needles are in, and I barely made it to 45. "You didn't look like you were getting much rest," she observed.
"I'm really wiggly today," I replied. "I'm not good at staying still."
She smiled. "You'll get better." She said this with calm, absolute certainty.
I react really well to people who believe in me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)