Frequent Driver Miles

Another month down, and this month we've just completed our rounds.

I got to use a new medication (well, new for me!) this month. The last several months on Chlomid had me a sobbing, drooling, nose-dripping mess. Every month I had to take a higher dose...and then when it didn't work, there was another round. So we were introduced this month to Femura--the generic version of Letrazol (which I've probably spelled wrong in both cases!). The nurse had advised us that this medication usually leads to earlier ovulation, and I was scheduled for a trip to Las Vegas with my girls to kiss goodbye my youthful years as I continue to dry up into an old woman with crusty ovaries...I digress. However, as I landed back in Albuquerque in time, we decided to go ahead. Hence, our first trip to Albuquerque this month.

Visit one had nothing ready yet, but there were four potentials, and so the nurse advised us to come back just under a week later to see what happened. So we returned this Monday to Albuquerque. Trip two.

Trip two showed that we were down to two potentials, and we were told to return this Friday, but to continue taking the ovulation predictor kit sticks. Good news is that we had stocked up on the kits, because Podunk doesn't sell the brand that the office wants us to use...so Thursday I took the test, and let's back up. For anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of peeing on a stick for days on end just to see if perhaps you're experiencing a surge that would indicate that an egg will be released, you don't know what your missing. They look exactly like pregnancy tests, with a little arrow showing you their line that will appear no matter what. Your line will appear next to it, and must be thicker or brighter blue to pass. If a faint blue line appears, it's not ready--your line has to be greater than the stick's line. Should you pass the test, and should you live two hours away from your doctor's office, you call and schedule an appointment for the next day.

So we generally try to call first thing in the morning so that we can plot out the two hour drive against my need for sleep. Thursday I overslept and when I took the test, it was like five minutes before noon, and the doctor's office is closed from noon to one for lunch. Both lines on the test were faded. As in, even the line from the company was barely there. The tests weren't supposed to expire until 2010, but what do I know? So I called the doctor's office, and a nurse called me back and determined that we should return to Albuquerque for an ultrasound to see if we missed the opportunity. Trip three.

Good news with Trip three is that it had totally freaked me out that somehow I'd messed up the test. I know that I still really want this. Better news is that there were two HUGE honking eggs ready to go. So the nurse shot me up, and we scheduled return for Friday's trip four for the actual IUI.

Trip four is obviously now complete (given that it's now Saturday!). It's hard to believe that this is only the third IUI, but as the nurse cutely told us "third time's a charm" and we had better eggs and a great sample to use.

Fortunately, I can take the pregnancy test in Santa Fe, so there won't be another trip to Albuquerque for a couple of weeks. Between the shot in my rump and the three drives to and from Albuquerque for a whopping 15 minute visit to the office each time, I'm not sure my rump could take another trip to Albuquerque for a while!