sunny side up!

I have decided on a theme for this IVF: sunny side up. It occurred to me last night that I am really trying to focus on the positives here and that I should try to make this IVF cycle as enjoyable as possible. Hence the theme. It's a bit cheesy I know, but I'm clinging to what I can here :). This cycle feels different from my first for so many reasons. For one, we are cycling at a new clinic. One that I really believe is up on the latest in the infertility world and should be able to get us pregnant. Two, we are doing shared risk, which means there is little chance we will walk away from said clinic without a baby. Three, we are cycling at a pleasant time of year. I know weather probably has nothing to do with success rates, but for me it has a big impact on my attitude/mentality. It is hard to feel down and out when I can take my dog on a 3 mile walk with a breeze blowing through the trees and the sun shining on my skin. Four, we don't have to hide what we are doing. I am more at peace with the infertility monster and so more people know about our impending IVF. That eases the mental burden. It's nice having the support of people I love during this hard time.

There are things that I am trying to do differently as well to help better prepare my body for good results. I have cut my caffeine consumption down considerably, I usually only have a can of (diet) coke every other day. I have also cut down on my alcohol intake. I still have a drink here and there, but usually it is light (55 calorie) beer, so I don't really think that counts for too much. I am also continuing to exercise during stims, which I did not do last time. I'm hoping that helps with my stress level and my body overall. Walking makes me happy, so it's got to help, right? I am also planning on eating pineapple after egg retrieval. I did that the cycle we had our chemical, so I want to do it again. Finally, I have a special pair of socks that I am going to wear to each and every monitoring appointment. They are my fertility socks and they also make me happy, so they should help get us our positive result. Oh, and I plan on POAS from 7-8dpo until I get my BFP (because that is what I am getting). I do not have the willpower to wait until beta day and I really don't want a nurse telling me our outcome.

I nearly forgot! I started stims last night! I was about to take our dog on a walk (like literally almost out the door), when the clinic called to tell me that they were having me start the stims. I was far more excited than I should have been and basically beamed during my whole walk. They had me take 375iu last night, 150iu this morning, and 150iu this evening. I need to go in for bloodwork tomorrow which totally ruins my plans of sleeping in, but oh well! Then they will give me dosing from there. They also lowered my lup.ron dose to 5 units (yay, yay, yay!!) and are keeping me on baby aspirin. I was planning on working next weekend and when I asked the nurse if I would need to ask for it off she said definitely! I would say I'm about 10ish days away from retrieval! WOO HOO!