CD7...And The End To Evil Provera

I survived to CD7, but just barely.

Provera...is still evil.

Oh yes it is.

CD7...and I am STILL bleeding. Not spotting. Bleeding.

CD2 and CD3 I was actually concerned for my health.  If it had gone on for one more day, I was going in to see the ER Dr. 

CD4 was like a normal "really heavy" period day. 

CD5 was a "heavy" period day.

CD6 seemed like a "normal" period day. CD6 I figured I'd just continue bleeding...forever.

CD7 is like the first day of a period, it's there, and there's flow, but it's not as life threatening as someone turning on the kitchen tap all the way and hoping for the best.  

I'm taking two prenatal vitamins per day to try to keep up since I feel like I'm a lemon being squeezed dry. I don't know if it's low iron or something, but I also have some insomnia since CD4. It's driving me nuts. It's 1am and I'm wired awake! And I was passing out all afternoon. 

Either way...I hope CD8 is better than CD7 and that this period actually DOES eventually end. ...Not that it actually seems as though that's possible right now. Most women who have had children know what after birth bleeding is like...you never think it'll actually stop and you don't actually remember a time when you weren't bleeding every day. That's how I feel. 

Positive note (depending on how you look at it..), two weeks until my Lupron shot. I'm excited...and extremely nervous. That is one biiiig needle. Just saying. 

The count down truly begins now.

14 days to Lupron. 

I do feel good about it though, I'm supposedly "lucky", I only have to take it once, some surrogates have to take it daily, but the needle is tiny. 

Lucky women with their tiny needles. 

Surrogacy : the only time a woman will brag about being stuck with something small.

Provera

Provera.

Let me explain what it is first and then we'll continue.

Provera is a form of progesterone. Taking Provera simulates the end of the menstrual cycle, after ovulation when progesterone is normally high. The withdrawal of progesterone (once you stop the medication) is what causes your period to start.

 

Provera is available in 2.5, 5.0 and 10 milligram tablets. Many practitioners will prescribe 5mg or 10mg each day to induce a withdrawal bleed.

 

You will get your period within two weeks of finishing the medication, although many women do get their periods while still taking Provera.

 

Side Effects:

• Change in menstrual bleeding or flow
• Acne
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Breast tenderness

 

I just finished Day 5 of my 7 day Provera prescription.

 

I have had the acne, fatigue and breast tenderness. I've been hormonal, but I think that that's mostly due to the fatigue if I'm honest.

 

They are tiny tiny pills, like anti nausea pills. No taste, no odor. I've been taking them between 9 and 10am every day (I'm usually pretty good at taking them right at 915, but I've taken them as late as 945, not a big deal, they're just once per day, it doesn't say that they have to be taken at the same time each day).

 

Today shortly after I took my 5th pill, I thought I peed myself a bit (I've always had a lot of pride when it comes to bladder control...but hey...5 babies in 3 years can really do a number on your whole area down there!). Went to go to the bathroom, and there is was! Aunty Flow!

 

Which is great, I'm officially CD1 and this is my Lupron cycle!

 

You all know I love countdowns, so 20 more days until my Lupron shot.

 

That, my dears, is a 23 gauge intramuscular needle. That's right...it's going to be a pain in the butt!

I am going to be emailing the guys today as well to let them know that my period has started so that the procol has been put into motion. Now that I have started my period, the clinic can send me a full new protocol and I'll have a transfer date in place. Yay!

I think it'll be August 16th-ish. It also means that I'll be home for Evan's birthday party, which was worrying me with the transfer being bumped ahead!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Father's Day weekend! I will update again when I get my med/transfer protocol and dates! I've started to get super duper revved up for my needles and other meds, and am going to start organizing them in pill cases with times writing on each little box instead of days of the weeks.

Yay for Periods so that we know when we can expect things to happen though!

Let's be honest... as glad as I am that I started my period...I fricken hate it and want junk food and take out...NOW!

Insstead I'll go do some crunches and so when I DO finally go for transfer, Dr D will say "I think we have the wrong file...it says here that you've had children already?".

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Happy Monday everyone!

Toronto...Screening...The Subway...AF...Meds!

Well...where to begin?!

Oh right. I'm  sorry that it's taken me sooo long to finally update! You know you still like me :D

I left super duper early on the morning of the 27th (was it 2am? ...No...it was 5am...but it felt the same to me!). Leaving was NOT easy, but I had no idea how hard it would be to sleep away from home until that night, but we'll get there!

I arrived at the Montreal Trudeau Airport, went to the first desk I seen, and she said I had to go to gate 49. Great, this should be fun. Actually, it was amazingly easy, I love the Montreal airport, you just follow your gate number directions that are everywhere and you're good. Took me no time! I got to my gate and had 45 minutes to spare. Just waited.

I got onto the plane to Montreal to Toronto, and when I landed in Toronto...I found that it was NOT as easy as the Montreal airport...it took me almost a half hour to find out where to get my luggage and then it took me another 20 minutes to find my way out! I'm not a fan of the Toronto airport, for the record.

I found my IF who was waiting outside, he was waving me down, poor guy probably thought I looked so silly looking around frantically!

Directly from the airport we went to the Zoo.

It was beautiful! I have SO many pictures and I promise to upload more! We spent six (6!) hours walking around and seeing ALL of the animals! The elephants and lions were probably my favorite. They were gorgeous. It was so hot, I got a bit burnt but it wasn't too bad.

After that I checked into the hotel, and I took an EXTREMELY fast shower and got redressed for supper. We went out to a Bistro, it's one of my IF's favorite places to go, I felt honored to be taken there. The food was so good. 

