Thursday, June 3, 2010

At The Starting Line

Well, I am back from Puerto Rico and overall, it was a good trip. I wouldn't say great, but it was nice to get away from the office and relax.

Flights were on time and we had no real issues (we even got upgraded to first class). The resort was OK. Although it was ranked as a 5-star, I would say it was more of a 3-4 star resort. The lobby and restaurants were all very nice, however the rooms could've used an update.

But, I guess the main reason why the vacation was just OK, was the island itself. There's really not much to do. There aren't a whole lot of nice beaches, no real places to sight-see (other than old San Juan and the rain forest), diving was mediocre at best, and the food was just so-so. I wouldn't say it was a bad vacation, but I probably wouldn't make the effort to go again since it takes close to 10 hours to get to PR from CA. Both Doc and I decided if we want an easy U.S. beach vacation, we'll go to Hawaii.

One really cool thing that we did do was swim in a bioluminescent bay. In Puerto Rico, they have a couple of protected bays where bioluminescent plankton live. The plankton glow when they're disturbed, so as you swim, the water around you starts to glow and if you hold up the water in your hands, you can see the individual plankton glowing and it looks like flecks of glitter. Very, very cool.

Alright, now that I've finished my vacation summary, time to start writing about IVF #2. I had my baseline ultrasound and E2 levels taken yesterday. Everything looks good. No cysts, polyps or any other issues. I'm already starting to develop a trilaminar lining. I think the estrace that I'm taking has helped...thank goodness, since my lining has always been on the thin side). My E2 level was at 152, but they said that's to be expected since I'm doing the estrogen priming protocol.

I started the microdose lupron today and will be starting the stims on Saturday. I'm just hoping that I react better to the stims this time around. According to Dr. Zed, the estrace priming will help my lining and it'll make me more sensitive to the stims so that I should react better and faster.

I'm still taking the fol.gard and also the low-dose aspirin, which is making me bruise like I got into some UFC fight. One little bump and I have the biggest, nastiest looking bruise ever and I haven't even started the hepa.rin yet. Doc says that he's going to make me wear my snowboarding helmet 24-7 when I start injecting the hepa.rin.

The other bad part in all of this is that I feel bloated like a freaking whale. I think the estrace is making me retain boatloads of water and I'm a very unhappy camper. Ah, but it's a small price to pay for the end result, right?

6 comments:

sienna said...

i wasn't too impressed with puerto rico either of the 2 times i went either. only went back the 2nd time for a wedding. it's def my least favorite of the caribbean islands. i've never been to hawaii bc the caribbean's so close, but it's on my todo list. it's just soooo far away though!!

keep us posted on how all the shots go when you start. did you say you had to do 8 shots daily at some point or something? or did i make that up?

i'm more hopeful for you than for me bc you have dr z!!! xxx

irrationalexuberance said...

I hear you on the bloating with estrace. I'm pretty thin in general, but had to buy several more sack like dresses to cover it up. Nothing like having to wear pregnancy clothes when you aren't yet pregnant.

Hawaii kicks PR's ass, even coming from the east coast. But that bay is cool.

good luck starting this cycle!

Anonymous said...

Glad you had a pretty good vacation and that this round of things is going well. I have been to Puerto Rico, but it was only a starting and ending point to a cruise. I wanted to do the rain forest thing, but we never had any time.

Leslie said...

I am sorry that your vacation was not great. I am nervous now as we are leaving for Puerto Rico is 9 days. We thought that there would be more to do than some of the other islands we have been to on cruises. Where did you stay? We are going mainly for rest & relaxation so hopefully we will get lots of that = )

christine said...

Congrats on starting IVF #2. We're likely headed that way in August. Sorry to hear about the bloating. When I was on lupron, my stomach just blew up I was so bloated! It was not fun. Hope you start feeling relief soon!

Anonymous said...

sooz! so glad you're back. yay for 1st class upgrades and the bioluminescent bay sounds so cool! have you been to the baths on virgin gorda? definitely go next time your in the caribbean!

i don't remember the estrace making me bloat but i bloat very easily (too much food, the wrong food, etc) so maybe it did and i didn't notice because i'm used to bloat (ew). i definitely know when you mean about bruising. i have little bruises everywhere!

yay for IVF #2! hope the stims go well. i'll obviously be following along closely! i start lupron tomorrow so i'm right behind you. next up: sienna!