Just relax? Seriously?
On Thursday I went for my third round of monitoring at the fertility clinic. Before I could go in I had to settle things with the Pharmacy that supplies them because otherwise they weren't going to give me any more meds (long story). The pharmacy was on the other side of town and at some point I woke up enough to realize all I had to do was buy a couple of Visa gift cards and I could do it over the phone. I had about half an hour before my appointment and so I managed to get the cards, call the pharmacy and buy the playgroup food and only be about five minutes late.
Then I sat in the waiting room. For over forty-five minutes.
Obviously I was late for playgroup.
Now, the pattern thus far has been two ultrasounds two days apart and then an IUI about three days after the last ultrasound. At the first ultrasound I'm told I'm not quite there yet but we should have sex Friday night as an insurance policy and I should come back Saturday to see how far along the follicles are. I relay the info to DivaDaddy and things start to get complicated...
He has a date Friday afternoon (which he promptly cancels, ouch). He's also leaving for the weekend *and* there's a technician coming "Monday, sometime between 8:00 and 8:00." Remembering the pattern I tell him not to worry, we'll have some wiggle room and I'm sure nothing will happen until Tuesday. He has to meet his friends at Villa Maria station at 3pm Friday and we decide that instead of me going all the way to his place to make the pickup and then taking a cab right past the station I'll bike over and cover his cab.
My bike is a lovely six speed cruiser. I love this bike. I'm at least two inches too short for this bike. I've barely ever ridden it. It's 1.5km UPHILL to Villa.
I made it there before him. Barely.
The exchange was made and we parted ways. Everything was fine until the next morning. I'm sure you can imagine what I was told...
...I could do the IUI at either 8am or 9am MONDAY. I chose 9.
Cue two days of fretting. DivaDaddy is unreachable and in any case I'm dreading having to tell him the news. Sultry and I come up with a plan to soften the blow: we'll both drive over and she'll take him to the clinic while I wait for the technician -- just in case. He calls Sunday night, I apologetically break the news and The Plan is approved. In the meantime we have an injection to do -- halfway through my night at work. After a bit of research I decide to do it right before I leave because some clinics report better results if ovulation (due 36 hours after the shot) occurs *before* the IUI.
Aside from hitting every possible light and bit of traffic things go fairly smoothly getting to DivaDaddy's place this morning. We switch places, I settle in, have an only slightly awkward chat with the Roomie as he's on his way out and about fifteen minutes before Daddy-dearest gets home Sears calls to say the techie called in sick and won't be coming. They want to reshedule for tomorrow morning and I grit my teeth and agree -- sheduling things without checking is getting to be a habit.
The gang comes back and I pass along the message, Tuesday is fine. We leapfrog again and Sultry drops me at the clinic pretty much on the dot of 9:00. I wait. The I wait some more. Long enough, in fact, that I fall so completely into my book (Alas, Babylon) that they have to call my name twice before I realize I'm being spoken to.
Because I'd had no chance to warn him DivaDaddy had a... busy weekend. This time his count was only double the norm. It was still pretty darn impressive. The IUI went an awful lot better and didn't hurt as much. I didn't cry either.
Afterwards I stopped and visited with Mom at the Church and checked my mail about a million times until I knew for certain that work was cancelled. The lack of funds is gonna suck in the morning but by that point I'm feeling... uncomfortable.
I wander home and the discomfort continues, by about 12:30 my side really hurts. Now, this has happened before and I've always chalked it up to incipient ovulation -- however, I was *supposed* to have ovulated a good six hours earlier. Not cool. I nap and wake up still sore.
An egg lives 24 hours after ovulation. Washed sperm live about 6 - 8 hours after an IUI. Live sperm last for days.
At 7:00 pm the twinge is still there and I start to consider options. Sultry calls from Job #3 and I tell her what's happening and propose another "insurance package". She, being the wonderful person she is, says she'll do whatever it takes as does the DivaDaddy when I email him (because he's equally wonderful). At the moment she, and the baby gravy, are somewhere between there and here.
Thus ends attempt 3 of 4. (and my last chance to give birth before I turn 40)
If this one doesn't take I might actually lose my mind.
Argh.
M.