Then I walked back to the hotel (mini heart attack on the fact that I had to walk back alone! lol). I brushed my teeth etc, and then my friend Meital texted me! She is in downtown Toronto, and she wanted to meet. We have been talking for months, and I was so excited to meet her in person! We went to her house first, and I met her adorable daughter Emily (omg she's adorable!) and she showed me her house (which is beautiful) and I met her husband Jon (who was a sweety and watched Emily when we went out). We went to this cute place where they served coffee deserts. I had this white chocolate thing...so good. 

Then I went back to the hotel, it was past midnight I'm sure. I was EXHAUSTED by that point! 

I had to take the subway for the first time in my entire life the morning after. I still have some tokens left over for the next time I go. Meital (she is a sweetheart) drove to the hotel to meet me so that I wouldn't have to take it alone since I had a lot of anxiety about it. From the Carlton stop, I went North two spots, and then got off, and transferred to go East on Bloor...WAYYYY East, to the second last stop. It was kind of cool!

I got to the clinic at 9am (perfect timing, thank you Subway!). When I got there, I first spoke to the social worker again to update her on everythign that has been going on. It was a nice chat, and she went over the details of the surrogacy again to make sure that I understood everything. Everything went well there (yay not crazy!).

Then I had some blood and urine stolen (okay...I gave it over willingly...but it sounded better to say it was stolen). 

I was never in the waiting room long! I spoke to the life insurance broker after that to make sure that if anything happened to me, my children would be taken care of financially. She was really good at explaining everything to me, it went by quick, but we spoke for nearly an hour. After that, I went back to the waiting room.

Then a fellow surrogate showed up! Amanda has been a surrogate multiple times, and is an amazing person. She's a single mom, I have no idea where she finds the energy, she really is amazing. We went into a room and chatted for a bit about everything that's been going on, and then Joanne showed up (she's the consultant who is helping me along this journey!). Also amazing, and I gave her my receipts that I've been watching and cataloging, so many hours of organizing my receipts and I was so proud to hand them over!

Then back out to the waiting room. Then I got to go see the Dr and meet him! I was so excited! First I had an ultrasound, everything looked great! I then had a physical, pap test, and then they filled my uterus and fallopian tubes with saline to make sure everything was good to go in there too. It was! I was so happy!

The Dr asked when I wanted to start, I said NOW! He got my meds in order (I'll make another post with all the meds) and we got all the meds! It had seemed like forever, but it was 3pm by then, we had missed lunch so we went out to Swiss Chalet for lunch. Mmmm.

Then, once again, I went back to the hotel, which I had honestly not spent much time in, I felt as though it was a pit stop place. 

I packed my stuff up, and I started to get ready to go back to Meital's for supper. She had her husband bbq'ing out in the POURING rain! It was just POURING! It was nuts! She had some of her close friends from work come over, there was hot dogs, home made hamburgers, fries, veggies...so much food! It was a really nice meet and greet, and I felt really special to have met her close friends. Everyone left, and we calmed down for the evening. I had some laundry to do, so she, being a sweety, offered to let me use her washer/dryer. It's something I take for granted here at home, I hate having dirty laundry!

We went to bed a reasonable hour, I never put my phone down once, I missed home so much.

The next morning, I woke up and Meital had let me sleep in through our mani and pedi appointment. She figured I had three kids and never got to sleep in. I woke up, she had already made me breakfast (did I mention how fricken sweet she is?) so I ate and then we got my stuff ready and we went and got our nails done! I had never had them done before but it was so nice and I felt so good afterward! We wanted to do a lot of stuff downtown, but there just wasn't time. Instead we went for a drive and she brought me to this amazing restaurant, and then we went to the airport.

Don't even get me started on how fricken confusing it was in the Toronto airport to figure out where to go, how to check my bags...even the staff weren't helpful, they just kept pointing me to screens (which I could barely even READ!) and I was so afraid I'd miss my flights! I finally got to the right places, we loaded onto the plane, and there was a small delay due to thunderstorms.

The flight was only about an hour and twenty minutes. The problem was...because of the weather, we couldn't land and we spent about an extra half hour in the sky. When we landed in Montreal, I had literally 23 minutes to make it to my gate. The good news : it was the Montreal airport...and it was so easy! haha. It took me I think 14 minutes or something to get to the right gate after stopping to ask which gate to get to! They're great in Montreal! 

After all the rushing, I was told there was at least a 45 minute delay (thanks mother nature!) and I had NOTHING to worry about. I could have gone and gotten a coffee and some little gifts for the kids or something...had I known. But I didn't. We finally boarded, and then we were stuck ont he ground for another half hour about. Everyone was so hot and it was muggy and the door had to stay open and the whole floor had water all over it from the raining. It was a mess! We finally did take off though, I was so incredibly happy to be on my way home. 

I got home, about an hour late on the night of the 29th, and was so so so so so so happy to be in the arms of my loved ones, I thought of nothing else the whole time I was gone. I just wanted to be home, in my bed. It was so hard for me to be away, but it WAS a nice break from the kids, even though the trip was SO hectic! 

Now...AF. I'm 12 days late! The one time I want it to show up...it doesn't! How bad is my luck?! 

The clinic prescribed Provera, I went to do my groceries tonight and was supposed to pick it up and guess who forgot to get it?!?! ME! I will pick it up tomorrow and I will post pictures of my meds as well and give a basic time schedule for when I take what meds! 

For now, I have to admit love has knocked on my door step. This is my surrogacy blog, and those who are very close to me know what's going on, but I'll update when there's more to update on that front. It's a big part of my life, but I don't have permission to talk about it, no one has to worry about me getting my divorce finalized and getting married though before I start getting questions lol. 

I'm happy that things are moving in this surrogacy, CD21 of this cycle means my crazy big Lupron shot!

Sorry for taking so long! I'll update super soon with pictures of my meds and a rough med schedule!