995 million

So we did our first Lupron injection tonight. I have been reading on forums people saying "It didn't even hurt" so I guess I thought I wouldn't feel a thing. When my hubby stuck the needle in, I jumped a little. It really wasn't bad and we watched a few YouTube videos prior to pump us up.

 We watched someone give an IM Progesterone shot and that made me feel great about the Lupron, especially since we won't be doing IM shots at all. It seemed like on all the clips we watched, the women had laparoscopy scars, maybe that is just a right of passage in this whole infertility process.

It was all quick and easy although I had gotten pretty nervous beforehand. We threw the syringe into my newly acquired sharps bin, and were done. It's amazing the things I get excited about these days (injections, sharps bins, etc.) The area got a little red after, but no big deal.

I talked with the nurse at our clinic today about the Lupron shots and the fact that I received my Menopur, but that it didn't come with any syringes. When I first talked to her a few days ago and she told me to take 20 units of Lupron between 5 and 7 I assumed it was in the PM. When I got home and told my hubby he said "AM or PM?" I called her to make sure and it was definitely PM. She also said she has some syringes that I can have and I can get them when I go in for my baseline ultrasound and blood work. I am not looking forward to more ultrasounds with this cyst, but there's not much I can do about it. When the RE did the trial transfer, he was a little more aggressive with it than the ultrasound tech had been previously. It's amazing how many vaginal ultrasounds I have gotten and I not even pregnant! I am supposed to call the nurse back when I get my next period (she projected it would be about 10 days). At that point I will go back in for my baseline ultrasound and blood work. I have been reading and it seems like it tends to come about 7 days after, I am hoping for a shorter timeframe. 

We got the results of the semen analysis today and they were great!! I am so happy we (hopefully) won't have to pay for ICSI. His count was 995 million and the average is about 60 million (wow, he's got a lot of those little swimmers.) The motility (percentage of normal movement) was 74% and the average is 60%. His morphology (percentile of sperm that have normal shape) was 37% and the average is about 30%. We bought something called Proxeed that the RE recommended as something that we could do that may help prior to doing the semen analysis. I think he assumed the count was normal, but knew this count boost it up. I figure it can't hurt at this point. With my PCOS I worry that the eggs won't be of great quality or I have also read that often the outside shell is harder to penetrate. We need his swimmers to be top notch. 

The results of all of our blood work was fine. I was a little worried about getting the results, especially the HIV. I was a little bit promiscuous in my teens and early twenties and had been offered to be tested previously by my GYN. I didn't really think I had it, but it is just a fear of being tested I guess. My sister feels the same way and has always refused to be tested. I was very happy to hear everything is great and we can continue on as planned. 

I had dinner with some friends last night. They are both girls I went to grad school with who live locally. We try to get together pretty often to discuss work and life. The funny part is I wasn't really great friends with them while in school (especially one of them-we will call her M), but now that we are all working, we have a lot more in common. We are all Speech-Language Pathologists. One girl (M) works basically the same job as me but has a much crappier gig. I work for a private agency who contracts through the  county (early intervention) and with school districts. I cover a small area and drive about 40-50 miles a day. The main reason it is such a good deal is because the agency I work for has only been around 2 years and I have been with them for 1 1/2. My friend works for an agency that is HUGE (you can buy stock in them), and therefore, she gets screwed. She drives about 200 miles a day and has NO area in particular that she covers. I feel badly for her because of this, but there is nothing I can do about it. M just got engaged over Christmas so much of the conversation was spent talking about wedding planning. She is from Long Island and plans to invite 250 people. We only had 60 people at our wedding and this is something I will never regret. My other friend (J) works with adults and does swallowing therapy mainly. She works for a center and seems to like her job. She recently started dating a guy who is from India but lives about an hour and a half away. He is a physical therapist and they have been officially dating for 3 months. When I asked her what the status of their relationship was she said they are more than just dating. Apparently she is planning to go to India with him for his sibling's wedding in March. They will stay for 2 weeks and meet his parents. She said that he is expected to have an arranged marriage and that both of his siblings did. He technically is not supposed to be dating, but hasn't ever dated anyone else. Well, I guess they are hoping to get his parent's blessing for them to be married when they go to India. She was beaming with her new love and I didn't want to burst her bubble.

When my hubby and I went Christmas shopping we saw a couple sitting on a bench making out. I jokingly turned to him and said "remember when we loved each other that much?" It's not that we don't love each other, but we waited at least 3 years before getting engaged. We lived together very early on, and had some crazy fights. I wonder if J has even had a single fight with this guy. Yet, they are ready to say they want to get married. My other friend M just got engaged after 8 years with her BF. She was pretty shocked, but also agreed about things changing as time goes on. I said the most important thing is that the guy you are with is your best friend because all the infatuation stuff wears off over time. We will see what happens with all of that but she said they may move to India some day. She knows that if she is with him she will be happy no matter what. Ahhh, young love (she is older than me, ha!)