Super Fat Tuesday

Yes, it is Super Tuesday, Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), and maybe Conception Tuesday all rolled into one! I am happy to report that my OPK turned bright positive by this AM, so hopefully my surge peaked sometime last night and hopefully I'll ovulate today.

I worked overnight at the hospital (this is the "moonlighting position" that pays a lot and helps us afford all of this assisted reproductive technology.) 5 more shifts to go, and then I'm DONE forever!!! Last night was busy, but not as bad as in some recent weeks, so I was happy to get a 1 - 1.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep on several occasions. The difference between only 10-15 minutes of sleep and over an hour of sleep at a time is amazing. I actually feel like a human being today! Which is good when you're trying to get pregnant, I think.

S's sample yielded 11.8 million total motile swimmers, this time. It's really amazing how consistent it has been (11 -> 11.4 -> 11.8 million) but I'm not complaining. I do wonder how the count is "only" 11 million, given that his total count was 180+ million both times recently. I know that some are immotile and some are lost in the washing, but jeeesh! They do seem to lose a lot.

My long-time readers (for all of 2 months) may recall that both Dr A and Dr W had significant difficulty doing my IUI on my previous 2 cycles. Something about my cervix was tilted, or the inner os was tight, or something like that. Last time, Dr W even had them transfer the sperm to a different catheter which was supposed to be "less flexible." So, today I called the RE's office right after S's collection appointment, and reminded that they should put the sperm in the less flexible catheter. I was pleased to find out that Dr W had remembered, and it was already taken care of!

I decided that I really like Dr W. The other day, when I was having my CD12 ultrasound with Dr A, she saw me and waved and said, "Hi Sarah!!" Today, I was mentioning that this was my last Clomid/IUI and that I would be doing one more unmedicated IUI and then IVF. She looked up and said, "IF you don't get pregnant before that." I appreciate that she still has faith that this might work!

Anyway, I think because of the previous problems, they used an ultrasound to look at my uterus and guide the IUI catheter. They had a student (or new nurse?) training on the ultrasound part, so Dr W was pointing out the anatomy (bladder, uterus, cervix, and then the speculum). I did have a brief sharp pain deep inside when she inserted the catheter. My uterus is tilted in the normal direction (antegrade), but it is a very sharp 90 degree angle from the cervix, so I think it makes it tricky. Anyway, it was really cool because when she pushed the sperm in, you could actually see the turbulence of the liquid coming out of the catheter. Yay!! It was nice to see with my own eyes that they got into the right place.

Afterwards, I waited the requisite 10 minutes (I stretched it out to 12), popped my doxycycline, snuck a peek at the catheter in the trash can (on the package, it was called an "embryo transfer catheter; I believe the previous was called an "insemination catheter"), paid my bill, and headed home to vote.

I have a work meeting from 5-7 tonight, but I wanted to go home first so that I could vote. I forgot that the polls were open until 8PM, so it was a wasted trip, but oh well. I am a voting nerd, in that I have voted in almost every primary and every general election since I turned 18. Anyway, I am registered non-partisan, so I wasn't allowed to even consider the possibility of a Republican candidate due to their closed primary. I voted somewhat reluctantly for Hillary and also on several state propositions. I was disappointed to find out that voting as a non-partisan in the Democratic primary means that my ballot is "provisional" and my vote had to go in an envelope and my signature, address, etc will need to be verified. GRRR!! I always like watching the election results come in and knowing that my vote is among the millions. That's part of the reason that I don't like voting absentee... I always feel like it will be counted after-the-fact. Oh well!

See, I can get agitated about just about anything. (Not just TTC stuff!) I hope everyone who has their primary today gets out there to vote!