4dp2dt

Ovaries are still really sore. Not sure if this is normal or what but it didn't feel like this last time. I told our FS about how painful they were when we went in for the transfer and she didn't seem very concerned - just said to take panadol for it. So I went back to work on Thursday even though I still felt pretty tired and sore. Friday was a bit better as I wasn't as tired, but the day was still pretty difficult to get through. I had my reflexology session in the evening which was awesome. My reflexologist did whatever it is she does to try and get my body producing more hcg to help the embryos implant, so fingers crossed that helps. Saturday, Scout went all out to do something special for our anniversary :). She took me to a day spa up in the hills just out of the town where we live. It was beautiful! We had an hour long couples massage in studio which had a toastie wood burner and big glass windows overlooking rainforest. They had to vary my treatment a bit just in case I end up being pregnant but it was still awesome and we floated out of there feeling fantastic at the end :). After that we went for lunch at a resturant between some of the local wineries which was really lovely. We both drank water out of our wine glasses and I actually didn't miss the wine at all which surprised me. After lunch we picked up the girls from Scout's parents and took them to the movies. It was a lovely day together and I felt very spoilt by my lady :). Today we are just having a lazy day at home which I think we all really need after such a busy week. My ovaries are still sore and especially uncomfortable when my bladder starts to fill up. I am hating being back on the crinone but I know my experience of it isn't anywhere near as bad as others so I can't complain. Anyway, 4 days down and 10 more to go :). Hopefully work this week will be enough to keep me from going stir crazy wondering about how our little embies are fairing down below. I hope everyone else out there is going ok with their cycles and pregnancies. You're posts continue to be a good distraction from my wait!

Lovely restaurant with gorgeous views of the valley

And very yummy food :)

Reflexology, pill popping and a new protocol

Halfway through my week off work and I'm slowly starting to feel a little less stressed. Scout and I are missing the girls but we're enjoying having some much needed quality time together. Last weekend we went to Echuca and stayed in a cabin on the Murray River for two nights. It was great. We took the boat with us and went fishing. Still didn't catch anything (much to Scouts frustration), but we did enjoy exploring the river. I almost fell in the water once trying to brake off a snag and we ran out of petrol coming back, about 100m from the boat ramp! The engine just cut out and the current started taking us backwards. We had to break out the oars and row against the current to the nearest shore LOL. Alittle embarrassing and Scout was petrified we were going to get bitten by a snake climbing up the embankment. Fortunately it wasn't much of a walk to find the car and go get more petrol, but we've decided to invest in a reserve tank now as that could have been a nightmare if we'd been further away or worse if we had the girls with us! Anyway, we can laugh about it now :).

Monday I spent the whole day in the garden which I haven't done in ages, cleaning up the vegie patch, rotating our compost bins, chopping back tress and racking up leaves.  I could barely walk by the end of the day but I enjoyed it.  And yesterday we had a big day on the TTC front with two appointments planning our next round of IVF.

By a random coincidence it turns out Scout's sister has an ex whose mother does Reflexology with a special interest in fertility so we've decided to give her a go as she has a very good success rates with her clients. Scout contacted her last week and yesterday we had our first appointment with her. She seems very nice, understands alot about the IVF process and has worked with IVF clinics before so I feel pretty confident that she will be able to help us - even if all she does is help me cope with stress a bit better. She explained how her therapy compliments an IVF cycle and at what stages of the cycle we need to see her. She gave me a relaxation cd, recommended an alkaline diet and while she couldn't "prescribe" she has suggested we consider taking Vitex to help with egg quality and baby aspirin every second day to address any possible implantation or clotting issues. The Vitex sounded like a good idea but I was alittle worried about the baby aspirin. She said because I have an A blood group and an english background, I'd be more prone to having "sticky" blood which can sometimes effect implantation. She said that clotting issues are expensive to test for so IVF clinics often wait till you've had 3 or more miscarriages or failed cycles before they consider testing for it and then prescribing the baby aspirin. I guess I don't really want to take something unless I know I need it and a doctor prescribes it ... But I also don't want to go through 3 failed cycles or miscarriages if all I needed to do was take a little baby aspirin every other day. Anyway, I'm in two minds about this. I also asked her about Royal Jelly and Baca which I've been reading a bit about lately but she seemed to think these things might not be the best idea to take due to their potency and side effects. I'm not sure if any of you have ever tried this stuff or the Vitex or baby aspirin but I'd like to hear your thoughts on them if you have any.

We also had an appointment in the afternoon with our FS, so I asked her about the baby aspirin and she said she didn't feel it was indicated at present and left it at that. Scout also asked her about HDEA and she said she didn't think I needed that either and that it would just make me hairy LOL. Instead she has recommended a down regulation cycle to put to sleep any endometrosis that might still be active at the moment and then start stimming at 400iu Puregon with the hope that we'll get better numbers. I was a little surprised as I've heard some low responders say that their ovaries have had trouble waking back up on this protocol, but my FS didn't think it would be an issue. So it looks like we are headed for the long cycle of bcp followed by stimming and sniffing syneryl before we get to collection. I'm actually ok with this as it gives us more time to save and work of egg quality. AF is due at the end of the month but I have plenty to work on in the meantime ... Primarily getting my stress under control, figuring out how to make this alkaline diet work for me, getting rid of the belly bloat I've got going on and getting a few reflexology sessions under my belt.

5 more days till I have to go back to work, so today I think I'll make some "alkaline" soup of some description and give this relaxation cd a crack :)