how to make a baby

It used to seem so simple, right?? Haha. Little did you know. I've heard (through the infertility grapevine) that there are actually a ton of children's books now that cover all the "alternate" ways that babies are made. You know...explaining how mommy and daddy adopted you as an embryo, or how you grew in someone else's tummy. I can't wait to see which of those books I get to pick out for my kid. I hope it's super awkward. Ha!

Anyway. In case you hadn't figured it out, here's my Monthly Infertility Recap. Feel free to not read if you don't want to know some nitty-gritty details. (The reason I want to write everything down here is not only so that I can keep straight what I did and when, but because I find it extremely helpful to look at other girls' blogs (about infertility) and see what protocols they follow)

In summary: today was my IUI. It went much better than last time!

This month I did the 50mg Clomid on days 5-9. As I already mentioned, I didn't notice many side effects, which is apparently fine. I had a follicle study ultrasound on Monday. It was AWESOME! It was my first ultrasound and I can truly say it did not disappoint. Even though there wasn't a cute baby to be looking at...it was exciting enough to see all my little follicles growing and getting ready to release eggs upon ovulation! Anyway, in case you're not all in the know about follicles and how they turn into babies (haha)...follicles grow at a rate of about 2mm per day. They need to be 20mm in order to release an egg. Once you ovulate, the follicle releases the egg. Normally your body grows several follicles every month, but only one will grow big enough to release an egg upon ovulation. The others are re-absorbed. Clomid stimulates you so that you make more follicles and hopefully get more eggs. So on Monday, I had one follicle that was 24mm (so, already ready), one that was 18, one 17, and then several in the 13ish range. So they basically consider that two, potentially three eggs that will be released, just depending on how much those other follicles grew before I ovulated. Oh, and the follicles were on both sides, which is extra good. My endometrium was the perfect thickness and everything else looked normal (I had 1 cyst, which is pretty normal).My doctors said this study looked great, my body did exactly what it was supposed to, and they felt very encouraged that it would help us out a lot this round if I have extra eggs.

Tuesday I went for a HCG trigger shot (in the booty, ow!). Even though I ovulate on my own, they wanted to trigger me so that they'd know exactly when I'd ovulate so they can time the IUI better. Also, since my follicles looked so good, they wanted to go ahead and have me ovulate so we can catch them in their prime. You don't want them getting too big, apparently that's not as good as catching them in the 20mm range.

So today we did the IUI at 9am. You may recall that last month we were only able to get one sperm. And that they weren't even able to get past my cervix. So basically, it sucked!

Today they were able to see FIVE viable sperm (WAHOOOOO!!!!) AND the doctor was able to work with my punk-ass cervix and get it to submit to her tools! Meaning, they were able to successfully complete the IUI WITH a much better sperm-wash!!! Um, can I get a halleluia?! I was so excited. Also I was in so much pain, but that is completely beside the point. Every time I'm there and they're getting all up in my business and causing me pain, I try to remind myself that this is nothing compared to childbirth...and that is the goal...so man up, Erika!!

So anyway. It looks like the whole cycle went as good as it could have. I'm just laying here praying that at least one of those 5 spermies is a good enough swimmer to find one of my (maybe THREE??) eggs...and THEN...there could be a baby! Or...three! Um, but probably just one. :)