Wow, it's been a rough couple of days.

I ended up passing everything naturally, which is a plus. It sucked, I was in some pain, but it's over, for the most part.

The bad part-I had errands to run yesterday-went to the bank, had to go to the supermarket, and I had to go to Office Max to get some school supplies. And, ultimately, that's where it happened-at Office Max. I had been crampy for the whole day, and suddenly I had the urge to to go the bathroom, so off I went. Lucky for me, because when I went in to the toilet, there was this gush, and then.......well, you can figure the rest out for yourself. Since then, there's been light bleeding, but I felt much better after that.

I had my follow up this morning at Dr. Vest's office. Sean went with me, and actually took the rest of the day off too, which was a treat. They did an ultrasound and found my endometrial lining at 3mm, which was good. Mr. Techhie said that I'd probably have another day of bleeding or so, but that everything "was clean", which was important-I definitely didn't want a D&C on top of this whole mess. Then, I met with Dr. Vest, and we discussed everything about the cycle, and what our plans are next. He told us that getting pregnant was a "good thing", because it showed that I could get pregnant. He said that many pregnancies end up as early losses; many times, even before a woman really knows that she was pregnant to begin with. Unfortunately, in this age of scientific marvels, it's a case of too much information.

We discussed what's next in the reproductive agenda, and I was surprised to hear him say that we should, after resting for a month or so, start a new cycle of IVF. I had thought, due to the fact that my tubes are for shit, he would want to do a lap and remove the nasty fuckers, but he was looking through my charts and said "well, we did the hysteroscopy and I didn't remove the tubes, since one had slight spillage" and went on to say that if one had the potential to work he didn't want to get rid of it. I voiced my concern over the hyperstimulation problem with my last cycle, and the amount of medication I was on. He told me that I wasn't on the highest dose of stims (225IU daily), but, since my LH is high at day 3, it's obvious that I'm sensitive to the medication, and, at first, responded slower than they thought, he would change it to reduce the risk of what happened last time.

So, it looks like another round of IVF is in the cards for us, barring a miracle conception (yah, right) between now and then.

I have mixed feelings about this-yes, I want this to work, desperately, but my first go-around with IVF was so stressful, and having to work through this will be difficult (although, it will serve as a necessary distraction). Plus, I'm so afraid that I'll get OHSS again and end up in the hospital this time-I looked, and felt like hell, and it was horrific. Plus, what if it doesn't work again? I know, deep down, that no two IVF cycles are alike. But I'm just apprehensive about it. And, let's not go into the whole injectables thing right now. Dr. Vest told me that if I decide to do IVF again he will insist on the PIO shots for progesterone supplementation, as the other stuff I've been on is obviously not enough for me. One of the positives about this is, at least, I know what to expect now-the first time was fraught with anxiety over how I'll feel, if the injections would be painful, if the retrieval would be painful, if I would be awake for it or not, and, taking all the medications and how I'd react to them.

I do want to lose a bit of weight in this "rest period", though. That's the one thing that sucks ass about ART (Advanced Reproductive Technology) treatments and injectibles-they make you gain weight, and in weird ways. For me, it's in my belly and ass. Now, I haven't gone up in clothing size or anything like that, but it's like my weight has shifted to different places in my body. So, it's time to watch myself. Hopefully doing the show will help. Ten pounds off my body would be nice-hell, fifteen would be super-then, if I gain weight on the injectibles it won't be so bad.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot-what's a day in my life without a little drama, right?

Dr. Vest told me, because of my blood type (A-), I need to have the Rh immunoglobin injection called RhoGAM to prevent any future problems should I get pregnant again (the risk of Rh incompatibility rises with additional pregnancies). I actually have an appointment with my regular OB/GYN on Tuesday for my annual exam, but Dr. Vest said that you need the shot administered within 72 hours of a miscarriage or birth to prevent developing the antibodies in the bloodstream. Since they don't usually keep the medication in the office, he had Nursey P call my local pharmacy (yep, the Walgreens-from-Hell) to order the medication (it comes in a pre-filled syringe). I was sitting there when she called them, and specifically asked if it needed a pre-authorization, and was told no. She told me to pick it up, and to come into the office tomorrow and she'd give me the injection.

I went to rehearsal tonight, and, on the way home, stopped at the Walgreens-from-Hell to get my medication. Only to be told, instead of paying my usual $10 copay, I needed to cough up $124.00 for it. I asked the pharmacist what the deal was, and she, of course, had no answer for me. As I wasn't about to pay out the money (I'd never see it again, and plus, I have health and prescription insurance, for fuck's sake!) I left pissed off. I looked up the information on my prescription carrier's website, and it says that the medication is not covered under my prescription plan-can you believe it? Upon further research, it turns out that it is supposed to be covered under the major medical portion of my insurance, not prescription. So, I now have to call both Blue Cross and the prescription plans tomorrow to straighten it all out, before 10am, so I can get the medication, drive to the office and have her give me shot before 11:30am. Fun, right?

It just doesn't end, does it? Welcome to the world if infertility, folks. It's just one wild ride.