socko's spot

1 week update.

socko — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:58:13 +0000

Gonal-f® RFF Pen

Okies, Update time.

We are 1 week in to our first IUI cycle. This is how our week has ran so far:

Fri 05/06/09 DAY 1/CD5 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection
Sat 06/06/09 DAY 2/CD6 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection
Sun 07/06/09 DAY 3/CD7 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection
Mon 08/06/09 DAY 4/CD8 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection
Tues 09/06/09 DAY 5/CD9 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection + Blood Test = Low Levels
Wed 10/06/09 DAY 6/CD10 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection
Thurs 11/06/09 DAY 7/CD11 - 75iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection + Blood Test = Low Levels
Fri 12/06/09 DAY 8/CD12 - Increased Dosage 112.5iu Gonal Follitropin Alfa self injection

So basically my levels are not increasing at the rate expected according to the chart I supplied on the last blog post. Therefore we are taking each & every day as it comes. My next Blood test is now due on Monday. This worked out well into my everyday life as I was given the day off work today & I was concerned i’d have to travel back to Sydney for a simple 2 minute Blood Test over the weekend. But as it has worked out so well I can just relax at home for the next few days.
This does however not do good things to my emotional being LOL. I am coping ok with what’s happening however I feel so disapointed. Then again this is how my life seems to pan out when we plan things. It just never happens or it is a difficult process to getting it to happen.
All we can do is simply wait for the right time. Then let the Insemmination games begin LOL

Here is a link for information regarding the Self Injecting Gonal Follitropin Alfa Pen. Click on the “Instructions for Use” Tab. It realy is quite ingeniuous!

socko — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:25:45 +0000

: The IUI Cycle

We are on the next leg of our journey. Clomid has been eliminated due to a few factors & we have started the IUI (Intra-Uterine Insemmination) process.

As of writing this post, I am on my 2nd Day of needles.

Basically what happens (for those of you unfamiliar with the process) is that you follow your natural cycle from CD1 until CD5 where you begin to control the cycle through meds. Self injecting Estrogen etc until Ovulation time. Blood tests & ultrasound along the way tell the story of how close we can get to pinpointing the perfect Fertilisation time. Then 1 last injection needle called the Trigger is done at home. The very next day we do the insemmination procedure, some follow up injections, then we play the waiting game for 2 weeks.

I am utterly impressed that the self-injection needle is completely painless! This makes it easy to do considering most of us hate needles!

So basically it is all about preparation then waiting.

It is amazing how todays science & technology helps with assisted pregnancies. What I find even more truly amazing is how complex the whole Conception process actually is!

Here is a video showing an animation of the procedure. Enjoy.

The Clomid Journey.

socko — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:22:42 +0000

I haven’t left a response regarding our IVF Clinic appointment. The main reason being that we were left feeling a little disapointed with the outcome even though we are moving forwards still. I won’t go into great detail. However we are embarking now on a 3 month journey of Clomid. I have been prescribed 100mg for the next 3 months, though the Dr only gave us a script for 2? We had some routine Blood work done & we had to give a sample of swimmers for a trial wash. This is to find out the count, morphology & motility of the little fellas.
We had to make an appointment on June 2nd for the results. We will also have had a Day 21 Blood Test done by this time which will tell us wether I actually ovulated due to the Clomid or not. We are of course hoping that by this stage we may have fallen pregnant with our first dose of Clomid. Therefore will not have to continue any more cycles & will have our own little munchkin finally on the way.

So all in all it is a very exciting time again, one that hopefully allows a miracle to occur. Our little miracle.

The day has come.

socko — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:43:05 +0000

Tomorrow is our initial consultation with IVF Australia @ St George Private Hospital. I am a whole host of emotions right now, tho the positive far outweigh the negatives.

I can’t wait to find out where our next part of the journey heads & what will happen along the way.

Will keep you all posted :o)

Take a few minutes….

socko — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:43:05 +0000

This had me hooked… LOL
Take a few minutes out of your time to sit back & watch a Weird Al original. Enjoy.

Initial consultation confirmed.

socko — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:50:13 +0000

Our initial consultation appointment at the IVF Clinic has been booked for 21st April 2009 after finally receiving the referrals in the post. I can’t wait to get this done & I am getting mixed emotions about it. Mainly the excited & anxious ones.

I am interested in hearing from others who have been or know someone that has been through this process. Please don’t hesitate to contact me. I need all the advice I can get right now.

Miracles Do Happen.

socko — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:49:41 +0000

I love this video so much it brings a tear to my eye!

I am about to blog about something that has become top priority in our lives for some time now & something I have basically ignored blogging about for many reasons. I guess mainly for our own personal reasons. But I have come to a time in this rollercoaster where I am not afraid to share my story or ask questions. However I will keep it to some point of privacy for all of our families.

SK & I are going through a long journey TTC. We have been through many highs & lows so far with no doubt plenty more to come. Some of you may already be aware of this & no doubt most of you will have seen my tickers at the top of the page.

So far we have had many tests, minor surgeries, lots of dashed hopes & far too many sticks to pee on to count! It has been such an emotional road. But we manage it together without a second thought. At no point has this become a chore & we both give each other the same love & affection we always have since our love first blossomed. I couldn’t have a more wonderful partner by my side. I am eternally grateful & sincerely honoured.

Our next chapter of this journey will be in the hands of medical professionals at IVF Australia @ St George Private Hospital. Currently we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of referrals in the mail. Then we can make phone calls & appointments as needed. Our next step is IUI.

In the meantime I am documenting my cycles yet again & keeping my positive train of thought. I am reading many different stories from websites & forums & am watching inspirational & educational videos on youtube in my spare time.

Please keep in mind we have tried everything from doing absolutely nothing more than the typical baby making tasks (!) to taking medications for other medical conditions that have influenced our infertility. We are told over & over again by many a folk who in their best way offer us advice & their way of support by “reminding” us not to stress, not to try so hard, to let nature take its course etc etc. We do appreciate all the support on hand to us & understand it can be hard to comment on such news as infertility issues. The fact that someone goes to such trouble to offer their advice goes to show how much they obviously care.
However we have tried everything possible over the past 3 years (check the ticker at the top for a more approximate guess LOL) with no luck.

So with great pleasure I offer you a lovely video. Sit back with a cuppa & enjoy the next 7 minutes of your life.
I don’t understand the subtitles but I do understand how witnessing such a miracle take place will make me a better person if & when it is my time to perform a miracle

Enjoy :o)

socko — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:34:40 +0000

Happy Birthday Mum.

socko — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:18:37 +0000

My mummy turned 71 today.

Happy Birthday Mumma Bear.

I love you.

Catching up.

socko — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:59:37 +0000

Well I haven’t left a blog on here for quite some time. What has happened since my last post?…. We’ve had Christmas & New Year for starters. ShadowKnight & I have bought a new car. ShadowKnight has had time off work for medical reasons, including surgery. I have had 2 weeks off work, including a minor procedure for medical reasons. Plus all the standard day-to-day things. So… here’s a little reading on a few of those topics.

Early December SK & I went to our local Holden dealership. Wilsons Holden Abion Park Rail. The people here are genuinely nice & are happy to chat about all sorts of things whilst selling you a car & making themselves a profit lol. We new what we wanted to buy when we walked into the place & I had also lined up over the phone with a salesman named Grahame to purchase a Sportwagon. We were lucky enough to be told that they in fact had one 60th anniversary edition of the Sportwagon left which is basically a standard Omega base model with Leather Seats, Leather Wrap Steering Wheel, 18inch Alloy Special Edition Wheels, Bluetooth Connectivity & of course 60th Anniv. Ed Badges. The base model Omega starts from $42990. We purchased ours for $34990 drive-away! However, we did add a few extra special things so we are actually paying a little more. We added metallic paint, window tint, leather protection, paint protection, tow bar & sports exhaust.
We got the car 2 weeks before Christmas & we are very very happy with it. We received it with under 20kms on the clock. We have today put the car in at Wilsons for it’s free 3000km service. With working in Sydney, it doesn’t take long to build up the km’s.

Then came Christmas. I worked this year right up until the evening of Christmas Eve. The first time for a few years that this has happened. My brother K & his wife D & Mum came up from Batemans Bay during the day so it was nice to travel home from Sydney to find them waiting for me. We had a wonderful Christmas Day starting with opening gifts during the morning then sitting down to a massive Festive Feast with all the trimmings for lunch.
Boxing Day saw a basic repeat of Christmas Day with my brother D & my two nieces H & L arriving from Sydney. We again spent the morning opening gifts followed by yet another Festive Feast. Some of it was Xmas Day leftovers however there was some freshly cooked meats & some seafood included. My family stayed with us for a few days where we spent time swimming in the Public pool at Warilla (which is totally free to the public), playing RockBand on Wii & singing to SingStar on PS2 amongst other things. Bro D, H & L went home the following Monday & I returned to work after a few nice days off.
Then came New Years. NYE was spent at home as Duff & I had to work during the day. SK, Mum T, Duff & myself enjoyed the company of Bro K, SIL D & Mum. We had a fire in the brassiere out the backyard near the patio with a nice cold one in our hands. We had music on the Plasma all night & watched local fireworks in the skies surrounding us all evening until the monstrous midnight fanfare which we watched in the skies as well as on the TV. It was a great way to bring in the New Year.
A couple of days into the New Year the crew went back home to Batemans Bay & things went back to normal life.

I won’t go into detail with SK’s medical issues. Too long a story & quite frankly some of it a bit personal. However SK is doing really well since his procedure, which came a month after the first medical emergency. Thankfully it wasn’t life threatening & he has been fixed. Things surely can only get better from here for him
As for me, Ive just come out the other side of 2 weeks home with a torn right calf muscle & a severely infected cyst in the back of my neck. I’ve literally just gotten home from having it re-dressed after having it cut & drained yesterday. I’ve been on 2 lots of antibiotics over the past 2 weeks for it. Basically I had to get the infection to reduce before it could be drained. If you have ever had a cyst infected you will understand where i’m coming from when I say it’s a whole world of pain & discomfort! Also cos it was situated on the back of my neck, it caused the 2 glands near it to swell which become very tender. The muscles surrounding it become very irritated & sore as well & you get to the point where you can’t turn your head aroun. Therefore you can’t drive safely, have trouble sitting against chairs/lounges etc & sleeping is almost non-existant until you can find a comfortable position! My left side has become quite tired of being layed upon! So basically once the Dr drained it yesterday (not a fun experience), there was an immediate relief felt.Today I am sitting here thanking the fact that it is all over with & all that is needed is to heal naturally. The wound has not been sewn up at all & I am to keep it dressed until it has totally closed over. So each day I will have to rely on someone else in the house to take a look at it & keep an eye on it’s progress for me.
As for my calf muscle, the bruising has come out & each day the pain lessens & it is getting stronger again. I am almost walking perfectly on it again which is a great relief. At the one week after mark, I was still having a lot of trouble walking on it & basically got a scolding from the Dr to do literally NOTHING on it & to keep it elevated all day every day. Not an easy task hehe. Although he did say it would take some time to heal so perhaps my expectations were too high at first. As it happens I am now bored sh#*less & cannot wait to get back to work next week!